life inside (being offensive)
“It is not enough to rage against the lie, you have to replace it with the truth.”–Bono
Phil. 4:4 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! 5 Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
Phil. 4:6 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. 7 Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Phil. 4:8 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. 9 Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
the Message
Or if you prefer the KJV
Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Holding on to the “truth” is tricky if you look inside the church. The very place it needs to be clear is the very place it becomes muddy. Instead of clarifying the truth we point fingers and value being offensive or tolerant, depending upon your point of view. Both are supposed to bring us to the same end.
The Truth has become relative inside simply because it has been colored by the lie from creation, “did God really say?”
And to add a super twist, even the phrase “did God really say?” has been twisted. Which happens as soon as we separate the word from the speaker.
This is the very thing which causes those outside looking in to think twice before they join us. Then think three times once they do.
an excerpt of a recent email from Matt Slick- CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry)
“Spiritual discernment is lacking in the Christian community. Though there are faithful pastors and Christians who take the word of God seriously, there is an increasing number of Christians who are abandoning the clarity and commands of Scripture and substituting political correctness, feelings, and tolerance for biblical truth and its sometimes difficult revelations. They want to make Christianity more palatable so that the gospel offends no one. But, they fail to realize that the gospel that offends no one is not the gospel of the Bible. Though we are not to purposely offend, in the name of truth offenses will come and we are not to shy away from them.”
In this argument the truth has become an interpretation of words. “clarity and commands of scripture” I like the ministry of Mr Slick but in the current line of thought I respectfully disagree with him.
Like a cat playing with yarn the argument unravels as soon as we shift the emphasis from being and shift it to behavior. In scripture it is called fruit, as in:
Matt. 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matt. 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Fruit:
Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
We extract these verses and point fingers:
Gal. 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But look deeper the very act of finger pointing is singled out in vs 20 factions.
There I go! See how hard it is?
We miss this verse tucked neatly among the others, yet we are so anxious to justify behavior we ignore it.
Gal. 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE.
Prov. 10:12 Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
1Pet. 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
The truth is a man not a collection of facts to be debated. The man is Jesus and Jesus is love in bodily form.
1John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Heb. 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
glad you were welcomed into the world today, lo these few years ago. you have taken that welcome and multiplied to countless others – well doing, sir!