Why Should We Bother To Pray?

Prayer is hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Sometimes it’s boring, sometimes it takes all of our effort just to focus. Sometimes its long, and so often it is just forgettable. To pray is a discipline—just like learning math, or correct spelling or a new language. Almost nothing about prayer is easy.

So why do it? Why should we go to all the effort to learn how to pray? If it is such hard work, some say, then perhaps we shouldn’t bother with it at all. And often, even if we don’t say it, it is our real attitude. Do we really see it as an important aspect of our lives? Our actions clearly communicate what we really believe. After all, how many of us pray every day? Or even once a week?

The reason we pray is because we really need to. Frankly, we’re desperate. Every time that we look to someone else for help, we are praying to them—especially an authority over us. So if we go to the government and apply for food stamps, we are praying. If we call the police and are looking for help, we are praying. And sometimes we need to call for them. Sometimes we really need the help. Or we could be helping someone else to ask for help. This is the same with God. (Luke 18:1-8)

Who are we praying to?
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:1

God isn’t just a spiritual force that looks down upon us with kindness, dropping gifts to us every once in a while —like a non-physical Santa Claus. We constantly have to remember who God really is—he is The Authority behind all authority, the Power behind all powers, the Government behind all governments. He is the King of the Universe—and no one is beside Him. Everyone who has any kind of authority receives their authority from Him. And anyone who has any kind of power gained their power from Him. (John 19:11; Deuteronomy 10:17)

God is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Ruler of all presidents, prime ministers, and CEOs. He has all knowledge, and there is no one who knows anything true that God didn’t already know. Who gave God the right to rule? First of all, He made all things, so He can do what he wants with what he made. Second, God is more powerful than anyone else, so who will tell him that he can’t rule? Thirdly, God is more just and merciful than anyone else, and so he is worthy of ruling. (Isaiah 40:26-30)

What is prayer?
Many people see praying as something that is important within ourselves. The equate prayer with “meditation” or “self-talk”. As if prayer is making things happen through encouraging oneself to make them happen. But prayer isn’t like that. If we go to a bank, stand in the lobby and say, to no one in particular, “Please give me a loan, please give me a loan,” nothing will happen. You will have no more money when you walk out of that bank than when you walked in. The way to get a loan is to make a request to one of the workers at the bank who has authority to give you a loan.

Others see prayer as an opportunity to “chat with God”. As if God is a buddy of yours, just hanging by the phone, waiting for you to chew his ear off. This is forgetting who God really is. God is the King of the Universe. If you were to try to call the President of the United States—a much lesser power than God—and you actually got through, and you said, “Hey, how are things going, I just thought I’d tell you some of my problems…” how would the President respond? He’d say something along the lines of, “That’s nice, but I’ve got some REAL problems to deal with…” and then you’d get an earful of dial tone.

What is prayer, really? It is making a request of the King of the Universe. It is seeing your real need, recognizing that God is the one to solve the problem, and taking it to Him. Prayer is an audience before the greatest King that ever existed.

How can we possibly pray?
Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." Isaiah 6:5
Now that we understand what prayer really is, the best question is—how do we deserve to pray? We have many marks against us—if we were a great power on earth, then perhaps God would be interested to listen to us, but we are nobodies. If we were really righteous people, then God might want to listen to us, but we aren’t particularly righteous. In fact, we’ve done some evil things, and so why should the King of the Universe even let us into his palace? We aren’t particularly people whom God would listen to.

But He could and would listen to us. The Bible tells us some stuff about God that isn’t common knowledge, so listen to this:

1. God particularly pays attention to the poor
The King of the Universe recognizes that not everyone gets a fair shake. Some people will never get justice in the world because the world doesn’t care about them and won’t listen to them. But God does listen particularly to these people, the non-represented, the disenfranchised, the needy without a voice. God particularly pays attention to these people, and will listen when they cry out to him. So the prayers of the poor are powerful forces in the world, for they make things happen. (Exodus 22:22-24; Psalm 72:12)

2. God particularly listens to his people
Those who are a part of God’s people he calls his children. And so he listens to his people, like a father would listen to his son (and with more attention). How do we know if we are a part of his people? God has chosen a government, and anyone who has committed themselves to live under this government is a part of his people. God’s government is ruled by a King named Jesus. Jesus is the human King of God, and those who have devoted their lives to Jesus are a part of God’s people. So if we want to be heard by God, the best thing to do is to be under Jesus. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

3. God will give us the ability to be righteous
Yes, it is true, we have done evil things. Our speech is often evil, as well as our silence before evil acts. Do we really deserve to go before the Holy King of the Universe and make a request of Him? No, frankly, we don’t. But if we put ourselves under Jesus, then Jesus died to cleanse us from sin. Our evil, unjust acts are forgiven before God. If we repent of our sins before God, then they are forgotten and not held against us. But also, God wants to give us a gift for being a part of His people. This gift is to be holy people, even as Jesus was and is. God grants us his Spirit through Jesus to have His holiness living within us, all the time, so we can be a people that truly deserves to be before God. (Romans 8:14-15)

“Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." Isaiah 6:7
Let us ask the question again: why pray? We pray because we need things, and God is willing to listen. We pray because the world is evil and God is powerful enough to change it. We pray because no one else will listen to what God thinks is most important. But most of all, we pray because if we didn’t, we could receive nothing from God. To have gifts from God, to be the people God wants us to be, we must ask. (James 4:2)

Prayer is a powerful tool to meet our needs.
Prayer is possible through Jesus.

Anawim Hall of Fame

Anawim is a Hebrew word that means "The poor who seek the Lord for deliverance". When we understand that the "poor" in the Bible is not just those who are economically lacking, but also those who are oppressed, or who sacrifice something necessary for God, then we can see that this is a main theme throughout the Bible.

Abel—God liked his worship, but he didn’t accept the worship of his brother Cain. And so, in a childish fit of sibling rivalry, Cain kills Abel.

Abraham—God calls him to do a ridiculous task—to leave his proper inheritance from his father and just start wandering off to receive an unspecified reward. Abraham buys it. Then God promises him a son, although he and his wife were so past childbearing age their genitals resembled raisins. Abraham buys it. Then God asks Abraham to kill his only son, and, somehow, he will keep his previous promises. Abraham—stunningly—buys that too. So God gives him great reward (he’s only got to die and wait 400 years to collect it).

Hagar—Her mistress told her to have sex with her master—so she did. So why does her mistress beat her when she got pregnant? When she ran away, an angel told her to return and live under her mistress’ abuse—so she did. When her mistress had a son of her own, years later, she was told to pack up and leave—so she did. Because of her stubborn obedience, God made her descendants into a populous desert nation.

Lot—Of course he took the best land when it was offered—who wouldn’t? How was he to know that Sodom was slated for destruction by God’s immorality wrecking crew? Now here he is in the middle of the desert, destruction all around him, his wife fit only for a saltshaker, his daughters thinking incest is the best thing since sliced bread…. Well, God made it up to him by allowing him to be the father of two great nations.

Jacob—He so believes in God’s blessings, that he will do anything to get them—lie, steal, cheat, allow his sons to murder rivals—anything. Finally, after his life is made miserable by regret, he relies alone on God.

Joseph—So he boasted a little bit and humiliated his brothers. Is there any reason for him to be thrown, starving, into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and thrown into jail? Apparently God thought he’d been through enough, so he made Joseph Prime Minister of the most powerful country in the world.

Tamar—She married one brother. He died. He left her no kid. She was given to the second brother. He died. No kid. Daddy wasn’t taking chances on the third brother. So she put a veil on, loosened the top buttons on her blouse, donned a garter, and targeted daddy, and he didn’t know who she was. After her pregnancy was obvious, daddy was ready to kill her. Until she proved to him that daddy was the daddy. God makes her the matriarch of the kings of Jerusalem.

The Children of Israel—They were enslaved in Egypt for generations. All of a sudden, they remember God and cry out to him. Ten plagues. Dead men everywhere. Crossing the Red Sea without needing to change into bathing suits. Voila! Instant deliverance. Then he makes them his select nation for all time.

Rahab—Jericho sex-worker, destined for destruction with the rest of her city, who was more scared of Israel’s God than her own. Backed the right horse, and was given asylum. Oh, yeah, and God made her an ancestor of the Messiah.

Gideon—A coward hiding in a hole until an angel proclaims him “mighty warrior!” Three hundred men against thousands, a few lanterns against swords and chariots— God would only pull him out if he faced overwhelming odds against him.

Jephthah—Important father, but his mother was a prostitute. Dang, bad luck—he was kicked out of the family. He became leader of a band of outlaws. But when an army attacked his community, he was the only one who could save them. He would do so only if he gained the respect of the community.

Samson—Devoted to God before he was born, he was made strong by God’s power (no steriods necessary), as long as he didn’t touch wine or cut his hair. Unfortunately, there was no requirement to keep his zipper shut. After playing with the wrong woman once too many, he was weakened, enslaved and tortured. Finally, God allowed him one last shot to destroy his enemies—as long as he died in the process.

Ruth— A family from Israel goes to Moab and the sons marry the wrong wives—Moabites. When all the men die, the mother goes back home, and her one ex-daughter-in-law insists in coming with. She adopts to the new culture and the new God like a fish in water. Her new husband is rich, and they become the ancestors of the kings of Judea.

Hannah—Her co-wife thinks she is just soooo important, just because she’s got lots of kids and Hannah doesn’t. Hannah is so forsaken, she goes to the temple to pray and is rebuked for being drunk. But God hears her prayer anyway, and her son becomes ruler and priest of all Israel.

David I —The important priest names little David king, but no one knows it (frankly, no one would believe it). Yeah, he kills a giant, and slays some thousands of enemies, but the king still isn’t impressed. He tries to kill David and David runs away for a few years. In nowhereland, David leads a rag-tag band of nowheremen, making nowhere plans (except to keep running from the king). Finally, the king dies and David is made king.

David II— David got a vacation, got the hots for some woman, got her pregnant. So he kills the husband. God don’t like that sort of thing, so although David said he was really sorry, God still punished him some. His son took over David’s city, had sex with David’s wives and was eventually killed. But God still allowed him to be the example to the kings of Judea (go figure).

Elijah—Came from nowhere to tell the king some unpleasant news from God—no rain for three years because you’re worshipping the wrong god! He runs away and God feeds him via crow and brook for a while. Then he’s fed by an impoverished widow for another while. When three years are done, he personally has a showdown with the priests of the wrong god, which he wins, but then he has to run for his life. Finally, he tells God he gives up, so God retires him from service via whirlwind and chariot of fire.

Naaman—A foreigner, an enemy general, and a leper goes up to the Israelite king and asks for healing. The king exclaimed, “Whadda I look like? A prophet?” So he’s sent to Elijah. Elijah tells him to go dunk his head—seven times in the Jordan. Naaman begins to stomp back home. A servant girl says, “What’s the harm in trying?” He turns around and dunks and God heals him. He converts to worship God (except on holidays).

Jehosephat—Three armies attack Jerusalem—it doesn’t look good for the king. He goes to God and God’s prophet says, “Don’t worry, God’ll handle it.” Jehosephat is so convinced, he puts his worship group at the head of the disarmed army. Sho’nuf—ain’t nuthin to do but clean up the bodies.

Hezekiah—Same story, different time. Biggest, strongest army in the world at Jerusalem’s doorstep. Hezekiah begs God, God’s prophet says “Don’t worry.” Sho’nuf—the army hightailed it back home and the leader was killed while worshipping his god.

Jeremiah—Another army at Jerusalem’s gate. Only this time God’s prophet—Jeremiah—said “Start packin’—everybody’s gunna move for 70 years.” No one likes to hear bad news, so no one believes him. The king burns his words. Since he’s preaching sedition, he gets thrown into a jail and then a dank well for months. After the city is conquered, Jeremiah is released. The people who are left ask, “What do we do?” Jeremaiah says, “Anything—just don’t go to Egypt.” Of course, they go to Egypt. And they drag the prophet along to write his jeremiad all the way there.

Ezekiel—Called to be God’s prophet, but told right off the bat—“No one will listen to you.” He’s told to do some pretty strange stuff—get pulled by the hair a few thousand miles to act like a ghost in Jerusalem; lay on his side for a year then—get the spatula—flip over for another year; measure out a Temple that doesn’t exist; build a model of Jerusalem, and then attack it; eat food cooked with burning human shit (he wouldn’t do that). All while he was exiled from his home, a priest far away from his temple.

Daniel—He was dragged away from his home, but he made the best of it, being a counselor for the king. Okay, so he was threatened with death unless he interpreted a dream he wasn’t told, telling the king his mind was going to go on vacation for a while; tell another king he was about to lose his reign that night; and babysit some hungry lions, while another king prayed outside. Still, he saw things from God no one else saw—like the resurrection of the dead.

The Three—The king had some low self-esteem one day, so he invited everyone to worship his statue. These three wouldn’t do it, so the king threw them into a fire pit. God didn’t let them get even a hotfoot.

God’s people depend on Him, even when the worst happens.

A Christmas Feast

Christmas tradition of feasting
For as long as there has been Christmas, there has been Christmas dinner. The Christmas feast is older than any other of the traditions we associate with Christmas—trees, lights, even gifts. Christmas began as an opportunity to gather with your family and community and to take the best food you had and enjoy yourselves. In many communities, Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection were days to take a break from the restricted diet they would have the rest of the year. In ancient times, Christmas might be the one opportunity for people to eat meat, as grains, dairy and vegetables were their staples for the rest of the year. It is as difficult to separate Christmas from a feast, as it is to separate Thanksgiving from the meal.

Was there a feast at the original Christmas?
However, the Christmas story has little to do with a feast. In fact, one might say, it had to do with people who were in such difficult circumstances that they were lucky to eat. The first Christmas is about a family with a pregnant woman forced by the government to make a two day walking journey for the sake of bureaucrats in the capital. And when that family reached their extended family, they were forced to sleep in the stable, which is where the baby was born. It has to do with a group of workers that had so little respect that they couldn’t be called blue collar, and their sighting of angels in the sky. It has to do with a group of scholars who traveled thousands of miles to do homage to a great king, just born, only to find that they were a part of a conspiracy to kill infants in a village. These were not people who were feasting. These were people in sad circumstances.

The Feast of All Feasts
And yet Christmas is about a happy time, not a time of sorrow, or danger. How is this?
It is because each of these people in unfortunate circumstances received news that they were in the first stages of getting out of their bad circumstances. Christmas is like celebrating the day you heard you would receive a huge inheritance from someone you didn’t know, even though the inheritance itself you wouldn’t see for months yet. These people had heard that it was time for them to receive a great promise.

• Joseph heard that he would adopt a son who would deliver the whole world from oppression.

• Mary heard that she would be the mother of the man who would bring the poor God’s blessings.

• The shepherds heard that God would soon be ruling on earth in the person of a baby in a manger.

• The wise men heard that a powerful king was born in Judea.

Christmas isn’t about the great time everyone had when Jesus was born. Rather, it is about the promise of God that was beginning to be fulfilled in Jesus.
 God promised to forgive sins—that was accomplished in Jesus.
 God promised to heal diseases—that was accomplished in Jesus.
 God promised to establish a new nation—that was accomplished in Jesus.
 God promised to wipe out oppression—that was started in Jesus.
 God promised to have a just, merciful ruler—Jesus is the one.
So Christmas isn’t about a bunch of people in sad circumstances—but rather it is about a celebration of the best news anyone can receive. The news was this: God, through this baby, will change the whole world so those in difficult circumstances will have a reason to party!

Can we have feasts in Jesus’ name?
Now there wasn’t much feasting at that first Christmas time. Times were too tough for the people involved. Yes, there was singing, and rejoicing. But not much opportunity for a feast. However, God has always enjoyed a good feast when it was time to celebrate. God had commanded his people, the Israelites, to take one tenth of their income for a whole year and have one big party with it every year—just to celebrate before God!

And Christmas is the celebration of the first stage of the biggest party ever—the kingdom of God. Jesus often referred to his kingdom as one big party in which all his people will be celebrating and having a good time! And Jesus himself set up and was the host of party after party when he was on earth, all to celebrate the coming of God’s kingdom. So what better time than Christmas to have a Jesus feast! It is an opportunity to celebrate the coming kingdom of God and to have a good time, just like we will in God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ way of Feasting
However, if we are going to celebrate and have a party in Jesus’ name, it can’t just be any kind of party. Jesus set up a few rules if we are going to party for Jesus. These aren’t the rules we normally think of—the no-drinking, no-dancing kind of rules. They are odd, rather:

1. Jesus said to invite the needy rather than family and friends
Jesus wanted parties to be an opportunity to be a part of the big Party that was to come. To gain greater benefits in God’s Kingdom, we need to give up what we have to those who need it most. Our family and friends—there’s always another day to invite them to celebrate. But a Jesus party is one in which the needy and hurting are invited. Perhaps it might make the party less fun for you. Perhaps it would cost you more. Perhaps it would be more difficult for you. But in the end you gain more in God’s kingdom for having a Jesus party only for the homeless, disabled and outcast. Because God will give you a bigger party in the end.

2. Jesus set up parties which were opportunities to repent from sin
As we mentioned, Jesus had many parties himself. But whenever he had a party, he gave an opportunity to have people get right with God and repent from their rebellion against God. It was kinda like having a church service in the midst of a party! But that’s the way Jesus did it. People would sometimes just speak out their repentance, or pray in the middle of the feast! Even so, a Jesus party celebrates God’s forgiveness by offering it to others.

3. Jesus established a feast to remember his death
Also, Jesus established a memorial feast that was supposed to remember his death. This seems kind of grim, having a wake all the time, but it’s really not. Jesus established this party, not to remember the terrible details of his murder at the hands of the state, but to remember that it is through his death that God’s kingdom got it’s start. That’s right! Jesus asked us to remember the birthday of God’s kingdom! Christmas is a good time to have this feast. Let’s have a good time and also, let’s focus on Jesus and what he did for us!

Have a Jesus party for Christmas
To Celebrate God’s Party to Come!

Master and Servant: The Basic Relationship To God

Existence or Relation?
Modern theology focuses on the existence and attributes of God. This makes sense, in some ways, because of many who are questioning the reality of God and of who He really is. It is interesting to note, however, that although the NT authors lived in a time where there were many truths and beliefs and most people questioned their idea of God, the authors didn’t spend any time arguing about His existence, nor did they spend much time focusing on who God is, what He is like as opposed to other gods or other realities. Rather, they focused on one thing: what is God’s relationship to us. They took for granted God’s power, and God’s authority. They just talked about what the relationship between God and his people is like.


For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them. Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you. Deuteronomy 7:6-15

S and M: Servant and Master
The basic relationship between God and his people is that of the King to his servants. A servant to a king is all throughout the Bible called a “slave”, but it is truly more of a relation with a servant than a slave. A servant chooses his master, and if his master abuses him, he can leave, while a slave has no choice but to remain in servitude. Later on, we will talk about other relationships with God—being a child of God and being a wife of God. But all relationships with God ultimately begin with us being servants of God.
But no matter what relationship we are in—and there are some to choose from—God is always the King. God is the Most High God, the creator of heaven and earth, the King of the Universe, equal to none. This is the basic fact that we must always remember. God is not our “buddy” or our “friend”—He is always Lord, He is always King, and we are always subservient to Him. Even Jesus, God’s Son, never forgot this. Jesus, as a human being, is under the Lordship of God and must always be subservient and respectful to the Most High, even if he can call him Father.

Gotta Serve Somebody
Why would we want a relationship of servitude with God? Why would we choose to be a servant of anyone? The first thing we need to remember is that we are the servant of someone, no matter how “free” we tell ourselves we are. We are not completely free, but we serve a master and live a certain lifestyle. The reason we want to be servants of God is because He is interested in meeting our needs, not just fulfilling His own desire. He made us, and so He knows better than anyone what we need and how to meet those needs. So being a servant of the Creator is an opportunity, not an obligation.

What we need to remember is that we are in relationship with God because He chose us. He made the first move of love toward us. He took pity on us and decided to give us the opportunity for a better life. He looked at us in our terrible state on our own and said, “Live!” (Ezekiel 16:4-6). He loved us and assisted us and chose us, before we did anything back.

Our response to His choice and the opportunity to live is simply gratefulness. We need to give thanks to Him for all that He has done to make our lives better. We need to thank Him for choosing us, for loving us, for sending Jesus to die on the cross for us.

Naughty or Nice?
Again, however a benevolent Master God is, no matter how interested He is in our well-being, He IS a Master. He is Lord. And when we live under His rule, He has laws and a lifestyle for us to live. If we mess up, He is forgiving and will offer us mercy. And if we obey and do what He says He will reward us with everything we need and more. But if we rebel, He will punish us. The punishment will be swift and severe. He doesn’t punish us just to be mean to those who disobey, but to draw people back to relationship with Him. But punish He will. And His punishments are difficult (Hebrews 10:26-33).

How do we respond to this? First of all, with obedience. When there is simple joy in obedience and suffering in disobedience, the choice seems clear. However, we sometimes do disobey. Praise God, He has an opportunity for us when we disobey—we can repent and be back in His good graces. Depending on our disobedience, we might still have to suffer some punishment, but more often than not we are given mercy. (John 3:36)

But what God insists on is that we remember that the stick is always there if we disobey. Thus, we have what the Bible calls “fear” or what might be called a “healthy respect.” It is healthy for us to do what God says and to not hesitate in obedience. Because the consequences are drastic.

Is there Obedience In Jesus?
Some would say that Jesus did away with the “law”, by which they mean any obligation. But this is not true. We all must obey, we all must be holy. It is just that the terms of holiness are determined by Jesus, not by Moses. (Matthew 7:21-27; 12:48-50)

Service to the Servant
Finally, there is a mutual obligation between a Master and His servant. On the surface, it seems as if the obligation is only on the servant’s side. But this is never true. A person who is an employee becomes the servant of the employer, and does so freely. Why? Because the employer offers a service to the servant. So it is with God.

God grants his servants protection, for one thing. And He agrees to meet their needs. And He creates a safe community for His servants to live in. This community and need-meeting isn’t just for a limited time, either, as an employer’s would be. God’s provision lasts for all eternity, as long as our spirits endure, which is forever.

What does God ask in return? He asks for service. That is pretty basic. This isn’t just obedience to His laws, but also just doing what He asks, at any time. He may ask us to help the person who is holding a sign. He may ask us to say a kind word to a child. He may ask us to support a friend who is down. He may ask us to help someone in the church move. He may ask us to visit someone in the hospital. Whatever it is, God is expecting us to fulfill it. Out of gratefulness. Not with grumbling. But with a cheerful heart.

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High Volume Meekness

Meekness isn’t exactly in demand today. Nobody wants it. Sure, people will buy books on love, on peace, on joy, on self-discipline—but how many people want Meekness for Dummies? Microsoft Humility? (Whoa, talk about a contradiction in terms!) McLowly? Meekness just doesn’t sell.

And why should it? Meekness doesn’t comfort us, it doesn’t make us more successful, it doesn’t help us make friends or influence people. Let’s face it—the meek in our society are rejects. They are the outcasts, the people who don’t really fit in. Let’s see, who are the professional meek in the U.S.?

• Homeless
• Elderly in nursing homes
• Those living in low income housing
• Poor immigrants
• Mentally ill
• Those who work for minimum wage
• Panhandlers
• Those on Disability or Food Stamps
• Non-English speakers

Not exactly whom you want to be like? Perhaps not the friends and neighbors? Nor your usual upstanding church members? Of course not. These are not the building blocks of society, the ones who can make things change for the better, the righteous, the acceptable. Again, the meek are the rejects. Not just the unimportant, but the unwanted, the unacceptable.

And how do the middle-class church members—the Uptight Upright—treat these folks, the meek and lowly? Sometimes they treat them with pity, feeling sorry for their plight, perhaps seeing how they can help them. That’s typically the best response. If only the best response were the only response. Often the meek are treated as a “problem” that needs to be solved, the solution of which has avoided the minds of all the mighty. The meek usually are ignored by most—best not seen, not dealt with. The apathetic aren’t interested in judging the lowly, but they aren’t interested in doing anything else with them either. But there are many that do wish to judge the lowly.

These judges use the logic of Job’s friends—These meek are in the positions they are in for a reason. Perhaps in these post-modern times we do not want to use the argument of God only offering material blessings to the righteous, but we would use other arguments. “They made terrible errors in their lives, and so they ended up where they are.” “They will have to work hard like we did and then they can get out of that situation.” “This is the land of opportunity—anyone who works hard enough can get ahead.” “They just need to apply themselves.” “Lazy.” “Addicts.” “Trying to take advantage of good people.” These labels are used on the meek, even if they are not known. And if you think you are immune to this, how many times have you ignored a panhandler whom you have never seen before because, you assume, they would use the money you might give them for their addiction? This is judging by stereotype. Would we assume such things of our neighbor who lives on the same suburban street as us?

If we looked at these meek with God’s eyes, we would see that these meek are not the insignificant and hopeless as we might first have imagined. Just the opposite. We need to remember that God does not choose the powerful, the rich, the ones who already have everything in place. God chooses the needy, the insignificant, those for whom everything is falling apart. This means, biblically, when we look at our world around us, we need to see it with new eyes. Next time you see a panhandler, instead of seeing him or her with pity or disgust, think, “This is one of the ones whom God chooses.” Next time you see an elderly woman, living alone, respond, “I wonder if God will give her a son.” Next time you meet a mentally ill person, consider, “I wonder what God is going to do in this person’s life—it must be magnificent!” Next time you hear about the starving in Africa or Asia, instead of being overwhelmed with a mix of compassion and guilt, pray that God would do a work of power there.

Poverty and illness are not dead-end streets—they are opportunities for God to act.

The Suicide Politicians

Those who believe in a future kingdom of God to come and reign on earth are clearly dissatisfied with the system as it now exists. The innocent die, the righteous are punished, wars destroy mothers and children and the masses who have power are lulled into sleep—which is probably good as well, for the masses would only enact greater injustices than their leaders do. Yet many leaders of governmental powers are abusive, unjust and concerned only with their own position, not the good of the people or in doing what is right. God is not satisfied with injustice in the governments of the world and he has promised that injustice—especially against the poor and lowly—will be destroyed.

But there is a disagreement as to how God creates justice in the world. Some say that God is working through the wars, the court systems, and the unjust governments of the world. This is certainly true, to a degree, but Jesus was not satisfied with God working his justice through judgement and hated and killing. He established a new way of dealing with injustice, of dealing with corrupt governments.

His way was based on two basic principles:
1. That God destroys rulers and governments that display injustice against the poor and lowly (Psalm 37, 82).
2. God will place in political power those who show themselves to be lowly and righteous before him (I Samuel 2:7-9; Matthew 5:3-12).

Jesus summarizes it like this: Those who exalt themselves will be cast down, while those who lower themselves will be raised up (Luke 14:11). Jesus provided an example of enacting God’s justice through becoming lowly against the world’s injustice—through the cross.

Although Jesus’ example is the greatest, he also invited all of those who followed him to participate in the same upside-down justice. The way of the cross is open to all who wish to follow Jesus. But how does one cause the governments of the world to topple by sacrificing oneself?

Making oneself odious to the ruling class
Jesus made himself unacceptable to those who ruled by doing God’s will publicly, thus displaying the government to be unjust and oppressive. He healed those who were rejected by “acceptable” society—proving that they were accepted by God. He opposed some of the laws and rules placed upon the populace by political wannabes that were unmerciful to the hungry and needy (Mark 7:1-9; Matthew 12:1-13). Jesus also proclaimed that the government of the people of God was soon to pass away, and be replaced by God’s direct rule (Mark 12:1-9). Then Jesus made vague references to the destruction of the temple, the center of the government’s power (John 2:19). All of this together, made Jesus dangerous in the eyes of the government and to the ruling class in general.

Jesus also established his disciples to be people who would be on the government’s “most wanted” list. He told his disciples to go out to every town, declaring that the current government would be replaced by God’s righteous one (Luke 9:2). He taught them to accept those whom the government found unacceptable (Mark 2:17). And he laid out in detail the faults and injustices of the ruling class (Mark 7:1-9; Matthew 23). Jesus sent out his disciples prepared to be rejected by the world.

Response to Persecution

Jesus was hated by all the ruling political parties—Sadducees, priests, Pharisees and the intellegencia of the ruling governments—scribes and lawyers. They spoke publicly against him, attempted to make him look bad in the midst of those who he was teaching and made plots to kill him (Matthew 12:14, 24, 38). He was eventually arrested, tried, tortured, and killed for treason (Mark 14-15). But he knew ahead of time that all of this would happen, and he planned for it, even desired it (Mark 8:31-33; 9:31-32). And when it happened, he did not resist, but allowed the plot against him to unfold just as planned by his enemies.

Even so, Jesus promised his people that they would be hated and persecuted and killed, even as he was (Matthew 10:24-25; John 15:18-20). In the midst of this, he told them, respond as he responded. Don’t be afraid of the persecution or those who can torture you, but rather accept the fact that you will have to possibly die for the message of Jesus (Matthew 10:28; Mark 8:35-38). He told them not to fight against those who punish them unjustly, but to respond to them with good—blessings and prayers (Matthew 5:38-48). If persecuted in a town, the disciples may flee, but there will come a time when each of them will be killed for the message they carry (Matthew 10:23; Mark 10:39). In this way, the disciples remain innocent, and all evil done is on the side of the oppressor.

God’s response
Jesus cried out to God for deliverance from the oppression he was facing (Mark 14:32-39). He was willing to face the death and shame, but he saw it for the evil it was. But rather than taking action himself in vengeance for the crimes done against him, an innocent man, he relied on God, and God’s justice enacted by God’s hand alone (Matthew 26:52-53). And God came through—even though Jesus had to face shame, suffering and a horrendous death, after he was done with all that, God raised Jesus from the dead. This indicated not only Jesus’ innocence, but his authority over those who had oppressed him.

Even so, Jesus told his followers that if they suffer as he suffered, then they too would gain not only resurrection, but political authority over those who had oppressed them (Luke 6:20-26; Mark 8:35; Luke 22:28-30). But for the disciples to gain this justice, they have to cry out to God day and night, asking him for release from oppression (Luke 18:1-8). In this way, the foundation is laid and God is free to respond in his own way against true oppressors of the poor and lowly.

Successful politics
The way of the cross seems naïve and foolish to almost everyone involved in politics, whether Christian or not. But it must be remembered that some of the most successful politicians in the twentieth century accepted this same pattern of political thought—Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Stephen Beko. These followed the pattern of Jesus, and took him as their political guide. The only difference between Jesus and these politicians is that they were looking for deliverance from the world they lived in—their own people, their own governments. Jesus, on the other hand, looked for deliverance only from God—and because of this, he proved to be the most successful politician of all time.

Oppressors shall be cast down by God;
God will exalt those who sacrifice themselves for His sake.

Is Sin Really Doing Harm?

Sin is rebellion against God, which inevitably hurts others.
I Samuel 12:14—“If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as he was against your fathers.”

We all suffer because of bondage to sin
John 8:34—“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

Sin keeps us from the perfect life God has in store for us
Now the deeds of humanity are clearly seen, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, occultism, creating enemies, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, creating sects, envying, drunkenness, extreme partying, and things like these, of which I forewarn you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

Jesus died to deliver us from bondage to sin
Romans 6:23—“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If we commit ourselves to Jesus, we are free from the punishment of sin
Hebrews 2:14-15—“Through his death He rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and he freed those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

We can commit ourselves to Jesus if we have faith in his resurrection and confess him as Lord.
Romans 10:9—“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

In order to commit to Jesus, we need to be baptized and to repent from our sins—then we receive God’s Spirit
Acts 2:38—“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

It is never too late to repent of our sins through God’s Spirit
“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts against God.’ “

If we commit ourselves to Jesus, we love God and are obedient to him
Romans 6:17-18—“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

Our Lord Jesus commands us to love others by power of the Spirit.
James 2:8—“If you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”

In that love, we will do good to everyone—especially to those in need, especially to those who are committed to Jesus.
Galatians 6:10—“We are to do good to everyone, especially to those of the household of faith.”

Be a part of God’s community, who will assist you in living out the love of God
Hebrews 10:24-25—“Let us consider how to stimulate each other to love and good deeds, not forsaking the gathering of yourselves together, but encouraging one another.

“In Christ Jesus, nothing matters except faith working itself out through love.” Galatians 5:6

Your Own Personal Jesus

Who is Jesus?
Sure, we all know that Jesus is this great guy, who lived two thousand years ago, was a teacher, a healer, a prophet, that he was crucified, was risen from the dead and—oh yeah—he’s God too. But let’s face it, that was two thousand years ago—what has he done for me lately? Who is he to us right now, today? Let’s listen to what some have to say about their experiences of Jesus:

The Distant Authority Jesus
“Look, we all are under authority, and if we’re not, then we should be. Jesus is my ultimate authority, but he speaks directly through the authority who is directly over me. As long as I obey that authority, I’m obeying Jesus. If that authority tells me something against what Jesus says—who cares? That authority IS Jesus, for me. As long as I obey him, I’m okay.”

The Moral Teacher Jesus
“Jesus is, like, my moral guru. He’s the ultimate teacher, and he guides me everyday. He keeps me calm, so I don’t cause friction or difficulties for anyone. Jesus is just all about love and peace. What’s that? He talked to some guys called Pharisees? I didn’t know that. Still, Jesus is just totally cool.”

The Demi-god Jesus
“Jesus is always there for me. We’ve got a deal—I’ll praise him every Sunday and just sing and praise my heart out for him. Then, if I get any terrible discomfort—like, my car breaks down—then I can ask Jesus and he takes care of me. What do I do for him? Well, I praise him a lot—didn’t you hear me?”

The Doctrinal Jesus
“I am a firm believer in the orthodox Christian creed. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, buried and on the third day rose again for my sins. I go to church every Sunday to hear about it. And the rest of my life is pretty much my own. How do I live my life? Well, I try not to lie or cheat on my wife. I’m a pretty good person. But we were talking about Jesus, weren’t we?”

The Institutional Jesus
“I’m really involved in the church, and I just see Jesus there everyday. Every program we have is led by Jesus and we know that Jesus is constantly with us. How do we know? Well, Jesus said where two or three are gathered, and we’ve got a lot of people gathered and in agreement. So Jesus must be here right with us, no matter what we do, right?”

The Friendship Jesus
“Jesus is my best friend. There’s no one like Him. He’s always with me and I know he’s right there. He comforts me when I’m down, and he helps me out when I’ve got problems. He’s really a great guy. My Lord? Well, I wouldn’t call him my Lord—he’s my bud.”

The Real Jesus
There is nothing wrong with the Jesus’ portrayed above, generally. Each one seems really different, but they are each a general reflection of who Jesus is. The problem is that none of these Jesus’ above reflects the relationship Jesus says he wants us to have with him. Jesus is not just the Jesus we might experience, but he is the Jesus of the Bible, as portrayed by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If our personal Jesus is different than the Jesus who we read about there, then we don’t have the real Jesus, we just have a copy.

The real Jesus invites us to join him and his troop. There is only one requirement—and that is that we accept Him as Lord. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself… and follow me.” It is not enough that we have Jesus at arms length—Jesus must be a part of who we are, directing us, guiding us to do what He wants, not what we want. In Jesus, our very selves are denied so that Jesus can take over. What does it mean to have Jesus as our Lord?

Jesus is our teacher
“There is only one teacher and you are all brothers.” Matthew 23:8
Jesus is the only true teacher, because he alone knows the truth. Jesus will tell us what really is reality, even if part of reality we can’t see yet. Jesus has experienced both this world and the spirit world, and is ready to explain them both to us. Jesus also tells us how to live—what is good and what is bad. Not only does he explain it, but he lives it out, providing us with an example of how to live. So as our Lord, he asks us to place him as our teacher above all other teachers, and put all other teachings—whether moral or otherwise— against his standard. If they aren’t compatible with his teaching, then we reject it.

Jesus is our master
“You call me teacher and master, and so I am.” John 13:13
But Jesus is not simply a teacher—he also is a master. He has direct authority over those who call him Lord. This means that Jesus has the last say over what we do. Jesus is our master, so we listen to him directly, through the Scripture and through the Spirit of God. We don’t have to hear someone else tell us what Jesus says. Jesus talks to us directly. But we need to constantly read the gospels so we can know what Jesus is saying to us.

Jesus is our deliverer
“I came to seek and to save the lost” Luke 19:10
Jesus saw us in our suffering and took pity on us. He saw that we were miserable and having difficulties with everyone around us, and we weren’t at peace in our lives. So he delivered us out of what was causing us to suffer. The whole world system is a system of suffering, and he delivered us from that. But not only that, he helps us daily to escape suffering. This doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t suffer—Jesus promised that we would—but we can have confidence that He can and will deliver us, and so we trust in him and seek him to do this.

Jesus is our king
“I am a king, for this I have been born… My kingdom is not of this world.”—John 19:36-37
Ultimately, when we say that Jesus is our Lord, we are saying that he is our King. Jesus is the king of our nation—called the kingdom of God—and we are the citizens of that nation forever. Our main allegiance is not to the country we reside in, but the country that currently resides in heaven. Jesus told everyone who is in his kingdom to tell others about his Lordship so that more and more people would join God’s kingdom—making it bigger! Soon Jesus will be coming back to earth—perhaps today—to rule the earth and he is preparing to judge everyone. We will all be judged—not on whether we called him Lord, but on whether we ACTED like it.

So we need to be ready. We must not just prepare ourselves with our “personal Jesus,” but we need to be ready to meet the REAL Jesus—real soon!

How Did We Get Into This Mess?

What do we want?
As humans, we are pretty simple. We have a bundle of desires, and we will do whatever we can to get them. We want our basic needs met: food, drink, sleep, health, a place to go to the bathroom. We want contentment and peace in ourselves. We want to be secure from things that might endanger us. We want some pleasure in our lives. We want to be connected to other people, feel a part of them. And we want to be respected. Pretty basic stuff. Not complicated.

What God wants
God is our father and he sees what we want. He created us and so He knows what we want, because he made these desires in us. They are good, and he wants to see them fulfilled. He wants us to do what we can to get these needs fulfilled. But he also doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves or others. And so many times, we are like toddlers—we don’t see what’s wrong with touching the stove, or hitting our friends. God knows, and he wants to protect us from harm. Also, he recognizes that He is the most important One in our lives, our parent. So He doesn’t want us to drift away from Him. He wants us not to give to other people or things or ideas what belongs to Him. He wants us to love Him and to acknowledge Him as the most important One in our lives.

Who are we?
We are just like complicated toddlers. When we see what we want, we go for it. We change want we want with every hour, at one moment wanting something, and the next wanting the opposite. Some of this has to do with the bodies who make up a part of who we are. Our bodies are flooded with hormones and get trapped thinking in a certain way. Some of this mutability has to do with the society we see ourselves in—our family, friends, entertainments, co-workers, and the environments in which we live are all offering us different options and ideals for us to live up to, and we have a hard time resisting any of them. Also, though, we are influenced by spiritual powers. Most of the powers around us are trying to get us to ignore God. They want us to do anything, to think about anything except God, our Father, who loves us and wants to care for us. They want us to focus on money, on greed, on lust, on revenge, on obtaining power. They want us to focus on this because all of these things cause our ultimate destruction, as if we were a pointless message, doomed to self-destruct in a twisted version of Mission Impossible.

What Jesus came to do
God, our Father, sees our plight, and so he sends us Jesus. Jesus comes to tell us the truth about God, and to help us focus on Him again. Jesus doesn’t do this because God is a great guy, but because it is best for us. Jesus’ ultimate goal is to make our lives better. So he displayed again and again that God will help us with what we really want. While God may not give us money or revenge or power, He will meet our needs. God will give us health. God will give us security. God will give us joy. God will give us a society. God will grant us respect. Jesus demonstrated that on common people, just like you and me.

But it isn’t enough for Jesus to give us a good life through God. He recognized that we aren’t just made up of ourselves, but that God is in competition with other people and spiritual forces for our best interests. So Jesus had to create a place—a nation, rather—where we could live for God. So he told everyone that he was planning on establishing a nation where that could be done, and doing this through God’s power alone.

What happened to Jesus?
But there were people who didn’t see Jesus’ goals as noble. They felt that they already were living for God and that they already had a nation where people could live for God. Jesus, however, pointed out to them that they weren’t actually honoring God at all, but money, greed, lust and power. And he let them know that he was taking over. Because Jesus had many people following him, these political leaders thought that Jesus posed a threat—so they killed him.

What Jesus did for us
God, the Father, saw all this and decided it was time to step in. He raised Jesus from the dead to demonstrate for everyone that Jesus was right and the ones who killed him were wrong. He showed everyone that you can’t claim to be of God if you are really focusing on money, greed, power, and lust. And then God did something else: he appointed Jesus as head over the new people of God—the new nation of God’s people. Included in this nation is freedom—freedom from the many distractions that keeps us from God. Free from the spiritual forces that are trying to force us into molds of corruption. Freedom to live our lives as God intended—meeting our needs without destroying ourselves.

What is Jesus offering us?
1. He offers us a chance to be separated from our old lives of corruption
Through Jesus, we can be forgiven for trying to forget God and His ways. God is willing and enthusiastic to take us back.

2. He offers us a new community to be involved in
Through Jesus, a new community who strives to honor God in every way exists. We can take part of that community, and so find it easier to live for God.

3. He offers us an opportunity to ask God directly to meet our needs
Through Jesus, we have an open channel to God. Even as Jesus prayed and was answered, so we can do the same.

4. He offers us the Holy Spirit who will encourage us to be who we need to be in God
Jesus grants those who follow Him a friend who lives inside of us who will encourage us to seek God and to honor Him with all of our lives.

Taking Advantage of Jesus’ Offer
Sounds good? Well, then just follow up on what Jesus asks us to do:

A. Jesus wants us to acknowledge Him as the Ruler of our lives
Pray for him to take over. Look below for a sample.

B. Jesus wants us to find one of His communities and join it
Find a church that welcomes you and demonstrates Jesus in their lives, and be part of it.

C. Jesus wants us to get baptized as a life-long commitment to Him
Get baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to show that you are in Jesus’ nation and will never leave it.

D. Jesus wants us to get to know Him and His ways
Begin by reading the book of Matthew—the first book of the New Testament in the Bible.

You can pray this prayer:
Jesus, I haven’t done a great job of trying to rule myself. Please, take over my life. I want you to be in charge. Please, lead me to your people who will help me live for You. I love you and want to live my life for You. Thank you so much for dying for me so I can have this opportunity. Amen.

top ten ways to GO TO HELL

Perhaps you are tired of the idea of going to heaven. Sounds boring? Well, try hell instead! It’s sure to be interesting. After all, every selfish person who has ever lived will be there, and there won’t be anyone with good intentions to limit the evil done. Not only will you be able to do whatever evil you want, but so will everyone else! It will be a free-for-all of oppression and destruction and theft and hatred, without anyone to stop anyone. Everyone doing even more evil to you than you do to them. That ought to be interesting. In fact, it is mentioned as a place where crying and agony will never cease. If you want to try it out, here are some ways that people have found to be really successful in getting there:

1. Curse God
“Curse God and die.” Job 2:9
If you want to be cursed by God and gain his hatred, all you have to do is express hatred to God. Tell God just how much you despise him and how you wish he would be extinct. Disrespect him in every way you can think of. Although he would still want you to repent (because he loves you) he will send you to hell.

2. Rebel against God
“If you refuse to listen and rebel against the Lord, you will be devoured by the sword.” Isaiah 1:20
God has the right to ask everyone on earth to listen to him and obey him because they are all his creation. However, if you want to be punished by God, you can always refuse to listen to anything God says. Whatever God says, just do the opposite. Whatever God wants, thumb your nose at him and do whatever you want. This way to get to hell isn’t unique, but it’s really effective.

3. Blaspheme the Holy Spirit
Blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Matthew 12:31
This way to get to hell is more rare, and it has some flair to it. Blasphemy of the Spirit is to see God’s work—a miracle that does someone some great good, for instance—and claim that it is done by the power of some evil god, like Satan. No believer in God can do this one, so one has to really work at it!

4. Don’t believe in Jesus
“Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." John 8:24
This way is very popular with the majority of people of the world who are not Christians. It is very acceptable to those who wish to be tolerant as well. After all, in the world today it is popular to be tolerant to everyone except to those who say that Jesus has an exclusive claim to life.

5. Believe in Jesus but don’t act like it
He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36
This is the most popular method for Christians who wish to go to hell. Christians are participating in this in droves! Whole churches are praising Jesus and ignoring his commands, and so you can join a community of Christian hell-visitors.

6. Don’t Help the People of Jesus when they are in need
“Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.” Matthew 25:41-42
If you feel that anyone who needs food or shelter is that way because of their own laziness, this way could be for you. If you see a follower of Jesus in need, just ignore them. It’s easy and effective! To make sure it does the trick, you can add an insult like “get a job” on top of it.

7. Oppress the Needy
If you afflict the needy at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword. Exodus 22:23-24
You could go all the way and actually take from the needy! This is the quickest way to get to hell, and popular among the wealthy and powerful. Rub elbows with the upper crust and see that the needy don’t get a fair shake!

8. Don’t repent of your habitual sin
Even if a good man changes and then does evil, every good thing one has done will not be remembered, but only the sin and treachery he committed, and for them, he will die. Ezekiel 18:23-24
God has repeatedly said that anyone who repents from their evil deeds will live. But if you keep doing what evil you’re already doing, you will die and go to hell! There’s nothing to it, just keep doing the evil you are already doing. Of course if you think you aren’t doing any evil, then just keep that up, too! Hypocrites get to hell just as easily as any other sinner.

9. Reject the one who repents of their sin
If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. Matthew 6:15
This is a lesser known path to hell. Whoever has ever done you wrong, just keep it in mind and refuse to have anything to do with them because of it—that will send you to hell! Getting to hell is so easy, sometimes you can get there by not even trying!

10. Train others to go to hell
You travel to make one student; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15
There are so many ways to do this! You could help someone lose their faith in God, teach them to rebel against God, or tempt them to sin. This is the group method of getting to hell. And, as a special bonus, the one who does this gets to see the worst parts of hell!

You see how easy it is to get to hell? Jesus himself said, “Broad is the path that leads to destruction.” Of course, the problem about visiting hell is that you can’t ever leave. It’s kinda the Hotel California of the Spirit world. That can be a bummer, especially if you are tired of it. But anyone who visits hell, has it for their home. Forever. Frankly, that really sucks.

Now, God isn’t in the business of sending people to hell, even if some teachers make it sound that way. God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, therefore, repent and live.” Ezekiel 18: Everyone has the possibility of escaping hell—God gives everyone the chance to not visit it at all. If you are interested in not visiting hell, then do the following:

Believe in Jesus
Do what Jesus says
Ask for the Holy Spirit
Keep living according to what God gives you.

This isn’t necessarily easy, nor is it popular. But it’s a much better life both on earth and eternally than living in hell on earth and then suffering with real hell for eternity.

Visiting hell is popular, but Jesus’ way is really radical.

World Peace or Whirled Peas?

Got World Peace?
Peace, according to the Bible is not just an absence of violence or a peaceful, easy feeling, but it is well-being in a community. When the Bible promises “peace on earth to those obtaining grace”, it is not speaking of a lack of war, but of a ruling principle and nation who would provide for all in need and offer justice and peace to everyone, without exclusion. This well-being and justice is called “shalom” in the Bible.

Stuck with Whirled Peas?
If there is one thing the world lacks, it is peace, meaning shalom. If shalom is a world-wide community in which everyone experiences well-being, acceptance, mutual assistance, and equal justice for all, then we have never experienced it. In every nation, in every era, the poor have been oppressed. The outcast have been thrown out because of arbitrary cultural mores. The religious have judged and rejected all people who did not accept their narrow guidelines. The non-religious have judged and rejected the religious because of their devotion to God. And all people purpose to harm all people who stand in the way of their culture controlling and manipulating all others.

Life on earth is not shalom. It is anti-peace.

Everyone wants peace. Most of us in the world recognize that we are all in trouble, that we don’t have peace, and all of us want to obtain it. Or create it. Or force it on others. To create shalom where there is no shalom is what the Bible calls “salvation.” Frankly, it is a utopian ideal, just like democracy is, just like capitalism is, just like communism. The difference is that the Bible claims that salvation—the creation of shalom in the world—is something that only God can do. Peace and justice cannot come simply from human effort or from anarchy. It must be a work of God that humans join with. But it is initiated by God.

Getting Better All The Time
The first step of God’s shalom-making was creation. God saw the chaos, the pointlessness of the world and made it again. And, according to Scripture, after God’s peace-making, He established humanity to rule over His creation and to keep it in shalom. This plan failed when humanity chose rebellion and chaos instead of God’s shalom.

Another step in God’s shalom-making was choosing Abraham. Abraham was not a perfect man, but he was a person who sought God alone, being faithful to Him, and trusting in Him when all else seemed chaotic. God chose Abraham because of his trust in God and said that whoever would obtain shalom, in all the world, they must be like Abraham and choose his path of trust. This plan failed because people thought that following the ritual of Abraham or being born into the family of Abraham obtained this shalom.

Another step in God’s shalom-making was to create a community of shalom with very specific rules. He chose for His people a nation in slavery—the outcast—so they would know how to treat those who were outcast. And He taught them His ways of love and shalom for all his people. This experiment failed in different ways, over the years. First, the people didn’t believe that God could really give them shalom. Then, they sought out other spiritual powers to grant them shalom. Then, they oppressed the poor, forgetting that they were once poor themselves. And finally, they took God’s rules and make them so burdensome that it became impossible to live them out.

Without exception, everyone has done wrong before God and become offensive to Him. But we all have been given the opportunity to be right before God through the deliverance from the slavery to sin and death which can be found in the Messiah Jesus. When the Father raised Jesus from an official execution, he showed him to be the path to be forgiven of our sins and to have a relationship with God. God proved his justice—which was called into question by him overlooking sins in the past and because of his patience—by making acceptable the one who enters into the devotion of Jesus, and so He proved his actions just….Jesus was given to the authorities to be punished because of our wrongs before God and Jesus was raised from his execution so that we could be made acceptable before God. Therefore, since we have been made acceptable by committed devotion, we have the shalom of God through our King, Messiah Jesus. It is because of Him that we have the right to speak to God and receive the blessings of God, on which we depend on for our very well-being. We boast in our confidence in being a part of God’s glory. You see, we can boast in the sufferings we receive—even as Jesus did—because we know that our suffering gives us the opportunity to stick with God. And sticking with God in the midst of suffering—even as Jesus did— is the test of our true devotion to God. And if our devotion is tested, then we have confidence—because if Jesus was raised by His enduring devotion, so will we. And this confidence will never be dashed because God’s love fills us through the Holy Spirit, given by God, to help us endure in the midst of our struggles. (Romans 3:23-26; 4:25-5:5 SKV)

Love Reign O’er Me
Finally, after all of these temporary experiments, God began his final plan for shalom. He sent his Son to be emperor of the world, ruler of his people. First, Jesus displayed shalom by setting people free from spiritual judgment, offering them freedom from diseases and mental illnesses and offering them a new life in God. Then he told the people the life of shalom in God, living by the principles of shalom. Then, finally, he allowed the rulers of God’s people—the priests and elders—to kill him, treating him as an outcast of God’s people. But God vindicated his Son as the only way to God’s shalom, the great Truth-teller. And a new people was created under Jesus, living Jesus’ shalom-principles and testing the world with their message of destruction of the anti-shalom and the establishment of God’s shalom.

The Underground Revolution
Through Jesus, God is continually creating communities of shalom—some big and some small. These communities are made up of those who were rejected by the world and who are baptized in Jesus—namely, those who have committed themselves to being citizens of Jesus’ new nation of shalom. These baptized are committed to Jesus’ principles of peace and justice. But these principles are not enough in and of themselves, because we all are too weak, as humans, to maintain shalom. So the Emperor has allowed us to receive the Holy Spirit, who helps us in our weakness to maintain shalom, even when we do not have the strength to live it out.

Would you like to be a part of this process of creating shalom, or peace and justice on earth? The first step is to commit yourself to Jesus by being baptized. And then you live out Jesus’ principles of peace. Begin now by praying this: “Jesus, I have messed my life up. Rule over my life and make me a new person. Teach me how to being peace and justice to the world and give me the Holy Spirit to remain in that peace myself.”

Hypocrisy: Living A Lie

What is hypocrisy?
The Greek is hupocrisis—to pretend to be what you are not; it is a word used for actors.
Hypocrites are those who seem to be people who love God and love others, but in reality, they are interested in something else—usually gaining a good reputation in this world, or wealth or importance. Hypocrites are “good” people on the surface, everyone says so, and so they think of themselves. But they never evaluate themselves by God or the Spirit, and they always ignore every call to change.

Below is what the Bible says about hypocrites, what they do and what will happen to them:

“Loving God” in hypocrisy
• Doing religious acts for the sake of others (Matthew 6:1-6 )
• Claiming to believe in God, but really trusting in the world (Daniel 11:32-34)
• Claiming to obey God, but ignoring his commands for your own (Mark 7:1-13)
• Emphasizing unimportant commands, and avoiding significant ones (Matthew 23:23)
• Focusing on how you look, rather than who you are (Matthew 23:25)
• Honoring the saints of old, but living opposed to their principles (Matthew 23:29-31)
• Thinking you can hide the truth of who you are from God and His people (Luke 12:1-3)

“Loving others” in hypocrisy
• Condemning others for their faults, while not seeing your own (Matthew 7:1-5)
• Demanding mercy from those who could judge you, but giving judgment to those under you (Matthew 18:23-35)
• Using God’s rules to hate, dishonor or not assist the needy or sinful (Luke 13:13-15; Matthew 24:49-51)

The next level
Teaching others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:15)
Forcing others to be hypocrites (Matthew 23:4,13)

“Let love be without hypocrisy” Romans 12:9

If you see yourself in the above list of actions that hypocrites do, take it seriously! No matter how “good” of a Christian you think you are, Jesus will condemn you in the end! (Matthew 7:21-23). Hypocrisy is nothing to play with—it is worse than homosexuality, drugs and alcohol all together. If you do not see yourself for what you are, then this is what will happen to you:

The end result of hypocrites
• They will show themselves for who they really are (I Timothy 5:24; Luke 12:2)
• They will not enter God’s kingdom; They will be dishonored; They will be punished eternally (Matthew 23:33;Matthew 24:51)


What to do with hypocrites
If you know a hypocrite, make sure that you are sure. Ask them their motivation, and show them the verses that indicate their problem. Then follow these steps:

 Don’t follow their practices (Matthew 23:3)
 Correct them, if they are believers (Matthew 18:15-17)
 Warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy
 Give them a chance to repent

Friends don’t let friends be hypocrites!

Judaism and the New Testament

Today there is much made of the fact that the New Testament (NT) and Christianity is a Jewish religion. Some then draw the conclusion that if we want to understand Jesus and the NT, then we must understand Judaism. This is completely true, for if we do not understand the context Jesus, Paul, Peter and the others wrote to, then we will not understand their sayings and writings. However, this does not mean that we should rush to our local synagogue to understand Judaism. Because Modern Judaism is NOT the Judaism spoken of in the NT.

What is Ancient Judaism?
Ancient Judaism could also be called Yahwism—the worship of Yahweh as the only true God. It was made distinct from the many religions around them which recognized that there were many gods vying for power. All Judaism recognized that there is only one God, Yahweh, and he is the king of all other powers and authorities in and above the world. In the first century (the time of the NT), all the Judaisms were based on the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures (called by Christians today the Old Testament), especially the first five book—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These were called the Law or Torah and all Judaism recognized many parts of it as the foundation of their beliefs.

However, we must recognize that there was not one kind of Judaism in the first century, but many. And there were many aspects of every kind of Judaism.

Law—All Judaism believed that God gave a law that he wanted his people to follow. And though the five books of Moses included many laws, there were many disagreements as to what law would best be followed, how to interpret God’s law and how it should be enforced among his people. The Pharisees were one group that saw God’s law as central to Judaism.

Temple—All Judaism saw a temple as central for worshipping God and to offer sacrifices at. They saw the priesthood as descended from Moses’ line and they ran the temple. They were all in agreement that God established a place among his people where he should rightly be worshipped. And apart from one sect—the Samaritans—all Judaism believed that the temple in Jerusalem was the place God has chosen to be worshipped. However, some saw it as more important than others, and one group—the Essenes—believed that the temple and priesthood in Jerusalem was impure and God would replace them.

Kingdom—All Judaism recognized that God has established a nation which was chosen by Him. And they all believed that God’s nation was destined to rule the world someday, even as Rome did. Some of them believed that this would take place through God’s chosen king, called a Messiah, who might be the son of David, or might be a priest. However, most Jews were focused on the continuing process of running a nation, especially when most Jews—who recognized that they were a part of God’s nation—lived outside of God’s chosen land, Israel/Judah. Some held that Jews should focus on bringing this kingdom to pass, either through obeying God’s law, or through political maneuvering, or through warfare.

There are many other aspects of Ancient Judaism, such as prophetic speech, good deeds, various schools and much more.


What happened to Ancient Judaism?
Beginning with 70AD, Judaism changed dramatically. The Temple was destroyed in that year, and the priesthood has never been officially recognized since. The nation of Judah lost all political power, and almost all Jews became dispersed from their land. There were only two kinds of Judaism that was prepared to continue past the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD—Christianity and a Judaism that focused on the law.

What is Modern Judaism?
The Judaism that focused on the law was connected to the Pharisees, but distanced themselves from that group, focusing instead on teachers who interpreted the law in a way that could last past the temple. These teachers were called Rabbis—Aramaic for “master”—and they taught that the one who obeyed the Torah of God was the true Jew. However, many of the laws in the Hebrew Scriptures could not be obeyed because there was no more nation, temple or priesthood. So the Rabbinic Jews focused less on the books of Moses themselves, and more on the interpretations of the books. They taught that while Moses himself wrote down laws for all the people, he taught the interpretation of the law to the judges that were called “elders” in the Bible. These elders passed down this interpretation from one generation to another, until finally it was written down in a book called the Mishnah, in about 200AD. Later Rabbis interpreted the Mishnah for contemporary use, and their interpretations were written down in a larger book called the Talmud. Today, most Rabbinic Jews recognize the Talmud as Scripture, and they study it and interpret it for their everyday life. Thus, they do not live out the books of Moses directly themselves, but instead interpret it through the teachings of the ancient Rabbis.

The NT and Judaisms
Thus, we can draw the following conclusions:
Modern Judaism is not the Judaism of the NT
We should not think that we can gain a full understanding of Ancient Judaism on the basis of what we learn from Modern Judaism. To understand the Judaism of Jesus and Paul’s day, the best resources we have are not the writings or teachings of modern Rabbinic Judaism. Rather than reading the Mishnah or Talmud (as helpful as that may be) or consulting with modern Rabbis, we would do better to read ancient Jewish books, such as those found in Catholic Bibles. Books such as Sirach or the Psalms of Solomon or the Testimonies of the Twelve Patriarchs or Tobit give us a much better idea of the Judaism of Jesus’ day.

Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism are equally the outgrowth of ancient Judaism
Modern Judaism is not the “mother” religion, with Christianity being the “daughter”. Rather, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism are really both “daughters” of Ancient Judaism, which passed with the Temple. Jesus was unique in his understanding of Judaism, and while he was in agreement with some of the ancient ways, he also had a completely different way of seeing it from most people. The Rabbis of the Talmud also saw Judaism differently than the ancients and from Jesus, and so they constitute a different Judaism again. Now, all that is left is Christianity—the outgrowth of Jesus’ understanding of Ancient Judaism—and Rabbinic Judaism—an outgrowth of the Rabbi’s understanding of Ancient Judaism.

The NT is not directly speaking to Modern Judaism
We should not try to understand Jesus’ or Paul’s critique of Judaism in their day on the basis of what we understand Modern Judaism doing. None of the writers of the NT were speaking to modern Jews because modern Judaism did not exist in those days. Rather, the NT speaks to Ancient Temple Judaism, with their political involvement and powerful priesthood and magnificent Temple. On the other hand, the Talmud does have some to say about Jesus and Christianity—and they reject it in no uncertain terms. There is no question that some part of the development of modern Judaism was a negative response to the rise of Christianity, which they saw as an aberrant form of ancient Judaism (not recognizing that they were just as divergent from the ancient religion).

The Messianic Movement
But what shall we say about the “Messianic” movement today, then? This is a group which retains its Rabbinic Jewish heritage, but also claims Jesus as their Messiah. Are they wrong to do this? Absolutely not. But do they represent a return to NT congregations? Probably not. Although what the Messianic congregations do is very interesting, they are not much closer to the ancient Jewish church than Eastern Orthodox churches. And neither group fully represents the ancient church that we read about in the NT.

We must keep in mind that the NT church was based on the synagogue practices of two thousand years ago. All organizations and practices—no matter how traditional in origin—shift over time. To base Christian congregations on Modern Judaism is not a return to ancient practice. It is rather a cultural coloring of Christianity on the basis of Modern Judaism.

Some might have a problem with this, thinking it is corrupting the church. However, it is really the best form of evangelism there is. The Messianic congregations demonstrate to modern Jews that Christianity can honor many of their traditions, and yet honor Jesus as Lord. It has been a cliché that one could be a Jew or a Christian, but not both—the Messianic congregations prove that one could be a cultural, ethnic (modern) Jew and be a full, obedient believer in Jesus. And so they have overcome a hurdle that the church could not have done without them.
The only warning the NT has about these congregations is this: do not allow the practice of your congregation become the basis of judgement against another. There are many ways of honoring the Lord Jesus with our lives—but just because one seems more “Jewish” than another, it does not mean that it is closer to Jesus’ will. Let us all honor Jesus in the freedom Jesus gave us, some as (modern) Jews, and some as (modern) Gentiles. And let us all praise God that Jesus welcomes us all, no matter what our cultural background!

God's Sovereignty: A Different Approach

I think one of the great confusions about God in theology, and what causes the greatest amount of problems, is God’s sovereignty. The basic approach of Christian theology since Augustine, and finalized in the disciples of Calvin, is God’s control over every aspect of creation. Nothing gets done without God’s authority and approval. Of course, this approach to God falls into difficulties when seeing terrible events happen in which many thousands of people die. How can God, who is supposed to love every single person individually, personally approve of a mass killing of those He is tender-hearted about? I don’t want to get into the complex arguments about how this could be, and some of the greatest Christian literature has been written on this subject. My approach, personally, is that our whole conception of God is wrong.

It begins with a wrong idea of what sovereignty is. Somehow, we consider God’s sovereignty to be different than human sovereignty. This would make sense, since, as we have seen, God is considered to be containing all the power of the universe, in all place, knowing all things both possible and actual, active in sustaining all the universe. Such a being, when considered to be sovereign, would be rightly considered in complete control of every event in the universe. However, as we have also seen, the God of the Bible is not exactly the same as this perfect theological picture of God. God can do whatever He wants, but that doesn’t mean that He exerts all power that exists. God can know whatever He wants, and can be wherever He wants, but this does not mean that He is at all places at the same time. God is existing both before and after human history, but this doesn’t mean that God never had a beginning. God’s needs are limited, but it can be shown that He needs us, if only emotionally, which emotions such as anger and jealousy and love we must affirm that God has or else deny the whole of Scripture.

Even so, biblically, we must limit God’s sovereignty. This statement can get me in trouble, because, of course, biblically we must affirm that God is the creator of the universe, and thus He holds the complete right to rule the universe. That I absolutely affirm. But Scripture also affirms that God has surrendered His sovereignty—His rule—of the earth and all it contains to humanity (Genesis 1, Psalm 8). Humanity is now the sovereign one over all the earth, and humanity has surrendered that sovereignty to governments. Thus, the governments act in God’s stead as ruler over the earth.

Is God still sovereign? Absolutely. If a government steps too far out of line of God’s will, then God steps in and takes the government out—as described in Psalm 82, and seen in Genesis 18-19. And if the whole world abuses those whom God protects, then God will take over the whole world again—and this is what is prayed for in “Thy kingdom come” and described in detail in Revelation. Part of the hope of the believer is God’s direct rule over the earth, through Jesus, without anyone else as mediator between the earth and God.

Why do disasters happen? Because they do. The earth isn’t completely stable, and disasters will always happen. God might prevent them, if He is asked to. And He might help more, if He is asked. But God will not move amidst a government who doesn’t seek Him. And God will not protect a nation who isn’t interested in doing His will—which is all of them, without exception. God is much like a parent who releases his child to go out into the world on their own. The child will suffer much and face terrible trials, but as long as the child says, “I’ll do it myself”, the parent will let them.

The exception is supposed to be the people of Jesus. Jesus was fully in tune with His Father, only doing as He pleases, seeking His will and relying on Him alone. The people of Jesus are supposed to have a relationship with God like that. God is to be fully sovereign over those who release their sovereignty to Him. But as long as we, who claim to follow Jesus, retain our sovereignty, and deny God His proper place, then we will never experience God’s love and power. Disasters will still happen and we will have to face them on our own. The more we release ourselves to trusting God, then the more we will experience God’s care for us.

How is it, then, that those who trust God suffer so much? Because we live in churches, in cities, under governments that do not trust God or surrender their sovereignty to Him. We are under the rulership of toddlers who think that they can do whatever they please. In some cases, those who fully trust the Lord are sacrificed for the sake of others so that they might trust God. This is what happened to Jesus, and many of us suffer because God specifically is asking us to stand in the gap for those who need His help so much.

But there are also many who suffer because the ones truly in charge of the world are toddlers who have to do things themselves, not under the guidance of God’s wisdom, with the focus of God’s mercy or the unbelievable magnitude of God’s power. Trusters of God are just as likely to be in a natural disaster, because those who rule the area are not asking God for help. This isn’t some spite by God, but simply a natural event that God could have prevented if people relied on prayer rather than their own power. Trusters of God are just as likely to die in a war as anyone else, because war is a sign of people not trusting in God, but their own power, and as long as war exists then everyone is threatened. Trusters of God are just as likely to suffer poverty as anyone else, because the governments of this world are more interested in denying their own responsibility and asserting others’ responsibility rather than relying on God’s mercy.

This is why we need Jesus to rule the world. He is the only human who can see clearly with God’s power and mercy. Churches talk about God’s sovereignty, but act as if He is powerless and must work through them. Governments talk about mercy, but they neglect the needy in their own nations and the world, because they don’t really believe in God’s mercy. Jesus demonstrated through His ministry God’s unbelievable power and His mercy. And through His death he paved the way for us to live in it.


God’s “sovereignty requires that He be absolutely free, which means simply that He must be free to do whatever He wills to do anywhere at any time to carry out His eternal purpose.” –A.W. Tozer But the inscrutability of God is that He has taken his ultimate freedom and surrendered this freedom to His creation. Freedom in the modern day means that one has a right to follow one’s basic, positive nature. But God surrendered His freedom to accomplish His perfect will on earth to humanity. He took some of the most lively part of His creation and limited His own access to it, limiting his rights to openly act on the earth. And he gave over this freedom to the hands of an unworthy, weak creation.

It is this very act that Satan doesn’t understand and rebels against. Satan tested humanity right at the beginning and found them unworthy. Satan continues to test our best and brightest, and finds them all filled with sin, selfish, and lacking true understanding and mercy. Humanity—because of the powerful nature to imitate that which surrounds them—has copied Satan in despising the weak, and rejecting the unworthy, immediately punishing them as soon as they are found. The very rebellion that Satan acts upon humanity to dethrone them from their high place, is that which makes our planet unlivable—judgment of the weak, and calling unworthy those whom God has given rule.

Instead, God invites us, in His gentle way, to follow Jesus. To grant even the unworthy mercy. To offer forgiveness to those who have rebelled. To give up one’s own rights so that the weak might have power and wholeness. To surrender the unnecessary punishment, but instead to be respectful and welcoming so that humanity might imitate God and not Satan.

True Spirituality John 3:1-16

Welcome to Another Dimension…
There is another universe. It is a universe completely ruled by God, without human intervention. However, it is not a universe without sin or rebellion. But it is a universe ruled as God would have it ruled. It is also a universe of tremendous power. It is a universe ruled with justice, mercy and great wisdom. Sin and rebellion are limited to certain sectors instead of being universal.

If we can connect to that universe, life would be so much better. God would be able to rule our lives directly, instead of through such weak vessels such as government. We could achieve justice on earth and peace, if we could but connect to that world. We could have lives of power, instead of the weakness we live with right now. We can have a connection to God. But how do we do that?

You mean like having an Avatar?
Jesus says, “You must be born again.” Unfortunately, this word has been used by so many people, and been attached to a certain kind of Christianity, that it has lost its original meaning. But what is its true meaning?

We would have to look at what Jesus says. He’s the one who used the phrase to begin with. So what does he say? “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit.” “Spirit” is that which is sourced from the alternative universe. “Flesh” is that which is sourced in this world, follows its values, and is invested in this world. What Jesus says makes sense—if a person is to be a part of another world, they need to be re-born of that world, no longer a part of the one they were from. In national terms, this could be called a naturalized immigration. But in terms of being, it would be a rebirth. We don’t need to just be born again, in the same way we were last time. We need to be fully a part of the other world.

This doesn’t mean that we are not still a part of this world. Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and of spirit, one cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Being “born of water” means being born of this world, born out of a mother’s womb. So the member of the spirit world is actually a being of two worlds—both this world and the next. But the one has to turn aside from the birth on earth in order to fully receive the other world. There has to be a choice, and the choice must be made for the spirit world.

Entering The Spirit World
How do we do this? This isn’t an everyday process. People can try to figure it out. Some will take mushrooms to discover the Spirit world. Some will practice meditation. Some will do yoga. Some will follow religious ritual. However, Jesus makes the choice pretty clear: “No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven: The Son of Man.” So we can look for spirituality all we want, but there’s only one person who can tell us the truth about the spirit world: Jesus himself. He’s the only one who’s been there personally and then come to tell us what goes on there. And He’s the only one who can tell us how to be a part of this world, because he’s the first one to be a part of both worlds.

So what does He say? How do we be born of the Spirit world? He has a lot to say about that, but this is the first step: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so whoever believes in him will have eternal life.” First of all, the Son of Man must be “lifted up”. What does that mean—ascended to heaven? Given an exalted place? Well, that’s all true—but first the Son of Man must be lifted up like Moses lifted up the serpent—hung on a piece of wood. The piece of wood is the “sign” that everyone would notice. And that kind of “lifting up” kills the Son, and then he is raised from the dead—indicating the way to the Spirit world. Resurrection is the true rebirth.

But if resurrection is the true rebirth, then how do we achieve it, while still alive? Again, we must trust in the Son who was killed so that he might be resurrected. We rely on Him, even if it means we die ourselves. We will not perish, even if we die, for life is eternal in the Spirit world.

“You Smell Funny…”
But how do we know if we truly have this new life? Before this resurrection, we already receive eternal life. This is by having the Spirit of God. The Spirit is a piece of the spirit world—of God himself—that is living within us. Because of this spirit, we do strange things. “The wind blows where it wishes, and no one knows where it is coming from or where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The spirit makes one strange, like the prophets of old. The Spirit makes one unpredictable, as one in the world would be. The people of the world follow certain patterns, do things that are of a benefit to themselves. The people of the Spirit are unpredictable, but in a good way. They do crazy things, like loving others, even if it harms them. Like loving their enemies. Like doing good when someone harms them. Like being gentle when one should be angry.

The one who lives in the Spirit acts for the benefit of others. That’s nothing like this world.