Forgiven Much

The forgiveness of God continues to go far beyond what we can think, or imagine. I find it fascinating to look back at that day 2000 years ago and realise more happened than I thought had done yesterday. There are those people (I sometimes fall into this category) that when you become a Christian, God stops being a loving pursuing God, and starts being an angry perfectionist God. "Now you're in my family," I can imagine Him saying, "you go by my rules. My house, my rules."

There are other interesting personalities that get projected onto God, especially when it comes to trying to understand the Trinity. The Trinity is not, although it would be easier if it was, like stuffing three pillows into one pillow case. You look at the pillow and it's one pillow, but it's three pillows. Funny word is pillow.

So the personality is like the angry Father who thirsts for blood at every opportunity, then there's the loving Son who, wanting His Father to stop wanting to kill people (but Dad is being very self-controlled), comes down out of heaven so His Dad can look at Him, kill Him and then, when the Son is back in heaven, every time Dad gets angry the Son says, 'No, look at me instead!" And there's the Holy Spirit who floats around making everyone feel warm and fuzzy because Dad can't hold Him back because the Son is distracting His gaze.

Again, that's wrong.

Actually, Jesus dying was for a purpose, and His rising again was more than a receipt. It's always good to go back to basics, and I've said it before, but the idea of being forgiven a lot is so profound I can't really get my head around it. If believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (that Jesus is the Jewish saviour and King of the whole earth) can't forgive others then they don't grasp it's implications. Obedience comes in the realisation of Jesus as King. Forgiveness comes from the implications of acceptance through Jesus' blood. It's all a bit complicated, but it's as basic as I was forgiven so I will forgive.

What we really need is a bigger, better picture of God, who will pay whatever is necessary to show that He is God. Anyone who leaves Jesus out when talking about God has missed Him. 

Nothing Hidden

Would it be a revelation to say change doesn't happen apart from God?

You can be different and never change. There's something significant about the difference between knowing something and knowing someone. We can have books and books about a person, but never know who they are. And it's the same with ourselves. How do we know about ourselves, though, unless we take a step back?

The idea of worship hits a nerve with quite a few people. If you call anyone an idolater these days you can usually get into a bit of trouble. I see worship like breathing. If you're not breathing oxygen (and various other gases found in our atmosphere today) you're breathing something else. You can't breathe nothing. If you're drowning you end up trying to breathe water. If you're in a vacuum you try breathing anyway. To remove the atmosphere and replace it with something else doesn't mean we would stop breathing, it just means we start breathing something else.

Worship's like that. If you're not worshipping one thing you're worshipping another. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Our bodies were designed to worship. Our souls were designed to worship. To refer to nothing hidden in the title is no mere act of an aim to confuse whoever I can. Nothing hidden is an attitude toward God. God wants us to worship Him, that is how he designed our relationship with Him. The trouble is we have ruined our relationship with Him. Jesus didn't die and rise to help us have a relationship with God, we already had a relationship with Him, just it was rubbish and irreconcilable, we have done some terrible things. I've done some terrible things.

Jesus has done this restoration work, meaning He presents us to His Father, and if we believe Our Father, and we can start seeing Him for who He is and worshipping Him so.

We become what we worship. So the challenge comes when we want to worship God, but there's stuff in the way. Jesus dealt with it, but it must be let out to be dealt with. We must come to God entirely transparent. David's greatest prayers were his arguments with God. "Why am I suffering and my enemies living in abundance?" he would complain to God. Then he would go into the inner sanctuary, go to the presence of the Most High God, and everything would be at peace with his soul. Without the (first) frustration we can't have the (second) peace.

I suppose I'm coming to my conclusion, that we as worshippers must worship in spirit and truth. That means coming through Truth (Jesus) and having or spirits put in tune with God. As a community we must have a transparent, "nothing hidden" attitude, and allow God to shape our lives.

Funny

Vatican says aliens could exist

Oh dear...

One of those email things, that have turned into facebook note things...

I did this just over a year ago...

This is for your entire life:

(X) Smoked a cigarette
(X) Drank so much you threw up HAVEN'T WE ALL yes....but into a pint
glass, or a bin, or over the steps of a posh wine bar in London :(
() Crashed in a friend's car
() Stolen a car
(X) Been in love
(X) Been dumped
() Been laid off/fired
(X) Quit your job
() Been in a fist fight
() Sneaked out of your parent's house
(X) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
(X) Gone on a blind date - that's a funny story
(X) Lied to a friend
(X) Skipped school....
() Skipped an entire semester - Not exactly but it does feel like it at the moment
() Seen someone die
(X) Been to Canada
() Been to Mexico
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been lost
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country
() Gone to Washington , DC
() Swam in the ocean
(X) Felt like dying - I have also felt like death
() Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers - emabarrassing home video and all
() Recently coloured with crayons
(X) Sang karaoke (Badly!!!)
(X) Paid for a meal with only coins - ohh the shame
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
() Made prank phone calls
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Made a snow angel
(X) Danced in the rain -
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
() Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(X) Blown Bubbles
() Made a bonfire on the beach
(X) Crashed a party
() Gone roller skating
(X) Gone ice skating

OK, here are the questions:

What are you afraid of?
I don't exactly know

Most recent movie you have seen in the theater?
Nearly 300...but actually it was 'Bridge to Terabithia' in Canada

Seen a ghost?
Nope

Where were you born?
Sheffield

Ever Been to Alaska ?
No

Loved someone so much it made you cry?
How about something?

Favorite day of the week?
Probably Wednesday, it's the most fun to spell

Favourite Restaurant?
That one in Mark's basement that time

Favourite Ice Cream?
That's a bit silly. I don't have a massive flare for ice creams. Although I used to like those 'Feast' things.

Favourite Shake flavour at a fast food restaurant?
Well...it's Banania.

Favourite food at a fast food restaurant?
KFC...something from KFC

What color is your bedroom carpet?
Brownish...it's not been cleaned in a while

What is your favorite alcoholic drink?
That's a toughy. Red wine? Bordeaux '94 perhaps?

Favourite non-alcoholic drink?
I had an apple pie milkshake once...but it wasn't very good, so not that.

Tattoos?
On me? No

Body piercing?
For a hobby? Never really thought of it.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
I don't think I can answer that

Ever steal any traffic signs?
Did I? I don't remember

Favourite Salad Dressing?
Basic stuff

Favourite Holiday?
Canada was pretty awesome. It shouldn't have been a holiday.

------------

What do you do to relax? Eat. Or walk somewhere a bit picturesque.

Favorite sound? Waterfalls

How do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully as trim and thin as i am now.

Furthest place you will send this? I don't know.

How many times did you fail your driver's test? Nonce. That's quite a negative question.

From whom did you get your last e-mail? Why? Not really something timelessly funny to post.

What do you do when you are bored? Find something funny on youtyoob, which usually takes about an hour, and then I'm late for work or something.

Bedtime? Not yet, thankfully.

Favorite TV show? Hard to say, but I have been enjoying That 70s Show, you know, the one with Ashton Kutcher. But I think I'll have to stick with Arrested Development.

What are you listening to right now? The A/C

How many pets do you have? I went from 0-2-4-5-4-3-2-1-0, death sucks.

The chicken or the egg? Chicken (roast)

What would you like to accomplish before you die? Be the first person to climb Mount Everest. Not going to happen though.

I find that incredibly frustrating...

I sit there, drinking my Starbucks, looking out over the shoppers, arguing and loving each other, wandering through town enjoying the sunshine, or avoiding the sunshine, or avoiding the rain, I think: nothing's changed. In the past 4000 years nothing has changed. But it's hidden very well by the word "progress" that things might have gotten a little better. So then we wonder to what "things" refers to. We look at achievements, merits, goals reached, wealth attained (or lost), and with those in mind we look for the evolution of society, when that never lies in the "visible first, satisfaction second" idea of such "progress".

An interesting question I've thought of asking Western society in general is"What's more important, experience or knowledge?" One of my friends answered a question I asked in an interesting way that made me doubt whether I really was fortunate to be born here. I had asked, "What's Britain's main crop?" Simon answered, "Information."

Information. The entity that, thanks to the internet, practically doubles every day. And this society has grabbed hold of it and made it cheap. The trouble with this is when we listen closely to those influential thinkers, like Billy Joe, who claim "Talk is cheap, but lies are expensive."

I know too much. Or maybe I just like saying that.

Just some thoughts on society at the moment. Maybe things will change.

How much further should we go?

After posting two blogs on a possible reason for God and then a blog on why we don't need to do that I'm just taking a few steps back. My friend, Pete, sent me an interesting answer to the question I asked; how would you describe the God you do or don't believe in?

He said that "God would be a totalitarian dictator representing the purest form of totalitarianism."

For a while I walked around saying Christianity in a Kingdom or Empire sense was a dictatorship. God has complete sovereignty, and He does what brings Him the most glory, and brings most glory to Himself through the work He does in all kinds of situations. I thought it fascinating for Pete, who claims to be an atheist, to describe God in a very similar way. Of course since saying Christianity was a dictatorship, my father corrected me to say it was more commonly known as a theocracy. Still, that doesn't make me any less convinced of Jesus ruling my life.

The trouble with calling God a dictator is the implications it has based on the modern history we have of people like Hitler and Stalin. Both decided they would be the (and correct me if I'm wrong) ultimate authority in their empires and oppressed people left, right, and centre. That makes us think of God, if a dictator, as an oppressive baboon with only His own interests in mind. But the we look to the end of Pete's definition and see that he does describe it as the "purest form of totalitarianism." That makes me think I can redeem God as dictator (if that's even allowed) by saying that God truly is the purest dictator the world could possibly have. He is utterly sovereign, and considers His glory as highest in importance. However, unlike His human copy-cats, He does things in the most loving way possible. He knows that obedience comes from willingness, and He created a way for all to be willing to serve Him through sending His Son, Jesus, to die in our place, and raise from the dead, to defeat death, show complete love, and give new life to all who want it. That means that anyone following Jesus are under God's rule, and it is a purely loving rule. He deals with His creation in a way that overpowers anything because He loves, not because He has a lot of rebels in His kingdom.

Imagine this; a man owes another man, who he works for incidentally, a whole heap of cash. Something in the region of a few million, and he has no hope of attaining to that kind of wealth. His boss comes to him and asks for the money back, but he can't pay it, and it would take him approximately 500 years to work the money back, making it practically impossible. His boss decides, because he does love his employees, that he will cancel the debt. Just right it off. Nothing doing. This makes the man who owed a lot so joyful that he goes around telling everyone how wonderful his boss is, and does everything that he says and encourages other people to do the same, and treats other people in the same way as his boss treated him. He had been shown so much mercy it flowed forth into his own ministry of mercy to all manner of people. He'd got himself into an awful position but the redemption he experienced changed his whole outlook on life.

Unless there is that kind of experience with someone in authority over you, you will only ever resent them for not showing you any kind of favour, and if you keep doing what they ask you to the only reward will be more work because they know you are good at following orders. But Jesus said Himself that the people who are healthy don't need a doctor. It's the sick. He didn't come to save the 'righteous' - those who can follow orders - but save 'sinners' - those who know for a fact that they haven't kept up to the standard that their authority expected.

In light of this, God, The Authority of the World, who can be described as acting the purest form of totalitarianism, is the one who knows that true obedience comes from loving Him first. We obey Him because we love Him, and we love Him because He first Loved us. It all works out in the end.

If that doesn't make any kind of sense, then I hope you experience His love.


Like this Authority Duck ->

GO for a Drive

I'm finding recently that Christianity is less of a way to think and more as a driving force. There is a tendency to beat yourself up so easily if you consider yourself as someone trying to follow Jesus but not thinking about him enough. Unless you continue remember that you're a damned sinner saved entirely by grace, you think, there is no chance I can live such a good enough life to model who I'm suppose to be following. And because you're not thinking about it enough you feel completely condemned and even more of a sinner. So it kind of works.

The trouble with the whole idea that you have to remember things about this, Truth and all that, is that in the end you're bound to forget so much of the time. The first thing you think about when you wake up is yourself. That's mainly because you are a major part of your life. If you didn't think about yourself how would know where to go, for example? The interesting paradox to this is the famous summing up of the Gospel by Tim Keller:

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”

— Timothy Keller, The Reason For God, New York, NY: Dutton, 2008, p. 181.

Where do I go from here? Well, the ultimate point I get to is when you stop trying to win intellectual arguments about whether God exists or not. The fact is there are people out there in the world who can prove that He doesn't exist, and there are other people out there who can prove that He does. But it means the argument stops being about whether or not God exists and becomes a competition about who is the cleverest. Someone would denote stupidity to believe in something invisible, only to be told they are closed minded and shallow for not believing in something unless they can see it. It leads to attacks on each other rather than being about what it's supposed to be about. The arguments about God finished a long time ago, and the people who really care, leave other people to write books and make movies, so they can live their lives in peace.

Belief is knowledge moved six inches downward. It moves from something else to put on the list of things worth knowing, and placed into a heart issue. A driving force that lets people live their lives. The basic premise of the Christian gospel comes down to a deep set knowing that you are loved so deeply it cost everything to have you. This sits in your heart and lets you live your life in confidence, as Keller says, thinking of yourself less and less. Jesus becomes ever more real as He reveals Himself to you, and you seek a relationship with a living God. This unchanging God has always been wanting relationship, and it comes to a head when you can see community after community transformed from people seeking God rather than their own success. Their heart has been transformed.

My heart has been transformed. I finally realised I don't need to be thinking about God 24/7 to know that He loves me. What I need to know is live with the confidence I have nothing to prove, and just work, silently, for the God who loved the whole world He sent His son into it. He's not a detached God, He never was.