March 19, 2023

Death to Death and Life for Living

Every person I know thinks they have things figured out, or are working on figuring things out, or doubt that anyone can ever figure anything out. It is time to say figuring things out isn't all that it seems to be. I know. As one who does a lot of figuring. One who consumes vast volumes of information just to decide how to patch a tire, or to change the settings on a home thermostat, I've always been one who seems to have a need to "figure things out..." "So - what's the problem?" you say. "Aren't most of your emails long treatises on figuring things out?" Yes - I suppose you could say that. But this email is different. This one isn't going to be simply about giving you more insight or information, or context, or justification, or anything else. This one is about hope.

Death to Death and Life for Living

The doubts we have about who God really is are real. They mainly come from our "formation." I say formation, because that is all the things that make up your life - the things that form you. The history, the hurts, the control, the chaos, the ecstasy, the choices, the mistakes, the successes, your personality, your family structure or lack thereof, your experiences with religion and faith, the way you have interacted with authorities, - EVERYTHING forms you - for good or worse. In some cases, the formation has created ruts and channels in our being that lead to pain every time we are reminded of the past. Pain is waiting there, to seep past the little dams we built to keep it out. When pain comes, most of us try to medicate it, or choose a lesser evil to cover the greater evil. We form attachments to things that make us feel better, or forget, or feel alive instead of dead. We are formed by every single little or big thing that has been in our lives up to this very moment.

Almost all of what you see in another person is THEIR "Formation." The way they react and respond to situations, the way they seem to have it together, or not, their discipline, or lack of discipline is all someone showing you a picture of their formation. Most of the hurts you've experienced in your life comes from someone else's formation. Most of your own ways that you've hurt others comes as a result of your own formation, causing you to react a certain way, or choose unwisely.

Most institutions that are really, just groups of people, Businesses, Families, Churches, Schools, Advertising, Governments, you name it - run and are successful by using "formation" as a way of building proper behavior and responses into their people. If you have any interaction with almost any institution, they are more than likely working to "form" you into their idea of a good member, customer, student, disciple, etc.

But what if - What if? What if there was a TRANS-formation available to you? What if there was a new way of living where you didn't have to be defined by your "formation?" What if there was literally in the next step you take - a path that led to newness of life instead of the step of continuing to circle back to the same old same old ruts and channels?

No matter how hard you try to adjust your formation, it is ever present, right there, keeping you back, turning your reactions back on, and putting you in your place. Oh - you can out will, and out think it for a season, but then your out willing and out thinking becomes a part of your formation, and you begin to be full of that as well. Most of performance coaching, mindfulness teaching, new thought mind tricks, new age belief systems focus on training you to use your own mind to overcome your patterns of formation and break out of it with self-awareness. In fact, all religions that are designed by human beings have at their core, a system of thinking one's way past obstacles.

Soon, the seeming success of redirecting your driven-ness, or desires, or unsuccessful behavior becomes just another outlet or escape and doesn't really bring life, only additional bondage to a different master. It "forms" you in a different way and may appear, for a season, to be much better, but the need for adherence to the new system is just a replacement and doesn't lead to freedom. It leads to more disciplined thinking, or less reactive behavior, and maybe to success. But does it lead to peace? Does it lead to naturally producing the fruit of the Spirit that is described in Galatians 5? Maybe one or two, for a bit. Sure - all of us know a person who is not a believer in Christ, who we can say is so peaceful, or so caring, or so patient, etc.

But does it count if the behavior you learn brings glory and fame to your process or your discipline? Maybe it brings glory to your guru or spiritual teacher - so they can sell more books and build bigger organizations. Most of the Christian best-sellers and self-help books and business success books focus on helping a person adjust their thinking to increase their chance for happiness or blessing. Adjust your thinking - adjust your behavior - make your new reality! Does it sound familiar? - Read Isaiah 64, Matthew 7, Romans 3.

"I know where you are taking this.... You are getting ready to tell me to repent, to believe, to pray, to confess my sins, to give up my life and trade it in. You're about to put the Christian sales pitch on me, aren't you?" - My response: "NOPE, Not going to do it... Wouldn't be prudent." to quote a famous president.

You see - there isn't anything you can do to escape your formation. There isn't anything I can do to break you out of it either, or re-make your history. You may think you have the power, but you don't. Billions of dollars of books, podcasts, seminars, motivational conferences and every sort of brain programming doesn't really work either. I don't even pretend to believe I have that power. Lord knows I've tried - tried to change people around me - tried to help them change. I've tried to convince and coerce and explain and insist - all to very little result. You can't out run your past, nor can you out-think it, or out-counsel it. Because as you run - you are creating more to run from. Every moment spent stuck in your "formation" is a moment creating more of a past. As you try to out think your past and put your own mind in order, you are creating more of the past that you will have to undo.

Can a lump of clay form itself into a useful pot or pitcher or plate? Neither can you. The answer is not in a process or a way of thinking. The actual answer is a person. The answer is not in what you can do - the answer is in what someone has done already. What did Isaiah 64 say?

Who is the one who has done this work? The person turned out to be God Himself. For years, I knew a lot about God, I could describe all sorts of things about Him. I knew what He expected of me, I knew that He made my Dad work really hard, and my Mom musical. I knew that He had standards, that He expected me to have faith in Him. Oh - I could tell you all the things you needed to do too - and all the things that I wanted to do, but weren't. I even told other people that they needed to get to know this God. But I never really knew Him. I had been told that God wanted to be my friend, that Jesus wanted to be my Lord, that the Spirit wanted to fill me (not sure what that meant at the time...) But - all the while - I had not really seen God, and I certainly didn't know Him. Mentally assenting to facts about God, and thinking you know truth is not the same as KNOWING GOD and Him KNOWING YOU.

Meet Him now - turn, and look, at Him. He is right there with you, wherever you are reading this message. He is there. The Holy Spirit can open your eyes so you will SEE God. If God is drawing your heart right now to Himself - respond to it. Give up your running and your trying to figure out how to succeed and make it with your own strength. Turn to Him - Give up the fight - Stop Running - Acknowledge that He is the Potter and You are the clay. Jesus Christ is Lord, and He died for YOU. So that you may no longer be dead in your sins, but will have new life in Him. He will re-make you. He will change your heart. He will create you all over again. You will then begin to walk in TRANSFormation, instead of trying to live in formation. DO IT NOW! Jesus rose from the dead to overcome death, and you can now be a part of the family of God by believing in Him.

Every person in the world needs to be connected to a community of grace, where the truth about God's Hesed love is repeatedly trained into us. Every person needs a group of God-Connected people who can help them understand that Grace can train us to set aside sin, and set us free to walk in newness of life. The Church can quickly become the force for expanding God's Kingdom if we simply began to build real, powerful communities of grace that are constantly connecting one another back to the Father, through Jesus, in the power of the Spirit.

If you would like to receive a free PDF of the little story called "God Came By" about meeting God and Him moving in, reply to this email with "Send me a copy of God Came By" and I'll send one out to you immediately.

If you are ready to begin exploring what church could be, and are willing to start on the ground floor with a group of people seeking the Lord and His wisdom regarding the Church or what Jesus called "The Ekklesia", come on Tuesday. - Thanks.

We would be honored if you visited and began the journey of discovering how church can be different, and because of that - life itself can be different. - THIS TUESDAY 6:30 PM - The Fireside Room at the main office area - The Heartland Center MAP HERE

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