Jesus told the woman caught in adultery in John 8 “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”. I know he meant both. I don’t know what she did. I believe she devoted her life to following Jesus who gave her life. I’m sure she still sinned. But one thing I tend to overlook. “Neither do I condemn you” stands on its own. Jesus declares this, regardless of whatever the woman did from that point on. At that moment she was no longer condemned by God. The law condemned her but Jesus is the “One standing here who is greater than the law”. Neither were his words to her a contingent statement. He did not say, “Neither will I condemn you IF you go and sin no more. That was not the gospel of Jesus. That is the gospel of works, law and me – not Grace. I think we still believe we have to earn it. “Neither do I condemn you” is my gift to you AS LONG AS you “go and sin no more”. There is a correlation but it’s not in the way we think – or act. Being one who is “no longer condemned” is now a person who is free to live a different kind of life but it’s not about earning it, Jesus has simply now made it possible for us to live a life that was simply not possible before his forgiveness and grace to us. A life that was not open to me before is now available because Jesus has changed the story of my life. This is the Good News that comes to us thru Christ.

I need the Holy Spirit to live.  Not just to be fruitful, although this is certainly true but simply to live as a human being in this world.  And yet, to be a human being in the imago Dei is to be fruitful.  To never bear fruit is a sign of lifelessness. Which is certainly not a fertile, productive life.  I need Jesus Christ to make me whole, to be a person who is integrated and held together.  Without the power of Jesus Christ to hold me together, I will become dis-integrated and lost.  Lord, hold me together, hold what I cannot.  Strip alway all that is false and fruitless. By your grace may there be a person in Christ that remains and lives.  “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together”.  (Col. 1:17)

I can know what is wrong without knowing what is right.  I can know what is wrong without doing the right I know to do.  Sadly, I do this every day.

I catch myself every once in a while in one of those behaviors I abhor.  It’s not that I only do things like this every once in a while it’s just that I only notice it every once in a while.  I pride myself on trying to be authentic (can anyone say IRONY?).  So I hate when I find myself in the clutches of one of these “common to man” behaviors. 

I was making a comment on a blog today.  When I finished the comment and was getting ready to press “submit” a voice said (whether it was God or me I do not know), “is this comment that relevant and edifying or are you making it just to impress others with your insight”?  I re-read it and felt it did have some merit but realized even more deeply that my intention in saying it was less because I was wanting to contribute to the good of others and more that I wanted to come across as wise and insightful.  I chose not to send it and moved on to writing about it instead.  In one sense I hate having  this attitude in me, no matter how “common to man” it may be.  OTOH, I confessed it to the Lord and prayed that I would not only be free of false motives but that I would still engage genuinely with others out of love, for their edification and that they may be drawn to Christ.  I was also reminded that I don’t always need to wait until my motives are perfect but simply to love.  For “love covers a multitude of sin”.  So I suppose this is still Grace working in the mess that is me.

As I observe and read much of what is written today on how the church can grow, shape culture and bring the kingdom into being in the various structures that make up a society, I struggle with our attempts to measure and manage outcomes when it comes to Gospel and Spirit work.  We can have some degree of success in creating outcomes today because we tend to shape our ministry goals and measurements to fit what we have defined as the desired outcome.  But we often only get a hollow version of what we aim for in matters of Spirit and life because we are not in control of what God alone can do.  This also appears true of the church’s attempt to define and manage morality in societies as well.  

However, it isn’t all folly.  God is gracious and blesses the hearts and hands of those who love him and who want to see his kingdom come “on earth as it is in heaven”.  I confess my sin lies more in a lack of response and action because I’m uncertain if God is in my efforts or outcomes.  In the end, I think it’s better to do something even if our motives and actions are mixed than not do anything at all.  And yet, our plans and actions (or lack thereof) in kingdom work often begin to center more around “me” or “us” than the presence of Christ, whether in efforts or outcomes.

It is true that we are called to faithfully live out the Gospel, however imperfect that may be.  But what comes of our witness and work is God’s domain.  I wonder if we actually experience less of what we plan and pray for as Christians (and what God may want to do in and through us) because we are trying to force outcomes that can only come from God?  Sometimes the ways of the Spirit seem more like our autonomic response system.  It works better if we don’t try to control it.

When we as Christians think it is somehow up to us to discern and keep straight the battle with the false self-constructs of reality vs. the new self in Christ reality is a little like living in the movie, “Inception”.  It was definitely one of the best movies out last year.  However, as believers, we will lose our way if we think we must try to manage and control the various levels of perceived reality (dream states) we are inundated with each day.  As in the movie, to try and do so will only lead to disappointment, delusions, false dichotomies or death.  We fool ourselves when we try to live a life rooted in the flesh while simultaneously trying to stay anchored to life in the Spirit.  Except for God’s gracious intervention we fall right into the hands of the enemy.  The deception of “Inception” is grounded in a belief that I can or must try to manage life on my own. 

The Spirit, however, does not seek nor is he tempted to experience life on other levels of consciousness for he recognizes only one.  God is not concerned with figuring out how to stay anchored to what is the “really real” because he IS the “really real”.  Likewise, those of us who are in Christ are trusting God to rule over our heart and mind by the Holy Spirit while seeing all else as a ruse.  We won’t attempt to manage the various levels of consciousness, of flesh vs. Spirit because our focus is only on Christ and God’s rule over all things.  Living “by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” means that I am trusting him with what is true and good and life-giving, knowing that he will keep me from falling into the danger of “Inception”.  The “architect” of these various false constructs is the Thief whose only mission is to “steal, kill and destroy”.  But we have the Cross of Christ as our “totem” and it is he who watches over us and keeps us anchored in God-reality.  It is his great power and love that we trust and rely on to lead us safely home.

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name, The strong Name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same. The Three in One, and One in Three, 

Of Whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation, Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Welcome to in-Spirit-us. It won’t be too difficult to guess where I got the name for this blog. The word for spirit or breath in Latin is spiritus. The title is both a play on this word and also a short prayer; Lord, in-spire us. It has been said that our greatest need is always for the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. In the gospel of John, Jesus tells us the ministries of the Holy Spirit will be to comfort, to guide, to reveal truth, to testify and bring glory to him, to convict and to empower us. In one of his post-resurrection appearances in John 20 Jesus appeared to his disciples, breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. When Jesus speaks about prayer in Luke 11, he lets us know that “the good gift” we can always count on from our Father is that he will generously give us the Holy Spirit whenever we come to him in prayer. When we have the Spirit of the living God indwelling us, we have all we need for life and godliness. That is both my need and desire. I pray it is yours as well.

This blog will touch on various aspects of life and culture as within the context of the “with God” journey. It will consist of reflections on scripture, quotes, thoughts, essays and prayers. You are invited here any time. I don’t know too much about how to manage the conversation part of blogs as I am a novice at this and anticipate I might be over my head rather quickly. But we will see where the Spirit leads!