End of Lost

These have been very busy days for our family, getting ready for our annual pilgrimage to Minnesota and participating in a graduation celebration for one of our boys.  Good days, but really busy. 

However, I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the end of Lost, the TV series.  We were a little disappointed.  We live in a culture that truly wants Heaven and an eternally good future, but which rejects Jesus.  You can’t have one without the other.  The same book that tells us of the wonders and privileges of Heaven also tells us the only way to get there. 

No, it wouldn’t be Heaven without Jesus.  It wouldn’t be enough just to have a beautiful location forever.  It wouldn’t be enough to be reunited with friends and family.  It wouldn’t be enough to have plenty of food and time for rest.  There would have to be something much more for it to be Heaven.

You see, our hearts need the acceptance, forgiveness, and unconditional love that only Jesus gives.  We need a person who knows us in every way and still welcomes us into His presence.  We need Him, as a person, as a lover. 

I grieve for those who look forward to some kind of eternity apart from faith in Jesus.  They will find that they have been deceived. 

dave@gracefortheheart.org

More on Recommending Books

Considering the last post, about recommending books, I thought someone might be interested in an exchange I had with another blogger on this topic. The whole thing started because I wrote to support his statements. I agreed with him! Then he proceeded to take me to task about the books I have reviewed.

The exchange is somewhat typical. This guy doesn’t think of himself as legalistic or even narrow, but his whole attitude is one that focuses on the differences between his views and those of other believers.

The thing that amazed me was his plan to write about these books and the “false teachings” in them – even though he had no intention to read them!!! He says that he is content to accept the reviews of others. I presume that means he would write from those reviews. Fascinating!

Here’s the link: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6043971967398769903&postID=1735327609351526368&page=1

Let me know what you think!

Dave@gracefortheheart.org

Recommending Books

Many years ago a man told me that he would never recommend a restaurant to a friend because he could not guarantee that the same cook would be there when his friend visited. My family has learned to be careful of recommendations friends give for movies they have enjoyed and we always give certain caveats when we recommend movies. You understand the problem. The motel you loved may change management before your friend gets there. The car mechanic you recommend may have a bad day when your friend comes in. Recommendations are risky.

Well,  I recommend books. I have some people who have dismissed my website and message because of certain books I recommend. It’s a risk I have decided is worth taking.

For example, I really like Brennan Manning’s books. I have heard him in person and was truly blessed by his message. I fully understand that he and I would probably disagree on some important doctrinal issues. But that isn’t the point. When I recommend his books, I am recommending the primary message of those books – that Jesus honestly loves people. The unity of God’s people, after all, is in Christ rather than in doctrine.

I do understand that some teachers have misused books and teachings of others. One person who visited my website has rejected the whole message because I happen to recommend Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life. The cultic church this lady used to attend took Nee’s teachings and used them to manipulate and control followers. Therefore, in her mind, anyone who recommends Watchman Nee must be in sync with her former cult. Not true, of course; but until she is able to step past her pain and fear, she will continue to dismiss anyone who fits her criteria.

So, is it worthwhile to recommend books when some are offended by those books. Of course it is. Books can connect with people in ways nothing else can. John Eldredge has been used by God to touch hearts in unique and wonderful ways.

Recommending a book, in my mind, is nothing more than telling someone that the book’s ideas are worth considering. You might decide that you don’t like the teaching, the style, or something else about the book. That’s ok. I just appreciate the fact that you were willing to listen and think. We learn and grow from each other.

Dave@gracefortheheart.org

How To Do Church

Have you seen this video from North Point Media poking fun at how we do church today?

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

This is great, but the real chuckle in my heart is remembering about 20 years ago as the “contemporary” folks ridiculed the traditional patterns.  Three hymns, offering, prayer, sermon, and go.  Yep, it was pretty much the same everywhere then, too.  What goes around comes around, I guess.

The truth is that it is easier to create patterns and traditions that work than to try to do things differently each week.  Of course those patterns should be second to the leading of the Spirit and, of course, they should be evaluated often.  But it is okay to find a comfortable groove and default to it.  Just remember that the pattern isn’t holy and undefilable. 

24 years ago I visited with a pastor who had left his denomination to connect to Vineyard, then a new movement.  The buzz at that time was that the evangelical church was stuck in tradition and something new had to come.  But he was already disillusioned.  He said, “I’ve learned that Vineyard has its traditions also.”  Ya think? 

God bless Vineyard and everyone who tries to do new things and God bless those who continue in “the way it has always been.”

Dave@gracefortheheart.org

A Scandalous Freedom – Steve Brown

I had a couple of people suggest that I review this book and I am glad they did.  Brown hooks the reader in the first chapter with his emphasis on “free means free.”  He says, “if that freedom doesn’t include the freedom not to obey, then it isn’t real freedom.” (p.9) To all those who challenge the grace message concerning condemnation of sin, Brown bluntly admits that God allows us to sin but offers us a better way. 

Brown is pointed and some won’t like reading this book.  He challenges the evangelical who has placed God in a box where He is supposed to focus His heart only on our sin.  Brown reveals the uncomfortable truth that we all still struggle against sin and admits “none of us is probably going to get a whole lot better – and yet Jesus is still fond of us.” (68)

This is a good book, well worth your time.  Brown is pointed, plain, and profound – and it may feel like a little too much of each.  But read it anyway and give it to your friends.

The chapter on pain is worth the price of the book.

Dave@gracefortheheart.org

Why Are Legalists Mean?

From time to time I get a note from someone who has been hurt by a legalist.  The victim has been criticized or judged and wants to know why the legalist (or performance person) acts that way.  Here’s my answer to one such person.

If a person has to measure up in order to be acceptable to God, he’s in trouble.  His actions, both past and present, do not meet the standards he believes are necessary.  How does he survive the thoughts that this produces?  (This is the inner conflict that causes performance people to be depressed and just plain mean.) The only way to feel better is through comparisons.  He may not measure up to the ideal, but he may be able to surpass you.  When he measures himself against others, he has a competitive system of spirituality that moves him to hide his own sins while pointing out those of others.  Of course, this doesn’t help his true problems.  He may still be depressed and/or mean, but he will have something going for him.  He may actually feel better about himself. 

If he thinks in terms of a competition then he will probably see only right and wrong, good and bad, superior and inferior, winners and losers.  When one is right the other, who disagrees, must be wrong.  One of the tenets of the performance system is that superior spirituality will lead to higher honor and increased influence/power.  If he accepts that successfully spiritual people have more influence/power, then he may also accept that the one who causes another to act in a certain way is the spiritually superior one.

When performance people read that the strong are to yield to the struggles of the weak, they find themselves in a logical loop.  They want to be the stronger, because that appears to be the superior position, but they see that the weak have the influence they desire.  Remember that the goal is not real growth.  The goal is to be considered more spiritual.  The one with the influence is more spiritual.  Thus, to be weaker, according to their system, is to be stronger.  And around and around we go…

Dave@gracefortheheart.org