All Truth is God's Truth

Psalm 100: 5

For the LORD is good;
His love and mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

“All truth is God’s truth”, is something that has stuck with me since I first learned it from my confirmation pastor. Because God created the world with a full set of natural laws, scientists, artists and philosophers who may want nothing to do with a belief in God can indeed make observations and conclusions about life that can be supported by a biblical point of view. For example, I may know nothing about the faith of the man who carved a beautiful butterfly from a block of maple, or the woman who sews a vibrant and warm quilt, or the engineer who designed this computer, but each teach me how to see the beauty of God in what they have done. That truth belongs to God. They may believe in Karma, Buddha, Allah, or nothing at all, it doesn’t take away from their adding to my worship of God.

Notice I didn't give that false idea that all religion is the same because it is not but that is a subject for another time. Truth however is the same for Truth comes from God. The Psalms is a great place to learn that.

You might be wondering why this is important. It’s important because it could potentially turn our whole day into one continuous time of worship. Here’s how. It all relates to our attitude and ability to perceive God in the world around us.

First, we don’t have to look away from the world to worship God. After all, God created the world. This is good news since we all, of necessity, have to pay a good deal of attention to the world in order to live here. The world is our address. (for now) Remember as Christians we live “in” the world but are not “of the world”. In other words we are working and growing here but it is just the beginning of the journey in Christ.

When we build and touch the hearts and minds of others by bringing Christ into their lives, we begin to understand how living in the world and worshiping God can happen at the same time. When we understand and live the example of Christ in our own lives we learn how to show the good, love, mercy & truth to others. This allows us to turn more of our life into worship and service—potentially, all of it. We can live our devotions at work, at school, at the movies, at the ballpark, at the gym, during sickness and stressful times, and times of health and plenty. We can use all times to focus on God.

Secondly, our ability to find truth in our culture provides points of connection that prove valuable to our mission, which is to love others and tell them about Christ. If we do not live in the world and speak about things that are relevant to others lives, we become self centered crack pots, that no one wants to listen to.

The clearest example of this in the scriptures comes by way of Paul, who, when he was in Athens addressing the Greek Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, chose things from their culture (words of their own poets) and even their pagan religion (an idol to an unknown god) to help convey his message about Christ. He didn’t say, “You’re all wrong and I'm right.” He said, “You’re right about this, this, and this… now based on that, please consider the following...” (Acts 17:16-34)

All this to say: THINK, LISTEN, pay attention to others needs. Keep your eyes open and your spiritual insights working at all times. Make friends and develop true relationships, not just the surface kind. DON'T try to change others, change yourself! and your example will LEAD the way to Him. Don't compromise your values but don't rub people’s noses in their sin. REMEMBER we are sinners too. (The only difference is Grace which you did not, and can not earn, but which is given through the sacrifice of Christ) When witnessing remember the 3 L's LISTEN, LIVE IT, LOVE. When we model these things people are much more attracted to the message.

In Faith, Hope & Love,

The Church Mouse

A Passion for Service

Galatians 5:13—You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

What do you love to do? Chances are that love can be tapped into, as a service for the Lord. This kind of thinking may seem obvious, but it is radical at least to my Christian upbringing.

I grew up with a kind of warped Christianity that taught that if I was passionate about something, it was probably wrong. God was the great killjoy in the sky. Virtue was painful, depressing and boring. What we were told was good usually felt bad, and the bad (seemingly) felt good. Denying yourself meant never doing anything you really wanted to do. Conversely, if you hated doing something, that was most likely what God was calling you to do. “Christians” seemed more focused on telling others what they were doing wrong, than on what they were doing right. They also seemed to seldom look at their own faults. As I read the Bible and talked with my youth pastor, this was clearly not what Jesus had in mind (Matthew 7:3-5). This caused a lot of conflict for me as a youth/young adult and I researched a lot of religions and Christian denominations as I searched for spiritual understanding.

As you might imagine, this kind of indoctrination has turned away millions of potential brothers and sisters in Christ. It also created a generation of Law centered, diminished, sad, dull, self-righteous and boring Christians who were always suspicious of others and of enjoying the freedom purchased by Christ. Where do you think the character of the Church Lady on Saturday Night Live came from, anyway? :-) This is certainly not the kind of person that turns a non-believer on to Christ and undoubtedly is not healthy for believers either.

God does not hate you. He is not out to get you. He doesn’t want you to feel bad, and He doesn’t want you to be confused and depressed. He is our Father and He loves us so much He gave us His Son to reach out and build a bridge to us. He gave us the Bible to build our understanding of Him. He gave us a “helper” in the Holy Spirit to provide discernment and guidance. He is a God of love, passion, joy, encouragement, development and understanding. He wants us to grow in the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 22,23) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, caring and self-control. This is the joyous message of Christ! The Law is fulfilled, (Matthew 5:17) let us grow in the Light of Jesus Christ! God wants us to avoid sin out of our love of Him, and for the joy and health that it brings into our lives spiritually, emotionally and physically, not out of duty to the law. Christ has paid that bill.

Now, that is not to say that we never have to work, or do something we don’t want to, or suffer loss or pain to serve and grow in Him. That’s the same false thinking that says peacemaker and meek means passive and weak. Look at the life of our Lord, His example was never weak and he was certainly no passive fence sitter. He was intense, vibrant, involved, caring, and passionate! He was NEVER apathetic or passive.

Think of what you know about King David in the Old Testament. Now here’s a guy who reeked of passion. He loved music, poetry, women and war. So he became a warrior/king and all his passions, in their proper places and under the Spirit’s control, drove him to be not only a great king, but a man after God’s own heart. THE KEY HERE IS UNDER THE SPIRIT’S CONTROL. When David forgot who he was and lived for himself, he suffered. But when he allowed God to move him and use the gifts of his passion, he accomplished great things and was well loved by God. David’s Journey was never an easy one and he made many mistakes and suffered great loss and pain, but He also experienced a transcendent joy, peace, and love though a close relationship with God.

Remember all of us are special and have a gift to bring to service. If you think you are too old think of Noah! If you think you are too young think of Timothy! Read the Bible or look around you! God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things!

Look at Nehemiah, who was a servant with no formal training in engineering or logistics. Yet, he used faith and a passionate desire to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and accomplished the task in (Nehemiah 6:15) just 52 days! He knew how to tap into people’s passion for service. People who serve out of duty alone seldom accomplish anything of note. It takes a passionate desire to serve, lead by the Holy Spirit within, to be a good and faithful servant. Passion makes great Fruit.

You were made for service and God equipped each of us with a special gift or gifts. If you don’t know what your gift is, experiment! Try some things out. Step out of the boat in faith as Peter did and walk on the water to Christ. (Matthew 14:22-33) It is scary, and you may fail, but you may also succeed, and in any case Christ is there to catch you if you begin to sink. Taking a risk is required to earn a great return for Christ. (Matthew 25:14-30) You will make some mistakes but that is part of the learning and building process. It is the Journey of becoming like Christ.

God is not in the frustration business; He is in the fulfilling, joy-filled business. When you become a Christian, part of the transformation is a passion for serving God. Like any worthwhile endeavor that requires a plan, hard work, and a passion to succeed.

To use all that you are for Christ, to be the best you can be, and so humbly lead and build others in being the best they can be, to leave everything and everyone you touch a little better than you found it, that is the core of passionate service in Christ. And don’t just serve in the Church. Spread the light of Christ around (Matthew 5:13-16). That’s our job as Christians. So think about your gifts. What do you love? Your most successful investment for God will be along those lines.

Love one another,

The Church Mouse