Pursuant to procedure

And when Jesus had gone down the road a bit, a man ran after Him and knelt in front of Him with this question.

     “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 

Jesus replied to him,

     “Good? Why do you call me good? There is none good but the One. God.

     You know the commandments,

        Do not commit adultery,

        Do not kill,

        Do not steal,  

        Do not bear false witness,

        Do not defraud,

        Honor thy father and mother.”

The young man answered him, saying,

     “Master, I have observed these commandments from my youth until now.” 

Jesus looked at Him carefully and couldn’t help but love him. Then He said to him,

     “There is one thing more that you lack.

        Go back to where you live and sell whatever you have.

        Give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.

        Come back to me, take up the cross, and follow me.”

And the young man was sad because of the things Jesus said.

     He went away with a terrible heartache:

        He was very rich.                          Mark 10:17-22  

You hear a lot about “pursuing” in Christian circles these days.  A lot of what is being said is nonsense that is made up by people who have a calvinist mentality.  They seem to like the idea of God pursuing them – the logical outworking of their theory that God not only has to take initiative in delivering salvation to the preselected, but He must chase them down and inject it into their unwilling spirits.  Jesus (Jesus is God) doesn’t pursue the young man.  Quite the opposite is true.  The young man chases Jesus down and stops him in the street.  Interestingly, Jesus does not pursue the young man after the young man walks away from Him, rejecting the divine offer of service. 

“Service.” There’s that word again that gives calvinists such headaches (Isaiah 41, 42, 43, 44, 45).

The calvinist/augustinian ideal of divine selection tries to maintain the notion that God loved and hated the chosen versus the reprobates in advance of creation.  Often using verses such as Romans 9:13 (“Jacob I loved but Esau I hated…”), the calvinist puts forth a view of divine love that is not supported with the whole Bible, much less by the character of Jesus.  Here we have an obvious example of the love of God (Jesus is GOD) that does not lead to an injection of “saving faith” into this perfect young man.  Wow! What was Jesus thinking?  Keeping a thieving traitor like Judas and letting this young man get away makes no sense.  Seems that Jesus needed Calvin around back then to set up his administration – more efficient goat sorting to get the sheep where they belong!

Love is an emotion, even for God.  God does not act solely on the basis of His emotions.  The plan of salvation is predicated upon God’s love (John 3:16).  God does love so much that He sent Jesus into the realm of time and the created order.  The gift of Jesus must be accepted (what else can one do with a gift but accept or reject it?) by humans.  God’s love does not mean that He will bypass His procedure – He neither does so in advance nor in time.  The love that Jesus has for the young man compels Him to make an offer that is made to all.  The young man can refuse the gift of the cross and keep his money.  It is the only way for him to discover that he is covetous…and a sinner (Romans 7:7-11).

God loves us and has a perfect plan for our lives; a plan that fits one and all.  Our eternal lives do not begin until we do things according to His plan.  Simply put, the plan is:

Sinner.

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

Close ranks around Jesus

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 
And saying, Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go your way; and as you have believed, so be it done unto you. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.    Matthew 8:5-13

Here is an extraordinary thing to consider.  Faith is predicated upon obedience? 

Notice that Jesus does not say, "No greater sense of destiny have I found in Israel..."  Nor does He say, "No greater sense of power have I found in Israel..."  Nor does He say, "No greater sense of purpose have I found in Israel..."  He doesn't even refer to the obedience of the centurion.  He talks about the faith that the man has and how he applies it.  And He "marvelled" at him.  Jesus was caught off guard because He had grown accustomed to the spiritual slackers all around Him...many of whom made lots of noise about the "Glory" of God and Israel

Obedience to Jesus is faith. 

Scary news for those who are pre-selected and consider themselves credentialed, card-carrying members of the "God prefers us because we say so (SOW = Sovereignty of WE)" club.  Since part of their initiation is to actively exclude and hate and condemn sinners, then it really doesn't matter to whom they are related.  Their real daddy is the devil...they never looked closely at the signature on the credentials.

On this Good Friday, we who have no known ancestral ties to Abraham can be thankful to Jesus for the prophecy he delivers here that includes us.  By faith, the smallest movement of obedience toward Jesus and what He wants for us, we can accept the contract He sealed with His own blood.  He offers us the gift of Himself; Salvation and a new life through His death, burial and returning to life to open the door to an eternal home. 

Oh Jesus, Friend of sinners.  Make us centurion-minded followers of you.  Immediately ready to say "Yes" to your command to take up your cross and make it our own.  There is no other available.  Thank you for making this one available in time to close the deal on your perfect plan for mankind.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Dragons of the Wilderness

I have loved you, saith the LORD.
     Yet ye say,
Wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob's brother?
     saith the LORD:
yet I loved Jacob,
       And I hated Esau,
       and laid his mountains and his heritage waste
         for the dragons of the wilderness.
                                                 Malachi 1:2-3

The point that the prophet is trying to make to Israelites that had difficulty in hearing the truth about God was that the heritage of Jacob/Israel would not fall apart or fade away.  The investment of Jesus was permanent and irrevocable.  Esau, the older brother of Jacob, cannot be traced to any significant spiritual accomplishment in later history.  Jesus, the Son of Man/Son of God, (Jesus is God) is derived from the physical and spiritual heritage of Israel. 

Calvin and his calvinists like to take the New Testament reading of these verses and stretch them out of proportion to prop up their silly imagination about the ways of God.  In Romans 9:13, Paul used this passage to reflect on the ability of God to be involved in the workings of His creation in order to bring about the things He has guaranteed.  The calvinist interpretation of Romans 9 tries to prove that God chooses them, the calvinist "elect," individually without the involvement of Jesus (Jesus IS God) through His life, death, resurrection or current administrative position in the kingdom of God.  In their foolishness, the calvinist skips lightly over the major biblical truth in Romans 9:11 that makes Augustine and Calvin both liars.  Jacob and Esau, in the womb of Rebecca, were not sinners.  "Original sin" doesn't work that way.  According to the description of Paul, God called to Jacob and Esau (Jesus is GOD) and Jacob answered.  As a result, he was rewarded with the favor of being God's servant (servant = elect) in having Jesus as part of his heritage.
The rest is history.

The Bible does not say anywhere that Esau was worthless, reprobate trash.  Only one of the two children could carry the line from Abraham and Isaac down through the ages of biological procreation to wind up at the selection of Judah's righteous son, Joseph and the girl he had chosen, Mary.  The other child had to be rejected for the task.  Apparently, Esau was glad to be relieved of the hard work involved.  No one can now find any of his heritage who would be able to describe what the sons of Esau stood for.  Perhaps they are all productive, wonderful, God-fearing folks who trust Jesus as their personal savior...a way of establishing a new spiritual heritage for anyone on this side of the cross.

Meanwhile, Jesus commands every follower to exercise a certain brand of hatred in order to be a disciple (Luke 14:26).  How strange a salvation that commands us to hate a brother and love our brothers in order to be included in eternal life.  All of us are capable of understanding this paradox when we use common sense to sort out the priorities.  Many people stumble on this truth because of their personal, narcissistic agendas.

Jesus-who is God-still calls to the heart of every human, asking for permission to come in.  No one is exempt because anyone can be His servant (elect = servant) in some way.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

A reasonable God

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone,
             lest they should hear the law,
             and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent
               in his spirit
               by the former prophets:
therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
Therefore it is come to pass,
     that as he cried,
       and they would not hear;
     so they cried,
       and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
                                       Zechariah 7:12-13

There is a bad picture of God as being angry and constantly ready to strike, smite or destroy wayward humans.  This picture is promoted by the bad religious works of preachers like Jonathan Edwards and the corrupt imagination of John Calvin (Calvin wrote that the Holy Spirit toys with humans before He damns them to hell).  The worst result of their ideas is that they promote a picture of God as one person instead of the biblical picture of the Trinity. 

Jesus is God.  The gospels do not show a picture of God (= Jesus) as being an angry scourge upon sinners.  Jesus loved sinners so much that He united Himself with us in our condition (2 Corinthians 5:21) and set a standard within the created realm that the Father can use as He looks upon all of humanity.  Jesus is the wrath of God because He establishes that fixed reference (the cross) by which godly servanthood is measured. 

It is reasonable for God the Father to refuse to hear the hearts of those who refuse Jesus.  He sent everything He had - Himself - to lead humble hearts home.  He has nothing else to offer.  Those that remain full of themselves and unable to live as servants (elect = servant) must imagine "God" accepting them by beating and shredding what they call sinners. 

Jesus will hear and respond to the heart's cry of any sinner who aches for God and knows his own pain of lostness.  The sick need a doctor.  The anaesthetic miasma of "Do Good/Be Good" legalism that results in a self-absorbed focus on someone else's evil (Zechariah 7:10b) can temporarily relieve the hard hearted of that need.  Jesus offers the fully awake solution of the cross.  Confess what you are and join sides with Him against evil -- even against your own evil stupidity and imagination!  There is room at the cross for broken-hearted sinners.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Back on track

According to the word that I covenanted with you

                 when ye came out of Egypt,

so my spirit remaineth among you:

                 fear ye not.   Haggai 2:5

There is a strange idea among many Christians that is based on "worm theology."  Worm theology is derived from the augustinian/calvinist idea that original sin (eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden) made/makes humans automatically as worthless as worms.  The idea is expressed often by such statements as, "God doesn't owe us anything," or "the sum total of our worth to God adds up to zero."  Worthless as worms!  The calvinist solution to this worthlessness is to imagine that they are not REALLY worthless but were (wink, wink) preselected by God to appear like everyone else (the real worms = reprobates) while the spark of spirituality remained in them all along.  So calvinism is gnosticism...

Haggai reminds the Israelites that God made a contract with them when He opened the Red Sea and marched them out of Egypt.  God doesn't make contracts with vermin (original word for "worm") nor does he make deals with trash and filth.  Humans have to be equipped with the capacity to understand and accept His terms in order for Him to enforce them...or for them to know why they cannot keep them and need a Savior.  God is not the absolute sovereign that the calvinists make up, He is the Righteous Lord that gives His word and then keeps it; not changing it just because He has the power to do so.

God is the God of relationship.  He relates to Himself in the mystery of the Trinity.  He relates to that which He has made that is other than Himself but is capable of understanding and loving and relating to Him.  Suppose God conceives of a vehicle and pre-destines it to work on earth by rolling along 2 parallel rails made of steel.  Suppose further that God finishes the train and sets it on the track but begins to blame it for not rolling, even though He made it with no wheels (calvinist notion of reprobates).  The train would have a rightful argument that it was not properly equipped to roll until God gave it wheels.  The calvinist "theologian" would say that the train without wheels has no right to answer God who can do anything He wants to do.  Anyone who has a grain of real sense would say that God owes the train some wheels if He expects the train to roll down the tracks.

Humans are very much like trains without wheels but not because God did not equip them with such.  We have kicked off the wheels and demanded that God make the universe so that we can fly instead of roll.  We want magic instead of miracle...the miracle that He has made us and has contracted with us to put us back on track.  Jesus came to suffer and die and claim the capacity to give us a hook up; drawing us along the track of His design.  Jesus came and gave us the ability to have real relationships again: first with Him and then with the Father and, finally, with each other.  Wheels back on by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can claim our proper place on the track.

Suppose God has designed you as a human and pre-destined you to be eternally related to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-14).  That blood became available in time (not before) and on a specific day, Jesus shed His blood for the salvation of humans...all of them.  Now that it is available, what will you do about it?

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

No matter what...

Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls -- 

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

       I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NKJV)

The Bible does not support anything like Universalism where God will eventually make things work out for every human being and we all get to live together in “happily ever after.”  The Bible makes it plain that some people will finally gain their status as independent contractors who can go it on their own.  The difficulty with such a status is that it is known as Hell and not a special accommodation for those who reject Jesus. 

The Bible also explains that there will be a number of people who will be quite surprised at their status (Matthew 7:22-23) as evildoers when they thought that they had their ticket punched by doing great religious works. 

The Epistle of John was written to give believers an understanding of their eternal hope as it applies to life here on earth (1 John 3:20-21).  When believers claim Jesus and confess their relationship with Him, they are reassured of His care for them and His willingness to camp out in their back yard, so to speak (1 John 4:15).

There is a dangerous doctrine that tries to teach that God pre-selected all of the people who would be sent to Hell in advance of ever creating anyone: even before the first man had life breathed into him.  This calvinistic doctrine seems to have a logical basis but it has no basis in the Bible.  It was made up by men who were too proud to stop themselves at the place where they did not have enough information to continue describing God’s ways and works.  They forged ahead and left the Bible and the character of Jesus behind.  The reprobation (damnation) of the lost in advance of creation cannot be proved with the Bible. (Romans 1:25-28)

There are those nights when I wake from claustrophobic or abandonment dreams and tremble at the terrible picture that I am not bound for heaven.  Maybe I am what some calvinists describe me as being - reprobate and vile, worthless trash.  Maybe the fig tree and the vine and the olive tree are nothing but kindling and fire wood in me and I am the only wretched goat in my barn that holds no flock. 

Perhaps I have crossed a bridge over a chasm and heard the crash of that structure behind me, knowing now that there is no way home.

Maybe I will bow before His white throne and the words I long to hear will be pronounced over someone else…but not me. 

There may be no “Well Done Faithful Servant” for me. 

Maybe not.

But I hope that as the angels escort me to the side of the goats, I will be able to think to thank Jesus that He made a way for some…and that I led a few (never enough) to trust Him as their savior. 

Meanwhile, I will continue to claim Him even though He may have no place for me (Habakkuk 3:18).

Meanwhile I will believe that the Bible is true and as I confess my sins, He forgives me from the boundless beauty of His perfect justice (1 John 1:9).

Meanwhile, I will remind all that will read or hear that Jesus is God.  Jesus saves.  The cross is the place of salvation and salvation happens in time.

While there is time…

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

Very much God Himself

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
The LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The LORD takes vengeance on his foes
            and maintains his wrath against his enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power;
The LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
            and clouds are the dust of his feet.  Nahum 1:2-3 (NIV)

Jesus is God. 
When Jesus was on the earth as the biological son of Mary, the wife of Joseph, He was God. 
Before Jesus created the universe and the world and all that is in it, He was God. (John 1:3, 10)
Jesus always is God.

When you read a verse or passage in the Old Testament and it uses the word "Lord," it is not improper to think, "Jesus." 

God is not some separate being that dwells in pristine, perfect, spit-shined heaven who sent His 'almost' God or 'sort of God' son, Jesus, to do a bunch of dirty work - like dying on a cross as a sacrifice for sin. 
Jesus is God.
God came here and got dirty and bloody and became sin for us.  Jesus did all of that. Jesus is God!

The ideas and imagination of calvinists have converged to compose a portrait of a being that is 'GOD' and a person who is Jesus...'almost God.'  Sinners and reprobates (reprobates are 'sort of human' beings who could never be anything but wicked, worthless trash) are punished and burned by 'GOD' but some of them are rescued by Jesus...well, 'sort of ' - they had already been pre-selected to be saved and Jesus did something to make that 'sort of ' become real.  It's all very confusing - impossible to accept with childlike faith...
If the calvinist ideas are correct, then Jesus didn't behave very much like the 'sort of God' that he was supposed to be.  Jesus did not affirm the pre-selected (Luke 14:16-18) in their positions of perfection.  He argued with them, yelled at them, cursed them ("brood of vipers...sons of the devil") and beat some of them deliberately.  How in the world can we explain the actions of Jesus who forgives reprobate, adulterous women and beats up on pompous, perfect, pre-selected Pharisees? (John 1:11)  Jesus didn't act very much like the 'GOD being' that calvin-followers keep trying to inflict upon Christianity.  Shouldn't Jesus have known who his real enemies were; after all, he prayed enough to keep in touch with the plan of 'GOD.'

Jesus is God.
Maybe the day will come when calvin-followers will get that through their thick skulls.

What Jesus does, God does, has already done, and always is doing.
Loving.
Calling to humans that are lost in sin and misery.
Dying on a cross to fulfill the plan that He and the Father had made to establish salvation for his people in time. 
As long as a person is alive in time, that human can hear the voice of God Himself calling from a bloody cross, "I am the way!"  Any other way turns away from Jesus and turns toward rejection, wrath and enmity where the voice of Jesus fades and love only applies to self.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.