October 25, 2009

 Matthew 22: 37 & 38

  Guilt, The Church, & The 'Shoulds' In Life 

Matthew

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment." 

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Thoughts...

Definition of 'guilt' per Wikipedia:  a cognitive or emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes--whether justified or not--[per me...real or perceived] that he or she has violated a moral standard, and is responsible for that violation.

If you're going to subscribe to the fact that God exists, you must inscribe on your heart todays scripture:  "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."  It is a command.  Following that is the second commandment to "'Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matt: 22:39  There is then, a societal norm, by which our lives have been grounded, if you will, and a command, to "Do for others what you would like them to do for you. Matt 7:12.  And let us be reminded that Jesus said, "Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.  Matt 25: 40.

We are born and bred to love, and, begged, commanded, inspired, asked to live with and give love.

If the church has said behave, abide, love, do right; if our parents have said abide, love, do right, and we have not...therein lies guilt.  Unfortunately there are times when we have been told we have been guilty and we are not.  Presumption on the part of an elder, be they 'the' church or family, can cause one to feel intimidated, saddened, sorrowful, guilty and shame filled.  

It is not God's intent for people or children to be wrongly accused..  It is God's intent to give us solid moral guidelines by which to live and love.  And in the expanse of his love for us, he gives us a way to be forgiven, if we have wronged, and for our own sakes, our health and well being, we are told to forgive those who have wronged us.  

I have long heard from Catholics that the church laid heavy guilt.  I wonder how much of that was parental and connected to the church by way of the misguided mind of a child.  I do NOT mean to make light or absolve the church.  It is clear the church played their part.  But it is not only the Catholic Church that has done this over time.  All...ALL..the Protestant churches (all those not Catholic) have done the same and subscribe to the same God, Bible and, commands and directives.  All parents teach guidelines meant to instill positive values for an abundant life.

I want to say there can be alot of Old Testament gloom and doom to a child having to be confined to rigid rules meant to give life with authoritarian directives, sanctions, reprimands and the proverbial 'punishment' per se'...and I include all the 'shoulds' in life.  When the sun is shining, the air is clear, (it may even be snowing enough to go sledding!) and there is no school, a child feels their day of rest is Sunday, too, especially after a play hard Saturday.  And many parents will show by example they prefer to stay home, yet send the kids.  Confusing resent filled message for a child.

Is is any wonder why God needed a day of rest dealing with us?  We are made in his image...we work hard, we play hard, we want to rest. 

But folks, were it not for God, who made us, gave us life, and a world to live in, we would not have a life of work and the ability to play hard.  Sunday is a day set aside to give thanks to him for all of that and more.  It's a day to worship him with praise and thansgiving, as we bow down to him as our maker, our Savior, our Lord.  A day to realize what else he gave us...the oppurtunity to be forgiven of our sins and to obtain eternal life.  And he tells us we can and need to forgive others.  How we do this is by the following:

1.  Believe in God.

2.  Believe he gave us his son Jesus, who chose to die on a cross in obedience, so that we may be     forgiven of our sins, IF we ask, and the opportunity to have eternal life, IF we obey.

3.  Ask Jesus to come into our lives and forgive us of our sins.

4.  Obtain ONE water baptism as an 'outward expression of an inward confession'.

5.  Ask God's Holy Spirit to come into our lives to help us live our new life.

6.  Ask Holy Spirit to baptise us spiritually, so we can share with others what we learn and how to live.

7.  Obey....them...God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. 

Ok, so you get stuck on the word 'obey' because it takes you back to the guilt thing.  Let's talk.  Here's the deal.  In New Testament scriptures, 'obey' merely means to go forth producing good fruit with great gifts in thanksgiving for all that you've been given. 

Fruit  Galatians 5: 22 & 23 

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Gifts  1 Corinthians 12: 6-11 

Wise advice, special knowledge, faith, ability to heal the sick, perform miracles, prophesy, have discernement, ability to speak in unknown languages, and interpretation of what is being said.

Many churches in the past, and still today, are stuck in or going back to the Old Testament.  This is wrong.  The Old Testament was about 'the law'.  It was emphatic, strict, mandating, demanding, structured, controlling and legalistic.  The New Testament way of obeying brings to mind the love of the flower children of the 70's.  I can hear the old song now:  "Love, love, love...all you need is love...love is all you need."  The New Testament emphasizes love, and thanks, and giving, and sharing.  Living out in our lives what God lived out in giving us Jesus, and Jesus lived out giving us his life.  What we received in his death and resurrection.  "No greater love has someone than to lay their life down for another."  Jesus did that for you.  

The church, and our parents, may have not been clear in telling us or showing us 'why' we needed to go to church and learn about God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.  But as adults, we can now understand the 'why'.  And in doing so, perhaps we can forgive the imperfection in those adults, as we need to, and, forgive our own imperfections. 

1 Corinthians 13: 11-12 reads:  It's like this:  When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does.  But when I grew up, I put away childsh things.  Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows us now."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and those seeking still, there are 3 things I want to leave you with...no 4....and I will be repeating myself from earlier thoughts.

1.  Look up!!! at God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.  If you look at other humans, or in the mirror, you will find no one is perfect...forgive the, and yourselves.  And love.

2.  Return to HIM who first love you, he's waiting for you with open arms.  He wants to be there for and with you at every turn...even in the straight-aways. 

3.  St. Exupery said:  "Love does not exist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the same direction.

4.  "As you reach out to touch, may the world never hurt you." - Author  Unknown  

Find a church home near you, or, if you cannot get out, please feel free to call us your church family, and enter into His arms, the embrace of His love.  Forgive...and be forgiven.  Ask for and receive the fruits and the gifts.  Let go of what 'they' did to you...realizing their humaness...and forgive - get beyond - to the source of why there is church.  Worship the Living God - make him your Savior.  Or be reminded he is already there waiting for you.  And look up! at Him, not at each other.  Now, go forth proclaiming that He is, who He is and how wonderful He is.

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Let Us Pray

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, oh, boy, do I need to think clearly now.  Looking back at my childhood, I see that I may have misperceived positive actions to help me.  On the otherhand, I can also clearly see times that some actions were not done with love in mind.  Forgive me for holding grudges, being a child and not understanding the ways of the adult world, for letting all that get in the way of getting to know you...who you really are, and receiving your love...and giving you mine.  And tho' I don't know that I am really ready to forgive, or forgive fully, I guess this is where I should ask you to forgive the adults in my childhood world who perpetuated feelings of guilt within myself, or caused me to feel shame, and thereby kept me from you.  I guess you and I will have to work on some of this over time.  In the meantime, I have decided I do want to know more about who you are, and why you love me, and how much you love me.  I could always use more love.  But more than that, I see that you are worthy of my love for what you have done for me in giving me life and dying on a cross.  Help me see things clearly now.  And would you please send Holy Spirit into my life, so I can live this new life with you and those around me better?  I want to be everything I can be for you and them.  You are all very worthy.  Carry me, Lord, when I stumble.  And when I fall, lift me up, will you?  Thank you...I somehow know you will.  Be there with those that are around me, help them find you, if they do not know you already.  Let me be an example of how to live a good life in and with you.  Send you guardian angels to surround me, lest I cast my foot upon a stone, and to surround my loved ones.  And raise me to new heights on my last day, granting  me eternal life for a life well lived with you from this day forward.  Thank you, Lord.  And I really am sorry for staying away for so long.  I can see clearer now.  Thanks again.  Amen.         

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NOTES OF HELP:  Susanna Wesley, Mother of John Wesley, founder of Methodist Church, wrote to her son on June 8, 1725 the following:

"Take this rule:  Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself." 

Therefore I advise you to "Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable and right.  Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable, and about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Be considerate in all you do.  Always be full of joy...rejoicing!  Philippians 4: 8b, 4.

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 Benediction...Blessing

Let us hear from Paul as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resouces he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'.

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation.  

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If you feel that the Church of the Holy Spirit has inspired or helped you, we'd like you to prayerfully consider tithing regulary to us or gifting us, so that we can further the work and carry out the will of the Father as proclaimed in Matthew 28:16 NLT

 to

 "Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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  Our NEW Current Cause

My family and I, and the church, are in crisis and could desperately use your prayers and financial support.  Due to medical concerns, employment crisis, and economic devastation,  I do not have funding to meet everyday expenses right now for the church, or family, and home, nor those necessary to keep this website afloat, for those shut-in or needing spiritual support, nor the ability to help others along the way.  But I am confident that, with your help, balance can be achieved.  As God touches your heart, I hope you will pray earnestly for the church, my family and me, and send any amount of money you can to help.  Please note 'Church and Family' on your check, and, I will see that all funds get divided appropriately.  The church, I and my family, as well as to those to whom we reach out, will be sincerely grateful for anything you can do to help.  

Please accept my sincerest thanks....and may God bless you!

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Church of the Holy Spirit

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As we grow, you will have options for allocating your gifts.

In the meantime, we hope you will trust us to direct them to where the need is the greatest.

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'

 "Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

  Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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