He Crowns Us, He Surrounds Us With His Favor!

The Lord is good, and His mercy endures for ever.

The Lord is good, and His grace endures forever. AMEN!

We don't have to worry about any of the stuff around us.

Let us cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)

For the longest time, I was so busy trying to be in the right place, or be in a place where I would feel God's presence.

I wonder how many of us do the same thing in our lives. We want to be, think, act, feel a certain way so that we can feel at peace.

Yet the Bible clearly outlines God's promises to care and provide for us, wherever we are!

"For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield." (Psalm 5:12)

and  

"For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." (Psalm 8:5)

and also

"Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness." (Psalm 65:11)

And finally

"[He] redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;" (Psalm 103:4)

He crowns us, He surrounds us, so therefore there is no reason for us to get downed about anything!

AMEN!

The Quietness Inside, and Why I Struggled with Guilt

There was a period of time when I struggled with a great deal of trauma and fear.

There were things that I had said, I had done, and I was so afraid of getting caught, getting found out, that the trauma just overwhelmed me.

This constant sense of fear just overwhelmed all the time. I felt so paralyzed in my life, that I felt that I could not go forward.

It took a long time to realize that faith is not feelings, and feelings are not faith. That was the biggest source of my problem, really. I had confused feelings, senses, perceptions for God's Presence, His loving support.

But so much of what is real in our lives is real not because of what we feel.

We cannot see atoms, but we know they exist, because everything that exists is based on atoms, and scientists have even seen them when using ultra-powerful microscopes.

We know that the wind exists, even though we cannot see the wind itself. We only see its effects.

We have an incredible record of all that Jesus did, and we have an intense set of revelations and explanations which expound on what all of His Work means at the Cross!

It's not about feelings, it's about facts, it's about truth.

When we understand that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ, when we understand that the bondage and shame of the past (and even whatever wrongdoings we do in the future) have no bearing on us, then indeed we are set free.

We no longer have to be bogged down by our flesh. We no longer have to wonder or worry about perceptions, premonitions, reminders, and fears from past to present to future, as if any of that can derail our new identity in Christ.

All of that gets put off, put away, because Jesus put away all our sins -- ALL OF THEM -- at the Cross.

For the longest time, though, I kept thinking that I had to put out that flame of condemnation on the back of my head. I used to think that I had to answer, refute, resolve every "what if?" that emerged in the back of my mind.

Today, I realize now more than ever how all of those stupid doubts and fears were mere fiery darts. The Gracious God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not go away from us just because we feel bad. We have already been made the righteousness of God in Christ because of what Christ Jesus has already done at the Cross. 

Faith is not about doing more, but rather faith is about seeing more of what is not visible to the natural eye:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith has nothing to do with what we feel, and faith is not fancy-pants fantasy. We are believing in Someone who is real, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father!

"Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places," (Ephesians 1:21)

For the longest time, I could not understand why those sensations of condemnation would come and go in my life. There were times when the fiery darts had no effect on me whatsoever, and then all of a sudden I felt like the back of my head was aflame in shame.

Now, it all makes sense. The shield of faith which quenches those fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16), that faith is all about seeing Jesus, recognizing that He is alive, that He is real, that we are in Christ, and that we do not look at our flesh, our feelings, our senses, our sentiments to make sense of reality all around us.

The struggle is over, and it makes no difference what feelings good or bad may assault the back of my head, my thoughts, my feelings. All of that is a wash today, because Jesus has washed me from all my sins -- past, present, future -- in His blood:

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," (Revelation 1:5)

Evangelism is About Revelation, not Reason

Last night, while I was visiting the Del Amo mall, a young man walked up to me.

His name was Anthony.

He started talking to me about Jesus Christ. He wanted to share the Gospel with me. I had no problem with him talking to me, since I had announced at the outset that I believe in Jesus, that He is my Savior, and I am so grateful for all the blessings which He has--and is--lavishing on me.

He began rattling off a number of Scriptures, including key passages in the Book of Revelation. He showed me passages about the Spirit and the Bride, and how they both invite us to draw from the Water o Life:

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)

He then asked me "What does the water of life represent?"

I said "The Holy Spirit." and I referenced this verse in the Gospel of John:

"37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (John 7:37-39)

He then mentioned the account of Jesus with the woman at the well in John chapter. I agreed.

He then asked me whether I had the Holy Spirit or not. I shared with him: "Yes, I do."

He then asked me: "How do you get the Holy Spirit?"

I told him that because I believed in Jesus, I have received the Holy Spirit.

He seemed perturbed somewhat, that I had answers to many of his questions. It really showed how disrespectful he was, that he refused to listen to me at the outset, that I had said that I am a Christian, and that I believe in Jesus Christ.

At that point, I asked him which church he belonged to. I was starting to wonder if he was a Seventh Day Adventist or a Mormon, or a member of the so-called United Church of Christ, which denies the full deity and pre-eminence of Jesus Christ.

The discussion then veered to how people need to keep the law of the New Covenant. He pointed to the passage in which Jesus took the cup of blessing at the Last Supper, and He declared "This is my blood of the new and everlasting covenant."

I was really disturbed when he said "Law" in relation to the New Covenant. I began to interrupt him, but gently. "We are no longer under law. We are under grace. You can find this in Romans."

He would not let me finish. He then stood up, said to me "You are a lawbreaker," and he walked away. A simple rush of peace came over me. I did not lose my temper, I did not raise my voice. Before he walked away though, I chided him, "Why will you not let me speak. I have allowed you to speak, haven't I?"

At that point, he called me a "lawbreaker," and he left. He did not get the answers that he was hoping for, I suppose. He had probably been trained that he would force me into an intellectual corner and cause me to acknowledge that I am a sinner or something else. He was hoping to win me over with a clear decision for Jesus.

What was really striking about his evangelism, if one can call it that, is that he did not mention the name of Jesus even once. He did not give the impression that he even knew how Jesus is!

While that dialogue between Anthony and me had been taking place, there was another gentleman, an older man, who was watching. When Anothony walked away, he laughed and asked me "What was that all about?" I told him how he was trying to share the Gospel with me--although the reality is that he had no good news to share, since he wanted to bring me back under law, and did not mention grace once.

He then remarked: "Wow! That's so sad. He was upset that you are religious, even though he was trying to make you religious. One would think that he would be happy for you!"

He was not interested in helping me. He was interested in "winning a convert," or at the very least winning an argument. That is not true evangelism.

I must admit, however, that I waded into this similar fight for pre-eminence with the older gentleman who started speaking with me afterwards. He told me that he is not religious, and he believes that there are too many inconsistencies with belief, plus all the complexities in the world, for him to believe that there is a God.

I insisted on asking him some questions. He clearly was not prepared to articulate his views on the issue. He wanted to defend evolution, and I asked him the usual questions which set such thinking to naught, such as "where is the evidence?" I also asked him "Where in the fossil record does one find the transitioning species?"

I felt the Lord telling me "This is not the right time to share with this man. This is not the approach to sharing the Gospel with him." Still, I pressed him a few more times on a couple of questions about the origins of the uinverse, how everything came about if not by intelligent design. Then, it seemed as though he had to take a call, and I took that motion as my cue to walk away.

As I walked away toward the center of the mall, I realized a number of things. I used to be an agressive evangelist like Anthony. I had a set of questions that I would press on someone, and then I could turn the whole situation around on them to say "You are a sinner, and you need a Savior. Would you like to believe in Jesus Christ and let Him be Lord of your life?"

Back then, I was so interested in winning arguments based on intellect. Today, I realize that Jesus is not just real, and real to my experience, but that He is more than a nice thought or a sentimental result of our reasoning.

Jesus is alive! He is a person! And evangelism should be all about sharing a great revelation of how great He is in our lives. We should be talking about Jesus the same way that we talk about a loving friends, relative, spouse, i.e. someone whom we know intimately, and whom we want others to know intimately, too!

Evangelism is about sharing the Good News, and that Good News is summed up perfectly in Acts 13:

"38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39)

We receive forgiveness of sins--all our sins. We are justified from all things, that we cannot receive by the law of Moses.

I did not understand the Gospel in this fullness at all. I had understood the Gospel as something so work-centered, so "I" centered. How sad it is, yet so true. No wonder I was not much of a witness in years past!

Today, I understand fully God's unmerited favor, which I receive through Christ Jesus. Today, I know that He is my life, my Savior. I am connected to a real Person, not just some figment of my imagination, or a set of principles or verses. 

"Herein is love perfected among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

It has taken me a long time to understand how fully real Jesus is to me. It's never been about me or about my self-efforts. It was never about having the right thoughts or doing the right things to ensure that Jesus would always be with me, that His Spirit would always be at work in me.

Today, I am learning so much about how to let that River of Life flow through me uninterrupted, unhampered by my efforts. I am learning that to share the Gospel is as simple as declaring: "Jesus Christ has died for all your sins. You can receive full freedom from condemnation and receive His life!"

Righteousness as a Never-Ending New Status

 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In 2008, I received a massive revelation of great joy. I thank Joyce Meyer big time for this revelation, since she first pointed to me the verse quoted above.

In Christ Jesus, we are not just righteous, but we are made THE righteousness of God. We have His standard of righteous standing. We can never be condemned, for now we stand in the same blessed joy and favor of God's own Son!

Where I began to have problems, however, was that I felt that I had to hold onto this status of righteousness. I was believing that I had to do certain things in order to "maintain" this status of righteousness.

I also did not understand how I could be righteous, even when I was struggling with sins, bad habits, dark secrets, etc.

Righteousness is an identity, a new identity. In fact, Paul made that abundantly clear four verse prior:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When you are a new creation, you are no longer an old creation. You cannot go back to being that old creation, either.

Other voices, other contentions that I struggled with included:

1. How am I supposed to live?

2. What if I am doing the wrong thing?

3. What will happen to me tomorrow? 

4. What is the point of being alive, since everything is taken care of?

The real problem was that I was halting between two opinions. I did not understand the Gospel of Grace one bit. I did not understand that all of my sins are forever forgiven AND that I receive His life, Jesus, in myself:

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4)

Jesus provides everything for me. I am not alone in this life. I do not have to figure things out on my own. Even if I fail, fall, or frustrate, I know that He is taking care of me.

Today, those questions no longer bother me. There is no worries about tomorrow, because who I am is not going to change. I am in Christ, and as He is, so am I in this world. (1 John 4:17). He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5), and therefore there is nothing that I can or cannot do that will change my status in Him.

Yet another question would often pose itself to me: "What is to stop you from doing the wrong thing?"

The answer has been abundantly provided to me through the blessed ministry of Pastor Joseph Prince. Here are the verses:

"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:11-14)

Grace is a teacher. In fact, Grace is The Teacher, for Jesus is Grace Personified:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)

And Christ is my righteousness, too (1 Corinthians 1:30)

This is not a life of striving and toil. Indeed, this is a life of resting and receiving. AMEN!

"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17)

I am not trying to live this life on my own. This life is His life in me, and I reign in life with Christ Jesus!

All of this was not clear to me for so many years, because I had received so much terrible baggage and bad ideas from my parents. They were both under law, they both did not know the Gospel of Grace, they were so seeped in "I do my part, and then God will do His part." How wrong they were.

This mixed message "Gospel" is not the Gospel truth, and no one should fall for it. No one.

Either we are saved by grace, or we are saved by works. Either Jesus did it all, or He did nothing at all. He does not play second fiddle to our efforts, and we do not get to claim any pre-eminence in our part to keep ourselves.

The status of righteousness is something that He gives me, that He is in me and for me, that no one can take away. Thank you, Lord Jesus! Amen!

The problem was that I had all kinds of mixed messages and messaging. It's only recently that I have understood that there is not one thing that I must do or maintain or anything else.

My Daddy God is a God to me, because His Son has paid for all my unrighteousness. and therefore God does not remember my sins or inquities any longer.

AMEN!

Chang Tou Chen, TrueLove.Is, And the Source of Same-Sex Temptation

Chang Tou Chen shared an incredible testimony for TrueLove.Is. Click on this link to view the video.

He mentions at the outset "I had a great childhood. I didn't suffer any physical or sexual abuse, but I noticed at age 7 that I was curious about guys."

Then he shares that he was looking a picture of a bare-chested male, and he ejaculated. He sensed that this reaction was abnormal, but he did not understand why he reacted the way that he did, and why his curiosity about males grew rather than receded.

If he did not suffer abuse, why was he drawn to males? Why did he engage in so much sexual profligacy with other males for decades?

I asked God for an answer to this question, since it's important for individuals to understand that same-sex temptations are born from something broken, deviant, or dysfunctional in our thinking and believing.

I found the answer when I listened to his podcast discussion on "Yah Lah, But ..." with Pastor Ng

Tou Chen (who now goes by the name David) acknowledged toward the end of the interview that he was very bitter toward his mother. Wow! 

Bitterness is a very serious problem, and it produces sexual perversion.

The writer of Hebrews shares:

"14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." (Hebrews 12: 14-16)

First, we are invited to follow peace with all men. Second, the writer exhorts us to pay close attention, to ensure that we do not fail, or come short of (fall from) the grace of God, i.e. that we stop living a life depending on God for everything, and start living a life in which we trust and depend on our own efforts and planning.

When people fall from grace, a "root of bitterness" springs up, it troubles us, and we become defiled, dirty, and thus we become sexually perverted ("fornicators").

People will start to fall into sexual perversion, whether homosexual or heterosexual, when they fall from grace and start depending on their efforts. How does this engender bitterness, though?

What is bitterness? That sense of hurt and anger which results when we see ourselves trying in our might, trying our hardest to accomplish certain goals and obtain desired outcomes, and those efforts come to naught; whereas in contrast, we notice people who are not trying nearly as hard, and yet the obtain everything that we want, and more.

We become bitter towards others when we are trying to obtain their favor with our efforts, and yet they still do not seem to love us or provide for us what we want. This example reminds me of what Tou Chen possibly went through himself.

Hence, he got physically attracted and attached to other males. I do not know the whole story, but I would imagine that she was abusive or very demanding of her son, and that caused him to feel deep bitterness. Who knows, but that issue of bitterness is very serious, and it induces sexual perversion of many kinds. Notice also that falling from grace causes a "root" of bitterness, which indicates that the causes for sexually profligate behaviors is much deeper than many people often recognize or realize. The fact that the causes for same-sex desire are not apparent helps explain why many people just resign themselves to those same-sex temptations and declare "I guess I was born this way."

This issue of bitterness also manifested with Raphael Zhang. He candidly shared in his very personal tesimony that he was very bitter toward his father. His mentor, Jason, encouraged him to see things from his father's perspective as a means to overcome that bitterness. Still, the point remains: bitterness induces sexual temptations and perverse behavior. I also recall Karen Lee's testimony, in which she declares at the outset, following the sexual abuse she suffered from a stranger: "Why didn't God help me? Why wasn't my Dad there to protect me?" That sense of upset produces bitterness, too.

Hopefully, revelations like this will help more people to "Come Out, Come Home", that they do not have to feel any sense of shame or self-condemnation because they struggle with these issues. In fact, by having a clearer diagnosis for what is ailing individuals struggling with same-sex temptations, they can receive the blessed antitode: "Let us have grace" from God through Christ Jesus (Hebrews 12:28).

Revelation from Sermon "Power To Receive | Pastor Darren Sim | NCC Leaders & Servers Meeting (8 Sep 2020)"

 Pastor Prince and Pastors Darren Sim of New Creation Church (Singapore) shared a powerful sermon about receiving greater revelation from the Word, and how leaders are formed, how pastors are able to better lead their congregations.

There were a couple of points which I wanted to expand upon in the sermon.

The first theme that stood out for me in the sermon touched on the issue of familiarity vs. humility. Do we get so used to church and church people, that we stop learning? Do we get so accustomed to what we know that we become self-satisfied, puffed up, and ultimately useless in the grand design of ministry and missions?

Here's the slide which Pastor Darren shared with the audience:

Pastor Darren then brought up a great question: "How do you teach humility? How do you teach "teachability""?

Indeed, this is a very probing question. We want people who want to know more, learn more, be willing to grow more. Yet what seems to happen in many church circles, especially in church leadership, is that people get satisfied with themselves, so it seems. They get stuck in a rut of self-effort, or self-congratulation. The teaching, the leadership, the ministry become stagnant, and the church then atrophies, dies.

What is the solution? How do we ensure that leadereship does not fall into this trap of turning stagnant and lifeless?

When I was meditating on this passage, when I was pondering this deep concern, I remembered previous questions and concerns which I had faced when I was younger. "What if I go astray? What if I find myself doing the wrong things, or end up in the wrong places for whatever reason?"

These kinds of questions assaulted my mind, gave me great pause, insecurity. All of this came from my mother, who was determined to control what I thought, what I did, who I lived my life.

Since then, what I have learned is that Christ Jesus is so intimate with me, that I cannot be separated from Him, and that is the truth, regardless of my thoughts and feelings, regardless of my actions for good or for bad.

"38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Like Paul, I had to be persuaded that nothing would or could separate me from the love of God. For a long time, I was in bondage to the lie that what I was thinking, what I was feeling, or what I would be doing could separate me from the love of God. How foolish I was, but in large part I struggled with this problem because I did not know how to rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)

Today, I know and believe that Christ Jesus will not leave me nor forsake me. That is a promise (Hebrews 13:5)

Jesus is my life (Colossians 3:4), and we are one with Him (John 17:21-23). We need to disabuse ourselves of this strange notion that Jesus is not actively involved and infused in our lives. In fact, the greater revelation that He is our life and that He is living in us--that is precisely how we grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18)

So, how do teach people to be humble? The truth is, humility is something that is caught rather than taught. The more that we hear about Jesus, the more that we understand the fullness of the Finished Work that He accomplished at the Cross, and the more that we undestand that apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5), the greater our humility.

Humility, at its core, comes down to "I cannot. He can."

How do we get to this place? This status, this revelation cannot come about by teaching it as a matter of knowledge. Each of us comes to this recognition, this revelation based on our walk with God. We face trials and hardships which we are unable to overcome in our efforts. We struggle with internal battles and external foes, and we grouse and cry out to God for help. The truth is that we need more than God's help. We need to rest, to stop our striving, and let God work in us:

"13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

So, how do we "teach" humility? We preach Jesus, and we underscore the Biblical truth and divine fact that we were dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:1-4), then brought to life in Christ Jesus. This is not a life that we live in our strength. The Christian life is Christ is in me, and I let Him live. The more that understand how consummate and complete His supply is for our walk in this world, the greater our humility.

Hence:

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5)

And this verse draws us back to the points which Pastor Darren shared with this audience!

When to Extend Grace, and When to Mete Out Justice

"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." James 4:6)

Unlike most people in the church circles that I mingle in, I have no problem watching Pastor Joel Olsteen. Earlier this week, he shared a sermon about going the extra distance for people who have wronged us, who have harmed us.

He also talked about extending grace to those who don't deserve it.

While listening to this sermon, I admitted to God out loud: "I don't want to let people off easy. There are people who have harmed me, and I simply do not want to let bad people get away with bad things which they have done to me."

I later recognized that this is an attitude which needs to change. This state of mind is something that He will change in me, however. It's not my job to change myself:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

At any rate, I have been learning for the last two months that God loves it when I am honest with Him about my feelings, about my reservations, about my rank unwillingness to do certain things. He loves that we come to Him with our limitations!

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

I then asked God to give me some guidance about this, because there are times when I had forgiven someone openly, only to witness those individuals engage in more shameful behavior towards me and others. I have often recognized that the most important aspect in our walk with others people is that God's peace must rule in our hearts as a judge, or as an umpire (Colossians 3:15). God does not want us leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6), but walk in His Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

I was so pleased, so grateful to the Lord! He answered my prayer by drawing out to me to different scenarios from my former teaching career.

In 2010, I was a substitute teacher in the Centinela Valley Union High School District. It was one of the most difficult, most unpleasant experiences (at least when I was a long-term sub in Hawthorne and Lawndale high schools).

The Hawthorne High School students were pretty bad to me, except for 0 period and 2 period. In Fourth period, one kid was generally not that bad, Ricardo Galvez. But for the most part, the students loved tormenting me.

Then there was Lawndale High School. One student, Ivan Ordonez, was the worst. He loved torturing me, I guess. The school pretty much let students get away with anything, in large part because the deans were too cowardly to hold students accountable, and they would not allow administrators to drop the hammer on misbehaving students. The last day of my assignment at Lawndale High School, I remember how cool I was in the midst of everything in the classroom, and I sent out Ivan a third time without any regret.

Fastforward about ten months, and in came the next school year.

To Extend Grace

First, I was assigned to Lloyd High School, the continuation school for students who have received consistently failing marks. There, I saw Ivan Ordonez on my student roster for the day. I cannot tell you the panic that welled up within me. I was so distraught, I asked the secretary to cancel my assignment for the day. The secretary knew that I was often a capable substitute teacher, so he asked me what was going on. I told her about the abuse that I had endured from that one student, and she acquiesced to keep him out of the classroom for that period.

When I returned to my assigned classroom for the day, another student saw me and began provoking me: "You know that Ivan is here! Are you scared?!" He had this creepy grin on his face and everything. I didn't know what to think.

Then, then I saw Ivan come into the classroom next door. I don't know how else to explain it, but it's like the Spirit of God just caught me up, and I walked over to Ivan, asked him to step outside. He stood against the wall with his head held down. I then simply extended my right hand to shake his, and I said: "Ivan, I forgive you." He shook my hand, then returned peacefully to his seat.

What happened the next day was beyond amazing.

I was assigned to a larger class, and Ivan was going to be there. I never forgot that day. Calmly, he just walked up to me. Didn't flinch, didn't say a word. He had a calm smile on his face, and he shook my hand.

I just shivered with great joy that day. The last thing I remember asking him was "How's your Mom doing?"

This first example shows how extending graec is the right and righteous response. Ivan was deeply humbled, even pained by what he had done to me. I did not lay into him, nor did I harm him in any way. I did not seek to exact revenge of any kind.

Now, let's turn back to Hawthorne High School

To Mete Out Justice

I was a long-term substitute teacher at Hawthorne High School first. The original teacher who was selected for the assignment I covered had bailed on the school district. The school administrators interviewed seven candidates. I didn't make the cut, as I ended up somewhere in the middle. Let's face it--that high school was never going to select me. I could not control that class. Those students didn't listen to me, didn't respect me, and it was a waste of time to hope for any kind of development of respect to ensue. The students knew that I was not going to be in the classroom for the long haul, anyway.

Fast forward to September 2011, when I was covering classes on a day-to-day basis at Hawthorne High School. I was much more relaxed, much less tense. I was listening to Pastor Joseph Prince's sermons every day. My aspect had really changed, as I had learned in greater measure to Live the Let Go Life, because Jesus is My Life.

I was assigned to an art class, which was fun. I love to draw, and to get paid to watch a class and draw was a lot of fun, too. In one of those classes, Ricardo Galvez showed up. At first, I recognized him faintly, just by looking at him. Then he told me who he was, and that he was in the history class that I had covered.

Right then, he began mocking me. "Poor Mr. Schaper! We got you fired. We made you so mad."

He then briefly talked about how frustrated I was trying to get the class to get anything done.

Then all of a sudden, something just leapt up within me, and I roared at him:

"How dare you talk to me like?! I did not deserve to be treated with such direspect! You screwed yourselves! I wanted to teach, and you hurt yourselves!"

It was amazing! As soon as I shouted at him, Ricardo was taken aback, almost as though I had hit him. He was certainly blunted. Then he retreated to his seat, where he trembled while shrinking behind his desk. He then briefly smiled, trying to stifle his shame.

It was amazing! I couldn't figure out where that outrage came from, but it welled up within me and knocked the arrogance out of Galvez. From that day on, he never spoke to me again. He wouldn't even look at me when I was walking by him.

There, I meted out justice. There, the Spirit of God just moved within me and refused to let Galvez get away with dishonoring me.

When to do one, and when to do another

We extend grace to those who know that they are sorry, who are not proud, nor puffed up.

"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (James 4:6)

Let us give grace to the humble. Ivan was humble. He did not make anything of himself. He received what I offered. Galvez. however, was arrogant, puffed up. He was making something of himself while shaming and mocking me. He got exactly what he deserved.

I neglected to mention that I (rightly) humiliated Galvez in front of all the other students in the class. He richly deserved that comeuppance. Shortly after I had reamed him out, he quietly admitted: "That felt good, didn't it?"

Yes! It did. Meting out justice to the arrogant is very gratifying.

Just as granting grace to the humble is very gratifying.

There But For the Grace of God Go All of Us: Drug Addicted Porn Star

A few days ago, a friend of mine shared with me a video posted on YouTube which featured a porn star meth addict.

This featured video from National Geographic focused on the spread of the methamphetanie crisis throughout the state of California.

This woman, pictured above, is a porn star. She does her own movies in her home in the Hollywood Hills area. The segment above opens up with the porn actress gettingh ready for her shoot. But before she can "perform", she needs to smoke meth. She has to get high so that she can debase her body before a camera without suffering too much.

She has to "feel good" in the shoot, so to speak.

The next segment of the video records the comments focused on the drug dealer. He is preparing the  meth for his client, the porn actress. He can sell a few grams of this poison for thousands of dollars, but he gives the porn star a discount: $400.

She finally gets her drugs, gets high, gets ready for her porn shoot, and then the narrative pans over to San Francisco. There, drug use is at an all time high (no pun intended), especially in the gay sections of the city. The statistics are particularly shocking: 1 in 9 homosexuals have used meth.

Unbelievable.

Here's what stood out for me, though, when I was watching this segment.

I felt sorry for this woman, and I saw her as a lost, decrepit woman. She is a drug fiend. She is dependent on a chemical just to function through the day. She gives away her body in front of a camera. She is a sex fiend, a sex addict. She sells herself to debase herself, and then she sells herself yet again.

It's a cycle of defeat, of shame, of loss, of more defeat, then shame yet again.

But then something else hit me: Am I really any better? Can I say that I am any better?

If anyone were to pry open my flesh, my mind, my feelings, they would see that I am addicted to things. They would see sexual perversions percolating throughout.

Paul was unsparing in how fallen our flesh is:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans 7:18)

I remember a comforting word which Pastor Joseph Prince had shared with a congregant in his church some time ago. This man had served time in prison, and before that he was placed in a foster home for at-risk youth. He had failed, fallen, sinned in so many terrible ways. Because of all the sins he had committed, he felt that he could not really come to God, and that he was in a worse-off position than the pastor.

Pastor Prince responded: "You think that I am better than you? The only difference between you and me is that the sin in you came out. The only difference is that the sin in me (i.e. in his flesh) had not come out."

And that just about says it all.

Everyone of us born into this world is a great sinner. We are all dead in Adam.

We can become alive in Christ, set free from sin, reckoning ourselves dead to sin, and alive in the Son!

"11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." (Romans 6:11-12)

If the world could see what was running through my mind, through my flesh, they would see far worse than what that porn star was doing!

There but for the grace of God go I. 

This revelation has become even more powerful and moving because I now understand fully what Abraham, what David, and what Paul the Apostle of grace shared with the Romans:

"1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Romans 4: 1-8)

I am made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus because of what Jesus did. It has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with me. When I understand that this gift has been given, and that I am invited to receive--and keep receiving!--this gift, His life is able to flow through me.

There is no longer any desire to sin, since under grace "Sin shall not have dominion over you." (Romans 6:14)

When I realized that inside, in my flesh, I am no better than the drug addicted porn star, I had such peace. When I realize that I was great sinner, dead to sin, I could receive His Life, His Righteousness. No more pretenses, no more pretending.

Such freedom! Amen!

I was addicted to many things. Most recently, I shared that I was addicted to diet soda, and that nearly killed me. But God is very good. He works with us even when we are still struggling with sins in our minds and bodies.

He guides us by His grace, and His Spirit continues to transform us from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

If we are all honest with ourselves, any one of us would stumble into the same sins. If we rely on our own goodness, if we think that we are "better than", we would fall into the same perversions, as well.

There but for the grace of God go all of us. Anyone one of us could become porn stars, drug addicts, lost in a sea of sin and shame, if not for all that Jesus accomplished for us at the Cross.

Jesus, Grace Personified is Better--Sin Just Plain Sucks

I must say, I have a really hard time understanding how anyone can claim that they are under grace, and yet they engage in all kinds of sin, all kinds of perversion.

Anyone who has tasted, who has seen that the LORD is Good (Psalm 34:8) knows that sin ... sucks!

"You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalm 16:11)

Yes, that verse above is in the Bible.

God is not against us having fun, having life.

Remember, Jesus was--IS--the life of the party!

"7Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:7-10)

Jeuss literally saved the party. He turned water into wine. Not exactly healing, but a miracle, the First Miracle He performed!

God is all about us having fun.

Really, He is!

So, when people have this weird idea that grace is a license to sin, I have to ask:

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!

I think of that scene toward the end of the movie "Return to Oz", from the early 1980s.

Before Dorothy Gale goes back to Kansas, she says good-bye to her pet hen, Belina. She asks the hen if she is going to come home with her.

Belina is just shocked, and shoots back:

"What, and go back to that hum-drum world again?"

Once she had seen the Emerald City, beautiful in its dazzling wealth and fresh wonder, why would she want to go back to dry, flat, boring Kansas?

I feel the same way when people talk about sin, in contrast to the love, joy, and pleasure of the Son.

What? Why would I want to go back to that garbage? Why would I want to settle for less?!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

How quickly we forget, and how correctly Paul would write:

"4Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Romans 2:4)

Riches, goodness, longsuffering.

I LIKE THAT!!

As for sin:

"The wages of sin is death," (Romans 6:23)

I DON'T LIKE THAT!

Also, let's not forget Paul's exhortation to pastor-in-training Titus:

"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" (2 Titus 2:11-13)

Grace teaches us to say "No!" to sin.

Of course it does! Grace is better! Why settle for death, hell, and the grave?

Thanks, but no thanks.

Last of all, John could not have written better in his First Epistle:

"15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15)

Notice that John writes "Don't love the world." He points out the reason why people love the world: "The love of the Father is not in them."

It's about more than knowing that God the Father loves you. Is His love in you? Have you let His love in, or do you still keep it out, convinced that there are things that you have thought or done, that you are thinking or feeling, that would make Him unhappy?

Do you believe that the Father loves you? Do you see His love as intimate, close, never to leave you? Do you see Daddy God embracing you, even at your worst, your lowest, your basest, just as in Jesus' parable? (cf Luke 15:20).

Now, why does John reproach "love of the world"?

"16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1 John 2:16)

The three different types of human-centered--strained attempts at pleasure: giving into temptations, trying to please our eyes, our senses; making ourselves big in the eyes of the world, big reputation  etc--is not from the Father, not from our loving Daddy.

And

"17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2:17)

The biggest problem with whatever the world has to offer? John does not mention the Ten Commandments. He does not mention God the Father's displeasure with sin.

The reason why the world and whatever it has to offer is not good enough? It passes away. It's NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

We are made for eternal things. Remember back to Psalm 16:11, in which there are "eternal pleasures
" at Jesus' right hand!

I want what lasts, not what is temporal.

Jesus, Grace personified is better. ALWAYS!

As for sin. Really?

Sin just plain sucks. BORING!

I want life, and that more abundantly--and that is PRECISELY what Jesus came to give us! (John 10:10)

Sin cannot compare: Jesus, Grace Personified is Better!

Overcoming the Slights of Men With God's Eternal Love

Every since I became an active citizen, an activist for serious political causes, I have had my fair share of dust-ups and brush-ups.

People have pushed me, stolen from me, chased me down streets, spit at me.

Some people have gotten in my face.

I was the victim a few times, and yet even then some of these wannabe macho types would comment on Facebook, YouTube channels, or other sites and comment:

"If I had been there, I would have never let that happen to me."

"That guy wouldn't have gotten away with that."

Some of them just attacked me:

"You are a wimp."

"What a cuck!"

Blah, Blah, Blah.

For a long time, though, I did think about the wrongs that had been perpetrated against me. A sense of outrage and shame would overtake me. "How could I let them get away with that? What was I thinking! I should have stepped up and pushed back!"

For a long time, I began to prep myself with this sense of "punch back! punch first!" mentality. I wanted to make sure that no one ever got away with messing with me, with taking something from me, with affecting my dignity.

I was meditating on this dilemma last night. Why did I have a sense of outrage? Why could I not rest over one conflict that I had endured, even though a number of people had told me that I had handled it properly?

Then I realized--out of the many people who had praised how I had handled one very tough situation, I was focusing on one person whose blood was boiling when he watched what I sat through quietly.

It occured to me then: many people do not see, do not understand the love of the Father the way that I have understood him. While many people have a sense of self-important and pre-eminence, and cannot abide the thought of being shouted at, shamed, dishonored by dead people in this fallen world, I know and believe that God's love for me has been from everlasting to everlasting.

There is nothing that the world can do a man who has been established in righteousness. There is no shame that will stick to a man who knows that He is fully accepted in the Beloved. No shame, no dishonor, the hollow laughter of little people cannot affect a man who knows where he is seated:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2:4-6)

When you understand that you have the favor and fervor of Almighty God, who cares what other people say about you? Really--who cares?

Then I began to realize that I had been entertaining a different form of mixture. I was taking other people's opinions and views of certain issues and conflicts in my life.

The shame and abuse of others cannot stop me, cannot hurt me, because I have perfect standing in my loving father. It really doesn't matter what other people say to me.

This active love of my Daddy fills me up and shapes me.

If I failed to stand up for myself one time, I do not have to live in a sense of shame. I do not have to worry about fixing or repairing a situation. I do not have to be done or hard on myself because I could have, should have, would have said something, done something different.

This is quite liberating. His life is coursing through my my heart, my mind, my soul, and my strength.

And the more that I simply rest and understand where I stand in Christ, the easier and wiser I have become in repeling and rebuking hateful people.

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17)

His Love is Pre-Emptive

For the last two weeks, I have been thinking about all the times and troubles I had faced in my life.

This past evening, I recalled the internal struggles that I went through as a substitute teacher.

When I realized how much Daddy God loved me, I had no fear. I could speak to students with conviction, without recrimination or concern.

Yet a sense of burden still overwhelmed me. I had to be "Focused" on His love for it to work in my life.

Wow! Talk about burdens!

I felt like a schizophrenic. My mind was working double-time: trying to live in everyday life; trying to hold onto God.

But all this time I am learning that He has been holding onto me!

He has loved me with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3)

It's never been bringing Him into my situation. He has always been there for me.

He promised:

"Let your manner of living be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”" (Hebrews 13:5)

His love is pre-emptive. His love came into play for me since the foundation of the world. Even when I didn't care about Him, He cared for me! (Romans 5:8)

Even now, when I think about how He has been loving me since the beginning, I just can't help but be at peace. It just gives me such joy to know that He has been watching out for me since the beginning!

The Never-Ending Love of God Was Always There -- I Just Didn't Realize It

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.

If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison. (pg 66, Alcoholics Anonymous CULT)

In 2012, shortly after I learned more deeply about the Gospel of Grace, I began to pick apart, then ultimately rip into shreds the whole Alcoholics Anonymous program, including the "Big Book".

My mother was so invested in Alcoholics Anonymous, that she placed the Bible and the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous on the same plane. Such thinking is even more corrupted and mistaken than Peter's attempt to place Jesus, Moses, and Elijah all in tents.

God the Father intervened quickly and declared: "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!" Not the law, not the prophets, but listen to Jesus!

Sadly, many Christians are listening to Jesus and Bill Wilson, as though he was some kind of modern-day prophet or evangelist. The truth is that Bill W. wanted to replace Christ Jesus entirely. Private correspondance from a former follower of his announced the following:

"[He thought that] he was completing the work that Christ didn't finish & according to Horace he said he was a reincarnation of Christ."

That is evil blashemy, nothing more.

Jesus was not mincing words or holding back when He shouted on the Cross: "It is Finished." (John 19:30)

He Finished the Work. He took all our sin and gave us His righteousness, His standing, and His life.

I have been meditating on God's Word and His Goodness in so many ways. I have learned so much about God's Grace, His Love.

I can't cut off His love for me. My feelings cannot cut off God's love for me.

And yet, I had believed for the longest time that if I was angry, if I had been feelings, bad thoughts, if I was thinking illicit ways, then it was cutting of God's love for me.

How wrong I was!

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Genesis 8:38-39)

Nothing can separate us from God's love for us.

Yet for decades, for the greatest part of my life, I never knew about how much God loved me. I often believed that I had to get rid of these bad feelings, or I would focus on or pump up God's love for me so that I could get rid of the bad thoughts, the bad feelings within me.

Over the last two days, though, I have started to realize that God's intense love for me has been at work, working on me for the longest time. I didn't realize this as profoundly as I needed to until recently.

Indeed, He has been working a great work on me!

When I first believed on Christ Jesus as my Savior, my Lord, He loved me intently, and He was committed to doing everything that He could to bless me.

It's not like I needed to get a greater awareness to make His love for me real. What I needed to abandon was this sentiment, this lie that I needed to get rid of the bad feelings, the inappropriate thoughts, in order to receive or better understand His love for me.

Why did I think this way Why did I have this erroneous belief that I had to get rid of the bad feelings and thoughts so that I would better understand God's Love for Me, that I would know that His presence was always with me?

Because of Alcoholics Anonymous, this notorious, fraudulent cult.

Consider the above passage from pg. 66 of the "Big Fraud Book", at the top of this post. If we get angry, AA claims, we are cutting ourselves off from "the sunlight of the spirit."

That is a total lie. In fact, sometimes our getting angry is a just response and a needed motivation for us to stand up to evil in our midst. It's OK to be angry; but it's not OK for us to sin in our anger. That's the difference.

What is really wonderful, however, is that His great love was at work in my life all this time. There was no reason for me to wonder if He was there for me or not.

There is so much more for me to write about on this subject, but then those revelations will veer off into other principles for life and good living. I will touch on them presently.

I Need God's Favor Even Where I am Familiar

This Monday, I returned from an extended weekend stay in Arizona.

It's a great place, not as desert-y as I had feared.

It's really nice!

There is a great deal of desert, sure, but I saw so many homes with their own set of greenery. Phoenix, Arizona is a huge city. It takes 30 minutes on a major freeway to get from one of the city to another city.

And that's if there is no traffic to contend with!

I noticed that I meditated on God's Word a great deal. It seemed like every moment of the day, I was chewing, muttering, marinating in one or many sets of Scriptures.

It was a very fulfilling time that I shared with friends and fellow patriots there in the Phoenix area.

Then I came home, and I realized something:

What is preventing me from meditating at length here in my own home town, my own city? What has been holding me back from thinking that I do not need to ask for God's favor here in the place where I live, where I have called home for the last three decades?

For a long time, when by myself or walking about boldly yet singly in public, I would think out loud, let my mind wander and wonder onto so many topics.

I never really got settled. It was so easy to get upset about past slights or future fears. After five days of staying at someone else's home in another state, after the habit of repeating and meditating on God's Word in different passages, I found that my mind was clearer, and opportunities began to appear in great number.

I can ask for God's favor and receive His grace for every day. Why was I not doing that when back at home in the South Bay?

Just because I know the South Bay, just because I have lived in Torrance for the greater part of my life, that does not mean that I do not need God's grace, His favor for facing different challenges and issues from day to day, or from hour to hour.

I need His grace, I desire His favor wherever I go, whatever I do.

The five day excursion in Arizona really opened my mind, my heart to seeing more of Jesus and receiving more of his abundant gifts of righteousness and grace (Romans 5:17).

I want my loving Daddy God to surprise me every day. For the last four days back home, I have found myself really appreciating everything that I have lived in, that I have enjoyed for this great length of time.

What can I say? I need God's favor even in places with which I have been so familiar all of these years. Yes, I may know that so many things close to me are relatively the same, but who knows what may happen upon me when I trust His favor?

I want to get into the habit now more than ever, just as Ruth did when she joined with Israel:

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter." (Ruth 2:2)

Ruth landed in the perfect field:

"And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech." (Ruth 2:3)

She trusted in God's favor. She believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same God who sent His Son to die on the Cross for us, to grant us His rightoeusness, His life, and His standing.

In the same way that Ruth trusted God's favor and found herself not just by chance, but by "her hap", in not just a good field, but the field belonging to her Kinsman-Redeemer.

Let's not hold back God from blessing us beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Let's ask God to continue to show us through His Son how much He loves us! (Ephesians 3: 17-19).

God's Favor is Not for Those Who Deserve It

It really is amazing how often we still think that God owes us something--anything.

If we read our Bibles enough, or if we go to church.

If we start paying back debts, or if we write all those apology letters we had assured that we were going to do, then we think that God is going to bless us.

When we think that way, we are putting confidence in our flesh, and we are falling back under law:

"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3)

and also

"For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." (Galatians 5:3-4)

The flesh, living under law, all speak of self-effort. Abram and Sarai wanted to have a child, but instead of trusting in God's favor, they relied on their own effort:

"For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." (Romans 7:5)

and also

"But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise." (Galatians 4:23)

God wants to favor us, to rely on His grace:

"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all," (Romans 4:16)

Let's stop striving for God's favor in our lives.

He has given us His Son, and in Jesus we are blessed indeed:

"3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

Father Leo Booth, and the Power of No Condemnation in Christ

I have been meditating on the story of Father Leo Booth for some time over the past few weeks.

This man is a liberal-leaning deacon, pastor, whatever when he was serving at Oxford University. He acknowledged that he struggled with alcohol addiction in terrible ways.

He would wake up in the morning completely soiled.

He went to work drunk, too. All the time that he spent trying to cover up his perversion, he was struggling, trying to keep up appearances.

Why? Because the shame that would overcome him if anyone discovered that this prim and proper deacon.

Then one day, driving drunk, Father Booth got into a car accident.

His car was totaled, Father Booth sat on the curb overwhelmed with the accident.

Father Leo Booth

Then he overhead the students walking back behind him. And he heard them talking about him:

"Oh, there's Father Leo again. He got drunk."

"Father Booth got into a car accident? No surprise there!"

And so on.

The same people who were talking about him, were the same students and staffers he had worked with all that time.

They knew that he had a drinking problem, but they did not shun him. In effect, they didn't care.

Now, Booth reports that when he realized that he wasn't fooling anyone anymore, he sought help.

But I add another layer to this revelation.

For the longest time. Booth was hiding his drinking problem because he was ashamed, he feared the condemnation that would fall on him when people found out that he was a drunk.

But then he realized that they did not care.

The condemnation was broken off in his life, and he was set free.

That's the Biblical principle, the truth that sets us free (John 8:32):

"There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus."

When we understand that there is no condemnation at all in Christ, when we understand that we will never be condemned for failure, for sin, that we have been fully forgiven, granted the gift of righteousness:

"Be it known unto you therefore, men andbrethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Act 13: 38-39)

It Was Condemnation Alone

A sense of "I am not OK" was pervasive in my life.

I kept thinking that some standard for living, for achieving something--anything--lay around the corner, ready to pounce (or rather pound) on me and show me how I failed to measure up.

Jesus did not come to give us a standard of living, but to give us His dynamic ZOE life!

That's what it's about!

The Twelve Steps that I was living with, or rather living under, furnished so much of this condemnation.

It was all the fault of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the abusive upbringing which accompanied this cult in my life.

The Ten Commandments are a ministration of death, and the AA "program" is another spinning of the wheels which gets us absolutely nowhere.

The program actually breeds a greater sense of condemnation.

Every day is one big demand: to line up your life in line with some fantastical notion of whatever God's will is.

This cult does not help people get better. It has a very low success rate, and those who do manage to stay sober, stay that way regardless of Twelve Steps, or end up getting by with heavy medications.

An overwhelming sense of fear follows people. Will today be the day that I take that drink? That I go back out?

Blah Blah Blah!

With Jesus, there is no going back, but walking forward, in the path of the righteous, which grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

Who needs AA? Who needs the shame and condemnation?

We do not transform and change people with those twin tools of Satan.

Even if force and threats make people behave on the outside at the outset, it is only a matter of time before those terrible behaviors break out once again.

Condemnation brings out the perversion, whatever it may be, in our lives.

The truth sets us free, and the grace of God teaches us all things.