Sunday, December 30, 2018

What Does it Mean to be Worldly?


A terrific description of worldliness is this:

“The Lord says:

‘These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips, 
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.
Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.’
Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think, 
‘Who sees us? Who will know?’
You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 
‘He did not make me’?
Can the pot say of the potter, 
‘He knows nothing?’” Isaiah 29:13-16



Sunday, December 23, 2018

It Is We Who Keep Our Distance


In my last post, I talked about those “without Christ.”

And what I mean by that is, those who do not yet know Christ.

Because Christ came for all:

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:9).

“I have come as Light into into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). 

And He died for all:

“and He died for all, so that they who might live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

But the reception to Him is not always one of acceptance. Not everyone wants what Jesus has to offer; not everyone submits to their need for him. 

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matthew 23:37–also in Luke 13:34).

“And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in His hometown and in His own household. And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:57-58).

“And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His Word abiding in you, for you do not believe in Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” (John 5:37-44).

Jesus lamented over those who “would not.”

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

“…He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘if you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41b-42).

But Jesus is not far from each one of us:

“So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:22-31).

Jesus is not far from each one of us; it is we who keep our distance.




Copyright Barb Harwood




“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 


Saturday, December 22, 2018

What Do We Do With Ourselves When Confronted With Our Narcissism?



What do we do when we see—when it actually dawns on us—that we are narcissists

That we are self-centered

That we have operated out of our own internal worldview, created and endorsed by us?

What do we do when we perceive that we are not, in fact, compassionate purveyors of "kumbaya" towards everyone? That the very next words spoken, after thinking ourselves so kind and tolerant, are that of calling people names, deriding them, and criticizing them out of conceit or personal offense?

Who is it we are actually kind to? Who is it we are actually being all-inclusive of? Who is it we are thinking of when we say we love everyone?

Usually, it is us and our idealized version of ourself.

When this realization settles in—we, like Isaiah, cry out, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” 

As we are confronted with the truth about ourselves, what are we to do? 

Isaiah did this: he allowed one of the seraphim to touch his mouth with a live coal from the altar of the Lord:

“With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7).

This could only happen because Isaiah had seen “the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5b).

When we see the King, in his truth, and in a contrition and  humility set upon us by Him, we will indeed come to the end of ourselves and will know our sin, and thus, our woefulness. 

But through our lowliness of acknowledging our true status, and repenting in overwhelming love for Jesus Christ, we are then cleansed; made new; washed as white as snow. 

When sin confronts us, we give ourselves to Christ. We do it the first time, which leads to salvation, and then, as He purifies us during our walk with Him, again and again. 

We grow more sensitive to sin as we grow in relationship with Christ, so we sin less. 

But the sin that remains, or new sin that rises to the surface, continues to be taken to Christ, in sincere agreement with Him that in this sin I am woeful and unclean, and only Christ can purify me from it.

This is how we are then sent out into the world: cleansed now of repented-for and no-longer-indulged-in-sin, able to see, with Christ’s eyes, other people, their circumstances, their worldview, their longings, their joys, their fears, and their need for affirmation. 

We will have compassion on those who live as they do because they are lostthey are without Christ, and they are without Christ for the same reason we once were without Christ: personal pride that blocked our vision of anyone and anything but ourselves.

We will see others with the eyes of Christ and thus, love others with the love of Christ.

That is why He came. 



Copyright Barb Harwood




Thursday, December 20, 2018

Humanly Impossible


How Jesus Came to earth is humanly impossible. 

And what He offers to us is also humanly impossible.

“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.’” Luke 2:8-14

The Shepherds knew there was something there and that it was humanly impossible to conjure. The something was God, in human form, who would accomplish the humanly impossible: save humans from themselves and from each other. 

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that scientists are still reeling because they cannot replicate it. 

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that intellectuals smugly guffaw because their minds, as smart as they claim to be, cannot fathom it.

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that artists and poets indeed imagine it, to the point that they never realize it. 

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that humanity itself cannot humanly accept and know Him.

And that’s why Christianity is the absolute truth: there is nothing of man in it. 

Christ, in His entirety, is God in human form for 33 years on earth (John 10:30). His arrival and his leaving are not of this world, nor were His works that He did while here. 

“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).

“I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30).

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

And He--unlike any human before or after Christ's time on earth during which Jesus performed miracles--died and rose again, and currently sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. 

I am thankful to God for this light--Christ--that He made shine out of darkness, continuing to this day, for all who are ready and ripe for His harvest, tended and empowered by God

I thank God that the Christ whose birth I honor at Christmas is not of human origin and not human (John 5:18). 

In that, I find hope: because He is not of humanity, but instead sent here for humanity—to break the curse of humanity that is humanity itself: fallen, blind, and walking in darkness (Isaiah 9:2).

When His light penetrates and we, in contrition and repentance, receive His good news of great joy, then we will know peace on earth: not a human peace, but His peace; a peace that says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.”



Copyright Barb Harwood





Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Not Afraid to Mention Christ


My experience with Christianity during my early, formative years, was that nobody called themselves a Christian, but instead identified with their denomination: 

“I’m a Presbyterian” 
“I’m a Lutheran,”
 “I’m Catholic.” 

Sometimes people would only name the church they attended: the local Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian or Catholic Church. 

The only time I heard anyone referred to as a Christian was second-hand, and always disparagingly: 

“Oh, they’re Christians” (roll eyes); 

“She’s one of those crazy born-agains” (snicker snicker);

 “They’re Jesus freaks” (the index finger twirling in circles and pointing at the brain as if to say “Nuts!”).

In my family growing up, somehow church was a part of life, but Christ, God and the Bible were not. There was never any mention of Jesus, or the incorporation of God into life (except for the Christmas creche, thankfully), and the only Bible I saw was one given to me by my liberal church with the expectation that one never read it (because it was never expected we read it in church or Sunday school), and so we never did.

The Biblical Jesus was not preached, and so I never understood who Jesus is, why He came to earth, or why He died. 

Underlying this was the attitude that we are somehow more spiritual than the next person, or respectful to world peace than the next person, by keeping our Christianity (the more common term being “spirituality”) hush hush. 

I have com to conclude that this is a ruse to cover the fact that very little is known about Jesus—personally or Biblically—and that we are to find Him, if not embarrassing, then too controversial to discuss in public, or too much a “fairly tale or myth” to admit in any way that we adhere to His life and His being the Savior. 

What is actually going on here, I believe, is loyalty to “religion” (i.e. church attendance), as well as a belief in pluralism and not wanting be offensive by believing in Christ.

But where this all falls apart is that, people follow and pledge allegiance to all sorts of individuals, places and groups that are controversial and claim to be “the only way.” It doesn’t stop them in the least from talking about, boasting, praising and being actively and visibly involved with those people, places and groups. 

Just a list of a few that come to mind: The Republican, Libertarian, Democratic, and Socialist parties; pro-abortion, pro-marijuana, pro-assisted suicide, pro-women’s liberation ideologies—even pluralism claims to be the only way—pluralism itself is the claiming of an absolute truth (ironic, isn’t it, that many people of many faiths are indeed very offended by pluralism). 

I’ve heard many church-goers, who won’t say a word about Christ or God, ever, in a conversation, make numerous statements and repeated attempts to strike up a conversation involving the above dicey topics, without any fear of offending those they are speaking to (yet they claim to keep quiet about “faith” because it might offend someone).

In addition, the idea that faith is private, and therefore, we keep it to ourselves, again doesn’t follow the logic and practice of what people actually do: For instance, the following are readily shared:

Health issues—the same folks who won’t mention Christ have no qualms about sharing intimate details of what’s going on with their bladder;

Grandchildren and pictures of grandchildren (especially on the internet where there is no control over privacy whatsoever) are flaunted and praised;

Complaints about interpersonal relations with a spouse, co-worker, boss or neighbor:
I hear details shared about spouses and one’s own children especially, in the normal flow of conversation, that amaze me in the personal nature of the sharing (in what is not a confidential exchange between people but amidst a group of ladies out to lunch, or guys meeting for breakfast). 

We share deeply personal sentiments and opinions all the time: to say that Christ is off-limits because He is somehow too special or personal….well, it just doesn’t hold water and sounds, to me, much more like an excuse.

In all of this, I am keenly aware that only God knows the heart. I do not claim to know the heart of any person. I know my heart was once just like those who thought they were superior to and above the whole “Jesus thing.” 

However, the Bible does say that we will know the followers of Christ by their fruit. And as much as, again, some church-goes would like to say that their kindness is how they live their faith, that isn’t a Biblical faith. And I’ve learned this first-hand in my own conversion (not to mention my pre-Christian “kindness” was very subjective and circumstantial!) 

Jesus, in His Word, says 

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23b-26).

“Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent’” (John 6:28-29).

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.’” John 6:35-36

Charity is a work; it’s not the only work

Belief in God through His Son is also a work

That is a key element often missing from liberal, Unitarian, pluralistic belief systems. The relationship with Christ and the entirety of His teaching in His Word is missing, either due to being marked as irrelevant, less important, or downright “wrong.”

Those who believe that their charitable acts can leave Christ out, and who actually believe they are better than those folks whose works include proclaiming Christ as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, are only fooling themselves in their pride. 

They think they have the upper hand on spirituality over those “Jesus Freaks” and “Bible thumpers.” But that’s pretty gutsy, if not tragically risky, when one considers that the ultimate Jesus freaks were the apostles, who helped set the bar, and Jesus Christ, who is the bar. 

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who believes in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned” (John 15:4-6).

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led away from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). 

Jesus is thee Bible thumper, if you will, and so when those who read His Word and follow Him are mocked, Jesus Himself is mocked.

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me” (John 15:18-21).

If we don’t know Christ, we will rely on ourselves and other humans for our spirituality. We may do it even under the banner of a Christian denomination or a spiritual practice or church. But let’s be honest: who are we, really, following and believing in? Is it God, like we have convinced ourselves—God without the Bible, Holy Spirit and Christ? 

Paul’s words succinctly sum up the reality of that sorely misguided approach:


“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…?” (Galatians 3:1a).


copyright Barb Harwood






Tuesday, December 11, 2018

He Came to Free Us From Being Sure of Ourselves


Those of us born again in Christ (in the way explained to Nicodemus in John 3) often marvel at, if not recoil from, the ignorance we lived in before Christ.

I think back to my college years, attending a “Big Ten” university and my subsequent thinking that somehow that made me, of course, a Big Deal too—and certainly superior in worldview! 

I was so sure about so many things

*that drinking was cool; non-drinking was lame; 

*that poetry and literature were the highest art form and television (other than 60 Minutes, Northern Exposure, MTV and the Frugal Gourmet, of course) was for losers; 

*that open-mindedness toward other cultures made me an expert on those cultures; 

*and that, generally speaking, since I pretty much had the capability to have an opinion, I thus had earned the legitimacy to have that opinion (on just about anything and everything).

But in reality? Most of the time, I didn’t have a clue!

I knew nothing of other cultures. 

I never hung out with non-drinkers, so how could I “know” they were “lame?” 

And just because I had an opinion, didn’t mean it was an informed opinion.

I also was in denial in my belief that my television watching was sophisticated while other people’s television watching was not. 

In fact, that habit of denial was a facet of every aspect of my life. Why? Because denial is easy when you don’t have objective truth. Denial is easy when you live in relativism. Denial is mandatory when you make yourself the god of you!

Now, some of this I chalk up to simply being young, immature and inexperienced. 

Even if people are raised as a Christian, there is still a learning curve and a breaking down of patterns of denial and pride. 

But since I had no objective truth from which to begin or build upon, and since my only base line of morality and wisdom was that formed by a childhood reading of Aesop’s Fables, I was at liberty to just create my own moral, emotional and intellectual operating system. 

This tended to engender a wider sense of boldness that then allowed me to fashion opinions on the world without actually having experienced that world. 

The result is what we term “hot air:” I said a lot of things off the cuff, with no factual basis, first-hand knowledge or study. And I remember—boy do I remember!—feeling as though I was the “expert;” and even more, needing to be the expert.

And that’s how it was that, just because I thought something to be so, it was so.

How foolish I was!

But the chickens came home to roost! 

I don’t claim to know the specific steps God takes, or His exact timing and purpose, but I do know that He is always in the position of getting our attention for our own good and out of His love for us. And so God, as He has done with so many others, got my attention and brought the curtain down on the farce I was making of my life.

I once heard a man accuse Christianity of being “a fairy tale.” 

Yet, what would he call the “belief” system I, willy nilly, had carved out for me? It wasn’t based on anything historical; it wasn’t based on knowledge; it hadn’t the benefit of being tested and tried—at least, not yet.

That’s when God came into the picture for me: when my personal belief system did begin to hit the wall and was found empty.

And that’s where the subjectivity of me, myself and I, met the objectivity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Christ came to take away our sureness in ourselves — freeing us to comprehend, like Job, that we spoke of things too wonderful for us; things which we did not know…therefore we retract, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42).



copyright Barb Harwood