Judgment Is In and Forgivenes Is Out!

First of all, it's important to understand that the church is me, whoever me may be as a follower of Jesus Christ. This sense of church is all-inclusive as we seek THE TRUTH and continually judge, by the Holy Spirit, our limited version of truth. However, this all-inclusiveness does not include the non-believer. They are the lost; the non-discerning; lovers of the world or of themselves. This is their choice and God alone is the judge of that. As believers, we are set apart from the world as an example of how God's love transforms heart, mind, and lifestyle. Taking up the cross of Jesus Christ means that I don't hold the world to a higher standard; Rather, I hold myself to a higher standard regardless of what the world says or does to me. Yes, there will be ridicule, accusations, misunderstandings, anger, violence, and mockery. These are inevitable for the follower of Christ. This is no joke and was exemplified by the life and passion of our Lord and savior.

Secondly, this standard we are all called to as followers of Christ starts and ends in the church. It doesn't start in the church and point outward to the world. It doesn't pharisaically say, "now look at our righteousness and cower in your sinfulness". It doesn't force itself on those who think they have the answers to living. On the contrary, the church is called to hold each other, in the body, to this higher standard. The world will see the fruit of forgiveness, loving and judgmental Truth, and righteousness because it will be evident in us as we truly unify. As the scripture says, "they will know we are Christians by our love". You don't have to tell someone that a lifestyle is wrong. The lifestyle itself will find them out. God's law lives in the consequences of what we choose individually. Therefore, God alone judges through the natural order of things. We are either slaves to the natural order of God or slaves to death by living against that natural order.

Finally, the church is the lifeboat not the patrol boat. Human judgment never accomplishes anything and actually thwarts the mercy and grace of a loving God. Once the church recognizes that judgment starts and ends in the church, others will see the unity of the body of Christ and will want to be a part of it. Judgment, then, is within the body while forgiveness and love flow out of the body. This is the only way the world will ever come to recognize and crave the Christian lifestyle espoused by the church.

The Family Crest

I was reading "Decisions that Define us" by David Crone the night before a prophetic arts workshop I was going to attend the next day. I read how the author was in an antique book shop and saw a family crest with the words, "Non Inferiora Secutus", which is Latin for "Not having followed inferior things". The author was completely wrecked having seen this and had to hold on to something without collapsing from the weight of this message. He then vowed to make this his family's legacy. As a result, his family made rings with the initials NIS and this is the covenant they made. "The wearers of these rings covenant together to never walk in inferior goals, or settle for inferior character. Each will aspire, with the help of God and each other, to reach for the greatest good in all things pertaining to faith and life." My soul jumped inside me as I realized that I too wanted a family crest, words given to me from the Father, to inspire and transform my life and the lives of those around me. I put these words of the author at the front of my new journal for 2009. However, God whispered to me that I should leave a blank space on that page for what He was going to say to me about my identity.

The next day I attended the prophetic arts workshop with my son Skyler. We teamed up with someone we didn't know and were told to let the Holy Spirit speak to us about the other person. We were then instructed to draw what we felt the Holy Spirit was giving us in the way of a picture. This is the picture and interpretation given to me by Deb, a follower of Christ from Southpoint Church.

The interpretation reads as follows: I see a shield in your hand - the very shield of God's own hand-picked son. There is a sun in one quadrant for the light of God which you brighten every place you go. In another quadrant are the fiery licks of the Holy Spirit, moving in you. The third quadrant is of water; healing, soothing, and refreshing water. The last quadrant is empty - a vacancy in you that is willing for God to fill. How Blessed are you for such willing obedience. A vine of leaves grows straight with roots deep and twining tendrils reach out. Your faith is the roots. Your life fleshes out the leaves upon the vine; beautiful, life-giving, fragrant, delicious! The tendrils of new growth reach out to bless others with God's touch.

God is so amazing! He is so good! He is so beyond words! He is so beyond any actions of mine or ours! Not letting him into our little worlds is the greatest travesty of all! I am so blessed, humbled and empowered on a daily basis by the one who picked me.

Jesus chases out the gods (moneychangers) of my heart (temple)

NOTES TO LIVE BY

Paul Swearengin (11/2/08)-The River Church

-We’ve settled for the good (moral law in our country) and have forfeited the great (love others unconditionally and letting the love of Christ change their hearts-Matthew 22:17).
-We have given to Caesar what are God’s rather than humbling ourselves, praying, and letting the Holy Spirit do the work on hearts.
-Remember the example of the transvestite in San Francisco. Her purse was taken in front of a church and the people of that church showed the love of Jesus.

Gilbert Foster (11/9/08)-First Baptist Church, Reedley

-Kingdom values are the role of the church. The Kingdom of God has come. This is the good news!
-The good news is not a destination. It has substance for the here and now. We in the church are the primary agents for change.
-The kingdom of God is the range of God’s effective will where what God wants done is done – Dallas Willard.
-The Kingdom of God is an alternative that we live in. It is not a Christian version of Power for this world. Worldly systems are unified by their love of power. This Kingdom of God is unified by the power of love. The Kingdom of God is not a power movement but a love movement.
-“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
-Eric Fromm – “Being loved is not as great a need as loving.”

Ted Harder (11/9/08)-Church in the Basement (CITB), Reedley

-TIME TO VOTE WITH OUR LIVES 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR!
-The valley has a VICTIM SPIRIT that is, actually, the enemy of the HOLY SPIRIT. You know your believing a victim spirit when your crisis is bigger than your Christ.

-We need to become a habitation for His presence. The more I let God reside in my world, the more I understand His.

-When I learn to steward the presence, I get more done on accident than I do on purpose.
-Remember that every success and failure is qualified as steps closer to what God has for me. The only time I fail is when I don’t get up.

Hell

I've been grappling with this subject for some time now. I've received a comment from Nathaniel, Bruce, and Kevin regarding this issue and thought it would be nice to have an open dialogue in a forum like this. I hope we can all learn and grow through this space. I must say that I've been struggling with the whole concept of hell for the last year or so. I can't help but believe that hell is more a separation from God than an actual place. While I believe everything Christ did on the cross, i.e. atonement for sin, judgment, victory over Satan and death, I also believe that separation from God and His love is, basically, hell. I can't reasonably get my head around an actual place of fire and brimstone where unbelievers burn forever. How could such an eternity come close to actuating any sins a mortal could be guilty of during this lifetime. I can understand, however, that separation from God would mean separation from His favor, protection, order, love, and consistancy among other things. Not having these for all of eternity would be a hell. But can a believer reasonably believe that hell as a place can be justified for anyone other than Satan and his minions? I send this to all of you on my break because I'd like to hear the rebuttal. Additionally, I think it is sadly comical that many Christians get bent out of shape over peripheral concepts such as speaking in tongues, hell, bible translations, and others. The necessities of the faith are pretty basic when you come to think of it. I guess the main reason I am texting this to all of you is because Skyler is beginning to ask these questions and I want to be informed when it comes to answering these questions with my kids. Thanks