The means to live in God’s Kingdom now is to “fool” every part of our normal self that we can actually be transformed. In football, we would call this an “end around.” If you take the direct approach it almost always fails.
This time I am really going to live a godly life! I am going to quit being an angry person. I am going to be patient and I am going do it- right now!
Whenever we take the direct approach, our whole being cries out, “It can’t be done!” Or, “Who do you think you are?!” Or, “I’ll just die if I follow through on this!!”
How do we go about indirectly impacting ourselves to live the transformed life? The spiritual disciplines that Jesus practiced are the key. Through silence and solitude, study, worship and such, we are able to focus on what is there in front of us, and it will naturally be used by the Spirit to change us from the inside. For instance, we don’t say, “From now on I am going to be a loving person,” but rather we say, “I am going to work on becoming the kind of person who can love.”
Friday, July 29, 2005
Thursday, July 28, 2005
intention for Kingdom living
With a clear vision of what kingdom life could be for us, what comes next? Intention. Here is where we start to get bogged down in our spiritual growth. Two things happen. One, we don’t really trust what we say we trust, and two; we don’t really intend to obey what we learn.
1. We must intend to trust Jesus
Here is where thinking it through is so important. There is a whole area of study that is critical to trusting in Jesus. It is called, “Apologetics.” This means, “making a case for,” or “making a defense.” In Christian apologetics, you make a case for your faith in Jesus. In my blog, as well as my website, I deal with apologetics and discipleship. The reason is simple.
You cannot sustain a living, influential faith in Jesus unless you trust in what he says and does. You cannot thrive as a disciple unless you have confidence that the Bible is the Word of God, Jesus is who he says he is, and the Christian worldview is the most reasonable and rational view of reality there is out of all religions and philosophies. Sunday School “Jesus loves me this I know” faith does not survive teenage and adult skepticism in a person who is truly testing out their faith. You can get by when times are good, but when crisis and uncertainty hit, which they will, to have confidence in the authenticity of your experience and the evidence of the truth of the Gospel are essential. The good news is Jesus is totally trustworthy.
2. We must intend to obey Jesus
Christians are not really honest on this point. So, often we talk a good faith but we don’t live it. Usually it happens this way. We focus almost entirely on a God of love and forgiveness. Yet, God is equally a God of justice and righteousness (right living). The God that totally loves you is the God that totally expects absolute obedience from you. We emphasize all the accounts in the Bible where Jesus is caring and forgiving but we skip over his call for our radical self-denial. For example, when he tells the woman who is caught in adultery to, “Go, and sin no more,” he wasn’t winking at her when he said it (John 8:1-11).
Yes, we can actually choose not to sin. We can choose to do what is right. It is possible to do this in this life. We are already a new creation when we place our trust in Jesus and begin to live in his Kingdom now. We do not have to give in to our old human desires for pleasure and power. The fact that we fail at times and fall back into our sinful human ways doesn’t cancel out the equally truthful fact that we can choose not to sin. Unless we go into this whole enterprise intending to live a transformed life we will fail before we get started.
We can live our lives as Jesus would if he were us. He created the means.
1. We must intend to trust Jesus
Here is where thinking it through is so important. There is a whole area of study that is critical to trusting in Jesus. It is called, “Apologetics.” This means, “making a case for,” or “making a defense.” In Christian apologetics, you make a case for your faith in Jesus. In my blog, as well as my website, I deal with apologetics and discipleship. The reason is simple.
You cannot sustain a living, influential faith in Jesus unless you trust in what he says and does. You cannot thrive as a disciple unless you have confidence that the Bible is the Word of God, Jesus is who he says he is, and the Christian worldview is the most reasonable and rational view of reality there is out of all religions and philosophies. Sunday School “Jesus loves me this I know” faith does not survive teenage and adult skepticism in a person who is truly testing out their faith. You can get by when times are good, but when crisis and uncertainty hit, which they will, to have confidence in the authenticity of your experience and the evidence of the truth of the Gospel are essential. The good news is Jesus is totally trustworthy.
2. We must intend to obey Jesus
Christians are not really honest on this point. So, often we talk a good faith but we don’t live it. Usually it happens this way. We focus almost entirely on a God of love and forgiveness. Yet, God is equally a God of justice and righteousness (right living). The God that totally loves you is the God that totally expects absolute obedience from you. We emphasize all the accounts in the Bible where Jesus is caring and forgiving but we skip over his call for our radical self-denial. For example, when he tells the woman who is caught in adultery to, “Go, and sin no more,” he wasn’t winking at her when he said it (John 8:1-11).
Yes, we can actually choose not to sin. We can choose to do what is right. It is possible to do this in this life. We are already a new creation when we place our trust in Jesus and begin to live in his Kingdom now. We do not have to give in to our old human desires for pleasure and power. The fact that we fail at times and fall back into our sinful human ways doesn’t cancel out the equally truthful fact that we can choose not to sin. Unless we go into this whole enterprise intending to live a transformed life we will fail before we get started.
We can live our lives as Jesus would if he were us. He created the means.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
a vision for Kingdom living
We start with a vision to be a Kingdom person. This is someone who is actively working with God in living a kingdom life. Before we can understand this we need to define “Kingdom.” Dallas defines it this way.
Kingdom of God- the range of God’s effective will
We have confidence that God’s will is done everywhere. Therefore, his Kingdom is infinite because his domain is wherever there is the possibility his choices are accomplished. We pray this frequently.
Thy Kingdom come
Thy Will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
This is the life of our possibility. Where God’s desires and our destiny are identical. We are invited to the greatest cause of the galaxies. To live our lives the way we are designed to live. Think about it this way. Everyone in the world may be working against God’s Kingdom coming because they have given in to a life of self-worship. Yet, if we are working for the sake of God and others, we are being transformed. As a result, creation itself is being transformed because we choose to follow God’s Kingdom vision.
How could we live in any safer, richer, more joyful place than in the reality of what God wants done? Do you think he can accomplish what he intends to accomplish? Then I would suggest we all get on that bus.
Kingdom of God- the range of God’s effective will
We have confidence that God’s will is done everywhere. Therefore, his Kingdom is infinite because his domain is wherever there is the possibility his choices are accomplished. We pray this frequently.
Thy Kingdom come
Thy Will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
This is the life of our possibility. Where God’s desires and our destiny are identical. We are invited to the greatest cause of the galaxies. To live our lives the way we are designed to live. Think about it this way. Everyone in the world may be working against God’s Kingdom coming because they have given in to a life of self-worship. Yet, if we are working for the sake of God and others, we are being transformed. As a result, creation itself is being transformed because we choose to follow God’s Kingdom vision.
How could we live in any safer, richer, more joyful place than in the reality of what God wants done? Do you think he can accomplish what he intends to accomplish? Then I would suggest we all get on that bus.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
VIM
What is VIM? Let me use an example.
For most adults, the one area they wish to change more than most others is losing weight. If you take all the weight loss products and all the health club memberships and all the diet books and all the weight loss programs, you are looking at billions of billions of dollars. Yet, most people simply go through a cycle of losing and gaining. Most people never seem to see permanent results. I would argue that most frequent reason for this is they went directly to means without really considering vision and intention.
In vision you think about what you would look like if you lost weight. Would you be more attractive? The bit of narcissism in all of us would enjoy that. Then you think about what you would feel like if you didn’t have to carry around those extra pounds every day. The aches and pains in your joints. Just the overall dragging that goes on by the end of the day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to face the world as a “lean, mean, fighting machine?” (If you haven’t seen Stripes, classic Bill Murray) Do you have a vision for weight loss?
The vision is not enough. You can’t just sit there daydreaming about how great it would be to lose weight. You can’t just read testimonials. You have to carefully consider what life would be like as a slimmer you. You have to count the cost. Jesus knows that.
Luke 14:28 (NLT)
"But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?"
After this careful consideration, if you are truly ready this time, then you state you intentions. Maybe you confide in a friend that this time you really mean it. You have a vision for weight loss. You have the intention to do what it takes to achieve it. Now, the final step is the easiest. How to do it. The means.
Proper diet and exercise are the keys to weight loss. Sleep is also important. A healthy lifestyle includes these three. There are other factors that will help you personally, perhaps even addressing if what is going on in your life makes unhealthy eating a response to emotional stress and such. There are certain disciplines that are helpful as means to guide your accomplishment to lasting weight loss. What is the system for you?
You can see what vision, intention, and means can do for weight loss. What would it look like to change a whole life? Using VIM is really the only way to place yourself under the power of the Holy Spirit for lasting transformation. What is VIM for the life of self-denial?
For most adults, the one area they wish to change more than most others is losing weight. If you take all the weight loss products and all the health club memberships and all the diet books and all the weight loss programs, you are looking at billions of billions of dollars. Yet, most people simply go through a cycle of losing and gaining. Most people never seem to see permanent results. I would argue that most frequent reason for this is they went directly to means without really considering vision and intention.
In vision you think about what you would look like if you lost weight. Would you be more attractive? The bit of narcissism in all of us would enjoy that. Then you think about what you would feel like if you didn’t have to carry around those extra pounds every day. The aches and pains in your joints. Just the overall dragging that goes on by the end of the day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to face the world as a “lean, mean, fighting machine?” (If you haven’t seen Stripes, classic Bill Murray) Do you have a vision for weight loss?
The vision is not enough. You can’t just sit there daydreaming about how great it would be to lose weight. You can’t just read testimonials. You have to carefully consider what life would be like as a slimmer you. You have to count the cost. Jesus knows that.
Luke 14:28 (NLT)
"But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?"
After this careful consideration, if you are truly ready this time, then you state you intentions. Maybe you confide in a friend that this time you really mean it. You have a vision for weight loss. You have the intention to do what it takes to achieve it. Now, the final step is the easiest. How to do it. The means.
Proper diet and exercise are the keys to weight loss. Sleep is also important. A healthy lifestyle includes these three. There are other factors that will help you personally, perhaps even addressing if what is going on in your life makes unhealthy eating a response to emotional stress and such. There are certain disciplines that are helpful as means to guide your accomplishment to lasting weight loss. What is the system for you?
You can see what vision, intention, and means can do for weight loss. What would it look like to change a whole life? Using VIM is really the only way to place yourself under the power of the Holy Spirit for lasting transformation. What is VIM for the life of self-denial?
Monday, July 25, 2005
partnering wih Jesus
In order to have lasting transformation, Jesus chooses to partner with us. Dallas Willard says it this way.
Without Jesus I can do nothing, but if I do nothing, it will certainly be without Jesus.
The path of self-denial is a one of cooperation. Not everyone understands this. I am of a faith tradition that so strongly emphasizes grace (God’s free gift of love) that any effort on our part will smack of “works righteousness.” We are trying to earn God’s love if we talk about doing the right things. The spiritual disciplines are not a focal point of life because they seem to be human effort to earn God’s favor.
As a result of this kind of thinking, after we become Christian, we are supposed to just sit back and be transformed through some kind of spiritual osmosis. That is not the reality of Kingdom life, however. By fearing we would have a "heart attack" if we dare speak of doing something to grow in our faith, we become complacent in our non-response. In the faith tradition of many Christians, it becomes a badge of honor not to do anything.
Trouble is, transformation doesn’t happen this way. This is why the lives of most Christians look the same as non-Christians. Without partnering with Jesus, we are on our own. He will not do our self-denial for us. Oh, we do not doubt we will be in heaven with him someday, but he actually wants to work with us in Kingdom living now.
There is another way. Our efforts fall into the category of VIM. “Vim” is defined, ”energy and enthusiasm,” from the Latin vis, meaning “strength.” Dallas uses it as an acronym for Vision, Intention, and Means. Through this three-step process, Jesus transforms us into the kind of people who can do the things he would do if he were us in any situation.
Without Jesus I can do nothing, but if I do nothing, it will certainly be without Jesus.
The path of self-denial is a one of cooperation. Not everyone understands this. I am of a faith tradition that so strongly emphasizes grace (God’s free gift of love) that any effort on our part will smack of “works righteousness.” We are trying to earn God’s love if we talk about doing the right things. The spiritual disciplines are not a focal point of life because they seem to be human effort to earn God’s favor.
As a result of this kind of thinking, after we become Christian, we are supposed to just sit back and be transformed through some kind of spiritual osmosis. That is not the reality of Kingdom life, however. By fearing we would have a "heart attack" if we dare speak of doing something to grow in our faith, we become complacent in our non-response. In the faith tradition of many Christians, it becomes a badge of honor not to do anything.
Trouble is, transformation doesn’t happen this way. This is why the lives of most Christians look the same as non-Christians. Without partnering with Jesus, we are on our own. He will not do our self-denial for us. Oh, we do not doubt we will be in heaven with him someday, but he actually wants to work with us in Kingdom living now.
There is another way. Our efforts fall into the category of VIM. “Vim” is defined, ”energy and enthusiasm,” from the Latin vis, meaning “strength.” Dallas uses it as an acronym for Vision, Intention, and Means. Through this three-step process, Jesus transforms us into the kind of people who can do the things he would do if he were us in any situation.
Friday, July 22, 2005
being your best, true self
Our love of God directly impacts our love of neighbor. When we receive God’s love for what it is, it becomes possible to love our neighbor as Jesus does. Not for what I can get out of them, but out of genuine generosity. Through this process, the five parts of who I am come into proper alignment. More and more I am living as I am designed to live.
The choices I make out of my heart are for the benefit of others. My mind is filled with thoughts and feelings that focus on good rather than tempt me toward evil. My body is used to worship and glorify God rather than pursue pleasure and power. All of this affects the people I choose to hang out with. In this way my soul is in harmony with God’s intentions.
Specifically, as I am dying to myself, I am becoming the kind of person who does not have a crisis when I don’t get my own way. It does not surprise me or bother me. I am confident that I am perfectly safe in God’s hands and will face life centered within his presence.
As I become an apprentice of Jesus, I am able to live in his kingdom now. Instead of feeling I belong away from God and becoming more and more a person who cannot want him, through death to self I am at home with Jesus and living my life as he would lead it if he were me. This is a reality waiting to be discovered.
Renovation of the heart is possible and it is the only option to truly live when you think about it. I will live as I have been designed to live all along and will be at home with Jesus. I will be my best, true self.
Now where do we start?
The choices I make out of my heart are for the benefit of others. My mind is filled with thoughts and feelings that focus on good rather than tempt me toward evil. My body is used to worship and glorify God rather than pursue pleasure and power. All of this affects the people I choose to hang out with. In this way my soul is in harmony with God’s intentions.
Specifically, as I am dying to myself, I am becoming the kind of person who does not have a crisis when I don’t get my own way. It does not surprise me or bother me. I am confident that I am perfectly safe in God’s hands and will face life centered within his presence.
As I become an apprentice of Jesus, I am able to live in his kingdom now. Instead of feeling I belong away from God and becoming more and more a person who cannot want him, through death to self I am at home with Jesus and living my life as he would lead it if he were me. This is a reality waiting to be discovered.
Renovation of the heart is possible and it is the only option to truly live when you think about it. I will live as I have been designed to live all along and will be at home with Jesus. I will be my best, true self.
Now where do we start?
Thursday, July 21, 2005
making the unnatural natural
How do you move from a life of radical ruin to a life of radical goodness? You have to get off the throne of your life where you are the ruler and god, and allow Jesus to take his rightful place on the throne. You need to transform all five parts of heart, mind, body, social life, and soul.
That should be easy, right? Just get a little more focused? Just try harder? Actually, you can’t change using the direct approach at all. Either you won’t think you are capable of changing, or your instinct will be you don’t need to change. Self-worship is a powerful force. Everything that makes you, “you,” will scream out, “No!”
We need to take a different approach. Just like in athletics and the arts we need to practice. We need to take a disciplined approach. There are age old spiritual practices that have been effective for those who have become more like Jesus over the centuries. These “spiritual disciplines,” as they are called, take what is unnatural, self-denial, and make it natural. We address ourselves indirectly, because the direct way will fail. The devil and our own sinful selves’ gang up on us to convince us that there is no way this denial is possible or necessary.
Spiritual disciplines like silence and solitude, prayer, Bible reading, study, journaling, practicing simplicity, worship, and the like, make it possible to become more and more like Jesus. This indirect approach to transformation distracts our natural tendencies to rule in our own lives. Let me give you one example. You are experiencing one of the disciplines that I practice right now.
By reading this blog, I hope I am being helpful to you. Yet, I’ll let you in on a little secret. This is one of my key spiritual disciplines. I study and think about what I am studying and pass that on to you in a form of journaling, the blog. This has been a good discipline for me (one year already, next month!) and I am honored to be connecting with you.
That should be easy, right? Just get a little more focused? Just try harder? Actually, you can’t change using the direct approach at all. Either you won’t think you are capable of changing, or your instinct will be you don’t need to change. Self-worship is a powerful force. Everything that makes you, “you,” will scream out, “No!”
We need to take a different approach. Just like in athletics and the arts we need to practice. We need to take a disciplined approach. There are age old spiritual practices that have been effective for those who have become more like Jesus over the centuries. These “spiritual disciplines,” as they are called, take what is unnatural, self-denial, and make it natural. We address ourselves indirectly, because the direct way will fail. The devil and our own sinful selves’ gang up on us to convince us that there is no way this denial is possible or necessary.
Spiritual disciplines like silence and solitude, prayer, Bible reading, study, journaling, practicing simplicity, worship, and the like, make it possible to become more and more like Jesus. This indirect approach to transformation distracts our natural tendencies to rule in our own lives. Let me give you one example. You are experiencing one of the disciplines that I practice right now.
By reading this blog, I hope I am being helpful to you. Yet, I’ll let you in on a little secret. This is one of my key spiritual disciplines. I study and think about what I am studying and pass that on to you in a form of journaling, the blog. This has been a good discipline for me (one year already, next month!) and I am honored to be connecting with you.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
loving God and loving neighbor
If we aren’t the central focus of our lives what is? Loving God and loving our neighbor becomes the key. We are created with love of God and neighbor as our purpose. When we think of the deep questions of human life, this is why we were designed.
What is the meaning of life?
What is my purpose?
Loving God and loving your neighbor.
The wildly popular book The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, needed only one paragraph to answer the purpose question. The purpose of every single human being is identical. Love God and neighbor. The differences all revolve around the question, “How?”
The life of radical goodness is to give and forgive. Give of yourself for the sake of the other, seek forgiveness when you mess up, and forgive when you are wronged. If we are always giving and forgiving doesn’t that mean our lives become all about losing and sacrifice? In the God and neighbor centered life it is just the opposite. As we reach out we are enhanced and expanded. Jesus said it this way,
Luke 6:37-38 (NLT)
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. [38] If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you."
The path of self-denial is possible because God designed us this way. We are perfectly safe to let God worry about our desires and needs. We don’t have to try to enhance our own lives by always looking out for #1 because God is always looking out for us. We are free to give everything we have and everything we are to God and neighbor. Our very soul is given back to us and we become truly human for the very first time. Just what God has in mind all along.
What is the meaning of life?
What is my purpose?
Loving God and loving your neighbor.
The wildly popular book The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, needed only one paragraph to answer the purpose question. The purpose of every single human being is identical. Love God and neighbor. The differences all revolve around the question, “How?”
The life of radical goodness is to give and forgive. Give of yourself for the sake of the other, seek forgiveness when you mess up, and forgive when you are wronged. If we are always giving and forgiving doesn’t that mean our lives become all about losing and sacrifice? In the God and neighbor centered life it is just the opposite. As we reach out we are enhanced and expanded. Jesus said it this way,
Luke 6:37-38 (NLT)
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. [38] If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you."
The path of self-denial is possible because God designed us this way. We are perfectly safe to let God worry about our desires and needs. We don’t have to try to enhance our own lives by always looking out for #1 because God is always looking out for us. We are free to give everything we have and everything we are to God and neighbor. Our very soul is given back to us and we become truly human for the very first time. Just what God has in mind all along.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
radical goodness begins with love of God
The path to radical ruin is wide and easy. It is made possible by following our own desires.
It looks like this:
-Make choices based on your interests.
-Do what you think best.
-Do whatever your gut instinct tells you.
-Do whatever makes you feel good.
-Don’t worry about how you affect someone else.
-Don’t think about the consequences about anything. Just do it.
This is the life of radical ruin. It looks strangely like the normal life of an animal. Yet, you are not an animal, in that you have a choice. There is another path you can join. The path to radical goodness.
Created in the image of God, in part, means you can choose.
Here is the choice. Either you choose a life apart from God or a life set apart by God. This is the meaning of the word “holy.” “To be set apart.”
The way to holy living begins and ends with self-denial. This is the anecdote to self-worship. Now, this doesn’t mean self-rejection. It is not designed to take away our dignity and become a doormat for the world, allowing everyone to step all over us.
Self-denial is dying to having to be the center of the universe and allowing Jesus to rule on the throne of your life. Death to self brings life in Christ. The ultimate reference point in your life becomes God. You live according to what he wants rather than what you want.
Living with Jesus on the throne of your life, where he lives for you and through you, brings about a restoration of your very soul. You can do what he wants rather than what you want. You can become the kind of person who lives in his Kingdom now as he desires you to live. As the words of the ancient psalm proclaim,
Psalm 23:3 (KJV)
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Monday, July 18, 2005
soul ruin
Self-worship affects every part of us. The final impact is on everything we are. The soul, that holds it all together, is in ruin. When we mistake ourselves for God, then God becomes meaningless or an enemy. We cannot want him. If we work against God in every part our being we become the kind of people who cannot want God.
Jesus speaks about hell often. Hell is to be separated from the presence of God forever. When you have soul ruin, hell is the destination. It is not so much God sends people to hell. In many ways, hell becomes a choice. It is the logical destination for those who cannot want God. We are given the choice of being in relationship with God and if we choose to turn away, God honors that. He will never force himself on us.
Often people will speak of death bed conversions where someone denies God all their life, and before they die they repent and seek him. Is this authentic? That person may have been seeking all along and it just finally surfaced in the light of day, so, yes, I think it is possible.
Yet, probable? No, not likely. If life away from God is the life you are living, being with God is not an option that is within your realm of choice. God has an infinitely flexible will; we do not. No one “just misses out” of heaven. Life without God is a constant choice that keeps a person focused in a destructive direction. In the end, God is faithful to our choices.
Instead of one who trusts saying, “Thy will be done,” God says to the person in soul ruin, “Thy will be done.”
Jesus speaks about hell often. Hell is to be separated from the presence of God forever. When you have soul ruin, hell is the destination. It is not so much God sends people to hell. In many ways, hell becomes a choice. It is the logical destination for those who cannot want God. We are given the choice of being in relationship with God and if we choose to turn away, God honors that. He will never force himself on us.
Often people will speak of death bed conversions where someone denies God all their life, and before they die they repent and seek him. Is this authentic? That person may have been seeking all along and it just finally surfaced in the light of day, so, yes, I think it is possible.
Yet, probable? No, not likely. If life away from God is the life you are living, being with God is not an option that is within your realm of choice. God has an infinitely flexible will; we do not. No one “just misses out” of heaven. Life without God is a constant choice that keeps a person focused in a destructive direction. In the end, God is faithful to our choices.
Instead of one who trusts saying, “Thy will be done,” God says to the person in soul ruin, “Thy will be done.”
Friday, July 15, 2005
body ruin
When we are turned from God, our bodies become the place where sin is lived out. The path of self-worship goes directly through what we look like and how we physically feel. We can see this obsession everywhere.
Look at any issue of a fitness magazine like Men’s Health or Shape. It has been years since the cover hasn’t featured a young man or woman with their shirt off and/or focus on the “abs.” Please note I am not just jealous of the “six-packs” because I have a “one-pack.” Well, maybe a little. It starts when they’re young. Page through a Seventeen and you may notice a slight obsession over looks?!
Then there is how I feel. According to advertisers, I am invited to try any product with the understanding that I am going to be sexually satisfied as a result. Other than a touchy feely family love theme, every product out there is marketed on sex. God-given creativity and imagination seems to be stuck in the public arena on how many different ways I can say that sex is god.
Pornography, alcohol, and drug abuse all are pure body ruin. We are bombarded with the message of feel good or don’t feel at all. Without a good spam blocker, the two “V’s”, Viagra and Vicodin seem to be the solution to all my problems. Giving in to the search for pleasure is a direct result of heart and mind ruin. Social ruin follows because I don’t need you unless it means I can use you for pleasure. Even anger is not exempt from body ruin. Anger is lived out physically, as well. This is another warped way of the body. Getting a “rush” over rage.
So if heart, mind, body and social relations are all on the path to ruin, what happens to me?
Look at any issue of a fitness magazine like Men’s Health or Shape. It has been years since the cover hasn’t featured a young man or woman with their shirt off and/or focus on the “abs.” Please note I am not just jealous of the “six-packs” because I have a “one-pack.” Well, maybe a little. It starts when they’re young. Page through a Seventeen and you may notice a slight obsession over looks?!
Then there is how I feel. According to advertisers, I am invited to try any product with the understanding that I am going to be sexually satisfied as a result. Other than a touchy feely family love theme, every product out there is marketed on sex. God-given creativity and imagination seems to be stuck in the public arena on how many different ways I can say that sex is god.
Pornography, alcohol, and drug abuse all are pure body ruin. We are bombarded with the message of feel good or don’t feel at all. Without a good spam blocker, the two “V’s”, Viagra and Vicodin seem to be the solution to all my problems. Giving in to the search for pleasure is a direct result of heart and mind ruin. Social ruin follows because I don’t need you unless it means I can use you for pleasure. Even anger is not exempt from body ruin. Anger is lived out physically, as well. This is another warped way of the body. Getting a “rush” over rage.
So if heart, mind, body and social relations are all on the path to ruin, what happens to me?
Thursday, July 14, 2005
social ruin
As we experience mind ruin and the emotional ruin that goes along with it, our interaction with other people is never really authentically beneficial. I liken it to a dance where we try to move each other around the dance floor. If both partners are trying to lead at the same time, it doesn’t work.
Social life ruin is seen in the lack of depth of our friendships. It is seen in the struggles of marriage. It is a key source of the dissatisfaction so many have for their jobs. If I am trying to remain in charge of my life, when things don’t go my way I will respond in one of two ways.
Author M. Scott Peck considers these two responses in his classic work, The Road Less Traveled. When I am struggling in life, I place the blame on myself or others in an exaggerated way. When I am always wrong, it is neurosis. When someone else is always wrong it is character disorder. Here is how it works.
For a neurotic person I try to remain in control by putting huge demands of perfection upon myself, coupled with low expectations. In this way when someone fails me, I can always blame it on me. In this way I stay in control because life is happening just like I predicted. Eeyore, from Winnie the Pooh, is an example of this neurotic response.
For a character disorder person, I try to remain in control by placing the blame for anything that goes wrong in my life squarely where it belongs. On you. Or anyone else. On the government. On multi-national corporations. On society in general. On the “man.” Never, in any waking moment, would my problems be owned up to as “my problems.” In character disorder, I am always the victim. After all, if I am god, how can any conflict, failure or disappointment be my doing?
In social ruin, we may operate out of character disorder or neurosis, but the results are the same. A life turned from God.
Social life ruin is seen in the lack of depth of our friendships. It is seen in the struggles of marriage. It is a key source of the dissatisfaction so many have for their jobs. If I am trying to remain in charge of my life, when things don’t go my way I will respond in one of two ways.
Author M. Scott Peck considers these two responses in his classic work, The Road Less Traveled. When I am struggling in life, I place the blame on myself or others in an exaggerated way. When I am always wrong, it is neurosis. When someone else is always wrong it is character disorder. Here is how it works.
For a neurotic person I try to remain in control by putting huge demands of perfection upon myself, coupled with low expectations. In this way when someone fails me, I can always blame it on me. In this way I stay in control because life is happening just like I predicted. Eeyore, from Winnie the Pooh, is an example of this neurotic response.
For a character disorder person, I try to remain in control by placing the blame for anything that goes wrong in my life squarely where it belongs. On you. Or anyone else. On the government. On multi-national corporations. On society in general. On the “man.” Never, in any waking moment, would my problems be owned up to as “my problems.” In character disorder, I am always the victim. After all, if I am god, how can any conflict, failure or disappointment be my doing?
In social ruin, we may operate out of character disorder or neurosis, but the results are the same. A life turned from God.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
emotional ruin
Feelings follow after the thinking that our minds are doing. The path to emotional ruin is taken easily once our minds are convinced that we are in charge. If only everyone would think like us. If it is our desires that matter the most, then feelings bring plenty of destruction.
There is going to be tremendous amounts of conflict that go along with emotional ruin. Like the effect of the ring in the Lord of the Rings, “whatever we wants, precious, that’s whats we try to get.” The emotional pull of possessing what we want makes it impossible to care about the needs of anyone else. The obsession takes over.
Take dating, for instance. As long as I am having my needs met by you, I am in “love” with you. How quickly that changes when you don’t do what I want or I am not getting the attention I feel I deserve. Conflict quickly moves in and with me at the center of the universe, obviously you must be wrong. Either you change your act immediately or I am out of here. I’ll simply fall in “love” with someone else until my needs aren’t being met again.
Follow your desires? On the path to self-ruin that is the last thing you should possibly do.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
mind ruin
When we choose not to know there is a God, then our minds have to go to work. We need to find ways to convince ourselves that God doesn’t exist or God doesn’t matter.
We have worked on this in our country with some interesting mental gymnastics. In schools, we attempt to follow a strict Darwinian evolution model, desperately holding on to natural selection and random mutation as the sole mechanisms for the development of life. This position is becoming too difficult to defend. Origins of life research provides an impossible scenario for Darwinian evolution to begin. You need something to select from. You need something to mutate. Yet, we keep trying to convince ourselves that God is not necessary.
Those of us who believe in God follow other paths to try to keep us at the center of our own universe. We focus on what we want not what God wants. One of the interesting attempts to cloud our thinking about God is to deny the validity of God’s Word. Bible scholars will go out of their way to try to show the Bible doesn’t mean what it says it means in order to justify personal desires.
Whether it is trying to make a case for how God blesses homosexual relationships or why you don’t have to trust in Jesus, any path will do, the distortion that is presented as “progressive” scholarship is prevalent. We take what we want and try to get the Bible to support our position, or if we can’t do it that way, we declare the Bible irrelevant to the matter in question because the Bible writers did not know of such things as we face today. That doesn’t make sense. If God is the source of the Bible, then I hardly think there is any situation where he would be unclear.
Once our choices turn us away from God, our thinking goes to work. Deceiving ourselves in order to get what we want is not a difficult task. We are experts at it. Self-worship and deception are a great match.
We have worked on this in our country with some interesting mental gymnastics. In schools, we attempt to follow a strict Darwinian evolution model, desperately holding on to natural selection and random mutation as the sole mechanisms for the development of life. This position is becoming too difficult to defend. Origins of life research provides an impossible scenario for Darwinian evolution to begin. You need something to select from. You need something to mutate. Yet, we keep trying to convince ourselves that God is not necessary.
Those of us who believe in God follow other paths to try to keep us at the center of our own universe. We focus on what we want not what God wants. One of the interesting attempts to cloud our thinking about God is to deny the validity of God’s Word. Bible scholars will go out of their way to try to show the Bible doesn’t mean what it says it means in order to justify personal desires.
Whether it is trying to make a case for how God blesses homosexual relationships or why you don’t have to trust in Jesus, any path will do, the distortion that is presented as “progressive” scholarship is prevalent. We take what we want and try to get the Bible to support our position, or if we can’t do it that way, we declare the Bible irrelevant to the matter in question because the Bible writers did not know of such things as we face today. That doesn’t make sense. If God is the source of the Bible, then I hardly think there is any situation where he would be unclear.
Once our choices turn us away from God, our thinking goes to work. Deceiving ourselves in order to get what we want is not a difficult task. We are experts at it. Self-worship and deception are a great match.
Monday, July 11, 2005
heart ruin
“Trust based on evidence” is a good definition of faith. When an atheist claims there is no God, the belief is not based on a solid body of evidence. There is so much evidence to the contrary that you can say the atheist has more “blind faith” than faith.
Romans 1:20 (NLT)
From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
Today, we are able to see way more of “earth and sky and all that God made.” The evidence for design in the universe and the big bang evidence for space, time, energy and matter being created simultaneously, all lead to a logical conclusion that there is a god. This doesn’t specifically warrant this being the God of the Bible, but there is other evidence for that being the case. Let’s just consider a god in general.
Why does a small minority of people not trust there is a god? Why do so many more people act as if there is no god? The trouble is if God exists then he must somehow be in charge. If God is in charge then guess what? We’re not.
The path of ruin begins with the heart. Choices are made as if there is no God. These choices affect all the other parts of our lives. We wish to be in charge and if God exists we can’t be. So we begin to deceive ourselves in one of two ways. We either choose to believe there is no God, or we act as if there is no God. Either way we are lost. This is why the unhealthy behavior of atheists and people who identify as Christian looks very similar. One ignores the evidence of there being a God, and the other acts as if God doesn’t care.
If we keep choosing to ignore God we keep ignoring the blessings God has in store for us. When our hearts are turned in another direction we cannot be our best, true selves.
Romans 1:20 (NLT)
From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
Today, we are able to see way more of “earth and sky and all that God made.” The evidence for design in the universe and the big bang evidence for space, time, energy and matter being created simultaneously, all lead to a logical conclusion that there is a god. This doesn’t specifically warrant this being the God of the Bible, but there is other evidence for that being the case. Let’s just consider a god in general.
Why does a small minority of people not trust there is a god? Why do so many more people act as if there is no god? The trouble is if God exists then he must somehow be in charge. If God is in charge then guess what? We’re not.
The path of ruin begins with the heart. Choices are made as if there is no God. These choices affect all the other parts of our lives. We wish to be in charge and if God exists we can’t be. So we begin to deceive ourselves in one of two ways. We either choose to believe there is no God, or we act as if there is no God. Either way we are lost. This is why the unhealthy behavior of atheists and people who identify as Christian looks very similar. One ignores the evidence of there being a God, and the other acts as if God doesn’t care.
If we keep choosing to ignore God we keep ignoring the blessings God has in store for us. When our hearts are turned in another direction we cannot be our best, true selves.
Friday, July 08, 2005
why don’t I notice I am worshipping myself?
What does a path to radical ruin look like? Why don’t I notice self-worship for what it is? These are great questions. It goes something like this.
When it comes to food, you know how it seems everything that is not healthy for you is also what you like the most? I try not to eat donuts because you could call me “Homer Simpson.” I never met a donut I didn’t like. I could eat a whole box of Krispy Kremes and come back for more. It’s not just donuts. I could eat pizza for every meal. I am very skilled at wanting to eat in abundance that which I should be eating in moderation, if at all. I am an expert at eating what is unhealthy. This is no problem for me.
The same holds true for us on the path to radical ruin. In the way we treat ourselves and others, that which is unhealthy is easy to accomplish. We are experts at denial and manipulation. We hide our sin from ourselves or we may call it “good.” It is fascinating to watch people trying to be all sophisticated in their language as they try to explain why sin isn’t really sin. We have expertise in fooling ourselves and we have so much self-deception we think we are fooling others.
These are characteristics to self-worship: Denial, deception, and manipulation. We become outstanding negotiators of convincing ourselves that what is plainly and completely wrong—isn’t.
Jesus summed it up in this statement.
Matthew 16:26 (NLT)
And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Self-worship or Self-denial: our two choices
Our heart is where our choices lie. We make good choices. We make disastrous choices. Why the difference? It really has to do with who we are and the paths we choose.
The first path is the one we start out on and most of us stay on. This is the “self-worship” path. Dallas calls this the “path to radical ruin.” Self-worship means we put ourselves and our desires on the throne of our lives. We are the center of the universe.
It is like when we are one years old and we can’t distinguish between ourselves and the world around us. In some ways, for most of us, this never changes. We grow older but we don’t grow up. Until Jesus is on the throne of our lives, radical ruin is the outcome waiting for us in any possible given situation. John Maxwell says it this way, “Unless God is in control of your life, your life is out of control.”
Our human nature is to focus on ourselves and what we want. The mantra of a “normal” person is, “I want what I want when I want it.” Are there any alternatives? One.
The second path is that of “self-denial.” This doesn’t mean we deny who we are and the condition we are in, rather it means we choose not to give in to our normal desires which are to seek pleasure and be in control. Self-denial or the “path to radical goodness,” is where we live for the sake of others. This doesn’t demean us. This doesn’t turn us into doormats to be stepped on or taken advantage of. This enhances who we are and puts us on the path that God designs us for all along. When Jesus is on the throne of our lives, we are finally our best, true selves. How does this happen?
It has to do with the five parts of who we are again: Heart, mind, body, social life, and soul. We will look at the path to radical ruin and the path to radical goodness. We are invited to choose. This cannot be done for us. Under the influence of God’s grace it is possible to choose goodness.
The first path is the one we start out on and most of us stay on. This is the “self-worship” path. Dallas calls this the “path to radical ruin.” Self-worship means we put ourselves and our desires on the throne of our lives. We are the center of the universe.
It is like when we are one years old and we can’t distinguish between ourselves and the world around us. In some ways, for most of us, this never changes. We grow older but we don’t grow up. Until Jesus is on the throne of our lives, radical ruin is the outcome waiting for us in any possible given situation. John Maxwell says it this way, “Unless God is in control of your life, your life is out of control.”
Our human nature is to focus on ourselves and what we want. The mantra of a “normal” person is, “I want what I want when I want it.” Are there any alternatives? One.
The second path is that of “self-denial.” This doesn’t mean we deny who we are and the condition we are in, rather it means we choose not to give in to our normal desires which are to seek pleasure and be in control. Self-denial or the “path to radical goodness,” is where we live for the sake of others. This doesn’t demean us. This doesn’t turn us into doormats to be stepped on or taken advantage of. This enhances who we are and puts us on the path that God designs us for all along. When Jesus is on the throne of our lives, we are finally our best, true selves. How does this happen?
It has to do with the five parts of who we are again: Heart, mind, body, social life, and soul. We will look at the path to radical ruin and the path to radical goodness. We are invited to choose. This cannot be done for us. Under the influence of God’s grace it is possible to choose goodness.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
life under God
A life moving toward God, rather than centered on oneself, becomes a possibility when our heart aligns with God's desires. When our choices are the choices God would make for us, we begin transformation. All the other parts of our lives are affected. Mind, body, social life, and soul are all involved in the process.
Here is what is different about a renovation of the heart. It is not simply trying harder or getting more focused on the choices we make. It is not a direct approach at all. Remember what we said about “willpower?” It cannot be sustained. Every part of you will scream out, “It can’t be done.”
Life with God is different. There is no part of you that cannot be transformed under the power of the Holy Spirit. You will learn from Jesus how to live life as he would live it if he were you in any given situation. This begins with understanding what life is like without God.
Are you moving toward God or away from God? Think on this.
Here is what is different about a renovation of the heart. It is not simply trying harder or getting more focused on the choices we make. It is not a direct approach at all. Remember what we said about “willpower?” It cannot be sustained. Every part of you will scream out, “It can’t be done.”
Life with God is different. There is no part of you that cannot be transformed under the power of the Holy Spirit. You will learn from Jesus how to live life as he would live it if he were you in any given situation. This begins with understanding what life is like without God.
Are you moving toward God or away from God? Think on this.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
life without God
When I base my decisions and actions on all of my parts, I am in a danger zone. I am so good at being deceptive.
We see this all the time in the world around us.That which is sinful is called “good.” Seeking the truth at all cost leads to “intolerance.” Disagreeing with someone else is called, “hate.” Life without God is upside down.
There is hope. I don’t have to do what my thoughts, feelings, body, social pressures, and my very soul itself tell me to do. There is the freedom of choice that is my heart. God can take action in my choices.
Left alone without God’s influence, my heart can’t handle the pressure. I will do the things I know are wrong and not do the things I know are right. Life without God is life ruled by me or the devil.
Honestly, I can’t trust myself to have my own best interest at heart. My choices will be ruled by my desires rather than by God’s desires. I will not even acknowledge that I am not doing right. All my parts will find a way to convince me that I am OK. I will hear the “truth.”
“Go with your instincts.”
“You deserve it.”
“Everyone else is doing it.”
“You’re only human.”
Life without God is as dangerous as it can possibly be because it will seem so “natural.” There is another way.
Who are the morally conservative atheist thinkers popular in our society today?
We see this all the time in the world around us.That which is sinful is called “good.” Seeking the truth at all cost leads to “intolerance.” Disagreeing with someone else is called, “hate.” Life without God is upside down.
There is hope. I don’t have to do what my thoughts, feelings, body, social pressures, and my very soul itself tell me to do. There is the freedom of choice that is my heart. God can take action in my choices.
Left alone without God’s influence, my heart can’t handle the pressure. I will do the things I know are wrong and not do the things I know are right. Life without God is life ruled by me or the devil.
Honestly, I can’t trust myself to have my own best interest at heart. My choices will be ruled by my desires rather than by God’s desires. I will not even acknowledge that I am not doing right. All my parts will find a way to convince me that I am OK. I will hear the “truth.”
“Go with your instincts.”
“You deserve it.”
“Everyone else is doing it.”
“You’re only human.”
Life without God is as dangerous as it can possibly be because it will seem so “natural.” There is another way.
Who are the morally conservative atheist thinkers popular in our society today?
Monday, July 04, 2005
freedom
Other than the first humans (out of Africa is the best evidence thus far), the story of humanity is one of groups of people taking over for other groups of people. Whether by conquest or treaty, no one lives in a place where someone else has not gone before. Family, tribe or nation, the human story is one of conquest and compromise.
Other than the first humans, no one can literally lay claim to the term, "native," at all.For example, there are no "native" Americans; more like "earlier" Americans being linked to emigrants from Mongolia.
What this means is we are not born free. We are beholden to others in order to survive. This begins in family, to be sure, but the continued dependence we have on each other makes the idea of a self-made man or woman foolish. We are not free, but dependant. We will either learn to work together or manipulate and overpower to get what we want. Cooperation or exploitation becomes the human response. Then how can we be free?
How can I be free if I am connected to others in a positive or negative way? Freedom becomes the ability to know what is good for me and good for others and do it. By human nature I cannot consistently live my life for the sake of others. By God’s power I can. The only true freedom is to know what is good and through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit be able to do it.
We are free to live for others. Free to serve. Free to give privilege a rest. Through Jesus, we celebrate our own independence from being dependant on our human nature.
What does it mean to you to know that you are a slave to what you want, but free to live for the sake of others?
Other than the first humans, no one can literally lay claim to the term, "native," at all.For example, there are no "native" Americans; more like "earlier" Americans being linked to emigrants from Mongolia.
What this means is we are not born free. We are beholden to others in order to survive. This begins in family, to be sure, but the continued dependence we have on each other makes the idea of a self-made man or woman foolish. We are not free, but dependant. We will either learn to work together or manipulate and overpower to get what we want. Cooperation or exploitation becomes the human response. Then how can we be free?
How can I be free if I am connected to others in a positive or negative way? Freedom becomes the ability to know what is good for me and good for others and do it. By human nature I cannot consistently live my life for the sake of others. By God’s power I can. The only true freedom is to know what is good and through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit be able to do it.
We are free to live for others. Free to serve. Free to give privilege a rest. Through Jesus, we celebrate our own independence from being dependant on our human nature.
What does it mean to you to know that you are a slave to what you want, but free to live for the sake of others?
Friday, July 01, 2005
soul
“I’m a soul man…”
Did I get you humming? Dallas Willard calls the “soul” the CEO of who we are. My friend Doug calls it the captain of the bridge, using the sailing ship as a model. In these metaphors we can see how it relates to the concept of soul.
In order to run an effective corporation or an effective crew we need a leader through whom all members of the team are drawn together. A biblical understanding of this looks this way.
At conception, God gives us our soul which is the organizational hub of who we are. From what we know of the sciences of genetics and biology, you can say the soul creates the DNA which is crucial for the design of who we are physically. “Body.” The soul is the framework out of which we make decisions (heart), the seat of our thinking and feeling (mind), and is the connector of our relationship with others (social relationships), and with God.
The soul is not a separate entity like a ghost floating around, but it is intimately woven through us and holds all parts of who we are together. Heart, mind, body, and social relationships are all immersed and connected by soul.
Did I get you humming? Dallas Willard calls the “soul” the CEO of who we are. My friend Doug calls it the captain of the bridge, using the sailing ship as a model. In these metaphors we can see how it relates to the concept of soul.
In order to run an effective corporation or an effective crew we need a leader through whom all members of the team are drawn together. A biblical understanding of this looks this way.
At conception, God gives us our soul which is the organizational hub of who we are. From what we know of the sciences of genetics and biology, you can say the soul creates the DNA which is crucial for the design of who we are physically. “Body.” The soul is the framework out of which we make decisions (heart), the seat of our thinking and feeling (mind), and is the connector of our relationship with others (social relationships), and with God.
The soul is not a separate entity like a ghost floating around, but it is intimately woven through us and holds all parts of who we are together. Heart, mind, body, and social relationships are all immersed and connected by soul.
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About Me
- Dana
- Pastor from LIFEhouse Church in Northridge CA, focusing on the theme, "How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk."
