Steve Simms's Blog, page 225

The “dead Jesus complex” — part 2 — dead man risen & talking

Easter lays an egg when it begins to focus on rabbits and baskets. That stuff is part of the “dead Jesus complex” (dJc).

The first disciples’ encounters with the risen Jesus were accompanied by “great joy.” Perhaps “little joy” is a sign of the “dead Jesus complex.”

The risen Jesus didn’t need a church service. However, He did show up when His disciples went fishing and personally led a fish fry.

When you first encounter the resurrected Jesus, like His followers at the empty the tomb, you will be, “trembling and bewildered.” The risen Jesus told His disciples to proclaim “repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” not prosperity and happiness formulas. He told His disciples to wait for supernatural power. (If they needed it, surely you and I do.)

The risen Jesus taught His disciples about “the kingdom of God.” Maybe all Christ-followers need to focus on God’s kingdom.

As some women left Jesus’ empty tomb, the Bible says, “Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ He said.” Dead man talking! When the women told the apostles about the resurrection, “they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” Later, the risen Jesus “opened their (the apostles) minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” Why not ask Him to open yours?

If we look for Jesus in ceremonies, perhaps we need to hear what an angel said at the empty tomb: “He is not here; He has risen.” The angel also said: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you.” Look ahead, not behind, and follow the living Jesus.

When Thomas saw the resurrected Jesus, he said: “My Lord & My God!” (Just in case you’re wondering who Jesus is.)

Here are powerful words spoken by the risen Jesus: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” I’m so glad I get to interact with Him.

On Resurrection Day, people worshiped the resurrected Jesus. You can, too — right now, right where you are. Why not?

The “dead Jesus complex” (stuck in Holy Saturday)

“Holy Saturday” remembers Jesus’ time in His tomb. Don’t let the “dead Jesus complex” (dJc) get you stuck there! Like the women at the tomb on Resurrection morning, many people want to honor Jesus by embalming Him, but He won’t stay put.

Dead Jesus, hope gone, defeated disciples – -that was supposed to be temporary, not permanent. Jesus said, “It is finished,” not, “I’m finished.” He’s still going strong!

A Tim McGraw song says: “Live like you were dying.” The “dead Jesus complex” (dJc) says: “Live like Jesus is dead.”

Like Jesus was “sealed” in the tomb, many people try to “seal” Him in the past, by ignoring His risen presence in the now. The “dead Jesus complex” (dJc) doesn’t fully appreciate that Jesus has no grave clothes on. He left them behind, folded in the tomb. It tries to preach about the resurrection while keeping Jesus in grave clothes.

The “dead Jesus complex” (dJc) confused Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb. It made her think that the resurrected Jesus was the gardener, until she heard Him call her by name. (Have you heard Him call your name?)

When Christians have the “dead Jesus complex,” they tend to shift their hope from the risen Christ, to religion, pastors, politicians, and the economy. The “dead Jesus complex” verbally acknowledges the resurrection, but ignores Christ’s living and active presence in the now.

The “dead Jesus complex” is very problematic. Jesus died and was sealed in His tomb, but the “dead Jesus complex” (dJc) causes people to act like He’s still there. It causes many Christians to focus on the written Word, while ignoring the living Word. Therefore it is a great hinderance to Christian growth — keeping many Christians in spiritual infancy.

The “dead Jesus complex” creates a need for religious programming. (If Jesus is still dead, we need a pastor to run things.) The “dead Jesus complex” is contagious. If you hang around a powerless “form of godliness” (casual Christianity), you might accidently catch it.

Contrary to the “dead Jesus complex,” Scripture teaches that Jesus WAS dead and buried, but is NOW alive, active, and available to humans. Daily reading the Bible with an open heart will open the door for the risen Jesus to speak directly to you. Try it!

To only focus on and celebrate the resurrected Jesus, one day per year, is to embrace and promote the “dead Jesus complex” (dJc). Two early disciples were on a walk and were in the presence of the risen Jesus. However, they didn’t even recognize Him. That’s the “dead Jesus complex.”

On Easter, preachers make an obligatory talk about the empty tomb, but too many Christians and churches act like it’s still occupied. Celebrating Easter and saying Jesus rose, doesn’t cure the “dead Jesus complex.” Daily surrender to His presence and Lordship does! Meeting, following, and obeying the risen Jesus is the only effective cure for the “dead Jesus complex.”

Symptoms of the “dead Jesus complex (using part of a quote from William Booth): “Religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance.”

Jesus isn’t tomb-bound. He’s not under death’s lockdown. He’s spreading His power and presence to all who will humbly receive.

Every time you veer away from Christ, immediately steer your heart and mind back into the atmosphere of His living presence.

If any Sunday need not be pastor’s-sermon-focused, it’s Resurrection Sunday. If Jesus is alive, let’s let Him run the meeting. In all your streaming take time to stream the risen Jesus on the screen of your heart. On Easter 2020, the churches are closed, because of the Corona virus, but Christ’s tomb remains ever open.

The best way to give up our desire to be in control, is to surrender our expectations of what we want, and daily trust and obey the risen Jesus. Seclusion becomes joyful infusion when you find the living Jesus there.

Lonely hearts come alive when the risen Jesus enters in and becomes the focus! It’s hard to feel alone when you’re being deeply inspired by a book that stirs your heart and soothes your soul. Some of my best friends are authors who lived centuries ago and wrote beautifully about their relationship with the risen Jesus. I enjoy interacting with their words and perspectives.

Much hope, encouragement, and inspiration is yours for the reading. Find books that vividly present the risen Jesus and begin to peruse them.

I love to spend time with people who inspire me to love the living Jesus more. I’ve been blessed with many people like that in my life! Learn how to free yourself from the dead Jesus complex (dJc) at this link.

[image error]Learn how to free yourself from the “dead Jesus complex” with https://amzn.to/2Ru8dhy

Accolades are mere charades

Accolades are mere charades, and insults are just manmade. It’s what you are on the inside that matters! One of the greatest things in the world is to be free from the torment of self-focus. Pride will choke your heart and make it hard to breathe the fresh air of humility.

You can choose your inner scenery–the images flickering in your mind. Choose inspiring mental scenes instead of depressing ones.

Solitude can be tormenting or fulfilling, depending on how you use it. I love finding uplifting ideas inside me.

One of the reasons that it’s difficult to be in seclusion is that it tends to force us to face our illusions. The more I know myself, the more I’m convinced that Jesus is right on point when He says, “Deny yourself.” It’s hard to trust other people if you can’t trust yourself.

The Cross theology & theater

Despised & rejected by men,
Forsaken, mocked & crucified,
Emmanuel (God with us)
Was put to death.
“Father, forgive them,
For they know not
What they do.”
“It is finished.”
The way, the truth
And the life
Opened the door
For forgiveness, healing,
And relationship with the Father,
To whoever will
Draw near to Him.

The theology of the Cross shows the severity of my sin. The theater of the Cross astonishes me with Christ’s sacrifice for me. The Cross reveals the terrible depth of sin in human hearts and the incalculable cost of redemption and freedom from sin’s power.

Jesus took upon Himself the sins of all humans, to be the world’s Passover Lamb. His blood, applied by faith, sets people free.

The Cross declares all people equal — sunk in sin unless surrendered to Christ’s supernatural redemption. The gap between God and me is so great, that the cross is the only thing that can get me across it.

Sometimes I’m Cross-eyed. My heart looks at and ponders the humility, love, forgiveness, and power of Christ’s sacrificial death. The Cross-fire burns in my heart — that Jesus would die to save me from my sins and make a way for me to know Him & follow Him.

When we think about the Cross, we tend to forget that Jesus told His followers to take up their cross and follow Him. The Cross shouts out the power of sacrificial non-violence. Jesus loved His enemies, even as they killed Him, and changed the world.

There’s little power in mere critical analysis of the Cross. However, there is great and supernatural power in beholding the Lamb of God dying on it.

Being Spirit-led brought me to orthodox beliefs

Spirit-led orthodoxy isn’t a long list of beliefs. It’s the truth about who the risen Jesus is, what He’s done, and what He’s doing now.

Orthodoxy as a mere creed is shallow. But Spirit-led orthodoxy is deep. It daily conforms our beliefs and behaviors to Jesus. However, orthodoxy with a hard heart, refuses to be led by the Spirit.

I met Christ, not believing Christian doctrine, but God’s Spirit gradually led me to orthodox beliefs. Truth doesn’t always lead to obedience to the risen Jesus, but obedience to the living Jesus, always leads to truth. The choice isn’t between cold orthodoxy or rebellious heresy. Jesus calls us to Spirit-led orthodoxy–belief birthed by the Spirit.

Religion is not a substitute for direct revelation and personal interaction with the risen Jesus. The resurrected Jesus can restore damaged lives. He’s done it untold millions of times!

Saying, “God is love,” doesn’t justify wrongdoing. There are many choices, thoughts, behaviors and beliefs, that lead people away from God. Faith in Christ produces humility, not pride.

Without the testimony of Christ in you (the witness of the Spirit, God’s inner Light, the still small voice) life seems hopeless. Following our own desires opens the door to deception and despair. Following “Christ in you,” is the way to authenticity and inner healing. There’s no suitable substitute for the risen Jesus living in and thru you.

No one has to obey the Holy Spirit. Everyone can do what they like, but if they do, they won’t like the consequences of much that they do. Disobeying your conscience and Christ in you, is like refusing to drive your car on roads. You’ll cause a lot of problems and stay stuck where you are.

To commemorate Christ’s past resurrection, yet ignore His presence in the present moment, is to miss the point o f the Empty Tomb. For me, doctrine didn’t lead me to the risen Jesus, but the living Jesus led me to orthodox beliefs.

Many use & promote profanity, few voice objections against it . . .

Some people don’t want to hear profanity. Others don’t want to hear arguments against it.

Often the words that are easy to speak aren’t the best words to say. The words we speak or write can bless people with hope or blast them with negativity or obscenity.

Using the ugliest words possible has become popular. Perhaps using beautiful and inspiring words would be much more effective. Words matter! Perhaps it would be beneficial to use the best words when communicating with others and avoid the worst ones. Even your silence can help the people you care about much more than your profanity can.

People who cuss are bold with their words. Why shouldn’t people who don’t want their mind splattered with profanity, also be bold?

Using profanity makes it difficult for many people to hear what you say. It’s not the wisest way to communicate clearly. If what you say is so weak that you feel like you have to prop it up with profanity, perhaps you need to think it thru more.

Profanity is irrational, inaccurate, and insulting. It adds nothing informative or inspiring to a conversation. Profanity has nothing to do with the meaning of what a person is trying to say. In fact, it interrupts it and distracts from it.

Profanity misuses words, throwing them into a conversation with total disregard for their meaning. (If you examine the literal meaning of cuss words, you’ll notice that they rarely have anything to do with the subject at hand.)

Cuss words are both incorrect in accuracy and unkind in attitude. Maybe they are the remnants of childhood temper tantrums.

People using profanity are like a car leaking oil. They leave ugly stains in people’s minds, everywhere they go.

Essential Christianity / Spirit-led orthodoxy

Essential Christianity is:
Christ living in you,
Producing glorious hope.

There are some essential behaviors, beliefs, and heart-changes that are required for growing in Christ. It’s not passive and automatic. Spirit-led orthodoxy isn’t an oxymoron, but its the lived experience of millions of passionate Christ-followers around the world.

The essential “assembling ourselves together” involves connecting heart-to-heart with one another and with the risen Jesus. Authenticity is essential to following Christ. “Walk in the light.” Much that modern Christianity promotes and values, is not essential to following and obeying the risen Jesus.

Humility is essential to authentic Christianity. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The living Jesus is essential to my daily life. He continually shows me that apart from Him, I can do nothing.

Grace was never intended to make a Christ-like lifestyle nonessential for church goers. Christ, living in you, makes it possible everyday.

The Bible says, “We are fools for Christ.” Perhaps “a little bit of crazy” is essential for wholeheartedly following Jesus.

Jesus walking bodily out of His tomb and being genuinely present with His followers, is essential to biblical Christianity. If we focus on casual Christianity, we might not ever get around to the essential and the radical biblical instructions.

Nonessentials are often distractions. The Bible puts it this way: “Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Many people believe that pretense is essential to happiness. However, Jesus shows that honesty and humility are. “The truth shall set you free.”

Think outside your own box of hard knocks

Self-focus diminishes joy. Think outside your own box of hard knocks. Take time to notice, appreciate, and be inspired by the marvelous beauty in the nature outside your door.

Many people have their mind full of negative, hostile, and harmful thoughts, but they aren’t mindful of it; they’re unaware. Intentionally fill your mind with uplifting thoughts and your heart with compassion and love.

A mask can be an air purifier, but if you’ll turn on your conscience, it will be a mind and heart purifier. Instead of using profanity to express disdain, perhaps it would be better to use uplifting words to build up and encourage people. Maybe it’s time to introduce antiprofanity into popular language: Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Glory to God, etc.

Church creates “hearers of the word.” Ekklesia trains, equips, and releases “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Church is a religious institution that gradually evolved from the early Christian ekklesia and was solidified by Roman Emperor Constantine.

Let’s roll the religious stone away from Easter

The most amazing “life sentence” is: “Jesus rose!” Encountering the living Jesus will change your perspective of death.

Biblical Christianity is about “location, location, location”–“Christ in you,” not Christ in a church building. Something’s terribly wrong when spoken prose about the news that Jesus rose, causes church attendees to sometimes close their eyes and doze.

Church tamed the resurrection, created a yearly ceremony and called it Easter, but Jesus, bodily walking out of the tomb, is so much more! To proclaim that Jesus is risen, while refusing to be led daily by His living presence, is inconsistent.

Perhaps it’s time to roll the religious stone away from Easter and to interact with the risen Jesus everyday. Church makes remembering Christ’s resurrection an annual event, but biblical Christianity is based on daily interaction with the risen Jesus. When Jesus’ resurrection was made a spring ritual, mystery, awe, and wonder, were exchanged for bunnies, eggs, and bonnets.

Jesus’ resurrection shouldn’t be annualized institutionalized, and ceremonialized. He’s always alive and available. If Jesus is truly risen, you can encounter Him anywhere on Easter (or any other day), not just in an “Easter service.”

I’ve never cared much for the “liturgical year.” I prefer daily interaction with Jesus, instead of annual ceremonies. To tell about the resurrection of Jesus is one thing; to experience it daily is something spectacularly different. The joy of experiencing the risen Jesus throughout the day is so wonderful, that questions about how He rose are insignificant.

The Expert in the body of Christ is the risen Jesus. All the rest of us equally need Him.

Casual Christianity and a casual approach to Easter creates many more religious consumers than it does committed contributors. Here’s an observation during the 2020 Corona virus pandemic: It appears that “church online” means a sermon online, instead of an interactive, group experience online. (The New Testament concept of Ekklesia is an interactive, group experience with the risen Jesus.)

Perhaps, in a crisis, people need to be compassionately listened to, more than to be preached to. Now’s always a good time to draw near to the living Jesus. No need to wait. Just do it. He’ll listen to you.

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Jesus didn’t own His tomb; He just borrowed it for 3 days

Seeds drop off of life and then they live again. Perhaps our end is germination, not termination.

One ancient tomb’s purpose was aborted. It failed to hold its resident, Jesus Christ, captive to death. Heart-burning faith in the risen Jesus dispels doubt and vanishes it like the fog.

Too many Christians live in pre-resurrection worry, rather than in post-resurrection reality. Self-sufficiency is a myth that makes us doubt the reality of the risen Jesus. The Corona virus pandemic is revealing the myth of self-sufficiency.

If Jesus is alive (as Easter celebrates), then we can encounter Him, get to know Him, and spend our days enjoying His presence. If Jesus is alive, like Easter proclaims, we no longer have to settle for second-hand, sermonic information about Him.

So, if Easter is what churches say it is, why don’t they let the risen Jesus take active, direct control of their worship meetings? I think many people don’t believe in Jesus’ resurrection, because too often Christians meet in church, as if He’s still dead. After all, when church sticks tightly to a rigid program, it has no need or room for the living Jesus.

What’s invisible, has spread worldwide, and is radically changing lives. It’s the presence of the risen Jesus. When your life is empty like Jesus’ tomb, step outside of your self-focus and into His living presence. Serving a dead Jesus requires continuous effort, but the risen Jesus will live His life in and thru you, carrying you along His way.

When the stone is rolled away from your heart, you can get mad because it’s exposed, or step aside and let the living Jesus move in. The empty tomb illustrates that the rocks that have pinned you down, will indeed roll away, if you let Jesus live within you. It shouts that your heart need never more be empty. Jesus rose to free you from self-enclosure, a lifetime of solitary confinement.

I believe that Christ’s tomb is empty because I continually experience His presence. It’s okay to marvel at what you don’t understand. You don’t need to explain everything. I continually marvel at the presence of the risen Jesus in my life!

We humans exit life for the tomb. Jesus exited the tomb, to bring us back to life. God didn’t create us to be dead. He created us to be fully alive!

People still try to burry truth, but Jesus’ empty tomb shows that it won’t quietly remain in a grave. Looking back to the empty tomb seems mystical (or mythical) if Christ isn’t living and active in your everyday life.

I believe that life is stronger than death. If life can come into existence, it can endure when it appears to be gone. Jesus’ death left His disciples so distraught, that without His resurrection, Christianity would have never existed. The early Christians didn’t settle for sermons about the risen Jesus. They let Him boldly live within them.

The early Christ-followers were fully convinced that Jesus had literally risen from the dead. Are you? The absence of Christ’s body from His tomb didn’t convince His early disciples of His resurrection. His living presence did!

Academic Christianity is anemic. Red-hot Christianity spreads like a pandemic. Have you been exposed to fervent love for the risen Jesus? Mental wonder analyzes information.

Heart wonder is enraptured in awe. Early Christianity embraced heart wonder. Wonder and awe at the glory of God, can’t be programmed. It happens spontaneously when individual hearts open to the living Jesus.

The uplifting “unbelievable” has happened in my life so many times, I’ve begun to expect it. The living Jesus makes my heart crackle with hope.

It takes courage to surrender to and obey the risen Jesus, but anybody can verbally acknowledge the historic Jesus. The modern world has aborted human life millions of times. Jesus aborted death once and for all.

When liturgies, services, and hierarchy began to replace the literal leadership of the living Jesus, ekklesia turned into church. “Christian” books full of doubt, seem to be popular. I prefer the Bible and historic Christian books that are aflame with faith!

Are you having trouble faithfully following Jesus? Let Him live inside you. Christ in you, can keep the commandments, even when you can’t.

Spiritual boom,
Empty tomb,
Christ worldwide
Living inside
Whosoever will.
Be tender;
Surrender
To His power
This hour.

“The Savior is working mightily among men; every day He is invisibly persuading numbers of people all over the world, both within and beyond the Greek-speaking world, to accept His faith and be obedient to His teaching.” –Athanasius (296 – 373 AD)