Discerning the Deceitful and the Delusional

Prophet Jeremiah, Russian icon from first quarter of 18th cen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

Recently, while looking through the writings of Jeremiah, I ran across highlighted scriptures that caught my eye on several occasions in the past. I vividly recall how, when I reflected on these passages in a prayerful manner, their current relevance jumped off the page with an unmistakable clarity. It was as if the Holy Spirit especially wanted these words to come alive for me and that they did. Like I have commented in the past, at times like these scripture ceases to be just printed words on a page and instead, morphs into a living organism.

The subject matter here comes from Jeremiah 23 and deals with his observations that many religious leaders, including priests and prophets, are deceiving people with dreams, prophecies, and other revelations that they claim to be from God, but are actually made up from their own imaginations or worse, their own treacherous hearts.

When I read these words from the prophet Jeremiah I am reminded so clearly of what I hear going on in many corners of the church today. I hear various preachers, teachers, self-proclaimed “prophets” and “apostles”, along with lay brothers and sisters who have what they claim to be a “word” from the Lord, or a “vision,” a dream, or some other form of divine revelation. I am certain that in some cases these phenomena are exactly what they are said to be, but in the majority of cases my internal “discernment alarm” goes off loud and long. Instead of a true “word” or revelation from the Holy Spirit, my fear is that many of these self-styled “teachers” are either deceiving themselves, being duped by the enemy, or worst of all, deliberately leading others astray in order to advance some personal agenda, often financial.

The prophet Jeremiah dealt with a similar infestation in his day, and that is exactly what it is my friends, an infestation. In Jeremiah’s time many religious leaders, motivated by their own personal agendas as well as self-deception, were leading followers down various paths laced with deception. Reading the 23^rd chapter of Jeremiah, you cannot help seeing this issue with great clarity. In graphic terms, the prophet describes the impact of these “prophets” on himself and on the nation:

My heart is broken because of the false prophets,

And my bones tremble.

I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine,

Because of the holy words the Lord has spoken against them.

For the land is full of adultery and it lies under a curse.

(Jeremiah 23: 9-10 NLT)

After further describing these false teachers, Jeremiah expands upon the effect of their erroneous teachings. He then warns the people:

Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you,

Filling you with futile hopes.

They are making up everything they say.

They do not speak for the Lord.

(Jeremiah 23: 16 NLT)

Speaking through the prophet, the Lord makes it clear that these false teachers were not sent by him and that they do not speak for him. As I listen to so many preachers, teachers, evangelists, and “apostles” speaking today, it strikes me as clearly evident that God did not send them, either. Sure, they may claim to have a “word from the Lord” or a “holy vision.” And perhaps a small percentage that makes this claim are genuine. But in my estimation, many are engaging in their own dreams, fantasies, and vain imaginings. As stated earlier, some are merely self-deceived, while others have darker motives of personal gain or advancement of the enemy’s agenda.

This state of affairs is made more critical by the fact that the church is at such a pivotal point in its history. Marked by a massive exodus from their ranks, the older Mainline denominations are, at best, hanging by a thread. Even the Southern Baptist Convention, long the solid backbone of Evangelicalism, is now losing members and yearly baptism numbers are at record lows. The only churches that seem to be growing are generally of an independent, charismatic nature, but researchers are sometime cautious about the statistics associated with this group, along with the Word of Faith churches, because it appears the membership rolls are constantly shifting, with new members flowing in and at least an equivalent number flowing out.

My point here is that the church, floundering as it is with these problems, can only be further weakened by false teachers, prophets, and the like. Already viewed in a generally negative light, every time a prominent Christian leader is caught in some sort of scandal, usually either sexual or financial, it only deepens the public image of Christians as little more than hucksters and hypocrites.

I am of the firm conviction that now, perhaps more than ever, each Christian must take it upon himself or herself to take responsibility for deepening their capacity for discernment. Granted, some are gifted in this area, but gifted or not, each of us needs to become as sharp as possible when it comes to discerning the spirits. Otherwise, we run the very real risk of wasting valuable time, resources, and energy running here and there chasing windmills, rather than going about the kingdom business we are all called to: deepening our relationship with Christ, making disciples, and serving others in his name.

There is no magic formula for developing discernment and chances are you already know how to do it, you just haven’t seen the necessity of it and taken the time. Here is a list of a few basic strategies that, if consistently applied, should help you deepen your level of spiritual discernment:

• Pray diligently, asking the Holy Spirit to help you specifically in this area.
• Immerse yourself in scripture. The key principle for evaluating any teaching or preaching is making sure that it is aligned with biblical principles.
• Read several books that discuss how to deepen your level of discernment. Also, explore relevant material on the Internet and apply what you learn.
• If you know someone who is gifted in the area of discernment, ask them to mentor you for a period of time.

Christianity in the West is at a crucial crossroads. The church finds itself in a time of shifting sands and changing landscapes. In a metaphorical way, this state of affairs is like being in the desert or, like the ancient Hebrew people, wandering about in the wilderness. We may wander off the path in countless ways, certain we are traveling in the right direction, only to discover we have been chasing a mirage. In other cases, we become mesmerized by a certain teaching, an innovative program, or, as is often the case, a highly personable teacher. In this mesmerized state, we are prone to drift far off the course set for us by the Master.

It is vital that we train ourselves in the ways and means of biblical discernment, especially in these changing times. To neglect this critical need, for whatever reason, is not a viable option.

© L.D. Turner 2013/All Rights Reserved

Wise Words for Today

Image from the Book of Kells, a 1200 year old book. Category:Illuminated manuscript images (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I believe that we have reduced the gospel from a dynamic and beautiful symphony of God’s love for and in the world to a bare and strident monotone. We have taken this amazing good news from God, originally presented in high definition and Dolby stereo, and reduced it to a grainy, black-and-white, silent movie. In doing so, we have also stripped it of much of its power to change not only the human heart but the world. This is especially reflected in our limited view of evangelism. Jesus commanded His followers to take the good news of reconciliation and forgiveness to the ends of the earth. The dictate is the same today.

Christianity is a faith that was meant to spread – but not through coercion. God’s love was intended to be demonstrated, not dictated. Our job is not to manipulate or induce others to agree with us or to leave their religion and embrace Christianity. Our change is to both proclaim and embody the gospel so that others can see, hear, and feel God’s love in tangible ways. When we are living out our faith with integrity and compassion in the world, God can use us to give others a glimpse of His love and character. It is God – not us – who works in the hearts of men and women to forgive and redeem. Coercion is not necessary or even particularly helpful. God is responsible for the harvest – but we must plant, water, and cultivate the seeds.

Richard Stearns

(from The Hole in Our Gospel)

Wise Words for Today

Inside of Saint Ananias taken in 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In organic Christianity or this new reformation, the move of God will not simply be at the hand of a person, but all of God’s people. There will be key leaders, but their job is to equip the people to do the work of ministry (see Eph. 4: 11-12). It was God’s intent from the beginning for every believer to do the work of the Kingdom (see Mark 16: 17-18). In this new reformation, God’s people will have their identity in who they are in Christ. They will understand that when they became a new creation, God put within them, by grace, what was necessary to succeed for His Kingdom…..

Ron McIntosh

(from Organic Christianity)

Intercessory Prayer and the Alleviation of Poverty

Cover via Amazon

Mick Turner

*** This article first appeared in Wellsprings and Wineskins in early 2011, and was also featured here on Lifebrook a bit later. Its message about poverty and the importance of prayer is as vital today as it ever was.

Crippling poverty has been a daily reality for far too many people for as long as history has been recorded. In spite of the great advances in agriculture and other life sciences, for countless people around the globe each day is a struggle for survival, a never-ending search for food and clean drinking water. It is estimated that 25,000 children die each day from starvation and illness directly related to poverty. If we lay claim to the mantle of Christian, we cannot ignore these realities.

Many of us feel there is nothing that we can do to make a dent in the problem of global poverty. We cite lack of money, lack of time, and countless others “lacks” when called upon to take positive steps of Christian love to address chronic poverty, even in our own neighborhoods and cities. I have little doubt that tears flow in the heavenly realms each time we hide behind our “lacks.”

There is one thing that we all can do, however: We can pray. If we truly believe in the effectiveness of prayer, and as followers of Jesus we have plenty of reason to believe, then we surely understand that by praying for those in poverty we can accomplish great things. Further, we can all find the time to offer up intentional intercession on behalf of those in dire need. In his book A Hole in Our Gospel, World Vision director Richard Stearns shares these words, penned by his colleague John Robb:

Wherever in the world there is significant development – people coming to Christ, health improvements, economic opportunities, adoption of kingdom values – it is the direct result of Christians praying.

I strongly believe what Robb is saying. During the years I spent working with AIDS patients, veterans, and the homeless in Dade County, Florida, I personally witnessed the miracles that can be brought about through prayer. The same is true for the five years of front line service in China. Without a strong foundation of prayer, little could have been accomplished.

Intentional intercessory prayer on behalf of those mired in poverty can be done in your private devotion time, or it can be done as a group project. Another way to make this kind of prayer a part of your daily living is to follow the seven steps suggested by Richard Stearns:

When you take your morning shower, pray for families in poor countries who do not have access to clean water, forcing mothers to spend hours collecting inadequate water and causing children suffer and even die from water-related diseases.

When you pack your lunch, or your child’s lunch, pray for the one billion people who are chronically hungry in the world today.

As you commute to your job, pray for the adults around the world who can’t find consistent work to feed their families, or pray for the millions of children forced into harmful or exploitative labor.

When you drop your child off at school, pray for children around the world who cannot get an education because of poverty or discrimination.

As you take a vitamin, pray for the families without adequate health care, leaving them and especially their children vulnerable to preventable diseases.

When you arrive home after work, pray for the children and families who are homeless due to poverty, conflict, or natural disasters.

As you tuck your children into bed, guide them to pray for the millions of children who have lost their parents around the world – especially the fifteen million AIDS orphans around the world, many of whom must survive without guardians.

Stearns suggestions are just that, suggestions. However, if you make a committed and diligent effort to make these prayers a part of your daily round for the next thirty days or so, you may very well have a significant impact on someone in need. Never discount or minimize the power of committed prayer. Time and time again it has been shown to work wonders.

I would also suggest that you pick up a copy of Stearns’ book, The Hole in Our Gospel. Spend quality time with this book, slowly imbibing the practical wisdom contained in its pages and the inspiration gleaned from the author’s candid revelations regarding his own journey from corporate president to a front line, leadership role with World Vision. It will be time well spent.

© L.D. Turner 2011/ All Rights Reserved

Organic Christianity: Claiming Who You Already Are

English: End of the Second Epistle of Peter and beginning of the First Epistle of John in the same column of the codex. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

Recently I completed reading Ron McIntosh’s latest book entitled, Organic Christianity. This was the second book I have read authored by McIntosh, the first being The Greatest Secret. I have found both of these works to be both informative and inspirational and perhaps even more significant, I have found them highly practical. The ideas presented are spelled out in such a way that they are made applicable to daily living.

In this brief article, I want to focus on a basic idea from Organic Christianity. McIntosh repeats the theme I have often stressed – that we have already been given all we need to lead a godly life and further, we have been imbued with the power to make that life a manifest reality.

Organic Christianity is more about renewing our minds to who we already are than trying to become who we aren’t. Remember, we’ve already been given everything we need for life and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3). We’ve already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm (see Eph. 1:3). We already have in us everything to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we could ask or think (see Eph. 3:20. We are complete in Him (see Col. 2:10). The problem is we haven’t become fully persuaded of who God is, what he has already done, and who He has made us to be.

McIntosh then goes on to describe the path whereby we may become fully persuaded, the truths of which are housed in Romans 12:2:

1. Be not conformed to this world.
2. Be transformed.
3. Renew your mind.
4. Prove the perfect will of God

He then goes on to describe a process whereby the invisible kingdom may become manifest in our world:

Incubation (meditating on God’s Word)

Plus

Revelation (the result of meditation)

Plus

Impartation (bestowing or intertwining revelation in our lives)

Equals

Manifestation (the invisible Kingdom becoming visible in our world.)

In describing the power of biblical meditation, McIntosh states:

Meditation allows us to focus on something until we are fully persuaded of truth (or a lie for that matter), until it is imbedded in our conscious and subconscious minds. It becomes a part of the makeup of our being until it is our nature to act accordingly.

Here McIntosh touches on a fundamental and salient truth regarding the Christian walk of spirituality: in order for any spiritual principle to be personally transformational, it must become internalized.

These are just a few thoughts I have after reading McIntosh’s latest book and I wanted to share them with you. I apologize for the brevity of these comments, but my recovery from the recent surgery remains somewhat slow. I recommend this book and encourage you to take the time to read it. You will be blessed by its content.

© L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved

Related articles

• Spiritual Transformation from a Christian Perspective (Part One) (lifebrook.wordpress.com)

Wise Words for Today

Dream Center service at Angelus Temple (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In this morning’s quiet time, the Spirit gently led  me to these inspirational words by Matthew Barnett, taken from his book, The Cause Within You.

Life is much simpler than we make it.

God’s objective is for you to live an outward looking life – that is, not worried about yourself, but focused on the needs of others and how you can respond to those needs. When you embrace that mind-set, you are on the precipice of influence and success because that’s a perspective that God will bless. As soon as you start thinking about the needs and burdens of others, and what you can do to alleviate them, or how you can bless and build up others, you begin to establish a new identity for yourself – your true identity.

It doesn’t take a person with unusual training or ability to change the world. All it takes is a heart that cares, a mind that’s determined, a spirit that’s willing, a cause that matters, and a person to help.

Chip Ingram’s Living on the Edge: A Very Brief Review

Stained glass at St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus’ description of himself “I am the Good Shepherd” (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: “To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are looking for reading material that is both informative and inspirational while, at the same time, covers the fundamental aspects of positive Christian living, let me make a recommendation.

Chip Ingram’s Living on the Edge: Dare to Experience True Spirituality is an excellent treatment of the struggles and rewards of living the Christian path on a daily basis. Recognizing that the church has been woefully inadequate in presenting the “whole gospel,” Ingram, Senior Pastor at Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos, California, takes the view that the second half of the gospel, the half that presents the basics of spiritual formation and empowerment, has been largely ignored. It is a view that I share and have often discussed on this blog. In order to glean a picture of Ingram’s take on all this, consider the following synopsis, taken from the book’s introduction:

 The great majority of Christians have been taught that life is about coming to know Christ personally, being saved, being good, and then helping other people “get saved.” Before long, they become a part of the religious machinery whose primary goal is to help more people enter the kingdom of God.

Please do not get me wrong: evangelism is very important and leading people to Christ is at the top of God’s priority list. But the second half of the message has been sorely neglected: the part about God’s dream that you become a precious and cherished son or daughter living in deep union with Him.

God’s dream and plan for each of His children is not about rules or religious activity but about relationship. God’s desire is not for our performance, but for us to learn to live out of the grace and favor you already possess. God’s primary agenda is to make us more and more like His Son so we can enjoy and love Him and others the way He loves them.

This life can be yours. I have tasted it and watched countless other ordinary people like you and me experience it. My passion is that you will dare to step out to the dramatic and exciting edges of life – the place where you are in sync with God and feel alive and vibrant and filled with purpose.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, Ingram’s treatment of the subject matter is both inspirational and informative. Sharing deeply of himself, the author candidly discusses not only the pinnacles of the Christian life, but also, the numerous pitfalls along the way. Again, if you are looking for a read that will provide not only a detailed discussion of the principles of Christian living, but practical “where-the-rubber-meets-the-road” guidelines as well, I highly recommend Pastor Ingram’s Living on the Edge.

(I apologize for the brevity of this review, but I am quite busy preparing for this week’s surgery).

© L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved

Wise Words for Today

David and Bathsheba by Jan Matsys, 1562, Louvre (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God’s children, in whom He has done mighty things, have come from checkered careers. Moses was a murderer. Look what Jacob did with Esau and Laban. Abraham tricked King Abimelech. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed. Peter denied Jesus three times. John and James fought to be the highest. Paul went to Damascus breathing murder and threats. Our checkered careers, our utter sinfulness and degradation, our falling into all manner of vain seeking, become by the grace of God on the cross and in the resurrection the inevitable writing of wisdom on our hearts. Our hurts and sins have become our schooling and preparation. Would that we could learn purity the easy way. Praise God that His mercy is such that He turns the depth of our sin into the strength of ministry. We are not proud of our wrongdoing, but the sweet grace of God is such that in the end we thank Him for it. Our sins have become our training for high calling rather than our disqualification.

John and Paula Sandford

A Decapitated Church is a Lifeless Corpse (Part One)

Christ icon in Taizé (Photo credit: lgambett)

Mick Turner

It has become almost cliché these days to say that the church in America is dying. Whether one arrives at this conclusion through general observation or through the analysis of vital statistics, the result is the same. The Body of Christ in America is withering on the vine. Church leaders and those who make their living by studying the church cite a wide range of reasons for this demise. Likewise, solutions offered to stem the tide of this downward spiral vary widely in terms of both rationale and methodology.

One thing these experts can agree on, however, is this: change is happening and it is happening at a rapid pace.

It is far beyond the scope of this essay to delve into the intricacies of these issues. Instead, I want to focus on one specific theme that I believe accounts in part for the church’s current decline and, if properly corrected, can also be instrumental in forging a new, more vital Body of Christ as the future unfolds. Interestingly, a number of writers from differing theological orientations have also flagged this problem as a contributing factor to the current set of issues bewildering the church. Among these writers are Philip Yancey, Marcus Borg, N.T. Wright, Brian McLaren, Harvey Cox, Phyllis Tickle, and Mark Driscoll, just to name a few.

I also want to mention the recent work of Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola as I believe their writing especially identifies the theme I want to discuss in this essay, namely: the church has lost contact with the very source of its life, its purpose, and its calling.

This vital, life giving source is Jesus Christ.

Near the beginning of their excellent book Jesus Manifesto, Sweet and Viola get down to business in describing what they see as the fundamental cause of the church’s present dilemma:

……….we feel a massive disconnect in the church today, and we believe that the major disease of today’s church is JDD: Jesus Deficit Disorder. The person of Jesus has become increasingly politically incorrect and is being replaced by the language of “justice,” “morality,” values,” and “leadership principles.” The world likes Jesus: they just don’t like the church. But increasingly, the church likes the church, yet it doesn’t like Jesus………..Can our problems really be caused by something so basic and simple as losing sight of Christ? We believe the answer is a resounding Yes. Answers other than Christ to the problems of the church today mean that we are more into solvents than solutions. For that reason, this global, Google world needs a meta-narrative more than ever, and the Jesus Story is the interpreting system of all other systems. In this hour, the testimony that we feel God has called us to bear revolves around the primacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically, we need to decide how we are going to answer one question.

I firmly believe that it is the church’s seeming inability to consistently answer this one question in a way that is simple, pragmatic, and above all, accurate, that lies at the root of many of its current problems. What is this central question raised by Sweet and Viola? It is precisely the one Christ asked his followers a little over 2,000 years ago:

“Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

According to sacred scripture, Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, got the answer right. The church, however, has turned this simple question into a conundrum of colossal proportions. It took the early church at least four centuries to arrive at a fragile consensus. Over time, that consensus eroded into a quagmire of conflicting, confusing answers that could fill entire libraries and, in the process, created much rancor and discord instead of the unity and cooperation called for by Jesus and later, Paul.

Sweet and Viola paint such a dynamic, comprehensive, and inspirational portrait of the nature and being of Christ. Speaking of Paul’s reasons for writing to the Colossians about these themes, the authors state:

The Christ that the Colossians knew was simply too small. That was why they became susceptible to chasing after other things – including religious ones – in the first place.

Sound familiar?

You bet it does! If ever something hit the nail right on the head in terms of my lack of consistent faithfulness, this sums things up pretty well. By not comprehending the truly  awesome and magnificent stature of the pre-existent Christ, I chased after all sorts of lesser entities and stumbled down more than a few dark alleys. Believe me when I say that Alice pales in comparison to me when it comes to jumping down rabbit holes in hot pursuit of magical characters with funny hats and big watches. Sweet and Viola continue:

Paul’s goal was to strip away every distraction that was being held before their eyes and have them with nothing but Christ. He dared to displace all rules, regulations, laws, and everything else that religion offers, with a person – the Lord Jesus Himself. As far as Paul was concerned, God hadn’t sent a Ruler of rules, a Regulator of regulations, a Pontiff of pontifications, or a Principal of the principles. He had sent the very embodiment of divine fullness. So, he reasoned, if the Colossians could just get a glimpse of the glories of Christ, He would be enough. The Spirit would electrify their hearts and restore them to a living relationship with the head of the body. So Paul threw down his trump card – The Lord Jesus Christ. He presented a panoramic vision of Jesus that exhausts the minds of mortal men.

 In other venues, I have written that I believe one of the most critical tasks facing the contemporary church is reintroducing people to Jesus Christ. With the steady exodus from the organized Christian denominations over the past forty or so years, we now have a situation where at least one generation, and maybe two, have been raised in a culture that is, for the most part, non-Christian. In large measure, many of these folks have either an incomplete or utterly confused image of Jesus.

Before the church can even begin to tackle this crucial goal, however, it must accomplish one critical preliminary task. The church has to reintroduce Jesus to itself. The sad truth is the church is every bit as confused about Jesus’ nature and being as those outside the institution. The silver lining in this tragic situation is as follows: once the church really gets a clear, biblical picture of just what manner of being this Jesus Christ truly is, it will set off a spiritual conflagration that will make previous revivals look like brush fires.

Sweet and Viola state that in the first chapter of Colossians Paul was in “full flight.” The Apostle told his readers that if they truly laid hold of Christ’s real identity they would be able to muster a walk of faith worthy of the Master.

In describing the stature of Christ Paul pulls out all the stops:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 NLT)

After the foregoing section, which is found in a chapter fittingly entitled “A Bottle in the Ocean,” the authors present an incredible description of who Christ was and is. I find this passage so complete and inspirational I am going to share it at length. Describing Jesus Christ, the authors state:

Set your eyes beyond the stratosphere and see a Christ who confounds the mind. This Christ is – present tense – the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ displays God’s image visible in the invisible realm, where He is seated in heavenly places at the Father’s right hand. To look upon the carpenter of Nazareth is to discover God in totality. To know the Nazarene is to know the Almighty, the one true Creator – He who was, is, and is to come.

But that’s not all.

This Christ is the firstborn of the entire cosmos, the first person to appear in creation, and He is preeminent in all of it. All things visible and invisible were created by Him, through Him, to Him, and for Him. He is the Originator as well as the Goal – the Creator as well as the Consummator.

But that’s not all.

This Christ existed before time as the eternal Son. He is above time and outside of time. He is the beginning. In fact, He was before the beginning. He lives in a realm where there are no ticking watches and clocks. Space and time are his servants. He is unfettered by them.

This Christ is not only before all things, but the entire universe is held together in Him. He is the cohesive force, the glue and gravitational pull that holds all created elements together. He is creation’s great adhesive, the hinge upon which the whole cosmos turns. Remove Christ, and the entire universe disintegrates. It comes apart at the seams. Remove Him, and creations wheels come off.

But there’s still more.

This Christ is the very meaning of creation. Eliminate Him, and the universe has no purpose. Remove Him, and every living thing loses its meaning.

But more than all this, the One who created the universe watched it fall. He saw the cosmic revolt in heaven and the wreckage on earth. Under the caring eye of the Father, the Lord looked upon His own creation as it morphed into an enemy – His own enemy. And then he did the unthinkable. He penetrated a fallen world.

This Christ pierced the veil of space-time. He became incarnate and took on human flesh. As such, He was touched with the same temptations, the same infirmities, and the same weaknesses as all mortals, only He never yielded. Christ entered into His own creation to reconcile it back to Himself and to His Father. The Creator became the creature to make peace with an alienated creation.

Sweet and Viola go on to describe the gospel message of the atonement, the resurrection, and how Christ was the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. It is a remarkable passage in a remarkable book. My point in mentioning it here is that it illustrates the vital need the church has in this challenging age. Put simply: the true and real Christ, stripped of the myriad accretions with which he has been covered over the centuries; the true and real Christ, revealed in all his magnificence, splendor, and glory – must be reintroduced to the church.

Ironically enough, for many sincere believers this may well be the first time they actually meet the real Christ.

You see my friends, for far too long now the church has been cut off from its source. In a real sense, the Body of Christ has been decapitated. If Christ is the head, it stands to reason that the church cannot survive long without being attached to the Master. Unfortunately, for quite a long time now the church, with some exceptions, has gradually been drifting farther and farther away from that which gives it meaning, direction, and most of all, life.

To be continued…..

(c) L.D. Turner 2012/ All Rights Reserved

Extreme Makeover: New Creations in Christ

First page of the Gospel of Mark, by Sargis Pitsak, a Medieval Armenian scribe and miniaturist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

One of the primary reasons so many Christians walk in much less victory than God intends stems from the fact that they still don’t understand the full extent of the gospel message. For much of our shared history, American Protestants have emphasized the blood of Christ and the atonement for sins. Granted, this is a portion of the gospel truth, however, the mission of Christ was far greater than that. Unfortunately, a significant number of Christians don’t fathom the rich treasures Christ has provided through his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascendancy. In order to regain a full perspective on the accomplishments of Christ, our new identity as Children of the Light, and the authority and power granted to us, we need to carefully study Scripture and ascertain the full extent of the blessings of God’s provision through Christ.

Often, we toss about the word salvation and, after hearing the word so many times, lose sight of just what the word implied to the first Christ-followers and, by implication, to us as well. “Sozo” is the Greek word for salvation and it implies a sense of completion, soundness, health, and the absence of disharmony on all levels. Sozo thus refers to a reality far greater than the remission of sins, although that is an important aspect of the word’s meaning. Sozo, taken in its biblical context, refers to the fact that God, through Christ, has given His grace whereby we are freed from all obstacles and hindrances that could stand in the way of us becoming all that we were created to be. Salvation implies that through God’s grace we freed from bondage to anything that hinders our ability to become complete in Christ, manifesting our original nature, created in the image of God.

I think that this general lack of awareness on the part of many Christians stems from a complex constellation of factors, but for the sake of simplicity, perhaps we can focus on four sources of misinformation about the full extent of the gospel: the pulpit; the enemy; the world; our own habitual patterns of thought and behavior.

Perhaps many of you are wondering how I could imply that the pulpit may in some way be responsible for our general lack of understanding of who and what we are in Christ. The answer is simple. By choosing to consistently focus on the blood of Christ at the expense of the provisions generated as a result of his resurrection and ascension, many pastors and preachers have contributed to this miasma of misunderstanding. This in no way minimizes the blood of Christ, but instead, it completes the work done on the cross. If Christ died for our sins, but left us completely under the power of “sin,” (our sinful nature), then we would be no better off than the Israelites who were dependent each year on the placing of their sins upon the “scapegoat,” which was then release to wander in the desert until it died. After the Day of Atonement, the Jews then began the process of accumulating sin that would need atonement the following year.

Pastors, preachers, and Bible teachers need to repeatedly stress that God has provided all that we need to lead a godly, holy life (see 2 Peter 1:5). Through the blood, our sins are forgiven; through the cross, our sin is dealt with. Unfortunately, the pulpit has not stressed this aspect of the gospel nearly enough.

In terms of the enemy and the world, these two forces often act in concert to minimize what we have been granted in Christ. After all, the popular views of our culture are often in opposition to what God would have us do, whether it is in terms of our actual behavior or, at an even more subtle level, how we think and how we view the world. Let’s take a brief look at how these two forces, Satan and the world, might be a formidable obstacle when it comes to understanding our true blessings “in Christ.”

In today’s spiritual marketplace, the church is often assailed by the enemy in ways both manifest and subtle. One of Satan’s main strategies is to put forth teachings that contain a grain of scriptural truth and, at least on the surface, sound good, especially from a worldly perspective. For example, many contemporary Bible teachers focus on material wealth and prosperity. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with wealth and having possessions, so long as we are not controlled by them. However, these teachers often go to scripture to support their contentions and, in so doing, often miss the point of the particular verse or portion of scripture they cite. Most of the current prosperity gospel advocates justify their teaching by quoting Jesus in John 10:10:

I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

According to the prosperity teachers, Jesus was speaking of material abundance when he uttered these words. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Given the situation they were in, I doubt the early Christians were overly concerned with gaining material wealth. In the early days of the church, the prime focus was on solidifying the local church, spreading the gospel, and staying alive.

When Christ spoke of abundance in John 10:10, he was speaking of the fullness of life. Here Jesus is talking about the fact that through his mission, believers will now have the capacity to have the fullness of life that was lost due to the Fall. In essence, He was referring to a restored humanity, now in proper relationship with God and ready to bear fruit.

The theological minutia surrounding the discussions of justification and sanctification can be both confusing and distracting. Although gaining an understanding of these concepts is important, for our present conversation going into depth about such matters would be an unnecessary distraction. For now, let’s just suffice to say that understanding and accepting who we are in Christ is central to the process of spiritual formation. Further, it is important that we see that our adoption into God’s family is an act of grace. Neil Anderson tells us:

Only as we see ourselves as sons and daughters of God can we really grow in holiness (see Romans 8:15). Only as we are free from the task of trying to gain a relationship with God by our own righteousness or cleanness will we be free to appropriate His righteousness and holiness for our growth.

Without Christ, his work on the cross and in rising from the tomb, we could not even begin to progress in terms of spiritual formation. In order to grow in spirit, we have to be connected to God. Just as a fish cannot thrive unless it is in water, we cannot thrive outside of our natural environment, which is proper connection with God. Christ’s mission accomplished this reconnection with our Maker and made all spiritual formation possible. Without the regeneration provided by the mission of Christ, we would remain in a state of separation from God. Listen to Neil Anderson as he so accurately elaborates this theme:

Spiritual growth in the Christian life requires a relationship with God, who is the fountain of spiritual life. Only through this relationship can we bear new seed or tap into the root of life. As in nature, unless there is some seed or root of life within an organism, no growth can take place. So unless there is a root of life within the believer – that is, some core of spiritual life – growth is impossible. There is nothing to grow.

The thrust of what is being said in this article is centered on the fact that we need to seize our proper identity in Christ, but in doing so, we must also understand the work of Christ on the cross and through his resurrection and ascension. Underlying this vital comprehension is that fact that we cannot be who and what we were intended to be without being in proper, intimate relationship with God. In order for that to be possible, our relationship must be restored. That’s where the Blood of Christ comes into play. Through his death, in some mysterious way Christ paid the debt for our sin and made reunion with the Father possible.

Beyond that, through his dying to self and rising in new life, we, too, may also die to our old way of being and rise in newness of life. But the story doesn’t end there. Christ, through his ascension into heaven, made possible the coming of the Holy Spirit. As Christ himself said, “Unless I leave, the Spirit won’t come.” As stated, Christ’s departure and his seat at the right hand of the Father make possible the Spirit’s presence in our lives. Now, just as the Father walked in the garden with the first couple, the Spirit walks along side of us. Even more important, he has also taken up residence within us.

It is not enough to die and rise again. We must also live in a new manner and it is the Spirit that makes this new way of thinking, feeling, behaving and relating possible. Grasp that, and you are well on your way of appropriating your new identity in Christ.

(c) L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved