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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The Jesus Club

July in Chicago—hot and muggy. Thankfully, the conference was confined to an air-conditioned hotel on Michigan Avenue. During the conference, I studied my new business colleague as he spoke with potential customers. Sometimes he was all business; other times folksy with his sentences laced with profanity. He adjusted his style depending upon his audience.

As the day of meetings ended, he invited me to dinner at his private men’s club. After walking several blocks from the hotel to his club, I reluctantly put my sport coat back on, re-fastened the top button of my shirt, cinched up my tie, and followed my friend through the heavy glass doors.

It was a scene from a 1940’s movie. There was the great foyer with polished wood paneling and the wide staircase leading to the second-floor dining room. The maître d’ greeted my friend as Mister Johns, and then led us to our table near the windows, with an expansive view of the lake.

I fell into a well-padded red leather chair as the waiter arrived, also greeting my friend by name. And my friend—who was he? His tone and style changed again. He had taken on his club persona. Serious, yet cordial, a bit aloof, with that look of superiority I’d seen on faces of some college professors. Not at all like the bulldog businessman I knew outside his club.

Speaking of clubs, many years earlier, when my wife and I were engaged, we both liked the idea of getting married in the local Presbyterian church. So we started attending, at least for the final few months before our wedding. My wife had attended a Presbyterian church when she was a little girl, so unlike me, she knew what to expect.

They had their own language with big words I didn’t understand, like sanctification, justification, and righteousness. They adhered to a seemingly sacred routine, with those on the inside flawlessly following each step of the dance—standing, singing, and repeating phases, all on queue. I was like a dancer with my feet stuck in the mud. I felt lost and very much an outsider. After the wedding, we didn’t go back, to that church anyway.

Yet during those handful of Sundays before our wedding, Christianity felt like a club—the Jesus Club, where many of the club members spoke that “churchy” language. Much of it sounded meaningless to me, as if they were reading from a script.

Like my multi-persona business colleague, later in life when I started to regularly attend church, I, too, was tempted to take on a dual personality, putting on my church club persona whenever I walked through those church doors. Perhaps the temptation to adopt such a persona is prompted by the exclusive club atmosphere that pervades some churches, with their club dress code, language, and implied policy of acceptable behavior.

A Barna Group study from 2015 shows my sense of a Jesus club isn’t unique: In a survey of young adults, 44% say, “The church seems too much like an exclusive club.” 1

I added exclusive club to my list of perceptions of Christianity. But is that how Jesus wants His Church to be perceived?

  1. From an article by the Barna Group, “What Millennials Want When They Visit Church,” 3/3/15, https://www.barna.org/barna-update/millennials/711-what-millennials-want-when-they-visit-church#.VS5biZN51f0

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

 


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God’s Kingdom on Earth

Jesus once said, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, … on earth as it is in heaven’” (Matthew 6:9-10). God’s kingdom is where He lives, His home. God’s kingdom is defined by the presence of God. In instructing us to pray for God’s kingdom on earth, Jesus is calling us to pray for God’s Spirit to live on earth as He does in heaven.

Yet when it comes to many churches, God isn’t home. The Holy Spirit is missing from many churches and the lives of their members. Just look at all the disunity, the lack of fruit—as evidenced by the ever-decreasing population of churchgoing Christians—and the lack of understanding and truth. But, why is the Spirit missing? Since answers aren’t necessary in my search for true Christianity, I’ll resist stepping into that quagmire … for now anyway.

Now consider this bit of insight from Andrew Murray:

“Look in your heart, and your heart will find its Savior, its God. If you see and feel nothing of God, it is because you seek Him in books, in church, in outward religious exercises. You will not find Him there until you have first found Him in your heart. Seek Him in your heart, and you will never seek in vain, for He dwells there in His Holy Spirit.” 1

Yes, Murray did say that church isn’t the place to look for God. That’s because God’s earthly home, His kingdom on earth, is where His Holy Spirit lives, within the hearts of those who believe and receive Him. Recall that Jesus said: “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).

  1. Andrew Murray, Andrew Murray Devotional, (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House), © 2006, devotional for December 24.

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

 


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Without limit

My friend Phil believes the Holy Spirit is only available to clergy, like He’s a seminary graduation gift. Even the twelve apostles initially thought access to the Spirit was limited to them. As one of the apostles asked, “Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us [as the Holy Spirit] and not to the world?” (John 14:22). Jesus responded, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (verse 23, emphasis added).

Anyone can live with the internal presence of the Spirit of God and Jesus. There are no limits to Jesus’ promise, for as He said,

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” (John 3:34, emphasis added)

[and God said,] “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. … Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28 & 29)

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

 


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The Spirit of Truth

Jesus prepared His disciples to spread His truth by telling them as much as they could handle, as much as the spoken word can communicate to an open mind. However, He wanted to tell them more, as He said: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear” (John 16:12). Jesus then promised: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (verse 13, emphasis added).

Again, reading the Bible or listening to sermons isn’t enough. Complete truth only comes from a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit speaks to us at a level far beyond the reach of reading, listening, human vocabulary, and human reasoning. And as Jesus also said:

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me.” (John 15:26 NASB)

In the movie A Few Good Men, there’s a climactic moment near the end of the court martial scene. In response to Tom Cruise’s character demanding, “I want the truth!” Jack Nicholson’s character shouts, “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!” Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we can’t handle the truth. It’s scope and meaning won’t be fully grasped by our limited minds. Yet the Spirit of truth will open our minds to the truth:

“It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.” (1 John 5:6 NASB)

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

 


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The Spirit of Self-control

I’d read it before, though never in a coffee shop. With my medium coffee in hand—being a bit of a rebel, I refuse to say Grande, or whatever they call it—I plopped down at a table and opened my Bible to chapter 7 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. He was complaining about himself: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. … I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. … Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:15, 18-19,24 NRSV). Sound familiar? It does to me.

Often in my relationships with God and others, I know what I want to do, but I cannot do it. Not enough self-control. Who will rescue me from my wretched self-out-of-control? Here’s how Paul began to answer his own question:

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. … You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.” (Romans 8:6, 9)

While in grammar school, my friend Gary let me ride his mini motorcycle. Gary sat behind me while I took control (yah, right). I followed a dirt track over rises and through dips, with twists and turns and loose gravel, and I lost control, and we ended up in a pond. Really.

For me, that is a good picture of life. There are twists, turns, dips, temptations, frustrations, hardships, etc., and sometimes we lose control. Sometimes we crash. Yet we have a choice. Instead of trying to govern ourselves and steer ourselves through life, we could give the Holy Spirit control and let Him drive. We could then sit back, wrap our arms around Him, relax, and enjoy the ride.  However, the Spirit won’t take control—I must surrender it to Him. Until I do, He’ll take the backseat and patiently wait for me to accept that I’m a wretched, out-of-control driver.

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

 


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Holy Spirit Who?

In my early churchgoing years, I pictured Jesus in heaven, no longer involved in the battle down here in the trenches. He’d done His tour of duty and was now sitting out the rest of the war. I never gave much thought to the Holy Spirit, as the only times it was mentioned in church was in prayers or songs that included Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit is a facet of God who’s often more mystery than reality. For a long time, I ignored the Holy Spirit, considering it a third-rate entity, the silent partner of the Holy Trinity. However, who was I ignoring? Well, according to Paul:

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17 NRSV)

“God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” (Galatians 4:6 NIV)

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9 NIV, emphasis added)

So, the Holy Spirit is both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus—not someone I want to ignore. But wait! What about that last sentence in Romans 8:9? Is Paul saying that anyone who ignores the Holy Spirit isn’t a true Christian? Hmm, that could explain a lot.

Ignoring that volatile question (for now), what’s the Holy Spirit do, what’s His purpose? The third member of the Holy Trinity must have some kind of holy purpose, right? As I quoted Jesus at the end of the last chapter, the Spirit will guide us into all truth, which is something we could all use more of these days. As if that’s not enough, there’s this promise from Paul:

“You were sealed in Him [Jesus] with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance.” (Ephesians 1:13-14 NASB)

A first installment of our inheritance? What inheritance? Does life with the Spirit here on earth give us a preview of the life waiting for us with God in heaven? Again, that’s not something I want to ignore. With all that’s going on in this crazy world, I could use some heaven-on-earth right now.

Anyway, when Jesus returned to heaven, I suspect He knew that those He left in charge needed help, or His budding Church would wither and die. Attacks against Christianity began immediately, and enemies soon included the Roman Empire. Therefore, Jesus sent His Spirit to help protect His newborn Church. Some people believe that once Christianity survived those initial attacks and gained strength, the Spirit walked away from the battle. Yet, as Jesus said,

“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.” (John 14:16-17 NASB, emphasis added)

The Holy Spirit hasn’t abandoned the war. He’s still in the trenches, for those willing to look for Him.

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 


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Freedom Waits Outside

Some modern churches preach that Jesus came to condemn those who don’t follow the rules, God’s and their rules. Now, Jesus indeed came to condemn, but not us rule-breakers. As John said,

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8)

Satan has long held potent influence over humanity. He’s the designer of false versions of Christianity, the author of all lies, the patron of the graffiti hiding God’s truth. Jesus came to condemn Satan, destroy his work, and set us free from Satan’s influence. Isaiah foresaw this when he stated that Jesus would come … “to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7 NRSV).

Imagine all humanity held captive in a dark prison, where Satan is the warden. We’re blinded by Satan’s lightless influence. Most people don’t know that they’re prisoners, because they don’t realize that there’s another world out there. All most of us know is this chaotic prison-world we live in, when all along God offers another option.

Now, Jesus didn’t come to condemn us because of our captivity. Rather, He came to open our eyes and free us from our captivity. As Jesus said of Himself:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,” (Luke 4:18 NRSV)

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:17 NASB)

Jesus came to testify to the truth, and it’s His truth that opens our eyes and sets us free. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

 


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For Love and Compassion

The Jesus some of us imagine is the Hollywood Jesus: stoic, mild mannered, soft-spoken, somewhat dull and emotionless. Yet as the stories in the Bible make clear, Jesus was no otherworldly droid, immune to human emotions and pain, shuffling about dispensing miracles.

There’s a story about a man suffering from leprosy: “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean’” (Luke 5:12). Those stricken with leprosy were outcasts. People would have avoided this man. It may have been years since someone had touched him, since a hand had rested on his shoulder in a moment of comfort. “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean,” he said to Jesus. He didn’t doubt Jesus’ ability, only His willingness to heal him. It had been that long since this man felt kindness and compassion from another person.

We know from other stories that Jesus could have instantly healed the man with a simple command, like “be healed.” However, Jesus did something different. He did something radical. Jesus first gave the man what he needed most.

Picture the man on his knees with his face to the ground, perhaps afraid to look up, perhaps afraid he’d see Jesus turn His back on him and walk away. Now picture Jesus kneeling down in front of the man, and then … “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man” (verse 13). I like to picture Jesus gently squeezing the man’s shoulder, followed by the man tentatively lifting his head and looking up. Seeing the compassion in Jesus’ face and feeling it in the hand on his shoulder, tears well up in the man’s eyes, run down his leprosy-scarred cheeks and into his beard.

The point is, for the first time in perhaps years, another person touched this lonely, outcast of a human being. Jesus gave the man what he needed most—love and compassion. In the midst of the emotion swelling within the man, Jesus then said, “I am willing. Be clean,” and the man was immediately healed of leprosy.

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 


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God’s Purpose

I never understood the sadness until my own children were grown and out on their own. But giving me a preview of coming emotions, my mom showed me how sad she would become every time I left home after a weekend visit. I thought she was being overly emotional. I now share her feelings whenever my sons leave after a visit home.

My wife and I miss those days when our sons lived at home; we miss the closeness, and being a part of each other’s lives. My purposes in my relationships with my sons have evolved as they’ve grown from babies into men. However, one thing that never changes is my overwhelming desire to be with them and to show my love for them.

God is patient, kind, compassionate, humble, unbiased, all-forgiving, and protective—such is God’s character. God’s primary purpose, the one that His character and other purposes point to, is to live with us and express His unconditional love for us. God’s purpose is to have His children return home. As Jesus said, “and we will come to them and make our home with them.” And God makes a way for us to return, to the way it was in the beginning, before Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. As Andrew Murray said:

“When God established the plan of redemption, His objective was to restore man to the place from which he had fallen.” 1

To restore us to the place from which humanity had fallen, to bring His children back home—this is what salvation, God’s ultimate purpose, is all about.

“My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40)

“For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9 NRSV)

 

Footnote

  1. Andrew Murray, Andrew Murray Devotional, (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House), © 2006, devotional for February 4

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

 

<– PREVIOUS EXCERPT

 


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How it Began

“Wake up CJ. The Matrix has you.”

Like Neo in the movie The Matrix, was I living in a world of deception? Neo was an unwitting prisoner in a computer-generated, virtual reality world—the Matrix. While Neo may have suspected something was wrong with his reality, he didn’t know there was another world out there, the real world, beyond the virtual world of his experience. Then Morpheus, another Matrix character, called Neo to wake up to the truth.

About twenty years ago, I first suspected I was living in a human-generated version of Christianity, where though it was put forth as true to what Jesus lived and taught, it wasn’t. I began to sense another Christianity out there, a real Christianity, beyond the Christianity of my experience. And it felt like Morpheus was calling me to wake up to the truth, a truth hidden beneath the graffiti of church history and human nature.

I struggled through those years, trying to understand what I was feeling and why. At first, I didn’t know what to do about my feelings, or how to respond to that imagined Morpheus voice. Then, realizing that “Christianity” and “Christian” are manmade terms subject to human definition and manipulation, I felt a growing desire to know how Jesus would define Christianity. What would Jesus say it means to be a Christian? So, I listened to the voice.

Eventually, a new image seeped into my mind, an image that helped solidify my resolve to search for the truth of Christianity. Picture a Bible resting on a table. The Bible—the collection of historical documents that defines Jesus’ version of Christianity—was compiled a few centuries after Jesus showed us His Christianity. Then, as the centuries ticked by, men added other books.

Where Jesus’ Christianity and what it means to be Christian is defined by God’s word as recorded in the Bible, manmade versions of Christianity are often defined and governed by those manmade rulebooks. Now, looking at that pile of books, where’s Jesus’ Christianity?

Stepping back to take in the bigger picture painted by the Bible, a new question snuck in. Why? Why are we the way we are? Why is there so much evil in the world? Why is life sometimes so difficult? Why is peace with each other, and even with God, sometimes so unattainable? And why is it so hard to believe? Without falling too deeply into philosophical notions, I guess I just wanted to know what life’s all about—the elusive meaning of life.

So much of life felt either meaningless or perilous. I wanted something solid and unchanging to hold onto, a safe place in the midst of this conspiracy-theory-dominated, truth-starved, war-rattled, chaotic world. I was craving meaning and a purpose I could believe in without fear and doubts, and I wasn’t finding that in the church I was attending.

Then it happened, a situation at church. I mean, this was a big deal. It wounded me and left me confused. That’s not true Christianity, is it? I kept asking myself. That can’t be what Jesus has in mind. The episode added to my sense of a false Christianity, a Christianity matrix that had been holding me, and those sitting in the pews next to me, captive.

I have friends who found freedom from similar situations by quitting Christianity. I wasn’t interested in going that far. Instead, I quit that church. I visited other churches around town, yet nothing felt right, and I didn’t know why. The whole experience was disorienting and depressing. I eventually decided to go it alone. However, as I later learned, I was never truly alone.

Soon after becoming a church refugee, I began spending all my spare time searching for the truth about the way of life that Jesus lived and taught, what I call Jesus’ Christianity. I suspected I’d find it somewhere under the false Christianity that held me captive. Something told me it was there, like Morpheus sending me that cryptic message, “Wake up CJ. Manmade Christianity has you.”

Entering the campus of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, my wife and I followed the herd of other tourists through Library Square when I looked up to see a large sign saying, “Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it,” by Jonathan Swift. Yes, it seems that in our society, falsehoods often prevail far more than truth. What matters most to some people is who said something, rather than the trustworthiness of what they said. For many people, truth is whatever they decide it to be. But remembering that Jonathan Swift quote has fueled my desire to give truth—that is, Jesus’ truth as defined in the Bible—a shoulder to lean on, especially when many people are kicking it in the shins.

As I stepped off on my own journey many years ago, there was a new question loitering in my mind. Jesus had said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). But, free from what? I suspected there was something more than freedom from wounds and captivity to a manmade Christianity. I suspected there was something else holding me prisoner that I wasn’t aware of … like the matrix.

So, now it’s decision time. Will you stop here and remain captive to a distorted, manmade image of Christianity, a Christianity that may be blinding you to the truth? Or, will you follow me at least a little farther on this journey to uncover the truth? For Matrix fans, this is the blue pill or red pill moment. And like Morpheus said, all I’m offering you is the truth. Nothing more.

(Excerpt from “Beneath the Graffiti: A De-churched Christian’s Search for Christianity.”)

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Graffiti-churched-Christians-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0DK7VD71B

NEXT EXCERPT –>


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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 &amp; 5-24