.jpeg)
Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Skeleton On The Inside: Why God's Kingdom Needs Structure But Not Stiffness
"Wherever faith is present, the impossible is doable." This powerful truth serves as the foundation for our exploration of authentic kingdom living and the systematic dismantling of religious idols that hinder our spiritual growth.
Over the years, God has been revealing how certain mindsets and systems—sacred cows—need toppling in our lives to make way for true kingdom citizenship. For many believers, these include the drug culture mentality, seeker-sensitive corporate religion, and the "I'm done with church" attitude. Each represents a way of thinking that ultimately proves inferior to God's design for His people.
The seeker-sensitive church model particularly warrants examination. Despite appearing evangelistic, it often morphs into compromise—leadership resembling corporate America more than biblical principles, focus on metrics over maturity, and personality cults overshadowing Jesus himself. What appears successful on the surface—large gatherings, polished presentations, and sophisticated programs—frequently masks spiritual emptiness and burnout. This democratic approach (majority rules) contradicts God's kingdom, which operates as a theocracy (God rules).
Equally problematic is the reaction many have had to religious systems—complete withdrawal. Being "done" with organized religion might feel righteous, but attempting to follow Christ in isolation constitutes rebellion. We simply cannot do this alone. God is pouring His loving-kindness into hearts, replacing caustic attitudes toward the body of Christ with genuine love for His people.
The encouraging reality is that this transformation is happening globally. God is systematically reshaping His church—sometimes through willing cooperation as people recognize the need for change; other times through messier processes. The kingdom of God isn't disorganized chaos but an organism with organization—like a human body with its skeleton covered by life, flexibility, and relationship.
Have you experienced God toppling sacred cows in your life? We'd love to hear your story. Reach out to us at lifearoundthefire@gmail.com or visit lifearoundthefire on the web.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearounsthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
I recently came across a quote that I read in a previous podcast from a gentleman by the name of Rick Renner, and the quote goes like this Wherever faith is present, the impossible is doable. The impossible is doable. Wherever faith is present, the impossible is doable. I really believe that, and the reason that I'm sharing that in this particular podcast episode is because we've kind of recently reached a place in doing these podcasts that we've decided not to do them just because Wednesday follows Tuesday, right, just because we did a podcast yesterday, we're going to do one today. There's nothing really intrinsically wrong with that, except the basis for this particular podcast itself is really one that has been developed out of obedience to the prompting of the Lord of God speaking to our hearts, saying that he wanted to establish a podcast through us and it would be like a drop in the ocean of information. But it would be one of his drops. And so to begin with we didn't know what a podcast was. That was three-plus years ago and podcasting had just become somewhat of a trendy thing and I'd heard a little bit about that here and there, but nothing really. I didn't really know what it was, and when I heard about it I initially I didn't care for it because I just it seemed well, yeah, it kind of seemed trendy and it seemed like I don't know a way of marketing Jesus and just like we don't need any more toothbrushes with the name of Jesus on them. I think it was Frankie Shafer called it Jesus Junk Trinkets for Jesus, and so podcasting was kind of like that a little bit for me but I'm not even joking it became very clear that that was a vehicle that God wanted us to use, and so we began putting it together. And we had been at times putting the podcast together because we had done it the day before and we were going to do it that day and the day after. There's actually some pretty good things that took place as a result of that, but deep inside I and the rest of us wanted this to be something that was a little bit different Not just doing it because we did it yesterday, but really out of obedience yesterday, but really out of obedience, or when there is really something to be said that we feel is something that's come from God. As presumptuous as that might sound to some people, that's a reality that we live with. God speaks to us and we respond and praise God. He does. And so Rick Renner in his statement wherever faith is present, the impossible is doable. Faith is really. It's the substance of things hoped for. It's what happens right before something's going to happen that you know is going to happen. You know it's going to happen. There's a competence, there's a clarity, there's faith, and when faith is present, what previously seemed impossible is doable. God makes it doable. God has a way of making the impossible doable, and he uses the conduit of faith to manifest things through. To manifest things through when faith is present, his kingdom is free to travel through it, his rule and his reign is free to function through it, like water through a pipe, faith being the pipe, god's power being the water. The impossible comes through where faith is present, and so we're beginning to do that.
Speaker 1:And so today's podcast is really from the premise that there's something to be said, so hopefully it's going to be beneficial to you. But what I'd like to do, once again, before we start go further, I should say is to pray, because once again, we live in a I live, we live, we all live. We live in a busy world and we have a lot of distractions. We have a lot of information coming our way, and so there's a competition for our attention, and we've come to believe that that which we behold the most, what we focus on the most, is what or who we become like. That which we behold the most, what we focus on the most, is what or who we become like. And so we want to behold and become like Jesus, and we want the distractions to be moved out of the way and our attention to be focused in on him, our hearts to be locked in on him, so that we can have a few moments of real time where we can experience, to experience something that God has to say to us and perhaps wants to do through us. And so, father, we come to you again and we present ourselves and invite you, holy Spirit, to shepherd our thoughts and to cause them to come into a place of focus. Give us the ability to behold Jesus and, in so doing, become like him, walk like him, think like him, talk like him, be like him, walk like him, think like him, talk like him, be like him. We lift high the name of Jesus and we call him our Savior and our Lord, and we want you to come upon us and move through us, surround us Well, up from within us, be our guide, be our teacher and help us once again be the people that become like Jesus, to grow up before we grow old. And we stand here in his name. We say so be it. Amen, amen, amen, amen, right, right, amen, amen, amen, amen, all right, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, for the past several weeks, actually now, we've been focusing our attention in on the kingdom of God, the rule and the reign of God, his realm, that rule and reign that comes from the very heart of God, his will, his lifestyle, his way of doing things, his kingdom, and the fact that it was the central theme for Jesus in his teachings was the kingdom of God, and so we've been focusing our attention in on the fact that we've been called to be citizens of that kingdom, born again into it, supernaturally, spiritually, the divine power and life of God has been given to us as a gift. Because of our faith in the work of Jesus Christ and what he accomplished for us, and by placing our faith in him, he has given us the right to become children of God, literally citizens of the kingdom, born again into it and given his life, not just a polished up old lifestyle, but a new life. We're a new breed and so, as citizens of his kingdom, we have been commissioned now to learn what it means to be a citizen of that kingdom, because the ways of God are higher than the ways of men and his presence is so much greater. And how he goes about thinking, his thoughts, they're higher. We need to learn how he does things and how he thinks, which is a privilege. It's not a get, no, no, no, I got to. It's that we get to, and in so doing we become right. Our lives become righteous. They're no longer twisted, they're right. Far from just being correct, they are in all aspects right, and we have peace, literal shalom, we are made whole, and in that there's an undercurrent of joy, a lifestyle that has got joy in it for living, not just tolerance of doing stuff day by day. You know the grind we have.
Speaker 1:There's a joy, and so, in focusing in on the kingdom, we have realized that there are some things that in our growing up in this world, that there are some things that are contrary to the ways of God that we've learned and they have prohibited and inhibited us from functioning fully as citizens of the kingdom, and there are certain things that we need to unlearn and, in many respects, discard, get rid of, see removed. We need to be renewed in our mind, renewed in the way that we think and the way that we go about doing things. Change to change. Another word for change is to repent, to change our course and to change our mind, because the kingdom of God has been made open to us, but we need to learn the ways of God and his kingdom. And so what we've discovered, what I've discovered, is that there are some sacred cows that have been tipped over in my life as a result of my relationship with God and my adherence to his ways in his kingdom.
Speaker 1:The sacred cows meaning that story. Remember that story in the Old Testament where Moses came down from the mountain after he'd been up in the mountain 40 days with God getting the Ten Commandments. And he comes down and the children of Israel have veered away from waiting on him and they had commissioned Aaron to build them a golden calf like they had in Egypt, the gods that they had in Egypt. And he did, and Moses came down and had that calf toppled, had the idol toppled? Because it was second best, at best it was an idol, so calling it. Second best might have been giving it a compliment, but it was not the best. The best is God. He wants the best for us, he wants himself for us and us for him. And so this saying kicking over a sacred cow, that's where it comes from Taking idols and getting rid of them, things that we idolize or things that we adhere to, ways of doing things.
Speaker 1:And I had two distinct ways of doing things that were sacred cows, actually three. The first way was I had adhered to in my life subscribed to, I should say, and adhered to a mindset of what would be wrapped up in the drug culture, hippie culture, the altered generation, altered by drugs, sex, rock and roll, having that lifestyle. Second one that I had was what would be known as seeker-sensitive, corporate-structured religion, christian religion, christian religion. And the third was the I'm done with religion mindset, the dones, those three, those three sacred cows, those three ways of living God has systematically confronted and dealt with in my life and toppled them, saying to me that the drug culture is an inferior way of life and has proven it to me. And so that way of living, that idol has been toppled, that sacred cow has been kicked over. I no longer subscribe or adhere to it.
Speaker 1:The sensitive, seeker-sensitive way of going about doing church, doing what's necessary in order to gather a crowd, having our music, our lighting, our messages, our programs all geared toward reaching out to people that are unchurched, and on the surface it sounds really good like that's really evangelistic, but in the end it's really not evangelistic, it's a compromise. And within that seeker-sensitive culture there was also a leadership style that resembled corporate America. Democracy and corporate America joined together in the name of Jesus under the banner of the Christian religion, christianity. I was a poster child of that thing, man. I was a pastor in that environment for over 10 years.
Speaker 1:Give my life to it, except when things went sour and certain things began to come unraveled and things became exposed as far as lifestyles, those around me and also seeing people just chewed up and worked to death, a small group of people keeping this big machine, this religion machine, alive, greased, inflated, you know. And as they kept pumping it, it would deflate as they kept working, the system working, the program working the marketing. And as he kept pumping it, it would deflate as he kept working, the system working the program working the marketing, getting the demographics, church growth, church growth, church growth, church growth, pack a pew, no matter what programs, programs, programs, all in the name of Jesus, but there was no Jesus to be found in it. We would call the mood Jesus. We would call the smoke machine the mood that came along with it, and the songs we would call it the anointing.
Speaker 1:It was a lot of work and it burned a lot of people up, all in the name of getting a large group of people together, because that smacked of success. Group of people together, because it that smacked of success. And you know, success you gotta have bragging rights, you gotta have a man who is the man of the hour. Too sweet to be sour. Charismatic personalities, the personality cult, the hour. Too sweet to be sour. Charismatic personalities, the personality cult. Love bombing people. All the techniques and tactics to get people to come. But they might come, but they just wouldn't want to stay. And so it was a continual revolving door.
Speaker 1:It was a sacred cow, it was an idol, and governing behind that was a way of leadership that resembled more of corporate America than it did anything that you might find in the scriptures. It was based upon democracy, meaning the majority rules, whereas in the kingdom of God it's a theocracy. God rules, king Democracy, the majority rules. Now again, all of that seems behind. It seems kind of, on the surface, right and doable, and for a while it is, until, until it isn't, until it goes sour. And it does, it just does.
Speaker 1:That leadership model does not function well in the kingdom of God. It's a sacred cow, sacred cow, but it is a prevalent model and to see it undone is a very difficult thing, to say the least. But across the nations it's being undone Systematically. Sometimes it's being done by cooperation, people cooperating with God, saying I get it, we're going to do this, we've got to do this differently. Others it's not that clean, it's messy, but God is going to have his way. His church is his church, his ecclesiastical, his call out ones, they belong to him. They don't belong to some synod or some presbytery or some organization, a denomination. We don't. We belong to Jesus and he's the head.
Speaker 1:And so that sacred cow has gotten tipped over in my life. I'm no longer subscribed to that. What do I subscribe to? That's kind of where we're going with this ultimately. Because I'm on the ing part of things, I'm learning. I have an ED I haven't learned, hasn't been completed yet. I'm learning. I'm learning, I'm seeing, I'm hearing, I'm observing, I'm growing and it's happening all across the nations. If you're feeling this, if you're hearing this and it resonates with you on some level, you are most definitely not alone. You're in good company because it's a God thing that's going on.
Speaker 1:But I was also another one of the sacred calls I had was I was done, d-o-n-e but, but D-U-N right Done. I was done. I was one of the dones. I was done with organized religion. I was done with anything that had to do with getting together as a group in the name of Jesus, I was done. Getting together as a group in the name of Jesus, I was done. I didn't want to do anything, anything to do with I should say Nothing to do with organized religion.
Speaker 1:Until five years ago. Until five years ago, until five years ago, god himself kicked over that sacred cow and revealed to me very clearly that I cannot do this alone. In fact, that is rebellion. It's no different than witchcraft for me to try to control things and do it alone. It's disobedience, it's wrong. And he has corrected me and he has taken my caustic attitude concerning the body of Christ and has poured his loving kindness in and given me a heart of love for we, his people for us. He's given me a heart of love for us, not tolerance love. He's taken that done thing, that done attitude, that attitude. I've done that, done attitude, that attitude that I've done that sacred cow of my way of life of doing things and toppled it. And it's shown me that I need him and I need you, we need him and we need each other. You need him and you need me. We're in this together. That's a good thing. That is a good thing.
Speaker 1:Granted, we're still people and we do people things, and in so doing we're going to, at times, work each other's nerves. But there's something that can be different about that, and that is we can have the fruits of God's Spirit developed within us His character, his love, his joy, his peace, his long-suffering, his patience. We can have forgiveness. We can really work with each other, have a God quality that we want to do that. Not, I guess I got to do that with them. No, that is what is sanctified out of us, purified from us.
Speaker 1:God is changing the face, or I should say the identity is maturing, the bride is maturing, the body is maturing. We, the ecclesia, we, the church, we're maturing, we're becoming one, we're maturing and our way of structural governance. That's something that's coming into play. We're beginning to see some things more clearly in how to go about it, because it is important to have a structure. A body has to have bones, but the bones don't need to be on the outside. A crab has its skeleton on the outside, a human has their skeleton on the inside and it's covered with softer flesh and stronger muscle Protective skin. We're covered, the structure is covered, but it nonetheless is there and is necessary. And that's what I'm learning, that's what we're learning, that's what we're going to continue to express and explore concerning the kingdom of God and the structure of the governance of the kingdom, because the kingdom is not disorganized.
Speaker 1:The kingdom of God is not a disorganized kingdom. It's an organism that has organization. It's a body with a skeleton. It has structure, but it's a structure of God and it's in order. It's in the order that God puts it in, and his ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, but I have faith that this is something that is.
Speaker 1:I'm positive of it, and so what would seem to be impossible for a group of people to become one nah, it's doable. Let's pray to be impossible for a group of people to become one. Nuh-uh, it's doable. Let's pray. Father, thank you once again for showing us and teaching us your ways, lord, things that are on your heart, father, thank you. Thank you, Abba, papa, thank you for including us in what you're doing. Thank you for doing it with us, for us to be doing it together I really, really, really like that For us to do it together with you and with each other, doing it together. Help us, holy Spirit, cooperate with the very life of Jesus, to cooperate with you. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for showing us the way, the truth and the life. And we stand here in his name and we say once again so be it. Amen, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:All right, folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, really drop us a line at lifearoundthefire, at gmailcom, or you can type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you In the meantime. God bless you. Adios amigos.