Ask the Author

       Many people say they have the Word of God, that they know the truth, and however else they may say it. But how can we know that people actually know, or that we ourselves actually know… what the truth is? In this blog, I’ll try to explain it in as simple a way as possible.

       Do you remember some of those assignments you got in English class? Particularly the ones where you’re asked to analyze a particular book, play, act, chapter, scene, or title, and to suggest what the author meant when they wrote it. While I have nothing to say against creative or critical thinking exercises, everyone knows we have no way of knowing what in heck the author meant exactly without contacting the author themselves. The trouble with God’s great book however, is that people do think they can interpret it without His divine help. Really? The oldest, most pertinent and multi-faceted book in human history, and it’s capable of being understood without the help of its Author? How can this be? Easy answer: it’s not. From the logical point of view, it makes sense, as well as from the perspective I’ve gained from my own relationship with God, it makes sense. The Bible itself says in 2 Peter 1:20 “That no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” Jesus also said of both the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit that they testify to us about him (John 5:39, 15:26); so this book actually tells us to contact someone who knows its own Author – it must be important.

       One of my favorite scriptures on this topic is 2 Tim. 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for exposure, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” A good complement to this is the scripture in Job which says, “I said, days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.” (Job 32:7-9) (As a side note, this highlights the importance of being “poor in spirit” as Jesus said in Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”) But back to topic, these scriptures were not meant to only be given to those who would write the Bible, though God most certainly inspired them to do that. This also means that we can only receive the scriptures… into our hearts – the place where it really counts – by the Spirit of God. The word inspiration is derived from the word which means “God-spirited” or “divinely breathed in” in both the Greek and ancient Hebrew.

       The King/Psalmwriter, David said that he hid the word of God in his heart so that he would not sin (Psalm 119:11). A sin, I think most people know by now, is a transgression against the law of God. But what is the law of God? Many people would cite the Bible, especially the older scriptures like those found in Leviticus, but it’s actually not that easy. When Jesus came two thousand years ago, yes, he died a perfect sacrifice for our sins, but he also taught us about the ways and the laws of God. Sure he made certain challenges against the traditions of the elders of Israel, such as not washing his hands before eating, but he fulfilled every part of God’s law. Some would say he did away with those old laws, drawing on examples such as God telling Peter that He cleansed many things which were considered unclean before (Acts 11). The truth however, is that Jesus re-taught us how to apply the laws of God to our lives so as to fulfill the true purpose of God’s law. God does not care about all this stuff on the surface of our lives that might mean so much to the earthly man; His concern – and the purpose of His law – is for our spiritual well being. Jesus illustrated this in Mat. 5:27-28 “Ye have heard that it was declared to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” In this particular comparison, Jesus is talking about living – even in one’s own mind – after lust, and that that is breaking the law of God. Further analysis of this single passage will tell you how Jesus spoke against wrath, lust, infidelity, being a false witness, greediness, slothfulness, revenge, and pride, all of which needn’t manifest themselves in some sort of obvious way, but they are nonetheless sins we can commit in our hearts and which break the law of God. As you can see, there is still a law God wants people to abide by, and it is (in some ways) even more strict than the old one. But God makes the purpose of His law clear to His servant, King David in Psalm 19:7-9 “The Law of Yahweh is flawless, restoring the soul; The testimony of Yahweh is faithful, making wise the simple; The precepts of Yahweh are upright, rejoicing the heart; The instruction of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of Yahweh is clean, standing unto the future; The judgments of Yahweh are truth; they are righteous altogether.” There is more to that passage but I’ll let you study it for yourself. Also you should have your own personal relationship with Jesus and with God, the Father, as Jesus said in John 17:3 “This is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The Author and His son, both are people you should get to know, to know both the truth and God’s law, and for to obtain eternal life. The Bible says that the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ in Galatians 3:24, and I have learned to interpret this on two levels: first, there was the law God gave Moses and the children of Israel, a nation into which the Christ, Jesus, was born, and second, after Jesus came and re-taught the law of God, we can now follow it into obtaining the anointed life of Christ for ourselves.

       And for those who think they’ve obtained the truth but perhaps do not have the real thing I have another scripture, Rev. 3:17-20 “Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I advise you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness will not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I expose and discipline: be zealous therefore, and reconsider. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” There’s a lot in that short passage which may be of interest but there’s only one part that I’ll call your attention to right now: “as many as I love, I expose and discipline.” So ask yourself some questions: Has Jesus exposed or disciplined me lately? What have I been gaining from my time with him? How much time have I actually spent with him? Do I need to “reconsider” some of these things?

       The last thing I want to address in this post is teaching others to either follow or transgress God’s law; we’re all doing either the one or the other. This idea, really, is quite simple: through your actions and the words you speak, are you encouraging others to show love, patience, generosity, kindness, courage, tenderheartedness, etc. or are you promoting hatred, misery, hopelessness, fear, complacency, etc? In practice however this may not be so easy; many people, in their zeal, commit even extremely violent acts for what they think God desires, provoking fear, hatred, and sorrow – among other things. We should watch ourselves so that we don’t let ourselves get caught up in that sort of behavior; and when forced to bear witness to it, remember that those people aren’t serving God in such acts (whether they know it or not), and that we can have a personal relationship with God in which He will help us every day of our lives. Proverbs 3:1-6 says, “My son, do not forget my law; and let your heart preserve my instructions; for length of days and years of life, and peace shall they add to you. Do not let mercy and truth forsake you; bind them about your neck, and write them on the tablet of your heart. Thus you will find grace and good understanding in the eyes of God and man. Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” That short passage sums up a lot of what I’ve said so far, but pay attention to that last bit, “in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths,” as it says rather plainly what you should do. Now I’ll give you an example of Godly behavior so you can perhaps see the difference: Volunteer Chick-fil-A employees near Orlando, Florida, went to work on Sunday after the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in the city, breaking a longstanding restaurant policy of remaining closed on Sundays. Employees provided food to people who were donating blood and to law enforcement officers who were part of the response effort. Chick-fil-A has faced criticism from the LGBT community in the past because of comments made by the company’s CEO opposing same-sex marriage. And while Chick-fil-A was not the only business or organization to lend the people of Orlando their aid they did prove that you don’t have to agree with people on every great social or religious issue as a prerequisite to showing them kindness. The shooting which took place at the nightclub is a great example of what people should not do but can do when they don’t really know God or how to keep his commandments.

       Anyway, that’s about all I’ve had congealing in the back of my brain-fridge over the last couple weeks or so, so I hope you found it edifying. God bless you.

A Hairy Issue

          I think about a lot of things all the time, most of which I can’t remember, and I’m sorry I don’t get more of ‘em written into my blog, but recently I’ve been thinking about some stuff which seems to just keep coming back up with more and more pressure each time so I better get it out before it explodes with very loud noises (I hate drawing attention to myself like that).

            First I’ll share a testimony that took place in my life almost two years ago now (geez, tempus fugit). My dad and I had gotten back from a hunting/camping trip (we actually bagged something big this time, yay) and a regional church meeting in Calgary was approaching. During the camping, since we were out in the woods, I had let my beard and hair grow out with reckless abandon for about a month, but in my particular church fellowship it is a common standard for men to have short hair as well as be shaved. I however had grown attached (in the non-literal sense) to my hair growing the way it was. This was not the first time I had encountered this type of situation, but it became the first time I truly sought the Lord for the truth in it. In my church it is taught from the Bible (1Cor. 11) that men should have short hair, the no-beards thing (not in the Bible) was added to that for reasons unknown to me. My pastors always taught that it was a sign of submission to God’s order and the ministry, but I’ve been in scenarios where it can manifest by other spirits as well (not the Holy Ghost). I’ve also had the experience before where I would let my hair grow, not out of rebellion or disobedience, but to just see what happens and prove it’s real worth. The Bible does also say to ‘prove all things and hold fast to that which is good’ in 1Thes. 5:21. I would have chalked it up to simple innocent curiosity, but it is a Biblical principle. Before the meeting came, I had been in a few normal church services with my small, local assembly where my state of hair wasn’t causing any trouble after my trip into the woods, but a church meeting was going to have plenty more people, people who may have questions or concerns about it. On the one hand, I didn’t want to bring any disharmony into my fellowship, on the other hand, I didn’t want to put on something that was just going to be an insincere façade, on the other, other hand, I do want to be obedient to God and his order, and the other, other, other hand, it’s obvious I have too many hands. My mind filled with questions and ideas as to what I could do about the situation, and amidst the ensuing mental maelstrom I pleaded to Jesus to help me resolve it – whatever He wanted me to do I was willing to do it. I continued to toss ideas back and forth in my mind, so much so that I became a bit dizzy: ‘Maybe I just shouldn’t go, but it’s a meeting, of course I should go’ ‘well, if I shaved and cut my hair, that wouldn’t cause any problems, but wouldn’t I be doing that to be some kind of “people-pleaser” which isn’t right either’ etc. But in spite of the chaos, God heard my plea and sent me some grace. I stepped back and took a look from the outside at this ‘storm’ and asked myself (or maybe it was God, Himself, asking me) where is every single one of these thoughts coming from, I knew the answer from the confusion in my mind and the anxiety clenching in my stomach, it was fear. (2Tim 1:7) ‘He has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, and of power, and of a sound mind’ was the scripture, and ‘you don’t have to listen to any spirit that’s not God’s’ was the lesson, that flashed through my thoughts. It was not difficult at this point to say to the spirit fear that I was done listening to whatever it had to say, and my mind went dead silent. It was as if I had spoken with the authority of God, Himself, and the cowardly spirit in my mind knew it. After about one second of this blissful calm, I heard the words ‘Just go to the meeting and enjoy yourself’ spoken softly into not just my mind but my heart as well, and the peace that passes all understanding welled up within and surrounded me; I knew it was the Lord. Needless to say I did as I was bid, happily, too. I went to the meeting in Calgary with some other members of my church within the next couple of weeks, I heard great preaching and testimonies, sang some songs, ate waaay too much of their delicious food, and quite thoroughly enjoyed myself (insert nice long pause here for dramatic effect). Interestingly, not long after this happened, my own pastor started preaching about identifying spirits. Knowing what spirit you’re in contact with, drawing power from, and operating in, became his theme message for the entire following year and is still brought up on a regular basis, even though I don’t believe he’s actually heard this testimony yet (I’m about as quiet in person as I am on the internet, scary right?). That’s just one more piece of proof that this message did indeed come from God.

            Since that event, I have been content with whatever length my hair’s at, but I don’t go for long without thinking back on it: the confusion and the fear, my willingness to do whatever God would’ve asked of me, and His simple, clear direction that filled me with joy and peace. These are all vital elements to the story. I have been doing some meditation, scripture digging and excavation, and I’ve found a few things very interesting. First of all, I remember that, ‘Jesus said “by this all men shall know that you are my disciples, that you all dress and wear your hair the same way”’ is a misquote. He actually said, ‘by this all men shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.’ He didn’t even bring up the scriptures or doctrine. Though there is another place in the Bible where Jesus talks about his own relation to the scriptures, that is in John 5:39-40, he is speaking to the Jews of his day and saying ‘search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they testify of me and you will not come to me, that you might have life.’ That day, amidst the cogitative turmoil, I didn’t turn to the scriptures of the Bible, but I did turn to Jesus, which is the crux of the whole thing anyway. Jesus said, ‘I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE’ and so everything we need can be found in him.

I have also been searching through the Bible for scriptures that specifically mention any laws or rules regarding people’s hair. I have found nothing other than the one place in the letter, 1^st Corinthians. God never gave short-hair-for-men and long-hair-for-women as commandments that his people must follow, at least, not that I was able to find anywhere, so, as always, you should look for yourself. The Bible did make it clear however that it was a traditional custom among the Jews for people to wear their hair this way and also for men to grow beards unstyled and unshaven.  As such, the typical picture people have in their minds for how Jesus looked during his ministry with shoulder-length hair and a somewhat-short finely-trimmed beard is, in all likelihood, highly inaccurate, although there were times he liked to challenge the traditions of the Jewish elders and told them that they ‘leave the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith, which were meant to be binding and not to be left undone.’ I believe that when God gave me my instruction, He didn’t omit anything truly important because that simply wouldn't make sense.

I do remember though, the scripture which says that ‘all scripture is inspired by God and is beneficial toward teaching, toward exposure, toward correction, and toward discipline in just-togetherness.’ I should probably point out that with the scriptures I use and ‘quote,’ I am reading from a very awesome computer program which you can download for free called the interlinear scripture analyzer, which shows the original Hebrew and Greek words (it even orders the Hebrew words from right to left, which is so disorienting and fun), the best translation for every individual word as well as the concordant literal version, so it’s useful if you want to better understand what exactly they were actually writing about in these verses like this last one I used: 2^nd Timothy 3:16. I know there must be a reason Paul wrote that scripture in 1^st Corinthians 11, so I looked more deeply into that and found some intriguing stuff. One of the first things I noticed is the fact that Paul himself did not refer to these things as commandments or laws, but as traditions... ugh, I hate traditions, though that is only the logical consequence of loving to try different things for myself and finding things that work yet often don’t fit with traditions, and so these things I love will often seem weird, unusual, strange, non-standard, unorthodox, and unconventional, but, as I said, I love them and I truly believe that this is a God-given love. The next thing I noticed was a simple phrase in a verse I don’t believe I’ve ever heard any minister preach (if I have, then I just don’t remember), ‘Judge in yourselves.’ Much of what leads up to this in the 13^th verse is a lot of symbolic and cultural (maybe?) explanation. But ‘judge in yourselves’ sounds like we should be able to decide for ourselves what we think about all this stuff; that, and what the next verse says, ‘Doesn’t nature itself even teach you that it is a shame for a man to have long hair?’ can only provoke the n-o word from me. Nature teaches me no such thing, about guys with long hair or women with short hair. In myself I can only judge… that there must be more to this scripture that I’m just not getting, so I kept studying. Soon though, I found the crux of this whole chapter. Paul said it, ‘In giving you this charge, I applaud you not, for you are coming together not for the better edification of one another but for discomfiture.’ I do not know everything about what was going on in the Corinthian church, but the letter of 1^st Corinthians was basically written to address a lot of these problems, and that’s the point of this scripture; it was written for a specific purpose in Paul’s ministry, which is probably why I don’t understand some of the things he said. Inversely, if Paul were alive today and could see my church and our culture, traditions, etc. I’d bet good money he would have plenty to say about it but also that it would be different things he’d say. The point, if I haven’t been clear already (entirely possible) is that the church should be coming together to edify the Body of Christ, in the breaking of spiritual bread and the mingling of spiritual wine. What we look, or even sound, like is not the issue and should not be stressed. Personally I have undergone far too much literal stress just for the length of my scalp’s hair follicles, which is far more patently absurd than I can describe. The important things are how we treat one another and what spirit we worship-live in.

One final thought (shouldn’t be as long-winded as the others) is about Jesus himself, who and what he really is. Jesus is the son of God, the perfect example, the spotless lamb sacrificed for the world’s sin, the quintessential/living word of God, and my personal savior. There is nothing above him except the almighty God, our heavenly Father. Jesus described himself as many things though I still think the most profound of which is ‘the way, the truth, and the life,’ something I’m still learning little by little and day by day. I know I can search the scriptures inside and out, memorize them backwards, and learn every single word from every possible translation, but if I don’t find Jesus, I’ve found nothing, and certainly not the way, the truth, or the life. Many claim that the Bible is true in all matters God-related and in that it is the final authority, but the Bible, though a tool greatly used of God, whose inspired messages are on its pages, is still just a book, as good and as true as whatever you can get out of it. I’d hope that whenever someone reads the Bible, they get Jesus out of it, but I know that that is not always the case unfortunately. Consider what happened on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8). Jesus took his disciples there where they were shown a miracle. On the mountain, Jesus was made to shine like the sun and there appeared with him both Moses and Elijah, who I can only imagine embodied everything the Jews thought they knew about God from their scriptures and related traditions. When the enthusiastic disciples thought to build a place of worship there for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, a bright cloud appeared overhead and a clear voice spoke out of it, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.’ After apparently provoking God almighty to have to speak to them directly, they were scared witless and fell on their faces. Jesus comforted them and told them they needn’t be afraid, and when they lifted up their eyes (obvious symbolism here) they saw Jesus, and only Jesus, standing before them. The moral of the story is, quite simply, we need to follow Jesus, his words, his example, and his spirit.

I could go on a bit more but I think I’d rather encourage you to look at and study these scriptures for yourself, and meditate on following Jesus. God bless!

Born This Way

          I've been thinking for a little while now about the phrase “I was born this way.” Of course, I’ve often thought of this saying as a cop-out for those people looking for an excuse for their weakness or for their worldly behavior. However, I’ve recently realized that this is not an excuse for anyone, because it’s quite true and factual. As a Christian, I’ll often hear in church about the whole “born-again” thing, but recently I have actually given it some of the full thought and attention it deserves – I thank my dad for taking me out into the woods for a hike where I could clear my head.

          I know what it was like to be born in the world, which is full of sin and darkness. I inherited a fallen nature through my natural lineage that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. I could not be blamed for any amoral/ungodly behavior I partook in since that potential was in me before I was even born, any more than I could be blamed for having a fever if I were to become ill; one is a direct and even common result of the other. Though I could take responsibility for my behavior and refine it, I could never be perfect in that fallen condition. I also know, more and more all the time, what it means to be born again in Christ, a new man with a new nature, born of that incorruptible seed. But forgetting this as often as I do, sadly, I forego the literally life-changing power that can be working in me through the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote, “I die daily,” because he was aware of the old life which must be done away with and the new life, born of the Spirit, growing and developing on a daily basis, taking the place of the old man. What Paul said also demonstrates the fact that this is something a true Christian needs, on a daily basis, to be mindful of.

          I don’t know that I’ve ever said out loud that I don’t agree with or even have contempt for anyone who says, “I was born this way,” but I know that it was in my thoughts and behavior. For those who’ve learned a short temper from their parents, seem to have a predisposition towards addiction, have a difficult time in social situations, etc. I must apologize; I never meant to allow my ill-conceived thoughts and beliefs to put up this wall in my heart between us. Many of you have said to me, “I was born this way,” and have consequently been dismissed, ignored, and neglected. That did not come from the love of God. But He is still working with me, correcting me when I am wrong, and showing Himself to be strong. And some day, when someone inevitably notices the godly change in my behavior, in my nature, and even in my thoughts and emotions, and asks me, “How can you be so _____?” in honor of you my reply will be, “I was RE-born this way!”

This has been something that’s been turning over and over in my thoughts for about a week now, so I thought I’d share it here. I hope God can use it to bless you. Thanks for reading.