Just for today

               “You say this prayer, and try to act better, and then you’re a Christian.” A simplified version/perversion of the gospel that I have heard way too many times; I remember sharing something like this to a cabin when I first started counseling at camp MYW. When we become Christians, often times our first priority is to try to modify our behavior. We try our very best not to lie or swear, and we feel despair and hopelessness when we mess up. As I am writing this I can remember a time when I would ask God into my heart at least once a week. My logic was something like: obviously it didn't work last time because I am still sinning. Trying to correct our actions is like lifting a weight into the air, you can do it for a while, but eventually your arms will give out, and you will be left exhausted.  The problem with self-modification is that it is impossible, as well as unnecessary. The blood of Christ was sufficient; your sins have been paid for. My distasteful illustration from camp was this: imagine a bucket full of a disgusting substance. The substance is sin, and the bucket is the world. No matter what we do in the bucket, we will never be clean; the only thing we can do is to set our sights on our creator, outside of the bucket.

               In many ways our Christian walk is similar to the life of a recovering addict. I believe it was Bill Bright, (founder of campus crusade for Christ) who created the illustration of our life’s throne. Visualize a room confined within your head, in the middle of this room there is a throne. The person who occupies this throne is the person who calls the shots in your life; he decides where you walk, what you do, what you say etc. Before we were saved, we occupied this chair 24/7. When we become Christians, often times we still occupy the throne, but there is one huge difference, Jesus is now inside our “throne room”. So Jesus walks in, and stands there, looking at us expectantly. Eventually he sits down on the floor and waits... One of the most beautiful aspects of Gods plan, as it has been revealed to us, is our free will. Christ is not going to throw you off the throne, though many of us may prefer him to.  It is in this way that I believe we have much in common with the struggle of an addict. We are addicted to being on the throne, and it is one of the hardest things in the world, for us to step down and give the throne/control to Christ.

              How can we beat our addiction? Well, taking a leaf out of Narcotics anonymous’ program, we do this one day at a time. In a sermon my father once said:  “every morning before my feet hit the ground I ask God to be on the throne of my life, however, by noon it often seems like there has been a coup, and I’m back on the throne”.  Often times I have tried to give Christ the throne of my life, only to again take control. I am addicted to being in control. People say it takes 30 days to make a habit, while this habit has had years to form. You would have to be a fool to tell a drug addict to stop doing drugs, and expect it to have any lasting effect.  The same goes with our addiction to the throne, though we may try, most of us (who aren’t blessed with something like extreme will-power) will fail. I have taken up confronting my throne addiction in the same way that addicts attending NA confront their addictions. One day at a time, or more specifically, “just for today” I know I can’t go a week, but I can go a day, and I can do that 7 times.

Give up control, be patient, and listen for the still small voice.

               In a somewhat unrelated thought, how would a new Christian know that they need to give up their life’s throne? God calls us not to convert, but to disciple, often times we forget to follow up. 

The Vine

Sometimes I get myself into a place where I am living in sin, and yet, am feeling bad about it. Constantly I come to this place where I am so focused on my sin that I do not focus on the person who has made that sin not count. I try to improve myself, feeling as if I can’t come to Christ until I am more presentable. I miss the whole point. One of the aspects of Christ’s beauty is that he loves us the same no matter how dirty or clean we are. This morning I woke up early, made coffee and a roaring fire- I sat in an old rocking chair staring into the flames and talking to God. A thought came into my head with such a great force that I had to write it down: it’s not whether you sin or not. Whether you sin, or do not sin simply shows where your spirit/relationship is. When I am constantly sinning, I start focusing on that sin, and focusing on ridding the sin from my life. Yes, the sin is a bad thing, but I am not realizing that the source of that sin is the bad status of my relationship with Christ.

John 15:1-8

New International Version (NIV)

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Remain in Christ, and he will remain in you. If Christ is in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from him you can do nothing. When I start to see sin in my life, it is because I have become separate from the gardener- and am starting to wither. No matter how hard I try to produce good fruit, it is impossible apart from the gardener. Therefore I must be constantly working on my relationship with Christ. Like any relationship, I need to read the letters that are sent to me (the bible) along with constantly being in communication (prayer). Just yesterday I told my Sunday school class about a time when I really let the spirit reign in my life, I saw enough “coincidences” to know that Christ was showing me something beautiful. Something that I will strive to have for the rest of my life: being connected to the vine, under the full care of the gardener.

Relationship

This summer I worked as a cabin leader at camp Mini-Yo-We, a Christian camp in Huntsville, Ontario. Halfway through the summer I received a letter from a girl at Girls camp... How would my relationship with this girl have developed if I had:

1...thought "oh that's nice, I'l carry the letter with me everywhere", but never actually read the letter = the relationship would have been simply a memento, something I would show off, but ultimately it would be meaningless.  

2....read the letter, but never talk to this girl, or reply in any way = the relationship would be based on information, and however hard I try to  be in love with this girl-without interaction, it would be impossible.

How often is our faith simply an add-on to our lives? a memento, a part of our facebook information page?

Or how often are we stuck trying to love God because we know it's the right thing to do? This was the trap I found myself in, a meaningless faith- trying my best to truly love God- only to fail repeatedly. Eventually I gave up, this "faith" was leaving me with a constant feeling of failure, in no way did I get any "living water"/never thirsting sensation. I now believe whole heartedly that my relationship had been purely option number 2, without interaction, meaningless. I had read the letter (The bible), I had read it a lot, and developed a lopsided relationship with Christ. Going back to the start, the only way I could have developed a strong relationship with that girl, would have been to read the letter, but also to talk to her, to listen to her. Likewise, the only way for me to build a strong relationship with Christ, is through talking with him in prayer, along with reading his letter, the bible. 

My prayers became more and more candid, more and more personal over the course of the summer. I feel like church can give us this subconscious impression that prayers should be ritualistic and impersonal, I also feel like when Christianity is an add-on in our lives, that prayer becomes nothing more then a "help-line" where we ask God to fix "our" lives.

Romans 8, 31-32
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

God is the creator of the whole Universe, of everything. He is the Being that Satan needed permission from before approaching Job. God owns all the money in the world, and knows all of the people. This all-powerful being, as it says in Romans 8:32, will give us all things. If you don't like praying or reading your bible, bring it to God- ask him to make you like it. this being LOVES us and we can ask him for anything, including all the desires and abilities needed in order to chase after him. Again God is not just a helpline for what we "need", personally I have found myself greatly affected by simply praying that God would do whatever he wants with me, because he knows exactly what I need.


John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it

The American Church

Today’s American Church is the rotted shell of what church is supposed to be. It’s nothing more than a gas station, where people can show up- crack the good book and be able to maintain their status as a Christian for the upcoming week. As churches grow bigger and bigger and become more and more staffed they become an organisation instead of an organism; People often say that they “attend this church” instead of meet with this church. What used to be a functioning body is now a ritual-fest, like thanksgiving and Christmas- the rituals have survived whereas the reason for their existence has nearly been forgotten.
How often does the American Christian switch professions, or even consider a job change after becoming a Christian? Very seldom does our Christian life interfere with our daily life. The American Christian has become so conformed into thinking that along with giving 10% of their income to Christ, they must also give only 10% of their energy, time and lives to Christ. We group the people who give more than that into special categories, and in doing that we feel less guilt for not giving as much as they do. Really there is no excuse for not giving our all to Christ; it should take priority over everything else, even our basic needs for survival. Mathew 6:25 therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
How many Christians have not read the whole bible, the cornerstone of their life’s sole purpose? It’s often a shelf ornament or a book that is more studied then put into practice. Why are Christians known for being judging and hateful, when one of our most important commandments is to love everyone? Young frightened girls entering abortion clinics are screamed at by us, homosexuals feel like they’re hated by us. As the good shepherd goes out to find the lost sheep, he pulls them back to a flock that is jeering and hating them. Or is it that the shepherd pulls the lost sheep past that flock and into the real flock? Mathew 7:22 many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!”
America is in deep trouble spiritually, and the devils biggest achievement is that while we fall in our downward spiral, he has made it seem like we are doing fine. We don’t need another revolution, we simply need to pick up our bibles, and pray. If as individuals we can develop real relationships with Jesus then the church will follow suit.