BoldGrace

One of the great parts of being a school bus driver is the time you have off, like spring break.  Even though I really enjoy my time off there is also something very special about returning and that something special is my kids on the bus. 

You see, they don’t care about my beliefs or what church I go to, they just love Clifford the Big Red Dog.  Yea, that’s what they call me sometimes.  Their sweet little smiles and constant laughter (that sometimes drives me crazy) makes my job the kind you want to return to.

I really think I know what Jesus meant when he said we must become like little children to enter the kingdom of Heaven.  Children are able to have a terrible fight one moment with another child and the next moment be best friends.  Children like to argue with each other and they like to win but the next day they won’t even remember what they were arguing about because it’s really not that important to them.

John T said something the other day that made me realize one of the great draw backs to blogging and that is that we can’t see each other face to face.  We can’t hear the voice of sincerity, or the eyes of empathy, or the heart that may be aching.   My children on the bus have won me over, not because of their words, but it is their smiles, laughter, tears, and the sweetness of who they are. 

As I think about all of you that come to this site and offer their hearts, their wisdom, and their sincere comments, I want to always remember that behind those words you write are all the same wonderful things that I see in my children.  I may never hear your laughter but I know you laugh, I may never see your smile but I know it’s there, I may never know of your tears but I know we all suffer at times………..but one thing I know for sure is the sweetness of who you are.  Each of you that come to this site are my brothers and my sisters, God’s offspring.  Wonderfully made and unique in your own way.  Each of you bring something that someone needs to hear and for that I am grateful.

So, we may sometimes argue and fight, but I pledge to you that I will forget it tomorrow because the child in me loves the child in you. 

If one goes to Google and types in "What the Church Believes" they will get 548,000 hits.  Now we know that there are approximately 33,000 different brands of Christianity alone and most believe one thing in common, that those who do not believe in their teachings will go to a place of constant torment after they die.

How can any one of these churches ever teach that Perfect Love casts out all fear when they are teaching a love that is smothered in FEAR.  Is that really how God works?  Does he give us a message that says "Conform or Suffer".  Isn’t that like putting a gun to someones head and saying do what I say or else? 

It is time that people who have been awakened to His Perfect Love speak up for this great and awesome God that we have.  Below are some fundamental things that I believe about God and will continue to share to all who will hear.

1. God is LOVE.
2. God loves us with a perfect love.
3. God will not let any of his children down.
4. God has provided a perfect process for our earthly lives that will have it’s perfect work completed.
5. God will not have his plan changed by anything we do.
6. God provides us all with constant guidance that leads us if we so choose.
7. God will stand with us even when we don’t so choose to follow his guidance.

Now let me also say that at the root of all criticism that I receive is a lack of faith in a God like I describe above.  In others words,  the good news of the Gospel is such good news that Christians can’t believe it.  I hear all the time from my Christian friends the comment "Oh Cliff, I really wish what you say about God is true".   They are telling me that they wish it were true, but by what they have been taught God just couldn’t be that loving and kind.  WOW, that is so sad for me to hear and so wrong, but I understand that by their Gospel the good news is really not good news at all unless you live up to all the demands of the church. 

The peace I have and those here at Bold Grace does not come from any thing we do or a set of beliefs we hold, but rather it comes from knowing God is truly a God whom EVERYONE can trust.

Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

What the church believes is no longer a concern to me at.  Simply allow people to search their hearts about God and they will find great conflict between what their hearts say and what the church says.  I guess that’s why so many church leaders are so afraid of what I am telling people.  You see, I’m not telling people to trust me, I’m telling them to trust their hearts because that’s where they will find this PERFECT GOD OF LOVE.

Yesterday a friend and I were discussing the values of taking your children to church.  He said he thought that even though there were a lot of negatives that it was still better then not teaching them anything.  I soundly disagree with that.  My wife and I did take our children to church and they became beautiful human beings in spite of it.  That happened because we constantly were pointing out to them where much of the churches teaching was wrong.  We taught them to truly love unconditionally.  We taught them that the fellow down at the bar on Saturday nights was just as loved by God as those sitting in the pews on Sunday morning.  We taught them to trust their hearts and believe in their perfect creation.

I also said if I had it to do over again I would choose the BETTER WAY.  The better way is to never introduce your children to the trap of religion.  The better way would also include the constant reinforcement that they are loved at all times by both their parents and the God who created them.  The better way is to truly have faith in this process we call life learning from everything that happens to us. 

He argued that for those who don’t have parents like myself and my wife that church is still a better alternative then not being taught anything at all.  I will agree with him that could be true but it still does not make it the BETTER WAY.  It is simply the lesser of two poor ways of living.  Both have their traps and I’m not sure that in the final analysis that either of those ways will lead a person to true PEACE with God. 

On the other hand, when a child grows up in an environment where their love from God is NEVER doubted regardless of their performance that child will walk hand in hand with God every step of the way without fear. 

In all cases humans will face obstacles, tragedies, hardships, pain, joy, pleasure, love, and a full array of emotions.  But I ask, who will be more equipped to live this life victoriously?  Will it be the church goer who is constantly taught that as long as they do good God will stand by them?  Will it be the person who doesn’t go to church but lives in constant doubt that they are accepted by God?  Or will it be the person who from the cradle to the grave believed they were loved a moment in between?

As for me and my house, we will choose the BETTER WAY!

Just where is God anyway?  Go ahead, call on him to show himself and see what happens?  We read lots of stories where He has done just that and yet to my knowledge no one I have ever known has had God appear to them.  Oh, I know many will make the claim but talk is so cheap.  Would God show himself to some and not to others? 

Today, my wife and I were having a deep discussion about something and she said "I wish God would show himself in this."  Well, the bottom line is that He’s not going to.  Now we can get real spiritual and talk about how we see God in all of life, in the birds, the trees, the grass, the sun, the moon, and a million other created things, but we don’t know that for sure do we?

No one that I have ever know has seen God.  Anyone who claims they have seen God you better watch out for.  You say, "Well the Bible says this or that about God and that’s good enough for me," but  believe me when I say you can make the bible say about anything you want it to especially when a great majority of the living world is ignorant of it’s teachings, and that includes most christians.

Now just what the heck is my point here?  My point goes along with my last post that spoke about my thoughts and choices are ALL up to me.  I do happen to believe in God even though I have never seen him.  I do happen to believe that God gives us all guidance in many ways, even though I often have no clue how he is doing it. I also have come to the conclusion that God wants each of us to use our good brains and hearts to find HIM. 

Acts 17:26-28  From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.

I am not trying to use the above scripture to prove anything, but I will say that my life’s experiences have led me to believe that the only way we ever truly see God is when we see our true selves.  We are always IN God.  We always LIVE in God.  We always MOVE in  God.  We always have our BEING in God.  WE ARE HIS OFFSPRING.

Organized religion teaches people that to find God they must follow their special formula.  They teach people they must go to a special place on special days to see God, and they always teach they must give their money if they really want to be close to God.  All of this is the greatest of lies ever told. 

You don’t need any man to teach you about God.  Stop thinking God is going to reveal himself to you in some special miraculous way and begin realizing that He is right in front of you, in back of you, to the side of you, and inside of you.  In fact, He is so present that we are blinded by where He is. Remember Jesus spoke of this blindness.  God was in the flesh and blood and the most religious people of His day DID NOT SEE HIM. 

Could it still be true today?  Where is God?  Do you see him?  If not, maybe you need to take off your religious blinders and you’ll find out He was always standing right beside you.

The only real enemy any of us have is ourselves.  Regardless of what happens to us in this world ultimately it is completely our decision as to how we let it affect us.

"I have met the enemy and it is I" is a saying that takes away all our excuses if we really understand it.  Which one of us can’t give some type of great excuse if we want to choose a destructive attitude?  I am learning in life to take complete and total responsibility for all my choices.  Regardless of what course my life has taken no one has the power choose how I handle it accept me. 

I don’t believe in Satan as a separate being that has his own particular will or power.  I believe Satan is nothing less then a part of our own thinking process that God allowed us to have.  Satan is that part of each of us that is allowed to choose that which is destructive.  The story of Eve and the serpent is nothing more then an allegory that demonstrates what I am talking about.

The coming of Jesus Christ into realm of man was to renew our minds.  To restore us back to a way of thinking where there could be no possibility of ultimate destruction.  Of course we can still choose destructive ways that can hurt us in the here and now but we have no power whatsoever to destroy ourselves.  Once we come to believe this fact then Satan (the part of us that chooses destructive ways) has no more power over us.

The point of all this is to help people realize how very important it is to have your hearts established in grace (perfect love).  Understanding the power of the free grace that we all have gives us the confidence to live this indestructible life where the only enemy we could ever have is ourselves.

Jesus clearly faced this life with his heart established in perfect love.  Facing life this way did not stop all the violence and tragedies that would come upon him but it did give him the strength to endure all those things.  He even faced temptation just like we do accept without sin.

Heb 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.

Why was Jesus able to be tempted just like us and yet he didn’t sin (miss the mark)?  Could it be that regardless of what type of temptation came to him he always knew at every step of the way that he would be perfectly loved by the Father?  Remember the words Jesus received from the Father right before he went out in the dessert to be tempted by Satan? 

Matt 3:17-4:1 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."  4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

He was told how pleasing he was to the Father even before he ever succeeded in overcoming temptation.   The same is true for us now.  If we really know how pleasing we are to the Father then Satan (the part of us that chooses destructive ways) has no more power over us. 

We each have the power to live an indestructible life.  It is the power that comes from knowing you are loved with a perfect love and nothing can destroy you. 

Stop making excuses and blaming others for your state of mind.  Yes, others may have the ability to do you harm in many ways, but ultimately it is your complete decision as to how you deal with it.  TAKE THE CONTROL THAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU, and know that HE believes in YOU! 

Here are the words that ring in my heart every single day:  "Cliff, you are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."  It doesn’t get any better then that.