God's Kingdom (Heavenly)Biblical instruction is always delivered and to be practiced only with God's Kingdom principles as the governing model and method. God desires to bring His Kingdom to earth. In the Lord's Prayer Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,..." Leadership is defined by servanthood. Jesus told His disciples that the greatest among them most be a servant and demonstrated it by washing their feet. In 1 Peter 5:3 we read, ..."not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." Crown of Thorns -- This plays out as we die daily, learn humility, and demonstrate a teachable heart. Requests Submission -- In context of mutual submission, not demanding. Free Will Respected -- Allowed to remain intact at all times. Real Pleasure -- Along with everlasting rewards. "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psa. 16:11 Respect for God-given Identity Soul Nourished and Restored -- Psa. 23 Relationships -- Based on mercy and forgiveness. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Eze. 36:26 Liberty -- "...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Cor. 3:17 Treated as Son or Daughter -- With all the rights and privileges. Accepted -- In the beloved. Wars Against Enslavement -- We sense any foreign spirit to God's purposes. Led by God -- Not driven. Our Great Shepherd does not drive His sheep, but leads them. Self Control -- Leads to our desires being under control. Faith-Based -- Means that we are agreeing with God. Life -- Flourishes and increases. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 Joy Abounds Fragrance and Aroma of the Holy Spirit | Satanic Kingdom (Worldly)Interpreting Scripture using a worldly, Satanic, and flawed model, leads to misunderstanding and misapplying God's Word. Satan is referred to as "the god of this world." Earth is his domain, but as a thief and trespasser. Leadership is defined by lording authority over people. For example, Jesus reserved His harshest words for the Pharisees. Crown of Gold -- Seeking this crown, people aligned with this kingdom demand honor, obedience, and conformity to personal whims and commands. Demands Compliance -- Threatens and seeks unquestioned obedience. Freewill Obliterated -- At the best it is submerged. False Pleasure -- Temporary at best and comes with a curse. Surrender God-given Identity -- Demands that it be absorbed. Soul Devoured -- Eaten Up. "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Pet. 5:8 Relationships -- Based on performance resulting in judgment and a heart of stone. Bondage -- Of soul and spirit. Treated as a Slave -- No rights except as granted by the master. Condemned -- Under the curse of trying to keep the law. "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'” Gal. 3:10 Thrives on Enslavement -- With control as the driving force, it is characterized by rebellion ("spiritual witchcraft") and pride ("opposed to God"). Drives Others -- Through intimidation and lust for unabated and absolute power. Out of Control -- No satisfying lusts and desires. Fear-Driven -- In agreement and in concert with Satan. Death -- Ultimate self destruction to everything in its path, i.e., death to everything it touches. Joy Turns to Drudgery Smell and Stench of Imminent Death |
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Merriam Webster defines cunning as “dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources (as skill or knowledge) or in attaining an end <a cunning plotter>.” We see Jesus as love and peace and understanding. How many of us see Jesus as cunning?! Read John Eldridge in “Beautiful Outlaw” after citing the parable of the wily manager in Luke 16:1-9.
“Jesus is more impressed with the cunning of ‘the people of this world’ than he is the naïveté so common to ‘the people of the light.’ And then – back to the doves and snakes analogy[1] – he urges us to be cunning: ‘I want you to be smart in the same way. . .not complacently just get by on good behavior’ (v. 9, The Message). There’s a certain charm to a Forrest Gump naïveté, the kind your grandmother had as she wore her white gloves to church – but is that the kind of person you could trust with your life? “Setting eternity in our hearts was cunning, so that every last one of us would be haunted all our days with unmet longings that would cause us to seek the only Fountain that can quench our thirst. “Sex was cunning. Given the selfishness and self-centeredness of mankind, how else to get people to commit to the daily-sacrifice-for-a-lifetime called parenting? “I think the movement of the Spirit in the church is cunning – first here, then there, keeping men from systemizing it, keeping the enemy from squelching it. It’s like a game of rugby. “Jesus is holy and cunning – it’s part of what makes me love him.” [1] Matt 10:16 A common argument for spending time with God, "having devotions," having a "quiet time," is that it is like meal time for the soul, the spirit. The analogy is that we would not think of starting the day without eating a good breakfast in order to make sure that our physical bodies are properly nourished. Likewise we should not start the day without making sure that our spiritual bodies receive spiritual nourishment as well.
On mulling over this analogy I think that it misses an essential part. Imagine, if you will, coming up with similar reasons to be with your spouse. Can you see yourself teaching other people that the reason you need to spend time with your spouse is to make sure that your soul is fed? How would that go over? It is not about relationship or love for the other person, it's about making sure that you stay emotionally healthy?! Can we now see the difference. God is not primarily food for the spirit. Jesus is not fundamentally wine for the soul. Primarily, He is a person! We spend time with Him, listening to Him, talking with Him (not to Him) because we like being with Him, just enjoying the fact that He is there with us. Now we are freed from obligatory ritualistic "devotions." There is a time for disciplined ritualistic form -- when we are learning something new or performing a standardized task. But we do not do this with the ones we love, with those who are truly our close friends and relatives. We look forward to the times when we can be together. We relish time spent catching up on what has happened. Most of all we just like being in each other's company. And when something keeps us from being able to do that, we really miss it. But it is not because we have "missed a meal." It is because we have missed a person, a loved one. And that is what "devotions" should really be all about. In his book, Beautiful Outlaw, John Eldredge relates a parable of the way we develop tunnel vision about Jesus.
“One day a man decided to board himself up inside his house. “He sealed off the doors, the windows, even the chimney. He left only one opening – the kitchen window – through which anyone who wished to speak to him was forced to speak. Fortunately, there were people that still wished to speak to him, so they called on the man at his kitchen window. “Over the years this fellow came to the conclusion that the world was such a place in which people only speak to one another through kitchen windows. He wrote a book in which he argued that human discourse cannot and does not take place in any other way than through kitchen windows. “The Kitchen Window School was founded shortly after his death. “Our experience of Jesus is limited most often by the limits we put on him!” My wife has always said that we come to God with little bottles for Him to fill. He really wishes we would bring large jugs, but He will fill the tiny vessels we give Him anyway. We are the ones who limit God. He is more than willing to do abundantly above all we ask or think, but He allows us to put limits on His blessings. In his book, "Beautiful Outlaw," John Eldredge says:
"Listen to how someone prays -- it will reveal what they really think about Jesus. Does he sound near, or does the prayer make him seem far away, up above the sky somewhere? Does it sound as though Jesus might be someone we are bothering with our requests, someone with far more important things to do? Does he have a sense of humor, or is he always serious? Is it formal, and religious, or "Good morning, Papa"? Do they even sound like they know him? Really, listen to their prayers. Listen to your own." I think it would be interesting to practice praying out loud while recording it on your smart phone. Then wait a week and play the recording back. Maybe it would be better to have someone else listen to it and give you their honest opinion about what you really think about Jesus. Then try this; try talking to your best friend the same way you talk to God. How would that go over?! My guess is that for the vast majority of us, our best friends would begin to dread the times when you get together to talk. Give it a try! Today we continue with more excerpts from the book, Beautiful Outlaw, by John Eldredge.
"So let's start with this point of clarity -- there is Christianity, and then there is Christian culture. They are not the same. Folks develop a taste for organ music and fog machines in the same way they develop a taste for public radio or NASCAR. Then they insist that organ music or fog machines are the way to know Jesus. From here, it just gets weird. Big hair. Reverent tones. Shouting. Robes. Funny hats. Smells and bells. Golden altars. Broadway-style services choreographed down to the second. "And an entire language to go with it." "Loving the culture of church is not anywhere close to the same thing as loving Jesus. The Pharisees loved their religious culture -- the long prayers, the solemn garments, the honor bestowed upon them for being members of the clergy. But they hated Jesus." "Here's the test -- if you can't take your church culture and language and drop it in the middle of a bar or a bus, and have it make winsome sense to the people there, then it's not from Jesus. Because that is exactly what he could do. That's what made him the real deal." This is the first of several blogs that start with quotes from John Eldredge's book, "Beautiful Outlaw."
After exposing the Jesus that many of us have never been aware of, John says this: "You have a personal guide now; ask Jesus what to take up and what to set down, so that you might receive his life. "By the way, this is the bottom-line test of anything claiming to be of Jesus: Does it bring life? If it doesn't, drop it like a rattlesnake. And you will find that the religious never, ever brings life. Ever. That is its greatest exposure."[1] The distinguishing characteristic of real Christianity is life – Jesus’ life. It is His life in us being lived out. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”[2] We must ask ourselves what things we believe, think, or do that does or does not bring life to the full. Of course we may need to come to a realization of what life to the full looks like. And sometimes it may take a while traveling down the wrong road to come to a realization of the fact that what we thought was life to the full is just another dead end road to a life of dissolution. But when we come to that realization, we must be willing to “drop it like a rattlesnake” as Eldridge admonishes. We cannot afford to cling to religious notions because of tradition or reputation lest we perpetuate another generation of hollow, religious Christianity. [1] Eldridge, John. Beautiful Outlaw. Faith Words. New York, Boston, Nashville. 2011. p. 209. [2] John 10:10b Recent internet, email, and social media gossip has been circulating about the use of aborted baby parts being used as ingredients in processed food by major industry food products companies. Although not much would shock many of us today, this seemed a bit over the top. This article is an attempt to research the rumor and determine exactly what is taking place.
In surfing the web I found articles talking about a company called “Senomyx, a San Diego-based research and development company, whose clients include food heavy-hitters Nestle, Campbell's Soup, Kraft Foods, and PepsiCo…”[1] Senomyx conducts research with HEK293, originally derived from human embryonic kidney cells. Many individuals are boycotting specific food companies to pressure them to stop using Senomyx for research and development. “Gwen Rosenberg, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications for Senomyx, described the process as ‘basically a robotic tasting system.’ She depicted rows of little plastic square dishes with hundreds of tiny indentations in each dish. A protein is placed in each indentation, then a flavor. If the protein reacts to the flavor, the results are charted. If the new flavor (of which the company has more than 800,000) is successful with the protein test, the company then conducts taste tests with (live) adult humans.”[2] So, to dispel any fears, no cannibalism is taking place in this process. The history of HEK293 is easily found on Wikipedia. This cell line was derived from kidney cells that were harvested from a healthy aborted human baby by Alex Van der Eb in his laboratory in Leiden, The Netherlands in the 1970s. He cultured them and continued growing a cell line from them. Later, Frank Graham used cells from this line to perform a transformation with an adenovirus. The successful experiment that led to the HEK293 line of cells occurred on the 293rd experiment. He published his findings in the late 1970s.[3] HEK293 is available for purchase by individuals doing research for all kinds of things including vaccines. Promega has a complete product brochure[4] (data sheet) and is one of the vendors of this cell line. In addition to research on food products, HEK293 is also used in the development of new influenza vaccines. Many articles are online demonstrating multiple uses of this cell line in vaccine development.[5] The use of human cells for research and development is not an issue for most people. If Alex Van der Eb had used cells from an unforeseen miscarriage with the permission of the parents, no one would bat an eye. The central point of concern here is that the cells were obtained as the result of an abortion. Vast numbers of people in the world today consider this as heinous a crime as murdering your next door neighbor because his dog barked at night making it very inconvenient, if not impossible, to sleep. Hitler’s slaughter of the Jews pales in comparison to the wholesale slaughter of millions of unborn children worldwide each year – Hitler’s 6 million versus 42 million abortions per year.[6] Of course some may argue that the original cells harvested from the aborted baby are long gone. And the HEK293 cell line is a transformation of the original cells anyway. Had Hitler’s scientists had the technology to harvest human cells from the Jews and grow them like HEK293, the entire Jewish community would never allow it to be used in research and development. To the average American today it would be considered horrific to use a cell line that originated from tissue from a Jew murdered during the Holocaust. Summary There does seem to be a shadow of doubt about whether or not Alex Van der Eb obtained the cells from an aborted child. Evidently his original records are gone. But he did do research on cells from aborted babies, so there is good reason to believe that HEK293 originated from just such a case. For a good discussion of this topic from a medical doctor’s viewpoint, see the article by Alvin Wong, MD.[7] Clearly, we may never know all the products that we use or consume that have been developed using research involving HEK293. It is a sad world we live in where such atrocities as abortion are used for profit and that the use of harvested cells from those abortions has so deeply penetrated our environment that we cannot be certain that we ourselves are not contributing to the profit taking inherent in this abominable practice. [1] http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/shortorder/2011/03/are_aborted_fetus_cells_helpin.php [2] ibid [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEK_cell [4] http://www.promega.com/~/media/Files/Resources/Protocols/Technical%20Bulletins/101/GloResponse%20CRE-luc2P%20HEK293%20Cell%20Line%20Protocol.ashx [5] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X10003762 [6] http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html [7] http://www.yahspeople.com/uploads/4/9/0/5/4905603/ethics_hek_293_credit_line.pdf One of my favorite things to do is to walk quietly through the woods and take in the beauty of God’s creation. To arise in the morning and look up at majestic mountains bathed in the dawn of a new day. To stroll among cactus and lizards, listening to the birds call out to each other in the cool of the desert morning. To brush my hands over the tall grass of the prairie and to walk down towering rows of corn all tasseled out. To gaze up at the majesty of the Milky Way on a clear moonless night far away from the city. These are the times when the awesome presence and power of God comes alive to me. But God is more than just the all powerful creator of the universe. Such a God could have just created it and then set it on his desk like a knick-knack pausing to admire the beauty of His handiwork from time to time. But God did far more than that. Because of His desire to know me, to know you, He came and lived among us as one of us. And through His sacrifice and resurrection He stands ready to pour His very life into you and me if we are willing to accept the gift. When I pause to contemplate the implications of what the all powerful creator of the universe did for you and me, I am filled with wonder and amazement that eclipses my admiration of his handiwork. The Old Testament word for God is Adonai. Literally it means “my Lords” – it was made plural to emphasize His majesty. The Hebrew Old Testament scribes used the vowel markings for the name Adonai when writing the name Yahweh, or Jehovah, so that when anyone saw the word Yahweh they would say Adonai instead, in order to avoid using God’s name in vain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adonai is the plural of Adon, meaning “Lord, Lord, LORD, master, or owner” (the word Adon derives from a Ugaritic word meaning “lord” or “father”). In the Tanakh, the word Adon can refer to men and angels as well as to the LORD God of Israel (e.g., Exodus 34:23). God is called the “Lord of lords”(Deuteronomy 10:17) and Psalm 8:1 mentions God as “YHVH our Lord.” The plural form Adonai, like the plural form Elohim, is regularly used with singular verbs and modifiers, so it is best to construe the Name as an “emphatic plural” or “plural of majesty.” When the plural is formed using a singular possessive ending (“my Lords”), it always refers to God, and occurs over 300 times in the Tanakh in this form. The Masoretes ensured that the sacred Name of the LORD YHVH would not be taken in vain by putting the vowel marks for Adonai under the letters in the running text (ketiv). They did this to remind the reader to pronounce Adonai regardless of the consonants in the text (qere). However, Adon and Adonai also appear as Names of God in the Hebrew Masoretic text, …”[1]. [1] http://www.hebrew4christians.net/Names_of_G-d/Adonai/adonai.html Matthew 20:1-16 is the story told by Jesus of the workers in the vineyard. Most of us look at this parable and focus on the apparent injustice done to the workers who spent the entire day in the fields. We must understand that this was exactly the response that Jesus wanted to illicit when He told the story. He wanted shock! He wanted consternation! He wanted "righteous indignation!" There was no other way to emphasize the punch line.
The punch line was that the last will be first and the first will be last. I don't think I've ever really grasped that concept. I know it in my head, but I don't understand it. I can't really get a grasp on it. Everything in this world says it is wrong! Doesn't the early bird get the worm? Our world system works around the principles of self-promotion, aggressive leadership, and strategically planned relationships. In the world of business and politics this actually works incredibly well. Our natural ways of thinking cause us to bring this same set of principles into the Kingdom of God. As a result we see Christian organizations built on these same principles. And the results are predictable -- it becomes wildly successful. Unfortunately Jesus here points out that things are viewed differently from God's perspective. When we stand before God and commendations and rewards are bestowed, the things that were built on the world's principles will be seen for what they are. And many who appeared to be non-productive will be rewarded because they lived their lives and worked in the Kingdom according to God's principles. And from our vantage point today it will look as if those who were last will be first, and those who were first will end up being last. |
Clayton Gibbs
I'm just a person who seeks God and wants to make Him known. Archives
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