Religioneers & Lifebites

Speaking of religioneers … I tell you what: the phrase "lifebites" really ticks off the religioneers out there in the church and in Blogland! 

 

So anyway, what kind of Church uses the phrase "LifeBites" in their advertising? We do. We believe in staring reality right in the face. Denial sucks too! It sucks the Truth out of a person! When we say life bites, religioneers get all pissed and close their ears to what comes after, "God knows, He cares and He restores" because they're so caught up looking for their ticket pad to write me a whopper and throw it down before the throne of God demanding a hearing!

 

Cool! That's Ok. What I want them to know is - now listen: it's not for them! "Lifebites," as a slogan, is for the people who still know that the world sucks! It's for those who haven't had the reality stolen from them by false religion. This spinning world sucks the life from every person unless the REAL Jesus is invited inside to sit down and rule. Life can suck the joy and the purpose from the person. Life on the planet sucks the fiber from our imago die, and denies that we can live on the planet coram-deo and still be accepted by God. Those are the only two Latin phrases I know, and I've always wanted to use them because I think they sound so coooool!! ("Image of God" and "before the face of God" in that order.)  

 

In Matthew 5:10-12, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

 

Jesus said if you want to bring some light into this world, you have to live in such a way that it might bring you persecution - pain for your courage. Ok, so He was talking about the persecution that when endured, would bring eternal joy. And even during the pain – if it's really persecution – one could sense the grace and presence of God at the deepest level. I get that, and I trust that. But is still hurts!!! And life still bites. My fellow religioneers, that's just the way it is on a sin-soaked planet. Get used to it! 

 

In John 16:33, Jesus warned us again that life would hurt: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Tribulation? Yeah, that can't be good! Sounds like life bites to me! You see, life bites points to the need for redemption found in Jesus Christ, who said, "I have overcome the world." 

 

And Paul the Apostle told Timothy in his pastorate that, "… all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." (2 Tim 3:12) That sounds like life bites to me! There it is again!

 

You know what religioneers need? A good dose of what Jesus really said – a good taste of how Jesus really lived, and a good picture of His heart from the Book He authored. They/we need the perfect reality with which He taught the crowds. By the way, the only people He was ever really pissed at were the religioneers! Some of us oughta stop believing what our teachers tell us and go read IT for ourselves to see if it really says we are to dress up in church in order to please God - and other myths and legends. 

 

When we open the Bible, we gotta stop sifting it for stuff to make our business a success, or compete in the market place, or to help us lose a few pounds. Though many Americans need to do that, we have to open the Bible and ask the living God of the Bible to read our hearts! Then we will be able to face reality with hope, not denial. If we actually read the Bible with humble eyes, we'd even stop thinking it was our option to give an opinion on most subjects. Humble people look to themselves before God first, and then let God look after others. They're just like that.

 

Jesus said, "there will be tribulation …". That's reality folks, and it bites hard at times. And then He said, "But I have overcome the world!" And that's hope. You can stand in poop and live in denial, but I'd rather stand in poop and live in hope.