Pouring It Out

2Samuel 23:16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD.

We are capable of lusting. Duh. But, most of us generally assume that the object of our lust is something wicked or steamy at the least. Not necessarily. We also have the tendency to lust after the blessings of God. Now that’s a mouthful, but here’s the deal: When we attempt to hoard the blessings of God rather than God Himself, we begin the process of rotting from the inside. It’s what the children of Israel discovered with the manna that 24 hours later became maggots. Yummy! I think the milepost of a maturing Christian is when he or she attains the awareness of the sufficiency of The Savior. And, based on that sufficiency is willing to “pour out” even the greatest blessings back to The Lord, or at a minimum, to His Body, The Church. David exhibited incredible “chutzpah” in pouring out the very thing that he desired, AND that his men had risked their lives to attain. Listen, the point is NOT that David wasted the water. The point is that David’s heart, his character and motive, was rightly aimed at redirecting all glory and honor to God. He was “after” or perhaps better, he was “aimed at” or “directed at” God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). What really is my focus? Yours?

Holy Sacrifice

John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

So how much is Jesus really worth? Really? Out of us is supposed to flow streams of living water. So, one of the greatest evidences of maturity along the journey of faith is that which emanates from us. Is the “stuff” of my life a sustaining stream of life? According to how God the Father sent His Son, He was most interested in the preparation of the Son to be poured out…for someone else. In this God is glorified. I wouldn’t do it that way, but that’s why my email signature doesn’t say “God” after the title bit. God’s plan is that we be sanctified, or set apart (1 Thess. 4:3). Why? So that we can continue to pour out holy sacrifice TO Him so that someone else might be blessed by an imager of Christ in this world today. When we look at our circumstances through this lens, it changes things, and properly resets our expectations. So we refuse to look, and instead insist on using the convenient lens of the culture and world around us. Always disappointing. Just as Mary poured out everything she had and was to wash the Savior’s feet, so too can we. There are tears, but there is joy in the sacrifice. God knows!

Be Holy

1Peter 1:16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Could there be a more unreachable concept in contemporary spirituality? The world has gone gray, no more absolutes. But holiness is absolute. It is to be cut off, separate, not common. The entire page-turner known as Leviticus is a treatment of the difference between a holy God and common man. Leviticus is the instructions of practicing holiness. So is Jesus. This is why the designation Paul repeatedly offers of “in Christ” is so massively important in the Christian’s life. Nobody in the camp full of Hebrews could fulfill the instructions of Leviticus. So nobody could be holy. A-ha! But NOW, Christ has come! He has bridged the gap between God’s holiness and my commonality, and He has made ME holy. So why do I keep running back across the bridge to be common? Because I really don’t believe that He has made me holy. But He has. So Peter…Peter, of all people…! Peter tells us to be holy because God is holy. And He has made me holy. It’s not so much “do it” as “be it” because I am “in Christ.” This is why God really doesn’t care at all about my happiness, but cares intensely for my holiness. Life is learning to want what God wants…

His Joy - My Joy

John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

The idea of joy vs. happiness is a buzz topic these days in Christian circles. What does “blessed” mean in The Sermon On The Mount? Some would say “happy,” and this is not incorrect, perhaps just incomplete. It seems best to say that “blessed” means “to have received joy,” and genuine joy is not dependent on circumstances whereas happiness is. Christ’s joy came from surrendering His own agenda and picking up that of His Father. Yes, there was suffering, but there was also a persistent joy, even though He was known as “The Man of Sorrows.” I am the one that produced His sorrows; He is the One that produces my joy.

Laughing At God

...And speaking of prayer, and what makes us tick, I think this pretty well encapsulates the human condition:

The Purpose Of Prayer – Luke 11:1

Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

OK, this is SO golden, that I had to publish the entire Chambers commentary for the day:

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

"Ask, and you will receive . . ." ( John 16:24 ). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." ( Matthew 18:3 ). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that "prayer changes things" is not as close to the truth as saying, "Prayer changes me and then I change things." God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

This is such a profoundly different approach to prayer than is generally practiced by people…like me. As William Barclay has said, “Prayer must never be an attempt to bend the will of God to our desires; prayer ought always to be an attempt to submit our wills to the will of God.” So, prayer is about changing ME; not just getting God to do what I want. If that worked, then it would be pretty clear which one of the two of us was really God. Maybe that’s why it never works… Still, God is good, and He delights to give His children good gifts, and the joy is in the asking, just as my son asks me for things because he loves and trusts me. But at some point, my son must grow and not view me as merely the dispenser of treats, but as the person he most wants to emulate. Same with me in my view and pursuit of God.

Whoa dang; that changes things...namely me. 'Bout time.

Living My Theology – John 12:35

John 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

Yeah, this is the whole book of James, so where do you start & end a reflection like this? Christ says that we are to walk in the light He has given us. Paul says to continue working out your salvation (we call that “sanctification”). Chambers says, “If you are sanctified, show it.” When we say, “I’m not really living what I believe right now,” that is a horrible self-deception. We ALWAYS live what we believe; we can’t help it. So, the REAL question is: What do I really believe? My life & actions evidence what I believe. Scary! But, a theology that is not lived out & practiced persistently is no theology at all, and is worthless. Christ, Paul, & Oswald Chambers all agree. I’d say that’s good enough to bank on. “Just do it!”

Troubled - John 14:27

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Christ offers us His peace. We frequently pray for it as if it was something we had to try & pry out of His stingy hand. Nope. He’s already offered & provided it, we just have to maintain our gaze on Him. Easier said than done. I always think of Peter experiencing the Risen Lord Jesus after His resurrection. Christ approached the disciples on the water, and Peter, in his customary fashion, jumps out of the boat with childlike faith. He walks on water…so long as he stares at the face of his savior. But when he considers the waves, their size, and number, his peace vanishes. Oh it’s actually still there in the Person of Christ, but when we consider our surroundings as more “real” than Him, we sink. Troubled? You betcha. But it’s a focus problem; mine.

Sacrifice & Friendship - John 15:13

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The concept of “friendship with Jesus,” if I stop to really consider it is really bordering on unbelievable. I mean, here’s a “guy” who is very God became flesh. He created me deliberately and on purpose, and knew me from the edge of eternity past. He sees & knows every thought and motive, and died in my stead. He took all my black negativity and swapped it out for His full righteousness. He endured my punishment and shame and was beaten and humiliated. It should have been me. And now He wants to be MY friend!? Are you kidding me? Grace. If I did what Jesus did for someone else, I think I would have some resentment and some “you owe me BIG-time” attitude. Not Jesus. Of course, the real kicker is that He now expects me to be like Him and do the same for someone else. That’s what friends do, I guess.

My Utmost For His Highest

Oswald Chambers was the friggin' man. AND he had great sideburns. His little devotional book, My Utmost For His Highest, literally changed my appreciation for Scripture and set me on a path of Biblical absorption that I don't ever want to leave. I am going to be posting daily thoughts & reflections as I go through this again. This is more for me to discipline myself to journal. Living with the end in mind...

HomeWork - Serve Where You Are

When I was an impressionable youth, running around my world all decked out in OP beach wear from JC Penny, I was captivated by one name. The name that wasn’t really above all other names because even I knew that THAT name was “Jesus.” But there was another name…a name that captured the imagination and promised to unleash the titan of killing power that surely lived inside this 88-pound copper-topped frame. The name: Mr. Miyagi. That’s right, Mr. Miyagi held the secrets and wisdom necessary to catch flying insects with chopsticks and perform an epic beat-down on attractive bullies with perfect beach blonde hair. What more could a kid want!? All I had to do was listen to the ancient instruction of Mr. Miyagi, and like Daniel-san, I too could be a “karate kid.”

All I had to do was paint 47,000 linear feet of wooden fences and then wash & wax the automotive fleet of the Orkin Exterminators. WHAT!? No way! Surely not! Where’s the magic potion, the “bad-man-in-a-bottle?” Where’s the secret nerve-jamming move that promises to topple any adversary? Where’s the wrinkly scroll that’s written in some ancient far-eastern script by a guy with a shaky hand and a beard down to his shin? Instead, Mr. Miyagi prescribed latex semi-gloss & min-wax from turtles. Pssshhhh. Boring. No thanks. I guess that’s why I never mastered the infamous crane kick but instead became a 40^th-level Cleric in Dungeons & Dragons. Chicks always dig the guys who pretend to be medieval dragon-slayers. Some things never change…

…And then we grow up, and somewhere deep inside, each of us who is on a journey of faith secretly long for the “get-spiritual-quick” scheme. But the Name that really IS above all names, the Supreme and Preeminent Christ, inspires Paul to write these words to the church at Colossae:

Colossians 3:18-4:1 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. 4:1 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

WHAT!? No way! Surely not! Where’s the neat-o shepherd’s rod that buds when you throw it down? Where’s the ability to turn water into wine? Where’s the ability to call down fire & brimstone on the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans? You mean, in light of Christ’s supremacy, in light of what He has accomplished, in light of my identity “in Christ” and as a result of my attitude and thinking being like that of Christ, the best way to project my instinct and identity is to submit? At home!? Precisely. In verse 17, Paul has just told us (last week) that we are to do every word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. How do we actually DO that, and what does that really mean in a practical sense? Paul has told us in very practical terms.

Many of us hear passages like these, and we grown inwardly. “Here we go again… Boring…. I get it, be a better person, blah blah blah; yadda yadda yadda…” But it’s so important that Paul makes special attention to write it to the Colossians and sends an almost identical message to the Ephesians. Imagine, a preacher that repeats himself to make a point… The reality is that this passage is where high Christology and theology meet the road of anthropology. In other words, this really punches us where we breathe.

Just like Daniel-san, this passage instructs us to do the things that are diametrically opposite of our natural impulses and reflexes. We instinctively act and react from the flesh, but Paul commands us to live by The Spirit so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Like we’ve been teaching our children, Paul exhorts us to “Stop; Think; and Do What’s Right.” Even at home. Especially at home.

In the ancient near east and early Christian churches, the home was the central institution of life. Everything revolved around the home. Roles and functions were clearly defined culturally and socially, and it was the place where people spent the majority of their time. So they interacted with one another on a consistent basis. Now, if you’ve ever spent a prolonged amount of time with any group of people, you know that after a while, they get under your nails, under your skin, and on your nerves. We get comfortable with them, and this leads us to believe that we can give them our “life left-overs.” We perform like pious saints everywhere else in society, places like our jobs, neighborhoods, and churches. But, when we get home, we say things and have attitudes that would horrify us if it were secretly broadcast on the internet with a covert webcam.

It’s an environment of “hiddenness and obscurity.” Richard Foster has said, “our flesh whines against service, but it screams against hidden service.” But remember, you have been hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). Nobody “out there” really sees what we’re like at home and with the ones we love, so that doesn’t motivate us to behave decently. What’s the old expression? “We always hurt the ones we love.” How come? Because deep down, we feel like we can and get away with it, and that it’s no big deal. Further, we secretly feel like our families merely accessorize us and that we are entitled to THEM serving US! Dr. Robert Lewis is a pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR and the author of the popular “Men’s Fraternity” study. He says that the FIRST evidence of a man’s depravity is his impulse to neglect his domestic responsibilities. He’s right.

Serve where you are. Not across the globe in China or India; not with some intensive spiritual conference; not just at church. Serve where you are. Home. So Paul admonishes each of us, in each of our roles at home, to submit. We’ve said this before, but most of us would rather eat a light bulb than submit. But it’s precisely what Christ did.

Wives, submit (uJpota¿ssesqe) to your husbands. This command has gotten a lot of play in recent decades with the rise of feminism. It’s not my intent to combat feminism OR defend the litany of domestic abuses that have been perpetrated because of a warped misinterpretation and misapplication of this verse. Instead, the command to submit (hupotasso) is a military term that connotes the idea of contributing to the structure, and participating in function as has been established by high command. In other words, a soldier that submits to his sergeant is actually and ultimately obeying his Commander-In-Chief. This does NOT mean that a husband has greater worth than a wife. Absolutely not! Like we learn in Genesis 1 & 2, a man and a woman have different roles and functions. They are different, and they are intended to complete one another (Adam said it WAY before Jerry Maguire!). 2 people in Scripture are referred to as “helper.” A woman (wife) and The Holy Spirit. That’s good company! A woman is to submit to her husband “as is fitting in the Lord.” She is not a slave, subordinate, or possession. So much more could be said, and there is MUCH Scripture on the topic. The role of the wife is celebrated in Proverbs 31 (and elsewhere). But here’s the take-away: Women: Do you really want to be Christ-like? Do you really? Then the first and best opportunity for you to do that is with your husband. And nobody but him and God will know. Is that enough for you? Is Christ supreme, preeminent, and first place?

Husbands, love your wives. How sad that we have to be reminded and commanded to do this! But we do. Paul, knowing the nature of man, issues this instruction: (mh\ pikrai÷nesqe). It’s an interesting grammatical expression (middle tense). Literally, “do not embitter yourself” against her. But we do. Our natural inclination, our bent, is to embitter ourselves against our wives when they do not serve us like we have seen women serve men in other unholy contexts. Instead, Paul says that we are to love our wives like Christ loves His Church. He died for His Church. Love, we’ve said, is “a well-reasoned concern for someone else.” Men: Do you really want to be Christ-like? Do you really? Then the first and best opportunity for you to do that is with your wife. And nobody but her and God will know. Is that enough for you? Is Christ supreme, preeminent, and first place?

So verses 18-19 address the “horizontal” relationships in the home, and now verses 20-21 deal with the “vertical” relationships between parents and children. Whew! Finally, the adults catch a break and we can trickle the mess down to the kids! Not quite. Children are commanded to obey their parents, and this really is critically and vitally important. If we can’t honor or obey our earthly parents that we can physically hear, see, and feel, then how will we ever obey our Heavenly Father? Yep, that’s right: Our expression and activity in the mundane (home) establishes whether or not we can perform in the Kingdom. In Romans 1, Paul descends down a hierarchy of worsening sins that are the result of our fallen natures, and near the very bottom of the list is the failure to obey our parents! It is open rebellion against the structure of God. In the Old Testament, it was a capital offense (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)!

Fathers, don’t provoke or exasperate your kids. Again, how sad that we have to be told this. Sometimes guys see their children as competitors in the home. This is a projection of insecurity and defensiveness. It’s natural, fallen, and depraved. Paul says, in essence, apply yourself to behavior that encourages them and raises them up; not attitudes of discouragement. Serve your children. Serve where you are. That’s where & when Christ’s life is projected through you. That’s where He writes His story on your life so that your family can be blessed by His presence in your life.

In verses 3:22-4:1, Paul addresses labor relations. No, not really. But, he identifies slaves and masters, and most of us have the knee-jerk tendency to slough off the passage because we are neither slaves NOR masters. “Clearly this passage is out of date and has no real relevance or bearing on my life today…” Except that Paul reminds us that to follow Christ is to become a slave willingly (Romans 6:18; 22). This is about integrity. Christlikeness is congruent and identical to integrity. Integrity is what we do when no one else is watching. It’s our actions in hiddenness and obscurity. THIS is the presentation of our true selves. Who are you? Paul says that we shouldn’t just perform “when their eye is on us to win their favor.” Dang it! Here’s that whole “shadow mission” again! Paul keeps outing me!!

And you too. Let’s be totally transparent, shall we? Most of us want our service to be on stage and under the lights, so that at least someone can give us the props we deserve. “Look at how wonderful I am for stooping down to help this poor pitiful soul in a poor country or circumstance.” Then we can take lots of pictures and make a killer Facebook album about our efforts and share it with every acquaintance we’ve ever had. Then we wait by our computers for the comments to come in about what a great thing we’ve done… Maybe I’m the only person that Paul is speaking to here…

I have never been compelled to make a Facebook album of the typical way I serve and encourage my family. I’m afraid that on most days, it would be a pretty short photo essay, and in fact it probably wouldn’t even be all that complete or accurate. If it was, it would record all the failings and shortcomings, and surely there’s no record of that, is there?

God’s got a killer Facebook album (3:24-25). Paul drops the sobering truth that God will reward and punish the things we do. Whether anyone else sees it or not, God does. And it matters. Do you believe that? Remember, “faith is taking God at His Word and doing what He says.” How strong is your faith? At home? Serve where you are. That’s faith. That’s Christlikeness. Are you clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14)? I don’t know about you, but I usually get dressed at home. So, are you being clothed there? Serve where you are. For this you were saved: Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Your home is your ministry; it is your mission field; it is the environment in which you have the greatest capacity to reflect Christ. You didn’t get a choice in the matter of who your family would be. God, in His sovereignty, divinely and providentially placed you in your family at precisely this time and place. He does NOTHING by chance. And, members of your family may be the people that irritate you the most in this world. Jesus would call them “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40,45). Serve where you are.

See, the genius of Mr. Miyagi…and The Apostle Paul, the Mr. Miyagi of Scripture, is this: It is the mundane everyday tasks of life, done faithfully and with a spirit of submission, that prepare us to act and react instinctively when we find ourselves in trying circumstances. Repetition builds muscle memory. Repetition builds spirit memory. We can’t expect to be seasoned warriors for the Kingdom of God if we can’t even serve faithfully where we are in our little outposts of the Kingdom. When we prove our faithfulness in “small” things, then will God use us in “large” things (Matthew 25:23).

Paint up; paint down. Wax on; wax off. Submit and encourage. Serve where you are.

Shadow Missions

Colossians 3:5-11 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Dang it. Can we say “dang it” in church contexts and get away with it? Because I have to be totally transparent and admit that my first knee-jerk reaction when I read this passage is to suck in my left cheek, wrinkle my mouth, lower & then shake my head, and finally say “dang it” under my breath. Busted.

It’s almost like Paul knew human nature. Like he knew our human nature. Like he knew mine. He spent two chapters in his letter to the church at Colossae establishing the fact of reality that Christ is supreme. Christ is the sovereign Creator; He is the One who triumphed over the powers of evil at the cross; He is the One who reset the rulebook of what is appropriate behavior this side of redemption, He is the One on whom I should firmly focus my mind’s attention. He should consume all my planning. I mean, if He really is who He claims to be and who Paul says He is, then He is absolutely the most incredible entity in existence, and I should plan my every waking thought around His reality and glory. Dang it. Because I don’t. And neither do you...so quit with the mental "tsk tsk" thing!

We spend an enormous amount of time and energy planning ways to glorify ourselves, don’t we? Oh, we would never actually verbalize this, because it would sound absolutely preposterous. But, we each have things that we enjoy that are not holy, and our minds instinctively kick into gear trying to figure out ways to accomplish what John Ortberg calls our “shadow mission.” It’s the thing we want to accomplish so intensely that it drives our thought processes. For me, it’s an intense desire to be recognized and acknowledged and appreciated. I would limbo under a 2-foot electrical fence if I thought someone would applaud my efforts. Without even trying, I line up every activity, relationship, scenario and circumstance to make sure that my shadow mission is accomplished. I plan it out meticulously. It’s called a “shadow mission” because if we ever actually said it out loud and exposed it to the “light” it would probably vanish. And deep down, we don’t really want that to happen, so we keep our mission in the shadows.

Sinful plans and vampires have a lot in common. They are deadly. They are technically dead, but still they live and they lurk in the dark places in the world. But, if you expose them to sunlight, they are obliterated. If you expose our plans to the light of the Son, they are obliterated too. Of course, vampires aren’t really real, are they? My plans are much more dangerous, and they gradually suck the very life out of my journey of faith.

Paul essentially asks us the question, “Are you planning to keep on sinning?” Again, most of us would instinctively answer “no!” to that question. But think about it. How much thought and scheming do you spend to do the things that you know you shouldn’t?

So many men will work feverishly all day long and coordinate their kids’ schedules so that their wife and kids are all out of the house at the same time. This gives the man a window of time where he can search through pornographic websites without fear of being interrupted by a family member. Can you imagine what it would actually sound like if he verbalized his plan? “I am going to make sure that my wife is at the grocery store, that little Johnny is at his friend’s house playing video games, that Jenny is at her piano lesson, and that all the doors are locked so that I can sit in front of my computer by myself in the dark and look at the wicked objectification of another image-bearer of God. Yeah, that sounds like a great plan!” So we don’t talk about it out loud. We pretend that it’s not there, or we try to temporarily suspend our redeemed nature. We try to put BACK ON the old self. We plan to keep sinning, and we go to great lengths to do it.

“I think I’m going to call all my friends and tell them about Sally, because I bet she’s having an affair. Then they’ll think that I’m really connected socially, and they’ll appreciate how important I am. Then I’m going to see Sally at the mall and tell her that she’s really been on my heart lately, and that I’m praying for her…and is everything really OK…? Then Sally might just trust me with some more juicy tidbits! Yeah, that sounds like a great plan!”

“I think I’m going to keep taking office supplies from my job home so that I don’t have to pay for them. While I’m at it, I’m going to continue cheating on my taxes and claim bogus deductions…all while not tithing a red cent to my church, but still complain about how the church spends MY money. Yeah, that’s a GREAT plan!”

I think about South Carolina Governor Sanford. Can you imagine his verbalized 5-year plan? “I think I will have an affair, culminating in a trip to Argentina. I will trash my family, embarrass my wife, ruin my legacy for my sons so that they despise me, and chunk my career into the trash bin. Yeah, that sounds great!”

What are we thinking!? Sin makes us stupid. Paul says put that sort of plan to death. It’s a plural imperative to remove the life from it. We used to be driven primarily by those sinful and wicked plans, but now we have been exposed to the light of the Supreme God of the universe. Why would you try to step back into that filthy rotten garment of garbage? Paul makes an interesting statement that our wicked plans will be subject to the coming wrath of God. Let me be clear: If you are a believer, you have already been judged at the cross. However, this wickedness is still practiced by believers, and it still brings consequences. Unbelievers are yet to be judged, but they will be. Horrifically. Those of us who are believers will be measured and all of our efforts in this world will be examined. You’ve only got so much time in this life to invest in eternity. Don’t waste it on selfish fruitless endeavors that will be vaporized as wood, hay, & stubble when He returns. Put on and radiate the new self. I love how Paul summarizes that in his epistle to the church in Rome. Romans 13:14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Because Christ IS all and is IN all.

But, our “shadow mission,” our natural plan, is to glorify and gratify ourselves… Dang it. Light it up!

Deliver Us?

We're not the first ones in need of deliverance...from ourselves.

Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions !” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.

That was the 8th Century B.C.

Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Jesus felt the full weight of the human gravitational pull to declare our own independence; to establish our own institutions. That was 2,000 years ago.

And it's us...me today.

I wonder what deliverance would really look like and if we would receive it?

Perspective

The famous lament goes something like, "ain't nobody known the trouble I seen..." Or wait, maybe it was, "ain't nobody seen the trouble I known..." Whatever. The point is that you need to join me in focusing on ME! Or, as I used to say in my dating life, "...but enough about me, let's talk about what YOU think about me!" It's good to know that the titans of Scripture faced similar lapses in focus. Except that they knew the remedy:

Psalm 57 For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave.

Psalm 57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter.

In the shadow of your wings I take shelter

until trouble passes.

2 I cry out for help to the sovereign God,

to the God who vindicates me.

3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me

from my enemies who hurl insults! (Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down among those who want to devour me;

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword.

5 Rise up above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth!

6 They have prepared a net to trap me;

I am discouraged.

They have dug a pit for me.

They will fall into it! (Selah)

7 I am determined, O God! I am determined!

I will sing and praise you!

8 Awake, my soul!

Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!

I will wake up at dawn!

9 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Master!

I will sing praises to you before foreigners!

10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,

and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

11 Rise up above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth!

Oh, right! The al-tashcheth style! Man, I loved that when Travolta did that in Urban Cowboy; it was a real tear-jerker...or maybe it was a toe-tapper. No matter. The al-tashcheth style apparently connected with the folks who heard it because David didn't feel the need to explain that it was a killer Hebraic break-dance. The semitic boogaloo! I digress... Again.

Here's the point. When we face improbable and even impossible situations, we have the tendency to look to God's sovereignty as if He can save us. He can. But that's not the point. The point is as follows:

HE IS GOD!!!!! He is awesome, fantastic, incredible, resplendent, brilliant, glorious, heavy, wise, good, precious, mighty, just, holy, wondrous, endless, infinite, immeasurable, astounding, unimaginable, indescribable, loving, PERFECT, GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL!!!!! And mine. Are you serious? Eternally.

I will praise Him in the assembly. "And the things of earth grow strangely dim..." Let's get to it, He's waiting; He's worth it. Oh, and that problem you had... What problem? "Awake our souls!"

Plans

I wonder how many people in the world that have been classified as "evil" really knew it. I mean, I wonder how many times people who ended up doing bad really believed that they were doing what was right. These kinds of folks have been around for thousands of years:

Psalm 64 Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers. 3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear. 5 They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see them?” 6 They plot injustice and say, “We have devised a perfect plan!” Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning. 7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down. 8 He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. 9 All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. 10 Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!

Seems to me that the best way to combat this kind of potential error is to teach people what is "right" and "good." Easier said than done, of course, especially when people are naturally resistant to any mention of absolute truth of what is right or wrong. But, when the ultimate objective is simply, "git 'er done," our plans finally degrade into schemes, and it's not long before we find ourselves across the valley facing God as an opponent. The appropriate response in that context is, "uh-oh..."

Of course, it's also easy to look at "those people" and "their plans" and say that they're godless. But, I'm betting that most people don't realize that they're actually opposed to God's purpose. So, it's absolutely essential that we align our hearts and minds with His. Otherwise, "uh-oh..."

1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. Do we? Do I? Do you? You sure?

Church: Why Bother?

Bother is one of those concepts that we have almost successfully eliminated in our generation. If I am inconvenienced, there is a good chance I won't participate in whatever it is that might inconvenience me. We now have a culture and society where we really and truly don't have to do anything we don't feel like doing. This has never happened before in human history, but it's having an immediate impact on church:

So, should we go to church because we HAVE to? Out of obligation? No, we should go to church because it's worth it. That assumes, of course that church is worth it. Is it to you? Me? Why? According to the Apostle Paul (Colossians 1:24-29), church was and is the Body of Christ, and he gave his life to it. Not some polished gothic cathedral with stained glass windows, but the assembly of broken followers of Christ.

Is church worth it? Yes. The local church is the hope of the world. Is it easy? No. It'll cost you your life. Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

It'll also give it to you for the first time.

Faith

Faith is taking God at His Word, and then doing what he says.  Got it.  Faith.  Yep.  No problem.

Unless, of course, it has to do with my daily practical life, and then most of us still feel as though we are prisoners of our past and victims of the system.  "Sigh...oh well...one day Jesus will rescue me from this mess and take me to heaven where everything will be chipper, no one will tell me what do to, and I can finally be free from the mess I've made of me and I'll be...happy."

Then there's God weighing in on that mentality through the Apostle Paul (who knew a thing or two about a tough past).  1Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

I think the two most precious words in the whole passage are "were. But..."  There is no denying that all of us have stuff in our past that has left scar and residue.  But we have been washed.  That means that we are no longer to live accordingly.  But we still do, because down deep, we really doubt that we have really been changed or washed, because we don't really FEEL all that different.  In fact, many mornings we wake up and feel like the poster-children for "total depravity."

So that's where faith comes in.  It's taking God at His Word and doing what He says to do.  HE says we've been washed, cleansed, justified, sanctified, and even glorified (Rom. 8:30)!  So do we believe it?  The quickest way to know what we believe is by what we do.  Are we living lives of freedom and purpose and joy?  Or are we "just forgiven...?"

No, let faith be active and visible in our "real" daily & practical lives.  God says so, and it's why Jesus came.  May it not be for nothing in each of our lives.

A.W. Tozer & Pragmatism

The guy certainly doesn't need MY help to distribute his ideas; but I am always grateful for HIS insights.  Compact brilliance.  Hey, like our children's minister!  Anyway, A.W. Tozer writes on the epidemic of pragmatism, and I couldn't help but equate it with our current study of Colossians and the Supremacy of Christ, the "Proteuou Christou."  Here's what Tozer says:

The nervous compulsion to get things done is found everywhere among us. We are affected by a kind of religious tic, a deep inner necessity to accomplish something that can be seen and photographed and evaluated in terms of size, numbers, speed and distance. We travel a prodigious number of miles, talk to unbelievably large crowds, publish an astonishing amount of religious literature, collect huge sums of money, build vast numbers of churches and amass staggering debts for our children to pay. Christian leaders compete with each other in the field of impressive statistics, and in so doing often acquire peptic ulcers, have nervous breaks or die of heart attacks while still relatively young.

Right here is where the pragmatic philosophy comes into its own. It asks no embarrassing questions about the wisdom of what we are doing or even about the morality of it. it accepts our chosen ends as right and good and casts about for efficient means and ways to get them accomplished. When it discovers something that works it soon finds a text to justify it, "consecrates" it to the Lord and plunges ahead. Next a magazine article is written about it, then a book, and finally the inventor is granted an honorary degree. After that any question about the scripturalness of things or even the moral validity of them is completely swept away. You cannot argue with success. The method works; ergo, it must be good.

The weakness of all this is its tragic shortsightedness. It never takes the long view of religious activity, indeed it dare not do so, but goes cheerfully on believing that because it works it is both good and true. It is satisfied with present success and shakes off any suggestion that its works may go up in smoke in the day of Christ.

As one fairly familiar with the contemporary religious scene, I say without hesitation that a part, a very large part, of the activities carried on today in evangelical circles are not only influenced by pragmatism but almost completely controlled by it. Religious methodology is geared to it; it appears large in our youth meetings; magazines and books constantly glorify it; conventions are dominated by it; and the whole religious atmosphere is alive with it.

What shall we do to break its power over us? The answer is simple. We must acknowledge the right of Jesus Christ to control the activities of His church. The New Testament contains full instructions, not only about what we are to believe but what we are to do and how we are to go about doing it. Any deviation from those instructions is a denial of the Lordship of Christ. I say the answer is simple, but it is not easy for it requires that we obey God rather than man, and that always brings down the wrath of the religious majority. It is not a question of knowing what to do; we can easily learn that from the Scriptures. It is a question of whether or not we have the courage to do it.

I think he's onto something, and I think sometimes we're just ON something...

Loss & Resolve

Wow.  3.5 months since I last wrote.  You can hardly call that blogging.  Dryness does that.  Not much of a journal if there aren't any entries.

It's kind of like Elijah in 1 Kings 17 after the brook has dried up because there has been no rain in the land.  For quite some time, he watched and waited for a bad situation to become impossible.  And it did.  Once the brook has dried up, you can pretty much stop worrying about when you're going to be thirsty, because that time is now.  Once the brook has dried up, you can go ahead and register the loss, and choose to either deal with it & move forward... or lay down and be parched until such time as you die.

No thanks.

There's no point in pretending that there's no loss.  There is, and it hurts.  Younger generations have a different verb (it has to to with inhaling sharply), but we'll leave it at "hurts" for now.  Loss is no good because it means a portion of "me" is now gone missing; potentially for good.  So you have to ask yourself:  What am I REALLY made of?

In 2 Samuel 12, King David is seen praying and fasting for the life of the baby that he & Bathsheba conceived under all sorts of illegitimate circumstances.  By the way, when you run "Bathsheba" through spell checker, the first suggestion is "bathtub." Coincidence? I think not...  I digress...  Anyway, the baby (as you probably know) dies.  After that, David deals with the loss, and moves forward with resolve.  2 Samuel 12:20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

That takes chutzpah.  There is loss; there is resolve.  But not without faith.  How strong is yours?  Mine?  What's it REALLY in?  If you don't yet know, a time will come when you will.

Psalms In Punjabe

I just watched a guy named Pardeep Kumar sing several of the Psalms. He sang them in his native tongue, Punjabe, while playing some traditional drums called "tandal." It was awesome! Of course, I didn't understand a word of it...yet I did. And it occurs to me that God understood all of that perfectly and precisely, and that much of the singing in heaven will NOT be in English. Sweet! I'm trying to imagine the volume. What will it sound like when billions of angels and billions more glorified saints all direct their praise in perfect pitch toward the throne?

Revelation 19:1,6 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Yeah baby! I'm gonna know Punjabe!

Lent

Fat Tuesday. Since the late '90's, every Tuesday has been rather rotund for me. But today is the official day of debauchery. As if that's actually OK or something. Romans 6:1-2  What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Apparently, pretty easily. Then tomorrow brings Ash Wednesday; this delightful day where people smear charcoal on their foreheads and pretend to be morose for what happened the day before. Is that really how it's supposed to be? "Oh hey, relax, people need to let off some steam every now & then..." Perhaps. But a half gallon of absinthe & six moon-pies ain't the answer. And if I really died to sin, then perhaps there's really not steam needing to escape, it's just my intense desire to heat up something that should stay cool. Tangent.

I do like the idea of Lent intensely, however. It's about practicing a discipline to remind us to reflect on God. Sort of a prolonged fast that doesn't make me crave formica remnants. Too often, though, people make themselves miserable with their Lent observances. I think this misses the point.  The point of Lent is to trigger us to think on somebody other than ourselves; namely God.

So perhaps the best way to observe Lent is to give up one "negative" behavior or habit and add one "positive" behavior or habit. "But isn't that just self-help or improvement?" Is that a bad thing? Look, Daniel & his buddies went all vegan in Babylon and it helped their physical fitness enormously. But they did it for the right reason: To honor God. It's all about redirecting our focus on the Father; moment by moment. That's what He wants most, for us to "practice His presence." Amos 5:4 This is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live."

The beads aren't worth it. He is.