The “Assumption”


Let me speak from my own experience.  How can I be sure this applies to others.  Yet I strongly suspect it does.

People will assess another’s value by the things they saw him do and say in the past.  Put any distance between them, and people will assume the negative long before they consider the possibility of the positive.  The distant stranger, whom they knew before, will always be considered somewhat less than human.  In my estimation this is a given in regard to Human Nature.  In the Flesh, “Distance provokes animosity, not love”.  In the Spirit of God the opposite is true.  But how many walk in the Spirit 24/7?  And aren’t we the sum of our doings?

I speak for myself, I know who I am.  I know what I did.  But I also know what I have become.  And I would be wrong to expect others to see me as I currently am.  I have no right to demand that you love me.  I have no right to demand your forgiveness.  And I have no right to demand your understanding.  If I don’t have any of those things from you, I must say, “That is the way things are.  That is the best you can currently deliver.  And by His Mercy, I am strong enough to carry you”.

It’s alright if you cannot receive me like I am.  Absolutely no charge will be held against anyone, come Judgment Day, because of me.  Why should I blame anyone, when He has promised me eternal life and forgiveness for all my sins?

I only ask that everyone consider this from their own perspective.  Isn’t the same thing true in your own life?   For the sake of God’s mercy in Jesus, leave room for His work in others.  Prejudgment is brother to murder.  Try not to listen to the slander of your heart.  Things are rarely as they appear.

If we cannot be unified because of what we were, at least let us be unified in what we have become.  And if that is still too much to bear, let us be unified in God’s promise to make us complete.  If He has grasped you for His promised Joy, He will complete his promise.

In the coming age, there will be no separation between us.  There will be no remembrance of wrongs done.  We will not have to assume anything about anyone.  Love will be our master.  And as much as it is possible, isn’t it right that we should strive, with all we have, to live that Day now?

Know this, I love you with all I have to give.  For the good of all,  I pray this is enough.  And this is because He has loved me.

By His Grace.

The Gospel Lay in Plain Sight


Please allow me to speak for you, you who have known the man I was.  I perceive what you have seen in me.  I understand your confusion.  And, to some point, I am forced by righteousness to agree with your assessment of me.

I have been an ungodly, unholy, unrighteous, wicked, mean, and vicious man.  You are not wrong.  But do you know what the Gospel has to say?

I agree with you to the place I was.  But at the advent of His Holy Mercy upon me, you ceased to know me.  You retain the perception you had.  But you did not relent with wisdom to perceive the changes He has come to make in me.  How can I hold this against you?  You perceive in ignorance.  Your eyes are covered with “what was”.

The Gospel proclaims that God will transform any soul that calls out to Him in the power of His Holy Son.  I know there have been liars who have not displayed this power.  They have proclaimed that they are changed, yet no change was ever visible in their behavior.  And by these liars, you count my testimony as false.

But I know what I know regarding what the Holy Lord has done in me.  I know my testimony to you is worthless.  For your heart rightly perceives that the testimony of a man, regarding himself, is not possibly true.  On the testimony of two or three others, on this alone is a man’s behavior justified in the presence of any assembly.

God testifies for me, for my conscience is clear before His Holy Throne.  The Holy Son testifies for me, for it is He who has brought these holy things to appearance.  And the power of the Holy Spirit teaches me to inhabit the Holy things of the Living God.  And there are many witnesses to holy behavior that you will never meet.

All three of these reliable witnesses testify to what they have made come to pass in this man.  And the group of men who have witnessed a different man than you have ever known, testify to what they have seen.

But you cannot believe, for the sake of the lies, and the man I was.  Two things must be spoken here.

I will not hold your opinions against you, for your opinions are built on a faulty excuse for a man.  You are blinded to “what is”, by the power of “what was”.  God will not judge between us, nor on my behalf (as if to defend me).  Let your accusations be stricken from the accounting on the Holy Day of Judgment.

The Gospel lays in plain sight.  You, like me, are invited to believe.  I release you from any accusations.  But you are not released to remain in ignorance.  For I have testified these things before you:  The transformation of a man is True!  And that God, who cannot lie, has offered the sacrifice of His Holy Son, that all who will, might taste the power of God to heal their wicked heart.

These have been accomplished among you.  I have not arrived at this day (this “place”) unscathed by unholy behavior.  But, my dear friends, neither have you.  You will be held accountable, on that Holy Day, just as I will.  But I will be clothed by the Holy Blood of Christ Jesus, the Holy and Righteous Son of the Living God.  What will be your case, is determined, not by my prior behavior, but on what you do with the Living Testimony that speaks far more powerfully than any man can testify.

The Gospel speaks directly to the soul of every man!  No excuse will suffice.  I have released you.  Will you continue to use me as a shield between you and your own responsibility, or will you mount up on “Belief” to receive the power of God to become transformed?  Now the choice lay squarely in your own hands.

Deep Enough to Dream


“Deep enough to dream”
by Chris Rice

Lazy summer afternoon
Screened in porch and nothin’ to do
I just kicked off my tennis shoes
Slouchin’ in a plastic chair
Rakin’ my fingers through my hair
I close my eyes and I leave them there
And I yawn, and sigh, and slowly fade away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors
I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people
For a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Awakened by a familiar sound
A clumsy fly is buzzin’ around
He bumps the screen and he tumbles down
He gathers about his wits and pride
And tries again for the hundredth time
‘Cause freedom calls from the other side
And I smile and nod
, and slowly drift away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors
I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people
For a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

‘Cause peace is pouring over my soul
See the lambs and the lions playin’
I join in and I drink the music
Holiness is the air I’m breathin’
My faithful heroes break the bread
And answer all of my questions
Not to mention what the streets are made of
My heart’s held hostage by this love

And these brilliant colors I have never seen
I join a billion people for a wedding feast
And I reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Do I ever have to wake up
Do I ever have to wake up
Do I really have to wake up now

By His Grace

Christianity is a Promise


Christianity is counted as a religion.  Even many who call themselves Christians treat it as such.  But Christianity is no religion of man at all.  Please give me liberty to explain.

There are three tribes of men before the Holy Lord’s eyes.  Those who uphold the law of Moses.  Those who depend on the law of Moses, as if beggars .  And those who have never known the law of Moses.

The first live by that law, and are guardians until the end of this place.  The second, hope toward that law.  For they suffer greatly without its benefit.  The third make their own law according to the shadow of the laws of Moses.

The first are the Jews.  The second are the Samaritans.  And the third are the Gentiles.

(In this I speak to those who do not know.  What I have said can be considered full of fault by the scholars of the Bible.  But let it be and watch how it develops.)

I am a Gentile.  Until I was in my thirties I had not desired of the law of Moses.  I heard of the Ten Commandments but did not care, for I did not know their source.  I heard rumors of some things the law commands, but paid no attention, for they were laws given to “holy men”.  I was not holy and so I did not care.

Then Christianity came to me, and I understood the sacrifice of Christ.  Like a child, I accepted by faith that what he said was true.  But unto this day, I have lacked the understanding in full.  And until I die and appear before him, my understanding will be but a shadow of truth.

But I woke from a dream this morning.  And with my waking, a greater understanding has come.  Christianity is not a religion.  Christianity is an engagement.  Christianity is a promise from the Holy Lord.  An honourable promise of marriage from he who is fully honorable.

In the dream I saw two men and a woman.  The first had come to her house but did not belong there by reason of broken promise.  In the past he had been her husband.  But divorce had separated them.

The second had promised to be her husband, after she became divorced.  And with consistant servitude he loved her.

The first came bearing a gift she desired.  He offered it to her in front of the second man.  The second man heard and saw clearly.

The first one held out the gift and said, “I am your husband so I give you these things”.  Her hands reached out to receive.

Knowing he could not say the same, the second one prepared to leave.  Tossing his cell phone to the first man, he said, “This belongs to her you will need it”.  And the last of the dream was when he opened the door of his car to leave.

After that I woke, and understanding came faster than my eyes could open.  The compassion of God is a promise that cannot be broken.  But the will of man determines his response to the promise of God.  Will he hold to what is?  Or will he return to where he came?  Will he love the one who loves him?  Or will he love the promise of the one who has abused him?

It is as if a great and rich man lived in a high mountain land.  He looked to the valley below and saw the plight of many young women; how they were mistreated and sold as if property.

In the passion of his great heart, he took mercy as his guide.  He carved out a place in his vast mountainous property.  And as his workers planted wonderous trees and vegetation.  Making long beautiful meadows, with glimmering lakes and houses, he went down himself to select his brides.

He is an honorable man and his promise can be believed.  He gave rings to all who asked; rings as a seal of his promise.  Those who received would later be called to inhabit the place he is making.

Some of the women separated themselves in waiting for his promise.  But many held the promise as if from their fellow citizens.  To them the promise was less than honorable.  So they gave themselves to the men of the land; keeping themselves in abusive relationships, mindless of the promise given.

But his promise is true and faultless.  And when the time came to gather his brides, he sent out his servants to bring them.  All of them were dressed according to his honourable promise.  All of them were prepared for the wedding.  He had prepared a place for every one of them to live.

Those who had separated themselves for the sake of his honor were kept in high esteem.  But those who did not believe were given a lower place.  Nevertheless his honor is true.  As he has promised he will do.

Religion is of man.  It is his way of serving his version of God.  His belief dictates his religion.  Religion becomes a doing of a man’s understanding of God.  But the religion from God (what He does) is honorable and pure.  It is he who has extended his own desire.

Men will do as they do.  But God is.  We worship as if blind men.  But God sees with perfect eyes.  In our religions we lie, for understanding within us is but a shadow of truth.  But the religion of God is faultless and pure.  The intent of God to save is Holy honorable.

Christianity is not a religion of man.  Christianity is a promise from He who cannot lie.

P.S. I have written this because of the dream.  If people will understand it, then they will understand it.  If they do not understand, or even contend with me on some issues, what is that to me? 

What you see here is not an attempt to teach.  It is an altar representing a gift from my God.  I have marked a place according to his command for me.  “Write and do not care who reads.”

May God receive glory according to his great riches in righteousness.

By His Grace