Tag: "church"

What Kind of Christian “Are” You?

What Kind of Christian “Are” You?

Last week I posted an article and video titled “Should Christians Practice Yoga” and “Why Christians Practice Yoga.” In the article I explained that we have liberty in Christ and that there is only one God, according to 1 Corinthians Chapter 8. Therefore, if a Christian desires to practice yoga or Christian yoga unto the Lord, God will honor his or her worship.  However, if a Christian believes yoga is ungodly, that they should abstain from yoga, for whatever is not of faith is sin.

Well of course, I wasn’t expecting to change Christian’s minds or beliefs regarding yoga. That was never my intention.  I know that the controversy over yoga, Christian or otherwise, will continue. But it did slightly bother me when I received an email stating, “What kind of Christian are you? My son thinks you’re a Jehovah Witness.” (Huh?) The rest of the letter went on to tell me the evils in practicing yoga. I replied with a brief response and let it go, but when I woke up the next morning, my spirit was heavy because I’m sure I offended many other Christians as well.

I prayed to the Lord at that moment and asked, “Lord, tell me if I am wrong because I don’t want to lead people astray.” And the Lord instantly put these words in my heart, “Don’t become a slave to fear.”

As I meditated on these words and what they meant, I began to reflect upon how the spirit of fear has shaped our behaviors and our world as a whole.

Fear of losing something or someone produces worry, jealousy, over protectiveness, and/or covetousness.

Fear of losing control promotes anger, insecurity, and possessiveness.

Fear of lack promotes greed, selfishness, and competition.

Fear of religion produces prejudice, hatred, intolerance, separation, and even murder.

These common fears circulate throughout our world daily. But what does fear look like within the church? When you reflect upon the message from your pulpit, are you receiving a weekly dosage of faith, love, peace, or fear, intolerance, and legalism?

I once attended a church many years ago where all of the women seemed vibrant and glowing. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but they were ALL so beautiful. As I continued to observe these women I began to notice commonalities between them. First of all, all of the women had very long healthy hair. I also noticed that they all wore long dresses, didn’t have on any makeup and no jewelry of any kind. I attend several more sessions and really enjoyed the pastor’s messages. Then on about my fourth visit, in which I had worn pants, makeup and jewelry, the pastor’s message abruptly changed. He went on a long litany regarding what he claimed God said about a woman’s appearance. Well as you can imagine, he began denouncing all of fore-mentioned and used the Bible as his justification.

Now the Bible does tell women to be modest, but some churches turn it into an unspoken law and take it to an extreme in an effort to swell lustful thoughts and inclinations of the male church population.  Their fear of impropriety has put many women in bondage. Yet, Jesus said that if “your” right hand offends you, cut off “your” right hand. He also stated, if “your” left eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. He didn’t say change or alter what’s tempting you.  In other words, get the lust out of your own heart, and then the temptation will have no power over you!

My question to the Christian that fears yoga is “Why?”  This is a rhetorical question because I already know the answer. We serve the God of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. When Elijah challenged the people of Baal to a duel of the Gods, he gave them free rein for the better part of the day. He said, build your altar, make it bigger, scream louder, maybe your God is asleep! Even if their gods had a little power, Elijah knew that their power was no match for the true and living God. He wasn’t the least bit intimidated or fearful that these so called little gods would overtake him or get the victory.  When you know the power that you have and who you are in Christ, you don’t have to defend yourself or even put others down. You just need to believe, stand in faith and love, and the results will show for themselves.

Many years ago my spirit was so vexed listening to so-called Christians calling in a radio program concerning the national day of prayer. The topic was, “Should the president allow other faiths (other than Christians) to pray?” Over and over, Christians (or so-called Christians) were calling in and hurling out insults regarding other religions and the legislators for allowing anyone other than Christians to pray. Listening to their fear and intolerance made me nauseated. In my mind, what a wonderful opportunity to lift of the name of Jesus amongst all religions. Who knows, when the Christians prayed in unity, LOVE, and power, the glory of God may have come down and touched the hearts of everyone in the place and God would have been gloried. Just like he did when Elijah called down the fire of God from heaven and in one swoop it destroyed the altar that Elijah had created.

As Christians, it is not our job to judge and demean others or their religions. All we have to do is lift up the name of Jesus and the Bible says that ALL men will be drawn unto Him. Are the so-called god’s of yoga greater than our Lord? Why are we giving them so much power, allegiance, and attention in the first place? Paul said that an idol is nothing! Therefore if it is nothing, why not treat it as such? If Christians want to use yoga, which has more benefits than almost any other form of exercise, to improve their bodies, minds, and spirit in a positive way and as unto the Lord, what’s so evil about that?

Jesus said in Matthew 15:8, these people worship me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.  God also said that man judges by outward appearances, but God judges the intent of the heart.  In 1 Chronicles 28:9, God told Solomon, “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” When a Christian practices yoga, God isn’t looking at the poses, he’s not even looking at what comes out of our mouths, He’s looking at the motives in our heart. Is our heart filled with whole-hearted devotion or are we just going through the motions?  Just like a person can go to church every Sunday for years, sing all the right songs, and say all the right things and have never have a personal relationship with God, so can a person practice yoga and love the Lord their God with all their heart.

If we need to focus on anything, it’s getting the fear, sin, negativity, and smudges out of our own hearts so that we can create a vessel that God can dwell in. It is that we deny ourselves and our own motives, so that God can live, move, and have our being. I believe there is so much more poison and evil residing in our own hearts at this very moment that is far more lethal than yoga will ever be.  I also believe, as a Christian yoga practitioner, that the elements of yoga (deep breathing, fitness, meditation) can be a wonderful “tool” to help us achieve this goal. The emphasis being “tool.” Yoga helps us to quiet our minds and much like meditation, can help us to identify and release the evils that plague so many Christian hearts- pride, fear, selfish, greet, hate, anger, and intolerance.

We need to choose the right battles and fear the right things. The scriptures tell us to Fear God! He is the only one with any real power. You may fear demons, but you have the power to cast them out. If you want to banish evil, you can find much better places to begin than yoga. I say, begin with your own heart. Examine your mind and thoughts in light of the fruit of the spirit. Do you judge, are you angry, do you doubt, are you a worrier, are you greedy, are you selfish, jealous, deceitful, manipulative, mean spirited, critical, a gossiper, or judgmental?

As each one of us brings our whole minds and bodies under the authority of Jesus Christ, we will be one less step away from creating a world that manifests God’s Spirit which is love, joy, peace, and faith. And these will go so much further in winning the world for Christ than denouncing yoga or any other practice we may disapprove of.

This sweeping fear that yoga is going to lead us away from God, worship idols, and open ourselves to other spirits is both unfounded and insulting to intelligent Christians. No one whose heart is right towards God needs to fear any of these things. When we go to a restaurant we don’t ponder whether the food was prepared in honor of an idol, however, depending upon the type of food you’re eating and their religious faith, there is a good chance that it is. No, we do as Paul said, and we eat the food and don’t worry about the intent of the preparer because we know that an idol is nothing to the Christian.

Many years ago Proctor and Gamble Corporation was said to worship satan and promoted the mark of the beast: yet, I would assume that the majority of Christians aren’t checking their detergent labels to see where they are manufactured and then boycotting certain companies. If the above is true, are we encouraging satanism and demon possession every time we watch a load of clothes?

And by the way, no I’m not a Jehovah Witness! I’m a born-again believer and disciple of Jesus Christ who wants to be led by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word instead of the rules and regulations of man. My heart-felt desire is to rid my heart and mind of the things that corrupt my spirit so that Christ can dwell in and work through me. It is a continual process.


May 10, 2011 | 18 comments View Post
God Wants A Movement Not More Monuments (1)

God Wants A Movement Not More Monuments (1)

Part 1-

I first heard this phrase at a spoken word and poetry event, “God wants to build a movement not a monument.” When I heard this it instantly resonated with me. Recently I had been reflecting on a passage of scriptures and trying to get the essence of what God was saying. This gave me my answer.

The scriptures I am referring to is Mark 9:2-8 when Jesus was on a high mountain. It reads:

“ After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.  And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three tabernacles—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.”

I believe that one of the problems we have with Christianity is the need to want to turn everything Christ-related into a program, a curriculum, a procedure, a method, a specialty, or as Peter proposed, a monument. But if we look at Jesus’ life, he constantly ran away from anything that would exalt, classify, or label him as anything but the son of God. His ministry wasn’t confined to a church building or even a corner. He roamed the cities, countryside, and even the oceans to fulfill his purpose, which was to bring salvation to the lost and heal the sick. In fact, Jesus made it apparent that his time here was only temporary and that He’d be returning home.

When he sent the disciples out to proclaim the good news, he sent them in twos. They stayed in the homes made available to them and ate what was put before them. By the spirit of God they healed the sick, casted out demons, and preached the word of God with power and conviction. It was a movement, a growing movement that left a wave of transformation and restoration in their path. As the spirit of God moved upon them, they moved. When they encountered sick people on the streets, they laid hands on them. When they met individuals possessed by evil spirits, they cast them out. The absence of a church, program, or method did not inhibit their efforts. Nor should it impede ours. Methods, programs, organizations, and monuments are a substitute for the lack of spiritual movement in the body of Christ.

Somehow, we’ve given up the movement for the monuments and allowed programs and methods to replace a powerful and … move of God. Programs become repetition and procedures put God in a box. Programs invite us to the revival. Movement stirs revival in our hearts just waiting to be commissioned through faith. Methods tell us how to share our faith, movement tells us to open our mouth and let the Holy Spirit speak through us. Monuments promote praise and worship of God. Through movement, the joy of the Lord spills out from our heart and evades anyone in our midst. Time and time again we read, “The spirit of the Lord came upon” one of God’s servants and at that moment, they did great exploits for the Lord. Movement allows God’s spirit to imbue us when He sees fit to fulfill his purpose.

When Peter saw the Lord, Moses, and Elijah on the mountain his first thought was to build a tabernacle, a monument for these great spiritual leaders. But God, knowing Peter’s motivation, immediately removed Moses and Elijah and said in a loud voice, “This is my son Jesus, listen to Him.” God was saying in essence, you don’t need to build a memorial; you just need to listen to Jesus.

God sent the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts so that we would have a direct inner line to God. The problem with monuments is that we begin to fixate on them. They become the focus of our Christian devotion. One of the primary monuments Christians have built is the church as an institution. This creates a problem when serving the Church takes precedent over listening to and hearing God. We come to church to worship God and fellowship with other believers, but is there movement going on. Have we as individuals embraced our calling and purpose as believers of Jesus Christ or have we left that up to the institution.

Movement can take many forms, yet all movement must begin with the spirit of God that resides on the inside of us. Until we allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and then tune our ears into listening, real movement can’t happen. Each week we fill churches large and small and hear inspiring sermons and create great programs in the name of God. But what would happen if each individual followed the passion to serve God in their own heart? What if we all listened to the still, small voice of God and then obeyed? What if this took precedent over creating bigger and more lavish monuments? How would this affect the world? Each person fulfilling the God inspired vision in their own heart.

We Are God’s Temple

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? -1 Corinthians 3:16

With a church on almost every corner, we must question the need to build more monuments or tabernacles to God that don’t allow or embrace the movement of Holy Spirit. God may visit these brick and mortar temples but he certainly doesn’t live in them. Instead the Bible tells us that God dwells in the hearts of his children, that we are his temple. But for God’s spirit to be fruitful within us, we must willing allow Him to use us; we must decrease so that God’s spirit can increase with us.

In Romans 12:1-2 Paul encourages us to give ourselves completely to the Lord,  ”I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1, 2)

If we truly want to see the spirit of God flourish on the earth, it will require his children creating a greater space for him in their hearts and minds. We must replace our monuments and programs with God’s fresh anointing, not just collectively, but individually.  We must learn to subdue our flesh and its selfish desires which first begins with conquering our mind. In doing so, we can internalize the words of Jesus in John 5:5 that says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” How, when, and where is God telling you to move today?

Part 2 Coming Soon

Learn the benefits of Christian Meditation and how it can help you to create a greater space for God in your life.


Apr 26, 2011 | 0 comments View Post
Can Christian Meditation Transform the Church?

Can Christian Meditation Transform the Church?

As I sat in church this past week listening to the pastor talk about clarity and contemplation, I wondered if the congregation really grasped the significances of what he was sharing. He spoke of prayer and spending time with God, but did it register or was it just another Christian ideal that sounded good but had no real practicality. Knowing what I have learned about contemplation, meditation, and prayer, it takes discipline to carve out time everyday to spend time with God in stillness and reverent solitude. As I continued to listen, I wondered if mere words were enough to demonstrate the magnitude of such a practice. Was a sermon about contemplation and meditation enough or must further steps be taken? Do pastors not only need to talk about reverent silence, contemplation, and Christian meditation, but practice it as a body as well?  And if so, how?

The service I attended consisted of praise and worship, some scripture reading, teaching, and ended with gospel music playing so loudly that you’d have a hard time hearing your neighbor talk to you. Where was the contemplation in that I thought? If we are to talk about meditation (or words similar to it), isn’t it just as important that we teach it and practice as a body of believers?

In the course of our church services, I imagine believers entering the main sanctuary in silence and holy reverence to God as they turn their hearts over to Him and enter into His presence. This would be followed by 10 to 20 minutes of scripture meditation with eyes closed and as we slowly grazed over the scripture passage selected for the day.  Christian meditation would allow God’s word to wash away every care and dissolve every weight that we carried in with us- the act of hiding God’s word in our heart. As we mentally repeated the scripture passage, following the principles of meditation, any time we discovered our minds wandering off in thought, we would gently returned our attention back to the verses, thus creating a greater space to hear God and fellowship with Him from within. For those who attend church for the entertainment factor or an emotional experience, this might not go over so well.


Jan 24, 2011 | 5 comments View Post

Legalism Vs. Love and Truth

My heart is saddened a bit this morning.  Several weeks ago I contacted an online Christian women’s magazine about placing an ad directing believers to my website to get free daily Christian meditations.  After a week with no response, I sent a follow up email and this is the reply I received.

Thank you for your letter. I held on to it to check with a few others and so it took me a while longer than usual. Personally I think the site looks great, but because we have such a legalistic section of an audience I feel that I should avoid websites that may spark controversy among some of the readers, who may misinterpret it as new age. For this reason we have decided that we have to decline. Live Well!”

I have underlined several passages of this letter that I would like to address.  First, it is still beyond me why so many Christians are “legalistic.” If anyone should be tolerant and compassionate it should be us!  I don’t mean tolerant of sin, but tolerant of our brothers and sisters as well as the unbeliever.  Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself.  That doesn’t imply to love him only if he thinks like you, acts like you, looks like you, or is a Christian like you. Your neighbor may be the gay couple with 6 adopted kids! I know that will make some Christian’s cringe. Maybe if we stop being so judgmental we can actually love some people into a relationship with Christ by being a reflection of God’s love.


Jun 11, 2009 | 18 comments View Post
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