Our Tri-Une Selves

Been thinking lately:

There are time when I think I hear God's voice very clearly on something... until I watch how life actually plays itself out.

At the end of the day I have a sense that what God set out to do he accomplished. When I first hear his voice I thought my part was going to be a lot bigger... when it turned out all I needed to do was speak, touch, listen, and be ready.

My theory is this: God is always ministering to the very core of my being or "Spirit" if you will. I then attempt to interpret what God is saying with my mental faculties. From there, I do my best to act out what God spoke to me with my physical faculties, mainly, my body.

Yet like a good game of "telephone" there can be somewhat of a disconnect when the ministering of the Holy Spirit transfers from one tri-une sphere to the other. Therefore, when it comes to the testing of our faith, we are told not to fret over the words we are to say, rather in the words of Jesus Christ we read:

"Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit."

Mark 13:11

Food for Thought...

What's the Rush?

Time to Read Proverbs 3:5-8

We rush on in this life, often times fixed and obsessed on the "next thing."

"What's next," we ask the Lord, "I'm ready to move on!"

Yet this has been my experience: When I have come to a place of readiness for "What's Next," the Lord speaks to my spirit, "Wait!" Yet also, when I come to a place of contentment, it is then that the Lord speaks, "Go!"

Now as I seek Him more and More in Scripture, I find myself learning how to identify those seasons of waiting and those seasons of going. Yet, as you've probably figured out, it's not always easy.

Here's an illustration for you. As most of us know, this past MN winter was a cold one. Seasoned Minnesotans said that this was to be expected while other colleagues found something to complain about. So why is it that when a season arrives, albeit known for cold weather, do we expect it to be warm? For that matter, when a warmer season arrives, why do we complain when it is not cooler?

Is it possible that we are so intent on "what is coming next," that we cannot enjoy the beauty of the moment?

So here is the challenge: Let's pray that God would help us identify the season of life he has provided for... now. In doing this, we will take each season in stride. The result? A greater ability to enjoy that which God has given us today. What about tomorrow, one might ask... well He might just have that figured out already.

Love Triangle

I have been thinking lately about the three loves as described in the Bible. We understand them to be as follows:

-Agape: Eternal love for God, each other, and even enemies.

-Philia: A feeling which produces a brotherly kind of love.

-Eros: The physical desiring which often leads to a physical connection between couples.

Recently I had a conversation with a friend who passionately expressed his views on Agape love. Eventually I realized that he was really grinding an axe against 21st Century political agendas. Regardless, I did take away an interesting point. Our nation has become so caught up in Eros (see above definition), we seem to have lost all grounds for loving each other within the other two spheres of love.

I look at it this way. Agape is the most important love that mankind can nurture. It goes beyond all treacherous actions and ensures a commitment that goes beyond mistakes. God's love for us was realized in Christ coming to our world in the form of a man and taking our penalty. He demonstrated how we ought to love each other, in agape, an absolute and eternal kind of love that is not dependent on the ability to behave.

The other two loves have become blended together in movies and other forms of art over the past thirty years. It seems one cannot "love" anyone without there being an erotic element to it. Two men or two women seem to have lost the ability to differentiate a connection established in Philia, with a connection to erotic "love" as manifested in a marital relationship.

So the question is... What has happened?

I believe we no longer understand what it means to love God, his people, and our enemies unconditionally. It is from this love that the other two find their balance. Philia and Eros essentially feed off of this kind of love.

Take for instance my relationship to my wife. Because of my efforts to love God, his people, and even my enemies without any strings attached, I find my relationship to my wife to be very fulfilling within the other two spheres of love. We work best together as a team when our love for God is exercised in worship and faithfully serving him. We are in best unison when we exercise a deepening love for his people. And we are best fit for the ministry when we realize the enemies of our faith are in just as much need of this love as we are.

It is when we begin to forget that God is the head of our love for each other that the other two spheres begin to dissipate. The love we experience in eros comes up empty. Our ability to function as a unit because of Philia is no longer being fed by Agape. Therefore our relationship begins to deteriorate.

I wonder how the church would function if they took their sights off of Eros and Philia and refocus prayer and thought on Agape. How might our attitudes change when we begin to love those who mistreat us or don't seem to be working in unity with us? Is it possible that we will begin to experience more Philia and Eros over longer periods of time? All I can say is that only after a year and a half of marriage, I have found that by exercising Agape, Eros and Philia just seem to fall into place.

When Preaching, "God Hates Sin," Sounds a Lot Like "God Hates You!"

Many of those reading this know what I refer to as "Downtown Street-Corner Preachers." Others may remember the Facebook Post from last summer after my first encounter with them. For the record, they do seem to believe that they are on a mission from God. They preach a kind of "in repentance... is your salvation," (See Isaiah 30:15, read it in context!) but as many of us well know... even though the words they preach seem like truth from God's word, it just doesn't sound quite right.

It had been a long day at work and I, while disembarking from the light-rail station, decided to take a stroll through Downtown last week. Sure enough, there they were preaching the same, message as always. "God hates your sin!" It's a message they proclaim over a listing of select sins according to the book Leviticus. They wear this listing on themselves like those of a "LIQUIDATION SALE" sign on a poor furniture store employee. When I saw them, a kind of fire flared up in me -- don't get me wrong, it wasn't so much anger as a desire to set things right -- so I approached one of the preachers.

It turned out that a nicely dressed, older gentleman had reached the preacher just before me. He was calm, collected, and not especially bothered by this wild eyed instrument of God's judgement. I walked up beside them and decided to listen a while as I waited my turn. This is more or less how the conversation went:

"Hello, brother," said the businessman to the preacher, "how are you?"

"I'M OKAY!" shouted the preacher for all to hear, "HOW ARE YOU???"

"I'm doing well," the business man quietly, for I could hardly hear him myself. "Say, why do you shout all the time?"

"I'M NOT SHOUTING! I'M PROCLAIMING, more like PREACHING!"

"Well I see that, but it's coming across as a little offensive, do you think you could tone it down a little?"

"NO, I DON'T BELIEVE I CAN DO THAT. YOU SEE, These people's SINS need to be EXPOSED through the LAW! Is it offensive? YES, because GOD's WORD is offensive to this culture of PHARISEES! It's a kind of RIGHTEOUS anger."

"Pardon me, sir." said the businessman very politely, "I'm a brother in the faith--"

"OH, that's GOOD!!!!!"

"Yes... er... right, I'm a brother in the faith and I'm still working through some of the sins that your preaching against. I don't claim perfection yet, but I'm working on it. Anyway, I just think you need to tone it down and be a little more polite."

"WELL, even JESUS had RIGHTEOUS ANGER TOO!"

"I understand that... in certain cases, but I just think you are coming off as offensive. I have to go now--"

The businessman then looked at me and smiled as though to say, Your turn! I shook his hand, and he sped on his way.

I can't really give you a step by step relay of what went on after that. But suffice it to say that within the verbal boxing match which ensued, I was interrupted, misunderstood, and accused of being a "PHARISEE!" as well as one who "BEARS BAD FRUIT!" After about 2 minutes of trying to make sense of the situation, another preacher joined and the two proceeded to ram me with scriptures... which seemed to have no discernible Biblical context. One of these Scriptures in particular was Romans 2:8 which I will get to in a bit.

After about five minutes, they decided they had enough of me and said, "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about!" As they hurriedly left to cross the street, I decided not to give up just yet. "Hey!" I shouted and stretched out my hand, "Thanks for talking with me, I really appreciate it." The second preacher hesitated only a moment, "Yeah... uh, no problem," and he shook my hand.

Now the story takes another turn, because on the journey home I saw an older, disheveled, gentleman holding a sign which read, "Just Need Food." I felt compelled towards him (which doesn't happen very often mind you) and said, "Hi! How are you?"

"Eh? What did you say son?" He answered.

"I said 'hoooow... aaarrreee.... yoooouuuu."

"Oh! Doing well, doing well."

"Is there anything I can do for you today?" It was amazing how naturally I formed those words. Only a moment before I felt so flabbergasted that I could hardly get a word out. Wouldn't you know it? Maybe it's because I work in customer/food service! Just goes to show that one never knows when his/her trade will can be used for God's purposes.

"Oh, well it's just food that I need," said the man.

"Okay," I said motioning with my left hand, "Target is right across the street. Can I get you some food?"

His eyes brightened up and the sound of that, "OH! Yes! That would be great!"

"Do you have any dietary needs, sir?"

"Well, I have diabetes, you know. So any kind of fruit... er... um... BANANAS! I could use some bananas!

Sure enough, I found myself grabbing two bunches of bananas and a cup of coffee, "With cream and Sweet&Low!" After bringing him his food and drink, I asked if I could pray for him.

"Ah, now that would be great, thank you," he said, bowing his head. I laid my hand on him and prayed something like this:

"Dear Father in Heaven. I thank you for stopping me to help my friend today. I pray that these things would be nourishing to his body. Lord, I also pray that you would continue to compel people of Truth to help him. Surround him with these people. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen!"

"Thank you, son. What is you name?"

"Jacob," I replied with a smile.

"Oh, well I'll remember that," he winked, "That's from the Bible!"

And it was true. What I did was from the Bible. In fact it was exactly what Jesus did in the Bible, and also what the real Pharisees refused to do: to see, to touch, and to provide for the poor in heart, health, and spirit... on a personal, day by day level.

Who are the real Pharisees of today? Well, Jesus described them as loud, burdensome, arrogant, deceitful, and overall hypocritical. Need I say more?

What is truly needed is people with sound conviction of the heart and mind to reach out and touch the people in this culture. For those of us with a heart for culture change, I think it starts right here, wherever here is for you.

Now that you have trekked through this amazing journey with me. Read Romans chapter 2. Remember the preachers used Romans 2:8 to justify their wrathful, angry preaching. I actually chuckled when I read the first few verses. Can you tell why? Read the whole chapter and always, always test the way people use the Word by putting it back into context!

Blessings!

He says, "I'm the Anti-Christ!" and I say... "Oh REALLY?"

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is his name, but merely claiming to be "Christ" is not enough for him. In fact, he claims to be The Anti-Christ. Now the Church has been arguing for generation's over who the Anti-Christ is going to be, but apparently, Miranda has answered the question for us all. For that matter, he takes pride in his Anti-Christ identity.

I encourage you to visit his website, look at his doctrinal "truths" and expose them with the True Word of God for yourself. If he does claim to be the Anti-Christ, then the scriptures he cites (*cough* out of context *cough*) ought to line up... Right?

However, when I did my scriptural analysis I found that he is either he is insane, delusional, or otherwise crazy. However, because of what I know from the First and Second Letters from John in the New Testament, I can logically conclude that he is an Anti-Christ of sorts. It should be a "no-brainer" for those who study the Bible on a daily basis. However, I haven't totally ruled out the delusional or insane possibilities as you might be able to see in the video below.

It is not really surprising to me that we are seeing figures like these popping up here and there. Jesus warned us that there would be such people, and his Apostles gave us quite a few warnings too.

Have you read the New Testament lately? I encourage you to read it along with the Old Testament. This way we build defenses against the deception of our world today as well as keep our hearts pure before God.

Check out this interview we found on YouTube from CNN. See if you can pick out the inconsistencies with the True Written Word of God.

See 1 John, 2 John, Hebrews 9, the book of Daniel, and the book of Revelation.

Read God's Word, Know God's Word, Memorize God's Word! I will be doing more research myself.

Post Your Thoughts!

So We Must Remember!

So We Must Remember!

By Jacob Hansen

Memorial Day 2013 

What is this thing that God has blessed?

We call it our nation, our home, and our place of rest.
But what has birthed it, refined it, preserved it?

Or does anything ring true in the Red, White and Blue?

 Today we remember the many gone before

Uncles, Aunts, Great Fathers and Mothers

 Children, parents, sisters and brothers.
But how do we remember the Reddest Blood spilled, 

Or the sacrifice of those who were felled.

Few recall the Pure Price of True Freedom, 

.And fewer today know exactly what has Freed them.

So We Must Remember!

We no longer teach "Honor Thy Father and Mother," 

When it comes to our fellow man we try not to bother.
But it is Honor and Courage that has made this nation great, 

To forget this erases the Blue from under 50 States.

And though the Stars are harder to forget. 

Alaska and Montana sometimes, but surely not the rest.

We forget the Reddest Blood of those before, 

The Purest White Freedom which they bought
And the Bluest Honor and Courage they bore, 

To bring One out of Many they sought,

You might as well fly a flag without the Red,
without the White, and without the Blue.
But then our 50 states would separate, and so would I, and so would you.

So We Must Remember!

The Homo-Sexual Christian Possibility (?)

Today's post is short and sweet. 

I thought about writing, but I think Ravi Answers the question pretty thoroughly. 

What are your thoughts?