The Altar

There is a place in most houses of worship that is referred to as The Altar. Sometimes it is made of special wood or ornate metal. Others are simply the front steps of the stage or even the floor area in front of the podium. Regardless of what it looks like, it is usually considered a revered place where people encounter God.

In Old Testament scripture, an altar unto Jehovah was always built after an encounter with Him, His “angels”, or even pre-incarnate visitations of Jesus. These were constructed to mark, or remember, something that God did in their life that changed them in some way; changed to the point that they never felt the need to return there.

However, in most Christian churches there is an expectation, even a requirement, for Believers to return to the altar again and again. They are compelled to come for many reasons, but most return for the same issue, expecting God to do something about their circumstances. It seems the longer one stays there the deeper the change that is expected to result from the experience.

This is very foreign to what scripture teaches. I cannot see anywhere in the New Testament where the altar has a place in the life of the Believer. There is an experience at the Cross, where one becomes born into the Kingdom of God, is made a new creation in Christ, and is baptized into His Body, the Church. From there, we are to then live a life of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to transform us by the renewing of our minds, as we study the Scripture and fellowship with our Father. From this place of regeneration, we are to be ambassadors of the Kingdom to our world, sharing Jesus with those whom we live, work, and play. None of this occurs at the altar.

All references to altars in the New Testament are those found in the Old Testament, with one exception. Paul, at Mars Hill, mentioned an “Altar to the Unknown God”. He then used that as an opportunity to preach Christ to them. I believe there is a good reason we do not find altars in the life of the Believer. There is no need for them. The Holy Spirit lives inside the Christian. You do not have to “go down” to the altar to meet with Him. You do not have to be in church to have an experience with Him. He is always with you, ready to release Heaven into your experience when you are ready to receive it.

For more along these lines read this post: 

https://kuriosreflections.blogspot.com/2016/03/smoke-and-fire.html

Möbius Strip - The Tale of One People

The Möbius Strip is an interesting phenomenon in math. Even though it is a 3D object it only had one side. See image below.

It is formed by taking a flat rectangular object and joining it at the ends after rotating one end through 180 degrees (flip it over). I believe this is an excellent example of what the human race looks like.

It appears there are two sides (e.g. Left/Right, East/West, Black/White, Liberal/Conservative, etc.) but if you follow the strip you eventually wind up on the same side. You see, we are all in this thing together. We can either remain on "our side" or we can engage others in useful dialog and try to make sense out of our world.

When you split hairs long enough you begin to lose sight of the boundaries that divide us. We know that we disagree, we are just not certain where the disagreement starts and stops. I believe if we will just talk, and listen, we will find we have more in common that we do differences. After all, we are all human!

What If We're Wrong?

A friend posted an article today about the need for Christians to admit that "we are wrong" about certain things regarding Biblical interpretation. A few years ago I started a book on this very subject. Below is the Introduction from the text. Perhaps I should revisit this project.

Things are not always as they appear. The human brain is an amazing organ. It has the ability to store information and retrieve it in an instant. It controls involuntary functions of the body like heartbeat, breathing, blinking, hormone levels, and many more. The mind is constantly processing information from the five senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell. When information is received it quickly ciphers the data to determine if it is a known impulse (and safe) or unknown (and potentially dangerous). If safe, the body responds positively. If dangerous, it calls on either fight or flight and prepares the body for either one.

There are many ways this process can end poorly. If a police officer mistakes a toy gun for a real weapon an innocent person could be harmed. If a friend mistakes a kind response for something dishonoring it can damage relationships, sometimes irreparably. The difference is how our mind responds to the stimulus.

Optical illusions are phenomena where our mind is tricked into believing something that is not true. Magicians use slight-of-hand to distract our attention away from what is really happening to make it appear “magic.” There are images, such as the one shown here, where the image seen by the beholder is determined by the focus of their attention. One will see a young lady while another will see an old hag. Both are present in the picture. Once you see both you can then mentally swap back and forth between the images with no problem because your mind knows the “truth.”

How does all this apply to our study of scripture? If we hear a teaching on a particular passage of scripture our minds become conditioned for a particular response. As soon as we recognize the passage our minds retrieve the stored translation and inserts it into our conscious thinking. We “understand” the passage because of past experience.

What if we’re wrong? What if the person we heard give the translation of the passage did not know all the facts? Perhaps they are simply repeating what they were taught, and so on. Acts 17:11, speaking of those in Berea, declares, “These were more noble … in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” It is incumbent upon each of us to find the truth and follow it. We cannot simply take what we hear from Bible teachers and preachers to heart and follow it blindly. Remember, these people are human and have to live out the Bible message just like everyone else. Be noble and find out what it means for your self.

One of my favorite songs from the musical group TRUTH is “Living Life Upside Down.” The chorus of the song says,

“What if we’ve fallen to the bottom of a well thinking we’ve risen to the top of a mountain? What if we’re knocking at the gates of hell thinking we’re heaven bound? 

What if we spend our lives thinking of ourselves when we should have been thinking of each other? 

What if we reach up and touch the ground to find we’re living life upside down?”

One of the worst states in which people can find themselves is deceived. The true horror of deception is that you do not know that you are deceived.

Perspective

After watching a few bowl games over the long weekend I saw a pattern of behavior that I found interesting. Several teams lost after being down big early - 20-30 points behind in the first half - only to make a spectacular comeback in the fourth quarter. They fell short and still lost.

The thing I found interesting was the reaction of the coach and/or "star" player after barely missing a big play that would have brought them closer to a victory. They seemed completely dejected, as though the entire game was dependent upon that one play.

The reality is that if they had played with that same intensity early in the game they would not have been in as deep a hole as they were. I believe we can learn some things from this. Make every play count. Make your best effort before you get behind. Don't allow the cushion of time to keep you from pursuing the goal.

You can call it procrastination or complacency. You can call it lazy or unmotivated. It really doesn't matter how it is explained. The reality is it will require an extraordinary effort to recover from a slow start, and most of the time you will fall short of the goal. Determine now to do your best work. Make the effort now to improve your plan, skills, or work ethic.

My high school basketball coach, Gerald Fikes, used to say, "The best defense is a good offense." When you are scoring points the pressure is place on the opposing team to keep up. You can't always control what others will do. You can, however, determine the level of effort you will give. Make it your best, always, if possible. The game clock will expire one day. Make sure you stay ahead in the game.

Let 2019 Be Your Year of Wonder!

One of my favorite songs by TRUTH is All The Way Back Home by Gloria Gaither and Dony McGuire. It sums up the Believer’s response while in the wilderness when wandering finally turns to wondering.

Verse 1:

My rebellion I called freedom took

My birthright in its hand

And I woke up in some pigpen

In a distant alien land

But I saw myself this morning dared

To see what God could see

And admit I’m lost and lonely

So tomorrow I will be

Chorus

On the road back home to Father

I’ll not stop along the way

I was born to higher purpose

I won’t waste another day

Won’t be camping on the border

Just in sight of what I’ve known

It’s all the way or nothing

It’s all the way back home

Verse 2:

Never been a halfway person

All or nothing is for me

When my footsteps lost direction

I was lost as lost could be

But at last I’ve learned my lesson

Learned from many troubled days

Now that I have started homeward

I’m going all the way[i]

---

[i] © 1979 Designer Music/SESAC (adm. By CapitolCMGLicensing.com), Hanna Street Music/BMI (adm. By CapitolCMGLicensing.com)

Let this be your declaration as we begin a new year. Find the wonder!