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The Borg

January 2019

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to speak to you about letting go of an offense.

 It’s 5:19 in the morning, and I can’t sleep; I need my rest to face today, but can find none.

 Yesterday evening I attended a come-go-to-meeting at my local church, and at the end of this little soiree, I was met at the door by someone who had decided it was their duty to put me right.

 I was late… It couldn’t be helped.

 There at the front door began the 20-questions. Apparently my tardiness could only be viewed as not trying hard enough to make it on time. I was quite taken aback by the dressing down I received, although reflecting now on my history with church, I shouldn’t be. I found myself defending my actions (something I told myself I would never do again), but this person’s mind was clearly made up before I uttered a syllable, which they demonstrated with each interruption of my attempts to explain.

 I have found that to fit into The Borg one must comply, one must play by the rules. No moving outside of the lines will be tolerated. You must be on time, you must participate, you must look and act the part, you must give, you must, you must.

 I would like to say that this person meant well, but I’m not so sure. I wanted to be on time, so I drove as fast as I could within the law to get there, but my job lets out later than the start time. As I hadn’t eaten since lunch I was hungry, so I needed 10 chicken nuggets to tide this man’s appetite over. No protein for me = headache. I ate my nick-nick-nuggets (as my youngest called them when she was a pip) on the way to The Borg meetinghouse to save time. Added to all of this, my job must come first, as I am the only bread-winner for my family during this season. On the night I was further delayed by the client’s late arrival. It all made for the perfect storm.

 I don’t want to complain or sound self-piteous, but I am feeling rather sorry for myself, and I am complaining! he he…

 I was told that “they” (The Borg) cared about me, and I heard the slogan spoken over and over, “…we just care about you.” Hmmm…

 The undertone of the contradiction to these words of care was deafening. Here’s what my spirit heard –

1.     We will accept you when you play by the rules.

2.     There will be no patience or tolerance shown you until you comply.

3.     If you remain non-compliant we have the right to dress you down verbally.

4.     Your personal circumstances and needs don’t enter into this, just so long as you do like we do.

5.     Love is a word that The Borg translates as acting correctly and being in good standing.

6.     Any non-compliance to The Rules will be met with prejudice, inflexibility and judgment.

7.     You are not a person of good-standing until you assimilate into The Borg.

 The church is people. People are not perfect. People can and will hurt you. I’ll never be able to attend church, or any other Borg, without being hurt from time to time. And while it is true that this person did not represent my Jesus tonight, my complaining and fussing only makes matters worse.

 What am I supposed to do with what happened tonight?

·      I could ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen. But it did happen.

·      I could elevate this to the powers at be and get some satisfaction. But Mick Jagger got it right when he sang, “I can’t get no — satisfaction.”

·      I could get angry and get even by acting in kind. Maybe that’s how this Borg rolls…I don’t know yet. I don’t want to be like that.

·      I could continue to feel sorry for myself and go around with a sad puppy-dog face, to let everyone know that I’ve been hurt. I didn’t receive compassion tonight, so why should I expect to going forward?

·      I could send a nasty text or email and read the riot act to the leadership. The original riot act was meant to keep angry citizens from protesting in mass, and warned them of swift reprisal should they do so. This would be like a little Borg warning the Big Borg—sounds circular.

·      I could disappear in the night, never more to be seen, but, as 17th century preacher John Donne said, “no man is an Island.”

 I asked my Jesus what He wants me to do, and He said, “Forgive them, like I have forgiven you.” I told Him that this is easier said than done, and He responded that forgiveness is NOT an option. He further reminded me that true forgiveness restores every broken relationship.

 The Borg is generally known more for what it is against than what it is for.

 But Jesus taught us to love one another, and love for us who claim the cross of Christ is a verb.

1Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

 “I forgive you, for you apparently know not what you are doing.”

 I want to take this opportunity to thank my Jesus for giving me the example of forgiveness and the strength to do likewise.

 Okay, so I’m non-compliant, but I’m still in The Borg. I love The Borg.

 As always, you can respond to these words at calcio.christopher@gmail.com

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

P.S. I fasted from writing in 2018...glad to be back.

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I PROMISE I ALWAYS WILL

December 2017

I PROMISE I ALWAYS WILL

 To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to share a song…

 Normally I have much to write about, much to share with you from my heart, but not this time. I recently bought Steffany Gretzinger’s album, entitled ‘The Undoing’…and you guessed it: I was undone.

 I will let these lyrics speak for me. I have no intention of profiting from Steffany’s great song or benefitting from her creativity, and wish only to communicate her clear message to my wife. If you want to find Steffany’s music, it is available on iTunes and at iBethel.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgFXxZ-COH8

 Promise I Always Will Lyrics

Take me back to the beginning When love was patient, love was kind, Back to the place we first started When we weren't so proud to change our minds. And take me back when love was unselfish When touch was passionate and sweet When we weren't just getting what we wanted But we gave ourselves so willingly And I love you. I promise I always will. I love you. I promise I always will. Take me back to the beginning When I would look you in the eye. There was no such thing as a cold shoulder And we lived within your hands and mine.

And I love you. I promise I always will. I love you. I promise I always will.

And I chose you. Forever I choose you still.

'Cause I love you, and I promise I always will.

Before we burn down all our bridges

Let's look on what we've built.

We'll take turns asking for forgiveness

And watch our love grow deeper still

'Cause I love you, and I promise I always will.

I love you. I promise I always will.

And I chose you. Forever I choose you still.

'Cause I love you, and I promise I always will.

As always, you can respond to these words at calcio.christopher@gmail.com 

Remember in everything, Father will have the final say. 

Keep it out of the box, 

Innocente

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FATHER-GOD

November 2017

FATHER-GOD

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about Father-God …

 During one my daily meditations, as I wandered in the deep, I saw Him and His beauty.

 He is –

·      The Truth

·      The Keeper of all knowledge

·      The Substantive substance

·      The Furnace of all heat and light

·      The Santa Claus of every frivolous gift

·      The Doctor of every miracle cure

·      The GPS for every adventure

·      The Predictor of every future happiness

·      The Defender of the guilty and vulnerable

·      The Unity for every fractured relationship

·      The Vindicator of those who have been falsely done

·      The Guide dog for the blind

·      The PhD. for the ignorant

·      The Darling to the unloved and despised

·      The Search and Rescue for the lost

·      The Home to the homeless

·      The Parent to the foundling

·      The Daddy to those with an orphaned spirit

·      The Gentle touch to those who have been violated

·      The Salve to the wounded

·      The Big Daddy to those being bullied

·      The Companion to the lonely

·      The Calming Soothe to the agitated

·      The Third Strand in an unbreakable chord

·      The Agreement to those who refuse

·      The Heartbeat to the dead

·      The Savior to the helpless

·      The Melody in the birdsong

·      The Grandeur in the mountain

·      The Verdant in the field

·      The Rain in the forest

·      The Roar in the tide

·      The Gasp in inspiration

·      The Compass Needle pointing true

 In short, His Presence reveals the question and the answer, the problem and the solution, for He is love, and His love never fails.

 As always, you can respond to these words at calcio.christopher@gmail.com

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

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Loyalty

October 2017

LOYALTY

 To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about loyalty …

 The longer we humans live this journey of life, the more we distill our core values down to the character traits we want to see in ourselves and in our people. Who do I mean, when I say our people? I speak specifically of our close family members and good friends.

 “Remember no man is a failure who has friends,” writes Clarence the angel in the last scene of possibly the most inspirational Christmas film of all-time, ‘IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE’.

 I have seen so-called friends come and go; some have torn their commitment from me, while others have stood the test of time and remain. On the matter of true friendship, Jesus said –

 John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

 According to Jesus’ idea of friendship, I can count my true friends on one hand. This is both understandable and troubling, for there are few who will be faithful to us no matter what…not even family. According to a Pugh Research group, as of 2014, only 46% of Americans live in a traditional family with heterosexual parents in their first marriage. In 1980 the number of first-marriage traditional families was 61% and in 1953 it was as much as 73%. The decline of loyalty in America is astounding and to me, this is very sad.

 I fear that we have become a very self-centered weak society, where the pursuit of our own individual happiness has driven us to this point: instead of remaining in relationships for life, we all too easily turn our backs on our people when the relationship is challenged by tragedy, stress or failure. Relationships have become expendable, as if they were established with an expiry date. And the laws of the land, law-enforcement and the behavioral science community proliferate the justifications for decisions that have contributed to our societal disintegration.

 Webster’s dictionary defines loyalty as, a strong feeling of support or allegiance.

This definition covers both sides of the relationship between us with friends and with our family. The support or allegiance refers to the one offering the loyalty, and subsequently produces a strong feeling of loyalty in the receiver: this symbiotic permanency is what all intimate relationships were meant to be.

 I bring no condemnation with this blog, especially toward those who have experienced divorce and separation, but I am nonetheless compelled to write on the disloyalty that is robbing us of each other. We live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately society, and most folks have given themselves over to agree with the opinion of the majority. It’s as if sheer numbers who agree establish the truth. Might makes right, and that which is embraced by the largest percentage of people polled becomes true, however, the truth almost always moves contrary to the masses.

 As our freedom is based on knowing the truth, many of these same people are bound up in their falsely held beliefs.

 John 8:32

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 One example we hear quoted from the new truth is, You must take care of your own needs first, before you can love someone else. This idea is widely accepted and almost an universal modern-day belief. But Jesus’ Way is altogether different from this ethos.

 Luke 9:24-25

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

 This verse states a truth that is impossible for the self-absorbed to see. For us Christians, this tenet of self-denial is wholly unpopular in the church today, and seldom spoken from the pulpit in America. We seem to be either focusing on managing sin, or seeking personal validation; both of these focus on our own advancement and happiness as the center focus of Christianity, which they are NOT.

 True Christianity is others-centered.    

  Mark 8:34   

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

 Preoccupation with self leads us away from the true Gospel, even when our intentions are to do the work on ourselves in order to become a better person. Too much introspection is lethal to the soul. It is my concerted view that a better me is a fruit of the cross, not an intellectual pursuit drawn from self contemplation. We will always be disappointed looking inward. God is the Person who changes us and molds us into His image by the power of His Spirit living inside of us (Christians). He must be our focus if we are to become better people.

Philippians 2:13

…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

This includes the scarce attribute of loyalty…

Loyalty has become dear to me and I long to see it in my family and friends. Loyalty is a trait I ask Father-God to produce in me as well. It is right up there with love, compassion and grace.

 But why is there such a dearth of loyalty in today’s society?

 I can’t speak for society as a whole, the Pugh research notwithstanding, but I can speak for what I have observed in the church. Love has become unlike Jesus’ love, in that it has morphed into a multiplicity of man’s conditions on man, which then become demands. It’s the same with loyalty.

 “I will be loyal to you, if you’ll be loyal to me. If you’re not loyal to me, I won’t be loyal to you.”

 With this arrangement, relationships have become quid pro quo, a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately supposition. I suggest that loyalty is only proven when someone we are in relationship with fails us, lets us down or betrays us. This sounds a lot like the disciples, the twelve misfits that followed Jesus and were His closest friends. They all failed Him as He was being led to His death on a cross of wood. He was tortured and killed as a sacrifice for the sins of His disciples and for all of our sins as well.

 This is why we must look to Jesus and take our eyes off of ourselves; we must ask the Spirit to end our myopic self-focus. While the death and resurrection of the Son of God were for us, this life we live here on earth is not about us; it is about loving another: first God and then everyone else.

 While I long for my people to act loyally toward me, I’m much more interested in their healing and wholeness. In the end, I have come to believe that my own healing, wholeness, happiness and loyalty can only come through intimacy with my Creator. Our good character will be the fruit of our relationship with Him, as will our intimacy with others. He promised us that the more He reveals of Himself, the more we move toward His likeness, as He takes us from one victory to the next.

  1John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

 2Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

 I prophesy now to every Christian reading this blog, to consider the loyalty of Him who called us beyond servitude to sonship, beyond association to friendship. He has begun a good work of character in us, and loyalty is one of these most beautiful traits. Take a closer look at His inseparable loyalty and ask Him to reproduce this part of Himself in you. Loyalty is certain, for in His perfect loyalty He will never ever quit on you.

Hebrews 13:5   

“...for He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Loyalty is not loyalty unless it costs us something to offer it. With our human frailties, true loyalty is the only way we can ever have lasting relationships.  

 As always, you can respond to these words at calcio.christopher@gmail.com

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

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Belonging: Orphans and Widows

September 2017

BELONGING: ORPHANS AND WIDOWS

 To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about orphans and widows, loss, abandonment and belonging…

                          James 1:27a.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble…

 I used to believe that the half-brother of Jesus, equated “pure and undefiled religion” with taking care of widows and orphans because to do so requires selflessness; actions which receive little notice or praise. While that is true, I have learned during a tough season in my own life how widows and orphans feel on the inside. Widows and orphans long to belong.

 At some point in our lives, we will all feel the sting of rejection by someone who matters. While I hope and pray that you might be spared (one of the lucky ones) it’s likely going to happen. A widow(er) is not voluntarily abandoned, but abandoned through the death of their spouse nonetheless. This is a hard reality in life here on planet earth. Orphans are usually wards of the state because their family is incarcerated, institutionalized, deemed unfit for parenting, or dead. Even though there is a different set of circumstances for orphans, the results are the same.

 So what do widows, widowers and orphans feel?

 For starters, widows and orphans feel alone.

 Having someone with you at all times is, for a married person, their constancy. Even if their relationship isn’t perfect (and none are), there is still the daily-ness of their husband or wife, and then, in the blink of an eye, nothing. The silence is deafening, the emptiness of not having that special someone to share life with, crushing. All their friends and family knew them as a couple, as Mr. and Mrs.… After the passing of one of them, the people they know, even close family members, don’t know how to reach out to them. They always used to be a couple in the context of their marriage, and now they are single. All the activities they would participate in were for couples, and with the death of one of them, they no longer fit the paradigm; they no longer belong. When they are included as an individual in couple’s kinds of activities, they feel like an outsider and the absence of their spouse is only accentuated.

 Even late in life, when a couple expects the passing of one or the other, it’s the lack of that person and the permanency of their absence that weighs them down. Some folks have feelings of regret: that they could have been kinder and done more in the living years, but once their partner is gone it’s all too late to make amends.

 The following are the lyrics that capture the heart of a widower, a song by Kasey Chambers, entitled, ‘Paper Aeroplane’ –

"Paper Aeroplane"

I'm just an old man

My hair is thinning

My head is spinning

I cry myself to sleep at night

And lordy, lordy

Though no one hears me

I know you're near me

You will always be my wife

 And some days make me

Feel weak and shaky

Some fly right right by me

Like a paper aeroplane

And I hardly notice

That the world's gone crazy

But nothings clearer

Than the way you said my name

 And I should've let go by now

Yeah I should've let go by now

But I kept your brownies

And your golden honey

And I smell your flowers

And I saved your money

And I hold your blanket

Close for hours

And I paint my heart blue

But I did it all for you.

 Orphans have a different set of circumstances, but the same feelings. They ask themselves one simple question, “What’s wrong with me? - or - What did I do to deserve being alone?” All of their friends are part of a family, even if it’s a single-parent broken family, it’s still someone who cares for them and is there for them; they belong. When they look around at school, or on their ball team, at church, or in their neighborhood, they see kids who are the sons and daughters of someone, but not them; they belong to no one.

 An orphan gets hit double, because not only are they without someone to care for them, they also carry the burden of rejection. They are rejected by the absence of parents, family, belonging, love and kindness, and in most cases financial stability. An orphan assumes that they are to blame for being alone.

 When you are in a healthy family there is always someone to pick you up when you fall. Solomon put it this way –

 Ecclesiastes 4:10-12        

For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,

For he has no one to help him up.

11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;

But how can one be warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 For example, if you cut your finger on a broken bottle, the people you live with would help you dress the wound and get a Band-Aid on the cut to stem the bleeding. Or if you find yourself with a cold, or worse, the flu, your family will go to the store for you and pick up some medicine to help you feel better. Or if you wake in the middle of the night with a nightmare, someone is there to hold you, comfort you and reassure you that it was just a bad dream. But for the widow and orphan, there is no one to do these things for them. Their life is lonely; desolate. Orphaned by death, a foundling may long for the days when she had someone there. The finality of their death, and the loss of their Mommy or Daddy (or both) is constant. 

It brings with it despair.

 Like it says in verse 10 above, “…woe to him who is alone when [s]he falls…”.

 This is where compassion enters the scene and changes someone’s circumstances, and even their identity. I pray for all of us, that compassion and mercy would bubble up on the inside of everyone, and move us to visit with the widow on your street, or include that little boy or girl who you know has no family.

 At the writing of this essay, I have an 90-year-old widow that I care for. We live on the ranch with her. I do little things for her. I buy her a muffin once a week, so that now she jokes that I am the Muffin Man, like the one that lives on Drury lane in the children’s song.

 Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?

Do you know the muffin man that lives on Drury lane?

 She has her sons and daughters to take care of her, but she has me, too! We are just upstairs from her and a phone call away. No one asked me to do this for her, I simply saw the need, and I stepped up with compassion and love for this woman in the twilight of her life.  

 There are currently more than 500,000 orphans living in America. This number includes those in temporary care. 120,000 live “in the system” and have no one, not even foster parents. The situation worsens for those over the age of 10, for the chance of them being fostered or adopted decreases exponentially as they age.

 According to the U.S. census bureau (1999 statistics), 800,000 people are widowed every year, and the total number living in America without their spouse is 13.6 million. That’s a BIG number!

13,600,000

 Only 38% of all widows and widowers are taken into the homes of their children. That is a sad commentary on the self-centeredness of Americans today. This is what Jesus Himself said about our parents –

 Matthew 19:19

“Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

 We often think of the second part of this verse as the ‘Golden Rule,’ where we strive to follow the Golden Rule to show Christian charity, but I would ask, how many widows and orphans do we stop for? They are all around us.

 In the name of Jesus, please, practice religion that is pure and undefiled. Visit widows and widowers. Include orphans in your children’s activities. Even better: adopt one if you are able. End their loneliness and abandonment; give them the chance to belong. We must be the Hands of Jesus and wrap our arms around one of these precious people. This is the Father’s heart toward us.

 Matthew 25:40

And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

 He affirms our adoption as sons and daughters –

 2 Corinthians 6:18  

“I will be a Father to you,

And you shall be My sons and daughters,

Says the LORD Almighty.”

 Father-God is the Spouse of every widow and the Father of every orphan. But we are the ones that carry this out: love and belonging. We put an end to their loneliness and their abandonment when we see them, and include them in our lives.  

 As always, you can respond to these words at calcio.christopher@gmail.com

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

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A Letter To A Friend

July 2017

To my friend...also for my fans and seekers…

 I would like to write a letter to a traveling companion.

  There are so many things I wish to say to you, but you will not allow it; you have run away, created a clever hiding place. So I put to you a series of questions, which I have written here for your benefit, as I intercede for you with the Father of us all, that He might reach His gentle hand down into your soul and remove the thing there which has you bound.

1.     Have you ever considered the truth that love is a verb?

 John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

 2.     Do you remember when I quoted Heidi Baker to you, a modern-day Mother Teresa, as saying, “Love looks like something,”…?

John 13:35

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 3.     Was there ever anyone that Jesus accused, abandoned or cursed?

 John 3:17

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 Hebrews 13:5b.   

…For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 4.     Did you know that “devil” in the Greek means false accuser, slanderer, and that “satan” (I never give him the respect of a capital “s”) in the original Chaldee language connotes an accuser, as in an attorney general working for the law?

 Revelation 12:9-10

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

 5.     Why would you ever be party to false accusations, or submit yourself to the authority of one who does so?

 Proverbs 6:16, 19    

These six things the LORD hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

19 A false witness who speaks lies,

And one who sows discord among brethren.

 6.     Ask yourself what or who caused you to stop believing in your friend(s)?

 1Corinthians 13:7

[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 7.     Did you not know that a house divided against itself crashes and falls into destruction? Has not division come?

 Luke 11:17

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.”

 8.     Knowing your past, I ask you as a person who has been forgiven of much, shouldn’t this produce overwhelming love in you?

 Luke 7:47

“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

 9.     When did it become okay to establish an opinion or position of a matter with zero witnesses? Didn’t our LORD say it would take two or three to establish fact?

 Matthew 18:16

But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

 10.  My brother, how has it come to pass that you would transfer the authority over your life, into the hands of one who speaks against another? Didn’t you know that it is only God Himself who can judge the heart and intentions of a man?

 Luke 6:37   

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

 11.  Can any man condemn another, especially one like me, who believes that Jesus is the anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, who lived, was delivered into the hands of Pontius Pilot, was crucified, died and was buried, and subsequently conquered sin and death by rising from the dead on the third day? I believe!

 James 4:11   

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

 12.  My friend, isn’t it so that you have been deceived and have abandoned true fellowship and are listening to evil counsel, giving away the sure discernment of the Holy Spirit?

 Jeremiah 9:4-6          

“Everyone take heed to his neighbor,

And do not trust any brother;

For every brother will utterly supplant,

And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.

5 Everyone will deceive his neighbor,

And will not speak the truth;

They have taught their tongue to speak lies;

They weary themselves to commit iniquity.

6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;

Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.

 If I had the chance to speak to my friend, I would warn him to avoid haters and the divisive. I would remind him that people are known by the fruit of their lives.

 Titus 3:10-11

Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

 And if I had the chance to protect you, my friend, I would remind you that not everyone who looks like a sheep, talks like a sheep, and acts like a sheep, is actually a lamb.

 Matthew 7:15   

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

 But more than anything else, I would tell you, my friend, these words –

·      I love you.

·      I miss you.

·      I forgive you.

 As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

“SEEING” VOICES

June 2017

“SEEING” VOICES

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about hearing and seeing.

  Faith is difficult to codify. Many would say that “to believe” is faith.  For example: “I believe that it’s not going to rain today.” The belief is that it won’t rain based on the weather forecast, the summer season and current conditions. And we can hear the meteorological report: there is no measurable chance of precipitation, based on barometric pressure, weather models, the weather history in the area and so forth. It’s an informed educated position on the day’s forecast.

 People also put their “faith” in what they hear someone say. When a person of expertise or authority says something is going to happen, we tend to believe them; we put our “faith” in their words, because the person speaking is a specialist. When a person with knowledge says something, we believe it.

 We are further influenced by our own experience. As we roll out of bed we notice it’s a sunshine filled morning, the air already warming to greet us; the bees are humming, the birds are singing, and the sun kisses the landscape. Based on our past experience, our senses tell us that it is going to be a glorious day without rain.

 Here in the West (I speak of the generic west) we tend to put our faith in an educated person, and revere the letters that appear after their name. There is a lot of meaning and power in a name, which is a subject for a future blog, but one that needs be mentioned here, for it is NOT what a person does occupationally that is their identity, but what flows out from their truest self. This is a hard idea for westerners, because we nearly worship education and expertise.

 Financial wealth is also vaunted and admired by our culture across the West, as we follow the lives of the rich and famous. We write about their exploits and even mine their opinions and lifestyle, as if their money is a guarantee of character and thus gives credence to their words. Maybe we just want to be rich, too…

 NONE of these are truly faith.

 The Bible provides an excellent definition of faith –

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

 …the evidence of things not seen.

 You can’t see it. You can’t touch it. You can’t smell it. But you can hear it, albeit not with your ears.

 Gideon is the quintessential example of a person who lacked faith, and had became paralyzed with fear. Father-God had called him to fight a great battle against the invading Midianites and Amalekites, and referred to him as a Mighty Man of Valor. This was quite a title for someone who was cowering inside a winepress. Gideon was appointed by God to stand and fight against his people’s usurpers and tormentors, but he was unable to “see” his true identity.

 Having been beaten down for such a long period of time, giving in to Midianite and Amalekite bullying had become a way of life, fear and resignation the resultant mindsets. Where was his faith? It had completely gone, yet the LORD called him. So Gideon whined –

 Judges 6:13  “Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

 Not one thing that Gideon said or inferred in the above paragraph was true.

 His unbelief made it impossible for him to believe what Father-God had done for his people in parting the Red Sea; in delivering them from Egypt. The remembrance of their liberation was replaced by unbelief. And instead of taking responsibility for their current state as the outcome of worshipping false gods (making agreements with the enemy always brings about oppression), he tries to shift the blame onto Father-God for their predicament in having to hide their food and livestock in caves and holes in the ground.

 And he said to the Angel of the Lord, “But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Gideon was blinded by self-pity and fear.

What ensues is a debate between Gideon and the LORD. Father-God once more calls him mighty -

 Judges 6:14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

 I don’t know about you, but if I heard the actual voice of the LORD sending me to fight a battle, I would not argue. But because of Gideon’s inability to “see” he begins to debate God. The sheer audacity of the man makes me laugh out loud as I write this!

 Judges 6:17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He [God] said, “I will wait until you come back.”

 Can you just feel Gideon’s petulance? If it’s really You…If I have really found favor in Your sight…If You’ll just wait a minute, I’ll go and get my offering; I won’t be but a minute, O God of the universe.” Really!? Gideon is unabashedly making God wait for him! 

 Gideon is finally convinced to go out and pull down the altar of the Baal gods which the nation of Israel adulterously worshipped. He tore it down and made a burnt offering of a bull in the manner of the Jews, and did so right at the site where the Baal altar had stood.

 …he did it at night because he was afraid.

  When the men of his village saw what had been done, they inquired who had done this and were told it was Gideon. Now they turned on their kinsman in fear for their own lives, and suggested they make an offering to the same false god. Can you imagine? Not only did they rat on their own brother, but they were prepared to appease the Midianites and Amalekites by putting the godless altar back up.

 There is a special message hidden in this act of cowardice by Gideon’s people that is meant for us Christians: when we know what is right but turn back to try to appease those who are disappointed or angry with us, we back down from the challenge to maintain our true identity in Christ. This is often done in an attempt to recapture the favor of extended family, once we have left them and their ways for the kingdom of God. This should never be. The wrath of those left behind should never be rejoined. On this matter Jesus spoke clearly!

 Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 But Gideon’s father Joash, at last spoke sense into the situation, as he suggested that the Baal god himself should plead his own case, since its altar was in rubble.

 The people of the East heard about the uprising against their gods and came upon Gideon’s city en masse. They mustered their armies at the edge of the Jezreel Valley where the Israelites lived. They were an outraged violent people who would brook no disagreement. At this juncture the Spirit of God came upon Gideon and empowered him, strengthened him to a degree, but still he was not convinced.

 Next comes the famous “fleece deal” that Gideon concocts to test whether or not he was really hearing God’s voice. Many teachers in the church have taught Gideon’s fleece as a method of finding out God’s will, yet it is nothing more than a practice of unbelief: putting God to the test. Yet the LORD was patient and forbearing with Gideon —— and I should add, far more patient than any of us would have been, but that’s why His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

 Judges 6:36-38 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

 If you’re really who you say you are, and if you’re really going to do what you have promised, if I can really trust you to follow through, make the ground dry and the lambs wool wet in the morning.

 Like I said, “audacity.” But amazingly he’s still not done—not even after the wet fleece.

 Judges 6:39-40 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”  40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

 Please don’t be angry with me, but would You now do the same thing again, only in reverse? This is the last time, I promise!

 If it were I he would have been incinerated long before his suggestion of the first fleece. Suffice to say, fleecing is NOT an act of faith. He simply will not surrender to the Father’s will, and not just for lack of faith, but for the lack of a good opinion of his Father-God.

 A person’s faith, or lack thereof, is exposed when trials come. How we react to adversity demonstrates what we really believe about God, at least for those who claim the cross of Christ for their salvation. Is He trustworthy? Is He faithful? Does He come through for His own? Can He be counted on to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves?

 Here in the West, we do for ourselves. We call an expert. We call a professional. We call in law enforcement. We call anyone but Father-God. Faith? Where is our faith? In whom do we place our trust?

 I now speak prophetically to every Christian reading this blog:

“When trials come upon you, the degree to which you super-control your environment demonstrates your level of unbelief. Control equals fear. Fear equals control. The Spirit of God would have you lay down your “weapons” and be at rest. Listen for His voice and His direction on how to solve your issue, not the experts! Elevate Him and His Word over the advice of others, regardless of how many letters might appear after their names. HE is the only faithful One, He is the One you need, He is the most wise One, His Word is true and will come to pass.”

 When a person is seemingly at death’s door, you will often hear the words, Well, all we can do now is pray… Excuse me?!? That’s what you should have done first, never as a last resort.

 Back to Gideon…

 He went out to meet the Midianites and Amalekites with 32,000 men, less than half of all their enemies. But God lowered their forces by 22,000, leaving Gideon (that is, Gideon the farmer cum general!) with just 10,000 men. I’m sure Gideon looked at Father-God’s math and found it wanting. But God wasn’t finished by a long way. He further shrunk Gideon’s army by another 9,700, leaving him with a mere 300 men to fight a horde of over 100,000 wildlings.

 God was weeding out the fearful and the unbelieving…

 Then by the direction of the God of Angel Armies, the 300 Israelites carried lamps and trumpets (shofars) into battle. God then planted a dream in one of the Midianites that carried an ill omen, and word of it spread throughout the enemy camp. Because of this dream, their enemies became terrified and in complete disarray, when Gideon’s “army” smashed their lanterns and blew their horns. The invading army turned their swords on each other as they fled.

 Suffice to say, Gideon and his band of horn-blowers wiped out what was left of the horde.

 What can we take away from this story for the day when we find ourselves surrounded by enemies on all sides? What can we borrow from Gideon’s story when our situation looks completely hopeless? How should we think and act when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds against us?

 My word to you, my family, friends, fans and seekers, is to turn to His Word. Listen for His voice. And as much as I love to read God’s Word, I’m not speaking specifically about the Bible at this time.

 Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 Paul the apostle tells us how faith comes to us, the measure of faith that Jesus spoke of when He walked. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God.”

 The word used here is the word rhema, not logos, meaning the utterance of God as He whispers in our ear. Yes, He still speaks very clearly from the Bible and it is a living document, but what is referred to here is the Voice of God we hear in our spirit. He is a good, good Father, and not a silent austere being. He NEVER holds out on us; He is willing to speak to us, to bless us with wisdom and reassurance, and to empower us with faith as we hear His private message to our spirit (one that will only ever agree with His written Word, the Bible).

 So to end this offering with the highest authority on the subject of His Word, Jesus spoke Father’s rhema to the devil during his 40-day test in the wilderness –

 Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

 By now you have guessed that the word for “word” used here is once again rhema, utterance. That was quite an utterance the devil heard that day. The warning for us, especially concerning our faith, is this: you are what you eat.

 Feast on His rhema, the bread of life, and live.

 As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

June 2017 Boundaries

June 2017

BOUNDARIES

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about boundaries.

  Language is an ever-changing practice. Whether spoken or written, English has been evolving (some would say “devolving”) for centuries. There are a lot of words used today that didn’t exist 50 years ago. Most of these are buzzwords, or turns of phrase, which are now used commonly.

 Take the Middle English words, “Hale, and well met!” Today we would say, “How are you doing? Hope you’re well…,” or some similar form of greeting. Hale, and well met has nearly been forgotten.

 With the rise of therapy and behavioral expertise, the term boundary has entered the vernacular. It’s not just spoken by those who professionally practice some form of counseling, but the word is being used by nearly everyone.

 What is a boundary?

 In family therapy BOUNDARY is a term used liberally and has many applications. It can establish the autonomy of a person from those they come in contact with, like family, coworkers, fellow students, neighbors, lovers and so forth. A boundary can be used to keep a person emotionally safe in a relationship of any kind, or used to define the intricacies of a romantic relationship. And while technically a boundary is meant to establish and maintain a healthy relationship, all too often they are erroneously applied as a barrier of entry for a person on the receiving end of its misapplication.

 While I’m sure that most therapists mean well and have an intrinsic love for people (no doubt this love for people caused them to enter the field in the first place), they can’t possibly oversee or govern the installment of the boundaries they recommend to their clients. They can’t even determine the veracity of their client’s testimony in their office. They most often hear a one-sided account. It’s tough to get to the truth that way…

 Back to boundaries! The word boundary is spoken so freely in society today, as though people were familiar with them and their proper usage. In looking at a number of therapists’ blogs, it seems clear that boundaries are meant “...to regulate relationships, while maintaining them in a more emotionally healthy way,” but that is seldom the outcome — I have observed.

 Please remember as you read this, that I am largely writing to Christians, believers and followers of the Way: the way that Jesus lived by example for us and commanded us to emulate in our own lives. He set the high watermark for doing life, and every idea, word and deed must come under His authority for those who follow Christ.

 The question I raise is this: did Jesus set boundaries with people?

 Many people today speak of Jesus meek and mild, as He is often depicted in paintings holding a child, surrounded by puffy white sheep, or touching someone lovingly with healing hands. These examples of Jesus are at best insufficient, and at the worst misleading. The following are quotes from Jesus’ own lips, as He addressed some religious control freaks, known as Pharisees –

 Matthew 12:34 “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Matthew 23:33 “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Matthew 23:27   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

 Jesus meek and mild? I think not…

 His response was always perfectly measured and applied to the situation that He faced. When He spoke to someone who was unloved and maltreated by society, He spoke affirming words. When He spoke to someone in need of forgiveness, He spoke reassuring words. But when He spoke to religious hypocrites, His tone was decidedly confrontational.

 But one thing He never did, was deny someone access to Him in the name of a boundary.

 Everyone was welcomed, whether or not they were in agreement with Him, meant Him good or evil, wanted to do for Him or take from Him. He was completely accessible, and still is today by faith alone. My only knowledge of Jesus ever setting a boundary was with the great Deceiver and Accuser, satan.

(See Matthew 4:10) 

What was originally meant by therapists to be beneficial within a relationship, has morphed and been contorted into a weapon; a barrier; a wall. It saddens me to see how easily we give up on each other, in families, in places where we work, in neighborhoods, in ministry and even in marriages. One day two people are building a life together, dreaming together, making babies together, and the next they are filing for divorce. The boundary becomes the justification for NOT doing life with their former friend, family member, neighbor, spouse.

 I must add that any sort of legal action against someone you supposedly love(d) can easily become a tool of a personal war, a bludgeon of retribution. Jesus commanded us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” A boundary that doesn’t work for both parties, and concurrently toward reconciliation between them, is a farce. Legal actions taken against a mate places a “boundary” between two former lovers; relationship ceases as a legal barrier is erected. 

I would ask every modern Christ-follower to take a close look at Jesus’ life and response to opposition. He truly loved the people that opposed Him and wrongfully treated Him. And yet He still allowed them access, all the way to the cross where He died for the sins of the world.

 2Corinthians 3:6 …who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Boundary indeed…

 The next time you hear her speak of the boundary she needed in order to protect herself, think back to Jesus’ style of openly relating to everyone, no matter who they were. 

I am further amazed at how we have allowed the behavioral science model of family governance to permeate the church. This 75-year old fledgling practice has supplanted pastoral care and true commitment to families that has existed for 2,000+ years, which is described at length in the living Word of God. There are even churches who sponsor boundary-setting seminars and other misguided responses to people they should have loved.

 Why do people feel the need to erect a barrier between them and someone else?

 Here are a few of the reasons given by therapists who I researched on line –

·      To keep from being hurt

·      To protect ones’ sense of self and autonomy

·      To instruct someone in their behavior

·      To limit someone from acting inappropriately

·      To create healthy respect within a relationship

·      To identify the parameters of how a relationship should work

·      To demand respect from the disrespectful

·      To define and control the expectations within a romantic relationship

·      To advocate for feminist ideals

 Notice that none of these end the relationship.

Besides the flippant use of psycho-babble (for that’s what the word boundary has devolved into), I perceive boundaries to be mostly protecting ones’ own self-interests. It becomes, “...what I’m comfortable with, what I’m willing or not willing to do, to give or not give, to be or not be, to suffer or not, etc....,”and always defined exclusively by the user.

 Jesus style of relating might be characterized as unassertive or co-dependant by modern society. Yet boundaries seem to be the opposite of the following –

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Matthew 10:39 “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Matthew 20:16a. “So the last will be first, and the first last…”

Luke 6:27-29  “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.”

 I could offer many more such examples of NOT defending one’s self-interests with so-called boundaries. Is it not enough to know that Jesus Himself turned His other cheek toward those attacking Him as He practiced non-resistance?

 He did it out of love, which is ALWAYS the opposite of self-interest.

 I now speak prophetically to every Christian reading this blog: “If your relationship ends because of the “boundary” you have set, then its walls are too high, and the LORD would have you take it down, brick by brick, in order to reestablish the relationship, for we have been given the Spirit and ministry of reconciliation.”

2Corinthians 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Out of the love in His heart for everyone, Jesus would rather have allowed Himself to be abused than judge or condemn someone for his shortcomings. In the end, the all too common misapplication of a boundary is simply a way to control someone that you dislike or disapprove of, and with the boundary in place, a person can obtain power over the relationship.

 Love is many things, but it always requires risk. To put up walls to keep people out requires no risk at all, and is NOT fundamentally in agreement with the Way. 

Conversely, if someone breaks the law with their behavior there is always a legal consequence for that.

 Paul the apostle wrote these words about what real love looks like, and we Christians would do well to reexamine our motives surrounding boundaries in light of them –

 1Corinthians 13:4-7   

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, DOES NOT SEEK ITS OWN, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 BEARS ALL THINGS, BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURES ALL THINGS.

 In other words, love doesn’t quit on people...

If we loved like Jesus, we would not be so easily provoked, instead we would forbear one another’s weaknesses; we would be able to bear up under whatever was done or said, even if it were a daily occurrence. We would believe the best in our people, no matter where they were currently in their life. This is the only way God can love us, for we, none of us, have arrived yet. And our attitude towards those who wrongfully abuse us, would be to expect and believe for an upward trajectory of improvement in them, while we endure their present state. This is real love, love costs us something; love demands something from us; love demands a sacrifice.

 If we would simply love one another, the practice of boundary-setting to self-protect would fade away, like most of the buzzwords in language that come for a season and are soon forgotten.

  As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

TWENTY MINUTES LATE

May 2017

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about time, and love unreturned.

  Earlier today I heard a song, one that I was already aware of, but it was as though I heard it for the first time. Have you ever done that with a Bible verse, a poem, or a movie? It’s an experience almost like you’re someone else, where you know for sure that you’d seen, heard, considered that thing before, but for whatever reason it previously made little or no impact on you.

 I will get back to the song a bit later…

 Life is made of layers. Young layers, not-so-young and old layers. Life has layers of good and bad, success and failure. There are layers of importance in our life, such as work, faith, family or doing the laundry, not all are made equal. Layers of people: close people, distant people, essential people and unknown people. Then there’s layers of yourself; what you want people to see and the part you show to a selected few…or even to just one. Some people never peel back enough of their layers to reveal their hidden self underneath.

 Sometimes we don’t know what’s there because we’re afraid to look.

 I heard a man speaking the other day about time, which he declared was the only thing we spend that we cannot get back. Mercifully, he is wrong.

 Joel 2:25a. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…”

 I’m glad he’s wrong, because I’ve made too many mistakes in my life to walk down his corridor of worldly-minded resignation. I would lose heart if his unbelief were true.

 What if it were true? 

What if every wasted second was unredeemable? 

If you knew that you could NEVER get back a single second of wasted time…would you –

·      Let other carts pass in front of you before you enter an aisle at the grocery store?

·      Let a frantic driver cut in on you so she can exit the freeway?

·      Stop to buy a meal for a homeless person at the mall?

·      Answer the phone when you see the name of a needy friend on your call identifier, even though it’s time for dinner?

·      Hang around after church to speak with friends and neighbors, even though it’s only small talk?

·      Give up your perfectly situated seat to an elderly person on the Metro?

 If time were not redeemable, perhaps we’d never love anyone, or do any acts of kindness, random or deliberate. But because we can love, we have the capacity to act intentionally, but it will cost us---it will cost us time.

 We can do nice things for the people in our lives; it’s even expected of us in a relationship of any significance. Have you ever forgotten your husband’s birthday, or your anniversary? Have you ever overlooked your dad on Father’s Day?

 The real challenge must be: can we do acts of love for people we don’t know, have never met before and may never see again?

 You would think the conviction that time was NOT redeemable would cause us to live life friendlier, kinder, slower and more loving. My observation is that it works in the opposite direction. Without a view to redemption, people’s hearts seem more self-motivated, more fearful and more desperate. So I pose a question to the redeemed, those who see Jesus as their Savior –

 If we truly believe that time is redeemable, then why should we ever be in too big of a hurry to love someone? If time spent well is forever being replenished, then what’s stopping us from living life in random acts of intentional love?

 Now back to the song I heard today. I was listening to Bonnie Raitt’s very sad I Can’t Make You Love Me. In my life I have found this to be true. I have tasted the bitter aftertaste of rejection. There are many people I love who love me in return…and then there are those who have refused to love me, no matter how much love I have for them.

 Bonnie’s song is correct: we cannot make someone love us if they don’t, but we can choose to love them; to share the love we have been given by God.

 It’s easy to live life insular and disconnected, cautionary and defensive; anyone can do that. Being connected to the world around us takes intentionality; it requires openness; it requires vulnerability and trust in Father-God that He’s got your back. We must choose to love everyone we know, or see, or encounter, whether or not they love us back. I’ve heard it said that you can’t give what you don’t have. That is true. Some cannot love because they have not experienced the love of God—ironically some who cannot love well are those who have self-identified with Christ Jesus as their Savior. This ought not to be. These people are so loved, but somehow they have NOT experienced His love.

 This is where you and I must act. We can always choose to love the unlovely, we can always choose to love the unloved; we can always choose to love those ignorant of what love looks like: we can be gap-fillers. We can always choose to love those who wait on us at the coffee shop, or serve us at the mini-mart. We can always choose to love those who fight us for our spot in line or on the freeway. We can always choose to love those who curse us for what we believe or for our appearance. We can always choose to love people who don’t accept us or may even be antagonistic toward us.

 We can love those who judge us, accuse us and hate us.

 To love is charged to us, the children of the Most High God, even though it may make us late to wherever we are going. I’m so thankful for those “angels” who have arrived twenty minutes late to their destinations because they stopped to love on me.

 'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't You can't make your heart feel something it won't Here in the dark, in these final hours I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power But you won't, no you won't 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't

-       Bonnie Raitt

 Yes, we can’t make someone love us that refuses to, but our love is not predicated on them loving us back. We love God because He first loved us, maybe that’s the best way to hope for a love-filled tomorrow, that our love will produce love. Yet even if some refuse to love us, we can still love them with the love we have been shown by our Savior, who so loved the world that He gave His life for us, even when we didn’t love Him at all.

 1John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.

 I’m certain that Jesus was often twenty minutes late to wherever He was going.

  As always, you can respond to this essay at my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, my website Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

April 2017

NO CONDEMNATION

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about no condemnation.

 You may self-identify as a Christian (this would include every form of believer in Christ), then this essay is for you.

 If you don’t consider yourself a believer in Jesus Christ, then you will find this ironically supportive of some of your reasons for not attending church, but it must be said that I love Jesus and His church with all my heart!

 In the Greek language (the original language in which the New Testament was written) the word for condemnation is katakrima. kat-ak´-ree-mah  This word brings with it a heavy verdict and sentence against someone, ostensibly for their wrong-doing—for their sin.

 The modern western church speaks a lot about how there is now no condemnation…EXCEPT WHEN THERE IS!

 There is no condemnation, unless –

·      You’re LGBT

·      You’re homeless

·      You’re an immigrant from a less desirable country

·      You don’t speak English

.      You’re divorced or separated

·      You’re a single mother with children out of wedlock

·      You’ve committed adultery

·      You’re living with your significant other

·      You’re morbidly obese

·      You’re in prison

·      You’re into the occult

·      You’re a “wife beater”

·      You’re a pornographer or porn actor

·      You’re a drug dealer

·      You’re a Muslim or Jehovah’s Witness

·      You’re tatted and pierced

·      You’re infected with AIDS

There are many other such categories that the organized church seems unable to love. Oh, they’ll recite prepared slogans, like, “Love the sinner and hate the sin…,” which I intend to scrutinize here.

 Wherever we see condemnation, judgments have been made. The person who has been judged as guilty has been adversely sentenced, and this leads to separation within a community.

 The Amish community goes so far as to ostracize that person. In other words, they’re not allowed to live within the confines of their village or town, and if the ostracized person chooses to stay, no one will speak to them. The Amish call this a shunning.

 As you read these words, remember that Christians, people who self-identify with He who was known as the friend of sinners, are the ones doing the shunning. And not to single out the Amish, for although the Amish community has an established name for it, most if not all Christian communities do this in one form or another.

 Jesus of Nazareth: the friend of sinners.

 It’s curious to point out who actually referred to Jesus this way; that gave Him the moniker. It was the religious leaders of His day, the Pharisees, Jewish priests and “holy” men. It seems like not much has changed in 2,000 years, just the kind of leper we have in our generation. In Jesus’ day lepers had to shout “Unclean!” to anyone approaching them, to ward them off, so as to give them a wide berth. Can you imagine the self-reproach and discouragement this would cause in the unfortunate person? You see, leprosy (also known as Hansen’s Disease) made these poor afflicted people unclean in the eyes of the nation of Israel. They were shunned by society because they were infected with the disease which could potentially infect others. In fact, the sins of their parents’ were considered the likely cause of the disease. Wow! Horrible! Once diagnosed, they were forced to live in a cloistered community, inside a walled enclosure, with no tangible support until their anonymous, ignoble death.

 Shun the afflicted. Blame the parents.

 These responses to a disease that causes death seemed reasonable; they practiced sensible precautions; they took safety measures for the greater good. These precautions and strictures saved lives, no doubt…unless you were the one with leprosy.

 I love Jesus; He broke every mold, every chain, every convention, and refused to do anything that didn’t reflect the love in His eyes. Here is how the Bible tells us He treated a man with leprosy –

 Matthew 8:2-3  2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

 Can you see how upside-down Jesus handled the situation with the leper: He put out His hand and touched him… This was a man who had not been touched in any meaningful way since the diagnosis of his leprosy. It was probably years, even decades, since he had any human contact. The leper’s isolation was the practical and religious reality for this man—yet Jesus touched him.

 A leper, a person with full-blown AIDS, the morbidly obese, the fallen down drunk, the crack head, the tatted and pierced, the cross-dresser, the single mom, someone who cannot speak our language—none of these can HIDE their affliction, because it is worn on the outside. Their so-called affliction is out in the open for all to see/hear. What we Christians do with this, when we see weakness, differences, and form judgments, says everything about whether or not we know the real Christ.

 As I read the sermon-on-the-Mount, the greatest message ever delivered by a holy man (Jesus, the Son of the living God), I hear Him speak to the leprosies hidden inside of us. When we get angry with someone, we commit murder. When we speak slanderously and gossip against another, we kill. When we lust for another man’s wife, we commit adultery. When we lust for someone’s stuff, we commit theft. When we chose separation in a marriage, we commit covenant breaking and harm the “little ones”; we forget the love that brought them into existence. When we don’t keep our word, even on the simple stuff, we act on behalf of the devil —— and on and on and on.

 Jesus wasn’t interested in us playing at church and pretending that all is well. He went after the hearts of men and women, cutting through the self-deception we are prone to practice. He has called us to love the unlovely, even our enemies, and to face our inconsistencies.

 Matthew 5:46-48 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

 Now, I am not suggesting taking an alcoholic to a bar for drinks with you, or inviting a known pedophile to coach your son’s soccer team, or to appoint a convicted felon of embezzlement over your financial affairs. No, but I am challenging our non-response, or worse, our judgments; our societal practice of condemnation. I hope for you that when you’re time comes to walk with leprosy, that your people will not abandon you, as the ancients did of lepers, and as many Christians do today, taking into account our modern forms of leprosy.

 There are people I know intimately that practice condemnation in the name of Jesus. They judge, they separate, they shun, they condemn. These people mean well, but cannot represent Jesus to the afflicted, to the sinner, to the guilty, or to the different. And they cannot see themselves by the light of the true gospel. Remember, “…hate the sin, love the sinner? Jesus would ask my people, “In what way are you actually loving the people you accuse of being sinners? How is keeping anyone as an outsider loving?” Every person ever born was made in the image of the Almighty, whether or not they have everything together. And in the final analysis, who truly has it all together? 

Here’s one thing I know: the person who thinks they have it together most definitely does not!

 What is the one thing that the afflicted/guilty/outsider longs for above all else?

 eleos

 I have written the answer to the above question in the language of the New Testament, Greek. This word says a lot to us all about what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ. You’ll probably have to look it up to find out what eleos means, unless you’re Greek or a seminary trained theologian. But trust me when I tell you, this is all that matters to the afflicted/guilty/outsider. This word eleos is what Jesus was known for.

 Why aren’t more Christians known for eleos?

 Here is a reminder from the apostle Paul on how our true hearts are reflected in our actions –

Colossians 3:8, 12-14 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

 May we all live from the Presence of Christ inside of us.

 Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. NIV  (In case you’re wondering where part B is of this verse from the Bible you read, the rest of it was added in the 4th century and should be stricken from your translation)

 As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

Conflict

March 2017

CONFLICT

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about conflict, what causes it and how it is resolved Father’s way…

 No matter how agreeable or accommodating we are, conflict with others is unavoidable.

 People conflict over opinions. People conflict over ideas. People conflict over world-views. People conflict over procedure. People conflict over power and control. People conflict over tradition. People conflict over race. People conflict over perception. People conflict over money. People conflict over politics. People conflict over property. People conflict over personality. People conflict over the truth. People conflict over words and deeds.

 In short, conflict is the emotional outcome of our disagreement.  

 One side says “Yea,” and the other, “nay.” That’s all it takes—that and the ugly presence of pride, and a conflict is formed. Who is right? Who is going to prevail over the other?…for this is the desire of the outraged.

 In most cases conflict is resolved to one degree or another, but too many times conflicts escalate all the way into a court of law, where combatants bring their case before a judge to settle their dispute. I’m sorry to say, I don’t see any observable difference between the way Christians handle their conflicts and non-believers. You might think to yourself, people are people, but we people of the Way have been given clear instructions on how to solve our conflicts without the courts.

 Here is what Jesus said concerning the issue of reconciling our differences; our conflicts –

 Matthew 5:23-24

Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

 “…First be reconciled to your brother.” It wasn’t a request, but a command. The Son of God is not interested in us pretending; He doesn’t want us playing church on Sunday, but is interested in our honesty before Him. I wonder how many churches are filled with people who have tolerated unresolved conflicts. We allow conflicts to stew and remain.

 I have put much thought into why we don’t resolve our conflicts, and here are just some of the reasons why I believe we allow conflicts to continue –

·      Unforgiveness

·      Pride

·      Anger

·      Cowardice

·      High Stakes

·      False Honor

·      Self-righteousness

·      Hurt

·      Judging our brother

·      Distrust of our heavenly Father

 Here is what Paul said directly to the first century church concerning us taking our brother or sister to court –

 1Corinthians 6:1,4-6

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?... 4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?  5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

 He was not pleased with the Corinthian church for their legalisms emanating from their conflicts, and the damage these did to the cause of Christ. 

 It amazes me how Christians waltz into church on Sunday, serve as greeters, ushers, childcare-providers, lectors, pastors, or even make music on the worship team, all the while there is someone with whom they have an unresolved conflict. This looking away from our issues must cause our worship to stink in God’s nostrils. How cavalier we have become, and it is the spirit of the anti-Christ, because this lawful worldliness has infiltrated our minds, infiltrated our attitudes and infiltrated the church. I recently observed a sign at the edge of a hiking trail (where dogs are allowed…) and it made me laugh out loud, “There is no poop fairy. Pick up your dog’s poos!” Now that’s funny! I wonder what a poop fairy would look like…we need one in our churches.

 In a recent conversation I heard someone speak of the majority view as the corroborating voice of truth in regards to the conflict he was in. In other words, if the mob supports his view, if everyone says “so”, it must be so; then he has the high ground, then he is right. Really? People of the Way can never hold a finger up to the wind to discern the direction of Truth. We sail by the force of a different wind.

 I prophesy now in the name of Jesus that God’s Word speaks from a majority of One.

 How far we have fallen from our calling and from grace… When Paul mentioned falling from grace in Galatians, he was speaking about us becoming lawful, legalistic and acting as though we could be justified by observing the law. No. The law can never give life; it can only reveal our faults and weaknesses, and subsequently exact a punishment and a payment.

 Galatians 5:4

You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

 There is someone I know intimately who is a legalist. This person (gender non-specific) loves a debate. This person loves to be right. This person loves the courts. This person’s sense of right and wrong has to do with whether or not they have the court behind them and their views…as in majority rule and lawsuits. I declared the true gospel to this person who claims to believe in Jesus, and so I shared these Words –

 Romans 1:17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

 We are justified by faith, not our behavior, just as faith was accounted as righteousness to Abraham. Abraham lived long before Moses, and the Law was not yet given; he only had his conscience and his God, Yahweh. If the Ten Commandments or the Torah had been around during father Abraham’s time, he would have been in violation of it over and over, i.e. lying, cowardice, fornication, disrespecting authority, faithlessness, marrying outside of his people, and so on. Yet he is called the father of our faith.

 Humility, it seems to me, is the missing ingredient in resolving conflict. If I humble myself before the LORD, he will lift me up. He will exalt me as He sees fit, when He sees fit.

 1Peter 5:6

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…

 Instead of approaching our brothers and sisters with a humble heart, we take matters into our own hands and take people to court. Christians ought never to darken the doors of a heathen court with a heathen judge in the name of justice against another believer. Never. Never. Never. But we do all the time. Have you ever stopped to consider that divorce and separation are legal acts against a spouse? These are carried out with a lawsuit. The spouse who cannot reconcile themselves peacefully with their mate, destroys their marriage, their family and damage their future generations with a sinful pattern of lawfulness that does not solve the conflict.  

 Paul sums it up at the end of his Words to the church in Corinth this way –

 1Corinthians 6:7-8   

Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?  8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

 When Paul states in verse 8 above, No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!, he is defining the court action as the cheating, because as a matter of course it robs the Christians involved of true fellowship through reconciliation. Later on in the letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to the entirety of the Gospel as The Ministry of Reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18) 

Steve Bell recently blogged that the Lenten season can be “...a time of fasting from hostility, and practicing non-resistance.” Sounds like good advise for the law-minded defenders of self and self-interest.

Incidentally, the lawful person I spoke to about their law-based religion, wanted to debate whether or not Paul meant all lawsuits, or just some kinds of lawsuits…but of course that wasn’t a surprise. The heart of love is never considered by those poisoned by legalism.

 In the end, Jesus is our example of humility and non-resistance. He didn’t choose to defend Himself in court or to force His accusers to stand down. He told His Romans captors that He had an entire legion of angels at His disposal, which He could call in a moment’s notice, but if He had done that, then we (none of us!) would now be saved from sin and death; if He had not allowed Himself to be wrongfully accused, beaten, spat upon, mocked and murdered by crucifixion we would not be saved from our sin and ourselves. Non-Resistance, as Bell puts it, is actually a great sign of strength.

 Humility is the only antidote to conflict, but don’t take my word for it; take His Word for it.

 Isaiah 53:7        

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

 As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

Family

February 2017

To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

I would like to write about family, the single unit chosen by our heavenly Father to represent His kingdom…

Family is where we get our start in life. Family nurtures us, teaches us, strengthens us and prepares us for life beyond our beginning. Family helps us dry our butterfly wings so we can fly. I don’t know what I’d do without my family. They are everything to me. Let me repeat that: they are everything to me. I love them far more than any other people on the planet.

When Father-God sent us to this planet as infants, He placed us in families. It was His intention that every single one of us be planted in a family, like a tree along a riverbank, fertile and verdant.

God places the lonely in families…

- Psalms 68:6a. 

Family is our source of the familiar and gives us a sense of daily-ness. They are always there and want to spend time with us, just like we want to be with them. Family is interested in our doings: all our comings and goings, the ins and outs of our day, and they always have time to ask how things are going. Family cares about our outcomes and is not only supportive towards us, but also involved in bringing about successful outcomes. They are usually difference-makers in our toughest situations.

 Family is the group of people we love, no matter what, just exactly like Father loves us—unconditionally. Family members are those we turn to when we are down, in need, or attacked. Family watches our back. When outsiders make comments about us in our absence, family stands up for the good in us; they’re the ones who will back down our critics and naysayers.

 Family believes in us and sees our potential for goodness. They overlook our deficiencies and emphasize our strong points. They see what we can become, while down-playing where we are lagging in life. Family enjoys discussing the finer points of our best characteristics, while overlooking the areas in our lives, which are still under construction; family believes in the best us.

 Family celebrates everything that makes us unique. They empower us to do great things because of their ability to see us positively without a critical filter. Family encourages us on to fulfill everything we were meant to be on this planet, and love us by lifting us up when we lose sight of our own potential. Family is protective of our calling in life and will defend us from any voice, or power, that would attempt to block us from our destiny. Family are destiny-facilitators.

 Family knows what it means to sacrifice, because they literally lay their lives down for one and other every single day. Family puts the needs of others within the family first, even ahead of their own wants and desires of the moment. Family holds nothing back from each other, and we can count on them to provide for us if we have need. Family anticipates our need and offers to assist us, even before we ask.

 Family corrects us when we get off track, privately, so as to preserve our dignity. Family never points its collective finger at us, but encourages us to reach for a higher standard, and if we don’t know how to get there, they show us the way. Family praises in public and corrects in private. Family advocates for us, no matter what mistake we might have made. In fact, because family is so focused on exercising the better angels of their true natures, they are planning solutions to our problems even before we realize.

 Family catches us if we stumble, and they pick us up and dust us off when we fall. Family is faithful and loyal and fights for us, never against us. Family will spare no effort or resource to help us overcome any challenge we may face, especially the ones that we haven’t been able to sort out on our own, even after much trying. Family stays and perseveres.

 Family sees us for who we are, observes our weaknesses and refuses to judge us, even when outsiders urge them to do so. Family doesn’t condemn us for any mistake we might make. Even though they may be disappointed in us, they will not let it show because they believe the best is yet to come. There is honor for all in family, irrespective of where we are on our journey.

 Family does not judge each other because it knows that judging leads to separation, which leads to the death of family. There is no feuding or separating in family, because its core fiber is unity and oneness, starting with mom and dad. And family knows that it must remain, as love remains in the world, for it is the salt of the earth. Family knows that all separation is a prideful heart and self-righteous spirit at work.

 Family doesn’t always agree with one another, but that’s okay because it understands that a plethora of opinions and views are essential to a healthy family, as are its diverse members. Family is not given to endless debate and argumentation, because they know that being right is overrated, but being loved and cherished is a bit of heaven on earth. Family knows that Truth is true, but love reigns supreme.

 Family never accuses each other, because family knows there is already an accuser and he is evil. To suspect a family member is to agree with that old devil. Family always believes for the best in each other, hopes for the same, and bears whatever life may conjure up. When family hears outsiders accuse their member, they refuse to believe the accusation without 2 or 3 family witnesses.

 Sometimes family can’t or won’t do all of the above…

 If we find ourselves born into a family that can’t or won’t live out the above, love them and model these for them, for only then can you be the one that empowers your family to become all that it was meant to be.

 Until then——I cry with you.

 Remember, family is THE unit, which Father-God chose to represent His kingdom on earth, and His love for us.

 As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

Pain

January 2017

 To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about pain, how and why it comes upon us, and what are its origins…

 Pain or hurt, are inevitable in this life, and I don’t know about you, but I find pain one of the most confounding aspects of life.

 Pain is associated with an injury, rejection, or loss.

 This world is infected with pain everywhere you look, and the fact that our world keeps spinning at all is in itself a miracle. There are wars, famines, epidemics, terrorism, hatred, crime, racial prejudice, natural disasters and death—to name just a few. These cause pain to the afflicted and to those that remain.

 There are some that would place the onus on Father-God for our pain—that He uses it to teach us. So it goes like this:

“Son, I warned you not to play with matches because they can start a fire and burn our house down. Since you can’t seem to obey me, I’m going to light this match and hold the flame to the palm of your hand until the match burns all the way down. It’s going to hurt and seriously scorch the flesh on your hand, but it’s for your own good; I’m doing this to teach you a lesson you will never forget, because I love you.”  

 Can you imagine? What uttter nonsense! This contradiction is what some misguided folks believe, when they ascribe pain to some part of God’s sovereignty, a.k.a. He creates “pain” for our good. This is a distorted view of His sovereignty and it misrepresents His will in the world.

 It’s not that I don’t believe He is sovereign, I do. But I also know that He has placed a great deal of trust in us as followers of Jesus; to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. …as it is in heaven: where there is no pain. So there are great areas of freedom that we walk in for good or ill, depending on how we exercise that freedom. Our freedom is there for us to love or hate, bless or curse, to do good or cause pain.

 I believe that love is the answer to the “why” of pain. Love is a risk, and it will cost us everything we’ve got to live in love, and to enforce it. We risk the loss of everyone or everything that we love. It is because of our capacity to love that we can feel, and sometimes those feelings are painful.

 I remember when I was a little boy, before school-age, our family received Jonas Salk’s polio vaccination in sugar cubes. In addition, my parents were ordered by the CDC to destroy all our older stuffed animals and other soft toys, in order to prevent the spread of polio. My Teddy Bear was a casualty of the war on polio. The after-effect of losing my stuffed pal was a recurring nightmare in which a 150-foot tall living Teddy Bear attacked our neighborhood (think Godzilla…). In the dream we were on the run from the beast and just when we thought we had escaped him and made it to safety, I looked up, and there he was. There was no place to hide or run. He reached down and grabbed my scrawny little self, and lifted me up to his gigantic mouth to eat me—not anyone else, just me. And right before I entered the dark cavern of his great mouth, I woke up.

 I had the same dream more than twenty times, the last time when I was fifteen. I went through more than ten years of waking up in a cold sweat from a very bad dream.

 No doubt the loss of my Teddy Bear had a HUGE effect on me.

 And then there is rejection. This may be the most painful of all. When we love someone who doesn’t love us in return, or maybe can’t love us because they lack the capacity—rejection can be like a dagger to the heart. As a matter of course we find ourselves asking the question, “What’s wrong with me that they can’t love me?”, even if it’s only asked in our subconscious mind.

 And eventually there’s death, which finds us all. My Great Aunt Alice is 102 years of age at the writing of this blog. She still has all her faculties and mobility, albeit assisted by a cane. Amazing! But even centenarians run out of time—eventually. The ratio of death to humans is 1 to 1. Losing a loved one leaves a void, and that can suck us down a vortex of grief if we let it.

 I remember losing my uncle Rico 25 years ago. He and I had done a few music projects together and had made plans to do more, but throat cancer took him. When people are ripped from our life through sickness or tragedy, it’s always too soon…too soon. I didn’t slow down to mourn his passing, and the grief I put off became a full-blown depression 15 months later. It was a situational depression, not chemical, but who really knows…is it the chicken or the egg when it comes to a depression?

 One of the Old Testament’s more quirky characters was a man called Jabez. He prayed to have more land, more influence, more blessing and protection from evil. But interestingly he ended his prayer with these words, “…that I may not cause pain.”

 Now that’s a good prayer for us all.  

 The greatest pain of all is when those we love choose to do us wrong; when they injure us. Nothing hurts more than a betrayal from a close family member. When those that should know better hurt us, we are left dazed and bewildered. As Bernie Taupin wrote for Elton John, “Love lies bleeding in my hand.”

 Well said and sung.

 Because God works all things to our good, nothing we go through is wasted. We do mature on the other side of pain. We do grow in character on the other side of pain. We do learn to better appreciate what we have on the other side of pain. We do gain the perspective of the pain we’ve gone through and how we emerged from it, and then we can comfort others who are going through similar pain. For sure, pain produces something positive if we don’t get stuck and wallow in it.

 Think manure...

God doesn’t cause pain, but He sure puts it to good use.

No, our God is the cure for pain. He is our loving Father. He is our Comforter. He is our Protector. He is our Restorer. He is our Vindicator. He is our Deliverer. He is our Defender. He is our Redeemer. 

He is our Healer.

 Pain comes from our ancient foe and accuser, and from us, for we are human; we are weak. Every one of us causes pain to someone or to ourselves, and when we do, we live in agreement with our adversary. We humans are fallible and given to error, sin and falseness. This is why we need a Savior. I wrote a song called ‘Only One’, which is on my album entitled Spring. It speaks to Jesus Christ being the only One who can solve the world’s macro problems. If we could have solved the world’s issues, wouldn’t we have done so by now?

 Pain reminds us that we are human, and humans never stop needing His love.  

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

Mercy

December 2016

 To my family, friends, fans and seekers...

Today I am going to speak about our quality of mercy.

Mercy, its been said, is reserved for sinners. Anyone who becomes aware of their own failing, seeks mercy. Mercy is the substance of unmerited favor, and in this world of ours the most unlikely, while always the most overlooked.

Mercy is like rainfall on drought-parched lands, or better, torrential rains that fall    unexpectedly on a raging firestorm. It's like your first paycheck after    prolonged unemployment. It's like the news of your first pregnancy and the    coming babe after experts told you that conception was impossible. Mercy is    like the embrace of a loved one, long believed to be dead, against all odds    found alive. It is like the feel of sunshine on your face after a long and    harsh winter (think northern Alberta,). Mercy is like the last place team beating the league champions. Mercy is when Leicester won the Premier League Football in England, a 5,000 to 1 shot.

 Mercy is ironic blessedness.

 Our desperate ignorance of mercy is suddenly altered when we find ourselves judged and found wanting. Condemnation in all of its sanctified and unsanctified forms is heaped upon someone who needs mercy, but receives judgment instead.

 Today I heard a policeman discussing a murder case, and he stated that he needed justice for his job to mean something, and if the perpetrators do not pay, then he gains no affirmation of righteousness in his job. He claimed that society needs justice and that it must be satisfied. I say he does not realize what he is asking. We've all heard the admonition, "Be careful what you ask    for; you just might get it," Imagine what life would be like if we all got what we deserved every time.

 Steve Bell, one of my favorites in music (Juno award winning Canadian singer/ songwriter ~ Stevebell.com), sings a song of societal retribution called, "Somebody's Gotta Pay," in which the lyrics portray the sexual abuse of a young girl...and we ALL immediately bristle at the very mention of it, as we should do. But Bell masterfully delves deeper into society's drive for justice.

 Who do you call to make it right.

Not gentle Jesus meek and mild

That's for sure, for He won't fight

 So I can't stop thinking about it --- imagining that I

Could be the reaper grim enough to make it right

The problem is there's no one with

enough to lose to pay for this

 Somebody's gotta pay for this

Nobody gets away unless somebody dies

And it's confirmed that there's been pain

Enough to satisfy the rage

 In a way we re-crucify Jesus every time we demand justice, for all have sinned and fallen short of His perfection...isn’t it is a matter of degrees? I ask simply whether or not His sacrifice on the cross was enough? 

Jesus experienced a woman brought before Him caught in the very act of adultery, and the religious mob wanted her dead. Being stoned to death was their judgment and condemnation for her. They challenged Jesus’ grace and love message with the law. (By the way, isn't it always the law within which we disguise our hatred?) So Jesus answered their challenge with one of the most powerful reversals of juris prudence in recorded history.

 "Let him/her who is without sin cast the first stone."

 The law of their day, and for certain crimes in ours, demanded death. But we moderns are more sophisticated in dispatching our capital offenders with a lethal dose, like putting a rabid dog down. This is the carrying out of justice to some. But it is birthed from the same mob spirit. Once again I appeal to your own sense of mercy for yourself. What if you were on the wrong end of one of    these laws?

What if?

What if, in a moment of passion, out of control, you took the life of another? What if you were texting your boyfriend in the car and you hit a family van? What if the ensuing “accident” makes you responsible for a crash that kills five children in the car, leaving their mother behind to grieve the loss of every child she ever gave birth to? What if you leave your own small child unattended for just five minutes to finish the laundry, only to discover that while you were away, they have eaten a lethal amount of pesticide you kept under the sink? What if you mix up the medication you administered to your elderly father, causing him a deadly overdose? What if...what if...what if?...

 The old covenant approach is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Is this who we are? Is this the best we can do?

 Jesus of Nazareth came to teach us a new way. "If you only look at a man/woman with lust in your eye, you have committed adultery. If you call someone a fool, you have committed murder. If you envy your neighbor's stuff or spouse, you have committed theft."

 So, are we guilty of such acts and atrocities? Yes, whether or not we have performed the act—at least that’s what Jesus taught. This is a hard saying, a hard idea. Then who can be saved? Anyone who sees their own weaknesses and desperate need for salvation. Anyone humble enough to cry out to the only One who can save them. Answering the very question, "Who can be saved?," Jesus said, "With man this is impossible , but with God all things are possible." All things --- even forgiving a murderer...a rapist...an embezzler...an adulteress woman.

 Are we so weak and judgmental that we must insist on punishment for the guilty? Oops—that includes us! That includes you! That includes me!

 Twenty years ago I was ardently for the death penalty. Ten years ago I became conflicted. Today I no longer have any conflict on the subject: I am against it. Steve Bell got it right when he sang, "The problem is there's no one with enough to lose to pay for it." Remember, we're all guilty by God's standard; none of us is righteous, not a one. Remember, too, we may be next; we may find ourselves on the wrong end of a judgment, or falsely accused of something    we did not do. But for the sake of the argument, let's assume we are guilty...what then?

 "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown," said Linus van Pelt to his best friend, Charlie.

 Somehow we’ve lost sight of exactly why the babe was born in a manger, 2,000 years ago. He didn't come to judge the world, "...for I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." - John 12:47  And boys howdy do we ever need saving from ourselves. Jesus, and only Jesus, has done this for us. He has declared us righteous. (Romans 5:17, 2 Corinthians 5:21)

 I find it so ironic that a hedonist like Shakespeare (of all people!) got it right in a play he wrote, called The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, scene 1, where we derive the famous demand for justice "a pound of flesh". I will end this essay with his glorious words on mercy.

 The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown:

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself

 As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

Armistice

November 2016

 To my family, friends, fans and seekers…

 I would like to write about armistice: what it does and what the lack of it brings…

 “War is hell,” so said General William Tecumseh Sherman of the American Civil War. I am going to put forth the proposition that “Hell is war.”

 Anger, offense, pride, weakness, injury and loss all damage human relations, and in the most overblown example of these is war itself. In one of the most ironic understatements ever, war is often referred to as a conflict. The most notable such conflicts in the world today are in Iraq, Israel, the Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Libya, and Nigeria. If it is true that war is hell, then hell has come to earth.

 One such hellacious war was fought in the twentieth century, from 1914 – 1918, World War 1. WWI, the so-called war to end all wars, was responsible for 11 million dead service men and women, and 8 million innocent civilians. The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austria-Hungarian empire was the original cause of the war, but the alliances of many countries ensured a great host of nations would fight for a somewhat ambiguous cause. Eighteen million people for the assassination of one Archduke? Really?

 As wars often are, this one was bloody and barbaric, including trench warfare, mustard gas bombs, flame throwers, and archaic battle formations with their customary practice of soldiers advancing in lines like ducks in a shooting gallery. Many also died in the trenches of disease, where there were millions upon millions of rats, causing trench fever, dysentery, rabies and trench foot (a type of fungus). If the gas, whiz bangs (bombs) or snipers didn’t kill you, the diseases were an ever-present threat.

 World War One has been dubbed ‘The Great War,’ although I fail to see what was so great about it. The war lasted four years and the devastation of Germany and Austria are thought to be largely responsible for the rise of the Third Reich (Adolf Hitler) and the Second World War. So much for the war to end all wars.

 And so it is and so it goes: brothers fight with brothers, mothers fight with daughters, grown children neglect or even disavow their own parents, wives leave husbands (some husbands leave wives), partners divide up businesses, neighbors feud with neighbors, the religious war with the religious, and all because of the conflict they find themselves swept up into. This is why I say hell has come to earth, because the accuser of the brethren (satan) doesn’t really care what we fight over, as long as there is conflict and separation.

 Now don’t misunderstand me; I am proud of soldiers who fight to preserve our freedoms, and there are noble wars, but my guess is that there are just as many (if not more), solutions to the conflicts that would solve them without bloodshed. I can’t speak for the nations of the world, but I can speak for my own relationships with my neighbors and friends, and my wife and family.

 I am no longer tolerant of conflict or the ensuing separation that conflicts produce. Taking an offense is destructive—like a sniper’s bullet. Distrust of loved ones is cancerous—like trench fever. Drawing ideological battle lines is antagonistic—like a million diseased rats in a trench. Judging one another with or without cause is lethal to relationships—like a deadly cloud of mustard gas. In short, like a flame thrower, conflicts burn relationships.

 All of the many reasons which people use to separate from one another come down to one thing only: pride. We take an offense because we believe we deserve better. We develop distrust for those with whom we previously had a good relationship, because they’ve injured us or withheld something we felt entitled to. We distrust those who are different from us, especially those with whom we have a different world-view, or those who don’t look like our people, or act according to our codes of conduct. We judge those who fail to measure up.

 Wouldn’t life on planet earth be totally hopeless if the following substitute account of events were the actual occurrence after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, as He met with His disciples –

 “Well gentlemen, I had planned on building My kingdom on earth, and you all were going to be My regents after you helped me build it, but after how things went down at the cross, I’ve changed My mind. When I was arrested, beaten, scourged, ridiculed, spat on, hung and died on a Roman cross, where were you guys? I couldn’t find any of you. All except you, Peter, and that was when you denied me three times. Really?!? I told you, you would! I was going to build my church upon you and call you the rock, but you’re no more than a pebble. You guys are a bunch of lily-livered cowards !! And when that doubting brother of yours, Thomas, finally shows up, tell him he is the epitome of what you losers have become—weak, betraying, unfaithful men. Why would I ever want to build My kingdom with you lot? No. You’ve let me down and there can be no kingdom on earth now.”

 I for one am so happy that my-Jesus decided to forgive His friends that had so horribly let Him down. I am so glad He now choses to affirm us as His sons and daughters in spite of our weaknesses and failings. I am amazed to know that He chose me before time began to serve and rule a small part of His kingdom—my failures, weaknesses and sin notwithstanding.

 Our conflicts should not be with one another, but with the enemy of our souls. He and he alone is our true enemy and we are at war with him, for he brought hell to this earth. Jesus came to undo his works.

1John 3:8 …for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

November 11th is Armistice Day, the day we celebrate the end of the war to end all wars. But as I look around me it appears as though we’ve learned nothing from the death of those 18 million souls. We still have separations within marriages and families, bickering and back biting with neighbors, and ugly military conflicts between nations, and all because we don’t practice armistice.

 Armistice: the end of conflict, truce, the laying down of weapons by accord.

 Jesus set the example for us in seeing the best in His closest friends, even as they failed Him during His greatest trial: execution by crucifixion. He asked His heavenly Father to forgive them, as He had forgiven them also. It’s time for our own armistice, time for us to lay down our weapons, reconcile with those whom we have become estranged, and let love help us see the very best in each other. With Jesus’ example, how can we do any less?

As always, you can respond to this essay to my email address, calcio.christopher@gmail.com, or at my website, Innocente.us under the blog button in the pull-down menu, or simply at tumblr.com/blog/toolsforthejourney

 Remember in everything, Father will have the final say.  

 Keep it out of the box,

 Innocente

[toolsforthejourney-blog]

Seagram’s WWII campaign for national discretion