The Life Abundant

Recently on a website for bass players I hand out at, we've been discussing original sin. Musicians are interesting people to discuss spirituality with. Most are very emotionally aware people. At the same time many are scientists. The discussions can get very heated. I have been blessed that the members of this website give me a lot of latitude to talk about the love of God, so I get to be involved in some very long and deep discussions. So, the subject of original sin has come up. Is the story of Adam and Eve real, or just a metaphor from which we are to learn a greater truth. (I will say this about musicians, they have a really hard time accepting that there is one ultimate truth). This has brought me heavily into thinking about Gregory Boyd's book that I mentioned a couple of days ago, "Repenting of Religion." Boyd spends much of this book talking about the fact that God means for us to live in the Tree of Life, and not in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is this book that finally pushed me to start this blog because I think Boyd really has touched on the key issue in bringing life back into our relationship with God, and back into the church in such a way that people will be drawn to the church rather than repelled from it.

Living The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil means that we create a value for ourselves by judging others. This is not how God wants us to live, in fact, we learn from Adam and Eve that God forbids us to live there. Why? Because we are not able to know everything that makes another person who he or she is. God, on the other hand knows every twist and turn an individual has taken in life to make them the person they are today. So, when we judge another person we are suggesting that we are equal to God in power and ability. We know that isn't true! So, my brothers and sisters, the next time that you find yourself wanting to judge another person. Stop for a moment. Consider the love that God has for you. Consider the sins that He has forgiven you, and that He will forgive when we fall again. Consider who Jesus spent His time with on earth and how He treated them. Then, take a moment to adjust your level of love for the person you were thinking about judging. God loves us all. He wants every person to come to a saving relationship with Christ. Let us be His ambassadors. Let us live in The Tree of Life.

I have added a couple of new weed files for you to listen to. I am amazed at the wealth of gifted Christian musicians in this world. James Moore's, "Crimson Drops of Mercy" is receiving radio play right now, so I hope we will be hearing much more from him in the future. Chozen's, "Can You See Him Now?" is about as far as it could be to the other end of the spectrum. The opening is very reminiscent of a classic Jimi Hendrix song. I hope you will enjoy hearing these. I have added a link to my church, Saratoga Abundant Life. If you are ever in upstate New York, please come and visit us. Services are Sunday morning at 9:30.

I have changed the look of this blog, mainly because I wanted to add links and I couldn't make it work with the other template. I wasn't sure that I liked that look anyway. I will continue working on this, though. It has only been a couple of days. Mainly I wanted to add a link to the song "The Great I Am," by Riel Malan. This is a great song, and it is what is called a weed file. If you don't know what weed sharing is you should check it out. You download music and can listen to a song three times before you are prompted to buy the song. If you do buy the song the artist receives 50% of the sale price. I think that's a great deal for the artists, and I really enjoy supporting artists, especially those who may be overlooked by the main-stream industry. So, click on the link, download and enjoy the song. If you like it enough, buy it. I plan to be offering many more songs for you. Enjoy the song, and the presence of the Lord. Amen!

Today I thought I would share a couple of books with you that I think are excellent and I would highly recommend. Two are by Gregory Boyd, "Is God to Blame," and "Repenting of Religion." The second is "Drawing Near," by John Bevere.

Today I begin this blog as a way to share the good news with a larger audience of the world. This will not be a blog about religion, but a blog about the love of God for all of His children. That includes you. I know, you are probably thinking you have heard this before, but my desire is that this blog will be one where the pulse of life is strong. It is God's great desire for us the we live in the Tree of Life, and I hope to create a blog here that will help us to do just that. He has wildly exciting plans for us, beyond even our wildest dreams. I hope that this will be a place where His plans can become clear to each of us and we can begin to live the greaat adventure He has in store.