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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

What many preachers won't tell you and some beautiful moments from the week

In this post, I simply want to breathe..
It's four am and I'm tired..
This week I had to keep reminding myself that I am normal, even though I don't always feel like it..

While many woman my age are out getting manicures, I feel as I have been called to point out certain false teachings and how they are affecting the Body of Believers.

My spiritual life is a constant flow.. There is always an attack, but with those attacks, there is always the hand of God that shows me the depth of His Grace and Mercy.

I know that I am not called to be "normal." My life..our lives are NOT supposed to look like everyone elses..

We are a people set apart.. We are Not supposed to look like that which the world has to offer...

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

But, yet I constantly feel as if we are trapped by false prosperity messages that deny the power of the Cross..

The prosperity message teaches that God wants us to all have mercedes and have mansions and nice things..
Jesus tells us to carry a Cross.

The prosperity message touts the benefits of the flesh.. the desire to please self..
but Christ says

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Christ can give us the strength to resist worldly tempations.. He tells us that if we pursue them we are bad soil..and we will fall away..or be choked by our desires and temptations..
That is the very thing that the church is promising these days.

Today, too many are touting the benefits of the resurection, but denying the Power of the Cross.
The Power is in The Cross..
Without it, there would be no life..
There would be no resurrection.
There would be no need for self sacrifical love.
To deny the Cross, is to deny Christ Himself.
I think that is the part that we are missing.

Paul warned in the new Testament that there would be "another gospel" that would be preached. Do you notice how none of the prosperity preachers have lives that resemble the life of Jesus.
They speak a really big Jesus talk, but do you really see Him in their lifestyle and the way that they live?

One thing that really bothers me is what I perceive as "hero" worship...
IN the New Testament , the Believers worked together. We forget that we are all anoited and we each have a task to perform. We each have gifts, and yet..it seems that in our churches..there is one man standing..
and sometimes it seems that he gets the glory, but God doesn't..

Why do I feel like I am "preaching" again..
I simply want us all to remember to take the time to learn the word.  Read about the life of Jesus and see what He has to say about how to live.. compare that message to the messages that you hear and you will see that what you are hearing is more than likely "another gospel"
The one that Paul warned against..

Jesus never came to "tickle our ears"
He came to tell us that life would be hard, the path would be narrow..work hard to get in, He says..
He came to present us a bloody tale where people would hate us and there would be difficulty around every corner.
If we aren't seeing those things in our lives, are we even following the true Christ.?
Or is it the Jesus from "another gospel"?  Jesus said not everyone who knows Him by name will really understand what He is all about...

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’


Do you know who I think He is talking to here?
I think He is speaking about those who deny the Power of the Cross...
To those who claim to "have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.."
To those who tout the riches in this life and call themselves heirs of the kingdom..speaking Christ from their lips, but denying Him by not recognizing the true beauty of self sacrifice and the bloody nature of a complete death to self..

I don't like talking about the narrow gate, and yet it is a verse that is still there.

"Narrow is the path that leads to life. Few will enter. Work hard to get in."

You will rarely ever hear that message preached simply due to the fact that Christ is sold and people do not want to offend their congregations..
but it is a part of the Bible that we cannot deny.

Anyhow,... I suppose that I don't want to be normal. I want to pursue the very heart of Christ and walk the narrow road that leads to life..

But for those who think I am just completely "out there"

I will talk about a few normal things for a moment..

last week, I bought a book about the weather. I took my two boys to the mall. Little Brendan did the bungee jump and laughed as he went 15 feet in the air. Cade made his way up some sort of spiderman contraption.
We turned off the television, and I filmed a video of my nephew who educated me about hedgehogs.

I took Brendan grocery shopping, and I secretly loved how  he kept putting things in my cart.
My grandfather turned eighty years old.

I sat in the bookstore for an hour and read "Night" by Ellie Weasel. I bought the book because his suffering was so great that I knew that his story needed to be heard.

Isn't a voice powerful when it can speak through suffering?

It is even more powerful when we can speak joy through suffering,and Christ gives us that ability.

This week,

I was subtly critized for posting "religious" material on facebook..
I prayed for humility and for the man who critized me.
I prayed for a great, great depth of love..
because in the end.. That is all that really matters.. But that love is not humanly possible..
It only comes in the shape of a Cross.



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