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Author: mhelbert

Being With the Living God Where The Sky Begins

Back in the late 80’s we took the family on a camping road trip. We started at a Yogi Bear Jellystone camp at Niagara Falls in Canada. That was fun for a couple days. We saw the sights and rode the Maid of the Mist and got wet. Far out. After those couple of days it was time to move on. We had no idea where to go. Hey, it was a road trip! Don’t judge me! We wound up at a Good Sam’s park near Lake Placid, NY. We thought it might be a good idea to see the Adirondack’s. Plus, in the 80’s the Miracle on Ice from the Lake Placid Olympics was still fresh in everyone’s mind. It was almost a national shrine. So, we drove through town. We saw the ski jump training hills. As we drove through the hills and valleys there were numerous cross-country skiers training on their skis with wheels. I still can’t imagine the strength and stamina that those athletes have. I feel good when I can complete a 3 mile stroll through the suburbs!
Anyway, we got to the campground and set up the tent and everything. The first day we just scouted things out on the grounds. The rivers and streams that flow through there are amazing! Rivers that get squeezed down to flow through small fissures of rock create torrents that shoot out into the air before falling a small lake below. We went on a short boat ride through an area that was less than 20 ft. wide, yet maybe a hundred ft. deep. It was a truly amazing thing for a northern Ohio boy to see.
On one day we looked at the map of the region that we picked up at the park office. It showed several sites worth taking the time to visit. One of those was Bear Den Mountain. The trail head was less than a mile from the camp, so we decided that it would be an adventure. We started up the trail. It was a mild incline, so my wife, myself, and our kids, age maybe 7 & 8 didn’t think that it was too bad. Soon, the trail turned into the woods and the incline became noticeably steeper. Not too steep for us. But, still, it was a workout. We saw the large birch trees with claw marks scratched in them by the mountain’s namesake bears. The flies and gnats became a real pain in the ass, too. We picked fern fronds to wave in front of our faces to keep them at bay. By now, the kids were beginning to lose interest in this adventure. But, we could see the top. Or, so we thought. So, we kept trudging onward and upward. After we hiked past the first false top, we did finally get to the real summit. Now, you gotta understand that we had no idea what this little hike was going to be like. So, we had running shoes and shorts and short-sleeved shirts on. We were totally not dressed to climb a mountain. At the top the temperature was probably 20 degrees cooler than at the bottom. The wind was blowing and, well, it wasn’t all that pleasant. But, the view! Looking out at the mountains across a valley with their sheer granite cliffs and trees was unbelievable. I can’t begin to explain what I felt as I took in that panorama.
We soon left and headed down by another path. This time I had to carry my daughter on my shoulders because she was wasted. Eventually, we came out onto a ski slope with grass and wild strawberries growing. The slope was easier and we soon came back to the trail head.
That night we were awakened by son as he was losing his supper all over the inside of the tent. Apparently, our adventure was a bit much for him. As I sat in the restroom with him, my wife cleaned up the puke and set the soiled rags outside of the tent. When my son and I finally returned, my wife informed me that the rags she had put outside had been stolen by raccoons that ran off into the woods with them. Well, at least we didn’t need to wash them.
I shared all of this because this morning as I sat at my desk in prayer, I asked God where He would like to meet today. As soon as I asked we were at the top of Bear Den Mountain. We sat and looked out at that wonderful view. Jesus asked me what I thought. Of course, I was again rendered speechless by that view. He then told me that these mountains had been here for millions of years. Yeah, Jesus accepts science. He’s not one of those confused Young Earthers. Anyway, we wound up just sitting there. We didn’t talk about anything. We just sat together on the top of the world enjoying the view.
God isn’t concerned about our small beliefs that put God into little boxes made of ticky-tacky. Or, whatever. What God IS concerned about is being with us. God enjoys just sitting with us. Wasting time as we share the view. Over the last many years I’ve come to covet these moments with God.
And, there’s no puke to clean up after!

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Our Country Tis Of Thee, Sweet Land Of People To Love

Lent is a season when folks are encouraged to look within. Introspection and reflection are as much a part of this season as candles and greenery are part of the Advent season. Many people and groups use some kind of Lenten devotional or 40 day plan to help with reflection during this time. Our church is no exception. We are using a book by Brad & Eden Jersak entitled, “Rivers from Eden: 40 Days of Intimate Conversation with God.” While it’s not strictly an Lenten book, it serves well as a source that helps with prayer and reflection.
This past week there were two days in which we were encouraged to ask God about things in our country that grieve God and bring God joy. These questions seemed appropriate considering the current divisive culture that holds the country in its grasp. Surely, God would find plenty that causes grief. And, not a lot to bring joy.
However, God is not us. Thankfully. In the book Eden Jersak wrote about her own experience of listening to the Bat Qol, the Daughter of a voice, with which God so often speaks to us. In her reflection God stated that one thing brings tears to the Divine Eyes. Selfishness. Very simple. So many people are willing to trample the rights and lives of others in order to ensure that their own rights and demands are met. I have to say that God is pretty darned observant. Eden’s reflection goes on to say that such self-centeredness is not a necessary nor inevitable action. If folks would simply take time to look outward to others. She wrote, “If this nation became less interested in what it needed and more interested in what others needed, it would become a very powerful nation indeed.” But that simple action is so very difficult for folks.
On the other side, joy comes to God as He looks at the whole of the country. Not everyone is caught up in the rip tide of selfishness. There are points of light all over. Lights of people who have turned to God and Others in order to build up and not take away. Our country is not a monolith where every single person is defined by the same buildings or people or whatever we set up in the middle as My Country. We are diverse. We are many colored and multi-vocal. These are people whose citizenship is first with the Kingdom of God. Geographic nationality does not define them.
Thomas Merton was a Cistercian Monk who lived in a monastery in Kentucky. In 1958 he was in Louisville running some errands when he had a special moment of revelation. He wrote, “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world. . . .

This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud. . . . I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. . . . But this cannot be seen, only believed and ‘understood’ by a peculiar gift.”
― Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

This is what it looks like when we see others through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. There are no longer divisions in which we define “Us” over against “Them.” It’s for this reason that I can pray for Donald Trump. Not that God would squash him. Nor that God would pour out wrathful judgment. But, that God would be present with him. That God’s Holy Spirit would touch his heart and mind and reveal Godself to him.
It’s why I can be dispassionate about the issues that tear families and friends apart. We are, all of us, in need of grace and mercy. All. Of. The. Time.
I’m writing this today primarily to the community of faith that professes Jesus as Messiah and Lord. This is our calling and vocation. We are the light of the world. The Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Body of Christ. Ours is the obligation to live and work to establish God’s Kingdom.
For those who do not profess Jesus, there is still the responsibility to treat others as we would desire them to treat us. We are a Community of Humanity. In this community we ARE our brothers’ keepers. If we can all turn our gaze outward for just a moment, perhaps we can bring joy. Not only to God, but to the World.

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What to do on Friday. Time For Joyous Celebration!

Jump for Joy! It’s Friday!

Well, it’s Friday morning. I finished the dishes and took Josie for a walk. She loves watching the squirrels and chipmunks. Actually, she’d like to play with them. But, that’s not a great idea. We know that spring has arrived. The ducks are back. Yeah, Josie wants to go swimming with them. They don’t seem too keen on that. It’s really wet back in the woods, so I have to wrestle with this 60 lb. dog to keep her out of the mud. She loves the water and the wet. If I let her she’d splash through the muck with a great big doggie smile. But, for my sanity and the condition of my house, we need to keep her to the trails.

Andrew Zimmern’s on the tube with his Delicious Destinations show. I like Andrew. I’d never eat half of what he considers edible. His other show, Bizarre Foods has some nasty looking concoctions. My wife won’t even watch it because of the stuff that Andrew calls ‘food.’ It’s not. It’s offal and it’s insects and some things that I have no clue what it is.

After I get done here I need to continue my search for some kind of part time employment. Nothing much, but something to help out with bills and such. You’d be surprised at what a Master’s degree costs!

It’s a Friday in Lent. We usually do fish on these days. Last week we decided that a veggie pizza works. So, maybe that’ll become our new Lenten go to meal. Gotta love jalapenos! Do any of you follow any kind of Lenten tradition? When I was a kid I never even heard the term ‘Lent.’ If I had I would have probably thought that it was stuff that was on your clothes when they came out of the dryer. We had Lent Rollers to take care of that.

I know that this post is a tad strange. After all that I have written lately, I needed to take a break and write about nothing at all. Clear the mental palate. Next week it’s back to the words that I need to write. It’s not really a matter of what I want to do. To share God and God’s Love is more like a vocation, a calling, that I have to follow. But, til then, enjoy the weekend. Take a walk. Breathe.

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What Is Church? A Country Club? A Social Organization?

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Some medical providers say that it’s not healthy to stuff emotions. Holding feelings deep within us causes all sorts of issues, both mental and physical. So, I’m gonna blame my venting in recent posts on maintaining my own mental health. There.
Now that that’s done, I can move on to a similar topic from a different angle. I have spent a lot of time writing and talking about the shortcomings of the Church. It’s really easy to point out the negatives. And, the Church has quite a list of outstanding needs. I mentioned only a few in these posts. Today, however, I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about what I think the Church can look like. In the mind of Mike, what would the ideal Church be? So, let’s have a look, shall we?
First and foremost, the Church must be wholly devoted to God. Without that devotion, frankly, there is no such thing AS Church. Without it the Church is nothing more than a social justice organization. Or, worse, a clique of angry people who have no clue what it is that they are doing.
Messiah Jesus made it possible for the world to experience the fruit of the defeat of sin and death. He, alone, has made the Way for the world to know God. Jesus did provide an example of how humans can, (should?), live together, that was not His primary goal. His primary goal was to reveal to us the Reign of God in the world. In Biblical terms that’s called the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus ushered in a new age where humanity may be restored to the true Image Bearers of God in the world. To be stewards of the world. To work in partnership with God to be a blessing to what God said in the beginning, was the Tov Me’od creation. That is, the Very Good creation. What that may look like deserves a series of blog posts of its own. Let’s just say, God thinks the world is very good. The Church has an obligation to care for it.
Second, the Church is a community like no other. The Apostle Paul used the image of a human body to describe it. We are all different, re. Diverse, yet members of One body. He wrote that a toe can’t say that it’s not part of the body. I think we’ve all experienced that. Stub a toe and the whole body is acutely aware of it. The Church as body is one organism that is made of many parts that are completely dependent on one another. Only Messiah Jesus is the head. I am certainly not. What would this look like in real life? Well, competition among various members would need to go away. Trying to cut off or remove another member would result, at best, despoil Messiah’s Body. At worst? Well, just take a look around at all of the divisions and fighting that goes on among those who consider themselves “Us” as they flip the bird at “Them.” This can only change if we are all devoted to God alone.
Third, the Church is by definition a Welcoming Community. Now, I don’t mean that we’re nice to people. Nor, when someone new steps into our church we nod our heads and smile at them. It’s not even going up to them and shaking their hand. It is those things, to be sure. But, it is far more than that. Being a Welcoming Community means that we are proactive and take our Welcome to where it is most needed. The Bible gives us a very basic outline of who that is. They are the widows, the orphans, and the foreigner who dwells among us. The outcast; the leper; the Other…whoever is NOT welcomed by those outside of the Welcoming Community. In the early centuries of the Church when plague ravaged the countryside, it was the Church who entered into harms way to offer comfort and care to those who were sick and dying. St. Francis is known for his entering into the leper colonies to cleanse the sores and to comfort those who were the most forgotten. Jesus went to those who were considered less than human by the powers that be in order to heal and to share the Good News that God loved them and cared for them and WELCOMED them. That’s what Welcoming Community looks like.
I could go on and on about how the Church is a sacrificing body. That it is the Temple where the Holy Spirit lives. How it has an obligation to speak prophetically to the world by speaking truth to power. These are only a few of the attributes that I think would go a long way toward defining the Church.
What are some of your thoughts?
Can you add to this list?
Are you a part of this?

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Sojourning for a Little While. Let’s Do It Right.

On the Way shutterstock 723981925

Last week I wrote a rather harsh post directed toward those who say that they follow Jesus. I am so frustrated with my sisters and brothers who, like Esau who gave away his birthright as the firstborn because he was hungry. The quintessential short-sighted person. The Church has given away its birthright as well. And, for an equally short-sighted reason.
Political power and control.
Such a fickle mistress is politics. I have been around a long time and have seen political fortunes ebb and flow with the tide of public opinion. For the Body of Christ to embrace such nonsense is truly beyond frustrating.
I know that many, (most?), who read this think that I’m over reacting. All of this is simply a passing thing. Once humanity advances a bit more and becomes more empathetic and kind, these stone age ideas will pass just as the Neanderthal. There’s a problem with that thinking. Neanderthal DNA is still present in modern Homo Sapiens. It has persisted far beyond it’s original form. So shall the ideas and cultural baggage that my fellow pilgrims on this Way.
Let me give a couple of examples that I heard this past weekend. I was with some others having coffee. One of them spoke about someone who was a tad more liberal than he. Another person interjected something along the lines of, “What, is she some sort of liberal? Does she recognize the “Trans Movement”? The other said that it wasn’t about the “Trans Movement.”
The exchange was biting and hostile. And, a purely political exchange.
The same person who had replied to that earlier exchange shared a story about being in New York City for the Macy’s parade. After the parade there were apparently protesters outside of Macy’s. They were protesting Macy’s selling of mink coats. This person said that he went up to the protesters and made the statement that they must be Pro-Life. After all, if they protested the slaughter of animals they surely must be against the slaughter of innocent unborn children. He emphasized his argument until some of the protesters became uncomfortable. But, to him, this was a victory for God. I think that if he wanted to actually do something helpful he should have joined the protesters. After all, he is Pro-Life!
These examples seem to be insignificant to most people. Maybe you, dear reader. The ramblings of people who have no idea what the culture is moving toward. Ok. I’ll give you that.
For me, however, these are people who claim to believe in God the Father of Jesus. Their faith is wrapped up in how they interpret and understand the Scripture. The same Scripture that I love. This is painful for me. These folks have walked away from their First Love in order to embrace a particular political position. Then, they say that their position is godly and the Only True Way to Christian. In their judgment any deviation from their narrow, conservative political position amounts to heresy. And, heretics are to be stoned.
When I decry the way the Church has been compromised by the powers and politics of humanity I am sharing the pain that I feel. The pain that Jesus and the Church are being misrepresented by hateful people. The pain that the Church has allowed herself to be dragged down to such a level where she can no longer be the voice of God’s Love and Good Grace to the world. And, the pain that so many of my sisters and brothers are bound up in the chains which have lies for links.
If anything that I write or teach or preach may break some of those links, then I will rejoice.
If God’s Good Grace and Love may find a way into this world to reveal health and healing, that will answer prayers.
If I, and others, (I’m surely not alone in this), can represent Jesus and the Church in a way that honors both God and Humanity, my job will be done well.
So, when I rant about the Church and the ways in which she has been slandered and mislead, grant me some grace. This is my heart and my passion.

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Dick needed a horse. What Do You Need?

Hope in the Dead? Shutterstock 285809015

“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” cried Shakespeare’s Richard III. A king desperate for something as common as a horse, is willing to give his entire kingdom away. There are several things that we can learn from this. But, this is not the time. This is the time to discuss something much more important.
What the hell is a kingdom?
It’s probably a good bet that no one reading this has ever been a subject of a king. Nor, a citizen of a kingdom. Even those who do have royal heads of state don’t live in the type of feudal world in which Richard III is cast. So, our understanding of these terms is fairly limited.
The only ‘Kings’ that we have ever had any contact with come from ancient literature, or sadly, from the Silver Screen of Hollywood. With such data we can only use our imaginations to try and construct a world where knights were bold and battle filled the air. Oh, sorry, that’s Hollywood speaking. Certainly, not the reality.
Perhaps, in our imaginary quest to realize what a king and kingdom are we can start with sovereignty. A king was a Sovereign. A simple definition would be to have “supreme power and authority.” For our kingdom in the mind, a Sovereign King would be that person who has supreme authority to rule without any outside interference. He would be a person who could assimilate the title of “Your Worship” and it would have real meaning. Any person who refused to bow in obeisance to the Sovereign could expect to learn very quickly that he was truly mistaken.
Our kingdom would likely include several vassal states. These would be lands held by people who had expressed fealty to our sovereign in homage and loyalty. They would also be expected to pick up the costs of our king. These vassals had people who actually did the work on the land. These folks are known as serfs. Serfs have no rights, no land, and no life that their lord and master did not give permission.
I know that this is an extremely simplistic view of Kings and stuff. Hey, I don’t live in a feudal culture. None of you have, either.
And, yet we do, in a way give our loyalty and obeisance to others who are not royalty. We don’t always think about this, but it’s true. Everything we do is an act of giving homage and loyalty to those we consider important, if not sovereign.
Now, the rest of this post is directed specifically to the Christian Church. To those who consider themselves followers of Jesus.
Listen up!
Jesus came to Israel and proclaimed the Gospel. “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is near!” There’s that word “Kingdom” again. He pronounced this Gospel everywhere that He went. To lepers and tax collectors. Pharisees and learned scholars all got to hear this message from the man from Nazareth.
Jesus called people to “Come! Follow me!” And, they did. Leaving hearth, home, and lives they set out on the road with Jesus in order to join Him in that same proclamation, “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is near!” These people even thought that they would join Jesus in ruling this new kingdom. Two of his followers even enlisted their mom to ask Jesus if her two sons could sit on His right and left. These were positions of power in any kingdom.
There was just one catch to all of this. Jesus mentioned that little bump in the road to this new kingdom. He told the Roman prelate, Pontius Pilate that if Jesus was a king, that kingdom was not of this world.
What?! A kingdom with no land? No palace where the vassals and other subservient subjects could come to grovel at the king’s feet? NO TREASURY?!?!?
Well, yeah, that’s pretty much the definition of a Kingdom not of this world. Isn’t it?
But, YOU have made it about a kingdom of this world! You have put your trust in human leaders; their so-called power; their riches and treasures! From the earliest days of God’s kingdom revealed in the people who followed Jesus, you have sought to make peace with the ways of these kingdoms of men. You codified it under the banner of Constantine. And, you have made it your sworn duty and calling to subject all who you encounter to your false king and god. For, if you say that you are members of god’s kingdom and serve those who are Not god, are you not idolaters?
John the Seer wrote to a church that was in the city of Laodicea. He wrote, “You say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” That is what the Church has become. And, the sad part is that you don’t even realize your poverty. For, you have given up the glory of God’s promise in order to eat the slop that this world’s ways offer you.
John also offered hope to those at Laodicea. He encouraged them to seek the true gold and the true riches that are found only in the kingdom in which God is sovereign. He asked them to change the direction of their hope from the kingdoms of this world. Their hearts and minds needed a new object of trust. For, this world offers nothing but smoke and mirrors. Dust blowing in the wind.
I know that this isn’t a typical blog post from me. But, it is what I had to say. I don’t want to leave on a down note. That’s not my way, not is it God’s. God is nothing if not a God of Hope. If my words offend you, well, ok. But, I rather hope that they may cause some to pause and reflect on where their true hope and life are found. In the kingdoms of folks like Richard III? Or, in the One Kingdom that entered this world with the voice of a lone Galilean, “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is near!”

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Perfect Love Disarms And Casts Away Fear

I wrote a short while ago how I’m so over the current news cycles. Not only are they biased in order to garner clicks and advertisers, they are truly skewed to generate negative emotions. Not like mine. I get frustrated and turn the shit off. On the other hand, there are a huge number of people who sit enthralled by the latest headlines of shootings and war and politicians’ lies. They want to know why these things are happening so they turn to any source that can provide them with some kind of solace. Even if that means diving into the sewer that is Q-anon or the Chans. Even idiotic conspiracy theories are better than nothing when it comes to explaining the world.
Why is this? How is it that normally rational human beings turn to nonsense dressed in satin and lace? I have a theory.
Fear.
Ok, it’s not so much mine. Nor is it a theory. It’s pretty much a proven fact that fear drives people to think and do things that, under normal existence, they would never consider. This is the prime motivation that all of the news networks employ to keep people coming back for more and more bad news. That’s because fear is a great motivator. Folks live in fear for their lives, their livelihoods, and their children. Fear of losing a job or, worse, to lose status and power in the culture sends people into the streets, (and, onto the Capitol steps).
If I was an anthropologist I could likely spin a tale of evolutionary conditioning in which fear was a good thing. Fear kept our ancestors on the lookout for predators. Fear enabled them to ‘fight or flight’ reactions. Our ancient fears allowed our species to survive and thrive. Yeah, if I was that anthropologist. I’m not.
The fear that I’m talking about really has nothing to do with those old self-preservation fears, anyhow. This fear is totally irrational. I know that the main character on the TV show, Irrational, says that all people do irrational things. He’s likely right. But, in today’s world fear drives people to live in irrationality. Fear drives them deeper and deeper into the darkness where light diminishes into shadow.
I wrote several years ago about how some so-called preachers instill fear into those under their care. That is a type of abuse aimed at control. Today’s fear isn’t too far removed from that. Only now the media and political leaders use fear to control everyone within earshot. I am pointing my finger at ALL media and ALL politicians. It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle, fear is the chain that binds people. If you hadn’t noticed, the name of this blog is Breaking the Chains that Bind. That’s why I’m writing this post. We don’t need to be shackled by the cultural public fear that we’re being fed every hour of every day.
Of course, we could simply walk away and ignore it. That’s not practical, but it is possible. We would effectively need to remove ourselves from the public domain and hibernate in a cave somewhere. There’s always the option of educating ourselves about what’s going on. But, when folks are bound up in their own fearful little corner of the world, education doesn’t work. Their personal shields make it impossible for them to accept any facts that may contradict the safety of their world. No, something much more powerful than education must be used. I could claim that faith in God is the only true solution. So many powerful people, re., men, proclaim that Jesus is the Answer. However, they neglect to tell us what the question is. Jesus is touted as the Perfect Elixir for All That Ails Ya. All ya gotta do is think and believe exactly like I tell you to. (Not how I actually think and believe. Just sayin’.)
Way back in the days when the first communities of faith were getting their feet, there was a lot of reason to fear. Not these made up fears that bombard us day and night. There was the real chance that those folks would not live to see another day because of their beliefs. Many of them did not survive. They lost whatever social community they may have grown up with. Their means to earn a living was many times taken from them. Martyrdom was a real possibility. If anyone should be allowed some lee way when it comes to fear, these were the people.
They didn’t. At least not all of them. We read of Ignatius of Antioch we hear of a man who was en-route to Rome in order to die in the arena. A spectacle for Rome that would show that Rome had the true power. Yet, Ignatius is said to have written letters to others and spoken about his impending martyrdom. These sources reveal a person who was a peace.
Why?
St. John the Elder wrote, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love” (1 John 4:18).
Love.
Love is the answer to fear.
If we have love of the ‘other’ then fear of migrants or minorities melts away into vapor. If we love our enemy as Jesus, himself, taught his followers we remove any reason that they may have to harm us. (Of course, some people cannot be deflected from doing harm. Even with the Love of God offered to them.) Even with that parenthesis, our love disallows fear. Love keeps that foul seed from taking root. It’s written that love covers a multitude of sins. That’s true. Fear is one of those sins that love covers and subsumes.
I don’t know why I wrote this particular post. Perhaps, it is a timely word for some folks to hear. All I do know is that I am still working on that whole love thing myself. It isn’t perfected in me. But, I know that fear is not where I want to live. And, Love is the only way to disarm and defeat fear.

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Orthodoxy: God is the Only Object

God Icon- Shutterstock 643534330

There’s one last thing that I want to muse about when it comes to orthodoxy. After this we’ll all take a break from that and pick on something else.
In the last post I talked about what my Correct Belief is not in: The Bible. Our Sacred Text was never meant to take the place of God. Neither are guns or country. In the first century, Jewish leaders put their faith in the Temple and the rites that took place there. Well, they found out how secure that was in 70 A.D. when Rome destroyed the Temple and put that entire system to the sword.
Stuff cannot be our God.
Here’s where I think that Correct Belief finds its true object.
God.
Period, end of story.
Perhaps not like you may think. I don’t think that belief IN God is adequate. Anyone can believe that God exists. James wrote in his epistle that the people believed “that God is one. Even the demons believe…and shudder.” Actually, when someone tells me that they believe in God I just shake my head. Those words mean nothing. I believe in gravity, also. What’s important is what I do with that belief.
That brings to what I think IS the Correct Belief. What it’s true subject has to be if we want to be faithful stewards of God’s love.
What we believe ABOUT God is paramount.
Who is God? What is God like? Show my God’s character and heart. These are the questions that we should be seeking answers to. Last year in our St. Barnabas Bible Study we spent several months on this question. What started out looking at how God’s wrath in the Bible can be an accurate description of God. Short answer, it can’t. The angry God that Jonathan Edwards preached about in an early American church in New England, doesn’t exist. From Edwards on the idea that God hates our sin so much that God can’t even look at us unless Jesus stands between God and humanity. That is a lie straight from the pit of hell. And, that lie has tied countless people into a bondage that suffocates the life out of their spirit.
Correct Belief, orthodoxy, starts at the Incarnation of God in Messiah Jesus. And, it ends with God sacrificing God’s self as Jesus the Son in order to defeat sin and death. The proof of this Correct Belief is the empty tomb. This is the Gospel. That the Kingdom of God is here, now. Jesus is the Messiah; the Christ; the Lord of all.
That is what we can know about God. That is the beginning of orthodoxy. That is where our Correct Belief finds its true object.

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There Is No Other! It’s All About God!

About God, It Is!

Earlier this week I wrote about my passion for God. I also expressed a defense for my Orthodoxy. Then, I wrote a bit about the inadequacy of any kind of correct belief that finds its object in dogma, doctrine, or propositions. That’s the world of Systematics. At best that world is too small. At worst, well, it is destructive in more ways than I care to mention right now. Maybe some other time.
What I didn’t discuss was what my own orthodoxy is founded on. In what, or Whom, do I ground my ‘right belief’ on?
I’m glad you asked that question.
Let me start by sharing a couple of things that it is Not.
It is not grounded in the Bible.
Whoa! Say what?! I can see all of my fundagelical friends clutching their pearls and wringing their hands. Isn’t the Bible the inerrant Word of God? Isn’t the Bible the only trustworthy way that we can even know God? How can we know what’s true and good? More importantly, how can we know if we’re IN?
Don’t get your boxers in a bunch.
There is no one on the planet who loves the scriptures more than I do. I read, study, and dwell in them every day. I have an extremely high view of them. They are inspired by God the Holy Spirit.
What I don’t do is venerate them. I am not a bibliolater…I don’t worship them. The Bible is a book. Granted, it’s an ancient book filled with even older texts. But, it is a book. It’s a tool. At best, it’s a sign post that points in the direction of what is truly worthy of veneration and worship…God.
Most people view the scriptures as a working document that one can use in order to find their way in life. To them it’s a road map or a users’ manual. If they follow the directions all will be well with the world. If not, well, bad stuff happens. God will getcha if you don’t follow the rules.
It’s not only Christians, but so-called orthodox members of any religious movement may fall into that trap. Rules are meant to be followed. Rules inspired by God inhabit an especially important space where any sign of rule breaking or bending can have eternal repercussions.
Ok, not to be too crass, I call bullshit. At least in the case of the Christian Bible I can be fairly certain that it was not designed to be taken as a literal treatise on the Ways and Workings of the God-fearing Person. Nor is it a book of history or science or any of the other things that bibliolaters claim.
If the creation story didn’t happen just as it is written, how can we trust any of it?
The short answer is, in respect to science, you can’t. That’s not what the Bible is for. You folks are asking the scriptures to carry something that they were never meant to carry. So, stop it, already!
The Bible, at its best, points to God and God’s plans for the world. And, those plans don’t include the rules and regulations that so many people like to impose. Again, stop doing that!
Thirty plus years ago I began to realize that the Bible is a love story. Yeah, that’s right, a Love Story. The Lover in this story is God. The scriptures are full of stories about this love. God’s love sustains the world. It is what moves the Cosmos forward. It is the all-encompassing love of God that leads us to worship and adore God.
But, it is NOT God.
Orthodoxy, correct belief, can never be focused on anything or anyone other than God. Period. End of story.

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There Is Only One Who Captures My Passion

I am what I am and that’s all that I am

A whole bunch of years ago a co-worker who followed my blog told me that when I wrote about myself; my passions; my heart that the writing was much better. I allowed some of the ‘me’ that I keep bundled up in the corner to peek out. She said that when I wrote about technical stuff like the Church and theology the writing just wasn’t compelling.
I took that to heart. Of course I want people to read what I write. That’s why I write it! Her comments sent me down a road of constant concern for how I present myself through these little blog thingies.
A problem that I found with this is that there are things that I am passionate about that don’t necessarily reveal anything other than my thoughts on various topics. They’re not some kind of heart revealing story that may be anywhere near what my co-worker spoke about.
But, they are things that I am passionate about.
I am passionate about God. Who God is. What God speaks to me. Where God leads.
I am passionate about worshiping this God. The act of sharing my heart with God is irresistible.
I am passionate about sharing this God with others. Not in the way evangelicals do. But, in ways that I think may actually introduce the God I love to others. ANY others.
In all of this, I am passionate about Orthodoxy. Not the Eastern kind. The word ‘Orthodox’ is made of two Greek words. Ortho, meaning straight, right, or correct. And, Dox derives from a word that means belief. So, literally, Orthodox means Correct Belief.
Now, as a disclaimer, I am making no claim at all that what I believe is all correct. Nor is it my belief that everyone else follows what I think. I’m just an old white guy with some opinions. Nothing more than that.
As an open disclosure, I find my way to Orthodoxy within a fairly large community. There is my local parish and the people who attend there. They get to listen to me and respond to the things that I think. We don’t always agree. But, that’s ok. I am part of the larger diocese of Ohio as well as the Episcopal Church in the U.S. Again, we don’t always agree, but I find that the larger church does have some guardrails in place that help me to not go flying off of the road. I am in constant dialog with the Academy and the Scholarship that comes from it. Greater minds than mine have wrestled with the same things that I do. I avail myself of that. And, my community includes the ancient Church and Church Fathers who produced our framing documents defining Orthodoxy, the Creeds.
All of that to say, when I write on technical issues that affect faith and the Church, I stand on a fairly firm foundation. That foundation allows my passions to gain their footing and present to the world.

There are many others who make claims to a form of orthodoxy. They, like me, define orthodox as correct belief. Their right belief, however, is in dogma and doctrine rather than the Scripture, the Church, and the Tradition. Many of them reduce God to a series of systematic attributes. They call that Systematic Theology. The church I came from used a particular book as their sole education to theology. Reading the book, they said, was all that was necessary to be orthodox. If you read the book and believe what the writer said, you’re good to go. The problem with that is that people who write systematic theologies are usually old, white guys who are trying to justify all of the money that they wasted on education. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Wayne Grudem. God for them becomes little more than bite-sized bits of scripture texts taken out of context. These ‘theologies’ offer nothing that may actually bring life to people. It’s sterile academics at its worst. Probably, a lot like my co-worker thought of some of my blog posts.
Because of my passion for God, I will continue to push back against those who would put God into a systematic or doctrinal box. Too much of that has been done over the centuries. And, millions have suffered because someone said, “This is the only way to serve God. Follow these rules. Memorize these propositions. Do what I say. Not what I do.” If that’s to technical or doesn’t reveal who I am, so be it. I can only write the words that express what I am passionate about.
This IS me.
Deal with it.

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