Why I Oppose the Teachings of Joel Osteen and the Prosperity Gospel

I want to preface this controversial note by saying that I write it not out of a desire to show that Joel Osteen is bad and I am good or that I know more or am smarter than Joel Osteen. Both Joel Osteen and I are in desperate need of Jesus and that apart from God's grace I would be a far worse sinner than Joel Osteen (or you) could even dream of. The reason I am writing this is to point any and all who read this to the salvation lavished on any and all who put their faith in Jesus Christ, stop trying to earn God's approval through anything they do or don't do, and come through Christ's mangled body on Calvary into a right relationship with the triune God on the resurrection side of Christ's tomb.

Before I point out the heresies in Osteen's teaching, I want to point out that the Bible clearly says there ARE false teachers who mislead people and teach falsehood and that God is very concerned that we not be led astray by them. This means there is a danger in Christianity of hearing people who claim to be the mouthpieces of God but are not and being led away from the Good Shepherd by their words. 2 Peter 2:1-3 says, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."

We must NOT blindly accept anyone who claims to be speaking the Words of God or we will be led astray from the truth. God is warning us in this passage to keep our eyes open and listen carefully to what people who claim to speak for Him say. We must line it up against the rest of scripture to see if what they're saying is supported by God's Word all the way through. Here are three signs to look for when you're listening to a person who claims to be speaking for God:

1. Are they preaching the whole counsel of God? Are they covering both the negative things God says (warnings, threats, curses, etc.) and the positive things God says (encouragement, promises, blessings, etc.)? God says things both positive and negative to His people. Remember when Peter swore to Jesus that he would never let Jesus be hurt? Jesus did not say "Thank you, Peter, I appreciate your concern." He said “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”! Can you imagine being called Satan by Jesus? That was not, from our perspective, a kind, good, encouraging word from Christ! Jesus warned him that he was thinking from a human standpoint. Equally dangerous, though, are the teachers who never have any encouragement for the people of God but are always warning them about this or that. More often than not, these false teachers are very legalistic and unkind to those who are struggling. They are always telling them what they should and shouldn't do. The Pharisees were this kind of teacher. Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” Jesus does not want His people to go around feeling dejected and exhausted by having hard commands wrapped around their necks. He says “Come to me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest... My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus opposes both kinds of false teachers. Look at a pastor's teaching! Does he only talk about blessings and promises and warm fuzzy things? Does he ever talk about God's anger? Paul talked a bit about God's anger in Romans 1. He said it's against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Does he only ever talk about God's anger and warnings and threats? What about Romans 8 where we learn that when we put our faith in Christ nothing can separate us from God's love? You see the full counsel of God needs to be heard, understood and believed. Now all teachers are going to have more of one than the other. There's nobody perfect but you're at least going to hear the full counsel on occasion. A pastor may speak about God's love 51 Sundays out of the year and on His holiness on 1 only. But if you NEVER hear mention of God's holy anger at sin and our need for brokenness and repentance you're not hearing the full picture. The full message of the gospel is not God loves everyone and is happy with everyone and is going to pour out blessings on your life. Nor is it that God is angry with everybody and is going to delight in smashing any unrepentant sinners for all eternity. The full message is that God hates sin in every form and fashion and that we are, in our natural state, rebels who are at war with God and living in open defiance of His kingdom. Apart from God showing mercy to us, we are all headed to hell of our own free choice preferring to rot for all eternity rather than submit to His rulership. But God, rather than destroying all of us for spitting in His face and defying Him, chose to send Jesus Christ the God-man to suffer and die, taking the sins and rebellions of His people upon Himself and freely giving us His righteousness. When we trust in God to justify our wicked lives for the sake of Christ, he takes our sin and puts it on Jesus and takes Jesus' righteousness and puts it on us and starts the slow process of changing our hearts from wickedness to holiness. God's personality has many facets. His patience is tempered by faithfulness, wrath with forgiveness, warnings with promises, justice with mercy. If a pastor is preaching only one side of these things all the time, never mentioning the other side, he is a false teacher.

2. Are they living in a way that magnifies the beauty of God? God is the most desirable thing in all the universe. He is more to be cherished and loved and feared and worshipped and sought after than anything in all of creation. Does a teacher push you to know God at any cost even though you might lose all your money, your home, your family and all other things in your pursuit of Him? Paul wrote in Philippians 3 that he considers this whole world as dung (literally translated as "shit") compared to knowing Christ Jesus. Jesus was not a means to an end for Paul. Jesus was not a ticket to happiness or a good family or a new house or car or emotional peace or a healthy body. Jesus was everything to Paul and He must be everything to us. He considered all the good things he once had as worth nothing that he would gain Christ. For the first three centuries of Christianity the only thing that coming to Jesus would do for you is promise you a long, slow, unimaginably painful death. If people found out you had become a Christian you would usually lose your home, all your possessions and your family. Often, the whole family would be taken and tortured with your children being murdered before your very eyes. Jesus compared himself to a treasure in a field and a pearl of great price. The one who found this treasure went and sold everything he had to get at that treasure. The people in the early church lost everything when it was discovered that they were Christians. Does the teacher you are listening to encourage you to not mind losing possessions or being fired from your job or having your family leave you? Does he point you to Christ as your only treasure or does he encourage you to want your life here on earth to improve so you can have a better car or a better house or a happier family? What does he want you to be hoping for? More importantly, does he practice what he preaches? Does he buy the biggest house for himself when many in his church (or abroad) are struggling financially? Does he only drive nice cars? Does he eat well every day and try to enjoy this life as much as he can? Or does he live in a small house and drive a normal car? Does he give as much as he can to help people that can't afford healthcare or need help buying groceries or paying rent? Now I'm not saying that having lots of money is a sin but LOVING money and trying to find ways of getting more and more stuff to enjoy is clearly described as sin in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” Ask yourself why a teacher says it's good to want things that the Bible says will bring great suffering into your soul.

3. Do they show the fruit of the Spirit?
This one you've got to get involved with their lives to see. If you don't know them personally it's hard to find this criterion. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness and self control. Do you see these things? Now you may be asking “What about unbelievers that you see these things in?” This is why you have to be involved in the teacher's life to see these things. Everyone can put a show of these characteristics but it's not until life knocks them down that you see if they are a show or real. Everyone can be patient for a little while but after a long period of time of that patience being taken advantage of or not acknowledged the film starts wearing thin. Look at how they react when life punches them in the gut or their good nature is tested. That's when you'll see if it's real or not.

Now back to Joel Osteen. I don't know Joel personally so I can only use the first two criteria. Is this guy preaching the whole counsel of God? Has he ever talked about God's anger or His hatred of sin? Has he ever issued warnings to his flock about persisting in sin? Has he ever warned people that if they run from God or reject Christ that they are under God's wrath? I'm not asking if he talks about it all the time; I'm asking if he has EVER talked about it? And when he has, has he confronted it head on and warned people that sin will destroy you and end in eternal punishment? Well, the fact is that Osteen has talked about sin before. But not from the pulpit and not in an urgent call to repentance and faith in Christ to save from it. The only time he has talked about sin is on television appearances and only when poked and prodded by the host. And when he talks about it it's from the perspective of "trying harder" to make good decisions. He never warns people! And he subjectivizes a lot. “Well, for ME, I think this is sinful but I'm not going to judge other people and tell them that this angers God.” On at least one occasion he has expressed unconcern for people following other gods and other religions. Jesus told people that He was the only way to get right with God. Osteen doesn't tell people that. He says he will leave the judgment up to God. But God has already judged. When we confront people with sin we are not judging them but showing that they are already judged in scripture and that they can only have that judgment reversed by running to Christ. Most of the time, Christ is not even the focus of what Osteen says. Faith is. If things are not going well, it's a problem with your FAITH! You need to have more FAITH! FAITH is what really counts! Pray for more FAITH! Friends, faith is, in one respect, the least important aspect of salvation. You are saved by grace THROUGH faith! Not BECAUSE OF faith. Faith is the empty hand that accepts the medicine from the doctor. Can you imagine how conceited/stupid a patient in a hospital would be who, after receiving medicine from the doctor, boasted that his hand moving the medicine into his mouth had cured him and thus he had been healed by himself? Faith simply receives. If you're struggling spiritually you don't need more faith; you need to put your faith in the right thing. When once you have put the smallest pittance of faith in Jesus, your criminal record is erased in heaven and you are declared a beloved child of God. Nothing you do after that will ever change God's love for you. You can lose faith completely and wander away from God for even years and God still looks with great favor on you. He will never remove his grace from you. You can wallow in sin and start getting drunk every night and you can murder thousands of people and have sex with hundreds of prostitutes and your family can leave you and your house burns to the ground and your car blows up and your bank accounts emptied and God still looks at you and says “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” and “Nothing... in all of creation will separate you from the love of [me]...” He will bring you back to faith eventually but it will be HIS doing and not your efforts to have faith again. Ephesians 2 makes it clear that God gives us faith and not we ourselves.

So we can see that Joel Osteen does NOT preach the whole counsel of God. And the fact that he says some things that are correct only shows that Satan often comes as an angel of light just like 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 tells us.

Number two. Does Joel Osteen live and speak in such a manner that people are driven by his example to forsake all else in their pursuit of Christ as the supreme treasure? Or does he encourage people to use faith in order to make themselves happy in this current life? Is he wanting people to enjoy this current life or is he warning them that pursuing worldly treasures (big house, new car, happy families) will destroy them in the long term and “pierce [them] with many pangs”? Does his life echo the prayer in Proverbs 30:8-9 “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”

Short answer? He is clearly focused on enjoying this life. 2 facts: he has a book entitled “Your Best Life NOW” (emphasis mine); he lives in a 10 million dollar mansion. He moved to the 10 million dollar one from one that was a little over 2 million. Now of course he gives away millions of dollars every year but the gospels tell us a story about something similar:

Mark 12:41-44
“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’”

Jesus didn't have anything nice to say about the rich who flooded the treasury with large portions of money but he sure used that destitute widow to teach us a lesson. I'm not saying God wants us all to live in poverty but neither does He want us looking for good ways to enjoy ourselves more in this life. Whether the blessing you seek is a happy family or a bigger house or a thriving business or a good, happy mood all the time or a positive mindset, God is greatly dishonored when you seek Him for what He can give you. It's like a woman marrying a man so she can get into his bank account! It's so wrong to pursue God for any reason besides Himself! No wonder God gets angry at people pursuing Him just to be happier and more satisfied with life! Wouldn't you burn with anger if you got married and pledged yourself to another person only to find out that they didn't really care about you but about how you made them feel or what you could do for them emotionally, mentally, physically, financially and sexually? If when you told them you loved them the only reply was “I'm tired now. Can you go away while I sleep?” or “I'm hungry. Go make me dinner.” People who pursue God for His blessings and what they can get out of Him are a stink in His nostrils! He hates being taken advantage of and ignored.

One more thing. Come to Luke 6 with me. In this passage, Jesus is issuing a set of promises juxtaposed with a set of warnings. Which side of the table does Joel Osteen (or any teacher) fall? This is another great way to guard against false teachers.

Luke 6:20-26
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Jesus Pronounces Woes
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

When Grace Enters

When Adam ate the forbidden fruit he set off a chain reaction. His view of God became distorted. Then he had kids. Because Adam had a distorted view of God he gave an equally distorted view of God to them. We live what we believe. Adam no longer believed 100% of what is true about God. Oh I'm sure he SAID he believed all the right things about God but his life no longer lined up with his profession. All sin comes from a gap between what we KNOW is true about God and what we BELIEVE is true about God. Adam probably KNEW God was kind, loving, just, etc. but his personal sense of those truths was lost. He no longer lived his life as though those things were true. His kids picked up those heart beliefs from him. They saw God through their father's life and since that life didn't line up with doctrine the thing they took away from the relationship was a skewed understanding of God. Then they passed it on to their kids. Their kids passed it on down to the next generation. And on down the line.

When I am in Walmart I see the fruit of that last paragraph everywhere. The cycle continues. Parents yelling at their kids. Husbands and wives cutting each other to pieces with their words. Families that have given up talking to each other. And a thousand different examples. When I see parents yelling impatiently at their kids I think "Each one of those harsh cutting remarks is going to become a barrier that God will have to rip down if he's ever going to save that kid." And then I look at the parents and wonder about THEIR familial relationships when THEY were growing up. Probably exactly the same. They probably had parents who were exasperated just like I was witnessing.

The beauty of the gospel is that God doesn't tell people to get their relationships "together" before He comes to them. He just loves. He doesn't shake His head thinking "Why can't these families get their acts together to become more harmonious?" He says "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you... My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I've seen firsthand how a dysfunctional family can wreak havoc on one's walk with God. My family life was much better than some as far as yelling and crying and anger go but I still struggle to have the perception of God that lines up with truth. There are deep wounds in my heart that are just part of life in a post-Genesis 3 world. But the gospel says that I CAN and WILL be healed of them as I abide in the presence of my friend and healer, Jesus Christ. So won't you come with me to be healed? One touch from Him is enough. Let us come to the doctor not trying to hide our wounds and diseases but be open and honest with Him. He loves us so!

The Simpsons

I wanted to do a post on the television show The Simpsons. A lot of people complain that the show has deteriorated since the 1990s and that the show is not worth watching anymore. Now the guy who really introduced me to the series was what I once would have described as a conspiracy theorist. He said a lot of wild things about the way the Antichrist was right now in the process of lining things up for his takeover. He was one of the most committed Christians I'd ever met though and his devotion to God had a huge effect on my walk with Christ. He told me that The Simpsons was his favorite TV show because they were sending out secret messages through the show. Those were his exact words. Naturally, I was skeptical. But over the past few years of watching the show I can honestly say that I think he was right. My definition of "conspiracy theorist" has changed. Now these aren't the sort of secret messages that tell you the winning numbers for the lottery or arcane mysteries from Nostradamus' prophecies. As a matter of fact, it's rather sad that most people can't pick up on these secret messages because they're the kind that are right in front of our faces. They deal with the deterioration of American society; the downfall of our country; the crumbling of our civilization. For those of you who have been living under a rock the past 25ish years, the show centers around the eponymous family which consists of father and mother, Homer and Marge Simpson, and their 3 children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Many messages become readily apparent when we realize that the show is not about The Simpsons as specific people but about US. We are the Simpsons. Homer Simpson is seen as a comical character but he was intended as a mirror. As a society, we are becoming fatter, stupider, and more lazy. Look at this article:
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/02/05/study-americans-spend-up-to-80-percent-of-work-time-cyberloafing/

A lot of Americans are doing EXACTLY what they laugh about when Homer does it! We laugh at his propensity for eating but America has been known for its obesity for a long while now. We chuckle when Homer says or does something stupid but we are being systematically dumbed down ourselves. Doubt it? Look at most of the movies and tv shows we watch. These days, most of Hollywood seems to be recycling the same series of movies again and again with slight differences in plot and characters. Look at the books we read (those of us who still read, anyway). How many vampire novels have been released in the last 10 years? And how many of them have made any notable contributions to the literary arts? Have any of them tackled any difficult topics or brought a significant thought to bear on human existence? Any philosophy? Heck! Anything besides love, sexuality, or violence? We may not be exhibiting such overt idiocy as Homer does but give it time!

How much time do you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend reading? How much time do you spend "plugged in" to computers, cell phones, and video games? There is another series of "secret messages" coming through the show that deal with the accessing of information. Lisa is belittled for her love of books, learning, and study. Why? Because much of our society does just that. They tell us that losers and geeks are concerned with non-pop culture culture. Such people are viewed as out of touch with reality or incredibly conceited by much of the populace. Most students have learned two things from our educational system: to hate serious study and always expect knowledge to be spoon-fed to them. Creativity is highly discouraged in many classrooms. Conformity is the order of the day. If a teacher sees independent thoughts arising in a discussion they push the thinkers toward the desired goal for the class's conclusion. And conformity is not just pressed down on us in schools! In all strata of our society we are told how to see the world. Hollywood tells us that we are unattractive (or at least less attractive) if we don't have shapely bodies, symmetrical faces, and fashionable clothing. We are each given the same cookie cutters through which to see people. It is the matrix which is being pressed down on each of us. There's a little box for entertainment, for smart people, for science, for literature, for science, for comedians, and on and on. Back to the Simpsons, Lisa's independent thoughts are viewed as a threat by the school system. Homer, whenever he crosses paths with real intelligence, verbally assaults it with great glee and passion. Martin is constantly the brunt of bullying whenever he makes a particularly verbose exclamation. Ignorance and idiocy are rewarded and held up as a shining example for Springfieldians to follow.

Television and Internet are held up as the gods of information in Springfield. Something occurred to me a while ago. In one of the more recent episodes (Holidays of Future Passed) computers had advanced to the point of using a cable which ran from the laptop directly into your neck when you wanted to surf the Internet. While people are plugged into the system they go completely limp and appear to be sleeping. Well, what occurred to me was that when we are using electronics (or at least when I am using electronics) our tendency is to completely immerse ourselves in it. When I get on a computer the world just fades away. My mind becomes completely immersed in my electronic activities. I don't hear people around me, I don't notice things going on, and I even stop feeling hunger and thirst as acutely. Only thing missing is the physical cable stretching from my computer to my neck!

One more thing... Mediocrity. Cutting corners. Compromise. To put it more bluntly, half-assedness. In a kingdom of mediocrity, excellence is a dangerous commodity. "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man," says Springfield's town motto. Would that it were a way of life and not just a motto. Mediocrity is glorified in our society. Most students no longer strive for academic excellence. Why try for an A+ when a C+ will do? More than that, we've even adapted the grading scale. An A+ no longer represents true academic excellence. Oftentimes it simply represents work that has been completed. In the workplace, mediocrity abounds as well. Why do the best job possible when an acceptable job earns just as much money and respect? As a matter of fact, excellence is often dismissed as foolishness or it's simply rewarded with more work and no appreciation. One big complaint that I know a lot of people have is the state of the economy. There aren't enough jobs. The jobs we have don't pay enough. Prices are too high. And on and on it goes. Folks, the problem isn't primarily any of these things. These are symptoms. The problem (or one of the main problems) is mediocrity. One of the pure and simple keys to a good, powerful, robust economy is a good, strong work ethic. Hard work. Nobility. No corner cutting or mediocrity or half-assedness. Maybe it's enough in this country but in the global market, excellence is still sought after. If it isn't found in the US they'll go elsewhere to get it.

In the season 8 episode Homer's Enemy, we are introduced to Frank Grimes, a man who has had literally nothing but struggle after struggle after struggle to accomplish ANYTHING his whole life. He has worked harder and suffered more than anyone else and has finally received a degree in nuclear physics. Mr. Burns, the owner of Springfield's nuclear power plant sees his special interest story on the news and decides to hire him. The next day, however, Burns has forgotten the news story and gives Grimes some menial, pencil pushing job that has small importance, significantly below Homer Simpson's pay grade. Grimes is astounded and enraged at the deeply incompetent behavior and lackadaisical attitude Homer has toward his job. Homer becomes desperate to win Grimes' approval and invites him to dinner with his family to bury the hatchet. When Grimes shows up he flies into a rage upon seeing the size of Homer's house, his beautiful wife, and his (seemingly) happy, well-off children-- NONE of which he has had to work hard for! From that point on, Grimes is bent on destroying Homer's unearned reputation at the nuclear power plant. In the end, Grimes decides that, in order to be successful, he will start to act exactly like Homer; neglecting his job, eating a lot, and being a jerk to everyone. I won't spoil the ending for you, though!

There is a higher motive, though, than reward or recognition for excellence. Especially for Christians. Don't take away from the episode I just described to you the idea that mediocrity and ignorance are worth it to get rewarded. The episode is supposed to slap the status quo in the face! It's supposed to say "Look at yourself! This is screwed up and you know it so fix it!!!" This is injustice! It should make you angry! The episode should motivate you to fix society, not just sit back and accept that mediocrity gets rewarded and excellence gets overlooked!

In George Orwell's book, 1984, Winston Smith, the protagonist, remarks that if there is hope for the society of Oceania it lies in the proletariat; that vast body of humans that makes up the general population. For 24 years now the Simpsons have been trying to wake up the proles; to wake us up to the injustices happening every day in our society, to the matrices which our civilization pushes down on us, and to the flaws that are crippling our society. So wake up. Please, please wake up. It's not too late to wake up.

A Great Book

I just finished reading a great book. Great in the lessons it offers and in the literary style bound up in its pages. I highly recommend it. "Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me" by Dr. Karen Swallow Prior. Two lessons will stay with me that I gleaned from it. I'd like to share those with you here. The first is the difference between "self-esteem" and "self-possession." The former is all the rage these days. Virtually all bad behavior is now attributed to the lack of self-esteem. Psychologists turn perpetrators from what they are to helpless victims, deprived of love by their peers or their parents, unable to tolerate the lack of that love and approval any longer. When a child is struggling in school we focus on "building up" their self esteem so they think more highly of themselves. We've seen the effects of this philosophy for the past couple of decades but so few of us are able or willing to link the cause with the effect. It's a strange thing because before our grandparents' generation, elevated self-esteem was thought to be the main problem. Focus was placed on lowering people down to have a more accurate view of themselves and their rights in society. Anyway, this is all beside the point. The lesson the book was trying to get across was that, where self-esteem is an attempt to make oneself like oneself, self-possession involves looking at oneself simply to see where one fits in this world. "Know thyself," says the ancient proverb. So few people these days truly know themselves. The story of Jane Eyre figures prominently in the chapter's message. The story follows the formation of the titular character's "self", keeping it unpolluted from other's expectations and desires; fighting the temptation of trying to find itself in something that is not integral to the character; maintaining the integrity of "Jane". In short, keeping Jane as her own person rather than making her subservient to anyone else. The temptation to find ourselves in the stories of others is something we all face and we all give into some time or another. It was while reading this chapter that I saw that "finding oneself" is so integral to the spiritual journey we have been called on. So much sin is traceable to trying to find our identity in things that were never intended to provide it. What's more, I saw that part of the sanctificative process is becoming the individual that God created. God revels in individuality. He created each person unique and each person's walk with Him to be unique. It is in trying to emulate other people's walks with God that we fall into discouragement and frustration or disintrestedness in God. The more like yourself you become, the greater joy you will experience and the more pleasure you bring to God. The more like Christ we become the more fully "ourselves" we become. And only when we are conformed to the image of Christ will our individuality be shown; each of us created just exactly as we were created to be. Some will connect with God in books, some in movies, some through music or puzzles or drinking coffee or rock climbing or swimming in the ocean. The reason so few of us know ourselves is that this journey is so much harder than finding our stories in the lives of others. Isn't it easy just to emulate someone else? You don't have to think or be creative or figure out where you do or do not fit. It's lazy, though. And, ultimately, we'll never have quite as much fun as those who take the time and walk the path of figuring out what God created them to be like. We'll always be frustrated that we're not enjoying life as much as we want to and that our souls are chafing so much for some reason that we can't figure out. So my first "resolution" for 2013 is to start this path and figure out what Wes Rosselet looks like as his own man and where he fits in God's plan. The second lesson is that life, most of the time, is not sensational or melodramatic but that doesn't mean that enjoyment is impossible. In this chapter, the story of Madame Bovary figures prominently. Her life is a story of waiting for life to pick up its pace; for adventure and romance and tragedy to sweep in and blow away all this mundane, ordinary, day-to-day stuff. In her youth, she absorbed book after book of this sort, longing for her life to become more exciting and filled with passion. Her husband arranges her marriage to a man who has learned the joys of normal, down-to-earth things; walking home, eating dinner, freshly pressed clothing, etc. Essentially, he is a bore. He's awkward and dull but he's happier with his life than his wife is. Learning to enjoy plain, old, ordinary people is one of the keys to a happier life. Not spending time pining after sensationalism or excitement is necessary. "The world of the mundane is here and now and is not to be rejected but to be loved. Just as people are to be loved for who they are, imperfections and all, not the versions of them we make in our own image" (Prior 164). I have spent a great deal of my life engorging myself on movies. It's a different medium but the same concept. What I decided was lacking in "real life" I decided to get from movies. I inherited that tendency from my parents. Daring rescues. Exciting adventures. Heroic, determined, uncompromising men and women in situations where the stakes were high and the risks were bold. That's what my young soul has thrived on for most of my life. And those things were always lacking in my life. So I sought them vicariously through movies. I fed my idealism with those pictures. My walk with God has suffered accordingly. Everything was always so melodramatic in my walk with God! I always had to be doubting and fearing or standing boldly and powerfully. I get thrown from one extreme to the other so often. The day in day out salvations were constantly missed because they were too subtle for my idealistic heart to see. "Of what use [is] eternal salvation without a salvation for each day?" (198). That's what my next resolution is. To seek the salvation of the day. To learn to enjoy the mundane in my walk with God. To learn how to walk day to day with him without fearing that because I'm not burning with excessive heat for Christ in my heart that I've somehow received God's displeasure or that He's up and left me or given up on me in any way. Learning how to become more rooted in less extravagant expressions of His love for me. To get used to life on the mountain rather than on the peaks or down in the valleys. Because today is where eternity touches time and this is the place where most of my real, actual salvation is going to happen.

Don't Be Mastered!

Do Not Be Mastered

I refuse to be mastered by anything. Under the authority of Jesus I declare that I have freedom. I will not be a slave either to food or to dieting. I will choose my foods freely, choosing to eat healthily as this will bring me the greatest pleasure in the long run. I will not count calories or monitor levels of nutrition but will learn to let my body and spirit inform me what to eat and when. I will not be a slave to sin, nor to self-righteousness. I will freely choose the grace offered me by Christ and embrace the pure lifestyle that is becoming in a child of light. I will not be a slave of technology nor a slave to a primitive lifestyle. I will own a computer. I will use the wisdom that God offers me to determine how to spend my time, whether engaging in Internet use or exercising my body and mental faculties. I will not be a slave to entertainment nor to the absence of the same. I will discern through the grace of God how to spend my time alone and with others; whether to pursue entertainment or not. I will not be a slave to flippancy in my financial affairs nor to strict bookkeeping. I will spend money at my discretion and in regard to the guidelines set forth in Scripture. When I fail to make wise decisions I will not beat myself up or subject myself to the unbiblical, ungodly feeling of guilt or self-condemnation but will calmly set my heart and mind to make wiser decisions in the future.

Come Back!

I just turned to the Bible a few seconds ago. Just seeing the text in front of me again made me want to cry tears of joy. I haven't even hardly read any yet. I just turned there and read a few words. He is SO KIND! He will take you back! Just thinking that he is now looking down at me not with an "It's about time!" expression on His face but with a "I've longed for this moment!" expression. I listened to a very brief snippet of a sermon on the radio while back home. I turned it to a different station within a few minutes but the speaker said something that just seemed to be God's message to me. No matter how long you've been away… come back! If you've been out of His word for months or years even… just come back! There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! He doesn't look down at you impatiently from the heavens! There is love in His eyes and a deep desire for communion with you!

My soul has been so harried this last long while. There have been days where I've even wanted to get into His word but it's like something is blocking me and pressing down on my soul the notion that God is a taskmaster or a stern grandfatherly figure rather than a warm, caring, compassionate Father who does not lay burdens on me but draws and pulls me in to experience His love firsthand. Sin is a strange disease that struggles with you to keep you from taking the medicine! I don't spend time in Scripture because a wrong picture of God is being pressed down on me; and when I don't spend time with God, the result is that this picture gets pressed down harder on me! If I just spent time in the Word, my vision would be corrected but it's like my vision doesn't want to be corrected so it tries to keep me from spending time in the Word.

All that to say, come back. Be harried no longer. Come back to the Word. Come back to Christ. He is so desirable! And He is so forgiving and compassionate toward you! Just get into the Word! Hang whether it's for the right motives or not and just get in there! Healing comes from God's hands! Get touched by Him even if you're covered in sickness!

Things That I Think About

1. How to break inhibitions in myself and become more expressive and creative.

2. How to love more creatively.

3. How to become unconventional in my relationship with God without becoming unbiblical.

4. The fact that time spent judging others is time lost enjoying them, serving them, and loving their beautiful personality.

5. How to become more confrontational with unbelievers without departing from a real and beautiful love for them that shakes their world.

6. Should I keep a balance between walking in absolute freedom that Christ's love for me brings without caring whether or not fruit is produced or should I be concerned with the fact that my sometime lack of love for Christ indicates a missing of how precious He is?

7. How can I see God as bigger and myself and others' opinions of me as insignificant?

8. How can I get this computer and entertainment in general out of my life forever?