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I can't remember the last time I read the book of Ecclesiastes. But I remember a couple of things about it. Written by King Solomon, son of King David and purportedly the wisest man in the world at the time, possibly ever; who went on and on stating, "meaningless, meaningless, everything under the sun is meaningless." It appears that he denied himself no pleasure and found that all gain is of no use because in the end, we're buried in the ground just like a dog.
My pessimistic dad told me, from dust we came, to dust we'll return. From a purely physical stance (and I can hear the evolutionists applauding) it is true, as Crosby, Stills and Nash sang:
We are stardust, we are golden,
We are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.
I remember three men coming to my door while I was in the Marine Corps, to evangelize. It was a Saturday morning and I was already having a beer, trying to quell the memories of PTSD nightmares. After their brief introduction, I told them even Solomon said it was all meaningless, to which one quickly and accurately replied that Solomon surmised that in the end it was 'the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commands.'
I have kept my finger on the pulse of church movements. The Simple, Organic, House, small group thing appealed to me. There are numerous people producing books on the subject. Most want a more biblical form and experience of church than what the traditional denominational system is providing.
They've come up with labels and classified each group until my head is spinning, and they all claim that their way is the right way, the more biblical way. And of course they all claim their way is what God is doing and blessing.
I was into this one and into that one (some follow Paul and some follow Apollos) and the more and more I saw, read and heard, the more I stepped back and began to see the big picture that they're headed down the same road all of religion always has. The current system they criticize grew like wild fire led by the Spirit and someone got the bright idea they needed some kind of establishment and up went the buildings and on came the big budgets, etc etc etc. yadda, yadda yadda.
Though many claim their movement is now under the control of the Holy Spirit of God and not of man as they clearly assert this being the major problem with Legacy churches. One guy went so far as to state that the reason Traditional / Legacy church growth was stagnant was because God did not want to multiply it.
Everyone doing the numbers thing; look here, we've planted this many churches, we've had this many converts, we've had this much growth. I see the same thing in the missions field with humanitarian measurements. Bombard people with favorable statistics and people love to be associated with a winner and they jump on the band wagon.
Great marketing maybe, but kingdom wise, nothing more than moving this pile over to this side of the table. I don't care how easy it is to replicate your ideal of church (where two or more are gathered). It is something that should never be measured.
I don't like the idea of networked small groups either. And let me assert this, the bible is like a person, you can beat it up long enough to make it say anything you want.
Glenn Beck is a master at using facts/statistics and then going off on a tangent to the nth level so as to get people into a frenzy and influence people towards his slant while demonizing others.
Fear, that seems to be the key. Create fear and then, And Then, AND THEN....
of course, you and your group are the one with the solution, with the way, the method, the system, the club, the product, the very thing that people need to deliver them, the save them to provide relief from the fear. The ONLY one with that very thing you need, Need, NEED!
Create the Fear, provide the Need. This is the name of the game, the standard operating procedure for those who want to control the masses.
There is no peace in the middle east. Why? because they can't stop talking about the past. Peace talks come around when we near election time and an agreement is reached and then, Then, THEN.....
one of them brings up something from the past and all of the progress is thrown right out the window and it's back to square one.
I saw a documentary on gang activity in Memphis, TN. The level of violence was more than I imagined or acknowledged. Complete tit for tat, eye for an eye, and demonstrative of man's depravity. All a struggle for Power and Control but reaping what it sows.
A wise cousin in law told me, "stop wasting your time having enemies." Great advice!
My views of God can not limit the Deity to any box. To any set of books, ideas or writings. Sure this is dangerous, but I believe that if we're truly seeking God, the creator of the universe or as the new-agers put it, the universal intelligence, then I will find when I seek and it will be the same as what someone one the opposite side of the world finds when they seek, if the response is truly from God and not from some taught-ology. There is a difference between revealed truth and taught truth.
I believe God is capable of communicating with us without any reading. I know the Bible's contents can transform lives, but I can not limit God to that. Too many interpretations.
I have an agnostic friend and an atheist friend who's conversations challenge and stretch me the most. I believe you can cherry pick the best of all belief systems and not violate or compromise your core belief.
I imagine there are those who will say I've been influenced negatively and there are those who will cheer my willingness to be open minded. I don't care what people think. I care what God thinks and believe God is capable of communicating with me directly. If God is dependent on man for anything then everything I believe is wrong.
My agnostic friend said, "show me your works, I might listen to your words." Makes complete sense to me and why I concentrate on humanitarian efforts.
I started this blog because I felt like I was ready to burst, having read a review of a book about church on a blog by a church planter and then listening to an hour of NPR dedicated to the effect Glenn Beck is having on America. Plus I haven't spewed anything in too long and have the need to vent and writing is great therapy.
I should just shut up, but I am stupid like the rest of the folks out there that have the right way of doing things down pat. I should put it all in my pipe and smoke it and blow it out my wazoo. Better that than telling others to do the same.
Love, even when rejected, remains available to us. Love is willing to come down any path to meet us. Love never fails. God is Love and in the end, all things work for the good...
of those who are called according to God's purpose.
Why do we wrestle so much with what moth and rust will destroy? I challenge you to seek and find and do it on purpose. Lay down all taught methods and just earnestly seek God. I believe you'll be surprised at what you find and others will challenge it, because they're still bound up in fear and have enemies but you'll be set free and closer than ever.
We all want to be accepted for who and what we are and this, for me, can be found in Jesus which compels me to do good to others and gives me a Hope beyond measure.
Man has always wanted to find and fill the emptiness within that nothing worldly fills. Always wanted to give thanks for existence on this incredible gift. But man seems to want to harness this supernatural presence and unfortunately, it is apparent this is where the contamination begins.
A very very wise man once said to another, "you hear the wind blow, yet you do not know where it comes from or where it goes, so it is with the Spirit."
A great friend told me, "none of us have a clue, but we can love God and we can love people!"
There are two in the church arena whom I respect tremendously, because they walk their talk, the success follows and they Never criticized anyone. (follow me as I follow Jesus)
Oh God, if we could all be like the healed man brought in for questioning who responds, "I don't know if this man Jesus is a sinner or a saint, all I know is I was blind and now I see!"
Gently the Beatles sing us out of here with the lyric - "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."
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