Brian and Cathy Gray Red Pill Diaries

Watchman On the Wall

“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes…” Eph 4:14

The Acts 17:11 Bereans Bible study made it to Ephesians 4:17 last week. We covered a lot. Someone briefly mentioned that it might benefit us as believers to remain ignorant of evil and its ways, otherwise known as human cunning, craftiness, and deceitful schemes...” After all, Smith Wigglesworth was so single-minded that he wouldn’t even allow a newspaper to enter his home. It makes sense within the proper context. That context is underpinned by fearlessness.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Cor 16:13

The strength of which Paul speaks is characterized by complete surrender to God’s will in our circumstances regardless of how those circumstances appear to us.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:12-13

We are not to be ignorant of satan’s devices lest he should take advantage of us. 2 Cor 2:11 Jesus commanded that His disciples be wise as serpents and gentle as doves as they went out among wolves. Mat 10:16

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Pet 5:8

Sober is nḗphō calm and collected in spirit, temperate, dispassionate, and circumspect. Circumspect means being careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences

Circumspect is the Watchman on the wall.

Still, Churches like ours tend to focus on what God, not the devil is doing. Again, that’s a good and correct thing for most people provided they have also done all, to stand…Eph 6:13-14 and aren’t hiding from hard things because they idolize comfort and are terrified of losing it.

I felt a gnawing conviction after our study.

I have always been a watchman. Ironically it’s a calling I fully embraced until I moved to Tennessee.  If I’m honest it’s the fear of man that zips my lips. I don’t want to offend the culture and people I love, and who thrive on joy.

Joy in the third world where we spent the better part of the last decade, is rooted in Col 3:1-3. I perceive that many American believers unconsciously correlate joy with their present health, wealth, and prosperity.

This is known as “Favor”

Facing the possibility of enduring suffering like so many believers around the globe already do is usually not a popular topic of discussion among contemporary lovers of His presence. Hence our stream’s foundational principles of “honoring first”, going “Low and Slow” and the oh-so-slippery slope of always “speaking things in love” can just as easily become justifications for me to bury my head in the sand. 

Watchmen are often confused with prophets because they sometimes project future outcomes based on a current trajectory. But watchmen are not prophets. For example, David Wilkerson was a watchman who repeatedly corrected those who called him a prophet. He viewed the world through the lens of scripture. He could see where we were headed and called Americans to repentance. Jeremiah on the other hand, was a prophet to whom the Lord spoke directly about Israel’s future. For 40 years he called the nation of Israel to repentance.

Israel didn’t and neither have we.

I used to write blog posts from a watchman’s perspective. Posts like Truth or Trump and Better than Ninevah remain published. Others related to situations like COVID were removed because well… “what’s done is done”. More recent posts were never published because I got cold feet. It’s much easier and palatable to proclaim God’s goodness while ignoring His severity. Rom 11:22 This was the problem in ancient Israel, a nation whose moral decline so closely mirrors that of the USA today. Jer 14:13-22, Jer 23, Jer 28

The Conviction

A few days ago, the Lord led me to Ezekiel 33. It was as if I were reading it for the first time. Immediately I felt His rod of correction.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ Eze 33:6

I confess that I’ve put my head in the sand. Not to hide from seeing and hearing. I put it there to silence myself for fear of offending those whose souls might be required at any moment. Luke 12:15-31

Forgive me, Lord! I repent!

I’m not being a “Debbie Downer” or a “Prophet of Doom” as some are sure to say. The fruit of the spirit including the genuine joy of the Lord does not change if I face plenty, hunger, abundance, or need. Granted, my mood might change if I get a million-dollar check in the mail versus a nuclear bomb in Nashville. But the genuine joy of the Lord is not determined by worldly circumstances. James 1:2 commands us to count it all joy when facing trials that test our faith… To count is hēgéomai and means to take authority.

Count it all joy is an offensive, rather than a defensive action.

In January 2020 I taught a “biblicized” version of The Fourth Turning to a group of young missionaries in Guatemala. In a nutshell, the authors, Straus and Howe framed history as a recurring cycle of approximately 80-100 years comprised of four “Turns” (think seasons) of 20-25 years. They are 1.”The High”, 2.”The Awakening”, 3. The Unraveling and 4. The Crisis. You can buy the book on Amazon or read my synopsis here. 

Most of these 18-21-year-old “gap year” missionaries just rolled their eyes as I challenged their worldview. Others were angry because I’d called their previously prophesized dreams and plans upon which their joy was predicated into question. Less than two months later the entire world went into lockdown as COVID hit. Their dreams were squashed as they and 400 of their peers from around the globe were emergency evacuated back to the USA. Some barely got out before the borders closed. Suffice it to say that we are in a Fourth Turn now. Here are a few timely conclusions from the book.

“Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II…” “…The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule…” “…Through much of the Third Turning, we have managed to postpone the reckoning. But history warns that we can’t defer it beyond the next bend in time…”

Not since WWII, have we been at such risk for an economic collapse, unmitigated global crisis, and military conflict. Not since the Civil War have we been so divided as a nation. In the words of the World Economic Forum at Davos this year, “The collective vocabularies stored in the world’s great dictionaries didn’t appear to hold a single word, to sum up, all this strife. So here’s a new one:“

“Polycrisis“

“The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023 uses the term, to explain how “present and future risks can also interact with each other to form a ‘poly-crisis’ – a cluster of related global risks with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part”.

Nothing is new under the sun. Ecc 1:9 And there is a time and a season for everything. Ecc 3:1-8 Crises or Fourth Turns have come and gone and come again throughout history. More often than not they arrive just as people assume peace and security. 1 Thess 5:3 Others clearly hear the trumpet but refuse to heed the warning. Eze 33:4

Normalcy Bias is a snare in a Fourth Turning.

In any case, history teaches us that the primary determining factor in the outcome of any crisis is the individual and collective character of those upon whom the crisis falls. Sometimes God uses a crisis to produce character. Rom 5:3 In the end, Fourth Turnings, in particular, produce one of two outcomes.  Either there is a return to traditional values, religious revival, prosperity, and freedom. Or people descend into darkness, moral depravity, persecution, and bondage. That said, it is within the context of bondage that God’s promise and warning in the oft-misquoted Jer 29 applies. Hence,

Fourth Turns (crises) are not a call to build bunkers or hoard ammunition, and gold, but rather a call to repentance, fearlessness, and faith amid turmoil.

It may be worthy of note that the word “Crisis” is derived from the Greek word Krisis which means “God’s judgment.” The purpose of God’s judgment, not to be confused with His wrath, is to discipline the rebellious and bring us to repentance.

Only illegitimate children escape discipline. Heb 12:6 Heb 12:8-11

Perhps one of the hardest things for believers to accept since the fall of man is that throughout human history “Adversity makes men. Prosperity makes monsters”. -Victor Hugo- 1 Tim 6:10

We were isolated in the mountains of Honduras after COVID hit and were amazed at the number of people back in the USA who contacted us with the question, “Is this the end of days?” Suddenly everyone was curious about God and His word. What a blessing it was to have an audience comprised of previously deaf ears. Alas, COVID passed, normalcy came back into view and people lost interest in the Bible. It seems they only cared about God when faced with the prospect of their imminent demise.

Sociological data only confirms this.

According to the American Worldview Inventory 2023 “The first national study of Americans’ worldview since the COVID-19 lockdowns show that the incidence of biblical worldview has fallen to a mere 4%—a drop of one-third from the 6% recorded just three years earlier.“ Dr. Tracy F. Munsil | February 28, 2023, | CRC | 

What determines a biblical worldview? you ask. Very basic tenants of the faith. Click both hyperlinks for details.

“But that’s not me. I have a biblical worldview,” you say. And maybe you do. The question is; how could so many professing Christians be so devoid of truth? John 17:17 It would seem that what many are calling revival is more in line with a great falling away. 2 Thess 2:3

I could be wrong.

Don’t freak out. Search it out Acts 17:11

The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself. -Augustine of Hippo –

Look maybe this Watchman stuff isn’t your cup of tea. Maybe you are already one who praises the Lord whether life gives you a proverbial massage or a kick in the butt. “It’ll all pan out.” I get it. But if you value seeing and discerning the time Mat 16:1-4, then join the discussion by subscribing by email in the sidebar as I may not link every post to social media. Hardly any of our readers link to us via social media anyway. I’ll categorize future Watchman posts under Red Pill Diaries.

Categories are listed above the title of each post.

Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Mat 7:24-27

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Devotional

Walking in Dust

Unity in Littelness

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph 4:1-3 ESV

We continued to focus on unity this week. How can we or will we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… Eph 4:13

Why is Paul so redundant? 

Ephesians chapters four through six, known as the marching orders for the church, begin with establishing the character qualities required for unity.  Humility seems to be the most foundational. Still, our friend Leon made an interesting point. The root of the issue is power. Humility is the fruit of giving our power away instead of hoarding it for our own prosperity and prestige etc.. This is counter-intuitive in a world driven by the idolatry of celebrity. Add to that an obsession with personal identity and imagined significance and we’ve got a recipe for God’s opposition in our lives. James 4:6

He opposes the proud…

According to some scholars, the Greeks didn’t have a word for humility until the New Testament. When they did it became a pejorative. Paul’s redundancy may indicate that Jewish and Gentile believers were still struggling to lay their biases and pride aside. In any case, Jesus is our example. He is the all-powerful, all-knowing incarnate God who humbled Himself and gave everything so that one day we might be unified in one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Eph 4:4-6

How many of us are willing to give everything?

A gift made by South Sudanese children. It was all they had.

It was 2016 and we were with South Sudanese Refugees in the Rhino Refugee camp in Northern Uganda. Our outreach team was asked to address leaders from different tribes who had been fighting one another in an ongoing civil war. Now fifty thousand of them were unified in their

loss

Given that I was the oldest male on the team they asked me to speak first. Unity was the theme. Nearly every sect and denomination were represented. There were Anglicans, Catholics, Baptists, Congregationalists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostals, and Presbyterians to name just a few. Even Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses were there. Suffice it to say, I felt thoroughly inadequate. What could I, a spoiled American from Hawaii tell these men about unity amid such suffering? I had everything. They had been stripped of everything. I babbled some kind of message that I can’t recall. I only remember one South Sudanese man, a former “Lost Boy” (child soldier) who stood up at the end and proclaimed,

“There is no good tribe! There are no good people! Only one is good! That one is Jesus!”

These doctors, nurses, lawyers engineers, teachers, professors, and preachers never imagined they’d end up living in the dust with their children without food or water for days at a time.  They never imagined that one of their children would die daily due to starvation or a lack of medical care. Now they understood the utter futility of human power, resolutions, and pride.

Toy truck made from hard-to-find cardboard and wheels cut from worn-out flip-flops

Having come to the end of themselves they’d found unity in the dust.

I’m certainly not on a quest to suffer. Yet as much as we may deny it, the path of Rom 5:3-5 tribulation is unavoidable in this life unless, of course, we refuse to persevere. Tribulation is thlîpsis – anguish, burden, persecution, distress, oppression, affliction, pressing together, and pressure. Paul doesn’t specifically mention humility here. But he further clarifies the connection in 2 Cor 12

... I refrain from it (boasting), so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. …to keep me from becoming conceited… But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:5-10

That is humility in action.

The joy in James 1:2-4 is a fruit of 2 Cor 12:5-10.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:2-4 in action looks like the South Sudanese man with whom Cathy walked in the Rhino camp.

After praying with a woman whose child had just died, Cathy asked the man “How do you cope with all this pain?”  “We have lost everything…”  He smiled,

“…but we have Jesus!”

James 1:2-4 looks like our friend who lost two children to suicide. She wrote the following after she lost her third child to an accidental overdose in October.

“As I sit in my cozy home with my Bible and too much food in my kitchen and so, so many blessings, it seems to me that God is good. Not because of material things, but more so in the area of loss. I have lost three of my children, the three youngest, three that loved me, three that did not hold my failings over my head. three that I am convinced we’re saved! And so there is hope. Hope that we will be together again, one day- minus all the baloney of this life. Hope that they now- at last, have a full understanding of “why?”
What has happened, how my life has transpired, the hardships, sufferings, pain, and sorrow, is nothing compared to the glory which shall be revealed in Heaven. So many people have suffered hardship and grief throughout the ages. Many folks have had it ALOT worse than I do. Among those are many stories of strength and perseverance. The ability to continue on with this life in the face of great loss. To continue in hope. To know that God is sovereign

and God is good.“

James 1:2-4 leads to completeness. Completeness leads to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… Eph 4:13

Hence, Paul begins with lowliness (humility) in Eph 4:1-3 KJV + Strong’s

It occurs to me as I ponder the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, Eph 3:9 that somewhere in the neighborhood of eight trillion people have walked the earth since the fall of man. Gen 3. Every one of them became the dust upon which we walk until the day we become dust ourselves. Gen 3:19

It seems to me that if humility begins with giving power away, then giving power away begins with facing the dusty nature of what many call

“I-dentity”

Hard Red Pill.

Yes, the body has many parts 1 Cor 12:12-31. But what good is a hand or a foot apart from the rest of the body? Parts only matter in the context of the whole. Unity is the joints that connect the parts. Eph 4:16

Only unified parts can make a whole.

Humility – tapeinophrosýnē – a deep sense of one‘s littleness.

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study, Devotional

The Bread of Life

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Eph 4

The Acts 17:11 Bereans Bible study begins Ephesians 4 this week. Given the “season”, I’m going to jump ahead for in this blog post.

And God said, Let there be lights in the 
firmament of the heaven to divide the day
from the night; and let them be for signs,
and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Gen 1:14.

Seasons is “mowed“: “an appointed feast”.

Specific instructions and times for these feasts were given to Moses in Leviticus 23.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Lev 23:2

Convocation is “miqra“: a “dress rehearsal”.

What many regard as obscure, obsolete Old Testament feasts are in fact the Lord’s feasts appointed 1,948 years before Go made His covenant with Abraham. Gen 17 Each of the seven feasts is a type and shadow of God’s plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Eph 1:9-10

Passover Ex 12:1-11 Lev 23:48 2023 began on April 5th at sunset. The Gospels tell us Jesus was crucified “on the day of preparation” John 19:14.  “The day of preparation” was the Jewish idiom for “Friday”.  John is referring to preparation for the Sabbath that fell during Passover week. It was not the preparation for the Passover meal that Jesus had already eaten. Mat 26:17-29 The Feast of Unleavened Bread Lev 23:6-8 begins on Passover and continues for seven days. Jesus was crucified during Passover and resurrected three days later on the Feast of First Fruits. Lev 23:10-11 The day after Passover begins the Feast of Weeks and the counting of the Omer (sheaves of wheat) for fifty days leading up to Shavuot Lev 23:15-16. Passover to Shavuot marks the beginning and end of the wheat harvest. Christians call Shavuot Pentecost because it means “fifty”. One hundred twenty people waited fifty days in the upper room until Pentecost was fulfilled in Acts 2.

When the law was given from Sinai, God appeared in a thick cloud. Exod 19 Then the Lord spoke to the Israelites from the midst of the fire Deut 4 He showed them his great fire and they heard his words from the midst it. In Jerusalem, there was the rushing of a violent wind from heaven divided tongues, as of fire, which rested upon each one of them, and the apostolic proclamation of the Gospel in tongues. Acts 2 The Old Testament Pentecost was the giving of the 1st Covenant, the Law. The New Testament Pentecost was the giving of the 2nd Covenant, the Holy Spirit.

As For Easter…

“Easter actually originated as an ancient pagan celebration of the spring equinox. In Christianity, the day was dedicated to observing the resurrection of Jesus Christ, celebrated around the time of the Jewish Passover. However, with the spread of the Gospel of Christ, early Christians who did not participate in Jewish customs eventually merged their observances with the pagan spring festival, recognizing Easter as “resurrection day.” History of Easter

The Passover meal that Jesus ate with His disciples and is repeated yearly by Orthodox Jews and Messianic believers is called the Seddar. It has fifteen steps the first of which is the removal of Leaven from the home.  Leaven (yeast) represents Egypt out of which Israel emerged into the desert. For us, it is worldliness, false teaching, sin, etc. The leaven is not to be touched so the father takes a candle for light and a feather and goes about the house sweeping the hidden leaven into a bag. When all the leaven is collected both bag and feather are burned. Of course, yeast is not found scattered in most houses today. Therefore pieces of unleavened bread are traditionally hidden like the pagan easter eggs parents hide for children today.

Jesus was removing Leaven in John 2 when He cleansed the Temple during the feast of Unleavened Bread.

It was Passover when He fed the five thousand and The Feast of Unleavened Bread when He declared

I am the bread of life. John 6

Where Passover represents our justification (the remission of sin), The Feast of Unleavened Bread represents our ongoing sanctification. Justification is an exclusive work of God. Sanctification takes place in partnership with God. Justification is instantaneous. Sanctification is ongoing as we become Holy even as He is Holy. “Holy” is to be separate from the world.

Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 2 Cor 6:14-18

This is not an obsolete Old Testament ceremonial law but a New Testament command for those already justified by grace through faith. Eph 2:8-10 Our part in sweeping the leaven from our lives is illustrated by Paul in the book of Romans.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12:1-2

As for those who claim the feasts are not for today Paul is clear that they are. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.1 Cor 5:8

Leaven includes but is not limited to the thoughts, words, and actions that we do not want to acknowledge as sin. It is the worldliness we justify, rationalize, and minimize to avoid the fact that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Opposition implies stubbornness which is idolatry. 1 Sam 15:23 Active opposition looks like a violent attack.

Enmity is active opposition. James 4:4

Leaven compels us to make idols of politicians, celebrities, political parties, denominations, faith streams and wealth, etc. Mark 14:8-20 Leaven might be the music or tattoo that we think gives us the “cultural cred” we covet. We rationalize that they open doors for the gospel.

Leaven is the beloved tradition that emerges from syncretism. Syncretism pleases man in the name of God rather than God for the sake of man.

Easter 2023 at Transformation Church in Knoxville TN.

Leaven is false prophecy, false signs and wonders, and, the false teaching that deep down we suspect or even know is unbiblical.

But it tickles our ears in such a sweet way. 2 Tim 4:1-4 1 Tim 4:1

GRAVE-SUCKING / MANTLE GRABBING

Leaven confuses loyalty with faithfulness, pride with anointing, intention with action, and cognitive dissonance with faith. Leaven fuels offense and even rage when our loyalties and wrong beliefs are challenged. Leaven always seeks its own and with it approval from the world rather than God who opposes it. 1 John 2:15-16

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Gal 5:9

I’m not a Methodist. But given that I live in Appalachia, I find the alleged connection between John and Charles Wesley, the Methodist revival, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread rather poignant. After having profound personal encounters with God, the Wesleys preached the necessity of sanctification through personal holiness in thoughts, words, and actions. This is the point for Christians during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was in this context that Paul wrote.

Now, this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Eph 4:17-32

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Commentary, Devotional, Rants from the Fig Tree, Uncategorized

His Surpassing Love

Ephesians 3:18-19

March 1st marked a year since we moved to Greeneville TN and since I last wrote about my best childhood friend Craig Hammerly. Craig was the unauthorized friend with whom I used to play in the woods between our houses when we were 6 or 7 years old. I say “unauthorized” because Craig was that “bad kid”.  My mother forbade our friendship. So I’d grab my Tonka dump truck, excavator, and matchbox cars and meet Craig secretly to play.  Craig didn’t have any toys so it was up to me. Craig lived alone with his grandfather. Rumor had it that he “did… things to Craig” – the kind of things that people didn’t talk about let alone do anything about in those days.  Craig got held back in the third grade and we eventually grew apart. He grew grew more angry and became the school bully that everyone was afraid to fight. Craig couldn’t read but he was good at fighting. Man could he punch hard. Elementary school mythology had it that “he’d knocked out a high school kid when he was in the sixth grade. Even the teachers were afraid of him.” He moved away before we got to Jr. High. Ironically after 50 years I felt prompted to look him up on the internet. He was all over the internet. Craig, who called himself Damien Knight had been on drugs and in and out of jail for most of his life.  He’d been arrested again just a week before.

Craig beat his roommate to death with his fists.

Craig is by definition,dead in his trespasses. Eph 2:1

The Acts 17:11 Bereans Bible study just finished Ephesians chapter 3. We ended last session with all of us pondering the breadth and length and height and depth and the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, Eph 3:18-19 We all agreed that His love is best understood in contrast with who we were; dead people appointed to wrath Eph 2:1-3 versus who we are today

in Christ Jesus. Eph 2:4-6

God’s definition of love is counterintuitive to that of the world.

Even more counterintuitive is that “Dead in our trespasses” puts all of us on equal footing with Craig and even the worst serial killer.

Jeffrey Dahlmer

That’s a hard red pill for some.

It’s not that our actions here on earth equal those of Dahlmer. Rather it is that all dead people are equally dead. Jesus clearly illustrates this principle in Luke 13:1-5 …No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish...

At the end of the day the only thing that any of us brings to our salvation is our sin.

That should be really good news to all but the unholy trinity of

Me, Myself and I.

Thankfully Jesus prescribed the antidote. Mat 16:24-26

“My Identity”

“My Identity” is a favorite theme in the church these days. If there is anything good in me now it is Jesus. My identity is in him Col 3:3 “But what about 2 Cor 5:17?” “I thought all things are made new.” Yes, they are and yes you are. But only in Christ Jesus. Narcissism hates that. Narcissism can not survive in Christ Jesus. Thankfully, the Father is conforming us to the image of His Son Rom 8:29 in an ongoing process of transformation and renewal Rom 12:1-2.

Once again we don’t worship a God of this or that. Our God is a God of this and that. So often believers skip Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?… Rom 7:24-25 to the so much sweeter Rom 8:1-2 where There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus… Yet, we must embrace and internalize both if we are to do more than just scratch the surface of His love that surpasses knowledge.

Oh wretched man…

I raised a few eyebrows when I wrote about my Holston experience in For the Love of Sid. It was inspired by the Toy Story character that everyone loves to hate. Some were disturbed that I would still identify with the evil Sid. “I refuse to see you as Sid,” said one friend. “But you have a new identity now!” assured another. Well…

Yes and No

I ended up living on my own at 14 and subsequently took Craigs place in the community. Suddenly I was that bad kid with whom mothers forbade their children to associate. I walked a lonely angry path that eventually landed me in jail. I could have easily been where Craig is today. But I came face to face with the love that surpasses knowledge amidst a point blank shotgun blast. I wasn’t looking for God. I was looking to die. Little did I know I was already dead. Jesus showed up and saved me. And not just from the shotgun. He saved me from me. Why me and not Craig? If you say it is because there was something different about me then you’ve missed the point entirely.

I’m no longer dead in my trespasses. Nor am I consumed by guilt, shame, and condemnation. Still, I am very much Sid. I am Craig. I am Jeffery Dahlmer. The only difference is that I am in Christ Jesus.

God loved me and still loves me in spite of me not because of me.

God loves me because of who He is. 

This is such a deep core truth and just the beginning of His love that surpasses knowledge.

The best I can do today is to be grateful and love the people like me that He sends my way. Luke 7:47

I shared the story of Craig and me with some of the boys with whom I work. You know you’ve hit a nerve in boys when they just look you long and hard in the eye and don’t say word. Only one boy asked a question. “How does that make you feel Mr. Brian?” “Sad” I began

“And Grateful.”

We ended the Bible study session with my favorite allegory about a righteous African King whom everyone loved and respected. His word was unshakable. He said what he meant and meant what he said.

One day his administrators reported that someone was stealing chickens in the village. If you’ve been to places like Mozambique then you know that “chicken thieves die!” So the King made a decree. When the thief was caught he would receive one hundred stripes, enough to potentially kill a grown man.

The next day the thief was caught and brought before the king. It was the kings mother. The king was distraught. Still he commanded that she be stripped and tied to the whipping post. “One hundred lashes!” cried the king, “and not one less.” “If I even think you are holding back I will have you executed.” The men assigned to the task moved solemnly toward the kings mother. “Wait!” cried the King. “There’s one more thing.” The King stood and removed his shirt. Then covering his mother with his own body the King exclaimed,

Proceed!

Even this does not begin to describe the love that surpasses knowledge.

Even so, Passover has officially started as I publish this.

Maranatha