Merry Christmas! Happy holidays! Which do you say? Why does it matter? What’s the real reason people get in such a holiday huff over things this time of year? What is the driving force behind all this Christmas consternation? In this episode, the saints tackle Christmas.

Two sides of the Christmas rocking horse:

First view: Christmas is and should be about Christ – whether you believe in Him or not

Second view: Christmas has pagan roots and therefore should be abstained from by Christians

Legalists

* Reasons NOT to celebrate Christmas

* Christmas is a holiday celebrated by the world system

* Christmas promotes gluttony and excess

* Watchman Nee/Witness Lee – a little leaven ruins the whole loaf

Libertine

* More/bigger is better (gifts, lights, celebrations)

* Santa is a Christian?

* Watering down the earth shattering spiritual reality into something easy to swallow and not too uncomfortable.

Religious System (Keeping Christ in Christ-mas)

* Evangelistic opportunity to reach family members who do not regularly attend church or follow Christ

* Religious Ceremony

* Candle light service every year with a string quartet

* Christmas play with the manger scene

“You make such a lot of Christmas, do you? Well, Christianity does make a lot of Christmas; but, after all, what is Christmas? Christmas is only, after all, a fragment, a mighty fragment, within this compass of the Eternal Son of God. He did not begin at Bethlehem. There are some people who think that Jesus began His existence at Bethlehem. That was an incident in the course of the ages; a mighty, significant, and necessary incident. We all know what for; but, true, you do not begin with Him at Bethlehem. We will come to that later on and what the story really does mean for us, but remember that long, long, long before there was ever such a place or name as Bethlehem, He was there. No, He did not begin there.”

~ Called Unto the Fellowship of His Son by T. Austin-Sparks

Resources

* CHRISTMAS MYTHS EXPOSED! By Frank Viola

* The Date of Christ’s Birth

* No Room at the Inn

* Three Kings

* The Death of the Hebrew Infants

* The Virgin Birth

* Debunking Christmas Myths Relevant Magazine

THE THIRD WAY

If we are living a life surrendered to Christ, then all things would be for, by, to and through Him which would include our Christmas practices. Whether we celebrate or don’t.

Col 2:16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ia festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Lord of New Birth because he is a life giving Spirit..

Whether you celebrate Christmas or don’t celebrate Christmas doesn’t make you more or less spiritual. If you don’t celebrate Christmas because it has pagan roots doesn’t make you more spiritual than your brothers and sisters who do. If you make every single thing in your Christmas celebration about Christ doesn’t make you more spiritual than those who don’t celebrate it or celebrate it “loosely”.

Every family should set in their heart how they are going to do this and unless the Lord tells them otherwise, go with that.

…make allowance for freedom.

Earlier this month we were able to spend some time talking with Frank Viola about his new book, Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. Frank’s ministry has greatly impacted all six of us, and we were excited about this new book. For myself, (Bridget) the book reestablished the realities of the Kingdom I am a part of and reinvigorated me to continue on in the insurgence of this Eternal Kingdom.

In the podcast Frank talks about some of the lesser gospels that are typically heard today and how they differ from the Gospel of the Kingdom. I want to highlight something he said so you make sure to catch it as you listen. He says that the Gospel of the Kingdom is on another plane entirely from these lesser gospels. How true that is! The Gospel of the Kingdom doesn’t just take the best parts of these lesser gospels and leave out the bad stuff, therefore becoming the conglomeration of all the good parts of the gospels mostly preached today. No! It is a Gospel from an entirely different realm and on a much higher plane than any other “gospel”.

If you’ve read Insurgence we’d love to hear how it has impacted you. If you haven’t read it, we’d like to encourage you to make this book a priority. You can click on the book picture above to order it off Amazon. (This is not an affiliate link.)

Here are the links to the two articles we talk about in the podcast:

5 Ways to Spread the Insurgence

How to form a kingdom cell where you live.

Here’s the link to the book website with lots of additional articles on the gospel of the kingdom.

 

What’s going on in Austin, TX? Well, a lot, actually. It’s the home of traffic and tacos. And construction – lots of construction. And speaking of construction, the Lord is building His Church in Austin. He has been for quite some time, but we’re now seeing our part as tools in the process. This week’s episode is an update on what’s going on with us here in the great state of Texas.

Also, the To the Saints crew will be taking a break from posting podcasts to work on a new project. We hope to release it some time this fall, but, as with all things with the Lord, we follow His timing. So, we’ll see.

What does it mean to “take the red pill”? One thing it means is to choose the path of freedom and truth (even if it appears more difficult) versus choosing to stay a slave to a system (even if that path appears easier). The reference is from a scene in the 1999 movie The Matrix, a sci-fi movie starring Keanu Reeves. In this episode of To the Saints, we will explore the idea of choosing reality (Christ) over ignorance (the world), fighting against the unseen powers to bring others to the truth, and much more, using metaphors from The Matrix.

About The Matrix:

Thomas A. Anderson is a man living two lives. By day he is an average computer programmer and by night a hacker known as Neo. Neo has always questioned his reality, but the truth is far beyond his imagination. Neo finds himself targeted by the police when he is contacted by Morpheus, a legendary computer hacker branded a terrorist by the government. Morpheus awakens Neo to the real world, a ravaged wasteland where most of humanity have been captured by a race of machines that live off of the humans’ body heat and electrochemical energy and who imprison their minds within an artificial reality known as the Matrix. As a rebel against the machines, Neo must return to the Matrix and confront the agents: super-powerful computer programs devoted to snuffing out Neo and the entire human rebellion.

Characters and What They Represent:

Thomas Anderson – Keanu Reeves

* Old man

* Entangled with the World

* Lawbreaker

* Outlaw

Neo – Keanu Reeves:

* New Man

* Chosen to be the One

* Redeemer

* Overcomer

* Bridegroom who loves the Bride

Morpheus – Laurence Fishburne:

* Lives by the Word of the Oracle/ Lives by faith

* Christ who call us out and leads us on a Journey to know Him deeper

* Christ who changes us and conforms us to himself

Trinity – Carrie Ann Moss:

* God the Father who leads us out of the world system into the His Kingdom/Zion

* Daughter of Zion

* The Bride who loves the Bridegroom/Neo

The Oracle –  Gloria Foster:

* Christ who speaks the realities of Heaven

* Reveals the eternal purpose

* Gives direction, meaning and purpose to life

Cipher – Joe Pantoliano:

* The Soul that wants to save itself from hardship

* Wolf in sheep’s clothing

* Traitor

Tank – Marcus Chong:

* Operator

* The Spirit of Christ who guides them

* Was not born into bondage

* Comes from Zion

* Reveals Zion

* He is the one that allows them to function in the world system/Matrix and yet not be attached to it.

Agent Smith – Hugo Weaving:

* the Adversary and accuser

* His goal it to keep all of humanity deceived and enslaved

* He wants them all entangled to his world

The Matrix

* The world system

* Kingdom of Darkness

* Bondage

* Power through forced enslavement

* Invisible

* Deceptive yet enticing

Zion

* The dwelling place of God

* Kingdom of peace

* Corporate expression of Christ

* Community of the free ones

What else did you see in the movie? Any thoughts on “taking the red pill”? We’d love to hear from you! 

In our previous episode, In Christ, we talked about many of the glorious things done in Christ, and in the episode, By the Father, we spoke of many of the magnificent things that come from the Father. So how could we finish up this trilogy of episodes? By sharing a non-exhaustive list of those things that are done through the Spirit.

The Spirit is one with both the Father and the Son. He is never separated from the person and interests of Christ or the eternal purpose of the Father.

The Spirit more than just an influencer–He is a person. It is so easy to refer to Him as an “it” but the scriptures are clear: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).

When we refer to “the Spirit” here, we mean the Holy Spirit, who is called many things in the New Testament, including: The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, the Spirit of a living God, the Spirit of His Son, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of life, the Comforter (which means Advocate, Counselor, or Helper). (This list came from There Must Be More by Frank Viola.)

Here’s the non-exhaustive list: Through the Spirit

To wrap up our series, In Christ, By the Father, Through the Spirit, we leave you with Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:4-6:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

There are many pictures of Christ and the Church (the bridegroom and the bride), but one of the most significant is marriage. The number of years of marriage between the six saints ranges from seven to over twenty-three years. RC & Bridget are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, and this podcast came about from their desire to share some things they have learned in those 20 years.

The combination of the experience of marriage itself and the experience of Body Life has provided some lessons that have tremendously helped our marriages and other relationships, as well. Just to be clear, by Body Life we mean face-to-face community life learning to live together (corporately) under the headship of Christ alone and by the Life of Christ alone. We are still learning, but are grateful for the (sometimes hard) lessons learned that we want to share, and we hope you will find these helpful in your life, as well.

These are listed in no particular order.

Lay Down Your Expectations

We’ve learned that often our disappointment wasn’t because the other person did something wrong, they simply did something different than what we expected.

We can clearly communicate our expectations to each other, but that doesn’t mean that our expectations are going to be met. We don’t communicate them so that our spouse now has to meet them. We can communicate them to find out/discover if our spouse is on the same page. If they are, great! If they aren’t, we can lay down our expectations. Or we can WORK TOGETHER to come to mutual expectations.

This completely applies to Body Life, too. As we’ve shared on this podcast several times before, having expectations is normal, but not being willing to let those expectations go when they are not met in Body Life can be hurtful to the church.

Go to the Lord First

When you have a beef with your spouse, ALWAYS go to the Lord first. Take all your arguments and frustrations to the Lord FIRST. The majority of the time you will find that your arguments and frustrations hold no water. OR that you do the exact same thing to them, just in a different way. Man, it’s tough when the Lord reveals our own heart to us, but it is so life-giving, because He immediately offers us His. There isn’t condemnation, but conviction. Condemnation leads to death – conviction leads to Life.

Now, I’m not saying that we don’t ever have discussions with our spouse where we work through things and disagree. We definitely do, but if we go to the Lord first, we allow Him to keep us from having unnecessary arguments, and we also allow Him to adjust our heart before we have the necessary arguments/discussions. That way it is His mind that is reached and there is unity among us. This can be a lengthy process sometimes. We don’t always agree after just one discussion. Sometimes it takes us a bit to allow the Lord to adjust us to Himself. This is where we practice longsuffering, or we forebear with one another. This is where we mean our “I dos”.

This can avoid a lot of arguments and heartache!

Another option here is to go to the Lord together (husband & wife).

This is also true when one is, completely hypothetically, feeling frustrated with a brother or sister. Go to the Lord and see what he has to say about it.

Give the Lord the Time and Space to Transform

There is a real temptation to try and change things about your spouse that you don’t like that much or that you wish were different. Sometimes we do this in subtle ways and other times not so subtle. But we encourage you to give the Lord a chance to change your spouse. Give the all-powerful one with authority over all things in heaven and on earth a little time and space to transform your spouse. Because the only person who can truly change a heart and a mind is Christ, and if your spouse is dedicated to the Lord and open to being changed by Him, then transformation will take place.

Ever been told not to worry about something – like leaving a job – because you were dispensable? And as much as you hate to admit it, they were right – the job went on without you. Well, the Bible is full of indispensable people, right? Elijah, perhaps? How about Moses? Or King David? All these guys were indispensable. Or were they?

In this episode, the saints explore scripture looking for indispensable people. Will they find any? Can they find even one indispensable man?

“Indispensable Man”

By Saxon White Kessinger (from 1959)

Sometime when you’re feeling important;

Sometime when your ego’s in bloom

Sometime when you take it for granted

You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow these simple instructions

And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to the wrist,

Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining

Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,

You may stir up the water galore,

But stop and you’ll find that in no time

It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example

Is do just the best that you can,

Be proud of yourself but remember,

There’s no indispensable man.

This poem is supposed to provide a sense of relief or comfort to the person who thinks that if they leave a job or some other position that the whole thing will fall apart or the company will go under. The sun will stop rising. It is probably supposed to give some people a dash of humility, too. The point is that no man is indispensable – we are all replaceable and things will go on without us.

Biblical Prophets & Leaders

But what about those great prophets and leaders in the Bible? They were indispensable, right?

Elijah –> Elisha

The Lord performed many great things through Elijah, and yet when Jezebel threatened his life, he fled. As the Lord questioned him about this, Elijah kept repeating all that he had done for the Lord and that he is the only prophet left and people were trying to kill him.

And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

—1 Kings 19:13-18

So the Lord told Elijah to anoint Elisha to replace him, and also tells Elijah of 7,000 people who are loyal to Yahweh who are vessels for the Lord to use. So the prophet Elijah was not indispensable.

Moses –> Joshua

The Lord chose Moses to do many mighty things and lead Israel to the promised land. But Moses was not allowed to enter the land. Does this mean the God’s people were never going to enter the land? No. Joshua would put the people in possession of the land, with the Lord going before them.

So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me,

So the six saints doing this podcast love Jesus and like to have fun. Have any listeners noticed this? But having fun and being a “serious” Christian don’t always seem to mix.

For some Christians, having fun is hard or feels wrong, and yet others may take the idea of “fun” too far and leave their consciences behind. Today the saints are going to talk about fun and the Christian life.

One Side of the Horse (Mr. Ed)–Legalism

* No running in the Church building.

* No laughing.

* Every head bowed, and every eye closed, no looking around. (Phil. 2:9-11)

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that in the name of Jesus every head will bow and eye close, of those who are in the pews and on stage and in the choir, 11 and that every tongue will remain silent so that the pastor can pray, to the glory of God the Father.

* Wear your Sunday best

* Top down hierarchy

* Can’t mix Spiritual and Secular activities

* Be quiet and don’t move

* To be sin-focused is to be Holy and righteous.

When we do these things we think that we are better Christians and more pleasing to God. The truth is that there really is no life in a regulated, law driven church or gathering.

* Seriousness leads to competition of Who can be the holiest

* Who sins less

* Perfect church attendance

* How long can you fast?

* How long can you pray?

* Who can quote more scripture?

* Who can serve more

* Serious Evangelism

* How many converts/people have you baptized

* Serious Gifts

* How many people have you healed?

* How often do you speak in tongues?

* Can you speak in tongues?

As a side note, it is not legalism to have an issue that you feel uncomfortable with or believe to be sinful (that is not directly spelled out in the Bible as sin) that others do not feel that same way about. Follow your conscience (the Spirit) regarding such things. If you choose to put that issue on other people, make it a law for them, and expect them to think about or behave like you regarding that, then that becomes legalism. (example: drinking alcohol)

The Other Side of the Horse (Mr. Ed)–Libertinism

* Pizza party

* No Bible/scripture necessary

* Feel good topics

* Self-help

* Attend whenever you feel like it (when it works for you)

* Wear whatever you want

Libertinism/legalism are often a Reaction/Push back to each other. Tired of the shame, guilt and fear of performance based religion we fall off the horse on the other side – legalism.  Tired of trying to have fun all the time / be pleasing to the world we fall off the horse on the other side – legalism.

Both of these reactions are incorrect because they are based out of man’s ideas of God, man’s view of things, man’s law based off of his ideas and views, and man’s need. This keeps the focus on man and how he is doing and on not Christ and what he wants. We become very miserable unhappy Christians.

Neither of these ways gives us true peace; the peace that come with following the Law of Life, who is Christ.

Examples:

The Lord’s life is full of mountains and valleys. Times of peaks and flowing rivers and times of desert dryness.

The Life of Christ is authentic, attractive and freedom.

It’s not freedom to do what you want but freedom to follow the Life of Christ.

He is the fulfillment of the law and only one who pleases God all the time and he knows when to be joyful, fun, celebratory and when to be reverent, solem. The new Law is to follow and live by the Life of Christ.

It’s only life that can tell us when and how to do things…follow t...

Today, many followers of Jesus try to live the Christian life out of human effort and energy, thinking that if they try harder they can produce the fruit of Christ and be like Him. However, this kind of living will, at some point, lead to growing weary, being exhausted, fatigue, and burnout.

For those of you who are flat-out tired of trying to live the Christian life, in this episode we want to encourage you to take a vacation! But what kind of vacation are we referring to?

* A vacation from all of our human works to attain spiritual growth.

* A vacation from all our ideas of how to be like Jesus.

* A vacation from trying to do what Jesus would do.

* A vacation from performing for Jesus.

* A vacation from working hard to be used by Jesus.

Ultimately, a vacation from you!

How long will this vacation be? Our earthly vacations often last from one to two weeks. But the length of this getaway we are referring to is FOREVER.

When we talk about a vacation, we mean to vacate or leave something one previously occupied. We previously occupied, or took on the role of, everything coming out from ourselves–our energy, our ideas, our thoughts, our actions. But with Christ we can take a permanent vacation from ourselves.

The Purpose of the Vacation

* The release of Christ’s life

* Whoever actively trusts in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38)

* Cease from trying to do Christ’s work

* Live as a daily sacrifice by throwing oneself constantly on the altar to be burned. (Rom. 12:1)

* “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience  from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb. 9:13-14)

* Experience rest by living out of Christ’s Divine energy

* “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, or whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Heb. 4:8-10)

Ceasing from Your Works

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24)

* Leave your abilities

* Leave your strengths and weaknesses

* Leave your works

* Leave your gifts

* Leave your personal calling

* Leave your vision of what the Christian life should look like

* Take your hands off the steering wheel

Ceasing from Vain Christian Work

* Christ is building His Church (Matthew 16:18)

* God is making all things new (Rev. 21:5)

* Christ is the Head (Eph. 1:22, 5:23; Col. 1:18)

* God builds the City (Heb. 11:10)

Christ Jesus: The Reality of Rest

* Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5)

* Bed of Roses because he is the Rose of Sharon (Song 2:1)

* Endless drink that satisfies thirst (John 4:14)

* Endless bread that satisfies hunger (John 6:35)

Experiencing Rest Continually

* Turn to the Lord

* Actively trust in Him as the one who accomplishes the Father’s purpose

The reality is we are in rest because we have entered into Christ who is our rest. The question is are we experiencing Christ’s rest through a continual evacuation of our self-effort?

We see the encouragement from Jesus Himself, him giving us permission to take a vacation:

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father,

It’s been awhile, but today’s podcast we are seeing Christ in the movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) PG-13

This movie is an updated version of the original done back in 1995. Instead of a board game that comes alive in the real world now, you get stuck in a video game. So four teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.

WARNING: If you have not seen this movie yet there are Spoilers!

CAST/PLAYERS :

Spencer (Dr. Xander Bravestone) “The Rock” Dwyane Johnson

The geekiest kid in school has become the biggest, buffest adventurer you have ever seen, but he will learn that true courage and confidence cannot be programmed.

In the game:

Strengths: Strength, Speed, Climbing, Smouldering Intensity, Boomerang

Weakness: None

Fridge (Franklin “Mouse” Finbar) Kevin Hart

When this intimidating athlete is cut down to size, he’ll adjust to being a supporting player instead of the star, and discover that his strength is not his most powerful weapon.

In the game:

Strengths: Zoology, Weapons Valet

Weakness: Cake, Strength, Speed

Bethany (Prof. Shelley Oberon) Jack Black

The coolest girl in school just got a harsh reality check. Trapped in the body of an overweight, middle-aged man, her looks are no longer her greatest asset.

In the game:

Strengths: Cartography, Archeology, Paleontology

Weakness: Endurance

Martha (Ruby Roundhouse)Karen Gillan

The girl next door is instantly transformed into a gorgeous athletic martial artist. Can she embrace her new look and still be true to herself?

In the game:

Strengths: Karate, T’ai Chi, Aikido, Dance Fighting

Weakness: Venom

Alex (Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough) Nick Jonas

He has been in the game for the past 20 years trying to get out!

In the game:

Strengths: Pilot, Making Margaritas

Weakness: Mosquitoes

Ways we see Christ: (Spoilers Ahead!)

All have to call its name – Jumanji!

Their identity in Jumanji is different – our identity in Christ is different

Old Man’s Identity vs the New Man’s

– they have a new life with a  new set of strengths, and instincts. It’s all Christ- He is Brave, Beautiful, Wisdom, Fighter/defender. He has no weakness. Even our weaknesses are His strengths.

-In all their struggles and circumstances they have to learn to live by another life in their new bodies – to trust the new life within them.

-this new life has been given to them freely, they didn’t have to work for it or earn it.

-What makes them strong is relying upon another life/identity. Christ showcases His strength through their weakness

Mouse and Bravestone Conversation- Which man old or new?

Bravestone says, he cannot do it-

Mouse says, we all only have one life, which guy(man) are you going to decide to be?  The old man(with all its failings and limitations) or the New man(the one who is limitless and capable of anything)

-The purpose of the game was impeded when they tried to fix something using their old ways of thinking and doing things. It would get them nowhere but dead.

-All the struggles they went through in the game helped work in this new life/identity.

Fridge declares himself as Mouse, accepting, believing in the new identity  of the new man

-Return to real-world- Live their new man and His identity in the old man by faith.

Revealing Christ in His body

-They have one purpose.

-working together for one  purpose-Eternal purpose-following the map

-Thrown into situations where they have to rely on each other in living by a new Life.

-They also remind each other of who they are in Christ.

-Alex leads them through a difficult area of Jumanji because he has gone that way before&#...