Grace Found Me!

Samaritan Grace (Pt.1)

I have been away from this blog site for too long as I have devoted my time to development of GraceHouse.info and SermonSeedbed.com. But today, I begin a new mini-series entitled Samaritan Grace. It is based on the story Jesus shared about the Samaritan who rescued the guy who had been robbed and beaten and left for dead.

What a powerful story it is! What makes it more compelling is the fact that Jesus awarded the starring role to a Samaritan. This was hard to swallow for his Jewish audience since the feelings toward the Samaritans ran so deep and were so critical.

We will pick up at verse 30 of Luke 10.

Luke 10:30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.  (The next verses go on to describe how the Samaritan came along and cared for him and we will address this in a following post).

Jesus told this story in response to a lawyer's question as to who their neighbor was. We are not told anything particular about the man beaten other than he was in route from Jerusalem to Jericho. From this we can safely assume he was a Jewish man. While on his journey, he was attacked by a bunch of thugs.

-They stripped him naked
-They wounded him
-They left him to die

This is what thieves and thugs do. In one way or another, we all face occasions when we are confronted by thieves who desire to take what we have.

To spiritualize it, there is an enemy of our souls and he has cohorts who do his biddling. Just as the thieves planned their attack on the unwary traveler, these spiritual thieves do likewise. And there are also times when we make it easier for these thieves. We travel in dangerous territory. We take a route we should not take. At other times, we are right where we are supposed to be when the attack is sprung. In either case, the wounding is real.

When the Samaritan came along, he did not decide on whether or not to help the guy based on how the man ended up in the ditch. The story is about the heart of the Samaritan.

Note again, that the thieves stripped Him This is the nature of the thief. To strip us. To unclothe us. To expose us. He revels in leaving us exposed for the world to see. Jesus was hung naked between two thieves. He became our sin. He took upon himself all that sin would bring on us.

The enemy's purpose is to steal our covering from us.
-He wants to take a husband away from a wife or vice versa
-He wants to take a child away from a parent
-He wants to take us away from a spiritual father or mother
-He wants to take a pastor away from his flock

He strips us of our covering. The result -  we are left unprotected from the elements. Parts of our lives that we would desire to remain private are put on public display. In every such situation, this exposure takes place because the person is in the enemy's territory.

Now there are usually two reasons that this would take place. The first is the person beaten is in the dark place where he should not be. The second is that he is walking through the shadows as he is walking God's path. The valley of the shadow of death so to speak. There have been times I have been beaten for each of these reasons, and most likely, so have you.

However, regardless of the reason behind the "Why it happened?" the man was wounded and needed help. Those who came aware of his situation had a choice to make. Would they become involved or not? Their decision was not based on why the man was there, but what they were going to do since he was there. We have a subtle way of making something inconvenient into something we consider a compromise.

Jesus told of two religious men who came by and decided not to help the hurting man. One was a priest. The priest were very concerned about personal holiness and being separated from anyone unclean. He served God. Yet it is obvious in the story Jesus tells that his intention was to reveal how the priesthood was missing the mark if they were not serving God in a way that woud help their fellow man.

In today's culture, the Christian community rants and raves about how animals are given more rights and protection that human beings, particularly the unborn. We should be angered by this. Jesus also knew that even the Law gave men the license to get an ox out of the ditch when it otherwise might be unholy to do so on the Sabbath. Now there was a man, a human being, a person. A person with feelings and a future. A person who would gladly do it differently if he could take the trip over. A person who is hurting and bleeding and has suffered loss and in need of help.

His groans went unanswered by the priest who was likely on his way to "Church" to serve God. Doubtless when he arrived to do his temple service, he prayed his prayers, he lifted his hands, he made his offering to the Lord, he ministered to the other people who came where he was and could see him in his official role as priest. Yet, behind him in his journey earlier in the day, lay a man half dead who was severly wounded. He made the trade off because he may not have wanted to be late for "church" or he did not want to become unclean by touching this dirty person. His other responsibilities and plans where far more public and too important for him to risk loss by getting in the ditch and helping the wounded man. He saw the man and moved to the other side of the ditch in order to avoid a beckoning finger that might have bid him to come help. He dared not risk the accusing fingers of his religious leader buddies who would see him as engaging in an unclean activity by helping the man in the ditch. They all thought, "Leave him there; he got what he deserves for going through that area when he did."

Likewise the Levite came through. of course, the Levite was also from the priestly tribe of Levi. These guys were also students of the Law, the Word of God. This one came and saw and then passed by.We all choose to walk on one side of the road or the other. One side is filled with hurting and wounded people that will require sacrifice out of us. The other is away from the hurt on the way to "serve" God. 

This Levite may have been on his way to teach a Bible class. He certainly would have been capable of it. It was his Levitical heritage. Yet, he became aware of the need of a wounded man, thought briefly about it and took off. He may have done a Bible study later that day on "loving your neighbor."

Since I am in a season of pruning and recovery, I am questioning a whole lot of what I have done and what I see done in the church today. It sure seems that like the religious leaders of Jesus time, we also can caught up in doing things only for the public value they offer. We will help if we can mileage out of it. Will it help our ministry grow by telling how many people we help? Will it make us look really in touch with God if we put it in the paper? We have big celebrations because we decided to do something that Jesus said we are to do all the time. We need a big SPANK on our butts instead of a big PAT on our backs. We are fooling ourselves when we only do things to be seen among men. I could have avoided the ditch had I chosen not to be a hypocrite and a betrayer. The enemy knows if he can get our feet to go where they should not go, he can find plently of hands to strip us down and wound us and leave us for dead.

Question--In the eyes of God, will the Priest and Levite carry blame for their lack of response? We all need to beware! There are times, we will hear a cry. We will be positioned to see something God wants us to see. What will we do? I know of 27 orphans in a building in Honduras who need help right now. What will I do? I know there are many cries, but I am speaking about those that God positions you to hear and you know it. You hear, you come and you look and then you....

There are people all around hurting and wounded. The thieves work hard to expose them, strip them, beat them and leave them for dead. The goal of the enemy is for us all to die in a ditch somewhere----or to live on the "sterile" side of the road serving God and busy with church stuff.

Jesus was willing to lay aside all his reputation to come get in the ditch with us. I will follow with further posts on this powerful story Jesus told. No, I am not being cynical. I am just throwing some truth around.

Musings from a guy fresh out of the ditch,
Eddie

The Grace that Validates

The Grace of God is a validator in our lives. Jesus was full of grace and he validated people in need of mercy and grace. He touched them in a way that their human dignity was restored and they realized they had value. They always sensed that they mattered to him and His Father. My wife wrote a journal in her blog earlier today and I asked her if I could include it in mine. It is such a beautifully and powerfully written piece. Be prepared to be blessed as you read it.


The Validation of A Human Heart
by Mikki Lawrence
http://www.MikkBlogs.com

What does it mean for someone to validate your heart?

 

 I want to define “heart” as the part of us we might call our soul. Our soul is often defined as our mind, will, and emotions.  Here is more of what the dictionary renders as a definition of soul:

 

the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body;    the emotional part of human nature;    the seat of the feelings or sentiments;   the animating principle;   the essential element or part of something

 

So what I am asking you is, “What does it mean for someone to give value to your feelings, thoughts, and actions?”

 

Value - relative worth, merit, or importance

 

I looked the word “validate” up in the dictionary and found this definition:

 

to make valid; substantiate; confirm

 

I was thinking recently of how someone had deeply validated my heart and the unexpected way that those simple words had impacted me.  I realized that I had a hunger to be validated – substantiated – confirmed in my feelings, thoughts, and actions.   As I meditated on this, I had a subtle feeling that God was teaching me, not only about myself, but about humanity as a whole.

 

I guess we all want to believe that somehow we are different from everyone else in significant ways and that our thoughts, feelings, and actions are somehow mystical and can only be opened with some magical key.  And of course, we are all unique in many ways so I am not saying that we are all cookie cutter images of one another.  However, I do see that there is a humanness that is a basic design within each of us and we all need much the same things.

 

I just finished reading a book about Adult Children of Alcoholics, of which I am one.  I was taken aback to find that in a list of characteristics of ACoA, I had most of them.  And I was faced with this reality – I am not a lot different from most of humanity.  Any little girl placed in similar circumstances as mine will develop very similar struggles as mine because we are all human.

 

In the last few months, I have come to see that in my particular “stream” (and please forgive my religious terminology) of Christianity, we have perhaps overemphasized our being made in the image of God (stay with me – don’t jump out yet!) and underemphasized our humanness.  As a matter of fact, our humanness was so important, that Jesus laid aside his divinity and took on our humanness. I feel we have too quickly gone past that.

 

Yes, we are created in God’s image and are to be holy as He is, but we are also 100% human – by His own design!

 

As we teach about Jesus and think about his earthly ministry, we tend to make him 100% God and maybe 10% human, but that is not what the scripture teaches.  He was the God-man.  He laid aside divinity to walk in his humanness.

 

As I read Matthew 9 last week, I asked God to show me the reality of how Jesus really ministered and lived.  I tried as best I could to take off my religious mindsets and look at this scripture with new eyes.

 

This is what I found:

 

Jesus encountered the paralytic.  The FIRST thing Jesus said to him was, “Son, be of good cheer…”  Please don’t miss this!  Jesus was validating the paralytic’s heart!  He called him “son”. To me this is almost like when I called a young girl I was ministering to last week, “Sweetheart”.  It was tender.. It was non-religious.  It was validating.

 

Then, Jesus said, “Cheer up”.  Now maybe you will disagree with me but it seems to me that Jesus was more concerned with validating the paralytic’s heart than he was with healing him physically.  He was healing him emotionally.  Think of how much pain and discouragement the paralytic must have had throughout the years!  Think of the judgment and condemnation he had endured from the religious crowd who said he was paralyzed because of sin!

 

I find the same thing later in the chapter as the woman with the issue of blood came to Jesus.  Yes, she was desperate for physical healing, but can you imagine her emotional state after 12 years of sickness.  Luke 8 tells us that she had spent all her livelihood on doctors and could not be healed by any.  Mark 5 says that she had SUFFERED many things from many physicians and was not better but worse. Can you imagine her hopelessness?  Yet something in the ministry of Jesus was beginning to awaken hope in her heart again!  She said, “If only I can touch his clothes, I can be well.” I imagine she didn’t have a lot of physical strength left.  It must have taken everything within her to get to where Jesus was.  But before she took that first step, something had begun to happen in her heart.

 

Jesus again said, “Cheer up, daughter.”  Why would Jesus say, “Cheer up” to a woman whom had just gotten healed after 12 years of sickness?  I wonder if somehow he was as concerned about her “heart” as he was her “body”.

 

And again, look at how he spoke to her, “Daughter”. It was endearing, tender, compassionate.

 

I am so grieved as I think of how parts of the “Church” have used God’s Word to hurt God’s children. We have told them that if they have enough faith they can be healed – so the implication is that if you are not healed, it is your fault.  We have told them that others can have enough faith for them to be healed which implies their lack of healing is our fault.  Must make God want to curse!  Okay, not really, don’t throw anything at me.  It must make God very angry!  How about that?

 

We have used these scriptures to make a formula for healing ministries.  You know, I think God hates man-made formulas! But we love them!  We love to be able to package God into a neat package, but have you noticed that He just won’t get into those packages no matter how we wish He would?  We must admit that healing just doesn’t consistently work according to our formulas.  Yes, there are principles we can draw, but don’t you think we go off the deep end sometimes with our list of principles?  We teach them to people and when our magical formulas don’t work, they are hurt and disillusioned just as the woman with the issue of blood SUFFERED many things of many doctors, people today SUFFER many things from many Christians as we try to make God jump through our hoops and He says, “Forget it! I won’t perform for you.”

 

It is certainly not that God doesn’t want people to be healed.  That is the beautiful message of the cross.  God wants us to be healed in every way.  He has given His very best so that we might have that kind of complete healing, but we are so pathetic in our efforts to represent God to lost humanity!  We represent Him as 100% God, but we forget to represent Him as Jesus – 100% human.

 

The 100% humanness of Jesus causes people to connect their hearts with God’s.  The misunderstanding of his 100% Godness keeps people away. They wouldn’t stay away if they could see God’s heart, but our fears of God in His holiness and power cause us to stay at arm’s length.  But when we see Jesus in his 100% humanness and 100% Godness, it makes a bridge in our hearts to cross over from our hearts to God’s.

 

But we Christians have often blown up the bridge.  We wouldn’t admit it, but we have.  We have blown up the bridge that God built because we can’t conceptually understand how God could build this bridge and it would have to strength to span an uncrossable river from Him to us.  So we totally mess up our explanations of the bridge as we try to reach lost humanity.

 

Last week, I met a young girl who is 27 years old and an alcoholic.  I spent 3 ½ hours with her and listened to her story.  I was amazed at how much more I could “hear” than I could have heard a few months ago before my world SUFFERED many things of many people.

 

I listened as she described herself and I understood.  I understood her because in some ways, I was her.  Human.  The same struggles.

 

And I knew God was asking me to validate her heart.  I listened. I am sick of myself when I see how I have been so quick to give everyone answers for their problems.  How many times do they just want us to listen? We really don’t have to have all the answers, but we really do have to care.  And Christianity is nothing – it is not appealing to lost humanity – without God’s heart.  I listened. I listened to her heart.  I cried with her.  I held her.

 

Then I validated her.  I validated her struggles.  I had compassion.  I really did.  My heart broke as I heard how many times she had been wounded.  No wonder she was an alcoholic!

 

I told her I’d take her to AA. I didn’t offer her deliverance ministry.  It was not appropriate!  She needed love at the time, not deliverance.  My heavens, how often have we rushed in with our quick and easy answers while God cried as we further damaged someone’s heart?  I am not against deliverance ministry.  It is important.  But people, there is no magical formula to set people free.  We have to love others before they can “hear” anything we have to say.  It is a much quicker fix if we can just get them “delivered” and there were certainly times when Jesus “delivered” people.  But have you ever heard that true adage, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care?” It is so true!

 

I asked her if I could pray for her.  I just intended to pray a really short non-religious prayer for her as within me I was thinking, “God, I am overwhelmed.  I really don’t know how to help this girl. She has many serious issues.  Does she need detox?  Rehab?” She was drinking to keep herself from shaking and throwing up because she is severely addicted.  She said, “Well, wait until I finish drinking because you shouldn’t pray while I am drinking.”  I assured her that God was not worried about her drinking while I was praying. He was concerned about the process she was beginning.  I am becoming very non-religious. As one of my friends said, I might need to have a warning label on my forehead right now.

 

This young girl, someone’s daughter, became my daughter as I took on her heart and said as with my actions, “I will care about you!” She collapsed into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably, as she told me how many times she had walked up to the doors where the AA meeting would be held that night and was unable to go in because she was ALONE.

 

So tonight, I will attend my first AA meeting with my young friend.  And maybe, I will be more like Christ than I have before.  I will be more human.  I will be a type of Jesus with skin on.

 

I know it is a set-up.  God loves to set us up!  I will be required to face many of my own memories from my past as I walk with this “daughter” in her journey.  No accident here.  And how ironic is it that my grad class I began yesterday is “Addiction Counseling”.

 

And God heals my heart as I hold someone else’s heart in my hands.  I say with my actions and with my words, “I validate your heart.  You are too important to God and to me to remain in this condition.  You have a destiny.”

 

I saw hope awaken in this young girl’s eyes.  Then Sunday, I shared about her at church.  Afterwards, she came up to speak to me. I didn’t recognize her.  She was dressed and clean and had on makeup and she wasn’t drunk.  Oh my goodness, I didn’t know she was there.  Now, I didn’t share her name or any detail which could identify her, but I shared her story as I asked God’s people to get real.  I was horrified.  Would she be offended?  I said, “I am so sorry.  I wouldn’t have shared if I had known you were here.”  She looked at me and said, “It is okay.  I almost came forward and said, It is me.”   And later she told me something that struck deep within me.  She said, “I felt like you were proud of me.” Maybe I was getting this thing right. I was speaking life to her by saying, “This young girl is doing something very difficult, and I believe in her.”  She “got” my validation.  And she told me that her live-in boyfriend who came with her had, as he listened to me share about her heart, “got” it, too.  He had begun to move past his own struggles and see her heart as he heard it described by a stranger.

 

And she wants to bring all her “friends” to our church.  She called me yesterday and asked me to talk to another one of her friends on the phone. The friend was hesitant.  I could hear their exchange on the other end of the phone.  She asked the “friend” if she would come with her to our church next Sunday.  I couldn’t help but smile as she tried to explain, “It’s not exactly like AA (her friend had been) and it’s not really like church. You can wear your blue jeans.”

 

Maybe we are moving toward getting it right.  God help us and guide us as we learn to hold the world’s hearts in our hands, tenderly, with compassion and understanding, knowing they are just like us.  Human.  Humans who need to find the Jesus bridge to God.  Humans who need for us to bridge them to Jesus. And may we learn to validate their hearts as Jesus validated the hearts of hurting people whom he encountered day by day.

 

 

Value - relative worth, merit, or importance

 

Validate - to make valid; substantiate; confirm

 

 

You have the power to validate the hearts of those around you and lead them in a pathway that will bring life and healing to them.  Will you?

What is Grace?

What is grace? What a simple yet powerful question! The answer you give to that question will tell you a lot concerning what you really believe about God. How the answer is witnessed in your own life will also tell you a lot about how deeply you really believe what you think you believe. Don't mean to confuse you, but I do think sometimes we get confused when it comes to grace.

Let's begin to think about what grace is by considering what it is not.

Grace is not:

• condoning sin
• ignoring sin
• minimizing sin
• changing God's standard for holiness
• a cavalier attitude toward sin
• bragging about our sin
• excusing our sin for whatever reason...
• Any behavior, attitude, or response contrary to how Jesus lived
• An unrepentant heart toward sin

Also, grace is not:

• condemning the sinner
• ignoring the sinner
• minimizing the pain the sinner experiences
• acting unholy when we have to deal with unholiness
• a cavalier attitude about our self-righteousness
• bragging about how we have not sinned
• excusing our sinful responses to those who have sinned for whatever reason...
• Any behavior, attitude, or response toward sinners contrary to how Jesus lived
• Refusing to respond to repentance

Grace is:

• A gift that you choose to give, just like God did and does
• Freely given, it does not have to be earned or bought by us
• Seeing the destruction in sin while seeing the value in the sinner
• Providing correction to deal with the sin while providing mercy for the sinner
• Tons of acceptance of the person and pardon for the sin
• The willingness to suffer loss and pain so that others can find restoration and peace
• The gift of forgiveness expressed
• The gift of mercy extended
• The offer of hope for the future
• The presence of love in the present
• Refusing to accuse
• An eagerness to intercede
• Choosing life over death
• An humble heart truly grateful for what it has received
• Choosing to live like Jesus even if it costs us what it cost him
• Looking for people hiding in their shame
• Going to war against the enemy who seeks to destroy us all
• What we get from God that we do not find in ourselves
• Living with truth and mercy as our friends
• Acknowledging that religious shallowness is more concerned about what people think than what God thinks and is the same stuff Paul counted as manure (That's the clean version of what we rednecks call CRAP! Pardon me if this is offensive but no use trying to whitewash it).
• Grace loves and extends mercy to people covered with religious manure because it too is a sin for which Jesus died in order to extend us GRACE!
• Invited by our repentance and humility.

Remember:

• Where sin abounds there is an opportunity for much grace to abound.
• We do not choose to live in sin in order to get more grace.
• We realize that it is the power of God working through grace that brings freedom to our hearts which have been enslaved to sin.
• We all need grace because we all stink without it!

The Grace Question:

In order to keep the compass of our hearts pointing toward God, we must always ask the question, "How did Jesus respond to people who experienced a need for grace in their lives?"  Afer all, he was full of grace and truth,

______________________________

Check out Eddie's new blog for preachers at www.SermonSeedbed.com

The Grace Punch

I noticed the other day that the sports news headlines were informing viewers about a first round knockout in one of the big UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) matches. I remember during my younger years watching boxing on television. Some of the fights loom big in my memory. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frasier with Howard Coselle providing color commentary with his very unique but fascinating style.

A fighter wants to win by knock-out if he possibly can. When a fighter is introduced at the beginning of the bout, the audience is informed of their fighting record and the number of knockouts they have scored. A fighter wants to be known for the power of his knock out punch. The two simple things that seem to me to make a good fighter is their ability to land a good blow and their ability to take a blow.

I remember the first time I dunned a pair of boxing gloves. It was in the sixth grade in the elementary school I attended. It was the sixties and we had a principal who enjoyed boxing. Occasionally, he would take us boys to the rec room, pair us up, and bring out two pair of gloves and everyone would enjoy watching us duke it out two at a time.

On the first such occasion, though somewhat fearful, I thought "Those gloves with all that padding can't hurt very much!" About fifteen minutes later, when it was my time to swing at one of my buddies, I found out that the padding didn't keep it from hurting. I took a punch to the nose and it HURT! It was at that point that I decided if I was going to box, I might as well get mad, too. So I decided instead of being buddies, I'd clobber him in the nose. The next couple of minutes was a more interesting fight which  we both survived. Afterwards, we resumed our buddy relationship but felt proud we had proven that we were blooming toward manhood with a fight in our hearts and a big boxing match to our credit.

Fast forward with me six years to my senior year. It was then we had a football coach who liked boxing. So one rainy day, he gathered the team in our small auditorium, moved the chairs out of the way, and pulled out two pair of boxing gloves.  The coach stipulated that we would have three two-minute rounds in our matches. There were some good ones, too! Again I ended up paired against one of my best buddies.

When the coach blew the whistle to start our match, my buddy who always joked around with me, stopped his joking and started beating the stuffing out of me. It did not seem our football team was impressed as I used my face to inflict damage on my buddy's fists. I was really happy when the coach blew the whistle that signaled the end of the first round. I was afraid my friend's hands were going to be really bruised up! While in the chair thinking about how I did not want to go back into the ring but afraid to face the notion of being a quitter, something happened. One of my other good buddies came over to me and said this, "He's left-handed, and he's killing you with his left hook. Watch out for the left hook. That's all he's got." That proved to be golden advice. He was right. Occasionally, we even called my boxing buddy, "Lefty."

The coach blew the whistle to start round two. Those words, "Watch out for the left hook!", were still ringing in my ears. Well, maybe my ears were ringing because of the pelting my skull had been taking. Anyway, actually armed with some advice, I waded into the ring watching for the left hook. I did not have to wait long at all. After the first round had been a walk in the park for my opponent, he came out swinging away with that left. He had decided that he wanted to knock out his good buddy.

The first left hook he threw, I simply raised my right hand and blocked it. I thought, "Wow! This works!" In addition, my face really appreciated the help because up to this point, it had tried to win the match all by itself. He threw another left, I blocked it. From the crowd I heard my other buddy shout, "Hit him!" It is hard to explain but somehow when you are fighting for your life, and you don't know what to do, the obvious can sometimes elude you. You get stunned. Things you know run away and hide. Your thinking skills become reduced to that of an armadillo. Yet an armadillo can roll up into a nicely protected shell and play dead. I was without such a shell. I heard my buddy again, "Hit him!" So since it was a boxing match that seemed like a sound suggestion to me.

"Lefty" came at me again. He used his left hook. I blocked it again, and then I remembered I had a left hand as well. I don't know where it had been hiding until that moment, so I called it into action and swung and let my buddy's face join the action. After all, it had felt left out to that point in the competition. This seemed to surprise my friend. While he was addled and astonished that I had grown a new limb, I followed up with my good hand. I hit him hard with a right. He staggered. Quickly regaining his composure, he came at me with a different look in his eyes. It was not, "Hey, you want to get a chocolate shake afterwards!" It was more like, "There is not going to be an afterwards!"

I remembered the words, "Watch out for the left hook!" True to form, he swung his left. I blocked it and pelted him again..and again...and again. This continued for a minute or so. The match had swung my way and my face was glad to share the glory with my fists. Finally, after my buddy's left hook had been blocked once again, I was able to counterpunch (though I did know that is what it was) and land a really hard blow. It turned his whole body around. He had been boxing barefooted. When his body was swung around so quickly, a half-dollar sized patch of skin on the bottom of his left foot which was pressing hard against the tile floor was literally torn off. Yep, it was a grotesque site. The fight was stopped. Me and my face were happy. I did feel badly about my buddy. He limped away with me later that afternoon, and we went and got a chocolate shake. My face and his foot were not even made at each other.

The moral of my boxing days is this: When you are fighting for your life and are taking a beating, listen to the friend in your corner (the Holy Spirit). He will give you wisdom about how to fight. When you obey His golden words of advice, grace comes to the rescue and gives you the POWER to get back on your feet and deliver the punch that will turn things around.

Oh yeah! One other thing, "Watch out for the left hook!"

Six Men and a Tree

Do you have any faults?
Seriously.....do you have any faults?

"Of course," you may be thinking, "I have faults, everybody has faults!"
Okay, you are right. We all have faults. But what are your faults? Can you identify them? Are you working on seeing them changed?

I have been in a season of fault finding, but the Lord keeps reminding me that the faults I need to find or the ones in my own heart. In Ps. 51, David declared that God desires truth in the inward parts. We all easily and readily admit that everyone has faults, but do we really examine what our own faults truly are? It may be a good idea to have a fault list--not where we keep a list of other people's faults, but one in which we have identify some of the flaws and faults that have our name signed to them. The list should then become a prayer list reminding us to ask God for the grace to change in these areas. Our petitions for improvement may reap some beneficial results for us and others.

The list could also be like a do to list. The list of things we need GOD to do in our personal lives.

The list could also be talk points for you to share with a trusted friend or small group of friends. James wrote that we are to "confess our faults one to another that we may be healed." There is an incredible power released when we expose to others our own faults. What some may misconstrue as a pity party can sometimes culimate in a power party. When we get honest about where we are missing the mark, it brings it in the light. The power of our secrets is broken. The healing process can do its work. God honors honesty. Confession is simply being honest and in agreement with God about our sin.

It is in the dark, that our flesh and the enemy of our souls tag team with one another. It is in the light where we truly fellowship with God and one another (1 John 1:7).

Last week, early on Tuesday morning, six men met under a tree in my backyard. It was a time of being honest with one another about our struggles and our faults. We all decided to risk growing in our relationships with each other. A pulling off the mask ceremony ensued and we took a step toward wholeness together. Risky? Yes! Worth it? For sure!

Most of our relationships are very shallow. I am discovering more that ever before, it is painful to be made whole. It kills our pride. It changes our attiude about ourselves and others. It requires brutal honestly with ourselves. BUT---it is extremely liberating. Embracing and walking in truth brings freedom. One of the first stops in the journey is facing the truth about ourselves and sharing with someone else that we see it. This is called accountibility and it is necessary for true wholeness. Find a tree, a friend, and start the freedom journey! By the way, the tree that gets it done, is the old rugged cross.

ANNOUNCEMENT: You are invited to attend our Grace Gathering this Sunday morning at our home. We meet at 9:30 a.m. For those of you, who are in our local area, or simply cannot attend, the message is always posted for you to hear on our ministry websites listed below.
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Please share this with a friend and you are invited to visit some of our other sites:
GraceHouse.info
FirstBreathMinistries.com
SermonSeedbed.com
MikkiLawrence.com

Announcement - Another New Blog!

I have launched an additional blog aimed at helping Pastors and preachers in their sermon preparation. One of the most difficult things is often getting a starting point for a message, especially when you are preaching or teaching 3-5 times weekly as a lot of pastors do.

The new site is called Sermon Seedbed. It is located at http://www.SermonSeedbed.com

It provides sermon seed, that is sermon starters. to help pastors cultivate a message or teaching. It is practical, brief, and hopefully helpful. If you know a pastor or preacher you could forward to, please do so. If you teach a Bible class, it could help you as well.

Also, I have a major project that relates to sermon preparation that will be launched around the curve. I think it will be revolutionary in what it offers. I am very, very excited about it. Would you please pray that it will unfold according to God's purposes and that grace would be given to complete it.

Blessings,
Eddie

Grace and the Idol Called "Church"

The Church was birthed because Jesus positioned himself between God and sinners. He allowed his body to be hung on a cross so that his blood would be given to bring sinful man back into relationship with God.

Our call as redeemed humanity is to continue to hold up Jesus before sinful humanity as the means for their relationship with God to be restored. Believers in Jesus are the church, not the structured organization that we have made it. The wonder of the true church is Christ alive in the human heart.

His heart beating through our heart.
His mind filling our mind.
His hands touching through our hands.
His feet walking through our feet.
His eyes seeing through our eyes and ears hearing through our ears.
We have greatly reduced and at times even removed this mysterious wonder from our mindset about "church."

Human-centered theology has made church a building where people meet. Not officially, but sub-consciously we think of church as a place and event. The true church is human bodies through which Christ lives. Church today is presented as an organized structure where people get together to worship and do good things. Nothing wrong with getting together to worship; Jesus directs us to do so. Nothing wrong with structure; God is a God of order. The problem is the mindset that has developed. When we think of "church" as a place or a weekly event to attend, we miss God's heart and purpose for His Church.

Church is relational not religious routine.
Church is organic not organizational.
Church is fluid not static.
Church is life-expressing not sleep inducing.
Church is a community of people expressing the love and life of Jesus Christ to each other and the world.
Church is sacrificially giving what she has to those who don't have it.
Church is you and me moving in unity, peace, and love and positioning ourselves between God and sinful humanity in order that they may experience the Christ life.
Church is more who you are not what you do.
It is belonging to Christ and His family everywhere, not just a certain group in a certain location.

Now I strongly believe in the local expression of the Church in a community. I believe we need to belong and be accountable to other believers who live near us and work with us. But it is the relationships not the building. It is about people not a place. It is about suffering together and laughing together. Through the love of Jesus we live life together, the successes and the failures, the good times and the bad.

Yet, we have defined it way beyond this in today's world. We compete. We criticize. We chew each other up. The result is that we then position ourselves between the Lord and the lost as a dysfunctional family that harbors bitterness, resentment, and hatred. Jesus said that we are to be so in love with each other the world would know we belong to Him ( John 13:34-35 ) and be drawn toward Father.

Right before Jesus ascended back to His Father, he gave some final instructions to the fledglings that he would use to provide leadership in the early church; he basically told them to go get 'em--speaking of lost people and there's plenty of them. He said, I will send the Holy Spirit to give you the power to do it ( Acts 1:8 ). Go around the earth and share what I have done with them. Teach them to live the way you have seen me live. We know what happened after that. But what is happening now? Some things are still the same:

We have the same Lord.
We have the same instructions.
We still have a lost world.
We have the same Holy Spirit.
We too are just ordinary people.

But how are we doing? I include myself for sure in this challenge and indictment, for I have failed in so many ways to measure up to the challenge of adequately expressing the truth of Who Jesus is.

Do people really see the love of Jesus in the church?

As to the instructions, it seems we have switched the Lord's instructions from "go get 'em" to "come watch this!" Instead of canvassing the globe, we fight over a half/acre. Instead of the Holy Spirit empowering us to witness and position ourselves between God and the world in sacrificial love, we empower ourselves to create walls to keep us away from the lost. We teach our people to be afraid of the people of the world instead of loving the people of the world. It is the system of the world we are not to love.

 Maybe in our efforts to isolate God's people from the influence of the world, we, too, have created a system that oddly enough runs just like the world's system. It keeps people from really knowing God. We keep God to ourselves. We reduce Him to living in our building. People began to think this way:

To meet Him, you have to go there.
To know Him, you have to spend as much time as possible at His building.

Your spirituality is measured by your devotion to the system that has been created at the expense of really knowing His heart, which is to position your life along with other lovers of Jesus right in the middle of the world system and love people to Jesus. If what we have does not work where we work, then what we have is not what Jesus wants us to have. We do need regular times to meet and interact and to be instructed. We do need spiritual leaders to teach us and hold us accountable. We do desperately need each other. But all this should be with God's heart for those who are so desperate and don't even know what they hunger for.

The Christian life is kinda like a football game. Players beg the coach to put them in the game, not to let them sit on the bench. The goal is not to sit on the bench and watch a few people play. The goal is to hit the field and take it to the opponent. For the church, the true opponent is the one behind the system of the world. As long as the wrong belief about church deceives us into believing that the mission is accomplished when we sit on the bench more often and watch more games and maybe even cheer a little louder, we will not impact the world the way we should. And we will also have to start looking at each other as the opponent in order to get a good game going.

How long will we scrimmage against ourselves? What is the good news in all this?

The news is still the same Good News. Fortunately, Jesus still stands between us and the Father and prays for us. I believe because of Who He is and how He loves, those prayers will be answered!
What an awesome sight when God releases grace to all of us and breaks us loose from all the idols built in our hearts. Of course, the idol is anything we love more than Him, even the "church".

You see in the real game, I think the unity and power of God's team is so awesome, that players on the other team will actually want to switch teams and play for our Coach. Since we are the visiting team right now, we have to play on the other team's field. But the more of them that switches sides, it won't be that long, till it will be our field.
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Grace As A Teacher/Trainer

Have you ever considered that one of the greatest teachers in your life is grace?

I am not talking about a woman named "Grace". I am talking of God's grace. When Paul wrote to his young protege, Titus, he told him that God's grace had appeared to every man as a teacher. The word means "to teach, to train, to discipline."The result of that teaching is that we learn to live godly lives and avoid lust in the here and now (Titus 2:11).

So, grace is a teacher and the aim of the grace lessons we are taught is to live the way God wants us to live while learning to turn away from the ungodly and lustful desires that arise within us. We learn to live more disciplined lives. And God will release grace to discipline us--to train us.

Therefore, it should not surprise us when we navigate through seasons of our life when we are intensely confronted by unbridled passions, wrong desires, and ungodly thoughts that God requires us to finally face them. I do believe the way we face them is optional. If we are pliable and listening, it will go much easier with us. If we are stubborn and cling to our old patterns of dealing with things, then the heat turns up. Yes, our choices can affect the way the teacher will teach the class on a certain subject.

When we are thrown into the ring with the ungodly monsters who lurk in the shadows of our lives just waiting for an opportunity to rule us, it can get very bloody and messy. Why doesn't the teacher stop the fight? Maybe, just maybe, the fight is part of the lesson...

-being in the ring and pummeled by your soul's ungodliness can remind you of your wickedness and weakness in every area that Christ does not rule.
-a fight for your life can also bring to the surface what really matters to you when things are reduced to the very basics of life.
-tumbling on the canvas struggling with your soul can also flip-flop your attitude toward the teacher. You start remembering what the teacher said. You realize that is why the teacher said "such and such" and did 'such and such".  Verses flood your mind. Dreams you had now begin to gain light and make sense. Words that loving friends tried to share with you also confront you.
-Inside the ropes with the enemy one on one, you get a glimpse of just how evil and ugly he is. His charm is gone. What he promised means nothing now. The deception is broken off your mind as you smell his stinking breath and struggle against his slimy sweat. He is grotesque, ugly, vile, and mean. Though he had operated in the unseen, now you can see him for what and who he really is. You not only lose the desire to listen to him, but you rally your heart to defeat him at all costs. Another thing that happens in the ring when it all comes down is that the audience loses its appeal to you. The proud bouncing around you did as you expected to show the crowd how it is done, vaporizes. When you are gasping to breathe, and your heart is pounding on the inside while the enemy pounds you on the outside, you really don't give a rip about what the crowd is saying. The charm of being their champion is gone. They have seen your weakness. You are exposed. You realize they will look for another champion. You just want to survive and learn the lessons of the defeat in the ring.

Yeah, grace is a teacher. In all the struggles of the season of the great fight, grace is there teaching, just waiting for us to listen and apply. I am just sorry that often grace has to allow my own soul to be subdued so that I will start hearing again.

When the fight is over, grace shifts the mode of teaching. When the crowd is roaring, booing, and talking about the great defeat, grace comes to the center of the ring where you have been knocked out and begins to provide what you need to get back on your feet.

Grace lays out the recovery plan....

-You don't need to fight for a while.
-You don't need to do any interviews.
-You don't need press conferences.
-You need to rest.
-Get your mind back in right order.
-Let your emotions be healed.
-Let you body rejuvenate.
-Do not try to train anyone else till your back on your feet.
-Let others help you and take care of you.

You also realize that the nature of things is for people to want a winner to cheer for. When it is no longer you, then it will be someone else. You realize like never before the kind of people that grace uses to help you when you have been knocked out. You grow to appreciate those who are still in your corner after you lost the title fight. You recognize people you never noticed before because they are there when you are down wanting to help you up.

You also feel like never before when someone else gets the stuffing beat out of them. Whether or not it was their fault. You realize the power of forgiveness as people forgive you for doing what you knew better to do. They know you knew better than to fight with your guard down. They know you did not train sufficiently before the fight. They forgive you for thinking you were ready when you weren't.

The day will come when you will begin to train again. There will be another fight on the horizon. Grace will prepare you for the next bout. The difference is, this time, you are much more eager to hear what Grace has to say as well the folks who were there with you after the ten count. The result of each fight is we have a deeper appreciation for our trainer, Grace and we live more godly lives.

A Personal Note: Mikki (my wife) now has another neat blog site for expectant and new mothers. She is often asked about babies and child raising, so she will be sharing her life lessons on the subject with others. Check it out at http://www.Babyfor.Us

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Please forward this blog address to a friend and visit Eddie and Mikki's other sites, some of which are listed here:

http://www.GraceHouseMinistries.com
http://www.FirstBreathMinistries.com
http://www.MikkiLawrence.com

The Myth of Out Yonder Grace

God gives us grace in our time of need. We need to have a true revival of the meaning of Grace in all of our lives. God's grace is absolutely, exhileratingly, wonderful. What is grace?

God's power given to us to do God's will.
A gift from the Universe's greatest giver.
Something we do not have that we desperately need.
Divine ability that becomes humanly available.
Supernatural enablement to accomplish what is best for our lives.

Grace is for now!

When we live "out yonder" we miss right here--right now!

If we live all week just waiting to get back to a Sunday morning service we miss walking and experiencing the presence of God right now. All of our failures occur in the "right now" moments of our lives. How sad when we live "out yonder" in our minds while the rest of our being struggles in the "right now." Our flesh does its work "right now" and that is where grace is needed.

Grace is available on Monday morning to enable us to start another work week.
It is available on a Tuesday night to keep us from yelling at our kids.
It is there on Wednesday to help us refrain from participating in the latest gossip.
On Thursday it will show up to give us vision to see past a cutting remark made toward us to understand the hurt in the offender's life that needs healing.
When Friday comes, grace comes to empower us to capture and lock away lustful thoughts that tempt us to sin.
Grace also is given on Saturday morning to visit our neighbor who just lost his job to encourage and help.
It will even pop up on Sunday morning in the car on the way to church if it is needed.

Why would we settle for a 1/7th version of grace when we can live in 7/7ths of grace. The Holy Spirit transmits God's grace to us. He dispenses this power of goodness to us whenever and wherever we need it.

The "out yonder" mentality causes us to yearn for something to come. We think, when it gets here it will gloriously wonderful. All of our needs will be met. We will all be changed and our community will be transformed. I agree that all of this is great, except the part that uses tomorrow as an excuse to refuse grace for today. Whenever or wherever there is true revival, it is because God starts pouring out buckets of grace through His Holy Spirit. Revivals in the past have proven that sometimes this awesome power can cause strange reactions in people. But let's be very quick to understand, that when the awesome power of grace comes, the main thing that should be in evidence is that we love God and love people more.People start loving more at home, work, and play--not just doing more at church. Grace is a whole lot more about being that leads to doing. It is not doing that leads to being. Grace changes the heart and that changes the actions of the man. A pig can be taught to do tricks, but it is just a pig doing tricks. Now change a pig into a horse and that perk people's interests. You get the point!

I deeply regret my refusal to step into God's daily grace during this past season of my life. I found myself preparing for the "next" worship service and not worshiping in between worship services. The "tomorrow" kind of grace does not work. Grace is for the moment. Need by need. Temptation by temptation. Step by step. "Out yonder" living that doesn't lean into daily grace quickly deteriorates into living to be seen of men. We pretend all is well. We put on our "church" faces. We smile and praise God with our lips, but our hearts grow cold from the weariness of playing the game. Deep inside there is a gnawing sensation that something is wrong, but we suffocate it to get ready for the next event. We even become convinced that since being at "church" seems to be easier than living real life, that it would be good to be at church more. So we keep adding more and more opportunities to escape our daily world in order to "worship." But when we do this without grace, it becomes religious ritual that does not impart life.

Facade replaces reality.
Pride blinds vision. 
Appearance eclipses authenticity.
Hiddenness steals humility.
Depression comes and delight leaves.
Deception is embraced while truth is denied.

Missing the grace of now that is given by God can be very costly!

I have come to realize that the grace in time of need comes when we confess our need. Grace is given to the humble. Pride will blind us to our need of it. We listen to others appraisal of how strong and wonderful we are. We become proud within ourselves thinking we can handle it. We can contain our wrong desires. We will not allow them to get too far out of hand. All the while, they entangle us and we find ourselves ensnared. We become blind to truth and our pride blocks the entrance of grace. The grace to break us free in not there because of our pride. But praise the Lord, the moment we confess our need of it with a repentant heart, grace comes rushing to the scene. God gives grace to the humble.

Why can we have grace anyway? Answer--Jesus. The grace of God is available to us on the basis of what Jesus has done for us at the cross. The cross paved the way for grace to come to us. We get God's gift of grace on Jesus' merits. We must live with the awareness that all that we enjoy as Christians is due Jesus. Only because of him, can we enjoy the amazing grace of God. As we press into Jesus, we press toward the one full of grace and truth.

The "out yonder" mentality that we need to have is the one that eagerly awaits the return of Jesus for his people. Why? Because when he comes, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. When the great One full of grace and truth comes, we will be forever changed to live in the eternal now! Until then, by faith, we receive his grace to help us in our time of need. And the time of need is always in the "now."

Do you find yourself denying today by looking out yonder somewhere? Get God's grace now! Humble yourself now. Pray right now. Confess your need now. Today is the day of grace!

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Please consider sending this blog to a friend and spread the word about it. www.eddieblogs.com is easy to remember. Thanks!

Visit our other sites:

Grace House

First Breath Ministries

Mikki's Personal Journal and Site

Eddie's Web Products Store

Eddie's Reseller Store

Eddie's Hunting Store

Eddie's Fishing Store

Eddie's Golf Store

The Order of Grace

We have all heard that God is a God of order. This is obvious by one glance at a starlit sky on a clear night or a peek into a microscope at the micro-world around us and within us. With God's creative order in mind, what is the order for the expression of grace in our life? Let me explain the question a little more.

One school of thought seems to be that once we confess Christ, then we begin behaving in a new way and that causes us to be more and more spiritual. I will call this as others have the BELIEVE,BEHAVE,BELONG model.

I suggest that the true biblical model is BELIEVE,BELONG,BEHAVE. We confess Christ and experience the new birth into his spiritual family, then out the relationship we enjoy with him, we begin to demonstrate the family likeness.

Let's thing about the ramifications of these two views.

BELIEVE,BEHAVE,BELONG
This view certainly puts the pressure on the "believer" to perform, to act in a certain way, to know the lists of do's and don'ts. While it is true that believers should manifest certain character qualities in their walk with Christ, the heart of the question is the question of the heart. Why do we do what we do? I fear often the BELIEVE,BEHAVE,BELONG model causes people to be more conscious of fitting into a certain mold of their groups making than that of being like Christ.

It also can result in having groups of people all behaving like each other with certain outward actions. Yet, it is the heart that God is concerned about. It can become easy to look like the group by putting on the masks or putting on the show. Just keeping the lists up to date. In such a case, we become play actors and live by comparing ourselves to one another instead of Jesus. Sadly, this becomes the result of a foundation that is built upon BELIEVE, BEHAVE, BELONG. If you do not measure up--you are out! In other words, if your behavior is not in line with the lists, then you are no longer accepted. You do not BELONG.

Now let's consider the other view. BELIEVE, BELONG, BEHAVE.

Immediately, people will argue, "If you are accepted without regard to how you behave, then you will choose to live a life of sin." May I ask a very serious question? What does it say about a person's heart when they automatically assume that given a choice devoid of consequences, people would choose a sinful lifestyle over life with Christ? Such thinking demonstrates a "serve out of fear" mentality. Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's foolish to think that is no accountability to our creator. The message of Scripture is that God desires relationship with us. He wants to forgive us. He yearns to see us transformed into the image of His own dear Son. He beckons us to come to Him as Father. The New Testament in particular undeniably calls us to relate to Him as our Father Who is in Heaven.

Yes, if you have rejected Him, if you have no regard for Him, if you have renounced any notion of serving Him, then you had better fear the wrath that is to come. The fear of this wrath should awaken repentance in the hardened heart. However, God is after these hard hearts with a burning love that desires intimacy and relationship with the very people who despise Him. Yet, the choice is theirs.

For those who have repented and declared that they believe in Him and desire to serve Him, His invitation is come and drink from my waters of life freely. God's heart is so big. He loves His kids with an unquenchable love. Once we turn to Him in faith and repentance--WE BELONG! This is the New Testament message loud and clear. John 1:12 says that those who receive him they become authorized children of God. The Spirit of God comes to live inside the person who believes in Christ and begins to move the human heart to relate to God as Abba or Papa! Believing is followed by belonging. Once you belong, the there is a shift. God begins to father you. When you sin, you are corrected (chastened). This is proof of His love for you. The Bible clearly teaches that the person who is not disciplined by Father God does not belong to Him (Hebrews 12). In other words, once we belong to the family, we have a Father who is perfect. He does not fail in His fathering. He knows exactly what needs to be done in order to bring us to repentance. If we persist in our resistance of His desires, then He increases the discipline. Believe me, I understand more clearly than ever how this works. He will allow us to taste the bitter dregs of sin in order to exterminate wrong desires within us. He begins with a gentle rebuke at our wrong thoughts, but He will get the paddle out and allow us to hurt if need be. Such suffering is evidence of His love of us as a child. The loveless parent allows their kids to what they want without consequence. We learn when we meet with pain because we have violated true love. The relationship we are to have with God has to be rooted in love. His perfect love casts out all fear.

We BELIEVE, BELONG, and then through maturing in Christ and being disciplined by a loving Father, we begin to demonstrate Christlike behavior. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit being cultivated in our lives.

If, however, we focus on teaching people how to simply look like a Christian instead of learning what the real life process of maturing looks like, we will become religious minded just focusing on externals instead of learning to be motivated by love. God is motivated by love toward us. For God so loved the world, that He gave His Son! He is moved by love to cultivate and establish relationship.

How can it be that the church could become a place that tends to turn away the people that God has chosen to turn toward? If we choose to simply focus on what we can see, the externals, we may very well miss what God is after, the heart.

My wife and I have embarked with a small group of other people on a journey to learn more and more about the true nature of the grace of God. I am convinced that is necessary to have a foundation that rests upon BELIEVE,BELONG AND BEHAVE. If we are not secure in whom we belong to, then we will become enslaved to fear and bound to tormentors in our lives.

Please don't be confused with whether or not a person can leave God's family. I have been in ministry over 25 years and know of very few people who have ever renounced Christ. I know of a bunch of people, who have struggled trying to live the Christian life. In almost every case, their struggle was rooted in some form of fear. What they needed to be freed, was a greater revelation of God's love for them.

In my own life, it seems that my struggles always come back to barriers that keep me from fully receiving a full revelation of God's love.