word-faith (of what)

False prophet preacher, you for profit teacher-

It burns me up inside, the Way-the Truth, you hide-

Prosperity nonsense, causing spiritual offence,

Destructive to souls, to build your fat cash rolls.

Bishop’s slants, Benny’s rant’s, no doctrine just romance,

Tripsta France, Wive’s enhanced, pull up your pants.

Spiritual glance,  empty expanse, can’t get a stance.

Fancy prance, hypnotic trance, just a happy dance,

Kingdom advance, blessed finance, sounds more like chance.

Little parrots watch your show, off like ferrets they go.

Dropping bits of meaninglessness, empty pellets of how to bless.   

Squaking and dropping, something noisy, LOUD… PROUD… PROFANE... 

empty--- out of rhythm & rhyme… just to take up some time. To the end, insane.

Who’s dolla? Holla! Who you folla?  little g(oh)d, who you really- B? We gonna see.

Fancy fool, it ain’t cool, word ain’t Word, not like I heard, it’s just so absurd.

My your joys abound, jets engines resound, short bits unprofound, bad theologies propound.

Robot, does not compute, not so cute. All business-lady, so astute, nice pants suit, emptyness-impute.

TB-siN is crouch’n @ your door, U don’t look too poor, wife(skipit), hear the lions roar-heard it all before.

Like a circus act, to attract, then distract, it’s all so whacked – just like bizdnus you transact.

(PRAISE SHARE! –> interlude – DUDE-> you’re all in JUDE! – gonna stand nude, before the Judge who knows your brood, and man you’re stewed , no settlement like when you’ve been sued, your financials will be reviewed, nothing to be misconstrued, includes all who collude, all that pop crap self-help eschewed, this ain’t no feud-it’s about a world renewed in God whose gracious giving we should exude— looking for His righteousness in the Gospel pursued, and suffering in this life it surely does include--- but if you’d a read it all you’d a knew’d.)

(like an afterthought) 

Joe- well, Oh, your best days were, now—

get your Bible out, read it, then take a bow.

the show's over-HOLY COW!

It's just prayer... (speaking with the Word)

When should you pray,

throughout each day.

In the light and at night,

In the dark or at day’s spark.

With great courage or in fear,

When He seems far or near.

When life’s unfair, caught in its snare,

or if you’re as free as you can be.

Each moment of every hour,

When weak, or filled with power.

In joyful praise, all your days,

Even in gloom, when dark clouds loom.

On your knees or on your feet,

Feeling empty or complete.

You should pray, when you stay,

Tell Him so – as you go.

Wide awake or sleeping fast,

About the future, especially the past.

With words few or all you do,

Speaking your fill or sitting still.

If you are asleep or wide awake,

When you can give or when others take.

In your aches and bodily quakes,

or feeling strong, like you can’t go wrong.

Head bowed in reverent grace,

Or eyes lifted to outer space.

Mirred in sin again and again,

Or living well forgot when you fell.

Each breath out and each breath in,

On your way or once you’ve been.

Getting close to sad or glad,

Feeling full or like a fool.

That is the time you should share your heart,

All together or coming apart,

When the pain drives you insane,

Or feeling good like you should.

There is no time when you should not,

Give the Lord all you’ve got,

Empty your heart and tear it apart,

To be filled and in His love sealed.

Let it be a covering, removing the sting, of life’s zing,

your offering, the song you sing, and praise you bring,

about everything, a way to cling, to the King.

This is prayer, it is life, it is worship; 

it is God’s Glory revered as it should be.

  

[apparently I wrote this back in May 2010, happened on it tonight cleaning out some old files... prayer clearly the topic the Lord is on with me about in more ways than one tonight...]

Love Wins (rewarmed) OR Jesus Christ is Lord

TD Jakes gave a 'rousing sermon' at Whitney Houston's funeral about LOVE and its victory over death... not once did he say the name of Jesus Christ... (an astute observation not my own)... Why is that?  Was he afraid to offend someone or is Jakes' theology really as confused as some have suggested?  Did he just pull a oopsy due to time or other pressures and forget?  How can any preacher of the Gospel be in such a moment with a grieving family of a life so tragically ended and before the whole world watching, captive to sin and death as they are in such a moment and not clearly proclaim - Jesus Christ is Lord.

*Offence
I know we supposedly live in a wonderfully multicultural open society of tolerance, however; as a professing believer, if you can't openly say Jesus Christ is Lord without feeling like you might offend someone... you should consider & talk with Him about how this offends Him.  Matthew 10:32-33 (http://bg4.me/xzldsD)  You should then ask yourself just how tolerant that society really is if it cannot bear to hear proclaimed Jesus Christ is Lord.

*Theology
The person & work of Jesus Christ is so much more than a warm fuzzy feeling of 'love' or even the disembodied spiritual goodness 'preached' of today... The Gospel is about the very incarnation of God the Son on this earth through a divine conception and human birth- fully human, fully divine.  Having been preexistent in Eternity, He bears even now on His resurrected body the very scars of His death on the Cross on behalf of those who will believe & proclaim - Jesus Christ is Lord.

Why? Without such a Saviour - without such a sacrafice - without such a person & work on our behalf coming forth out of the love of God, then death and sin would have truly had it's victory.  Yet it still will over those who maintain in their fallen & separated state, away from God, having rejected His One & only Son - His One & only Way to reconcile sinners to Himself - Jesus Christ is Lord.

*Just Forgot?
Really, TD's a smart guy... almost too smart... too specific... too calculated. No, he didn't forget.  This was purposeful, but why?  A sneak attack with 'love' leading to a Gospel of no worries.  How can one forget the name of the Saviour, much less the most simple statement of faith, Jesus Christ is Lord.

CONCLUSION
I'd like to be overly kind and say Jakes just whiffed it. I have to be honest and say I feel  there's something so much more profoundly sad & concerning about having an international stage of millions with the opportunity to make much of the Gospel, the Saviour, the Christ & Lord and not once uttering the name - Jesus in any form.

What I saw was a semi-decent performance piece about how 'Love Will Last Forever' that had a rotting odor of self-help, universal acceptance, claim-it belief, and purposely muddled theology.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

(an ADHD day) More Than Normal... the ReBo... if only-

Today has been my ADHD day [more than normal]... I have chosen not to attempt to focus in and work on what 'ought' to be worked on... instead spastically reading, listening, thinking, and helping Telly clean and do chores as she needed... Otherwise I just followed paths of thought where they went... it has been a creative, learning, motivational, inspirational, devotional, and even worshipful day.  


Example--- have you ever wondered what a bohemian is? or how it might relate to the mission of Christ?


define: bohemian 
[boh-hee-mee-uhn] (BoHo-informal)  a person, as an artist or writer, who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices, usually in pursuit of artistic or spiritual interests.  
[as opposed to the Bourgeois who are marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity] 


Yeah- so I reject that definition.  Even more so, I discard the need to label such creatives or even assume they can't 'fit in' to regular society.  This misses the reality that they are in fact beyond convention and normality and so often actually end up defining culture by excelling to its leadership. 


The problem is most of them then sell-out for influence or settle (mentally and artistically) for the BoBo life.  BoBo's are Bourgeois Bohemians, the Champagne Socialists as it were who possess both great faculties and relative means, but lack the motivation to achieve any expression of meaning.   So they then live out a life of relative ease of thought and action without artistic merit by abusing their giftings to feed only their comfort, but just enough not to feel guilty - to keep the peace, without any concern for any particular viewpoint - to make everyone equal, so no one has anything great to do or say.    


In Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche calls this type of man, the 'last man'... it is his antithetical example to his ideal 'superman', the 'last man' is an outrageous opposite meant to rail against the idea that we should ever create a society that should fall so far we can never then produce great and creative people, but only these 'last men' who have no passion, no commitment, "who merely earn a living and keep warm." You might know, Nietzsche as famous for writing about God's death, but oddly in his writing his main thought is that we have killed God, you and I, by our lack of faith and belief in such a Being as having any real meaning for our lives as we would 'live' them. 


Oh, but isn't all this just a sad picture of the American church... graced beyond grace, blessed with redemption, education, freedom, and finances - for what, but- to sit on that, -- their backside firmly in the pew without a concept of what to do.   Come on Sunday (some, but not too often), sing a song (but not too loudly or proudly), hear a lesson with a nice moral and story to make us smile and approximate what we think is laughter or happiness.  Living lives of quiet desperation because we have all we need or so we tell ourselves. Happy to not express anything more than our fineness, respectability, and acceptability  - otherwise we might seem oddly apart from the rest of the good sheep... like those other weirdos who 'go on Mission'... we pay people to do that here don't we?  and we don't have leaders around here... there aren't servants or shepherds (surely not those who are both at the same time), but just people like us <blink>.  Could these be the 'last people' of the church?  Where then are the 'Übermensch' - those that are more than mediocre, *More Than Normal or beyond the everyday, the SUPERNATURAL?  No we haven't killed God (as if we could), but we sure do live our daily lives as if He's dead don't we... at the very least we 'live' as if we are dead - to Him anyway.  'Last men' as we are.


By the way wasn't there a Shepherd who went in search of some lost sheep and asked us to do as much?


What then of the Redeemed Bohemian? (the ReBo!)
The follower of Christ who has no regard for the ways of this world or even the conventional methods and means of 'doing' church.  Rather, an intellectual mind dedicated to contemplating the unfathomable depths of God's righteousness and holiness.  A powerful & dynamic leader reduced to relying solely on Christ's mercy and grace for their strength and power.  The deeply creative expressive artist who is capable of breaking into the frame of popular reference and redirecting attention out of that box to where it belongs - the Creator of artistic expression.  This ReBo, a servant leader truly willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of the Message; a person of sorrows so unyielding in their despair over the worthlessness of all pursuits except Jesus to be undaunted by rejection from the world that they are in fact emboldened by it.   With a heart so wholly convinced of the need and necessity to be on the mission of Christ and so wholly committed to reaching the dull hearts and minds, that they are enlivened with the Spirit of life so much so that they are willing to become all things to all people so that all might hear and know Christ more fully.  Yet these ReBo are so brutally honest with themselves that they know even their own expression for such is beneath futile when compared to that infinite Creator.  Still they are continuously willing to slavishly profess faith and proclaim the Gospel with each breath, stroke of their pen, and click of the keys.  If only there were actually some like this, having truly encountered Christ and so been created new as to be worthy of being called a ReBorn Creation.


Yes, all the gods (the idols) which I have created for my worship must die, I must smash them myself by His aide for this Son of Man (the great I AM) that is more than man to be found wholly... and this man (the sad one I am) who is less than God to be found Holy. All my man-made moralities must die and be replaced with the life of the One True Over~man - Christ.   If only we wanted more of the ReBo, than the Tebow - when it came to our conception of a 'super-man.'  If only our need for conformity was to be conformed to the image of Christ.  For the ReBo to become so, I might kneel and submit - in fact I must.


(Now I know how Nietzsche felt!  Being able to conceive of a 'super-man,' which he could never possibly be.  Praise Christ it relies on His work in me, rather than me, but that ReBo, that really might be, something to see - even if only - in Glory, when we, are finally, free.)

Bohemian Rhapsody - (so bourgeois)

The lament of all that is lost >>> nothing really matters... Even the Bible records Solomon saying "“Meaningless! Meaningless!” “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Freddie and Queen sing: "Is it real or is it fantasy... any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me..." because who knows anything?

What a sad life to just end in failure and death... makes one, "wish I'd never been born at all"
Solomon continues on "Better than both [living & dead] is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 4:3"

I can understand when in such a state, how one's very soul could beg...
Bismilah... let me go!
bismi-llāhi [r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm] (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم)
"In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful". --- just let me go from this empty life.

Praise Jesus that He is indeed the most gracious and merciful, the Name above all Names - God come in the flesh to bring us back to Himself and make all of it meaningful. He will not let you go, He will hold you no matter which way the wind blows.

In the end, Beelzebub and the devil, even death are put aside ... they are the Scaramouche... thunderbolts and lightning... very very frightening... but a distraction, they are buffoons meant to be laughed at in comparison to the real story of the might of God and redeeming power of Christ

Embrace Christ not meaninglessness or fear, that song has a happier ending than this one - just ask Freddie if nothing really matters.

[You just thought it was a cool song didn't you, never even wondered what a Scaramouche might be or Bismilah actually meant did ya... and yet have you, based on your limited knowledge, rejected the truth of the Bible and the Creator...? just say'n - might be beyond your qualifications.]

Artistic Partiality

A sculptor once laid his hammer & chisel on the ground, knelt quietly at the bottom of a large brick of granite, and asked God for a vision of a work that would express the majesty of the Lord’s Sovereignty, the grace of Christ’s love, and the mission of all who believed to so share that same message.  As the artist sat quietly in prayer, an image of what must be removed and what must remain began to slowly form in his heart and mind.  He began to reach for the hammer and chisel, but was stopped by the man who had given him the raw material for the work – he wanted to know what it would look like so he could tell a group who managed the arts project and they could approve of the final form.

The artist tried to explain, but not only were words not enough, no one seemed to care.  He could draw only parts of it and study models did not do it justice.  More than this, almost everyone that it was shown or explained to would add their view or concern or idea and very soon it was becoming something altogether different than the artist had seen in his mind.  He decided to try to find another place to do the work, but several of the people involved asked him to reconsider saying they would help to maintain the integrity of the work, especially one particular man who seemed to understand the vision.  With hope he relented and began.

As he worked diligently for a date that the group had selected to unveil the project, he could not remember all of the details of the vision clearly due to the stress of the time pressure and concern for whether the work would be acceptable to everyone involved.  He worked long hours trying to get completed, but the worry caused him to become ill.  Several members of the group volunteered to help finish the work based on the discussions they’d previously had and with his direction.  He tried to direct, but with so many involved and no vision to guide them most did as they saw fit.  The Chairman of the project would come in from time to time make a comment or two that didn't seem to make much sense and then leave. The sculptor found out later the one man who convinced him to stay and start the work had been run off by the others.  In the end, the work was completed on time, but was made into something so much less than the artist had seen. 

At the unveiling, everyone was very excited and many people acclaimed the artist.  Some even understood part of the vision that had been intended to be communicated, but no one saw what the sculptor had been given to show in its fullness.  On the day of the unveiling the artist noticed a plaque had been added to the bottom of the work noting the names of everyone involved in securing the resources, as well as a donation box and information flyer holder crudely attached to the side of the work.  These were ideas the Chairman had 'suggested' and everyone had agreed not to do this, but apparently at the last minute the Chairman insisted and personally made the modifications. As the project stood prominently for all to see and everyone seemed pleased with it, the sculptor was unsure how to respond except that he knew his heart felt betrayed.

Daily people enjoyed the project, in at least a shallow fashion, but never really understood the vision it was originally intended to communicate.  Without any genuine interest or understanding no one bothered to maintain the project, so the grass grew up around it and dirt gathered on it. People even began to vandalize it by chipping parts away for souvenirs or adding their own touches.  It eventually became an eye sore, but because of the plaque with the names on it and the fact that people still occasionally put money in the box, they would not remove it.  Without any real concern for its beauty or message, no one would fix or restore it either (as if they knew how or could decide to do so if they did).  Eventually they added another plaque commemorating its anniversary and success as a uniting project of the group, even though many of the original group had left because they were unhappy with how the Chairman had been running things lately.

The artist still wanders by occasionally, wondering what would have happened if he would have remained committed to the vision that the Lord gave him.  One particular night as he sat at the base of the monstrosity he helped to create, he closed his eyes and quietly asked God to let him see the vision clearly just once more.  Slowly but surely every detail came into focus in his heart and mind.  As the sculptor began to cry, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a quiet voice say, “It’s a shame you didn’t do it like you told me about that one time.  I’d give you a new block of granite and all the time you ever needed to do it just like you said if you could. That would have been beautiful to see.”

Standing up, looking into the eyes of the man who had been the lone voice of reason on the project group, the artist smiles and says, “It still will be, I just need to go get my hammer and chisel.”

You're Breaking My Heart

Did you know there are 613 commandments (mitzvahs) in the Bible?
I mean specifically in the Torah or 'the Law.' 
So, not just those BIG 10 we hear so much about!


There are 365 negative commandments or 'Thou shalt nots'
(said to correspond to the 365 ligaments of the human body)
AND
248 positive commands or 'Thou shalts.'
(said to correspond to the 248 organs of the human body)


Everyday I get several emails from Chabad.org, which is an an orthodox rabbinic Judaism educational organization.  One of those emails is the daily mitzvah, which includes at least a negative and sometimes a positive commandment, so low & behold, in a year I get the whole schmear.  


Today's particular bit was on proper weights and measures, from Leviticus 19:35-36, which is essentially the opposite sides of the same coin... a negative and a positive commandment in one - a Twofer.
    "You shall do no unrighteousness in judgement; in measure, in weight or in land measure"-Lev 19:35
    "Honest balance, honest weights, an honest dry measure and an honest liquid measure, you shall have"-Lev 19:36


Consider that Mosaic Law is essentially the basis of much of Western civilization and here is a prime example. The little sticker on the gas pump that says the pump pumps a gallon when the pump says it pumps a gallon (certifying it is an honest liquid measure) is essentially compliance with a law derived from Leviticus 19:36.  In the final read, it just makes sense for good society, fair practice and decent treatment.

Now the reformer/empowerment manager in me says what's up with 613 rules!  Not to mention the read backs and additional policy interpretations contained in the Talmudic Law where the Rabbis expound on the 613 commandments (plus 7 more later rabbinic commandments).  This was done in several volumes called the Mishnah and Gemara, which make up the 'oral law' considered the completion of the commandments, by which essentially every application of a commandment is addressed. Now, just for fun let me tell you there are 6 orders of the Mishnah with 7-12 tractates each for 63 total.  A full set is about a grand for the cheapies and consists of 44 large volumes. Plus there are all kinds of commentaries to explain these further rulings on the rules. The particular email I get each day from Chabad.org (except of course the Sabbath! [that would break a rule]) entitled 'Daily Mitzvah' is an expounding of the expounding by the Rabbi of Rabbis Maimonides known as 'the Rambam' or Abū ʿImrān Mūsā bin Maimūn bin ʿUbaidallāh al-Qurṭubī ( ابو عمران موسى بن ميمون بن عبد الله القرطبي ) if you please!   But the point is this, more rules to follow - not less.  

How bout this, back it up a bit to the big ten... #8 thou shalt not steal... (Exodus 20:15 / Deuteronomy 5:19). That contains the honest weights deal doesn't it?  Or even better, back it up to one of two, 'Love your neighbor, as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18/34, Luke 10:26, Mark 10:31) or said another way 'As you'd have men do you, do unto them' (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31) --- Matthew records the Christ further saying, "for this sums up the law and the prophets.'


Christ reminds us of that one great command to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your power... (Deuteronomy 30:10, Luke 10:27, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30)


See, in the end Christ understood the human heart as only its Creator could:
Genesis 6:5 "every inclination of the human heart was only evil..."
Deuteronomy 8:14 "then your heart will become proud and forget the Lord..."
Jeremiah 17:19 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
Proverbs 20:9"Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?"
Matthew 15:8 "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
Mark 7:21 "For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come"


It is this corrupt heart that we make more rules for... like children, or employees, or citizens (if people of this age are called that anymore), who take a rule and bend the words and their meanings for our own aims and purposes to achieve the evil of our own hearts.  So we write more rules in an attempt to maintain some semblance of order, when the problem is not the outward action - but the inward condition.  The rules then become the god of our worship and adoration, perverted in the understanding of how life should be lived we blindly wander.


In Luke 11, the Christ confronts some keepers of the Law who are appalled when He fails to wash His hands before dining.  He says it better than I can... " v³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness."  Just in case you want to get too far down on the Pharisees or law keepers, just  do this - think of the last time someone broke a rule or social norm and you judged them for it.  Truth is - we are the Pharisees, we are the law keepers, the worshipers of the law - the bad guys in this story... and Christ is always the hero!


This same Lord-Creator---God made flesh in man called Yeshua (some today call Him GeezUs not to be confused with HeyZeus) is the Christ- the Messiah - the Annointed One - what's that mean- just like His name translates - "He saves!"  See, because of this claim - His claim, now our claim - that He is God with us those same law keepers were so offended - so outraged - so provoked, that in worship of their god 'the law' they sacrificed the Lamb of God who fulfilled the Law of God perfectly for all who would have His heart as theirs.  


At Calvary, they hung Him up on a Cross to die and God the Father laid the sins of the world (all the times mankind failed at keeping the Law) on God the Son who had kept the Law completely and then something amazing happened... that sin and the judgement due you and I for it was conquered through Christ's death and by the power of God Himself in Him His resurrection from the grave.  Now here's the best part, He promises that all who believe and proclaim as such will have not just redemption from the judgement due them for that sin, but also then within their hearts the Holy Spirit of God to teach them, guide them, and direct them - even to renew and restore them to God.


The Bible says it like this...


Deuteronomy 30:6 "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."
Deuteronomy 30:14 "No, the Word is very near you, it is in you mouths and in your heart so you may obey it."
Ezekiel 36:26 "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
John 1:14 "And the Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Romans 5:5 "And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
Romans 6:17 "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance."

Follow the call of Joel 2:13 
"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity."


Whether, Jew, heathen, or Believer...
stop worrying over the outer displays of so called lawfulness and self-righteousness - religion will not save or sustain you. Break the inner hardness of your heart against the Father - run to Christ and live in His love for you and others - His grace is sufficient to redeem and keep us.