Burdens of a Pilgrim

This post originates from an email conversation Denita had with someone recently. Some of the things brought up have been swimming around in my mind since and their implications bring me to a point where the burden cannot be caried silently anymore.

Brothers and sisters, as Children of God, we are called to follow in the steps of our Big Brother Jesus. What burdend Him, should also weigh heavy upon our hearts. What was His overarching goal in His incarnation? It was to bring glory to His Father, who through adoption, is now our Father.

As children of the Father, should we not seek the same as our Brother?

What did our Brother do in His ministry to bring glory to our Father? Seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

Brothers and sisters, that is what I seek to do with this post.

Our Father is jealous of our love for Him, He will share it with no other, but I fear that there are many out there who claim to love our Lord and Saviour Jesus, but in fact are splitting their love and loyalties. This splitting comes in a way that they are blinded to, something that they probably do not realize.

Lord, please open their eyes (and do not let me close my eyes to this fact)!

Many out there have proclaimed, either out loud, or in their hearts only, that they love Jesus, but do not feel the same thing towards the Father. That they love Jesus, but have problems with loving the God of the Old Testament.

Brothers and sisters, know this if you feel this way...

You are walking in sin and are flirting with heresy.

God the Father does not change (Psalms 102, Numbers 23:19, James 1:17, Malachi 3:6). Jesus Christ does not change (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1), when asked "show us the Father" He replied "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14)

Brother and sister, when you say that you love Jesus, but not the God of the Old Testament, you are not loving the Jesus of the Bible, you are worshiping a Jesus of your own making because "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him." (1 John 5:1)

If you cannot love the Father, you cannot say in truth that "Jesus is the Christ". It is only in the love of the Father you can proclaim this in truth by the Spirit, for the Spirit is sent by Jesus, from the Father (John 15:26).

Salvation only comes through faith in the Jesus of the Bible. That Jesus was, "the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) If I was to name my son Jesus, I cannot be saved by placing my faith in him...

If Jesus is God, then you cannot love Jesus, but not the God of the Old Testament, for they are one in union (John 14:11).

Please brothers and sisters, hear this truth and repent if you find your heart pointed in this direction.

Something to Chew on

*Ruffled Feathers Warning*

There has been something churning around in the back of me head for awhile and I needed to get it out.

When it comes to "American Christianity" I really feel like an outsider looking in most of the time. I am wired differently and spend a lot of time scratching my head when it comes to some of the things that people fight over within the "American church". We have seen battles within our own local church regarding worship style (music, service order, *gasp* the pastor is playing with the worship group... etc).

The thing that has me most puzzled are those who think that our job as Christians is to take over the government and legislate Christianity.

I'll be blunt and honest... the Spanish Inquisition is OVER and never was a Christian undertaking!

That might seen harsh, but really, where in the Bible does it tell us to take over and rule?

Matthew 28 in no way states that were are to conquer and subjugate. We are to make disciples. This implies a willingness to learn on the part of the other person. It implies our training of the other person, not bludgeoning them into behaving by our rules.

Ambassadors carry messages from their home country to a foreign one. They should not try to impose their laws upon another country. Now, they can use the example of their lives and their country to try to influence another country.

What really brought this to a head was all the stories regarding the "outrage" over the removal of Christ from Christmas by stores, local governments, etc.

For some reason, last year, this situation started to gnaw away at the back of my brain and I could not figure out why. After spending quite some time trying to figure out why, it finally dawned on me...

*Extreme Ruffled Feathers Warning*

Why are we forcing a holiday that the church decided to celebrate (as opposed to the God ordained celebrations like Passover, the Feast of Booths, the Day of Atonement [which are no longer required due to Christ's finished work on the cross]) on non-believers? Why are we so offended when someone who does not recognize Christ's authority, chooses to ignore our holiday?

Are we really showing the love of Christ when we reach for the pitchforks and torches when one who is blinded to the truth dares to take "Christ out of Christmas"? Are we to break out the thumbscrews when someone says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"?

I know this post comes at a strange time, since it has been over two months since Christmas, but the principle behind this remains 24/7.

One last question. If we are so offended by Christ being taken out of Christmas by non-believers in December... Why are we not offended when we take Christ out of Easter and replace Him with a rabbit?

Further Proof that I’m NOT Normal

This was what Amazon’s suggestions were for me!