Steve Simms's Blog, page 224

Untwisting Scripture, untangling Bible verses

Scripture is designed to help us “Zoom” with the risen Jesus and stay “inline” with Hi m. Unfortunately it is often twisted in ways that aren’t helpful. Let’s try to untangle a few Bible verses.

The Bible points us to a glorious place to meet with the living Jesus — the “innernet.” “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Jesus invented live streaming on the “innernet.” He told His disciples that “rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Jesus said, “Follow Me.” He never said: “Do your own thing during the week, but at least go to church on Sunday.” Jesus said that His followers, “must deny themselves.” He didn’t tell them to seek self-fulfillment.

When Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” He wasn’t referring to a human politician. When Jesus said, “Repent,” He didn’t mean for you to keep doing what you’ve always been doing. Jesus told His disciples to fish for people, not to fish for political advantage over others.

When Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted” He didn’t mean those who are retaliated against for their own meanness. When Jesus said, “To the one who knocks, the door will be opened,” He wasn’t telling us to “knock,” criticize, and insult people.

Jesus said: “Blessed are you when people insult you,” not “when you insult people.” That’s an important difference. Jesus told us to forgive, not to do everything we can to get back at people.

“The Bible calls us to humble ourselves, not to make accusations about other people. What’s it take to be taught directly by God? “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.” -Ps. 25:9 Jesus said that He came to call “sinners to repentance,” not to excuses or denial.

Jesus is knocking
On doors in hearts,
Saying, “Roll away your pride,
And let Me in.”

Jesus didn’t say that His followers need to be taught about the Holy Spirit. He said that we need to be taught by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” He never said: “Call yourselves ‘laymen’ & let the ‘clergy’ do the work.” Jesus said, “Watch out for false prophets,” not, “Believe whatever any preacher, who has a church or TV show, preaches.”

Church leadership tends to overreach, unintentionally supplanting the authority of the living Jesus. The 23rd Psalm says: “The Lord is my shepherd (pastor).” Is He yours? For me, the risen Jesus is essential. I don’t know how I’d make it without Him living inside of me.

Church on skype reduces the hype — fog machines and colored lights have much less impact when filtered thru a devise. It might also help us to untangle Scripture if it encourages to read it for ourselves.

You can’t be hateful and grateful at the same time. They don’t work together. Daily reading the Bible with an open heart will release gratefulness into your heart.

Did Jesus really say, “In the world you will have tribulation?” Yep. But He added, “But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Search Amazon for: The Joy Of Early Christianity.

Bias can cause you to disagree with people before they say a word.

Assumptions lead to stereotypes, stereotypes to bias, bias to prejudice, prejudice to the feeling of supremacy, and supremacy to abuse. The thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that you welcome or embrace today, will predispose you for more of the same tomorrow.

Bias is so complex, that it can easily become a psychological complex, however, it’s frequently undiagnosed. The goal of communication is to get people to think beyond their biases, not to arouse their anger.

Bias can cause you to disagree with people before they say a word. Insulting people who we disagree with and/or don’t understand, isn’t very good for cordial human relations. If “all men are created equal” as the US Declaration of Independence proclaims, then feelings of superiority are delusional.

When desires determine beliefs, they can easily pull us away from truth. Then they can lead us to bias. However, if someone disagrees with you, you can still learn from and appreciate their insights.

Our own biases often lurk and hide securely, deep within us. That’s because it’s very difficult for us to discover truth we don’t want to admit. Truth and thought sometimes flow together, but often don’t.

Thinking that you aren’t prejudice is bias against your own ability to be deceived. If you aren’t bias, you can admit what you don’t know and honestly explore information that challenges your perceptions. However, sometimes something we know to be true is made inadmissible to our mind because it interferes with what we want to be true.

As human beings, bias can buy us some narcissism, but it can’t afford the joyous freedom of an open, honest heart. Bias looks for affirmation of its beliefs. It slants, spins, twists (and even blocks) any information that challenges them.

People who came to hold their opinions without using reason, strongly resist being reasoned out of them. Programmed consumers of opinions and information, find it very difficult to be honest observers who search for truth for themselves.

It’s very difficult to see injustice that our culture has trained us not to see. Frequently we overlook the “research” we have done by our daily living. What we have accidently discovered is often neglected.

Pride speaks to protect itself and hide its shortcomings. Humility speaks to bring truth to light, regardless of its impact on self. Our ability to be objective about people’s views diminishes if we don’t like them (or if we believe that they don’t like us).

Here’s why I blog: Writing is therapeutic for me. Even if no one reads it, likes it, or agrees with it, I sure feel better by doing it. I want to write like Paul: Read Scripture with an open heart; listen to Jesus; and write what He shows me.

Hyper-pretension will raise your blood pressure.

Hyper-pretension will raise your blood pressure. The greater the disparity between our opinions of ourself and reality, the stronger is our prentese.

Pretense is concocted to hide what you don’t like about yourself, and therefore is indicative of low self-esteem.

In our popular culture, pretense prevents truth from seeming true, while fiction, fabrication and fantasy are promoted and applauded. The pretense of faith goes poof in life’s fiery furnace but the presence of the risen Jesus will protect you there and lead you out.

High performance with low opportunity usually receives much less credit than moderate performance with great opportunity.

Corona virus exposes glaring racial disparities

The COVID 19 pandemic is revealing glaring racial disparities. (Racial disparity began when skin color was declared to be a hierarchy of human value.) Racial hierarchy (a particular color supremacy) and racial equality are mutually exclusive. There’s no eye color disparity because it has never been defined to be a measure of human value.

If many Americans today are ready to run away from “stay at home” orders during the COVID 19 pandemic, just think how American slaves must have felt. As Jesus refused to stay in a sealed tomb, America’s heroic, runaway slaves refused to stay in the bondage of human trafficking.

Pride and pretense give birth to prejudice– putting other people down to make yourself feel better. In a just society, skin color is neither an asset or a liability. Search: Off the RACE Track book.

3 kinds of thinking: self-directed, distorted, & Spirit-prompted

There are 3 currents streaming in human consciousness: 1) choice, 2) confusion, and 3) conscience. Choice is self-directed thinking; confusion is distorted thinking; and conscience is Spirit-prompted thinking.

Confusion (distorted thinking) entered the human race when choice began to override conscience. When self-directed thinking ignores Spirit-prompted thinking, it leads to distorted thinking. When self-directed thinking submits to Spirit-prompted thinking, confusion is replaced by inner peace.

When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and to eat the fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” mankind fell away from God’s Spirit. Distorted thinking stays distorted, no matter how often or how loud it is presented (or how faithfully it is followed).

When choice regularly overrides conscience, thinking is distorted and falls into bondage to self-destructive attitudes and habits. Self-directed thinking (choice) can never fully overcome doubt and confusion, but Spirit-led thinking releases a preponderance of inner peace.

The inner pain and confusion that occurs when choice trumps conscience is called guilt. Conscience (Spirit-prompted thinking) drives out confusion by simplifying choice to either “obey or disobey.”

Self-directed thinking tends to move toward narcissism and a distorted ego. Spirit-prompted thinking always moves in the direction of truth and humility.

Self-directed thinking and Spirit-prompted thinking often contradict each other and then we must choose which one to follow and which one to quench. When choices become habitual and we become unaware that our self-directed thinking is overriding our conscience, we get stuck in guilt. The best use of choice is to overcome confusion and guilt, by choosing to follow your conscience.

Is time a timebomb or a timeout? When spent in self-directed thinking it can devastate; in Spirit-prompted thinking, refresh and heal.

Spirit-prompted thinking renews your consciousness and makes you aware of many amazing, unseen things. Spirit-prompted thinking realizes that sometimes we need to sit and wait so we don’t interrupt God while He sets up our next steps. You can jumpstart Spirit-prompted thinking by humbly reading the Bible, with an open heart, everyday. If your life feels empty, the One who left behind an empty tomb, can fill it.

Neither Starbucks or Jesus likes lukewarm . . .

Lukewarm Christianity tends to scold people who are ice cold, stop those who are red hot, and entertain the rest. See Revelation 3:16

Cold Christianity ignores the living Jesus. Hot adores Him. Lukewarm bores the people in between. Hot Christianity is fired up! Cold Christianity is shut down. Lukewarm Christianity is toned-down.

Hot Christianity’s bold! Cold’s not. Lukewarm’s automated like an online bot. The more you breathe the air of lukewarmness, the harder it is to passionately follow and obey the living Jesus. Christ-followers are compelled to obey the risen Jesus, by the fire of His love burning in their heart, not by outward coercion.

Some people like lukewarm Christianity. Other people feel obligated to it. Some just tolerate it, while others search for red hot faith.

If you try to balance hot and cold Christianity, you become lukewarm. Perhaps it’s better to make a bold choice. Be hot!

If Starbucks served lukewarm, they’d lose their followers. Perhaps that’s why Jesus wants His disciples “hot or cold.”

Rejecting lukewarm Christianity, is a biblical concept (Revelation 3:16) that many people prefer not to hear about. It’s hard to clearly see our own lukewarmness in times of normalcy, but disruption often releases fresh insight to those who are open to it.

Christian spirituality is much deeper than sociality, because it involves direct interaction with Jesus and Spirit-prompted interaction with others. Christians tend to memorialize Jesus as historical, but often neglect to remember and surrender to Him as present and living.

Remember the present-day Jesus — not just the historical Jesus

Jesus said: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Remember His presence in the present moment and surrender to Him now! Too often Christians forget that Jesus is present and active in the now, and only remember Him in the past. Remember He’s here! Remembering Christ living back then is no excuse for not remembering to focus on His living presence, just now.

Remember the Jesus Christ living now in you, not just the one who lived back then, in Galilee and Judea. If you won’t remember what Jesus is doing in your life right now, you won’t stay excited about what He did 2,000 years ago.

Since Jesus knew He was going to be present, why did He tell His first disciples, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”? Because it’s easy to forget about His presence with us now.

To remember Jesus from the past, but forget to interact with Him in the present, is to miss the essence of Christianity. Even Communion (the Lord’s Supper) is to be taken in remembrance of Jesus–recalling, experiencing, and interacting with His living presence in the moment.

Ancient Jews followed an indirect approach to God thru priests and ceremonies, but Jesus opened the way to direct relationship. Now that Jesus is risen we can go beyond hierarchal religion that operates thru priests, and into direct interaction with Him (the kingdom of God).

The kingdom of God begins to manifest when King Jesus is allowed to be the active Head of His body, not just the figurehead. When anyone obeys the risen Jesus and does what He says, the kingdom (government) of God is manifesting at that moment.

Though unseen with physical eyes, the living Jesus can be recognized by an open heart. My heart’s attraction is daily interaction with the living Jesus. I love to focus on Him and be aware of His presence!

Heart-felt testimonies and direct, in the moment Christ-experiences, are essentials (often shut-down by church ceremonies). Share your salvation testimony. If you don’t have one, ask the risen Jesus to save you and then tell what He does.

Sermons aren’t enough. The active presence of Jesus is essential to Christianity. “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Church services tend to remember what Christ did in the distant past, but to forget His real presence in the immediate moment.

Liturgy-led, preacher-led, or Spirit-led?

Liturgy-led, preacher-led, or Spirit-led? That is the question for the church of the future. If church doesn’t train Christians to listen directly to God’s “still small voice,” doesn’t that make a preacher God’s middleman?

If your insights and spiritual gifts aren’t needed in a church service, does your presence benefit anyone but yourself? Christian spirituality is collaboration between the risen Jesus and you. The more you surrender, the more He is able to lead.

Jesus has relocated from being dead in His tomb to living inside those who are surrendered to Him. He’s not dead anymore. He can speak for Himself!

Clergy-focused meetings blur the resurrected Jesus by misdirecting our attention away from Him. A “Christian” narcissist is someone who has dethroned the risen Savior in his life.

Unconditional surrender to the risen Jesus brings glorious freedom from self-focus and self-torment Obeying Jesus is always surprising. You feel like you’re giving up what you want, but then those feelings are swept away by His presence.

Surrender to the living Jesus isn’t “once and done.” I have to do it many times everyday. Surrendering to Jesus is easier when times are hard. Then people need the risen Jesus and His supernatural power, not just church services.

Religion is often the stone that tries to keep Jesus entombed. It’s easy to forget about the risen Jesus except on Easter. It’s much more powerful to listen to and obey Him daily.

The biblical concept of ekklesia involves Spirit-led interaction with the living Jesus and some of His followers. Make church ekklesia again. Ekklesia says: You’re free to obey the Spirit; if you’re off track, an overseer will gently correct you. Church says: Sit and listen.

People tell me that the Holy Spirit can lead thru a preacher or thru liturgy. Here are some thoughts about that:

Liturgy is set in stone. How can the Spirit lead in something that isn’t flexible? The Spirit can be felt during liturgy, but the Spirit is seldom (if ever) allowed to redirect it or modify it. Also, if a preacher is leading, but the Spirit wants to interject something thru someone else, how often does the preacher allow that? I’ve never seen a preacher allow an interruption during his sermon, but 1 Corinthians 14 says that if one person is speaking and the Spirit gives something to someone else, the first person should sit down and allow the other one to speak.

Political idolatry

Some people believe that their political opinions are based on facts. They also believe that their political opponents’ views are built on fake news. When Christians are unkind and speak or act rudely, it doesn’t make people want to follow their Savior.

Lord, forgive us for our political idols that are no better than idols of stone. Instead of blaming people, political parties, and conspiracies, for our Covid pain, perhaps we need to humbly pray.

The Tomb Evader

The Tomb Evader
Broke death’s seal
And walked out alive.
Happy Resurrection Day!

One more Easter sermon,
Online or in person,
Won’t do you much good
If you won’t follow and obey the risen Jesus!

If Jesus is really alive, you don’t have to attend church to spend time with Him. If Jesus is really alive, search Him out and get to know Him for yourself. To say that you believe that Jesus rose, but ignore His presence in the now, misses the point.

Easter is Resurrection Anniversary. It celebrates Jesus rising from the dead almost 2,000 years ago and His being still available to us today! Jesus’ resurrection began a worldwide movement (not an institutional religion) of humans with hearts aflame, who met and followed Him.

Easter doesn’t end. The resurrection of Jesus is eternal. He said, “I am with you always.”

Honoring and worshipping a crucified man, threatened the Roman hierarchy and eventually ended Emperor worship. “Jesus is Lord,” not the s tate — not any human government.

Our faith should never be buried in a tomb, hidden behind a stone, and wrapped up in grave clothes. Jesus said: “Shout it from the housetops!”

You don’t need another talk about how Jesus walked out of the tomb to live forever. Simply follow and obey Him!

Easter Irony: By God’s choice, Jesus survived the tomb. By human choice, millions don’t survive the womb.