Are you so smart you're stupid?

We're continuing on with our chronological walk through the Gospels, seeking – and finding – the (real) Jesus Christ, as He presented Himself to us (and not in the ways He's misrepresented even today by those who most loudly call themselves "Christian").

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here.
(Note that you can change the human-translation version on this scripture page, as suits you. I have NO theological or other tie to the online-bible site I use for this blog – it just lists many human translations to choose from, including the NASB, KJV, The Message, and the NRSV, which are the ones mentioned by those I chat and email with.)

This week's scripture should be a warning to those who discount Jesus' ability to do miracles beyond what we normally expect from the standard "physics" of this world – and that's almost all of what calls itself "Liberal" or "Progressive" Christianity today. It also gives warning to those "Good Religious People" we've come to see so often in the Bible now, as well. 

In this week's scripture, two guys who are blind are following Jesus (and we assume the crowd of disciples, God-seekers, gawkers, etc also following Him), hollering out for help. Note that they call Jesus "Son of David", which meant they understood Him to be the Messiah promised to Israel (and the world).

They followed Him all the way into somebody's home (or other indoor place), still clamoring for Him heal their blindness supernaturally. They aren't asking Him for a pill, or a better doctor, or a good hospital, after all. They've heard from others that He can raise the recently-dead, throw demons out of people, heal disabilities, and more – and they want the same kind of miracle for themselves.

Jesus gives them what they want – but He first asks them if they truly believe He can do it.

If these men had been like many "Liberal" or "Progressive" Christians, though, they would have had to tell Him something like, "Well, Lord, since I'm a modern-believer, with science and reason at my disposal, I've risen above superstition and mythology. No, I don't believe you've actually done anything supernatural. But I do give you greatest honor as an awesome teacher whose teachings inspire me to live a loving, moral life. I also appreciate the lessons to be learned from the metaphorical or figurative 'miracle' stories told about you by well-meaning but backward human beings who lived in a pre-science culture. I suppose if my blindness is actually being caused by some psychosomatic distress, then you might be able to 'cure' it with what's really a spiritual 'sugar pill'. But if my blindness isn't purely psychosomatic, like I'm sure the so-called 'demon possession' of the guy behind me is, then, no, Lord. I know better than to believe you can cure me."

And, since Jesus healed the blind men in our scripture to the extent they believed He could, the literal-miracle-rejecting "Liberal"/"Progressive" Christian would get – what? Nothing.

Now, does this mean that every time someone prays for a blind person (or anyone with any kind of illness, disability, trouble, etc) Jesus will automatically heal them? No. The Bible itself shows us that Jesus walked all over Israel, and only a tiny number of the many, many who suffered there received healing. We might be tempted to say that people get healing depending on how close they are to Jesus Himself or to His praying-people, but the Bible never shows us 100% healing even of every believing-person. Timothy, for example, had gut and other problems that apparently were accepted as just a part of life to deal with. Paul, for another example, had some kind of ailment God simply wouldn't heal because otherwise Paul risked becoming as worthless to God as most "ministers" are today.

The Bible does show us that God acts supernaturally in this world when it works for His plan. Jesus acted supernaturally (in healing and more) 2,000 years ago – just as He does today – when that supernatural action illustrates God's power, His nature, or His intentions for our future, or when that supernatural action freed a "trapped" worker who was unable to continue working towards God's plan as s/he was. So, even if we do have big ailments or disabilities and don't get healing in this life, we know God has the power to heal, and that our healing will come – when Jesus returns for us, if not before.

If, that is, we are willing to believe He can and will.

• Nothing in the Bible says science or reason should be thrown out - but everything in the Bible says that God isn't limited by anything we can understand. Are you able to appreciate and use science and reason in ways that benefit yourself and others, without denying that God can act outside the rules He created for this world when He created it? 
• Have you had times of refusing miracles in your life because it didn't seem "reasonable" to expect them? What would it take for you to open up to God's ability to show His power, nature, and future intentions through your life, as fits His plan for the world? 
• Since even Timothy and Paul (who were great workers of wonders in Jesus' Name) had ailments and other physical problems that were apparently never healed while they lived on this earth - and yet never believed that meant Jesus couldn't do supernatural things or that God didn't love them beyond measure anyway, why do we?

The scripture story today ends as they often do – with the Good Religious People accusing Jesus of using demonic power to accomplish what doesn't elevate and sanctify their way of being "godly". If you've been following along in our study, you can easily shake your head and say, "Same stuff, different day!" And truly, Good Religious People never change. Through the Old Testament, the New Testament, the centuries since, and even today, they proclaim themselves as God's People even as they reject living the way God has said His people must live. They also claim to be the one's He's using in His plan, even as they act against Him at work in the world when it doesn't please their own religiosity. An easy example today is the Holy Spirit action in the lives of Gay people today, as God heals more and more of them of the spiritually alienating and deeply wounding false-witness and intentional Bible-mistranslation Good Religious People have bludgeoned them with. Just as God called the Gentiles, even when it torqued off the Jews, God calls Gay people, even when it torques off straight people. And witnessing God at work, all Good Religious People today can do is screech "Satan's power at work! Satan's power at work!"

They truly never change.

• What lessons has the Bible taught you so far about Good Religious People and the mistakes they make (intentional and otherwise)?
• What dangers do we face when we do follow along with or let ourselves be guided by Good Religious People? 
• Have Good Religious People spiritually injured you or someone you love? Are you more able now to understand their attack as part of Satan's work, and not God's? What help can you find today to get you the additional spiritual healing you still need, so you're no longer a trapped and inured worker who can't help in God's plan?

Until next week, and in His love!

Lynne
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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Who's condemned by the Parable of the Sower?

Ok – back on track with our (chronological) Gospel study. Sorry to have missed everyone last week! Just too much to do, and got way too far behind, and way too exhausted trying to keep up :-) Times like that are always a reminder to me that God worked the need for rest and downtime into Creation, as well – and we only suffer for it when we don't go along with His plan for the world, OR for our bodies.

In any event, we are indeed continuing through the Gospels, specifically to discover who Jesus really was and is, outside how we've been taught for centuries to view and understand Him by what most loudly calls itself "The Church".

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here. 

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here. (Note that you can change the human-translation version on this scripture page, as suits you. I have NO theological or other tie to the online-bible site I use for this blog – it just lists many human translations to choose from, including the NASB, KJV, The Message, and the NRSV, which are the ones mentioned by those I chat and email with.)

Today's scripture passage covers a well-known parable: "the parable of the sower":

A farmer goes out sowing seed like all farmers did back then, and like non-industrial farmers do even today: walking along and tossing out handfuls of seed along his/her path. But different things happen to different seeds, depending on the environment they land in. Jesus wants us to understand why different things happen to people's faith (or lack thereof), depending on the spiritual environment we're in. He gives us four groups to consider.

Group 1: All the folks who hear God's Good News – but really, they couldn't care less. Here's a today's-world example. It doesn't matter how often I see advertisements or hear friend recommendations about how great western movies are – I simply don't give a hoot about westerns. So when I hear about them, it just goes in one ear and out the other. I might as well have not heard the western-movie information at all, because I'm just not interested in even knowing that western movies even exist, much less in learning more about them or going to see one. That's how these folks feel about the Gospel: "Don't bother me – I'm busy with more important things!"

Group 2: The people who hear the Good News – and they love it! Love it, that is, until someone makes fun of or hurts them for being a Jesus-follower, or until some other kind of hard time comes. Then, because their faith has no real root, it just dies.

Group 3: Those who also hear the Good News, and also love it – at first. But then their faith gets choked out by what the world has to offer and the crapola it makes us deal with. Note that Jesus doesn't say they become nonbelievers at that point, but that they then wither and fail to mature, or remain unfruitful (meaning, they don't produce what God wants).

Group 4: Those with a noble and good heart who not only hear the Good News, but then grow in and from it, sticking with it no matter what happens, and thereby produce God-plan results God's interested in.

• Usually the first thing people do when they hear this parable is ask themselves which group they fall in. So – which group do you fall in, today? Have you been in different groups at different times in your life? Is it possible you could shift to a different group in your future, if something does or doesn't happen? 
• At what point do you believe Christians should stop expending evangelism energies on people in Group 1? How should we decide who falls into a Group 1? DO we get to decide who's in Group 1 and who's not, since God tells us not to judge and that only He knows people's real hearts? 
• "Christians" often "assign" certain kinds of people they don't like to Group 1, as if simply being Gay, or divorced, or pagan, or registered Democrat/Republican, or whatever means one will never come to know or want Jesus. What would you call an attitude that believes "Not being like me" is the same as "Forever rejecting Jesus"? What do you imagine God thinks of such attitudes? 
• Many of us could count ourselves in Group 2 at various times in our lives, until we get a firm grip on the real Gospel. When we're convinced that the shallow spirituality of "Church Christianity" is the Gospel, then, of course, when we need the deep roots of (real) Jesus to sustain and ground us through hard spiritual times we just don't have it. Have you had times of shallow spirituality that left you defenseless against religious or world attacks on your faith? What helped you move out of the "rocky soil"? 
• Though they never see it, almost all those who call themselves "Christians" are actually not in Group 4, but in Group 3. They stay Bible-babies most/all of their lives, because they are part of "church" communities that make worrying and hoarding money and other wealth, enjoying nice houses and cars, wearing their religious clothes and titles, prettying up their "church" buildings, and so on all part of what they believe is "normal" "faith". But a life in Jesus has nothing to do with those things – even when the "pastor", "priest", or "pope" assures us it can and does. Just like Jesus said we can't have God's stuff in our heart AND money's stuff in our heart, we can't have God's stuff in our heart AND world's stuff in our heart. Have you been taught that God's way includes money's or the world's way, in your contacts with the immature "Christians" who dominate "tradition", "seminaries", "churches", and so on? Have you considered how much it blocks you from true maturity in Jesus Christ? 
• Group 4, of course, is where we want to be. Jesus tells us that people who belong to Group 4 got there – how? By (1) having a noble and good heart (unlike the people in Group 1), and so not being already stuck in evil and refusing to get out, and (2) hearing THE Good News, which means the real Good News of Jesus Christ, and not just the false Sounds-Good News of Church Jesus (unlike Group 3), and (3) keep the real deal even when things get really ugly (unlike the people in Group 2) -- and, because they have all three, therefore are able to produce abundantly what God actually planted them to produce. Has anything moved you around in your life, between groups? What has kept, or keeps you even now, from moving into Group 4 and accomplishing the things God's planned out for you to do? 
• Did you notice here that Jesus only talked about people who'd actually heard the Gospel? Notice He never says that people who truly haven't heard it aren't condemned. Who today really, truly, could be said to have never heard the Gospel? Many today have heard A gospel - but not the real Gospel. If they have a good heart but angrily reject God because they haven't yet understood that He has nothing to do with the false gospel, do you think God condemns them? Do you think they could count as among those who truly haven't heard the Gospel yet?

There's another question in all this, though – a question about why Jesus used parables like this in the first place. Why be so cryptic? Didn't Jesus want everyone to hear and be saved?

Here's where we can get confused, if it hurts our hearts to imagine that anyone has to go to hell or not be saved. We know God is love, and we know God wants to save everyone – the Bible itself tells us that. However, the Bible also says (and Jesus along with it) that some people themselves choose not to be saved. They prefer things other than God, want to walk a path that doesn't lead to God, and they won't be turned from it. This isn't just meaning those who understand themselves as God-rejecters. No, this hell-bound group also includes those who imagine themselves God's Finest, but who are in fact ALSO God-rejecters because they simply create and live a version of "God" and "God's" way that pleases them more, and then expect all the same (if not better) rewards from God as those who actually accept Him.

Jesus told His disciples that He was sharing God's real kingdom information with them, and not with the Group 3 / Good Religious People, because the disciples' interest and want of God was real, not faked – and that just wasn't true of the Group 3 / Good Religious People.

In fact, the Group 3 / Good Religious People had never been truly interested in God and His way – ever. Jesus quotes an Old Testament condemnation of Good Religious People when God said they would never get it because they refused to get it, and that therefore God was going to let them hang with the rope they insisted on putting around their own necks. God could heal them, but He wouldn't, because they refused Him and what He could do.

• "Christians" today – especially "conservative" ones – LOVE LOVE LOVE to consider just how much more "godly" they are than others who aren't like them. They claim to follow, represent, and work for Jesus Christ – and yet they don't do what He said, live like He said, or accomplish the things He said. And if anything points out how far they actually are from the real Jesus Christ? They absolutely refuse to even consider it. In fact, the farther they are from the real Jesus, the harsher they become towards those who might challenge their smiling, blind, hard-heartedness. Since these folks are among those most hell-bound for their Jesus-rejection, does it make more sense why – even though they cause HUGE amounts of suffering in bearing false witness against Gay people, re-writing the Gospel so it "justifies" war, and so on – we should be praying for them earnestly? 
• When we finally begin to see how much Good Religious People actually reject the true God – and why He therefore has to reject them – we start to stand on a safer spiritual foundation. The Bible tells us that there are anti-Christs and False Prophets all over (and will be big ones, in the end), and though Good Religious People always try to point the finger at others, they themselves uniquely qualify as being both anti-Jesus, and, claiming to speak for God but actually speaking falsely. Do you continue to listen to or follow along with Good Religious People? How can you start moving yourself away from them, wasting less of your spiritual energies on them, as well as keeping your understanding of Jesus safe from them?

See you next week!
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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Q: How should we react to Gay-hating "Christians" & the trouble they cause?

Occasionally when answering an email I find it's of value to more than just the person I'm emailing with (others have asked or talked about similar things, in other words). When that happens, I like to share my part in that (leaving it to others to share their own parts, of course). That's what this extra post this week is (edited a bit for posting). I hope you also find something of value in it!

About how we should react and respond as Gay folks to religionists and their attacks on Gay people locally and in the news, etc. It's obviously of vital importance that we understand this, not only for our own faith, but also for the lives and faith of others (both Gay and straight, for many straight people are also turned off from Christ because they think they must to reject Him to reject what the religionists say and do against Gays and others).

I consider several things in that answer for myself.

First, I consider who their (the Gay-hating "Christians") counterparts were in the Bible, and what response Jesus and others had to them. I think of, for example, Matthew 23; Titus 1:16, 1:10-11, 3:9-11; Luke 6:39, 11:52, 17:1-2; Mark 7:6-8; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 Timothy 1:6-7, 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:2-5; James 2:8-9; 1 John 2:9-11; Jeremiah 23:1-2; Romans 2:24, 16:17-18  (I just grabbed these few on the fly - obviously there are many more). It's clear that despite their belief that they represent God and know His ways better than any, they have failed completely and are rejected by Jesus until/if they reject their religion. So, it also comes to me that these people who cause such damage and hurt to Gay people require our prayer - not just as our enemies, but also as people who are in desperate need of REAL salvation. These are people who believe themselves safe from hell, but who are hell-bound if they do not allow the Lord to soften their hearts and recognize Him. Hell-bound because they think the Bible condemns Gays? Not necessarily. But certainly they are hell-bound because their attacks on Gays, bearing false witness, cutting them off from families and friends, pushing them toward suicide and drug abuse and Jesus-rejecting living, misrepresenting the Gospel, and more, ALL mark them as people on the wide path of false-Gospel destruction. They demonstrate NO real Holy-Spirit in their hearts.

Second, I consider how I can help in healing the spiritual, emotional, and even physical damage religionists cause - not only to Gay people, but also to straight people (including straight people who reject Jesus because they think that's the only way to reject religionists). Just as Jesus' disciples (and all God's people, even in the Old Testament) spent and even risked their lives to proclaim God's real message through the surrounding hurricane of false-Gospel all around them, so we are charged to proclaim (however fits our circumstances) God's real message, especially to those who will (might) listen and be healed. I know that many have been so damaged that it can literally take years for them to heal enough to finally even consider Jesus. But again we can see from the Bible that many times we only plant, while others in the future take in the harvest. We can still plant the tiny seeds, and leave it to God's tender love to water and care for them while we move on to other fields.

Third, I consider those whose hearts are not Jesus-rejecting, but who have been so long taught the man-made doctrine that says God rejects Gay people they have a difficult time letting it go. In this case, I study Peter before, during, and after Cornelius' house (Acts 10 & 11). The Jews then (even the Christian Jews) believed the Gentiles were rejected (and had scripture to "prove" it), and yet those who would hear it got to see God's acceptance of the Gentiles, and His warning not to reject what He'd pronounced clean. Those who will hear it can learn to let go of their human doctrine when they become willing to see God openly at work in the lives of people who become Holy-Spirit-filled Christians but remain just as Gay as they were before - just as Peter and the others became willing to see God openly at work in the lives of people who became Holy-Spirit-filled Christians but remained just as Gentile as they were before. It can be hard - and therefore take some time and effort - for folks to un-learn the rejection they've learned so long as "God's" truth. But it does happen - I've seen it :)

Finally, I consider the times we live in, and how much worse things will become (for Gays but also for anyone else caught in the glare of religionists' rebellion against Jesus) under the coming wrath of Satan. This is and will be more and more horrible, it's true. But think also of how much easier it will be (with those who have any inclination to Jesus in their hearts, even if it's just tiny and can't be seen except by God) to contrast the real Jesus against the fakery that claims to most represent Him and God's way! Most, it's true, will simply follow the False Prophet to come - and God will take care of them. For the rest, who are more and more disgusted with "church" and religions and "clergy" and the other human-created sin that puts itself so high on God's pedestal, how can we show them the real Jesus who ALSO rejects the same things they do? That's certainly what drove so much of the increase the early church - people sick and tired of the hateful and perverse religion around them (including the Judaism of that day) who saw a different way in Jesus: a way of justice, love, courage, and so on. So how can our own lives and our own words show the real Jesus?

 Comments? Or want to discuss this more? See my email a few lines below. God's peace!
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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Don't even camp near Good Religious People City

Assuming my internet connection stays up (it's been going up and down all week), today we're moving further into our weekly "through the (chronological) Gospels" series. We're still learning about Jesus from Jesus, rather than through the interpretation of what calls itself "The Church" today.

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here. (Note that you can change the translation version on this scripture page as suits you. I default to the NASB to get the more literal translation, but do use the one that works for you).

So – what's Jesus been talking about the last several posts? He's been telling us (and the people 2,000 years ago) about how Good Religious People (including the church-goers, the bible-memorizers, the seminary graduates, and "clergy") are not going to make it to heaven – and neither are we if we don't do BETTER than they do.

Does Jesus have even more to say on how we can actually do better than people who are already so expert at being Good Religious People? You bet He does!

Do good always to impress God – never to impress other people (including yourself)

First Jesus talks about the problem of doing good things so other people can see you did them. Good Religious People (from the "Right" and the "Left" and everything in between) simply overflow in doing good things everyone else gets to see them doing, don't they? Whether it's preaching the Gospel to other lands (or to a television/radio/internet audience), or feeding hungry people, or caring for the sick, or being "nice" to people, or even menacing "sinners" at Gay Pride events or running voter campaigns of misrepresentation and lies (in other words, bearing false witness against their Gay neighbors) to block legal protection of Gay families – no matter what it is, we all get to witness the "good deeds" of what most loudly calls itself "Christianity", and in all its finery and glory, don't we?

And if we aren't sufficiently impressed (and fewer and fewer of us "sinners" are, quite naturally), Good Religious People are always impressing each other, and even giving and getting rewards of praise, good feeling, promotion, titles, clergydom, money/salary, etc. from and for each other. "All for the glory of God!" – or so they say.

Thing is, though, Jesus says right here in the Bible that all "Christians" claim to believe in and follow that if anyone but God knows you're doing these good things, then it's really YOU getting credit / reward for them, and not just God.

I know, I know – Good Religious People believe they’re doing good for God (even when they do all those evil, ugly, anti-Christ things), and they teach others to believe the same. They say things like, "God's just using us as His instrument!", and "I'm just being the Hand / Heart (or other body part) in the Body of Christ!" (funny how no one ever lays claim to being what the Bible calls the "weaker" or "less honorable" body parts), and more.

• Then why is it the only way to get those good things done is for Good Religious People to be sharing His limelight? 

• How does it happen that when other people SHOULD be praising only God for food, shelter, kind words, care for their sick bodies, and so on, they're actually praising God for Good Religious People or their "Church"? 

• How is it even possible that doing good works turns people in gratitude or praise to the Roman church, or the Lutheran church, or the Presbyterians or Methodists or Non-Denominationals or Baptists or Emerging people or (name any other "denomination" or "kind" of "Christian"), but not directly and only to Jesus Christ, with no more thought to the Christian who's simply doing what Jesus said to do?

In another part of the Bible we'll cover later, Jesus warns us to make sure we aren't deceived by people who claim to come on Jesus' behalf, but then also claim to be Christ.

When we do anything that gives us any part of the reward or praise or honor or title or other good or elevated thing that only Jesus Christ deserves, then 

• We are claiming to be as deserving as He is.
• We are claiming to be His equal.
• We are claiming to be Christ.

In such case we are acting as one of the "many anti-Christs who have appeared". And even the possibility we might be should scare the dickens out of those claiming to be "Christian", sending real Christians to their knees, repenting ever having done so (even if only because they didn't understand better, before).

So, how do we do this right, since doing it the Good Religious People way is such a complete, ridiculous, and hell-bound fail? Jesus gives us several examples:

• Give to those in need – yes! But only in ways so only God can see your hand or heart at work. Then you're actually working for God, and not your own glory!

• Pray – yes! But don't do it where others can take note of how great a pray-er you are. Instead, go where it's truly only you and God, and just share your heart, asking for your basic needs and for God's way to be done always here on Planet Earth too.

• Forgive – yes! But don't just forgive those who deserve forgiveness. Each time you forgive someone who doesn't even begin to deserve it, you remind yourself how God forgives you even when you don't deserve it either.

• Fast – yes! But don't let others see or hear how crappy you feel so they know how "dutiful" you are in your religious devotions to God. Instead, keep your smile bright and share what you're feeling just between you and God. It's the only way to make your suffering mean anything real at all.

In other words, do all your good stuff in ways that don't reward you here, now. Otherwise, it's like selling your winning lottery ticket to some guy on the corner who gives you three dollars, because you can't stand waiting for the real million-dollar payout next year.

Instead, make everything you do count for God, and let it all be something that boosts your relationship with Him. That's why God called you to be a Christian in the first place!

• What are some of the ways you've seen "Christians" do good things in ways that others could praise "The Church" or some other manifestation of themselves, instead of only God? Are there ways you've done similar things?

• What ways do you take rewards today, instead of waiting for the reward from God in the future? Do others know you give money to the needy, for example? Do you write off your "charitable contributions" to the IRS to get a break on your taxes?

• The Bible often tells us that God's real people are humble – and it means really humble (not in that fake, irritating, arrogant-humble way we see from most "Christians"). What does it mean to your life to be humble? How does that change how you present yourself – and God – to the people around you?

• We're not often taught by Good Religious People that the Bible warns there are already lots of anti-Christs running around (usually they either want us to focus on the one Big Kahuna AntiChrist still coming, or they want to pretend there are no such things). The Bible warns us that anti-Christs do all sorts of things – including coming in Jesus' Name but then taking all or part of His glory to themselves, thereby deceiving people into worshiping or believing things that are about devil or human being, instead of about God. Who in your life has been an anti-Christ? Have you removed their influence from your heart and mind? Have you ever been an anti-Christ yourself? How? How can you live differently, so you're not thumbing your nose at God any longer?

You just know you're going to camp where you put your gear

Next Jesus talks about where we put our hearts and focus. He tells us not to bother worrying after or storing up things on earth, because there's nothing here we won't lose for some reason or another (death, theft, rot, etc). If we keep our focus on these kinds of "earthly" things, it's like wearing scratched up eyeglasses that have a completely-wrong prescription: we're going to be stumbling down stairs and crashing into the coffee table, our inner vision as scrambled as our outer one.

He also warns us that we simply can't serve God and money-stuff at the same time. Isn't humanly possible. And while all so many "Christians" say (with their lives, if not their mouths) that it's not so, Jesus tells us that truthfully if we love God we'll hate money, and if we devote ourselves to money we'll trash God – so why not just leave all our needs to God and rely on whatever He provides? Doing anything else makes us believe that what we're going to put on or in our bodies deserves more of our attention than what we're going to do for God, and how much we're going to trust Him. In other words, doing more than simply trusting God in whatever He provides makes a "Christian" no different than a God-rejecter.

• Worrying over the things of this world is epidemic – especially these days! As we get closer to the End Times, and things get more and more dicey in our global and local world, it's going to get even worse, as the devil pushes more and more of his agenda onto the rest of us (and too many people go happily along with him). What prevents you from simply being happy with whatever you have, and spending your heart and mind energy on Jesus and the people around you, instead of on paying bills for things you don't really need, or worrying after things you do need?

• What does it mean to your own life, when Jesus says to let today's worries (and not tomorrow's) be on your mind each day, letting each day be trouble enough on its own?

Final thoughts for the week

• Jesus is painting quite a picture of just how different from the rest of the world – including the Good Religious Christian (and Jewish) World – we have to be, to get into heaven. In every case so far, He's said our hearts have to be in order – and not our religious duties. What are the ways you still cling to religious duty (because you fear not doing so, or even because you like it)? What ways are you still claiming to come in Jesus' Name, while actually not doing or living the ways He said you should?

• For all their talk of being so very "literal" in following the Bible, conservative, evangelical, and related "kinds" of "Christians" obviously do not really believe the Bible at all. If they did, they wouldn't only quote or live the parts their human neurosis likes best (like the parts they think condemn Gays and keep women a lower part of Creation), while ignoring or reimagining those parts they don't want to be there (like not serving money, and not being outwardly religious so others can see, and not supporting war, and not hurting back, and – and – and – and!). How has your understanding of God and what He wants from your life been twisted by "literalists" who prove by their hearts and lives that they themselves don’t actually believe in the Bible? What things can you do to shed their neurosis from your own spirituality?

Next week we'll finish the "Sermon on the Mount", going over what Jesus says about judging others, wasting your time on people who'll only hurt you, expecting good things from God, and putting His words to real practice in your every-day life.

See you then!

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This article written by Lynne at http://NoJunkJustJesus.blogspot.com/. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Good Religious People still use training wheels. Do you?

Ok – Thursday again! Time for more time in the Gospels, learning what the REAL Jesus is all about. This week we're going to get into what's been called "The Sermon on the Mount" – Jesus' longest recorded teaching (done in one place, that is). It's really good stuff :)

As always, you can find all our previous posts in this series, going through the Gospels chronologically to find the real Jesus, here.

And as always you'll find the scriptures for today are here. (Note that you can change the translation version on this scripture page as suits you. I default to the NASB to get the more literal translation, but do use the one that works for you).

If you live on planet Earth you've no doubt heard "Christians" talk about being "different" from the rest of the world, because the Bible tells us God wants that of all His people. Unfortunately, there's something else the Bible tells us (in both Old and New Testaments):

Almost all of those who claim to be God's People don't and never will truly hold to and live His values – and therefore are not actually His People at all, but imposters He rejects today and will punish in the End (right alongside those who outright love evil). 

When we stop seeing what calls itself "Christianity" through Good Religious Eyes, it's incredibly easy to see how far from Jesus nearly all those who claim to be His followers actually are – and therefore how they actually serve in the anti-Christ, and not Christ-, camp. Good Religious People like to claim this is because they are simply sinners like the rest, and we do know that of course they can't be perfect – but that actually has nothing to do with someone's individual sins or sin nature. Instead, it has everything to do with not clearing one's own worldly-values from one's heart and mind, and holding to and living Jesus' (and therefore God's) values, instead.

Being and becoming a (real) Christian is about learning to see and live in the world the way God does – and not in the way other human beings (past and present, religious and secular) have taught us to see and live it.

Jesus gives us a huge introduction to God's way in the "Sermon on the Mount". (A great exercise, by the way, is to read all of it (including that part we're going to cover today) again and again and again, and ask yourself new each time: how is my life, my attitudes, my way of seeing myself and others, my expectations of success in my life, and my understanding of the future still more shaped by always-limited human ways, rather than God's ways and His greater perspective?)

Jesus begins His talk to the Jewish audience that day by listing those God blesses. As always, remember as you read through these scriptures (and indeed all of scripture) what religious and cultural filter His listeners that day would have heard Him through and how that would have affected how (or whether) they heard Him. The Jews Jesus was speaking to that day, of course, still lived through and under the "Mosaic Law" (the laws God gave Moses to give to the Jewish people to follow), as well as other similar religious rules their Good Religious Leaders had added to the Mosaic Law to make it even "better" than God's original law.

The Good Religious Culture of the Jews listening to Jesus that day had, for the last many-hundred years, taught them that God blesses and rewards those who follow all their Good Religious Rules to the letter. If you'd asked, they would have said:

"Want God to count you as one of His People? Then here are the thousand rules (more than 600 of them just from Moses) that you need to obsess on and worry over and make rituals out of, in your life. Do them right, and you can feel proud and sure of being one of God's People."

But Jesus (and therefore God) had an entirely different take on who God blesses and rewards.

Jesus said:

• It's those who feel least deserving of it who actually get into heaven (NOT those who feel most deserving because they "do" the Good Religious Rules really well).

• It's those who know the pain of deep loss that get God's healing attention (NOT those whose lives are "good times").

• It's those outside of power and position who will end up with everything (NOT those who use power and position to get what they want).

• It's those who crave God's way at work in the world who are going to be satisfied (NOT those who crave God rewarding human ways at work in the world).

• It's those who give compassionate forgiveness to those who don't deserve it who themselves receive God's compassionate forgiveness even though they don't deserve it (NOT those who apply human "justice" and punish those they know deserve it).

• It's those whose hearts are filled with God whose eyes will also see Him (NOT those whose hearts are filled with Good Religious Observance).

• It's those who wage peace who are God's children (NOT those who engage in or support war).

• It's those who are insulted, attacked, and/or slandered for doing things Jesus' (real) way who will receive the same heavenly reward God's Old Testament prophets earned (NOT those who go to seminary and pontificate to others in front of the "alter").

Truly, the biggest stumbling block to being a real follower of Jesus Christ is still being convinced (and even refusing to be un-convinced) that crappy and creepy human ways of seeing and being in the world, painted in Good Religious colors, are the same as God's ways of seeing and being in the world. Jesus tells us they are not!

But the word-picture Jesus paints of the kind of person that earns God's blessing sounds exactly like what God called on the Jewish people to be in the Old Testament (even though they failed miserably and nearly always on purpose), and sounds exactly like what God calls on Christian people to be since the New Testament (even though most also fail miserably and nearly always on purpose).

How far is your own life from being that person Jesus described as so blessed by God? Talk to God about it – not in any formal religious way, but in a way that speaks your real heart to and with Him. He's on your side – let Him be! He doesn't want your adherence to dead rules - He wants your sincere heart, in its current condition!

Jesus next gives us two images to help us picture our lives as His followers and whether we're actually, truly accomplishing His purpose:

• Are we salt that tastes like salt – or salt that tastes like dust and grit and dirt and so worthless?

• Are we light that actually illuminates the world around us – or "light" that's hidden away, leaving everywhere else in darkness?

In other words, are our hearts and lives actually, truly "Jesus-flavor"? Or are they so mixed in with other crap that we're of no real value to God?

Are we truly a tool God can use to illuminate the world around us, helping people to see the real Jesus? Or are we a "light" only to ourselves and our Good Religious Communities, so the world we can touch is still in darkness?

See, unlike what we're taught by Good Religious People and their human organizations ("denominations", "churches", etc) our purpose as Jesus-followers is not to demonstrate the "goodness" of our "godly" religion that claims to benefit God - and thereby get more people into our "church".

Rather, the good deeds Jesus says we are to do so others praise God aren't "good religious deeds" – they are the real-heart-for-God deeds that will naturally spill out of our lives once we are the blessed person Jesus spoke about just a moment ago.

How have you seen the difference between the "good deeds" of religion and "church" and such, and the good deeds that come from people with Jesus really in their heart? What's been the difference in your own life?

Finally for today, Jesus tells His Jewish listeners that He's not come "to abolish the Law or the Prophets", but to "fulfill" them. Good Religious People have kittens all over themselves trying to twist that to "prove" He means that some or part of the old Mosaic Law (or some other Good Religious Rules) apply to Christians. Don't be fooled! Other parts of the New Testament (Galatians and James, as just two examples of many) say otherwise (so this is yet another time when we're screwed if we listen uncritically to "Bible Experts" and other Good Religious People about what the Bible means).

So what was Jesus saying?

One of the biggest (real) messages of the Old Testament is that when God gave rules, He meant them to be applied from the heart-out (as in, what's the intended meaning or purpose or goal?) – but people inevitably apply them from the religion-in (as in, what's the literal interpretation I can apply to my own or others' lives, whether it actually accomplishes what God meant it to or not?).

Yes, God gave rules in the past – but they weren't given just so He could make us live by rules. Instead, their whole purpose was to teach His People about holiness, and righteousness, and goodness, and justice, and mercy, and so on. They were intended to mold people's hearts and minds, so they would grow into spiritual adults. In that way, they were just like the rules we give to little kids, rules like "Don't run near the swimming pool!"

When we're children, we understand such rules in black-or-white concrete (even when we aren't following them). But when we grow up, we understand, for example, that the rule wasn't really about not running near the swimming pool at all, but about being aware and safe around water and slippery surfaces. The adults in our kid-lives didn't tell us to not run near the pool just because they liked making us follow their rules. Instead, they hoped to keep us alive long enough that we could reach adulthood and then be old enough to understand the meaning and purpose of the rule (safety) so well we could even understand when it might actually be necessary to break the rule (like, if a little kid is drowning or someone's bleeding to death) in order to attain an even greater safety result (like, get them out of the water or put a tourniquet around someone's leg). When we grow up enough to "get" and apply the real meaning behind the rule, it's at that point that we've "fulfilled" the rule about not running near swimming pools, because we've accomplished its purpose.

And that's what Jesus is saying to the Jewish people here:

"When you were spiritual children, you were given a lot of rules – but you've not yet grown up enough to understand more than just the literal black-or-white concrete meaning / purpose. But with My arrival, that all changes. Now you need to start learning to be grown-ups.

In fact, we could even say that Jesus came to be the First Real Adult, spiritually. To be our model, out prompt, our teacher.

That's all why trying to make what Jesus said here mean "There are still old Mosaic Laws you still have to adhere to" doesn't work. It would be like going back to telling adults "Don't run near the pool! Never touch the car keys! You can't leave the table until you've eaten all your broccoli! Don't use your bike without your training wheels!" Ridiculous, because now it's completely out of context!

And Jesus let's us know this by His finish of this part, when He tells us that unless we do better than the people who follow the literal rules obsessively and perfectly, we will not please God and will not go to heaven.

But how can we do BETTER than the people who are already perfect at it? By learning to do what they can't or won't do: grow up spiritually and start applying the actual meaning and purpose of God's way to our lives.

Jesus says: Time to kick off those training wheels! Time to RIDE!

We usually think of "right-wing" legalists as being the childish literal-rule followers who miss God's meaning, but others are just as guilty. For example, ever been told you have to "tithe" to your "church" (part of the Old Covenant)? What are the ways religious rules were made part of your life? What ways have they blocked or hindered your understanding of the real Jesus?

What are the ways you still need to spiritually grow up?

See you next week, when we'll continue through the "Sermon on the Mount"!

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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can always contact me (Lynne) at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Is Jesus on your side?

Amazing – but my work life is actually settling down so I can start to write more again. I'm very pleased about that! :)

Before we get continuing on with our walk through the Gospels again today, I have some notes to pass along:

First, the whole purpose here is to explore: If we rip off the blinders and gauze and mud "churches" and religious traditions have taught us to see Jesus and ourselves through – just who the heck is Jesus, and why is knowing the real Him so important (and liberating, and comforting, and refreshing) to our lives?

Second, I have been and will continue to go through the Gospels chronologically, so that's why you see clumpings of scriptures from all four texts as we go.

And third, do read the scriptures referenced each time, or you're not going to "get" what you're after here (which is God's Word, and not just my words about God's Word). I never reference more than a short bit at a time, and I give a link to an online bible you can easily change to whatever translation you'd like to read it in.

[Today's scriptures are here]

Ok – on to it...

Last week we looked at how Jesus interacted with some of the people around Him. This week, let's continue that but also look at some of how others viewed Jesus, and how Jesus saw Himself.

When the disciples returned from getting food, they found Jesus actually talking (and normally, respectfully, with personal interest) with a woman despised by Good Religious People and pagans alike (heck, even her own people rejected her, which we can know because she came to the well alone in the heat of the day, and not in the cool of the day with the other women). We can only guess at the life choices and/or misfortunes that left the "Woman at the Well" outside of "proper society", what with her past five husbands and current "living in sin" (unmarried). Perhaps she or her family just choose real losers for her? Or perhaps something in her personality (like not liking being treated like dirt, which is what women of the time were trained to accept without question, or even just being hard to live with herself, or...?) caused her to end up in a merry-go-round of relationships. In any case, we'd have to think in our modern day of the revulsion most people would have for a down-and-out prostitute, to get any sense of how the disciples and others of her day would have felt about this woman. Then add her religious and racial background on top of that, and it's pretty safe to say "amazement" (or "surprise", etc) was an understatement to what the disciples thought finding Jesus not only standing there talking to her, but also with the same dignity and open care that He gave to "good" and "normal" people like themselves. 

No matter who people think you are, or how others judge or categorize you, Jesus has always and will always approach you as if you were the "cream of the crop". Despite what human religion has most often taught, Jesus will always recognize you do indeed have brains and can and should use them, and He'll always want that interactive relationship that can only exist between those who care for and respect each other. How does that change or affect how you should or do see yourself and the relationship you can and should have with Jesus?

The "Woman at the Well" was truly the first Gospel evangelist. Having been blessed with an opportunity to speak face to face with God Himself and see His plan at work in the world, she couldn't wait to share the Good News. The result? Many others of her people heard about Jesus, learned the truth of who He is (and therefore learned past the human religious ideas about "Messiah" they'd been taught before), and came to trust in Him. Then their experience with Jesus became their own, and no longer just through what the woman had to share with them. Their salvation truly became real.

Nearly all "Christians" today and in centuries past have believed they have a true relationship with Jesus, when actually all they have is the word of other human beings about Jesus. They pray to Him, do good works for Him, and even tell others about Him – but they still only know Him through their human "intermediaries" otherwise known as pastors, priests, popes, denominations, traditions, seminaries, theologies, and more. 

Where is your relationship with Jesus only second-hand – and therefore second-rate? Where do you need to grow beyond trusting in God through your trust in other human beings?

Jesus told people to repent – but there are a good number of "Christians" today who announce that God accepts us without change. Is that true? No!

Now, it is true that our nature and personality are ours, gifts from God – but we must hone and mature them out of the narcissism of spiritual childhood to do right by Jesus. We must also turn away or repent from those parts of ourselves that are not properly part of who we are, that are simply choices we make to satisfy our weaknesses and lusts. Choices we make to use/abuse chemical substances (from marijuana to prescription drugs), and habits of thinking (from religion to politics), and so on – all work to hedge or turn off some part of our full engagement with God's reality, and our full awareness of God's plan at work in the world.

When Jesus talked about repenting, He meant to turn back from our own ways of being for this world and turn towards God's way of being to this world. Repenting is NOT about seeing ourselves as pieces of garbage, but about no longer choosing garbage for our hearts, for our lives. 

The Bible says that those who were previously living in spiritual darkness back then got to see a great light that shown on those living under the shadow of death. Where is the spiritual darkness still in your life? What is the threat of death in your life? What does it mean to your life that God has gone to so much trouble to make sure you have a Jesus-lighted way out of both those things?

When God's handing out "stuff" we want or appreciate, we're usually liking Him, aren't we? Jesus did all sorts of miracles back then, and the Good Religious People were by and large impressed. He was doing the kinds of things God had used to prove Himself to their ancestors, and look – here they were going to get in on the goodies, as well! Cool!

But then some Good Religious People started to reject Jesus. What happened? Well, first He let them know that He wasn't just some new human prophet come to entertain them with tricks, tell them to clean up their acts, but then not really change a darn thing. He let them know that God Himself was sitting there among them now, having placed Himself into the world specifically to turn it upside and make it once again about great stuff for the poor, imprisoned, disabled, and oppressed.

Now, first the Good Religious People hearing Him thought that was pretty keen, didn't they? But the second thing Jesus did was the worst thing you can do to a Good Religious Person: He cut right through their religious bull.

Jesus already knew these Good Religious People would reject Him – and indeed, since they were living lives about "Good Religion" and not about God, they had already rejected Him. So He told them that just like years before (in Old Testament) when God had done great stuff for people that Good Religious People rejected and looked down on – but wouldn't do the same great stuff for the Good Religious People – in the same way He was going to do great Jesus-stuff for the people Good Religious People still reject and look down on, but still wasn't going to do a dang thing for Good Religious People.

What was the result? Did the Good Religious People feel guilty about their jerkdom and pledge to do better? Did they feel horrorstricken, finding out that despite all their previous good feelings about how "godly" they were that actually they'd done/believed nothing of any real value to or with any real respect to God?

Nope. They tried to kill Him (and this was only the first time). 

Where are you in this story? Are you among the poor, the imprisoned, the disabled, or the oppressed that Jesus is promising great things to and for – only perhaps since you've only been listening to Good Religious People before you didn't understand what He really does mean TO and FOR YOU? 

Or perhaps you're among the Good Religious People today who do all the "godly" things but are still so far from God He'd have to be God to even know your name? Keep in mind that God doesn't reject Good Religious People. Rather, again and again and again they reject Him by keeping evil and sludge in their hearts while waving around their religious doo-dads. But God's not going to force you to be true. The Bible says He WILL let you walk your religious parade all the way to hell if you think that's better for your life. So, do better - repent / turn around! 

Or perhaps today you're both an oppressed person, and a Good Religious Person, needing to process the lessons God means for both?

One thing that remained true for Jesus throughout His time on earth 2,000 years ago: when people listened to Him, they recognized that He had wisdom and presence like no human being had ever had. They recognized that there was something sorely missing from their human religious teachers and guides that Jesus had in abundance. Those who would hear Him were drawn to Jesus like people who'd been stuck in the desert for years, tired of sucking on pebbles and pretending their own spit is good water, and then one day finally finding an unending cool, clear, clean stream of real water.

What have you missed in your life by relying only on what other religious human beings could teach you about Jesus? What does Jesus offer to your life, today? 

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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

Those &*%#@ Christians!

I'm continuing to get daily to prayer and information requests, as well as to direct emails from folks wanting to chat about things, even though I've not gotten back full time to (any of my) blogs (though, if things work out in the next few weeks, I hope to change that then).

Still, I got an email today from a strong-in-the-Lord brother who has been confronting people who use the Bible and religion to misrepresent Jesus and hurt other people. He requested prayer and healing over that little bit of nagging resentment we all struggle against whenever we've been confronted by someone else's insistence upon being evil, low, divisive, hurtful, etc. And for all of us, of course, sometimes that "little bit of nagging resentment" turns into an ocean of return-hate. What do we do about any of that?

Here's part of my answer to our brother (the parts that aren't personal in any way), listing my thoughts this morning. What are your thoughts on this issue? What are some other ways you deal with these kinds of things?

We ALL have to struggle with these things now and again, and it gets easier as we get more practice seeing these things Jesus' way. Here are my suggestions of things to consider when struggling with this temptation to be angry, resentful, or bitter towards someone who truly does deserve our anger, resentment, and bitterness according to the world and our flesh!

* Corrie ten Boom: she went thru a Nazi death camp and lost almost her entire family (including a sister who was with her in the camp), and had to struggle a lot to over come anger and hate during and after the war. Her books and MP3s of her talks can be very inspiring and healing, and always point us to the fact that even when dealing with evil it's only through Jesus that we can forgive and see things His way.

* Paul of Tarsus: consider who Paul was, and the incredible damage he did to people's lives, before he was confronted by Jesus. Consider that many others just like him moved among God's people in those days, and that most never turned from their evil - but that any Jesus-followers who turned away from hope that Paul and those like him could still also repent of their religiousity and surrender their hearts to Jesus were just wrong. Consider also that no follower of Jesus EVER did or could turn Paul's heart to repentance and hope in the true Lord - Jesus Christ Himself alone could do that. Such matters require our humility, our willingness to admit that only the Lord heals and calls - not us. So we do what we're called to do, and leave the results to the Lord.

* The best use of your efforts: I used to debate "Christians" all the time who had religious demons of hate and division in their hearts, thinking perhaps I could help them see a better light -- that is, until once when God told me, "If they don't listen to Me, why would they listen to you?" Truly, if God isn't at work on and in their hearts, there's no hope whatsoever that anything you can say or do will accomplish what they won't let God do. So what's the better perspective? This: what about all those people on the site (or in your local life) that are silently reading (or seeing/hearing) what you're saying? Never forget that for every person who's wanting to debate just to exercise their own demons and wear you out and get you into their world of anger and evil - there may be another person, or 100 other people, or a thousand, or more, whose hearts just might be hungry for a more true way of seeing Jesus and understanding God's way. For myself, I speak or deal publicly with evil-choosers only when doing so might be of some benefit to those who may currently be within the realm of evil but wanting out (in a small or large way). And in those times, even as I "speak" to the evil-chooser, I actually direct all my attention and efforts and words to the rest of the crowd. We're called to be wise stewards, not casting our pearls of Jesus-wisdom before spiritual-swine or spending our Holy-Spirit-energy on evil-choosing-dogs.

* What the New Testament tells us: what does the NT tell us to do with "Christians" who cause hurt, bad feelings, and teach wrong things? It tells us to try a few times to explain how they're wrong, but if they persist, we are told to remove our attention and lives from the dark cloud of their attention and lives. We forgive them, again and again - yes. But according to the NT we also recognize the truth of the damage they can and do cause, and we do not get caught up in their spiritual ugliness by trying to get them out of it (which requires God to open their hearts and minds).

* God's plan: Finally, ponder things like this in God's Bigger Picture. Jesus told us that God doesn't let His angels just go out and destroy the evil people we see around us, because if He did some good people would be destroyed, as well - and all of the Bible tells us that God's not willing to lose even one person who will turn from world-evil to Jesus-good. That person in your life who's being so wrong today (and tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and so on) MIGHT just eventually find the real Jesus, confronting him/her on the road to doing even more wrong, and be set right. Without that willingness to understand what's happening in the world from God's perspective, it's just too easy to end up bitter or angry, but also hopeless, out of faith, and so on. 

Where does the Holy Spirit lead your thoughts, today?

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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

No, what are these earthquakes REALLY all about?

[These are the scriptures I'm referencing this week]

I had planned to just continue through the Gospels this week, right where we left off. But then big news about the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear disasters unfolding in Japan this week.

Add to that the proclamations from some "good religious people" and their leaders that all these kinds of things are warnings from God, meant – of course! – to make us understand that God is as asinine as these "good religious people" make Him out to be.

What a mess. 

And it can really make us wonder which is scarier:

• the huge natural disasters, 
• the human-science-made nuclear/biological/chemical/etc disasters-in-the-making, or 
• the religious human beings of both "Right" and "Left" who are determined to "help" us get our minds through all this.

Amazingly scary. But not amazingly scary, at the same time, when we have a grip on what the bigger picture is.

Which – it turns out – actually leads me right back to where I was going to be in the Bible anyway. Amazing thing, that Big Picture, when we understand the Bible as:

• guidance, and not slavery
• comfort, and not coercion, and
• companionship, and not domination.

In the last few posts, we've already gone through the very first parts of the Gospel chronology. We've seen how God planned for and got Jesus into the world of human beings -- in a way human beings couldn't screw it up, but also in ways that gave us big clues about what His real values are (and how far those invariably are even from the "good" people values of the "good religious people" around us).

This time, the Bible's talking about John the Baptist – the prophet-guy predicted about 700 years in advance by Isaiah (another prophet-guy) who said God was going to send someone ahead of Himself, someone to spout off and tell everyone it was time to clean up their act because God was about to step foot into the human arena. 

(If we really read this part of the Bible right, it OUGHT to give us shivers down our backs).

And that's exactly what John the Baptist did. In fact, he spent his whole time working for God doing two things:

• Telling the good religious people of his day to stop choosing evil and faking godliness, and

• Telling people that -- as impressed as they wanted to be with him -- that they should save all that for the One coming up next – the One who wouldn't baptize with measly water, like John did, but with the Spirit of God Himself.

Thing is, there's a kind of natural "John the Baptist" going around the world these days. This modern-day "John the Baptist" is today's earthquakes and tsunamis and wars and so on and so forth (all of which are predicted by Jesus and others in the Bible), and it's trying to do the same work that John the Baptist was, 2,000 years ago:

• Warn everyone that it's way past time to stop choosing evil and faking Jesus, and
• Tell everyone to hold on because the real Jesus is just around the corner.

That's one Bible-tie-in between what happened 2,000 years ago and what's happening now. We need to make sure we don't miss the other, as well:

To get there, think: Was John the Baptist always successful at getting people to see how anti-God they were? Absolutely not. He failed more often that not (if he hadn't, then the whole country of Israel would have been on their knees waiting for Jesus, instead of ignoring and later torturing and murdering Him), and he was pretty much guaranteed to completely fail among – whom? Which group of people? Why, the "good religious people", of course!

So, what did John have to share with us about them (and about us, too, if we aren't careful!)? Well, through what he said we can know:

• Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to publicly partake of God's forgiveness because they thought themselves more than worthy of getting that godly-goodness and avoiding the pains of hell – but all their "good religious people" airs were just garbage, producing nothing that God gives two cents about. And that meant their "repentance" was as much garbage as all their religious ways and acts, too.

• The Pharisees and Sadducees both assumed that their religious cultural background alone was enough to make them good enough for God – but they didn't realize God was already ready to cut all-show-no-production religious people off, and intended to do so shortly (and He did, when Jesus died on the Cross and canceled anyone ever finding God's forgiveness through what religious things they could do, instead of relying on God alone, ever again).

• John was giving people the chance to do a human ritual that would match (hopefully) the repentance in their hearts – but even that was going to mean absolutely nothing when the Real Deal showed up and cleaned house, sweeping away even those who seem to be good but actually store evil in their hearts.

And, if you think about it, this is all pretty much what we also see today. 

For one thing, today's Pharisees we call "Right Wing Christians" and today's Sadducees we call "Left Wing Christians", and both are first in line at the religious trough, going on and on about their traditions and church-genealogies, letting everyone else know how "godly" and "spiritual" and "Jesus-like" they are. 

Yet nearly all "Christians" are there because they want to avoid hell for themselves, or because they like the social club that cultural Christianity is, or because they like the politics of their "church" and the idea that God votes like they do.

But they're not there because they actually have it in their hearts to repent of being spiritual anti-Christs and carriers of the disease of "Religion" into the Christian fellowship.

In fact, they speak a lot about personal repentance, and like you I've witnessed the tears and wailing that goes with it (and which probably convinces them too, unfortunately). But what results is almost always either nothing, or a changed life (no more sleeping around, no more doing drugs, no more skipping church, becoming a church leader, etc) – but never a changed heart (turning away from pursuing wealth, treating everyone exactly the same, putting everyone ahead of oneself, loving even those who hurt them, making people see more of Jesus than oneself, doing things Jesus' way even when it totally costs, etc).

And the "John the Baptist" earthquakes/etc today are telling Christians (who supposedly know the scriptures and who are therefore supposed to be first to figure it out) that it's way past time to stop faking it.

Time to stop putting up religious human acts (that God never asked for) upon religious human altars (that God did away with thousands of years ago) and expecting God to be as giggly-proud of our ridiculous crap as we are.

Time to stop, because the next thing to happen – whether next month, next decade, or next century – is Jesus Christ coming back to earth to give us the consequences of our heart's reality, and not to pamper and reward our self-centered, spiritual self-delusions.

So, are all these earthquakes and things stuff to be afraid of?

Well, afraid of getting physically caught in them, yes. Afraid for those others who get caught in them, yes. But afraid of their message? No. Not if we're draining the religion-goo out of our hearts, letting the Holy Spirit rinse us clean, and then refilling our insides with just Jesus!

Remember the second part of John's message! Yes, we need to get our hearts true. But also – know that the One who loves you more than anything else in the universe is the next thing to come. 

And when He comes? 

• Had some pains? Not any more!  
• Had some tears? Never again! 
• Been overwhelmed? All done with that.

Jesus is coming, my sisters, my brothers, my friends.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

How left-wing Christians have failed - but could recover

This is how 90% of Gay people see ALL Christians -- and Jesus.

I have to say, the times in my life when I've been closest to losing my faith have been those times I've relied on left-wing (liberal, progressive, etc) Christianity to teach and guide and protect me.

That seems strange, considering I'm a Gay person -- someone who is traditionally thought to count on and need the left-wing world for my emotional, spiritual, and even physical safety.

After all, the political and religious right-wing, with its idolatrous worship of power and hate, and its masturbatory spirituality, has made billions of dollars and earned hundreds of millions of votes getting already-prejudiced people to their checkbooks and to the polls to agree that Gay people like me must be stopped (even at the cost of our lives) from "destroying" everything "good and decent" in the self-loving delusions of right-wing Americans. The secular and religious right-wing has guaranteed in my life that I've been denied employment, housing, family protections, union protection, decent medical care, and even the truth about who I am to God and what God thinks of me -- all because it believes me (as it used to believe people of African descent) a better scapegoat than an ally. And all that because of the sexual orientation God created me with.

But in steps left-wing Christianity to my rescue -- sort of. 

Sort of.

Like men who define "being a man" as whatever they've decided is "opposite female" (and not just its own manly thing), too many of the left-wing have simply defined being "good" or "progressive" (etc) as whatever they've decided is "opposite right-wing" (and not just their own lefty thing).

So, since the right-wing practices exclusion, the left-wing decides being left-wing means all-inclusion.

Since the right-wing practices disciplined hate, the left-wing decides being left-wing means undisciplined love.

And since the right-wing obsessively clings to the Bible (their version of it, anyway), the left-wing decides being left-wing means letting go of the Bible.

All sounds good. And often done from a good heart, to be sure.

Unfortunately, though, simply living life as opposite whatever crapola the right-wing has invented to torment the world with today doesn't really work real-world. Instead, it just denatures the truth and effectiveness of the whole left-wing philosophy -- and leaves those counting on left-wing values at the curb. 

I've been in left-wing churches, for example, that continued to allow an unrepentant child molester to remain in their church -- and therefore around their little girls. Why? Because to even lovingly kick his rear end out would mean being exclusionary/right-wing, right? And heaven forbid a left-wing group of people exclude even someone who's actively harming the weak or vulnerable, because exclusion is what right-wingers do all the time, right? No, the decision was made to continue including this evil man in their fellowship, to put their anti-right-wing living ahead of the safety of their daughters.

I've also been in left-wing churches that continued to allow people who spout anti-Gay teachings into positions of place, teaching, or authority in their fellowship -- so anti-Christ hate becomes part of their church's left-wing message not only to those hidden and known Gays in their congregation, but also to the greater Gay (and straight) community. Why? Because to tell Gay-haters to stop representing Jesus Christ as a Hater would be an unloving/right-wing, right? And heaven forbid a left-wing group of people not lovingly ignore the damage done by those who participate in driving Gay people into alcohol/drug abuse, self-hate, God-hating religions, and suicide, because letting people keep hurting other people means "we love everyone", right?

And left-wing churches that proudly leave the Bible on the recycle can are a dime a dozen, these days. So while the right-wing has falsified the Bible and its message through mistranslations and misinterpretations that distort and lie about what God thinks of war, wealth, Gays, women, the poor, and so on, left-wing Christianity has "countered" that by simply refusing to take the Bible seriously. In fact, there's a whole left-wing academic industry that puts out great scholarly works that do nothing more than assure the left-wing that Jesus was nothing more "embarrassing" than just a Really Good Guy (and not that unscientific God-person the right-wing believes He is). So, while the world is starving for the God-strength justice, comfort, and truth found only in the Bible, left-wing Christianity passes out fliers telling people food is oppressive.

Which all means -- what? It all means that if I as a Gay person go to right-wing Christianity, I'm going to:

• Be among people who would actively harm me or others who are weak or vulnerable; 
• Be among people whose "Jesus" message includes hate against Gay people; and, 
• Be among people who don't put forward the real truth of God, and God's power, and God's values, as given to us in the original languages and historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts of the Bible, because it doesn't fit how they want to see the world.

And if I as a Gay person go to left-wing Christianity? Well, that means I'm going to:

• Be among people who would actively allow others to harm me or others who are weak or vulnerable, in order to remain "inclusive";
• Still be among people whose "Jesus" message includes hate against Gay people, in order to remain "loving"; and, 
• Still be among people who don't put forward the real truth of God, and God's power, and God's values, as given to us in the original languages and historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts of the Bible, in order to be "smarter" than that silly stuff right-wingers hold on to. 

And you know what? To me -- and to millions upon millions of other Gay people -- that's just not enough of a difference to mean that modern left-wing Christianity is any less full of unsafe crap than right-wing Christianity. It just means that if you're a right-wing Christian, you're going to be unsafe and expect me to see you as unsafe, but if you're a left-wing Christian, you're going to be unsafe and expect me to see you as a hero.

And -- truly -- that's a sorry shame, because it hasn't always been that way. And truly it's not supposed to be that way, at all.

The values of speaking truth to power (in our fellowships, and not just in the voting booth), of standing up for the oppressed and vulnerable (in our fellowships, and not just in academia), of recognizing and acting against enemies because we're loving them and praying for their hearts to change (in our fellowships, and not just in other countries), and more -- all, all are God's values, and all are demonstrated and talked about over and over and over again in the Bible.

And you know, those are all left-wing values, as well. Problem today is that modern left-wing Christianity has become as complacent and attached to the world as left-wingers in general. A hundred years ago, lefties put their lives and fortunes on the line for the oppressed, making mistakes -- sure -- but still doing their best standing up for what was right in the Name of God -- while today most lefties just want to go home, write a check to some political organization, and show up to church and congratulate themselves for not being right-wingers. A hundred years ago, lefties still understood that doing things God's way was THE way to get justice and goodness in the world -- while today most lefties think the best way to be a good Christian is to dump everything that marks one as a Christian (including everything the Bible -- "that silly little book of myths and stories!" -- has to say about Jesus and so on).

The "fix" for left-wing Christianity to be anything more than narcissism (and any more real than right-wing "Christianity" is), then, is for left-wing Christians to once again: 

• Take back the Bible from the right-wingers and the trashing they've given it, and start preaching its real godly message to the world again (sorry, but little academic-focused, middle-class, friendship book clubs just aren't cutting it);
• Start promoting Jesus for all his Godly Goodness to the world again, and stop being embarrassed that your religion has a REAL GOD who does REAL GOD THINGS (even when your other secular lefty friends try to shame you for it -- grow a spiritual backbone, for heaven's sake!);
• Start looking for Jesus coming back to wipe away all the injustice and evil lefties hate, and stop living as if human politics -- even left-wing human politics -- can do more than band-aid the mess this world is in;
• Start handing out inclusion and protection from the ground up, keeping safe and helping heal those who are the "least of these" (including, but not only, Gays) first, and not helping perpetuate their harm by assisting and comforting those who hurt and abuse them (take a new look -- that may be one of those instructions your left-wing Christianity left out). 
• Get off that easy-think-that's-really-no-think B.S. that says being "good" is just a matter of saying "yes" when right-wingers say "no", and "off" when right-wingers say "on", because it just makes left-wingers look like educated-idiots, and does nothing to improve what left-wing Christianity produces. 

In other words, left-wing Christians need to start being the real followers of Jesus their spiritual ancestors were, and that the Bible calls them to be. Until then? Sorry -- it's pretty, and I'm sure it makes you happy. But still not real. Not safe. Not Christian.

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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.

If Christians were Christian - 004 (An Unreal Dream)`

Billy Graham (Wikipedia)

[This is a continuation of my series "If Christians were Christian (an Unreal Dream)". You can find the rest of the series here]. 

The Ugly Reality:

My grandparents took me to see Billy Graham once, when I was a little kid. In the fundamentalist church they were raising me in, Billy Graham was one of the Really Good Guys, an ee-VANNNN-gelist above all others. And I have to say that every once in awhile, forty five years later, I'll still watch one of his now-ancient "Crusades". His most basic message is indeed sound (plus it's fun to shake my head at what we fundamentalists were wearing and doing to our hair way back then).

Problem is, Billy's Gospel stops short -- and that means, left to its own, it misses the mark. The Gospel he preached never went (or goes) far enough to proclaim people all the way to Jesus Christ. He's like someone who let's you see the first 3 minutes of a 2-hour movie, and then turns the projector off as if there's nothing more. Here's an example, from his friend George W. Bush's book:

“[Billy Graham] made it clear that the path to salvation is through the grace of God. And the way to find that grace is to embrace Christ as the risen Lord -- the Son of a God so powerful and loving that He gave His only Son to conquer death and defeat sin.”

Now see, on its face, combined with Billy's trumpet calls about sin, that's true Gospel. But that's only where a human heart first gets the message to veer off in a new direction. There's a lot more that still has to happen to change that human heart into a (truly) Christian one. Stuff like:

• Learning to give up the great things we get from the world's/devil's "wise" ways (like the fun of having more than others, of having wars or counting how blessed we are to be able to live in a "God-fearing" country, or of ignoring the pain and suffering of those who are weaker than we are), and learning to instead glory in God's foolish "the least of these" ways; and,
• Admitting in the actions of our lives and not just our mouths -- not how wonderfully loving, spiritual, and/or righteous we are -- but what smiling jerks-who-can't-be-trusted we are nearly every moment of every day; and,
• Letting the Holy Spirit start washing all the self-congratulatory, human-approval-seeking, and ever-please-my-senses poo out of our hearts so we can start shining with the Light of the World.

The fact that Billy Graham not only didn't preach that full message, but hasn't gotten it yet himself, shows in his public life and in the public lives of those he's always hung around with. Billy has always preferred to soothe the consciences and proclaim the glory of presidents and other big people of the world who willfully and repeatedly break not only national and international law, but also every speck of God's law, defending and ordering murder, lying, stealing, defaming the name of God, bearing false witness, oppressing others, and more -- all because they like how it feels, and because it brings great financial and political gains to them and their friends. And he's promoted and defended them, abusing his image as a "Man of God" to do so.

Billy Graham, like so many who have only tasted a tiny part of the real Gospel before veering off into something false and worldly, is a servant of Caesar and of Caiaphas. Much as I will always have a soft spot in my heart for him, I still have to recognize and say that he has proclaimed only that part of the Good News that doesn't question his loyalties or biases -- or those of his friends. He's simply been a very well-off, right-wing American who is a good speaker, has a religious bent, and likes to tell people Jesus is the same.

The Daydream not to hold your breath for:

If Billy Graham were a true Christian leader:

• He would never have been as popular and idolized as he has been and continues even now to be, because those who speak God's real truth are never well thought of in the world. However, he would have spent his humble preaching time leading people to not only believe in Jesus' salvation, and not only abhor superficial sin, but to also-also-also go to the Real-Deal and fully embrace the anti-world heart-change required to be a real follower of Christ. He would have judged how well he and others were doing according to Bible teachings, and not by how many false-seekers showed up each Crusade to pad his numbers.

• He wouldn't have been a "conservative" (or a "liberal"), or a republican (or a democrat or an independent or a socialist or an anarchist or...). He would have simply been a Jesus-based Christian, one whose answer to every problem was turning the other cheek, doing unto others as he'd like done to him, caring for enemies, standing up for the oppressed, ridding oneself of materialism, worshiping God for how different He is from our unholiness (instead of presuming He and we have so much in common politically and economically), and constantly telling people how different Jesus is from everything else they can imagine. 

• He would have gone to his friend George W. Bush's book signing and, broken-hearted, wept over how far George has wandered from Jesus, begging George to repent of his war crimes, destruction of whole nations, murder of millions, the bald-faced lies in his book, and so on, and to instead surrender to the real Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to make him into the man God really wants him to be, so that he could truly be saved.

• He would have come to repent himself of all the worldly ways he has not only formed his own life, but also put forward to others as a "valid" way to be a "Christian". For example, he would never have accepted the $200,000 US salary he's paid even today, and he would never have built up a "ministry" empire for his heirs to continue making a rich living from (his son Franklin, continuing in his father's only-partly-Gospel work, accepts $260,000 US a year from their religious corporation).Those things would have been about making and keeping a name in the world for oneself, and so Billy's real Christian heart would have dropped them like a rag full of mucus. 

• He would have publicly renounced the not-really-right teachings he's spent so much of his life putting out before, telling the world something like, "Being just another human being, like you all are, I really messed up. I overwrote Jesus' values with the values of my culture, and by doing so I taught a combination of myself and the devil to you, and called it Jesus. I'm REALLY sorry about that. And now, if you still have a heart to listen, I'd like to tell you about who Jesus Christ really is..."

There's still time to join the rest of us in real repentance, Billy (and George)! There's still time to seek out and find the REAL Jesus, and to accept the changes He wants to make to ALL our hearts. 

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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can contact Lynne at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.