things i have...
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Posted:Dec 4, 2010 3:42 am
Last Updated:Dec 5, 2010 5:42 pm 64768 Views
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This morning I woke up thinking of things I have done. I have overcome cerebral palsy. I was adopted. I first walked when I was three years old.I grew up in a small town. I went to school with the same for 12 years. I played little league baseball. Played middle school football. I can swim. I could dive, doing a 3 1/2 off of a ten foot board.
I spent hours fishing growing up. Rode bicycles. Slid down the fish slide. Went skinny dipping. Explored the whetstone creek. Walked through the Glendale Cemetery at night. Looked at the old headstones at night. Played High School Baseball and Football.Been a score keeper and referee. Announced lineups before games. Said the prayer before games.
Witnessed sunrise services for Easter. Found God through Christ.Led others to Christ. Played pool. Rode horses. Went camping. Been to museums and Zoo's. Gone to College. Been Married. Fathered a .
Lived in other states. Flown across the country. Driven straight through from Ohio to Florida. Played pick up basketball, full court until I was 47. Installed wood floors. Laid tile floors. Installed baseboards, hung a door. Painted interiors and exteriors. Helped install carpets. Delivered Milk. Counseled inmates. Volunteered at Childrens homes. Met my biological parents and siblings.
Made snowmen. Survived blizzards, tornado's and hurricanes. Sledded down Jackson's Hill. Worked at McDonald's and Domino's Pizza. Worked at Pepsi. Operated filling machines and palletizers and driven production fork lifts. Driven a bobcat. Laid and poured a concrete basketball court. Installed basketball goals. Coached basketball and football. Read the bible. Sang solo in Church. Attended fellowships. Sailed sailboats, had motorcycles and convertibles. Driven tractors and lawn mowers. Swam in the Ocean. Water Skied. Walked in mountains. Made snow Angels. Learned to cook and grill. Played card games, board games. Fed babies, changed diapers. Re roofed my house. Never been drunk or high. Driven in ice storms and hurricanes and blizzards. Ran my own business from scratch. Went to pro baseball, basketball and football games. Been to College bowl games. been to Ohio State-Michigan games. Have no regrets. Been to family reunions. Buried loved ones. Saved a drowning friend. Had Iguanas, Cats, Dogs, Fish, ferrets, turtles. Have the best friends.
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Batteries not Included
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Posted:Dec 1, 2010 3:51 am
Last Updated:Jun 18, 2011 3:05 pm 64837 Views
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I remember this cute Disney movie called "Batteries not included". It was about these tiny amazing alien robots that were helper robots. Helping this old keep their store in the midst of an evil Donald Trump like take over in order to build some huge entity. In the middle of the show a mama robot gave birth to two baby robots and it was lioke they were dead. One of the people that lived in the building proclaimed "batteries not included". Yet he found a way to save them.
Thats how it is with God. He created us with a spirit man that until we receive Christ does not come alive. The emptiness that is there can only be fixed with a personal saving relationship with him through God. This relationship is not based on being in agreement with a church or a pastor or even friends that believe. It is a spiritual birth that is personal and only we can act on it. That is when the battery called the Holy Spirit comes and indwells in you. Life begins in a world that until this happens, is not seen and remains invisible to others until they receive their life giving battery.
For we are saved by grace and not by works that anyone should boast. Works have nothing to do with ones salvation. Yet in James, he states that faith without works is dead. Does that mean ones salvation is not there unless they perform works? No it just means that you will see signs of good things from someone who is saved as aa result of their personal relationship with God.
The word gives us a little list of what a good parent is. Then it goes on to say that how much better a Father is our heavenly father. If your are not doing the things that you think are right in life, do they all of a sudden no longer your ? Of course they are your . So you being good parents pray for them, you pray for God's guidance and wisdom and you keep doing your best until repentance and new direction is formed. God is the same way, except he knows exactly what to do.
Jesus said that he who is placed in his hand by the father can never be snatched away. What does that mean to you? The word also states that Jesus is the Author and finisher of our faiths. Where does that place us? In him. Everything is in him. He died for us. He teaches us. The word says the law was once a tutor, but now that Jesus came, he is our tutor.
Yet we as people place everything on each others performance when every man since Adam has failed at one point or another. Its what we do. It is also why Jesus gave his life for us. Paul wrote most of the new testament. he stated once that the things he wants to do he found himself struggling to do. He also found himself doing things he did not want to do. That is the humanity and weakness of mankind.
Life is hard. We complicate our own lives with our own personal failures. Yet we do not always get what we sew and that is the good part. If we did life could be hell here on earth. In maturity we will find that nothing another man can share with us or preach at us will make a difference. Why would I say that? Because performance based Christianity or any religion will kill you. It beats you up. But there is an answer. Paul found it. If you read his eearly writings to the churches, to the later ones; you will find a vast difference in his maturity. In the end Paul proclaimed "It is no longer me living, but Christ living through me. That is the mystery of the Gospel. Chris tin you, the hope of Glory. He the vine and us a branch. An extension that he lives through when we allow it.
Be Blessed
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Sold Out
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Posted:Nov 29, 2010 2:44 am
Last Updated:Nov 29, 2010 12:58 pm 64012 Views
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The one thing that I always think about when it comes to relationships or anything that is going to require a lot of differing efforts is this. Count the cost. Is this what you really want in life? My ex-wife is a prime example to me of someone who does not count the cost.. Right now she is going to school in a field, that with a bad economy is a bad idea. i wish she would have went a different direction, but it is her life. It is her decision. However more than likely, all she has ahead is more debt with little to show for it. I want her to succeed. I want her to be at peace in life and flourish. It does not look like anything will ever happen based on past track record and what is going on today.
We can live in our dream worlds which are often a house of cards, or we can take a realistic look at where our lives are. The dream world is an easier place to be. It can take us away from the stresses that follow us in everyday life. Yet at the end of the day, are they a deterrent from reality, or a part of a plan to realize a dream? Its kind of weird but in most cases our friends will not say anything, but they just sort of go along with our dreams with the thoughts that we will figure it out someday that it is not going to come to fruition.
I see relationships come and go. They usually fall apart because the cost was not really invoked into the situation. Expectations and presumptions were, but not reality. So they operate in the illusion of what they think things should be without working within the framework of what the real needed functions are. Sold out. Sold out means you have looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the other person before you decide to enter into a permanent relationship. You have made a decision that I love this, I can tolerate that. But above all things I commit to making this work in the good and in the bad. Yes it takes two. It takes two people counting the cost and realizing that there are some things you will cherish and enjoy in your partner. There are however some things that you will not.
Here is the sand in the shoe. If you counted the cost from the beginning, and made a commitment to work through this type of stuff, then you either do something about it or you have lied to yourself and you make it an excuse to be unhappy. The sand in the shoe isn't as big of a deal because you knew that sand was there. You either continue to work with these little situations or you use them as an excuse to end something. But then, who is at fault? Who is being dishonest? If you counted the cost, then you would continue being willing to deal. Quitting is easy. Commitment frowns on quitting.
We love romance. We live for intimacy, whether it is with God, family, friends or a spouse. But in each case is commitment to excellence in the relationship, or it will reek with brokenness. If we give half of ourselves to God, family, friends and a spouse, how can we expect much in return. Count the cost.
Be Blessed
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exposing the false teaching of oneness pentecostalism
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Posted:Nov 27, 2010 6:15 am
Last Updated:Dec 1, 2010 3:49 am 65426 Views
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The Word “WITH” in John 17
In Jn.17 Jesus asks the Father to “Glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory I had before the world began.” Jesus is about to complete his mission on earth and is emphatically stating and remembering something of his past… two personal pronouns are used, showing one person speaking to another person. The word “with” couples two subjects, it express more than one, I and you. It is the asking about sharing the same glory with the true God from eternity past. Glorify me together with yourself. Here is a person presently speaking to another person. Recalling the past “I had in your presence before the world was.” He is referring to something he shared before time began. So if the is not consciously and really there in the past, then what is he talking about? He would be lying asking for something that was not ever his. And if he was not there how can we understand the Father was there. After all, according to Oneness these both are roles of the one God.
Gen.1 tells us the first thing created was the heavens and the earth. If Jesus had glory with the Father before the world was, then He pre-existed as God- for only God existed at that time. Therefore it is impossible for him to be a creature. He became a creature through the virgin birth by taking on human flesh to house his Spirit that was God.. Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Ps 90:2; 103:17)
The relationship of the to the Father transcends time, it did not have its beginning in Bethlehem. Notice: God the Father is saying the one from eternity will come forth to him- whose going forth from eternity showing the concept of the Eternity of God the . Again showing there are two. As Barnes puts it “Eternity belongs to God, not God to eternity.” “It declares the eternal “going-forth,” or Generation of the .” “The Generation of the from the Father is an Eternal Generation, before all time, and now, though not in time, yet in eternity still.” The plain antithesis of this clause, “come forth out of thee” (from Bethlehem), shows that the eternal generation of the is meant (from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
The Ruler (king) of Israel, has His goings forth reaching back into eternity, now is to find himself among man beginning at Bethlehem. In the fulness of time he would be born of a woman. Certainly to take the position that this eternal one is only a manifestation destroys the whole concept of the incarnation, God with man.
So when the Father said to the “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Ps 45:6) It is understood as his possession forever. It is an eternal statement.
A.T. Robertson is probably the greatest Greek scholar America has ever produced renders this verse in John 17 “by the side of thyself” as the literal rendering of the language.
Jesus in Jn.17 is asking for restoration of the glory he shared before he was incarnate, what he commonly shared before anything was created. This is a statement of his deity as well. Robertson says this is actual conscious existence at the Fathers side.
And we see the Father does give him all that he had before after his body is raised from the dead. Mt.28:18-19 all authority in heaven and earth is given to him as was written of him in Ps 2 -9 “I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, 'You are My , today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.’” This is what is declared of the after the resurrection in Acts 13:32-34 “And we declare to you glad tidings-- that promise which was made to the fathers. “God has fulfilled this for us their , in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: 'You are My , today I have begotten You.' “And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: 'I will give you the sure mercies of David.'
The begotten proves it does not mean a birth but something much different. As Heb. 1:5-6 “For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My , today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a ”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” This shows the is worshipped in the same way the Father is by his creatures. That he has a unique relationship with God unlike any other. Again for this to occur it takes more than one, for a relationship is between two of different identities who are conscious: Father and . But this relationship as we have already read did not begin on earth but continued on earth, for it existed before He came to the earth.
According to the Scriptures Christ did not become the in time, not by his birth, his baptism or resurrection. He was eternally the . The “today I have begotten you” is a timeless declaration of Jesus being the from all eternity.
Jesus DID NOT BECOME THE from the resurrection. This would contradict the whole revelation of the New Testament concerning Christ's relation to the Father. As Paul writes “And declared the of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead” (Rom.1:4). Christ did not become God's for the first time by the resurrection as He was already declared the . Its meaning becomes clear, it is a coming forth just as Micah explains. The risen was then restored in His relation to the Father, which now includes a human body. He is the “only ” that lives eternally by the resurrection as the “first begotten from the dead” in time. The only one at this time raised in a body unto eternal life.
Humanly speaking: One is not a Father until there is an offspring--a relationship. However we find God is called Father in the Old Testament (and also a ). Certainly man being created in God’s image is expressive of a relationship that God the Father had toward God the before the world was made. This declaration of Father and are terms describing a relationship by nature not by origination. W.E. Vine states: “The word “begotten” does not imply a beginning of his sonship. It suggests relationship indeed, but must be distinguished from generation as applied to man.”
John the Apostle begins his Gospel by stating the relationship of the to the Father was before creation and explains the uniqueness of Jesus. Jn.1:18: “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten , which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared him.” “In the bosom of the Father” is a statement explaining relationship, intimate relationship. John writes “Not that any man has seen the Father, save He which is of God, he has seen the Father.” Which means Jesus is not just a man, since He has seen the Father, which no man can! He is more than man, though he is indeed man. When did He see the Father? Prior to His coming to earth as man he knew the Father in heaven. Just as he stated in John 17.
Let Us Reason Ministries
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What are you staring at Ghost?
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Posted:Nov 27, 2010 5:18 am
Last Updated:Jun 18, 2011 3:12 pm 63908 Views
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I remember in the end of the movie, "Field of Dreams", Ray Liotta confronts Kevin Costner. Kevin was upset because James Earl Jones had just been invited into the cornfield to do an interview with the ghosts of the baseball players of days gone by. We have to remember that Kevin had built the field, lights and all, but was about to lose everything he owned and maybe his family.
He felt like he had done all this in vain. He told Ray, whats in it for me? Ray said to him, Kevin is that why you did all this? For you? That is when he pointed to the plate area and there stood Kevin's father that he had been on the outs with for several years before he died. Of course they went on to play catch and things ended well in the movie. However one thing remains so true in our lives from this movie. Intent and motivation.
As Christians, many people wish to look for a position to be whether it is Pastor, so called todays Apostles, Evangelists etc. Ministry is an interesting concept, because is it really an organization? Or is it an act performed as needed at the moment? Is it a position or is it a willingness to allow God to live through you at a moment in a gift? When does it stop being about what we do or can do and be what it really should be? All about him?
I personally believe that ministry in it's truest form is just an overflow of our intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Then it is from the empowerment of our fellowship with him. It becomes us stepping aside and his love, gifting, wisdom flowing through us. The word says it is what that brings anyone to a place of repentance? His Goodness and Kindness. It is not our opinion or ability to point out sin. It is his goodness and kindness. If people will not respond to that, then they are either not ready or sadly never will.
Who is more important, God's message or the messenger of God? It is important that it truly is God's message in the first place and not something concocted by man. Once that is established, it is God's message. One barometer we can always have is are we doing something out of what we believe or obedience compared to God doing it through us? If it is the former then we will burn out, feel aggravated by peoples responses to what we do. However if it is God doing it through us, our patience and understanding will go out to people just as God's peace that passes understanding helps us in the hardest of times. Motivation and intent. Is it the spirit or is it us?
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Small town Holidays
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Posted:Nov 24, 2010 4:04 am
Last Updated:Nov 30, 2010 3:53 am 64959 Views
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I was talking with a friend last night. They reminded me of times gone by. It started me down memory lane with Cardington. Family, neighbors and friends. Thanksgiving was a time that for me was enjoying the family. Being thankful to God for them. In Cardington you could poke an eye down the street or next door and know that others were celebrating too. You did not have to be there in their homes. You just knew. I also think it was a simpler time back then in the 60's and 70's. We were not as caught up in uncertainty as it seems we are today. The Viet Nam war was over. There weren't threats from North Korea and China as there is today. Crazy countries like Iraq weren't getting nuclear weapons.
I remember people excited about sharing the highlights of their Thanksgiving encounters. Sharing back and forth while smiling and reminiscing about other Thanksgivings' gone by. Remembering loved ones who had passed and being thankful for the memories you had of them.
One of the things I partook of was the Christmas caroling. When I was younger i remember how people would come up to our door and sing a melody of songs. Standing in the snow. Smiling, while in a true worship of Christ with the visions of that manger many years ago. The innocence and beauty could not be ignored or taken away. I remember recognizing many of the people in these little groups. But somehow as I look back, it was more than that i was experiencing; it was a look into what the body of Christ was intended to be.
I only went Caroling a few times, but when i saw the eyes light up of and parents in those homes, it took me back to when I was a little boy and how it impressed upon me. People honoring the holy night. A moment when no matter your troubles, no matter what was going on in the world, the focus was where it should be. These are my memories, and probably not too much different from people who grew up in our small little town.
Be Blessed this Holiday Season
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is it your confidence, or someone elses ?
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Posted:Nov 22, 2010 5:04 am
Last Updated:Jun 18, 2011 3:20 pm 64353 Views
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Several decades ago an author wrote a book, which I have never read that was called "know what you believe and why you believe it". The title of the book has always stuck with me. We live in the times of self help books and the worship of teachers in the Christian realm. The time of believing man has some idea or concept to fix most everything.
Thats interesting, because God tells us that this lifetime will have good and bad, he promises to be with us in all things, but not fix all things. It rains on the righteous and the unrighteous. The only reason any of us can claim that righteousness is because of what Jesus did and not us. We need to get that clear in our heads. Remember, it is understanding who Christ is in us and not the other way around.
Know what you believe and why you believe it. Just where are we gaining our understanding from? Is it from things people are telling us or is it from things God reveals to us. I can remember Jesus being happy with Simon Bartholomew when Simon realized who Jesus was. His response was that the Father God had revealed it to him.
In Christianity, is it our way to seek out speakers and teachers to learn from, or is it our intention from God to spend time intimately with the Holy Spirit of God as our main source in teaching us? That is of course why he is given to indwell inside us. To comfort us and teach us. We are told of milk and meat. The meat is found in the intimacy and not through others. Others should only be confirming what the Holy Spirit has already told us.
Same way with the political realm. Do you know why you support someone that is running for a position of leadership? Do you just take what others say and run with that? Or do you know why you have confidence? I know why I have confidence in the people I support. It is not because of what someone else might say about them. The proof is found in the pudding.
We are responsible for our own beliefs, for our own conclusions. Do we wish to defer to the world in this? Or be responsible and know what we believe and why? We will never be perfect, but only what is true will make a difference in our life and the lives around us.
Be Blessed
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wide is the way......
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Posted:Nov 22, 2010 4:35 am
Last Updated:Jul 15, 2026 7:26 pm 66322 Views
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In all of our lives we will claim victories along the way. Along with those victories will come its share of destruction and failures. Hopefully we can learn from those situations and carry on in better and more prosperous ways. I think our lives get down to if we are selfish or wise in what we partake in.
Selfish doesn't always mean bad. In this I mean we have to think of ourselves in our choices. Is this for the better? What are the long term effects? If I am a believer in Christ, does it indeed Glorify God? Our relationship is not a group venture. Our personal relationship can not be obtained through group participation. The onus falls on us. There is an old Keith Green song that goes to obey is better than sacrifice, I want more than money, I want your life.
Yet it rings in my ears, Wide is the way to destruction and narrow is the path to life. I do not think this necessarily means that ones salvation is uprooted, I do think ones journey is a constant choice of decisions. We all make good and bad decisions. We all fall short. I am also reminded of God speaking of Israel saying...my people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge.
In today's Christianity, which is available for all mankind, compared to Judaism which was not; we have God residing in any who have given their lives to Christ in return for his life.Him living through us. We still have a choice, listen to the Holy Spirit or listen to ourselves or mankind. There is one word above all that seems to allow corruption in. The word rationalize. When we rationalize then we are compromising. When we compromise we are no longer seeking God's will or God's best for our lives. We are seeking ourselves.
God's perfect ways are not to keep us in a tight ship or as robots. God's ways protect us from ourselves and wide road of destruction's in this lifetime. Many decisions may seem like oh well, but when they are added together we find brick walls of rebellions that defuse us to our natural instincts that God gives us to the destructive forces put forth by mankind.
We are all born with modesty. Adam and Eve both felt naked once they partook of the forbidden tree of knowledge. That is when they noticed they were naked. People do not just decide, hey I am going to be a stripper. The defusing of the natural happens over time and experiences. No one is born that way. yet over time, over rationalizing, over compromising they become ok with it. It is the same way in all things. If you have no barriers in life you are capable of everything. There is a wide path.
Yet in the path of life giving the path is narrow. However that narrow path allows you to experience the goodness of God. It allows families to experience unity, purpose, peace, wisdom, meaning. None which are found in destructive paths.
A big deception is found in thinking that just because everyone else is doing something, then you can do what you are choosing to do. That is just an excuse to widen your path. If you are an adult it is merely a projection of your immaturity. It is not a sign of freedom. Apostle Paul stated that he can do all things, but that not all things are profitable. We can compare apples to apples or apples to oranges.....It is not about comparing.
Actually it is really simple. In the New Covenant of Christ, God right and wrong are written on our hearts. We know. If we even question our choice, then we probably know it is not a good choice. We do not have to ask 20 people. If we pay attention to the Holy Spirit, we know.
Our eternal place may not be affected by our decisions, however there are many consequences on earth. Cheat on your spouse, there is a great chance of divorce. Not only divorce but a that you will be responsible for. If you are not a good parent, there are many repercussions down the road for this. There is a long list of self inflicted things in life that can be avoided if we choose well.
The Christian life is all about exchanging your life and taking on the life of Christ. Him living through you. It is that simple. When we decide to live our own is when the problems start arising in significant ways. We all fall short. We all will fail, but that is why Jesus came in the first place.
Be blessed
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Freedom from Independent Self
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Posted:Nov 11, 2010 9:38 pm
Last Updated:Nov 13, 2010 11:23 pm 64828 Views
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Freedom from Independent Self
by Dan Stone
On New Year’s Day I did what millions of others did. I watched football. Naturally I had my favorite players, but I began to wonder if it would make more sense to give credit to the forces at work behind the scenes. The teams were picked by selection committees. The committees responded to pressure to invite the best players available. The television networks probably determined the starting times. And the advertisers and tickets purchasers paid for it all.
On the playing field the two teams tested each other’s strengths and weaknesses and planned their strategy accordingly. The score and the clock were other factors which influenced their play.
The people with the most control did not even appear on the field of action. They were the coaches. In each contest the teams executed the instructions of these hidden combatants. The coaches were the realities that these young men expressed. So tell me, were the players themselves free?
When I talk about Christ living His life through a Christian, I take time to explain that we are either indwelt by the spirit of self-serving love (Satan), or we are indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, who is self-giving love. This awareness can only come by God’s revelation and is not understood by natural man. Indeed, many Christians have not had this revelation.
Believers sometimes ask me, “What about my freedom?” I usually answer, “What freedom?” Shocking as that curt answer may sound, the fact is that no person is ever free and unaffected in life.
In article after article UNION LIFE has shown that spirit is the ultimate reality. We are spirit realities being expressed by means of humanity. Thus, the human is a vessel. The purpose of the vessel is to contain and to pour out. The vessel is not the contents and cannot become what it contains and still contain it. A proper understanding of vesselhood is fundamental.
We must also have a clear understanding of the “independent self.” Independent self is the basic plank in the platform of this so-called freedom. It’s a shaky plank to stand on, because it simply isn’t true.
Jesus knew nothing about independent self. Jesus knew that He was under the control of his indwelling Father. John 14:10 speaks directly to this point. The vessel, Jesus, was a manifestor of the Father Spirit, so of course Jesus attributed His words and works to the Father. And yet He was not Father; He was the . In John 8 Jesus says that He speaks what He has seen with His Father. Was He an independent self with freedom? I think not.
The relation of electricity to a transformer is a useful analogy. The electricity represents the indwelling Father. Unseen and Unknowable. A transformer is the vessel and thus the means through which the electricity becomes seen and knowable. Electricity is seen and known through the functions it performs via the transformer. It is not seen and known in its essence.
The analogy is simple enough. Electricity manifests itself through the transformer, just as the Father manifests Himself through Jesus. But we have also been made transformers through Christ’s atoning cross and indwelling life. Ignorance of this fact causes many believers to still labor under the lie of the independent self.
The defense of freedom dies when the lie of independent self is understood. An individual does not exist independent of the god he worships. Rather, he is the means of expression for the god who indwells him. Thinking we are independent selves is a result of the Fall. All humanity is plagued with this false notion.
When I was found by the Lord, I did a complete about-face. I was spun around. My thoughts were suddenly about God and for God. My love was directed toward God, but I was acting from the lie of independent self. I wrongly supposed that it was independent I loving a God outside me. As a young believer I operated from this lie, so I naturally assumed that I was a free person.
I’ve talked a lot about lies. Now let me say something about truth. There is Truth which is absolute and there is that which a person operates from in his daily life which he calls truth. I simply mean that it is truth to him. It is not necessarily Truth. That’s not a difficult distinction, is it?
Let me relate that distinction to the question of freedom. A Christian may operate by thinking that he in an independent self in love with God, serving God and striving to please God. That is true to him. He sees himself operating independently of any union with God. He thinks he makes his own decisions with God’s help. The results of these decisions show him whether he is in God’s will or out of it. He concludes that he operates from his own strength.
Biblically where can we place this sincere person? You guessed it. We see him as Paul’s example in the seventh chapter of Romans, particularly the latter half. He operates as a separated self seeking to become a good person. He thinks this is the true picture. To him it is true, but it is not the Truth.
I would label such a person a Christian under the power of sin. Though a forgiven sinner, he remains under the power of sin because he is still preoccupied with self. Concentrating upon self is always sin even though every desire of the person may be for a “good” self. The illusion of being a free, independent self will keep a Christian under the power of sin every time. Freedom is an illusion because independent self is the ultimate illusion.
Freedom makes a good argument for personal responsibility. However, the responsibility is placed upon the wrong person. The Christian assumes the responsibility because he sees himself “down there” and God “up there.” He thinks he is separate from God and must do his best for God.
A simple equation may illustrate the point. One plus one equals two. A believer plus God’s help equals a good Christian. This is separated thinking. In this equation all the pressure bears down on the believer, the vessel. It is on the wrong person. The believer can never become anything but what God has made him.
The question of personal responsibility is very important. I confess to having reservations about people who understand “Christ is in them as them” yet tell me that they have no choices. Jesus made responsible choices in every situation. So do we. The whole point of the revelation of “Christ in union with us as us” is that we live a life of responsible choices. If all we have is ourselves, then we must know how to operate.
The choices we make are the choices of the “Christ in me as me,” just as Jesus made the choices of his Father (John 14:10). God expresses His words and works by means of me, the vessel.
This understanding of responsibility can be described by the equation one plus one is one. This is union! It is two in one, duality in union.
According to this equation, “one” is vessel and the other “one” is Spirit (Deity), and a vessel must be present for the Spirit to express Himself. This negates the notion that that responsibility rests upon the vessel to become someone or something it was never intended, nor even capable, of becoming. This is a union on the level of spirit (1 Cor. 16). It is a union of His Spirit with us; spirit, soul and body. In this union His life is expressed by us.
First comes the choice of faith. As believers we have all made that choice. Next comes the affirmation of union. Then follows the responses of faith in all situations, from faith to faith. This kind of faithing comes from knowing, which in turn comes from faithing. One leads to the other.
I have tried to expose again the old lie of independent self. It rests at the root of a false trust in personal freedom. As with the football teams, we are hedged in by all sorts of circumstances and situations of God’s making with which we must deal. No escape is possible. We execute the life of the unseen Life of Him who indwells us.
We respond with choices that by faith are made from the “duality in union” position. We speak, we choose, we respond. At the same time we know it is really Christ acting by means of us. We are no longer slaves to the power of sin.
We have driven a spike through the heart of the lie of independent self and buried it. Sin no more has dominion over us. Instead of insisting upon a non-existent freedom, we are set free to be God in action. I say “no” to freedom “for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” I say a resounding “yes” to duality in union, for in this position we become the spontaneous expressions of the indwelling Reality who is Christ.
Published by Union Life Magazine, May-June 1981
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The Law and grace.....mortal enemies
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Posted:Nov 11, 2010 5:31 am
Last Updated:Jun 18, 2011 3:24 pm 67099 Views
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Law and Grace: Mortal Enemies
By: Dan Stone
Law and grace are mortal enemies. Religion asserts, "No, they aren't mortal enemies. They can flow together, like the Missouri and Ohio rivers flow into the Mississippi, and they become the Mississippi." Every place I've ever been in organized religion, I've found that belief. But Paul was saying, "NO? They never flow together. They've always been mortal enemies. They will always be mortal enemies. You can never marry the two. And you have to make a choice, Galatians. Are you going to live under 1aw, or under grace?"
Paul wasn't saying that if they stepped back into the law, they wouldn't be saved anymore. But he was telling them, "If you go back to the law, you're giving up the way of grace. Now, let me tell you something about the way of the law, Galatians: you have to keep it all."
They couldn't just pick out the law they wanted to keep. That's what I used to do. I'd pick out those parts of Mosaic Law, Sermon on the Mount law, Baptist law, my personal law, and whatever other law I thought I could keep at least some of the time. I didn't see that law and grace are mortal enemies. I didn't see that you can't live under both.
It made sense to me to be religious. It made sense to be an external Christian, trying to keep an external set of rules. I couldn't do anything else, because I had always been an external person. So were you. We all grew up as external people, defining ourselves in relation to other persons, things, and events that told us who we were. That's why as new Christians we were so prone to asking external questions: "What should I do?"
There's no life in the law. The only thing the law tells you is what you ought to do, but can't do. It will never relinquish its demand that you ought to do it, because it's a divine ought-to; God gave it to Moses. We'll keep ourselves under that divine ought-to, and the condemnation and death ministers (2 Corinthians 3), until we learn to live from the Person who dwells within us. Because there's nothing in our flesh that wants to say, "I can't do it. I can't keep the law through my own effort." Everything in our flesh says, "I want to try to do it, and with God's help maybe I can do it."
Like my friend Burt Rosenburg says, everything in that program is designed for futility, frustration, and failure. But they don't tell you that up front, do they? When you sign up, no one makes this announcement:
WE'VE GOT A WONDERFUL PROGRAM HERE, THE END RESULT OF WHICH WILL BE FUTILITY, FRUSTRATION, AND FAILURE! WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE COURSE, WE WILL GIVE YOU A DIPLOMA, SAYING:
"CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE FAILED!"
I remember talking to a group and proclaiming, "We have succeeded! In what? In failing!" And everyone smiled. For we finally recognized that we had succeeded in what we were supposed to do, which was to fail. "Everyone is telling us that we failed in what we were supposed to succeed in. But the truth is we have succeeded in what we were supposed to fail in. Now, we can get on with it. We can get on with what is true life."
We usually quote Galatians 2:20 apart from its context. It immediately follows Paul's admonition to Peter concerning the law. When Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ," he was referring to his death to the law. Paul was saying, "The old me died on the cross with Christ, and when I died, I died to trying to keep the law. Trying to keep the law is living according to the flesh, with me and my efforts as my point of reference. I died to myself as my point of reference. Now, Christ in me is my point of reference. He is living His life through me."
As believers, we no longer live under the law, looking to it to tell us what to do and not do, then trying our best to do it. Instead, we live on the faith principle, the inner life principle, of who really is our life-Christ. We trust that He directs us, opens or closes doors for us, and speaks directly to us, giving us a message or whatever is needed for the occasion. We trust that He is living through us. We may not feel it at any given moment, but we live by faith that He is our life.
From: Stone, Dan, The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out. Dallas: One Press. 2000. pgs 143-145.
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