Love

Without love, the outward work is of no value; but whatever is done out of love, be it ever so little, is wholly fruitful. For God regards the greatness of love that prompts a man, rather than the greatness of achievement.
Thomas à Kempis

There's great fear and great hope in this statement. Can it be true that without love, my work is of no value? What if it were true? And what if love really did flow out of an intimate love relationship with God from the heart? This would explain why we don't love, and fail to find love. We don't know how to love because love does not penetrate the masks we wear. And very few people are brave enough to expose their true selves long enough to experience Love. And this is why bad things have happened to our understanding of love.

Why do people strip the emotion and feeling from love? Because both our understanding and experience of love is broken, and we broke it. And the pieces that remind us of this make us very very uncomfortable and we are really good at hiding the evidence (but like the boy who stole the cookie, though we may hide the crumbs, we forget that the chocolate is smeared all over our face). Love flows from the heart, and is the product of intimacy with God, who is Love. Intimacy is impossible outside of the heart. Unfortunately for us, we are incapable of love because we've sold our hearts to the Devil, traded them in for duty and efficiency in living "Christian" lives. What am I talking about? We've been convinced for years that our hearts are desperately wicked. And who can know...it's not true...anymore? And we wonder why we love so little? (man that's a deep consideration)

So connect the dots. If the heart is broken, hurting, wicked, and neglected, and this is the only place intimacy can occur, how can we expect to love God with our whole heart? And worse, love each other? Why has my Christian faith been boiled down to a mere information transfer of lists of what I should believe and do? And why have I least been taught how to be a lover of God from the deep heart Jesus gave me and showed the way of intimacy?

There's a dangerous enemy, that's why. He knows that love is point of Christianity. He knows that it really is all about love. He knows how to keep us from believing that. And worse, He wants to steal the heart from all of us. Please guard your heart. If you've lost it, get it back. It's time that we learned how to be intimate with God with our hearts. Step one, remove your mask. (God sees through it anyhow, and He loves what He sees)

Holy Irony

Jesus was man-centered. Jesus was a man, and He chose to live like one so that today I, though a man, may live like God.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (Peter)

Just a Question

When will we quit talking about all this reformed, calvinistic, christocentric crap and start being Christ to desperate, dying people? When will we stop criticizing people for getting to lovey-dovey with Christ and start loving Him with mind, heart, and soul? I think my friend Brandon is right in saying that we honor Christ with our lips, but our hearts are so far from Him. Happy St. Patrick's Day. :)

What is a Christian?

What is a Christian? (since everyone claims to be one) Someone who goes to church and is never supposed to miss Sunday morning services, Sunday School, Sunday evening service, or Wednesday Night "Prayer" Meeting (Bible study). Someone who never swears, drinks alcohol or appears to drink alcohol. Someone who refuses to go to restaurants that serve alcohol or allow smoking. Someone who doesn't bet. Someone who reads their Bible and prays before every meal in public. Someone who is a Republican and criticizes the Democratic party. Someone wears a coat and a tie on Sunday. Someone who is confident that they are going to heaven when they die. Someone who is supposed to witness to the unsaved. Someone who is supposed to give 10% of his income to the church. (is this enough?)

My heart is breaking as I write these things. Please understand that I am not trying to criticize anyone. I'm only being real about my internal struggle to understand how Jesus and His message fit together with a Baptist church and its message. Tears fill up my eyes and I crave honest discussion with people who don't have all the answers...people who love Jesus more than John Calvin, or John Piper. People who are willing to stop, pick up the Samaritan, and tend to his wounds.

Is this really what a Christian is? Then if "Christian" really means "Little Christ" then how is that most of these fail to describe Jesus himself? A Christian goes to church. Jesus went to a physical synagogue, but he never went to church, in fact, he probably doesn't understand that phrase. A Christian doesn't drink alcohol, smokes, or swear. Jesus drank wine, and gave wine to his friends supernaturally. He hung out with people who were known to get drunk. I think he might have swore at the Pharisees, but I don't know that for sure. Christians don't go to bars or places that have an atmosphere of smoke and alcohol. Jesus went to the houses of notorious sinners, smokers, drug-addicts. I doubt he was concerned about appearance. Christians argue about theology, while Jesus argued with the theologians. Christians are segregated, while Jesus destroyed it on the cross. Christians condemn the lost and the wayward while Jesus loved them so much he left the healthy to find them, heal them and give them a drink of water.

My heart is bleeding. When will this nightmare end? When will I understand what Jesus wanted from His followers? When will I have the courage and faithfulness to stand for what He did? I crave the abundant, victorious life of faith, love, and hope.