March 15, 2005                                                                Semi-regular Newsletter

May the tender mercies of God, which are new every morning, arrest you, settle you, refocus you, and wash you completely in His gracious love and forgiveness. May all the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glorious grace and mercy. May there be no times this day or the days to come when you do not know His presence and love and merciful kindness. And may there be none who encounter you in your daily activities who do not catch a hint of this loving kindness of Christ flowing through you.

            I am about to end this month long stay in California and head to Auburn, Washington for another Unity Conference sponsored by Steve Anderson and the brothers at Answer The Call Ministries. (The body of this newsletter will be a shortened version of some of the things I will be bringing to the conference.) From there I will return to Omaha for just a couple weeks, and then back here to Betty and the rest of the family. Because of the goodness of God, we will be celebrating our Fifty-second Wedding Anniversary in April. Hallelujah!

SOME MYTHS ABOUT RECONCILIATION

    In the mind and heart of God, which is the ultimate reality, all reconciliation has taken place when Jesus paid the price in full at the cross. It is done. It is complete. It is finished and fixed forever. His resurrection is the stamp of validity to the absolute and ultimate victory that God has reconciled us to Himself.

    Sin is overcome. Sin is vanquished by the cross. Sin is now optional, and no longer inevitable. Sin is not believing in Jesus. Sin’s power is destroyed. These statements are also true of death, hell, and the devil.

    Reconciliation with God is complete through the cross, and now we are made ministers of reconciliation. Rom. 5:10,11; 2 Cor. 5:19. We servants of God and servants of reconciliation, are to help to bring together into the oneness of God’s heart, whatever has been separated by sin. God’s purpose and pleasure is to bring everything together in heaven and earth under the Lordship of Christ Jesus. Eph. 1:10 It is our privilege to be part of this process.

    Now, let’s deal with some myths about reconciliation or just misunderstandings that our enemy perpetuates to keep us divided:

    RACIAL RECONCILIATION is a myth. There is only one race – the human race. We are all one race, one people by both creation and by the cross. Stop using the phrase, “racial reconciliation” because it is a challenge that does not exist. Let the truth of race set us free. We are all part of the one human race, all created by God and all redeemed through the cross.
 

    ETHNIC RECONCILIATION is the coming together of the various ethnic groupings: African American, European American, Hispanic, Asian, etc. Our world system fosters the segregated hatred between peoples. Never in my lifetime have I experienced this as intensely as when I served time in jail as an advocate for life. We were told, “Blacks with Blacks, Whites with Whites, Mexicans with Mexicans.” The fights, the tensions, and the divisions were intensified by this separation.  The “system” was not interested in rehabilitation, but only in their job security and safety. (Another subject for some other time. Suffice it to say here that Satan‘s strategy is to divide and conquer, and he uses the systems of the world very effectively.)

    Our ministry house in Omaha is in the heart of the gangs and violence. It is predominantly Black. I wince at the constant emphasis by many of the wealthier white congregations out west who mean well, but irritate me no end by their emphasis on getting reconciled. I realize that Satan has caused divisions, but we are already reconciled at the foot of the cross. When Jesus purchased us from all nations, and changed who and what we are, He made us one body, one people, one church. I don’t need to get reconciled with my family of other ethnic origins; I need to live like who I am – a brother to every believer, a new creature in Christ Jesus together with all of God’s family. The family, which will gather before the throne of God, is a multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language. Rev. 7:9.
 

    SEXUAL OR GENDER RECONCILIATION, like ethnicity, was accomplished at the cross. Lots of problems still exist, but it is legally and spiritually finished. According to Galatians 3:28 reconciliation in Christ has been accomplished for Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. It has been completed at the cross. The problems that still exist are from our not living like who we are – the literal, physical body of Christ.

    Jesus Himself is our peace and has made each of the above couplets a unity by destroying the dividing wall of hostility between them. “His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross…” Eph. 2:15,16. I realize this section deals primarily with Jew and Greek, but the principle fits the rest.
 

    DOCTRINAL RECONCILIATION is more challenging. It requires open minds and personal security in God to honestly consider other positions or points of tension. Since I have written and spoken much on this I will just refer you to the web site and the treatise, “How To Start a House Church,” the section called “Tension (understanding doctrine).”
 

    DENOMINATIONAL RECONCILIATION IS A MYTH.  Denominations (33,000+) are irreconcilable. They are creations of man based on various points of doctrine and practice. Many of the members of these religious groups are part of God’s Body and are one with us. But the organizations themselves are merely scaffolding on the walls of the church of the city. The scaffolding must come down when the building is finished. Many of the scaffolding systems are actually a dividing wall between the fragmented parts of Jesus’ Church, and as such they were barriers destroyed on the cross. The sooner this realization is made the better. May many of them willingly disband as “churches” and strengthen Jesus’ one Church city by city, before the faithful come out of them in response to Rev. 18:4.

    Live like who you are! In Christ you are new, redeemed, baptized, washed, sanctified, justified, unified, set apart, holy, precious, useful, beloved, reconciled, appointed, anointed, and competent. Therefore live a loving, joy filled, peaceful,  patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self controlled life to the glory of our King. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

With love in Christ,

Frank Smith