Eastertide – on distinctions of holiness

In Eastertide, then, what are the key aspects of the successful Christian life? There are 2 overarching dimensions: social holiness, and personal holiness. Some might think that personal holiness comes first, but it doesn’t. Neither does personal holiness. It’s why the “one another’s” of the New Testament that describe being part of an effective Christian community are so important. But it has always been difficult to find a spiritually mature and growing church warm and loving church, without any definitions. That was one of the unique teachings of Jesus. It still is.

Most of the church became a numbers game a long time ago when the almighty $ kicked in. All that Jesus said we can and should do in John Chapters 14 & 15 became all that Jesus says we can and should do if we have the money. From the times of the early structured church, money and economic and military power – earthly power, that is, gradually distorted the understanding and the experience of the Holy Spirit, which became seen as an entirely emotional experience. The church grew dependent on earthly funding, not the power of God’s spirit, for its growth and mission. Remember, Jesus carried no money. Just the presence of God with him. He sent the disciples out without funds. Just the presence and power of almighty God. That’s all the Church needs. $? Collect it, pay for building rental and use, and give the rest to the poor. Make a difference. When I was a Methodist Minister, my first congregation kept nothing at the end of each year. We made our denominational support payments and then gave the rest away.

Finding a good Christian community is never easy. This is why many go it alone. We will look at that when we look at personal holiness. But what can you do with the ‘Christian’ right? Not much; they’re following their own politics, not Jesus. Jesus position is always that of the Kingdom of God, not of the kingdoms of this earth. What can you do with the prosperity Gospel? What can you do with a distortion of what the Bible says? Prosperity in the Bible is about spiritual prosperity. Seek ye first the Kingdom …and all these things shall be added; we do not get to reverse that order; if and when we do, it is no longer spiritual; neither is it of God. We must learn discernment, which does not come quick and easy. And certainly not in the form of emotional manipulation in worship! It was a sadly significant day when church leaders realized that if worship utilized disco/pop/rock music forms in church it would attract a great many, with the added benefit of making a spiritual claim of the experience! And it would activate and energize participants. Hence a church exists that even takes its name from the church band!  Yes, it does. Unsuccessful rock musicians helped that effort, but it probably didn’t start that way. As an experienced rock musician of the 60s and 70s and a church organist I have always known what emotional enjoyment music can bring. But to what end? Who came out of this to make the world a better place? Or is it to lead by the wearing of designer clothes? Hence the need for the real energizing of the Holy Spirit. Things change, things improve, and there is fairness and justice to all in need.

And that is what social holiness is about. I am very Wesleyan in this, because at Duke a doctoral dissertation is a unique original contribution to a specific field of research that has not been done before. So it was, when I worked on John Wesley’s notion of social holiness, did the research, developed the concept. Taught 3^rd world political ethics. Showed what it meant to cry ‘foul’ and what it could cost. Here’s what John Wesley said, amongst other stuff, about social holiness, as he comments on Matt Ch 5:13-16…

It is your very nature to season whatever is roundabout you; it is the nature of the divine Saviour which is in you to spread to whatsoever you touch; to diffuse itself on every side; to all those among whom you are. This is the great reason why the providence of God has so mingled you with other ones, where whatever grace you have received of God may through you be commended to others; that every holy temper, and word, and work of yours, may have an influence on them also. ¹

And one other quote: “The Kingdom provides a distinctive contrast to society via the values and priorities that it supports and claims, for these are realized through the Holy Spirit. Because the Kingdom does not accept the political priorities of this world, it will not blindly accept the cognitive presuppositions of political leadership that claim to define and determine what is fair and just for human society. The community of the Kingdom stays in creative tension with society. Because of this tension, Wesley’s attitude towards the exercise of political power by the State carries with it a sharply critical element, one that requires moral accountability of political authority and power. ²

This is what church is. It’s Christian community, and it is therein that social holiness is practiced. Holiness, in both its personal and social forms, flow one into the other. It is the business of looking out for and encouraging one another – to going forward together into the Kingdom of God. The Gospel is not just about ‘Jesus saves’. That statement is correct but incomplete. Jesus saves, yes; but from what and for what? This is why I call it ‘salvation-deliverance’ in the Jacob’s Ladder text. Salvation is always deliverance – from the sins and the evils that are both personal and social. That which causes harm to self and to others.

God’s presence in your life starts here. Now. You stay together in church, you grow as a spiritual community, and you impact community by your works of grace. Both as a group of believers, and in your individual capacity, in what you say and how you behave, every day, at home and at work.

It is not about studying the Bible as much as putting it into practice daily. The reading does not count, until it results in specific behaviors. Then it gives energy and the word comes alive. Not otherwise. Neither intellectual nor cognitive, but experienceable by all. Not about much prayer but about much trust in God’s loving care for us in Jesus. I have always been unimpressed with reading a prayer  in worship. Are these done the way they are to speak to God, or to impress the people?  Which of us would have our children write out what they would say to us? If they did so we would say something like ’talk to me child, don’t write it out and read it to me!  Think about it. If prayer is indeed talking to God, let it be so. The relationship that accrues will speak for itself. That, is key. Not fancy words.

Impacting society is not about making converts. That’s more of the numbers game. True witness is its own attraction - one that brings growth. Your witness is the way you carry yourself, and the life you live. That is its own witness. If it isn’t, you need to work on it. What we have these days is almost nothing but a structured social enterprise that calls itself Church. Small wonder then that it is in such a mess. It has neither the power nor the presence of God. It has custom and tradition, but beyond the practice of irrelevant history, this serves no purpose. This is why technology flies ahead, and the church plods after, reminiscing over the miracles and doings of Jesus.

The sharing of God’s grace impacts the human condition directly. When the church is involved in kindness and compassion to those in need it comes into conflict with the powers of this world by default. But if practiced right, it has the power of God on its side. That is salvation-deliverance - the story of Israel and Egypt in the Exodus. God’s grace is to pervade all aspects of this life, and particularly those areas where wickedness that harms the human condition hides in darkness, under policy and authority. 

An unjust policy then gets to be pointed out, and if a priest or pastor gets jailed for crying ‘foul’ so be it. That is the persecution faced in the courage of our convictions. This is why any so-called pastor who does not visit from house to house is not a pastor. To speak to what is in the hearts of the people, you must know what is happening in their lives. It’s not Sunday entertainment. All of my ministry, I visited – 3 times a week. Every month, every year. When Sunday came, I always knew what to say and what needed to be said about whatever was happening because I knew exactly what was happening in the people’s lives. You cannot reduce God’s grace in Jesus to private opinion, personal ethics, and individual preference. But laying out commonly experienced stuff for all in a sermon, it gets chewed through together. And so the church of Jesus Christ engages society - it finds its strength and power from God in personal holiness; it demonstrates this resource available to all in social holiness. With every blessing in Jesus for the week ahead, G.

1        Outler, A. C. ed.; The Works of John Wesley Vol 1 Nashville Abingdon 1984-87, pg 537.

2        Eli, R George; Social Holiness; American University Studies Series VII Theology & Religion Vol 151; New York, Peter Lang, 1993.

 

Easter Sunday April 20^th 2025

A blessed Easter hug to you!

Jesus is risen is neither a matter of faith or of belief. It is an offer of experience that you can chose to accept. The preaching and teaching of the gospel has been so outdated and so irrelevant for so long! Just look to Jesus!

We begin this one by looking at the post Easter appearances of Jesus and then a little on what he said about the life beyond ; please read, as an adventure, the sections in Luke 24:13ff; 36ff and John 20:19ff; 26ff and 21:1ff; and k 23:43 and finally John 14:2ff.

These are very different from traditional talking and thinking about what they were and are; hence the continued use of heaven as up and hell as down and RIP whenever someone leaves. Perhaps the biggest clue, though, is in the fear that most of us have when it comes to death and dying.

And what happens in the Luke and John stories about Jesus? They pose challenging questions that are not really taken up, since they delve into what seems to be science fiction! The categories are

1.Jesus appears suddenly and without warning, to the disciples; one time, even behind closed doors in a walled building.

2.Jesus disappears just as suddenly, except for the final mention in John where, outside of Jerusalem, he blesses the disciples and seems to move away, recede, and then disappear; this being seen a in an upward direction as recorded, it would appear that he moved upwards and was soon gone out of sight.

3.he eats broiled fish with them.

4. He is a physical being; Thomas, who doubted his appearance, reaches out and touches and feels the scars on him.

5. Lastly, when he appears, recognition is not a given; on 2 occasions, he walks and talks and is not recognized until he sits to eat with them and breaks bread with them – and then vanishes from their sight as in the road to Emmaus; and at the Sea of Tiberius where he bids them cast down and they draw up a huge amount of fish and then suddenly realize it is Jesus.

What conclusions can we draw about what has happened to the Jesus they knew? They have seen that he forgives and heals; now he appears and disappears, moves through thin air, passes through solid walls, and is neither ghost nor spirit.

There is no precedent in the Bible for this. The Old Testament speaks of Hell as Sheol, as in the underworld; so the Psalmist even says ‘in Sheol who can praise thee?’ That is a little reminiscent of the Greek notion of Hades as the underworld, where one has to cross the river Styx to get into the underworld.

In 1 Samuel Ch 28:3ff  there is this neat story about Saul and the medium of Endor; wanting to know the outcome of impending battle, Saul finds a medium, though by law their existence and practice is forbidden; he asks to speak to Samuel and so the medium brings up Samuel, who does not give him any good news. But Samuel does not speak through the Medium. Samuel appears, and the Hebrew word here for Samuel is used only this once in the Bible; It means ‘ghost.’

Next, the notion of death is that the body is made from dust and at death returns to the dust it was made from; but the soul, the spirit life that God has breathed into the clay, returns to God; read the Genesis creation account; read Ecclesiastes 12.

But in the tradition, there is a one stop option re heaven i.e. you go to heaven. Wherever it is, whatever it is. Next to nothing is known. You hope. Or you’re going to hell. That was pretty much how the gospel was traditionally preached and still is. Be saved, or risk going to hell. Not much of an invitation. The other side of it was the ‘Be saved, and your sins are forgiven’ so you get to go to heaven. I am not sure whether that escapes coercion at all. Kind of a weird self-serving invite. Does not mesh with the ‘ he who loses his life will find it….

Clues? Jesus says to the one on his right, since he has been asked to remember him in the kingdom, in Luke 23:43 -  and this day you will be with me in paradise. Sounds a little like the garden of Eden. Could be. We don’t know.

Again in John 14:2ff, Jesus tells us that in my Father’s house there are many rooms, and I go to prepare a place for you….read the section, it is very thought provoking; he also says I will come and take you there…what does that mean? Ask the Spirit!

Useful also to read Ecclesiastes 12:6ff and ask what is the silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher broken at the fountain, the wheel broken at the cistern; and then the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

If you get the Kingdom right, you will not fear death, as I do not. Both your own intuition and the Holy Spirit will tell you what you need to know. Read Sherwin Nuland’s ‘How We Die’ to get a sense of what physical death means. It may help.  Let it come when it will. I have made a weird discovery for myself as I have grown old. The Lord allows us to die when we will, and even how we will, not counting the accidental causality of life.  The how has a lot to do with taking good care of your body health. If you do that well, then you get to decide the when of it. You will know for yourself. The body is a limited time frame, and it will tire. It will be time to leave.  We leave for a better place, only because on this one we have done such a bad job of stewardship on all the Lord has given. So we must traverse inter-dimensionality at death.

Remember, for all of our philosophy, technology, and so-called wealth achievements – we have no idea what the soul really is and where the soul resides in our being; and the same applies to that which we call our ‘consciousness’. Both psychology and psychiatry like to think of this as relating to the human brain, but the limits are obvious and the Qs have not been answered.

Jesus post Resurrection appearances, like so much in the Bible, start with the invitation to have faith and believe; or believe and have faith. But beyond that they invite you into experience, here and now. No teachers, no miracle workers, no faith healers, none of the usual mumbo jumbo. Find out for yourself. The how of it is simple. Do good and grow. Each good action = one step forward into the being and power of the Kingdom. And the hidden + factor is the ability to control a thing, to make a thing change as you will (remember Jesus on moving the mountain to the sea? ) Grow in Christ, the Risen Savior. That option is open to all of us. Don’t follow me. I seek no followers. Follow Jesus. Move mountains. Every blessing in his name, dearly beloved! G.

The Atonement of Good Friday

 

Dear friends,

That which we call Good Friday…

Is the Festival of the Atonement; the great moment in human history when God retires the  Old Covenant’s ‘save the peoples of the world’ project from the people of Israel and institutes one person – himself – to come fix the problem of separation and sin, once and for always. The traditional picture is that of Jesus suffering for our sins on the cross, but that is severely understated other than here is an innocent being killed, like so many other innocents who were crucified in those times.

There is no getting away from the goodness of God because we are all called to Him; He is beyond our concept of good; God is an experience, a feeling, a power of being and a power to be. This is only possible because the great Creator decides there is no other way. God allowed for years in the wilderness with his choice of a people - the chosen – to be a blessing to the peoples of the earth; they even won battles by blowing horns and other symbolic acts, because God gave victory and ‘fought’ for them. Maintain the people, maintain the mission. Very little they could not do. But they were constantly slip-sliding away, again and again, as seen in the Book of Judges etc. Saving grace is given to them time and time again. But they were not ready yet. I often think that today, despite our technological progress, we are still not ready for true spiritual growth, lost in materialism as we are. We just like to say that we are. It requires much more than the current style of living.

But God comes in the person of the suffering servant, because there is no easy way out. The goodness of God will not tolerate evil, nor the sin that causes our relationship with God to be separate from the good; we deteriorate into evil persona of varying degrees, slowly and steadily, slip sliding away. But read the songs of the suffering Servant esp.  the 4^th one, in Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

The historical practice carried out for all of the years from the inception of the people called Israel, was because they were far from the perfection of God, and prone to  sinfulness, causing harm to self and others. Moses goes up on the mountain to get the 10 commandments, the people ask of Aaron and he makes a golden calf. And so, taking into account such realities, the High Priest every year at the appointed time bring a sacrifice into the inner sanctuary and offer it – the lamb of God, given for the sins of the people. That redeemed for a year. Then it had to be repeated. In the Letter to the Hebrews the new Covenant is described as Emmanuel, the Messiah, now becoming our sin sacrifice; he is the offering, and as his life drains, the blood shed is his own blood, and so God gives to himself to balance the wrong of a disobedient and separated humanity. This action is not just for the Jews, nor just for the Christians, but for all people, for all time. Hence Jesus says, It is done…….. I return to myself.

If some of us have thought from time to time, why is a blood sacrifice needed? It is as simple as what it stands for – life. True sacrifice is life for life. Israel was called to be something special, but Israel gave nothing to God. In time, Israel died a natural death as the chosen people of God and was retired. The Jews are no more special than any other people in this world,

But now that atonement has happened, all folk have the option to rise above their inherited tendency to choose poorly, hurt themselves, and hurt others. If it was a matter of choice before, it is now a matter of choosing the ability to rise above temptations. You see, we are called to do more than be only singing in church or giving money, but to help those we encounter along the way who need help, in any way, shape, or form. The more help we give, the more the power of God flows into us. We have been going about it the wrong way for so long. No wonder we are still recounting Gods great deeds way back when but have precious little to show for our own generations. And God still waits…

But that is the miracle of the atonement – what it does for us. The beginning of real accord, the ability to rise above harm and hurt and experience a power God wishes for us to have. We choose otherwise, and that will never become real. Choose well, and we grow. And it is not a matter of faith nor belief but one of experience. It is the mind of Christ given, permeating body and soul. Over and above what you can do, you can do more. From the simplest need to the most complex. And God guides every step of the way.

Be at peace this Good Friday and be determined to discover newness in your life. Every day is new, every opportunity can be an occasion for growth, every growing event increases spiritual power i.e. the power of the spirit within. We decide. Always. This is the huge current contradiction that seems to happen as we age. Look again at the scriptures – it is not so much the young who lead as the older ones who as they age are filled with insight and God given ability, if they have done it right.  We age poorly when our main concerns are the accumulation of material wealth and not the Kingdom, and we too easily forget the distinction between the careful use of money and the love of money. Jesus word on that is his reference to the eye of a needle and a camel trying to go through it. I pray for the country, because we had poor leadership for quite some years and didn’t catch it; it has now come to a head with the election of a convicted felon, and what little we had left that makes us a Christian nation starts slip sliding away.

Do what you can as you can. Give hope, comfort, and strength. Maybe more. You will know for yourself. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be always upon you and yours and protect and lead you in every way. Love, G.

  

The story of salvation, once agaiin

 

Palm Sunday 2025 Apr 13^th

The recorded salvation history of Israel starts in Genesis Ch 12:1-3. Why here? What about the first 11 chapters in the Bible? Well, those are not historical; they are oral history, mixed with myth and legend, handed down by word of mouth and difficult to differentiate; best understood as a statement of faith, just as the very first sentence in scripture begins in the Hebrew, saying “In the beginning, WHEN God created….’. i.e. it is a statement of faith, no one was there to see it.

So, God calls Abram, a wandering Aramean, and tells him he is to become a great people, and through him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Why? Because of the chaos that occurs in the first eleven chapters, from sin to flood toBabel! God creates, and there is order, and everything is good, godly, orderly; then sin creeps in and the order tumbles; chaos ensues; according to the stories, woman is cursed with painful childbirth forever and in Adam and Eve’s beginnings, sexuality is misunderstood, for God is as much female as male. We are made in the image of the Spirit of God. Not in a physical image, be it male or female. Remember, God is Spirit. Do not create a graven image, even in your mind.

Nevertheless, sin comes, and sin separates. Not a matter of a little sin here, or a big one there. Can’t measure sin. Sin separates because sin is separation from God. The loss of the spiritual lifeline necessary to human wellbeing. And Abram’s call? Let the restoration begin!

Abraham tries. New name. From Abram, great father to Abraham, father of a multitude. It gets difficult sometimes; In fear, he passes his wife off as his sister, says to Pharoah yeah you can have her, its ok; argues to himself that it’s ok because she is actually his half-sister. Then tries to help the mission by creating fulfilment of God’s work for God, and led by his wife, has a child with his maid, thereby bringing into being a now doubled intention, which was not supposed to be. And the Israelites and the Palestinians have been fighting ever since. They still fight over the land. Apparently sharing is not an existent concept for them. As scripture says, both shall be great nations before God. The call of Abraham didn’t exactly get off right.

And through the ‘40’ years in the wilderness? It kept going wrong too! Just take the stories in Judges. Up, down, faithful, unfaithful. The one God, yes; but hey, lookit them Canaanite Gods over there! Cool! Ah well. God keeps bringing them back, again and again. Every time they cried out to God for help, God answered. Then they forgot God again. And so it went. But it would not go on forever. Protective Covenant is not an entitlement.

Nor is the claim ‘I’m saved!’ as promulgated by the corporate church, of any real guarantee that when I die I’m going somewhere good. Christians have often thought of others as , well, you’re not saved, you’re going to hell. But I’m all set. The Bible says so. Really? And it doesn’t have anything at all to do with how you live this life in the here and now? Think again. Yeah, sure. Misinterpret the Bible some more and abuse the word of God and take the name of God in vain. Enough already. Read Jim Wallis book called The False White Gospel. We’ll come to that next month in the beginning of the preamble to Jacobs Ladder. And work through Walter Brueggemann and dominant incomplete academic biblical interpretive trends as well. Challenges await.

We must continue to walk in the saving relationship God offers. Does Israel do this? Not quite. We want a king, they cry. Wanna be just like the other nations! Samuel gets mad. God says why get mad, they’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting me! A great truth here.

For herein lies the ongoing weakness of both the then Israelite and the present Christian mission. The temptation to worldliness. Priests in uniform, preachers in business suits. Wealth, material possessions, ad infinitum ad nauseum. All powerless without money. We don’t need words, but actions. Just as God does not need our money. We give for the work of God? Really? Think hard on it. God calls us to give of ourselves. And in such giving, money does not count so it does not matter whether we are rich or poor. Life changing positive actions count. We give, so other people do the godly acts for and on behalf of us. Helpful indeed, but certainly doable by anyone. Nothing particular Christian about that one! Be careful. God wants positive action from all of us, building relationships with God and with one another. Positive actions, even miraculous ones. Like God did in the Old Testament, and Jesus does in the New. How come such things stopped? Now all we do is talk about them. Nope.

In the end, Covenant relationship offered is refused once again, and then the offers cease. God no longer offers protective Covenant to Israel. Israel, now like the nations, dies a natural death as the one-time people of God, once called to bring salvation – God’s saving grace, to all people. Today, much of Israel brings nothing but death instead. Sad. Go to war, without weapons, Israel, but in the name of thy God! No different for Palestine. Isaac and Esau, set against each other. Brought about by human stupidity, sustained by human aggression and vindictiveness. Peace or shalom, is not a goal, it would appear. Only the military supremacy of might is right.

Then Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant. This is the new Israel. Not a people called ave, but a person, a Savior.  See Isaiah 53:4-6. Only atonement can heal the separation. We can’t cut it. The geopolitical salvation of the Exodus experience out of Egypt gives way to a new one. Now the goal changes, the parameters extend, the paradigm shifts.

And Jesus comes, riding into Jerusalem on a colt. All the signs seem to point to something awesome going to happen, and it will. The people cheer! Cheers! But not as expected. Where’s the armor, and the sword and shield? Ah, but this one is different. Not here to fight in the traditions of men, but in one battle against the evil of Satan in this world, once and for always. As Satan had said, worship me, and I will give you all of this – it is mine to give. And so the Israelites continue to have a secular hope, having ignored Isaiah, favoring other interpretations of a new King, just like David. And a new Israel, mightily defeating the Romans.  

The next step in this retelling is a good look at why the atonement is what it is, from Leviticus 16 through the Last Supper of the Lamb of God, midweek.  And then the Easter post on Saturday, covering death, including ours in this life, and Resurrection for us, in a life after this one. Be at peace, walk with Jesus, in whose name we are all blessed. G.   

God's Love For Us

Sunday April 6th 2025

Know that you are loved. Scripture: John 3:16; Lk 15:11-32

Dear friends,

We are getting to the end of this scriptural baseline overview that supports a relationship of accord with Jesus. Most Christians know these scriptures, but very often do not understand the depth of how they reach into us and how the Spirit seeks to create changes in our identity, perspective, and function. We will come back to them repeatedly as we get into Christian identity and spiritual power, different from what the dominant thinking is in many of today’s Christian churches.

John 3:15 has been a historical conversion clause; God loves you! Don’t you want to be saved? Avoid hell, get saved, you’ll go to heaven! Right. Great argument in the 11^th Century. Not incorrect, but not the whole truth about the meaning of salvation by a long shot. As the work of Jacob’s Ladder will show in days to come, salvation = deliverance in the here and now!  Not some ‘I believe, so I’m saved.’ Or ‘I’m baptized! I attend church!’ Nope. Hegemonic interpretation has made a great many believers live weakly, devoid of the spirit and without the power of God! And that is not salvation. Unless you’re saying you are saved but you really aren’t. And never mind the obvious oversimplification about the function of ‘sin.’ The devil did it. Or, it was me falling into sin! Sure. But maybe this is more a matter of human will and human choice! We decide to be in the Kingdom, or not to be.

Salvation creates change in its effect on our lives.  Belief is just the first step, and faith is the second. Could just as easily work interchangeably. But what begins to happen next in self-awareness and self-realization takes us into self-enabling. Miss those steps, and you stay at a level where true Christian maturity is just a dream or wishful thinking

John 3:16 shows that God’s ongoing love is freely given to everyone on this earth. It is the God given ability to be good i.e. Godly. Half of the planet chooses otherwise. And we grow in the direction of our choosing. It gets easier as you go, both ways. You are worth the precious redeeming love of Jesus. Come home to your loving Father. Therein lies the truth of all answered prayer. When we are blind, we fail to see that a loving Father chooses alternatives that are less harmful. When we use God as an authoritarian reference, as in God decides to answer or not to answer a prayer, we fail to see that the Father’s love for us is without limit. God just looks to see which of his children will seek him out first, build their relationship with Him, and grow accordingly. Accord with and in Jesus.

I have never asked much of God, always believing that I should trust and leave it to God. But as I have grown, I have also learned to watch how events unfold carefully, and that every time you ask because of genuine need, God answers. We do not walk alone. But few seek to understand and thereby get to realize the immense depth of the Father’s love for us. We barely scratch the surface, and our ‘relationship’ is almost always based only on the asking that we bring to God. Learn to grow beyond that. See God’s will in all things in your life. Fine tune your living experience.

I cannot explain God’s love to you. You can only experience it. Then you will see or begin to see that it is an immense love that fuels an immense power for good. Not for nothing does scripture say ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit’. The day Israel sought a King it went wrong. It is still wrong. Not by such earthly power. The day the Christian church decided that without money it could do nothing or next to nothing, it went wrong. It is still wrong. You could add, ‘…nor by money’ to the Zechariah text these days. Preaching too often is just inspirational talk. Not by talk either. But by good powerful spiritual action that goes with it.

We are the prodigal children, and maybe Lent is not so much a time of giving up something or anything but a time to review and revise the strength of our individual personal relationship with the God who loves and saves. You gain the Lord you lose the world. We are called to be in the world but not of it -  in any way shape or form. The form itself then, is a new and different one! It is of the Kingdom. Know with great joy that you who come to Christ have a Father in heaven who always walks with you in this life. Take your example from the loving fatherhood you have experienced in your life. If that is not the case, then build the relationship with Jesus from scratch and discover. Ask, and receive. Ask in faith believing that God cares and God’s love is always there. Ask knowingly. Hence, ‘Be still and Know’. You cannot ask anything of a void, a weirdly nebulous notion of an Almighty Being, for nothing will come of it. Never mind the theological notions of mysterium tremendum et fascinans etc!

Remember also that the Father’s love is always protective. Just as we are of God over our children and those we care deeply for. And that the Father wants the children to grow from strength to strength in this life. The interface between love, the loving will of God, and the power of grace, is not well understood. But it is there. You must discover it for yourself. Then you may make a thing to be so. No need to sing about Jesus, because the way you live your life will become a song in itself! Every fiber of your being will sing!

Realize that the sinfulness of the average Christian is no more than a loop machine that will keep you going in circles. Resolve to break free of this. Not like the retired minister in my church who once spoke of how we all have our ups and downs, jeez. Of course we do. But true Christian growth is always incremental, even through these. With Jesus, growth is always linear. Incremental, but linear. Our world often seems to advocate for a quick fix mentality. But technology is not God.

Therefore, every day, seek the mind of Christ. Ask the blessing of God for nothing else. Then eyes will see, and ears will hear, and speech, believe it or not, will lessen as listening increases. You will choose whom to say what to. And perhaps most often, just to listen. You have your way to walk, and they have theirs. They must grow on their own.

In all of this, the word of God is a strangely electric and dynamic thing, nothing like the printed word that gets quoted or thrown around at others. It is a vibe. The printed word just sets you on the first part of it. It is like light energy. In other words, this how the story of the prodigal son converts into our lives. Or at least, into the beginning of it. Not about a fatted calf etc. But of a full and powerful life, safe in the loving arms of the Father. Home in the Kingdom, beginning with the here and now and open ended into our death to this life and into the Kingdom beyond. When we get it right we discover or begin to discover how spirit encourages the mind and sustains the body. We have responsibility for our health for sure. But there is an X factor. And we don’t have to walk without it. Build your peace, and share it. It is needed. Every blessing in Jesus, G.