Lines in the Sand

Do you remember the story in the gospel of John where a "harlot" is brought before Jesus caught in the act of adultery? The people want to stone her, but pause long enough to ask Jesus what he thinks of the situation. If you remember, before Jesus speaks a single word, he begins to draw in the dirt with his finger. I don't know about you, but I've always wondered why Jesus would do such a strange thing. Some say it was a word or phrase that pertained to the situation, others figure he was just "doodling" while gathering his thoughts, but I have a different thought.

I believe He drew…a line.

Metaphorically speaking, to "draw a line in the sand" is to establish a point that shall not be crossed. It is a way of saying, "you may go no further". You see, I believe Jesus was drawing a line in the sand as if to say, "No more!" Jesus knew these people were stiff-necked folks full of religion, void of love, and empty of the life of God. I do believe that line said to all, "Today, this sort of nonsense comes to an end!"

Can I prove it? Heck no, but it's as good of a hypothesis as I've ever heard and I kind of like it!

Today, I too am drawing a line in the sand.

Back in September, I wrote a post entitled, "WARNING: Throwing Rocks Will Get You…Nowhere Good!" Please know that I meant every word of that post but honestly, I just didn't have the "whatever" to actually walk it out at the time. Today, I am reaffirming the commitment I made in that post. I am drawing my own line in the sand and declaring "no more"! By the way, if you are wondering just what I had to say in that post feel free to check it out. If not, cool beans!

Guys, I really wish the "stuff" that junks up our hearts and minds could be easily dealt with, but I suppose it just takes time, a lot of prayer, and a lot of Jesus. Jesus said that He came to set captives free. He did not say it happens instantaneously.

Over the past several weeks, I have come to see more clearly than ever that life is too short and too full of hurt and pain for anyone who names Christ as Savior to be "throwing logs on the fire". In other words, there's more than enough hell-fire strife in the world without me making things worse with hurtful words and mean spirited rhetoric. Honestly, I just don't want to continue to use any part of my life to make things worse for anyone when I could be using my energy and gifts to make things better. The bible says that our witness to the world is our love for each other. If that is the case, my witness has been a poor one at best. For that (and a host of many other things), I am very sorry. I am not your Holy Spirit friends and I do not possess the capacity nor have I been given the right to judge the motives of anyone. And the people said….amen.

With that, I would like to reaffirm my commitment to NEVER AGAIN write a blog post (or Facebook post) that attacks my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ in ANY WAY!

Why? Because I have been completely persuaded by our gracious Lord that we have been called to love each other, support each other, and treat each other as He would love, support, and treat each of us. That means each and every person no strings attached, no conditions.

At the end of the day, we must all carry our hurts and pains to Jesus if we truly hope to be free. No amount of mudslinging will ever undo a bad experience or heal any wound. I should know. Only Jesus can restore us and fill our lives with purpose, hope, and meaning regardless of what anyone has said or done to us. If you are hurt, take it to Jesus. If you want justice, take it to Jesus. If you are angry, bitter, or full of unforgiveness (if that's really a word), take it to Jesus. Hit back, and you'll end up with a black eye every single time. Again, I should know!

He still sets captives free and only He has the strength to turn that key in the lock and open the prison door. Trust me; I'm speaking from experience here!

So for all of you who have been concerned, offended, or completely baffled by my posts over the past couple of years, please rejoice for I am finished being "ugly"! I will continue to write (if God allows), but I will only write that which will edify my church family. Anything past that is indeed pointless.

_______________________(MY LINE IN THE SAND)_____________________

“Satan” Claus? Well…He Does Wear A Red Suit!

For years now, I've heard many of my Christian brothers and ……well mainly just the brothers rattle on and on about the "evils" of allowing children to believe in Santa. In an article called "Christians and Santa Claus", Pastor Andrew B. Ray shares the following with us:

"If we agree that Santa Claus is a made up character and that for years we have been spreading the lie to children that he is real and we believe that Satan is the father of this lie then it kind of makes you wonder if it really is a coincidence or not. Bible students have known and proven that Satan is the greatest counterfeit of the Lord Jesus Christ, so it would only make sense for Satan to create such a character to do his work."

He goes on to say the following:

"We have the fact that Santa Claus is not real.   I know that most adults realize this but adults have told children that Santa is real. It is a Lie!

Oh you devilish "Satan" Claus devotees! Feeling a little….guilty yet? Nah, me either.

Look, I know Santa Claus probably isn't real (notice I said probably…..you never know), and yes technically we are telling our children a lie, but dog gone it, I like Santa! He's nice, does good stuff, and cares a lot about people. Of course I do realize he is portrayed in many various ways (some of which are less than benevolent), but that's not his fault! In the end, we would all have to agree that at the core of his character he is really good fellow real or not so real!

Still, there are plenty of upstanding folks out there that do not like the idea of having Santa around at Christmas.

I do wonder if people like Pastor Ray have ever exchanged a shiny new quarter for one of their kid's teeth courtesy of the Tooth Fairy. How about telling a kid that their recently deceased pet is now frolicking through the golden fields of Heaven, isn't that a lie? Can you biblically prove that statement as being factual? Then of course there are those "other" situations like when Uncle Joe dies and we tell the kids he's in Heaven, but in reality we know Uncle Joe was a real creepo and only mentioned the name of Jesus when he was honked off at someone. Is that a lie? What about Christmas? Is it wrong to celebrate the pagan holiday known as Christmas?

"Pagan" you say? Indeed, I say!

You see whether you want to deal with it or not, we all in some way or another take part in "stuff" that is rooted in good old-fashioned heresy and deception. Unfortunately, that would include the wonderful holiday known as Christmas.

With that, I would like to share with you (at least for those "Pastor Ray" types), the truth behind the origins of the Christmas holiday.

For starters, let's take a peek at how Christmas came to be. It all began when Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25.  During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration.  The festival began when Roman authorities chose "an enemy of the Roman people" to represent the "Lord of Misrule."  Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week.  At the festival's conclusion, December 25^th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival's observance with the following:

"In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked (that sounds fun!); rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits." (Which by the way are still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).

In the 4^th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it.  Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.  The problem was that there was nothing very "Christian" about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia's concluding day, December 25^th, to be Jesus' birthday and "VOILA!" Christmas is born.

And it doesn't end there! How about Christmas trees?

Well, just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshippers of the "Asheira" cult and its offshoots were recruited when the Church sanctioned the use of "Christmas Trees". Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a nice little touch of "Christian veneer" by the Church.

Christmas presents?

In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December) and Kalends (in January).  Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the people.  The Catholic Church gave this custom a "Christian flavor" by giving it a makeover and touted it as being a supposed gift-giving act of Saint Nicholas.

I could go on, but I think you most likely get my point. The truth is that we all are guilty of promoting the "lie of Christmas" in one way or another. Even our annual church Christmas plays are chock full of half-truths and misconstrued facts (i.e., the wise men). Yet, rarely does anyone dare question these heinous forms of deception. Why? Well, I suppose the reasons are many, but it could be that most of us just don't see any of this as being a big deal. We know we love God, we love His precious son, and we believe that honoring God in our hearts is far more important than picking apart historical facts and forgotten traditions of long lost cultures.

Frankly, I just couldn't care less about all that stuff and I'd guess most of you don't either! In 1^st Samuel 16, God tells us that "man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart", and that's good enough for me!

So, to all you "Pastor Ray types" out there, I would implore you to give it a rest. Yes, you got it right on one point, but you missed the bigger picture. That of course being that our gracious God most likely isn't offended by our pagan trees, presents, and Christmas plays full of deplorable fallacies. No, I'd dare say His heart simply looks for other hearts that long to love, worship and adore all that He is and appreciate all that He has done in our lives.

So rock on Sata…..I mean Santa Claus! And when you fly over the abode of the good "Pastor Ray", try not to think poorly of him. After all, I'd say being on the naughty list for writing "mean stuff"…is punishment enough!

PS – If perhaps you awaken Christmas Eve to find a guy in a red suit poking around your house, try not to panic, unless of course he happens to be carrying a pitch fork!

Peace to you all and may you all have a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 Percent…And I Feel Fine!

The following is a list of a few popular Christian charities and how they spend their money. By the way, the administrative category would include all staff salaries.

Angel Tree Prison Ministries:

Programs: 67%  Fund Raising: 20%  Administrative: 13%

Compassion International:

Programs: 82%  Fund Raising: 10%  Administrative: 8% 

HOPE International:

Programs: 79%  Fund Raising: 14%  Administrative: 7%

Salvation Army:

Programs: 84%  Fund Raising: 1%  Administrative: 15% 

Samaritans Purse:

Programs: 89%  Fund Raising: 6%  Administrative: 5% 

 

Looks pretty good right? Most of these organizations spend the majority of their budgets on helping people. Some obviously do a little better job than others, but all are doing a great job.

With that in mind, consider the following:

A recent survey conducted by "Christianity Today", found that the average church spends less than 20% of its total budget on ministry that directly assists others. The survey was based on the responses of almost 1200 churches of various denominations. The overwhelmingly largest portion of these churches' budgets went towards paying the salaries of their staff with the pastors' salaries comprising most of that category.

In fact over 70% of most churches' budgets are allocated to cover staff "compensation" and facilities costs. Typically, most charities spend between 5 and 13% of their total expenditure on salaries.
Throw in supplies, denominational "fees", and the all-important "other" category and you will burn up another 12 to 15 percent of the total budget.
What's left over? Not much.

I find that to be….disturbing. Actually, shouldn't we all find that a little bit disturbing?

Would we be quite so "charitable" to any other organization knowing full well that so little of what we give goes to actually helping others? I don't think so.

I can hear it now, "Ken it's different with church. That money goes to provide for the needs of our pastor and staff!" Well, I can assure you that were it the CEO of any charity out there receiving almost half the total budget as a salary, there would be an uproar of monumental proportions. Yet, for some strange reason we are more than willing to embrace such a mindset within the body of Christ. Why? Because that's what "church" is. That's how it works! You give the money, you trust the "leaders" to allocate the dough correctly, and all is well.

Here's a thought: Maybe "church" and how we "do" it…needs an overhaul!

Maybe we need to "rethink" what it means to be salt and light in the world and how that is actually "fleshed out" in the lives of those around us.

By the way, please don't say it's all about reaching "the lost" for Christ. We all know that the research proves that the majority of new church membership comes from "the sheep" shifting pens! It does not come from new conversions. That is an illusion.

In closing, I would like to say that I do know of a church and a pastor in the Dalton area that is truly managing God's money in a God honoring way. This particular church uses almost 100% of its budget to help people. This pastor takes nothing and wants nothing in the way of compensation. He works just like the rest of us. How can he do that? The "members" of that church understand what it really means to be the body of Christ. You know, more than 20% doing the work!

Hey, there's that number again….strange!

By the way, if your church is doing better, God bless ya!

At the end of the day, we can all "do better", but that will only happen when we get real about who we are and what we're doing, or not doing…me included!

Hula Hoops and Pharisees

I do not like hula hoops. They are evil things! They require movements that border on being risqué and present a high likelihood of painful hip dislocation! Still, as bad as these foul contraptions are they aren't nearly as bad as "religious" hoops. Those are the worst hoops of all! Unlike the hula hoop which has been conquered by a proud few, "religious" hoops cannot be mastered! Oh one may try, but no amount of jumping can ever suffice for there are always more hoops waiting to thwart your best efforts. They come in many varieties, but most seem to find their beginnings as twisted bits of scripture taken out of context. For example, I have ALWAYS struggled with the following scriptures from Chapter 14 of the Gospel of John:

^Verse 15: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

^Verse 21 "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me."

^Verse 23 "Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words."

Am I the only one? Please tell me I'm not the only one who struggles with this!

These scriptures seem to indicate that our love for Jesus is based on our ability to keep His commandments. Keep them, and you obviously love Jesus. Fail to keep them, and you my friend…are a loser! Not only are you a loser, but you are a loser who does not love Jesus which of course is the worst kind!

Every single time I fail Jesus (which is ALL THE TIME); I am reminded of my lack of love for Him. It's just not fun folks! It's like a riding some sadistic rollercoaster. Up and down, over and over, and I WANT TO GET OFF!

So, I am left to deal with the following conclusions:

I fail God constantly. If I fail to keep His commands, I obviously just don't love Jesus. If I don't love Jesus, how can He really be pleased with me or any part of my life? Therefore, how can I ever call myself a Christian which means "follower of Christ" if I don't love Him? I can't!

BUT, I WANT TO!!!!

I really do want to keep His commandments. I just cannot seem to pull it off. No matter how hard I try, I fail, everyday, all the time! It is this idea of having to do something that I know I cannot that DRIVES ME NUTS! Not only does it drive me crazy, but it keeps me in a continual state of defeat.

When I first came to Jesus, it was "just as I am". Now, it seems to be more along the lines of "do this, or else"!

What happened?

Well, I think several things are at work here.

Number one would probably have a lot to do with my personality. Honestly, I think I need medication! I obsess over EVERYTHING! My wife would give a hearty AMEN to that. Nothing is ever a small deal for me and I constantly analyze and pick apart every aspect of life. So, feel free to feel sorry for your poor tormented brother!

Secondly, I think I have heard far too many sermons about how much we all suck (excuse me, but it seemed appropriate) and we never "do" enough "for Jesus". I'm honestly not bashing anyone here. Heck, I've preached more than a few guilt laden "tongue lashers" myself. I think sometimes we forget that the guy standing up on the platform is still just…"a guy". I realize he's doing the best he can, but we shouldn't dismiss the fact that many of his own views were formed by listening to other "guys". That doesn't mean we should avoid "guys", but I do think we need to be very careful especially when we assume "our guy's" words are coming straight from the throne room of Heaven.

Last, but not least would have to be a misreading of scripture and taking verses out of context. This is certainly at the core of all "religious hoop jumping". When you look at the totality of scripture, it seems quite clear that God is completely aware of our inability to do anything good! We NEVER get it right and when we do, it's not us, it's Him. We would have to admit that it is God living in us that enables good things to happen. It is never "us", because it is impossible for humans to "be good" or"do right"! Even Paul made it clear in Romans 7 that he was completely incapable of "doing right".

So, what's up with the above mentioned scriptures? Is Jesus really saying, "Jump through the hoops to prove your love for me suckas"?

I just don't think so. If we look at these verses in light of what all scripture teaches, I believe we will see a different message.

Notice verse 15 says, "If you love me, you will…." Could it be that Christ is saying that our focus should be on loving Him and not on keeping commandments? Could it be that loving Jesus is the key to keeping His commandments, not the opposite? IF you love me, THEN you will be able to keep my commandments. After all, isn't that what most of the book of Galatians is talking about?

If my focus is on getting to know and love Jesus, maybe I will not have to worry about keeping His commandments. It is no longer me trying to "pull off" the Christian life, but rather it is Jesus doing everything through me because I'm in Him and He's in me. In fact, in the very next chapter of that same book (chap. 15), Jesus lets us know that, "Apart from me, you can do NOTHING"! Absolutely NOTHING! And friends, surely that would have to include keeping His commandments!

You see, if keeping commands satisfies God and proves our love for Him, then every Pharisee ought to have had it in the bag! They knew God's commands and were quite zealous in keeping them. Still, Jesus called them a, "brood of vipers" and "white-washed tombs". And let's not forget about Saul (later to become Paul). He was certainly someone who took God's commands very serious. Yet on a certain road to Damascus, Jesus let Him know He was not "okay" with him at all!

By the way, you should know that thinking this way REALLY scares me! The little Pharisee in me is constantly prodding me to work hard to please Jesus. Grace…is for lazy, sin loving "wannabes"! For me, embracing such truths goes against every religious bone in my religious body….and it probably does yours also.

Why is this? Is it fear? The fear that God will "whack" us is very prominent in the body of Christ (and in the life of Ken Richmond). Still, I think it is more than that. I really think the root of performance based thinking is really just plain old pride! Yep, you heard me right, pride.

You see, in a very sick way, it is much easier to "try" your best at hoop jumping rather than trust in the goodness of a very great God. For years, I've tried to convince myself that I really do have some part to play in this whole Christianity deal, but truthfully it just doesn't work out that way. As soon as I get involved, it all goes wrong. Not only that, but having to rely on God's goodness causes me to have to deal with the reality of what my relationship with him looks like…and many times that tends to be a little more than I'm looking for. It's far easier to attempt to do the stuff, fail, and then ask for forgiveness than to simply give Him my heart and trust him for everything including my right standing with Him. Unfortunately, I don't "do" trust very well. Besides, relationships are messy, scary things. They take effort, time, and are full of unknowns. Not only that, but you actually have to listen and at times walk by faith and who wants to do all that? Religious hoop jumping is far more convenient and allows us to at least fool ourselves into believing we are somewhat "in control".

News flash for Ken (that's me): You are not "in control", nor will you ever be!

I suppose for me it all boils down to one of two lines of thought. Either we are expected to live this impossible thing called the Christian life or Jesus has to do it through and for us. All I know is that I'm 42 years old and I have never lived a single day without thinking, saying, or doing something ungodly….and I probably never will. If God doesn't love me today "just as I am", then I doubt He ever will. At the end of the day, I know that the hoops will never go away unless I begin to truly embrace what God has clearly and lovingly shown me in His word. That of course being, that He does indeed love me "just as I am" and He promises to never leave me or forsake me...regardless of my endless list of failures! By the way, if you are His kid, that would apply to you also!

Apart from that, I suppose we are all toast!

So, if you get to Heaven and realize I'm not there, you can assume that I had this whole business of just trusting Him wrong. Tell all the "hula hoopers" and Pharisees I said hi and try not to gloat too much!

Just kidding…..sort of!

 

Thanks To All My Kairos Prayer Partners!

My wife gave me a sweet card Friday morning that said,

"I think this Kairos is probably the most challenging ministry you've ever been involved with".

I wholeheartedly agree!

I told one of the workers that I have never encountered such intense spiritual warfare as I do when I'm involved with a Kairos weekend. It is hard! Still, it is a ministry in which you see unimaginable miracles happening all around you and that is no small thing to experience.

Obviously, it would be impossible to share everything that occurred this weekend. I can tell you that I watched in awe as God moved upon a group of very confused, angry, and hard-hearted individuals and changed them in ways I just can't describe.

One particularly intimidating (at least in my sissy opinion) fellow seated near me could not stop crying. Literally, it was like watching someone being taken apart piece by piece and slowly being "reformed". I can't explain it really, but it was honestly amazing to watch God take a lifetime of hurt, anger, and unforgiveness and wash it away in just three short days. Only God could do such a work and I am grateful to have witnessed it.

Again, I can't share everything, but I do believe you will be blessed by this story. Sunday morning, I got into a conversation with a man named Tim. Tim was obviously a Christian and very sharp. As we conversed, he began to tell me about what God had done for him through Kairos. Tim was serving time for rape and kidnapping. Although he had indeed given his heart to Christ, he still carried around a crushing sense of guilt and shame for his crimes. He told me of how he longed to tell his victim how sorry he was for his crime and that he had truly changed, but knew it was impossible. To do so would be considered a crime and he knew it could never happen. Tim said it was that inability to ask for this young woman's forgiveness which haunted him the most.

It was this burden that led Tim to seek counsel from one of the team members sitting at his table. By the way, during the weekend the men sit at what we call family tables. These families are made up of six inmates and three team members. As the men conversed, the team member eventually shared that his wife had been raped as a teenager. Tim asked this man to please tell his wife how sorry he was that this had happened to her and that he begged for forgiveness on behalf of her attacker. Later that night the man shared Tim's plea with his wife and through tears she not only accepted his apology, but also offered to forgive him on behalf of his own victim. Needless to say, God had matched up perfectly the exact people that needed to be together at that table. As a result, two people found freedom from years of pain, guilt and shame! Only God could orchestrate events such as these friends.

So with that let me say thank you so very much for your prayers and support. I realize that most of you could not physically be there, but your love and concern was felt throughout the weekend and I am so very grateful! God heard your prayers and through them changed the hearts and lives of many men. Thanks again and may God bless you!

WARNING: Throwing Rocks Will Get You…Nowhere Good!

Over the past several months, I have written many blogs.

Most have been completely about me.

What I mean by that statement is that rarely have my blogs been motivated by a genuine love for others or even a true concern for God's holy church. Instead, most of my ramblings have been about my desire to be heard by others for my own glory. God has shown me this and I know it to be true.

You see, when you are in the ministry spotlight it just feels good. People pat you on the rump (figuratively….most of the time) and tell you how awesome you are on a regular basis. Such things can lead one to have a very inflated view of oneself and unfortunately it all can be very addictive. There's nothing wrong with affirmation, but "my-oh-my" it can really go to your head!

So what do you do when the ride comes to an end? Anything you can to keep the spotlight on yourself.

And that….is what I did with my blog.

Now it's not that I don't believe the things I wrote about because I certainly do. I suppose much of what I have shared over the past several months needed to be said, but not from someone who had no heart for God's people (that'd be me).

The truth is somewhere along the way, I lost "my way". Religion has a way of doing that to us. It leads us farther and farther away from His presence and deeper into ourselves. Still as much fun as it would be to blame "religion" for all of my baggage, I just can't. Honestly, most of the blame falls squarely on my own shoulders.

Ministry was always a mixed bag of motivations for me. Did I truly want to see people change and experience God's love, healing, and grace? Absolutely, but I also would have to admit that I enjoyed the power, prestige, and sadly…the money. As a matter of fact, I am quite sure that the motivation behind more than a few of my ministry pursuits was mainly about a paycheck at least more than it should have been. Again, it's not that I didn't care because I did. Still, God makes it very clear that no one can serve two masters at the same time, and I certainly found that out the hard way. Doing it for the money will leave you with an empty tank every single time!

People often ask me if my blogs are in response to some deep hurt I have experienced. Most of the time I respond no, but I can't say that is completely true. I have been hurt many times, and the scars run deep. Christians are great at putting on a loving countenance and welcoming you with the firm handshake of "Christian" fellowship. BUT, most will not hesitate to drive a knife in your back if deemed "necessary" for the "greater good".

How do I know? Well, I've certainly felt the pain from betrayal and unjust attacks more than once. Still, lest I over play the "poor little me" card, I should note that my own little religious blade is stained with the blood of more than a few wicked "thrusts" of my own.

Indeed, you will find no clean hands here. I've been a killer of my brothers and sisters as much as anyone out there and that saddens me more than I can say.

With that you might care to ask "now what"? What does one do with such revelations?

Well, for me the only choice has been to take it all to Jesus. All the deceit, half-truths, and mixed motives must be dealt with and only Jesus is big enough and strong enough to handle it.

The result: I'm finished.

I absolutely have NO desire to even pick up a rock much less throw it at anyone in my church family (that'd be all of you). All that's left is a desire to follow Christ and pray that He would be so gracious as to allow me to love on others along this journey. By the way, I say that with fear and trembling realizing my own capacity for stupidity and foolishness! Truly I realize that apart from Him, I can do squat!

I pray (by God's grace), that I never again write anything for my own glory, "shock value", or especially out of bitterness, hurt, or pride.

If I do, you should be so kind as to call me out on it!

If it doesn't come out of a heart of love and a sincere desire to help my brothers and sisters, I will not type the first letter. Now, that does not mean I will not write something you may disagree with, but I can assure you it will not happen unless I am convinced it is bathed in love and has been covered with prayer.

Again, I am finished with my little "sack of rocks". It is quite heavy and not at all stylish for a man of God to carry!

So, what about this little blog of mine and all my past jargon? Well, I started to delete the whole thing and just be done with it, but I'm still pondering that possibility. Part of me wants to leave it up as a reminder to me of what I don't want to be and of all that God has taught me. Again, it's not that I disagree with most of what I shared, it's just that so little of it was written in love and that disturbs me.

So if you have any wisdom to share with me regarding this decision, I'd be grateful to hear your opinion.

With that, I am simply waiting. Waiting to hear from God and praying for the courage to follow His leading. As of now, I have no desire to seek out a church. This is not due to any unresolved inner conflict. Rather, it is just that I really feel that my family and I are where we are supposed to be. That's not to say that I am not open to change. I have submitted to God that I will gladly lock arms with anyone out there He chooses to partner us with. So for now I simply wait, listening and hoping that He who began this good work in me will indeed bring it to completion.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and it is my hope that you will remember my family in your times of prayer.

And if you don't, I will throw a rock at you! (joke)

Ken

WARNING: Quiet Times Can Lead to Extreme….Quiet.

I became a believer (aka Christian) at the tender age of 21. For me, this was no small thing. In fact, it was a very huge thing for sure. I remember a friend of mine relating to me that he almost wrecked his car when he saw me tooling down the road with a flashy "Know Jesus?" tag decorating the front bumper of my '92 Chevy truck. Needless to say, the change in my life was radical and nothing less than completely miraculous.

Now you should know that my salvation experience was completely God led. In other words, I did not enjoy the fine luxury of having someone say, "Ken, pray this prayer." Nope! It was just Ken and Jesus sitting on the back pew of my granny's church doing "business" while the other 12 people in the church (all 60 and older) were doing what good Pentecostal folks do down front (if you don't know what that is, I won't tell you!) Why am I sharing this? Well, I think it is important that I make it clear that I had no "mentors" as I began this journey with the Lord other than the Lord Himself.

Over the course of the next couple of years, Jesus and I got to be pretty good friends. We went everywhere together and shared our days in wonderful fellowship. Yes, I was the guy that looked like he was talking to himself driving down the road, but YOU know better….don't you. Honestly, it was amazing.

A few years after meeting Jesus, I met the gal that would one day become my wife. It was at a Grove Level (a local church) single adult's dinner/listen to Ken sing his songs "thingy". The group had asked me to come and share and I was glad to do so. That same night, my future bride who was in attendance invited me to join a mission trip she was going on to an Indian reservation in Arizona. Apparently, they needed a guitar player and she figured I'd do nicely. What I did not know at the time was that this seemingly innocent invitation from "my lovey" was actually all part of a devious scheme to rope herself a hunky guitar playing man (yes I know I will pay for that one!)

ANYWAY….

Just a few weeks later I found myself in Chinle, Arizona smack in the middle of the Navajo Indian reservation. The camp itself was made up of several tents, a brush arbor type meeting area, and a small building that was used as a kitchen for preparing meals. All of this was located in a grove of trees which provided some wonderful shade (which is very uncommon in that part of the country). The place was really wonderful!

Unfortunately, it was here that I learned something that would drastically impact my relationship with Christ in a very negative way! Let me explain.

Not long after waking up that first morning, we grabbed some breakfast and then received some very unusual instructions (at least to me). We were told that team members should now find a spot somewhere to have our "quiet time".

I thought, "quiet time"? What the heck is a "quiet time"? Now it is at this point I am sure you're thinking, "Ken, don't be dumb dude! You know what a quiet time is!" Sure I do now, but at that time….not a clue!

As a matter of fact, I recall asking someone (possibly my girl) what a "quiet time" was. Unfortunately, this person was gracious enough to explain this great mystery to me. Why did I say "unfortunately"? Well, "unfortunately" this thing we call a "quiet time" really screwed me up! What had up to this time been a great relationship with Jesus quickly turned into a hoop jumping checklist of religious jargon!

You see all of the sudden I actually began to believe that I had been "doing it" all wrong. Here I had been walking and talking, and sharing my life with Jesus throughout every part of my day when actually I was supposed to be setting aside a "special time" for Jesus! I mean after all, these were seasoned Christians who knew their stuff. I had only been a Christian a few short years. They had sat under real pastors and heard real sermons and stuff. Me? I was going to a wee little Pentecostal church with a handful of elderly people who obviously didn't know jack about "real" Christianity. No, I had not "arrived", but I was definitely on my way….YAY!!!!!

I know it is sad to think that I would be sooooooo clueless, but alas it was so. Thus began my practice of limiting my time spent with Jesus to this all so very blessed "quiet time". Actually, it really made sense! After all, He probably didn't have time to fool with me all day long anyway. There were lots of people out there and He was probably a very busy God! The great part was that this was only the beginning for me! Soon I learned many other valuable "aspects" (aka rules) of living a "real" Christian life such as the importance of never missing "church", tithing a strict ten percent (regardless of my ability to pay up), being devoted to Sunday School, and possibly most important of all, attending Tuesday night visitation!

Yes sir, over time I began to understand why we had a "quiet time". Why with all these other fine activities, who actually had any "extra time" to talk with Jesus? Not me! From there, it got even better! I began teaching classes I wasn't qualified to teach, serving on committees I didn't understand or enjoy, and doing everything the pastor guy guilted.…I mean "encouraged" me to participate in. I even enjoyed the all so special "you can drive the church van" privilege!

Oh yes, I was quickly shaping up to be one heck of a religious guy and to think it all started with learning about the treasure of having a "quiet time". Lucky me!

Oh and by the way, it didn't take me too long to figure out why they're called "quiet times". Whoever said, "silence is golden", needs a good slapping!

(End sarcasm)

My point:

Look, I know lots of you out there participate in these activities and do so with pure intentions. I too set aside special times with God. Please know that I am only relating how having a wrong focus impacted MY own life.

So, is it wrong to set aside a special time with God? Absolutely not! Again, I do so myself. We all live busy lives and I understand we all are doing the best we can, BUT consider this:

Should we really believe that the God of the universe who created us for fellowship and gave us His precious Spirit is content with being a part of just a portion of our lives? Also, do we honestly use that same approach with the other relationships we hold dear in our lives such as those with our spouses, our children, and our friends?

I think not. I can't imagine my wife would be okay with such an "arrangement". My wife wants to share life with me (at least I think she does) not just a portion of it, all of it. And I have to believe God, is no different!

Jesus came that we might have life, His life. Apart from that life, we just exist. To engage in fellowship with Him partially is to only partially live. I don't know about you, but living life as some kind of spiritual zombie (you know sort of alive, but not really) is not my idea of living!

The bottom line is this: No religious activity in the world can do anything to change you or give you life.

Religious activity only has value if it is an expression of the overflow of God's love and presence in our lives. If it is being utilized to give us a sense of significance or even worse as a cheap substitute for a true relationship with God, it is worthless!

It's really the whole "cart before the horse" scenario". For me, setting my focus on the cart (aka the religious stuff) caused me to lose sight of who was really making this whole deal work and move forward in my life. And as you know, carts were never designed to pull horses. They are fully dependent upon the horse before their true value can be realized. Confused yet? Yes, I suppose I'm being wee bit too metaphorical at this point. Still, I hope you get what I'm really saying here. Doing stuff for and in the name of God can never replace having a relationship with Him. We start with Him, let Him lead, and trust that the "stuff" we "do" is the result of our love for Him and more importantly His for us.

So, go ahead and have your "quiet time" with God, just don't ever lose sight of the fact that He is always with you and wants very much

To be a part

Of every part

Of your life!