Coming SOON!



Shortly, I will be receiving a review copy of God’s Favorite Place on Earth by Frank Viola. The book released May 1st and stayed in the top # 50 on Amazon.com for 8 straight days. There’s a lot of buzz about this book on the Web, and I’ll be writing a review after I read it.
Here are a few interesting nuggets about the book.

* It’s been recommended by 47 Christian authors, including John Ortberg, Jack Hayford, Leonard Sweet, Tricia Goyer, Mary DeMuth, Greg Boyd, Todd Hunter, Jon Acuff, Phil Cooke, and many others.

* There is an interesting video trailer for the book that introduces it.

* The book tells the story of Jesus in the little village of Bethany and the amazing things that happened there through the eyes of Lazarus. It combines biblical narrative, dramatization, theological insights, and nonfiction devotional teaching. It argues that “Bethany” was God’s Favorite Place on Earth and explains how every Christian and every church can be “Bethanys” today for God.

* The book addresses 18 specific struggles that Christians face today and offers hope, challenge, and fresh insight.

 

You can check all of this out at God’s Favorite Place on Earth and get the book on discount.

My Take on the Origins of Athiest and Agnostics





I think that most of those who profess to be atheist or agnostic have somewhere down the line been hurt, offended or injured by someone "claiming" to be a Christian.  Instead of seeing the fault in the person they attribute the fault of the person to Christ.   "If that is what this 'Jesus' is all about then I want nothing to do with Him or His religion" - can you blame them?   So many 'church members' experience this same thing - being hurt by those who call themselves Christians - even those in leadership positions within the institution.   All over the world you have men standing in pulpits every week telling their congregations that they must live their lives in a manner that even they, themselves are unable to do - how can we 'love those who persecute us', 'bless those who curse us', do good to those who do us harm'?   In our flesh, we cannot.   It is our nature to repel or even destroy those who do such things to us, our family or even our country.   The ONLY human being ever able to do this was Christ.   No one before and no one since.   Why then is it rammed down our throats that we must be "Christ-like", when in our flesh we have proven over the past 6 thousand years that we are unable to do so?   Can we, over the course of a lifetime, be successful in imitating the creator of the universe, proving ourselves to be "good enough"?   Seems to me all we will prove is what miserable failures we are in accomplishing this task. 

I have read and re-read the entire New Testament and no where have I found any command or instruction to try and 'be like Christ'.   Can we become omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent?  Paul said told us to be "imitators of God" and to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us" (Ephesians 5).   Jesus gave the church one commandment to replace all of the others, including the two "greatest" commandments (Love the Lord and Love your neighbor as yourself) because He knew that, in our flesh, we would not be able to comply with even just these two, much less the whole of the Law and the Prophets.   He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13:34) 

So, how can we do this?   How did Jesus do it?   How did He love 12 obstinate, stubborn, unbelieving men who fought between themselves, thought themselves to be more worthy than their friends to receive a place of honor in the Kingdom and left Him high and dry when things got tough?   He loved them with the indwelling love of His Father that looked past their faults into eternity.   It makes perfect sense then, that the only way we can obey this one command is by the indwelling love of Christ that does the same thing - looks past their sin and baggage and see the Christ in them from eternity to eternity. 

How can we do this?   By dying to self (crucifying MY wants, desires and agendas) and allowing the Christ IN me to love them through me.   Once I understood that I did not have that kind of love in my flesh I was able to not feel guilty for not being able to love the un-loveable.   I have learned to not judge others on their failure to keep the 10 commandments, because I know now that is not my responsibility.   Only GOD is able to judge and I certainly am NOT qualified to do His job. 

All that to say this: If everyone that call themselves "Christian" were to follow this one commandment - to love others as Christ loved us - what would the world see in His church?   They certainly would not see a bunch of hypocrites living selfish, judgmental lives telling all the "lost" people they if they don't get their lives in order that they will spend eternity in hell.   They will instead see Christ loving them through His body (the church) and be drawn to Him as a bride to her bridegroom. 

Who was it that Jesus warned about the dangers of hell?   Was it the drunks, tax collectors and prostitutes?   No.  (He hung out with them!)   It was the 'religious' people of the day - the 'church members', if you will.   All those that thought they were better than everybody else because they 'followed the rules'. (Luke 18:9-14).   If you are out there trying to be 'Christ-like', know that you are spinning your wheels trying to do something God does not require or expect you to do.   All He wants is for you to get out of His way so that He can do what only He can do in and through you.

The Top 10 Things I Learned in 2012

1. If you are the most important person in your life then everyone else in your life will suffer.

2. The difference between telling someone that you love them and showing them that you love them is the difference between night and day.

3. My wife is an amazing person and I really do love her. (You might ask why I just learned this in 2012 – see # 1 & # 2).

4  Jesus was serious in Luke 9:23. It is NOT easy and the “daily” part is not optional. Dying to self is hard, but necessary. Doing it EVERY DAY is harder and even more necessary. Pride is puffed up and hard to swallow – but nailing it to the cross deflates it and makes it more manageable to choke down.

5. I am NOT qualified to judge your sin. That is God’s job and I have no business infringing into His responsibilities. The same goes for you.

6. Words are just like guns and motor vehicles. They are not inherently bad but when misused they can seriously injure others or worse. There are no bad words, just ordinary words used in a negative context to offend. Choose your words wisely and always to edify and build up – not to tear down.

7. I have two really cool kids who are engaged to two very special people who will become, in 2013, my son-in-law and daughter-in-law. I also have two very special grands that I love more than I ever thought I could. Their hugs make the darkest clouds dissipate and disappear.

8. Life is hard, is rarely fair and is filled with pitfalls. I can choose to sit back in my comfort zone and avoid most of the above problems and never reach my potential or I can choose to get out there in the middle of life, fight hard and overcome the unfairness and pitfalls and be more than I am now. What I won’t do is sit back and whine to all that will listen how miserable I am as the world caves in around me in my comfort zone.

9. A 50 year old man can FINALLY earn his bachelor’s degree while operating his own computer repair shop – and do so Magna Cum Laude. I don’t care if you have been out of school for 3 months or 30 years – if you want more get off your butt and go get it.

10. You don’t invite Christ “into your heart” to bind Him securely and force Him to be a spectator to your drama of a life. “Indwelling” should be synonymous with “in control” and if I am getting MY way in everything then that means He is not getting HIS way in anything.

I hope some of these things might help someone else have a revelation in 2013. I have found them all to be true and have changed my perspective on life accordingly.

Adoption Via Marriage

OUR MINDSET

In our Sunday morning meeting yesterday, we were discussing our place in Christ.  Scripture tells us we are "joint heirs" and "adopted" - Ephesians 1:4-6 reads, "For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved."  I thought, "How does God the Father "adopt" us through His Son Jesus Christ - why not just adopt us right out?  If we are adopted children of God and joint heirs with Christ, would not God have to equally distribute His kingdom with ALL of His heirs?  Somehow this was not measuring up to the mindset I have held to for 40+ years.

CHANGE OF MIND

To wrap my head around this, I had to try and see this through God's eyes in light of His eternal purpose.  What has God always desired, from before time as we know it? 

1. To have a permanent dwelling place in this, His creation.
2. To have a physical expression of Himself within this creation and
3. To provide for His Son a bride, holy and acceptable to Him.

I understand now that God accomplishes ALL of these purposes via the Church: 

1. We are His dwelling place in this creation, living stones being built up together (1 Peter 2:4-5: "Coming to Him, a living stone—rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God - you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.").
2. We are His physical body, visible to the world around us - the Body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:27: "Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.") and
3. We, the church, are the Bride of Christ. (Revelation 19:7: "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”

Jesus said: "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)  According to Jesus, Himself, we cannot get to God the Father EXCEPT through Christ.  I am good with that.  So, how do I get "adopted" by God through His Son Jesus?  Only through marriage!  When Christ becomes one with His bride (the church - of which we  are only a part) then the church will become one with the Son.  Then she (we) will be the daughter of God the Father, by marriage and a joint heir with her Bridegroom who inherits all that her glorious Husband inherits from His Father.  No splitting the inheritance - but joint ownership between the two (Christ and His Bride) who have become one.  We, the church will find our favor with the Father ONLY because of our relationship with the Son of the Father.  Not because of pity that God feels "sorry" for us.  Not because of responsibility to take care of His creation.  Only because of the great love the Father has for His Son and the object of the Son's affections - His bride.

1 John 5:11-12 says it this way: "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."  God did not give His Son because it was the only way - He did it because it was the best way He could demonstrate His love for us.  He could have done anything He wanted, but He chose love.  The marriage relationship, adoption via marriage!

N.T. Wright Interview: “Simply Jesus” & Wright Responds to Critics

In the life of this blog, I have, up until this time, posted my heart and messages descriptive of my journey.  Today, however, I deviate from this pattern to pass on what I feel is valuable information passed on to me by a man I trust, whose heart is for the Lord and His church.  This man has been on the journey that I now walk and has provided me with many, many invaluable insights and tools to help guide me on this journey.  To say that the things that God has revealed to me because of this man's journey to the cross and beyond would be an understatement.

Frank Viola is an author and speaker.  I had the privilege of meeting him briefly at Threshold 2011 in Orlando, FL last year.  More importantly, I have had the privilege to learn from his 23+ years of seeking and experiencing an organic expression of the church.  Because he would take no credit for the ministry he lives, I will give thanks to the Lord for Frank's willingness to get out of God's way so that He might reveal to those of us seeking those things that HE wants us to find.  (Yet another thing I have learned from this man.)  

Recently, Frank passed on in his blog some information which he thought worth passing on to his readers.  Because I respect Frank (not idolize), I place significant value on what he deems important as well.  I do read everything he writes through the filter of scripture and have found his writings to be "spot-on" and most often timely delivered.  Today, I want to pass this information on to those that read this and encourage you to subscribe to Frank's blog, as well.  (He writes ALLOT more than I do and much more frequently.)  My hope is that God would begin to open the eyes of a remnant of His church to return to Him and begin to rebuild His temple by His standards - a building not made by human hands but rather constructed of "living stones". 

To read this blog, go to http://frankviola.org/2012/01/23/ntwright/.  You may also subscribe to his blog here.  You will find it insightful and informative, but more than this it will cause you to seek the Lord.  Blessings to you and yours -

Mark <><

The Heart of Christmas II - Reclaiming Christmas

Once again we find ourselves on the brink of yet another Christmas holiday, hijacked by commercialism and selfishness. Beside all of the "you need" commercials and the "I want" gift lists we are also bombarded by the encouragement to give to those less fortunate so that they, too, might "have Christmas". How did this occasion get turned from a celebration of the birth of Christ, Immanuel - God with us - into a mad, hectic, depressing season of all things not Christ?

Is it at all possible to reclaim Christmas for Christ, or should we release the church's claim on the holiday, relinquishing control over to the department stores and charities to continue the "traditions" on down the path they have been going for the past century? Then, the church can begin to celebrate a new "holy day" which is purely a remembrance of the day God visited earth in the form of a baby in a manger in a little town called Bethlehem. We can remember, on this day, when the angels sang in a mighty chorus, "Glory to God in the Highest - Peace on earth & goodwill towards men". Rather than giving gifts to others and desiring more gifts for ourselves we could acknowledge the incomparable gift that God gave to each of us in His Son. Perhaps we could all come together with one mind and one heart - the heart of God Himself, and celebrate His worth and His magnificance - and share THIS with those who have not heard this good news.

And perhaps this could be a celebration that lasts more than one day - December 25th. This should be a Holy-Day that lasts from January 1 to, say December 31. I realize this is hardly enough time to properly honor Him who gave us His ALL, but we need to start somewhere. I also realize this would overlap other holiday celebrations, but we can think of it as a marinade that would flavor all the things we do during the celebration season.

And we should call this Holy-Day "Christ-Is", because Christ is the reason for this season I describe to you now. Another idea for a name for this Holy-Day is "Today".

So, join with me in pursuing this new Holy-Day, founded this day in 2011. The only gifts you need to give are to the One whom we celebrate - and all He wants is your all to be added to His All so that He might have a bride and His Father might have a house built from living stones here on this earth. THIS is the heart of what Christmas was intended to be before it became all about us.


THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS

Watching all the lights,
Something’s just not right
Where’s the Christmas cheer?
I long just to feel
Some thing that is real
At this time of year.

Oh, Lord please open my eyes
In a Season for You
To show me Your heart’s desire
Lord, take my wants and my needs
As I give them to You
And put Your love in my heart.

I’m coming back to the heart of Christmas
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus.
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus.

Jesus, Lord of all
Born on Christmas day
You became like me.
To show me the Way
Your life was a gift
From God up above.

Oh, Lord please open my eyes
In a Season for You
To show me Your heart’s desire
Lord, take my wants and my needs
As I give them to You
And put Your love in my heart.

I’m coming back to the heart of Christmas
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus.
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus.


Lyrics by Mark & Janine Burnett (2002)
(Based upon lyrics and music by Matt Redman)

Finding Jesus in a Watermelon

After reading the title, I can imagine the thoughts coursing through your minds... the image of Jesus on a burned tortilla, an old piece of tree bark, a corn chip that people flock to expecting to receive some kind of miracle. Well, before we chase that rabbit any further down that road, let me say - "That's NOT what I'm referring to."

Last Sunday while meeting with my church family God started unfolding this illustration in my head so I thought it best to write it down (you can be the judge of whether it was best!). Trying to find a graphic representation of the body of Christ in nature, God lead me to the watermelon. There are other fruits or vegetables that would work, but the thought of a "Living Water" melon fancies me, so...



Where to start? OK, let us look at the melon as a whole. Inside the melon there is the meat (red, yellow or orange) and the seeds. Surrounding the good part is a protective covering, or the rind, that keeps the good part good until it is cut open for consuming - keeps the dirt and the parasites out to preserve the purity of the fruit. Looking at the seeds, we find some mature and some still developing, but attached to all of them is something that looks like an umbilical cord that "daisy-chains" them together and feeds nutrients into the seeds, placing the DNA of the watermelon into each of them, so that when removed from the fruit and placed in the ground they can die and then burst open and a new watermelon plant springs forth to create more watermelons just like the original from the DNA blueprint inside of it. Each new melon that grows on that vine looks and tastes just like the fruit it came from and within the protective covering of each a new miracle occurs - more seeds are being formed that contain the same DNA as the melon they are in that it received from the melon it's seed came from and so on and so on. That part is basic botany.

So, where is Jesus and the church in this? Follow along with me on this. I think we see Jesus in the meat - the good part. He is the "living water" that satisfies our thirst, He is the sweetest part about any Christian’s existence. He is colorful or beautiful as He surrounds the seeds in which He is imparting His DNA through His Spirit that connects each seed to each other in Him. Now, the seeds are the Christians - the real ones. A Christian is one who is "connected", or rooted in Christ, receiving their life sustenance from Him and Him alone. The DNA of God Himself, that He placed within Mary at the immaculate conception to form the person of Jesus of Nazareth, that was passed on to Jesus in the flesh is fed into each Christian via the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which will in eternity be matured to make us like Him. We are then "daisy-chained" to other believers via the Spirit to form the church. We, the seeds or Christians are "in Christ" and are covered and protected by God the Father, the all encompassing "rind" that holds us all together and keeps the dirt and parasites out so that we might develop into a healthy, mature fruit that will one day reproduce divine offspring.

 
I know.  Kind of a fruity analogy, but it fits and if it should help someone get a grasp on exactly what the church is, how the Spirit connects all Christians who are, in fact, "in Christ" and how, the church in Christ is a refreshing, sweet, good thing then maybe you might allow me this illustration for now.
 
 
(If you don't know what a watermelon is or looks like, try google.com.)