Are you struggling with modern day Christianity that plays the game of duplicity where it is supposed to be one way, yet acts another or do you find yourself frustrated in a religious cycle from Sunday to Sunday? No matter where you are on your journey with God-whether just born again or a Christian of many years-Alisa Burns will give you practical applications to help you revive your passion for Christ and the world God so lovingly died for. She will take you through the necessary steps of unmasking religiosity and finding true love in Christianity. Join Alisa in her endeavor to see all fulfill God's desire for each and every person in their walk with the Lord. She invites you to meet the challenge of returning to Authentic Christianity and find the world's savior once again. "[This book] will inspire your heart to get real with God, come up higher and go deeper in cultivating an authentic lifestyle of Christ-likeness. Warmly written and rich with anecdotes that connect principle with practicality, this book brings fresh insight that will both challenge and strengthen you in developing right relationship with God, family, others, and yourself. A wonderful must-read for all who desire a truly Spirit-filled life!I -Nicole Williamson "This book, shows us with poem and poignance the problem we are all facing in the American church which is dead religiousty; but then points the way out by directing us to the real answer; which is Christ's love, mercy and compassion. -Alan Burns "What's Wrong with this Picture, was written from the heart of a woman with a mission to see a return to the authenticity of Christianity to the church. You will gain fresh insight to this important spiritual truth as you read and meditate on this book."-Beth Alves

What's Wrong With This Picture

A Return to Authentic ChristianityBy Alisa Burns

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Alisa Burns
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-5334-9

Contents

FOREWORD.......................................................ixINTRODUCTION...................................................xiChapter ONE: How is your Garden?...............................1Chapter TWO: First Love or Works?..............................6Chapter THREE: Intimacy or Effort?.............................19Chapter FOUR: Wise or Foolish?.................................31Chapter FIVE: Staying in the Race..............................38Chapter SIX: Hollywood in the Church...........................52Chapter SEVEN: The Greatest Commandment........................65Chapter EIGHT: Everyday Christianity...........................80Chapter NINE: The Marriage Behind the Mask.....................94Chapter TEN: Denominational Division...........................127Chapter ELEVEN: Ultimately it's Love...........................143BLEEPS & BLUNDERS..............................................149BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................151

Chapter One

How is your Garden?

As I was working in my front yard one morning pulling weeds, (don't yah just love them)? I was feeling the frustration of how treacherous they are! I began to think of the many ways they can speak to us about our Christian life. At my house, weeds always seem to be a major project. I am either assigning the weeds to be pulled by my children or I myself have to voluntarily pull them or they won't get done (unless of course we can hire someone to do them for us). Either way you look at it, they have to be pulled! I have tried sprays and even tried to cover the weeds with mulch which only deceived myself into thinking that I can avoid pulling them all together, because I was too lazy to continue pulling. You know what happens? They eventually end up popping back up through the mulch! So my list goes on and on as to the methods I've tried from keeping those dastardly weeds from coming back!

What is ironic is that this past Spring I had this wonderful idea of having my own garden (mind you, I still battle with the front yard)! What is funny is the fact that I thought maintaining my own garden wouldn't be any problem. I knew very well going into it that I needed to keep up with the weeds in order to have a prosperous garden. I had convinced myself that I would overcome even after knowing full well how much labor would be required. What was even funnier is that I gave other people advice about their gardens and planting seeds. In fact, I already couldn't wait to be able to give the vegetables away and tell my friends that they came from my garden. Excitedly as the weeks went by, I started seeing vegetables I had planted while doing my best to keep up with other responsibilities in the home front. But then the inevitable happened: we went out of town for a couple of weeks to do a conference and because there was no one to maintain it—you guessed it, the garden was invaded (actually taken over) by a new batch of dastardly weeds! Being somewhat still optimistic, I thought—well I just needed to get back to work. The work that should have transpired in two days dragged into several days, in fact weeks. All hope was lost and I ended up only salvaging a few peppers and some onions (still in hopes of my watermelon). The one nice thing that came out of it was my beautiful Marigolds ... which I was told later on that they were considered weeds in other countries because they grow without effort—what a blow for me!

I believe for those of us who have had the same opportunity of pulling weeds that we would tend to think life would be much better without them. Who needs them right? They only cause headaches and pains in your back after a while from bending over to pull them. Anyway, I began to think about how life would be without the weeds! I would be able to plant my garden, flowers, trees and shrubs and enjoy them without anymore weed pulling, cutting and pruning—right? Unfortunately, life isn't like that. Just imagine roses after they have bloomed never getting cut, pruned or watered. You would never have another rose to look at and your rose bush would eventually die. What good is the rose bush then? In comparison, what would life be without the need to overcome adversity?—a life of ease and no pain-but without beauty which would soon become a life of no spiritual growth. However, when we labor for something it is no longer taken for granted, but held as a treasure waiting to be looked at and taken in awe of: to bring delight and joy to the heart "The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul" (see Prov. 13:19a). There is much reward in seeing a masterpiece that you worked so hard at—which can apply to whatever you put much emphasis on. Obviously on this particular day, my curiosity about weeds had magnified to extreme proportions, so what did I do? I decided to do some research and find out more about weeds and what I discovered was amazing, which I will discuss later. In our walk with the Lord we have many stumbling blocks that come our way. There are distractions from the enemy—relationship battles—issues that come at us from all sides. How do we overcome, or how do we know if we have already been overtaken spiritually by the enemy? God is so concerned about every aspect of our lives that if left unchecked we become like my garden that was overtaken with weeds over time. It is so important that we don't just try to cover up and keep moving along in life as if everything is o.k. We must take the time to examine our hearts and look at the condition of our relationships, not only with God but with others.

God is interested in rooting out the unnecessary things in our hearts. It is my desire through this book that you would allow the Lord to walk with you hand in hand through your garden. It is important that your ground stays cultivated. If we are not keeping every aspect of our life in constant check, we can get off track very easily. Jesus took the time to explain to His followers the parable about the seeds that fell on different types of ground. We have to make sure our ground is nice and fertile so that the seed goes down and matures the way it is suppose to. Our ground needs to be good and not thorny or rocky.

What is our reflection

As a properly cared for garden reflects beauty, so we must also check ourselves to see what our reflection is like. Just think if you desired to give a gorgeous rose filled with fragrance and beauty to someone, but it wilted and died when you got there. What good would it be then? God wants our lives to be like His reflection—like a rose filled with His fragrance (to draw others) and beauty for others to see. God's presence emanating from our lives will then be admired. Unfortunately, we become that wilted rose when we don't keep cultivating (watering), growing and taking spiritual health checks. We can become like the man in the mirror whom Jesus talks about when, after looking at his reflection, forgot what he looked like. It seems that so many believers walk around like that. By not walking in the reflection of Christ, they become lethargic and passive in their actions.

So now that we talked about the word reflection let's find out what it means. Here we go, reflection: the return of light or sound waves from a surface. Isn't that neat? This is what Christ is to be through us—emanating His Glory, reflecting Himself to others. It is through the yielding of our hearts that Christ can be emanated. "As in the water reflects the face, so the heart of man reflects the man." (Prov. 27:19). The condition of our heart can determine how we will love God and our neighbor, as we will be talking about throughout this book. Also, we know that everyman reflects something right? So it is important to ask yourself, what am I reflecting on a continual basis? Lastly, it is impossible to reflect Christ and not bear fruit at the same time.

So many times in Christianity we can get to a certain plateau, where we enter into stagnancy. But is that to be the case? Are we to get to a certain level where we hear the word of God, but then think it doesn't really pertain to us? Like the man that looked in the mirror and immediately forgot what he looked like; let us stop and examine our own lives, instead of refusing to believe what we see staring back at us. One way to determine what is truly being emanated from our lives can be tested through Mark Chapter 4. In this Chapter we are able to see what kind of fruit we are bearing after the seeds have been planted. When we hear Christ talk about the seeds and the types of ground in the parable of the seed and the sower, most of us assume we are that good ground. But how do we know if we are? Are we really reflecting Christ back to the world? One might ask "Am I that good ground where Christ has been given permission to plant seeds in my heart to enable me to go from Glory to Glory? The proof is in the fruit. When there is fruit, there is proof of a gardener at work. Someone to take care of that seedling and protect that little sprout until it has reached the age of maturity to bear fruit. It's as simple as that. In the parable with the seeds in Mark 4:3-7, the Lord distinguished the good ground versus the stony and dry ground by that one criteria: "And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and hundredfold." Often times many just settle for the 30 or 60 fold return being 70% and 40% unfruitful. I don't know about you, but I want to have a 100 fold return. I desire to be that fruitful ground that reflects all of God's glory—emanates His beauty and fragrance in order to draw men unto Himself. For many, you may know the word of God, but due to stagnancy from not using the gifts within you or by letting the negativisms of life cause you to get embittered you have just settled and lost that fruit that you could have continued producing. When the word of God goes in, it is imperative that it penetrates our hearts in order to bring the right reproduction. Simply said, God is not looking for stagnant, mundane Christianity. He's not looking for our deeds, he's looking for a heart: fertile ground yielded to Him, the gardener, where he can plant seeds and in due season bear fruit. "It is God's desire that we bear fruit, much fruit" This fruit is a direct relationship to how effective we are in influencing our society. In this book, we're going to hone in on our garden; the very place of our heart where Christ's word is planted. Once we take some inventory of what our garden might possibly look like and see its true reflection as seen by ourselves and others, we will attempt to reclaim our garden by taking out weeds and stones that are hindering our fruit, thus making provision for a 100 fold return.

Take for instance a rose, without its petal becomes just a stick with thorns which is undesirable and causes pain. It's like the church without love: it becomes as repulsive and offensive as weeds, thorns and thickets. Weeds are competitive, persistent and interfere negatively within the garden. In the same way we have to watch out for the enemy whose persistent activity is against us for the purpose of tearing us down and trying to keep us from moving forward. This first part of the book is dedicated to help you reclaim your garden, take out those weeds that may be choking your faith and preventing your fruit. Secondly we will step into a greater revelation of His love and how to come into a more full depth of intimacy with Him. Thirdly, we will look at the practicality of our Christian living and what it means to be Christ like both in the home and towards the world.

Chapter Two

First Love or Works?

MY JOURNEY

Since we talked about gardens, I'm now going to share with you just a little bit of what my garden looked like down through the years. I would like to give you a glimpse of what my reality looked like. So come with me on a journey of what my walk with the Lord was like about 33 years ago. Unfortunately, my life looked much like the garden infested with weeds that I talked about in the first Chapter. I had filled it with good works (and sin), anyone wear that badge? I needed a lot of deliverance and mentoring (especially during my teen years). For most of my walk with the Lord, I would have considered myself to be an on-fire Christian and in many ways I was, plus I had a zeal to fulfill my heart's desire for ministry. I had gone to church consistently. I was involved with ministry off and on for several years. For example, I led bible studies—was a Pastor's wife—my husband and I were Single's Pastors—and enjoyed counseling friends and helping others in need or distress, the list goes on. I always seemed to be encouraging and exhorting others, in fact a lot of times I found it easier to be on the phone and helping friend's more than spending time with the Father. I discovered later that I enjoyed being everyone's savior! I know that a lot of it had to do with me growing up in a Christian home. Furthermore, due to the fact that I was saved at a young age meant I didn't know whether I really loved the Lord or not. Did I follow Him because I was raised in a Christian home and I learned about him in church, or that He loved me and I truly loved Him? It was easy to act like a Christian.

Many times I pondered my true zeal for the Lord and envied those who had major conversion experiences in their life; who then in turn would exhibit their fervency for the Lord, while I still struggled with my walk. It seemed others had this wonderful love relationship with the Father whereas my Christian walk became more of a routine. I became very envious but yet frustrated at the same time because I wanted to really love the Lord and found myself re-dedicating my life several times because I doubted my salvation. The enemy had truly plagued my mind. I had filled my life with good deeds. I needed a revelation to transform my thinking and start believing His word and not my thoughts. My walk with the Lord always seemed to be a struggle, but because of God's grace and His love for me I kept getting back up. Don't you just love the passage that says "For a righteous person falleth seven times and riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown with calamity, but gets back up again" (Prov. 24:16 ASV)? His love is amazing God says you are righteous if you get back up. All I can say is Thank the Lord! I am glad I finally came to a rest in Him and the ability to walk in such gratefulness. Words cannot express how I thank Him every day for this revelation of my salvation. Learning to rest in Him began my true years of growth as a Christian.

Several years ago the Lord started speaking to me about writing this book; but because I am not naturally given to writing, I put it off for a long while. Just imagine facing your worst test or greatest fear. I wanted to quit many times. That is partially if not all of what it has been like for me in writing this book. Fortunately, I painstakingly persevered through because I knew how strong the Lord wanted His Body to hear this message in this hour. This word became like a megaphone in my spirit, He brought me confirmation from people out of nowhere saying "Alisa, there's a book in you, you need to write it." I knew I would be in trouble with the Lord if I didn't proceed. My argument with the Lord was, `Lord another book? People don't need another book to read.' Then I believe He spoke the following to me: "You (meaning, all of us), are a living epistle waiting to be written about." So, just like His life was written about (and since we are created in His image), we all have a testimony worth hearing. At that point I surrendered. So know this: this manuscript is not just a testimony, but what I believe to be a NOW WORD!

Wake Up

One night in a hotel on a girl's night out, God spoke to me. If you are not familiar with a girl's night out, it is what my friends and I try to make a practice of doing at least once a year to take a break from the daily routine of life in order to hear from God, and to have fun! I believe it is what us moms need, and I highly recommend it for moms or dads. Anyway, while I was sitting on the bed in the hotel working on my photo albums (girls don't you just love them? sorry men), I felt the Lord nudge me to read Revelation Chapter 2. After I read it, I thought surely this isn't for me, is it? That night is when I got my rude awakening from the Lord or shall we say my "little" rebuke. From this night on it became my new discovery that I had left my first love somehow, and my fire had waned (remember I thought I was already on fire). I thought to myself while speaking to God, "I have done a great job serving you God, haven't I?" "Had I really gotten off the path?" Well, it wasn't that I had really gotten off of the path; but the true fire He wanted me to have wasn't there. I had gotten so used to good works and thinking I was pleasing Him that I lost my true relationship with the Lord. He wanted to be my friend—my confidant—my lover but I wasn't responding the way necessary for that to happen. My current walk with the Lord was now being challenged by Revelation Chapter 2:2-7:

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from What's Wrong With This Pictureby Alisa Burns Copyright © 2010 by Alisa Burns. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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