CJ Penn's Online Writing Hangout

The reason I write: To promote Christian truth and help Jesus get His Christianity back.

Tag Archives: God


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Freedom From Anxiety – Thought #3

Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” (Acts 1:8)

Looking for freedom from anxiety? Look for the living presence of the Holy Spirit within you. And with His power, you can fend off the attacks of anxiety.

Maybe try this: sit and get comfortable, close your eyes, breath gently and slowly, focus on your breath, going in, and out, and empty your mind as best you can.

Now, in your mind’s eye look for the Spirit of God within you. It may be hard at first. Try using your imagination. Imagine God’s Spirit within you, there with your soul, two entities in one body. Jesus spoke of this relationship, He prayed for it, and promised it. Let His promise come true within you.

See the Spirit, try to feel His presence. Talk to Him. Give your worries to Him, all of them.

Now that your mind is all worked up again, try once more to empty it and quiet it down. And listen. Give God His turn to talk. Not with words but with thoughts and feelings, He may speak to you. And maybe you’ll feel His power, AND His peace.


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Looking for peace in anxious times?

Since January 20th my anxiety periodically rises to gut-churning and chest-clenching levels. It’s Trump’s actions and decisions—I was hoping for less chaos. How do you feel about what’s going on in the US and the world right now? Do you suffer from Trump-induced anxiety? Are you looking for relief?

Have you ever considered Christianity, though not the Christianity most of us are exposed to? I’m talking about a Christianity that, rather than being a relationship with a manmade church, is an intimate and personal relationship with the Spirit of God.

Look, the way of life that Jesus lived and taught, the way that was eventually labeled “Christianity,” well, that way now suffers from being tainted by 2000 years of human influence. These days, some churches are influenced more by man than God. Yet, have you considered Jesus’ Christianity, the Christianity where the Holy Spirit hasn’t been usurped by the ways of men? You see, the soul of Jesus’ Christianity is the living presence of the Holy Spirit within you.

You can see Jesus’ Christianity in the Bible. It was the Bible, not a church, that first introduced me to the Holy Spirit—not as an ethereal concept, but as life force living within me. The Spirit of God and my soul now share this body I inhabit. And it’s feeling the presence of God and Jesus within me that stifles rising feelings of anxiety. Jesus promised us a peace that goes beyond our ability to understand. That peace comes from His Spirit living within us. I’ve felt that peace.

The Bible will introduce you to the Holy Spirit. He’s there, waiting to read along with you. So, my recommendation for anyone suffering from anxiety is to make some time each morning to open a Bible, open your mind, and shut out the world. And though it may take time to actually feel His presence, look for the Holy Spirit within you.

But if opening the Bible feels daunting or unappealing for some reason, here’s a book that may be easier for you to read: “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.” This book looks beneath the 2000-year accumulation of the graffiti of man, to the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ untainted Christianity. You can find the book on Amazon.com.


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Looking for Stress Relief?

Do you feel surrounded by stress-inducers? Take world events—I don’t need to mention which ones might be causing you stress. You know what they are. At least we’re not under attack by another pandemic.

Some look to their religion for stress relief. But what if that’s not doing it for you? Take Christianity for example. What if your experience with Christianity isn’t giving you the peace you’re looking for, the answers you’re looking for, or the sense of God’s presence and protection you may be looking for?

Look, Jesus Christ created a masterpiece when He lived and taught what came to be called Christianity. Then, over the centuries, men splattered graffiti on that masterpiece, graffiti in the form of manmade rules, doctrines, beliefs, and traditions. Today, the manmade sometimes obscures the God-made to the point where, in some Christian circles, Jesus’ masterpiece is barely visible.

Sensing that the Christianity I’d been experiencing was influenced more by man than God, many years ago I left church and stepped off on a multi-year journey in search of the masterpiece. My newly-published book, “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity,” is a record of what I found when I peered beneath the accumulated graffiti of the past 2000 years, graffiti painted by church history and human nature.

I found the masterpiece. And in that masterpiece, I found the peace I’d always been looking for, the answers I’d been looking for, and God’s presence in my life in a way that’s far beyond anything I’d been looking for. By seeing Jesus’ masterpiece as revealed in my book, maybe you can find what you’ve been looking for.

Paperback and ebook now available on Amazon.

Mockup


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What’s beneath the graffiti of modern Christianity?

Jesus Christ created a masterpiece when He lived and taught what came to be called Christianity. Then, over the centuries, men splattered graffiti on that masterpiece, graffiti in the form of manmade rules, doctrines, beliefs, and traditions. Today, the manmade often obscures the God-made to the point where, in some Christian circles, Jesus’ masterpiece is barely visible.

MockupSensing that the Christianity I’d been experiencing was influenced more by man than God, many years ago I left church and stepped off on a multi-year journey in search of the masterpiece. My book, “Beneath the Graffiti; A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity,” is a record of what I found when I peered beneath the accumulated graffiti of the past 2000 years, graffiti painted by church history and human nature.

What I found confirmed my suspicions that, when we look on the surface of modern Christianity, we don’t always see what Jesus lived and taught—we don’t always see the truth of what it means to be Christian. Yet, by scraping off the graffiti and revealing Jesus’ masterpiece that’s been hidden beneath, I hope this book will help reverse the decline of Christianity in the US—I hope this book will help Jesus get His Christianity back.

You can follow this link to get a sneak peek at Chapter 1.

And if you’d like to be notified once the book is available on Amazon, please click Follow in the right sidebar, or follow my Facebook page.


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They Relied on the Holy Spirit

Rely on the Holy SpiritFirst century aspiring Christians didn’t have a written word to rely on—they didn’t have a New Testament—which may have been to their advantage. They didn’t need the written word, for as promised, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide them. The paradox today is that the written word can sometimes be a distraction, getting in the way of someone becoming truly Christian. For as Jesus warned:

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. … The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” (John 5:39-40 and 6:63)

Oh sure, Jesus relied on scripture when He walked the roads of ancient Israel. But He relied on His Father more.  And if we’re going to consider ourselves Christian, Jesus calls us to do the same:

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth. … But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.” (John 14:16-17, 26)

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:12-13)


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Does God Hate Sinners?

Does God hate sinnersThe Bible does talk about God hating sinners, such as in Proverbs 6:16-19 and Psalm 5:4-6. Some so-called Christians take these verses as license for them to shout out that God hates a particular person or group of people. Yet there are two thoughts regarding this that I’d like to place before you.

First, maybe it’s possible for God to both love and hate the same person. Maybe God can love the good, and at the same time hate the evil and sin within a person. I’ve felt that odd combination of emotions, and if I can, God certainly can do even better.

Second, it’s not up to me or anyone else to declare who God hates. That privilege is reserved for Him, and Him alone. For me to declare a particular person or group of people as an object of God’s hate is an act of judgment. And maybe that’s one reason so many outsiders view Christians as judgmental.


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Jesus isn’t the problem—the church is

In a survey of both Christians and non-Christians, the Barna Group discovered that:

  •  71% of survey respondents have a positive opinion of Jesus Christ
  •  57% have a positive opinion of Christianity
  •  47% have a positive opinion of churches in their community
  •  16% have a positive opinion of megachurches

(https://www.barna.com/research/year-in-review-2023/   See item #3).

As the Barna article stated, Jesus isn’t the problem—the church is.


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The Best Evangelist

Best evangelist - HSIt’s not my place to convince anyone of the truth of Christianity. Christians are called to be neither an arguing attorney nor judge. All I’m called to do is be a witness, nothing more, nothing less. As Jesus said:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)

And while being a witness, I’ll rely on the Holy Spirit to do the convincing. As Jesus also said, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12-13).

Finally, notice the role of the Holy Spirit. D.L. Moody once said, “There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.”


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Manmade verses God-made

Manmade Ch. or Jesus' Ch.When we look on the surface of modern Christianity, we don’t always see what Jesus had in mind. Rather, we often see a manmade version, a form that at least partially paints Christianity in man’s image rather than God’s image, thus defacing Jesus’ truth.

Of course, many adherents to a manmade version of Christianity are reluctant to accept this claim. As I’ve experienced, some will vehemently argue that the nuances of their religion represent true Christianity, unpolluted by human influence. Over the centuries, their predecessors perfected the arguments approving the authority of their manmade version of church, and their definition of what it means to be Christian.

But consider this, from Jesus: “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37). Now consider what Peter said when challenged by the religious leaders of his day who clung to their manmade rules and traditions: “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!” (Acts 4:19).

The choice facing all who call themselves Christian is, will they listen to Jesus and His truth, or to those who cling to a defaced version of Jesus’ Christianity.


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The End of the Other Pandemic

In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve fell for the temptation of Satan, the outcome was as if Satan had infected them with his sinfulness, pridefulness, and selfishness. This virus was then passed onto Adam and Eve’s descendants.

Then, Jesus Christ died to the sin, pride, and self that had infected humanity. And by His death and our faith, we can participate in Jesus’ death and also be dead to the virus of sinfulness, pridefulness, and selfishness.

The best part about all this is that, with death to our sinful nature, we make room for the Spirit of Jesus to take its place so that we can say with Paul, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Galatians 2-20 & 5-24


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My Daily Filling … of God

Christ who lives in meIt begins or ends with sleep. I mean, my daily connection with God. Sleep has become a weird experience for me. There’s no control of my thoughts, almost never a thought of God. Though my body’s asleep, my mind seems to never stop. One strange dream after another. It feels like a waste of time. Since my mind’s going to stay active anyway, why couldn’t it instead be with God and Jesus in heaven, resting in their presence, getting ready for the next day?

But this morning it occurred to me that, where it feels like my soul empties itself of God’s presence during my dream-filled sleep, each morning with my coffee cup warming my hands and my eyes closed, I feel myself open up to God, like opening a valve. And then, with my heart and soul again fully open, God pours His Spirit into me.

So, my preparation for each day isn’t found in the rest of a sleepful night. But rather in the quieting and opening of my soul each morning, where I empty myself of self to make room for God. And the best days are when I open and empty myself enough to truly let God be all within me, so I can then say with Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

I no longer look upon sleep as a waste of time, which I know is a strange thing to say. For me, sleep now presents the opportunity to show my love and commitment to God each morning.


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Christ Living in You

angel & devil on shoulders 1When Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23), He was talking about denying the worldly and self-centered side of what makes up our personality.

And when Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), he was referring to the same worldly self. He was talking about his little devil effectively being crucified when Jesus was crucified, making room for the Spirit of Christ to come in and take its place.

Yes, picture the Spirit of Jesus on your shoulder, in place of your sinful self. That’s what Jesus promised when He said, “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). It can happen.


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Giving Truth a Shoulder to Lean On

Jonathan Swift quoteEntering the campus of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, as I followed the herd of other tourists through Library Square, I looked up to see a large sign with this quote from Jonathan Swift.

With respect to the state of Christianity these days, this quote has helped fuel my desire to give truth a shoulder to lean on, especially when so many people are kicking it in the shins.


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In My Name

As you knock on the door of the humble yet attractive house, you feel a bit nervous about meeting the owner. But you couldn’t pass up the bargain rent he was charging for his spare bedroom.

“Well, hello. Please come in,” Jesus says as he opens the door, with a soft smile and a sparkle in his eyes. “Let me give you a quick tour.”

Jesus leads you through the rooms of his warm and cozy home, finishing with the family room.

“This is my computer,” he says, opening the laptop sitting on the well-used wooden desk. The screen lights up to an email app. “You can used this too, whenever you like.”

“Um, thanks,” you reply, a bit confused. “But I have a computer. All I’ll need is a connection to your wifi.”

“Yes, I know,” Jesus says, with a smile and a squint that acknowledges the confusion on your face. “Still, you’re welcome to use my computer, though the only app is email, and it will send emails to only one address.”

“Oh … well … that’s interesting.” You’re beginning to wonder if moving in with him was a good idea.

“My computer sends emails to my Father,” Jesus continues with enthusiasm. “With this, you can ask God for anything, and He will give it to you.”

“But if I do that, my request will appear to God as if it’s coming from you.”

“Exactly.”


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Imagine the Glory

When I get together with friends, we mostly talk about what’s going on in our lives. The gutsy ones talk about politics.

I’ve been thinking, what if God got as much airtime as certain politicians do? I like to visualize a world where people talk more about God than about personalities in the news. I like to visualize a world where God is widely glorified.

Looking at a dictionary definition, to glorify means “to cause to be or treat as being more splendid, excellent, etc., than would normally be considered.” I like to visualize a world where God is seen as more splendid and excellent than He is currently seen. And I like to visualize the impact that would have on society.

Imagine a life where, rather than complaining about politicians, certain societal groups, or the weather, we instead talked about our love for God. I like to imagine that.


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Where the Morning Coffee Led Me

What’s it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? As I waited for my morning coffee to fire up the brain cells, some of those cells got stuck on this question. Then my brain took a little walk and stumbled upon these words from Jesus:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 NIV)

Hmm. You know, I’ve been on this journey called life a long time. My goals have changed over the years, but as I’ve gotten older—and hopefully a little wiser—my goals have become less focused on myself and more focused on God and Jesus, and my relationship with them. And I’ve come to see that “self” can be a very troublesome character.

Self is that little devil on my shoulder telling me to do the opposite of what my conscience—on the other shoulder—is encouraging me to do. Looking back, I see that self and its utter selfishness is the root cause of almost all my troubles. Either self has created problems directly, or its selfish reaction to external problems has caused me to internalize those problems.

I think it’s my evolving perspective of self that’s helped open my eyes to see a clearer image of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. For me, it’s denying self. I want to live as if my self were dead. I want to leave self hanging on its cross, and follow Jesus wherever He wants to lead me. And I want to have the peace that Paul promised when he said,

“The mind governed by the flesh [aka, self] is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6 NIV)

I want the Holy Spirit—whom I see as sitting on my other shoulder with my conscience—to control my thoughts. I want the Spirit of Jesus to live within me, and through me, leading me to wherever He wants me to go. And I believe that’s ultimately what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.


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A Thought on Forgiveness

There’s someone in my past where our relationship was rancid, and if I see them in the future—which I hope to do—it may be helpful for both of us if I forgive them for some of their past behavior. But with what kind of forgiveness?

I now believe there are two kinds of forgiveness. There’s worldly forgiveness, the kind we so often see, which is a forgiveness that has to be earned somehow by the offending party. Then there’s God’s forgiveness, which is unearned, always offered, just waiting to be accepted. All we have to do, as those who offend God with our sins, is acknowledge those sins, believe in God’s forgiveness, reach out to Him, and accept His forgiveness.

Now regarding that person from my past, God calls me to forgive as He forgives. That person doesn’t need to ask for my forgiveness, they don’t need to earn my forgiveness in any way. Thanks to God and how He has worked within me, my forgiveness is already given. If that person and I meet again, all they have to do is accept my forgiveness.

So what do you think about this idea of earned verses accepted forgiveness?


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Morning Coffee With God

coffee cupFor many years now, I’ve gotten up early each morning so I could have some quiet prayer time with God before heading off to work. Of course, since early 2020 heading off to work means closing my home laptop and opening my work laptop.

The nature of my time with God has varied over the years, often frequently interrupted by random, worldly, pinball thoughts bouncing my attention around to everything but God. Yet I’ve usually been able to wrestle my thoughts back to God long enough to have some quality alone time with Him.

Anyway, this morning I saw something new in my time with God. Shortly before He returned to heaven, Jesus said to His apostles, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me talk about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. … You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:4-5, 8).

I believe that message applies to us as well, in our morning time with God. I believe that Jesus is telling me to not leave my time alone with God until His Spirit has fully come upon me. Don’t work on my writing, don’t interact with others, don’t open my work laptop, until I’ve escaped captivity to all those worldly pinball thoughts and felt the Spirit take control. Yes, control. For as Paul said in Romans, “The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. … You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature (e.g., many of my worldly thoughts) but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you” (Romans 8:6, 9).

For me, there’s no better way to start my day than hand-in-hand with the Holy Spirit of God and Jesus. He in me, and me in Him, with Him in control. He will lead, and I will follow.


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Invincible

Jesus was under attack from the beginning. When He walked the roads of ancient Israel, His enemies constantly challenged Him, and even had Him killed. But that couldn’t stop Him. For Jesus then sent the Holy Spirit to keep His way—what we now call Christianity—alive.

Yet as His followers increased, so did His enemies, who soon included Roman Emperors. They tried to kill the movement Jesus had started by feeding His followers to the lions. Oops, it didn’t work. I suspect over the centuries, many others have tried to harm Christianity. They all failed.

Today, many Christians in the US feel under attack from the left and liberal media—they have for years. Some of them live in fear that their rights to worship God and Jesus as they chose will be taken away by their enemies. They take their fear and vote for people they believe will help protect them and their Christianity.

However, have God and Jesus needed any help in the past?

Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18, NASB)

If Hades can’t overpower Jesus’ Christianity, some measly group of liberal politicians or media outlets certainly aren’t going to make a dent. So why are so many Christians afraid?


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Finding Hope When So Much Can Feel Hopeless

It can be hard to find hope these days. Too many things fight against it. The ongoing pandemic, a new virus, climate change, wars, political and social chaos— Stop CJ, we get the point. Okay. Anyway, I found some hope, without even looking for it. Or, maybe I was looking.

I’ve been thinking about something Jesus once said, when He began to teach His disciples how to pray. “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’” (Matthew 6:9-12).

Well, since Jesus told us to pray for that stuff, it must be important. But it’s that first part that kept pulling me deeper into my thoughts. I think Jesus is asking us to pray that God be glorified—that’s how I interpret “hallowed be your name.” So I’ve been thinking a lot about God being glorified on earth as He is in heaven. Though I’m not sure what that would look like, I don’t think we see much of it in the world these days.

Also, I noticed that Jesus taught us to pray first for God’s glory, kingdom, and will. The priority is God, which I think is as it should be. And in speaking about prayer, Jesus also said, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). Again, our prayers should be for God’s glory, not only for our needs. And Paul said, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). But again, what would such glory look like?

Well, something that happened recently gave me an image to visualize. With the death of Queen Elizabeth, it seems like much of the world is thinking of her with fondness and even love. What if most of the world thought of God in the same way? I’ve been picturing that, where it’s God who’s getting all the attention. Can you conjure up an image in your mind? How might such glory for God influence our experiences here on earth? I mean, could we experience a life on earth as it is in heaven?

This morning I again found myself thinking about a world where God is glorified, where His kingdom reigns, and His will is done. I found myself imagining a worldwide revival of God’s love, truth, His kingdom, and His glory. And I got excited. And I found hope, a deep, energizing, love-infused, tear-inducing hope.

Maybe you can find the same hope too.Romans 15_13