THE CALL FOR REVOLUTIONARIES

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

When the Lord is your Master, the world is your mission and you are a prime target for evil each and every day. Hang on to your relationship with Jesus and those who follow Him and your eyes will be exactly where they need to be in order to fight the fight most effectively!

In order to fight the battle for your soul and for the souls of others you will be required to be serious about your walk with Jesus and with others who are following Jesus. The call to follow Jesus is a call for selflessness. This call has to do first with your heart and then how you care for others. It's really a call for those who are willing to sign up to be revolutionaries.

To be a revolutionary you must learn to love. Based upon God's unconditional love for you, there are two tracks of love that Jesus makes clear are most important. What's interesting to me is that they are foundational to anyone's life and possibly the simplest approach to your life ever. There are three different occasions where Jesus teaches these two love tracks.

FIRST in Matthew 22:38-40 Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment of the Law is. Jesus answers: "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

In this first instance Jesus does not really answer the question. He doesn't give the questioner one commandment, but gives him two-love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind AND love your neighbor as yourself. NOTE what He says about these two love tracks of loving God and loving your neighbor. The entire Law and the Prophets are dependent upon these two.

SECOND in Mark 12:32-34 Jesus is again asked what is the foremost commandment. After answering, the scribe said to Jesus: "Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE'S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

The scribe was right on! He even added to the two commandments. He said they are much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. Note what Jesus said back to the scribe: When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

The THIRD instance is found in Luke 10:26-28- And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE."

So, first, the entire Law and the Prophets depend on loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Then, if you love God and love your neighbor as yourself, you can be assured that you are not far from the Kingdom of God. Finally, Jesus says if you love God and love your neighbor as yourself, then you will live! Note the progression is pretty dynamite!

So, a Jesus revolutionary is one who practices loving God and loving his neighbor. There is one thing that will keep you from committing yourself to being a revolutionary and practicing the two most important revolutionary principles of Jesus. This one thing is an addiction of sorts. It's the problem of sin.

Sin is basically missing the mark-falling short of God's standard. Sin is not living the Kingdom principles; it's not following Jesus. So, instead of being Jesus centered, it's being self-centered.

It's the condition of mankind-the universal dilemma of self-centeredness that has plagued men/women from the beginning. Sin is the 'something broken' that can't be fixed or corrected by all the success, effort, money, sex, power, or ability in the world. This brokenness or separation is experienced as a haunting and fearful sense of being separated and unworthy and expresses itself in feelings of fear, anger, shame, guilt, or pain. We search the world over for someone or something we can control that will take away these painful feelings of inadequacy and we will become strongly attached or even addicted to any person, substance, behavior, or goal that promises to relieve or blot out our pain and sense of alienation.

The only possibility of removing the condition of sin is Jesus. He is the only one who can transform your heart away from your natural self-centeredness and into the two love tracks: love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. The devil and his demons know this, so they are committed to keeping you off-focus and off-message with respect to Jesus. Whatever problems you encounter may not be caused by the devil and his demons, but you can be certain they are there voting against you in your struggle and piling on. This is why it takes a committed revolutionary.

IF JESUS IS GOING TO DO HIS WORK IN YOUR LIFE IN HIS WAY, THEN YOU MUST RESIST THE DEVIL AND STAND AS A REVOLUTIONARY RIGHT ALONGSIDE JESUS.

A Response to THE SHACK by a non-believer!

CHECK OUT Paul Young's website.
This is classic!

My name is Aram and I just finished reading The Shack. I then went online and happened across a bunch of people arguing about it, for what looks like a few years now. People are calling this a heresy, a dangerous book, and warning people not to read it. Why?

I normally never comment on these things, but being an unbeliever – yes that’s right, I am not a Christian – I thought it might be useful for some of these theology spouting authorities to take a moment and look at what I, not a churchgoer in any way, have gleaned from this little book. And then ask yourself – because I really don’t know much about the Bible – is anything I learned leading me in the wrong direction? Perhaps all the way to this burning lake of fire so many Christians love trying and scare non-Christians into believing by? If this is the case, then I guess you’re right, and based on what you believe people shouldn’t read this book.

For me, I don’t believe fear and rules to be the answer, I never have. This has been the main reason for my avoidance of the church. However, when you preach love and forgiveness, through whatever means conveys it the best, whether fiction or otherwise, well now, my heart begins to open a tad. It makes me actually want to pick up a Bible perhaps and maybe read a little further.
Teach love my Christian friends, because people like me, we don’t respond well to fear tactics. And we definitely don’t get turned on by arrogant church leaders who think they have it all figured out.
Below are 57 new ideas I took away from this little book. Many are direct quotes from the book itself.

1. The different appearances of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were used to help Mack break his religious conditioning.

2. You don’t get brownie points for doing something through obligation; only if you want to.

3. Life takes a lot of time and a lot of relationship.

4. How free are we really? – family genetics, social influences, personal habits, advertising, propaganda & paradigms etc. Freedom is an incremental process that happens inside a relationship with Jesus Christ.

5. When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of God.

6. Pain has a way of clipping our wings, so we can’t fly. After awhile we forget we were ever created to fly.

7. When Jesus became a man he gave up his own ability to heal people and do miracles. His miracles were accomplished by Jesus’ (a man, a dependent limited human being) trust in the Father God. We are all designed to live like that, out of God’s life and power.

8. God exists in three persons so we, his creation, can also live in love and relationship, just like God does. If God didn’t, we couldn’t. “God cannot act apart from love.”

9. Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid wanting power is to limit oneself – to serve.

10. Sin is its own punishment, devouring from the inside. It’s not God’s purpose to punish it; it’s God’s joy to cure it.

11. When people choose independence over relationship, we become a danger to each other.

12. If people learned to regard each other’s concerns as significant as their own, there would be no need for hierarchy. God does not relate inside a hierarchy; God wants us to trust him because he will never use or hurt us.

13. When Christians don’t trust God it’s because they don’t know they are loved by him. They think God is not good.

14. Mack says: “I just can’t imagine any final outcome that would justify all this (pain, suffering etc).” Papa replies: “We’re not justifying it. We are redeeming it.”

15. The choice of God to hide so many wonders from man is an act of love that is a gift inside the process of life.

16. For any created being, autonomy is lunacy.

17. When something happens to us, how do we determine whether it is good or bad? By whether we like it or if it causes us pain. This is self-serving and self-centred.

18. We become the judge of good and evil; so when each person’s good and evil clashes with someone else’s, fights, even wars, break out.

19. Eating of the tree tore the universe apart, divorcing the spiritual from the physical. All of us died, expelling the very breath of God.

20. We play God in our independence. The only remedy is to give up the right to decide good and evil and choose to live in God and trust and rest in his goodness.

21. God is light and God is good. Removing ourselves from God will plunge us into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from God, you can only draw on yourself. That is death, because you have separated yourself from God, from Life.

22. This concept is difficult for us because the good may be the presence of cancer or the loss of income, or even a life. Sarayu answers: “Don’t you think we care about these people who suffer too? Each of them is the centre of another story that is untold.”

23. About having ‘rights’: “‘Rights’ are where survivors go so they won’t have to work out relationships.”

24. Jesus gave up his rights so his dependent life would open a door that would allow us to live free enough to give up our rights.

25. Each of us is wild, beautiful, and perfectly in process when God is working with a purpose in our hearts. We are an emerging, growing, and alive pattern – a living fractal.

26. We tend to live either in the past or the future; dwelling on the pain and the regret of the past, instead of a quick visit to learn something from it. Or fearing the future, letting our imagination run wild with worry, and forgetting to see the future with Jesus. This happens when: a. we don’t really know we’re loved and b. we don’t believe that God is good.

27. Apart from Jesus’ life, we cannot submit one to another. Jesus’ life is not an example to be copied. Jesus came to live his life in us; so we will see with God’s eyes, hear with his ears, love with his heart, and touch with his hands.

28. Some say love grows, but it is the knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it. Love is the skin of knowing.

29. We human beings are constantly judging others because we are self-centred.

30. We say: “Predators deserve judgment, their parents, too, for twisting them, and their parents, and on and on, until finally we go right back to Adam, and then, why not judge God? He started it all…isn’t God to blame for our losses? He could have not created, or he could have stopped the killer, but he didn’t.” If we can judge God so easily then, of course, we can judge the world. We must then (e.g.) choose two of our five children to go to heaven and three to go to hell, because that’s what we believe God does. Mack could not choose any one of his children because he loved them no matter what they did. So instead, he begged that he could go to hell for his children. This response is exactly what Jesus did. Mack judged well. He judged his children worthy of love, even if it cost him everything. This is how Jesus loves. ‘And now we know Papa’s heart.”

31. God’s love is so much larger than our sin could ever be.

32. Evil was never a plan of God’s. We must return from our independence, give up being his judge, and know God for who he is.

33. When we receive God’s love and stop judging him we let go of the guilt and despair that had sucked the colours of life out of everything.

34. God never abandons his children. We are never alone. God could no more abandon us than he could abandon himself.

35. “Live loved.”

36. When we leave the light of God and retreat to the darkness all alone, the darkness makes our fears, lies, and regrets bigger in the dark. Sometimes, as a kid, doing this is part of survival, but now we must come to the light.

37. Jesus will travel any road to find his children. But only one road leads back to heaven.

38. Stories about a person willing to exchange their life for another reveal our need and God’s heart.

39. Even though God can work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies, it does not mean God caused it. Where there is suffering, you will find grace in many facets and colours.

40. ‘Love’ bothers to keep trying to touch people and never gives up.

41. Sometimes we hide inside lies that justify who we are and what we do.

42. Ask for forgiveness and let the forgiveness heal you. Take the risk of honesty. Faith does not grow in the house of uncertainty.

43. Our transformation is a miracle greater than raising the dead.

44. All evil flows from independence.

45. God’s purposes are always and only an expression of love. God works life out of death, freedom out of brokenness, and light out of darkness.

46. Emotions are neither good nor bad. They are the colours of the soul. They are spectacular and incredible.

47. The more you live in the truth, the more our emotions will help you see clearly.

48. Trying to keep the law is actually a declaration of independence, a way of keeping control. Keeping the law grants us the power to judge others and feel superior.

49. Responsibility and expectation are dead nouns, full of judgment, guilt, and shame. Our identity becomes wrapped up in performance. The opposite is when God gives us an ability to respond that is free to love and serve in every situation, with God in us; and expectancy is alive and dynamic with no concrete expectation – only the gift of being together.

50. To the degree we live with expectations and responsibilities is the degree we fear and the degree we don’t trust or know God.

51. If God is the centre of everything, then together we can live through everything that happens to us.

52. Forgiveness is big.

53. When bad things happen, what God had to offer us in response is his love, goodness, and relationship with us.

54. God doesn’t do humiliation, guilt, or condemnation. They don’t produce one speck of wholeness or righteousness.

55. Forgiving isn’t about forgetting; it’s about letting go of another person’s throat.

56. Forgiveness does not create a relationship; it simply removes them from your judgment.

57. Because you are important to God, everything you do is important.

Hey aramac77,

Only an unbeliever could have your clarity and insight! Believer’s minds tend to be clouded and controled by their beliefs. Believers can’t think clearly. Every bit of information is evaluated, not for its truth, wisdom, or usefulness, but whether or not it’s consistent with what is already believed. You appear to have derived so much more from The Shack than a lot of believers will be able to. They’ll reject the insight simply because it differs from their paradigm, and they’ll miss the benefits you’ve gained from the book.

Well done! Don’t ever let believers interfere with whatever your walk with God turns out to be.

-rosch99

VOTE FOR JESUS AND HIS KINGDOM

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

(Matthew 4:12-25) When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake.... From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

NOTE what Jesus began to preach to the people: "Repent or change your mind about what you're doing-wake up-for the Kingdom of heaven has come near." He begins His teaching ministry with the Kingdom. Later, at the end of His earthly ministry, we will visit Jesus again during the 40 days He spent with His disciples before ascending into heaven and there, too, it was all about the Kingdom.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus approached two sets of brothers-fishermen-and summoned them to follow Him. What is most important here is to understand what is really going on. This isn't one person walking up to another person and calling them to drop their nets and follow. The Jewish culture was a religious one and revolved around the teaching and leadership of the Rabbi's. Young boys were initially educated by the local Rabbi. As each student grew up he was always being evaluated by the Rabbi to determine how far along the student would go. Is this a good enough student to follow in the dust of the Rabbi or would this student be rejected from advancing into a higher education? When a Rabbi accepted a student, his parents were so proud. If rejected, then the student would be sent home to take on the profession of his father. This student's parents still accepted their young student, but this rejection meant a little lower level of society for their child.

These two sets of brothers had obviously been rejected by their Rabbi's and were therefore working in the trade of their fathers. Instead of playing on the first team-the varsity, those who were rejected by the Rabbi were in a kind of junior varsity position in life. When the new Rabbi, Jesus, came along and picked out these brothers to follow in His dust, this was an amazingly attractive opportunity. Note that James and John's father, Zebedee, doesn't seem to resist their decision to leave the family business. He was thrilled that a Rabbi had picked his kids!

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demonized, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

NOTE that Jesus went all over, teaching in the local synagogues, proclaiming the "good news" of the Kingdom. His primary activity to demonstrate this "good news" of the Kingdom was to meet the various needs of the people-healing every disease and sickness among them.

ONE MORE THING HERE: The message of Jesus was the good news of the Kingdom. Those who were attracted to this message were attracted to the Kingdom. They weren't looking for a new Rabbi to come along and plant new synagogues in their villages. And, these new disciples of Jesus were following Jesus as the King and were thrilled with the message of the Kingdom.

I ask this question again: Why is it that our "gospel" (good news) message doesn't include the Kingdom at all? If we want to walk, talk, think and love like Jesus, then we must pay attention to Jesus-His message and His methodology. How could we ever think that our ways might be better and more effective than His?

Well, here we are at a very interesting time in the recent history of the USA. We are about to go to the polls and vote for the next President of the United States and vote for or against several social issues. To hear many speak of this election, you might think that the future of the nation hangs in the balances, depending upon which person we elect and which issues we accept or reject. This cannot be the primary issue of a disciple of Jesus. We who are disciples may vote one way or another, but our allegiance and focus is with Jesus and His Kingdom. We live in His Kingdom with Him-actually walking with Jesus personally-and are not limited to whatever happens in this country or any other without Jesus. Jesus is the only way through this difficult time and does not rest on any candidate or law that might be established or abolished.

So, let's carefully and meaningfully respond to the two most revolutionary words in all of history-words that actually elect Jesus as the Lord of your life. The words from Jesus are FOLLOW ME!

JESUS AND HIS KINGDOM

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

If you are signing on to be a disciple of Jesus, then you will want to carefully follow Jesus as a learner and do what He says and does. One of the early "ahaa's" that caught my attention about Jesus is the simple and single-minded focus of the emphasis on the person of Jesus and the principles of the Kingdom.

The typical focus within Christianity is to be a good Christian and to make others Christians. Jesus would not agree to this emphasis. He is all about you being and disciple of Him and making disciples of Jesus throughout the nations.

Over the past few years I have been experiencing a pronounced learning curve regarding Jesus. And, in the past several months my learning curve is no longer a curve, but it is perpendicular. I cannot believe the things I've overlooked in the teachings of Jesus throughout the years. The blinders that I have been wearing come from being over-educated beyond my intelligence in Biblical studies. What I've come to realize is that what I've been educated to do is to make everything a little more complicated than it really is and then to tie it up in a nice little theological box.

Now, in the process of seeing Jesus more clearly, something very thrilling is emerging before my eyes and ears. Seeing Jesus clearly is one thing; understanding His teachings more clearly about the Kingdom is not only transformational, but truly revolutionary.

Now, I am becoming more and more fascinated with JESUS AND HIS KINGDOM. This combination is life-changing to those who dare to see and hear.

The nature of the kingdom is simple. Your personal kingdom is all you have say over. Therefore, the Kingdom of God is all God has say over. When you encounter Jesus, you must sign off as king and submit to Jesus as the King of your kingdom, because He is the King of kings.

As disciples, it's important to consider a couple of basic things about the Kingdom. FIRST-A cursory look at the theme of Jesus' teachings is about the Kingdom. Jesus mentions the "church" only twice, yet the gospels record 127 times where Jesus teaches the Kingdom.

SECOND-What is the two-dimensional message of Jesus, Phillip and Paul in the book of Acts? The message is the combination of Jesus and the Kingdom. In Acts 1 Jesus appears to His disciples for 40 days to give them certain proof of His resurrection and personness and He spent the time teaching them about the Kingdom. Phillip taught the combination of Jesus and the Kingdom to the Samaritans.

And, finally, Paul, when under house-arrest in Rome, spent his time and energy teaching those who came to visit him about one primary theme-Jesus and the Kingdom.

Once these things are observed, questions pop into my mind. Why is it that we are all about "church", when Jesus wasn't? Why do we preach the "church", when Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom? Why do we emphasize the "church" and minimize the Kingdom in our fellowships?

One of the primary answers to these questions is that playing "church" is what we've seen as an example of how to walk with Jesus. Even more concerning to me is that playing the "church" card gives a person a sense of being able to control a piece of spiritual life and lifestyle. You may control the "church", but you can never control the Kingdom of God.

Jesus and His Kingdom. Jesus leads you to His Kingdom and the Kingdom principles lead you to Jesus, the King. In fact, Jesus actually calls it the "gospel of the Kingdom."

If you're up to it, come along on this journey with me and allow the message of the gospel of the kingdom be planted as a seed deep down in your soul. If you have ears to hear and eyes to see, your life will be transformed-inside out and upside down. So come along. You'll never regret the journey!

HOW IS THE KINGDOM PRACTICED-II?

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

There are two dimensions of the fellowship principle. The first dimension is to share in life as in being partners in life. This dynamic creates an inner security and support system for those who participate.

The second dimension of the fellowship principle is to share with others in need. This has more to do with sharing with those who are in need physically. There are several categories of people in need that come to mind. When you come together, be aware of believers in need around you. This demonstration of fellowship was an integral part of the early fellowship experience.

Remember the description of the early disciples in the 2nd chapter of Acts. They had a sense of awe of the presence of God as they gathered together and "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:44-47)

When you come together, be aware of the needs of those around you. I am particularly struck with the way the Kingdom is practiced when it comes to the needs of those in the fellowship-they gave to anyone as he had need. This has been my experience as followers of Jesus participate in fellowship together. They have a sense of rallying around anyone who has a need and seek to meet that need. This may be financial or more than financial. When someone is sick or in trouble, when someone needs a job or when someone needs to be encouraged or challenged to make some changes.

When you come together, be aware of the needs of your teachers and those who minister to you. When Jesus called and sent out the Twelve on their initial assignment He instructed them: "Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support" (Matthew 10:8-10). This same understanding of sharing with those who minister to you is extended in Paul's letter to Timothy: "The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING' and 'The laborer is worthy of his wages'" (I Timothy 5:17-18)

Several years ago Diana and I responded to a "calling" to follow Jesus more simply. A group of friends over the years continue to support us, so that we are released to study, pray, counsel, teach and minister to those Jesus brings our way in a full-time manner. It is a most humbling experience, yet we are free to work with anyone anywhere without having an agenda-especially a financial agenda. The monthly support is up and its down, but somehow the Lord continues to supply our needs as doors of ministry continue to open. We can think of no greater privilege than what we are doing right now.

We have also found new meaning to the term "tent-maker". Paul was by profession a tent-maker. He worked that business whenever he could in order to be free to minister to people without any hidden agenda. Also people supported him from time to time to get the job done. I am a speaker-a professional speaker, which means people actually pay for me to speak. The Lord has used this to supplement our support right when we need it. So, we do tent-making from time to time.

However, I've come to realize that everyone who is a follower of Jesus is also a tent-maker. Your tent-making is your occupation that you are paid to do. If you are a teacher, you are paid to teach. But in that paid occupation you have a greater calling and that is to pattern yourself after Jesus and to practice the Kingdom lifestyle. Even those of you who work for a Church are in a paid occupation-a job, but while doing your work you are to pay attention to the real calling and attraction to Jesus and the Kingdom.

When you come together, be aware of the needs of those who are sent out to do ministry outside of your local fellowship. This is especially true as God raises up leadership in other countries. You are not to just say, "We'll pray for you." You must think in terms of truly sharing with them, so that they are empowered to do what God has called them to do in the name of Jesus.

Paul says to Timothy: "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed" (I Timothy 6:17-19). The fellowship must stand ready to share financially to underwrite and support the needs of the Kingdom of Jesus wherever it may spread.

Jesus and His early disciples were supported mostly by successful business women. Then, as the movement spread finances were always available through followers of Jesus who viewed themselves as Kingdom kids, feeling responsible to keep the Good News message and movement of Jesus spreading everywhere doors opened. When the fellowship is functioning properly, there is no need for heavy promotions. It all has to do with attraction to the irresistible Jesus and the irreversible Kingdom.