Category Archives: SPIRITUAL INTEREST

Posted on

Who is Jesus Christ to You?

GUEST POST by REV. PETER F. HANSEN

One way YOU are not saved is by belief systems or religious ideals. Nobody gets to heaven by just thinking it’s real and they deserve it. Christianity is either a great fraud for gullible people who inject meaning into their bland, useless lives; or it’s the Truth that explains everything.

Jesus was either a madman, a charlatan, or He is the Son of God. There is no evidence for a misunderstood carpenter to whom His disciples attributed miracles he never did and god-claims he never said. His life is still transforming our world after 2,000 years. I am convinced that he was not a madman, nor a charlatan. I have to go with God. If He is God, then this must change us.

There is no neutral ground. Hate Him rather than feel mildly favorable toward Him. Atheists are converted to Jesus faster than are agnostics, for atheists must believe in God in order to hate him. Agnostics won’t even enter the fray, they can’t be bothered to find out if it’s worth it.

If Jesus is God, then He’s our only hope. If Jesus is God, the sky holds no fearful portent. If Jesus is God, the grave no longer yawns with chilling imaginings. If Jesus is God, the Face beyond the sky is one of love. If you regard Him mildly, a model for stained glass and sweet songs, you’ve never met Him.

It comes down to you. You are either a madman, a charlatan, or a believer in Jesus, the Son of God. The madman sees a mirage, not Reality, and imagines that what he sees is all there is. The charlatan invents himself as he goes along, plays the part of a success, projects confidence in himself while inside he’s shaking at the prospects. A believer in Christ sees the Invisible, weighs the immaterial Truth, and knows for a fact that the God beyond this world, in truth, is.

Jesus is not the embarrassing fact of our upbringing, as fidgeting children bored by a felt-board story. He is not the kindly angel who answers our selfish prayers with cute ‘miracles’ we send in to magazines. Nor is the Christ just one of many equally good choices. Jesus is the fact we meet at the end of time, and we’d best be on friendly terms when we appear before Him. No one is saved by a belief system. Christ lives. And because He lives, I live. I must give myself, nothing held back, no other way. PFH+
_____
Question: I asked Father Hansen about the term, madman. To me, it seemed a bit harsh. Here is his reply.

Answer: It is a strong statement. But when people can sit and read this, they are already not ignorant and unknowing. They have the choice to be mad, false or faithful. In the end–which is my point, not the beginning–we all are one of the three. There will be no “missed the party” category. Everyone has the chance at this.   >This is a spin on the madman, charlatan or Savior that is classically used to describe Jesus. It describes us as well.

blog photo peter hansenRev. Peter F. Hansen Bio:
At age 19, Peter Hansen thought he’d be an architect, and thus obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley in 1972. He worked 16 years as an estimator and project manager for heavy industrial special coatings contractors. God had other ideas. Called to be an Anglican priest in 1980, he completed a seminary degree and was ordained a priest in 1985. Hansen founded and served the Church of the Holy Trinity, in Sacramento for ten years.

He has been rector at St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church in Chico since 1991. Hansen helped found a police chaplaincy for the Chico Police, established in 1999. Fr. Hansen also formed and ran a pro-life ministry (ChicoLife) 1992-2010. He is a biblical counselor at The Growing Place. In the Anglican Province of Christ the King, Hansen is Treasurer of both the Province and the Diocese of the Western States, and as Canon to the Ordinary.

10305258_458594310909616_8644498251741621497_nFr. Hansen is author of the book I Was There: Eyewitnesses at the Foot of the Cross, (WestbowPress, 2014) and several songs. Link to Fr. Hansen’s facebook book page is here: facebook.com/IWasThere:Eyewitnesses. Norma L. Brumbaugh’s book review is here: I Was There.  Interesting note: Father Hansen’s book cover is derived from a photo of his own feet!
______

I first met Father Hansen at his church while attending a Christmas Eve service in 2007. It was my first visit to an Anglican Church. I can’t say I was entirely comfortable at an Anglican service. Its liturgy, icons, and forms, differ from my Baptist Protestant heritage. However, I was moved deeply in my soul by two aspects found in their worship service. 1. The reverence and holy hush of the service. 2. The respect outwardly and inwardly given towards things of God. Several more times I would visit his church and other times we would converse at social functions including his book signing at a local bookstore. We have shared our faith and the ways of God in some wonderful conversations. I appreciate him and his ministry. Thank you, Father Hansen, for writing this message for my blog.

Posted on

Spiritual Perspective of an Organic Christian

A Right Spiritual Perspective Starts with Me

JOURNAL MUSING:

God prepares us for the ministry He has for us. Often I battle the feeling like I’m wasting time and being unproductive during the hours I spend with Him. Yet this really is the most important time of the day. God is refining me. What a true blessing. I rejoice in all He’s done. It’s like entering a new world–and I want everyone to go with me! Returning to normal living is the challenge.

Put to death sin that is in me that is against You, dear God. Expose it. Search me and try me, see if there is any wicked thing in me, Oh God, I ask it. In Thee do I trust from morning to evening, in season and out, year after year, I ask Your hand upon me, Your truth within me, and Your Spirit flowing from me.

We are either living in the Spirit or in the flesh (self first etc.). The door to both cannot be open at the same time. I’ve been thinking about Christians, how some find themselves living partly for the world and part in the church; how when the world becomes greater they want the church to adapt to the world and embrace some of its tenants. In its pure form, the church cannot remain unspoiled or unsoiled if it becomes sullied by the world–especially in its philosophy.

What the church believes about the authority of God, and then its response to that authority, makes a great deal of difference. If truth is compromised, the end result is a weakened message and an unstable foundation.

Remaining pure can also be practiced as an outward visage or manifestation–a conformity of behavior to codes and standards–which can also be misleading if pride and arrogance generate from the separateness. This one is subtle and takes great humility to recognize and overcome. I know, since I have been there and could easily return.

We are such a people of extremes. We rarely live in moderation. In truth, it all starts with me. No one else can live my life for me nor make my decisions. I long to have the blessed beauty of Christ to be made manifest in me.

I’m struck by how fickle people are. At one point in Acts 14, the people were practically worshiping Paul and Barnabas. Later that same day, the two missionaries were stoned and left for dead. It is amazing how opposition can create mass movement in a crowd–almost a frenzy.

Our hope has to be in the Lord. When we turn to Him and depend on His strength, our lives show forth His joy and good pleasure–which is seen by others. Sometimes we resist His pruning and become bitter complainers. Oh to let go of self and let God produce in us His blessed work.

After the winter comes spring.
After the rain comes a rainbow.
After sorrow comes joy.

…

April 2003
Journal 3

‡Copied from journal quotes written the year I was struggling with the effects of  job loss and divorce. I was seeking to know God in close relationship. I spent long hours in bible reading, supplication, and meditation while my children were at school.

True Christ-following is real, genuine and authentic Christian living and is a highly personal journey, no two Christ-followers are exactly alike. “An Organic Church is not a theater with a script, but a lifestyle, an authentic journey with the Lord Jesus and His disciples” attributed to Frank Viola at www.organicchurch.com.