A Clean House and a Wasted Life

You have probably heard the saying before: A clean house is a sign of a wasted life. Whatever else the phrase means, it expresses some of the frustration and the sense of futility that attends life in this world. I thought of that saying when I spotted this proverb: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox” (Proverbs 14:4). A little bit of research shows that commentators are divided on exactly what it means, but I think one of the explanations rises to the top.

According to this explanation, the proverb is about the messiness of a life well-lived. Tremper Longman says the moral is that “a productive life is a messy life.”

I love productivity. At least, I love productivity when it is properly defined—as effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God. By this definition, each one of us, no matter our vocation, ought to pursue productivity with all the vigor we can muster. And if you do that, it is inevitable that along the way you will accumulate some mess. You cannot focus your time, attention, gifts, energy, and enthusiasm toward noble goals while still keeping every corner of life perfectly tidy.

The pastor’s desk will at times be crammed with books and papers. The baker’s counter will sometimes overflow with pots and pans and flour and sugar. The mechanics’s hands will be stained with grease and his shop will need a daily once-over with the power washer. And the home—the home will at times be messy and cluttered and downright embarrassing.

Longman says, “One desires a neat and tidy life, just as the ideal stall would be clean. However, a clean stall by the nature of things would mean an empty stall since oxen do not have to be in a stall long before it is messy. However, without oxen there is no productivity.”
We could as easily say that one desires a neat and tidy house, just as the ideal stall would be clean. However, a clean house by the nature of things might just mean an empty house since children and husbands and houseguests and those neighborhood kids do not have to be in the house long before it is agonizingly messy. However, without all of those people there is no productivity—no true, biblical productivity—, no children to care for, no friends to counsel, no hospitality to extend.

Like so much else in this life, you cannot have it all. You cannot have perfect order and perfect productivity. You cannot have a home that is warm and full and inviting, you cannot have every child fed and cared for, while also having every dish done and every sock laundered. You just can’t. Of course this isn’t to excuse slovenliness or laziness. But you need to understand what Derek Kidner says, that “Orderliness can reach the point of sterility. This proverb is [a plea for] the readiness to accept upheaval, and a mess to clear up, as the price of growth.” Growth, or productivity, as the case may be. Is a clean house proof of a wasted life? Not at all. But a tidy house isn’t necessarily evidence of a well-lived life.


If you do the things God tells you to do, messes will inevitably follow. But take heart: According to the wisest man who ever lived, these messes are not proof of a wasted life, but of a productive one.

9 Things that are True of Us when we are Saved

The New Testament has many amazing things to say about who we are as believers because of what Christ has done for us. When the Lord saves us, he doesn’t just rescue us from eternal death; he gives us a completely new identity.

Consider what happens to us when the Father places us “in Christ”:

1. All that is part of our old self, all that is sinful and contrary to God, has been crucified. It is dead (Rom 6:2-11; Gal 2:20).
2. We are completely forgiven, perfected for all time, and hence completely reconciled to God (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 5:17-19; Gal 2:16).
3. We are completely made new and given Christ’s eternal resurrected life (2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:5-6, 10).
4. We are indwelled with the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of God almighty (2 Cor 13:5; Eph 3:17). We are thus made into a temple of God (1 Cor 6:19).
5. We are redeemed and set free from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13; 5:1; Col 2:13-15).
6. We are seated “in heavenly places” and made partakers of the eternal inheritance Christ purchased for us (Eph 1:3-11: 2:6; 3:6).
7. We are hidden in Christ and united with Christ (Rom 6:5; 1 Cor 6:17; Col 3:3). We are made participants in the eternal love that flows within the Triune Godhead (2 Pet 1:4).
8. God the Father completely redefines our state of being. Whereas once we were in Adam and “by nature children of wrath” (Eph 2:3), now we are in Christ and are the recipients of the very same eternal, perfect love he has for his Son (Jn 17:34; 26).
9. The Father has chosen us and made us “holy and blameless before him in love.” He loves us and lavishes on us “his glorious grace” as he relates to us as we are “in the Beloved,” Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3-6). This means that the relationship God has with us now is defined by the eternal, unsurpassable, loving relationship he has with his eternal Son!

 This is who we truly are when we place our trust in Christ. Whether the self-identity we inherited from our upbringing, experiences, and culture agrees with this or not (it probably doesn’t), this is what is true, for this is what God says. By placing us in Christ’s death to sin, the Father makes us dead to sin. By placing us in Christ’s life, the Father makes us alive. By placing us in Christ’s holiness, the Father makes us perfectly holy. And by placing us in Christ’s loveliness, the Father makes us lovely. The almighty God says so!

There is simply nothing anyone can do to improve what God has already done for us in placing us in Christ Jesus. When God saved us, he established us in Christ as being everything he eternally wants us to be. This is what is true about us. This is our true identity. All genuine spiritual growth comes from the Holy Spirit making our true identity real to us and overcoming the self-identity we inherited from the pattern of the world.

Does the Devil Have Your Ear?

If someone polled your church with the question, “Which preacher do you listen to most frequently?” how would you respond? Some would point to the pastor. Others might suggest a minister they hear on the radio or by podcast. But if we are honest, none of these wins the contest. Believe it or not, the individual who has the greatest access to our hearts, the one who preaches to us most frequently, is not who we think.

It is the Devil.

 Satan preaches a sophisticated, seductive, and manipulative message. His goal is to convince you either that the Lie is true or that the Truth is a lie, and we are usually unaware that he is speaking. He is the “prince of this world” (John 12:31). God has given him influence over the media, and through this megaphone he preaches persuasively, speaking to us through newspapers, television, blogs, e-mail, radio, popular music, movies, magazines, NFL commercials, and, yes, even at times through our consciences and friends.

How do we know we have been listening to the Devil’s lies? The fruits are ominous and varied. We become discouraged when life doesn’t go as we had planned. We wallow in guilt after a careless comment hurts someone we love. We compare ourselves to others and then feel worthless. We give into hopelessness or fear as we observe cultural change. Some even yield to the despair that this life is all there is. The Devil knows how to “preach it,” and we are often the victims.

But God has provided us with a mighty spiritual weapon: the gospel. As I explain in my book Hidden in the Gospel, “the gospel” is everything that God has done, and will do, to save us. The gospel stretches from eternity past to eternity future. It starts with election and ends with the new heavens and new earth. It includes the doctrines of election; Christ’s incarnation, active obedience, penal substitutionary death, resurrection, ascension, and return for final judgment; and the creation of new heavens and earth. Hidden in these wonderful doctrines are crucial truths. When applied, they shatter the Devil’s vicious deceits.

 God does not want us to listen to ourselves or the Devil. Instead, he wants us to preach to ourselves. Listening is passive; preaching is active. For example, when I don’t feel loved by God, I preach the truth to myself. It transcends feelings. Before the foundation of the world God chose me and set his love upon me. He didn’t choose me because I performed, but despite the fact that I didn’t. He sent his Son to live a perfect life in my place and to bear the wrath that I deserve at Calvary. It is rare when this preaching exercise does not kindle feelings in my heart that reflect the truth that I am loved. This is what Paul has in mind when he tells us to “seek the things that are above” and “set your minds on things that are above” (Col. 3:1–2).

As I write in my book: “Maturing believers cultivate the discipline of preaching to themselves. In fact, they turn this into an art form. They read Scripture, internalize it, and then continually preach its truths back to themselves. When fears of death and dying arise, they speak to themselves about the world to come. When guilt grips their heart, they remind themselves that they have been united with Christ and that Christ’s righteousness is theirs. They don’t listen to self. They preach to self!” So, which preacher do you listen to most? Hopefully, you’re not listening to the Devil. I wrote Hidden in the Gospel to help you to cultivate the discipline of preaching to yourself instead.

 by William P. Farley

What is Your Concept of God

Has the Christian Religion taught us the wrong concept of God? We have been taught that God is "out there somewhere beyond the blue" in another realm called heaven building physical mansions to house us in...If we have accepted Jesus by grace and do our best to keep the religious rules and to live a holy life, God will bless us and we will go to live in the heavenly mansions and walk on golden streets when we kick the bucket.

 I have been around religion for 50 of my 65 years...I wonder why little to nothing has been taught on how to live by the Spirit of God within us and Him doing His work through us to affect the Community of Humanity for His good. After all aren't we...the people...the dwelling place of God? 

We have been taught that God is the adult Santa Clause in the sky that we call on to do our bidding at our beckoned will. This has given us a false concept of God. This has caused us to seek everything from God as though He were entirely external from us. We believe that by all kinds of religious activity and rituals God will will come down from heaven in the Sunday-services to bless us, heal us, or as some think to prosper us with financial blessings. But the fact is, since the death and resurrection of Jesus, the dwelling place of God is in His people and we don't need prayers to ascend up to heaven to bring Him down. In actuality, everything that God is is already within us, waiting for us to discover the truth that God in us is sufficient to meet every need.

God is not withhold His blessings from us to where we have to wring the blessing out of Him and the more people there are prayer wringing Him the more His reluctance will weaken and He will release to us what we want. He makes His rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Whenever we beg God to bless us or heal us, we have a wrong concept. What we are believing is, "God, you have all these good things and are withholding them from me." If we did not think God was keeping His blessings from us, why would we ask Him for them?

Let me ask you a question, if God was withholding something from you, do you think that you could not get Him to change His mind by begging, crying, pleading or promising Him something? Can God be bribed by what we do or do not do? Will Bible reading, praying, crying, fasting, our goodness....or anything else that we might try get Him to change His mind. Do we think that if I can get 500 people praying for our healing that God will finally let go and give in? This religious concept of God is indicative of their belief and teaching that if we do what we are suppose to do, as they interpret how it is to be done, God in heaven will be pleased with us and rain down is blessings on us.

Doing the right things and looking to God in heaven for the blessing, though you may be doing right things, they are being done for the wrong reason while looking the wrong way for the answer to come from.

WE sing: There is a river of of Life flowing out through me. Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. Opens prison doors and sets the captives free There is a river of life flowing out through me. 

But...are we living the reality of what we sing. Isn't the stark truth that most people, sinner and saint alike still captives to sin, self, sickness, fear and religion? Does our living stack up to what we are singing?

The only hope we have in discovering the truth of what Jesus taught is to forsake the lies religion has taught us: "The Kingdom of God is within you" (Jesus said in John 7:38, "He that believes in me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water." In John 4:14, He said, "He that drinks of the water that I give him, it shall be in him a well of water springing up into eternal life." Folks that does not mean the seminarian denominated professional at some religious meeting...THAT MEANS YOU! Sad to say...it is religion that prevents you from fully realizing your freedom and the reason you have damned the flow of living waters from you.

To have a proper understanding of these things, we must realize who and where Christ is. The word Christ means "God’s anointed". Jesus was called the Christ. In Christ, is the fullness of God. Colossians 2:9 says, "For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form -- giving complete expression to the Divine nature."

Is there any believer that has a problem believing that, I think not. But there are many that have a problem believing and living what follows: "And you are in Him, made full and have come to fullness of life -- in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature." Ephesians 1:23 speaks of the Church, "Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all -- for in that body lives the full measure of Him who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere [with Himself]."

 Once we understand the reality of the Christ life within us and are free of the bondage without us...THE RIVER OF LIFE WILL FLOW FROM US bringing life in the RELIGIOUS WASTELAND!

- Glenn Regular

Goodbye Beloved "Friend at First Sight

I don’t believe in “love at first sight,” but I do believe that once in a great while, some fortunate people encounter “friends at first sight.”  Maybe you know what I’m talking about. There are certain people whose chemistry just seems to draw you in.  Minutes after meeting them you find yourself engaging with them, laughing with them, perhaps crying with them, and bonding with them as though you had known each other intimately for years.


If this has ever happened to you, you can attest that such encounters are as rare as they are blessed.
Gaby Hitipeuw was a just such a “friend at first sight.” I and a team of three others from ReKnew had the honour of meeting Gaby and her husband Jason, who also was an instant “friend at first sight,” while I was conducting a three day conference in Basel Switzerland last August. This adorable couple had traveled all the way from Austria, mainly because they wanted to share the difference my books and ministry had made in their lives, especially as they dealt with the cancer that Gaby had for eight years been valiantly fighting. Over three days I and my wife, along with Greg and Marcia Erickson, shared stories, cried, laughed, and bonded with Gaby and Jason. It almost seemed like we had known each other from childhood. We were “friends at first sight.”

On February 28, 2015, Gaby succumbed to the cancer she so bravely fought. I had one last chance to speak with Jason and Gaby via Skype a month or so before she passed. They knew the end was near. Gaby was tired and in some discomfort, but both she and Jason displayed the unmistakable “peace that surpasses understanding” that only people who know Jesus intimately have when the end is near. We talked about end of life matters, about Jesus, about imagining heaven and about how very hard it is to let go of loved ones. We once again cried, laughed and bonded, as though we’d been friends forever.

All of us who instantly fell in love with Gaby over in Basel are comforted in knowing that, even though we didn’t have the opportunity to know her very long in this life, we ARE friends forever.  And we look forward to the time when we will once again see Gaby’s radiant smile and enjoy her precious company.

Letting go of people you love IS so very difficult, but until we meet again, it is what we must do.

Goodbye Gaby. You will always be our beloved “friend at first sight.”

Events That Control Us

Have you ever made a list of all the “events” that have some sort of control over you?  Crazy question, isn't it!  What a book some could write of ALL the events that have in one way or another exerted some sort of “control” over them…

So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth. --Hosea 6:3

One day I talked to two different women who had suffered abuse. One had gotten on and was free; the other was still controlled by the past. Just so, many people suffer the same types of abuse and yet have different responses. Some, it seems, barely have a hiccup, while others are driven to a mental institution. The event cannot be the determining factor; rather, it is the significance placed on the event not only by the victims, of their own volition, but by society at large.Many are told that their particular hurt will involve years of pain and mourning before recovery. After highly publicized shootings at a high school, a mother of one of the students was told by a psychologist, “You can now expect your daughter to get into drugs, alcohol, and rebellion because of her trauma.” The mother wisely suspended her daughter's sessions with this “therapist.” Significance was attached to the event to the extent of presuming the young woman's descent into negative behavior. 

You have had hurts in your life such as rejection, disappointments, and failures. What significance do you attach to them? Legalists attach great significance to them, for their ministry is to keep people down. If you believe that a particular failure will determine the course of the rest of your life, we can be certain that major significance has been assigned to it.Is that in line with the significance that God attaches to it? Some believe that there can only be a good marriage where neither spouse has ever been raped or had an affair. At this point rape, for instance, is not just a one-time event, but is actually the stealing of a lifetime of happiness. Many will say, “But it is a fact! I was violated, cheated, and abused.” I am not saying there is not a temporarily huge struggle, but a momentary event is not to steal happiness forevermore. God will not change the fact, but He will change its significance. Invite Him into the event by asking to see Him at work in the midst of it. You will see, as many have, “God causes all things to work together for good!” The fact is still there, but it gives way to a greater fact: that God is "I AM." Many have come to discover Christ as life through mistakes, sin, failures, broken relationships, death, abuse, rejection, lost dreams, unemployment, dysfunctional marriage, and more. As long as we live from the Tree of Good and Evil, deciding for ourselves which of our life’s occurrences were good or bad, we will be divided. Live from the Tree of Life, and see Him in everything, 

Some things in life are so simple, yet so foreign to our way of thinking or even being aware of.  How many people do we know who have gone through the same type of event, yet some have “gotten on and are free,” while others are “still controlled by the past.”  Getting Past The Past…a great need for many.

Michael gives us two differing points of view to be aware of and make a decision which we will follow:

1. “the significance placed on the event not only by the victims, of their own volition, but by society at large.”

2. “the significance that God attaches to it.” (that same event)

Most interesting has to be: HOW MANY have really ever stopped to consider option #2?

Now notice two points that can change one’s life almost instantly:

1. a momentary event is not to steal happiness forevermore.

2. God will not change the fact, but He will change its significance.

Living from the Tree of Life, and seeing Him in everything, changes one’s life dramatically.

Mike Wells

Spiritual Warfare - What is it?

The Kingdom is “not of this world,” and neither is its warfare. Jews had always believed that God confronted spiritual opposition in carrying out his will on earth. In the Old Testament, these evil forces were usually depicted as cosmic monsters and hostile waters that threatened the earth. For a variety of reasons this belief in spiritual warfare intensified significantly in the two centuries leading up to Christ.

This intensified understanding of evil and this new view of history is commonly referred to as the “apocalyptic” worldview. The authority ascribed to Satan in the New Testament, the frequent depictions of illness and deformities as demonically caused, and the general characterization of this present epoch as evil and as approaching its end all reflect this worldview.

We find references to Satan, rulers, principalities, powers and authorities, along with dominions, cosmic powers, thrones, spiritual forces, elemental spirits of the universe, gods, and a number of other spiritual entities. For short, I’ll just call them “Powers.”
Understanding this worldview helps us see that Jesus’ radically countercultural ministry wasn’t first and foremost a form of social and political protest, though it certainly was that. It was, rather, most fundamentally a form of spiritual warfare.

This apocalyptic context makes it clear that Jesus’ deliverance ministry wasn’t the only way Jesus confronted evil. Every aspect of the Kingdom of God Jesus manifested revolted against a corresponding aspect of the kingdom of the Powers. In Jesus, and in the movement he came to establish, the long expected apocalyptic battle between God and the Powers was—and still is—being waged.

When Jesus revolted against the oppressive religion of his day, for example, he was engaging in warfare against the Powers that use religion to oppress people. So too, when Jesus refused to live in accordance with his culture’s assumptions, laws, and social taboos regarding nationalism, race gender, class, and wealth, he wasn’t just waging a social protest; he was engaging in warfare against the Powers that oppress people.

Paul reflects this point when he informs us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” From a Kingdom perspective, if it’s got “flesh and blood”—if it’s human—it’s not our enemy. To the contrary, if it’s got “flesh and blood” it’s someone we’re commanded to love and thus someone we’re to be fighting for—even if they regard us as their enemy.

The primary way we wage war on behalf of others, including our enemies, is by imitating Jesus and refusing to buy into any aspect of the Powers’ oppressive regime—including the universal tendency to make other people our enemies. Whereas earthly wars are fought with pride, strength, and violence, the Kingdom war is fought in humility, weakness and love. Any aspect of our own life, our society, or our global community that is under the Power’s influence and is inconsistent with the loving reign of God as revealed in Jesus is something that we are called to revolt against.


—Adapted from Myth of a Christian Religion, pages 30-32

Prayed on - 20.01.2013

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So let's pray together.  Hallelujah what a Saviour. Father as we come before you this morning we like to, we need to really, keep reminding ourselves that it was your great love that moved us to come and have a relationship with you.  It was you who first initiated it, it was you that reached out to us, it was you that pursued us and sought us out in the midst of, of life, and in due course revealed yourself to us, and we want to say thank you this morning. Thank you that you are a God of love and that you did reach into our lives and reveal yourself to us, and we responded to that great love. As the Scripture says, "we love because he first loved us".  So Father thank you so much for that and as we journey through life Lord we know that there are so many times when, we don't, are seem to live up to the new identity we have, we seem to drift so easily, we seem to be sidetracked so easily, old habits and old ways seem to still grip us somehow, but it's good to be reminded that's, that's not who we are, because you've reached into our lives and because you're such a wonderful Saviour you have literally saved us out of the old life, into the new, out of darkness into light, into your kingdom into your family and right into the circle of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What a Saviour you have saved us into that, and that's what we are grateful for and sometimes Father as we look over our shoulder, sometimes if we stop and we start to look at our performance we could easily be cast down, we could easily be depressed and despondent thinking there I go again.  But you don't look at our performance you look at our new identity you look at who we now are your children and in that relationship as you work within us by your Spirit you bring about change, healing and wholeness, might be slow times, we might falter at times but you continue to work.  And the apostle said in great confidence I have, that he shall complete that which he has begun.  And so Father we to say thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives, none of us are perfect, but we are new creations we are your children, and so as we, as we look to you in relationship we say that was stupid that was silly, I'm sorry, and we step on again without any condemnation, for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And so we thank you Lord for that wonderful relationship.  O what a Saviour hallelujah what a Saviour that he would save us from all of that, into a beautiful relationship with Father, Son and Spirit. Thank you Father for that this morning in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Two Wonderful Things

We watched a family movie recently called "Mom's Night Out" which was really funny and good..the movie is about a mom who wonders if she is 'enough' - and at the end of the movie, two statements are made that sum up so well what I feel God has been showing me this past year of my life..

The two thoughts are basically:

My life does not have to change for me to be happy.

I am not a failure; God says I am enough, even perfect.

These two thoughts are so profound to me, and I feel like they are such revelations deep in my heart.  I can really be happy right now, no matter what life looks like at this moment.  And I am really okay/enough right now, no matter what I am like at this moment.  I don't have to wait till things change in order to be happy -  happiness is mine now.  And I don't have to wait till I change to be okay/enough - I am fine right now.  God is fine with me and my life right now, and so I can be as well!

These two truths have given me such peace and joy in the last several months.  I have had a newfound love of life growing inside of me, a cherishing of the simple things like my daughter's smile or long walks in the woods.  I have seen so suddenly the beauty, the wild deliciousness, the precious value of this life we have here on earth, every breath something to be savored, every sunrise and sunset something to be enjoyed, every laugh with a family member something to be cherished.  I have become so grateful for this life and is seems so wonderful, even in the midst of the chaos that sometimes occurs in my circumstances.

And I have been so much more 'okay' with ME lately..so much more willing to give myself a break, to let myself feel what I really feel, even if it is a so-called 'unacceptable' emotion like anger, doubt, bitterness, or frustration.  I have allowed my soul to voice questions and struggles, allowed myself to be real, to be imperfect, to be messy.  And yet I feel more whole, settled, grounded, and at peace than ever!  It seems every time I allow a part of me that is hurting to express that hurt feeling, the feeling seems to be soothed somehow and calm down..and work itself out naturally without any effort..almost as if some part of me that was hurting just wanted to be noticed, heard, loved and validated..allowed to express its feelings and be loved and embraced in the midst of them..and then that part seems to be more okay, calmer, quieted down inside.  It is almost like the hurting parts are like a little child crying, and that little one calms down as it is held, listened to, allowed to share its hurts.  Every part of me deserves love, validation, acceptance and understanding.  Every part of me deserves pampering, kindness, help and support.  Every part of me is made by God and special!

I just wanted to share these two wonderful thoughts.  I am so thankful and grateful for this wonderful life we all are sharing together here on this planet as children of God.  I love each of you and am so thankful to have you as my brothers and sisters in this great family!  

- Under the Waterfall

We Live in the Palace

“Justified believers enjoy a blessing far greater than a periodic approach to God or an occasional audience with the king. We are privileged to live in the temple and in the palace. Our relationship with God, into which justification has brought us, is not sporadic but continuous, not precarious but secure. We do not fall in and out of grace like courtiers who may find themselves in and out of favour with their sovereign, or politicians with the public. No, we stand in it, for that is the nature of grace. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.”

— John Stott

Cease Striving

I do so appreciate being able to tap into all the years God gave Michael opportunity to interact with folks ALL over the earth!  From hundreds of places, thousands of people, all kinds of situations…and to glean from his discipling of those God gave him.  What he shares in this day’s writing is so very important…I am not sure many (any ?) ever get this completely.

Cease {striving} and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. --Psalm 46:10

Jesus carries so little only because we refuse to give other stuff to Him. The passage above from Psalms is clear on the directive that we cease striving, or literally “get our hands off.” Why do we keep our hands on? There is only one reason, unbelief. We believe we will do a better job than will He. Pride trusts in the very slightest bit of self-strength. Humility has laid aside all strength, embraces weakness, and surrenders to God. 

There is another side to trusting self. Not only are we filled with worry over all that we need to do, we never move into the supernatural to experience what He can do. The secret is that when we place our anxiety upon Him, not only does He carry it, but also He picks us up and carries us to new places. Often I meet someone from my past who does not understand how I could ever have gotten a book published, been invited to speak, or received listeners. They know me and enjoy pointing out my shortcomings. What they point to is that in which I glory: weakness! In weakness I gave my worries, and in weakness Jesus imparted His strength. “For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you,” II Corinthians  13:4.

Give everything to Him. Begin with the words in your mouth, “Jesus, I cast every anxiety on You. I take my hands off, and I know and trust that I have a God.” In this way you become free. Let Him take you to places only His strength can. I have never yet seen a sparrow planting seeds or burdened as to the outcome of a crop. The bird is free from the seed-planting business. “Therefore, do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows,” Matthew 10:31.

What a sad statement Michael starts off with…”because we refuse to give other stuff to Him.”  What?  Those of us “bought with a price” refuse to give Him???  We should stop and think that through!  In fact, that leads me to take account right now: just what am I refusing to “get my hands off”?  Ooooooops!  That’s a little too invasive!

There is one statement that seems to be a sad testimony of too many Christians: “Not only are we filled with worry over all that we need to do, we never move into the supernatural to experience what HE can do.”  How really sad this is.  For two reasons…one, all of the “worry” that Christians experience when once more God has told us to “be anxious for nothing.”  We are to cast all our fears, worries, doubts, etc. ON HIM…”cease striving” (“get our hands off”).  That alone would be an awesome start to a different life!  But, secondly, to never move into the supernatural and experience Him doing supernatural works in our life is super sad!  And this doesn’t have to be all kinds of miracles, etc., but just to see and know that “that was God” when something occurs…supernaturally works out, etc…is something all Christians NEED to experience.

One little question answered God’s way can change all this: How much SELF do we have to experience before we “take our hands off”?  Perhaps reading and soaking on all of Psalm 46 will help us make a quicker decision…

- Mike Wells

Who Will the Grace-Butters Allow into Heaven

NOT EVEN GRACE-BUTTING

Mr. Grace-Butter Gatekeeper.

For people who believe the Bible is inspired, infallible, error-less and for the most part to be interpreted literally, man-made religion with its denominated doctrines and religious-influenced interpretations reigns supreme as the means to which people relate to God.

Let's assume that the God that religion has invented is correct and really has the following characteristics.

The mad God.
The God to fear.
The Santa Clause God.
The celebrity God.
The money grabbing God.
The Jealous God.
The God who takes offense.
The hating God.
The God of Judgement.
The condemning God.
The disappointed God.
The denominated God.
The grudge holding God.
The loveless God.
The uncaring God.
The compassion-less God.
The needing help God.
The performance demanding God.
The hell fire and brimstone God.

Although we could go on, let's stop there.

Assume that we are in the judgement to determine who gets to enter into heaven or not. This religious God decides to install "Mr Grace-Butter" as the Gatekeeper.

Grace-Butters believe a gospel where you are saved by grace and not of works...BUT, you prove and maintain the saved position by living up to the standard of the Law and religious performance. If you fail to do the do's and not do the don'ts of the standards set and don't repent you are disqualified as a child of God and heaven won't be your home.

Mr. Grace-Butter Gatekeeper...some of the ones who stands before you hoping to gain access to heaven has scummed to one or more of the sins listed below after they have said the sinner's prayer and are born again but did not get to repent as you define repentance. Others did not because the either could not repent because they knew not of such a thing.

Hypocrites...The Unforgiving...Homosexuals...Fornicators...The Wicked...The Covetous...The Malicious...The Envious...Murderers...The Deceitful...Backbiters...Haters of God...The De-spiteful...The Proud...Boasters...Inventors of evil...Disobedient to parents...Covenant breakers...The Unmerciful...The Implacable...The Unrighteous...Idolaters...Adulterers...The Effeminate...Thieves...Drunkards...Reviler...Extortioners...The Fearful...The Unbelieving...The Abominable...Whore-mongers...Sorcerers...All liars...People who don't in Bible infallibility and without error but are a Jesus follower...People who don't go to "church" on Sundays...People who don't believe in an eternal torture chamber of hell...People who didn't  believe in a future 7 year tribulation period...people who did not believe in a flesh and blood antichrist...People who did not believe that the Jewish people were God's prophetic time clock...Infants who die without being born again...teenagers who die before they repented...the billions who have died and never heard the name of Jesus...the billions who have died and never knew there was a gospel, let alone hearing it...the mentally challenged who cannot grasp the gospel... again we could go on and on.

So Mr. Gate-Butter Gatekeeper...who will make it into heaven based on the characteristic of the religions God stated at the beginning of the article and your belief that narrow is the road the leads to heaven and few there be that travel it but, broad is the road the leads to hell and many there be that travel it?

Maybe instead of singing:

Heaven is a Wonderful place
Filled with Glory and Grace
I am going to see my Savior's face
Heaven is a wonderful Place

We should have been singing;

Heaven is a lonely place
Because of grace-plus-works, people could not keep pace
I won't see my Savior's face because of hyper-grace
Heaven has a lot of empty space, rendering it a lonely place

Or;

Hell is a popular place
Filled with people of Hyper-Grace
They thought they were going to see their savior's face
Instead they met the devil face to face

What do you think...Do I muse too much?

Repent from the Sin of Religion

People often think that being Christian is about “being religious,” but loving others in the way that Christ instructs us is about as far removed from religion as anything could be. Religion, as I use the term, is a system of beliefs and behaviors one embraces as a means of getting life—whether this be feeling close to God, one with the universe, or righteous before others.

While all religions, including the Christian religion, contain much wisdom and do much good in the world, they also can do much harm. The harm is not only in the vast amounts of blood they have spilled advancing their causes and defending the correctness of their positions. It is found in the fact that they may systematically prevent people from experiencing the love and life of God as a free gift flowing to and through them. So long as one is trying to achieve a relationship with God, he or she cannot receive a relationship with God by grace.

In this light, the religion of Christianity is the most tragic example of the harm religion sometimes causes. It is in some ways the most fundamental denial of the life and message Jesus came to bring. For the fallen idolatrous behavior of the Christian religion is carried out in the name of the One who came to set us free from the need for idolatrous behavior.

We who are the body of Christ need to repent, individually and collectively. We need to ask forgiveness from God, and from the world, for being religious. We have striven to be religious when we were called to be loving. We need to confess that we have sinned in the gravest fashion by frequently loving our vision of truth and ethics more than people, and even God himself.

To cite a few examples of our sins of religion, historically, and still today, we have not outrageously loved heretics. To the contrary, the church has often burned them alive. The white church has not outrageously loved blacks: Large segments of the American white church defended slavery and continue to support racist social structures. The white church has not outrageously loved Native Americans: In the name of Jesus it helped steal their land and extinguish their culture. The church as a whole has not outrageously loved Jews, Muslims, and other religious groups: We have rather frequently spoken evil of them and warred against them. And we have not outrageously loved large groups of targeted sinners whom we defined as outside our perimeters: prostitutes, gays, drug addicts, murderers, and others. Instead of standing in solidarity with these and all other sinners, we have eaten from the forbidden tree and constructed our own self-serving sin list to determine who’s “in” and who’s “out.” We have judged these people for whom Christ died and, rather than serve him, have often gone out of our way to make their lives miserable.

Our life is not found in our correct doctrine or in our piety, as important as these are. To get life from these things is religion. Our life is rather found in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone. When we repent of our religion and commit to seeing God, ourselves, and every person we encounter only as he or she is revealed in Jesus Christ, and as we allow God’s Spirit to express this truth through our outrageous sacrificial love, the world will come to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, as Jesus himself promised.


—Adapted from Repenting of Religion, 225-228  Greg Boyd

Total Surrender Will Bring Pain and Loss?

Just the word “surrender” seems to mean “losing” to many…but there are different uses of that word, and Michael shows us the “best” meaning of “surrender” in this unmasking of another of the devil’s lies.  Get the victory with surrendering self as Michael points out!

Will total surrender bring pain and loss? Actually, the opposite is true: The lack of total surrender will bring pain and loss!  The enemy invests great energy in this lie.  It is whispered continually to the growing believer who has given up all but one thing to serve the Lord, that one thing which is coveted, which has brought pleasure, which allows independence, and that allows the enemy to maintain a foothold in the believer’s life.  What is this one thing?  It differs among Christians but will generally have to do with some right which we believe we should have: a right to be in control, not to forgive, to keep that one idol, or to have some kind of worldly possession or pleasure.

…So it is with this one small thing; it never quite allows us to enjoy all that God has given because of its nagging presence…

…When it comes to taking up the cross and denying self-life residue, the lies will take this form: “You must wait for others to die to self-life and abide before you do.”  “If you deny yourself you will not be happy.”…Since you have heard the message of abiding, you are to be the first to deny self and, therefore, the first to experience the blessing.

…The kind of forgiveness, love, submission, and respect toward others which the Lord requires of us will never come if based on their actions.  The Lord makes such demands on the basis of how He has treated us, not how others have acted.  We are commanded to love because of the intensity with which He has loved us…Giving up all brought Him great joy…

As we give up all, we, too, will find great joy, not pain and loss.  Do not allow the enemy to have this foothold; right now with your mouth give up that one thing which is allowing him to steal joy that is rightfully yours…

Isn’t it just like the devil to take and twist a meaning of a word to make it a negative instead of a positive!  And of course he uses words like “rights” to further confuse and confound life.  All the while to keep us from participating in and being free in Christ.

When will we Christians learn to believe and trust Scripture?!?  It is God’s words to our pathway to the abundant life of Christ.

And must we be reminded that the Lord’s way is 99 times out of 100 the complete opposite of the world’s way…let us not be led by the world’s thoughts and ways.

Just the word “loss” brings shivers to too many…we could lose everything except Christ (and we can never lose Him once we are one of God’s kids!) and still be the Victor!

God Loves You - Part One

Even though you may not know God in the intimate relational way He desires, He knows you intimately. He knows the very thoughts you think and the actions you take before you take them, and even though your thoughts and actions may be wrong...He is not upset by them. He knows all your ways... good and bad and He is still OK with you.  He even knows the number of hairs on your head. You were made in His image to reflect His likeness, though you may not be a good reflection of Him yet, He is not angry with you. You are His offspring, He knew you before you were conceived. He chose you before the creation of the universe. You were not a mistake, please get that...you as you are...is not a mistake! God determined when and where you would be born. You are beautifully and wonderfully made. He formed you in your mother's womb and brought you forth the day you were born and He LOVES you.

God your loving Father has been misrepresented, misunderstood, misdiagnosed, misquoted, misapplied, and lied about by people who claim they know Him because of religious obligations and conformance by complying to the religious do's and don'ts.. Religionists know about God in their mind knower, but fail to realize they don't KNOW the heart of God in their heart knower. He is not a distant Deity lurking in the shadows to catch you in some wrong so He can whup you with a big anger stick as punishment to beat you in line.

God is the essence of love and goodness. He doesn't love you because you obey all the ordinances of religion, or because you attend what people call “church” for a couple of hours on a Sunday. He loves you simply because you are His child and He is your loving Father. You can't do anything to make God love you any less neither can you do anything to make Him love you any more. His love for you is not based on whether you love Him or not. His love for you is entirely His doing and is unchangeable.

God sent Jesus because of His great love for you so you could, if you so desire, have a relationship with Him that would allow Him to relate to you intimately. God has dealt with the sin factor through Jesus and sin is no longer an issue with Him, your sin past, present and future is cast into the sea of His forgetfulness with a "No Fishing Sign" erected. If you will turn to Him, live in His Grace as His loved child, sin will fall from you as the rain falls from the sky and you will not have to strive to overcome sin because His GRACE gives you the power to overcome it and you will lovingly love the across your path people you meet whether they are saint or sinner.

- Glenn Regular

God Loves You - Part Two

He loves you more than your earthly daddy ever could. For He is the perfect Daddy. Every good gift that you receive comes from His hand. That is not to say that because He is your Father you will never have another problem, trial or struggle, you will, but your Daddy will be going through it with you and will work things out for His glory which also means that it will work out for your good. For God is your provider and He will meet all your needs. His plan for your future has always been filled with love and hope because He loves you with an everlasting love. He knows you have experienced some difficult situations to where you wondered if  He even existed let alone cared about you. There are times when you have not felt the closeness of your Father God and even thought He may have abandoned you, He did not, He was right there going through the difficulty with you. When you suffer in your flesh or mind severely, because of the pain you may be going through and it feels like God have left you all alone, be assured He is by your side feeling your pain.

His goodness toward you is as numerous as the sand of the seashore. He rejoices over you with singing. He will never stop loving you, for you are His treasured possession, the crowing glory of His creation. He desires to dwell in your living with all His heart. And He desires to show you great and marvelous things.

Delight in God and He will give you the desires of your heart because in delighting in Him your desires will align with His desires for you. He is able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. He is your greatest encourager and comforter no matter what you are going through. When you are brokenhearted, He is close to you. He carries  you in His heart. One day He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. And He will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth and the memories of your suffering will be eradicated forever.

God is your Father, and He loves you as much as He loves Jesus...DID YOU GET THAT, HE LOVES YOU AS MUCH AS HE LOVES JESUS! It is in Jesus that His love for you is revealed. Jesus is the exact representation of His being. Jesus came to demonstrate that His loving Father is for you, not against you. God is not counting your sins against you, but is waiting for you with open arms when you want to come to Him. Jesus died so that you and God could be lovers. Jesus' death was the ultimate expression of His love for you. Jesus gave up everything, Jesus died that God might gain your love because God loves you so much. God's love for you is unconditional, unwavering, unlimited, boundless, unending, nonjudgmental and non-condemning.

Because of the finished work of Jesus...NOTHING...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING....will ever separate you from God's love...not sin, not death, not the devil, and not some religious hell fired torture chamber! God has always been your loving Father, and will always be your loving Father. You are His loved child? He is waiting for you turn to Him in acceptance of the finished work of  His Son on the cross. God is not talking about religious conformation to a religious denomination, He is talking about Grace transformation of your heart as to who He is and what He has done to bring you in a loving relationship with Him, minus all the trappings of religion.

- Glenn Regular

Christians and Creations Care

While the mustard seed of the Kingdom has been planted, it obviously hasn’t yet taken over the entire garden (Matt 13:31-42). We continue to live in an oppressed, corrupted world. We live in the tension between the “already” and the “not yet.” Not only this, but we who are the appointed landlords of God’s earth continue to live in rebellion against God and abuse our God-given authority over the earth. Our first mandate included taking care of the earth and animals, and I’m convinced this continues to be a foundational benchmark for how we’re doing as a human race. Unfortunately, this benchmark suggests we aren’t doing well at all.

For example, it’s well known that the welfare of the earth’s ecosystem significantly depends on tropical rain forests. Yet we are currently cutting down an area of tropical forest the size of Greece each year. Some estimate that up to 80% of the earth’s rain forests have already been lost, the majority in the last 100 years.

So too our apathy toward the environment as well as toward the suffering of the poor is largely to blame for the current clean-water crisis humanity faces. All told, approximately 10 million people die each year because their water is unclean.
Our care for animals is even more dismal than our care for the land, in my estimation. Largely due to our poor stewardship, thousands of species of animals have already become extinct or are being pushed to the brink of extinction. According to most experts, the population of over half of all animal species are in decline. Some estimate that in the next 30 years as many as one-fifth of all species living today will become extinct.

But in my opinion, the single most telling piece of evidence that shows how poorly we’re manifesting our call to care for animals is the creation of factory farms. More than 26 billion animals each year are forced to live in miserable, over-crowded warehouses, where there is absolutely nothing natural about their existence and where they are subjected to barbaric, painful, industrial procedures.
We are falling far short of the benchmark, and we, the earth, and animals are suffering as a result.

Being a follower of Jesus gives us no special wisdom to resolve the complex issues that we face regarding how we care for the earth and animals. The answers of the Kingdom are not found in voting one way or another, in boycotting certain industries, or various other activist approaches. While I’m not opposed to these activities, followers of Jesus are called to live in a way that reflects God’s original design for human dominion while revolting against everything that is incongruous with this design. Regardless of what scientific or political opinions may be in vogue, our call remains the same. We’re to manifest God’s care for the earth and demonstrate God’s merciful love toward animals.

This means that we must think critically about things like the energy we consume, the water we use and the waste we throw away. It means we must be informed about the effects our lifestyle choices—and eating choices—have on the earth and on animals.
Insofar as it is possible, we’re to manifest—in the present—the harmonious relation between God, humans, animals, and the earth that will characterize the cosmos when the Kingdom is fully come. This is a fundamental aspect of what it means to be part of a Kingdom that manifests the beauty of God’s original design for creation while revolting against everything that corrupts it.


—Adapted from The Myth of a Christian Religion, pages 148-151

Cast Your Burdens Upon the Lord

Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. --Psalm 55:22

Often we find ourselves carrying too heavy a burden. Instead of casting it on the Lord, there is a temptation to bring a temporary relief by casting it on another person, who also cannot carry the load; in fact, it can wipe him out. There is absolutely nothing that the person can do to help us except for one thing: turn our eyes back to the Lord. Other believers are a great asset and blessing to us when they assist us in self-examining by ultimately turning our eyes to Jesus. I believe it is important to examine our ways and then turn to the Lord. Any issue, topic, or situation that surfaces can immediately be stopped from spreading destruction through the body of Christ by laying the burden on the Lord. He can carry it, and we can receive an immediate lift in our spirits. 

I wonder why we take so long in life to learn that the Lord is the Only One Who can carry those burdens too heavy for us to bear?!?

Do you have one of those “too heavy” burdens you are trying to carry right now?  When will you lay it over onto the Lord?

Has someone been trying to lay a heavy burden of theirs onto your back?  Have you told them you can’t carry it?  Have you turned their eyes back to the Lord for His help?

When will we learn (as Michael tells us) that “any issue, topic, or situation that surfaces can immediately be stopped from spreading destruction through the body of Christ by laying the burden on the Lord”?  ANY…?  Absolutely.

There is an old hymn that comes to mind…it speaks of a soul that is weary and troubled.  Things all around are dark and no light can be seen.  Then it speaks of a Light “for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free!”  And what does it tell us to do?  “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”

And of course, the Lord’s words…”Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

Not once does He ever tell us to continue carrying the burden, or to cast it upon someone else…it is always “cast it upon Him.”  Well, amen.

The Confusion Over Where The True Battle Is

The enemy would never have us fighting the battle where the front lines actually exist; he will always bring something to our attention that has nothing to do with the real issue…in so doing, the believer will more often than not be fighting a person rather than the enemy who inspires the false thoughts that are emanating from the person.

…In the midst of spiritual battle, take time with God; allow the realization of your being “seated with Him in the heavenlies”; let Him show you where the proper battle lines are, so that knowing the position of the enemy you will no longer be wasting your energies.

There is another problem with not fighting the battle on the proper line: We can unknowingly aid the enemy in his work to destroy other believers.  When someone is acting in a way that is unpleasing to the Lord, and we continue to bring it to his attention, what are we doing?  We intensify the problem by helping the enemy place the person’s eyes on something other than the solution…The only hope that we have is to place their eyes on the Savior who can deliver them from vexing behavior.  None will find deliverance anywhere else save in Christ.

As we choose to fight the battle on the proper battle line, we recognize that the problems we see around us are manifestations of life void (at least in the present moment) of abiding.  We will then join the struggle to see those around us abide, and in this way the problems will disappear.

Do we see ourselves giving “intensity to the problem” instead of “placing someone’s eyes on the solution”?  Wow!  What a beautiful perspective that Michael has given to all of us Christians who want to help someone dealing with an issue.  And which of us have had someone who has come asking for help to whom we have given them more of the problem to think about instead of focusing on the solution?

I love Michael’s statement: “the problems we see around us are manifestations of life void (at least in the present moment) of abiding.”  I immediately thought of Michael standing there showing me his 2 hands!  “On my left hand is my problem.  On my right hand is Jesus.  If I place my left hand in front of my right hand…all I can see is my problem.  If I place my right hand in front of my left hand…all I can see is Jesus!  What’s my problem?  Which hand I am looking at!”  Well, amen.

Boy, howdy, do we ever need to get a grip on which hand to always look to first!!!

Where Are You Sitting?

Paul tells us that "we are seated in heavenly places with Christ," and that "we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings."

Can we honestly say that we as believers we are experiencing the reality of being seated in heavenly places?

If we were experiencing that truth of the Gospel in our lives, experiencing all the blessings of God and being seated with Him in heavenly places...would His people be as powerless as they are? Would religious institutions calling themselves the "Church"  be as anemic and ineffective as they are?

As unacceptable as this is going to be to the majority of religionist...in most cases the very thing that people turn to and trust in as the means to the fulfillment of all of God's blessings and our seating in heavenly places with Him...is the very thing that is preventing the  fulfillment of such...What is it? Man-made RELIGION! Why?

Paul said that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. He said we have been seated with Christ in heavenly places. Why do we not experience such seating? Do you think if we were experiencing all of the blessings of God, if believers were seated in heavenly places with Christ would the Church be in the sorry state it is in today? If denominations aren't experiencing a seated position with Christ in heavenly places what is the reason?

May I be so bold as to offer a possible answer? Is it because the spiritual eyes of the religionists are blinded by religious tradition that has dulled the spiritual ears, and hardened the spiritual heart making them practically void of spiritual understanding? Have we become so detached from the life of Christ within us and so attached to the religious life without us to the degree that we don’t even know where "heavenly places" are?

We think that up there somewhere where in the great beyond is where God dwells is a place where we are seated with God. We fail to realize that God dwells in his people here on earth. We are totally unaware that being seated in  heavenly places is  having a conscious awareness of the reality of being one with God and experiencing that reality in this earth.

Religion has made us so devil-conscious, body-conscious and soul conscious, we have lost God-consciousness thus, are dead to Spirit-consciousness unable to hear the voice of Truth because religious consciousness is our focus.

We need to "renew" our mind, not religiously but Spiritually!

That means that when our mind is renewed and clean by the removal of religious hog-wash, and when our eyes become open to the reality of the revelation that Paul regarding the Gospel of Grace, we will begin to walk in a conscious awareness and reality of who we are in Christ and the fact of Christ living in us. And we won’t have to try to do it by keeping the Mosaic Law or religious performances.

However, for that to happen we have to begin to have our minds changed, because the God that has been presented to us in Christianity has been presented in a way that has given us a false understanding of who He is, what He is doing and especially as to what He has done! Now, that is nothing new, because Jesus had to fight that same battle during His earth days. He said, "It has been written in your very own law, but I say to you . . . . I can hear the Bible idolaters, "Glenn you are a false prophet, I go by the Bible; if the Bible says it, I believe it  and that settles it!

Well...the law says ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ so if you kill someone, do you believe that someone should likewise kill you? Jesus said, "It has been written. It is in your very own scripture." But, does because it is written in scripture settle the issue? Not according to Jesus...Jesus said": "It has been written, but I say to you, (here comes the the change in what has been written, listen with your spiritual ears) love your enemies; do good to them who despite-fully use you.“

Isn't it time that we change...if we don't we will never experience being seated in heavenly places with Christ!

- Glenn Regular

Something to Think About. Is God All Powerful

I want to answer yes and no. God is all-powerful in the sense that God originally possessed all power. Before Creation, God was the only being who existed, and thus had all the power there was. He could do anything, and nothing opposed Him.

But with the creation of free creatures, I maintain, God necessarily surrendered a degree of His power. Or perhaps it is better to say God delegated some of His power. Our freedom is a little piece of “controlling power” lent us by God. In order to allow creatures to be free, then, God voluntarily gives us a portion of His power, and thereby surrenders His opportunity to “always get His way.” I don’t think it could be any other way, for freedom must entail that the free person can decide his own way—and it may not agree with God’s way. It is utterly impossible for God to be always in control and yet allow free beings to exercise some control. Thus, to the extent that God “lends” power away, He no longer utilizes it.”

However, what’s important to realize, is that this “surrender” of control is completely a voluntary act of God. If there is “limit” on God’s power, it is only there by His decision, not some power outside of Himself. If God at some point can’t do something (e.g., rid the world of a particular evil), it’s only because He decided to create a world in which there would be times when He could do nothing. Only if some power outside God limited God could He properly be said not to be omnipotent (all-powerful). Thus, in my view, God is in essence all-powerful, though He now chooses not to be. And the reason is because He desires a creation which is capable of love, and thus “must be free (have some “power” of its own).

A related question is: Is God in control? Again, yes and no. Since it is God Himself who delegates how much power each creature has, God is, in this sense, “in control.” He determines the parameters of our freedom within the flow of history which He directs, and in this sense God is always “in control.” For this reason there is absolutely no chance that God could ever lose this “cosmic battle.” As much power as Satan has, the ultimate purpose of God—to have a creation which shares love with Him—is never threatened.

However, God does not control each particular individual, for each person must be to some extent free. Hence, within the limits set by God, an individual may purpose to do things which are utterly at odds with God’s ultimate purpose. Thus, when an individual inflicts pain on another individual, I do not think we can go looking for “the purpose of God” in the event. Of course, God allowed the event to occur because His ultimate purpose includes having free agents, and this freedom must be irrevocable. But to “allow” something and to “purpose it” or “cause it” are two very different things.

While God has given humanity and other spiritual beings a great deal of freedom, He has not come close to surrendering all control to them. He is, even in this present still the most powerful being, even if He does not, by His own decision, exercise all power. God still exercises the dominating influence in the world, and He only knows what this world would be like without His constant, holy influence.


—adapted from Letters from a Skeptic, pages 57-60

Misunderstanding the Judgment of God

The judgment of God has taught by religious tradition has given people a wrong understanding of God. One of these false understandings is that God is a ANGRY God and He judges people, nations, countries, and cities by floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, winter storms, sickness and disease and even resorts to killing people. Not only do they think that God does that NOW, but also  "There is going to come a day when God is going to go even farther and pour out His vengeance, wrath and anger upon humanity because they have not accepted Him their Savior and are living in disobedience to Him. God's wrath and anger is maximized against mankind (His crowning creation), so much so, He is going to punish them in the suffering torture chamber of hell  to suffer gut-wrenching agony throughout all of eternity."

Religion promotes such deception due to a misunderstanding and mistranslation of the Bible and carnal interpretation, rather than spiritual interpretation.

Man's natural and carnal nature in interpreting the Bible has led to much of its confusion, misunderstanding, misuse and abuse by the religious system regarding its content and context. You can know and quote scripture from the natural mind and still still not KNOW God Spirit to spirit. Because God's thoughts are higher than man's thoughts they are not understood by the natural man. It takes spiritual understanding revealed by the Spirit of Truth to begin to understand the mind of God. The Bible was never meant to be taken strictly intellectually with the natural reasoning and interpretation. The Gospel of Christ is hidden from the natural, carnal mind of man. The natural mind cannot understand deep spiritual truths. Natural man can only understand with his natural mind. To be able to understand the Gospel of Grace, one must have a heart that is focused only God and His truth when it comes to Bible interpretation, not on man-made religious deception as truth. God wants to reveal Himself to you personally and not depend on the so called godly revelations of the seminarian denominated professional.

God's judgment is just and righteous, not vengeful and hateful. "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:9). "Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations" (Ps. 82:8).

You can see from the above verses that God's judgments are to be desired...not fear in dread of. When God judges the earth people will learn righteousness and then God shall inherit all nations. God sends His judgments for correction, to teach His righteous ways.

Does that sound like the gloom, doom, despair and agony on me of the Religious Gospel?

- Glenn Regular

Pause Stranger

Pause Stranger, when you pass me by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be,
So prepare for death and follow me.

An unknown passerby read those words and underneath scratched this reply:

To follow you I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went.

Only One Life

“Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”

— extra stanza —

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.”

- C.T Studd

If You Are The Son of God

I recently read through the Lukan description of Christ's temptations in the desert, and I was fascinated by the questions posed to him by the Devil. Specifically, I am intrigued by the repeated refrain: If you are the Son of God. . .

It seems to me plausible that the time spent in the desert by Christ had to do with his sense of identity, his knowledge of who he was. Previous to this, he had been baptized by John in the Jordan River. There God had spoken to him: You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased (Luke 3.22). Immediately after this, he is driven by the Spirit of God into the desert to endure temptations. The temptations of the devil are motivated by the question of Christ's identity as the Son of God. For this reason, it seems to me that one of the problems Christ had to wrestle with in the desert was exactly this: is he really the Son of God? And what does this mean?

Nikos Kazantzakis addresses this problem in his work The Last Temptation of Christ. Now that is a work of fiction, a product of the author's imagination, but it seems to me he is right in proposing that Christ might have wrestled with the question of his own identity. We must remember that Christ had a human nature such as our own, subject to doubt and fear and uncertainty. It would have been part of the process of the sanctification of his human nature, its redemption and transformation, that he come to learn of his identity over time, rather than being sure of it from the beginning. Moreover, it would make no sense that he be tempted by the devil with reference to his identity, if he were sure of it at all times.

But what could it mean for Christ to do this? What is the significance of Christ's coming to struggle with his identity as Son of God for our sake?

I think it is not a coincidence that Luke describes Adam, the prototype of humanity, as the son of God in the genealogy immediately preceding the temptation narrative (3.38). If Christ comes to perfect human nature and to repair it from its sinful inclinations, he must come to repair humanity's understanding of its relationship with God. For this to happen, he must be told, as man, that he is God's Son, the Beloved (3.22). He must come to learn that, before anything else, God is the Father of humanity, and therefore loves humanity and cares for it. After all, what else apart from this unshaken trust in God's benevolence could give Christ the strength to die for humanity, to leave himself in the unmerciful hands of those around him who call for his murder? Thy will be done -- such is the prayer of the one who knows God loves him!

This is a process that has to be repeated in us, as well, as we learn to be Christians; the conversion of Christ's humanity, so to speak, is the model of the conversion of our own. I've said elsewhere that Christianity is about learning that God loves you, and that this love is expressed most clearly in what Jesus Christ has done for us. We too have to begin to understand that God loves us. This thought must transform our minds, transform our hearts, transform our understanding, transform our thinking. This is how we can obey Jesus' intimidating imperative to trust in God at all times -- because we are convinced that he loves us, no matter what.

When we are baptized, we should realize that at that moment, God himself speaks to us and says: You are my Son! You are my Daughter! When we are led through difficult trials, often beyond what we think we can bear to suffer, we ought to remember that God loves us. More than anything else, God loves humanity and cares for it. Just as Christ suffered crucifixion but was resurrected to glory, just as he was made perfect through his suffering, so also it may be that our own perfection will come about through the sufferings God permits to come our way. Our own sufferings are a participation in Christ's suffering, but that means that we will participate as well in Christ's resurrection.

Much more can be said. It will have to wait till another time. 

What Grace Means to Me

To me, right now, I feel that Grace means...

Everything is okay..
All is well..
We are safe..
We are home..

We can't be lost..
It's impossible for us to be lost..
We are in a safe place,
A protected and sheltered place..

We are not free-falling,
Waiting to crash at any moment..
We are never going to crash..
The hammer is never going to fall..

For there is no hammer!
There is no danger of crashing!
There is something solid under us, supporting us..
Solid and strong, yet also buoyant and uplifting..

God's arms are underneath us,
Holding us up..
Carrying us along..
We are being carried by Life Himself!

So we are not free falling..
We are not spinning out of control..
We are actually flying!
We are soaring on currents of Light, Life and Love!

And everything is accepted..
Everything is allowed..
All parts of us, all thoughts, feelings, and even behaviors
Are accepted, embraced, understood, loved!

There is no part of us that is rejected..
There is no part of us that is unacceptable..
There is no part of us that is unwanted..
There is no part of us that is ugly, misshapen, or wrong..

Every part of us is beautiful!
Every part of us is beloved!
Every part of us is allowed to be, to express itself, to exist and breathe easy..
Just as we are, in this moment, we are perfect, we are precious, we are love..

That is what Grace is to me -
It is the reality of a Love so strong, so encompassing, so unconditional,
That it means we are perfectly safe and secure
Guaranteed a happy ending, guaranteed a safe arrival and joyous welcome..

It is a Love so perfect, pure, open, vast and embracing
That is means we can be anything, do anything, feel like anything
And still be loved, still be accepted, still be okay,
Still be home!

And so this Love frees us from having to worry whether we will be
Judged..or punished..or rejected..or abandoned..
This love frees us with its utter security..frees us..
To be ourselves, to be real, to be open, to be vulnerable, to be human!

It frees us to try and fail and not worry whether we fail or not..
It frees us to ask questions and even doubt and know all is still well..
It frees us to not have to know all the answers or even know the questions!
It frees us to think any thought and feel any feeling and know it's valid, ok..

It frees us to feel safe in God's arms..knowing we can't fall out of those arms!
It frees us to get to know Him, feel safe opening up to Him, talking to Him..
It frees us to allow ourselves to be loved by Him,
It frees us to be feel worthy of love..

It frees us to love ourselves,
It frees us to be kind to ourselves,
And to allow ourselves to be the wonderful, awesome people we really are!
To be the magnanimous, joy-to-be-around children of God we truly are!!

That is what grace means to me..
How wonderful..
How reassuring..
How freeing..

Grace is God saying, "I won't ever leave, reject you, or kick you out..
I am here to stay, and you're with Me to stay.
Everything is okay and all right between us,
And everything is going to be ultimately all right."

And you don't have to make some move for all of this to be so.
It IS so.
That's the good news..That's the gospel..
That's GRACE!

- Under the Waterfall

Do You Argue With God

In sharp contrast to many today who seek the comfortable feeling of certainty as a way of feeling at peace with God, biblical heroes are better known for their willingness to be uncomfortable and to honestly wrestle with God. Like Jacob who wrestled with God through the night (Gen 32), the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 questioned, challenged, argued, and even objected to God’s actions. The father of faith, Abraham questioned God’s justice when he announced his plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:20-33). We see the same several times in the life of Moses. For example, he once boldly objected when God privately told him he was so angry with the Israelites that he planned on destroying them to start over with Moses alone. Moses’s bold intercession succeeded in changing God’s mind and he thereby spared the nation (Ex 32:10-14). In fact we find dozens of examples in the OT of people responding to God’s announced plans by interceding and changing his plans.

Biblical heroes of faith frequently objected to God’s actions—or at least what they thought were his actions. One of the greatest prophets in the history of Israel, for example, was Jeremiah. Yet throughout the book of Jeremiah, as well as its sequel, Lamentations, we find Jeremiah complaining of God’s apparently unjust treatment of him and God’s people as a whole while the wicked have it easy (e.g., Jer. 12:1; 14:8-9; 15:18). His bewilderment and honest objections become especially acute and are mixed with anger and sorrow in Lamentations, written in the wake of Babylon’s seizure of Judah. Read this brief work, and you will find Jeremiah sorrowfully crying out that God has acted like an enemy and a vicious predator (e.g., 2:4-5; 3:1-21) and ascribing to God absolutely barbaric behavior such as ruthlessly slaying young people (Lam 2:21) and causing mothers to eat their own babies (2:20;4:10-11)!

The prophet Habakkuk also is similar. He acknowledges to God that “your eyes are too pure to look on evil” and that “you cannot tolerate wrong-doing” (1:13). But precisely because he believes this, he raises this complaint:

            Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
Swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (1:13)

Sprinkled throughout the book are expressions of anger and confusion about God’s apparent inconsistency, especially as he allows pagans to conquer and abuse his own people.
As is apparent in so many OT heroes, the faith of Habakkuk was obviously nothing like we of think of faith today, that is certainty-seeking and doubt-shunning. They didn’t avoid cognitive dissonance by slapping the “mystery” label on things that seemed like contradictions. Habakkuk and others went to the mat with God. And far from being offended by this raw honestly, God is the One who blessed them with it! For instance, Jacob was blessed by God when given a new name, Israel, after wrestling with God all night, an act that reveals his core identity and character. This apparently is precisely the kind of honest relationship, and the kind of honest faith, God is looking for!


—Adapted from Benefit of the Doubt, pages 82-83

The Gospel is Life Transformation by the Spirit, Not Life Condemnation by the Religionists

The world today is in need of knowing that God is good...it is ironic...but, religion also needs to know that God is good! Religion, made up of a myriad of segregated denominations have not realized the significance of the cry of Jesus from the cross: "IT IS FINISHED", they are of the opinion that God needs man's help for Jesus to finish the task He was given to do.

However, its done..."THE GREAT TRANSACTION IS DONE"!

Sin is no longer an issue with God, the question is, why is it still such a big issue for religion? Because, religion knows NOT the extent of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and  His subsequent resurrection.

Many of God's people are continually subjected to the shame, blame and condemnation mentality of religion for  faults and failures in their living of life, over which they can't seem to gain victory. Religious conscientiousness has made them sin-conscious when the finished work of Christ on the cross fits them to be God-conscious. The sin of the saint, and the sin of the sinner are no longer an issue with God because Jesus has taken care of the sin issue, past, present and future once and for ALL!  We all have God in us, what we need now is for His life to grow in us and to transform us into the fullness of His image and likeness. We need never be condemned for the giving in to our adamic nature; we just need to keep hungering after God and seeking Him until He comes to full stature within us. This will take care of our faults and failures. We also need to realize that this is a process that takes time as Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith, works in us to bring us fully into His plan and purpose for the Community of the Redeemed.

Our sinning should never discourage us, rather our sinning should encourage us to be more determined to trust in the finished work of Christ and cause us to run to His open arms for empowerment to overcome.

When we come to God through religion we are told what we should do and shouldn't do in order for God to be able to bless us so that we can mature spiritually to receive His blessings. This is pure religious ignorance, due to the fact of not understanding the significance of the cross. As surely as there is a God, He is saying, "You are not guilty"! God would never bring you before Himself and remind you of your sin. "As far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed the transgressions of My people" (Psalm 103:12). "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more"  (Hebrews 8:12).

Believe the good news: you are not guilty, does that mean you are above sinning...No. Jesus said: "neither do I condemn thee. You are not condemned in the condemnation chamber of the religious; you are being transformed in the transformation chamber of the righteous. As your sin is not transforming you, the condemnation of the religonists is not condemning you, at least not in the eyes of God so don't be condemned in your own eyes.

Ephesians 4:17-18 says: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their (religious) mind, having the (spiritual) understanding darkened, being alienated from the (grace) life of God through the ignorance (in the work achieved on the cross) that is in them, because of the (religious) blindness of their heart." (Brackets mine)

Religious people were wearing religious spectacles at the time of their new birth, thus, deceived about the life of Jesus in them. Such it was in my case and with most all of religious conversions. If the religious deception were not there, there is no way would those claiming to be believers in Christ be in such ignorance as to the understanding of the work God accomplished through Christ on the cross, His subsequent resurrection and His Gospel of Grace.

- Glenn Regular

When God's Plan 'A' Falls Through, What Next?

Suzanne was angry, to say the least. Since her early teens, her only aspirations in life were to be a missionary to Taiwan and to marry a godly man with a similar vision, and she prayed daily about these. She went to a Christian college and, quite miraculously, quickly met a young man who shared her vision for Taiwan. Indeed, the commonalities between them as well as all the “coincidences” that had individually led them to just that college at just that time were truly astounding.

For three and a half years they courted one another, prayed together, attended church together, prepared themselves for the mission field, and fell deeply in love with one another. During their senior year, this man proposed to Suzanne; surprisingly she did not immediately say yes to his proposal. Even though so many pieces had miraculously fallen into place, she needed to have an unequivocal confirmation in her heart that this was the man she was to marry.

For several months, Suzanne and her boyfriend fasted and prayed over the matter. They consulted with their parents, their pastor, and their friends. Everyone concluded that this was indeed God’s will. Before too long, God gave Suzanne the confirmation she needed. While in prayer, she was overwhelmed by a supernatural sense of joy and peace wrapped up with a very clear confirmation that this marriage was, in fact, God’s design for her life.

Shortly after college, the newly married couple went away to a missionary school to prepare for their missionary career. Two years into this training, Suzanne learned to her horror that her husband was involved in an adulterous relationship. He repented but within several months returned to the affair. Despite intensive Christian counseling, this pattern repeated itself several times over the next three years.

During these three years, his spiritual convictions altogether disappeared, including his burden for Taiwan. He grew increasingly argumentative, hostile, and even verbally and physically abusive, even fracturing her cheekbone in one of his fits of rage. Soon after, he filed for divorce and moved in with his lover. Two weeks later, Suzanne discovered she was pregnant.
This left Suzanne emotionally destroyed and spiritually bankrupt. All of her dreams had crashed down on her. She felt that her life was basically over. The worst part of it, however, was not the pain her husband had inflicted on her, but how profoundly the ordeal had damaged her relationship with God.

She could not fathom how the Lord could respond to her lifelong prayers by setting her up with a man he knew would do this to her and her child. Some Christian friends had suggested that perhaps she hadn’t heard God correctly. Others told her that this was God’s will all along and that he loves her so much that he led her down this path to humble her.

I suggested to her that God felt as much regret over the confirmation he had given Suzanne as he did about his decision to make Saul king of Israel. Not that it was a bad decision—at the time, her ex-husband was a good man with a godly character. The prospects that he and Suzanne would have a happy marriage and fruitful ministry were, at the time, very good.

Because her ex-husband was a free agent, however, even the best decisions can have sad results. Over time, and through a series of choices, Suzanne’s ex had opened himself up to the enemy’s influence and became involved in an immoral relationship. Initially, all was not lost and God and others tried to restore him, but he chose to resist the prompting of the Spirit, and consequently his heart grew darker. He had become a very different person from the man God had confirmed to her as a good candidate for marriage.

By framing the ordeal within the context of an open future, she was able to understand the tragedy of her life in a new way. She didn’t have to abandon all the confidence in her ability to hear God and didn’t have to accept that somehow God intended this ordeal “for her own good.” Her faith in God’s character and her love for God were eventually restored.

Understandably, Taiwan was no longer on her heart, but the “God of the possible” always has a plan B and a plan C. He’s also wise enough to know how to weave our failed plan A’s into these alternative plans so beautifully that looking back, it may look like B or C was his original plan all along. This isn’t a testimony to his exhaustive definite foreknowledge; it’s a testimony to his unfathomable wisdom.

—Adapted from God of the Possible, page 103-106