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Scriptures That Bother Me — Deuteronomy 8:10

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 17, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Giving Thanks

“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.” Deuteronomy 8:10

If you’ve been involved in Christianity for more that two weeks, you’ve probably sat around the dinner table with other Christians and prayed before you ate. This is a good practice, for reminds us that God is the source of all the good things in our life. However, I think our practice of praying before a meal can become nothing more than a religious habit, especially when we are in the presence of other Christians. To be honest, the only time I ever pray over a meal is when I’m with someone else. Otherwise, I just jump right in and eat.

Although I believe that gratitude for the gifts of God needs to be a 24/7 attitude, I find I’m usually grateful on a ½ /1 basis. That is, about a half hour one day a week. Then I go and stumble upon Deuteronomy 8:10 and I feel like a worm.

Deuteronomy is the farewell address of Moses to the Israelites. Deuteronomy means “repetition of the law,” since God gave all the commandments to Moses at Mt. Sinai in the first year of the Exodus. Since most parents get really serious when they repeat something to their children, I figure God was very intentional about helping us learn the lessons found in this book.

Deuteronomy 8 is God’s reminder that we are to remain in an attitude of gratitude, and He encourages us not to forget that He brought us out of our desperate situation and into a place of abundance. God commands us to give thanks after we have eaten, Continue Reading

Got Character?

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 7, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Publishing, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3)

A few years ago, a church I attended in Arkansas hosted a Thanksgiving service, which served to raise money for the ministerial alliance. The alliance asked our church to lead in the praise and worship, and I played the piano on the worship team. Looking over the congregation, I noted a pastor from another church who, no matter what we sang, refused to either clap his hands or raise them in worship. He simply sat in his pew with his arms folded.  That struck me as strange, because outside of church he was a happy, vivacious, demonstrative man.

I have never been known for my extreme subtly or bashfulness, so as we gathered for refreshments after the service, I questioned him his about posture. “Why, when Scripture instructs you to lift up holy hands to the Lord, and you have a chance to do so in a public service, did you sit with your arms folded across your chest?”

“Well, you see,” he began to stammer and laugh, “I’m a . . . .” and he named his denomination. I cut him off and said, “Are you a denomination first or a Christian first?”

At this point, he began to look around for help from the people who had gathered, including my pastor. He asked, “Is he always like this?” to which my pastor replied, “Hey, he’s going easy on you.” Everybody who was gathered around laughed.

It is sad that many church members (or goers) around the world are more concerned with offending their denomination and the people in the next pew than they are in obeying the Word of God. Continue Reading

Cranky with God

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 4, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Publishing, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Even though I spent many hours alone with God, it was only when I encountered my fellow community members that the true fruit of my prayerful labors showed its worth.

If you ask me, I’m a pretty great guy when it’s just me and God in the room. I find it easy to count not only my blessings, but also the many ways I’ve blessed others. However, when I stepped outside my hermitage (or prayer closet, if you need to get religious about it) and saw someone I didn’t like, it was then that the true fruit of my prayer life would show itself.

If you are calm, cool and collected when you are alone with God, but irritable Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Romans 8:1

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 12, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

NOW Is the Time

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” – Romans 8:1

Last week, I had the wonderful experience of meeting with two other churches in town for a Saturday morning leadership conference. Six different speakers – three pastors and three laypersons – spoke for fifteen minutes each on different aspects of the word “Harmony.” I’m sure you’re impressed by the fact that pastors and members from three different churches in the same town actually get along well enough to fellowship on a Saturday, and you should be. However, the real miracle is not that three churches got together, but the fact that not one speaker went beyond their fifteen minute time limit and spoke for twenty minutes. And three of those speakers were preachers! I know you think I’m making that part up, but I was there and it’s true, my hand on a Bible so help me God.

Still, after three hours of fellowship, questions, comments and lots of laughter, this one Scripture from Romans stands out in my mind. Like you, I’ve heard this verse hundreds of times, reminding me that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” However, the part that really struck me was the word “now.”

You see, I’m all ready to stand before God after I’ve died and, knowing that Jesus has washed away my sins, enjoy eternity in His presence. My faith assures me this will be the case.

But what about now? NOW there is no condemnation, Paul says. NOW I stand before Him clean. That’s hard to wrap my brain around.

But in case I think the NOW in Romans 8:1 is a fluke, I read in Colossians 1:22, Continue Reading

Faultless? Really?

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 4, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” Colossians 1:22

“Me? I’m standing before God without a single fault?” I’m thinking to myself after reading this passage. “Who’s Paul kidding?”

Yes, I believe in the Bible. It is one of the job requirements of being a pastor. But I must confess I have trouble wrapping my mind around this idea: I stand before God without a single fault.

After consider it for a while, I thought to myself, “Not me, baby.” I have so many faults I sometimes wonder why my wife doesn’t change the locks on the door while I’m at work. Besides, if I have no faults, then why am I still opening my mouth and saying inappropriate things? Why do I still struggle with selfishness, pride, impatience, joy, love and self-control? How on earth or in heaven can Paul tell me I stand before God without a single fault?

After wrestling with this idea for a few days, I finally began to understand that we must all know the difference between our position in Christ and our experience with Christ. Continue Reading

A Poor Woman’s Rich Offering

Posted by Jim Thornber on March 28, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

“A poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus said, ‘this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. . . she, as poor as she is, has given everything she has.’” Luke 21:2-4 (NLT)

This passage is an instant challenge and bothers me for one reason: I don’t know if I could drop everything I have in God’s collection box and walk away.

Yet, that is exactly what this widow did. She took her entire net worth, two of the smallest of Jewish coins, walked into the presence of God, and without considering anyone was watching, especially God as Messiah, dropped them in the collection box and walked away. She didn’t get a receipt, couldn’t write it off on her taxes as a charitable donation and didn’t tell the pastor she no longer had food money or bus fare to return home. She simply gave her all to God and walked away because that was what her heart wanted to do.

Not me. My ego always struggles with acknowledgment. I want the leaders of the church and denominational officials (and truth be told, God, to a lesser extent) to know exactly what I’m sacrificing. I not only want my left hand to know what my right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3), I want them to get together and start and avalanche of applause because I’ve done it. Who really wants to give in secret when a bunch of our friends can get together and give us a big party for all our generosity? Continue Reading

Truth is a Rainbow

Posted by Jim Thornber on March 17, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Publishing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book, Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

As an Assemblies of God minister who was also a monk in a Catholic-based monastic community, I had to do quite a bit of soul searching during my time at the Little Portion, reconciling what I have always believed and practiced with those things I was seeing practiced at the community. Our Christian principles were the same, but the practices of those principles were different. My conclusion, therefore, (and you may disagree – just be agreeable when you do so) was this: The Spirit of truth guides us into those truths that pertain to the principles of salvation. Everything else is icing on the religious cake.

At one time, I saw “truth” as if it were the period at the end of this sentence; complete, precise, and unalterably the same across the board. And naturally, my truth and the Spirit of truth were one and the same! However, after living at the Little Portion, I began to see truth more like a rainbow and less like a period. There were different colors and gradations to truth, especially when that “truth” did not have anything to do with our salvation.

Ecumenism is defined as a movement promoting union between religions, especially between Christian churches. Our unity as Christians is centered completely and solely upon Jesus and His place in our life. The purpose of the Spirit of truth is stated in John 16:14: “He will bring glory to me [Jesus] by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” The mission of the Spirit of truth is stated in John 16:8: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” By putting these verses together, we see that the Spirit of truth comes to convict us of our sin and point us to righteousness through the judgment of our sin (i.e., Calvary), and to glorify Jesus. Anything we do in the Church that does not fall into these areas is that which does not fall under the ministry of the Spirit of truth.

In other words, I discovered that our union as Christians is based upon Jesus and nothing else, because nothing else is eternal. Not our by-laws, ordination practices, baptismal formulas, dress codes, holy water, service times or musical tastes, but simply Jesus. With this understanding, I was free to talk all I wanted about Jesus and never run out of something to say.

And this freedom to talk about Jesus without running out of something to say happened twice in a very significant way. In both instances, I was privileged to co-teach in a Catholic setting, one along side John Michael Talbot (the founder of The Little Portion Hermitage) in Lafayette, LA, and the other with a monsignor in Vista, CA.  I spoke with John Michael for almost two hours at the retreat in Lafayette. We talked about the community and our mutual love for Jesus without ever mentioning our differences regarding the Pope or praying the rosary or transubstantiation. We just talked about Jesus, and since we could not exhaust our Subject, we never ran out of something to say. In fact, I believe that until we have exhausted our discussion of Jesus, we do not have a right to separate from our fellow brothers and sisters based on those things that are not Jesus. This reminds me of something I read, but I cannot remember where. “On the major things we agree, and on the minor things we disagree, but in all things we are to remain in love.”

A similar scene occurred in Vista, CA. Monsignor Regan invited the community to his parish to teach and give a concert. The monsignor and I got along like old friends, and he invited me to speak with him at a special service. He gave me the topic and suggested we just stand up and share from our heart. And for the next hour, we did just that. He would share, it would give me an idea. I would take off from that, and in turn, he would say something about what I said and on it went. It was marvelous and a whole lot of fun, and once again, I learned that we could not exhaust our common Jesus.

I’m A Thief

Posted by Jim Thornber on February 28, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 14 Comments

I thought you’d like to know how I spent my morning. It started out with, “Hi. My name is Jim, and I’m a thief.” In response, everybody at the weekly meeting of “Thieves Anonymous” shouted back, “Hi, Jim!”

So much for remaining anonymous.

I didn’t start out the morning knowing I was a thief, but as soon as I opened my Bible and read this one verse in Proverbs, “The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight” (11:1), I had to close my Bible, pray and face that startling truth.

So what, you may be asking, have I been stealing? What are the dishonest scales I’ve been using in order to steal from other people?

The first that comes to mind are the inaccurate weights of my judgments of people based on items that make me feel good. Or, at the very least, feed my ego. For example, when I weigh people based on their looks, I’m using dishonest scales. I figure if that they are good looking, they must be a nice person. Then I read that Leo Tolstoy said, “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness,” and my tilted scales go crashing to the floor.

I’ve also used dishonest scales when I’ve inaccurately weighed people based on their talent. If they show obvious talent for music or computers, I figure they’d be great to have working in the church. But I overlook the person whose gift is to sit quietly before the throne of God and gently pray for every need that comes to mind.

I tilt the scales to my advantage when I wonder how a rich person may be able to bless me or the church, how a friendly person can make me feel or how a well-known person can boost my ego by just being with them. I know it how to create envy – or at the very least, curiosity – in others because I know a famous someone, so I’ll drop names of important people or celebrities I may know (or just think I know) because I saw them at a Denny’s, a concert or just on the street (all of those apply to me). Are you envious yet? I want you to be. Can you feel me stealing their celebrity status and using it for my own ego purposes?

The real theft takes place when I remove Christ from His rightful place as my Lord, my hope and my salvation, and I place my hope in people and what they can do for the church and me. Or more accurately, me and the church.

I use dishonest scales when I pray to God for an answer but look to people to provide the solution.

I use dishonest scales when I put more weight into how I look in the eyes of others than how I look in the eyes of God.

I use dishonest scales when I seek friendship with others based on what they can do for me instead of what I can do for them.

Now you know why I could read one verse of Scripture and conclude I’m just another thief. However, since the first step in recovery is to admit I’m powerless to overcome my problem on my own, I’m confident that God, having shown me my thieving ways, will be sure to offer me His solution. And what a relief it is to know His scales are perfectly balanced – in my favor.

My Least Favorite Scripture

Posted by Jim Thornber on February 21, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

How many of you have your favorite verses of Scripture? You know, the ones you’ve memorized, written down, maybe even have them framed and hung on the wall or, most importantly, plastered on the refrigerator door. Me too. Since I turned fifty years old the other day, I’m becoming fond of Song of Songs 2:14, where the young man tells his bride, “Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your face is lovely.” It gives me comfort to think that as the remaining hair on my head turns grayer and the lines grow deeper on my face, God still likes to hear me speak and enjoys seeing my face in His presence.

However, for many years I also had a least favorite Scripture because I just couldn’t understand what it meant. Whenever anyone asked what faith was, some well-meaning person in the room would always quote Heb. 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” True, that’s what is says. Can’t deny it. Now, what the heck does that mean? “Well,” they’d say, “faith is a substance, a thing that, uh, you know, you have when you’re, uh, hoping for something like heaven or a blessing, or, uh…” About that time I’d say, “Never mind. I’m still confused.” Do you see why it was my least favorite Scripture?

The problem with quoting this one verse of Scripture and stopping there is this: Although it is technically correct, it is contextually incomplete. To take one verse of Scripture, quote it, then sit back and wait for the light to come on over everyone’s head is a bit presumptuous. Continue Reading

Mary Had It Worse

Posted by Jim Thornber on February 7, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

“And a sword will pierce your own soul too” – Luke 2:35

Me and Mom at my wedding

I know it has been a while since I’ve written, but I’ve been in Mississippi the last ten days with my mom. She had been fighting emphysema for years and on Feb. 1, she lost the battle. She died peacefully with me in the room with her, and I’m grateful for the time I could spend with her at the end of her life.

I have to admit, though, that more than once during the week I stood by her side, praying that God would take her quickly and ease the pain of trying to breathe with only 18% of her lungs left. One of the worst possible experiences in life is to watch a loved one slowly die for lack of oxygen. Gasping for air is not a pretty sight, but that was what I had to watch. I prayed and pleaded with God that He would ease her pain and discomfort and take her home quickly. My love and compassion for my mom wanted a comfortable, easy passing, and I don’t regret those prayers. Still, while I stood by her bed and held her hand while she struggled to inhale, it occurred to me that however bad I had it, Mary, the mother of Jesus, had it worse. Continue Reading