Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

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Red pill, Blue pill: “Sinners in the hands if an angry God”

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“Sinners in the hands if an angry God”

On July 8, 1741, a mere mortal man struggled as he delivered his sermon to his congregation. Struggling I say because he wouldn’t lift his face for 45 minutes nor give any eye contact until he was done reading, word after word… Enfield Connecticut would never be the same after that fateful day. Jonathan Edwards preached, the congregation listened and one of the most convicting sermons ever was delivered.

This sermon is still one of my all time favorites and I love to talk about this sermon. In many perspectives, one of the greatest sermons ever delivered to the United States in its Great Awakening era. This great appeal to a sinner’s heart and mind, captured each person and forced everyone to recognize they will be judged by a righteous, good and holy God! Furthermore, this judgment should be more feared than death and will be more painful than human comprehension.

I think it’s safe to say there has been a lot of change from that day to today, so much change that I seldom think it’s the same world. So often I think we humans have “flipped the script” and today’s sermon might be titled “God in the hands of a diverse, equitable and inclusive society”. It doesn’t matter if you agree with the way the world looks now or if you agree with the way the world looked in the 1700’s, it’s different for certain.

So let’s look at the “was then” vs the “is now”.

1741 views2024 views
God is justified in casting all humankind into hellNo GOOD god would send me to hell
Justice means all have earned Hell.Justice is relative, I decide what justice should be
The wicked are condemned to Hell.Hell and Heaven are your own views of eternity
Satan wants all humans as his own.Satan was unfairly treated by an oppressive god.
God restrains Satan, evil is limited.Evil doesn’t exist except as a manmade construct
Lack of visualizing physical death is no excuse and does not mean it should not be feared.Physical death is the end. There is no fear in death, the only fear is dying
Doing good for oneself or others does not make up for sin nor avoid wrath.I do good all the time! ima good person!
That’s your truth, let’s just “agree to disagree”
Hell’s pain is unavoidable. Christ has saving grace, there is no other way to avoid Hell. All paths lead to the same place, Christians are bullies for saying anything different.
God’s salvation is only for his people! Not for all.God is all LOVE. He can’t punish us good folks.

Ohh, I know… I get that this is a simplified generalization of yesterday vs today, but it’s a helpful comparison for my blog, that’s it, a bit of Grace please!

Welcome to the “Matrix” (If you haven’t watched this movie, you may want to take the time right now to watch that movie before you continue reading this blog)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vKQi3bBA1y8?si=Dbxi7-JoRzZH-msj

Red Pill or Blue Pill?

Blue Pill: To trust in God is foolish. God is antiquated and doesn’t matter now.

Red Pill: God is still the creator of everything.

Blue Pill: A loving God wont send me to Hell.

Red Pill: Well, God is only giving you what you’re asking for, separation from him. Reject God? Ok, here is your forever home…

Blue Pill: Heaven is mine! I can make it however I want.

Red Pill: That’s so silly, just because you want something doesn’t mean you can have it, unless you have that power to grant it… 

The Rabbit Hole: How do Christians hold these truth statements and live our lives like it matters? I remember this statement from “The Truth Project” many years ago and It still convicts my soul daily… “Do you believe that what you believe is really real?” I wish my faith were “really real”, I would act so much differently. But… just because my faith is weak doesn’t prove my beliefs are wrong, it just means I am weak. 

Is God’s word true? How do I KNOW it is true?  If Gods word is not true, what is true? What is the truth? Who decides what is true? Who decides what is not true? Do we all decide for ourselves? And the killer question: DOES TRUTH EVEN MATTER?

Jesus answered this question in front of a world leader: John 18:37

Bible Gatewayhttps://www.biblegateway.com › verse

For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”.

If Jesus thinks truth is this important, we should as well! I love this definition of truth: “Truth is reality as seen by God” that means we don’t get to decide truth. Does that mean God gets to pick what is true? Not really, God doesn’t actually pick, but truth does flow from Him. God is the source of all truth and God simply knows the truth (as His character is truth) and we can be deceived into thinking we get to choose truths. 

The White Rabbit: I hear so many times the reaction “Well, as long as he is happy, what difference does it make?” I’m here today to contest this premise, I’m here to try and show that truth matters. I’m here to shed light on the idea “as long as nobody is being hurt, it’s fine!” THIS IS TRULY HATE SPEECH! Because if you truly love a person, you want them to know what’s real, and what’s not real… or is it just easier to allow a person to live in a fantasy world? Never knowing what’s real and what’s a delusion? I don’t know who is reading this today, but I love you so much that I am willing to take a chance of offending you so that you can know what is really real… That is love speech. 

If you can’t tell, I believe we ALL deserve to know truth vs delusion. I believe a person deserves to have the opportunity to decide for themselves if they want to believe the truth or live a lie… I believe God wants us to know Him, to be with Him for all eternity. I also believe God does not force anyone to love Him but in the end, everyone will know the truth and take a knee to the Creator, some in reverence and love but others out of hatred and conviction… I want you to know Him now, not just on judgment day. 

There is a scene in the movie “The Matrix” where Neo gestures for the Red Pill, Morpheus tells him  “All I’m offering is the truth”. 

Morpheus continues: “You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes”.

Now you decide, Red Pill or Blue Pill? Truth or a Lie?

With all my love and concern for your eternal home, Charlie.

Joy cometh in the morning….

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JOY : a feeling of great pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being : gladness.

Have you ever sat and thought? Perhaps in a tree stand? A duck blind? A boat? Taking a drive? How big is this statement? “JOY COMETH” but not before weeping through the night. My translation says “shouts of joy comes in the morning”

 Take some time to ponder what it means: “Joy cometh in the morning” it’s not some catchy phrase that should be tossed out to show we are reverent, or to appeal to a demographic of bible readers. Or to show others how optimistic we are…. This is a Christian Psalm, out of the bible and not some sweet little sound bite… AND may I add, I don’t really care who proof texts to make a point, it’s wrong wrong wrong! With that said, it’s hard to not proof text entirely, the bible has some amazing texts that can be used to “prove your point” BUT that doesn’t make it right… look at the verse in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you… to prosper” this is not a promise to make you rich, never was, never will be! EVER!!! (maybe one day I should write about the false prosperity Gospel being preached)

This joy is not a celebration over defeating a human in some twisted contest of name bashing, nor is it a celebration over your personal political ideology in some popularity contest… this is simply joy after God’s chastening for your disobedience to his word, how ironic! This joy is from God, not earthly contests of witt! 

So I recommend you do a simple thing, stop counting how often you “pray” and obey the Lord by “praying without ceasing” not counting to make sure you pray everyday and sometimes twice… pray continually, giving thanks, for this is the will of God!

Now, while you are out in the duck blind, in the tree stand or sitting over a barrel of sweets, waiting for that perfect moment in time to manifest in front of your eyes… open your eyes and see the undeniable brilliance of the creation you are in, recognize the splendor of uniformity among the leaves, notice how gravity is applied perfectly to make the hydraulic cycle work in the exact way it needs to, watch the sunrise in perfect predictability and give thanks to the creator that he made you with the intent and love that can not be denied.

The day I stopped

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How does a man go from being the “everything” to just a “once in a while”?

I was reflecting during my solo trip to meet my newest grand, Sadie Mae.  14.5 hours of high speed driving, food stops, bathroom breaks and naps in the car to make a total trip of around 24 hours. I had just spent most of the previous two weeks alone, Jess was out west helping, so I had a lot of thinking time… Becoming a grandparent is an interesting procedure.

When the boys were born, I had one job, one task, one goal. I gave my life to my family, not perfectly and for sure I made some wrong turns and bad choices but this job of family man took over every angle, every perspective and certainly every choice in life. It is hard to die to self and give 100% of my life to the care and concern of these three boys (and one day it became 5) plus a wife. As a child I never had a positive role model or a consistent guide of how or what to do, or so I thought! The LORD tried to guide me but like any rebellious child, I rejected the one who cares the most  for me and I did what I thought was best for me…. What a fool I was! 

Today I see these boys enter the freeway called “family man”… wait, aren’t they these little babies that I held and protected? Did they not make my entire identity? Did they not depend on me for everything? I gave everything I had, my will, my money, my time… my life was sacrificed for them, I gave them all I had… was it enough? Did I give them enough? Are they ready? Can I give more? They are my legacy.  All I have left to give is space, freedom and an occasional hug, surrendering to the hope they have learned what I taught them and picked up along the way, those things I failed to teach them.  Now I stand watching from afar off land to see the sons I raised lead their own families, without me holding their hand, picking them up or turning them away from bad choices. YES, I’m in that “last chapter” the “last stage” of fatherhood. The boys are finally entering the path that I entered in 1992… 20 years, no wait 32 years ago…. Goodness the years fly by so fast and all we have left are the long hours.  

It’s not easy, but it’s worth it! I think of God these days, how HE must feel watching us all reject his wisdom and guidance, how he must think “I know the plans I have for you”. When I was younger as a daddy, I remember how my boys looked at me and how the dependance on the father wanes from one chapter to the next and eventually, like my father, our days stop being numbered and we long to hear the words of our father say “ Well done, good and faithful servant…”

Sophia called me grandpa, my heart melted and I thought… “Baby girl, you can have anything you want…” how much more does God long to hear the words “DADDY? I love you!” 

God bless you on this FOGGY morning.

Charlie