Got Fruit ?

In spite of my remarks from Saturday’s post about this blog not turning into a repository of snippets for other’s stories and ideas, I do feel that this is an important "snippet" to pass on.

According to a post picked originally up by way of Apprising Ministries, Grace To You ministries (John MacArthur) will be making it’s sermons (over 3500) available for free starting 5 November 2005.  Hat Tip to "Between Two Worlds".

Another source of favored sermons and commentaries by R.C. Sproul, can be found at Ligonier Ministries.

Grace and peace be with you.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary (semi-officially) for the Got Fruit(?) blog coming into existence.  I’ve actually been kicking thoughts around in the ‘ole noggin for about the past month as to what I was going to write about in my attempt to commemorate the occasion.  Since then, those thoughts however grand they may have appeared at the time, seem to escape me at the moment.

Well let’s see… I suppose we should begin with why I decided to join the multitude of others on the web in hosting a blog.  To say that personal satisfaction bordering on an ego trip has not been part of the ride would be telling a lie; though that was not the initial intent.   I often have to reflect back on the early days of my blogging experience, taking in that initial anxiety of living up to being a reflection of Christ to keep me grounded, as "they" say though.. "I digress".
 

About mid-summer of last year, I felt as though God was urging me to start this blog.  I didn’t initially view the effort as a ministry; in my mind it was simply a way to share some thoughts and ideas learned and gathered mostly from devotionals I’d  studied and received via an email list, along with observations from life as they now appeared through eyes with a Christian world view.  Being the ever hard headed child of God, I put off the urging of the Holy Spirit for a few months, then on the 2nd of October of 2007 I ruptured my right Achilles tendon while playing volleyball at church. Not only had I been sidelined in terms of being able to work; I was also confronted with the fact that I was stuck in my apartment for a few weeks and no longer had an excuse for putting off getting the blog started.

So after being convicted and convinced to get the ball rolling, I looked into the technical side of how to go about this whole blogging thing.  Thank goodness for point and click setup routines. :)  Once comfortable with the technical side of things it did occur to me that I needed a fitting "handle" for the blog.  Believe it or not, the title "Got Fruit?", did not occur to me as a play on the old ad campaign for milk (Got Milk?), it was an epiphany of sorts that came about from reading, understanding and being completely humble by God’s words in Galatians 5:16-21, words that described my character, how I had lived in rebellion to Him for most of my life.

Galatians 5:16-21
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Had I stopped reading at that moment, who’s to say but God,how I would have reacted to how He saw me.  Through teary eyes and a crushed heart I pressed on that day in reading the rest of Galatians 5; and it was in the final 3 verses of that chapter that I began to see how not that I could turn around my life, but how God, His Son Jesus and His Holy Spirit could and would lead me if I just let go of trying to live by my own reasoning.

Galatians 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

So… Got Fruit(?), a question that asks "Are you living by the Holy Spirit?"; was then born.  The title being a simple statement of my attempt to live a life led by the Holy Spirit.  I do believe that trying to live by the Holy Spirit’s guide (though not always succeeding) has been key to keeping this blog and my efforts focused on Christ.  It’s this internal guideline that God has placed on my heart which has kept me grounded and focused in the "ministry" of this blog which I believe is to firstly be a source of encouragement to others.  Some of the activities that I felt were to be avoided, in order to not lose focus on Christ as the center (2nd Corinthians 5:17) of this thing include:

• having a quota of daily posting
• posting of every mundane activity in my life
• obsession with having or growing a "fan" base ie; frivolous linking, SEO, bloated Blog roll, stat tracking
• turning the blog into a repository of "snippets" (one liner "posts" for the sake of linking to other sources)
• employing technologies merely for the sake of staying up with current trends (video, pod-casting, social networking apps, etc;)
• idolizing the blog/making the blog about me
• concern for popularity (hence the lack of Technorati tags)

Having shared how things are done here, those aspiring to have a high volume of daily hits would be wise to not follow in my footsteps.  :)  The upside to this rigid approach is that the quality of visitors, comments and dialog has for the past year been a pleasant and maintainable experience.  I’ve also been able to reply to most comments;though exceedingly long on most accounts.  

For the regular visitors, it’s probably fairly obvious that most of what I actually post on is inspired by either personal Bible study time, accounts of interactions with family,friends,co-workers and neighbors as they relate to Biblical themes, ideas and views.  Another source of several posts comes from visiting other blogs.  Often times I may have intended to leave a comment at a blog, but once realizing that my thoughts run long, I opted to write my own post concerning what triggered those views and opinions.

There have been a few posts this past year that specifically address the issue of maintaining balance in the Christian’s life.  With regards to this blog, I think that balance has been best maintained throughout the year by not "swimming" in every pond that involves Christianity.  Not to say that I haven’t "waded" in subjects such as the Emergent church "theology", nor been shy to post an occasional differing perspective or outright opposing view to someone else’s post.  It’s been a case again of feeling led by the Holy Spirit to speak on some specific matters at a certain time, but not to let opposition or differing views create a room for a personal agenda to develop.  God is still in control of it all, and I think He’s done fine enough without any "help" from me , though I think He does expect us to step up to the plate when called to do so.

Romans 12:1
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living  sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

So there you have it, my review of how I believe the Lord has led this blog in it’s first year.  Stay tuned for year two.

Grace and peace be with you.

It has been a personal practice to not become overly fascinated, ie having a spiritual man-crush on theologians, pastors, teachers, Christian spiritual leaders or figures.  On a few occasions however, I’ve made reference to a few quotes or viewpoints by popular Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias.  Since I have in fact enjoyed Zacharias’ ability to articulate his thoughts in the past, it’s somewhat saddening to discover and "report" that  Crosstalk discloses that Ravi seems to be in fact slipping in his doctrinal position as he’s endorsed some questionable persons dabbling in "Christian" mysticism.  You can check out the Crosstalk segment posted on YouTube that discerns Zacharias’ teachings concerning "Christian" mysticism.

In addition I would like to take this opportunity to address Got Fruit (?) readers concerning my position on any items linked from this blog, especially in the case of quoting or citing "Christian" leaders, their ideas or sentiments.  Simply put, any external links from posts here at Got Fruit(?) should not be construed as a personal endorsement of anyone’s character or doctrine.  It is policy to not link to blogs,stories or other forms of Internet based media that I consider or believe, to be not glorifying to God (includes ideas, beliefs and teachings not in line with orthodox Christian doctrine).

2nd Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Grace and peace be with you.

The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways…The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them.
Deuteronomy 28:7, 25

As the Israelites were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God set before them a choice: Heed His voice, obey His commandments, and experience continued victory. Or turn from God, disobey His word, and experience repeated and resounding defeat. It was a simple choice. The choice they made would be evident by the results on the battlefield.

The assurance of victory did not mean that the Israelites would not have to strap on their armor and go to battle. It did not assure them of effortless victory. At times their enemies fought fiercely, and the battles raged back and forth. Nevertheless, as the Israelites walked closely with God, they knew that their efforts would always result in victory.

God gives us the same choice He gave the Israelites. If we walk with Him, obedient to His word, He will stand with us and ensure victory over our challenges. We must face the battle, but God promises us victory if we remain in His will. However, if we choose to disassociate from God, we surely will be overtaken by difficulties. As with the Israelites, our decision will be evident by the outcome. If you are continually being defeated by everything you face, your heart has departed from God.

If you have been experiencing defeat in the challenges you face, examine your heart. When you are buffeted by the crises of life, your heart may have shifted away from God. Choose to listen to God. Then obey what He tells you, no matter what you face, and you will experience victory.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

A friend asked: "How to balance it all…" a few days ago on Facebook to which I responded…

"The answer… not too far to the left and not too far to the right. Sorta right there in the center of the midway point. Generally speaking of course. "

I was being somewhat silly with my "answer", however the question has lingered with me over the past few days; though not in a terribly nagging sort of way.  I did however ponder for some time how Jesus for example managed to see the big picture in all things, able to address the more pressing issue at hand when confronted by hypocritical religious leaders; giving them the verbal smack down, while graciously nurturing the "sinner". John 8:2-11  I started to recall where I was in Christ say 3 to 5 years ago, to where I think He’s bought me to now, any good in me of course is to the glory and credit of God Almighty.

Some particular "extremes" that I recall having to let Christ walk me through were that of having to shake off the tainting of New Age philosophy, legalist perspective, and a tendency to focus mostly on God’s love for us and not enough on His other qualities such as His: righteousness, holiness, justice,wisdom and patience to name a few.

The world view I held for almost half of my life was a result of unknowingly falling for New Age philosophy.  This view was a byproduct of my teenage years, formed after reading Richard Bach’s: "Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah".  I had essentially taken hook line and stinker, Bach’s expressed view that one ought not feel guilty if another feels rejected, hurt or otherwise offended because of our actions or decisions to not feel obligated meet another’s needs.  To illustrate, Bach presents a part of the story where a metaphorical vampire makes a request to feed on someone.  The vampire is as best as I can recall a seemingly pleasant person afflicted with being a vampire and thus requiring human blood in order to continue living.  He pleads with someone to meet his need, and the reluctant party responds to the effect of: "Tough luck pal, you’re not sucking my blood, and if you feel "hurt"that’s just too bad.  You choose to feel hurt, and it has nothing to do with me.".  Taking on this world view inoculated me from the concerns of others,I was responsible for me and avoided situations that put me in danger of having to yield for the sake of others.  Now don’t get it twisted, I’m still not letting anyone suck my blood, but I might point you to the nearest Red Cross, blood donation center, hospital or public mental health facility. 

Looking back, I think the legalist perspective was partially a result of attempting by my own "wisdom" to live by the law.

1st Corinthians 8:9
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

There was also an overcompensation to make up for a lack of genuine spiritual worship of the Lord with my heart,soul, and mind.  I was fortunately blessed to understand that I had become more enamored with the intellectual side of things (loving the Book, instead of the Author), which is not to say that gaining Bible knowledge hasn’t been a blessing, nor that it shouldn’t be considered a vital component of our walk with Christ.

Romans 12:1
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

As for an unbalanced focus on God’s love, I thank God that He made it possible for me to receive words of wisdom from the mature Christians that He surrounded me with as well as Him providing timely words from a variety of other sources; namely His Written Word, but also His Word shared by several Christian bloggers and web sites of Godly men and women.  I never saw myself as going to the extreme of the present day "love fest" within Christianity; though some might be tempted to read into this earlier post.  Rather I simply saw myself as not being immersed in the completeness of what God has revealed to us about Himself, hence one possible reason for feeling the need to read and study the Old Testament with dedication to giving  an equal amount of attention as held for the New Testament.  Though I do admit that the Gospels and Paul’s 13 Letters do tend to be easier to read, study and just give me a buzz! 

Having gotten completely sidetracked with my expanded take on maintaining a sense of balance in our lives, especially when compared to what Jesus did, I’d like to close with an urging to readers to check out what John McArthur has to say about Liberty in Christ.  I particularly draw your attention to what McArthur has to say about "The Dangers of Legalism and Libertinism".

Grace and peace be with you