Bondage. Slavery. Being stuck in a rut (which we know is just a grave with the ends kicked out). This is where so many people "live." And its not really living at all. And here's the thing about being in bondage... here's the thing about being a slave... misery loves company. We, for the most part, really don't want people to be happy. Especially if we're not happy. If we are slaves we want everyone else to be slaves too. But that's not love. That's the opposite of love. Because the opposite of love is fear. Right? Perfect love doesn't cast out hate. Perfect love casts out fear. We are afraid of missing out on what someone else has. Or we are afraid of giving everything we've got and having nothing left. Or we are afraid of reaching our hand out and having it slapped away. Or (possibly worst of all) we are afraid of getting exactly what we want. Because what would we do then? What would we have to complain about then? Or fight against then? What would we do if we were actually just... happy? Its a scary thought for most people. So we try to bring people down to where we think we are. Where we think they should be. Did you ever notice that people very rarely edify each other? I think its because you can't give what you don't have, and most people don't feel edified. I think its easier for people to drag others down, rather than lifting them up. But that goes against both living AND letting others live. Instead of focusing on what we (think we) don't have, and making sure no one else has it either... we need to know and believe that we DO have what God says we have. And in that way we can SHARE it. We can give it to others. That's how you edify people--you see a need and meet it. You give them what you've got. And that's what we have been equipped and empowered to do. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth, the truth that God is love and He loves you--is our love receptor. He shows us that we are loved. Shows us how we are loved. Shows us that we can love each other. Shows us how to love each other. Shows us how to live. To live is to love and to love is to live. To live is to love. To let others live is to love them. And that doesn't mean dragging them down. It means lifting them up. But it can also mean letting them do what they're going to do. You can't control people. Sorry. You just can't. And if that's your motivation... you need a new motivation. Its not our job to be Spiritual Sheriffs and try to make sure people look like we think they should look. Its not our job to make sure people are acting the way we think they should act. I need to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Make sure my beliefs and my actions line up. Which is to say, make sure that I really believe in what I claim to believe in. Because your actions DO flow from your beliefs. What you truly believe manifests itself in what you do. What's inside--what you believe is inside--comes out. So stop with the slave mentality. And stop trying to get others to be as miserable as you (think you) are. Live and let live. Know and believe that you are loved, and love others with that love! That, by the way, is freedom!

Its kind of a weird concept--focusing on yourself. Especially when I preach so much and so often about being Christ-centered (people-centered) instead of being self-centered. But really, its more about just staying in your own lane. Look at Ephesians 4:1, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Just do your part. Don't try to be someone you're not. Don't try to do things you weren't called to do. 1 Thessalonians 2:12, "That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory." Walk worthy. Just do you. Don't try to force your opinion, or perspective, on others. Like, even with my son. I love peanut butter. He thinks its gross. So what do I do? I let him give me any Reese's peanut butter cups that he gets. And I get him things that he actually likes, like Sour Patch Kids. Live and let live. Or music. I like my rock hard and fast. Metallica. Volbeat. Logan likes it a little softer. I don't force my stuff on him. I let him be who he is. I like what I like, I let him like what he likes. No problem. Now, let me say this--if we both liked all of the same stuff we could share that stuff. And that would be awesome. But you can't force it. As much as he IS my mini-me... he's also... him. And that's what I like. I like HIM. Not some idea of him. Who he is, not who I want him to be. (Unless you can understand that who I want him to be... is him.) Here's what I'm trying to say today, "Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you" (Galatians 5:1). We seem to want to focus so much on freedom from sin. Which, by the way, is super important. I'm not downplaying that. But I'm saying there's another aspect to freedom. Freedom FROM sin. Yes. But also freedom TO live! Freedom to LOVE. Because living and loving aren't just connected, they are the same thing. Sin is bondage. Death is bondage. Freedom is life. Freedom is love. And since we have been set free... we ought to live free! There is no fear in love, right? Perfect love casts out fear? So we don't need to be afraid. We don't need to be afraid TO love, and we don't need to be afraid OF love. I know it can seem scary. Putting yourself out there. Reaching your hand out with the chance that it might get slapped away. Letting someone in. Being vulnerable. But its the only way to live. Literally. You can't live without love. A life of love the only way to experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. Because God IS love. His life IS the life of love! And once you've had a taste of the good life--the real life--there's no going back. Don't let people tell you who they are (unless they're telling you that you're Jesus. Because that's who you really are. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body). And don't tell people who they are--unless you're telling them that they are Jesus. Live and let live. Be who you are and let people be who they are. It makes life so much easier. So much more simple. And so much better. Just love people, man. That's all I can say. Just love people.

When we used to play the Madden video game sometimes we would get mad at each other for questionable play calls. But my philosphy was always, "I'll run my offense and you run yours." Basically, if you're going to go for it on 4th and 15, its not my job to get mad at you for going for it... its my job to stop you from getting the first down. In other words, don't get mad at people for doing what they're going to do. Focus on what YOU'RE doing. Make sure YOUR actions and beliefs line up, but don't try to force them on anyone else. And, as I tried to say yesterday, the way we line our actions and beliefs up is by really, truly, knowing what we believe. Filling ourselves up with the truth so that it comes out. Naturally. The truth that God is love and He loves you. Its all about love. You can't live without love and you can't let others live without loving them. Because to live IS to love. And to love is to live. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. So instead of getting mad at people for what they are, or what they aren't, or what they do, or what they don't do... just love them. Live and let live. Let people be who they are. Even if who they are isn't who you want them to be. I know that's tricky. Because sometimes we legitimately DO want the best for people. And its so hard when you have the answers, but the people with the questions won't listen. That's so hard. I know it is. I've been there many times. Watched people I love suffer. But what I've learned--and remember, a man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument--what I've learned from living through that is that you can't make people do... anything, really. You can't make people get help. You can't make people do the right thing. All you can do is love them no matter what. Love them when they don't do the right thing. Love them when they need it. Which, by the way, is all the time. People need love in the good times, the bad times, and the ugly times. Sometimes people don't want you to fix their problems. Sometimes they just want to be heard. To be validated. To feel like they matter. An ear to hear can go such a long way. A shoulder to cry on. Loving people the way THEY need to be loved. Seeing a need and meeting it. And, again, this doesn't mean seeing a problem and fixing it. It means, if someone has a problem... just be there for them. Let them know they're not alone. Some things can't be gone through alone... but some things have to be gone through alone. What am I trying to say tonight? I'm trying to say people don't need to be controlled. And it doesn't do us any good to get mad at them when they do what they're going to do. People are always going to do what they're going to do. My grandpa always says, "You can do anything you want... as long as you're willing to pay the consequences." And that doesn't necessarily mean bad consequences. Unfortunately, people don't always count the cost. They don't alway think about the consequences. But even when they don't, or won't, we can't control them. All we can do is love them.

I think about the phrase "Live and let live" a lot. Its kind of a motto of mine. Along with "Go big or go home." But that second one is not what this Rant series is about. Its about my ministry philosophy. Which is, quite frankly, to let people believe what they want to believe. I've never been interested in convincing people that what I believe is "right" and what they believe is "wrong." Look at Romans 14:22 in the Message Bible, "Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent." Two parts there, and both are important. First of all, not imposing it on others. Not expecting people to think like you do, believe like you do, or act like you do. Letting people be who they are. And loving them just the way they are. I'm planning on diving into that in the next few days. But the second part is so important. Getting your behavior and your belief to line up. Because so many times it seems like we struggle within. Romans 7:15 speaks of this struggle, "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." In the Message Bible it reads, "What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise." Doing what we don't want to do, and not doing what we do want to do. The two hardest things in life, in my opinion. This is a problem because, according to James 1:8, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." When you're at war with yourself you're not at peace. You can't be. And blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called (or identified) as the Son(s) of God. Making peace--making love, not war--is what people will see and then be able to say, "He's a good guy." Or, "She's a good person." Which, to me, is a much better compliment than someone saying, "Yeah, he's a Christian." Because, unfortunately, Christians have kind of gotten a bad name. Hypocrites. Judgmental. Mean. That's not something I want to be labeled as. Honest. Kind. Trustworthy. That would be better. But if our actions don't line up with our beliefs we'll be unstable. We won't be able to show people who God is, by showing them love. And here's the straight up and down of it: Your actions DO flow from your beliefs. What's inside--what you believe is inside--is what comes out. Always. So its not behavior modification that we need. Its making sure we really believe what we think we believe. Its about cultivating our own relationship with God. Strengthening ourselves in the inner man through the Holy Spirit. Letting God love is, is what it comes down to. Because when you believe that you are loved... you can love. That's when your behavior and your beliefs are coherent. That's when everything lines up in Divine Order. And, as they say, charity starts at home. You can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. "Let live" is important. But the first part of that phrase is "live." We have to start living right. And that comes from believing right. To live is to love and to love is to live. Knowing and believing we are loved, and loving each other with that love!

There's a phrase I want to grab from an Old Testament Bible verse that I want to use to close this Rant series with. Its from Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of eunuchs that he might not defile himself." And the phrase I want is, "purposed in his heart." Because that's what takes our purpose--to be loved by God and to love Him back by loving each other with that same love--from an idea to a lifestyle. Charity is love in action. And that's when love is real--when its an action. When you put your money where your mouth is, if I can say it that way. Because, watch this, "Keep thy heart wtih all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). What's in your heart is what flows out into your life. Be it bitterness, hurt, unforgiveness... or mercy, grace, and love! Whatever you purpose in your heart, is what I'm trying to say. Whatever you believe is in your heart. The heart controls everything. Which is why we struggle so often and so much with the idea of "head vs heart." Because even if we "know" what we should do, in our heads... the heart wants what it wants. Always has, always will. Love is the strongest force in existence. Love is all powerful. And that doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means love has--love IS--all of the power! So if we purpose in our heart to love one another... nothing can stop it. Now, listen, I'm not saying that loving someone will get you what you want. Because that's not the point. Love is never about getting. Because love is giving. The only way love will get you exactly what you want is if, and when, you understand that the other person's happiness, or joy, is exactly what you want. If you love unselfishly... that's when you can get what you want. If you want to meet someone's need, and you love them... mission accomplished. But you have to purpose it in your heart. Love is not a feeling. It is a decision. A decision to put someone else first. To esteem others higher than yourself. And I've always said being humble doesn't mean you think less of yourself. It simply means you think of yourself less. If you're always worried about yourself, that's called being self-centered. Selfish. But if you're worried about others, that's called being Christ-centered. People-centered. If your purpose--if what you purpose in your heart to do--is to love people... then you'll live a life worth living. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other because they are the same thing. So when you understand your purpose--to receive and release the love of God--and then you purpose in your heart to live out that purpose... when you keep your heart by keeping it open so that the love that you have been filled with can overflow out of it... that's when things come together. That's when things line up. That's when things make sense. Because that's when things are revealed to be in Divine Order. God loving us and us loving each other. That's what its all about. That's our purpose!

A life of purpose is a life of love. Because God's purpose--and subsequently OUR purpose--is love! We were created, by the God who is love, to be loved and to love one another. To receive and release the love of God. That's what its all about. Its all about love. Like I always say: If you don't know what to do... do what you know. Love people. If you don't know what your purpose is... just love the people in your path. When you start (and end... Alpha and Omega, right?) with love, everything else is just details. Everything else just flows. But that's where knowledge (heart knowledge, not head knowledge) and faith comes in. Because love is giving. And you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So we must know and believe the love of God before we can experience it. And, since love is giving, we experience it when we give it away. When we share it. Receiving is great, but only because it leads to releasing. God filling us up so that we can fill ourselves up to overflowing with what He has filled us with! Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing its in there. Letting God love the hell out of us so that we can love Him back by loving the hell out of each other! That's our purpose. That's why we were created. That's why we're here. We are the visible expression of the invisible God. We are God's love letter to the world. When people see love--in us, and as us, and through us--they see God. That's what Jesus told Philip--He said, "If you've seen me you've seen the Father." And what did people see when they looked at Jesus? A man. Like you and me. A man... that loved people. A man that healed people. Fed people. Wept with people. Partied with people. A man who gave Himself--culminating in the ultimate sacrifice of giving His very life on the cross--to people. Which, as you know, is my definition of love--giving everything you have and everything you are without worrying about what comes next. And, listen, there's a lot of wisdom in HOW we love each other. Because not everyone loves in the same way and not everyone receives love in the same way. But the point is, it doesn't matter if it seems like the more you love the less you are loved. What matters is that you do your part. What matters is that you fulfill your purpose. That you give what YOU'VE got. Because, listen, that's really all you can do. Do your best and forget the rest, as one of Logan's old cartoons was fond of saying. So just be you. Don't try to be someone you're not. Certainly not to get something you think you haven't got. God gave it all to us when He gave His only begotten Son to us. When He gave HIMSELF to us. When He gave His Spirit to us. Because He always has and always will love us. What else could the God who is love do? But when He gave His Spirit to us--the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth--He gave us the love receptor. So that we might know His love. Believe His love. And share His love!

The purpose of life... is to live. With the understanding that to live is to love and to love is to live. The purpose of life... is to love! That's why all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose--when you're walking (living) in love... love never fails. And yesterday we looked at how we are ALL called according to His purpose. The God who is love only HAS one purpose: love. What else could it be? We were created to be loved and to love one another. That's our purpose. That's why the Creator created us. He wanted to express Himself. Express His love. To us. And in us. And through us. And as us. We were created to know and be known. To love and be loved. That's our purpose, as plain and simple as I can make it. Look at Ephesians 1:11, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." That inheritance, by the way, is the gift of God. Eternal life. Knowing the one true God and the One whom He sent. Knowing God as heavenly Father and knowing ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That gift of God given from Father to Son. According to His purpose. Which, again, is love. God's purpose is love. Our purpose is love. And the inheritance, the gift, that He gave us... is the power TO love. Freedom. Liberty. Freedom FROM the bondage of sin (unbelief) and freedom TO love. Freedom from bondage. Freedom to live. And speaking of His own will, I always go back to Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." His will, His thoughts, His purpose... is peace. Not evil. Forgiveness. Mercy. Grace. Love. Those are God's thoughts. And we know that because those are God's Words. Jesus. Love. I'm telling you, its all about love. Knowing and believing that God loves you, and loving Him back by loving each other with that same love. God's purpose is our purpose. One singular purpose. Love. So if you're searing for your purpose in life... I always say it like this, "When you don't know what to do, do what you know." You can always love people. You can always give what you've got. And when you're giving it all you've got... you'll be ok. When you're walking (again, living) in love, you'll see how all things work together for good. You'll see those silver linings. You'll be able to live a, what's that famous phrase? Purpose driven life. You'll be able to walk in your purpose. And you won't always be searching for something you've already got. You won't be robbing yourself of experiencing what you've already got. You'll be able to enjoy what you've already got. You'll be able to enjoy the gift you've been given. By sharing it. By giving it away. Because that's what love is--love is giving. Your purpose is to take what God has given you, and receive it and release it. Give what you've got. Give who you are. Lay your life down for your friends. A life of service to others is the best life you can live. Because it is a life that means something. Not just to you, but to everybody else!

I really like the beginning of this verse, but I usually don't address the last part of it too often. Until tonight. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). I like to hit the "all things work together for good" part. Because I truly believe that they do. I'm good at finding the silver lining. I'm down with Genesis 50:20, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant in unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Even if people mean things for evil, God can use them for good. In fact, I think that's one of His favorite things to do. I think He loves bringing good out of bad. I think that's such a powerful way to show that light is stronger than darkness. Because when God arises His enemies are scattered. When you're in a dark room and you turn the light on, you're not in a dark room anymore. Its not even a fight. Its not even a conflict. Let me say it this way, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:15). There's no darkness in light. How could there be? But like I said, I want to focus on the latter part. The "them who are called according to his purpose" part. So let's look at that. Who is called according to His purpose? That would be all of us. When Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross He drew all men unto Himself. And He planted Himself into all men. He called us all out of death and into life. And we know what the difference between life and death is, don't we? Love is the difference. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. No love? No life. Know love... know life. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. We've been called, is my point. All of us. Even those that don't know it. Even those that won't admit it. Or accept it. God's love is universal. Whoops. I said that. God loves everybody. He always has and He always will. He IS love. What else could He do? In order to not love God would have to stop being God. And even if He could do that, He wouldn't. So let's hit this last word. The title of this Rant series. Purpose. What is God's purpose? The word "purpose" in Romans 8:28 is number 4286 in Strong's Greek Concordance. It means, "a setting forth, that is, (figuratively) proposal (intention); specifically the show bread (in the Temple) as exposed before God:- purpose, shew bread." The thing I like there is proposal. The bride of Christ, right? That's our purpose. To be one with Him. That's what marriage is, right? Two becoming one? Being drawn into God--into love--and having God (love) planting Himself in us. So let's track this. The God who is love... has a purpose... and that purpose is love. What else could it be? So here's the point: All things work together for good when love is your purpose. When you're standing on love, walking in love, living in love... you can't fail. Because love doesn't fail. That's God's purpose. For us, and in us, and through us, and as us!

Its a question we hear--and ask--quite often: Why am I here? What's the point? What's my purpose? What's this life for? I used to ask that question a lot, to be honest. And then I had a kid and that kind of settled that. I can't tell you how quickly the light flipped on when my son arrived. All those Bible verses that I "knew" about a Father and a Son became real to me in a way I never knew they could. Head knowledge became heart knowledge like... that! I knew what my purpose was. I knew I was supposed to love that kid forever. Protect him. Take care of him. But that's pretty private and personal. Like, what if you don't have a kid? What then? Let me say it like this, talking about Jesus--talking about US--Colossians 1:15, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Or let me say it like this, Isaiah 43:21, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise." And one more, John 14:9, "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" Basically, as simply as I can put it, our purpose is to show people who God is. To shew forth His praise. To be the visible face of the invisible God. We are God's love letter to the world. Living epistles read of all men. And I'm telling you, showing is more powerful than telling. A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. Heart knowledge trumps head knowledge every time. There's a difference between knowing and KNOWING. And, as my pastor says, if you KNOW it... throw it! Remember the old phrase, "Christians are like teabags, you don't know what they're made of until you put them in hot water"? I think there's a lot to that. But that point is... what's inside coming out. The point is... knowing and believing what's inside so that it can come out. What's this life for? In a word: Living. And we know that to live is to love. To love is to live. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. You can't have one without the other. That's why God gave us His only begotten Son... so that we might not perish but have everlasting life. So that we might experience Jesus' life as HE lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Our purpose in life is simple: To love and to be loved. To know and to be known. To let God love the hell out of us and love Him back by loving the hell out of each other. To let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that its in there. Why am I here? Because the God who is love wanted someone to love. God wanted to express Himself. That's what it means to be His visible face. We are His expression. We are expressions of love. God's love letter to the world. What did the Message Bible say? He wrote it and we publish it. We shew it forth. We let what's inside come out. That's our purpose. That's why we're here. To receive and release the love of God. This life is for living. This life... is for loving!

Yesterday we looked at the first use of the word "truth" in the King James Version of the Bible. So today let's look at the last use. I think that's a pretty good way to end this Rant series. 3 John 1:12, "Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true." Interesting to me that the focus is on US. We bear record. Our record is true. Let me say it another way, "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3). The epistle of Christ. Written on our hearts. What else could that possibly be but love? The Message Bible renders it like this, "Christ himself wrote it--not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chisled into stone, but carved into human lives--and we publish it." Think about that. Christ wrote it, using the Word of God--which is Jesus, which is love--in our lives. And we publish it. The verse before, 2 Corinthians 3:2, says, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." We are the light that shines into the darkness so others can see it. When you're stuck in the dark you can feel really really hopeless. Helpless. But when that lights shines, you know where to go. What to do. And here's the thing: People are gonna read your book no matter what. People are gonna judge you regardless. And almost always they will judge you through THEIR veil of experience. Speaking on the story without knowing the whole story. Which, by the way, is why I don't care what people say about me. Especially people who don't know me. Its mind over matter. I don't mind so they don't matter. But what I'm trying to say tonight is: If people are gonna read your story, and judge your actions, why not give them something to talk about? In the best way. Being merciful and truthful at all times. Telling the truth in love. Killing people with kindness. That's the kind of thing people need to see. That's the kind of thing that will get people to run TO God instead of running FROM Him. And remember what Jesus said: People will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. People see love and they like what they see. They might not necessarily believe it right away--true love seems too good to BE true--but love never fails. Because love endures. And the proof of the pudding is in the eating. When people see something real, something that doesn't change, they won't have any choice BUT to believe it. We bear record to the truth--the love of God--and our record is true. We represent Him because we are the letter--the love letter--that HE wrote to the world. He wrote His love on our hearts, and we simply publish what He wrote. We simply receive it and release it. Know the truth. Believe the truth. And let the truth that has already set us free and made us free... set us free and make us free! Free FROM sin... free TO love!