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Jesus, not the rules.

More & Less

The world needs more people giving us something to think about and less people telling us what to think.

And

The theology of blessings diminishes God. It puts man in charge. If I do this, think that or adhere to this set of rules and behaviors God will be obligated to bless me. Intimacy with God and those He’s placed around us suffers immensely when we allow this principle in our lives. Keeping up the facade of God’s special blessing will wear you out. We are not in control!

The Problem with the Theology of Blessings

Is that it couldn’t be more wrong.

The Theology of Blessings

Is the belief that when you are right with God, when He is pleased with what you are doing He will then pour out blessings on you. This is a widely held belief throughout Christianity and is taught and or supported by more church leaders and organizations than not.

I read the news today…

-and sobbed over the state of the world. Young people with seemingly everything going their way committing suicide, a jogger randomly shot because some young men were bored, a man freakishly dying while on vacation with his family and an 88 year old veteran beaten to death. And that’s not even a drop in the bucket. There is so much tragedy and so much pain, it’s overwhelming.

What can we possibly do? Is there an answer? I know there is and I know it isn’t christianity. The answer is Jesus pure and simple. Not the jesus you believe in, not the jesus you control by doing this or that according to the rules. The answer is the Jesus that you know for real, personally, intimately, the Jesus that lives in you, The Jesus that the hurting world is desperate to know, The One that truly is the only answer for their/our pain.