PEOPLE...BAH...HUMBUG!

Hello Fellow People...from one people to another people...how's life? I was talking to someone the other day...at work...and they asked me how it was going. My response was that it was going pretty good... if I just did not have to deal with my patients.

NOTE: For those who don't know...I work in home health...where the patients are our reason for having a job.

Back in 1968...there was an up and coming group called PEOPLE. They had a million seller hit called I LOVE YOU (a cover of a previous group...the Zombies). The lead singer was Larry Norman...who dropped out of the group when the album was released...to become a street preacher and is credited with being the grandfather of Christian Rock and Roll...aka Jesus Music. The album was originally going to be named after one of the songs on the album called...WE NEED A WHOLE LOT MORE OF JESUS...AND A LOT LESS ROCK AND ROLL.. but the executives at Capitol Records changed it to the title of another song...I LOVE YOU.

Humph...people...patients...church members...co-workers...husbands...wives...children...bums...illegal aliens...legal aliens...rich man...poor man...beggar man...thief...and any other classification and categorization and grouping of humans...are all PEOPLE. In the Bible...it is said...that where two or three (people) are gathered together...Jesus is in their midst. Sometimes I find that where two or three are gathered...you have trouble. It's like church hopping to find a perfect church...and every time you get their...you have to deal with PEOPLE.

As the Pogo comic strip by Walt Kelly states..."We have meet the ENEMY...and the ENEMY is US." At the time the commentary by Kelly was about global pollution...manifested in the swamp.

Barry McGuire...who was one of the leads in the original Broadway production of HAIR...sang with the Christy Minstrel singers...had hits like Green, Green...Greenback Dollar...and the ever relevant song EVE OF DESTRUCTION...became a Christian after someone witnessed to him...and gave him a copy of GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN...on of those "modern translations". After searching for years for truth in drugs, rock and roll, philosophy, various religions...found truth and life...in JESUS. His one problem...was... that he dug this Jesus...but it was his followers (people) that he could not stand.

I have found that the church (ecclesia...gathering of people around a common cause)...is NOT a grouping of P.P (Perfect People)...but a collection of people in need of a Saviour. As I sit on the throne of perfection in church...it is easy for me to look down on the non-church people and relish the fact that I am not like..."those PEOPLE." I tend to forget...that as John Fisher sings on his Dark Horse album..."I am just one beggar...telling another beggar...where I found a piece of bread." Oh I know...I know...I'M A KING'S KID...I'M AN HEIR OF THE FATHER...A JOINT HEIR WITH THE SON...I'M THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST...I'M THE APPLE OF GOD'S EYES...but humility reminds me that there but for the grace of God go I. If I am to be like and follow in the steps of Him...Jesus...I must have the same attitude towards those PEOPLE who rub me the wrong way.

"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the WORLD (made up of man, wo-man, hu-mans, mankind) that He [even] gave up His only-begotten (unique) Son (Jesus)...so that whoever believes in (trusts, clings to, relies on) Him (Jesus) shall not perish---come to destruction, be lost--but have eternal (everlasting) life. (John 3:16 The Amplified Bible...with some Ruminator input)

God is not talking about the physical planet (however there are plenty of references of our responsibility to planet earth as stewards)...or the world system (with all of the various -isms that want control of this world...including the root of a lot of the -isms...satanism)...but He loves the PEOPLE of planet earth).

God demonstrated how we should love PEOPLE...if we are to love PEOPLE...like He loved PEOPLE.

"But God shows and clearly proves/demonstrates His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were STILL/YET sinners...Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One...DIED FOR US." (Romans 5:8)

Peter speaks of PEOPLE...the unjust and the guilty...and the action of God on the behalf of these PEOPLE.

"For Christ...the Messiah, [Himself] died for sins once...for ALL (not just Christians)...the Righteous (Jesus) for the unrighteous (us people)...the Just (Jesus) for the unjust (us people)...the Innocent (Jesus)... for the guilty (us people)---that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was PUT TO DEATH...but HE WAS MADE ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT." (I Peter 3:18 The Amplified Bible with commentary by me)

It seems that we were all drowning in a sea of sin...and some of us have climbed into the LIFEBOAT. That does not mean that we are now better than those PEOPLE still in the waters...we are called to compel them into the boat (Jesus).

"For the love of Christ controls us and urges and impels us...because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] ONE (Jesus) died for ALL (people)...then ALL (people) died...and He (Jesus) died for ALL (people)...SO (the reason for Him dying)...that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake (D.B.R...nothing more... nothing less). Consequently...from now on we estimate and regard NO ONE (people...the world) from a purely HUMAN POINT OF VIEW (judging based on how I feel about someone)...in terms of natural standards of value [NO] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man...YET NOW [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]."
(II Corinthians 5:14-16)

We are called to CHANGE OUR POINT OF VIEW...of PEOPLE...and begin to view PEOPLE through the eyes of God...and then act accordingly.

If you follow the thought from II Corinthians 5:17 to II Corinthians 5:21...that if we listen to the LOVE OF CHRIST...that He has for ALL PEOPLE (the good (there is none good but ONE), the bad, and yes...the ugly)...we become NEW CREATIONS...and are now MINISTERS OF RECONCILIATION...with a WORD OF RECONCILIATION (namely that God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD (people) to Himself, NOT COUNTING THEIR TRESPASSES AGAINST THEM...and He has committed to us THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION (II Corinthians 5:17-19)

We are AMBASSADORS/REPRESENTATIVES/ENVOYS for Christ...as if God were entreating through us...we beg you on behalf of Christ BE RECONCILED TO GOD. (II Corinthians 5:20)

"He made Him (Jesus) who KNEW NO SIN...to be sin ON OUR BEHALF...that we might become... THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM." (II Corinthians 5:21)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

The next time someone rubs you the wrong way...either a Christian or a non-Christian...before you begin to grouse about how you hate people...take a minute and ALLOW the love of Christ to (1) control (2) urge (3) impel you....and begin to look at PEOPLE through the eyes of God and take on the role of a minister, an ambassador and begin to give out what you freely received...grace, mercy, and not take into account their trespasses against them (which is really being a minister of condemnation).

The boys (Jesus' followers) were called to go out to the house of Israel and preach a message (not to the Gentiles yet...that will come)..."And as you go...preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse the lepers; drive out demons...FREELY (without pay) you have RECEIVED; FREELY (without charge) GIVE."

As you rub elbows and shoulders with boogerheads...people...that God loves...give out what you received.

Love and People Loving Kisses
Rodney "Ex-Humbug" Boyd

THE OUTLAW

Greetings fellow Chewers of the Cud. The saga continues. In 1968...I was a sophomore at Central High School...hiding out in my room. In my room...I had everything I needed. I had a radio...a T.V...my guitar...books (comic and other). It was in this room that I watched the Elvis Christmas special...later renamed...the 68 Comeback Special. I had a few friends...but was more and more...staying in my room. As mentioned in previous Ramblings...Dan Bogle and Bruce Fortner rescued me from my room by enlisting me to play in a band...later known as THE BLIND DISTORTION. 1969 brought a relationship with Brenda...which led to a relationship with Jesus.

I played my last gig with the Blind Distortion at the Moose Lodge...and then quit playing guitar...because that's what I thought I was suppose to do. I thought I would be limited to listen to bad singers sing old songs. I did write one song...called THE JESUS SONG...that was a peppy little ditty about Jesus...but other than that...no music...UNTIL...Larry Norman. He wrote songs like...WHY SHOULD THE DEVIL HAVE ALL THE GOOD MUSIC...and THE ROCK THAT DOESN'T ROLL...READER'S DIGEST...WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING...and many others.

One song...that became a favorite about Jesus was called THE OUTLAW. Jesus to the Jesus Freaks...was considered to be outside the mainstream...religious...church world...an OUTLAW. Of course He was not on the level of those outside of the LAW...but he was the fulfillment of the LAW.

The song THE OUTLAW...was an ode to who or what people thought Jesus was...outlaw, poet, politician, sorcerer. The question finally leaves us with the question...WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS WAS? This is the question we all have to answer...sooner or later...either now on planet earth or before the Father. You answer determines your destiny.

As mentioned in C.S. Lewis' book MERE CHRISTIANITY...the choice does not include a great teacher or a prophet...those are not options. As Lewis writes... the choices are...Jesus is either...a LUNATIC...a LIAR...or who He said He was... LORD.

THE OUTLAW (Larry Norman from Only Visiting This Planet)

Some say He was an OUTLAW...that he roamed across the land
With a band of unschooled ruffians and a few old fishermen
No one knew just where he came from, or exactly what he'd done
But they said it must be something bad that kept him on the run


Some say he was a POET , that he'd stand upon the hill
That his voice could calm an angry crowd and make the waves stand still
That he spoke in many parables that few could understand
But the people sat for hours just to listen to this man

Some say a POLITICIAN who spoke of being free
He was followed by the masses on the shores of Galilee
He spoke out against corruption and he bowed to now decree
And they feared his strength and power so they nailed him to a tree

Some say he was a SORCERER, a man of mystery
He could walk upon the water, he could make a blind man see
That he conjured wine at weddings and did tricks with fish and bread
That he talked of being born again, and raised people from the dead

Some say He was the Son of God, a man above all men
That He came to be a servant and to set us free from sin
And that's who I believe he is cause that's what I believe
And I think we should get ready, cause it's time for us to leave

Well...great song...makes you think. People have their own image about who Jesus is. There is nothing new under the sun...that same question was posed to the disciples..."Now when Jesus came into the district of Ceaserea Philippi...He began ASKING His disciples, saying...'WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS?" (Matthew 16:13)

They answered....(1) John the Baptist (2) Elijah (3) Jeremiah (4) one of the prophets. (Matthew 16:14)

Jesus then brings the point home..."BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?"
(Matthew 16:15)

At this point Peter stepped up to the plate and boldly declared..."THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD." (Matthew 16:16)

Jesus response to Peter's perspective of who Jesus was..."Blessed are you Simon Barjona...because FLESH AND BLOOD did not REVEAL this to you...but MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN." (Matthew 16:17)

Jesus then contrasts Peter's strong revelation from the Father...with Peter's weak name...reflective of his character. "And I also say to you that you are...peter (petros...little stone)...and upon this ROCK (petra...massive rock) I will build my church...and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it (the church). (Matthew 16:18) The church will not be built on an earthly man...but will be built on the DIVINE REVELATION that JESUS (God is Salvation/Immanuel/God with Us) is the CHRIST/MESSIAH (anointed with yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing, healing power of the Holy Spirit [Acts 10:39] )...the SON OF THE LIVING GOD (God in the flesh...in the beginning, with God...was God John 1:1). NOW THAT REVELATION IS THE ROCK THAT THE GATHERING OF THE SAINTS WILL BE BUILT ON...THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES REVELATION OF WHO HE IS...and who they are NOT. (Matthew 16:17)

Along with this revelation...there is not only the roots of the church...but authority of the church (not a building...but the people...who adhere to the revelation that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God). "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven , and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Well we know who Larry Norman said Jesus was...and we know what other people of Jesus' day said He was...and we know what Peter's impression of who Jesus was...and we know who Jesus knew He was (notice He did not refute Peter's revelation but underscored the accuracy of the revelation)...we know who C.S. Lewis reasoned that Jesus was and was not...BUT...the question is NOT who other people say Jesus was...BUT...WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS WAS...AND MORE IMPORTANT...WHO HE IS NOW. Your answer will set the course of your destiny.

Love and Outlaw Kisses
Rodney "I Choose The Christ, the Son of the Living God" Boyd