Review: Recover Your Good Heart

Recover Your Good Heart

~by Jim Robbins

Living free from religious guilt and the shame of not good-enough

About fully understanding the new heart and its new nature with the desire and ability to do God’s will, and discipleship and spiritual growth as a process of internal transformation rather than external behavior modification.

At times I felt that book oversimplified the journey of restoration, yet that was probably in order to keep the emphasis on the truth of a radically new heart.  The author clearly intended to overcome the message of sinfulness of the heart and communicate that the heart of a believer is supernaturally changed at their new birth and by nature enlivened with the nature of God.

In a way, the book is very basic, yet the truths are profound enough to be life-changing for anyone who lives under the shame and condemnation of feeling that they continually fall short in their Christian walk.  Sadly there are many Christians who do feel that way because it is the predominant message taught in most churches.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to begin to experience the reality of spiritual life lived out of the reality of a renewed heart.  I also would highly recommend it as a basic discipleship book for new believers so that they can perhaps avoid the treadmill of religious performance that too many Christians find themselves on.

I believe strongly in the message of this book – that transformation in the life of the believer must be an outflow of the work of the Spirit within their reborn heart.  In order for that to occur one must first have a clear understanding of the supernatural renewal of their nature and identity in Christ.  That message is clearly spelled out in this book.

You can read more about the book and study guide on Jim’s blog.

A Lesson in Synonyms

Postmodern does not equal relativist.

Modern does not equal christian.

Truth does not equal certainty.

Mystery does not equal doubt.

Inerrant does not equal exact.

Narrative does not equal fable.

Missional does not equal social gospel.

Inclusion does not equal pluralism.

Justice does not equal democrat.

Christian does not equal republican.

Your thoughts?

Sharing Good News

Sarah preaches a little here…

This is the business God is in – creating justice, making peace, bringing reconciliation, restoring broken or sick things. And He’s presently in that business, here on earth now. In the mess that is real life. There is tension between the kingdom here (within a fallen, imperfect world) and the kingdom to come (where creation is healed, and everything will be settled once and for all). But I will continue to agree with God’s desire to release His kingdom into this one. I keep coming back to this prayer…

“Your kingdom come, in this situation, here on earth as it is in heaven. Redeem, reconcile, restore this situation. Because that’s what You do.”

I love Sarah’s ability to see and articulate the gospel of the kingdom.

Shaun preaches a little here…

He also shares a free download of his newest song, Kingdom Coming.

Thanks Shaun for using your life to share the good news of the kingdom!

Oversold

David Cowan, pastor of Elevation Church, wrote and produced a short film portraying the story of Hosea in modern times.

The story of Hosea and Gomer is a beautiful story of the extravagant love and grace of God. This film is a video sermon guided with narration through the acting of the story.

To find out if this movie may be of interest for your small group or ministry, a trailer can be viewed here.

Downloading and ordering information is also available at that site.

Who’s Your Covering?

It has come to my attention, after a recent series of unfortunate events, that the cause of our problems could be a lack of covering.  Having removed ourselves from the umbrella of protection, we are now vulnerable to random attacks of misfortune.

In order to rectify this situation, we are going to consider possible candidates for this position.

We know several people who would be more than happy to fill this role; however their over-enthusiasm for the position concerns us.

If you believe that you may be qualified for this position, please describe what you have to offer in this regard.  We are willing to consider all serious applicants.

Thank you.

Review: Salvation Boulevard

Last Friday, Salvation Boulevard arrived in the mail, sent to me for a religious point of view. Coincidentally, my internet server was down, my husband was out of town, the weather necessitated staying indoors, the kids were busy, and I had several guilt-free hours to enjoy this book.

Let me start by saying that it is an engaging story. It is a a theological murder mystery by Larry Beinhart [author of the political novel, Wag the Dog] in which multiple belief systems collide.

“The dead man is an atheist professor, the accused an Islamic foreign student, the defense attorney a Jew, and the detective a Born Again Christian. As Carl [the detective] gets deeper and deeper into the investigation of the death of professor Nathaniel MacLeod, his most basic beliefs and relationships are tried and his world is turned upside down.”

My perspective as a religious reviewer…

With topics of terrorism and homeland security that could be taken from today’s headlines, the story delves into scenarios of corruption, treachery, and scandal in every arena, moving from the college university to a wildly successful mega-church, from the local police department to an organized crime network in the process of solving the mystery.

The character development and plot lines concerning believers in the book tended toward outlandish caricaturization and at times were cartoonish, especially the portrayal of christian marriage. This may have been intentional for satiric effect. Although, admittedly, I’ve seen equally ridiculous and cartoonish situations in real life too.

The main character, Carl, was easy to identify with in his questioning of and disillusionment with religious systems. The corruptibility of power within religious structures is not shocking, in fact, it is probably to be expected.

Larry Beinhart describes the tension of conviction that occurs in many people’s lives, particularly as religious illusions and ideals are shaken or shattered. What he fails to grasp is a faith that can stand apart from the system of institutional religion, a faith that is bigger than the personalities that represent religion today.

He is asking great questions and is insightful in his conclusion that most claims of certainty can be shot full of holes. Questions about fundamentalism rooted in religious belief are valid and important concerns. His requirement that faith have an effect on morality and ethics is legitimate, but idealistically intolerant of the broken and imperfect state of believers.

The author’s underlying belief that faith is a delusion is evident throughout the story. While he pokes at the inconsistencies of systems of doctrine, he also dismisses faith that is based on knowing God through experience. The testimony and belief of others is not considered viable proof or evidence of the existence of God, but rather attributed to the innate tendency in humans to believe.

I was not surprised to see christianity predictably portrayed as being less than rational and intelligent, for the gullible, the easily duped, and those without mental depth. The author is generous enough to indicate that belief can actually be a beneficial delusion, but he basically ends up saying that one must turn their mind off in order to believe.

By the end of the book, the mystery of who killed the professor has been solved. But ultimately the author fails in his attempt to discover Whodunit in the mystery of true salvation.

Another Night in the ER

Last night, shortly before turning in, I got the dreaded accident phone call. By the way, I am an under-reactor (married to an over-reactor). From what I could gather, my son was being checked over as a precaution because he hit his head in the accident. So somewhat calmly, except for the involuntary tremors in my legs which betrayed my calm facade, I went to be with him.

When I arrived at the scene of the accident, I was relieved to see that he seemed okay. Given the degree of damage to the vehicle, we are extremely grateful that his injuries were minor.

Once the question of serious injury has been ruled out, sitting with a concussion patient is somewhat amusing, kind of like being in a repetitive Laurel and Hardy “Who’s On First?” routine. It’s probably not nice to make fun of the injured, but hard not to after a couple of hours of nonsensical conversation…

“What happened?”

“How’s Ty?”

“Who was driving?”

“How’s Ty?”

“What happened?”

Checking the shirt under his hospital gown, “Were we going clubbing?”

“I don’t know, is that your club shirt?”

“When do I get my pants back?”

“Tube socks are kind of embarrassing.”

“So is my knee broken?”

“This is going to sound strange, but I had a dream that this happened.”

“How’s Ty?”

“What happened?”

“Was it my fault?”

“This is going to sound strange…”

“Let me guess, you had a dream that this happened.”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“”Were we going clubbing?”

“When do I get my pants back?”

“I can’t believe I’m wearing tube socks.”

“Where’s my car?”

“What happened?”

“What’s wrong with my knee?”

“How’s Ty?”

“Can I have my pants back?”

What I learned after 3 hours of this…

My son has a favorite shirt.
Even though he thinks it’s September, he knows his SS#.
Tube socks are embarrassing.

Thank you to those of you who prayed. He seems to be fine today. We continue to pray for a quick and uncomplicated recovery for him.

A Wake-Up Call – Part 2

The intent of my previous post is not to say that the people of God should be apolitical.  However, we must reject the Constantinian tendency to seek power and influence for the church through political involvement.

As believers our involvement in the public arena at any level, whether simply voting or seeking public office, is always from the position of service not dominion.  Our participation should bring light, not division.  This can only be accomplished if we truly serve with humility, representing Christ’s nature.

We lost our focus on the kingdom and misrepresented our priorities by focusing on spiritual and cultural warfare.  We failed to recognize the power of the kingdom that is ours and instead sought after influence through politics.  Christ’s earthly reign will not be realized through Christian influence in the American political realm.

The Uniquely Spiritual Nature of the Church

We cannot neglect the truly spiritual nature of the church.  Where is the church’s testimony of hope, generosity, unity, inclusion, and love for our neighbor?

We must rediscover our story, recover our witness, and restructure our lives and communities to reflect the gospel of the kingdom.  It is up to the people of God to demonstrate our first allegiance to His kingdom and an evident hope in our reigning King.

How do we prophesy the kingdom to our nation and neighbors in word and deed?  How do we prophesy true hope?  We must first awaken ourselves and repent for our isolation, for our neglect, and for our ambition.  We must live the gospel of the kingdom, not a gospel of law, moralism, and religion.

Should we intercede? Yes, but we should no longer fast and pray for the world to be transformed to our likeness. We should pray until our hearts are changed. We should pray for wisdom and strategy to subvert darkness and evil in a manner that testifies of the goodness and compassion of God and results in His redemptive purposes.

When we enter into the public arena, it must be with humility, knowing that we overcome evil with good – with love, not power – demonstrating our faith through attention to the poor and becoming examples of the generosity that characterizes life in the kingdom.

Rather than “cleaning the outside of the cup” the people of God must abide in Christ’s transforming power.  Transformation is a work of the Spirit resulting in transformation of hearts rather than imposing regulation of behavior.  We must lean into this reality for personal transformation, for true transformation of the church, and ultimately for transformation within society.

In order for the church to engage with society redemptively, we must be vitally connected to Christ.  Love for others is an overflow of God’s love in the believers’ hearts.  As we are transformed by the indwelling Spirit, we reach out as the hands and feet of Jesus to embrace and include others.

Our lives are to be poured out.  We are the sent ones.  We are to incarnate healing and hope.  We are to be ministers of reconciliation, bringing shalom into the brokenness of the world.  This is what it means to be salt and light.  This is our true spiritual nature.

Why isn’t this our reputation?  If this isn’t what we’re about, it is time to wake up and take a look at what we are doing.

When the people of our country look to the church for hope rather than to a politician, we will know that we are becoming the community of the kingdom that we were always intended to be.

In the meantime, let us not grieve if a political election did not go the way we wanted.  Let us grieve that the church has so poorly represented the gospel of the kingdom, the beauty of loving community, and the true nature and hope of our Lord.

A Wake-Up Call – Part 1

I have mostly been avoiding post-election conversations. I’ve read a few things that came across my screen including Dutch Sheet’s response.  There is one statement in his response I agree with:

“The complacency and lack of discernment concerning our real condition in America – especially by the Church – is both appalling and horrifying.”

I’ve been thinking about us – the church – who we are and what we should look like in our culture. It won’t surprise any of you that I believe we really missed it, particularly this election season in a country obviously looking for hope and change. Could the message to the church be any clearer?

Looking Back

A sketchy history of the American church’s cultural engagement would show that from the time of Jonathan Edwards, the church was involved in both spiritual renewal and social reform.  The Scopes evolution trial is credited with setting fundamentalists on a separatist path.   In part, fundamentalism was a reaction to the social gospel, equating social activism with religious liberalism.

Dispensationalism, prevalent among fundamentalists, championed separation and disengagement from the culture.  Belief that the world is evil and the church will soon be raptured from the earth eventually smothered engagement in social issues and contributed to withdrawal and retreat.

The rise of evangelicalism was a movement back to mainstream involvement and a rejection of separatism.  However, rather than truly re-engaging with culture, evangelicals developed a parallel, christian subculture,  a sanitized Christian version of American culture.

As evangelicals became involved in the public arena, they realized that political power was within reach.  The religious right began crusading in regard to moral and tax issues.  This focus on the family represented an agenda that was mostly personal and sought to protect middle-class security and comfort.

While the evangelical church became an influential voting demographic crusading for conservative issues, they still largely neglected engagement in social justice.  In its complacency, lack of awareness, and lack of concern, the church failed to be a distinctly kingdom community.

The focus seemed to be on extending the christian subculture to the national level. By seeking political advantage, evangelicals attempted to impose Christian values in the public realm and build a moral utopia.

They put their hope in legislation to reform people’s hearts and behavior.  The misdirected focus to take back the centers of power in our culture resulted in building walls and diminishing the witness of the church.  In my opinion, the religious left are in danger of repeating this mistake.

To be continued…

Reality Check

I am convinced of one thing…

There is a realm called the kingdom of God, a present reality just beyond what we experience as reality.  Not just an imagination, but a reality more real than the touch-see-feel world we live in.

I long for the permanent, manifest reality of this kingdom.

There is a Celtic saying,

“Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller.”

“We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story.
It is true…The only thing is that we don’t see it.”

~Thomas Merton

“Thin places,” the Celts call this space,
Both seen and unseen,
Where the door between the world
And the next is cracked open for a moment
And the light is not all on the other side.
God shaped space.
Holy.

~Sharlande Sledge

This kingdom is breaking through in bits and pieces, in glimpses and moments of revelation and understanding. Those with hearts to understand recognize and participate in those kingdom moments.

“Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”

We ourselves are “thin places” – points of intersection where Divine life touches earth – vessels for creating kingdom moments in our world.

I just needed to remind myself of this today.

(Photographic art by jonnybaker)