Author: Gina Marie

Academy Awards 2012: Albert Nobbs

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Well this movie received three nominations; Best Actress (Glenn Close), Best Supporting Actress (Janet McTeer), and Best Achievement in Makeup.

I have to share that I pushed back when I learned from Deana that we were going to see this movie last night.  I mean, on our official Academy Award Need to See list, this ranked much lower than others.  It wasn’t even a Best Picture contender!  So I was not overly thrilled.  That sentiment went well into the credits leading up to the main show.  And I will admit that I held onto my stubbornness well into it.

The summary of this movie is “Glenn Close plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th century Ireland. Some thirty years after donning men’s clothing, she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making.”

This movie had a compelling story and the acting from Glenn Close and Janet McTeer were very good.  I had to relent to these facts as the movie continued, and the reality of the storyline and conflicts of real life that were portrayed were very moving.  I would recommend you seeing this film, especially if you’re interested in historical social issues and the lengths humans will go to survive.

BUT, I am nowhere close to saying either will walk away with an Oscar.  I was not moved hugely by this film, and though it was thought provoking, it didn’t invade my brain like the others have.  I do rate it higher than Money Ball at this point, but that’s about it.

I know it’s early in the process, and perhaps my stubbornness is still there, but we shall see once I see more movies.

Academay Awards 2012: Extremely Loud & Moneyball

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Okay, true to form, Deana and I have furiously started (as always, a bit late) our Academy Award viewing.  I may have mentioned this last year, but finding some movies is a bit more difficult in Dallas than it was in California, but we remain hopeful!

Plan of attack this year is similar to previous years – Best Pictures for sure, as many documentaries and foreign films as possible, and throw in some awesome actors and actresses.  Let the games begin!

Today, we went to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  This film is up for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Max Von Sydow).  It also gets, if you follow the news, the biggest gasp as it has been thoroughly thrown out by critics in general.  All I really knew about this movie before heading to the theater (and really, I thought we were going to see The Artist, so there you go…..) was that Deana had mistakingly told me she wanted to see the “movie that Robin Williams is in”.  (Note:  she didn’t think he was in it, she just said the wrong name.  :))  So, I went in pretty open minded.

129 minutes later, and probably 14 napkins worth of nose blowing, I was in shock.  I expected SOME sadness, as I should have admitted I knew 9/11 was involved, but I SOBBED through this movie!  And it was not so much the story that got me there, but it was the amazing acting, especially of Thomas Horn as the 9-year-old trying to make sense of things and Max Von Sydow.  Incidentally, Max doesn’t say ONE WORD in this film, and yet he communicated SO much!

This is a heavy film for sure.  Since it involves “the worst day” of 9/11, emotions (at least for me) were easy to feel.  If you are having a bad day or need a pick-me-up, this is NOT the movie for you!  But if you’re interested in real emotions, real confusion, and if it’s okay that you won’t have all the answers……coupled with some amazing acting, see this moving!

Moneyball was viewed in the comfort of our home thanks to the amazing Verizon Fios technology we possess.  This movie has more nominations; Best Picture, Best Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), and Best Adapted Screenplay.  This was a moving story based on real events related to the Oakland A’s and GM Billy Beane.  It was realistic and I do have to say Jonah did a great job (and kudos to him today for losing so much weight!).  But I tell ya, I spent more time googling Billy on my iPhone to read his biography because, well…..I was kind of bored.  I mean, the movie seemed disjointed in a few places, Brad Pitt (who still looks pretty good, btw) seemed like……well…….Brad Pitt and not Billy, and I don’t know.  Baseball?  I’d rather remember the Titans.  But to be fair, having just seen Extremely Loud and having such a strong emotional reaction, I may be reacting a bit hard on Moneyball.

For new readers to my recaps, I will share my “votes” once I’ve seen everything.  But as of right now, Extremely Loud has taken the lead.

Bible Study: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

/ Gina Marie / 2 Comments

Actions Speak Louder than Words (Aka Rocking your Identity)

As presented at CCC 9/25/11

How many times have you heard that phrase?  How many times have you USED that phrase?  I know I can answer both “A LOT!”.  And yet, I feel that God has been showing me this phrase in action, and in different ways, in recent days.

On the one hand, He has taught me in my new “Jesus plus nothing” – grace filled life that I don’t have to PRESENT anything to be His……I don’t need to act or be or look a certain way in order to be a “good Christian”.  All things are permissible……and yet, I am the first to share that leading a hypocritical life does nothing to encourage me or others.  I Is this where “…..but not all things are beneficial” comes in?  Is this where “the fruits of the Spirit” comes in?

Some other ideas about “being a Christian” exist in my life, too.  Like the prevailing idea that, as a Christian, my first and biggest focus needs to be on converting others to my faith.  On the surface, this is important because – REALLY – we have such freedom in Christ, don’t we?  And being saved from eternal damnation is kind of important, too.  Even John the Baptist went out on a limb to get the attention of the Jews back in the day – wearing camel cloths and screaming out to anyone who would listen, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  So, often I hear the nagging thoughts that bounce around the back of my head that I am not doing enough to witness to those around me about the Saving Grace found in Jesus Christ Alone.

But THINGS have been shaking up this view of mine lately.  First, let me be clear – I am NOT saying we shouldn’t share the love of Christ.  But I think I’ve looked at this wrong my entire Christian life!

First of all, I will tell you I weigh too much – if you could see me now, you’d realize this truth without any words coming out of my mouth.  I have been this way for a while.  So, imagine my reaction if I was sitting having a fabulous lunch and a personal trainer that I didn’t know came up to me and said, “Hey, I noticed from across the room that you are entirely too fat.  I am a personal trainer and I would like to help you overcome your gluttony….get you off of your couch, and get you back to living a healthy life!” While his comments would be – let’s be real – 100% accurate, I could tell you will full honesty that after I punched him in the face, I’d tell him off without hesitation!  THE NERVE of the man!  I mean, he didn’t even KNOW me, and yet you are rude enough to come talk to me that way?!?!?  I mean, WE AREN’T EVEN FRIENDS!

Yet, so many of us Christians think it is okay to walk up to people and either say straight out or imply they are going to hell or that their belief system is totally inaccurate!  These statements are very accurate, just as my example of me needing a personal trainer was, but are they a good approach?  I’m not so sure.

Let me put it this way – imagine a group of Hindus are out and their goal is to teach us “poor Christians” that we are doomed if we don’t convert to their real religion.  You and I both know that WE have the truth and their efforts would be wasted.  Why do we American Christians expect a different reaction from Hindus (or others – religious or not) when we approach people without any introduction and straight-out say “you’re lost man, you need what I got!”?

“BUT”, I say to myself, “I DO have what they need!”

So, using the tools that have brought me through the steps of The Naked Gospel, I decided to STUDY the life of Jesus and really absorb how He interacted with those around Him.  The difference being, of course, that Jesus COULD condemn, COULD judge, COULD direct, etc – while I cannot.  You get the drift.

Jesus with the Immoral – the Adulteress (John 8:3-11)

I need to start by saying first that I was always taught and really focused on the end of this story, “Go, and sin no more!”  I used to absorb it as Jesus saying, “Hey, I am God and I have given you this chance to clean up your ways, now go do it – you might not be this lucky next time!”  Or, when I’d look at the failures and bad decisions of my OWN life, I’d look to this interaction as one to make myself feel better – I don’t deserve to be stoned by others who are just as messed up as me, and now I need to shape up.  I have even reminded myself of this story to not judge others who really kind of deserved what they should get……but I would “do what Jesus did” and forgive them.  Maybe you can relate to what I am saying, but now I am going to ask you to focus on Jesus and how He was in this story – not the accusers, not even the woman who had committed adultery.  Jesus.  Period.

Now first, let’s consider some truths about this situation – the Mosaic Law established that this woman who was “caught red handed” should be stoned. Jesus never said this law was wrong, nor did he say He was changing the law.  Instead, Jesus asks the accusers to go right ahead, “as long as they were free from sin as well”.  They all could say no such thing, and so they left.  Agreed?
But let’s get back to our focus – Jesus.  He was without sin.  He was God and was the only human on the face of the earth who could have applied HIS law to this woman, for His lack of sin provided the right to throw a stone based on His new feedback to those that accused this woman.  He also could have turned to the accusers and screamed, “You hypocrites!  You bring this woman to me and yet you are lying, cheating, horrible men inside!  Further, you are bringing this woman to me not because you love the law, but because you hate me and want to trick me into making a fool out of myself!”  Jesus had EVERY right to react that way to all involved.  And yet, what did He do?

Verses 6-11 say this:
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.   At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”   “No one, sir,” she said   “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

He did not debate, he did not yell, he didn’t even take the stance of power, really.  Jesus could have set them straight with who He was!  He could have yelled for all to hear the secret and also easily seen sins each of them held in their lives.  Yet, in almost a “whatever” way, he stood and spoke the truth.  There was NOT anger in His voice towards the accusers, and there certainly was not any hint of condemnation in His voice towards the accused.   In fact, His very WORDS removed any condemnation from her!

Jesus with the Hated – Zacchaeus the Tax collector  (Luke 19:1-10)

Both Pastor and Shaw have shared this story recently, and shared how society hated the tax collector Zaccheus, and yet Jesus honored him and loved him.  Jesus truly came to save the lost, and that is where our hearts should be, too.

Jesus with the Rejected in Society – Foreign, female, Samarian (John 4:5-29)

Again, Christ could have condemned this woman just by the mere fact that she WAS a woman, never mind that she was a Samaritan AND a sinner.  And yet their interactions not only shared salvation with the woman, but those she spoke to also believed in Christ.  Jesus did NOT denigrate her, did not condemn her!

Jesus with the Political Leader – Roman Governor, Pilate (John 18:33-40)

Jesus spoke truth to Pilate, but He didn’t disrespect him.  Instead, he acknowledged Pilate’s position on the earth and noted that His own position was not of the world but of heaven.  Even in doing so, Jesus didn’t fight with Pilate or tell him he had no authority over him.  After the interaction Pilate found no fault in Jesus.

Jesus with The Condemned – Criminal on the cross (Luke 23:39-43)

Here was a criminal, found guilty by the laws of the land, and yet Jesus clearly shows He was saved when he said “today you will be with me in paradise!”  Jesus didn’t preach to this man, He didn’t point out the man’s sins, He didn’t even say ANYTHING to this man before faith was received by him!

So what do we do with this????

I know I am under GRACE and have accepted that I am who I am only because of who Christ is.  As such, I need to extend this grace to others, too!  Yet I also think I need to be different from the world, heck I even need to be SEPERATED from the world to be a really, really GOOD Christian!  The Bible says it man!

2 Cor 6:17 Therefore,  “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

For years I’ve used this verse and similar ones to justify why I should not associate with sinners, to not attend parties where alcohol is being served, to not go to clubs – you get the idea.  I even would ask if what I was doing would please my Lord.  And when I would succeed, I would feel pretty good about myself, because after all I am an Ambassador for Christ!  But through the months and year I’ve been at Crossroads, I have been compelled to dig deeper into this attitude.

First, I quickly found out that I am not alone in this attitude – today or in the Bible itself!  You do a search on Google about “being set apart from the world” and you will quickly see a grocery list of things Christians should not do:
•    Do not associate with or be around sinners, relatives or not
•    Do not go to parties
•    Do not go to movies where the story line is immoral
•    Do not be excited about doing worldly things, because you will be an enemy of God
•    Being around sinners approves of their sin

When I read this, I kept hearing “what about LOVE?”  And you know I love this verse because I reference it almost every time I stand here:

Mark 12:30-31 Amplified
And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment.  The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

So I began to pray about those around me – everyone – whether or not they LOOKED like a sinner or not.  That man in the nice clothes?  Probably not a sinner.  That thug with the baggy pants, questionable.

Do you believe me?  Okay, you know I am making a point!  But I do admit that when we were at Gay Pride last week I did think with some sadness, “A lot of this is not how I want the world to think of the LGBT community, it seems so sinful.  I mean there is a man with only underwear on.  Over there that woman is completely drunk.  Some were dancing very suggestively.  Maybe I shouldn’t even be here.”  And that was wrong of me.

You see, in the Bible we hear a lot about the Pharisees, and they were very “holy”, at least in appearances!  The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew perushim from parush, meaning “set apart”.  Did I want to think and act like the Pharisees, being set apart from anyone?  When I started thinking about the Pharisees, I couldn’t ignore the following from Matthew, where Jesus is teaching the crowd about the Pharisees:

Matt 23:1-12 NIV
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.  “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.  “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Then Jesus begins to speak TO the Pharisees in verse 13:
13-15
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

Jump down to Verse 23-26, where Jesus doesn’t hold back!

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.  

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

And then he ends in verse 33:
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Well I will tell you, that kind of shook up my attitude about those around me whom I felt I needed to separate myself from.  I did NOT want to be like the Pharisees!  

But what about 2 Cor 6:17?

I stand before you now and contend we DO need to be separated from the world!  But it’s not how I’ve been taught my entire life!  Instead, I challenge you to consider this:

First, let’s define some worldly attitudes:

First, we have to acknowledge that this world is a kingdom in its own right, and it is influenced by Satan.
•    Luke 4:5-6, John 14:30-31, and 1 John 5:19 speak to this.

The dominant values of the world include wealth, power, pleasure, revenge, fame, vanity and status. These things are most important to people who perceive no power or purpose beyond themselves. Worldly values promote jealousies, resentments and conflicts among people in accordance with the purposes of Satan.

Now, I think it’s pretty clear that we, as Christians, should NOT act like what is described here.  We should be SEPARATED from these types of behaviors.  Does it say to separate from the PEOPLE who do these things?  NO!

So, as Christians, how SHOULD we act?

The kingdom of God (also known as the kingdom of heaven) is not a geographic location but rather it exists IN US. It exists within the world among those people who put their faith, trust and loyalty in God.
•    Luke 17:20-21 and many other verses speak to this.

The values of the kingdom of God are often the opposite of worldly values: kindness and respect for all people instead of power; humility instead of status, fame and vanity; honesty and generosity instead of wealth; self-control instead of pleasure; forgiveness instead of revenge. Christian values promote peace and good will among ALL people in accordance with the purposes of God.

So how do we accomplish this????

1.    Follow the biggest and baddest commandments as noted by Jesus in Mark 12, which we read earlier, and Love God.  And if you love God first, it’s hard to act selfishly or focus on silly things that in the end mean nothing to define our identity as Pastor has been teaching us.
•    Excessive attention to material things such as houses, cars, clothes, jewelry, physical appearance, entertainment, etc.
•    Pursuit of wealth, power, fame, pleasure or status
•    Excessive devotion to self, job, hobbies, country, ideologies, heroes, leaders, even family

Not only do these object not define me, but they take my devotion and focus from God and others.

2.    Love and respect ALL people.
•    The English word “love” has many different meanings, but the Greek word, agape, used in the New Testament, is commonly known as “Christian love.” It means respect, affection, benevolence, good-will and concern for the welfare of the one loved.
•    We know from the Parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus meant EVERYONE regardless of race, religion, nationality or any other artificial distinction. We must even practice that Christian love even toward our enemies as taught in Matthew 5!

Now don’t you agree if more Christians acted THIS way, we truly would be separated from the world?  I mean, what does the world expect from Christians anyway?  Condemnation, arrogance, religiousity?

So having reviewed this I first replayed our interactions with those we met at the Gay Pride Parade last weekend.

As you know, we had a crew out there handing out stickers using the word GAY to explain God Accepts You.  Many have shared on Crossroads Facebook page that people would hunt us down, RUN to us to get those stickers!  And there was something amazingly freeing to say to someone “God accepts you right where you are!” and seeing the shock on their face!

I had an interesting conversation with one girl, and it went like this:

“God accepts you right where you are!”

“Do you promise?” she said, and I sensed she really wanted to believe me.

I responded, “Well of course, it’s in the Bible!”

At the word Bible her face fell.  “Oh, I have been told my whole life that the Bible says I am going to hell.”

And moved by mercy, because we all have had that feeling before, I said, “The Bible is clear that you are not going to hell if you love Jesus.  And He loves you no matter if you’re gay, straight, a cusser…….He loves you right where you are.  I promise that.”

I was moved in this interaction, because there is something SO AMAZING about sharing the LOVE and TRUTH that is the grace we have TODAY in Jesus Christ!

And yet, moments later I was seeing what I deemed immoral behavior and questioning my presence at Pride!  It should not be so!

So God reminded me of how HE interacted with those that were the biggest sinners when He was on the earth.
•    When Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple, he followed him home to have dinner with Matthew, a tax collector, and other “sinners”.  When the Pharisees saw this, they could not believe Jesus would stoop so low as to associate with such horrible people, who were otherwise looked down upon.  Jesus, knowing their thoughts, rebuked the Pharisees, showing us how we should act with people even today (Matt 9:9-13).  Jesus mixed with those deemed “in the world”.
•    You know that he hang out with prostitutes, gentiles, and so many others.
•    In all cases, Jesus shows us that it is more important to humble ourselves and show kindness, compassion, and love to those our contemporaries might classify as “untouchable”.  We must show respect to those that some would deem off limits or beneath us.
So I took these truths a bit further, in conjunction with the Bible Studies on Crazy Love and this journey about witnessing.  And God, He is so faithful!

First, at my new job I work with two Indian women; one has interestingly been raised as a born again Christian while the other is Hindu.  I had already decided that I would show love to my coworkers, whether I really liked them or not, and not push any agenda on my part (which, really, is not my M.O.).  One day Hema, the Hindu, mentioned she was fasting for the day.  This is when I was deep in the Jesus Plus Nothing review when I was finding areas of my life where law really did rule me – be it Biblical law or the laws I created in my life to define what a “good Christian” was.  I commiserated with her a bit and asked her why she was fasting.  She shared that it was for religious reasons as it was supposed to bring her to a stronger spiritual focus, but all she really was thinking about was food!  I shared that I had done similar things in my own faith and that often what turned out to be arrogant works drew my focus from where it should be.  It was a casual conversation – there was really no condemnation, just sharing of feelings.

Suddenly she said to me, “I really can’t believe you’re a Christian!”

That statement shocked me, and honestly kind of hurt, and I replied, “Why would you say that?”

She answered, “Well, you’re the first Christian who hasn’t told me I am going to hell.”

That broke my heart!  And she also shared she had never spoken to a Christian so long about religion without being shut down and pretty much wanted to leave!  To this day, she has sought me out at least 3 times a week to speak about my religion in a very casual way and I have been blessed beyond measure!

So I ask you – is my choice to not condemn Hema wrong as a Christian?  I don’t think so!

So going back to the Pride Parade and those who I resented in my heart for being immoral; being there does not condone activities that I am uncomfortable with.  And I have been reminded by Paul that it is not fair to put the yolk of laws on these people!

So let’s discuss this 2 Cor 6:17 in context.

A misunderstanding of this command, “Come out from them and be separate,” has spawned  (6:17a) a kind of holier-than-thou brand of separatism in certain sectors of the Christian church. Let me clarify what this command does not mean and what it does mean.
First, our passage isn’t talking about separation from believers, but about separation from the idolatry and sexual immorality of the pagans in Corinth. There is a time, of course, to separate from believers. In an earlier letter to the Corinthian church, Paul clarified his teaching as recorded in 1 Cor 5:9-11:

“I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.”

In the 1 Corinthians 5 passage, Paul says clearly that we aren’t to associate with believers who continue to practice immorality. Elsewhere, the New Testament teaches to separate ourselves from divisive people (Romans 16:17), idle brothers (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14), and false teachers (2 John 10).

Some Christians are so separatist that they refuse to associate with Billy Graham because he cooperated with liberal Christian churches. This is known as “second-degree separation” – that is, separation from anyone who will not separate from the things we believe are wrong. Dear friends, this kind of militant separatism breaks the primary law of “love one another.” It is judgmental and exactly the kind of separatism practiced by the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

Again, our passage in 2 Corinthians does not teach separation from believers (though there’s a time for that). Separation from believers is not the point or the purpose of this passage.

Notice in the passage quoted above from 1 Corinthians, Paul does not require separation from unbelievers. Indeed, we should retain friendships with unbelievers! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to influence them for Christ.  And we’ve already discussed how Jesus associated with sinners of His day!

But it does command us to separate ourselves from people and associations that will lead us into sin. Paul’s concern was that the Corinthian Christians still participated in the pagan feasts and their attendant sexual immorality.  That is a very different thing from me attending the Gay Pride Parade, because I was able to refrain from public intoxication and some of the other activities I saw.  Yet, had we not had a presence at the parade, so many in the LGBT community would still believe that God hates them!

And I have also been taught over the last few weeks that you NEED To love each person where they are!  There is NO set list of how to react to people or how to act “holy” with people apart from loving them.

A person who seems to do this well I’ve witnessed through my friendship with Tori.  Now, you might not know Tori really well, but she runs pretty deep – the wheels are often turning!  Here are some of the things I’ve noticed and learned from Tori:

•    She’s not afraid to laugh.  Even maybe at a secular joke!  Even at MY jokes!
•    She’s not afraid to cry, especially if her friend is crying.
•    She’s not afraid to listen, even when what she hears is someone’s failure.
•    When she listens, she doesn’t judge.  She loves.
•    She is very humble, but I tell you what she is so powerful in that humility!
•    It’s amazing, no matter what the conversation, Tori represents love and grace to me – and she often SINCERELY/AUTHENTICALLY brings Christ to the center.
•    I am blessed to call her my TFF.

So I pray that you can laugh, love, and grow in Christ.  To see and love others where they are instead of where they should be.  To allow the Holy Spirit inside of you to do His works.  To love like Jesus.  And rock your identity in Christ!

My Identity in Christ

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

So, I am for equality.  To me, that means if an honest, tax paying American wants to marry, they should be able to regardless of their sexual orientation.  But hey, I know I am biased because I am a lesbian and of course I want to marry my love.  So, I don’t completely (“completely”) despise someone who doesn’t see it the way I do.  I figure they have a right to their view, they can cast their vote, and I hope someday equality will prevail.

But when people begin to speak about me, and to me – telling me what I am or am not – I take it a bit more personally.  And here is one such example; it started when a straight friend of mine posted this link.  If you don’t want to read it, it’s about Linda Harvey’s comments regarding the non-existence of the LGBT community.  As taken from her Mission America broadcast this weekend, she said the following:

“There’s one big fact that’s not backed up. There is no proof that there’s ever anything like a gay, lesbian or bisexual or transgendered child, or teen or human. One of the other things you’re gonna see as I mentioned is a big campaign GLSEN’s gonna roll out this year calling for ‘respect,’ respect! Not just for people, but for homosexual lifestyle. The PR campaign to hold up gay as a good thing: the lifestyle, not the person, because there are no such humans.”

I would like to point out she did NOT say verbatim “they do not exist”, but “there is no such humans” pretty much gets us to that point, right?

So, be it these allergies or what I fear is really a cold hunkering down on me, I thought I would address Linda Harvey directly…..reach out and share that hey, I DO exist!  So I wrote the following email to her site:

“I respect your right as an American to disagree with homosexuality.  I respect your right as an American to vote against, and encourage others to vote against equality for homosexuals.  However, to read that any member of your organization claim the LGBT community to not exist is……ignorant.  Stand up for your beliefs, but don’t muddy your message with silly statements such as these.  I am a lesbian – the L in LGBT – and also a professional, someone who holds an advanced college degree, a mother, a voter, a Christian, and an American.  I exist.”

To which I received the following response (emphasis added by Gina):

“I am completely blown away by the number of people who take things out of context, don’t really listen to my program, and are then easy to manipulate by evil bloggers.

My entire thought, if accurately communicated, was that this is not inborn, that there is no separate human “type” of person who is genetically homosexual, or born in the wrong body.  No evidence for this.

This is actually a hopeful idea for those who feel trapped and feel they have no choice.  There is choice here.  No one is born this way.

I hope God opens your eyes.

Linda Harvey”

So, upon reading the above I was kind of irritated.  But three thoughts immediately came to my mind:

1)  No amount of words written from me will open HER eyes to any sort of truth.  I need to give this to the Lord.

2) This is a great opportunity to extend grace, because I could use this lesson for my own growth don’t you think?  (Now, believe me, to truly FEEL this sentiment took about an hour!)

3)  Wow Lord, Pastor was JUST speaking on our identity in Christ, and here You provide a real example of how this woman’s words are hurtful, but in the scheme of things don’t define me!

BUT, I also believe it’s fair to share her position and – at least on this blog – share a bit of mine.  So maybe that waters down the grace a little?  Not sure.  Just for reference, this is what I replied to her:

“Thank you for responding.  I see that we don’t agree, but nonetheless I wish you well.  And I will sincerely pray for your well being.”

Now, to apply the truth……

1)  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20

2)  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And weboast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.  Romans 5:1-11

3)  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  John 3:16-18

I have not been manipulated by “evil bloggers”.  I may not have medical or scientific proof that I was born this way – and I gather there is no medical or scientific proof saying I WASN’T born this way – but I KNOW I was born this way and – more importantly – I have the assurance in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that I am His.  Thank you Pastor, for reminding us of that!  Enough said.

Gina OUT.

Remembering 9/11 on its 10th Anniversary

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

I wrote this in 2001, re-posted it again in 2005, and still  the memories are very fresh…..

A Day of Horror and Sadness….

“Our nation was horrified, but its not going to be terrorized. We’re a great nation, we’re a nation of resolve, we’re a nation that can’t be cowed by evil doers…” President George W. Bush, September 16, 2001.

As I sit here and type this, I have been through a similar week as you…..I watched in horror as so many of our fellow citizens died tragically and without good reason. I don’t need to tell you the details; you have heard them all week on TV, radio, through the internet, in magazines, and in the papers. September 11, 2001 will forever be remembered.

We all need to stand behind our President and this country and I pray for its future during this most disturbing time. I pray for the families that have irrevocably been affected by this action against our country. I pray for the thousands of people who, at this very moment, continue to search for survivors and who are planning this country’s response to terrorists abroad.

Having said that, I must thank the heroes that are nameless. Let us not forget all that have come together to help heal this country. For the neighbor that is hanging their flag(s) proudly, for the stranger on the street who now will notice when others need help, for those who will risk their lives to save others. We are Americans and will stand together even in this horrible time. I am proud to be associated with so many heroes and strive to be one myself.

Finally, I ask all who are reading this to know Jesus loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you. Some of you know this, but if you think of God as a mysterious or unattainable “thing” (or even non-existent), please reconsider. Tuesday was a reminder of how short our lives really are, and I must attest that without Him in my life, Tuesday would have sent me into an abyss of hopelessness.

New York and Washington – yes, the entire country – were changed forever on Tuesday. I know in my heart, however, that the change will be for the better…..no one can tear us down!

Here are some heroic stories taken from http://www.msnbc.com. I hope you feel a proud as I do to be an American:

When Maria Trotta, who was stuck in a subway under the trade center for 45 minutes, finally emerged from the smoke-filled subway, the smoke was even worse above ground. But instead of running home, she took care of a woman who had asthma. “I went looking for a mask for her, but couldn’t find any, but the only thing I could find was a pair of (fortunately clean) athletic socks,” Trotta said. She guided her several blocks, finally leaving her in the care of EMTs at a rescue station. Only then did she walk across Manhattan Bridge back home to Brooklyn to meet her husband. “I never got her name.”

Stephen Krause of Union, N.J., said his wife — who is seven months pregnant — works for Salomon Smith Barney and was in front of the World Trade Center when the attack began. A woman she didn’t know stayed with her for hours, taking a six-mile walk around Manhattan until the pair finally managed to get on a ferry back to New Jersey. “The woman stayed with her the entire time…. She got her water, too, and wouldn’t leave my wife,” Krause said.

Much of the real heroism came from fire and police workers at the rescue scene. A New York City police officer who declined to share his name was carrying victims out of Five World Trade Center when it collapsed. “The fire department was getting people out from the rubble, and we [the police officers] were carrying them out,” he said. “I carried some out and was going back in to get more, but they wouldn’t let me back in. They said the structure was unstable. That’s when the second tower collapsed.” He said many victims were still inside, and several were still alive after the collapse — and too stunned to yell for help. ”(People) were dazed and shocked. It was surreal. I’ve never seen anything remotely like it. There just are no words to describe it,” he said.

Across New York, thousands of volunteers pitched in. Store owners opened their doors and gave away flashlights, water, food or anything else that would help rescue workers or victims forced to walk home to Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey or elsewhere once public transportation was shut down. A Duane Reade pharmacy gave out free water, snacks and first aid supplies. A Mrs. Fields Cookies gave away all its food.

God Bless America!!!!

Bible Study: Cheating on Jesus

/ Gina Marie / 1 Comment

As presented to CCC 8/21/11

Last week we learned about how we, as Christians, need to stop living under the law or even under a hybrid religion that combines the law with grace.  Instead, we should live 100% under GRACE, but even knowing that I think it’s still hard to walk in that.  So today, we are going to discuss this topic a bit more.

The law is so ingrained in us, I will be the first to admit it may take time to even realize how it rules us.  But God, in His wisdom and power, is doing that in my life!

First, look at me.  Today, I stand here and I am wearing flip flops.  In the 80’s I called them thongs, but my kids tell me that is inappropriate nowadays.  I am teaching Bible Study wearing flip flops and THAT IS JUST WRONG!  I was raised that you should NOT wear these to church and certainly not be on the PLATFORM is such sinful attire!

Oh, clothing certainly is an area that is STRONGLY ruled by the law.  Years ago, when I first became a Christian in a Foursquare church, I was encouraged to wear long dresses and very modest clothing.  Now I am not saying to dress immodestly, but it really felt like the girls in our church were encouraged to dress much more modestly than the boys.  I followed the rules because I wanted to be a good Christian girl as many of you did as well.  At least we could wear pants and shorts, unlike Deana’s upbringing, but at CHURCH we were told dresses were the best approach.  That even existed when I began to play the drums at church!  I mean, hello – drummers have to sit with the snare between the legs, and I had to wear a DRESS?????  Never mind that, I was told it was more important that “ladies on the platform wear dresses than if they had to sit in a unfeminine manner while there”.  The law for law’s sake is silly sometimes!

And so, to break that, I asked “will it be a sin to wear flip flops today?  Will I feel more holy if I wore closed toe shoes today?”  Now, remember the whole “all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial” study last week?  I will say it would be VERY inappropriate for me to stand here in a bikini – and I won’t even explain to you how traumatized you would be – but there ARE some reasonable do’s and don’t about these things.  But the LAW that flip flops are “signs of sin” is just hokey.  And what kind of burden do we put in these sort of areas to people we are trying to bring to church so they have FREEDOM IN CHRIST?

Ah come on, come to church!  We want to love on you!  But make sure you don’t wear flip flops!  God FORBID you come as you are!  Clean yourself up before you come to OUR church.

Now, this is not a big deal at CCC, where this stereotypical church rule is not as prevalent, but you get my drift?  What is something that YOU feel is required to do before you come to church?  Is it a man made law or requirement?

That can also be true for those who judge people who dress nicely for church – it goes both ways!

I am reminded how the Jews who received the grace of Christ struggled with this sort of thing, too.  In fact, even APOSTLES OF CHRIST got into drag out fights over this issue!

Galatians 2:11-21 (Paul is sharing this story)

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Thousands of years later, are we STILL claiming that righteousness can be gained through our actions and/or the law?

But the law is not as obvious as this in many of our day to day activities.  It finds its way to permeate the way we think!  For example, I started my new job this past week and was able to go out to lunch with some of my co-workers.  That was really great, to connect with them outside of the office.  So here we were at In-N-Out Burger and somehow the topic of “being unclean” came up.  One of my co-workers began to explain to us that to Jewish people in Biblical times, if they touched a dead body they could not stay within the city or attend temple activities for about 6 weeks.  And then he went on to share the story of the Good Semaritan.

His version went something like this:

One day a man who was seriously injured laid on the side of the road.  At the same time, a priest who was heading to his duties in the temple was walking down the street.  The priest, wanting to avoid the man, went to the other side of the street and passed him.  In the mean time, the Samaritan – who was the dirtiest of the dirty by the virtue of being a Samaritan – helped the man immediately.  He even paid the inn keeper to care for him and promised to come back and pay any amount due, as long as the man was cared for.

And the moral of the story?  The priest cared so much for God, that he knew he could not touch the man because he would be unclean and then he would not be able to serve God and God’s children for several weeks.  And we, as Christians, could be more concerned about serving God like the Priests of the Bible and yearn to remain clean for God.

Seriously.

But how does it read in the Bible?

Luke 10:25-37, as told by our Lord Jesus

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Our Lord did not say that the priest or the Levite acted as neighbors to the injured man.  Instead, it was the Samaritan, the most unclean in their society!  It is clear that the LAW was not lifted up in this parable (aka, do not become unclean) but rather the compassion of LOVE.  And how important it is that we take the time to find out where are “law blinders” are touching on stories where it totally changes the true message!

That leads me to share with you a friend of mine – a former co-worker of mine is an Orthodox Jew.  Now, it may seem that I am picking on her or her beliefs, but that is not what I mean to do.  She is just a great example of what we ALL do in some areas of our lives.

My friend – I’ll call her Laura – was born in Israel although her parents were from Europe.  She has always lived an Orthodox Jewish life.  She observes the Sabbath by observing Shabbat beginning each sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.  She observes all the religious holidays, studies the Tanakh which is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text’s three traditional subdivisions: The Torah (“Teaching”, also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi’im (“Prophets”) and Ketuvim (“Writings”)—hence TaNaKh.  She only eats kosher food (which was fun when we’d go to client sites that made things like sausages!), and follows the law in every way that she could.

And you know, it was great fun to ask her about her beliefs, to compare our views of Bible stories, and ask about certain things.  Like, did you know there is such thing as kosher wine?  When I asked her what made wine kosher, she said basically that is was produced by Orthodox Jews, and the process itself was not special.  But going through these “kosher lessons”, some things were revealed to me.

For example, there were several rules that Laura shared with me related to the Sabbath:

•    You could not cook, so all food was prepared before sunset
•    You could not carry items in or out of your home
•    You could not work (or even have non-Jews serve you!)
•    You could not “light a fire”

But then, when I asked more questions, things got a bit more complex

•    You “could” cook, as long as it didn’t get the food too hot
•    You could probably carry small things outside of the house
•    She would NOT work, so that was not an issue.  But some would tell her reading her kindle was sort of like work since she was a computer programmer and the kindle was like a computer.  She didn’t agree with that.
•    “Lighting a fire” was subjective, as many Orthodox Jews believed that also meant you could not turn on electricity during the Sabbath.  Laura didn’t take it that far, but she said sometimes if others were in her house she would at least turn the lights on BEFORE Sabbath and leave them on so that she wasn’t LIGHTING anything……..it was already on.

Where is became even more complicated was in the day to day activities at work with Laura.  For example, at our work we had to account for 100% of our time even though we were salaried employees, due to how we billed our clients.  Laura would often say she would enter times very late at night or even early the next morning on days where she knew she needed to leave early, even though she actually worked at different times or even days.

This speaks to a recent Harvard Business Review article that I read that shared many “high moral standard” employees often break the most rules because they feel they stay on the “straight and narrow” so often that a little turn here or there is permissible.

And really, what I am trying to point out that basically, the more rules you create to make you FEEL righteous, the more parameters you will create to circumvent those rules!  And yet, these rules make us feel holy, special, set aside, and so many other things.

And then there are those of us who do all we can to be acknowledged as “good people”.  It reminds me of a church I visited once, where it was preached from the pulpit why members of that congregation were better than everyone else.  Some things the Pastor shared:

•    The men wore suits
•    The woman wore dresses
•    The children went to the church’s Christian school
•    The members NEVER went to movies, few watched TV, and NO ONE listened to worldly music
•    They followed the Bible to a “T”, and sin did not live in their house
•    They only sang songs from hymnals, just as God intended
•    Because of these actions, God listened to these members more than any other souls on the earth.

You get the gist of it.

I am NOT saying any of those activities are wrong or right, just sharing their view of themselves.  In fact, I have to say that I was indirectly called out because it was said that “no woman” in that church would EVER sin by wearing pants, though I was there in such horrible garb!  So, I walked out understanding this – they had arrived and were righteous, at least in their own minds!

And yet, when I went out to my car in the parking lot – the church’s LOCKED parking lot and where they made sure only church members parked – there was a huge dent in my car.  A dent that was not there before I parked my car that morning.  And there was no note saying, “Hey, call me and we can work this out.”

All the things that they were “doing right” did not make them righteous.  And yet, whoever dented my car, if they have Jesus in their heart, was already righteous even though they hit my car and took off!  They were righteous because of CHRIST, not because of anything that Pastor shared…….and their righteousness was not negated by their actions with my car.

Here is what Paul says about these examples.

Romans 2:17-29 (The Message) – picture yourself and your rules as the Jews Paul is talking to.  Whatever it is that makes you feel holy or the actions you do that makes you feel like you deserve God’s grace:

If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.

Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God’s ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don’t you see: It’s not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It’s the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.

Stop cheating on Jesus with your own theatrics at righteousness.

Here are some more examples, which I have pulled from Andrew Farley’s book THE NAKED GOSPEL.

First, let’s go back to the times of the Israelites.  Back then they were in the middle of the desert and had their Tabernacle, where sacrifices were made to God.  Imagine one day a priest found a PERFECT lamb, with no one blemish.  The priest rushes to the Israelites and said, “WOW!  I found THE perfect lamb, and after I sacrifice it to the Lord, we will NEVER have to perform any other sacrifices!  ALL of our sins – FOREVER – will be covered!”

The Israelites, in their excitement, accept the sacrifice and then dismantle the Tabernacle and begin to live a guilt-free live “under the blood”, knowing that the perfect lamb has done away with sins once and for all.

Of course, you and I both know this never happened like it says here.  Instead, the Israelites continued to give animal sacrifices over and over as no single sacrifice was enough to perfectly cleanse them.  Hebrew helps to explain this:

Heb 10:1-2  NIV

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

Now, WE know as Christians there WAS such a lamb in Jesus Christ, and it is confirmed in the Bible as well:

John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Because of Jesus, there is no longer a need for the tabernacle, the temple, or the daily sacrifices.  We have been cleansed ONCE AND FOR ALL.  There is NO method or procedure required for us to remain forgiven.  Instead, we are invited to depend on the onetime sacrifice as the means to lifelong forgiveness, without any strings attached.

1 Peter 3:18 (first portion)

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

But maybe you’re like me – heck, like so many of us humans – who thinks, “Yeah, that’s great!  But I need to ASK for forgiveness.  I need to repent.” OR “I need to act this way or that way to prove I am holy” or so many other things.

I may even quote 1 John 1:9 which says

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I am not a theologian, and this verse is complex when taken out of context.  But let me clarify something very quickly as this is really a different lesson altogether:

•    This is the ONLY verse in the entire NT that says there is a method for maintaining daily cleansing.
•    It is not in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, or Thessalonians.
•    When 1 John was written, Gnostics has infiltrated the church and popularized the idea that Jesus was only spirit as God would never stoop to the level of being human.
•    Further, Gnostics also did not believe sin existed
•    John was trying to show the Gnostics both views were incorrect.  Because of that, John purposely uses physical words in his opening statement to challenge this Gnostic heresy.  Later, he says that anyone who doesn’t believe that Jesus came in human flesh is NOT FROM GOD (1 John 4:3)
•    As such, John was not talking to true believers, because we know Jesus walked on the earth.  Instead, it was addressed to non-believers, or Gnostics who had entered the church.  In fact he says in 1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
•    True believers in Christ KNOW they are sinners, because to become a Christian you have to admit you’re a sinner!
•    As such, John here is concerned with Unbelievers, encouraging to confess their sins, so that they can accept Christ and be saved.  Or, in other words, the verse is an invitation to become a Christian.  Once you’re a Christian, the confessing is done.
•    Notice verse says, “from ALL unrighteousness”?  There is no one-by-one concept here!

So, let’s break that down and think about this.  I asked myself, “do I REALLY believe that I have the power to control the power of Jesus’ blood to forgive?”

“Do I REALLY believe if I talk to God more and more, he will pour out more of His blood, because He’s holding some back from me now?”

And then I asked myself this: Do I REALLY believe the blood of Jesus was sufficient to bring me a lifetime of forgiveness and cleansing, or do I actually believe it was lacking, and therefore I need to fill in the gap with my own efforts?

Crazy questions, yes?

So let’s talk about and try to understand God’s economy – from the beginning of time, cleansing included BLOOD which covered sin.  The animal’s blood is what covered the Jews, and the blood of Jesus is what covers us today.

Hebrews 9:22 says it this way

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

But even with knowledge, we push the truth away, saving that is for heaving, but POSITIONALLY on the earth “once and for all” does not work.  Maybe it’s because it feels way too easy!

“You mean I don’t have to do ANYTHING to be forgiven?  That doesn’t sound right.”  My human pride doesn’t want to admit that it really IS a free gift, and that I am not powerful enough to extract my own salvation.  And, truthfully, what would I do if I didn’t have my daily list of sins to feel guilty about anyway?  I mean, I was taught all these years that I need to confess my sins, to ask forgiveness, and take a truthful tally of my sins.

But there’s no blood in those actions, is there?

Do I REALLY believe the blood is only effective in HEAVEN?  That it lacks power here on earth so I need to do my piece?  Aren’t remembering, confessing, asking, and claiming MY powers?

Ultimately, it becomes OUR responsibility to make the cross carry real benefits in the present.

And that’s just plain cheating on Jesus!  At it’s plain insulting to His sacrifice, don’t you think?

In adopting this fine-sounding belief system, we fail to recognize that the cross is a historical event.  Its effects are already accomplished, no matter what we believe or claim.  Our actions do not cause more blood to be shed.

So I encourage you – start accepting the fact that, as a Christian, you are saved by grace!  Today, tomorrow, it’s done.  Repeat the following truths as much as needed:

•    Only blood brings forgiveness
•    Jesus’ blood will never be shed again
•    Therefore God is SATISFIED
•    And I enjoy lifelong and eternal cleansing
•    Jesus plus nothing!

Bible Study: Jesus Plus Nothing

/ Gina Marie / Leave a comment

As presented to CCC 8/14/11

Today is not going to be a lesson based on my shortcomings, at least not directly.  It’s not going to be about my work, although I WILL share that my tenure there didn’t last the two weeks as planned.  Instead, my last day was Thursday and I will be starting my new job tomorrow!  In all I can attest that Jesus DID have it, and He still does!

Today I’d like to share with you a concept that, at times, has apparently caused great controversy and debate.  Even in the bible study, when this topic was touched on we all struggled in some way or another.  And yet, even with this struggle, I wonder, “Why should this be so HARD?”  I can’t answer that, but wanted to say straight out that you may hear some things that initially at least will cause you to say, “NO WAY!” and that I understand that reaction.

So without further adieu, everyone who calls him or herself a Christian, in theory, can attest that they’ve been saved by Christ.  That they have been covered by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for each one of us.  His death, and more importantly resurrection, broke the chains of bondage to sin and has allowed us eternal life as well as provides HIS righteousness for us TODAY.   This miracle is described in our Gospel, as recorded in the New Testament.

Everyone agree?

Yet, many of us do NOT live under grace, or the “Jesus plus nothing” umbrella, but instead have created a hybrid religion.  That is not healthy for us as Christians, nor to the world as we try to proclaim His Truth.  As described in Andrew Farley’s book THE NAKED GOSPEL:

“Many Christians still walk in Old Covenant bondage.  Regarding the law as a Divine ordinance for our direction, they consider themselves prepared and fitted by conversion to take up the fulfillment of the law as a natural duty.”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917)

“If you Christians want to make us agnostics inclined to look into your religion, you must try to be more comfortable in the possession of it yourselves.  The Christians I meet seem to me to be the very most uncomfortable people anywhere around.  They seem to carry their religion as a man carries a headache.  He does not want to get rid of his head, but at the same time it is very uncomfortable to have it.  And I for one do not care to have that sort of religion.”

Quoted in Hannah Whithall Smith, The God of All Comfort

Why do we as Christians insist on viewing ourselves as not good enough, or define ourselves by our sins?  How about us Christians who “do and do” and don’t even really have time to interact with our Lord?  Or even feel Him?  Why are we compelled to do this?  This is not a present day problem, even Martin Luther struggled with this.

Martin Luther, who many would say was a very faithful man and has done so much for Christians for centuries, struggled with guilt.  Yet a large portion of his life was ruled by self-flagellation and other physical abuse in attempt to atone for his long list of sins.

Mother Teresa is another great example, and many of you can say you know she worked endlessly and unselfishly for so many in need.  Yet, in a personal diary entry penned to Jesus, she wrote the following:

I am told God loves me – and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul.  Before the work started, there was so much union, love, faith, trust, prayer, and sacrifice.  Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?

Even after working for over 40 years exclusively for Christ, Mother Teresa struggled for meaning, purpose, and a stable relationship with God!

Can you related to these two, at least partially?

How did this happen to these two, maybe even to us?  Let’s go back in time and do a little research.

In Exodus 24:3,4 and 7, it reads:

When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”  Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.  Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”

This amounted to 600 commandments in all – more than 350 items and actions to abstain from and nearly 250 actions on the Jewish to do list.  Some actions were even punishable by death!

And how did the Israelite’s fair with these laws?  I think they reaction is best described as a rollercoaster ride!

Psalm 78:56-59 says:
But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.  Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.  They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.  When God heard them, he was very angry; he rejected Israel completely.

But you may say, “he give them a break, they may have not known better!  Maybe if they were knowledgeable on the Lord, they’d fair better!”  So let’s see how the Priests handled God’s commandments:

Malachi 2:1-2

“And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.”

Time didn’t seem to help the Israelite’s get their act together, either, for centuries later Saul or Tarsus – maybe the most committed of all – wrote the following:

Romans 7:15

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

So, struggling to do the right thing to feel the presence of God is not a new thing at all.  But maybe Martin Luther, Mother Teresa, even the Israelites had it wrong!

But certainly, you can say, there were many Old Testament Heroes who were SUPER close to God and received great blessings from Him.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, even David!  Yet they lacked SO MUCH compared to us if we are to believe the Bible.

Hebrews 11 speaks of the faith so many of these heroes manifested, which saved them or caused great miracles to occur.

11:33-34

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

11:39

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

So what was this that God had planned, this “something better” than what amazing people received?

The Old Testament defined who could approach God, and how.  So it’s with amazement that I realized though this study that our High Priest, when viewed through the Old Testament , does not meet the requirements to hold this office!  The law requires that a person be from the tribe of Levi to qualify as high priest, yet Jesus was from the tribe of Judah!  This has been confirmed in Hebrews 7:13-14.  Do you agree that no one from the line of Judah has EVER served as priest?  The law forbade it.  That’s because the law and Jesus just don’t mix.

That’s why it’s amazing to read and receive what Hebrews 7:12 says:

For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.

So, with this change of the law, should we live exclusively under Christ’s grace, should we follow the law, or should we combine the two?

My struggle IMMEDIATELY escalates at this point!  I mean, we are ambassadors for Christ and our walk is important when we represent Him, right?  It’s important to live righteously, to be holy, to honor our Lord!  So how can you even PRETEND to ignore the law?

Do you feel me?

But grace is still a contract, with Jesus Christ directly.  In contrast to the old contract that God wrote through Moses, GRACE will never be replaced!  IT IS THE FINAL WORD CONCERNING A HUMAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!

Hebrews 8:8-9

But God found fault with the people and said:

   “The time is coming, declares the Lord,
   when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
   and with the house of Judah.
 It will not be like the covenant
   I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
   to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
   and I turned away from them,
            declares the Lord.

God always intended to usher in something RADICALLY DIFFERENT, and that passage clearly states something totally new was coming.  And this new way was going to solve a huge problem – our failure to remain faithful.  Whatever this NEW is, it somehow CAUSES people to remain faithful, even when their own strength fails them!

THERE IS REALLY NOTHING WRONG WITH THE OLD IN ITSELF.  IT SHOULD STILL BE ESTEEMED AS HOLY AND GOOD.  THE ISSUE WITH THE OLD WAS THAT NO ONE COULD OPERATE SUCCESSFULLY UNDER IT.  FOR THAT REASON, GOD ORCHESTRATED A DIFFERENT WAY.

In the new, we have a personal connect with God, as explained in Hebrews 8:10:

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.

I want to share a very subtle change in this verse, one that I overlooked for years.  For the writer of Hebrews purposely MISQUOTED the Old Testament; he changed the old testament “my law” to “my laws”.

Contrary to popular teaching, it’s not the law of Moses that is written on our hearts, It’s GOD’S LAWS!  The New Testament speaks to this and Jesus also helps us with this.:

•    The Royal Law –
o    James 2:8 – If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
•    The Law that Gives Freedom –
o    James 1:25 – But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
•    Jesus’ Commands –
o    Mark 12:30-31 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
o    John 13:34-35- “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
o    John 14:15 – If you love me, you will obey what I command.
o    “Jesus plus nothing”

Okay, if you’re anything like me, your mind might be filled with “but what about this?” and “what about that?”

So what IS the law for????  The law is there to point unbelievers to Jesus, not to lead believers.

But how can I know I am on the right path if I don’t have a road?  Jesus is the lamp that lights our paths.

1 Cor 10 talks about “all things are permissible, but not all things beneficial”
•    In context of eating meat used for sacrifices to idols
•    Today, it could be drinking around an alcoholic
•    Today it could be having tattoos
•    Neither action is wrong to Christians, but it may cause problems for others OR create a habit that is not beneficial for the believer.  Neither has anything to do with our righteousness in Christ.

So let’s talk a little more about specifics.  Are you hearing me say we should be lawless?

NO.

Am I saying standards like “thou shall not kill” or “there shall be no other gods” no longer matter?

NO.

But let’s put this in context –

•    do rules and regulations make us RIGHTEOUS?
•    If we DO those things, are we focused on our Lord?
•    If we fail on one of those things, do we really believe Jesus has saved us from it already?

The biggest struggle I have with the concept of GRACE over the LAW is the dichotomy they represent.  Yes, I am 100% forgiven, but I need to represent my Lord, and it’s easier for me to do that if I have a list of standards to follow.

But I am telling you, the whole FOCUS changes when you accept that you only need to LIVE under GRACE!

For example, you hear Pastor Bob talk about tithing often.  He tells us this is the only place in the Bible where we are told to test God, to see what He will do.  That is the truth, I believe it.

But when I thought about tithing in the context of the LAW, I saw it very differently.  You see, it was something I had to do to prove I was a faithful Christian.  It was a requirement of mine, established by the Bible.  And in THAT context – I call “the law context” – I approached it one of these ways:

•    With fear – I better tithe or I will be in trouble with God (the church, my Pastor)
•    With rebellion – Why is it a rule anyway?  My church has plenty of money and God can do all things, anyway.
•    With Guilt – after all Jesus did for me, how can I say I love him when I can’t even give 10% of what He gave me?
•    With Appearance – I don’t want others to think I am less of a Christian
•    With Defiance – I’m just not gonna do it.  I will handle my money the way I want to, period.

All of the above have something in common – they are all 100% focused on ME and MONEY!  NOWHERE is my focus on my Lord.

However, when I began to view tithing in the context of GRACE (as I believe Pastor teaches is), it took on a whole new set of clothes:

•    With Truth – Jesus loves me so much, that He died for me so that I don’t have to fulfill ANY requirement
•    With Appreciation – Jesus provides for me so much, thank you Jesus!  Thank you for blessing me with this income.
•    With Freedom – I know I will have a home/food/clothing/etc. no matter what, so I want to give a small portion so others can know this truth too.
•    With Abundance – Lord, you HAVE truly proven Yourself!  The more I give, the more I have – both monetarily and spiritually!

Notice the above, which truly happened to me.  Do you see much talk about money?  ME?  JESUS was the focus!  The law points to US, Grace points to JESUS, even in things such as the standard of tithing!  And the truth is, because Jesus is IN each of us, the closer we draw to our established relationship with Him, the more clearly He will guide us with His Holy Spirit!

Another way I reconciled the dichotomy of Grace and Law was an analogy I heard from my dear friend, George.  And let me tell you, George gets fired up about the Grace we already have in Jesus!  He does NOT want us to be tied down by the Law!

“Breakfast in Bed”

Everyone likes breakfast in bed!  I know I love it!  But breakfast is bed is very different when viewed under the Law!

Let’s say you’re married to the Law.  The Law demands YOU prepare breakfast everyday, right at 7:30am.  That breakfast needs to be exactly on time, perfectly prepared (not too hot, not too cold, eggs over easy, pinch of salt) everyday or else your marriage may be in jeopardy.  Can you imagine the pressure you’d be under each day?  There is no room for mistakes, no room for empathy if you’re feeling unwell, didn’t sleep through the night, etc.  There may even be days when you RESENT the law, and grumble about having to serve breakfast in the first place.  Or, if the eggs are cold (as they are sure to be) you have no recourse to fixing it and the guilt may overwhelm you.

To further complicate matters, this marriage TO the law cannot be ended UNDER the law, because the law says you can only remarry if you are a widow, or your spouse dies.  But you know what?  Here comes Jesus!  HE died, and the Bible tells us that we are crucified with Christ, even though we live!  So, WE died with Christ, breaking that marriage to the Law, and now we are free to remarry Grace.

Romans 7:1-4 says:

Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.  So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

Having read that, how do you think Jesus feels if we say we are married to Him and His Grace, but keep going back to visit our old spouse, the Law?  ………..But let’s get back to our breakfast, with our new marriage to Christ:

Now breakfast in bed under Grace is very different.  IN THIS arrangement, JESUS prepared the breakfast each day just the way you like it.  As it turns out, it’s exactly perfect each day – over easy, not too hot, perfect seasoning – everyday, without fail.  And, service is provided with the most amazing love and care!  Day in and day out!  He NEVER fails!

And then suddenly, something amazing happens to you after each breakfast is served!  Suddenly, YOU begin to want to serve JESUS breakfast, and HE says, “oh, that’s okay, I can do it, it’s already prepared!” but you say, “Oh Jesus, I love you so much and appreciate you so much!  I don’t care if I am required to make breakfast or not, I WANT to because I love you!”

Grace CAUSES us to do right, to take on the actions of Jesus.  The Law does not!

Now, maybe you have in your head another situation.  What about those who claim to be Christians, yet they are hypocrites!  Maybe their walk shows no signs of Jesus, maybe they even ridicule the things of the Lord, even as they claim to follow Him!

Well hey, what do Jesus’ commandments say to do?  Love them.

Further, it is usually not OUR job to measure the worth of a man, or to decide his heart.  Now, there are parameters where leaders such as Pastors of this church can address actions or behaviors, but overall Jesus really says to us, “what is it to you?”

Like how Jesus dealt with Peter and John in 21:15-23.  Keep in mind this is after Jesus’ death and resurrection, after Peter denied Christ 3 times.  The disciples were fishing when John see’s a man and says, “It’s Jesus!”  Before you know it Peter jumps out of the boat, swims to Jesus, and soon Jesus and Peter are going over the “Peter, do you love me?  Feed my sheep” conversation.  Jesus goes on to tell Peter he faces a tough death, and ends with FOLLOW ME.

About this time, here comes John, who had NOT swam to shore is a flurry to see Christ.  I can see, even with Peter’s failures in the past, he felt pretty good about himself right now in relation to Christ.  He may have even felt a little competitive with John.  So he looks at mister “mosey on in” and says, “Hey Lord, what about HIM!”  And Jesus’ reply?  You don’t need to worry about him, you need to just worry about following ME!”

So, I encourage you, don’t go back to your first spouse, the Law.  Stop living under that life.  Let Jesus’ grace, which exists inside of you, allow you to grow in Him.  Focus on JESUS, and if others bug you, let Jesus handle it.  Don’t try to read a list to be righteous, walk under grace which has already made you righteous in Christ.  You can succeed by living under this truth – Jesus plus nothing.