How Then...

We cling to our traditions...to our Sunday to Sunday gatherings, seeking and searching for truth, for the presence of our Creator...we search out and hope for impartations full of wisdom and understanding...

How then do we find truth if the truth being spoken from the pulpit to a body of people that bears up under manipulation, is fear-mongering and a quest for absolute power and control over how persons act, comport themselves in day to day life.

How then can we find what we seek when misuse of power, of a voice meant to lead, is more along their own personal ideas of how and what the Bible is speaking of, is what is being fed on a continuous loop...

He said, 'I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said.' John 1:23

'Make STRAIGHT...' no government within the church, instead a shepherd who lovingly leads his flock (held accountable by the body)...leads...no coercive words and actions, just love and understanding for the plight of the human mind living within them as well. No higher than the body taking up space in that pew, chair, or balcony seat, seeking truth and wisdom...

Oh, it is a slippery slope my friends...on this basis cults are formed within and without the church...think Jim Jones who started out preaching the word of God until one day the pronouns were changed and HE was the ultimate in wisdom and authority, He was God in his own mind and words pouring forth each Sunday meeting until the transition from shepherd to dictator was fully formed.

Do we, for an instant believe it cannot happen with our own lives? Within our own church body? Once again, but for the grace of God go I. It is up to us to listen and discern, to perceive and understand exactly what is being said, more importantly what is NOT being said, instead hinted at...

And yes, we have every right to speak on such...to come with a heart of humility and a spine of steel...to come with words of grace and truth...

I have had occasion to speak, discuss, debate as of old with a woman of business in the small town I live in...a woman who was raised by a tent-revival Baptist Minister Father and submissive mother...fire and brimstone were words being bandied and candied from lips that speak kindness and love for all except those who live in sin...specifically (her words not mine) 'those homosexuals,' the rough and ready bikers who use foul language, or those who serve a Mormon god...the list goes on and on...on this she stands firm in her resolution to do no business with such, have truck with no one such...

We miss opportunities to share, to love without reservation, unconditionally...did Christ not sit with tax collectors, harlots, pharisees? Who are we to stand above?

The music of this age doesn't teach fear of our Heavenly Father and all He could do to punish, the cost of sinning and going to hell...fire and brimstone....

Being a Father means "committing to raising and nurturing a child to the BEST of our abilities and embodying a fatherly role that holds steady, endures, and exemplifies a committed pillar of love and support through all of life's ups and downs." (all credit to whomever wrote this delineation)

Father denotes a bottomless well of love and mercy, of coming alongside...

How much more does the Heavenly Father love us...He speaks on consequences to our actions, true...He speaks on living a life of honour, of integrity and loving ones neighbour...underneath all of this is the message of salvation, of a love without borders...LOVE...

I spoke of love...of mercies new every morning...of reaching this generation with grace, with understanding...of a new wave of worship drawing in and surrounding with arms of compassion, and an excitement not seen in many many a year...do we not SEE that God is doing a new thing? What worked for Baby Boomers and Gen X will not do for this new age of information, for these generations coming up...

I spoke on witnessing friends being bullied by fear into believing, into receiving God into their lives and hearts and minds...I firmly believe it is not Gods way to bully, to shame, to vilify with sins committed...

How are we any different from others who sin in such a way, than those she feels opposes the word of God?

'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God...' Romans 3:23

In doing so, we shut those souls out of, when we could be a witness, a breath of fresh life, a love that comforts as it guides...always, always my friends remembering from whence we came...always coming with understanding WE fall short each day...

Love saves....fear kills, drives away, buries under mountains of reproach...

Who are we to judge? Who are we to say how each should live and breathe and have their being? It is the height of superiority and arrogance to stand above others, to sit in judgement on how they comport themselves...

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" Matthew 7:3

Take a moment to stand before the mirror...look...delve into your own heart before looking into the heart of those around you.

We are not here to pass judgement...justice, yes, for crimes committed...but that is a story for a different post...we are here to live life to the fullest, to love those we have within our circle and those who move beyond it...we must learn to live to serve, to love with a sweet spirit of kindness and compassion, else we become mired in the muck of punishment, retribution and arrogance....

It is Sunday and I contemplate making my way to a church sitting stagnant in the water...few children, fewer teenagers and young adults, being lead by an elderly generation loyal and committed to each other...stuck in hymns dating back to the 1800's, bless their hearts...one woman differs from the team singing most Sundays by using more recent worship songs that hit the heart, comfort the spirt...each one giving of their time to worship and send up praise to a God they wholly believe and know exists, experiences and hardships moved in and through with the help of a Creator who LOVES His children, mightily...

I have witnessed, in my times there, some strange teachings, men not bothering to hide the fact that they are checking you out physically (men in their 70's), doing an up and down look that leaves nothing to the imagination...when caught in the act with eyebrow raised in a 'pardon me' look of my own, just smirk...and yet I have been witness to a steadfastness, a giving spirit much like what I grew up with...a generation soon to be gone and replaced by who?

This, dear hearts, is life...filled with those who live by a different code and those who fall prey to fleshly pursuits with no compunction...the good, the bad, and the ugly...(ugly in spirit, not in form)...we stand, we speak, we use wisdom to know when to do so with grace, with dignity, with understanding of human nature in all its glory.

I pray you hear my heart once again my friends...I speak not to sit above, I speak to expose, to hopefully bring light to a world still covered and hidden within the church. We see, we perceive, we move in love and understanding in humility...with strength in the face of belittling, shaming, victimizing alongside good works and helping hands...

Often I look upon the man left behind and the abusive, coercive ways implemented each day and liken it to those in power, holding authority in their hands and misusing, misappropriating for evil ends suited to their purposes...we stand strong dear treasures and we speak truth else we die as a people...living as sheep shepherded by wolves in sheep's clothing...

May your days be filled with the light of love, your nights with the flame of grace and mercy...

May your heart know love that saves...love that encourages, upholds, uplifts each day...

May your mouth be filled with words of compassion and kindnesses...full of life and joy...

We live as an example of God on this earth, or we live as an example of Anger, Wrath, Fire and Brimstone...may we choose love...choose compassion...most of all let us choose Truth and move in discernment.