Witch Hunt

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."  Ephesians 4:3

Why do we slay one another?

What are we doing to each other?

Why are we not linking arms together in this fight?

We're in this together!

The enemy is picking us apart!

We are picking each other apart!

The setting in Arthur Miller's, Crucible, was the Salem witch trials of 1692.  Miller used these witch hunts to draw a parallel to McCarthyism in the 1950's.  In both cases whether it be paranoia of witches or paranoia of communism, people were found brutalizing one another for unfounded reasons.

What about Christians brutalizing one another in the church?

We set ourselves up as gods judging and critiquing how the object of our obsession should act, live, love or "follow Jesus" better.  We see minor faults and move in for the kill...slaying our brothers and sisters in Christ...friendly fire...only not so friendly.  It could even be a simple glance, a miss-spoken word or even worse, someone actually sinned!  They actually did something wrong....messed up...stumbled and fell! 

Now we've really got reason to nail them to the cross!  Oh and just to make sure, let's call up a friend and gather up some ammo and make sure there's nothing left of our offender!  Let's make sure there is nothing left of our offender's character.  Let’s make sure there’s no hope of restoration.  Oh it’s gonna feel so good!  It's gonna make us feel so good about our own filthy rags of righteousness as we discuss the intimate details of their inadequacies!

I was having coffee with a friend a few days ago and this subject came up.   Why do we slaughter each other in the church, and worse yet why do we slaughter those that don't know Christ but might actually want to?  Why do we make it so difficult for the homosexual, the sexually immoral, the drug addict, and the "not-so-perfects" to sit in our pews?  Ya know, the ones that might actually need him?

The two of us had several ideas (I'm sure there's many) but after thinking about it a little more, I believe I've discovered the core issue...

Lack of depth....our walks are shallow.

If we were consumed with Christ, with our affection fixed on Him, enamored by His presence and entrenched in His word, then the faults of others would pale in importance.  They wouldn't stand a chance vying for our attention. Our attention would be locked on to the one who is locked onto us...the one who is in love with us.  The only attention we would give to the shortcomings of others would be to allow it to remind us and call us to repentance, in our realization of our own sins, and intercession to hold up those who are falling.

I love it when Job said the lord will perfect that which concerns me.  The lord will perfect that which concerns us.  We are the lord's workmanship…not each other’s. Sometimes I wonder if our shallowness breeds boredom, and our boredom breeds gossip, slander and judgment.  I wonder if our emptiness and lack of depth in our relationship with God breeds a fleshly desire to raid the lives of our fellow Christians.  Instead of getting away with god and peering into His mysteries we are busy getting away with gossip buddies and peering into the personal failures of others.

Tears May Fall

O little ones, can't you see how much I love you
I've placed upon your head a crown of gold, a crown of glory
And though sometimes it seems a crown of thorns, a crown of pain
I will give you strength, I have come to give you my love

O little ones, can't you see that I'm not angry
Come rest in me, I long to whisper what you mean to me
I've given you everything and I give you love that will last forever
O child of mine, a King has come to bring eternity

Tears may fall, but it's the hope that leads you on
Tears may fall, but it's the hope that leads you on

Tears they'll fall, but it's the hope that leads you on

Today is Christmas...a day of incredible HOPE!  Do you know what hope is?  It's an incredible power that rises within us...knowing that Christ was born into a dark world and born into the darkened hearts of lost mankind...for those who accept Him and receive Him as King!  It is an indescribable, majestic, mysterious power that resonates deep in our hearts...a fire that burns in the cold nights...that says He Is Coming!  He is coming very soon!

True hope is a vision that never dies...a vision of eternal glory, eternal purpose, infinite and unhindered fellowship with the lover of our souls!  Hope says He loves us...He loves us in an unimaginable way!  Hope is that unexpected power that wells up within us, when it seems we haven't the strength to go on.  Hope is that mysterious fire that burns within us when life deals us the worst imaginable circumstance... When life deals us a death blow...when unforgiving pain plagues us...when terror paralyzes us...when sadness seizes us.

Tears may fall...tears they will fall.  I wrote this song not too long after I was released from one of my first stays at the hospital.  Tears fell.  Many.  Anguish suffocated me. Depression pressed down upon me like black gravity poured straight from the clouds. But hope won...every time...every single time...its power filled my lungs and gave me breath. Hope sustained me through every onslaught of every power of darkness that waged war against me.  The hope of Christ and a supernatural life here on earth, and an eternal calling of priesthood serving Him, was enough to thrust me forward through any darkness that came my way.

It's Christmas.  Maybe tears are all you think you have tonight.  Well, it is not all you have.  You really do have hope.  He really does love you and desires to share His heart, His secrets with you.  Maybe the pain seems too great...divorce, a lost child, loneliness, sickness, disease, no job, no home...these and many other difficulties may be plaguing you, stealing from you, even destroying your Christmas.

Don't give up!  Keep going!  Take one more step.  Even if it's small.  One more step for me led to one more step, and that led to one more...eventually I was miraculously released from the hospital.  You will be released!  You will be restored!  Joy really does come in the morning!  Real joy that is ALIVE!  Don't quit!  Christmas is here and it is about our Savior who promises SO MUCH!

Tears may fall, but hope leads you!  Pulls you.  Cleave to its strength!  Follow it!  "Forget not all His benefits", He redeems your life and will never forsake you.  That is Christmas! Celebrate it every day!  Celebrate it now!  Tears may fall but there is hope!!!

The Servant Tree

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Symbols are powerful.  They express our hearts.  Nations rally around them. Men and women sacrifice their lives for what they represent.  Some symbols express eternal truths, and help anchor us as we journey through unknown lands.  Our pilgrimage is surrounded by an invisible world that is either waging war against us or coming to our continual aid and rescue.  What is invisible came first.  God spoke what we see into existence. And all around us are physical evidences of invisible realities.  They speak to us...though it seems silent...they cry out to us.  They beckon us to see and realize that our lives in this present world system are not the ultimate goal of God's eternity.  All creation is groaning, agonizing in eager expectation that we would grow into what we are to become...mature sons and daughters of the Most High God...the Church prepared for the Groom...the eternal enterprise of God in Christ.  “Wisdom cries out from the street corner”...but can you hear it?  Are you listening?

A mile down the road from where I live stands "The Servant Tree".  I drive by it almost every day, and one day I decided to name this tree.  To me, it represents God bending down, arms stretched forward and scooping me up to be my "ever-present help in time of danger".  He reaches down to lift me up; everyday as I head into life...as I head to the battlefield...the tree represents God carrying me through it all.  It reminds me that even though I can't see Him, he is there.  His presence enfolds me and all of nature and all the company of heaven, the great cloud of witnesses is working and laboring to see me finish the race!  This tree represents a great eternal, invisible reality!

The world, the flesh, and the devil seem to show a lot of expertise in the area of deception. The world system has a way of engulfing our minds, screaming for importance.  Its attempt is to scream so loud that we can't hear our God speak.  Its attempt is to engulf the eyes of our hearts and minds so much that we cannot see the things that are “not of this world”.  There's no thought of peering into eternity when our temporal pursuits have courted us into slavery.

The natural realm is powerful...it comes natural to us!  We can touch it.  We can see it. We can taste it.  We were born of flesh.  That which is of the Spirit must be fought for...the spirit and the flesh are at enmity with each other.  Symbols help draw us out. They help deliver us from this present evil age.  They help ground us in the divine. They help lift us out of the mundane...even help transform what seems mundane into amazing living...divine living!  And as the scripture above says, it is God's creation that makes His divine nature obvious.  Like the Servant Tree, I often find signs and symbols in nature that not only remind me of eternal truths, but they help take me deeper into experiencing these truths they represent.

Sometimes....when the world and it's worries are bearing down on me...when it barely seems I can breathe or make it to the next day...if I can find the strength to just look up...just glance at this tree or another sign or symbol that represent why I'm really here...I can find new strength, a refreshed vision...my sight is restored, and I can see, once again, who I am in Christ and what my true purpose is, in light of eternity.

Are you surrounded by signs and symbols that assist you in peering into the unknown? Take a minute to look at nature around you.  You might find something to help you dive deeper into His word and gaze deeper into His eternal truths.  You might find something that will help you understand the amazing reality of why you are here… your eternal calling in Christ as eternal servants, kings and priests unto our God!

Famous Ones

They cut themselves.  They're Bulimic.  They're heavy drug users and alcoholics.  They're thrill seekers with out of control behavior.  They dangerously live on the edge with suicidal tendencies.  Depression and paranoia stalk them without relent.

Who are they?

The famous ones.

I was discussing with some friends a couple of days ago the characteristics of several recent Disney Stars that have made the headlines.  Miley Cyrus seems to be headed in a downward spiral with drug use and erratic behavior.  Demi Lavato just announced she was checking herself into rehabilitation for self-mutilation and eating disorders.  These are just two examples we were discussing based mainly on our concern for Disney stars as they relate to our children.

As we all know, the headlines are full of, and seem to feed off of emotional chaos reeling through the lives of the famous ones.  We have all heard the stories of the horrible toll that fame takes on a person.  We have seen the wrecked lives.  We have experienced the collateral damage.

So why do we so desperately want it?  Why do we want to be famous?  Why is it so important for us to be known...to be known by many?  Why would many of us desire our names to become  household names?

Recognition...recognize me...think about me...admire me...adore me...elevate me... worship me.  It's in our nature...our fallen nature.  It’s the  desire to be inordinately recognized.  We want to be worshiped.  We can't escape it…apart from Christ.  And like Nebuchadnezzar, we want the world to recognize our greatness...our pathetic, fleshly, self-exalting wondrous kingdom that we build unto ourselves...that we build unto our name.

 “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?"  Daniel 4:30

I'm not sure we have been created to be famous.  I'm not sure we can handle it...every move, every word, every emotion, every aspect of our lives displayed before millions...possibly billions of people.  It's unnatural.  I am sure of one thing though...as Christians we are called to die to the desire to be known…we are called to make Him known.

 “Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws."  Daniel 4:33

Nebuchadnezzar had to come to realize there was only one Famous One.  We, like Nebuchadnezzar, have to die to our desire to be worshiped and adored…that Christ would be exalted in our lives and in the church.  And like this king, we must be brought low...even to grass-eating experiences that our selves would be sacrificed on the altar...that He would be enthroned...in our hearts and in our minds...this is sanctification...the continual work of the cross.  He hung naked on the cross.  Sometimes our flesh must hang naked; be laid bare, that true humility can be born.

"Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." Habakkuk 3:2

This is incredible!  This is worthy of fame!  This must become the sole desire of our hearts!  We must want absolutely nothing more than to hear of His fame, stand in awe of HIS deeds, and to see them renewed in our day!  He is our King!  He is our God!  He is our Lord.  He is Jesus Christ, the ONLY way to the Father!  May His name be glorified.  May The Lord God and His greatness and holiness be made known among the nations!

It is pure robbery...we are thieves...we steal from our precious Savior and the exaltation of what He did...the cross!  We steal His glory!  We are an affront to the cross when we desire the recognition that only He deserves!  Essentially, we are saying don't look at Jesus.  Look at me!  I need you to look at me.  Not the cross.  Don't look at the only means to eternal life... Look at me!  "God forbid that I should ever glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!"

"At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before."  Daniel 4:36

Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and all was restored.  He gave God complete recognition and credit for all things and all he possessed.  He glorified the Lord and "became even greater than before."  When we truly die to ourselves and recognize that God is Most High and truly reigns over all, we "become even greater than before".  Actually, we become, more and more, who we were created to be..."in Him we live and move and have our being".  The more we die, the more He lives in us...and our gifts, our talents, our love, our beauty and the fullness of the definition of who we are resounds throughout every fiber of our being...and the world begins to see something different in us...Christ in us!  The hope of glory!

Piercing The Veil

"To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds."  Daniel 1:17

"In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom."
Daniel 1:20

The cashier at Walgreens this morning began telling me how miserable the holidays were because of her job in retail.  I managed to escape this treacherous career path several years ago...I could relate.  But as I began to ask questions, I found out she had just lost a husband she had been married to for 40 years. She was really struggling with the thought of spending the holidays without him.  I told her about the grief-share program at our church and gave her my phone number.

While I felt compassion for her loss, my deeper concern was for her soul.  Though the meeting was short, I didn't really get the impression that she knew Jesus and had a relationship with Him.

I couldn't help but wonder, as so many of us continually do, how can we reach them?...It's like we are in another world, another realm, and we're trying to pierce our hand through some mysterious veil and pull them through... rescuing them and bringing them in to ours. I search for the magic words, the magic key...but so rarely can I find it.  What is the answer?

I love the first couple of chapters of Daniel.  So much of it is about wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and knowing the deep hidden things of God.  The NIV commentary explains Daniel 1:17…”with God's help, Daniel and his friends mastered the essential Babylonian literature on astrology and divination by dreams, but in the crucial tests of interpretation and prediction, all the pagan literature proved worthless.  Only by God's special revelation was Daniel able to interpret correctly.”

Daniel's heart was pure.  He loved His God more than anything.  He refused to eat the King's choice food and drink his wine.  He prayed with discipline and refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar.  He studied and learned everything there was to learn...science, literature, art, mathematics...all the stuff of the earth.  But when it came to the stuff of heaven, he relied on God.  He fasted...he prayed...he worshiped...he trusted...and when the moment of truth came...the hot seat...the time to "make it or break it"...he trusted. And God came through...He came through with the interpretation, he came through in the furnace, he came through in the lion's den...and He even gave Daniel the prophecy we are still waiting to see unfold; thousands of years later.

"the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, which is the image of God.". 2 Corinthians 4:4

Piercing the veil...how do we reach them?  For the lady at Walgreens, I wish I had a magic wand from God.  I would tap them/her on the forehead and watch the change take place before my eyes!  I taught Daniel 1:17-21 to  Annaliese and Justus tonight.  I told them that God was "giving them knowledge and understanding of all literature and learning" through their studies in school, and ultimately they would be given special revelation in times they needed it...if they kept their hearts pure and committed themselves to God, like Daniel.  I told them they would speak to kings and presidents and these kings and presidents would be so much more impressed with them than the magicians of our day that they would see their God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the true God...as long as they kept their hearts pure...undivided...committed to Him, and steeped in His word.

God will use us to Pierce the Veil...but we must use words...faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God...plain and simple...we gotta tell em...but something that I think will help, something that will maybe help us find the right words, the "special revelation"...the "dream interpretation", is that we gotta love...like Daniel's heart, we've got to love our Savior...above all else...when the world says eat our finest foods, drink our finest wine, we gotta fast a little...when cable TV says I've got one more thing to check out, we gotta pray a little...and when the Nebuchadnezzar of our day, the world system, says worship me, we must remain steadfast and worship the one, true, LIVING God, our precious Lord Jesus, the Christ!

Would you join with Daniel and all the saints that have gone before us...in fasting, praying and worshiping...that we could  Pierce the Veil and reach the Nebuchadnezzars of this world?

Royal Passageway

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20

This year we did something a little different with our Christmas lights.  We bought new strands of all blue lights, lined our middle walkway that leads to our front door with them, and added "arms".  Yes, we now have a huge lit up blue cross in our front yard!  I love it! One of our neighbors driving by, stopped and began to tell his 6 year old daughter what it was about...what the cross meant.  A friend that came to a Christmas party we threw a couple of nights ago said it felt like he was walking up a "royal passageway".

Growing up in church was pure drudgery for me.  I absolutely hated it. My parents were very involved so, inevitably, we were there quite a bit.  We were also altar boys...we were Roman Catholic.  My days were spent  doing what most boys do at church...well not really...my days were spent partaking of the consecrated bread and wine every chance I got, pilfering through glove compartments of unlocked cars, stealing and smoking cigarettes, and anything else I could dream up to kill the boredom.

The cross is everywhere throughout the buildings and sanctuaries of the Catholic church...but it meant nothing to me!  I was dead.  I was like that scripture "we played a the flute for you, and you did not dance, we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.".  I was deaf, dumb, and blind and the "royal passageway", to me, was nothing...it was lifeless, dry, empty of meaning, a dead piece of artwork.

The cross...some ask why would you hang an instrument of torture, an electric chair around your neck. Maybe it is because this "instrument of torture" is the "royal passageway".  It is still unfathomable for me to understand how absolutely meaningless this "symbol" was to me at one time, and now it's like those amazing little blue LED lights in my front yard.  The cross glows mysteriously in the night...in my heart.  Since I came to Christ, everywhere I go, when I see a cross and I can't take my eyes off of it!

The cross...I cleave to it now...I wrestle with it...I embrace it.  Paul said he always carried about in his body the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he had been crucified with Christ, and that  Christ now lived in him.  When I walk about this earth, the cross is continually etched in the forefront of my mind.  There is a deep hollowness when you are lost...really lost.  Your heart aches at untold depths...it's never-ending.  I tremble when I think of those who perish in it...never finding this eternal, royal passageway to Life.  It grieves me that when I wrestle with it, like Jacob wrestling the angel for a new name,  others rarely join the fight.

Sometimes I like to stare at my son and daughter when they're sleeping.  Not because they're cute...although they are adorable!  I stare at them, amazed that they are part of me!  With my past, the things I did, the illness I endured, I never thought I would have kids...I never thought I would live past 25!  I stare at them, amazed they are "bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh".  I am, in a sense, in them, part of them and they are part of me.

"On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."  John 14:20

The cross...a mystery.  What a mystery that through the cross, we are now "bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh", and really...spirit of His Spirit.  A more learned man, scholar, scientist or philosopher might be able to "out-debate" me on religion but my testimony will always stand.  A once hollow man now buried with Him...His life the only thing living in me...hidden...the mysterious burning....a deep knowing...that can't be out-argued or taken away.

My former hatred for the cross is as much a faith-builder for me as my current love for it...only the truth of the gospel can exist in such a graphic change of heart and change of mind.  It is the royal passageway.  I love the cross.  Without it there is absolutely no life, no eternal life...only destitution, abandonment, hopelessness, despair...for eternity.

In this life there will be many trials...the Bible promises it.  But even if all should crumble, fall apart, and fail, the cross is still there...every moment can be lived in its hope...every minute I can walk and breathe and live in a secret, hidden, exciting, ROYAL hope that a celestial city awaits with the cross as the entrance...the City of God.  If I'm left owning nothing...my hands holding nothing...may my hands still be clenched to MY cross...OUR cross.  It is my greatest treasure.  It is my Royal Passageway.

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."  Galatians 6:14

The Beloved, John

I love John's writings.  He doesn't just tell the story.  He takes us deep into the heart and the intimate life of the main character of the story. He helps us make that intimate connection with our Savior.  He takes us into the fire...deep into the intensity of God's few moments on the scene...incarnate...real skin...real blood...real breath...real heart...His feet touching...imprinting the soil of the earth, the mystery of the Divine embodied!  He helps us peer into the eyes of our Savior and see love, real love between Jesus and John and the other disciples…he helps us see love without condition, stipulations, demands of performance...no payment necessary...Jesus takes care of that.  Jesus takes care of everything.

John brings us close enough to see Jesus, to touch Him, and to see his radiant smile, His glorious countenance.  Close enough for His peace to wrap around us and hold us.  He helps us to gaze and behold the mystery...the mystery of God...that came to die. He helps us find our way to Christ's side...to that place that allows Him to put his arm around us...walk alongside us...that place that allows us to lean into him...take a few deep breaths...and feel the beat of the heart that conducts the universe!  John helps us to see Him intimately, and he records the deepest, most profound words ever put to print.  Words that unite flesh with wood and soil and Spirit...words that unite suffering and sorrow with resurrection and eternity...humanity with Divinity...the cross with mankind.

"He then lying on Jesus' breast said unto him, Lord, who is it?"

"So she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved"

Who was this man that was granted the privilege to lean upon the breast of Jesus and walk so close to Him that he would be called the disciple whom Jesus loved?  Scribe, mystic, philosopher, simpleton, disciple, passionate lover of God, sinner, saint?...what made him different?  Who was he?  How did John know a love so deep, so immense you could almost see as you read his words, eternity surrounding Jesus and His closest ones as they walked through those few years together?  You can almost see divine light, divine depth, heaven's architect dance in their midst as you explore the chapters of John's books.  You can almost see the mysterious, marvelous light of His kingdom surrounding them....enfolding them along their pilgrimage. How did John get to know our Lord...our Jesus like this?

Probably most of us have or have had those one or two friends in our lives that when you get together, you chat for awhile, catch up on things, and soon something changes.  The atmosphere changes.  The dialogue changes.  There’s nobody around you...nothing around you seems to exist....or at least it fades immensely in importance.  It’s just you and your friend...sharing the deepest concerns of your hearts...nothing else matters...and you talk late into the evening.  No need for sleep.  There's too much to say.  The air is thick.  Your hearts are locked...engaged. Every word of your friend is so important it seems to hold eternal weight and every one of your words holds the same weight with your friend. And the trials of the day seem to fade a bit... The moment is sacred.

Can you imagine if this is what Jesus and John shared?  I want that!

I believe this is God's message through John's writings.  It's the message of I AM...of who I am…a person...a God who loves you...intimately. It's not just the story of His life, although that's critical...it’s about knowing Him deeply...it's here I am...come and know me...really know me.  I am the great I am.  I am the Resurrection and the Life, the Vine, the Bread of Life, the hidden manna, the Good Shepherd, I am the way, the truth and the life, I am He who came down from heaven to give life to the world.  It’s about who I AM....And it's about come and dine with me...sit with me...let's talk through the night...let's chat for a minute…but then let's really talk.

I often think about the agonizing days when I was in the hospital.  I see Him all through it. I see Him holding my head as I'm locked in terror between those walls.  I see Him holding me night after night...intimately caring for and carrying me the whole way.  This is real life...it's good and its bad, it's up and it's down and I see Him now....in the present…He is there...Jehovah Shamah.  He is there...intimately.  He is here walking with us...beckoning us to go deeper, walk closer. This world and its trials are passing...come and know me...in every moment.

I wonder what the Church would be like if we could somehow lay hold of this...to desire to walk intimately with Him like John did...like he communicated.  What if we wanted nothing more than to be like John, the disciple whom Jesus loved  and to lean upon His breast...to be His closest confidante?  What if we really wanted nothing more than to live deep in the fire of His presence and His love...to be part of His body that was broken and to share that with the world?