Unbridled

To Be well pleasing...

2008-08-20T12:05:00.002-04:00

What does it mean to "be" well pleasing to God? We all have our own ideas on the subject, but I recently spent some time meditating on the verse in 2Corinthians 5:9-11 that says:

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

I struggled quite a while on it and could not find a peace about it until the Lord brought me to one of the smallest words in the entire scripture. The word is small but quite significant and our understanding of that word is critical to the understanding of the scripture. The word is simply "be". (I made it bold & purple in the verse)

As I pondered the meaning of this small simple word, I decided to find out exactly what that word really means and how it applies to the verse. Below is the definitions give by some of the common dictionary's. But in a nutshell, I understand the word not as an action, but as a position or even more basically as an existence, or in scriptural terms - "abiding". Not an action, but location, a relationship, an identity, or a life. Yes, I would agree that actions will come out of the existence, but I must first "be" before I can "do". (all things through Christ...)

I ask you to read the definitions below and see what you conclude. Is the be an action or an identity. Let me know what you conclude. Also, how does your conclusion affect your understanding of the verse?

Blessings to you in Christ,

Mark

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Definitions: ( I have included the definitions in their entirety so as not to manipulate the outcome towards a desired end.)

be:

verb and auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person am, 2nd are or (Archaic) art, 3rd is, present plural are; past singular 1st person was, 2nd were or (Archaic) wast or wert, 3rd was, past plural were; present subjunctive be; past subjunctive singular 1st person were, 2nd were or (Archaic) wert, 3rd were; past subjunctive plural were; past participle been; present participle be·ing.
–verb (used without object)
1. to exist or live: Shakespeare's “To be or not to be” is the ultimate question.
2. to take place; happen; occur: The wedding was last week.
3. to occupy a place or position: The book is on the table.
4. to continue or remain as before: Let things be.
5. to belong; attend; befall: May good fortune be with you.
6. (used as a copula to connect the subject with its predicate adjective, or predicate nominative, in order to describe, identify, or amplify the subject): Martha is tall. John is president. This is she.
7. (used as a copula to introduce or form interrogative or imperative sentences): Is that right? Be quiet! Don't be facetious.
–auxiliary verb
8. (used with the present participle of another verb to form the progressive tense): I am waiting.
9. (used with the present participle or infinitive of the principal verb to indicate future action): She is visiting there next week. He is to see me today.
10. (used with the past participle of another verb to form the passive voice): The date was fixed. It must be done.
11. (used in archaic or literary constructions with some intransitive verbs to form the perfect tense): He is come. Agamemnon to the wars is gone.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME been, OE béon (béo- (akin to OFris, OHG bim, G bin, OS bium, biom (I) am, OE, OHG, OS būan, ON būa reside, L fuī (I) have been, Gk phy- grow, become, OIr boí (he) was, Skt bhávati (he) becomes, is, Lith búti to be, OCS byti, Pers būd was)) + -n inf. suffix. See am, is, are1, was, were]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
be Audio Help (bē) Pronunciation Key
v. First and third person singular past indicative was (wŭz, wŏz; wəz when unstressed), second person singular and plural and first and third person plural past indicative were (wûr), past subjunctive were, past participle been (bĭn), present participle be·ing (bē'ĭng), first person singular present indicative am (ām), second person singular and plural and first and third person plural present indicative are (är), third person singular present indicative is (ĭz), present subjunctive be

v. intr.

1. To exist in actuality; have life or reality: I think, therefore I am.
2.
1. To occupy a specified position: The food is on the table.
2. To remain in a certain state or situation undisturbed, untouched, or unmolested: Let the children be.
3. To equal in identity: "To be a Christian was to be a Roman" (James Bryce).
4. To have a specified significance: A is excellent, C is passing. Let n be the unknown quantity.
5. To belong to a specified class or group: The human being is a primate.
6. To have or show a specified quality or characteristic: She is witty. All humans are mortal.
7. To seem to consist or be made of: The yard is all snow. He is all bluff and no bite.
3. To take place; occur: The test was yesterday.
4. To go or come: Have you ever been to Italy? Have you been home recently?
5. Used as a copula in such senses as:
1. To equal in identity: "To be a Christian was to be a Roman" (James Bryce).
2. To have a specified significance: A is excellent, C is passing. Let n be the unknown quantity.
3. To belong to a specified class or group: The human being is a primate.
4. To have or show a specified quality or characteristic: She is witty. All humans are mortal.
5. To seem to consist or be made of: The yard is all snow. He is all bluff and no bite.
6. To belong; befall: Peace be unto you. Woe is me.

v. aux.

1. Used with the past participle of a transitive verb to form the passive voice: The mayoral election is held annually.
2. Used with the present participle of a verb to express a continuing action: We are working to improve housing conditions.
3. Used with the infinitive of a verb to express intention, obligation, or future action: She was to call before she left. You are to make the necessary changes.
4. Archaic Used with the past participle of certain intransitive verbs to form the perfect tense: "Where be those roses gone which sweetened so our eyes?" (Philip Sidney).

The New is Made Old Again

2008-08-06T20:06:00.001-04:00

Life in Christ was never meant to be the same old same old. Jesus came to give us New Life. Not a new life with the the same old habits. Living for Christ is one of those old habits we can hold onto–in spite of the pain and hurt it creates. God loves His church, but the church is no longer a building, it is His people. We are His temple. Unfortunately we can easily get caught up in “The Church” that we fall into some old habits there too. We become more concerned with running the church than being the church. It’s not intentional, or at least I choose to believe that for most of us it is not. Never the less, The old ways of “serving God” can creep into our “Church” life.
The unfortunate consequence of this it that the church takes the new life we have in Christ, the life that brings unbridled joy and loses it to the dogmatic ritual of performing for Him instead of living in Him.

Mark

Knew Life in Christ

2008-08-06T20:02:00.004-04:00

As a young believer, I knew from what I read in the Bible and heard from others that I had a “New Life”, but nothing in my life felt very new. In fact, my life felt like nothing changed except now I felt worse about everything I did that wasn’t “right”or what I thought God expected of me. I felt like I was worse than before. What I didn’t realize is that even though I had a “New Life”, until I received the fullness of the cross, all that Jesus had done for me I wasn’t going to feel any different even though I truly was. You see, until I “Knew Life”, life being all of who and what Jesus accomplished through the cross for me, I would never enjoy the “New Life” He had given me. When I finally knew Life ( John 14:6 “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.) I began to live in the life He created and not the one I was trying to create for Him!

We are who He has created us to be in Him. Life is not what we make it, it is what He has made it. When we can live our life in Him, we can finally live our new life in Him.

Mark

Do I suffer for the benefit of others?

2008-08-06T19:50:00.002-04:00

How can our weakness bring glory to God? How can we in our failures be the body of Christ? Can our failures be a tool that God uses to express His love to His people?

Think of it this way. Say you have struggled through an addiction of say... alcohol. God has given you freedom from that addiction and someone who is currently battling that affliction comes to you. They share their struggles with you, all the horrible lies, abuses and behaviors that are associated with alcoholism, they dump out their junk to you. Will you be shocked at the revelation of these things or will you be able to see beyond the affliction and all the horrible things it produces and see how this person is suffering. You have a compassion that is not obscured by the ugliness of the “sin” and instead you can focus on the effects to the person suffering from it. No judgement. No condemnation. Only love, compassion and understanding paired with the amazing hope of healing that you have been able to experience through your own life.

Now say that person comes and shares the same problems and behaviors, I on the other hand am not an alcoholic, I don’t drink and don’t know what it means to experience the pain of detox, or the shame of waking up drunk, covered in vomit having missed my child’s little league baseball championship, all because I just stopped off to have a beer with some friends. I may have compassion for your problem, but it is your problem, I don’t know what that is, I’ve never experienced it. To be honest, it would be hard for me to focus on how you feel, because I am still processing what you did.

You see, I believe that we have endured consequences of the choices we make apart from Christ, notice I didn’t say we are punished by God, because God is not in the punitive business, but that is a discussion for later. But through our trials, through the sufferings of the consequences of our self-life (our life apart from Christ), God can use the power of His grace, love and mercy through us as we are vessels of ministry He uses to heal His children. He uses broken vessels to minister to other broken vessels because His love can be shared through them without judgment or condemnation.

Let conclude by saying this, God does not put us through things for the benefit of other. He doesn’t give you cancer so you can minister to people with cancer. You are not a pawn He uses to reach the other guy. Your affliction is for the sole purpose of building your relationship and dependence on Him. It is very personal, He doesn’t use you as a sacrifice for others. However, as He is revealing Himself to you, He is able to express Himself through you to minister to others with love and compassion because of the work He is doing in you. Again, I don’t believe that God brings suffering onto you for the sole benefit of reaching someone else, He loves you so much more than that. What He does in your life is exclusively for drawing you into greater intimacy with Him. God doesn’t need you to suffer to reach others, he allows your suffering to draw you closer to Him, and in the process, He uses your life as a testimony to His grace, love and mercy.

Unbridled in Him,

Mark

A Rash Decision

2008-08-06T19:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my son came to me with a small problem. He had developed some irritating, itchy spots on his legs that he wanted to know what they were and what to do about them. He asked me to look at them which I did. They looked a little like poison ivy, but not quite. They looked a little like a rash of some sort, but not quite. They looked like a bug bite of some sort, but not quite. Anyway, you get the picture. Unsure of what was causing his discomfort, I had compassion for his aliment, because I knew how it felt to have an itchy, uncomfortable rash. Unfortunately, the only thing I could offer him was the less than comforting words, “I understand what you’re going through son, but there really isn’t anything I can do for you. You’re just going to try not to itch it and just deal with it until it goes away.”
I am sure it was little comfort to him, and even though I understood his affliction, I did not really feel his affliction. The next morning, I woke up and found that I too had some of these mysterious itchy spots appearing on my legs as well. I struggled to resist the temptation to scratch and discomfort of these mystery spots. Then it hit me–my son. My heart immediately filled with a new compassion for him. I now did more than just understand his pain, but now was filled with a deeper desire to relieve his suffering. To free him from his pain and discomfort. Now, I was compelled to relieve his suffering with a new determination. I was moved to more than words, my experience had compelled me to find a way to relieve his discomfort. Where before I could only offer words, my experience had now moved me to action. I found some anti-itch ointment and immediately went to him to help relieve the itch. Something else also happened beyond just being moved to action, I now felt a bond with him, “the fellowship of the itch” if you will. And now, every time it scratch my own itch, I am reminded of how much I love him and the common experience we have shared through our trial.
I pondered this new perspective and thought of the stripes Jesus bore for me. The sin He bore for me, the shame, the pain, the rejection. I realized that there is a great difference between God’s understanding of our affliction and the actual suffering and pain He felt with us through His Son. I see more clearly why Jesus chose to be as a man (Philippians 2:8), so that His compassion would be complete, beyond understanding, but knowing our pain, even unto death. I now can also see that there are some things that can only be gained through trials and suffering. No for punishments sake, but that we may be made perfect in peace (James 1-4) able to love with the compassionate heart of Christ.
I rejoice in my itchy rash, for it has opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of how deep is the love of the Father and the Son.

A Fresh Start

2008-07-25T18:00:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone. It has been a very long time since my last posting! So much has happened ministry wise and in our family. God has been very faithful to teach me so many new things over the past year. I apologize for not being better about keeping in touch, but sometimes life can have a pace all it's own. I just wanted to post this up really quickly to let you know we are still kicking here at the ranch and that there are a lot of new and exciting things coming down the pike.

To name a couple:
1. We are resuming our monthly Unbridled Round Pen Nights once again. (now that the traveling is behind us).
2. We are in the planning stages of offering a monthly or bi-monthly Unbridled discussion forum to learn more about who we are in Him and what it means to let Christ live His life through us. Topics will be everyday things we can believe that are apart from the truth-such as, can God be disappointed with us in we are in Him? What does God need us to do for Him? What is God's plan for your life, etc. If any of these questions are on your mind, maybe you can join us to take a look at what God says about these topics.
3. We are considering starting a small "Cowboy Church" one night a week to reach out to folks in a casual, relaxed atmosphere (the ranch or an office bldg not far away).

Anyway, there is much to update everyone on and I'll get to it soon. Right now I am working on updating our website to be a better tool for teaching, encouraging and keeping you all informed of what God is doing here at the ranch and the opportunities available to grow in Him and to love other in His love.

Thanks for all your prayer & support. We truly couldn't do it without you!

Living Unbridled in Christ,
Mark, Sherri & family

Thing's are never what they appear to be...

2008-01-10T10:09:00.001-05:00

Wow,

I can't believe how long it has been since my last posting. Much has happened here at the ranch and in our lives over the last several months. God has been so gracious to me in teaching and encouraging me through some pretty difficult times. Without going into too much detail, I have been struggling financially to meed the needs of my family and the needs of the ministry. As a result, I have returned to my former Creative Design business to generate some income to alleviate some of the financial pressures.

At first I was disappointed that the Lord had not provided more financially to keep things going, but He has been faithful to show me that my true circumstances cannot be revealed in what I see through my apparent circumstance, but rather in what I know to be true in Him. This has stretched me beyond my old levels of comfort and brought me into a much deeper dependence in Him.

It is truly exciting every day wo wake up knowing that He is with me always. Our circumstances, have helped reveal the truth about me and about God through the trials. I still don't know what tomorrow will bring or what tomorrow will remove, but I do know how much God loves me and that HE IS ALWAYS WORKING THINGS FOR MY GOOD. No matter what the external appearance may be.

The truth is, that through my time with him, I am truly learning to live in Him and not in this world. I look forward to every day now with a deeper appreciation and greater joy knowing that my life is not what I think it to be, but rather what I know He has created it to be. Living each moment as a gift knowing that the destination is secure.

I hope that each of you in the midst of your circumstances can rest in His promises not in what appears to be. Just as the disciples allowed the wind and waves to cause them to doubt that they were safe with Jesus, we can allow the world and what happens in our day cause us to doubt, we can find the truth if we trust in Him, not our circumstance to be our security.

I am probably rambling a bit here, but what it all comes down to is this–do we believe His promises or what appears to be true in our lives. We can never define God by the things of this world, on the contrary, the things of this world are always defined by Him.

Find peace in Him,

Have an awesome day,

Mark

What's He Dewing in Your Life?!?

2007-09-05T10:07:00.000-04:00

Perhaps like most people, I occasionally have a hard time relating the Old Testament books of the Bible to my modern day life. I mean, the stories are great, but I have never personally seen the miracles that are shared in those books–or have I? This morning while I was dragging the pastures with a heavy chain link fence to knock down the many piles of processed grass & grain the horses produce, I noticed a very heavy coating of Dew on the pasture. I thought about this for a minute and then it came to me–that Dew is a whole lot like the Manna God gave the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert! It's there every day, it's not an abundance, and it doesn't last very long, and I can't save it for tomorrow, but it is enough to sustain our pastures through the drought we are currently experiencing. (Click here to read Exodus Chapter 16 and the story about Manna)

With that picture in mind, I looked out across our pastures and noticed that they were all green–not lush, but green. Green enough to feed the horses. This simple picture has helped me see that God is still performing miracles–everyday. And even when He is not providing an abundance in my physical life, He is always providing an abundance of peace and joy in my soul and spirit which allows me to be content in my circumstance. Paul mentioned this in Philippians 4:12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." When I keep my eyes on Christ, and not on my circumstances I will enjoy a peace amidst my trials that will surpass all my understanding! (and everyone else's for that matter!)

So having had that little love letter from the Lord this morning, my prayer is that He will reveal to all of us the "Dew" he is doing in all of our lives, and as He does, that we will approach the throne of Grace with thanksgiving in our hearts for all that He has done.

Keep living the "Unbridled" life in Christ!

Mark

What stinks?

2007-08-23T15:40:00.000-04:00

Don't you just love it when God gives you a spiritual insight through the most common, ordinary things? I do. Well today I had a little insight the Lord gave me driving home from dropping the kids off at school. The trip takes me along quite a few back roads and on one of these roads I came across the unfortunate remains of a skunk lying on the side of the road.

Actually, this is the fourth day that poor skunk was laying there. The first day we passed it, the familiar aroma of skunk soon found its way into the truck. P.U. Not a smell any of us are fond of. The second day we passed it I wondered if the familiar smell was still there. Yep. As strong as ever. The same with the third day and today. The question came to my mind, "How long can that thing keep smelling so bad?" I have a feeling it will keep on smelling until someone buries it or it gets washed away.

What God showed me was that the poor dead skunk was a lot like my old dead self. Paul reminds us in the book of Romans that we are a new creation in Christ, the old man is dead, replaced by the new one in Christ. So any of us that have accepted Jesus as Lord are born again in Him. That means something else died. Our old nature. Our old self.

Just like that skunk, my old flesh smells pretty bad. As long as I keep it around, I can still feel the effects of that smelly old dead flesh. It's dead, but it can still affect me. The awful aroma of it can still influence my behavior if I let it. Because it's dead, it can't do anything. It has no power of it's own. It will stay in that one spot forever and the only way I'll smell it is to go back to where it is and sniff. I don't ever have to smell it again unless I choose to. It can do nothing except remind me of the nastiness my old self was able to produce.

The truth is, I am able to choose to go home another way and avoid that skunk completely. He can't follow me anywhere, he's dead. So is my old flesh. Unless I choose to go to him, the skunk cannot stink up my life anymore! I think God allows us to smell the nasty skunk once in a while to remind us just how nasty it smells!

Every time I pass that skunk now, I am reminded just how nasty those little varmints can smell and how much I never want to smell one again. I think that is what God has been showing me about my old flesh. He is teaching me to look at my old nasty flesh in the same way. I don't want to be around it any more either.

I thank the Lord for little reminders in the most unusual places that He sends me to remind me who He is, and how much he has done for me. I pray the Lord will send you all a little reminder today of who you are in Him and how much He loves you too.

God Bless,

Mark

What are you reading?

2007-08-21T09:49:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things to do as I'm driving around town is to read the signs posted in front of churches. Many of them are very insightful and others leave me scratching my head saying uhhh, what? Today, I saw this sign on my way into town. It read like this:

Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

Clever acronym right? At first reading I thought so, but then something didn't feel right about what I read. I asked God to show me why this cute little sign made me fee uneasy. Then it struck me. Is the Bible a manual or is it something else, something much more?

Well, let's look at some reasons why we might see the Bible as a manual from God. First of all, I have no idea how to be righteous so I could really use some help. God knew I didn't have a clue so a manual filled with lots of really good ideas sounds like a great idea. After all, if I just knew what He wanted I could do it, right? After all, I can follow instructions pretty well, so a manual is just the ticket.

As a father, I have made some manuals of my own. Some rules for my children to follow to help them live better, happier lives. These were great instructions too, all very good things with very precise detail. These rules would certainly help them do better if they could follow them. Unfortunately, my "Manual" didn't have the effect I was hoping for. They didn't follow the rules. In fact, they didn't even read them so how could they follow them? Nothing changed. Things didn't improve. I got frustrated. They got angry.

We regrouped and decided that problem must have been that they didn't remember the rules so they couldn't follow them. So we worked on memorizing them. Soon, they could recite them on command. Unfortunately, memorizing the rules did nothing to change their behavior. They now knew what to do, but they still didn't do it! They still didn't follow the rules! What went wrong? My "Manual" was perfect! They knew what the rules were, all they had to do was follow them!

Why did my perfect plan fail so miserably? Perhaps my plan was not as perfect as it seemed. Maybe my family will never be changed by my implementing more rules and more strict enforcement.

Maybe there is another way? There is.

1Peter 4:8 tells us that Love covers a multitude of sin. 1John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Love in the person of Jesus Christ. God's plan was never to control us through law, but to set us free through His infinite grace! Not us doing for God, but by God doing for us. The truth is that my children don't need a manual they can never follow. Neither do we. They need the grace of a loving father–Their Heavenly Father.

Jesus said He is the Vine, and we are the branches, apart from Him we can do nothing, but in Him we can do all things! So what do branches do to bear fruit (Grapes)? Simple, they just abide (stay connected to) the vine. That's it. They "hang out" in the Son and the vine does everything else they need to mature.

You see, that is why God wrote the Bible for us. To show us that in spite of who we are apart from Him, if we abide in Him, His love and Grace is more than sufficient to do everything. This is an example that shows us that the Bible is not about a list of things we should be doing, it is a list of what God is doing in us.

When we quit looking at the Bible as a "Manual" God uses to tell us what to do and start looking at it as a love letter we see that it expresses His perfect love and passion for us. It shows us the depth of the Fathers love and all He has done to bring us into a personal and intimate relationship with Him. So how should we look at the Bible? Which perspective better reflects the character of God? Loving Father or Rule Maker & Enforcer?

If you have a hard time letting go of the "Manual" image of the Bible, I would like to encourage you to ask God to show you who He really is. When He fully reveals Himself to you, I am sure you will see something else in the BIBLE.

Blessed
In
Both
Love &
Encouragement

Unbridled in Grace,

Mark