It is not a day that goes by that any of us are involved with communication, either as an observer from some form of media, as a bystander in a coffee shop, or we just simply a fact of life that we must communicate with others in this life to achieve a deep rumbling that demands we connect in some way with others like us.
The problem with this communication facet in our lives is that no one is like us, and we are like no one. Therefore the words which one may use to convey a meaning may be interpreted differently because of any number of bounds. Let me give you the perfect example.
When I was in second grade, my parents returned to the United States from Zimbabwe. After being through two years of a school where the teaching was based off a british system from teachers who were descendants of british language custom etc. So when the little device on the end of my pencil broke while I was rubbing out a mistake, I walked up to the teacher and said "Miss, my rubber (the word I had been taught to use for the "eraser") broke, can I borrow yours?" Well for a teacher who apparently missed the memo that I was not from America, thought I was being crass and referencing an American slang word for a condom. Which ended in a very interesting parent teacher conference.
This is a little extreme, however this goes on all the time. Today, especially the younger demographic tends to be emotionally driven, very right brained if you will, and the recent century seems to be a shift from left brained society to a right brained society. From personal discipline and watchfulness (thinking deeply, understanding before moving and being objective), to a sense of life to be lived, and emotional fulfillment often at the expense of our watchfulness. This is not "bad" it is just a shift, a reaction who we are now. These shifts and reactions come when the balance has gone to far from the center and as a demographic there is an attempt to regain the balance. So it is not how can we as those who are going to be the next generation of leaders and parents regain all that we have lost, rather how can we harness this new shift and still culture ancient principles which are still held in high esteem in most cultures today.
In a world within the teen demographic, where words and means are extremely build is where these ideas can be most influential in helping conflict and poor communication. I really don't have the answer to how this looks or what it should look like, but I think that there is a sense where we can teach objectivity while preserving emotional experience.
One more thing to think about.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Weddings, have we gone too far?
Okay, so I know that I am probably going to tick at least one person off with this blog, and I hope that if your feelings are hurt or if you disagree entirely that it is because you feel I am off basis biblically, if so, please enlighten me. However, if it is your personal beliefs and traditions which are challenged then honestly that is what I am trying to do!
Okay so I have been doing a lot of research on this, and have questioned many experienced followers of Christ, and gathering data about how others feel by what they write, talk and act on certain things. I have taken time and effort to put this together, hence why I have been silent for awhile. Well on with it,
So I do wedding photography, and I love the beauty of the intricate dynamics which intertwine to produce the event which is to followers of Christ, the epic event of imagery which is the coming together of Christ and His bride, us, the extended church. And because this is the focal point, there are many who will militantly defend the traditions and even some "superstitions" which are surrounding weddings. So my goal is to do three things, first strip away traditions, superstitions, and "developments" of the modern wedding ceremony, and second to propose a few new ways to look at wedding ceremonies, and the functions of these ceremonies, third to challenge people and churches who are so militantly entrenched in unbiblical traditionalism, and superstition defense to maybe drop the stance towards that which does not effect the "gospel" of marriage.
Here are some great, reputable sources.
http://www.pibweddings.com/traditionsorigins.html
http://www.aomdj.com/traditio.htm
http://ashleysbrideguide.com/the_wedding_scoop/article/cant-decide-if-you-want-to-have-a-first-look-don-yeager-advice/
And I am sure that there are many many more resources and there is always trudging through google.
Okay, so I am actually going to refer the reader to a couple of websites where I get this information, because there is just too much to cover. First, many brides will wear white as to indicate their "virginity", or purity. However this was not the original custom. Many wore whatever dress they could, then in 1840's Queen Victoria wore a white dress for the royal wedding, rather than the Royal silver dress in the past, and then the rich began copying this trend, and so to quote one persons reporting of this, "it was vanity, not virginity which started this trend". There are others which have different brides at different periods which wore white dress, but none of them actually for cause of virginity.
Okay so moving on to something that some church's wedding planners have been quite enforcing, the groom not seeing the bride before they walk in. Tradition, this is only tradition, however if anyone bride, groom, photographer, would suggest that the bride and groom have a "moment" before the actually ceremony and you might have a crucifix pulled on you and sprinkled with holy water.
Okay, the hot topic where ministers, photographers and couples clash, flash at the wedding. Most often the more conservative the denomination, the more strict the rules are. The argument stands, in their side of the court, that because this is a "sacred ceremony", a "worship service", a "holy institution", etc when the bride walks in there shall cease to be flash photography. Each to their own, and I have no problem with a church creating rules for their ceremony. Where I have the problem is when they enforce them vis a vie biblical reasons.
Here are my questions which have yet to be satisfactorily answered to this topic. First , if the reason why this is a holy ceremony and should have no "distractions" caused by flash because it would take away from the holiness of the event as it depicts Christ and his bride, then the flash should stop when the groom enters, as he is the representative of Christ, not the bride. Secondly, this "holy event" has had holiness set upon it, as tradition in the church has not held such a protective stance, in my opinion it appears this is mostly a reaction to the recent decline in marriage, and some more "expressive" forms of the ceremony. What I find interesting is that the professional photographer is told not to flash, but I have yet to have the brides mother escorted out of the ceremony for pulling out her camera and flashing away. So while I think there might be a more "correct" way to hold a ceremony, there perhaps needs to be a little less rigidity forced upon something that is only in the last few hundred years been formed to what it is today.
Biggest question, why have a ceremony at all? In ancient times ceremonies were not what they are today, often just feasts, eating, drinking, just two families coming together, no exchange of vows, rings etc. Each culture has something different to add over time, and is a spectrum, that often times conservatives, who often also only preside in a sliver of the spectrum that is "christianity", are the ones who carve out a sliver from the wedding spectrum and dub it "gospel".
So lets take a long hard look at what weddings really are, what are traditions and superstitions and other things that can be tinkered with, and preserve the core of what is wedding.
Okay so I have been doing a lot of research on this, and have questioned many experienced followers of Christ, and gathering data about how others feel by what they write, talk and act on certain things. I have taken time and effort to put this together, hence why I have been silent for awhile. Well on with it,
So I do wedding photography, and I love the beauty of the intricate dynamics which intertwine to produce the event which is to followers of Christ, the epic event of imagery which is the coming together of Christ and His bride, us, the extended church. And because this is the focal point, there are many who will militantly defend the traditions and even some "superstitions" which are surrounding weddings. So my goal is to do three things, first strip away traditions, superstitions, and "developments" of the modern wedding ceremony, and second to propose a few new ways to look at wedding ceremonies, and the functions of these ceremonies, third to challenge people and churches who are so militantly entrenched in unbiblical traditionalism, and superstition defense to maybe drop the stance towards that which does not effect the "gospel" of marriage.
Here are some great, reputable sources.
http://www.pibweddings.com/traditionsorigins.html
http://www.aomdj.com/traditio.htm
http://ashleysbrideguide.com/the_wedding_scoop/article/cant-decide-if-you-want-to-have-a-first-look-don-yeager-advice/
And I am sure that there are many many more resources and there is always trudging through google.
Okay, so I am actually going to refer the reader to a couple of websites where I get this information, because there is just too much to cover. First, many brides will wear white as to indicate their "virginity", or purity. However this was not the original custom. Many wore whatever dress they could, then in 1840's Queen Victoria wore a white dress for the royal wedding, rather than the Royal silver dress in the past, and then the rich began copying this trend, and so to quote one persons reporting of this, "it was vanity, not virginity which started this trend". There are others which have different brides at different periods which wore white dress, but none of them actually for cause of virginity.
Okay so moving on to something that some church's wedding planners have been quite enforcing, the groom not seeing the bride before they walk in. Tradition, this is only tradition, however if anyone bride, groom, photographer, would suggest that the bride and groom have a "moment" before the actually ceremony and you might have a crucifix pulled on you and sprinkled with holy water.
Okay, the hot topic where ministers, photographers and couples clash, flash at the wedding. Most often the more conservative the denomination, the more strict the rules are. The argument stands, in their side of the court, that because this is a "sacred ceremony", a "worship service", a "holy institution", etc when the bride walks in there shall cease to be flash photography. Each to their own, and I have no problem with a church creating rules for their ceremony. Where I have the problem is when they enforce them vis a vie biblical reasons.
Here are my questions which have yet to be satisfactorily answered to this topic. First , if the reason why this is a holy ceremony and should have no "distractions" caused by flash because it would take away from the holiness of the event as it depicts Christ and his bride, then the flash should stop when the groom enters, as he is the representative of Christ, not the bride. Secondly, this "holy event" has had holiness set upon it, as tradition in the church has not held such a protective stance, in my opinion it appears this is mostly a reaction to the recent decline in marriage, and some more "expressive" forms of the ceremony. What I find interesting is that the professional photographer is told not to flash, but I have yet to have the brides mother escorted out of the ceremony for pulling out her camera and flashing away. So while I think there might be a more "correct" way to hold a ceremony, there perhaps needs to be a little less rigidity forced upon something that is only in the last few hundred years been formed to what it is today.
Biggest question, why have a ceremony at all? In ancient times ceremonies were not what they are today, often just feasts, eating, drinking, just two families coming together, no exchange of vows, rings etc. Each culture has something different to add over time, and is a spectrum, that often times conservatives, who often also only preside in a sliver of the spectrum that is "christianity", are the ones who carve out a sliver from the wedding spectrum and dub it "gospel".
So lets take a long hard look at what weddings really are, what are traditions and superstitions and other things that can be tinkered with, and preserve the core of what is wedding.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
God uses poetry in the Hebrew Scriptures
Why?
Poetry makes up the majority of the Hebrew scriptures, this sparks the subtle question why or even why not? Answering this question is not the easiest, for two reasons. Firstly, we are not God, nor are we going to hold a conversation with him anytime soon on the matter. Secondly, if one stretches too far, one can begin to unravel the idea which Paul informed Timothy that all scripture is God breathed.
The second issue comes into play when you begin to understand the social aspects of how stories in the ancient world were passed down orally. What this does if taken too far is to make what we have in the bible not God breathed directly, but rather “telephoned” down through time until someone wrote it down after being passed orally and possibly corrupted.
The first is not as unhelpful as we might think. Poetry is not some dead art, nor was it only contained with in Hebrew scripture. So if we take humans to be in some fashion “God Images”, our emotions etc are fashioned after his, our language is fashioned by him, our social interaction determined by his nature. Then it is not too far of a stretch to say that some how poetry, speaks to the heart of God. In our modern world most of poetry has lost all subtlety, but if you look to perhaps the romantic period we see a beautiful use of the pen to create dreamy lines that connect with the heart in a way that most prose cannot. While prose and composition can keep a reader riveted, and over time manipulate the emotions, poems can achieve such in only a few words or lines.
So why poetry? It is not out of the question that it was breathed by God to help his people remember it more easily as they passed the traditions down. Perhaps more deeply though poetry is a way which we are able to release our hearts, to open the depths of our insides and speak that which is beautiful or ugly in ways that regular speech or prose cannot express or contain.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
mistrust of truth, I blame advertising...at least in part
I saw an advertisement in Wal Mart today, it was a picture of a stylish young man wearing retro style glasses frames. The quote above the picture said something to the effect of yesterdays best is todays fashion.
Stated as fact, truth, no opinion no option to discuss. Simply to accept or to reject the idea of this "truth". When I took my marketing classes in college, the entirety of the classes could be summed up into this basic concept, convince people to believe in what you are telling them, hence making your "truth" their "truth". Well, people have begun to reject this idea that I have to believe what you believe, and in part it probably has to do with this idea that advertising is trying to tell you what is and isn't "true".
As the saying goes, "I reject your reality and substitute my own", this mind set has become, for all functional purposes, a defense mechanism for people when they hear something they disagree with, or don't want to agree with it etc. This can be very dangerous, and when used in the extreme sense shown to be very silly as an idea. For example, person one, "a bite from that snake will kill you.", person two, "I reject your reality, and submit that this snake bite will not kill me." And so person two dies, probably adding a little chorine to the gene pool as a result.
So I call to the power of balance, if you are one who sees life as a subjective reality, determined with in your own mind as a result of processing external stimuli, perhaps is it wise for you to begin to explore that there are stimuli were 99.99% of the whole population will experience in the same way. From there beginning to understand that there is more to rejecting absolute truth than meets the optic nerves. Truth exists, that much is, I submit, obvious, what is less obvious to the general population is how to deal with truth.
Stated as fact, truth, no opinion no option to discuss. Simply to accept or to reject the idea of this "truth". When I took my marketing classes in college, the entirety of the classes could be summed up into this basic concept, convince people to believe in what you are telling them, hence making your "truth" their "truth". Well, people have begun to reject this idea that I have to believe what you believe, and in part it probably has to do with this idea that advertising is trying to tell you what is and isn't "true".
As the saying goes, "I reject your reality and substitute my own", this mind set has become, for all functional purposes, a defense mechanism for people when they hear something they disagree with, or don't want to agree with it etc. This can be very dangerous, and when used in the extreme sense shown to be very silly as an idea. For example, person one, "a bite from that snake will kill you.", person two, "I reject your reality, and submit that this snake bite will not kill me." And so person two dies, probably adding a little chorine to the gene pool as a result.
So I call to the power of balance, if you are one who sees life as a subjective reality, determined with in your own mind as a result of processing external stimuli, perhaps is it wise for you to begin to explore that there are stimuli were 99.99% of the whole population will experience in the same way. From there beginning to understand that there is more to rejecting absolute truth than meets the optic nerves. Truth exists, that much is, I submit, obvious, what is less obvious to the general population is how to deal with truth.
Friday, November 18, 2011
And now congregation, let us meditate....
Psalms 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. (NKJV)
I recently attended a service where the minister, before starting the service lead the congregation in meditation. We did some breathing exercises, were asked to think about all that we had on our minds, that which was weighing in our thoughts, and to begin to put those aside. To refresh our minds and open ourselves to the whispers of the inner voice (holy spirit).
While many conservative individuals might have been uncomfortable with this ceremony or ritual, I found it very refreshing. How many times have we walked in to a service with thoughts other than God on our minds. I could list a few, the fight we had on the way to church, the roast in the oven, and we could continue on and one. Yet, how many times do we go to a service where the minister, elder, announcer etc, takes a moment to affirm that we are all most likely burdened in mind and that we should all take a moment to be quiet, be still and begin to take captive of our thoughts in preparation to worship and listen to God. Instead we are rushed through announcements, hit with praise and worship songs and then lead into a passage with a few good stories and 4 points to take away. All being soundly forgotten over the afore mention roast, as you are trying to separate two fighting siblings.
Can we not slow down our efficient services? can we not lend time for reflection, meditation, a chance for Gods people to reclaim their sanity before attempting to bring forward our worship? I also submit that as we come to our services that we should be partaking in our own personal preparation for worship. But I have a larger concern that we are "quenching the spirit" when we allow our well oiled machine like services to run roughshod over the workings of the holy spirit, who is not on a time schedule and honestly is more important that the programmes that are being held that week.
I realize that I am probably just one voice in the desert yelling out, and therefore you all think i am crazy. However I cannot help but think that our services are about "us", they are programmed for US not GOD, they are designed so that WE would be happy not GOD, they get US in and out as painlessly as possible, so we can get out of these uncomfortable clothes. I have lots of questions, with little answers, but what I do know is that we need to start taking the "us" out of the assembling of the believers, and put the focus back on God. This doesn't mean better teaching, longer alter calls, more praise and worship songs. It means taking time at the very beginning to reflect, to empty the room of "us-ness", and our thoughts, our worries, our cares, and fill ourselves with peace, so that the indwelling presence of God might not be stifled.
I recently attended a service where the minister, before starting the service lead the congregation in meditation. We did some breathing exercises, were asked to think about all that we had on our minds, that which was weighing in our thoughts, and to begin to put those aside. To refresh our minds and open ourselves to the whispers of the inner voice (holy spirit).
While many conservative individuals might have been uncomfortable with this ceremony or ritual, I found it very refreshing. How many times have we walked in to a service with thoughts other than God on our minds. I could list a few, the fight we had on the way to church, the roast in the oven, and we could continue on and one. Yet, how many times do we go to a service where the minister, elder, announcer etc, takes a moment to affirm that we are all most likely burdened in mind and that we should all take a moment to be quiet, be still and begin to take captive of our thoughts in preparation to worship and listen to God. Instead we are rushed through announcements, hit with praise and worship songs and then lead into a passage with a few good stories and 4 points to take away. All being soundly forgotten over the afore mention roast, as you are trying to separate two fighting siblings.
Can we not slow down our efficient services? can we not lend time for reflection, meditation, a chance for Gods people to reclaim their sanity before attempting to bring forward our worship? I also submit that as we come to our services that we should be partaking in our own personal preparation for worship. But I have a larger concern that we are "quenching the spirit" when we allow our well oiled machine like services to run roughshod over the workings of the holy spirit, who is not on a time schedule and honestly is more important that the programmes that are being held that week.
I realize that I am probably just one voice in the desert yelling out, and therefore you all think i am crazy. However I cannot help but think that our services are about "us", they are programmed for US not GOD, they are designed so that WE would be happy not GOD, they get US in and out as painlessly as possible, so we can get out of these uncomfortable clothes. I have lots of questions, with little answers, but what I do know is that we need to start taking the "us" out of the assembling of the believers, and put the focus back on God. This doesn't mean better teaching, longer alter calls, more praise and worship songs. It means taking time at the very beginning to reflect, to empty the room of "us-ness", and our thoughts, our worries, our cares, and fill ourselves with peace, so that the indwelling presence of God might not be stifled.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Judging others, right or wrong? (A biblical argument, not just a rant)
There are many ideas and opinions on this topic, many I have found to be based on out of context scripture and leaning slightly liberal in direction. If you think that I am now about to rant about it, you are indeed wrong. I propose that there has been enough ranting, over what is right and what is wrong, and enough bickering based on hypothetical situations. Let me be clear, this discussion is only to be used in Christian relations, it is another topic for another time, but as Christians we have NO right to hold those that do not claim Christ as their Lord and Saviour to our standard of living, specifically the bible. So if you are looking at lost people's actions through the lens of the bible, STOP IT! Yes they are sinners, yes they need Jesus, but if you are going around trying to tell them how bad they are and how much they need Jesus then you are attempting to do the Holy Spirit's work, and therefore have failed before you even opened your mouth. You are a hindrance to the kingdom not a help so back off.
The most common scripture that is used concerning this topic is "do not judge others" which is 1/2 a quote. The entire quote can be found in Matt 7:1 "Do not judge others, or you too will be judged.", lets continue on to verse 2, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:37-38 records it this way "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
What can we say then? Do not judge? It certainly appears so, in both cases it appears that there is a command, backed up with the warning that our judgement of others will be then used and held against us. This might not bother you, as you will never have sex before marriage, so you can judge that couple you know allowed temptation into their relationship, or you will never have an abortion so why should you care about judging harshly the actions of those involved with the issue. Well my answer to that, which could take a whole other note, is that you are justifying your actions, based on one, the standard cannot be held to you if you do not do the same action, and second that God sees all sins as individual and separate from each other. Which, even though the first might appear to be logical, it is not, and the second is covered extensively in scripture, allow me to deviate briefly.Throughout the bible there is a theme of internal vs external, the heart (the seat of your emotions driving your actions) vs the outward actions or appearance. This concept is really picked apart by Paul in Romans discussing how circumcision, the covenant between Abraham and God, is invalid if it is only a matter of flesh, if there is no internal character motivating the outward display of said character, then it is meaningless. For example, a person can put a sign in front of a building that says "Christian Church" (I despise denominations, but that is a topic for another day.), but if they are sacrificing animals and calling upon zeus, satan or zork, master of the interplanetary alliance, then it is not a Christian Church, the outward label, or display, does not represent the inward character.
Back on track to the previous arguments, which I would submit go awry in the heart. Listen (read) carefully i don't want to be mistaken for some heretic, actions do speak louder than words, no doubt. But from the previous argument, the outward appearance holds little weight as to what is the inward character agreed? Therefore, when we sin, yes God sees the outward rebellion toward his commands, but his gaze passes through our actions and straight at our rebelling heart. Yes, I believe that there are some sins that in action hold greater weight than others, but this is not a discussion about that. If you are following me this far, then I would submit, that sin as a condition of the heart, that all sin, to God, has the same motivation, the same origination. All sin stems from a heart that has forsaken God, and has chosen to act out of it's own will and desires. If then this is can be held to be true, you thinking hateful thoughts or internally cussing out a crying baby as an inconvenience at walmart, is, at it's roots, the same condition that would lead a young lady to abort an unwanted child out of inconvenience to her. Remember these are not the same actions, and as actions they hold different weights, but as a matter of the heart, they are identical. If you look to another human and entertain sexual thoughts about them, your heart is not different than the couple that allowed their hearts to be swayed by passions of the flesh. This can be seen in Matt 5:21-30.
If then actions might be weighed differently, but in all matters of those actions can be traced to a sinful heart. Then the standard at which you judge a person, as you might think you are judging their actions but you are indeed judging their heart, can then be used, to judge your heart. Therefore there is not a sin on this earth that you can judge that you will be free from returning judgement from God, and lets be honest, God is more patient and just than any person on this earth so I would rather be judged by him, and not by my standard. I don't feel that I need to expound on the fact that God is the only being in the universe with the ability to judge justly and righteously, if you have disagree with that, well perhaps you should start reading your bible. In conclusion, going back to the passage in Matthew, Jesus asks us, how can we pull the speck out of a persons eye, when we ourselves have a plank, but it does not end there, we are commanded to remove the plank, or get our heart right with God so that we might be loving with the right motive, and then to remove the speck out of our brother or sisters eye. We are not to judge the speck, we are not to lord it over them and make an issue out of it, but HELP them to remove the speck after we ourselves are in right relationship with God, the judge. See we don't need to judge anything, God already has done it for us, and set the standard. All we have to do is hold up the standard, let God's word judge and then love the person enough to help them through the sins and effects of the sin.
Before I end, let me also be clear on this, removing the spec involves the other persons trust, and willingness to allow you to remove the spec, this is built on relationship with the person, don't just try to take specs out of everyones eye. Lastly, the bible is very clear and specific when it warns us that not all who have a spec or a log will be willing to remove it, or allow us to help them remove it. Love them, continue to minister to them, but if they are not having a change of heart, then the bible has instructions for that.
The most common scripture that is used concerning this topic is "do not judge others" which is 1/2 a quote. The entire quote can be found in Matt 7:1 "Do not judge others, or you too will be judged.", lets continue on to verse 2, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:37-38 records it this way "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
What can we say then? Do not judge? It certainly appears so, in both cases it appears that there is a command, backed up with the warning that our judgement of others will be then used and held against us. This might not bother you, as you will never have sex before marriage, so you can judge that couple you know allowed temptation into their relationship, or you will never have an abortion so why should you care about judging harshly the actions of those involved with the issue. Well my answer to that, which could take a whole other note, is that you are justifying your actions, based on one, the standard cannot be held to you if you do not do the same action, and second that God sees all sins as individual and separate from each other. Which, even though the first might appear to be logical, it is not, and the second is covered extensively in scripture, allow me to deviate briefly.Throughout the bible there is a theme of internal vs external, the heart (the seat of your emotions driving your actions) vs the outward actions or appearance. This concept is really picked apart by Paul in Romans discussing how circumcision, the covenant between Abraham and God, is invalid if it is only a matter of flesh, if there is no internal character motivating the outward display of said character, then it is meaningless. For example, a person can put a sign in front of a building that says "Christian Church" (I despise denominations, but that is a topic for another day.), but if they are sacrificing animals and calling upon zeus, satan or zork, master of the interplanetary alliance, then it is not a Christian Church, the outward label, or display, does not represent the inward character.
Back on track to the previous arguments, which I would submit go awry in the heart. Listen (read) carefully i don't want to be mistaken for some heretic, actions do speak louder than words, no doubt. But from the previous argument, the outward appearance holds little weight as to what is the inward character agreed? Therefore, when we sin, yes God sees the outward rebellion toward his commands, but his gaze passes through our actions and straight at our rebelling heart. Yes, I believe that there are some sins that in action hold greater weight than others, but this is not a discussion about that. If you are following me this far, then I would submit, that sin as a condition of the heart, that all sin, to God, has the same motivation, the same origination. All sin stems from a heart that has forsaken God, and has chosen to act out of it's own will and desires. If then this is can be held to be true, you thinking hateful thoughts or internally cussing out a crying baby as an inconvenience at walmart, is, at it's roots, the same condition that would lead a young lady to abort an unwanted child out of inconvenience to her. Remember these are not the same actions, and as actions they hold different weights, but as a matter of the heart, they are identical. If you look to another human and entertain sexual thoughts about them, your heart is not different than the couple that allowed their hearts to be swayed by passions of the flesh. This can be seen in Matt 5:21-30.
If then actions might be weighed differently, but in all matters of those actions can be traced to a sinful heart. Then the standard at which you judge a person, as you might think you are judging their actions but you are indeed judging their heart, can then be used, to judge your heart. Therefore there is not a sin on this earth that you can judge that you will be free from returning judgement from God, and lets be honest, God is more patient and just than any person on this earth so I would rather be judged by him, and not by my standard. I don't feel that I need to expound on the fact that God is the only being in the universe with the ability to judge justly and righteously, if you have disagree with that, well perhaps you should start reading your bible. In conclusion, going back to the passage in Matthew, Jesus asks us, how can we pull the speck out of a persons eye, when we ourselves have a plank, but it does not end there, we are commanded to remove the plank, or get our heart right with God so that we might be loving with the right motive, and then to remove the speck out of our brother or sisters eye. We are not to judge the speck, we are not to lord it over them and make an issue out of it, but HELP them to remove the speck after we ourselves are in right relationship with God, the judge. See we don't need to judge anything, God already has done it for us, and set the standard. All we have to do is hold up the standard, let God's word judge and then love the person enough to help them through the sins and effects of the sin.
Before I end, let me also be clear on this, removing the spec involves the other persons trust, and willingness to allow you to remove the spec, this is built on relationship with the person, don't just try to take specs out of everyones eye. Lastly, the bible is very clear and specific when it warns us that not all who have a spec or a log will be willing to remove it, or allow us to help them remove it. Love them, continue to minister to them, but if they are not having a change of heart, then the bible has instructions for that.
Are you called by His name?
Isn't it funny that God's message and His purpose transcends, well basically everything. 2 Chronicles 7, is a powerful chapter where after Solomon and the Nation of Israel has dedicated the new temple, God has come down, made it his house and made a very public appearance of power in the temple to show that He was satisfied with the temple. He then appeared to Solomon, as the leader of the nation, and we find some instructions, encouragement and warnings. Most of the sermons and discussions that I have heard personally often concentrate on verse 14 alone, which is a great verse, however there is so much more packed into the latter part of this chapter.
I find it very powerful that God tells Solomon, "if my people, we are called by my name", here it is referring to the Nation of Israel, or "God's chosen people", but today, we are called CHRIST-ians, we are titled with the literal name of, or the name of one person of the trinity. I just think that is cool, it is a God thing.
So basically four things,
1) God will hold his blessings, he will cause disaster to fall on the earth in order to not only show his power, but remind us of our complete inadequacy, can you stop a hurricane? earthquake? swarm of locust? Can you make it rain? NO! This passage is very clear that God controls it, and can and will use it to, and see this, test the people, whom are called by his name. This is not a punishment for anything, this is God withholding blessing or causing calamity in order for the heart of those who call on Him to really come out. He knows our hearts, so he is not getting us to remember that He is God, and we are nothing in order for him to see how serious we are, but for what I believe is to show the unbelievers His power.
2) When God causes these things to happen, he has prescribed our reaction, humility and prayer. When calamity takes hold of our lives, how often do we accepted it? or do we drop our shoulders and tough it out. Our humility is confirmation of our allegiance to God, why? because if you truly know God, you know that he desires one thing, TO BE GOD! That means that when we encounter situations in our life that are beyond our control, our understanding of it should be, well since I am not in control, I had better focus on the one who is. How do we do that? We pray. So in recognizing that God is God, and we are nothing is humbling ourselves to realize that we have no control over the situation, and that we need God to direct us, and that leads us topray, more specifically communicate, not just throwing up words to the ceiling. Quick note, there is the turning from wicked ways included in this part, well are we not all wicked? I believe that this is not referring to rebellious sin exclusively, but to any behavior that would be hindering your walk with God, you will see what I mean below. Lastly, God came to Solomon alone with this information, a leader in the Nation, leaders this is important because we are to LEAD the flock to restoration, don't just assume that they are going to do it on their own!
3) In the above I submitted that the first part of these verses is God encouraging his people that he will test them, and when he does how they should respond. In the latter part of the chapter I would submit is the warning. If you turn away, I will ridicule you, this is the message that God has for His people. This is not an america come to Jesus message, I don't really think God really cares about country devisions, He cares about his church, regardless of where it is.
4) The reason that he will ridicule those who called on His name, and then rejected it, is not only to discipline us, but also to show the people around us, that He is serious about our affections, and does not tolerate our adultery as the church against God.
I find it very powerful that God tells Solomon, "if my people, we are called by my name", here it is referring to the Nation of Israel, or "God's chosen people", but today, we are called CHRIST-ians, we are titled with the literal name of, or the name of one person of the trinity. I just think that is cool, it is a God thing.
So basically four things,
1) God will hold his blessings, he will cause disaster to fall on the earth in order to not only show his power, but remind us of our complete inadequacy, can you stop a hurricane? earthquake? swarm of locust? Can you make it rain? NO! This passage is very clear that God controls it, and can and will use it to, and see this, test the people, whom are called by his name. This is not a punishment for anything, this is God withholding blessing or causing calamity in order for the heart of those who call on Him to really come out. He knows our hearts, so he is not getting us to remember that He is God, and we are nothing in order for him to see how serious we are, but for what I believe is to show the unbelievers His power.
2) When God causes these things to happen, he has prescribed our reaction, humility and prayer. When calamity takes hold of our lives, how often do we accepted it? or do we drop our shoulders and tough it out. Our humility is confirmation of our allegiance to God, why? because if you truly know God, you know that he desires one thing, TO BE GOD! That means that when we encounter situations in our life that are beyond our control, our understanding of it should be, well since I am not in control, I had better focus on the one who is. How do we do that? We pray. So in recognizing that God is God, and we are nothing is humbling ourselves to realize that we have no control over the situation, and that we need God to direct us, and that leads us topray, more specifically communicate, not just throwing up words to the ceiling. Quick note, there is the turning from wicked ways included in this part, well are we not all wicked? I believe that this is not referring to rebellious sin exclusively, but to any behavior that would be hindering your walk with God, you will see what I mean below. Lastly, God came to Solomon alone with this information, a leader in the Nation, leaders this is important because we are to LEAD the flock to restoration, don't just assume that they are going to do it on their own!
3) In the above I submitted that the first part of these verses is God encouraging his people that he will test them, and when he does how they should respond. In the latter part of the chapter I would submit is the warning. If you turn away, I will ridicule you, this is the message that God has for His people. This is not an america come to Jesus message, I don't really think God really cares about country devisions, He cares about his church, regardless of where it is.
4) The reason that he will ridicule those who called on His name, and then rejected it, is not only to discipline us, but also to show the people around us, that He is serious about our affections, and does not tolerate our adultery as the church against God.
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