tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60239925034287230502024-02-07T07:03:10.871-06:00Bring the Kingdom....Life. Community. Theology. Culture.Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.comBlogger502125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-1885496513825848602024-01-11T15:02:00.004-06:002024-01-11T15:02:54.938-06:00The Theological Snobbery of Reformed Gnosticism<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQo-3jnYS_O3zwGKVZp3HC3TI1_LntSiELB0b30K5ge2jIFTL1sZnsyAhxiotfRn7iUOL_omyETSdHdZ9ssKvoilAhK4byFMynwN0OyCTLR4LYw3hyCkJWnhG22r3Kn-7hHIO9OBMcrxNg7ZyM8AFybTnPJ5Fy7gNU8NZHiTUvQn1UNFloykvX1xx6JI8/s2048/Pharisee%20Snob.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="2048" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQo-3jnYS_O3zwGKVZp3HC3TI1_LntSiELB0b30K5ge2jIFTL1sZnsyAhxiotfRn7iUOL_omyETSdHdZ9ssKvoilAhK4byFMynwN0OyCTLR4LYw3hyCkJWnhG22r3Kn-7hHIO9OBMcrxNg7ZyM8AFybTnPJ5Fy7gNU8NZHiTUvQn1UNFloykvX1xx6JI8/s320/Pharisee%20Snob.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m learning and discovering that, if you are walking with and growing in Christ, about every 8 to 10 years you will humbly (and often painfully) look back and discover your arrogance and pride. You start looking in the rear view mirror a bit more often.</span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am still attempting to salvage and recover much of the damage caused by the legalism that drove my beliefs and (moreover) my teaching early on in my days of ministry. For many of us who grew up in the evangelical church of the 80s and 90s, there was a very hard foundation of fundamentalism laid underneath us. What you believed did not matter nearly as much as what you wore, what you drank (or that you didn’t drink), what you watched or listen to, or who you ran with. To put it another way: <b>your faith was much less important than your fruit.</b> But now, in keeping with the common and consistent cultural pattern of 20 to 30 years cycles, I am now seeing a swing of the pendulum to the opposite side. Allow me to explain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the last five years or so, we have seen a drastic shift in our culture toward the tendency to write people off. We’ve even named the tendency. It’s labeled <b><i>Cancel Culture</i></b>. It thinks like this:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If someone disagrees with me or believes something different than I do on any level, my ears are now closed to their voice. If we don’t agree about everything, then we can’t agree about anything. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">That’s essentially the mindset. How I see this impacting and influencing many Christians and the church is <i>most</i> visible in the younger generation — the “twenty-something’s”. There is now a mindset or worldview that says: I’m not really concerned with how you act, what you drink or eat, what you wear, or who you run with. I only care about what you say you believe. <b>I’m not concerned with your fruit, just your faith</b>. And if I don’t agree with you on every level, then my ears are closed. Our conversation is over. You’ve lost any opportunity or ability to sharpen me; you can only distract or dull my faith. <b><i>Cancel Culture</i> has made its way into the church.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you believe something different about baptism, then we’re not going to break bread.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If your interpretation of spiritual gifts is different than mine, then I’m not interested in the bond of the Spirit.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is an arrogance of belief that I’ve apparently figured out some things — I’ve gained a knowledge — that you’ve either missed, ignored or rejected. It’s a modern-day, Reformed version of Gnosticism. As another pastor put it in a conversation the other day: it feels like “theological snobbery.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Do you grasp the impossibility of true and deeper knowledge of God leading to prideful disdain for others? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am praying for the Lord to ignite a supernatural fire of repentance that burns this spirit to the ground. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Are you open to this?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you’re 25-ish, you know everything. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not really, but you feel like you do. You think you do. I sure did. And you wonder how so many others around you are so ignorant. How do they even manage to even tie their shoes? And then…you get a little older.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you’re 35-ish, you start realizing you don’t know everything. You even start to wonder if you were possibly wrong about 1 or 2 things. (Only 1 or 2, though.) You begin entertaining the idea that you could still learn a thing or two. And then…you get a little older. And a little wiser.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you’re 45-ish, you now very likely — through the sorrow and suffering life brings — have been crushed by the Lord into a fine powder, taken into his hands, spit upon, and begun to be molded and shaped into an unrecognizable shadow of yourself. You know you don’t know everything. In fact, there is way more you still have to learn than you have to lecture. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">YOU still have more to learn than you have to lecture.</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Young friend: the world is not as black and white as you see it right now. I promise.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let me be clear: There are eternal truths that do not change. The Word of God stands. The Lord does not waver or falter. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, died for our sin, rose again and defeated death, and is coming again to make all things new. His Spirit has come to live within us and affirm that we belong to him. Some things do not change.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m not saying that what you believe about baptism, the rapture, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, deacons, tithing, or any other theological tenet necessarily needs to change. But <i>what must change is your tendency to write everyone off that doesn’t think or believe what you believe.</i> <b>What must change - what must grow in each of us - is our propensity to listen before we lecture.</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">”For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.“ <b>Romans 12:3</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">”But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.“ <b>James 4:6-7</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">”Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus...“ <b>Philippians 2:3-5</b></span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-85979010515515982922023-09-19T16:32:00.000-05:002023-09-19T16:32:46.364-05:00Intimidation vs. Inspiration<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdGbNgbKLrkInsWdXFgRnzElS5wNmFSzdu6QK5PtoPxK6zSHf7Ef0kQWj5JzhPp7SEQBKEInS7Ku8Z5oOwOJv2_AxdxR132P0XrWcHEiw7EBODR9T0lZol5vR-GNS7g9Hq6ozyOgSDmARyVqkjNmFYCWTKCq62khTK-pJ8qmZ2so2VdG83PAoQ626NF3j/s592/Intimidation%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdGbNgbKLrkInsWdXFgRnzElS5wNmFSzdu6QK5PtoPxK6zSHf7Ef0kQWj5JzhPp7SEQBKEInS7Ku8Z5oOwOJv2_AxdxR132P0XrWcHEiw7EBODR9T0lZol5vR-GNS7g9Hq6ozyOgSDmARyVqkjNmFYCWTKCq62khTK-pJ8qmZ2so2VdG83PAoQ626NF3j/s320/Intimidation%202.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Leaders, teachers, bosses, coaches, managers:</span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">What’s your goal with those you’re leading?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Do your methods of influence reflect that goal?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">What do you really want for and from those you are leading?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Intimidation and punishment will usually only modify behavior. At best.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Discipline and inspiration change us internally - stir our minds and hearts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stir someone's heart - change someone's mind - and their behavior will change as well. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Do you simply want behavior to change? Or the person to be transformed?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Intimidation is almost always a symptom or sign of fear and insecurity.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yelling at an employee for making a mistake may modify their behavior and give an outlet for expressing your anger, but it most certainly won't inspire them to grow or be stretched. It will do the opposite. They will cower and shrink back. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Screaming at an athlete and punishing them for striking out or throwing an interception or missing a free throw doesn't teach them, encourage them, or inspire them. It just causes them to fear the next time they strike out, throw an interception, or miss a free throw. That kind of fear doesn't motivate us; it paralyzes us. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I asked the question: What do you really want for and from those you are leading?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Maybe the first question should be: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Do I want <i>anything</i> <b><i>for</i></b> the person? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Or do I just want something <b><i>from</i></b> them?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wanting something <i>from</i> someone produces laziness. Laziness breeds coersion.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wanting something <i>for</i> someone produces leadership. Leadership offers inspiration!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Want to inspire someone? Teach them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Want to motivate someone? Encourage them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Want to lead someone? Show them how it's done and stand behind them. </span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-35306117639957920612023-02-23T10:27:00.003-06:002023-02-23T10:27:28.405-06:00He Freed Me From All My Fears<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrrfpL6jAjAIr4CkKnSTdm_b8msk13x3OW1Z8PLVH4UVkVvc6gEoGDzmqJ995awn3cqkJon449w9zaweW7ON4MXWVyrW24I1sbI4CuYOAFIhC_dXL2EvWZrtk0TF-7rtrr10DiRsyCA4XswMNUai780xDxlb8RoAuqMKQjpaSGX1MbqphiU5s4NQq5A/s900/IMG_4328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrrfpL6jAjAIr4CkKnSTdm_b8msk13x3OW1Z8PLVH4UVkVvc6gEoGDzmqJ995awn3cqkJon449w9zaweW7ON4MXWVyrW24I1sbI4CuYOAFIhC_dXL2EvWZrtk0TF-7rtrr10DiRsyCA4XswMNUai780xDxlb8RoAuqMKQjpaSGX1MbqphiU5s4NQq5A/s320/IMG_4328.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was reading Psalm 34 today and something struck me. David wrote this Psalm during the time that he pretended to be crazy so that Abimelech would consider him harmless and send him away. David, the anointed King of the Most High God, was very much alone. He probably felt overwhelming loneliness, abandonment, isolation, betrayal, and now his reputation and pride were seriously in question. As he reflected on this time of great uncertainty, he wrote these words:</span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">You could paraphrase David as saying: "People think I'm crazy. Many of my own people have turned their backs on me. I'm in a strange land among my enemies. Everything I know that is comfortable and familiar are a distant memory. But you know what? God is good! He is <i>always</i> good! And nothing will stop me from proclaiming his goodness. He has rescued me once again."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">How seldom do I have that kind of perspective?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">While these first 3 verses spoke loudly to me today, it was the next verse - verse 4 - that spoke deeply. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">David now says:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">From <i>all</i> my fears! <i>All</i> of them. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>FEAR</b>. <i>What is it?</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">A feeling of dread? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">A deceiving emotion?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The realization that what I've been worshiping (other than God) has finally failed me?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes. All of the above. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">That's one kind of fear. That's the fear that the Lord delivered David from.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">You know how he delivered him from that fear? With another kind of fear.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Back to Psalm 34. Look at verses 7-10:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who <b><i>fear</i></b> him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, <b><i>fear</i></b> the Lord, you his saints, for those who <b><i>fear</i></b> him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">David feared. Feared for his life. Feared for his reputation. Feared the disapproval of man. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">David was freed from that fear when he remembered: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"The Lord is good. The Lord delivers. The Lord redeems. The Lord provides."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous. The Lord is near the brokenhearted."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">David's son, Solomon, would go on to say: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">He was right. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">And the fear of the Lord defeats the fear of man.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The fear of the Lord finds joy and hope, even while the emotion of fear is raging. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reverence for the Lord crushes fear.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Perfect love drives out all fear. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whatever you’re facing, know that “the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. And he delivers them!” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you want to taste and see the goodness of God…take refuge in him. Seek him. Those who seek him lack no good thing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Because he is good! He is <i>always</i> good! </span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-13858145111307306572022-12-15T15:14:00.001-06:002022-12-15T15:14:19.236-06:00The Pronouns of Depravity<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCyqCZmbJYFHARQa6kEcSqbmEfP5jOnmsSKJjEB6vgMjIvlkWgPpLAvX8hyTXQx6zoByUnEaIAyg9Smi_iLQLc4VC8wvISr8uONMpNRfHhOqruN8bwceFdvV4v2dYkXdGEr2vLgaFdkBjpeNnTY0AG7ZJQm72jch34xllWbZrhs8a_RJ7A4APg42m4w/s3238/Enoch%20Burke.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2159" data-original-width="3238" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCyqCZmbJYFHARQa6kEcSqbmEfP5jOnmsSKJjEB6vgMjIvlkWgPpLAvX8hyTXQx6zoByUnEaIAyg9Smi_iLQLc4VC8wvISr8uONMpNRfHhOqruN8bwceFdvV4v2dYkXdGEr2vLgaFdkBjpeNnTY0AG7ZJQm72jch34xllWbZrhs8a_RJ7A4APg42m4w/s320/Enoch%20Burke.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Enoch Burke, a teacher at Wilson's Hospital School (part of the Church of Ireland's private school system) has been arrested. Burke was told by the principal that he should no longer refer to one of his students with masculine pronouns, but with feminine ones. He refused. Because of his refusal, an Irish court banned him from the premises of the school. When he showed up the next day to teach his class, he was arrested. He is now in jail - and will remain there over Christmas - unless he chooses to recant.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Allow me to state this in plain English: <b>A teacher is in jail because he refused to call a boy by a girls pronoun. </b>He refused to call a he, "she".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I know we shouldn't be surprised. We were warned it was coming. But I guess much like the Messiah was foretold - when Christ finally came many did not realize that he was the one prophesied - we read the warning but didn't realize the depth or the magnitude of what it would look like. <i>Who could have or would have dreamed up or imagined this level of shear lunacy?</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's remember the warning Paul gave us in Romans 1:18-27. Please take a moment to read his words:</span></p><p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who <i><b>by their unrighteousness suppress the truth</b></i>. For <i>what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them</i>. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but <i>they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened</i>. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because <i>they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator</i>, who is blessed forever! Amen.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are not many things God has made more obvious in all of Creation than his intent and design between man and woman. The anatomy, physiology, biology, and even chemistry fit together like a 2-piece puzzle for a toddler to put together. "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27) This is the debate we've been having for the last several decades, permeating the culture and attempting to invade the church. Is homosexuality a sin? But over the last decade, that question, controversy, and debate almost seem like child's play. We've now entered an era of children - not adults, but children - making the decision to change their sex. To be clear, Paul told us that many would "by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." He said they would "exchange the truth for a lie." I guess I naively thought it would be over deceptive, unclear things. I assumed this water would be really muddy, not crystal clear. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was wrong.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Many believe this issue begins with our feelings. There are boys who feel like girls and girls who feel like boys. Nevermind that many of them feel this way because their progressive parents have supplanted the idea in their head, or worse yet, literally dressed them up as the opposite sex. Children who are not old enough to drive, vote, drink alcohol, pick up their own prescription, or even hit puberty are now being given the right - many times forced into the decision - to change their sex. Kids are allowed to determine what and how a teacher can refer to them. Yes, this is complete lunacy. It would be outright laughable if it wasn't so completely detestable. And yet, here we are. Right where Paul said we would be. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Please consider this: The issue does not begin with your feelings. It begins with whether or not you believe God's Word to be the TRUTH. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We're not talking about complex issues of eschatology or the hypostatic union of Christ or the Trinity. We're talking about believing that the Creator of all things knew what he was doing when he made a male a male and a female a female. He did that. His choice. His design. "...male and female he created them." We don't get to VETO the design of the one, true, magnificent Creator. We're not given the option to circumvent our Maker; only submit and surrender.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">To repeat myself: The issue does not begin with our feelings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are days where and when a woman doesn't feel loved by her husband. She finds herself fighting off feeling like finding someone else to make her feel special. She may even be tempted to cheat - to commit adultery. <i>Does this make her an adulterer? Should she listen to her feelings? </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Someone, somewhere out there today, is going to get angry. Really angry! And he's going to be so angry that he even has a thought of doing something to harm the person who made him angry. He feels like making someone pay for what they've said and done. For a split second...he thinks about murder. <i>Does this make him a murderer? Should he listen to his feelings?</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">A teacher in Ireland will very likely be sitting in jail this Christmas, away from his family, not because he stole something or wounded someone or committed a crime. No. He's in jail because a boy feels like a girl. And the adults in his life don't love him and/or fear the Creator enough to tell him the truth. Enoch Burke is in jail because he fears and reveres the Creator more than his creation. He's in jail because he said what we all know to be true: a boy is a boy. He is a HE. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">"...male and female he (God) created them."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I pray that you refuse to exchange the truth for a lie. It's only in the TRUTH that we we will actually find the freedom we're so desperately searching for. </span></p>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-20802205992229210482022-07-01T17:08:00.000-05:002022-07-01T17:08:09.653-05:00Roe v. Wade: How Should We Respond?<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIwEgxaw9p20FY69u_qY1fcXMhrqheFMhdK8wnNRkNXJF3UAZIY4N9HR5BhWpaFv048-03Vx9GKFzEZev3Q4us07mweV6NASsmy9sJQ59fB6eQiNYjIIuhqm7GitEsdmXWtDkIvTVsVQTLj22Wnf1lLa1MdXRx-QHK4PIErGaykUi2Df_i5Rqm13rDA/s590/Abortion.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="590" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIwEgxaw9p20FY69u_qY1fcXMhrqheFMhdK8wnNRkNXJF3UAZIY4N9HR5BhWpaFv048-03Vx9GKFzEZev3Q4us07mweV6NASsmy9sJQ59fB6eQiNYjIIuhqm7GitEsdmXWtDkIvTVsVQTLj22Wnf1lLa1MdXRx-QHK4PIErGaykUi2Df_i5Rqm13rDA/s320/Abortion.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I'm sure you're aware, last week the Supreme Court of the United States of America overturned Roe v. Wade. In a majority vote, SCOTUS ruled that it is not a constitutional right for a woman to have an abortion. It is now left up to each State to determine and enforce their own abortion laws. This was an incredibly momentous victory on behalf of protecting the unborn and advocating for life. While this ruling is unquestionably something to celebrate, I believe it should lead us - the Church - to prayerfully consider how we are to respond in this moment. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: verdana;">To put it to a question: </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: verdana;">What should we do as a result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade?</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">First off, this is a pivotal moment for the people of God to become the greatest advocates and strongest participants in the foster system. No one should be more present and active in adopting and fostering children than the Church. While we are not all capable or able to adopt or foster a child, we have a wealth of resources and opportunities to come alongside those who can and do. There are countless ways we can support those who are opening up their homes and lives for the sake of the orphan. If we want more and more women to eliminate abortion from the list of options, there has to be a rising tide - maybe a flood is a better description - of Jesus followers who are ready, willing, and able to adopt.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let me say it this way:<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> If you are anti-abortion, then you are pro-adoption.</strong></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As of 2017 statistics, over 92.33% of the women who had an abortion listed "No reason (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">elective</em>)" as the determining factor in aborting their baby. In other words, very often it is simply an inconvenience. [Further statistics show that .065% of abortions are from the woman's life being in danger, .288% are because of the woman's physical health being threatened, .666% were from a fetal abnormality, and 6.268% were due to social or economic reasons.] I share this with you for 2 reasons. The first is to expose that over 92% of the time, abortion is a decision of convenience. Or inconvenience, whichever way you choose to look at it. The second reason I share this with you is to assure you that standing in the gap - caring for the orphan - is an inconvenience.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This summer we will be affirming 3 new deacons at The Brook. One of those deacons will be Sara Couch, whose husband Matt is already one of our current deacons. Matt and Sara are a vital part of our worship team, and host/lead one of our Missional Communities. As experienced foster parents themselves over the last several years, we have asked Matt and Sara to lead our efforts to effectively serve all of our foster and adoptive families and to help us cultivate new ways of serving the foster and adoptive community in our city. I do not believe these things are all happening simultaneously by accident or coincidence. This is clearly the Lord's timing.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I've touched on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">what</em> we can and should be doing as the Body of Christ, allow me to close by addressing <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">how</em> we should be responding to this watershed moment in our culture. To put it simply, as Jesus has called us to be salt and light to the world around us, the only way to accomplish this is through understanding our own brokenness and seeing the lost world around us through the loving eyes of the Father. While social media or TV will show you the extremes (there are most certainly people out there who are completely driven by evil and darkness), most women who ever contemplate the horror of abortion are consumed by shame, guilt, embarrassment, loneliness, and fear. Hate and anger will not drive them to the Lord. Only the love of God manifested in and through the people of God will overcome darkness. So, these are not days to boast or gloat, but to walk in humility and grace. May we walk and live as Jesus did.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. But he also did not overlook her sin. He told her, "Go and sin no more."</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus did not condemn the Samaritan woman at the well. But he also did not pretend that her empty pursuit for hope and peace would eventually pay off. He showed her and told her where to find living water!</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Friends, it's time our PRO-LIFE stance become way bigger and bolder than simply being ANTI-ABORTION. If we are going to be truly pro-life, then our own lives will be interruptible. We will most certainly be "inconvenienced." But this is the worship our Lord is looking for.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In describing true fasting and worship, God said, "Is it not to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">bring the homeless poor into your house</em>; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own family? <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Then</em> shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">take away the yoke</em> from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">pour yourself out </em>for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">then</em> shall your light rise from the darkness..." (Isaiah 58:6-10) [italics mine]</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Join me in crying out to our Heavenly Father:</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lord, please open our eyes and break our hearts, that we might be willing to be poured out for those who need you. Make our lives interruptible; living sacrifices for the sake of the gospel. Your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm grateful for you and I'm praying for you today. May the Lord transform the world around us as we live intentionally to bring His Kingdom everywhere we go!</span></span></p>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-43779682232185523942022-02-03T10:41:00.002-06:002022-02-03T10:41:41.081-06:00Hurt By the Church<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBQaTDi6pqIOTAn92VPwA4AjVQkRpZnNN6zdRu8uRZyVgJ2c73859Lq7yLAnikyQwlxu2HKwkXPJTsahUAGggnEl07OYHTpqOYv4hGNe2mWtfg_Tdo7D1uqzLMd1ktx4Dzb3r6SweeXbuJJBJ2XysdCVlWoltLLAzQvHpYST07kp3QHG9l4y0kTCIlgw=s1536" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1536" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBQaTDi6pqIOTAn92VPwA4AjVQkRpZnNN6zdRu8uRZyVgJ2c73859Lq7yLAnikyQwlxu2HKwkXPJTsahUAGggnEl07OYHTpqOYv4hGNe2mWtfg_Tdo7D1uqzLMd1ktx4Dzb3r6SweeXbuJJBJ2XysdCVlWoltLLAzQvHpYST07kp3QHG9l4y0kTCIlgw=w320-h180" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the years I’ve had numerous conversations with people who said these words: I’ve been hurt by the church. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">While some folks made this statement in a counseling session where deep wounds and hurts were possibly being shared, others have actually been very casual, in a conversation at the gym or even simply in passing. When someone made this comment to me most recently (just a few weeks ago) for some reason it was like someone shoved a stick in the spokes of my bike. It stopped me dead in my tracks. Some very clear thoughts flooded my mind and I felt I needed to share them.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first thing that needs to be communicated is that I fully and firmly believe there are individuals, couples, and even families who have been wounded by people, pastors, groups, and decisions made within the church. Groups have been so exclusive that new families could never find their way in. Pastors have misused their authority and acted more like King Herod than King Jesus. Theological differences have been expressed as dogma and isolated people to the point that they felt pushed out. I could go on and on, but the fact remains: people have been hurt <i>in</i> the church. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's imperative that we key in on that last statement. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">SIDENOTE: I get really hung up on words. So much so, many close to me might even say I <i>obsess</i> over them. Words can be like a scalpel or a bulldozer; two very different tools for very different uses and purposes. You better choose the right one. Back to the point.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Every single time I have had this feeling or experience shared with me, it has been expressed with the words: I've been hurt <i>by</i> the church. Here's why this statement and idea can be so detrimental and destructive, both to the churches being referenced and the individuals who feel they've been wounded: the Church didn't hurt you. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>The Church is the Body of Christ. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Granted, the Church (and the local churches through which it is expressed) is made up of people. Fallible, sinful people. Those people often make mistakes, make self-centered decisions, and put themselves first. People hurt people. Even in the church. Pastors and priests have abused church members. Congregations have split over utterly minuscule disagreements, leaving many members in shock and confusion. The list of circumstances is much longer than any of us would like to admit. People are hurt in the church all the time. And maybe you're one of those people. If so, I hope to encourage you with some thoughts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">People are hurt in dating relationships all the time as well. A boyfriend doesn't listen to the word, "No." A girlfriend convinces herself it's OK to cheat. Someone goes to dinner expecting a possible greater commitment, only to be told, "This isn't working out. It's not you; it's me." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">OUCH! You can almost feel the dagger going through your heart. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In this instance, dating didn't hurt you; your boyfriend did. The "institution" of dating didn't break its commitment; your girlfriend did. And while it may take weeks or months - possibly even years - to come to the point that you feel like you can open yourself back up, become vulnerable, and begin dating again, you eventually tell yourself to get back on the horse, get back in the game, stick your neck and your heart out there and date again. It's what you do. You're a little fearful. You wonder how it's going to go. But you know it's worth it. And eventually, you date again.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>The Church is not your boyfriend. The Church is the Body of Christ.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Someone or something in your church may have hurt you in the past. Many have been there. When I was still fairly young in ministry, I dropped the ball with a few things I'd been asked to do. The way those "over me" handled the situation left me hurt, embarrassed, and even bitter for quite some time. A year later it took a shouting match on the side of the road between me and the Lord for me to leave those wounds at the Cross and turn them over to Him. But I knew from the outset, the Church didn't hurt me; those individuals did. I didn't leave or divorce the local church. That was never an option. Through the mercy and grace of God - through the power of the gospel - the Lord healed those wounds. And He's used them in my own heart and life to pay close attention to how I disciple, lead, affirm, and even rebuke those that the Lord has called me to shepherd. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>I am part of the Body of Christ. And if you are a follower of Christ, so are you. Divorce is not an option.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't know how long the wound has festered or the hurt has been hardening in your heart, but I exhort and admonish you today: come back! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>If you forsake the bride, you are rejecting the bridegroom.</b> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus says, "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." Right now, the Bride of Christ is crying out to the Lord, "Come, Lord Jesus!" It's a corporate groaning and longing for all things to be made new. I encourage you today: Come. Come and find your place in the Body of Christ and join the cry that is going to ring through eternity: "Come, Lord Jesus!" </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Christ loves the Church. He gave His life for her. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We are the Body of Christ. We are the Church. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">May our love for one another show a lost world the love of the Savior!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Come, Lord Jesus!"</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-16858174133106705032021-09-23T14:25:00.000-05:002021-09-23T14:25:57.907-05:00The Fruit of Forgiveness<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBg1AlEBS7L_a2JeIVo-C3Qx1ISWyYEr1EBojGTzT8P83NnNZHTKFdMIqTRKC97t2B94GwzLunc9GRCdCXnUVA0QKbE57ig86nyg_4cqWH1Q1pAIOJN4ulgwIDM6mjOK74TN-mEglYUrr/s1880/Apple.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1880" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBg1AlEBS7L_a2JeIVo-C3Qx1ISWyYEr1EBojGTzT8P83NnNZHTKFdMIqTRKC97t2B94GwzLunc9GRCdCXnUVA0QKbE57ig86nyg_4cqWH1Q1pAIOJN4ulgwIDM6mjOK74TN-mEglYUrr/s320/Apple.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus said, “I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”</span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Later on he also gave this instruction: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Matthew 5:22-24, 18:15-17</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As the body of Christ it appears that we suck at following these instructions. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We take our grievances to everyone except the one who has wounded or offended us. We gossip and slander. We fail to give the benefit of the doubt. We most certainly don’t give the offender the opportunity to defend himself or make things right. And we now seem to be offended and wounded by just about anything and everything. This is not the way of Christ.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus told the disciples, “The world will know you are my disciples by your love for one another.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Peter said, “Love covers over a multitude of sins.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">John put it very simply: "We love because he first loved us."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Paul told the Corinthians that “love is not easily offended or provoked… Love keeps no record of wrongs.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Love is not easily offended. But we are.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Love keeps no record of wrong. But we do.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following Christ is often manifested in the things you no longer choose to partake in: sexual immorality, drunkenness, idolatry. Those are the "no-brainers." But it’s also about no longer partaking in slander, gossip, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. Those are the hard ones! But that’s what the love of God demands.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Love has hard conversations.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Love realizes that pride is the enemy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The invitation from Jesus is not, "Believe in me," but, "Come, follow me." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Some believe but don't follow. <b>No one follows without believing.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus said, "Go and make things right. Go and seek reconciliation. Go and extend the grace and mercy that you yourself have been extended." Leave your gift at the altar - save your songs for later - and go be reconciled to your brother. This is worship in the sight of the Lord.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>The hard way is to "Go." The easy way is to leave. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pride says, "I've been hurt and wounded and wronged. I'm out. I'm gone."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Humility says, "I will walk across fire to see the Lord restore me to my brother or sister."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Paul said, "Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth." If we make assumptions and don't seek to know the truth, we are essentially rejoicing in wrongdoing. To use a better translation: We are delighting in evil. Ouch.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We must cast off and repent of our desire to curl up with our bitterness. It's not a warm blanket; it's an evil enticement. And it will eat us from the inside out and tear down the Body of Christ. To be clear: <b>Unforgiveness is tearing down the Body of Christ!</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We must do the hard work of going to our brother or sister, bearing our soul and confessing our wounds, and seeking reconciliation, restoration, and forgiveness. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We must cease just believing and actually start following the one who "bore our shame in his body on the tree." He doesn't demand we come. He invites us to follow. He's clear that the road is hard and narrow and runs completely counter to the instincts of our flesh. The road actually leads to death. Our death. Death that leads to new life. New life that bears the beautiful fruit of forgiveness. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I pray that you and I can taste that fruit today.</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-70518890592789611712021-08-13T15:42:00.004-05:002021-08-13T15:42:54.266-05:00The Benefit of the Doubt<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Have you thought about what this means anytime lately?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Have you exercised this judgment recently?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Have you considered this concept at all?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's talk about the meaning of this idiom.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wTAilMXnEqvduJTPj5w8IUQyd-i-3JegfKp2OIrwvbygrKEQPp7nz_pGtSJjntoVvDFHJYNHlogMNUqqYSMAArUKA-uGy0HtHYGtzt1Mwoq_Nvz3amrwCK8lnjnTfdB44DK0aNrbcsvR/s1280/benefit+of+the+doubt.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wTAilMXnEqvduJTPj5w8IUQyd-i-3JegfKp2OIrwvbygrKEQPp7nz_pGtSJjntoVvDFHJYNHlogMNUqqYSMAArUKA-uGy0HtHYGtzt1Mwoq_Nvz3amrwCK8lnjnTfdB44DK0aNrbcsvR/w320-h180/benefit+of+the+doubt.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">benefit of the doubt : </span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #3c4043;">the state of accepting something/someone as honest or deserving of trust</span></b><span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: verdana;"> even though there are reasons for doubt.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #3c4043;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #3c4043;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span data-markholder="true"></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #3c4043;">To </span><b><i><span style="color: #3c4043;">decide</span></i><span style="color: #3c4043;"> that you will believe someone</span></b><span style="color: #3c4043;">, even though you are not sure that what the person is saying is true.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m pretty sure most of us understand the definition and meaning of this phrase. The greater issue today is that fewer people seem to be practicing it. If we hear that someone has said something we disagree with, we don’t go to the person; we simply pass judgment. If a decision is made that we disagree with, rather than seeking to understand why, we rush to condemn. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The well of our grace seems to have run dry. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you’re a Christ-follower, there’s an enormous conflict with this. The one we claim to follow is full of never-ending grace toward us. His mercies are new every morning. His well of grace never runs dry. In fact, it's overflowing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a previous post I wrote 9 years ago I pointed this out:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In Proverbs 18:17, Solomon writes, "Any story sounds true until someone sets the record straight." Hearing this wisdom, isn't it good practice - biblical practice and principle - to "set the record straight", get the facts, go straight to the source before we believe anything? Isn't this a courtesy that we want others to extend to us? Of course it is. We WANT the benefit of the doubt! But for some reason, we often seem to be a whole lot slower to extend it to everyone else.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In Acts 6, Luke writes: "Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food." People were getting saved. And because the early church in Jerusalem was not only rapidly growing, but also multicultural and multilingual, the conditions were ripe for someone to get overlooked. And someone did. The Hellenist widows. And so "...a complaint arose." We quickly discern this word "complaint" to be negative. Mainly because none of us like receiving complaints. But sometimes a complaint - someone pointing out where something isn't right - is necessary. This is one of those cases. But rather than badmouth the Apostles behind their back or gossip about the travesty of someone playing favorites, the Hellenists came straight to the Apostles. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">You know what they did? <b>They gave the benefit of the doubt. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">They chose to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, when they had the option of doing either. They chose to believe that the Apostles might not be aware of this oversight. They decided to look for a solution rather than just point out a problem. And if you go on reading (Acts 6:1-7) you find that the result of this instance of the benefit of the doubt resulted in the first deacons being affirmed in the church. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's ask the Lord to fill us today with as much grace as we've received.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's ask Him to grow those fruits of the Spirit in us like patience and kindness and gentleness.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's give others the benefit of the doubt. Lord knows, it's most certainly been extended to us.</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-79024785616976929102021-01-08T10:05:00.001-06:002021-01-08T10:09:44.684-06:00We Have No Other King<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohyJnwE6MtDi4g9vymvnIcNKvS-y4S3hN-wS1d-oG3qjJrClqSoHY_xRh8KupA3VZJz6A4ifKRrYCg_ivauSf0MhFVHR25fXYoBlLl_DEdZ59dZExPCi2jhm1aEKXj6hILK3CLJCSGSW4/s951/crown3.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="951" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohyJnwE6MtDi4g9vymvnIcNKvS-y4S3hN-wS1d-oG3qjJrClqSoHY_xRh8KupA3VZJz6A4ifKRrYCg_ivauSf0MhFVHR25fXYoBlLl_DEdZ59dZExPCi2jhm1aEKXj6hILK3CLJCSGSW4/s320/crown3.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m lying in bed, unable to sleep, praying for my country. What hits me hard is the realization that I am actually engaging in spiritual battle; engrossed in a war that has ultimately already been won, but is still being fought. It’s a war of kingdoms. Actually, a kingdom and an empire.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">While I know I’m a Gentile, I’m quite certain that I very often live like an Israelite. I know this because in spite of the fact that I am a citizen of heaven, a follower of King Jesus, I’m still in the crowd demanding a king be anointed, crowned, empowered and enthroned. I have a heavenly Father...but my flesh wants a king.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">This world is not my home. This kingdom is not where my first allegiance lies. So, as I lay here this morning in the silence I wonder how many others are asking themselves the same question: Which king am I going to serve? Which battle am I going to fight?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The battle I'm fighting is the evidence of which king I'm living for.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think I often forget that this great country we live in is really still a pretty fresh experiment. That said, I believe it’s one of the greatest civil experiments in history. And yes, millions have fought and bled and died to keep this idea going. But it’s really not about a place. It’s about a principle: freedom. The experiment started because men and women refused to bow any longer to an earthly king. They sold all they had, left all they knew, and bravely broke those chains of bondage. Understanding this, it comes as an even greater shock that <b>many of us have now unknowingly chained ourselves back to the earthly throne that ruled over us not so long ago. We have a heavenly Father, but our flesh still wants a king.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyh2s7xFTufbWxW4Uty46Kr_WPYVLelJWqrZvD2ZzbCyr9nKt5kT3UnakyhAgAPIFSk8w5ACnuXzUdynCx1lNUm7hH9oSjbQoX-S2gFt5dUKgV8kE-fCE18YSbHdmSZOscQkD5NoGdHRTD/s1920/Crown+Kingdom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1920" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyh2s7xFTufbWxW4Uty46Kr_WPYVLelJWqrZvD2ZzbCyr9nKt5kT3UnakyhAgAPIFSk8w5ACnuXzUdynCx1lNUm7hH9oSjbQoX-S2gFt5dUKgV8kE-fCE18YSbHdmSZOscQkD5NoGdHRTD/w640-h274/Crown+Kingdom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is nothing new.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but <i>they have rejected me</i> from being king over them.... And "the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” (1 Samuel 8:6-7, 19-22)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We fled a country with a king. Now...we seem to just call it by another name.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">No matter what side of the fence or the aisle you sit or stand on, <b>if your President is your king, then he is King Saul. It's not about who got your vote; it's about who or what gives you hope</b>. If your hope in this world is in the democratic republic of the United States of America, then make no mistake: Saul is your king.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, we have a duty, responsibility and privilege to vote, to participate, to listen, and to engage. That's what people fought and died for. That's the principle - not the place - that makes America what it is.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">But we also have a calling and command to first seek the Kingdom of God - to first love our brothers and sisters as Christ loved us - to be ministers of reconciliation, not division and condemnation. That's what King Jesus lived, died, and resurrected for.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you don't think there's a tension in the life of a Christ-follower in America, you need to think again. For instance...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As an American, someone fought and died for your right to protest.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As a Christian, our Savior says, "If you want to follow me, you must lay down your rights." Jesus lived and died that you might no longer be a slave to your "rights". </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">That sounds like tension. That sounds like there's a decision to be made.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Paul told the Ephesians: "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." This is the truth of who the people of God should be and what it is we should be doing. But we must understand: <b>When we get consumed with the lusts and loves of this world and we begin to think our hope lies in King Saul, we ultimately wind up wrestling against flesh and blood.</b> We wind up tearing each other down. When we wrestle against flesh and blood, the spiritual forces of evil have distracted us from realizing that the true enemy over this present darkness is getting just what he wants. He wants us to want King Saul. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As Christ-followers, I exhort you that we should listen to Peter's letter to the persecuted and scattered believers as if he was writing directly to us: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." (1 Peter 2:11-12)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This world is not our home. We have a Heavenly Father and a King Eternal. We fix our eyes not on what is temporary, but on those things that will not pass away. We are ministers of reconciliation. Jesus said, “The world will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Friends, the last year has been filled with one season of trial after another. We are all weary. May we all cry out to our King to give us strength, humility, and courage. May we bear one another’s burdens and carry one another during the weariness. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">May we always remember that our only hope is in our crucified and risen Savior.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">And may the anthem ring through our hearts and from our lives: “Glory, glory, <b>we have no other King</b> but Jesus, Lord of all!”</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-81251916767207518202020-11-16T10:44:00.000-06:002020-11-16T10:44:18.352-06:00How Is Socialism Unbiblical?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nxNJ3oujAaTIWf49pqweDkKmzix9SCBGcx2lw_e5zPcFXs5wsALol7TmF6uaxY7to25VeuX8nRdLuOBcrrWybZZ60a8WZ_EIawawKKcaatunKAh4RHWnFpK58d4QhD319GDP2mj0bVfB/s800/jesus-socialist-800x458.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="800" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nxNJ3oujAaTIWf49pqweDkKmzix9SCBGcx2lw_e5zPcFXs5wsALol7TmF6uaxY7to25VeuX8nRdLuOBcrrWybZZ60a8WZ_EIawawKKcaatunKAh4RHWnFpK58d4QhD319GDP2mj0bVfB/w400-h229/jesus-socialist-800x458.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’ve seen this question raised numerous times on several platforms over the last months. Many people, particularly millennials (who are disillusioned with what they perceive to be the greed of corporate America) are wondering why socialism isn’t more received by Christians and the church. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The straightforward question that I've seen posed is: </span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><b>How is Socialism unbiblical?</b></i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’d like to take a few moments and answer that question.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the New Testament Church begins. Listen to Luke's account of what it looked like:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And <b><i>they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need</i></b>. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (italics mine)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This particular scripture is often cited by those who are advocating for Socialism and attempting to come up with a biblical defense for this worldview. The thought is: <i>No one was concerned with holding on to what was their's. They gave freely to one another.</i> And engrained in that very thought is actually the explanation as to why Socialism is in fact not biblical or Christian. Let me explain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In Socialism, the government takes from everyone. But the taking is not equal. The more you earn, work for, own and possess, the more they take from you. That said, they also take from the poor. Then the government "redistributes" equal amounts of wealth among all the people. At least, that's what they would like you to believe. Here's where this is not only fundamentally wrong, but clearly unbiblical and unChristian.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Socialism makes earthly wealth the greatest good</b>. Julie Roys, in her article <i><a href="https://julieroys.com/five-reasons-why-socialism-is-not-christian/">Why Socialism is Not Christian</a></i>, she lays out this fundamental understanding: "To socialists, all that really exists is the material world. In fact, Karl Marx, the father of socialism/communism, invented the notion of dialectical materialism — the belief that matter contains a creative power within itself. This enabled Marx to eliminate the need for a creator, essentially erasing the existence of anything non-material. To socialists, suffering is caused by the unequal distribution of stuff — and salvation is achieved by the re-distribution of stuff. There's no acknowledgment of spiritual issues. There's just an assumption that if everyone is given equal stuff, all the problems in society will somehow dissolve."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"This worldview contradicts Christianity, which affirms the existence of both a material and a non-material world — and teaches that mankind's greatest problems are spiritual. The Bible says the cause of suffering is sin and salvation is found in the cross of Christ, which liberates us from sin. Because of sin, though, there will always be inequalities in wealth."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79hNrFCc3f427sEYtGrRjHRrKVvgfe8AakvRvTQmNtFu4i1l9dwsLEasop_-XPfc7rk2aitS6vykqEcsBEfk2ofRvP3bTlSs5Ut-93z7r4aN45bkAYn2Bx_9LLe-p1TvB9iaVwFqIsyT4/s1280/Why+Socialism+is+Not+Christian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79hNrFCc3f427sEYtGrRjHRrKVvgfe8AakvRvTQmNtFu4i1l9dwsLEasop_-XPfc7rk2aitS6vykqEcsBEfk2ofRvP3bTlSs5Ut-93z7r4aN45bkAYn2Bx_9LLe-p1TvB9iaVwFqIsyT4/w400-h225/Why+Socialism+is+Not+Christian.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Bernie Sanders is a leading proponent of this ideology in today's society. He once posted on social media: “Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.” Here, Sanders is mimicking Karl Marx, who viewed history as a series of class struggles between the rich and the poor – and advocated overthrowing the ruling class. This is in no way biblical or Christian. Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler, "Go sell all you have and then come follow me." Jesus wasn't about seeing classes toppled, but transformed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Lord's response to the inequalities among us is for His Spirit-filled people to care about, give to, and carry the burdens of those around them "as any has need." Speaking in practical terms, if the government takes all my money to "redistribute" it as they see fit, I am robbed of the opportunity and the privilege of living generously. <b>Socialism is actually completely opposed to a life of generosity</b>. And in that way, it robs people of exercising that spiritual gift and obeying that biblical command. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As Roys points out in her article, there are many more reasons why we can clearly call Socialism an unbiblical worldview and ideology. She explains that Socialism punishes virtue, it endorses stealing, it encourages envy and class warfare, and it subversively attempts to undermine (and ultimately destroy) marriages and families. While I know these claims may sound extreme, there's a reason for that: they are. And this is because the end result of Socialism is extreme as well. The logical conclusion of Socialism is Communism. The end result is always mass poverty and authoritarian power. The exact opposite of what it says it advocates.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Aristotle once remarked, “Men start revolutionary changes for reasons connected with their private lives.” If you look closer and dig deeper, you will almost always find that those advocating for Socialism are not only hungry for power, but are themselves hoarding wealth. Karl Marx was a financially irresponsible sponge, who took from others for most of his adult life. Bernie Sanders owns 3 homes and is said to be "worth" over $2 million. You can argue that that's not nearly as wealthy as many other ideologues or politicians. That may be true. But most of those other politicians are not suggesting that they have a right to take what's yours and give it to me as they see fit. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Bible makes it very clear that Socialism is not the way of Christ. And history, economics, and good sense make it very clear that Socialism is a dead end path to misery and authoritarianism. Here are some thoughts and quotes from some folks who are smarter than me. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." – Winston Churchill</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money." – Margaret Thatcher</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"A socialist is someone who has read Lenin and Marx. An anti-socialist is someone who understands Lenin and Marx." – Ronald Reagan</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." – Alexis de Tocqueville</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." – Winston Churchill</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-71918175277571298402020-10-22T10:49:00.002-05:002020-10-22T10:49:17.274-05:00Seek to Understand<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpyCxoNsoBe1lAZIeL-VJm5eSjvcG12tINxWSkd39RMYKGPOgtTm79zo9-yx8RRztUYbo1w1pD3xD0kZ80zs1mtXGunpCyODTWxVzSkayVuh8NS2Cb-jMJqPfdpl6F83hgx4G_jqer1tc/s512/Understand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="512" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpyCxoNsoBe1lAZIeL-VJm5eSjvcG12tINxWSkd39RMYKGPOgtTm79zo9-yx8RRztUYbo1w1pD3xD0kZ80zs1mtXGunpCyODTWxVzSkayVuh8NS2Cb-jMJqPfdpl6F83hgx4G_jqer1tc/w320-h213/Understand.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">It is not an understatement to think or suggest or believe that <b>almost everyone in the world has been emotionally affected by the circumstances we have faced over the last 6-7 months</b>. Dr. David Rock, a neuroscientist who specializes in leadership development, said in an interview earlier this month with <i>Inc. Magazine</i> that "during the pandemic, almost the entire world is reacting neurologically to higher levels of threat perception than normal." No one is exempt. We have all felt the weight that this season has dumped upon us. </div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's why this matters: There is a 99% chance that whatever you are facing, dealing with, carrying, confronting, arguing or debating, or even rejoicing over or celebrating in this season, you are more emotionally involved, engaged, and spent than at any other point in your life. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Allow me to repeat that: <b>Y</b></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>ou are more emotionally involved, engaged, and spent than at any other point in your life. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Make sure you grasp this.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whatever good or bad thing - fractured or healing relationship - positive or negative situtation you may have faced just one year ago, if it was a campfire then it will be a raging forest fire now. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, here's how considering this might help you and me during this season.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whatever your child's teacher did or does that infuriates you, remember: that teacher is easily carrying the same weight you are. Have grace and mercy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whatever your student's parent did or does that infuriates you, remember: that parent is easily carrying the same weight you are. Have grace and mercy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However irrational or overbearing your friend or coworker is being on social media or in the breakroom at work or over that Zoom call, remember: he is probably not even aware of how harsh or brash he is coming across. Extend some grace and mercy. And maybe privately let him know.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Realize and accept that <i>most people</i> who think differently than you do politically do not genuinely have a desire to see the country burn to the ground. They do not intend to use their vote to move this great nation toward socialism or toward slavery. <b><i>Most people</i> are genuinely trying to think with conviction and conscience to make the best decision they can.</b> If you want to discuss politics with them, you're going to need to do it somewhere other than on Facebook or Next Door. Invite them over for coffee or go grab a burger. And for heaven's sake...extend some grace and mercy. (And if you haven't had a good hamburger lately, that could be adding to your stress!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Never before in my lifetime (or yours) has literally anyone and everyone in the entire world been able to say, "I understand." They can right now.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But, do we? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><b>Are we being understanding?</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Understanding - having empathy and knowledge - almost automatically demands a certain level of grace. Of patience. Of longsuffering. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><b>Are we being understanding?</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Are we listening?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Or are we all just yelling, screaming, steaming, accusing, pointing fingers, and hellbent on delivering the final death blow to someone we used to like but now just think of as "one of those idiots?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How did we get here? What's happened to us?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">King Solomon may have put his finger on it. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">He said in <b>Proverbs 18:2</b>, "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion." </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ouch! That stings a little. Only because it's true.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>We've stopped listening.</b> We've stopped working and trying to understand. And make no mistake, trying to understand takes work. We have to be intentional about it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We all not only have an opinion, we now have a place to freely express it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But it's no longer an arena of ideas and thought; it's an echo chamber of blah blah blah...I <i>totally</i> agree.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We've replaced empathy with suspicion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We accuse rather than question.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">No, we're not being understanding! But there's still time. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We can do this! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But how?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well, spiritually by recognizing that the Lord calls us to humbly seek to understand those around us, specifically anyone we're praying will see His light shining in and through us. Practically, I find Patrick Lencioni's wisdom incredibly helpful here. In his book, <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Advantage-Organizational-Health-Everything-Business/dp/0470941529/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank">The Advantage</a></b></i>, Lencioni describes 2 very different approaches to communication. The first is <b>Advocacy</b>. As implied, with advocacy a person seeks to get his point across ("I think this..." or "We should..."). The second approach, which is rarer to find these days, is <b>Inquiry</b>. With this approach, a person seeks to understand another person's point of advocacy by asking questions ("Why do you think...?" or "What led you to this conclusion?"). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>If we're seeking to understand, INQUIRY TRUMPS ADVOCACY.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stephen Covey said that this is a habit - a formed and determined pattern or character trait - in the life of effective people. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Seek to understand before ramming your opinion through like a rhino. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Seek to understand before declaring your new manifesto and nailing it on the wall.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you don't, Solomon says you're a fool. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Lord tells us through the prophet, Jeremiah, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind." (Jeremiah 17:9-10) <b>Our hearts were deceitful long before COVID-19 was a thing or the world was in a pandemic.</b> Your heart and mine. Now, more than ever, you and I need the Lord to search our hearts and test our minds. He will do it. If you seek Him and ask Him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You want to be understood. I get it. So do I.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But so does that friend or coworker of yours. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You can be bold and compassionate at the same time. The world may not think so, but Jesus tells a different story.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Maybe in seeking to understand, you and I will learn something new. Maybe we will change our minds. Or maybe we will change someone else's. But if we just keep yelling....we may never know.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-7049819812526200612020-10-05T15:41:00.003-05:002020-10-05T15:41:26.542-05:00Time<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpp3pY6L4zzmdouYR8QOe05Xg6jGRxY3l5ZYuBQr1mp5JfLDLSXU2d786d8YjfGoLQxKuWWOBrlb1K2kMPOgvrJjEqK7Ihl4MBDYhd1vjxXox9NCo6NVYdaZXFBuCE2kWNYn6R_o7Klrj/s1024/Time+Clocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpp3pY6L4zzmdouYR8QOe05Xg6jGRxY3l5ZYuBQr1mp5JfLDLSXU2d786d8YjfGoLQxKuWWOBrlb1K2kMPOgvrJjEqK7Ihl4MBDYhd1vjxXox9NCo6NVYdaZXFBuCE2kWNYn6R_o7Klrj/s320/Time+Clocks.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Some things take time. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not more time than you or I have, but more time than we would like to give.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last week I tweaked my back lifting weights. I felt it tighten up and knew what was about to happen. The first 2 days I was in such pain I could barely concentrate. This is what happens when you have herniated discs in your lower back and set one of them off. Move the wrong way and it’s like a pinball unleashed in your body. As a result, over the last week I’ve been to the chiropractor 3 times for stem and heat therapy, ultrasound, and adjustment. I’ve easily spent an accumulated hour on the floor stretching, at home and at the gym. I had to pass up playing golf. And needless to say, I haven’t done any deadlifts in the last 7 days. But every day, it’s loosening up. Each day it’s getting better.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">When this happens though, what I WANT is to take a pill and it all be fixed.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">But when this happens, what I NEED is to treat what caused the problem in the first place. What I NEED is to stretch and strengthen my leg and back muscles. What I NEED takes way more time then I WANT to give. But not more than I have.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Time requires waiting.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Waiting requires patience.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Patience demands priority.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Priorities require evaluations and decisions.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">And very often those decisions are not between bad and good, but between good or better.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sometimes those decisions are between better and best.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">But <b>choosing between better and best demands that I decide: What’s my priority? What’s more important?
</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">And so if I choose best over better, this will demand that I choose patience. This is because (very often) the process and the waiting are just as important as the end result, outcome, goal, or destination. <b>Our character doesn’t microwave. We are a slow burn people. And so what is best is almost always going to require waiting.
</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">And waiting is going to require time. God set it all up this way.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The good news is, you & I have time. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We just have to decide what we’re going to do with it. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, <i>making <b>the best use</b> of the time</i>, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-2944246759182975302020-09-17T08:42:00.000-05:002020-09-17T08:42:58.870-05:00The Fractured Foundation of Critical Race Theory<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the 3rd post in a series in which we are addressing Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, & the ideological framework that these ideas support & promote. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovmbLW71RjK6FQW2AsFQfWmxHePzyZfJ-g3xDCi1h1NmuPQAf_kJE7-0c54ota26Nz9Ce55qMrnoSp1IFTorKN926-bDR6n5P2PxYveRrSK21VuGp54gd1Z8bbHCzHmzkFfx3KeHB8teU/s720/Oppression.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="720" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovmbLW71RjK6FQW2AsFQfWmxHePzyZfJ-g3xDCi1h1NmuPQAf_kJE7-0c54ota26Nz9Ce55qMrnoSp1IFTorKN926-bDR6n5P2PxYveRrSK21VuGp54gd1Z8bbHCzHmzkFfx3KeHB8teU/w400-h166/Oppression.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I was trying to wrap up some final thoughts to </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">follow up from my first post on Critical Race Theory & my additional thoughts on </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-style: italic;">White Fragility</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">, I realized that almost every single comment, refutation, or conversation I’ve had with anyone who wants to argue or pushback on something I’ve written or said - particularly regarding or saying that Critical Theory is antithetical to the gospel - is some version of “I fear that disregarding or undermining the good parts of Critical Race Theory (or <i>White Fragility</i>) by only pointing to the bad parts does more harm than good.” This is the most common defense or argument I’ve been presented: If you just point out the bad parts people will miss the good parts. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The other thing I’ve noticed is that <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">no one</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">pushes back by actually defending these supposed</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">good parts</span>. <span style="font-weight: bold;">No one is rushing to defend any of the ideals proposed or promulgated by this worldview. There’s just a fear that we might be doing damage to the good it can/could do. This is not a credible basis for arguing in favor of something. Especially for a worldview that has no foundation to stand on.</span>
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let me share what I consider a comparative dilemma.
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On one hand, if I’m talking to a Mormon I want to find common ground. This helps us connect. On the other hand, more than anything, I want them to see that <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">we’re actually not on common ground</span>. The “Jesus” they profess to believe in is not the Jesus in scripture. Their Jesus is not God; he was created by God. My Jesus - his crucifixion & resurrection - is sufficient for my salvation; theirs is not. They still have works to do. This is one of the myriad reasons that Mormonism is dangerous. This is why it’s considered a cult. It's anti-gospel. It's heretical. And in spite of this, many Mormons have no idea of the fallacies of their own belief system.
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Critical Race Theory, Critical Theory itself, Intersectionality, White Fragility - these are all man-made ideologies that crumble underneath themselves. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The answer to combat a “system” that would promote or foster a toxic practice or thought like racism is not to develop another faulty, poisoned “system” to attempt to defeat the first one.</span> This is essentially succumbing to an idea like “If you can beat’em, join’em.”
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDSV4qs3fCNWUG2o2HqBxUc0os5_4Ms7iorlAsdQBs3ejOGr3O0n4NmFqGapbcUa2vZ3b4gp1hj4TJ7gIoUlG0a2hjUKQA3EMj8sVjrLATDI03eBWAMZH-WhIs9lmeAauTDvNbx2fHprG/s2048/White+Guilt+2+%2528ball+%2526+chain%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDSV4qs3fCNWUG2o2HqBxUc0os5_4Ms7iorlAsdQBs3ejOGr3O0n4NmFqGapbcUa2vZ3b4gp1hj4TJ7gIoUlG0a2hjUKQA3EMj8sVjrLATDI03eBWAMZH-WhIs9lmeAauTDvNbx2fHprG/w400-h320/White+Guilt+2+%2528ball+%2526+chain%2529.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">To be extremely blunt, I think we have to confront a major hurdle we face in even attempting to address this issue: <b>White people feel bad. Really bad. Guilty, in fact</b>. This issue is (as Shelby Steele describes it) white guilt. Many white people I know hurt for their black friends. And rightly so. They want to do something - to be part of the solution, not the problem. And much like we often do in our relationship with the Lord, when what we need is to pray, listen, & wait....we feel we need to <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> something, so it is in this situation. We need to <span style="font-style: italic;">feel</span> like we’re doing something tangible. Accomplishing something visible. We want to feel that we've been part or the solution. And...<span style="font-weight: bold;">we really want to get rid of that guilt!</span> And herein lies one more problem: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Race Theory won’t allow me that freedom</span>.
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRe62TlYDXoKBr-j9CbnJNuHV876dxyRT69Pev4et7aimh_TfMA7_GyIzMRSBb_evg2jN6JUK6ZLtXw5Mnysr2uEsMKc7HrSVRqt0LUioKz4RMH9J8xbl6u_O8XSzp7uxVyedgybtGd7X3/s1280/Oppressors+vs.+Oppressed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRe62TlYDXoKBr-j9CbnJNuHV876dxyRT69Pev4et7aimh_TfMA7_GyIzMRSBb_evg2jN6JUK6ZLtXw5Mnysr2uEsMKc7HrSVRqt0LUioKz4RMH9J8xbl6u_O8XSzp7uxVyedgybtGd7X3/w400-h225/Oppressors+vs.+Oppressed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Critical Race Theory & Intersectionality classify me as a white, middle-class, Christian, heterosexual male. I am the classic definition of the ultimate <b>OPPRESSOR</b>. On one hand, the only way CRT accomplishes its goal is if I move from oppressing to actually being the <b>OPPRESSED</b>. However, in the scope of Intersectionality I can never fully escape being the oppressor. So, for me, it’s a lose-lose situation. Unless….
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Unless, of course...I denounce my faith, become a woman, attend enough diversity training courses, & (of course) allow the government to take more of my money so they can responsibly assist the oppressed with it, as I have no capacity to do on my own or in my current state. This would move me at least a good 3 spaces along in my level of moral authority.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I know many will read that and think or say, “Now you’re just being ridiculous!” Yes, it is ridiculous! But actually, no. I am taking these ideologies to their end conclusions. This is the depths to which this slippery slope slides. And it’s a long way down!
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Friends, what becomes very clear if you can & will clean the window off just enough to look through it is that the Marxist foundation & motives of Critical Race Theory cannot be hidden or ignored. <b>This ideology is absolutely <i>not</i> about striving for equality & restoration; it’s about reappropriating power & wealth. It’s not about empowering blacks through development; it’s about exploiting them through victimization. It also in no way frees a white person to be driven, motivated, or changed by anything other than guilt.</b> And as Shelby Steele writes in <i>The Content of Our Character</i>, “…the fear for the self that is buried in all <i>guilt is a pressure toward selfishness</i>. It can lead us to put our own need for innocence above our concern for the problem that made us feel guilt in the first place. But this <i>fear for the self not only inspires selfishness; it also becomes a pressure to escape the guilt-inducing situation</i>.” (italics mine)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now, I exhort you to consider all of that & then ask yourself: <span style="font-style: italic;">How is that not antithetical to the gospel?</span>
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>If one person can never truly be free of being a victim & the other person can never truly be free of their guilt, where do you go from there?
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finally, returning to the initial concern, let me now pose this question: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What <i>good parts</i> of these ideologies are people concerned about sacrificing? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What <i>good parts</i> are we afraid of neglecting in pointing out the bad parts?</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Going back to my previous question from my previous post: Where or how does Critical Race Theory mysteriously or miraculously solve a problem that is not addressed, confronted, defeated, or restored in & through the gospel? The answer is: Nowhere. It doesn't. And as I've stated, these ideologies are not consistent with the Word of God or the good news of salvation in Christ. Here's a very brief, but very well done video by the folks at <b><i>What Would You Say?</i></b> called <a href="https://youtu.be/DAABuCC96tI" target="_blank"><i>Is Critical Theory Biblical?</i></a> I encourage you to take 5 minutes to check it out.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you begin with the standard of God’s Word, how are you reconciling this ideology?
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Maybe that leads to the bigger question: Are you beginning with the standard of God's Word?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If so, what is it about this highly questionable worldview that a Christ-follower would feel the need to defend?
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We all have to make the decision & answer the question: <i><b>What’s the standard? </b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is it that everything else in life gets held up to, measured by, & weighed with? The one, trustworthy, life-giving, never-failing standard is the Word of God. It is our <b><i>firm foundation</i></b>! Always begin there. </span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-75716032515017145882020-09-14T13:45:00.001-05:002020-09-14T14:02:03.789-05:00The Sinking Ship of White Fragility<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the 2nd post in a series in which we are addressing Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, & the ideological framework that these ideas support & promote. The ideas posed & presented in the book, <i>White Fragility</i>, are an extension of this worldview. </span></span></div><div style="-en-clipboard: true;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-en-clipboard: true;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokIbhwrTZ0sgwfAKmoEDvi2wLNyLnmacw28GtAwbbEEHezUuqaSgAOhnfmG_0iVSs3HI8k64iEXMfZIqbtlFtOvckOQmGIwcphFXKOTP9Dcj3SS4vebuDfbJsEUxj2V5TwPs82YgEzZ4y/s769/whitefragility-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="769" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokIbhwrTZ0sgwfAKmoEDvi2wLNyLnmacw28GtAwbbEEHezUuqaSgAOhnfmG_0iVSs3HI8k64iEXMfZIqbtlFtOvckOQmGIwcphFXKOTP9Dcj3SS4vebuDfbJsEUxj2V5TwPs82YgEzZ4y/w400-h195/whitefragility-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="-en-clipboard: true;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 2018, Robin Diangelo finally assembled & published the thoughts & ideologies behind the phrase she had coined just a few years earlier, </span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414" target="_blank">White Fragility</a></b></i><span style="font-family: verdana;">. While the book was moderately successful at first, the resurgence of racial tension in America following George Floyd’s death sent the popularity of the book through the roof. Not only has the book’s influence grown, the ideas within have taken a foothold with many Christians, churches, & even denominations. (The United Methodist Church even has a video series led by Diangelo on <i>White Fragility</i>.) As a pastor, having many people within our church asking about the book, being told they should read the book, or having already read the book, I have felt a great need to address the ideas, implications, & substance of what is presented within its pages.</span></div><div style="-en-clipboard: true;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-en-clipboard: true;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Before I go any further, I feel I need to add some caveats, asterisks, & prefaces to what I'm about to say. In the midst of this <i>cancel culture</i> we live in - where you completely write someone off & consider everything they say & think as discredited or untrustworthy because you disagree with them on a single point or issue - I am not writing Diangelo off, suggesting that nothing she has to say is worth consideration. There are some points & issues she raises that are definitely worth discussing & working to reconcile. However, as you'll read moving forward, I don't find many. And the overall foundation of her work crumbles beneath those singular issues. With that said, here we go. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I want to begin by being straightforward: I read a lot. And over the last few years, I have made concerted efforts to read varying viewpoints, dissenters, authors, & ideas that I know challenge or even oppose what I think or believe. I’ve even changed my mind every now & then (maybe). Here’s the straightforward part: I could barely make it through this book. I felt like I was trying to row a boat with holes in it the size of footballs. I really wanted to row, but I was so distracted by the water coming in the holes that I couldn’t seem to get anywhere. In that vein, Danny Slavich entitled his review & critique of <i>White Fragility</i> (on Christianity Today's website) <i><a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/august/eat-meat-spit-out-bones-assessment-of-white-fragility.html" target="_blank"><b>“Eat the Meat; Spit Out the Bones.”</b></a></i> To be honest, I felt like every time I began chewing on what I thought was meat, it turned out to be grissel. But I kept chewing & swallowing. Here’s what I digested.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDDuLy5XhvVRkapRx7vlAi3jQK62YXFtp1S1SaX-YKwpasIunnKbxBekYOM5tDDeoCatQIlRFH-Qse5aXhyphenhyphenqC2N3jhmZCKmgWuOZ9NucAkcszroEfVFKb7n1G95WKhg56LG1z7geeQ5YY/s1000/Sinking+Ship+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1000" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDDuLy5XhvVRkapRx7vlAi3jQK62YXFtp1S1SaX-YKwpasIunnKbxBekYOM5tDDeoCatQIlRFH-Qse5aXhyphenhyphenqC2N3jhmZCKmgWuOZ9NucAkcszroEfVFKb7n1G95WKhg56LG1z7geeQ5YY/w400-h180/Sinking+Ship+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As Diangelo spent years leading diversity training & teaching at the university level, she argues that she saw a consistent response on the part of white people becoming defensive toward the topic of racism. This led her to establish the belief that this defense mechanism has been inherently woven into the fabric of “whiteness” (her term, not mine). <b>She begins the book by asserting that there are 2 overarching ideologies that foster racism within white people: Individuality & Objectivity</b>. Here is some of what she has to say:
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Individualism is a story line that creates, communicates, reproduces, and reinforces the concept that each of us is a unique individual and that our group memberships, such as race, class, or gender, are irrelevant to our opportunities." (p.10)
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"We are taught to think about racism only as discrete acts committed by individual people, rather than as a complex, interconnected system." (p.3)
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">“For many white people, the mere title of this book will cause resistance because I am breaking a cardinal rule of individualism—I am generalizing.” (p.11)
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Objectivity tells us that it is possible to be free of all bias. These ideologies make it very difficult for white people to explore the collective aspects of the white experience." (p.9)
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">First off, <b>individuality</b> does not imply that our relationship to (or) the influence of our race, class or gender are irrelevant. It means that, within that context, I am aware that God has created me to be a unique individual. (Psalm 139 speaks nothing of race, class, gender, or nationality.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Along these same lines, <b>objectivity</b> does not tell us that it's possible to be "free of all bias." To be objective is to be aware of your biases & to be able to look past them to a degree.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finally, this supposed idea of the "white experience" (not just here but throughout the book) implies that every white person has the same experience. This, of course, is ridiculous, considering the comparison of a white man raised in poverty in the Appalachain Mountains of West Virginia with a white woman brought up in wealth & privilege in Manhattan or Chicago. These 2 individuals are almost from 2 completely different planets. His white experience will potentially look nothing like her white experience.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">From Chapter 1 on, there are presuppositions being laid down & argued that don't hold water. So as I said, the foundation is already crumbling. The boat's already sinking.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As the book unfolds, what Diangelo is arguing & submitting is that each of us, as white people, are born into a system that - having nothing to do with our own individual circumstances, but because we are white - affords us opportunities, while also passing down an inherent ignorance to the system itself. She asserts that the only way for me to correct this is to take time to objectively determine (after already arguing that we really have no objectivity) where, when, & how the system has benefitted me (&) where my ignorance is rooted so that I can go back & (essentially) repent. [In present-day language, I need to be <b><i>woke</i></b>.] For instance, if I'm ignorant to my own racism because I don't know enough about racism, then I need to educate myself. If I'm completely oblivious to my racism because I don't have very many black friends, then I need to have more black friends. And so on. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In regards to that last assertion, can you think of a scenario that more feeds the idea of having a "token" black friend than this one? Or that should be more insulting to a black person? I can't. And an enormous number of black people seem to share that thought.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>George Yancey</b> (an author & professor at Baylor University who happens to be black) said in his article <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/white-fragility-mutual-responsibility/" target="_blank"><b>Not White Fragility - Mutual Responsibility</b></a></span> on The Gospel Coalition website: <span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple;">"As an African American who has not only done academic work on these issues but had to navigate the issues of racism personally, I recognize the irony of reviewing a book by a white woman. But as a professor in the social sciences, I believe <i>she provides little empirical work to support her assertions</i>. The work on implicit bias is questionable at best. Implicit bias may be real, but it doesn’t seem a major factor in why people discriminate against others. Another empirical problem is her lack of research for the unique defensiveness of white people. Where’s the cross-racial research indicating fragility is unique to them?</span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">How can we test for white fragility? As far as I can tell, the only way a white person can’t be “fragile” is if they agree with the accusations brought against them. Any reaction other than compliance is taken as evidence of white fragility. This is not useful as a conceptual tool for hypothesis-testing.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">What about the empirical results of anti-racism techniques? The type of diversity training that emerges from such efforts has been shown to have little long-term effect on prejudice. Further, focusing on privilege can actually decrease sympathy for poor white people while not raising the overall sympathy for black people. Research seems to indicate that <i>taking the route of DiAngelo is not lessening our racial hostility—but it may be making that hostility worse</i>.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><i><b>The concept of white fragility is an academic way to tell white people to be quiet and listen</b></i>. Bottling up the expressions of white people, though, is not the path to addressing our society’s racial alienation. Indeed, it’s a path that will continue to frustrate attempts at correcting racism’s genuine effects." (italics mine)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>John McWhorter</b> (Professor at Columbia University, contributing writer at <i>The Atlantic</i>, who also happens to be black) reviewed Diangelo’s book in an article</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><i style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/dehumanizing-condescension-white-fragility/614146/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-uH6BRDQARIsAI3I-UcwXca8SyCsnjPAp-uBfJjpeFyt_iS60OEONv-PQmqsJqx2sov5ABUaAuYQEALw_wcB" target="_blank"><b>The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility</b></a></i><span style="font-family: verdana;">. I highly recommend reading his article in full. He concluded his critique by saying,</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">"White Fragility is, in the end, a book about how to make certain educated white readers feel better about themselves. DiAngelo’s outlook rests upon a depiction of Black people as endlessly delicate poster children within this self-gratifying fantasy about how white America needs to think—or, better, stop thinking. Her answer to white fragility, in other words, entails an elaborate and pitilessly dehumanizing condescension toward Black people. The sad truth is that anyone falling under the sway of this blinkered, self-satisfied, punitive stunt of a primer has been taught, by a well-intentioned but tragically misguided pastor, how to be racist in a whole new way." </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Those are the thoughts of critical thinking, educated black men.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">At this point, I believe the most important thing for me to do (as Yancey & McWhorter have done) is to address & confront the overall implications of the book & the flaws in this ideology.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's start with scripture. And let's start at the beginning.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the Garden of Eden, sin came into the world. As a result, when I entered into this world through my mother's womb, sin was inevitably going to be in my veins. In fact, more than my veins, it was going to seize the throne of my heart. Yours as well. And this had nothing to do with the color of my skin. That dose of melanin, however great or small it was, sadly had no effect on the condition of my heart. We are all created in the image of God. We are all knit together in our mother's womb by our Creator. We all enter this world with a heart bent toward our own exaltation. We are all dead in our sin. But thankfully, there is one who has rectified the situation, restored the beauty, & reconciled our relationships - to our heavenly Father & to one another. His name is Jesus. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In Romans 5, the Apostle Paul gives us this brilliant parallel between how death & sin entered the world through one man (Adam), but life & salvation came from the other man (Jesus). "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>One trespass</b>. That's all it took. Sin. Death.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>One act of righteousness</b>. That's all it took. Forgiveness. Reconciliation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you claim to be a Christ-follower, you have to come to the reckoning of whether or not you believe that "by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works...." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I've been asked: How is Critical Race Theory antithetical to the gospel? How are the ideas presented in <i>White Fragility</i> at odds with the gospel? Well, remember: While Jesus saved us <i>from</i> sin, death, & separation from the Father, he also saved us <i>to</i> life, holiness, reconciliation, & good works. The whole ideology presented in <i>White Fragility</i> says there are good works that I can only find & figure out through being enlightened or woke. In other words, no - White Fragility is not trying to replace what I've been saved from, but it is most certainly altering what I've been saved to. Also, <b>if it's a system that's the source or cause of something like racism, this (in effect & to a degree) let's me off the hook for my own individual responsibility. It's no longer about my sin, it's about the system. That is antithetical to the gospel.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">You have to decide whether or not you believe:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div>"God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, <i>that there may be <b>no division </b>in the body</i>, but that the members may have the same care for one another." (1 Corinthians 12:24b-25) </div><div><br /></div><div>Did I erase those divisions? No. Jesus did. </div><div>Do I have to personally walk in this truth & work to tear anything down that would try & rebuild those walls of hostility? Absolutely.</div><div>That begins with my own sin. That's the starting point. <i>White Fragility</i> says otherwise.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a Christ-follower, I have to determine whether or not I believe:</div><div>"Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for <i>in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith</i>. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male & female, for <i><b>you are all one </b>in Christ Jesus</i>." (Galatians 3:25-28)</div><div><br /></div><div>"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that <i><b>he might create</b> in himself <b>one new man</b> in place of the two, so <b>making peace</b>, and might reconcile us both to God in one body <b>through the cross</b>, thereby <b>killing the hostility</b></i>. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him <i>we both have access in one Spirit to the Father</i>. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but <i>you are fellow citizens</i> with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:13-22)</div><div><br /></div><div>So how does all of this have any relevance to the subject & how is it that <i>White Fragility</i> is in any way in conflict with the Word of God?</div><div><br /></div><div>To put it simply, it distracts & leads us away from the true SOURCE of the problem, & therefore, continues on in pointing us to the wrong SOLUTIONS to the problem.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I said in my post entitled, <a href="http://brianmayfield.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-gospel-racial-reconciliation.html" target="_blank"><i>The Gospel & Racial Reconciliation</i></a>: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: verdana;">"We have to be clear about this: </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: verdana;">SIN is the source of racism. SIN is the source of abuse. SIN is the source of entitlement. And SIN is the source of the spirit that attempts to cover over these things as well."</b></div></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></b></span></div><div>I challenge you to take all of this into account & prayerfully consider: How is this <i>not</i> antithetical to the work of the gospel?</div><div><br /></div><div>Allow me to pose another question: What does <i>White Fragility</i> accomplish, defeat, or address that is not accomplished, defeated, or overcome through the power of Jesus Christ working in & through the lives of His people, through the power of His Spirit, & upon the truth of His Word? Where is the gospel lacking or insufficient?</div><div><br /></div><div>Friends, this book (& the ideas within it) are possibly the greatest conglomeration of cultish nonsense I have read in quite some time. I believe it is condescending & insulting to black people, defeating & degrading for white people, & not only does nothing to repair the harm of racism, it actually ties our hands behind our backs & leaves us all with no hope that things can be made right, rectified, or restored. It's a sinking ship. Do not get on board!</div><div><br /></div></span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-1207364919698948102020-09-08T16:44:00.001-05:002020-09-08T19:45:35.622-05:00The False Gospel of Critical Race Theory<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gKWQg1axl74Ggu7uWamyWxt10uNyYp5lnTP-wlOJ6M-Ttl18EEFxldyJXeE3LUOGgMqWHvSs0IkBad11_-yXp6o5aUaX_9DvnHe8yrpWdgG_qEDh9azViTzSywk6lKftTqxDKHxa0NtN/s2048/CRT.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gKWQg1axl74Ggu7uWamyWxt10uNyYp5lnTP-wlOJ6M-Ttl18EEFxldyJXeE3LUOGgMqWHvSs0IkBad11_-yXp6o5aUaX_9DvnHe8yrpWdgG_qEDh9azViTzSywk6lKftTqxDKHxa0NtN/s320/CRT.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>As recently as 18-20 months ago, I had never even heard of Critical Race Theory & had no idea what Intersectionality was. Over the last year, I have not only become aware of it, but I have seen the evidence that it is exploding into our culture. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the next days & weeks, I want to expose that these ideas - specifically Critical Race Theory - are not only contrary to the gospel, but are on their own a works-based worldview of enlightenment. They are a false gospel.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's begin with the overarching question: <b><i>What is Critical Theory? </i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Critical Theory is a worldview that believes there are power dynamics present in terms of social relationships.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The <b>object</b> of CT is to expose that the power brokers (the OPPRESSORS) carry certain assumptions & biases (&) they funnel & cement those biases into the systems they create without even realizing they’re doing it.
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The <b>job</b> or <b>role</b> of CT is for the OPPRESSED to uncover those biases & assumptions so they can be critiqued, exposed, dismantled & overthrown. The task is for the OPPRESSED to overthrow the OPPRESSORS.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70hTga-csW9BcGI5igzmzoC7Xrb82z_xJyqvihrq79x5cW5m30mwxEuXGQPiKh587-so1ZTRwvi8Akp1v3j_BQemdYYvXXJ_Yscs9cf3zlPpF6hBgOZCrHtZ9JtKrmu5eiZwHdNSh2PZ7/s1920/the-communist-manifesto-136.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70hTga-csW9BcGI5igzmzoC7Xrb82z_xJyqvihrq79x5cW5m30mwxEuXGQPiKh587-so1ZTRwvi8Akp1v3j_BQemdYYvXXJ_Yscs9cf3zlPpF6hBgOZCrHtZ9JtKrmu5eiZwHdNSh2PZ7/s320/the-communist-manifesto-136.jpg" /></a></div>As an example, in Marxism, the oppressor is the Capitalist or the Bourgeoisie. Karl Marx proposed through his famous <i>Communist Manifesto</i>. As the British Library website explains, Karl Marx "was a revolutionary German economist and philosopher, and the founder of the Communist movement. Marx was writing against a backdrop of great industrial change. Overcrowded, newly industrialised cities were expanding, and much of the working class lived in great poverty. Marx saw history as the story of class struggles, in which <i>the oppressed fight against their oppressors</i>. According to Marx, as history unfolded, the victory of one class would pave the way for the future freedom of the rest of society." When Marx's assertion didn't come true, an Italian Marxist named </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Antonio Gramsci proposed the idea of the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Cultural Hegemony</i>, which said the powerful classes in society set the way everyone is supposed to think & everyone else unknowingly buys into it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I know your question at this point is possibly: Who cares? Why is this important?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The answer is simple: This worldview is no longer creeping or sneaking it's way into our society; it has become a full-fledged raging monster. And the main avenue for it's invasion into the west is through Critical Race Theory. So, we need to specifically dive deeper into understanding it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Monique Duson, Director of The Center for Biblical Unity, explains that in </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">CRT, white people are the oppressors & black people are the oppressed. As a white person, CRT asserts that you probably don't see your own racist tendencies or thoughts because - as Critical Theory in general suggests - the oppressors are unaware of their own biases & impositions on the rest of society. This is the source & root of all "systemic racism" present in a culture or society. Further, as an oppressor, n</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ot only are you not supposed to be a racist, you have to be an anti-racist. There are certain things you must do & say, & certain ways you must do & say them, to prove that you've been enlightened of your problem & to show evidence that you're actively working to dismantle the problem, beginning with yourself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you're brain hurts & you're already exhausted from trying to grasp all of this, there's good reason for that. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">This framework & worldview is totally works based. It’s cultural gnosticism. Critical Race Theory says: You're lost & your only hope of salvation is to be WOKE.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Critical Race Theory undermines the gospel. It predetermines that there isn’t enough grace to cover sin.
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Critical Race Theory places the seed & root of sin on a group or race, rather than the individual. That's not what the Bible teaches. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Critical Race Theory doesn’t actually speak to the oppression of or discrimination against black people. In fact, it actually works against exposing the heart that would attempt to affirm racism. It's burning down a straw man.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And to speak to where & how CRT is invading our culture, you need to understand that <b>this is the prime doctrine & ideology that the Black Lives Matter organization is founded upon</b>. In a brief 2-minute video several months ago, attempting to appeal to Southern Baptists to make a visible effort at eradicating racism, J. D. Greear (President of the SBC) made the assertion that this thinking had "crept into the ranks of BLM", rather than acknowledging or understanding that, in contrast, the entire organization & movement are built on these principles & this worldview. You cannot separate the BLM organization & movement from cultural Marxism & Critical Theory. They are one and the same.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Make no mistake: <b>Critical Race Theory is an attack on the gospel & is an enemy to the reconciliation of grace that can only come from & through the gospel of Jesus Christ.</b> If you are a Christ-follower, you need to work to understand it so that you can be ready to confront it. It's not headed this way; it's here.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">To further understand CT, CRT, Intersectionality, & the vast array of deceptive ideologies that accompany them, here are several other resources from people who are much smarter than I am:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/YDFL3xwEEG8" target="_blank">The Trojan Horse</a> - This is an interview Sovereign Nations Founder Michael O’Fallon and the co-founders of New Discourses, Dr. Peter Boghossian and Dr. James Lindsay, discuss the current tools of societal and institutional deconstruction being introduced throughout civilization under the banner of “Social Justice.” These, they discuss, are presented in a manner not unlike the legendary Trojan Horse.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/FwyJk1G_Dm0" target="_blank">Race, Injustice, & the Gospel of Critical Race Theory</a> - Alisa Childers interviews Monique Duson to discuss racism, biblical justice, and some of the words and phrases we're seeing in our social media newsfeeds like "white fragility," "whiteness," and "social justice." </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://sovereignnations.com/?s=critical+race+theory&submit=Go" target="_blank">Critical Race Theory</a> - This is an entire catalog of articles, blogposts, interviews, & videos addressing & exposing CRT.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://sovereignnations.com/2019/10/11/trojan-horse-ep3-critical-race-theory/" target="_blank">The Trojan Horse, Episode 3</a> - O'Fallon's interview with Boghossian & Lindsay (an Atheist & an Agnostic) continues, diving deeper & more specifically into the origins and core concepts of critical race theory in plain language, so that it and its terms can be more clearly understood.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://founders.org/cinedoc/" target="_blank">By What Standard?</a> - Tom Ascol & Founders Ministries produced this documentary exposing how CRT is already slipping into the ranks of the Southern Baptist Convention. This effort became blatantly obvious & exposed at the 2019 gathering of the SBC as it was pushed through in Resolution 9. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DefendandConfirm" target="_blank">Defend & Confirm Podcast</a> - My friend Russell Berger & fellow pastor Sean DeMars have several episodes defining, addressing, confronting, and deconstructing the false ideology of CRT.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">More to come....</span></div>Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-73000804010072587922020-07-20T14:21:00.002-05:002020-07-20T14:21:22.755-05:00Where Else Would We Go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd62ksPIyeHASnn6p8ZhBBbE7EZUdMU5oWbrP_5-RkYS22ubKuf_GtsxYf6AKTXHWDYjr9IPSjV-2mNKHU6MLNvNr-uV-brH46brQTGjzxmtKW-DG3JJg3FA8ArCqWZ1J2fqn2ArChUOqb/s1600/Walk+Away.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="538" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd62ksPIyeHASnn6p8ZhBBbE7EZUdMU5oWbrP_5-RkYS22ubKuf_GtsxYf6AKTXHWDYjr9IPSjV-2mNKHU6MLNvNr-uV-brH46brQTGjzxmtKW-DG3JJg3FA8ArCqWZ1J2fqn2ArChUOqb/s320/Walk+Away.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 6th chapter of the Gospel of John is long. It’s intense. It’s packed with human desperation & divine intervention. Jesus feeds 10,000 plus people with 2 fish & 5 loaves of bread. He walks on water. Peter walks on water! It’s a pretty packed couple of days. Then Jesus gets to Capernaum & begins to teach them, wanting them to learn from what they’ve just seen & experienced. Answering their questions, Jesus explains that he has the words of life. He says, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit & life.” (Bill Klein, one of our elders at The Brook, preached through this text yesterday.) Just before this, as Jesus gives the famous (& very hard to understand in the moment) you must “eat my flesh & drink my blood” discourse, he is using a physical illustration to communicate a spiritual truth. (Bill made this point in his sermon.) Jesus is saying that he is enough; his life will be the example for us to follow & his blood will be enough for our atonement. But as he says all of this, John tells us that “many turned back & no longer followed him.” He then turns to his disciples & asks them the hard question, “Are you going to leave me, too?”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think on that question for a moment.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Are you going to walk away from Jesus?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><b>Are you going to go & search for the words of life somewhere else? From someone else?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prayerfully consider the question for a moment.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It should only take a moment. That’s how long it took Peter.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” Peter asks Jesus a rhetorical question that still bears all the weight it did at just that moment. “Lord, where would we go? Who else would we turn to? You have the words of life! You are the Son of God!”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I know many of us as Christ-followers hear Peter’s question & response (&) feel the stirring of our Spirit & emotions over the implications, the fact is, we sometimes ask this question...while walking away from Jesus.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>Where else would we go? Where else would we turn?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">We turn to the news</span>. We put our head in the echo chamber.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">We go to the latest self-help book</span>. Maybe this new way of thinking will change everything.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">We look to the mirror</span>, in vain affirmation or with loathing disappointment.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">We listen to our feelings</span>; our lying, ever-changing, deceitful emotions & feelings.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he alone holds the words of life; yet, we often seem to be determined to look — to even run — anywhere & everywhere other than to him to feed us, to fill us, & to guide us.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">David knew who to run to. In Psalm 18 he declares: “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock & my fortress & my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.” He continues: “This God — his way if perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” (v.1-2, 30)
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The psalmists knew.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!" Psalm 119:25
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.” Psalm 119:50
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">King Solomon knew.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe." Proverbs 18:10
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We can not only listen to the Lord; we can cry out to him. We can bring all our burdens & lay them at his feet. We find rest in him. Only in him!
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary & heavy burdened, & I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When persecution began in the New Testament church, they didn’t consult men, they cried out to God. (Acts 4:23-31)
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paul knew who to run to. Who to turn to.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He implores us: “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:5) In other words: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything!
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus is truth. He is the way. He is peace. He is hope & joy & rest. He is life!
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>You know this, right?</i>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>So, why would we go anywhere else? Why would we turn to anyone else?</i>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, & we have believed, & have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God!” </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-56020272234697477672020-06-24T10:45:00.000-05:002020-06-24T10:45:06.934-05:00For the Sake of Others<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCBILvtM04Bd2Eib46aIpsl7nDmWC3wumYj0MwRqOpVaH83g8EDgyveEfPiq4nrZm7t6YRf8eAATVvA5ntXn7vYgZ92oCwaaPuXOPpVrKXt5YaK8xz5ygzorL_U8ulIZBMvN6Vd18hoUB/s1600/indian+swastika.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCBILvtM04Bd2Eib46aIpsl7nDmWC3wumYj0MwRqOpVaH83g8EDgyveEfPiq4nrZm7t6YRf8eAATVvA5ntXn7vYgZ92oCwaaPuXOPpVrKXt5YaK8xz5ygzorL_U8ulIZBMvN6Vd18hoUB/s320/indian+swastika.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not long after I arrived in India in 2014, we were driving out of the city and into a village when I noticed this all-too-familiar symbol painted on the side of a building. I was dumbfounded. But I didn’t say anything. As we drove a bit further I noticed 2 or 3 more apparent swastikas on buildings, walls, and signs. I couldn’t sit there any longer wondering. I asked my translator, “Why in the world are there swastikas everywhere? What kind of sick people would put those up?” Without hesitating or blinking an eye, Robin (my Indian translator) informed me, “Oh, Hitler stole the swastika from us.”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All I remember thinking was, “What? How on earth have I never heard this before?”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For whatever reason, I became a bit fascinated with this. How could one of the most profoundly powerful symbols of the 20th century actually been hijacked? Stolen? If this was true, how on earth did Hitler and the Third Reich land on this particular work of art to become the brand of their brutal regime and their perverted ideologies? How did this happen?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s what I discovered.
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, swastika means "well-being". The symbol has been used by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains for millennia and is commonly assumed to be an Indian sign.</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Early Western travellers to Asia were inspired by its positive and ancient associations and started using it back home. By the beginning of the 20th Century there was a huge fad for the swastika as a benign good luck symbol.</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In his book The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption? US graphic design writer Steven Heller shows how it was enthusiastically adopted in the West as an architectural motif, on advertising and product design.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Coca-Cola used it. Carlsberg used it on their beer bottles. The Boy Scouts adopted it and the Girls' Club of America called their magazine Swastika. They would even send out swastika badges to their young readers as a prize for selling copies of the magazine," he says.</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was used by American military units during World War One and it could be seen on RAF planes as late as 1939. Most of these benign uses came to a halt in the 1930s as the Nazis rose to power in Germany.</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Nazi use of the swastika stems from the work of 19th Century German scholars translating old Indian texts, who noticed similarities between their own language and Sanskrit. They concluded that Indians and Germans must have had a shared ancestry and imagined a race of white god-like warriors they called Aryans.</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This idea was seized upon by anti-Semitic nationalist groups who appropriated the swastika as an Aryan symbol to boost a sense of ancient lineage for the Germanic people.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; -en-paragraph: true; color: #177773;">The black straight-armed</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; -en-paragraph: true; color: #177773; font-style: italic;">hakenkreuz</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; -en-paragraph: true; color: #177773;">(hooked cross) on the distinctive white circle and red background of the Nazi flag would become the most hated symbol of the 20th Century, inextricably linked to the atrocities committed under the Third Reich.</span>
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<span style="-en-paragraph: true;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"For the Jewish people the swastika is a symbol of fear, of suppression, and of extermination. It's a symbol that we will never ever be able to change," says 93-year-old Holocaust survivor Freddie Knoller. "If they put the swastika on gravestones or synagogues, it puts a fear into us. Surely it shouldn't happen again.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="-en-paragraph: true;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The swastika was banned in Germany at the end of the war and Germany tried unsuccessfully to introduce an EU-wide ban in 2007.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="-en-paragraph: true;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: #177773;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The irony is that the swastika is more European in origin than most people realise. Archaeological finds have long demonstrated that the swastika is a very old symbol, but ancient examples are by no means limited to India. It was used by the Ancient Greeks, Celts, and Anglo-Saxons and some of the oldest examples have been found in Eastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Balkans.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="-en-paragraph: true;">[Excerpt from <span style="font-style: italic;">How the World Loved the Swastika — Until Hitler Stole It</span>, by</span> Mukti Jain Campion, 2014]
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOpVA8lJwi0tYzYMDrwidoEH7jLNDwgu4Ly_URfvbFhahT_PDBg85bTsOe4m2vFk6ruv48ZbrvM2kCUpGR5Ug53kM29iXrOS_mNpxqQcoiZQBO17OUMnueAb4AHzXrhnIO-Un9KkADHl0/s1600/NAZI+Flag.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1600" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOpVA8lJwi0tYzYMDrwidoEH7jLNDwgu4Ly_URfvbFhahT_PDBg85bTsOe4m2vFk6ruv48ZbrvM2kCUpGR5Ug53kM29iXrOS_mNpxqQcoiZQBO17OUMnueAb4AHzXrhnIO-Un9KkADHl0/s320/NAZI+Flag.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I said above, when Robin first shared this unknown bit of history with me, my first thought was, “How on earth have I never heard this before?” I have come to believe that the answer to that question actually leads to another question we — as Americans — should be asking. To put if simply: <b><i>How is it that some of our symbols have managed to not only survive, but continue to be celebrated?</i></b>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I truly believe that the answer to my question — as to how I had never heard about the origins of the swastika — is that most people throughout Europe, Asia, and around the world have readily allowed this symbol to go the way of the evil, brutal, and horrific plague it came to represent: the Nazi party and the Jewish Holocaust. To dawn that symbol or flag today evokes a level of hate and horror that is still almost incomparable. And no one questions why. Pure and simple, it’s because of what this image came to be associated with: fascism and murder.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpLWzzoFdvqrMUjxIlt2QFNObMZPB_4wEWOv5RubjbXO-H7OnOER002EpRibR-6w2woWDAcRtYAPdoKd-yme8vUIzTkgrEvVovlS1h6RVWE0tovbyoAZ_htgkOhT2vZJiK50issKAI5lu/s1600/Confederate+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="1600" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpLWzzoFdvqrMUjxIlt2QFNObMZPB_4wEWOv5RubjbXO-H7OnOER002EpRibR-6w2woWDAcRtYAPdoKd-yme8vUIzTkgrEvVovlS1h6RVWE0tovbyoAZ_htgkOhT2vZJiK50issKAI5lu/s320/Confederate+Flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As an eight-year-old boy, the confederate flag was first and foremost a symbol of the two greatest rebel rousing outlaws I knew of: Bo and Luke Duke. It shined atop that bright orange beauty of an automobile, <i>The General Lee</i>, which (much like the flag) at that point in my life was not a person, but a car. It was all very innocent. But then, I went to school. I began learning things. I became a huge fan of history (probably somewhat because I hated math & science). And as I learned more and more about the history, conflicts, and struggles our ancestors battled through to get us where we were, I gained perspective. I had to come to grips with the fact that — fair or unfair, right or wrong — for many, the confederate flag still evokes images, thoughts, and even memories of hate and horror that beg to be forgotten. And no one should question why. Pure and simple, it’s because of what this image came to be associate with: racism and slavery.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But this is where it all gets dicey. It seems as though many who would never for a moment suggest we repurpose the swastika, moreover the Nazi flag, can’t seem to let go of the battle flag of the south. <i>Why is this?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is it about the confederacy that’s so valuable that we refuse to let go of a symbol that overtly commemorates times of slavery, racism, and segregation? Can someone answer that question?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is not the removal of a monument; this is the surrender of a symbol. The symbol, in many people's minds, that represents one of the darkest movements and ideologies in our country's history. To bring this flag down is not revisionist; it's repentant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My real question is this: If we know the wounds, the baggage, and the burdens this symbol and flag still drags along behind it, can we not just give it up once and for all for the sake of others? </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-54337065902371227822020-06-04T08:12:00.000-05:002020-06-04T08:12:10.202-05:00The Inseperability of Truth & Justice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JinvpRdC5kOsoiyn5hmcuehsWv83a7BYx_BUrKns1m3nzgn7quOCM19aOEbXM__eo2VnZxnsJumbDWGiZfbFDMAG6jMTs1IUkv7kXkMGLZg_XGAgc_Mtp7u-_SItctmzTTUiKKIeobBx/s1600/Micah6-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JinvpRdC5kOsoiyn5hmcuehsWv83a7BYx_BUrKns1m3nzgn7quOCM19aOEbXM__eo2VnZxnsJumbDWGiZfbFDMAG6jMTs1IUkv7kXkMGLZg_XGAgc_Mtp7u-_SItctmzTTUiKKIeobBx/s320/Micah6-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're my age or older, you may remember that Superman’s catchphrase was as recognized as his red cape; He fought for <i>truth, justice, and the American way!</i> Maybe you’ve noticed, Superman doesn’t say that anymore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s interesting to me that such spiritual insight could seep from a comic book super hero, possibly without any intention whatsoever. The <i>spiritual insight</i> I’m referring to is the inseparable connection between truth and justice. To be clear, they cannot exist independent of one another. And <b>this is one of the greatest struggles we are currently facing in America - the quest and pursuit of justice alongside the complete abandonment and demand for truth.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many people say they want justice, but they don’t want the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many people expect me to want justice and fight for justice, but not if it demands the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And many people hide behind the veil and shroud of what they’re calling justice in order to push their own motives and agendas. Those folks want justice about as much as my dog wants a bath.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The same goes for love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love embraces the truth; it doesn’t run from it or cover over it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love and truth go together. Justice and mercy go together. Read Psalm 40.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">David cries out, “Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me…may your <i>love and truth</i> always protect me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Solomon tells us in Proverbs 12: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. <i>Truthful lips endure</i> forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Lord himself speaks through the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 59:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself prey.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That’s what Isaiah says next.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many today would declare, “I’m with the Lord! I want justice!” Well, not if you don’t want truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Allow me to give an example.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A man is falsely accused of murder. There is no credible or eyewitness evidence of his guilt, only circumstantial evidence and corroboration from someone who <i>thinks</i> they saw this or that, but that man winds up going to prison based on falsehoods. While the family of the victim may feel like they’ve gotten justice, they’ve really just been handed a lie. It’s all a placebo affect. But in those moments, we sometimes want and need someone to blame so badly that we’ll just about take whatever or whoever sounds the most worthy of our disdain or scorn. Our “justice”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The problem is, that’s not justice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In those moments, justice is actually "turned back, and righteousness stands far away." Why? Because "truth has stumbled in the public square." Truth was suppressed. Truth was substituted. Truth was forfeited.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus said, “I am the way, the <i>truth</i>, and the life.” <b>Without truth there is no life.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spiritually, without understanding and accepting the truth that you are dead in your sin, you will never see your brokenness and need for a savior. The truth of the bad news of our sin and hopelessness leads us to the truth of the good news of the gospel of Jesus. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paul says in Romans 2 that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you repentance.” How is that possible? What does that mean? When you read Romans 1 & 2 in context, you understand that Paul is exposing the truth about us — that our hearts are set against God. But God, in his kindness and patience and mercy and love, has given us an opportunity to walk from darkness to light — to go from sin and death to freedom and life. This can and will only happen if and when we walk in the truth. Jesus is the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back to justice.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the book and movie, <i>Just Mercy</i>, Brian Stevenson tells the story of spending his life fighting for men who have been wrongly imprisoned and unfairly represented. If you watch this movie or read Brian’s story, you will see very clearly that <b>the chief weapon to fight for justice is truth</b>. The only way to free someone who’s been wrongly condemned or imprisoned is by unearthing, facing, and accepting the truth. <b>Truth and justice are not just linked; they are inseparable. </b>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friends, many people today say they want justice. I believe they really think they do. But that’s not what they’re really longing for deep down. What they want is a sugar pill. They want the appearance of justice without the pursuit of the truth. There is no such thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So when you see a narrative being presented on the news or by a politician or celebrity or athlete about “justice this or justice that”, I encourage you (as the Apostle John does) to examine the spirits. Test the spirits. Seek the truth. In the words of the lyrical gangster, Chuck D, don’t believe the hype. Don’t get sucked into the vortex of emotionally stirred irrationality. Test the spirits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right this moment, many people who claim to want “justice” for George Floyd (who was killed by a police officer last week) are rioting and looting. There are white people with masks on, spray painting buildings, throwing bricks at police officers, destroying property, upending people’s lives, all in the name of what they call “justice”. They pretend to be for racial equality. They are actually working toward racial division. There are black people confronting them, telling them, “This isn’t what we want! Go home!” They don’t listen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are black people who see and know about black people killed by other black people almost constantly. The city of Chicago sees this almost nonstop. But Chicago isn't alone. In the US in 2018, when the homicide victim was black, so was the suspected killer 88% of the time. And this is not an exception to the rule. From 1976 to 2005, 94% of black victims were killed by other African Americans. T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hose folks who are rioting right now never say a word the other 94% of the time. But the moment a black person is killed by a white person…they want “justice”. Why is this? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">George Floyd’s brother, Terrence, traveled from his home in Brooklyn to Minneapolis — he went to the epicenter of the rioting and looting, right where his brother had been killed — and stood before a crowd of protesters and declared, “This will not bring my brother back.” He made it very clear that destruction is not what his brother would have wanted or how he would have protested. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Did the rioters listen? Did the looting stop? No.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why not? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because “justice” is not really what those folks are after. They’ve abandoned the truth. In fact, if you go back to Isaiah 59, he says something quite powerful: "Truth is lacking, and <i>he who departs from evil makes himself prey</i>.” Did you grasp that last part? The Lord is saying that those who abandon truth — those who become incensed by hate or by lust or by anger or even simply by their own emotions — will actually come after those who cling to truth. <b>In the midst of evil, those who seek the truth become <i>prey</i></b>. You are witnessing it firsthand.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Lord has told you what is good. He has told us what is required of you: to love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly with your God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love and mercy. Truth and justice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus says, “In my Kingdom, they cannot be separated."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll leave you with one example of what this might look like for a <i>Bible In One Year</i> reading:</span></div>
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<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Nelson Mandela left prison after twenty-seven years and became South Africa’s first democratically elected president, he called upon his old friend, Desmond Tutu, to chair The Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This commission was a series of hearings – some of them public – in which both victims and perpetrators gave testimony about their experiences and actions during apartheid.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At one of the hearings, a policeman called van de Broek told of how he and his fellow officers shot an eighteen-year-old youth, then burnt the body. Eight years later they went back, took the father and forced his wife to watch as he was incinerated. She was in court to hear this confession and was asked by the judge what she wanted. She said she wanted van de Broek to go to the place where they had buried her husband’s body and gather up the dust so that she could give him a decent burial. Van de Broek agreed. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She then added a further request. ‘Mr van de Broek took all my family away from me, and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice a month I would like for him to come to the ghetto and spend a day with me so that I can be a mother to him. And I would like Mr van de Broek to know that he is forgiven by God, and that I forgive him too. I would like to embrace him so he can know that my forgiveness is real.’ Spontaneously, some in the courtroom began singing ‘Amazing Grace’ as the elderly woman made her way to the witness stand. But van de Broek did not hear the hymn, he had fainted, overwhelmed.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">In this story, truth and justice, love and mercy flow together. The same is true of God. ‘God is</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">love</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">’ (1 John 4:16) but he is also the God of</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">truth</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">and the God of</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">justice</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">. Jesus personified God’s</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">love</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">but he also said, ‘I am … the</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">truth</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">’ (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit pours God’s</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">love </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">into our hearts (Romans 5:5) and is also the Spirit of</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">truth</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">(John 15:26). Truth and justice are not opposed to love; they are part of love. And so Paul tells us to speak the</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">truth</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">in</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">love </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">(Ephesians 4:15).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and <i>the truth will set you free</i>." </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-3402405352964164092020-06-02T21:42:00.000-05:002020-06-02T21:42:32.419-05:00The Gospel & Racial Reconciliation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0J6rCADckw_hAB0S9mCWXCUccmZ_MTazbz8P9uUVdXDQDwqHTFGIPqWAb8io1If2qA4-RHNFNbOpbdVTVxyEMnk505Eh0gmH6-B6OfO7R2oIiFeGYcnVvXIW0TqK66aosnXkGG0x_5Ru_/s1600/RacialReconciliation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1600" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0J6rCADckw_hAB0S9mCWXCUccmZ_MTazbz8P9uUVdXDQDwqHTFGIPqWAb8io1If2qA4-RHNFNbOpbdVTVxyEMnk505Eh0gmH6-B6OfO7R2oIiFeGYcnVvXIW0TqK66aosnXkGG0x_5Ru_/s320/RacialReconciliation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; word-spacing: 1.92px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I saw the images of George Floyd laying on the ground with that officer’s knee driving him into the pavement, I thought I was going to be sick. There was a clear cry of desperation on George’s face. There also seemed to be a hazy disconnect on Dennis Chauvin’s face, almost like he was waiting on the bus to come or for his lunch to heat up in the microwave. His knee was on Floyd’s throat while his hand was in his pocket. To witness this act was paralyzing. I have spent days trying to prayerfully discern what to say or where to begin.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; word-spacing: 1.92px;">George Floyd’s death - </span></span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; word-spacing: 1.92px;">the absolute tragedy and senselessness of it - is enough to infuriate anyone with decency. But the fact that George Floyd is a black man and that Dennis Chauvin is a white police officer turns this house fire into a blazing inferno. The problem with this blaze is that it’s flames are being strengthened by more than one source of fuel. To put out a fire you often need to know what started it and what’s fueling it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">Let</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">’</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">s identify some of the sources of this </span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">firestorm here in America.</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whether you accept it or believe it or not, racism still exists here. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Police brutality appears to continue to go unchecked.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Discrimination is now harder to identify because it’s shrouded in political correctness.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A sense of entitlement and a lack of respect for authority are not only being fostered, but affirmed & rewarded.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People with agendas manipulate, hijack, <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">politicize, and capitalize on any and every opportunity to kick the embers, pour on more fuel, and keep the fire going. </span></span></li>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And there’s a common thread to all these problems and issues we face: PRIDE & SIN.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have to be clear about this: <b>SIN is the source of racism. SIN is the source of abuse. SIN is the source of entitlement. And SIN is the source of the spirit that attempts to cover over these things as well.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And so...we have issues. BIG issues.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The question is, “What are we to do?”
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is so much to be said and done. As Christians, I know many of us wonder, “What can I do?” At this moment I find myself asking the Lord - and my brothers in Christ - to help me understand. </span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As followers of Jesus, there are some fundamental truths that must guide us in finding the answers to these questions and to extinguish this fire.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">First of all, we need to </span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">understand</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"> racism. I highly recommend you listen to or read this sermon that Voddie Bauchum preached last year, </span><a href="https://bit.ly/3gJc4SW" style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;" target="_blank">Irreconcilible Views of Reconciliation</a><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">. As usual, his insight and exposition are worth consideration. To expound on what Voddie says, <b>God did not invent or create races; we did</b>. Ethnicities? Yes. Nationalities? Of course. But races? No. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">As Voddie explains, </span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">“</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">Oftentimes we talk about distinctions and we talk about being distinct from one another in terms of our race. Race is actually a social construct. The concept of race is not a biblical concept, it’s not a biblical idea, it is a constructed idea. You won’t find the idea of races in the Bible unless you find it in the proper historical context where we see, number one, that we are all the race of Adam. Amen? One race, one blood. We are all the race of Adam. There is less than a 0.2 percent genetic difference between any of us in this regard.</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">”</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"> </span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">He continues. "In fact, we’re not even different colors. Amen. Technically, from a genetic perspective, from a biochemistry perspective, we’re all actually the same color. Our color comes from our melanin. We’ve all got melanin, just at differing degrees. So it’s not that some of us are this color, some of this are that color. No, <i><b>we’re just different shades of the same color</b></i>; some of us just have more melanin than others. And I want you to listen to me on this, listen to me! Just because you don’t have as much melanin as I do, don’t you dare think God doesn’t love you as much as He loves me because He gave me more. You learn to be satisfied with the little you have.</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">The </span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">point</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">: the only noticeable difference between me and my black friends is our skin. That’s it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">To continue on Voddie’s point, the actual biblical distinction that the Bible not only acknowledges, but the Lord actually instituted, is Jew and Gentile. And all you Gentiles (like myself) were in a world of hurt. We weren’t covenant people. I wasn’t in the line of Abraham. At least not by blood. I was dead in sin and separated from God. But</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: black;">…</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That word seems to be interjected at just the right moments. Especially in Paul’s letters. </span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Ephesians 2, after Paul reminds us that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, he says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love…made us alive in Christ.” From death to life. That’s the part of Ephesians 2 we all know. We really should keep reading more often. Let’s go a bit further.</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In verse 11 Paul now moves into reminding them that as Gentiles they were “separated from Christ…strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Well, that’s not good. Not good at all. But….</span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There it is again. <i>But...</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">“But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">made us both one</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">and has</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">.” (Italics mine)</span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;">Jesus divides the wall of hostility between us. Jesus kills the hostility between us! </span></span></div>
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<span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now back to Voddie for a moment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; word-spacing: 1.92px;">"There are different cultural distinctions among us and other things that distinguish us: our languages and things of this nature. But that’s different than saying we have real legitimate things that separate us. Why is this important? Because if the things that we believe separate us are made up and we see in this text that a real separation that God created is overcome by the blood of Christ;</span> <span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; color: black; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">if the blood of Jesus can obliterate a real distinction that God Himself created, then how much more can it get rid of artificial distinctions that fallen men created</span><span style="--inversion-type-color: simple; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; word-spacing: 1.92px;">.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friends, allow me to get to the point.
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is NO PLACE FOR RACISM in the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But also know this: THE CURE FOR RACISM is found at the Cross of Jesus. The gospel doesn’t just demand reconciliation; <i>the gospel is the reconciler</i>. The Apostle Paul very clearly tells us that <b>Jesus not only died for our salvation, but for our reconciliation.</b> We are not only reconciled back to the Father, we are reconciled to one another. And through the power of the Spirit of God, we are now ministers of reconciliation.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I repeat: <b>WE ARE MINISTERS OF RECONCILIATION.</b>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reconciliation takes work. It’s hard. It’s humbling. It empties us of ourselves. It’s what Jesus did.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but <i>emptied himself</i>, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, <i>he humbled himself</i> by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you think and feel that everything seems hopelessly out of control, always remember: But God...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were dead in our sin. But God...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were divided and separated. But God...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I close with words that my friend Johnny posted today. I believe they are humble, practical, straightforward, and speak to the heart of the humility we need in this crucial moment.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I’m reading all the posts and comments. Listening to the president and the politicians and the news media. Everyone - at every level - is saying the exact same things, word for word for word, that were said 55 years ago. It’s just in real time and with multimedia. All I can say is: Look at history. Immerse yourself in it. We’ve been here before. And we are doing and feeling and saying the exact same things that did not work then. And because we didn’t resolve it then, we’re reliving it now. Everyone on all sides cannot get entrenched in fear and pain. Survival mode will not end well for any of us. We have to have creative solutions, new responses, and greater wisdom this time. We have the ability to communicate instantly with everyone we know, anywhere. We don’t have to huddle in a foxhole with a handful of people who look like us and ride it out. I’m not talking about posting memes and quotes. Have you not noticed most of the people who like your posts already agree with you and everyone else is silent? I’m saying reach out...to your friends who don’t look like you. Today. Don’t preach. Don’t scold. Don’t drop hints. Don’t generalize. Just listen and talk about your feelings, not other’s faults. Pray with them. Look at this as a second chance. We got a do-over. Do. It. Different. This. Time. Where our forebears zigged, we must zag. It is utterly imperative that we do. I cannot stress that enough." </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-37469486484675802342020-05-22T14:09:00.000-05:002020-05-22T14:09:19.613-05:00No One Wants to Be Wrong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xY6GkbgpgbPiIveo_3CjDvx0pH3barkNFQHCkHsskjY26LLOBtNew-xkVX9JfEmtuVfc8ktXV89M4o1o8soe_s_jajRbP8RckowF7qcWHFA9IKl2SuqOAIeXT5uBm8BBHmzWSAC2vRoW/s1600/i-was-wrong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="525" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xY6GkbgpgbPiIveo_3CjDvx0pH3barkNFQHCkHsskjY26LLOBtNew-xkVX9JfEmtuVfc8ktXV89M4o1o8soe_s_jajRbP8RckowF7qcWHFA9IKl2SuqOAIeXT5uBm8BBHmzWSAC2vRoW/s320/i-was-wrong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No one wants to be wrong. I get that. Me included. But sometimes that’s exactly what we are. Wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking back over the last 3 to 4 months, I barely know where to begin.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When it began to be clear that the Coronavirus was going to impact America, decisions had to be made. Those decisions had to be made quickly. In the rear view mirror, I don’t believe that we overreacted. The people in charge – those responsible for making decisions – took the best information available to them and did what they believed to be right. Again, I don’t find this to be an overreaction. However, at some point maybe weeks into these decisions the facts began to be much clearer.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 and 4 and 5 and 6 weeks into this crisis there were multiple facts and factors that began to consistently surface. At that point – or at those points - it was an opportunity to say, “We were wrong.” “Our reaction and response wasn’t wrong; but the information we based those reactions and responses on was wrong.”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Projected deaths from the virus: Wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Contagion levels from surface contact: Wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Optimal treatments for the virus: Wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Extent & level to which virus had already spread: Wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could go on. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>T</b><span style="font-weight: bold;">he greatest problem that we have faced and are still facing is that no one wants to be wrong</span>. No wants to be liable. No one wants to be responsible. No one.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Can you blame them?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The President ceases all travel from China. He’s call a xenophobe and a racist. He used the word “pandemic”. He was accused of inciting panic. Now the same people who made those accusations claim he didn’t act quickly enough. Which is it? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In my lifetime I have never seen a situation or crisis that more desperately needed to be driven by and responded to with scientific and medical facts and data. Yet, never in my lifetime have I seen a situation so skewed by politics and hidden agendas.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What we’ve needed: science & facts.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What we’ve gotten: political science, hypocrisy & partisanship.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For almost 2 months I could not go to the gym, eat at my favorite restaurant or gather with my church family. Yet, all the while I could still go to Walmart or the liquor store. Why? Bad information. Politics. Someone was wrong. And refused to step up - after 3 or 4 weeks of the realization of bad information - and admit, “We were wrong.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't misunderstand me or misquote me: We did a lot of things right. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We did some other things right for a time or season.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But other things, we just completely missed the mark.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The State of California made a decision 6 weeks ago that universities won’t open their campuses this fall. (Before the current spring semester even ended!) Everything will be online. By the time mid-summer arrives, this will likely be a completely different story. But if that's the case, do you think anyone is going to admit, “We were wrong.” I’m not holding my breath.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’ve been borderline brainwashed to believe statements like you're “Safer at home” and “Safer apart” and “Stay home. Stay safe.” There are now millions of people who are unconsciously paralyzed and scared to death to leave their homes. Millions of people are now isolated because the talking heads suddenly go deafeningly silent when the gospel they originally preached turns out to be false.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You know who I begin to trust and respect? The man or woman who says, “I was wrong.”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You know who I grow more and more skeptical & distrusting of all the time? The man or woman who’s never wrong. And to be clear, if you’ve never heard a leader - on any level - admit they were wrong, then they probably don’t believe they were wrong. Or they refuse to admit they were wrong. That means 1 of 2 things: ignorance or arrogance. Or both.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Did we overreact? Not based on what we were originally told. But much of what we were originally told was wrong.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, for whoever you are out there who needs to say it but refuses, I’ll go ahead and say it for all of us: We were wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, let’s humbly move forward with faith, courage, consideration of others, and a renewed sense of our fundamental need for community. Be responsible. Be considerate. Be wise. Be kind. And every once in awhile, even be wrong! Let’s just have the humility to admit it when we are. </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-91163028964001960062019-06-12T11:47:00.000-05:002019-06-12T11:47:04.072-05:00The Motivation of Validation<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Validation (<i>n</i>.) — the act of proving or seeking affirmation of our feelings, opinions, or our worth; actively looking to others for approval
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Motivation (<i>n</i>.) — the reason for acting a particular way; the general desire for someone to do something
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last night we had some friends over. We cooked out, sat by the pool & the fire, had some great conversation and just got caught up on life. In the midst of this, one thing we discussed was how social media & technology — specifically smartphones — have changed everything. And not for the better. To be clear, we weren’t having one of those “old people griping about the good ole days” conversations, but more of a “Are we parenting and leading our kids the best way possible through this?” type of talk. We talked about the dangers of the psychological impact of the endorphin hits. We spoke about the constant vitriol spewed out on social media and the numbness that comes with thinking you’re saying everything into a vacuum and the passive aggressiveness that comes along with the apparent anonymity and the lack of personal communication skills that are becoming more evident all the time. Are we letting our kids — and ourselves — wander mindlessly into this mine field? Or are we carefully walking with them and protecting them?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great questions.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great conversation.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And as it was all happening, I vividly remember being hit with the thought:
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I need to take a picture!
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We need a picture of us and our friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We need a picture of hamburgers and beach towels and key lime pie and friends with smiles.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And no sooner did all those thoughts rush through my head, my favorite question trailed right behind: WHY?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WHY did I — a 46 year old man — think I needed a picture?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To post on social media. Instagram. Facebook.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WHY did I — a redeemed child of God — think I needed to post on social media?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So you and all my friends, acquaintances, followers, and even people I don’t know from Adam will affirm me.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And WHY did I — a supposedly content husband, father, and friend — feel I needed your affirmation?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because…I have unconsciously begun to live for everyone else’s VALIDATION.
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our greatest MOTIVATION has become VALIDATION.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all want to be LIKED. That’s nothing new. What is new is we feel we need to know that everyone else LIKES what we’re doing, what we bought, what we ate, who we ate it with, where we bought it or ate it, what we were wearing when we ate it, and how what we bought now looks in our house.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We want the favorable things to be seen. All of them. And for everyone else to LIKE them.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We want the unfavorable things to be guarded, hidden, and unknown.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our motivation — so often for so many of us — has become VALIDATION.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’re longing for someone else to affirm our feelings, opinions, and (more often) our value and worth.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We desperately want someone (everyone) else’s approval.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We are so living in a false reality with a false sense of worth and approval that we unconsciously — but still very genuinely — don’t feel like we’ve actually eaten, purchased, or experienced something unless or until we’ve POSTED it and everyone else has LIKED it.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think about your last vacation.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reflect on the last dinner or party you attended.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think about your kid’s last game, tournament, award, or concert.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How present were you?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not saying that we should never take pictures or that we should never post about these things.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am saying that <b>we need to take a serious look and thoroughly examine WHY we take these pictures and make these posts.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My dinner and conversation with my friends last night was very real. It was much needed. It was refreshing. And you don’t need to know who it was, what we were wearing, or even what we ate. I don’t need your approval. I don’t need you to LIKE it for it to actually matter, or much less have actually taken place. That said, <b>I’m not saying any of this because I actually think you want to know, but because somewhere in the depths of me <i>I still keep thinking I need you to know</i>.</b> And I need you to approve.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My flesh keeps longing for VALIDATION from the people behind the smartphones.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Spirit says that my worth, approval, value, and validation are found in Jesus Christ.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe you think I’m blowing all this out of proportion. That’s possible. It’s happened before.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I’m seriously betting that many of you feel what I’m feeling and believe what I’m saying. And if that’s you, I encourage you to seize control over every thought, word, action, and motivation that guides you today. Paul says that through the Spirit and the power of God we are to “take every thought captive”. Every thought. Every motivation. All of them.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You don’t need everyone to know every detail about every moment of your life.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You do, however, need to be fully present and live every one of those moments to the fullest.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You & I don’t need one another’s approval to find our value or know our worth.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We can find that totally and fully in Jesus. Nowhere and in no one else. Just him.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the last time I checked, he isn’t on Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook. Crazy! </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-46718652750573325572019-03-04T13:15:00.000-06:002019-03-04T13:15:26.537-06:00Attendance, Engagement & the Body of Christ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbImVNet50rpmjYzf17Cri5ysec3hcRpkDCtoOMh2_naC3ILQVPFUr3jltW9oYJ4fllZrU1MyTSG5P7HnpChYzcz5o8HEZ5HEv-szV69Fvl3QLQNPwZeodvIRvBBDZnOB4AoQqND4g1LFA/s1600/Body+of+Christ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbImVNet50rpmjYzf17Cri5ysec3hcRpkDCtoOMh2_naC3ILQVPFUr3jltW9oYJ4fllZrU1MyTSG5P7HnpChYzcz5o8HEZ5HEv-szV69Fvl3QLQNPwZeodvIRvBBDZnOB4AoQqND4g1LFA/s320/Body+of+Christ.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There’s a trend in the church in recent years. All the data, surveys, and research tell us that ATTENDANCE does not necessarily reflect ENGAGEMENT. In other words, where 20 years ago someone’s attendance had a direct reflection on how deeply they were connected to your church, this no longer tells us the same story. While a family may only be there in person 2 out of every 4 Sundays, they may still be faithfully giving, serving, and possibly even growing & walking in gospel community with other believers. Sunday morning attendance does not necessarily equate to living on mission for the gospel & the Kingdom. While I cannot in any way argue with this data, I think that we have to consider these things from a different angle. Allow me to explain.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As the parents of a young man who plays tournament baseball, there is a 3-month window where my wife and I have determined that our son (and usually my wife along with him) will miss several Sundays with our church family. While we would always prefer to be present on Sundays, we have also determined that the Lord has opened relational doors for us to pour into other families on our team who do not belong to a church, and possibly don't know Christ. We prayerfully try to make the most of these opportunities.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Living in Huntsville - a city with a very large population of government contractors, defense workers, software developers, and business people - there is a lot of business related travel. Many of our folks, having early Monday meetings in places like D.C. or Houston or Seattle, are forced to head out of town on Sundays. This isn’t their preference, but on those particular days, it winds up having to be their priority.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Several times a year our families are going to go on vacation, be at the lake or the beach, wake up sick, attend family reunions, and things of this nature. This is called LIFE. There are many reasons why, on any given Sunday, some of us just might not be able to be present. This doesn’t have any bearing on how deeply we are engaged or committed to our church.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the other hand, I’ve known people who are there every single time the church gathers. If the doors open, they will walk through them. And yet, this does not necessarily mean that they are deeply or meaningfully engaged to the church or the Lord. There are actually some people who just show up because it’s what they’ve always done. If they’re not there, they feel guilty. And some people would rather feel anything other than guilt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Attendance does not necessarily equate to engagement.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">True statement.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But there’s more to it than that.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In light of all the specific and hypothetical situations and scenarios I’ve thrown out, there are many folks and families who simply wake up some Sunday mornings, look out the window, turn on the TV, curl back up under the covers, and ultimately make the decision: I’m just not going today. And this, my friends, is a much bigger issue.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will readily admit that I’m a pastor. I’ve been in full-time vocational ministry for 25 years. And I grew up in the home of a minister. So without question, I realize that I’m writing from the experience that this consideration of just “sleeping in this Sunday” has never really even been on my radar. That said, I don’t think me being a pastor is what cultivated or sustained that decision or way of life. I believe the basis of this commitment in my life and in our family has been our determined commitment to the body of Christ. So yes, my perspective is definitely subjective. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back to the “bigger issue”.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What this tendency, in many cases, is exposing is a skewed perspective of the church and an ignorance to the scriptures. It’s also giving credence to the notion that we are becoming more and more self-centered all the time. Let’s go to the Apostle Paul for some objectivity and clarity.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paul writes to the Ephesians - the church family that is closest to his heart - and he declares to them in Ephesians 4:11-16:
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"And he (Jesus) gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to <i>equip the saints</i> for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we <i>all</i> attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, <i><b>we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love</b></i>.” (<i>Italics</i> mine)
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While attendance does not always equate to engagement, attendance - physically, mentally, emotionally, literally, tangibly <i><b>being there</b></i> - is very often evidence of engagement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can’t lead if you’re not there. You can’t serve if you’re not there. You can’t look someone in the eye, see that they’re hurting, and feel the Spirit lead you to pray with them if you’re not there. <b>Being there matters.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What very often is clouding our ability to see this is the self-centered perspective that we have of church. We think, “Well, we’re doing great. We don’t really need community.” We’re wrong. And here’s the other side of this issue. On many days, <b>maybe it’s not about what you need or can <i>get</i>, but about what God is calling you to <i>give</i>.</b>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paul said that we are to be “growing up in every way into Christ” and that when we are, each part - each person - will be “working properly” to “make the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s not about YOU! It’s about the CHURCH.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s about the Body of Christ functioning properly.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s about the evidence of the power of the gospel made visible through our love for one another, which can only happen when we are frequently together.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Long distance relationships suck. They’re painful. They’re difficult. That’s why the local church isn’t built on them.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don’t let the research and the data and the statistics define and justify things for you. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just because Lifeway or George Barna did a poll and this is what the numbers tell us, that doesn’t mean it makes it right. It seems like we are folding like a blanket these days to whatever the trend or tendency is. </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The culture doesn’t define our standards or priorities; the scriptures do.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I want to challenge, encourage, and exhort you: If you are, if you’re trying to be, or if you have even the slightest desire to be engaged with your church family…BE THERE. Make the commitment and be there. Be there to worship. Walk in community with other believers, growing in Christ. Serve other people - inside the church and outside. BE THERE! And let your attendance be one of the evidences of your engagement.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For more:
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matthew 18:20, Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 10:24-25 </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-28887317360847081042019-02-05T14:11:00.000-06:002019-02-05T14:11:59.238-06:00Lessons: Your Bitterness is Killing You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Not forgiving someone - hold onto bitterness - is like drinking rat poison and expecting the other person to die.”
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This famous quote has been attributed to Gandhi, Jesus, Nelson Mandela, Anne Lamott - probably even your mom. We aren’t really sure who said it first, but we all wish we had. Why?
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because it’s so dang right on the money.
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bitterness is a poison. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bitterness is a poison dressed up like a big, tall glass of lemonade on a hot summer day.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We think it’s going to taste good. We actually think we deserve to sit on the porch, in the shade, with the breeze blowing, and slowly turn the glass back and drink it down. And that when we do, we’re going to be refreshed. Thirst quenched. Satisfied.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not a chance.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not a snowball’s chance in Honolulu.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Paul wrote the Ephesians - the church closest to his heart - he cut straight to the point. Look at what he says.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (Ephesians 4:31,32).
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get rid of all bitterness.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is there anything confusing about that? Is there any discrepancy? No.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get rid of - throw out & destroy - all - every little bitty morsel of - bitterness.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And...forgive each other. As God has forgiven you.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Letter to the Hebrews:
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:14,15).
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We cultivate bitterness. And when we do, it causes trouble & desecrates & destroys.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How about what Peter says:
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23).
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus didn’t retaliate.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And speaking of Jesus not retaliating, look at what he said:
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing..." (Luke 23:34).
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14,15).
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Read that last one again.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you won’t forgive, neither will your Father forgive you.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all have these moments - maybe even seasons - when something happens. A word is said. Or maybe nothing is said…and that’s the point. Our expectations are blown, our feelings are hurt, our pride is wounded, our heart is broken.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a seed falls to the ground. A seed of bitterness.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It falls into the fertile soil of our injured, vulnerable heart.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The question is: What are we going to do about it?
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those wounds and feelings and hurts pour the poison into the glass.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The question is: Are you going to drink it?
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You and I want and hope that the other person will drink it. That the person who wounded us or let us down or stabbed us in the back will be the one to painfully swallow the disdain. And that we’ll get to watch the happiness drain from their face as it goes down their throat, filling them up with sorrow and regret and brokenness for what they did to us. We would never verbalize this, but it’s actually what runs through the depraved caverns of our mind.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have to stop it. We have to take an axe to that bitter root. We have to put it to death.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You have to decide you’re not going to live this way.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You have to realize, living this way is not actually living.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You have to realize, your bitterness is killing you. Only you.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s taking moments - maybe even days, weeks, months - of your life and poisoning them. That’s like death. You can’t get those back.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The gospel reminds me…I need not be bitter. Jesus demonstrated his love for me in that while I was still a sinner, he died for me. He forgave me. Pursued me. Restores me. He gives me his Spirit so that I don’t have to be a slave to bitterness.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don’t water that seed or root. Take an axe to it.
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don’t drink the poison. Pour it out at the feet of the one who gave his life so that your sin, your betrayal, your rebellion, and your failure would no longer be held against you.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Forgive one another, just as in Christ, God has forgiven you. </span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-37211810657368780582019-01-28T09:34:00.000-06:002019-02-05T14:12:35.719-06:00Lessons: You Are Your Own Worst Enemy<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Over the last few months, I've been thinking through some of the most obvious & beneficial, yet often brutal & painful, life lessons I've learned so far in my 46.5 years of life. I'm going to share some of them in a series of posts. If you haven't read it yet, go <a href="http://bit.ly/2TcprPt">HERE</a> to read the first one. This is the second.</span></div>
<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrsGXoK2vozF-5QP60sLMPfUcPFqid0RmbmgP0WGTgQby9FjJIc4Vwl7YSF8FDo1bKxoFjo3O6bByJLOW1pAwE1qURKfG9K5dy1Is8on0ScYd61JuSjfIxmNqQLALoappsOgUlbhHUOU7/s1600/self-defeat-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-let-me-go-your-own-worst-enemy-rkvc.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="352" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrsGXoK2vozF-5QP60sLMPfUcPFqid0RmbmgP0WGTgQby9FjJIc4Vwl7YSF8FDo1bKxoFjo3O6bByJLOW1pAwE1qURKfG9K5dy1Is8on0ScYd61JuSjfIxmNqQLALoappsOgUlbhHUOU7/s320/self-defeat-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-let-me-go-your-own-worst-enemy-rkvc.gif" width="306" /></a></div>
<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You are your own worst enemy.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don’t believe me?
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who will make the decision to sleep in instead of go to the gym?
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who decides to eat that entire box of muffins?
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who keeps saying, “Next week.... I’ll start next week!”
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who chooses to be a virtual zombie rather than a personal and interactive human - to stare at a social media screen rather than talk to the human across the table?
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who forced you to watch Netflix for six straight hours?
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who allows themselves to believe, “I just can’t do this!”?
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>You.</b>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yes. That’s right. You.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The same you...
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who can determine to get up, get your butt out of bed, and go lift some weights, punch a bag, or walk around the block.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who can throw all that crap out of your pantry and eat an apple. A banana. Anything but that garbage.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who can determine TODAY is the day! Who cares if it’s a Wednesday? Or Saturday? Get on it...NOW!
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can decide to be there. Fully present.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can do this!
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>You. ONLY you.
</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Set goals. We have to set goals. But, we can’t just set goals…
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Make a plan. Keep revising the plan.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I’m going to lose 5 pounds this month. That’s a goal.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I’m going to lose 5 pounds this month by cutting out unnecessary sugar and bread, getting rest, and exercising four times a week. That’s a goal with a plan.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>You can do this. ONLY YOU can do this.
</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paul told Timothy that everyone who surrenders his life to Christ has not been given a “spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>We have to have self-control. We have to cultivate discipline. It takes time. But it also takes one tough choice after another.</b> Don’t focus on the time it will take; focus on the decision you have to make today.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paul told the Galatians that one of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives - one of the evidences that we have the Spirit of God refining us and bearing fruit in our lives - is self-control.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Self-control knows that a piece of dark chocolate is good for you. But an entire candy bar of dark chocolate is not.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Self-control and discipline knows that small choices and decisions over a long period of time pay off, bear fruit, and make a difference.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you want the inspiration and motivation to conquer that beast, the best thing you can do is get up tomorrow, set the goal, make the plan, tell someone you love and trust to hold your feet to the fire and not let up, and get after it. And then do it again the next day.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stop waiting.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Buy a Carpe Diem t-shirt, for cryin out loud.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Make <i>Eye of the Tiger</i> your alarm song, ringtone, and play it 10 times a day.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Put your burden at the feet of the Lord and ask him to give you the strength, discipline, and self-control to see it through…for your own good and for his glory!
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can do it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yes. That’s right. <b>YOU! </b></span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023992503428723050.post-9685179181870764062019-01-24T10:50:00.000-06:002019-02-05T14:12:44.973-06:00Lessons: You Do Not Know Everything<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Over the last few months, I've been thinking through some of the most obvious & beneficial, yet often brutal & painful, life lessons I've learned so far in my 46.5 years of life. I'm going to share some of them in a series of posts. This is the first.</span></div>
<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYFQY2FhpCpjXWpOiSakQx6pvWfNT0v_lGLlRlaYox52dP7sXhQmq0vunZBZeEsHswRWsPQSHeWNPJiELPPSu7CqcY7G28DIsg-Ee7swHRzYfwYH4UCOQ-AFEJuD1OJKpjPLBwU24LXT2/s1600/knowitall_sectionicon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYFQY2FhpCpjXWpOiSakQx6pvWfNT0v_lGLlRlaYox52dP7sXhQmq0vunZBZeEsHswRWsPQSHeWNPJiELPPSu7CqcY7G28DIsg-Ee7swHRzYfwYH4UCOQ-AFEJuD1OJKpjPLBwU24LXT2/s320/knowitall_sectionicon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-en-clipboard: true;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Possibly one of the most liberating days in your life is the day that you discover you do not actually know everything. It’s a serious chain breaker! The weight of the world is lifted off of you.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Somewhere, typically not too far behind the day previously mentioned, also comes the day that you discover no one actually <i>expected</i> you to know everything. In fact, it’s quite possible that those surrounding you not only knew you didn’t know everything, and didn’t expect you to know everything, but we’re praying for the day when you would make this discovery for yourself – and that it would come as soon as possible.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the spirit of the chicken & the egg dilemma, I’m not sure if the appearance that we think we know everything is fueled by our constant necessity to have something to say to fill the void, (or) if our inability to stop talking and start listening is the catalyst behind our know-it-all nature. I actually don’t think it’s a chicken and egg situation at all. I think it’s a both/and issue. Let's break it down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Lesson #1
</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You do not know everything.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You do not need to know everything.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No one expects you to know everything.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No one <span style="font-style: italic;">wants</span> you to know everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s permissible - read that, <i>beneficial</i> - for you & me to utter the words, “I don’t know” every now & then. Especially when we actually don’t know. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If we're humbly learning & growing in this area, phrases like the following will possibly become part of our regular vocabulary:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That's a great point.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Could you tell me more about that?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll have to think about that and get back to you.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm not sure, but I will find out for you.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What led you to that conclusion?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'd like to hear what you think about this.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let's be clear: don't patronize people. Don't say anything I've listed above - or anything reminiscent of these statements or questions - unless you are genuinely ready, willing, & wanting to listen & learn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, I think there are really just 3 kinds of people: those who are constantly aware of their need to grow in this area who know it & are working on it; those who become aware out of the realization that they haven't been working on it; and those who are so void of self-awareness that they may read this entire post, never giving any consideration that this might be describing them, all while thinking about the other 10 people who need to read it and heed what it says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you're the latter, please return to the beginning of Lesson #1.</span></div>
Brian Mayfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453539353768033374noreply@blogger.com0