Redemption is free to mankind and it has been bestowed on ALL Mankind for all of time and eternity. Redemption is of the spirit that part of us that will return to the God of all who created us all. Redemption is given and is of benefit to all who accept it and to all who reject it. Redemption requires nothing of us. Neither a yea or a nay. And it is my belief that this Redemption came through the man Jesus The Christ.
Salvation on the other hand is NOT A FREE GIFT. Salvation is not of the spirit as Redemption is. Salvation is of the soul i.e. the mind, the will and the emotions that are in the here and now. Salvation can be permanent (lifetime) or it can be temporary and lost on a moment by moment basis.
So what is the price and cost of Salvation to the soul i.e. the mind, the will and the emotions?
The cost is the faith you have in your personal faith. The price is the belief you have in your belief. The only way Salvation of the soul i.e. the mind, the will and the emotions can be permanent is if you give up believing and trusting in your faith and belief in God! You must come to the end of your personal faith and belief in God in order to find real faith and that is not of yourself but of Christ. The requirement for you to believe and have faith ended at The Cross. And as well it should have because as Jesus said if you faith was only as big as a mustard seed you could tell a mountain to throw itself into the ocean and it would obey. The church teaches that Jesus wanted us to have our own faith. The truth is He was teaching us that we had NO FAITH AND NEVER WOULD!!! He at the Cross ENDED the requirement to believe and included ALL in Redemption. And when we know without a doubt that our Redemption is sealed and that all of mankind’s Redemption is sealed then we can come to the point of saying with confidence, " I NO LONGER BELIEVE IN MY BELIEF AND I NO LONGER HAVE FAITH"! And we will be saved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Over the next few days and or weeks I am going to post in 8-10 minute segments The Friday Night Session from Grace Gathering 2007 which took place at Cliff’s Church in August of 2007. ENJOY!!! In part 9 at the end you will hear a few words from our best friend and brother Cliff.
ALL who read and contribute here on Bold Grace are invited to our house next Saturday September 5, 2009 to share in one of the MOST wonderful days you will experience this year! We will have of course THE PIG! THE CHICKENS, BEEF BRISKET and wonderful side dishes made by the best chefs and cooks the WORLD has to offer! We will also have a wide assortment of your favorite beverages. And if you happen to have too many of the assorted beverages you can stay over at our house. We will have as they say a real BLOWOUT! Also we will have our friend and brother Cliff Hazelbaker of Bold Grace here!!!!!!!!! Cliff will be providing a secret ingredient for the PIG ROAST!
I have been reading Everyday Grace by Marianne Williamson. What a great book!! I bought it for my Dad a couple of years ago and I never read it. I got it out today on my way into Richmond for Caitlin’s funeral. I needed to feel strong for Bridget and her family and right now this book is giving me a great connection to my Father and to love.
In the book Everyday Grace, Marianne Williamson talks about us being mystical and how we need to look at each other as one. We are a part of each other. Once we let go of the fear and acknowledge that God loves us all equally the peace becomes stronger and that peace helps us understand better the cruelty in others. They are living in fear.
It is my understanding that some people actually believe that "bad things" are happening to people like me and my family because we don’t go to Church. LOL…I don’t look at my Father’s death as a bad thing. I look at it as a natural thing. He lived a full, happy, beautiful, amazing life and he left all of that for us. I am the luckiest girl in the world!
Death is a part of life. It is a part of what we will experience. Once I let go of the fear the layers began to shed and I found my true self. I realized that God made me in his image which is of his perfection, life became simple…it became brighter…it became clear.
I will continue to be the bright light that God made me as he did all of us. I will live in love and I will live in peace because Fear has left the building!
We will be having a celebration of Life ceremony Saturday, April 25th, 2009 (4:00p.m.-??) It will be held at the American Legion located at 109 North 6th Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374. We will laugh, sing, cry and tell amazing stories about Cliff! We will have pictures and videos so we can share some of his incredible moments with all of you.
Clifford L. Hazelbaker II, 57, of Richmond was born January 13, 1952 and was reborn on April 16, 2009. Cliff was the son of Clifford and Barbara (Goodwin) Hazelbaker. Cliff graduated from Centerville High School in 1970. He was married to Nancy McBride Hazelbaker on March 6, 1970. They recently celebrated their 39th Wedding Anniversary. Cliff enjoyed spending time with his incredible family. Their family motto is “Love Never Fails!” He also enjoyed sharing his love of God on www.boldgrace.com. Here is an excerpt from that site… “Clouds don’t seem to care where they’re going. They are content to follow the directions of the spirit of the air, enjoying the journey as they make their way to their purpose. Though they are unaware of their designation or their purpose as they travel along, they find themselves eventually called upon to join forces and deliver liquid life to the earth. Often exhausted, they whither and die, having given all of themselves in doing their work. But, as those clouds die, others are reborn from their seed to carry on the purpose.” Cliff is survived by his wife Nancy ; Mother, Barbara; Children: Tammy (Bob) Thompson of Centerville, Clifford (Bridget) Hazelbaker III of Richmond, Mindy (Charlie) Hill of New Carlisle, Ohio, Amy (Todd) Witter of Bath, Indiana; He is also survived by 9 grandchildren: Josh, Jacob, Paige, Samantha, Clifford IV, Abby, Emma, Lilly and Phoebe. Brothers: Andy (Teresa) and Doug (Cindy) Hazelbaker.
Dad was reborn at 6:40 this morning with all of his family around him singing you raise me up. It was the most beautiful thing we have all ever witnessed. We will see you again Daddy.
My take on the above words are quite personal and have nothing to do with my biblical knowledge, rather it has everything to do with how life has molded me and brought me to the place I currently am.
You see, I believe I am God dwelling in an earthly tent. I take very serious the idea that I am made in God’s IMAGE but for most of my life I allowed religion to tarnish that simple faith that the Father is in me and I in the Father and nothing can ever threaten the relationship that we have together.
Yes, Jesus had this simple FAITH. HE knew He was perfectly joined to the Father of all and I believe He came to show the rest of us that we when we too hold the same faith that he had we will be pleased with whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.
On the flip side, if one continues to think they must do something or be something other then what they already are they will not feel pleasing to God or themselves (which is really the same thing)
"Behavior scientist have known for decades that the most effective way to alter the behavior of any living creature is through positive reinforcement."
Those words come from a booklet I recently purchased, "The Whole Dog Journal". It is a publication that offers guidelines for raising happy well adjusted dogs.
Do you suppose that what was written here also applies to the creature of man?
What if we affected the behavior of other people through offering them nothing but positive reinforcement? What if we only stressed that God loves them unconditionally…..always. What if we told them only "good-news" and never tried to change them through threats of negative punishment from an angry God?
The Whole Dog Journal also states that "these techniques work – and better yet they work without ever making the animal afraid or defensive".
Hmmm. Who are the most well adjusted people. Those who know they are loved and accepted or those who are afraid and defensive?
I have always believed that God meant for us to change the world.
The following I wrote up last night in response to a person that had contacted me through email. The contact came because the person wanted information about house church meetings which I used to be a part of long ago. I told him that I no longer "do" house church or any church but that our belief has still remained only in a different form. It just so happens I am having coffee this afternoon with him and will share these points with him about where I see the church going wrong today. (These are just a few of the points) By the way this person is a pastor of a local church. So it should be interesting. Here are my points
1. Identity Theft – Adam was told he would be like God if he ate of the Tree. When the TRUTH was he already was like God and made in the very image of God. The serpent stole Adams identity. In the same way the serpent sought to steal Jesus’ identity by saying, “IF you are the Son of God then do this or that to prove it.” Satan’s biggest trap is to try and get people to prove something by their actions and beliefs. (Even well meaning Christians and Christian leaders do the same when they tell others that a “good” Christian does this or doesn’t do that) Jesus knew who He was and did not fall to the temptation of proving who He was by His actions and deeds. And why is that? Because of his knowing His Identity before the Father. The Father had already told him at His Baptism that “THIS IS MY SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED” He was pleased with Jesus before Jesus did ANYTHING! In the same way we must let people know that they are pleasing to the Father before or if they NEVER do anything. And why is He pleased? Because when He looks at us He sees His Son and His Righteousness and not our own. It is the message that is and will set people free.
And because of Identity Theft the following takes place:
2. Sin Consciousness is preached instead of Righteousness Consciousness – The New Covenant Good News Message should cleanse the mind of the Old Covenant Sin Consciousness and instead instill a Consciousness of Righteousness. But the church continues to preach sin and sin consciousness instead of righteousness and righteousness consciousness. When sin consciousness (Moses) is preached a veil is let down over a person’s mind and the completeness of Christ and His sacrifice CANNOT BE SEEN!
And the preaching of Sin Consciousness leads to this:
3. People attempting to fulfill the biggest desire of the flesh, which is to be justified by what they think, say or do. More than any other thing the flesh or human ego or self if you will desires to be justified by what it thinks, says or does. And in doing so will either approve of themselves and others or disapprove of themselves and others. People who attempt to please God through their actions, words and deeds are some of the most judgmental and hate filled people on planet earth. Sin consciousness NEVER leads to peace. It always leads to guilt and condemnation of self and mostly of others. Why of others? Because a person who is trying to please God through their actions, words and deeds will always compare themselves to those who seem to be not doing as they are.
What is the answer to this? The following:
4. Quit believing and trusting in your own personal faith and belief and embrace the faith and belief “of” Christ. Accept that you are righteous perfect and holy in the beloved. Accept God’s view and opinion of yourself and not the world’s view or the church’s view and opinion of yourself. What is the difference? The church mostly teaches that you are pleasing or unpleasing to God through your actions, words and deeds. God says you are righteous, perfect and holy because of what Jesus did regardless of your actions, words or deeds. And God also says there is NOTHING you can do or not do to change that view. So in the end will you believe in your belief in your self or God’s belief about you? It is only when we are freed from our own belief about ourselves and others that we see Jesus.
5. Embracing the faith “of” Christ – It is at the end of our belief about God that we meet Him and His belief about ourselves and others. What we believe about God does not matter. It is what He believes about us that will set the captives free to be free. What an individual believes about God can NEVER set that person or anyone else free. But when that person hears about God’s view and opinion about themselves through the Cross and Blood of Christ regardless of words, action or deeds. The soul comes to rest and know that He alone is God.
6. Remember Sin NO MORE – I have seen it over and over the past 4 years that when a person keeps the thought that they are righteous and holy EVEN WHEN THEY FALL OR FAIL that person will have and experience vices and desires fall off them like dead leaves from a tree in autumn. Things that they tried for years to rid their life of cease because of a Righteousness Consciousness. It makes no sense to the religious mindset because the religious mindset is trying to please God through the flesh. Something that was done by Jesus for us, the religious mindset tries to do for itself. And if you tell this to the religious they will rise up to kill you just as they did to Jesus. It may not be a physical death but they will attempt to destroy your ministry or you as a person.
We will be having a celebration of Life ceremony Saturday, April 25th, 2009 (4:00p.m.-??) It will be held at the American Legion located at 109 North 6th Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374. We will laugh, sing, cry and tell amazing stories about Cliff! We will have pictures and videos so we can share some of his incredible moments with all of you.