Religious

The other night at Live @ Webster Hall we talked about the term "Religious". What are your feelings when you hear this word? What do you automatically assume?

Some love to use the term religious. They see it as how they express themselves to God. They love their religion and get very offended when that term is used in any kind of derogatory remark at all. They hear "religious" and their minds go right to the place of worship. That intimate time with their God. The most precious time to them is expressed in the religion they hold so close to their heart. Others however, do not hear the term "religious" with heart warming sensations, but feelings of judgement, condemnation, and laws. This is the place where man has taken over for them and God's words have been abused against them. This is the place where I have come from. This is the place that freaks me out!

When I have spoken in the past I have had a very hard time not mocking the traditions, the seemingly meaninglessness of the worship schedule that seems to appear within many of the worship orders of any given Sunday morning. The people stand and monotonically read the words that are projected in front of them with no feeling or understanding of the scripture. They stand and quote the Lord's Prayer asking God to forgive them as they forgive others. Seemingly without even noticing the very next line, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." When I hear this seemingly thoughtlessly repeated just out of wrote memory, I just about have a conniption. "Do you not hear what is next. Please God forgive me like I do NOT forgive others. If you forgive me like I forgive others, I am DOOMED!" And lets not forget the passing of the collection plate at every service!

Then one day I was abruptly corrected. That thing that I fear from the "religious people." Those judgements, those places of being silenced, those condemning and judgmental looks, those fears were a true revealing of my own heart. I had become what I feared most from others. I was not stepping back and looking at their worship time as something that may just be their hearts cry to God. I was seeing it through my eyes and not theirs. I was passing the most judgmental look upon them and their outward appearance and seeing only the "seemingly" from my broken heart and not able to put myself in their place, (which is what I am always expecting others to do for me).

One of the things that I cherish the most about my church is the fact that we have have young and old worshiping together, in different styles, in different clothes, with different wounds, with One God. It is our belief in One God that unites us. It is our coming together to join our lives in our time of worship that unites us and gives us strength. My most precious time is my time with my family on Sunday mornings. It is my time to see that I am not alone. It is my time to hug and receive hugs from others whom I would not see on any other ordinary day. It is my time to express my gratitude to my Savior and my time to accept others in their gratitude toward Him. It is a time for my broken heart to be softened toward others who have also been wounded by the world and even by other "Christians" as well. Without those who are older than I am, who would I go to for advise? Without the young, who would offer me so much energy? It is all of us together, laying down our differences for the sake of others, that is what makes us a family.
F- forget
A- about
M- me
I- I
L- love
Y- you
I can lay down my wounds to allow you to come to your God in your way. I can set aside my fears and my misunderstandings. If I do not, it is my fault that I do not feel close to my family. If I insist on things being my way, it is my own heart that will tell on me. Then, I hope you can do the same for me. My worship style may be different from yours, but it is how my heart sings to my God. It is in those moments that I can share with you our love for Him who unites.

“The Christian faith is not a state of mind. It is not a philosophy. You become a Christian when you meet the person of Christ, when you encounter Him. When I say I know God, I am not saying that I know about Him abstractly, I know Him. I have a relationship with Him.... The certainty that comes doesn't come from the fact that my philosophical system is 100% or that I have all of my theology tied up. The certainty that I have comes from the fact that I know Whom I have trusted and I am convinced. I have a relationship with Him. So, I can speak about Him. I can explain it, and I can give it ideas, but in the end my relationship is with Him. It is not a certainty that can be found in any other religious system. All others just have someone else's ideas. Without Christ there is no Christianity(MR)...... We draw a distinction in saying we know an absolute God is not saying we know Him absolutely. There is a difference between God and us. I can know God sufficiently, truly and really, but I am not saying I know absolutes or that I know Him absolutely. That is a knowledge claim that I do not have the capacity to make, and it is not possible. I am saying that the Absolute One, the One Who does have all knowledge is capable of revealing Himself, not exhaustively, but sufficiently... and that means that Absolute Truth has made Himself known (SM).” (Fourth Presbyterian Q&A)

Truth Revealed (Psalm 90)

Psalm 90, "Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God."

This morning I got my cup of coffee and headed straight for my front porch. I sat for some time just soaking in the sounds of the world waking around me. My blanket covered me and the warmth of the cup in my hands kept me from the cold of the crisp mountain air. The longer I sat the more I noticed about the sweet aroma and the sounds of the mountains. Have you ever sat long enough that you can start hearing the different calls of the birds so that they all of a sudden become individuals, instead of a sound of just mixed noises. Oh, how I love my mornings with my Lord. It is in these most precious times that I am awakened to His mighty power and love.

I was lead to Psalm 90 this morning. It starts with the awesomeness of God and His mighty creation. He was here before this mighty creation was formed. He is the everlasting... I woke this morning first becoming aware of Him and His creation. But then the Psalm takes a turn I did not want to see this morning...
"You turn people back to dust, saying, 'Return to dust, you mortals!' For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours. You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered. We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury. You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all. We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan. Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve."

It starts with the awesomeness of Him and His creation, then it brings us to His wrath. I hate to think about the time of wandering that I have done and still do. I don't like to think of the pain and dryness of this world. Those times when God has allowed me to turn my back upon Him. Those secret sins. "You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all." Nothing is hidden. My heart is always exposed before Him, even when I cannot see the truth in myself- He does. Oh, but when the truth is revealed the joy that He truly desires for me is right there in the morning.

"Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. O Lord, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!"

Through realizing the truth about how I act and spend my time, through seeing the truth, I will gain wisdom and with wisdom I can enjoy my life. We are a foolish people for we often turn our backs upon God, but He always takes pity on us and satisfies us in the morning, for each new dawn brings new life. He will give us a gladness that is in proportion to our former misery! If we will allow Him to have our past, He will give us a new day today that far out weighs our sorrow from yesterday. I want to hear my God speaking truth about my life to me. Sometimes that truth does not bring me an instant feeling of contentment, but of rejection. It is when I allow Him to continue to speak to me in the morning that I can make good what He has taught me and my song of joys begin. It is in looking at the ugly truth, that the true beauty is revealed in me, for my body is the Temple of the Most High God. It is in looking to truth that wisdom is born and my children will see His glory. Through His glory I will sing, instead of groan. Through wisdom, this day has a new dawn. Can you sing a new song this day? Can you see the blessings that lay before you? This day He want to give you gladness in proportion to our former misery! This day He can replace the evil years with good.

Oswald Chambers, "If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but it difficulty does not make us faint and cave in—it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory?... Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence."

How I love my new song! How I love the truth that He reveals...

Crowds Chanting

Matthew 21:1-11, "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted,'Hosanna to the Son of David!' 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Hosanna in the highest!' When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, 'Who is this?'"

I worked on a ranch when I was younger. I loved getting up early, feeding and catching the horses. Then being on horse back just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. It just so happened that the ranch that I worked on worked cows and sheep. The cows were my favorite. They were work, but they were fun too. The sheep on the other hand, they were just annoying. One thing that I noticed about them was that when you are herding them, they will not walk up a hill. So you have to take them the long way around the hill before you can get up it. For the straight path is much too hard at first, so around the same hill you must go, gradually gaining altitude. Something else that I noticed was that when you caught them, they just laid there. Once they were caught, the fight was over. No wonder coyotes thought they were an easy meal. They didn't go straight up a hill, even to get away from danger. And once you caught them, they just laid there never fighting again. But something both cows and sheep had in common, they both followed each other without knowing where they were going or why. As far as they knew we were going to feed them. I will put it nicely, feeding them is not what we were doing...

Many times throughout the bible we are referred to as sheep. So often we are following wherever the next breeze blows us. Instead of learning our lesson the first time, we insist that we must take the long way around the same mountain, over and over again. We will follow any crowd, never knowing what is going to happen in the end, or caring why. This is what happened when Jesus entered the city. The crowds were rejoicing, but they didn't know why. They were worshiping Christ, just because their friends were. It was like going to a game without knowing what teams were playing. Who do you rout for? Depends on what side of the stadium you enter and who your friends are routing for. You will yell and cheer, but never really having any true heart for the outcome. This is why we must carefully choose our friends, because we are sheep and we will follow them, anywhere.

Oswald Chambers, "This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle-we must be spiritually real." Are you a Christian? Do you know why? Are you just flowing along, following the crowd not really knowing who your shepherd is? Or, do you see Him? Sheep that follow their Shepherd because they know and see Him are much different than sheep who blindly follow the crowd. Who are you and what are you doing here?

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/03/29/devotion.aspx?year=2010