To Love and Be Loved In Return.

It is not true that ‘to know someone is to love them;’ sometimes to know someone is to run screaming in the other direction as fast as your feet will carry you! It is true, however, that ‘to love someone is to know them,’ know them like the back of your hand, like a part of your own heart, like a well-worn pair of boots that slip smoothly on your feet ...for how could it be possible to love someone in ignorance? It’s not. We must know what we give our love to, otherwise we’re not really loving what, or whom, we think we’re loving.

Ever had a conversation with a family member, a friend, even someone you deeply and romantically love, only to come away with the realization that those who are supposed to know you best …sometimes don’t know you at all? There is an incredible yearning in the human heart, a core desire driving away at us, to know and be known— our hearts full and joyous with knowledge of another, our souls complete in some way, whole in some way, because of the intimate knowledge another possesses. This, I believe, is a divine desire: an illustration of what Solomon meant when he said, “He has ...set Eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” {Eccl. 3:11b}.

I don’t think it’s a joyless resignation to say no matter how passionately we pursue this goal it will never be finally fulfilled in Time. In fact, in a fallen world full of fallen wills {Rom. 8:18-25}, it’s not even possible to have it fulfilled now. Not in the sense for which Abba intended it, not the way in which it will be when we stand before our King, our Hero, the Savior and Lover of our souls, and He peers into the very core of our being, past all the lies and hypocrisy, past all the posing and posturing, past all our jockeying for positions of prominence in His Kingdom, past the wounds, the weariness, the hurts and betrayals, past the long nights of loneliness and sunny days of short-lived bliss, past every moment we excluded Him from because ‘we had it all together’— locked down, buttoned up, retirement socked away, money in the mattress, another man or woman waiting in the wings to replace the one we’re with— past all the details and distractions which deceived us for decades on end, keeping us from laying our hearts in humility at his feet. Past all the rhetoric and straight to the reality of you …of me …of us.

Scripture paints for us this magnificent picture of a deeply relational reality to come in 1 Corinthians 13:12. The Apostle writes, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now [‘At this moment,’ in this day, in this Age] I know in part; then [in the Eternity to come] I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” Mmmhhhhmm… that’s it. “I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” This what we’ve been searching for all our days. This is the fleeting shadow, the ever-elusive prey we’ve been trying to capture in every conversation, every fumbling attempt at friendship, every intimate encounter of our lives. This.

There is a moment in the Ages of Eternity when, “face to face” with the Lord of Glory, we will know Him as He has always known us. Try and grasp just for a moment the depth of intimacy and understanding being expressed here. A knowledge of God unlike anything you can possibly imagine in Time, and a ‘being known’ by God, by a kind and compassionate Presence, a strong and loving Other, a perfect and powerful Father. To “know fully, even as I am fully known.” And what we’ve looked for all our days, what we’ve longed for all our lives, hour after hour, hammering away at volume after volume of Scripture, theology, spirituality, ethics, the technicalities of Greek and Hebrew, devotional materials as rich as rainfall and doctrinal materials as dry as August dust, will finally be ours. A communion with our Creator beyond anything we can yet imagine, Eden come again, Paradise regained.

This is the world we were made for… this is the Life we were meant to live… this is our destiny, to be eternally surrendering ourselves to Perfection, endlessly submersing our wills in the Water of Life. This is who we’ll be and where we’ll be— forevermore. May you have a very, merry celebration of Jesus’ Incarnation.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

The Danger in Following Self-Appointed Saviors.

George Orwell once said, “Sooner or later, a false belief bumps up against a solid reality.” This from a writer who, beginning his career as a Socialist / Communist, understood very well the tyranny of those who are convinced they alone are right and thus, by default, everyone else must be wrong. And since wrong, these same ones must be corrected, herded, and directed by those who know better than they what’s good for them. The last thing “they” need is a taste of Freedom and of Life.

This reminds me of so many men and women I’ve known through the years within our particular ‘movement’ of Faith who were utterly convinced their ‘way’ of doing things— be it their theology, their attitude toward others who differed some way spiritually, or their very approach to teaching or worshiping or serving or praying— was the only way. There could be no other. “God cannot work in ways other than those of which I have personally approved.” It may not be overtly stated in terms this bold, but something very similar is going on beneath the surface of the soul when arrogance and self-centred ambition are having their way with us. So, think about this mindset for just a moment ...then get a nice, long, hearty laugh out of it.

How grateful we all must be that after two thousand years of getting it wrong, Abba has sent us a new set of saviors so we can finally ‘get it right.’ It would be hilarious, if not for the unbelievable arrogance it exemplifies. I think a healthy prayer might be, “O Lord, whatever You do in all our lives to break down the barriers between us and You ...save us from ourselves. {And while You’re at it, save us from our self-appointed saviors… please.} Amen.”

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

Grace Is the Attitude of Gratitude.

The Spirit of God inspired the apostle Paul to command the Lovers of Jesus to “rejoice always, pray continually,” and “give thanks in all circumstances,” saying, “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” {NIV}. The Message has, “pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” Meaning with thankful hearts in all things, with attitudes of ceaseless gratitude for the wonder of the world He created, and for the beauty and majesty of Life in His Kingdom.

It has long been recognized by even casual observers of human life and conduct that those who choose to live with gratitude and express their appreciation find a joy and pleasure which much of the world seems to miss. These are some of the evidences of it.

“The root of joy is gratefulness.... It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful”— David Steindl-rast.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder”— G.K. Chesterton.

“For each morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends”— Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Epictetus, the Greek slave turned Stoic philosopher, said, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures” — playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder.

“The struggle ends when the gratitude begins”— Neale Donald Walsh.

There is an Estonian proverb which says, “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” As fully evidenced by post-modern America’s ‘entitlement mentality’ = regardless of how you play the Game… everybody gets a trophy!

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart”— Henry Clay.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it”— William Arthur Ward.

“Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more— a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise”— George Herbert.

And one last embodiment of the spirit of thankfulness. “With arms outstretched I thank. With heart beating gratefully I love. With body in health I jump for joy. With spirit full I live”— Terri Guillemets. To the extent it is within my power, if I am at all able… this is how I choose to live.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

Wise Entries In the Cultural Conversation

“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat”— F. Scott Fitzgerald.

“The trouble about man is twofold: He cannot learn truths which are too complicated; he forgets truths which are too simple”— Rebecca West. Lord have mercy, how truthfully simple this is. And how simply truthful!

“People worry about kids playing with guns or watching violent videos. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands, of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss”— English novelist and essayist Nick Hornby.

This one’s for all those ‘mountain-out-of-a-mole-hillers’ slithering in the reeds, otherwise known in our post-modern mess as drama kings and queens. Winston Churchill once said, “When a man cannot distinguish between small and great events, he is of no use.” We made a pact among us this Wednesday night, our small band of brave brothers and sisters, to kindly but genuinely reply the next time someone says something ridiculously stupid, wants to throw a hissy and make a major out of a minor: “Is this really the hill you want to die on?”

For those still refusing to acknowledge that they live in a much Larger Story than the socio-dramas {read ‘soap operas’} playing out at work, or at school, in their neighborhoods or deep in the nest of resentments swirling in their souls, I offer the words of Norman Cousins. “The tragedy of life is not death, but what we allow to die within us while we are yet still alive.”

And finally, I’ve saved perhaps the best for last. “The root of joy is gratefulness.... It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful”— David Steindl-rast. Amen and amen.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

How Long Will We Waver?

Remember the story of Elijah squaring off with Jezebel’s false prophets, the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal {1 Kgs. 18:22}? 1 Kings 18:21 tells us, “Elijah came near to all the people [Meaning he got right down in the midst of them, face to face, muzzle to muzzle:] and said, ‘How long will you hesitate [Or ‘waver,’ NIV] between two opinions?” The Hebrew verb pasach means- ‘pass, spring, or skip over;’ lit., what it says is, “How long will you hop back and forth between the Lord your God and Baal, how long will you skip from one to the other?” You see, the sin of the Northern Kingdom was religious syncretism, an admixture of allegiances, a sometimes subtle but more often not-so-subtle blending of the worship of Baal with the worship of Yahweh, taking a little bit of the true and adding a whole lot of the false!

Now, here comes some very practical advice. Some of us reading this need to see it and hear it— maybe this moment. “If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’” Whatever your “god” is out here, whatever you’ve made your god and given your heart to, whatever you’ve placed over, in front of or before the Lord Jesus Christ, follow it whole-heartedly. Give everything you’ve got to it, without reserve. If this is your god, then this is what you believe can make you happy, bring you peace, satisfy your soul. Right? Don’t play these foolish little games and turn to one, then back to the other, then back again. If you’re going to worship this false god, give it your undivided attention, affection, and devotion.

As a shepherd of souls, I happen to agree with this approach wholeheartedly. Go grande or go Home, baby... but don’t monkey around with your idol-worship! Give it everything you’ve got. Cause if you don’t, if you’re just toe-tapping on the dance-floor of America’s false gods, there’s always going to be a little voice in the back of your mind saying, “Maybe you ought to give it one more try.” “As a dog returns to its vomit...,” right? So goes the Proverb.

Scripture then says, “But the people,” wisely I might add, “did not answer him a word.” This is at least some measure of wisdom and discernment: “the people did not answer him a single word.” They were going to wait this one out, see for themselves who wins this battle. In the end, they make their choice... the right one. They choose the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ {Yahweh Elohiym} over the filth and the falsehood of demonic idolatry. How long, my friends, before we do the same?

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

The Emptiness of Arrogance

Let’s begin with a question. Do you want to wage War effectively in the Conflict of Christ? Walking in humility is how we do it, in the opposite of arrogance and anger. Humility is a matter of knowing in the deepest depths of your heart who you are in Christ Jesus, the beloved Child of a perfect and passionate Father; then living from that reality. Humility is the grateful recognition that all we have, all we are, and all we ever will be is courtesy of grace; everything honorable, true, powerful and pure in our lives is a gift from God. Jesus said, and I think it’s as clear a statement as has ever been uttered, that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” {Lk. 18:14}.

Understand that history is a story of the defeat of arrogance. History is a story of the inadequacy of arrogance in every endeavor of life. It is a sordid Tale which chronicles on the pages of human lives and written in bloody ink the insufficiency of arrogance as a personal approach to Love and to Life. When you live this way, as practical atheists {some of whom are believers, but obviously not Followers}, rejecting God and His perfect provision in Jesus, there is only judgment left. When you spurn His grace and spit on His mercy that leaves only swift and certain judgment. And sooner or later, arrogance is always judged.

Sir Francis Bacon once said, “It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself.” Oh my gosh… wow. What do you say to a sentence like that in a world like ours?

Unfortunately, and it is unfortunate, it is sad beyond description, I’ve known many such men in my life— and women. And so have you. Utterly and incomprehensibly blinded by the arrogance of self-absorption, the pride of self-promotion {yes, even in ‘Christian ministry’}, or the hubris of self-hatred, which is equally as toxic to our lives in the Spirit of Christ. Honesty, openness, transparency and humility would be good places to start, don’t you think? Ruthless honestly concerning our selves, our sin, and our Savior, openness with others, transparency toward those I love, and humility before the God of this Universe, and we just might find ourselves in a very healthy place, well on our way to a whole heart and a holy Life. What do you say?

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

The Greatest and Most Important Command.

The common viewpoint of many scholars to the latter half of “the greatest” and “most important” command of any that exists {loving God with a whole and undivided heart, and loving those around us as ourselves} has been, “Oh, the caveat here is that if you…” then fill in the blank with how one feels about herself— despise yourself, condemn yourself, care less about yourself— under Law one can get away with it because, well, that’s what the Law says.  And Law is Law, right?  It’s immovable, unchangeable, inflexible.

Here’s an historical note which might shed some light in a different direction.  The belief of the ancient Hebrew, intrinsic in Judaism and setting it apart from Hinduism and Buddhism {which actively seek out the dissolution of self}, is that the individual is uniquely valued because he or she was uniquely created by God, their soul endowed with the ‘breath of life’ by His very own hand.  Thus, the individual is of great importance to God {which means you are of great importance to God}, enough so that we can boldly say He gave His Life and His Son to save every last one of us— 2 Peter 3:9.

What I’m getting at is this: the basic and bedrock belief of Judaism was that no man in his right mind would mistreat himself, starve himself to death, beat himself, steal from himself, abuse himself verbally, mentally, or emotionally.  The point is not that we’re not capable of these things, the point is that there is value in a single human life created by God.  And love respects that, seeks to nourish that, encourage that and doesn’t abuse that.

In The Weight of Glory C.S. Lewis reminds us that we have never seen an “ordinary person.”  He said, “There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.  Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations— these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.  But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit— immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.  This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn.  We must play.  But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously— no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”

If you were to see this individual as they were meant to be by God, or in the case of a believer, as they will be in God, you would be tempted to fall down in either fear or worship.  G.K. Chesterton says that the hardest thing to believe in Christianity is the infinite value it places upon the worth of the individual person.  But the magnitude of our eternal destiny depends on that worth, and demonstrates that worth for the Universe— at the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Ric Webb

Shepherd

Heart's Journey Community

www.hjcommunity.org