Discipling the Undisciplined no. 30

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:21-23). This one might be a little difficult to hear BUT it flows directly from the conversation on false prophets from yesterday. The Kingdom is for those that do the Will of God. And I am rather certain that Will was all about love. Loving God and loving neighbor, even enemy neighbors. Here Jesus says folks can do works that look like they are in right relationship with God without being in right relationship with God. And if that isn’t the situation with Christendom and the church today . . . folks playing church while living death.

The Way of right relationship is the way to life. He brings the Good News that He has won. He is enthroned. And He reigns. And if He is enthroned and He reigns, then He has established His Kingdom. It is only that folks don’t want to live out His Kingdom. And that is because living out His Kingdom means death to the parts of us that bring death and embracing His righteousness that brings life. This is not a religion of death, Christianity is all about living righteously here and now.

His Kingdom is right here and right now. Not tomorrow, not after His return, not after we die, BUT here and now. So, if He is my King, then I should act accordingly. I should act like He is enthroned. And that means showing allegiance by living out His Kingdom today. And that means all this Babylon creep, all this nationalism, all this patriotism, all this partisanship, all this power language needs to go away and die with my old self, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:25-27). We are serving God by serving each other, even those that do not serve Him. We are serving God by serving each other, even those to whom we disagree theologically. We are serving God by serving each other, even those that hold different political views. All people are served by us if we know God. Jesus was all about helping folks. He came to save us all. And He even personally helped folks while bodily here. And He still helps people through the Spirit today. We should want to model our life after His. And maybe that means opening our homes to refugees. And maybe that means being a missionary in our community. And maybe that means giving generously to folks that are in need despite what we think they will do with the money. And maybe that means being generous to our neighbors. And maybe that means giving out of our abundance to the community. And maybe that means paying extra for something to support our neighbors. And maybe that means comforting those in crisis. We all have our own calling to help others. Knowing God is knowing Jesus and knowing Jesus is understanding how He wants me to live. How can I know Him when I don’t try to learn His Way? How can I know Him if my allegiance is to a worldly system and not His Kingdom? I can’t. And He will let me know that I never knew Him. BUT I can know Him. I get to have a relationship with Him every day that helps bring about His Kingdom here and now.

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH

Discipling the Undisciplined no. 29

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-20). False prophets are ravenous wolves that are known by their bad fruits. And we can recall that the fruits of the Spirit are, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). So, the false prophets we should be looking for are looking to devour the righteous like a ravenous wolf. The false prophets are violent and bloody looking to destroy absent of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That sounds an awful lot like Christendom.

The church has a definite false prophet vibe these days that I am hopeful is going away with the final death throes of Christendom. The centuries of collusion between church and the powers and principalities has done a lot to broaden its reach BUT has distorted and twisted the gospel. And what I see a lot of today, what I fight a lot of today, is the result of Babylon having crept into the church. Having to explain to Christians that we shouldn’t celebrate violence and war is one example of that Christendom collusion that has tainted the Good News of the Kingdom. BUT that is not the only thing I see Christians getting wrong, I see a lot of folks that put on a good face in Christian circles of friendship and love only to post hatred and create division about others, especially those with alternative political ideologies, on their social media pages. It’s not a good look. And it is a look that makes me question my association with those sorts of people . . . BUT then I remember the mission. The goal of making disciples of even these folks that are entrenched in hatred and division, folks that are entrenched in being complicit in endorsing horrible policies all because they value politics, freedom, nationalism, mammon, or whatever idol more than the Good News that Jesus the Christ brought in the gospels. 

I guess the Good News is less important than power to those folks. I just pray for repentance. I walked that road of political answers and I know it is empty. I tried to use it to find fulfillment in life and failed. Power and mammon look really attractive from the outside BUT are the ways of death. I remember Peter asking, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). That is where I am looking for hope. So, maybe the false prophets are all around us today teaching something other than “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23)? Maybe the false prophets are bloody and violent known by their bad fruits of hatred and division? 

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH