Misguided Hate
Remember building sand castles on the beach when you were a kid? Big colorful pails, filled with sand and water; You’d dump them over, tap on the top and gently slide it up, hoping it didn’t crumble. I was never really good at it, only being able to build those cylinders from pails and never building anything close to some of those masterpieces you see on tv, but it was still fun to build, sculpt, and play with friends and nearby beach goers.
I’d build competitively against my brother or friends, who could build the best, biggest, or coolest castle. Inevitably, as your back was turned taking a dip in the cold ocean, someone would maliciously come along and step on it, destroying it and forcing you to rebuild.
And so I hear that a mosque is being built within earshot of where the twin towers once stood and thought, WHAT? You come along, destroy my sand castle and then try building one of your own right on top of it? But as I spent time muling it over I realized my mistake. When Jesus calls to a disciple in Matthew 8 He says “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” In essense don’t be wrapped up in the chaos of this world, or the people consumed by worldly issues but follow Jesus and become a fisher of men. To me that changes the whole outlook of what I should be doing every day and how I should be carrying myself.
When reading the teachings of Jesus he rebuked those who sinned knowingly, spitting in the face of God. But to those who were misguided, confused, and unaware he showed grace, compassion, mercy, and love. He reeled them in with kindness and gentleness, showing a side of humanity people rarely see. And isn’t that how we should be?
If you are a follow of Jesus you certainly believe He is the only way to the Father. A consequence of that is that every other religion is wrong. But do you need to shove it in peoples face? The muslims building this mosque aren’t bad people. In fact, the Bible tells us He loves everyone the same. They don’t know the truth but the way to show them the truth isn’t by alienating them or forcing them out of one particular area.
When my castle was crushed under the foot of an oppressor, getting angry only hurt me and drew out a potential conflict. It didn’t actually solve anything. We as followers of Christ build our houses on the rock. You can crush my castle, you can burn down my buildings, take my clothes, but my foundation will always remain(Matthew 7). I don’t hate America, but I am anti-American. I do desire to shed these me first wants, the glutony and selfishness of American culture. This land isn’t mine, these buildings are not my home. Let them build their idols and let God destroy them. As I wrote last week, who are we to judge? There is only one Judge and it certainly isn’t me.
I’m tired of walking around with a Bible and being painted as a narrow minded hate mongerer. If we walk around with a Bible in our hands shouldn’t we be looked upon as the first person to ask for directions, the first person willing to help in a bad situation, or the person that would show unmitigated compassion?
It’s Real Love
Last week a local newspaper headline began with the words “Bible Thumping Pastor…” A friend posted a status saying to call them and complain over the attack on Christians. Curious, I did a little searching and was able to find the article online and read it. After reading it, it didn’t seem so bad so I asked what was bad and if he had read it. His response: He hadn’t even read the article.
Proverbs 21:23 says “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” I have always read that and thought, “don’t call people jerks” or “don’t swear”, but this situation made me realize it also includes speaking inaccurately, and swaying peoples opinions on things I don’t know or fully understand. The comment itself wasn’t bad but swaying someone into believing a lie is, and brings that person to a point of hatred towards another that was unjust.
We don’t need to just watch what we say that is negative but also what we say without factual information. No wonder so many are quick to throw off Christianity as a religion hell bent on attacking anyone who doesn’t share their viewpoints. My goal is to show you what I have is real and true, but not by ramming it down your through and spouting off that all you believe in is wrong. And yet that is how I operated my Christianity for most of my life, and perhaps that is how you have done it, or maybe how you have witnessed Christianity. I’m hear telling you thats not how it’s suppose to be.
My friend often wears a shirt that reads “Love is the Movement”. It’s from a song played by Switchfoot, a mainstream, yet Christian band. It strikes me that love is the way to share Christianity and yet it is the hardest thing to do. Jesus never crammed it down anyones throat, He offered it, as a gift. Today we talk to people like it’s government mandated healthcare and if they don’t take it we’re going to penalize them for it. But if that same person were offered free medicine and a doctor when they were sick, wouldn’t they take it? The words aren’t any different, it’s the approach that needs to change.
I noticed an interesting corallary today when reading. I was reading James 5 and then 1 Peter. James 5:20 says “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the way of error will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” Later in 1 Peter 4:8 Peter writes: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” It was sort of shocking to me, i had never read them back to back. The verse in James begs the question, How? And Peter gives us the answer, love. Love turns the sinner. Love sets them free. Love breaks bonds thought to be unbreakable. The love of Jesus is so deep and so wide, it immerses us, covers us, drowns out ourselves and leaves only Him to be seen. Doesn’t that sound more appealing?
“I am no better. Show grace, compassion and mercy”. It sits in the margin of my Bible jotted down in blue ink next to the following passage:
Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister
or judges them speaks against the law and
judges it. When you judge the law, you are
not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on
it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the
one who is able to save and destroy. But you -
who are you to judge your neighbor? – James 5:11-12
I judge before I know the full story, take action before hearing the facts. I make assumptions based on passed experiences and rush to judgement on those who don’t share my views. I’m not being like Jesus, I’m being human. I’m not showing love, but a disdain for humanity, and the seething hate that boils to the surface isn’t going to save any sinner from death but only quicken their pace away from Christianity. Love is the movement, and I need to hop on board.
When Care Turns to Crutch
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber… ~Romans 13:11
It’s possible that every generation sees what I see. That the cycle continues on and I am just maturing enough to recognize it from my adolecense. To see it through my eyes in the lives of those younger than me(and some older) becomes a sharp pain in the heart. And yet, I am only human, and I wonder how God feels about it? I’m talking about relying on grace as our “out”.
I readily admit that I am a victim as well. On more than one occassion I have thought about my actions beforehand(understand this means the Spirit prompting me)and thought well, the Lord forgives. There is an air of arrogance to our actions. To feel as though we have time as young people to fool around and do what we want. To “be a kid” and grow up later. I’m sad when I think about the years I’ve wasted on meaningless activities. Wasted opportunities haunt me.
The below lyrics really typify the way I’ve felt a lot:
This Beautiful Republic – A Point Between Extremes
I’ve been thinking about
The paths that my life
Has gone down
I’ve pushed a crown
Of thorns in my brow
To show my salvation
Worked out
With all the knowledge
I had learned
Anchored to righteousness
I’d earned
Now I’ve gone the other way
Depended too heavily on grace
I need a reprieve
A point between extremes
I’ve come to a breaking point. To the realization that I need a reprieve. I need repentance for the grace I take for granted. Peter in his first letter says: “As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.(1 Peter 4: 2-3) I’ve wasted to much time using grace as a crutch.
If my heart hurts for these people what in the world is God doing right now? Is it that unrealistic to think that He cries all day? Is He dropping signs down in front of you like falling boulders every day but you shrug them off because you are so far from him you don’t remember what He sounds like or what His signs are anymore? Gideon asked for a sign and when he got it he said “wait, one more and I’ll know it’s you”.(Judges 6: 36-40)
I can see God annoyed at the implications here. Gideon has requested 3 signs. I think at this point perhaps Gideon has to much confidence. Maybe arrogance is creeping in and God says you know what, you have to many men. 32,000 men widdled to 300…now I can use you.
I think that’s what I’m going through, and what each of us deals with at some point in our own way. We say give me a sign you want me to live different, wait one more, maybe just one more…Maybe when I’m out of school, maybe when I get married, maybe…Arrogance slowly oozes over us like oily sludge and the Lord begins cleaning us up and breaking us down. We get to such a low and He says, NOW, now I can use you.
But the human side of me is still disappointed that it takes all that work to get me to that point. The Lord is like the father of the prodigal son(Luke 15), so excited that I’m back, but I’m so disappointed it’s taken all this to get me here. We depend to heavily on grace being there when we’re ready. Truth is, your time may run out before your ready and then what do you make of the life you wasted away?
The start of the song above goes like this:
My heart is tired
Of feeling suffering
My mind keeps wondering
Who I should be
If all of the above goes in one ear and out the other, let this one question stick in your mind for some time and really ask yourself: “Who should I be?”
hearing and doing
Mountains to molehills
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ~1 Corinthians 13:2
A while back God really pressed upon my heart to pray for someone. I was in a broken place, a place where God’s voice and direction could not have been any clearer. And so I prayed. I prayed ferverently, both day and night, when I woke, when I went to bed, any moment I thought about this person, I prayed. Sometimes it was just a quick thought other times it was a long conversation but I have never prayed that hard in my entire life.
For 6 weeks this went on, day after day. And then one day I was given some information that forced me to a decision. You see, Satan whispers in our ears, and sometimes those words come out in our conversations with others. I should have seen this, looking back, but I took it and used to rashly. Simply put, I gave up on this person.
I wrote about this before, Daniel 10:12-13 talks about an Angel sent to Daniel as an answer to his prayers to God and how that Angel was caught up with a demon for 21 days fighting to keep him from coming. If Daniel had just given up praying on day 11 or day 20 would his answer have come?
I believe that part of the reason I gave up was because I gave up on God. Satan knew exactly what words would bring me to despair and drive me away from God. He knew what my prayers were doing, changing lives through the spiritual. And he would stop at nothing to make sure I stopped.
I pushed and pushed and pushed through the weeds that entangled me over the last several months. At times I felt like I was walking in knee deep mud in the pitch black. I couldn’t see Jesus but I knew He was there somewhere ahead so I kept on moving, even if at a snails pace. Something special happened. The closer I got the more the Lord pressed that same person on my heart again. I hadn’t blown it. There was still time. I had forgotten one thing, written here in Amos:
He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth-
the LORD God Almighty is his name. ~Amos 4:13
He formed the mountains and reveals His thoughts to me!! How much easier is my small little bump in the road for Him? My little hill… I had faith that He could change lives through my prayer and yet I gave up after only 6 weeks. In my world I lacked the true love needed for this person and gave up far to easy.
We serve such a BIG God. A God who formed the mountains and treads the high places. A God who told us if we only had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains ourselves. When I was little I imagined this God fuming when I failed. As I’ve grown I’ve recognized His compassion and grace. I see Him now pleading and weeping for me to continue praying.
I’m beginning to understand the love my Savior has for me and the charge He’s placed on me to love others and continue to pray for them. My sins held Him to the cross and He still found it in His heart to love me and He intercedes for me dispite my shortcomings(Romans 8:34).
My point is, recognize how big our God is, how much He loves us and desires good for us, and how really simplistic the tasks He asks us to do are. Prayer can not only change lives, but the world.
Authors
Dana Fisher
Computer Consultant
Dana@brokenstones.com
I remember vividly when I got saved like the moment happened yesterday, yet I was only 4 years old. I grew up in a Christian home all my life but never really walked a full Christian walk until I was 23. The Lord kept me from most things up through high school and most of college but at some point I just gave up.
From 19 – 21 I rejected the idea that Christians were inherently good. Having been burned and stabbed in the back by so many Christians and watching them take advantage of people, just like the world, I became frustrated. I stopped going to church because of the rules and the people and embraced the world. Life slowly spiraled out of control. It’s not like it happens instantly. The devil lures you to sleep until suddenly you don’t recognize your surroundings. I was so far away from God I didn’t even think about anything I was doing. I was without a doubt living in the moment.
God finally gave me a wake up call one night in 2004 and my life has been different ever since. I still struggle and have my ups and downs but my focus is on Christ and I rely on Him to provide my every need. I hope that everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve witnessed and learned comes through in what is written on these pages and if I even help just one person, it was all worth it.
Dave Capozzi
Emergency food coordinator at the Esther R Sanger Center for Compassion
Dave@brokenstones.com
I was born into a protestant Christian family, of the evangelical variety. From an early age my family bounced around from church to church and denomination to denomination, mostly due to moves relating to my father’s work. Therefore, I do not really identify with any particular brand or denomination. I’ve been everywhere from pentacostal to congregational, baptist to calvary chapel and everything in between.
I had always taken my parents faith very seriously, and was “saved” about 4,263 times throughout the course of my youth. However, I didn’t truly come to know Christ until I was in my early 20s. I say this because I had always just taken everyone else’s word for it. I knew I believed, but wasn’t sure what I believed in until I really started digging into the scriptures.
Through this process of what seemed like never-ending questions and doubts, I came to find the truth in Christ. It was not until I was about 23 that I can say I had finally been saved by the grace of God, and saved from evangelicalism at that! I believe that I was saved out of religion to be put back into it. cleaned off so that I can be a more effective and true witness of the Gospel of the kingdom of God.
Who am I now? I am a Christian who seeks to follow the way of the cross with every breath.
We make it far to easy
Now they sin more and more; ~Hosea 13:2
Over the past couple of weeks I have been working in Boston for a company near the Garden. While I do feel blessed to have a job in this economy, I also hate getting up that early to do something I don’t feel benefits the kingdom of God in any respect.
Early Thursday morning, after rolling out of bed at 5am I began my trek to the train station in the center of town. There was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and it continued to fall from the sky. I threw on my jacket and pulled my hat down over my head.
As is generally the case when I’m alone with my thoughts, I had an epiphany.
About halfway to the train station I realized I had been following earlier footsteps in the snow. Some were freshly stomped, as clear as day. Their impressions were pushed down to the black pavement below. Others had a dusting of white snow beginning to shade their direction.
As a continued to walk I noticed that my paces were longer than those already pressed in to the snow. I’m a tall guy and wrote it off as my legs being longer than those who walked before me. The shoe size seemed to be the same though… Scuffs had marked some of the steps ahead of me and it clicked in my head. They were tired. The steps were beginning to shuffle along rather than being fully picked up; They were losing momentum.
We make it far to easy for Satan to track us. We plod along and our sin makes the next temptation that much easier to succumb to. Following those deep impressions in the snow was very easy. I didn’t need to be right behind the person to know where they were headed. The Bible says Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. A lion does not make himself known to his prey but sneaks behind it’s prey, pouncing when they least expect it
Hebrews 12:1 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” We have a tendency to get tired. We’re only human. And in our weakness we begin shuffling our feet and stumbling around. Our run becomes a jog and then a walk, until finally we’re stopped. A lion searching for prey doesn’t attack the strong gazelle at the head of the pack but finds that wounded straggler on the outskirts who has seemingly given up.
How much easier than for Satan to attack when he sees us shuffling our feet? It’s one thing to stumble, but when we do and refuse to turn to Jesus for help our stride becomes shorter, our shoulders sag, and our feet begin shuffling underneath us.
Repent and seek the Lord in your time of need. When your run becomes a walk seek His face. “wash me, and I will be whiter than snow”(Psalm 51:7). Just like those steps in the snow, Jesus covers us with his grace, hiding our footsteps and washing us whiter than snow. The longer that snow came falling gently on the footsteps the harder it was to see them and follow them.
It seems like such a simple concept. Ask and you will find him(Matthew 7:8). But I struggle with it daily. I want to rely on my own ability to get out of a situation and in turn push my steps farther into the snow. I’m in a funk and I justify it by saying “I don’t know how to get out of it.” The truth of the matter is, I do, I just choose not to.
Blog
Different views, same goal: Walk like Jesus
In these blog pages you will see the stories of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus come to life through the eyes and words of a few people with different viewpoints.
We’ve grown up with different rules, traditions, trials and circumstances but we’ve come back to the same realization:
- Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for each and every one of us(Mark 15)
- By unmerited grace we who are unworthy have been redeemed(Romans 3:23-25)
- We are called to do good works which Christ has prepared for us(Ephesians 2:10, Phillipians 2:13)
- We ALL are one body(Romans 12:5, Ephesians 2:19-22)
So what brings these different people together? The love of Christ! Dig in and find out what makes us tick. Click any of the links above and find out how the love of the Lord has changed our lives
legislate this
John 8:2-11 (esv) - ”Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
i have always loved this passage (as has every other person who has ever read it) but until recently, i had never thought of it in light of the culture we live in today.
as we all know the two hot-button issues of our time in america are abortion and gay marriage. i’ve heard argument after argument about why these two “issues” should either be allowed or banned according to the law of the land. it’s gotten old quick.
however, i’ve found (in my own life) a solid reason to choose the way of Christ over the power of legislation…
aren’t we all guilty of breaking at least one of the laws of our land, never mind God’s law?!
have not all of us at one time or another gone over the speed limit?
have not all of us at one time or another lied?
have not all of us been angry with our brother or sister at one time or another (matthew 5:22)? have not all of us called someone else a fool?
have not most of us lusted after another woman or man despite our commitment to another to be faithful until death do us part?
have not all of us sought revenge?
we are all guilty of breaking the law, yet we continue to place other people’s flaws and mistakes above our own. it’s easy to legislate morality when you don’t struggle with the moral issue being debated.
many times, when we legislate against girls who are considering abortion or gay people who are seeking to marry, we lose any chance at loving them the way Christ would have us love, and showing them mercy the way Christ would have us show mercy. we have become the accusers (like the scribes and pharisees who thought they were obeying the Law of Moses) rather than the liberators. the judge and jury rather than the defendant. i think it’s time we got back to the cause of Christ, rather than the cause of the Law.
since we have been freed from condemnation because of God’s love, how much more should we be showing that kind of kingdom mercy and grace to all those dirty lawbreakers in our own time and place?
we don’t have stones anymore. they’ve been replaced with votes.
let him/her who is without sin among you cast the first vote.
-dave-
Let the horse do the work
“I want you to take your hands off the reigns and trot over the bars without holding on.” The instructor said.
“You want me to do what?” I looked down at her perplexed from atop a beautiful, large horse. I hadn’t ridden on a horse in over 20 years and I had only been on this one for about 15 minutes.
“You’re leaning forward with your shoulders, using your own power to keep you up.” She replied. “You need to sit back more and allow the horse to do the work.”
I’m a sports guy, I’ve played them my entire life. The instructor went on to explain that in sports you are trained to lead with your shoulder and in horseback riding it’s the complete opposite. There’s this large, powerful horse underneath you, and if you try to hard to control him you never end up going the right way.
Reluctantly I let go, and went trotting over the bars laid out on the ground. My arms stretched out wide, I felt so unstable and was terrified I was going to go flying off.
“Go again.” She said.
Sometimes we feel like we are so wrapped up in sin that there is no way out. I’m in to deep we say. And we start pulling on the reigns in panic. We pull and we tug, and we twist, and when we look up we realize we aren’t where we wanted to be.
In John 8 the Pharisees bring a women caught in the act of adultery and throw her at Jesus feet. We all know the story, Jesus stoops down and writes in the sand and says “if any of you are without sin, cast the first stone”.
There’s a disappointing point in this story: “At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time”. Who knows what Jesus wrote in the sand, maybe He was pointing out their sins. But don’t you wish that verse said “At this, they were grieved, and repented and they wept with Jesus”?
We are so conditioned to not want to hear the truth and we fight it when we are (Galatians 4:16). We argue, “I can do what I want, God forgives all sins.” While that is true, God’s grace is not permission to live like the world. If we continue to keep pulling the reigns we’re not going to head down the path the Lord has for us.
Just like my instructor, Jesus didn’t say hey go work on that, fix your life, come back and then we can talk. No! He talked to her right then and there, broken and naked, full of sin. My instructor didn’t condemn me but correct me and guide me. In the same way, Jesus did not come to condemn, but convict(John 3). Satan is the one in your ear condemning you, mocking you, and making you feel like you can’t get out.
As the Pharisees all walked away they left her in the best place she could be: alone with Jesus. And at that moment, alone with the Lord, is where He gives us direction. “Go and sin no more” He said.
I was left alone with my instructor. I could have chosen to keep my hands on the reigns and try to ride it out but she was only trying to allow me to grow and learn. And as I let go and allowed that strong horse to carry me I was a little terrified but when it was over I was proud of my accomplishment and stronger than before.
1 Peter 5:10 says “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you”. You may be going through a trial right now. Maybe you are terrified to let go. But know that as Peter says, after you suffer the Lord will perfect you, establish you, strengthen you, and settle you.
Rely on the grace of the Lord. It’s not because we deserve it, it’s because He loves us and wants to give it to us. His grace is sufficient because His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we learn to let go and expose our weakness the Lord shows us His power to get us through what we thought was impossible.
As I rounded the circle and trotted back towards the bars for the second time, I spread my arms outstretched and let go. My mind raced with fear of falling but I pressed on, trusting the horse to do what he does time and time again, and when it was over I was strengthened.
As Christians we sit on the back of Jesus, the most powerful place we could be, but we don’t trust Him when we get in difficult situations. We pull and tug and try to use our own power but it just sends us in circles. When we finally let go and let Him lead us He delivers us from our trials and takes us to greener pastures(Psalm 23).
