The church in Corinth had "serious" sins. Look, there were divisions, a man was sleeping with his father's wife, there was carousing, gluttony...name it! Paul's antidote to this is that "don't you know you're in Christ?" In essence, he reveals the Christ in them.
What's "strange" is that in Corinth, there was a free flow of the gifts of the Spirit! I mean look at 1 Cor 12... tongues, healing, wisdom, knowledge..name it. Why wasn't their behaviour hindering the flow of the Spirit? (???)
It's like Paul's concern was that they didn't know who they were!
But guess who Paul calls "bewitched" and "foolish". The church in Galatia. Why? For they were trying to be absolved by works of the law in this particular case - circumcision.
However, even in this church the Spirit was flowing but they seemed to be crossing over to another gospel. He asks - Gal 3:5 Then He supplying the Spirit to you and working powerful works in you, is it by works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
Both these churches had the Spirit flowing. However the common issue according to Paul is that they were departing from their roots and identity. Corinth's actions were forgetful of their identity in Christ. Galatia's faith was forgetful of the gospel of Christ.
Now for us, God have mercy. We are grappling with going back to the roots. Going back to who we are. Because if we do not know who we are in Christ, we shall be caught in the same error both these churches had, one of living according to the flesh, the other of believing according to the flesh and falling into strife, divisions and exalting everything else apart from Christ.
The root and identity is Christ. May He be formed in us! Colossians 2.
Selah.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Think on these things
What if our minds shut up for a moment
Put all our endless bickering and muttering to the noiselessness of a tomb
What if we stopped pursuing that next idea, formula, strategy,goal
Stopped riding that thought wave, interrupted that circuit of impulse
And allowed a moment of silence.
Not just me, I mean all of us.
What if, we all let our minds be still,
...and let our hearts speak.
Motive, reason, lust, ground out beyond a crust
To the edge of a space of innocence
Where the dimmed light and silenced voice of peace,
Patience, mercy and kindness could be given a chance to rise again.
We might understand that beneath layers of Gucci,
Or perhaps when there were no layers,
That the blood flowing in these vessels did not know of our
Motive, or our hatred, or our jealousy or our plotting
The blood just flowed.
It did not know of knives being lunged into chests,
Triggers releasing copper from fiery barrels
Words maiming and failing kinsmen, sons and friends
Turning them into foes, assassins, enemies of the state
The blood we all share turning against each other because of
What our minds told us they saw.
They saw short, tall, weak, strong, stupid, clever
Ugly, beautiful, large, small etcetera
Spurred by want, selfishness, pride, arrogance, ego
All words that spoke but did not tell.
A thousand years of philosophy
And we still cannot learn the simple lessons
Still cannot love my neighbour as myself
Especially if he looks different, smells different, thinks different
Still cannot turn the other cheek, because the pain hurt
Still cannot give before I receive because what will I give with?
A thousand years of thought and ideas and we can't figure out
That the solution to the problem does not begin with the mind
But is hid in the boiling mass
Of red muscle called heart.
We forgot that out of the heart flow the issues of life
Life never knew a philosophy,a religion, a dogma of rights or wrongs
Life was never set in stone
Life moved, breathed, had a being.
Life needed a change of heart.
Life needed Him for He was life, He is life
And in Him we live, we breathe and move and have our being
And we cannot deny Him
For when we do, we deny our own life
Emmanuel- God with us.
Perhaps when our hearts have a change of life
Or lives can have a change of heart
Then our minds can attune anew to this life
For the old life is decayed, rotting
With fresh ideas of inventing restlessness and death
And only the new life can let the mind be still
And think on these things
"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
(Phil 4:8)
Selah.
Put all our endless bickering and muttering to the noiselessness of a tomb
What if we stopped pursuing that next idea, formula, strategy,goal
Stopped riding that thought wave, interrupted that circuit of impulse
And allowed a moment of silence.
Not just me, I mean all of us.
What if, we all let our minds be still,
...and let our hearts speak.
Motive, reason, lust, ground out beyond a crust
To the edge of a space of innocence
Where the dimmed light and silenced voice of peace,
Patience, mercy and kindness could be given a chance to rise again.
We might understand that beneath layers of Gucci,
Or perhaps when there were no layers,
That the blood flowing in these vessels did not know of our
Motive, or our hatred, or our jealousy or our plotting
The blood just flowed.
It did not know of knives being lunged into chests,
Triggers releasing copper from fiery barrels
Words maiming and failing kinsmen, sons and friends
Turning them into foes, assassins, enemies of the state
The blood we all share turning against each other because of
What our minds told us they saw.
They saw short, tall, weak, strong, stupid, clever
Ugly, beautiful, large, small etcetera
Spurred by want, selfishness, pride, arrogance, ego
All words that spoke but did not tell.
A thousand years of philosophy
And we still cannot learn the simple lessons
Still cannot love my neighbour as myself
Especially if he looks different, smells different, thinks different
Still cannot turn the other cheek, because the pain hurt
Still cannot give before I receive because what will I give with?
A thousand years of thought and ideas and we can't figure out
That the solution to the problem does not begin with the mind
But is hid in the boiling mass
Of red muscle called heart.
We forgot that out of the heart flow the issues of life
Life never knew a philosophy,a religion, a dogma of rights or wrongs
Life was never set in stone
Life moved, breathed, had a being.
Life needed a change of heart.
Life needed Him for He was life, He is life
And in Him we live, we breathe and move and have our being
And we cannot deny Him
For when we do, we deny our own life
Emmanuel- God with us.
Perhaps when our hearts have a change of life
Or lives can have a change of heart
Then our minds can attune anew to this life
For the old life is decayed, rotting
With fresh ideas of inventing restlessness and death
And only the new life can let the mind be still
And think on these things
"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
(Phil 4:8)
Selah.
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