From a Friend's Email

Dear Guys,

For those of you I haven't talked to recently I miss you and continue to have fond memories of our mission, battles, and successes in setting men free together. I know of none of us who have not been financially adversely affected by the current economy, there really has been no safe place to hide in terms of this worlds safe havens. We need to remember that America's (and most of the western world's) incredible prosperity over the last 100 years is a statistical anomaly when compared to what the world has looked like for the past 6,000 years.

I have been reading a great book called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (who graduated from George Fox University) and it has really helped me put some things in perspective during my own desert journey with Jesus. First, as I read Mark 4:35 where Christ take the disciples across the lake at night and the furious storm comes up. Were the disciples in sin? No, clearly they were following Christ very closely. Was prudence recommended given it was night, these fisherman knew how quickly storms could come up, should they have said no? Clearly not. Was Christ surprised by the storm? No he was able to sleep soundly right through the middle of it due to his power and peace of the father in Him.

Why did Jesus allow the disciples to be scared out of their wits, just to prove a point? To be a mean God? No, he was "loving" them by having a chance to very personally show them His power in a way that would blow them away. Of all of his miracles this one probably impacted them the most because they were well versed in boating and "knew" no one could calm the storm instantly. Even if the wind dies down suddenly the waves usually continue to rock the shore for hours afterwards due to the built up kinetic energy in the water.

And what was the key thing Jesus wanted them to take away from this? Trust, trust that He has the power to walk through anything with us no matter how "knowledgeable" we are about the subject, or how many times we have tried and failed etc. He wants peace in our inner world regardless of the external world going on around us.

2 Cor 4:8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

So I find myself meditating on the thoughts of being in a small boat with waves crashing all around and Jesus is sleeping soundly next to me with a small blanket over Him. All I need to do is reach out to His hand and hold it and He gently wakes up and says "it is going to be all right, I am with you, just trust in me".

I truly love you guys and pray for the freedom that comes from Trusting God in your lives. If there is anything I can do for anyone of you please do not hesitate to call or e-mail me we will always be the church together to this world as long as we live on this earth.


In Christ's Love,

Remember Your Heart

I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sings "Silent Night".
Age 5

I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either.
Age 7

I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back.
Age 9

I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again.
Age 12

I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up.
Age 14

I've learned that although it's hard to admit it, I'm secretly glad my parents are strict with me.
Age 15

I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice.
Age 24



I've learned that brushing my child's hair is one of life's great pleasures.
Age 26

I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers have followed me there.
Age 29

I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.
Age 30

I've learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don't know how to show it.
Age 42

I've learned that you can make some one's day by simply sending them a little note.
Age 44

I've learned that the greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others.
Age 46

I've learned that children and grandparents are natural allies.
Age 47

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
Age 48



I've learned that singing "Amazing Grace" can lift my spirits for hours.
Age 49

I've learned that motel mattresses are better on the side away from the phone.
Age 50

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
Age 51

I've learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills.
Age 52

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die.
Age 53

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.
Age 58

I've learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage.
Age 61



I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
Age 62

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.
Age 64

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.
Age 65

I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision.
Age 66

I've learned that everyone can use a prayer.
Age 72

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
Age 82

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch-holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
Age 90

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
Age 92

Repost from Micheal Q. Pink

Too Much Bad News...


“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34 “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 Amplified

Yesterday I shared how the flow from your heart determines in large part the boundaries or borders or limits of the territory you will be able to possess. Be that financial, real estate, spiritual, etc. The flow from our heart consists primarily of the words we speak and the actions we take.

If the abundance of our heart produces words leading to action resulting in a life experience defined by boundaries, and if we find those boundaries or limitations very uncomfortable or constrained, it could be a clue to us to examine what we’ve been letting in our heart.

If you want to change your circumstances, you will need to change your actions. You will also need to change your words and that means changing what you feed upon or allow in your heart. Maybe this is just for me, but I realized that I feed too much upon news, both the mainstream, censored, unfair and imbalanced news and the alternative, somewhat angry, on the fringe, out of the norm kind of news you don’t see on the TV networks. Regardless of the source, none of it inspires hope or life or faith for me.

I don’t want the news media or the entertainment world to so fill my heart that my borders are defined by them. A little goes a long way! So I have cut way back and in its place begun deliberately at a much higher volume, filling my heart with exactly what I want to come out of my mouth and see lived out in my actions and reactions in life. More to the point, I want to enlarge my borders and I know they won’t be enlarged as long as I keep putting in the same information that got me where I am now. I am consciously choosing to deposit much more good into my heart and far less of the negative input that I have grown so addicted to. Does anyone relate to this?

And if you do, you might consider watching a full day seminar with 11 leaders who were asked to pass on their most important lessons learned for business as if we were their only heir and this was their last time to speak. It was called Taking Back The Gates and you will get the entire event in both CD and DVD format for a total of $39. I keep mentioning this offer because it is the best value offer we have ever made and so many of you keep ordering it for yourself of for Christmas presents. Click here to watch a short video and if you haven’t ordered this yet, think of it as an investment in your heart and your future boundaries. (While quantities last)

2 for 1 deal

I know it may not make lot of sense to read only one side of a conversation but I'm trying to only post my own thoughts and lately I haven't had much time to turn my correspondence into essay form.

RE: Mentorship

In my experience the person who has spoken the most truth into my life is my friend Rick. He's only about 6 months older than myself. When I look at the nature of things in a healthy culture, part of learning something is turning to the next person and teaching it. So I'd say that a seven year old has something to teach a six year old, and should be encouraged to do so. I've learned a lot from a peer mentor group, mainly because my idea of accountability is to empower the people in my life to hold me accountable to the projects God is working on in me. (As apposed to them all trying to guide me in the fashion their experience tells them is right.) So like Brian said, get that group of men around whom you can be transperent. The main quality you all must have is a commitment to implementing the victory Christ is working in your life even if it causes emberasment sometimes.

The other model I see in a healthy culture (our own culture has some good things but has lost some other good things) is how they treat the sages amongst them. I think Brian is right on here. Seek out a trustworthy mentor. Even if you just have lunch together every two weeks. We neglect the wisdom of those who've been walking with God for a long time at our own detriment.

RE:Peter Pan Syndrome/Adultascents
I think there's a couple things going on there as well, but I do agree that some of it is Peter Pan Syndrome. I know one of those guys too.

But in defense of a lot of guys, the economy is in the toilette. The business guy on fox news the other day was recommending things you could do before closing up shop on your small business; one of which was moving back in with your parents. He was indicating paying them rent, not mooching, but the idea was sound. They get a little doe for a house they've probably paid for, and you get cheaper rent in exchange for grabbing things down from a top shelf for your mother. In itself moving home is not a sign that you aren't growing up.

There are some articles on the phenomenon sociologists are now calling adultascent, which is men and women over 21 that live at home with mom and dad. There is some indication that the issue is cultural on two levels. One the first level they are not growing up. They are not being initiated by parents and having that reinforced by society. I think that's a legitimate concern and probably what you are referring to.

One the second level, young people these days are not receiving the opportunities that there parents and grand parents did. A college degree doesn't guarantee what it used to. Fewer jobs have internship opportunities. Employment is less steady, as is the home buying market. It takes more training at greater expense to get a job that pays a living wage. etc. The peter pan syndrome is just scratching the surface of the issue, and I don't know if we can say its a cause or merely another symptom of the same disease.

Another Response to an online Group

I wrote this in response to a statement I made about faith and obedience.

I admit that obedience can't be completely throne out. It's hard to discount it, for its certainly pleasing to God. But if we think about the kinds of things we can do to please God we get a clearer picture of obedience, which in turn can shine a light on verse like the ones you quoted.

For example: Loving one another, giving, loving your neighbor as yourself, extending grace and forgiveness, sharing the Gospel, healing the sick, taking in the homeless, etc. All these things please God. All these things trace back to loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself, which I'd point out was what Jesus said all the commandments hinged upon. Hence, John 14:21 in context should read, "He who understands loves God utterly and completely, as well as loving others and himself; it is he who loves me."

The gentlest way I can put this is to say that it seems clear to me that God is more interested in our faith than our obedience. But God is working with me to get over my fear of offending people so let me dive into a stronger way of putting it.

There is an obvious connection between the law and our modern understanding of obedience, which is misunderstood and therefore the cause of many disagreements among Christians. Are we talking about being obedient to the law or obedient to God.

If I asked most Christians which is true:
A) you can obey God and not the law, or
B) you can obey the law and not obey God.

Most Christians today would answer B. After all, how can you obey the law of God and disobey God? It's easy. We call these people pharisees. Conversely, it is also possible to obey God and disobey his law. That's why we have Grace in Jesus Christ. Simply put, the entire old testament proves that people suck at obedience. Therefore God used a better way, a new covenant.

I would say that obedience to the law is worshiping what was created instead of the creator. In this way it is no different than worshiping a tree, which is made by God but is not God in itself. We call this idolatry. It doesn't matter what you elevate above God a tree or the principals of Christianity, its still idolatry. Actually to make matters worse what most Christians seek to obey isn't the commandments of God at all but really there own denominations recompilations of the law, which is the same as obeying that which is made by man. That's what Paul was talking about on Mars hill when he said that God doesn't need things made by man to be worshiped, for "in Him we move and breath and have our being."

If it sounds like I'm making too much of this concider listening to "Room of Grace" by John Lynch. I've already mentioned that obedience is connected to pleasing God. Striving to Please God is a dangerous thing to do. Its like imagining God on the other side of a grand canyon called, "your sins and failings," and you decide to try to reach God by feverously knocking dirt into the canyon from your edge. You just get further and further from God. The other option is enter grace and find out that Jesus is standing nect to you, saying, "you sure do have a pile of things to work on, can I help?" If you want to believe option B you will need faith.

And that's why faith is better than obedience.

A Sound Word About Friendship

In Genesis we have the story of God speaking all things into being. This passage is receiving a lot of attention lately because of a new understanding God is releasing to some of his friends. The new understanding is about sound. If you search youtube.com for sound you'll find some pretty cool videos about the patterns certain things make when sound is introduced. For example sand thrown on a plate forms patterns when tones are introduced.

There is another aspect to the Genesis story that was recently brought up by Kim Clement.

"Genesis 3:1, "NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE CUNNING THAN ANY BEAST OF THE FIELD. AND HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, 'HAS GOD INDEED SAID, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN?'"

She answered the serpent correctly, which meant that she knew exactly what God meant. At that point, the serpent used words that created all kinds of doubts. The word for devil is diablo, which literally means, to speak (breathe out) to divide, or to whisper in order to cause division."

In other words, God speaks and Satan whispers. God creates with sound and words, but Satan destroys by a related force. He introduces lies, obviously, but what do those lies do? They rot the bonds that hold things together. Satan drove a wedge between Adam and Eve so that he could ultimately drive a wedge between God and man.

Everything exists in relation ship because in part God chose it to be so, but that's too simple. Think about it. Atoms are held, bonded in relationship. The tiny pieces of matter that comprise us are not touching, they exist in relationship. In fact the type of matter and the nature of the bond very greatly.

So to come out of alignment with the vibration of God is to fly apart like a solar system with eroded gravity.

I just wanted to point that out.

What's Missing

Today’s Thoughts

When I read or think about the opening chapters of Genesis, the line that sticks out to me is, “it is not good for man to be alone.” (Gen. 2:18-20)

In this perfect new world, created by God, where Adam walks intimately with God and has a duty to do there is still something missing. So God puts him asleep and takes something from him to form Eve. The term for Eve in Hebrew is “ezer kenegdo,” often poorly translated into “help mate.” Everywhere else the term appears it’s in reference to God, and is better translated as inspirational companion.

So, Eve was technically there from the start, at least to my way of thinking. In all that God was directly supplying, and in all that Adam was in and of himself, it just wasn’t quite right. God took something from Adam in order to supply it through another human being.

Here we have the very first relationship and we see what is inherent to relationship whether in a perfect world or a fallen one: Interdependence, bonding, attraction. In one sense God split the Adam—pun intended—and created the first human to human bond. I know I’m laboring a point but think about it. God chose to supply something indirectly. He felt it was better, needed, to work through another human to bless a man. The pinnacle of Creation is relationship.

It is Not Good for Man to be Alone:
The questions that leap to my mind are these:
A) What is God removing from us that he is going to supply even better through relationship?
B) What has God made me with so that I will supply it to others?
C) What would this world look like if we were all supplying each other with the things God made us to be?

Fun Extras We Don’t Often Think About:
So in addition to every living thing, during creation God makes:
Light (energy)
Sun, moon, and stars (time, motion, place and direction)
The earth (matter)
Rest
Relationship

God used a specific order to do everything. By creating Adam, naming him, placing him in the garden, telling him to name the animals, telling him not to eat of the one tree, then creating Eve, God is establishing a certain way or order that is best. Man is born, has an identity bestowed upon him, adventures while being mentored by God, becomes responsible for certain things, then discovers woman and learns what’s been missing.

It fascinates me that God designed us in this way. That even in a perfect world we would notice a lack before receiving. What I’m trying to say is that it we aren’t born in love with someone. We develop as individuals first and along the way a desire is initiated, deepened and then supplied. It’s all right there in the beginning.

Today's Thoughts

Today’s Thoughts:
It occurred to me, while I was getting ready this morning that I needed to reread what Paul said in his address at Mars Hill.

Acts 17
22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

This is very nearly the mission statement of my life. I ask the reader, “What is the difference between a graven image and an intellectual idea?”

A Moment on Idolatry:
Idolatry is to hope, worship, trust or fear of anything other than God. An easy example would be money. Not just the love of money but the feeling of dependence on it. I hear Christians all the time say that they can’t start this or that ministry, even though they feel called to it, because they don’t have the money. As though the fact that God called them to do it doesn’t also intone his anointing and provision.

Even our earthly parents wouldn’t ask us to mow the lawn and then not provide a lawn mower. Why would we expect that behavior of God? Then again God often asks us to do things we dream of doing so a better example might be—even earthly parents wouldn’t offer to take their kids Disneyland and make them pay their own airfare.

So if we think that God expects us to make our ministries happen then we are thinking of something that we can do in our own strength, just as we might carve a graven image. The goal of the 2nd commandment is to stop worshipping man-made things.

Now the Revolutionary Stuff:
I believe, beyond any doubt, that all religions are man-made; even Christianity. Religions are intellectual structures created by men. They are a way of going about spiritual things without engaging the spirit. They encourage living from the head not the heart.

What was once accomplished through relationship is now accomplished through program. Instead of mentorship we have public education. Instead of apprenticeship we have colleges and trade schools. Instead of coming together for supper we have crackers and grape juice four times a year. Instead of worship we have three songs before a sermon. We publish a freaking program for church. Instead of giving a home to a homeless person, we have a program for the homeless. Instead of talking with a friend about God we have an evangelistic series. I could go on forever.

Those who love the Lord worship him in spirit and in truth—not on special days, on sacred ground, in approved ceremonies, lead by elite people.

My Mission Statement:
"Men of America! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I grew up among your objects of worship; I even found a ‘house of God.’ Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all men; and he determined where and when they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and find him, though he is closer to us than our clothes are to our skin. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his children.'

"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think the divine being is like non-profit institutions, programs, rituals, or tips and techniques—the ideas of man's mind or imagination. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For a day comes when he will judge all humans by their friendship with Christ Jesus through whom he made and redeemed all things."

Crisis of Faith

To the Yahoo Group...in response to an honest question about questioning God.
________________________________

Generally when I reach a crisis of faith its because I'm living in expectation instead of expectancy. Not to be cute or trite about it, I have come to believe that God will always come through for me, and that it will often look nothing like I think it should. In fact God has shown an interest in destroying some of the good things He placed in my life earlier, as a way of moving me into things he wants for me next.

This is universally true with me. God leads me into tight corners, prunes away perfectly good things, sours my milk, even cuts a wound in me from time to time. It's all to move me into what is next. Yesterday's weapons don't work against tomorrows demons. I don't get my new shield when I see an enemy draw back his bow. I get my new shield when the arrows are descending upon me.

I need to KNOW that I'm provisioned to stand in the spot I'm called to stand in. I'm called to be a man, I'm called to be a husband and a father. God did this to me, He didn't even ask if I wanted it. He made me to want it, he awakened the desires so I would beg him to give it to me, then he gave it to me and most of the time I don't feel at all prepared for it, lol. After 37 years as a single man God is giving me a wife and three daughters. I'm so far outside my comfort zone I don't know which way is up. Yet I KNOW God has prepared and provisioned me.

By his stripes we are healed. To me that means a perfectly good tree had to be wounded so that the orphaned branches could be bound into that spot and live. As an orphaned branch that is restored to the vine I give God full authority to prune my life that it may bare good fruit.

But as you say, their are days when the fog sets in so thick I can't remember the promises God made me. On those days its hard to believe that their even is a God. I think that Dan's question has come across the minds of every true believer at some time or another. That's when we must lean on each other.

A. R. Bunch

All Sin is Equal: Even Homosexuality.

Another in a long line of responses to a yahoo group.
___________________________________________

I definitely promote the all sins are equal standpoint. I've heard the "sin that leads to death" argument before and its very compelling, but I just can't read it that way and have it fit in with my understanding of God.

You certainly don't have to agree with me, but this is how I read that. If the only way to live eternally was to get to New York City, and my friend gets on a flight for Dallas TX, and I get on one bound for LA. neither of us is doing what we need to in order to get there. Lets say that my friends plane crashes and he dies in Oklahoma. Can we say that he was a better man than I? He got a lot closer to New York than I did. But I'm still alive to try again. Which of us is better off?

The thing I love the best about that example is that we can all see that we don't have enough information to judge. If I pushed for an answer I'm sure we could give one, and have pretty good reasons why we picked one guy over the other, but realistically as humans we just can't tell. No one made it to New York so it doesn't matter if one guy dies, to my way of thinking.

Now if the argument is--if you believe your wrong actions are right actions you are in more danger because you won't repent them--that's a little different matter. I can see that. On the other, I think we all have sin in our lives that we are unaware of. Even if its just a wrong idea about who we are. Many a passive man thinks he's a good Christian even though he's abusive to his family through inaction. Is that a sin that leads unto death because he doesn't know to feel bad about it?

I think a number of Christians think they are doing the world a disservice if they don't stand against homosexuality because homosexuals claim that their actions aren't wrong. Every person I've ever known who recovered from same sex attraction said that they knew all along it was wrong, even if it was just a tiny voice inside. Setting that aside I think the first sin to eliminate from your life is the sin the Holy Spirit brings to your attention. We might be shocked to find out the number of sins the Holy Spirit chooses to work on ahead of homosexuality.

I challenge the notion that we are helping anyone by actively fighting homosexuality. Again, I'm not in favor of it. I don't approve of it. I just want to point out that as Christians we need to spend a lot more time and energy pronouncing what is really true about someone, and less energy and time addressing the things we think they do wrong. The power of life and death are in the tongue. If we speak to the Spirit in someone we will call that out and the flesh will fall away. If we speak to the flesh in them only bad things happen.

A. R. Bunch

On the topic of politics again

Below is a post I made to a Wild at Heart yahoo group forum. I thought I'd post it here as well as it gives a good insight into Christianity and politics. I do want to add to it a link to an article by MorningStar ministries that says very similar things regarding revival.
_________________________________
Well that is a certainly a great post to get things heated up on this forum. Good Job Brian.

I have so many comments to make from so many angles I don't quite know where to begin.

I'll begin with W. Brian Thorton's statement "...However, I believe that dependence on the government and the welfare
state we now live in is nothing short of a spiritual curse. God is no
longer our provider. Since government is our provider, we don't need
God anymore. So, for nearly 80 years He (God) has gradually been
removed from our public lives."

What a great insight, and undoubtedly true. God loves to tell me things, which--if I repeated them--people would think I'm crazy. He once explained to me that a spirit of brotherly strife once lived in Africa. Village conquered their neighbors and sold them as slaves. With these slaves came civil strife which lead to civil war here in America. The reason this spirits power didn't erode in the American south until Dr. King was that no one had ever fought it on both a political and spiritual front before.

Sounds kinda crazy to me but it also makes sense. At the same time I think it might be a stretch to blame the California fires on gay marriage. While we as humans can look at gay marriage and see an indicator of the moral temperature of a culture is that how God sees it? God knows every sin in every heart. Is he more upset that a person choses to have sex with a person of the same sex, or if that person tries to marry a person of the same sex? Aren't we committing adultery when we lust after a married woman? Does that anger God more or less than wanting to have sex with someone of the same sex? These are strictly rhetorical questions.

Reading the bible, I don't get the feeling God is happy about homosexuality, but aren't all sins equal? As Christians we get so caught up in disapproving of one sin over another. When Jesus interceded on behalf of the prostitute, he asked, "where are your accusers?" Only Jesus was without sin so only Jesus was in a place to accuse her, and he didn't. That's an example we need to study.

I'm always surprised by the way modern evangelicals (whom I often criticize though I count myself among them) discount and ignore the entire old testament unless the subject is homosexuality. Brian I know as an Adventist you probably don't count yourself an evangelical Christian or someone who ignores the old testament, but we'll come back to that.

I've written here before regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, (Genesis 18:16 on) but I'll go back to it for the new kids. I find it telling that God decides not to send the destroying Angels straight to work, but comes to earth with them and walks past Abraham's tent. So God chose to consult a human, or at least provide an opportunity for comment, before destroying the cities. God also let himself be talked down to 10 righteous people. We always blame Abraham for stopping there, but I think he is only guilty of having too much faith in his relative Lot. Surely Lot and his family had at least ten righteous among them. Even though Abraham stops at that point, God still makes a way of escape for the righteous who are there.

So if we look for just a moment beyond the whole gay thing we see a few more things that God was up to. It was an opportunity for relationship with Abraham. It was a way to move Lot out of a bad situation he'd become too comfortable with.

I also want to point out the footnote in the NIV version that says "spare them" is actually also interpretable as "forgive them." To my mind that could read, "26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will forgive the whole place for their sake." That sounds crazy. Am I saying that if we were to intercede for the gays God would forgive them? The only thing God says about why He's telling Abraham is that he intends to make a great nation of him and bless all nations through it. So is God training Abraham to intercede? I think so. There is also a reference to Ez. 16:49 "Now this was the sin
of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and
unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." So while God never tells Abraham the exact sin Sodom is guilty of we assume its homosexuality because that's what's up when the men check it out. But the only time anyone says what the "outcry" was its that they didn't share there blessings.

This all leads me to believe that the bible doesn't actually indicate that God has a special hatred of homosexuality, which causes Him to punish entire regions.

My point in all this is that we as men of God need to be standing in our place in the battle. We need to be men of God, whom God blesses the wicked through. I think that's the lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of us who are circumcised of the heart are spiritually the sons of Abraham and we are anointed to be conduit of blessing to the world. Not a conduit of judgment and condemnation.

This point dovetails into my next comment.

Politically speaking we Christians have invited much of the hatred that is thrown against us. When I think of men like L. Ron Hubburd, the founder of Scientology, his father was a minister. So was James Hetfeild of Metalica. What about all the young boys that were molested by priests and ministers? What about the people who are sitting down to family dinner and the doorbell rings--its another Christian trying to cram God down their throat like it was Amway. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times a Christian has told me, "you either believe X, or you are going to hell." Don't we realize that it sounds like, "you either believe what I believe or you can go to hell?"

But whether we engage in some horrible abuse toward non-Christians or not we are all guilty of misrepresenting Christ. This is the scary aspect of what John Eldredge is teaching. Christian nice guys have are not what the world needs. I'm not saying this from a place of self recrimination but from a place of hope. The marred image of masculinity in our nation is not the result of Christian men living in the image of Christ. Its not because we didn't give enough tracts out, or communicate our disapproval enough. It's because we haven't let love be our identifying banner. We haven't gone the extra mile when carrying our neighbors burden. We haven't gone the first mile in many instances. We have not shared our blessings, and in that we are more like the residents of Sodom than we would like to admit.

A. R. Bunch

Laughter and Marriage

"A merry heart does good, like medicine; but a broken spirit dries the
bones." (Proverbs 17:22NKJV)
Humor is one of the most important elements of a good marriage. It actually
begins when we meet and start dating. It is a crucial building block of the
relationship. Without it, we rarely find someone attractive or desire to be
with them. With it, we become friends who enjoy being with each other. Laughter
lights up our hearts with hope, trust and goodwill.
For most people, a sense of humor is one of the most important qualities they
desire in a spouse. When a marriage is good, we laugh and have fun. It
doesn't mean we aren't having challenges in other areas of the relationship. It
just means that in spite of our problems, we haven't lost our ability to see
the bigger picture and trust God.
When Crystal and I first met, we loved being together and we laughed a lot.
Both of us have a good sense of humor and it has always been an important
part of our relationship. Even after 6 years of marriage, we still laugh as much
as we always have. Crystal is the funniest and most entertaining person I
know. She keeps me from getting too serious, well, at least most of the time.
The only time in our marriage when we weren't laughing is when we were having
serious problems right after we got married. The more serious our problems
got, the more we fought and the less we laughed. The entire spirit of our home
changed. After the Lord began healing our marriage I remember the first time
we started laughing and joking again. I didn't realize how long it had been
or how important it was until it was reborn in our relationship.
My advice to every spouse and couple is to understand the importance of
laughter and having fun together. As Proverbs says, it is like medicine, but when
it stops your spirit dries up. Here are some of the enemies of humor that
you must watch out for:
* Negative thinking and talking
* Unforgiveness and bitterness
* Sarcasm and humor that wounds each other
* Working too much and ignoring your marriage
* Taking yourselves too seriously
* Not trusting in God; Doubt; Worry; Unbelief
I encourage you to work at having fun. I know that may seem like a
contradiction but it isn't. If humor and having a good time is no longer a regular
feature in your marriage you have to purpose to make it happen. It might be that
your relationship has become mundane and boring and you don't desire to be
with each other the way you once did.
There is nothing wrong with you that a little Godly fun can't cure.
Remember, it's like medicine. Just like when you were dating, find something to do
that you both enjoy and do it regularly. Make it a discipline for the sake of
your marriage. You'll find that in the midst of laughing together the world
looks much better and the wounds of life heal much faster.
Blessings,
John

How do we Compare?

Is There a Difference Between NT Believers and Modern Christians

Here's a great question posed by a friend.

What does the re-awakened man now living in his created purpose look like to you? How does that compare to the godly man of the NT?


That's a great question.

I think they look strikingly similar. I don't see any difference in the way people sin now than in their day and certainly the image of God hasn't changed. Actually Christ was the first Spirit filled man, at least I believe that he set his divinity aside and did everything in the power of the Holy Spirit, so all healings and miracles He did we could also. In His own words, all that and more.

There are two giant distinctions between Christ and anyone who came after. 1) Christ was perfect and we will forever be dependent on him for salvation. 2) Christ's mission included sacrifice for all mankind and ours is scaled back from that considerably.

I think we get caught up in strange ideas about Christ, and the entire trinity, and we loose focus on what we are to be about. For one thing we forget the Christ didn't dress up to talk to people. He didn't try to have 5,000 people follow Him, he was just here for a handful of intimate relationships, who in turn would effect the rest of the world. In other words his death was for all of us but his living ministry was mainly about those who walked intimately with Him. He blessed everyone around him who had needs because that was his nature, but that wasn't the focus of his ministry. He merely lived in the image of his father through relationship, and as example to his close friends through relationship.

When we follow that example and concentrate first on who we are in Christ, which is what God always intended for us, and second on what it means to have Christ in us, which is to walk in restoration and healing especially in the context of our intimate friendships. If we do that we will bless everyone we come in contact with and in fact we will heal people we don't contact directly through their relationship with people we know and love.

Much of Christianity today focuses on the life improvements that come from Godly living and fail to acknowledge the need for deep personal relationships, which is where ministry is really effective. Institutional Christianity doesn't preclude close friendships but it doesn't require them either. When we try to bless people or set them free through an institution we often breed dependence. It's not completely ineffective, but it could be better.

So I'd say the biggest difference between the new testament man and modern re-awakened man is that most men these days work institutionally and not relationally.

A. R. Bunch

Another response to an online forum post.

Yep there is an interesting paradox at work here and Paul does a good job of getting at it.

I think this is the big difference between what I promote and the prosperity preachers everyone is so angry with.

I do acknowledge that we need to be aware of the blackness of our deeds before coming to Christ and how far we fall short of perfect with our best efforts. It is possible to become so wrapped up in the Grace of God that we take it for granted. There is an overwhelming joy at being released from our sins and those who are released from more and worse are all the more joyous. Also the suffering of Christ on our behalf is a beautiful testament to the Love God has for us. He didn't "just get over it" he paid for it out of his own blood and suffering. All this is true and important.

I tend to focus on the opposite problem because that's the one I see more often in modern Christianity. We get so wrapped up in our own failings that we forget to embrace the freedom Christ died to provide. The degree to which we hate ourselves is the degree to which we can't embrace the love of Christ.

Our God is so big that we live in a constant state of paradox. We are prisoners set free who choose to become slaves to God, which is the only way to remain free. We serve in order to lead, we must die in order to truly live. We must hate our lives to come to Christ who died to give us life abundant. We grow more Christ-like everyday even as we rot inside our physical bodies. We don't ever have to sin again and yet we know we will--still there is grace.

You can't feed this religion into a computer and make any sense of it, but when God speaks it all makes perfect sense. We can't confuse unworthiness with being worthless. What man or woman is truly worthy of the love your spouse gives you, much less God? Do we really deserve to receive gifts at Christmas or our birthdays? These things are given because to the person who gave them you are worth it. So while we are completely unworthy of salvation, especially at the cost of God's only son, because God provided salvation at the cost of his son that says we are worth it.

So we have to be careful not to engage in unbelief. Not the kind of unbelief that says there is no God, but the kind that says my sins are so black Christ didn't really die for all of them. We have to accept that we are loved beyond comprehension in order to fully embrace salvation. Its not enough to say God restored me to Him because he is good, we must believe that God wanted to do it because He loves us. When God feels his love radiating back at him its not complete without you, specifically you.

It's amazing how hard it is to say that though and not get called a prosperity preacher. Well so be it.

A. R. Bunch

Grace and Same Sex Attraction

I wrote this in response to a emailed question about Same Sex Attraction in Christians.

---
I separate believers and non-believers when it comes to SSA, but of course its a journey. I believe homosexuality is a sin like any other sin. Christianity as a religion has done itself a disservice and totally misrepresented God's heart by setting homosexuality in a category of "super sins" which are extra abhorrent. I know you are asking specifically about lust but I'm setting up the background for my answer.

We spend too much time as churches, disapproving of the world in order to set ourselves apart, and very little spot-light is shown on growing as Christians ourselves. Christians are directed to look at the fruits in each other before accepting that someone is actually from Christ. We are to live closely together and grow as iron sharpens iron. I believe Christians are to be helping each other past things. I don't see anything that tells me I'm to pick on non-believers and show them my disgust at how they live. There is nothing edifying in that.

So when someone walks in the door of a church at an early stage of returning to Christ and they struggle with same sex attraction, it shouldn't be any different than if they were an alcoholic, or wife-beater, or pedophile. For that matter it shouldn't be any different than if they have one of the "acceptable sins" for Christians like neglecting your children, verbally berating your spouse, dishonoring your parents, pride, etc. It's no different than the sins Christians tolerate because they aren't very obvious like masturbation, envy, greed, or gluttony.

Same sex attraction is just a sin. It will fall away naturally as someone draws close to Christ. The things we must be weary of are the "Gateway Sins," the ones that we tolerate because we still kinda like them, or we don't know life without them, or we fear life without them. I think the big one these days is phariseeism. But pride, unbelief, and idolatry are core three. If we put our trust, fear, or hope in anything other than Christ we will fall prey to all the other sins. If we doubt that God can or will come through for us we will fall prey to the other sins.

So again the answer is "no," there is no difference between lusting after a man or lusting after a woman. The core desire of our hearts includes the desire to live in intimacy with men and women, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and if things wound our ability to experience that we are drawn to counterfeit ways of getting our needs met. True intimacy requires something of us, like trust, where lust requires nothing from us.

The best environment to deal with Same Sex Attraction in is a group of Godly men who will hold you accountable. If you are able to express your struggles and be accepted anyway you will begin to heal. The religion I grew up in constantly set themselves apart from the world by any manufactured means they could come up with. Instead of communicating God's love they came off as elitist.

One quick word about accountability though. Clearly I'm not talking about the kind of accountability that focuses on what you are doing or thinking, but the kind that focuses on where you're at. What you are suffering from is not as important as whether you are transparent about it. As long as our concern is intimacy with God we will do anything that will help including inviting our brothers into it. Conversely, if we make it about the problem then we are best served by hiding the problem and causing our brothers to feel like they need to go searching for the problem. While some friends will be able to give more targeted advice the truth is that anyone will do as a confessor as long as they can extend you grace.

For this reason Christianity has given those struggling with certain sins, especially homosexuality, nowhere to go to get better.

A. R. Bunch

Boot Camp Northwest Promo

I'm proud to announce BCNW's new promo. Join us at an event.

A Moment of Inspiration

I want to apologize for neglecting this blog. I have been super busy lately and it seems like this blog gets the very last effort I have. Strangely enough its one of the projects I'm most excited about. Here's a story you may find inspiring, and we'll see if I can get back to writing here soon.

Repost: Churning Churches

By DAVID VAN BIEMA Mon Feb 25, 5:35 PM ET

A major new survey presents perhaps the most detailed picture we've yet had of which religious groups Americans belong to. And its big message is: blink and they'll change. For the first time, a large-scale study has quantified what many experts suspect: there is a constant membership turnover among most American faiths. America's religious culture, which is best known for its high participation rates, may now be equally famous (or infamous) for what the new report dubs "churn."
The report, released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is the first selection of data from a 35,000- person poll called the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Says Pew Forum director Luis Lugo, Americans "not only change jobs, change where they live, and change spouses, but they change religions too. We totally knew it was happening, but this survey enabled us to document it clearly."

According to Pew, 28% of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another one. And that does not even include those who switched from one Protestant denomination to another; if it did, the number would jump to 44%. Says Greg Smith, one of the main researchers for the "Landscape" data, churn applies across the board. "There's no group that is simply winning or simply losing," he says. "Nothing is static. Every group is simultaneously winning and losing."

For some groups, their relatively steady number of adherents over the years hides a remarkable amount of coming and going. Simply counting Catholics since 1972, for example, you would get the impression that its population had remained fairly static - at about 25% of adult Americans (the current number is 23.9%). But the Pew report shows that of all those raised Catholic, a third have left the church. (That means that roughly one out of every 10 people in America is a former Catholic, and that ex-Catholics are almost as numerous as the America's second biggest religious group, Southern Baptists.) But Catholicism has made up for the losses by adding converts (2.6% of the population) and, more significantly, enjoying an influx of new immigrants, mostly Hispanic.

An even more extreme example of what might be called "masked churn" is the relatively tiny Jehovah's Witnesses, with a turnover rate of about two-thirds. That means that two-thirds of the people who told Pew they were raised Jehovah's Witnesses no longer are - yet the group attracts roughly the same number of converts. Notes Lugo, "No wonder they have to keep on knocking on doors."

The single biggest "winner," in terms of number gained versus number lost, was not a religious group at all, but the "unaffiliated" category. About 16% of those polled defined their religious affiliation that way (including people who regarded themselves as religious, along with atheists and agnostics); only 7% had been brought up that way. That's an impressive gain, but Lugo points out that churn is everywhere: even the unaffiliated group lost 50% of its original membership to one church or another.

The report does not speculate on the implications of its data. But Lugo suggests, "What it says is that this marketplace is highly competitive and that no one can sit on their laurels, because another group out there will make [its tenets] available" for potential converts to try out. While this dynamic "may be partly responsible for the religious vitality of the American people," he says, "it also suggests that there is an institutional loosening of ties," with less individual commitment to a given faith or denomination.

Lugo would not speculate on whether such a buyer's market might cause some groups to dilute their particular beliefs in order to compete. There are signs of that in such surveys as one done by the Willow Creek megachurch outside Chicago, which has been extremely successful in attracting tens of thousands of religious "seekers." An internal survey recently indicated much of its membership was "stalled" in their spiritual growth, Lugo allowed that "it does raise the question of, once you attract these folks, how do you root them within your own particular tradition when people are changing so quickly."

The Pew report has other interesting findings; the highest rates for marrying within one's own faith, for example, are among Hindus (90%) and Mormons (83%). The full report is accessible at the Pew Forum site. View this article on Time.com

Fear Is Good

This comes from Mike Pink. I hope you enjoy.


There are many identifiers of true humility, but one which is often overlooked is prayer. When we don't pray, we are saying in effect, "I can handle this myself." When we do pray, we are acknowledging our lack of ability and/or lack of trust in that ability and asking for God's influence, help, and aid in the situation. The more capable you are, the more you better learn to depend on God, or you will set yourself up for a fall.

One way to do that is to always be stretching beyond your comfort zone, beyond your known abilities and into that area where fear rears its ugly head. If you are not facing down fear, you are probably not attempting very much. If fear is paralyzing you right now, you are quite close to deliverance. You are entering the faith zone, where you must walk by faith and not by sight.

Get up a little earlier just to spend time with the Father. Read His word and then just get a pen and paper and listen. Write down the thoughts He gives you and obey. This is called listening prayer. So much of our prayer time is us telling God stuff He already knows and asking Him for things or favor, etc. But what He wants to give us more than anything is Himself, His presence, His love. He wants us to cognitively experience Him. Train yourself to be quiet and wait upon the Lord. How long should you wait? Until you experience His mercy (favor, grace) (Psalm 123:2)

In the end, you will find new strength, mount up with wings like an eagle and soar. When you run, you will not be weary and when you walk, you will not faint. (Isa 40:31)

A site that really echoes my beliefs

Here's a site I stumbled on that really resonates with my heart on the topic of religion. See what you think.

http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/articles/churchianity.html


Here's an excerpt...

We must always be sure to distinguish between the Lord's invisible, universal, spiritual Church (the Ecclesia) and the non-profit religious organization that meets in a building with a steeple on top. The difference is incalculable, and we dare not make the mistake of confusing the two. Please understand that we do not question the right of any religious group to peaceably assemble together, elect their leaders, receive monies, have membership requirements, and govern themselves in the manner they see fit - as long as we realize that such a right is a civil right and is neither inalienable, Scriptural, or mandated by God Himself. That doesn't make it wrong, but neither does it make it spiritual. The Ecclesia is not an organization or invention of man, but an organism filled with the Life, and whether we worship "in Jerusalem or in this mountain" is not as important to God as whether or not we worship Him "in Spirit and in Truth."

So where is the distinction? What makes it an issue? It becomes an issue when spiritual or Scriptural significance is erroneously attached to a mere social contrivance, cultural norm, religious tradition, organizational structure, or place of meeting. When the waters are muddied and the lines are blurred between the social expectation, tradition, or custom of the religious organization and the true spiritual life and essence of the Ecclesia or the individual believer then such a system has the potential to evolve into a dangerous form of spiritual abuse or religious elitism.

What is Babylon? It is the marriage of church and state, religion and government; or to be more direct, it is allowing the leaven of the world to spread via Organized Religion and Institutional Christianity. As an example, consider how pastoring a church has become more of a profession than a calling, and how church government has digressed from a theocratic, Spirit-led consensus to a "Spirit-led" democracy, or worse, a "Spirit-led" benevolent dictatorship of a single pastor or a church board. This is the result of the spirit of Babylon. Whereas the True Church is to be "in the world, but not of the world", Babylon is that which is both in the world and of the world - it is by, for, and of the worldly system, yet it retains the outward appearances of godliness and spirituality. It is a synthesis of God and man, taking the best that each has to offer and fashioning a golden calf with it.

Babylon is always antithetical to Christ. It is anti-Christ. Babylon is represented as a religious whore riding on top of a beast which kills the prophets and saints of God. Perhaps we have missed the point by personifying the Antichrist as a Hitler-type world leader bent on global domination. Antichrist is the religious antithesis of Jesus Christ which flows from Babylon AS Jesus Christ. It is not coming, it is already here, and has been here from the beginning. Perhaps denominationalism is the real mark of the beast. If so, it is no wonder that so many are willing to accept it.