Archive for October, 2008

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Jesus The Lazy (Unprofitable) & Wicked Servant

That’s right!!!  If the Jesus that evangelical Christianity teaches is true and he only returns that which was given to him then Jesus will be CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS!

If ALL things were given to Jesus by the Father as Jesus said they were and if He was given the heathen of the world as an inheritance as it says in Psalms and then Jesus only returns Heathens to the Father then Jesus is in His own words a Lazy (unprofitable) and Wicked Servant. Because he would only be returning that which was given and nothing else.

And this will be His fate!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness

Selah

Geo

Posted by Geo on Oct 31st 2008 | Filed in Mercy, Freedom, Thoughts, Grace, The Cross, Love, Peace, Geo | Comments (10)

99 Balloons!

I saw this video on Oprah and it made me cry.  The video shows how very precious life is regardless of how difficult circumstances might be.  I know that we all face tough days and hard times but life is still so very precious.  Oh that we might all see each other the way God sees us.  These beautiful parents show us all how we should strive to live each day.  May God bless us all to see our beauty & perfection.

 

Posted by Cliff on Oct 30th 2008 | Filed in Thoughts, Cliff | Comments (6)

Relationship Tight Rope!

I have taught all my grandkids that there is one important thing to remember as they travel this journey we call life and that is "LOVE TO LEARN, LEARN TO LOVE". 

Now if we choose to really do that we will always be walking a tight rope with every relationship we encounter.  Every person we meet or come into contact with is important because we have an eternal connection with each and every one of them.  As we walk with them we will always be challenged to love them.  This is true with our closest relationships as well as those that are more distant.  How many times have we seen families broken up because the tight rope got to tough and someone chose to just jump off?  If loving those who are closest to us is difficult then it’s easy to see why those that are more distant have problems.

As the statement says above we must all be willing to learn how to love.  As we have looked at the past posts with all the bickering back and forth it became quite apparent to me that our failure was not love, but rather a difference of opinion on what loving each other means. 

This may sound strange (as much as Jack has attacked me) but I really do think in his own way he loves me.  Each of us decide what we think it means to love someone and Jack has decided that correcting others to his way of thinking is showing love. 

I have spent the better part of my adult life learning what love really means and then trying to apply it in all my relationships.  Because every relationship is different there can never be one particular formula that works.  As I have walked with my wife over the past 40 years I have learned how to love her.  I think she would tell you that I have improved a great deal since we were young teenagers.  I also have four grown adult children who have mates and each and every one of them I have learned to approach differently as I apply my knowledge of love. 

I think you see the analogy of walking a tight rope with every relationship because every single one takes focus to stay on the right course.  I can offer my advice as to what has worked best for me with different people but ultimately we must each find our own way as we strive to be creatures of love in a very difficult world.

In all my searching and tying to understand I still have never found any better advice on this then what Paul gave us:

1 Cor 13:4-8 Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up. Love never comes to an end.

Certainly Christ showed us true love by deciding to love us even as we reject him and I think we are at our best on the relationship tight rope when we do the same thing.  Paul also tells us "to be at peace with all men as much as what lies in you."  In other words it’s not always easy to be a peace with someone who would rather fight.  An old black preacher friend of my once said to me, "Brother Hazelbaker, you want to be at peace with all men but sometimes the only way to be at peace is to be at peace without them." 

So, what is my advice to all of you?  Don’t jump off the tight rope just because things get tough.  Keep following the ways of love to the best of your ability.  Be as kind as you can be and be respectful even if you are not shown respect.  If someone in your circle of relationships continues to attack you then let the ugliness be on their part, not yours.  Stand your ground but let that ground be the foundation of love.

When you fail at being the person of love that you want to be don’t give up.  That’s why we are here, to learn to love and to love to learn.  I have failed many times in the past and often look back at certain relationships and wish I could have changed something, but what I can do is learn from those mistakes and apply the lessons that life teaches me about love and use them for the future.

I thank each and everyone of you for the wisdom and love you bring to this site.  Even when I don’t agree I always consider where you are coming from and I know that you, just like me are trying to find your way in this journey of LIFE. 

Peace to All,

Cliff

Posted by Cliff on Oct 28th 2008 | Filed in Thoughts, Love, Cliff | Comments (12)

My Baby Picture!

Ok, it’s time for a little fun.  I thought I would share my baby picture with you all.  Maybe Jack’s right, but ain’t I adorable?

pig.jpg

Posted by Cliff on Oct 26th 2008 | Filed in Grace, Cliff, Contributors | Comments (61)

Required Faith?

Heb 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
 
Wow! Quite a statement. And upon this statement has been built an entire religion that has often left the adherents to Faith feeling less then pleasing.
·       The great tragedy of today is that we have been taught it is our own personal faith that must please God.
·       LET’S DISCUSS THAT FOR A MOMENT.
o      JUST WHAT IS MY PERSONAL FAITH BASED ON?

       WHO RAISED ME, WHERE I WENT TO CHURCH, WHAT COUNTRY I WAS BORN IN, WHAT STATE I WAS BORN IN, ETC.

o      HOW COULD THE ABOVE EVER BE PLEASING TO GOD WHEN IT IS SUCH A JUNGLED UP MESS?
·       BUT THERE MUST BE A FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD—–AND THERE IS:
o      YOU MUST BELIEVE HE EXISTS AND THAT HE REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM.
o      JESUS SAID IT LIKE THIS:
Matt 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

·       THE QUESTION WE MUST ASK OF OURSELVES CONCERNING OUR FAITH IS: 

ARE WE DOING THAT? ARE WE EARNESTLY SEEKING HIM? ARE WE LOVING THE LORD WITH ALL OF OUR HEART? ALL OF OUR SOUL? ALL OF OUR MIND? 

·       FOR ME THE ANSWER IS NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

·       AND WHAT A DIRTY TRICK TO TELL PEOPLE THEY MUST DO SOMETHING I CAN’T EVEN DO THOUGH I HAVE TRIED VERY HARD.

And the reason is we have misunderstood what faith is and our relationship to it.
THERE IS A FAITH THAT PLEASED GOD AND THAT FAITH IS CHRIST HIMSELF.
Gal 3:6-9
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
 
LET ME JUST SAY THAT ANYONE WHO THINKS ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS HIS OWN MISUNDERSTANDS THE MISSION OF THE CHRIST.
 
IF ABRAHAM HAD A FAITH ON HIS OWN THAT PLEASED GOD THEN WHY DID CHRIST HAVE TO COME?
·       PAUL TELLS US IN COLOSSIANS THAT WE ARE DEAD.
Col 3:3
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
 
WE LIVE THROUGH WHAT CHRIST DID, WHAT CHRIST BELIEVED, THROUGH HIS FAITH. 
·       AND YES, OUR FAITH IS IMPORTANT TO GOD BUT NOT REQUIRED FOR HIM TO LOVE US. 
LET’S LOOK AT ROMANS 4 AND SEE THE KIND OF FAITH THAT GOD SHOWS US THROUGH ABRAHAM THAT WELL SUITS A HUMAN BEING.
 
4:1 What did our forefather Abraham find according to the flesh? Or what did he learn about himself.
Socrates was walking and talking with his student Phaidrus when the two came to a stream. They decided to take off their sandals and wade into the cool water. While resting on a rock beside the stream, Phaedrus, referring to an ancient Greek legend, asked his teacher, “I should like to know, Socrates, whether the place is not somewhere here at which Boreas is said to have carried off Orithyia from the banks of the Ilissus?”
            “Such is the tradition,” Socrates told him. But Phaedrus wasn’t content with his answer. “And is this the exact spot?” he asked Socrates.
            “I believe that the spot is not exactly here but about a quarter mile lower down,” Socrates answered.
            Still, his young student wanted to know more. “I beseech you to tell me, Socrates, Do you believe this tale?”
            Socrates reluctantly began explaining to his young apprentice that the story had many discrepancies and inconsistencies, making it almost certain that the tale was merely a legend in spite of the fact that many believed it to be true. Then on the heels of his lengthy explanation, he said to his young friend,
            Now I have no leisure for such inquiries; shall I tell you why? I much first know myself….to be curious about that which is not my concern, while I am still in ignorance of my own self, would be ridiculous. And therefore I bid farewell to all this.                     Know thyself became his battle cry. 
Freud, Jung, Adler, Plato, Chardin, and many others dedicated their lives to trying to understand themselves and what their purpose was, and yet in some degree they all missed the mark.
 
But Abraham learned something that we all need to understand about ourselves.
 

1st—-HE LEARNED HIS PERFORMANCE COUNTED FOR NOTHING.

2 If he was accounted righteous by works, he could boast, but not before God.
3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness."
 
 

2ND - HE COUNTED ON GRACE AND HE COUNTED ON A GOD WHO JUSTIFIES THE GODLESS.

4 Now to the one who works, the pay is not accounted according to grace, but according to debt.
5 To the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the godless, his faith is accounted as righteousness,
6 even as David speaks of the happiness of the man whom God accounts as righteous apart from works,
7 Blessed are they whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.

·       NOW HE HAD NO CLUE HOW GOD WOULD ACCOMPLISH THIS AND YET HE STILL BELIEVED GOD WOULD.

 

3RD—-ABRAHAM REPRESENTS A FAITH THAT ALL CAN HAVE AND WILL HAVE.

9 Is this blessedness for the circumcised only, or also for the uncircumcised? We say faith was accounted to Abraham as righteousness.
10 In what situation was it accounted? In circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 He received the mark of circumcision as an evidence of the righteousness of the faith which he had before he was circumcised. In this way he could be the father of all uncircumcised believers, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
12 Also he is the father of the circumcised, who not only are circumcised, but who walk in the footsteps of the faith which our father Abraham had when he was uncircumcised.
13 The promise to Abraham and to his offspring, that he would be the heir of the world, was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 If those of the law are heirs, faith has become meaningless, and the promise has been nullified.
15 The law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there is no disobedience.
16 Because of this, it is of faith, that it may be by grace. In this way, the promise is confirmed to all the offspring, not only to those of the law, but also to those of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all,
 

4TH—HIS FAITH DID NOT HAVE TO MAKE SENSE.

17 as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." He believed God, who makes the dead to live, and calls things which are not as though they are.
18 Against hope, he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, as had been said, "So shall your offspring be."
19 When he was about a hundred years old, he was not weak in faith, though he considered his own body and Sarah’s womb already dead.
20 Regarding God’s promise he never had a doubt, but became strong in faith, giving praise to God,
21 being fully persuaded that God was able to do what he had promised.
22 Therefore, it was accounted to him as righteousness.
 

5TH—YES, GOD WANTS US TO HAVE FAITH IN HIM—FAITH IN A LOVING SAVIOR WHO HAS UNLIMITED PATIENCE AS HE WAITS FOR US TO BELIEVE HE WILL NOT EVER LET US DOWN.

23 Moreover, it was not written for his sake alone, that righteousness was accounted to him,
24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be accounted, to us who believe on the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
25 Jesus was delivered up for our wrongdoing, and was raised for our righteousness.
1 Tim 1:12-17
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

SO, ARE WE REQUIRED TO HAVE FAITH?  YES, BUT THAT SAME FAITH HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY CHRIST AND WHEN HE WAS LIFTED UP HE DREW ALL MEN UNTO HIMSELF (AND UNTO HIS FAITH). 

MY OWN PERSONAL FAITH IS AT BEST SHALLOW AND LEFT WANTING, BUT THANKS BE TO GOD WHO HAS GIVEN ME (AND ALL OF US) THE VICTORY.

PEACE,

Cliff

Posted by Cliff on Oct 25th 2008 | Filed in Thoughts, Cliff | Comments (7)

If We Could Only Understand…..

If we could only understand God would explain.  Many come to this site and remind me of myself in younger days.  They are full of questions and in great need of answers and I guess that’s what keeps me writing, although I’m not really sure it matters at all. 

Let me tell you about my parents.  My Dad was Cliff (the first) and my mother is Barbara.  They raised my two brothers and me in a very loving and good home.  We went to church (churches of Christ) most of my young years.  My parents were never happy in the church because they had such loving and honest hearts and it was just too much for them to be phony.  When my Dad lost his job at Studebaker’s in South Bend we moved to Richmond.  I was 12 at the time.  It gave them the opportunity to leave the church since we didn’t really know anyone in our new home town.  It was the best choice they could have ever made and even though there were struggles I believe they enjoyed a peace together that few church goers ever find. 

At age 22 I went  back to church taking my family with me and was determined to find truth.  What always stuck in my head was my parents great happiness without the church and I needed to understand what went wrong.  And so, I studied.  I asked every imaginable question and also sacrificed much time in reading, searching, & looking for truth.  Looking back I can tell you that the church is the last place for real truth seekers.  I endured much pain through the years because I was unwilling to just accept the status quo and fall in line. 

To make a very long story short the point I want to make here today is that it really doesn’t matter if you spend your life seeking all the answers (like I did) or just give up and trust your own heart (like my parents did).  You see we can not in this limited physical experience understand and I don’t think we were even created to do so. 

Job 38:1-3 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: "Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

Man has written some incredible words throughout the ages but the reality is that at our best our words to each other are dark counsel and without knowledge.  I’m not saying they don’t have value.  I’m just saying that I have come to a place in life where I am convinced that we need to quit worrying about the answers so much and spend more time listening to the still small voice within.  That’s what my parents did without even really understanding it.  I guess I did the same thing except I took the long painful road that finally led me back to my heart. 

My father has been gone now for almost 13 years.  He was so loved and respected by everyone who knew him and yet according to even the most liberal of churches my father is suffering an eternal torment because of his lack of church affiliation.  Those that knew him best will tell you that in their hearts they could never believe my Dad is in HELL but their church doctrine says something different.   WHY CAN’T THEY OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT THEIR HEART TELLS THEM?   

The bottom line is that "IF WE COULD UNDERSTAND GOD WOULD EXPLAIN".   The fact is we CAN NOT UNDERSTAND and I don’t think we ever will.  Oh, that won’t stop me from asking or searching because for some reason He made me (us) that way.  It must have a purpose but I just don’t think the purpose is about the answers.  I think it’s all about the experience.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Look up the word "KNOW" in the above verse and it means to experience in a very intimate way.  It has nothing to do with intellectual knowledge.  It comes from the same word used in the OT when it talked about a man knowing (have sexual relations) with a woman.

God is not interested in our UNDERSTANDING.  He is interested in US EXPERIENCING HIM. 

Please don’t think I mind the questions.  That’s part of the EXPERIENCE, but I do want all of you to have the advantage of hearing your still small voice a lot quicker then I did. 

PEACE,

Cliff

Posted by Cliff on Oct 17th 2008 | Filed in Thoughts, Cliff | Comments (162)

Email EMERGENCY!

Sorry to interupt the GREAT Post this morning by Cliff.

I need everyone who has my email address to send me an email. I lost ALL of my email addresses and need to update my files.

 

Now back to Cliff’s GREAT Post

 

Peace

Geo

Posted by Geo on Oct 12th 2008 | Filed in Contributors | Comments (2)

Why We Are Forgiven

The church will teach you that you are forgiven because of two actions.  One of those actions is God’s and the other one is our’s.  They teach that God sent Christ to the cross so that we then we could have an opportunity to accept forgiveness by confessing our sins, repenting of them, and then following an obedient lifestyle that will gain us heaven when we die.  Of course the problem in that teaching is the same problem mankind has always had and that is our inability to follow through with our part. 

With our track record as humans do you really think God (our Father) would leave anything up to us?  If we look at the words of Jesus we can get clearer understanding of why we are forgiven:

Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

We are forgiven because we don’t know what we are doing.  Now that fits fairly well with what I know about the human race.  Even now in the age of information and enlightenment look at our world and you will see a human race still in chaos, division, and ugliness.  Has the church provided the answers?  I think not.  The reason the FATHER will forgive us today as well as 2000 years ago is because WE STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING. 

Paul the apostle told us the same thing about his forgiveness:

1 Tim 1:12-17
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Again we see WHY he was forgiven, because HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING. 

God made his first covenant with man and God kept his part but man failed completely.  Why would God make another covenant with mankind knowing he would fail again?  Well he did make a NEW COVENANT but as you read it tell me what part man plays?

Heb 8:7-12  For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  But God found fault with the people and said : "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.  This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

As you read this NEW COVENANT who is taking the lead to make sure WE WILL ALL KNOW THE LORD?

We received forgiveness because we didn’t KNOW what we were doing and God has made clear he will not leave any of us in our ignorance and unbelief.  Sooner or later we will all know because this covenant is based on what God will do not on what we will do.

Posted by Cliff on Oct 12th 2008 | Filed in Thoughts, Cliff, Contributors | Comments (33)