Grow. Know.

(Photo source: Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Caltech. SnowCrystals.com: www.its.caltech.edu)

We are being renewed!
We are coming into a true knowledge of our King.
In this renewal, Christ is everything.
We relinquish all forms of evil and we put on love,
"The perfect bond of unity"...

Loosed from licentiousness, bound to holiness.
That is who we are, and who we are becoming...

Oh Lord, our Father, see Your true sons reflecting Your image!

Uniformity And The Deep Blue Sea...

(Photo source: TKEC, teamkiaofelcajon.com)

This past Sunday Pastor Althea shared, and I paraphrase here, Diversity does not mean conformity or uniformity.

It is an important thought to keep in mind as we endeavor to live out our mandate for Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene to be "a Spirit-filled community of love where there is a place for everyone."

The temptation (when fishing for souls) is to aim to catch fish that are already scaled, cleaned, and cooked to our liking. But that is not fishing; it's more like shopping, or perhaps even shoplifting. Souls come to the Door raw: broken, contrite, and aware of their dire need of repair. There is a need for salvation, and also a need for healing, and also a need for deliverance. These processes are worked out, lovingly and intentionally, in the community of faith.

And, as this process goes forth from salvation and moves into the realm of discipleship, we must be careful not to persuade people by external activities. Certainly spiritual disciplines are beneficial, and church involvement is a necessary engagement, but our Lord takes particular interest in the state of our hearts: the inner life of thoughts and motives.

This is sometimes a tricky thing for we Nazarenes, because over time we have fallen into great concern for external conformity in the face of diversity: conform to attire, conform to worship style/mode, conform to the time allotted for service, conform to the dominant culture. And sometimes, in our zeal to see quick conformity, or because of our desire to force uniformity, we lose out on diversity. The proverbial fish, put off by our push of external conformity to culture above internal conformity to Christ, swims away to who knows where.

A cleansed extrovert is, in most cases, still an extrovert. Pastor Althea spoke of how the Lord brought her through a process of spiritual formation, yet in that process He did not remove her core personality traits. That is, to go back to the fish analogy, we know there's no real need to change a salmon into a seahorse... but for some reason we are tempted to try, especially if our local church body is ninety-eight percent seahorses.

Ah, thank God for Scripture. The Spirit of Christ has taken an interest in diversity, and He has demonstrated His interest in the way He equips of the body of Christ. The apostle Paul says (and I paraphrase):

"There are varieties of gifts... varieties of effects... the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues... and one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, makes the choice to distribute these varied gifts to individuals as He sees fit." (see First Corinthians 12:4-11) God has made us, and He has made us diverse. That is a good thing! Let's embrace His action plan.

We serve the Lord of Glory, who by His creativity has made His Church one body consisting of many different parts.

"Perfect" Attendance.

So, as those chosen by God, holy and dearly loved, wear the clothing of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Forgive: -- after all, God forgave you-- bear with each other, and be expressions of God's love. Love is what binds us together in unity. (see Colossians 3:12-14)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Althea noted that the process of becoming (and being) a corporate expression of Christ is messy.

We make colossal mistakes.
We step on each other's toes.
We miss opportunities for concerted prayer and decisive action.
We prefer ourselves over others.

But, we are nonetheless called to draw nearer to Christ, and to be renewed in Him every day. This renewal comes into being as we daily take off the clothing of corruption and put on the clothing of compassion.

The Spirit of Christ stands ready to help us move from imperfection to perfection.

In my personal devotions, I have been stuck in Luke chapter 7 for the past two weeks. Verse 36 has really jumped out to indict me: "One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table."

The rest of the account (verses 37 through 50) is more famous for the woman who, though not invited to the meal, showed up anyway and doused our Lord with a pint of ridiculously expensive perfume. But there is the image of this Pharisee, who on the surface seemed to have done the right thing: he invited Jesus in. And, Jesus came in. But Jesus, though in the house, was not loved by the homeowner. What did Jesus say?

When I came into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet.
You gave Me no kiss.
You did not anoint My head with oil.

The Pharisee missed a chance to shower Jesus with authentic service, adoration, and worship. His lack of love for Jesus was made plain by his lack of love for the woman: "If Jesus was really a prophet, he would know that this woman is notorious. She shouldn't be touching him." (see Luke 7:39)

But, the Pharisee missed a key detail: the love of Jesus had touched the woman, and her repentance freed her to be able to love Him. She moved from the clothing of corruption to the clothing of compassion; from notorious sin to notorious service.

What does Jesus say to us today?

O, Sweet Spirit of Christ, open our eyes that we might know Your love... move us from audience to attendants.

The Smell Of Hell.

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self, who is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the One who created him. (Colossians 3:9-10)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Althea spoke on the importance of our being renewed in Christ daily.

What does it mean to be in a continuous state of renewal?

• To begin again/begin anew;
• To become re-acquainted;
• To restore/revive;
• To re-establish/renovate.

The lack of renewal is an indictment of (and in) those who have "accepted Jesus" and have claimed affiliation with the Christian faith for several years or even decades, but whose day-to-day lives show no reflection of the image and likeness of Christ. As our pastor shared, such Christians are "frowzy"; they wear stale clothes, spiritually speaking. They crave the stale air of the world instead of the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit. They cease to grow in the knowledge of who our Christ is.

Many years ago a colleague of mine shared, "If you're not moving forward in your relationship with the Lord, then you must be moving backwards." Or, to say it in a Colossians-esque way, if we aren't experiencing daily renewal, then we are harboring the old self... and the old self is a faithful servant of the devil (see Colossians 3:5-8).

We cannot idle our spiritual car in "neutral", because there is no neutral. Each new day will find us either growing or dying in our faith walk.

Dear saints of God, let us forever tend the revival fire that burns in our hearts: always a fragrant aroma of prayer and devotion to Christ; never the stagnant decay of an untended relationship.

Wantonness: The Antithesis Of Worship.

[According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, wantonness is the tendency of a person to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others.]

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Althea spoke on the importance of our lives being shaped by God's image. After our experience of being born into the family of God, we then begin a life-long journey of growing ever nearer to Christ. And, as part of that journey, our Lord calls us to be a reflection of His image and likeness.

Our pastor urged us to obey the call of God to "put off" and "put behind" things which are in opposition to His will:

• put off earthly ways of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed;
• put behind the things that hold us captive: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.

Sadly, though, these things are alive and well in the church. Why do they continue to show up? Because they continue to be fed.

And, here is where the concept of wantonness comes in. Sin seeks partnership. From as early as Eve and Adam, there has been a tendency in mankind to ask others to participate in the pursuit of sin. It is a wanton act: though the person knows that such action leads to the pain of eternal separation from God and the suffering of eternal torment, he or she nonetheless continues to lead others into the path whose end is utter loss.

What a contrast from the acts of authentic worship, where the Christian gladly surrenders every urge and agenda to the Lord of glory.

"All to Jesus I surrender..." Yes, Lord. Even my wantonness.

One Scoop Of Rocky Road.

Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:15-20, emphasis mine)

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond. Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-16, emphasis mine) 

In this past Sunday's sermons, Pastor Sam shared the point that we can choose to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit rather than living under the influence of the times.

There is a colloquialism we can use here: "flavor of the month." The phrase was coined out of the pratice of Baskin-Robbins, an ice cream store chain, which has many different types of ice cream and features a different flavor each month. Eventually, "flavor of the month" became a descriptor of two things: 1) people who would continually alter their worldview to match the prevailing notion of the time, and/or 2) people who would only accept news that was presented to them in the "flavor" (mode) they preferred.

How does "flavor of the month" show up in Christianity?

Well, Sunday provided a clear example. Our guest, Rondell Positive, ministered with a brief music set. As is my norm when listening to Rondell's music, I was waving my hands, singing along, and occasionally jumping up and down. Now, since I stand all the way in the back of the church, I assumed that everyone else would keep their attention focused on the front of the church, where Rondell was ministering on the platform. Wrong assumption. Some of my colleagues were visibly uncomfortable with my participation in worship. Actually, some of them were just outright uncomfortable with the music-- because the music was not presented in the flavor they like. How sad for them. They missed God because they were looking for a still small Voice in a suit-- but He showed up loud, in jeans and a leather jacket.

Perhaps this is why Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 include an array of musical types: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. God says, Take it all. Embrace whatever means is available for worshiping Me, and worship Me in a spirit of thankfulness.

How can we fickle human beings do what God has asked us to do? We can only accomplish this mandate by and in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who gives us the grace to be thankful, even though we live in very trying circumstances. It is He who gives us appreciation for His word, without regard to the mode in which it is presented. It is He who produces in us an exuberant joy even as the devil wreaks havoc in the lives of those we love. Why are we so full of joy? Because the LORD has done great things for us (Psalm 126:3). We are grateful to our God and so we behave like grateful, happy people. We love. We sing. We give. We shout. We dance. Our praise of Him is not contingent upon our personal preferences being sated.

We have come a long way in our faith when we are able to push past the negative things we see, and pour our worship onto the great God whom we cannot see, but nonetheless adore. As our pastor shared with us on Sunday, the world will say that we are illogical when we give thanks in the midst of crisis. But let us contemplate Pastor Sam's question to us: "Who is influencing your behavior?"

Oh, let me feel Thee near me. The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me, around me and within.
But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin. (John Bode)