Russell_OU's Xanga

"the LORD!"

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:24:09 GMT

Warning: For non-Christians out there this might sound like gobldy gook Christian talk and for the most part it is. But if you want to learn a little of the culture that envelops western Christianity, then feel free to ask questions about any of these definitions, ideas, beliefs or concepts. Hopefully soon I will have something a little more relevant to those who do not follow Jesus.

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.

14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
-Psalms116:13-14

God has many names and yet one essence. This is not a theological syncretistic statement by the way. And for context I truly live in a Christian culture that is more edgy, contemporary, maybe more culturally relevant, but still evangelical. None of these descriptions are really adequate, but in short I don't go to a traditional Baptist Church like the one a I grew up in. I am not surrounded by folks who still are drenched in that culture. Though I am friends with several who are. I'm just not engulfed in that traditional church culture or surrounded by those who are. And for the record, many and probably most of those folks are my brothers and sisters in Christ. We all are followers of the LORD.

The LORD! Very few who run in my circles call Jesus that anymore at least not often. It has, well... such a traditional ring to it. And most Jesus Followers who run in my circles don't refer to Him as the LORD because it is not a commonly used word in today's vocabulary. And it may be perceived by those in my circles to be somewhat irrelevant to culture outside of Christianity for that very reason. Now those traditional evangelicals (of which I came out of) out there reading this might assume that these missional/seeker/emerging Christian types are always just trying to make things cool and more appealing so that we can sell God to people. I know. I used to fall in more of a traditional mode.

On a very important side note, I really want to distance myself from the label as being an "Emerging" or "Emergeant" Christian, as well as, the label of being a "Seeker" Christian. Even in saying that, I know some godly folks and godly things that have come out of those cultures as well. I don't really like labels much anyway. As I would just label myself as being a follower of whatever Jesus wants. But because we are humans and words/labels help to paint pictures of lifestyles, beliefs and truths. I would consider my self "missional". From my perception, being missional is doing church and living life that is sacrificial for others and for God. Not just God. As a matter of fact, we can't truly know God with out serving and loving others. If you want to know more about this philosophical idea, ask me and I will respond. Now back to the subject.

I think that the traditionalist evangelical would be right in one sense. Often times I think that the more progressive (missional, emergeant, seeker types) evangelicals are just trying to make things cool to attract people to God or to sell God to people (a harsher way of saying it). I'm not sure that this is so scripturally wrong, as it is just tacky and self defeating. God does not need salesman. He can sell Himself. One of the ugly divisions that can happen between evangelicals is that the traditionalists see the more progressives as selling out and compromising truth. And vice versa is the idea that progressives see the traditionalists as holding on to traditions that are not necessarily scriptural and that get in the way of reaching people. The progressives see the expectation of dressing up for the church service, the over use of Christianese (Christian words that non-believers don't understand), among other traditions, as alienating the very people who need to be reached. And from real people's testimonies sometimes this is exactly what happens. In other words, people have been reached at my more progressive church that would have never stepped foot in a traditional church or given a traditionalist the time of day.

The bottom line of the traditionalists is that they see the progressives as spending so much energy on trying to please those that they are trying to reach and sell God to, that these progressives sell out and don't acknowledge or speak some of the difficult truths that God so clearly communicates in the scriptures. The bottom line idea for the progressives is that they believe that among God's top priorities for the church is to leave the 99 found sheep for the one lost sheep (Luke 15). And that loving your neighbor as yourself is not some low place suggestion, but that it is up there with "love the LORD with all of your heart, soul and mind" (Matt. 22:36-40). And so how the non-believer perceives us and God is very important and by the way, "God is love." (1 John 4:7-9)

So that brings us back to "the LORD." Ok you progressives out there. I think that we should refer to Him as "the LORD." Why? Because that translates authority in a traditional sense. And we've lost that tradition. You see not all traditions are bad and some need to be kept. He is the LORD of the earth! LORD over my life! I am subject to Him. The LORD can giveth and taketh away, blessed be the name of the LORD! He is the LORD because His agenda trumps our agenda. His plan is more important than our individual, independent minded plans are. But even if we feel pain because of the triumphant will of "the LORD", we know that "the LORD" still loves us and will work all things out for even our good (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11). I see too many progressives get mad at God or lose faith, when things are not going there way. I've even been there myself. But this is because we don't understand and have lost the biblical meaning of "the LORD".

A 1950's Church tradition of church going men wearing three piece suits might prevent people from knowing the LORD these days because the non-believer may avoid people who seem over dressed and pretentious or they may feel too lowly (in an economic/class sense) to relate. While the concept of "the LORD" may turn away the non-believer because well, certain non-believers don't want to follow that kind of God, we can not lose this concept. Well, because HE is the LORD! And to call HIM and choose to follow something contrary to "the LORD" would be speaking of a different god and not following "the LORD" of the bible. The three piece suit tradition is simply man's tradition, which might or might not be good for bring people to know "the LORD". The older more traditional english usage of biblical word "the LORD" is quite important for bringing people to know "the LORD." Oh hey, and if it is too Christianese for the non-believer to understand for you progressive teachers out there, then teach it to them in a gentle healthy way. Besides understanding and following "the LORD" is one of the most healthy ways to live, grow and know HIM.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." (Psalms 34:8)

"...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Deuteronomy 24:15)

Scott

Following Jesus is Mystical

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:05:58 GMT

“Somehow Christianity has become a nonmystical religion. It’s about a reasonable faith. If we believe the right things, then we are orthodox. Frankly whether we ever actually connect to God or experience His undeniable presence has become incidental, if not irrelevant. We have become believers rather than experiencers. To know God in Scriptures always went beyond information to intimacy. We may find ourselves uncomfortable with this reality, but the faith of the Scriptures is a mystical faith. It leads us beyond the material world into an invisible reality. We become connected to the God of eternity. Who you are at the core is spirit. God is Spirit. To walk with God is to journey in the spiritual realm. ”
Erwin McManus “The Barbarian Way”

God is not a quick fix

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:21:02 GMT

Let me say to you that I will make no promises about future blogs since it has been a year since I've left anything on this site. Anyway, God is teaching me something. God is not a Genie in a bottle. He doesn't always give us the quick answer, wish or quick fix. I used to always think that it was weird when Jesus spoke in riddles. I used to think, "why does he make things seem complicated or am I missing anything?" Now I think (emphasis on "I think") I know why Jesus spoke in riddles and complex analogies. And I don't think that it has to do with us or teachers knowing the Greek or biblical background better (though I've had 2 years of Koine Greek and several biblical background classes). But God speaks to the common man, even the one with out an education. What Jesus is saying is, "...seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened." (Matt. 4:7-8) OR "But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deut. 4:29).

You have to seek. It is interesting because in Romans 3 it says something to the effect that "there is no one who seeks, there is no one who does good." And this is also true. So how can both be true. Well no one can seek enough and no one can do good enough to reach God on their own. But if we'll just run with the little voice in our head that says, "just read a sentence in my Bible today... just put aside 5 minutes for Me in your busy day. Just be open to hearing my voice no matter where it comes from. Just seek me in the way that you currently can right now... just do something going towards me... just go .0001 percent of the way toward me. And I will go the rest of the 99.9990 percent of the way toward you..." "Come near to God and He will come near to you..." (James 4:8) Oh and for you strict Calvinists (I used to be one) just in case you are thinking that I left out the biblical theological idea that it is not up to us, but God loved us first. I didn't. God's sovereignty in all is biblical and true. If it were not the truth, there would be no way that we could even go .0001 of the way toward God.

But this is a process. This is a painful process. It is about having a relationship with the living God of the universe! And relationships are always messy. Not because God is messy, but because we are messy. And there are always ups and downs. And there is no "love at first sight-happily ever after" with us toward God. We doubt. We get hurt. We blame God. We look for other gods when things are going well for us. This seems to be human nature. And sometimes God doesn't rescue us from the trial. And sometimes we don't get what we want. But God sometimes allows us to go through the trial because we grow and understand what really matters with out getting the quick fix or answer. We become more desperate for Him and dependent on Him. Then we'll know what it means "to know Christ and the power of His ressurection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippian 3:10-11). Then you can "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance" (James 1:2-3).

So seek Jesus with all of your heart and He will show up through the thick and the thin!

Scott

Mondays entry

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:27:16 GMT

Long time no blog eh? I've really slacked off from blogging obviously. But I hope that all is well with everyone. I'm going to attempt to blog once a week here and on my MySpace. It seems that most people that I'm connected to locally have migrated from xanga to myspace. But I don't want to lose complete contact with my xanga friends either. So for today I'm going to provide you with one of my favorite quotes:

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." Sir Edmund Burke

This is the quote on my Myspace page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=14936605

What is one of your favorite quotes? Feel free to fill my xanga up with quotes

Blessings,

Scott

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:55:23 GMT

HUMAN NATURE: GOOD OR EVIL?

I want to know your thoughts: This is the question of the day. Is our (humans) nature good, evil or maybe neutral? I would love to read your thoughts on this subject. But when you give your thoughts, please give me reasons for your thoughts. Are your thoughts based on some personal experience, higher authority, some authoritative piece of wisdom or something else? In other words, I would love to read the pieces of wisdom or personal experience that shapes your belief. (Feel free to blog about this on your own xanga or myspace site and direct them to this site if you like. I'm trying to get back to blogging, but there is more energy for me in blogging when more people are involved. Right or wrong that is the way it works for me at this point. I'd love to get a variety of different opinions on this topic if possible. Of Course NO ONE'S OPINION WILL BE DEGRADED ON MY BLOG. In other words, opinions may be disagreed with, but people must not be degraded.)

My Thoughts: Of Course for those of you who do not know, I am a Christ Follower. I believe that Jesus is the One and only Son of God, who also came in the form of a man to save us from our sins. That is a very loaded statement of which is open for questions or discussion from anyone, as well. But to be short, I believe that humans tend to do the wrong thing. That means that if God is the author of good, then humans tend to drift from Him.

Some of you may ask, "Why do you believe in such a thing?" I believe this because of a collected wisdom beyond my own wisdom (the Bible). In other words, it seems as though the scriptures, which I believe to be God's word through many wise, but yet flawed authors, builds this very truth: Humans seem to do the wrong thing. My own experience and history itself also seems to confirm what the scriptures say as well. Now you must know that I do not believe that humans are utterly evil without the capacity for good. I do think that we have a tremendous capacity for goodness. We were made in the image of God (however broken and faded that may become). So there is potential for goodness that can be found in history, the scriptures and experience, as well. However, I just believe that we, on our own accord, tend to drift from what is right to what is wrong.

Is the Bible God's Word? This is a very important question that must be answered for many people. There is much evidence for the understanding that it is God's Word. One piece of evidence that shines above many others are the prophecies about Christ and his work of salvation, written 300, 700 (especially Isaiah), even 1000 years before Christ's appearance on the earth. Even the most radical liberal Old Testament scholars date the latest prophecies about Christ as being written at least 150 years before Christ. There are also several pieces of scholarship that write off such prophecies and even Christ's historical existence, as well. But that is another discussion for another time. I have done much study on this with as much of an open mind as I can muster (being a person who has experienced Jesus' literal presence). Yet I find the sceptical scholarship wanting, even by scientific standards. At this point try to imagine with me if you don't already believe, that the Bible is indeed at the least an attempt of God trying to communicate wisdom to man. Or at least appreciate the fact that there are no other texts that have been found to be as ancient or as accurate as what we have in the collection of the Bible.

Scriptural Evidence of human evil tendencies:
Romans 3:9-11 "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written,'There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.'"

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Isaiah 64:6"For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind take us away

Scriptural Evidence of human potential to do good:
Proverbs 2:20 "Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous"

Psalm 11:7 "For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face."

Isaiah 57:1-2 "The righteous persih, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

Matthew 6:1 Be careful not to odyour acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Is God's word contradictory here? No, one has to understand what makes a person righteous with all that is said in the scriptures about humans tending to lean towards evil. A man is considered righteous when He trusts in the living God of the universe, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is not his/her good deeds that make them righteous. It is their humility before God and trust in Him that allows God to bestow righteousness upon someone. Righteousness could only be given to people when the stain of sin is wiped away. Why is this important? Because sin is contagious and destructive. One sin even of relatively minor proportions tends to snow ball and ultimately destroy many peoples lives, hopes and dreams.

The simplest lie would be a great example. Lies tend to start small and ultimately destroy trust, relationships, etc... If God has prepared a wonderful place for everyone, how can he allow people with the stain of sin to enter this place. He can not. Or else the beauty of it all would be lost and corrupted as we often see happen in this world. So He had to wipe away sin because of justice. Justice is what someone deserves and it carries over into eternity. Justice is actually a good thing. It preserves what is pure, holy and good. An example would be, that if someone kills (theoretically) then they should be killed according to justice. This helps to preserve what is left of goodness and innocense with those who don't kill. Someone may do many good things, but if that person is a killer also then he/she is a carrier of the disease of killing. It doesn't go away without justice being done. It is a natural law of God in the context of freewill. Therefore, someone has to pay for that sin as a law of justice, whoes ultimate goal is to preserve peace. Jesus paid the price for all who freely accepted the payment (God almost always works in the context of freewill).

Therefore, a righteous man is one who trusts in the living God of the universe, who is also Jesus. And his righteousness is given to him/her and not earned (Ephesians 2:8-9). God also imparts the tendency to do what is right in the man who trusts in Him. This is done through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hence, not only is that man/woman with faith in a position of righteousness before God, but also starts to lean toward doing the right thing as a result of the Holy Spirit given to him/her.

More to come on historical and experiential evidence that the natural man tends to do evil...

Monday, February 05, 2007

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:03:26 GMT

Time To Post

To be honest, I have just been too busy and/or lazy to post anything. I know that this is an odd and contradicting combination of states of being to have. But there it is. I wanted to share a couple of things that I've experienced or that I have done over the past year.

Impactful Books I'm reading or have read:

"A Voice in the Wind" by Francine Rivers (A Fictional story based on general history about the struggles, faith and love of the Christ Followers during the first century)
-My review so far: The book so far is surprisingly graphic and detailed in showing the horrors that many early Christians faced. But there is much redemption to go along with the horror. The author is brilliant in developing the characters. I am definitely invested in the main character even though she is female. I'm not done reading the book, but I can't wait to find out how the paths cross for many of the developing characters from different religious, cultural and national backgrounds.

"Soul Cravings" by Erwin McManus (A look at our inner most primal cravings and how they ultimately lead to God).
-My review so far: I tend to read several books at one time so I don't finish them quickly. In other words, I'm not done with this book either. Anyway, this is a simple yet insightful look at our need for love, sex, significance, etc... and how these cravings were originally placed there by the living God of the universe. It is for both Christians and non Christians alike. I think that non-Christians would find this refreshingly interesting and unorthodox in it's approach, while Christians can glean much from this book by relating their interpersonal and spiritual struggles, as well, with the timeless, yet new twists of insight that this book offers. Erwin, my mentor from afar, always provides many quotes that will be quoted centuries from now.

The Book that I am Writting:

"The Last Stand of Aldhelm": I'm not sure if this is going to be the title. But I have experienced several moments or periods of writers block with this. However, I think that it has a chance. Basically it is a fantasy novel mirroring ancient to medieval times on earth. This medieval fantasy novel is an analogy of what is happening in our world with past modernity and pseudo Christianty, God's genuine movement and postmodernism. I can't tell you much else about the book because of copyright issues, but it is quite a task.

Interesting Places that I've Traveled:

Cuiba, Brazil: (Septemeber 2005) In the last year and a half I have traveled to Brazil and met beautiful people such as Pastor Waldir and his wife Mary Luise. We gave medical care to people who were in dire need of it and we shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with many people who were spiritually hungry for God.

Vancouver, Canada: (January 2006) I got to see the church work and Jesus' movement outside of what many academics call mainstream Christianity. If you thought that Canada was just another version of the U.S., then you are dead wrong. Canada is a multi-cultural nation teeming with many different religions and philosophies of life. I met Christ Followers in the small communities of believers there who were from India, China, France, etc... But I found out quickly how anti-U.S. Canada and the rest of the world is. These Canadian Christ Followers were not particular anti-U.S., but they definitely informed us that this was the state of mind for most people in Canada. Unfortunately, I think that many people these days take the good and bad philosophies of the U.S. and brand them as being Christian, which often times is not necessarily the case.

Debrzit, Ethiopia: (August 2006) When I stepped into the villages on the outskirts of Debrizit, I felt as though I stepped back into time, maybe even biblical times. I met many lovely people such as Shitu and his mother who lived in a mud hut. Shitu had lost his father to illness when he was arround 9 years old. His father was a practicer of black majic and close to the local witch doctor. But I shared the gospel with Shitu and his mother. I could sense the movement of the Holy Spirit when I shared with them. Shitu's mother came to Christ and gave up here only means of living (selling an alcohol drink that many commonly made out of a local crop and with which many locals are addicted to). This was an incredible step of faith. I still keep in contact with my intereptor, Worku, who often worships at the church that we started in Shitu's house! Many people have come to Christ as a result of our efforts and God is providing for Shitu, his mom and his six other brothers and sisters.

Shitu, me and brother

There is much more to tell and share that has happened over the last year and a half. I hope to share it with you all, but I can not promise anything. Feel free to ask questions about any of my travels or happenings. This might spark a conversation and keep me posting at xanga. But it is difficult to muster up the time and energy at this point in my life.

Many Blessings,

Scott

Jesus was born!

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 15:25:57 GMT

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful time yesterday. May Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rule our hearts.

Scott

Friday, December 01, 2006

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:27:57 GMT

ALL NIGHTER!

To all youth... bring a sleeping bag and a snack. The girls will be with Debi, Christy and Dawn at my sister's house, which is only 5 minutes or less from my house. The guys will be at my house. Everything starts at 7:00 tonight. We will kick everybody out on Saturday at 9:30 in the morning. If any of you guys are interested in playing soccer at 10:00 in the morning, then bring your cleats, warm athletic clothes and we'll go to the soccer fields.

Blessings to all,

Scott

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:26:49 GMT

THE INAUTHENTIC NEED NOT APPLY

Here is an impactful quote from one of my mentors from far away:
The churches that will cease to exist are not those who are doctrinally errant, but are spiritually errant. You cant get away with it anymore. You can't just talk about what the bible says, you better flesh it out or you are dead.
That's what is exciting about the world in which we live. Only the viable church of Jesus Christ will survive, the inauthentic need not apply. I want to live in the world that if the church is not the revolution that Jesus died to establish 2000 years ago it ceases to exist. I want to live in a world where the church has no more crutches, or buffers to guard her from injury. I want a church where a culture no longer protects her. Whenever the gospel enters an environment, it prevails.
ts not about structures, strategies, programs or patterns. If you don't rediscover the apostolic, you die!
-Erwin McManus

Please leave some comments and weâ€™ll discuss the quote.

Blessings,

Scott

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:20:37 GMT

UPDATED (ok, so now I updated. Is everyone happy now? just kidding. I just haven't found the time or energy to post on this site lately. Sorry everybody...)