Intolerance: Lessons from 9/11

On 11 September 2001 I was in El Dorado, Arkansas, asleep at my cousin Marilyn's home when my cell phone rang. My friend Dianne in Michigan was calling regarding the attack on the first tower; I turned on the TV just in time to see the plane strike the second tower. Many people have, over the years, decried the fact that these Muslim extremists attacked America. Christians have mobilized to prevent the building of mosques in various places; to prevent other religions the right to practice their religion. We somehow feel we have the right to force everyone to be Christian or have no right to worship the way they choose; or not worship if they choose.

Atheists claim in their fight to prevent any mention of God in any public forum that they are exercising their right to not believe. They say any mention of God is violating their right, so therefore no one should be able to use the name of God in any public way. In so doing, they infringe on the right of the believer to enjoy the same freedom the atheist claims to be trying to protect.

Christians claim all Muslims are on a mission to kill anyone who is not Muslim, therefore all believers in Islam should be prevented from being able to practice their religion. Some even are stating the Constitution only preserves the freedom of religion FOR Christians, not other religions or atheists. In their fight, they are infringing on the rights of non-Christians as they fight to hold on to the very right they're trying to take from others.

Today, as Christians, we look back at the Crusades and we shudder to think that Christians slaughtered millions who refused to convert to Christianity. The Crusades weren't the only time when this practice was rampant, however. The Maya and the Aztec nations were completed exterminated by Christians who slaughtered those peoples for not converting to Christianity. Of course, they were also searching for the gold these peoples had, and took their lands.

Try as I may, I can find no place in scripture where these tactics are given blessing from God or the first century church. Jesus, Himself, actually told us that if we witnessed to someone who refused to believe, we were to walk away from them, and leave them be. He didn't give us permission to take away their rights, much less kill them. It's heartbreaking to think Christians lament the tactics of others as we employ those exact same tactics, ourselves. We decry the atheists from trying to take away our right to worship, believe and proclaim God while we work to take the rights of those who believe differently than we do.

As I reflect on how this breaks my heart, I have to wonder how God's heart breaks when He sees people using His name to perpetrate these atrocities on others. We condemn others for doing exactly what we're doing; how is that reflecting the spirit and teachings of Christ? I want someone to show me examples where Jesus worked to prevent non-believers from living their lives the way they chose or to enjoy the same rights we enjoy. The only thing scripture tells us about how to treat those people is to leave them be. To not associate with them. And though the Bible tells us let all things be established in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses (2 or 3 locations in the scripture), I can't find a single passage in the Word that instructs us to behave the way we're behaving. In fact, I find where we are to behave in a way that portrays love and brings glory to God; our actions are doing the opposite; we're turning people away from God by the things we're doing.

We must look at our tactics and compare them to the tactics of those who are working against us. If those tactics are the same, then we should be able to see that we must change our tactics. We must model our lives, and our actions, after those of Christ. If they don't line up with His, then we know we're out of His will and out of step with His teachings.

Counting My Blessings

As I sit at my desk this morning, I happened to glance over at the wall and really looked at some of the things hanging there. I began to wonder at the things we collect in our lives to decorate our homes, to decorate ourselves and our lives. God has been so good to me, I have more than I ever imagined I could ever accumulate. Just over 13 years ago, I had nothing but a suit of clothes, a blanket, a single wine glass and a ring that had been recovered from the fire. Today my possessions fill up my 1313 sq ft house, most of the attic above the house and a 250 sq ft barn. All of this has been accumulated while I've been on Social Security Disability.

And I've given away quite a bit of stuff, over the past 10 years, as well. But, it's just stuff. When I lost everything, I got back up, brushed myself off and said, "I can move on and I will have more stuff." But, what do we really decorate our lives with? The stuff hanging on our walls? The clothes we wear? Or the friends and family that we hold close? How about decorating our lives with the love and message of Christ? Do we decorate our lives with His love, His grace and mercy?

There are two things I long to hear when I stand before Him on that day I leave this planet: "Well done" and I want to hear those who knew me say, "He shone with the light and love of God."

I count my wealth in the number of friends I have, today. Most of my life I limited myself to just a couple friends, although I had many acquaintances; due to the manner in which I grew up, I just didn't trust opening myself up to many people and I had such abandonment issues, I refused to allow myself to be open to the hurt and heartache that I was certain would come from allowing many people into my life. With Christ, I have learned that even the risk of being hurt is worth the love and companionship you receive from friends and family. Jesus loved the entire planet: every man and woman who has ever been, or will ever be born, and He was left utterly and completely alone at Calvary. Talk about rejection and abandonment! Yet, He continues to love and open Himself up to every single one of us, knowing we have the option to reject Him even after He paid the ultimate price for us. If He can do that, I can open myself up to not only the love, but the possibility of pain.

I'm very grateful for my life, today. I have the love and support of so many wonderful people, even though they know I have not the means to bestow any material gifts on them, they love me for WHO I am, not what I can give. Just the way I love God. Not for all the blessings He has, will and can give. But because He is God. He sent His Son to die to redeem my soul. Now that's love!

First Verse of the Sixth Chapter of Acts

Acts 6:1 - Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distributions.

There are several parts of this scripture I want to discuss. The first is the designations of "the Hebrews" and "the Hellenists". Both of these groups were Jews; the "Hebrews" were natives of Israel and spoke Hebrew or Aramaic; the "Hellenists" were Greco-Roman natives and spoke Greek. This passage of scripture highlights the fact that although all these people were Christians, Holy Spirit had not taken away all of life's difficulties; rather, this scripture shows that when we have difficulties, even with other Christians, we are to ask God for His will and we are to discuss the problems between ourselves. More on this in a minute.

The second part of this scripture is regarding the phrase "the daily distributions". In the early church each person brought their increase (whether it be money, food, livestock, etc) to be totaled together and each day each person received what they needed for that day; no more, no less. They didn't store up for tomorrow or for next week, they received their day's need on the day they needed it. As Christians we are to rely on God to supply our daily need. Notice in the scripture (Philippians 4:19) Paul wrote, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory." He used the singular need, not the plural. God shall supply our need for today, and again tomorrow, but He will not supply tomorrow's need to us today. This is how we learn to trust God to supply each and every need, by never being given more than we need for the day in which we are living. We are instructed by Christ to live in today and let tomorrow worry about itself, because we do not know if we will be here tomorrow. Christ could split the eastern sky tonight or God may call us home before the morning sun rises. What then, would we need tomorrow's supply for?

The final thing I want to point out in this passage is back to when the Hellenists perceived a problem with the daily distribution, they didn't grumble and complain amongst themselves or to others; and they most certainly did not take their complaint outside the body, they presented their complaint to the body. Openly and honestly. Why do we, today, feel the need to air our "dirty laundry" with those outside the body of Christ? And why do we sit back and complain to those who are not involved in the issue? These are merely ways the enemy brings discord and splits to the local body. His sole purpose is to prevent us from being of one accord in our local body because if we are in one accord, mighty works can, and will, be done.

Love: God's Way or Our Way?

The last several days a conversation I had with my pastor, Dony McGuire, several months ago, has been replaying in my mind. He was telling me how several people who had visited the church, and subsequently began attending regularly, had told him how God had led them to the church, and how wonderful the church was and how at home they felt there. But, after a period of time they became aware of issues or circumstances within the the church they disagreed with, most often regarding the welcoming of certain people to the congregation, so they approached the pastor and complained about those matters, saying they simply could not continue to be a part of the congregation or support the ministry of the church. They completely forgot how they had felt led by God to be members of the congregation. Their own prejudices had overridden the call from God.

How many times have we, as Christians, overridden the call or refused to move in the path God has led us to because we allow our preconceived notions or our internal prejudices to overwhelm the leading of Holy Spirit? One of the greatest things I found, and heard, from the pastoral team at The River at Music City is the motto of the church: "Love is spoken here!". Jesus told His disciples one of the greatest commands was to love our neighbor as God loves us. Following that one commandment brings about obedience to almost every one of the others; for if we love someone we won't steal, lie, murder, bear false witness or covet the possessions of your neighbor.

The commandments are based on a simple foundation of love. Love for God, love for ourselves and love for every other person on the planet. First off, if we love God, we will not break any of the other commandments. To love God is to do His will. To love our neighbor (which is every person on the planet) we will do nothing to harm them. Loving our neighbor means we value their lives, our relationships with them and we respect them and their rights and freedoms.

Jesus said the greatest commandment was "Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It's the first commandment, but He also said the second was like the first, "Love your neighbor as yourself," and stated "all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." Notice that Jesus called the greatest commandments the two that dealt with love. That's a powerful statement from our Savior that love is, above everything else, the most important thing we do as Christians. Jesus even told us that loving those who love us is nothing because even the vilest sinner does the same; but loving everyone, even those who do not love us, who mistreat us and do us wrong, shows that we are following the heart of the living God. "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son.."

Think about that: God gave His Son to die for every human being who has ever lived on this planet, from Adam and Eve right down to the very last baby that will be born before the world comes to an end. That includes those who deny Him and those who reject Him just as much as those who accept Him and worship Him. Can any of us say we are able to do the same, without Christ in our hearts? Heck, it's difficult to do even with Christ living within. Our natural instinct is to reject those who don't love us and treat us with respect, dignity and courtesy.

Love is the single most important aspect of our lives. We all want it, seek it and desire it; yet it's the hardest thing for us to give to others. I love the way Paul wrote of love; what the power of truly loving will do and how love reacts to any given circumstance. And he stated that the greatest of faith, hope and love is love. It is the single most powerful thing we do as human beings.

We need to learn to love others the way God loves us. I can't find a single caveat to what God allows for each and every person when He talks about His love for mankind; not one single place where it says God loves us but He removes our choice to live our lives in the way we see fit because we don't follow Him. There's no mention that God will not allow a person to live in sin if they choose to not believe in His teachings or be a member of His church. Nor do I find where God will remove His love for anyone if they don't follow Him. Nowhere where He says if someone doesn't believe the way we do we have the right to prevent them from living their lives according to their choices and desires. And not a single word is written where God commands us to legislate the moral behavior of people who don't believe or worship the same as we do.

It's time the church rises to the level of love that God has shown us. We, the church, must bestow the same grace and mercy on our fellow citizens God shown us, even before we became His followers. Then, and only then, will be truly be walking in His complete will.

Working on the CD

Yesterday my Kickstarter project went "live". That means the path to recording my first Christian CD has been entered. After more than 20 years, my dream of recording this ablum (sic by design) is finally within sight, and it has been a very long road to get here. Many of the delays in getting to this point have been of my own doing. In so many ways I self-sabotaged the process out of fear and doubt. But, I also believe these things happen in God's time, not our own, and I believe this is the time God chose from the beginning for this project to come to fruition.

And I have no doubt this is exactly where God wants me and what He wants me doing. Beginning in 2009 when I first began to really work toward the creation of this CD, the enemy has fought me hard. Soon after starting the work, I contracted an infection. Although I lived with the infection for some 10 months before learning about it, I have since learned some startling information about it. Of the 5 bacteria that comprised the infection, one is the bacteria used by Saddam Hussein's germ warfare director, which I later learned is generally fatal. It wasn't until this past Monday I learned that the particular combination of bacteria I had consisted of several bacteria which, on their own, trend to a 90% fatality rate. And that 90% fatality rate is when doctors are fighting the infections: my infection was not treated for over 10 months because no one knew I had the infection or the bacteria. I am truly a walking, talking, living example of God's miracle power.

As I contemplate this project, I begin to realize the enormous responsibility I have accepted: each song is a 5 minute message in which I get to share God's Word with those who hear it. It is an awesome weight to shoulder when you accept the call to minister to God's people. Each and every word must be carefully considered so as to not cause His children to be misled or misunderstand. Every song is an opportunity to encourage, exhort, teach, remind and even chastise; but ultimately each song must reflect the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness God holds for His children.

Because of the fight the devil has brought my way since I first began working to make this CD, I know that it scares him, therefore God must have a very special purpose and goal in mind for this particular group of songs, which also makes me that much more sensitive when selecting the songs to include on the project. Already I had to make a change because I wanted to record a particular song, but I kept hearing another song, as if God was telling me I had to include that one on the song list. As soon as I replaced the original choice with the one God kept bringing out, I got a sense of peace. I know by that I followed Holy Spirit's prompting.

My daily prayer is that God will continue to guide me so that this project reflects all He wants to say to His people through me. My goal is to exhort my brothers and sisters, encourage them and help them understand the teachings and callings of God on their lives and to help them in their walk. My message is to show them not only God's love for them, but my own. And to reassure them they aren't on this journey alone; that someone else faces the same struggles, trials, temptations they do. My desire is to receive prayers from God's people as I continue on this journey, looking forward to that day when all that God has placed on my heart is available for everyone to hear.

Call To Unity - Galatians 3:28

In verse 28 of the 3rd chapter of Galatians, Paul writes: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 

In the New Spirit Filled Life Bible my friend Jeff O'Brien gave me, there are highlighted sections tied to some scriptures called Kingdom Dynamics which explains and gives translations to better understand those scriptures. For this verse, the entry is titled: Call To Unity

It is often a "seduction of the secondary" that keeps us from our primary love for Christ and for those He has given us to love. The "secondary" can consist of a commitment to a leader, our denomination, or the nonessential (but familiar) customs of our brand of religion. Unity is difficult when these secondary considerations become the basis for judging or staying away from others. Added to these can be racial, cultural or social differences. Sometimes, education, position, financial status or political beliefs can stand between Christians, keeping them from loving one another and experiencing the unity that Christ wills for them. When we "major in the minors," we end up separated from people who do not look, act or talk like we do. The only way to overcome this is to be sure Christ is first and foremost in our lives and to set aside the secondary things that have little ultimate value."

Scriptures offered to support this passage are 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and Ephesians 4:1-16.

God never intended for there to be "denominations" in the Body of Christ; He did not call us to one brand or another of faith. Denominations, like religion, are man-made creations and all too often, those divisions cause us to miss out on the love and support of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus came to not only free us from the grips of sin and the bindings and burdens of the law, He came to free us from religion. The priests, Sadducees and Pharisees were so entrenched in "religion", God saw the need to free us from those restraints and give us free and total access to Him. Religiosity prevents us from experiencing the full and complete freedom and joy that life in Christ brings.

Today's church has re-embraced so much of religion that many are so bound by their religious notions they are not only missing out on Christ's freedoms and blessings, they are actually driving people away from embracing and accepting Christ in their lives. The unity God has called us to through accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior will bring us more joy, blessings, hope and love than we could even begin to fathom. And this unity will also give us the opportunity to be a more effective witness in bringing others into the fold.

Take time to not only read God's Word, but also pray before you read that God will open your heart and your mind to the full truth and revelation He wants to give you during your time in the Bible. Lay aside your preconceived notions of how others should look, dress, behave, believe or what their social, financial or religious status should be. Trust me, YOU will be the one who is most blessed and joyful for your experiences with others than you could ever be to them.

We Need To Return To Living Christ's Walk

Lately I've been seeing and hearing so much chaos in the church. Now, I'm speaking of the Body of Christ, not the local denomination or non-denominational body housed in a brick and mortar building. The denominations/non-denominations have argued for years over the 'interpretation' of scripture. But, the foundations upon which our faith is based is on the life and walk of Jesus Christ. Our principles are supposed to be those that He taught, and lived!

I've had concerns for a while about how we have strayed from those teachings and His examples. Many non-Christians are proclaiming the hypocrisy of the church, today, because we teach about love and turn around and practice hate and apathy. Where are the works that Christ said we would perform? He told us that we would perform the same, even greater, works than He did during his 3 years of ministry. And He performed some mighty works: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, restoring the withered limbs of the lame, giving hearing to the deaf, even raising the dead! But the biggest work He accomplished was loving everyone around Him. Feeding the 5,000 was an act of love! The motivation for raising Lazarus from the dead was love! Restoring life to the son of the widow was compassionate and loving!

But, where is the love in the church, today? The church is more known for it's works to take away rights from those who don't believe the way we think they should, and that's not love. Some argue that the Constitutional protection for the right to worship is only meant for Christians, not for Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. That's not love! I'm not certain if the motivating factor behind these 'movements' is hate, or whether it stems from fear, but either way, it's not motivated by, nor does it show, LOVE!

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote about love; he told us: "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

Measure your actions, your attitudes, your motivations against these scriptures. When you work to take something away from others, whether it be the right to worship as they please or to take away rights that you enjoy, that does not conform to what Paul taught us love is. So what if you don't agree with them? You don't have to! All you have to do is love them: show them kindness, patience, compassion, hope. Think back to your life before you accepted Christ: if Christians had worked to take away your rights and freedoms, would you have become a Christian? By and large, the answer would be no. Because you wouldn't have wanted anything to do with people who were working against you! Trying to take away your freedom, your choice.

The way to win the lost is not by force; by stripping them of their freedom of choice so they are required to become Christian in order to enjoy the same rights and freedoms you do; the way to win them to Christ is by loving them, supporting their rights, even if their decisions are contrary to what you believe.

Take some time to read just the words in red in the New Testament; after you've done so, reflect on what you've read: is there anything in those words that tells you to limit anyone's choices? Is there anything in there that tells you to use the government to force people to believe the way you do? Is there anything in there that tells you treat the lost in any way other than respectful and with dignity?

It's time we returned to the basics of our faith: loving each and every person on this planet the way Jesus loved us!