A New Gestalt of God

By Lester Carney

All the world loves a lover, according to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Then why doesnt all the world love God? Because God, correctly understood, is a lover. He is not just any lover, but also the original lover, the worlds best lover, and the origin of all lovers.

Obviously, God has not been correctly understood. He has not been seen as the lover he is. Perhaps the problem is that love itself has not been correctly understood. For many, love is just a feeling, but true love is much more than a feeling. True love is an action.

A New Gestalt of God reaffirms God as a god of love. It shows how justice and grace combine to form his love. It shows the causes of the misunderstanding of God. It shows how a correct understanding of God can be reestablished.

What God ultimately wants is a loving relationship between himself and each one of his children. Do you love a lover? This book will help you understand Gods love better and help you become a better lover of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512782646

Lester Carney

Lester Carney is an ordained elder and has also been ordained as a credentialed minister of teaching. He taught for 17 years in elementary parochial schools in the Midwest. For the past 19 years, he has been working in the building services industry as an area manager. He has served the churches he has belonged to as a head elder, head deacon, Bible teacher, school board chairman, youth club leader, and lay preacher. He has two grown children, a daughter living in Minnesota and a son living in Tennessee. Lester is a native of Virginia, a migrant of Maryland, Washington, California, and Indiana, and is now a permanent resident of Wisconsin. He is the son of evangelist and church administrator Lester Carney, Jr. A New Gestalt of God is the first book in the series The Grace Restoration Project.

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Copyright © 2017 Lester Carney.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8265-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8264-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017905944

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/09/2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1—The Day Santa Died

Chapter 2—Gestalt

Chapter 3—Overview

Chapter 4—God Is Love

Chapter 5—God’s Love Is Superior

Chapter 6—God’s Justice And Man’s Response: Rebellion

Chapter 7—The Making Of A Legalist

Chapter 8—God’s Grace And Man’s Response: Submission

Chapter 9—The Life Of The Zombie

Chapter 10—The Lovers

Chapter 11—Fear

Chapter 12—The Big Picture

Conclusion

Credits

Notes

About The Author

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine,

But God, who called me here below,

Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun;

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

John Newton, 1779

PREFACE

W ho is God? What is he like? How should you respond to him? If you do not believe in God, you are probably not reading this preface. This book in no way tries to prove the existence of God; it is assumed he exists. This book also does not try to prove the validity of the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, as the word of God; it is assumed the Bible is the word of God. If God exists, you must account for his existence; to not do so would be to live in a fantasy world. If God exists, there is a truth about him that will affect how you live. It is therefore very important that you know the truth about God, and that you get it correct.

Unfortunately, most people don’t get it correct. Misunderstanding of God has caused many people to reject him; in doing so, they have rejected the very thing they are looking for and need. Misunderstanding of God by Christians is the most problematic, because that misunderstanding has caused even more to reject Christianity and God.

The title A New Gestalt of God does not imply some attempt to re-invent God or to modernize him and bring him up to date. God is eternal; he doesn’t change. The new gestalt is hopefully an opportunity to view God anew and to see him for the way he has always been, is, and always will be. The new is hopefully the stripping away of the costume man has attached to God that prevents people from seeing him as the God he really is.

Knowing him for who he really is, you can relate to him as he really wishes. Or not. It’s your choice.

CHAPTER 1

THE DAY SANTA DIED

➢ Reality is better than fantasy; truth is stronger than fiction.

➢ It is a good thing when others discover the truth.

A ll the aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, in-laws, and maybe even one out-law were gathering at Great-Grandmother’s house. Great-Grandma must have been a very good little girl many years before, because Santa Claus still made a visit to her house every Christmas to personally pass out presents to the children. Thus the gathering.

Michelle was there. She was five years old. At that age she couldn’t sit still; her mind was always way ahead of her body. She would pick up a toy and immediately drop it, because her thoughts were already on something else; but if her mind focused on something, she could concentrate for hours. She knew Santa Claus was coming; she was dancing and twirling around the room—in her own little world, mumbling to herself that Santa Claus was coming.

Michelle’s brother, Patrick, was there too. Patrick was two years old and didn’t have a clue what was going to happen. He knew that the other kids were excited, so he was running around acting silly and trying to jump. Two-year-olds can’t jump; all they can do is bend their knees and then straighten up again. Patrick didn’t talk yet; if you tried to get him to say anything, he would just smile at you.

Cousin Jeremy had come in with his mother. He was the oldest cousin there, maybe nine or ten. He was acting nervous, just sitting in a chair in the corner and licking his lips a lot. He hadn’t even taken off his coat. He must have been anxious for Santa Claus to come!

Then there was a noise at the door, and everyone tensed as the door opened, but it was only Aunt Lynn. That was a good sign, because Aunt Lynn always seemed to arrive just ahead of Santa Claus. She said to the kids, Are you guys waiting for Santa Claus? Well, I think he will be here soon. I think I heard reindeer bells when I was coming in.

Michelle was now sitting in one of the living room chairs, trying to rock it, but it wasn’t a rocking chair. Patrick was still clueless, and Jeremy was still sitting in his chair in the corner.

Someone knocked at the door. Aunt Lynn told Michelle to open the door to see who it was. She opened the inner door and saw Santa Claus through the glass of the storm door. She started jumping up and down and twirling, saying, It’s Santa Claus! It’s Santa Claus! Aunt Lynn had to open the storm door, and in came Santa Claus. You know Santa Claus: red coat and red pants with white fur cuffs; black boots; a wide, black belt with a silver buckle; long, white beard; and a funny hat. And what does Santa say? Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

Michelle was still jumping in circles. Patrick was hiding behind that same chair formerly occupied by his sister, looking like he was about to cry. He thought Santa Claus was a clown, and Patrick was terrified of clowns. Cousin Jeremy walked halfway across the room to Santa, stopped, blinked a few times, and then said in a half-shocked, half-disappointed voice, Why, it’s only Uncle Charles!

And so it was only Uncle Charles—as it had been only Uncle Charles the year before, and the year before that, and every year of Jeremy’s life—but now, for the first time, he saw the reality of what had been there all along.

Well, Santa Claus—or should we say Charlie Claus—had a big, bulky, white bag over his shoulder, and he took it down and started calling off names. There were presents for Michelle and presents for Patrick. He was able to coax Captain Courageous out from behind his chair. There were presents for Jeremy, so Jeremy coped with his new knowledge. Everyone started opening their Christmas gifts.

While this was happening, a mournful conversation was being carried out in low voices in the kitchen. Great-Grandma, Aunt Lynn, and Jeremy’s mom were grieving that Jeremy no longer believed in Santa Claus. They said things like, I guess he’s too old to believe in Santa Claus. It’s too bad. It’s a shame Jeremy doesn’t believe in Santa Claus any more. I hoped he would have believed in Santa Claus longer. It was as if they wished they themselves could still believe in Santa Claus.

However, they were missing a very important event in Jeremy’s life. Jeremy looked at what he had looked at his entire life, re-evaluated it, and came up with a different answer, and his different answer was the truth. In other words, he took a step of maturity. Uncle Charles experienced a lot of taunting by his friends because he played Santa Claus, and sometimes he would say he would never do it again; but every Christmas he put on the suit and served the children of the family. Jeremy would eventually appreciate Uncle Charles for playing Santa Claus to Jeremy’s own children much more than he had ever appreciated what he thought was the real Santa Claus.

Now, I’m not much interested in Santa Claus anymore—even though I continue to enjoy all aspects of Christmas—but I am much interested in God and who God is. I know God is not George Burns sitting at a bar smoking a cigar. God is not Morgan Freeman dressed in white in an all-white room cracking jokes with Jim Carrey—Clap on, clap off. But God is also not the God whom I sometimes hear preached from the pulpit or discussed by a Bible study group. I want to see through the clutter; I want to see through the costuming that the concept of God has acquired and all the baggage that obscures a clear picture of him. If this is your desire too, come with me as we take a journey to better understand the one true God of the universe.

CHAPTER 2

GESTALT

➢ Perception of objects is based on what you think they are.

➢ What you think about objects is based on your experiences.

➢ When you gain new experiences, your perception of objects changes.

➢ The gestalt of God needs to become a mature concept, rather than a childish one.

Open My Eyes

Open my eyes that I may see

Glimpses of truth you have for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key

That shall unclasp and set me free.

Open my ears that I may hear

Voices of truth you sendest clear,

And while the wave notes fall on my ear,

Everything false will disappear.

Open my mind that I may read

More of your love in word and deed,

What shall I fear while yet you do lead?

Only for light from you I plead.

Open my mouth, and let me bear

Gladly the warm truth everywhere,

Open my heart and let me prepare

Love with your children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready my God, your will to see,

Open my eyes/ears/mind/mouth/heart,

Illumine me, Spirit divine!

Clara H. Scott, 1895

G estalt is the German word for a pattern or a total configuration. It refers to the general quality or character of something. New experiences give new insights and lead to organizing those understandings in a new way to form a new gestalt—a new pattern or new configuration.

A gestalt is different than the sum of its pieces or parts; it often goes beyond what is merely seen or beyond the facts or data. The whole has an independent existence. For instance, you may be at the beach wading in the water and see a triangular fin sticking out of the water slowly moving towards you, but in your mind you see more than just a fin. You see a long body attached to that fin and a huge mouth full of many sharp teeth attached to that body. You see it, even though it is invisible below the water. You shout, Shark! and leave the water. It would be stupid of someone to lecture you that you hadn’t seen a shark—that all you saw was a fin. The concept of gestalt states that you see things as complete wholes rather than seeing things as individual pieces that are added together to get the whole picture.

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This picture is a classic gestalt example. It is called a Rubin vase. It shows how sometimes things change appearance depending on a person’s perspective. If you focus on the white, you see one thing. If you focus on the black, you see something entirely different. Is this a picture of a vase or a candle holder or a chess piece, or is it a picture of two people facing each other?

The word paradigm may also be helpful. A paradigm is a group of ideas about how something should be thought; it is a philosophical or theoretical framework that can help you understand, in this case, God.

Gestalt or paradigm—you chose. In any case, I believe the examples below will show you how important it is to form correct and accurate ideas about a subject, and how those ideas, once formed, come to condition your response to the subject.

Below is a picture of a common object. You might think there is only one answer to the question, what is it? But there can be many right answers depending on your experience and familiarity.

Image3jpg.jpg

Very young children might call it a doggie; doggie may be their word for any four-legged animal. They may have not yet learned to distinguish between something familiar—a dog—and other animals, or they might see the difference, but their vocabulary isn’t sufficient to describe it. Quickly they will learn to see it as a horse. Others may see it as a roan, a buckskin, a paint, or a black bay. With more experience some people may see it as a stallion or mare. More expertise may cause them to identify the breed of horse. A real expert might go beyond and study the horse’s conformation and identify the blood lines the horse is descended from—perhaps its very sire—or a person can be so familiar with the subject that they can identify the horse by name. In all cases a person would have seen the object as a whole based on past experiences.

There is more to the picture than what has been stated. The object in the foreground attracts attention, but it isn’t the only object in the picture. The picture is also a picture of a pasture with a horse in it, of a mountain in the background, and of clear sky. The obvious answer can sometimes be so strong that it causes other correct answers to be ignored or not even considered.

Each new gestalt or paradigm is based on taking past experiences, adding new experiences, knowledge, or data, and refining understanding of the object. This doesn’t