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Category: Personal Transformation

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The Real Pandemic

The spread of the Covid-19 virus has been described as a pandemic because of the extent of the spread of the disease. Currently, it has affected every major continent and many countries around the world. However, there is a more deadly and pervasive pandemic threatening the church – idolatry. We have been worshiping a god fashioned by our own hands. A god that is primarily concerned with keeping us rich and happy. A god that keeps us from suffering once we are good, obedient children.

Ironically, what is most insidious about the idolatry pandemic is the same factor that makes Covid-19 particularly dangerous – their victims can appear asymptomatic. Hence, the number of ‘believers’ living in idolatry is much greater than we think. We look healthy, but we are not. The good news is that crises like the current Covid-19 pandemic may be exactly what we need to bring to light our true condition and allow us to take the necessary steps to a healthy faith.

What do I mean? To explain, let’s turn to one of the oldest books in the bible – Job. The bible, especially the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, contains many instances of plagues that decimate the population of Israel. Typically, these have been sent by God in response to disobedience and rebellion. However, Job is the only book that documents in detail an instance of tragedy poured out on an upright and blameless man.

Job faces the death of his children, loss of his wealth and serious illness, all at the same time. So, it’s not surprising that bubbling up from his heart we near this cry, “I am a righteous man before God so this should not have happened to me!” This same cry is being heard in many quarters today as Corona touches the lives of Christians around the globe. The faith of many are being shaken as more and more bad things are happening to good people. Why is God allowing this? Why did God allow Corona in the first place?

Job’s friends reacted in the same way many Christians are tempted to react today. They call for repentance as this virus must have been sent by God because of something bad that we did. In contrast, there is a popular sentiment right now that God does not judge like this anymore and to ascribe this pandemic to God would be a grave mistake. Frankly, I stay away from any statements that claim to know exactly what God would and wouldn’t do, and the reason for that is because of what I have learned from Job.

As a younger man studying Job and Romans 9 one of the questions I had to wrestle with was, ‘Does God send bad things our way?”. I came down firmly on the side of YES. Some argue the semantics of God doing evil versus allowing evil. I won’t. I think we can agree due to the overwhelming evidence that He at least allows it. The second question I had to wrestle with was, “Does He allow evil as a consequence of free will? Has He given up sovereign control over the affairs of men and thus, our bad choices are the real cause of evil being prevalent on the earth?” After pouring over the evidence in Job and Romans I had to concede that this was not the case. God is still sovereign, and He sovereignly allows evil in our lives. This is clear from the story of Job. Job was righteous not by his standards but by God’s standards; he did nothing to warrant the tribulations that was meted out against him. In addition, satan was clearly operating under the authority of God. Romans 9:14-18 also makes the compelling argument:

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

The ground-breaking truth here is that God was in control of Pharoah and in fact raised him up for the specific purpose of persecuting Israel so that God could show His might and power as he brought out the Israelites, Wow. If you have never considered this, you may need a moment here to take it all in.

So, there I was having to hold in tension that God is good, yet He allows bad things to befall good people. This was a watershed moment in my faith. I had to let go of the god I wanted and embrace the God who is. I had to destroy my idol. I had to relinquish my definition of what good is and let the One who is good be the standard. This was strangely empowering. The strength of my faith increased exponentially. I could genuinely meet trials knowing that God was in control and would make it all work for good in the end because he was in ultimate control. Further, I had to conclude that bad things, even death, served a higher good that I could not see or comprehend. I had to see things from God’s vantage to accept that suffering and even death were smaller matters than they appeared to me. They were not outside of God’s scope and ability.  In fact, they were part and parcel of the tools of creation that He used to craft a bigger, better picture and bring glory to His name!

Essentially, I learned what Job learned without having to go through the Job experience. For some, who refuse to learn from Job it may take tragedy to wake them up and this is the good news in the Covid-19 pandemic. I know it doesn’t sound good, but it is exceedingly so! The revelation that Job received out of tragic circumstances was, I believe, the treasure that God thought was worth more than all that Job had lost. To be able to stand in the face of horrific tragedy and trust that God has a purpose in that; to elevate His purpose and love as truer and bigger than your pain; is priceless! It is the mountain of faith from which Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were emboldened to say, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” If you think about it, a Christian afraid of dying and meeting Jesus is an absurdity and a Christ-follower who expects to follow Christ in everything except suffering is an oxymoron.

Who is the God that you believe in? Job found out that He was different than who he thought He was:

Job 38:1-7

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,

7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,

9 when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,

11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.

15 From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.

Job 42:1-6

1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’

5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;

6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Are you serving the true God or an idol of your own design? Have your eyes seen Him?

Copyright 2020, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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What I Love About Covid-19

You are probably thinking that I’m an unsympathetic bastard to have such a headline. I did not mean to offend, but I did hope to catch your attention and to highlight a silver lining that you might not have seen before.

People have been dealing with this global outbreak in a variety of ways. Many have succumbed to fear and panic as their souls are being constantly inundated by hundreds of negative messages raging through their media feeds. The result? Paranoia, panic buying, anxiety and stress. Many have been countering this fear narrative by using statistics that compare Covid-19 with other diseases or by highlighting recovery rates. I remain uncommitted to both viewpoints. I don’t think panicking and fearmongering are useful, but I do think that the situation is a very serious one.

I’ve decided to adopt an attitude of cautious optimism. Actually, that’s not entirely true because apocalyptic events do get me a tad excited (hides face). Hear me out… I don’t mean excited in a doomsday prepper kinda way (ok maybe just a little bit) and I’m definitely not one of those judgment day/ end times/ Christ is coming soon kinda Christians. What I mean is that I believe there is an opportunity in every crisis to redefine yourself, to redefine what it means personally for you to be human. There is nothing like a crisis to show you who you really are and what you really value. Let me explain. I love how a crisis will even the playing field. Money can’t buy you an option to opt out of Corona. Your particular race won’t stop it. It isn’t fazed by your degree, pedigree, luxury car or over-priced fur coat. Disaster has the wonderfully scary effect of bursting the bubble of security that we may live in based on our wealth, social status, intelligence etc. In the face of calamity, we have the opportunity to see clearly, if even for an instant, the frailty and vulnerability of the human life. Many squander this opportunity. Don’t you miss it!

Why does this excite me? Because a sense of your own vulnerability often leads to a renewed value for life in general and other human lives in particular. And that is something the world desperately needs more of! It gives me great joy to see when people (solely or in corporations) respond to crises with heightened awareness, thankfulness, generosity, compassion, empathy and love. No posts have gotten me more excited than the ones where people in quarantine describe their renewed appreciation for green spaces, time with loved ones, sharing with community and time with God. Oh sing my soul, in the midst of Corona, how great Thou art!

For all of us, but perhaps more so for the believer, Covid-19 holds yet another test: What have we built our life on? You see, while crises like wildfires, floods, earthquakes and the Covid-19 pandemic reveal our human frailty they simultaneously reveal a dramatic contrast to eternal constancy of God. This verse illustrates:

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

What is your life built on? This is not an issue of merely saying ‘My trust is in God.’ There is a vast divide between confession of the lips and faith of the heart. At times like these the true state of our heart is revealed. Are we caught in the turmoil of fear? What are we afraid of? Losing our job? Losing our home? Losing our loved ones? Losing our life? That fear reveals something about what we really believe. Will we remain standing at the end of this pandemic if everything we held dear was lost? Essentially, the question, the test of the storm is this: Are we standing on Christ? Is He our ultimate treasure and security?

This may be a test but it’s not the final exam and that is why every disaster that touches us is, in a sense, an act of God’s mercy; it is an opportunity to weigh our life in the scales and make changes now. It’s an opportunity to listen to what God has been saying to us personally and put it into practice… now. An opportunity to build your life (house) by His instructions. That’s why I said at the beginning that every crisis carries with it an opportunity – an opportunity to redefine what it means personally for us to be human.

So, as we walk forward in these uncertain times can you pray a bold prayer with me? “Lord, shake whatever can be shaken so that only that which cannot be shaken will remain.”

Copyright 2020, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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Wild & Free

Oh to live wild and free! There is a desire deep in my spirit to live wild and free before God. When religious people hear that phrase they think that it means living with carnal desires unchecked; a life abandoned to pleasure-seeking. But that is far far beneath what I mean. I mean truly free. I mean to soar so far above the noisy world as to render it mute. I mean to exist where the sin issue is so irrelevant that one does not have to live with the constant hesitancy and censure indicative of the fear of impure motives. I mean to exist in a place of such oneness with Christ that the fire of one’s soul blazes unfettered and the life of Christ is unleashed from one’s life like gushing rivers of living water! Oh to live wild and free!

I imagine what living wild and free looks like…

Proverbs 30:18-19 ESV

Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a serpent on a rock,

the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a virgin.

It looks like something doing exactly what it was created to do! I can imagine that eagle soaring on the wind… It is not thinking in the least about glorifying God or serving God or trying to be righteous or trying to be anything! It is completely present to the moment! Its wings adjust to the wind without a thought. Feathers ruffling in the wind. Eyes scanning far below. It is majestic without a thought about majesty. It is beautiful without pursuing beauty. God spoke it into being and therefore it manifests that creative word in every moment. It was born to fly!

I believe this is what Christ died for. John 8:35-36 says:

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Christ came so that we could be free…forever. Forever unfettered from sin and free to be united with Christ in eternal life! You can choose emancipation today and leave the slave-house of sin. In contrast, if you take up the offer of freedom in Christ, you become a son not a slave… and a son is always a son… free forever. Some say that since the fall of Adam, man’s natural inclination is toward sin. I am not sure that what happened in the Garden of Eden is that simple but I am sure that Christ came to birth in us a natural inclination toward righteous. We were not born again to merely have victory over our sinful desires but to completely conquer the very desire to sin! We are born again with the spiritual DNA of our Heavenly Father. That means righteousness is in our genes! This I believe, is the truth that the enemy does not want us to know. He wants us to live a life of constant strife. That is not freedom. We were made for more! Still don’t believe me? Listen to the prelude to John 8:36 as Christ teaches in the temple:

John 8:28-30

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Jesus says some interesting things here. He says that He does nothing of His own authority and that He always does the things that are pleasing to His Father. Then He goes on:

John 8:31-32

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

First of all, Jesus says that everything He does flows from His Father’s will and therefore He always pleases Him. Secondly, He tells the Jews that if they continually obey His word, they will know Him (the truth) and He will set them free. I believe the connection between those two thoughts is inescapable. They would be free to do what? Free to please the Father, always, just like Jesus!

Oh to be wild and free! Oh that my every thought, word and deed would be pleasing to Thee oh God! My Father, I have your genes. Let me manifest my true identity as Your son! Holy Spirit guide me into the abiding oneness with Christ; into complete and eternal freedom!

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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The Joy Of Giving

Christmas holidays as a child were spent at my grandparents’ house. The first sign that it was Christmas was the opening of the ‘special cupboard’. Out of that cupboard would emerge a smorgasbord of treats to delight our taste buds. There would be Peardrax, marshmallows, cashew nuts, nougat, chocolates and of course a tin of Danish cookies.

The next event on the Christmas agenda would be the decoration of the Christmas tree. Grandpa was in charge of this affair. He would delegate tasks and oversee the entire production starting with the assembly of the plastic tree with the fake tinsel snow (This is the Caribbean. Ain’t no white Christmas here.) The grand finale would be the turning on of the multicoloured lights that blinked in time to a music box and we would all sit back and take it in with warm hearts and twinkling eyes.

But, like most children, what I was most excited about was the presents! It was all a countdown to the opening of the presents on Christmas Day. Everything else was just the supporting acts to that main event. I could hardly sleep on Christmas Eve as the adrenaline pumped through my veins.

Then the big day would come! The final hurdle between us and the presents was praying with Granny. We would dutifully clasp our hands and close our eyes while butterflies danced on the inside and then….. we would tear into the pile of gifts under the tree!

This pattern repeated year after year from as far back as I can remember. But soon I started to notice another pattern; by the end of Christmas Day I would have this sinking feeling in my heart. It was a strange feeling. I couldn’t define it for years until one year it hit me – the presents never lived up to the anticipation. It was kind of like going to a movie that you were looking forward to seeing all year and it turned out to be crap. I had an expectation that the presents would bring me euphoric joy and they never did. That was the day I discovered the vanity of material things. They cannot deliver joy no matter how big or expensive.

But I also discovered something that exceeded my expectations every year… the joy of giving! From that year forward I put more thought into the presents that I got for my family than the ones that I received. I began to look forward every year to seeing the joy on their faces as they opened my tokens of love.

Christmas taught me that it really and truly is better to give than to receive.

As Christ came not to receive but to give His life so that we would gain eternal life, let us celebrate the reason for the season by giving to the less fortunate and showing our loved ones how much they are treasured.

May your Christmas be joyful!

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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Riding The Wave

I love surfing. Riding a gigantic pulse of oceanic energy is a singular experience. It manages to somehow be both thrilling and calming at the same time. There is a peace in the zone where you become part of the wave; part of something so much bigger than you. I am pretty sure God created surfing. 😉

But surfing for me, has also become a perfect analogy for how to journey well with Christ. I have been prompted to share this with my friends on two occasions in the past couple days so I thought I would share it with my e-family as well.

To ride a wave you have to put out effort to catch it but after that the wave provides all of the energy for your movement. To catch the wave, you have to paddle fast enough to be in sync with it as it is breaking. It requires positioning, timing and keen observation. You have to observe where the wave is breaking and which way it is breaking and how fast it is breaking and adjust your position and paddling speed to merge your path with that of the waves’.

The Holy Spirit moves in our lives not unlike the waves in the ocean. The Sprit is ‘breaking’ at some point in our lives, meaning that She is working on something, at some particular point where our flesh needs to yield to Her Spirit. The part we play is to get in sync with where the Spirit is at work in our lives. It requires effort, but the effort is mainly to recognize where that point is and get ourselves aligned with it.

There are two ways in which we can be out of sync.

  1. We can be sitting in the ocean just bobbing as waves pass us by, hoping that we will be supernaturally swept along without doing anything. This is carnal living. No awareness of, response to or alignment with the Spirit. Disengaged, lazy Christianity.
  2. We can be expending great amounts of energy paddling and paddling out of step with the wave, all in our own effort. This is religious activity; works of the flesh. A lot of action but not by the power of the Spirit.

The entirety of my Christian walk can be summarized in me trying to get this balance right. Too little effort versus too much effort. The right kind of effort (relational effort to be in sync with Him) versus the wrong kind of effort (religious effort to achieve spiritual advancement). I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum. I’ve also tasted catching the wave and what a joy that is! That place of being smack plumb in His will. That place of rest in His arms in the midst of activity. That place of being at peace with your imperfections, not trying to be anything for anybody yet convicted daily to grieve when He is grieved and changing day by day because we feel His grief so deeply at the core of our soul. That place where our whole motive is to stay on the wave; to stay in sync with Him because the disconnection from Him is like death. It is death.

So, stay in sync with the Spirit my friends!

Surf’s up! 🤙

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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Led By Christ Or Ruled By Fear?

As believers, we are taught to be careful of what we let into our minds, and rightly so. What we ponder has the power to influence our lives for better or for worse. However, while an attitude of vigilance or attentiveness is necessary, often what we are motivated by is just plain fear. We are afraid of being led into error by false teachers and false prophets and false doctrine… you get the idea. Our fear of the false sometimes seems to be greater than our hunger for the truth. 

Fear is from the enemy. It is the tactic he uses to keep us from reaching our full potential in Christ. God has so designed His church that each part supplies something that the others need for their growth and maturity. The church when functioning properly is like a delicately balanced ecosystem where each part supplies a need and each person/assembly is in some way connected and dependant on the others. The big challenge is that for this to work, we need to be open to receiving from people that are different. 

I’m talking about people from different churches or different denominations or just someone who sees God differently than we do. Most of us are possessed with a peculiar type of arrogance that leads us to believe that we have THE truth or that our church is THE best or that our denomination’s doctrinal stance is THE right one or that our interpretation of scripture is THE right interpretation. Viewed through those lenses, anything different is dangerous, false, and possibly even heretic. 

This is the enemy’s playground. He has us right where he wants us; steeped in self-righteousness, viewing all ‘others’ with suspicion and judgment. “Don’t listen to him, he’s not from our church!” “Don’t read that, it’s from another denomination!” “They are new age!” “She is a liberal Christian!” Religious leaders feed this nonsense as they sling mud at each other either in a mistaken belief that they are protecting the flock or in a perverted desire to keep their congregational numbers. 

I propose that no person or church has perfect theology (a highly probable proposition since no person is perfect). I further propose that every Christian and every denomination has something that we need in order to be complete in Christ. To access this treasure that God has put in earthly vessels it is prerequisite that we are open to being influenced by others who think differently to us.  

I am not saying that we believe and receive anything that anyone feeds us, but I am saying that we need to be willing to listen, willing to be wrong and willing to change. Guarding ourselves from error is not accomplished by isolating ourselves from different views or placing our trust blindly in our pastor or priest to keep us on the right track. This is actually the formula for deception and cultic tendencies! At some point in every believer’s life, something erroneous is going to come from the pulpit and if the believer has not been training his/her discernment muscle, he/she will be deceived. Avoiding deception has less to do with only receiving from one human source and more to do with receiving personal guidance from the Heavenly Source. 

Counterintuitively, we are kept on the path of truth by exercising our mind and spirit regularly through being led by the Spirit as we walk through life, discerning from the buffet of offerings that are displayed along our path. You will encounter pathways that lead away from Christ but you will also encounter pathways that lead to a deeper dimension of God. It could be in the form of a book, a podcast or a visit to a friend’s church. Only the Holy Spirit, the One entrusted to lead you into all truth, knows the path you ought to take. 

Don’t let fear trap us in a life of stagnant immaturity where we are turned inward, protecting the little flame clutched in our hands. Instead, let Christ lead us into a life lived expansively, openly, shining our light and receiving from others until our compounded conflagration sets this world ablaze with the glory of God! 

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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God, Speak To Me Through Anyone But Her!

Talking to my ex-wife is not one of my favourite things to do. Our conversations are usually about the children and invariably something is my fault and I feel like I’m being berated (although she says that’s her normal voice). The calls normally go much longer than I enjoy talking on the phone (which is already painful for me). Having said that, her concern for her children is genuine and sometimes what she says has truth to it.

For me, listening for what God is saying through my ex-wife is a mortification of my flesh. It almost literally hurts. However, I am convinced that these innocuous everyday human interactions are some of the most powerful spiritual work that we do! It is in these trenches that we build patience, humility, long-suffering; the outworking of a love for others that transcends how we are being treated and our selfish self-interests.

I still have a lot of flesh to crucify…. I do not always handle it well. I sometimes forget to take a breath and ask for the Helper to hold me in that moment when the flesh begins to sizzle on the altar. Often, I jump out of the flames of purification. It’s painful man!

I am convinced that we underestimate just how necessary this work, this crucifixion of our flesh, is to our intimacy with Christ. It is nothing less than spiritual worship. If we want more of Christ in us, the flesh has to die.

This is why I am of the view that:

  1. People who isolate themselves or their hearts from deep relationships will not grow past a certain point in their relationship with Christ. You cannot say you love a God you have not seen and you do not love the brother you have seen.
  2. Loving the people close to you in a very specific way is more important and more difficult than loving those afar off in a more general way. It is much easier to appear nice to your church or your office than to deeply love your spouse and children.

Loving those right in front of you is deeply spiritual work. It is a spiritual imperative to remain open and vulnerable, risking hurt, victimization and betrayal for the cause of Christ, our hope of glory, being made manifest to and in those around us.

God, in His wisdom, has ordained His glorious light to dwell in fallible human beings; the church. If we want to love like Him, if we want to become mature enough to hold His fullness, we must be able to reverence the Christ in the imperfect person.

I believe we have sorely neglected this spiritual discipline. There has been a great percentage of the sermons that I have listened to that is nothing more than the pastor complaining about wrongs done to him. And many leaders have isolated themselves as a reaction to this type of betrayal. There are also many church members who press the eject button, leaving their church, when they suffer betrayal and hurt. Any real long-term relationship will at some point lead to offense and hurt. It is at that point the work truly begins… Love or leave? Forgive or forget it? Pursue love or protect self?

We rob ourselves of our own growth in Christlikeness when we refuse to do the work of mortification of self in the context of our relationships. There is no resurrection without crucifixion!

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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GUEST POST: IF YOU HAVE A PULSE, YOU HAVE A PURPOSE!

Hello my friends!

I recently did a guest post on the Godly Chic Diaries. June (the author of Godly Chic Diaries) produces wonderfully uplifting content. She has been awarded and featured for the Top 30 Positivity Blog 2019 and top 100 Christian Women Blog 2019. So head on over and check out her blog!

Here’s my feature on her site:

via GUEST POST: IF YOU HAVE A PULSE, YOU HAVE A PURPOSE!

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How To Spot A Fake Christian

Newsflash! There are fake Christians. Yep. This is no surprise I’m sure. There are lots of people who call themselves Christians but within that group there is a subset that I refer to as the true disciples of Christ. So how do we tell the sheep from the goats or the wheat from the tares? Let me introduce you to the Acme Christian Test.

But before I do that, sniffing out fake Christians doesn’t in itself seem very…well..Christian so let’s change the question… How can I tell if I’m a real Christian? I’m so glad you asked. Here’s how:

I’m going to bring together a few concepts from the bible that hinges on this passage:

John 15:1-8

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Voila! I’m sure you see verse 8 jumping right out at you. Jesus’ disciples bear much fruit which is proof (evidence) that they are:

  1. Connected to the vine (Jesus), and;
  2. Being pruned

Let’s focus on the fruit first. What is this fruit? For that we will turn to another passage:

Galatians 2:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

So, the first part of the test of a real Christian is to ask yourself if you are exhibiting the following qualities:

  1. Love
  2. Joy
  3. Peace
  4. Patience
  5. Kindness
  6. Goodness
  7. Faithfulness
  8. Gentleness
  9. Self-control

Spend some time on each word. Do some introspection. I find that some of them make me wince a bit (or a lot) while others I feel I’m ok with. That last one, self-control, always makes me cringe. Ouch. But we need to be bearing all the fruit not just a few.

However, bearing fruit is not enough, we also need to be pruned. The second part of the test is to ask yourself if you have been increasing in these qualities. We may all start at different places so a snapshot of a point in time is not really the acid test. Let me illustrate. If I came from a really bad home situation where all the examples around me contained very little of these qualities, I might be quite impatient. Maybe it’s so bad that a single badly chosen word triggers a violent response from me. On the other hand, if Jane was raised in a wonderfully loving home it might take quite a lot to even get her to become angry. Now, Jane and I both convert to Christianity at the same time and after a year through the work of the Holy Spirit I’ve stopped beating up people, but I still get angry pretty easily compared to Jane. But the comparison with each other is irrelevant. The true comparison is with our former selves.

The true disciple is in a constant process of transformation that leads to more and more fruit. Jesus calls it pruning so that we bear more fruit. All true disciples (branches that bear fruit) are pruned. So, you want to know if you are a true Christian? Look back and examine yourself. Do you have more joy, more peace? Have you become gentler, kinder? The moment you stop growing is the moment you were a Christian. You see, a person living in constant contact with Christ cannot help but be transformed. Relationship with Christ changes you at the most fundamental level.

I have found that these are not the questions that trouble most Christians and that troubles me. We are caught in a quagmire of doctrine and religion. The fake tests for fake Christians are for the fake fruits:

  1. Church/mass attendance
  2. Bible verses memorized
  3. Doctrinal accuracy
  4. Spiritual gifts
  5. What church/denomination you belong to
  6. Not going to parties
  7. Political affiliation

None of these are fruit. They are not evidence that you are being transformed by Christ. They are not even evidence that you have any relationship with Christ. Measuring yourself by such external attributes leads to destruction:

Matthew 7:15-23

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Every day I have to ask myself, am I a real Christian?

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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Power Trip

Let me take you on a trip; a power trip. According to a study by social psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram H. Raven in 1959, there are 5 types of power used within organizations:

  1. Coercive Power: This type of power relies on threats or punishment to force compliance against a person’s will. Use of this type of power is destructive, leading to unhealthy and unproductive behaviours within the organization.
  2. Reward Power: This form of power is based on the idea that as a society we are more inclined to do things well when we are getting something in return. The problem with this form of power is that when the reward does not have enough perceived value to others, the power is weakened. One of the frustrations when using rewards is that they often need to be bigger than the last time if they are to have the same effect.
  3. Legitimate Power: This type of power is based on a person’s role or position. This is a weak form of power as it only lasts as long as the person has the title or when they are operating in an official capacity.
  4. Referent Power: The leader in this form of power is often seen as a role model. This power emanates from a person that is highly liked and people identify strongly with them in some way. Celebrities often wield this type of power.
  5. Expert Power: This form of power is based on in-depth information, knowledge or expertise. The rarer and greater the demand for the expertise, the more power the person wields.

The challenge leaders’ face is to organize people in a coordinated effort toward the achievement of some goal. This necessitates giving directions and delegating tasks. Leaders must use some combination of these types of power to achieve their objectives. What we have realized over the years is that some forms of power are more effective than others in creating sustainably successful results. Leaders who rely heavily on legitimate and coercive power breed compliance at best and undermining behaviours at worst. Successful leaders rely more on referent and expert power. While this has been well understood but woefully under-practiced in secular circles for years, I am continually surprised at the prevalence of unhealthy leadership paradigms and practices within the church world.

The Christian world seems hell bent (pun intended) on subscribing to legitimate power as THE paradigm for the church. Typical church structures are very hierarchical with the pastor/priest at the top and unquestioning submission to authority required right down the chain of command.  I would have expected the church to have the best leaders! I mean Jesus is the most influential and charismatic leader who ever walked the planet! So much so, that according to a Pew Research Center 2010 survey there are approximately 2.8 billion people on the planet who claim to still be following Him!

What I’ve come to realize, unfortunately, is that most people do not understand the culture of the kingdom when it comes to power. THE #1 principle of the kingdom when it comes to power is that God is not trying to force us to comply with His will but He is wooing us like a lover into an amazing partnership. The #2 principle is that God is determined to give His power away to the furthest possible person and the widest possible group. If we remembered these two principles, we would do church completely differently.

Jesus was the embodiment of this kingdom principle. Motivated by love, He left His all-powerful mantle in heaven and came to earth for the sole purpose of giving us power over sin, death and the devil. He allowed death to overpower Him for 3 days so that, when He ascended back to the highest position of power over all power, He could bring us all up there with Him! Consider that! Consider that the omnipotent God became a frail little human and subjected Himself to a humiliating death so that we lowly dust creatures could walk in His power! His heart is that not one should perish but that all should have abundant eternal life. Yet, the choice is ours; He will not put out His hand to coerce us to follow Him.

If you spent time with Jesus and took note of what He did what, would you see?

You would see Him training a group of 12 people who would finish the work He started and whom He would be excited to see do greater works than Him. Do we do that?

You would see Him teaching, healing, delivering and feeding thousands. Caring for the physical needs and internal hearts of others. Do we do that?

You would see Him passionately and consistently confronting the leaders who are controlling, dominating and abusing people from their religious positions. Do we do that?

You would see Him eating meals and washing the feet of a man who He knew would give Him up to be killed. Do we do that?

You would see Him interceding for forgiveness for a people that murdered Him unjustly. Do we do that?

How we use our power is the hallmark of our knowledge of Him. Do we know Him?

Joyfully,

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.