BUILD BACK BETTER

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The concept of “building back better” is not a new one.  We find it also in the Bible. 

Man has often equated building bigger buildings as an offering to God.   Unfortunately the glorious artifices are often torn down or they become used for other purposes.  For example, the greatest building in the early church was St. Sophia’s in Constantinople.  After the incursion of the Muslims, this greatest of Christian buildings which still exists became a mosque. 

Jesus warned his disciples not to be too carried away with glorious buildings.  But more about this in a minute.

As we look back at Jewish History the life-spans of the First and Second Temples are instructive.

The First Temple also known as Solomon’s Temple is thought to have been constructed by Solomon in about the 10th Century B.C.  It was a glorious temple.  However, by 926 B.C. , Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt had despoiled the Temple of the treasurers of Solomon and the golden shields in the Temple  had to be replaced by brass shields.  Further, high costs and labor involved  in building the First Temple probably contributed to the division of the Kingdom between the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel and the two southern tribes called Judah.  By 587, the First Temple was destroyed under Nebuchadnezzar II.

The Second Temple was then  constructed.  This construction is associated with the Edict of King Cyrus and leaders such as Ezra and Nehemiah.  This construction began about 516 B.C.   It was time to “build back better”  By the first century before Christ, the Second Temple was being refurbished under Herod the Great.

The apostles of Jesus Christ were amazed at the beautiful Second Temple.  In Matthew 24, they pointed out its beauties  and wonders to Jesus.  Matthew 24:1 says, “Jesus left the Temple and was walking away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.    Do you see all these things, he said.  Truly, I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down.”

Jesus was right.  By 70 A.D., the Romans had razed Jerusalem and not one stone was left on another.

Our great efforts at building often come to naught.  Like Babel they at one time or another fall down into ruins.  Buildings disappear or they are repurposed.  It is time for the church to focus on building true stones (believers)  for the building and those stones are the people of God.  The building of great edifices may be equated to building the Kingdom of God in our eyes but they are not the same in God’s eyes.  God has a better building in mind.  Bigger buildings do not always equate to increases in the Kingdom of God.

Honesty at the Inspection Station

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Today, I got my car inspected.  In the course of the inspection, I spoke to the owner and while doing so played with his cat which he kept at the shop.  The owner told me that he loved most animals and found that recounted that he had about six real friends.  I could tell that this older man was not on Facebook and did not have a plethora of friends.  But-six friends, I thought, how fortunate he was to have that many.  Friendship, love, truth, faitfulness and the like are rate commodities.  They are uncommon.  Things that are rare need to be treasured.  If you have a person you love, or a friend, then treasure that person.  I believe that the love of God is a treasure.  Jesus told a parable about a pearl of great price and a treasure in a field.  I hope that God will grant you the ability to find the treasures in your life and the good sense to treasure them.  It was nice to meet an honest man in a time when most things are anything but honest and true.  

A GOOD VIEW OF SCRIPTURE

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i like what Albert Mohler said about Scripture.  Mohler is head of the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY.  He said the following about Scripture:

  “We must affirm emphatically and without reservation that Scripture is sufficient to reveal everything needed for our salvation, the Christian life, right doctrine, right worship, and answers for Christian faithfulness in the world.”

  It seems to be that this a balanced way to look at Scripture.

ONE WAY

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I suspect that this post may be universally upsetting to Jews, Arabs and many Christians.  I believe that Jesus called for ALL to repent.  God’s kingdom is made up of those who follow Christ.  Jesus did not give an automatic pass to people because of their nationality.  He extended no exception to Pharisees because they were good Jews.  God has called all of us to repent.  Some Christians today believe that somehow there is a “pass” given to heaven to Jews because they were born Jewish.  I find nowhere in Scripture where Jesus taught such non-sense.  Further, much of the entire Old Testament deals with God’s dealing with Jews who had ceased to follow him who sought other alternatives than obedience to God.  It seems to me that there is no exemption from punishment according to the Prophets just because someone is Jewish.

What I am trying to say is that God wants a new people.  Those people are the “New Jews” who follow Jesus Christ.  Paul believed that a time would come in which many Jews would turn to Christ and be grafted back in to the Ancient Tree of Israel.  You don’t get to be grafted back in (whether you are Jewish or non-Jewish) without accepting the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

You may ask me about what happens to Jews and others who have died and not accepted Christ.  This question can be expanded to others who have not accepted  Christ, to innocents killed, to babies aborted and to those who died in the Holocaust.  I can not give you an answer.  However, I know that God loves the innocent, that he protects the orphan and welcomes the stranger and the foreigner who seek his protection.  I believe that God is.  I believe that God is good.  I believe that God is just and fair.  I believe God loves.  (See John 3:16).   I believe that mercy triumphs over judgment.  Honestly, I can not  give you a good answer but I rely upon God who is loving and caring and I trust that he has made a plan and will care for those who are innocent and wronged.

I encourage the Jew, the Arab, the American, the African, the Asian and all people to come to Jesus Christ.  Only in Christ will we find peace.  Only in Christ will we find unity, forgiveness and acceptance.  

MULTICULTURALISM

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I am reading “Nearer My God-An Autobiography of Faith” by William F. Buckley Jr. It was published in 1997. Buckley is not only discerning but almost prophetic in some things he says about our country’s educational system. Buckley wrote: Although there are secondary schools that attempt to keep Christianity prominently in sight, this much is absolutely plain, there is today another God, and it is multiculturalism…But something more merely than cultural cosmopolitanism seems to be happening, it is on the order of a substitute for religion.”
 
Remember-this is written in 1997. Buckley saw the coming of Diversity and Multiculturalism as Gods of this present age. Today diversity and multiculturalism have taken on the garments of religion and woe be to those who question whether these values should be the standards of our time. Both teach that there is no truth any more other than diversity and the acceptance of all cultural standards as truth. If you question these standards, you are to wear a dunce cap, be proclaimed a bigot and be exiled to the corner of the market place in order to be ridiculed.
 
Diversity and multiculturalism, after taking command of our educational and cultural system, not surprisingly. has spread to the area of sexuality. Any type of sexual behavior is now not only tolerated, but it is approved, confirmed and lauded. Being intelligent and open-minded now means being tolerant of all types of sexual shenanigans.
 
The mental acceptance that all cultures are right and that we must be tolerant of all regardless of belief (unless they are Nazis of course) have led both to the erosion of education and the treatment of Christianity as being equivalent to something below what a witch doctor believes.
 
Modern multiculturalism demands a certain myopia. For instance, Islam must always be respected yet when it comes to conservative Islam’s treatment of women, the liberal must avert his or her eyes lest they suddenly be found to be intolerant of another religion. And of course, the epithets tossed toward the intolerant not only included the words “bigot” but the even more feared word”racist.” Of course, the problem is that the category of those who are racists or bigots is a constantly expanding definition as evidence by the growing list maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center. If you don’t accept all of the LGBT agenda, there is a place on the list for you as a bigot, racist and hater.
 
At any rate, Buckley, unfortunately is no longer with us. He was both an outspoken Catholic and a conservative. At the same time, he had a keen eye to the absurdities of present day liberalism and was almost “prophetic” in some of the things he wrote. Buckley was a true modern day Christian intellectual. It is a pity there are not more like him.

GREAT CHRISTIAN THINKERS

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1 Corinthians 1:26 says:
 
New International Version
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.”
 
As believers, we are not called to be the sharpest knife in the drawer or the brightest person in the room. Instead we are called to receive God’s word humbly.
 
Are there bright Christians? Sure. Most of them are dead, of course. However there have always been some who despite being bright have sought and followed God. Remember: God can use all types of people. There are the brilliant Paul’s but there are also leaders like Peter.
 
Some interesting minds who have followed Christ might include: Origen, Augustine, St. Aquinas, Descartes, Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, William of Occam, Johnathan Edwards, Dostoevski, TS Elliot, Tolkien, Calvin, Erasmus, John Locke, Lady Julian of Norwich, William Law, and many, many more.
You can be a Christian and a thinker. That being said, God’s wisdom puts us all to shame. It is the simple things in life which can humble us. His ways are higher than our ways.
 
We are often shamed by that which is simple and uncomplicated. Many people, like me are not brilliant. Some times we find ourselves compared to plow horses instead of race horses. We are the turtle working diligently against the super fast rabbits of our generation. The wonderful thing is that as Children of God we have the right to request to share in God’s wisdom. We can taste of the Simplicity of Christ which can take us far beyond the wisdom of this world and this age.
 
God’s Scripture can help convey to us God’s wisdom. We can learn that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. You do not have to be born with wisdom. God’s word makes clear that if we do not have wisdom we can ask for it and expect to get it. That wisdom is worth treasures of gold and jewels and it is available freely for asking.
I think, somehow, it would be unfair for God to provide salvation only to the intelligent, bright and wise. It seems to me that a loving God values simplicity and even those of us who are of modest intelligent or even retarded can experience the love and presence of God. That is what a loving God would do and that is exactly what our God does.
 
For many years that Christian woman, Corrie Ten Boom, taught a group of retarded persons. I think that made God smile and the faith of her students also made God smile. Relationship does not depend upon intelligence or being a great thinker. You do not have to be bright in order to love.

FREEDOM-PART II

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This edition of Locusts and Honey is the second part of “Freedom” and deals with my thoughts about the freedom which we have received from Christ and the freedom which we as the church should be extending to others.

 

The Mission of Christ

Nowhere is the mission of Christ better stated than in Luke 4:18-19.  Jesus was in his hometown of Nazareth on the Sabbath Day and was attending his synagogue.  The Scroll of Isaiah is handed to him and Jesus scrolled down to Isaiah 61 and began to read:

 

                              The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

                              Because he has anointed me

                              to proclaim the good news to the poor.

                              He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

                              and recovery of the sight for the blind

                              to set the oppressed free,

                              to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

 

Isaiah prophesied about the work of Jesus.  Indeed, Jesus did all of the things promised by Isaiah 61.  Part of that ministry involved proclaiming the good news to the poor and healing the sick.

 

A primary focus of the ministry of Jesus is setting the captives free.  As people we are kept captive by numerous things.  We are held captive by our poverty, by diseases, by fears and phobias, by our fear of death, by our ignorance, by poverty and by so much more.  Part of the ministry of Jesus was to proclaim the Year of the Lord’s favor. 

 

Every 50 years there was supposed to be a Year of Jubilee.

 

“You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.” —Leviticus 25:11-12.

 

It was a holiday year.  Slaves were free.  Debts were forgiven and people got their ancestral lands back.  In a sense, it was heaven on earth.  Part of the mission of Jesus, and our mission as well, is to proclaim the Year of Jubilee, a time of freedom and refreshing to those who will follow God.

 

God’s will is that we be set free.  The ministry of Christ is to set the captives free.    God wants you to be free.  He does not want you to be bound in the chains of religious legalism. 

 

Jesus illustrated his ministry by setting people free from disease and even death.  One of the more interesting examples is where Jesus healed on the Sabbath the woman who had bent many over many years.  When the person running the synagogue objected to the healing on the Sabbath because it was “work,” Jesus was indignant and said at Luke 13:14-15:

 

14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

 

As Jesus does, so the Church is supposed to do.  Jesus’ ministry set people free from disease, poverty, legalism and from the demonic.  One of the key characteristics of Satan is that he enslaves.  Satan uses a variety of methods to do this.  One of the greatest weapons of Satan is the whip of fear , especially the fear of death.  When Christ was resurrected, the sting of this whip and its ability of Satan to dominate was broken.

 

Today Satan uses things like drugs, and bondages of flesh to keep people enslaved and in line.  One of the horrible things about drugs is that it removes the freedom of people to choose.  Ancient slaves still had a free will.  Today’s slaves find that drugs eat away at their will to choose.  This is true slavery.

 

As the church, we do what Christ did.  We proclaim the Year of the Lord’s Favor.  We proclaim freedom.  We pray for the sick and anoint the sick with oil.  We rebuke the demonic in the name of Jesus.  Many people think that slavery is a thing of the past or that it is what happened back in the 17-19 Century.  I tell you that slavery is also prevalent today and probably has affected one or more of the people of your family.  If we cannot stop gambling, looking at pornography or stealing or lying, we are still held in bondage.   As the church, we proclaim that Jesus came to set us free.  We proclaim freedom, we speak freedom and we pray for freedom for ourselves and for others.

 

Little Foxes and Cute Raccoons

 

                              Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes

                              that ruin the vineyards, the vineyards that are in bloom.—Song of                                      Solomon 2:15

 

Many of our sins are like the little foxes of the Song of Solomon.  Individually, they seem innocent enough or perhaps even cute.  What is a little gossip, a tiny lie or a stolen pencil.  They are small.  However an army of foxes invading the crop can be a disaster.  One time Samson tied the tails of foxes together and added a burning torch and ruined the crops of the Philistines.  The little foxes ruin the crop of holiness and wreck our witness to the world.  These little vices don’t look dangerous and slip through the fences of our lives ruining what a larger predator could not do.

 

I often think of the little foxes to be like the raccoons which we had in Missouri.  Yes, they looked so cute but they were demonic.    We lived in an area where there were numerous raccoons.  Raccoons would look for any small opening to get into your house, garage and attic.  We made the mistake of leaving a bag of dog food out on our back porch.  A bunch of raccoons stole the food and scared the dogs away.  Raccoons are fierce fighters and are very territorial.  Later they climbed onto our roof and found a small opening  and a couple of them moved into our attic.  Like teenagers, they slept during the day and partied all night long.  They invited their friends over and set up nests upstairs.  They ate the electrical wires and pooped all over the attic.  They would party all night and have a great time!

 

Finally we had to use professionals to catch them and take them on a long trip to somewhere else.  The raccoons did not leave willingly or gladly.  Some were enticed into cages with raccoon delights.  Others had to be literally extracted from the attic kicking and snarling all the way.  They were not cute.  They were unhealthy, disruptive, harmful and dangerous.  They were territorial.  Once they got into the attic it was their territory and they did as they pleased.

 

The demonic is like a nest of raccoons.  Once they get in, they treat the territory as their own and don’t leave without protest.

 

Jesus never asked the demonic to leave –instead he commanded them to leave and used the power of God to kick them out.

 

Sin Requires drastic action

 One of the problems of the modern church is that we are quick to compromise with sin rather than dealing with it in a drastic and definitive manner.  Today, the modern church is so immersed in a “accept anything and anybody” culture that we no longer recognize sin as sin.  Instead of dealing with sin, we accept it, we redefine it and we recognize it and even honor it.  One of the few values of age is that one can actually remember how things used to be.  I can assure you that when I went to grade school after World War II if there had been Drag Queens doing story time in our schools, School Boards and Leaders would have been replaced and voted out.  Politicians who supported them would have been immediately voted out of office.  Parents would not have put up with it!

 

Jesus told us this at Matthew 8:18-19:

 

                              If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it  away.

                              It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled

                              than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

                              And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.

                              It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes

                              and be thrown into the fires of hell.

 

Now honestly, I do not think that there were a bunch of disciples and followers of Jesus walking around with only one eye or one hand because of their sins.  Instead, they got what Jesus was saying.  We must deal with our sins drastically.  Moreover, it is easier to deal with your sin than to gouge your eye out.  We need to be intentional about dealing with our sins and take drastic actions if we cannot.  Some people dealing with pornography may need to cast their one-eyed computer out or give up television or take any other action that they need to take to deal with whatever area that is causing them to sin.

 

Hebrews 12:4 reminds us that “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your own blood.”  We must sometimes take desperate measures to deal with long entrenched sin.  Like the little raccoons they must be forcibly extracted.

 

Everyone who proclaims freedom is not necessarily free themselves.

 

On occasion I have taken “freedom” courses put on by churches.  Most of the time they promise big changes in your life and sometimes they deliver-but not always.  Satan is clever and he is not above proclaiming “freedom” over you while leading you into bondage.  The Bible acknowledges this possibility at 2 Peter 2:19 which says, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.  For whatever overcomes a person to that he is enslaved.”  I had a boss at work who said to me:  “Don’t make your decisions based upon what a person says, but instead, look at what they do.”  That was a wise saying.  The proclamation of “freedom” does not necessarily mean that all is right in Zion.

 

Paul was quick to warn his congregation of false teachers whose object was to rob people of their freedom and bring them back again into legalistic bondage.  These “angels of light” are generally religious and desire to impose things relating to the law to make you holy instead of depending upon the grace of God.

 

God brought to my mind that even the Gadarene demoniac was wearing “broken chains.”  He had freedom to do what he wanted, go where he wanted and even whether to wear clothes or not.  However since a host of demons were in him, he was not free.  We need to be free indeed!

 

 

 

A Few Scriptures

 

In conclusion, I am leaving you with a few Scriptures for your meditation:

 

1 Peter 2:16—Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, live as God’s slaves.

 

Romans 6:32—But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

 

Galatians 5:1—It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 

Galatians 5:13—You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

 

John 8:36—So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

FREEDOM

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PART 1

Recently, I have been involved in working on some of my family’s genealogy.  As I have done this research, I am amazed at how people in the South were involved in the terrible institution of slavery.  If your family is from the South and you go back far enough you will find that some of them may have been slave-owners.  Today, most of us, both whites and even blacks, have no comprehension of the evils of slavery.  In my study, I have read many wills and slaves are passed by will just as a horse, a cow or a saddle.  This treatment of people is chilling.

One of the questions which I asked myself is whether you could be a slave-owner and still be a Christian.  Apparently, the answer is yes.  However, I think it must be difficult to die and stand before God at the judgment and justify yourself before God and 25 of your slaves on how you treated them.

The Jews knew what it was like to be in slavery and served Pharaoh as slaves until God brought them out into freedom under the hand of Moses.  Also at various times, Jews were sold as slaves and many were redeemed by other Jews.  So the Jews knew about slavery.  Nonetheless, they still practiced slavery.

In the New Testament, Paul instructed slaves to serve their masters as unto the Lord.  He also reminded slave-owners that they should treat their slaves fairly and that the slave-owner had a master in heaven.  There is even one book of the Bible written by Paul to a slave-owner, which is the book of Philemon.  In the church, there were both slaves and slave-owners.  All were expected to remember that there was no difference to God as to whether you were a slave or a slave-owner.  Amazingly, Christianity was a big enough tent that both slaves and slave-owners were both welcomed under the tent. 

To me, it is amazing that we as individuals have the ability to justify whatever we want to and then use Scripture to buttress our prejudices.   My studies show that the issue of slavery split many denominations.  Many Christians in the early years of our country became abolitionists and felt that slavery should be eradicated.  Unfortunately there were also many evangelicals who felt that the Bible not only permitted slavery but that it encouraged it.  Some Southern pastors taught that Blacks either had the Mark of Cain or the Curse of Ham (the son of Noah who looked on his father’s nakedness) and therefore they deserved to be enslaved.  Their theology supported the social norms and even encouraged the growth of slavery. 

I have recently been reading a couple of books showing how Southern Baptists have been captured by Southern social attitudes.  Both books are pretty good.  One is Churches in Cultural Captivity-A History of the Social Attitudes of Southern Baptist by John Lee Eighmy.  The other is At Ease in Zion-A Social History of Southern Baptist, 1865-1900 by Rufus B. Spain.  I was particularly interested in Spain’s book because I had taken a course by him on Religion in America back in the 60’s (the Dark Ages) when I was at Baylor.  Both make a good historical case about how evangelicals (especially the Baptists) had reflected the cultural norms of the time rather than adhering to Biblical mandates.

Although I certainly was not an activist, my understanding of the Bible was clear that God was racially blind so to speak.  To me I believed that Jesus actually loved all the children of the world regardless of color.  As I worked with kids in mission programs I worked in New Orleans with kids of all races.  In the course of doing this I ended up taking kids of all races into City Park in New Orleans and ended up with New Orleans police protecting us so to speak because I had evidently taken black kids to an area where they were not supposed to go.  Back in those days long ago, blacks generally sat in the back of buses and schools in New Orleans had not yet been integrated.  I know it is hard to believe.

As a ministerial student at Baylor I would sometimes preach at churches and openly support integration.  On occasion, this might offend some of the congregations.  Also I worked at Friday Night Missions with many of my friends,  including Janene, we dealt with people, especially children, of all races.  Later, Janene and I totally by accident ended up helping to integrate a large Baptist Church in Dallas.  It all happened again by accident.  As we were leaving church from the early service, a Black couple asked if they could attend this large church.  The church was all white.  Janene and I said “Why, not?”  So we turned around and took them into church and sat with them.  We later became friends with this couple.  The church later integrated.  Later for a long season, I left the Baptist church because of the attitudes (at least in Dallas (which admittedly was very conservative at the time) due to their intolerance of other races.

Pardon me for rambling, but frankly due to my age, as an elderly white male, I am presumed by a younger generation to be a bigot.  Honestly, I find this treatment to be offensive.  It is difficult for young people to understand what it is like to live in a completely different society and a different time.

God is no respecter of persons.  God looks on the heart.  People don’t have good hearts because they are white and bad hearts because they are of any other race.  The opposite is also true.  God looks on the heart. You are not somehow good because you are white or because you are black.   I suspect God is more sympathetic to those who are poor in this life and rich spiritually. 

The fact of the matter is that our calling is to become “slaves of God.”  Jesus Christ is our master.  I suspect that there is no absolute freedom.  If we choose not to be a slave to God, then we will be a slave to something else.  It may be to Satan, alcohol, drugs or sex.  The issue is whether you want to be a slave to someone who knows you, loves you and gave himself to you or do you want to be a slave to someone who doesn’t love you and wants to have power over you.  The other issue is whether you choose to be a slave (we are Christians freely choose to serve Christ) or alternatively is slavery imposed upon us.  Those of us who have friends or children enslaved by drugs know that this slavery is often imposed and those who are enslaved had no early idea that they were giving up everything to become a slave.  Satan likes to impose slavery upon his victims.

As you look at your life, ask what you have been a slave to.  Has it been to your family, to work, to success, to the approval of others or to something other than Jesus Christ.  Part of coming to Christ is to lay down your will.  That is what a slave does.  Only by becoming a slave to Christ can we become truly free.

In our next edition of Locusts and Honey we will discuss more about freedom and how we can become free in our lives and transition from living lives which are unproductive to lives which are productive and full of fruit.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

THE GOD OF ALL-INCLUSION

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My wife and I just completed watching the long-awaited coronation of Charles III.  We watched every second of the televised coverage by the BBC.  When we were through we made sure that we also watched the Royal Concert along with the Royal Family and Kermit the Frog.  As a person professionally trained in Medieval History, I loved seeing the ancient and medieval traditions involved in the ceremony and was quick to provide my wife Janene translations of all of the Latin hymns whether she wanted them or not.  Frankly the pageantry was glorious, and costumes and dress were amazing.  I must say, we loved every minute of it. The music is wonderful.  At least the King and I can agree upon that. In addition, even the pablum dished out by those behind the event and the commentators was delicious.  Every spoonful of this new age porridge tasted great.

 

The Coronation provided an unveiling of the new world religion of All-Inclusion.  It was a delicious cookie on the outside with a toxic but great tasting filling on the inside.  It was a concoction designed to leave you hungering for even more.  Within the context of ancient Christian traditions, it showcased the new All-Inclusive Christ.  All are welcome in this new religion regardless of background or belief.  The Chief Rabbi sits down at the long table of welcomeness along with Sikhs and Muslim Imams.  I am sure there are even places at the table for Buddhists and Wiccans as well.  After all, Jesus loves all people and all are welcome under the new enlarged tent of acceptance.

 

As people of all faiths mingle together in the spirit of gemṻtlichkeit, all people sit down together.  Female priests give prayers and people of all genders (Like Heinz, there are at least 47 varieties) play starring roles in this brave new religious world.  The often repeated “mantra” for this new religion is “diversity.”  You will hear this word repeated over and over.  Another word that is bandied about is the word “environmental” and “service.”  These words are used as talismans and you may employ the words without the fear of running into contradictions.  For instance, the King and his entourage can proclaim their love for the environment while creating unimaginable pollution on the Coronation Day.  They can laud service and proclaim the image of Christ washing the feet of the disciples while they are riding in a beautiful golden carriage without perceiving any consciousness of the contradiction and the irony between their pronouncements and their actions. 

 

And then there is the dress of the participants.  The prelates are dressed beautifully in gold and white, the guards are resplendent with their armor, plumes and medals and the guests are dressed beautifully shaming even the peacocks in their glory.  Even Katy Perry appeared to honor the king in a gold tin foil dress baring her soul.  At the same time, the Archbishop and others can speak and honor the simplicity of Christ, who I suspect was never dressed as beautifully as the lowest prelate attending the service.      Forgive the rant.  But shouldn’t someone who believes in Christ say something about the contradictions.  The problem is that those engaged in the coronation apparently do not even see that there are any contradictions at all.

 

The ancient structures of the coronation traditions had to be adjusted to fit the new religion much as a pair of pants has to be adjusted when you gain weight.  Charles could no longer be The Defender of THE FAITH.    Unfortunately, that term referred to the Christian Religion, which is much too excluding for our all-inclusive world.  The God of All-Inclusion demands that all be included under the tent.  Therefore, Charles had to morph the ancient title from “Defender of the Faith” to a more generic term of “Defender of Faith.”  He defends the generic concept that all have the right to believe whatever they want to believe.  By the way, the title “Defender of the Faith” ironically was a title awarded to Henry VIII by Pope Leo X.  (Henry VIII did not live up to the title and due to his need for another wife, split the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church).

 

In short, the modern demands for all-inclusiveness and diversity resulted in a train wreck between the greatly respected ancient traditions of Christianity and Kingdom with the demands of the new moral and religious environment.  To put it bluntly, those who came up with all of those great traditions ostensibly honored at the Coronation would be horrified at what they saw at Westminster Abbey.  The beauty of a Catholic bishop being included in the ceremony or an Islam cleric would have been, shall we say, “anathema” at coronations in the past especially to a denomination (Anglican) which grew out of the Reformation.   The inclusion of all clerics of all sexes and no sexes at all are now welcomed with open arms.  Libertines, celibates and every other sexual choice in between are also welcome under the new rainbow covered umbrella of love.    Almost everybody is welcome.

 

There is one group, however, who is not welcome.  The new moral lepers are those who commit the unpardonable sin of rejecting the new doctrines of all-inclusiveness and diversity.  These individuals are not called “heretics.” Instead they are called “bigots” because they have not seen the new way of inclusion and they do not walk in it.

 

The New World Religion has had to make a few adjustments to ancient Christian theology and to the Scriptures but otherwise is more than happy to be a “bedfellow “ with the Ancient Faith and Traditions.  New age theologians have not had much difficulty making necessary adjustments to accommodate what used to be considered “sin” and even transforming them into “virtues.”  With mental acuity they have found Scriptures to justify their new inclusive views and where they have no Scriptures, they simply cast doubts about the correctness of ancient Scriptures and their reliability.  In other words, Scripture is either twisted to make their point, and if it does not twist, then its veracity can be questioned or cast aside.  If the Old Testament and Paul do not accept the morality of homosexuality and instead consider it sin, then these parts of Scripture need further explanation or clarification or exclusion.

 

Most  Scripture is welcome in the New World Religion with some exceptions:

 

·        Any Scripture which implies that there is such a thing as sin.  There is no sin in the brave New World  except the sin of bigotry.

·        There is no judgment. God does not judge.  He/She/It only loves.  There is no sin (other than bigotry) and therefore no judgment is needed.  If there were “sin” then God would forgive it. God loves all without change. 

·        There is no need for repentance.  After all, there is nothing to repent from anyway.  Ancient doctrines of repentance are no longer needed.  This may come as some relief to the King and Queen as especially as it relates to the now forgotten Princess Diana.

·        There is no holiness.  Holiness would indicate an arbitrary standard and the all-inclusive God has no standards (other than punishment for bigotry or perhaps the original sin of being born a white, male Colonist).  Unfortunately, many of us who fall into this class of “undesirables” could only wish that we had a special “Trust” like King Charles which could redeem us from our shortcomings and act as a modern day Papal Indulgence.  But enough of my Medieval Humor.

 

In fact, certain statements by Jesus are “uncomfortable” in this new Enlightened World and are studiously avoided.   Some examples might be:

 

·        “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. –John 14:6

·        “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”—Matthew 16:24

·         “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”-Matthew 7:13-14

This new religion is inclusive.  Its way is broad.  All, regardless of belief, are invited to travel on this new religious super highway.  The advantages are that it is inclusive, wide and easy to walk on.  You will meet no pesky evangelicals or bigots on it.  You can walk without paying any tolls.  Negatives like the cross or repentance are not necessary.  The only problem is that this new super highway leads neither to God nor to heaven.  The kingdoms of this world offered to Christ at the Temptation still belong to the King of this World. 

 

The words of Psalms 2:3-4 remain true:  “The kings of the earth rise up and band together against the Lord and his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”  However David proclaims later in that Psalm…”the Lord scoffs at them.”

 

The Coronation of the King provided a wonderful platform for the unveiling of this New World Religion  starring the God of All-Inclusion and the All-Accepting Christ. This New World Religion with its All-Inclusive God will soon be coming to a location near you if it has not already.  But take heart, Christ will return and in the future “every knee shall bow” before him.  That is part of our hope and our inheritance.

DON’T HOLD ON

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As you get older, there is a tendency to hold on as we perceive that things are slipping away.  We fight against the relentless entropy of life.  All that we love appears to fall away.  The hair goes, the teeth fall out—you know the drill.  But it gets worse.  We lose the people that we love—people that we have cared about and who have given us love, wisdom, companionship and stability.

 

In addition, we hold on to the trophies that we (or those who we love) have accumulated in this life.  In one sense, a resume is a visible collection of our awards for hard-earned efforts and the trophies of those efforts.  These things are valuable but fade away before our very eyes.  We are like a person being shot off on a rocket into outer space watching that which we love grow dimmer and dimmer behind us.

 

Recently, I tried for the third time to clean out our garage by throwing away our deceased daughter’s karate trophies.  There were many of them.  Honestly, I could not do it.  Those trophies had been earned by her hard efforts and by ours.  She had drilled many hours.  Janene and I spent many hours in the dojo as she practiced and spent many week-ends watching as she participated in many tournaments and won awards.  She worked hard and it paid off.  She had numerous trophies where she had won by being best of all age groups from child to adult in Karate competitions.  The trophies represented her efforts and they also represented a lot of time which we spent together. 

 

So when it came time for the trophies to go after her death, I simply could not do it without the help of our oldest daughter, Julie.  I had carted the trophies around a long time and from house to house.  It seemed to me somehow that letting the trophies go was somewhat like letting Addi go—but then she had already gone and the trophies were not Addi.  She was, and is, much more important than old trophies falling apart from age.  By the way, Janene and I did keep a few of her medals and a photograph of her with her trophies because we do want to remember her accomplishments and pass down a few remembrances to other generations.

 

Janene and I have other trophies that we have not dealt with yet.  My aunt, Lois, was one of the first female attorneys in the State and after her death we kept her law degree hanging next to my law degree.  (Trophies from two generations).  Janene has the Medical Degree of Sanford Loftis, one of her relatives, who died as a Medical Missionary to China.  It is a valuable trophy which he left behind to follow Christ.

 

So it was not surprising that I found myself humming this morning an old song written by George Bennard in 1912 called “The Old Rugged Cross.”  The refrain of that old hymn goes:

 

               So I’ll cherish the old rugged Cross

               Til my trophies, at last, I lay down

               I will cling to the old rugged Cross

               And exchange it someday for a crown.

 

Please, don’t get me wrong.  I understand well the need to hold on to some of the trophies that we have in life.  They are associated with great efforts and with loving memories.  But—don’t hold too tight.  Grief may be a place to visit, but it sickens those who reside there too long.  Ultimately, our God is a God of Hope and Life not of grief and despair.

 

An old friend of mine from my work days would often say:  “Remember, Ernie, hearses don’t have trailer-hitches.”  They don’t and there is no room in the coffin to take too much with you.  So, loosen up.  Don’t hold on so tightly.  God’s love will hold you and sustain you.  The spirit is small but indestructible and the Holy Spirit can never be taken from you.  Jesus told Mary and Martha that he was “The Life” and “The Resurrection,” and He meant it.

 

Paul wrote about all of this in 1 Cor. 7:29-31:

 

29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

 

So, take a deep breath.  It is OK.  God loves you and will care for you.  Don’t hold on too tight.  You can’t take the trophies with you.  They will only hold you back.  Lighten up.  God has a destiny and a future for you and you are more than your trophies.