Church Sign For The Times

This Is Not Me. :-)

            As I was driving today I passed a church that had a sign out front that read something like this:

    "He's making a list and checking it twice - Jesus."

            Now I know they probably just thought that was cute but when you actually stop to think about what that says - it is SO wrong! We have to remember that the list has been made since before time began and if you're His - you're His. In fact - you only love Him because He first loved you. God is patient and kind and loving, rich in love and slow to anger.
            He even says this to us: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient, not wanting any to perish".
           This is a God who just wants the best life for you and those you love so he gives you His word and His messed up people to point the way to Him. As Christians, we should remember the advice my favorite preacher Steve Brown gives frequently, "We are just beggars telling other beggars where we found bread."
             I am far from perfect, but with God? He will never count my past against me. The list of my sins is empty. He paid for it on the cross. It is finished.
Too bad they couldn't fit all that on a sign.

Watching Our Witness?

            In my day job, I am the IT Director for a local company that owns a couple of quarries and a couple of construction companies. I was talking to the quarry precast manager, Fred (not his real name) some time back about life in general and he told me a story that perfectly exemplified one of our biggest challenges in the Church - the challenge of dealing with arrogant, ignorant people in the Church. A local non-denominational church was building a building (a very expensive building, built on the backs of a fairly small and lower-middle class congregation - but that is a whole different blog ":-)) and a driver was making a delivery of some precast products they needed for the work. He was then approached by the pastor of this church, waving his arms and yelling at the guy about being in the wrong spot. He gave this driver such a hard time that by the time he was done, my friend Fred decided that he needed to go have a chat with this pastor, in order to assure that his drivers would not be harassed (by the pastor) when delivering to this site. When Fred arrived, he got out of his truck and went to the nearest person to ask where the pastor was. It happened to be a congregant doing some landscaping. The man’s response was wonderfully indicative of what can happen to a church when the pastor is arrogant and prideful.

            Fred asks, “Hi. Can you tell me where Joe (not his real name either) is.”

            The guy responds, “That’s PASTOR Joe.”

            Well Fred is normally pretty mild-mannered but when provoked (and already being aggravated at the way his driver was treated this provoked him) he can get a little more direct.

            “He’s not my fu*())in' pastor.”, said Fred. “Go get him and tell him Fred Jones need to speak with him.”

            The poor man, unknowingly caught in the wake of his pastors pride, stammered a little then went and got pastor Joe. Here would have been a wonderful time for the pastor of this church to reach out, show a little grace and humility and just apologize for the arrogant way he treated the truck driver and ask for forgiveness. Instead this man did nothing but argue with my friend Fred and make demands, unknowingly continuing to confirm what too many in the world already believe about those of us in the Christian Church.

There are many people out there who, from their past experiences, have valid reasons to their belief that “religious people” are arrogant, self-righteous, and hypocritical - and unfortunately, all too often - they are right. Religion is strong stuff and it can really mess us up. When we have religion without the ongoing relationship with Jesus we need, we ALWAYS become arrogant and prideful. This happens because we forget that compared to the Savior – ALL have sinned and fallen short and we actually begin to think we are doing a pretty good job of reflecting Him. HAHA!

As pastors, we are revered and admired by people WAY more than we deserve or is healthy for us. Congregations should stop pastor worshipping. That is idolatry, plain and simple and is not healthy for you, or your pastor.  Love involves disagreeing sometimes too.

A true understanding of the Gospel and our ongoing need for it, along with the grace and mercy of God, reveals to us our own sin and inability to be like Him in so many ways. This understanding of our continual, daily, moment-by-moment need for the grace and forgiveness only Jesus can offer fosters gratitude in us - This gratitude is the fuel that drives us to either lead or follow without ego and to love without expectation of return. We love because we have been loved (even when we didn't deserve it).
           Who knows – getting that might even help us sometime to show grace and love toward our own personal "truck driver", whatever that may be for you. Have you had any "truck driver" experiences in your life. Examine your witness – in Church and out. Does it look like Jesus – or more like one of the Pharisees?

Does "unconditional grace" mean that once we are a Christian we can act any way we want and God will still save us?

            I think the one question I have heard more than any other since I discovered the radical nature of the Gospel of grace and started to talk about it is contained in the title of this post.

            I have honestly struggled with this question, as I think anyone who believes what I believe should. This is a short exposition on what I have seen in my walk, regarding the relationship between grace and sin, and why I believe a real understanding of it's radicality can set us free in a whole new way.

First, it seems clear, from a variety of scriptures such as:

Phillippians 1:6 – “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to

completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

…or this

Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

 

…or

John 10:28 – “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

...that we serve a God who hangs on to what is His. We are safe.

This also means that we are FREE! (see John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”)

 

If we have truly come to Him and accepted the free gift of Jesus sacrifice for our sins, whether it was in a foxhole, a car, a movie theatre, in between sins, or at the bottom of the deepest darkest hole you’ve ever dug yourself into – if you are His then you are HIS and nothing in Heaven or on Earth can change that – including you. The Bible makes it clear that once you are in Christ you are as secure in your place in Heaven as if you were already there. That is very hard for us to believe, as even the most “righteous” of us know we are not now, nor will be ever be like Jesus this side of Heaven - but we still want to earn it - at least a little. Depending upon your mindset that could make you very excited or get you a little irritated with me. If you are saying, “wait, Ron – are you saying all I’ve done for Jesus doesn’t matter?” then you might be kind of like the big brother in the prodigal son story.

            What I am saying is that our works may make God smile or frown but He smiles or frowns because He hates to see us go the wrong way - but we must always remember that those works, good  or bad, do not change the way God feels about us one iota. To those of you who are parents – think about it like this - Think of our own children and how we are pleased when they do right and how it makes us sad or angry when they do wrong but it never changes the love we have for them. God is much the same with us – only better because He does not take His anger out on us – because He already took it all out on Jesus for us. He sees all our sin, knows and forgives each one - every time – then, if we will listen, He will patiently lead us in the best way to avoid falling into the same trap again – but still give us the liberty that even if we fall the same way again and again (70 x 7) He will pick us up, dust us off and encourage us to live for Him because He loves us and knows a life lived for Him is the most meaningful life a person can live on planet Earth.

            The way grace can overpower sin - and a lifestyle of sin management, for that matter - looks something like this: When we start to see and understand the incredible holiness of God and the incredible sinfulness of every human who ever lived when compared to the perfect standard that God set in Jesus - something happens in us. 'Getting' the radical nature of God’s grace can allow us, just by living our lives, to wind up in a place where we simply desire to please this God who loves us so, and our desire to sin is less just because we don’t want to – Grace literally changes the desire of our heart.

 

            The key to growing in grace is in a continual, daily reminding ourselves of our desperation and the hopelessness of our situation, apart from Jesus. This will also free us to feel Gods grace and love in our lives when we need it most - when we’ve blown it. His goodness keeps us grounded so our witness is about Him and His mercy and love for the lost – not how “good” God has made us. Bragging on Jesus for a miraculous healing in your life is awesome and powerful but living as though you are somehow paying him back for that favor is nothing but arrogance, pride - and spiritual immaturity.

            So I guess the short answer is  no – His grace doesn’t mean you can act any way you want but yes – act any way you want anyway, because if you really start to get just how good He is, you may find that your love for Jesus will change how you want to act altogether. Doesn’t that sound like an easier yoke and a lighter burden than many of us are used to? Hallelujah!

Some Thoughts On The Prosperity Church Message and Joel Osteen

            OK - So I have watched about 10 different messages from Joel Osteen now and I have to say something because the doctrine is really bugging the crap out of me and you all know I have a big mouth about such things.
            As someone who has followed Jesus for a fairly good chunk of my life now, I have to say frankly the guy just doesn't pass the smell-test.
In over 20 sermons I listened to I heard him mention what God wants to do for me 100 times but not once did I hear Him mention that God might have something for me to do here besides sit back and rake in the blessings, nor have I heard any acknowledgement of the fact that walking with Him, by it's very nature, brings pain sometimes.
            I also heard him actually state that God didn't create any of us to be "average". This is a nice cheery thought on the surface (thanks Tony Robbins) but is obviously a mathematical impossibility and an intellectual insult to any thinking human being. Average is OK and meekness is even lauded by Jesus.
God is not a genie awaiting our next wish and life is not about us being happy by the same definition the world uses for happiness: healthy and wealthy. The Gospel is good news precisely because it allows us to find peace in the dark times, knowing that even if it takes until we get to heaven we will be free some day.
            Do you think if Paul or Peter or any of the other martyrs for Christ over the centuries (or even still today) heard this man's "gospel" as they were facing their own deaths for following Jesus they would think this message was good news? No - they would think they must be doing it wrong. Do you believe as they died they were thinking "You know, God - I really don't think this lines up with what you want for me. I'm not feeling the love"??
            If you are truly His then you already know life is not in any way about you reaching a place where you can live happy all the time - It's about serving and loving others where you are, about failing and falling and growing and getting up and running to Jesus just to hear Him say, "It's alright child. I love you." It's joy and victory within the pain and crappy circumstances because we know that our real victory occurred on the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago. A victory that sealed our place with Jesus in the end. The Gospel is WONDERFUL news, however it did NOT promise easy street to those of us who are "good enough" to reach some non-existent spiritual level. Anyone who thinks Jesus' primary concern is our happiness on this earth hasn't fallen in love with the same Jesus as me. I love Joel as a brother, but this guy is a false teacher tickling itching ears.

The Sinking Ship - Big Churches in America

            In the first century we read in the Bible about the rapid and spectacular growth of the early church. It was strong and fast and steady with what seemed to be thousands added almost daily! That is not so today, and especially not the case in America. Could the size of our churches and our congregations be two of the key reasons?

If you ask your typical non-believer what they think of church you will hear from many of them something about how the Church only wants your money and how we are all just a bunch of hypocrites. The truth hurts sometimes, but even worse, it's hard to win anyone who believes that to Jesus. Interesting that greed and hypocrisy were two things that Jesus was never accused of yet the Church today is accused of that on a regular basis. For too many the Christian life has become about church buildings and meetings where we sit with other groups of Christians, isolated from the world so we don't get "dirty", light hidden under the bushel basket, arrogantly waiting for the lost to wander in rather than going to them like the early Church and letting the love of God alive in you overwhelm them. Today's version of what a Christian does certainly doesn’t sound like the Jesus I read about. I find it interesting that in the books of the New Testament we don’t hear any stories of fund-raisers or building programs or counseling classes anywhere in the Church. You’d have thought they would have been building buildings right and left - but they weren’t – they were too busy building relationships.

The Church was built by people whose lives had been changed by the radical love and grace of Jesus and who then shared that love and grace with others. It didn’t require an evangelism class – the joy and peace that He gives to the truly free just bubbles over into every-day conversations. When that happens “evangelism” is natural and downright effervescent. The Gospel was such good news to those early Christians that they simply could not contain it.
Throughout history whenever Christianity has become illegal in a region it has prospered. In fact, where Christianity is growing the fastest in the world today are the underground churches in places such as China and Africa. In China there is officially no such thing as a Christian church yet if the words of Jesus from Matthew 18 are true, that wherever two or three are gathered in His name He would be there – if that is true, then there are church gatherings all over China – all day, every day! These Christians are growing in a way many American Christians simply never aspire to. Certainly there are many contributing factors as to why this is the case (lots of folks that haven’t heard about Jesus, the passion of those who are willing to risk their lives to follow Him, etc.) but in my opinion, to ignore the fact that these churches are very close in structure to the early Church would be to miss an important part of their success. 

There are many areas where I can see how a small/home church might be better equipped to do the work of the Gospel than a large one but before I go into some of them, let me define what I mean by “small” church. Any church that has grown beyond it's capacity to meet within their network should look to plant a church. Most times it would be when the group reaches around 25 people. As soon as you need to rent a building or hire people to run it then you should plant a church in someone (or multiple someone’s) houses. Many small church buildings are already paid off, in which case I think that’s great. Use those facilities - but DON'T EXPAND! Pastors of these small churches need to find a day job. Many small-church pastors already have them. If you can reach that goal of no money (other than taxes) required for the building and the pastor then there will be only a small amount of offerings needed to support the property instead of a large portion of the offerings that go to pay clergy or mortgage on church buildings. This allows the rest of the money to where God leads each believer to put it. They can even support a larger church with it if they like or adopt a missionary, give to a radio program that does work you support or even give to secular charities that have a noble purpose. The Bible also has lots to say about human beings' focus on owning buildings and monuments to people. Most of it is not positive. It is an incredible amount of money that would be re-tasked directly toward the needs of people in need if it were not being allocated to paying religious “professionals” and maintaining or expanding Church buildings so we can squeeze in 50 more pew sitters with cash in their pockets.

It is a large concern of many who speak out against home churches that there is a lack of accountability in such a structure, but since accountability is a matter of personal responsibility and honestly - we are really only as accountable as we choose to be whether you are in a denominational church or a home church. There certainly doesn't seem to be any shortage of people inside denominational churches who lack accountability as there is some church scandal somewhere at pretty much any time. If you really think about it, how does a home church differ from any number of “non-denominational” churches, who have only a pastoral staff and a committee that are usually hand-picked by the pastor, to govern them? I would agree that in the small church model, to help keep the Church grounded it would be critical that mature Christians were involved to help link these small churches together and keep them grounded but we must also remember this - we have options now, in terms of teaching and worship, that didn’t exist in our world as recently as a single generation ago. In 2014 almost all of us have instant access to the best Bible teaching, helps, and praise and worship in the world any time we want.
In our home meetings we have been going through a series on Romans by a pastor of a church in Florida and it has been a blessing to walk through it with them. We have been in contact with the church and they are praying with us and are as excited and blessed to have our home group use their church ministry this way as we are to have their resources available to us online. Anyone who has attended our home services have mentioned the blessing the small group dynamic brings, and many of those have noted how with this type of teaching in a small group it allows anyone with a question to ask it during the service. We can stop the sermon to discuss as needed or wait until after and ask questions the group can discuss. This lets everyone understand that they are a part of the service, not just a spectator, and has helped sometimes to get something out of it that they might have missed otherwise. This way of doing church also leaves open the option for anyone who has a word to speak it out if they are moved to that or for the liberty for a “church service” to be anything from a time of singing and praying to a meal to just a 60-minute conversation amongst the people on the power and wonder of our glorious God. The church service is free to go where God wants it to. Remember too, that if you are a member at a bigger church and are plugged in there - a home church doesn't have to meet on Sunday morning. The point is to always to best equip us to follow Christ in a difficult world.

These smaller churches have also allowed us to achieve a level of trust and organic expression that I never saw in twenty years in larger churches, even those with cell groups. It is partly the size of these groups that allow that level of trust to develop but it is also the way they form that causes this to occur. The initial relationships occur dynamically as God makes connections to other believers for us in our lives and our community. This usually means that the people who start these groups were friends before they come to a church gathering together. This allows new people to come into a new group of people, knowing that their good friend who brought them already trusts the others in the group implicitly. Even cell groups in large churches are a good idea, I have noticed that this is where they often fall short, as they put together a group of people with little or no level of trust or common interests, in an attempt to get people "plugged in", or you get into a situation where people in the group are afraid that if they are “too real” the leader will tell the pastor and then the pastor will know about their “bad stuff”. More often than not, if we are honest, we will admit that this is the unfortunate truth.

 Perhaps the largest reason I believe that small churches have some big advantages over large ones in their effectiveness is in where the money goes and how little of it actually goes to provide hope for the lost. According to a study by Evangelical Christian Credit Union an astonishing 82% of church budgets go to pay off buildings and to pay staff. Check out this article for more unbelievable facts and figures on church budgets:

http://holysoup.com/2013/08/06/the-shocking-truth-of-church-budgets/

            Our home church has not taken a dime in offerings from those that have attended since we started it early this year (unless you count when some have brought a meal for everyone after service), but at each gathering we encourage those that meet with us to discover the need right around them so they can give their offering where God has revealed the need right around them. This practice has also had the added benefit of opening our hearts to see the need around us in a whole new way and to take some responsibility to meet the needs , where they believe God has shown a need. Faith and giving become our own responsibility when we can't just throw some money in the plate but have to know what we are giving to and why. For me and Rebecca, it has helped us to learn to be cheerful givers.  It has allowed us to increase our giving to those God has placed around us, and helped us to become more consistent and faithful givers as we see the direct benefit of our offering. We give to a few of our favorite radio ministries that have blessed us throughout the years. God has allowed us the ability and even the desire to give good old fashioned cash to some good folks who were hurting. The Lord even allowed us to bless a friend who needed help with a vet bill. That sure felt like Jesus' work to me. This way of giving has been much more gratifying than paying for another 20 square feet of building or paved parking lot or to support some cause I may or may not agree with.

            Since we have started this home group, I also want to say that my faith has grown tremendously and part of the reason why is because in a small church or home church there is no place to hide so you will either grow or go. Occasionally in a big church our flesh gets comfy because we can be around Christian people and we can fake it for quite a while, if we need to. I know because I have done that before. In a small group, It is much more difficult for that to occur, as instead of just hiding and keeping quiet, you have to outright lie when someone you really love says “how are things going, bro” and you are struggling. Especially when you know they are only asking because they love you – not so they will have something on you to use later. I have found that through this process, Gods Spirit has been so gentle, and has allowed me to see that healing comes through trusting others with the bad stuff you still cling to – especially when we discover that we are loved (by Jesus and our church family) in spite of it.

            As I recently asked a pastor buddy of mine, "Do you want you congregation to grow or your congregants?" Think about that question for a minute. Which is more important to you - deep down and which would Jesus be more concerned with? Please understand - I do not write this because I want to bring an end to big churches but because I want to bring understanding and healing to them. Maybe someone else can figure out a solution to the problem I'm presenting here. But think about this - is one 250 person church becoming ten 25-person churches a failure if the people in those small churches grow closer to Jesus and able to give more time and resources than ever to help people - since less of their gifts are needed to hire a pastor or rent a building?

            I do believe that if small churches do become the mainstream, it will most likely take a complete breakdown in the current Church structure, as way too many people’s livelihoods depend on all the Christian $$ coming in at this point in our history. However, judging from the number of churches closing down in our country these days and the fact that the number of believers is declining for the first time in American history God may be bringing us just that… but it may not be as bad for us as we think.

I just had to share the link below from Key Life as the debate continues over whether a believer can lose their salvation if they have truly come to repentance. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have express the same understanding of scripture as I have than Steve Brown. He is a man that just seems to have authenticity and truth that are missing from most of the pulpits in America.
Dr. Steve Brown on Christians losing their salvation

Remember - it's not our works - it's why we do them that will provide or steal our joy.

What does "Hurt By Religion" mean, Ron?

There is a well-known adage I have heard in more than one church that says this: “hurting people hurt people” - but here’s a news flash - sometimes people that aren’t hurting at that moment do a pretty darn good job of hurting people too. Christians are especially good at this. They can be prideful, thoughtless and arrogant, especially when they act as though they believe that their witness is in their “good living”. It’s part of our sinful nature. The minute we forget that Jesus is the standard and all our righteousness is as filthy rags when compared to that standard we start to become prideful and very much unlike Jesus. Our witness becomes more about how good we are then it is a message of hope and mercy for hurting folks. It sounds something like this: “Since I started living for God my life has just taken off. You just need to put all that garbage aside and clean up your act, then God will bless you too.” We point to a few proverbs and quote a few scriptures for them to validate our claim but the truth be told – we never even listened to them. We never heard their hurt and were so busy telling them about our successes we missed it when they realized they could never be “good like us” and turned away feeling more hopeless than ever.

Their witness shows that these believers forgot that when Jesus spoke the truth to hurting sinners He was "gentle and lowly in spirit" – never did he say “live like me and God will bless you” – He said – go and sin no more (good advice for all of us, to be sure).

Almost every time He was really angry He was dealing with the arrogance of the religious establishment. Are most in the Church today like that? Does religious pride make us righteously indignant and angry while finding some poor person who is caught in their lies and addictions causes us to react with love and mercy? According to the Bible - that’s the heart of Jesus. It is certainly not the heart of many of our churches and many believers out there. Sometimes the fact that we aren’t hurting (at that moment) can be our greatest obstacle to loving like Jesus and can inadvertently turn us in to pompous twits. You know, thinking about it – I don’t think anyone was hurt by religion more than Jesus…
            In almost twenty-five years of being Christians together, Rebecca and I have only attended 3 different Churches, and we changed communities each time, so we are far from Church hoppers. In fact – In each of those churches we were heavily involved. Rebecca has a gift for working with children and I was either leading or on the worship teams as well as serving in other areas of ministry. As a musician I have ministered in hundreds of churches, camps and conference centers across many denominations. I say this, not to brag about our Christian service (although it is probably more than yours). J I say that so that when I tell you what I have to say next you don’t think we are a couple of those folks who are just pessimistic about the Church and hate organized religion in general. I have met many wonderful people in churches on my walk with Jesus and the majority of my best friends are Christians but I also love my devout atheist buddy, several buddies who have left the Catholic church with a fairly skewed view of religion – and heck – I even love my gay buddies who try to use the Bible to say gay is OK. I love them because Jesus does. I don’t condone their sin, but I don’t make it out to be any worse than mine (or yours). When I feel I’m doing “well” I can always read about how Jesus lived and that always brings the swelling in my head down (if Rebecca doesn’t get there first).
            The reason I started this blog and called it Hurt By Religion is simple – I have been hurt (as can happen whenever we love humans) and also have hurt people in and out of the Church. I have hurt people when I was happy and when I was miserable. I have hurt people when I was doing “well” and when I wasn’t. I’ve decided I want to change that adage to read this; “People hurt people”. I think that is just more accurate.
            Understand this as well - Hurt by Religion is not here to take people out of Churches (although I am a big believer in the small church / home church movement – but I won’t get in to that here as that will be the subject of an upcoming series of posts). Our goal is to help believers come to truly understand the liberty that should be defined by the lives of those who are in Christ and to help some understand that their value and worth is determined by JESUS – not their thoughts or words or deeds or how they are “doing” at any one snapshot moment in their Christian walk.
            It is FINISHED. Just understanding all the ramifications of that one scripture has the power to transform your life and the life of your church. It can allow us to move toward being believers who walk with Jesus in the most liberated way possible. A place where we do what we want - but more and more, what we want begins to line up with the way Jesus lived. He lived with a full understanding of how much God loved Him every moment and said we could live like that too. Isn’t that awesome?

This begins when I understand that I am valuable because HE says I am. This is the Spirit-given, life-changing love that by it's very nature causes people to be more like Christ instead of falling into the trap of what I call “stare and compare” Christianity where we all stare at the people who we think are the “good Christians” and compare our lives to them, feeling we could never be that “good”. Stare into the face of Jesus – see your lack – see His love – healing and freedom like you’ve never known will follow.

            Hurt by religion exists simply to help people come out of that old life of bondage to religion and into a new wineskin where we seek to know Jesus in His word and in our prayer lives because we want to - not because we need to in order to please God. If you are His, He is always closer than a brother! Remember – leaving after Church Sunday morning should be pleasant because you are filled with the Spirit of God and the love, grace and peace of God in you – not because the guilt-inducing sermon is finally over! He lives in me and says I am valuable - so valuable, in fact, that I can’t sin without Him reminding me that’s not really who I am. I’m so valuable, that he was willing to shed the blood of His own Son to bury that sin and make it as though it had never happened. If that doesn’t stir you up – then check your pulse! Hurt by Religion? Me too. Jesus can handle that. Remembering who HE says YOU are (HIS) may be the first step to healing!

…and you shall know the truth – and the truth shall set you FREE!   

God's Law vs Grace - How Do They Fit Together?

The biggest difference I have discovered between the law of God and grace of God (they are NOT opposites, BTW) is that a proper understanding of the radicality of God's grace brings greater obedience to the law of God but knowing God's laws does not bring the liberty that only the good news of the aforementioned grace can bring.

In other words - knowing the law does not make me good but understanding God's perfect holiness, my sinfulness compared to Him and yet His remarkable love for sinners like me causes my heart to desire obedience more than I ever have in over 20 years of walking with Jesus, rather than feeling coerced or manipulated in to "behaving" by fear.
I think that when we get how much we are loved and accepted, in spite of, not because of our behavior, then we will have the tools in our toolbox to find the lilberty that Jesus speaks of all throughout the Bible. It's the ability to walk with Him naturally,  like a friend, and you love a little better and you get a little better and as long as you remember to look at Him you won't get prideful because in  His light we are all, like Paul, the chief of sinners. This lets me share Him and His love and not my shadowy, crappy carbon-copy. Our best representation of Him is like the difference between a fax machine and 3D TV. It is a POOOOR reflection at best and frankly that is exactly the way it should be! Admit your sinfulness to Him and your inability to love like Him. Then let Him love you in your garbage and you have opened the door to loving others and being loved, in a completely different way. When you are loved without the masks then you know they are loving YOU. My buddy Steve Brown says, "If you knew me the way Jesus knows me you wouldn't like me and if I knew you the way Jesus knows you I wouldn't like you either. Deep down we all know the world (Church included) is not a safe place to bear all our garbage but when we go to Him and find His never-failing love, it allows us to freely and naturally love others in their struggles - just like Jesus does as we walk through ours.

My First Blog Tune Post!

OK - I have yet to introduce the music I do into this thing yet and it's a very big part of who I am ...so here goes! I am working on a CD of Christmas tunes, hopefully to be finished by 12/1. Today I finished my crazy island version of Jingle Bells and realized I had to share it with you. It makes you move your butt and is truly festive.
I love Christmas (apart from the commercialism that makes it hard to see the love through sometimes) and love the old classic Christmas songs and Hymns that are on this album. I finished O'Come, O' Come Emmanuel with two guitars and a violin a couple of weeks ago but you all will have to wait a few more weeks for that. ;-)

Just click on the link below.
Hope you enjoy it!
Jingle Bells - Island Style

That's Why We Work!

I took my ladies to Cooperstown yesterday to the Baseball Hall of Fame and it was just a really great family day. It was one of those days that was so good you feel sorry for the atheists because when they have a day like this there is no one to thank. We were on our way home and I was thinking about how much more I appreciate days like that as I  get a little older. We were listening to Tullian Tchividjian preach on honoring the Sabbath and how only Christians can take what was supposed to be a liberating thing (and an admission of our own weakness) and turn it in to another mechanism of control. Thinking of the Sabbath reminded me of a family vacation the whole Baker family took to Myrtle Beach in 2000 or 2001. I remember I was just bs-ing with my dad on one of the lovely golf courses we hit on that trip and he said something to me that I thought was very profound. I was saying how beautiful everything was and how I was enjoying the little mini-vacation. Dad, who is always full of pithy wisdom, gives me his little sideways look and says, “Ronnie – that’s why we work”.  

            I read last week that Americans are taking less vacation time now than they have in over 40 years. Most European nations are going the other way on this, and are frankly much less stressed about life in general, live longer and are happier. I’m not one to hold up Europe as the gold standard of excellence as I still think that’s us - but PEOPLE - we need to remember why we work. If our work defines us than we are sorely lacking as humans and really need to get a life. I understand there are jobs that require 24/7 immersion for periods but those jobs are pretty rare (think crab fisherman, actor/actress, football coach…) and their rest time can be adjusted accordingly. Most in those professions would admit their family lives suffer. In other words – work to live – don’t live to work.

            We work hard in this country and that is part of what makes it the amazing melting pot it is, made up of so many seeking a better life for themselves and their families. That is a good and noble thing but we must remember why we work and that life is much bigger than each of us individually. We must also remember that we have no right to grumble about things going to hell in a hand basket around us if we’re living life for only ourselves and our immediate families. Some of the nicest times I have with my wife and kids are playing at the nursing home and singing with them. It gives our ladies a wonderful perspective on life that you can’t get anywhere other than service and helps to keep us all grounded. I treasure those times as much as the Baseball Hall of Fame trip. Cooperstown was really great, but when we sing together not only do I get the blessing of time with my beautiful family - I get the blessing of blessing others WITH them, as well as imparting some valuable life lessons.

A life lived without the love of God in it is like a BLT without the bacon. It's lacking the best part! The way I figure is this - If the nihilists are right - NBD - we all just go to sleep. If Jesus is right - you guys are in for a heluva surprise and I can only pray it's a pleasant one.

I Love Bad (not raunchy) Jokes...

A bad joke for you today. I dig a good, bad joke...
Q. What did the psychologist and proctologist call their new business venture?
A. Odds and Ends

Thanks to my buddy Tommy D for that good, bad joke!
Do you have a good bad joke you'd like to share? (be nice, now - my kids read this!)

Hi. I'm Ron. Welcome to my blog!

Hi. I'm Ron Baker and I like to procrastinate. Just ask my lovely bride of 19 years, Rebecca. :-) Heck - it took me two years to start this blog!

However - this time I am following through and not procrastinating (anymore)! - I received a FB message from a really good buddy of mine last week with an interesting proposition. He asked me if I had ever thought about turning some of my FB posts in to a blog. He is a wonderfully gentle soul and I love him because you can tell that he really thinks through what he says and writes and doesn't say something without thinking about it first so his words meant a lot to me.

     So much, in fact, that this time - I decided I was going to take his advice and put my thoughts and hopes, opinions, life and family out there for all to approve or disapprove, agree or disagree. Scares the crap out of me, to be honest, but I hope this will help some people get a hold of what I believe is a truth that 75% of evangelical Christians never get in their lifetimes and it steals their joy. It is the truth that makes the Gospel of God the greatest gift ever and truly allows Christians to understand what Jesus meant when he said "My yoke is easy and my burden light" in Matthew 11.

     I have always been singing or playing an instrument of some sort since I was five years old (although none of my other four siblings do) and have been a worship leader since I met Jesus up-close and personal in 1995. I even made my living for a while as a worship leader and travelling Christian musician in the late 90's and early 2000's. Actually, my bride, Rebecca worked full-time then and paid the bulk of the bills. Our first little lady, Emily came along in 2001 and shortly thereafter the music career attempt came to an abrupt halt. :-)

Here's an old joke to perfectly illustrate why I ended that little experiment:

Q - What's the difference between a pizza and a musician?

A - A pizza can feed a family of four.

     I've ministered in a few hundred churches during my most active ministry time and have met some wonderful, dear people that I love a lot. I've also met some I didn't... I still remember the time in 2000 I found out (thankfully after the concert or I'd have probably been asked to leave) that a woman had lectured my wife on the length of her skirt not being proper for the wife of a music minister while I was on the platform and my poor humble (and demure) wife felt just about two inches high. Grrr. For the record - she looked GREAT in that skirt. Life is hard sometimes and loving people is harder still. Loving the people I actually love is hard enough - Jesus wants me to love the weenies too! As my friend I've never met (yet), Steve Brown says, "The Church is like a bunch of porcupines trying to hug one another".

     I have noticed in my walk with Christ over these past 20 years that there is a large group of people that have been wounded (sometimes deeply) by people in the Church to the degree that they won't get involved in their churches anymore or may have even left the Church and institutionalized religion altogether and never looked back. I think many of these people still feel their need for God in their lives but are just hurt and afraid to trust God or people in the Church, because they have been lied to or manipulated. Some may have even bought in to the lie that they have committed some "unpardonable" sin or aren't good enough people or even that God sets an impossible standard to reach (that's actually true, btw) and sets us up to fail (false). I believe that the biggest reason why people don't see this truth is our lack of faith and lack of understanding of the power of Jesus sacrifice on the cross and the true liberty that His blood has purchased for those of us He has gotten ahold of. 

     It is my true hope that by sharing my walk with you that you and your family can benefit from our mistakes and thoughts from a perspective of someone that truly believes this:

Even if I never did one more thing for Jesus it would not change how he felt about me one teency weency bit. When you know you are His because HE is good, and not because YOU'VE been good, then there is peace and freedom that will blow anything you've experienced before out of the water. I have to tell you - I really believed I was free as I sat in churches that had me focused on "getting better in every way, every day" but after several years I finally realized two things: 1 - I wasn't getting much better anymore and 2 - I was just in a different prison - a prison of rules. You want to know if you're free? Skip church for two weeks and see how you feel... Guilty? Hmm. That's just one example of something good (church services) that we do that can take the place of Jesus if we aren't careful instead of serving as a way to draw near to Him and remember how we all need the Gospel. Remember - Jesus once went 40 days without going to church!

     I hope and pray that if you have been hurt by religion what you see here will help you to remember that God's love for you never ceases and He is ready to hear from you when you are ready to talk. Check back often as the plan is to provide lots of fun, excitement and resources here to help us hang on to Jesus and experience the love and grace of a God who is not only is not mad at you - He likes you. :-)

A few of my favorite hot links to help you see where I get this crazy theology of a God who loves me unconditionally.
1. www.keylife.org - Steve brown and our friends at Key Life
2. www.crpc.org - Pastor Tullian Tchividjian at Coral Ridge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
3. www.ronbakerjr.com - My website with a bunch of my tunes on it.