Victory In the Face of Defeat

Whenever we think of God and following Jesus, there are certain things that come to mind or are associated with our thoughts of the Godhead. We think of things like power, victory of everything that comes against us, being rich in money and other things. If I were to categorise these thoughts I would say that the thoughts are rosy in nature. We all have these thoughts that because we believe in God and follow Jesus, everything will be fine and dandy and we will never have to worry about anything. Or some things. I have discovered that at times, the things we believe are more founded in our belief in the assertions of whoever ministered to us when we gave our lives to Christ or even our pastor or the people speaking into our lives than they are founded in the Bible, the word of God.

The book of Hebrews is a fascinating book. The authors name is never mentioned in the book but theologians attribute it to the Apostle Paul. The book is basically on the issue of faith. Faith and trust in God. However the most fascinating part of the book is Chapter 11. The chapter starts by giving us the picture of a Hall of Fame of heroes of faith. Men and women who trusted in God and they received what they were trusting God for. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is mainly a glowing report of the testimony that people had of the goodness of God. In the midst of all the glowing reports, verse 13 gives us something of an inkling of what will come later. It tells us of people who died without handling the promise but seeing them afar off. Abraham and Isaac and Israel were all promised that their seed would be like the sand of the sea shore. Though they never saw this, the fact that they saw the next generations after them gave them hope it would happen, so they had faith.

However by verse 35 things take a decidedly “negative” turn. In the latter part of the verse we are told of people who were tortured and preferred to die in the hope of a better resurrection. Verse 36 tells us of people imprisoned and beaten for their faith while others were killed. Verse 37 talks of people stoned to death, some sawn to death, others living a life of deprivation. According to the writer of Hebrews, the fallen world we live in was not worthy of these people. Yet the curious thing was that all these people died without being “victorious” by the standards of the world today. Yet the writer of Hebrews tells us that these people were victorious because they died in faith and in the faith. They were tempted but yet they overcame. They were victors not because of their circumstances in life but of their circumstances in death. They were tried, afflicted and burnt in the furnace of affliction yet they remained steadfast in the faith.

Issues of faith are not always evident in our circumstances but they are evident in our character in the face of affliction. Christ is more interested in our character than in anything else. What we throw up our hands for and call defeat is not necessarily a defeat but a chance to ask ourselves, how does this glorify God? How does my life and what I’m going through glorify God? Jesus told the disciples that they had not yet resisted the Devil to the point of death. We all think that our lives only glorify God when we are alive or free. We need to have a rethink. Just maybe, our incarceration, loss of freedom and possibly even death might glorify him more.

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. 

Death Belongs To Us All

A year or so ago, Matthew Warren the son of Rick and Kay Warren died. Last week Kay Warren put up a post on Facebook in which she wrote about how well-meaning but seemingly insensitive people expected her to let go of her grief at the loss of her son and move on with her life (You can see the post here http://t.co/yqlYGC7nRY). According to her, people felt she should stop mourning and get back to doing what she used to do before the tragedy happened. They believe she is taking too long to recover from the loss.

Last week Sunday, someone I knew died. (Is that knew or know?). He was coming back from his mother-in-law’s burial when the tire of the vehicle he was in burst and the driver pressed the brake in a reflex action, trying to stop the car. The car somersaulted, my friend, his wife, their baby and the driver all died. Only one of his two children survived. In a moment, in an instant, she has been left all alone in the world, an orphan.

When I heard about my friend’s death on Monday, I was extremely disturbed. I was disturbed and saddened for the whole week. It wasn’t the first time that someone I knew has died but like all the other times it left me disturbed at the coldness of the world. Like always, the world did not stop at their death, it didn’t even slow down. The world went on. Even when I lost a nephew, after all the grieving, we all went on with our lives. For those not affected by the grief, there was even no mourning to slow them down. There is no acknowledgment from the world that someone of importance has left the earth. In the same way people are dying in war zones like Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Venezuela, Nigeria and other parts of the world daily and the world has not stopped to consider. As I write, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is still missing. While the world wonders what could have happened, it is the families and friends that are in mourning, whose lives have stopped. It is their lives that will never be the same again.

Grief at the loss of a lost one is person to each of us and that grief is expressed in a different way by different people depending on how close they were to that person. I still can’t believe my friend is gone. We were in the same department in church and we used to meet regularly during meetings. Yet my grief and sense of loss cannot compare to that felt by his family, especially his parents. There are very few things that can compare with a parent losing a child. The normal order of things tells us that parents are supposed to die before their children. It’s a terrible aberration for a parent to bury their child.

Every person will deal with grief in their own way and I believe they should be allowed to deal with it the way they deem fit unless it is affecting their health, physical, emotional or psychological. A parent can never forget a child and the loss of a child is always hard. The loss is especially hard when the child has grown to their teens and their whole life is before them or just beginning. Until we have experienced it, it is not something we should make light of. It is also something we should pray not to experience. We might not be able to understand it but we should let those experiencing grief get on and deal with it in their own way. We should not think less of them or grow impatient with them but encourage them to deal with it hoping they will receive comfort.

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.  

We Have Been Commanded To Love (And Show Grace)

A week or so ago, I read an article about the popular Christian hip-hop artiste Lecrae. In the article he spoke about the criticism he had received from fellow Christians concerning his interactions with secular artistes. They even accused him of selling out because he went on tour with Wu-Tang Clan. The criticism left him feeling frustrated and sad. Just this week, Bart Millard the lead singer of the Christian group Mercy Me also faced similar criticism for daring to complement Ellen DeGeneres on her performance while hosting the Oscars. He had earlier faced a similar firestorm when he complimented Bruno Mars on his half time performance at the Super Bowl earlier this year. I think we need to deal with this legalistic spirit.

First of all, there are very few jobs on the planet that are “godly” in nature. Every job we do is secular because we live in a secular work. However we are called to bring a Christian mind set to whatever we do. I’m sure most people would gladly tell me that as a lawyer I’m headed for the hottest part of hell. The usual reasons given for this assertion is that lawyers are liars, we bleed people dry, we are heartless, blah blah blah. That is just the opinion of some people based on certain experiences but certainly not an experience with me. Someone has to be a lawyer, someone has to be a musician, someone has to be an actor. As long as what you do is legal and ethical, what matters most are the values you bring to what you do.

Secondly, we should be able to make a distinction between what people do in their personal lives and the ethics and values they bring to their work. Values like hard work competence, vision, drive. A man might be an adulterer and a wife beater which makes him a terrible person but yet a great artiste who creates great work. I probably shouldn’t say this but I will. There were a lot of scandals that surrounded Michael Jackson while he was alive. While nothing was ever proved in a court of law, I’m sure that most people believe some or all of the allegations are true. While we might not approve of whatever we think he was, it does not detract from the fact that he was the foremost entertainer of his age who not only had vision but was hard working and dedicated.

Thirdly, once we have separated the personal from the professional life, we should realise that there is nothing wrong with appreciating a professional performance. Let me explain. Let’s say you got accused of a crime or a misdemeanour and you didn’t have the presence of mind to choose a Christian lawyer whose lifestyle you approved of. The lawyer is able to get you acquitted thanks to his expertise and drive and drive and competence, we all know that you’re going to pay his bill. But are you saying that you’re not going to be gracious enough to say a simple “Thank you” to him just because he smokes and you don’t approve of that? Are you going to just walk away with a frown on your face because he is not a “good” person? By complementing Ellen DeGeneres and Bruno Mars he was simply appreciating their professional competence that they brought to their work. It was not a blanket endorsement of their work, their lifestyle or the message of their jokes or lyrics. Really, it wasn’t.

In the article, Lecrae explained that he moved to Atlanta because fellow rappers Ludacris and Kendrick Lamar live there. He’s there not because he wants anything from them but because he wants to influence them for the kingdom. Jesus said we are to be a light and to be salt. Light and salt are only effective when they are in contact with what they seek to illuminate or preserve. How can we influence people for God if we kept away from them as sinners, unwashed and unlovable? We were once like that yet Jesus called out to us even in our sin. How can we influence them when we can’t even be nice to them because we think they hate us? Hate never changed hate. Only love can do that. We have received a commandment to love even those that hate us. How can we expect to receive grace when we do not offer it to others? Jesus said God’s rain falls on both the godly and the ungodly.

Oh, and one last thing. It is totally ungracious and un-Christ like to accuse a fellow Christian of haven fallen from grace. Jesus said only a servant’s master has the right to judge him. We are no one’s master. If we feel that someone has strayed from the path, it is our Christian duty to pray for them. Not accuse. How do expect people to love Jesus when we can’t love each other? Jesus said it is through love that people will know we are his disciples. However it seems we don’t want to love. Because love is hard work and we don’t want to do hard work. We’d rather point the finger. That’s easier to do and much more fun.    

  

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.  

It Should Be About Him .... And Us

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a period of fasting, praying and alms giving known as Lent which is associated with several Christian denominations most especially the Catholics. Interestingly I have read two interesting articles from the Federalist website which were posted by Mollie Hemingway (@MZhemingway). The first article written by Rev. Todd Peperkorn, a pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Rocklin, Carlifornia argues that we should not generally reject the practice of Lent because we believe they are ancient customs which have no place in this modern world. He recognises the argument that some make that such practices tend to make us feel self righteous in our observance of them. He quotes Matthew 6:2, 5 and 7 where Jesus points out what hypocrites do and admonishes us not do do those things. Rev. Peperkorn argues that while Jesus did not want us to go the way of the hypocrites, he is certain that Jesus wanted us to do the opposite of what the hypocrites do. He argues that in a world of several distractions, Christians need to block out the distractions and focus more on more thing, Jesus.

On the other side of the spectrum is Brian Lee, pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Washington DC's Logan Circle neighborhood. His argument is that such observances lead to a form of self righteousness which arise out of pride in our works. He argues that this gives the feeling that we can please God with our works. According to him, Jesus fasting was all about purifying us while our aims with regard to fasting are about purifying ourselves which is wrong. He also argues that some of the rules regarding abstaining from certain foods and practices goes against the grain of the doctrine of sanctification. He argues that the most important thing is to love. Love God with all our heart, our strength and our might.

I agree with both sentiments to a certain extent. I believe that every Christian should practice some form of spiritual discipline not just at a particular time of the year but if possible, every day. I really don't believe in Valentine's Day, the commercialised day of love because of the associations. I believe God and Christ are the epitome of love. If there was to be a day of love, it should be celebrated on the day the birth of Christ is celebrated. But Jesus said we were to love God and our neighbour. I don't think that is something to be practiced or observed on a particular day. Therefore while I do not think Lent is a bad idea, I also do not believe fasting or prayer should be left to a particular period of the year. It should be an every day lifestyle. Like my pastor says, prayer is for God while fasting is for us. Fasting helps us discipline the flesh in order to be more attune to God. If there is a benefit to it and draws us closer in our pursuit of God, then we should eagerly adopt it shouldn't we?

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

It Was Foretold

^{1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.}

^{2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.}

^{3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.}

^{4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.}

^{5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.}

^{6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.}

^{7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.}

^{8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.}

^{9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.}

^{10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.}

^{11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.}

^{12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.}

^{13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.}

^{14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.}

^{15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.}

^{16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.}

^{17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.}

^{18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.}

^{19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.}

^{20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.}

^{21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.}

^{22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.}

^{23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.}

^{24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.}

^{25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.}

^{26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:}

^{27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.} 

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

It's Not Fear, It's Love

I have probably said this before in one of my posts but I think it bears repeating. When I was younger in the faith and I read in the Bible Jesus saying that the path that led to salvation was narrow and there were few that found it, I used to ask myself what he meant. My reasoning was that how can there be billions of people on the planet and about half of them were said to be "Christian" and yet here was Jesus saying that fewer people would find the road to salvation than those that walked the road to destruction. A few years down the road of faith, I now believe I know what he was talking about.

I read an article by Ed Stetzer a few months back about a survey that was done which showed that the number of people who identified as Christians in America had greatly reduced. He then proceeded to ask whether it was time to start mourning the demise of Christianity in America and the West. In answering the question, he came to a conclusion that I had arrived at some time ago. The conclusion is this, there are many people who go to church but have never met with Christ who think they are Christians. They are not aware that going to church just makes you a regular church goer and not a Christian. From the Bible we understand that to be a Christian you must first be convicted of sin, then believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. After believing, you confess it. Then you take up your cross each day and follow him. It's therefore no surprise when people who have never been convicted of sin or confessed Jesus go back to where they never left in the first place. Then they gleefully tell us how they are no longer Christians. If I had a dollar for every atheist who thought he was a Christian before "renouncing" the Christian faith, I would be rich.

Centuries ago, someone once famously said God was dead but the only person that is dead is him.  The Christian faith is still going strong the only difference is that those who believe are being separated from those who don't believe. Christianity has survived repression in countries like China and is still in existence in North Korea. Even in places like Iran, Egypt and Syria where it is dangerous to be Christians, they still exist. There is nothing man can do to stop it. I read a Tweet yesterday that made me smile. The tweeter was insinuating that Jesus would be dumped after his fear had worn off out of people's lives. I was amused at the people who make comments on things people don't understand. Just because the Christian faith talks about the "fear of God" some think the fear being talked about is literal. For the record, it's not.

I do not believe in God or Jesus because I am afraid of him. I don not believe in God because I am afraid of him, hell or something like that. To paraphrase Peter, I follow Jesus because he has the words of life. I follow him because I love him. Fear is not a factor. I follow Jesus because he has the truth. I follow Jesus because after considering the other gods men chase after like money, fame and fortune, he still is greater. I follow Jesus because I believe everything else is vanity. Whether or not only one person in the west believes in God, it doesn't matter. What matters is that in the end, those that say they're Christians really, truly know what it means.

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

One and Half Popes and Doctrine

I read an article on the Fox News website about the ceremony where Pope Francis elevated nineteen new Cardinals to the College of Cardinals, the body responsible for electing a new Pope. His predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict was also present at the ceremony. It was quite an interesting article but there was something that struck me quite powerfully about the article. The writer made reference to the fact that the crowds that were coming to listen to Pope Benedict daily when he was in office were one-third of those that now come to listen to Pope Francis. I believe the intention of that particular piece of information (or was it a fact check?) was to show how unpopular Pope Benedict is in contrast to Pope Francis. This is in light of the fact that the writer in the same article remarked that people present cheered when they saw Benedict.

                        

There is a tendency in human beings for comparison even though the Bible tells us that the people who do this are not wise. One of the most obvious means of comparison is numbers. Therefore a person in an office who attracts more people to his sermons or meetings is deemed more popular and from that position we believe that he must be more effective. However I tend to see things differently. I believe the fact that Benedict drew smaller numbers of people than Francis says a lot more about the people than it does about Benedict.

There have been several reports in the mainstream media about Pope Francis comments. These comments have been analysed, dissected and analysed some more in the mainstream media. From their analysis of his comments one would be forgiven for thinking that he was about to abolish all the doctrines of the Catholic Church. It seems the mainstream media have got this idea between their teeth and their running with it so much so that it culminated with him being on the cover of TIME magazine as their man of the year. And it seems a lot of Catholics seem to have this idea as well. So it seems that while a lot of them see Benedict as a strict and unbending conservative, Francis is the flexible and conciliatory liberal. Hence the great love.

G. K. Chesterton said that the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, rather it deemed to be hard and so left untried. I have always said I do not believe in labels when it comes to Christianity. You are either a Christian or not. I do not believe you’re a conservative Christian or a liberal Christian. I also reject the terms fundamentalist unless by that you mean someone who believes in the Bible. I believe the Bible is the final authority on all things that has to do with the faith Christ gave us. Like C. S. Lewis said, doctrines were given to us as maps by men but these men had deep relationships with God. I believe we live in a fallen world with fallen minds which need renewal in the word.

I admire Benedict. He felt trapped in a position that was not allowing him fellowship was God which he missed deeply. So he gave up his position and all the trappings and stepped aside for someone else who could handle everything so much better. I do not believe the fact that Pope Francis is drawing bigger crowds reflects badly on his predecessor. I believe some of the people who come to see Francis are already living the liberal lifestyle they want him to endorse. They want him to endorse their own beliefs and make them happy and comfortable by breaking down doctrines that have served the Church for centuries. We’ll wait and see if he’ll oblige them. Although I wouldn't hold my breath.

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.