The Healing of Christ

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Better People: A Summary of Respect of Persons

This may be rather repetitive after several blogs on the Mind of Christ and respect of persons but it is one which both sums up what we have discussed and is also a common and harmful idea in the church today, the notion that some people are 'better' than others. I recently came across a number of persons who were all trying to take over an author's original Christian work. Hardly a godly thing to do, and to most in the Church, it would seem reprehensible, but for not months but years, this group of folks connived, lied, slandered, stole, interfered witht the person's workplace and housing and anything they could do to 'take over' the author's work. They used computer hacking and other means including a few illegal entries [what's that among friends]. Several were from well-known ministries, big money ministries, which preach Christ at least weekly, and how important it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and obey the Word of God. A few even went so far as to turn in false police reports and pretend to be social workers or attorneys [Real Crimes]. Most of them believed that if they could get a hold of the person's work and copyright register it first, then they would own it, and be able to breeze around Christian circles impressing people with how spiritual they were. The author ended up having difficulty finding work, or keeping it, experienced dreadful rumors and slanders, and isolated had very little voice when issues of their work came up. When asked why these fine church-goers and their non-believing friends did this, they freely admitted they were not the author of the material, but claimed to be "Better People". What did "better people" mean to them? It meant they wore cologne and dressed well, were not overweight, and in their own estimation, 'acted' much better. Water that shallow you can't even wade in.

They never thought they were doing wrong, and found a myriad of ways to convince themselves and others that it was 1) what God wanted [the God of burglars, I suppose], 2)that they really were better, 3) that the work needed to look 'professional' which only they could afford, not the author, and that they were essentially doing God a favor by stealing and representing the work and ruining the original author. They had in their own eyes, a little more of that 'panache' a little more of that 'extra something', than the person the Lord had worked through in developing the writings and materials. This fallacy of 'better people' is contrary to all scriptural principles. Standing before the Cross at Golgotha, there are no 'better' or 'worse' people. We often make implicit assumptions, even as believers, based upon outward appearances that those in leadership positions are 'better' those who are wealthy are 'better', or that those who have a network of friends or a ready audience are 'better'. Many of our judgments about 'better' resorts to physical appearance, we rather consider that God cannot use someone who is not dressed in tailored clothing or labels, a notion which cannot benefit the Church. These ideas are entirely of the world, and we have promoted them so much in the church, that most readily accept the idea of 'better' people rather than the Word of God which states:

Pro 24:23 These [things] also [belong] to the wise. [It is] not good to have respect of persons injudgment.
Rom 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
Eph 6:9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
Col 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Jam 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.
1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear:

What God Sees vs What Man Sees
If you can picture the expanse of God, of the greatness of God, who made the universe and all in it and set it in motion in an infinite symbiotic tapestry, if you can picture that even in microcosm, you begin to get an idea of why our notion that any of us are 'better' than one another is ludicrous. I once heard a widely known southern pastor of a dynamic and beautiful church tell a story of a homeless man he passed during the day. The man had received the Lord recently and in his own uncouth way was telling the world. He yelled to the finely dressed, proud young Pastor, letting him know he was a member of his congregation. Rather than warmly delighted, the Pastor used him in a sermon the next week, as an example of an embarrassing moment. He did not wish to acknowledge the man for fear it might hurt his reputation. Both I am sure were sincere, but the less likely one, the homeless man, was not an embarrassment to Heaven.

When judging the spirituality or 'rightness' of Christians, we today are always using peripherals: we judge with the same eyes as the Church, and our lack of discernment has greatly cost the Church in the depth of teaching and walking in Christ. We choose deacons, pastors and Sunday School teachers often more on their standing in the community rather than on their spiritual knowledge or depth. We never think to ask the little older grandmother who has stayed in the Word her whole life to lead the ladies' retreat, instead we get young, peppy, bubbly women with the right look and background not as much in the Word as in popular Christian literature. We suffer for it.

When I think of the people God chose, if we applied contemporary standards, we would be at a loss today to even invite them to membership. Charles Spurgeon and D.L. Moody were heavy set mustached men. Wesley and Finney must have smelled a little musty and dusty riding horses on a circuit to preach. One of the founders of the Baptist colony which became Rhode Island, Roger Williams, once spent the night not in a Holiday Inn, but in a hollow tree stump.
Fanny Crosby was blind and sat all day writing hymns instead of 'working'. What a hard time we would have had with Augustine, the former libertine, or Isaiah walking naked in the desert, or Jeremiah burying his underwear in the dirt, [look it up]; or John the Baptist dressed in a coarse garment eating honey and locusts out in the desert and telling everyone they were sinners in need of repentance. Those whom God chooses are often put through trying circumstances which to the world's eyes look bizarre and irrational, but whom have truly learned the narrow path marked by the direction "Follow Me".

There are countless stories not only in the Church but in fables and tales of the stranger or child who turns out to have been Christ in disguise. Kings often miss Him, but the lowly know immediately that He was something very special. Perhaps that is why His early Church grew on the shoulders of the poor, the weak, the fatherless, the widow and the ones He declared from the first He had come to deliver. They were the unexpected, the unsought, the worthless in society's eyes. Those were the ones who understood where to bury treasure.

The Natural End of Seeing some as 'Better'

One May think, that the natural end of seeing some as 'better' would have little effect, but it has in fact undermined the church in this country with a few other issues. The result of choosing those who look good to the world's eyes, or even the ones who preach with eloquence but not with heart and belief, is a lukewarm church which Christ claims he will spew out of His mouth in the end. With our nationwide ministries, TV and radio ministries, Christian Music industries, and now even film 'ministries' we have created what Keith Green once predicted at the beginning of the contemporary Christian music era: Christian 'Celebrities'. Some have depth but many more do not, caught up in industries which have Christ's name and Christians in them, but emulate the world completely: they ARE the world. The merchandise their products in the same way, often via the same people. They take people captive, and though while offering them a great life in some ways, turn music, preaching, and literature into products for sale instead of real worship. All fall prey, and in the end, our 'celebrities' pass along the teaching that since all are doing it , it is o.k. with God, when the truth is thousands are being led astray.

As a young person, I belonged to a Church which taught that one could not get into Heaven without membership and a lifelong committment to that Church. Today, one is led to believe that one may not be a 'Christian' if one does not adhere to certain lifestyle issues, dress, music,
or so forth. Should one critique something James Dobson says, look out: for some it is an issue of the person's salvation. If one suggests a big ministry should not hack into private computers or enter a house illegally one is being critical of the church and is called a rebel. No one in Christ has the liberty to defame another Christian , harm another or so on: or even more astounding, under grace we really do have even that liberty but in love, who would ever exercise it and say they loved the Christ of Heaven?

Just as a note as to where the disregard of human dignity and worth can lead based upon respect of 'better' so-called people? The incident I mentioned in the beginning of the theft of an author's work: songs, writings, bible studies, websites, poems and more went on for 20 years.
It resulted in homelessness for the author and their children at a couple of points, while a well known ministry adapted their work to their standards. As the years went by, the individuals committing the crimes against the lesser person in their view, involved members of organized crime, unbelievers, occultists and truly unsavory unsaved characters who ended up harming not only the author but the thieves and even disrupting the church, pulling friendships and marriages and families apart, creating divisiveness, spoiling pastors and the author's reputation and making many who would have been saved think 'why bother'. If the author had been left alone, how many could have been brought to eternal life? Children involved, some, gave up on their faith when they saw the shenagins, and several large ministries earned the reputation of the biggest hypocrites in the world. There was even physical harm. And in the end, the author started to cuss. a little.

There is no respect of person to Christ, and here is why: regardless of the outer vessel, it is He who indwells the believers. When we charge another with being unsuitable for the ministry God has chosen them for on any basis other that outright vile sin, we are saying that God is not as wise as we are and did not choose the right pen or brush. He is doing something to your heart when he chooses a 'lesser' person in your eyes. He is teaching us all that wars start with respect of persons, that tragedy and travail prevail and that there was a reason He set an angel with a flaming sword at the gate of Eden so that failing man could not get back in the Garden and wrongfully eat of the tree of Life. In His hands, wisdom and eternity are life. In ours, with our limited reason and faulty faith, it can be wrath and death. Think before deciding who is worthy in God's eyes.

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The Mind of Christ: Alpha Omega, First, Last & God's Heart

In my morning Bible Study this morning, I read and studied Jeremiah 5, an exposition of the horrible consequences to the divided kingdom of Judah and Israel, for having been given all that one could expect on earth, including wealth, defense, position, teachers and Kings after God's own heart, safety and spoil of their enemies, and all the blessings of Life: with God as the head. Instead of turning to God, worshipping God in heart and genuineness, they turned to the neverending pursuit of wealth and comfort, and as passages elsewhere indicate, even to the enslavement and selling of one another, to different gods and idols, to pleasure-seeking and carnality at all levels, and to a heart so hard, that even when God sent prophets to turn them back, they refused to respond, believing instead that their prosperity was an indication of their wellbeing and 'rightness' with God. How familiar this sounds, in a day when Churches are more concerned with how they look and increasing building funds rather than obeying God. A portion of Jeremiah 5 reads:

And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.O LORD, [are] not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, [but] they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return Jeremiah 5:2-3

The heart of God is shown in this passage, not as a berating, Zeus-like wrathful God which so many modern minds portray Him as, but as a God who loves Israel, all Israel above all, as the desire of his heart and the joy of His eye, but who cannot allow them to go on in their false state, believing they are right with God. In God's dialogue with Israel over and over before the fences came down and Assyria and Babylon march as locusts across the Land, killing and taking captive and ultimately leaving even Jerusalem in and as rubble, His constant theme is the cajoling of a Father. When Israel gets to the place where they outshine the other nations not in
excellence and worship, and defile the Glory God set upon them, then after hundreds of attempts to get them to turn back, God is left to no choice but to allow the furnace of suffering and bitterness, the hot fire of captivity, to break their heart and self-will , and bring them back. Even then He promises to leave a remnant in the Everlasting Covenant which cannot be broken.

Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. Jer 5:18

All of this is preface not to a short essay on how God deals with us in disobedience, but a point of the "MIND OF CHRIST" which must be addressed, particularly in this generation. The issue has been somewhat addressed already on the 'order' of God and the lack of respect for persons which we are to have in the forming of our minds to His, but this passage clearly shows where God's heart and mind is: with the very ones which are overlooked, mistreated, undone, sold and harmed, when a society becomes rich fat, proud, even arrogant, and carnal to the point of using each other without regard to God or human life. It is an essential issue for today.

In Matthew we read

Mat 19:30 But many [that are] first shall be last; and the last [shall be] first.
Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. and in Luke

Luk 13:30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

At the Last Supper, Jesus admonishes His disciples that he who would be first must be the servant of all.The order we attribute is not at all the Mind of Christ. Why should Christ, who in Revelation calls Himself the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, have any regard for what is first and last: in His eternal time, the beginning and end are merely limits to hold our fragile minds together. And in the valuing of human beings, His concern is Love, Life, Truth and Holiness, not which man or woman or child considers themselves FOR ANY REASON above another. While it is certainly not a Christian reference, I remember from my years as an Existentialist a play by Kurt Vonnegut which is made into a book called "From Time to Timbuktu: Prometheus 5".
While this may seem a ludicrous diversion for a moment, I remember a passage in response to someone in despair in which one of the characters says, "Just think of all the dust that never had a chance to sit up and look around". We forget as contemporary teachers would have us forget that we were formed from the clay---even Adam's name comes from "Adumah" which refers to red clay. At the cross we are reminded in the Great Act of Timeless Love, that for a God as great as ours, as limitless as ours to first come in our form, and then die in our place that we might receive HIS righteousness instead of our own, that it hardly behooves us to glance over bowed before the Cross and consider whether those bowing next to us are in some way better or worse dust or clay than we are. We are valued because HE values us, but He utterly counts the poor the same as the wealthiest, the President or Monarch the same as the comatose patient: He accomplishes His plan equally through either, and quite frankly, the stillborn, retarded child or person in a 'permanant vegetative state' are far less resistant to His Will and plan than the Heads of State. Our 'valuing' of human beings is the opposite, especially as days grow old.

In Jeremiah 5 after delivering the counts against Israel, the real mind of God, of Christ is seen:

yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.5:28

THE FIRST THING ON GOD'S HEART

This is the first thing on God's heart: that in Jeremiah 5:26 He is outraged at snares to 'catch men', and that in the verse above, the ones counted last in the eyes of a society waxed fat: the poor, those suffering injustice, the needy, the fatherless, in other words, the vulnerable, are not only not cared for, but are set as prey for the wealthy and at ease. He is the one who sees every sparrow that falls to the ground; He is the one who knows the number of the hairs on your head, who 'counteth the stars and telleth them by name'. He is the one who over and over promises to 'deliver the island of the innocent', to protect the widow and the fatherless, and to stop the rage of assault against the weak. This is HIS Christianity, His Way: not the human reason which values a person in terms of wealth, position, power, or 'good looks'. [In Heaven, I doubt any of us will think we looked particularly beautiful here.]

LIFE UNWORTHY OF LIFE (?)

As I write about this critical change of heart and mind, to gather our Father's eyes and thinking about other people and 'importance', I have just finished several weeks reading and writing about the T-4 Program in Nazi Germany. One of the most influential thought systems which influenced the Nazis was that of "Social Darwinism". At the turn of the century, Darwinism took hold in which many believed that the 'fittest' or most capable would always survive and that the weak and vulnerable would rightfully and naturally fall prey to the environmental conditions which would cause their death and hence 'weed them out'. These points were applied to the social milieu, in which survival of the fittest and 'natural adaptation' became the valued perspective also around the time of the 'industrial revolution'. Hitler and Haeckel and others posited that care for the weak and vulnerable was not natural, and that these persons were without consciousness, and therefore had no viable life or contribution to make. He called them "needless eaters". A man named Karl Binding wrote a book on "Lebensunwerte Leben" or Life unworthy of Life, in which he expounded what would become the foundation for much of our contemporary thinking in Eugenics and 'Assisted Suicide' and Euthanasia. He tried to make the case that those without health, work and intelligence had no value to themselves or society, and the doing away with them was 'merciful'. The Nazis, including Wirth and Conti,
set about to clear the Mental Hospitals and Infirmaries for the Developmentally delayed by mass lethal injections. That they were after not only the 'unconscious' is clear: in 1933 they ordered the sterilization of all who fit the categories of Life Unworthy of Life, such as Epileptics, Incorrigible Criminals, and Chronically unemployed as well as the retarded and mentally ill. Alcoholics were added also.
They believed they could solve human society's problems by killing the very ones which God warns not to touch or harm. They not only killed tens of thousands before the outcry from parents and others became so loud they had to stop outward killings, but they even harvested brains for study from their innocent victims, and most often charged parents for their burial and death.

The first sermons of protest against Hitler, before most were met with merely stonings and stompings not imprisonment or death, were ones in outcry against the deliberate massive destruction of the weak and vulnerable. Germany, before they even touched the Jews, had already set their own defeat in God's venue. When they turned to the Chosen people and declared by their darwinistic standards that they too were 'unworthy' of life in the New Reich, they sealed their fate. No human kingdom stands very long after a massive slaughterhouse of the innocent. None ever have.

They did the same as we do now when we want to put distance between our 'first and last': they alter language. "Killings" became "Mercy Killings" which then became "Euthanasia" which then became the "T-4 Program". "Health Police" were instituted.
And just like Israel did in the years before captivity people became expendable objects, and they found new ways to cover the most abominable deeds with laconic language.

ABANDONING LIFE

We now encounter issues such as Terri Schiavo, in which her life, against the wishes of her parents and many was ended by starvation [a prominently used method in the T-4 program], or abortion on demand, in which over 36 million lives are now gone from a generation, or assisted suicide, sometimes more assisted than suicide, or a variety of other issues. It is not that sometimes ethical choices are very hard to make: very very hard to make, in order to be just and merciful and obey God. What is pre-eminent and parallel is that we have lost Life and God as our first values, and like Ancient Israel on the verge of captivity, whom God loved but had to change, and like Nazi Germany, who never even pretended to care for Life, or others, we again are beginning to raise a gauntlet of blood in which we cry for expediency rather than care for the poor the weak, the widow, the needy, ill, fatherless and so on.

The Inanaugural Address of Jesus Christ

In both Isaiah 61 and Luke 4, the very purpose of the Messiah in bringing in God's Kingdom is pronounced:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. 4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. 5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. 7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. 8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Luke 4:15: Jesus Proclaims the Arrival of the Kingdom
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth

Who is mentioned? The poor, the brokenhearted, the blind, the captive. He does not say, "I have come to tell you how you must celebrate Christmas or wear head coverings, or whether you may view television, or drive certain cars, or any of these: there is plenty of wisdom for walking in life throughout scripture, and even commands regarding these and a thousand other issues. What He declared, what was on His mind and heart and what should be on ours, is :

1. Delivering the Captive
2. Giving Sight to the Blind
3. Feeding the hungry
4. Caring for the Poor
5. Attending to the Widow and fatherless and those alone in the world
6. Healing the brokenhearted
7. Binding up the bruised

and whatever bears that stamp of excellence. And not just from a legalistic 'outing' or good deed, but with the heart and love of God flowing through us, recognizing that we are not going to understand the will of God or have the mind of Christ until we realize the great honor and 'rightness' of meeting His Kingdom, His way without first or Last. Our blood bought Salvation should break our heart daily. Further, when we are called to serve any of those the world calls 'last' we are to do it with an utter understanding that as the Joan Baez song goes "there but for fortune go you and I": in other words, we begin to understand that even our health or sight is a gift and that we are not first until serving. Stephen the Apostle was stoned to death following one of the greatest sermons of all time: but when the other apostles could not be 'bothered' waiting tables of widows, Stephen went. He was attending just as much to the Kingdom of God, and in the end accomplished just as much. First and Last, in Heaven will be seen with great new eyes.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Mind of Christ:East nor West

East nor West

While it is easy to discuss whether east or west is broken down in Christ the completeness of what is meant by 'east' and 'west' is another thing. Rather than polarize as to one interpretation or the other, the most favorable position is 'all': the lines of separation in Christ are broken down between east and west geographically: it does not matter what land or region one is from. Likewise, cultures and philosophies and politics from one extreme to the other are no longer the first thought in Christ, as long as His holy doctrine is not contradicted. Whether physical or figurative, the great differences between people are broken down.

We have already seen this removal of the partition between people, or the "Great Tolerance" in our discussions of differences between male and female [gender], Jew nor Greek [race and religion], bond or free [condition] and others, but now we see, that as long as His Word is paramount and forefront, our differences as human beings are unessential to God. Before, it was mentioned that this Blood-Bought Tolerance does not erase differences into some naive ecumenism or one-world one-human-race easy 'all-join-hands' philosophy which is in reality, unaccomplishable. Rather, the removal of the partition between East and West does not mean every philosophical and cultural tenet must be tolerated and accepted by all, but that those things posited as east and west add to the uniqueness of the individual coming to Christ, to the uniqueness of the way Christ is viewed [at least in part, for Christ is genuine and singular], and like gender, race, culture and condition add to the glory of God's unique creation.

What are we grafted into, when we come to Christ, or Messiah? We are grafted into the vine of Israel, given adoption as sons and children of the promises, prophecies, the Word, the Messiah, and Canaan, the New Jerusalem and Eternal Life in Heaven. Here is a remarkable statement: When we accept Christ, we become Jews. That will no doubt astound most traditional Christians who have never been taught this, but it is the vine of true Israel we are grafted into.
[Romans 9-11]

One has to be careful when stating that, because it is at once both central and critical to living in Messiah, and it is also the source of aberrant doctrine, and some will use it to displace the Jews of History, while others will tend toward going back to religion instead of relationship. In the Messianic movement I have seen this: some seek 'being Jewish' more than they seek their Messiah, or Christ, and some even shudder if you use the Greek or hellenized 'Jesus Christ' instead of Y'shua Ha' Meschiach'. The second is certainly more accurate, but if you love Him, you will find there is no name He is called by which will offend.

Returning though to the issue of East and West, in the days when Jesus walked in Israel, teaching and embodying the Word of God, many from tradition have a mental picture that it was all Jewish, and that Gentiles or citizens of other nations were not often encountered. While this was somewhat true in the more rural regions, around Jerusalem and Bethany where much of his teaching and later 'passion' took place, Jesus and His disciples encountered many persons from different nations. Simon of Cyrene was from North Africa, the soldiers so frequently mentioned were from Italy and Rome, and Greeks are mentioned frequently. During the holiday seasons of the Feasts, merchants would come to Jerusalem and other larger cities bringing spices, foods, merchandise and animals to sell, and on the day of Pentecost 16 nations are represented as having heard the Gospel in their own language. Most likely on the day when the crowds called for Jesus to be crucified, they would have included the merchandisers of Passover as well. No doubt they also called for the death of the Messiah, who would not be bought or sold.

When East and West collide in the House of God, it is a delight if walking and viewing it IN the MIND OF CHRIST, but it can be a disaster if the congregation is not knit together in and by the Holy Spirit. Persons from differing locations and cultures have different ways of treating their children: some view love and spoiling the same, some view discipline and abuse the same. When putting on the MIND OF CHRIST, the differences lessen because the Word of God and the commandments become paramount: the authority of the Word in how to raise our children or treat a spouse greatly lessens differences though there may be some left within the bounds of the Word. The Word and the act of Christ on the Cross, permanently rent the vail between man and God. Golgotha also did away with the divisive prejudices of where people are from, what color they are or what background they come to Christ with. Though our Churches are very different, a Christian from Bangkok should be able to comfortably fit into worship of a true Christian Church in Europe or America. [note 1]

Our differences in food and ways of celebration, in the arts and so forth as long as they are pure and innocent in and by the Word are not causes of division, but reasons to rejoice and joy in one another; in coming to understand the intricate and complex beauty which God has woven into human society: it is a new tolerance based upon self-less-ness [see "Self-less-ness"-this blog, Oct 30th,2005]

Differences Which Do Matter

There are however differences which do matter, and these have all to do with philosophy and religion. While no one religion owns the Christ of Heaven, there is Christ's doctrine, and the World's doctrine, or His teaching vs the World's. The mind of Christ is not the mind of the secular world and while many try to draw lines of demarcation between religion and the world, the correct demarcation is between the way of Jesus Christ and the way of the world. 'Religion' is used in the vernacular to refer to any systematic way of worshipping or dealing with God.
A formal definition follows:

"any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy." This definition would exclude religions that do not engage in worship. It implies that there are two important components to religion:
one's belief and worship in a deity or deities
one's ethical behavior towards other persons
Websters New World Dictionary, Third College Edition 1990

Religions of the world do not at all meet in unison in Christ. This is because many stand opposed to His mind and heart and teachings. All religions contrary to popular opinion, do not share the same God. Some have multiple gods, some pagan spirits which inhabit creation, some have gods based upon Greek and Roman archetypes of Zeus of a white bearded man sitting on Mt. Olympas throwing thunderbolts, some are of Nordic mythology and legend and some worship idols. None of these systems arrive at the one God of Heaven who called himself "I Am", and who alone claims to be the one God who exists with no others. Christians are often criticized because they claim "one way" to God, but what they are saying is that God has presented Himself to man as ONE [in Judaism, the Echad], that He presented Himself first in His Creation, and in the Breath of God which speaks and creates and governs, and then in the Written Word, then in the Incarnation or manifestation of God in the Flesh, Jesus Christ.
He is present in the indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit and Shekinah Glory,
and will be present again. We have no problem if we are told that there is one answer to an addition problem: we would think it odd for people to make up or follow their own answers. If an isolated village had one road leading to it, and we instead chose every other road arguing that some roads are better, some cleaner, some prettier, and others much broader and easier, we could travel freely but never arrive at the village. The idea here is not prejudice or condemnation or a lack of tolerance for other roads, only the blood bought wisdom of knowing which road travels to the eternal destination we desire: peace, joy and bliss in the presence of the One who bought it for us.

MORE TO FOLLOW.....
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NOTES
1 An unfortunate characteristic though of many Western churches as opposed to Churches in what were formerly called 'Third World' is that Christians from oppressive dictatorships or cultures in which practicing Christianity is either criminal or persecuted, is that American Churches have become very materialistic and less dedicated, but that is hardly the fault of Christ, but of our own choosing.

The Mind of Christ: The Other-Neither Male nor Female-II

The Other: Neither Male nor Female
January 7th, 2006

The reason the first premise, at the very least in the Church must be the breaking down of walls between Jew and Greek, is because it set the foundation for a Church where belief and love mattered more than all other differences. It was not an abandonment of the Law of God: quite the contrary, for in Christ, in the Messiah, belief,faith and Love were put in their proper order, and rather than abandoning the laws of separation between the Jews and others, the new command established them. In the Old Testament [the Torah, Tenach] the commands of separation were to

1)Keep the Line of Messiah Pure, and
2)Protect Israel from falling into Sin and unbelief.

Both of these reasons were meant to set apart a Holy, Sanctified, dedicated and anointed people, of God's Choosing, who would bear his Glory, do His Will and be loved by Him. As Gentiles came to the faith through belief in the Jewish Messiah, they were adopted into the vine and made heirs of the promises and convenants, adopted as children into God's Chosen people. They did not REPLACE God's chosen people. So essentially, in belief we become a part, albeit grafted in, of the vine of Israel, the Chosen, for the same purposes : to bear God's Glory, love and be loved by Him, and carry His purposes and plans into the world.

Neither Male nor Female

If we begin to understand why there is no Jew and Gentile in Christ, no point of racial or ethnic division, then we begin to understand what it means when the vail was torn at his death, and why the carnal things that matter so much to us on earth matter far less in Christ.

The Vail was Rent

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;Matthew 27:51
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.Mark 15:38
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.Luke 23:45

The passages above get some mention in sermons, but not enough attention is paid towards the miracle and significance of what happened the day Jesus died and the vail in the temple was torn in two. The vail in front of the Temple when it moved in the desert with Israel was of scarlet, gold, blue and white: one entered into the Holy Place through it, confronting first sacrifice and then the basin, and through a vail into the Holy of Holies[kodesh kodeshim], inside the Holy Place. It is the separation before the coming of Messiah, between Man and God, and only until that time, a High Priest could enter in to offer up the sacrifice. A vail is mentioned another time in scripture when Moses came down from the Mountain, having been in the presence of God and even his face shone with a remnant of the Glory, but it was so great, that a vail covered his face because sinful man could not look on even a small fragrance of the Glory of God. This is all mentioned because when we talk about the separations and "

The Mind of Christ: The Other-Neither Male nor Female

Exploring Christian Concepts, Teaching, Doctrines, News, Commands, and lessons.

The Other: Neither Male nor Female

January 7th, 2006

The reason the first premise, at the very least in the Church must be the breaking down of walls between Jew and Greek, is because it set the foundation for a Church where belief and love mattered more than all other differences. It was not an abandonment of the Law of God: quite the contrary, for in Christ, in the Messiah, belief,faith and Love were put in their proper order, and rather than abandoning the laws of separation between the Jews and others, the new command established them. In the Old Testament [the Torah, Tenach] the commands of separation were to

1)Keep the Line of Messiah Pure, and
2)Protect Israel from falling into Sin and unbelief.

Both of these reasons were meant to set apart a Holy, Sanctified, dedicated and anointed people, of God's Choosing, who would bear his Glory, do His Will and be loved by Him. As Gentiles came to the faith through belief in the Jewish Messiah, they were adopted into the vine and made heirs of the promises and convenants, adopted as children into God's Chosen people. They did not REPLACE God's chosen people. So essentially, in belief we become a part, albeit grafted in, of the vine of Israel, the Chosen, for the same purposes : to bear God's Glory, love and be loved by Him, and carry His purposes and plans into the world.

Neither Male nor Female

If we begin to understand why there is no Jew and Gentile in Christ, no point of racial or ethnic division, then we begin to understand what it means when the vail was torn at his death, and why the carnal things that matter so much to us on earth matter far less in Christ.

The Vail was Rent

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;Matthew 27:51
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.Mark 15:38
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.Luke 23:45

The passages above get some mention in sermons, but not enough attention is paid towards the miracle and significance of what happened the day Jesus died and the vail in the temple was torn in two. The vail in front of the Temple when it moved in the desert with Israel was of scarlet, gold, blue and white: one entered into the Holy Place through it, confronting first sacrifice and then the basin, and through a vail into the Holy of Holies[kodesh kodeshim], inside the Holy Place. It is the separation before the coming of Messiah, between Man and God, and only until that time, a High Priest could enter in to offer up the sacrifice. A vail is mentioned another time in scripture when Moses came down from the Mountain, having been in the presence of God and even his face shone with a remnant of the Glory, but it was so great, that a vail covered his face because sinful man could not look on even a small fragrance of the Glory of God. This is all mentioned because when we talk about the separations and "walls of partition", we have to realize the degree of what was done, not only to take down the vail between man and God, but between all who share in belief and the the Blood of Christ.

The first separation between Jew and Gentile is erased in the 'ikklesia' in the assembly of believers. And the second division, is also held of significantly less importance than belief: the difference between male and female.

This point may seem paradoxical at first, because in the Old and New Testament, both before salvation and after, before Pentecost and after, men and women are admonished greatly about the proper role and order of the sexes. There is a difference between agreeing to the order Christ places in the church and His creation, abiding by His order and sense, and yet still understanding that while we are given different roles and vocations, we are equal before Him: we are equal in His Love, in His Plan, and in His gifts! His order does not contradict His Love and equity.

Men and Women are given the task together to 'show' or manifest the Church and God's love in this world. In a marriage, we are admonished to allow male headship, and female submission, but in a joint effort, with two equals agreeing to the roles, both of which are excellent and critical in God's way. The husband is commanded to show Christ's love for the Church, loving his wife as Christ loves the Church [Ephesians 5:25]. The wife is commanded to show the 'Bride' of Christ in surrender to her husband's headship, in loving him and building him up as the Church is to love Christ as head. We tend to devalue what we see as a 'lesser' role of the woman but it is not lesser: it is different, and properly balanced, the two, husband and wife, made into one flesh, show Christ and His Church, and His Love to the World. It is a joint venture, a joint mission, and a dynamic, living pleasing relationship when it is in careful balance. Unfortunately, most do not keep it in balance and that is when i becomes burdensome. Headship of a church of family too often disintegrates into domination, and submission is often overthrown in its wake, or becomes a form of emotional slavery. In proper order and holiness, though, it is a mutual obedience filled with joy and peace, meeting the needs of each.

This principle carries to males and females in the Church: while there have been female ministers and some even very good, and some out of utter necessity or the Gospel would not have been preached, but it is not God's perfect order for a woman to 'head' a church: on the other hand, too many men do not realize, that God's perfect order is Christ as the head, and the 'bishop' as a servant-leader. Our concern with whether men should have certain jobs in the House of God or whether women can take those roles, is partly doctrinal and partly carnal. It is clearly 'doctrine' [His] that men should take leadership under Christ in the Church. On the other hand, there are multiple tasks and roles which women are mentioned having in God's will in the Old and New Covenants: Huldah was a prophetess and 'college' professor, Esther headed half of Persia, and saved her nation, Deborah took a man [Barak]'s place in battle winning victory and rising as a mother in Israel to become a Judge of Israel, and in the New Testament, Prisca AND Aquila headed a church and taught, and Phoebe is mentioned also in the highest esteem: Anna, a prophetess announces in addition to Simeon the premiere nature of Christ's ministry at the time of His dedication and circumcision. So the distorted repeating of 'women are to keep silence in the Church' will not totally do but must be fit into the whole of scripture, while at the same time not defacing or defaming the very Holy Order of male and female roles in the Church. If God calls a woman to do a job which is normally a man's, it is often because no man would respond to the call, or it is in judgment to shame men to take their rightful roles. When Israel sinned, God noted that women and children would become their judges. If they are anointed and appointed, even women CAN do what God has called them to do and indeed they must: they would be disobedient not to. However, it will often not work nearly as smoothly as when the Church is in proper order. When women and children take over most of the roles in a church it is a sign of God's judgment: in a nation it is the same. Deborah arose after raising a family in Israel to do God's will and say what was right. Why? Because no man was doing the right thing and Israel was failing because of it. Her phrase is astounding:

...they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. Judges 5:7.

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Mind of Christ: The Other- Jew nor Greek

Mind of Christ: The Other- Jew nor Greek
December 27th, 2005

Of the differences mentioned in the beginning passage in Scripture in Galatians, the first to be erased is that between Jew and Greek, a critical separation issue. Mind you, that most of the admonitions are for those 'in Christ', in the Church, where the barriers between Man and God and Man and Others are broken down. In the world, the barriers often still exist, but the believer is called to be wise, but walk in Christ. Jews kept separate from the Greeks in their dress, their worship, and in many other practices, save for commerce. They tried to keep separate from a secular state, but the State made it impossible. And yet the promise was of a Jewish Messiah for a Jewish nation, who is at the same time, paradoxically called "Light of the Gentiles". Several passages in scripture identify this unique juxtaposition of the Jew and Gentile in Christ: after the veil between man and God is rent (torn) the premeire value is genuine love, agape love, above the warm-feeling 'philia' or brotherly love that some feel in great movements, or at at holidays, but unconditional, self-less love which overlooks the faults and peccadillos of a person and still holds them in esteem and regard. Some say only mothers approximate this unconditional love on earth, but in the Church, we are called to it. As such, all peripherals which define a person take second place to the fact that they are created by God, and that they are a living reflection of His Glory. It is not that one's race or culture, or name, or intelligence or body shape do not add to one's definition of oneself, it is simply that in terms of regard to another person, they are not essential. The Holy Spirit indwelling us, provides our ability to love others in this way.

Many Christians throughout the ages have prayed the prayer asking God for His love for another person, especially the hard to love: the recalcitrant erring child, the person we have prejudice towards, the person worst of all who has dealt us great pain, injustice and hurt. It is the great hallmark of those in Christ to strive towards the utter regard of the 'Other': even in the face of pain and humiliation. When that love is formed in the heart by the indwelling, it is like no other love on earth. We all fall short of it most of the time, but it is noted as the greatest gift and second only to the commandment to love God above all else.

When we then consider the 'Jewish-Gentile' question today, we are really in no way far from the discussion of the first century: the walls between Jews and Gentiles are broken down. This does not mean that the Jewish person coming to Messiah throws his heritage away, in deed all of the New Testament affirms that we enter in to that heritage: we enter into the promises, covenants, prophecies, Messiah and faith as is stated in Romans:

Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises; Romans 9:4

When the walls in Christ {outside there is still contention] between Jew and Gentile are broken down, it is not to the detriment of either: the Gentiles enter in to the promises of the Chosen People, not as a new replacement people, but entering into the election chosen since the foundation of the earth. As such, we should never have developed into 'regular' Christians and 'Jewish' or 'Messianic' Christians: we should all basically regard ourselves as one, and equal, and as either Jews by the flesh who entered into the promise, or Gentiles who were adopted in by belief. This barrier should be utterly broken down in Christ, in the House of God. Instead, too often we see just the opposite.

In WWII, the preminence of the flesh over the Spirit became glaring: in Catholic Churches, clerics cooperated with separating 'sacraments' for Jewish converts and Gentile Catholics---and while I do not espouse Catholic doctrine, it was certain a push of Catholic doctrine at the time that race was not a point of division: they held true to the Gospel on that point. Lest one think it was the Catholics only, the whole German Lutheran Church split over this and other issues: there are accounts even among Baptists of Jews who returned to the Pastors who had baptised them only to be turned away in fear for their own lives: even the believing Church erred and sinned against it's siblings, the believing Jews in a way anathema to Scripture and quenching the Holy Spirit. The DC, or Deutsche Christen Church in Germany during the Shoah went even farther: it dismissed and tried to eradicate every point of Judaic influence from Scripture, worship, and other elements of Church life, removing the Old Testament, redefining Jesus as an Aryan and referring to Paul as a Rabbi with an inferiority complex, not conducive to 'Third Reich ' Christians.
Even today we see remnants of this in American Churches: Churches which advertise themselves as "New Testament Only" as if one could keep a branch living without the root. These Churches are not as mean-spirited and many have no overt show of prejudice at all, they have just fallen prey to an ancient heresy of Marcionism which called the Christian erroneously to see the Old Testament as for the Jews only, or before Grace and therefore irrelevant. A student of scriptures immediately picks out the lack of discernment: God and His Grace, Glory and Salvation exist at all points in Scripture: even before the foundation of the World, and are a continuing covenant, the fulfillment of which is made clear in the New.
Distinctions based upon any race but especially towards Jewish believers is prohibited: it is sin in God's eyes. When any person comes to Christ , race ceases to be any issue other than it adds to His diverse nature in creation: it was His delight to create each a unique glory. In all that we discuss, that should be our primary focus: that the other person, even if they have fallen prey to the world and become corrupt, hard-hearted, and sinister to the point of revulsion, was created a unique glory, but away from belief and the Word and the Holy Spirit, Hell can literally take hold. We do not lack wisdom in dealing with dangerous people, nor are we called to having to receive constant danger from them, but our love for them, even the 'monsters' is required, knowing that but for the grace of God, we might have been that infected with the world as well. Behavior can understandably cause consternation, but race should be an easy dismissal as a reason for contention between believers, or towards unbelievers.

Neither male nor female

Neither East nor West

The Mind of Christ:THE OTHER: LESSON I: THE GREAT BLOOD_BOUGHT TOLERANCE

December 16th, 2005
THE OTHER: LESSON I: THE GREAT BLOOD_BOUGHT TOLERANCE

Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus

Neither Jew nor Greek
For the past 9 or 10 years, I have devoted much of my academic activity to studying the Holocaust or Shoah. When I began to study the Shoah, I did not come to it blindly: I had worked with Thanatological issues for many years, and although before then it was not my main area, I often heard reference to the events of sixty years ago, via philosophers and psychologists who had either survived themselves or studied the Shoah, or thanatologists and theologians who used it often for an example. My reasons for beginning a study of the Shoah though, were not initially an 'academic' issue, but an earnestly human one: after 8 years of university training in Psychology with a specialization in mourning,loss and bereavement, and after now two decades of being a Christian studying the Scriptures, Church history, Bible history, Jewish theology and history on my own, I could not comprehend nor grasp how we could engage in a World War leaving 65 million dead, nor grasp the target : the Jewish genocide at the center of it. More than that, as a child and adult born post-war, looking back to the great and terrible events slightly before I was born, I could not fathom what limits or bonds of humanness had to decay before we were willing to do anything , virtually anything to another human being merely to win power, wealth or whatever other earthly gain we might have imagined. An equally disturbing question for me, was how any Christian person could have been involved or apathetic enough not to help or speak up during the war, and having not grown up with Anti-Semitic attitudes what could possibly motivate the sort of raw hatred it took to try to erase one particular people from off the face of the earth, much less Europe. After the years I have spent studying though, and recognizing I am only at the beginning of it, I have had an additional question growing since the start: how could we not let it change us?

In the sixty years since the end of WWII, as one by one each concentration camp was found with starving frozen corpses which had been abused and murdered, instead of a world in which many survivors and most of their children are still alive having deeply repented and turned, we have instead had genocide after genocide, mounting in numbers, killings in the millions, based on race, geographical location, and national identities: our reasons for war have changed, but we have not.

I say all this at the beginning of a discussion I have called "The Great blood-bought Tolerance", for tolerance is the most we have been able to get lip service for over the past post war years. The field of holocaust studies has abounded: there are more published books on this event than on almost anything in history: they are sound, scholarly, and detailed and one will never get to the end of all of them. Documentaries fill the history channels, and Museums are growing, the press has contributed greatly by constant attention to Holocaust related events, and schools seek to teach tolerance education, what ever that is, but we have not grown more tolerant, nor been changed by the unimaginable number of graves we have foisted upon ourselves in 60 years, not from natural causes but from outright murders.

Hard to live in a world like that. Hard to imagine that after six decades of slaughter, one may be called insane for being too concerned about what is going on: the insanity is decidedly in forgetting, not remembering.

So, to begin this study of 'tolerance' we begin by noting that the tolerance taught by Christ, is not the tolerance of this world, nor some grand 'ecumenical nonsense' of 'all-join-hands' theology, for the truth is though we are called to love others better than ourselves we truthfully do not like one another very much, and our differences if pushed together can cause intolerance and hatred rather than love and tolerance. The tolerance we are called to is a love stronger than any differences in another person and [this is the one we all have trouble with] stronger than anything they do

When Christ died on Golgotha
For Jewish people to start at Golgotha when talking about tolerance would seem offensive, for those of us who have been there to understand, it is the only place to start: it is where our tolerance begins: and not mere tolerance but love. We can only love, because we are loved. When Jesus paid the price there, He paid the price with blood that was divine, He exacted on the Cross what we could never do for ourselves, He took on His back not only the sins of the world, but provided for us the healing not only of our physical and emotional ailments, but also the prejudices, hatreds and intolerances for others: we can not possibly thing, that any one is better than ourselves after dwelling in the covenant of His blood. We were not worth His death and suffering: He could have merely created someone new in our place, but instead, taught us the extremities of real Love. So complete is this salvation that He was not the respecter in giving it with regard to any race, nation, people, or other difference: it is free to all, and we cannot look on another person different from ourselves as holding any less a place in His heart: those who still need healing, He wants healed; those who have received His healing, His Salvation, He wishes to grow to be like Him. So extensive was His Love, and most of us are not there yet, that after He was bound, falsely arrested, tortured greatly, beaten, humiliated, mocked, and abused even on the Cross, He turns to say, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do": He could see beyond to the eternal suffering of those who abused Him so badly, we often lose sight of this. Only He can form this Love in us: it is not of this world. I have mentioned before, that when God sees us, after Salvation, He sees only one color: red. He does not see the nationality or race of a person, He sees only His Son, or a need for His Son. This is evident from John 3:17, the verse most people forget following 3:16:

for God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved. John 3:17

He is not about condemnation on any basis, and yet we spend so much of our time in it. We cannot have kneeled at Golgotha and not walked away knowing we are not more or less valuable to Him than any other person: He could easily have created others in our place: we were not worthy of the act that kept us from eternal suffering, so for us to think that others have any less a place before Him than we do, is not only erroneous, it defiles the knowledge of what He did for us, and keeps others from Salvation. No Christian can hold bigotry or prejudice in his heart without quenching the Holy Spirit and departing from the presence of God.
Not Even Respect of Position

So complete is the teaching that in Christ there are no differences, that even RESPECT FOR POSITION is counted as a 'evil thought.' James notes it in the following:
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Jam 2:2-4

If it is even an evil thought to consider inside the House of God that one with more money or position is 'better' or deserving of more regard or respect, then how much more should we erase consideration of such things outside the Church?

The "Mind of Christ" takes on a different view of others and racial, national and ethnic differences than the world. God sees the differences as a reflection of the glory of His creation, not as a vying for position of superiority: none are superior, and none are more than 'created'.
Jew nor Greek

Of the differences mentioned in the beginning passage in Scripture in Galatians, the first to be erased is that between Jew and Greek, a critical separation issue. Mind you, that most of the admonitions are for those 'in Christ', in the Church, where the barriers between Man and God and Man and Others are broken down. In the world, the barriers often still exist, but the believer is called to be wise, but walk in Christ. Jews kept separate from the Greeks in their dress, their worship, and in many other practices, save for commerce. They tried to keep separate from a secular state, but the State made it impossible. More to follow....

Neither bond nor free

Neither male nor female

Neither East nor West

The Mind of Christ:The Other and Respect for Persons II

The Other and Respect for Persons
December 12th, 2005

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.Galatians 3:28

And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.Mark 12:31
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We have just finished speaking about God's order, our preface for talking about how God views the 'other' , the 'other person' in this mind of Christ which we are commanded to 'put on'. Before we can understand why it is so important, we need to understand that God's order causes peace, rest, excellence and His Plan to prevail, and hence, the salvation of souls and His Glory to be made manifest. When we are walking in His order and light, in His way, we fulfill what He has called us to be. When the rich young ruler asks Jesus what are the two greatest commandments, Jesus replies that the first, as we should expect, is to love God with all our hearts and minds and souls. When we do this, His commands are not a burden or a 'have to'. We run to them to delight a Heavenly Father who delights us and delights in us. In the center of His Will is in the center of His Love, and most true Christians are very uncomfortable in this world being away from either.

The same Jesus, though, right after noting our complete and utter relationship to and obligation to our Father, God, notes the second greatest commandment: To Love Others as Ourselves. This is given cursory attention in today's Church and world: we all acknowledge that it is good to 'love one's fellow man' but so do all other religions: what makes the love of the other person so different in the Kingdom of God? In the Mind of Christ? It is because one cannot have the Holy Spirit Agape Love, without it innately reaching out to 'others as ourselves'. When it is missing, something is terribly wrong and we are not in fellowship closely with God either: we quench the Holy Spirit, because it is God's nature to Love.

We all fall short of our love towards others, though, and while most of us love God alot, and occasionally get very mad at Him when things don't go our way, we are far more likely to fall out of love with other people than with God. To be in God's order, though, is to be in love with God and with those He created, especially in the Ikklesia, or Church.

The first scripture above starts the premise of how we are to view other people in the Church. It notes that there are no differences between Jew and Greek, or male or female. (to be continued

The Mind of Christ:The Other and Respect for Persons

The Mind of Christ:The Other & Respect for Persons

The Other & Respect for Persons
December 3rd, 2005

We may exist in time and space on a small spinning planet far away from other discernable or any life, a mystery in itself, but we also exist in a sea of other people. Human relations are both the height of daily experience ( except of course for the LORD), and can also be the nadir of existence: they bring joy and happiness and plunge people into despair and despondency.

Life among others on this planet however it manifests itself, though is inevitable: and in the forming of the Mind of Christ, one of the most critical tenets is how we view the 'Other'. Scripture is adamantly clear about how we are to view other people both in the Old and New Testament. Sometimes a complex picture is presented, as we are called to the tenderloving kindness of God, and yet we see Israel commanded to go into bloody battles to take Canaan. While some have argued that approaches or commands are different in the Old Testament, the truth is, the same commands and doctrines hold, and some of the same complexities, although in the New Testament there is a more direct examination of how we should live in the face of other people. Even Jesus at one point, having taught the love and peace of God admonishes a time of picking up the sword, albeit only once, although the clear command in Old and New Testaments is the love and high regard for the people in our lives, even our enemies. These are the issues addressed in this passage.

THE ORDER OF GOD

Before beginning a look at the teachings in the Word about 'Others', we need to delineate that part of the reason, outside of the Divine Love and Nature of God for obeying and honoring, learning, and 'putting on the thinking of God' in regard to other people is that it maintains the ORDER OF GOD

When I was an unbeliever, I held views many unbelievers hold: since God was far from my mind, so was His Order: I did not think about such things, in fact I rather saw the world as unordered, put together by a random chaos. Even after coming to the LORD I did not concern myself with such things, but after years, and changing my mind and thinking about many things, I came to understand the critical nature of God's ORDER, both in nature and among people, and between Man and God. When God's order is maintained and established, the world and relationships work in equilibrium: everything functions smoothly. I am tempted to say "like a well-oiled machine" but this is no mechanical creation, but a living, breathing one: not a pantheistic 'all is one' or 'all is god' view, but a viable excellent creation in perfect order, in which vegetation draws nutrition from the ground and replenishes it when it decays, where trees and plants grow leaves producing photosynthesis which feed the tree: a million and yet each different, where processes of distillation , winds, weather and the composition of the layers of air, our 'firmament' protect a planet supporting life in perfect balance, where even the death of plant and animal life reinforces the ground to support future life: it is a complex and intricate order and an excellent one.

But just as God's creation manifests itself in an excellent web and network of order, so do human relationships both of people to people and people to God. The Holy Bible directs us in many principles of obedience which keep us in order. When God's Order is disrupted: there is chaos and entropy, and at whatever point the order is destroyed, so are the people events and things around it. While we always claim Romans 8:28, that all works for the good, we can avoid a great deal of suffering when we maintain God's Order in human relationships and in our relationship with Him. Sin, is often referred to as 'missing the mark' from a translation of the word, and the Bible also uses the word 'inequity to denote sin. An 'iniquity' means an 'un-equalness': a point where God's equilibrium and order come apart, and the result is never good, unless God knits it back together in His inimitable way.

To understand even Sin in this way, we can then understand that the commands of God both in the Old and New Testament are for our good: He doesn't tell us not to 'marry foreign spouses' or for the wife to be subject to the husband, or for us to avoid bearing false witness or loving the world and the things in it, it is not because He wishes to put retrictions and burdens on us so that we can be 'religious' and stoic: it is so we can avoid chaotic destructiveness which He knows will take place in our lives when we walk outside His Order and excellence. Many people see Sin as doing something 'bad' and we are 'bad' because of it, but when we 'miss the mark' we fall into disruption and destructiveness: God doesn't want that for us: He wants us at rest and content. This is not 'name it and claim it' voodoo where we get any carnal desire by conjuring God, but a learning to walk in balance and order, the 'plain path' of scripture which He promises He will give. The Keeping of His Order is a good and holy thing: it does not promise that the discomforts and hardships of the world will not come into our lives. only that we will have a firm foundation when they do and the winds will not prevail in the end.

The Other

Now , this may not seem related to a discussion of how the 'Other' is regarded in the Mind of Christ but it is an essential understanding: when our view of others, regard for others and willingness to submit to the order God has given us with regard to others, we are blessed with rest and contentment, and God promises His presence. The following are areas regarding the 'Other' which we are called to change our thinking and heart about when coming to Christ. As with most points, though in our transformations into a New Life, it is Christ in us and through us that accomplishes the change in mind and heart: we are powerless to do it ourselves. To be continued.

Time and the Mind of Christ

Time and the Mind of Christ
November 28th, 2005

The sum of what has been addressed so far in considerations of the 'Mind of Christ' which is formed in us over the years passed our first confession of faith, is:

I. That the Mind of Christ must be formed in us

II. The Mind of Christ is different and often opposed to the natural mind

III. That Faith is essential and that the nature of real faith is coming to God as a child in trust and surrender

IV. That surrender and 'dying to the self', is not a 'murder' of the self, nor an 'esteem' of the self, but a surrender of self, [self-less-ness] of allowing Christ through the Holy Spirit to live and work through us

V. Obedience and Surrender require the trust and divine reason afforded us though the Word and the Holy Spirit, and are separate from the worlds reason, a corollary to I.

TIME and CHRIST

Another essential in forming the Mind of Christ is a new view of time. In the last discussion, we spoke of was ORDER: He is the first and last, the alpha and Omega. When we begin to see ourselves as eternal creatures, at least from birth on, we even in this life begin to view time differently. I believe ardently that what we conceive of as 'time' now will be irrelevant or greatly redefined in our eternal destination of Heaven. Much is different in heaven: contention, strife and war are gone, they have no need of the sun, the clime is perfect (See Rev 21-22 and Isaiah):
our service to God and presence before Him are characterized by prayer, and joy and excellence and rest. Some call it bliss, but I think with our finite minds, we cannot imagine the overwhelming of Heaven. No fatigue, ennui, boredom, no exhaustion, each moment new like the last and fresh and filled with joy, grace and the nearness of God and His Love. So in Heaven, our sense of time , I believe will be different.

Time on this earth, is the stuff of daily routine, night and day, and physics and philosophy. We sense it moving on. We grow old in it. It is the 'glue' of order: time gives us a before , a present and an after, although we are always living in the present.

A dictionary of philosophy defines time thusly:

Temporal duration. Philosophers have traditionally addressed such questions as: whether time is an independent feature of reality or merely an aspect of our experience; whether or not it makes sense to think of time as having had a beginning; why time is directional and the past and future are asymmetrical; whether time flows continuously or is composed of discrete moments; whether there is absolute time in addition to relations of temporal succession; and whether it is possible to travel through time.

The Eleatics developed general arguments to show that time and motion are impossible, and Augustine employed the analysis of time to explain human freedom in the face of divine power. Leibniz maintained that time is nothing more than temporal relations, Newton and Clarke defended its absolute character, and Kant tried to mediate by regarding space and time as pure forms of sensible intuition. Later idealists commonly followed McTaggart in denying the reality of time.

Fluid Time and the Bible

The Bible's teaching about time though shows it to both be similar to the vernacular understanding, defined by years and months, youth and old age, day and night and eras, but uniquely also shows it as a fluid thing: we think of time as absolutely fixed and unchangeable, but several instances in the Bible show it to be less fixed than we are comfortable with: for example when the sun stood still for Gideon, or when time moved back an hour for Hezekiah. Still, most of the 'time' Time described in scriptures holds it's shape and form: measured by hours, minutes, days years, and holding a beginning and end.

In the New Testament, though, when time is mentioned, we seem to move even further in comprehending how very big God is, and while all of the new Testament maintains God's earthly order of time, principals and ideas of what time is like are shared including: the Nature of God in time, the essential of living in the present and the expanse of eternity, including a day, when an Angel of God announces, "Time No Longer". Each will be discussed.

I AM: The Nature of God in Time

When the LORD appears to Moses in the burning bush that is not consumed, and Moses asks of God to tell who He should say sent him, God replies:

God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. [Exodus 3:14]

In the very holy name God addresses Himself by and instructs Moses to carry in endorsement, the power, wisdom and eternal nature of God is seen, and so is the 'time-less-ness' of God. Just as Jesus taught that self was to be put aside, a 'self-less-ness', our ingrained notions of time need to be reconsidered also. Now, just as with self, Jesus never suggested that we throw out our concept of time, or our belief in it: in fact, when people's sense of time is disrupted, there is often a disruption in a sense of who and what they are: disruptions in the sense of time , or what psychologists call 'temporal disintegration' often accompanies altered states of consciousness,drug use, and premorbid, or prefaces to mental illness. Time is the glue that holds our sense of earthly life together: we were young, we were middle-aged, we are older: we woke in the morning and went to sleep in the evening: we speak, write and think in beginning, middle and ends, in pasts and futures.

But the title/name I AM, shows God in a more expansive way then men imagine Him. When men conceive of 'a god', they make him in THEIR image, Zeus's have white hair and power, idols control events, etc. The God of Heaven though calls Himself by a rubric indicating a time-less and time-filling nature: the 'tetragrammaton' or the 4 hebrew letter word which I AM is translated off of, can also be translated: I AM WHO IS, I AM THAT I AM, and in similar ways: by His name, God told Moses that He was the God Who Is, the God Who was, and the God Who will always be: while we think of God as eternal existing forever in the past present and future, He intimates an 'ever-existing' God. I can not document or 'prove' from scripture that past and future are irrelevant beyond the grave, in God's order I suppose always some events must be perceived as before or after others, but I suspect time will take on a new dimension of 'ever-existing'. When Jesus refers to Himself when discussing Abraham, He makes the mysterious remark, "Before Abraham was, I AM". He both ties Himself to the I AM whom Moses and Abraham knew, and He points to the phenomenon of 'ever-existing': existing always in an eternal present.

Jesus' Doctrinal Principles of Time

God always existing in time, before us, here with us and after our death extends beyond our imagination and vision. We can not think 'outside' time, at least the time in this world. Given however that the very nature of God points to a greater sense of time than we see here, it is no surprise that Jesus, God-Made-Man, or Emanuel, God-With-Us, taught about time with the eyes of eternity. Jesus was no 'time-traveler', in fact time travel is not at all what is considered here and is anathema to true doctrine. One does not have to 'travel' through time if one is the creator of time.

Jesus' teaching about time though leads us at least to the doorstep of Heaven; his principles for our lived life are that it is eternal (even here), and that we are to seek living in the present rather than in the future or past. We have already in another section referred to a method in His teaching of time, of 'taking no thought': in which our very thinking is to be brought under the control of Christ, and we are to learn to live with the moment at hand, because [and this is the critical second part of the equation] tomorrow will have anxieties of its own.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself . Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof .Mat 6:34

In other verses, we are told not to take thought of our lives, what we wear, what we eat, or what we say, or whatever danger might belie us in the future. A command, this is that runs against our nature. All of humanity worries and worries. Constantly we are told by the world to 'plan ahead'. This does not mean that you cannot store up resources if they are on hand, such as Joseph instructed Pharaoh to do, or as the ant is commended for in Proverbs. But it means that life is not to be lived in the future or the past: we are to get of hold of Jesus Christ's mind on the issue and begin as new creations to live in eternity, in the present. Worry is all many know: it is what fells the greatest of men, but it is a corruption of our life in Christ in the here and now. Worry and anxiety are the concern that the future will find us without money, stability, friends, family, or a good name: these are the things eat up and consume people and make them lose faith and living in God's presence.

Worry is an over concern with the future, which never actually arrives: it is a burden of pain of events which may never even occur: we double, triple or even quadruple our burdens by taking on what we can envision happening. And, if the thing really does occur, all the previous worry does not change it one iota. Worry is a pathology of thinking about time in a wrong way. It is pride in thinking we can change future events very much, and it is a lack of faith in God. Worry is unbelief.

When the Stock Market crashed in 1929, businessmen jumped out of windows to their death, because they envisioned themselves penniless in the future and despair overwhelmed them. Worry and anxiety and dread about the forthcoming never effect a positive outcome: they may indeed predispose a negative one by drawing attention away from clear thinking and the present. Most of the commands we are given are not for the future or to focus on the past but to live in the now. "Work quietly to do your own business" is for now. "Let not your hearts be troubled" is for now. "Be of Good Cheer" is for now. "Study to shew yourself approved" is for now and there are hundreds of others. Psalm 119 points at one point to the brevity of life: we are as grass here today and gone tomorrow: if we live a hundred years or are stillborn, God’s purpose and plan will hold in our lives, and we continue forever either in the presence of God or outside the presence of God, a horror, pain and abyss too great to envision.

THE PAST

We are also called not to dwell in the past: we are told

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phl 3:14

We are to ‘forget’ as though it was not there, ‘taking no thought of the past’. This is a point which creates champions in Christ: did you fail? Did you fall? You can live in shame for the rest of your life and obsess over what you should have done differently,
Or you can ‘forget’ all but the lesson: you do not have to ‘relive’ the past. Others will tell you what you cannot do because of something in the past. Christ calls you in the present: it is not tomorrow that He calls or requires or commands: it is today: likewise if Christ calls, it is not the past which determines our obedience: “Lord I cannot because I once…..” or because in the past we failed or sinned, or were ‘handicapped in some way.
Each morning brings a new possibility to obey His Will. Even if we failed miserably yesterday. When we are born-again, born anew, born from above, a transformation takes place: we walk in “the newness of life. We leave behind the ‘Old Man’, the one who existed entirely in the flesh. It is not ‘us’ anymore, and we do not have to receive what we ‘used to be’. We were given a clean slate, our righteousness is now His, not ours and we are infants learning to walk in a God-given righteousness. Babies do not walk perfectly: they crawl, get it a little, learn to stand and then tumble and totter like little tin soldiers until they learn the finesse of walking. It’s o.k. We grow into learning to walk in HIS righteousness: but to return to the concept of time Jesus teaches, if we were to constantly consider what we ‘used to be’ we would quickly go back to the old life and bear no fruit. Today is ours. We can as the same passage intimates, reach for what is ahead: the next lesson, the next call, but we are not to worry about it. We are to view time as a present plate, we can reach for helpings from the past or ideas from the future, but we are not to live in them.

A point of forming the Mind of Christ, is to begin at the moment you are in, cherishing the moment, resting as is possible in the moment, learning that life, eternal life continues as a present state though we envision the future. A greater point yet though is that it is really Christ who forms this thinking in us, it is often not in our power without Him, and we may ask it in prayer. Fit for Heaven, to live with Him there.
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THE CHRIST OF TIME

God exists in time as if there were no past or future, and yet as the one who formed time along a continuum that in our limited state we could have handrails in life. I mentioned before that time seems to be the ‘glue’ that holds life together, and ordering of events which happened before and after the present.

When I was in college, my chairman of my Masters used to tell a story about how self
Was likened to a little girl who received a coat as a child. When the first tear appeared, a patch was sewn over it, a second rip, another patch, and so on until the whole coat was patched and not a button or thread of the original coat remained, and yet it was the ‘same’ coat. What made the totally different coat the same as the new coat? TIME. It changed over time. The perception of the sameness of the item over time gave it identity and definition. In Christ time is not without a place, He simply tries to teach an eternal perspective. Time here in this world, helps our limited minds to hang on to reasons and sanity: to meaning.

The Great Divine Paradox in Time

How could Jesus say he was before Abraham? He was as scripture puts it ‘not yet 50’. Because divine existence supercedes our small concept of time. There are many things I suspect but cannot absolutely prove, and I try to stay out of gray areas, but I suspect [this is not absolute] that if God exists in an eternal ‘present’ then our past present and future is viewed on the same plane before Him: He sees it all at once, knows it all at once. How else could certain statements be true? When Jesus points to the psalm of David where it is said “the Lord said unto my LORD” and questions how the Messianic prophecy could be to David, and how the Son of David could be Lord of David, He points to this temporal issue.

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? Mat 22:44-45

In another passage, Jesus meets on the Mount of Transfiguration with Elijah and Moses: one died the other went up in a chariot of fire, but 100-1500 years later he speaks with them in front of the apostles Peter James and John.

How is it possible? He stands in the future and tells the apostles that before Abraham , He existed. He meets with Elijah and Moses in front of three living .

He also prophesies His death and resurrection, and yet fights a divine struggle, a ‘theokampf’ in Gesethemene. The present, future and past, intertwined.

He foretells the crucifixion and of Salvation on Calvary, and yet He also speaks about it being accomplished since the foundation of the earth. Salvation itself is spoken of as for ‘whosoever will’ indicating a free choice in time and space which changes an eternal destiny, and yet His own are spoken of as being ‘elected since the foundation of the earth’. Such an oxymoron of events seems mutually exclusive that we could both be pre-destined and yet at the same time choose or not choose and it seals our future: and yet both exist in a genuine and true paradox. Mystery is made of that sort of stuff.

TIME NO LONGER

A Last Point before leaving the discussion of Heaven, Christ and Time, is that of Revelation, when an Angel of the LORD appears and declares, “TIME NO LONGER”.

Rev 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

There comes a point when God declares through His emissary that Time will end. Since it is an eternal God with eternal Life who declares this, we can surmise that He means that earthly finite Time will end, that there will be an end to all things as we know them, and this passage occurs before the New Heaven and New Earth is spoken of. When “Time no Longer” is declared, it is the end of all things.

I would speculate that it could be read on two parallels: the end of all things, and the end of earthly time . If God can speak and an atom with spinning electrons and protons and neutrons can hang in balance, if creation can form at a spolen breath, then He speaks at the end and time and order fall apart. If the breath of God speaks the elements into existence, then God speaks and declares Time no longer and it flies apart: it is what we observe as fission.

Rev 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

This second passage makes it clear that there is a finite end to the small vehicle of life on this planet: the end to our ‘appointment’. Here. God’s plan is accomplished. The Last Gentile comes in, the Jews turn to Messiah at the final war in Meggido, and the Eternal Covenant proceeds, but not an earth and population which had become so vile as to defy God’s gaze, so bloody and so without Love and Christ , that He declares “Time no Longer”. We will enter in to the fullness of Eternal Life, then when we are transformed with new bodies and min

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