This weekend we celebrated Grace & Glory 2014 at Harmony Church, with speakers Rob Rufus and Chad Mansbridge. What an amazing weekend it was AGAIN: beautiful teachings, a Spirit filled atmosphere in which God grew yet bigger again, the importance of the local church and how not to mix up living under law and under grace, how important the difference between religion and relation. I was carefully reminded that your life doesn’t get changed by who you believe in but by who believes in you and that each walks his or her own journey.
Here I was with my son after the movies last night. Left the lights of the car on and so sure enough we had a flat battery. And while I was trying to get the car going a thought entered my mind: this is sort of like religious Christianity without Christ.
It is very easy to mix up being religious with being a Christian, so many find themselves like my car last night as a result of leaving their personal lights shine too long instead of His everlasting light. Everything in my car was as it should be, all things mechanical were in place, it had fuel, but it lacked power, and without it nothing was going to happen, it was not going to move, it was not even going to start. You may have your mechanics right (belief system), you may have been fueled up (Bible) but without a battery (the Holy Spirit) it is all still a dead thing (a car with a flat battery). We were created such that the presence of God within us is a vital requirement to our humanity. Christ gave His life for us to give Himself to us. His presence puts God back into man, so that we might have life; God’s life! Thanks for the recharge of the batteries.
The Desk of the Renaissance Man 