tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:/blogs/kairos?p=6
KAIROS
2023-09-17T17:38:55+10:00
Disciplesplanet
false
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/7274563
2023-09-17T17:38:55+10:00
2024-01-15T16:11:32+11:00
‘Civilizing Hell’? - Kingdom Mission in Chaos Culture
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/20671/b4f868297ffa0d1395dd59f243d8779d4b197a40/original/civilizinghell.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_xl justify_right border_" /></p><p> </p><p><span><strong>‘Civilizing Hell’? - Kingdom Mission in Chaos Culture</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>From where I’m standing, there seems two emerging ‘bookends’ that are more prominently manifesting (eschatologically speaking) in the body of Christ in this season. These let’s call them </span><i><span>missional stands</span></i><span> are happening in this some-what unique time in world history – post-Chistian, and consequentially, post-truth Western-culture.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The two ends that I’m going to identify and language I will use are not unique to me, but have been in play over the last, arguably, 60 - 70 years, but appeared, again in my perspective, to have solidified in the last half-dozen years. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>One I’ll call the ‘White Knuckle Brigade’ (a term I first heard used about 30 years ago). This label was used somewhat pejoratively to describe what has in some ecclesial circles been commonly called </span><i><span>Remnant Theology.</span></i><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>A synoptic, but not unfair evaluation is that this demographic believe the ‘great falling away’ that the Apostle Paul spoke of in his </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A1-3&version=AMPC"><span>second letter to the Thessalonians </span></a><span> leads the end time Ecclesia to a posture urging us to do all we can to hang-on to our salvation and wait, if not fretfully, then hyper-vigilantly, and defensively for Jesus to return. Yes, there are variants of this that are not so fretful, but fully convinced few will be saved, and mission surrounds more the remnant, not so much the lost. (This can inform, or be bought into, by hyper-Calvinist doctrine which also led to a failure to act out the Great Commission until nearly 200 years after Roman Catholics had send missionaries globally.)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The other ‘bookend’ of this potential collection of missiological perspectives we have what has become to be more widely known as the </span><i><span>Kingdom Now</span></i><span> brigade. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Again, a brief overview sees this this cohort believing it is the churches job to usher in God’s Kingdom in every area of society, govern (or at least heavily influence), remediate and/or fix this broken domain. When it is as is should be, then Jesus Christ will return triumphantly to receive that – Again, there are variants on this position.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>One can find scriptural leverage for both these ends and an ensuing debate could rage for days on their validities. My task here is not to malign these positions, as there are kernels, even nuggets of truth in both positions – as stated, one can mount a defence of both, all-be-it assailable. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, it is the </span><i><span>in-between</span></i><span> – not centre – of this micro-library that we need to investigate </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A10&version=CSB"><i><span>Kingdom Come</span></i></a><span> processes and priorities. To do that, at the very least, we must commence with two primary, inseparable, and unnegotiable lenses, </span><o:p></o:p></p><ul style="list-style-type:disc;">
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<span><strong>Mission</strong> and more importantly, </span><o:p></o:p>
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<span><strong>Relationship</strong>.</span><o:p></o:p>
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</ul><p><span>For it is the great plan of Salvation and redemption to restore God’s highest creation to their rightful place that matters most. A place forfeited by choosing sin and self over King and Kingdom. Dominion was forfeited, not lost, though Paradise was. It is this</span><i><span><strong> Placeholder</strong></span></i><span> identity that seems to generate confusion. As if our commission, mandate, and purpose became a greater imperative than our communion, intimacy, and relationship with our Creator God. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>If the relationship – the connection with Father God is distilled to form, function and fruitfulness outcomes, then my identity as placeholder coalesces around governing, ruling, stewarding, renewing, building, and dominating, to name a few. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>All these labels and/or titles are not illegitimate at all, far from it. However, enacted as highest priority, or worse, alone (separated from intimacy) then all activity and action are about </span><i><span>doing</span></i><span>, and whilst that is an undeniable imperative of Kingdom – our actions matter, make manifest and indeed are evaluated by the king – it is the other key and arguably seminal component of our existence that matters more, because it gives us true context and most fruitful corollary.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Clearly, these are all valid spaces, postures, and even titles, but unyoked from the primary design of our Heavenly Father – familial communion, these imperatives can be skewed. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The primary posture of relationship is much more about </span><i><span>being</span></i><span>, not merely doing.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Again, whilst these two are inseparable – to use the yoking analogy – it comes down to which ‘ox’ in the yoke is leading the </span><i><span>plough</span></i><span> of Kingdom priority? This agrarian model of yoking that Jesus alluded to in Mattew 11 and verses 28-30 was clearly associated with productivity, but it’s not just the how, what, when, where, who and the subsequent outcomes, but the why? The ‘older’ ox teaches the younger not to just work hard and profitably, but wisely and easily with an intent more toward posture, than productivity – personhood before performance. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This is an important qualifier as we move forward. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>I’m not going to drill down further into these two starting bookends, but I want to encourage you to investigate and reflect on where you might sit in these arenas. We don’t have to ‘join a camp’ or subscribe to a fixed ideology, but we do need generate a greater awareness of His Kingdom and its core priorities.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Some questions to ponder during that reflection.</span><o:p></o:p></p><ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
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<span>Where is your focus in this space – bookend or somewhere in the middle?</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>What lens are you using now?</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Is Father God prompting you to get a broader lens?</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Is Father God prompting you to come a little higher?</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Will that call higher diminish your ‘doing’ or enhance it?</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Will that call higher diminish your ‘being’ or enhance it?</span><o:p></o:p>
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</ul><p><span><strong>Our Post-Truth World is Descending into Chaos</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>I’ve written on many occasions about this particular point but to restate it here is important. Our world has never before been in this position. I’m not referring to chaos or ‘each man doing what is right in his own sight’; or global oligarchs and tyrants trying to ‘rule the world’ through foul means – history is littered with such endeavours. The latest iteration of this dictatorial tyranny is using same missives, but via unprecedented ramped up vehicles, not before available in human history, but the plot is age old – age old. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>No, what I’m referring to is the </span><i><span>post-Christian posture</span></i><span> of the world; that is new.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>It’s not at all surprising that the Messiah incarnated when He did – Yes, God chose Israel, of course, it was His plan for them to be His ambassadors to the world, but it’s the timing. From a ‘natural’ perspective, it would appear bad timing. </span><o:p></o:p></p><ul style="list-style-type:disc;">
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<span>Rome had conquered the known world – Dictatorial military regime in charge.</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Dominating and controlling all culture and commerce.</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Polytheism permitted as long as Rome or the Emperor were where final allegiances landed.</span><o:p></o:p>
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<span>Freedom of speech and conscience severely limited – do I need to say more?</span><o:p></o:p>
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</ul><p style="text-align:center;"><i><span>It’s into this mess that Jesus Christ lands.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Without starting another treatise here on how Jesus operated in this space – complete antithesis to the dominant culture – He starts a global mission for redemption, change, recalibration, restoration – Salvation of the entire planet, </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A16-17&version=AMPC"><span>one that through Him was created</span></a><span> in a forsaken back-end of this new empire. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, that mission like no other has changed the face of the entire planet. When true </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVab2zMq1XM"><span>Jesus Christ governing Kingdom principles and ethos and willingly embraced by the populace, society is at its best</span></a><span>. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Ah, but prideful, sin-filled, self-governing humanity with its now Kingdom originated systems that work, has decided it wants the benefits – the </span><i><span>products</span></i><span>, but not the relationship that imbues, empowers, and enables this all to work well. It believes it can </span><i><span>kick out</span></i><span> the foundations and still enjoy the benefits of a divinely ordered and sustained reality, and not see the </span><i><span>product</span></i><span> fail – But failing it is under the stewardship of God ignoring oligarchs.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>So, ‘fixing’ it, what does that look like?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Again, quick reflect back to when, where and how Jesus The Christ incarnated gives us that model and subsequent mandate to make copies of such – disciples.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, here I’ll want to bring to our attention one very powerful manifestation of that model. I want us to take a fresh look at a remarkable and historically profound microcosm, that I hope will help us look along the many perspectives between our bookends of </span><i><span>Remnant</span></i><span> and </span><i><span>Kingdom Now</span></i><span> Theologies about doing and being.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>Civilizing Hell – The True Story</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Most of you will have investigated, or at least heard of the utterly remarkable true story of Roman Catholic Priest Father Damien, and his life surrendering Kingdom mission of love to the Hawaii island of Molokai. If not, can I urge you to watch this dramatized account of his mission to get some perspective?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align:center;">(<span>You can do this now or after you’ve finished reading. </span>click here <a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Molokai+Film&&view=detail&mid=CB073EEFF37B2BC0BF8BCB073EEFF37B2BC0BF8B&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DMolokai%2BFilm%26FORM%3DRESTAB"><i><span><strong>Father Damian and Molokai Story</strong></span></i></a><i><span><strong>)</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>What Father Damien did and many others before him, like the early disciples and the Apostle Paul, was to follow their Saviour and yoke with Him in the environment they found themselves to bring about His Kingdom. Our post-Christian culture is unique, but </span><i><span>civilizing hell </span></i><span>is still a Kingdom agenda, how will we go about it?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This Danish born and bred follower of Jesus wanted to serve and reach the lost. The journey to his final destination and death on Molokai is not unfamiliar to anyone who seeks and understands relationship with their Heavenly Father.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>In early 1864 the Hawaiian leprosy epidemic exploded. Father Damien wrote to his family: “Leprosy is beginning to be very prevalent here. There are many men covered with it. . . . The disease is very dangerous because it is highly contagious.” The government responded by quarantining people with leprosy on the Kalaupapa peninsula of the island of Molokai. One chronicler reported that “[l]epers were hunted by officials, usually white men, with great zeal… whole families took to the hills and caves. Soon there were entire communities living in hiding.”<strong><sup>2</sup></strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>“Discoloured patches appear on the skin, especially on the cheeks; and the parts affected lose their feeling. After a time, this discoloration coves the whole body; then ulcers begin to open, mainly at the extremities. The flesh is eaten away and gives out a fetid smell; even the breath of the leper becomes so foul that the air around is poisoned with it.” – Father Damien <strong><sup>2</sup></strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>On the 4<sup>th</sup> of May 1873<strong>,</strong> the bishop, Monseigneur Maigret, accompanied Damien onto the beach. Damien had never seen individuals in the late stages of the disease and turned white at the sight of swollen and rotted features. Bishop Maigret offered him a final chance to back out, but Damien shook it off. He would stick to his word.<strong><sup>3 </sup></strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>When Damien had arrived at the colony, it was popularly known as “the living graveyard.” The lepers suffered from almost every human need. Food, clean water, clothing, shelter, basic medical care—all were wanting on the island. They had been brought to Molokai simply to wait for death—and death’s stench was all around them. On average, about one leper died every day, and their corpses, hastily buried by those who were strong enough to complete the task, were often unearthed and partially consumed by wild pigs. (It was this ever-present reek of the rotting bodies mixed with that of the lepers’ festering wounds, that led Damian to take up pipe-smoking soon after his arrival in an effort to suppress the stench that invariably enveloped him.)</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>All of these people had been ripped from their families, and in the nightmarish conditions they sought to find what consolation they could through the consumption of alcohol in the form of a crude beverage fermented from the native ki root. Nightly drunkenness translated into regular sexual orgies. Women on the island prostituted themselves for shelter and companionship, and children were similarly enslaved and abused. It was, as the lepers themselves proclaimed, a land “without law.”</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>In the eight years before Liliuokalani visited, Damien’s presence on the island had effected dramatic changes. A former farm boy with Martin Sheen good looks, Damian worked continuously for the lepers. He built houses, schools, and a conduit for freshwater, arranged for clothing to be delivered from the mainland, taught them to grow their own food. He advocated for them with the authorities and procured the medical supplies that would better their lives. He tended them, taught them, and, against medical advice, ate with them. All of this was accomplished even as he offered daily Mass and prayers, performed baptisms and marriages, and, of course, anointed the sick and said funerals for the dead.</span></i><span style="color:#333333;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>By the time Liliuokalani reached Kalaupapa, although the human devastation was still apparent in the deformed faces of the children she visited, those same children appeared before her as well-fed, neatly dressed schoolgirls. They formed a choir that serenaded her with a few songs, an expression of how far Damien had brought them in that short time. That day, the princess’ tears flowed freely. She praised the lepers’ courage, and when she returned home, she sent a letter to Father Damien, offering him the title of Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakaua, Hawaii’s highest honor.<strong><sup>4</sup></strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Just here, I want to just touch briefly on ‘Jesus and Politics’, as I’ve heard a couple of key perspectives on this, and none without real merit. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Jesus Christ, THE KING, leaves behind that position, potential, priority, performance and profile, and takes on the role of a SERVANT. This reality must be the foundational, informing factor of all our views on Christ and His Kingdom. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>You will note in the above excerpt that the ‘rulers of this world’ came to Damien and lauded and exulted him because of his Kingdom work. In this context his actions </span><i><span>spoke truth to power</span></i><span>. Not simply by lobbying and advocating, but more so by manifestation and demonstration to the point of losing his health and life. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Of course, at a different, but no less legitimate end of that spectrum of </span><i><span>speaking truth to power,</span></i><span> we see the Apostle Paul actively pursued political advocacy, using his Roman Citizenship, Pharisee informed intellect and legal insights to lobby Rome and advocate for the acknowledgement of the Christian Way, hoping to give them legal protection from the Judaists as they serve, enabling their work to flourish and impact the society through Kingdom Mission. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Ah, but back to Jesus. He certainly engaged the political elites in his missional context of Palestine, both Jew and Gentile, commerce and culture. Everything from turning over tables in the temple, healing lepers and a Centurian’s servant; to sending demons into the Roman garrisons’ meat supply, but simultaneously fulfilling all righteousness. He turned the other check and even paid taxes. It is, again, the posture of mission that determines the socio-political impact. Sowing into all arenas, not necessarily dominating them. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Corruption, intimidation and coercion were rampant in Jesus’ context, but it did not stop Him completing his mission. Of course, wisdom, discernment and timing are all part of that process, but so is realizing you cannot ‘win’ in that context. The Christian mission is not to own the </span><i><span>bakehouse</span></i><span>, it is more the leaven of righteousness infecting and affecting all parts, though never, it seems, controlling – at least not in this dispensation. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Perhaps the ultimate moment of speaking truth to power and overturning the ‘ruler’ of this world started in Gabatha. The KING is standing before Pontius Pilate, the physical representative of the then ‘empire’ and its ultimate authority in that space – Pilate. He was, in that time and place, Caeser. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>When given opportunity to defend, advocate, lobby, assert, challenge, even defeat this pretender and usurper, Jesus is silent. It is </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18%3A37&version=AMPC"><span><strong>John 18:37</strong></span></a><span> that gives us one of the most profound indicators of what must be at the fore of this posture of servant ambassador, and that is Truth. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Now, it was our missions Architect purpose to incarnate, then manifest, then demonstrate and then implement the Kingdom way, and end up dying in doing so – The example that His servant Father Damien followed 1800 years later. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span>“Be severe toward yourself, indulgent toward others. Have scrupulous exactitude for everything regarding God: prayer, meditation, Mass, administration of the Sacraments. Unite your heart with God…” — </span></i><span>Father Damien</span><i><span> <strong><sup>2</sup></strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Obviously, so much more can be written here, about what, how and when and that should be explored by you, the reader. My meagre presentation here is more a primer for you to seek our Father God’s best Kingdom practice and what that looks like in your context.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, at the risk of being prescriptive, can I prompt a starting focus? It seems in this short offering that the factor, the element that is key to effectiveness of any calling to the Kingdom work, is this going back to the </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+2%3A4-5&version=AMPC"><span><strong>First Love</strong></span></a><span> – the relationship with the King, not simply performing for Him.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>That is ‘how’ we ‘civilize hell’.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>I must ask myself, is my relationship such as to see this happen, or am I still looking for ways to use all the resources of heaven for productivity without surrendering my life?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Lord, help me surrender all.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align:right;"><span>A perspective by Shane W. Varcoe (August 2023)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>Also see.</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><ul style="list-style-type:disc;">
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/6377056/the-practice-and-posture-of-the-triune-god-revealed-how-must-we-live"><span><strong>The Practice and Posture of the Triune God Revealed – How Must We Live?</strong></span></a><span><strong> </strong></span><o:p></o:p>
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/6710179/what-makes-a-nation-stand-up-and-out"><span><strong>What Makes a Nation Stand Up and Out? </strong></span></a><span><strong> </strong></span><o:p></o:p>
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/7042970/the-gospel-of-the-kingdom-for-the-empires-of-this-world"><span><strong>The Gospel of The Kingdom, for the Empires of this World! </strong></span></a><span><strong> </strong></span><o:p></o:p>
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</ul><p> </p><p><span>Endnotes</span><o:p></o:p></p><ol>
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Damien-of-Molokai"><span>Saint Damien of Molokai | Biography, Leprosy, Feast Day, & Facts | Britannica</span></a><o:p></o:p>
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://catholicstand.com/extraordinary-man-extraordinary-soul-life-st-damien-molokai/"><span>Extraordinary Man, Extraordinary Soul: The Life of St. Damien Of Molokai - Catholic Stand</span></a><o:p></o:p>
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/it-happened-today/5/4"><span>It Happened Today | Christian History Institute</span></a><o:p></o:p>
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<a class="no-pjax" href="https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/why-we-still-need-saint-damien-of-molokai/"><span>Why We Still Need Saint Damien of Molokai | Church Life Journal | University of Notre Dame</span></a><o:p></o:p>
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</ol><p> </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/7251319
2023-08-03T19:44:38+10:00
2023-08-03T19:59:49+10:00
Temptation and the ‘Law’ of Grace?
<p><o:p></o:p><i><span><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/20671/719684ae5fbef3ff29b8343bdd02d8ff425c71f9/original/temptation-lawgrace.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Enter – The Frame </strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>We open here just after a freshly unveiled Messiah is announced for the first time in the public square.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>After approximately 30 years of living as ‘one of us’, Jesus the Christ is not only proclaimed to be among us, but the </span><i><span>Son in the Triune God</span></i><span>, and His purpose again proclaimed by the prophetic forerunner, John the Baptist (Elijah, if you will, revisited). What was that purpose according this seminal and foundational proclamation? That this Jesus was the “</span><i><span><strong>Lamb of God</strong></span></i><span> “and He was here to “</span><i><span><strong>take away the sin of the world.” </strong></span></i><span>(John 1:29) From the outset, The Christ was born to be a sacrifice to recreate a better way for those who </span><i><span>sinned</span></i><span> – missed the mark of Gods glory, and thus had </span><i><span>forfeited</span></i><span> their station – back into that original created place.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Now we turn to the Gospel writer Matthew, who goes on to record in Chapter three that the first act in fulfilling that mission was to be baptised by this John – fully immersed in the waters, but why? </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>After John had resisted being part of this act of humility, surrender and repentance for the One he just (as the greatest prophet that ever lived) declared was unworthy even to carry Jesus’ sandals, and who wanted to be baptised by Him. Jesus commands John that this be done and in absolute concert with his foundational mission, which was also to </span><i><span><strong>“fulfill all righteousness.” </strong></span></i><span>(v15). Jesus didn’t have to </span><i><span>repent</span></i><span> of any wrongdoing at all, but he did signify through this sacrament, that he was dying completely to self and raising up in complete surrender to the will and mission of the Kingdom of Heaven. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The Gospel of Matthew goes on to then record the very next act in this mission of </span><i><span>salvation of the world</span></i><span>. The Holy Spirit in </span><i><span>The Triune God</span></i><span> then leads, or </span><i><span>brings up</span></i><span>, this Messiah into a desolate, isolated, and barren place for a specific purpose – to be tempted by the Devil. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Note it is the Holy Spirit Who did this. (Matthew 4:1) </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This Devil is the Adversary, the original </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/20671/1985072cf27961856bb7ba5227841ea1d8e9ed82/original/servanthood-posture-practice-of-triune-god.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE%2F20230803%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230803T094837Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=f5a4c7c5ede58fec8a4975fb90e103cc262b992f2b38ef2044f13709a1ff9a22" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><span>fraudulent usurping contender for the </span><i><span>appointment</span></i><span> of Son</span></a><a class="no-pjax" href="https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/20671/1985072cf27961856bb7ba5227841ea1d8e9ed82/original/servanthood-posture-practice-of-triune-god.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE%2F20230721%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230721T012241Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=62704df293807dc64bf4fb7272147b5ff54d0267bee57728ac277dd5d001d2fd"><span>.</span></a><span> <sup>(read pages 14-21)</sup> The one whom had ‘tricked’ the original stewards of God’s creation – Adam and Eve – into inviting this usurper’s influence into the government of God’s creation. Thus, by this default, granted Satan that manipulative management at the surrender by those original stewards of this world to him – they had lost their </span><i><span>place.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This second and imperative phase of the mission required the first ‘bookend’ of dealing with this squatting manager. To prepare for that Jesus was led by the Spirit (under the Fathers’ empowered instruction) to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. This ‘bookend one’ of battle (the Cross and Resurrection the other ‘bookend’) was to be not merely intense and demanding, but utterly strategic in the Divine Plan of Redemption. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Right here I want to give some information that some may not be across – data that I hope will help you grasp a little better the gravity of this encounter.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The ‘Bible’ that Jesus used was the </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/Jewish-Bible.html"><span><strong>Tanakh</strong></span></a><span> - The ‘Law’ (Torah), the Prophets, the Writings etc, essentially the Christian Bibles Old Testament. It is important to note too that the texts Jesus quoted from the most – and in order of highest used was – <strong>Psalms</strong>, then <strong>Deuteronomy</strong>, then <strong>Isaiah</strong>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>To me this makes sense for this new mission of </span><i><span>recalibration</span></i><span> of the world.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Firstly, Jesus uses King David’s writings. Of course, we can make sense of that from the lineage issue, set in motion with the Abrahamic Covenant and the commencement of a ‘ruling class’ when the ill-advised (but foreseen) request by the Jews for a king. This the Sovereign God used to bring into the frame of human history the ONLY True Sovereign – KING – back to His rightful place of Government. (Isaiah 9:6) </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, there is more when one looks through the lens of the relational dynamic of not only Covenantal governance, but what they always reflected from the beginning. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Which was? Triune Creator God’s desire to have fellowship – intimate communion – with a free will endowed creature made is </span><i><span>His</span></i><span> Image. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The Psalms that King David wrote are a powerful lens into that space. They are replete and rich with this passion for communion, intimacy, relationship, and the collaboration these profound and freely surrendered to contexts will bring. Returning to that original design of stewardship of this domain, this world, together in an Edenic context. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Ah, but the second text Jesus draw from most consistently was the book of <strong>Deuteronomy</strong> – which translated is, the second reading or, </span><i><span>‘the Law revisited’</span></i><span>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This imperative revisiting of the law was done just prior to the wandering nation of Isael’s entering into the promised land. After 40 years of desert </span><i><span>nomading</span></i><span>, (all for the purpose of culling the rebellious demographic from the ranks and essentially not getting them out of Egypt </span><i><span>but getting Egypt out of them</span></i><span>.) This now fully fledged </span><i><span>nation</span></i><span> of people must be schooled in how to not simply conquer, but more specifically behave, act, live and </span><i><span>govern</span></i><span> in this new land, if this nation was to be to the world what God intended it to be – a </span><i><span>beacon</span></i><span> to return to the Creator.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The 614 laws – civic, health, ceremonial, moral and spiritual – had to be outlined afresh and brought to front of mind to help this people find God’s best practice. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This collective work of legislation and principle, the Tanakh, is the first Covenant, and it was not a </span><i><span>mistake</span></i><span> or an </span><i><span>experimen</span></i><span>t, it was <strong>good</strong>. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>Psalm 1:1-3</strong> (NLT) </span><i><span>Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. <strong><sup> </sup></strong>But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>Psalm 19:7</strong> (MEV) </span><i><span>The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>119: 9-11</strong> (Voice) </span><i><span>How can a young person remain pure? Only by living according to Your word. I have pursued You with my whole heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. Deep within me I have hidden Your word so that I will never sin against You.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>Isaiah 29:11-16</strong> (ESV)</span><i><span> <strong><sup> </sup></strong>And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” <strong><sup>12 </sup></strong>And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.” And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, <strong><sup> </sup></strong>therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder;</span></i><br><i><span>and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” <strong><sup> </sup></strong>You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Just in these short texts alone, you can see, not only how affirming of the First Covenant and its intent Godly men were, but also how manipulation of the text or its intent and endeavour, meant it was made powerless or counterproductive to God’s design. Consequently, how many of those gatekeepers of this vital covenant in Israel had now become ethnocentric, elitist, manipulative and controlling. Sadly, more aligned with the ‘usurpers’ governance style, than with the Creators Kingship.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p><p><i><span><strong>Enter The King – Jesus the Christ.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Let’s return to the pending wilderness battle in Matthew 4. This now publicly revealed, Old Covenant honouring, </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-hypostatic-union"><span>rightful Sovereign is subjecting his fully human nature to the fully Divine practice</span></a><span> in His super-human fast. Surrendered and fully embracing not only His Mission, but his new incarnated status, in round one, he confronts the Adversary of not only His creation but its paragon – humanity. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Now it’s important for us to again remember that Satan knows the </span><i><span>Tanakh</span></i><span> very well. He was there when it was created and as we’ve seen above, working tirelessly to test, tempt, and try humans to deny, diminish, deconstruct, and just plain disobey God’s best-practice counsel. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>I would humbly contend that Satan thinks he has an idea of what’s going on, and how he might sabotage it, but not the full picture as evident in Paul’s writing in his </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+2%3A+6-8&version=AMP"><span>First Letter to the Corinthians chapter 2 verses, 6-8.</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>So, Satan’s tactic begins. First and softest target is the very real ‘felt need’ of staggering and arguably unimaginable hunger. The Devil appeals to a perceived need, and then invokes Jesus’ capacity and agency to meet that need. However, Jesus goes beyond this immediate and engages God’s </span><i><span>law revisited</span></i><span> and quotes an abridged version of Deuteronomy 8:3 <strong><sup> </sup></strong></span><i><span>“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”</span></i><span> Demonstrating that the eternal has far greater weight than the ephemeral, <strong>no matter how demanding it may present </strong>– Best practice for transformation is invoked, not neglected. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Then, Satan tries to get Jesus’ to perform party tricks – to show off not only His position, authority and entitlement, but so ‘prove’ Jesus is a ‘King’, even quoting </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+91%3A11-12&version=ESV"><span>Psalm 91:11-12</span></a><span> to the Author of Wisdom. Again, this is exactly what a carnal counterfeit monarch would do, using God’s Word for egocentric ends – self-indulgence and self-justification. The Kingdom of Heaven is an upside-down Kingdom, and Satan had long forgotten that truth in his personal pursuit for power. The Usurper got the position, power, potential, and prominence, but he was still wilfully ignorant of the Divine Posture.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Jesus has been tested on human needs. Then tested on Divine potential. Now the last and arguably most powerful temptation; Jesus the Christ was tempted on assignment – His mission. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>In verse 8 we read that the Devil took Jesus up to a </span><i><span>world-view</span></i><span> context and showed Him all the Kingdoms that rightly belong to Jesus, but that had been </span><i><span>forfeited</span></i><span> to Satan by fallen stewards, and rightly says he can give them back. But, again, Jesus correctly invokes God’s Word to counter Satan’s manipulation of the Godly text and remind him about what the Kingdom and its Law are really all about, thus re-stating the Divine Order. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Notice it wasn’t the quoting of Scripture that made Satan leave, no it was the command given by a surrendered </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/20671/1985072cf27961856bb7ba5227841ea1d8e9ed82/original/servanthood-posture-practice-of-triune-god.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE%2F20230803%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230803T094837Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=f5a4c7c5ede58fec8a4975fb90e103cc262b992f2b38ef2044f13709a1ff9a22" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><span>Servant of the Kingdom (a true Kings posture)</span></a><span> and the authority that releases that compelled Satan to leave. (</span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+4%3A7&version=AMP"><span><strong>James 4:7</strong></span></a><span>)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>It was legendary preacher Jonathan Edwards who perhaps glimpsed this posture’s power when he stated… </span><i><span>“Nothing sets a person so much out of the devils reach as humility.”</span></i><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>It is important to note that Jesus did not only cite the </span><i><span><strong>law</strong></span></i><span>, but used God’s Counsel, to resist temptation and to remind the devil of the original intent of God’s Counsel. However, Jesus was also more importantly digging deeper the </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.assignmentdealer.com/ways-of-creating-a-trench-of-truth/#:~:text=While%20ruts%20have%20been%20made%20from%20deceptions%20one,guides%20or%20controls%20to%20their%20way%20of%20reasoning."><i><span>trench of truth</span></i></a><span> about God’s practice and purpose for His most Beloved Servant.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>As previously stated, the enemy of our souls knows the Old Covenant well, but he did not know a New Covenant was coming. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Jesus Christ, the Co-Author of this first relational covenant with His people, understood not only it’s context and purpose, but also its intent and context and subsequently its best-practice implementation. Satan was always looking for ways to misuse, manipulate and mould the text to accomplish or justify </span><i><span>his interpretative ends</span></i><span>. However, the law as given to </span><i><span>promote</span></i><span> righteousness, as well as protect and provide for His people, and in so doing draw them to not only God’s ways, but God Himself – into communion with Him again.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Yet, this law can be re-tasked through misinterpretation or misuse to justify that which does not promote those chief ends of the Kingdom – Misused for self-preserving and placating means. To avoid trouble and draw down blessings and create and maintain prosperity. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Sound familiar?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p><p><i><span><strong>Enter the New Covenant – The ‘Law’ of Grace?</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Without revisiting the entire global mission of the incarnation, the Cross – the Lamb of God, the Scapegoat – death and Resurrection and thus ratifying of the New Order that Jesus Christ had spent three years teaching about; it is important to understand here that it is now the construct of grace, not the law, that </span><i><span>must govern</span></i><span> our relational journey to and in righteousness, wholeness, intimacy and holiness.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This new </span><i><span>Way</span></i><span> – a Covenant – that opens the way not only back to the Edenic plan of intimacy and communion but enables what the law was unable to accomplish (Not a design fault, a compliance failure); which is to have the Third Person of the Trinity – </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A+5-11&version=AMP"><span>the Holy Spirit – not merely move on us and through us, but take up residence within us and all that will mean</span></a><span> for continuing the mission of ‘saving the world from their sin’ – the impediment to a growing relationship with the Holy God. (</span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A5-11&version=AMP"><span>John 16: 5-11)</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Ah, but if the Old Covenant could be </span><i><span>played</span></i><span> to my </span><i><span>own</span></i><span> tune, this New Covenant appears to lend itself even more so to that egocentric manipulation – even as some of the teachers of law accused Paul’s followers of doing. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, let’s look at this new </span><i><span>freedom</span></i><span> under the ‘law’ of Grace – The freedom to conform more completely to the Divine will and nature. When you read the following texts look closely to both the </span><i><span>participatory</span></i><span> and </span><i><span>provisional</span></i><span> statements. What is the expected outcome and action in and from us under this New Covenant and the provision assisted call to transcend the good, but disempowering, old law.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Let’s start with <strong>Romans 6</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>5 </sup>For you have become a part of him, and so you died with him</strong>, so to speak, when he died;<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%206&version=TLB#fen-TLB-25143a" title="See footnote a"><i><span><sup>a</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> and now you share his new life and shall rise as he did. <strong><sup>6 </sup>Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him</strong>; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and fatally wounded, <strong>so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin’s control, no longer needs to be a slave to sin</strong>; <strong><sup>7 </sup></strong>for when you are deadened to sin you are <strong>freed from all its allure and its power over you.</strong> <strong><sup>8 </sup></strong>And since your old sin-loving nature “died” with Christ, we know that you will share his new life… <strong><sup>10 </sup></strong>He died once for all to end sin’s power, but now he lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God. <strong><sup>11 </sup>So look upon your old sin nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God</strong>, alert to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord. <strong><sup>12 </sup>Do not let sin control your puny body any longer</strong>; do not give in to its sinful desires. <strong><sup>13 </sup>Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God—every part of you—for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.</strong> <strong><sup>14 </sup></strong>Sin need never again be your master,<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%206&version=TLB#fen-TLB-25152b" title="See footnote b"><i><span><sup>b</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but <strong>you are free under God’s favor and mercy.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>15 </sup>Does this mean that now we can go ahead and sin and not worry about it? (For our salvation does not depend on keeping the law but on receiving God’s grace!) Of course not!</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>16 </sup>Don’t you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal).</strong> The one to whom you offer yourself—he will take you and be your master, and you will be his slave. <strong><sup>17 </sup></strong>Thank God that though you once chose to be slaves of sin, <strong>now you have obeyed with all your heart the teaching to which God has committed you</strong>. <strong><sup>18 </sup></strong>And now you are free from your old master, sin; and <strong>you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.</strong> <strong><sup>19 </sup></strong>I speak this way, using the illustration of slaves and masters, because it is easy to understand: just as you used to be slaves to all kinds of sin, <strong>so now you must let yourselves be slaves to all that is right and holy.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>Romans 7: 6-14</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span> <strong><sup>6 </sup></strong>But now you need no longer worry about the Jewish laws and customs<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%207&version=TLB#fen-TLB-25167b" title="See footnote b"><i><span><sup>b</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> because you “died” while in their captivity, <strong>and now you can really serve God; not in the old way, mechanically obeying a set of rules, but in the new way, with all of your hearts and minds….<sup>9 </sup>That is why I felt fine so long as I did not understand what the law really demanded.</strong> <strong>But when I learned the truth, I realized that I had broken the law and was a sinner</strong>, doomed to die. <strong><sup>10 </sup></strong>So as far as I was concerned, the good law which was supposed to show me the way of life resulted instead in my being given the death penalty. <strong><sup>11 </sup>Sin fooled me by taking the good laws of God and using them to make me guilty of death. <sup>12 </sup>But still, you see, the law itself was wholly right and good. <sup>13 </sup></strong>But how can that be? Didn’t the law cause my doom? How then can it be good? <strong>No, it was sin, devilish stuff that it is, that used what was good to bring about my condemnation. So you can see how cunning and deadly and damnable it is. For it uses God’s good laws for its own evil purposes.</strong> <strong><sup>14 </sup>The law is good, then, and the trouble is not there but with me because I am sold into slavery with Sin as my owner.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>1 Corinthians 5: 1-8</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>1 </sup></strong>Everyone is talking about the terrible thing that has happened there among you, something so evil that even the heathen don’t do it: you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father’s wife.<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+5&version=TLB#fen-TLB-25508a" title="See footnote a"><i><span><sup>a</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> <strong><sup>2 </sup></strong>And are you still so conceited, so “spiritual”? Why aren’t you mourning in sorrow and shame and seeing to it that this man is removed from your membership?</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>6 </sup>What a terrible thing it is that you are boasting about your purity and yet you let this sort of thing go on.</strong> <strong>Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected?</strong> <strong><sup>7 </sup>Remove this evil cancer—this wicked person—from among you, so that you can stay pure</strong>. Christ, God’s Lamb, has been slain for us. <strong><sup>8 </sup>So let us feast upon him and grow strong in the Christian life, leaving entirely behind us the cancerous old life with all its hatreds and wickedness. Let us feast instead upon the pure bread of honor and sincerity and truth.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span><strong>1 Corinthians 10: 1-13</strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong>For we must never forget, dear brothers, what happened to our people in the wilderness long ago.</strong> God guided them by sending a cloud that moved along ahead of them; and he brought them all safely through the waters of the Red Sea. <strong><sup>2 </sup>This might be called their “baptism”—baptized both in sea and cloud!—</strong>as followers of Moses—their commitment to him as their leader. <strong><sup>3-4 </sup></strong>And by a miracle God sent them food to eat and water to drink<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+10%3A1-13&version=TLB#fen-TLB-25621a" title="See footnote a"><i><span><sup>a</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> there in the desert; they drank the water that Christ gave them. <strong>He was there with them as a mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment. <sup>5 </sup>Yet after all this most of them did not obey God, and he destroyed them in the wilderness. <sup>6 </sup>From this lesson we are warned that we must not desire evil things as they did</strong>, <strong><sup>7 </sup></strong>nor worship idols as they did. (The Scriptures tell us, “The people sat down to eat and drink and then got up to dance” in worship of the golden calf.) <strong><sup>8 </sup></strong>Another lesson for us is what happened when some of them sinned with other men’s wives, and 23,000 fell dead in one day. <strong><sup>9 </sup>And don’t try the Lord’s patience—they did and died from snake bites. <sup>10 </sup>And don’t murmur against God and his dealings with you as some of them did, for that is why God sent his Angel to destroy them.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>11 </sup>All these things happened to them as examples—as object lessons to us—to warn us against doing the same things; they were written down so that we could read about them and learn from them in these last days as the world nears its end.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup>12 </sup>So be careful. If you are thinking, “Oh, I would never behave like that”—let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin.</strong> <strong><sup>13 </sup></strong>But remember this—the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. <strong>And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it</strong>, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span><strong><sup>*******</sup></strong></span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>From the outset we must understand fully that </span><i><span><strong>grace</strong></span></i><span> is not codified as the </span><i><span><strong>law</strong></span></i><span> was and the misunderstanding of this </span><i><span>apparent</span></i><span> lack of stringency could become problematic. The new construct of this grace was not merely liberating for the systematised law bound Jews, but this New Covenant-managed liberty was purposed to keep you free from the slavery to </span><i><span><strong>sin</strong></span></i><span>. not merely free from ‘restrictions’ – what Jesus came to take away – not enable a licence too. (</span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5&version=ESV"><span>Galatians 5:1</span></a><span>).</span><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p><p><span>Much like the pagan, and often Gnostic gentiles of Jesus time who had little concept of moral law, this inestimably wonderful construction was often harnessed to attitudes like, </span><i><span>how much can I get away with, deny, avoid, downplay or step away from holiness.</span></i><span> This holiness is the invitation, the beckoning and empowering by God to </span><i><span>conform with the image of His Son</span></i><span>, that state of purification – ultimately sinless, not merely guiltless. (</span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8+%3A+28-29&version=ESV"><span><strong>Romans 8:28-29</strong></span></a><span><strong> </strong>& </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4%3A8-13&version=ESV"><span><strong>Ephesians 4:8-13</strong></span></a><span>)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This state is not the </span><i><span>requirement</span></i><span> for salvation under the New Covenant – <strong>not at all</strong> – but it is the intended </span><i><span>goal and outcome </span></i><span>of it. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Remember, what Jesus declared in <strong>John 16</strong> about the Triune God’s intent was for the Son to come and fulfill the requirements of the law, (not ignore and write over them). Set in motion a new emphasis and empowerment when it comes to the wrecking ball of sin, and the return to the relational plan of God’s creation, but then to return to Heaven as KING and then be One with his now <strong>called out </strong>church </span><i><span>through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit</span></i><span>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>It is now in this new unprecedented and unequalled arrangement, with imputed righteousness by faith and repentance, that we are free from onerous framing behaviour modifiers – the law – to God indwelling and empowering to meet, overcome and transcend the issue of sin and all its harms. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The greatest Resource of Heaven, this Third Person of the Trinity now <strong>living in</strong> those who have been <strong>‘saved from their sin’</strong> and bought back into right relationship with their Heavenly Father and KING. This should not only be </span><i><span>enabling</span></i><span> and </span><i><span>equipping</span></i><span>, but </span><i><span>compelling. </span></i><span>This grace and endowment should enable an even </span><i><span>greater</span></i><span> compliance to the Heavenly standard, not a lessening of.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p><p><i><span><strong>Enter the New Standard.</strong></span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>In fact, if was our Saviour Himself who <strong>raised that bar of compliance</strong>, not lowered it, as so many in our post-Truth and carnal culture ‘church’ would have us believe. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>I will end this brief treatise with Jesus Christ powerful commission amid the wonderful ‘bookend’ of Kingdom living, what we call the </span><i><span>Sermon on the Mount</span></i><span> (The other bookend is the </span><i><span>Ten Commandments</span></i><span>).</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>In Matthew Chapter 5 after ‘putting the devil in his place’, Jesus turns to the people and the opening volley of this most blessed of sermons is breathtakingly profound, particularly to the hearers. The oppressed and/or burdened masses heard how valuable they were and how loved by God they were.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Then in verse 17-19 when everyone is filling with new hope, Jesus Christ doesn’t dash it, rather He profoundly scaffolds it with reference to the First and good Covenant, one that He Co-Authored. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup> </sup></strong>“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. <strong><sup>18 </sup></strong>For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. <strong><sup>19 </sup></strong>Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (ESV</span></i><span>)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Note the warning to whoever </span><i><span>relaxes or teaches others to be careless</span></i><span> about the law? They are relegated and diminished. It’s those who hold the practice of the law for its intended goal – relationship with God, will be called great in the Kingdom.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Ah, but it is in verse 20 that we encounter the </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/4221058/lowering-the-bar-i-don-t-think-so"><span>raising of the bar to a new level of divine compliance.</span></a><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><span>For I tell you, <strong>unless your righteousness exceeds</strong> that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This is not merely imputed righteousness – justification by faith – that is freely bestowed on us to make us guiltless before God. This is a call and, again, empowerment to sanctification unto holiness in the everyday (by HIS grace, mercy and enabling) to conform more and more with the Image of His Son. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>It is from verse 21 of this commissioning call to the would-be Disciples of Christ that Jesus takes things to an entirely new level of expectation.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><i><span><strong><sup> </sup></strong>“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ <strong><sup>22 </sup></strong>But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=ESV#fen-ESV-23257c" title="See footnote c"><i><span><sup>c</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> will be liable to judgment; whoever insults<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=ESV#fen-ESV-23257d" title="See footnote d"><i><span><sup>d</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=ESV#fen-ESV-23257e" title="See footnote e"><i><span><sup>e</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> of fire. <strong><sup>23 </sup></strong>So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, <strong><sup>24 </sup></strong>leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. <strong><sup>25 </sup></strong>Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. <strong><sup>26 </sup></strong>Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. <strong><sup>27 </sup></strong>“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ <strong><sup>28 </sup></strong>But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. <strong><sup>29 </sup></strong>If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. <strong><sup>30 </sup></strong>And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell…</span><strong><sup>38 </sup></strong>“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ <strong><sup>39 </sup></strong>But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. <strong><sup>40 </sup></strong>And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,<sup>[</sup></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=ESV#fen-ESV-23275h" title="See footnote h"><i><sup>h</sup></i></a><i><sup>]</sup> let him have your cloak as well. <strong><sup>41 </sup></strong>And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. <strong><sup>42 </sup></strong>Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. <span><strong><sup>43 </sup></strong>“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ <strong><sup>44 </sup></strong>But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, <strong><sup>45 </sup></strong>so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. <strong><sup>46 </sup></strong>For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? <strong><sup>47 </sup></strong>And if you greet only your brothers,<sup>[</sup></span></i><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=ESV#fen-ESV-23282i" title="See footnote i"><i><span><sup>i</sup></span></i></a><i><span><sup>]</sup> what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? <strong><sup>48 </sup></strong>You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The </span><i><span>sin slaying Saviour</span></i><span> of the world wants to live </span><i><span>in and with us as</span></i><span> He lives </span><i><span>in and through us.</span></i><span> Consequently, the expectations on divine compliance move beyond actions and deeds to very thoughts and intents of heart and our </span><i><span>accountability</span></i><span> under this New Covenant for this.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>This is the </span><i><span>law of grace</span></i><span> and one we cannot ignore, </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/20671/1175cfc532148de0164dadbd5436034b018b240a/original/disciples-planet-welfarepolicyprimer08-12-20.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE%2F20230711%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230711T102200Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=1d7d91cbb674eeba3e4377fc81bbf7d282432c0d06c9b387720381132412766d" target="_blank"><span>or worse, abuse.</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>However, it is one, that surrender to Christ’s Lordship, His continuing undeserved favour and enabling mercy that will see us more than conquerors as we conform to the image of our Saviour.</span></p><p style="text-align:right;"> </p><p style="text-align:right;"><span>Selah!</span></p><p style="text-align:right;"> </p><p style="text-align:right;"><span>(A perspective) By Shane Wesley Varcoe </span><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p><p><span>Further reading </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/6420828/who-says-we-are-undeserving"><span>Who Says We Are Undeserving? (disciplesplanet.net)</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/7186571
2023-04-09T16:24:08+10:00
2023-05-09T10:21:13+10:00
Sense in Suffering – Perspective in the ‘Happiness’ Paradigm?
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/20671/62ab3fe9a11b3034264f3a7ae7e828f0210a3f11/original/senseinsuffering.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><p><i><span><strong>“And He began to teach them that it was inevitable that <u>the Son of Man should go through much suffering</u> and be utterly repudiated by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He told them all this quite bluntly. This made Peter draw him on one side and take him to task about what he had said. But Jesus turned and faced his disciples and rebuked Peter.<u> “Out of my way, Satan!”</u> he said. <u>“Peter, you are not looking at things from God’s point of view, but from man’s!”</u></strong> </span></i><span><strong><sup>1</sup></strong> …</span><i><span><strong>“If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them. They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me because they don’t know the One who sent me.”</strong></span></i><span><strong><sup>2 </sup></strong></span></p><p><span>“Christ understood that being a “disciple” was in innermost and deepest harmony with what He said about Himself. Christ claimed to be The Way, The Truth, and The Life (Jn 14:6). For this reason, He would never be satisfied with adherents who accepted His teaching – especially with those who in their lives ignored it or let things take their usual course. His whole life on earth, from beginning to end, was destined solely to have followers and to make ‘admirers’ impossible.” </span></p><p style="text-align:right;"><span>Soren Kierkegaard - </span><i><span>Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard</span></i></p><p><span>If I recall correctly, it was Clive Staple Lewis who once quipped; </span><i><span>I know God only has good instore for me, but I do wonder from time to time, just how painful that good will turn out to be.</span></i></p><p><span>When I first read that quote, it resonated deeply as it reflected the burgeoning apprehension I had in many of my own experiences. It is true that our Wise and Loving Heavenly Father seeks only the best for us, but the perceived ‘painfulness’ of that process is what makes us baulk, and at times, baulk hard. </span></p><p><span>So, if we do actually fully subscribe to this omnibenevolent posture and the ultimate realities of ‘good’ that it brings, why do we do that – baulk, that is?</span></p><p><span>Clearly, there are other pressing realities that inform responses to our perception and/or engagement with difficult or distressing events and seasons. And yes, one such informing element was unabashedly ‘called out’ by Jesus in our opening text – Satan and his pernicious and nefarious agenda.</span></p><p><span>On other occasions it can be an underdeveloped or skewed theological framework that can have one attributing causal motivations of such events or seasons to God Himself. Whilst the Omniscient Creator God might use, redeem, or even allow these arduous times, He will not be the author of them. </span></p><p><span>However, it would appear that culture – the world and flesh combining, in our current era, is the single most significant informing element in our perceiving and interpreting of what may be transpiring. </span></p><p><span>Since the end of World War II last century and increasingly so in the new millennium in the First World West, the emerging and now fortified cultural posture is comfort, ease, and pleasure – happiness. </span></p><p><span>It is now believed that achieving, maintaining and/or protecting that which we personally deem makes us ‘happy’, is the highest priority of the human experience. Then with the emergence of post-Christianity and thus inevitable post-truth malaise, we saw this superficial and incredibly subjective by-product harness faux human rights in a myopic focus for all our human energies and resources. </span></p><p><span>This now sets the stage for the cathartic culture with its new therapeutic treatise. The <strong>only</strong> interpretation and even diagnosis around any perceived discomfort or the diminishing of ones ‘happiness’ is that it is ‘duress – bordering on trauma’, and thus a ‘suffering’ that must be alleviated.</span></p><p><span>In growing cultural corners, feelings that I deem ‘nice’ are now considered </span><i><span>good mental health</span></i><span>. Consequently, Well-being triage is now distilled down to attempting to identify any perceived disrupter of those ‘nice feelings’ as an enemy of ‘my mental health’.</span></p><p><span>Once such a diagnosis has been rendered to the now happiness deprived psyche, then prescriptions for recalibration to the extremely subjective and utterly egocentric specifications are pursued – often with real causal factors being ignored. </span></p><p><span>The what I call</span><i><span>, <strong>M.U.S.T </strong>Does</span></i><span> have now become the tyrannical masters of the ‘agency disabled’ emotional slave. </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span><strong>Mood – Urge – Symptoms – Taste</strong></span></p><p><span>Subjective favourability to any or all of the above are now the dictators of both behaviour and the core of prescriptions to protect those behaviours. </span></p><p><span>So, what is deemed best practice for this ‘therapeutic’ process? No prizes for guessing that is, whatever protects, serves or revives those ‘Happy’ M.U.S.T. do feelings. </span></p><p><span>Fact, truth, wisdom (ancient or modern) or other epistemologically sound mechanisms, may be useful, but only (as stated previously) if it creates the </span><i><span>feeling</span></i><span> one needs to escape the discomfort of the perceived suffering of an unmet or interfered with </span><i><span>felt</span></i><span> need. </span></p><p><span>Of course, in this myopic space, it will appear anything – we do mean anything – goes if it meets that subjective goal. Reality and facts are discarded or distorted to protects one’s emotional state. Well-being is now distilled down to happy feelings no matter the short- or long-term harms, damage or any negative consequences that may emerge. When they do inevitably emerge, we’ll simply apply another </span><i><span>happy feeling</span></i><span> restoring mechanism to re-centre around that subjective priority. </span></p><p><span>Substance use is arguably the quickest route to getting the hedonic feelings one believes are the key to happiness – which is perhaps why demand for such is growing, and of course, once one steps into that bio-chemically manipulative arena, an ever-growing dependency on them to revisit and/or maintain such counterfeit states will eventuate. </span></p><p><span>I believe it was the father of American Psychology, William James, who unwisely quipped, “the truth is what works!’ Pragmatism, as that may be called, is part of the three-pronged equation of how we know something to be, if not true, then at least known – cohesion, coherence, and pragmatism. In similar refrain, Sigmund Freud is on record as observing that… ‘most of human behaviour can be distilled down to the maximizing of pleasure and the minimising of pain’, buying into James’s outcome focused analysis.</span></p><p><span>However, is that quip really the final authority and best offering in the prescriptive tool kit for well-being from psychology? I do not believe that was the intent of Williams or Freud, but in our current cultural setting it appears to have the ascendency in attempting to assuage the unhappy psyche.</span></p><p><span>Concerningly it’s not only the world that lands on this default position for well-being – the Church, the Bride of Christ – has now leaned heavily into this ideology. </span></p><p><span><strong>What of dominant 21<sup>st</sup> Century Western Christian Hermeneutics? </strong></span></p><p><i><span>‘God doesn’t want you to be unhappy – miserable, that’s not His will!” </span></i></p><p><span>You may not hear that declared as candidly from any real Bible believing pulpit, but in many intimate settings, not least counselling ones, the sentiment is very real – at least from my growing experience over recent years.</span></p><p><span>Is this new self-serving mantra growing? Is it taking root as our post-truth Christianity’s motivator for prescribed action. Whilst an aspect of this declaration may be true in one sense, the unqualified embracing of this one-dimensional statement is an egregious error. </span></p><p><span>God does not ‘will’ you to be unhappy, but He also has no agenda to ‘make you happy’ either – not in any of the contexts we have just looked at. No, the happiness paradigm must be examined in a more thorough Biblical light. </span></p><p><span>Lens and pivot-points on God’s word can be helpful for emphasis, but these can never be used to contort or distort the more profound Divine meta-agendas. We must also examine any understanding also with the ‘bookends’ of God’s entire covenantal, and thus relational agreement with humanity.</span></p><p><span>I want to repeat, whilst unhappiness is not God’s goal for you, it is important to understand that happiness is not God’s goal for you either.</span></p><p><span>These elements are mere by-products of greater context. Wholeness over comfort, discipline over disaster, change making over calamity and conforming to the image of His son over self-actualisation are always God’s priority for His most precious creation.</span></p><p><span>Therefore, it comes down to the object of our pursuit, the focus of the correct part for our eternal well-being that will determine destination.</span></p><p><span><strong>Christianity is Impossible?</strong></span></p><p><span>The incredibly insightful social commentator, author and Church of Rome adherent, G. K. Chesterton, as a master of paradox, rightly declared that… ‘Christianity has not been tried and found wanting – rather it has been found difficult and left untried.” It is a life framework that cannot be ‘done’ without the relationship with its Author and the indwelling power of the Third Person of the Trinity. It is beyond a religion and even a way of life – it is… The Kingdom of the Creator. </span></p><p><span>The focus of pursuit of the world and even (to use Kierkegaard’s above descriptor – </span><i><span>admirer</span></i><span>) will be in stark contrast to a Disciple of Jesus. For the Christ follower, it must be the pursuit of His Kingdom and standard, (Matthew 6:33) and the wholeness and conforming with the image of His Son (Ephesians 4: 12-13) that brings perfection and all the accompanying joys and blessing that is His goal. The ‘by-products’ of happiness are not on the agenda because they are not a destination. And, that’s why the kingdom prescription for miserable, unhappy and even traumatic events, is </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A2-4&version=PHILLIPS"><i><span>‘to count it all joy’</span></i></a><span> – Why? Because in Heaven’s economy these can simply be a signpost to the greater agenda and outcome of perfection – the only process that will bring the ultimate state that our pursuit of ‘happy-ness’ will only impede. </span></p><p><span>These statements I’ve just penned can, in and of themselves, all seem incredibly overwhelming and even duress creating for the one who is only informed by culture and feelings, who have perhaps been informed not by the full Gospel, but an effigy crafted in a well-meaning sales pitch for Jesus, ‘the home boy’? </span></p><p><span>Have no doubt, that those two potentially tyrannical elements of culture and feelings will scream their enslaving mandate – it’s impossible! So, we capitulate. Why? Because faith is geared only to emotions and not Truth; to feelings, not facts and consequentially we stop the resistance. The irony in all this is that </span><i><span>it is only in resisting that we can ever determine how strong we and/or any perceived adversary are</span></i><span>. Capitulating only diminishes us. </span></p><p><span>Cultural Anthropologist and pioneering missionary Reinhold Niebuhr was the author of the now very well-known and used </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.lords-prayer-words.com/famous_prayers/god_grant_me_the_serenity.html"><i><span><strong>‘Serenity Prayer’</strong></span></i></a><span>. </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><span>God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world As it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right If I surrender to His Will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life And supremely happy with Him Forever and ever in the next. Amen. </span></i></p><p><span>It is important to note that whilst this prayer has been adopted by the 12 Step program space, it was not written for recovering addicts, but for Christian missionaries.</span></p><p><span>The language used is both profound and prescriptive, with some emphasises that echo the sentiments of this written exhortation. Of special note is the line, </span><i><span>‘accepting hardships as the pathway to peace’</span></i><span>. This is not a Christian que sara-sara, it is a reflection of the Biblical posture. You’ll note the ‘bookend’ statements either side of this line. Jesus’ posture of taking (not accepting) the world as he entered it with a sober expectation of what is, but also the knowledge that in Him it can change, with surrender to His will being a key to that. At the other end was what </span><i><span>Acceptance and Commitment</span></i><span> Therapy practitioners have embraced – Mindfulness in the moment, not ignoring past or future, but living in enjoyment of Him in the now, even if it is difficult. </span></p><p><span><strong>The Bookends of Wisdom and Sorrow – Conquering and Trial?</strong></span></p><p><i><span><strong>Wisdom is far away and very difficult to find. I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and the reason for things . . . to prove to myself the wickedness of folly and that foolishness is madness… It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and it is a good thing to think about it while there is still time. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. Yes, a wise man thinks much of death, while the fool thinks only of having a good time now. </strong></span></i><span><strong><sup>3</sup> </strong></span></p><p><i><span><strong>Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,</strong></span></i></p><p><i><span><strong>My grace is enough; it’s all you need.</strong></span></i><br><i><span><strong>My strength comes into its own in your weakness.</strong></span></i></p><p><i><span><strong>Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so, the weaker I get, the stronger I become. </strong></span></i><span><strong><sup>4</sup></strong></span></p><p><i><span><strong>Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.</strong></span></i></p><p><i><span><strong>Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honour by the throne of God.<sup> </sup>If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about his patience as sinful men did such terrible things to him. After all, you have never yet struggled against sin and temptation until you sweat great drops of blood.</strong></span></i></p><p><i><span><strong>And have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, “My son, don’t be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don’t be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong. <sup> </sup>For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you. When he whips you, it proves you are really his child…<sup> </sup>Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected? If God doesn’t punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you aren’t really God’s son at all—that you don’t really belong in his family.<sup> </sup>So take a new grip with your tired hands, stand firm on your shaky legs,<sup> </sup>and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong. </strong></span></i><span><strong><sup>5</sup></strong></span></p><p><span>The famous poet, author and tragically, drug addicted soul, Francis Thompson, who after much self-inflicted harm discovered what God’s counsel was prompting all along. In his discomfort avoidance and pleasure seeking he ultimately discovered little but an amplified duress he was ironically attempting to escape…</span><i><span>“Power is the reward of sadness. It was after Christ had wept over Jerusalem that He uttered some of His most august words; it was when His soul had been sorrowful even unto death that his enemies fell prostrate before His voice. Who suffers, conquers.”</span></i><span> </span></p><p><span>Not unimportantly too, is that one of 19<sup>th</sup> Century’s most prominent semitic scholars, philosophers and a practical Atheist, J. Ernest Renan, who, in his de-venerating work </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15113"><i><span>‘Vie de Jesus’</span></i></a><span>, after working tirelessly to defrock the Darling of Heaven of His Divinity, actually penned one of the most profound insights into this, ‘</span><i><span>merely incomparable man’</span></i><span>…</span><i><span>“The idea of being all-powerful by suffering and resignation, and of triumphing over force by purity of heart, is indeed an idea peculiar to Jesus.”</span></i></p><p><span>Peculiar indeed! The upside-down Kingdom of God is not about pleasure, power, control, domination, and coercion for the purposes of perpetual happiness, under the current dispensation of Grace. No, it’s a counterculture of surrender, meekness, lowliness and humility. Other large theocratic religions and philosophies that have ‘deities’ cannot wrap their head around this paradox and deem such a God weak and pointless – especially in a world pursuing influence, rights, pleasure and power harbouring dominion.</span></p><p><span><strong>Posture for Pain?</strong></span></p><p><span>Arguably the modern master on articulating this humility paradox was pastor, preacher, and author Reverend Andrew Murray. </span></p><p><span>In this timeless classic essay, </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/20671/77805b5cf0e1f5788d79ba33158624e558b7fd77/original/humilityamurray.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE%2F20230409%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230409T044401Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=2ee62a666358ea9701bddc94868df1f89c79af76ce1ab0619c2af8ccda49dfd0"><i><span><strong>Humility</strong></span></i></a><i><span><strong> – The Journey Toward Holiness</strong></span></i><span>, Murray has inventoried much of this Divine attribute that he correctly argued had been forgotten or side-lined by other virtues, qualities and capacities in the Body of Christ.</span></p><p><span>The following excerpts are but a glimpse of this indispensable imperative not merely for the suffering soul, but the serving and surrendered Saint. </span></p><p><span>“True humility comes when before God, we see ourselves as nothing, have put aside self, and let God be all. The soul that has done this, and can say, “I have lost myself in finding you,” no longer compares itself with others. It has given up forever any thought of self in God’s presence; it meets its fellowmen as one who is nothing and seeks nothing for itself; who is a servant of Gd and for His sake is a servant of all… <sup>6</sup> Let humility be our one desire and our fervent prayer. Let us gladly accept whatever humbles us before God or men – this alone is the path to the glory of God…<sup>7</sup> The first mark of the dying of the Lord Jesus – the mark that shows the true follower of Jesus – is humility. For these two reasons: only humility leads to perfect death; only deaths perfects humility. Humility and death are in their very nature one: humility is the bud; in death the fruit is ripened to perfection…His [Jesus] boundless humility, counting himself as nothing except as a servant to do and suffer the will of God…But the full manifestation of the power of this death in your disposition and conduct depends upon the measure in which the Holy Spirit imparts the power of the death of Christ…<sup>8 </sup>The humble man has learned the secret of abiding joy. The weaker he feels, the lower he sinks, the greater his humiliations, the more the power and presence of Christ is his portion. When he says, “I am nothing,” the word of his Lord comes: “My grace is sufficient for you” <sup>9 </sup>Christ humbled Himself, therefore God exalted Him. Christ will humble us and keep us humble; let us heartily consent, let us trustfully and joyfully accept all that humbles; the power of Christ will rest upon us. We shall find that the deepest humility is the secret of the truest happiness, of a joy that nothing can destroy.” <sup>10</sup></span></p><p><span>To bookend this short insight into humility, I’ll again quote C.S. Lewis who said, </span><i><span><strong>“Humility, after the initial shock, is a cheerful virtue.”</strong></span></i></p><p><span><strong>A Final Reflection</strong></span></p><p><span>I want to conclude here with a very personal note. </span></p><p><span>As much as it may appear (and is in part true) what I’ve just written isn’t merely a hyper-faith exhortation or even an encouragement – all-be-it a stinging one. No, it is really more of a testimony of what I have discovered over my personal and often very difficult faith journey.</span></p><p><span>This post was not written by a naturally resilient and emotionally robust soul – far from it. </span></p><p><span>This author has struggled for most of his teen and adult life with emotional fragility including four consequential bouts of ‘burn out’, heavily linked to or initiated by those fragilities. </span></p><p><span>As a pre-pubescent child I was, well, a hand full. Not naughty in the classic sense, but extremely – intensely adventurous and completely fearless to boot – a distressing combination for any mother. </span></p><p><span>My difficulties really started when I hit puberty, which I have discovered over the past decades, is often the commencement point of many emotional and psychological maladies for people. </span></p><p><span>Besides a lingering dysthymia through the angsty teenage years often overlaid by peer rejection because of my open faith and evangelistic endeavours, I have had two serious bouts of depression.</span></p><p><span>My first and most intensely distressing experience was at 20 years of age which was so debilitating that I could barely get out of bed. Much prayer, counselling and ministry did not seem to shift it, and what was worse, it was in the era that those who exhibited such vulnerabilities were deemed insurance and workplace liabilities. My superannuation had a caveat put on it in relation to ‘suicide’ ensuring no payout would be given – even though I never expressed or even thought of taking my own life during those very dark days.</span></p><p><span>Did I want this debilitating torment to end? Yes, I did, but killing myself wasn’t on the radar. Yet, wanting to go to sleep and be happy not to wake up was an ebbing and flowing wish. </span></p><p><span>To some, what I’m about to write will seem at the very least ironic – but the only element that kept me ‘in play’ was the relationship I had with my Heavenly Father. A relationship that powerfully commenced when I got ‘saved’ – yes saved – by Jesus Christ two weeks before I started secondary school. </span></p><p><span>The encounter was Theophanic in nature and profoundly transformative (a thorough account can be read in </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/"><span>Second Chance Solution (2nd Edition)</span></a><span>.) </span></p><p><span>As I have looked back over many years, I firmly believe that I would have tragically gone the way of so many now, into addictive behaviours, mental illness, self-harm and/or self-medication if it were not for that relationship.</span></p><p><span>During this first dark bout of depression and being unable to shift it, as final resort (and it was very reluctantly deployed) the doctor prescribed an anti-depressant. This was seen then as a very poor diagnostic outcome as ‘pill dispensing’ in this space was then unpopular.</span></p><p><span>However, to say it worked would be an understatement. Along with ongoing counselling, prayer and what we now understand as Christian Talking Therapies, within a matter of a very short few months not only was the depression lifted, but I no longer required the use of those prescribed drugs. Such was my first encounter with depression.</span></p><p><span>Life, as it is wont to do, dished up many and varied challenges, difficulties and traumas – and yes, they made me incredibly sad, aggrieved, frustrated, even angry and at times very much knocked down – vocational and financial crises (almost bankrupt twice), relationship crises, accidents, health issues, all with the underlying emotional fragility still trying to inform my posture, response and state. </span></p><p><span>My emotional refrain during these incredibly difficult times was always ‘stop, give up, it’s too hard, it’s not worth the pain, it’s making you unwell, and you’re always intense, or distressed or anxious or grieved.’ Other well-meaning saints in their limited understanding of love, often dispensed the limited kindness, that always seeks to </span><i><span><strong>alleviate, rather than cultivate</strong></span></i><span>. It is why love and kindness don’t end in the same place. Kindness almost never considers the eternal – the supra-cultural, only the important, but not imperative ‘felt need’. </span></p><p><span>But it was in great part, the truth penned by the Apostle Paul 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 that so often buoyed this emotional ‘roller-coasting’ soul. </span></p><p><i><span><strong>That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day.<sup> </sup>These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! So, we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.</strong></span></i></p><p><span>Lens, pivot points and bookends – It is vital that we keep our perspective anchored immovably to the eternal, never the temporary. Our head and heart in the heavenlies, but our hands and feet expressing that domain in this broken and suffering filled world. </span></p><p><span>Faith is a powerful combination of Belief, Trust and Patience that expresses itself in continuing obedience, regardless of feelings or circumstances – all with the understanding that this world is not our home and happiness in not our destination. </span></p><p><span>For further reading…</span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/4029164/when-your-emotions-become-your-enemy"><i><span><strong>When Your Emotions Become Your Enemy</strong></span></i></a></p><p style="text-align:right;"><span>Shane W. Varcoe (March 2023)</span></p><p><span><strong>Footnotes</strong></span></p><p><span><strong><sup>1 </sup></strong>Mark 8: 31-33 JB Phillips </span></p><p><span><strong><sup>2</sup></strong> John 15: 18-21 The Message (Paraphrase)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>3</sup></strong> Eccl 7: 24,25, 2-4 Living Bible (Paraphrase)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>4</sup></strong> 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 The Message (Paraphrase)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>5</sup></strong> Hebrews 12;1,2-8,11-13 Living Bible (Paraphrase)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>6</sup></strong> </span><i><span>Humility – The Journey Toward Holiness,</span></i><span> Murray. A, 2001, Bethany House Publishers (p55)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Ibid (p 79)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>8</sup></strong> Ibid (p 84)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>9</sup></strong> Ibid (p 93)</span></p><p><span><strong><sup>10</sup></strong> Ibid (p 94)</span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/7129617
2022-12-29T11:55:42+11:00
2023-01-30T12:01:49+11:00
A New Year Prayer of Petition (St Bonaventura)
<p>We, therefore, pray to the most-kind Father through you, his only-begotten Son, who for us became man, was crucified and glorified, that he send us out of his treasures the Spirit of sevenfold grace who rested upon you in all fullness: </p>
<p>The Spirit, I say, of <em><strong>Wisdom</strong></em>, that we may taste the life-giving flavours of the fruit of the tree of life, which you truly are; </p>
<p>The gift also of <em><strong>Understanding</strong></em>, by which the intentions of our mind are illumined; </p>
<p>The gift of <em><strong>Counsel</strong></em>, by which we may follow in your footsteps on the right paths; </p>
<p>The gift of <em><strong>Fortitude</strong></em>, by which we may be able to weaken the violence <br>of our enemies’ attacks; </p>
<p>The gift of <em><strong>Knowledge</strong></em>, by which we may be filled with the brilliant light of your sacred teaching to distinguish good and evil; </p>
<p>The gift of <em><strong>Piety</strong></em>, by which we may acquire a merciful heart; </p>
<p>The gift of <em><strong>Fear</strong></em>, by which we may draw away from all evil and be set at peace by submitting in awe to your eternal majesty. for you have wished that we ask for these things in that sacred prayer which you have taught us; </p>
<p>And now we ask to obtain them, through your cross, for the praise of your most Holy Name to you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, thanksgiving, beauty and power, forever and ever. </p>
<p>Amen. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/572b0abf4bbdcb8bf486265a264b87b3b4057320/original/saint-bonaventure-giovanni-antonio-pordenone.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_small">From Prayer <em><strong>“To Obtain the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit”</strong></em> included at the closing The Tree of Life <br>Bonaventure, The Soul's Journey into God / The Tree of Life / The Life of St. Francis </span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/7042970
2022-08-22T12:21:25+10:00
2022-11-14T11:11:25+11:00
The Gospel of The Kingdom, for the Empires of this World!
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/5c9381029d6a6619e9c79260122f7ed10b03107a/original/gospel-of-kingdom.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />“Obedience is walking the Christ Road. The walk of faith is not just internal. If it has no impact on the pain of the world it’s not faith.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Charles Ringma (Cry Freedom) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Peace is the tranquillity of order – Joy is the happy expression of that order.” </em> Augustine </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>"Human love has little regard for truth. It makes the truth relative, since nothing, not even the truth, must come between it and the beloved person…Human love lives by uncontrolled and uncontrollable dark desires; spiritual love lives in the clear light of service ordered by the truth. Human love produces human subjection, dependence, constraint; spiritual love creates freedom of the brethren under the Word. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Human love breeds hothouse flowers; spiritual love creates the fruits that grow healthily in accord with God's good will in the rain and storm and sunshine of God’s outdoors. The existence of any Christian life together depends on whether it succeeds at the right time in bringing out the ability to distinguish between a human ideal and God's reality, between spiritual and human community.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Bonhoeffer (Life Together) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“The emerging ‘social justice’ enamoured Christian activist is rapidly losing focus of the Gospel of the Kingdom and are inadvertently embracing a humanity placating – not serving – mechanism. The former seeks all of God to govern all of us in every part and portion. The latter seeks amendment or promotion of perceived and ‘felt’ needs or rights outside of Divine perspective and governance. Without the central focus of Christ’s Lordship, actions may lead to alleviation, but not to transformation. This new activist is now too earthly minded to be any Heavenly good!” </em> </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Shane W. Varcoe </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">*****</p>
<p><strong>The Origin of Order?</strong></p>
<p>As a disciple of Jesus Christ, what do I believe is the ultimate architecture of order? That answer, at least from my investigations into meta-narratives, is the Kingdom of God and its instruction manual – The Bible. </p>
<p>Of course, right there, I have lost anyone who does not subscribe to that perspective and has no desire to. However, for those who may not know, or even think the Judeo-Christian worldview has that potential, but are still looking for ‘best-practice’, please read on. </p>
<p>It is when humankind decide that they are the final authority and the highest echelon of wisdom, understanding and the ‘adjudications’ these unleash, that disorder is almost ensured. </p>
<p>If we understand the Biblical narrative to be true, then this human usurpation is (to enlist an absolute Biblical term) idolatry at its core – Idolising of self, by self, for self. </p>
<p>History is replete with such musings from Khan to Mohammad and Nebuchadnezzar to Napoleon. However, in our purported enlightened and advanced progressive culture, we most certainly have not seen this hubris dissipate. It may cloak better, but as the global family continues to unravel, as we are currently experiencing on the global stage, we are witnessing a doubling down on this hubris by the global oligarchs. </p>
<p>As a response to (or is it the cause of?) such unravelling, the ‘Architects’ of societal reform emerge, and with demigod aspirations no-less; from Erdogan to Xi Jinping and from Putin to Modi all attempting to usher in their coerced homogeneity with their socio-political machinations. Their tyranny is cloaked in nationalist fervour. In the ‘democratic’ contexts where the idolatry of rabid individualism rules, with players from Trump to Soros, or Clinton to Antifa, we have little more than a perfidious chaos – akin to spoilt children throwing cultural, and literarily city destroying, tantrums until their dysfunctional parent caves to their egocentric demands. </p>
<p>This is emerging as the very best a ‘humanity’ disconnected from its Creator can conjure. The Adversary has much to work with and, need but whisper a strategy and light the fuse of a Hell inspired powder keg to see brazen self-righteous vanity unleashed cloaked in the garb of neo-social justice mantras. </p>
<p>“Man wants to be on a level with God, and in doing so to become independent of Him…Sin is the desire for the autonomy of man; therefore, in the last resort, it is the denial of God and deification of self: it is getting rid of the Lord God, and the proclamation of self-sovereignty.” </p>
<p>Emil Brunner (Dogmatics II, 1952) </p>
<p>Brunner was just seeing a fresh what many other Ambassadors of YHWH’s Kingdom have witnessed throughout a long history of God usurping players who have inherited, been given, or taken rule, in absolute terms and the inevitable corruption, dysfunction and tyranny that ensues – Again, from Divine Despotism, infamously leveraged by the French monarchy, to Marxism in full flight under Stalin methodology. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">****** </p>
<p><strong>Interrupting the Order Disrupters?</strong></p>
<p>Arguably the greatest orator that France ever produced, Catholic Priest, Jacques Bossuet, had the highest potential (and often greatest grief) as Priest to the Court at Versailles, during the reign of Louis XIV. This Louis, history reveals, is probably the last monarch of France who was, though not corrupt, did celebrate his ‘divine right to rule’ with growing self-indulgence, yet still was wanting to ‘advance’ his nation, not simply exploit it. </p>
<p>The King wanted Bossuet at his court, and would listen to his eloquent, but profoundly Biblical and challenging sermons on righteousness; and in a John the Baptist like manner, even messages challenging this Divine Despot to stop his adulteries. It was said that the court at Versailles would weep during his sagacious sermons but “leave unchanged.” </p>
<p>The following excerpt from <a contents="On This Day – September 27th" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.robertjmorgan.com/shop/on-this-day/" target="_blank"><strong><em>On This Day – September 27th</em></strong></a> reveals a little of what I would argue, stayed the decline of the monarchy for a little longer – the decline that lead to the <a contents="Storming the Bastille – the day France ex-communicated God from the land" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/solzhenitsyn-mourned-bastille-dayso-should-all-christians" target="_blank">Storming the Bastille – the day France ex-communicated God from the land</a> and attempted to snuff out Christ and His Christianity from <a contents="its history.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/content/get_involved/bible_sunday/2016_resources/Bible-Sunday-Sermon-notes.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>its history. </strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“The honour of the world makes us attribute to ourselves all that we do and ends by setting us upon pedestals like little gods. Well, proud and self-complacent soul, thus deified by the honour of the world, see how the eternal, the Living God abases Himself in order to confound you! Man makes himself God through pride, God makes Himself man through humility! Man, falsely attributes to himself what belongs to God; and God, in order to teach him to humble himself, takes what belongs to man. This is the remedy of insolence! This alone can confound the honour of the world – that Hill of Calvary, that Cross of Shame, Jesus Christ the Incarnate God, our Pattern, our Master, our King!” </em></p>
<p><strong>The Eighteenth century was the century of Kingdom Global Mission – The Protestants Finally Woke up from their ‘predestination’ slumber! </strong></p>
<p>Whilst the Roman Catholic church was sending out missionaries, at times with less than holy agendas, but the majority with a genuine desire to continue to reached the lost, the pagan and the ignorant, much of the burgeoning Protestant movement was trying to sort out its theology, fight-off various persecutions from church-state actors and then finally be rendered missionally inert by a ‘hyper-Calvinist’ doctrine, that inadvertently rendered the idea of human activity in evangelism as redundant. </p>
<p>Apart from the (arguably) Free Will Theistic Moravians (the progeny of the Herrnhut community created by <a contents="‘The Rich Young Ruler who said – Yes’ – Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/denominationalfounders/nikolaus-von-zinzendorf.html" target="_blank">‘The Rich Young Ruler who said – Yes’ – <strong>Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendor</strong>f)</a> in the early era of the Protestant movement, there was little organized, strategic and resourced, reaching, rescuing and reviving work to the unwashed. </p>
<p>The now famously titled ‘Father’ of protestant missions, William Carey, was confronted by this resistance in his early endeavours to create missional societies. (He looked to Herrnhut for his inspiration) </p>
<p>Yet pre-dating them both was a man commission by King Ferdinand of Denmark, who had experienced a Pietist revival and consequently was prompted to reach those beyond his shores. (The issue of holiness focused Spirit-filled Christianity, is a clue to missional fervour) Answering that call was <a contents="Bartholomew Ziegenbalg who is rightly remembered as the ‘grand-father’ of Protestant mission." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/107.html" target="_blank"><strong>Bartholomew Ziegenbalg </strong>who is rightly remembered as the ‘grand-father’ of Protestant mission.</a> He went to the southern tip of India and was met with relentless opposition, but after being ‘spent’ for the Kingdom and famously coining the phrase Ora et Labora – pray and work – he died at the age of 35 leaving 350 converts. It wasn’t until over 70 years later, that Carey would first land in India. </p>
<p>At a meeting of Baptist leaders in the late 1700s, a newly ordained minister – the ‘plodder’ William Carey – stood to argue for the value of overseas missions. He was abruptly interrupted by an older minister who said, <a contents=""Young man, sit down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me."&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/missionaries/william-carey.html" target="_blank"><em>"Young man, sit down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me." </em></a></p>
<p><strong>Revival, Only for Reformation.</strong></p>
<p>However, it was not only blatant obstructionism that would prove an impediment to Kingdom impact, but a more subtle undermining that would deplete the capacity of God’s Church to do what it’s Founder commissioned – That is it make Disciples of All nations and teaching them ALL that the Saviour had commanded – not ‘recommended.’ </p>
<p>Evangelical revisionism has seen some culling of significant Kingdom practices over the years, and very much to the detriment of the following church and its discipleship processes. </p>
<p>We are going to try to ‘re-insert’ some of this vital historical Kingdom practice into the narrative, by retrieving some of what has been not only lost but deliberated excised. </p>
<p>The Protestant reformers and activists in the United States, were very much engaged in social reform, most prominently the abolition of slavery. However, that issued from more than just an isolated disapproval of a shocking and entrenched practice, it was birthed from a full understanding of the Kingdom Gospel. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“The need of developing nation is to increase in wisdom, righteousness and strength and to cast off whatever is in consistent with that noble age to which youth aspires. Only that with is true and right can abide….Society is Perfect where what is right in theory exist in fact; where Practice coincides with Principle, and the Law of God is the Law of the Land…every true minister of Christ is a universal reformer, whose business it is, so far as possible, to reform all the evils which press on human concerns…One cannot construct a perfect society out of imperfect men…every reformer needs a perfect stat of society ever in his eye, as a pattern to work by, so far as the nature of his materials will admit…The Kingdom of God is Christ ruling in and over rational creatures who are obeying him freely and from choice, under no constraint but that of love…what John the Baptist and the Saviour meant when they preached the ‘kingdom of God’ was a perfect state of society…though this kingdom is not of this world, it is in it… those who locate Christ’s kingdom in the future to the neglect to the present and those who</em> seek to construct a local heaven upon earth [are] shutting out the influences and motives of eternity.” </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Charles A Blanchard – Founder Wheaton College (pp 9,10; Discovering an Evangelical Heritage - Donald W Dayton) </p>
<p>One of that centuries most lauded ministers of the Gospel, Charles Finney, is almost invariably framed as a great ‘Revivalist’, and whilst true, much of his methodology was not only, profound but seminal in its agenda to bring The Kingdom to the nation. Yes, it was total personal salvation, but in the context of total national salvation. This is Christ governance of the nation, not just the individual. </p>
<p>Finney was credited with many things but some of the most important mechanisms he was led to introduce, particularly in his proclamation platform, have been, if not lost then rendered powerless. For example, the ‘alter call’ which we now have (though little seen) has only a little resemblance to the significant and thorough process Finney intended – a process that meant revival transitioned into reformation and that not just of the individual, but of the society through that Kingdom bearing disciple. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Controversy surrounded Finney’s work on several levels. He introduced into revivalism many “new measures” that shocked more conservative evangelists. His preaching style was popular and colloquial, though forceful and laced with the logic of the lawyer. He popularized the ‘protracted meeting’ that continued for several days or weeks and employed the ‘anxious bench’, a row of seats in front of the church for those under ‘conviction’ of sin. Perhaps the most controversial of his ‘new measures’ was encouraging women to pray and speak in mixed assemblies</em> (p 16, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage) </p>
<p>Now it is important to note that the introduction of the anxious bench, was a Divine prompt to Finney, and though it did become the prototype of what would be later called the ‘mercy seat’ or ‘altar call’. It is important to note in the above excerpt that the place of the ‘anxious bench’ was set for not only hours, ‘but days and even weeks’; such was the need Finney saw for the complete conviction of the soul and the need to repent, not just of personal indiscretions, but more vitally of a disregard for God’s Kingdom agenda against the injustice, corruption and perversion on the earth that this self-governing idolatry called ‘sin’ brings. </p>
<p>This decision is not made in an ‘emotive moment’, as some contemporaries accused him of. Finney saw slavery, prostitution, intemperance, and other social issues as Blanchard did, a blight on God’s perfect society in not just its presence, but the horrendous harms it was doing to the humanity created in Gods image. </p>
<p>I would posit that Finney on preaching a full gospel (including priorities from both Micah 6:8 and Matthew 6:33) of seeking righteousness, surrender in humility, and the new 180 degree turning away from all that perverts God’s society and His Kingdom agenda, he would call for repentance. </p>
<p>In this context Finney is pushing hard against mere emotive appeals and calling for a bold and marked change. </p>
<p>Not merely a potential ‘putting down’ of some vices – though this is implied – but actually taking up action against the same issues of perversion and injustice as God calls it, in their community. i.e. “I used to ‘dabble’ in this, now I champion against it!” </p>
<p>It is not about ‘moralising’ unpalatable conduct or fighting people of differing opinions, but working by Gospel means, to eradicate the egregious community and societal harms that issue from that God-less and Law-less lifestyles. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Now the great business of the church is to reform the world--to put away every kind of sin. The church of Christ was originally organized to be a body of reformers. The very profession of Christianity implies the profession and virtually an oath to do all that can be done for the universal reformation of the world. The Christian church was designed to make aggressive movements in every direction--to lift up her voice and put forth her energies against iniquity in high and low places--to reform individuals, communities, and governments, and never rest until the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High God--until every form of iniquity shall be driven from the earth. </em> </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">(excerpt from Letters On Revivals-No. 23: THE PERNICIOUS ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH ON THE REFORMS OF THE AGE. Professor Charles G. Finney) </p>
<p>I would argue that the ‘days and weeks at the anxious bench’ aren’t about helping the candidate find a ‘happy space of contentment with the new and wonderful plan of blessing that God has for your prosperity and well-being’, rather it is a call to surrender a life in total service and unyielding commitment to ‘God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven’ agenda. </p>
<p>Though a God orchestrated journey and call to those lost to the Divine Kingdom communion; <a contents="the candidate must respond to that call" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2014%3A31-32&version=NIV" target="_blank">the candidate must respond to that call</a> for rescue, adoption and discipleship –<a contents=" the denying self, taking up the cross " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+16%3A24-26&version=PHILLIPS" target="_blank"> the denying self, taking up the cross </a>and following – for a sober, intentional, and contrite surrender to that new governance and practice. Not to do it for YHWH, but collaborate with the Author of Salvation, so that this saving work pours out to those around, not just a ‘fire insurance’ or ‘magic lamp’ for those embracing this new relationship and communion. </p>
<p>The cheapening of the altar call to a mere atmosphere of warm affections alone that expurgates the robust call to (quote Finney directly)<em> “Admit that God is absolutely right and you are absolutely wrong!</em>”, is to do perniciously more than a disservice to those the <a contents="Holy Spirit is working to bring to conviction and repentance." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A+7-13&version=NLT" target="_blank">Holy Spirit is working to bring to conviction and repentance.</a> Yes, the initial moment can be a profound and remarkable awakening to the truth of the Gospel claims and God’s Kingdom, but that does not automatically equate to conversion – <a contents="this can take time; time at the ‘anxious bench”.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/charles-finney.html" target="_blank">this can take time; time at the ‘anxious bench”. </a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Finney’s message was directed primarily at the church people (not those outside) or ‘professors of religion’ not living up to the fullness of Christian existence. The revival was a means of “breaking the power of the world and of sin over Christians” This involved the accusation that many (perhaps most) church people were less than vital Christians, a suggestion vigorously resisted by the traditional clergy. But this call to a “revived” Christian life incorporated the implicit demand that true conversion evidence itself in good works and commitment to the welfare of others. In such dynamics is the beginning of an impulse to ‘Reform’ activity.</em> (p17, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage) </p>
<p><strong>18th Century England and the Desperate Need for Reformation </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The repetition of these egregious perversions are more near than we think for the 21st century First World Church.</em></p>
<p><em>(The following are excerpts from The Book That Made Your World – Vishal Mangalwadi Pages 259-263) </em></p>
<p>In 1738, two centuries after the Reformation, Bishop Berkeley declared that religion and morality in Britain had collapsed “to a degree that was never before know in any Christian country.” The important reasons for the degeneration of Protestant England were the… </p>
<ul> <li>Restoration of the monarchy </li> <li>The supremacy of the Anglican Church </li> <li>Oppression of the Puritans </li> <li>Expulsion of more than 400 conscientious Anglican clergy – they were priests for God, not the monarch. </li> <li>Rise of the Enlightenment toward the end of the 17th and continuing into the 18th century. </li>
</ul>
<p>The combined impact of these developments was to leave the church bereft of prophets. Matters were made worse by the decree prohibiting Anglican bishops and clergy from meeting together to deliberate on ecclesiastical matters. With little correction, encouragement, or accountability, the moral life of the priests degenerated, lowering the standards for the entire nation. </p>
<p>Deism, or “natural religion”, taught that God is not involved in the affairs of the world. He has given no law. He is neither watching over you, nor will he judge, punish, or reward you. God is just an uninvolved creator. That belief too away the fear of God. The Bible was still available, but it was not the Word of God. It was just another book about wisdom and virtue. </p>
<p>A national church publicly muzzled, with its prophetic and priestly wings clipped, could not refute deists and sceptics. Deism progressed to rationalism, scepticism, atheism, and finally cynicism. Once biblical truth was undermined, biblical morality began to lose ground. The corruption of the clergy of the Church of England spread from top to bottom. </p>
<p>A corrupt church with closed Scriptures darkened most aspects of English life. By the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, England had wrung from France and Spain the monopoly of the slave trade. The slave trade bred and fed financial greed, it brutalized masters’ and slaves’ lives, making labour undignified. That became a curse on the economic and political life of the 18th century. </p>
<p>Corruption spreads like cancer. Nepotism, place seeking, and bribery became the order of the day in politics, especially at election times. For the first half of the century, the prime minister, Robert Walpole, epitomized corruption. His politics were not about public service but about managing, means, money, and the manipulation of laws, their administration, and the penal system in the interest of the ruling classes. </p>
<p>The strangulation of Biblical Christianity had further inhumane consequences in the treatment and morality of children. Their death rates tell a terrible tale, though authentic statistics are only available for London. These show that between 1730 and 1750, three out every four children born to all classes died before their fifth birthday. </p>
<p>The eighteenth century in England is known as the “Gin Age”. Horrible child abuse was often the result of drinking strong fiery, poisonous gin, which outrivalled beer as the national beverage. Irish historian William Lecky define the national gin-drinker’s drunkenness as the “master-curse of English life between 1720-1750.” The inevitable evils of alcoholism followed – poverty, violence, prostitution, and murders. The liquor trade, with its daily disruption of the nation’s life, was the cardinal cause of social disintegration and degeneration during those thirty years. </p>
<p>The moral darkness of the age expressed itself in a perverted conception of sport, which, like alcohol, brought attendant evils in its train, such as further coarsening of the personality, cruelty, and gambling. The baiting of bulls, bears, badgers and dogs – with fireworks attached to them – was typical of the third and fourth decades of this century. Most of those tortures took place in public house grounds, in a village green, in village church grounds, or in cathedral closes. The animals were often baited to death to provide greater excitement. </p>
<p>Gambling was a national obsession for all classes, bringing appalling ruin to thousands. In London and other big cities, promiscuity became a sport, from court masquerades to fornication in daylight on the village green or selling one’s wife by auction at a cattle market. There was an abundance of openly pornographic literature. Again, William Lecky: “The profligacy of the theatre during the generation that followed the Restoration, can hardly be exaggerated.” Likewise, a judge remarked that “no sooner is a play-house opened in any part of the kingdom, than it at once becomes surrounded by a halo of brothels.” </p>
<p>The Bible because a closed book, and the result was ignorance, lawlessness, and savagery. Until the advent of the Sunday school movement toward then of the century, little or no provision was made for the free education of the poor, except the church system of charity schools. </p>
<p>Into this spiritual and moral quagmire stepped John Wesley. He was born the same year as Jonathan Edward, 1703 – One of 19 children – He went to Charterhouse School and on to Oxford, where his intellectual gifts led to his being elected a fellow and tutor of Lincoln College. Devoutly religious, he and others ministered as best they could to the poor and downtrodden, but their peers despised them for it. </p>
<p>John Wesley experienced what Jesus called being “born again”. It began in an encounter with Protestant proto-reformers, the Moravians and their zeal for deep intimacy with God and Mission, which lead to the experience of the warming of his heart, unify his personality, multiply his sympathies, sharpen his critical faculties, and clarify his life’s purpose….Despite misgivings, but encouraged by Evangelist George Whitefield’s example, Wesley, aged 36, preached his first open-air sermon, expounding the Bible to the unchurched. </p>
<p><strong>The Great Awakening in the Belly of Corruption and Persecution. </strong></p>
<p>The Great Awakening, the evangelical revival, was born. It was to be reared for many years in an atmosphere of insolence, contempt, abuse, and violence. </p>
<p>For three decades, magistrates, squires, and clergy turned a blind eye to the continual drunken and brutal attacks by mobs and gangs on Wesley and his supporters. Wesley endured physical assault with missiles of various kinds. Frequently bulls would be driven into the midst of congregations or musical instruments blared to down out preachers’ voices. </p>
<p>Time after time, the Wesley’s and Whitefield narrowly escaped death, while several of their fellow itinerant preachers were attacked and their houses set on fire. Hundreds of anti-revival publications appeared, as did regular, inaccurate, and scurrilous newspaper reports and articles. And the most virulent attacks, not surprisingly, came from the priests/clergy, who referred to Wesley as “that Methodist,” “that enthusiast,” “that mystery of iniquity,” “a diabolical seducer, and imposter and fanatic.” </p>
<p>Wesley’s central understanding of Christianity was that individual redemption leads to social regeneration. He believed that the main purpose of the Bible is to show sinners their way back to God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is what he preached, but he also understood that social changes are an inevitable by-product and a useful piece of evidence of conversion. Because of the preaching of the Gospel the high moral principles set forth in Scriptures slowly began to take root in people’s minds. Wesley believed that God’s Word calls for the salvation of individual souls. It also gives us firm ordinances for national existence and a common social life under God – these were his goals, and he never lost sight of them. </p>
<p>John Wesley’s life was a triumph of God’s Grace. Under physical and verbal attack thousands of times, never once did he lose his temper. He was prepared to endure a blow if the dealing of it would diffuse the hysteria. When struck by a stone or cudgel, he would wipe away the blood and carry on preaching. He loved his enemies, and do what they would, they could not make him discourteous or angry. </p>
<p>This cultured man, keen theologian, and esteemed intellectual warned his preachers that one could; <em>“never be a deep preacher without extensive reading, any more than a thorough Christian.” </em></p>
<p>Wesley’s book of Rules for Helper gives a sampling of the cultural influences he diffused in Britain. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>“Never be unemployed for a moment; believe evil of no one; speak evil of no one; a preacher of the Gospel is the servant of all; be ashamed of nothing but sin; be punctual; give none that asks relief and ill word or an ill look. Do not harm them; you will need all the sense you have to have your wits about you.” </strong></em></p>
<p>A further fruit of Wesley’s work were the conversions of William Wilberforce, Lord Shaftesbury, and others, and the development of what is called the <a contents="Clapham Sect" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the-social-work-of-the-clapham-sect-an-assessment/" target="_blank"><strong>Clapham Sect</strong></a>. The ‘ripple effect’ of good disciple-making reformers, is always mobilisation – “Teaching them to observe all Jesus commanded.” </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Compiled and Written, Shane Wesley Varcoe November 2021</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/7001818
2022-06-26T13:13:09+10:00
2022-08-22T12:02:39+10:00
A Counter - Culture Statement for the Church Today? Mit brennender sorge
<p>“With burning concern and mounting consternation, we have been observing for some time now the Cross carried by the church in Germany [or insert your nation/state here] and the increasingly difficult situation of those men and women who have kept the faith… </p>
<p>Anyone who still has within him the slightest feeling for truth…will have to admit that in these difficult and eventful years which have followed the Concordat, every one of our words have been regulated by loyalty to the agreement…He will, however, also have to note with consternation…how for the other side <em><strong>[the Nazis – or whoever is oppressing - insert your antithetical tyrant here]</strong></em> it has become the unwritten law of their conduct to misconstrue, evade, undermine, and in the end more or less openly violate the treaty. </p>
<p>Race, nation, state…all have an essential and honourable place within the secular orders. To abstract them…from the earthly scale of values and make them the supreme norm of all values, including religious ones…is to be guilty of perverting and falsifying the order of things created and commanded by God. </p>
<p>Our God is the personal God, supernatural, omnipotent, infinitely perfect, one in the Trinity of Persons, tri-personal in the unity of divine essence, the Creator of all existence, Lord, King, and ultimate Consummator of the history of the world, who will not, and cannot, tolerate a rival god by His side. </p>
<p>Society was intended by the Creator for the full development of individual possibilities… The believer has an absolute right to profess his Faith and live according to its dictates. Laws which impede this profession and practice of Faith are against the natural law. </p>
<p>Conscientious parents, aware of their educational duties, have a primal and original right to determine that the children which God has given them should be educated in the spirit of true faith.” </p>
<p>Pope Pius XI <a contents="Encyclical smuggled into Germany to all Roman Catholic Bishops to be read out on Palm Sunday 14th March 1937" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_14031937_mit-brennender-sorge.html" target="_blank"><em><strong>Encyclical smuggled into Germany to all Roman Catholic Bishops to be read out on Palm Sunday 14th March 1937</strong></em></a> (click for complete document)</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6982280
2022-05-29T16:14:20+10:00
2022-05-29T16:22:22+10:00
The Interventionist God – But Why Not Now?
<p>I received a very distressing phone call last year from a young mother in an emotional free-fall over a disturbing news story of a missing girl. The context for her quite literal existential crisis was our 6th Covid lockdown, a young mother of three and a prolonged reading of Old Testament Minor prophets and the many records therein of God’s seeming austerity, or worse – barbarity – with the ‘innocents’. </p>
<p>Punishments to her that seemed more like malicious and spite-filled torments. The God of Love that she had crafted in her mind was in question under this new (to her) paradigm and this egregious mix was cascading over her fragile psyche like an avalanche of ideological incongruent debris. </p>
<ul> <li>Why doesn’t God intervene now – with so many praying? </li> <li>Why does God permit such horrendous harms with oft times no obvious care or intervention? </li>
</ul>
<p>And of course, the multiple variables of the same inquisition. </p>
<p>The metaphysical gymnastics that are often involved in attempting to assuage vexed souls over the nature and extent of the Creator God’s intervention is invariably complex. Regularly this lands us in contorted postures of great discomfort, or unsatisfying nullifiers that leave us flummoxed. Both creating that existential ache – like a pebble in the shoe or splinter you just can’t reach in your finger. </p>
<p>The limitations of the human psyche lack not only capacity, but the full agency to completely grasp this paradox of the Christian worldview and I think that is the reality at which we must fully accept before we attempt to investigate any further. Notice I didn’t say stop investigating or asking, but know your vexing limitations are not the lens with which to see any issue at that point of relentless angst, let alone understand the fullness of the omniscient One. </p>
<p>On this side of Glory we will never grasp the complexities, intricacies and incalculable convolutions of the myriad of potential scenarios generated by nigh on eight and half billion souls; all exercising their free will, and for the most part doing so disconnected from the perfect governance of their Heavenly Father and Creator God. </p>
<p>Again, by commencing with the primer – <em>‘you will never fully grasp this, so stop trying to’ </em>– is not the same as not trying to understand what we can within our very limited construct and trusting that God's goodness, wisdom and power are perfect in their eternal application. </p>
<p>I believe it was Gilbert Chesterton who said, <em>“Paradox is truth standing on her head to get your attention.”</em> </p>
<p>Our very Good and Loving Heavenly Father does want you to know HIM, more and more – which may include His ways – but it is more His Character, Nature and Posture, in which we will see His glory and purposes revealed, not merely the exercising of ‘control’, that we so often want when any form of crisis, grief or pain present. </p>
<p>The seemingly unanswered questions have been wrestled with from time immemorial and many learned Theologians and Ambassadors of Christ have understood and accepted with a vital faith, these limitations. </p>
<p><em>"The Spirit if Divine Love can have no birth in any fallen creature, until it wills and chooses to be dead to all self, in a patient, humble, resignation to the power and mercy of God."</em> (Andrew Murray) </p>
<p><em>By the time Jesus came into the world, the word' self' had to be reckoned with and put in its place. ‘Self’ had to be denied, said Jesus. "Crucified", said Paul. Why? Because the ‘self’ serve only self. The ego thrives best in soil so shallow it can give no root to the purposes of God.</em> (Calvin Miller) </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/801260227d032e962e393c09b773a0b110e3e29b/original/emptywoodencross.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It is vital to properly frame God’s grace – undeserved favour and His mercy – not getting what we do deserve. These offerings initiate from our Creator God and are completely outside our purview. Our involvement in these is only about receiving and the posture we must adopt, not to earn, but have the ability to engage them. Not a ‘hoop’ to go through, but very simple (though not easy) process of complete surrender to the Only One who knows best. </p>
<p><em>“What takes place in this work of inconceivable mercy, is therefore, the free overruling of God. It is not arbitrary overlooking and ignoring, not an artificial bridging, covering-over or hiding – it is a real closing of the breach, gulf, and abyss between God and us, for which we are responsible. At the very point where we refuse and fail, offending and provoking God, making ourselves impossible before him and in that way missing our destiny, treading underfoot our dignity, forfeiting our right, losing our Salvation and hopelessly compromising our creaturely being – at that very point, God Himself intervenes as man.”</em> Karl Barth (Church Dogmatics, Vol 4:1 The Doctrine of Reconciliation) </p>
<p><em>“Grace is the mother and nurse of Holiness, not the apologist of sin!”</em> (C.H. Spurgeon) </p>
<p><em>“Everything that hinders me from falling into the ground, everything that interferes with my taking up the Cross, dying to self, separating from the world, cleaning my life up, or entering through the narrow gate, anything that interferes with that is Satan’s power. Strive to enter in. Seek to be worthy to enter in. Let God be honoured by your leaving behind the things that you know are taking your life, hindering your progress, blighting your prospects, and ruining your mind – for nothing will dull the mind’s perception like touching earthly things that are not clean.” </em> (Smith Wigglesworth) </p>
<p><em>“I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s will, whatever it may be. When one is truly ready in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.” </em> (George Mueller) </p>
<p><em>“The honour of the world makes us attribute to ourselves all that we do and ends by setting us upon pedestals like little gods. Well, proud and self-complacent soul, thus deified by, the honour of the world, see how the eternal, the living God abases Himself in order to confound you. Man makes himself God through pride, God makes Himself man through humility. Man, falsely attributes to himself what belongs to God; and God, in order to teach him to humble himself, takes what belongs to man. This is the remedy of insolence! This along can confound the honour of the world – that Hill of Calvary, that Cross of shame, Jesus Christ the Incarnate God, our Pattern, our Master, our King!” </em>(Priest, Jacques Benigne Bossuet (Preacher at Court of Versailles – Frances greatest orator) </p>
<p><em>“The power to perceive the light of God is, of all powers, the one which we need most to cultivate and develop. As exercise strengthens the body and education enlarges the mind, so the spiritual faculty within us grows as we use it in seeing and doing God’s will.” </em> (The Friends Book of Discipline) </p>
<p>When we fully understand (and that is only manifested by our complete surrender) that our trust in His Goodness, Wisdom and Power, in the face of the most troubling manifestations of wickedness, pain, tragedy, grief and torment, is the place of understanding. Now, I need to say that ‘understanding’ my not be ‘answer’ you started out looking for, but it will be the answer you need and will suffice for that moment. </p>
<p>The following Counsel from God’s Word can help us create a more complete lens with which to look and see, in these times of duress and distress. </p>
<p> <strong>Psalm 119:29-35</strong> [AMPC] Remove from me the way of falsehood and unfaithfulness [to You], and graciously impart Your law to me. I have chosen the way of truth and faithfulness; Your ordinances have I set before me. I cleave to Your testimonies; O Lord, put me not to shame! I will [not merely walk, but] run the way of Your commandments, when You give me a heart that is willing. Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep it to the end [steadfastly]. Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law; yes, I will observe it with my whole heart. Make me go in the path of Your commandments, for in them do I delight. </p>
<p><strong> Matthew 6:33 [</strong>AMPC] But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. </p>
<p><strong> Romans 8:24 – 39</strong> [AMPC] For in [this] hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees? But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure. So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will. </p>
<p>We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be moulded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being]. </p>
<p>What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?] He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect [when it is] God Who justifies [that is, Who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?] Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us? Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword? Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. </p>
<p><strong> Eph 4:13 </strong>[AMPC] [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. </p>
<p>(Further reading reflect on <strong>2 Corinthians chapter 6</strong>) </p>
<p><strong>A Prayer: </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“Glorious Heavenly Father, help me see Your glory and the full potential of your Kingdom, yet make me humble enough to aspire only to serve no more than Your perfect will for my life, so Your Kingdom can come wherever Your servant invests through obedience. Many I yoke only with You to plough the darkness of this present age with Your glorious and wise love and sow the light of Your blessed Truth that it may blossom to shine the way out of Godless ignorance for many; in Jesus Matchless Name we pray – Amen” </em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">By Shane W. Varcoe</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6976926
2022-05-22T13:50:55+10:00
2022-05-22T14:28:32+10:00
‘Rights’ to Abort a Child – Why is Roe V Wade Now Finally Getting the Scrutiny it has Always Warranted?
<p>It is difficult not to notice the well-crafted outrage being magnificently choreographed by the clearly biased media on the recent leaked documents from the S.C.O.T.U.S, re the potential overturning of the Roe Vs Wade precedent that has been wielded by pro-abortion groups for decades as a new ‘human right’. (Not the first group to pull this incongruent cultural card, but not unsurprising for this reignited debate) </p>
<p>Medical News Today® were quick to bring comment on this latest hiccup to the so-called long-standing ‘progressive’ agenda with two quick fire articles. </p>
<p>One piece outlined the leaked draft, with the second piece positing the potential outcomes of the overturning of the Supreme Court precedent. </p>
<p>In their first article the platform focused on their understanding of the leaked document as the following excerpt reveals </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>On May 2, 2022, news outlet <a contents="Politico&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473" target="_blank">Politico </a>obtained a draft of the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in <a contents="Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizatio" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/19-1392" target="_blank">Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizatio</a>n. This case provides an opening for conservative justices to reassess the l<a contents="andmark 1973&nbsp;Roe v. Wade&nbsp;decision" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/roe_v_wade_(1973)" target="_blank">andmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision</a> that protected the right to abortion before foetus viability in the U.S. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The February 10, 2022, draft reveals the Supreme Court’s intention at that date to overturn Roe altogether. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The Supreme Court released a statement affirming that the draft was genuine but said that, as a draft, “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., said that the Court’s work “will not be affected in any way,” and an investigation into the source of the leak is underway. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Nonetheless, the publication of the draft served notice that the Court’s upcoming final decision may well eliminate a long-standing constitutional right that many have taken for granted. The draft leaves uncertainty about what lies ahead, particularly for people’s reproductive rights and racial and economic equity. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The article summary as follows, </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>A leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s deliberations in a related case suggests that the Court plans to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling establishing a constitutional right to abortion. <br>The Court’s Chief Justice says that the draft does not reflect the Court’s final opinions. <br>Regardless of people’s beliefs on whether abortion should be available to pregnant people in the United States, the draft has caused a whirlwind of controversy and questions 1 </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>In their second article What happens if Roe v. Wade is overturned? What we know about the Supreme Court decision, Medical News Today went on to focusing of the potential ramifications of an overturning of this precedent. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The summary of the article simply looked at the mechanics of a potential reversal. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>If the landmark case were overturned, the legality of abortion would be up to each state. <br>Twenty-six states are expected to ban or restrict access to abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. <br>Clinics in neighbouring states are preparing for a surge in patients from states that limit access to abortion.2 </em></p>
<p>Of course, in all this ‘what if’ theorizing, not a mention of the health and/or well-being of the unborn child and the potential saving of hundreds of thousands of lives, such a ‘brake’ on this carte blanche vehicle this would bring back to the public square. </p>
<p>So, that’s a little on what, but why is this now happening. </p>
<p>In her recent article, <a contents="Why Roe V Wade Deserves to Fall" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://unherd.com/2022/05/roe-v-wade-deserves-to-fall/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups%5b0%5d=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=c512303b4f&mc_eid=b4f47934ec" target="_blank"><strong>Why Roe V Wade Deserves to Fal</strong></a><a contents="Why Roe V Wade Deserves to Fall" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://unherd.com/2022/05/roe-v-wade-deserves-to-fall/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups%5b0%5d=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=c512303b4f&mc_eid=b4f47934ec" target="_blank">l</a> Kat Rosenfield, a columnist with <strong>UnHerd </strong>penned the following opening barrage in her critique of the fragility of this well-marketed, but incredibly dubious legal ‘precedent’ parading as enshrined Law. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>For 50 years, Roe v Wade has dangled like the sword of Damocles over the American political landscape. Pro-life dreams and pro-choice nightmares have fixated on the reversal of the Supreme Court case — which established a woman’s right to choose as an extension of the “right to privacy” guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Everyone knew Roe was shaky. <a contents="Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lifelong pro-choice advocate," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://time.com/5354490/ruth-bader-ginsburg-roe-v-wade/" target="_blank">Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lifelong pro-choice advocate,</a> <a contents="expressed regrets&nbsp;that the abortion question hadn’t been decided by a stronger case," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://time.com/5354490/ruth-bader-ginsburg-roe-v-wade/" target="_blank">expressed regrets that the abortion question hadn’t been decided by a stronger case,</a> one that centred on a woman’s right to bodily autonomy rather than the nebulous notion of “privacy”. Instead of surviving on the merits, the validity of Roe became largely a question of precedent: the best argument for the continued upholding of the decision was the fact that it had, so far, been upheld. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>On all sides, extreme rhetoric ruled the day, fuelled by a sense that abortion protections were perpetually hanging by a single thread. Yet nobody ever seemed to really believe the thread would break — until this week, when a leak from inside the Supreme Court revealed that the justices intend to rule in favour of overturning Roe. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>On the Left, radical pro-choice activists have demanded unrestricted abortion basically until the moment of live birth, engaged in coarse cheerleading such as the #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag, and cheered for a Yale student who announced that she had <a contents="aborted&nbsp;half a dozen pregnancies as a form of performance art" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2008/4/20/yale-student-claims-abortion-as-art/" target="_blank">aborted half a dozen pregnancies as a form of performance art</a>. Meanwhile, on the Right, deranged anti-choicers had shrieking meltdowns over the “sluts” who wanted access to birth control, suggested t<a contents="hat exceptions for rape and incest were biologically unnecessary" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/us/politics/todd-akin-provokes-ire-with-legitimate-rape-comment.html" target="_blank">hat exceptions for rape and incest were biologically unnecessary</a> because the body would “shut that whole thing down”, and waved giant placards with images of mutilated babies outside women’s health clinics. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Amid all this, it was easy to forget that the <a contents="general American public has far more complex views" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/" target="_blank">general American public has far more complex views</a> on this issue, and far more in common with each other than with the loudest activists on either side. The majority of Americans are, in fact, quite pro-choice — when it comes to abortions within the first trimester, which 61% of people believe should be legal in all or most cases. But the majority also greatly favour restrictions to later-term abortion: 65% believe that second-trimester abortion should be largely illegal. </em></p>
<p>The article is worth a full read, as it is not about pro-choice or pro-life, rather about bad an incredibly divisive cause that was (as we’ll discover in the following data) essentially a cynical propaganda play, full of not only misinformation, but out and out lies; all couched to convince an already moral abandoning culture that using abortion as birth control should be any easy no fuss option. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/67c0a2474a58b2eb70087bd76bdf5abbd407934a/original/abortionprotest.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>In his landmark best seller <a contents="‘The Marketing of Evil – How Radicals, Elitists and Pseudo-Experts Sell us Corruption Disguised as Freedom’," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://superstore.wnd.com/david-kupelian/" target="_blank"><strong>‘The Marketing of Evil – How Radicals, Elitists and Pseudo-Experts Sell us Corruption Disguised as Freedom’,</strong></a> Award winning journalist David Kupelian, bothered, like none before him, to spelunk the dark caverns of cultural corruption that birthed this most cynical plan, which unleashed the taking of innocent life from the womb into catastrophic holocaust-esque proportions. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“In marketing wars, the party that frames the terms of the debate almost always wins. And the early abortion marketers brilliantly succeeded in doing exactly that – diverting attention from the core issues of exactly was abortion does to both the unborn child and the mother and focusing the debate instead on newly created issue: choice. No longer was the orality of killing the unborn at issue, but rather “who decides.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The original abortion-rights slogans from the early 70’s – they remain virtual articles of faith and rallying cries of the “pro-choice” movement to this day – were “Freedom of choice” and “Women must have control over their own bodies.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“I remember laughing when we made those slogans up,” recalls Bernard Nathanson, M.D., cofounder of the pro-abortion vanguard group NARAL, reminiscing about the early days of the abortion rights movement in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70s. “We were looking for some sexy, catchy slogans to capture public opinion. They were very cynical slogans then, just as all of these slogans today are very, very cynical.” 3 </em></p>
<p>Just after Nathanson had finished a residency in both obstetrics and gynaecology in 1968 where he had seen a significant number of women coming into the hospitals and clinics at which he practiced who were suffering from botched illegal abortions. Around the same time Dr Nathanson, met the author of a recently published work Abortion which was demanding that abortion should be legal throughout the nation. In Nathanson’s words,<em> “Lader and I were perfect for each other!” </em></p>
<p>Together they concocted the first iteration of what was the organized pro-abortion movement and called it National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. (NARAL) </p>
<p>Kupelian goes on to record the interview with Nathanson that speaks matter-of-factly about this burgeoning movement and the surprising traction it got. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“During the tumultuous 1960’s, after centuries of legal prohibition and moral condemnation of abortion, a handful of dedicated activists launched an unprecedented marketing campaign. Their aim was twofold: first, to capture the news media and thus public opinion; and then to change the nation’s abortion laws. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Their success was rapid and total - resulting in abortion being legalized in all 50 states for virtually any reason and throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Since the Supreme Courts controversial Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, American doctors have performed well over fifty-five million abortions. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Although polls consistently show Americans disapprove of unfettered abortion-on-demand by a three-to-one margin, the movement’s well-crafted, almost magical slogans – appealing to Americans’ deep-rooted inclination toward tolerance, privacy, and individual rights – have provided the abortion camp a powerful rhetorical arsenal with which to fight off efforts to reverse Roe, which struck down all state laws outlawing abortion. 4 </em></p>
<p>So, what were some of the ‘keys’ to this meteoric rise and impact? Well, as previously mentioned one key was to get mainstream media in their pocket. Once they had ‘domination in the air’ (as with most wars) – they could ‘bomb’ an unwitting and primed population with fake news and embellished data in palatable morsels that the selfish culture is ready to swallow. Such cultural control has been in play by those seeking to dominate the ‘public square’ for millennia, but no more easily accomplished than in the late 20th and emerging new century – The idea that, <em>‘if you control language, you control culture.’ </em></p>
<p>The recorded interview with Nathanson goes on to reveal just such tactics. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“We persuaded the media that the cause of permissive abortion was a liberal, enlightened, sophisticated one. Knowing that if a true poll were taken, we would be soundly defeated, we simply fabricated the results of fictional polls. We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60 percent of Americans were inf favour of permissive abortion. This is the tactic of the self-fulfilling lie. Few people care to be in the minority. We aroused enough sympathy to sell our program of permissive abortion by fabricating the number of illegal abortions done annually in the U. S. The actual figure was approaching 100,00, but the figure we gave to the media repeatedly was 1 million. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public. The number of women dying from illegal abortions was around 200-250 annually. The figure we constantly fed to the media was 10,000. These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans, convincing many that we needed to crack the abortion law. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Another myth we fed to the public through the media was that legalizing abortion would only mean that the abortions taking place illegally would then be done legally. In fact, of course, abortion is now being used as a primary method of birth control in the U. S. and the annual number of abortions has increased by 1,500 percent since legalization.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>NARAL’s brilliant deceitful marketing campaign, bolstered by fraudulent research, was uncannily successful… In New York… “We lobbied the legislature, we captured the media, we spend money on public relations…Our first year’s budget was $7,500. Of that $5,000 was allotted to a public relations firm to persuade the media of the correctness of our position. That was in 1969. New York immediately became the abortion capital for the eastern half of the United States. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“We were inundated with applicants for abortion, says Nathanson. “To that end, I set up a clinic, the Centre for Reproductive and Sexual Health (CRASH), which operated in the East side of Manhattan. It had 10 operating rooms, 35 doctors, 85 nurses. It operated seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to midnight. We did 120 abortions every day in that clinic. At the end of two years that I was director, we had done 60,000 abortions, I myself, with my own hands, have do 5,000 abortions. I have supervised another 10,000 that residents have done under my direction. So, I have 75,000 abortions in my life. Those are pretty good credentials to speak on the subject of abortion.5 </em></p>
<p>I’m not going to launch into a inventory of the shocking and tortuous afflictions the unborn child experiences during the abortion procedure that takes their lives, <a contents="as there is ample evidence of this" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gON-8PP6zgQ" target="_blank"><strong>as there is ample evidence of this</strong></a>. However, I do want to focus a little on the <a contents="often ‘untold harms’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507237/" target="_blank">often ‘untold harms’</a> 6 that the vast majority of women opting to abort a child experience. Whilst type and depth of repercussion vary, the evidence indicates that <a contents="these disturbing harms are real" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395931/" target="_blank">these disturbing harms are real</a> 7, present and rarely, if ever, addressed with those believing abortion is their only option. </p>
<p>The following inventory of harms was spelled out more fully and in more accessible language for the generally very under-informed public on the<a contents=" Abortion Grief Australia" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.abortiongrief.asn.au/abortion-trauma.php" target="_blank"><strong> Abortion Grief Australia</strong></a> website. </p>
<p><strong>Self-destructive behaviours </strong></p>
<ul> <li>suicidal behaviours </li> <li>alcohol and drug abuse </li> <li>eating disorders </li> <li>self-injury </li> <li>abusive relationships </li> <li>risk taking behaviours </li> <li>workaholism </li> <li>setting self-up to fail </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Relationship problems </strong></p>
<ul> <li>marriage and family breakdown </li> <li>difficulty bonding with children </li> <li>child neglect / abuse / overprotective </li> <li>sexual dysfunction </li> <li>domestic violence </li> <li>with friends/work colleagues </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Replacement pregnancies </strong></p>
<ul> <li>repeat abortions </li> <li>the atonement child </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Mental health problems </strong></p>
<ul> <li>postnatal depression </li> <li>anxiety attacks </li> <li>obsessive compulsive disorders </li> <li>addictions </li> <li>phobias </li> <li>depression, mood swings </li> <li>personality disorders </li> <li>emotional breakdown </li> <li>hallucinations - hearing voices or babies crying, seeing child at would be age. </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Other symptoms </strong></p>
<ul> <li>chronic anger or rage </li> <li>frequent crying </li> <li>lowered self esteem </li> <li>chronic fatigue </li> <li>inability to concentrate </li> <li>headaches, chest or abdominal pains, gastro-intestinal symptoms </li> <li>flashbacks </li> <li>feelings of impending doom </li> <li>sense of hopelessness </li> <li>self-isolation </li> <li>inability to be around pregnant women, babies or small children </li> <li>unable to hold down a job / make decisions </li>
</ul>
<p>One must also remember that all these potential outcomes and their varying degrees of duress can be triggered at any time by </p>
<p><strong>Anniversary dates </strong></p>
<ul> <li>abortion date </li> <li>due date of birth </li> <li>(these anniversary reactions may not start until years after the abortion) </li> <li>Birth of a subsequent child (not always the first birth subsequent to the abortion) </li> <li>Birth of relative or friend’s child or grandchild </li> <li>Miscarriage </li> <li>Menopause </li> <li>Daughter reaches the age when the mother experienced abortion </li> <li>Some other event associated with children or reproduction </li> <li>A death experience </li> <li>Smells, sounds, location or being again in a position associated with the abortion, for example, smell of a hospital, positioned for an internal medical examination, sound of a vacuum cleaner or dentist drill </li> <li>Relationship break-up </li> <li>A personal crisis </li>
</ul>
<p>None of what I’ve written here, or in <a contents="my previous piece on this subject " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/i-am-pro-choice-therefore-i-must-be" target="_blank">my previous piece on this subject </a>are meant to rail against those who have opted for an abortion, rather, it is to bring back to the public square (much like the review of Roe Vs Wade is aiming to do) a more thorough and all of community involvement understanding and better addressing this harm causing process. </p>
<p>I remain personally flummoxed by a so-called progressive society that rails against the death penalty for the most heinous of barbaric crimes – those who have tortured and taken lives – yet so readily and whimsically promotes the death of the most vulnerable in our society, the unborn with abortion, and those mentally ill or in distressing pain, through euthanasia. </p>
<p>If the State is going to be involved in the death of its citizens, it must be consistent on all arenas, if Justice and Mercy are the pursuit. Or the State should not be involved in the death of any of its citizens, if again, Justice and Mercy are its predicates. It depends, doesn't it? But on what?</p>
<p>But then the questions come…Who or What gets to determine the origin of these historically Divinely sourced graces of undeserved favour, mercy and justice? </p>
<p>If not the Creator, then who? </p>
<p>If for the purpose of anthropocentric expedience, we determine (as with the deaf, dumb and blind chimps) the Creator God of the Bible, non-existent, or at the very least declare ‘him’ dead, then capricious humanity becomes the final arbiter over who lives and who dies and who gets harmed in the process. </p>
<p>The overturning of Roe Vs Wade should not be inciting the pro-abortionists to ‘kill’ anyone who gets in their way of an unfettered choice to take life in the womb, but it clearly has done so in so many instances. </p>
<p>Perhaps this is just another indicator of the need for a healthier, more compassionate and just review of the ever more barbaric ‘laws’ being foisted on a society in ‘protecting’ the right to harm not just another, but the self. </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Shane Varcoe </p>
<p>For Further Reading </p>
<ul> <li><span class="font_large"><strong><a contents="The Redemption of Bernard Nathanson&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDhpWITO9Eg" target="_blank">The Redemption of Bernard Nathanson </a></strong></span></li> <li><span class="font_large"><strong> <a contents="365Life | FamilyVoice Australia&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://familyvoice.org.au/voiceforchange" target="_blank">365Life | FamilyVoice Australia </a></strong></span></li> <li><a contents="Silence or Chanting in the Face of Compassionate Reason?" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeQ-uBWLZ7g" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><strong>Silence or Chanting in the Face of Compassionate Reason?</strong></span></a></li> <li><a contents="I’m Pro-Choice, So, I Must be Pro-Abortion Right?&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/blogs/kairos/posts/i-am-pro-choice-therefore-i-must-be" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><strong>I’m Pro-Choice, So, I Must be Pro-Abortion Right? </strong></span></a></li>
</ul>
<p>References </p>
<ol> <li>Roe v. Wade leaked opinion explained: What could happen next? </li> <li>What Happens if Roe v. Wade is Overturned? </li> <li>Pp 256-257 Kupelian, The Marketing of Evil, Republic Book Publishers (c) 2005,2015,2022</li> <li>Pp 257-258 ibid</li> <li>Pp 259-60 ibid </li> <li><a contents="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507237/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507237/" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507237/ </a></li> <li><a contents="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395931/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395931/" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395931/ </a></li>
</ol>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6937702
2022-04-01T20:25:36+11:00
2022-04-01T20:25:36+11:00
Warfare Jesus Way - The Weapons are Not Carnal, But are Mighty for...
<p>The theme and issue of ‘spiritual warfare’ is a staple subject of conversations in the vast and varied prayer and intercessory networks, and understandably so, because it is believed to be their field of expertise. </p>
<p>However, these themes and the ensuing conversations spill over into (and engaged by) the wider Christian community when that community is disquieted – usually prompted by a disturbing socio-political issue or event that bumps into their culture. None more so than when the erosion of Christian values is seeing yet another gouging storm approach. This of course, is not a bad thing – the defense of best practice values (and the Judeo-Christian values system has still not been bettered in the public square) is a worthy cause for such action. </p>
<p>The old hymn, “onward Christian Soldiers”, springs to mind whenever I hear the subject emerge. </p>
<p>And as rousing a tune as it may be, It’s verses 3 to 5 that are rarely remembered, but for the sake of easy access, I’ve copied them here. </p>
<p>Like a mighty army <br>moves the Church of God; <br>Brothers, we are treading <br>where the saints have trod; <br>we are not divided, <br>all one body we, <br>one in hope and doctrine, <br>one in charity. </p>
<p>What the saints established <br>that I hold for true. <br>what the saints believed, <br>that I believe too. <br>Long as earth endureth, <br>men the faith will hold, <br>kingdoms, nations, empires, <br>in destruction rolled. </p>
<p>Crown and thrones may perish, <br>kingdoms rise and wane, <br>but the Church of Jesus <br>constant will remain; <br>gates of hell can never <br>'gainst that Church prevail; <br>we have Christ's own promise, <br>and that cannot fail. <br>Refrain: <br>Onward, Christian soldiers, <br>marching as to war, <br>with the cross of Jesus [the Anchor Point and Rosetta stone of all Doctrine] <br>going on before! </p>
<p>It is a rousing hymn and has, for the most part, sound doctrine. The motif of ‘war’ though can conjure many uncomfortable images in our more ‘civilized’ western democracies. This can also be attributed to our very visual repertoire of the bloodiest of all centuries, the 20th – grotesque and egregious. Incidentally, it was the 20th century that saw more catastrophic violence and loss of life than all the conflicts ever recorded in history prior to that century. And what is important to note, is that it was Godless, secular actors who perpetrated this almost incalculable carnage – two of these actors were communists, all three were totalitarians – Hitler, Stalin and Mao – but I digress. </p>
<p>The prolific novelist and writer <a contents="Ernest Hemingway" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ernest_hemingway_118917" target="_blank">Ernest Hemingway</a> made an interesting comment about war, whilst clearly not in any way in favour of them, he understood the need to win them if so embroiled; "Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war." </p>
<p>Therefore arises one significant question; what does this Christian warfare look like and entail for the unseasoned prayer war recruit? </p>
<p><strong>Old Testament models, modes and methods – shadows and types </strong></p>
<p>The Old Covenant of Scripture is rich with history and historical narrative all affirming and reflecting much of the nature of despotic kingdoms and the adversarial modes of conquer or be conquered. Time and space here, does not permit the detailed investigation into the spiritual and subsequent sources of this state of affairs; suffice to say this was never the intent or design of the Creator God of the Bible – but a mode that did not take by surprise the Omniscient God.</p>
<p>(However, the Triune God had to, as only the free will bestowing, relationship focused and collaborative Deity could, work His remarkable sovereignty into demonstrating a better way and leading the world, be it ever so slowly, away from this domination model, and into a willing surrender to His best practice dominion.) </p>
<p>The God of the Bible, we understand has hosts of angels, with warrior capacity, and regardless of that, He, with the breath of His nostrils, could incinerate entire cities but chooses not to exercise that capacity to obliterate (except for exceptional circumstances), rather to regulate, recalibrate or most importantly, emancipate. </p>
<p>(El Shaddai) The All Sufficient God, is always looking to use all His vast resources to set people free of the activities that kill, steal and destroy – these are always the work of the Evil One. </p>
<p>The following records show an array of Old Testament ‘battle’ strategies and outcomes, but all in a collaborative context. Yes, at times it was mostly God, other times mostly man, but all were about setting all those who wanted to, or were in relationship with the God of the best practice, to be emancipated from that which kills, steals and destroys. </p>
<p>Egyptians – <a contents="Exodus 14" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+14&version=NIRV" target="_blank">Exodus 14</a> <br>Jericho – <a contents="Joshua 5:13-6:27&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+5%3A13-6%3A27&version=NIV" target="_blank">Joshua 5:13-6:27 </a><br>Gideon and the Midianites – <a contents="Judges 7&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%207&version=NIRV" target="_blank">Judges 7 </a><br>David & Goliath – <a contents="1 Samuel 17&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+17&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Samuel 17 </a><br>Asa and the <a contents="Ethiopians" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/asa-king-of-judah-defeats-ethiopians/" target="_blank">Ethiopians</a> <br>Jehoshaphat and Moab – <a contents="2 Chronicles 20&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+20&version=NIRV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 20 </a><br>Hezekiah and the Assyrians –<a contents=" 2 Kings 18-19" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+19&version=NIRV" target="_blank"> 2 Kings 18-19</a> </p>
<p>The list can go on, but you get the point. Again, I want us to remember the context in history of this Old Covenant framework and the default position of the lost world (those not knowing the God of Creation) which was conquer, dominate, control, acquire, accumulate and subsequently, govern their way. </p>
<p>At the risk of being repetitive; this is always the modus operandi of the god of this world.<a contents=" (John 10:10)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2010:10&version=NIV" target="_blank"> (John 10:10) </a></p>
<p><strong>The King of King’s Manifestation of ‘Warfare’ </strong></p>
<p>So, what warfare in the context of the New Covenant, the current dispensation? </p>
<p>This same God – who has not changed, but only seeks to bring us back to his perfect plan – is ever looking to transform His most precious creation to conform with His own image and return to that relationship of trust, surrender and communion that existed pre-fall in the ‘Garden of Eden’ </p>
<p>At the right time this Interventionist God inserted Himself in human history to ‘shift gears’ as it were, in changing those modes, models and motifs into His Kingdom ways and clearly delineating them from man’s kingdom ways. </p>
<p>We now find ourselves, in this time in His-story in a different <a contents="dispensation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://truediscipleship.com/what-is-the-difference-between-bible-dispensations-and-the-doctrine-of-dispensationalism/" target="_blank">dispensation</a> if we enter the New Covenant. </p>
<p>The <a contents="Lion of the Tribe of Judah" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/lion-tribe-Judah.html" target="_blank"><em><strong>Lion of the Tribe of Judah</strong></em></a>, the Son of God, the Second Person in the Triune Godhead has made manifest a new mode, model and mandate. </p>
<p>He set this new ‘Way’ of warfare in motion and did so by a most graphic demonstration on the Cross. Bought with the most precious of all blood – but not in killing of but dying for. </p>
<p>Arguably, the most well-known passage in Scripture on spiritual warfare is found in Paul’s second letter to the Church at Corinth – <a contents="a place and church very much in need of such activity.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/1-corinthians" target="_blank">a place and church very much in need of such activity. </a></p>
<p>For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. 4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood – geared to the base nature of man]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments [that people try and escape to and hide in] and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 <a contents="Amplified Bible&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+10%3A3-6&version=AMP" target="_blank">Amplified Bible </a></p>
<p>This passage to my reading, is more about posture, attitude and character, that enable us to most effectively use the ‘weapons’ of our warfare. In fact, it is our Christ imbued character, posture and the humility, holiness and hope that enables the ‘weaponizing’ of The Word and purposes of God which enable that tearing down capacity. If you like it is more like an<a contents=" ‘E.M.P’ device" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse" target="_blank"> ‘E.M.P’ device</a> and not a nuclear bomb – but to ‘pull down’ what? </p>
<p>Well, Paul gives both definition and deployment </p>
<ol> <li>Strongholds – not physical structures or even institutions or strategies (perhaps some of the latter), rather the ‘arguments’ that set themselves up against the <a contents="knowledge of God" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea%204%3A6%2CIsaiah%205%3A13&version=KJV" target="_blank">knowledge of God</a> </li> <li>How? ‘capturing’ through obedience and punishing disobedience in both us and the church which we are <a contents="living stones" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://biblehub.com/1_peter/2-5.htm" target="_blank"><em>living stones</em></a> in.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is first and foremost about us, removing the plank from our own eye, before attempting to remove the spec in another’s. However, it is also about ensuring that the ‘leaven’ of the world and the flesh does not ferment in the living and to be spotless, Bride of Christ. </p>
<p><strong>What then could these ‘weapons’ be? </strong></p>
<p>To understand that we need to look at the One who gained the ultimate victory in this cosmic battle. At risk of being a little retro, may I ask – What Would Jesus Do? Or more precisely, What Did Jesus Do? </p>
<p>Calvary was the culmination of a mission, a life-long manifestation of the nature of both the Creator God and His Kingdom as was intended in Eden. </p>
<p><strong>Love</strong>, and no I’m not referring to the ubiquitous, powerless and unholy version so readily embraced by a shallow and sentimental culture, but <a contents="Divine Love" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bzglfiles.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/u/20671/dabf0f791e0645d3971e6e99a6f300715d5464ff/original/true-love-of-god-30-11-20.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2AEJH4L527DJJBYE%2F20220401%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220401T092342Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=dba031ccf9beca9fcaf0580000396f87d84857457795affed2e3c23653cc0ca4" target="_blank"><em><strong>Divine Love</strong></em></a> and the Righteousness, Truth and Obedience that is enveloped and under-girded by the Grace, Compassion and Mercy, that all coalesced at the Cross. </p>
<p>Yet, there is still another important ‘weapon’ and one that enables the above to actually be deployed well, and is the embodiment of it – The Church – the <a contents="‘Pillar and Foundation of the Truth’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+3%3A15&version=NIV" target="_blank"><em>‘Pillar and Foundation of the Truth’</em></a>. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em> His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Ephesians 3:10-20 New International Version </p>
<p><em><strong>The mature Church</strong></em> – and that is an important qualifier – is the weapon that <em>‘makes manifest</em>’. </p>
<p>That is why the Enemy of humanity – the Adversary – is happy for ‘Decisions over Disciples’ and breast-feeding babies over maturing believers. You see, it is only the mature who can make manifest. Only the mature seed that is fully viable and ready to reproduce that is be the ‘grain of wheat’ that falls into the ground and multiplies (Ephesians 6:12-20). Only the mature can put the armour on and keep it on as God intended, not the flesh intended. </p>
<p>When it comes to the armour of God, it is not a don and remove accessory, it is supposed to be a permanent fixture. At what point would any Disciple of Christ take off, Salvation, Truth or Righteousness? (Helmut – Belt – Breastplate?) Here in lies our second, or perhaps more aptly put, tantamount issue; is it a lack of maturity that sees this amour often ‘put off’ and maturity stifled, or is it immaturity that redisposes us to disrobing? A question for another piece perhaps? </p>
<p>The Church is the key and it is the collective maturing Disciples of Christ who are the ‘living stones’ which make up this globally purposed pillar and foundation of Divine Truth. It is not only the Plumbline for humanity, but also the restoring, raising up and releasing hospital, haven, home and higher education community for world. </p>
<p>It is the Apostle Paul who continues to proclaim what I see as the ultimate agenda of God, and of course, following the Kingdom Founder’s priority. </p>
<p>In Matthew 6:33 we see the Author of Salvation and <a contents="Cornerstone " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.christianity.com/wiki/jesus-christ/mean-that-jesus-christ-is-the-cornerstone.html" target="_blank"><strong><em>Cornerstone </em></strong></a>of this Church tell us in plain and simple what terms our highest priority must be – Seek first God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness… God’s sphere of influence and His best practice standard for living. This is the priority pursuit. As stated, Paul follows this understanding of ‘First Things’ and states that, arguably, the most important set of gifts given to the Church – The <em>Domata </em>– were not things, but agents. And this makes perfect sense when we are dealing with the Father of Creation; Author of and enamoured with relationship and community. </p>
<p>The generic letter sent to all churches in the first century was the instructional piece we know as Ephesians. In verses 11-13 Paul writes about this deployment of gifts and the intent of them. </p>
<p><em><strong> Who was it that gave us these gifts? </strong></em></p>
<ul> <li>Verse 11 – None other than the Son of God: So, Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, </li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>For what purpose where these personified resources given? </strong></em></p>
<ul> <li>Verse 12 – to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (notice it’s about training, preparing, resourcing the ‘living stones’ to do works of service and in so doing this Church is built up – the pillar and mainstay of the Truth grows.) </li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>What is the end intent – the unshifting goal of all this investment? </strong></em></p>
<ul> <li>Verse 13 – until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. </li>
</ul>
<p> First point to note is that the unity of the Spirit exists for all those Born Again – The Holy Spirit is in them and He is not disunified. Paul makes this clear in verse three of this same chapter, we are to simply maintain that unity (not create it), but we can only do that in the bond of peace, which in turn is being developed by our mature Divine service of one another. Secondly, the key outcome of this profound investment is complete maturation. This clear intent and action never abates – ever. </p>
<p>It is only in maturation, ever progressive, that we conform more and more to the stature of Christ, and our knowledge of the Kingdom grows. And again, the world sees the Church that looks, speaks and acts like Jesus Christ. </p>
<p>Are you still following the imperative in all this? </p>
<p>It is the Christ imbued and reflecting Church, maturing to the fullness of maturity; it is the entitlement rejecting, service embracing, holy love demonstrating humble servants of heaven which is a powerful weapon that truly is mighty for the tearing down of the strongholds of hell. </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Shane W Varcoe</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6899014
2022-02-16T21:06:38+11:00
2023-01-30T12:01:49+11:00
Cancel Culture and Christianity – Where do You Fit?
<p>Everyone has preferences, tastes, leanings and even biases of various kinds and the reasons for that are many indeed. Everything from belief systems right down to the most trivial experience. These are elements that contribute to ‘culture’, both individual and collective. </p>
<p>Cancel Culture happens when many of these more consequential elements of these subjective spheres are believed to be considerably more than just the ‘F’ words of culture – fad, flavour, fashion or formula. When we become entrenched as ‘right’ and ‘a right’ that generates a disguise for egocentric prejudice that then insists, in its ‘rightness’ to have all other perspectives on any given issue, coalesce with it – or be eradicated from the marketplace. </p>
<p>So, some questions before we begin – What is crafting your cultural lens? </p>
<ul> <li>What are your ‘values’ – your right and wrong? </li> <li>What informs those values? </li> <li>What schema, what paradigm, worldview and/or meta-narrative frames those informing elements? Do you know? Do you care? </li> <li>As worldviews are not just descriptive, they end up also being prescriptive (how you believe the world should be) Is your prescriptions worthy of informing all of society? </li> <li>Last, but not least, what or who is the final authority in that prescriptive narrative? </li>
</ul>
<p>How did you go? Hmmm? </p>
<p>One disturbing element that has emerged in the vacuum of sustainable objective narratives, and the rabid individualism these produce is that in marketplace influencer ‘brand acceptance’ becomes everything and in this exclusive space in the West, people metaphorically ‘live and die’ in this arena. Image and perception are everything. One of the most egregious harms one can sustain in this arena is ‘embarrassment – looking like a fool or weak or bad’. Consequently, all energies are focused on avoiding, negating or otherwise ensuring this does not happen. It is here that we become complete slaves, but to what have we enslaved ourselves? </p>
<p>Back in the early 1990’s a gentleman was sighted in New York City clad with a large sandwich board. On one side the bold text stated, “I’m a fool for Jesus!”; as he turned the board read “But whose fool, are you?” </p>
<p>That is the question we all must answer...</p>
<p><strong>I’m no Cancel Culture practitioner…am I? </strong></p>
<p>I’m not part of this cancel culture, well except for…. </p>
<p>As I alluded to earlier, eradication required a pretty ruthless posture. I know I once had a career in vermin and noxious weed control. When it comes to noxious weeds and non-native predator animals’ eradication is the best practice. Leaving just a few can see a complete re-emergence of their toxic and ravaging elements. I’ve seen complete small farms taken over by such, rendering their land not only unproductive, but a source of infection for all around them. </p>
<p>However, when it comes to culture, eradicating ‘ideas’ or attitudes and governing sentiments that are deemed toxic and by whom is significantly more complex. Not least in that it ends up determining whether the ‘humanity’ attached to those deemed ‘toxic ideas’ is erased or eradicated with it. </p>
<p>History is replete with the extreme version of this conduct, that invariably brings a brutal tyranny – Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Fundamental Islam, Spanish Inquisition, French Revolutionaries, Marxists, Nazis, and all more recent such tyrants from Pol Pot to Pinochet. </p>
<p>So, looking at these extremes and feeling good about our relative tolerance, we clearly don’t have a cancel culture lens, do we? Are you part of the Cancel Culture or more influenced by it than you realize? </p>
<p>I know I have been – to my shame. </p>
<p>Core modes of Cancel Culture are at the mildest end, commence with tools to ignore, then embarrass. Then to move through ridicule, mocking, shaming, disassociation or abuse to add to coercion, intimidation and of course, in the end violence is employed to ensure my ‘rightness’ is deployed and embraced by those around me. </p>
<p>Let’s do a quick inventory to see if you and I have been enlisted or at very least infected by this renaissance of cultural coercion? </p>
<p>In the age of democratized ‘everything’ with its invasive broadcasting tools and mediums, we now see everyone’s voice and their proclaimed rights and prescriptions, being heard. But what makes your voice any more important, better, or required listening, than anyone else’s? </p>
<p>We are told, ad nauseum, we have ‘rights’ and that they include (apparently) free speech, freedom of thought and freedom of platforms, arrangements and collectives that endorse, permit or celebrated that. Exactly from where we derive these ‘rights’ is now an endless and often tautological debate. </p>
<p>US Senator and Ambassador, Daniel Patrick Moynihan once quipped, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.” </p>
<p>Let’s focus on the that first assumption. If we are told that this is universally true, then opinion can be held and expressed; how that is received or what weight it may or may not carry is tied to a number of factors, most of which are within the jurisdiction of the audience. However, now in our neo-cancel culture context that opinion may not even be permitted, let alone expressed. </p>
<p>In the manufacturing of consensus – on any issue – the first rule is to pretend that perspectives matter, but only allow, foster, promote or embrace those that add to your culture shaping narrative. Once, you get momentum, then even the feigning of regard to divergent ideas can be dropped, and of course once you have critical mass, you can then actively silence dissenters with impunity. </p>
<p>Now, as I alluded to at the start, we all practice some level of this in our personal worlds. Everything from activities engaged in, to relationships we invest in. We discriminate based on our personal taste, preference and other subjective choice making criteria. </p>
<p>When this spills over into the public square and how it is shaped, then opinions and the people who hold them may be at odds with the consensus driving agenda of the public square ‘managers’ and must be expurgated. </p>
<p>So, if it is important for my voice to be not only heard, by given value in the public square then my crafting of not only the message by mode must be carefully considered – especially if I don’t want to be ignored or worse, actively marginalized by the perceived dominant ‘brand’ in the public square. Again, the brand managing imperative of ‘looking extremely attractive’ requires a hypervigilance in not only the message I present, but how I hold it, ensuring not opportunity for embarrassment or other image diminishing elements finds its way in. Of course, for those whose only informing ethic is their ‘positive profile’ then all means, and measures can be used to keep my brand palatability in place – lies, subterfuge, manipulation, coercion, intimidation, bribery and the list goes on! </p>
<p> Not only that, but I must also be as careful in how I engage with other perspectives, most specifically when engaging perspectives that the consensus manufacturers have deemed unworthy, foolish, or worse, abhorrent. So, the brand managing enslaved wanna-be ‘influencer’ will do anything to avoid pejorative labels, particularly those labels ending with and ‘…ist or …phobe’! </p>
<p>And so, the dance begins. </p>
<p>Of course, not wanting to be insulting, inflammatory or offensive, is the default posture of any civilly minded person, but ‘cancel culture’ doesn’t deal in civility, it deals only in compliance. So, the re-framing of terms like ‘offensive’, ‘inflammatory’ and ‘bigoted’ are all geared to the coercive compliance lexicon. </p>
<p>Again, all culture dominators have exercised some form of this from Alexander to Antifa. </p>
<p>Back to our Moynihan quote first assumption that if a person is permitted an opinion, and the freedom to express in civilly, then it should be ok for the hearer to exercise their freedom to listen or not and to weigh it and respond, or not, as they believe – again civilly. However, in cancel culture even that fundamental engagement cannot happen. You see this ‘cancel’ posture cannot permit and position it believes, in any shape, does not fit its required narrative and censorship is swift, if not severe. The minimum of which looks like a question on your sanity, to an immediate disassociation. </p>
<p>This ensures that one cannot even ‘look’ at a diverging perspective, let alone investigate it, unless that scrutiny is only for the purpose of tearing it down, not discovering if it has any objective validity. </p>
<p>Such is the fear of being pejoratively labelled, that even the ‘sideways’ glance at an opinion, post or posture, that the ‘exclusive public square’ does not approve of has people silenced, or worse, afraid to even glance at a potential truth, because it has been framed by the ‘dominators’ as leprous. Such is the tyranny we, as ‘brand managers’, permit. </p>
<p>Again, I’ll ask, where are you on the Cancel Culture spectrum? Are you silenced by it? Have you become part of the intimidating or ridiculing mechanism? </p>
<p>So, how do we stop being lead in a coercive and one-dimensional dance of cultural manipulation? How do we civilly and intelligently evaluate if an opinion held should or could have weight in shaping collective culture? </p>
<p>The second part of the Moynihan quote can give at least a pointer to at least one objective mechanism – objective truth and fact. </p>
<p>What’s frightening for the reasonable and rational mind, is that our now perceived Post-Truth culture, believes itself ‘free’ from rule of objective truth and fact-based examination. </p>
<p>Of course, removing these ‘rules’ ensures manipulation is all that is left and of course, that is exactly what consensus manufacturing thrives on. </p>
<p>The, arguably, forensic sciences, such as history, anthropology, archaeology, and even geology, can be undermined by opinion. This is simply done by interpreting the evidence through varying worldview lens. However, the material sciences such as medicine can be manipulated simply by commencing with simple influencers like confirmation bias, which starts with a preferred outcomes and thus simply ignores, or worse deliberately changes evidence that doesn’t verify the pre-assumption - which we are seeing more and more of as we ‘progress’. </p>
<p>Let’s be clear, all of us are subject to the confirmation bias default. We all want to be, if not right, then at least agreed with. It’s emotionally and socially easier to surround yourself with affirming elements that minimize conflict or critical examination. But, if truth is what we seek, not just a sad egocentric comfort, then courteous yet robust investigation and scrutiny are necessary. I believe it was Socrates who said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” For those who want the very best for this world, would want to at least find out where we go to find out what is best practice. </p>
<p>As a Christ follower, I already have pre-determined set of pre and proscriptions, as well as a meta-narrative that ticks all the boxes for credibility and sustainability. And those questions asked of it that have mystery or paradox attached to them, are the same questions that other worldviews have to answer more credibly to even get onto the same playing field. Certainly, the naturalist or materialist worldview fails on many counts and other genre of meta-narratives, the religious/spiritual ones, see Judeo-Christianity covering all the key anthropological questions better than any other offering. </p>
<p>How can those statements be made? </p>
<p>By applying a sound epistemological lens that enables us to really ‘know’ what is closest to the truth, not just redefining ‘truth’ to be either a non-starter, or a passionately held subjective emotional zeal </p>
<p>I do not want to be just another zealot who inadvertently adds to community discord, but I also don’t want to surrender to the thought police bullies of cancel culture tyranny either, but it would appear the latter has more influence over me that I thought. </p>
<ul> <li>I find myself at times not leaning in to close to the non-PC perspectives. </li> <li>If I do want to check out a cancel culture censored position, I’d better do it very discretely, so I don’t become associated with it, just by investigating it. </li> <li>If I do hold a position contrary to that PC narrative, I’m self-abnegating, agnostic or at the very least silent about it in the public square. </li> <li>Worse, I may feign agreement with the intimidating consensus, in hope of being left alone. </li> <li>Worse still, the anxiety, insecurity or just plain fear of being marginalized and my ‘brand’ cancelled, may even stop me looking for truth and simply join the Machiavellian fray. </li>
</ul>
<p>So, Ambassador of Christ, where are you on this continuum? </p>
<p>Also See <a contents="Cancel Culture - An Introduction Conversation&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://evangelisminaustralia.com/engaging-with-a-cancel-culture/" target="_blank"><em>Cancel Culture - An Introduction Conversation </em></a></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">S.W. Varcoe September 2020</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6791897
2021-10-31T08:41:28+11:00
2021-10-31T08:41:28+11:00
Reformation Day 2021: Recalling Reform, Not Promoting Protest
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>The Marburg Colloquy - The First Council of 'Protestants' </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Reformation Not Protestation - a Touch Stone </em></p>
<p><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/2484f01c2bf2617ae46ac8f6f0340a9bea98749b/original/reformationday2.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></em></p>
<p>What tips a Reformer - a necessary vehicle of proactive change to bring back into 'shape' the purity of a lost truth - into a 'Protestant'? </p>
<p>The DNA of the reforming church has been tarred, and not unfairly, with a pejorative brush, that of 'Protestant'. </p>
<p>If reformation is the goal and the touch stone of this necessary reshaping is the Head of the Church - Jesus Christ, then one must believe if we are all heading toward that focal point, then as we all get ever nearer, our unity (which does not have to be created, only maintained) is strengthened. (Ephesians 4:3) So, what is it that more often keeps an ever dividing schismatic posture in so many? I will not attempt to furnish a full answer, or even a thoughtful opinion, suffice to say, my own internal vanities and foibles are evidence enough of how easily this is done. My Biblical fervour for transforming truth gets disconnected from His Cross of suffering and the undeserved favour it freely bestows to lead us into His Holiness; and instead is harnessed to the 'wild horses' of my triumphalist control and its preferred homogeneity and all the <a contents="inadequacies that unleashes.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+3%3A10-14&version=NIV" target="_blank">inadequacies that unleashes. </a></p>
<p>The <a contents="Marburg Colloquy" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Colloquy-of-Marburg" target="_blank"><strong>Marburg Colloquy</strong></a> (a formal conversation) the first council of protestants as it is often referred to, is both encouraging and distressing. The details of this event and what followed have many commentators, I will not attempt to add that here in this vignette. I do, however, want to focus on what is perhaps seminal, in an approach to bring genuine divine truth pursuing factions together to step ever closer to the 'conforming to the image of His Son' (Ephesians 4:13). </p>
<p>This Council, a sponsored gathering (by a politically motivated ruler, whose primary goal was not the pursuit of Divine best-practice in the Body of Christ) was to bring together the Swiss and Germany Reformers into one more unified movement. Zwingli ,the leader of the Swiss movement and Luther, the head of the German Reformers, met to deal with many of the errors of the medieval church, but also come together on key points of doctrine. They essentially achieved all their ends, with only one issue outstanding - the substance of the Holy Eucharist. </p>
<p>It was recorded that Luther was the one who, not only couldn't come to a mutual agreement, but was exceptionally belligerent, even refusing to shake Zwingli's right hand of fellowship at the conclusion. </p>
<p>However, it is the following prayer of Zwingli who sought to return to Father God's best-practice, not the ideologies of men, gives us a real insight into the posture that reformers need to adopt, that can prevent them from becoming just another ego driven schismatic. An earnest prayer to change our hearts to be the people Father God can use to bring His best Kingdom practice to bear. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>"Fill us, o Lord and Father of us all, we beseech Thee, with Thy gentle Spirit, and dispel on both sides all the clouds of misunderstanding and passion. Make an end to the strife of blind fury...Guard us against abusing our powers, and enable us to employ them with all earnestness for the promotion of holiness." </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Ulrich Zwingli</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/f80f59823acc72c03604c70d54e9aeac8801b11e/original/happyreformationday.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">S.W. Varcoe - Disciplesplanet</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6743501
2021-09-12T12:46:01+10:00
2021-09-12T12:46:01+10:00
Surrender – A Christ-ian Model
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Happy are they who give themselves to God! They are delivered from their passions, from the judgements of other, from their malice, form the tyranny of their sayings, from their cold and wretched mocking, from the misfortunes which the world distributes to wealth, from the unfaithfulness and inconstancy of friends, from the wiles of snares of the enemy, from our own weakness, from the misfortunes and brevity of life, from the horrors of a profane death, from cruel remorse attached to wicked pleasures, and in the end, from the eternal condemnation of God.” </em>Francois Fenelon </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Lord, I am yours; I do yield myself up entirely to you, and I believe that you accept me. I leave myself with You. Work in me all the good pleasure of Your will, and I will only lie still in Your hands and trust you.”</em> Hannah Whitall Smith (p 44) </p>
<p>The Apostle Paul understood that only those who obey in the moment can link their obedient moments into a significant lifetime…The point is that we are to offer our days as a sacrifice of sliver on the altar of God. </p>
<p>Time may be either the friend or enemy of our surrender to Christ. The Chinese sage summed up our clockish biographies in three words – hurry, worry, bury – How often the trinity of words describes our surface churchmanship…Exhausted by our frantic externalness, we collapse in bet at night, and for what? Does our hurried religiosity cause us to lift up our eyes to our King? Have we looked upon our small performance with spurious pride? Have we sighed over our small prayers and been satisfied? All the while we know – deep in our hearts – there must be some deeper, more meaningful way to live for Christ. </p>
<p>When we sum up our large professions and our little faith, we know we need to confess our spastic obedience to time. “Lord Jesus forgive us our hurry. Help us to remember that across from hurry, worry, bury, stands a loftier trio of words: cling, linger and savour.” We need to pray, “Lord, our spiritual dysfunction is an indication that we are splashing about on the shallow surface of our religiosity to avoid diving int Your depths.” …Time itself must be surrendered to the pursuit of the depths of God. God does not wear a watch. His unthinkable glory is learned only in our time-consuming communion with Him. But once we learn it, we are delivered. </p>
<p>We must slow down and get quiet in our worship. Why are we frightened of silence in evangelical churches? When worship gest quiet, evangelicals get fidgety. Thomas Merton suggested that people who don’t like each other have trouble being quiet together. The Quakers long ago learned the power of corporate silence. Evangelicals need to learn that to be quiet before God is to see him. </p>
<p>But God does not meet with us in the silence so that He can produce something in our lives. There is nothing to produce. The silences do not exist to create product but to bless us with authenticity. </p>
<p>How much time do these prayer rendezvous take? Time is not the object. We do not punch a time clock in our fellowship with God. We meet and wait and measure nothing. (pp 48-49) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“God is the friend of silence…See how nature, the trees, the flowers, the grass grow in deep silence. See how the stares, the moon and the sun move in silence. The more we receive in our silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.” </em> Mother Teresa of Calcutta (p 213) </p>
<p>As evangelicals read the Bible, they agree with Zwingli. “Thou shalt not make unto the any graven image” (Exodus 20:4 KJV) Do not Aaron set up a golden calf and lead Israel unto sin? Even the brazen serpent of Numbers 21, by 2 Kings 18: 4 has become “Nehushtan,” an object of worship. Joshua called on Israel to put away the gods of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Habakkuk pointed out that the idols were dumb before their artisans (2:19). What exactly is the point? Idols are dumb and they are powerless as gods. Not every statue, though, is an idol; an idol is not art. Art is the definition of our praise – an idol is the recipient of it. </p>
<p>Jesus saves. We define his glory. Art is born. Art doesn’t become idolatry until our praise of God dies and all that is left is our praise for the art form. Idols are born when artists quit worshipping God and begin signing <em>te deums</em> to their own genius. Idols are always ego gods. Artists who will not offer God their self-denial [surrender] begin to worship only tier creative genius. Idols are personal portraits of self-interest. They exist to assure worshippers they can have their way. (p 65) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“At first, art imitates life. Then life will imitate art. Then life will find its very existence from the arts.”</em> Fyodor Dostoevsky </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Because Francis and his companions were called by God and chosen to hear in their hearts and in their works, and to preach with their tongues the Cross of Christ, they seemed – and were – crucified… Because they preferred to bear shame and insults for the love of Christ over the hoors of the world and the respect and praise of men…and so they went though the world as pilgrims and strangers, being nothing with them save Christ Crucified.” </em> Ugolino (p 80) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Desiring exquisite goods and clothing is like painting firewood. These things are consumables. Clothes keep you warm regardless of their colour. Common foods with satisfy your hunger. Desire what is right for you.</em>” Guigo I </p>
<p>Jesus is the sinless son of God, but He did not come to be a pet for our personal piety. He came on a rugged, double-fisted agenda to save humankind. He should always be adored within the context of His saving mission. Further, he should always be celebrated within the framework of His calling on our lives. If we start adoring Him romantically and with no ministry content, He will lose the office of His saving work and become and idol for the sweet and shallow and superstitious. </p>
<p>By the time Jesus came into the world, the word “self” had to be reckoned with and put int its place. Self-had to be denied, said Jesus. “Crucified”, said Paul. Why? Because the self served only self. The ego thrives best in soil so shallow it can give no root to the purposes of God. </p>
<p>Scripture never encourages us to negate ourselves (become non-existent). Scripture teaches us to deny ourselves, to abdicate our passions and get rid of those things that claim our lives with petty self-interest. Prayer is a dialogue of lovers. But if we negate ourselves to the point that we are not there, God cannot talk to us at all. (p 107) </p>
<p>Thus self-denial, not self-negation, is the path to obedience. Gregory the Great is worth hearing when he says, “To renounce what one has is a minor thing; to renounce what one is, that is asking a lot.” To what degree would God ask us not to be what we are? He would never ask us to stop being. He does ask us to stop being self-serving, stop being an addict to any of our passions, stop being shallow in our adoration, but never to stop being. (p 108) </p>
<p>At the depths of centred praying lies a hush. Gabby godliness is crushed to silence by majesty. In the majesty of final things there was silence in heaven for half an hour (Revelation 8:1). One of the theologians use the term mysterium tremendum (Latin for “overwhelming mystery”). In the Holy of Holies, we are forbidden trivial speech because the air is too heavy with unfathomable glory. (p 111) </p>
<p>God healed the world once for all on a hilltop through Hi own incarnate brokenness. Now the world that we have seen can be heals only by our incarnate brokenness. Jeremiah’s suffering stirs and old irreconcilable truth. When we get self-important, God often gets quiet. It is not the prevalence of people’s words that troubles the prophet. It is the absence of the words of God. </p>
<p>In the absence of pain, the intensity of our devotion is lost. Solzhenitsyn said, “if there are no real writers in the West, this must be the reason: There is no real pain in the West.” We are drowning in the cream of utopia. Few real writers? Perhaps few real Christians for the same reason. Jeremiah was caught in the crisis of the war that was destroying his beloved homeland. Like Barth at Safenwil, Thielicke in Stuttgart, or Gilkey in China, Jeremiah lived in times that made him rich with wounds that only God could heal. </p>
<p>What do unwounded servants do? They become arrogant, join country clubs, sell out to middle-class mediocrity, or become fox-hunting Christians. They may even tend toward liberalism, because only the protected have the privilege of making theology a discussion: the endangered cling to it and weep. Liberalism always comes from people with too little need of God. (pp 143-144) </p>
<p>The ocean is too vast and scary for us, so we dump the Great Barrier Reef in favour of Gilligan’s Island. I think most Americans liked Gilligan’s Island because it was fixed sociology. The island was a proscribed world where Gilligan, the Skipper, Mary Ann, Ginger, the Professor, and, of course, a couple of rich plutocrats were making life work as best they could. None of them were going anywhere really. They were just living and talking about a bigger world. But their conversation never amounted to much and none of them sacrificed themselves in any major way to get off their island. </p>
<p>How often the church is like Gilligan’s Island. Christians aren’t really living on the edge. The church doesn’t encourage them to break out of their insular spirituality. In fact, the best way to live comfortably as believers is to accept island living. Never even think about taking up your cross and risking yourself in some genuine spirituality. Keep your nose clean. Do your committee work, reads your Sunday school leaflet. Tithe. Attend the deeper life studies. It is enough to study the deeper life – but remember, you could lose your lace in the bridge square if you actually began to live it. (pp 225-226) </p>
<p>Catherine of Siena says it best for me: <em>“Am I always, because of my faithlessness, to shut the gates against Divine Providence…Lord, unmake me and break my hardness of heart, that I be not a tool which spoils Your work.”</em> I want to be free in Christ to feel God, but religious exhibition, like any other kind, mottles the face of God for those who do not believe. We are under obligation to make our devotion to God so attractive that all who see us lost in the wonder of our praise might desire to know the object of our praise. </p>
<p>The knee of the servant bends (Philippians 2:10). Where the knee bends, character is born. Not that posture alone is the key to power with God, but it is an indicator of how we see the Almighty…The knee must bend…Our whole lives come down to ruin when we live as though we had no knees! I know now that the form of a servant is a kneeling form. Consider the things that keep our legs straight. First there is self-sufficiency. We need to learn poverty of spirit. Besides praying, begging is also a kneeling posture. Begging is a pitiful way to make a living – but it is always done with the head lower than the need of the supplier. See yourself as poor and you will come to Christ kneeling, and kneeling you will receive. Then you will insert yourself into meaningful Beatitudes: Blessed are we who are poor in spirit, for ours is the kingdom (pp 153-154) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>“The best thing of all is to surrender to God’s will, and bear affliction with confidence in God. The Lord seeing our affliction will never give us too much to bear. If we seem to ourselves to be greatly afflicted, it means that we have not surrendered to the will of God.”</strong></em> St Silouan (p 182) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/43a8c6de0c2e68810d5fc92f3e945065068a7621/original/surrendertocross.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Selected Excerpts from the book <em><strong>Into the Depths of God </strong>– Where Eyes See the Invisible, Ears Hear the Inaudible, and Minds Conceive the Inconceivable</em>. © 2000, <strong>Professor Emeritus Calvin Miller</strong> Poet, Pastor, Theologian and Painter (Bethany House Publishers)</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6730024
2021-08-29T14:36:11+10:00
2021-08-29T14:46:33+10:00
The New Totalitarian ‘Creep’ – And No, We Are Not Referring to Him…
<p><strong>The New Totalitarian ‘Creep’ – And No, We Are Not Referring Him… </strong></p>
<p>(The following is direct excerpts from the Book <a contents="“Live Not By Lies”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Live-Not-Lies-Christian-Dissidents/dp/0593087399" target="_blank"><strong>“Live Not By Lies”</strong></a>) </p>
<p>“What is happening here? A progressive – and profoundly anti-Christian militancy – is steadily overtaking society; one described by Pope Benedict XVI as a “worldwide dictatorship of seemingly humanistic ideologies” that pushes dissenters to society’s margins. Benedict called this a manifestation of “the spiritual power of the Antichrist. This spiritual power takes material form in government and private institutions in corporations, in academia and media, and in the changing practices of everyday…life. It is empowered by <a contents="unprecedented technological capabilities to surveil private life" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gmfus.org/news/silicon-curtain-descending-technological-perils-next-30-years" target="_blank">unprecedented technological capabilities to surveil private life</a>. There is virtually nowhere left to hide.” </p>
<p>To grasp the threat of totalitarianism, it’s important to understand the difference between it and simple authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is what you have when the state monopolizes political control. That is mere dictatorship – bad, certainly, but totalitarianism is much worse. According to Hannah Ardent, the foremost scholar of totalitarianism, a totalitarian society is one in which an ideology seeks to displace all prior traditions and institutions, with the goal to bring all aspects of society under control of that ideology. A totalitarian state is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rulers decide it is. As Ardent has written, wherever totalitarianism has ruled, “It has begun to destroy the essence of man.” </p>
<p>The Gentleness of Soft Totalitarianism </p>
<p>It’s possible to miss the onslaught of totalitarianism, precisely because we have a misunderstanding of howe its power works. In 1951, poet and literary critic Czeslaw Milosz, exiled to the West from his native Poland as an anti-communist dissident, wrote that Western people misunderstand the nature of communism because they think of it only in terms of “might and coercion.” </p>
<p>“That is wrong. There is an internal longing for harmony and happiness that lies deeper than ordinary fear or the desire to escape misery or physical destruction.” </p>
<p>In <a contents="The Captive Mind" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Captive_Mind" target="_blank"><strong>The Captive Mind</strong></a>, Milosz said that communist ideology filled a void that opened in the lives of early-twentieth-century intellectuals, most of whom had ceased to believe in religion. </p>
<p>Today’s left-wing totalitarianism once again appeals to an internal hunger, specifically the hunger for a just society, one that vindicates and liberates the historical victims of oppression. It masquerades as kindness, demonizing dissenters and disfavoured demographic groups to protect the feelings of “victims” in order to bring about “social justice.” </p>
<p>The contemporary cult of social just identifies members of certain social groups as victimizers, as scapegoats, and calls for their suppression as a matter of righteousness. In this way, the so-called social just warrior, who started out as liberals animated by an urgent compassion, end by abandoning authentic liberalism and embracing an aggressive and punitive politics that resembles Bolshevism… </p>
<p>At the turn of the twenty-first century, the cultural critic Rene’ Girard prophetically warned: “The current process of spiritual demagoguery and rhetorical overkill has transformed the concern for victims into a totalitarian command and permanent inquisition.” </p>
<p>Soft totalitarianism exploits decadent modern man’s preference for personal pleasure over principles, including political liberties. The public will support, or at least not oppose, the coming soft totalitarianism, nob because it fears the imposition of cruel punishments but because it will be more or less satisfied by hedonistic comforts.<a contents=" Nineteen Eighty-Four" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gradesaver.com/1984/study-guide/themes" target="_blank"><em><strong> Nineteen Eighty-Four</strong></em></a> is not the novel that previews what’s coming, it’s rather<a contents=" Aldous Huxley’s’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/aldous-huxley-and-cs-lewis-a-posthumous-dialogue-on-the-problem-/10099506" target="_blank"> Aldous Huxley’s’</a> <a contents="Brave New World." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/what-does-the-ending-mean/" target="_blank"><em><strong>Brave New World.</strong></em></a> The contemporary social critic James Poulos calls this the “Pink Police State”: an informal arrangement in which people will surrender political rights in exchange for guarantees of personal pleasure.” </p>
<p>In his landmark 1966 book, <a contents="The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith After Freud" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-triumph-of-the-therapeutic/" target="_blank"><em><strong>The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith After Freud</strong></em></a>, Reiff said the death of God in the West has given birth to a new civilization devoted to liberating the individual to seek his own pleasures and to managing emergent anxieties. Religious Man, who lived according to belief in transcendent principles that ordered human life around communal purposes, had given way to Psychological Man, who believe that there is no transcendent orders and that life’s purpose was to find one’s own way experimentally. Man no longer understood himself to be a pilgrim on a meaningful journey with others, but as a tourist who travelled through life according to his own self-designated itinerary, with personal happiness his ultimate goal. </p>
<p>This was a revolution even more radical than the 1917 Bolshevik event, said Rieff. For the first time, humankind was seeking to create a civilization based on the negation of any binding transcendent order. The Bolsheviks may have been godless, but even they believe that there was a metaphysical order, one that demanded that individuals subordinate their personal desires to a higher cause. Almost a quarter century before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Reiff predicted that communism would not be able to withstand the cultural revolution coming from the West, one that purported to set the individual free to pursue hedonism and individualism. If there is no sacred order, then the original promise of the serpent in the Garden of Eden – “Ye shall be gods” – tis the foundational principle of the new culture. </p>
<p>Even church leaders, he wrote, were lying to themselves about the ability of the institutions they led to resist the therapeutic. Rieff foresaw the future of religion as devolution into watery spirituality, which would accommodate anything. Reiff lived long enough to see his 1966 prediction come true. In 2005, the sociologists of religion Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton coined the phrase <a contents="Moralistic Therapeutic Deism " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralistic_therapeutic_deism#:~:text=Moralistic%20therapeutic%20deism%20%28%20MTD%29%20is%20a%20term,to%20be%20the%20common%20beliefs%20among%20U.S.%20youths." target="_blank"><strong>Moralistic Therapeutic Deism </strong></a>to describe the decadent form that Christianity (and all faiths, in fact) had taken in contemporary America. </p>
<p>In therapeutic culture, which has everywhere triumphed, the great sin is to stand in the way of the freedom of others to find happiness as they wish. This goes hand in hand with the sexual revolution, which, along with ethnic and gender identity politics, replaced the failed economic class struggle as the utopian focus of the post-60s radical left. There cultural revolutionaries found an ally in advanced capitalism, which teaches that nothing should exit outside of the market mechanism and its sorting of value according to human desires. </p>
<p>Relativism clad in free-market dogma aided the absorption of the therapeutic ethos by the Religious Right. After all, if true free is defined as freedom of choice as opposed to the classical concept of choosing virtue, then the door is wide open to reforming religion along therapeutic lines centred around subjective experience. <a contents="This is why so many conservative Christians did not see," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/i-am-a-pro-servative" target="_blank">This is why so many conservative Christians did not see,</a> and still cannot explain, the ongoing victories of transgenderism in the culture war. The transgender phenomenon, which requires affirming psychology over biological reality, is a logical culmination of a process that stared centuries earlier. </p>
<p>Christian resistance on a large scale to the anti-culture has been fruitless and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. Why? Because the spirit of the therapeutic has <a contents="conquered the churches as well" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spiritualpilgrim.net/07_Special-Documents/Historical-Documents/1933_Humanist-Manifesto.htm#:~:text=The%20%EE%80%80Humanist%20Manifesto%201933%EE%80%81%3A%20The%20%EE%80%80Manifesto%EE%80%81%20is%20a,to%20general%20agreement%20on%20matters%20of%20final%20" target="_blank">conquered the churches as well</a> – even those populated by Christians who identify as conservative. <a contents="Relatively few contemporary [Western] Christians are prepared to suffer for the faith" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/cancel-culture-christ-style" target="_blank">Relatively few contemporary [Western] Christians are prepared to suffer for the faith</a>, because they therapeutic society that has formed them denies the purpose of suffering in the first place, and the idea of bearing pain for the stake of truth<a contents=" seems ridiculous.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/blogs/kairos/posts/sent-to-try-us" target="_blank"> seems ridiculous. </a></p>
<p>It is difficult for people raised in the free world to grasp the breadth and depth of lying required simply to exist under communism. All the lies, and lies about lies, that formed the communist orders were built on the bases of this foundational lie: the communist state is the sole source of truth. Orwell said in Nineteen Eighty-Four: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” </p>
<p>The goal is to convince the person that all truth exists within the mind, and the rightly ordered mind believes whatever the Party says is true. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Orwell Rights: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“It was though some huge force was pressing down upon you – something that penetrated inside your skull, battering against your brain, frightening you out of your beliefs, persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses. In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. No merely the validity of experience by the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense.” </em></p>
<p>In our time, we do not have an all-powerful state forcing this on us. This dictatorship is far more subtle. Under soft totalitarianism, the media, academia, corporate America, and other institutions are practicing Newspeak and compelling the rest of us to engage in doublethink everyday. Men have periods. The woman standing in front of your is to be called “he.” Diversity and inclusion means excluding those who object to ideological uniformity. Equity means treating persons unequally, regardless of their skills and achievements, to achieve an ideologically correct result. </p>
<p>To update an Orwell line to our own situation: “The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” </p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong>by Bestselling Author, Rod Dreher</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">(The above direct excerpt was lifted directly from pp 1-18 of “Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents” by <a contents="Bestselling Author Rod Dreher. " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/12/30/a-review-of-live-not-by-lies-by-rod-dreher/" target="_blank">Bestselling Author <strong>Rod Dreher.</strong> </a>I encourage you to not only share this post <a contents="but purchase this important book for yourselves and your friends and neighbours " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Live-Not-Lies-Christian-Dissidents/dp/0593087399" target="_blank"><strong>but purchase this important book for yourselves and your friends and neighbours</strong> </a>– Christian or not. The only things being added were hyper-links to clarifying notes, further articles and posts) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/729b687fc96822eeec0f3a83c31445b6f8e83ad7/original/livenotbylies.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>For further reading </p>
<ul> <li><a contents="Alexandr&nbsp;Solzhenitsyn: A World Split Apart (disciplesplanet.net)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/alexandr-solzhenitsyn-a-world-split-apart" target="_blank"><strong>Alexandr Solzhenitsyn: A World Split Apart (disciplesplanet.net) </strong></a></li> <li><a contents="When They Came For....&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/when-they-came-for" target="_blank"><strong>When They Came For.... </strong></a></li> <li><a contents="Reflections on “Abolition of Man” by C.S. Lewis&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bHN6xE7Y0U" target="_blank"><strong>Reflections on “Abolition of Man” by C.S. Lewis </strong></a></li> <li><a contents="Whose Side is God On?" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/whose-side-is-god-on" target="_blank"><strong>Whose Side is God On?</strong></a></li>
</ul>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6710179
2021-08-08T13:45:37+10:00
2021-08-10T17:30:22+10:00
What Makes a Nation Stand Up and Out?
<p>Isn’t the obvious answer to that question, how it Loves and cares for its people? ‘Love’ is the single greatest virtue because it is the panacea to all global ills, ask anyone? Well, at least my sensate ubiquitous version of that state is anyway. </p>
<p>So, once we all agree on this point, now it is just a small step of getting everyone to take that prescribed medicine; easy, yeh? </p>
<p>Even Jesus Christ gave us a New Commandment, one that transcended even the Golden Rule… “To love one another as He loved us.” (John 13: 34-35) Now, if He commanded it, (not recommended it) how hard can it be? Well, I suppose that depends on how you, ironically, feel about that command doesn’t it? </p>
<p>So, we have love not only, prescribed, and demonstrated, but now commanded by the author of Love. </p>
<p>Let the amorphous mass of ‘gooey emotion’ wash all over you and all will be well with the world. In my mind’s eye, I can see the poorly tuned guitars appearing in the hands of cheesy smile bedecked faces and hear the dulcet tones of a hummed kumbaya! Or perhaps the visual for the non-Christian, in a flower clad garment, with incense burning and spliff toking, taping the bongos and groaning ‘oms’? </p>
<p>On that stereotype, these often, psychedelic drug consumers, have been on about this ‘love prescription’ for decades, using MDMA, D.M.T, or L.S.D, the so-called love and god drugs – just imbibe one and all, and the ‘love’ happens, well at least those intense dopamine and serotonin charged ‘feelings’ are unleashed, which is the essence of love, right? </p>
<p>Again,<a contents=" Love is the first priority of Heaven isn’t it" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/god-is-love-yes" target="_blank"><strong> Love is the first priority of Heaven isn’t it</strong></a>? Well, certainly our version of it should be. </p>
<p>So, from all this clear sentimental consensus, we can reasonably surmise that it must surely be love that is the virtue that exalts a nation? </p>
<p>If not love, then what may be the highest priority of heaven to bring about this national exaltation? </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous [those in right standing with Him]; But with kings upon the throne He has seated them forever, and they are exalted. </em>Job 36:7 (AMP) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is valued as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness will live in the fertile field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, And the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful surrounding, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places. </em> Isaiah 32:15-18 (AMP) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">****** </p>
<p>While we are in this effusive love focused mode, what is the<a contents=" chief purpose of the construct of Grace" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+2%3A11-12&version=PHILLIPS" target="_blank"><strong> chief purpose of the construct of Grace</strong></a> – that incomparable and transcendently magnanimous gift that also issues from that God of Love? </p>
<p>What did The Christ, the Incarnate God, declare must be our<a contents=" paramount pursuit" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A33&version=AMP" target="_blank"><strong> paramount pursuit</strong></a>? </p>
<p>Heady questions, with complex, rich, and profound answers, that often escape the un-surrendered soul – Not a ‘convert’, rather the candidate for Discipleship – the one who has denied self, taken up the cross and is following Jesus. </p>
<p>Right here, it is important to note that Jesus was not commanding an emotion (our emotions often betray us when given charge), but a full and wide sacrificial action. Difficult? Even austere? Bu only so, when we are not surrendered to the Holy Spirit and all the Divine resources He wants to release in and through you. </p>
<p>These resources, these qualities, these virtues of love, grace, tolerance, mercy, and justice not only have little meaning, but are utterly pointlessness without a proper context. What brings worth to these qualities can only be discovered when they are pinned to a fixed point of reference – a standard, a <a contents="plumbline " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/tn-dpt-me-0724-commentary2-20160718-story.html#:~:text=Amos%20pleaded%20with%20God%20to,ensure%20a%20structure%20is%20centered.&text=It%20has%20a%20lot%20to,relationship%20with%20God%20and%20neighbor." target="_blank"><strong>plumbline </strong></a>– that enables context for understanding of value. </p>
<p>For example, if tolerance is to be a virtue, it must have a clear objection to the thing it is permitting to be in its orbit. If you ‘don’t care’ about an issue, you are not ‘tolerant’, you’re just careless or indifferent. That is why G.K. Chesterton quipped that; “tolerance is the only virtue left for those with nothing to believe in.” </p>
<p>As I touched on previously the arguably highest virtue of love, can never be measured as worthy by simply attaching intense feelings to it – feelings that could well evaporate. If they do, then what ‘action’ is taken by love? The level of commitment, sacrifice, and care for a people, issue, or circumstance must be for an altruistic end. The object of love must be more than ‘desirable’, there must be a longing for the best for that individual. Of course, then comes the question; who or which standard is the best? </p>
<p>Grace – undeserved favour; Mercy – not getting what you do deserve; and justice – the dispensing of actions to hold accountable, or direct to change around best practice – all require a reference point to give them, not only focus and intent, but real value. If there is no standard, no benchmark, then how do these incredible and indispensable resources actually; find context, work and/or make a difference? </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/97f2f16df9de3b62d84264a08c4b20e2a4d89708/original/righteousquote1.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">****** </p>
<p>There is only one quality that brings a nation into the dizzy heights of being held as exemplary, as a standout – as worthy of lauding to the point of imitation – that will not require a convoluted explanation. It is a quality and a posture that encompasses and embraces all the best-practice virtues and brings them to bear. If you will, a plumbline, a reference point that makes not only sense of the virtues but enables them to transform. </p>
<p>Of course, for anyone remotely acquainted with God’s Word, knows the answer to this question – It is ‘Righteousness that exalts a Nation’.<a contents=" (Proverbs 14:34)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+14+%3A+34&version=AMP" target="_blank"><strong> (Proverbs 14:34) </strong></a></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Unpacking and Understanding </strong></span></p>
<p>The writers (not Author) of the Divine counsel understood this all to well, as they indeed should. It is the prophetic and historical writings of Jeremiah, that we see one of the compound Names of God first used, Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord who is stiff, straight, righteous. </p>
<p>“In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called; ‘The Lord Our Righteousness.’ Jeremiah 23:6 (AMP) </p>
<p>It is also vital to note the context in which this revelation of another profound aspect of this Ultimate Deity is disclosed. It is both in salvation and dwelling safely – purity, order, clarity, best practice, justice – and all the blessings to do well that issue from that governance. </p>
<p>“And He will judge the world in righteousness (rightness and equity); He will minister justice to the peoples<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/e755e224a8035b7ec23b08a8246691137e097672/original/righteousquote2.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_right border_none" alt="" /> in uprightness.” </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>What is the etymology of the word Righteousness? </strong></span></p>
<p>It is not complicated, but consistent in its profundity. In my opinion, because of impassioned narratives emerging about the Divine in recent church history, it has become a word that makes us uncomfortable. Why? Because we have been over emphasising the other virtues of God, whilst unanchoring it from this indispensable core foundations of and in God. </p>
<p>In our core text, Proverbs 14:34, we see the emphasis of this Divine Virtue aligning with our Jeremiah nomenclature for one of the key aspects of The Jehovah. Strong’s [6666] from tsedeq ‘Righteousness in governing, ruling and adjudicating right law – truthful and ethically correct in cause thus conduct and action.’ </p>
<p>The Psalmist reveals even more on this imperative through this lens. Psalm 89:14 (NASB) Righteousness (6664- What is just, fair and right) and Justice (4941 -right and just sentence/decision) are the foundation of Your throne; [consequently the following] Lovingkindness and truth go before You. </p>
<p>The Holy Spirit’s underlying and clearly declared intent in the Apostle Paul’s Biblical writings, was to always focus on best-practice for the most important outcome of the connection to and relationship with the Saviour; and that is the personification of that highest profile as exhorted in <a contents="Romans 8:29" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A29&version=NASB" target="_blank"><strong>Romans 8:29</strong></a> and <a contents="Ephesians 4:13 " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4%3A13&version=AMPC"><strong>Ephesians 4:13 </strong></a>– the conforming to the Perfect One in both stature and conduct. </p>
<p>Jesus Christ seeks for us Christians – ‘little Christs’ – to conform with His Image. That means all that He is. Lofty, almost in conceivable goals, and perhaps what prompted Chesterton’s declaration that; “Christianity has not been tried and found wanted, but found difficult and left untried.” In reality, it is impossible, because it can only be attained when God (The Holy Spirit) is in us. </p>
<p>This is not ‘for Him’ – not to please Him – but to experience the conforming to Him. This will allow the divinely ordained collaboration initiated in Eden to be rediscovered and practiced, with God Himself, as the Holy Spirit, working with us to that perfect end. This is communion and collaboration in the most personal way – authentic relationship, not just obedience, activity and/or service. </p>
<p>So, every posture, purpose, priority, and propensity that is His life on earth, He calls us into and resources us to complete that calling. </p>
<p>Righteousness is the framework (the skeleton, if you like) that holds all these qualities and processes up and it is our total humble surrender to that Righteousness that will see the manifestation of all that He is, through us – be it ever so slowly and incrementally. </p>
<p>Again, difficult? No, impossible, without Holy Spirit within! However, with Him and His enabling, it is a fixed and achievable goal. That is why it requires our complete surrender and trust. </p>
<p>Of course, it will be correctly stated that <em><a contents="‘we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-21.htm" target="_blank"><strong>‘we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus’</strong></a></em>. At repentance of my sin, acknowledging only Christ’s finished work can save me, and the forgiveness that it brings, I am rescued and adopted. My standing has changed and I am now justified by Christs sacrifice for me. However, that’s only the beginning; there is more, much more. </p>
<p>To reiterate, one aspect of Righteousness is that of a bestowal as a gift at our repentance. We have acknowledged that God not only is, but He is perfect and holy; and we also acknowledge that we are not, and we cannot achieve His standard via our own efforts. We confess not only that we are sinners but are utterly unable to ‘save’ ourselves. To quote the great Revivalist, Charles Finney, “We must admit God is absolutely right, and we are absolutely wrong.” Thus, this surrender to His work and invitation to come in, sees His Righteousness bestowed. </p>
<p>However, this freely given resource, much like the Talents (remarkable and unearned resources given to <a contents="trusted servants – Matthew 25: 14-30" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025%3A14-30&version=ESV" target="_blank"><strong>trusted servants – Matthew 25: 14-30</strong></a>) is to be accounted for. </p>
<p>It is entrusted to newly rescued and adopted family members, who are welcomed into trading in the Kingdom family mission, through this new growing intimate relationship. An undeserved resource that is granted to help us not only become but enable us and others to conform with the Image of His Son. </p>
<p>We have been Justified – We are being Sanctified – We will be Glorified. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><a contents="&nbsp;I am saved – I am being saved – I will be saved!&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.simplybible.com/f066-sure-saved-in-three-tenses.htm" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_large"> I am saved – I am being saved – I will be saved! </span></strong></a></em></p>
<p>The exhortation of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah is important to reflect on here. Father God is laying out, unequivocally and exactly what Heaven deems worthy of boast. For us, it is vital to note what these prescribed priorities are of value enough to boast of and in. Also, vitally, notice what it is that lovingkindness and judgement are anchored too? Righteousness. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NASB))</em> </p>
<p>Priscilla Shirer, Author and Motivational speaker puts it succinctly, </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Truth – which is basically defined as God’s opinion on any matter – is our standard. Truth is who God is and what He says it is, which is best summed up for us with the Person of Jesus Christ – God’s Truth – Biblical Truth!” </em></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Righteousness Revealed – Righteousness in Action? </strong></span></p>
<p>Manifestation is an important aspect of ‘the Kingdom come’ dynamic. The Incarnation itself, is the ultimate manifestation of the Divine expression in human form (not transcendent form) and Divine Will is the source and empowerment of that Kingdom manifestation. We have already seen in the Messiah’s priorities recorded in Matthew 6:33 that our first pursuits are linked, Kingdom and Righteousness – Complete jurisdiction (on Divine terms, not earthly) and right standard – which is HIS standard. </p>
<p>Paul’s letter to the Romans, arguably one of the most profound Theological documents written, opens with a Gospel priority, a focal point for much of what is to follow in that outstanding Epistle. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek. For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous by faith will live.”</em> (Romans 1:16-17 (NASBRE)) </p>
<p>This is what I like to call a New Covenant Stake. It sets a new marker for all who want to enter into a relationship with this One True God, that Good News of God’s manifest Kingdom delivered by the Messiah, is now the Power of God unto Salvation. This shift of emphasis from the pursuit of perfect human compliance to the law, meant that Righteousness was framed in a much more relational context, and HIS Righteousness is now the priority. </p>
<p>Our early Church Fathers understood the need to articulate the utter inseparable nature of Faith and Righteousness and sought to exhort and instruct to that end. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Our righteousness in this pilgrimage is this-that we press forward to that perfect and full righteousness in which there shall be perfect and full love in the sight of His glory; and that now we hold to the rectitude and perfection of our course, by "keeping under our body and bringing it into subjection,"2 by doing our alms cheerfully and heartily, while bestowing kindnesses and forgiving the trespasses which have been committed against us, and by "continuing instant in prayer;"3 -and doing all this with sound doctrine, whereon are built a right faith, a firm hope, and a pure charity. This is now our righteousness, in which we pass through our course hungering and thirsting after the perfect and full righteousness, in order that we may hereafter be satisfied therewith. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>I suppose, too, that there is a difference between one who is upright in heart and one who is clean in heart. A man is upright in heart when he "reaches forward to those things which are before, forgetting those things which are behind"4 so as to arrive in a right course, that is, with right faith and purpose, at the perfection where he may dwell clean and pure in heart. Thus, in the psalm, the conditions ought to be severally bestowed on each separate character, where it is said, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that is innocent in his hands, and clean in his heart."5 He shall ascend, innocent in his hands, and stand, clean in his heart,-the one state in present operation, the other in its consummation. And of them should rather be understood that which is written: "Riches are good unto him that hath no sin on his conscience."6 Then indeed shall accrue the good, or true riches, when all poverty shall have passed away; in other words, when all infirmity shall have been removed. A man may now indeed "leave off from sin," when in his onward course he departs from it, and is renewed day by day; and he may "order his hands," and direct them to works of mercy, and "cleanse his heart from all wickedness,"7 </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_small">(Extract from <a contents="Augustine's "Retractions," Book II, Chap. 45, " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://orthodoxchurchfathers.com/fathers/npnf105/npnf1017.htm#P2393_981849" target="_blank"><strong>Augustine's "Retractions," Book II, Chap. 45, </strong></a>Concerning Man's Perfection in Righteousness) </span></p>
<p>Other Church Fathers aware of <a contents="Pelagian heresy" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/Pelagianism.html" target="_blank"><strong>Pelagian heresy</strong></a>, but also mindful of the liberation of the will of man that true conversion brings, sought to articulate this divinely enabled and collaborative journey of salvation – justification, sanctification and glorification. A Righteousness that is the result of a relational journey that denotes free will cooperation with the Divine Unction in the relationship based transformation – Faith unto Faith. Again, delineating from the Righteousness established by the law from the Righteousness crafted with the Author of Salvation – not working <em><strong>for </strong></em>it, but <em><strong>in </strong></em>it, for our transformation and His subsequent glory. </p>
<p>Chrysostom understood this... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>By righteousness is here meant universal virtue. But observe the superior power of grace, in that He requires of His disciples who were yet uninstructed to be better than those who were masters under the Old Testament. Thus He does not call the Scribes and Pharisees unrighteous, but speaks of their righteousness. And see how even herein He confirms the Old Testament that He compares it with the New, for the greater and the less are always of the same kind. <a contents="(Matthew 5:20 - Wikipedia)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_5:20#:~:text=Chrysostom%3A%20By%20righteousness%20is%20here%20meant%20universal%20virtue.,and%20Pharisees%20unrighteous%2C%20but%20speaks%20of%20their%20righteousness." target="_blank"><strong>(Matthew 5:20 - Wikipedia)</strong></a> In Chrysostom’s sermon on Ephesians 1:4-5, he asked why God chose us: And why did [God] choose us? ‘That we should be holy and blameless before him.’ So that you may not suppose, when you hear that he chose us, that faith alone is sufficient, he goes on to refer to manner of life. This, he says, is the reason and the purpose of his choice—that we should be holy and blameless… Being holy is a matter of sharing in faith; being blameless is a matter of living an irreproachable life <a contents="(Homilies on Ephesians, 1, 1-2)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://chnetwork.org/2010/03/16/salvation-from-the-perspective-of-the-early-church-fathers/" target="_blank"><strong>(Homilies on Ephesians, 1, 1-2)</strong></a>. </em></p>
<p>Yet other church Fathers also understood the three aspects of Divine Righteousness both revealed and in action </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Polycarp </strong>taught that there were a number of moral commands to which the Christian must adhere in order to inherit the Kingdom. Faith without meeting these moral demands will not be enough. Polycarp argued that anyone occupied in these three things: growing in the faith, accompanied by hope, and led by love, has fulfilled the commandment of righteousness </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Ignatius of Loyolas</strong>’ letters were written while on his way to martyrdom, and he recognized the importance of our actions “motivated by faith,” as opposed to a “momentary act of professing” that faith: Those who profess to be Christ’s will be recognized by their actions. For what matters is not a momentary act of professing, but being persistently motivated by faith (The Letter of Ignatius to the Ephesians, ch. 14:2). </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Irenaeus</strong>, a Western Father, in his writings, Against Heresies, Book I, confirms the necessity of a life of love and holiness, as well as keeping our Lord’s commandments in order to receive eternal life: But to the righteous and holy, and those who have kept his commandments and have remained in his love…he will by his grace give life incorrupt, and will clothe them with eternal glory (ch.10:1). It is the entire gamut of the Christian moral life, according to Irenaeus, that brings salvation. Irenaeus believed that conversion was dependent upon Christ’s grace, and apart from that grace, man has no power to procure salvation. The more we receive that grace, the more we are obligated to love Christ: No one, indeed while placed out of reach of our Lord’s benefits, has power to procure for himself the means of salvation. So, the more we receive His grace, the more we should love Him (Against Heresies, Bk. IV, ch. XIII). </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Theophilus </strong>an Eastern Father, spoke of a life of doing well and obeying God’s command to procure salvation:To those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek immortality, He will give eternal life everlasting life” (Theophilus to Autolycus, Bk. I, ch. XIII). “For man drew death upon himself by disobeying. So, by obeying the will of God, he who wants to can procure for himself life everlasting (Bk. II, ch. XXVII). </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Origen</strong>, would speak about having communion and friendship with God only if, along with faith, we lived our life according to the teaching of Jesus: It is those who not only believe, but also enter upon the life that Jesus taught (Against Celcus, Bk. III, ch. XXVIII). </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><a contents="(Perspectives of Salvation from Early Church Fathers)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://chnetwork.org/2010/03/16/salvation-from-the-perspective-of-the-early-church-fathers/" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_small">(Perspectives of Salvation from Early Church Fathers) </span></strong></a></p>
<p>Two millennia on, scholars are still understanding the centrality of Righteousness and its outworking of ‘faith unto faith’ in the Salvation experience of those who are Disciples of the Author of Salvation. Prominent <a contents="Theologian, N.T. Wright " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://strangetriumph.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/n-t-wright-on-the-righteousness-of-god-1/amp/" target="_blank"><strong>Theologian, N.T. Wright </strong></a>states the following about this Romans 1 pivotal verse; </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>In particular, the flow of thought through the letter as a whole makes far more sense if we understand the statement of the theme in 1:17 as being about God and God’s covenant faithfulness and justice, rather than simply about ‘justification.’…God’s righteousness, seen in terms of covenant faithfulness and through the image of the lawcourt, was to be the instrument of putting the world to rights–of what we might call cosmic restorative justice…YHWH is not simply Israel’s God, but the creator of the whole world and its judge; as such, YHWH is under an obligation to set things right…</em> </p>
<p>Sadly, for many caught in reframing this divinely a) bestowed, b) enacted upon and c) engaged with resource, into a one-dimensional Modus Dandi, that whether inadvertently or deliberately has seen an image of this Divine imperative framed into a bestowal mode only. Yet, this is one of the key misunderstandings that undermines both the witness and power of the Body of Christ. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Thus ‘the righteousness of God’ can be thought of as a divine attribute (our God is a righteous God), or activity (he comes to our rescue), or achievement (he bestows on us a righteous status)...All three are true…I have never been able to see why we have to choose, and why all three should not be combined… In other words, [the righteousness of God] is at one and the same time a quality, an activity and a gift</em>. </p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_small"><strong>(John Stott, The Message of Romans (The Bible Speaks Today: Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1994) (63)</strong></span> </p>
<p>The unintentional passivity this (for want of better tags – take your pick) hyper-grace or hyper-Calvinist perspective can induce was clearly never a goal of the New Covenant. Real communion, deepening relationship and Christ living through his Church, individually and collectively, requires – in fact insists on – reciprocity. Not in a grotesque sense of obligation, a quid pro quo, or an ‘earning’, rather a requited and longed for communion, that the bestowal has enabled us to enter into, but is only one ‘bookend’ of that relational journey. </p>
<p>Now we can participate in the New Covenant, by embracing the ‘Born Again’ experience, and having our sins forgiven, and the slate wiped clean, and a new agency of will that our sin ladened and unregenerate state had denied us. However, this is only the commencement of the relationship with our now adoptive Heavenly Father. A relationship He wants to mature – to perfect. </p>
<p>Let us return to<strong> Romans 1:17 </strong></p>
<p>Under this New Covenant, Paul discloses how the Righteousness of God is going to be revealed moving forward. It is revealed – properly uncovered, make plain and manifest what is hidden – by an ever-increasing faith – a deep fully persuaded trust – that only comes from a progressively deepening communion with this HOLY God. </p>
<p>You see, now under this new Righteousness there is a participatory transformation that comes, not because we have ‘worked for it’, but because our deepening trust, surrender, yielding and the actions they produce, has enabled greater faith and the subsequent manifestations of HIS Righteousness through it. </p>
<p>This is Kingdom Covenant and the Salvation (<em>Sozo: Do well, be healed, made whole</em>) He wants for His highest creation; humanity. </p>
<p>This enables what our Lord and Saviour prayed for as recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter 17. Referred to often as <a contents="The Great High Priestly Prayer" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+17&version=NABRE" target="_blank"><strong>The Great High Priestly Prayer</strong></a> that Jesus prayed not only for His disciples then, but for all those who would follow. A unity, a communion so rich and mature that the following may also enable what Paul writes of in <a contents="Ephesians 3:10" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+3%3A10&version=NABRE" target="_blank"><strong>Ephesians 3:10</strong></a> to actualize – God, through this ever maturing Church is making known His manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers, through the unfurling of His Righteousness – His Right Kingdom and Covenant ways. This invited into and divinely resourced participation is incredible, and according to the nuance of Scripture an utter surprise to spiritual beings, the Angels. This is just one of the manifestations of a relationship that can only be entered into by free-will imbued beings. </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>What is the chief purpose of the Third Person of the Trinity? </strong></span></p>
<p>As I’ve reiterated, this can only happen with God in us, and our willing participation in that Covenant relationship. </p>
<p>The Role of the Holy Spirit is that of<a contents=" Comforter and Counsellor" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.bible.com/bible/8/JHN.14.26.AMPC" target="_blank"><strong> Comforter and Counsellor</strong></a> (John 14:26 AMP) and we are warmed and reassured by these genteel titles, but the purposes this Role facilitates are important to understand. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin[and the need for a Saviour], and about righteousness, and about judgment: about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> John 16:8-11 Amplified Bible (AMP) </p>
<p><em>“Righteousness, because I go to the Father”</em>, therefore ongoing living manifestation of my transformative Righteousness is now made manifest and demonstrated through His followers. </p>
<p>You will note in this passage that God in available incarnated form is saying between Sin and Judgement, Righteousness exists as the benchmark. The position and purpose of the Holy Spirit is Counsellor, but His role and purpose is to convict on these three key areas. The standard of Righteousness is what not only continues to manifest the Kingdom, but the Christ of the Kingdom and it is the benchmark that both sin and judgement are measured against. </p>
<p>I repeat here what I wrote earlier; Grace – favour you get that you do not deserve, and Mercy – Not getting<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/71e37d3074967c1c946c1e31c12146f19eec9326/original/righteousquote3.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_right border_none" alt="" />what you do deserve, only really mean something and have context and significance when they pivot around something. Measured against something. Justice perhaps springs to mind as a key component to the centre, but Justice itself also pivots around something else, another benchmark – a standard or set of standards that tells us what should be just. </p>
<p>Righteousness is that benchmark, but it is important again to ask, what or whose ‘right standard’ do we subscribe to? </p>
<p>If we treat this freely bestowed <strong>status </strong>and <strong>resource </strong>with a similar familiarity, or worse, disdain – beware. This can lead to and/or be fuelled by the growing misuse of the other remarkable gifts/platforms of Grace and Mercy, only ushering in a careless leaning toward overlooking sin, or worse, a licensing of error. </p>
<p>It is here that I want to look at Paul’s continual revelation on Righteousness in Romans Chapter 1. From verse 18 the Divine Counsel through Paul unambiguously illuminates the outcome of those who mistreat this ultimate of states… </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. </em></p>
<p>One of the clear motivators for this wrath is not simply the bold irreverence, or that it is an irreverence to the perfect Divine judicial verdict – disturbing of course. However, it is that this posture of unrighteousness and all it manifest, suppresses the Truth – the Kingdom Truth about the realities of the human condition, and the only remedy for them. This is a core perversion of these foundations of The Kingdom and therefore, rightly attract His wrath. </p>
<p>Remember what it is that Jesus said would set us free? (John 8:32) What is it that Jesus came to bear witness too? (Luke 18:37) – Truth! </p>
<p>If we continue in this compromised posture of diminishing the priority of these core values, do we end up retreating from Righteousness instead of pursuing its full and effective manifestation in our relationship with The Christ? </p>
<p>Do we then, as both individual family of God members, and His collective Body, fail to make manifest all that Righteousness can bring, thus stifling His saving, redeeming and transforming work? </p>
<p>If we are not diligent and understand our Lord’s exhortation in Matthew 24:132… “but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” we can so easily then retreat first from… </p>
<ul> <li><em>Standing for Righteousness to</em></li> <li><em>Standing in Righteousness, to </em></li> <li><em>Standing by Righteousness, to </em></li> <li><em>Negotiating with Righteousness, to </em></li> <li><em>Redefining Righteousness, to </em></li> <li><em>Abandoning it altogether</em></li>
</ul>
<p>Again, it is God’s Righteousness that ‘exalts a nation’ – Uprightness and right standing with God (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) elevate a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. </p>
<p>The following virtues, priorities, and yes, superlatives, do not exalt a nation, though they are part of Righteousness and are in perichoretic connection with it, are not the imperative that Righteousness is. </p>
<p>For instance, focus and emphasis of the following virtues/values in scripture do not come close to the foundational virtue of Righteousness. </p>
<ul> <li>
<strong>Truth</strong>, alone doesn’t – 224 times </li> <li>
<strong>Compassion</strong>, alone doesn’t – 46 times </li> <li>
<strong>Justice</strong>, alone doesn’t – 29 times (stands with and is connected to, the key) </li> <li>
<strong>Freedom</strong>, alone doesn’t – 2 times </li> <li>
<strong>Love</strong>, alone doesn’t – 310 times </li> <li>
<strong>Hope</strong>, alone doesn’t – 156 times </li> <li>
<strong>Grace</strong>, alone doesn’t – 170 times </li>
</ul>
<p>You see, this Kingdom<em> Rosetta Stone</em>, if you like – the interpreter of and skeletal structure that holds all the above keys ‘upright’ and gives them capacity to make an eternal, as well as interim impact – fail to actualize into glistening best practice without Righteousness. </p>
<p><strong>RIGHTEOUSNESS</strong> = Best-practice mode for all virtues, and it appears between <strong>545-619 times</strong> in the Biblical Text, depending on interpretive emphasis. </p>
<p>The priority, and the centrality of Righteousness in The Author of Salvation’s teaching is also vital to remember. </p>
<ul> <li>“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness [*1343 –dikaiosunēn – righteousness/justice], for they shall be filled/satisfied.” Jesus (Matthew 5:6) </li> <li>“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness [*1343], and all these things will be added unto you.” Jesus (Matt 6:33) </li> <li>“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness [*1343] surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20) </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_small"><strong>*Strong’s 1343 = ‘Judicial approval – approved of God. What is deemed right by the Lord after His examination – what is approved of in His eyes.’ </strong></span></p>
<p>God’s Righteousness is such a profound state of integrity and purity and an incredibly difficult state to attain, even with complete and thorough compliance to the law – remember God’s law is perfect, converting the soul (Psalm 19:7). </p>
<p>Whilst the Old Covenant engaged with the Divine unction and the surrendered heart enabled connection with the Divine (a covenant is not necessary if cannot achieve this end), and as we have read, established a righteousness, it could not usher in that perfection – or the capacity to connect more profoundly so that perfection can be worked in us, not we for it. </p>
<p>Enter the New Covenant. In this context as before the advancing state of perfection cannot be earned, it must be bestowed. However, once bestowed we have all the potential to become the complete righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21) and are then ever better enabled to be co-labourers in manifesting it to the world. </p>
<p>Relational covenants commission this collaboration. If there is not participation, engagement and or embracing with communicative relationship (God’s original intent for <a contents="Their " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:26-28&version=KJV" target="_blank"><strong>Their </strong></a>special created beings) then we are not fully human in the Divine intent, merely Image bearing automatons. Rather we are created to be agents of free will, surrendering to the Divinely imbued capacity to enter into a relationship with our Creator </p>
<p>To emphasis this collaborative and relational priority I want to parallel it with similar principals, such as outlined in Ephesians 4:3. The text says that we are to<em> ‘<strong>maintain </strong>the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’.</em> So, we see here that we do not create unity, rather that unity is bestowed by our collectively coming to Christ, but then we are active collaborators in maintaining it (the need for maintenance suggests potential for decline or deterioration). The Ephesians letter (sent to all churches at the time) gives us instruction on how we do that – (along with our humble surrender to Christ) – and that is ‘in the bond of peace’. </p>
<p>None of this is ‘working to earn’ unity (our salvation), but a privilege and sacred labour to share in God’s restorative and redemptive work – we become light, when once, we were darkness. </p>
<p>Further example of this can be seen when we draw a comparison from the Parable of the Talents as Jesus taught in Matthew 25 : 14-30. The initial financial resource given to each servant was bestowed, and it appears wisely, according to estimated capacity of the servants. However, their role then was to take that ‘gift’ and employ it to advance the kingdom. The expectation of the King was that the resource was not just held, sat upon, horded or worse, squandered, rather that it was grown. The bestowal enables and equips in the sacred privilege of co-producing <em><strong>with </strong></em>the Source, not <em><strong>for </strong></em>the Source. So, seeing nothing produced from it is a travesty that cannot be overlooked by the Just, Righteous and Truth originating God. </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Calling out unrighteousness </strong></span></p>
<p>To emphasis again, in line with our Ephesians 4:3 unity text, the biblical Hebrew word for “Righteousness,” is tsedeqah and applied more specifically: it is an ethical standard that refers to right relationships between people; it’s about treating others as made in the “image of God” with the God-given dignity they deserve – remember that dignity is geared to Gods standard - righteousness. So, it is also important this word “justice” in the righteousness context (can be interchangeable), which in Hebrew is mishpat, and can refer to retributive justice. The notion of penalty for action, for instance, if you steal something, you pay the consequences, not just cease the wrong doing. </p>
<p>In our current first-world west, the great reprehensible act of our post-Christian and consequently post-Truth era is in refusing to embrace or validate people’s Biblical disobedience and rebellion. For this, now ‘heinous act’ (as ruled by our broken culture), we will be reviled and labelled as judgmental – the worst of all ‘brands’ in the progressive version of inclusive culture. </p>
<p>Yet most often in the Bible, Mishpat refers to, restorative justice. It means going a step further, actually seeking out vulnerable people who are being taken advantage of and helping them. </p>
<p>Now it is important to refresh ourselves with the context of this helping hand, it is not first and foremost around alleviating felt needs, but understanding the real need and how all restorative justice is tied to God’s Righteousness, not just charity. </p>
<p>Who more vulnerable than those enslaved to the Evil one, separated from the Divine communion, and <a contents="destined for a destruction" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A18&version=NABRE" target="_blank"><strong>destined for a destruction</strong></a> never meant for them. </p>
<p>On this aspect of Righteousness, and restorative discipleship, I’d refer you to the Paper, <a contents="Meeting the Welfare Need – A Proactive Disciple-making Approach.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/20671/1175cfc532148de0164dadbd5436034b018b240a/original/disciples-planet-welfarepolicyprimer08-12-20.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20210808%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210808T034151Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=cb7facb3bd54c3bd2c681e44f3877067cc869641c85dbae6db3ed92707580a13" target="_blank"><strong>Meeting the Welfare Need – A Proactive Disciple-making Approach. </strong></a></p>
<p><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/132c8f6390f724f73ba713b3461e7512155a4d01/original/righteousnessexalts.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Conclusion </strong></span></p>
<p>Repetition and a perceived intense reiteration can be labelled by some as dogmatic, and whilst that term is often understood in a pejorative context, in reality that couldn’t be a more unfair and unhelpful caricature. </p>
<p>More than that, when it comes to Righteousness – this profoundly indispensable and seminal aspect of God – Dogma in its purest sense is most needed. </p>
<p>According to the Collins Concise Dictionary Australian Edition, Dogma is… </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“A Doctrine or systems of Doctrines claimed, by ecclesiastical authorities to be true.” </em></p>
<p>Again, in our post-Christian and consequently post-truth era, language and what it is supposed to accurately convey are easily distorted, diluted, and devolved; with it the potential to deconstruct not only Divine prescriptions and proscriptions, but the foundation for them, is either corrupted, or worse, collapses all together. </p>
<p>If Revival and more importantly, the Reformation that must come to The Church, is to be realized, then the Divine platform of Righteousness must be central – must be. </p>
<p>I encourage anyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord as Saviour and King – those who understand that to follow Jesus, you must first deny yourself, and then take up the Cross to be enabled to do so – to study this core Kingdom value so as to fully understand its content, context, purpose, priority and power. </p>
<p>Righteousness is central, core and catalytic to all things Kingdom. </p>
<p>The time for ‘dancing with definitions’ is over. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">‘Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness’ </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Shane Varcoe – Disciplesplanet, 2019</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6694897
2021-07-22T17:41:52+10:00
2021-07-22T17:41:52+10:00
Trilogy on Soteriology, in Worship – Charles Wesley
<p>Three of the most remarkable musically contextualized Hymns of the 'Methodist' Reformation era. Simple, profound and moving, even to this day - Salvation in Song!</p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Oh For a Thousand Tongues to Sing </strong></span></p>
<p>Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing <br>My great Redeemer’s praise, <br>The glories of my God and king, <br>The triumphs of His grace! </p>
<p><br>My gracious Master and my God, <br>Assist me to proclaim, <br>To spread through all the earth abroad, <br>The honors of Thy name. </p>
<p><br>Jesus! the name that charms our fears, <br>That bids our sorrows cease— <br>’Tis music in the sinner’s ears, <br>’Tis life, and health, and peace. </p>
<p><br>He breaks the pow’r of canceled sin, <br>He sets the pris’ner free; <br>His blood can make the foulest clean, <br>His blood availed for me. </p>
<p><br>He speaks, and, list’ning to His voice, <br>New life the dead receive, <br>The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, <br>The humble poor believe. </p>
<p><br>Glory to God, and praise and love <br>Be ever, ever giv’n <br>By saints below and saints above, <br>The church in earth and heav’n. </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Love Divine, All Loves Excelling </strong></span></p>
<p>Love divine, all loves excelling, <br>Joy of Heav’n to earth come down; <br>Fix in us thy humble dwelling; <br>All thy faithful mercies crown! <br>Jesus, Thou art all compassion, <br>Pure unbounded love Thou art; <br>Visit us with Thy salvation, <br>Enter every trembling heart. </p>
<p><br>Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit <br>Into every troubled breast! <br>Let us all in Thee inherit; <br>Let us find that second rest. <br>Take away our bent to sinning; <br>Alpha and Omega be; <br>End of faith, as its beginning, <br>Set our hearts at liberty. </p>
<p><br>Come, Almighty to deliver, <br>Let us all Thy life receive; <br>Suddenly return, and never, <br>Nevermore Thy temples leave. <br>Thee we would be always blessing, <br>Serve Thee as Thy hosts above, <br>Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, <br>Glory in Thy perfect love. </p>
<p><br>Finish, then, Thy new creation; <br>Pure and spotless let us be; <br>Let us see Thy great salvation <br>Perfectly restored in Thee; <br>Changed from glory into glory, <br>Till in Heav’n we take our place, <br>Till we cast our crowns before Thee, <br>Lost in wonder, love, and praise. </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>And Can It Be That I Should Gain? </strong></span></p>
<p>And can it be that I should gain <br>An int’rest in the Savior’s blood? <br>Died He for me, who caused His pain— <br>For me, who Him to death pursued? <br>Amazing love! How can it be, <br>That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? </p>
<ul> <li>Refrain: </li> <li>Amazing love! How can it be, </li> <li>That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? </li>
</ul>
<p>’Tis myst’ry all: th’ Immortal dies: <br>Who can explore His strange design? <br>In vain the firstborn seraph tries <br>To sound the depths of love divine. <br>’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, <br>Let angel minds inquire no more. </p>
<p><br>He left His Father’s throne above— <br>So free, so infinite His grace— <br>Emptied Himself of all but love, <br>And bled for Adam’s helpless race: <br>’Tis mercy all, immense and free, <br>For, O my God, it found out me! </p>
<p><br>Long my imprisoned spirit lay, <br>Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; <br>Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray— <br>I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; <br>My chains fell off, my heart was free, <br>I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. </p>
<p><br>No condemnation now I dread; <br>Jesus, and all in Him, is mine; <br>Alive in Him, my living Head, <br>And clothed in righteousness divine, <br>Bold I approach th’ eternal throne, <br>And claim the crown, through Christ my own</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><em>(Click Image below for Hymns)</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-B7NGGYRfM" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/20671/6135923fd6e74f037f273064d6c7afdd0f2f4440/original/timbercrossonsky.jfif/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jfif" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6671908
2021-06-27T21:01:32+10:00
2021-06-27T21:01:32+10:00
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn: A World Split Apart
<p><em>An utterly prophetic declaration on the Wests cultural dalliance with toxic ideologies and where they will lead....Delivered 8 June 1978, Harvard University (Excerpt) </em></p>
<p>A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course, there are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life. </p>
<p>Political and intellectual bureaucrats show depression, passivity, and perplexity in their actions and in their statements, and even more so in theoretical reflections to explain how realistic, reasonable, as well as intellectually and even morally worn it is to base state policies on weakness and cowardice. And decline in courage is ironically emphasized by occasional explosions of anger and inflexibility on the part of the same bureaucrats when dealing with weak governments and with countries not supported by anyone, or with currents which cannot offer any resistance. But they get tongue-tied and paralyzed when they deal with powerful governments and threatening forces, with aggressors and international terrorists. </p>
<p>Should one point out that from ancient times declining courage has been considered the beginning of the end? </p>
<p>When the modern Western states were created, the principle was proclaimed that governments are meant to serve man and man lives to be free and to pursue happiness. See, for example, the American Declaration of Independence. Now, at last, during past decades technical and social progress has permitted the realization of such aspirations: the welfare state. </p>
<p>Every citizen has been granted the desired freedom and material goods in such quantity and of such quality as to guarantee in theory the achievement of happiness -- in the morally inferior sense of the word which has come into being during those same decades. In the process, however, one psychological detail has been overlooked: the constant desire to have still more things and a still better life and the struggle to attain them imprint many Western faces with worry and even depression, though it is customary to conceal such feelings. Active and tense competition fills all human thoughts without opening a way to free spiritual development. </p>
<p>The individual's independence from many types of state pressure has been guaranteed. The majority of people have been granted well-being to an extent their fathers and grandfathers could not even dream about. It has become possible to raise young people according to these ideals, leaving them to physical splendor, happiness, possession of material goods, money, and leisure, to an almost unlimited freedom of enjoyment. So who should now renounce all this? Why? And for what should one risk one's precious life in defense of common values and particularly in such nebulous cases when the security of one's nation must be defended in a distant country? Even biology knows that habitual, extreme safety and well-being are not advantageous for a living organism. Today, well-being in the life of Western society has begun to reveal its pernicious mask. </p>
<p>Western society has given itself the organization best suited to its purposes based, I would say, one the letter of the law. The limits of human rights and righteousness are determined by a system of laws; such limits are very broad. People in the West have acquired considerable skill in interpreting and manipulating law. Any conflict is solved according to the letter of the law and this is considered to be the supreme solution. If one is right from a legal point of view, nothing more is required. Nobody will mention that one could still not be entirely right, and urge self-restraint, a willingness to renounce such legal rights, sacrifice and selfless risk. It would sound simply absurd. One almost never sees voluntary self-restraint. Everybody operates at the extreme limit of those legal frames. </p>
<p>I have spent all my life under a Communist regime and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale than the legal one is not quite worthy of man either. A society which is based on the letter of the law and never reaches any higher is taking very scarce advantage of the high level of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations, there is an atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing man's noblest impulses. And it will be simply impossible to stand through the trials of this threatening century with only the support of a legalistic structure. </p>
<p>In today's Western society the inequality has been revealed [in] freedom for good deeds and freedom for evil deeds. A statesman who wants to achieve something important and highly constructive for his country has to move cautiously and even timidly. There are thousands of hasty and irresponsible critics around him; parliament and the press keep rebuffing him. As he moves ahead, he has to prove that each single step of his is well-founded and absolutely flawless. Actually, an outstanding and particularly gifted person who has unusual and unexpected initiatives in mind hardly gets a chance to assert himself. From the very beginning, dozens of traps will be set out for him. Thus, mediocrity triumphs with the excuse of restrictions imposed by democracy. </p>
<p>It is feasible and easy everywhere to undermine administrative power and in fact it has been drastically weakened in all Western countries. The defense of individual rights has reached such extremes as to make society as a whole defenseless against certain individuals. It's time, in the West -- It is time, in the West, to defend not so much human rights as human obligations. </p>
<p>Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless space. Society appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, such as motion pictures full of pornography, crime, and horror. It is considered to be part of freedom and theoretically counterbalanced by the young people's right not to look or not to accept. Life organized legalistically has thus shown its inability to defend itself against the corrosion of evil. </p>
<p>And what shall we say criminality as such? Legal frames, especially in the United States, are broad enough to encourage not only individual freedom but also certain individual crimes. The culprit can go unpunished or obtain undeserved leniency with the support of thousands of public defenders. When a government starts an earnest fight against terrorism, public opinion immediately accuses it of violating the terrorist's civil rights. There are many such cases. </p>
<p>Such a tilt of freedom in the direction of evil has come about gradually, but it was evidently born primarily out of a humanistic and benevolent concept according to which there is no evil inherent to human nature. The world belongs to mankind and all the defects of life are caused by wrong social systems, which must be corrected. Strangely enough, though the best social conditions have been achieved in the West, there still is criminality and there even is considerably more of it than in the pauper and lawless Soviet society. </p>
<p>The press too, of course, enjoys the widest freedom. (I shall be using the word press to include all media.) But what sort of use does it make of this freedom? </p>
<p>Here again, the main concern is not to infringe the letter of the law. There is no true moral responsibility for deformation or disproportion. What sort of responsibility does a journalist or a newspaper have to his readers, or to his history -- or to history? If they have misled public opinion or the government by inaccurate information or wrong conclusions, do we know of any cases of public recognition and rectification of such mistakes by the same journalist or the same newspaper? It hardly ever happens because it would damage sales. A nation may be the victim of such a mistake, but the journalist usually always gets away with it. One may -- One may safely assume that he will start writing the opposite with renewed self-assurance. </p>
<p>Because instant and credible information has to be given, it becomes necessary to resort to guesswork, rumors, and suppositions to fill in the voids, and none -- and none of them will ever be rectified; they will stay on in the readers' memories. How many hasty, immature, superficial, and misleading judgments are expressed every day, confusing readers, without any verification. The press -- The press can both simulate public opinion and miseducate it. Thus, we may see terrorists described as heroes, or secret matters pertaining to one's nation's defense publicly revealed, or we may witness shameless intrusion on the privacy of well-known people under the slogan: "Everyone is entitled to know everything." But this is a false slogan, characteristic of a false era. People also have the right not to know and it's a much more valuable one. The right not to have their divine souls [stuffed with gossip, nonsense, vain talk.] A person who works and leads a meaningful life does not need this excessive burdening flow of information. </p>
<p>Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. Such as it is, however, the press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislative power, the executive, and the judiciary. And one would then like to ask: By what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible? In the communist East a journalist is frankly appointed as a state official. But who has granted Western journalists their power, for how long a time, and with what prerogatives? </p>
<p>There is yet another surprise for someone coming from the East, where the press is rigorously unified. One gradually discovers a common trend of preferences within the Western press as a whole. It is a fashion; there are generally accepted patterns of judgment; there may be common corporate interests, the sum effect being not competition but unification. Enormous freedom exists for the press, but not for the readership because newspaper[s] mostly develop stress and emphasis to those opinions which do not too openly contradict their own and the general trend. </p>
<p>Without any censorship, in the West fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those which are not fashionable; nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its way into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges. Legally your researchers are free, but they are conditioned by the fashion of the day. There is no open violence such as in the East; however, a selection dictated by fashion and the need to match mass standards frequently prevent independent-minded people giving their contribution to public life. There is a dangerous tendency to flock together and shut off successful development. I have received letters in America from highly intelligent persons, maybe a teacher in a faraway small college who could do much for the renewal and salvation of his country, but his country cannot hear him because the media are not interested in him. This gives birth to strong mass prejudices, to blindness, which is most dangerous in our dynamic era. There is, for instance, a self-deluding interpretation of the contemporary world situation. It works as a sort of a petrified armor around people's minds. Human voices from 17 countries of Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia cannot pierce it. It will only be broken by the pitiless crowbar of events. </p>
<p>For complete Speech go to<a contents=" Alexandr Solzhenitsyn" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm" target="_blank"><strong> Alexandr Solzhenitsyn</strong></a>: Harvard Commencement Address <a contents="(A World Split Apart)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm" target="_blank">(A World Split Apart)</a> (americanrhetoric.com)</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4016240
2021-03-20T12:33:53+11:00
2021-06-06T12:03:21+10:00
Sent to try us!
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Sent to try us!</strong><em><strong> </strong></em></span></h3>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>A familiar example is Abraham’s trial when he was ordered to sacrifice Isaac. At this moment I am concerned with the obvious question, ‘If God is omniscient he must have known what Abraham would do, without any experiment, why, then, this needless torture?’ But as St Augustine points out, whatever God knows, Abraham at any rate did not know that his obedience could endure such a command until the event taught him; and the obedience which he did not know that he would choose, he cannot be said to have chosen. The reality of Abraham’s obedience was the act itself, and what God knew in knowing that Abraham ‘would obey’ was Abraham’s actual obedience on that mountain top at that moment. </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>To say that… ‘God need not have tried the experiment’ is to say that because God knows, the thing known by God need not exist.” </strong></em> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_large">C.S. Lewis – <em>‘The problem of pain’</em> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"> <br>A bit ‘Matrix-esque’ yes? But do you get this? If not read it again, and again!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Whether God knows or doesn’t know is not the issue. The issue is only in us obeying and in that ‘act’ (obedience) do we transcend our current character, the environment or circumstance and further transformed into the ‘image of His Son’ –<a contents="(Ephesians 4:13)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4%3A13&version=NIV" target="_blank">(Ephesians 4:13)</a> Men and women of a faith that continue to please God. (<a contents="Hebrew 11:6)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11%3A6&version=NIV" target="_blank">Hebrew 11:6) </a></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I share this with your because I want you to be ready to walk forward in whatever 'life' appears to throw at you - the supposed 'good, bad and ugly'. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">So many individual ‘faiths’ are shipwrecked on a poor understanding that our Heavenly Father wants to make us whole and complete in Him, not necessarily comfortable or 'happy'. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Beloved, fix your gaze on this truth. I want to be whole and it is in Christ and conforming to His image that this will happen. Don’t let anything, big or small, grand or mean keep you form this. It will help you stand when many fall. <em><strong> </strong> S.W. Varcoe</em></span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6558076
2021-02-25T16:23:58+11:00
2021-02-25T16:23:58+11:00
Cancel Culture - Christ Style
<p><em><span class="font_large">The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here, and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.” </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">C.S. Lewis <em><strong>Mere Christianity</strong></em></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6448684
2020-10-04T10:45:26+11:00
2020-10-04T11:39:00+11:00
When They Came For....
<p>When they came for the <em>Alt-right mouth breather</em> I did nothing but smile gleefully as such sub-humans do not deserve to even breath the same air as the rest of us. </p>
<p>When they came for the <em>Fundamentalist naïve realist</em> Christ followers, I did nothing, as they really are socially unpalatable and culturally inept to a cringe-worthy degree. </p>
<p>When they came for the <em>Conservatives</em>, I did nothing, because they are irrelevant and in the way of progress. </p>
<p>When they came for the <em>Pentecostals</em>, I did nothing, as their views and practices are weird, tediously emotive and lack psycho-social robustness. </p>
<p>When they came for the <em>Evangelicals</em>, I did nothing because they are so one-dimensional and lack ‘real-world’ <a contents="social justice savvy." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IB0i6bJIjw" style="" target="_blank"><strong><em>social justice savvy.</em></strong></a> </p>
<p>When they came for the <em>Mainstream Church</em> attender, I did nothing because this unnecessary cultural tradition serves only to maintain dogmatic and socially unpopular stereotypes. </p>
<p>Of course, they never came for me, because I’m the ‘Christian’ that the world permits, as I have utterly affirmed their cultural agenda to usher in their self-righteous and <a contents="foolishness free" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIeKSrVdET0" target="_blank"><em><strong>foolishness free</strong></em></a> society. </p>
<p><em><strong><span class="font_large"><a contents="“When they came for…”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists" target="_blank">“When they came for…”</a> </span></strong></em>Pastor MARTIN NIEMÖLLER </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">“What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.” </span></strong></em><a contents="Jesus Christ" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5AAywYQT4&feature=youtu.be&list=TLPQMDMxMDIwMjAjKNQNvPDJUA" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_large">Jesus Christ</span></strong></a><em><strong><span class="font_large"> </span></strong></em>(Luke 6 : 26) </p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_small">Shane W. Varcoe (Written February 2019)</span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6443782
2020-09-27T13:41:08+10:00
2020-09-27T13:51:09+10:00
The Rationale for Revenge?
<p>In his small, but potent book, The Problem of Pain, Clive Lewis looks at the visceral notion of revenge, the following is one excerpt, </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Revenge loses sight of the end in the means, but it's end is not wholly bad - it wants the evil of the bad man to be to him what it is to everyone else. This is proved by the fact that the avenger wants the guilty party not merely to suffer, but to suffer at his hands, and to know it, and to know why. Hence the impulse to taunt the guilty man with his crime at the moment of taking vengeance: hence, too, such natural expressions as 'I wonder how he'd like it if the same thing were done to him' or 'I'll teach him'. For the same reason when we are going to abuse a man in words we say we are going to 'let him know what we think of him'.” </em></p>
<p>This wanting the perpetrator to ‘feel’, to experience at least a like or ‘in kind’ measure of the loss, pain, grief that has been experienced by the victim does have its roots in justice. By that I don’t mean simply a punishment for a wrongdoing, rather a desire for the perpetrator to understand, if only in part, some of the harm done. The intent is to plant a monument in the heart of the perpetrator that would act as a clear reminder not to repeat such an act. Such templates exist in many cultures. Akin to, “If you really knew how hurtful this was, you would never do it again, so taste this and see!” </p>
<p>This is not an unreasonable outcome; the sentiment even has a strong scent of ‘rightness’ about it. This justice infused permanent reminder has a purpose, not merely to shame, but more, that shame to prevent future harms in and through the perpetrator. </p>
<p>One of the most robust versions of this can be seen in the ‘eye for an eye’ mandate. The perpetrator experiencing exactly what they have inflicted on the other should engender an all-be-it coercive incentive not to repeat that act. But, as we see the human heart that has no regard for law, has little view of justice, and in that recalcitrant state, sees this vehicle, not a reforming tool, but simply a retributive one. </p>
<p>However, the subjectivity of that sense of hurt or injustice and its accompanying potent passion, is what is informing the victims ‘revenge response’, more than the objective sense of loss, and here in lies one of the problems with revenge. </p>
<p>This is why the Omniscient and Omnibenevolent God of the Bible gave instructions through the Apostle Paul, around this incredibly sensitive issue, but taking the standing orders of Heaven as recorded in <a contents="Deuteronomy 32:35" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+32%3A35%2CRomans+12%3A17-19&version=NKJV" target="_blank"><strong>Deuteronomy 32:35</strong></a> and framed them within the New Covenant context </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Never hold a grudge or try to get even, but plan your life around the noblest way to benefit others. Do your best to live as everybody’s friend. Beloved, don’t be obsessed with taking revenge, but leave that to God’s righteous justice. For the Scriptures say: “If you don’t take justice in your own hands, I will release justice for you,” says the Lord. </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> Romans 12:17-19 The Passion Translation </p>
<p>You see only the Perfect Triune God has the perfect insight into not only the deed and the harm, but the very heart of both victim and perpetrator. This perfect insight, along with His redemptive passion to instruct, restore and develop is what informs His judgements. </p>
<p>The redemptive focus is often lost on us in the maelstrom of the perceived egregious injustice – harm, we have experienced, felt, and has impacted our lives. </p>
<p>God is Just, but He is also Merciful and Gracious – both incredible gifts that anyone who calls themselves Christian, has truly experienced. As such, our Heavenly Father calls us to respond with – yes wisdom and discernment (particularly for the callous and dangerous) – but with forgiveness and mercy, the gift of not giving someone what we believe they deserve. The very same undeserved favours we have received. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>“In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy. But in the shadow of the Cross, forgiveness is merely a gift from one undeserving soul to another.”</strong></em> Pastor Andy Stanley </p>
<p>I want to close with a quote from author of Acceptance Therapy, Lisa O. Engelhardt, that can inform our preparation as we develop a heart and mind of Grace and Mercy – as The Holy Spirit continues, by our surrender, to form The Christ in us. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular"><strong><em>“Set the compass of your heart to forgiveness, it will help lead your soul out of bitterness.”</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Shane W. Varcoe</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6420828
2020-08-31T12:05:30+10:00
2020-09-12T10:01:27+10:00
Who Says We Are Undeserving?
<h2>Grace – undeserved favour – through the lens of ‘stigma cancelling culture’. </h2>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“Stigma and Shame are bad – toxic man! We must erase them from our culture, right? Like, you know, no one should be made to feel bad about themselves or their choices, it’s bad for your mental health!” </em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Author? Pretty much any millennial raised by the pop-culture. </p>
<p>What is becoming more disturbing is that this previous statement is no longer simply an innocuous personal opinion spruiked in a reason vacuum, it is now rapidly becoming the colloquial verbiage of psycho-social policy making. </p>
<p>Everything from drug use, unfettered sexual activity, and even certain contexts for violence is having all moral framing stripped from their contexts. </p>
<p>If it is not abundantly evident by now, at the very least any semblance of subtlety in the agenda being foisted on society is gone. The progressive erosion or marginalisation of cultural underpinnings, such as sustainable and objective morality/values, sustainable meta-narratives, religion, and family security, stability and well-being, has seen this relentless push to redefine conditions, states and behaviours via a ‘values neutral’ labelling, avoiding anything even suggesting categories of 'bad/poor/wrong' choice or behaviour, unless of course, you are an advocate who is challenging policies that don’t permit or look poorly on your preferred conduct, then these terms are permitted – more on this later. </p>
<p>Hedonic pursuits particularly such as sexual activities and drug use in this emerging and aggressively posited matrix are now moved from a behavioural issue with negative health/social outcomes, to a purely health issue with some behavioural side effects. </p>
<p>In a secular psycho-social framework, that seeks to redefine ‘morality’ or expurgate it entirely from the cultural lexicon, it must commence by untethering it from moral frameworks like religion. The language must erase, as mentioned, terms like ‘right or wrong’ in certain contexts. Of course, other conduct that may be deemed as having some negative effect on the broader community, not just the individual, must be viewed through a secular lens of ‘ethics.’ This is the secular framework for ‘adjudicating’ on what may now be considered ‘sin’? </p>
<p>The World Health Organisation have been tampering with this language for years and in a (frankly bizarre) attempt to fit all remedial responses to ‘unhelpful’ or ‘harmful’ language, have decided to create an new health category for such conduct; socio-behavioural illness. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>However, there is now evidence that the poorest in developing countries face a triple burden of communicable disease, non-communicable disease and socio-behavioural illness. W.H.O (May 2013) [emphasis added] </em></p>
<p>It is vital to note here this new category of socio-behavioural illness and the careful wording of this title. In the First World culture’s emerged relativist framework there is the perpetual endeavour to avoid traditional labels and particularly the avoidance of moral language, as they may be construed as pejorative. Yet attempting to deny or deconstruct traditional morality does not mean ‘immorality’ vanishes from the socio-cultural arena; it cannot because we will always continue to suffer the ‘illness’ that immoral behaviour produces. Thus, it would appear, the necessary invent of this new category. </p>
<p>As early as 1950s both secular and Christian commentators were aware of this emerging paradigm, as secularism and post-modernism (all fuelled my various versions of Marxism) gained greater traction in the now Christ-jettisoning West. </p>
<p>Professor Hobart Mowrer who held positions as instructor at Yale and Harvard and in 1954 became president of the American Psychological Association also weighed in on what was then an emerging paradigm (and now seems to be entrenched into our Western culture) when he submitted the paper, “Sin, the Lesser of Two Evils,” to the American Psychologist in 1960: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“For several decades we psychologists have looked upon the whole matter of sin and moral accountability as a great incubus and we have acclaimed our freedom from it as epic making. But at length we have discovered to be free in this sense to have the excuse of being sick rather than being sinful is to also court the danger of becoming lost. In becoming amoral, ethically neutral and free we have cut the very roots of our being, lost our deepest sense of selfhood and identity. And with neurotics themselves, asking, "Who am I? What is my deepest destiny? And what does living really mean?” </em></p>
<p>Another prominent psychologist William Doherty (1995) in his book entitled “Bridging Psychotherapy and Moral Responsibility”, recalls his thoughts on the issue as follows: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">“Like many others, I was trained to avoid “should-ing” my clients, to never inflict the language of “ought” on them. I had been socialised into a therapy profession that by the 1970’s had developed the firm conviction that “should” entraps people into living life for someone else. According to this school of thought, the only authentic life is one based on heeding the dictates of “I want.” </p>
<p>Anglican 'legend' and once Chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, also took a swipe at this accountability diminishing framework.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em> “We live in a culture in which a whole gamut of scapegoats is ready at hand – our genes, our chemistry, temporary hormonal imbalance, our inherited temper and temperament, our parents failure during our early childhood, our upbringing, our education, our social environment – together these constitute an infallible alibi!” </em> </p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> Dr John R.W. Stott (‘Christ the Controversialist’) </p>
<h4><strong>The Gospel and Grace – where do they fit now? </strong></h4>
<p>If stigma is to be excised from the societal arena, then all vehicles that have the potential to generate that sense of stigma – including shame, guilt, sorrow and grief – must be removed, silenced, or otherwise amended in attempts to assuage the ‘sin’ sick soul. </p>
<p>So, where does the ‘Good News’ fit in this construct, and the Grace that has traditionally emblazoned this Gospel? </p>
<p><em><strong>Grace </strong></em>– getting what you do not deserve, and <em><strong>Mercy </strong></em>– not getting what you do deserve, only have any semblance of meaning or context for significance when they pivot around something; measured against something? More on this later </p>
<p>The Gospel and the vehicle of Grace, seeks to ‘set you free’, ‘heal you’, ‘deliver you from evil’, ‘rescue and restore you’, ‘forgive your sins’ and make you whole. </p>
<p>However, what if the candidate believes they do not need any of these? </p>
<ul> <li><em>I’m not bound! </em></li> <li><em>I’m not sick! </em></li> <li><em>I don’t need ‘delivering’! </em></li> <li><em>I don’t need rescue! </em></li> <li><em>I certainly have nothing to be sorry about! </em></li>
</ul>
<p>Language is as important as are the terms and definitions it crafts. By that I mean the way we present or couch an issue can have huge bearing on how it is interpreted, and when it comes to God’s Grace the late 20th and early 21st century, language has been carelessly misused in our attempt to pitch the sale of this matchless construct and resource. </p>
<p>For Grace to be the undeserved favour it so richly manifests, by its very nature it must commence with a critical position from the outset. Grace, by its glorious presence not only identifies, but highlights (by juxtapose) the error, dysfunction and brokenness so revealed by the Holy Creator of the Universe and His standard. </p>
<p>Under Grace, the ‘favour’ can only be so if it is ‘undeserved’, meaning the party is/has done something contrary to a deserving posture. Clearly, all of humanity fall into this – according to the Divine proscriptions. </p>
<p>However, it is important to understand that the Grace of a Holy God never affirms the error, though it may support the individual in their attempts to do, be or otherwise behave, in a manner that is recalibrating toward righteousness. Grace never says ‘it’s okay that you have sinned, as if to diminish the harm of the action, but it is able to distinguish the person from the act and prescribes the way forward to escape, not merely the consequences of the error, but the actions that leads to it – ‘support’ in this context is not affirmation. </p>
<p>Divinely sourced Grace and Mercy do have limits, despite the ill-founded proclamations of Christian memes. As we alluded to earlier, the limit is reached when these invaluable resources are not recognized or required by the ones to who it is offered. </p>
<ul> <li>“I don’t need undeserved kindness, as I’ve done nothing that warrants it”, or </li> <li> “I am simply deserving of a favour because I believe my life is rubbish and if there is a God, he owes me at least that!” </li>
</ul>
<p>Both these scenarios disqualify the candidates needing of them. Thus, Grace and Mercy do not apply, simply teleological consequences, and Divine adjudication. </p>
<p>This was in operation during Christ’s incarnation. It is important to remember that <a contents="Jesus Himself ‘shook dust off His feet’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A14-15&version=NLT" target="_blank"><strong>Jesus Himself ‘shook dust off His feet’</strong></a> when departing from those who refused His <a contents="Good News and the Grace it bestowed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/shake-dust-off-feet.html" target="_blank"><strong>Good News and the Grace it bestowed</strong></a> as either not requiring it or not seeing value in it – and what’s more He counselled His followers to do likewise. </p>
<p>It is not abuse, nor ridicule, but it is an accusation – An accusation of ignoring and thus limiting the application (not offer) of Grace, that meant the reprobate cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were seen in a more positive light. At the very least it is a public disapproval (not affirmation nor support) of bad practice and the need to move toward others who realize they need it. </p>
<p>In all the history of error, injustice, bad practice, or whatever, it is the responsibility of Kingdom people – surrendered, self-denying and cross bearing people – to bring that Kingdom perspective to enhance, enable and empower by instruction and model (not ridicule, undermine, manipulate) people who may be acting contrary to that best-kingdom practice with impunity, and to the harm of others. We may not be malicious, nasty, vulgar or tyrannical (we all love quoting extreme expressions of error to put ourselves in better lights) but even if we were, Grace doesn’t condone mocking, ridicule or pejorative titling. However, Grace (as I’ve mentioned) actually calls out and highlights all that is<a contents=" contrary to God’s Glory" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A23&version=AMPC"> contrary to God’s Glory</a>, but more; it calls out that which hinders our adoption back into active Kingdom Family – that which stops the relationship that YHWH so longs to have with His highest creation. </p>
<p>As with God, so for<a contents=" His Ambassadors" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-20.htm" target="_blank"><strong> His Ambassadors</strong></a>, we must understand that Grace never removes our Biblically based and Kingdom informed critical faculties – ever. It does, however, re-frame them to be redemptive in the pursuit of best practice. Not seeking punishment but rehabilitation and transformation; the ultimate intent of Grace. </p>
<p>However, If the later re-framing is not done, then it is a fatal misuse of this most precious Divine Construct, as the Parable of the Great Wedding Feast reveals <a contents="Matthew 22: 1-13&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022:1-13&version=NIV" target="_blank"><strong>Matthew 22: 1-13 </strong></a></p>
<p>Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is renowned for his diatribe against what he called ‘cheap grace’, the following is just one such expression. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian ‘conception’ of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins…. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son…Costly grace is the Incarnation of God…Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. </em> </p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> Dietrich Bonhoeffer <a contents="(Cheap grace Vs Costly Grace)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2010/06/dietrich-bonhoeffer-cheap-grace-vs-costly-grace/" target="_blank"><strong>(Cheap grace Vs Costly Grace)</strong></a> </p>
<h4><strong>Standard, measure, justice and…who says? </strong></h4>
<p>So, back to our opening question, what does an ‘undeserved favour’ have to pivot around to give it the worth and weight? </p>
<p>To investigate such a pivot point we could cite justice as a centre or at least starting point. However, justice too is still measured against another benchmark – a more seminal point of origin. The invoking of ‘justice’ declares there is a standard, a measure, a value of ‘rightness’ that must be upheld, or at the very least defended. But, from where does this standard, measure or value emerge and by what authority… Who says? </p>
<p>Humanists and secularists could spend hours, days in fact, debating such an origin, but until we have an agreed upon benchmark – <a contents="a plumbline –" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/plumb-line-Bible.html" target="_blank">a plumbline –</a> that one would hope defines what is good, right and true, then it is difficult to call out an unjust act; well at least in any objective sense. </p>
<p>Let us pretend, at least for this short journey, that we have landed on some agreed upon standard of what is ‘good, right and true’. It is only then that we can craft prescriptions and proscriptions that uphold and defend against breaches of that position of justice and consequently give us standards that are good or bad, when juxtaposed with a person’s conduct. </p>
<p>It is only here that the incredible offerings of Grace and Mercy have any context, let alone any weight. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“All sufferers can find comfort in the solidarity of the crucified; but only those who struggle against evil by following the example of the crucified will discover Him at their side. To claim the comfort of the crucified while rejecting His Way is to advocate, not only for cheap Grace, but a deceitful ideology.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> Miroslav Volf </p>
<p>Early Evangelical Reformers saw this spiritual and moral mandate as having far wider scope than mere personal salvation or even subjective moral conduct. They believed that human society cries out for peace, justice, order, and the conducts that bring best health, well-being, relational and work practices for all, that only God's Kingdom could bring. Of course, in a relativist society, this hunger to promote such on the unsubscribing culture is problematic,</p>
<p>Jesus Christ, the Messiah – The Saviour of the World taught us that, the Gospel of the Kingdom starts with ‘seeking first God’s jurisdiction, dominion and rule, and then His Standard for what is good, right, just and true’. (Matthew 6:33) Thus this all of life embracing message must not simply be proclaimed, it must also be enacted and embodied. </p>
<ul> <li>Articulated, </li> <li>Demonstrated and </li> <li>Manifested. </li>
</ul>
<p>This of course, by its very nature spills over into the public square, it can’t but not. The following excerpt from founder of Wheaton College in the Eighteenth century, puts ‘legs on this’ reality. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“The need of developing nation is to increase in wisdom, righteousness and strength and to cast off whatever is in consistent with that noble age to which youth aspires. Only that with is true and right can abide….Society is Perfect where what is right in theory exist in fact; where Practice coincides with Principle, and the Law of God is the Law of the Land…every true minister of Christ is a universal reformer, whose business it is, so far as possible, to reform all the evils which press on human concerns…One cannot construct a perfect society out of imperfect men…every reformer needs a perfect state of society ever in his eye, as a pattern to work by, so far as the nature of his materials will admit…The Kingdom of God is Christ ruling in and over rational creatures who are obeying him freely and from choice, under no constraint but that of love…what John the Baptist and the Saviour meant when they preached the ‘kingdom of God’ was a perfect state of society…though this kingdom is not of this world, it is in it… those who locate Christ’s kingdom in the future to the neglect to the present and those who seek to construct a local heaven upon earth [are] shutting out the influences and motives of eternity.</em>” Charles A Blanchard – founder Wheaton College (page 9,10 <em><a contents="Discovering an Evangelical Heritage" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Evangelical-Heritage-Donald-Dayton/dp/0801046033" style="" target="_blank"><strong>Discovering an Evangelical Heritage</strong></a></em>) </p>
<p>This robust passionate projection is never about ‘control’ of the public square for sake of homogeneity. It is however, about a relentless push with the <strong><a contents="Divine Posture" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/the-practice-and-posture-of-the-triune-god-revealed-how-must-we-live" style="" target="_blank">Divine Posture</a></strong>, to usher in Kingdom best practice for all. So that indeed, the ‘rain’ of blessing can even <a contents="fall on the unjust." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A45&version=NLT" target="_blank">fall on the unjust.</a> </p>
<p>The Kingdom of Heaven is established not only in the perfect standard of His righteousness, but also done so in the way of the servant – the Way of the Cross. Reverend N.T. Wright in his work <em><strong>The Day the Revolution Began</strong></em>, put it like this.<em> “The victory of the Cross will be implemented through the means of the Cross…Suffering and dying is the way by which the world is changed. This is how the Revolution continues.” </em></p>
<p>When Christians separate these two, they are at risk of; on the one hand becoming dictators, rather than ambassadors, educators and models. On the other hand, a posture of service without God’s Kingdom Righteousness creates a toxic entitlement that leaves the creature simply indulgent in their self-deified state (whatever that may be) and Idolatry sees community rule shift from the perfect divine order in love and grace, to either malevolent compliance driven domination, or an utter chaotic decay of any semblance of the divine identity, agency and capacity that was the humanity created in His Image. </p>
<p>I’ll leave you with a quote from the remarkable apologist and thinker Clive Staple Lewis, from this essay, <strong>The Abolition of Man.</strong> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Dogmatic belief in objective values is necessary for the idea of Rule that is not tyranny and obedience that is not slavery.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> Shane W. Varcoe</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6405656
2020-08-09T12:32:09+10:00
2020-10-08T17:20:33+11:00
God’s Love – Always on Offer – But How Must We Engage?
<p><em>Let us be perfectly clear from the very outset of this post – God is love, not ‘love is god’! </em></p>
<p>Before the universe existed, before time itself, God is. </p>
<p>The Triune community of Three Persons – One Deity, existed in perfect union, harmony, and communion. Only the Judeo-Christian world view and theological framework has both love and family existing and in play before the universe was created – and from that source, that community – was spawned not merely the material, but Divinely infused humanity. </p>
<p>This meta-narrative ‘ticks all the boxes’ of both credibility and sustainability when it comes to understanding the human experience inexorable need for communion, community and family. </p>
<p>God created everything both in and through this love and wanted His created beings free in agency and capacity to in turn love, commune, collaborate and co-create with Him in owning and husbanding this utterly unique Third Rock from the Sun. </p>
<p>What a staggering offering and privilege, but that is what an extended family was always supposed to be about – it is God’s design. </p>
<p>This Divine and complete love imparted in and to us free agents, enables all the wonderful potential for all us humans to engage fully in that community of love filled servanthood and all the mind-blowing potential that has. Alternatively, that same agency and capacity can be engaged to leave, ignore, or repel that love and its most profound context and operate as self-serving individuals – an antithesis to the original design. </p>
<p>Yet, regardless of our lesser responses this perfect and omnibenevolent love remains on offer and in play, but it now becomes how we engage (or do not engage) with it, that determines not only potential, but the very level of communion and intimacy we choose to participate in. </p>
<p>In the following verses we see both the extent and ever progressive call toward love that is on offer, </p>
<ul> <li>Firstly, Gods love is on offer and available to all His creation. <a contents="(John 3:16)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3+%3A+16&version=NIV">(John 3:16) </a>
</li> <li>Secondly Gods love, this offering, must be accepted and received.<a contents=" (John 14:20-21)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14+%3A+20-21&version=NIV"> (John 14:20-21) </a>
</li> <li>Thirdly for full impact, influence and intimacy, Gods love must be abiding, and the relational response needed from us to abide in that love. <a contents="(John 15: 9-10)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15+%3A+9-10&version=NIV">(John 15: 9-10) </a>
</li>
</ul>
<p>In the Genesis account we see in Chapter 2, verse 16 and 17 – God’s First, and at that point only, commandment is given. It is important to note that it was established not in a civic or judicial framework, but a relational one – and it was not a recommendation. It was, however, a protective and boundary setting requirement. </p>
<p>The will of humanity has not only been created but given a context in which to be exercised. </p>
<p>This is now the matrix in which free will can choose self-rule or trust perfect wisdom from the Only Perfectly Omniscient and Loving Parent. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> “The Lord God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.” (NASB) </p>
<p>It is important to note that this protective requirement – this boundary (prelude to a commandment) was given to Adam, as Eve had not yet been created. </p>
<p>The question then comes in the context of this free agency and its attending capacity is, whose responsibility was it to instruct Eve? </p>
<p>And before you leap into an anti-patriarchal diatribe, it is not about gender or hierarchy, but just as God with Adam, it is those who have the information and understanding to share it fully and empoweringly with those who do not have it. <a contents="This is so they too can join in the collaboration of best-practice – including the serving, teaching, and giving one to the other" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/20671/1985072cf27961856bb7ba5227841ea1d8e9ed82/original/servanthood-posture-practice-of-triune-god.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20200808%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200808T061710Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=0cc3eb463a77e2a042af7764a3516a74ad366244e1b3476147a1e290316b6a83">This is so they too can join in the collaboration of best-practice – including the serving, teaching, and giving one to the other</a>. Not using this ‘knowledge’ to control, manipulate or dominate the other. </p>
<p>It is vital to emphasize here, that this new special creation was made for relationship, not utility – to collaborate and co-create – not just comply and fulfill. </p>
<p>No longer was it simply about function, direction and activity, as perhaps with the Angelic hosts, but was about The Creator<a contents=" ‘making man in their image’ " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://biblehub.com/genesis/1-26.htm" style=""> ‘making man in their image’ </a>and bringing them into the special community and familial relational context that is perfectly modelled in The Trinity. </p>
<p>There was an active collaboration and responsibility sharing within this new relationship. Adam was given dominion over the earth, but to govern with God, not independent of Him. </p>
<p>He was called to name the animals and tend the garden. This was not ‘for God’, but with God – A new and wonderful connection and expanding divine community had begun. </p>
<p>Adams new partner was created from his rib (Gen 2 :22-23) and by his own declaration she was ‘bone of his bone’. So, in this new relational setting, again I ask, whose responsibility was it to initially instruct Eve on the arena she has now come into? </p>
<p>A key point I want to make here is that one vital (and seminal) function that The Creators perfect love performs, and that is it instructs. This instruction is not mere verbal directives rather pre and proscriptions delivered in a context of modelling a caring, protective, and maturing relationship – just as Adam himself had received. </p>
<p>It <a contents="instructs " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+3+%3A+16-17&version=AMP"><em>instructs </em></a>because it is always about seeking <a contents="best practice for those in its orbit.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Phillipians+4%3A19&version=VOICE" target="_blank">best practice for those in its orbit. </a></p>
<p>It seeks not only to protect, warn and prevent, but also to enhance, build, strengthen, enable, fortify, equip and mature, so that the object of love has every opportunity to experience the very best that the Creator has placed on offer. </p>
<p>To deliberately do less, is not to really love – well not love the Creators way. </p>
<p>It is important to note that when the Second Person of the Trinity finalized His Incarnation, some of the very, very last words of love recorded in the Gospels were instructive and in a relational context, as reflected in Jesus entire life. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, teaching to observe all I have commanded you, and understand, I will be with even to the end of the age.” </em>Matthew 28:17-20 </p>
<p>This final loving directive is again, about equipping, enabling, empowering, and building all in the orbit of love to experience and exercise best practice – God’s Kingdom principles. Notice this seemingly overwhelming commission did not say ‘teach to observe some, or most of what I’ve commanded’. No, it is all. This is an imperative of God’s love, it doesn’t not omit, ignore, or discard what may appear difficult or even austere. </p>
<p>The God of the Bible, the Judeo-Christian Triune Divinity is utterly inclusive in His focus and intent for His creation, particularly His highest creation – humanity. He has never wanted us to leave or reject Him, but since that fateful day God has always had His invitation to return on offer. YHWH has used all means to reach out; Holy Spirit, nature, angels, His own special people – prophets, teachers, ambassadors – wisdom, counsel and of course, His very own Son. The invitation has always been unabashedly clear. <a contents="To all, and everyone – come as you are, come home " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22+%3A+9-10&version=NLT">To all, and everyone – come as you are, come home </a>– so we can again have the fellowship for which you were created. </p>
<p>However, we must also remember that this omnibenevolent <a contents="Author of the universe, is also a God of perfection and purity – Holy.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://disciplesplanet.net/about-us/blog/god-is-love-yes"><strong>Author of the universe, is also a God of perfection and purity – Holy. </strong></a></p>
<p>This quality, this aspect of Holiness is unsurpassed in the multifaceted nature of the Divine. </p>
<p>Holiness is the only virtue, quality and facet of the Trinity that receives the <a contents="Trisagion " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Divine_Liturgy/Divine%20Liturgy-Trisagion.html"><em><strong>Trisagion </strong></em></a>emphasis. The prophet Isaiah is privileged to encounter this, as recorded in Isaiah 6:3. In all of Scripture, only Holiness gets this supreme emphasis, an emphasis that flavours and shapes and permeates every other virtue, character, and the very nature of the Triune God. </p>
<p>As such He has never changed His position on the clear and perfect boundaries that make for best practice relationships and the fruit they produce. That which was impure, and imperfect could not stay in Eden (Paradise), as it would only detract and bring decay to that idyllic unspoiled space, and having access to the potential for unending longevity with sin that separates would mean relationship permanently lost. Such was the concern of the reintroduction of the now self-governing humanity that a Cherubim guard was set over the gate back into Eden. (Gen 3:24) </p>
<p>Heaven, like Eden can have no impurities permitted, not blemish can be allowed, as perfection requires the complete absence of all such detractors – especially for the eternal context. Divine uninterrupted communion cannot exist with sin in play, and communion is what the Trinitarian God is all about. </p>
<p>Yet in all His perfection this Holy, yet utterly relational God, with a perfect Father’s heart, calls and beckons to all and sundry – no matter your background, your heritage, your conduct, family, brokenness or failings – to come to His great Wedding Feast (Matthew 22 : 14-20). This utterly and incomprehensively Pure and Perfect God, (Yes, I am labouring these superlatives because the Western Church has largely lost this perspective) commissions His agents to compel by begging in their invitation for all to come to this elite, and transcendent celebration. </p>
<p>However, we really need to fully understand this call and its intent. The call is to invite you back into purity and devotional exclusivity, not just a celebration. For it is the surrender in this devotional exclusivity, that will enable us to fully enter in and experience the perfection of love, joy, peace and purity that our self-governing could never ever achieve. </p>
<p>An invite that no one deserved, but one given with only one requirement – not a recommendation. – a command; that the one responding to this free invite, has a willingness to leave all the wilful selfishness and pride behind – all the failed self-government, and instead surrender in repentance to the perfect Father as they enter in. </p>
<p>Of course, a mere moment of reflection brings the obvious reality that we are far from perfection and purity. And yes, unquestionably we are. We are filthy and have nothing to wear to this magnificent unparalleled occasion. (Isaiah 64:6) </p>
<p>Yet even still, we are earnestly invited! </p>
<p>As one who accepts this invitation, I’m saying, I want to be at this feast; I want to leave all and everything to come home to this relational Eden by repenting and making God my exclusive focus of worship, then this inclusive, loving God, does not change the boundaries or lower the standard, no, none of that is done. </p>
<p><strong>Instead, what He does do is breathtaking. </strong></p>
<p>At complete cost to Himself, He washes your life, your real life, completely clean in His cleansing and Redeeming Blood as you confess your need for the purity that only He can give. Then He dresses you in His best garments – even one He wore Himself (an incalculable privilege) the Robe of Righteousness, than enables you to again entrance in to the wedding feast – to then be fully conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), so you can experience again the ‘best practice’ that is His Divine perfection that makes you so utterly whole and completely rich. </p>
<p>Now, the original intent of our creation, the intimacy with the Perfect G_d in relational and devotional exclusivity is complete and unfettered because nothing else in our orbit even warrants a first, let alone second glance. We are home. We are whole and we are abiding in His perfect transcendent LOVE! </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Selah! </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Shane Wesley Varcoe 2020</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6399868
2020-08-02T17:46:22+10:00
2020-08-02T17:46:22+10:00
I am a 'Pro-servative!'
<p>In the now more vulgarly apparent ‘cultural dichotomy’ that has aggressively burgeoned in the past 5 years (and accelerated in past 5 months) over the so called ‘Progressive’ and so called ‘Conservative’ positions, I found myself pondering where I may fit? </p>
<p>The divide has seemingly abandoned any continuum mode, and for ‘cancel culture’ to work, it must create silos with gapping chasms between. </p>
<p>Because of my Evangelical Christianity (so labelled by non-Christians and those who want to claim the title, but none of this ‘extreme culturally insensitive religiosity’ they believe makes us look ‘bad’), I have already been pre-assigned to the ‘conservative’ silo – perhaps with a foot in the immediate neighbouring ‘fundamentalist’ silo (or whatever new definition that embraces.) Either way, I am now framed by the purported ‘progressives’ (and again, whatever rolling definition that conjures) in this poor and apparently ‘right wing’ socio-political light. </p>
<p>Yet, I don’t quite fit that mould either – and some of what I adhere to, proscribe and invest in bring more ‘progress’ to the agency, capacity and humanity of most ‘progressives’ I know, that I don’t fit in that category either? </p>
<p>In crafting a new and blended term to describe my position, as neither really fitted my paradigm, despite some ‘easy’ labels that are given simply because I subscribe to a Spirit-filled orthodoxy in the Protestant Christian tradition. </p>
<p><strong>I am self-declaring as a <span class="font_large"><em>‘Pro-servative’</em></span>!</strong> (You can join this new genre if you like?) </p>
<p>In short, it simply means I am passionate about both progressing and conserving God’s Kingdom values and best practices in whatever setting I find myself. </p>
<p>Of course, these Kingdom practices pre-date all the current socio-political categorization and if one cares to apply Jesus Christ model and God’s full Counsel to every environment, then elements of the proclaimed ‘Left’ or ‘Right’ political ideologies often emerge. However, they are mere shadows of Kingdom realities when trying to present in their socio-politically diminished forms. </p>
<p>You see we can’t do God’s best practice without the Holy Spirit, it all just falls apart under the gross ineptitude of fractured, frail and fallen creatures – I digress! </p>
<p>Invariably we see the attempted recruiting by many cultural shaping actors, of The Christ and the Biblical framework to affirm one’s socio-political flavour. This is not only foolish; it is completely misrepresentative of the One Who transcends all such (by comparison) trivialities. </p>
<p>Worse still, is the blasphemous attempts to label The Christ and His purposes as a manifestation of the egocentric and self-promoting propaganda of a particular political perspective. </p>
<p>I have mockingly said on many occasions that, “Jesus was a great Teacher, but not as good as His mentors Marx, Lenin and Mao!”. I have also similarly stated when in the company of aggressive ‘prosperity’ or rabid capitalism enamoured souls, “Jesus was a great Teacher, but not as good as His Life Coaches Rockefeller, Carnegie and Robbins!” </p>
<p>I was recently (very) ‘lead’ back to an older book in my library, one I read through around 30 years ago – a book that even at that time was well out of print, and difficult to find. The work was titled <em><strong>Christ the Controversialist</strong></em>.. As I was contemplating this post and began reading sections of this work again, the following gem (one of many) caught my eye… </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The Christians welcome to change must be discriminating, however. It does not include the apostolic doctrine of the New Testament. Our responsibility towards this is not to abandon it but to hold it fast, not to modify it but to maintain it in its pristine purity. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Although the ‘oldness’ of the Christian faith is a stumbling-block to many, it is a stumbling-block which cannot be removed. Christianity is Christ Himself, together with the prophetic and apostolic witness to Christ. It depends on a historical event (the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and Spirit-gift of Jesus) and on a historical testimony by eyewitnesses. In the nature of the case neither the event nor the witness can be changed or superseded. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>We live in the 20th Century, but we are tethered to the first. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>What Jesus Christ said and did was unique and final. So is the interpretative teaching of the apostles, His chosen eyewitnesses and ambassadors. In Him, the Word made flesh, and in the apostolic witness to Him, God’s self-revelation was brought to its completion. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>This completed revelation, by God’s providence preserved for us in Scripture, the church of every age is called to hold fast. It is in this sense that every Christian is (or should be) ‘conservative’, because it is his duty to conserve the truth which has been handed down to him from Christ and the apostles. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>In everything else, however – in social and ecclesiastical structures, in patterns of ministry and Liturgical forms, in Christian living and missionary outreach, and in much else besides – the Christian is obliged to be as radical as Scripture commands and is free to be as radical as Scripture allows. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Rev Dr John Stott – <em>‘Christ the Controversialist’</em> (1970)</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6393478
2020-07-26T13:32:13+10:00
2020-07-26T13:32:13+10:00
What is ‘Sin’ really, and How Has God Responded? – We All Need a Saviour!
<p><em>I understand that the idea of the ‘image’, as in Genesis 1:26-28, to mean that humans are designed to function like angled mirrors. We are created in order to reflect the worship of all creation back to the Creator and by that same means to reflect the wise sovereignty of the Creator into the world. Human beings, worshipping their Creator, were thus the intended key to the proper flourishing of the world. “Worship” was and is a matter of gazing with delight, gratitude, and love at the Creator God and expressing His praise in wise, articulate speech. Those who do this are formed by this activity to become the generous, humble stewards through who God’s creative and sustaining love is let loose into the world. That was how thing were meant to be. The purpose of the Cross is to take us back, from where we presently are, to the intended goal… </em></p>
<p><em>Worshipping things other than the one true God and distorting our human behaviour in consequence is the very essence of “sin”: The Greek word for ‘sin’ in the New Testament means…not just “doing wrong things,” but “missing the target.” The target is a wise, full human life of worship and stewardship. Idolatry and sin are, in the last analysis, a failure of responsibility. They are a way of declining the divine summons to reflect God’s image. They constitute an insult, an affront, to the loving, wise Creator Himself. The Great Playwright has composed a drama and written a wonderful part especially for us to play; and, like a spoiled and silly child, we have torn up the script and smirked our way through a self-serving but ultimately self-destructive plot of our own. </em></p>
<p><em>As we know in other walks of life, when people duck our of their assigned responsibilities, someone else will take them over instead, and no good will come of it. When humans sin, they hand to nondivine forces a power and authority that those forces were never supposed to have. And that is why, if God’s plan is to rescue and restore his whole creation, with humans as the active agents in the middle of it, “sins” have to be dealt with. That is the only way by which the nondivine forces that usurp the human role in the worlds will lose their power. They will be starved of the oxygen that keeps them alive, that turns them from ordinary parts of God’s creation into distorted and dangerous monsters. </em></p>
<p><em>You can see this in the obvious examples: money, sex and power itself. Lie fir, these “forces” are good servants but bad masters. Not for nothing were they treated as gods and goddesses in the ancient world – as indeed many people treat them today (though without using that language), sacrificing to them and obeying their every command. These “powers” need to be overcome not so that we can live disembodied lives in which they play not part, but so that we can live fully human lives n which they make contribution as and when appropriate. They stop being demons when they stop being gods. (pp 100-101) </em></p>
<p><em>The reason we commit “sins” is because, to some extent at least, we are failing to worship the one true God and are worshipping instead some feature or force within the created order. When we do that, we are abdicating our responsibilities, handing to the “powers” in question the genuine human authority that ought to be ours. </em></p>
<p><em>To recap, then, humans were made to be “vicegerents.” That is, they were to act on God’s behalf within His world. But that is only possible and can only escape serious and dangerous distortion when worship precedes action. Only those who are worshipping the Creator will be humble enough to be entrusted with His stewardship. That is the “covenant of vocation”…that is what is lost when humans decide to rebel and take orders from within the world itself. That is why, in the developed view within Israel’s traditions, the basic “sin” is actually idolatry, worshipping and serving anything in the place of the one true God. And, since humans are made for the life that come from God and God alone, to worship that which is not God is to fall in love with death. (p 102) </em></p>
<p><em>The primary fault of the human race, according to Romans 1, is idolatry. The primary response, from the one God himself, is to ‘put forth’ the Messiah as the place of meeting, the ultimate revelation of the divine righteousness and love. (p 339) </em></p>
<p><em>The <strong>hilasterion </strong>– the [‘Seat of Mercy’ (Romans 3:25) that is now Jesus Christ] would there be the place of cleansing. When mortal humans come into the Presence of the living God, they bring with them pollution, particularly the ultimate pollution of death and anything to do with it. Sin matters because it is the tell-tale symptom of idolatry…Idolatry, turning away from the source of life, results in sin, which already breathes the musty air of death. And death is the ultimate denial of the goodness of God’s creation – the very thing that the Temple, holding together heaven and earth, was supposed to affirm. How, then, can the Temple be cleansed so that humans, with the polluting smell of death upon the, can nevertheless come into God’s Presence? The answer supplied by the Levitical ritual is that the sacrificial blood is the sign of God-given life, a life more powerful than death, a life therefore that purifies both sanctuary and worshipper. Cleansing thus enables meeting. The <strong>hilasterion </strong>[Jesus Christ] points to both. (p 333) </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Excerpts from <em><strong>‘The Day the Revolution Began – Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion’</strong></em> by NT Wright (Harper One © N.T. WRIGHT 2016)</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6377056
2020-07-06T13:30:21+10:00
2020-07-06T13:30:21+10:00
The Practice and Posture of the Triune God Revealed – How Must We Live?
<p> </p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_regular"><strong>“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” </strong></span></em></h3>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a contents="Jesus Christ " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+20%3A20-28&version=PHILLIPS"><span class="font_regular">Jesus Christ </span></a> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Power, Profile, Position and Posture </strong></p>
<p>The history of the church is peppered with theological conflagrations, but none more so than those around the identity of Christ, particularly in the <a contents="Trinitarian context." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.preceptaustin.org/el_olam-everlasting_god"><strong>Trinitarian context.</strong></a> </p>
<p>For the Theologically adept, you will already be across the various ideas that have tried to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy, and time will not permit a review of the various controversies that have got some traction. Suffice to say, much research, debate, prayer and prophetic pondering, have given the Body of Christ – the Church – what is the truth on the Deity above all deities – <a contents="The Triune God is one Entity, " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed"><strong>The Triune God is one Entity, </strong></a>with three co-equal, co-existing and co-eternal persons. </p>
<p>It is this unparalleled model of the Divine that not only sets Judeo-Christianity utterly apart from all other religio-spiritual frameworks but I will contest, provides the more profound insight into, not only the created order of the universe, but its most remarkable element, humanity. </p>
<p>It is the <em><strong>co-eternal </strong></em>facet of this Triune God that I want to focus on specifically in this pondering, particularly in the context of the <a contents="Incarnation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwFN5naa8Jg"><strong>Incarnation</strong></a>. </p>
<p>The Incarnation of the Christ, as we understand from the Salvation of humanity’s perspective, is <a contents="breathtaking in its plan, purpose and scope" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dEh25pduQ8"><strong>breathtaking in its plan, purpose and scope</strong></a>, but there is another element, a parallel profundity, that added not only to our material dimension, but also to the heavenly realms. </p>
<p>One thing I want to emphasise here, is that our human experience and limitations, mean we lack the superlatives to truly describe this ultimate of perceived ‘supreme beings’. We can attempt to conjure in our imaginations what capacities, potentials, and agency a perfect supernatural, beyond time, space and the universe Deity would have, but all endeavours in this arena are ultimately futile – we are just too limited. </p>
<p>Our fractured and fallen natures then often lean toward, the what we believe to be akin to the quintessential ‘Genie’ model of an all knowing and all powerful being – power, control – and the utter unrestrained agency to create, destroy, transform and annihilate. </p>
<p>Yet, these capacities, though very much part of the <a contents="God of the Bible," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html"><strong>God of the Bible,</strong></a> are not what and how He primarily transacts, not by a long shot. </p>
<p>The Trinity – a community, a family from the beginning – didn’t adopt an ‘egalitarian’ or complementarian or complementarian without hierarchy model or posture. No, it transcended all these human attempts at classification. </p>
<p>Power, position, potency, possibility, and potential are all subjected, by G_d’s design, to the chosen Posture of this Triune Personhood – The posture of a <a contents="servanthood directed and utterly humble, others focused and holy love.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html"><strong>servanthood directed and utterly humble, others focused and holy love. </strong></a></p>
<p>This perfect G_dhead in deferring to and preferring one another, their perfect love filled servanthood was a seamless creative and governing collaboration. Not simply ‘rule and reign’ (Position) but more ‘oversee, protect and sustain’ – influencing and impacting by service, edification, and grace (Posture) Not privileged position rather proactive and protective posture </p>
<p>This, for our comparatively divinely infantile minds, may or may not make simple sense. In one context it is the perfect expressive explanation to hold in perfect tension the omniscience and omnipotence that portend unfathomable capacity for good or evil. This perfect balance, this construct, can only originate from a relational and ‘community configured’ Deity. </p>
<p>Paul in his letter to the Philippians was manifesting a little of that expressive inability when he is provoking the church to follow the example of the Founder. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high, and has given him the name beyond all names, so that at the name of Jesus “every knee shall bow”, whether in Heaven or earth or under the earth. And that is why, in the end, “every tongue shall confess” that Jesus Christ” is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Philippians 2:5-11 (JB Phillips) </p>
<p>Not only is Paul’s understandable inadequacy reflected in describing the sovereignty and deity of Christ, but (as one would expect from mere mortals) his understanding was only just burgeoning. Paul was only beginning to understand (by G_d’s Grace) that this posture adopted by The Christ, didn’t just manifest because he was ‘contained’ in human form, but it was the very core posture of the eternally existing divine expression – and it would appear from what we will soon read, was not understood by the celestial beings either – Angels; yes, I will posit that even with their scope and position, they did not perceive this posture. </p>
<p><strong>Revealed for your sake</strong> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you <strong>at the revelation of Jesus Christ. </strong></em><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">1 Peter 1:12-14 (NASB) [emphasis added] </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>We are writing to you about something which <strong>has always existed</strong> yet which we ourselves actually saw and heard: something which we had an opportunity to observe closely and even to hold in our hands, and yet, as we know now, was something of the very Word of life himself! For it was life which appeared before us: we saw it, we are eye-witnesses of it, and are now writing to you about it. It was the very life of all ages, <strong>the life that has always existed with the Father</strong>, which actually became visible in person to us mortal men.</em> </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">1 John 1:2-4 (J.B.PHILLIPS) [emphasis added] </p>
<p>We can glean from these texts that the angelic hosts, for the most part, seemed to be ignorant of much of this pivotal aspect of the Divine. It would appear from our reading above that the <strong>fullness </strong>of the servant, serving, sacrificing, self-abasing Son of God was <strong>only fully revealed</strong> in the Incarnation – not only greater revelation of the Trinitarian Deity, but that some of the yet to be manifest, plans and purposes of <a contents="El Elyon" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/El-Elyon"><em><strong>El Elyon</strong></em></a>, will only be revealed through His extended self – the Body of Christ. </p>
<p>The Angelic hosts have not seen, nor have an idea of what this will be. This mutually serving and collaborative Community, nay, Family are going to collectively manifest something unprecedented – such is the passion of this G_d for connection. </p>
<p>However, this could not be possible if it were not the very essence of His divine nature in the deferring to and preferring of each other Trinitarian community. There was a mode, a manner, a manifestation of the second person of the G_dhead that these created utilitarian agents, even in their propinquity, did not or were unable to see in their apparent, limited perception of the Divine. </p>
<p>These ‘ministering spirits’, it would seem, could not fully comprehend that this Triune God is relational, communal and utterly humble. This is the mode, framework, model and/or context that enables the preferring of, deferring to and ultimately serving of ‘one another’. This is the seminal expression of the ‘one another’s’ that are replete in Creator God’s standing orders and revealed in the Holy Scriptures. </p>
<p>It is important to remember that the Trinitarian God was a community before time, space and the subsequent universe were created. </p>
<p>It is interesting to note that even secular academics and writers understand this profound dynamic, with one such educator and corporate coach, <a contents="Margaret Wheatley" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://margaretwheatley.com/bio/"><em><strong>Margaret Wheatley</strong></em></a> going as far as saying that; </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>"Relationships are all there is.<a contents=" Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship with everything else. Nothing exists in isolation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/29277462"><strong> Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship with everything else. Nothing exists in isolation</strong></a>. We have got to stop pretending that we are individuals who can go it alone!… Relationships are what matters–even at the subatomic level – Life is a vast web of interconnections where cooperation and participation are required.” </em></p>
<p>These surprising declarations in the end are simply an awakening to the model that has always been on display as this <a contents="God above all gods" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-name-shaddai.html"><em><strong>God above all gods</strong></em></a> is outside both the ‘time and space’ that bound all other contrived deities. </p>
<p>Whilst we have little canonical evidence of the supernatural entities that existed before our physical universe was created, we have enough to understand that heavenly hosts – angels, ministering spirits – existed and were in some form of relationship with this Creator – <em><strong><a contents="Trinitarian YHWH" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yahweh">Trinitarian YHWH</a>. </strong></em></p>
<p>Regardless of this purported genesis of entities, the angels still had to ‘stoop down’ (important posture to discover higher revelation) to look into God’s dealings with humanity to get a handle on the Divine Plan, because, as mentioned, they ‘didn’t get it!’ Angels were created to serve the Kingdom, not co-author and co-rule in it, that was a privilege for humanity. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>To me, though I am the very least of all the saints (God’s consecrated people), this grace (favour, privilege) was granted and graciously entrusted: to proclaim to the Gentiles the unending (boundless, fathomless, incalculable, and exhaustless) riches of Christ [wealth which no human being could have searched out], Also to enlighten all men and make plain to them what is the plan [regarding the Gentiles and providing for the salvation of all men] of the mystery <strong>kept hidden through the ages</strong> and concealed until now in [the mind of] God Who created all things by Christ Jesus [The purpose is] that through the church the [a]complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects <strong>might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities </strong>(principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere. This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> Ephesians 3:8-11 Amplified Bible (AMPC) [emphasis added] </p>
<p>We can also glean from the Scriptures that This God was Glorious, inapproachably bright, and majestic beyond human definitions (Angels were immersed in these realities daily). These very externals let alone the utter omniscience and omnipotence of God compelled a worship and praise. Yet of such profound nature was this worship that it appears charge for it, or perhaps better put, coordination of it, was given to one of three archangels that we know about – His name as Lucifer. </p>
<p>One could only speculate, that this was a facilitation, rather than directing role, as he was not responsible for the action of worship, but it would appear coordinating it, and I would imagine (serving the God we do) enabling the Angels to better experience the fullness of God in this particular, <a contents="but not only mode of worship.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12%3A1-2&version=PHILLIPS"><em><strong>but not only mode of worship. </strong></em></a></p>
<p>One can (again only in our limited human perception) imagine that this privileged task of leading awe-filled accolade with such proximity, such intensity, could in time, unchecked, shape one’s sense of importance, and consequently a sense of worth? This is reflected in one of the titles given to Lucifer – <em><strong><a contents="‘The Morning Star’&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/morning-star.html">‘The Morning Star’ </a></strong></em></p>
<p>Orthodoxy interprets the following texts, typologically, as referring not to earthly entities by more a Power Principality, specifically to Lucifer as he was removed from not only his role but cast from the inner domain of Heaven. </p>
<p>How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! (Isaiah 14:12) </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>So, I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So, I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">(Ezekiel 28 v 16-17) </p>
<p>A new and adversarial position has been created by an aggrandizement that never belongs to a true servant. </p>
<p><strong>The Disciples did not get it either – the pursuit of position. </strong></p>
<p>I want to digress here and look at the human dimension which often reflects much of the alignments with the spiritual realm. In the last week of Jesus ministry, and arguably on the same day, Jesus had to not only contend with pride, position and power issues amongst His closest followers, but also made manifest the most profound aspects of who He was and the core nature of this unparalleled <a contents="Trinitarian Godhead.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html"><em><strong>Trinitarian Godhead. </strong></em></a></p>
<p>Luke records a rebuke that sees Jesus reminding those closest of disciples, who have been living in intense proximity with Him for three years, what they should most well and truly have understood – but did not. In essence Jesus was saying, my Kingdom does not function the same way the secular empires do. They are about position, power, and profile, but NOT My Kingdom. It is an <a contents="upside-down Kingdom.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+20%3A16&version=NASB"><em><strong>upside-down Kingdom. </strong></em></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">(Luke 22:24-27, NKJV) </p>
<p>However, it is the youngest of the Disciples, John the Beloved, who is privileged with recording the object lesson to not only make the point, but manifest in the most breathtaking manner, the essential posture of heaven. Not only does Jesus shatter cultural norms and expectations, He demonstrates in the most effective Theophonic manner exactly how the Trinity is in Their preferred Posture. </p>
<p>After the washing of the feet (much more than just symbolism) it is then, and <em><strong>only</strong></em> in that context, Jesus delivers what <em><strong>only </strong></em>G_D could do, a <strong>New Commandment</strong>. A transcendent command – not suggestion – that compels His Body, the Church into a new level of communal and relational collaboration that would set it so completely apart from all other religious and spiritual concepts. However, it is <em><strong>only </strong></em>in the posture of this Kingdom community that this could happen. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">(John 13: 3 -17; 31-35 NKJV) </p>
<p>I was attending a Christian leaders network luncheon when a colleague in the meeting, Spiros Bellos, a dear Greek brother, was sharing a recent divine prompt he had received. Ross, as he is referred to, shared how utterly provoked he was at what he was shown. He related the following. </p>
<p>The first key Theophanies in Scripture (other than to Father Abraham), Moses and the burning bush, as well as <a contents="Joshua before battle" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+5+%3A13-15&version=NASB"><em><strong>Joshua before battle</strong></em></a>, recorded that both these men were to take off their shoes and bow, for they were on <em><strong>holy</strong></em> ground. However, when this same Jesus – G_d Incarnated, G_d in available form – He takes off his garment, bares this flesh in the most humiliating way and washes the dirty feet of mere men! This struck him (as it did me) with how utterly apart this God of the Bible is from any other deity concept. </p>
<p>Ross was unaware of my musings on this issue, but as you can see it feeds into this reflective perspective piece. </p>
<p>Now, as intimated, it is my contention that this action, this manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity, on full and unfiltered display was what the Angels had missed. </p>
<p>Before Angels were created the Triune God existed. The question could be asked; were the Angels created before the universe or as part of it? I would hazard the latter, also being created beings. However, if created before the universe, then they would have witnessed how it was done and they would perhaps better known the THREE, but if latter they would not necessarily have known the THREE fully – The Father of all – The Hovering presence of the Spirit – The Medium of Creation, Jesus the Son through whom all things were created (Colossians 1 and John 1: 1-4) </p>
<p>Though I’m not quoting chapter and verse, the following speculation is drawn from all aspects of the Scriptures and their prophetic, poetic, prescription, proscription and historicity, we can glean a narrative that may shed some light on what happened in heaven to precipitate an Angelic rebellion. </p>
<p>Whilst <a contents="apocryphal writings name potentially seven Archangels" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.christianity.com/wiki/angels-and-demons/what-are-archangels-in-the-bible.html"><em><strong>apocryphal writings name potentially seven Archangels</strong></em></a>, the Biblical Cannon only affirms potentially three (one clearly titled – Michael) by name if you consider Gabriel and Lucifer as such. Following that assumption, I suggest it is the fall of one of the three ‘Chief’ angels, and it would appear a third of the angelic host – a trinity of sub-authorities, Principalities and Powers if you like. </p>
<p>Again (I am assuming) it would appear that Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer all had authority over some, for want of a better word, ‘portfolio’ – Tradition, as we’ve already reflected on, has it that Lucifer led worship in heaven, whilst we see in scripture that Michael served more as a Commander and Gabriel as a Messenger. </p>
<p>So, comes the important question, how does one, so close to the Creator of all get so out of shape to a point of rebelling and trying to potentially assume the Role of being The Son – a role or position not for his person. What might have happened to precipitate such a monumental failing, then fall? </p>
<p>Again, we can only surmise, but I would like to posit, that it appears, in the exercising of his service to YHWH, the Archangel Lucifer develops a sense of entitlement. Servanthood is no longer the posture; he now seeks position. What may contribute to this? </p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, intensity and proximity with The Creator could generate a potential familiarity? <br>Supervising accolade and leading exaltation in that proximity to this Ultimate Being, could well generate a sense of importance? Certainly, in an entity becoming more entitled. <br>This role and function of service has no doubt adding to both attention and affection, perhaps leading to Lucifer being referred to by the title which we have previously mentioned, ‘The Son of the Morning –Shining Star’. No longer just a role of service and posture of servant but sees himself with an elevated a position and ‘title’. </p>
<p>What may this be a recipe for? A prototypical example of pride, importance, and the seeking for status this can imbue? </p>
<p>So, we can draw some reasonable conclusions that the Archangel Lucifer has, </p>
<ul> <li>High profile </li> <li>Prominent position </li> <li>Profound performance </li>
</ul>
<p>Certainly, in our current first world ‘humanity’ and its brand obsessed culture, these capacities are assets that can be traded on as they are given worth. Pride in them, we are encouraged, assists these and they are subsequently paraded and rewarded. </p>
<p>Now, here is where it gets interesting, at least from my reflections. </p>
<p>I do not think the Angels fully understood the Godhead as a fully formed and eternally existing Trinity or how this utterly unique model truly functioned. One clear evidence of this in <a contents="apocryphal writings" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MQ4jeFxfUM&list=RDCMUCy-VnRxdzpcQSnR8nPo4wWw&index=2"><em><strong>apocryphal writings</strong></em></a> (which we are to be very sceptical of) and Biblical reporting, is that the Angel, arguably, closest to the Godhead wanted to be declared the SON – the Second Person of the Godhead. </p>
<p>Some interesting questions arise, </p>
<ul> <li>Did Lucifer believe it was a position on offer – so it either appears to be ‘vacant’ or he and the cohort of Angels simply did not see or understand this dimension and relationship model? </li> <li>Did not understand, to use C.S. Lewis’s Narnian terminology, the ‘deep magic’ that existed before even angels were created? And/or </li> <li>Lucifer did not know or recognize Jesus as The Son? </li>
</ul>
<p>If these summations have any element of accuracy then one could conclude, as some theologians in ancient times did, that the Trinity was not always co-eternal. These theological variants, though <a contents="ultimately dismissed by numerous councils" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Constantinople-381"><em><strong>ultimately dismissed by numerous councils</strong></em></a>, believe that at creation there was only Father and Spirit, the need for the Son for sacrifice had not yet been necessary – so not yet needed, chosen or even begotten? Of course, one small reflection on the quality of this Eternal and Omniscient Creator assures us all was understood from the very beginning, even though purposes and intentions will be interrupted. </p>
<p>Another <a contents="idea that got traction, but was also dismissed, " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5lPrGwvrHI"><em><strong>idea that got traction, but was also dismissed, </strong></em></a>was that the Son was not yet chosen or begotten, or more likely, that the very essence of the nature of the Trinity and the demands of it were not at all understood by these created bright ones and yet to be revealed, or more likely not perceived by these also limited beings. </p>
<p>In my limited perspective on this, it would appear that most, if not all of the Angels didn’t really recognize Jesus the Son. </p>
<p>Now the next important question presents; why may that be? Why didn’t they see or at the very least, perceive Jesus as The Son? </p>
<p>I reiterate, this Trinity has position, profile, power, but also posture. The obvious and easily recognized aspects of position, powerful profile and transcendence were the clear qualities of the Ultimate Being beyond the universe, not just in it. However, there is so much more going on, and to those caught up in power, position and profile miss the imperatives of this perfect and seminal Creator model of true relational, interdependent, and collaborative community. </p>
<p>We see it was left in all human history for <a contents="Judeo-Christianity to bring the world the Perfect Deity" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/20671/8c0419b2fe5c18d83b5dcad19abbdea111ef35e0/original/Help-I-need-real-HOLINESS.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20200704%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200704T031550Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=08deff8b3fe8671b097d72b2abfcdbc92995b744e440fbdea1abf74a66dff276"><em><strong>Judeo-Christianity to bring the world the Perfect Deity</strong></em></a>. The most profound, if not paradoxical Entity ever considered by the created intellect and consciousness. </p>
<p>We see in Christ – God incarnating – clothed, clad, encased in such comparatively abased forms that this posture, along with the absolute Divine Transcendent and sublimely above and beyond all we could imagine, can only find its capacity in the perfect Deity. </p>
<p>This capacity to embrace, from the very core, utter humility, servanthood, and sacrifice, existed before the advent of Angels, and only in this utterly perfect Deity. </p>
<p>This preferring of and deferring too, serving, caring, giving and surrendering one to the other in perfect grace and wisdom was always in play and YHWH first creation, the Prince Powers and Angels were not getting it fully, even in their more predetermined understandings. </p>
<p>Let me offer another even more bold speculation that may assist us in glimpsing into that which is ‘patchy’ at best. </p>
<p>Jesus, the Second person in the Trinity was all about Trinitarian Culture – He, as we have mentioned was the ‘medium’ through which ALL was created, and nothing that was made, was not made except though Him…<a contents=" He knows how it ALL works and Works in it ALL!&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A15-20&version=NLT"><em><strong> He knows how it ALL works and Works in it ALL! </strong></em></a></p>
<p>I commend to you that Jesus was serving profoundly, yet as all true servants should, quietly consistently among the angels all the time. </p>
<p>Not ‘incognito’, rather in full servant mode. He is serving among the other servant angels, as only the Author of such postures could serve. </p>
<p>Now, bear with me; Perhaps polishing the ‘streets of gold’, or bringing water to other servants? Just being an anonymous part of the serving ranks, modelling the sacrificial and servant heart. No one really noticed – perhaps even took it for granted? He was ‘rank and file’. No Agent of profile or rank like Michael, Gabriel or Lucifer? </p>
<p>But then – the <em><strong>Son is revealed </strong></em>with creation of the World and humanity, with a new model for full potential for complete relationship. Creatures made in the very image of God – yes in ‘features’, but more in components – Mind, Body and Spirit – and with a complete independent will created by and to be part of that wonderful Trinitarian community relationship. </p>
<p>It is now time for JESUS, the SON to reveal another profound aspect of His capacity and call – a fullness that will show even more how this Triune God operates. </p>
<p>Again, work with me here (but also challenge and robustly test this) as I continue to speculate… </p>
<p>It is in this space that all the angels <em><strong>have the eyes of their understanding opened</strong></em>, and Lucifer – the Shining One – the high-profile leader of worship may have seen for the first time, with all others, what had been missed, and perhaps declared;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>‘What! This ‘one’ is the Son? No, this cannot be! Look at who I am! What I have done and the rank I hold! This nobody cannot be The One, He does not hold a candle to my star!’ </em></p>
<p>Again, complete speculation on my part, but perhaps uttering the first words of toxic pride in all Creation? </p>
<p>At this point I want to quote Andrew Murray from opening paragraphs of his essay <strong>‘Humility’ </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“The life God bestows is imparted not once for all but each moment by the increasing operation of His mighty power. Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is from the very nature of things the first duty and highest virtue of His creatures. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>And so, pride – the loss of humility – is the root of every sin and evil. It was when the now fallen Angels began to look upon themselves with self-complacency that they were led to disobedience and were cast down from the light of heaven into outer darkness. Likewise, it was when the serpent breathed the poison of his pride – the desire to be as God – into the hearts of our first parents, that they too fell from their high estate into the wretchedness to which all humankind has sunk. In heaven and on earth, pride or self-exaltation is the very gateway to hell.”</em> </p>
<p>It may be that such a revelation, has crashed so heavily into Lucifers new egocentric vision of entitlement and authority, that it could not now be seen as a marvellous unveiling or revelation, but rather a demolition of his aspiration – the aspiration to ‘godhood’. </p>
<p>A vision now so completely misaligned with the core nature of YHWH and His creation agenda. </p>
<p>A vision the Adversary (as Lucifer was soon to be known) would sow into the new extended community – the created family of humanity. </p>
<p>All this revelation and manifestation of the Divine could compel a humility unto surrender, or generate insult, offence, and outrage? The latter can only lead to rebellion, and the rest, as they say, is history. </p>
<p>Jesus Christ’s work on earth also makes manifest, profoundly manifest. He manifest the antithesis of what Lucifer believed was the essence of the Divine. Those dimensions are not the key, it is the this subtle, out of the limelight, behind the scenes service, care, and love that truly express the complete nature of the Perfect Divine. </p>
<p>Jesus the Christ – The Second Person of the Triune Godhead – The ONE through which all things were created and consist – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Col 1:15-17) </p>
<p>This <a contents="God in available form, but GOD nonetheless," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.free-bible-study-lessons.com/judson-cornwall.html"><em><strong>God in available form, but GOD nonetheless,</strong></em></a> did His best, most profound work, in the margins… </p>
<ul> <li>Lived as one of us and all that means </li> <li>Being born in obscurity and frailty </li> <li>Infant life as a refugee </li> <li>Was itinerant and essentially homeless </li> <li>Actively discouraged publicity and notoriety </li> <li>Worked more strategically with individuals than with mass movement (Samaritan woman, Demonic of Gennesaret,) </li> <li>Partnered with the culturally marginalized – Shepherds, Women and Fishermen </li> <li>Engaged and mobilized the stigmatized and outcasts – lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors </li>
</ul>
<p>My limited writing skills cannot do this significant narrative real justice. So, I do want to finish out with words of someone far more capable than I. Read more from the insightful Pastor, Theologian and writer, <strong>Andrew Murray </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“In the gospel of John we have the inner life of our Lord laid open before us. Jesus spoke frequently of Hi relationship to the Father, of the motives by which He was guided, of His consciousness of the power and Spirit in which He acted. Though the word humble does not occur in Scripture, the humility of Christ is clearly revealed. WE have already said that this virtue is nothing but the simple consent of the creature to let God be all, the surrender of itself to His working alone. In Jesus we see how both as the Son of God in heaven and the Sone of Man on earth, He took the place of entire subordination and gave God the Father the honour and glory due Him. What He taught so often was true of himself: “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). As it is written, “He humble Himself…Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place” (Philippians 2:8-9) </em></p>
<ul> <li><em> “The Son can do nothing by Himself” (John 5:19) </em></li> <li><em>“By Myself I can do nothing, I judge only as I hear, and My judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.” (John 5:30) </em></li> <li><em>“I do not accept praise from men” (John 5:41) </em></li> <li><em>“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will” (John 6:38) </em></li> <li><em>“My teaching is not my own” (John 7:16) </em></li> <li><em>“I am here not on my own” (John7:28) </em></li> <li><em>“I do nothing on my own” (John 8:28) </em></li> <li><em>“I have not come on my own; be He sent me” (John 8:42) </em></li> <li><em>“I am not seeking glory for myself” (John 8:50) </em></li> <li><em>“The world I say to you are not just my own” (John 14:10) </em></li> <li><em>“These words you hear are not my own” (John 14:24) </em></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>These words of testimony, spoken by the Lord himself, reveal the deepest motivation of His life and work. They show how the Father was able to work His redemptions through the Son. They show the state of heart that became Him as the Son of the Father. They teach us the essential nature and life of the redemption that Christ accomplished and now communicates to us. It is this He was nothing that God might be all…He said, I am nothing. I have given myself to the Father to work; He is all. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>This life of entire self-abnegation, of absolute submission and dependence upon the Father’s will, Christ found to be the source of perfect peace and joy. He lost nothing by given all to God. God honoured His trust and did all for Him, and then exalted Him to His own right hand of glory. And because Christ humble Himself before God, and God was ever before Him, He found it possible to humble Himself before men, too, and to be the Servant of all…It was because this humility was not only a temporary sentiment awakened in Him when He thought of God but also was the spirit of His whole life, that Jesus was as humble in Hi relationship with men and women as He was with God. He felt himself to be the Servant of God for those who God created and loved. As a natural consequence, He counted himself the Servant of mean and women so that through Him God might do His work of love.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong>Humility </strong><a contents="(Andrew Murray) pp 31-34)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/20671/77805b5cf0e1f5788d79ba33158624e558b7fd77/original/humilityamurray.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20200704%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200704T034627Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=e9d5427123d45bea90d450e2c257d434c4a219ce035da2d777e854fd3fe82698"><em>(Andrew Murray) pp 31-34) </em></a></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: right;">by, Shane Wesley Varcoe </p>
<p><em><strong>Appendix </strong></em></p>
<h4><strong>Bible verses for: Jesus Christ, Son of God </strong></h4>
<p>John 1:1-2 <br>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. <br> <br>John 1:14 <br>And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. <br> <br>Matthew 1:23 <br>"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." <br> <br>John 20:17 <br>Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” <br> <br>Ephesians 3:14-15 <br>For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, <br> <br>John 1:18 <br>No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. <br> <br>John 5:18 <br>Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. <br> <br>John 17:5 <br>And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. <br> <br>Hebrews 7:3 <br>without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. <br> <br>Isaiah 7:14 <br>Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. <br> <br>Matthew 1:25 <br>and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. <br> <br>Matthew 11:27 <br>All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. <br> <br>Matthew 16:13-16 <br>When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' <br> <br>Luke 1:35 <br>And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. <br> <br>John 8:29 <br>And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." <br> <br>John 14:10 <br>Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. <br> <br>John 14:28 <br>You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. <br> <br>John 17:21 <br>that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. <br> <br>Romans 8:3 <br>For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, <br> <br>Hebrews 1:2 <br>has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; <br> <br>1 John 3:1 <br>Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. <br> </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6354976
2020-06-16T21:21:22+10:00
2020-06-28T16:21:52+10:00
Whose Side is God On?
<p>It is always fascinating to watch claims, and counter claims to ‘righteousness and justice’ in the marketplace. If the ‘divine’ is invoked, it invariably is about affirming the ‘god’ of our choosing throwing ‘its’ lot in with our clearly worthy cause. Of course, in the atheistic narrative such invocations are not possible, <a contents="although the cult-like fervour that such ‘rightness of cause’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/fF4WPpiNAJk">although the cult-like fervour that such ‘rightness of cause’</a> is claimed by these groups can make many religious zealots blush. Of course, without the claim of a transcendent narrative, then it is, at best, a claim that is merely self-righteous clad in the garb of the purported, ‘self-evidently-right’. </p>
<p>So, along those lines, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a different take on this ‘whose side is ‘god’ on’ issue. </p>
<p>In the Biblical Book of Joshua we have the <a contents="record of an encounter that Joshua, the new leader of Israel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+5+%3A+13-15&version=NIV" target="_blank">record of an encounter that Joshua, the new leader of Israel</a>, had just prior to his attack on the city of Jericho. </p>
<p>Joshua is confronted by a man with a drawn sword. He boldly approaches this one and demands to know if he was with Israel or with her enemies. This individual declares that he is neither, but as the Commander of the Lords’ Hosts, He is! </p>
<p>Now is this a pre-incarnation Theophany of Jesus, the Second Person of the Godhead or just an angel? Commentators vary. However, I would posit, it is indeed a Theophany. </p>
<ul> <li>The warrior identifies himself as over and above, not on behalf of. </li> <li>This invoked in Joshua a fearful reverence manifesting in a genuflecting. </li> <li>Angels, as servants, do not permit such responses, as John experienced in Revelation 22:9 </li> <li>Not only does he not prevent the worshipful response, the warrior then requires Joshua to take off his sandals, declaring he was on holy ground – the same experience his predecessor and mentor, Moses had experienced as recorded in the Book of Exodus chapter 3. </li>
</ul>
<p>Anyway, this is not meant to draw us into a theological side-bar, the issue is that the God of all creation is the one who takes action, in whatever form this may be – destruction of wickedness through flood, and redemption of the wicked through Blood. It is His standard, not our mortal version of it, that is managed, upheld, and established by Him in the end. </p>
<p>I think it is important to reflect on the above to help frame the ensuing post. Can I encourage you, as best you know how at this point in your experience, please prayerfully reflect on our Lord’s purity, person, and utterly incomprehensibly perfect judgements, as you attempt to lay aside your effigies of our Glorious unparalleled God. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">###### </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p>“In War, Truth is the first casualty!” That statement was first written thousands of years ago by the Greek Tragedian Aeschylus and popularized by Senator Hiram Johnson with his poignant proclamation during World War 1 that, ‘the first casualty when war comes, is truth’. </p>
<p>The important question we should ponder before proceeding is, why is that? </p>
<p>However, even that question gets marginalized by the now famous and rhetorical question by Pontius Pilate, to Jesus the Christ, ‘what is truth?’ Perhaps, therein lies the problem around this important construct and why it is so quickly and debilitatingly wounded, in war.</p>
<p>Of course, <a contents="Truth can never be killed, it does re-emerge" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0qyI0NIvg0">Truth can never be killed, it does re-emerge</a>, but never in the chaos of conflict only after the irrationality of frenzied ‘assault and defend survival’ has been removed from the theatre does any other voice begin to be heard. Commentator Os Guiness accurately opined that,<em> “without truth, all you have left is manipulation.” </em></p>
<p>The ‘<a contents="fog of – culture – war" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLqS6Wp0HzQ&feature=youtu.be">fog of – culture – war</a>’, and the cacophony of clamouring for control clashes emerging from this ‘manipulation’, all bury the vital and reasoned virtue of truth. Czech Social Anthropologist, Ernest Gellner asserted that, <em>“Anything must be true, before it can significantly claim other merits – without truth all else is worthless.” </em> Consequently, any truth that does not fortify our consensus manufacturing narrative must be excised from this process, even if only for a while to enable ‘our’ position to be established. </p>
<p>So, trading off Gellners' statement, then for <a contents="‘justice’ to be of any real and sustainable quality" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5daNMXer2UQ">‘justice’ to be of any real and sustainable quality</a> it (at the very least) should be linked to truth, shouldn’t it? </p>
<p>So, then comes the question, which truth? </p>
<p>This is where the anthropologist comes into their own. They do not simply glean ephemeral perspectives from sociological manifestations of behaviour, no, <a contents="anthropological investigation insists on going well beyond these." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sV5qU6e-YY">anthropological investigation insists on going well beyond these.</a> The pursuit insists on spelunking worldviews and origins of belief systems and the values they foster. It is that investigation into which anthropological framework best fits truth and justice models, and not just for the myopic and self-absorbed individuals, but for entire communities and societies. </p>
<p>If truth and justice have been sought, understood, agreed upon and established in a society, but they are genuinely not in play in the public square, then action to rectify must be sought. </p>
<p>One could, after all reasoned and lawful mechanisms have failed to lift the lies and injustice (perceived or real) that may well be systemic for the oppressed, then civil disobedience may be required and peaceful protest a worthy vehicle to help promote change. </p>
<p>It was Mahatma Gandhi who looked at the Christs example of social activism and invoked a model that truly sought to remove a genuine nation-wide oppression that was longed for in his native India. The only violence perpetrated in these peaceful protests was from the oppressors, thus affirming the claim of oppression. </p>
<p>Tragically, such remarkable examples of peace and humility are almost impossible to find anymore. So, why is that? Too big a question to answer here? Perhaps, but our failure to really look at history and its lessons, does doom us to miss brilliant examples and repeat unspeakable wrongs. </p>
<p>However, when Jesus Christ, Ghandi and <a contents="Martin Luther King Jnr’s models" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.bustle.com/articles/136118-11-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-about-love-that-are-worth-repeating">Martin Luther King Jnr’s models</a> are ignored or forgotten and the frustration of fretful anger is ignited, then… </p>
<p>Worse still, when any self-righteous and<a contents=" weaponized Machiavellian mob" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLNhPMQnWu4"> weaponized Machiavellian mob</a>, either hold sway or worse – rule, under the subjective banner of ‘cancel culture' justice claims, then only one side of a matter is permitted in the marketplace. </p>
<p>The justification narrative almost always commences with… “We have had enough of talking about what we believe needs to change, and we are tired of our rights (perceived or real) being unmet according to our demands.” So, the activists will coerce the public square to align with this now believed, unassailable claim. </p>
<p>For anyone who cares to take even a fleeting glance at history (an action seemingly foreign to ‘generation now’) will reveal this brutal mode at the Bastille and at the Russian Palace, both not ending well at all – for anyone. I am reminded of the observation of Sir Laurens van der Post who said, <em>“Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.” </em></p>
<p>It is now, here in this context, it is believed that all means can be justified – all! As now, we are at ‘war’ for our position and this means silencing any voice not in absolute accord with the mob dictate and expurgating any narrative that does not validate all subjective claims by the mob. </p>
<p>The adage that there are three sides to every story – <a contents="Yours, Theirs, and the Truth" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/JtPfoEvNJ74">Yours, Theirs, and the Truth</a> – is now distilled down to the primal, egocentric chant of the self-centred infant, ‘Mine’. </p>
<p>In this construct of – we must have our way and ‘win at all costs’ – there must always be a loser, this frenzied pursuit for control of the public square demands it. </p>
<p>In this current anthropocentric western culture with its hubris imbued divine machinations, all ‘losing’ postures cannot be embraced. The loser demographic has no value in this battle for control – it is powerless! Well at least believed so by those requiring control. Remember, <a contents="‘it is the victors who write history’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://freakonomics.com/2009/09/17/quotes-uncovered-survivors-and-votes/"><em>‘it is the victors who write history’</em></a>, well so the social commentary goes. </p>
<p>Yet, for all human cultural perspectives in the socio-political power arena, it is this very space Jesus Christ seemed to occupy – the place of the ‘Loser’. </p>
<p>I still recall a conversation I had with a mentor of mine many years ago. A very prominent Christian social-justice activist who championed the cause of the marginalized, poor, outcast and the young. A man I debated with on many issues but had immense respect for and who re-calibrated me in many ways. In one such robust conversation on a contentious political issue, he was arguing for me to ‘chose a side’ as I was discussing points and values of arguably, a two-sided issue and raising some concerns that did not validate his paradigm. </p>
<p>In a moment of frustration, he said ‘if you don’t’ pick a side, you’ll end up in the middle of the road and all you’ll get is run over!’ Now, this highly credentialed and well renowned social activist just wanted me to either agree with him or oppose him. Either way, he could then categorize me as friend or foe (on this issue) and proceed accordingly. </p>
<p>However, my consideration of nuancing elements was not assisting with that process. </p>
<p>Of course, attempts to label me did not include the potentially helpful position of ‘centrist’, but rather pejorative terms were used, like, gutless, disguising, or just missing the point, so essentially ignorant. Now, my very learned friend and mentor was not a bully or a bigot, but his (in many ways) justified zeal was morphing past a bias into a prejudice that he himself would decry, but such is the <a contents="nature of passionate self-righteousness" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/tm86QPhCwFc">nature of passionate self-righteousness</a>.</p>
<p> I too have succumbed to this more times than I care to remember. </p>
<p>I recall decades ago hearing a lecturer speak of a tactic often used by middle eastern cultures, of all flavours, for the justification of violence: “To justify killing one’s enemies, you must first demonize them.” </p>
<p>Of course, this was classically bourne out with Jesus Christ and the Sanhedrin. </p>
<p>The threat to their socio-political power was real and though their own laws and conventions forbade at best, or resisted at least, the use of killing, they had to create a context to justify such aberrant conduct – The declaration of the demonic was that trigger. </p>
<p>The word ‘evil’ is wielded now with such reckless ease, that any issue, position, or person that makes me ‘feel bad’ about me or my choices, is that evil. </p>
<p>I digress. When the King of Kings, the Author of Life, the Saviour of the World, incarnated into the mess of our self-governance, he did not come to choose sides. I will contest, that He did not come to endorse a party, system, or mechanism. He came to call us to join Him (and to stay with our literary motif) in the middle of ‘THE Road’. </p>
<p>Jesus, as the <a contents="‘One through whom all things were created’" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A16-20&version=KJV"><em><strong>‘One through whom all things were created’</strong></em></a>, declared of Himself, not only to be The Truth and The Life, but I would argue most importantly <a contents="The Way" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://biblehub.com/john/14-6.htm"><em><strong>The Way</strong></em></a>.</p>
<p>Let me be crystal clear, this ‘middle of the road’ posture is not a pathetic socio-political centrist one, it is the place of<a contents=" divine righteousness " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A33&version=VOICE"> divine righteousness </a>and all the love, truth, justice, and responsibility that this fosters. </p>
<p>This posture was not one of control, but of servanthood. </p>
<p>This posture heightened the so arrogantly dispatched, ‘loser’ label by </p>
<ul> <li>turning the other cheek to fight back. </li> <li>advocating for volitional slavery in going the extra mile when enlisted by oppressors in indentured service. </li> <li>speaking blessing, not cursing to the ones who have labelled you as their enemy, even demonizing you to justify your beating and/or killing. </li>
</ul>
<p>This, to our first world west immersed psyches, is not only counterintuitive in our chaotic culture, but utterly unsustainable. It is here that I am reminded of the words of G.K Chesterton who declared, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it’s been found difficult and left untried.” In reality, Christianity is impossible – without Christ in us. </p>
<p>It is easy to espouse these truly counter-cultural, and clearly revolutionary principles, but in our comfortable privileged and ‘rights’ obsessed society, the idea of submitting obsequiously to such ‘unjust’ processes is anathema – even to those who proclaim Christ as their Saviour. </p>
<p>So, we negotiate; we re-frame and reinterpret, all in illegitimate attempts to salvage a modicum of self-governance that we believe will ‘protect’ us from the abhorrence of what we believe is humiliation – the great nemesis of ‘self’ esteem. </p>
<p>As I was pondering this post I, quite unexpectedly, had the prayer of St Francis of Assisi spring to mind. A profound petition that reflects the heart of a fully surrendered servant to the Only One who can govern and arbitrate perfectly over the human condition. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Lord, <a contents="make me an instrument of your peace:&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/AGUwcs9qJXY">make me an instrument of your peace: </a><br>where there is hatred, let me sow love; <br>where there is injury, pardon; <br>where there is doubt, faith; <br>where there is despair, hope; <br>where there is darkness, light; <br>where there is sadness, joy. </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek <br>to be consoled as to console, <br>to be understood as to understand, <br>to be loved as to love. <br>For it is in giving that we receive, <br>it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, <br>and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. <br>Amen. </strong></em></p>
<p>I want to leave you with a simple question, one I believe we all need to answer, and seriously – If Jesus Christ is not the final arbiter of truth and justice in our lives, families, communities, cities, and nations, then who or what is? </p>
<p style="text-align: right;"> The Incite – Shane W Varcoe</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6311033
2020-05-10T22:05:52+10:00
2024-01-15T16:11:32+11:00
When HE Returns!
<p><span class="text-big">The iron hand it ain't no match for the iron rod </span><br><span class="text-big">The strongest wall will crumble and fall to a mighty God </span><br><span class="text-big">For all those who have eyes and all those who have ears </span><br><span class="text-big">It is only He who can reduce me to tears </span><br><span class="text-big">Don't you cry and don't you die and don't you burn </span><br><span class="text-big">Like a thief in the night, he'll replace wrong with right </span><br><span class="text-big">When he returns. </span></p><p><span class="text-big">Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow that is passes through </span><br><span class="text-big">He unreleased His power at an unknown hour that no one knew </span><br><span class="text-big">How long can I listen to the lies of prejudice ? </span><br><span class="text-big">How long can I stay drunk on fear out in the wilderness ? </span><br><span class="text-big">Can I cast it aside, all this loyalty and this pride ? </span><br><span class="text-big">Will I ever learn that there'll be no peace, that the war won't cease </span><br><span class="text-big">Until He returns ? </span></p><p><span class="text-big">Surrender your crown on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask </span><br><span class="text-big">He sees your deeds, He knows your needs even before you ask </span><br><span class="text-big">How long can you falsify and deny what is real ? </span><br><span class="text-big">How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal ? </span><br><span class="text-big">Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned </span><br><span class="text-big">He's got plans of his own to set up His throne </span><br><span class="text-big">When He return. </span></p><p><span class="text-big">Bob Dylan from the Album, </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://godreports.com/2012/10/man-who-led-bob-dylan-to-christ-says-legendary-singer-is-still-walking-with-jesus/" data-link-type="url" contents="Slow Train Coming "><span class="text-big"><strong>Slow Train Coming</strong> </span></a><span class="text-big">(1979) © Bob Dylan Music Co. </span></p><p><span class="text-big">One of the most </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://youtu.be/-0CKnzNLPB0" data-link-type="url"><span class="text-big"><i>profound conversions</i></span></a><span class="text-big"> and</span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/mar/16/fire-and-brimstone-new-compilation-resurrects-bob-dylans-born-again-phase" data-link-type="url" contents=" brilliant periods of music from a new follower of Christ"><span class="text-big"> brilliant periods of music from a new follower of Christ</span></a></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6302264
2020-05-02T16:40:39+10:00
2020-05-02T16:52:13+10:00
Pride, Existential Collapse and Surrender: Tolstoy’s CONFESSIONS – A Perspective.
<p>The following are selected excerpts from Tolstoy’s little-known work, <a contents="Confession" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/20671/4f4ce95e8a4c1653d612cd54def1b63097611049/original/confessions-leo-tolstoy.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20200502%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200502T063826Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=3249d4ccf1d61d3118780b01e4aeb97c27a7ea1d1444045bc1a0b5e93d738237">Confession</a>, as translated by David Patterson. </p>
<p>However, before launching into the text and enjoying some of the wrestle and journey this remarkable culture shaping artist went on, I wanted to share some reflections on not only the musings outlined in this important work, but also on some of the posture that emerged from this robust theosophical struggle. </p>
<p>There are often many unstated, yet tacit attitudes that so often emit from those who have discovered what is truly best practice, yet do not (for reasons we will discover) really embrace it in practice. For this demographic, of which most of self-sufficient or fiscally secure are part, the potential for complete subscription is perpetually undermined – as I believe we will see in Tolstoy’s experience. </p>
<p>Pride (as the author Daniel Defoe once quipped, is “The president and first peer of Hell”) makes them unwilling to surrender, and their means enables them to negotiate a different posture that saves the very thing that needs to be dethroned, the self-governing ego. </p>
<p>However, a genuine quandary remains; an irrefutable awakening has happened and for the ‘negotiating’ soul, this new spiritual and now unavoidably intrusive enlightenment must be managed in a manner other than surrender, submission, and servanthood. </p>
<p>So, the financially and academically enabled self-governor must craft a new ‘take’ on an issue – A theological or ecclesiological gymnastic that puts them ‘back in charge’ of their worldview and, I would argue, subsequently unable to take up the cross and truly follow. </p>
<p>The burning (and it would appear, existential collapsing question) that drove Tolstoy – the intelligent, famous, wealthy, and popular hedonist – to turn his back on what has now come to epitomise utopian success in the west, was ‘What meaning does my life have that the inevitability of death did not destroy?” </p>
<p>In short, and not to undervalue the journey, Tolstoy was unable to find in all those heady arenas of life, a meaning that would defy death. Even the consideration of his human and extensive (and clearly enduring) literary progeny, was unable to satisfy that existential ache. </p>
<p>After spelunking academia, wealth, familial, hedonic, and artistic pursuits, he found the answer in the simple faith of the Russian peasant people – but what did that actually lead to? </p>
<p>Yes, as you will read, it did affirm the anthropologically sound and historically validated Judeo-Christian worldview, but it would appear it also began to strip away all the vanities and externals that feed the ego, the centrality of self – which in the end is the essence of us; the ‘us’ that will be captured by either Heaven or Hell, but in absolute objective reality will never be out from under either one. </p>
<p>King Saul – A Biblical Narrative that makes the point </p>
<p>I would like to suggest that we see one of the single most cataclysmic and inexorable engagements around this issue in the Old Testament historical record. </p>
<p>Samuel, arguably the most credentialled practitioner to ever serve the Creator, Samuel – who had three offices and roles; (like no other before or after) Prophet, Priest and Judge – in fulfilling those roles is directly speaking as God to the <a contents="first God ordained King of Israel," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-stories/the-bible-story-of-abimelech.html">first God ordained King of Israel,</a> Saul. </p>
<p>For those who are familiar with Saul’s ascension to the throne, it was one of humility. Though endowed with many attractive qualities, his early heart was humble and self-deprecating, not deeming his obvious qualities as worthy of such unprecedented recognition. </p>
<p>The same Samuel was called upon to choose and ordain the ‘king’ despite this being direct opposition to Creator God’s prescriptions – HE was their king, and this pursuit of governance, not leadership, from sources other than His perfect rule, was going to diminish them in every way. Yet, this Omniscient and Gracious God, saw this coming. The re-declaration of the divine law <a contents="Deuteronomy 17 : 14-20 " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+17%3A14-20&version=ESV">Deuteronomy 17 : 14-20 </a> made provision for this inevitable frailty of a people whose culture was infected (instead of infecting) by nations around them. </p>
<p>The rules around a Kingship were never meant to be about usurping the ultimate Authority or attempting to govern instead of God, potentially creating a self-declared Divine Despotism, which much of history has seen emerge. Rather, it is about leadership in the best-practice of the Holy God’s plan and purposes – servanthood postured collaboration that God always intended from the very Garden of Eden. It was never to be ‘instead of’, or ‘for’, but in and with. In fact one of the first requirements of an incoming King, according to divine prescriptions, was that new incumbent had to not only read,<a contents=" but completely copy the book of the law." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+17%3A18&version=NIV"> but completely copy the book of the law.</a> Clearly, this is about ensuring, that at the very least, the new leader would not only know, but surrender to implementing best practice of the One who ultimately governs. </p>
<p>And when it all boils down, that is it isn’t it? We think we can govern, not just lead. </p>
<p>There may be many leaders, and incredibly gifted ones, but they can and never will govern as perfectly as the Author of life and its best practice. We are supposed to surrender our capacities and agencies to that perfect model, so that our collaboration will be not only profoundly effective but deeply satisfying. God let us in on not just how it works best, but also making the best happen – that is a breathtaking privilege and one we should approach with complete and sober surrender. </p>
<p>So, no big prize for guessing what may be the easiest way to mess up that perfect collaboration? In short when, our collaboration becomes control and our leadership becomes final governing license. </p>
<p>Such proclivities did King Saul succumb too, and we take up the scene at that cataclysmic act that was the final straw in Saul disqualifying himself from the privileged position of God’s King of Gods people. </p>
<p>Saul had failed completely in fulfilling a non-negotiable directive from the very lips of God about dealings with the Amalekites. He did so by deciding God’s directive was not quite right, it seemed not austere, rather wasteful, and he knew better. This failure would lead to, not only an immediate problem, but exacerbate an ongoing harassment by the descendants of the Amalekites – a nation which descendants perpetually harasses the children of Israel <a contents="(See Study, ‘Help I Need a Real Holiness’ page 9)&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.sitezoogle.com/u/20671/8c0419b2fe5c18d83b5dcad19abbdea111ef35e0/original/Help-I-need-real-HOLINESS.pdf?response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUKM2ICUMTYS6ISA%2F20200429%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200429T070617Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=b946c46d623c0f33978845407c5380d1437e4f6e1c81cd82f0711209f2a40bfc">(See Study, ‘Help I Need a Real Holiness’ page 9) </a></p>
<p>Without unpacking the entire event and the plethora of issues that surround this, suffice to say the indictment made against the king was a scathing and unequivocal one. Saul’s action were equal to witchcraft and idolatry. </p>
<p>“Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So, because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:23) </p>
<p>It is the severity of this indictment sheds the full spotlight on what I have just written. When we shift in our collaboration from leader to governor, from servant to master, and fail in that assumed echelon, we are held to no less than God’s perfect standard. </p>
<p>If you like, and I am using license… “If you are going to assume my role and choose to overturn my decisions, you had better make sure you get it perfectly right. For, if you do not you must give an account for acting as Me, not just for Me! “ </p>
<p>Of course, this posture is witchcraft – manipulating the divine resources for our own ends! Of course, this posture is idolatry – placing the attention, authority and focus on other than the one true God! </p>
<p>Severe? Reflect again, please? </p>
<p>These two postures are more easily adopted than we imagine. The Adversary knows this all too well, and his seductive tongue may not coerce us, but will always seek to question as he did in the Garden… “Did God really say?” </p>
<p>Self as God is always the centre of witchcraft and idolatry – being the final authority and getting what I want my way, is the essence and foundation of all sin – wrongdoing – mark missing conduct. And it is this idolatry that is the breaching of the first three of the seminal and remarkable 10 commandments… There is only one God who can act as God perfectly, and it is not ‘man’. </p>
<p>One could ‘go down this rabbit hole’ a long way, but suffice to say, you get the dangers of this space. Our wise, dedicated and honourable Creator, continues to work with the model He set in motion, as He does want His children to experience His best, but will hit the ‘reset button’ when necessary on both micro and macro levels to refresh our understanding of and surrender to His governance in our, capacity, agency and leadership. </p>
<p>However, the wrestle will always be a part of the true servant narrative, because the more we grow in our walk with and yielding to God the greater our capacity, strength, agency and potential becomes; subsequently the more we need to surrender and re-surrender these to HIS governance. I’m reminded of a poignant insight by prominent Christian activist, thinker and Pastor, F.B. Meyer who disclosed, “I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves – one above another – and the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now I find that God’s gifts are on shelves – and the lower we stoop, the more we get.” </p>
<p>The Enemy of our souls missed this and wants to spoil this divinely ordained collaboration. Our flesh, not to be reconciled, wants to assert its egocentricity. The world managed by fallen humanity is under the sway of the Evil one, so following the contrary Christ is indeed a narrow path, and cross in tow, it is only traversed by humbling oneself completely (Matthew 16:24). It is a call of descent into greatness, for it is only the humble, <a contents="the meek and the servant who will truly rule and be lifted up.&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A5-9&version=ESV">the meek and the servant who will truly rule and be lifted up. </a></p>
<p>Like all those who have and who want to follow the Christ must do. </p>
<p>It is my contention that, as for so many of us who are protected, prosperous, powerful and privileged it is this core issue that continued to undermine Tolstoy’s capacity to fully experience the transforming truths of Christianity. </p>
<p>Beyond the appetising excerpt that follows here, I would encourage you to read the short book and see the ‘dance’ around denominations and doctrines that ensues. The inexorable critique of every structure, process or platform. Always a fault to be found by the ‘superior’ investigator and judge – postures that go beyond the discerning need to test and hold on to what is good, but rather defend the self from the divine imperative of surrendering all, even unto humiliation. This is the ‘I know better’ path that I also too often traversed, and to the detriment of others, not just myself. </p>
<p>Mercy and Grace continue to follow me, and all who ultimately seek to surrender all, even if only in increments. It is the posture of final authority though that cannot yield, as it always senses itself as too wise to require abasement. </p>
<p>Reader, by all means this is just a primer for you to read, reflect and draw your own conclusions from. May I encourage you to pray that as you read this remarkable work of Tolstoy, that you will be enriched, enabled and edified unto surrender to and service of The King – not endorsed and entitled to play at king. </p>
<p>Selah! </p>
<p>Shane W. Varcoe</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong>I also realized that no matter how irrational and unattractive the answers given by faith, they have the advantage of bringing to every reply a relationship between the finite and the infinite, without which there can be no reply. However, I may put the question of how I am to live, the answer is: according to the law of God. Is there anything real that will come of my life? Eternal torment or eternal happiness. What meaning is there which is not destroyed by death? Union with the infinite God, paradise. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Thus in addition to rational knowledge, which before had seemed to be the only knowledge, I was inevitably led to recognize a different type of knowledge, an irrational type, which all of humanity had: faith, which provides us with the possibility of living. As far as I was concerned, faith was as irrational as ever, but I could not fail to recognize that it alone provides humanity with an answer to the question of life, thus making it possible to live. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Rational knowledge led me to the conclusion that life is meaningless; my life came to a halt, and I wanted to do away with myself. As I looked around at people, I saw that they were living, and I was convinced that they knew the meaning of life. Then I turned and looked at myself; as long as I knew the meaning of life, I lived. As it was with others, so it was with me: faith provided me with the meaning of life and the possibility of living. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Faith is the knowledge of the meaning of human life, whereby the individual does not destroy himself but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must have faith in something. If he did not believe that he had something he must live for, then he would not live. If he fails to see and understand the illusory nature of the finite, then he believes in the finite; if he understands the illusory nature of the finite, then he must believe in the infinite. Without faith it is impossible to live. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>I looked back on the course of my internal life and I was horrified. It was now clear to me that in order for a man to live he must either fail to see the infinite or he must have an explanation of the meaning of life by which the finite and the infinite would be equated. I had such an explanation, but I did not need it as long as I believed in the finite, and I began to use reason to test it out. And in the light of reason every bit of my former explanation crumbled into dust. B u t the time came when I no longer believed in the finite. And then, using the foundations of reason, I began to draw on what I knew to put together an explanation that would give life meaning; but nothing came of it. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>And what did I do when I searched for an answer in the experimental sciences? I wanted to find out why I lived, and to do that I studied everything that was outside of myself. To be sure, I was able to learn a great deal, but nothing of what I needed. And what did I do when I searched for an answer in the area of philosophy? I studied the thoughts of those who found themselves in the same situation as I, and they had no answer to the question of why I live. I was not able to learn anything here that I did not already know-namely, that it is impossible to know anything. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>What am I? A part of the infinite. Indeed, in these words lies the whole problem. Is it possible that man has only now raised this question? And can it be that no one before me has put this question to himself, a question so simple that it rests on the tip of the tongue of every intelligent child? </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>No, this question has been asked ever since there have been people to ask it; since the beginning man has understood that to resolve the question by equating the finite with the finite is just as inadequate as equating the infinite with the infinite; since the beginning man has sought to articulate the relation between the finite and the infinite </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>I did not think so at the time, but even then, the seeds of these thoughts had already been planted within me. I realized first of all that despite our wisdom, the position of Schopenhauer, Solomon, and myself was absurd: we considered life evil, and yet we lived. This is clearly absurd because if life is meaningless and if I love reason so much, then I must destroy life so there will be no one around to deny it. Secondly, I realized that all our arguments went round and round in a vicious circle, like a cog whose gears are out of sync. No matter how refined our reasoning, we could not come up with an answer…Finally, I began to realize that the most profound wisdom of man was rooted in the answers given by faith and that I did not have the right to deny them on the grounds of reason; above all, I realized that these answers alone can form a reply to the question of life. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>I understood this, but it did not make things any easier for me. I was now prepared to accept any faith, as long as it did not demand of me a direct denial of reason, for such a denial would be a lie. So, I studied the texts of Buddhism and Muhammadanism; and more than ever those of Christianity and the lives of Christians who lived around me. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>And I began to grow closer to the believers from among the poor, the simple, the uneducated folk, from among the pilgrims, the monks, the Raskolniks, * the peasants. The beliefs of those from among the people, like those of the pretentious believers from our class, were Christian…The whole life of the believers from our class was in opposition to their faith, while the whole life of the believers from the working people was a confirmation of that meaning of life which was the substance of their faith. So I began to examine the life and the teachings of these people, and the closer I looked, the more I was convinced that theirs was the true faith, that their faith was indispensable to them and that this faith alone provided them with the meaning and possibility of life. Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class, where life was possible without faith and scarcely one in a thousand was a believer, among these people there was scarcely one in a thousand who was not a believer. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class, where a lifetime is passed in idleness, amusement, and dissatisfaction with life, these people spent their lives at hard labor and were less dissatisfied with life than the wealthy. Contrary to the people of our class who resist and are unhappy with the hardship and suffering of the)r lot, these people endure sickness and tribulation without question or resistance-peacefully, and in the firm conviction that this is as it should be, cannot be otherwise, and is good. Contrary to the fact that the greater our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life and the more we see some kind of evil joke in our suffering and death, these people live, suffer, and draw near to death peacefully and, more often than not, joyfully. Contrary to peaceful death-death without horror and despair, which is the rarest exception in our class-it is the tormenting, unyielding, and sorrowful death that is the rarest exception among the people. And these people, who are deprived of everything that for Solomon and me constituted the only good in life, yet who nonetheless enjoy the greatest happiness, form the overwhelming majority of mankind. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>The life of our class, of the wealthy and the learned, was not only repulsive to me but had lost all meaning. The sum of our action and thinking, of our science and art, all of it struck me as the overindulgences of a spoiled child. I realized that meaning was not to be sought here. The actions of the laboring people, of those who create life, began to appear to me as the one true way. I realized that the meaning provided by this life was truth, and I embraced it. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>I understood the truth that I later found in the Gospel, the truth that people clung to darkness and shunned the light because their deeds were evil. For he who does evil hates the light and will not venture into the light, lest his deeds be revealed. I realized that in order to understand the meaning of life, it is necessary first of all that life not be evil and meaningless, and then one must have the power of reason to understand it. I realized why I had been wandering around such an obvious truth for so long and that in order to think and speak about the life of humankind, one must speak and think about the life of humankind and not about the life of a few parasites. This truth has always been the truth, like 2 x 2 = 4, but I had not acknowledged it, for in acknowledging that 2 X 2 = 4, I would have had to admit that I was not a good man. And it was more important and more pressing for me to feel that I was a good man than to admit that 2 X 2 = 4. But I came to love good people and to hate myself, I acknowledged the truth. Now it all became clear to me. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>What, indeed, had I done in all my thirty years of conscious life? Not only had I failed to live my life for the sake of all, but I had not even lived it for myself. I had lived as a parasite, and once I had asked myself why I lived, the answer I received was: for nothing. If the meaning of human life lies in the way it is lived, then how could I, who had ruining spent thirty years not living life but it for myself and others, receive any reply other than this, that my life was meaningless and evil? I t was indeed meaningless and evil. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Thus, the simple, uneducated working people, whom we look upon as animals, do the will of their master without ever reproaching him. But we, the wise, consume everything the master provides without doing what he asks of us; instead, we sit in a circle and speculate on why we should do something so stupid as moving this lever up and down. And we have hit upon an answer. We have figured it out that either the master is stupid, or he does not exist, while we alone are wise; only we feel that we are good for nothing and that we must somehow get rid of ourselves. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Recognizing the errors of rational knowledge helped me to free myself from the temptations of idle reflection. The conviction that a knowledge of the truth can be found only in life led me to doubt that my own life was as it should be; and the one thing that saved me was that I was able to tear myself from my isolation, look at the true life of the simple working people, and realize that this alone is the true life. I realized that if I wanted to understand life and its meaning, I would have to live not the life of a parasite but the genuine life; and once I have accepted the meaning that is given to life by the real humanity that makes up life, I would have to test it out. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>This is what happened to me at the time: in the course of a whole year, when almost every minute I was asking myself whether I should end it all with a rope or a bullet, when I was occupied with the thoughts and observations I have described, my heart was tormented with an agonizing feeling. This feeling I can only describe as a search for God. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>I say that this search for God was born not of reason but of an emotion because it was a search that arose not from my thought process-indeed, it was in direct opposition to my thinking-but from my heart. I t was a feeling of dread, of loneliness, of forlornness in the midst of all that was alien to me; and it was a feeling of hope for someone's help. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>It is clear that I do not live whenever I lose my faith in the existence of God, and I would have killed myself long ago if I did not have some vague hope of finding God. I truly live only whenever I am conscious of him and seek him. "What, then, do I seek?" a voice cried out within me. "He is there, the one without whom there could be no life." To know God and to live come to one and the same thing. God is life </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>"Live, seeking Cod, for there can be no life without Cod." And more powerfully than ever a light shone within me and all around me, and this light has not abandoned me since. Thus, I was saved from suicide. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>I returned to the conviction that I could find the expression of this will in something long hidden from me, something that all of humanity had worked out for its own guidance; in short, I returned to a belief in Cod, in moral perfection, and in a tradition that instils life with meaning. The only difference was that I had once accepted all this on an unconscious level, while now I knew that I could not live without it. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Pages 60-75 – Tolstoy’s CONFESSION</strong></em></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6270144
2020-04-03T16:32:36+11:00
2023-05-09T10:21:13+10:00
Pandemic in a Post-Truth Culture
<p><span class="text-big">Which 'stories' are being told and by whom? If we buy the false declaration that Truth is either no longer in play, or non-existent then by what measure do we determine best-practice or best way forward? </span></p><p><span class="text-big">Such faux narratives that deny the cornerstone of Truth clearly seek to remove core foundations from sustainable culture - Of course, that is also the agenda of anarchists and 'cancel culture' narrators.</span></p><p><span class="text-big">Click here to listen to </span><a class="no-pjax" href="/files/1225104/Post-Truth%20Culture%20Conundrum" data-link-type="file" data-link-label="Post-Truth Culture Conundrum"><span class="text-big"><strong>short podcast </strong></span></a></p><p> </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/6257819
2020-03-22T12:19:32+11:00
2020-04-05T14:24:51+10:00
Godly Narratives in a Season of Pandemic Panic
<p><span class="font_xl"><strong>Godly Narratives in the Season of Pandemic Panic. </strong></span><br> </p>
<p><span class="font_xl">What stories are you listening to? What stories are you telling yourself? Which Narrative will be the one you actually surrender to?</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><a contents="View Here " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPNqCdXHuhriQE2U2rlSBzknv3toZFYFUpsRQRTe0SH6XdsHHsJFTqDKW1UQR9sUA/photo/AF1QipNvcnpLTY3dmb1jKbUw_k5KT5a6v06-_7_Pdf6Z?key=RS1vQ2pCU01EaDBEZ19tNjZFZHFTNWtwcjlORkxB"><span class="font_large">View Here</span> </a>or <a contents="Twitter FEED" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPNqCdXHuhriQE2U2rlSBzknv3toZFYFUpsRQRTe0SH6XdsHHsJFTqDKW1UQR9sUA?key=RS1vQ2pCU01EaDBEZ19tNjZFZHFTNWtwcjlORkxB" target="_blank">Twitter FEED</a></span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/5859638
2019-08-16T15:33:06+10:00
2022-05-07T17:59:30+10:00
I am ‘Pro-choice’; therefore, I must be Pro-Abortion, Right?
<p><span class="font_large"> I am asked (as most will inevitably be in our current outrage nuanced, culturally manipulative ‘baiting’ session of ‘activism’) regarding the abortion issue whether I am pro-life or pro-choice. Or framed differently depending on which side you may land on – pro-death or anti-freedom! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Well, after much reflection, pondering and considering who or what should/might be the final authority on this, I’ve landed on a pro-choice position. Not a socio-politically charged propaganda satiated meme of pro-choice, but actually defending the right of all to choose. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">When the Good News was new, abortion and even infanticide were commonplace in the culture, requiring little deliberation. In all of history, only one culture had forbidden these practices – that of the Jews…Every other nation, every other empire, every other kingdom, every other people – the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Hittites, the Greeks, the Romans – routinely killed their young. Plato and Aristotle commended abortion and infanticide. As the philosopher Seneca said, getting rid of useless children was simply the reasonable thing to do. “We knock mad dogs on the head, we slaughter fierce and savage bulls, and we doom scabby sheep to the knife, lest they should infect our flocks: we destroy monstrous births and we also drowns our children if they are born weakly or unnaturally formed; to separate what is useless from what is sound is an act, not of anger, but of reason.”</span><span class="font_small">1 </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large"> Abortion was condemned in the first century in the Christian manual called the Didache and in the Epistle of Barnabas; in the second century in the Apocalypse of Peter and by Saint Justin Martyr, Saint Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian of Carthage…and in the third century by Origen of Alexandria, Saint Cyprian f Carthage, and many others. The condemnation has been consistent through time, and universal in the Church – from Africa and Asia through all of Europe </span><span class="font_small">2 </span></em></p>
<p><span class="font_large">As much as I completely align with the Divine and Biblical position that all life is sacred – all people are ‘image bearers’ – all human beings from conception to death are marked as precious and unique by the Creator; I also believe these same unique human beings have bestowed upon, and had programmed with, divine identity, dignity, agency, capacity and dominion – all thus with the divine potential for choice, including the liberty to choose badly, poorly and even self-destructively. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Since there is not one single person who has lived or died, that did not start as a zygote – at conception – then the rights to choose commence formation there, and thus in the previous context are sacred. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">One of the incredible faculties, capacities and consequent responsibilities of that power of choice in the divinely imaged person, is that the full agency, capacity, identity can only be realized through growth and better enabled through environments that foster, empower and protect that growth through all stages of the human experience. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The ability and capacity to choose, and choose well, in all human beings is completely reliant on the growth of that capacity, regardless of the geography of that human – in crib, in utero, in creche, in school, in adolescence or adulthood. The capacity, identity, agency of every developing human being, especially at life’s commencement is subject to environments that are shaped and/or influenced by the choices of others with greater capacity, agency, identity and, hopefully, an embraced divine dignity. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">In this context the capacity to choose of those vulnerable, those with limited autonomy, require greater protections and need to be fostered and nurtured, not ignored or worse, removed. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">For this fledgling autonomy, as with all choice developing matrixes for human beings, starts with the security to do so. A safe environment in which that emerging person is protected whilst they learn, as all mature human beings must, the skills, competencies, capacities and agency to be a ‘free to make choices’ human being. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">"The development of the embryo with its staggering panoply of continuously morphing cells...is by far the most complex phenomenon on Earth, fare more complex by many orders of magnitude than the assembly of the most complex human artefact ever built...The unimaginable immensity of spatial and temporal molecular clues and molecular and genetic responses exploited by this innumerable host of nanobots [molecular machines] navigating the embryonic ocean is fare greater than all the maps, charts, and devices used by all the mariners who have ever navigated the oceans of Earth."<span class="font_small"> 3 </span></span></em></p>
<p><span class="font_large">If that environment of security is taken away, then so is much of their potential for choice, and if we are pro-choice, then we must ensure that the ability to choose is secured. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Life must be protected for choice to emerge, as dead human entities no longer have choice. In this space, any choice that completely removes the choice of another is nothing short of tyranny and even more so if it is removed from the most vulnerable – the child. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Of course, the carrier of that emerging human being has choice, and if they feel their choice to terminate the developing child is not supported, then they too may feel that they are subject to a form of tyranny. This, of course comes down to what outcome choices bring. The emerging child is totally subject to the choice of the one carrying that child. But the mother has more than one choice. They ameliorate the choice to be responsible/ accountable for the child without killing it. The removal of all choice from the developing child by ending its life inconsumable to the genuinely pro-choice activist. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">It is here that the definition of tyranny becomes clearer. It is the tyrant who will choose death of another to actualize their freedoms and the one with no choice at all, is the one truly subject to tyranny. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">But alas, definitions in our ‘outrage’ culture keep morphing to suit the agenda of those with power and control, not the weak and powerless – in this case the emerging child. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Again, whether the child is in the womb, the crib or kindergarten, its ability to emerge as a choice enabled, capacity building human being is reliant on the continued protection of the right to make choices. That capacity exists because the child is growing, and growth only comes from life. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">So, being pro-choice for all humans means securing the life that enables the growth, ability and power of choice. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">“Human life begins in bright flash of light as a sperm meets an egg, scientists have shown for the first time, after capturing the <a contents="astonishing ‘fireworks’ on film " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM">astonishing ‘fireworks’ on film </a>“</span><span class="font_small">4</span></em></p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Post Script - The Covid Numbers, and Counting!!!!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJufWVgRsPQ&feature=youtu.be" style="" target="_blank">Post Script - The Covid Numbers, and Counting!!!!</a></span></h3>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_large">S.W. Varcoe </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">For more important resources please go to</span> <a contents="voice4life" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.voice4life.com.au/" target="_blank"><span class="font_large">voice4life</span></a></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_small">References </span></p>
<ul> <li><span class="font_small">Aquilina, M & Papandrea, J.L; Seven Revolutions – How Christianity Changed the World and Can Change it Again, First Edition, pp 42,43 Image, 2015, USA </span></li> <li><span class="font_small">Ibid pp 51-52 </span></li> <li><span class="font_small">Denton. M., The Miracle of the Cell, Discovery Institute Press, Seattle, p.115. 2020</span></li> <li><span class="font_small">Sarah Knapton, SCIENCE EDITOR, The Moment Life Begins https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/04/26/bright-flash-of-light-marks-incredible-moment-life-begins-when-s/ The Telegraph (UK)</span></li>
</ul>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/5459342
2018-10-08T21:24:35+11:00
2018-10-08T21:24:35+11:00
The Science of Nihilism??
<p><span class="font_large">If Francis <a contents="Crick " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Crick">Crick </a>is hypothesis is correct that…”You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules”, then, said John Polkinghorne, “it is ultimately suicidal.” </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><a contents="Polkinghorne " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Polkinghorne">Polkinghorne </a>went onto to state, “If Cricks hypothesis is true we could never know it. For not only does it relegate our experiences of beauty, moral obligation, and religious encounter to the epiphenomenal scarp-heap, it also destroys rationality. Thought is replaced by electro-chemical neural events. Two such events cannot confront each other in rational discourse. They are neither right nor wrong. They simply happen….The very assertions of the reductionist himself are nothing but blips in the neural network of his brain. They world of rational discourse dissolves into the absurd chatter of firing synapses. Quite frankly, that cannot be right and none of us believes it to be so.” </span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="font_regular">P 117 Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend, Zacharias. R, 2007 (Thomas Nelson)</span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/5388274
2018-08-15T20:14:23+10:00
2018-08-15T20:14:23+10:00
God IS Love - Yes?
<p><span class="font_regular">Defining words, understanding concepts and grappling with interpretations has become an even greater challenge in our post-truth era. Christian words, concepts, principles and core themes are now subject to these various interpretations and more so than ever, by those not following Jesus Christ! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Terms like ‘inclusive’, ‘grace’ and of course ‘love’ are now subject to the ever-increasing flurry of meme-esque definitions, and by those who have are not in a saving, redeeming and restoring relationship with the Creator of all, and the only omniscient and omnipotent ONE. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">God is love, yes? Of course, it/she/he is, that’s an incontrovertible, unshakable given of the Christian spectrum, I know, because I hear it all the time – it is the great Christian mantra! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">I’ve watched over my lifetime many in the Church who have either deliberately or by a passive default to the ‘flow’, commence and/or continue the crafting God in their image, an effigy of the Divine, if not persona, then nature. I have no doubt in my journey that such moments have also emerged, particularly as I’ve attempted to justify a disobedience, or simply being self-serving. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">However, it is only in the last 10 years that I’ve seen this Biblical, divine ‘love’ be labelled, relabelled, defined and redefined in ways that have not only concerned me, but utterly contravened the very character of the Triune God. In my encounters in this space, it is what drives the re-defining/labelling that raises the concern. In nearly every setting for this redefinition, God’s ‘love’ is cast, shaped or moulded by activities of those whom people are in a close relationship with. In this very personal context the redefinition either ignores or defies other Divine attributes or prescriptions of our Awesome multi-faceted and incredibly Wise God; and for the purposes of spinning ‘love’ into a flimsy fitting garment to cover the error, rebellion, brokenness or sin of ‘loved’ one! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">So, what is this love, and what is it made of? ‘God’; may be the logical exclamation! This tautological definition does not give us an investigative tool to spelunk this immensely deep cavern, but delve we must, if we are to know, not only the Love of God, but the very God of love Himself. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">As I have written elsewhere, the idea/concept of love can have as many definitions and modes as there are unique individuals on the plant – potentially seven something billion! Yet this declared, highest virtue, cannot be abandoned to the capricious musings of feckless, finite and ever so easily manipulated masses; no, this love, this highest of virtues can only be understood, or at the very least examined through the lens of the Author of it. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This divine love is not God, however the Creator, the Alpha and Omega, is love. It is the motivation, the mandate, the mode, even the very means of Gods engagement with His created, and why such omnibenevolence exists in the deistic arena. No other ‘god’ concept, no other metaphysical construct, contrivance or concoction comes close to this Judeo-Christian narrative, particularly around this relational imperative. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">In explaining to a university student, the concept to the Trinity, Dr Ravi Zacharias masterfully declared, Christianity is the only religion where love came before life. And he added, the only religious framework where communication came before life. The Trinitarian nature of the One True God explains how love and communication were in play before the universe began. This seminal source of relationship existed in which love, and communication were integral parts, and it is this starting point that we can begin to uncover what this love may be made of. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This Trinity, this One God in three distinct persons, in one unified deity, is multifaceted and flawless in integrity, unity, perspective and perfection, and it is these aspects that also inform the nature of the God of Love! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The perfection of the Author, the Source of the universe, the One who was outside both time and space; the One who calls things into existence from nothing, reveals much more about this nature, this ‘love’. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">It is ‘the beloved’ and arguably the youngest of Jesus’ Disciples, who most consistently writes about this love and how it is not only experienced/engaged with but responded to in our lives. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We know we have joined Him in an intimate relationship because we live out His commands. If someone claims, “I am in an intimate relationship with Him,” but this big talker doesn’t live out His commands, then this individual is a liar and a stranger to the truth. But if someone responds to and obeys His word, then God’s love has truly taken root and filled him. This is how we know we are in an intimate relationship with Him: anyone who says, “I live in intimacy with Him,” should walk the path Jesus walked. 1 John 2:3-6 The Voice </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous). 1 John 5:3 Amplified Bible </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This true love is the supreme version of love as uniquely articulated in the Greek. This ‘agapao’ speaks of a higher, divine virtue in response. It is not just good will, and high esteem and benevolence, it sits in a moral preference. It transcends affections and emotions and moves into the realigning of activities, choices and behaviours with the divine moral nature – a reflection of the character and conduct of God. This intimacy producing love manifests best in our behavioural aligned and joyful compliance with El Elyon – El Hakkadosh, The Most High and Holy God’s best practice – HIS Commandments. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Please keep this in the forefront of your reflections as you continue. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">It is in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians that sees both a segue to and melding with the attribute, the quality of God that transcends, but very much envelopes and informs this divine love. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">And may the Lord make you to increase and excel and overflow in love for one another and for all people, just as we also do for you, so that He may strengthen and confirm and establish your hearts faultlessly pure and unblamable in holiness in the sight of our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) with all His saints (the holy and glorified people of God)! Amen! Thessalonians 3:12-13 Amplified Bible </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">It is the implementation of the love prescribed in the Johannine letters, and what that produces in and through us, that the nuance Greek language unveils in this passage – A faultlessly pure and unblamable sacredness. (From hagios a setting apart, as unto likeness with the Lord) </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">In Jewish literature, indeed culture, if one is to emphasize the importance of an issue, draw the hearer’s attention to the absolute necessity to grasp and embrace an understanding of a thing, then repetition is used. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">In our current communication space various modes are engaged to create emphasis, bring attention too. In literature we may use bold or italicized text, underlining or even capital letters, but not so the divine text – they repeated. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Jesus Christ, the Son of God, often used this mechanism to press imperatives to His audiences. ‘Verily, Verily, I say unto you…’ was used by Jesus Christ 25 times in His recorded teachings. In essence it is saying truly, truly, or with most absolute certainty, I am communicating this very important thing. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Now, when the Second Person of the Godhead, the One who was the medium through which Father God created everything, (John 1: 3; Colossians 1:16) puts that emphasis on an issue, we are to be utterly assured that was is being said is imperative. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">So, what would happen to our understanding, our perception if this Ultimate Being were to repeat something three times? Wouldn’t – shouldn’t the answer in this context, be a heart stopping, we must listen, understand and uncompromisingly embrace this? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The term, holy appears more than 600 times in scripture and has a consistent nuanced yet profound meaning of separateness, as in consecrated, set apart, utterly beyond the common – pure and perfect. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Twice in the divine text we see this word, this quality – virtue repeated thrice, this process has been title, in Greek, the Trisagion. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">In the Old Testament it is the Prophet Isaiah, the Prophet ‘caught up’ heavenly raptures, that records our first profound repeat Isaiah 6:3 And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">In the New Testament we find this incredible emphasis recorded by the Apostle John as he too is ‘caught up’ into the heavenly realm, Revelation 4:8 And the four living-creatures, each one of them having six wings apiece, are full of eyes around and inside. And they do not rest by day or by night, saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, the One Who was and Who is and Who is coming”. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Where am I going with this? As previously mentioned, repetition in the Jewish literature context is about the degree of intense emphasis on importance – it is to grasp for superlatives, ‘a transcendent imperative’! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">It is only with Holiness, this quality, this virtue, this aspect, this facet of the One True and Triune God that receives this vital attention, not love! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Yet, as we have clearly understood from our opening passages, God IS Love! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">So now, we have a very clear understanding of the composition of this ‘love’, what that ‘love’ is made of – it is HOLY! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Shane W. Varcoe</span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4617054
2017-03-05T16:18:49+11:00
2017-03-05T16:18:49+11:00
H.O.P.E.
<p><span class="font_large">Many of you will be familiar with the H.O.P.E. acrostic Hold On Pain Ends, particularly those in the clinical space. This, now ‘catch phrase’ yet vital psycho-social component is a little more intricate and robust than mere subjective emotional perceptions. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">It is important to understand that hope is not merely the positive expectation of good, but also the reasonable grounds for it. It's the latter part of this definition that is most often overlooked. I know many people, I am not one of them, who appear 'naturally resilient', you know the people who are always upbeat, positive and genuinely have few strong negative emotional shifts, even under duress. When I have asked these people to define their hope, the answer is almost always a variation of a happy or confident emotion/feeling. Of course, if that 'emotion' or 'feeling' evaporates so it appears does the existential anchor they are tethered to. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">When I press a little harder and ask for an external measure of hope/resilience, the information often dries up. Sometimes it's family or another relationship, but the 'reasonable grounds' seems a difficult one to articulate, particularly in our First world culture that has informed us incessantly since the advent of post-modernity that; YOU have the power within – YOU are all you need – YOU can do it! Of course, there is some small truth in all these statements, but YOU are not just the sum-total of your self-perceived and self-determined internal mechanisms, are you? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">You see, it’s important to remember that everyone on this planet starts life as a wheelbarrow - everyone. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">A wheelbarrow is an empty powerless vehicle that is filled by someone else and pushed by someone or something else. As human beings, at least for the first 10-13 years of our lives, that is exactly our lot. Infact we were created that way in some respects. We were supposed to have best practice invested in us by people who care that we become the best that our Designer determined us to be. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Now, what is being 'put in' and who is 'pushing' you at this stage you have next to no control over, and at these most formative stages, it is vital that good, right and true is invested according to that best practice, not just 'good, right and true' according to someone’s personal preference. (I.e. The Nazi's internal moral/intellectual/values compass was totally 'fine' with exterminating millions of people because according to their compass of 'good, right and true', they were just 'taking out the cultural trash’, to make THEIR version of society 'better'!) I digress! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">So who gets to determine 'best practice'? What is that predicated upon and which model, mode or mechanism will truly usher in 'good, right and true'? That's perhaps a conversation or contemplation for another day? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Anyway, for hope to be fully formed it must have, at least some indication, of what is good and the grounds that foster that ‘good’? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">It appears from the ever-growing body of evidence that the more we look ‘into ourselves’ for the ultimate hope of what is good, the more dysfunctional, corrupt and utterly frowzy we become as a culture or society – a dishevelled society that only adds greater weight to the pain scales, which ironically in turn, only longs for a greater ‘hope’ that this mounting pain will end, however, a burden this frail hope cannot sustain. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I’ve taken the liberty of developing a few more H.O.P.E. acrostics that I encourage you to add too. However, I want to point to what to many is the painfully obvious. There really is ONLY One Ultimate Hope for this failing humanity - this Hope has a Name and it is Jesus The Christ. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Hold On Person Enhancing </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Hold On Process Expiring </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Hold On Pride Evaporating </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Hold Out Potential Emerging </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Helping Our Pain Educate </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Heaven Overwhelms Personal Environments </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Heaven Overturns Problem Eventualities </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Hold On Perseverance Engaged </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Helping Our Praise Erupt </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">S.W. Varcoe</span></p><br><br>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4432673
2016-10-23T14:50:05+11:00
2016-10-23T14:52:49+11:00
Second Chance Solution (2nd Edition) NOW UPLOADED and FREE to all
<span class="font_regular">The latest discipling tool from Disciplesplanet is now online and ready for your free use. This work, focusing on the return to foundational soteriology, is aimed at helping in both pre and post - conversion disciple-making. <br><br>From the Foreword</span>
<p><strong><em><span class="font_regular">Shane's book is part of an ongoing series, ‘Foundations for Discipleship’ and takes seriously our Lord’s command and great commission to ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that he commanded us.’ Shane is weary of so much that goes with contemporary Church life and so called discipleship. He bemoans the trivialisation and loss of a sense of sin in the Christian community and describes the aim of his book as a radical ‘recalibration of the soul.’ He is not afraid to jump into the hard and uncomfortable areas of repentance, divine justice, costly discipleship and the reality of judgment and hell. <br> <br>The depth of engagement with Scripture, significant Christian writer’s, thinkers and practitioners is refreshing and at times stretching. There is theological depth and a density that leaves you pondering and reflecting at length at what has been written. <br> <br>This book though is not just about personal reflection and edification. It is designed to be used in small groups (older youth and older) and has well presented sections called ‘keys’ around the themes of grace, repentance, obedience, maintaining discipline and focus over the long haul and the warning in the Scriptures to who neglect or ignore such a great salvation. Each section includes questions and discussion starters called ‘head space’ that are designed to grapple with the themes with others and apply them to your life.</span><br><br>I encourage you to read this book, engage with its challenging message and use it to disciple Christian men and women so that we might honour the one who ‘died for all, that we who live shall no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us and was raised again.’</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong><span class="font_regular">Rev David Fuller - Anglican Minister, Evangelist, Life Member, God’s Squad CMC</span></strong><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Simply go to www.disciplesplanet.net home page and select your Ebook Version to download and share</span></strong></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4348438
2016-08-30T20:51:05+10:00
2016-08-30T20:51:05+10:00
The Good Samaritan and Servant-hood
<p><br><span class="font_large">A discussion primer <br>“I have not come to be served, but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many.” Jesus (Matt 20:28) <br>“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself” Acts 20:24. <br>On this verse Oswald Chambers writes: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>It is easier to serve God without vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will become more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realise the call of God. But if once you receive the commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common sense basis. Never consider whether you are of use, but ever consider that you are not your own but His. What do I really count dear? If I have not been gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfil the ministry he had received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing. Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument - ‘remember how useful you are here’ or ‘think how much value you would be in that particular type of work’. That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgement as to where we are of most use.</em> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>THE GOOD SAMARITAN IN THE New Millennium </strong><br>As we read the Parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ in Luke 10:25-37 we find a great many challenging instructions from Jesus, particularly about loving our neighbour. The question that prompted the parable by Jesus was in fact ‘who is my neighbour?’ That is a question that we still need to answer today. <br>In a now global community we are presented consistently with a barrage of needs, emergencies and crises. <br>The medium of money has enabled us to even further de-personalise involvement in these needs simply by being able to ‘throw money’ at some faceless organisation or institution who will, it is hoped, alleviate the problem. The pace of society that always looks for the ‘new’ and consequently accelerates obsolescence at almost immeasurable speeds, has also meant time is a premium and therefore it is often perceived time spent on broken things is not a good investment. <br>So, begs the question, what, in the midst of so many needs, do we give priority to? In early 1997 I had what I call a ‘Divine prompt’. I was talking about boundaries with a small group and the words came to me - “Christianity is not about claiming our rights, it is rather about helping the unable redefine their responsibilities.” <br>When we ‘Christians’ start ‘claiming our rights’, we are often simply pre-occupied with keeping impediments out of our agendas, the ‘if you wanna fly with eagles don’t hang with turkeys’ mentality. When instead we should be discerning how we may help others find God’s agenda. If I may speculate, I think Jesus was the master at making turkeys fly like eagles. <br> By way of just getting you pondering/discussing, here are some categories to help put legs on this idea. <br><strong>Category One - The Bleeding </strong><br>This is your ministry. This is the priority. When you come across these situations it is your responsibility to assist. The only thing you must be careful of is the repeated self-inflicted wounds. When something happens that is the result of external factors then you rehabilitate. If there are some individual contributions to the problem then your rehabilitate and educate. If it is the result of self-infliction, your love expresses itself as rebuke, education and discipline, all to the end that restoration to God’s wholeness ultimately realised. <br><strong>Category Two - The Begging </strong><br>This is your discretion. As stated, there are many ‘needs’ that cry out and, as the writer of Proverbs notes, certain things that ‘never say enough’. That is why your discretion is imperative. What is the Lord saying to you? <br>If you, by nature, are a ‘rescuer’ it will be difficult to discern, but discern you must. For if you do not, then you will be a risk of ‘burn-out’ and all for the wrong reasons. The first question you must ask is: ‘Is my assistance going to make a difference, not in the interim, but in the long run?’ Remember it is not about ‘quick fixes’ but wholeness. Will your assistance contribute to the achieving of wholeness? The second question you must answer is more importantly not ‘can I help?’ but it must be, ‘is God’s purpose for me to help?’ When we consider some of the disturbing practices and problems of first century Palestine, we are able to deduce from the biblical record that there were many instances where Jesus (who had the capacity to help everyone), chose to walk by. That is why discerning God’s priorities are vital. That’s one of the remarkable components of Kingdom, it is an invitation to all to participate and contribute, enabling everyone to be part of God’s restoring, rehabilitating, and recalibrating community. YOU can’t do it all – and you’re not supposed to. <br><strong>Category Three - The Bailing </strong><br>This is your challenge. If situations, structures, or people are in crisis as the result of people opting out of their responsibilities or failing to own what they must own, then you must not go straight into rescue and repair mode, but rather investigation. Why someone has ‘bailed’ is important. You must evaluate what has produced this and why. It may be that the situation, structure or support process is what is causing the ‘demise’ of people’s commitment. If so, then simply replacing them or gap filling will only produce the same result. <br>If it was the wrong person for the situation, then ensuring the right one is found is vital. If it is because the parties concerned are indifferent, passive or failing to reach demonstrated potential, then it is your challenge to assist them to grow up and out. It is an act of convenience to tire of these people and replace them. It is an act of Love to work with them and challenge them to grow. Your capacity to love ‘God’s way’ in a variety of situations that will greatly determine your capacity to influence people toward God’s best for their lives, rather than being pre-occupied with pursuing what is simply the best for your life, or attempting to fulfil their perceived ‘felt need’. Selah! <br>So how am I going as a servant? <br>a. Do I know the call and commission of God in my life? If so, what is it? <br>b. Am I lead by a ‘rescuing’ agenda? Do I get caught up in every need around? <br>c. Can I discern in my world at the moment, the i) bleeding; ii) begging; iii) bailing? If so, what are those situations? <br>d. How am I modelling servant-hood to the disciple I am walking with? Am I simply doing what I want or am I following the Master’s mandates? <br>© S.W. Varcoe 1998 Disciplesplanet</span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4266822
2016-07-07T13:21:54+10:00
2016-07-07T13:21:54+10:00
Postmodernity - a 'statement', but of what?
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Post-modernity is a statement, but of what? </strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it a contrivance in a vacuum? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it a reaction to modernity? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it an attempt at constructing a cultural framework for ‘Global’ accommodation? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it an attempt to rediscover spirituality? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it a justified cloak for a more passive form of nihilism? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it an experiment in social engineering/manipulation? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it a Veneer to conceal humanistic hubris? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it a strategy of Hell? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Is it something of all of the above? </span> by Shane.W.Varcoe </p>
<p>•</p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4221058
2016-06-09T21:43:15+10:00
2016-06-09T21:43:15+10:00
Lowering the BAR? I Don't Think So!
<p><span class="font_large">An excerpt from Second Chance Solution 2nd Edition <br>The following is probably not the wisest deposit to make in the brand management ‘sampling’ space. <br>‘Shane, don’t you get it? If you want people to read your work and consider your ideas, you must draw people in with palatability!’ <br>They say you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. However, you catch even more with manure! <br>Anyway, no grand sales pitch! No witty repartee! No, evocative intrigue! Simply a call to really, really engage with a tale of salvation spread over two seminal and unparalleled Covenants! <br>Bon Appetite! Shane Wesley Varcoe <br>********** <br>LOWERING THE BAR ... DO YOU THINK SO? <br>Head Space – Is grace reactive or pro-active? <br>Discuss these thoughts, particularly in light of Romans 5:21 <br>In the individualistic consumer-focused culture in which we find ourselves immersed, it is easy to customise the gospel of the Kingdom of God (as Jesus referred to it) especially if that customising trims the uncomfortable aspects the full counsel of God may generate. Yes, it is right that we personalise the divine truth and work of Christ and make it our own. However, in so doing we must never permit our culture to mould that truth to fit our own circumstances, expectations, needs or self. The gospel must mould us to fit heaven’s desires. <br>One of the key elements in crossing the line from personalising to customising is found in a process called ‘Christian Reductionism’. In simple terms (pardon the ironic pun) it is a process that instils the idea that a complex whole can be easily understood by simply breaking it down into small sections. Now that may assist in understanding some elements better, if it does not impugn the whole by the misrepresenting of a smaller component. If we do not see the whole and understand it through both the components and the whole, then we will most likely embrace only the aspects of the gospel that suit us, which will eventually lead to an error and in turn, the passing on of that same error. Again, personalising must never be customising! <br>I have been concerned for many years now that there is a growing influence of customising in the pre-conversion journey. <br> The quality of the ‘gestation and birthing’ process of a new disciple most often determines whether heaven is able to adopt them and take charge in their lives. Again, in my experience, one of the greater problem areas has been what I call ‘Lowering the Bar’ – the lessening of heaven’s standards. When we operate in a reductionism space you can see how easily, though inadvertently, this may happen. The reductionism mentality attempts to break the gospel down into supposedly easy-to-understand, bite-sized portions of palatable ideas. We can lose sight of the greater holistic counsel and some of the stronger expectations that only come through when we have an understanding of the whole. These things are lost in the précised versions of gospel presentation. <br>A classic example of reductionism can be seen in presenting John 3:16 without reading verses 17 through to 21 or even just verse 18. We say ‘God so loved the world’ but forget the ‘whosoever believes’ and omit even more quickly the ‘whosoever does not believe is condemned already’. When we make the gospel into a customised ‘join the dots, one, two, three, now you’re free’ process, we inadvertently fail to tell the whole truth of the gospel. We either lose sight or worse, fail to present what Christ expects of those who choose to become His disciples. These expectations are not onerous tasks we must perform for acceptance, rather understood revelations that lead us to submitting to correct divine processes that set us free to connect again in the previously lost divine communion. <br>It is here that I want to unpack The Saviours – The Author of Salvations Words, in Matthew Chapter 7:13-14 <br>“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (NASB) <br> Listen, if you can, to these utterly profound and unique words. In fact it is in this passage, and by the Incarnate God, that we hear the only time the word ‘narrow’ is used in the entire New Testament. There is an exhortation, I believe a pleading here, that can easily be overlooked. Jesus starts with a call to enter the narrow gate, firstly because the wide and easy broad gate leads to utter ruin. Then in the pleading there is a second call, ‘enter through the narrow gate…’ This word is rich with tense meaning including nuances of ‘very straight, confined and an intrusive thronged’ sense. It is a radical juxtapose and contrast to the ‘easy path’. The intent is to draw focus to this path as the ONLY option. <br> Then spill the words that we can so quickly brush past, ‘and there are few who find it!’ Are you getting this? Few! This outcome seems utterly incongruent with the very nature and intent of the incarnation. The ‘new flood’ that is Jesus death and resurrection, was to give mankind its Second Chance! Not only is the profundity in this matchless work, but the intent and declarations behind and from it… ‘whosoever believes’, ‘come all who are weary and heavy laden’, ‘I’ve come to give life and life abundantly’, even the final words ‘go into all the world and make disciples of nations’ speak to vast and immense catchments! <br> Well, I contend, it is our Lord, not in contradiction, but in paradox that is declaring not a pre-selection fait accompli, as some theological frameworks would interpret; rather a forecast indictment on those who are not, will not, prepare for and understand what it means to enter this Kingdom. <br> Again, much like the last two Parables Jesus used of the Virgins and Talents; accountability for that which was ‘given’ in the first place on the understanding (in relationship) of the walk and work together, it is important to continually reiterate that the Triune God has set discipleship in community for mission to be the mode of operation, not simply a decision for Christ, but a renewed mind disciple, following. In fact it was Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who boldly declared, “…Christianity without Discipleship, is Christianity without Christ!” <br> I contend that this seemingly austere caveat is not dissimilar in nature/mode to the statement Jesus made about the poor in Mark 14:7, ‘for you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them…’ <br> He was not referring to an inevitable state of a percentage of any population, as if it were designed that way, no! Jesus was referring to the fact that God has known the reason why the poor continue in the land, it is because God’s people failed to implement and fulfil his relational commandments around ministering to the needy. If the Levitical law had been properly implemented with Jubilee caveats and the like fully enacted, then poverty would be all but eliminated. But, alas, not all the people obey all the time and the part we may be called to play in the relational covenants is not fulfilled…God in his loving and free will relational wisdom, subjects Himself and his ‘vineyard’ to that management failure – but only until He returns. <br> I present to you that Jesus is saying here in Matthew 7 that the reason why few people ‘find the narrow way’ is because those who were meant to show the way by model, mission, method and manifestation failed to do so. Their mode instead may have been the cheap grace or the soft sell pitch I’ve alluded to earlier. People are lead to accept, not salvation from their sins, translation for darkness to Kingdom of His Dear Son, a surrender of allegiance - rather perhaps an ‘insurance policy’ or a self-improvement course? Consequently they ‘buy a map’ that fails to equip them to find and walk onto the ‘narrow way’. <br> Following Christ is an ability imparted, not merely permission granted. Jesus again, makes clear in Matthew 16:24 that before you can ‘follow Him’ you must take up your cross, but to do that you must first deny yourself. You see, you will not have the ability to follow on the narrow way, unless you have first denied self, then taken up the cross…it is these engagements that not merely permit, but enable you to enter and journey. <br> The question I have for myself and the Church at large; is what we have presented as the Gospel enabled those to who we speak to find the ‘NARROW GATE’ or did it do the contrary? <br> © Shane W. Varcoe – Disciplesplanet Twitter @The_Incite </span><br> </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4107550
2016-03-28T00:49:51+11:00
2016-10-23T14:36:17+11:00
Easter, Death, Ressurection and Forgiveness!
<p><span class="font_large">Poet and author of <strong>'Hang It On The Cross',</strong> Lisa Engelhardt once penned, <em>"Set the compass of your soul to forgiveness - it will help you find your way out of bitterness." </em>That's it, isn't it, the journey out and away from bitterness? This thing that is, arguably, one of the single greatest contributors to many auto-immune conditions and mental illness malaise! <br>Forgiveness is indeed the indisputable key to exiting said states, but one of the single toughest things to do, especially if you have been unjustly treated. In fact, the greater the perceived injustice, the tougher it is too simply 'let it go'! <br>Of course, there are many factors that shape our sense of injustice - my self-perception of goodness - any sense of entitlement - the impact of the injustice on my, agenda, family, relationships, goals and so forth. Egocentricity aside, even harms and impediments done to noble and altruistic endeavours can incite the ire or even the most kindly soul. For most of us the incensed response that rises up at the encounter of injustice is primal, visceral and innate - we couldn't suppress these emotions if we tried! <br>What we need to constantly do, and a thing that many Christians who forget that they were 'sinners, saved by grace', is to remember (not with guilt and shame, but relentless gratitude) the great debt forgiven them by Jesus Christ at the Cross. Easter is nothing but the remembrance and celebration of that breathtaking gift to all people who recognize their need and of it, and their embrace of The Gift Giver!<br>Too many of my fellow followers of Christ have decided to refer to themselves only as 'Saints' now, wanting to distance themselves from negative titles. However, again, it is about how we remember, not how we 'label' that matters. <br>The inventory of my new status should and must include all the new titles in Christ - Child of God, Joint Heir, Ambassador; but they should never erase the full knowledge of my origins. Those who truly know their salvation - truly understand what they have been saved from - remember with intense gratitude from whence they came (Luke 7:36-50 The Anointing at Bethany). It was the renowned Theologian Calvin Miller who once quipped, <em>"Few know the inadequacy of words more than the truly grateful." </em><br>No fellow sojourners, it is imperative that we understand our proclivity for self-justification, especially if we grow in our new standing with little regard for the price paid to get us there, and the rolling off of the debt that we owed. I am still deeply disturbed at times, at my quick outrage at the hurts done me by another and the punitive nature of my call for repair! It is in these moments – moments of righteous advancement of my personal ‘Godly’ agenda and deserving Christian promenade that ensues, that I have absolutely no recollection of the debt I was forgiven and the Price paid for that ‘free pass’! <br>Shame on me – Shame! Yet, in my new found entitled position, incurring the injustice of a clearly unrighteous act, ‘shame’ is the last thing I’m feeling! No, sadly what I do feel is everything from Indignation and outrage, to breathless and wounded disbelief as my emotive drivers! <br>The <em><strong>ONLY </strong></em>solution to the hurt and brokenness of these perceived injustices is forgiveness. Andrew Stanley in his candid work, <strong> It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart </strong> sums up both the ‘Anointing at Bethany’ and the Parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18: 21-35 when he said this…<em>“In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy. But in the shadow of the cross, forgiveness is merely a gift from one undeserving soul to another.” </em><br><br>Father God, I am so full of self-justification, entitlement and righteous indignation that forgiveness is far from my first response to hurts incurred. Please my gracious Lord, give me a new heart and a right spirit that I may not only forgive in full, but love the enemy that you called me to love! I need you so much in this space… Please break in upon your undeserving servant with that robust, selfless and generous love that wipes away fear and freely forgives!<br>Selah! Shane W. Varcoe</span><br><br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Dl5dqLz5M </p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4029164
2016-02-07T19:29:13+11:00
2016-02-07T19:29:13+11:00
When your Emotions become your enemy!
<p><span class="font_large">When our emotions become our enemies, then every element and environment, big or small, that can stir, touch or rattle these ‘emotions’ (these new foes within) has the very real potential to cause harm/grief to the dishevelled soul. <br>It is here that our perception of vulnerability exponentially increases, and like all threats your fight-flight response is engaged. However, this ‘conflict’ response doesn’t bring respite, rather an escalation of emotional duress, leading to a further depleting of already taxed emotional reserves – In turn only amplifying the need for resolution and respite, if not control. <br>When we cannot govern/control within, and externals incite these ‘foes’ within then the need to seek some sense of containment and/or control wherever you can, grows. So we work hard to ‘handle’, manage or manipulate all encounters, circumstances and environments in an attempt to manufacture some sense of quiet, if not order in our struggling psyche. <br>This snowballing scenario is often a key contributor to existential collapse, and without external resources that refocus, remind, remediate, relieve and restore, we spiral down. <br>In the postmodern relativist culture it is often reinforced through egocentric and selfist mantras that </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">You are the final authority! <br>You have the power within! <br>What You ‘feel’ is ‘right’, is so, and; <br>Do not let anyone else tell You what to do, or how to live! (The irony of this posture is that we have never before in human history seen so much ‘consultation, therapy, coaching, counselling’ – all in endless attempts manage us DOING IT OUR WAY!!!) </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">In this space our perception, mood, urge or taste then dictate choice, decision, answers and response. This is now when things can become unpredictable, but also dangerously volatile and vulnerable! <br>If your emotions and their attending urges, tastes, moods, perceptions become your ‘enemy’ to where do you now turn for help, assistance or change? What in this state, then happens in your decision making and choice? <br>At the very least your field of play (as it were) shrinks considerably to the point where one can feel a hemming in. To be cornered by demanding and uncontrollable emotions and moods can produce incredible pressure, hopelessness, dysfunction and even despair! <br>It is this predicament that our need of the transcendent becomes most apparent, even though it has always been crucial - that which is not only beyond the self, but bigger and better than the self. It is to an existentially solid, fixed point, a rock if you like, that a soul anchor must be attached to stop the drifting toward the ever present dangerous reefs of dysfunction, despair and destruction that often manifest in suicide. <br>Jesus Christ unabashedly referred to an aspect of His Divine nature as being that Rock like foundation. (Luke 6:46-49) He never in this context questioned our capacity to build or achieve, as these are God given capacities. However, He did make crystal clear that on what you build is imperative if one was to avoid collapse – it’s on what and how your build that will determine endurance and durability. This ‘Foundation’ never negates the reality that storms are both inevitable and unpredictable - however, He will ensure that what you build will not collapse in them! <br> Shane W. Varcoe</span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/4016231
2016-01-31T01:30:21+11:00
2016-01-31T01:30:21+11:00
Journey to humility
<p><span class="font_large"><strong><em>“Virtually every Christian passes through these two stages in his pursuit of humility. In the first he fears and flees and seeks deliverance from all that can humble him. He has not yet learned to seek humility at any cost. He accepts the command to be humble and seeks to obey it, though only to find how utterly he fails. He prays for humility, at times very earnestly. But in the secret heart he prays more – if not in word, then in wish – to be kept from the very things that will make him humble. He is not yet so in love with humility as the beauty of the Lamb of God, and the joy of heaven, that he would sell all to procure it. In his pursuit of it, and prayer for it, there is still somewhat a sense of a burden and a bondage. To humble himself has not yet become the spontaneous expression of a life and a nature that is essentially humble. It has not yet become his joy and only pleasure. He cannot yet say, “most gladly do I glory in weakness; I take pleasure in whatever humbles me.” <br>But can we hope to reach this stage in which this will be the case? Undoubtedly! What will it be that brings us there? That which brought Paul there – a new revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing but the presence of God can reveal and expel self.” </em></strong> Andrew Murray – <em>‘Humility'</em><br> <br>I wonder, upon reading this, if this little talked about imperative is not one of the key reasons we actually don’t ‘PURSUE’ knowing Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father as we should. To know God fully and be transformed completely we must yield our egos unsparingly. In the ‘first world’ culture in which I am immersed, the ‘self’ and its preservation, promotion and prominence at some level are not only prized, but idolised. This is easier to embrace and more difficult to avoid when marketing and branding are the source of profile and prominence. In this arena anything that hinders or diminishes profile is a liability and shunned readily. <br>For the ‘Christian’ it may not be the gaudy side of these egocentric processes that is sought out, yet it is the subtle end of this same monster that we still find ourselves entangled with. In our ‘knowing’ God and finding acceptance in His Family and Kingdom, that we still harbour the need to be ‘significant’. This hunger can be met perfectly in the humble intimacy Andrew Murray spoke of above, but we have traveled into redemption with the baggage of culture and find ourselves still ‘unpacking the bags’ we have brought and dressing ourselves in pursuit, performance and profitable participation. <br>We don’t purpose that these things will hinder ‘knowing’ God, in fact we believe that these will ‘bless’ and ‘please’ God and He in turn will baluster our efforts with approval, as manifest in blessing and success. However, in all of this we have on the ‘rags’ of prominence, profile and self preservation. We want to salvage the best of self, rather than letting God sift the self completely. <br>When we truly seek <em><strong>all </strong></em>of Jesus and His Lordship, not mere consultation, in our lives then His presence will come and self, as Andrew Murray intimated, will vanish. <br>Will this prospect excite you, or insight enough fear to remain only on the superficial level of really <em><strong>knowing </strong></em>God? <br> Shane Varcoe</span></p>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/3845876
2015-09-08T17:50:51+10:00
2016-01-29T11:07:14+11:00
True Equality!
<span class="font_large"><strong>“Only in Christ’s Kingdom can true equality be realized. Capacities, resources and abilities may vary significantly, but every woman, child and man has great worth because they are ‘Image Bearers’<br><br>Equality in this perfect Kingdom is found in the ‘adoption’ as His children, when we repent – put down and turn from – our self-governing claims and yield our lives to His goodness, wisdom, grace and Lordship.<br><br>What then emerges from this consecrated space is not rich or poor, male or female, slave or free – rather what does emerge is ‘Joint Heirs’ of another Kingdom, not of this broken and egocentric world.These joint heirs who would seek ‘greatness’ in this Kingdom, can only do so through service and the humble preferring of others!”</strong><br><br>S.W. Varcoe - Disciplesplanet</span>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/3845869
2015-09-08T17:31:38+10:00
2015-09-08T17:31:38+10:00
Get Set Apart!
<span class="font_large"><strong>“Anything that hinders me from falling into the ground, everything that interferes with my taking up my cross, dying to self, separating from the world, cleaning my life up, or entering through the narrow gate, anything that interferes with that is Satan’s power…Strive to enter in. Seek to be worthy to enter in. Let God be honoured by your leaving behind the things that you know are talking your life, hindering your progress, blighting your prospects, and ruining your mind – for nothing will dull the mind’s perception like touching earthly things that are not clean.”<br>Smith Wigglesworth</strong></span><br>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/3086001
2014-07-19T12:01:19+10:00
2014-07-19T12:05:07+10:00
The unwavering need for courage
<span class="font_large"><em>“Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t; either way you will be right!”</em><sup>1</sup> which is a very reasonable observation, as it has been said “<em>life shrinks and expands in proportion to one’s courage”</em> <sup>2</sup> and the <em>“the desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.”</em><sup> 3</sup> This is often because we first world westerners labour tirelessly to minimise pain, yet <em>“one does not become fully human painlessly” </em><sup>4</sup> that is why it has also been mooted that most endeavours, and the best of human nature require this foundational virtue for, <em>"courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others."</em><sup>5 </sup><br>For the follower of Christ <em>“Courage is simply fear that has said its prayers.”</em> <sup>6</sup> and is fortified by the knowledge that even though <em>“the God of Israel is sometimes a God who hides Himself, He is never a God who absents Himself, sometimes in the dark but never at a distance.”</em><sup>7</sup> We are also reassured that even though <em>“you cannot see God’s hand, you can always trust His heart.”</em><sup>8</sup> This is why the exhortation to Joshua the son of Nun was so rich and emboldening, because it came from the ONLY ONE who could promise and deliver so utterly and completely; <em>“…Be strong and courageous. Never be afraid or discouraged because I am your God, the Eternal One, and I will remain with you wherever you go.”</em></span><sup><span class="font_large">9</span> </sup><br><span class="font_regular"> S.W.Varcoe</span><br><br>References: <strong><sup>1</sup></strong> Henry Ford; <strong><sup>2</sup></strong> Anais Nin; <strong><sup>3</sup></strong> Tacitus; <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> Dr Rollo May;<strong><sup> 5 </sup></strong>Sir Winston Churchill; <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> Dr Karl Barth; <strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Matthew Henry; <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> Dr Vance Havner; <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> El Elchad (The ONE God) Joshua 1:9<br>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/3046510
2014-06-29T13:04:13+10:00
2014-07-02T18:14:09+10:00
Faith & Mystery - Both Essential!
<em><span class="font_large">"There are things about God we can only take on faith because God has revealed them to us. While not opposed to reason, they are beyond reason: if the only way open to us for the knowledge of God were solely that of reason, the human race would remain in the blackest shadows of ignorance' <span class="font_small">1</span>...</span></em><span class="font_large">[Yet]</span><em><span class="font_large"> "God has put enough into this world to make faith in Him a most reasonable thing; but He has left enough out to make it impossible to live by reason alone." <span class="font_small">2 </span></span></em><span class="font_large">[Because] </span><em><span class="font_large">"Faith and mystery are codependent; eliminate one and you destroy the other. Faith cannot be faith once it is fully explained and the mystery is gone. Remember the maxim: 'Great truths are like butterflies - you kill them when you pin them down." <span class="font_small">3</span></span></em><br><br><strong>1</strong> Thomas Aquinas,<strong> 2</strong> "Why Jesus?" - Ravi Zacharias, <strong>3</strong> "A Thirst For Meaning' - Calvin Miller
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2951619
2014-05-17T02:23:06+10:00
2014-05-17T02:25:09+10:00
Kids are not 'post-moderns'
<strong><span class="font_large"><em>"Children, up until end of secondary school are not ‘post-moderns’, they are in reality merely confused market manipulated eclectics. In the absence of a well thought through, historically valid and sustainable meta-narrative, these now anchor-less 21st Century souls have been abandoned by the culture to market forces, not knowing how to think, just being told what to feel, and often by nefarious elements.<br>Children, as blank slates, can very much be likened to wheelbarrows - empty and powerless vessels - what they are filled with and how they are empowered to move will determine their ultimate perspective. At this formative stage this 'filling' and 'pushing' is not carried out by the individual, but by the immediate culture the child is immersed in."</em> </span></strong> S.W. Varcoe
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2885456
2014-04-21T14:15:48+10:00
2014-04-21T14:15:48+10:00
The Cross - The Symbol of Hope!
<em><span class="font_large">"The essence of sin is we human beings substituting ourselves for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for us. We...put ourselves where only God deserves to be: God...puts Himself where only we deserve to be."</span></em> <strong>Dr John Stott</strong><br><br><em><span class="font_large">"In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, saving the Cross. </span></em><strong>Thomas a'Kempis</strong><br><br><em><span class="font_large">"It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master. No path of redemption can make a detour around it."</span></em><strong> Hans Urs von Batlhasar</strong><br><br><span class="font_large"><em>"The Cross of The Christ is, and represents many things; it is a bridge; it is shield; it is a sign, even a weapon of profound spiritual nature. However, it is also a plow - it is the tool of haven to break the sod of the hard, rebellious and recalcitrant heart. It prepares the heart for grace and truth to be sown, that salvation may germinate in that place." </em></span><strong> S. W. Varcoe</strong><br>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2868016
2014-04-14T14:44:58+10:00
2014-04-15T08:41:41+10:00
Living Lives of 'Free Play'
<span class="font_large"><em>" The other dominant school of Western writers advocates living lives of "free play". It believes that if we continually reinvent ourselves in the midst of our fluctuating social, psychological, and economic environments, we will be able to meet our immediate needs. In practical, if not theoretical Darwinian terms, they assume that nothing exists outside the moment. To meet the needs of each moment is the best one can hope for.<br>This has some truth in that we can and speak according to our context. Yet this concept of free play has lost any sense of a unifying force holding together the disparate elements of modern life. Proponents of this free play reject Dante's trinitarian view that, amid the diversity and fragmentation of our individual lives, a unity can emerge to give breadth, depth, and meaning to our different experiences.<br>Without a trinitarian God, most postmodern writers are left with little choice but to immerse themselves in the moment in an attempt to forget their very real need for transcendence. In their perpetual search for personal soul, they exacerbated the West's loss of its collective soul.<br>The Bible's impact on literature made it the West's source of cultural authority. A rejection of the Bible is resulting in moral and intellectual anarchy."</em></span><br><strong>(excerpt from 'The Book That Made Your World" - pp 192-193 (c) 2011 Vishal Mangalwadi, Thomas Nelson, Nashville TN)</strong>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2639028
2014-02-25T11:09:13+11:00
2014-02-25T11:09:13+11:00
The Chaos of the selfist 'moral voice'.
<span class="font_xl"><em>“The modern world, obsessed with liberty, has slain virtue, leaving us morally bereft, in a world of darkness. With modernity came an impulse to liberate the individual from ‘external morality’ and to replace it with an inner moral voice. Each moral agent now spoke unrestrained by the externalities of divine law, natural teleology or hierarchical authority, but why would anyone else now listen to him?” </em></span> <span class="font_large">Alisdair MacIntyre <strong><em>‘After Virtue’</em></strong></span>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2535630
2014-02-07T12:02:17+11:00
2014-02-07T17:37:46+11:00
21st Century 'Spirituality'?
I am finding it hard to believe just how religious and spiritual the world is becoming. Everywhere I go I see people in worship and prayer.On the bus to school, on the train and plane…<br>In the classroom, the bedroom, the office and outdoors….<br>Everywhere I look people are bowing their heads to focus, meditate and commune. Have a look at what I mean next time you see a group of people. Many will have their heads bowed, their hands together in front of them, they will be mumbling to themselves it appears (some even singing as part of their worship), often with earplugs to stop distractions and it’s all done to the exclusion of others.<br>What sacrifice?! What devotion?!<br>For some it must be a vow of silence as they no longer communicate.<br>For others a vow of celibacy as there is no physical interaction or meaningful relationships.<br>For others it’s abstinence as they are committed to not consuming anything except what can be purchased online.<br>But it’s time for me to journey home and the bus is about to move. I must be seated….<br> <br>Let us play:<br>Our Google, which is in cyber space<br>Wikipedia be your name<br>Your info come, your directions however accurate be done<br>On Earth as they are above<br>Give us today our daily news<br>Forgive us our imperfections as we forgive those who Facebook against us<br>And lead us not into temptation, by denying us access to all evil<br>For yours is the kingdom heart, the games, apps, power and glory<br>Since the late 1980’s, now and forever more - <br>SEND!<br>by Guest Blogger, Paul Tolliday 02/02/14 copyright
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2535612
2014-02-07T11:56:19+11:00
2014-02-07T11:56:19+11:00
I Arise Today - Prayer of St Patrick
I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through the belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation. I arise today through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension, through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom. I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim, in obedience of angels, in the service of archangels, in hope of resurrection to meet with reward, in prayers of patriarchs, in predictions of prophets, in preaching of apostles, in faith of confessors, in innocence of holy virgins, in deeds of righteous men. I arise today through the strength of heaven: light of sun, radiance of moon, splendour of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock. I arise today through God's strength to pilot me: God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me from snares of devils, from temptations of vices, from everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near, alone and in multitude. I summon today all these powers between me and those evils, against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, against incantations of false prophets, against black laws of pagandom against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. Christ to shield me today against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so that there may come to me abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness, of the Creator of Creation. <div>St.Patrick ( 5th century AD) </div>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2304000
2013-12-31T00:23:42+11:00
2013-12-31T00:23:42+11:00
Switching places?!?
<span class="font_large"><em>"The honour of the world makes us attribute to ourselves all that we do and ends by setting us upon pedestals like little gods.Well, proud and self-comlplacent soul, thus deifed by the honour of the world, see how the Eternal, the Living God abases Himself in order to confound you! Man makes himself god through pride, God makes Himself man through humility! Man falsely attributes to himself what belongs to God; and God, in order to teach him to humble himself, takes what belongs to man. <br>This is the remedy of insolence! This alone can confound the honour of the world - that Hill of Calvary, that Cross of shame, Jesus CHRIST the Incarnate God, our Pattern, our Master, our King."</em></span><br><strong>Jacques Benigne Boussuet </strong>(17th Century French Priest and Court Preacher at Versaille. Considered the greatest orator France had ever known. He preached powerfullly and uncompromisingly these type of messages to the nobility and even King Louis himself)
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2231097
2013-12-15T01:10:10+11:00
2013-12-31T00:13:58+11:00
The New Guide Dogs of Western Culture
<br>When we, in the post-modern, post Christian West, burn our traditional societal maps, discard the Divine compass and cut transcendent anchors; when our egos usurp God’s authority and become central to decision making, what is left in this egoistic space to inform and shape our values, principles and priorities?<br>To help us frame, what I believe is the answer to that question, I want to use a term that is now somewhat dated; that term is MUT. Though dated, this resiliently accurate colloquial is most definitely apt (if not unkind) description of what would traditionally be referred to a feral, badly behaved, mongrel bred dog! This unfortunate canine’s very essence is an eclectic mishmash of unplanned, unstructured and poorly considered (if at all) ‘instincts’ – processes and actions, more the result of chaotic elements with little semblance of order. Generally, it is the outcome of an unsupervised response to stimulus: Sounding familiar?<br>It should; we can see the increasing manifestation of such processes emerging at alarming rates in our growing relativist and subsequently eclectic culture. This growing basis, this new ‘platform’, on which decisions are made and directions are taken by the emerging generation, both engages and further ‘breeds’ these MUTS: Mood, Urge, Taste and Symptom.<br>These MUTS are becoming the new ‘guide dogs’ of the now spiritually blind, wilfully ignorant and increasingly soulless technophiles. As self-appointed deities of their own worlds they declare themselves entitled to whatever these MUTS demand.<br>Due to this post-modern hubris led now only by sensate drivers, the hapless souls becomes more unable to see the real need, the substantial existential need they have, and instead settles for any assuaging or stimulating mode, as long as it generates pleasure and/or comfort – even if that is only transitory. The real need, the longing of the human soul, is buried under the avalanche of the ‘felt need’ pursuits that mood, urge, taste and symptom will relentlessly dictate, as long as the significant and substantial of the supra-cultural is left un-engaged.<br>These old pagan modes (but freshly discovered possibilities) for the affluent West, now must be enshrined as human rights; After all, I am ‘human’ and I have the ‘right’ to do whatever I want, whenever I want, with the only (and ever weakening )caveat of ‘as long as I don’t directly hurt someone else?’<br>Our new individualistic and relativist sovereignty and its moods, urges, tastes and symptoms, go unfettered, unquestioned, unevaluated as to their mind there is no objective ethical or moral standard that exists by which any evaluation can take place.<br>Clive Lewis poignant insights in his essay <em>The Abolition of Man </em>bear notice, particularly this pearl of wisdom; “A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary for the idea of rule that is not tyranny of an obedience that is not slavery.” Without the dogmatic belief– principled adhered to and sustainable ideals – that are objective, we will end up with both tyranny and slavery; this, of course, is the logical reversion to, and manifestation of, pagan ideologies and naturalist/materialist world-views.<br>Both Edmund Burke and Stuart Mills, who vary significantly in their philosophical platforms, actually concur on the need for humanity to be governed by something beyond and above the self.<br>Sir Edmund Burke declared that, <em>“Human Beings are qualified for liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites... Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”</em> <br>John Stuart Mill, even after aggressively espousing the value of personal liberty, still saw the outcomes of unfettered ‘selfism’; <em>“No person is an entirely isolated being; it is impossible for a person to do anything seriously or permanently hurtful to himself without mischief reaching at least to his near connections, and often far beyond them.” And, “If he deteriorates his bodily or mental faculties, he not only brings evil upon all who depended upon him for any portion of their happiness, but disqualifies himself for rendering the services which he owes to his fellow creatures generally, perhaps becomes a burden on their affection or benevolence; and if such conduct were very frequent hardly any offense that is committed would detract more from the general sum of good.” </em><br>In short the first world has become bored, weary and in its own estimation, out grown the need for the one who created them. The One who gave them not only the framework, but capacities to discover much of the intricacies of His creation, and build the very knowledge that has now been hijacked for self-determination. This new ‘Board’ it would seem, have voted to dismiss the major shareholder and CEO. In His place the ‘kids with the chemistry set’ have taken over the process of government. What will ensue is already becoming abundantly clear.<br>The hope, the only hope, for humanity is the re-establishment of another Kingdom; A Kingdom of light, truth, love and holiness; a Kingdom that starts in the hearts of individuals, yet recalibrates them to focus on ‘the other’. When we seek this Kingdom and its King’s Righteousness, then the things we need to truly experience life, not merely its peripherals, will be released to and through us all.<br>The grotesque irony of all this is that this is exactly what we are all longing for, but we will never find it when we remain the blind rulers of our own arenas, led only by the metaphorical guide dogs that are our MUTS.<br>S.W. Varcoe<br> <br> <br>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/2020711
2013-11-10T15:19:41+11:00
2013-11-10T15:29:36+11:00
From where may Authority derive?
<span class="font_regular">I first read the following statement by R.T. Brooks in the early 80.s and it was a catalyst for change in my understanding of many things - not the least my understanding of intimacy with our wonderful Triune God :<em><strong> “Only as I truly know Him can I make Him truly known.”</strong></em><br>Only as an individual experiences, relates to and, subsequently, manifest the connectedness to Christ can an assessment begin as to the authority of that individual. The following are some aspects that authority may issue from: <br><strong>The Authority of Knowledge</strong> (2 Tim 3:16-17, 1 Cor 8:1) It does not puff up, it equips for good works. It is the pursuit of the implementation of the whole counsel of God, not simply the personally palatable or 'managable' aspects.<br><strong>The Authority of Relationship</strong> (2 Tim 1:12, 1 John 1-4) A progressive intimacy with the Holy Trinity can only usher in the principle of <em>“I must decrease and He must increase”</em> (John 3:30). In so doing, ensuring a life that more readily mansifests Jesus’ nature and character.<br><strong>The Authority of a Consecrated Life</strong> (Gal 2:20, 1 Cor 4:7-11, 1 Pet 4:1-3, Gal 5:16-26) An imperative to the above, it is in the setting apart (not only from the world, but to the Christ) that will, again, ensure His Life is manifest, not the egoism of our carnal nature.<br><strong>The Authority of Calling</strong> (2 Cor 10:7-11) This is not the defense of self-generated status. It is the defense of a life of service that clearly evidences the specific mantle one has been given.<br><strong>The Authority of Leadership/Government</strong> (Heb 13:7, Act 20:28-30, Eph 4:11-17) True leadership comes from a heart to see the people of God nurtured and matured (conforming to the image of His son - Romans 8:28-29) Instruction, direction and discipline are as an integral part of real love as are tenderness, patience and grace. Yet these must all be manifest from the posture of servant-hood.<br><strong>The Authority of Example</strong> (1 Cor 11:1, Phil 3:17, 4:9, 2 Tim 1:13; 3:10-12, 2 Thess 3:7-9, 1 Pet 5:2-4) “ A picture paints a thousand words”, “Your actions speak so loudly, I can’t hear what you are saying”. Showing people how to live is more powerful than telling them how to live. Our theology is often to merely 'point' people to Christ. God’s theology is to show people the Christ. </span>
<div style="text-align: right;">Excerpt from <em><strong>"Anatomy of Accountability'</strong></em> - S.W.Varcoe (Disciplesplanet)</div>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/1929768
2013-10-26T12:50:35+11:00
2013-10-26T12:50:35+11:00
Self-sabotage of Post-Modern Culture
<span class="font_large">“So the final conclusion would surely be that whereas other civilizations have been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions, and then providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense. Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct.” </span>
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<span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong> </strong></span><strong><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17437.Malcolm_Muggeridge" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0); text-decoration: none; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Malcolm Muggeridge</a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </span><i style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1535442" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0); text-decoration: none;">Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society</a></i></strong>
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Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/1846884
2013-10-14T21:31:29+11:00
2013-10-14T21:31:29+11:00
Proximity to the Divine
<span class="font_large"><strong>"The fellowship of being near unto God must become reality in the full and vigorous prosecution of our life. It must permeate and give colour to our feeling, our preception, our sensations, our thinking, our imagininig, our willing, our acting, our speaking. It must not stand as a foreign factor in our life, but it must be the passion that breathes throughout or whole existence." </strong> </span> <span style="color:#FFFF00;"><em> Abraham Kuyper</em></span>
Disciplesplanet
tag:disciplesplanet.net,2005:Post/1793505
2013-10-07T12:30:17+11:00
2013-10-07T12:30:17+11:00
"A Prayer - I Arise Today":
"A Prayer - I Arise Today":<br>I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through the belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation. I arise today through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension, through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom. I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim, in obedience of angels, in the service of archangels, in hope of resurrection to meet with reward, in prayers of patriarchs, in predictions of prophets, in preaching of apostles, in faith of confessors, in innocence of holy virgins, in deeds of righteous men. I arise today through the strength of heaven: light of sun, radiance of moon, splendour of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock. I arise today through God's strength to pilot me: God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me from snares of devils, from temptations of vices, from everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near, alone and in multitude. I summon today all these powers between me and those evils, against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, against incantations of false prophets, against black laws of pagandom against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. Christ to shield me today against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so that there may come to me abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness, of the Creator of Creation.<br> by St.Patrick ( 5 th century AD)
Disciplesplanet