What if true salvation is realizing that I am the glory of God? Isn't that what Paul is hinting at in Romans: "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"? Or in other words: Everyone has missed the mark (to sin) on what it means to be truly human, everyone is lacking the glory of God. It seems our predicament is/was not our inability to give God glory, but our inability to relax and 'just' be God's glory.
What if all my attempts to give God the glory (through singing worship songs and serving him and stuff) are actually keeping me away from this deep unity/oneness the Father desires with his child?
What if God doesn't want/need me to give him the glory? What if he just longs for the day in which I realize that I am his glory?
And what if that is not pride, but true humility?
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
More on Hell
What if the belief in hell is actually creating a hell; a seperation between "saved" and "unsaved" people, as well as between God and "unsaved" people? What if the idea that some people are disposable is a pretty hellish one? What if not seeing people the way God sees them is hell (seperation, darkness)?
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Predestined to what?
What if in the New Testament being 'chosen' or 'predestined' or 'the elect' does not so much refer to holding a valid ticket to heaven, as it does to being picked out in order to be a blessing to God and to people? What if Christianity's failure is the same as that of Israel: We still don't get that we're chosen, not for our individual gain (personal salvation), but in order to be a blessing to the world?
What if being "a chosen people, a royal priesthood" does not seperate us from and elevate us over our neighbor? But instead it unites us with them, as we join them in their mess, the same mess that we came from, helping them up into a loving relationship with Father? Isn't that what Jesus did and still does? What if he continues to come alongside people, even in the place of the dead (Hades) to which he holds the keys? What if (his)"love never fails" and never gives up?
What if there can't be an eternal bliss for the elect in heaven (in this life and after), while people are still suffering in whatever hell they are in (in this life and after)? What if the shepherd doesn't rest until all his sheep are safe?
What if being "a chosen people, a royal priesthood" does not seperate us from and elevate us over our neighbor? But instead it unites us with them, as we join them in their mess, the same mess that we came from, helping them up into a loving relationship with Father? Isn't that what Jesus did and still does? What if he continues to come alongside people, even in the place of the dead (Hades) to which he holds the keys? What if (his)"love never fails" and never gives up?
What if there can't be an eternal bliss for the elect in heaven (in this life and after), while people are still suffering in whatever hell they are in (in this life and after)? What if the shepherd doesn't rest until all his sheep are safe?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Freedom from fear & shame
What if we, in western Christianity, don't understand anymore what it really means for Jesus to forgive our sins? What if it's not just about a 'Ticket to Heaven' or a 'Hell-Free Card'? What if for Jesus, when he walked this earth, forgiving people their sins used to be all about freeing them from the bondage of shame which seperated them from Father (ie. the paralyzed man in Luke 5)? What if "Do not be afraid" and "your sins are forgiven" were some of the most spoken words of our big brother? What if it really is fear and shame that keep us away from a loving relationship with Father? What if sin is this seperation caused by fear and shame? What if, trying to manage our own sin, we get sucked deeper and deeper into it by fear and shame? Would it be enough to just deal with the sin? Or do we need to allow Jesus to deal with the root of it: fear and shame? What if religion is just using fear and shame for its advantage, instead of, like Jesus, removing the burden of it? What if I can live in a loving relationship with Father without fear and shame?
Monday, February 21, 2011
One II
What if every one of us is really made in the image of God? What if His DNA is flowing through every person? What if we have never left oneness with our creator? What if the problem of humanity is not that God, because of our sin, is distant from us, but that our sense of shame and focus on our selves has convinced us of this lie (I have to hide; I'm not good enough, not worthy)? What if this perceived distance is what kills us spiritually, unplugging us from the source of life? What if Jesus' message is that of the loving Father who just wants to share everything with us, and not that of the untouchable, highly exalted king, way up there on the throne, somewhere in heaven, wherever that is...? What if Jesus' life-giving spirit is awakening/bringing back to life our spirit, dealing with our shame, and opening our eyes to the truth that we're one with the one who created us to be one with Him (not seperate; not up there and down here; not servant and king; not big God and little human)? What if so many of our 'worship songs' are full with lies about God being distant?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Born again
What if being 'born again' (or 'born from above') is only mentioned twice in the bible? Yet it has become the central doctrine of modern day Christianity.
What if Jesus was using this term to show Nicodemus that he had to die to his religious ways and become spiritually alive? What if this term is no where used in the bible for a heathen repenting of their sin?
What if today Jesus would talk most likely to a 'born again Christian' about the need of really being born again?
What if Jesus was using this term to show Nicodemus that he had to die to his religious ways and become spiritually alive? What if this term is no where used in the bible for a heathen repenting of their sin?
What if today Jesus would talk most likely to a 'born again Christian' about the need of really being born again?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Blood sacrifice...God or Shame?
What if God wasn't the one who demanded a blood sacrifice from us?
(What if Genesis 3:21 doesn't talk about God killing animals and clothing Adam and Eve with the fur? What if He 'clothed' them in skin, their own human skin?)
What if it was our shame that first drove people to sacrifice animals?
What if all of Israel had gone up Mt. Sinai, instead of fearing the fire and asking Moses to mediate?
Wasn't it human shame that asked for the law? Wasn't it the law that demanded sacrifices?
What if Jesus gave his life not to appease an angry God, but to appease (fulfill) the law that was put into place by popular demand?
What if that sacrifice really did once and for all deal with ALL our shame?
(What if Genesis 3:21 doesn't talk about God killing animals and clothing Adam and Eve with the fur? What if He 'clothed' them in skin, their own human skin?)
What if it was our shame that first drove people to sacrifice animals?
What if all of Israel had gone up Mt. Sinai, instead of fearing the fire and asking Moses to mediate?
Wasn't it human shame that asked for the law? Wasn't it the law that demanded sacrifices?
What if Jesus gave his life not to appease an angry God, but to appease (fulfill) the law that was put into place by popular demand?
What if that sacrifice really did once and for all deal with ALL our shame?
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Good News
What if the Good News (the gospel) is not: "Repent, become a Christian, then your sins will be forgiven and you'll get a ticket to (assurance of) heaven."?
But: "Don't be afraid. Your sins are forgiven. Your Father loves you. You don't have to try to manage your shame anymore, it's been dealt with. Come now from death into life."?
What if differentiating between 'christian' and 'non-christian' is just putting people into a box again, playing a stupid 'us vs. them' game, that is keeping people from experiencing the Father's love? What if that's not God's heart at all?
What if He really is the Father of all who with outstretched arms is running towards all of us?
What if His outstretched arms even reach into the place of the dead (Hades/Sheol), to which, by the way, Jesus is supposed to hold the keys?
But: "Don't be afraid. Your sins are forgiven. Your Father loves you. You don't have to try to manage your shame anymore, it's been dealt with. Come now from death into life."?
What if differentiating between 'christian' and 'non-christian' is just putting people into a box again, playing a stupid 'us vs. them' game, that is keeping people from experiencing the Father's love? What if that's not God's heart at all?
What if He really is the Father of all who with outstretched arms is running towards all of us?
What if His outstretched arms even reach into the place of the dead (Hades/Sheol), to which, by the way, Jesus is supposed to hold the keys?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Judgement
What if it is just not true that people have to make a decision for Jesus before they physically die here on earth, otherwise they are faced with eternal damnation? What if the sentence in Hebrews "...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,..." doesn't mean that at all?
What if judgement (krisis in the greek) is actually a good thing? What if this judgement, this crisis, actually will bring many, many people to their knees and ultimately into the arms of their loving father?
What if judgement (krisis in the greek) is actually a good thing? What if this judgement, this crisis, actually will bring many, many people to their knees and ultimately into the arms of their loving father?
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