Indagatio Veri

The word dishonor, is also translated as 'acting unbecomingly', or being rude.  Dishonor only makes sense in understanding honor.  Honor is thoughts, words, and actions that purpose to respect and lift up others.  Dishonor is the opposite, its' goal is to tear down, to make others feel bad or uncomfortable.  Dishonor stems from believing you are better than others.  This could be in regards to intellect, physical capability, good looks, spiritual zeal, or any characteristic, action, or thought, that makes one feel superior and others inferior. Dishonoring someone is attributing less worth  than they actually deserve.  We do this by talking about people behind their backs, by making snide remarks, and/or by labeling them in any form to paint a negative picture of them. In the same way, it is an attempt to paint a more positive picture of ourselves.  "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building...

Boasting is the act of 'showing off'.  It is the desire for attention.  Boasting occurs when an individual wants recognition. It stems from pride; which is the mentality that I have accomplished something that deserves recognition.  It is gaining fulfillment and feeling self-actualized because of personal performance and/or talent.  Pride comes when an individual defines their worth by their own ability. Boasting often looks like confidence, but in fact it is only a manifestation of deep insecurity. When someone boasts, they are revealing that they feel the need to be validated for their achievements.   Pride is about building up personal image, it is rooted in the fear of man, and therefore is driven by the opinions and expectations of others. Pride only exists in the realm of comparison, where someone feels gratified by being 'better' or 'different' than other people. The world lifts up self actualization.  There are hundreds of articles written about...

"For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)." Power (dunamis) is the miraculous ability of God that can transform, heal, and set free. Love (agapos) is good will and benevolence towards others. A sound mind (sophronismos) is the ability to do what 'fits' a situation. Love without power does not have the ability to bring transformation, it can only empathize. Love with power not only cares for the individual but has the capacity to set them free. Add wisdom that knows what to do when, and you have someone that can change the world. A powerless person is subject to circumstance. They say they are victims to their own circumstances, pushed to and fro by ideas, struggles, and unhealthy expectations. Powerlessness either manifests in passivity, where the individual makes excuses for their behavior and situation; or it results in control and manipulation, where the individual seeks to manipulate people and cir...

When asked what the greatest commandment of the law was, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37).” Very often this scripture is held as the Christian standard; and we are silly enough to think that although we can't fulfill the law, we are most certainly able to love God with everything we have. Notice Jesus said this was the greatest commandment of the 'law'. A law that Jesus spent his whole ministry trying to convince people of their inability to fulfill. Jesus equates lust with adultery, and anger with murder, then he goes so far as to say that all of the commandments can be fulfilled if you can somehow manage to love God, others, and yourself. This is the law on steroids! It is one thing to try to manage your outward behavior, but another thing entirely to change the way we think, feel, and function on the inside. Here again, J...

As we grow in our comprehension and experience of God's love, our lifestyle is inundated by that love. God's love for us changes the way we interact in the world. As we talk about the practical expression that comes from knowing God's love, do not mistake it for a legalistic call to try and will power your way to look a certain way. If you try to relate in circumstances the way you think love should be expressed, but don't actually have love, you will fall on your face.  Love flows from you as an effortless response to being loved yourself (1 John 4:19). This is an unveiling of a lifestyle that is merely a byproduct of being influenced by the love of God. Love is expressed in normal life circumstances in such a way that it neither seems normal nor reasonable from a strictly 'human' perspective.  Love is a heavenly perspective, and religious practice can neither understand nor replicate it's deep reality. So allow yourself to be loved by God, ask Him to revea...

Love, Agape, means to have good will, to be benevolent.  This love is pure and holy, it isn't about wanting simplistic happiness, it is desiring and willing everything that is good; that which is whole. Agape love finds its definition in the heart of Father God.  His love for us is complete, He has created us to walk in freedom and wholeness, and His love fiercely and tenderly defines who we are. "If I speak with the  tongues of men and of  angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a  clanging cymbal.     If I have  the gift of   prophecy, and know all  mysteries and all  knowledge; and if I have  all faith, so as to  remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   And if I  give all my possessions to feed  the poor , and if I  surrender my body  [ a ] to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)." Spiritual performance can exist...

Prayer is much more than asking God to intervene in our lives. Prayer does not make God turn towards us, neither does it change Him or cause His involvement.  Prayer is much more personal and much more relational than that! If we keep prayer mainly as a religious practice to cause God to 'come down' and help us out in our situation, then we are relating with God from an old-covenant perspective.  The new dispensation under Jesus is that God is now with us! There is no separation, God does not need to 'come down from heaven', He has made His home in our very being.  The Old Covenant practice of twisting God's arm to get Him to do something is over; prayer now is our glorious exploration of the union that we already have. The word pray in the Greek is   proseú x omai  (from  4314   /prós , "towards, exchange" and 2172 /eu x omai , "to wish, pray") – properly, to exchange wishes;  pray  – literally, to  interact with  the Lord by swi...

It says in Acts 16:31, 'believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your entire household.' Viewing salvation as if it is a transaction has caused thousands of people to think they are saved by their vocal 'allegiance' to God or Jesus. As if attending church or saying 'Jesus is Lord' makes God change his perspective of you (Matthew 7:22). This perspective separates truth from experience, and makes faith out to be a cognitive response to a truth principle. Believing in Jesus doesn't mean you assent to a truth principle, it means you trust Him, have seen Him to be who He actually is. You have known Him through experience (see the Greek word Epignosko). This is the knowing talked about in scripture, it is a kind of knowing that implies transformation. There is a crowd of people who claim to be Christians based on right knowledge who's lives don't carry the flavor of knowing their freedom, forgiveness, and salvation that Jesus paid for....

Oh worship, what a magnificent thing, but unfortunately a practice that is complicated by religious tradition and obligation.  In the last blog I simplified in some ways the concept of what the church is, in other ways its' simplification left it in greater mystery than before.  Worship too will fade almost until it is unattainable, while at the same time it will stand out in renewed clarity. Worship, the very idea elicits images of people in pews singing from hymnals, the sound of voices mixed in harmony, and the utilization of words and phrases that are intended to teach the singer and hearer about who God is.  Worship is not singing, although you can sing in a worshipful way, it is not the words you speak, although words will give voice to the true intent of expression. Worship is not something that God wants us to do out of obligation, nor is it something that we can just conjure up in our own will power. Worship is merely an expression of affection of God, to God...

What is the church, what is prayer, what is worship? So many times our perspective and practice of these things are skewed from years of routine, dead tradition, and performance mentalities.  Let us define these together; I want these explanations to be deep but simple, challenging but hopeful,  understandable and yet insightful. Out of these 3 areas, the church is the first one we must tackle; and before we get started I want to say that I love the church.  I love God's people, and the Holy Spirit is alive and at work even when we don't see it.  There are many communities that honor each other well, who obey the Father's voice, who know who Jesus is, and live from His victory.  There are communities and leaders that I respect, that I know are Godly, and that cultivate genuine and intentional interaction with each other and with the Lord. I also recognize God's ability to work with all of us in the midst of our misunderstanding, our stupidity, and our inabil...

Read this out-loud to yourself. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as HE chose me in Him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before Him.  In love HE predestined me for adoption as a son through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of HIS will, to the praise of HIS glorious grace, with which HE has blessed me in the beloved.  In HIM I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of HIS grace, which HE lavished upon me, in all wisdom and insight making known to me the mystery of HIS will, according to HIS purpose, which HE set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIM , things in heaven and things on earth. In HIM  I have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of HIM  who works all things ac...