Freedom

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that our very act of existence is an act of rebellion.” Albert Camus

In this growing grace revolution that our Father is propelling, those of us who are moving forward with Him must be prepared for misunderstanding and criticism. The Bible says that one day everybody who has ever lived will see Jesus, "And one will say to Him, 'What are those wounds between your arms?' Then He will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'" (Zechariah 13:6)

Remember, it wasn't the God-haters who persecuted Jesus, but the religious people of His day. Don't be surprised when you are misunderstood and maligned for your stand. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake." The message of the grace walk is the message of righteousness - God's righteousness being given to us without our having to do a single thing to get it. The very idea of that kind of raw grace flies in the face of the religious world.

Live free and you'll be seen as a rebel. Tell people that we don't have to live by religious rules anymore and they'll accuse you of being antinomian (against the law). Tell them that God's love is bigger than they can imagine and they'll accuse you of being a universalist. Tell them that we don't have to do anything and they'll accuse you of teaching passivity. Tell them that all their sins are forgiven - past, present and future - and they'll accuse you of encouraging licentiousness (a license to sin).

Free people look rebellious to those who think prison is God's intended home for us all. What do we do? Just keep telling the truth. Love people enough not to water down the gospel with the works of the law no matter how much they want to you to do that.

Paul asked the Galatians, "So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16) Don't be surprised when you find the same question coming to your own mind. In fact, if you aren’t ever criticized, you might ask yourself why. Tertullian was one of the first Christian authors whose writings became widespread. He lived 150-200 years after the life of Jesus. He was the man who coined the word “trinity.” (The word isn’t found in the Bible.) About biblical truth, Tertulian wrote, “The first reaction to truth is hatred.

Live free. Live free when people criticize you. Live free when they think you've gone off the deep end. Live free when they think you are irreverent. Live free! They may think your very existence is an act of rebellion, but in reality it is an expression of the righteousness of Almighty God.

A Throne In Heaven

I saw a throne standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. - John (Rev. 4:2)

John, the Apostle, was exiled on the island of Patmos. He must have felt confused at times, trying to make sense of his circumstances. One day while he was worshiping, God parted the heavens and allowed John to see something that would forever change his way of seeing things in this life. Here's what he learned:

1. There Is A Supernatural Reality Around Us.

When the heavens were opened, John saw that there was another reality that transcends this one. It is a supernatural world where our God sits on His throne. He isn't pacing the corridors of heaven because this world is out of control. God is at rest, so we can be too.

We live in a dual world -- the seen and unseen. When we don't like what we see in this world, we can be encouraged to know that the unseen world is the dominant world. When your outlook is bleak, try the uplook.

2. There Is A Sovereign Ruler Over Us.

When the outward look in life seems dismal, the upward look can bring comfort and peace in the midst of any trying situation. John could have said, "Outwardly, I see a barren island imprisoning me, but upwardly I see my God on His throne. That's enough for me!"

Life doesn't just happen. God is in control of every detail. We may feel at times like we've been sentenced to a prison in our circumstances, but God is working out His perfect plan in our lives at every moment.

3. There Can Be A Spirit of Rejoicing Within Us.

Once we know that the world we can see is temporal and that the one we can't see with our eyes in eternal, we'll be able to look up and see the throne with Someone sitting on it. When we see Him and realize that He is in control of life, then we have reason to rejoice regardless of what our outward circumstances may be.

It was from prison that Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord. I'll say it again: Rejoice!" Our joy is in the Lord. No matter what we may face in life, we can find joy because its Source is Eternal, not external. These are exciting days because our Life-Source is an eternal God who loves us with all His heart.

Walking In The Will of God

I'm still working on finishing the manuscript for this book. I have a November 15 deadline, so I'm plowing forward full-speed-ahead. Here's an excerpt I wrote yesterday...


Danny and I were talking one day about how depressed the real estate market has been all over the United States for the past few years. The subject has great importance to him because Danny works for a mortgage company. “Management at our company has already laid off about a third of our employees,” he told me.
“Are you concerned about your job?” I asked him.
“No,” he answered. “I’m believing God for my job. He knows that our oldest son, Dave, is in college now and Ted will start in the fall. If I’ve ever needed a steady income, it’s now. They’re telling us at work that we’re fighting to stay afloat, but I think everything will be okay.”
“I hope so,” I answered.
“I don’t hope. I’m believing in faith,” he responded with mild irritation in his voice.

I immediately knew I had unintentionally said something wrong. I know Danny well enough to understand that his view of faith requires that he affirm with gusto that things will turn out the way he wants. From his perspective, to acknowledge that an outcome any different is even a remote possibility translates to a lack of faith. Faith means believing it will happen the way we’re praying it will happen. It’s that simple to him.

Danny is an example of somebody who thinks he has faith based on how I’ve described that people often misunderstand it. In actuality, that’s not what faith is at all. Faith isn’t thinking positive thoughts about a situation until you finally convince yourself that it will work out the way you want. When the three Hebrew children were threatened with being thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to the idol of King Nebuchadnezzar, their response was one of great faith. They said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

The faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was in their God, regardless of what the outcome of their circumstances might ultimately prove to be. They said, “Our God is going to deliver us, one way or the other. It may be that He delivers us from the fire or He may deliver us through the fire, but either way we are going to trust Him.” These three weren’t rebuking flames or making loud confessions that they wouldn’t go into the fire. They were simply looking to God and trusting in Him.

The fact is that, like many others already have, Danny could lose His job. If he did lose it, though, that wouldn’t mean his faith failed him or that God let him down. It would simply be the way His heavenly Father was working in Danny’s life to move him ahead in carrying out the divine plan He has for him.

I’m not suggesting that there aren’t times when we can believe with confidence that things will turn out the way we are hoping. There are some things that we know without a doubt are God’s will because of His word to us. I’m discussing here the times when we can’t be sure what His will is because He has been silent on the matter. At times like that, we can’t try to use what we may call faith as a way to force God’s hand and get Him to do what we want.

To confidently walk in God’s will for your life, the only thing you need to do is trust Him. Faith is nothing more or nothing less than looking at things through the lens of confidence in God and His word. The answer, then, to feelings of weak faith is simply to focus on the truths we know about our God. Do you feel like you have weak faith? Then remind yourself of who God is and on the fact that He is always reliable. That’s true no matter how things may look at the time life seems unstable. You don’t have to feel great confidence about what the results of your circumstances will be. You only need to cast yourself in total abandon on the One who will determine those results and rest in Him, waiting for Him to do what He will do even though you can’t make any sense of it at the time.

An Excerpt From My Writing on God's Will

Some time ago, I was reading the Bible and I noticed the words of Jesus in His final prayer before going to the cross. Although I had read these words many times before, it was as if I were seeing then for the first time. Tears filled my eyes as I read what Jesus said to His Father just hours before His death on the cross. “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given me to do” (John 17:4). I prayed that day: “Father, that’s what I want to be able to say when I leave this world — that I’ve glorified you on the earth, and I accomplished what you gave me to do.”

While Christianity is not only about doing, we learn that as Christ lives through us, there certainly are things we will do during our lifetime to make an eternal difference. You obviously want to do those things He has planned for you or you wouldn’t be reading this book.

It’s time for you to move out in boldness. You’ve put your fears and guilt behind you now. You thought that you found security in the familiar but now you realize that your so-called security was really just a prison of doubt and fear that held you back from experiencing all that God wants you to enjoy.

You were afraid to try new things, afraid of new situations, afraid of looking foolish to other people, afraid of failing if you were to try something different from your ordinary lifestyle. You are now beginning to move forward in faith. It’s okay that you may think your faith is wobbly faith. Stepping out and moving forward is an act of boldness. What you may feel on an emotional level isn’t the criterion for measuring your boldness. Actions indicate that. Faith is verb, which points to action, not an adjective that describes feelings.

A former U. S. military leader named Grace Murray Hopper once said, “A ship in port is safe. But that’s not what ships are built for.” We were not made for “safety” as our highest value. We were made to live an adventure!

Plugging Away On "Walking In The Will of God"

I'm back in Tampa Bay where I'll be working on the will of God manuscript all this week, as well as recording the Grace In The OT teaching, which is already late this month. Melanie is in Atlanta with our family. I tell her that when I'm writing I need to get away from her because she is a distraction to me (in a good way). I hope to get much accomplished while I'm here at home alone.

The conference in Virginia Beach was a very enjoyable time for me. I really enjoyed the people and pastor at Bayside Baptist Church. The group was very responsive to the teaching, which always makes it a joy when you're teaching people the truth of God's grace.

I'll be glad when this Presidential election is over, won't you? I'm so tired of hearing political ads and predictions of gloom from both sides about what's going to happen if the other guy wins. These are indeed perilous times, from the human standpoint, but the truth of the matter is that "there is no authority than that which is ordained by God." (Romans 13:1) So whoever wins, God is still God and He's going to do what He's going to do regardless. I don't mean to sound indifferent about the whole process. Like everybody else, I have my opinions on the matter but I am so thankful that my opinions don't rule the world. My Sovereign God does.

I zoned out in front of the World Series on TV last night. There's an electricity in the air here about the Tampa Rays. I haven't gotten into baseball since we moved to Florida, but how could I not watch the game last night? I would really like to see the Rays win, especially considering their background story. I went to bed last night when the score was still 8-2. Unless they come back strong tonight, I think it's over for them.

Thanks for checking in on my blog today. I hope your day goes great.

Headed For Virginia Beach, VA

Today I'm going to Virginia Beach, where I will speak to a men's group tomorrow morning, then teach a Grace Walk Conference at Bayside Baptist Church tomorrow night and Saturday. I'll have dinner tonight with a small group who are really excited about the grace walk.

I'll spend next week here in Tampa working on my "Walking In The Will of God" manuscript. My editor has told me that I need to lengthen the book so I hope to finish that within the next few weeks. The book is scheduled to be released by Harvest House Publishers on March 1.

Thanks to those who have asked about my Aunt's condition. She has greatly improved and will leave the Inpatient Rehab Unit at the hospital tomorrow and will go to her sister's home in another town for a while. We are thankful for the progress she has made and especially grateful to her church family for their loving attention to her throughout this whole ordeal.

A Parody of Legalism

I make no claims to being on course toward a lifetime achievement award for political correctness or even necessarily for knowing when to tell something and when to keep it to myself, but something happened yesterday with my two grandsons that illustrates a point that just has to be made. Plus, it's just plain funny - at least to a biased granddaddy who has been accused more than once of talking when it would have been a better idea just to shut up. If you're one who thinks it is uncouth or even vulgar to tell such a story, I offer you my apology in advance. Pray for me. Sometimes even I question if I have good sense.

My grandsons, Jonathan and Jeremy, were here with us while their mother went to the vet to pick up their dog, Aslan. Actually, Aslan is more like a horse. He's a Labradoodle - apparently a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle. (You read it right.) This breed of dog is extremely friendly but is very large, not always a good combination with children in the house whose height is approximately the same as the dog. It's his friendliness that presented the problem at hand this week.

Making conversation with my grandsons and thinking the dog went for shots of some kind, I asked, "Why did Mommy have to take Aslan to the vet?" Without hesitation, seven year old Jeremy answered, "Because he is acting crazy so he had to get his manhood cut off." Eight year old Jonathan began to howl with laughter and screamed, "That IS crazy!"

"You boys had better be careful not to ever act crazy around your mother!" I heard laughingly coming out of my own mouth as if I had some sort of grandfatherly Tourette's Syndrome. Thankfully, the statement fell flat on their seven and eight year old ears. Unfortunately, the same wasn't true with Melanie who yelled my name from the kitchen in a way that, after 35 years, I've come to recognize means that my own life may be in peril.

Poor Aslan. I thought from the beginning that a Shetland Pony would have made a better pet if my daughter and son-in-law were bound and determined to buy a gargantuan pet for their kids. But I'm not sure he deserved to be made a lifelong eunuch. Surely there must have been some way to teach him to behave without going to that extreme.

The application? My daughter was the legalist in this story and the veterinarian was the exacting hand of stern religion. Aslan is anybody in the world of dead religion who has the gall to live unashamedly, acting like who we are without inhibition. Live free and there are always those out there who'll try to make a eunuch out of you. Avoid these people at all costs. Veterinarian Community Church may look like a pretty place from the outside, but if you're not careful they'll take away your spiritual manhood and leave you singing soprano in the church choir.