You Thought I Was Pro-Family? Ha!
Filed under: Bible, By John Stonecypher, Christian Living, Scripture Paraphrases, Trinity | Tags: Bible, Christian Living, Jesus, Matthew, Perichoresis, Trinity
Leave a Comment A Trinitarian Christ-centered paraphrase of Matthew 10.1-39
(10.1-25) This is it, guys. This is what you’ve trained for. You twelve guys have been with me all this time, and now I’m going to send you out to fly solo for the first time. Stay focused. Go to the Israelite towns first. We’ll go to the Gentiles in phase two, but it’s not time for that yet. Tell people the good news, that the Empire of Love has arrived. And don’t just tell them. SHOW them what the power of love can do. Don’t pack a bag; don’t even bring money. I want you to experience what it feels like to eat from Papa’s hand, day in, day out. If a town welcomes you and listens to you, great. But if they run you out of town, don’t stress about it. It’s not your fault. Their rejection will say more about them than about you. When the Catastrophe hits, they will think Sodom and Gomorrah got off easy. Remember, the rich and powerful will hate you, just like they’ve hated me. They will arrest you and beat you. Do the job in one city; when they kick you out, go to the next city. When the Catastrophe hits this generation (when the Son of Man comes to rule at the Father’s right hand), you Twelve will not have gotten to all of the cities in Israel yet.
(26) So yes, there are fearsome things going on. But believe me when I tell you they are not worthy of your fear. Your mission is to tell the truth, and truth is what these little Hitlers fear above all else. Truth is the only weapon you will have, and it is the only weapon you will need. (27) Speak it fearlessly. (28) Do not fear death. Men with guns can kill you, but they cannot defeat you. They cannot destroy you. Only your Father in heaven can do that. He is the only one worthy of your love or your fear. (29) Remember, Papa’s good will is inescapable. No tiny incident can happen outside of it, not even a little bird falling out of its nest. (30) Papa knows each hair on your head, (31) so don’t be afraid. You are at LEAST as well taken-care-of as a sparrow.
(32) When the Catastrophe hits, my enemies in Israel will experience the consequences of their actions, as is the destiny of all enemies of humanity. My Papa and I will not violate anyone by separating them from the results of their decisions. Because he is a good Papa, he never plays favorites with his kids. On that day, those who are willing to follow me openly will follow me to safety. (33) Those who are too ashamed to follow me to safety will remain in danger.
(34) I have not come to bring peace – at least not the kind of peace YOU’RE thinking of. Real peace comes at the cost of truth, and the truth is a sword that divides people according to who accepts it and who doesn’t. (35) Because I am bringing the truth out into the open, it will be “son against father, daughter against mother. (36) A man’s enemies will be those who live in his house.” (37) …What, you thought I was pro-family? Ha! Sure, I love family togetherness, but I what I love even more is ruthless honesty. Your family and friends may or may not be willing to join you in facing Reality, and your journey into truth may have to partly be a journey away from them. I am the Truth, and Truth is thicker than blood. Be clear about your choice. (38) Truth kills before it heals. If you’re not willing to face the pain, you’re not willing to follow me. (39) Those who seek after their vision of ‘the good life’ will miss out on life that is truly good. Life that is really good is found only by those who crucify their ambitions and seek after MY vision instead.
~ John Stonecypher
You’d Better Get Used to Being Human!
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Gospel, The Plan of Adoption | Tags: Ascension, Christmas, Gospel, Heaven, Incarnation, Jesus, Perichoresis, Resurrection
Comments (3) If you’re like me, and infested with a fallen human nature, that probably sounds negative and uninspiring at first, doesn’t it?
There is simply something about being human that we have been taught to disrespect, dishonor and not appreciate, regardless of Jesus and the scriptures (Psalm 8, Heb 1). Kermit the frog came close when he sung “It’s not easy being green!” Its not always easy being human! Plus, the rotten experiences we have had and are having in this flesh don’t seem to match up with the logic of wanting to remain human forever. After all, isn’t Christianity really about getting out of these human bodies and into a spiritual non-human body?
Where did you and I inherit poison like that? Christianity is absolutely NOT about not being human?! Just the opposite!
It’s about being truly human forever! It’s amazing to me how much I have missed this truth and, as a result, missed much more of the Kingdom here on earth NOW that the Father makes available in His Son Jesus and delights for me to share in with you!
I just had the wonderful opportunity of proclaiming this Good News at a local congregation of Grace Communion International in Baltimore, MD.! It is called New Life Fellowship, and I think you would love visiting there if you ever got the chance! They are alive and well in Jesus AND learning to celebrate their humanity NOW! “Wowsa” and “Good gravy!” Go Baltimore! They invited me up for International Day where we celebrated the fact that all of us will be human forever, and that all of the distinct expressions, colors, races, and general ethnic cultures and foods we love to eat will still exist in the resurrection!
Check out this set of verses in the Scriptures in The Message version of the Bible: Luke 2:27-52, Luke 24:36-48, listen to the message here (soon!), and claim this wonderful truth in Jesus:
Jesus was born as, lived in, died as, and was resurrected and ascended to His Father as the Jewish God/Man that originally came on the scene!
Notice in Luke 24 how he keeps exclaiming that it is Him, Jesus, Who has Resurrected and is the Resurrection? “Look at MY hands and my feet!”, he exclaims! “Ghosts do not have muscle and bone as I have!” He remarks! “Do you have some of my favorite food, fish? Give me some! I want to gobble it up and eat it to show you how human I still am in my FOREVER resurrection…AND HOW HUMAN YOU WILL BE IN YOUR FOREVER RESURRECTION WITH ME WHEN HEAVEN COMES TO EARTH!” (Rev 21:1-4)
Do you see what Jesus is doing in His own permanently human body? (Acts 1:1-11)
He is validating YOUR culture! Your Distinct Expression! Your Music! Your Favorite Dance! Your Favorite Food! Your Nationality! Your color of Eyes! Your DIFFERENTLY shaped ears, nose, mouth and body shape!! (Ha-Ha! I can hear many of you groaning as you debate the fact that maybe your current weight and looks are REALLY acceptable to God and may not change as much as you currently desire IN YOUR SINFUL PERCEPTIONS OF YOURSELF!!!Ha-Ha! I’m with you in that struggle!)
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to literally and exactly describe how you will look in the resurrection!
I’m lost about the old vs. the young thing, too! Neither am I trying to give more answers than raise questions. I’m not! I am trying to be faithful to the Gospel – Jesus – and the Jewish and human HIM he took seriously AND resurrected! So much so that in His human self he keeps saying, “It is me!” and they (his disciples) recognized HIM as himself!
Sure your body will be raised incorruptible, and YES, everything that is not truly human in you and is broken in your body will be fixed and made right! BUT, what is “right?” I don’t think a large nose, ears, or belly are necessarily wrong or broken in every case, do you?! Don’t we even say as fallen humans that “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder”? And don’t we REALLY know that and mean it when we say it? Ha-Ha! Where does that come from if not from the Triune God in Whom we are all created and sustained in our distinction and union, and Who loves us UNCONDITIONALLY?
Imagine eating something that tastes as delicious as YOUR favorite dessert, candy, chocolate snacks or wine forever; with a vitalized tongue that tastes even more of the sweet goodness?! And think of the weight you won’t gain or have to lose, regardless!! Ha-Ha! Heaven!! This is the way we are supposed to be reading the scriptures in the Light of Jesus Christ (Luke 24:41-43).
So enjoy the foretaste, literally!
The Baltimore congregation and I did as we feasted on those many international dishes! Boy do I look forward to “eating to bursting” WITHOUT BURSTING in my forever resurrected and incorruptible human being! Good Gravy – for REAL! Thank you Jesus – I, for one, LOVE IT!!
~ by Timothy Brassell
Potential?
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Evangelism, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Christianity, Grace, Jesus, Perichoresis, Salvation, Theology, Trinity
Comments (4) Is Jesus the Savior of the world or does he merely create the potential for salvation?
A lot of theologies say “if you believe in Jesus then you will belong to him and then you will become a child of the Father.” In these theologies it is not Jesus that makes us children of the Father – it is our own belief.
Belief then becomes the work by which we get ourselves adopted and save ourselves.
In such theologies Jesus is not our Adoption and he is not our Savior. Jesus is the one who creates the potential for adoption and the potential for salvation, but it is human decision that causes adoption and salvation to take place. In such theologies salvation is not by grace. Rather, it is the potential of salvation that is by grace, while the actual accomplishment of salvation is by the human work of belief.
Yet neither the Bible or the Creeds of the Church ever call Jesus the “Potential Savior.”
He is simply called The Savior and The One through whom humanity is adopted as children of the Father. Any theology of Jesus that is going to be rooted in the Bible and the historic teaching of the Church has to first and foremost proclaim Jesus as “The Savior of all humanity” and then secondly say that he is “especially The Savior of all who believe.” (1 Tim. 4:10.)
First the Son of God adopted humanity into the life of the Trinity as children of the Father, and saved us from sin and death, and then we began to believe as the Spirit shared with us the faith of Jesus.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Paul Mad! Paul Smash!
Filed under: Bible, By John Stonecypher, Gospel, Scripture Paraphrases | Tags: Bible, Christianity, Galatians, Gospel, Grace, Jesus, Trinity
Leave a Comment A Trinitarian Christ-centered paraphrase of Galatians 1
(NOTE: My pastors are preparing to preach through Galatians, and they’ve asked me to write a paraphrase for them to use. But I’ll get back to Romans soon, I promise! – JS)
From: BroPaul [mailto:paul@apostles.org, SMTP:jesus.trinity.div/resurrected=TRUE; father.trinity.div=TRUE; mail.human.gov=FALSE];
To: All Users (Galatia) [mailto:AllUsers@galatia.trinity.div]
Subject: RE: Eating lunch next to people with non-surgically-altered wangs
(3) Hey guys, I hope this message finds you feeling secure and relaxed in our Papa’s warm embrace. I hope you are feeling the soul-peace of Master Jesus, (4) who has set the human race free by injecting his own glorious self into our darkness, pain, and death. This was the mission given to him by his Papa, (5) OUR Papa of boundless joy and strength forever.
(6) Okay, enough of pleasantries. On to business…
I am SO pissed-off about what I am hearing about you — that you are abandoning reality, that you’ve given up on the gospel. WTF!?! You’ve turned your back on THE STORY of how Jesus has included us in his life with Papa in the Spirit. Instead you have cast yourself as a character in another story altogether, (7) a story that ends in tragedy, a story that’s not even true! Some Used-Religion salesmen have come to sell you lemon-gospels about who you are and who God is, and YOU BOUGHT IT!!!
(8) How could you let this happen?!? It’s wonderful to have an open mind, but that doesn’t mean letting any old schmuck fill your brain with toxic waste! You know better than to ever let ANYONE do that. You know the gospel; you know it in your SOUL. Don’t you let anyone take that away from you, EVER. Even if I myself come to you and tell you things that contradict the gospel, do NOT listen to me! If a freakin’ ANGEL materializes in your midst and starts telling you lies while fanning you with his wings, don’t listen to him either! (9) The gospel is the gospel, and that’s that. If someone tries to convince you that you have to earn Papa’s embrace, do NOT let their delusion become yours. SCREW THAT.
(10) I know these are harsher words than you are used to hearing from me, but right now I don’t care whether you like what I say or not. I’m not going to just tell you whatever you want to hear. If I cared what people thought of me, I’d have to serve someone other than Jesus.
(11) Guys, I want you to understand where I’m coming from, so I’m going to tell you the story of my journey with the gospel, (12) the good news I received not from any mere human storyteller, but from Master Jesus himself.
(13) Of course you already know of my earlier life of militant religiosity. Back then, my whole life was my jihad against the Jesus freaks. (14) I was a religious Superman, head and shoulders above everyone. I was an on-fire spirit-filled Bible-thumping prayer warrior: “Gimme dat old-time re-lig-ion, it’s good e-nuff for me!”
(15) But my Papa had different plans for me. Out of the sheer kindness of his great heart, he invited me onto a new journey with him. (16) He revealed his Son to me, so that I could tell the whole world about him.
But notice what I did at that point: Contrary to what you may have heard, I did NOT go ask somebody to confirm what Papa had revealed to me. (17) I didn’t go up to Jerusalem to see if the “super-apostles” agreed with me. Instead, I headed straight into the Arabian desert, and then after my time there, I returned to my home in Damascus. (18) And only then, after three years did I take a trip to Jerusalem for a chat with Peter. I stayed with him for 2 weeks, (19) and in that time I didn’t see anybody else except for Jesus’ brother James. (20) I swear to God, this is the truth. (21) Then I went to Syria and Cilicia, (22) but the churches in Judea still had no idea who I was. (23) All they knew was the rumor: “That guy who was trying to destroy the faith is now preaching it!” (24) People were grateful and amazed at what Papa had done with me.
~ John Stonecypher
Be Encouraged: Part of Your Problem is Simply Infancy!
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Boxing, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Jesus, Muhammad Ali, Perichoresis, Spirituality, Theology, Trinity
Comments (4) 
If you are much of a sportsman, or have at least watched much TV in the last 40 years, you probably recognize the man holding the baby in this picture!
That’s right – it’s “The Greatest”, former world famous heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Muhammad Ali! The “little” infant baby that most of you probably do not recognize in this picture is Michael Brassell, otherwise known as my 4th youngest brother, Mike.
Can you believe it?
Before he could think about it much, barely say “da-da”, or even appreciate it (by the almost-in-tears-get-me-outta-here look on his face!), Mike was sitting in the lap of, and being embraced by, “The Greatest!” Ha-Ha! I can see the Gospel lights going on in your head as you see where I am headed!
Though I have seen this picture many times in my life, it was sent to me by one of my aunts just yesterday in order for me to format in a special way and send off to my brother Mike. Mike is being prepared to be interviewed in New York with a producer who wants to hear more about our famous dad Rufus Brassell and see some pictures. Of course, Mike, is very excited to talk about our father, a former heavyweight boxer and champion in his own right, and the wonderful experiences he got to share in because of my dad’s relationship with exciting figures such as Muhammad.
In the light of Jesus Christ as the One in whom all people are adopted and included in his relationship with his Father, in the Communion of the Spirit, I couldn’t help but see in this picture a part of the problem we have in receiving the Good News.
In a word, Infancy!
This should be a source of Gospel encouragement to most of us! In part, it explains some of the problems you have in grasping theology and its “simple”, but also sometimes complex explanations and implications.
In other words, you aren’t always misunderstanding the Good News of the Gospel because you are a “simpleton”, “idiot”, “not smart”, “theologically dumb”, or “one whose elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor” or any of the many other negative things we and others say that go against the Truth of our real selves in Christ! Part of the problem is that we are simply still too young to understand the full implications of profound truths.
The Gospel and scriptures say that all of humanity (including YOU), is seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6), and yet it is admittedly very hard to receive that Truth considering what most of us have been taught most of our lives about God. The Good News of humanity’s adoption into the life of the Trinity is as hard to receive as my brother above is finding it hard to receive that he is being embraced by, and sitting in the lap of, “The Greatest!” And for some of the same reasons in my opinion. Mike, simply, is not having or hearing it in his infancy!
Now, this doesn’t mean that Mike is not sitting there in the lap of “The Greatest!”, because we can all see that he is!
It’s not that it isn’t exciting to sit in the lap of the greatest, because NOW Mike is excited about it, loving it up and sharing his real experience with others, PROUDLY! But what has changed, causing him to smile about it now versus cry about it then? He’s gone from infancy to being grown-up!
What is going on in the picture is really simple…for grown-ups! Mike is sitting in the lap of greatness – lucky duck!; but not in Mike’s opinion at the time. He was simply too young to realize what was going on, (although we know from scientific fact that the most important thing was going on in Mike seeing that he was somewhere between 1 and 3 years old. It is between those ages that I hear tell we learn and pick up more than we ever will for the rest of our natural lives.) In a certain way, Mike was learning more about Muhammad than he could ever speak!
It is the same for you and me! What is going on in the big picture of our lives is really simple…for grown-ups like Jesus!
In Him, you and I are sitting in the lap of greatness – lucky ducks!; but not always in our opinion. We’re simply too young to realize what is really going on, (although we know from the fact of the Holy Spirit sent to all men that the most important thing is going on within us, seeing that we are the Father’s adopted children in Jesus! It is during this age that I hear tell we are learning and picking up more than we realize! John 16:12-15!)
Considering that we were all born again and included in the Life of the Trinity in Jesus just a little over 2000 years ago, I think it is fair to think of ourselves as infants! Ha! I mean, if Peter can say through simile that one thousand years with man is as one day with God the Trinity, then we are potentially only a couple days old in a certain manner of speaking! Ha-Ha! No wonder we don’t always grasp the Good News so easily!
But just as my dad Rufus in his relationship with us, and Muhammad Ali, shared the picture of this truth with Mike and all the rest of his family until we could grow up, receive and believe it, Jesus will share with YOU His Relationship with all things till you grow up, receive and believe it!
Phil 3:15
Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you.
~ by Timothy Brassell
Flash Forward
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Ascension, Flash Forward, Gospel, Jesus, Perichoresis, Resurrection, Trinity
Comments (5) What if you could catch a glimpse of your future? That’s the premise of a new TV show called Flash Forward.
I’ve watched the first three episodes and it’s not too bad, if you like sci-fi stories. The premise is that everyone in the world blacks out at the same moment and stays out for a couple of minutes. While they’re out each person sees himself or herself a few months in the future and sees whatever they will be doing at that precise future moment.
Some people see themselves at work, some at home, some in the bathroom, etc. Each person now has to decide whether he believes that the flash forward is accurate and, if so, what he will do with this information.
I think I see a parallel with the gospel.
In the resurrection and ascension of Jesus every person that lives has been given a flash forward of his or her destiny. To see the last Adam, Jesus Christ, resurrected in his glorified humanity and ascended to the Father’s right hand is to see what our Father in heaven has planned for everyone of us. As St. Paul says:
As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ~ 1 Cor. 15:22
The Father “raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6) so that we now have a vision of ourselves “hidden with Christ in God” so that when Christ appears we also “will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4.)
Like the people in the TV show we have a decision to make.
Is this vision of our future that we have been given in Jesus – this flash forward to what we will be one day – true or not true? And if it is true, is it a good thing or a bad one? And if it is good or bad, what difference does it make in the decisions and choices we make today?
If this flash forward of humanity’s future in Christ is true and good, then it is the best news we could ever receive. It is the news that our future is secure and our destiny as the Father’s children in Jesus is ultimately a bright and beautiful destiny.
I for one believe it.
~ Jonathan Stepp
The Mind at War with the Body – OH GOOD!
Filed under: Bible, By John Stonecypher, Christian Living, Gospel, Scripture Paraphrases, Trinity | Tags: Bible, Christian Living, Gospel, Jesus, Perichoresis, Romans, Trinity
Comments (6) A Trinitarian Christ-centered paraphrase of Romans 7.24 – 8.11)
(7.24) I am miserable! I am stuck! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (25) Who? Jesus, that’s who. Through him I shout Hallelujah! It is true that my body still lives under the boot of darkness, because my body is still out-of-touch with the real world. But my MIND has now made contact with REALITY. Because my mind knows that Jesus is Lord, I have begun to come alive under his blessed rule.
(8.1) Do you realize what this means?!? My out-of-touch bodily behaviors are no longer earning me the wage of death! We have already earned that wage, and in Master Jesus, we have already been paid in full! Our actions no longer condemn us to eternal death, because we have already died! Our death sentence has already been carried out! Jesus knows this, and to share in his knowledge is to experience his freedom from the burden of condemnation and shame. (2) For the living Spirit of Master Jesus has set us free from the oppression of darkness and death. (3) Papa has now done what Torah wanted to do (but couldn’t because of the weakness of our flesh). By injecting his own Son into our diseased human-ness, he both destroyed the disease AND absorbed the death sentence that resulted from it. (4) He did this to fulfill Torah’s desire — abundant human life. This desire is fulfilled in US as our bodies learn to follow the Spirit in living according to reality.
(5) If we choose to preoccupy our minds with our bodily appetites and urges, then we will continue behaving in ways that seek to satisfy those appetites. But if we choose instead to occupy our minds with the Holy Spirit’s desire for goodness/truth/ beauty, then we will begin to behave in ways that satisfy THOSE desires. (6) The path to death is the mind set on the satisfaction of bodily urges. The path to life and peace is the mind set on the fulfillment of the Spirit’s desires. (7) The mind obsessed with bodily self-gratification is hostile to Papa. It does not listen to him; indeed it cannot. (8) To manage your mind in this way is to fight against Papa’s dreams for you.
(9) But YOUR mind is NOT obsessed with self-gratification. YOUR mind is set instead on the SPIRIT’S obsession with abundant life. The Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit, and as you grow in belief, he is more and more expressing himself in your bodily behaviors as well. The point is that the Holy Spirit HAS your mind, and your body will follow. It is GOOD that your inner self is at war with your outer self. It means you have begun to heal! It is much worse for those whose mind and body are united in opposition to Jesus and his Spirit. They have a long and painful road ahead of them.
(10) But YOU are already well on your way down that road. Master Jesus has already conquered your mind, and your body is next! Yes, your body still languishes in darkness and death, but your spirit is alive with the rightness of Jesus! (11) His Spirit is dwelling in you and expressing the Triune Life in you. Remember, this is the Spirit of him who raised Jesus’ body from the dead. You can trust him to raise YOUR body too!
~John Stonecypher
Jesus Sure Loves Standing in Line at Radio Shack
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Bible, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Gospel, Jesus, Perichoresis, Trinity
Comments (6) And he is far too patient for my blood (Well he used to be anyway!)
You should have been there and experienced him WITH ME for almost three hours! It was a nightmare (sorry Jesus, I meant a relational dream!)
Did you hear me?! Almost three hours in line at a Radio Shack on a Friday evening that still has my knees screaming “Impossible!! Never again!”
I know it had to be Jesus because I would never have personally stood in a line waiting on service at Radio Shack for three hours apart from him! I most certainly wouldn’t have tried to make things easier for Alonzo (the employee who was helping me out as best he could with an obviously inefficient computer system and phone updating process!)
As the hours went by, you should have seen Jesus smile through me at all the other people that came in!!
He even used my lips and eyes to greet them, even when they weren’t looking at me! He also had the audacity to share his thoughts with me that not only was I gazing upon Radio Shack employees and customers, but that I was also gazing upon my adopted brothers and sisters in him and that joining him in his prayers for each one of them surely wouldn’t hurt, and would help, as I passed the long time away!
Looking for a reason to snap at someone during that frustrating time, I tried to find meanness in a Radio Shack employee named A.J.’s face!
If I could see even slightly a not-so-nice demeanor then I could have more justification for being angry and blowing up while I stood in that line. But nooooooooooooo, it wasn’t to be with Jesus. As I saw A.J. fiddle with his fancy Blackberry phone Jesus thought it would be better to ask him what kind of phone he had, and for the next half hour help me learn a lot of good things about phones while relating with one of his nicest adopted brothers on the Radio Shack block!
Then, 3 or 4 other customers happened to come in and stand in line behind me!
Boy were they in for aching feet, too, because my situation was more troublesome and complex than they would have believed! For a minute that made me feel good! I mean GREAT! Now I wouldn’t have to suffer the waiting game “alone”, plus, it was possible that our combined and impatient waiting pressures would force Alonzo to push my situation along more swiftly! But noooooooooooo! It was not to be with Jesus! While Alonzo waited on the phone to get more help for me, Jesus happened to share with him his tremendous multi-tasking ability. You should have seen him wait on hold, answer another phone line AND ring up those other customers ahead of me! And yet even more of Jesus’ friendliness through me! To my amazement I found Jesus saying through me, “Go right ahead of me, no problem! My situation is going to be awhile and there’s no need for you to wait! My pleasure!” My pleasure??????!!!! Is Jesus kidding me???
2 hours later my knees and weakened back were SCREAMING and about ready to conk out, and my feet were ready to run out of that store when Jesus whispered to me, “This is an OPPORTUNITY to share in my life and build even more patience! Tim, don’t storm out and risk offending Alonzo who is trying to help you with all of his mind and strength! Strengthen him with my consideration, courage and presence! He’s my son and I love him too! Why don’t you pray for Tina over there. You’ve observed what a tough time she’s been having not getting proper customer service because of the emphasis on profits and not people in this store culture! Pray for Clif, the store manager too, cause you can get a sense of the tension he’s under trying to serve the customer and the misaligned system of the Radio Shack business culture! Admire my patience, self-control and patience in Tina, pray for Clif’s education in the Good News, and continue to remember how hopeful this situation is because I live in all of you!”
Alright Jesus, but not a half-hour more, cause surely I can’t take it!
AND thank Jesus it was only about a half hour more and I was with him out the door and in my car speeding home!! BUT, not before watching Jesus extend my hand towards Alonzo, THANKING HIM for his diligent and thorough service toward me, AND, looking for A.J. to tell him “Take care and see you later (as if I really would go back to that place!)” Ha-Ha! Of course I’ll go back – I am too much of a gadget junkie, and the store is too convenient for my lazy traveling bones!
I hope you haven’t misunderstood the title of this post!
Jesus was with me in Radio Shack, and believe me, I don’t think he REALLY liked how much my back and knees were hurting! BUT, while he was standing in line with me, Jesus surely was loving on me and all the others in Radio Shack with me! NOT “Jesus Loves Standing in Line”, but, Jesus LOVES (while) Standing in Line!
And if Jesus was with me in that long line at Radio Shack, Who is that loving with you in the long line at Wal-Mart? The bank? Traffic? The grocery store? The amusement park? The concert?
I think we now know Who!
~ Timothy Brassell
An Evening Stroll
Filed under: Bible, By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Fiction, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Bible, Christian Living, Christianity, Jesus, Miracles, Perichoresis, Trinity
Comments (8) He stands on the beach in the dark and stares across the wild, windswept lake. The moon is hidden behind the clouds of the storm. Dawn is still a few hours away. The pounding of the surf and the crash of the tempest driven waves are the only sounds.
A deep breath, pulling in the scent of the fresh rain and the howling wind. He’s been praying since sundown, alone on the hill top. He feels better now. John is still dead, that obviously can’t be changed, but he has a peace about it he didn’t have before. Like yesterday’s red sky, John’s death can only be a sign of a coming storm. And yet here he stands, in the midst of the storm prophesied by yesterday’s red sky and it’s not so bad after all. Maybe the tempest to come after John won’t be as bad it seems now. The anticipation of fear is always worse than the fear itself.
Well, no one knows what tomorrow brings but he knows he can rest in the Father’s love. That love, that embrace, that assurance pouring into his soul through the filling of the Holy Spirit – that’s what kept him on his knees all night, even after the others had gone on ahead without him. And as he stares out at the crashing waves in the storm, and the specter of storms to come lingers in the back of his mind, it is that baptism of the Father’s assurance through the Spirit that gives him peace. He is loved. His future is secure. And not only his future, but the future of everyone he loves. And even the future of his enemies. The Father has embraced it all.
And then the still, small voice: “Walk out on the water.” What?
“Dad, is that you?” he asks. Again, the Spirit’s voice resonates in his soul, “go ahead, it’ll be fun – one for the books – the night you walked on the water.” He doesn’t need to hear it a third time. He only does what he sees his Father doing and he can clearly see that his Father is doing this.
A few brisk, long strides out into – no, wait, onto – the water and he is really doing it. The water crashes all around him, it’s like trying to climb up an enormous mound of hay with everything shifting constantly under him – but somehow he keeps his balance. Climbing two, three, even four feet up the face of the waves and then back down into the trough behind the wave. It’s like walking through an incredibly convoluted field of desert sand. His feet, his legs get soaked by the rising and falling waves of the lake but he never sinks.
“Wow, Dad, I am actually walking on the freakin’ water!” he prays. “Something so amazing, silly, and inspiring at the same time.” He can feel the Spirit’s empowerment, right down through his skin and flesh to his bones – somehow, miraculously, making him less dense than the water. He can feel the Father’s love embracing him – somehow, miraculously, holding him up so that his feet touch, but never sink below, the surface.
And now the moon at last breaks out from behind the clouds. The rain fades away but the wind keeps blowing. In a pool of flickering light he can see the others in the boat, straining with all their might to row against the waves. He laughs out loud, “they are going to jump right out of their skins when they see this!”
He wonders: How much do they already know that they are in him and he is in them? How much do they see that they are also embraced in the Father’s love? Can any of them see that all of this, the Father’s love, the Spirit’s empowerment, the walking on the water, includes them?
Only one way to find out: walk up to the boat and see if anyone wants to join him.
A Minority Party in My Body
Filed under: By John Stonecypher, Christian Living, Gospel, Trinity | Tags: Bible, Christian Living, Jesus, Perichoresis, Romans, Trinity
Comments (3) (A Trinitarian, Christ-centered paraphrase of Romans 7.6-25a)
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NOTE: For Romans 5.20 – 7.6 , see the October issue of THE ADOPTED LIFE.
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(7.6) Now that Torah has fulfilled its function, we are free from it. Now we are bound not to words on page but to new life in the Spirit.
(7) Does that mean Torah is bad? Absolutely not! Torah is what brought me face to face with MY OWN badness. For example, Torah said “You will not salivate over other people’s stuff,” and that was the day I became aware of my own covetous drooling. (8) Not only that, but my sick soul responded by making me salivate even MORE. Without rules, rule-breaking has no life. (9) I was alive without rules, once upon a time. But when the rules came, the rule-breaker in me stirred to life (10) and destroyed me. Because of the darkness inside me, the Torah code of life-enhancing boundaries only intensified my experience of deadness. (11) My darkness twisted the light of Torah into just more darkness and death.
(12) Torah is beautiful; its commands are true and just and good. (13) Am I saying that a good thing destroyed me? Not at all! It was the darkness within me that used good things to create more darkness. All of this just exposes sin for what it really is. Provoked by the commandment, the darkness intensifies, and all the shades of gray go straight to black.
(14) Torah addresses issues that spring from my innermost self, my mind, my spirit. But the problem is that my outer self (my body) is firmly dominated by old sinful patterns. (15) I don’t understand my behavior sometimes. I don’t do what I love to do; instead I do the things I hate. (16) When my behavior is out of control, it is true that external rules and restrictions can be a helpful part of the healing process. (17) But the fact is that when I sin, it is not my true self. It is my false self, the fleshly echo of the person I used to be. (18) In my flesh is ingrained a lifetime of accumulated nasty habits. I may want to behave in a healthier way, but I cannot simply wish my way out of the old ruts. I am stuck! (19) I want to behave in healthy ways but I don’t. Instead, I behave in unhealthy ways, even though I don’t want to.
(20) My body (my outer self) does things my spirit (my inner self) does not want. My behavior is being driven not by my true self, but by a kind of ‘muscle memory.’ My body is simply doing what I have spent a lifetime conditioning it to do. (21) Whenever I want to do good, the evil inside me is always there to offer its ‘better ideas.’ (22) My mind votes for the Triune way of goodness, (23) my body votes for something else, and my body seems to win every single election. I’m stuck as a powerless minority party in my own body! (24) I am miserable! I am stuck! Who will rescue me from this body of death?!?
(25a) Who? Jesus, that’s who. Through him I shout Hallelujah!
~ John Stonecypher
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COMMENTARY FROM JOHN:
In this passage we see a classic image that both Paul and Jesus use a lot — the war between the inner and outer self. The Pharisees were so careful to clean the outside of the cup while ignoring the inside, so Jesus told them that if they washed the inside, the outside would take care of itself. This is plain to anyone who has ever washed dishes. Paul most often speaks of this in terms of his spirit versus his flesh. His spirit is his inside self, which he often equates with his mind [See Rom 7.23,25], and his flesh refers to his body, his actual behaviors performed by his muscles or ‘members.’
Both Jesus and Paul are dealing with the difficulties that arise from the way our behaviors become automatic after a certain number of repetitions. When I was one year old, I had to think hard about how to walk. But soon, all of that became automatic. My brain and muscles know how to walk, and I don’t have to think about it consciously any more. It’s like riding in a cart pulled by a horse who knows the way home.
This subconscious knowledge is what philosopher Michael Polanyi called ‘tacit knowledge.’ It’s the thought/behavior patterns that are so ingrained that they allow us to do more and more complex things. For example, I have come to know my car so well that I can say that I can “feel the road” beneath me. I am not thinking about how the car seat feels on my butt. I am feeling the road THROUGH the car. In a way, the car itself has become part of my body.
Polanyi’s philosophy is important in the theology of Thomas F. Torrance (In fact, Polanyi chose Torrance to be the executor of his intellectual estate). The challenge of repentance is that we must repent of thoughts that have become subconscious or ‘tacit.’ Our ‘tacit knowledge’ of the gospel becomes part of us; it becomes the eyes through which we read the Bible. Through our ‘tacit gospel,’ we feel the scriptures, just like how I can feel the road through my car seat.
Torrance taught me that my tacit gospel was crap, and that was why I couldn’t see a good God in the Bible. My warped eyes had distorted the Bible and its God. Our task today is to uncover and repent of tacit gospels that are not gospels at all. And then to return to the scriptures with eyes shaped by the real good news.
These paraphrases are my own attempt to do just that.