Marketplace Christian Resources: The Problem With Generic Spirituality

Marketplace Christian Resources: The Problem With Generic Spirituality: Have you ever heard someone say, ”I’m not religious but I am a spiritual person?” I had a co-worker tell me this a long time ago ...

The Problem With Generic Spirituality

Have you ever heard someone say, ”I’m not religious but I am a spiritual person?” I had a co-worker tell me this a long time ago and Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame said something to this effect when asked about her role in the “Noah” movie. What is it? Is it valid? Where will it lead? I hope to answer these questions here for you.
Generic spirituality is when a person does not believe in a traditional religious practice but picks and chooses from a verity of beliefs to form their own brand of spirituality. In short,they take what they like and do away with the rest. This is nothing new, people have been doing it for a very long time. It is how many cults get established.

One problem with this belief system is that it has no foundation. There is no foundation of truth. Just as our physical world has natural laws, so do our spiritual world. A man that I greatly admire is Mahatma Gandhi. But one thing he stated that I totally disagree with is that he proclaimed to be Hindu, Muslim and Christian. This can not be. Each one contradicts the other. Only one can be true. I will not go into the beliefs of each at these at this time but will try to give you a real foundation that generic spirituality does not offer.

1 Cor. 3:11 states,” For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” and
2 Tim. 2:19, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: the Lord knows those who are His’, and,’Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’”
And bear with me one more Scripture, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” , Eph. 2:20
Now how can any of the others compare to a God that wishes to indwell His people. No other even offers such a life. Can you see that there is no generic belief that can stand, only the one that gives us seal.
Jesus stated Himself,”I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Jesus says He is the way. He is the path to God. To the Father, which no other religion pictures their God or force as a Father. Generic Spirituality takes a person nowhere. I’ve heard it said that even reincarnation is like being on a hamster's wheel. You go around and around but go nowhere. Mohammad said that even he did not know if he would make it to heaven. If Islam’s prophet doesn’t even have assurance that he will make it, who will? But the followers of Christ are given assurance and more.
It is said that all religions and belief systems has some truth to them. Even atheism has a little. That is a true statement, but only Jesus contains all the truth of the ages. He is the personification of truth.
And last, people who choose to believe that God is a force that holds everything together but is impersonal.

Jesus said that He was the life, the all that matters. He created life and keeps life together and gives life. The Greek word for “Life” John 14:6 is the word Zoe. Meaning both the physical and spiritual life. I’ve heard it called the God Life”. Jesus said in John 6:63,” It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” ; John 10:28,”And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” and the most famous of the sayings of Jesus, John 10:10,” The thief does not come except to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly.

I hope I have answered the questions for you and have shown you that a belief system that lets you play God in choosing your own truth is a trap set by the “thief”. He wishes to let you think that you are clever enough to choose your own way while setting you on his way to destruction. Take into consideration what I have told you and choose to the path to life. 

Wayne Brooks
12/6/2019

Mentor Lessons from the Mighty Ducks

Do you remember the movie about the peewee hockey team? They were sort of the Bad News Bears on ice. I recently re-watched all three movies and came away with a revelation of true mentorship.

In the movie, the coach, Gordon Bombay was hailed as the “Miracle Man” for turning a no-name inner-city peewee team into a champion team that goes all the way to the Olympics and beyond. But if you noticed every time Gordon or Charlie was sidetracked a little known storekeeper Hans or his brother Jan set them back on track. In MD1 and MD3 Hans was the behind the scenes mentor that changed everything. In MD2 his Brother Jan stepped in while Hans went back home to Scandinavia to visit his Mom. But these two never got the recognition they deserved for being there to mentor Gordon and the rest of the team to success. They gave without thought of reward. They just wanted to see the Ducks fly.

This reminded me of years ago when I took it upon myself the mentor or disciple young Christians in my workplace and church. My philosophy was that the best way to mentor people was to do it in a way that they did not know you were doing it.

Years later some of these young guys became leaders and when I hear them stand and speak giving someone else recognition for helping them achieve their success, I have to put away my ego and admit, “I was a success.”

In Matthew 11:11 in the Bible, Jesus speaks this line, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” My late pastor used to quote this but he always said that the last part was troubling and he could not explain it. These movies gave me a little light on the verse.

In Luke 22:24-27 it says, “Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.” The one who serves is the greatest, unlike what we have been taught by the values of this world, business or church.

I know a brother who every time a group of us gets together he helps in the kitchen or sets up. It comes very naturally to him because he has what the Bible calls a “gift of helps.” This is mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:28.  As long as I’ve known him since the early 80’s he has been this way, greater than John.  My wife is like this. Every time we get together with others, she has to ask, “What can I do to help?” And she looks hurt when they tell her, “Nothing, we’ve got it”. She is greater than John.

When we mentor or disciple, we must be like Han and Jan. Give without wanting recognition. And you will be a miracle worker in the life of the one you teach. You will be greater than John and greater than Gordon. Your reward is in Heaven.

Wayne Brooks
10/13/2019

Your Spiritual PPE

PPE (personnel protective equipment) is the safety equipment that a person uses in their vocation. And every person uses them in their work life.
2 Timothy 2:4, Paul mentions three different vocations: Soldier, Athlete and farmer. We know the soldier’s PPE from Ephesians 6:14, which mostly known as a Christian’s spiritual armor.
“Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to squench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”
These are listed as Spiritual weapons for our warfare with the evil one.
I wish to share with you the Spiritual PPE used to keep us safe while doing our Kingdom Work. As mentioned, Paul spoke of the athlete and farmer as an example of our Christian life. They too used PPE. Although the Roman athletes of Paul’s day competed in the nude most of the time, modern athletes use a verity of PPEs for their vocation: proper shoes, gloves, helmets, pads. Farmers also use them in the fields. Namely to guard from heat stroke and skin cancer they use hats and long sleeve shirts, along with proper boots to protect their feet. So you see everyone uses PPE in their work, even the office work uses agronomical chairs and keyboard attachment to guard from muscle stains.
I would now like to share some of the Spiritual PPEs I see being used in our spiritual lives.

Hardhat: to protect us from the unseen
dangers in our spiritual lives. The things that the Lord keeps from happening that we never know. You put it on by being Born Again and coming under His protection.
Apron: This could be a shop or welding apron that keeps our clothes from being soiled or burned. We put them on by separating ourselves from the world. Not becoming hermits but by not doing things the world’s way. Work by the Book.
Face Shield or Safety Glasses: These protect our spiritual eyesight so that we can see things as they are. We put these on by staying in an attitude of prayer and by using discernment in our relationships and work habits.
Work Gloves: We use these to protect our hands for work and service. Keep your hands clean. Resist sin so that our work will not be hindered.
Shoes: Either steel-toe or just slip-resistant, these are for protecting or feet so that we might be able to stand while doing or work and service. We wear these by knowing what we believe and why we believe it.

These are just a few of the PPEs that I can come up with. You may have others in your line of work. I encourage you to use your psychical PPEs and your Spiritual ones. You can’t be safe without them.

Maria Fearing: Black History Month Post

So here it is February Black history Month.

Let me introduce you to an the extraordinary lady Maria Fearing. Born a slave in Alabama she paid her way to be educated. Became a teacher for grade school and college students. Earned and bought her own house. Then catching the burden for the lost in Africa she sold the house and paid her own way to become a missionary to Africa at Fifty-six years of age. She made her way to Luebo, 1,200 miles from the coast of Africa.
Within a year she learned the language and founded Pantops School for homeless girls. Most of her students were orphans kidnapped by warriors from other tribes that she bought back.
Impressed with her work, the Southern Presbyterian Church made her a full-time missionary. She did not return to America until she became ill at eighty years old. She lived nearly a century. I read about her in my old Alabama history book.
Dated 1980 published by Viewpoint Publications in Montgomery, Al.