This post is 1st and foremost - a True and Heart felt apology...

This post is 1st and foremost - a True and Heart felt apology... 

I stumbled onto a young Christian ladies blog site Wednesday while polishing my Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting Message. From glossing over her site she is a nice, energetic, bright Christian woman. She included an article on her site that caught my eye, and I took a few minutes to comment on the article, which was promptly removed from her site.

Today’s Church in America is infatuated with “Faith”, Religion & Christianity…. That’s right, America does have Faith and our own brand of Christianity. It’s one where Christ is conformed to our image of Him, rather than us conforming to His image.

When I read the article on this lady's site, I wasn’t sure if it was back dated from the 1960’s or 1970’s but it had a lot of the implications of that era. The opening line was, and I quote – “I am tired of being a Christian, and GOD tells me, it’s just a name. It’s just a label. And I have given you a new name. I am calling you Artist.”

Now, I must tell you, this young “artist” did a wonderful job of disclosing some of the same issues that I have been writing about with “The Church”!!! She masterfully shed light on the hypocrisy and religiosity of America’s Church.

Where she fell short was to show LIGHT, to show TRUTH, to show Christ in all His Glory and Holiness. When I wrote the comment to her post, I included 3 or 4 verses from 1st Peter, Leviticus and John that showed us the Calling of Christ. That we are called out and to be apart from the worlds ways and religion. We are called to be “Filled with the Spirit – then walk in the Spirit”. We are called to Holy. We are called to be Righteous. We are called to Godly. And we are called to be Christ Like to the world showing them His Love, Compassion and tender heart.

But I also commented on her blog, that to understand, to comprehend, and to exercise our Liberty in Christ – we MUST understand why it is that we need 1st HIS MERCY! Then why HE shows us abundantly HIS GRACE!

We were created by GOD in HIS image… The American Church today, has had its belly full of the hypocrisy, of the double standards, and of the “organized religion” in Christianity. However; my fear is that in the mass exodus, we have created a graven image of God and His Blessed Son in our own image. Today’s Church wants to hold onto all the “politically correct” virtues of God and His Son, but do not want to talk about Sin or Accountability!

To that I again state a fact I have mentioned in my blog before. “You Can Not Legislate The Heart Of Men & Women” Church in the past has tried to brow beat submission, overstretch authority in trying to control submission, as well as humiliate and legislate submission… The only thing these tactics provided were a frustrated and eventually rebellious people. What came out of the throngs of all that mess is what we see today – a “title” Christian, with no understanding Academically or Spiritually of what that truly means.

In showing His Love, we must never forget that He came for a purpose, to pay the Ultimate Price for SIN! The entire sermon on the Mount and all the Be-attitudes were to tell us and show us what a “conformed” life to Christ is to look like. Galatians 5, Paul tells us what the unclean heart looks like, and what the heart and walk of a Christian should be.

In Acts 2, we see where the Church started, there are our roots to following Christ and building a relationship with HIM. (1) They understood their sinful Godless condition. (2) They repented of that Sin, proclaim God as GOD, and turned from their ways. (3) The Holy Spirit “FILLED” them, guided them and ministered the preaching of Peter to their hearts. (4) They were Baptized in “obedience” to the instruction provided by Peter. (5) They shared their belongings / wealth with the brethren. (6) They continued in the Spirit of Christ and took up His Cross as their own in submission and service.

So to this young lady, my deepest apologies if I have offended you with my comments. I hope this Blog post explains my shared distaste for organized religion in this Country, and my understanding and vision of what a relationship with Christ really should be. It is after all, “All about Christ” and not about us…. We were created to Love, Praise, Glorify, Honor and Serve GOD. We are a GIFT from the Father to the Son, and we are KEPT through His Holy Spirit.

We are to conform to HIS likeness, take on HIS character attributes….

The Christ Filled Spirit will reflect:

Love

Joy

Peace

Longsuffering

Gentleness

Faith

Meekness

Temperance

Christ said that the blessed are they that are:

Poor in Spirit

Mournful of Sin

Meek in character

Hunger & Thirst for Righteousness

Merciful

PURE in heart

Peacemakers

Persecuted for Righteousness Sake

Reviled & Persecuted for Christ

Falsely accused over faith in Christ

Conformity comes from within, the Holy Spirit must fill the heart of men and women to achieve these things… Oh, men and women can force themselves to conform for a while, but if it is not of GOD, it is not sustainable. Conformity, Submission, Yielding and Obedience are all a product of Love and Thankfulness. Only God and the individual know if it’s real, but I can tell you – when it’s real, the joy is deep, long lasting and traverses the worst and vilest of the human experiences. The Joy that Christ provided through The Father’s Grace, penetrates to the very bone of men and women. You see it in their faces even in the midst of crisis, Christ shines through. THAT – Dear ones, is the Liberty in Christ from the bonds of this sinful world!!!