The Epistle of Benjamin to
Amanda
Benjamin, dedicated long before
1 birth and far
c o m p r e h e n s i o n to t he g lo r y of Christ
Jesus.
To Amanda, the illustrative, whom I
2
hold dear in my heart and mind, and whom
holds me together:
3
Be daring, for you know the Lord,
whom you bring great joy, cherishes you.
Prayer
4
Messengers spread vitality—let us
acknowledge that we are not alone. The
Lord of Love Loves—all have been given
grace. Our faith breathes air, soaks
sunlight, and embodies flesh. 5 We must let
it out—these things I mark as my greatest
achievements, if I’ve achieved anything—
encouragement and enlightenment. 6
delight in your smile, and marvel at your
ongoing persistence to love. 7 You are an
encouraging and enlightening presence in
my life, and I seek to maintain this
goodness with you, stay novel, and uplift
our love’s stature. 8 I thank God for you
often, even now as I write. 9 And this is my
desire:
God,
Grant me more of Your Love for
Amanda;
that I may see what You see.
10
Even that I may see her before she does;
bring her to herself.
11
Perfect in her Your work;
Let her delight in her work, and
know it is Yours.
12
Keep her from spoiling;
set her eyes on those around her,
and her heart on You;
bring her to herself,
and not to the world.
13
Take care of her loved ones,
as You taught her to love them,
beyond
and Loved them to teach her.
14
God,
Can I thank You for Loving me?
15
You shine light on my heart;
and what a beacon of that light
Amanda is.
16
God,
Bring her more and more to You.
17
Cause her benefit.
Cause a desire in her for You,
and not her benefit a .
18
Train her eyes, enliven her tongue;
mark the moment she awakes.
19
Spring up in her a fountain of your
hope.
20
Take her from all fantasy and dreariness
I to uncover Your beautiful world.
21
Support her mind—
place there the necessary thoughts:
22
God is last and best, first and simple.
Amen.
Church
Something I keep from you often are my
2 abstract thoughts. 2 Personal speculation
I enjoy to tell you, because you care, and I
care for you. 3 However, I feel, often, that
you could not benefit from abstract
reflection—actually, I am beginning to
doubt that anyone could— 4 not that you are
unintelligent, but I say this because you
seem to have remarkable balance and
stability to your already remarkably noble
character. 5 Despite all this, a letter of this
nature seems to demand abstraction.
6
I begin with the most private of public
thought: my home church. 7
Have you
known how grieved I am? 8 Church just
seems so wrong and so horrible. Does a
child’s faith equal an ignorant faith? Is it
oblivious? 9 Is faith to be passed down to a
a17 Proverbs 25:27
Amanda
child, like an old pair of socks? 10
This is
what I wonder when I think of the people
at my church: 1 1 we do not put anything to
question; we care nothing about this old
sock. 1 2 I have heard tell of people who
attend church for the purpose of telling
people, “We attend church.” 1 3 How bizarre,
I thought; and how strange, but now
somehow real. 1 4 I am grieved at my home
church, only because I am close to it; 1 5 it is
for the entire realm of churches
everywhere that I am truly grieved.
16
For one thing, we hate each other.
Individually, but moreso vaguely; prejudice,
but moreso pride. Our hate is spurred by
ignorance. 17
And what happened to the
virtue of humility? Has it died, and did
Christ not rise? 1 8 Is not the real strength of
a man, and the true beauty of a woman, a
humble spirit?
19
The Catholics have it right: we ought to
be confessing to one another. 2 0 Jesus said,
a
“First go and be reconciled to your
brother; then come and offer your gift.”
21
Why is this not the first priority of the
church—as He said, “First”—? 2 2 Who says
the postlude comes first—Jesus certainly
didn’t—? 23
These are not insignificant
squabbles; every little aspect is of ultimate
significance. 2 4 The demands of Perfection
are high b . 2 5 Something small can affect a
great deal c .
26
However, the minister allows time in
our services for God to hear our “silent
confessions”. 27
Confession is literally
silenced. Not only does he buffer it
somewhere in between the songs of
worship and the sermon, but he doesn’t
speak a word against himself. 2 8 And neither
does he allow anyone else to speak a word
against themselves: egos are thus swelled,
and humility forgotten.
29
Look at where the minister of a church
is placed: a personal pulpit on an elevated
stage. 3 0 He or she is often wearing fancy
clothes—is this humility!? Is this our
leader!? Spirituality at its finest!? 31
Our
senses are complicated—“yes, this is
spirituality at its finest”—we are informed
beyond our senses. 3 2 The choir, too; they
are spiritual giants. 3 3 And praise teams?—
By far, the most spiritual entities on the
planet. 3 4 A woman who owns and plays a
guitar or a keyboard is nearer to God than
a woman who does not. 3 5 A violin might
2
get you close, and a harp could bring you
just as far; 3 6 a drum set is not worth
having, and anything electric could actually
do more harm than good.
37
Why do we think this? Many do, I
assure you, even if you do not. 3 8 At my
church, the man who plays guitar gets to
pray. 39
No one but the minister or the
deacons get to pray; 4 0 but because this man
has a guitar he has won favour and a
higher status. 4 1 He gets to pray for what
he wants, to word it the way his opinion
would lead, 4 2 to put himself forward, of
course; without humility on his mind, only
falsity. 4 3 No, you can’t hear it; that’s just
it. 4 4 You don’t see it, though it happens.
45
You don’t hear him confess his sins or his
disbelief; he lacks genuine expression. 4 6 He
does not ask forgiveness for not paying
attention to God. 47
He does not ask
forgiveness for yelling at his family
moments before singing. 4 8 He does not let
his weakness show. He sandwiches a public
expression to God between private
expressions of rage and vileness. 4 9 God is
not fooled; He is God of the heart.
50
However, the unexpressed weakness
seems to us to be perfection, because we
trust that people are honest before God.
51
So who would challenge him? No one.
52
Therefore, what others perceive to be
spirituality strengthens, when it is utterly
false d . 5 3 He rejects Paul, who wrote,
e
“I will boast all the more gladly about
my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power
may rest on me.”
He uses hyped and estranged words like
54
“praise”, “hallelujah”, and “worship”; and,
though he does not know the meaning of
his words, he knows the congregation, also,
knows not.
The Meaning of Words
Did you know, for example, that
3 “hosanna” means “save”? 2 When we yell
(or whisper) “hosanna”, we are crying out
for salvation. In a similar way, when we
raise our hands up, we are not reaching for
God, but we are surrendering, as if He had
a gun. And He may. 3 We shout “hosanna”
and raise our hands to say “We surrender
our lives we held on to, so that you can
a20 Matthew 5:24 b24 Matthew 5:48 c25 Luke 16:10
d52 Colossians 2:23 e53 2 Corinthians 12:9
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a
now save us!” He has already saved us .
4
“Praise” and “worship” mean the same
thing. “Praise” is like “price”, and
“worship” came from “worth-ship”. 5 When
we say “We worship You, Jesus,” we ought
to mean “We value You.” 6 Simple as that;
but, somehow, it is not as simple as that.
7
Somehow the language at church has died.
We are like the churches which insist Latin
is the language of God. 8 Certainly they
have not heard: Our God is not dead, He is
alive. 9 We don’t use these words outside of
church; and in isolation words become
meaningless, dead, useless, deadening. 1 0 We
are restricting people from the words we
use in communion with God; and, in the
end, we have restricted the same words of
their air, their sunlight, their flesh, and
they die. 11
Words, like faith, like life,
require freedom, and a relationship with
people, along with a relationship with God.
12
Consider this all-too-misused word:
Holy. What does it mean to be holy? Can
you throw it around, anywhere? Can you
tie it in a knot; can you tie it in a bow?
13
Or “amen”—when was the last time you
spoke that word in a sentence? 1 4 “Holy” I
had thought to mean “mysterious”, and
“amen”, everyone figures is the only
“goodbye” that God can understand. But
holy comes from the word whole; makes
sense, right?— 1 5 God is whole, untouched,
undefiled, complete, nothing but. 1 6 There is
no defect in God; therefore, He is holy.
17
When someone says “This is a holy place,
God,” make sure to question it. 1 8 “Amen”
means simply “truth” or “agreed”. 1 9 Do not
value words any higher than they should be
valued. I do not mean for you to
undervalue words in general—for they are
a tremendous tool—only remember that
words in particular are not to be idolized;
they are not things in themselves, or even
the ideas that they signify, but attempts.
20
Jesus made a point to distinguish His
words from ours b . As God’s name is not to
be taken in vain c , because He gave Moses
His true name d , so, also, are Jesus’ words
not to be taken in vain, which will never
pass away, because He spoke them. 2 1 Our
words, however, are manmade, meant for
mankind, and momentary e . 22
Adam was
appointed to the task of naming f . That is
what all words are: names of things,
feelings, ideas, people, animals. 23
Names
have meaning because words have meaning.
24
We are continuing Adam’s work, creating
new ideas, wording new names, and finding
new ways to communicate.
25
When we pray, we utter or ponder
words, but it is the Spirit who pleads and
groans in ways we cannot comprehend or
imitate g . 2 6 Perhaps this is the intention of
tongues: to disregard words, to express
what is incomprehensible. 27
Equally
incomprehensible is inexpression—our very
thoughts and feelings—God penetrates the
heart h . 2 8 God knows all. When you hide,
when you run, when you deny the truth,
you oblige, and unknowingly wound,
yourself; 2 9 self-benefit plus self-deprecation
always equals pain. You do not hide from
God, but hide God from yourself; you
cannot hide: You cannot balance good with
evil. 3 0 Though we are poor sinners, and
though we are rich children, though we lose
ourselves to the world, and though we find
ourselves in ever-fixed Love, we must
persistently toss out one or the other.
31
Jesus said,
i
“No one can serve two masters. Either
he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other…”
32
The Lord will not be despised. In fact,
love Him less and you are not worthy to be
His disciple j .
Favouritism
What pleases God? Who does He
4 Envelop; all? 2 Is it us, again, who wound
ourselves; who severe our link with God?
3
Is not that the only true injury—self-
injury; God-hiding; separation from God;
4
looking and looking, but not seeing k ?
5
There are conditions on His hearing us or
not l . 6 Is it favouritism for Our Father to
praise Abel over Cain, Jacob over Esau,
Joseph over his brothers, or David over his?
7
Their fathers disagreed with Him: out of
their own favouritism, they, in fact, wished
the reverse. 8 Is this the answer—to oppose
their fathers’ wishes and turn the wisdom
of men into foolishness m ? 9 We dare not be
satisfied with an answer: God is indefinable.
10
And questions must not be let alone; we
must seek to answer everything.
a3 Psalm 22:31 b20 Mark 13:31 c20 Exodus 20:7 d20 Exodus 3:14
e21 Deuteronomy 29:29 f22 Genesis 2:19 g25 Romans 8:26
h27 1 Samuel 16:7 i31 Matthew 6:24 j32 Matthew 10:37
k4 Isaiah 6:9 l5 Isaiah 59:2 m8 1 Corinthians 1:20
Amanda
11
Questions never satisfy: God is indefinable.
12
We know God loves those who are
unloved, and honours those who are
without— 1 3 He gives to those in need—the
first will be last and the last first a . 1 4 What
does this mean: the first will be last? It
means mankind has decided to favour
something besides God. 1 5 If mankind were
to put God first, would He insist on being
last? 1 6 Or if Satan were last, would God
insist on promoting him? No, in fact, God
insists we have it backward: 1 7 God is setting
things right again, not backward for
backward’s sake! 1 8 He is not a backwards
God; we are backwards creatures. We have
put the last first and the first last. 1 9 Is
favouritism despicable only when it
concerns our peers; or, is it all matters of
favouritism? 20
We will serve only one
master—hate one and love the other; is this
favouritism?
21
When we read “Do not show
favouritism, b ” we believe this teaching
concerns our peers. Do good to those who
are in need if it is within your power to do
so c ; 2 2 do not neglect those who are in need
if it is within your power to do good to
those who are more attractive. 2 3 Do not
underestimate what an attractive face can
do to a person. 2 4 You think, perhaps that
with a blind eye, in ignorance to physical
aesthetics, you can judge wisely? Be more
alert about what an attractive face can do
to the very person who wears it. Our
masks can abduct our personalities.
25
Perhaps you talk more to the more
talkative; mark this: the more talkative are
commonly the more accepted by the world.
26
No one can measure up to a pretty woman
or a handsome man in status and self-
esteem. 27
An attractive face can bring
about worldly belonging; this creates
friendliness, kindness, and warmth. 2 8 You
love them for their qualities—do not. Love
them, rather, for God. 29
Love is
unconditional.
30
We know that God will not hear
nonsense; He will not consider those who
despise Him. This is not a condition on His
Love; 3 1 He will Love, but not empower, the
evildoer. 3 2 We are in need of repentance.
God, when we desire growth, we lose You;
when we lose You, we lose growth. 3 3 It will
not balance. When we seek God, even to
the point of avoiding benefit, we find The
True Source of Benefit; it could never have
4
existed elsewhere. 3 4 Be certain of this: you
cannot love God for anyone or anything.
35
If you have a great desire for a man—for
a husband—one day your passion will grow;
36
you may fret and stress over ways to
keep him close, the passion alive, the
emotions racing, the connection beneficial.
37
You know: you must love God; you must
love your neighbour. Mark your passion!—
38
Remember The True Source of Love! If
you want to love a man, you must love
God. 3 9 You cannot love God for a man; but
you can, and should, love this man for God.
Be careful, however, that you recognize
Your Beloved:
40d
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.”
41
Not even the sheep knew Their
Beloved. Who can know God? 4 2 It is more
blessed to be known by God e . You will not
be admitted into the kingdom of heaven if
your name is not written in the book f —if
He doesn’t know you. It is good, however,
to, also, write His name in the book of your
life; honour God. Do not be ashamed of
Christ g . 4 3 If you will love God, or this man,
or any man, or any woman, or anyone, you
are to love greater those you love the least:
44
you are to love God, and every man, every
woman, everyone. That is why Jesus had
two answers when He was asked the
greatest commandment h . 45
Love is
unconditional; rain poured down on
everything; universal—everywhere—it is
the cat’s head, and the cat’s tail. 4 6 Love, as
well as Hate, permeates the whole of
reality; it affects everything i . 4 7 You cannot
love people without the Love of God; you
cannot love God without a love for people j .
48
If a wife wants to value her husband, she
must be diligent. 4 9 To praise God, we must
be ever-alert. 5 0 If a wife mistreats someone
in the morning, slights them, for any reason
whatsoever—subtle envy, revenge, or
impatience…—and at night, returns to her
husband, where all is well, and kisses him
on the cheek, should she not apologize for
loving her husband less? 51
Favouritism
spoils love. Her lack of love for her
neighbour discredits her love for her
husband; it’s the same love! Love like a
a13 Mark 20:16 b21 James 2:1 c21 Proverbs 3:27
d40 Matthew 25:40 e42 Matthew 7:23 f42 Revelation 20:15
g42 Luke 9:26 h1 Matthew 22:36-40 i1 1 Peter 4:8 j1 1 John 4:20
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vital organ—compulsively—otherwise
something is very wrong. 5 2 Such a woman’s
offense is against her neighbour, it is
against her husband, and it is against God
Himself—her fist, raised in anger, strikes
her very self.
Perfection
Let us be perfect for God is perfect a ; let
5 us be holy for God is holy b . This is an
important, often forgotten, instruction.
2
Perhaps you remember from some of my
other messages: we aim above the mark to
hit the mark. 3 We are not aiming from the
bottom-up; not satisfied with “something
better than poison”. 4 Testing death is like
taking life for granted. The real edge of
life is not found on steep crags, or in jet-
planes, not in races, or any sport; 5 those
who are close to death are those who are
careless, who are on couches, or in casinos,
even those in pews and behind pulpits.
6
Jesus said the rich are those in danger c .
7
Those who have money rely on it; those
without money seek it. This is what God
desires.
8d
“You cannot serve both God and
Money.”
Money changes a person. 9 Or is it that
having nothing really makes a person
shine—really allows their worth to bulge?
10
You’ve heard of people who are “made of
money”; you’ve even heard of money made
of people (do we put people on our
currency to humanize it?). 1 1 We work for
money, and we become valued in dollar
signs; we become money, and we become
something like robots. 1 2 That is a great deal
of what we have become, or what we are
becoming, in this control-hungry world.
13
You see people acting like their
favourite TV show characters, sports
figures… 1 4 People mimic that which is great.
15
Today, as in all times, who we get into is a
small matter: what we get into is far more
concerning. 16
We idolize, today. 17
Who
didn’t find it a little laughable to hear of
the Israelites bowing to a golden statue,
made of their own gold earrings e ? 1 8 Aaron,
the Lord’s priest, said,
“These are your gods, O Israel, who
brought you up out of Egypt.”
Who would believe this?—All of them.
19
Clearly, they were a bored people, ready
for something to have sex about, and drink
about, and feast about (is that any
different than us North Americans, today?).
20
Clearly, the truth of the matter was far
too boring:
“These are your earrings, O Israel, which
you brought up out of Egypt.”
Not a one would be pleased: 2 1 so make it
a little more interesting, make it a little
more backward. Insane—idolatry always is.
22
Evil twists Good, and we are duped into
thinking it will raise our spirits. No doubt
it will heighten your senses, but only
because Satan wants you to plummet f . 2 3 Do
you hear those who indulge in evil?—they
call it “good”, you know? 2 4 It always feels
“good”, whether they are drinking, lusting,
abusing, fighting…it always feels “good”.
25
Not, at all, perfect; not, at all, good. For
sure, it was good; but good, twisted, can no
longer accurately be called “good”. 2 6 Such
things can ruin lives. They are living too
close to the edge. 2 7 Consider the difference
between good and evil: the good have lost
their lives to find them, and the evil,
therefore, have kept their lives to lose
them g . 2 8 One has a life deferred, and the
other, a life cancelled h . Less and less
human, more and more of this world—a
thing, an animal, a robot, a devil—they
deny their humanity.
29
We will never be asked beforehand,
“Would you like to forfeit some of your
well-being for this?” 3 0 We may never know
what we are getting into: perception is a
difficult concept for objects to grasp.
31
Once we are an it, and no longer a he or a
she, we are as dumb as, well, a doorknob.
32
You can grasp a doorknob, but a
doorknob cannot grasp you. 33
You are
knob-boggling. 34
Again, it is less about
what we do for an object—such as bow
down to it. We have the capability to
impersonate objects; and, also, to project
them onto others. 35
You see people
mimicking others, because they are, in a
sense, great. 3 6 Far greater than our peers,
and our stars, and our heroes, we think
machines are great. 3 7 Forget people!—we
look up to gears, mechanisms, functions,
codes, and chips—technology is incredible.
38
And we get into it, deep, like a nice
a1 Matthew 5:48 b1 Leviticus 19:2 c6 Mark 10:25
d8 Matthew 6:24 e17 Exodus 32:1-8 f22 Luke 4:5,9
g27 Mark 8:35 h28 1 Corinthians 15:19
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pool on a hot, muggy, summer afternoon.
39
TV lives out adventures for us. We feel
and do what it does—no, not afterward do
we do it, but the very moment we see it on
TV, we do it in our minds. 4 0 Advertising is
entirely driven by technology; so is our
culture. 41
Commercials show men and
women feeling (though it is very much a
deceptive act) good about a product; insane
feelings, actually, towards millions of
objects; earrings being one of them, by the
way. 4 2 We may not notice it, but we feel
similar to these actors, who are employed
because they are similar to us; 4 3 we take
the witness of men and women, daily,
whom we have never met, and believe
them, unless we are absolutely spiteful.
44
When you go to the store, you are filled
with thoughts not your own, stuffed with
emotional connections you have never
known before, and you are somehow
familiar with certain products which you
have never seen, outside of television.
45
This is content—invading the mind—it
does not come with a warning.
46
The television has more powers as an
invention: it gives the viewer an abnormal
sense of relaxation. 4 7 Perhaps because the
viewer can sit or lay and simply watch;
perhaps because nothing on TV can actually
reach out and harm the viewer (everything
in our world seems untouched by theirs).
48
However, this relaxation tags along with a
viewer all throughout the day, week,
month, and, though this may surprise you,
it actually stresses the viewer; even
frightens the viewer. 49
We project this
deep sense of relaxation on everything we
experience. 5 0 We expect a world we can
simply observe and not come to blows with;
like moral relativism’s standpoint, believe
what you believe and leave us alone—and
gay rights’, and addicts’, and all of secular
society, though it is creeping up on us, too.
51
There is an overwhelming sense that we
just want to be left alone to do our
business a ; whatever that is.
52
No, I am not saying television is the
cause of all this; but I do not doubt that it
contributes. 5 3 Take me for example: before
any professional schooling, I noticed a
familiar projection. I noticed, first of all,
my impatience with people. 5 4 Secondly, I
noticed my desires were intensely
increasing; I wanted my way, absolutely.
55
Finally, I felt capable of getting my way,
6
no matter how farfetched. Where had I
known this before? 5 6 Where did it come
from? It was so familiar. Do you know?
Have you felt it? 5 7 It was the Internet. The
speed at which the Internet can get you
anything you desire, even a farfetched
anything, had followed me throughout my
day, my week, my month, in fact, my year;
causing incredible impatience. 5 8 This new
feeling was only new to my social world; I
had felt it constantly at the computer.
59
The computer itself gives us an increased
desire for memorization and a decreased
ability to memorize, because it offers
incredible information storage.
60
Altogether, the gift of technology to the
world: television’s relaxation makes us
unrelaxed, the Internet’s illimitability,
restricted, and computers’ memory,
forgetful…
61
False idols—they never satisfy; in fact,
they strip us of what they promise. 6 2 Spend
time with God and let His peace satisfy
you b . 6 3 God’s relaxation allows us rest c , His
illimitability enables and empowers d , and,
though our minds wander, and our
memories fail, He has written on our very
hearts e : in Him is memory that will never
pass away f . 6 4 In this sense, it seems He
forbids idolatry for our sake. Idols steal
from us and give to no one, except,
perhaps, Satan. 6 5 Does God forbid idolatry
because He is jealous g ? Does God get
jealous of the devil—for all the children he
has fathered h ? Is the devil a jealous devil?
66
Whatever may be, God’s jealousy concerns
more than Himself; His jealousy, satisfied,
satisfies us. He has a sort of unselfish
jealousy. 67
Our sights, fixed on Him,
enlighten us. 6 8 Mimicry is unstoppable; each
one of us, a mesh of others and things, of
God and the devil. 6 9 That is why Adam and
Eve’s sin was for the whole of humanity:
because it would definitely influence
everyone i . 7 0 Even if it were Cain who first
sinned j , still in Eden, with Adam and Eve
still alive, even they would have come
under their child’s sin. 7 1 Sin is unstoppable,
but not unforgiveable. Is there any doubt
that a child, soon to be conceived, will sin?
72
It is the definition of a child that he or
she is made of father and of mother. 7 3 We
a51 Genesis 2:18 b62 John 14:27 c63 Exodus 20:10-11
d63 Philippians 4:13 e63 Jeremiah 31:33 f63 Psalm 148:6
g65 Exodus 34:14 h65 John 8:44 i69 Romans 5:14
j70 Genesis 4:8
 7 Amanda
are infused with The Sovereign, and sin has
entered our air, our sunlight, our flesh—
Lucifer is roaming a . Again, we must toss
out, continually, one or the other.
74
This is the point—finally, the point of
perfection: imitate God b . You like God,
believe me. 7 5 He is The True Quality of
Everything Desirable c . 7 6 I have heard it said
that we imitate what we fear. I tend to
think we lose touch with our fear; that we
are all petrified so much, so often, in this
life that we become desensitized: 7 7 as if we
were apathetic cowards; or, worse, that we
wear Fear and call it Preference. An
enormous contributor to fear, today, is that
we are not like others; and so we become
alike. 7 8 There is a strong relationship here:
whether or not we imitate what we fear, or
fear we aren’t imitative. 7 9 Again, we see
the magnificence of the Bible, as it has, all
along, taught us to both “fear” d and
“imitate God”; they contribute to each
other; they work together.
Submission of Worship
The church affirms that worship is
6 anything we do to give glory to God e .
We can do chores in worship, we can write
letters in worship; 2 we can be guided in
everything we do or do not do by a “spirit
of worship”, or, with a “heart of worship”.
3
However, when we talk about worship in
church, 90 per cent of the time, we are
talking about music. Are they synonymous
terms? 4 How much did Jesus have to say
about music f ? I don’t mean to undervalue
music, only to point out that we are
overvaluing it, and at the cost of more
important things. 5 For example, music is
not a fruit of the Spirit g ; however, the
planting of the Spirit may be cause for
singing. It is subsequent. 6 The rejoicing of
angels does not save the lost; the saving of
the lost causes angels to rejoice h . 7 Songs do
not necessarily equal praise—even without
a “heart of worship”, songs are sung. 8 And
it is futile to rate the songs in amounts of
“Spirit”, as many do, saying “This song is so
spiritual,”—“This song gets three out of
five Spirits!”—and so try to convince others
of its merits, through strange ideas. 9 You
cannot listen to these people. They speak
of Godly things and say, “Look here He is! i
—In the song!” 10
Jesus has already
informed us, “Do not believe it.” Their
minds are puffed up with false spirituality.
11
We can only listen to God; not even to
those who claim to be from God; in fact,
especially not those—they are the ones to
watch out for: the Pharisees, the religious,
even “the spiritual”; 1 2 I’ve just recently
found out that there was no word for
spiritual in Jesus’ day.
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Worship is within; it does not exist
outside the body. 1 4 You can listen to a
man’s song, and hear him shout his utmost,
but you cannot hear the words of worship,
or even grasp an inkling of the man’s heart.
15
Can you hear the sound of faith? No.
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Many men raise their arms not to
surrender to God, nor do they sing for
salvation, but they lift up their hands in
submission to others, and emphatically
drum chants of slavery. 1 7 It would seem
utterly ironic, if we didn’t expect such
traps from the enemy; this is mockery, no
mistake.
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Do not concern yourself with
appearances or acts; no one’s opinion of
you can make you more or less loved by
God; do not concern yourself with what is
on the outside j , but on the condition of
your heart, and soul, and mind k : 1 9 in other
words, do you value Christ? And if you do
value Christ (if you don’t, what do you
expect me to say?) you are revealing Who
God Is, recreating Him: 2 0 for all things
conceivable have their place in the human
mind—no thought exactly like the thing,
and nothing exactly like the thought. 2 1 You
are building on your knowledge of God. An
important part of the reality of God is
value—God is All-Valuable. 2 2 He’s not just
this being who does things; you can’t just
give Him a face, and a voice, and imagine
what He does—God is not a role. 2 3 In order
to have a clear understanding of Who God
Is, you must value Him As He Is. 2 4 I know
that I, easily, have undervalued God, all of
my life, even today. I have learned that it
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is 2 6 not so much the matter of where you
are on the ladder, but whether you are
climbing up on it, or not. 2 7 This is what you
need to say: “I undervalue God, but I value
God, and I want to increasingly value God.”
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The worship of God is like pricing
gasoline—decide each day to value God
higher than the day before.
a73 Job 1:7 b74 Ephesians 5:1 c75 Romans 1:20
d79 Proverbs 1:7 e1 1 Corinthians 10:31 f4 Luke 7:32
g5 Galatians 5:22,23 h6 Luke 15:7 i9 Mark 13:21
j18 Matthew 23:26 k18 Matthew 22:37