Following Jesus Son of God …

Testing BWr

(Excerpt from Beyond Pretend:  A Sheep’s Guide to the Universe! © 2010 by David Lee Scott. All rights reserved.)

Who is behind the curtain?

In the Wizard of Oz, a seemingly thunderous display of power had Dorothy, Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion trembling in their boots until Toto ran over and pulled back the curtain and the great and powerful Wizard of Oz was seen to be merely an old man from Kansas, very mortal, very ordinary.

So who controls your world?
To help you answer this question, we will examine – Who is behind the curtain?  Who is my storyteller?  Who edits the film?  Who do I worship?  So who is behind the curtain in your life?  If we were able to pull back this imaginary curtain, what would we see?  Maybe it would be a harmless old man from Kansas.  Possibly even as an adult, you have yet to discover that your father, grandfather, or dear Grandma, have more sway in your life than God does.

But it is also possible that nary a family member would be found behind the folds.  What would a quick peak expose?  Co-workers, classmates, a favorite professor, your church family, or even your pastor.   Who is it in your life who knows which lever to pull or button to push?  The possibilities seem endless so let’s find some perspective.

A real scene in heaven …

A door opens in heaven revealing the throne of God …

• Then I looked, and, oh! – a door open into Heaven. The trumpet-voice, the first voice in my vision, called out, “Ascend and enter. I’ll show you what happens next.”  I was caught up at once in deep worship and, oh! – a Throne set in Heaven with One Seated on the Throne, suffused in gem hues of amber and flame with a nimbus of emerald (Revelation 4:1-3 MSG).

I don’t know who the control person is in your life, but somewhere along the path each of us needs to cede control of our world to God.  In the text above we see the ultimate peek behind the curtain, a scene in heaven picturing God on his throne.  This is not once upon a time, this is then, this is now, this is forever.  Take a minute to absorb the imagery.  Lightning flashes, thunder crashing, animals prowling …

• Lightning flash and thunder crash pulsed from the Throne. Seven fire-blazing torches fronted the Throne (these are the Sevenfold Spirit of God).  Before the Throne it was like a clear crystal sea. Prowling around the Throne were Four Animals, all eyes. Eyes to look ahead, eyes to look behind.  The first Animal like a lion, the second like an ox, the third with a human face, the fourth like an eagle in flight (Revelation 4:5-7 MSG).

The throne should give us perspective …

No, we don’t understand all of this, but John gave it his best shot, describing things as well as he could, using finite words of humans to describe an infinite God seated on his eternal throne.  We should come away from this remarkable scene in heaven with at least two thoughts.  One, this is real, there is a throne, someone reigns over our world. He is there and he is God. Two, we can know him.  We are not left out in the dark to wonder.  We can know more.  In fact, we can know the Person on the throne and become part of his kingdom.  The King came to earth and invited us to join him.

Our intimate connection with the Person on the throne of God …

We have been given his words to live by on this earth, words of salvation and direction that not only are better than gold for our time on the planet but words that hold true and powerful as we step into eternity, even true before this very throne of God.  When God instructs us, he sees our lives in the context of everything.  When we are tempted to dismiss God’s words, we must realize that his words fit his eternal purpose.  Play with the words, play with the purpose of God.

When he tells you to love your enemies, he doesn’t only have in mind your daily struggle with an obnoxious neighbor or a demanding, ungrateful boss.  He has the “forever you” in mind as he shapes and forms your life.  You are the focus of his instruction, and he speaks to you in the context of forever.  Loving your enemy is trusting God in the moment and is shaping your life in the context of eternity.  Much bigger picture than we see.

• But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44 NKJV).

 God speaks to his children in the context of eternity.  Can you see how excellent this is?  If we have received God’s gift of life, we will one day be before this Majesty, we will be in this picture John describes, an intimate part of what is happening because we will be home.  The blood of Christ has bought for us intimacy with the one who sits on this heavenly throne.  Too cool!  Way too cool!

Please, please, please do not allow these real very images of heaven to lie in obscurity in the back portions of your mind.  We need this heavenly video to be a part of our lives as we decide how we will indeed live.  No doubt about it that as we persevere in living out the reality of God’s words in the “pre-heaven” part of our lives that things become very complicated.  Worlds collide, what is real, what seems real, and all the stuff in between.  We deal with this world, this reality, this curtain, time and space, our finite nature, our fallenness, our humanness, and if we have received God’s gift of eternal life through Christ, then we have a foot inside the door of eternity … God’s world, ultimate reality, God’s curtain, his veil of holiness.

We live with this constant tension, between two worlds, and God understands, and based upon his thirty plus years on the planet, and the fact that he is God, Jesus perfectly identifies with us.  How do we live before the reality of a throne in heaven while still on Earth?  Learn today’s lessons.  The more we trust God in the moment, the more we live in view of forever.   Trust God in your “small world” and you will trust him with the whole world.

(Excerpt from Beyond Pretend:  A Sheep’s Guide to the Universe! © 2010, 2012 by David Lee Scott. All rights reserved.)

[I am immersed in the process of transforming this book into various digital formats for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore, etc. Hopefully in another week or so I may be asking you to check it out on Amazon for 99 cents. Excited and worn to a frazzle almost.]

Who is my film editor?

“You can make the Bible say anything you want it to say.”

As much as you or I may dislike that statement, and as much as it has been used as an excuse to stay away from the teaching of God’s holy book the Bible, you can hardly argue with its truthfulness. As we discussed earlier in the book, even the most simple instructions from God can be manipulated when we want to do something badly enough. The question really becomes who will you decide to listen to. You can “make” the Bible talk or you can let God speak to you through the holy words. You remember our drama in Genesis three, don’t you? Eve had to choose whether to listen to the snake or listen to God. The first rebel used God’s words to make her case, thus becoming the first human to make the Bible say what she wanted it to say. Just curious. How did that work out for her?

What does this have to do with film editing?

A film editor takes the raw data, the footage, and creates a movie, a story. Although this section is similar to the previous section because both have to do with storytelling, in this section I will deal more with the manipulation and presentation of the story by those who preach and teach, the film editors. Preachers and teachers begin with the raw data, the footage, and on Sunday mornings from the pulpit, or on radio and television, or in books and seminars, they present a story.

Who do you want to listen to? When you “go to the movies” on Sunday morning, you are trusting the person up front for the story. Have you chosen to hear someone who will communicate what God wants you to hear or what you want to hear? Here is the challenge. Many people faithfully come to worship God sincerely desiring to hear God speak but the message is skewed by personalities and agendas, often ever so well meaning, but skewed just the same.

Using several analogies from the film industry I will demonstrate how people attempt to control our worlds. I hope to demonstrate how effective these methods of manipulation are even though the raw data which our “editors” begin with is holy and pure. I will familiarize you with these methods so you can recognize the different strategies employed.

Who is in the film room? You want to know because whoever is there determines the outcome of the story.

Which people influence you the most as you view life on the big screen? Who selects and puts together the shots that tell you how it is, life, I mean? Who do you allow in the film room to form your perspective of life? Does someone’s “highlight reel portrayal of life” have you disconnected from the daily reality of who God is, and who you are before God? Or does the final presentation draw you into a closer awareness of God? Does the story you hear cause you to show your love for God in worship and service?

Another problem …

Welcome to “Itching Ears Studio” …

• I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:1-4 ESV).

A few things to be aware of as we choose who edits our “reality show.”

• We all are born with “itching ears.”
• We want to follow the myth. “Tell me lies, sweet lies …”
• We want other people to tell us what we want to hear.
• We want to determine the establishing shot, determine the point of emphasis.
• We want to be portrayed as right, whether we are or not.
• We believe what we want to believe.
• We accept what fits with what we believe.
• We want life to turn out a certain way – our way.
• We are the focus of our movie.

We must understand the choices …

• A time will come when people will not listen to accurate teachings. Instead, they will follow their own desires and surround themselves with teachers who tell them what they want to hear. People will refuse to listen to the truth and turn to myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4 GW).

In the text quoted above the choices are to either “listen to accurate teachings” or to “follow their own desires and surround themselves with teachers who will tell them what they want to hear.” But why? If you are going to choose your own life direction, why go to all the trouble of finding people to justify your decision? Why not just do what you want to do? Because ignoring the truth is not enough. We must suppress it. The truth of God, scrolled over his entire creation, is so plain, so evident and powerful that it cannot merely be ignored.

• For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them (Romans 1:18-19 ESV).

The entire creation aligns with the will and purpose of God. The sound of God in his world is too powerful to be merely ignored.

• For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1:20 ESV).

The truth of God is is so powerful and pervasive in his creation that evil attempts to beat the drums of myths and fables to drown it out. And we must choose. God or noise.

Written across the sky and burrowed into our hearts, the message of God never stops.

Your choice of who you listen to (the people you allow to edit the film, the raw data of God’s word) will depend on whether you decide to hear the voice of God or whether you decide to suppress the voice of God. Much noise is made in the name of God, but a crucial step on your journey through the universe is determining to hear God over the noise.

So who do you ultimately listen to?