Pretense

"What made the Pharisees hypocrites was not their faults:
It was their pretense that they were righteous.
It was teaching one thing and doing another. But that is what law will always produce: people who are always hiding their real selves, always acting, always pretending, and never being real."

I found this here:
http://muchmoreofjesus.blogspot.com/2005/08/free-from-yoke-of-slavery.html
And he credits Bob George....
From: Classic Christianity. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers. ©1989.

And this:
"In all my years as a Christian, I have never heard anyone say, "I've had it! I am sick to death of the love and grace of God. I'm sick of other Christians loving and accepting me. I'm giving up this Christian life."

No I've never heard that. But I couldn't count the number of Christians I've known who have given up because of being under law, who have been broken by the crushing burden of trying to be good enough to earn God's acceptance, who have been mangled by the competition, the judging, and the demands to conform to some group's standards. "We'll accept you if you look like, walk like, talk like, and act like us."

And the implication is always, "And God will, too."

I applaud! And as someone who's sick of religion because it because it takes the focus OFF Christ, I cry! I cry for those who are still under the burden of religion, I cry for those who don't know Christ, I cry for those who can never measure up to standards that are based on outward appearances and never on the heart! I cry for my own scar tissue and the pain that hasn't quite healed! I cry for those in 'leadership' positions who are leading others down the same path. I cry because the bondage of religion is so hard to be free from!

And I cry tears of joy that we do have a Savior Who cares about the heart!

Where's The Party?

The day we celebrate the birth of Christ falls on a Sunday this year.
How inconvenient! So we'll cancel all services for that day....

Sarcasm aside, I don't want to delve into the whole legalism issues of whether or not we're mandated to keep any day as THE Sabbath since I know the Lord is Lord of the Sabbath! And I know that, as Christians, we are THE Church. And I know that worship is supposed to be a 24/7 experience!

But to close the doors of the church house on the day that we fight so hard to keep recognized as "important" and with all the banners of; "Jesus is the Reason for the Season"....closing the doors just seems wrong.

I've read so many defenses for it. What they seem to boil down to is that it's a big undertaking to stay open when the staff needs time with their family. What that sounds like is that the *churches* are like any other business. Lots of businesses will be closed, too.

Your local news folks will be at work. Your military will be at work. Your police officers will be at work. But the folks who are supposed to be "all things to all people", those who are supposed to be fighting the battle of spiritual warfare... well, they need that day off to be with their families.

Here's some thoughts from some folks who word it much better than I ever could:

"The rationale given in our local newspaper The Lexington-Herald Leader was--- people are so busy and Christmas is supposed to be a family day, so this decision was made as a family friendly gesture. But wait a minute--- whose birthday is it anyway? And which family is supposed to be serving which--- the family of faith or the physical family? Talking about putting the EM-Phasis on the wrong syl-LABLE.

Our culture does not need any encouragement to be more self-centered and narcissistic or to stay at home on Sunday. It is already that way. Christmas above all else should be a day when we come together as the body of Christ to worship and adore the Lord Jesus. Christmas should be the day above all days where we don't stay home and open all those things we bought for ourselves INSTEAD of going to church. Christmas should be the day when we forget about ourselves for a few hours and go and honor the birthday of the great King, our Savior.

What we are dealing with here are churches whose priorities are so askew that they somehow think it is more important for the church to serve the wants of the physical family than the other way around. This is a far cry from the pattern of the original disciples of Jesus who were seen leaving homes, relatives, jobs to come and follow Jesus. "
http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2005/12/churches-closed-on-christmas.html

"Good News!

I Bring you Tidings of Great Joy!

A Saviour has been born on this Day!

You just can't learn about it in church.

It puts a whole new spin on 'no room at the Inn'"

http://onanazurefield.blogspot.com/2005/12/this-is-crime.html

I've read countless stories of church closings in persecuted countries. Those churchhouses were closed by the government. There is outrage over that. But we don't have to worry about that here. No government intervention is necessary! It's being done willingly. *sigh*

I do know of one church that is having a worship service FOR Jesus! They will be offering up gifts to the One Who's birth is celebrated. Gifts of praise and worship through testimonies and songs and whatever gift the worshipper chooses to offer the King. The Little Drummer Boy would be welcome there!

Or as my husband says; "It's Jesus' birthday, where's the party?"!

'Nuff Said

Here's a thought that ALL Christians should meditate on:

I had a worse problem than any prostitute or drug addict ever dreamed of. I had a worse problem than homosexuality in my life. You see, I suffered from the most severe of all sins: I was consumed with self-righteous religious pride. Biblically, it is the most grievous kind of iniquity. Paul is saying here that all of us are to have empathy for all who do not know the Lord because we all were consumed with the sinfulness of sin before we met the Lord. We are not to sit back in our smug evangelical chairs and condescendingly, with theological scorn, treat with religious disdain and arrogance those who do not know the Lord. Those who may have AIDS. Listen "His mercy should not be restrained." How dare we pass judgement on another who has not Christ rather than share the powerful message of hope in the gospel of grace? Are we willing to risk our carefully cultivated reputations for another? Are we willing to risk our very lives in sharing the gospel with another? To paraphrase Amy Carmichael, "if we are not, then we know nothing of Calvary love." In other words, "don't tell them Jesus loves them, until you're ready to love them too."

from: Camponthis:
http://stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/2005/12/hope-for-hopelessa-biblical-call-to.html
Bolded emphases mine.....

Though I don't agree with everything on this guy's blog; I do think he's summed up a huge problem in the Body today!