House Church Talk - Phil & his Visualizing

[jim sutton]

Well, we often do run, don?t we?  Our feet so swift and eager to shed innocent 
blood.

I went back and looked again at your original post, Phil, on Visualizing 
Christ.  And I must say I was shocked.  I saw nothing there to merit the 
carrying on that has followed on this list.

Granted, the words and terms you used historically provoke backlash from 
Christians.  Many of us have heard the sermons, listened to the tapes, read 
the books produced by Christian leaders against new age stuff.  And I agree 
with the typical Christian stand against new age garbage.

But Guys, stop and take a breath.  Rather than carry on, and on, and on with a 
"friends of Job" routine, stop and see what Phil really said.  Respond with 
reason, and not like any insect that just acts out of instinct.  

God reveals His truth most perfectly in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  And 
He also reveals His truth perfectly in the Scriptures.  But He does not stop 
there.

Often we may hear/read a story (like Pilgrim's Progress) that is not 
Scripture, and not the quoted words of Jesus or an apostle -- but is still 
used of God to break thru to us with a fresh awareness of a truth.  And the 
Lord may even use a totally secular source to rattle our brains, stirring up 
our awareness of a truth of God.

The truth does not come from the secular source, or even from the servant of 
God.  The truth always comes from God.  And often it was already in our minds. 
 We just needed to see it from another angle to see it again.

C.S. Lewis (I know, now I'm sunk) talked a lot about this in many places.  He 
was a student of medieval literature.  And even in the most ridiculous pagan 
sources, Lewis could see glimpses and reflections of God's truth.  Granted, he 
agreed that they were distorted by fallen human minds.  Yet he believed that 
the truth of God cannot be totally hidden.  The Light (of John 1:4,5 & 9) 
shines so brightly that it touches and influences even darkest humanity.

And Paul saw -- even in pagan poetry -- a truth of God, as he quotes in Acts 
17:28: "For ?In him we live and move and have our being?; as even some of your 
own poets have said, ?For we too are his offspring.?"  

(Boy, would he have been chewed on for such comments by this list!  The very 
thought that common people are all God?s children!  If that isn?t new-age, 
nothing is.  But was Paul really teaching that all are God?s children, or 
simply using those words to point to a genuine truth?)

Yes, we do need to stand for the truth of God's Word.  The Bible is the 
authority over every thought, belief, and teaching.  And that should be enough 
said, among brothers and sisters in Christ.  

But to gang up and try to skin a brother alive for sharing something 
thoughtful and real is stupid and wrong.  It's time to back off and cool down. 
 Those big guns you want to aim at a good brother need to be aimed at the real 
enemy we all have in common.

Like Job of old, Phil keeps trying to explain what he means, why he has taken 
his stand.  And like those lousy comforters of old, you keep trying to find 
and prove the flaw.   ?Lemme at that speck there, Phil.?  And like those 
?friends? of Job you get even more riled up when your victim complains about 
your attitude.

This same Pharisaical attitude has already chased off a lot of good brothers 
and sisters from this list.  Do you really want to be left with just 
yourselves?

Take a breath, Guys.  Look at your own reactions and ask the Lord for wisdom 
here.

Jim