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.

Authentically me

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I think we all try to be acceptable to our world but how authentic are we really? Do we post on social media the pictures of life without “doctoring” the look? Do we post reality? What is reality anyway? 

Remember the movie “The Ten Commandments”? Cecil B Demill director and narrator captivated my youthful mind with grand words, narration and what I thought to be the Bible, told perfectly… Of course now I realize that although basically it’s told in earnest detail as the bible told this story, there is an overlap of directors privilege.  I remember Charlton Heston dressed in his Hebrew attire, But he wasn’t really a Hebrew.

And let us not forget Yvonne De Carlo playing the role of Saphora, moses wife, you may remember her role as “Mrs Munster” as well as so many other roles, she was a very accomplished actress. She acted, she was not actually those people, it was pretend. 

We can dismiss these three celebrities as fakes because we understand this was acting? Because this was not reality? Who is the most Authentic? Are you authentic? Am I authentic? What does it mean to be authentic in real life?

Are you convincing in the role you are playing on social media?

In life I want to be authentic but I also love playing roles of other characters on stage. I’m certainly no Yul Brynner, but I do enjoy acting. Authenticity is important to me, is it authentic when we post only the smiling faces of our life? Is it authentic to show all the “Nice days” and never the sad days? The bad hair days? Pictures tainted by photoshop? Faces that are “staged”? Covered in “makeup”?

Recently a friend posted about the passing of their friend, a beloved dog, it was authentically Honest. The passing of a pet is painful. The real emotions help you realize your faithful friend is no longer going to meet you at the door, with tail wagging and looking so happy you are once again reunited… It’s priceless memories that help us realize what’s truly important in life. 

I remember a joke from long ago: If you really want to know who loves you more, lock your wife and your dog in the trunk of your car, drive 10 miles, open the trunk and see which one is happy to see you… Please don’t actually do this. But the Dog is always happiest when they are reunited with you, authentically happy. Imagine being so happy to be reunited with your best friend that everytime you were separated all you wanted was to get back together, regardless of the cause of separation.

Today, go live in an authentic way, be real, be yourself, show someone you are happy to see them after you are “hypothetically” locked in their trunk. Show a smiling face regardless of how your hair looks. Be genuinely happy that you have one more day with your beloved friend that meets you at the door, wagging their tail. 

It’s time to head to church now. Maybe today we can all show someone how important they really are to us. Maybe you can only pretend? Even if it’s an act, play that role with all your heart. In time, your heart will slowly change and your tail will start to wag a little bit more each time. Living an authentic life is absolutely important but your authentic self can change when you are real to your self first.

This may seem like I am saying “wear your true self on your sleeve so everyone knows who you are” but in reality, try being true to your self first so you can see how to change into the person you ought to be. Rather that faking what others see, become what you want others to see.

Proverb 15:13–15: “A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed”

Charlie, The actor.

Caution! Doors and wind and cussing ahead.

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As we round the corner of this journey, we see a bit of light… is it the light at the end of the tunnel or is it the headlamp of a locomotive? Jess and I have no doubt this work is manifesting in the culmination of God’s good calling on our life. Even when we get hit, we rebound and things work out just fine. 

Last week we pulled the old door out and found a hole where we needed some bagged concrete in the threshold, so we cleaned it out, formed it up and poured it full. NO PROBLEM! Then a fast moving weather front came into town and we needed to cover the masterpiece of bagged concrete that my puppies decided was the only place to “plant the paws” as they blew past the yellow ribbon blocking any reasonable person from crossing… dogs are not human, they don’t even read… “Caution” 

As the weather front started to roll into town I made the quick decision to cover the concrete with plastic to protect it from the impending rain that would surely transition the fresh concrete into a slurry of gravel. 

BUT! The wind hit with no warning and hit so hard and so unpredictably.. I heard the crash, felt the floor shake and turned quickly to see the brand new door that we had leaned into the corner of the entry, laying in a manner that was so unnatural… I instantly recognized the structure surrounding now looked like a bone protruding from a compound fracture… I proclaimed “SHOOT” but it wasn’t the word shoot that flew out of my mouth… The next day I spent a few hours putting humpty back together… you can still see the scar, but it’s fixed, and perhaps it is stronger than the original? 

We waited another day before moving the new door into position, just to give the repair time to cure. The installation went well the next day and I was so grateful for the help I had as we guided the door into its final resting place. 

As I reflected on how quickly my colorful expletive slipped out of my mouth, I remembered where I came from and how my father would have screamed and cussed for hours after something like that. I remembered how he would have thrown tools, smashed anything in his reach, “spanked me” for not preventing this tragedy… Stuff would fly and cussing was normal. The wake of terror I experienced whenever my father was around created more havoc and destruction in my life than I could have imagined and it haunts me still to this day… I remembered I learning how my grandfather would have likely beat my father in this same situation… Looking back and realizing I may have thrown out a cuss word, without restraint, but my legacy, like my father before me, was coming from a long line of abuse. I should just thank God we have come so far from where my grand-father was to where my sons are… Legacy is all I can leave behind for my future family.!  I know I will never even meet many of my future family members but as My father never met my sons and I never met my grandfather, I can still honor them with my legacy… I Pray this trend upwards will continue for many generations. 

I am hoping to start painting no later than Wednesday. God willing, I will have help. But early this coming week, I have to focus on a few items for work. I wish I could just go and paint, but I do have other obligations. So like Nehemiah, we will continue to work on the things I am called to do and praise God for all the help we are getting.