It's just scary down here ---

I was praying this morning and as I prayed (I tend to do it as a journal) I found myself writing that, "its just scary down here."  And you know, it is.

Now  perfect love casts out fear - we don't have the spirit of fear - yes, I know all that - but it's still scary down here.

Fear is natural or sinful.  To not fear is to give up some part of being human.  to allow fear to keep us from serving Him is to give up some part of being His - that's sinful fear.

But fear is an emotion (?) - a judgement we make about conditions and circumstances that are very real.  Fear tells us something is dangerous - potentially harmful - probably damaging - etc.  So this natural fear can't be a no-no but it can not be the boss either.

Having said that - it is scary down here.  Politics is always scary - the power of government is always liable to abuse.  I worry about that.  I worry about my brothers and sisters who own businesses or have ministries and the possiblility that they may have to close, capitulate their consciences to the law or take a stand against the law and suffer the conseqences.  I fear for our religious freedom - especially the religious freedom of Christians.

See, it's coming to a point where we are being put in a position where we are required to do things that violate our consciences.  We are being required to do (or not do) things that pertain directly to our faith (beliefs) and though in most cases it's subtle - it's here.

At some point - and I worry that the time is closer that we think - we will have to start saying "No."  We've tried to say no in the political arena but that's "their" home field - so we've said "Ok" to the point that we will soon have to say "No!" and when we do we will suffer for it.

Where we have enjoyed the freedom to express our religious beliefs we are no longer as "free" as we were.  When folks are getting cited and sued for having home Bible studies - we are in trouble.  When the government can force us to pay for things that violate our faith - we are in trouble.

Well - it's scary down here.  But that's OK - it can't help but be.  However - we need to begin NOW to pray for a holy boldness to stand upon our faith and refuse to give way.  That will look different for different people - and that's sad -!  It shows that we have indeed not grown as He desired and we have especially not grown to be one.

So many of us will find ourselves standing alone.  Criticized and even vilified by those who claim our faith but don't know Him.  The tares and the goats and the wolves will have a very good time.  Our stubbornness in our faith will cost us much - for some of us it will cost everything but what he guards for us.

I am not a pessimist - I am a believer - and the One I believe makes it very clear that we will suffer for Him - for being His.  I wonder if I'm ready?  I don;t feel ready - but then, that's what the Holy Spirit is for - right?

Pray for yourselves and your brothers and sisters that they might see and understand the depth of hate the world and the devil has for us.  Pray that they may grow ever more sensitive in their consciences so that they do not suddenly realize they have "allowed: and "tolerated" and "compromised" to the point of a near surrender.

We must remember - "to live is Christ, to die is gain."  Paul "got it," when did we let it go?

Hate One Love the Other

I've been reading a lot in the old Puritans about dealing with sin.  Last night we rather sleepless because I couldn't get it out of my mind.  No, I wasn't obsessing but I was struggling with the issue.

We are to hate sin and to mortify (kill) is - battle it throughout our lives here.  It is a battle that will not end until we are with Him were He is.  So we need to be about that works so we can honor and glorify Him - right?  It's all part of conforming us to His likeness - Rom. 12.

But I was struck with a concern over focusing on sin as opposed to focusing on Him.  Would it not be true that if I learn to love Him and work on loving Him more I will indeed still mortify sin?  Do I have to operate from a position of animosity and hatred toward sin or may I not operate from a desire to love Him.

OK - maybe it's not and either/or but as I consider hating sin I find that I am more prone to operate in my own strength - trying to please Him by "not" sinning - more of a "work" orientation.  When I consider loving Him more in thought and deed I have a greater comfort and enthusiasm - a greater strength other than my own.

No, I don't for a moment suggest we ignore sin but rather that we replace it with that which is done, thought, considered, etc. for the purpose of living out a love for Him.

I guess I'm trying to get my head and heart around the difference between addressing sin our of hate for sin and addressing sin out of love for Him.  We are told that we should draw near to Him and flee temptation/sin.  It's a no brainer that we should flee from temptation and sin in His direction.

We must battle sin but we must battle it in and with His provision.  to do this well we need to get obnoxiously close to Him.  Loving Him has to remove tolerating sin - right?  Drawing closer to Him in our knowledge, understanding and  practice would have to decrease our weakness and vulnerability - right?

I would suggest that we (I) begin by making use of three disciplines of the faith.  the first is prayer.  to be constant (consistent) in prayer is critical for our well being and our intimacy with Him.  In prayer we are actually conversing with Him, relating to Him and acknowledging His sovereignty.  That's something we can't really do too much.

The second discipline is to be in His Word.  In the Word he exposes - reveals all we need to know about Him and His plan for us.  The Word is the source of both our understanding and appreciation of His sovereignty and love - not to mention all His other attributes.  We need to be careful however that we read with intention and purpose.  that being that we grow in our knowledge and understanding which will have a powerful effect on our trust in and faithfulness to Him.

The third disciple is giving.  OK - we need to give $ to support His work that demands $ but not all His work demands $.  So, give the $s you can.  But giving is sooooo much broader.  Giving for us is always about using His provision to us for His purposes.  he provides for us so our needs can be met - but He also gives to us so we might be meeting the needs of others as well.  This is bigger than $s.  This is time, patience, compassion, admonition, correction, comfort, encouragement, etc.

Money is "coined life."  it represents a period of our time and effort for which we are compensated.  So - giving of our time and effort is just as acceptable as giving our money.  Money is just time and effort in coin or paper.  We need to be giving what $ we can but even more so (to me) we need to be giving of our lives (time and effort) to Him.  Not an either/or but a both/and.

Why these three?  Well they are fundamentals - basics - a good starting point upon which all other duties depend.  They are the fundamental acknowledgment of the grace and mercy He has for us.  Each of them in their own way shapes and molds our minds and affections (feelings) toward Him.

As we grow in our regularity in these disciplines we will find two things.  First I believe we will find a greater discontent in sin and a greater sensitivity to temptations.  What we "do" will become more precious than serving our own desires.  Secondly, we will find a new sense of His use of us - a greater sense of our ministry - a greater confidence in doing what He puts in our hands to do.

Yes, we are to hate sin - but not to the detriment of loving God.  I believe that the more we love Him intentionally and actively the more the light of His countenance will obscure the deceitful appeal of temptation.  I believe that loving Him more and more - actively - will naturally result in a a "hating" of sin in the Spirit instead of the flesh.

Think about it -

Michael "sheepdog" Sanders
ms@tc2v1.com

There was only ever one hope!

Dear brothers and sisters,

I want to wear a button that says, "Repent, the end is here!!!!"

I am hardly fit company today after the results of the election.  That my "soul is cast down within me," is an understatement.

Of this, I am forced to repent and seek forgiveness.

I never realized how much hope I had placed in this election.  I am ashamed of how much I had looked to man and away from God.

I do know and I hope you do - that God is still sovereign - He still rules His creation, nothing is out of His control.

I am ashamed of the fear I have (surprise?) of the inevitable loss we will now suffer in terms of our material security.  I am ashamed of the thoughts that run through my mind.  I am ashamed at my lack of faith at God's answer to my payers.

I am ashamed at the thoughts that America, as we know it and love it is done.  I am ashamed of a desire to leave - either the country or civilization.  I am ashamed of my strong desire to drop off the grid and become one of the "invisibles."

I am ashamed of my lack of faith directed at the whole purpose of faith - His glory and honor.

I am haunted by one and only one statement made by Mr. Obama.  "Vote, it's the best revenge."  Though perhaps a slip of the tongue, for me it reveals the very heart of what we will now have to trust God in.   Revenge - the fundamental purpose behind what will not come to pass.

I don't know of anywhere else to go to live.  I don't know how to "get off the grid."  I do not know how to disappear.  Perhaps that's a good thing for I fear it would be an act of faithlessness.

Like many of you, I have been sorely distracted by all the political tension and hope.  My mind has been distracted and my heart wounded by taking my eye and mind off the call of God.

Gun sales and ammunition sales are sky-rocketing.  Self-protection?  From who?  I sense it is not from the "bad-guys" but from the guys who now have the bigger guns.

I have only two consolations.  the first is that my God is sovereign and His will is good.  The second is - well - the prophets, John the Baptist, the Apostles all lived under the cruelest of political powers and yet remained faithful and fruitful.  They stood for God against warped and insidious powers of their day - yet without sin.

We too must stand.  Not primarily for our "liberties," nor our "rights," for, as a nation of laws we are subject to the changing of the laws.

We must stand for Him.  perhaps this is why we find ourselves where we are.  For generations we have have stood for all sorts of social and cultural - even moral "issues," but we have not stood for Him.  I believe that He has been and is disciplining us and calling us back to His purpose for us.

Our fight is against the flesh.  Yes, the world and the devil are involved BUT at the very core of it all is - well - us, our flesh.  It is the flesh that battles against the spirit.  It is the flesh - this body of death - that is our primary enemy.  We must repent - in weeping and even gnashing of teeth at the faithlessness we have shown.

I am "in" the world by His will - certainly not my choice.  We are not to be "of" the world - we are not to fight as it fights - but we have and we must repent.

I am encouraging all of you to examine your hearts.  Look to see what matter most in your life and living.  If God, His glory and His will - your being conformed to the likeness of His Son, is not at the center, repent - please, repent.

I am praying to find brothers and sisters who will join with me in a commitment - a singular commitment -to turn back to the call of God to His prime directive -.

Jesus came to redeem - that is not our job.  Our calling is to call men and women to repentance through the preaching of the Gospel.  We are NOT called to change the world - we never could - we never can.

A subtle persecution has long existed - there is no need for subtlety any more.  There is also no excuse for "stealth" or "compromised" Christianity.  It is time to rebuild the wall between the Body of Christ and the world.  For too long we have allowed them to be dismantled for the sake of acceptance and congeniality.  The wall must rise again.  The distinction between believers, imposters, posers and unbelievers must be made clear.

I am ashamed of my lack of faith and faithfulness.  I never knew its depth until today and now I feel it deeply and painfully.

We must rebuild the wall around God's gate, God's door.  This must begin with each of us.  We must repent of claiming to not be "of" the world and yet craving all it's goodies and making use of all its ways.

The Puritans are our best examples of men and women who forsook the world - perhaps we would do well to follow their lead.

It is now - to what ever responsible degree we can and in God's truth and wisdom - that we must, "Come out from among them,"  Do we have the faith to do that?  Do we trust God enough to seek and follow His path in this?

The world hates Him - the world hates us - what part of that do we not want to understand?

Michael "sheepdog" Sanders
ms@tc2v1.com
336-549-2081

You gotta hate Your sin !! 040512

You’ve gotta HATE sin, YOUR sin !!!!!!  040512

It seems today that we have a much different view of sin than that of the Apostles.  For us sin is something “they” do and we have to battle against their doing it.

Now granted, Abortion, Sexual Preference, and criminal activity are sins we need to stand apart from but I’m afraid that we been distracted from the most important area of sin –  OURS

It is soooooo easy to look at our world and see sinful things and to work up a real head of steam about them.  BUT if this outwardness distracts us from our own sinfulness, the real battle, we are failing in a very serious way.

The writers of the epistles have a lot to say about the sinfulness of the world and about our being apart from it.  But where, pray tell me, are we directed to attack it?  Certainly we must deal with it inside the Body of Christ but outside????  Not so much!

The “world” is synonymous with “sin.”  We have to accept that.  We don’t and shouldn’t like it.  We shouldn’t support it.  We shouldn’t ignore it.  But our response to sin/world has got to be first and foremost the Gospel.  Only here and not in protests, petitions, etc. is the true power of God for righteousness found.

When, dear friend was the last time you enumerated all your sins for which God’s grace has provided redemption and forgiveness?  Not your “before Jesus” sins – those were normal.  Rather I speak of those sins that still hound you. 

Paul says to us:

Romans 7:15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  

Hellooooo?  Did you read that slowly?  Note: “sin that dwells within me.”   Now, are we better, more committed, more faithful, more “spiritual” than Paul?  I think not.  And yet he makes it very clear that sin – sin in him – is still active and strongly so.

He goes on:

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.] 8 Those that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

And

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Why do we refuse to focus on that struggle that is so central to our being faithful?  We have the Flesh and the Spirit which contend within us for our submission, our obedience.  Why, oh why do we focus on sin “out there,” when there is plenty “in me?”  How can we expect to be light in the world when we neglect the light within?

John Owen said that if we are not about the business of killing sin (in us) then sin will be killing us.  He was not speaking in terms of salvation but rather in terms of faithful effect.  If we, individually and collectively are not killing sin in our lives our witness is dead.

Jesus calls us on this.  We see the speck and ignore the log.  But He Himself commands us to be about the business of removing our log – never are we told to remove their specks.

I challenge you to find the scripture that mandates the hateful bullying we see so called believers taking part in.  I challenge you to find the scripture that mandates political action, civil disobedience, picketing and protests.  “Jesus loves you,” and “Baby Killer,” are not statements that should ever considered mutually edifying or glorifying to God.

Who are we to vilify anyONE?  Yes, we may state that this and that is a sin, wrong, whatever, according to our faith.  But where did we ever get the idea that we had the right to expect or demand Christian behavior from non-Christians?

Do you really think that we have any role in redeeming the world?  What pride!!  We are merely messengers of hope – of grace – of redemption.  We are not like the OT prophets who called out to God’s chosen nation to repent – that was then – this is us.  We are prophets of the Gospel – the promise.

Certainly we need to communicate Holy God vs. Sinful Men – God’s Judgment / God’s Grace.  But, we are never never never called to enact either His judgment or His wrath.  And yet we do – Oh we don’t  take the sinner out and stone them – but I know some believers who’d like to.

It seems that we want two things in an enemy.  We want an enemy with skin and we want an enemy who is “them.”  We want to be their enemy.

Well folks – I have an enemy with skin – “me.”

I wonder if what appears to be the weakness of the Gospel today isn’t in direct proportion to the failure of the Body of Christ to provide the world with a clear picture of what holiness and righteousness look like.  The “church” is known for benevolence, charity, etc. – but curiously she isn’t known for holiness and righteousness.  Oh, she is known for vilifying and condemning others – but not for holiness and righteousness.

As I close I just want to point out one thing.  When Paul writes:

(Rom 8:18) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

He’s not right in the middle of a treatise on persecution.  He is right in the middle of calling us to battle – to battle with the flesh – with the sin dwelling in us.   

Later – this is really on my heart and mind –

Copyright, Michael Sanders, 2012

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