Month: January 2021

WE OR ME
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WE OR ME

WE or ME

Not too many writings ago I utilized a commonly (among Christians) used prayer in response to His disciples:

Luke 11: 1-5: Now once HE (Jesus) was in a certain place praying, and when He was finished one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He (Jesus) said to them, “Say this when you pray:
“Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who have trespassed against us.…………..

I was thinking about that the other day and have recited it in my life almost as many times as I have lived every day. Not to be holy, but because I memorized it in Sunday Schools and prayer services as me the adult, and it just never left my mind. As I wrote utilizing it the other day I recognized something that I had never considered.

I Can’t see the forest for the trees came to mind.

The disciple prefaced it this way: “Lord, teach us to pray…..”

In Unorthodox Christianity looking outside the box can teach.

FORGIVE US Our TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE….. … It didn’t wring true to me for someone who struggled up to Golgotha and was Crucified on behalf of everyone else in the world. What did He say: “Forgive them Father, they know not what the do”.

I read it again, and again. FORGIVE US? What about me? I trespassed, not US. The universal group did not trespass against the bully. The universal group did not talk about someone else. I DID. It is too easy to blame the US, it is much closer to home to blame the ME. Pass the buck is followed by THE BUCK STOPS HERE.

Forgiving yourself of a trespass is as important as asking GOD to forgive you.

It is hard to forgive those who trespass against you, very hard in certain situations, but it is always harder to forgive the person in the mirror. Love Your neighbor as yourself, depends on you being able to forgive yourself first. GOD will always recognize the whats and the whys , but you have to forgive yourself so that you know Love your neighbor as yourself and to know what it looks and feels like.

See beyond the forest. THE BUCK STOPS HERE. Whether talking Christian or anything else, life for you becomes your responsibility.

“FATHER FORGIVE ME AS I FORGIVE THOSE……”

TIME FLIES – ASK
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TIME FLIES – ASK

Time Flies – ASK

Unorthodox Christianity

I have been quiet lately. Have you ever stumbled over writer’s cramps. Your mind is for it yet your heart is a question. When I began writing my website Unorthodox Christianity 20 years ago it wasn’t meant to be a blog. It formatted itself as a book of writings to be acknowledged as a book of writings. Over the years it developed into a blog format. It became writings, or poems, or songs. It became tidbits, those little pet phrases that people have come across as sayings of others, each in their own category. Sometimes too much is on my mind and I find myself a bit lost.

It is time for an update.

The Internet has expanded the scope of ideas and the approaches it has presented. I originally called it, and have returned to it, “For The Disenfranchised”.

So many choices and so much knowledge and discovery that more people are struggling what to believe now more than ever. There are many people who preach a vengeful GOD.

There are many who believe in forever HELL.

When asked once The Dali Llama was asked what celebration he had planned for his birthday. “Why would I celebrate the Birth of my sufferings day?”

So many see the nature of life and feel “What did I do to deserve this?”

Many who have searched for a religious home have felt unwanted, unwelcome or unappreciated. Many have turned away from their spiritual roots in favor of something that makes them feel “I belong”. I noticed a lot of things in the background of my friends growing up. They got into trouble and it was as though they would do anything to simply get their parents attention.

Many wanderers have not discovered The Bible, or any other Religious writings for the sake of new age activity, or because the many messages of life have gotten all tangled up depending on what channel you are watching. Looking for something else you land on a religious channel and listen for a few minutes or your friends are watching, or the last message was not positive, or was negative when blended with others. The questions jump at you on social media and you are now more confused than ever.

When I was young and going to Christian Sunday school as was our culture back then, in the second grade I asked a simple question of my teacher. “If GOD made everything, why didn’t GOD just make good people? I immediately felt a bit unwanted. As my life progressed and I read more of the family culture of the New Testament, I came across Matthew 7.

In Matthew, chapter 7 verse 7 of the New Testament

Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to them. Is there one among you who would hand your child a stone when asked for a fish? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your “Father” in Heaven give good things to those who ask.

As you read the above passage do something new. Read it this way:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to them. Is there one among you who would hand your child a stone when asked for a fish? If you, then, who are separated from your message know how to give your children what is good, how much more will you be able to give good things to those who ask a similar question”. That which carries the stigma of “Religion” is full of common sense.

Whenever I have talked to someone that I ASK a question of, I have received an answer in the now conversation. The answers have been given from their perspective. My personal preferential question answerer has been GOD. I have yet to really put my finger on how what many call GOD performs that function as a spirit. Big world, all things created by something. If someone says “Big Bang” theory I ask “Where did the “Big Bang” come from, let alone a baby anything, or a flower, or a snowfall. Most major religions have a simple code of behavior, a Golden Rule, “commandments”, whatever…..Because a mother somewhere said to a child, “Don’t touch the oven it is hot”. And the child learns why.

The answer to curiosity begins by asking WHY. Just ASK. If I could tell you how it works I would have to learn more than my brain has the capacity to hold.

Unorthodox Christianity has to think outside the box. Buddhism, Hinduism, any one of 30,000 denominations of Christianity can answer. How to behave to enjoy your stay on earth in spite of nature, bad people, greed, Success AT ANothers Success or warm, caring, loving and prayerful people by the Billions.

Whether we say “Why should I celebrate the birth of my sufferings day” or “Thank you for the opportunity to smell the roses” Enjoying life must have some importance to something for LIFE IS HERE AMONG US. You do not have to be disenfranchised. There is a world to attend to. As a five year old grand-friend suggested: “Have a question? ASK the INTERNET.

Have a wonderful day and keep an open mind. LIFE IS ON EARTH, take it in while you are here.

IT TAKES MORE THAN LIP SERVICE
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IT TAKES MORE THAN LIP SERVICE

IT TAKES MORE THAN LIP SERVICE

Matthew 10: 12 Jesus speaking to His Apostles:

Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him before you leave. As you enter his house salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town, shake the dust from your feet. I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgment it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town. Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

Beware of men: they will hand you over to the Sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say: what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your father will be speaking in you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

America has reached an apex over the last week. Our beliefs and our behaviors have been challenged as a people unlike ever before.

I have mentioned before in my writings, that you may be the only Jesus that many will ever meet.

The passage, above, that I have attached to this writing was not necessarily written for yesterday. It was written for today. It was not written as much solely for America as it was written for the whole world of today. The challenges of today are no different than the above message was written for the world of 2,000 years ago. The religious leaders of those days were frightened of Jesus’ one message.

The primary message of Jesus, to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER means to love the people next to us, the people around us, the family we share with, the people that mean the most to us. Love the neighbor as yourself. The text from Matthew is about the challenge of the message to all of us. The message of Jesus when He spoke to His apostles dealt with how difficult the message was to be absorbed by others.

Make no mistake, Jesus set in motion a new standard that was accepted by so many that it threatened so many of those whose power was based on a whole different standard than loving and caring for one another.

Many segments of the world are still afraid of losing power to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Many segments of the world have learned over the years that those unlike them are people to be afraid of. LOVE ONE ANOTHER threatened their own security.

In our country our democracy is based on our forefathers and their declaration of Independence and their Constitution.

“All Men are created equal”.

“With Liberty and Justice for ALL”.

The years have shown that “All men are created equal” and “Liberty and Justice for All” seems to be more of Lip Service than reality. The events of this last year have proven that the sacrifices of many to LOVE ONE ANOTHER, over many years, have been challenged again. Our country has proven that a majority of America believes in the message of Jesus. Everywhere one turns the first responders, the doctors and nurses and care givers and food providers have risked their lives for one another.

But there have also been those for whom “Shake the dust from your feet” is applicable to those afraid of LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

It takes more than LIP SERVICE to be the hands of JESUS. Whether we approach Jesus as the son of GOD, or as a very wise man spreading a message of hope from a Cross.

Jesus encapsulated a personal message from the Cross. “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do”. Much of what has occurred this last year has brought the Jesus challenge to the forefront and a great many of the people embrace it. 2,000 years ago Jesus said it would not be easy. Jesus lived the challenge of His ministry 2,000 years ago, and today that challenge remains waiting for you to be the hands of Jesus, the mouthpiece of LOVE ONE ANOTHER and a home that Jesus shares time with.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER takes more than LIP SERVICE. Hundreds of thousand’s of people can attest that LOVER ONE ANOTHER does not belong to one church, or one nation or one race or one anything. Get to know that Jesus, not as a historical figure, but as your friend.

AMEN

AS WE FORGIVE THOSE 1-6-2021
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AS WE FORGIVE THOSE 1-6-2021

AS WE FORGIVE.. 1- 6 – 2021

Yesterday in America was a day we shall never forget. I remember on 9-11-2001 I was leaving a bit late to work, so I called the office to let them know I would be a few minutes late. The secretary replied, obviously upset, “Turn on your TV NOW”. I did so just in time to see an airplane fly into Tower 2 of the World Trade Center.

Yesterday I received a call to turn on my TV right now. I saw AMERICA attacked again, not by some unknown entity but by Americans, at the behest of The President of The United States to be strong.

Just what do I write? What do I say. Through Unorthodox Christianity what do I say when people will ask why? My friends voted for Donald Trump. My friends families voted for Trump. People said that Trump was a no-brainer to vote into the Presidency.

He was universally accepted as a great Christian and a potentially great leader. Today when asked, what do I say? The following is what I have chosen to write. You have to judge for yourselves where you go from here.

Matthew 24: 5

And Jesus answered them, “Take care that no one deceives you; because many will come using my name and saying, “I am the Christ,”and they will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars; do not be alarmed, for this is something that must happen, but the end will not be yet. For nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the birth pangs…..

Luke 21: 8

“Take care not to be deceived he said, because many will come using my name and saying ‘I am he” and, ‘The time is near at hand.’ Refuse to join them”.

Luke 11: 1-13

The disciples asked of Jesus: “How do we pray?”

Jesus responded “Pray like this:

Our Father (GOD) which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
ON EARTH, as it is in HEAVEN.
Give us this day our daily bread
And Forgive us our trespasses
AS WE FORGIVE THOSE who have trespassed against us.
Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.
For THINE is the KINGDOM and THINE is the POWER
And THINE is the GLORY
FOREVER and FOREVER..

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021
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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021

Happy New Year All
 It seems that new years seem to come by more swiftly as I get older. The time that seemed to drag for so long takes less than the snap of one’s fingers. All of that and yet we worry so much about the days. Pray more and worry less seems to cover the bases as long as we approach life carefully and with respect. I have made it this far is my common answer to “How are you?” Enjoy the New Year. Pretty soon it will be 2022. Remember, yesterday was new year 2000. Birth was 1951. Have a wonderful day.