Disclaimer: Ironic as I hate disclaimers. . . . . .

I felt that this was necessary in light of a previous post that got some folks riled up.

This blog is a blog. Blogs as blogs go are peoples opinions, just as books are the way authors share opinions, and orators share their opinions via vocal communication.

This blog is MY own personal opinion. The opinions expressed in this blog are not necessarily the opinions of anyone I know or associate with but yet at the same time the folks I associate with may agree with them and support them. Nevertheless, these are my opinions.

My opinions expressed herein are based on hours of studying Gods word, and pondering its application to my life.

I tend to write this blog with an authoritative tone, but that is not because I have figured it out, or have the corner on truth, but because I am expressing my opinion as God has revealed His word to me personally. This leaves way for you to have your personal assumptions and me to have mine. That also means that if you and I disagree, on a non-sin issue, I have no room to judge you, and you have no room to judge me either.

Furthermore this lays a large burden on YOU the reader. As with anything you read or hear, you cannot base it solely on the perceived character of the person expressing his view. You must compare what he has to say with God's word and go from there.

My intent of this Blog is not to be the Holy Spirit, but to share how God is moulding me more and more like His Son. As I said before, my opinions won't always be right, but I will always base my opinions on Scripture, and would expect that if you differ from my opinion that your opinions also be based on Scripture not cultural norms, ecclesiastical, or familial expectations.

My only desire is to share with you what God has laid on my heart. There will be times where you don't agree and that is fine. There will be times when we do agree. That's great! But all that said, this blog is my opinion of how God expects me to live. If this Blog can benefit you, I ask you to read it. If you don't care for it, don't waste your time, and I won't waste yours.

The Radical Life is about sharing what God has laid on your heart, not tiptoeing around sensitive issues. As Christians we must be bold, and willing to share what God has shown us, ensuring that we don't play the role of the Holy Spirit. It isn't our job. Allowing God to do what He does, is a critical part of living the Radical Life.

When the Whole World is Against You

WOW It has been a while! It has been just over a month since I last posted.

A lot has happened since then. Life certainly takes you for twists and turns that you don't expect. Its not like it was one thing, rather a conglomeration of garbage that just kept piling up.

Last month Elissa was starting her transition to working with me full time and quitting her job. Her scheduled end date was right around Thanksgiving which was also the busy time of the month for my job. This coupled with Elissa's vehicle that broke down 2 hours from home at 4pm the night before Thanksgiving and the fact that we need two vehicles for work compounded the issues. A week later my car had to get fixed and we weren't planning on that. A few weeks later we ended up having to put winter tires on my car because my others were bald. Around 2 weeks ago we had a dog get sick, and had to send her to the vet to eventually put her down. Put that on top of sickness and various other Christmas activities, and it certainly would seem like the entire world is against you.

All in all, I think we spent around $4000 in unexpected expenses last month, so that bit into the savings and bummed us out quite a bit. Nothing seemed to go right at all. We just couldn't get ahead.

Last night as I was driving back from Michigan from a friends wedding, I had a dawning of realization. "Its not about you."
While the issues did focus around me, for some reason God had a plan and a purpose. The verse that kept coming to my mind was Isaiah 55:8 where it says, ""For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD."

How many times do we think that Gods way should be our way. We complain that God isn't working everything out for our good.

The fact is that God doesn't have to stoop to our whims. It is that simple. Life isn't about us. Its about Him.

I don't know why Elissa and I had such a financially and emotionally draining month, but I know that for some reason it is for God's glory.

Living the radical life is about waiting on God and allowing him to work and orchestrate life, and realizing that even the bad things happen for a purpose. Only when we embrace that thought can we truly live a Radical Life.

Thought of the Day: How often do we take the Lord's name in vain?

This may seem like a silly question but I do not think it is.

Every day, if we are Christians, we are bombarded with worldly people and media who always seem to be taking the Lord's name in vain. I can't think of a sin that hurts me more. But as I said in a previous post, we can't expect the world to conform to Godly principles so we are left with the choice to either put up with it or not expose ourselves to it. Either option is a good option depending on the situation.

Think about this though. How often to YOU take the Lord's name in vain?

Using the Lord's name in vain is not just saying "Oh _____!" when something goes wrong or you get excited. That IS taking the Lords name in vain but you already knew that. Taking the Lords name in vain also means simply being irreverent or not placing the proper regard when saying that name.

I'm not sure about you, but I find that rather heavy. The ramifications of this mean that when we aren't consciously referring to the Lord we should not be saying His name. What do I mean by this?

Take the example of singing. Granted this may not be that most theologically sound but I can almost imagine God sitting in heaven listening to the millions of believers worshiping Him. He's hearing His name called over and over again describing how great He is. As He is intently listening, He hears me saying His name. He acknowledges me addressing him but I'm busy thinking about lunch.

How often do we stand in church singing, when our mind runs amuck and we are all of a sudden thinking about lunch. This song talks about God and mentions Him a few times. The issue is that we did not address Him with the reverence that He deserves. We seemed to think that the ham in the oven was more important than directly addressing God.

The same example can be seen from an earthly standpoint. If a child mindlessly calls out their fathers name but doesn't really want them how does that make him feel? We serve a God who is so much more deserving than our earthly parents.

We cannot just pointlessly utter the name of God. We must be aware every time we say it. We must recognize who we are addressing. Understanding the majesty and the wonder of who God really is, is a priority to living the Radical Life.

I am your Holy Spirit (at least I seem to think I am)

For some reason believers have a burr under their saddle.

Two times this last week I heard Christians chastising non-Christians to act like Christians. You all know what I am talking about.

It all starts off with a non-Christian making a comment that includes a swear or another "bad" word. It may be in the work place or maybe on Facebook. It then commences with the "Christian" flying off the handle and saying that people don't deserve to be friends with them if they use that language.

First off, HOW DARE YOU! What are you trying to prove, Christian? Why are you expecting a non-believer to act like a believer. You seem to think that that "friend" has to earn your friendship by non saying certain things because you don't like them.

The same applies to the music your "friends" listen to, the other "friends" your "friend" has, and the other entertainment that person partakes in.

Scripture says "By their fruits ye shall know them." What do you think will be accomplished by forcing these people to bear fruit? Simply stated you are attempting to cover up your insecurities by forcing them to comply with your man made rules.

When you force non believers into conforming you are making it harder to spot the real believers.

Furthermore, you are also causing believers to rely on being hypocritical. What do I mean by that? You are saying that you put on the fruit and then the heart will follow. That's a ludicrous proposition let alone NON-scriptural. How do you expect to see growth in a person's life when they have always relied on showing a good front?

The Radical life isn't about forcing the people around you to conform. I'll be the first one to become heart broken when I hear someone take my Lords name in vain, but I'll also immediately pray "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." As much as it hurts they don't know what they are doing. You cannot expect a non-believer to understand what they are doing.

The Radical Life is about allowing the Spirit to work not you being someone's Holy Spirit. Stop expecting people to conform. They don't need to. They don't have any accountability. They don't need it. They aren't saved.

That's what it is all about. Use discernment and use grace. Your testimony and your reaction to people is what matters and is what defines living the Radical Life.

When is "Mega" not really "Mega" at all?

A week ago I had the opportunity to travel down to Lynchburg, VA with a church group to the campus of Liberty University. It was a great trip but one of the highlights of the excursion was the opportunity to attend a Sunday morning service at Thomas Road Baptist Church pastored by Jonathan Falwell.

As we pulled into the parking lot I was amazed by the size of the lot. There were probably 1000+ spaces. Many of these places were taken but we were fortunate enough to be able to park in visitor parking.

As we made our way into the building I was struck by the size. Inside were welcome centers, a book store and a coffee shop. This area which they had named Main St. was longer that a football field and probably 50 feet wide was complete with lounge chairs and other places for folks to fellowship.

The sanctuary itself was a sight to behold, having enough capacity to put my house right up on the stage. This room seats 6000 people comfortably in a service.

I must admit going into this service I was quite a skeptic. I had been to "Mega" churches before. One church I attended in SC had nearly 5000 people at it and that was a terrible experience. First I didn't know what to expect at Thomas Road. I figured the service would be as impersonal as it could be seeing as how there were thousands of people seated around me.

First up in the service was the Worship Team leading the first song. It was upbeat praise music, doctrinally sound, and edifying. Plus 1 for that. Next they had a Baptism. Yes that's right. Sunday Morning 11:10am in the middle of a morning service they had a Baptism. The Baptizee(Google couldn't even help me with this one), had gotten saved the week before and was dedicating his life to Christ. Another point for that.  The song service continued with 3 more very doctrinally sound songs presented in a CCM/Praise and Worship style. The whole atmosphere portrayed by the folks on stage were that we were a small group. It felt quite personal allowing for true communion with God.

Pastor Falwell then got up and gave announcements. Here it was revealed the secret of how the "Mega" church stayed personal. Falwell went on to describe the numerous small groups and discipleship programs in the church that fosters spiritual growth. What really struck me was the concept that he and other pastors get intimately involved in those groups and classes. It wasn't that they were just overseeing everything. It was that they were a part of it happening. During the message Pastor Falwell described how he spent time praying with a group of guys on a morning the week before and how he happened to be at a restaurant at the same time another group was meeting so he joined them. He mentioned people by name in the message. He prayed specifically for several people going through challenging times.

I was humbled. I was afraid I was going to enter a church that was so "Mega" that it had lost focus on interpersonal relationships. I couldn't have been more wrong. The focus on interpersonal relationships was what had caused the church to blossom into a shining example of Christianity.

That right there is what living the Radical Christian Life is all about. It is not about the nuances of our worship like the styles of music or the Bible versions we use. Living the Radical Life is all about the relationships. First is our relationship with God but then our relationships with others. Only when we develop the proper relationships based on Godly values will we be able to truly live a Radical Christian Life.

Elitist Christianity

I am quite tired of the elitist "Christians" who claim to have the corner on truth. We all know who I am talking about. These are the Christian's who accuse every one else of not having it right. Everyone but THEY are compromising.

What leads to this elitist Christianity you might ask? This attitude comes from having the need to have everything figured out. Somehow having everything figured out leads to a sense of security. I dare say that it is a feigned sense of security yet they offer it to others titled with the word "Gospel." While this isn't necessarily a false Gospel, what happens after salvation is what makes them elitist.

After salvation these elitist Christians come up with lists of do's and don'ts and then gauge other peoples relationship with God based on their own personal standards that have been elevated to an unGodly position. For some reason they think that their personal standards gain favor with God, and encourage others to participate with them by guilting people into a false sense of security.

Why would people join up with these elitists? Two things; Power and a need for security. These folks fall in two categories. I've talked about this in a previous post but it is well worth rehashing it here. Power drives people to do radical(bad radical) things in the name of Christianity. These people in their leadership positions, rule with an iron fist, claiming Scripture is backing their perspective. Scripture does support their perspectives, as long as you don't read the context of the passages they quote.

The second reason is a need for security. They get this list of do's and don'ts, and they gauge their spirituality based on their emotional response to this list. For example, if you do not like this list of rules, you are rebellious. If you do the rules but don't let on that you don't like them, you are a hypocrite. If you do them and have a good heart while you do them, your heart is right with God.

When I hear this diatribe, my head just want to explode! at there is no DO and DON'T do list in scripture. Paul actually addresses this faulty idea (don't worry; I did check the context) in Colossians. Verse 23 is SO important I have to share it here. It says, "²³ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."

Rules do NOT keep us from sinning. We always emphasize that when there is a will there is a way. Regardless of there being rules and appearing all perfect and "avoiding all appearance of evil"(totally just miscontexted that one) you can't set up rules that prevent others from sinning. Let alone that you can't raise these requirements up to the level of scripture as we talked about in another blog post.

The irony is that they believe they they are correct in all of their applications of these requirements. What really matters is the heart. Lets focus on allowing God to work on hearts rather than us trying to sculpt the outside. If all we do is mould people the way we envision God to want them, all we have done is created people who appear the way the god we have created in our mind wants them.

I read on another blog this week a phrase a church posted on their marquis. It said, "How many people have you led to Christ?" The obvious goal of the sign is to ultimately guilt people into witnessing. Good goal, bad method, but that's not the point. "How many people have you led to Christ?" None. I have led no one to Christ. The Holy Spirit through the work has wrought in my life has in turn shown people the light of Christ. I didn't do anything. When I bring people to Christ, I am bringing them to a god that I have developed in my own mind, and have explained to them not the true God only the Holy Spirit can bring them to.

When we allow our standards(hems down to the ankles, no "rock" beat) and our goals(bring 50 people to Christ this year) to cloud the true God, we are doing the world a disservice. We have ruined Christianity.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know it all. I know so little in the big scheme of things, but my desire is to allow the Spirit to move me into better service for the God of this universe. If that means the Holy Spirit will lead me to talk to 50 people about the Gospel this year sobeit. If that means that God will convince me of sin in my life that needs to be corrected, I humbly will bow and correct my ways.

I know right now as I sit here in front of this computer monitor, I am not a compromised Christian. Yes I have varied my ways and my standard systems since growing up and attending BJU, but I am completely and unequivocally sold out to Christ. That will never change. What will change are things that the Holy Spirit wants me to change to better serve the One and Only True God. I am uncompromised in my faith, and I am uncompromised in my belief that Elitist Christian's are more of a hindrance than a help.

 Jesus himself said in Matthew that his "yoke is easy" and his "burden is light." This can't happen if guilt and rules take the place of true grace. Scripture also says that there is no condemnation for those of us who have accepted Christ.

It is not up to us to judge other Christians based on their apparent spirituality. I for one never judge someone for an ambiguous rule in scripture. I've said it before in another post, that Peter determined that there were two rules that the gentile believers had to follow to show their salvation. Do not practice idolatry and do not participate in sexual immorality. If a particular "sin" does not fall in these categories, I will not judge. I cannot judge based on what Peter said.

We have to remember that after salvation all of us have been given the Holy Spirit after salvation to guide us and direct us. The irony is how many of us want to be the Holy Spirit for other people. If we truly want to make a difference for Christ, we must follow what scripture says rather than putting our own twists on it. We must share the gospel, without adding to it. We must remember grace. Only then is it possible to live the Radical Life!

This is How It Feels to be Free

On my mind the past few weeks has been the topic of Christian liberty. I am not just talking about the "true freedom we have found in Christ" but also the ability to analyze scripture and apply it to my own life as the Spirit directs.

My intent of this note, is not to give a list or a lengthy diatribe of what is ok and what is not.

Scripture tells us clearly that after we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us encouraging us unto righteousness. How does this come into play in regards to Christian liberty?

The spirit works within us in order to refine us into more Christ like beings. As we progress through life, studying scripture and listening to the Spirits prompting, we realize that some things we are doing are wrong. Sometimes the Spirit prompts us that something is NOT wrong that we once considered wrong.

What should our response be to people who have differences from our "standards."

One word: Grace.

Not everyone will agree completely with us but we won't ever completely agree with everyone either, however, we must be gracious. Without getting into much detail in this note, (you can find details in A PersonalExodus and other posts), the way I was raised and brought up, was much more conservative religiously than I am now. The ultimate question though is how to respond to people who take that more conservative stance.

There are two types of people who take more conservative stances than I do. The first are those who believe that what they believe has a scriptural backing and there is no wiggle room.

The second are those who hold conservative standards that they believe have Biblical basis but realize that Scripture can be interpreted different ways.

Certain things are non-negotiable, like the doctrines of the creation of the universe by God, the virgin birth, and the perfection of a Holy God, but when it comes to things like Christian living, other than pursuing the Holiness of God, there is leeway.

With the first group of people, we can only pray that God would soften hardened hearts. This first group is the group who refuses to associate with anyone who is different than they are standard wise. Typically this group places standards on the same level as doctrine, and unfortunately often links standards with your status with God.

The second group is a wonderful group. I find much in common with these people because I was one of them.  These folks realize that is scripture does not clearly specify something, there is flexibility.

This group is a group that I believe have truly found freedom in Christ. They have realized that there is no set list of rules and regulations, but rather the leading of the Spirit influencing us unto righteousness. Is there anything wrong in holding a stricter standard than is biblically necessary? Not one bit. It all comes down to different standards. Perhaps being so different will actually encourage more people to come to Christ.

My only caution is to never elevate a personal conviction to the status of scripture. If we are truly free in Christ, we have also been freed from man's debauchery of scripture.  

As big as being free from the bondage of sin is, finding true freedom in Christ includes more than just that. It includes being free from any type of religious influence, denominational bias, and fanatical religious leaders. True freedom in Christ only achieved by being completely sold out to God and being totally dedicated to the study of Scripture.  Only those who have found true freedom in Christ can truly live the Radical Life.