Thursday, January 31, 2013

The Emancipation Proclamation

     The Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln is 150 years old.  Luke 4:14-30 is the timeless emancipation proclamation of Jesus. He announced that he came to bring deliverance from captivity. To be a captive reduces our humanity where free choice is very difficult. In it we are confined and held under control. A captive is kept from becoming his unique self. Jesus wants to deliver us from this oppression.
     How can we be enslaved? Our liberty can be stolen by drugs, alcohol, pornography, sexual addiction, materialism, excessive fearfulness, or peer pressure. These destroy our potential and positive life direction. In  active discipleship Jesus can rescue us from self destruction.
     Social and entertainment media can capture us. If we allow every waking moment to be consumed by face book, texts, e-mails, sports news, political stories and TV we have no time left for prayer, exercise, worship and Bible reading.  It is an illusion that electronic media is more important than  feeding our soul. At the  2007 Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said that his goal is to have our attention constantly, " Our ambition is to give you connected experiences 24 hours a day. The minute you get into the kitchen, look at that refrigerator, pick up that phone, hear the alarm clock tell you about traffic, whatever it is, we want you to have the information that you're interested in".  We are offered an endless connection with a barrage of  information over load. Even when I fill up the car there is a TV monitor on the pump that shouts latest news and sales pitches.
      We can make room in our schedule to enhance and feed our connection to our Lord. The tech world can be used to serve our Divine Master if used wisely. It is a danger to be controlled by social media  without being aware of it.  The slaves President Lincoln addressed were painfully aware of their oppression. We can be enslaved to destructive ways without awareness we are on the road to destroy  health, happiness, future and family.  A reckless and careless life doesn't demonstrate liberty.  A clueless and negative waste of time and potential brings despair.  Jesus aks us to stay connected to Him so we can grow in freedom that brings us peace and joyful accomplishments.
      For us to grow in freedom of positive purpose we need to stay close to God. Jesus warned that if we are not connected to His grace we will be as useless as a branch broken away from a life giving grape vine. "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine... apart from me you can do nothing". John 15:4-5.
     After the slaves were freed by President Lincoln they learned quickly the necessity to work  hard to stay free. We also must be vigilant to grow in the Lord's liberty. This is a life long journey to keep watch over our hearts that we do not permit ourselves to be mastered by love of money, the tech world, or the moral wildness of our society.    Like Moses led his people from slavery to freedom our Lord yearns to deliver us from guilt, shame, and  meaningless into a life of joy and fulfillment.  He promises us, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8: 31-32.  Do you believe you can be freed from the oppression of past guilt and failures? The Lord can lead you to true liberty if you will keep following His teaching. If we keep connected to our Divine Master we will not be enslaved to evil desires that war against our soul.





































gives peace!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Who Do You Belong To?


     In the musical, "Oliver", he is an orphan on the streets of London in the tough years of Dicken's novel.  He is rescued from hunger and given shelter by a a member of a gang of young thieves ruled by an older man named Fagan. The gang welcomes Oliver with a warm song, "Consider yourself well in, consider yourself one of the family, we have taken to you quite well, its clear you are going to belong!".  Sadly Oliver finds out  that he must pick pockets and steal purses to earn Fagan's room and board!
    The need to belong is a strong part of our humanity. When I was a prison chaplain at higher security it was common for prisoners to join a gang for safety.
The gangs were  based upon color,  city of origin, or ethnicity. They were Black Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, Dirty White Boys, Mexican Mafia, or Hells' Angels. The gangs never did provide the safe place promised. Marked as a member of these violent  exclusive groups made an inmate a target for violence.
     The Gospel of Jesus answers our need for belonging. In 1 Corinthians 12: 13 it says, "For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."  When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior we become part of the world wide body of Christ.  This is a positive family of encouragement and teaching in righteousness. How different than gangs of negative energy bent upon the destruction of others. How different than gangs of deceit and violence to promote power.
      The body of Christ is found in the Upper Room Devotional each day. Members of Christ's body witness from African, Europe, Russia and Asia. Brothers and sisters share from all races and economic classes. It gives me joy to know the one Spirit of our Lord has baptized all these people of different languages to know His forgiveness.. When we feel alone in our decision to follow Jesus may we remember we have a family in Christ world wide. Our secular culture rejects the Lord and his holy moral laws. Find strength to know we are part of an international family which seeks to please God. In Christ we belong to the Kingdom of God which is everlasting and always relevant. In Christ we belong to a family of wisdom and positive examples to guide us to our eternal home.
     Who do you belong to? A political party? A racial group? An ethnic group? Of course we have these human identities but if made an idol they can bring division and hate. May we choose our greatest loyalty to the one body of Christ and to the one Spirit of Love who includes all different kinds of people who are disciples of Jesus.
    

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Claiming the New Name


     Isaiah 62:2 says, "and you shall be called by a new name.that the mouth of the Lord will give."
What is your name? Who are you? The name we identify with can have power to control our actions.
When I was a prison chaplain many inmates had a prison name such as snake, kung fu, killer, gangster, bank robber,or slick. Their behavior in violent and devious ways which earned them the name. In a prison gang sometimes the leader gave a new name to a new person. The power to give a name suggests ownership and authority.
      The good news of Christ is His power and authority to give us an eternal name which fits our true identify in Him. Isaiah 62:4 says that in Christ we will no longer be called, "Forsaken" but instead we are called, "My Delight".  The prison names all tell of a forsaken life which is going no where but down. The name of "My Delight" means the Lord is overjoyed, carried away, and thrilled to call you His child. 
      Maybe this is what Jesus meant in Luke 15:7, "I tell you, there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." The Lord takes delight when we turn away from selfishness to practice generosity, from lust to show respectful kindness, from arrogance to admit we need His wisdom, from bitter revenge to show forgiveness. This is the journey of life in the power of Christ who lives within us through His Spirit. He gives us power to overcome impulsive reactions and mindless attractions.  The path of life united in the Spirit of His resurrection is to chose to take the high road and the compassionate way.
Repentance means to share in His death each day as we face temptations to make reckless and foolish decisions. We must also die to the temptation of self-righteousness when we compare ourselves to others and entertain the illusion we are better than other sinners and really do not need the Savior's help. This is the arrogant self-delusion the religious leaders of Jesus time refused to surrender. When we are doing our best each day to die to sin's control and choosing instead to do God's Will the Lord gives us the name, "My Delight".
      The Lord promises to give us a new name if we walk with him in the path of repentance.
Our name and identify in Christ is lasting. Worldly titles and names given by others will all pass away. The Apostle John in his letter of First John 2:16-17 speaks of our abiding identity in Christ, "for all that is of the world-the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches-comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever."  Remember that no matter what the world may reject you and call you worthless, in Christ you are a child of the King. Like the old gospel song says, "There is a new name written down in glory and it is mine!"
    
    

Friday, January 11, 2013

The Transformation Offered by our Lord in Baptism


      The baptism of Jesus recorded in Luke 3:15-22 impressed me how the Lord wants to energize us in this sacrament. Baptism is not magic. One inmate claimed he was baptized by seven different churches before his incarceration! Multiple  times this ritual is administered or in what forms guarantee a person will be rescued from destructive choices or behaviors. Baptism is misused by churches to claim they alone have the doorway to heaven.  Leaders proclaim that if a person was sprinkled, poured upon, or not immersed in their formula of words it is no good.  The age of baptism can be used against a person. If baptized as an infant or child some  teach that it doesn't count.  We must be careful not to be arrogant with the mystery of baptism. Methodists accept the validity of baptism done by other churches knowing that the Lord uses many different means to touch the heart.
     We all should be baptized. This is the Lord's command in Matthew 28:19-20.
This is a way we say "Yes" to the Lord's call to adopt us as dearly loved children.  In Ezekiel 36:25-27 baptism is described as the Lord sprinkling us with pure water to cleanse within and to change our hearts from stone to a "heart of flesh".  As a prison chaplain for 24 years I experienced inmates who had cold, hard hearts with no mercy. They were marked with tattoos of the skull and cross bones with the words, "Ice Man" on their arms.  Yet a few men sought the Lord in baptism to change their hateful hearts and developed a heart of love and forgiveness!
       In prison ministry I have baptized men by immersion and pouring water over the head.
In  Methodist churches I have baptized infants and adults with sprinkling. Some I immersed in cold waters of a Spring filled creek.  The important matter is the dedication of the parents or the adult being baptized. This is a public declaration of the commitment to follow Jesus. It is the beginning of a conversion of the heart by the Spirit. As a sacrament we believe the Holy Spirit touches our hearts in baptism in any way. We do our part by giving our best honest intentions to God to mean business about serving Him.
     The new direction of baptism needs to be acted upon! Paul said in Romans 6:1-4 to ponder this  commitment to stay away from an easy attitude towards sin. "We have been buried with him by baptism unto death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life". (Verse 4). We enter His death for us by turning away from a selfish and prideful lifestyle. We enter into the power of His resurrection by practicing prayer, group worship, generosity, self-control, and humility.  We exchange the "self-life" to experience the "Christ in me life".  We  never attain the full power of His resurrection but are given a special supply of His Spirit to keep us ever growing in transformation into His likeness of moral integrity,courage, creativity and compassion. As a true sacrament the Lord blesses us in baptism when we experience it with a willingness to change and to serve.
     If you are reading this post and want to pursue the Lord in baptism please contact me for discussion.  The Lord wants to bless you in taking a stand for Him.