Living in the Last Hour

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Where are my Sheep?

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It’s just that for so many people that I know, Christianity’s this matter of… it has everything to do with morals. Christianity is a religion about morals. And they will even talk about Jesus. And they will say kids need to know about Jesus so they won’t smoke, drink, or dance, or go with girls that do, and all that kind of thing. And I kinda go, ‘That’s not why people need to know about Jesus. The only reason – The only possible excuse for talking about Jesus is because we need a Savior.’

Rich Mullins

The hardest part of being a Christian is surrendering and that is where the real struggle happens. Once we have overcome our own desire to be elevated, our own desire to be recognized, our own desire to be independent and all those things that we value very much because we are Americans and we are part of this American culture. Once we have overcome that struggle then God can use us as a part of His body to accomplish what the body of Christ was left here to accomplish.

Rich Mullins

I think I would rather live on the verge of falling and let my security be in the all-sufficiency of the grace of God than to live in some pietistic illusion of moral excellence. Not that I don’t want to be morally excellent but my faith isn’t in the idea that I’m more moral than anybody else. My faith is in the idea that God and His love are greater than whatever sins any of us commit.

Rich Mullins

We were given the Scriptures to humble us into realizing that God is right, and the rest of us are just guessing.

Rich Mullins

The Pharisees went after Jesus because He spoke the things His Father had told Him to speak. Jesus did not attempt to take down the Roman government because it was evil. He criticized the leaders and elders for turning the house of God into a den of thieves. He sat with sinners and tax collectors. He did not judge anyone who did not believe in Him, because He had not come to judge but to save.

John 16:33: In this world you will have trouble.

Rich Mullins had a brutal boldness for sharing the things of God. He had insight like none of his contempories. I would love to have been a fly in the wall during his conversations with the Lord. Today, sharing opinions, perspectives or even insight into the things of God has become a dangerous thing. I am not talking about sharing with unbelievers but with fellow believers. Forget about sharing political opinions. Lately, differing opinions are taken for fighting words. Tolerance has become a dirty word. Yet, no one considers how tolerant God is with the lot of us. God is longsuffering. I recall a pastor say that evil has always been present. That’s true. But then he said the reason we are here today (moral decay-I assumed) is because good men do nothing. I happen to disagree with his assesment. I believe good men do what is right in their own eyes. And it is usually wrong, has been wrong and that’s why we are here today. None seek after God. Romans 3:11

This following story is a repost from Blogger from 2017. It is about an encounter Rich Mullins had along the Appalachian trail. The publishing information is at the bottom.

The concepts of biblical parables come to life in everyday conversations. The following dialogue is often recounted in concert by Rich Mullins, who befriended a man at a steak house while hiking along the Appalachian Trial. As it was getting dark, the man, who we’ll call John, offered Rich a ride back to his campsite. As the truck pulled out of town, Rich’s new friend spoke up.

John: I probably oughta tell you that I’m gay.

Rich: I probably oughta tell that I’m a Christian.

John: Well do you want to get out of the truck?

Rich: No. It’s still getting dark, and (my camp) is still four miles up the road.

John: But I thought Christians hated gays.

Rich: That’s really weird. My understanding of what Christ told us was that Christians were to love. I didn’t know there were a lot of parameters set on that.

John: I thought God hated gays.

Rich: That’s funny, because I thought God is love, and He has no choice but to love because that is what He is.

John: Do you believe AIDS is God’s punishment on gays?

Rich: Well possibly, in the same sense that presidents are God’s punishment on voters. I mean there are consequences. We make choices, and there are natural consequences for those choices.

John: Will I go to hell for being gay?

Rich: (I was ready to go, “Well, yes, of course, you’ll go to hell for being gay.” But that was one of those moments when the Good News really impressed me. What I heard myself say was …) No, of course you won’t go to hell for being gay anymore than I would go to hell for being dishonest. The only reason anybody ever went to hell was because they rejected the grace that God so longed to give them.

John: I grew up in the church, and I’ve never heard anybody say that God loved me.

Rich: I think that of all the diseases in the world, the disease that all humankind suffers from, the disease that is most devastating to us is not AIDS, it’s not gluttony, it’s not cancer, it’s not any of those things. It is the disease that comes about because we live in the ignorance of the wealth of love that God has for us. What a great message we in the church have. It’s relevant to people with AIDS and people without AIDS. It’s relevant to homosexuals and homophobes. It’s relevant to Republicans and Democrats, to abortionists and anti-abortionists. It’s relevant across the board.

Buzz Note: This conversation was published in the June 1997 edition of CCM as part of a special edition on AIDS, Christian artists and the church. As it happens, Rich Mullins told this story during a concert I attended in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is reprinted with permission.

Posted 19th September 2017 by Buzz Trexler

Labels: CCM colum homosexuality Rich Mullins

And here we go. Stay tuned for more.

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Hello,

I’m Irma

Welcome to my little corner of the blog world. Here, I share my thoughts on Christianity, the things of God, and the ways He has shaped and guided my path through life. My journey with the Lord has been long and transformative, marked by moments of peace and joy and periods of uncertainty. I write, first and foremost, for myself—to process what the Lord so graciously reveals to me in Scripture. Sharing some of these truths has become a mission of sorts, via blogging. His word urges us to bear witness and encourage one another.

As I reflect on my own transformation, I can say that the church itself has transformed over the years and not necessarily for the good. I speak about my own experiences with the church. One lesson the Lord impressed upon me this year is that “truth is not always truth.” What do I mean by that? There have been times when I’ve shared a biblical insight, only to realize that other faithful believers interpret the same passage differently. In that instance, I find that the Lord reveals according to our understanding. When I share the need for a Damascus experience understandings diverged sharply. Believers that have been raised in the church do not feel that such an extreme experience is necessary for spiritual maturity. Our faith is truly shaped by our backgrounds. Spiritual journeys are not for everyone. This taught me that early socialization deeply colors our grasp of faith; what’s true for me may not resonate in the same way for someone else.

Similarly, lately I considered how “ignorance of Scripture was its own blessing,” I remembered my early walk with Christ. I had a blind faith. I knew little of doctrine or debate. I trusted the pastor. In those days, my faith and trust in the church and church leaders was simple—I accepted what was taught from the pulpit without questioning. I did not have the knowledge needed to question any teaching. There was a peace in not knowing all the controversies or complexities. As I grew and studied the scriptures, and did some additional research, as the Lord gave understanding, I found myself questioning everything I had been taught. I did not question my faith, or the existence of God. That ignorance, while limiting, protected me from confusion and doubt, allowing me to rest in childlike faith.

The church itself has seen many changes over the decades. Self-proclaimed prophets have introduced new doctrines, some bordering on heresy, while believers wrestle with their flesh and what it means to follow Christ in a society with so many freedoms. I remember a time, more than thirty years ago, when I trusted every word spoken in church. Now, I understand how easy it is to accept teachings that stray from biblical truth. The Scriptures warned us this would happen in the last days.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 (NKJV) “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Current events—like the 2024 Election—have exposed deep flaws in American Christianity. Yet, through it all, Scripture assures me that God is sovereign. No wall built by human hands can withstand His judgment; no scheme crafted in darkness escapes His light. These lessons have become more real to me as I look back over my journals, filled with stories of God’s faithfulness during trials, tribulations and abundant grace. By sharing I hope those the Lord leads here will desire to seek God wholeheartedly, to find comfort knowing that He is always at work in our lives—often in ways we never considered.

Check out my books on Amazon for the Kindle App or in print.

Check out my latest title: Where are my Sheep? Available in Print & Kindle

The Diary of A Christian Woman

A Father Takes All: Four Generations of Growing up in Single Mother Homes – Grace Abounds

I Will Not Be Afraid: Living in the last Hour – Reflections of a Christian Woman

The Journey Endured: The Path to Meet God

Praise the God of the heavens!