God's Amazing Grace

The next few posts come from a chapter in my unpublished book on dealing with depression with wisdom from deep study into God's Word.  This comes from Chapter 16: A Study of God's Amazing Grace. 

Many years ago a good friend preached a  sermon on God’s grace that I found very enlightening. We often have no idea how to define grace. When I don’t know the meaning of a word, I turn to the dictionary. The 1989 edition of  the New Merriam- Webster Dictionary provides the following definition.

grace: help given man by God (as in overcoming temptation): freedom from sin through divine grace: a virtue coming from God^.

Do you now have a better grasp of grace? Me neither. The dictionary has left us even more baffled than before we opened its pages.

Let’s go to the Bible. Grace is one expression of God’s love for us. I want to start by looking at God’s love, but I will bring it back to grace. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God.” (1 Pe 4:16b). The best description of love anywhere is in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Co 13:4-8a)

We can replace the word love with God, because God is love. By doing such we have a great description of God’s character.

God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails. (adapted from 1Co 13:4-8a )

We will continue to go deeper with this passage in the next post.

Dear Gracious Father,

We praise You and thank You for Your incredible love and grace. We are so unworthy of Your affection, yet You shower us with Your blessings. Thank You for Your Word which gives us the very words of life! In the pages of the Bible we find hope and direction for every aspect of our lives. We praise You for Your character. We praise You for Your beauty which we see all around us in Your creation. As I write this prayer I hear the birds (the dawn chorus) singing Your praises as they welcome in the new day. May we learn from them to start our days in praise to You, our Creator, our Father, our Friend. Amen.

Condemnation Disappears at the Foot of the Cross

I have been meditating and praying a lot lately about how to reach out to those who are gay. Over the past couple of months I have visited the church that my son and his dad attend in order to see (hear) my son sing. That church promotes itself as an inclusive church where everyone is welcomed. This past Sunday the announcements included a petition to join in the upcoming Pride parade – a parade that celebrates those in the GLBT community. I agree with welcoming them, but I still see that the Scriptures teach that homosexuality (and many other things that we tolerate) are wrong.

So, how can we reach them? I still don't have that answer, but God has directed my thoughts on a tangent. Many churches and individuals calling themselves Christians are very vocal in their opposition to gays. I have to ask why? Statistics show that people calling themselves Christians are just as guilty in almost every area as those who do not identify at all with Christ. (see this blog post by Bill Peddie Does Christianity Make a Difference?) In the Old Testament, those who committed any sex outside of marriage, whether homosexual or heterosexual, were condemned. The penalty was either stoning, or forced marriage with no opportunity for divorce. (Deu1813-30, Lev 20:11,13) And then Jesus taught that lust is equivalent to adultery (Mt 5:27-28) I am quite certain that some, if not many – considering today's culture of sexual “freedom” – of those bashing gays are guilty of sex outside of marriage and lust (pornography is a perfect example).

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I'm brought back to the familiar account of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:4-11). Jesus told her accusers that he who had committed no sin was to cast the first stone. When we attack one group of “sinners” we are casting stones at them. If we really follow Jesus, as the name “Christian” indicates, we should not be casting any stones unless we are free from sin.

There lies the problem. Too many Christians think they are free from sin. Jesus has purified His disciples by His blood shed on the cross, so we are free from sin's eternal punishment. He sets us free from slavery to sin. Many people change radically, overcoming deeply rooted sin in their lives, when they decide to make Jesus Lord. However, we still have sin in our lives. 

In my times of prayer and meditation God has revealed something to me.When we add more religion to our lives, we think we have little or no sin. When we can follow the rules of dos and don'ts, we begin to think we are good people – righteous people. We compare ourselves to those people who do not keep the same list of dos and don'ts and we think they are NOT good people – not righteous people. This is where self-righteousness comes from.

When we add more of Jesus to our lives, there is a different response. The closer we come to our Creator, our loving and compassionate Father, our Counselor, our Prince of Peace, our intimate Friend, our Beloved Saviour the more we see how much we don't measure up to His perfection. But in that intimate relationship we are able to receive His truly amazing grace and we are motivated to do whatever we can to please the Lover of our souls. There is no longer any list of dos and don'ts. Do newlyweds follow a list of dos and don'ts to please their lover? NO! Nor should we need any sort of list of dos and don'ts to please our God who desperately wants to be our Lover. When we love Him with all our hearts and all our minds and all our strength then the need for lists disappear. Yes, we need to obey His Word – that is part of loving Him with all of our mind. We need to know His Word to know what pleases Him.

When I draw close to the righteousness and holiness of God Almighty, to Jesus the sinless One, to the Spirit of Truth, I see who I really am. I see my pride. I see my selfishness. I see my weakness. I see my failures. I see my faithlessness. I see how I hurt others with words and actions. I see how my thought life can be soooo far from what pleases God. When He who defines righteousness is my standard, I have no hope whatsoever of measuring up on my own. My only hope comes from Jesus' death on the cross. From this standpoint at the foot of the cross every sinner has the same desperate need for a Saviour. If we go to bed at night and can't name any specific sin (sin is missing the mark of God's perfection) in our lives for that day – and thus praise God for His saving grace – then we have more religion in our lives than relationship with Jesus.

When our relationship with God is truly one of love, deep love, intimate love, passionate love (try reading the Psalms or Eze 16:7-14, Is 62:4-5) then we see our own sin. We no longer think we have the right to condemn others, for in doing so, we condemn ourselves. If I want to reach out to someone who is gay, or anyone – because we are all sinners worthy of the death penalty – then I can't think I am better than that person. If I come at the person with condemnation, then I have become religious and self-righteous. If I come at them as a representative of my Lover, my Saviour, and my Friend, then I will come with a message of love and grace and forgiveness – a message from one sinner to another. I AM NOT any better than that person. 

If we think we have the right to condemn others, we have left the foot of the cross. When we leave that place of desperate humility, we start to think we have the right to sit with Christ on His throne. (That is a promise for heaven – not for earth) We make a list of dos and dont's and count ourselves worthy when we do well with that list. Then we compare ourselves to others who don't know or care about that list and we feel even better about ourselves and our righteousness. Sometimes our lists of dos and don'ts even contradict the Word of God – in those situations we have booted Christ off His throne in order to sit there ourselves!

So how do I reach out to those who are gay? One sinner to another. I share the message of hope and redemption and grace of a loving God that has something much better in mind for our lives. I must be humble enough to confess my own sins. I stand condemned of death for the sin in my life – not just the sin before I became a Christian, but the sin I have committed as a Christian – the sin I still commit. Why am I worthy of death? In order for me to have redemption from my sins – past, present and future – Jesus had to die. I am guilty of crucifying the Son of God! I do not have to stay in that place of condemnation, because God loves me and offers me His grace and forgiveness. However, as many of my other blog posts have mentioned, Jesus wants repentance and commitment in our loving and intimate relationship with Him.

Today's Christian culture has made homosexuality the worst of sins. To Jesus, religious hypocrisy and self righteousness were the worst of sins (Mt 23). It is no wonder the world condemns Christianity today – Jesus would condemn much of it Himself!

Oh Jesus, Lover of my soul, I come to you this morning with great awe for your love. Your love is so intense, so passionate, so sacrificial that you died on the cross to pay for my sins – my specific sins. You died for each and every one of us. Please forgive us when we think we are righteous because we can follow a list of dos and don'ts. Please forgive us when we judge others. Help us to see and deal with the planks in our own eyes before we address the speck in another's eye. Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may know You better – that we may know Your perfection, Your holiness Your love, Your grace, Your compassion. May we then share You, our Saviour and Friend, with others. Let us rid ourselves of the condemnation we place on others, as we realize that we, too, deserve condemnation. You have given us salvation through Your grace, not by our obedience to a list. Help us to extend that grace and love to others. I praise You Jesus for Your amazing grace – Your indescribable love! All glory and honour and praise be to Your Name. Amen.

Strengths and Weaknesses, Part 3

This post was originally part of the previous post, but I felt it was too long, so I broke it up. Hindsight is telling me that I left it at a bad point. So, here is part 3, not even 12 hours later.

When I was trying to raise my two boys alone while also facing my own health issues, I was completely unable to cope. Their extreme behaviours and meltdowns drained me of every lost drop of energy. A social worker that came to our home could see that I needed help. The home was beyond cluttered, as I wasn't able to maintain laundry or dishes, or cleaning the bathrooms. We were then blessed by the assistance of a homemaker. I was to work alongside her and work on maintaining cleanliness in the home.

Well, I had to let that homemaker go a couple of months ago. When seeking a replacement, it was pointed out to me that I really didn't need that help any longer. I became defensive. I am trying to start a business and still have chronic fatigue! I am using the funding for a housekeeper to help me get off government disability assistance! Well, I sought some advice from a friend who works full time and manages her home even though she has fibromyalgia – which comes with chronic fatigue. She had some great wisdom to share.

God has given me an opportunity to become independent of that help once again. I need to push through for 15 minutes a day, beyond what I think I can do, and get one task done. It is time to give up that government assistance. She also shared that seeking help from people that haven't faced what I face is frustrating for everyone. That advice made me realize that just like my boys were unable to understand another person's point of view, the people advising me on how to maintain my home could not understand my challenges.

After more prayer and meditation, I have realized that I do still need help with my home,  However, I have been seeking the wrong help. What I need is help from someone who can help me organize my home and my life in a way that empowers me to have success, and it doesn't have to come from government funding. (Give a man a fish and he eats for a day – teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime). I need to get that help from someone who understands how scatterbrained I am, and can help me to work within that weakness. All the advice I have ever received in terms of housekeeping has been from people who have no clue what it is like for me and no patience or desire to understand. I am not making an excuse, but rather sharing an epiphany!

There is hope for me – I just need to get help from someone who knows how to address my weakness! Just like my students who were able to do math when given blue paper, I can manage my home if given the tool that address the real problem! I can clean toilets and mop floors and don't mind doing so. That is not the issue. The issue is organization and distraction. So, I'm not sure how I will go about it, but I am taking steps to organize my home to make it easier to maintain. A friend has given me a website that has all sorts of organizational ideas. I have dropped some of my other responsibilities and commitments in order to have more time. I have even taken a few weeks away from the main aspects of the business in order to create organization in every area of my life.

When we give advice to others, we need to realize that not everyone can do things the way we do, or the way we think they should. Let us learn to give people the benefit of the doubt. When someone is trying, but still failing, we need to find out why. A person dealing with failure needs encouragement and help to understand what is at the root of the failure. Too often, just like the teachers my students had in the past, we judge the problem to be effort or some form of stupidity. Sometimes effort is the problem, but often there is a deeper problem that has led to failure so many times that the person believes it isn't worth trying any more. Stupidity is a harsh term that I believe is NEVER true. Perhaps that person has a real weakness in one or more areas in their life, but they DO have strengths. If we focus entirely on their weaknesses, we destroy the person.

As I finished editing the previous paragraph (some of which was also in the last post), I realized I already know the perfect person to help me with organization! For much of his life he was called stupid. He can read at the level of about an 11 year-old. A few years ago I told him with all sincerity that when my boys grow up, I want them to be like him. My boys are bright in terms of academics, but they lack the walk with God that leads to character, peace, and work ethic in this Christian brother. We had a flood in our basement a few months ago. What was already a disorganized storage and work area became a disaster. This awesome brother came and organized the mess for us! I believe that for me to organize that basement would have been the equivalent of this brother trying to take one of my university chemistry courses. Yes, I think I found a solution that will bless us both.

Praise people's strengths and give them encouragement and help where they are weak.

Dear Father,

Thank you for Your incredible love. You made each and every one of us just the way you wanted to. No one is a mistake! Each one of us has strengths and weaknesses – and you planned them. No one has it all together. I thank you so much that I can learn from someone I would have looked down on before I became a Christian. In those days, academics was everything to me. I praise you for how you change us and renew our minds to your thinking. Please help us all to realize everyone around us has something they can teach us. Everyone around us has weaknesses that are a result of how you made them, not because of lack of effort. We need to accept them as you do, with love and grace and patience. Please help us not to cram everyone into a box. We may fit very well in that box, but not everyone does. Sometimes we think the other person is the problem, when the problem is our box. Thank you for making everyone different and giving everyone a role in the body of Christ! Your love is so amazing! Thank you for this new day to worship and praise you!

Amen.

Strengths and Weaknesses Part 2

Academics come easily for me. However, the bane of my existence since childhood has been organization! As an adult I was diagnosed with ADD. Most people I have encountered think ADD refers to children in school who are hyperactive and have trouble focusing. Oh how I wish ADD was that simple. In reality, it is a difficulty to maintain a focus on some things while being able to focus on other things with extreme focus. I can rarely finish a task in my home because I am always distracted by something else. I actually can completely forget about the initial task until something else reminds me. Housework takes me longer than it should because I am always distracted, or I forget what I am doing. I go upstairs to get something and I forget why I am there. Sometimes I realize I forget why I am there and I get really frustrated with myself. Other times, I actually get distracted by something else and don't remember the original reason for being upstairs. When I eventually get back downstairs I am reminded why I went upstairs in the first place, and the cycle repeats itself.

The worst example of ADD in my life came a few years ago as I was trying to get out of the house to help volunteer at a Vacation Bible School. I was helping with photography. I got out to the car with my camera bag. The trunk was locked and I didn't have my keys, so I put my bag down. As I went to the house to get the keys, I realized I hadn't fed the ducks. So I took care of the ducks. When I got back, my son was already in the car with the keys. All I remembered by that point was that I needed the keys. The attention deficit of ADD meant I had lost what I was originally doing. In this case I remembered part of it. I got in the car and backed up. “CRUNCH!” I rolled over my camera bag!. My camera was damaged beyond repair! Please don't tell me that ADD is not real, or that it is not an excuse. This is just the most painful example, but every day there are many many examples of ADD messing up my day.

I have been judged in the past by many people because I cannot manage my housework, and my home is always cluttered. One friend a few years ago set me free from that. She gave me permission to not have a perfect house. It changed my life and released me from much of my depression. To me, my home always represented terrible failure. I was judged as a poor example to those I was trying to reach for Christ. However, since my friend set me free from that need to have a perfectly tidy home, I have had many people into my cluttered home. Many of them have also felt freedom, because their home is also a mess. I have had opportunities twice to have people off the streets into my home. One young girl had never had a religious person treat her with such respect and hospitality. My cluttered home didn't hurt my witness at all. I was able to send her off with a New Testament that she said she would read, because our 16 hours together had a real impact on her.

Please let us stop judging others for not being like ourselves. Please give one another the benefit of the doubt. Let us stop adding rules to the Bible that God did not put there. Jesus condemned those who required others to follow their own traditions and teachings which went beyond the Law of God. 

Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. (Luke 11:46)

When we require others to be like ourselves in ways that are not Scriptural, like demanding a certain perfection in housecleaning, we are being like the Pharisees -- especially if we do not offer any practical help on how to achieve that artificial standard. I am very grateful for those who are patiently trying to help me grow, without demanding an artificial standard!

I praise you Jesus for your great love! I praise you for loving us with patience and kindness, You are so humble that you left your throne in heaven to become a man and die on the cross for sinners like me. You honour us by adopting us into your family. We don't have to measure up to a standard that we cannot meet. You seek our affections, and died for us when you could have come down from the cross! You are not easily angered and when we come to you, you keep no record of our wrongs! You do not delight in evil, but rejoice when we see that You are the Truth. You always protect us. Because of that, we can always trust, hope and persevere! May we learn to love and accept others as you do, with unconditional love.

Strengths and Weaknesses-- part 1

My boys both have Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, and some learning disabilities. I have had numerous conversations with them about strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has skills or abilities that come easily. Everyone also experiences challenges and difficulties in other areas of their lives. We have to accept that in ourselves, and we have to accept that in others.

One aspect of Asperger's Syndrome (a high functioning form of autism) is the inability to take another person's point of view. Especially when the boys were younger, if they knew a piece of information, they expected (not even consciously) everyone to know it. If they could do something, everyone should be able to do it. This led to incredible frustration for the entire family, and many melt downs at school.

Math comes easily for me. Writing essays was much more difficult, but with a lot of practise and instruction I learned how to write. As a high school student, I thought that more often than not, students that were not doing well in school were simply not trying hard enough. I judged them as lazy. I have a very different understanding of strengths and weaknesses today.

As a teacher at an adult high school, I learned about learning disabilities. There are many people who find academics to be painful. They try very hard, but just don't get it. I was thrilled to be able to help many students overcome years and years of failure at math by helping them to master one skill at a time. However, there were students that just couldn't get it. There minds were wired in such a way that numbers did not make sense to them. There were other students with a form of dyslexia (never diagnosed) which made it very difficult for them to keep track of negative signs. They had been told for years that they were not trying hard enough, or not disciplined or diligent enough with their work. Another teacher showed me that many of these students were actually able to keep track of the negative signs when they used a different colour of paper. Using blue or yellow paper suddenly made them able to do math! They were not stupid, lazy, undisciplined, or anything else like that – their brains simply could not register everything from the extremely high contrast of writing on white paper. One of my students went to a professional and received green tinted glasses. His ability to do school work changed dramatically and his self-esteem soared!

Just like my boys, who thought that everyone thinks just like they do, these teachers had demanded that their students think a certain way. When the students didn't fit into their mold, they were very judgemental. These harsh and inaccurate judgements had really hurt these students. Many students had turned down roads of alcoholism, drug abuse, or getting pregnant at a young age to escape the pain of low self-esteem. They would come to our school believing they were stupid, but had come to the realization that they could not advance in any sort of work without that high school diploma. The entire staff worked hard to provide the skills and encouragement the students needed to achieve success. Elation and victory permeated graduation day like no other ceremony I have been a part of!

When we give advice to others, we need to realize that not everyone can do things the way we do, or the way we think they should. Let us learn to give people the benefit of the doubt. When someone is trying, but still failing, we need to find out why. A person dealing with failure needs encouragement and help to understand what is at the root of the failure. Too often, just like the teachers my students had, we judge the problem to be effort or some form of stupidity. Sometimes effort is the problem. Stupidity is a harsh term that isn't true. Perhaps that person has a real weakness in one or more areas in their life, but they DO have strengths. If we focus entirely on their weaknesses, we destroy the person. Give them the tools that address the real problem and we give them self-esteem and real victory!

Father, I thank you so much for Your love and patience! I thank you for Your incredible grace! I thank you for putting people in our lives that really want to help us.  Help us all to realize that you have made us each unique.  We each have strengths and weaknesses.  Every person is important in your kingdom! Sometimes it is easy to forget that what works for one person, or even what works for most people, doesn't work for everyone.  The students that could suddenly succeed in math when given blue paper are a very small minority.  What worked for most other people didn't work for them.  Thank you for the privilege it was to provide these students with a tool that gave them success!  Help us not to judge, but instead to help find solutions -- solutions beyond the box of our own experience. We praise You Father for creating us unique, special, and very very loved!

Are you Guilty of the Sin of Sodom? rerun

I was reading in Ezekiel while away at a family reunion.  I have read this before, but it stood out to me this time more than ever before – I think because of the commission God has placed on my heart.

When you think of Sodom, what comes to your mind? 

Let’s take a look at what God thinks of when He thinks of Sodom.

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:  She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned: they did not help the poor and needy.  They were haughty and did detestable things before me.  Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.  (Eze 16:49-50)

Please read that again.  Do you see yourself in that indictment?  God destroyed Sodom, not for the homosexuality that we normally associate with it, but because the people of Sodom were selfishly living for themselves.

Are you overfed?  Most of North America suffers from weight problems and the increase of obesity is staggering.  I am 30 to 40 pounds overweight and very convicted at this moment.

Are you unconcerned?  This is shown by how much you help the poor and needy.  Do you spend more on pet food than on feeding the poor?  Do you enjoy your television system and all the cable or satellite channels, but quickly switch the channel when you see images of the poverty that most of the people in this world face every day?  Do you spend more on entertainment than on helping those who have lost their homes to storms or fire?  Again I ask: are you unconcerned?

There is a small team of teenagers from our church on a missions trip in Nicaragua.  This is an excerpt from their blog.

After lunch, we set to delivering six of the ten widow baskets that we prepared yesterday. We divided into three groups.
Group One:
Ours went to a woman who was very thankful to it. We talked with the help of a translator and communicated to her. We shared the grace of God and she said over and over how blessed she was to receive this. Though the first widow was amazing to deliver this to, it was the second that got to everyone. She suffers a sort of disability. We brought to her, along with the widow basket, a new mattress for her. When we brought the mattress in, she started crying with happiness. Before, she had been sleeping on a simple cloth-like thing stretched like a hammock. She described to us the pain that she feels each day and that she was so thankful for this mattress. She had been praying for a long time for a new mattress and the fact that we were the ones to answer her prayers is amazing. Her grandchildren hugged us all as we left.

This poor woman, suffering from a painful disability, had been praying for a long time for a mattress!  When you get up in the morning feeling achy and perhaps sore, do you ever wonder how sore you would be after sleeping on a dirt floor instead of your comfortable mattresses?

Are you arrogant and haughty?  Do you think you deserve the wealth you have?  Do you think it is your right as a Canadian or American (or wherever you live) to enjoy all the wealth of these countries?

God destroyed Sodom because they enjoyed their wealth without caring about those who were poor and needy.  That sounds so much like the North America I live in today.

Do you ever wonder why God allows so many people to live in such horrible poverty?  I believe God has a perfect plan to provide for the poor: he has blessed the Christians of the “West” with incredible wealth, so they can use that wealth to help the poor, and share the light of Christ.  There is more than enough wealth to provide for the needs of everyone.

Are you going to step up and use your wealth as God intended, or are you destined for destruction like Sodom, and like Jerusalem to whom the above Scripture was addressed?  There has been a huge increase in the number of natural disasters of devastating proportions in North America.  God is bringing the poverty closer to home – perhaps to wake us up.  Let’s open our eyes and live as God would have us live – humble and actively concerned for those who are less fortunate by sharing the wealth God has blessed us with.

Dear Father, please forgive us for our selfishness! You have blessed us so abundantly, yet we cling to our riches with tight fists.  Very few Christians tithe, even fewer really take to heart the needs of the poor. Break our hearts for what breaks Yours! Open our eyes to Your economy -- when we give to the needy our needs are met in ways that are fulfilling beyond our wildest dreams! Your heart breaks when we find more satisfaction in our riches -- our stuff -- than in doing Your will.  Your heart breaks when we arrogantly think that somehow we deserve to live in wealth and those on "the other side of the world" somehow deserve their poverty. We don't put that thinking into words, but our actions speak that truth very clearly. Please forgive us and change us! The world needs us to be your hands and feet! We praise You for Your grace and Your love! May our repentance bring You praise. Amen

When Unity is not Best

A couple of weeks ago our pastor mentioned at the beginning of his sermon that he was very frustrated with the “My church is better than your church” attitude. God calls us to unity, and clearly this arrogance causes division, not unity.

He gave a couple examples of churches that some people look down on as being less Biblical. He shared about one church that has everyone drop to their knees at the name of “Jesus.” The reference being Php 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

A second church practices the washing of feet. This comes from Jesus example and words at the last supper. In John 13:12-17, we read:

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

I have been meditating on this and praying about it for over a week, because I guess I am one of those who in my heart has condemned other churches for not being Biblical. Over the past 10 years I have come to the deep conviction that there are true followers of Jesus scattered throughout the denominations. However, some denominations make it easier than others for a person to develop a true saving relationship with Jesus.

However, God has given me a calling and a message that is meant to challenge our understanding of what it means to be a Christian. God burdened my heart with the fact that there are MANY who think they are going to heaven who are not. Read Mt 7:21-23.

“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. 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?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

I believe that incorrect teaching – in fact teaching contrary to what the Scriptures say – encourages people to think they are going to heaven when in fact the Bible says they are not. This bothers me a more than I can express! I get very angry at churches that teach falsehoods about God, salvation, and what God considers acceptable behaviour (churches teach too strict as well as too lenient on this one).

What does this have to do with the examples I gave at the beginning of this post? I do have a problem with the churches/denominations my pastor mentioned, because I believe they have strayed from Biblical truth. Not that any one denomination has Biblical truth down pat!! However, the examples my pastor gave of their obedience to Scripture bothered me. Why? Because they are mere acts of legalism if the heart is not behind it.

Anyone can join the congregation in kneeling at the name of Jesus, and then go home and live in a way that totally disregards Jesus. I have a particularly hard time with this denomination because it is where my husband fled when he decided to live openly gay. I am not a gay-basher. I have said it many times in this blog that Jesus' harshest words were to the religious people who point fingers of judgment at others, while basking in their own self-righteousness. (I've been praying about my heart in this matter -- Jesus please help me not to be self-righteous!) Also, in the old testament, the same punishment was prescribed for anyone participating in sexual relations outside of marriage. In North America these days, there are more people in sexual relationships outside of marriage than within marriage.

So, I have a problem with this denomination because it made the deliberate decision to ignore the clear teaching on homosexuality in order to fit in with the modern culture. Look at what the Scriptures say about this.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

These are God's words, not mine. When a church or a denomination chooses friendship with the world over the truth of Scripture, they have chosen to be an enemy of God. The legalism of bending their knees at the name of Jesus means nothing if it is simply a ceremony on Sunday mornings. The true test is whether that person obeys the heart of Scripture the rest of the week. The tradition to kneel at the name of Jesus is not wrong or bad. It could really make a soft heart responsive to the Lordship of Christ. I think my own congregation could really benefit from more of this physical sign of submission to God. However, if that is the only way you bow before the Son of God, you really haven't bowed before Him at all.

The second example our pastor shared is from a denomination that does not even believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven (talk about friendship with the world!). Yet, they wash feet in obedience to Jesus' command. This one really frustrates me. Jesus was constantly breaking religious traditions that had been piled on top of God's laws. I see this foot washing ceremony in the same way. Jesus washed dirt and manure off the feet of his disciples. In our world today, our feet are really quite clean. Maybe a little sock fluff or some sand, but nothing really all that bad. Did Jesus really mean for us today in our ultra clean culture to wash people's feet? If he did – I think it would be the feet of the homeless or the diabetic, or the person with diseased feet.

We can become legalistic so quickly. “Oh, this is a Biblical church because we obey the teaching to wash feet – and your church doesn't!” What was the heart of Jesus' command? It wasn't to institute another religious ceremony! He was showing us that we need to be willing to do the dirtiest job for the least deserving person. THAT is obedience to His command, not participating in some ceremony. The ceremony is not wrong or bad – but if you think that ceremony replaces the requirement to do the dirty job that no one else wants to do – you have totally missed Jesus' point.

Have I ever washed anyone's feet? Yes, I do so on a regular basis. My brother has many medical issues that affect every part of his body including his feet. His feet have callouses so deep they have caverns, and toenails so thick that no ordinary nail clipper can do anything.. He cannot bend to reach his feet, so I am the one who takes care of them. Yes – it is humbling for both of us. Have I obeyed Jesus command? I'm starting, but I have a long way to go – Jesus washed manure off the feet of His betrayer. I can't think of a really dirty job that I have done for an enemy.

I believe very strongly in unity – but not with those who have made the deliberate choice to deny God's truth in order to be more popular.

This post is not meant to be disrespectful to my pastor in any way.  I appreciate him and respect him very much.  He chose to leave one of the churches discussed in this blog because it had made a decision to put popularity with the world above Scripture.  That decision was a very costly one for my pastor.  I respect his desire to root out the arrogance in us (including in my own life) by pointing out the "My church is better than your church" attitude.  I had to examine the self-righteousness in my own life before I could write this post.  There are areas that I still need help addressing, and my pastor is great at helping us deal with our sin in repentance and grace!

Father,

Thank you so much for the privilege to call You Father! You created the heavens and the earth and yet You consider us the crown of Your creation! Jesus left heaven and came to show us the way to You. He died to open the doors of forgiveness. He prayed for unity among His followers. Oh, Father, we fail so horribly in this area. I, too, am guilty. Give us a heart of unity with other Christ-followers! However, Lord, help us also to be aware of the non-Biblical teachings that are overtaking the North American church! Give us a firm foundation in Your Word that we may know Your truth. Thank You so much for Your Word, Your Faithfulness, and most of all for Your Grace! To You be glory and honour and power for ever and ever! Amen!