How to be a Healthy Church or Not

     

Is Christianity losing ground in positively affecting our culture? Did it ever really have it? Is something wrong with the way we do church in the USA? Why do some churches grow in numbers but do not seem healthy? Because humans are involved! We have many large churches with many people attending. Are they growing as disciples and having an impact on society or just attenders? Have we made big churches merely fun social clubs for how to have a better life without needing the Holy Spirit?

Are small churches thriving or dying? Are they closing up shop? People like big and exciting things but little churches are a lot like a big family and sometimes a little cult. Big and small both have positive and negative aspects. They also are supposed to have a common link with God and a common enemy to be fought. We all are flawed people in process. We are growing and learning to look for the good and the gold in ourselves and others. The battle has already been won by The One Who is risen indeed. Do we hear from Him so He can lead His church through us?

Is God evangelical, reformed, fundamentalist, liberal, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, charismatic, cessationist, some version of orthodox or any other of our varieties or non-denominational versions? Do we attempt to make God fit neatly in our little church box? Are our brains open to learning new things so we can be the church His way?

Why are so many Christians no longer part of any church? I know of lots of them. For many, it is because they were wounded by domineering leaders. It amazes me how often church leaders overlord their congregations in ways exactly like Jesus said not to. Why are fear, shame, power and control so strong in USA churches? Strong personalities create followers. Sometimes they also spit followers out the back door without meaning to. Can these leaders change?

Why are most churches led by a pastor/teacher or pastor/evangelist? This person is usually a dynamic speaker able to express a compelling vision. What about the apostle or prophet? It seems that these roles are often denied because they seem to be too spiritual or mystical so they must no longer exist and be relegated to Bible times. Are we too afraid of the Holy Spirit to allow these gifts/roles to exist and be part of the local church? What if church looked like this?

         

So many church organizational charts or structures merely mimic the business world. It seems difficult to find one that is biblical. Usually they just follow a top down structure like a typical corporate hierarchy made up of managers and worker bees. It’s difficult to draw an organizational diagram with Jesus as the head and the Holy Spirit as the director. That is implied in the one above. The church is the body of Jesus on earth. We are all His church and each little church is a member of the one universal church. So, how do we do life in the church different than in the business world where it seems like a requirement to have one boss running the whole show?

There are plenty of great business resources for learning how to be a better leader. Check out LinkedIn blogs, Forbes, Inc., Harvard Business Review, etc. Just make sure you read through a biblical lens with Jesus as the model. I personally am tired of the servant-leader phrase and think we all are to just be servants. Being a decision maker and influencer needs to come from how God designed us as we serve in our grace gifts pouring God’s love into people and calling them into the greatness of being a child of The King. The Holy Spirit needs to be released in and through us to be the leader in the church. If every believer has the Holy Spirit in them, we need to search for ways to follow biblical guidelines for deacons and elders and everyone a priest.

What if the Ephesians 4:11-13 and its so-called 5-fold ministry is really a model for how the church elder body is to function? No one is then really in charge. There are differing roles and functions where all are equal. All overseers work together for the common good of Jesus’ church. Defining these roles will be a brief summary. For more information see the writings of Graham Cooke, Paul Manwaring, Bill Johnson and Kris Vallaton.

·         The apostle: One sent with a message. This is not one of the original 12 but the task is similar. Go pioneer an evangelistic work in a new or mostly unreached area. Bring the gospel message to a new place or in a new way. Pioneer something different than what is happening currently. People are drawn toward this message, vision and this person.

·         The prophet: Speak forth the truth that God is revealing about a person, church, nation, etc. The content will be tested with Scripture. The content is specific information given at the right time which may not be seen in Scripture. The message is not like that of Old Testament prophets because things are different after the cross and empty tomb. The message is not always uplifting and positive but is primarily about digging for gold where little or none is being seen or acted out. This is calling people into a future they are not aware of or living out. This role is about going after people to give them a message they may not be drawn to, believe or want to hear. (This is why the arrows in the diagram have specific directions.)

·         The evangelist: Reaching the lost by sharing the gospel. Everyone is called to do this but some are definitely gifted by God for success in this role. This is bringing the good news to a bad news world. This is the rescue mission of bringing people lost in darkness into the light. Believers follow the evangelist as they learn how to go do similar outreach.

·         The pastor: The Greek word means shepherd. This is guiding the flock in safety, comfort and health. This care-giving role draws people in. People come for the protection of the shepherd. The pastor must guide them to trust in Jesus and grow while not being an enabler.

·         The teacher: This role focuses on expounding the Word of God and teaching from the Bible. They teach the truths that have been revealed in Scripture and train people to read and study it for themselves. They find the gold in the Bible to show Who God is and what He has done and will do in the future. This gift reveals they have eyes to see into the text and draw out things the rest of the body missed or has not yet seen.

It is very interesting that this list is different from the one given to the messed up Corinthian church. Chapter 12:27 “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” Where are the pastors and evangelists? Do these other gifts that are listed carry out those two roles? Healers, miracle workers and those speaking languages to lost people whose language they don’t know seem to function neatly in evangelism roles. This is not the prayer language tongue but one that is heard and understood by unbelievers. The message glorifies God and is prophetic and evangelical in content. The administrator is the one left that appears to function in a pastoral role or, at least, organizing people to shepherd one another. A diagram of that might look like the below.

It’s the same church! It must function the same. It must be directed the same way by Jesus, the Holy Spirit and worked out through the gifts/roles defined by God. It looks like a broader group of participants than the typical USA CEO visionary business model church. How does it function? How does it succeed, thrive, live, grow?

Can a church without one boss really function as a team so the local church is one body working together to accomplish God’s goals and purpose? How can differing ideas and visions/dreams work together and be accomplished as one.  Won’t shared leadership by the equipping leaders lead to chaos?

Apparently, this is God’s way for running His church. It conflicts with man’s way and certainly with the one, big dog USA charismatic leader way of church CEO servant-leadership. OK, that was pretty sarcastic. But, what if I am right and somewhat prophetic or a teacher? The way we function as a body needs to mirror how heaven functions with its cultures. This will lead us to re-think structure and organization so it doesn’t look like the sadly humorous dysfunctional mess shown below which fits with most businesses and some churches. Diagramming an Influence structure would look a lot different than the planned organizational one.   

     

      

To move toward a biblical model will take positions and authority out of the picture and place gifts and spiritual maturity as primary. Titles and job descriptions need to be replaced with the gifts, talents and abilities of the people who are a committed part of the local body. We must stop defining positions as jobs and endlessly looking for people to fit neatly into our view of a task oriented church. We must prayerfully look at the people who are here and look for the gold they can contribute if we unleash them with the Holy Spirit as the leader. Sounds scary to us … because it takes the control and vision out of our hands and spreads that and the responsibilities all around. Spiritual gift assessments may help a bit but mostly the right people in the right gift roles will come by prayer, observation and doing life together as a family. Here are some questions that can guide us toward being a healthy church:

·         Who lives a Jesus loving life?

·         Whom do we trust, respect and love?

·         Why do we admire them?

·         What gifts do we see them having?

·         How can we help them know who they really are in Jesus?

·         How can we help them be unleashed in their gifts and passions?

·         How can we honor Jesus by lifting others up?

·         What do I need to surrender so I am not being tempted, deceived or pushing my own agenda?

·         Will I listen when others shine a light on something I don’t want to hear about?

·         Am I teachable and transparent?

·         Do I love like Jesus? Where do I need work and healing?

·         …

Jesus, inspire us. Give us ears and eyes to hear and see as You do. Build Your church. Take us along for this wild ride. Make Your name great. Save souls. Pierce the darkness so Your light shines through. Pour Your salve on our wounds. Make us holy and loving. Remove our blind spots and temptations. Remove our agenda. Strip us of shame, guilt, negativity, despair, greed and selfishness. Unleash Your people to save and heal our church and neighbors and the world. Thank You for allowing us to participate with You in Your Kingdom building as Your holy children. Show us how to be the church Your way. You are AWESOME and we love You.

                          

Can You Imagine a World without Sin?

Life Without Sin


Can you imagine that? What would that look like?

Allow me some sci-if geekiness to illustrate or; at least, set the background. Ex Machina is a movie that wrestles with artificial intelligence (AI). Spoiler alert. If you haven't seen it and might want to, stop reading, go watch it, think about it for a day and then come back to this article. The quest for AI is to create a machine that is self-aware and can think for itself having it's own desires and agenda. The interesting thing for this movie is that it woke me up in the middle of the night thinking about it. Well, that and the Mexican food indigestion.

This AI machine wound up having it's own agenda and demonstrated it by behaving very selfishly. It became narcissistic. It wound up doing some bad things to decent and good people in order to preserve it's own "life." It did evil to protect itself.It was manipulative in order to achieve it's goal.
So...is that sin? Is that what makes us autonomous humans? Is our desire for our own rights, agenda and fulfilling our needs or wants what makes us human? Does our self focus define our humanity?

In case you are wondering, the biblical definition of sin is rebellion and lawlessness against God. It is also falling short of the mark defined by God. Thus, God gets to define what sin is. Every human on earth does not get to have their own definition of sin, good and evil. There is either one definition of sin or none. There cannot be 7 billion different definitions for sin.

Here is some more sci-fi geekiness. A new Star Wars movie will arrive soon. People are going nuts with anticipation. What makes these so popular and iconic? The adventures are grand. The scale is huge: galactic in fact. The plots are fun. The imagery and action are unique. But without the concept of the force and good versus evil, they would not hit us at our soul issues. The force hits a core in humans. We want to believe in good. We want to believe in power. We want power to do good. The problem is that our experience shows us that you cannot have good without evil. We always observe this as a battle.

The force is intriguing because it hits an innate desire we all have and wrestle with. Are we truly autonomous? Do we make our own decisions? Does fate impact us? Can we have control over our own destiny? And if we have power, would we use it for good? Always? Or would we be inclined toward selfish motives and actions? Why is the dark side so powerful and so easy to fall into? Why is emotion and passion only a tool toward and for the dark side?

That Mexican food is really keeping me awake here in the middle of the night. Or maybe it is these concepts. Or both?

Can we imagine a life without sin? John Lennon wrote a famous song about his version of this. But if you look closely at his life, you will find he stunk at it. His narcissism essentially broke up the Beatles. What a jerk? He was not nearly as much of a musician or singer as Paul was. He was jealous. Just look at Paul's post Beatles track record and popularity. John was abusive of people and especially women. His track record was narcissistic control with fits of rage. He was violent and domineering. His Imagine song seems like a pipe dream he had a desire for but could not fulfill.

Can you imagine a world without sin? Can you imagine your own life without sin? Can you imagine you not sinning? What would this all look like? What would earth be like without sin? Here are some thought points:

No one would kill any human, ever. There would be no killing. Period. No religious wars. No political wars. No serial killers driven by whatever weird, narcissistic motives drive them. No gang violence for power, turf, drugs or money.

There would be no addictions. No abuse of alcohol or drugs to numb pain. Of course, if there were no sin, there would be no pain and thus, no reason to numb ourselves for a time in order to avoid it.

There would be no hatred. There would be no arguing. There would be no fighting or controlling others. Humans would not misuse, abuse or even use others. There would be very little internet comments since there would be no trolls causing fights over any and everything just because they can. There would be no dislike button since there would be no need for it.

There would be no laws! Everyone would do what was right and best for each other. We would not spend billions of dollar$ fighting for our own rights and desires. We would really be free. So, there would be no need for police or prisons or armies or weapons; well, except to protect us from animals that may want to eat us. Or maybe that desire by animals would be gone too.

This is all just to whet your appetite for such a world. There will be such a place. It will eventually happen. I know a guy. Well actually, I know The Guy Who will make all this happen.

So if this causes you to think, let's dialogue about this and have a fun discussion about the topic and what that place would look like. If, however, you are a troll and just looking for a battle so you can spew your agenda without having a conversation and listening to others, please excuse yourself because you are not invited nor welcome to participate.

Let's day dream or night awake think, like I am now as the Mexican food with too much fat and peppers is keeping me up. I love you. I long for what is truly best for you; not merely, what you think will make your existence happy. There is only true freedom and peace found in dying to self and letting The Guy live His sinless life through you.

Have a great day, or night, or everything. Just, have a great! Have a great life. Pursue a sinless life. Help show the world a life without sin. Be an example. Make the world a better place. Give people hope. There will eventually be a world without sin. Start your own circle of a world without sin. Seek the best for others. Help them to dream and create a world without sin. Let's spread this healthy dis-ease. Let's be the force for good. Let's use our passions. emotions and energy to create and do good.

A world, a universe, a galaxy without sin is what we were made for. It is what our soul desires. We just cannot and do not bring it about when we focus on ourselves, our needs/wants, our desires for our rights to be met or allowed and our own personal agenda that our dark side truly drives.

Live passionately and enthusiastically. Do good. Create good. Find out what real love is and do and be that. Be love. Focus on others. Create your own little influential circle of love and good where sin is not.

What would that look like?
        
     

Giving 50 the Finger

    

Telling 50 what I think of it: it's not a diet; it's a lifestyle of being healthy and strong.

I got motivated: positively by Beni Johnson in the middle of a sermon with her husband talking about her health and strength progress and negatively by health results from a blood test for my new health insurance having slightly elevated blood pressure and bad cholesterol; and BMI is a stupid number since it fails to take muscle weight into consideration. Yes the USA is too overweight but it’s just as bad that the norms defined by BMI are for anorexics.

So here is what I did starting in mid-March 2015. Eat a lot of meat and veggies. Protein: beef, too damn much chicken, fish and eggs...Unlike body builders I actually season things with some butter, pepper or hot sauces. Fresh, frozen and canned veggies with no sugar... Lots of veggies. I probably eat a little too much fruit for most of my carbohydrate intake but no juices since they are all sugar without the fiber. That's where I get most of my sugar. Pretty much killed off desserts: cake, pie, cookies, blah, blah, blah, but once in a while green tea ice cream after sushi! Kill the bad white stuff: no flour, sugar and very little rice and potatoes. After doing this for a month I lost all desire for sugar. No regular or diet sodas or drinks with fake sweeteners. You know what happens if you put sugar in your car’s gas tank? Pretty much the same thing that happens in your stomach. I do consume Lots of nuts and dark chocolate with high cocoa percentage so sugar is minimal or none. Plenty of coffee or tea straight. (I may add cinnamon for fat burner and good breath or honey for carbs.)  First cup of coffee gets coconut oil and might have cocoa powder or cinnamon for fat burners. Lots of water. Some honey for pre-workout carbs when I am dragging. Plain yogurt or cottage cheese for weekday breakfast protein; read the labels on these to get mostly milk and not additives like plastic. I have used very few powder or pill supplements; other than, Aleve for soreness and inflammation. I don’t worry or detox via juicing because spinach and beans take care of that. I can’t take oatmeal because it goes right through me painfully. [In late July I started adding in 1 protein shake per day.]

I lift weights nearly every day. Some cardio; known as cycling, for fun and sweating. I don't like to run, so you can't make me. Won’t do it! Not gonna’! My knees don’t like jogging either. I walk a ton at work. I lift after work when I get home because I am not an early riser and it takes me 6 hours to loosen up anyways, so shut up; I'm not getting up early to work out and then sweat through my dress clothes and tie all day. Yuck! My primary goal was to get rid of the belly and see muscles. Say “No” to dad bod. Most of the belly is gone, muscles are popping. Now, I want to see the six-pack and be built like a super hero; almost there.

Typical Regimen:

Chest day:

Light warm up flyes x3 sets

Bench 3 x 10 progressively heavier warm up sets but all light since I am now old and takes a while to get the blood pumping and loosen the joints, 3 x 5-9 heavy working sets wide grip, 3 x 10 cooling down sets with varying grips until mostly working triceps to failure.

3 x 10 sets heavier machine flyes mostly for stretch and burn targeting outside and higher pecs.

Sometimes I’ll skip the weights just do a variety of pushups with planks and spiders so I get more ab than chest work done. I have big boobies already.

Back day: all super sets

5 sets of pull-ups with leg assist on most sets since I am still working up to being a pull-up machine. Currently sets 3-5 start with as many pull-ups as I can do and then put my feet on a chair or bar to stand into a full pull-up while focusing on the squeeze in the lats and lower back then do the negative without assistance.

Superset with bent over rows: first and last set are alternating arm dumb bell rows, then barbell 5 x 8-10 alternating over and underhand grips. 3 heavy working sets.

Machine pull downs 3 x 10 wide overhand then 3 x 10 underhand narrow grip to target different areas in the middle of my back...

Superset with lighter rows which finish with 3 x 10 sets of machine rows with full stretch and some cheating to do negatives, some of these are underhand grip, not underhanded like con artists and politicians.

Now that I am in good shape with a strong back, I will start adding dead lifts. [Added 3 sets 5-10 reps in July. I do these after the heavy rows when my back and hands are exhausted so I only go a little heavier than my body weight.

Shoulder day:

3 x 10 clean and press warm up sets followed by 3-4 heavy super sets of shoulder press followed by cleans, mostly barbell work here but can be dumbbell.

Then 2 x 10 heavy dumbbell presses alternating arms.

4 x whatever heavy shrugs superset with dumbbell front, side and rear lateral raises to failure...sit down and cry; if I can breath.

If I am feeling more psychotic than usual I will take a 25 or 35lb plate in back yard and do shuttle runs carrying it: 3 x 4-20 yard distance. Dodging around and over little dogs while sprinting with the plate makes these very challenging. [I now do this regularly and currently finger-hold a 25lb plate in each hand while attempting to run.]

Arms day:

I use either a curl or Olympic bar for variety and grip width changes.

Superset curls followed by overhead triceps extensions: 3 x 10 warm up sets, then 3 x 8-10 working sets with heaviest weight I can do without much cheating; these wind up being a bit more than ½ my body weight. [Skull crushers hurt my shoulders too much with elbows in. I guess I am aging.]

Then superset dumbbell curls with controllable weight using different angles 3-4 x 8-10, followed by same number sets of machine triceps push downs with good form only cheating last set with slow negatives.

Legs:

Usually on chest and arm day:

7 x 8-12 hamstring curls superset with leg extensions, first 2 and last set are light warm up and cool down. I don't go real heavy because I want small enough legs to road cycle.

Usually squats on light or rest day from above.

6 x 8-12 squats either front or rear for variety, again not very heavy, more for cardio and good form.

Stomach:

Abs 2-3 times per week and usually on rest day between 4 body parts so there is a day between arms and chest:

Leg lifts to flat and twist scorpions for obliques usually on bench press warm up and cool downs since bar already has weight to hold me down while doing these nasty things.

My version of crunches hanging off both sides of an ottoman for a stretch until abs are burning, then crunch left leg to right arm etc. to failure.

2-3 sets of 15 of these damn toe-tap things my brother showed me: stand on one foot, balance yourself while reaching down with opposite side hand to touch toe, then stand back up without falling over or letting other foot touch the floor; do for both feet to complete 1 set.

When I walk, sit at my office desk or drive I spend part of that time tightening my abs and flexing them as hard as I can. At my chair I will, when I think about it, keep one foot on the ground and lift the other leg off the seat so I can feel the belly contracting. Every little thing matters.

This has made me healthier in many ways. I feel great and strong. I sleep well. My pants are a lot looser and my upper shirts and sleeves are tighter. Soon I will need to buy new clothes to fit this new old guy. It’s hard being this age when you are so ripped.

                      

Ryan and Jessica's Wedding Ceremony – August 30, 2015

Sensitive Ryan sees his bride approach. He
lost just like Stephen did for Launa.

Ryan Dix and Jessica Coleman (my Daughter): This is the full blown version. I spoke about half of this due to standing in the sun, the boys were wearing black and I realized it was long winded for today's short and sweet style of ceremonies.

We are gathered to honor and glorify the One True God by uniting Ryan and Jessica in the covenant of marriage which God designed when he made this complex relationship of male and female representing mankind as His highest creation. A business contract is made by two or more people and can be broken which can lead to legal battles. A covenant is made for people by God and kept by Him. Husband, wife; and the children they participate in creating, represent a metaphor on earth of the invisible triune God which our little minds cannot fathom. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are 3 distinct personal beings yet make up just one God. But they are one. They are also one in purpose, vision and can never be divided or separated. Marriage is to mirror that. You are now one. You are the one for each other. Period! No more doubt about it. Let nothing and no one attempt to divide you from having the same purpose, vision and declaring that you are one.

You have been part of the church your whole lives. You have heard much about and have met this awesome, wonderful God. You know He loves, likes and respects you. You need to finalize today and declare that your marriage will win and be amazing because He holds it together. You just rest in Him. His love and grace flowing through you together will make it fabulous.

You have studied hard for this day to be able to relate to your spouse; who is and thinks so differently than you: a male extrovert and a female introvert. That will take a lot of patience by both. You have dug into the Bible, so you know the teachings on marriage, loving your wife and respecting your husband, discovering your partner’s love languages, the teachings of Jesus and Paul including 1 Corinthians 13 which is not about marriage but about how church people are supposed to treat one another. You know the purpose for all of creation was to prepare a bride for Christ; the culmination of all creation is for the church to be made ready for its groom and Savior Jesus. You have done premarital counseling, read my blogs on finding the one and Who marriage is for; so we are going a different direction with this ceremony than most other weddings; and, this is only partially because I am your Dad and I say so. (Amens are good to speak out here. Amen means ‘truly’.)

I am now going to walk you through what and who you are and why this marriage will be wonderful. Are you ready to know who you are and why you win? If you understand your identity in Jesus it will eliminate most of the battles that often take place in relationships because those primarily pop up over misunderstandings, insecurities, fears, doubts, lack of trust in self or partner and lack of safety in the relationship. This will preempt and prevent sooooooo many problems. Please, absorb these truths and believe them from now on:

• You are God’s chosen ones
• You were predestined to be His adopted ones in Jesus
• You are His blessed ones
• You are redeemed, fully paid for, by Jesus’ blood and made spiritually alive in Him
• You are forgiven by His lavish grace; totally free from wrath, shame, guilt or condemnation
• You are children of the Lord of all creation
• You have this irrevocable inheritance because He is your hope and you are His glory
• You were and always will be sealed with the Holy Spirit
• You are rich in these eternal, invisible blessings of mercy and grace
• You are saved by grace through faith, not by your human effort
• You are God’s artistic workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works
• He has empowered you to walk them out
• You have been given His peace so you are no longer controlled by the old sinful nature; throw off its old corrupt ways of thinking and behaving: you are not your past
• You are being built into a dwelling place for God The Father by The Holy Spirit in you
• As you, Jessica, receive a new name today; you both bear the name of God’s family
• You have been given wisdom and strength to comprehend the width, length, height and depth of His love for you so you can be filled with all the fullness of God
• You are ambassadors of love to each other and the unbelieving world

You are not your own. You did not create yourself. You were planned, designed and created to be God's children. He really does love you. That's why He sent Jesus to rescue you. As His child, all of your thoughts and life are precious to Him. Your soul is what is most important. It is eternal. We experience Him best with our soul and not our decaying bodies. You are more than your body. Still, God uses our flesh to teach us about what is important and how to keep our relationships led by Him.

Ephesians 6:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

When you are strong in the Lord your God Who loves you, your unseen enemies can only spew non-impacting lies at you. Those unseen enemies are who we wrestle with; not other people. The schemes of the wicked seek to divide. They are the problem. Neither of you is ever the problem in any disagreement. The enemies have lied to you since you were little making you afraid of the dark, telling you who you are not and why you could not succeed or measure up to unrealistic expectations. These lies previously held you back and need no longer be given any power in your lives. Stop believing the lies of the liars and listen to the truths of The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14:6). You are the light because The Light is in you and shines light from you exposing and destroying the spiritual darkness so you need never be afraid of the dark anymore. As God’s kids, He has given you all the armor you will need in this life; just open the gift and put it on…and keep it on.

Now we have audience participation for the rest of our time here. From now on when I describe a body part, your role is to think about that part of your anatomy, wiggle and flex it if appropriate; …if appropriate. Practice by flexing your arms and your legs. The fact that these limbs do not receive any armor in this Ephesians letter tells us that they need to be mobile and flexible and that they are not the most important parts of our spiritual bodies. In a human battle it would make sense to protect these limbs but that is not what Paul is talking about. Keep flexing your arms and legs.

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

It takes effort and energy to stand. It is our most powerful physical position requiring energy from our legs and torso; flex them. If you are not standing, you are easily pushed over and trampled on. You, here on the stage, are standing because you have a task to do and a defined role here today. Stand powerfully up to the task. Keep your knees and elbows slightly bent to enhance circulation. Breathe deeply and slowly; hold the air in for a few seconds so your lungs can extract more oxygen and be ready for the task. Stand powerfully; ready for anything. Stand knowing that you are warriors designed to rest in God and His goodness. Stand in the knowledge that He has rescued you from more than you can imagine, saved you from a lonely horrible eternity without Him and He has redeemed everything you have ever regretted. All your regrets, insecurities, flaws and failures; He paid the price to transform them and you into someone who is magnificent. If you are sitting that means your task is to support, pray for and encourage those standing who have a difficult and honorable task. Those in support roles often underestimate how important they are. Know this: you are valuable and a great blessing to Ryan, Jessica and their families.

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

I never noticed before that this passage didn't start the armor description with feet since it began with standing. It would make sense to us silly humans to think that feet are the foundation for standing. Instead the first body area dealt with is the waist and our loins. This is a spiritual passage stating that the foundation of our faith and living in the light is controlled by how our strongest earthly desire and urge needs to be led by truth from God instead of our visceral broken humanity or the immorality celebrated by and spewed from Hollywood and D.C. Don’t let them deceive you. If our urges burn out of control, then our whole spiritual life is off track and misled. This corresponds to how God revealed Himself to Abraham before creating Israel, telling him about the covenant He was going to make and that it starts with circumcision; not with long hair, a tattoo or something visible to all; but it’s more like a branding so the individual knows whose they are. This was the sign of faith from God to Abraham. The men were told to rein it in and learn self-control. If you listen and submit to how God says to control your groin and passion, then He will guide and bless you in every other area. The fires of passion burn safely and brightly within the boundaries God designed so that your pleasure with one another can be fabulous, fun, peaceful and worry free. It is meant to be a private worship experience of our creator as we enjoy and pleasure our beloved spouse.

14b with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

With truth girding your waist now righteousness guards your heart. You don't tell your heart to beat, but you can change its speed. It beats best when in good shape, free of stress, worry or fear. You can guard and protect each others hearts by being righteous, pure, committed, honest and building up your partner in righteousness. Believe with all your heart in one another and do the best to and for your partner's heart. Keep your heart ignited for the one you choose today. Continually choose each other. The grass is always greener where you water and feed it.
 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Now we get to your feet. The spiritual shoes you wear are peace and good news. Always be ready with good news. Use your feet to quickly bring the good news of life and Jesus to each other and the world. Isaiah and Paul both write about how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news and proclaim that our God reigns. God is in charge no matter how much freedom it appears He has given to the wicked. Be quick to deliver good news. Be wise and patient with the other stuff.

 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

I now give you each a shield of faith in the One True God. The shield works by God’s power to extinguish all the lies of our enemies as they seek to disrupt the work of God in your lives, marriage and all your relationships. Choose to believe the truth about Jesus and your partner while knowing how to use the shield to fend off the garbage of shame, negativity, condemnation and accusation. Sometimes you will even have to smack other people with this shield if they say anything to stir up a division between you two. No one is your friend who takes a side to divide the marriage rather than unite it.

 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God.

Protect your heads with the knowledge and truth of salvation. God has already done it. Jesus has risen and reigns as Lord for eternity. This will keep your eyes, ears and thoughts clean and pure. Remind each other of this regularly by digging into the Word of God which tells the truth about you and God. Pay attention to prophetic words given to you. These words from God are the opposite of what popular culture and politicians say. I declare to you that:

The dance

• You are holy warriors of truth and love protected and cared for by your Heavenly Father.
• You already have been saved and are being kept saved. 
• The Holy Spirit and Jesus are both interceding for you with The Father (Romans 8). 
• You are loved, respected and liked by God. 
• He redeemed and rescued you. You are His. 
• One fantastic gift He gives you is each other today to proclaim you are his and you are hers only. 

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Communica...communicash...commun...ca...talk, talk with God and each other plenty and deeply. Talk and pray a lot using dialogue. That means learning how to ask a question and then sit intently listening for answers without planning what you are going to say next. Be able to be humble enough to hear things you don't want to hear. 

• Seek the unseen things which dress you even more magnificently than these gorgeous temporary outfits of clothes and skin. 
• You are much more than you see. 
• You are more valuable than you think. 
• God created you to be and do awesome. 
• You are created for God’s pleasure and honor. 
• He blessed you with each other so now you celebrate Him by how you love and build up each other. 
• You are warriors of righteousness to lavishly shine joy, love, peace, forgiveness and much grace to a spiritually dark world. 
• You are loved by the Star-maker. 
• You are caressed by The Comforter. 
• You are upheld by the Savior. 
• You are tenderly cared for by The God of the universe because you are His children.
• Before the foundation of creation was laid in place, you were planned and designed to be His kids. 
• Know who you are and Whose you are so the cares of this life and this frail body do not distract you from loving and serving each other in a wondrous, peaceful, joy-filled marriage and worshiping this great God of ours.

It's time for your vows which are your pledges and promises to do your part of working with God in His design of this covenant of marriage.

VOWS: Ryan & Jessica read theirs…

Rings: Recite together to proclaim that you are one:  

• Until death parts us, I am yours and you are mine. We will let nothing divide us. We are a unity pointing to the Trinity. I will honor, cherish, nurture, edify, love and respect you with all the grace God pours into you through me. With this ring, I marry you. We are now one to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all.

Communion…Prayer, Kiss  & Pronouncement: … by the authority of Nevada & supreme authority & power…  I now pronounce you husband and wife...KISS... Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present to you, Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Daniel Dix…

Today I turn 50. What have I learned?

• I guess I am finally not a teenager anymore. Maybe I will grow up and act your age.
• You are only as old as you are. ha ha ha.
• Spell check helped me find out that ‘this’ and ‘shit’ have the same letters. Typing too fast can make a mess when you leave the ‘o’ off of ‘hello’ in greetings to important people.
• Why are so many HR employees bad with people?
• Networking with people is how you find better jobs. The internet will suck your life away.
• Baby wipes help adult males stay clean. Clean yourself up since you are just a big baby anyways.
  

Now that I finally graduated from being a teenager, here are a few insights I have gleaned from my long life:

• Make the main thing the main thing. Don't make mountains out of mole hills. Most things are mole hills.
• Solve problems and issues, not people. There is an unseen enemy who wants to destroy all humans and their relationships. Be patient. We are all works in process.
• Never watch reality TV. Immoral brats behaving badly will damage your brain cells and soul.
• Fear, worry and procrastination are wastes of time. Stop them!
• Persevere, work hard, be productive, think deeply, pursue truth.
• Buy gifts for people that they want; not so you might partake too.
• Be the team member you want your co-workers, family, church, etc. to be. Build people up into someone better than they think they can become.
• All people are spiritually blinded by the unseen enemy and their own rebellion until the One Who loves them removes the blinders. We all have blind spots and need loving people to gently help us past them.
• The death of a child is horrible and takes many years to stop crying over.
• Failing as a husband and a pastor stripped me of my identity and dreams, but neither of those really defined me and could not destroy me.
• Neither health, wealth, world travel, cool stuff or great experiences determine the quality of one's life. You can have hope, joy and peace without any of those things.
• Your body is a finely tuned, amazing sports car; feed it good fuel and you will feel much better than when you give it treats that merely tempt the taste buds. This applies to most temptations in life. There is a difference between what looks or tastes good and what IS good.
• Love your children and pour grace all over them. The world will tell them what is wrong with them, so you tell them what is right with them.
• Believe in your spouse more than they do and you can turn them into your dream soul mate...if they believe you, know you love them and are willing to grow in a healthy manner.
• Allow God to love family, friends, everyone; even, your enemies through you as you become a humble, kind, gentle, honorable person.
• The hardest job on earth is being a step-parent and having a successful blended family.
• Never miss an opportunity to encourage someone.
• Jesus is more awesome, real, wonderful, miraculous, holy, creative and gracious than we can imagine. He alone is worth living or dying for. Because He rescued me from sin and adopted me as His son, I am filled with hope, joy and peace. I know I will celebrate and worship Him for eternity. Death no longer scares me. It is merely the door this body passes through so we can meet our Creator and Savior. Do you know Him? Nothing else on earth matters if you don't.
• Got to drive my fantasy car today. WOW! Fantastic, but not even slightly close to how awesome my wife is!

• Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are the One God Who created and sustain everything. Yes, it is too complex for our simple minds that do not understand something that is eternal and not created. God is good. God is a community within Himself. That is why He created the family to mirror heaven's own perfect relationship. Seek to know God. Relationship with Him is why He made and loves you.

Have a great day. Get to know the Author of life.

Our National Pastime: Bullying

Schools and children’s advertisements are very busy with anti-bullying campaigns and demonstrating how wrong it is to bully people. They show the merciless wounds caused by bullies, who are usually larger physically but have low self-esteem issues.

Apparently this information has not made it to any politician running for office.

How can we expect young people to stop bullying when they are bombarded with adults behaving so poorly? Have you seen a news channel discussing politics in a rational, kind, respectful manner? Are both or three of four sides to an issue presented where all views are presented in a classy manner with etiquette? How often have you seen more than two views presented? We have become such an either or society that we refuse to think broad enough to look for other options or opinions. That, in itself, is a shallow way to think. When was the last time you saw, heard or read discussions on or in the media that honored all people when discussing race, religion or politics?

The people with the money [read ‘control’] over the presentation usually show their side as the only rational, intelligent view while vilifying the other side with ad hominem attacks: "If you believe like that, then you are a hateful, bigot from the dark ages." We have failed at becoming a kinder, gentler nation. We attack each other in the USA with more verbal violence than we attack world-wide hunger, poverty, sex-trafficking, slavery and violent regimes. Are our priorities correct? Do we make the main thing the main thing? We seem to be more concerned with our personal liberties than we are with our societal responsibilities to make our neighborhood and world a better place.

Have we left common sense and decency behind for the sake of pursuing hedonistic pleasures that will never satisfy our souls? That is one reason why the Declaration of Independence phrases the epicurean world view as "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." When we place the pursuit as the priority, we redefine the first two on the basis of our perception of the third; which is unending and never fully satisfying. "If you don’t allow me to do what I want in this pursuit of happiness, then you are judging me by getting all up in my bizness and robbing me of life and liberty also. Therefore, I will call you names and demean you as evil so others will side with me as we bully you into submission for being stupid for thinking the way you do."

Look and listen carefully to what you read, hear and watch. Do you see this bullying? Is it being fair and unbiased? Are you getting all sides and views to issues? Have you thoroughly explored options and searched for truth? Are you open to having decent and orderly dialogues with people of differing opinions? Are you getting facts or just passionate emotional arguments? There is a HUGE difference between those. A lot of angry emotional heat is being spewed all over. Bullying is passionate from all sides. Is it possible or conceivable that you might possibly be wrong?

Can we talk like civilized humans? We seem to have forgotten the rules of kindergarten about being nice and sharing. We seem to have thrown out the golden rule about treating others like we desire to be treated. It’s very easy to dismiss the views of people we turn into our emotional enemies. What if people are not the real enemy? Can we be gracious and loving toward those who despise us or our views? Are we doing what is right? Are we pursuing truth? Where are we getting out information? How valid are the facts we use? Is it possible that our perception is incorrect?

Will you make a difference in the USA to stop this intellectual violence and make the world a better place?

 

What if Fifty Shades is a Metaphorical Lesson for the Christian Church?

I have read a lot about this film and the book lately. The book was originally styled after, or a tie in with The Twilight fan fiction series. It morphed into its own unique book. However, the genre and story aren't all that special or unique. It is intriguing though, that the story of a rich, controlling and powerful man who manipulates a woman into essentially being his S&M [BDSM] sex toy is such a money-making machine. Why would this story of control, abuse and near sex slavery sell so many books? This is not a healthy love story, but it is a toxic unhealthy relationship. From the male perspective, he is not interested in love or a human relationship at all. For females there are many red flags to help women avoid such toxic relationships. Don’t give into a guy’s weird whims, for one. As an experienced church leader I have never seen a woman turn a bad-boy into a good man by giving into his control and manipulation. Yet, I have seen many women attempt to do just that. I have seen it a lot! Why do women put themselves into this abusive situation? It’s futile and foolish. Why are the primary purchasers of these books married women over 30? Something must be off in their marriages.

There are distinct similarities between Dorian Gray, Faust and Christian Grey. They throw off any chance of moral integrity in order to pursue power. The Gray/Grey men are creeps who abuse women and merely use them for pleasure. They also struggle with Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde moral duplicity. Oscar Wilde enjoyed “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” which was only about 5 years prior to his Gray novel. The Fifty Shades trilogy even has an antagonist named Jack Hyde. Is this plagiarism?

The modern day version of the above stories has lost the fact that the hero/anti-hero often struggles with their moral duplicity. Does Christian Grey have an internal struggle with his control and BDSM desires or does he just roll with it because of how he was mentored by an older lady? Are these all stories wrestling with good versus evil? They, like the Bible, lean toward showing that mankind is inclined more easily toward evil. Selfishness never satisfies. Forgoing hindering, avoiding or repressing evil and giving in to all kinds or immoral and amoral life-styles does not reduce the need to behave licentiously. Instead they exacerbate the need for more of the socially disapproved behaviors. It’s like attempting to stop fits of anger and rage by beating a punching bag. Studies show that this actually encourages the drive to be more enraged.

Now for the strange twist. I woke up just before 1am Sunday morning thinking this:

• What if “Fifty Shades of Grey” can be used by God to explain a metaphor within the Christian Church between leaders and attenders? Why did the author name this lead male character “Christian?” He is obviously not a follower of Jesus. He shows no understanding or real love or forgiveness. He lets his wounds control his thinking and behavior.

• This next idea may tie more closely analytically with the negative history of Roman Catholicism but it also ties with modern day Protestant churches with powerful leaders: What if the comparison is made between Christian Grey and some bishops, popes or pastors who have similar character issues as controlling, powerful, successful leaders wanting a contract regarding behavior. “Do what we tell you to because we are the leaders and sign this contract/covenant of submission to our leadership.” This negative leadership in Christian churches can be seen from the early popes, Constantine, Roman Catholic armies killing unbelievers and protestants, European political leaders making themselves church leaders also, the founding of the USA based on fleeing such tyranny, Salem witch trials, USA slavery, KKK, independent churches sprouting on every corner rather than being part of domineering denominations, then the independent churches that grow large due to a strong leader become like what they fled: sign the membership covenant, do what your told, submit to the spiritual overseers in authority over you, give a decent chunk of your income, follow the leaders vision/mission because God speaks to them and not necessarily you, etc.

What if?

What lessons can you learn from this twist? Does any of this apply to you or your church or church friends? Are you seeing any power/control problems in relationships or institutions?

God designed His church to be in a relationship with the Savior of all lost souls who become redeemed: between Jesus and all the people Jesus died for to pay the price for their sin and rose from the dead to free them from sin. Church leaders on earth are supposed to love, lead, heal and forgive like Jesus did. All Christians are part of the church and all are submit to Jesus as Savior and Lord. We are all supposed to grow and learn to be more like Jesus and serve the world in the way God designed us. None of this allows for any type of relationship like that between Christian Grey and Ana. There is supposed to be love, grace, peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, faithfulness, goodness exuding from Jesus’ followers toward all people whether in the world or church leaders or church non-leaders. There is no room for abuse given or received.

One more metaphor twist: The name Anastasia originates with Greek etymology and carries the meaning "resurrection". For followers of Jesus that points to the amazingly powerful reality that our hope and faith will be fulfilled in Jesus.

Wake up Christians. The world is dark. It thinks in gray/grey terms that everyone can determine their own morality. This is not true. Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus is The Truth. Jesus is hated by the world that He loved so much that He died to save. Followers of Him are also hated by the world which loves its sin and abuse of self and others.

The words of Jesus: Matthew 6: 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” What the world calls light Jesus calls darkness: lost in sin and a wrong view of good and evil.

There is no room in the world or church for grey Christians and no Anastasias should ever be abused. Join The Light. Follow, serve, love and worship Him: King Jesus.

We are All Judgers; and Suck at it!

As a recovering USA evangelical Christian who suffered from a broken heart from life and church wounds I have recently realized: I had a severe focus on theology that was correct while my heart was a wreck.

It is easy to point out the flaws in others while denying we do the same.

Most people live myopically focusing on their own situation and attack others while missing the big picture. How was that for a judgment? Watch and listen to media, entertainers, news and politicians; even, sports. Everybody is judging everybody about everything. Opinions fly rampantly. Ad hominem, red herrings, straw men and all sorts of logical fallacies are magically appearing as if they were valid arguments and flying violently but without wings. There is little love, tolerance or patience being displayed in the USA by anyone who disagrees with whomever they are disparaging.

Our tolerance and hatred of one another has done a great job of curing racism. If anyone has a differing opinion about anything, they are not allowed into the closed friendship ring. We are terrible at befriending those we disagree with. Instead those who differ are branded enemies and opponents of the masses while receiving the brunt of vehement ridicule. Our politicians have done a great job of role modeling getting along with those across the aisle. Mudslinging has accomplished so much to better our nation. We are all great at looking at both sides of all discussions. Obviously, there can only be two sides!

Here is a hugely popular recent ad hominem: anyone disagreeing with the gay movement is a homophobe. Attack the person disagreeing and don’t listen to their point of view. There is no room for discourse when name calling is acceptable by the vocal group with money behind their screaming. What an amazing culture shift this has been to watch over the last 40 years. Has anyone bothered to notice that no society in the history of earth has lasted very long after its main concern became its sexual permissiveness? Are we destined to repeat the history we ignore?

Here is a common Appeal to emotion mixed with an ad hominem:  Anyone denying the reproductive right and freedom to have an abortion must hate women and want our society to return them to the dark ages. That leaves little room for conversation of opposing views. Fighting for these rights has led to many ills being violently ignored: just search “How abortion hurts women.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/abortion/after-an-abortion/how-abortion-hurts-women/

http://www.mccl.org/abortion-hurts-women-too

Here is a popular False cause: Since we have so many temperature readings and scientific measurements of ice melting over the last 120 years; therefore, climate change must be caused by humans. Never mind the fact that we are on a ball hurtling through space at 70,000mph and spinning on its axis at 25,000mph which has experienced ice ages and multiple asteroid hits and mass extinctions in its long life well before the industrial age; so obviously, it’s all our fault and everything we are doing on the planet needs to be done differently. Of course, some will argue that last sentence was a straw man.

Another great modern argument is that no God exists; we are the masters of our own fate creating our own values and that given these two there is still a reason and purpose to exist. A true, honest and wonderfully sincere atheist will know the logical outcome of their belief system is that there is no reason or purpose for life, there is no good or evil, no right or wrong, no reason to be happy or sad, no meaning for anything because those all require the existence of a God with moral standards. Why should Dawkins or Hitchens care if people believe in a God if nothing matters? They are imposing their atheistic religious values and morals in a world they believe has no meaning.  That is illogical. If there is no meaning to life, then logic has no value or meaning either. Nothing matters. Nothing is important. Nothing is of value, purpose, good or evil. Everything is permissible like in the above logical fallacies since nothing can have a higher value because that would require a supreme being to assign values and morals. How can one’s view of good/evil, right/wrong matter more than another’s if there is no God? This leads to the one with the most power winning: survival of the fittest. Folks like Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Hitchens are trying to redefine reality when reality is irrelevant. Why should anyone care? Maybe because they are making a lot of money and having fame from arguing against the God they do not believe in? They should thank Him!

We are in the modern dark ages where no morality matters. All of atheistic propaganda is racing toward its only goal: self-pleasure. Has no one seen or noticed that we in the USA are the most depressed, highly medicated and addicted society in the history of earth? What good are we to earth? Why should we bother to exist?

And opposing this is: Why do all humans everywhere on earth have a strong internal sense of right/wrong, just/unjust, good/evil, true/false, logic/foolish?

There seems no reason for reason, no purpose to morals, no value in good behavior, no logic for having logic, no purpose for meaning and existence. We are all just a waste of existence. Then why should we despair, be depressed and hopeless unless there really was a reason for everything? Why should we care? Why should we be dignified or honorable if those things do not exist or have eternal meaning?

“There is a difference between playing god and serving God,” Ravi Zacharias.

Here are a few misapplied and misunderstood verses where people have regularly done some picking and choosing of which parts they apply to themselves and others:

Matthew 7: “Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Luke 6: ³⁷ “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

John 7: ²⁴ Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

So, we are actually told by God Incarnate to judge; just do it rightly according to God’s ways and means. Christians have not been doing this well and certainly not with enough LOVE.

Let’s admit we all judge others and that we really do suck at it. There must be something more. There must be real meaning and purpose.

At the end of life or now in your dark, lonely places, your gut and soul are crying out: “Do I matter?”

I tell you, you do. There is a reason. There is a purpose. You matter more than you know. You won’t find the answers in exercising your rights, sexual freedom, fame, wealth, pleasure or power. Those are where these endless pursuits wind up going nowhere and leaving us empty, broken and wanting something that works to satisfy our souls.

You only find meaning when you come to the end of yourself and learn that you have a broken heart and soul in great need of the unseen God Who really is in control and is the Author of Love. In His great patience He allows us to make a mess of things so badly that we finally understand we are responsible for all the junk, wounded by all the world’s brokenness and need to search for Him like a person dying of thirst in the Sahara.