Lea Ann's Garden

A Messy Business

2012-01-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

What makes the biggest mess when it swells and bursts?

This substance can lie dormant for long periods, bubbling occasionally, but for the most part, drawing little attention to itself--until it is stirred.

Stirring causes it to inflate instantly and become toxic. It swells and explodes, coating everyone in the vicinity with its grainy slime.

This toxic substance is called pride.
Spiritual pride.

It masquerades in a thousand costumes, rarely looking the same on any two people. But it leaves a distinctive odor that becomes easier to detect the more often you see it.

There is another substance, that when added to the first, creates a reaction like adding vinegar to baking soda: instant explosion. The second substance is Truth.

You can find hidden pride easily by stirring the soul with a little Truth. Truth poured on top of spiritual pride can blast a hole in the wall.

And the explosion is usually shocking because the soul harboring the pride is rarely aware of its presence. Those harboring it have spent a lifetime renaming it, taming it, and justifying it so that when it explodes they do not recognize it.

Instead, they attack the one holding the stir stick.

God hates our pride more than anything else. It was the first sin. Satan invented it and he has been poisoning souls with it since the beginning of Man.

But we love it, don't we?

It feels good, looks pretty, plumps up our often sagging egos, and sets our minds at rest about our own worth. We can even be prideful about how humble we are, defining humility in a myriad of ways, none of which takes the shine off our mirror.

But let a little personal truth get close to it, and watch out. A word fitly spoken, a negative character trait obvious to everyone but the pride-holder, a soft rebuke...and there it goes! Old Faithful, spewing wrath and self-righteous indignation.

"Why, how dare they!"

"You take that back!"

"How dare you judge me..."

The very mouth that piteously declared its unworthiness to God that morning retorts in self-defense that afternoon. The same lips that cry, "God, I am unfit to be your servant," now cry, "How dare you insinuate that I am not perfect!"

What if we took the top off the whole mess by welcoming helpful observations from those we respect?
What if, instead of leaping into instant self-protection mode, we actually listened?
What if when we asked for an honest opinion, we actually meant it?

Think how much further along we could be in God's School of Character-building if we would actually do our lessons.

Is Your God in a Box?

2012-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

"Now what do we do with it?"

Ever work hard to get something because you are certain it will make your life better---and it turns around and bites you?

The book of I Samuel recounts the somewhat humorous story of the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant. They thought if they had that box, all their wildest dreams would come true.

They'd heard the legends. Who hadn't? The Philistine Chronicle had run front page headlines for years about those Israelites and their God. All the miracles. All the help. Winning wars when they were way outnumbered...

The Philistines had scratched their heads for years trying to figure out how to get that kind of help, and then--Low and behold!--the Israelites themselves provided the perfect opportunity.

The war wasn't going so hot for the Israelites, so they got the bright idea that what they needed was the Ark in battle with them. Notice, they didn't invite God, only his symbol. They didn't ask God's direction or humble themselves and repent. Nothing like that. All they wanted was a symbol of God. An icon. That would be good enough.

And they lost badly! Not only did they lose the battle, but the Ark was captured by the enterprising Philistines who were doing the happy-dance over their great fortune. Now all that power would be at their disposal!

If God could be contained in a box, then they were right. They would own God and the Arabs would have been fighting over the Promised Land with the Philistines all these years instead of the Israelites.

But now they had the Magic Box! Success was in their front yard. They could see the headlines now: Philistine Victory Assured!

But wherever the Ark of the Covenant came to rest, the whole town broke out in boils. Suddenly, each town couldn't pass it on fast enough. They played Hot Potato with the Ark until the plague had infected the last city and the leaders started screaming at each other. "We don't want it! What do we do with it? Please, somebody...take it back!"

They finally sent it back to Israel on an ox cart and the Israelites were so delighted to see it that they promptly (choose one)

a. bowed down and worshiped God.

b.repented of their sins on the spot.

c. ripped open the sacred Ark and gawked at the contents.

If you guessed other than C, you need to read I Samuel 4-6. Seventy arrogant Israelites took it upon themselves to peek inside, directly contrary to the stated law of God---and God took their lives for their insolent disobedience. Apparently, they'd all gotten it wrong about the Magic Box. The power was not theirs to contain or to use for their own purposes.

Now, the question to you: Where is your God?

In our sophisticated Christianized culture, it's popular to admit that you believe in God. Sounds nice. Sound like you're spiritual and deep. And as long as you don't get specific about Who this God is, most people respect you for it.

But do you ever substitute an icon for the real presence of God?

You can see it when others do it, but what about you?

Do you go through your Christianized ritual and call it following God?

Do you give a glance at your daily Bible reading, offer a desperate prayer to the ceiling when you're in trouble, show up at church when you're supposed to...and wonder why in spite of your clear devotion, plague infects your life?

After all, the Magic Box is in your possession. So, why isn't it working?

We have whitewashed examples of icon-worship sitting on the street corners of every western city. "I'll go inside this special building, light a candle, talk to the preacher/priest/rabbi, toss an extra bill in the offering plate and maybe I'll get the power of God back in my life."

God cannot be contained in a box, in a church building, or within the stuffy confines of man's ideology. When we try to use Him for our personal gain, as did both the Philistines and the Israelites, it is to our detriment. We're put on this earth for God's glory and pleasure---not the other way around.

So where is your God? Are you trying to keep him confined to only certain days of the week or specific areas of your life? Do you think of him as your personal genie who's not always reliable?

Take a lesson from I Samuel.

God is not mocked. Just ask the moaning, boil-covered Philistines or the widows of the seventy arrogant Israelites. There is no Magic Box. There is no substitute for the awesome presence of the Living God working wonders within a repentant heart.

Would you really want there to be?

Second Hand

2012-01-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

The table is set. Dinner smells delicious!

You slide into your chair and a filled plate is set before you.

You stare, then lean closer. "Uhh...what is this?"

Your hostess raises a brow. "What's wrong?"

"Well...it's all...it's chewed already? Is this already chewed up?"

"Yeah. So? I thought you'd like it better like that. Less work for your jaws. I can tell you what it tasted like. You don't have to taste it yourself. Meat's kinda tough. I really had to work that over good. But now you can just swallow it down and be back at work quicker. I know how busy you are. Same difference. Same food. "

You scoot your chair backward, still staring at the pile of pre-chewed food. "No it's not! It's not the same at all. I don't want your opinion on it, or your spit! Never mind. I'll go eat my own food."

Are you wrinkling your nose at the thought?

Imagine if all you ate was someone else's pre-chewed food. All the flavor and texture would be gone. Nothing but chilly puree left for you. Sound appetizing?

What about spiritual food?

Most of us are content to swallow the opinions of others who've actually been with God and been fed by the Holy Spirit. Instead of spending quality time with God Himself, we read self-help books, take copious notes during the sermon, and even listen to pod-casts of our favorite speakers. We gulp second-hand food without ever pulling up to the feast God has prepared for us alone.

And we wonder what's wrong.

Second-hand spirituality is rarely satisfying. We grow anemic and wonder why we never quite caught on to that whole "communion with God" idea.

There is no substitute for one-on-one communication with God through his Word and prayer. Hearing about someone else's relationship with him may be mildly encouraging, but it has little to offer you personally. It would be like hearing a description of your spouse from someone who knew him, rather than actually getting to know him yourself. No comparison.

Look back over the past couple of weeks. Have you been substituting a second-hand God for the real thing? Maybe it's time to change your diet.
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Great Idea!

2012-01-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

Do you have an attic full of them? A drawer or a basement?

Those projects that seemed like such a good idea at the time. They now sit half-finished, abandoned, dollars and effort wasted. Discouragement was the main outcome.

Good, spiritual-sounding ideas are touted in nearly every church as though taught in some obscure book behind the map of Paul's journeys: "We're gonna do great things for God! We're gonna start a class, create a committee, host an event, build a building...We're gonna take this town for God!"

The enthused get more enthused and the hesitant feel guilty. After all, who wants to come right out and oppose something "for God?" Can't argue with the genuine motives or the righteous intent. If it has "God" stamped all over it, it must thrill him too. Right?

You would think that, wouldn't you?

But a little episode in I Chronicles 17 jerks us up short and makes us reconsider exactly what it is that God wants.

King David had a great idea. He had his feet up the Lazy-Boy, a glass of Bethlehem water in his hand, and as he glanced around his luxurious mansion, he had a sudden thought: "How can I sit in my awesome house when the Lord doesn't have a permanent house? What was I thinking? I'd better get busy!"

Even Nathan the prophet thought it was a great idea.

I did too, when I read about it.

But God didn't like it.

Verses 3-6 say, "The word of the Lord came to Nathan the prophet and said...'Have I asked you to build me a house?' "

Sometimes what we think are great ideas, are not. God has other ideas, but if we never stop to ask him, how will we know? David learned it was never safe to assume.

God's plan was better:
He wanted to build the house in David.

We get excited about external indications that we are "working for God," when maybe God is not a bit excited about it. We wear ourselves out serving, building, teaching, going, without ever sitting before the Lord, as David did later in the chapter. If he'd done that first, he could have saved himself the disappointment of having his idea nixed by God.

When will we get it through our hearts that God is far more interested in who we are than in what we can accomplish in his name? He wants to do the work through us, to build his temple inside our lives, live his life through ours. But most of the time, we like our ideas better, because we have something to show for them. We can PROVE we serve God, just look!

Are you trying to build a work for God that he never asked for?

Maybe he'd rather do the building. Why don't you ask him?

The Window Gazer

2012-01-14T03:42:00.000-08:00

She pressed her face closer to the window and smiled. It was almost like being there.

The spotless plate glass stretched for an entire city block and when she cupped her hands around her eyes she could see everything inside.

The reception was in full swing: evening gowns, tuxedos, waiters with silver trays. Thin strains of music drifted through the open door and over the sounds of the traffic behind her. Savory aromas coming from the white-covered banquet table tantalized her senses. Except for the fact that her growling stomach couldn't sample the food, it was almost like being there. If she stood here long enough, she might even forget that she wasn't really one of them.

Too many people are living this experience when it comes to knowing God.

They go through the motions, model the Christian behaviors they see in others, listen to the right preachers, say the right things, and convince themselves that they are really children of God.

But something's wrong and they know it.
Deep inside, where they fear to look,
they know it.

They dabble at the edges of Christianity, assuming that what they have is all there is. They look like everyone else, talk like everyone else, and build their lives around church activities. They've completed what they believe are the entrance requirements to the Christian Club: talking to the preacher, praying, being baptized, attending church.

They are vaguely aware that there are some who seem to really "get into it"--an experience they find curiously unappealing--but assume those are the oddball minorities.

But they've never walked through the door.

Mimicking the talk and actions of the Christians you know makes no impression on God. He is well aware of who is inside and who is still on the sidewalk pretending. His invitation extends to every seeker. All are invited to his reception, but you have to come through the door.

Jesus said, "I am the door." (John 10:9)

There is no window. No back door. No crawl space.

We come through that door at the cross where we exchange our old life for his righteous one. We can't come on our own terms. It's the exchange where you get your tuxedo. You won't feel comfortable inside without one.

Are you inside? Or have you spent your life pretending that you were?

God knows the difference, and deep down, so do you.

What are you waiting for? You have your invitation. Step away from the window and walk through the door.
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Are You Ready for Fame?

2012-01-10T13:01:00.000-08:00

How would you like to be famous for tragedy?

What if your claim to fame was how much catastrophe you had endured? Few of us hope to make the Guinness Book for greatest number of horrific tragedies within a 24-hour period.

But that 's what we think of when we hear the name Job.

It's too bad, really. From all accounts, he was a fantastic guy. Town benefactor and beloved father of a dozen. (The wife was a little on the witchy side, but that just made everyone respect him all the more.)

So what happened?

He caught Satan's attention.

We need to be aware of the three things in Job's life that brought such unwanted attention, because if we follow his example, we are primed for it too.

1. First, he had the favor of God.
God's favor is a lavish feast. He loves to shower it on the ones who love him back. Despite what has been taught by many, God is not an grouchy ogre with morning breath. He is a loving Father, delighted with his children's attempts to love him back. He can't wait to catch them when they fall down, coach them to get better at it, and cheer every attempt. Job's righteous lifestyle had caught God's attention and God poured out blessing on him.

But it also caught Satan's attention and he set out to destroy it.

If you are seeking God's will in everything, following him with all you have, and are experiencing the favor of God, look over your shoulder. Someone else has noticed and will do whatever he can to knock the blessing out of you.

2. Job also had influence.
He was a well-respected leader and others looked to him for advice and example. When we are in positions of influence, Satan sharpens his claws. He knows that by defeating us, he can also take out a plethora of others who look to us as a source of wisdom.

If you are in a place of influence--whether family, church, community or nation--you are a target of your enemy. It should not catch us by surprise when the big ones fall. Satan has spent extra attention setting snares for them because he loves the domino effect. If he can get to Dad, the kids come too. If he can get the pastor, the church splits. He goes for those who have earned a sphere of influence, so if that's you, tighten your armor.

3. Job thought he understood God.
As many of us do, he had settled into a sortof give-and-take with the Almighty that he thought would continue to infinity. We like contracts. We like lists that show us exactly what we can expect for the money.

We do that with God, too. The problem is that God is not into contracts and lists. He is God. Period. He can do whatever He wants to and it's still right. We get ourselves into trouble when we begin to expect that God owes us something because of our list-keeping.

Understanding God is not the same as trusting God. Understanding insists that God explain himself to my satisfaction. Trusting takes him at his word and believes that no matter what my circumstances may look like, God is good and he loves me.

When we set our sights on pleasing God, we can expect to become a target of our enemy. It just goes with the territory. God's protection is sufficient. God's plan is best, but it can take us through some pretty rocky ground where it doesn't appear that God is for us.

If you've lived for God the best you know how and you are going through unprecedented tragedy, take a deep breath and look at Job. You're in good company. God never forgot him for a moment.

He hasn't forgotten you either.
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A Letter Home

2012-01-06T17:34:00.001-08:00

Dear Father,

I went shopping today.

I used to like shopping. I used to like a lot of things I no longer care about. Adding to my stash of worldly goods just doesn't seem to be a big deal any more. You have provided everything I need. All I want. Well, everything except what I'm about to ask you.

From the Goodwill store to the mall, shopping has become an immersion in worldly sewage that leaves me feeling like I need a shower. It's not the act of shopping. It's the world I must shop in. I don't want to be judgmental, Lord, I know you love them too. But most of the time I feel like I've been dropped in from another planet.

The obese lesbians couldn't have been more than 20 years old, standing in front of me in line, buying men's clothing. The harshness in their features made me want to cry.

The anorexic, multi-pierced sales clerk couldn't get off her cell phone long enough to answer my question. Apparently loud discussion wither her baby-daddy about last week's partying couldn't wait. I prayed for her. Was that enough?

And the music. Oh, Father. I can hardly stand it. The stores aren't selling clothing anymore. They are selling sex. Sensuality. Lust. As if the naked posters aren't enough, the lyrics have to groan out exactly what will happen if you buy these skanky clothes. And the 13-year-olds are lapping it up.

The clothing makes me blush and they are still on the hanger. Clothes that a decade ago were worn only for working prostitutes are now being bought by the mothers of preteens. "We want little Julie to be popular!" Why does a latex, sequined mini skirt and matching bra come in a preteen size? Or a teen size, for that matter. What's wrong with people?

The security guards roamed everywhere, eying us all like the potential criminals we are. And why not steal? Current morality says if I don't get caught, it isn't wrong. They have to make sure we get caught. It's like a game. May the sneakiest win.

The effeminate male who giggled loudly as he teased a clerk by grabbing her breast turned out to be the manager. I guess his sexual preference left her nothing to worry about, but it made me sick. I couldn't get out of that store fast enough.

Which brings me to the point of my letter. This world reeks. I am flat sick of it. The glittery baubles and trinkets hold no interest for me. The hardness of the hearts, the lust for more evil, the never-ending push for deeper depravity makes me physically ill. I want out.

I am so homesick for you and home I can hardly stand it. The only thing that keeps me going sometimes is the knowledge that you understand. Jesus was here. He knows. He felt this way too. Covered in this world's raw sewage, he pressed on until he had done everything you'd sent him to do.

And then, I notice he didn't stick around any longer than he had to.

So that's what I'm asking for. I want to come home. The minute my job is finished, let's go. I don't want to stick around either. Please give me the strength to finish everything you sent me here to do, and then get me out of here. Keep me faithful to my last breath. I refuse to quit before you say, "Time's up," but I won't be sorry when I hear that sound.

Father, I miss you. I want to come home. How much longer?

Love,
Your Daughter

Message for 2012

2012-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

Carrier pigeons.
Pony Express.
Telegrams.
E-mail.
Texting.

We have discovered hundreds of ways to deliver messages. From smoke signals sent across the camp to satellite conference calls sent across the globe, humans know how to communicate. Where did we get that knowledge? Where do we get that urge?

The need to communicate lies intrinsic in each human heart, and it also lies in God's heart. History is filled with his communication to mankind as a whole and to individuals as needed. From the rhythm of the changing seasons to the written scriptures, God is always communicating to those who take the time to listen.

I love it when God gives me a direct and personal message, as he's done for the past few weeks. It finally became clear last night that this is his New Year's Vow to me and it thrills me to know He wanted me to know that.

For the past few weeks, the word "shield" has been woven into scriptures, songs, random wall hangings, etc. Daily devotionals were about it. New songs downloaded had that phrase. The theme just keeps repeating until even I get it.

"The Lord God is a sun and shield...No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Ps. 84:11

"You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head." Ps. 3:3

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped..." Ps. 28:7

There it was again last night, in a random Bible search for something else:

"Do not be afraid, I am a shield to you..." Gen. 15:1.

That one finally turned the light on.

"This is for me, isn't it, Lord? This is what you want me to hold on to this year. I don't know yet what I need to be shielded from, and the thought bothers me a bit, but I believe you. I trust you. Nothing can harm me because You will shield me and I am supposed to hang on to this."

God always gives his promises ahead of time so when something hits, we are prepared. He doesn't want us to feel alone or abandoned when life puts on its boxing gloves. He wants us to dwell in His secret place, abide in His shadow, so that His shield can cover us.

A shield is not an offensive weapon. It represents safety in the middle of conflict. When the Apostle Paul warns us in Ephesians 6 to "stand firm," he didn't mean stand there and take it. He meant not to lose our footing while God's shield covers us during enemy attacks.

The presence of a shield does not ensure peace and harmony, but did does promise that no matter what lies ahead in 2012, God has already got it--and me--covered.

Has God sent you a special message for 2012? Ask Him for one. He's a great communicator.
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God's Battle Plan

2012-01-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

We beg and plead. We pray and fast.

We would rather die than admit it, but despite all our showy attempts to connect with God in the midst of a personal war, we're still as weak as newborn kittens.

What's wrong? Where is the power of God? Why are we still gripped with fear, faint with worry, and terrified of what's ahead?

We've done all we know to do and it seems that God has lost interest in our affairs.
That's when many lose interest in Him.

But there is a principle sprinkled liberally throughout scripture that is often greatly overlooked. We ignore it to our peril.

In these 3 illustrations, see if you can find the secret.

In 2 Kings 3:15, an evil king had come to the prophet Elisha to seek advice. This man was so repulsive to Elisha that he could hardly stand to be in his presence. He could not hear from God in his emotional distress, but he knew what to do.

"But now bring me a minstrel,” he said. "And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him."

Did you see it? The secret is buried in there.

When King Saul had gotten too big for his britches, pride took over and the power of God left him. The Bible calls it "an evil spirit from the Lord." (I Sam. 16) The only thing that calmed him was when David played upon his harp. Verse 23 says that "Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him."

Okay, keep going...

When King Jehoshaphat was told that a great army was coming against the nation of Israel, he was rightly concerned. They were outnumbered, outfoxed, and under-equipped. But the Lord reminded him, "The battle is not yours, it is the Lord's." (2 Chron. 20:15)

Rather than order bigger tanks, more grenades, and fancy soldiers, Jehoshaphat listened and believed the Lord. "You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf." (v.17)

Now, notice his odd battle plan: "He appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, 'Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.'” (v.21)

Do you see the theme?

The key to spiritual power, the key to God's heart, is musical worship.

But don't we try everything else?

When we're down, locked in panic mode, engulfed in depression or fear, we want to do everything else but worship. We cry and pray, pound heaven's gates with closed fists, pay extra attention to our outwardly Christian duties and hope God is sufficiently impressed.

But worship? Really worship? Lay ourselves aside, our needs, our wants, our agenda and just worship God as He is right at that moment? Before he's indicated how this situation is going to resolve? It goes against everything inside us. It also goes against everything satanic inside us.

Satan cannot stand our worship and God cannot resist it.

When we worship God in spirit and in truth we shake a fist in Satan's face. Darlene Zscheche of Hillsong says, "Worship in the midst of a trial is a proclamation that what Satan intended to harm you will not plunder you."

Are you in the middle of a storm? Have you rattled heaven's gates in vain?

Try shoving all that aside and seek God's face. Worship him with music and singing, simply because He is worthy of worship at all times.

It's not a ploy, an attempt to flatter God and twist his arm. It's because there is power in praise. It pushes aside the darkness, opens prison doors, and sends the demons fleeing.

The battle is the Lord's. He fights the Enemy with your worship.
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Happy New Year

2011-12-30T07:54:00.000-08:00

Ever known a REAL Uncle Rico? That former high school football star who still thinks it's 1982? All he can talk about are the great plays he maneuvered, the wins he accomplished, the hero-status he basked in. Those were his glory days and he's never moved past them.

Even sadder are the ones who can't stand to look at the past because of the shame. Is this you? That one mistake, that series of bad choices, that hated person from years ago that you see in the mirror no matter how hard you try to run?

The past. Too often it refuses to stay there. It either inflates an ego that no longer deserves the boost, or it continues to stab an identity that needs redefining. Neither is a healthy option.

As with most issues, God has something to say about the past. The Apostle Paul writes,

"forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14)

No matter what your past holds, whether pride or pain, it is the past. Let it go. It no longer counts. Give it to Jesus and move on. Last year's failings are forgotten at the foot of the cross. Yesterday's triumphs no longer matter. It is today you are responsible for.

Let Philippians 3 be your New Year's Resolution, and press on toward the prize.

Happy New Year!

Quite Puzzling

2011-12-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

I love jigsaw puzzles.

My mom loved them and taught me to love them. I find them relaxing. Usually in the winter or in hot summer months, I have one going all the time.

Every now and then, as I rummage through the box of pieces, I find a piece that doesn't seem to fit. A splash of color I can find nowhere in the picture on the box. An odd shape or size unlike the rest of the pieces. It keeps popping up as I continue my search through the box and becomes almost like an uninvited guest.

I even start to imagine it doesn't belong to my puzzle. Maybe there was an earthquake at the puzzle factory and this piece hopped over into my box from the adjacent assembly line. Maybe somebody threw this piece in here from another puzzle. I'm almost tempted to throw it out, convinced it doesn't belong.

But sure enough, at some point--sometimes right at the end---that piece fits perfectly and without it, the puzzle would be incomplete.

Often we are faced with life events that don't seem to fit the picture. A child dies. A marriage collapses. The unthinkable diagnosis is spoken aloud and you recoil. No. It doesn't fit.

We want to throw it away, convinced it will mar the perfect picture our life was supposed to become. And we can, if we choose to. We can retreat into denial, grow angry at God, or react in self-harming ways.

We can choose to reject that piece that doesn't fit with our interpretation of the photo on the box. But when we do, we risk marring the picture that the Creator had in mind. Our lives continue with a hole that was never meant to be there, incomplete somehow, and we don't understand why.

Do you have one of those odd-shaped pieces floating around in your box? Does it irritate you every time you unearth it? Are you convinced that it doesn't belong in your puzzle?

Before you decide to throw it away, reconsider the picture on the box. Could it be there is a spot just perfect for it? Could it be that the One who promised to work everything for the good knows what He is doing?

We can choose to work the puzzle the way we think it's supposed to go, or we can trust the One who put the pieces in the box. We haven't seen the finished picture yet, so it's too soon to throw anything away.

There was no earthquake in Heaven when the Designer created your puzzle. All the pieces fit. You'll be glad you kept it when you finally see the finished picture.
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Another Chance

2011-12-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

If anyone had ever felt like a failure it was Pete.

His grandiose words of a few days ago echoed in his ears like cruel taunts: "I'll even die for you!" he had proclaimed with enough bravado to sink a boat.

Now the memory sank his heart. He'd been so sure this time. So certain that this was his life's calling. The Teacher from Nazareth had swept him away, convinced him that he was destined for greatness. He'd never been a part of anything so grand. Him. Pete! A nobody who smelled like dead fish. And the Teacher, the exalted Rabbi had chosen him as a companion. It had taken him months just to get the reality through his head.

There had been a time when he believed he would die for this cause. For this Man.

Then he'd had the chance.

Shame washed over him as he scrubbed his fishing nets a little harder. Fishing. He'd thought he was finished with fishing. These last three years had changed him, but apparently not enough. What a jerk! What a loser! Just when he'd had the chance to prove his braggadocios words, he'd tucked tail and run. What a coward.

He was almost glad the Teacher was dead. That last look of compassion was enough to finish Pete off. The Teacher had known about Pete's failure. He'd heard!

And that look... It was bad enough that Pete would have to face himself in the mirror every day. At least he wouldn't have to gaze into the disappointed eyes of the friend he'd betrayed.

A shout, and then John was running down the bank toward him, leaving dust clouds in his wake. He groaned and scrubbed harder. Not John again. The faithful one. The one who'd actually stuck it out. Stood there and watched the whole violent mess. Just hearing his voice brought it all back with a sickening rush to the stomach.

"...said..." John couldn't catch his breath. "...to-to tell us...and you.."

Pete rose stiffly and wiped his sweating face with the back of a hairy arm. "Slow down. What?"

John shuddered to a stop before him, gasping. "An angel! Really! A real one! He said...said, 'Go tell the disciples... and Peter...that he is risen! He rose, Pete! Just like he said he would!"

A trembling began somewhere inside Pete's soul. It wasn't even the word "risen." Somehow he should have known about that, if he'd been paying more attention. It was the other word, that phrase that made hot tears spring to his eyes.

"Say...say it again." He swallowed hard. "This angel...who'd he say to tell?"

John grinned in that knowing way he had. John always seemed to catch on before anybody else. "Yeah, that's exactly what he said: 'Tell the disciples...and Peter.' He specifically mentioned you."

A wave of nausea washed over Peter and he sank back on his haunches. "He did. He said that?"

The disciples. And Peter.

He knew. He knew Peter no longer considered himself one of them. Was no longer worthy of the honor. Even in death, the Teacher was thinking about everyone else.

So that's what that last look had meant. It wasn't disappointment. It was forgiveness.

Peter inhaled sharply as he stood and threw the nets aside. "Okay then."

Hope rushed through his being like warm spring water. Like he'd taken a first breath after three days without oxygen. He smiled through his crusty beard for the first time in days and clapped John hard on the shoulder.

"Okay then. Let's gather the other guys and go see this angel!" (Mark 16:7)

Have you failed God? Your friends? Yourself?

That look God is giving you is not disappointment. It's forgiveness.
He's calling you by name.

He's the God of another chance.
.

Make a Wish

2011-12-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

I wish I may, I wish I might...

I wish upon a star!

How we'd love to have a pocket genie who'd grant us three wishes. Or four. Or five...

Wishing is universal. Our hearts long for things, for events, for people that are beyond our reach. When we lack the power to make something happen, we wish anyway.

Have you ever felt guilty about wishing? As though unrequited longings were not spiritual? A sign of not trusting God?

This post should make you feel better.

I found an interesting phrase in Luke 12:49. Jesus is finishing a long teaching seminar and apparently out of the blue, he blurts, "I was sent here to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it was already kindled!"

Notice the words: How I wish.

Did you ever think about Jesus having unfulfilled wishes?

Did you ever picture a young Jesus lying in bed at night, gazing at the stars and wishing things could be different? Wishing he'd come in a different era when crucifixions were not in vogue. Wishing his disciples would get a clue. Wishing this trek on earth was over. Wishing people would pay attention.

We understand that God's will is not always accomplished in the rebellious hearts of men, but we picture His angst in a vague, spiritual sort of way. How could God really get all that emotional over it? After all, He's God.

Jesus puts a voice to it. His humanness wished hard, just like ours does. Maybe he closed his eyes and held his breath. Maybe he crossed his fingers. Maybe he wished upon a falling star. (If the wish didn't come true, did he make another star fall?)

For the first time in history, God was constrained by TIME. What Jesus wished for would eventually come to pass, but his human flesh felt the urgency, the ache that we feel when something we long for is still a long ways off.

What do you wish for?

It's okay. You're not disappointing God. He has wishes too. Go ahead and wish together.
.

What the World Needs Now...

2011-12-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

LOVE--
.......LOVE--
..............LOVE--

Love has been a popular topic for years. It seems to grow more popular as the world gets uglier, holding center stage even in American politics.

The social liberals claim ownership of it and point to their peace marches and protests, as though shouted reminders to "Save the Whales" and "End Poverty Now" were giant steps to fulfilling those goals.

Social conservatives bristle at the accusations that their policies are unloving and point to their soup kitchens and orphanages as proof. They kiss a few babies, write a few checks, and stick their tongues out at the radicals.

"See?" everyone claims. "See how loving we are? See how much we do for the less fortunate? We're the true humanitarians, the true followers of Jesus, because we LOVE everyone."

OK. Let's cut through the crap and be real for a minute.

None of us are all that loving. No, seriously. We're not. We love ourselves. We love admiration. We even love the warm feeling that comes from helping someone else. We love feeling a part of something bigger, feeling that our lives matter, knowing that our benevolence puts us a couple of steps ahead of the self-absorbed materialist.

Even during those rare selfless moments when we would throw ourselves in front of a moving train for a total stranger, even when we are most impressed with our selflessness, we are aware that this exalted attitude may not come again anytime soon.

The bottom line is that we are all self-centered to the core. Even our benevolence has a selfish ring to it. Somewhere underneath our apparent generosity lies a me-first mentality that easily masquerades as self-abasement.

When I am asked why I spend hours upon hours pouring my life and my time into people who are not necessarily thankful for my effort, the questioner often assumes it is because I love people.

They are wrong. I do not love people.

And even if I did, my selfish efforts to love them would fall flat and wear out because, frankly, sometimes people are not lovable. And frankly, many times I am not lovable. If I had to rely upon my inherent love for people in order to continue counseling them, I would have burned out long ago. Probably would've stopped after my first walk-out. Or maybe after the first client cussed me out.

I am convinced that when we focus on our own ability--or lack of it--to love others, we will remain dismally discouraged. Or fake it.

I don't spend 20-30 unpaid hours a week on people who can never do anything for me because I love them so much. I do it because I love God so much. And he loves them. And he has asked me to and I cannot do enough for him.

I'm not legalistically working to earn his favor, hoping to impress him, or trying to balance out my failings. That would put me back in the selfishness camp. I'm passionately in love with God and want to bring him pleasure. Period. That alone is the only basis upon which we can serve selflessly without burnout.

That is why Scripture urges us to "keep our eyes on Jesus, the author of our faith." (Heb. 12:2) When we rely on our efforts to right the world's wrongs, our efforts are a house of cards. One stiff blow knocks us flat. Discouraged. Disillusioned, we quit, angrier than we started.

Human love can only go so far. The world is crying for more than that. The beggar's stomach is now full, but what about his heart? Does he have purpose in life? Meaning for his existence? The cripple may be warm, but is his heart still cold? Maybe we prolonged someone's earthly life, but did we offer them eternal life?

When Jesus fed, healed, consoled, and raised the dead, it was always for a greater purpose. Some teach that he only came to right the world's wrongs, but they're not looking closely enough. Every act of benevolence was a building block upon which he stood to proclaim the greater message:

God wants a relationship with you.
I'm here to tell you how to find it.

We may make a lot of noise, but our offers of help usually come with a self-centered agenda. Unless we focus on the worthiness of God and serve the people he loves because we love him, our attempts tend to take on a militant, self-righteous tinge.

Trying to love the world in our own strength, without offering that greater message, is not love at all.

.

Is There Room at the Top?

2011-12-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

What a day!

Every Hebrew who could walk was out on the mountain, watching the impossible.

The only prophet of God's, who had slipped through the murderous fingers of Queen Jezebel, was calling for a showdown. Bring the popcorn. What a show!

The exalted prophets of Baal were gonna take on crazy ol' Elijah and they were always good for a show.

Which gods would win? Didn't really matter. Bets were going both ways. Let the best god win!

The Baal staff did not disappoint; dancing, shrieking, cutting themselves from morning till late afternoon. They used their best tricks, their most powerful incantations. Had to cover the kids' ears every now and then, but well worth charging admission.

Every eye in the crowd darted toward Elijah at some point. Was he impressed? Was he ready to call it a day? Would he do something equally spectacular?

He slouched against a rock, cleaning his nails with a piece of straw. "Yell a little louder, guys!" he taunted. "Maybe ol' Baal is on vacation."

The crowd grew restless. After a few hours of this, the thrill wore off. What was wrong? Why wasn't fire coming down to meet Elijah's challenge?

When the bloodied dance recital finally ended and Elijah took the stage, God dropped his H-bomb. Fire engulfed the sacrifice and fear engulfed the masses.

The story in I Kings 18 is familiar, but there is a little tidbit that often goes unnoticed.

In verse 21, Elijah asks the people: “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”

Notice that he did NOT say that they had totally rejected the LORD God. They had merely added others alongside him. They were all for leaving a little altar to the God of Israel--right next to the temple of the Asherah and the high places of Baal.

And we do that every day.

We think that we can offer the LORD God a portion of our lives and he will be satisfied with that. The rest of life is ours to do with as we please. The other portions of ourselves we can devote to friends, hobbies, jobs, dreams and our pet vices. We fool ourselves into believing that God wants to be "a part of our lives." We even preach and teach it.

The Israelites of Elijah's day would beg to differ. They had thought that too: "As long as we acknowledge God, we can chase other things too. No sense totally ignoring our culture and the customs around us. He won't mind. "

He does mind.

Your showing up at church on Sunday does not impress him.
Your reluctant effort toward Bible reading and prayer is just another version of Baal's dance recital.
The eagerness with which you glance at your watch halfway through the sermon versus the eagerness with which you flip on the football game an hour later does not go unnoticed by God.
The delight of your heart cannot be masked. God knows when your delight is not Him.

Elijah's challenge still rings in the air:
Who is God in your life?

If Jehovah is God, then worship and serve him. Build your entire life around bringing him honor and glory. Dedicate everything you do to his purposes.

But if that turns you cold, then quit pretending. Go ahead, chase your personal dreams, make your excuses, keep playing the church game and pretending.

But don't be surprised when fire falls from heaven and consumes it all.

.

Shiver Time

2011-12-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

I'm always cold.

I shiver like a Chihuahua all winter.
Even in summertime, they keep the restaurants and stores at such low temperatures that I have to bring a sweater in July.

The room I use for counseling also has a rebellious heating system. It's either too hot or too cold, so I've learned to bring my little heater/fan. It stays in my car so it's available whenever I might need it. One flick blows out air; flick it the other way and it's a heater.

As you could probably guess, I'm also a sun-seeker. The minute spring warms the air, I'm outside soaking it up. Give me a book, a lawn chair, and 80 degrees and I'm good.

Maybe that's why Psalm 84:11 appeals to me so much. "The Lord God is a sun and shield...no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly."

I love the idea of God warming me all the way through. As I lift my face to his brilliance, he he warms me from the inside out until I'm not shaking anymore. Just like my multi-purpose fan, he not only warms, but he protects me from too much heat.

He is so in-tune with my needs that he knows when the trials are too much. Like a good sun-block, he guards me from overheating. He's a shield against damage and harm.

Isn't it interesting that the Psalmist coupled those two ideas when he described God? He's both a sun and a shield.

Is your heart cold?

Is your life overheating?

Plug in to God. He knows exactly what temperature you need.

.

Which Crowd Are You In?

2011-12-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

The polls are up. The polls are down.

The political candidate is everyone's darling until he isn't.

And it's anyone's guess when the winds will change.

The celebrity is the hottest thing going one day and the next, he can't get a movie part anywhere.

We each like to think of ourselves as beyond that kind of fickleness, but are we? Who are those people answering the polls? Maybe you are more gullible than you think.

Have you ever wondered which crowd you would have been in
the day Jesus was put on trial?

Before you take a side, be honest with yourself. Everyone from Oprah to the President likes to speak in respectful tones about the great prophet Jesus and how wise he was. What a good teacher, an excellent role model. It's hard to find anyone who will openly state they hate Jesus and everything he stood for.

Then who were those people crying out for his murder?

Were they kooks carted in from the asylum? Were they aliens from Mars?

Of course not. They were the same people who had waved palm branches a few days before. Now they waved sticks and swords. They hadn't heard about all that role model stuff. This guy said he was God and he had to be stopped.

The reality is that we see with 20/20 hindsight. We understand now how the story ended and we want to be sure we're on the right side. But what about then?

If you had walked those same dusty streets, heard his confusing sermons, puzzled over a parable or two, and then heard the leaders you respected calling the Nazarene a troublemaker, what would you have done? Those guys were smarter than you; they knew the Scriptures. If they said he was crazy, then would that be good enough for you?

There were four options that day.
The options haven't changed.

First, there were the ones who'd been whipped into a frenzy and were actively calling for his death. They were angry. Felt betrayed by the whole King of the Jews thing. He'd made fools of them and they'd gone along with it, but no more. No sir. They'd put things to rights and he'd never make claims like that again. No one was God unless they decided he was God. And God would do things their way. Whoever shouted the loudest had to be right.

Then there were the disinterested masses. Most people couldn't care less. Another criminal being crucified. Ho-hum, so what? Not worth missing the Jerusalem vs. Bethlehem stickball tournament. Maybe he was who he said he was. Maybe not. Couldn't work up a care either way. The free food was nice, but it was probably a trick. There will be another "Messiah" come along any day. Unless he was handing out freebies, they wouldn't bother.

The ones we shy away from identifying with are the disciples. When things got scary, they all fled. The very ones who had just finished an argument about who was the greatest in God's kingdom didn't wait around to see it come. Religion was fine when it was popular, but when everything turned upside down, they took off.

The last group is the one we all like to imagine we would have been a part of, but would we? The stragglers who followed the cross and the bloodied ex-hero up the hill were under no illusions. Their world had come crashing down. They'd put faith in this man and his claims. They still loved him, even if he turned out to be a nut. With every step, their dreams died a little more. There would be no turning this around. Maybe they'd misunderstood, but they loved him anyway. They would rather follow a bloody defeated Jesus than have no Jesus at all. However this turned out, they were there for him and wanted him to know it.

So put yourself in AD 33 . Slip on some sandals, a robe, and an attitude. Where would you have been?

Whichever crowd you would have been a part of then,
you are still a part of.

Your answer makes all the difference in the world: Which crowd are you in?
.

Hey, Angel

2011-11-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

We all have our own ideas of what we think heaven will be like.

Everyone mentions meeting relatives who died years ago, Bible characters, and
of course Jesus. We picture glad-handing a disciple or two, hugging Grandpa, and meeting children who died before birth.

But have you ever thought about the other creatures who will be present?

Several places in the Bible describe heavenly creatures that are as hard for the writer to explain as they are for us to fathom. Frankly, they don't sound all that warm and cuddly, but they're there and their purpose will only be understood when we are there too.

Have you ever thought about the fun of meeting angels who already know you?

After I'm finally finished hugging Jesus (if such a time comes), I look forward to meeting the angelic messengers who protected and ministered to me on earth. We know God gives his angels instructions to guard and care for his children, so imagine the stories they can tell!

The burly one who threw himself in front of the speeding 18-wheeler that night you were driving home from college. He barely missed you and your heart didn't stop pounding for the next 50 miles. You kinda wondered even back then...

The fast one who raced down the hill in time to stop your baby before he got to the street. The angel stood between baby and the street and you always wondered why the baby had suddenly stopped crawling, sat up, and laughed at the sky. Won't it be fun to meet the reason?

The gentle one who nudged the bank officer's hand into signing the loan, even with a frown on his face. "Don't know why I'm doing this..." he'd growled. Won't it be fun to find out the real reason he did it? He might enjoy finding out too.

The host of them who stood around you, holding you as you cried out that life wasn't worth it and you were ready to end it all. For some reason, you didn't. You've always been glad. Won't you be thrilled when you can thank them?

Angels are never to be worshiped. They are the first ones to correct that nonsense. But I can't wait to meet the ones who have been personally involved in caring for me during my journey on this earth. I want to thank them for being obedient to God and kind to me.

Which ones will you want to thank?

Lead On, Sisters!

2011-11-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

"You go, Girl!"

Women rule!

Since the Garden of Eden, women have loved to take charge. We love to forge ahead into new ideas, new ways of doing things, new horizons.

It is true that "the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world." From Timothy's mother in the New Testament to the mother of Saddam Hussein, women have had a far greater impact on the world than probably even we understand.

But there is a new trend that does not speak well for women in leadership. As a counselor I am encountering this trend at an alarming rate.

We are familiar with the old pattern of a disgruntled husband and father leaving his family for another woman. It is sad, but familiar. What is not so familiar, but becoming so, is when the mother leaves.

Over and over again I hear the same story: a middle-aged wife and mother suddenly decides she is not "fulfilled" and "wants her freedom." She leaves a stunned husband and sobbing children to go "live her life." In defiance, she sets her jaw and declares that she has given her best years to this family and deserves "a life."

When asked to define this "life," she is hard-put to do so. She doesn't need to define it. It is the unspoken truth in the room. She has decided that monogamy is no longer fulfilling and she wants to "live on the edge." She is taking her life and the lives of those she promised to cherish and trading it all for a self-focused existence with no boundaries.

We shouldn't be surprised. The book of Romans has prepared us for this. The whole first chapter is a preview of a society that has decided God doesn't know what He's talking about.

Verse 26 says, "women exchanged their natural function for that which is unnatural." It is interesting that the downturn into sexual perversion begins with women. Quickly following that is the declaration that men will turn to homosexuality. I don't think the sequence given here is accidental.

Women love to lead, if given the chance. And society is now giving them the chance. Mom is pumped full of Satanic ideas by Hollywood and single female coworkers ranting on about their exotic lifestyles. She goes home to a pile of laundry and a whiny husband and decides: "Who needs this?"

Notice how verse 26 words the defection of mom from the home. It says she "exchanged her natural function for that which is unnatural." There is nothing more unnatural than for a mother to abandon her offspring. There is nothing natural about a woman trading a faithful husband for the opportunity to expose herself to STD's, abuse, and a deadened conscience.

Yet, in a culture that has decided women have the "right" to abort their unborn children, divorce a husband and take him for all he has, and demand government support for any illegitimate children conceived after she has prostituted herself...what can we expect?

We have already begun to reap the profits of women leading the way into perversion and the utter collapse of the family. And women still don't get it. They boast of their sexual freedom, their independence, and their complete self-absorption as though those were newly-discovered virtues.

So lead on, Sisters.
You're right.
You are Woman, hear you roar.

But if you'd like a peek at the future you are creating for yourself and that family you abandoned, read the rest of Romans 1.

.

Hurry Up Already!

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

The idea hits like a 2 x 4 across the head. You're pumped! This is it! Your calling. Your life's work. The reason you're here. You can't wait to get started.

But you don't get started.

You wait. And wait. And wait...

The timing's off. Not old enough yet. Not experienced enough. No resources. The reasons seem to go on to infinity and you paw the ground like a thoroughbred at the starting gate.

What's the matter with God? Can't he see how ready you are? Why won't he blow the whistle and open the gate?

Did you ever wonder how old Jesus was when he knew he was the Son of God? When did it hit him? Somewhere between the teether and the temple, he realized he wasn't exactly like his brothers and sisters.

At age 12, he already knew who he was. He chose to spend his vacation in Jerusalem trading wisdom with the elders instead of skateboarding off the Wailing Wall with his friends. Everyone was impressed. What a kid! Full-ride scholarship material.

Mom and Dad were 3 days into the trip home before they realized he wasn't with them. He hadn't realized it either, so enthralled was he with what God had sent him here to do.

So what did he do next?

The moment had come. He knew he was the Messiah. Should he start collecting disciples? Start the public lecture circuit? Practice healing somebody? Think how much he could accomplish for God if he started now!

Luke 2:51 is the last we hear of him for nearly 20 years. It says "he went home to Nazareth and lived in subjection to them (his parents)."

That's it? After the big splash at the temple, he just went home like any other kid and did his chores and his homework? No Messiah stuff for eighteen years?

Is that how you would have done it if you were God?

What was the point of the next 18 years? Were they wasted? Couldn't Jesus have accomplished a lot more if he'd started earlier? Think of the notoriety of a boy-king-of-the-Jews. The wise men would hear of it and tell everybody, "we saw him first." There would be interviews with the remaining shepherds who'd seen the angels. Old Herod-the-Meanie was dead, so that fear was over. What was with all the wasted time?

We are a generation and a culture of "hurry up." We cram as much activity as possible into every spare second, doubling and tripling chores so we can accomplish more at one time. We have completely lost the concept of "wait."

God has not.

Sometimes that business about one day being as a thousand years with God seems literal. We don't like his timing. Doesn't seem right to us.

But God is not in the same hurry that we're in. He already knows how this is going to turn out and He knows how to achieve the results He wants.

He sent Jesus home to grow up, learn earthly obedience, and go through the trials of living with an imperfect family in an imperfect neighborhood with Torah teachers who made mistakes about the very book he wrote. Joseph's kid from Nazareth had to know what if feels like to hit your thumb with a hammer, get stiffed by a customer, be made fun of for not dating, and not make the stick-ball team. That was all part of God's assignment just as the healing and preaching were. He had to learn how to wait, just as we do.

What season are you in? Does it seem that your life goal gets further and further away? Do you feel like you're spinning your wheels, lost in mediocrity?

Are you in a season of WAIT? In God's master plan, that season is just as critical as any other. It's all part of the big picture. He's seasoning you, training you, teaching you endurance, commitment, and chipping off a few rough edges before you're ready to do it His way.

Think what Jesus accomplished in only 3 years of actual earthly ministry. Those three years were backed by 30 years of training--and that made all the difference.

.

To Die For

2011-11-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

I read a news story recently about a mother who was pushing her child in a stroller across a train track. As she hurried to beat the oncoming train, the stroller wheel got stuck. She fought frantically with the stroller as the engineer laid on the whistle.

At the last moment, she shoved the stroller free, but the train struck her, hurling her body several feet in the air. She died at the scene, but her baby was untouched.

That kind of love and loyalty stirs something in our hearts. Such an act of selfless devotion brings a dual rush of both admiration and cowardice. We think: So heroic of her, but would I do that? Could I?

I've been reading a book from Voice of the Martyrs about heroes of the faith-- martyrs from Stephen (in the Book of Acts) to recent persecutions in places like Pakistan. The same thoughts crowd my mind: So heroic, but would I do that? Could I? If called upon to renounce Christ or be tortured, could I choose what those martyrs did?

And then it occurred to me that that is a question every one of God's children must answer. We are all required to die. Colossians 3:3 says, "You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Galatians 2:20 reminds us that we "are crucified with Christ so that it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me."

One reason the thought of martyrdom is so overwhelming is that we haven't really died to ourselves. Scripture is clear that we cannot live for both ourselves and God at the same time. And most of us in comfortable, persecution-free countries opt for self, rather than God.

In places where trusting in Christ is synonymous with death, there is no such thing as easy-believism. To accept the free gift of God for them means certain death or persecution. No one has to explain to a former Muslim about dying to self. That's a given.

So whether or not you are ever faced with a firing squad, God requires voluntary martyrdom. Not because he is sadistic, but simply because He is to die for.

Insufficient?

2011-11-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

The surly young prisoner scowled at the judge.

The judge scowled back. "Son, the charges have been dropped. You are free to go."

The boy paled and his handcuffs rattled. "Whaddya mean?"

The judge glared over the tops of his glasses. "I mean, this is your lucky day. The charges have been dropped. Can't say I approve of it, but my hands are tied. You can go. Bailiff, release him."

As the bailiff stepped forward with a key, the young man pierced the judge with angry eyes. "What is this, some kinda joke? Who would do that? I thought I was lookin' at the death penalty. Why...Who?"

The judge cleared his throat and shuffled some papers. "The father of the young man you killed has asked us for leniency. The DA has agreed. Nothing I can do. You're cleared."

The prisoner's mouth gaped as his hands were freed. He glanced wildly about the empty courtroom. "No way! This is a joke, right?"

"No joke. I wish it was. Now get oughtta here."

The prisoner hesitated, then looked slyly at the judge. "I don't believe it. Nobody would do that. I killed...I mean...he said he saw me kill his kid. He was all for seeing me fry. Why would he...?"

The judge's lips tightened. "Frankly, I don't know. You're guilty as sin and I was looking forward to handing you the maximum.

"But the guy's got connections. He paid all your court costs and cleared you of any crime. He says to tell you he believes in you and to go and make something of your life. Makes no sense to me, but if you don't get out of here in about five seconds, I'm gonna put you back behind bars for contempt."

The young man's fists tightened. He turned from the judge to the bailiff and stuck out his wrists. "No. I don't believe you. It's a trick. You all know I did it, might as well say so. No father would do that. You're lyin'. Besides, even if ya'll are telling the truth, what I did needs punishment. I got my pride. I'll do my time."

Wouldn't that be an idiotic thing to say?

If you were that kid, given a chance at freedom, would you take it?
Are you sure?

Aren't you doing the same thing?

That guilt you carry. That shame from your sin long confessed. The price has been paid, the sentence dropped; yet, you insist on living like the condemned.

When Jesus cried from the cross, "It is finished!" he meant it. Finished. Complete. Nothing could be added or taken away from perfection. The charges have been dropped.

When we confess our sin, God says he remembers it no more. Your record is wiped clean.

But like that young prisoner, we can't accept it. We wallow in self-recrimination, rehashing our mistake, dragging it back to the altar of God like a dog with a rotting carcass.

To insist on carrying a load of shame is as pointless as that young prisoner trying to pay a price no longer imposed. It was an insult to that bereaved father to imply that his sacrifice was not sufficient.

And it is an insult to your Heavenly Father to imply that His Son's sacrifice was insufficient to pay for your crime. Your record was wiped clean with that one statement: "It is finished." You cannot add or take away anything from the price He paid.

So are you trying to slip back into the handcuffs?

If you've admitted your guilt and accepted His sacrifice, then your Father has dropped the charges.

He believes in you. Leave your shame at the cross. Go and make something of your life.

/

Are You Driving Through It?

2011-11-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Butch looked at me with a sheepish grin. "I know it's not what God wants, but..." He shrugged as if that was the end of it. "...I know He'll forgive me. I mean, none of us is perfect, right?"

With that, he classified his ongoing sexual immorality as an "aw shucks" mistake and prepared to continue it.

Are you guilty of something similar?

Maybe this story will help clarify it.

------------------------------------------------------------
There was once a man who had a son. His wife died and he set about raising this beloved child with all the tender care of two parents.

He worked all day and then rushed home to cook supper and spend the evening helping with homework, tossing a frisbee, or just taking long walks to talk about life.

As the boy approached his eighth birthday, he set his heart on a new bike for Christmas. The father knew he could scarcely afford it, but found another job and worked extra hours to pay for it.

The shriek of delight from his son on Christmas morning more than made up for the long hours he had worked.

Together they took the bike out into the frosty morning and within a few minutes, the boy was peddling proudly around the block.

"Watch out for cars!" the father called and laughed as he watched his delighted son peddle furiously out of sight.

He had just pulled the Christmas turkey from the oven when he heard sirens shriek past his house. As any caring parent does, he froze. Was his son all right?

He dropped the dish towel and raced to the front door. An ambulance raced past, lights flashing. Behind it, a fire truck.

Something knotted in the father's stomach and before he knew what he was doing, he raced from the house.

His feet pounded against the frozen sidewalk and his breath came in white puffs. "Please, God...don't let it be..."

At the end of the street, a crowd had gathered. Red and white lights strobed the neighborhood. Medics were loading a stretcher into an ambulance. Before he could get there, the doors closed and the sirens screamed as the vehicle raced away.

His feet pounded on, his eyes trained on a grueling sight near the curb. The onlookers had started back to their homes when he glimpsed what he dreaded to see. His heart lurched and his breath made a cloud around his face.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but when he opened them again, there was no mistake. On the pavement lay the twisted remains of his son's new bike. A pool of blood spread dark tentacles across the street.

"No!" his cry echoed down the now-silent street. "Son!"

Pitying eyes met his and then turned away.

A hand touched his shoulder and he whirled to face a uniformed police officer. "I'm sorry, sir. Was that your son?"

"Was?"

"They say he swerved to miss that pup over there and..." The hand patted and then dropped.

The rest of the morning was a blur as he paid the obligatory visit to the morgue to identify the body. A body. That's all it was. The life was gone. The light was gone. The sun would never shine again.

Cold rain had started by the time he made it home. He sat in the drive and stared at what had once been a cozy house. It was now a vacant warehouse, dark and uninviting. How could he go in there? The warmth was gone. It wasn't home anymore without the boy.

He got out and walked coatless, blinking against the stinging rain until he stood at the scene again. There it was. The blood. So much blood. His son's life blood, spilled on the street like refuse.

A car rounded the corner and rolled right through it, leaving a red tire path halfway down the street.

He whirled to watch it leave, stunned as another car followed. Careless. Unknowing.

His breath caught and the tears froze on his cheeks. He staggered into the street and waved his arms at the receding taillights. "Don't! Don't drive through my son's blood!" he cried. "Don't drive through my son's blood!"

Anger surged through him as another car rounded the corner. He leaped in front of it, shouting like a madman. "No! Stop! Don't drive through my son's blood!"

The car swerved and a voice shouted, "Idiot! Get out of the way!"

The father stumbled into the red pool and lay down. "My son, my son! I won't let them drive through your blood."
----------------------------------------------------------------

Are you driving through His Son's blood?

Step Right Up, Folks!

2011-11-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

Would you buy anything from this guy?

If we saw him at the fair,most of us would lift a skeptical brow and keep walking.

But when it comes to spiritual matters, snakeoil salesmen are thriving.

I learned something recently that was both interesting and somewhat puzzling. In my home city (and I'm sure in may other cities) there exists a Theological Seminary with a Unitarian Universalist club on campus.

Does that strike you as odd?

If you were a Unitarian, why would you go to a Theological Seminary? Isn't that kindof like a blind man attending a speed-reading class? Or a dwarf trying out for the LA Lakers?

One Unitarian website boasts the inclusion of atheists, active homosexuals, Wiccans, and a host of other decidedly non-God-honoring groups in their "churches."

The presence of this school-sanctioned Unitarian club tells me all I need to know about the quality of this so-called seminary. If I didn't know better, I would swear that this particular school was what the Apostle Paul was referring to when he wrote to Timothy: "they hold to a form of godliness, but deny the Source of power." (2 Tim. 3:5)

He describes them again in Romans 1:21-22 (NLT): "Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools."

Any seminary that would welcome a Universalist club and train its ministers is salt that has lost is savor. (Matt. 5:13) Jesus said something about it being "good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot." Not my words, they're His.

What in the world do they study?

Universalists don't hold to any belief system. They teach an "all paths lead to heaven" doctrine and worship Diversity--whoever that is. Can this deity--Diversity--save anyone? Heal anyone? Forgive sin? Or promise eternal life? Diversity did not leave heaven, walk the earth He created, or take my place on the cross.

Any seminary that proclaims that it "follows the teachings and life of Jesus Christ" should do just that. What about these words of His: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me?" (John 14:6)

Those words don't sound very inclusive. Neither do these: "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”(John 3:35-36)

I wonder what the Universalists do when they have to study that part of the Bible? Or maybe they don't study the Bible at this theological seminary. Imagine that--theology without God.

I'm not buying it, are you?

A New Twist on Sharing

2011-11-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.

If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? Pr. 24:11-12

__________________________________________________________

When we hear the word "help," our fingers usually tighten on our wallets and this month's list of bills looms large in our minds. The pleas for assistance echo on and on and it seems everybody wants some of what you've got.

Many times material possessions are not what is needed most. Notice the above scripture said nothing about giving money. It talked about taking action when you know you should. Stepping up, being a hero if only by carrying the mail in for the man across the street.

Maybe it is time that someone needs. Maybe it's a kind word. Maybe someone needs a friend at the moment and you could fill that need.

What you have to offer may not look like much to you, but it may be exactly what God wants to use to bless someone else.

The puppy needed a blanket. All the hen had was her feathers, but she could offer that. And they both received a blessing. He got a blanket; she got a cozy nest.

The world's need is overwhelming and it is easy to turn a deaf ear to the ongoing cries. Our hearts harden with the thoughts: What can I do? What is my pitiful offering in the face of so much need? I'd rather stay shut in my house and take care of me and mine.

But what if, instead, we went looking for it? What if we met every day with the thought: What need can I meet today for somebody who can never pay me back? How can I be the hands and feet of Jesus today?

You might find that what you intended as a blanket for someone else becomes a cozy nest for you.

.

Which Way Do You Roll?

2011-11-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

"That surface is as flat as it can be," the engineer declared. "I study these things. I should know."

"I dunno. I think it might be slightly tilted to the left," answered the boy.

The scientist lifted a brow. "Son, I work with planes and angles all day long. I am an expert and I know what I'm talking about. The balance is precise. The table legs are exactly even and this room is square. I can guarantee that is a perfectly flat plane."

The boy pulled a marble out of his pocket and dropped it on the center of the table. It inched to the left. Then rolled again. It ambled across the table and then dropped onto the floor.

The boy looked up at the engineer. "See? It might look flat, but marbles don't lie."
-----------------------------------------------------
Some things look and sound great in debate, but they don't represent real life.

How many times have you listened to people wax eloquent about their spirituality? They can recite passages of Scripture, debate pre-trib, mid-trib, and post-trib with flare, and present an impressive prayer list. They state unequivocally that God is Number One on their list, their top priority. They are satisfied that God is equally impressed with their devotion.

But try dropping a marble on their table.

That marble is called Passion. Where is their passion? When given some free time, where do they go? What do they do? What do they instantly seek when given free rein?

When given the chance to do anything you like, would you prefer to cheer your favorite sports team, celebrity-watch, channel surf, bury your nose in the latest thriller, or shop 'til you drop? Do you instantly gravitate toward your hobbies, your social circle, or mind-numbing television? Or maybe you welcome the chance to make more money? Every hour should be billable.

None of those things is wrong in itself. But they are marbles on the table. They reveal the truth beneath the grandiose claims. When you are given a block of unscheduled time, what passion rushes first to mind? What thought makes your heart lighten and your pulse quicken. What personal delight brings eager expectation?

When you read verses like Psalm 73:25 ("...nothing on earth I desire besides You") does your conscience smite you? Do you feel like a liar when you read that aloud?

Does your mind fold its arms and lift a brow at you? It quickly names a half-dozen things you desire besides God. You acknowledge Him, obey Him (mostly), thank, and appreciate Him. But He is not your heart's desire. There are a few earthly delights ahead of Him in line. You'd just prefer not to look at it that way.

Our words can be trained to reflect what our ego has decided is true. But our passions don't lie. They are marbles on our table. Honesty about our passion is not a condemnation, but a plumb-line to show us whether we are off the mark.

So where's your passion? If a marble was dropped on your heart, which way would it roll? Remember, marbles don't lie.

A Poem for God

2011-11-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Some people like to distance You with words
like "Thee" and "Thou."

Some prefer to question You

with What? and Why? and How?

Still others feel more

comfortable with a list of rights and wrongs.

But I just want to climb up in Your lap,

Stroke Your face,

And sing You love songs.

What Was it Like?

2011-11-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

You can't believe your good fortune!

The richest man in the world, benefactor to thousands, wealthy beyond your comprehension, has invited you to his next dinner party!

You show up, nervous, invitation in hand, leaving behind a gaggle of wide-eyed friends awaiting reports.

You lift the heavy brass knocker and a maid opens the door.

She looks quizzically at you and you thrust the invitation toward her.

Her face relaxes and she steps back. "Come in. You're invited."

You swallow the wad of cotton in your throat and step over the threshold.

Tantalizing scents swirl around your face and gentle laughter ripples from somewhere just out of sight. Your eyes try to take it all in at once. Yep, there's the winding gold staircase you've heard rumors about. And the hallway that seems to go on forever. How many rooms were reported to be on the first floor?

You quiet your thudding heart and look around for the lord of the manor. Is he as amazing as his reputation says he is? On those rare occasions when he's been sighted, he is always impeccably dressed, unnervingly polite, and kind beyond anyone's comprehension. One story had him kneeling in the rain beside the road in his tuxedo helping a lone woman change a flat. Surely all the stories were exaggerations, but you're dying to find out for yourself.

It is nearly midnight when you tumble into bed.

The phone rings.

"We-e-ell?" your friend asks. "I've been waiting for you to call. What was it like?"

"It was incredible, all right," you answer. "I--"

"Are there really twenty-three bedrooms on the first floor? Is the food as great as they say? What about the music? I hear he imports musicians from all over the world! What about--"

You give a nervous laugh. "I don't know about that. I never heard them."

"What? No musicians? Well, what about the guy himself? Is he really like they say? Tell me about him!"

You swallow. "Well...I never...I mean...I didn't actually see him..."

"Whaddya mean? Weren't you there? I thought you went?"

"Oh, I did. I went."

"Well, tell me what it's like! Is the guy as great as everyone says? Did you talk to him? Did you get a gift like people say he gives out?"

You force a nervous cough. "I-um...well, see...I did go, but I just stayed inside the doorway. I, uh, I never went all the way in. It was too overwhelming and I, well, I saw a lot of good things right where I was."

A dead silence. "You're kidding, right? You get invited to the party of the century and you didn't go all the way in? You just stood in the doorway?"

Shame heats your face. "Yeah...sounds kinda dumb, now. I was just...I dunno, I thought that was good enough, just getting invited, you know? I mean, I was inside his house. I met his maid. I smelled the great food and heard a few strains of the orchestra. I just...well, I didn't know what was expected of me so I stayed where it was comfortable."

Would you have gone all the way in?
Are you sure?

Many people hear the call of God. They respond and accept His gift of salvation, delighted that they are now going to Heaven.

But they stay right there.

All their lives, they stay just inside the safety zone. Never growing in their faith. Never truly experiencing everything God has for them. They view salvation as their Get-Out-Of-Hell Free card to be cashed in upon death. They stick it in their back pockets and go on about their lives, completely missing the whole meaning of a relationship with God.

That choice is as ridiculous as spending the whole evening on the threshold of a wonderful event. The Lord of the Manor is as wonderful as the reports say, and he wants to know you. His gifts and presence are highly desirable and only a fool would not take every opportunity to spend as much time at the mansion as possible.

You may have an invitation, but it won't do you much good unless you trade it for all the benefits it represents.

Go ahead.
Walk on in and close the door behind you.
You won't want to leave anytime soon, anyway.

Now, Why...?

2011-10-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

This photo doesn't even need a caption. We've all felt this way.

Two seconds after the comment slips through your lips...
That moment when you realize you've locked your keys in the car...with the baby...
Your ATM card has just sailed across the floor and down through the grate...
You've already blown your character-trait-for-the-day practice and it's not even breakfast

Why did I say that!
Why did I do that?
Why didn't I listen?
Why...?
How could I?

Most of us are very good at berating ourselves. We are our own worst critics. Our expectations for ourselves can be much higher than anyone else's expectations of us and when we fail to reach that impossible standard, we feel shame.

People who live under an umbrella of shame tend to take it out on the world around them. I may feel shame that I did something stupid, but you'd better look out! The next move you make will be my chance to make myself feel better.

What if we learned to forgive ourselves the same way we know we are to forgive others?

Does that sound like feel-good psychology?

It's not.

It's the truth.

I John 3:20 encourages us with these words: If your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart and knows all things.

In other words, stop being so hard on yourself. God isn't. Your willful sin has to go. Your selfish choices, addictions, and evil behavior are non-negotiables. God hates it more than you do.

But the millions of little foibles that plague every member of the human race don't count against you. The "uh-oh's" and "oopses" that make up our lives don't have to go on our Low Self-Worth list. You won't find them on God's list anywhere.

OK, so you went through the drivethru backward,
so your skirt was tucked into your pantyhose all afternoon,
so you're overdrawn at the bank,
and you accidentally texted your pastor a steamy message meant for your spouse.

It happens.

But when the barrage of self-berating words bubble to your lips, stop. Ask yourself: Would I say this to someone else? Would I call my friend a stupid idiotic loser because she straightened her boss's tie before realizing what she was doing?
Would I call my co-worker a no-good jerk because he led a meeting with spinach between his front teeth?

Why do we believe it's acceptable to treat ourselves with less respect than we treat everyone else? Each of us is a valuable person, created by God just the way He wanted us.

That's why he reminds us that our hearts can't always be trusted, but He can. Maybe it will help to remember this week that even if your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart.

2011-10-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

My baby girl, Susie, is in Europe for a month with our friend, Ruth Lovin, a talented photographer who took this shot on the northern coast of Ireland. They are working with a mission organization, Operation Mobilization, taking photos for publicity materials and recording video documentaries to promote the work OM has all over the world.

Ruth's caption on this photo reminded me of something. Everywhere we look, nature displays the glory of God. The skies are filled with color, the forests with sounds and scents. The animal kingdom exemplifies God's creativity and proves that He is the only giver of life.

Just as the sky is filled with God's glory, the earth is filled with His story, as His people scatter over every nation, tribe, and tongue proclaiming it.

He paints the sky with color and expects those who've sampled his palette to bring beauty and color to the lives of those who've known only darkness.

He infuses creativity into every object of nature. He has passed some of that creativity on to us and expects us to use those creative skills to echo His truth.

Are you using all He's given you for His glory?

Is some of His brilliance hidden away in some dark closet of your soul
because you are afraid of failure?
Of rejection?
Of what others will think?

Take another long look at this photo. Is some of that beauty tucked away in your arsenal of unused skills? Is it fair to deny access to the God who gave it to you?

Take it out today. Dust it off.

Is His glory filling your world?
Are you using what He gave you to spread His glory to others?
No?
This would be a great day to start.

Is Your Glass Half Full?

2011-10-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Polly lifted the mud-filled bowl so that her mother could see the problem. "I wanna put water in here. It won't go."

Mom took the bowl gingerly between two fingers. "It's full of mud, honey. See?"

She handed it back to her daughter. "You can't put anything else in there when it's already full. Empty out all the mud and then you can fill it with water."

Seems simple, doesn't it?

So why do we have such a hard time with it?

Many Christians wonder why they feel so far from God most of the time. They want to be closer. They want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, as we are commanded to be. They pray, they try. But nothing happens.

The problem?
They are like the muddy bowl. They are already full.

Philippians 2 shows us to the starting gate. "Let this be your attitude, the same one Jesus had. He was God, yet he voluntarily set that aside and emptied himself, took on human flesh, and became one of us." (my paraphrase)

Notice the first thing He did. He emptied himself of all rights and privileges that made Him the "darling of Heaven." (Darlene Zscheche, Worthy is the Lamb) Before he could become like us in our weakness and frailty, he had to first empty himself of everything that separated him from us.

And we are to do the same.

Before the Holy Spirit can completely fill and empower us, we have to empty ourselves of everything that keeps us separate from God: our will, our opinion, our rights, our agenda. Just as Jesus did.

Jesus had to empty himself before He could step down to dwell with us. We have to empty ourselves before we can be lifted up to dwell in the "secret place of the Most High." (Psalm 91) We cannot soar on wings of eagles while anchored firmly to earth. If we are still captivated by this world's goodies, still living with tunnel vision as though our little lives were the center of the universe, we are too full. We force the Holy Spirit to ride in the overcrowded luggage compartment.

To empty yourself means you voluntarily set aside everything that makes you YOU, just as Jesus did. Not that everything about you is wrong. It's just in the way.

The Holy Spirit cannot fill a vessel that is already filled with YOU. Until your will is lost in His, until you are "hidden with Christ" (Col. 3:3), until God is your delight and single-minded focus, you are a glass half-filled with mud.

There are many areas of life that you don't get to choose, but you get to choose what fills you.

So how's your bowl? Is it ready for water?

Maybe you need to empty it first.

What the World Needs Now

2011-10-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Notice anything odd about this photo?

What makes it odd?

Do you find it strange that a bear would snuggle up with another species? Doesn't seem normal, does it?

The sad thing is that we feel the same way about people.

We automatically choose to love those who are like us, sentencing those we consider different to a lower level of relationship. It can be outside our comfort zone to embrace people who are not in our social, economic, spiritual, or racial realm.

We may give lip service to "loving everyone, regardless" but how often do we really practice it?

When was the last time you went out of your way to show true love to someone very different from you?

When was the last time you learned something valuable from someone you initially thought inferior to yourself?

What about your speech. Do you use derogatory terms for other races or cultures? What about seemingly harmless phrases like "those people?"

The first thing we notice about the above photo is the obvious difference. Our eyes quickly scan the two animals and our brains sound a warning: Incompatible! Separate species! Not right!

But notice how much more the two have in common than they differ: fur, color, region, appetite, and the fact that they are both cold.

We are all human beings. We are all created by God for his purpose and pleasure. We have the same basic needs for love, security, self-worth, and significance. Let's learn to snuggle up a little closer and love each other.

If they can do it in the animal kingdom, then surely we can too.

Stay in the Shadow

2011-10-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Remember playing shadow
tag when you were a kid?

The goal was to stomp on someone's shadow and put them out of the game. The trick was catching a shadow that can move faster than anything. You had to pay close attention to the light source and where that shadow might appear next or you didn't fare very well.

As a child, I liked to walk closely beside my tall dad, trying to keep my shadow hidden inside his. I had to watch the ground and keep step or my shorter shadow would suddenly peek out from his.

That's the picture the psalmist paints in Psalm 91 when he tells us that "he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, abides in the shadow of the Almighty."

How do you abide in a shadow?

You pay close attention to the light source and where the shadow is going. If you get distracted by something else you will most certainly get out of the shadow. Your shorter one will peek out and mess everything up.

When we abide in the shadow of the Almighty, we are assured of His constant presence, protection, and pleasure. That's what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote "for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Col. 3:3)

God's goal for each of His children is that we cast no shadow of our own. We stay hidden in His. When we allow our shadow to peek out, we are most likely trying to glorify ourselves and we are missing His plan for us.

God's promises are for those who choose to keep their shadows hidden inside His. When He moves, we move. When He turns abruptly, we scamper to follow suit or we get left out in the sun. When He stops, we stop. And wait on the Lord.

So, are you filling your life with things that enlarge your shadow?

Or are you abiding in the shadow of the Almighty?

The Spanky Chicken

2011-10-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Spanky was a very cool chicken.

I'm not necessarily a fan of chickens as pets, but Spanky was an exception. Laid-back and friendly, she preferred socializing over egg-laying.

Our flock had thinned out one at a time until only fat, red-feathered Spanky was left in the coop.

We felt sorry for her and put her in the back yard. Our two dogs hardly knew what to think, but she made herself right at home. She ate out of their food dish, drank from their water bowl, and when they stretched out in the sun, Spanky squatted right next to them, soaking in her share of rays.

It didn't take long until Spanky the chicken thought she was a dog.

The scene in animal kingdom was funny, but it is not funny when it happens in the human realm. God knows our tendency to assimilate into whatever culture we find ourselves and that's why He sternly warned his people the Israelites not to take on the customs of the pagan nations around them. Every time he gave them victory over their enemies and more of the Promised Land, he also gave them instructions:

"...you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you...
I have abhorred them...
I am the LORD your God,
who has separated you from the peoples." (Lev. 20:23-24)

Some of those customs didn't seem all that bad by themselves: haircuts, fabric choices, etc. What was the big deal?

The big deal was that God knows how we are. Compromise always starts easy. It looks harmless. The more the Israelites tried to look, act, and sound like their pagan neighbors, the further they withdrew from God. It was only a generation or two until the entire nation was enslaved in idol worship and pagan rituals and God had to bring painful consequences on them again.

The modern church has so assimilated itself into our pagan culture that it is hard to tell the difference. We spend a great deal of time and energy defending our "right" to do whatever we please, never realizing we are only a generation or two away from complete degradation and its accompanying consequences.

What worldly customs have you grown comfortable with?
Do you look like a slightly-cleaner version of this world?
Or are you willing to keep yourself separate in word, deed, and thought as fitting for one bearing the name of Christ?

Wondering what became of Spanky?

We think she froze to death when winter came. With no warm coop or the feathers of other hens, she couldn't survive. And apparently, eating dog food isn't the best thing for a chicken either. She assimilated all right, but it was to her detriment.

Get the connection?

.

Atheism Defined

2011-10-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

What if I were to swear to you that this is an untouched photo!
That I took this picture while at the beach
and I am as amazed as you are?

Would you believe me?

No? You sure? Why not?

Think about your answer for a minute.

You may have thought something like, "That's impossible because cows don't swim in the ocean and they certainly don't leap like dolphins. They never have. Never will."

Yet that is exactly what atheists and Darwinists expect us to believe. Their theories insist that we suspend logic and reality and accept pictures like the one above as undisputed fact. Any reasonable question is met with the same unprovable answer: If you don't understand it, just add a few billion years. That will explain it all.

Every time I watch a baby calf run to his mother in a field of identical cows...

Every time I look at my own hand and consider the thousands of things it can do...

Every time I see a wild flower, perfectly painted in imaginative color...

Every time I hear a debate of abstract ideas and consider human thought...

Every time I am thankful for the gift of sight and how amazing it is...

Every time I consider the vastness and complexity of the universe
and how impossible the idea
that it spontaneously erupted all by itself...

I think: Atheism is really stupid.

Free Will-y

2011-10-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

I will.

We say it when we marry.

We say it when we agree to something we don't particularly want to do.

We say it when we swear in court to tell the whole truth.

I will is a powerful statement. It is a declaration of intent, an indicator that a person has himself under enough control that he can direct his future actions.

Lucifer was probably the first created being to use the phrase when he said, "I will be like the Most High God. I will set my throne above His."

Even after that revolt in Heaven, God still embedded in the human heart a free will. Lucifer's betrayal did not deter God from His purpose: to create man in His own image with the freedom to choose right or wrong.

You have a will. Every moment of every day you are exercising that will. Even though you may feel trapped by your circumstances, chained to a dead-end job, or drowning in children who had seemed a good idea at the time, you still have a choice.

Remaining chained is a choice. Whether or not to cave in to your emotions is a choice. How you choose to deal with your particular circumstances is up to you.

But God has a will too. It is His will that every one of his human creations come to love and honor Him. He desires that every one of us choose His will over our own.

But He won't force it.

Isn't it interesting that the God who created the universe sets aside His own desire to give us what we demand? If we demand our own way, if we insist on trying to meet our own needs in our own way, he won't tie us down.

He allows what he hates because He is completely just. He won't violate His own laws for the sake of His heart.

What if you took your will--as though it was an object you could detach--and handed it to God?

What if you made it your goal to forfeit your will in favor or God's, just as He has done for you?

What would your life look like then?

Is that a scary thought?

Lucifer became Satan when God hurled him from Heaven and he lives for the dark thrill of scaring us to death. Where do you think you got the idea that total surrender to God will involve heartache and disaster? Whose twisted mind produced the thought that God only wants to hurt and destroy you? It wasn't yours.

Ever since the evil one uttered those first defiant words, I will, he has made it his goal to get us to do the same.

What if you stopped listening to him and made it your goal to have no will of your own?

What if God's will became yours?

What if you tried that today?

What if in answer to God's call on your life, you answered,

"I Will!"

Ask First

2011-10-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

"Um, Dad? I think I'm lost."

The cell connection was weak and crackly. His heart sank. His little Princess was out there somewhere in the dark, alone in her car, on some treacherous highway filled with bandits and serial killers. Or at least that's what it feels like to a father when his teenage daughter calls at midnight.

"Why didn't you call me earlier?" He tried to check the irritation in his voice, but fear drove it an octave higher.

"Um...I dunno. I thought...I thought I knew what I was doing..." Crackle. "Oh, and my phone battery is almost dead."

Anger battled with fear. Once more her impulsiveness and overconfidence had become his problem.

God completely understands that father's frustration. In Joshua chapter 9, we read of a little incident when Mighty Joshua, who had just earned enough military medals to sink a ship, got a little overconfident and "did not inquire of the Lord" before making a disastrous decision.

The sworn enemies of Israel sent some spies, disguised as travelers from afar, and tricked the leaders into making a covenant not to destroy them--in direct disobedience to God's stated command. As a result, these enemies were allowed to live and became a deep thorn in Israel's side for generations to come. All because they "neglected to inquire of the Lord."

How much trouble would we save ourselves if we made it a habit
to run everything past God before making a decision?

God loves to be consulted. He loves having an active place in our lives, directing our steps, and blessing our obedience.

But how many times are we like the overconfident daughter who only calls when she's in desperate trouble?

We use God like 9-1-1. We want him to be there in an emergency, but the rest of the time, He's not even on speed dial.

It doesn't work. Joshua and the Israelite leaders could tell you that.

Take a look around your life right now. Got a choice facing you? A decision? A fork in the road?

Be sure you "inquire of the Lord" first.

You get peace and an "ever present help in trouble," and He takes care of the results.
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How Often?

2011-10-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily.

So how often do I need to offer myself to God?

How often should I ask God to search my heart?

How often should I...?

Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily.Daily.

I am surprised at the number of times I am asked these kinds of questions. One major reason so many professing followers of Christ live in such defeat--never experiencing the power and joy God longs to give them--is that they are surviving on leftovers and hand-me-downs:

Leftover commitment.
Leftover dedication.
Leftover victories.

Hand-me down inspiration.
Hand-me-down values.
Hand-me-down insight.

If the Apostle Paul said he had to "die daily,"(I Corinthians 15:31) then how much more do we regular believers need to stay current in our relationship with God?

Just as dangerous is the current tendency to rely on books by others who have experienced God, rather than enter into that experience yourself. There are thousands of great books out there, but none can take the place of the living Word of God to speak to your heart, convict you of sin, and draw you closer to Him.

Would a marriage last if the partners only affirmed each other once a season? Would you be able to fully commit yourself to someone you'd only heard about through the grapevine? Could your body remain healthy if you only ate once or twice a week?

A friendship with only sporadic interaction is at best casual. Heart friends are cultivated by spending a lot of quality time together, going through things together, encouraging each other, and remaining faithful to the relationship. And God longs to be your heart friend.

There is no substitute for a daily re-commitment of yourself to God. If His "mercies are new every morning,"(Lamentations 3:23) that must mean we need them every morning.

We can't lay our fleshly desires on the altar before God and forget about them. They'll jump off! That commitment you made to Christ last spring has to be freshened every day, or it grows stale and your love grows cold.

So what's the secret to keeping your relationship with God the most vital thing in your life?

A daily offering of yourself to Him. Daily allowing His Spirit to search your heart for problem areas and getting rid of them. Maybe it wasn't a problem yesterday, but today is a new day. Don't let it get started.

How often do I seek God?

Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily. Daily.

2011-09-30T16:11:00.001-07:00

The sun was brutal this summer.
The dusky sky gave no rain.
Days on end brought record heat.
Record drought.

And this was the result.

These dead sticks are supposed to be full of purple flowers.

I gave up on my flower gardens.
Even the grass wouldn't grow.
Everything was parched and brown.

And I got used to it.

So used to it that when the long-awaited rains finally came,
I scarcely noticed the subtle changes.

Amidst the dead,ugly sticks, new life had begun.
At first it was so low to the ground,
anyone would miss it.

But there was no excuse for not noticing
when the dead sticks began to bloom.

The beauty was there to see,
but I had stopped looking for it.

Have you gotten used to life being a white-knuckle event?

Have you stopped seeing the potential, the beauty, the eternal benefits in what you're doing?

Are you walking right past the gifts God has given you with scarcely a nod?

Take another look around your life.

Maybe the rains have come and you didn't notice.

Maybe that sour, negative attitude has become so much a part of you that you scarcely notice it anymore.

Maybe that victim mentality has outworn its welcome.

Maybe your words have started reflecting Satan's lies rather than the truth of God.

Is your life a flower garden that everyone can appreciate but you?
Isn't it time you enjoyed the flowers God has created for your enjoyment?
A flower is a terrible thing to waste.

.

Taming God

2011-09-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

In The Chronicles of Narnia, a question is asked of Mr. Beaver about Aslan, the lion.

"Is he safe?"

“Safe?" said Mr. Beaver."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe.
But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

The same meek Jesus who held little children and forgave sinners is also called "the Lion of Judah." Many people are uncomfortable with that description because we prefer a tame god. The world wants a god that is "safe," one they can pet and brag about, then set on a shelf when he is inconvenient.

We wrestle with doctrine and theology until our minds are satisfied. We can't rest as long as there are unraveled threads we cannot comprehend. And there are always threads.

So we reinvent Him. The Lion of Judah is reduced to a tabby cat.

The Bible calls this apostasy. When men cannot fathom Jehovah and his ways, they give up and make him into their own image. They tame him.

Are you guilty of it?

Do you ever feel the need to apologize for God?

(All that messy business in the Old Testament. Maybe God was a bit uncivilized back then, but has learned from his mistakes.)

Do you skip passages that make you uncomfortable and don't mesh with your adopted doctrinal statement?

("But we like our church this way!")

Do you harbor pet sins, assuring yourself God that understands and knows you're "working on it?"

(Why do we assume that a holy God who hates the sin that murdered his Son will overlook ours?)

Unless we are willing to hear the mighty roar of a righteous God, unless we are willing to entrust ourselves to those claws that could tear us apart if they chose to, unless we are willing to face Him as the Lion of Judah we can never truly know Him as the Lamb of God. That tabby cat you're worshiping has no power to save you from anything.

Is God tame? Is he comprehensible? Is He safe?

"No. But He's very good. He's the King, I tell you."

Copying God

2011-09-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

I love this picture.

My son Sam was about 4, the age when he wanted to copy everything Dad did--including shaving hair that did not exist.

Notice his eyes. He's not even looking at his own reflection. He's watching Dad to see how it's done. Then he tries to copy it.

That's how we learn.

Jesus did the same thing. John 5:19 records these words: " Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does'."

That's hard for us to get our minds around. Jesus was fully God, even while on earth. So why would he say he could do nothing by himself? Why would he need to watch his Father to learn?

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then absolute obedience is humility perfected. Jesus set the example for us by not doing anything of his own initiative. He waited on his Father's timing and instruction.

Philippians chapter 2 lays out the road map for us when it instructs us to "have the same mindset that Jesus had when he set aside all rights as God and humbled himself to come to earth and take on flesh and blood."

Jesus is our model. If he attempted nothing on his own, then so much more should we take our cues only from God. When we take our eyes off Jesus and start acting of our own accord we are headed for trouble, just as Sam would have suffered if he'd set aside the plastic razor and picked up the one with the real blade.

How many of your problems were caused by you acting on your own initiative?

How much of your stress comes from burdens you've placed on yourself--drudgery that has no eternal value?

How much disillusionment or disappointment stems from your trying to "do God's work" in your own strength? Maybe He never asked you to do it.

Notice what Jesus says:

I only work when I see My Father already there.

What if you determined from this day forward you would take on only the tasks that God initiated?

What if you evaluated every item on your To-Do list in light of its eternal significance, eliminating those that don't matter?

What if you lived in such sync with the Holy Spirit that you heard His voice and only did what He asked you to do?

How much would that lighten your load?

Ever wonder how Jesus accomplished all that He did in only 3 years of ministry?

The secret: He never acted alone.

What if you did the same thing?

Whose Terms?

2011-09-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

He twitched across the short lobby and shot me a grin.

I followed him into the counseling room and shut the door.

His hands shook and his knees knocked together as he tried unsuccessfully to hold my gaze.

"How high are you?" I began.

"Oh," he laughed and wiped a boney arm across his forehead. "No. I know how this looks, but I'm not high. No, I'm' always like this. Jis' nervous, I guess."

I lifted a brow and we took a seat.

He coughed. "I-I c-can see why you'd think that..."

"Are you clean?" I continued.

"Well, I'm gonna be honest with you, Ma'am. No, I-I did take a hit last night. Just one. Really small."

"Thank you for your honesty," I said. His continual jerking was making me tired.

I studied the blank page before me while he tried to fill out the intake sheet. I didn't need to write down my observations. I would remember this clearly when I typed up my session notes.

Meth addict. Heavy denial. Convinced he was fooling me and convinced he could have a beneficial counseling session while under the influence. He wanted what I had to offer, but he wanted it on his terms.

We spent a fruitless hour-and-a-half as I unsuccessfully urged him to get serious medical help. He shook his head patiently, as though he was speaking to a small, dim-witted child. "I can stop taking this any time. I just t-took a little to help with my depression."

"You are a man in shark-infested waters with a shark chewing off your leg. I am the Coast Guard. How smart is it to argue with the Coast Guard?"

He left with tears in his eyes. "I g-guess I hoped you could help me, tell me why I do this. Give me some tools. But I don't need no doctors, de-tox, or Celebrate Recovery. I know God can help me without all that."

I watched him stagger away, miss the door, and try to open the plate-glass window. My heart cried after him: Why won't you listen? I'd love to help you, but I can't like this.

We've all been like that meth addict at some point in our lives. We find ourselves in a pickle and cry out to God for help. He shows us His plan, His requirements for healing, the steps we must take to get back to sanity...and we balk.

"I want your help, God, but I want to do this my way."

It doesn't work like that. God watches us stagger away, miss the door, and try to open the plate glass window. And His heart breaks.

Satan convinces us we can hide our pet sins, our selfish choices, our willful goals from God and He won't care. After all, God is love so surely He will rush to help me when I call. Won't he?

And when He doesn't, we get angry. Pride calls the shots. Mankind has been trying to get to God on his own terms since the Garden and it has never worked. God offers all the hope, health, and healing you need. But only on His terms: drop the willful sin, humble yourself, stick to it, seek Him with all your heart.

It's easy to roll our eyes at the meth addict, but are you sitting there twitching and trying to convince God you're not as bad as He says you are? If you want help, it only comes His way.
.

Which One?

2011-09-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

He strode through the bright morning sunshine. A car or two rolled past, but the town mostly slept.

It was Sunday, after all. It had been a hard week. The coffee pots were timed for three hours later than usual.

The steeple soared from the vaulted roof of First Baptist Church. "Where is God?" boasted the crooked letters on the marquee.

He shook his head. Good question. Did they really not know?

Jay's Hardware was opening for business, and beside it Chloe's Cafe fed a record breakfast crowd. Truckers and farmers bent over morning papers while sweating waitresses kept everyone's coffee filled.

He paused to look at them through the speckled window. A few looked back with suspicion, then returned to their papers.

Across the street, First United Methodist looked closed until further notice. One car sat deserted in the shade of the children's wing. The pastor had been arrested for propositioning an undercover officer. The flock was trying to decide between an openly gay interim or a female transsexual. The vote was dividing the congregation.

A stone's throw away, Antioch Full Gospel needed a paint job. Two windows were boarded over. Didn't matter. No one went there anyway.

He kept walking, eying the stilled bells in St. Matthew's Catholic belfry. He used to love the sound of those bells. Last year the city council voted to stop the bell ringing except on Easter. Disturbed the peace or something.

He kicked an empty beer bottle against the curb. A used condom rolled with it. Peace?

On he walked. Church after church dotted corner after corner. Mid-American Christianity at its finest. In a couple of hours, the churches would begin to fill. Everyone would be at his or her best, smiles properly adjusted, masks in place. Songs would be sung while stomachs growled. Pages would be colored in Sunday School classes, Bible lessons taught with all the enthusiasm of a study on peat moss.

In the livelier churches, guitars would shriek, hands would wave in the air, and moods would lift in direct proportion to the performance of the band. The gray hairs would complain about the volume and the young would leave as sin-encrusted as they arrived. No one brought a Bible. Everyone left just as they had come in.

He stood at the edge of town and looked back. The sun bounced off the peaks and steeples of two dozen empty buildings. Emptier than they knew.

The Son of God had come to worship with his people and he had nowhere to go.

Eternity

2011-09-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

The sun slips behind the golden wheat field and you feel it.
Ocean waves lap gently against on a deserted beach and you hear it.
Countless stars dot a black sky and you catch a glimpse.
An ancient woman, covered in wrinkles,
reaches for the hand of the man she's spent 80 years with
and for an instant, the light in her face
reminds you of something.

It's there and then it's gone, like an apparition. But you knew it. It was there. It was real. In that instant, it was more real than the material world.

Glimpses of eternity.

Our souls were created to live forever.
The breath of the living God brought them to life
and they struggle within the fleshly houses,
seeking opportunities to connect with what they know.

The eternal One breathed life into dust
and those living souls know their Creator,
regardless of what the mind tells them.

Voices strive to drown out that knowledge.
Education, philosophy, rationalization,
and outright denial shout "No" and seek other explanations,
but none is found.

Buried deep within every heart is that kernel of eternity,
the conviction that there is more,
and despite every attempt to kill it,
eternity springs to life
whenever it catches a glimpse of its reflection on earth.

Isn't it strange that though we may define it differently, we all know what beauty is?
We long to love and be loved.
There is within every human heart the desire to worship something bigger than ourselves, to show honor, respect, and reverence.

Mankind has done everything possible to erase this insistent yearning for eternity, but it does no good. We feel it anyway.

You can redefine it, explain it away, ignore it, or hate it
but the truth remains:
We are eternal and we know it.

Next time that insistent ache stirs in your chest, stop a moment.
Lift your hands and smile.

Whisper the secret you both know:
"I'm coming soon, God. We'll be together forever. Thank you that I am eternal."

If Rome Fell in a Day...

2011-09-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

America is crumbling.

The world is crumbling.

Aside from the rampant growth of paganism, false religions, and atheism, the very fabric of our humanity is being destroyed one soul at a time. Moral rot and ever-changing standards have left people confused and without hope. The "anything goes" mentality" was right. When anything goes, everything does.

The Church was founded by Jesus to shine as a light in the dark world. But rather than influence the world, the world has invaded the Church. Our reluctance to offend has left us with no strength to combat the well-fed evil that is devouring individuals, families, and churches by the scores.

Sexual sin is a ravenous monster that is unapologetically destroying humanity.

Like any spawn of the Devil, this sin is never satisfied with a little extra-marital dallying. Sensuality always lusts for more: more crudity, more baseness, more vile affections. More stealing of innocence. In the land that proclaims "In God We Trust" we have become our own god.

On any given day, thousands of children are sexually violated. Perversions that cannot even be named here are increasing boldly, spreading like a plague through chat rooms, websites, and middle schools. Demanding parades, "rights," and social acceptance, sexual perversion is fast becoming the new norm.

And like any virus, it has spread to the churches. It is no longer uncommon to watch a pastor who once decried homosexuality now engage in it. Molested children are as likely to be the deacon's kids as the drunkard's. Statistics tell us that on any given Sunday at least 40% of any congregation has a full-blown sexual addiction.

The costless Gospel we have spread over the last century is now costing us dearly. The idea that we can have "all this and God too" has proven to be traitorous. That was never the Gospel Jesus spread. Or Paul. Or Peter.

Three of the 4 Gospels record Jesus words: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

Self denial is not a popular message. The abundant life is proclaimed enthusiastically from most pulpits. God's riches, provision, and watch-care are peddled like trinkets from a street vendor.

But we don't hear much about self-denial. Sacrifice. Suffering for Jesus' sake. Crucifying the flesh. Odd, since those topics comprise a major portion of the New Testament.

Those are the diamonds embedded in the real message of Christianity. The idea of losing my will in God's won't fill the pews most Sundays, so it is shelved in favor of something more appealing to the unsaved masses who crowd most churches every week.

But that is where the strength lies and one reason the Church has lost its power. We are good at following tradition, playing church, building buildings. But we're not very good at denying ourselves.

Maybe it's time we learned. Maybe it's too late.
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Even Then Will I Praise

2011-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

*I was sure by now

that You would have reached down

and wiped our tears away,

stepped in and saved the day.

But once again, I say, Amen---

And it's still raining.

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear Your whisper through the rain,

"I'm with you."

And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands

And praise the God who gives and takes away.

--------------------------------------------

I'll praise You in this storm and I will lift my hands,

For You are who You are no matter where I am.

And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand.

You never left my side, and though my heart is torn,

I will praise You in this storm.

*Praise You in This Storm, by Casting Crowns

To listen to this amazing song, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHlQ6sBEO9A

The Plan

2011-09-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

"The persecution isn't working. Everywhere we've tried it, the 'Believers'--as they like to call themselves--just keep multiplying. We need a new strategy."

Legion glared at the demonic throng gathered for instruction.

Skank cleared his throat and his eyes flashed red. "I've got an idea, Sir. The latest report says that this idea is working better than our wildest nightmares.."

"Where?"

"America."

"Go ahead."

Skank snarled and his chest swelled as he took the floor. "You see, it's a new twist on our favorite tactic--deception. I fear we've overdone the false religion thing. They hardly believe anything anymore. Strangely enough, that very apathy often leads them right into the Enemy's hands. Their desperation drives them to Him."

Growls of disgust rippled through the sulfuric steam.

"But this deception," Skank continued. "Oh, it's delicious! So simple, too. It didn't work for many years because those who called themselves His followers knew what they were talking about. They read that despicable Book of His and put it into practice. It was easy to tell who followed him and who followed us.''

He rubbed his claws together and cackled. "But now! Sir, your infiltration of their school systems, entertainment, and government has done its job. They are churning out idiots by the thousands who have no idea what the Enemy says. The whole idea of sin has been so watered down it doesn't scare them anymore."

"Yes, yes, I know all that. Get to the point."

"What I mean is, I've trained scores of new demons in the art of spiritual deception and they are quick learners. We've got truckloads of blinders, earplugs, and heart hardeners and we know how to use them. Our latest marketing campaign is...Are you ready for this?"

"Yes, yes, get to it!"

"What's working so well in America is so simple it's brilliant. We've infiltrated the churches. We have targeted the ones who are searching, floundering, what-have-you, and simply told them that they are fine and that they already have a relationship with God and that anyone who doubts that is judgmental."

"That's it?"

"Yes! I know, it sounds crazy. How can that work, right? That horrid Book spells out in frightening clarity what it takes to have a real relationship with...with Him. But they don't read it, see? It's hardly even preached anymore. We've hinted to the pastors that they should preach more encouraging, helpful sermons that anybody can benefit from. So now they're stressing that the Enemy loves everybody and all they have to do is mutter a prayer or some such nonsense and that's it! They're in!

"We've even got some of their main players writing books about how everybody is probably saved anyway without knowing it!"

"You're lying! No one would fall for that, even humans."

"No, it's true. I just checked with your prince over North America and got it straight from him."

"That's ludicrous. Don't they know that our Enemy is...how He is--Eeooow! I can't even say the word. But don't they know how different from us the Enemy is? He hates sin. Hates us as we hate him. How can they be that easily fooled?"

Skank smirked and looked around. "Because the Believers are helping us."

A gasp echoed through the vast pit.

"They always have, but never in such numbers. They are so easily duped into misreading that Book that they shoot themselves in the foot. Dare I mention the Crusades? How about the Vatican? See what I mean? They've got churches all over the planet that would make any Pharisee proud. How I miss those guys..."

Legion snarled. "No real Believer is gonna propagate your deception. Now you're deceived."

"Oh, but they already are, Sir! They've redefined love to mean not stepping on anyone's toes. They've reacted to the Pharisaical churches by putting out a "We're all okay" message. The hungry seekers suck it up like our delicious sludge. Just check, Sir. Take a look down there. The churches are packed with them!"

The curtain parted and Legion squinted into the light. In a moment, the curtain fell into place and he laughed. "Hm. Thought I'd seen it all. So they really buy, that do they? Nice tactic. Get them to substitute feelings of spirituality for a relationship with the Enemy. Great idea. We've got them talking about angels, mystical experiences, relying on childhood baptisms and we've got 'em!

"I see how this could work. With no power in their lives, no change in ownership, they go right on sinning all they like. He doesn't discipline them, because they're not His, so they think everything is fine."

He flashed yellow fangs at Skank. "I like it. Is this in place on every continent?"

"Yes sir! But we consider America our masterpiece. With their so-called freedom, it costs them nothing to sign on to the Enemy's plan, so we have more success there than anywhere else."

Legion shook his mane and sparks few. "I like it. Start now. Here are your orders: Keep them away from the actual Book. Convince them that they're too busy, they already know what it says, they go to church, and so on. In fact, encourage them to go to church. That will only further their deception. Convince them they are fine."

Skank cackled and clapped his claws together. A roar filled the pit as millions of black creatures took flight.

Legion settled back with a satisfied smirk. "You know, Skank. I've always hated you, but today you have my grudging admiration. Your depravity is worth commending. Deception like that will get you a kingdom soon. Our time to work is growing shorter, but as long as possible, keep up the destruction."

He chuckled. "You know what keeps me going, Skank? The thought that when the Enemy's Son goes to get his church, so few will be missing that the rest of the world will hardly notice!"

He shrieked. "Isn't that a delicious thought? Their so-called Rapture will take place and the churches will still be full of people! They won't even notice. Don't you love it?"

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

Rest

2011-08-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

When is the last time you just rested and let the music play on?

This little guy is not the least bit concerned that his resting place won't last. He isn't trying to figure out how to nap on the guitar and play it at the same time. In fact, it's not his problem whether or not music ever gets played.

Trust looks a lot like this kitten.

Scripture is filled with commands to "trust in the Lord," "wait patiently for Him," and "rest on His promises." We say we believe that, but you will never catch us sleeping when there is music to be played. We get so caught up in trying to play, trying to serve, trying to work that we ignore that still small voice that says, "Rest in Me."

Is it the responsibility of this kitten to play the guitar? Is it his fault if music never comes from this instrument?

We don't assume that the guitar is his. We know it belongs to someone bigger and smarter and able to bring music from his napping spot.

What if you chose to stop considering your problems yours?

What if you handed them over to Someone bigger and smarter and better able to run your life than you are?

What if you decided today that it no longer mattered what kind of music came from your guitar, what others thought of it, or whether it was as good as someone else's?

What if you curled up on His guitar and let Him worry about making the music?

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:5-6

Message from the Animal Kingdom

2011-08-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

You're kiddin', right?

No seriously. You don't buy that, do ya?

Excuse me while I laugh myself sick. Whoo-wee, do I need a banana!

There. OK. Now let's talk.

I heard a rumor...and yes, it's only a rumor. (You know how those hyenas like to gossip.)

But somebody told me you humans are spreading the story that we are...okay, get ready...that you and I are somehow related! No, I swear on a stack of rotten fruit that I'm not making this up! Hyenas chatter a lot, but they're usually pretty reliable.

I thought you were supposed to be the more intelligent of us species, but now I'm wondering. You won't catch anybody in the animal kingdom trying to pass off a puddle of barf like that. We know better.

Speech, for starters. We've got the lips and tongue for it, but not the mechanisms in between. We have our own ways of communicating, but nothing close to that confusing jumble you use. You can train us all you like, but we're not going to vocalize the Gettysburg Address.

And clothing? Forget it! We like our fur just as it is and frankly don't see the problem with picking our privates in public. Just like some of your baseball players. They're rude, but that doesn't make them primates.

I'm just a bit concerned. We've always understood your species to be at the top of the heap. Our Creator instilled the fear of you in every one of us, so it puzzles me why you want to pretend we're in the same family.

You've got it all! Thoughts, souls, music, a conscience, and above all, the chance to know the Creator. He became one of you, for goodness sakes. He didn't become one of us.

So, let's make this perfectly clear. We don't want you. We're primates and proud of it. We aren't trying to be YOU and we wonder why you pretend to be US.

One look at the things you're doing, the way you've treated our Creator, the boundaries you're crossing that were never meant to be crossed, should make it abundantly clear. But just in case you don't get it, let me spell it out.

The idea that you are our nearest kin is insulting to us. We think you want to blame your evil ways on us, so you can say it's not your fault, you're just a hairless monkey.

We have a request of you: Don't go looking to us to excuse your behavior. We'd never stoop that low. If you want an excuse, look somewhere else.

Thank you.

Are We Pretending it's 1950?

2011-08-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed it yet, look around.

These are desperate times. Desperate times call for extravagant measures.

Back in the Day, American society as a whole understood right and wrong. Gentlemen did not swear in front of ladies. Everyone looked out for everyone else's children. It wasn't perfect, but there was a general standard of decency that people understood and respected, Christian or not.

How times change.

And the change has come faster than any societal change in history. With the intrusion of the internet, satellites, cell phones, and Hollywood, evil is mushrooming like an atomic blast. For the first time in America's history, social attitude has rejected Judeo-Christian values in favor of outright hostility toward the God of the Bible. And these messages are absorbed through our pores every moment of every day.

The moral health of our nation is deteriorating while the Church sleeps on. We cannot withstand the evil of Noah's day with a 1950's I Love Lucy mentality. It is not working. We are being inundated with the values and thoughts of our Enemy in ways never imagined by our predecessors. And it's time we fought back.

It's time we who know better learned to tune out the voices that want to destroy us. Why do we think we can absorb television, newspaper, and magazine articles produced by people who decry everything we stand for, listen to the world's music, the world's entertainment, and the world's ideas and not suffer for it? We are silly fools playing right into the Enemy's hands. He hardly has to work to tie most Christians into a dozen knots.

The days of thinking we can show up at church on Sunday mornings, check in with God for the week, and head back to our regular lives is past. What we head back to is a cesspool and we cannot swim in it the other 6 days of the week and expect to be spiritually stable.

How much more decadence will we tolerate before giving ourselves permission to exit this propaganda machine? When the Apostle Paul said, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" he was talking to us.

We can no longer be passive in our relationship with God and expect that to work. It won't. Just look around at those who call themselves Christians.

It is time to take an active role in replacing the lies with truth inside our own heads. It's not enough to dribble a little godliness on our hearts and pretend we're washed clean. We need to be immersed, saturated with holiness, if we expect to live in this world and not not be ripped apart by it.

When not otherwise mentally engaged, we must be proactive in filling our minds and spirits with godliness. Worship music of the highest quality is available everywhere. The same technology that allows Satan to advance his agenda, also allows the righteous to offer theirs.

Buy an iPod. Download iTunes. Find the artists whose music takes you to the foot of God's throne, and get to listening.

Is your reading material drawing your thoughts away from God? Are your entertainment choices simply mind-numbing or are they spirit-reviving? There is a difference and your life, your mood, and your spiritual productivity will reflect that difference.

Matthew 6:21 reminds us that "where our treasure is, there will our hearts be." So where is your treasure?

Is your time saturated with the world's offerings? What do your choices reveal about where your heart is?
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Hanging Loose

2011-08-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

Let's all strive toward that goal this week.

One Size Does Not Fit All

2011-08-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah. WHOA...!

Does one size really fit all? I think the photo answers that sufficiently. That guy should never have stepped foot inside that car. Wasn't made for him.

We can snort at this guy,
but what mold are you trying to squeeze into that doesn't fit?

Do you hold up someone else as the epitome of what you should be?
Does the mental image of someone else's accomplishments feel like a blow to the stomach?
Do you berate yourself because you're you and not someone else?
Have you ever thought that you trying to be someone else might appear to others the same way that photo appears to you?

We humans are terrible about comparing our pitiful achievements to someone else's victories and using them as whips with which to flog ourselves. Christians don't necessarily score any better.

Paul wrote of this very thing when he compared us to the body of Christ and reminded us that no member was more important than any other member. Every body part is important and we are never more aware of this than when one part is missing or malfunctioning. When your toe hurts, the entire body is incapacitated. If your thumb is missing, it affects everything you do.

And when one of us tries to fit into the mold of another, we can become as ridiculous as that guy in the teensy car. If you are where God put you, doing your best at whatever He's asked you to do, then smile. You're extremely valuable. You don't need to squeeze into somebody else's car. Drive your own.
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Are You Running on a Dead Battery?

2011-08-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

He slammed a fist on the steering wheel and growled. Ten minutes of trying, but the stupid car wouldn't start.

He got out, frowned under the hood again, then kicked the front bumper.

Battery dead. No amount of jumping it was gonna get him to work on time. The shiny battery might have a 3-month-old date stamped on it, but it was dead. Useless. It would never power another car.

Just as it is a waste of time to try to drive a car with a dead battery, it is an equally frustrating waste of time to try to live the Christian life under your own power. Where do we get the idea that Jesus came to reform us? To help us be better people? To give our flesh the motivation to try harder?

The Apostle Paul says, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:2-3)

That moment when we come to the cross and allow God to perform the Divine Exchange--our filthy selfishness for Christ's robes of righteousness--our flesh is killed. Paul says we are "crucified with Christ". He does not say we SHOULD be crucified. Or we should PRAY to be crucified. Scripture says we ARE.

Yet so many of us enter into God's family, give him a "thumbs-up," and head right back to our old way of doing things, believing we are now doing them for God.

We grab the steering wheel, mash the gas, and do our best to reform that flesh, those worldly impulses, those lusts and ambitions. And nothing happens. We white-knuckle our way through our version of the Christian life and wonder why it's so hard.

It's hard because you are trying to drive with a dead battery. Your fleshly self cannot make itself righteous. It has to go. It has to die so that the Spirit of God can take over. It needs to be as dead as that car battery before God can pour Himself into you and give you His power to live the way He wants you to live.

Are you running out of steam? Are you about worn out from trying harder, working more, and giving it all you've got?

GOOD!

Take all your best efforts and nail them to the cross with Jesus. They will never get you where you want to go. They are dead.

Now, let the Holy Spirit of God fill up those empty places and watch out! You're gonna be amazed at how effortlessly He can live His own life through you. He is much better at being God than we are.
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True or False

2011-08-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

Satan is a master of mimic. We are told that he "comes as an angel of light." He is called the Deceiver and the Father of Lies and his work is evident everywhere you look.

What makes him so believable?

The best way to deceive is to make an imitation that closely mimics the real thing.

When Moses appeared before Pharaoh, demanding that his people be allowed to leave, God performed miracles using Moses' simple rod. The miracles should have been enough to WOW! the whole country. However, the Bible says that Pharaoh's magicians copied the acts with their "magic arts."

Imagine the confusion of those watching--especially Moses' fellow Israelites.

"Looks the same to us! Maybe they're ALL God's spokesmen."
"NO! Those magicians are faking it. Moses is probably faking it too. There are no real miracles."

Scripture states that at the close of this world's story, the evil Antichrist will rise to power. He is called Antichrist because of his great resemblance to the true Christ. He will be very convincing to the ones who don't know the real Jesus. If he had horns and a tail, no one would be fooled.

It is my personal belief that God is pouring out His spirit on His people in an unprecedented way, as He ushers in the end times. God is raising up for himself an army, empowered by their passion for Him and love for the world that He loves.

So we should not be surprised that Satan is equally engaged. We see his handiwork on the front page of every newspaper. False religions claim millions of new souls every week. Anti-God bias is sweeping through once-free nations. Sexual perversions of a kind not seen since Noah's day now hardly earn a second look.

Satan doesn't leave his destructive imitations outside the church doors either. Heresy--masquerading as love--is replacing Scriptural truth from more and more pulpits. God's supernatural gifts to believers are imitated by those who have no such gift, and maligned by those who see only the imitation.

But just because the magicians imitated Moses' miracles does not mean God did not perform them first. Just because Wacko Church of the Dubious Spirit adds speaking in tongues to their other bizarre rituals, does not mean there is no true gift of tongues for those filled with God's Holy Spirit.

Just because the sleazy snake oil preacher in Des Moines makes a circus out of his sleight-of-hand "healings", does not mean that the power of God is not healing the crippled, deaf, and cancer-ridden down in Peru.

Just because Rev. Sees-a-Lot claims he had a revelation from the Lord that the people of Ohio would send him $10 million, doesn't mean that the Lord never gives his people revelations.

Jesus said that the day is coming when He will appear with winnowing fork in hand to separate those who are His from those who pretend to be. He is not fooled at all by the imitations.

In the meantime, let's be very careful that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The fact that there are numerous false prophets around does not mean there are no real ones.

But What About...?

2011-08-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

The age-old question stumps us all. In recent days, we even see respected Christian leaders wavering in their assertion that Jesus is the only way to God. It all stems from the same human desire: understanding. We think we must mentally comprehend spiritual truths for them to be true. If we cannot, we try to create a detour where none exists.

So...What About the Heathen?

What about those who have never heard?

Are they condemned to Hell?

Critics lift knowing brows as the question hangs in the air. Even those committed to Christ often quake in their boots, certain they are without an answer to this. How can we defend our faith, our God, if it and He are so unfair?

One reason this question so puzzles us is that we begin with a wrong assumption. We ask the question from the standpoint of self-righteousness, as though we are all equally deserving and accepting of God's pardon; yet mean-old-God withholds the opportunity from some poor souls and gives it to others.
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The only way to comprehend the answer is to switch perspectives. As long as we are earthbound looking up, all we see are trees and clouds. From a spaceship, we can see the whole picture and that is God's perspective. Ultimately, everything is God's perspective, so it stands to reason we should align our minds with His before trying to understand anything He does.

When we start with the Scriptural premise that God is good, that he is kind, patient, and "not willing that any should perish," (2 Pet. 3:9) we are forced to view the Big Question in a new light. Isn't it logical to assume that a God like that has already thought it all out?

If we admit that because of our selfishness, sinfulness, and outright rebellion against God, none of us deserves His pardon. We should get what we asked for. The fact that He made such a sacrifice to save us from ourselves is incomprehensible. Would a God who sacrificed Himself to purchase our redemption willfully withhold that salvation from any heart who would accept it? Wouldn't He find a way to make that offer available?

The second fallacy in this questions involves those years before Christ came. In a casual reading of the Old Testament, we may conclude that God chose the Jews to bless and everyone else was condemned forever. But during a study of the Israelites' struggles and moves and conquests, I noticed something. In so many passages, the writer describes Israel's moves and adds "and the aliens with them." There were always non-Jews from every land who had recognized the one true God and had joined forces with Israel.

When Moses went on the run from Pharaoh after murdering an Egyptian taskmaster, he ended up in Midian--a long way from the chosen people of God. One of the first people he met was Jethro, who is described in Exodus as "a priest in Midian." Here was a guy a long way from God's chosen ones, yet he already knew and was actively serving the one true God. How did that happen?

Often before Israel went to war with a pagan nation, the pagan king would send messengers saying, "We have heard of you and of your God who does miracles for you!" No New York PR firm could have handled the marketing better than God did. Individuals had many opportunities to join forces with the people of God and God had left strict instructions that they were to be treated as brothers.

If the God of the Old Testament had spread word of Himself even into pagan lands who had never met an Israelite, doesn't it stand to reason that the God of the New Millennium is even now continuing to spread the news of his redemption plan to everyone who would choose to accept it?

The questions that stump us do not stump God. Those antagonistic questions that threaten to pervert our faith and keep unbelievers away from the truth are what the Apostle Paul was referring to when he reminded us:

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Cor. 10:4)

The Saddest Phrase

2011-08-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

What's the saddest thing you've ever heard?

Maybe the death of a child. A couple divorcing after 50 years.

A mother running away from her family.

Tragedy seems endless and terrible things happened in Bible times, too: murders, idol worship, infanticide, adultery...

Some things don't change much.

But one phrase in the Old Testament is startling in its hopelessness

and in its relevant application today.

This phrase refers to Samson after he'd been tricked by Delilah

and lost his strength.

Judges 16 reports that he said: "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.

"But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him."

He'd flirted with the enemy and lost---

and he didn't even know it.

As a counselor, I encounter Christians who are engulfed by problems God never intended them to have. They pray, read their Bibles, and frantically run through their lists of Christian practices in hopes that something will help.

Nothing does. Because they do not realize that the power of the Lord has departed from them.

When we give ourselves over to sin, to the world, to our natural inclinations little by little, we can fool ourselves for quite a while. "I can handle it." "It's just a little white lie." "I'm not hurting anybody." We dance on the edge, self-confidence replacing the God-reliance we once knew.

And then suddenly we're falling. Out of control, our world shatters and we scream for help, fully expecting God to deliver us as he has in the past.

And nothing happens.

Why?

It's not a race to see who can be the most holy, who can keep the commandments, or who won the gold star in church attendance. God doesn't keep a tally sheet, marking you off for every slip-up until he finally shakes his head, slaps the book shut, and says, "That's it for her. She's used up her grace for the year. C'mon, Holy Spirit, we're finished here."

It's a choice made by the human heart, just as Samson made the choice when he allowed God's source of strength to be shorn off. We're the ones who cut ourselves off from God's power by flirting with the enemy. We no longer have unrestricted access to His help 24/7. God is still available--but now it's by appointment only.

The good news is that Samson wasn't finished. He still had time to regain that strength, but he never became all God intended him to be. God still used him to do great things, but it was done in agony and heartbreak rather than the victory and joy God planned.

God isn't finished with you either. As my clients are learning, it's never too late for God to turn something tragic into something beautiful, when you leave the results with him.

Have you ever thought of it that way? If you're facing continual defeat, maybe it's time for a checkup. Has the spirit of God departed from you--and you never knew it?

Whack! Whack!

2011-08-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

"I did it my way!" has been America's theme song for the last couple of generations.

We applaud self-sufficiency, independence, and that "can-do" attitude. We cheer for the ones who defy convention and make a name for themselves. That tenacity often passes for character.

We are enthralled with our own potential.

Naturally, the world loves its warped logic, calling it tolerance. "Why can't we put a mosque on this corner next to the terrorist monument? One religion is as good as the next. And while we're at it, let's take "God Bless America" out of our repertoire. We don't need anyone's God to bless us. We are fine on our own."

Unfortunately, preachers are some of the worst offenders. "We're starting a new building project! The Lord is blessing us with so many new families, we've got to build! Don't have time to wait on God. With a five million dollar loan, we can be in our new building by next year, so turn in those pledge cards today!"

Average Christians do it too. "Sure I'll teach that Sunday School class. I've taught the past eight years. Don't necessarily hear God asking me to, but it needs done, so I'll do it."

Self-confidence is nothing we thought up. It has deep roots. It also has deep consequences. Remember this guy? "We need water. Badly. I'm so sick of this complaining. These Israelites are getting on my nerves. Last year I whacked a rock and a flood gushed out, so I'll just whack this baby again and stop this complaining. I think the Lord said to speak to it, but what the dif? God and me are buddies now. He'll bless anything I do."

Moses miscalculated and it cost him dearly. He called it confidence. God called it rebellion.

It seemed like such a little thing. What's the difference whether he spoke to the rock or hit the rock. Same rock. Same God. Couldn't God have played along with Moses? Made him look good in front of those grumbling Israelites?

God is not interested in playing our ego games and He takes disobedience very seriously. For that little act of arrogance, Moses lost the privilege of leading his people all the way into the Promised Land.

He'd taken them so far, been God's right hand man, witnessed miracles every time he turned around. Yet, God would deprive him of that one last victory march all because of over-confidence.

What about you?

What are you attempting that wasn't God's idea? We love to charge ahead, inform God of what we plan to do, then ask His blessing on it. And we wonder why often it flops. So we get mad at God.

Are you mistaking self-confidence for God's approval? Just because you are good at something doesn't mean you should do it. Just because it appears to bring results, doesn't mean it is from God.

Water did, in fact, come out of the rock when Moses whacked it in error. To everyone else it appeared that Moses was THE GUY. Wow! Watch him go!

But Moses knew it the moment he did it. God made certain of that. What Moses did to ensure a bit of quick admiration ended up costing him all the honor God wanted to give him.

How much are you forfeiting due to your own attitude of self-sufficiency?

Are you satisfied with man-sized results when you could be experiencing God-sized results?
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The World's Bait-And-Switch

2011-07-29T08:02:00.001-07:00

They sat stiffly, eyes never meeting, pain etched on tear-stained faces. Disillusionment. Confusion. Despair.

Never married, but sharing a toddler they both loved. Moving in and out of each other's lives. Affairs on the side. Lashing out. Getting even. Sexting others. Lying.

They were the poster children of this generation.

"You can make your own rules," they are told from infancy on. Their instructors are the public education system, Hollywood, and People magazine. And they learn quickly, putting it all into practice the moment puberty hits.

By 21 they are used up, strung out, and angry.

Why didn't it work? I did everything I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. And now here we sit, our lives already mapped out for us by our own choices and it looks nothing like the movies.

There is a stoplight--several, actually--that I really don't like. It is slow to turn green and placed in an aggravating intersection that I would rather zip through. According to the current philosophy, I should be able to make my own rules. If I don't like that light, I shouldn't have to adhere to it. You can't tell me what is right for me. I won't hit anybody. Probably.

There is also a Posted: Keep Out sign on my road, a few feet from a drop-off. But what if I decided that sign was a bit to moralistic for me and I should decide for myself whether or not to keep driving?

We all instinctively understand physical laws and why they are important--regardless of whether we like or agree with them. But when it comes to morality, we stiffen up. God's laws are viewed as stuffy and old-fashioned, designed to force us into a mold. Common sense and values are thrown out the window. Kids plunge into these boundary-less relationships with no pilot at the wheel. Their brokenness follows them as they raise their illegitimate children-- the ones who truly pay the price. By puberty, those children have learned their lessons well and they continue the cycle.

Take a long look at the couple in the photo above. Are they the picture of unbridled freedom?

The world pulls the old bait-and-switch. It advertises a celebrity life of wanton pleasure and delivers a trailer in the ghetto with unpaid bills. My newest clients are just two of millions who've been duped by the ads.

Thankfully, they each gave their lives to Christ last week. Their problems are not over, but they have each aligned themselves with the only One who knows how to make a mosaic out of shattered hearts.

The warning signs are there and if we heed them, we save ourselves untold heartache. We also develop character--a word quickly becoming obsolete. Patience, respect, self-control, and delayed gratification are worth developing, but in this microwave culture they take too long and deny me what I want in the moment.

America's motto of "Give me what I want right now!" is costing us more than we have. When will we learn?
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The Daddy/Daughter Dance

2011-07-28T07:39:00.001-07:00

Her tiny toes pressed against the size 11 shoes as they swung into the daddy/daughter dance. Far above her head, Daddy smiled as he maneuvered through the tricky steps, avoided the other dancers, and managed somehow to keep time.

All she did was hang on.

When the music ended, applause rippled around the room and she stepped carefully off the shoes and blushed with pleasure. What a thrill it had been! Yet, she could have never done it alone. She'd have been lost among the moving legs, stomping feet, and dance moves she'd never learned. But with Daddy here, all she had to do was hang on.

Life is a daddy/daughter dance and we don't know the moves. All God requires of his children is that we cling to him with everything we've got and trust that He knows the moves. Trust means that we can swing through the crowd of confusing choices, potential dangers, and shaky circumstances and not let go. Our hands may get a little sweaty, but that just makes us cling more tightly.

So many Christians white-knuckle their way through life, straining every spiritual muscle to accomplish things for God. Trying...trying again...trying harder...

How exhausting it is!

We have somehow gotten the notion that we have to do God's work for him. That he is incapable of getting anything done here on earth unless we dive in and do it for him. Where do we come up with that?

God knows the dance. He knows the music. He wants us to rest on his feet and let him do it all.

Are you trying to do the daddy/daughter dance by yourself?
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New Website!

2011-07-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

I've been extremely busy this past week--thus no new posts! I finished a certification program and am now a Divorce and Family Mediator.

I have also just about completed work on my new counseling website. Hop on over here and take a look.

Thanks for stopping by. New posts to come.
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Check Your Lyrics

2011-07-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

Their sound was polished, the music well-done. But something felt wrong.

The worship band was singing about God, even incorporating Scripture into the songs. The chanting, applauding crowd seemed oblivious to what I was seeing and I noticed that I was the only who had sat down after the second song.

The crowd was on its feet, responding as the band wanted them to, but something was wrong. My spirit began to rebel.

I was attending a Night of Worship with one of my favorite worship leaders, Kari Jobe. I had not known another worship band would be leading off--one I'd never heard of--but I had eagerly prepared to enjoy them too.

I hadn't expected this internal resistance. Spiritual resistance.

"What is it, Lord?" I asked over the noise of the place. "Am I being overly-critical? Maybe they're just not my style."

That wasn't it.

I began to study the lyrics beamed high on the screens. Nothing wrong with them, exactly. Or was there?

Was I being too harsh? I didn't want to be. I had come expecting to worship the Lord with a group of strangers who were my brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead, my heart thudded uncomfortably as the first band charged into their next song, whipping the crowd into a lather.

It wasn't just the first song. Or the second. Song after song, the theme became painfully obvious: The focus of the entire hour was about harnessing the power of God for MY purposes rather than seeking the person of God for His purposes. God was presented as a genie, obligated to respond to my requests because I had faith.

I began to pray against the spirits that were present. Some of them were not from God. I prayed for the gullible people who may never realize the error in their theology until the god they thought they were worshiping let them down one day.

When Kari came onstage an hour later, everything changed. The whole spirit of the place calmed. Her very presence seemed to usher in a new kind of Spirit. Though some of her songs were upbeat and the crowd responded with excitement, the evening was spent exalting the name of Jesus rather than what He could do for us. Her focus was on lifting Him high, worshiping at His feet, praising Him for who He is.

I continued to think about it for days afterward. Was I correct that the first band was not what God had in mind when He commanded us to worship Him in spirit and in truth? Or was I being hyper-critical?

We can worship God in a million ways, not all of them understood by everyone else. We have different styles, different needs, and different ways of expressing our hearts to God. But the end result of true worship is always the same: exalting and glorifying the Lord--not demanding that He bless us, favor us, and demonstrate His power to us when we so desire.

Sometimes we can get a little too familiar in our relationship with God and we start to believe the cart is pulling the horse. We get pumped up on sermons about "faith that moves mountains" and start to worship the power of our faith rather than the Bestower of it. It's a subtle deception that Satan enjoys, because it robs a Holy God of all the adoration due Him.

Have you found yourself caught up in this switch-game? You thought you were worshiping God, but now that you think about it, your worship was directed at yourself and all you could be when God finished gifting you.

Are you singing joyfully along with lyrics that command Almighty God to reveal Himself to you? Bless you the way you want? Increase your profit margin? Is the God of your worship being depicted as a genie-in-a-bottle, there for your personal use?

Satan is the father of lies and will not flinch at inspiring well-meaning musicians to weave a few into their lyrics if it means robbing his Enemy of the glory due Him.

Check your lyrics. Do they present the God of the Scriptures as He really is or as our egos want to perceive Him?
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I Could Do It Better

2011-07-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

So you were passed over for the promotion you wanted.

The ones doing the job seem incompetent. You know you could do better.

Prince Charming picked someone else.

You trained so long and hard, but you lost anyway.

WHY? Why, God?

One universal characteristic shared by mankind is imagination. It manifests itself in a million ways from fantasy to real heart's desire. We can see our dream in our minds. We just KNOW how things would go if only we got the chance. And we can see how God could use us, how good we would be if He only picked us.

And He doesn't.

Have you ever wondered how David's brothers felt as Samuel the priest studied and then rejected each of them as future king of Israel? Do you think a few of them felt slighted by God? "Hey, I'm a good guy too! Why couldn't I be king? I would do a much better job than that little shepherd kid."

Or how did the gallant military leaders of Gideon's day feel when God selected the trembling guy who didn't want the job? Rebuffed? Insulted? Indignant? Each imagining the glory he could bring upon Israel if only he'd been chosen.

Or what about the young woman who grew up next door to Mary, dreaming that she might be chosen as the mother of the Messiah. She'd kept herself pure, loved God, did everything right and thought she had an excellent chance until Joseph's peasant fiancee made her shocking announcement. Imagine the shock and disappointment when Mary's son began to prove Himself as the real Messiah. All the other girls knew they'd been passed over for the honor of being his mother. Why? Why not me?

Let's face it: Many times God's plan looks nothing like what we imagined. It makes no sense to us and deep down, we question His decision. "I'd do a much better job, Lord. Why didn't you pick me?"

God Himself gives the clearest explanation of His sometimes backward choices: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways."

God seems to delight in surprising us, shocking us, and leaving us a bit confused when we try to figure it out. The key is to remember that He is not nearly as interested in our tiny corner of reality as He is in unfolding the Big Picture. We are merely players in His story.

Yes, He cares about our hurts and desires, but He also wants us to take a step back from our self-centered world and enjoy the Big Picture with him. Rather than work in our lives so that we receive glory and honor, He wants us to work with Him so that all the honor and glory due Him is adequately placed. We can only do that when we are wholly surrendered to His will--whatever it is.

It wasn't all ticker-tape parades for the above chosen ones. David ran for his life for years after Samuel's announcement. Gideon spent sleepless nights in fear about the outcome of this war for which he felt incredibly unprepared. And who can adequately imagine the suffering of Mary as she watched history unfold in the life of her baby boy.

We love to imagine the glorious result if we were chosen, rarely considering the hours of labor, doubt, fear, and often despair that comes with it.

If you're chaffing over a disappointing loss, a dream that never took wing, a life path that makes you wonder if you were passed over for blessing, take a step back. God's reasons are for Him alone to know. But you can be certain that if your life is surrendered to Him, there is no blessing, no promotion, no honor He will withhold from you that is in your best interest.

So go ahead. Made that concession call. There is something better just down the road.

How Badly Do You Wanna Know Him?

2011-07-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..."

The Apostle Paul knew how to turn a phrase. He could capture the deepest thoughts in a simple fragment.

We like the idea of knowing Jesus in all His power and glory. As believers, we live for the day when "every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord." And to be honest, we often have a "take that!' attitude when we think about it.

But the idea does not stop there. It continues with "...and the fellowship of his sufferings."

Most of us skim right on past that one. We smile at the power part, but grimace at the idea of having to suffer with Christ in order to truly know Him.

I always assumed this referred to physical suffering, as in the cross. I thought of the martyrs or other Christians tortured for their faith. And the verse certainly encompasses them.

But this week God showed me a deeper insight about suffering, a kind that Christ must have endured every day he was on the earth and one we can only experience when we allow ourselves to be drawn completely into the heart of God.

The trivial nonsense we usually call suffering is embarrassing:

"Had to miss the OU-Texas game because I was at church!"
"Broke up with my party boyfriend because I thought God wanted me to."
"Gave up drinking and smoking when I got saved. Hope the Lord appreciates it."

The fellowship of His suffering has nothing to do with forsaking worldliness. Missing a football game would not have caused Jesus any hurt, so we cannot say we are sharing it with Him.

In order to experience the fellowship of suffering, we have to feel what He felt, understand what He understood, and yearn for what He desired. The closer we draw to God, the closer we want to be. You cannot get close enough. The more we hunger and thirst for righteousness, ache over the darkness stealing the souls of men, long for the moment we shall see Him face to face, the less attractive this world becomes. And we get to the point we can say with Paul, "For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain."

Death is no longer the enemy; it becomes the ticket home.

As I agonized over several of my clients' choices this week, grimaced at the headlines (New Mosque to be Built), sighed at the complacency of modern Christianity, I thought: I don't want to be here anymore. I don't fit. I wanna go home.

Then I wondered: Did Jesus ever feel this way?

And I knew the answer. He did.

He spent so much time alone with His Father because He was homesick. This world held no attraction for Him except the job He had come to finish. The baubles and trinkets meant nothing at all to him. The races, the competitions, the value-system was all a waste of time. He'd come for one purpose only--to do the will of the One who sent Him. Then he was outta here.

What suffering it must have been for the perfect Son of God to dirty his feet with our filth, to listen to our tawdry jokes, hear our whiny complaints, listen to our blaspheming, watch the men He'd created destroy each other. Even his own family didn't believe in Him, and the rag-tag bag of disciples rarely caught on either. How wearying it must have been.

Weariness is part of the suffering that comes with chasing the heart of God. To comprehend the horror of sin and what it cost God, to bear His burden for the lost world, to contend daily for the eternal souls of men and watch many slip through your fingers is to place yourself at odds with almost everyone. To totally clip all ties with this planet and live only for the world to come will earn you many raised eyebrows, but it is the only way we can truly fellowship with the One who taught us how to do that.

But there is suffering involved. Spiritual suffering. The kind that only Jesus and His followers understand. It's not hopeless depression, such as the world has. It's not the self-centered whining that is so common everywhere. It is grieving for what grieves the heart of God and knowing you can only be satisfied when you stand at last in His Presence.

But you can't yet. He has a job for you to do first. So like our Model, we turn away from what our hearts desire and say with Him, "Not my will but Thine be done."

And we stay, and we labor, and we trust and pray, aware with every breath that this is not our home. We inhabit a foreign planet and we don't know the language.

But we stay because He's asked us to. Just like Jesus did.

And that is the fellowship of His suffering. It is not for the fainthearted or the ones who find their delight in this world. Sadly, most professing Christians take another path.

But it's worth it because the fellowship of His suffering is the only way to truly know Him.
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The Choice

2011-07-03T00:02:00.001-07:00

He dragged it the final few feet, muscles straining, sweat beading his body like he'd been in the sauna.

With great effort he heaved it up and onto the slab where it slithered like jello until it was finally still. Breathing hard, he lifted his eyes and his hands to the sky. "There. It's done. It's all yours. I'm through with it."

He turned to go, feeling lighter than he'd felt in years. Everyone said it was so hard, but this was the best investment of energy he'd ever spent. For years it had strangled him, weighing him down, keeping him light-years from the only source of Power he cared about.

But now it was done. Finished. Once and for all. He'd never have to worry about it again.

He started down the path, whistling under his breath. Oh, it felt so good to be free! Free at last!

The path down the mountain split like a Y.

He stopped to consider. From which way had he come? It all looked the same from this direction. To the right, heavy undergrowth choked a dense forest, deep with shade. To the left, sun dappled a wide open path.

A faded sign was tacked to a tree. The paint was peeling, but there appeared to be an arrow on it and he squinted to make out the words.

The sign seemed to indicate the path to the right, but as he squatted to peer through the thicket, he frowned. Surely not. He hadn't remembered all that tangled undergrowth. Practically a jungle. He'd need a machete to get through it. Nothing but cold, uninviting brambles. And...was that a drop-off?

The path to the left was sunny and clear. A robin hopped across the stones and in the distance he could hear a babbling stream. He glanced at the sign again, then shook his head. Couldn't be accurate. The sign must've been twisted in a big wind. Surely the best path would never be that complicated. Supper was waiting, there was a ball game on tonight, and he'd never liked forests anyway.

He turned to the left and stepped into the sunshine, but his legs felt suddenly heavy. With each step, it felt as though he was dragging his own weight.

It was not until he made it to the bottom of the mountain that he realized the very Flesh he had offered on the altar was once again firmly entwined with his body, sucking the life from him like a man-sized leech.

What happened? He'd thought it gone for good.

He eased the slimy fingers from his throat and peered back up the mountainside. The stones from his homemade altar caught the sunlight and flashed like a beacon.

This had to be done every day, didn't it? Every moment. Crucifying the Flesh was a lifestyle, not an event. A continuous series of choices until the Spirit ruled completely. Somebody had told him that once, but he hadn't believed it.

Come to think of it, hadn't the Apostle Paul said the same thing?

The weight around his heart grew heavier. The icy fingers clutched his neck, his chest, making it hard to breathe. Funny how he'd once been used to living this way, but now found it intolerable. Never again. He'd never go back.

With a determined sigh, he started up the mountain.
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¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Rom.6)

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God's law, for it is unable to do so. ⁸ Those who live according to the flesh are unable to please God. (Rom. 8)

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It's Why We're Here

2011-06-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

What prompted God to make man in the first place?

He had everything. He'd already made a ton of animals to display his incredible creativity. He'd colored his Earth every imaginable hue, tossed waves into the oceans, and set the planets spinning in their orbits. So it wasn't boredom or loneliness.

It wasn't due to a lack of anything, because the very nature of God is to be all-sufficient. So what was left? Why did He want a man in His own image?

The first hint is in the first chapter of Genesis. Ever notice how involved with Adam that God continued to be? He didn't stop with bringing him to life.

Look how many verbs are used in connection with God's activity toward man: He took the man and placed him in the garden...He brought the animals to him to see what he would call them...He caused a deep sleep...

Even after the creation of Eve, God came down in the "cool of the evening" to walk and talk with them. That pokes a few holes in the Deist theory that a Supreme Creator set the world in motion and then took a long vacation.

We get a very clear picture of a doting Father, delighting in his children. He didn't need Adam to name the animals. He didn't need Adam's help to tend the garden. What he delighted in was the relationship. He continually initiated conversation and interaction with the first humans.

So what did they talk about?

Think about your prayer times. Adam had no needs, so he couldn't ask God for anything. He had not sinned, so he didn't need forgiveness. He had no desires that weren't being met, no fears, no worries. There was no one he needed to intercede for, no Aunt Agnes in the hospital, Bob Brown's knee surgery, or his cousin's step-mother's uncle who lost his house. Those are the items that usually clutter up our time with God and we call it communication.

So what did God and Adam talk about?

We have reduced the art of prayer to an information exchange, done in the quickest possible time. If we aren't begging God for something, we assume there is nothing more to discuss. How it must hurt our Heavenly Father.

I think God looked forward to those daily strolls through the garden, listening to Adam's excited chatter the way a proud parent listens to a beloved child's discovery:

"Look at that red bird, Yahweh! I haven't seen one like that yet! Wow, you are so creative!"

"Did I tell you about these luscious green balls I found yesterday? I think I'll call them grapes. I ate a whole vine full!"

"I'm re-thinking the whole hippopotamus name. Kinda long, don't you think, even though it does seem to fit."

God is a person. He can enjoy, take delight, find humor, and look forward to things just like we can. He delighted in simply spending time with this created being that He loved like His own Son without prayer requests, bargaining, or angry demands.

And God doesn't change. He still likes it. He enjoys spending time with his children, watching us discover the mysteries He's hidden on the globe for us to find. Hearing our excited chatter as we seek Him out to share it with Him.

How much enjoyment are you giving God?
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Things I've Learned From My Dogs

2011-06-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is a re-post from last year. If my schedule ever slows down again, I'll get creative.

Yankee and Babe have become a great source of inspiration as I watch them do stupid dog things that often parallel the stupid human things I do. Here are a few of the things I've learned from watching them:

1. Jealousy is unbecoming.

2. No matter how much barking I do at the irritations of life,
nothing really changes.
Noise and fuss do not equal control.

3. My food dish will be filled no matter what I do or don't do because Somebody loves me in spite of my messes.

4. Being put outside for a while is not the worst thing that can happen. I'll live through it and life will be good again.

5. There is no sense in growling at children. It ticks everyone off and they have long memories.

6. I can sleep on the floor to make a point, but the only one who gets the point is me.

7. There's plenty of room on this couch for both of us. No need to be touchy.

8. A humble hand-licking goes a lot farther than a snooty pout.

9. Grooming only hurts for a little while and I'm always better for it.

10. There are times when you have to go to the vet, and at those times it's better to trust my Master's wisdom than the scary sights and sounds all around me.

Have You Dropped a Stitch?

2011-06-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

I used to knit and crochet. Back in the olden days when I actually had time to sit around!

I once crocheted a baby afghan and was about 2/3 of the way into it when I noticed I'd dropped a stitch way back there somewhere.

Now the afghan was shrinking! It looked perfectly fine unless you tried to fold it in half, then the discrepancy was painfully obvious. One end was markedly narrower than the end where I'd started.

I thought about ignoring it, but what was the point of finishing a crooked afghan? So I started pulling on the yarn and unraveled that thing all the way back to where I'd first messed up. Yes, it took longer, but when I finished I had something I could be proud of.

Sometimes we get the idea that God is not interested in the minute details of our lives. We have an unspoken rating system: big decisions merit prayer, little ones are up to me.

I'm not sure that's accurate. I am currently reading through Exodus (well aware that the tedious chapters of Leviticus are ahead). When the O.T. launches into all that meticulous detail, I tend to zone out. But since all Scripture is there for us to learn, I asked God to show me what he wanted me to learn from it.

As I read about God's instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle, I was struck with how detailed it was. God was passionately concerned with every facet of it from color, to texture, to smells, and to size and shape. He was REALLY into it! God got excited about His house and making himself available to his people. He wanted them to know he cared very much about every tiny detail and was keeping watch to see that they obeyed Him.

I think He wants us to know that too. There is no area of our lives off-limits to God. No decision too small or thought too insignificant for Him to care about it.

If He cared enough to instruct Moses on the exact color and design of a priest's robe, then He cares what you're wearing on that important interview. He cares what you wear to church. If He insisted on nothing but the purest gold for His utensils, then He still insists that you give him your very best in everything. He knows the difference.

Sometimes we think we can get away with offering God something we care little about. We give him our castoffs, our discarded ideas, our half-hearted efforts. We give him a couple of hours on Sunday morning and think He's satisfied.

God is very much into details. Jesus hammered that point home when he told his followers that "the very hairs of your head are numbered." Can you be any more detailed than that?

Satan wants you to believe that you're "bothering God" with your puny problems and after all "God helps those that help themselves." You won't find that nonsense in the Bible, even though it's quoted as though it was inspired.

God helps those who throw themselves at His feet and beg for mercy, admitting their inability to help themselves. He wants us to share with Him our every thought, our puzzling circumstances, our decisions at those forks in the road.

He never drops a stitch, but he cares a lot when you do. He'll whisper that it's okay, just go back and do it again. This time follow the Pattern and you'll create something worth keeping.
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At Cross Purposes

2011-06-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

We see crosses everywhere. Gold ones dangling between buxom breasts, wooden ones stuck to the tops of churches, and painted ones adorning business presumably owned by Christians.

Fancy, pretty, ornate crosses are clutched by the masses as though simply the shape possesses magical powers . In modern society, the cross has come to symbolize something mystical, almost like having a personal genie. Once again, Satan has twisted truth until it satisfies our basest selfishness because he rightly knows that when he makes it all about US, we buy it every time.

When Jesus told his followers that if any of them truly wanted to be his disciple, they must "take up your cross daily and follow me" he wasn't offering to be their genie.

We often assume what he meant was bearing our own burdens without complaining. Or giving up something worldly for his sake. But that's only a tip of the iceberg.

The cross always stands for death. Cruel, purposeful, agonizing death of something found to be abhorrent. The cross did not save us. It had no power in itself. It was a means to an end that Jesus chose while every fiber of his humanity cried out to do otherwise.

When he tells us that in order to follow him we must also take up our cross, he means that like him, we must die. Our self-life must be crucified along with him, or we will never be all that he calls us to be. We might look good on the outside, but until we've taken up our cross, we're just putting on a show.

We don't hear this preached much anymore--dying to SELF. It doesn't play very well in hedonistic American culture. The sermons we want are the ones about God meeting all our needs...or taking us to Heaven...or defeating all our enemies. We like those!

But Jesus preached a different sermon and his is the only way to truly experience any of the above. To take up your cross is to do as the Apostle Paul said and consider ourselves "crucified with Christ." Jesus didn't come to tame our flesh. He came to kill it. And until we allow him to kill it, we have no more power inside us than we did before. His Holy Spirit gets a chair in the corner of our hearts while our flesh rages on as before. That won't work.

If you want God to do amazing things in your life, through you and in you, then you must die. No fence-straddling. No holding on to "just a teensy gray area." No passionate interest in anything but Him.

And we cannot do it. We absolutely cannot make ourselves die to SELF.

That's why we need the cross. Remember, it symbolizes purposeful, painful killing of something we consider abhorrent. Until we recognize that all that ME we once found so appealing is really our enemy, we won't be willing to let it die. We cling to SELF like the last parachute in the biplane.

"That's what makes me ME!" we whine.
"You have to look out for Number One, or nobody else will."
"I have a right to be proud of myself for all I've accomplished."

"Take up your cross daily and follow me," Jesus said. He emphasized the word daily because he was well aware of our tendency to go back on our commitments. Dying to SELF is a daily reckoning. As an accountant tallies up the books each day, we must allow God to examine our hearts and see what might be amiss.

Have we gone back to bragging on ourselves?
Have our once-pure motives turned selfish?
Is our desire for acclaim getting out of hand?

Next time you see a cross, let it be a personal message from Jesus to you. Are you dead yet?
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You Call That Worship?

2011-06-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

He carefully arranged the carrots next to the plump beets and stepped back.

There. Looked great! The colors complemented each other and the size of each vegetable had already turned heads. No one could coax produce from the soil quite like him. He was a master gardener, no doubt about that.

He smirked at the pitiful, bloody altar across the yard where his brother was busily hacking up that poor dead lamb. How disgusting! Surely civilization had progressed beyond his parents' early days, hadn't it? Such messy offerings weren't needed anymore.

He'd never really understood this God his father and brother knew, but maybe today he'd get on His good side. This time he'd brought the better offering. This ought to Wow! Yahweh. Granted, this tasteful array wasn't exactly within the stated requirements, but that's how progress was made, wasn't it? Maybe Yahweh would see that they could compromise on some things, shake it up a bit. Maybe this time the Mysterious One would see the wisdom in a Cain's offering.
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The days of physical sacrifices are past, thanks to the Ultimate Sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Yet how many times do we bring a Cain's offering in place of real worship?

What we call "worship services" in many churches across the world are nothing more than fleshly attempts to give God what WE want to give him, not what He requires.

We clock in between 9 and 11 Sunday morning,

sit down,
read the worship guide,
chit-chat with a few friends,
stand up,
sing what we're told to sing,
listen with one ear unless it's a feel-good message and then we nod right along with the preacher.
If we're really pious, we actually plunk our dutiful tithe into the bucket and try not to think about what else that money could purchase.

Then it's out the door and back to REAL life, where we're the boss. Decisions are ours alone. Life choices are made with scarcely a nod in God's direction. The thought of worship never enters our minds again until next Sunday morning at approximately 10:48 am.

Do we really believe God is fooled? We shake our heads at the foolishness of Cain's plan, yet the average Christian in America is doing exactly the same thing. Every day.

We've bought into the Satanic idea that we can offer God what WE like, what WE choose to give him, and that will suffice. We think we we can offer him a part of our hearts, a part of our lives, a chair in the corner, and He will be tickled with it, like tossing a rattle to a baby to keep him occupied while we go on about our business.

We are fools.

Christian attempts at worship vary from from hysterical emotionalism to rigid formality and God wants none of it. "The true worshiper must worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He seeks such worshipers as this." (John 4:24)

True worship does not start or end according to the clock or the calendar. True worship is a lifestyle. Both spirit and truth must be fully engaged or it is not worship, it is only noise. If your spirit is not placed on that altar before God, if your mind is not being daily renewed with His truth, then what you are doing is not worship. It is a Cain's offering, a formality that does nothing to touch the heart of God.

Before you lift a brow at Cain, examine what you call worship. Cain offered to God his opinion rather than his life. Are you doing the same thing?
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The Overlooked Commandment

2011-06-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

Quick.

What command appears in the Bible more than any other?

Did your mind flit to the Ten Commandments? The Great Commission?

Did you assume it was "Don't"?

Wrong.

There is a one-word command used more often than any other throughout the Old and New Testaments, yet it is rarely ever considered, much less obeyed.

That word is Remember.

God begins much of His instruction by first commanding us to remember. "Remember when I..." "Remember how I..." "Remember your God..."

He knows we need a basis upon which to place our ongoing obedience and that basis is to remember how He provided, comforted, defended, inspired, strengthened the last time.

Yet, when faced with another hurdle, we cower in fear, certain we've been deserted. No wonder God gets fed up with our lack of faith. We refuse to remember all He's already done.

When you hit the wall this week and another blow knocks you breathless, let your first response be to remember all God has brought you through thus far. That little word holds the key to facing with confidence whatever God allows in your path.

He wants us to Remember that regardless of how it looks, He's always been there and always will be.

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I Have a Right to Be Entitled

2011-06-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

They scraped and saved and did without. They wrangled deals until the day came when they could afford it. With tears of joy, they presented their beloved daughter with the gift of a lifetime.

Her face said it all as she squealed with delight. "Oh, finally! Cool! I can't wait to tell my friends!" She whirled away from her parents and raced into the house.

Mom looked at Dad. "I guess she liked it. She seemed happy."

Dad's smile wavered and his eyes followed his daughter's quick exit. "Yeah, she seemed to...Surely she'll know now how much we love her. You think...you think she does?"

Mom swallowed hard and followed his gaze. "Surely."

Through the open window came the sound of an excited voice. "It's awesome, Jill! Not the color I would have chosen, but still...I'm gonna look so cool! Everyone will be so jealous. It's about time I got it. I don't know why it took so long. You wanna go out tonight and show off with me? This'll make ol' Shelly eat her words about me. I'm gonna..."

Do you see something wrong with that scene?

If you've ever been on the parents' end of it, you see the problem right away. An ungrateful spirit and an entitlement attitude on the part of the daughter.

But have you ever been the daughter?

As I read the story in Exodus about Moses whacking the rock to bring forth water for the thirsty Israelites in the desert, I wondered: Why did God always change methods every time he did a miracle or gave a great gift? He rarely did things the same way twice. One time he had Moses whacking the rock, the next time speaking to it.

When Jesus healed someone in the New Testament, you just never knew how He was going to do it. One time he touched them, one time He merely spoke. One time He made mud out of spit and smearing it on a blind man's eyes. But why? Why alter the methods so drastically?

Because God is the parent of a bunch of ungrateful, self-centered children
with entitlement attitudes.

We beg Him to bless us, give us what we want, and we often do it with an attitude of expectation. We call it faith, but it's not. It's entitlement. As though the mere presence of a desire obligates God to give us what we want.

I believe He keeps us guessing because He wants us to want Him, not just His gifts. As soon as we think we know how God is going to work, we become complacent. We presume on God. He becomes merely the source of blessing rather than the object of our desire.

Because He kept the Israelites guessing, they never knew what was going to happen and they had to keep trusting, keep seeking, keep asking and keep their focus on Him rather than his gifts.

As long as Jesus kept switching methods, the people saw that there was nothing magic in the act itself. No hidden cameras. No sleight of hand. They could never duplicate his miracles, because the power was in Him, not his methods.

So what about you?

Have you developed a tendency to seek God because of what He can do for you, rather than for the joy of His presence?
Is your prayer life more like a letter to Santa?
Has God's past provision made you complacent, rather than grateful?
Do you assume that because He blessed you once, He is obligated to repeat it?

Is your relationship with God similar to that of the ungrateful teenager toward her parents?

All the girl had to do was run back outside and throw herself into her parents' arms, thanking them and promising to use this gift in a way that would make them proud.

Do you need to do the same thing?
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Get It Right Or Leave

2011-06-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

The young man strode forward, purpose written on his clean-shaven face.
"Miss, you need to wear something more decent when you come to church," he scolded.

The teenage visitor blushed and glanced down at her mini skirt. Her friend gaped at the man and then scowled at the badge that hung from his neck: Greeter.

He gave a satisfied nod and then strode back to his post by the door.
God's work had been done.
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"I visited that church on the corner, and let me tell you..." Mrs. Do Right cocked a knowing brow at her three brunch companions. "Fellas wearing caps backward, kids eating in the sanctuary, girls in shorts...There were even MOTORCYCLES parked out front!" She shook her head in disbelief. "In MY day you acted your best when you went to church or people would talk about you."

Widow Smugly nodded in agreement. "I heard they even skipped church services last month when that tornado tore up Smallville. The leaders went over there to pass out water or some such nonsense. Can you believe that? No services on Sunday!

"Our dear Pastor Lawly would never allow such goings-on at our church. He respects the Lord's house. When they asked to borrow our baptistery, he was smart enough to tell them "no way!" He would rather use it for storage than let a part of God's house be used by such...such...ungodly people. They baptize in the lake. Can you believe it? The lake! How unspiritual!"

The four remaining members of the Ladies' Circle clucked at the foolishness of that disrespectful bunch on the corner and the holiness of Pastor Lawly, thankful they would never be caught transgressing the rules. No sir, you'd never catch them breaking tradition.
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If that sounds ridiculous, it shouldn't. In fact, it's the norm. And it's been going on since Jesus walked the earth. He was the One who started the trend that people like Mrs. Do Right will never understand.
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(Luke 13)
Jesus held up a hand and the crowd grew silent.

"Woman, come here."

Every head turned to watch the crippled woman as she shuffled toward the Teacher. Her back was bent in half. She had seen nothing but feet for 18 years.

His hands touched her back and his words echoed over the breathless throng. "Be freed from your sickness," He said.

She began to straighten, her eyes widening as they sought the face of the one who had spoken. His smile said it all.

Murmurs rippled through the crowd and a man shouted, "Glory to God!"

"Now just one moment!" came a strident voice from the back of the room. "What's going on here? This is the Sabbath! Who do you think you are, healing people on the Lord's day? What blasphemy! What an outrage!"

The synagogue official shoved through the crowd and came nose to nose with the One they called the Teacher. "There are six days when you can work, and this isn't one of them. If you're going to go around healing people, then do it on one of those days, NOT on the Sabbath!"
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When we read that story we rightly feel shock at the callousness of that official. But how many times are we guilty of the same thing?

We cling to our traditions, our denominations, our version of the "right way to do things." We easily take offense at others who hold to different traditions or none at all. We each believe to the core of our beings that we are RIGHT and others are wrong. WE hold the truth and our rules are there for good reason. Our convictions should be yours, regardless of your need or where you've come from. Either become like us or there's the door.

OF COURSE the choir must wear robes!
OF COURSE we sing all four verses of Peace Like A River every time after communion!
OF COURSE the children must sit in church after first grade. Who cares if they're learning anything. That's the way it's done.
OF COURSE the men wear suits and ties and the ladies wear long skirts to church. Go ahead and buck tradition, you'll get THE LOOK. You won't do it again--IF you come back.
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If Jesus came to your church, what traditions might he trample?
Would you be the one frowning?