If Beliefs Were Concrete...

"Beliefs are never concrete - if they were, we'd still be living on a flat earth where every woman with a brain was a witch, slavery was still a justifiable business, and the sun revolved around our world."

- Caleb Miller

Undeserved. Really?

"You deserve God's love. God is not being nice to you by giving you something you don't deserve, he is being a Father to you and giving you exactly what he believes you do deserve. You deserve his love, all his love, and if it's possible, even more. He wants you to have his whole being and the fullness of his love.

You're his child, and to your heavenly Father, you deserve everything he desires to give you. Not because you've earned it, but because of the DNA of who you are. His beloved child. His treasured possession. His everything. You're worthy of it all, every last drop of love, you're worthy of it. It's yours. Bless your heavenly Father's heart and receive it freely and abundantly."

I love this quote by Mick Mooney.

Saying "we didn't earn it" and "we don't deserve it" are two totally different things. 

Religion harps on the latter - saying, singing and implying in so many ways, that we are the unworthy, undeserving scum of the earth. 

We are not. We are God's masterpieces, his beloved children.

Our two children did not "earn" the clothes they are wearing, but we would deeply be hurt, if they kept telling us that they are "unworthy and don't deserve anything they have." Any loving parent knows that it does not make any sense. They do deserve everything we have for the simple reason that they are ours.

"Jesus's habit of "eating" with sinners and people on the margins of society cannot be explained as an act of condescension, much less a patronizing method of saving sinners. It was the act of a man who appeared to have no regard for the canons of honor or shame. Worse still, it was the act of a man who had no regard for Israel's favored nation status with God. Israel's "chosen race" syndrome was supported by the purity laws separating the "clean" people from the "unclean". The manner of Jesus's ministry was therefore, a formidable scandal."

- Robert Brinsmead

Who is a Leader?

A title does not make someone a leader. Titles are like business cards. Anyone can have one printed.

Leaders pave the way, often for themselves. It might sound heroic and Braveheart-like, but this path is often often forged in the deep valleys of despair, darkness, self doubt and/or cluelessness.

Leaders are not afraid to think outside the box. And outside the new box they land in. And outside the newer box, and on and on. Walls attract them, to plough through.

Strong leaders beget leaders. Weak leaders beget subjects.

Weak leaders crave for titles and positions. Titles and positions don't attract healthy and secure leaders. 

Many good leaders I know, don't know they are leaders. 

A leader is anyone with a strong spine to follow his or her own gut. This concept is alien to most of us, because we have been programmed to to blindly and unquestioningly conform to the most vocal or accepted idea out there. That need not be the case.

The Offended Sheep

"I am deeply offended that you did not let me exercise my free will choice to be saved."

- The lost sheep to the shepherd, right after the the shepherd found it.

Forgiving Frees Us

"To forgive another person from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us. We say, "I no longer hold your offense against you" 

But there is more. We also free ourselves from the burden of being the "offended one." As long as we do not forgive those who have wounded us, we carry them with us or, worse, pull them as a heavy load. The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. 

Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves. It is the way to the freedom of the children of God." 

- Henri Nouwen

The Elephant and the Four Blind Men

Since God is invisible to our physical eyes, the conclusions we make about him can be speculative in nature. However, it does necessarily mean that it is blind though.

The experiential reality that the four blind men had while exploring an elephant were true to them. Yet, their individual experiences were not the complete picture. 

Religion, or rigid beliefs within a particular religious system, happens when a blind person's interpretation (regardless of how real it is) is elevated to the one and only truth. 

My bet is on the elephant, rather than the blind men's interpretations, regardless of how true they are to each one of them.

Not one of us, can claim that we know it all. Right now, we only know in part. Common sense, wisdom and humility can acknowledge that; but a mindset that is driven by fear and insecurity, abhors it.

"......two thousand years of religious tradition have inculcated in us the mistaken notion that God’s love is something we earn. If we do what pleases him, he loves us; if not, he doesn’t. Giving that up isn’t easy. Moving from a performance-based religious ethic to a relationship deeply rooted in the Father’s affection is no small transition."

- Wayne Jacobsen, He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father's Affection

"Whether we are conscious of it or not, the threat of hell can create an inner dissonance in our perception of the God who seeks our love. How can we feel safe with a God who is seemingly anxious to dangle us over the flames of hell? If he can find nothing else to call us to him, then what kind of God must he be? And if we can find no better reason to love him, how shallow must our faith be?"

- Wayne Jacobsen, He Loves Me! Learning to Live in the Father's Affection

"It has always seemed odd to me how people are convinced that knowing and experiencing God is grounded in correct theology. What did people do before there was a Bible from which theological propositions could be formulated? Somehow God and humans made due without a well-defined belief system in place. How did that work? For instance, in the book of Genesis, a man named Enoch, only a few generations removed from Adam and Eve, is described as a man who “walked with God.” Maybe a well-defined set of truth propositions about God isn’t necessary for knowing and experiencing God.”

- Jim Palmer, Wide Open Spaces: Beyond Paint-by-Number Christianity