Busyness is Not Godliness

The busyness of religion creates an “outward doing” oriented people obsessed with their inner fears and perpetual anxieties as they try to achieve an enviable status of spiritually elitism to gain the recognition the religious elite, rather than creating an “inward being" people, reflecting and projecting humbleness, peace and love, doing their doing because of Jesus working in and through them, the true characteristics of of a spiritual relationship with God.

Behind the busyness of religious activity is the assumption that a person's doing determines who a person is as well as their spiritually. The busyness of doing religion, if only an outward expression to maintain spirituality without the qualities of being in Christ manifested in them will not produce spiritual maturity, rather it  is an expressionless endeavor of self-effort to boost egoistic superiority and to look good religiously.

Because a person works harder and longer at religious activity does not mean they are spiritually activated, it may mean they are spiritually depleted and their religious busyness defines their spiritual deplete-less-ness.

It has been said that “Busyness is not of the devil; busyness is the devil.” Why? because it robs you from resting and trusting in God where His doing through you is your doing because of the relational journey you are on with Him.

Religious busyness can be a matter of presumption and pride. “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done because people are not committed to the church.” I am doing this for the pastor, and obedience is better than sacrifice.”

Before we do what we do, we need to rest in what God has done and is doing. We need to understand that the work we do only has lasting meaning and benefit when it fits in with what God is already doing regarding His purpose for the Community of the Redeemed and His plan for the Community of Humanity.

When we finally acknowledge the measly contribution to spirituality all our religious busyness is, when we recognize the spiritually laziness of religious busyness keeps us from hearing, obeying and understanding God and His gospel of grace, when it becomes clear that religious busyness feeds our pride, reveals our desire to be in control and receive religious brownie points, we need to come to Jesus and let Him to do His great work of…SETTING US FREE, from the busyness of religion to rest in His finished work,  where He is doing His work through us and His doing becomes our doing.


- Glenn Regular

Hide from the Wrath of God

Much of the modern church environment is paralyzed by the ungodly spirit of "FEAR" and it shows in the religionist alarmists, the defeatists verbalization they use to describe the world happenings and the impending doom they predict is about to be come upon people.

It is preached over church pulpits, talked about in church pews and lobbies, religious media output is articulating it. You see it in their facial expressions, in their judgmental and condemning quivering voices as they slam the bible on their pulpits. It dominates the Facebook and blog rants of the of the religious fear-mongers.

To these fear-mongering mongers everything is now a threat...Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, Barack Obama, illegal immigrants, Arabs, Gays, the Government and Muslims and even Grace living believers.

According to the chicken-little fear-monger's mongering fear tactics “The Sky Is Falling In”. The gloom and doom say-ers have more faith in Islamic power to bring destruction and chaos and give rise to “the antichrist” than in God’s power of love and grace.

Parroting the religionized media outlets, the religious polarized talk show hosts and re-posting on Facebook the latest terrible acts making the news reports. People perpetuate the religionists Christian narrative of gloom and doom and the impending wrath of God in destructive destruction and they make it very clear that eternal hell awaits the vast majority of the people of the world.

One religionist's comment made on a comment made to a Facebook post says; "Seeing you are supporting what the ISIS is doing because Christians did it as well , the quicker your turn comes the better." Meaning that the faster the person faces the ISIS wrath, the better.

Though the religionists loudly, repeatedly, and confidently proclaim Christ as Lord, in reality they no longer trust that  God has any real power, any true control, and inherent god-ness. They seem to have rendered God to a insignificant Deity, who doesn’t seem to have as much power to shower good on people as the devil has to shower evil upon mankind. Then again, they believe that God is the one showering wrath and evil!

Dig beneath the pious “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” shouted bible verse, and the shouting that “the antichrist is about to appear” bullhorn warnings, and you can see that they are as naked as a jailbird spiritually, they have more trust in evil overtaking people than God's goodness overtaking them.

All that pious, warfare spiritual talk is a gumming tiger dressed-up as religion. The truth is, Fear is religion's false God and according to their spouting, one they worship with complete and undying devotion.

The symptoms of Fear Idolatry are pretty easy to spot. When you’re not sure that God is there or that He’ll really come through, you start to spend most of your time defending Him when He is not around. You become a self-appointed mouth-piece for Truth, whose mission is to do the holy work of a "doctrinal cop" policing the world, (just in case God can’t or won’t make things right). You  turn all of your attention to the things in other people that you’re certain really pisses God off, and you make it your sacred business to modify their behavior in the name of Jesus and if they do not modify their behavior you condemn them to eternal punishment in hell.

Such religious rhetoric indicates they know not how big and powerful our loving Father God is.

If God is who He says He is; if He is a God worth worshiping at all, then I have no right to be taking things into my own hands or be lost in hopelessness. Pessimism is not an option. Giving-in to the gloom and doomers simply will not do. Why? Because God is:

Greater than sin...

Greater than the economy...

Greater than the governments...

Greater than the Obama's of the world...

Greater than religious fear-mongering...

Greater than natural disasters...

Greater than stock market crashes...

Greater than job losses and downturns...

Greater than the judgmental and condemning people on Facebook...

Greater than the mess that you and I create that we find ourselves in...

God’s GRACE and LOVE is GREATER than it ALL!

So, do not despair or worry when they tell you that the sky is falling and the anti-Christ is about to appear, either they don't know or need to be reminded…Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:27-31)

People, the sky is not falling in, because our loving Father God is holding up the sky.

The gloomers and doomers...as in the past...will slink away with their tail between their legs and their heads hung in shame for such a shallow view of our ALL POWERFUL GOD and the POWER of HIS NEVER FAILING COMPASSION, LOVE AND GRACE!

Things are going to work out, His plan for humanity will prevail despite the gloom and doom of the fear-mongers.

In the words of God Himself..."BE NOT AFRAID." He has all the bases covered

Swimming Treacherous Waters

As most the religious world splashes and flounders around in the treacherous waters of man-made doctrine, man-made theology, denominated segregation, clerical liturgy, and smothering the laity by manipulation, control and fear-mongering preaching of judgement and condemnation... the Community of Humanity is in need of hearing the voice of good news that was heralded at the birth of the Peace Bringer...Jesus at whose birth the angles declared ..."Peace on earth, goodwill toward men."

There is only one Gospel...one good news...and it is this;

"For God so LOVED the people of the world He gave His One and Only Son..."

God LOVES you, He is not out to get you and send you to hell because you have done wrong, He came to forgive you...and He DID! Why not walk in His forgiveness and love as the LOVED child of God you are.

That is the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL!

- Glenn Regular

Why are you still Wandering around in a Spiritual Wilderness

What had to happen before Joshua could lead the children of Israel into their promised inheritance?

Moses had to die. Then and only then was Joshua free to bring the children of Israel into the promise land.

It is important for us to understand something here regarding the Post Covenant Promise. What had to happen...for us on this side of the cross to fully enter into the workings of the New Covenant Promise?

Jesus had to die and rise from death. True, Jesus died and rose from the grave. Still the vast majority has not entered into the Post Covenant Promise...why...there something else that has to happen before we can move into the fulfillment of the finished work of Christ. Before one can live in the freedom of the Grace Gospel the Law Covenant that is imprinted on one's heart that one live by...must die. Only then will the Spirit of Truth get through to you regarding your promised inheritance regarding the freedom of Grace and only then will the mind set obeying God to receive salvation or maintain your relationship with God. Until the mind set of having to do the do's and not do the don'ts in order to gain God's favor, you will never fully understand the work of Christ on the cross or the fulness of His Grace.

Paul was the master of the law in his religion before following Christ. What did Paul call the Law once He became a follower of Jesus..."a ministry of death and condemnation."

When you subject yourself to the Law...the consciousness of what you have to so or not do for God ( how much time you spend, witnessing, Sunday-meeting-going, bible reading, praying or doing to serve God...one actually CONDEMNS them-self to DEATH! That was the whole function of the Law.

According to Matt. 5:17, Jesus came to fulfill the Law and fulfill it He did. that means the old way of doing things had come to a stop because the entire law was "declared null and void" because without sacrifices there was no basis for the Law to continue in effect. This all happened because of the finished work of the FINAL sacrifice of Jesus who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus took the Law and nailed it to the cross and it DIED!

Now the good news of the removal of the Law with all its do's and don'ts to gain God's favor but, there is more good news.

You know that all the shame, blame guilt and condemnation you hear over the pulpits that will come upon you if you fail to obey the religious laws, rituals and regulations, don't believe it, it is a lie. Not only was the Law filled by Jesus and removed, but...and this should cause you to do a spiritual dance...in Christ we are REDEEMED from it's CURSES and CROWNED with all BLESSINGS!

Freedom to Fail

The only way out of failure is faith.  We do not wallow in self-pity and guilt, but we allow failure to bring us to a place of true dependence, which will bring maximum productivity as Christ lives His life through us.  Regrets are for unbelievers, not for those who walk in Christ’s righteousness.

…we must understand the character of God…His very nature is compassion.  The repentant man, no matter how far he has fallen, can count on God’s hearing him and being overcome by His own compassion!

Israel was warned that if she forgot the Lord and worshiped idols she would be destroyed, but if when in distress from that behavior she would seek the Lord, then God would hear her…We are free to fail because God is a God of compassion; over sixty times in the Old Testament is He described thus.

…One thing we see over and over again is what I call God’s Compassion Cycle.  That is, whenever we are punished by God, our resulting suffering stirs His compassion, so He brings us back again to Himself…

What is your excuse for wallowing?  To what end or benefit do you continue to punish yourself because of unbelief after you have sinned?  God is compassionate, whether you believe it or not.  His character is not dependent upon what you believe or feel, but on what He says…Have you learned to lean on the compassion of God, or do your lying emotions tell you God does not hear and show compassion?

God continued to forgive and restore Israel even though He knew that they would continue to fail and not keep their promises to Him.  It is the compassion of God that has brought all of us thus far…

…When we walk in compassion, we are free to fail, our love covers a multitude of our sins, and our mercy delivers us from judgment…

Wow!  How beautiful is all this?  Absolutely gorgeous!

Michael has much more in the way of illustrations, particularly of God’s work in the life of Israel in the OT, on these three pages.  I hope you have one of the books from ALMI and are working through the life-changing truths from He Who IS the Truth.

Let me see…I think I can summarize this with all simplicity:

We all will fail God.

We need to repent and return to God.

God is full of compassion and will forgive us and restore us.

When we walk in compassion, we are free to fail.

We who know the compassion of the Lord must show the same to others.

Compassion readily forgives.

That seems to bring me to the following questions:

Do I wallow in my failures?  Do I punish myself for unbelief?

OR…am I repentant and turn to God?

Am I learning to live a life of true dependence on God?

Simplicity Takes Faith

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. --I John 4:4

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from {the} wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight.” --Luke 10:21

Often I hear this type of comment: “That is a simplification.” “The answer is too simple.” “You are taking a simplistic approach to a complex problem!” I hope that I am! I want to be simple, for all that Jesus taught concerning life was simple. In fact, He took the complex and made it simple, and yet believers are the first to shout foul, shallow, and unlearned when the Christian life is made out to be simple. Why? Simplicity takes faith, while an unbelieving, fleshly approach to life demands understanding. If man can maintain the idol of understanding, he can maintain unbelief, since there will always be the need for one more indisputable fact before action is taken. This is why there is no end to the pursuit of knowledge for the unbelieving believer, who never intends to act. If knowledge were obtained, action would be demanded.

When we minister to discouraged believers, the answer needed is simple. However, a simple answer requires faith, which is just what the defeated are missing. Therefore, it is important to make understanding a starting point, not the end of discipling, to bring believers to faith. No matter how eloquently the information is presented, the whole issue will rest on faith. If the element of faith is removed from what is being taught, then Christ Himself is removed. We believe and we act. The secret is that when we are unbelieving, we can ask Jesus to help us in our unbelief, and at that point all the forces of heaven and earth will back us and push us forward in a believing life.

One of the most staggering points Michael makes is that UNBELIEVING BELIEVERS never intend to act…only to pursue more knowledge.  “Maintaining the idol of understanding”…that’s a new thought for a lot of Christians to ponder.  We stress Bible study and discipleship without making known that without faith and action following we have created a monster…a teaching that has removed Christ Himself from its heart.

The beauty of Christianity is that it is all so very simple.  Jesus’ words in Luke 10:21 proclaim His love for the Father’s making it so simple that the “wise of the world” would miss it.  It is below their level of academia.  But, He also loved that to “babes” it is revealed.  Amen!

“We believe and we act.”  Truer words were never spoken.  We do act upon what we believe.  As Michael states, “If knowledge were obtained, action would be demanded.”  So, this day’s writing makes it clear to me that I need to take a look at what I have learned from God and see whether I am acting upon it.

James made it very clear in his epistle that faith without works is dead.  That should be a startling alarm to all of us to do a “self-check” as to whether we have settled for understanding as the end of our pursuit for discipleship.  Are we acting upon that which we have learned, or not?  Has “Bible study” become our detour or distraction from Christ?  He as much as said such in one instance to a group of “Bible studiers” (John 5:39).

Dealing with Failure

Facing the year without a fear of failure

Are you fighting a fear of failure? Out of a fear of failure many people choose not to try, and others, when they encounter failure, choose to retreat. Failure is in fact the path to growth. The pattern tends to be that: we TRY, we then FAIL (in some way), we then LEARN, and we then GROW. If we avoid failure or retreat when we fail then we never gain the benefit of learning and growing.

Failure isn’t even the issue.  The issue is that we judge ourselves to be a failure when we’re not – we can’t be.  The essence of who you are can never be a failure.  You haven’t failed but you have had an idea, a belief, a technique, fail.  You can learn from this and grow in that area.   When you judge yourself to be a failure you divert yourself from growth to shame.

Separate your worth from the behaviour that has failed.  There is no shame there, only growth.