Thursday, February 24, 2011

You're saved? Saved for what?


So, you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Congratulations. Now what are you going to do? You see, in the fine print on your one-way ticket to heaven, Jesus asks that you do some things on His behalf. Don't worry. He won't revoke your ticket if you don't serve Him. But when you see Jesus some day and He asks what you did on earth, you'll be pretty embarrassed if you don't have a good answer. Oh, and just so you know, “I was a good person, and I went to church every Sunday” is not a good answer.

Am I getting in your face too much? Sometimes that's necessary. You see, an important part of Christian fellowship is accountability. Not in a judgmental way, but more like workout partners at the gym. “Did you do cardio three times this week?” With Christians it's more like, “How's your prayer time? Do you have any service projects planned this year, like at a homeless shelter or collecting canned goods? Are you treating your co-workers with respect? Would they know you are a Christian? Or would it shock them?”

You are not required to do anything special. You are saved by grace, not by works. But Jesus really wants you to reach out to those in need. Or find some other way to put your faith into action. Start small. Try a few things. See where the Holy Spirit leads you.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Yoga for Christians Part 2 – Mental


First of all, a quick rant. This week on The 700 Club they did a story about yoga. Most of it was about how Christians were practicing yoga, some at church. And while it showed how helpful and sensible yoga is for Christians, some who commented still don't get it. It's as if they are afraid that other religions or spiritual practices are like deadly viruses that will kill your soul. Even in the story, people who were differentiating Christian yoga from Eastern yoga, did it with a suspicious, condemning or condescending tone.

Don't they realize that these other religions are not Devil worshippers?! Many of these other religious directions profess the same types of moral philosophy as Christianity. And while Hinduism may have millions of deities and Buddhism may be a non-deity philosophy, they are generally based upon foundations like The Golden Rule, selflessness, service to others and purity of soul. So to be fearful of practices like yoga is ridiculous. One woman in the story mentioned that an Eastern yoga person said, “The spirit in me honors the spirit in you;” the woman acted like that was a weird thing to say. “I don't know what spirit they were talking about.” Seriously? No wonder so many people think Christians are morons. But I am thankful that the 700 Club story painted an overall positive image of yoga. (end of rant)

In a previous post, I mentioned yoga as physical exercise. Now I want to talk about how you can use it to meditate.

Raja Yoga involves mental conditioning. The aim is typically to imagine yourself as a soul within a physical human body, so that you can feel peace and connected to God. Often it is suggested that you focus on your third eye, which is located in the middle of the forehead just above the brow line. The third eye is also referred to as the sixth chakra. It is in the location of our semi-dormant pineal gland. This gland is found in some reptiles and amphibians and enables them to detect light. In humans, it produces the hormone melatonin.

Typically when you close your eyes and try to visualize something, your mental focus is on that area of the third eye. And that is why it is also called your mind's eye. This being so, it simply makes sense to focus on the mind's eye during meditation in order to clear all visual images that may distract your concentration. Personally, I like to focus on the mind's eye while also focusing on the breathing. The two combined help clear my head.

For a Christian, the purpose of this type of meditation is to mentally detach from the outside world in order to make a deep connection between the Self and God. By attaining a purified awareness, a Christian can listen for God's guidance, unencumbered by worldly and egocentric forces. You'll be surprised at what kinds of great ideas pop into your head out of nowhere. 

It's also comforting to imagine God's love entering your body and giving you strength. Even in Eastern cultures, practitioners simply try to imagine themselves bathed in the love and light of God. But if you want meditation process based upon Scripture, that's easy to find in the Bible.

Take a look at the beginning of Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;

Wow. That's a lot of good instruction in very few words.
First, recognize that God is always looking after you (if you don't wander off).
Then, don't worry, don't want. Focus on your needs, not your greeds.
Next, stop running through life at 100 mph. Instead, lie down (or sit) and meditate.
Allow God to lead you to stillness and peace. He, not you, will then be able to restore your soul.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Born again, but still a baby?


It's wonderful when someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It is a life-changing experience.

Or is it? What are these born-again Christians doing to actually experience salvation? While they may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, are they becoming true followers?

You see, when Jesus gathered up His disciples, He didn't say, “I'm the Son of God. Believe in Me.” Nope. Jesus simply said, “Follow me.” Jesus wasn't trying to convert people to a new religion. He was trying to get people to understand the meaning of life, to turn away from sin (repent) and selfishness.

When Jesus asks us to follow, that means to take our lives in a new direction, so that others experience God's love and compassion through us. But in order for us to adequately reflect the light of God's glory, we must learn what that means. The disciples referred to Jesus as “Master.” We too can develop a Master/Student relationship with Jesus in order to grow spiritually and become a better disciple. So while it is wonderful to be born again, don't stop there. Grow!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Surrender to faith, not fate.


When you practice faith, you surrender to God's will, not circumstance. You let go of your need to have total control, but you don't let go of your dreams.

With faith, you don't sit back and let life happen to you. You don't resign yourself to the current state of things. You don't give up, shut down or retreat.

Instead, you engage life and actively move forward with joy and optimism. You approach each day with anticipation. You believe completely that God will bring into your life what is best for you.

When you surrender to fate, you merely hope for the best. You hope that your luck will change.

But faith does not require hope. With faith, you know that God will work wonders in your life. You have no doubt at all. With faith, you surrender completely to the benevolence of our loving God.


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Why does bad stuff keep happening to good people?


 We trust God. We give thanks. We pray. We sacrifice. We serve. And sometimes this leads us to feel that we are entitled. So when “life happens,” it is even more frustrating and confounding. We don't understand why things aren't going our way. After all, we're working God's program, aren't we? We're probably working harder to follow Jesus than most people are. And just when we think we're doing well, hitting our stride, WHAM! We get blindsided.

Then we start to think, “If God's going to let this unfair stuff happen to me, why am I bothering to be a good guy all of the time? I may as well be a selfish jerk like everybody else.” Well that sounds pretty logical, doesn't it?

This is one of the most difficult aspects of faith: how do you remain faithful to God and live as a Christian when you are not rewarded, but instead are made to suffer injustice? Thankfully, there are many stories we can read in the Bible (from Noah to Daniel to Job to Paul) that show servants of God who suffer many trials, yet maintain their love of God. But how?

To answer How, we have to address Why. Why does God not only withhold good things from loyal servants, but allow bad things to happen to them?

The entire discussion on this topic would be long and complex. But the answer I like to embrace is this: God cannot strengthen us by coddling us. He looks at good servants the same way military commanders survey their individual troops. When He sees potential in one of us, He will intensify our training. He cannot mold hardened clay, so He will tear us and wear us down in order to build us and shape us up.

Why? Can't He just leave us alone? Why does God want to strengthen us so much?

Because He needs strong men and women of integrity. He needs people who will answer His call. He needs many more leaders on the front lines (unfortunately most congregations are full of desk jockeys). He needs warriors who won't fold in the heat of battle. And our battles can be anything – from raising children to raising awareness for worthy causes to putting our life on the line in order to spread the Word.

Okay, now you know why. But how do we become strong enough to praise God when things go wrong? How do we embrace life when life isn't what we expected or desired?

That's a pretty tall order. So before you climb Mount Everest, you might want to tackle Mount Pisgah. Before you can enter the Special Forces and live life fearlessly with passion and purpose, you have to excel in Basic Training. You can't simply wing it. It helps to develop basic skills. For example, you may want to consider implementing the Five Ps for Spiritual Progress.

Praise: Develop an attitude of gratitude for the blessings you do receive. Wake up and give thanks every day. Eventually, you will be able to rejoice even in hard times.
Prepare: Read the Bible for instruction, inspiration and a better understanding of yourself. Start with five minutes a day.
Perspective: First, don't lose sight of the big picture of your life by letting a negative situation consume and obstruct your view. Instead, look at every challenge as a spiritual growth opportunity. When they arise, try to determine if there's a lesson or skill to be learned. Remember that God may be using you to do His work.
Practice: Through repeated actions, gradually change your behavior and develop positive habits where you need them. Find spiritual disciplines that work for you – solitude, meditation, service, music, fasting, fitness, etc. Develop character traits like honesty, kindness, charity, diligence, loyalty.
Pray and meditate: Keep your conversation with God continuous throughout the day. You cannot develop your most important relationship with a once-a-week interaction. Jesus truly wants to be your constant companion. So talk to Him. Then be quiet and listen.

When you really think about it, the training isn't hard work. Anyone can handle it. Over time, it all becomes instinctive, part of your natural life experience. You transform, gradually. Eventually, your heart will guide you more than your head, so that the negative life circumstances that your head observes and processes cannot overpower the joy and love in your heart.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Meaning of Life in 1,000 Words or Less.


Over the years I've met a lot of people who are confused about the meaning of life. Some feel as if they have no purpose, that they are just going through the motions, doing what everybody else does. This leaves them feeling empty. Others, typically in their 40s or older, have worked hard for many years in their careers and/or raising their children. But they get to a point when they say, “Is this all there is?” They too experience a level of emptiness. I even know millionaires who feel stuck on a treadmill, because they don't know what else they are supposed to do? Their lives are out of balance. Some are anxious or angry or sad. Others just try to stay busy. Most suppress feelings of loss or pointlessness.

A New Age Christian is someone who embraces the Word of God and follows the teachings of Jesus, while also looking for wisdom and understanding from sages, scholars and their normal fellow humans. Today, to help people who may be confused about life, purpose and fulfillment, I'm hopefully going to distill some basic philosophical principles into consumable form.

So what is the meaning or purpose of life?

For Christians, there are external and internal sources of meaning. The external, of course, is God. We derive meaning by pursuing a life that is pleasing to God. And as I've stated before, Jesus asked us to be “the salt of the earth,” engaging the world to make it a better place. But today, I want to talk about the internal sources of meaning and purpose. What can you do to feel balance in your life?

Before I tell you what to do, let me tell you why. The underlying meaning of life is to connect the self with the non-self. The self is you. The non-self is nature, other people and God. This connection to living things occurs through the expansion of the self.

The expansion of self occurs through the pursuit the three fundamentals of life: Pleasure, Virtue and Knowledge. All three must be pursued in order to achieve Harmony. Let me explain.

Pleasure
The pursuit of Pleasure brings enjoyment, happiness and satisfaction into our lives. Eating and drinking with friends, sex with our partner and playing sports are “animal” pursuits that give us physical and emotional pleasure (so easy, a caveman can do it). Listening to Mozart or going to the theater are higher level pleasures that enable us to expand ourselves, because we develop a broader appreciation of Mankind's creativity and expression. The point is, there is a wide spectrum of pleasure – from walking in nature or sitting in a hot tub to visiting museums or the ballet.

A big problem with society today is that too much of our lives are spent in pursuit of pleasure, which is called Hedonism. This lifestyle often creates an illusion of happiness and fulfillment. It's like when we're young, and we party with our friends every weekend, only to find out someday that some of them really aren't our friends. When the music stops, we are left with nothing.

Virtue
The pursuit of Virtue involves living with a high level of morality and ethics. But it's much more than just being moral and good. It is also the practice of serving others. Participating in church or charitable activities is the most common way to pursue virtue. You can find tremendous personal satisfaction when you help make someone elses life better. Serving others expands your worldview and transforms you in unexpected ways. If you were to go to Africa to help build a hospital or a school, you and your spirit will never be the same again.

The problem with pursuing only virtue and denying yourself pleasure, like a Puritan, can turn you into a legalistic, self-righteous, cranky pew-hugger. You begin to see the pleasures of things like moderate drinking, dancing and sex as sinful. And instead of connecting self with non-self, you disconnect and detach from the humanness of life.

Knowledge
The pursuit of Knowledge expands our minds. It leads to Wisdom, which enables us to achieve a deeper understanding of the world and the human condition, so to speak. We transcend our own consciousness. Knowledge is something we can all share. It gives us new ways to interact with each other, discussing information and ideas. We get together with others, pooling our knowledge to solve problems or make discoveries. There are an infinite number of things in the universe that we have an opportunity to better appreciate through the acquisition of knowledge.

The problem with focusing just on knowledge and not pleasure or virtue can turn you into a hermit. You get just as frustrated as someone who pursues just virtue. And you miss the opportunity to use your knowledge in the service of others or the betterment of the world.

Harmony
So, as discussed, there are three general pursuits that bring meaning, purpose and value to our lives. And while there is no specific formula, it is important to pursue all three in order to achieve Harmony. If we let one consume too much of our focus and time, we're not only in danger of becoming a hedonist, a puritan or a hermit, we are also missing out on the fullness of life. And that is what Jesus wanted for us (John 10:10).

It is up to each of us to decide the blend of Pleasure, Virtue and Knowledge that will bring us the most Harmony. And as you pursue these fundamentals, you will expand and transform yourself. Your life may grow to have much more than a single purpose. But remember, the underlying purpose is to connect the self with the non-self, to unite with nature, people and God.


Sunday, February 6, 2011

Meditate on This - 3

Don't just consume Christianity; let Christianity consume you.

We live in a consumer society, and that consumerism has even manifested in our spiritual lives. At many churches, the weekend worship services have become powerful entertainment experiences with rock bands, stage shows and video presentations. The sermons are informative, emotional and inspiring. The congregations eat it up.

And I'm all for that, 100%. Getting people into a church setting to hear the Word is vital. Listening to praise music in your car is great too. I even like to watch certain TV preachers for their encouraging messages. But it's important to not stop there, simply feeding on the Word once a week, in order to find personal satisfaction, inner peace and fellowship.

Following Jesus is a lifestyle, not just a religion. How you conduct your life, make decisions and interact with the world should all be based upon the teachings of Jesus. Remember, we are supposed to be "the salt of the earth," preserving it from decay and bringing out the flavor intended by its Creator. That will happen only if we allow Jesus to become infused into our entire lives, through consistent practice of spiritual disciplines, and by gradually shifting our focus from self to others.





Thursday, February 3, 2011

Remember to remember God.

 In this information-overloaded world, our attention is often pulled in many different directions. Even when we are focused on a task, our minds can be thinking of several other things at the same time. Ask yourself, how often am I actually 100% in the present moment? Most of the time our minds are probably in a mental pinball machine.

As a result, when something bad happens, we forget that God is there to help us. Negative situations consume our attention. We tend to either jump into the fight or run from it, seldom consulting God first. We may even face the problem with a positive attitude, but are any of our thoughts on God? Is God with us in these moments?

Certainly sometimes when we get stressed, we cry out, “God, why me? Please help me.” In this case, we've remembered God, but we are still full of doubt and worry. We are simply reacting to the situation, sending out a long-distance call for help. We are not fully aware of God.

Awareness of God is not simply knowing God exists, or even praying to Him. When you are aware of God, you feel His presence, His embrace. You can feel His love and light inside you. He enables you to view your experience with mental and spiritual perspective and proportion. Instead of relying just on your own strength and ability, you can allow God's strength to lift you up and work through you.

There are many activities and tactics you can use to maintain your awareness of God in your daily life. Here are two to incorporate into your day, in addition to whatever prayer and meditation practices you already use.

First, remember God by praying before you get out of bed each and every morning. Thank God for all of your blessings. Then say out loud, “This is the day the Lord has made!” This isn't just a statement, it's a decision. Let's say you have a boss who is always on your case, making you feel unsettled. Is this going to be a day your boss has made? Or is it going to be a day that the Lord has made? Whatever your challenge, you have a chance to set the tone for your day. Is this the day debt has made, or is this the day the Lord has made? Is this the day your ex-spouse has made, or is this the day the Lord has made? And yes, say it out loud; it makes a difference to hear yourself say it.

Second, connect with the Holy Spirit by taking brief (30-second) spirit time-outs at several times during the day (water, coffee or bathroom breaks work well), or before you begin a meeting or task. Simply stop doing whatever it is you're doing, close your eyes, take a deep breath and say something like this in your mind, “Spirit, please fill me with your energy and guide me along the right path through all of my words and actions.” Then imagine the Holy Spirit saying back, “Okay, I will. I am here. Keep me close by your side.”

At the very least, you should feel comforted by these thoughts. But hopefully over time, they will help you form a healthy detachment from the chaos that enters your life on a daily basis. The longer term goal is to establish a better sense of inner peace as your emotional baseline.


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Why is it important to read Scripture?

The First Spiritual Discipline of a New Age Christian is Immersion in Scripture. As I mentioned before, it is important to understand what Jesus was teaching us. His parables are pools of water where different things are learned at different depths. By reading and contemplating His words, we will gain a better understanding of how to live. It will enrich our worldview. But that's only part of why we read Scripture.


A minister I know cautions against getting too focused on interpreting Scripture. But rather, we should let Scripture interpret us. 

Who are you? Who were you? Who are you truly meant to be? God has a vision for your life. He wants you to transform, to blossom, to become more. Through immersion in Scripture, you will gain a better perspective and understanding of yourself. And your vision will improve. 


The word vision is key. Jesus used the concept of blindness and sight so often (see John Chapter 9 for an example). He healed the blind to call attention to the spiritual blindness of people, who rely solely on their own sight, instead of trying to see the world and themselves through the lens of God. 

And this is why we read Scripture. To see with a vision greater than our own. Whether we are looking at life, the world or ourselves. If you ever get frustrated with yourself, or you cannot break out of a pattern, reading Scripture is a good method of self-reflection. God will reveal what your own heart and mind cannot. You may not always like what you see. But self-awareness and understanding are important parts of transformation.