"Therefore laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby...." (1 Peter 2:1, 2)
From time to time I peruse Christian Television just to see where Christendom is and where it is heading. Last evening I must have come across at least 5 networks who were, in a high intensity atmosphere, attempting to raise money. They all use "seed" and "harvest" talk. In other words, if you just invest your "seed" in us, you will reap a great "harvest."
In a more general sense, I am convinced that much of modern Christendom is an attempt to bring God to man rather than take man to God. There is a difference. When we attempt to bring God to us, we are the ones who set the standards, the requirements, define the "needs," what is "compassionate love," get God to do all we ask with just the right "positive faith." It all is a Christian version of "I'm OK, You're OK." You may recall this phrase from the 1960s, an era of widespread rejection of Historic Christianity. It is a phrase which is based on a self help book by a psychiatrist published in 1967. It is estimated to have sold over 15,000,000 copies and translated in over 12 languages. The concept is based upon "Transactional Analysis as a major innovation addressing the slow process and limited results that [the writer] and other psychiatric practitioners believed was characteristic of conventional psychiatry" (Wikipedia). We could just as easily say, "The concept is a rejection of the Biblical, Christ-centered process which seems to be slow and has limited results which Pop Christianity is tired of and attempts to sell a different, more-rapid- results 'Christianity.'" This is an attempt to bring some god-like creature to man, but who and whatever that may be, it is not Jesus Christ, "Emmanuel, God with us."
In contrast, when we bring people to God, we come as the hymn writer said, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling." It is not cliche to say, "We come to Jesus Christ as a blank check." Jesus does not bring us to Himself to bless our messed up lives, i.e., take our mistakes and wave a magic wand over them to keep what we really want, just make it work better, with none of the pain of self inflicted sin. The Cross dealt with sin and its effect, the separation from God, the endless empty wandering through life, and ultimately the Judgment. "Born again," the New Birth, which brings us into the Godhead, just as physical birth, occurs in a moment. "....The pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby," however, is a lifetime walk in Jesus Christ, "as newborn babes, desir[ing] the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." It may seem a slow and limited process, but it is His process.
Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me in this most deceptive hour. Thank You. Amen.
From time to time I peruse Christian Television just to see where Christendom is and where it is heading. Last evening I must have come across at least 5 networks who were, in a high intensity atmosphere, attempting to raise money. They all use "seed" and "harvest" talk. In other words, if you just invest your "seed" in us, you will reap a great "harvest."
In a more general sense, I am convinced that much of modern Christendom is an attempt to bring God to man rather than take man to God. There is a difference. When we attempt to bring God to us, we are the ones who set the standards, the requirements, define the "needs," what is "compassionate love," get God to do all we ask with just the right "positive faith." It all is a Christian version of "I'm OK, You're OK." You may recall this phrase from the 1960s, an era of widespread rejection of Historic Christianity. It is a phrase which is based on a self help book by a psychiatrist published in 1967. It is estimated to have sold over 15,000,000 copies and translated in over 12 languages. The concept is based upon "Transactional Analysis as a major innovation addressing the slow process and limited results that [the writer] and other psychiatric practitioners believed was characteristic of conventional psychiatry" (Wikipedia). We could just as easily say, "The concept is a rejection of the Biblical, Christ-centered process which seems to be slow and has limited results which Pop Christianity is tired of and attempts to sell a different, more-rapid- results 'Christianity.'" This is an attempt to bring some god-like creature to man, but who and whatever that may be, it is not Jesus Christ, "Emmanuel, God with us."
In contrast, when we bring people to God, we come as the hymn writer said, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling." It is not cliche to say, "We come to Jesus Christ as a blank check." Jesus does not bring us to Himself to bless our messed up lives, i.e., take our mistakes and wave a magic wand over them to keep what we really want, just make it work better, with none of the pain of self inflicted sin. The Cross dealt with sin and its effect, the separation from God, the endless empty wandering through life, and ultimately the Judgment. "Born again," the New Birth, which brings us into the Godhead, just as physical birth, occurs in a moment. "....The pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby," however, is a lifetime walk in Jesus Christ, "as newborn babes, desir[ing] the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." It may seem a slow and limited process, but it is His process.
Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me in this most deceptive hour. Thank You. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
