Till’ I’m Blue-in-the-Face: Why life must be in and through Jesus Christ

John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me”.

Lately, I have been reading a great book called The Urantia Book, which is deeply metaphysical and a bit universalistic. I have many met people during my Christian walk who are universal and subscribe to the thought that "all ways lead to God”, or as the famous phrase goes- “There is one God but many ways”. Now, as I have been reading through this book, and standing firmly upon my foundation of Jesus Christ, I have challenged myself as to WHY MUST IT BE JESUS? Why do I feel the urge to defend the inerrancy of the Word of God and salvation of men through Jesus Christ?
Well, let me start off by admitting I believe in absolute truth. The philosophers struggled with this concept of truth and it tends to get a bit sticky at times, but if there is truth there has to be absolute truth. Jesus Christ said, “I am the truth..”.

I love stories of people who have been completely against Christianity and sought to prove its error, but in the end face Jesus Christ, the Truth, head on and become Christians. (Admittedly, because that is my story). It requires alot of humility to face the fact that your presuppositions are wrong, and the lack of humility has worked to the disadvantage of many.
As I tell many people, I am a firm believer that if you set out on a truth quest (similar to Ghandi), and are honest in the face of controversy and facts, you will eventually be led to Jesus Christ.
A great book to read would be Lee Strobel’s, A Case for Christ. With that said, the documentation of the Bible and the historicity of the Christian movement clears many doubts. There are many external resources to document the life of Jesus Christ and his movement, so as to make the reality of His life and movement a fact. The issue does not reside in whether or not Jesus lived on earth and started a movement now called Christianity- that's all reliable and unarguable history.
Here are some research sites:
http://dmc.members.sonic.net/sentinel/naij3.html
http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth22.html

The issue resides in whether or not he was the Christ that the Israelite’s were waiting for and what exactly did He do?
Alot of misunderstandings of who and what Jesus Christ was and accomplished are to blame for the lack of many fully understanding this “Christianity thing”.
We must seek to understand God, after all isn’t that what this journey is all about. The expression of the Church that I congregate with -Messiah Reformed Church- holds to mission statement of “Pursuing and Sharing our Joy in the Knowledge of Him”. That is our goal to grow and develop in our knowledge of Him, which through proper understanding will produce joy.

As we study through the Old Testament, we learn of God creating a covenant with a group of people- First God saves Noah, leads Abraham to another land, Jacob (Israel) becomes the covenant people, and then Moses is called to be a leader of the people and to institute a way of life for the people of God. This is all leads up to what is called the Old Covenant.
These covenant people- which basically means those who are in agreement with God, are those who will receive God’s guidance and blessings. I recently asked my pastor- “Why did God choose to create a covenant with the Israelites”, we don’t know specifically, but what we can extract out of the Word of God is that it was for His glory!

God’s chosen people, were to be a separate people for the glory of God, and this came with responsibility which lead to the Law of Moses (much of what we understand as the 10 Commandments). This was a hard responsibility for the Israelites that’s why we have books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and all the others- who were prophets pretty much yelling at the people of God and the surrounding nations, and who spoke God’s divine judgments and in many senses God’s displeasure with how His people were acting.

So, this is where the plot thickens and Jesus Christ comes into play. From the outset we must fully understand that we cannot think like God, so there will be unanswered questions (Isaiah 55:8), but we can and must dig as deep as we can to understand what we can. The fancy words use to describe God are, He is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient, which basically mean that He alone is God and that He is beyond time, everywhere, and always able to do as He pleases. Jesus Christ was the plan from the beginning (best to always remember that this whole thing is for His glory!), and this was all to demonstrate His love and desire to have a people of His own, who love Him with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strengths.

Jesus Christ, was the fulfillment of what all the prophets were speaking about. The Messiah who would make all things new! If you ever take the time to read through the biblical prophets you will see a common theme- they all look to a time of judgment and restoration of Israel, and this was expected to come through the Messiah.
Read Isaiah 9:1-7;11:1-12:6; 40:1-5; 42:1-9; 49:8-26; 55:1-13;61:1-11; 65:1-28 (How can you not get excited when considering all of God’s “I wills...”
Jeremiah 23:1-7; 30:1-31:38 (The famous New Covenant prophesy)
OK, that's just to name a few..but really sit down and read through those verses..The time of the Messiah would be great and would open new doors for new stuff..Man, this New Covenant would be radical and exciting.

OK, so for those skeptical of Jesus Christ... I refuse to spend much time on this topic because proving the existence of the man Jesus who lived in the Middle East is similar to proving your existence, its that elementary. I venture to say that ignorance is the only reason people can still say “I don’t believe Jesus of Nazareth existed”. But...let’s say you do:
Was He a liar? Maybe just made it all up?!?!?! (that makes it more confusing).
Was He a madman? He obviously believed what He said because it’s simply, what He said and did that got him killed (which is also documented history).
Was He exactly what He said He was?
THESE ARE THE OPTIONS....


"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." -C.S. Lewis



The reality of this new covenant- OK, so here we are. The New Covenant is a reality and it must be through Jesus Christ, simply because Jesus was the awaited Messiah of the Israelite people, who were God’s chosen, and their judgment and redemption made the redemption of all the other nations possible (read- Romans 9:4-5, 15:8; Isaiah 49:6; Matthew 10:5-6; John 4:22, or better yet read the whole Biblical account from Genesis to Revelation).

We have been welcomed into this agreement with God to be a people marked by love and truth. Live is a matter of restoration, it’s not through self-righteousness which the Israelite people had to do through the Law, but rather through Jesus Christ(2 John 6; Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 6:2, and as always there is plenty more if you dig). A life of freedom and love, a revolution that the 11 men who followed Jesus started, and we must zealously live out today!

Simply said, this whole Christianity thing is not what it seems. Jesus Christ did not start a religion, instead He set religion on fire and started a movement through that fire( the New Covenant). The new way of doing things....
So, are you still skeptical? Are you telling me that this whole thing is a mass conspiracy of love???? What?!?

Ha, Ha..hope I ended that with a little laugh..guess what? We are free to laugh! I hope I challenged some thoughts concerning life and Life (Jesus Christ), as always would love to talk these topics out with you...It’s that important!

Love, peace, and joy,
Mike Miano

P.S.- Lately, I have been participating in a discipleship class called Alpha, which explains and fosters discussion concerning “Why Jesus”. You can watch the video’s at

http://www.alphausa.org/Groups/1000057989/VIDEOS.aspx

Puritanical Ostracism

Last night, Gabriella and I went to see the movie, Easy A. The movie was a high school flic based on The Scarlett Letter, I guess one could venture to say a modern day tale. The term "Jesus Freak" was used much too imply the religious crowd at school who pretty much made all the gossip spread and judged everyone on campus (sounds a lot like today's churchianity, doesn't it?).
"Puritanical Ostracism" was a term used the movie by a girl who was labeled a "skank" and embraced it by putting the red letter A on her clothing as taken from the movie The Scarlett Letter.
A bit of history of the Puritans. (Yes, Gabriella had to deal with this right after the movie, laughs). The Puritans are pretty much what we owe our tribute to here in America, since America was suppose to be the land where the kingdom of God would spawn. These people from England wanted to create a pure, set apart nation for God, and would deem themselves "the godly". If one reads about Puritan Theology, you will most likely read about how to abstain from sin, become pure in mind, and living a very devout life.
Now, first I would like to say that I am fond of many Puritan writings and contributions to Christianity, but I do recognize some flaws that have become very prevalent in American Christianity. I would definitely attribute much of the religiosity of our Christianity to the Puritans.
For example, this desire to be holy and righteous, rather than seeking His righteousness and allowing God to do work through you, is very evident. The end result is more Pharisaic than it is Christ-like. Remember when Jesus approached the woman caught in adultery? (John chapter 7). "You without sin throw the first stone". Where is that attitude today?
Also, the constant discussion of demons, devils, and sin is another given to Puritan Theology. I had this discussion with a man the other night who seemed to deem everything in the world demonic. Why don't we just listen to Jesus Christ and "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.."? How so? Read Romans chapter 14, emphasis on verse 11, "The kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit".
The movie Easy A, gave me a harsh glimpse into what "non-Christians" are seeing within us as the Church. Our shift has become highly Pharisaic and we are quickly becoming the people Jesus Christ yelled at the most.
As I seek to draw closer to Christ, to learn more about Him, His good news, and His kingdom, I am realizing that it is a messy, upside-down journey...we need to focus on creating righteousness, joy and peace by living missionally and being the change we want to see in the world.
I have committed myself to no longer dwell on what "they" (the world, other Christians, etc) don't have, but rather begin to truly live in what we do have- righteousness, peace, and joy through the Holy Spirit.

by His wonderful Grace,
Mike Miano

"According to His critics, Jesus "did God" all wrong. He went to the wrong places, said the wrong things, and worst of all let just anyone into the kingdom. Jesus scandalized an intimidating, elitist, country club religion by opening membership in the spiritual life to those who had been denied it. What made people furious was Jesus' "irresponsible" habit of throwing open the doors of His love to whosoever, the just-any-ones, and the not-a-chancers like you and me"- quoted from the book Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People.

I Am Free to Love!

Well friends, today or rather yesterday I completed my 30 days of reading through the Bible (this was suppose to be in a Ramadan fashion, but safe to admit I didn't fast properly and didn't get to attend any iftar's with Muslims, bot exactly happy about that, but life goes on).
Anyways, reading through the Word of God is always a journey and new truths speak out every time, this time even more than any other time. Honestly, these lats couple weeks I feel like I have been getting a handle on this whole "Good News" thing. Truthfully, when I ask many (not all) other Christians what the "good news" is that we call "gospel", I don't understand what they see as good news, and I don't think they see it either.
So, really what is the "good news" that Christ came to tell us?
Well let's look back. We know that God instituted the Old Covenant with the Israelite people in order to draw a people unto Himself, who would give Him glory and could have a sample of His presence by following the Law. Only through sacrifice and obedience could God be sought out. Just think of life like that, "touch not, taste not", as we read about the Ark of the Covenant and all these religious themes we can sense the fear the people had of being "cursed by God". The really radical thing that we continually see is that God has always wanted the deeper things such as the heart and love of man rather than simple outward religious faith.
I Samuel 15:22- "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of the rams".
I would rather advise you to read the entire chapter of Psalms 51, but I will quote a part of it to illustrate my point. "O Lord open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it, you do not pleasure in burnt offerings, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart (Psalms 51:15-17a)". For more verses read Hosea and Micah.
Do you see it? God does not want the outward stuff, but rather what comes from inside our hearts, and we see Jesus compellingly criticizing the Pharisees of His day concerning these matters. But the Law of the Old Covenant made the outward things necessary!

So then comes this Messiah, the anointed one, who will essentially make "all things new", thus the term "New Covenant". The kingdom (presence) of God and righteousness will no longer need to be a thing sought by men by standards and Law, but rather will "dwell among them". This was a big deal to the 1st Century peoples, especially the religious people. The law of God, or rather the Law of Christ would be written on the hearts of men (Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hebrews 8:6-13 and 10:14-18). What is this law? The law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 6:2, amongst other verses that illustrate this point).
So as the title of this blog says, "I am free to love!". Come on sing it, you know the song! What exactly does that mean? I am free from having to tell people they are sinners and must live right because by love I can show them the love of Christ and be a light in the midst of darkness. I am free from having to live a partially sanitized life, but rather can serve God through a life of love and service. I am free to live, to truly be in the world not of it, and I mean really live without stressing "is this a sin", "should i be around these people", "should I be in church right now", etc. That my friends, in the glory of the New Covenant that stressed out the religious people in Jesus' day and continues to do so in religious circles today.
Consider the Galatians factor. The church in Galatia had this exact problem, when the religious Jews began to mix with the Gentiles.This religious spirit is clearly called what it is, hypocrisy, because it is against the freedom to love of the Law of Christ. Read Galatians chapter 2:11-21.
"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6)".

Consider the fact that under the Old Covenant Law, even the supposedly righteous religious leaders committed sins against the rules, but yet their outward appearance of being holy, gave them a false sense of righteousness ("I'm better than you"), but it was exactly that FALSE! Christ brought the reality of the Law which was recognizing that even though we are sinners, through love (Christ's law) we can seek His kingdom and His righteousness.

Truly understanding this new, alternative, radical, revolutionary change that Jesus Christ brought into affect is what makes a believer "freak out". Jesus Christ presented the Jews of His time and us today with a new opportunity to experience God. Consider the recent religious cliche' of "It's not about religion, but relationship". Very true!

"But thanks be to Gold, who always leads us through triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)".

I urge you my fellow believers, seek to truly live and read the Word of God through New Covenant Eyes (for more info, check out newcovenanteyes.com)

All for the sake of righteousness, peace, and joy,
Mike Miano

The Latest- Freaked Out News

Hey everyone. Well, it has been a couple weeks so I felt it necessary to post some thoughts. Also, considering that Freaked-Out Fellowship is in "labor pains" right about (getting ready to re-launch the ministry), I also felt compelled to give some insight into how that is going.

Well for starters something I have really wanted to vent about was the affect the Blue Man Group had on me. Gabriella and I had a weekend together (last weekend) and we went to he Holy Land Experience and The Blue Man Group @ Universal Studios. Now I personally was not a fan of the Holy Land Experience because it was very commercial. I am a fan of the concept that Jesus would hate commercial Christianity! Anyways, The Blue Man Group has the exact opposite effect.Basically the way that Blue Man Group touched all your senses with their message (which is no message at all but just relax and have a good time and be entertained), is the exact way that the people of God need to touch the world with the message of the Gospel.

I was both encouraged and discouraged the whole time. Encouraged because I have finally seen exactly what is going on in my head concerning "Freaked-Out" methods of reaching people, and discouraged because I can't believe that the Church hasnt put that much energy, creativity, and passion into the message. We must draw our inspiration from the 11 men who followed Christ, and thus draw our passion and imagination from the prophets of Israel. (Remember our 1st series for Freaked-Out Fellowship will be Prophets at the Beach, hopefully launching in September).
Lately, all my thoughts have been to the concept of Freaked-Out Fellowship (I would imagine it being because I am a freaked-out follower of Jesus and want others to journey this exciting road with me). Gabriella even confirmed this last night when she said "You get inspired by everything for ministry", awesome, isnt that they way it is suppose to be?

Ok, so where do we stand. Freaked-Out Fellowship is still is recruitment stage, looking for a minimum of 2 more local Jesus Freaks, Are you one? I am currently working on a membership concept which will explain what it means and the commitment I am looking for (or better said the commitment He is looking for). In a couple days I will be posting my letter to the Church which will explain some of the insight of a Jesus Freak.

Also, feel obligated to visit the webpage- http://www.freakedoutfellowship.weebly.com
Well, just wanted to share some thoughts and will be posting alot more in the coming days!

Love and Truth- The marks of Life,
Mike Miano

Ramadan- A Christian Renewal Exercise

Hey, sorry for the inconvienence but since my blog is acting up and not allowing me to post as usual, please visit the following link...
http://apps.facebook.com/theblog/view/38901?ref=mf

Decisions..Decisions....A New Covenant Life

Greetings in Christ. As of now many have probably already heard the situation that occurred between Gabriella and I yesterday. For the confused, upset, and indifferent minds, I right this blog to explain my current understanding and way of looking at things.
Just to give a brief re-cap, Gabriella and I got into an argument about my actions that seemingly led to me being labeled a "cheater". All of this came from a situation that was blown out of proportion on her part, and poorly managed on mine. It resulted in a bit of craziness and facebook confusion to say the least.
So whats going on? Well, I am in love with Gabriella and many who are reading this have been involved in the conversations that I express this over and over, so bear with me. We have had our ups and downs through our almost 4 year relationship, been through many discussions with others, and have been labeled "un-equally yoked", "fornicators", etc... In any relationship this would be chaotic, so it has played a toll on ours.
Obviously, now is a time of decisions. Is this relationship healthy, is it going to work, can we somehow get over this, etc.. I clearly understand that these things need to be thought about, discussed, prayed about, and acted on. But what I would like to express is a clearly cohesive decision-making understanding of the New Covenant given to us through Christ Jesus.
Many people will say, "God wants you to do this...", "God made this happen for a reason", "God is telling you...", etc..and thinking through this way of thinking has spurred me to disagree. The New Covenant put an end to the "old order of things (Revelation 21:4 )". Jesus Christ has given us a way of freedom to truly freely choose what we would like to make of our lives, I don't have to wonder in fear if this relationship will keep me out of heaven or even pray for hours about God revealing a special truth to me concerning Gabriella and I. That is the blessing and the curse of the New Covenant, you are truly free to do what you want with your life and accept the consequences as they may be. We need to stop putting God into a situations He has not put Himself in. Yes, God is Sovereign over everything and that is understood from the outset, but God is not making things happen in Gabriella and my relationship, it is simply the nature of things. I value practical advice and I guess that somewhat attributes to my understanding of Christ Jesus and the ways that pleases Him.
Basically, the decision making process I propose is that we have the freedom to choose to do whatever we want with our lives- that essentially is the New Covenant. With that blessing of freedom comes the fact that our decisions will ultimately lead to consequences that none other then ourselves have brought to fruition. I don't have to fear that I am walking out of God's will either way I make the decision and that goes for most decisions, but I can trust that the divine nature of things will work that way.
What is God telling me? Well, as Hebrews chapter 1 explains that God now speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ which we understand to be the Word of God (John chapter 1). I am not in the Bible, but God's divine truth guides my decisions and will produce the fruit in my life that needs to be there as long as I persevere and continue to:
"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness....(Matthew 6:33)".
Please continue to keep these matters in prayer and that I may find rest in His presence.
In Christ, seeking blessings,
Mike Miano

The Threat of Islam?!?!?!?

First I would like to start out my greeting all my readers, it has been a while, but as many of you may know I have been busy, busy, busy with raising funds for Israel (which is very much still needed - http://www.riskybusinessforChrist.weebly.com), re-launching new ideas for Freaked-Out Fellowship, living the ups and downs of being in love with a beautiful woman, and being involved in an awesome local expression of the body of Christ (Messiahreformed.com).
` So what did you think of the title? Great! I would like to start out by defining IGNORANCE. Ignorance is the state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. We see this very much in common conversation these days, when people speak on matters they don't know much about. If you read through the book of Proverbs this topic is addressed very much and thus is why as people of God we are told to watch our tongue, or just simply don't speak all that much.
The topic of Islam has always been of interest to me. Before I had come to Christ, I studied Islam under a Shiite imam, and was fascinated and still somewhat am with the devotion to Arab culture. Obviously through studies I have come to believe that Islam is false, and that Christ is the Son of God.
The way many Christians have gone about the discussion of Islam has always bothered me. I remember when I first came to Christ and would foster discussion with Muslims, I would always hear Christians have an issue with me saying allah as a term for God (allah means God in Arabic, even Arab Christians use the term), or say "be careful when reading the Quran". My immediate response to these issues has always been to question the foundation of Christian in these peoples minds, why would we as Christians be so scared of false doctrine, when our doctrine is so clear and true? I still to this day don't understand how many can have a flimsy foundation in Christ (Matthew 7:20-27).
I read and see many Christian books, movies, and discussions that speak against this scary demon of Islam and the threat they pose to us as Christians. This is just ludicrous. Islam is as false as any other religion or ideology that fails to see the truth in Christ Jesus (read through 1 and 2 Epistles of John). That would go for Jews, Buddists, Atheists, and the like. We can not be hypocritical in our approach of truth especially when we are suppose to be people marked by truth and love.
Another good example would be my up and coming renewal fast that I am participating in for Ramadan. Now Ramadan is an Islamic festival of fasting, prayer, alms giving, and study. Muslims believe that Ramadan (which will be August 11 to September 9 of 2010) is the time that the Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. I do not believe that the Quran is a holy text or the prophet Muhammad proclaimed the truth of Christ but I see opportunity for a unifying factor and a time of renewal for myself and all who choose to participate. What would Jesus do? Many Christians are seemingly troubled by this idea as you can see by reading about the participation in Ramadan by Brian McLaren and other Christians he congregates with. Why not create a unifying factor with Muslims? I would love to explain more about what my Renewal and Study festival will be like.
Of, so this brings me to the reason for this blog. Just days ago I heard that "they are trying to build a mosque at Ground Zero", and the response isn't that great from many people, especially Christians. I thought the immediate aggravation I was seeing from people was crazy and decided to do some studying (Gabriella and I like to have these conversations, so always researching). As a former 9-11 Truther and being very involved into the studies around September 11, 2001, I have a heart for this topic just as I do Islam. After researching I have realized that this was once again a hyped up issue and still is, and many people are mis-informed. The Cordoba Initiative is looking to build a cultural center with emphasis on better Muslim-West relations, that does not sound like a mosque to me! The idea sounds great and would foster much needed discussion and also help the healing process and blame many have put on Islam as a religion. You can read about it here- http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/cordoba-house-new-york-city.
As Christians, we need to really develop a loving conduct for both people and truth, they are intertwined, so we must develop both. Believe it or not, in both the Bible and the Quran, Christians are marked as people devoted to love and truth, do we really live up to that title? I did some reading this morning into Muslim-Christian relations in history and you may find it quite interesting, here is the link- http://www.soundvision.com/Info/jesus/MuslimChristianRelations.asp.
Thanks for reading and I hope this fosters great discussion and study.
With love for Truth and people, in Christ Jesus,
Michael Miano
http://www.freakedoutfellowship.weebly.com