Don't Want to Go through the Motions

For the past few years, I have been leading musical worship at my church.  Nearly every Sunday, I pull my guitar out of the case and play worship songs in an attempt to praise God with sincerity and passion.  However, despite my best intentions, there are times in which I, a worship leader, find myself "going through the motions."

I can become so focused on playing the right notes and singing the right melodies that my heart can be so unengaged that I cannot call it worship, its devolved to just playing music.  This is one of the sad realities of life that has challenged my conceptions of what worship is and has pushed me to seek after God with more eagerness and energy.

What I've discovered is that worship and getting into that place of worship is a whole-person endeavor.  When I think that worship can be "turned on" like a switch, I will fail.  Only when humility and reverence consume every thought, word, and action has true worship occurred.

This may challenges concepts of worship that are fragmented and inaccurate, namely, the idea that we can simply walk into a sanctuary, sing the words on the screen or in the hymnal, and it will be sufficient to constitute actual worship.  Instead, worship, true worship, requires preparation and intentionality.  Only when we lay it all on the line with sincerity and humility can worship occur.

Jesus, in quoting the words of Moses, says it best:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind ( Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37)."

Worship demands all aspects of a person and nothing less.  Let us the take this posture among us so that we do not find ourselves going through the motions, but that the Spirit of God flows through us!

Turning to God in times of Weariness

How far would you have to be pushed for you to be pushed too far?  Or, how many times would you have to be patient before you ran out?  Or, at what point would you finally throw your hands up and look a person into the eyes and say: "Enough! You've gone too far and I cannot help you any more!"

Sometimes it can be a healthy thought experiment to consider these things in lieu of God and all His gracious majesty.  I recently thought of such things during a particularly challenging day.  Work had been crazy and unstable.  The drive home was backed-up with rush hour traffic.  My night's plans were thrown off by life's improvisations.  And by the end of the night, I was both exhausted and irritable.

As I was lying in lying in my bed, trying to decompress from the erratic jar of my day, when the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart and my head.  To be honest, the voice was comforting but unwelcome at first, because when He spoke, I was slammed deeper into my mattress with conviction and awe.

We, every human being that has ever lived, behaves like a tired, upset, moody, crazy toddler to our Heavenly Father.  Yet He, in His infinite grace, never runs out of patience, never gives up, and cannot be pushed beyond His limits because He has none.  When the Holy Spirit spoke this to me, I was astonished at how easily I found myself bogged down by my limited patience and the meager issues that seem so big.  Truly, sometimes a healthy dose of godly perspective is all a person needs to turn back to God and receive some much needed peace.

Asking Our Father to Help

Peter, a spry four-year-old boy was fooling around in his back yard.  His best friend lived next door and was in his backyard too, they were playing through the fence that separated the two yards.  In both of the little boys' yards, there was a huge rock.  Perhaps a boulder would be a better distinction to do the stone its justice.

Both boys were trying with all their might to move their respective boulders.  Peter could not make his budge.  His friend was equally unsuccessful with his stone, and frustrations were growing by the moment for each of the young boys.  Peter tried pushing, pulling, and prying to no avail.  He could hear his best friend struggling equally through the fence.

Peter could hear as his friend threw up his hands and exclaimed, "I give up!  I'm getting my dad to help me!"  His friend ran inside his house.  The next thing Peter heard was his friend, with dad in tow, coming out to the rock.  Peter peered through the gaps in the fence to see his friend's father walk over to the stone and, with no effort, lifted the stone over his shoulder and brought it to the outskirts of the yard and tossed it out of the yard and into the woods.

His friend was so excited and relieved, Peter could hear him shouting with glee.  This only strengthened Peter's resolve to move the stone himself.  He tried even harder than before to move the stone, still making no impact.  He could hear his friend go back inside as the sun began to set, but he was still no closer to moving the boulder.  He began to get very angry and started to cry out of his dejection.  Peter could easily have asked his able and willing father to help too, but he was determined to do it himself, without any help.  As a result, the boulder remained unmoved as Peter cried himself to sleep.

Aren't we just like Peter trying to move the immovable boulder without any help?  Life is full of stones for us to attempt to push around.  And, though we could easily ask our Heavenly Father for help, we turn back to the boulders like prideful and compulsive toddlers, just beating our heads against the rocks.

The boulders are there, they will always be there in our way.  How we handle them is the important thing.  We can either trudge against them like Peter, or handle them like his friend and call on the power and willingness of our Father in Heaven.  These are the two choices for dealing with trouble and challenges in life.  Let us then choose to rely on God at all times for all things because in doing so we are doing what He asks as well as what He wants!

Turning Around in Life like in the Woods

As I've said before, I grew up in a motorcycle family.  When I was a kid, my father and I would spend nearly every weekend burning gas in a two-wheeled machine in remote woods somewhere in Minnesota.  Although we would often ride for the fun of riding, I can not remember a single time when we rode through the woods without a destination in mind.

Whether it was a course, a fixed track, or just finding our way through the woods, the intent was always specific, the goal was always set and determined.  Often times, the only indication that we were on the right track were the small, bright orange arrows that were stapled to trees.  However, when speeding through the overgrown woodlands of Minnesota in the middle of summer, it can be all-too-easy to rush past the trail markers and quickly find oneself off the trail and lost.

In this case, there is one and only one surefire way to get back to the trail: turn around.  When riding in the middle of the woods this is an easy decision.  For if you do not turn around as soon as you realize that you are off the trail, you will most definitely find yourself lost and miles away from where you want to be in no time at all.  In fact, turning around under such circumstances seems not only reasonable but right.  Why shouldn't we think of our life in the same way?

The Word of God, the Bible, is a sort of trail map for life.  Not only is it useful for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but it also reveals that flaws in our lifestyle as well as giving guidance to how we should live.  In other words, life is like riding a motorcycle fullblast through the woods and the Word of God is the trail marker that keeps us on the track.  

Isn't it just like humanity to be so focused on getting through this world as fast or as successfully as possible that, without fail, we can blow right off the trail?  When this happens, like racing through the the woods on a motorcycle, turning around is the only answer to remedy the predicament.  This is what repentance is all about: turning around to get back on God's path.  Let us then look to the Word of God and keep our eyes fixed on the trail markers, but when we find ourselves lost, let us repent and turn around back to God as soon as possible!

Praise God Who Saves His Dirty Kids

Paul, in his letter to Titus, writes:

"For we ourselves were once foolish, obedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.  But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Tit. 3:3-7)."

Often the Word is so clear that it speaks for itself with a piercing tone.  This is one of those instances.  Paul states it clearly, that we who have been saved by the blood of Christ were once hostile and fleshly.  And it was nothing good in us or any good that we had done to earn or cause God to offer us grace.  Rather, it was God's good mercy and compassion that washed over us who have faith in Christ who receive His grace.

This is comforting to know that God does not require sinners to get clean and healthy before He will come to save them.  Instead, God takes our degraded, our diseased, our dilapidated, and our dysfunctional.  He saves us during our despair and in the midst of our depression and sickness.  This is beautiful and we should never lose sight of it.  God loves us so much that He is willing to pick us up from the mire and bog of our messy lives and to cleanse us in Jesus' blood.  Let us then always keep this in mind whenever we feel unworthy or too-dirty for God, for He is a God who loves us!

Recognizing Sin By Remembering Love

The essence of friendship is love.  The essence of love is compassion.  The essence is mercy.  The essence of mercy is sacrifice.  And the essence of sacrifice is humility.  All of this boils down to Christ.  Jesus is the ultimate example of friendship and love.  He gave every it of his very life to save humanity from sin and to reconcile a broken creation to a Holy God.

This is utterly and devastatingly beautiful.  God Himself has overcome sin, cleansing all who come to Him in faith by the blood of the Holy Lamb.  Unfortunately, from time to time, our understandings of sin can become cavalier and nonchalant, as if we lose sight of how disgusting sin actually is.

For the essence of sin is disobedience and seeking to take things into our own hands.  Whenever we sin, we esteem that which is not God to be more valuable than God.  If we recognize sin with the sober seriousness that it warrant, we can then begin to understand why God treats sin with such disdain.

When we sin, we are, in action, indicating that the friendship, the love, the compassion, the mercy, the sacrifice, and the humility that Christ Himself fulfilled in His flesh is insufficient to change us.  As in what Christ did was not enough to stop us from sinning.  As has always been true, every generation of Christianity has its own theological posture.  The last few generations has downplayed sin to such a degree so that some people don't even believe in sin at all.

Needless to say, this is blatantly blasphemous disbelief.  When we neglect or diminish sin, we are in fact equally diminishing and neglecting the work of Christ.  For Christ's work was purposed on overcoming and defeating sin.  When we forget sin, we are in turn forgetting Christ.  Let us then always remember what Christ has done for us, and strive to never diminish sin in light of what Christ has done!

Auditioning for Life Eternal

When I was a senior in high school, I was heavily involved in the theatre program at school.  Throughout the course of the year, the school held two plays, a variety show, and ended the year with a musical.  Because I had been so engrossed in the theatre coupled with my confidence over the strength of my audition in comparison to the other seniors, I was sure that I would have a lead role in the musical.  In fact, I was certain of it.

Yet, when the casting sheet was finally posted, I found my name farther down the list than I expected and that I believed that I had deserved.  I did receive a lesser part but found it as no conciliation for my disappointment, and as the sheet was posted after classes on Friday, I had all weekend to mope around the house feeling slighted.

Rehearsals were set to begin on Monday, introductions followed by a simple read-through.  Our theatre was ran by a couple, I was never really able to connect with the man, but I had a good relationship with his wife.  After the rehearsal I confronted her to express my frustration, with the only purpose of vocalizing how I felt.

After listening and explaining that she understood how I felt, she said something to me that I knew cognitively but that I never heard articulated from someone whom I had respected so much.  She looked me in the eyes and told me that sometimes, the person who deserves the part is the one who has been working for it for their whole high school careers, and they had earned their leading roles well-before the auditions even took place.  This bit of wisdom is a simple and convicting truth.

At the end, once the mortal thread is clipped and we stand before the Holy Lord Almighty's judgment seat, we will face an audition that our eternity depends upon.  And though every human will stand before God and give their best effort to "gain" admittance into His eternal presence, God grants the grace of heaven to those who have spent their whole lives in consistent faith.  The door to the leading role is Jesus Christ.  In fact, He is the only way.

And no matter how disgruntled we may feel because of judgment's reality, God is just and righteous to place us exactly where we may deserve to be.  If we have been faithful, we will spend eternity in God's presence, but if we have lived a life apart from Him, we will spend eternity damned, condemned, and tormented away from His presence.  In reality, the audition for eternal life is our life itself.  Therefore, so that we would not find ourselves brooding like an immature high school senior at being judged for all eternity, let us keep our focus on the play at hand, which is faith in Christ Jesus alone!

Seeing Sin

No matter how it's sliced, sin is sin.  This is a simple and convicting reality.  Yet, despite the facts humanity continually, since the very beginning, will always try to rationalize our sin, claiming it to be either something less-than sin or calling sin not sin.  Neither one of these is acceptable.

The key to this is perspective, God's perspective.  As we come to Christ in faith, our perspective is sanctified.  Paul writes, "Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:2)."

This world is full of sin.  Everywhere we turn, we see debauchery, immorality, idolatry, unbelief, paganism, and political correctness.  Additionally, sin creeps and lurks at the doorsteps of our hearts, waiting to devour us by trapping us in our own desires (Gen. 4:7; James 1:14-15).

Sanctification is all about transforming our vision so that we start to see sin the way God sees sin, which is far different from how our culture would like to view sin.  To God, sin is disgusting and foul.  There is no acceptable measure of sin to God.  Therefore, there should be no acceptable measure of sin to us either.  Let us then take sin as seriously as death, because that's what it is.

Loving the Creation or the Creator

A lot can be discerned about the state of a person's heart by what they worship and what they put their energy in.  Scripture says that their are two possibilities for humans to worship.  Quite bluntly, we either worship creation or the Creator.  Needless to say, the latter is always to be preferred; however, overcoming the former is a difficult but necessary part of accomplishing in accomplishing the task of putting the Creator first.

Faith deals with jus this thing.  When we come to God in faith, we are consciously changing our focus of worship.  Our previous, fleshly focus is transformed and sanctified by the blood of Christ Jesus and transfixed on the Holy Lord Almighty.

For this reason, a great potentially convicting daily practice for us to engage in is a "worship check".  A simple moment of self-assessment and awareness is a great way for us to see where our hearts are at and in what way we may need to refocus.

Sin, in its most literal sense, is about missing the mark.  The etymology of sin comes from archery.  To sin is to aim and hit something other than what we should.  So, when we focus on that which is not God and less-than God, we are in fact sinning.  This is a harsh but true reality.  And the road of destruction is a moving sidewalk that leads us astray a single step at a time.  Let us then take care to keep ourselves worshiping God and not His creation!

Serving like a Russian Rabbi

There was a certain rabbi that lived in a small village in the heart of western Russia.  It was a small town with a nearly entirely Jewish population.  This rabbi was known for being a wise, kind, and sincere man.  But he was also known for something else.  On Friday mornings he would disappear for hours.

The rabbi's disciples would tell everyone that the rabbi spent the early hours of Friday morning communing with God in heaven.  In fact, the story of the rabbi's fantastical Friday morning forays had spread to the surrounding towns and villages.  A man who lived in one of those neighboring towns was skeptical of the rabbi, and wanted to see for himself.

The man came to the town late Thursday night and determined to follow the rabbi to see what was really going on.  In Friday's predawn hours, the rabbi woke up early and clothed himself in a peasant's garb.  He then went deep into the woods and spent the next hour cutting down a tree and splitting it into firewood.

The rabbi then picked up as much firewood as he could carry and he brought it deeper into the forest until he arrived at a small cottage at the far edge of the woods.  The house was inhabited by a widow and her three young children.  The rabbi brought enough firewood for a week's worth of fires before going back to the village.  The man was stunned and determined to become a disciple of the rabbi.  And now, when the other disciples talk about the rabbi's weekly trip to heaven, the man agrees with joy.

Service is a remarkable and influential endeavor.  It affects people in miraculous and dramatic ways.  Conversely, the lack of the evidence of service can be devastating and disenfranchising.  How do you think the bucolic detective above would have responded if instead of discovering that the rabbi spent his "secret" Friday mornings serving a neighbor in need, but simply stayed in bed because he had a weekly ritual of getting drunk on Thursday nights?  He would have been appalled at the incongruity between what was professed and what actually occurred.

We, as Christians, should strive to be better servers who seek out opportunities to serve and seize them with eagerness and joy.  Service that comes from a sincere heart is the of a life that is focused on the Lord.  Let us then live out our faith in service!

The "Joy" of Aging

Day by day, I get older.  In many ways this is a bittersweet ordeal.  For I am pleased to grow in faith at the work of God; however, the aging process is one of added aches and persistent pains that were not present years ago.  And, although I am not very old by the world's standards (a mere 29), I feel that the process of aging is one that is carried forward in a relatively the same fashion by all humans once they reach adulthood.

Truly, aging is a cold pill swallowed with a soothing cup of hot cocoa; the pill is the loss of youth but the relief comes with the addition of growth, both of knowledge and of wisdom.  My weight and figure is far-less stable than it once was, meaning that for the first time in my life I have to be cautious of what I eat.  And while this was devastating, the moment that the realities of aging hit me happened a couple years ago after casually brushing my hair and staring at the remnants left behind.  That's when it hit me.

I never knew that gray could be so discouraging.  Yet there it was: gray hair from my head?  I was stunned.  I spent the next several minutes staring at the mirror in disbelief, and the next several days under a hat to conceal my new found, unwelcome aging.  And though this could seem like a crisis of sorts for my early twenties self, God revealed Himself to me in His Word and comforted me in my struggle with my continually-growing age.

These two passages say all I need to hear whenever I feel depressed about aging:

"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life (Pro. 16:31)."

"The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair (Pro. 20:29)."

Scripture can speak for itself.  Luckily, it speaks for us too!  So, if you find that you feel down over the effects of aging, you can find comfort and peace in the fact that your aging is a beautiful thing that is happening for a reason.  Just remember to always press on in faith!

Technology and Bible Study

Technology has transformed are world.  Our culture is faster, more demanding, more entitled, and more connected than it has ever been in all of history.  The accessibility and overwhelming storm of information which is the internet has brought the wealth of the world's knowledge to our fingertips and made it easier to be distracted from the Lord and from His Word.  Luckily, the horizon is not so glim because technology has helped Bible studying too.

For instance, Bible apps have been created that let us have the whole Word with us wherever our phone is; several Bible study websites send daily emails with verses and readings; and, because of the statutes of copyright law, many works of the great theologians of the past can be found online for no cost.

Years ago, these commentaries and resources for Bible study would have been so expensive and hard to find that they would have been nearly out of reach for most Christians.  And many of them were not even in existence yet.  But now the technological advancements of the last couple decades have made these valuable assets available to anyone with access to a computer.

However, acknowledging that these resources are available is vastly different than taking advantage of them.  Doing the latter requires intentionality and focus.  Unfortunately, many believers take full advantage of technology for entertainment, social networking, and business, but they fail to use technology in to grow their faith.  This should not be so.  Let us then strive to use every asset available to us for the purpose of following Christ to the fullest!

Contextual Considerations for Interpretation

Interpretation does not happen in a vacuum.  Every action, every statement, every occurrence is interpreted behind filters.  These filters are cultural, familial, relational, economic, linguistic, and a slew of others that affect how we receive and comprehend the world around us.  For instance, think about when someone says, "Could you turn off the lights, please?"  We interpret that message and decipher its content through a litany of lenses that help us to make sense of what is actually being communicated.

Whether it is listening to the fall breeze blow outside your window, watching a television commercial, or discussing the plans for the weekend's events with a friend, interpretation is essential to life as a human.  In many cases, how accurately we can interpret any specific message or phenomena is dependent on how well we can be aware of the interpretive lenses we are using to interpret.

This is especially important when talking about the Bible.  The Bible is an ancient anthology of ancient literary pieces.  The various books of the Bible each were written at a specific time in a specific historical context with its own set of rules and its own way of writing that is firmly grounded within its own era and context.  However, we, as interpreters, inevitably live in a wholly different, modern context.  This means that the first step of biblical interpretation involves an intentional process of learning both about our context as well as the distinct context of the book under examination.

While this may sound abstract or conceptual in nature, the point is incredibly practical.  Our goal as interpreters of Scripture has been, is, and will always be to get the most accurate interpretations of Scripture that we possible can.  And one of the essential tasks to accomplish this is for us to look beyond our contextual lenses so that we can engage Scripture on its terms instead of trying to make Scripture contract to our terms.  Let us then take time when interpreting to understand where we are coming from so that we can understand where the Bible is coming from as accurately as possible.

The Key is Consistency

Consistency is key.  No matter how strong or smart a person is, if they are inconsistent, they will be ineffective.  For instance, in baseball the most important position is the pitcher.  And time and time again a young gun slinger who is able to throw all the ball like a bullet but is so inconsistent in his performance will prove to be unable to make it in the pros.

Consistency is key.  Christianity is all about consistency.  Think of all the people who, because of rushes of the Holy Spirit and emotional experiences, have given themselves to Christ, been baptized, even gone to church a few times, yet because of their inconsistency have failed to reach the point of bearing fruit.

Consistency is key.  Think of the words of Joshua: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from you mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make you way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Josh. 1:8)."

Consistency is key.  While Joshua was specifically addressing the Israelites as they were about to take possession of the Promised Land, his words still ring true for believers today.  For living a life that is dedicated to Christ requires that we "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt. 22:37)."

Consistency is key.  This means that we will build good, godly habits and that we will become slaves to those habits.  The right word to describe this is practice; to live for Christ is to practice a life that is in love with Him, devoted to Him, and obedient to Him.  It is true that this requires an active believer that is intentional to live for Him daily, if not moment by moment.  For truly, consistency is key.

Racing as Slow as you can

I grew up in a motorcycle family.  Dirt bikes were my family's way to relate, and competition was a part of that.  My family was always involved in a motorcycle club, the Norsemen, who hold various events and races.  One such event that I remember from my youth was a family fun day, a day of riding when the club members would play around on their bikes with their families.  There are few things better than food, family, and the smell of burning gasoline.

During these fun days, there were always fun "novelty" events.  One of these events was the "slow" race.  For this, riders would see who could  travel the length of the field the slowest, without touching their feet to the ground.  For beginners, who had never practiced going as slow as possible, this was a huge challenge because it pushed riders to control their bodies, their throttles, and their balance.  But even riders who had been riding competitively for years struggled too.

And no matter how clearly or how many times the rules were stated, inevitably, when the race was started there would be at least one rider who missed the point entirely and sped recklessly to the finish line.  Or other riders would get so frustrated by their inability to perform this odd task.  There were even highly-experienced riders that were struggling and frustrated at their inability to do such a seemingly simple task.

To think that very good riders with years of advanced riding experience struggled to compete in this particular event always struck me as a humorous and prophetic ordeal.  Asking someone who has trained and practiced one thing, to then do the very opposite thing is a difficult endeavor, but in many ways is exactly what God asks of us when we become regenerate believers.

Humanity's natural inclination is towards the flesh and to sin.  We spend our lives practicing the flesh and training in sin.  Yet when we become believers through the work of Christ, God changes the rules and asks for an entirely different criteria.  He, God, asks us to live our lives for the Spirit, a way of life that is wholly different than our previous focus which was living for the flesh.

Luckily, God has clearly stated and repeated what He asks of us, what the "rules" for His race are.  He desires our utter love and unabashed devotion.  This means that we will cast aside every sin and weight which hiders us and we will run with effort and perseverance to the Lord.  We should also decide, upfront, to live our lives with an ardent focus on remaining in the center of God's will for our lives.  Let us then listen intently to God's direction(s) for our lives so as to compete in the race to the best of our abilities, especially if that means we have to neglect our fleshes so as to exalt the Spirit of God within us!

Judas Sheep

Sheep are cautiously stupid creatures.  They spend most of their life running away from possible dangers and following others.  In fact, because of their constant skittishness it can be a difficult task to herd them at all, particularly at the slaughterhouse.  However, clever butchers have devised an ingeniously deceptive way to lead the sheep to the deaths without forcing them.

Butchers at the slaughterhouse use a trained goat, dubbed the Judas goat, leads the others to the ramp and gets the herd in motion.  At the apex moment, the Judas goat turns to a gate that closes after it enters, while the herd is forced to continue on to their deaths.

It is interesting that throughout Scripture, believers are referred to as sheep.  This is not an accident.  Believers, by nature, are capable of both jumpy skittishness and thoughtless following.  Unfortunately, these very traits, though purposeful when coupled with wisdom and critical belief, can be the very things that lead some astray.

Consider the many people who would sneak into the flock and, like the Judas sheep, intend on leading the drove to destruction and death.  Every New Testament author warns against such falsity, indicating that wolves dressed as sheep will be present and will try to lead believers astray.  The important thing, for every believer, is to keep their eyes open and critical so that we will not be led astray by counterfeit sheep.

For Judas sheep are everywhere, hoping to trick as many unsuspecting sheep as they can and lead them to their ultimate deaths.  Let us then be aware and active in our vision so as to be protected from such deceit!

Dancing in the Rainstorms of Life

Robert had never even been out of the country when he took his new position in Tokyo, Japan.  He was a product of southwestern America, where rain is scare and the sun is hot and clear.  Because of the obvious cultural distance and because he didn't want to be alone, Robert found a local man about the same age, Akiko Saitou, to be his roommate.

All was going well until the first earthquake and rain.  Japan is, essentially, a volcanic island that has never fully stabilized.  And, to a foreigner, this can be quite disconcerting, particularly when most of the locals view earthquakes and storms with a certain sense of apathetic reverence.  However, when the first real tsunami-like rains hit, Robert was dumbfounded.

In fact, Robert spent that first rainy season learning how to duck under canopies with ninja-like speed.  He thought that he was starting to fit in except that Akiko would always point and laugh at the ridiculousness exhibited by his wimpy, American roommate.  This sort of display happened every time the rains came with their tempestuous force, so that by the end of the season Robert had determined to find out why the Japanese were so calm during such torrential downpours.

Finally, on one such rainfall, after Akiko's usual chortles at Robert's unusual fear of rain storms, Robert went to Akiko and asked him, "Why is everyone here so calm when the sky is falling?  How can you be so cavalier when the rain is pounding like this?"  Akiko smiled at his roommate and, with a laugh, said in his decent but broken English, "My friend, you can spend all your life trying to dodge  and hide from the rain.  Or, you can simply learn to dance in it like the rest of us!"

Storms of this life are continuously stirring and pouring over our shoulders, filling our eyes with water and our hands with puddles.  A storm is anything in life that can break us down and damage us with its constant pommeling.  The trick is, as shared by Akiko above, to stop wasting so much energy fearing the rain and come to the place when you can dance in it.

The essence of this is sincere devotion and faith in God.  If we, when under stressful duress, will simply trust that God is who He is.  Needless to say, this is a daily if not momentarily exercise in faithfulness.  This will equip us with the lenses of God and His holiness that can make the most difficult of life's decisions seem as whim and frivolity compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.  Let us then take this mind among us to depend on God so as to dance in the rainstorms of life!

The Fall of Man

Genesis tells the tales of beginnings.  One of these beginnings that has had long-lasting effects to every human since occurs in Genesis 3, known generally as The Fall.  Although the crux of this episode is chronicled is told in chapter 3, chapter gives us the necessary background information.  Because it is so needed to understand chapter 3, a brief synopsis of the relevant material from chapter 2 is in order.

This is the story of Adam, the prototypical man, and Eve, the prototypical woman.  Adam was created first, formed from the clay and dust by God's own hands, with life breathed into his nostrils straight from the breath of God Himself.  Adam was placed in a beautiful and complete garden, Eden, and given the freedom to take joy at eating any and every one of the fruits in the garden, save one, the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It is at this point, the first time ever, that God esteemed something not good (Gen. 2:18), for man is a relational creature and is not to be alone.  God then tasks Adam with naming all the beasts and animals  before creating Eve.  Eve was then taken out of man while man was put into a deep, sedative sleep.  And thus the stage is set for chapter three.

In chapter 3, the apex moment of creation, sin, occurs.  Briefly, the serpent comes and entices Eve to take of the forbidden tree.  In a sequence that leads right to death, the serpent lies to Eve, she misinterprets the command of God and eats the fruit to gain the serpent's proposed effect of "god-like" knowledge.  Eve then passes the fruit to her husband who eats, their eyes are then opened to their loss of innocence, and they hide from God who, after confronting their disobedience, curses them for their actions.  There is so much more to this, far more than can be discussed here.  For this, read these two chapters after prayer and God will reveal Himself to us through His Word.

While there is long list of relavent and important points of comment about The Fall, because of the length and scope of this dialogue, the act of disobedience itself will be examined.  There are many misconstructions associated with this event, the chief of which deal with the deceptions of the serpent.

For one, the so-called knowledge to be acquired from eating of the forbidden tree did not make man god-like, nor was it nearly as fulfilling as promised.  This the truth is attributed to all sin.  There is another major point to be associated both with the Fall and with all sin: Eve and Adam, in eating the fruit of the tree, attempted to accrue knowledge apart from God.

This is the very essence of sin: any attempt of man to gain something that is God, such as get knowledge or wisdom or even find salvation, is a deliberate act of unbelief and disobedience.  Put plainly, it is sin.  Although this has been an all-too-brief exegesis of Genesis 2-3, the point is to show that sin has been the same act since the very beginning, though perhaps the particulars have changed.

God Knows What We're Worth

A certain motivational speaker was wanted to make a point.  He pulled a crisp $20 bill out of his wallet and held it up.  The speaker asked, "Raise your hand if you would like this $20 bill."  Hands quickly went up across the auditorium.  The speaker then crumpled the bill into a little ball and asked again, "would anyone still like this bill."  And again, nearly every hand went up.

"Okay," the speaker said.  He spit on the bill, threw it on the ground, and squished it into the podium.  He then picked the soiled and disheveled bill up and asked the crowd again, "does everybody still want this?"  The crowd was not detoured from their previous exuberance for the bill.  The speaker then explained that his damage to the $20 bill did nothing to change the value of the bill, and did nothing to subtract form its desirability.

Humanity's relationship with God is kind of like that.  We are the crumpled and soiled $20 bills.  Yet no matter how damaged we may be, our value to God never diminishes.  God loves us despite our dings and dents.  He loves us for our true worth, no matter our tattered state.

As Paul writes in Romans, "but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)."  Unfortunately, many people believe that God won't accept them until they are undefiled.  The reality is that God accepts us when we are defiled so that He can clean us with the washing of His Word and His Spirit.  This should be comforting.  For no matter the circumstances that have beaten and damaged us, God is there to dust us off.  It all comes down to faith.  God knows our worth and loves us for it.  All He asks from us is devotion and love.

Rosa Parks and Preparing for Opposition

On December 1st, 1955, a young black woman refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to make room for white bus riders.  The woman's name was Rosa Parks and her famous act of civil disobedience became an emblem for the Civil Rights Movement.  Although history will remember Parks for her braveness in the face of vociferous racism and systemic segregation, history would be wrong to think that Parks' actions were flippant or whimsical.

For over ten years, Parks had been a leading member of the local NAACP chapter.  She had also been involved with many demonstrations and community events that pursued the end of segregation in schools and in public.  In fact, Parks had been studying other bus boycotts, even being arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana a year earlier.  Truly, Rosa Parks had dedicated and prepared for her momentous and historic act of bravery.

Rosa Parks had prepared for years to be brave in the face of her opposition, and when the time came for her to seize the moment and act, she did.  Parks is a great example of courage in the face of adversity, but her preparation is also a key to her protest's efficacy.  Similarly, Christians face an adverse and oppositional world.  How we prepare for the those times that require bravery can ensure that our acts of courage for Christ will not be in vain but will have their maximum effect.

The point is intentionality for purpose.  Training and preparation for Christianity means prayer, counsel, Bible Study, fellowship, and service.  This is the training regiment that will prepare us for maximum Kingdom effect.  Let us then look to the examples from history, like Rosa Parks, who stood for the right things in the face of certain opposition, but did so after study and preparation.

Does What We Advertise Match What We Sell?

For over a year, the business trip had been on Denise's calendar.  Yet, two days before she was set to take off, she realized that her dress clothes were in serious need of dry cleaning.  Denise knew of a same-day dry cleaning place on the other side town, os she packed up her clothes and headed over.  Outside of the cleaners was a huge, neon sign, "One-Hour Dry Cleaning."

After filling out the tag and handing the clerk her dress frocks and asked for confirmation, "So, I'll be back in an hour for these."  The tiny lady behind the counter looked up through her thick, wire-rimmed glasses, "No, I can't get to these until next Thursday."

Denise replied, "But I thought you guys did one-hour dry cleaning?"  The clerk looked at Denise with a sly grin that spoke of her frustration at yet another customer missing the point, "No.  That's just the name of the store.  We don't actually do that!"

To many, Christianity is the just a title that many people claim but few actually live.  However, when someone looks into our hearts to see the goods, will they see real Christianity, or will they realize that our Christianity is just a nice mask to get us in with the right crowds.

But Christianity is much more than listening to Christian music, reading the latest Christian authors, voting the right way, or even speaking the right lingo.  Instead, being a Christian is about obeying the Commandments of Christ, keeping them with discipline and loving God and our neighbors.  Thus, if we commit to this, then when people look into our hearts, the identities and testimonies we put out for the public will be confirmed as true.

Running the Race like the Scot threw the Discus

There is an old story about a nineteenth-century Discus thrower that goes something like this:

A young man who lived in a Scottish village in the nineteenth-century wanted to be a star athlete.  He knew that he was athletic and strong, but because he wasn't a great runner, he needed a different event.  This was well before internet or even television, but after reading a local newspaper's report of an English track and field event, the man decided that he would become a discus thrower.

Because the man lived in a remote rural village, finding a discus was not an easy thing; in fact, it was impossible.  To remedy the situation, the young man, using a a description from a book, built himself a discus.  However, the young man misinterpreted the disc description: he thought that the disc was made completely of iron, whereas the competition discs were made of wood with an iron rim.

The Scot marked the record distance on the far end of the field and for over a year practiced throwing his all-iron disc until he could regularly throw beyond the record.  The man traveled to England for his first competition against some of the world's best throwers.  Yet, we the officials handed him the wooden disc for his first throw, he threw it with ease, setting long-standing records in the process.  It was the added burden during training that helped him succeed.

Both Paul and James speak of the necessity of persevering under weight and pressure (Rom. 5:1-5; James 1:2-4).  The idea is that endurance requires an attitude.  The discus champion above was focused, intent on becoming the best.  And, although he did not know that he was training with a discus that was far-heavier than it needed to be, it was in fact the added weight that made him so good.  

Similarly, if we are intentional in our pursuit of God and spiritual growth, we should take the same mind as the discus thrower: studying and loving beyond what is necessary so that we grow.  Needless to say, the reality of this boils down to a single, but essential word, work.

Consider the words of Paul in his letter to the Corinthians:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27)."

Loving like the Samaritan

Helping others is not just an easy tagline that fits on a bumper sticker.  Helping others is an extension of our devotion and our love for God.  In fact, it is when we are serving others that God if most fully flowing through us.  The challenge to this ideal is that most of us are far-more apt to care and help those who are more like us and far-more likely to ignore or neglect helping those who are markedly different.  This becomes even more acute when those who need our help are the dregs, the disenfranchised, and the lowliest members of society.

Think for a moment of how easy it is to turn away from those who appear ragged and haggard.  But, in truth, these are the very people who we should help.  This is one of the most clear Christian ideals and yet, because of our natural bents towards entitlement and selfishness, many are too quick to dismiss charity altogether.  Unfortunately, charity has become a term for an organization, but in its truest historical sense, charity is love actuated.

Consider Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).  A man leaving Jerusalem is mugged, stripped, and beaten, left for dead alongside the road.  A priest, a man who has given his life to the service of the Lord, sees the man and crosses the road so as to ignore his misfortunes altogether. Then a Levite, a man groomed from birth as a servant of the Lord, does the same thing, going out of his way to ignore his compassion for this crestfallen man.

Finally, a Samaritan man comes along the road.  Samaritans were considered lower-class Jews, half-breeds whose ancestors had mated with the pagan nations.  In fact, although the mugged man was in a worse physical state, he was still the cultural superior to the Samaritan.  Yet despite all this, the Samaritan man had compassion on the other man, binding his wounds, letting him ride his animal to the nearest village where the Samaritan even covered the other man's costs: true mercy, true compassion, and true godly love. 

Jesus confirms this ideal when He says, "Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Matt. 25:40)."  The idea is that we will not withhold our love and compassion from those who seem unworthy.  Instead, we will always love and have mercy, especially to those people who no one else will love.  This means that we will not turn away from the dregs or marginalized, but we will get into the trenches with them, by the love of Christ Jesus.

Love like Forrest

Arguably one of the greatest films of all time is also one of the most profound, Forrest Gump.  The film chronicles the multi-faceted, history-laden life of a southern man, Forrest Gump, from his childhood through his adulthood.  The essence of the movie, told through Forrest's episodic adventures, is a tale about a character who didn't know anything but being a good guy, despite his mental handicap.

One such episode that expresses Forrest's character is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the whole movie, and it deals with friendship.  Forrest, a star college athlete, became a soldier after graduation and was thrust forth into the depths of the Vietnam war.  En route to training camp, Forrest met Bubba.  Bubba would become Forrest's best friend and trusted confidant.

Forrest's platoon was trudging through the thick of the Vietnamese  jungle, when the unit came under heavy enemy fire.  The squad was outnumbered and ambushed with nothing to do but retreat.  Forrest, being an all-star athlete, outran his entire platoon until he had escaped to the edge of the jungle.  Realizing himself to be alone without Bubba, Forrest turned back towards the action and ran into the abyss in search of his friend.

Although Forrest was unable to locate Bubba, he was able to save several other members of his platoon, even his commanding officer.  Eventually, after multiple trips into the jungle to find his friend, Forrest found Bubba and was able to harrowing pull his heavily wounded body from the jungle, all the while being wounded himself in the process.  Forrest was awarded the Purple Heart for his harrowing bravery, though despite his best effort, Bubba did not make it.

Forrest was under the heaviest of enemy attacks, yet he was unrelenting in his efforts to save his friend.  He sprinted through the jungle, dodged the enemy bullets, and did all he could to find and to pull his friend to safety.  This is such a great story of what friendship should look like.  As Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13)."

Fortunately, most of us are not in war zones; however, we still need to lay down our lives for our friends as Jesus commands.  How this plays itself out practically is that we will not relent in our fervent love for one another, whether that means buying someone a tank of gas or helping someone move.  Additionally, we should never stop running back into the spiritual warzone of this world to preach the Gospel and save those whom we care about.  Let us then run like Forrest to save our loved ones, no matter how many times we have to go or how dangerous the circumstances are.

Remember:
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity (Pro. 17:17)."

Kirani James and Joy

On monday, August 6th, Kirani James won the first Olympic medal in his countries history.  Grenada, a small, island country in the the southeastern Caribbean seas, with a population barely over 100,000 people has competed in the summer Olympics 7 times without ever medaling.  Yet all that changed as their 19-year-old track phenom rounded the track for his gold medal in the 400 meter sprint.

Although the finesse and ease with which the young man was impressively dominant, it was the response of the Grenadians to their victorious athlete that caught my attention.  Following James' victory, the Olympic news reporters cut to the Grenadian camp, where the Grenadians had already begun the party.  The whole Grenadian crowd was jumping and hollering in utter exuberance at their athletes' triumphant win.  In essence, James had won for the whole country and the people could not contain their joy.

As I was watching the unabashed, unrestrained excitement, I had conflicting and complicated thoughts that began to fill my mind.  While the Grenadians were exhibiting a truly pure joy, it astonished me that the sight seemed so foreign.  The question stuck with me: Why aren't Christians this excited?  Why don't Christians shout for joy at the work of Christ?

Although this may seem like gibberish musings, there is some validity in the reality of such thoughts. Jesus is the source, the true source, of joy.  He sacrificed His very flesh and won the ultimate prize, saving all humanity from its sins and securing eternal life to all those who would come to Him in faith.  Because of this, we, as Christians, should live as if our only athlete has won the ultimate prize on our behalf.  Let us then cast aside our reserve and shout with excitement and joy at what Jesus has doen for us!

Looking into the Welding Torch

Welding is a fabrication process for joining metals or other hard substances by causing coalescence.  It is different from soldering or brazing because welding using absurdly hot temperatures to create molten states so as to actually join two separate pieces of metal.  There are all sorts of different types of weld types, but the process of all of them causes an unbelievably bright light.  This is why welding lenses, in glasses or helmets, are a necessity when welding.  It is this phenomenon that Jim was concerned about when he brought his son, Bradley, to his workshop.

Bradley was nine or ten when Jim finally decided it was time to show his son the workshop.  Jim was a sculptor.  He did large metal installations for museums and corporate headquarters.  He almost exclusively worked in metal; his primary canvas was steel beams and his main brush was an arc welder.  Because of the industrial-sized danger, he waited until Bradley was old enough to stay safe before he brought him to the shop.

As they were going in, Jim made sure to repeat himself several times that Bradley was to always keep his helmet up when daddy was welding and to never look at the welding directly or it could burn his eyes.  Yet, despite Jim's best intentional effort, Bradley lifted his mask and looked right at the bright lights of his father's welds; more than once even.  By the end of the time in the shop, Bradley could barely see anything other than a reddish spot.

Jim, while driving Bradley to the hospital and he was infuriated and worried about his son, asked Bradley, "Why didn't you listen to me?  I told you that it would hurt you and I warned you so much.  Why did not listen to daddy?"  The young boy, crying and scared because his vision was so hampered, looked at his dad and answered, "The light just looked so pretty.  I couldn't stop myself.  I didn't think it would really hurt me if I looked at it.  But after I saw it once, I just couldn't stop."

This sort of story is all-too familiar but it might be startling to recognize that this very sort of disobedience occurred even at the very beginning of creation, as chronicled in Genesis 3.  Adam and Eve were given freedom and dominion over every fruit and animal in the whole garden.  God's only request was that they not eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge, for in doing so they would surely die.

Unfortunately, neither Eve nor Adam could refuse the beautiful fruit or the serpent's promise of knowledge.  They did not heed to the warnings of God and, like His word always does, God's warnings proved themselves to be true as humanity was banished from the Garden and cursed with death for their sin.

The point is listening to the Lord's warnings when it comes to life decisions, both small and large.  This means that we will listen to the Holy Spirit speaking within us.  But we will also pay attention to the counsel of godly people around us.  If we practice this kind of awareness and discipline, we will be far-less likely to find ourselves blind from staring into the sun.  Let us then heed the warnings of God because He always knows best.

As Simple as Loving a Loving God

Sometimes breadth and depth are unnecessary when the simple can be so direct and satisfying on its own.  Bible study that comments on the density of salvation or remarks upon the doctrine of the Trinity are useless without the basics.  In this case, the most basic things of all:

God is love.  He loves us.  And He asks us to love Him with all our hearts, minds, bodies, souls, and strength.

These facts are not in dispute but they go hand-in-hand.  It is in God's very nature to love.  And, just as He has made us in His image, we are made to love Him.  Therefore, what could be more important than this fundamental truth?

So, while looking at verses is always a good and necessary part of theology and of the Christian life, sometimes the best way to get back to the basics is to pause, breathe, and pray.  Let us then take this opportunity to pray and be reminded of who God is, what He has done for us, and that He asks us to love Him.  This is a good thing for us to practice whenever we can.  Again, while depth is beneficial, sometimes just a reminder to refocus is the step that's needed at the time.

Wilber McLean & Jonah

On July 18, 1861 the most destructive war in American history began on the farmstead of Wilmer McLean in Virginia.  The battle became known as the First Battle of the Bull Run.  McLean, a 47-year-year-old retired Virginia militia man, was too-old and too-apathetic towards the Confederate cause to join in the war effort.

Add to this that the war's first battle was fought on his front lawn and McLean had had enough.  He sold his estate and moved some 120 miles south to a small, rural town in Virginia that McLean thought would be too-insignificant and secluded to ever have to deal with the growing war: Appomattox County, Virginia.

However, despite his best efforts to disappear and get away from the war, on April 9, 1865, Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant sat down at a table inside the parlor of McLean's house to finalize the terms of the Confederacy's utter surrender and the end of the Civil War.  No matter the lengths that McLean went to get away from the war, he couldn't escape it.  He was there at the very beginning and the very end.  Later, McLean is quoted as saying, "The war began in my front yard, and ended in my front parlor."

McLean's story is one of those great tales of how inescapable destiny can be.  Although the particulars are vastly different, the well-known story of Jonah tells the same thing, but instead of trying to run from an impending civil war, Jonah tried to run from God Himself.  However, no matter how far Jonah tried to run from his destiny to prophecy to Nineveh, he could no get away from God.

This should be a reminder to us all that what God has for is what He has for us and when we try to escape of run away from those things, all we are doing is adding consternation and pain in the long run.  Instead, we should make an effort to seek after God's specific will for our lives and to consistently pursue that will in earnest.

The Heavy Pack of Pride

There is a specific mountain northeast of Nepal that the over centuries has been dubbed, Shikhanah Benerkha, which is loosely translated as "the mountain of life".  For centuries, travelers have come to the  mountain to climb it.  The legend goes that if a man can climb the mountain with his burdens and sins on his back, they will be released from their troubles after they ascend to the highest peak and drop off their packs.

At the base of the mountain, before the ascent, the would-be climbers meet with their guides, fill their packs with their burdens, and consider their journey.  After the arduous hike up and down the mountain, the climbers, now freed from their burdens, would go home with a renewed sense of life.  A journalist had heard the reports of the mountain and went to report on what was going on.

For weeks, the reporter stayed at the base of the mountain and watched as people would come with their packs full of burdens, then climb the mountain to let them go.  The journalist saw people with packs full of coveting, others with packs full of greed or of lust, but one time a man came to the base of the mountain with a giant pack, far bigger and more stuffed than any other pack that he had seen yet.

The journalist walked over to the man as he was meeting the guides and the other climbers.  The journalist inquired, "Hey there, I've seen a lot of packs.  Your's is the biggest.  Your burdens and sins must be huge.  What are they? Lust? Greed?"  The man looked at the reporter and chortled, "Ha!  Greed, lust, covetousness, vanity, wrath--that's nothing compared to my problems!  Ha!  Get out of here and let me handle my business."

The man then turned back to his preparations.  The journalist shrugged at the man's rudeness and turned back to the shack at the base of the mountain.  It wasn't until the man had started his trek up the mountain that the reporter realized that his giant, heavy pack was full of only one thing: pride.  For pride is the heaviest and most destructive of all of man's sins.

The poison of pride seeps into every pore of a person.  It is the basis for every sin.  The essence of pride is the overvaluing of self to the undervaluing of everyone else.  Because of this truth, it has no place in Christianity.  Unfortunately, because pride is a sin disease that is common to all mankind, only through the powerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit regenerating our minds and our hearts will we be able to overcome the destructive force of pride.  Let us then devote ourselves to laying down our burdens of pride and selfishness at the foot of the cross so as to follow Christ and love people truly selflessly!

How Far Would We Go For Love?

There is an old sailor's tale that goes something like this:

There was once a proud sailor.  He had sailed the seas of the world his entire life, living his whole life on a ship.  The sailor had always loved the allure and freedom of the seeing, never considering that he would or even could be pulled away from the torrent and tides of the deepest oceans.  He had a variety of lovers at each of the ports he would visit; a different girl in every place.

Then, on one of his frequent in-land tours, he and his party stumbled across a native peoples that intrigued him.  They were a fishing tribe but were remarkable skilled in dying fabrics, and they wore of the brightest colored clothing that he had ever come across.  While trading various trinkets with the tribe, he met the chief's daughter.

She was a beautiful woman with auburn hair that stirred up images of autumn and her lightly-tinted, grain-colored skin reminded him of the grain-filled pastoral plains of his childhood.  Within moments of being in her presence, he fell for her like the dropping of an anchor from the ship of his heart.  He vowed that he would make her his wife.

The sailor brought the woman gifts of the finest jewels and silk from the farthest corners of the earth but she was uninterested in his knickknacks.  He then decided that he would impress her by studying her tribe's culture and history.  As his ship set sails for other shores, he stayed behind to settle with her until he could convince her that he loved her.  For months, he tried to impress her with his enthusiasm and gifts, but he was always hindered by the significant language barrier.

Finally, as his time was drawing to a close because his ship would be returning, he determined to learn to speak her language so that he could tell her in her tongue that he was madly in love with her and that he wanted to make her his wife.  Over much arduous and intent practice, he had finally learned enough to tell her that he loved her.

In the end, this final step was what the chief's daughter was waiting for.  Although there had been many sailors who had tried to woe her and win her hand with gifts, none of them had been so determined in his affections that he would learn her own language.  When the sailor had learned her language and gotten to the point that he could tell her how he felt, he had proven his love for her by his persistent pursuit and determination. She then knew that he would go to any lengths to love her.

This tale is one of love.  It is remarkable how determined the sailor was to love the woman.  He went to the limits of his power to express his love for her: he gave her his finest treasures, he gave her his time, his career, and his mind.  In the end, it was his utter and persistent devotion that was the limit of his love.

Let us translate this to God.  How far are we willing to go to love God?  Would we give up all our treasures? Our time?  Our very lives?  Like the sailor, there should be no lengths to which we would not be willing to go to show our love for God.  Truly, there are many verses that express this very thought, but perhaps Jesus' words in Matthew 16:25 says it best:

"Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Let us, then, determine to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and with all strength regardless of the cost!

Relying on the Lord in times of Fear

Jonathan and Susan had been married for over a decade when Jonathan was offered a promotion from his company.  The Job was considerably more salary and benefits, and was simply too-good to refuse.  Unfortunately, the new position required Jonathan to be traveling three or four days a week.  Although they were apprehensive, after some prayer and counsel, it became clear that God had prepared this career move for the family and Jonathan accepted the position.

For the next several months, Susan had began to grow accustomed to Jonathan being away, though she still missed him greatly when he was on the road.  She would feed the children and put them to bed, always remembering to say prayers.  She had never felt unsafe or unprotected when Jonathan was away, because Susan knew that God was watching over the family.

One night, when Jonathan was away, Susan woke up in a dreadful fear.  She glanced at the clock, which read: 2:00.  She couldn't understand why, but she was simply rigid with fear.  Susan, though an adult, pulled the covers over her head and said a brief but earnest prayer for relief and for protection from her prayers.  She prayed that God would not allow any evil to injure her or her family.  She breathed a couple deep breaths and drifted back to sleep.

When she woke up in the morning, she went downstairs to brew herself a cup of coffee.  She peered out her window and across her lawn to see a police squad car parked in the street in front of her house.  She closed her robe and walked outside to see the neighbor girl who babysat the family's children running towards her.  The teenage girl was so excited that she could barely speak but Susan could pick out that a burglar had robbed three houses on the block last night but that they had caught him.

Susan walked over to the police officer and, after exchanging pleasantries, Susan asked the officer for some clarification of the previous night's foray.  The officer shared that indeed three of her neighbors had been robbed last night and that her house had almost been robbed too but not to fear because they had caught the burglar.  Susan was startled by that and asked for more information.  

The police man said that the burglar had made it to her house after he had robbed the other houses and was about to break her in through the side window when, suddenly, the burglar suffered a minor cardiac arrest and passed out on the ground outside of her house.  She was astonished and asked the officer when that happened. The officer looked at her and said, "Oh, about 2 o'clock."

God had saved Susan's family.  Her prayer had been efficacious and God protected her and her family.  This is incredibly scriptural.  The writer of Hebrews, quoting Psalm 118, writes: "So we can confidentially say, 'the Lord is my helper; I shall not fear; what can man do to me?'"  If, when faced with fear and gripping trepidations, we would turn to God for our support, we will always find that God is there.  Although the above example may seem a bit far-fetched, it is a true story.  God is our fortress and our shield, our ever-present help in times of trouble and need (Psa. 46:1).  Let us then turn to Him when we feel uneasy with fear and find comfort in the shadow of His might!