Work as Worship

The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone. ... Indeed, the menial housework of a manservant or maidservant is often more acceptable to God than all the fasting and other works of a monk or priest, because the monk or priest lacks faith.

Martin Luther, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520.

Luther's critique of Medieval monastic life was radical and transforming.  He wrote as an Augustinian monk himself.  In other words, he was an insider, offering an insider's critique of a movement that began as a renewal movement, but that had slowly transformed into a movement that promoted false spirituality throughout the culture.

What was so revolutionary about Luther's critique?

He reintroduced the idea that all of our life must be lived before the face of a Living God.  

How often we forget this truth.  We often believe our job is what we do to make money, while church and other spiritual activities are when we seek God.  Luther calls such a dualism false, treacherous, and dangerous for true spirituality.  I believe such dualism is also why Christians make so little impact on our culture.

As Os Guinness writes,

If all that a believer does grows out of faith and is done for the glory of God, then all dualistic distinctions are demolished.  There is no higher/lower, sacred/secular, perfect/permitted, contemplative/active, or first class/second class.  Calling is the premise of Christian existence itself.  Calling means that everyone, everywhere, and in everything fulfills his or her (secondary) callings in response to God's (primary) calling.  For Luther, the peasant and the merchant- for us, the business person, the teacher, the factory worker, and the television anchor- can do God's work (or fail to do it) just as much as the minister and the missionary.

The Call, 34.

I do wish I could convince so many business people, teachers, factory workers, television anchors, ministers and missionaries that this is true.

How you do your work determines the ultimate value of the work.  

Any occupation that does not directly contradict the revealed will of God 

as demonstrated in the Word of God is a holy occupation.  

What does this mean?  

First, there should not be two sets of rules for how you live your life at work and at "holy activities."  The same integrity and changed heart that illustrates living in light of God's presence should adorn all of life.

As a student, we should not cheat so we pass and then we can do "God's work."  As a business person, we do not cheat others through misleading statements and half truths before we go to our prayer meeting.  As a teacher, we do not teach our subjects like God does not exist and then head off to Bible study.  As a pastor, we do not run a business that peddles religious truth on the weekends, but treats our employees and our parishioners badly.

Second, we should not neglect nor diminish whatever work we find ourselves doing.  If you are a janitor, clean to the best of your ability for Jesus is right beside you.  If you are a teacher, do not look forward to retirement when you can really do something worthwhile, but teach each day before the presence of God. If you are a homemaker, rejoice that God has allowed you to clean clothes, wipe bottoms, as well as cook and clean.  What you are doing is God's work- at least when you do it in faith!

No job is beneath us and every job/occupation has honor.  

What can you do to bring the presence of God more into your labor?  Perhaps your workplace does not allow "outward expressions of faith."  So what?  How can you do your job to illustrate the grace, mercy, and presence of God?  How does your heart have to change to make this happen?

How to Abide in Jesus...

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2: 6-7

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

I have been challenged by this question many times over the years by fellow believers who make some rather strange statements about what it means to follow Jesus.  While I do not doubt these folk's sincerity, I do question there theological wisdom.  Here are some examples of what I have heard.

To be a follower of Jesus means to follow his teaching.  

It means to live a moral and upright life.  

It means to love others.  

It means to be his agent of change in the world.

While I agree with these general statements, I have two questions.  First, what was His teaching about life, morality, love and changing the world?  Second, how do I do these things?

I am not asking these questions merely to be a pain.  I think so many people never really think about it.  They have been brought up in church or they became part of a church.  They pick up from the general belief systems of other believers and from the messages preached that they need to get out and do something in the world.  The most natural thing to do is work hard to be a better a person.  We know we should work hard to be humble, to love others, to bring light to the dark world, to etc., etc..

Is that what Jesus really taught?  

I believe in many ways the above thought is closely related to another popular but short-sighted approach to spirituality.  This approach affirms that Jesus is a second chance.  Belief in him wipes the slate clean, and makes us responsible to live a godly life.

I have heard this line of thought from many different denominations and I have heard the general message preached and proclaimed from many pulpits.

Again, is this what Jesus taught?

Here is what Jesus said,

"Abide in me, and I in you.  

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, 

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  

I am the vine; you are the branches."  

John 15: 4-5

So the real question is how do we abide?  By our works of morality, uprightness, and personal holiness or by believing in faith?  Are these mutually exclusive categories or do they somehow work together in the process of transformation?

I think the often missing ingredient in our spirituality is the concept of repentant faith.  

How did we receive Jesus Christ as Lord?  We receive him by repenting of our sins and by embracing Jesus by faith.  This same process is how we are to be built up and established in Jesus by faith.  This explains Paul's opening quotation that I will remind us about.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2: 6-7

In other words, faith is not merely our ticket into a relationship with Jesus, but it is the means of growth.

Without a growing faith, we will not be able to live a moral life, love others, or be an agent of change in the world.

With all of this in mind, what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

A follower of Jesus Christ is in a growing relationship of dependence upon Jesus.  This dependence is evidenced by a growing understanding of our sinfulness, which drives us to repentance and a clinging to Jesus as our only hope.  Such repentance and faith then works out in our life as a growing humility and a deeper ability to love and serve others.  

Beware of false teachers...

"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 teacher to say

what their itching ears want to hear.

They will turn their ears away from the truth and 

turn aside to myths."

2 Tim. 4: 3-4

I have spent much time over the past six month reflecting upon the state of the church in America and the West.  I have read broadly.  I have engaged with the news of the day.  I have sat with folks with whom I disagree about the proper and biblical way to deal with our current cultural directions.  I have tried to understand.  I have come to a conclusion.  

The defining issue in today's church 

remains the doctrine of scripture.

Do you believe that God has spoken clearly to reveal His character and will?  Do you believe that God's will on most moral issues is knowable?  Do you believe Jesus is who He said He is?

Why?  I can hear people saying (and I have as I have listened carefully), "It is all about Jesus.  All you have to do is believe in Him.  All this other moral and ethical teaching of scripture is not important.  It is all about Jesus."

Well, I could not agree more.  The problem is that many take Jesus so lightly!  Even among those who say it is all about Jesus there can be a dismissal of Jesus' life and teaching.

Jesus was all about promoting human flourishing.  He understood that humanity was in need of complete and total redemption.  He understood the sinful human condition.  He came to speak into that condition.  He came to live a perfect life and die an undeserved death to answer the greatest need of sinful humanity.  He came to define human flourishing in relationship to God and God's glory.  The result was incredible.

In Jesus is forgiveness, but also a changed heart.

Changed.  Transformed.  Made new.  Renewed.  Revived.  Restored.

Don't those words sound great?  Jesus came to give us grace to live a life of human flourishing.  A life that we were meant to live.  A life of meaning and purpose.  A life in line with how we were created to be.

The question is what does such a life look like?

Here is the rub.  Here is where the importance of scripture comes in.  I have heard often, "It is all about love."  Well, love needs some definition.  Even as a culture, we have defined that "controlling" love can be abusive.  So, what is true love?  What are proper expressions of love?

Jesus defines love and he affirms that scripture defines 

the proper expressions and understanding of true love.

Jesus began his ministry by affirming the importance of scripture.  To deny the authority of the bible is to deny the authority of Jesus.  As he states in Matthew 5: 17-18

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;

I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, 

not the smallest letter,

not the least stroke of a pen,

will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

The winds of cultural thought have turned against the authority of scripture to define love, marriage, truth, and righteousness.  As a culture, we will reap the whirlwind from these cultural tides.

What I don't get is how churches and many "religious teachers" think they should join in our cultural destruction.  God is not mocked.  In other words, 

beware of any church or teacher that does not take scripture seriously.

In our fallen condition, even believers might differ in interpretation.  Yet, truly redeemed folks agree on 98-99% of all doctrine.  Those minor points in which we disagree are really not important.  They are like an intramural scrimmage.  We have way more important things to deal with.  Our culture, our friends, our families are not flourishing.  We cannot encourage people to walk deeper into sin.  We cannot approve of what scripture defines as sin.  These are the marks of a false church and false faith.  Doing so it not loving.  It is the opposite of love.  

It is time for the Church to be the Church.  It is time for believers to be believers.

                                                    "Jesus and the Pharisees"
                                                    Jacob Jordaens 1593-1678 

How did you end up in Montana? Part 2

How did we end up in Montana?

The short answer is grace.  God's gracious favor rested upon us, and He led us to this place at this time.

Of course from our perspective, the path to Montana was far from straight and clear.  From my limited perspective, I think the Lord often leads us day-by-day so we have no idea of how things will work out.  As I read scripture, 

He promises to go before us and behind us, but His servants  still walk through the wilderness.

Earlier this week I shared how M.E. and I always had a strong desire to move to Montana.  Anytime we were in Montana, it felt like it was our place.  I can't explain it except to say, Montana felt like the place where we were to be and where we fit.

When things started going south at my former church, all of my ministry friends and colleagues from away from Seattle told me to "get out."  This was not going to end well, and folks were so kind to offer several ministry opportunities.

The most obvious and likely spot for us was for us to move back to New England.  We love New England, and we have had many successful years of ministry in New England.  Most can not say this.  It is a tough spot to minister.  We had friends, contacts, and experience in NE.

One opportunity in particular looked great.  It would be a complete restart of an established church.  Such a "legacy" church restart sounded great.  The only hold-up was one of my former colleagues.  In many ways, he stood in the way of us coming back.  Folks in NE could not understand, and I could not also.  Why Lord?

I also had made some calls to churches in my denomination located in Montana.  One retiring pastor was a great source of encouragement and information.  He shared that his church needed someone with my calling to help them grow.  He also shared that several other churches in Montana were in need of pastors.

What great news!

The problem was nothing worked out.  None of these contacts, none of the networking, none of the efforts I put into it opened any doors even a crack.  In fact, I meet with the regional ministry group and one church only to have the door closed rather rudely in my face by both.  Again, why Lord?

I had no idea that God was at work behind the scenes.

In God's providential timing, I was meeting with several ministry colleagues in Seattle last fall.  They knew my situation and what I was going through.  Before a meeting, I was sharing with a pastor from a sister denomination that our family had no idea what God was doing.  I also shared that our greatest desire was to move Montana, but nothing was open to us.

His eyes lit up.  "You really want to move to Montana?" he asked.  "I have some people you should talk to.  This might well be one of those God moments."

Truly, I had no desire to look at a church in a different denomination.  To honor my fellow pastor, and perhaps out of curiosity, I talked to the local church leader.  I really liked him.  I found out this situation would be very similar to the one in NE that I found intriguing.  This is a "legacy" restart.  There is a building on the growing side of town, but not many people.  I would be given free reign to do what needed to be done to restart this church on a new foundation.  I was invited to visit.

In the same week that I rudely experienced closing doors in my own denomination, I traveled up the road to this wonderful town.  My son and I both liked it beyond description.  I have to confess that I don't always trust my judgment, because I tend to be optimistic about everything.  So I arranged for my family to come and visit.  After two days here, we universally loved it.  After five days here, the church asked us to come and be their restarting pastor.

What was God doing?

I have to confess that even with all of this confirmation, I was still waiting for something to fall apart and make our Montana dream impossible.  There were so many details that needed to work out perfectly to make this happen.  In addition, other great offers and opportunities presented themselves.  We had an opportunity in Seattle.  We had inquiries from other places.  Maybe we should wait to see if New England would work out?

I felt more in the wilderness than ever.

So, we took our time.  We prayed.  I visited Montana more.  I talked with our sister denomination.  They would be very generous with their financial support to help get this ministry restarted.  Still, we waited.  We prayed.  We visited and investigated.  Did I mention we prayed a lot about it?  Thankfully we had the time to wait, to pray, and to listen for the still small voice of the Lord.

In the end, every door was opened and every obstacle was removed so we could move here.  Unfortunately, this meant saying no to other offers and situations.  Fortunately, it meant holding God's hand and walking with Him to this place.

Grace.  It was grace and mercy.  All of the starts and stops, all of the closed doors, all of the doubts and fears.  Our life seemed like a march through a dark swamp.  Looking back, I can see that God's hand leading us straight to this place.  We praise Him for His grace to us.

For Such a Time as This...

"For if you remain silent  at this time,
relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place,
but you and your father's family will perish.
And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Esther 4: 14

I love a good question.  As a professor and communicator, I have seen how asking a good question can open minds and hearts.  I love seeing a person wrestle with their thoughts as they attempt to answer a question they have never thought about!  I think often in the midst of these questions, the Holy Spirit shows up to change someone's heart and mind.

The book of Esther is a strange OT book.  The main character of this book is probably Mordecai, but the book gets named after his cousin Esther instead.  

The setting for the book of Esther is the Persian Empire, which at this time is ruled by a somewhat unpredictable and crazy king named Xerxes.  In the first chapter, his queen, Vashti, disobeys and embarrasses the King before his nobles.  In a rage, he casts her out and he begins to look for a new queen.  The nobles come up with an idea to which Xerxes does not object.  All the beautiful virgins within the kingdom will be brought to him for a night, and he will choose the one he wants to be his new queen.

As you can see, this is not a great spiritual story.  

It is earthy and quite ribald in all of its components.  Into this cultural mix, Esther is brought into Xerxes' harem.  She is given beauty treatments and brought before the King.  He obviously likes her as he chooses her to be his bride!

Let us pause for a moment and see what great spiritual attributes Esther brings to the table.  She is obviously beautiful.  In fact, she must be smoking hot to be chosen as the most beautiful woman in the entire Kingdom!  ... That is about it.  I do not think she had to be a great conversationalist for what was expected of her.  She was good looking and willing to be part of Xerxes' harem (as opposed to being killed).  What does this teach us?

God can truly use anyone.  

If our history is not noble and instead is marked by bad choices, God can use us.

If our knowledge and skills are low, God can use us.

If the best we can do is cry out, Lord have mercy on me.  God can use us.

In the book of Esther, she is now queen.  She is performing her duties as queen and Xerxes obviously likes her.  Then Mordecai uncovers a plot to destroy the Jews.  Who would do such a thing?  Why would they do it?  Because one of Xerxes' officials hates Mordecai.  When Mordecai discovers the plot, he approaches Esther and asks her to risk her life to get the King to change this awful plan.

How does she risk her life?

Esther must come before the King without his having called her so she can give her petition.  In the Persian empire, you could not come before the King without his summons.  Xerxes had not summoned Esther.  She would have to break the law, almost in the same brazen manner that Vashti did, to bring her petition to the King.

Our opening passage includes Mordecai's answer to Esther's objections to coming before the King.

"And who knows but for such a time for this you have come to your royal position?"  

Obviously this is true.  Yet how does she know for sure?  

Here is where we also struggle for clarity.  Just as Esther had to overcome her fear, so do we if God is to use us.  We have to step out in faith and do that which God has laid upon our hearts.

So, I ask, "For such a time as this," God has brought you through all of your life.  Will you step out in faith and do what He is leading you to do?  You are uniquely qualified to perform whatever task God has brought you to.  Will you do it?

It does not take great "spiritual strength" (whatever that is), but a willingness to believe.  Faith means looking past our fear because of the knowledge that God is at work.  He is doing something.  Even if I perish in the attempt, I will do what He is leading me to do.

So, what is God calling you to do?  

Is it a call to ministry?  To missionary work?  To talking to your neighbor about Christ?  To going back to church?  To loving your spouse even though they do not deserve it?  What has God laid upon your heart?

Even with all your heartaches and hang-ups, God has uniquely qualified you to do the task He has laid upon your heart.  Repent of your unbelief, trust in the Maker of all things, and watch Him work through you!

How did you end up in Montana? Part 1

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29: 11-13

"When God calls us to a task, we think the best way is a straight-line from A to B.

God's doesn't do straight lines.

When He calls us, He often works in zig-zags."

Pastor Nick, Faith Center, Great Falls, MT

First sermon we heard when we arrived in Montana 6/21/15

I am constantly amazed how God works.  His Spirit goes with us.  He leads.  He comforts.  He opens and closes doors.  He speaks from the storm.  He speaks in a still small voice.  He uses the wicked.  He uses the good.

Through it all, God builds our faith.  

His servants often walk through the wilderness.  We feel the sting of the hot dry wind blowing sand in our faces.  We long for a sweet cold drink of the fountain of life.  Then, we go over one more steep hill feeling we can't go any further.  We don't want to go any further.  As we crest the hill, to our complete surprise, we see the oasis of grace before us.

Our landing in Montana is like that.

When we left Maine three years ago, we left a great group of people, a place we loved, and a solid church.  In earthly terms, it was foolish to leave.  Yet, somehow we knew that God wanted us to leave.  It was time to hand it over to someone else.  In fact, His Spirit told me, "Just as I have greatly blessed, I can take away.  If you don't leave, I will make you leave.  It is time."  For the health of Grace Bible Church, it was time for me to leave.

Through God's leading, we ended up on Seattle.  We knew it was a high risk/high reward kind of place because the church had a very mixed history.  As we prayed about it, I felt the Lord saying that He would go with us and allow us to meet the people we need to meet for the next half of my ministry career.  I had no idea what that meant, but we went to Seattle.

While in Seattle, we preached the gospel and tried to help people grow in grace.  We loved seeing people come to know Jesus better.  We loved seeing new people embrace Christ, and some of the long-time members come to a real and solid understanding of Jesus's grace and love for them.

Alas,  there were also parts we did not enjoy.  In the end, we ended up getting hammered by those who had driven this churches mixed history.  It was painful, but I praise God He counted us worthy to suffer for the gospel.

Even before we arrived in Seattle, I remember telling folks we never intended to go to Seattle.  For many, Seattle is their dream/ideal ministry.  For us, Montana was our dream/ideal.   

Why Montana?  Most pastors and leaders don't want to come to Montana unless it is for vacation (in the summer).

M.E. and I felt since before we were married that we strongly desired to live in Montana.  

I remember talking about it, and we both shared Montana would be our first choice of where we wanted to live.  It is not like we did not try.  About fifteen years ago, we interviewed at a discipleship center that wanted to start in Montana.  We felt this group of people weren't ready to go, which proved to be true.  Yet, as we prayed about it, I remember clearly hearing from the Spirit, "Not yet.  You will come back."

Every time we had an open call, we would look to Montana.  Yet, how do you find a call when you have no connections?  Perhaps we should have just moved earlier.  Yet, I think the Lord has led us and grown us as people away from Montana so we are now ready for this stage in ministry.

Would you join us in praying this is the case?  Pray for the Lord's favor to be upon us.  Pray for grace to reach new people with the gospel and pray for some mature believers (but not trouble-makers!) to join us as we begin a new church.

One month ago we left Seattle for Montana.  It was sad saying a temporary good-bye to good friends.  Yet, in less than a month, this place feels more like home than any place we have ever lived.  I bless the Lord today for all His benefits to us!

Tomorrow I will describe how the Lord brought us to this opportunity.  It is another story of His providential leading.  I will also leave you with a picture of our beautiful state.

Our Testimony to Jesus

"With my mouth I will give thanks to the Lord;

I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

For he stands at the right hand of the needy one."

Ps. 109: 30-31

I have probably heard at least 1000 times the following statements made by a believer in Christ,

"I do not feel comfortable telling people about what I believe.  

I prefer to let my life witness for me."

Have you ever heard this excuse/reasoning?  Have you ever given it?  I am sure that all of us have.  These statements and the feelings behind them have been making the rounds in Christian circles since the time of Jesus.  Let's take a fresh look at this often accepted thought.

On the face of it, I completely agree.  If our life does not match our witness, then we are by definition a hypocrite.  Our life should be a witness.

Yet, to what are we witnessing?  

Let me lay out two different statements.

My life should reflect good Christian morality.  

My life should reflect my relationship with Christ.

While I think these two statements should equate, I do not think they mean the same thing.  I believe that by making them the same, we have made witnessing about Jesus something to which almost no believer feels comfortable.

Why?  The problem comes with thinking my morality has anything positive to do with witnessing for Jesus.

What about when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and I snap at my family, my co-worker, or myself?  What about the awful muttering that I do under my breath?  What about my struggles with my "hidden hangups and sins"?  How can I witness to truth when my life is not really right?

I believe almost all of us feel these tensions.  We know we do not have it all together.  We have so many struggles.  Witnessing must be for people who have their life together better than we do.

Such thinking destroys our desire to witness for Jesus.

There is another issue with equating the above two statements.  What if I do live "good Christian morality'?  (However I define it)  My guess is that my co-workers, family, and friends will think that I am a great guy.  They will think that I really have it all together.  They will think that I am dependable, solid, loving, ... you fill in the blank to what you think you should witness to.

Here's the rub.  Where is Jesus to these people in which I am witnessing?  They like me, but why would I assume they will make the connection that Jesus is the one who made me this way?  If I am honest, which I rarely am, I am witnessing more to my morality, my uprightness, my way of life.  

Furthermore, with this sort of thinking, I am now caught in the trap of reputation.  I have to work harder and harder to keep my "goodness" public.  I strive to maintain my reputation before others.

I don't know about you, but I know my secrets.  I know my struggles with living my faith.  I know those inner thoughts and that I don't always wake up on the right side of the bed.

In short, maintaining my reputation only proves I am a hypocrite.

What can be done about this?  To what should we witness?

How about cutting through the hypocrisy of witnessing to and through my great (or not so great) morality?  How about not fearing our shortcomings because we witness to the only perfect man in history?

I have found our most effective witness comes by confessing and telling others how much I need Jesus and how much grace He gives me daily.  

Something wonderful happens when I bring up the name of Jesus.  When I confess my need for Him and how He is my only hope, the Holy Spirit shows up to confirm what I am saying.  I have also found that when I confess my weakness, people listen to me because they have the same issues and problems. Somehow the Holy Spirit works through the confession of Jesus as our only hope to bring Him all the glory.

In other words, without mentioning Jesus we are not really witnessing about Jesus.  

Pointing to Jesus as your only hope and your present savior 

brings the power of the Holy Spirit into play.  

Our life should reflect our relationship to Jesus.  Does yours illustrate your dependence upon Him?  If it does, you have all it takes to be an effective and powerful witness to the gospel!

Your so vain, you're probably thinking this post is about you...

and to complete the song, "and you might be right this time."

I was always told as a child, "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all."  This is hard advice to follow.  

This blog post is a turning point.  For the past year, I have shared with friends how much I would like to write a post modeled after that old song line, "Your so vain, you probably think this song is about you."  For two years, some people used this blog, my teaching and preaching, and anything else they found find or imagine to attack me.  They were convinced that I was singling them out.  The were "offended" because I was so "offensive."  They were convinced that this blog was somehow an attack on them.

News flash!  I probably wasn't even thinking about you when I wrote whatever post you decided to be offended by.  

Extra news flash!  Maybe you have confused being offended by being convicted.  Instead of attacking me behind my back, why not go to the Lord in prayer and see if you are really troubled because you should be troubled?  At the very least, comment or talk to me about it.  Don't assume the worst of me because your assumptions show the very worst about you.

Third news flash!  This post might truly be about you...

Today, I begin writing again.  Without getting into specifics, the past two years have been the most difficult of my life.  I have been maligned, falsely accused of a variety of stupid stuff, had all of my motives questioned, and been subject to controlling people and groups.  In addition, I have had my family attacked as somehow unworthy.  This is not a complete list, but it does scratch the surface of my life and ministry for the past almost two years.  

The best part, all of this has occurred at the hands of supposedly "christian" people.  "Christian" folks who remain unrepentant and instead use false humility to attack anyone they deem "prideful" enough to question their actions. 

The irony of it all.  These folks don't see that their pride is at the heart of their gossip, their judgment of others, and their self-righteous approval of themselves and their friends.

Honestly, I feel so sorry for these ignorant, prideful fools.  They profess to be wise, but they have denied the truth.  I so wish they would come to repentance because this condition is fatal.  They have immunized themselves against the gospel's call to true humility and repentance.  Instead, they have embraced the stage-four cancer of self-deception.

So today, I write as a free man.  For the first time in two years, I am free from their control.  Probably the most frustrating thing about all these attacks is that I could not respond directly to them.  It was neither professional nor prudent to do so while at my former employer, and my severance agreement kept me from doing so over the past eight months.  Well, the severance agreement is over as of June 30 and so is the gag order.  I am free to share my perspective (without betraying confidences) on why I left my former employer, and what I think about all of demonic attacks on my character, ministry, and family.

The only issue is that I don't want to.  I have no interest in speaking about specifics or somehow violating any "confidences."  I don't have much good to say about how this situation occurred and what certain individuals have done.  So, I won't say anything specific at all.  

Sometimes things don't go as you wish.  Some jobs are great while others are difficult and one is glad when they are over.  Today I write to say this portion of my life is now over and I am extremely glad.  It is now in my rearview mirror, and I don't want to turn around to even look at the ugly mess.

Professionally, personally, and as a family we are now in a better situation and a much better place.  To the small but determined group of "vain" people, I say, "Good luck."  If our paths cross again, be assured I don't hold a grudge, but I might be a bit gun-shy.  This is not an issue of my "unforgiving heart" but instead the reality of a changed relationship because of what I feel was your abusive and controlling behavior.  I praise God for freedom and release from this situation. 

I also acknowledge the many good folks I met in Seattle.  In the midst of the darkness, God used many of you to show me light and grace.  I thank you for being that light and grace.  Please be assured this post is not about you.

Now, onward.  "Higher up and further in" is the call.  May we all pursue it!