The Walls Came Tumbling Down

The weeks after John's meeting with the Lord were something to behold. He seemed to have a sense of urgency about him. We spent a great deal of time together praying and reading the Bible. We made a transition from a musical brotherhood to brothers in Christ. It was deeper. It was real and we were excited. John's wife Marilyn was visibly upset with me. She always had a look of disgust when she saw me coming but I shrugged it off. I knew that her time would come and that the Lord would set her free from all that was troubling her. The barriers were there with Marilyn. She was up tight. She was about to explode and one day she did.

I visited Marilyn one day early in the morning. John had not yet gotten out of bed. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her head down when I walked into the room. She wasn't very happy about my arrival. I looked at Marilyn closely and saw that she was staring at the table and so I asked, "Marilyn, what's so interesting about your kitchen table?" She said, "I see a bunch of little Davey Buhls on the table and I want to smash them all to pieces." She went on to say that she was upset with me and that I wasn't the same anymore. She wanted the old Davey Buhl back.

I sat down beside Marilyn and looked her right in the eyes. Her eyes were full of tears. I said, "Marilyn, you are not mad at me." "You are mad because you don't have what I have and you don't have what John has now and the Lord wants to give you that today.""He wants you to give your life over to Him." The Holy Spirit began to shake her very being. Marilyn's head hit the table and she weeped for the longest time. She couldn't even say any words. She was just bawling like a baby. I then ask her, "Are you ready?" The look on her face was so different than the look that I saw when I first came into the room. The walls were tumbling down around Marilyn. All the barriers were being removed. The Holy Spirit was doing a masterful job of preparing her heart. She looked at me like some lost little girl and so I assisted her in prayer. She was guilt ridden over so many things and she let the Lord know. She began to pray on her own and the Spirit touched her deeply. Marilyn was drained completely and yet so at peace. We awoke John from his slumber and we celebrated another new birth. It was time to party and we did. John and Marilyn were now one in Christ.

The gang was starting to grow. John, Marilyn, Jimmie Joe, Norma, Darlene and I became the core of a new community and the Lord orchestrated the whole thing all the way back to Nashville. We knew that God was leading and that we had to follow. We had no idea where He was going with this but we were all so glad to be along for the ride. It was sweet. We couldn't wait to see what was next. We all had great expectations. After all, if the Lord could get through to us, we knew that He could get through to others.

Up Next......

"Music in the Air"

Biblical View of Beatle Music

I grew up in the 60's and very much a Beatle fan. My perspective of those four lads has changed quite a bit since those early days. I still love the music. The likes of Lennon-McCartney compositions may never be heard of again. I have been on a bit of a roller coaster ride in determining what their music really accomplished that no bands seem to have accomplished before or since their arrival into pop music. If I lay aside the musical arrangements and really listen to the lyrics then I get a better idea of why they had such great impact. They really stirred the pot. They had a whole generation of young people ecstatic and at the same time they had the church and the establishment going absolutely bonkers. The only thing different about them at the beginning was their mop top hair styles. Their songs were innocent and pure in comparison to today."I Want to Hold Your Hand" was not very suggestive and neither was "Do You Want to Know A Secret". The Beatles seemed to enrage the adult population because of the devotion that they received from their children.

At first their music was melodic Rockin Roll with plenty of beautiful love songs and ballads. These four young British pups were constantly harrassed and challenged by the media about their hair style and popularity. I really think that in some sort of way the media attack from the church and establishment started a new kind of songwriting by the Beatles. John and Paul began writing about life beyond romance. The famous Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album was probably the first move into deeper ideas and thinking by Paul and John.
"Within You Without You" was one of the song titles on Sgt Pepper as well as "When I'm 64".
That is quite a departure from "She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah".

It appears to me in retrospect that the Beatles were asking a lot of good questions in their music. They were a bit older now and started to think more about life in a deeper sense. They also began to recall their childhood experiences with people and religion and they weren't buying into all that they saw. I'm sure that this was disturbing to those setting the pace and in control.

In the days ahead, I will occaisionally post about a Beatle song just to see what kind of questions they were asking as well as their world view. I believe God is active in the world and often times uses public figures for His own purposes. There are many accounts of that in the Bible. The Lord is involved with the world more than we will ever know. I remember a prophecy about the Beatles in the late 70's. It was quite astounding. It spoke about God having His hand on them at the beginning but that His hand lifted when they moved toward eastern religion. I took that prophecy with a grain of salt back then. Now, I'm not so sure.

Is God a player in this World? You betcha! Let's see if there was anything that we can learn from the questions the Beatles were asking in their latter years. Were their questions mirroring the questions that we are still asking today? Lets' take a look and let's hope that none of us become "Fools on a Hill" in the process.

Enjoying the Present

Someone once said that the future is nothing more than a series of today's. If you think about that statement it is jam pack full of implications as to how we live our life. If we are somehow in a state of depression or discontent over a long period of time then we are setting ourselves on a downward slope and a not so bright future. Each day presents an opportunity to start fresh. That's what I love about our existence. God has given us plenty of opportunity to rebound. It's really up to us though. Have you ever thought about it in those terms?

While I was involved as a Men's pastor I read a book by Pat Morley called Man in the Mirror. Pat claims that the average American guy haplessly wanders through life like a money machine and never stops to examine why he does anything that he does and therefore lives a very responsible but unfulfilled life. There are many executives at the end of their careers asking, "Is this all there is?"

What we do have under our control is our decision making. That is exciting. We have the God-given ability to set ourselves on the right course. The first step in a change of direction is to stop. Yes, stop the music. Quit playing the same song. It's getting old. Look at the present. What do you see? What is it that needs to be changed? Is there anybody that you can talk with about this? Your future hinges on your daily decision making. Better decisions and right thinking can change your whole future. Just because you have always done things the same way doesn't mean that those ways are right or that there aren't adjustments that need to be me made.

God wants our life. He really does. He wants to be involved in it every day. I'm sure that this kind of talk may sound like a fairy tale to some of you but believe me He can guide us daily. The reason we get squeamish about it may be because we have never really experienced His presence in the first place. Guess what? That can be changed as well.

James 4: 8

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.

That's a great way to start!

Enjoy the present with Him first and see where He leads you.

Does God Like Baseball?

Did you ever wonder about what God thinks about all the stuff we are into? The World series is about to start and that's a big deal to American sports fans. The Colorado Rockies are going to face the big bad Boston Red Sox. I know that God is not a Rockies fan or a Red Sox fan. I think He likes the Pirates because the Pirates need a miracle right now and that's God's specialty. Does God like our computers? How about American Idol? Do you think He watches? I can't wait to find out what the Lord really thinks about all the things that we do thanks to Him.

Until then I have a hunch. Whenever I get stuck trying to understand the Lord I always go back to one very important aspect of His nature. He is our father who art in heaven. God is dad of the human race. I can now understand a bit how he feels about our stuff because I'm a dad. I loved to see my kids get involved. I liked watching my boys play sports and my daughter do her dance recital and cheer leading. I got to see them use their talents and abilities. It was enjoyable. All I wanted was their love and respect while they participated in all those activities. I let my kids try a lot of things because I knew that in the trying they would find success somewhere along the line. That's the nature of fatherhood.

So, does God love Baseball? I'm not sure. I do know this. He loves the baseball players. He loves their wives and families. He loves the umpires and coaches. He loves the fans. All He wants is their love and respect. He wants acknowledged. He's not out to stifle us but He wants to be involved in everything that we do. So pull up a chair during the series. Grab yourself a beverage and some goodies and ask the Lord to come watch the game with you. Sounds silly? It's really not. I guess it doesn't sound religious and so it doesn't seem to fit. That's the problem with our thinking. God isn't into religion. He's into you! He's your Heavenly Father!

His Joy is Our Strength...

Are you having any fun yet? Is your faith boring? Are you tired of the same old stuff? Do you feel weak when you think about your life in Christ? Have you really experienced the love of Jesus? All the doubt, all the fear, all the boredom is a result of not having real joy. The reality of a Christ centered life is nothing at all like religion. Religion is a downer. It doesn't have any life. It's all contrived by us and we don't have the answers. It's really dumb.

There is no high like the one you get from the Holy Spirit. I remember the day that I got water baptized. A fellow elder in our old church was annointing my forehead with oil and praying for me before the baptism. The Holy Spirit flatened me. I lost my legs and rolled down an embankment and I was laughing uncontrollably. I didn't feel a thing. I just could not stop laughing. I don't ever remember that happening again but I will never forget that moment. God was playful with me that day. He tickled my belly and I couldn't stop laughing. I was the true definition of a "holy roller" that day.

Nehemiah said it best.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Very few folks ever experience the real joy of the Lord. It's not about rolling down embankments and laughing your head off (although that was pretty cool). It's more about knowing His presence and walking with Him daily. It gives you strength. It really does. I like feeling strong. Little guys like that in general because the big folks can be intimidating. I like it because it gets me out of myself. The Kingdom life is different than church life. It's exciting and all encompassing. Your in the real battle and guess what? We win in the end!

For God so Loved.......

For God So Loved.....

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son. God loves the world. I don't think that we really get it. If we really knew what the world means to God we would not be doing the things that we do in the American church. We have made an honest and dedicated effort to separate ourselves from what is really going on around us. We have built our sanitary sanctuaries and have maintained them to our delight while the rest of our country is being destroyed by sin and iniquity. I really think that we like our safe havens that keep us tidy and secure. I have enjoyed them myself. I can relax there. It costs me very little. I can attend a couple of hours on Sunday, pay my dues and then go home and watch the ball game.

For God so loved the World. That has been heavy on my heart lately. When I was attending church and doing the religious thing I didn't really give the world much thought. I was too busy with stuff. Yeah, I was a member of the inward hearts club. I was oblivious to the pain and suffering in the world.

Jesus didn't live that way when He was on the earth. He spent time with people. He also enlisted his disciples on short notice and sent them packing right away. Jesus saw the harvest as something we go out into. Jesus never once instructed His disciples to build a Sunday morning theater with box seats and peanut galleries for the viewing audience.

None of this was God's intention. God has an extravagant love for the human race. He sees the ravages of sin on all that He loved and created and His heart is to heal and restore the lost and hurting. Our view of God's mission for us is skewed by the comfort of organized religion. I know the difference. My spiritual senses have been dulled over the years by organized church whether it be denominational or non-denominational. Even home groups can be institutionalized and religious.

When we become like Jesus our heart begins to care about what He cares about. That is the clearest indicator of where we are in the maturing process. I am slowly but surely coming around. I decided to abandon all forms of organized religion about 18 months ago. It's kind of scary because it kind of leaves you out there hanging. You start to search your heart and self-examine again. The substitutes have been removed. No more relgious activity to hang my hat on. I have some brothers in the Lord that are on this journey as well. The Lord is starting to dig down deep. He now has my attention. No more substitutes. No more man made religion and more of Him. He is gentle. He draws. He doesn't push. It's un-mistakenly Him.

For God So Loved

In The Name of The Lord

I just had breakfast with a guy named Rick at a McDonalds in Pittsburgh. Rick has been selling off his old baseball card collection to me and so I was browsing through his Sports card albums and he started to tell me about his bi-polar son. His son is almost 25 years old and is okay until he goes off his medication and then he really gets into all kinds of trouble. Phil is probably going to have to take care of him because his son cannot be left alone. Phil went on to tell me about his first marraige. That was the real story.

Rick married a woman who was deeply tied to the Pentecostal Church. Phil was Catholic but thought that his wife's faith was interesting and he admired her dedication. Trouble was on the horizon however because the Pentecostal Pastor kept visiting Rick's wife when Rick wasn't home. You already know what happened. She left Rick for this preacher who later became an alchoholic. Phil's ex-wife has called him occaisionally over the years guilt ridden but unwilling to abandon the preacher.

This stuff happens all the time and what really annoys me the most is that these failures in the church are often used as weapons against the Lord as if He allows it to happen. I know that we are all capable of losing it all over some spur of the moment passion or sin but there are too many examples of this happening. It tells me that too many of us that are believed to be christian were willing to call on Him to save us for all eternity but very few are willing to pay the price to obtain the character of Jesus. That is what Jesus meant by taking up our cross. It costs to follow Jesus. It costs us our will. It's having His character that prevents us from blowing it big time and the only way to have our character changed is by having a vital living relationship with Jesus himself. To know Him is to love Him and as a result of that relationship we become more like Him. Too much of what we do is religious activity and that will not produce Godly character. The un-churched and the churched are really not that much different when you eliminate the realtionship with Jesus.

The un-churched are living with their own moral code and those that are religious throughout the church use the name of the Lord to give the appearance of a righteous life but have no power to live that kind of life. It's just as phony as the un-churched and maybe worse and all in the name of the Lord. Don't misunderstand me. Their are countless numbers of christians in the present church that know the Lord but the institutionalized church is producing less real followers of Jesus and it is costing people plenty. Rick and his wife are just one example of what can occur. It's so sad that his wife is living a life of guilt and shame and Rick is living out the rest of his life alone and with a jaded opinion of Christianity. I believe that the Lord had me meet Rick to help bridge the gap. I look forward to meeting with him more.

Father, I fear that we don't know how much harm we are causing. I know that it must grieve you to see us behave this way. Lord help us all.

For God so Loved......

My Friend John

The excitement of seeing people come to Christ was an awesome experience for me. I became the energizer bunny when it came to sharing my story. My next visit was with my closest friend John. John played in the band with me. He was our keyboard player. John and I would stay up all hours of the night talking about life. We were the closest of companions. I remember one night that John and I stayed up all night drinking beer in his mom and dad's living room. We never went to sleep. His mother awoke and saw us in the living room and offered to cook us breakfast. We ate 16 Eggs between the two of us. I'll never forget how John's mom just kept that frying pan hot and full of eggs. She laughed at us and said that she was glad that we weren't out on the highways after drinking beer all night. I was close to John's family. He had 3 sisters and a brother and they lived like the Waltons in a big old farmhouse.

I remember my visit with John very clearly. I knocked on his apartment door and ask him if we could talk. We ended up sitting on his bed. John looked rather cautious. He already heard what had happened to me and didn't know what to expect. John was very quiet and he listened intently as I retold my story from Nashville to New Years eve. John knew me well and so he knew that I was sincere. After I shared my story with John I ask him if I could pray for him. He gave me permission. He seemed shell shocked but I proceeded anyway. I began asking the Lord to come be with us. I ask the Spirit to open John's eyes and ears so that he could see and hear. The room was very still and quiet and I looked over at John and saw that his eyes were full of tears. He wasn't crying but he had been touched deeply. He looked over at me in amazement and had that look of "I'm ready". I ask him if he would like a personal meeting with Jesus. He said very little. He just nodded his head and then he began to pray. He ask the Lord into his life in a very sincere and humble way. It was beautiful and you knew that something had happened. He wanted a Bible immediately and he wanted to have more time in prayer. John looked like he just walked into a whole new world and that is exactly what happened. His life was changed forever.

John was a like a locomotive. He started out slow and chugged along and then started picking up steam and then became my partner in ministry. John was like a big teddy bear. You could see the pastor's heart developing in him. His pastoring heart started early in his Christian life and remained consistent. John is the Pastor of the Wheeling Christian fellowship today. He has about 800 members and has been the Pastor there close to 20 years.

God is so good. I love my friend John and I'm so glad that the Lord gave me the privilege of praying for him at the beginning. That's how God works. He knew that John would listen to me.

As you can see now, things were really starting to snowball but John's wife Marilyn, was extremely upset with me after John's experience. She felt that she lost her husband to religion. Marilyn was next. I knew that God wanted her as well. I was just waiting for the right opportunity.

Next up...

The Walls Came Tumbling Down

God's Withholding......

I want you all to please bear with me while I think out loud and share my thoughts on this subject. Over the years I have struggled with a lot of different things about the impact of Christianity in America. I have to be honest. I have seen a lot of benevolance and a lot of dedication. I have a hard time questioning the motives of others because my own motives have been askew many times. The thing that I struggle with the most is the lack of power in the church. By that I mean, God's power. Where is it? I have never been convinced about a lot the claims that God did this or God did that but I kept quiet because I knew that my opinion would be considered blasphemy to all those performing miracles in the name of God. I have wondered about myself sometimes. I have ridiculed myself over some of this and kind of dismissed my thoughts as a lack of faith or a lack of experience.

This past week I have been mulling over the scripture about the faith of the centurion. The Bible says that he was a man under authority and that he understood authority. The centurion approached Jesus with a request to heal his paralyzed servant. He looked at Jesus as one who had the authority to cause things to happen. He recognized the fact that Jesus was operating under someone's authority. Obviously we know that Jesus was under His Father's authority. The scripture says that Jesus was "astonished" at the centurions understanding of his authority and Jesus acknowledged to the centurion that he had not found his kind of faith in all of Israel. This story is in Matthew 8.

This particular story brings clarity to my mind as to why and how any of us do or do not see God's power when we pray or minister to others. I have had some experience operating under God's authority and believe me things really happen when God does them. I've also experienced the opposite. I have felt that God was a million miles away when I have made my request. I have come to this conclusion that at least some of the problems with the loss of power comes from operating on our own and without God. We don't understand or we refuse to come under God's authority and therefore we don't have the faith nor the power. There are numerous stories in the Bible of God withdrawing and withholding from rebellious self-serving generations. There have been times that He has even given them over to be consumed by their own lust and self-serving ways.

I believe that God's real power is yet to be seen. I don't deny that it is not happening now but I have a feeling that there is a whole lot more to come when we come under real authority. God will not be mocked in this way. He witholds from our self-serving ways. He blesses in spite of us at times because of His wonderful grace but it has become clear to me after years of trial and error that God is withholding much of that power and we are all suffering because we are not benefiting from all that He has for us.

Authority is a touchy issue with Jesus.

Matthew 21:23-27

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"

Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?"

They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."

So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

We Need Him

I'm reminded this morning of God's unfailing and deep love for all of us. The scripture says that if we draw nigh unto Him that He will come closer to us. It doesn't say draw nigh unto a church service. It doesn't say draw nigh unto a Bible study. It doesn't say draw nigh unto a ministry. It doesn't say draw nigh unto the choir. It doesn't say draw nigh unto any of those things that pre-occupy us. It says draw nigh unto Him. All of that other stuff is all about us. There is no substitute for knowing Him. There is no effort on our part other than drawing near. He has much to say to us if we would just get close to Him. None of us really want religion anyway. Down deep in our heart we want to re-unite with our creator.

We need Him. Yes, more than we'll ever understand in this life. We need Him because He know's us better than anyone knows us and He loves us more than anyone loves us. We can be hurt by those that are the closest to us because they do not have the perfect grace of God in them. We cannot depend on even our own family to give us the supply that God gives. Yes, we need Him so that we can endure the pain in life through His mercies and grace as He deposits them in our heart.

For God So Loved......

Stop, Look, and Listen

There have been numerous times that I have gotten lost on the highway. I either didn't follow the directions or I was given some bad advice. I really don't know where I'm heading until I travel far enough to see a road sign that indicates a city or town. Then I realize my folly and often times have to turn around and retrace my steps and go back to where I started my journey. During those kind of lost journey's I'm often making good time but what's the use because I am actually going nowhere fast.

I woke up early this morning with a song rolling around in my head. I wrote this song many years ago. It's called "The Light Has Come Unto Me". I wrote that song because I became fascinated with the scripture 1 John 1:6-8.

1 John 1:6-8

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

This scripture fascinated me because it clearly shows how we can deceive ourselves and live a life that seemingly has direction but in reality we are lost and cannot not see the end of the road. When we come to the end of our life's journey we won't be able to go back and retrace our steps and start over. We all have one life to live and our own journey to travel but it will all end somewhere at some place in time. The deception that I see by reading this scripture is that we may be fooling ourselves about our relationship with God. Are we in fellowship with God? Fellowship is deeper than friendship. Friendship can occur with a whole lot of different folks at many different levels but fellowship only occurs with those that we share our deepest thoughts and desires. According to this scripture we are in darkness if we are not in real communion with God. It's really difficult to travel in darkness. In essence, that is what we are doing in life if we live our lives separate and on our own without any real reationship with the Lord. We may say to ourselves, "I believe in God", but does that mean we have fellowship with Him. Have we really connected with the Almighty? We would surely know the difference if we did. It would seem foolish to continually deceive ourselves about our relationship with the Lord but some of us live a whole life time that way and so we wander in the dark.

We need our journey in life to be illuminated by the Light of God. How will we see His road signs? I pray that we all take the time to stop, look, and listen to where our Lord is leading us. We have often said that life is too short and that is a true statement. The other side of this life is eternity and that is very very long. Jesus is the Light of the World. He is the true light. Light reveals things so that we can make the right directional decisions on our journey.

I love that scripture because I have a tendency to get lost once in awhile and then I realize that I am out of fellowship with God. Thank you Lord for these verses. They really make a blind man see.

The Beat Goes On......

Norma came to Christ in a powerful way. She really turned her life over to Him and she was filled with joy. Her mother Della was so excited for her daughter. Every time I stopped to collect Della's insurance premium we would spend some time in God's word and rejoice in His presence. Della, Norma and I would have church together in Della's sun room. Norma was hungry just like a newborn baby. That was a clear indication that her experience was real and spiritual. She wanted fed continually and so reading the scripture and praying was exciting for Norma. She made a real connection with God and her spiritual antennae was on the alert.

Norma had a boy friend named Jimmie Joe. He was really kind of amazed at the whole thing. He loved Norma and really didn't know what to make of her new life in Christ. Norma had an obvious huge advantage in getting Jimmy Joe's attention and her excitement about Jesus was as real as real can be. Jimmy Joe soon surrendered to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Norma prayed for him and guess what? He came to Jesus in a big way as well. Jimmy Joe and Norma were now on a new journey with their relationship because Jesus was now the center. They were on fire.

Norma and Jimmy Joe played a significant role in what would soon become a fellowship. They both were terrific singers and had taken voice lessons together. They loved the songs that the Lord gave me and would add beautiful harmonies to my music. Their hunger and desire was so great that we had to be together all the time. They were hungry little babies and I was fathering them spiritually. I was only about 6 months old in Christ. Go figure! God does what He wants. He chooses how He wants it done and through whom He wants it done and when He wants it done.

One stop on my insurance route was for an Italian lady named Maria. I visited her house one day and found Maria sitting at her kitchen table and sobbing. I ask her what was wrong. Apparently Maria's daughter was getting a divorce and it was causing the family a great deal of pain. I sat down with Maria and began to talk with her about her confidence in God. She didn't know how to respond and so I proceeded to tell her my story from Nashville to New Years eve. When I was done she began to sob again and her forehead fell to the kitchen table. I saw that the Holy Spirit was upon her. I spoke to Maria. "Now is your time Maria, God is ready for you". She began to cry out to God for help. I sat there and watched her interact with God. It was something to behold. She looked up at me and said, "What do I do now?". I said, "Can your daughter come over here now?" She called her daughter and the exact same thing happened. I told her daughter my story from Nashville to New Years and the young woman began to weep. Her mother held her in her arms and they began to pray together. The Holy Spirit was on them both. It was a miracle and it was beautiful. I watched the whole thing in utter amazement.

So here yo have it. I'm watching God do all this stuff with Norma, Jimmy Joe, Maria and her daughter and I am starting to get the idea that God was on a mission and that He was going to use my testimony along the way. I went home after these events with a burden to pray for all of those that came to Christ and for all of those that were about to come to the Lord. I knew that the Lord was doing this and I wanted to stay obedient. I was immersed in His word and hungry for more. Only God can do these kind of miracles through us because He is the Great Shepherd.

Psalm 100:3

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

For God so Loved.......


Next up...

My friend John..

We're all trying to do the right thing. Are We?

I have often tried to convince myself that most of us are out there trying to do the right thing. There is a lot of truth to that statement but upon furthur review of it I can see a lot of room for error. The problem with the statement is the premise. A premise is an assertion or belief that allows us to base our conclusions. When we do what is right in our own eyes then we are satisfied because we have met our own self-imposed standard. Are our standards right though? God creates us and we decide to live by our own set of rules. There is something very wrong with our premise. I've lived this way many times. I've arranged solutions to many of my problems so they seem right in my own eyes and yet down deep inside I've known that something wasn't right.

Proverbs 26:12

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

When I read that scripture then I know that I have been fooling myself many times. We cannot act as if this life is all about our destiny, our control, our kingdom because at the end we will find the opposite. We will find reality. We will see that this was God's planet and His creation and that we were to live our life in devotion to Him and that we were to be about His plan while on earth.

Maybe we think His plan is too restrictive. Maybe we think that He wants us to be holy and boring. That's our own conclusions as well, once again based on our human premise. I've heard people say these things about church and God. The picture that we have painted is the wrong one. God is a Father and He loves to see His children live out their life with the creative gifts that He gave them. He just wants included like any natural father. The stakes are higher with God the Father. You can ignore your own dad and that's not good but ignoring our Father in Heaven costs you so much more. Too much of our thinking about God seems to be linked to our church life in America. That is also a bad connection. Jesus did not like religion. Jesus did not like hanging around a bunch of people acting religious. He didn't even like hanging around some of their ministers.

Jesus loves when people respond to his teachings about the Father. Jesus loves simplicity and He loves relationships. That's why He teaches in parables. He wants us to try and figure out the stories. He wants a conversation with us. He wants a relationship. The relationship is even more important than the answers. That's how many of us feel about our own father. Some of his answers are hard to take but we are sure glad that he is there.

So yeah, we all might be trying to do the right thing but it's probably better that we consult our God. His ways are not our ways for sure but He loved us with everything that He had.

For God So Loved.......

The Chiropractor Backs out of Big Church

I went to The Chiropractor today because I haven't been able to lift my arm above my shoulder for the past month. I was trying to tough it out and see if it would heal on it's own but apparently I have done something to the rotator cuff. I cannot remember what I did to cause the injury. More importantly, I was able to spend some time in fellowship with the chiropractor. He knows the Lord but seemed a bit dismayed about church. He was part of a popular mega church in the North Hills for 10 years but has since become discouraged because of the marketing and business practices that the church employs. He seemed a bit heart broken about the whole thing and so he went on a journey visiting other simaler type congregations. It seems that he found more of the same or he found some doctrinal problem. One church taught that salvation without speaking in tongues was not valid. He liked the worship but not the doctrine. He was also disturbed with the youth ministries that were constantly driven by high powered events. He said his kids just wanted to hang out with their friends at church and be taught. He was driving too far to some of these churches and decided to plug into a smaller fellowship close to home and that seems to be working for him at the moment. I ask his permission to pray for him and he allowed me the privilege. I soon found out that this man just went through a bout of breast cancer and so that also has him very focused because he is only 46 years old and has several children.

It is becoming more and more clear to me that the churches of America are losing ground with their constituents. The chiropractor is one of many losing heart with the way things are in the mega church scene. He seemed a bit disallusioned but not defeated. He will survive but there will be a lot of casualties. Those weaker in the faith just might fall away completely because they never really experienced a real relationship with Jesus. This is not something to rejoice over. It is sad. I don't think that many of the church leaders see the problem. They are peddling so hard to keep things a float. I know many of the Pastors in these churches and I respect all of them but they are truly blinded by what is happening. They are caught in a machine that cannot stop or their life in the ministry as they know it will end.

Paul to the Corinthians says this:

II Corinthians 11:3

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Lord, Help us all