We Are Who We Are TODAY

 

“Don’t let the past remind us of what we are not now.”

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes lyrics by Crosby, Stills and Nash

On Disappointment and Science

 

Paul Tournier writes:

"We are disappointed, I think, because we embraced exaggerated hopes. We are disappointed with politics,...with the churches, and most of all with science."

"Science has more than kept its promises. I do not understand my colleagues...in their severe criticism of official scientific medicine. We meet people every day who would be dead without it, and that is sufficient justification for it. But other diseases are spreading--the neuroses, which are so symptomatic of the disorganization of our age."

Setting the Record Straight on the Biblical Interpretation of Husband

 

Many sincere Christian Bible readers and church attendees, along with those who’ve never set their fingers on a Bible, have a warped, immature or agenda-ized “understanding” of the Biblical, and thus, Godly Husband.

Many who have never read the Bible, much less have a desire to do so, will perpetuate their negative assumption about the Bible’s revealed Word on the role and purpose of the Husband in order to justify their animosity towards Christians, and faith itself. 

Others, who claim to be followers of Christ and the Bible, go along with a pastor or denomination’s teaching on the Husband and err in not testing what the pastor or denomination is teaching against what the Bible actually says and teaches (Test everything: 1 Thessalonians 5:21).

So, in order to help set the record straight, I quote John R.W. Stott, who has written what my intensive study not only of the Bible, but of this specific issue, would affirm as the best exposition I have yet to read on what, exactly, the Bible is saying regarding the husband:

“…we must be very careful how we interpret the husband’s ‘authority.’ The word is by no means a synonym for authoritarianism. Nor can it be taken to express any ‘superiority’ of the male or ‘inferiority’ of the female. For—centuries in advance of his time—Paul emphatically declared that in Christ ‘there is neither…male nor female’ (Gal. 3:28). He also drew a profound analogy between the relationship of husband and wife in marriage and the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Godhead (1 Cor. 11:3). This suggests that the husband’s ‘headship’ is not incompatible with their equality, any more than is the Father’s ‘headship’ over Christ. Perhaps the husband’s authority should be understood in terms rather of responsibility than of autocracy, the responsibility of a loving care.” (emphases mine)

John R.W. Stott

Proud Self Confidence

 

Quote for the day:

"Sometimes our growth in understanding is inhibited by a proud...self-confidence."

John R.W. Stott

Because It's the Right Thing to Do

When we know the right thing to say or do, but our pride, fear, or keeping-score rises up to squash what we know to be right—in other words, what we know to be Christian, meaning what God would have us do—we, because of God through whom we are supposedly maturing, must do the right thing anyway.

Having struggled mightily in this, as most do, I do not say the above lightly. Pride is a warm and fuzzy friend with whom it is so easy to pacify ourselves. 

Because we so often do not want to do the right thing (especially when it comes to forgiveness, second chances and acknowledging the positives in a person with whom we struggle), and would not choose to do so if left completely alone to go about our day however we prefer, God has given us His Spirit to overcome this self-centeredness.

And although we can do the right thing to merely assuage guilt (which, let’s be honest, is still a form of self-centeredness that doesn’t procure increased maturity, but which, to be fair, is a good beginning), the better way is to do the right thing for the sole purpose of living out what God has wisely taught us all these years. 

What is the point, in the end, of our “prayer life,” church attendance, knowing the Bible inside and out, charitable works to strangers, if, when it comes to letting God rule truly both our heart and mind, pride wins? 

To own this objective reality of God—this doing the right thing—is to go beyond our lawyerly sense of reason and justice. It is what it means to be free of self dominance over our not always trustworthy inner heart and mindset. 

It means that, even if we sigh as we do the right thing, we can sit back after we do it and, in humility, know by our conscience before God, that it was indeed right, because it was of God, no matter how the doing may sting even a little bit. 

When we decide to give God His say in matters that conflict us, our conscience, if we are sincerely wanting God to lead, will reveal any motivation that lets us know when we are defying His wisdom.

Over time, this actually becomes joyful. Because I don’t know about anyone else, but living in my own jurisprudence is not a thriving, peaceful, or fun way to live. 

Whatever comes after our doing the right thing—responses, reactions, resentment, unforgiveness, continued or new misunderstandings from others, or—surprise!—peace, goodwill, closure, respect between us and others—God will contend with that too, all the while continuing to offer love, support, encouragement and guidance every step of the way.

Copyright Barb Harwood

The Inside of the Cup is the Point

Jesus, as I understand Him, isn’t about getting people who believe in Him into heaven.

It’s about His power and desire to transform the inner world of each one of us.

I recently listened to a podcast attempting to flesh out religion, and in one way the discussion succeeded: the participants almost never talked about Jesus or an individual’s need to inwardly be made mature. In that regard, it stuck to its topic of religion.

I find it frustrating and fascinating at the same time that the world still continues to not get the memo: Jesus came for the inside of the cup—souls—to cleanse them—not to get us into heaven, but to get us to personal peace and freedom that, only then, can reverberate to the wider population.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:25-28


In all the hustle and bustle of religion: liturgy and colors; incense and icons; Saint’s Days and corporate church worship and ritual; rote fasting and prayer—the direct addressing and prioritizing of the inside of the cup is so often neglected for the smoke and mirrors of attempting to get there via the power of suggestion through tradition and outward practice of tenets and commandments.

And Jesus stands on the outskirts of this mentality and behavior, looking over it, saddened that so often we are still harassed and helpless in our religion, so unwilling to go deeper—or just allowing religious righteousness, group-think or duress to continue to hide “the things which make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).

Jesus doesn’t require or desire weekly, rote and repetitive sacrifices directed at Him (Matthew 23).

What does he require?



"With what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?


Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?


He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:6-8


If we do not currently find our own inner and outer self in Micah 6:8 (or sincerely beginning to open our minds to get there), and we have been very religious, then that being religious has not gotten us very far.




Copyright Barb Harwood

Where I'm At With God

I understand my right place with God, and I pray that others come to know, first-hand, their right place with Him as well, because this is the only real peace as I've come to experience it.

It is the joy of walking with the Lord in the unencumbered freedom to always know where I stand with Him.

copyright Barb Harwood