Jerusalem Tomorrow: The Bluegrass Gospel Blog

Taking Sides

2012-01-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

How do you stay on the winning side in the battle between good and evil? Find the answer, bluegrass gospel video, color, graphics, and more at our sister site here.

Him and Me

2012-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Photos, graphics, glorious bluegrass gospel from Charlie Sizemore, Scripture, and commentary illustrate the difference between Him and me. Just click on the link.

What's So Great About Jesus?

2012-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Find out at the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's sister site.

A Path Unblocked

2012-01-05T12:31:00.001-08:00

How does Jesus make wishes come true? Read about it, see the pictures and the videos here.

Back From the Dead

2011-12-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it had to happen some time. See more bluegrass gospel music (Kenny Baker with Blaine Sprouse!), lyrics, video, Bible, and Christmas commentary on the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's Tumblr version:

God Hates Sin

2011-08-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

God doesn't hate you. Find out what He hates and why.

Words! Pictures! Music! See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color now.

God Does Not Hate You

2011-08-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

If that's true, then what's all the fire and brimstone about?

Find out here.

Words! Pictures! Music! See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color now.

Love Thy Neighbor -- A Video Playlist.

2011-08-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

One of the things that first attracted me to bluegrass music was the compassion expressed by the lyrics for the bereaved, the disabled, the poor, the endangered, the young, the broken, the lost, the forgotten and downcast.

I've curated a new bluegrass gospel video playlist is about getting and giving help, and the results of doing both -- or neither. Take a look.

Words! Music! Pictures! See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Enough Love to Go Around?

2011-08-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Free enterprise and/or the government can't guarantee it, but Christians can -- and must. Find out how we can here.

Words, music, pictures! See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color.

What If I Fall?

2011-08-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Whether it's the result of temptation or actual physical danger, how does God fix us when we fall?

Find out here.

Words, pictures, music! See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color.

Ask, Seek, Knock ... and Get What?

2011-08-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

Does the Bible say we can have whatever we want?

Find out here.

Words, music, pictures! See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color.

Jesus, Only Jesus

2011-08-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

You'll find strength, comfort, and encouragement for a friend -- and any other reader -- who is suffering in this post.

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Jesus Knock-Offs

2011-08-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

How do you tell the knock-offs from the Real Deal?

Read this post to find out, then see the whole page of related photos and bluegrass gospel videos.

Religion Vs. Gospel

2011-08-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Whether you're Christian or not, check out this chart comparison of religion and gospel. If the Christianity you're seeing and/or living doesn't look like gospel instead of religion, there's help.

And remember to bookmark the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's new summer home.

Celebrating With Jesus and the Angels

2011-08-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

I have cause for celebration -- right along with Jesus and the angels.

Jesus tells a parable in Luke:15:4-7:

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

That's why I'm celebrating. Get the whole story here.

And remember to visit the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's new summer home. Or, join Tumblr today, follow me, and get fresh content -- including new and rare bluegrass gospel videos -- from the Bluegrass Gospel Blog as it's posted.

Expanded: Bluegrass Gospel Songs About Redemption and Sin

2011-08-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Not only has my video playlist expanded, but I've added even more songs and commentary in the form of an article on songs about sin and songs about redemption.

Just click on the links to check them out.

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Looking For Me?

2011-08-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well, come on over.

Tumblr: http://bluegrassgospelblog.tumblr.com/ (This is the summer home of The Bluegrass Gospel Blog. New content, photos, and videos almost daily -- sometimes, like today, throughout the day.)

Twitter: @gospelbluegrass

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diane.amov

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/gospelbluegrassblog?feature=mhee

Suite101: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mariamorgandavis (Read my bio, scroll down for a list of my articles, and subscribe to my RSS feed so you don't miss a single article)

How to Handle the Haters

2011-07-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Ever been criticized and shunned for hanging out with the wrong people? 'Buked and scorned for ministering to the wrong people? Talked about and targeted by church folks for following God's word?

Then, you'll find encouragement in my latest playlist on YouTube. It's called I Declare, Ain't That a Shame and it's packed with bluegrass gospel music (plus some roots and branches) about criminals, liars, hypocrites, sinners, and the boundless forgiveness and love Jesus extends to them all. Watch it now.

What Happens When You Trust The Sword?

2011-07-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

... rather than the cross? Here's 14:45 of must-see video for Christians and non-Christians alike. See it now.

Does Jesus Ask Too Much of Us?

2011-07-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

See the answer, in words, pictures, and sublime bluegrass gospel music from The Stanley Brothers.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

2011-07-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

What does that mean? Read more and see more here.

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

How to Overcome the World

2011-07-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

I John 5:1-12

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

7 For there are three that testify:

8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.

10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Child of God

2011-07-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

Small child, smart child.

See the video that made my day.

And be sure to check out The Bluegrass Gospel Blog's summer home.

John 3:13-21

2011-07-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light.

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Live Bluegrass Gospel From Welch, Rawlings and Skaggs

2011-07-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

Bluegrass gospel at its finest -- Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Ricky Skaggs do some exquisite trio singing on "By the Mark".

Bluegrass Gospel From The Stanley Brothers

2011-07-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

"How Can We Thank Him For What He Has Done?"

Bluegrass gospel from The Stanley Brothers

Is Abstinence Possible?

2011-07-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Is abstinence even practical? A young Christian questions herself and her peers. Read all about it.

An Atheist Questions the Power of Prayer

2011-07-21T12:05:00.001-07:00

What happens when a Christian responds to an atheist video questioning the power of prayer. Find out here.

How Most Christians See the Bible

2011-07-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Father and Son

2011-07-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

How do God the Father and Jesus the Son relate to each other when it comes to you?

Find out here.

A New Way to Live the American Dream

2011-07-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

This video is powerful stuff — paradigm-shifting, life-changing, and totally commonsensical. Unlike anything you’ve ever seen and heard before on this issue.

See it here.

Setting Boundaries

2011-07-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

[W]ho shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?

Think you know the answer?

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

The World Was Made Through Him

2011-07-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Read more here.

Colossians 3:7-17

2011-07-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Girls, Self-Esteem, Same-Sex Attraction, and Jesus

2011-07-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

Born this way or pulled this way? A young woman struggles with the issues.

Read more, see more here.

"I Don't Want to Call Myself A Christian"

2011-07-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Have Christians shamed Christianity beyond all recognition?

Read more here.

How to Truly Help the Homeless

2011-07-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

No rhetoric. No politics. Just good advice.

I've talked a lot about Matthew 25:31-46, which reads, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

"And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

"Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’

"Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

If you've been coming here awhile, you know, if we feel moved to live out this Scripture at all, it's because Jesus made us that way.

You also know there are many ways to do what Jesus asks us to do in that passage. Today, one of my Tumblr friends wrote a beautiful post on how she does this. It's simple, straightforward, compassionate, and rhetoric-free.

Read it here.

Stand Fast In the Lord

2011-07-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

We all know them: People who've been drawn to Jesus, but deny Him anyway.

I've gathered some bluegrass gospel encouragement in the form of a video playlist. Check out "Stand Fast In the Lord" with videos by Dale Ann Bradley, Jimmy Martin, The Country Gentlemen, The Church Sisters, and more.

For Scriptural encouragement, click here.

Is Child Abuse Part of God's Plan?

2011-07-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Can a Christian explain why God would allow child abuse, molestation, and rape?

Read more and see more here.

The Judging Thing

2011-07-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Even atheists have heard this one:

In Luke 6:37, Jesus says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Read more and see the videos here.

Why Should We Love Our Enemies?

2011-07-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Bible has the answers. Read some of the most compelling reasons we should love our enemies.

And join the Bluegrass Gospel Blog on Tumblr now for music, color, Scripture, conversation, and more.

Do Not Be Silent

2011-07-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.

8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

Acts 18:5-10

Be Warmed and Filled

2011-07-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

(James 2:14-20)

Read more and see more -- in living color -- at the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's summer home on Tumblr.

Love/Hate Relationship

2011-07-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sick of the back-and-forth, aren't you?

Aren't we all?

There's only one way to turn it into a love/love relationship.

The Armor of God

2011-07-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

(Ephesians 6:13-17)

How to Tell the Future

2011-07-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Monroe Brothers -- Bill and Charlie -- share some insights with a pre-bluegrass gospel tune.

Vintage Bluegrass Gospel From Doyle Lawson

2011-07-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Lou Reid, Terry Baucom, Jimmy Haley, and some of the best bluegrass gospel Doyle Lawson ever made are on 1981's Rock My Soul. Read my review here.

"School of Bluegrass"? You know it.

Bluegrass Gospel Blog's New Summer Look

2011-07-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

There's a new look, a new schedule, and a summer home for Jerusalem Tomorrow.

I'm posting daily to the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's microblog version on Tumblr. It's short, sweet, and very, very colorful -- sort of the Hipster For Christ version of what I do here.

Until Jesus tells me to concentrate my efforts here again, I'll be over there. Come on over and say howdy.

If you want short and sweet without the color, hit me up on Twitter @gospelbluegrass.

CD Review: Coal Country's Hardcore Bluegrass Gospel

2011-07-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

They don't make bluegrass gospel singers like they used to, right?

Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin? Gone. Dave Evans? Retired. Ralph Stanley? A Mother's Prayer might be his last CD.

They don't make bluegrass gospel singers like they used to, right?

Wrong, so wrong. And I'm so glad to report it.

By sheer accident, I just discovered a band called Coal Country, and they are singing bluegrass gospel the way it used to be sung -- a way that's vanishing.

Coal Country's debut somehow escaped everyone's notice. It shouldn't have. Do yourself a favor: Go read my review of Coal Country's Lay My Crown. Then treat yourself to a taste, with their version of The Stanley Brothers' classic, "Purple Robe". Want more? Check out The Bluegrass Gospel Blog's Coal Country Playlist.

Review: Farther Along Bluegrass Gospel by The Church Sisters

2011-06-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

What would it sound like if a new, young bluegrass band emphasized their vocal chops and emotional authenticity for a change?

It would sound exactly like The Church Sisters. These 14-year-old twins from Danville, VA have just released their debut bluegrass gospel CD, Farther Along, and it is breathtaking. Read my review of The Church Sisters' Farther Along. And get a taste of their sweet, soulful sound with this playlist of Church Sisters bluegrass gospel. You'll want to run right out and buy concert tickets, the CD (available at The Church Sisters) or both.

Sweet Potato Pie Serves Up Bluegrass Gospel

2011-06-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sweet Potato Pie has been flying under the radar for a decade, but their latest bluegrass gospel CD is a great way to get to know them.

You know me: I like my bluegrass traditional and hardcore except for, oh, The Country Gentlemen, The Seldom Scene, and the list goes on.

Funny enough, these women remind me of the Gents with their mix of currently popular musical styles and traditional material. And the harmonies -- oh, the harmonies! If you're the least bit interested in a band that puts the emphasis on the vocals and boasts an angelic yet confident sound (none of that breathy, tentative nonsense that's so ubiquitous these days), read my review of Sweet Potato Pie's "Journey Called Life".

Oh, and I put together to give you a taste -- sorry, the puns just keep on coming.

Without further ado, here's the Sweet Potato Pie Bluegrass Gospel playlist.

Bluegrass Gospel for Pentecost

2011-06-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

From Bill Monroe to the Isaacs, here's a video playlist of bluegrass gospel, especially for Pentecost.

Pentecost, counted fifty days from Easter Sunday, celebrates the promise of the Comforter (or Helper, as the ESV puts it) -- the day that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus' disciples -- as recounted in the second chapter of Acts. This year, Pentecost is celebrated on Sunday, June 12.

Check out the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's playlist of bluegrass gospel for Pentecost and the Holy Ghost.

Gleefully Gospel

2011-05-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

No bluegrass, but some brother-style duets and plenty of gospel when a show about inclusiveness gets genuinely inclusive.

It's the Bluegrass Gospel Blog, yeah?

Yeah, but that means both -- bluegrass and gospel.

In the course of spreading the gospel here, I've talked plenty about inclusiveness. The Body, Not That Guy!, and The Social Network have all addressed the Christian approach in one way or another.

In Hipster for Christ and its companion piece, Keeping Your Balance I took still another approach, talking about how -- and how much -- we should include popular culture.

Given all that (and because I've mentioned this show before), I wanted to show you a powerful example of how at least one tastemaker of popular -- and decidedly unchurched -- culture uses his brain, exercises independent thought, and practices an inclusiveness that includes Christians behaving like true Christians. Kudos to showrunner Ryan Murphy (who I tagged in Hipster for Christ) for this week's episode of Glee -- "Rumours". There's no embed code given for Blogger, so click here to go there.

Doc Watson/Nashville Bluegrass Band at Merlefest 2011

2011-05-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

Perennial Merlefest collaborators Doc Watson and the Nashville Bluegrass Band kept it loose with their May 1st bluegrass gospel set.

By all accounts the morning was chilly and the stagecraft somewhat chaotic, but Doc Watson and the Nashville Bluegrass Band kept it relaxed and genial for their traditional Spirit of Sunday set at Merlefest 2011. Check out the Bluegrass Gospel Blog's Doc Watson/Nahsville Bluegrass Band playlist, which includes most -- if not all -- of their show.

What Kind of Justice?

2011-05-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

An authentically Christian response to Bin-Laden's death from a surprising place. Nicolette Larson provides bluegrass gospel context.

Finding myself in (very) rare agreement with Christianity Today, courtesy of this piece by a guest commentator.

What kind of victory should cause us to rejoice? The kind that the late Nicolette Larson sings about with Anthony Crawford in a stunning cover of the Louvin Brothers' "Angels Rejoiced".

Commitment-Phobic

2011-04-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe, and Paul Williams have a sure cure for commitment-phobic Jesus fans with some live bluegrass gospel.

Happy belated Easter to you, too.

As you might guess, Jesus had me doing other things, hence the long silence here. I didn't observe Easter this year; I participated directly through suffering. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:24, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."

Didn't Jesus pay for our sins with His death on the cross? Then how is it possible that His afflictions are lacking?

It's possible because, although He paid for our sins, Jesus did not stay on earth to suffer through the consequences of our sins. That's why we're here, to build up the church at all costs.

There are times when that doesn't take a lot of suffering. It has been an absolute joy to bring some of you to Christ. You were ready, you came willingly, and you're holding fast to your faith, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Righteous!

Some of you are in love with the idea of loving Jesus, but that's as far as you're willing to take it. You're "spiritual," not "religious," and certainly not "Christian". I mean, really, what would your followers think? To what obnoxious public figure would they compare you if you came out of the closet and said, in front of God and everybody, "I'm a Christian; I follow Jesus Christ"? This commitment-phobia is your idea of being a hipster for Christ, but Paul, the original hipster for Christ would have spat on your cowardly "faith" and your syncretic "church".

Some of you others scorn those people. As a Christian, you're out and proud. Your idea of interior decorating is to cover every available surface with your favorite Scriptures on plaques, magnets, and bumper stickers; in sig lines and wall posts in the cyber-verse. You've fooled a lot of blind, gullible people. But you're still mistreating the needy, disabled, and disadvantaged in your home on a level that would -- and should -- bring criminal charges down on your head.

Don't believe me? Then don't ask me. Ask the Holy Spirit.

All ya'll think you're the polar opposite of the other group. Truth is, when it comes to following Jesus, both groups are commitment-phobic. You're on the fence, and when there are only two options -- eternal life and eternal death -- the fence is a dangerous place.

To you syncretists who are into "spirituality" but wouldn't be caught, um, dead with religion, Jesus says, "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33)

You realize that Jesus is denying you right now, and will deny you on the last day if you keep up this syncretic nonsense, right? In Luke 11:23, Jesus says, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." That's your Creator talking, not some earthly demagogue -- how long will you deny Jesus just because the devil has no qualms about quoting Scripture?

To those who still insist on living that double life, God says, "I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

"As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.' And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them." (Ezekiel 33:28-33)

Yes sir, you commitment-phobes are in a dangerous place -- not unlike the twelve apostles just before Jesus' arrest and betrayal.

They'd been told several times and in several ways that Jesus was going to die. They blocked it out. Their faith was so weak that when, at the Last Supper, Jesus prophesied that one of them would betray Him, they all asked whether they'd be the one. While the Son of the Living God was with them, doing crazy miracles and talking about love, they were strong. When Jesus the Man was so anguished and so fearful of His upcoming crucifixion that He literally sweated blood, they weren't so sure.

"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I go over there and pray.' And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.' And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.' And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, 'So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'" (Matthew 26:36-41)

Where can someone find you when it's time to fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions? Listening to some syncretist homily? Waiting for some sibling in the faith who's suffering in Jesus' name to beg you for a kind word or a comforting presence? Refusing to offer your time and resources because, after all, if someone needed your help, they would ask? And this is especially cute because those of us who need your help don't want to bother you, so you take advantage of our reluctance, telling yourselves in that tight, prissy, self-satisfied tone that, "S/he didn't ask. S/he must not need anything," when you know good and well that that person is in need. You wouldn't use that tight, prissy, self-satisfied tone if you didn't believe there was a need to be met. You wouldn't indulge in that self-righteous self-talk if you weren't trying to shine Jesus on.

Do you people even get how vile that is?

If you have the vaguest hope of being called a child of God one day, you don't wait to be asked -- YOU VOLUNTEER!!!

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:26-27)

Pure religion is not, you will note, refusing to commit to Jesus because those worldly stains make you look hip. It is not waiting to be asked for help. If you know someone's in a tough spot, you skip the worldly activities today, you do the reaching out. You be the one who fills up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. That's what James is telling you.

But there are so many things going on in your fabulous, crazy-busy life, aren't there?

"[C]ould you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

You commitment-phobes are in constant danger of temptation. Jesus says the only way out of it is to watch and pray, but that means you have to talk to Him. Trouble is, you know in your heart of hearts exactly what He'll say, exactly which way He'll tell you to go, exactly what it's going to cost you. As always, it comes down to your choice. Maybe James' words on the subject will give you the courage to make your decision:

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:7b-9)

In other words, watch and pray.

Here are Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe, and Paul Williams live with Jimmy Martin's "Prayer Bells of Heaven".

New Bluegrass Gospel CD From Ralph Stanley

2011-04-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

I've been privileged to review "A Mother's Prayer," the latest -- and probably last -- CD from Ralph Stanley.

That said, this is no last-ditch effort by a legend whose powers are on the wane. "A Mother's Prayer" is daring yet traditional, remarkably deep, incalculably rich, and stunning on every level. You Spirit-filled types will feel the profound stillness, the reverence in every track, and know that God was in the room for every second of this recording. Wow!

You can read my review of "A Mother's Prayer" here. Don't miss this one!

Thanks and Praise

2011-04-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Far City Boys show us how to give -- and get -- thanks and praise with some soulful, live bluegrass gospel.

You know this one, but familiar stories have the power to comfort us. In these times, we all need a little comfort, so here you go, straight from Matthew 16:13-17:

"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.'"

Oh, wait! The Christ (the Messiah, that is, if you're not speaking Greek), the Child of the Living God?

You thought that was you!

You thought that yesterday's key Scripture meant that you should be glorified, that we're all hateful and ungrateful if we don't turn back and praise you with a loud voice.

Here, in fact, is what that Scripture says, "Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'" (Luke 17:15-18, emphasis mine)

Been crucified and raised from the dead lately?

Nope. You're not God.

So, how are you supposed to get that praise you crave without a mirror and an echo chamber?

You could start your own religion, but you already have. Your followers give you thanks and praise -- even for things you haven't done -- but only in front of non-believers, in the mistaken belief that social pressure will induce the heathens to give you thanks and praise you haven't earned and don't deserve.

Let's say you go out on a limb and actually do something praiseworthy instead of committing the social equivalent of armed robbery and stealing someone else's accolades. Shouldn't people praise you then?

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Think -- not talk -- think about these things. Certainly we're not forbidden to praise people, but we're not commanded to do it either.

Ever think about why that is?

Maybe it's because of people like you.

How will I ever get what I deserve?

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 6:1)

"... knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." (Ephesians 6:8)

You wait your turn -- yes, just like you've had to do all your life. Deal with it.

"... sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others." (Matthew 6:2)

You let your contributions speak for themselves.

"A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven." (John 3:27)

"You received without paying; give without pay." (Matthew 10:8b)

You remember that all blessings come from God -- not from you -- and you encourage people to give thanks to Him.

"Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces." (Luke 11:43)

You don't demand tribute just so other people can see how popular you are.

"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

You follow Jesus' example -- not Oprah's, not Jillian's, not Bill's, not whatever off-brand guru you're touting this week.

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (I Corinthians 12:4-7, 22-25)

You do the service that God commands of you -- not the service you think you deserve to do. You accept the honor that God gives you -- you don't go out and grab honor for yourself.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

You make sure that all the thanks, all the praise, all the glory is headed one way -- straight up to Heaven.

Anything else is idolatry, as Paul tells us in Romans 1:18-21, 24-25 (emphasis mine).

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."

You're feeling pretty good about yourself today. You've spent the last couple of days convincing people in your orbit to do the fake, hearty laughter thing just to let the heathens in your midst know how much they've been missing. You got a little something you wanted and you're forcing the joy -- again just to let the heathens in your midst know how much they've been missing.

Take it from someone who knows how to get a laugh and how to give people joy: You can smell the fake stuff a mile off. The very fact that you have to fake it proves just how much trouble you're in.

Those good feelings, the conviction that you've put one over on the Holy Spirit, will be short-lived. The knot in your stomach? Not so much.

"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty." (Nahum 1:3)

"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30)

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (II Peter 3:9)

God is not patient with you because He's going to let you slide. He's patient with you because He's commanded you to repent -- turn away from -- your sins, and He's waiting to see if you'll do it.

Oh, wow! You don't think God is saying this to you? You think it's me?

"And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike—that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God." (Ezekiel 14:9-11)

Which is it? Are you coming here, soaking up God's word, and still refusing to do it? Or, are you coming here religiously to see what I have to say about God, even though you believe I'm a liar?

Either way, you're in trouble.

No thanks necessary.

The Far City Boys have the right attitude. Here they are with a soulful slice of bluegrass gospel, "Thank You, Lord".

Grateful or Hateful?

2011-04-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

If God is back in your life, are you grateful or hateful? The Stanley Brothers have some food for thought and classic bluegrass gospel.

Let's keep it simple today.

God was, is, and always has been. He created everything we perceive with the five senses and everything we don't. God does not need a single thing.

He does not need us.

He does not need to keep us alive. He does not need to love us. He does not need to share His purpose with us. He does not need to rescue us from lives of sin and shame. He does not need to offer us eternal life just because we confess that He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to earth to purchase our lives through His blood, which He shed on the cross for our sins.

Nevertheless, He does all those things for us. We are all prodigal sons and daughters, and when He brings us back to the fold, does He gloat?

No. When we prodigal sons and daughters shed our pride and come to Him in all humility, He responds to us the way Jesus describes in Luke 15:20-24, "And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate."

God's not the only one celebrating either. "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." (Luke 15:4-7)

I have to wonder how long this new-found faith is going to last for some of you. You've been on this bus a couple of times before, and it always ends up at the same place.

Maybe it's you.

No, really, step away from the Kool-Aid -- it is you.

See, most people, on reading those passages from Luke 15, would be shedding tears of joy. Your reaction is, "Woo hoo! About time somebody threw me a party. I'm the center of attention, yo. Now, watch me start defecating on people." And then, you proceed to do just that.

Most people would be grateful, but you're just hateful.

Listen up: You have been healed of a sickness that leads to eternal death by a Creator who could just as easily blow on you to see how many times you'll spin before you finally explode. There is only one proper response to His saving grace, as we see in Luke 17:11-19.

"On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.' When he saw them he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' And he said to him, 'Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.'"

Oh, but you still want to defecate on people.

You've been healed, remember? You can't have it both ways. As Peter writes, "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: 'The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.'" (II Peter 2:20-22)

So, which is it -- healing and redemption, tears of joy and gratitude, or another one-way ticket to Vomitville?

You can't keep the Good News between you and God, and keep treating your "enemies" -- adversaries that you manufactured in your own filthy mind -- like your own personal toilet. When you asked God back into your life, this is what you signed up for, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

And this: "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

And this: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (I John 4:20-21)

When you receive the Holy Spirit, you don't get to keep fantasizing that there's not enough love to go around, not enough stuff to go around. You don't get to keep fantasizing that you have to hog the people and things you love all to yourself in order to be happy -- which you never are unless you're hurting somebody (or possessing them). You don't get to keep stealing -- affection, possessions, money, or anything else -- just because you "didn't have enough" or "had to share everything" when you were a kid. You don't get to wait for other people to "do the right thing" while you lick your "wounds" and tell everyone who will listen that you're the victim; you get to make the first move -- forever and ever, if need be.

You don't get to keep fantasizing that you are God, that the decisions about how other people behave rest with you.

If you're healed, the very thought of indulging in these sick and sickening behaviors again will make you sick. If you've had that sick feeling at all when you're tempted to sin, you've felt the Holy Spirit working in you.

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." (I Corinthians 6:19-20)

So, which is it -- grateful or hateful?

Here's The Stanley Brothers with "How Can We Thank Him for What He Has Done?"

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

The Boss of Me

2011-04-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

You're not the boss of me, so who is? Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice give the best possible answer with gorgeous, live bluegrass gospel.

I'm addressing two groups of people today. If you don't see yourself immediately, keep reading because there's something encouraging for you at the end.

The gospel of Mark is a gospel of miracles. One of my favorites is recounted in Mark 2, and it takes place in Jesus' own home.

"And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them." (verses 1-2)

The very thought of that many strangers in your house, tracking in dirt and smelling up the premises, makes some of you hyperventilate ... I mean, fills you with a towering rage, er, righteous indignation. After all, only weak, spineless people hyperventilate, and only people who are not members of your family get angry. You just want respect, that's all.

Instead, imagine that even more people show up and do this:

"And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay." (verses 3-4)

Are you kidding me? They just vandalized the Son of God's house! As if that isn't enough, His insurance premiums are gonna go through the roof, so to speak.

If you were in His place, you'd be furious, er, righteously indignant. They've literally blown the roof off the dump, and that is just disrespectful after all the hospitality and Christian charity that Jesus has provided. And for free, too -- just like you, er, well, not quite.

"And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" (verse 5)

God forbid that anyone should act out of faith in your Presence. You have a house to keep, and you have Standards. Your house, your Standards, period.

Wrong. It is God's house, purchased and maintained with God's money, and He can take it away from you any time He chooses. There is not a single thing you have that God hasn't given you -- not your house, not your job, not your car, not your family, not your talents (provided you have any), not your life. When you see someone acting in faith you sit up, take notice, and follow that example, period.

That's not me talking, it's Jesus. Want it in His words? Here's how He had the apostle Paul write it down, "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:3-8)

Clearly, the scribes had a thing or two to learn in the humility department.

"Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 'Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, 'Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins'—he said to the paralytic—'I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.'" (verses 6-11)

It may be that you've been blessed by God, but there's one thing you will never, ever have: The power to forgive sins. Come up with all the new rules and regulations you want, waiting and hoping for someone to slip up just so you can get your jollies. Stomp around the house like King Kong, defying anyone to share the space with you, and simmering with rage when anyone dares to appear at an inconvenient time. Do all that and more, but you don't have the authority, and you never will. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble," it says in James 4:6. Don't believe that? Keep going the way you're going, and just watch as God's blessings continue to disappear.

"And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We never saw anything like this!'"

You can't do anything remotely like that, and it's time that you stopped demanding the fear, awe, and respect that belong only to the One Who can. Oh, you could glorify God, and you should, even though He says you're no better than the people whose personalities you seek to crush with the awesome strength of your will ... or something.

See, you don't have the power to forgive sins; you have the responsibility to forgive them. Matthew 18:21-22 says, "Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.'"

No, I didn't quote the Scripture where Jesus commands us to forgive when we "stand praying," because it's obvious that the territorial rage-aholics among you don't pray to anyone but yourselves. It's obvious that you have rejected the staggering, real-time rewards of looking to God to reward you in favor of rewarding yourselves (provided your plans for a little "me time" don't backfire, that is).

What about those of you who are subject to people who believe they have the responsibility to decide -- apart from God's laws -- what your sins are, and the choice of whether you're forgiven?

Come on, now, folks. If these self-important whip-crackers don't have the authority to forgive sins, than what are you doing giving it to them? It's fine to please people, but not when you're enabling their sins. You're not only sinning when you do this, you're cooperating with your oppressors by idolizing them exactly the way they want you to.

There is nothing about you -- not your culture, your ethnicity, your accent, your appearance, your clothes, your education, your experience, your likes and dislikes, your habits, your strong points, your weak points, your wants, or your needs -- that is sinful unless God says it is. If you're not up to speed on that, it's way past time for you to dive into the Bible. If you question anything I've labelled "sinful" (and you should), just e-mail me from my profile page, and I'll provide you with the Scriptural citations and any other pertinent information. Same goes if you just want to talk.

God is our boss. Jesus is our boss. Anybody whose authority flows from faith in -- and obedience to -- God is the real deal. Anybody else is just a fake.

Here's Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice to sing about the only chain of command worth following, with an exquisite, live version of "The Lowest Valley".

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

People Will Talk

2011-03-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

People will talk, all right. Ricky Skaggs leads a stellar bluegrass gospel quartet with the ideal description of what we want them to talk about.

In "Grow Up," I told the bulk of the story of the conception and birth of John the Baptist, recounted in the first chapter of Luke. If you'll recall, Elizabeth was well past child-bearing age when her husband, Zechariah was visited by the angel, Gabriel, who prophesied John's birth.

Zechariah, a temple official with a coincident zest for nit-picking, started listing all the reasons he and Lizzie couldn't get pregnant, and was struck dumb for his trouble. I mean, really, if your job title is "servant of the Lord," if you are right smack in the middle of performing your duties -- in the temple, mind you -- you should have the faith thing down pat, yeah?

Zechariah doesn't, and he pays for that by having to lug around a writing tablet and scribble "a little to the left" at some really inconvenient moments. And everybody -- I mean everybody -- in town knows about it. You can't go around mute for nine months and not have folks notice you.

Humiliating? You know it. Because, sooner or later, somebody has to explain how he got that way, and they already know he's a temple bigwig. The embarrassment would have grown exponentially.

Let's pick up the action in Luke 1:57-64, "Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God."

So, Zechariah, in the face of curiosity and disapproval from the town busybodies, performs an act of faith, and regains his ability to speak.

Of course he does; we expect God to bless us when we act in faith. But, what about the town busybodies? What will they do? What will they say?

I've earned a reputation for not giving a rip about what anybody thinks, but I wonder, too. After all, Jesus has called us to make disciples. Paul describes that process this way, "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

Naturally, then, you're still cheerleading for Playboy and some sin-sick person's BDSM manual to burnish your hipster cred. You're still talking trash about the usual suspects so you can kick it with your friends and neighbors. You're still lying and stealing in the name of doing what's right, ready to pull out a page of Bible verses to justify yourself. You're still picking nits about other folks' behavior while ignoring the sins you openly and proudly commit (Remember I Corinthians 5:12-13? "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. 'Purge the evil person from among you.'" If you have something against me, you know the Godly thing to do). You're still spending your money on everything but God's work, and urging others to do the same for a "good cause" (You want a good cause? How about eternal life -- yours and everyone else's?).

That's not what I meant by "Keeping Your Balance".

Why aren't you thinking and acting in the Spirit, testing every last bit of this garbage you do "for the sake of the Gospel"?

No wonder you're scared spitless of what people will say about your new calling! Come on, folks! You've seen "Christians" pull these same stunts your whole life, and you've hated every single minute of it. You don't "let others see your good works" and glorify your Father by acting the way everyone else does.

Paul shows us how to keep our balance in I Corinthians 9:24-27, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." (emphasis mine)

Scary, right? It should be.

Maybe you'll come back to this post in a week or so, having become practiced at testing everything you do in the Spirit. Maybe you will have repented before God and cleaned up your act. You're still going to wonder what people will think, what they'll say, what they'll do when you fully and finally reveal your calling and your faith in Christ Jesus.

Here's what Zechariah's neighbors thought, said, and did: "And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then will this child be?' For the hand of the Lord was with him." (Luke 1:65-66)

They didn't stop talking; they never will. But when you act in faith, in the Spirit, they'll "give glory to your Father who is in heaven," and that's exactly what you want them talking about.

Here's Ricky Skaggs on lead, Lou Reid on tenor, Bobby Hicks on bass, and a baritone singer I don't recognize, with a luminous, live version of "A Beautiful Life".

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Call Waiting

2011-03-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ricky Skaggs delivers a bluegrass gospel classic country gospel-style, to remind us of the good we can do when we don't keep that call waiting.

I'm kinda surprised at you folks. It seems I have to again go over a bedrock concept that I've been fleshing out all this month. Like I've told you before, it's a good thing when you don't believe me. When you don't believe Jesus?

Bad. Very bad.

On the other hand, maybe you just need some encouragement, and there's nobody more encouraging than our Lord and Savior.

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks the disciples a question whose answer He already knows. He gets the answer to another, unspoken question in the bargain.

"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (verses 13-17)

Why is Simon Peter blessed?

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (verses 18-19)

So, Jesus learns much more than local gossip about Himself. He learns something that He, quite possibly, did not know: The identity of the man who would be the earthly head of the church -- Simon Peter, henceforth to be called Peter. "Peter" means "rock," by the way, so Jesus is making a pun for the ages.

With this episode, Matthew gives us a window into the church-building process: God tells Jesus, and Jesus tells us.

So, what on God's green earth are you waiting for?

Honestly, I'd type that last question in bold, italics, and caps if I thought it would do any good. But, if you won't listen to Jesus, who will you listen to?

Yup, some of you are getting the call, and you're some of the most unlikely people who've ever gotten the call.

I wonder if that's what's keeping you from acting on this life-changing commandment from your Lord and Savior. If it is, remember this advice from Paul in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

So, stop with the "I used to be a pain-in-the-tuchus/frivolous nit-wit/atheist/prostitute/racist/gangbanger/addict/criminal/wife beater/people pleaser/self-seeker/loudmouth/stutterer/proud member of the GLBT community" or whatever, and start listing the qualities that make you perfect for the job.

I can't do this.

See? You're perfect for it!

You're perfect because you understand that you can't do it, but the Holy Spirit, working in you and with you, can. And you probably remember this Scripture from a couple of days ago: "Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good." (I Thessalonians 5:20-21) Go ahead and click on the link if you need to review the process of testing everything through the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you're like me, and you talk better to a computer screen than a live person. Maybe you're the biggest talker that ever lived. Either way, you may be thinking, "I have no idea what to say." Doesn't matter whether you're being called to get up in some makeshift pulpit every Sunday, or just telling folks about this new church you're helping to start -- you're at a loss for words.

You're not the first. Moses didn't even believe he could do it -- even after God used him to perform three miracles.

"But Moses said to the Lord, 'Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.' Then the Lord said to him, 'Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.' But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.' Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, 'Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.'" (Exodus 4:10-16)

It scares me to read about God being angry at anybody, but Moses deserved it, don't you think? It's not like God would have sent Moses to make an idiot out of him. As God says in Isaiah 55:9-10, "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

He's God; He doesn't need to throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks. If He's called you, He means for you to be successful in your calling. Do you really think so highly of your fears, your insecurities, your neuroses that you'll let yourself get in the way of what God is commanding you to do?

Not good.

A lot of "not good" things happen to God's people.

True, but we're in a war. Either way, you're gonna get hurt. You might as well stick with the winning side. As James reminds us, "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:6-8)

Interesting idea yeah? That we purify our hearts by cultivating single-mindedness? How do we make that work?

Hebrews 11:6 elaborates, "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

So: We have faith. We show faith by our works. We draw near to God and resist the devil. Simultaneously, God draws near to us, and the devil flees from us.

We follow those steps, and we'll be rock solid. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25)

Like I said, we're in the midst of a war. We'd better be founded on the Rock, because when we are, Jesus says, He gives us a secret weapon: "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (Matthew 10:16-20)

Yes, it's scary. If you think I'm making light of that for one minute, go back and read "Playing Your Part" and "No Excuses". While I can't possibly know everything you're going through, I do know what it means to go out on a limb for the Gospel. I understand not wanting to do that for some other person -- some sinner just like yourself, who may not be there for you in the clinch, and probably couldn't protect you anyway. If some other person were asking you to do this you'd have every reason to worry.

Good thing it's not some other person who's asking, then, isn't it?

You can get over yourself, now. The Creator of the Universe -- who also created love, kindness, joy, peace, mercy, and goodness, and offers you those things without limits under the toughest conditions -- is commanding you to go to work for the Gospel.

You have nothing to be afraid of.

Here's Ricky Skaggs doing a bluegrass gospel classic up country gospel-style -- "Little Mountain Church House".

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Before You Go

2011-03-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Before you go this weekend, Paul Williams gives you a bluegrass gospel hint about the thing you've just gotta take with you.

Yay, weekend!

I mean, even if you're working, the weekend is a good thing. Weekends leave a lot of people with a lot of time to fill up, and that's good for business, right?

It's the huge amount of dead, empty time that's not so great. With time on our hands, we get anxious on a primal level. Will the weekend be good? Will it fulfill our expectations? Will we impress people with our Monday morning tales of how we spent the weekend? This repressed anxiety dogs us whether it's our job to help others fill up their time, or we're the ones with time on our hands.

This is where bad memories of old-school Christianity kick in for some of you. "Ohhh, brothers and sisters, the weekend is full -- I say, full -- of temptation. The devil is lurking around every corner, in every bar and nightclub, in every glittering dress shop and fancy restaurant. You better stand fast in the Lord, or Satan will claim you for his own."

Bwah hah hah hah!

Reading of the latest "Christian" celebrity rant against big-name sins (Why give specifics? They're all so tiresomely similar.), it occurred to me that most Christians have the facts, but they don't have the truth. See, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba!, Father!'" (Romans 8:14-15)

You're not led by the Spirit of God?

Oooh. That's a problem. See, when God isn't navigating, that anxiety about filling up time comes rushing to the surface. The fun, flirty conversation with your newest admirer gets backup from a chorus of other voices: What if I don't win this person over? What if this person doesn't friend me? What if this person doesn't show up to my next thing? What if this person doesn't buy what I'm selling? What if this person doesn't believe in me?

And you end up doing all kinds of things you wouldn't normally do, don't want to do, have always hated yourself for doing just to win this person over, just to prolong the interaction, just to drown out the voices of those who spend their free time telling you you'll never be good enough.

Planning on going shopping this weekend? When God isn't navigating, that amazing new item isn't just a new item anymore. It's the Holy Grail that's been waiting just for you. If you don't have it, you won't triumph over the person who will be consumed with envy when they see you owning it. You won't be able to forget your humdrum responsibilities for the few hours after you buy it. You won't get that jolt you get when you add to your collection.

And you end up doing all kinds of things you have always hated yourself for doing, things you'll have to worm out of later (say, when next month's bill comes) just to get that new ... whatever. Shoot, you'll probably buy another new whatever just to forget your unpaid bill for another few minutes. Maybe you'll just buy dessert, which carries its own baggage -- or makes you carry it, anyway.

Maybe you read these examples and scoff. That kind of frivolous nonsense is for other people. You may play hard, but you work harder. You're going to clean the house from top to bottom, and woe betide anyone who gets in your way. When God isn't navigating, your daily responsibilities aren't just things to check off your list anymore. They're the way you tell yourself that you're better and cleaner than other, weaker people. They're the only way you show people how much you love them. They're the way you show other, weaker people the only right way to live.

And you end up doing all kinds of things you have always hated yourself for doing, things you'll be ashamed of later (say, when one of those other, weaker people does something that helps you) just to get the house in tip top shape. Then, somebody will relieve themselves of a speck of dust, you'll tamp down your rage over their lack of appreciation for your hard work, and the cycle will start all over again. When you realize that your rage is written all over your face and all through your body language and your tone of voice, you'll probably clean the house again just to get away from the negative self-talk in your head.

Like I said, if you're not being led by the Holy Spirit, you've got a problem, and you're hoarding people, things, admiration, good deeds, and experiences -- anything to distract yourself from dealing with the problem.

Jesus talks about this kind of hoarding in Luke 12:16b-21, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

All the people, things, admiration, good deeds, and experiences you have -- whose will they be? You can guess whose they'll be when you die, you can make a will and hope for the best. But whose will they be tomorrow when people turn away from you to admire the next big thing? Whose will they be when, as things do, they age and deteriorate? Whose will they be when the memory of your experiences fades? Whose will they be when others' memories of your good deeds gets trampled in the daily grind?

Doesn't that scare the liver out of you?

Really? Then why are you so busy telling yourself that you'll just go out and get more people, buy more stuff, earn more admiration, rack up more good deeds, have a new experience?

If that's how you react to the suggestion that the stuff you spend your weekends chasing is going to disappear, you are scared.

What do you do now, dedicate your life to God by sheer force of will?

If you didn't grow up in church, that idea conjures up pictures of media Christians, spewing hatred and demanding that people do things "God's" way.

If you grew up in church, you understand -- if only on a gut level -- that dedicating your life to God by sheer force of will only brings cosmetic changes, and that all your fears and all your baggage come right along with you to this "new life in Christ Jesus".

Ooookay, now what?

Let's go back to Romans 8:5-6 to find out: "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

Peace down the road after we die? Peace that we earn after we've spent our lives being dogged by fear and anxiety, no matter whether we serve ourselves or serve God? Forget that.

I agree, and so does God. "[T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

With attributes like that, you don't have to worry about whether this weekend is going to bring you what you want and need, because you already have what you want and need. When you exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, people respond to you because they want what you have.

But I want ...

Of course you do. I'm not saying these things to you because I'm some superior being who's transcended the wants and needs of lesser mortals -- not by a long shot. But our wants and needs bring us to the central question of this post: How do we fill this weekend without acting out of fear and doing all those things we've always hated ourselves for doing?

Paul answers it this way, in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Folks, he doesn't mean what is good and acceptable and perfect according to the Almighty's Great Big Book of Rules and Regulations. He means what is good, acceptable, and perfect for your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. He means testing everything you want and need to see whether those things will help you or hurt you in the short run and the long run. He means listening to the Holy Spirit, not some media-fabricated version of God's will for you -- drab, dreary, joyless, critical, punitive, and restrictive.

When you live your life that way, you give in to fear, and "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba!, Father!'"

No worries, right?

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (II Corinthians 13:5)

"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." (I Thessalonians 5:20-22)

Note that Paul says, "Test everything," and not "Go all legalistic on me and do whatever you want as long as there's not a verse in the Bible specifically prohibiting it." When you live your life that way, you give in to fear, and "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba!, Father!'"

Why is it, then, that the prospect of testing everything fills you with fear and negative self-talk?

Because you aren't filled with the Holy Spirit yet. When you have the Holy Spirit, the act of testing everything brings you the fruit of the Spirit -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

You're not led by the Spirit of God?

Oooh. That's a problem. Thankfully, it's one that God can solve for you. Read yesterday's post to find out how.

And have a good weekend. But, when it comes to the Holy Spirit, as they used to say in American Express commercials, don't leave home without it.

Here's Paul Williams and the Victory Trio with "Holy Ghost Excitement In My Soul".

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Who Said That?

2011-03-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Test everything. Who said that, and how can we do it? The Isaacs give us an answer with some tight, contemporary bluegrass gospel.

Jesus foretells His death and resurrection on several occasions. His disciples try to understand what He means, but they just don't get it. Consequently, His crucifixion leaves them in emotional turmoil, ping-ponging between confusion, grief, and sheer terror, literally running for their lives.

Some of you are in the same position, although you'd never admit it. Those emotions are for weak, spineless people, and you don't do weak and spineless.

You oughta cut yourselves some slack.

If you read this blog regularly, you've seen every one of your cherished notions about Christianity repeatedly challenged and trampled in the dust. You've used disgust to mask your confusion, barely-suppressed rage to mask your grief, and full-scale defiance to mask your terror.

Like I said, you oughta cut yourselves some slack, be okay with the emotions you're experiencing, and give yourselves space to consider and evaluate without reacting. You've put yourselves under such pressure to stifle these "weak, spineless" emotions that your reactions are inevitably violent. If you're on board with Jesus' teachings at all, you know that violence -- whether physical or emotional -- just gets you into more trouble.

It's a vicious cycle now, the relationship you have with this blog. You come to see what's being said, you leave in a state of boiling fury, and you act out in immature and often violent ways when the pressure becomes too great.

How do you get out of this one?

After Jesus was buried, Mary Magdalene found out.

"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.'" (John 20:1-2)

Talk about adding insult to injury!

"But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.' Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.'" (John 20:11-15)

Supposing him to be the gardener.

Who do you suppose is speaking to you when you read this blog? Is it Jesus? Or is it just some servant, someone you pointedly ignore, who screws things up whenever something huge is at stake?

How do you know?

"Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good." (I Thessalonians 5:20-21)

How do you "test everything"?

I John 4:1-3 talks about one way. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already."

Does that mean that everyone who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is right about every other doctrinal point?

You can't ask another person. We're all sinners, living in a sinful world full of people who won't cop to their own fallen nature -- or that of their idols. Consequently, they have no clue what's in the Bible, but they can quote their favorite talk show host from memory. As John says in verse 5, "They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them." When you seek human truth over God's truth, you're just another guru chaser, just another idol worshiper.

Maybe you've asked God whether you can trust what you read here, but the silence is deafening. You're praying. He's not answering. What's missing?

We all need nourishment. If we can't take it in, we die. If you're not getting spiritual nourishment, maybe it's because you are literally unable to take it in.

How do you reverse that?

If you've been driven to read the Bible by my constant harping on biblical literacy, you know. If not, hello!?! Jesus speaks right to us from the pages of the Bible. Where have you been?

Let's leave your excuses aside for a moment, and see what Jesus says about your inability to absorb spiritual nourishment.

"Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:5-12)

Because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

That means you can't be casual and halfhearted about praying this prayer and making this request. That means your life depends on whether or not you receive the Holy Spirit -- no joke. If you want the Holy Spirit, you have to keep asking God to fill you with it. You have to be relentless about it. There's no other way.

Maybe you know enough Bible to understand all that, but the Spirit still eludes you. Jesus explains why in John 3:8, "The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit." (New Living Translation)

If the Spirit just goes where it wants, why do you have to be so relentless about asking for it? What is that, just another rule to follow?

Again, it's instructive to think about how we behave when we're crazy in love with someone. Not to put too fine a point on it, we want them ... All. The. Time. If you think that equates with sex on the brain, you're right. If you think that cheapens your relationship with God, think again: "'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church," Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:31-32.

When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you have God with you all the time. Yes, the Spirit comes and goes. Through trials and suffering, we're emptied, and we have to ask to be filled again and again.

But I digress.

If God is with you all the time, you can test everyone and everything that claims to be from God. You get better at figuring out the answers through more prayer, and greater biblical literacy.

"[W]hy are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?"

Who said that?

"Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned and said to him in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!' (which means Teacher)." (John 20:16)

How do any of us know? How did Mary know?

Because Jesus -- her Creator, her Healer, her Teacher, and her King -- told her.

Here's The Isaacs with "No Shortage".

Grow Up

2011-03-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hank Williams models some grown-up, Christian behavior for us with a gospel classic.

Does it seem elementary to say that God has a plan? Does it seem elementary to say that to a temple priest without expecting a resounding, "Duh!"?

Then read on, for a little tale of how prophets are born, and how faith is, ah, enjoined.

"In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

"Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.'" (Luke 1:5-17)

You guys get, well ... me. Zechariah got an angel of the Lord. And what did he do?

"And Zechariah said to the angel, 'How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.' And the angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.' And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute." (Luke 1:18-23)

You remember what I said yesterday about how God does not request that we have faith in Him, but orders us to do so?

I wasn't kidding, because He's not kidding. He is really, really, really not kidding about this faith thing. Will He reach down from heaven and zap your vocal chords if you keep giving Him the air?

Maybe. But it's more likely that He'll zap your health -- especially if you're one of those healthier-than-thou types. Maybe He'll take your job away, or maybe it'll just be your walking-around money. Maybe there's some burden you've been carrying for a long time, and He'll just make you carry it around longer. Only one thing's for certain: He will not let you get in the way of His plan.

"After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 'Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'" (Luke 1:24-25)

When Elizabeth is six months along, Gabriel jets over to the Galilean coast, to a city called Nazareth. When Gabriel gets there, he makes a similar prophecy, "to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.' And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?'

"And the angel answered her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.' And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her." (verses 27-38)

How is it that Zechariah gets zapped for his lack of faith, but Mary doesn't?

Mary's just a kid. Zechariah is a priest in the temple of God's holy city, and he should know better.

Now, you're no priest, but you're no kid, either. Yes, I'm addressing a very specific group today -- same group I talked to yesterday. You know God is good, and you know how He works. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Go ahead, deny it all you want, but you have been called by the Most High God according to His purpose -- not yours. He's been trying to get your attention for a good, long while now, but you keep sticking your fingers in your ears and singing that tuneless song you always sing. La, la, la -- just like an infant.

That's no surprise, since you keep telling yourself that you never really had a childhood, that you were deprived because you didn't have what the other kids had -- no rockin' toys, no cool clothes, no freedom to be a kid. You never got to be a part of what every other kid in school took for granted, and now you're making up for it with a vengeance.

You indulge your every appetite to the fullest. You gossip and talk smack about everyone in your orbit, whether they disapprove of you or follow your example -- even trash-talking your own kids to their friends. You criticize others for refusing to grow up when they're only imitating you. You hate it whenever anyone else acts like an infant, ditching their responsibilities, and no wonder: Coping with the fallout of your sins forces you to behave like an adult while you're still demanding that people feel sorry for you because you had to share everything when you were growing up.

You know that perfect health that isn't so perfect anymore, the job you don't have, the other income you've lost, the burden that just won't go away?

God says you'd better grow up and shape up, or He'll saddle you with those problems awhile longer. You want to stamp your little feet and scream when He tells you to have faith? Like Zechariah -- who, unlike you, was "righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord" -- you're going to be restricted until you start acting like an adult who's been called to a specific purpose by your Creator.

"Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God." (Luke 1:57-64)

But all the cool kids are named after their fathers.

I've got news for you, babies: The cool kids don't do what everybody else does. That's why they're cool.

Clearly, Zechariah has downloaded the 411 to Elizabeth who's on the same page. Together, they go against their entire faith community. See, they don't put their faith in what other people think, they put their faith in God, and show their faith by their works.

"And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God."

You know those burdens that just won't go away?

Grow up, act in faith, and watch those burdens disappear.

Here's Hank Williams, modeling some grown-up, Christian behavior with a gospel classic, "Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine".

Pick Me, Pick Me!

2011-03-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

Uphill Climb has a winning strategy and some heartfelt bluegrass gospel for those who are still asking Jesus to "Pick me, pick me!"

I am so, so happy about the tremendous miracles that Jesus has been performing in some of your lives. I have had reports of prodigal sons and daughters coming back to the fold. I've had reports of hardcore non-believers hearing the truth about the Gospel for the very first time in their lives, and confessing Jesus Christ.

See, Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and He is alive to perform miracles like these for anyone and everyone who confesses that He is God and that He died to purchase eternal life for us.

Some of you are wondering when we're gonna pass the plate.

It's not gonna happen. The Gospel is a free gift, too.

Some of you, though, have heavier issues on your minds. Some of you don't believe that Jesus will heal you, of all people. How ever you came to believe that, I want you to know that it's a vicious lie, one that Satan tells people like you because you've been such loyal employees of his for so many years.

Well, no more.

Today, Jesus says, you belong to Him.

Does He hate your sins? You bet He does, and He's been telling you that in no uncertain terms for a long time now. You've been getting that message -- sometimes on a daily basis -- and fighting it tooth and nail because you believe that Jesus hates you.

The truth is that Satan hates you. He hates that you can be an adopted child of the Most High God simply by asking Jesus into your heart. Satan hates the idea that you can have eternal life by repenting -- turning away from -- all the sins that "make you who you are".

Folks, sin does not make you who you are. Only by turning your will and your life over to Jesus Christ will you ever reach your full potential. Yes, even those of you who've been struggling against His Word, His love, and His prophets for, well, ever.

In the gospel of Mark, we see a Jesus who is beset on all sides by sick and sinning people. He is constantly on the move, and wherever He goes, He's met by huge crowds, some of them literally dying for His touch. Which ones will be healed and which ones will have to outrun the boat to His next stop, hoping they'll be the first to greet Him, hoping He sees them first and heals them?

"And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.' And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him." (Mark 5:21-24)

Maybe He'll finish early. Maybe He won't stay to supper with Jairus. Maybe He'll have mercy on some nobody today, maybe even me.

"And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.' And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my garments?' And his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’' And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.'" (Mark 5:25-34)

Waiting on the sidelines is for weak, spineless people. If you want anything in this world, you have to reach out and take it.

"While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, 'Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?'" (verse 35)

People won't just give you anything (unless they want something in return), but they will take everything you have if you let them, so you better hold on with all your might. After all, there's only so much to go around.

"But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not fear, only believe.' And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, 'Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.' And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, 'Talitha cumi,' which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.' And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat." (verses 36-43)

After all, Jairus was one of the temple VIPs.

Is that what you believe? That Jesus only looks with favor on powerful people? That you have to shove everyone else aside in order to get anything from Him? That Jesus, the creator of the universe and everything in it, only has a finite amount of love, miracles, and healing to go around? That you have to hold on to everything you have -- even take what other people have and cheat them out of what is rightfully theirs -- in order to benefit from any of God's promises? That "Papa may have/And mama may have/But God bless the child that's got his own"?

Is that what you believe?

Folks, that is Satan screaming in your ear, and don't you forget it!

Jesus doesn't care how long you've ignored Him, how long you've disobeyed Him, how furiously you've struggled against Him, how well you've played for the other team, how viciously you've treated others -- even His prophets.

He doesn't care. He will heal you and forgive your sins right this minute if you ask Him to. "Your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed," He tells the woman. "Do not fear, only believe," He tells Jairus.

Today, He's telling you those same things. Stop living in fear, and start living in faith, and Jesus will forgive you right now, no matter who you are, what you've done, or who you've done it to. That's not a request: Faith will make the difference between whether you're forgiven or just another sin-sick face in the crowd.

Some of you are still telling yourselves that you're on the outside looking in because of this passage in II Peter 2:18-22, "For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: 'The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.'"

What about that? What about those of you who used to love and obey God, and have turned away from Him? Think about where you are now -- physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Aren't you worse off than you were when you first turned your will and your life over to Jesus Christ? Aren't you?

Hurts like crazy, doesn't it? Does that mean there's no hope for you?

"But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." (Ezekiel 18:21-23, 31-32)

Do not fear, only believe, Jesus says. I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, so turn and live, God says. Yet, there you stand, feeling sorry for yourself because you think Jesus hasn't picked you. If you're reading this post, make no mistake, He has picked you.

Now, get moving.

Here's Uphill Climb with "Reach Out and Touch the Lord".

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Love Your Job

2011-03-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Don Rigsby shows you where to get the confidence to truly love your job -- with some sublime, a capella bluegrass gospel.

We all want to, right?

Love our jobs, I mean -- the notable exceptions being adultolescents and other slackers. I don't think we have any of those here, though. The subject matter is, shall we say, too rigorous for pure entertainment.

That said, we've all been sold on the idea that success means having a job you love, a job that's fun and "makes people happy", if you'll pardon the reality TV cliche. We've come to believe that, in order to love our jobs, they have to reflect who we are, allow us to express ourselves. So, when someone comes along and tells us what our job is; how, where, and when we're supposed to do it; that we're not our own bosses and we might not get paid for awhile, the drawbridge goes up and the gates slam shut.

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20)

Aw, man!

Don't ditch the business plan for that cupcake shop just yet. And don't think you've put in a good day's work because you've dressed the counter help in WWJD t-shirts (That's "What Would Jesus Do?" for the uninitiated).

Remember how we said that love doesn't grow out of a sense of duty?

This is where Jesus puts your love to the test. Does it please you to please Him? How far will you go for Someone you love? Will you do what He asks?

You love Him? Then, consider: He's been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He can do what He wants, make whatever He wants to happen come to pass. With all the authority and power He has, He could ask us to do anything, but what's the first thing He asks us?

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."

Let's take the second part first: All nations? That's the easy part, right? I mean, anybody who thinks there's some kind of master race or chosen people obviously hasn't read that, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3:28-29)

What about those of you who think that while certain traits aren't condemned, others are just ... better, whether they be accents, dialects, families, educational backgrounds, or recreational pursuits. You think you're not prejudiced? Test yourself: Read "The Body," a post from last month.

And that's the easy part.

How on God's green earth do you "make disciples"? This is an especially knotty problem for those of you who are talkers rather than doers.

As always, Jesus has the answer: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

You want to decorate your home or business with those minimalist fish silhouettes, blast Don Rigsby's criminally neglected gospel CD from the parapets, slap a "1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4Given" bumper sticker on your car, go ahead; let your freak flag fly.

But remember this: None of those things amount to "good works". The passage doesn't say, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may infer your good works." It doesn't say, "Let your light shine before others by talking about your good works."

Nope, for this thing to bear fruit, others have to see your good works. "[W]hatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them," Jesus says in Matthew 7:12. What would you have people do to you if you were confused, angry, sad, impatient, traumatized, sick, hurting, scared, desperate, in prison, hungry, thirsty, poor, naked, barefoot, homeless, lonely, alone, without any visible means of support? Those are your good works, folks, and the way people do them these days is to send a check or wait 'til Christmas.

Jesus doesn't want you to do it by mail, and He doesn't want you to wait another second. Do it now.

Jesus wants you out there treating others the way you want to be treated here and now, every day, at home and at work, in good times and bad, on stage and off, no matter where you are or what you're doing. That's what makes Christians different from everybody else. That's how you let your light shine. That's how you get people wondering why you behave that way when no one else does. That's how you get them asking questions. That's when you witness and share your faith. And that's how you make disciples.

Then what?

" ...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Okay, we'll need a building site, an architect, permits, 501(c)3 status, an ad campaign, lesson plans, a babysitting service, insurance ...

No, you won't.

In Acts 10:30-33, a man named Cornelius, a man of the faith and a member of the Italian cohort of the Roman legion, gets a vision from God, which he describes to Peter, "Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.' So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

That's all. God said, "Get moving," and Cornelius' house became a church.

Then, Peter showed up and, "So Peter opened his mouth and said: 'Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.'" (Acts 10:34-43)

Let's remember that Peter was a fisherman -- not a theologian, a seminary graduate, or a public speaker. Peter was taught by Jesus, as are we all. He learned on the job, as do we all. Of him, Jesus said, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

Jesus does not give us jobs that are above or beyond our means and capabilities. He's asked us to spread the Gospel because we can, and because we love Him.

I love this job, and I'm convinced that you will, too.

Here's Don Rigsby with "The Lord Will Provide".

Waiting

2011-03-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Hee Haw Gospel Quartet comforts us with a bluegrass gospel favorite while we're waiting on a miracle.

I threw a spotlight on Jesus' resurrection of His dear friend, Lazarus, last month in a popular post entitled "Reliable". I talked about how we so badly want that healing, resurrecting power that we actually try to heal ourselves of sin. No matter how hard we try, that healing doesn't happen without Jesus. That's true whether it's us or someone else who needs healing.

Many of you have received tremendous healing through your relationship with Jesus Christ, and you're eager to see healing miracles in the lives of your colleagues, friends, and loved ones. Some of these people are in deep trouble, so deep that it hurts you to watch them day in and day out. Some of them have been in trouble for as long as you've known them. Some of them are so lost in sin that they don't know how to do things any other way.

In some cases their sins have gone on so long that they've taught three or four succeeding generations to live the same way. Those are the ones that hurt worst of all: You see toddlers whose sinful behavior is encouraged to the point of calcification, to the point that they're almost impossible to live around. You try to model healthy coping strategies, give wise guidance, but no. Too many other adults in their orbit spend every waking moment in sin. And no, I'm not talking about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Those things are obvious, hence easier to target when and if they become sinful. No, I'm talking about the sins that fly under the radar, the stuff I posted on between the last few days of September 2010 and January of this year especially.

After all, it's hard enough to be the one in pain. Watching others go through it is almost impossible. The stress of it can reach traumatic levels, triggering a fight-or-flight response. Whatever our typical reaction, we just want it to be over with. Jesus wants that, too, but He wants it to achieve perfect love and perfect good. That means He only wants it in God's time.

So, we watch and pray and ... nothing.

Doesn't Jesus say, "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" in Matthew 18:12-14?

Yes, that's what He says.

"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." (Ezekiel 18:23, 32)

Still ... nothing.

The waiting is causing some of you to lose heart, even though some of you have been told that at least some of the sinners in your lives are going to be saved.

Folks, if Jesus says He's going to do it, He's going to do it. Apropos of this, He tells a parable in Luke 12:42-47, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time. Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating."

Some of you have been waiting anxiously for an answer. Jesus cautions us all to wait faithfully, and do the work He's asked us to do while we're waiting.

"Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill.' But when Jesus heard it he said, 'This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.' Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." (John 11:1-6)

It seems cruel, knowing that someone needs help and doing nothing, but Jesus says there's a lot more going on behind the scenes. For the glory of God, He stayed away until it was too late.

"After saying these things, he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.' The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.' Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. '" (John 11:11-15, 17)

The waiting tests our theology to the breaking point.

"Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.'" (John 11:21-27)

Trouble is, you don't know what goes on in anybody's head but your own, and even then, you're not too sure sometimes. There's a Mexican proverb that says, "Cada cabeza un mundo" -- literally, "Every mind is a world." The sense is that, ultimately, we each live in a world of our own and we can't know the world inside anybody else's head.

God can, though. "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:1-5, 13, 15-16)

Every mind is a world of its own, and in those worlds, Jesus can make miracles.

"Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.' When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out.' The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.' Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him." (John 11:41-45)

Four days? Four years? Four decades? The waiting never feels good, but by faith, we know it is good because, "[W]e know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Romans 8:28-30)

Paul isn't saying that everything that happens to us will feel good. He's saying everything that happens to us will work together for good if we love God. Jesus made sure of it.

Here's the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet with "Power In the Blood".

Keeping Your Balance

2011-03-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

In the world? Of the world? Special Consensus is on hand with some bluegrass gospel hints on keeping your balance.

Yeah, I've been gone for two-and-a-half days, and it's been a learning process. Jesus wants all ya'll to see that process now.

If you've been pursing intimacy with God through biblical literacy, you know what Paul says about me. True, he says it about you and everyone else God has chosen, but it's important for you to understand that I Corinthians 1:26-29 is about me today. Paul writes, "For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

Given that, and given that I have to repeat a key Scripture from Friday, did I mislead you with Friday's post, "What You See"? Am I being led by the Holy Spirit or not?

If I'm not, you know the kind of trouble I'm in if you've been following along -- and the kind of trouble you're in if you've been agreeing. If I am being led, Jesus says, "whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." If I question whether I'm being led -- without having that big knot in my stomach -- Jesus reminds me of that Scripture in Mark 3:29. Legitimate doubt may manifest differently to you, but you need to start paying attention to those kinds of nagging feelings, and praying to decipher them.

So, let's look at Matthew 7:28-29 from a different angle. "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."

If, like me, you're the eternal student, you live for the realization that your understanding of some elusive point has jelled, and you can finally expound on that point with some confidence. If I'm there at all today, it is through the grace of Jesus Christ, Who will be your teacher -- I mean, come and teach you in person, no kidding -- if you ask Him.

The knowledge that Jesus has given me over two-and-a-half days is knowledge I've been pursuing since "Hipster for Christ," where I quoted I Corinthians 9:19-23, "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."

Cute, but how do we walk that tightrope and stay true to Christ? I didn't have an answer then, but Jesus has certainly brought me a lot closer.

"But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.' But Peter said to him, 'May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.'" (Acts 8:9, 18-23)

Duh!

We all understand that salvation is a free gift, and that we're filled with the Holy Spirit if we accept that gift.

But do we understand how often we seek the feeling of being Spirit-filled by buying things and experiences ("If I have these clothes or this instrument, if I do this activity or go to this event, if I attract these people, I'll feel amazing")? Do we understand that, in the course of becoming "all things to all people" as Paul puts it, we can become bogged down in the process and, consequently, not save anyone?

"Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it." (Luke 11:43-44)

In this distortion of Christianity, the purpose of saving souls has become twisted into the goal of getting others to acknowledge us. We have lost sight of our true goal, "Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:13-17)

Paul is talking to a group of folks who are still trying to understand that they won't be struck dead if they bring shrimp fried rice to next Sunday's potluck. Here's what he's talking about: "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." (Romans 14:21-23)

So, I have to give up listening to Bill Monroe (character issues, you know), watching Justified (such language!), and shopping somewhere besides thrift stores (because, hey, money belongs to God, and we're supposed to be humble)?

Yeah, that kind of "reasoning" gives me a pain, too.

Sigh.

Even so, if some person we're shepherding is offended, or perhaps seduced, by those things, we'll have to dial it down for the next little while. After all, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24a)

It also serves to remind ourselves that these people invariably have a distorted view of how Christians should behave because of how most of 'em in the public eye do behave.

Still, these are developmental issues. We were all infants in Christ once, and no one does the Gospel any good by refusing to grow up. In I Corinthians 5:9-13, Paul says something that should help nervous or misinformed new converts grow in understanding, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside."

Backlash is not synonymous with balance and, yes, I've said that before. What I really learned this weekend is that when we focus on those superficial issues, we pull our focus away from the Kingdom, and always to our detriment.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:25-33, emphasis mine)

Folks, Jesus is talking about more than where our next meal is coming from. He's talking about focusing so intently on where we're eating, what we're drinking, and who we're wearing that we forget to pursue righteousness (clean our own house) and work for the Kingdom (minister to others).

As Solomon shows us how to keep our balance in Proverbs 4:23-27, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil."

Here's Special Consensus with "Lord, Show Me the Righteous Pathway"

What You See

2011-03-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Do you see good when you see God? Jimmy Martin joins Jesus with bluegrass gospel help to ensure that what you see is what you get.

Jesus' so-called "Sermon on the Mount" ranges over three chapters, Matthew 5-7. In it, we find what might be termed "Christianity's Greatest Hits" -- sayings that are so well-known and well-loved that they've become part of our culture. Take for example:

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

"You are the salt of the earth."

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

Jesus closes His sermon this way, in Matthew 7:24-29, "'Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.'"

Matthew closes the chapter this way, in verses 28 and 29, "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."

And?

And, we're used to people who regurgitate Jesus' sayings without even thinking, much less doing them. We're used to people who preach and teach the Word of God like the scribes of Jesus' day -- halfheartedly, ignorantly, and hypocritically, reducing God's boundless love for us to a one-sided, unpredictable, and selectively-applied system of shoulds and oughts that we'd better follow if we want anything out of this cold, remote, angry figure we call God.

We know deep inside ourselves that this version of Christianity is bogus, so what do we do? Do we throw out the preacher? Do we draw closer to God through prayer? Do we expand our biblical literacy? Do we pray for a church where the Word is taught with authority?

No, no, no! We're much too sharp and sophisticated for that. We decide that Christianity itself is bogus. We decide that everyone who preaches the Word is a liar and a hypocrite. We tell ourselves that God has the same, uh, qualities as the liars and hypocrites who call themselves Christians. We blow off the Bible because we believe it's full of lies and hypocrisy. After all, if the Bible told the story of God's boundless love for us, all those lying, hypocritical preachers we never trusted in the first place would be preaching the story of God's boundless love for us.

Man, we're good! We've convinced ourselves that we're compassionate, righteous, straightforward, wise, and loving people by virtue of the fact that we disobey God.

I thought Christianity wasn't about blind obedience.

I'm glad some of you have learned something, but you have to be asking yourselves why Jesus says, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock," You have to be asking yourselves why He says, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

Well, how does Christianity look when Christians disobey God?

Like a bunch of lying, hypocritical preachers with lying, hypocritical flocks who follow a lying, hypocritical God whose Bible is full of lies and hypocrisy.

Suddenly, following God's commandments and practicing what Jesus preached doesn't look like blind obedience at all. It looks like the wisest, most loving option around, because we've seen how it works when Christians disobey and dishonor God. We've seen the human wreckage that occurs when this calcified disobedience is passed down through generations. More than that, we've felt how such disobedience works, and it hurts like crazy. It leaves us with deep, painful wounds that drive us away from the grace, forgiveness, love, and healing that God has always held out to us.

We were apart from God for a long, long time -- maybe our entire lives. When we found Him, and were washed clean of our sins by Jesus' blood, we felt true joy, grace, forgiveness, love, and healing -- maybe for the first time in our lives.

Maybe we're still basking in that flush of first love. Maybe we're asking ourselves, "Now what?" Maybe -- and this is what I feared when Jesus gave me Matthew 7:24-29 today -- we're already sliding back into sin. Maybe we never fully committed in the first place. I'm told that one of you is preaching the Gospel already, but only from the neck up, and not from your heart. Paul talks about you in Philippians 1:18, "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice."

Trouble is, you half-baked preacher of a half-baked gospel, you don't need to build Jesus' name recognition. One thousand or so years down the road from Paul, the Jesus brand, if you will, is like the Coca Cola of religion -- everybody's heard the Name.

What is wrong with you? You were raised by two Godly parents. Unlike some of us, you've had a father's Godly example and a mother's Godly advice to draw on your whole life. You were smart enough to know religious hypocrisy when you heard it. But, you got smacked around by worldly-wise haters who scorned your sheltered upbringing. You decided that God was the bad guy, and you let the monster come out to play -- for decades. When you were punished by all those sophisticates you used to smack up to, you stumbled around until you came to this blog.

Now, you mouth the Word without living it, your prospects are brightening, and once again, you're in a position to mislead thousands of people with your empty sloganeering. You just might do it, too. Then, you'll cycle through worldly success based on hypocrisy, a dark and violent secret life, public shaming, and lonely exile all over again. Only this time, you're older, and you may not live long enough to take Jesus to heart. Please stop now, turn away from your sin and toward Jesus. He is your only hope.

Now that I've spent three paragraphs on one person, where does that leave the rest of you? Where does that leave the preacher of the half-baked gospel?

The specifics of those three paragraphs might not apply to you, but you're all in the same kind of danger.

Unless and until you hear Jesus' words and do them, this new-found faith will be just another fad, just a momentary lapse for you. The love, joy, peace, mercy, and forgiveness that God has extended to you will be gone, and you'll be back where you started from.

As John writes, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." (John 3:16-21)

You don't come to the light just by showing up, John says. You come to the light by turning away from your sins. You come to the light by believing in Jesus, who said, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." You come to the light by doing what is true -- not what you can get away with until you have to pull up stakes again. You come to the light by doing what Jesus commands -- not by doing wicked things.

When you put God in charge, opposites don't attract, John says. What you see is what you get.

If you don't believe that God is good and only asks us to do good, then why are you here?

If you do believe that God is good and only asks us to do good, then why aren't you doing His commandments?

If you believe that God's word is more than a one-sided, unpredictable, and selectively-applied system of shoulds and oughts that we'd better follow if we want anything out of this cold, remote, angry figure we call God, then why aren't you doing God's word?

Scared?

Like I said in "Father Knows Best," God's word can come to us outside the covers of the Bible. He can -- and does -- speak to us through the Holy Spirit, giving us commandments that even other Christians will tell us are crazy and wrong. As Peter said when he was arrested for preaching Jesus outside the temple, "We must obey God rather than men."

What has God been asking you to do lately?

You feel like you're the only one, don't you, like there's no other person on earth you can share these things with?

Maybe that's because you haven't been praying for the people to share them with.

I'm going to ask you again today to join me in praying that God will raise up a church for us and unite us in the Holy Spirit. Yes, it's crazy -- as crazy as walking naked and barefoot around Jerusalem for three years. As crazy as marrying and raising a family with a prostitute. As crazy as believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated you, and that you've given birth to the only begotten Son of God. As crazy as believing that, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

I am asking you to believe that God will raise up a spiritual home for us -- a church -- here and now on this earth. And, I'm asking you to act on that belief.

Here's Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys with "Pray the Clouds Away".

Beware of Knock-offs

2011-03-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

The Johnson Mountain Boys give us a bluegrass gospel warning to beware of knock-offs -- of true Christianity, that is.

It's Christmas in March here at Jerusalem Tomorrow, but don't start making out your "nice" list yet. We're spotlighting the Christmas story today by way of warning.

What, no "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14, KJV)?

It was angels who made that proclamation. Today we're going to look at how mankind took the news of Jesus' birth. Here's how Matthew tells it, "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.' When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.'" (Matthew 2:1-8)

Oh, I could tell you were wise men just by looking. And as one king to another, I've been waiting all my life for the Real Deal to come along. So, listen, after you have your sit-down with His Majesty, could you just text me with that address? I'll have my people break out the old GPS, we'll hitch up the camels and the wives, and it'll be a real party there in ... where'd you say?

Bethlehem. Right.

What happened next?

"... being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." (Matthew 2:12)

"Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men." (verse 16)

If you have given your life to Christ, you will start noticing all kinds of people -- and I mean all kinds -- who claim to be siblings in the faith. Especially if you are new to the faith, you will yearn to make these kinds of connections, and you will want to respond to everybody with open arms and an open heart, no matter how you've dealt with people in the past. You'll look for the cross around the neck, the little fish on the business card, and if you find them, you will assume you can trust that person completely.

Do not do it.

Isn't that how it's done? I mean, Romans 8:31 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us," right?

Right, but we don't just let our guard down indiscriminately, tempting God in the process.

It's okay not to absorb people like a sponge. What do you need, permission?

No? Good answer. What you need is an example -- like, say, Jesus. "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."

When Jesus sends the twelve apostles out to preach the Gospel and heal folks for the first time, He gives them -- and us -- a piece of advice that could save our lives. "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16)

A lot of people -- Christian and otherwise -- see this kind of cautious reserve as hostility. Your Lord and Savior says it's just common sense.

Yes, we've seen a lot of "Christians" -- especially public figures -- apply this Scripture in the opposite way, being wise as doves and harmless as serpents.

Now, that's hostile. It's arrogant, stupid, and harmful to Christians and Christianity in the bargain. We're called upon to do it differently, to do it the way Jesus commands us to do it.

That brings me to the question of just who is a Christian, and how do you know?

I John 4:15 says, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." Seems basic, but there are major religions that believe there was a Jesus without acknowledging His divinity. This is not just a minor quibble. In John 5:22-24, Jesus says, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."

People who do not believe that Jesus is God are not Christians, and will not behave like Christians. That means you should not assume they are of the household of faith. Should you love them? Certainly. Trust them? Not so much.

It gets harder with those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but don't take it any further. See, there are a lot of "Bible-believing" folks out there who aren't Bible-behaving, or even biblically literate. The results of a 2000 Gallup poll reveal that only 16 percent of Christians read the Bible daily. Only 59 percent read it occasionally. A 2009 survey by the Christian Broadcasting Network demonstrates that nothing has changed.

You can't behave like a Christian if you're not intimately familiar with the Christian operator's manual. Nevertheless, you will go into homes and businesses, and see piles of plaques, magnets, t-shirts, books, CDs, DVDs, and other paraphernalia produced by the Christian-industrial complex at an alarming rate. You will be overwhelmed by warm fuzzies, a desire for fellowship, and a sense of security. Don't be fooled: All the trinkets in the world do not a Christian make.

You will also meet "Christians" who talk a good game. If you're a talker more than a doer, you will be tempted to believe what these people tell you. You will be tempted to believe the outer appearance of Christianity.

Do not do it.

In Matthew 23:2-5a, Jesus warns us, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others." He gives more details in verse 13-14 (NKJV), "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation."

Jesus continues in verses 23-28, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Now do you begin to see how easy it is to be fooled by those who look like Christians on the outside, but privately lead a double life? Click on the link for more help in recognizing these faux-Christians. As I John 2:9 says, "Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness." John elaborates in I John 3:12, 15, 18, "We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

You know that these faux-Christians can deceive you. You know how to recognize them, and that you can -- and must -- avoid trusting their words and their outward appearance. It's essential knowledge to have, but it's useless if we don't apply it to ourselves. We're sinners, too, right? It's just as easy for us to fall into the trap of wearing some cheap knock-off of Christianity.

So, go ahead and wear the cross, buy the t-shirt, put up the plaque, and blast the bluegrass gospel from your speakers, but wear the real thing at all times. The world has seen enough knock-offs. It's time to start rocking the Designer original.

Here's the Johnson Mountain Boys with "Do You Call That Religion?"

The Social Network

2011-03-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

Paul Williams and the Victory Trio have the bluegrass gospel scoop on the very best social network you can join.

Yesterday's post on "Following" was a long one with lots of biblical examples, but some of you just didn't get it. Near the end, though, your outlook brightened. "Shake and howdy with folks I've never even met? I can do that."

You can do that because God gave you that gift, and drew you into the body of Christ to compensate for people like me on the opposite end of the spectrum. You have a good and valuable gift; let's be clear on that.

It is not, however, a gift that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit. The gift of gab is just part of your human make-up like, say, charisma, athleticism, intelligence, good looks, or musicality. Unlike the gifts of the Spirit, these gifts can be misused, which means that you can use them in sin. Yes, even if you're Spirit-filled, even if you're in church or doing church business, even if you're spreading the Gospel.

How is this possible?

Jesus spent a good chunk of His time here showing us how it's possible, and upbraiding the Pharisees for being so infernally good at it. In Luke 11:43-44, Jesus says, "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."

Oh, you can shake and howdy with anybody, as long as they're a certain kind of person with a certain pedigree, encountered in a certain setting. You fancy yourself a refined individual, fit only for the company of other refined people. If, one day, you discover that someone in your circle didn't go to college, can't afford the "right" wardrobe, doesn't eat in the "right" restaurants, isn't interested in the "best" cultural pursuits -- High art only, please: If you absolutely must indulge in lower forms, only juiceless, prissy renderings of folk art, e.g. bluegrass, will do -- you turn on that person like a wasp that's been evicted from its nest.

I've got news for you, your highnesses: Church is not your social club. It is not your live-action Facebook page. It is not your salon. It is not an excuse to showcase and brag about your obscenely-expensive home renovation or your glut of possessions. It is not the place for you to put on airs or put on the dog. It is not the place for you to ritually murder your own insecurities by sacrificing others who don't meet the standards that some high-falutin', insecure person just like you inflicted on you a long time ago (Hasn't worked yet, has it?).

Church is not the place for you to make business contacts. It is not the place for you to increase your family's fortunes. It is not the place to promote your fabulousness in any sense. It is not the place for you to advance any causes -- political, social, familial, or otherwise -- that aren't 100 percent focused on following Jesus and spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

What about Acts 2:46-47, you know, "... day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people"?

That's church -- one day a week in the modern, crazy-busy, American schedule of fabulous people like yourselves. Jesus says the rest of your week should look very, very different. "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." (Luke 14:12-14)

Later in Luke 14, Jesus says, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." (verses 27-33, emphasis mine)

Not so fabulous now, is it? That "suffering" thing? Jesus is deadly serious about it. The return on our investment -- and His -- comes later. When it comes, Jesus will announce -- in front of God and everybody -- how we did church during our lives here on earth.

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:31-46)

How's that for being with the best people in the best place at the best time for a fabulous time?

Jesus is not, you will note, telling us to send a check, host a benefit, or take part in a walkathon. He's talking about getting up-close and personal with others' sufferings -- getting our hands dirty; staying up nights; taking the phone calls; being the shoulder to cry on, the free ride, the housekeeper, the cook, the tailor, the practical nurse, the bank, the innkeeper, and, yes, the welcome wagon, for someone who needs us.

Jesus is telling us to do this, too: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:38-48)

Yes, it's difficult -- almost impossible -- and it hurts like crazy at times. That, folks, is what church is for: To minister to suffering people in the body of Christ and out. To minister to each other when it gets too difficult, too painful. To share ways to make it better and maybe, just maybe, a little easier. The early church, described in Acts 2, did that, "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47b)

That's a good result -- a great one, in fact. But God showers us with boundless gifts here and now when we get down off our high horse and start serving others: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:6, 10)

Here's Paul Williams and the Victory Trio to sing about the company we'll be in here and in the hereafter if we humble ourselves and do church right -- "Come and Dine".

Following

2011-03-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

We follow others on social media, but The Primitive Quartet tell us who we should be following -- and how -- with stirring bluegrass gospel.

Oh, goody! I'll be hating on pop culture again today.

Kidding -- sort of. What I'll be doing is examining a word, a concept, a practice that's been completely devalued by its own ubitquity. When a word, a concept, a practice is as ubiquitous as this one, we just stop looking at it and, consequently, stop remembering what it means.

John 3:19-21 warns us about the consequences of this casual forgetting, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

I'm not saying that everyone who "follows" someone using social media is evil. I'm saying that, in neutralizing the word, the concept, the practice of following, we cease shining a light on it. If we don't stay conscious of the full implications of following someone, evil will begin to flourish, whether in a "Mean Girls" way or a "Mark of the beast" way. If you think I'm going all Church Lady on you, just read Revelation, and see what I mean.

Oh, please, it's twenty-two chapters. At three chapters a day, plus the last (short) one on Day Seven, you can slam through it in a week. This should be a cakewalk for most of you.

But I digress.

Let's take a look at this next passage, and focus on the true meaning of following. Matthew 4:18-22 recounts the beginning of Jesus' ministry, "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."

You mean like stalking?

Er, no.

Like hanging-out-with?

Yes, but "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:34-39, emphasis mine)

Jesus says your earthly relationships are nothing compared to the relationship you have with Him.

Jesus elaborates in Matthew 16:24-27, "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done." (emphasis mine)

He says that nothing in this world is worth as much as your soul. People? Possessions? Power? Position? Let it go.

John 1 looks at the idea of following in another way. "The next day [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.; I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." Later, John writes, "The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus." (verses 35-37)

John the Baptist had a following. He was somebody. He was a preacher of the Gospel. None of that meant anything once Jesus showed up. We, too, may rise in popularity because of our work on behalf of the Gospel, but we must never lose sight of the fact that people aren't supposed to follow us; they're supposed to follow Jesus.

In John 10:1-9, Jesus says, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.' This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.'"

If you're going to follow Jesus, you have to be familiar with the sound of His voice, through prayer and Bible study. If you love Him, you'll jump at the chance to get to know Him.

In John 12:26 Jesus says, "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also."

Where is Jesus? Not falling asleep in church, but healing the sick, feeding the hungry, preaching the Gospel, casting out demons, helping those who need help, loving those who act hatefully toward Him.

After He is resurrected, Jesus foretells Peter's death in John 21:18-22, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.'" (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, 'Follow me.' Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, 'Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?' When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 'Lord, what about this man?' Jesus said to him, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!'"

Nobody wants to die this way, not even Jesus. "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." (Hebrews 5:8-9, emphasis mine)

Paul explains how not to do it in Ephesians 2:1-3, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Knowing the death he was to die, Peter wrote this in II Peter 2:20-23, "For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly."

The book of Revelation tells the story of the ultimate consequences of following someone. So, really, go read the whole thing.

Those consequences are a long way off.

Maybe, but let's do it your way, and look at the consequences of doing what Jesus commands us to do: "Follow me ..."

" ... and I will make you fishers of men."

Fishers of men? You mean we can actually convince other people to believe the Gospel and give their lives to Jesus Christ?

If -- and only if -- you follow Him.

This does not mean masquerading as Humble Christian Soccer Mom with your mom jeans and your mom hair and your makeup-free face and your Humble Christian Husband/Ballet Dad with his logo t-shirt and his dad hair and his dad jeans. You do this, you're drawing just as much attention to your outward selves as celebrities do, only in a different way. Following Jesus is not about assiduously cultivating a humiliating appearance and sad-sack manner.

Humiliation has precious little to do with humility as a megachurch full of people in these costumes found out. Someone visited this church, having heard how approachable the people were. After not being greeted -- much less ministered to -- by a single member of that church, this poor lost soul went home and committed suicide. You want to follow Jesus? Get over your bad self. And get over your shy/insecure/cliquish/superior/misanthropic self, too.

Following Jesus does not mean ripping people to shreds for not adhering to the tenets of a faith they don't follow. So what if your neighbor commits every sin in the book? Stop criticizing, and start modeling Christian behavior. Maybe your neighbor's sins are the result of something s/he lacks. How would a Christian meet that need? Maybe with comfort from the Scriptures, or a helping hand.

Following Jesus does not mean adhering to "common decency"; there's no such thing. "Common decency" is what people can get away with -- no more and no less. Don't think so? Then check out reality TV some time. The only truly decent thing is to live the way Jesus lived -- not the way uptight, hypercritical people (with shameful secrets of their own) would shame us into living.

Following Jesus does not mean looking at Christians in the media or yet another legalistic church, and making cosmetic changes in order to be like them. As you've seen from today's Scriptures, following Jesus is a lot tougher than that -- a lot tougher.

Only by truly following Him can we inspire others to do the same.

Lots of songs I could put here. I've already featured Rhonda Vincent's outstanding "Fishers of Men" elsewhere in a couple of different versions. Today, I want to share a song that became an instant and firm favorite the moment I heard it. Here's "Peter, Do You Love Me?" (which takes its text from John 21) by The Primitive Quartet.

See The Bluegrass Gospel Blog in full color on Tumblr.

Give It Up

2011-03-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

Jesus says when you give something up, don't give it out. We get the gospel truth of it from a band that is hardly strictly bluegrass.

In Matthew 6:2-4, Jesus gives us some commandments that seem pretty easy to follow. He says, "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Easy, right? If you're making a donation, you do it anonymously. If you're doing something that's going to leave a big footprint -- say, building a new hospital wing or endowing a chair at your alma mater -- it's harder to keep it hush-hush. But you might want to start by foregoing the brass plaque or the marble wall with your name chiseled into it -- just sayin'.

Pretty easy, until you consider that Jesus introduces these commandments by saying, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 6:1)

See, sometimes, giving to the needy has nothing to do with money. Sometimes, all we're giving is mercy, grace, kindness, love, loyalty, humility, peace, or joy. If we're overflowing with the Holy Spirit, we're reaping the fruit of the Spirit. If we -- and those in our orbit -- are especially blessed, it's a bumper crop.

Trouble is, we live in a culture that encourages us to confess every last detail of our lives -- except for the secret, shameful stuff, which is uncovered in a scandal which sends us crawling off to rehab or jail or exile, only to emerge with a new website and a full schedule of appearances on the talk shows where we will rehash our trauma endlessly and in vivid detail.

I mention the celebrity shame cycle because of the distorted and mostly unconscious way we mirror it in our own lives. That "I once was lost/but now am found" is worth confessing, but as Christians, we're to handle it in a very specific way. "[C]onfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." We're to confess our sins to our siblings in the faith -- not to every stranger we've casually friended on Facebook.

Unconsciously influenced as we are by popular culture, we want to confess the good things we do, too. That's where Matthew 6:1 can be equally valuable to us. "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."

"Yeah, I forgave him -- we're BFFs again."

"I don't care what she did; I'm sticking by her."

"He's obviously got anger issues. I've decided to stop arguing with him and start praying for him."

"Of course we took her in. We're just living out God's word, in spite of everything."

"He made a mess again, and I cleaned it up again -- typical."

We've all heard, read, and made statements like these, but Jesus says, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them."

Sometimes, though, we say these things because we're being goaded -- not to say "baited" -- by others who feed on drama. Folks, "trust," "spinelessness," and "indiscriminate sharing" are not fruits of the Spirit. In fact, Jesus Himself gives us the power and the permission to disengage from these kinds of exchanges. "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."

Whether you're practicing righteousness to be seen by other people -- or just trying to get them to quit badgering you for all the gory details -- it's time to dial it back.

Is a former enemy now a friend? If you're asked, just say, "We worked it out." The details should remain between the two of you.

Do you have a friend or relative whose double life coming to light in shocking detail? When it comes to your loyalty, show -- don't tell.

Is there a persistent troublemaker in your life? Stop rising to the bait, and pray for that person in secret. You don't owe explanations to anyone but God.

Are you discovering that making sacrifices for others involves, well, sacrifice and suffering? In Luke 9:23-24, Jesus says you need to get over the shock: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."

If others are urging you to complain, er, unburden yourself in regard to your sacrifices, approach it this way instead: "[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:6-8)

And, if someone sins against you repeatedly? Don't let it get that far. "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." (Matthew 18:15-17)

If you have something to say, your best option is to take it to Jesus. Apropos of that, today's video is "Jesus On the Main Line". I love Ralph II's version of this, but it's not available, so we're gonna call on ... wait for it ... Aerosmith, who serve it up blues-drenched, soulful, and totally acoustic.

Father Knows Best

2011-03-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, and Alison Krauss paint a bluegrass gospel picture of how we behave when we understand that our Father knows best.

A lot of people see God as Someone, well, hard to see. They say His motives are unclear, His methods contradictory, His will impossible to discern except by a few uniquely-gifted people. The apostle Paul sees the exact opposite, but then, we're talking about a guy who had Jesus -- long since dead, resurrected, and ascended -- stop him dead in his tracks, strike him blind, and ask oh-so-politely why Paul kept hassling Him.

Here's what Paul has to say about the "uniquely-gifted", "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (I Corinthians 12:4-6, emphasis mine)

In I Corinthians 14:1-4, Paul adds, "Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church."

Among Christians, these "unique" gifts should be as common as dirt.

There's gotta be a catch.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)

Oh, yeah -- living sacrifice. Total buzzkill!

No living sacrifice, no spiritual gifts. You think I'm kidding? Look at the vast majority of Christians who report to some building on Sundays -- if the praise music is to their liking, then spend the rest of the week pursuing their own interests. If people with spiritual gifts are unique, it's only because people who present their bodies to God as living sacrifices are unique.

Maybe you're willing, but have no idea how to sacrifice yourself in this day and age. How do you do it?

By doing God's will.

Trouble is, we believe that God's will is confined to a thousand or so onionskin pages bound in black Morocco leather. Very true -- with some notable exceptions.

We're supposed to wear clothes in public, but God commanded Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot for three years.

Marriage is not only a profoundly sacred contract, it's designed to be an earthly reflection of the deeply intimate relationship between Christ and the church. Yet, God commanded Hosea to marry and have children by a prostitute.

We're not supposed to have children out of wedlock, yet God commanded Mary, who was only a child herself, that she must conceive a child out of wedlock. Then He commanded Mary's intended, Joseph, to suffer the shame and humiliation of marrying a wife who was already pregnant by someone else.

One of us is in a similar situation.

This woman is dutiful, conscientious, religious. Recently, she accidentally damaged someone's property. Everything in her said, "Do the right thing: Apologize, and offer to pay for the damages." Or, as Jesus puts it, "[W]hatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

It's what we're commanded to do -- simple, right?

Mindful of another commandment in Haggai 2:8, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts," she took the matter to God in prayer. "Should I offer to pay for the damages?" she asked.

God said no.

Since then, she has endured catcalls, insults, gossip, and various passive-aggressive acts of retaliation. The "person she is" is crying out to smooth over the situation with a check and a few contrite words. The "person she is" struggles furiously against the humiliation of having to take what others dish out. The "person she is" whispers that, at minimum, she should be able to take it with a smile on her face because it's God's will and because, as James writes, we should, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)

She wants to do the "right thing," but there's only one right thing in this or any situation: God's will.

Why? Why? Why?

The answer, God says, lies in yesterday's key Scripture, Matthew 18:15, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."

See, the woman she sinned against finds Jesus' commandment in Matthew 18:15 impossible to obey. Her method is to work herself into a towering, barely-concealed rage, mention the situation to the offender in passing, then gossip to the rest of her circle about the offender and get them to join her in flinging insults and doling out thinly-disguised retaliation.

God says He wants her to do it differently, and if that means having someone sin against her so she can practice a loving, Godly, peaceful, and private approach to the problem, then that's what it means.

Ouch!

I think you can feel the pain on both sides. I know it's hard when you don't know their names, can't see their faces, and don't know the specifics, but please pray that God would pour the Holy Spirit out on both these women so that they would each have the strength and humility to proceed in His will. After all, He's building a church: He needs everyone He can get.

In Haggai 2, we read of another church that God planned to build or, more accurately, rebuild. In verse 3, God asks temple officials, "Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?"

No, neither of these women has found a church to attend. When you want it so badly, the lack of spiritual nourishment, a spiritual home, can be devastating, just as it was to Israel.

Yet, "Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land." (Haggai 2:4-6)

When we present our bodies as living sacrifices, God will not only give us the work to do, He'll give us the spiritual gifts we need to do it, and He'll make sure it gets done right.

Here's Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, and Alison Krauss live at the Opry with "Working On a Building". Embedding for this video has been disabled, so click here to go there.

My Sibling, My Frenemy

2011-03-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

When my sibling is my frenemy too, things get tough in church. Doc Watson tells us how to cope with a gospel masterpiece.

I'll admit it: The idea that I shared with you at the end of yesterday's post isn't just challenging -- it's radical. Still, if you have even a little faith, if you've been touched even a little by the Spirit, you long for communion with your spiritual brothers and sisters.

And then, in the midst of that longing, someone or something twists a knife in your gut.

We've all felt the pain of broken and/or unfulfilling relationships. If these happen between you and the people who are supposed to be your siblings in Christ, it can be devastating -- even fatal -- to your relationship with God. Not, you will note, to His relationship with you.

In my experience, that deep emotional and spiritual wounding happens when the church itself is sin-sick, pursuing spiritual siblinghood according to human will rather than God's will. Many, many of my posts here have been informed by my own past and current struggles to deal with these kinds of sin-sickened spiritual relationships.

Yesterday's Scriptures painted a picture of how to do spiritual siblinghood right. Since we're all sinners in a fallen world, we need a prescription for what to do when our relationships within the church go wrong. As always, Jesus has the answers. Let's take them one at a time.

In Matthew 18:15, Jesus says, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."

"If your brother sins against you ..." Jesus begins. This does not mean, "If I don't get the things I want" or "If people don't do exactly what I want them to do" or "If people don''t take every hint that I drop" or "If people don't sin along with me or enable me to sin". Sin means sin, folks, the stuff that's forbidden by the ten commandments and the great commandments that Jesus gives us -- lying, stealing, coveting, gossiping, hatred, murder, selfishness, and as Paul writes in Galatians 5:19-21, "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these." Click on the links for Scriptures that will get you familiar with those other commandments.

Note, too, that Jesus uses that present tense. He doesn't say, "If your brother has ever sinned against you". God has forgiven all our past sins, including those that we have committed against each other. He expects us to do the same. You want your prayers to be heard? "... whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses," Jesus says in Mark 11:25.

Let's continue in Matthew 18. "[G]o and tell him his fault, between you and him alone." Do I really have to explain this? Apparently so, since some of you think it means "talk trash about my sibling in Christ all over the place. Then, leave it to some weak-willed deputy to download all the gossip and trash-talk to the offending party, while I commit acts of physical and emotional sabotage and abuse against my sibling in Christ who I now despise."

Well, no.

"Alone" means alone -- no wingman, no supportive circle of friends, no wall posts, no veiled hints of any kind in any venue. "Go and tell him his fault" means go now, and take the direct approach when you go. Don't wait until you're consumed with barely suppressed frustration, anger, disappointment, hurt, and rage that will leak out the minute you have to rehash this stuff with the offending party. And don't hint around, thinking you're morally superior because you approach it that way. Just tell it straight out, calmly without worrying over what the offending party might say or do. You can't control that, anyway, and you're sinning if you try.

"If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."

Yay! Group hug! Party! Tremendous relief! Blessed healing! Glory to our Father and thank You, Jesus!

Verse 16: "But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses."

We all know people whose response to even the most gentle and reasoned confrontation is to stuff their fingers in their ears and start singin'. We all know people who think they're without sin because their response to confrontation is passive-aggressive, and not angry like so-and-so (to whom they are so obviously superior). Thanks to the prevailing winds of culture, argument (however reasoned), anger and violence are less-acceptable responses to confrontation, but we're frightened of those things, nonetheless.

What do we do with all this?

If we're forced to take witnesses, we do not pick the snarky, the gossipy, the firestarter, the diva, or the ones who are afraid of confrontation. We do not choose the one who will take over the proceedings. Witnesses in this context are people who will simply observe the exchange, and be able to verify the charges being made if you should have to take the next step. Given that, we want witnesses who are wise, calm, reasonable, responsible folks, the kind of people we can count on to do the job assigned to them and not overstep their bounds.

Why?

Because now, it gets serious. "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." (verse 17)

We're talking about turning the offending party out of the church, here. If we're forced to to that, "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

You see what I mean when I say you want mature, serious, dignified, responsible witnesses? You don't want to set this chain of events in motion with vain, silly, frivolous, unreliable, or self-seeking people.

So that's it then? This person with whom you were united in Spirit is dead to you, now?

Thank the good Lord, no!

Let's look at how Paul advised the Corinthian church to handle it. In I Corinthians 5:1-5, he writes, "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."

Incest? Ugh!

Still ... deliver the guy to Satan?

If you're seeing torches and pitchforks in your mind's eye, fear not.

"I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you." (I Corinthians 5:9-13)

That certainly clarifies things, but our sin-sick brother is still outside the fold. Is there anything we can do?

By the time we get to II Corinthians 2:4-9, some time has passed. Contrary to most people's picture of Christians, instead of being self-righteous, self-satisfied, and cold as ice, Paul feels deep sadness over the fate of this lost brother in Christ. "For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything."

Ever hear anything like that before?

Me neither, and I grew up in church.

"... turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow." Interesting strategy to get someone to stop sinning, don't you think?

Paul must have been mindful of God's commandment in Zechariah 7:9: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another,'" for Paul -- who is the head of the Corinthian church -- goes on in II Corinthians 2:10-11 to say, "Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs."

Those would be Satan's designs to turn us against each other through gossip, backbiting, recriminations, punishment, and the desire to outdo each other in "righteousness".

Yeah, church is radical, all right. You have to accept by faith the idea that perfect strangers are your siblings in Christ. You have to encourage their best, and love them at their worst; turn them out when they remain defiant in sin, and love them like crazy to inspire them to stop.

When we look at it that way, being a member of the body of Christ seems like an impossible task, except for one thing: The Lord is with us -- not in some abstract, airy-fairy way, but abiding in us, living in us through the Holy Spirit. Remember, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)

When we know Him, we can call on Him for those things -- through prayer and by immersing ourselves in His word.

But we're sinners, too. What happens when we can't forgive, can't let go? Even the passive-aggressive types among us understand that, while we're not angry or bitter in an active way, our hearts are not completely clean or loving in this matter, either, and we need help.

Like I said, His word is a great help in times like these. There's one passage that helps me more than any other in this situation. It is a lengthy one, but one I feel is essential to quote in its entirety -- especially if it can help and heal you, too. Not surprisingly, Jesus tells this story further along in Matthew 18.

"Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.'" (Matthew 18:21-35)

And if that passage doesn't work?

Here's Doc Watson with a prescription to help us forgive and be forgiven through the best Friend we'll ever have -- "What a Friend We Have In Jesus".

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