What's Your Plan?

It is taught and common sense seems to dictate that in order to be successful, we need to set goals and make plans on how to reach them.  Yet experience often proves that goals and plans can be sidetracked in a moment.

I had the goal of becoming a hospital administrator.  My plan, which I was actively working, was to enlist in the Air Force into the medical admistration field and take collge courses along the way until I retired with a degree and 20 years experience.  All was on track for that goal until I began to feel a burning desire to preach.  Six years in the military and two years of business college side tracked in a moment.

What the Bible has to say on the subject is this: "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps" (Prov 16:19).  We make our plans but God determines our outcomes.  That being so, why make plans at all?  Why not just wait until God reveals his perfect plan for us?  Because God reveals his plan along the way.  And, what seems unrelated to his plans for us may be an integral part of directing our steps.

My years in medical admisitration in a military hospital seem, on the surface, to have little to do with the ministry path I have been on for decades now.  However, when you consider that I am a clinical chaplain with the responsibility of overseeing efforts to provide service to veterans, it all seems to fit.  My path, however winding it may seem, brought me to this place in life - a career and a ministry for which I am rather uniquely qualified.

Why make our plans?  Because God blesses our plans as we walk according to his will.  Back to Proverbs 16, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans" (v. 3).  The Lord guides and blesses those who are moving forward not those who are holding back waiting for everything to be worked out for them in advance.  

We need to make our plans, proceed with them seeking God's direction and then adjusting our will, our plans and our goals to his along the way.  Jus' Sayn.

Building Habits

Normally, today, when people talk about their habits, they are talking in the negative - compulsive behavior that they want or need to shed such as smoking, drinking, gambling, overeating, etc. The desired action generally associated with them is that of breaking or controlling.

But a habit is not particularly good or bad, it is simply repetitive behavior.  It is the behavior that carries moral weight, not the frequency.  For instance, chewing your nails is generally seen as a bad or at least annoying habitual behavior, while chewing your food is a healthy part of proper nutrition.

The reason I am pointing out this distinction is because relegating habits to the negative side of human behavior prevents us from focusing on the positive side of building good habits.  Since habits can be good or bad, it would seem important to create as well as dismiss habits.

To the point, how about replacing the habit of overeating with the habit of healthy eating?  Replacing smoking with deep breathing, gambling with giving, excessive alcohol with adequate water, gossip with praise, video gaming with Bible study?  

The Bible has this to say on the subject: "Do not give up the habit of meeting together, as some have done, but meet together to encourage one another and all the more so as you see the day approaching" (Heb 10:25).  Habitual church attendance?  Who would have thunk it?  Actually, a lot of Christians do not think about getting up Sunday morning and gathering with the Saints any more than they have to think about going to work Monday through Friday, they just do.

Think about this: What if we all built habits of consistent Bible study, regular prayer time, dedicated giving, daily quiet time and so on.  What if we made building spiritual, godly, biblical habits a foundational part of our lives?  What if we became habitually holy, righteous, thankful, prayerful, loving, etc.?  Jus' Askn.

Preacheritis

Preacheritis is a condition that afflicts many Christians.  It is the deeply ingrained faith in a particular minister, which causes them to lose focus on the real power in the pulpit and place it on a servant called only for a season.  Preacheritis causes churches to abandon their roots and causes members to uproot from their churches.  It causes congregations to split and some to come to an early demise.  

Regardless of how good the preacher in question may be, the focus on him will lead to disappointment, detachment or destruction at some point as humans lack staying power.  Every preacher will move on due to personal ambition, leadership decision, health deterioration, family crisis, death...something, sometime.

This isn't a new thing, it's been going on as long as their have been exceptional kingdom leaders.  Whenever there has been someone worthy of leadership, followers tend to invest their trust in  them.  Who could have imagined a replacement for Moses?  Not even Joshua who filled his sandals believed it.  How could anyone compare with Elijah?  Yet Elisha, whom Elijah called from plowing fields, was chosen by God to stand in his place.

The thing is, it is not the man of God who has the power to advance the kingdom, it is the power of God in the man, a power that God invests into whomever he chooses, whenever he chooses, for the season he chooses: "God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine according to his power at work within us" (Eph 3:20).

That's the misplaced focus that comes from preacheritis, pinning our hopes on a man instead of on God.  Men of God come and go but God remains with his faithful followers and his power will rest on whomever he chooses.  It might even be you he calls to fill in the gap.  Jus' Sayn.

Counting on Tomorrow

I have read that if you ask the average crowd of people if they will be alive in two years, virtually everyone will say yes.  If you come back in two years and ask the same question, they will give the same answer.  The point being that while people intellectually know that their is no promise of tomorrow, they tend to count on it anyway.

My work as an Arkansas Hospice chaplain, daily intersects me with people for whom counting on tomorrow has shifted to hoping for tomorrow if not doubting seriously they will see tomorrow.  And, what is true of nearly all of them is that their yesterdays vanished much more quickly than they had imagined and they ran out of tomorrows way too soon, or at least so it seems to them.

What my patients are coming to grips with is the reality of a Bible verse many had heard but never really embraced fully until now: "Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (Js 4:13-14).

While hospice patients are in a better position to see the truth of that verse, they do not own exclusive rights to it.  It applies to you and me as well.  The only real difference between them and us is that they have an acute awareness that they are terminal, while we have a fuzzy notion of that reality.

We're making plans for years if not decades down a road that we may be called to exit before this day is over or next week begins.   "Instead we should say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that'" (Js 4:15).  

The point is that while we make plans for tomorrow, we ought to live in and for today as it is all we have with certainty.  Serving God, helping others and enjoying your family must not be relegated to some future date for which you have no claim.  Jus' Sayn.

God Speak

When I was a youth, we were merciless in our put downs of one another.  We didn't do it out of hatred or anger but rather it demonstrated a kind of acceptance.  We rather enjoyed the sharp-pointed jabbing.  My mother, however, did not enjoy or approve of it in the least.  I can still hear her word on the matter: "If you can't find something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

She was right, of course.  Her words were tempered with the godly desire to enrich and build up rather than expose and put down.  Her words were filled with God Speak as opposed to human slander.  While humans tend to revel in a bit of gossip or some juicy tid-bit that pulls another down, God's view of words is totally different:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Eph 4:29).  God, warning that words have power to build up or tear down, insists that we are careful to build - this is God Speak.

Even when said in jest, there is danger of wounding one who is at a fragile place or someone with self-esteem issues to begin with.  We must take great care when choosing words.  It's not that we can never joke but that we must be very careful as to who is the butt of our joking and what is the root of the joke.  On the whole, put downs are not good choices, even self-depreciation can be dangerous.  

Answer?  Use jesting with caution.  Make sure the spirit behind it is not malevolent.  Be sure the object of the jest has a solid  grasp of his/her self-worth.  Make it your aim to bless, not curse with words.  Be intent on God Speak, which builds up rather than worldly words that tear down.  Jus' Sayn.

An Eye for Life

In general, people look for one of two things: Things to appreciate or things to criticise.  Some people curse the drizzle while others are singing in the rain.  Both have the right to their point of view but both are not right in the point of their viewing.  The point or the direction of one view leads to health while the other leads to dis-ease.

Listen to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt 6:22-23).

The point I get from Jesus' words is that in any given moment, there are good and bad things upon which we can focus.  The rain is bringing needed moisture to the ground and it is denying an opportunity to ride your motorcycle.  You can choose to focus on either outcome, neither point of view changes the fact that it is raining but they both impact your attitude.  

Looking for the good promotes a positive, healthy attitude, which adds to life.  Looking for the bad promotes a negative, unhealthy attitude, which leads to a dis-ease or a kind of death.  One sheds light and the other spreads darkness.  The choice, however, unlike the circumstance, is yours. 

Martin Luther once noted, "You can't stop the birds from flying over head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair."   In other words, we can't control our environment but we can control how we think about it or our attitude.  We can choose to see the best, which will help us to feel our best and, therefore be our best.  Jus' Sayn.

Worthy Conduct

If you don't think people are creative, just confront them with their poor conduct and listen to the excuses they come up with for bad behavior.  Somehow or another, regardless of how inexcusable their behavior actually is, they reason why it was perfectly understandable given their circumstances, background or general predisposition.

Perhaps the most common is the "my dog ate my homework" excuse.  Whatever it is that I have done or failed to do can be laid at the feet of someone else.  Men who beat their wives often deflect their guilt saying, "You made me do it!"  Their bad behavior is deflected to the recipient of their wrath.  Employees who are chronically late to work will blame the traffic, the kids, a lost shoe, or nearly anything or one except the fact that they get up or start getting ready to late.

Many lay the blame on their upbringing, their parents, their siblings, their teachers, their culture, their backwoods roots, their big city roots, their whatever that molded or conditioned their attitude, rudeness, roughness, intolerance, whatever that has resulted in unacceptable behavior.  Whatever it was in their past to make them this way, it wasn't their fault and they can't change it.

Of course, their is the old standby, "That's just the way I am," usually followed with something like, "if you love me, you'll accept me, the way I am."  They don't bother with the how their bad behavior came to be, it just is.  Theirs is a fatalistic view of their conduct and your being stuck with accepting it.  

But then there is the biblical view, which is not at all like the ones offered above.  In fact, it lays them open and bleeding with personal failure to own and direct your attitudes and behaviors rather than excuse them: "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Phil 1:27).  

Simple, isn't it?  Regardless of what precipitates your attitude or what pressures are brought to bear on your behavior, own it in Christ and bring it under the rule of the Gospel: "Do everything in love" (1 Cor 16:14).  Jus' Sayn.

The Healing Power of Confession

Growing up in the church, I saw a lot of people come forward to confess sin, asking for the prayers of the church but rarely did I witness anyone actually doing that.  Oh, they went foward and they made a confession of wrong doing, but they almost always left their actual sin hidden behind behind the ambiguous "I have sinned."

Sinned how, doing what, against whom?  Information withheld, confession aborted, sinned hidden from sight.  Why is that?  Why do people respond to the invitation, come before the church and then hide their sin in a cloud of generality?  Because they are embarrased, they are afraid, they don't trust the people before whom they stand making a statement of their need to confess but not actually confessing.

This responding to an invitation, going before everyone gathered on a Sunday morning and confessing sin doesn't work because we don't really know or trust all those people out there and it isn't biblical to begin with.  The Bible doesn't say to confess your sins before a gathered collection of saints and sinners, friends and foes, associates and strangers (all of which are there on any given Sunday).  We have made that scenario up.

What the Bible actually says is: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (Jam 5:16).   Notice the "each other" part?  Confession is meant to be reciprocal - one to another.  The intimate act of confessing requires an intimate relationship between friends that lean on each other and work to support each other in prayer and mutual concern.

We need to build relationships within our church family that promote mutual trust and dependency, allowing us to open up to one another, bringing our sins into that open place of love, support and safety.  Then, our mutual prayers go up as a sweet aroma to the Father, who answers them with healing power, which has a welcome community of faith in which to work.  Jus' Sayn.

Working Out Salvation

Growing up in the church and throughout my early years in ministry training, one of the things I heard little about was grace.  Oh, it was mentioned from time to time but always with a "but."  For instance, "We are saved by grace, but we have to..." and then fill in the blank with an explanation of how we are really saved by what we do instead of what we do instead of what He did.

I remember hearing over and over again "work out your salvation in fear and trembling," which is in the Bible, however is not the complete statement but rather what I would call a "proof text," a bit of Scripture used to support an already tightly held belief rather than actually engage in biblical inquiry.

Let's take a look at the entire statement and see the difference: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed---not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence---continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose" (Phl 2:12-13). 

Do you see it?  The "working out salvation" is not earning or achieving salvation by your efforts, that is done by God alone ("it is the free gift of God, not by works" Eph 2:8-9).  As we look at the entire thought, we are to work out in our lives what God has willed and worked into our lives.  He saves us and out of that salvation a new life is to be lived, a life that reflects the saving power of God within.  It is "new-creature living" (see 2 Cor 5:17) not working to become a new creature.  Jus' Sayn.

Jars of Clay

What would you think of a pastor who powerfully preached about living joyfully for Christ but struggled with bouts of depression?  What would you say about a Christian marriage counselor who was on the brink of divorce?  How would you regard the missionary who boldly proclaimed the need to accept Jesus as Lord but inwardly wondered about his own relationship with Christ?

What adjectives come to mind?  Do you think phony, inauthentic, poser, hypocrite, lame, weak, broken, fake, useless, etc.?  Would you recommend a change of vocation, return from the mission field, taking down their shingle and hanging up their hat?  Would you say that these are individuals who have no business representing the Lord?

On the other hand, how would you rate King David, the prophet Elijah, the lawgiver Moses, the faithful Abraham and the apostles Peter and  Paul?  We know they were giants in biblical narrative, but have we forgotten that David impregnated the wife of one of his fighting men and killed him to cover his sin?  Or that Moses debated with God to keep from having to lead Israel?  That Abraham passed his wife off as his sister to Pharaoh out of fear?  That Peter denied knowing Jesus?  That Paul was given "a thorn in his side" to prevent arogance?

Would you be suprised to know that all of us, great and small, are broken?  Would it shake your faith to learn that everyone's faith gets shaken up from time to time?  What if I told you that none of us measure up, that all of us "have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Cor 4:7)?  (Actually, I was just passing on what God reveals in his Word, not telling you - don't let that get past you.)

So, we're all jars of clay instead of golden goblets.  And yet, God chooses to use us as containers of the Spirit and dispensers of the Gospel when we accept his grace.  So, what do you with that?  Jus' Askn.

Seeing The Kingdom

When it comes to Bible interpretation, our understanding often becomes very limited and narrow.  Time after time, we apply a word of God to a very defined space or concept, missing its broader and more important application.

For instance, in John 3:3 we read, "Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.'”  The application normally used is that of salvation, becoming "Born Again Christians."  Some apply it to what happens in baptism others the moment when Christ is accepted in faith.  And, certainly, being born again applies to that moment of salvation, but there is more, much more.

Being born again, not only allows us to see the kingdom of God in the sense we will experience heaven, it means going through a transformation that allows us to see the kingdom as it is revealed here and now on earth.  Do you recall "The Lord's Prayer?"  "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6:10).   Seeing the kingdom is not all "over there."

Seeing the kingdom also means looking at things differently now through a new kingdom lens.  It allows us to see that loving our enemies is a better strategy than hating them.  Kingdom lenes reveal that giving is better than receiving.  Kingdom eyes look for the best in others and in circumstances instead of the worst.  

When we are born again, we beome "new creatures" (2 Cor 5:17) with a new attitude and a new focus, leading to new actions.  Everything changes as we begin to see the kingdom unfold around us.  When we look at people as children of God, not necessarily well-behaved children but children nonetheless, we begin to treat them differenttly.  When we regard our possessions as belonging to the kingdom, we begin to use them differently in order to please the king rather than just look out for self.

Everything changes - not over night and not without the conditioning of the Spirit that comes from spending time with Him, listening in prayer, Bible study and meditation.  Quiet time with the Lord is indespenible in bringing focus to kingdom lenses, which are given at the new birth.  Don't rely on the eyes of a babe in Christ, work to develop those eyes to a mature citizen of the kingdom so you can see it and therefore experience it fully.  Jus' Sayn.

The Call of God

In Genesis 12:1, God called Abram (later called Abraham) in what I used to think was an unusual way, he told him to “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you."  Without advance warning or an opportunity to make adequate preparations or even to know just where this journey would take him, the Lord called him to go.

I have come to believe through study of Scripture, observation of the calling of others and in my own expeience, that this is how God very often works - when he calls you to join him in ministry or a mission, he does so in the now not so much for the future after you have worked everything out and covered all the bases.

Answering his call is not, "Let me think about it, determine the best course of action, tie up all my loose ends, make sure it's in my best interest and then I'll let you know."  It is most often like his call to Abram or Jesus' call to his disciples, "come, follow me" (Matt 4:19) and "at once they immediatly left their nets and followed him" (Matt 4:20).

There would be a period of preparation, to be sure, but the commitment came immediately, they acted on that commitment immediately and then Jesus prepared them as they began the journey.

I remember my call to ministry, it came upon me when I woke up one Sunday morning in 1976.  I immediately answered, got up and went looking for a church.  I committed to serving in a ministry at the Elpyco Church of Christ that same day.  I was set on a journey that would cause me to leave the military, which I loved, and begin a period of study at Harding University that would include four degrees from four seperate colleges and universities, which terrified me.  I continually thought I was not suitable for that level of study given I graduated high school 280 something out of just over 400 students.  Can you say "mediocre?"  Sure, I knew you could.  

God called, I answered, the journey began - I had no idea where it would wind up or what all God The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ask of me along the way.  I'm no Abraham or apostle but my God is the God of Abraham and the apostles, and he can use me or you whether we feel prepared or properly informed or not.  When he calls, we don't need to have all the details, we only need to answer, like Isaiah of old, "Here I am, send me" (Isaiah 6:6).  Jus' Sayn.

Knowing God as Lord

In Exodus 6:3, there is a very interesting revelation, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them."

The intimation here is that how God revealed himself to Abraham was not the same as he was revealed to Moses.  While Christians today generally use God Almighty and Lord as interchangable, there is something intrinsic about them that seperates.

The seperation is found in relationship.  God Almighty speaks of his power to act and to save or destroy.  He is God Almighty to the entire world, in fact, the entire universe and beyond.  He has the power to do for or to whomever or whatever he chooses.  He can use a sinner or a saint, a Harvard Graduate or a high school dropout, a deacon or a donkey to accomplish his will.  He can do anything or everything from nothing if he chooses - he is God Almighty.  Man has no say or choice about this reality.

But Lord is a relationship in which God gives man a say, a choice as to whether he will accept or reject.  As Moses' sucessor, Joshua, lay before Israel, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (24:5).

Accepting Him as Lord comes as an extension of acknowledging Him as God Almighty, but not necessarily.  Many acknowledge He is God but do not live as though He was Lord.  Their lives haven't changed, they continue to seek their own will as primary instead of His.  If He is my Lord, then I am His servant.  Whose will does a servant carry out as primary?  His Master's.

So, as you look at your life choices, whose will is the primary mover in your life?  Who is the Lord of your life?  Is it God Almighty or self?  Jus' Askn.

Resting Between a Rock and a Hard Place

If you are not there right now, you've been there and/or you will be there in the future - between a rock and a hard place.  You know what I'm talking about, that fork in the road, where either way you go there will be rough traveling ahead.  You've lost your job and your car is broke down.  Your significant other doesn't think you're very significant and you find yourself agreeing.  You're desperately wanting to lose weight and your doctor tells you that weight-adding steriods are necessary for your treatment.  Whatever the specifics, the general rule applies: hard times.

What do you do when there doesn't seem to be any good way to go?  Where do you turn when the bridge is out in both directions?  Well, some turn themselves inside out as they agonize over their misfortune.  Some turn to drugs or alcohol to help blur the lines of reality.  Some turn to angry outbursts, lashing out against others in hopes of somehow relieving their own pain.  Some beat against windmills as they try to control what is beyond their control.  Sounding familiar yet?  Tried any of the above?  Found they worked out well?  Yeah, no.

Let me suggest a different strategy: Try resting in the Lord instead of wrestling with the trial that's come upon you.  Turn to Him, seek His face in prayer and allow Him to work on you as He provides a path through this desolate land.  As James put it, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

Jus' Sayn.

Prosperity and The Gospel

If you listen to televangelists, you may get the idea that the Good News of the Gospel is about how prosperous God intends for you to be, how financially sound and physically strong He will make you.  The Gospel is reduced to a health and wealth mantra.

But is that really why Jesus came to die?  Is that really what is foremost on the mind of God?  Is a long, healthy and wealthy life on this earth to be equated with the gift or grace Jesus purchased on the cross for us?  Really?  The blessing God allowed his Son to die for was a few extra bucks and the health to make the most of them?No, not really.

Listen to the word of the Lord as revealed to King David: "Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Ps 4:6-8).

Do you see the clear line David draws between the blessings of God and the Gospel of Prosperity?  While people seek health and wealth as blessing, David sought peace in the Lord.  Let others have their abundance of things, let me have an abundance in the Lord - let me have true peace, which exists whether in abundance or not.

Don't miss the Lord's blessing, waiting on more things or even increased health.  Neither of those things are bad but neither can bring you the peace of God.  His peace is found in knowing that God is with us and will lead us safely home even when "we walk through the darkest valley" (Ps 23:4).  Jus' Sayn.

Divine Value

I really do try to see the best in others.  By nature, I give people the benefit of the doubt.  But sometimes people remove all doubt, causing me to think, "Wow!  What a waste of DNA, this person is a complete idiot" or "Good grief!  What a blowhard, I wouldn't believe this person if they told me they had two parents."

I especially have a hard time respecting or believing politicians.  I tend to agree with Will Rogers, who once quipped, "No man is safe when congress is in session."  By the way, did you know that a group of baboons is referred to as a congress?  Yeah, I know.  The baboons are shocked too.  They feel denegrated by the comparison.

But I digress.  I don't want you to think that I am proud of the fact I sometimes write people off mentally because it is not a right that I have.  The fact that some appear to be of little or no value is not a judgment God has placed in my hands, value placing is his alone.

I may have some doubts about how valuable or how trustworthy someone is and that may cause me to proceed with caution in any relationship with them.  And one may prove not to be trustworthy or not to be considered good counsel.  But value or intrinsic worth is a divine matter.  As Paul declares, "why do you judge your brother or sister ? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat" (Rom 14:10).

Use discernment before trusting important matters with anyone.  Choose confidants wisely.  But regard everyone as a child of God, whose value is assigned by Him alone.  Understand that God loves them and we ought to love them as well - even if we don't like what they do.  God will weigh them in the balance, even as he will weigh you and me.  Jus' Sayn.

Stirred Not Shaken

I hope you will forgive my James Bond antithesis in the title, I have chronic play on words condition that hasn't gotten better with age.  For those non-Bond readers, the original James Bond always requested his martini "Shaken not stirred."  The negation of that quote, however dry (pun not intended but unavoidable), makes a valid point of debunking Bond's total self-reliance and advancing a biblical God-dependent thesis.

In the Bond genre, everything, regardless of how bad it looks, will be ok because 007 is so resourceful.  Whatever the problem, however desperate the situation, he has a plan, the skills and the technology to overcome it.

In real life, there are times and circumstances that overcome us, leave us beaten and bruised - exhaust our personal resources.  In real life, we need help, we need God.  When we face our problems alone, our problems gain traction while we lose footing.  As we highlight them, our focus is on the problem and our solution gets distorted.  An increase in anxiety and decrease in peace tends to be the result.

There is a better way: Focus on the Solution: "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken" (Ps 16:8).  Instead of being shaken by circumstances, we can be stirred by Christ, knowing that the end is secure, that he will bring light into the darkness and good out of the evil.  When our focus is on Him, peace falls on us.  Jus' Sayn.

God's Tattoo

It is said that you never forget your first love.  It is absolutely true when you have her/his name tattooed on your body (some of you are remembering right now).  It just isn't possible to forget someone's name when it is emblazened on your skin.

The whole idea of engraving or tattooing is to memorialize, to cause one to remember an event, an accomlishment or a person.  It is designed to create a permanent reminder that never washes off, never can be misplaced or lost.  It is designed to be ever with you.

Did you know that God has that kind of desire for his children and that, spiritually, he has tattooed our names on his person?  Did you know that God, has no intention of ever forgetting your name, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me" (Isa 49:16)?

When we wonder, "Why has God forgotten me?"  He hasn't.  When we think God turned his back on me.  He didn't.  When there is distance and a blurring of memory, it isn't his - it's ours.  While he ensures he will not leave us or forget us, he allows us the choice to turn away and focus on self.

When that happens, he also allows us to live with the consequences of our choices.  He doesn't forget us or close the door on us but he allows us to take the path we choose until we decide to open our hearts to him.  God doesn't force his way into our lives.  Instead, he "stands at the door and knocks" (Rev 3:20).

He hasn't forgotten you - he can't.  He is nearby, calling you to turn around, to open the door of your heart, to accept his offer of grace.  Jus' Sayn.

Godly Sorrow

When I was in first grade recess was not just a time for swings and monkey bars, it was a time for war.  Another boy, who for some unknown reason was my sworn enemy, and I would gather up our friends and do battle.  It was mostly a lot of running at each other culminating in pushing, shoving and throwing the other guy down.

Our teacher had enough one day and had me and my arch enemy stand face to face and fight it out.  We were supposed to learn something from the fray but a I got from it was a chance to pound on a kid that had been a burr in my saddle.  At the end, she made us shake hands and say we were sorry.  I can't say what was going on in his head but for me, I was only sorry I didn't have another few minutes to pound on him.

We've all had those times when we had to say we were sorry when we were not.  And, we've had times when we were sorry for how things turned out but not really changed in our attitude about our own actions, except for the pain its caused us.  For instance, most inmates in prison are sorry for how things turned out and may even regret having done what landed them there.  But when released, most return to a life of crime, most have not changed.

Biblical, effective sorrow is different..."Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death" (2 Cor 7:10).  Godly sorrow stems from our regret of having failed God, regardless of the outcome or whether we got caught.  It leads to a repentence or changing of mind that will result in a change of thoughts and actions.  

Worldly sorrow, stemming from the pain you feel, leaves you unchanged but godly sorrow, stemming from the pain God feels, transforms us.  Jus' Sayn.

Waiting On The Lord

One of the problems with modern Americans is that we can be patient in anything except waiting.  We want results yesterday if not eariler.  We want it now or sooner, anything except later.  We have instant coffee, microwave popcorn and America's favorite - buy now pay later credit (paying later is the only thing we have patience for).

When we face problems or dilemas, we feel just the same.  We want them resolved right now or sometime before that.  We certainly don't want to wait for God to work them out.  Impatiently, we rush in trying to save the day ourselves so we can insure fast results.  The problems, besides a failure to trust in God's provision, is that we tend to make things worse in the process.  It's kind of like that knot in the string you kept trying to get out until you made such a mess that your mom had to cut it out.  Had you brought it earlier, it wouldn't have required such a drastic cure.

Although I begin every day in prayer and pray throughout the day, I still wrestle with and give in to that desire to rush in and save the day.  Knowing better doesn't always prevent me from doing better.  But, when I'm thinking right, I pray more and act less, waiting on God to show up.  By the way, He often passes on coming early but never shows up too late.  God is always on time, but his time is different than ours - but his time is always right.

My desire is to reach the point where I learn to always "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Ps 27:14).  But like the David who penned that passage, I find myself struggling with my faith, down in my spirit, fearful instead of faithful at times.  It is the human condition, but it need not define us.  Like King David, who vacilated from high praise to depressed laments in the Psalms but was "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22), my aim is to lean on God more and self less.  Jus' Sayn.

Solitary Christianity?

I've often heard people say they didn't need a church because they could worship just as well on the lake or at a ball game or while hunting.  And, I have to agree that one can worship anywhere, anytime.  But I question, "Do they?"

I mean, the ones who say they don't need a church in which to worship God, do they worship him regularly when fishing, hunting or watching a ball game?  Are they encouraged by the crowd to give praise or humble themselves before God?  Is their focus on God as they set the hook or take the shot or yell at the ump?

Is Christianity really designed to be lived out in solitary?  Is the world around us encouraging us to worship God or live out our faith in deference to him?  Do you find the strength and support in your job or in the streets to make God the center of your existence?

I'm not saying that gathering in a church building will necessarily provide that support.  I'm not even saying that Sunday morning assemblies is what faith is all about or that church buildings have any real significance in Christian faith.

What I am saying is that being a part of a church or congregation or family of Christians, where worship and service and faith are encouraged is God-ordained and paramount to the growth and development of the disciple.

Listen to the writer of Hebrews: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Heb 10:23-25).

What helps us "hold unswervingly"?  What "spurs us on"?  What "encourages us"?  Answer: "Meeting together" for those purposes.  We need a spiritual support system, a church family.  Jus' Sayn.

Thanking For A Spanking?

When I was young, I was a very active, noisy, rambunctious critter. I was what they used to call, "All boy!"  Today I would have probably been labeled hyper-active and placed on medications.  In my day, however, the didn't use Riddlin, they used paddlin'.

In fact, while toys and clothes and money were always in short supply, spankings were always given in abundance.  I can't say I always or ever appreciated them, but I can say, looking back, that they were perhaps some of my greatest gifts.  Really?  Yes, really.

Listen to the Word of the Lord regarding the gift of discipline: "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Heb 12:11).  

Discipline is the gift that keeps on giving.  Long after the time out or "the board of education applied to the seat of knowledge," what is learned from discipline sticks with you, strengthening you, providing you with proper boundaries and motivation.  Discipline, applied consitently and lovingly, can save a child from a lifetime of pain and perhaps a life-sentence in jail, or greater still, an eternity in hell.

I don't believe in punishing children as I don't believe God punishes his children since "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ" (Rom 8:1).  But I do believe in discipline applied to turn one away from the path where punishment await.  Discipline is painful motivation applied to prepare and protect.  Punishment is painful repayment to bring an end to bad behavior.  Punishment does not prepare or protect, it terminates.

Our Father allows discipline in our lives to shape and mold us and help us to avoid the punishment awaiting Satan and his followers, for He "is not willing that any perish but that all come to repentence (turn around back from)" (2 Pet 3:9).  We should be thanking for His spankings for they help produce a better life now and prepare us for life eternal later.  Jus' Sayn.

Prayerful Confession

For longer than you care to say, you've struggled with a sin issue that keeps on being a problem, keeps its hold on you.  Nobody knows - at least you hope nobody knows and you hope it stays that way.  You've been praying about it, asking God to deliver you but the sin in your heart or the sinning on the computer or the sinning away from home continues.  Why haven't your prayers worked?

You've talked to your buddies, you've counseled with a professional or perhaps even shared your struggle with your wife/husband, but the struggle continues.  Even though you've tried bringing it  to the light, the sin does not shrink back, it does not let you go.  You keep on yielding to its power over you.  Why hasn't confession worked?

Sin is deceptive, it lays a trap and entangles our hearts not allowing us to easily be freed.  Prayer releases a power within us to overcome and be victorious but it does not work independent of our own will and participation.  Praying to be released from a sin that we are trying to keep hidden does not allow us to appropriate all the power God provides in prayer.

Sin also holds a powerful grip in our lives.  Exposing it, weakens its hold but does not destroy it or render it powerless.  A sin confessed before others or to your spouse or even before God is brought into the open to be destroyed but we lack the power on our own to destroy it, the power is appropriated in prayer.

What I'm getting at is that overcoming sin that has a real foothold in our life requires a one-two approach in our battle against it.  It needs to be confessed, brought out into the open.  Then it needs to be assaulted, laid before the Father in prayer.  It is in the combined confessing and praying that renders sin powerless and defeated.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).  Jus Sayn.

Knowing and Making Known

I don't remember if I recently heard it or read it, but somehow I came across the quote, "Our job [as Christians] is to know God and to make him known."  The idea is that Christianity is not meant to be monolithic but rather designed to be both embraced and shared.  The apostle Paul reflects this truth in Eph 3:10 in saying, "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known..."

The wisdom of God that Paul had in mind is found in the message of Christ, the Gospel or Good News.  It was a "mystery, kept hidden for ages and generations...,which is Christ hidden in you" (Col 1:26-27).  A mystery now made known to and through God's people.

What this suggests is that when an unbeliever encounters a Christian that he also should be encountering an opportunity to come to know God.  By the way a Christian acts and the way he speaks and the  message he shares, others ought to be drawn to Christ and have his message revealed to them - not necessarily a full-on Bible study but a message nonetheless.

Every bit of kindness in His name is a message, every gentle word speaks of His care.  When we know Him, we are able to share Him.  And, the more we know Him and of Him, the more we are able to share.  The change that comes over you as you spend time with Him in prayer and learn of Him in Bible study becomes evident in your life and revealed in your words.

As you are filled up with the Spirit and the Word of Christ, it will naturally spill over in your life and into the lives of people you encounter.  Therefore, spend time with Him in prayer and the study of His word, seeking to have your cup filled that you might share freely with others.  Jus' Sayn.

Christian Chamelion

So often we hear or say something like, "I am who I am and you'll just have to take me this way or leave me, I'm not changing for anyone."  While this is a prideful thing for many, for others it is a closely held belieft that we should "be true to yourself" or in the King's venacular, "to thine own self be true."

It sounds very American and it even sounds biblical.  In truth, it is neither, it is self-centered and selfish.  The American experiment was not carved out in rugged individualism, instead, it came about by individuals who willingly "pledged their fortunes and their sacred oaths to one another."  They gave up their gentlemen lives and risked everything, including their very lives, for the common good.  That they were willing to change is to put it mildly.

Biblically, you could hardly be further off the mark to say that we are not to change for others - quite the opposite is true.  The apostle Paul very clearly said, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Cor 9:22) and for our sakes, Jesus himself, "did not consider his equality with God something to hang on to but emptied himself and became nothing, taking on the nature of a servant" (Phil 2:6).

While we can't change who we are, we can change what we do, what we say and even what we think.  Husbands can modify their habits for their wives, moms can change their sleeping schedules for their children, smokers can step outside to light up - we can and should change our stripes at times.  By the way, a chamelion doesn't stop being a chamelion when it changes color to engage it's environment, it uses it's ability to nagivate a changing environment.

For the sake of others, Jesus calls us to be Christian Chamelions, willingly modifying what we choose to do our how we present oursleves, not to deceive or manipulate others but to serve and save just as our Lord did to serve and save us.  Jus' Sayn.

Return To Me

The story is told of an old couple who pulled up to a stop sign behind a much younger couple.  The old woman, setting over by the passenger door said, "Do you see how close they are setting?"  To which the old man replied, "I sure do."  "Do you remember when we used to sit that close?"  Again, "I sure do."  She then asked, "What happened to us, why do we sit so far apart?"  "I don't know," said the old man behind the wheel, "I haven't moved."

The story above speaks to the condition many find themselves in with The Lord.  They feel distant, wondering where God has gone, but He has gone nowhere, they have.  Just as in the days of Zechariah when God said, "Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you ,’ says the Lord Almighty" (Zech 1:3), it was God's people who needed to return to God.

This same message is found in the New Testament as well in James 4:8, "Draw near to God and He willl draw near to you."  In the days of the early church, it was still God's people who needed to draw near to him.  In Revelation 3:20, Jesus stands outside the church saying, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone would open the door, I would come in..."

Do you think it is any different today?  If you or I feel distant from God, who do you think has moved, who do you suppose needs to move back?  I believe the message is the same as in all of history - God stands patiently calling for us, "Return to Me."  Jus' Sayn.

Singing Still

Paul and Silas had been stripped publicly and beaten with whips before being thrown into prison and shackled without trial and witthout just cause.  What lie before them the next day, God only knew.  We might expect them to rail against the injustice or plead for mercy but what they did made no earthly sense: "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them" (Acts 16:25).

They sang praises to God, in the middle of a dungeon, chained like animals, they were still singing to God - not weeping, not lamenting but singing.  Songs like that well up because of the joy in our hearts, but what joy could they have been feeling?  It is the same joy this apostle Paul called us to insist on in Phil 4:4, "Rejoice always and again I will say, rejoice!"  But how?

He went on to say in Phil 4:12, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation."  That secret?  Look in the very next verse, "I can do all things through him who gives me strength."  Paul could rejoice because of the inner peace he gained from knowing Christ as Lord, the peace "which transcends all understanding" (Phil 4:7).

I can't say I've always had it.  I must say that I am struggling with it right now.  But I know where it is found and from whom it comes.  And I know that there is no other source for that peace, which allows us to always rejoice and keep singing still.  Jus' Sayn.

Freedom For What?

Today is July 4th, which is not actually the holiday, it is simply the day upon which we celebrate Indendence Day.  This is the day we set aside to recognize the freedom, which we enjoy in this country.  And may I say, by the hand of God.  Not everyone believes this but the Pilgrims who came here and our Founding Fathers who pledged their sacred oath and their lives to establish this country did - and so do I.

And freedom is, by the way, a uniquely Christian calling: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32).  But freedom for what?  Freedom to chase the American Dream?  Freedom to get as much  as we can get, do as much as we can do, pleasure ourselves as much as we can be pleasured?  Is that what God intends for the freedom we have been afforded by the blood of His Son and the blood of our country's sons and daughters who gave them up on the battle fields?

Not!  Listen to the words of Isaiah: "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land" (Isa 5:8).   The blessings God has afforded us in this land, like ancient Israel before us, was not to selfishly gather up all we can acquire personally.  The freedom God has in mind is a freedom to do our best, become our best and share our best.

Our freedom allowed this country to be a beacon of light for the world, a light that shows a better way and attracts peoples from every corner of the globe.  Our freedom allowed us to be the champion of the hopeless and downtrodden everywhere.  Lately, our light has shined less brightly but the reason for that light of freedom has not changed.  

God blesses, not so one can be fat and happy but rather can happily share the fat of the land with others.  Listen to the simple words of our Lord Jesus: "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same" (Luke 3:11).  

We are free and we are prosperous so that we can enjoy the blessings of God as we share them with others.  As we celebrate that freedom, let us not forget how we gained it and with whom we should share it's blessings.  Jus' Sayn.

Generation X-Christian

Following the death of Israel's leader, Joshua, it was lamented, "After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel" (Judg 2:10).

In America, we have reached a generatioal point where nationally, we do not know the Lord.  The powers that be have tried to root out every vestige of our Christian heritage to the point of denying that we even had such a heritage.  They suggest that our founders desired complete seperation from and zero reliance upon the Christian faith of the Bible. 

Really?  Let's ask them.  President Washington?  "To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian" (The Writings of Washington, pp. 342-343).

President Adams?  "Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Biblefor their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the preceptts tthere exihibited...What a Eutopia, what a Paradise this region be" (Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol III, p. 9).

Jefferson?  "I am a real Christian - that is tto say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ" (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, p. 385).

Hancock?  "Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual..." (History of the United States of America, Vol. II, p. 229).

Though we have reached or are fast approaching Generation X-Christian in our society, our country was absolutely founded on Christian principles, advanced by Christians.  Jus' Sayn.

Daily Bread

When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them to pray, he included asking for their own needs: "give us this day, our daily bread" (Matt 6:11).  When we pray, we tend to ask for a promotion, a new job, an educational opportunity.  It seems that we are more prone to ask God to set us up so we can provide for our own daily bread.

Daily bread is not enough money to retire on or a promotion to ensure we will make enough to pay for college costs.  Neither of these requests are bad, but neither of them capture the notion of daily trust that Jesus taught his disciples.

What I am getting at is that we tend to want God to put us in the driver's seat so that we can look down the road and know within ourselves that we have it under control.  What he taught was that discipleship comfortably rests in believing God has it under His control and that all we need is just enough.

Daily bread is that which meets our present needs.  It may be a house to live in, a car to drive or a job to provide money.  It may also be a used couch given by a neighbor or an unexpected refund that covers your electric bill or it could be something much more.  The point is not in the heavenly gift but in the ongoing trust in the Giver: "Give me neither riches or poverty but give me only my daily bread" (Prov 30:8).

The point in asking of God is learning to depend on God, now and in the future.  While it is good to plan for the future, put a retirement plan in place, work to pay off your mortgage, etc., none of that is necessary to feel secure when we learn to trust God for our daily needs, knowing that while God may pass on showing up early, he never shows up too late.  God can and will provide our daily needs - we can take that to the bank!  Jus' Sayn.

The Living Dead

These days, when I hear politicians speak, what I mostly hear is, "Blah, blah, blah, blah..."  Or, to say it another way, empty words.  They talk about what they plan to do for the country and then usually end up doing for themselves.  It is so obvious that their political life is self-serving - it is lived for their own benefit.

The Muslimists, meaning that part of the Muslim community bent on radical and violent Jihad, claim they follow the religion of peace.  They yell something akin to "Allah is great and merciful" just before they cut someone's head off.  Yeah, they live for peace, they long for mercy - not!

But thanfully, all of us who shy from the political limelight and embrace Christianity are not hypocritically living one way while laying claim to another.  Thankfully, we do not have our selfish aims in the forefront of our daily lives.  Thankfully, we live for Christ daily, seeking to advance his agenda of bringing peace, mercy and salvation to a world lost in sin.  Right?  Right?

Oh, did I step on a few toes, other than my own?  Did my words shine a light on the painful truth that we, even as we claim to live for Christ, so often chose to do things solely on what we want, disregarding what our Lord might have us do or others might need?

Jesus wants us to "live life to the full" (John 10:10) but the full life is one that is lived in the shadow of the cross, in view of righteousness.  Otherwise, we are are the walking dead. As Paul affirmed: "Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey —whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

It's our choice paid for by His life given on the cross. Walking righteous or walking dead. What do you choose?  Jus' Askn.