All Of Us Are The Church

The Apostle Paul was quite different from the other Apostles. Unlike the others who had lived with Jesus and had developed a personal relationship with him based on proximity, Paul’s relationship with Jesus was based solely on revelation. Paul’s initial zeal in persecuting the early Christians was turned around and used in serving God. God saw his heart and turned him around because God saw his heart and understood that he did all he initially did out of a zeal for and a desire to please God. Unlike most of the Pharisees in Jesus days who loved themselves and wanted honour from men, Paul loved God. Therefore when God turned him around, he committed to Paul the deep revelations about the nature and structure of the Church and sent him as an Apostle to the Gentiles (that’s you and I).

Paul wrote most of the books of the New Testament. It was Paul that gave the analogy that the Church was like a body where everyone has something to contribute to the development of the Church. He therefore admonished that we should not think that one part of the body was more important than the other or that one part of the body was not needed. Unfortunately we have come to believe in the Church that the pastor is the most important person in the church because he feeds us with the word. I understand that the pastor is the person with the vision and the leader but I do believe that without people to help him achieve his vision, he would be a very frustrated person indeed. No matter how anointed a pastor is, he needs a choir leader and members, ushers, people to serve in the children’s ministry, even people to park cars and people to sit on the pews and listen to his message. In essence, we are all important in the Church of Christ. However, a note of warning. While we are all important, it is not about having a sense of pride in the fact. It’s about doing all that we are called to do with a sense of humility and thanking God for the privilege to serve. Someone recently said that even though God loves us, his investment in us is not solely because of that love. His investment in us is because of the purpose he seeks to achieve from our lives. What we are created for. If we fail to fulfil our purpose, God will find a replacement. Upon his triumphant entry into Jerusalem when the Pharisees were complaining about the people praising him, Jesus told them that if the people failed to praise God would cause the stones to praise.

When I go through a blog, I marvel at the number of people who criticise the Church. They have no church in which they are planted and all they can talk about is how no Church is good enough for their perfect natures. There is always a problem with somebody or everybody else. Either the pastor is wrong or the ushers are rude or the worship is not good enough. They criticise and complain and move from place to place, not setting down roots anywhere because there is just no church that can meet their high standards. Once in a while some go to a church so that it can’t be said they’ve forsaken the gathering of believers. They add nothing to the Church because they feel they’re not getting anything.  

I have come to understand that as long as men live, there will be problems with institutions. The high rate of divorce doesn’t mean there is a problem with marriage. The problem is not with the institution called marriage but with the people who get into it. Good sex cannot be the basis for marriage. Marriages mostly collapse because people do not know the reason for marriage neither do they understand that marriage is about the other person, not you. As long as we live in the flesh, there will be problems in the church. What we need more of is not the spirit of criticism or self-righteousness. We need less of finger pointing. We need more of people speaking in love. We need more of people praying for their leaders and the church.  We need more people led not by the spirit of their own self-importance but by the Holy Spirit who is always ready to help us. We need more of people practising biblical Christianity and not thinking it’s just an opinion we can ignore. We need more people with patience who led by the Holy Spirit are ready to change the things that are wrong.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal. 

Mix and Match

In the first book of Joshua, God instructs Joshua to meditate on his words and tells him that if he wants to have good success he should continually think on God’s word. Every major religion or faith has its major precepts and one of the major precepts of the faith known as Christianity is the Word of God. Our faith tells us the Holy Bible is God’s word. The Apostle Paul tells us that the word of God is given to us for correction, direction, inspiration. The Bible continually tells us to meditate on God’s word. We understand that Christian meditation involves the internalisation of God’s word by the constant muttering and recitation of the word.

However Christianity is not the only religion that uses meditation. Most, if not all Eastern religions also use meditation. Personally, I believe that meditation no matter the religion in which it is practiced, is all about connecting with something outside of yourself or opening yourself up for something to inhabit you. In essence, I believe that meditation, no matter the way it is practiced is spiritual. You don’t have to be a recognised adherent of a religion or faith to practice it. Therefore I believe you don’t have to be a recognised practicing Buddhist to practice Buddhism. All you need to do is adhere to certain aspects or teachings of the religion. And one of the teachings of Buddhism and most Eastern religions is the use of meditation to find inner balance or peace. Therefore to my mind, when you say you’re a Christian and you’re also meditating the Buddhist way, it means you’re not really sure which religion you’re practising.

Many years ago I listened to a programme where the person with the record for the most days spent without eating was being interviewed. Incidentally, the person was a Buddhist. He had managed to go a hundred days without eating. He had managed to do it by a lot of meditating. Some people would argue that Jesus and a whole host of people in the Bible were able to fast for forty days. Exactly! Which is my point. Jesus and the others had the Holy Spirit. I personally do not believe that a person can voluntarily go that long without food unless he has something or someone aiding him.

David said in the Psalms that God keeps those whose minds are stayed on him in perfect peace. I therefore believe that God’s plan through his word, Spirit and presence is to help people achieve peace and balance in their lives. However he can only help us achieve this when we look to him and not to some New Age mixture of religions. The Bible says that God is peace. Therefore there is really no amount of peace we can search for that we will find outside of him. God is also only a payer away. We don’t need to run to some other god or gods to find him. He lives in us. That’s how close to us he is.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Fight For The Faith

Jude 1:3: "... earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

Recently I watched an episode of "Being Mary Jane" a series on BET starring Gabrielle Union. According to the heroine, she had gone nowhere in her relationships despite being a "good girl". There was a point during the programme when she was in the car with her niece and she was listening to "He's Able" by Deitrick Haddon. So I understood that she was supposed to some sort of Christian. However by the end of the programme I began wondering who shaped the creators of the story's perception of what it meant to be Christian.

I am a firm believer that the Bible is quite clear and explicit about most things. The trouble arises when we decide to put our own spin on things or begin to infer things that are just not correct. When we decide the Bible is like a non-binding guide. That's when we begin to split hairs and choose what we will do or not do. I remember reading a comment on a blog and someone saying that the Bible was against pre-marital sex because of STD's. Which implies that now that STD's are no longer a problem because of science, then we should all let go of our inhibitions and go out and have a good time. I wonder who or what shaped that perception of Christianity. I believe that perception is wrong but unfortunately that is the perception a lot of people have. I believe that perception stems from the deep rooted inclination toward rebellion in man. The thought that no one. not even God can tell me what to do.

There is a contention in the world today about what Christianity is all about. I recently read an article about how soldiers at a camp were told that a Christian organisation is a "hate group". That means that they think Christianity is all about hate. There are those who also say that Christianity is all about love. That no matter what you do, it's okay because God loves you. The first position comes from those who don't like like to be told that they are wrong while the second group don't wan't to be wrong. They both stem from the idea that nothing we do as human beings can be wrong. That for you to love someone means condoning what they do. And there are those who say they are Christians who agree with them. The lives they live are contrary to what Christ says. They therefore shape the perception of those who see them and they decide what it means to be Christian.

Nothing on earth can survive without a system, a structure keeping it in place. Even love has it rules. The first rule of love is that you must show it for it to be believed. You can't say you love someone without showing it. I have said before that I do not accept the labels like liberal or conservative that we put on Christianity nowadays. I am a Christian because I believe in Jesus and I have accepted him as my love and Saviour. I love him and I want to show him from my relationship with him and with men. I however have a responsibility to present an accurate picture of who he is to all men. Not who I think he is or who I want him to be. Who he is. No more, no less. I however have a responsibility to speak out when people misrepresent him or his people, one of whom I am. We all do.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

Parental Discretion Advised

"Col 3:8 - But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

I had a friend while I was in school who I considered to be more spiritual than I was. He was the kind of person people looked up to. If the Bible didn't enjoin us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling I would say that I would have loved to be like him. There was however something about him I didn't like or understand. He, like quite a lot of other Christians I have met since then, thought it was okay to swear.

You'll have to forgive me but I have never been too impressed by the desire to be cool or belong. The Bible says we should be different. I have therefore never understood how Christians think it is cool to swear or use the "F" word. The interesting thing was that my friend felt he had a ministry calling. That used to give me a funny feeling. Not that I didn't think he wouldn't make a great pastor, I was afraid of what he might say in the process of operating in his ministry. Whenever I think of the topic, I think of a scenario where a pastor is preaching to his congregation and he tells them, "Jesus "f-----g" died for you, that's the message of the gospel" or something like that. I have told myself if something like that were to happen, I would get up and walk out of that church.

I believe that there is a place for big open door outreaches where a great number of souls who are hungry for Jesus can come to and meet with him. However I think we are too fascinated with numbers. The Bible tells us that heaven rejoices over one sinner that repents but we want to see as many as possible repent at once. A thousand people become saved at the outreach and we rejoice. The person leading them in the prayer of salvation tells them to lead new, holy lives but we don't really tell them how. No one is there to model the new life for them so they wing it. They live the life they want to live or feel they should live not knowing the life God wants them to live in the Word by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Because society has become inured to the meaning of a word or it's root does not take away the meaning. Also because it acceptable in normal society doesn't mean it's acceptable in Christianity. When a rappers's CD is labelled, "Explicit Lyrics, Parental Discretion Advised", it not only relates to the content explaining what they want to do with the Uzi, it's also about the swear words used. It is believed that the words are not proper for children to know or hear. Jesus told us that in this new life that we have, we should be like little children. I wonder, how many of us who are parents would love it if our or our neighbour's four year old daughter walked up tp us and asked "Who the f--- are you?"

Exactly.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

What Do You Believe? (And Will You Hold On To It?)

“Those who stand in the middle of the road get run over” – Joyce Meyer

Everyone believes something. However you might never know what you believe until what you believe is tested. The test might come in different ways. The threat of the loss of a job, the threat of the loss of our life or that of a loved one. No matter the method the threat comes in, it causes us to really think about what we say we believe. At that point we evaluate what we say we believe and we weigh the perceived consequences of holding on to that belief against the perceived benefits. If we believe the perceived consequences outweigh the perceived benefits, we stop holding on to that belief. We let go of the belief like a man letting go of something in his hand. Please note that I used the word perceived. The perception of the worth of a belief, the way we view it, would determine whether or not we hold on to it.

When I was younger I remember reading the story of the faith of a dying family which led to the conversion of another man. During one of the numerous wars of the 20^th century, a family was rounded up, a father, mother and two children. The father was given an option. Renounce his faith in Jesus or they would all be killed. A whole was dug in the ground by the soldiers and the family was placed standing in the whole and the soldiers began to replace the dirt. The children began crying as the dirt reached their ankles, then their waist then it got up to their necks. Just before the children got buried, the wife began shouting at the husband to recant. He shushed her and then began singing a hymn. The other members of the family joined it till they were all buried. One of the soldiers who took part in the act was so moved by the faith shown by the father and the rest of the family that he later gave his life to Christ. I assure you it’s a true story. I believe the soldier wrote a book about the experience that I read.

Sadly we probably think that we live in a world where those choices are no longer required. I think we need to have a rethink if that’s the way we feel. I recently read an article by Todd Starnes of Fox News. According to the article, a Christian organisation was referred to as a hate group and soldiers were told to report other soldiers who were sympathetic to the organisation. Sadly, I think it’s going to get worse. I believe that thanks to the perceived support they have received from the words of their commander-in-chief, some people now believe it’s open season on Christians and Christianity. I believe people who say they are Christians, not only in the army but in all walks of life are going to be tested regarding what they say they believe. And the perception they have about the belief they say they hold will determine whether they hold on to it. There will be no middle road.     

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him @Cruz_JCReal

We All Have An Agenda (What's Yours?)

That's right. You heard me correctly (or is that "read me correctly?). Everybody you interact with in any way has an agenda for their interaction with you. A boss has an agenda when he interacts with a subordinate. Either he has the interest of the business, the subordinate or his own at heart or a combination of either of them. He does not speak in a vacuum. In the same way, a husband or wife has a motive or agenda when they speak to their spouse especially if there is a decision to be made. Even Jesus had a motive and an agenda for the words that he spoke. He came to the earth as a result of prophecies that had gone before him. Therefore when he came to the earth, he spoke words that would ensure that the prophecies would be fulfilled. Jesus had a simple agenda, to turn the hearts of men back to God and to draw men into a thankful and honest worship of God. Like Lecrae said, if someone tells you that there is no truth, the first question you should ask is why you should believe him. Even the atheist who says there is no God has an agenda. He wants to convince you of the truth of his own way of thinking.

I know a lot of people reading this have a problem with the words motive and agenda because they feel it connotes something negative and would rather deny that they have a motive or agenda when talking with their friends or spouse. However, the definition of motive simply is that it's the reason for doing something. Therefore having a motive or an agenda is not a bad thing. It's okay to have a motive. What is important is what drives the motive and how it is expressed. I recently saw a post on Twitter by Bishop T. D. Jakes for his new programme on BET, Mind, Body and Soul. According to him, the woman at times goes into marriage thinking she can change her husband while the man goes into marriage hoping the woman won't change.

That really got me thinking. On the one hand there's a man who didn't expect his wife to change but then after four children he notices changes in her body due to childbirth that he can't deal with. So he want's the wife to take up jogging. The wrong motive would be that he want's her to do it not because it's healthy and it would prolong her life but he wants her to do it for him. All his friends have exchanged their first wives for a younger, more svelte model. He hasn't done that yet so he feels embarrassed when he goes out with his friends. They are there with their slim wives who haven't had any children and probably don't want and he's there with his wife who's carrying a few extra pounds. So he thinks up a great programme for her for his sake. The right motive would be that he encourages her to do it for herself, her health and her own self esteem. That would be having a motive based on love.

On the other hand, the motive might be based on love but the method of achieving the motive might be extremely cruel. The Bible says in 1 Cor 13 vs 4-5: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." While there might be a place for tough love, I do not see how tough love would necessarily equate with nagging, jeering, mocking, insulting or abusive words. Rather than making fun of her, he might get more joy with encouraging her to take up jogging and suggesting that they establish a new routine of running together. Suggesting something positive that both of you can do where you get to spend time together will work wonders for her weight and the marriage.

It also works the other way as well. I remember hearing the story of a girl who came from a well to do family who was going out with a boy who was just finding his feet. The girl first of all gave him conditions on how many times in a week they would go out on dates. Then she told him he needed to change his car because she was ashamed of being seen in his car. It wasn't surprising the guy took off. Trying to change a man is nigh on impossible and then you you want him to change because of you so as to prove his love. Which in essence is blackmail. Which is no different from the immature and selfish 16 year old boy who has an itch and tells the girl she needs to sleep with him to prove her love. Like the boy, when you ask someone to prove their love, it most and generally shows that you don't love them in the first place. Also, nagging and complaining never really works. He might end up doing what you want and you think you're victorious. Then you notice he spends less time at home. Not because he's having an affair. It's because he just want's peace. The Bible in the book of Proverbs says that it's better to stay on the edge of a roof than stay in the same house with a quarrelsome woman. Selah.

So it's okay to have motives and to express them. It just depends on what drives the motive and how it is expressed. If the motive is out of love and a desire to make the other person or thing better, things will generally work out fine. However, when we put ourselves first, we can be sure that things will go awry soon or later.

So what's your motive?



JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelsonpublishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND availableat http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/ 

God is Love But is Love God?

To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God – C. S. Lewis

When people mean when they say that God is love is often something quite different; they really mean love is God – C. S. Lewis

Recently I saw a tweet that brought a wry smile to my lips. On the 24^th September this year Nicole Scherzinger tweeted the following passage of the Bible from her account:

“A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

The above passage is John 13:34. Jesus was speaking to his disciples during the meal known commonly known as the Last Supper. Jesus knew that he was about to be crucified and he was effectively given his last sermon to the disciples before he would be taken away. Earlier in his ministry, he had broken down the entire law that had been given through Moses, comprising over 600 rules and regulations into two, to love God with our whole heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbours as ourselves. After Jesus died, even Paul wrote an entire chapter in the book of Corinthians on the topic of love. One then might be forgiven for thinking that the only important thing in Christianity is love. However, while it might be the most important thing, it’s not the only thing.

The Bible says that “while we yet sinners, Christ died for us”. He died for us because he loved us. The Bible also says we love him because he first loved us. That means we are able to love him back because he first loved us. The Christian group had a song that said, “Love is a Verb”. That means that you cannot say you love without doing something to show it? How do we know he loves us? Because he died to save us from our sins. But he also wants us to love him back. In the book of John 14:15, Jesus said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Therefore, the only way we can show we love God is by keeping his commandments.

I've said before that I do not believe that Christ came to establish a religion called “Christianity”. I believe that Christianity is a contraption formulated by man to allow us fall short of what Christ expects of God since we are “just men” even though Christ said that greater works than he did we would do. Christianity is a crutch we lean on that allows us to conveniently fall short of what God expects of us. Christ came to set up a kingdom known as the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven) with the Holy Spirit as his representative when he left, not to set up a religion. From the book of Acts, we understand that Christians were called by that name first in Antioch. I believe the people who started using the term were not people of the same faith and there is every likelihood that the term might have been derogatory. We shy away from the concept of a kingdom with a king because somehow prefer the concept of presidents and democracy where everybody is “equal”. However, God is not some equal opportunities employer, he is a king.

Romans 8:2 talks about the “law of the Spirit of life”. Isaiah 9:6 talks about the government being upon the shoulder of the child that is born. If there is a kingdom or government, it presupposes that there must be legislation. We seem to think that the kingdom of God has no rules. However, what kingdom, or government can stand without rules? We seem to think that because we operate a new covenant that we are under no obligation to keep any of God’s commandments. While I will admit that quite a number of the laws were personal to the Jews, the laws known as the 10 Commandments are not. For instance, from Jesus words, it’s quite clear that God is still interested in us honouring our parents. So, if we still need to obey laws, how then is this dispensation of grace different from that of the law? The main difference is Holy Spirit. Under the law, we tried to please God with our own efforts. We did all we could and we still fell short. When we sinned, we tried to pacify God with the sacrifice of animals because the Bible says the wages of sin is death. Therefore we needed something to take our death when we sinned. Under grace, before we even sin, we understand that Christ has shed his blood for our past, present and future sins. We also understand that God himself through the Holy Spirit is working in us to help us keep the laws. We also don’t need to beat ourselves up when we fall or run away from him when we sin. We are to run toward him and fall at his feet and receive his forgiveness.

The Bible says Christ is returning for a Church without spot, wrinkle or blemish. If Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, do we presume to think that God is happy if we continue doing the same things that made him consider us sinners even after we accept Christ?I think not. God said that in these times, he would write his laws not on tables of stone but on the tables of our heart. The heart is a symbol of love. It means therefore that in these days, God’s laws will be dear to us. His laws will not be grievous to us because we love him and want to please him and because we understand that they are for our good.

God is a God of love. But he is also a God of judgement. Any attempt to gloss over this is wrong. While God is love, love is not God. We should stop trying to excuse or justify the wrong we or others do by saying “God loves us the way we are”. It's even funnier when people who don't acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Saviour try try to preach love to Christians. If there was a man who was married but had an anger problem and every time he got angry he beat his wife. When he’s asked why he doesn't deal with his anger issues, he replies, “God loves me the way I am”. I wonder which one of us would agree with that. Jesus said he did not come into the world to condemn it. However, he did say that in the end, we would be judged by the words he had spoken. Everything we do should flow out of love but we should use love as an excuse not to move on to maturity. How does maturity come about? By being obedient to God’s laws.The Bible makes it clear that one day, Heaven and Earth will pass away and we all we will stand before God’s throne in judgement. Then we’ll discover just how far God’s love extends. But by then, it might be too late. 

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, a political thriller about the persecution of Christians. DECEPTIO is published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers and is available at http://www.bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx. He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND a story about love, loss, rejection and redemption available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ. You can follow him on Twitter at @Cruz_JCReal