Looking Out...

In my personal study time (what many might call a "Quiet Time") on Tuesday morning, before I happily made my way down from the Northern Climes of Little Elm to Grapevine, I read this particular part of a verse in the book of Jeremiah:

"The land lay subdued before them." (Jeremiah 18v.1b)

This got me thinking: What if we looked at life in this way? Not in a presumptuous way, as though the Lord should give us every single thing we want just because we say a prayer or anything like that... but in the simple knowledge that God truly is in complete control of every aspect of our lives. Would we still be terrified by economic woes? Would we freeze up when someone says we're not being politically correct or sensitive enough? Would we finally be men of faith who would lead in all areas, like we're supposed to?

The land that is our lives lies before us and, although there are definitely wild areas and places where we might come upon things that scare us to the core, we need to know that that land is subdued before us. We serve a mighty God who preserves His children to the end, and it's time that we see this and trust in that strength and love, not to mention grace.

Sleep Deprived? Not Hardly

Sometimes, I wish that more blogs carried a time-stamp on them, something to let you know not only what day the article was posted, but also what time. I know there are a plethora of thinkers and writers out there who are up at all times of the day and night, sending their thoughts out into the meta whenever it strikes their fancy. I'm just curious as to when most bloggers do their critical thinking and writing.

Since you can't see what time I'm posting this, I'll tell you: 5:10am on Friday morning.

I know that I have a meeting in just over an hour with the FCA leaders of Little Elm High School. I know that I've an accountability meeting at 11:00am. I know that between those two things, I've got stuff to get done at the office. But, I've been up since 4:30am. Conscious since about 4:15am. To most, this would seem like an incredibly horrible thing but, for me, my brain is running on all cylinders and this is becoming a kind of common thing.

I've never been able to sleep like most people. Growing up, I was always a little bit jealous of my buddies who could go to bed at midnight and sleep until noon the next day. For me, I can't sleep past 9:00am, ever. Even if I've stayed up all night, I simply cannot stay asleep after that threshold. I can take naps and have the ability to kind of go into a twilight stage when I need to (I believe Jason Bourne called this "delta meditation"... something to do with the brain's delta waves), but I can't stay in bed. I really started to get worried, as I've only been sleeping in the five to six hour range (with the occasional four hour night) each night.

So, that being said: it's not a lack of exercise, bad heart rate, sleep apnea, or anything else like that. I think I'm just one of the weird ones who only sleep in the four to six range.

Sharpening the Edge

At Providence, we've been expositionally moving through the book of Ephesians. It has been a great last few months in diving into the Word together with the rest of the body at our church. The title of the series, "Shine," perfectly nails what the book encourages us to do in the world that we live in. Missionally-speaking, we are called to constantly shine in order to glorify Christ Jesus.

On Sunday morning, our pastor, Barry Keldie, drew parallels between Ephesians 5v.25-28 (in husbands loving and leading their wives and families) and Ecclesiastes 10v.10. More and more, there is a great need for men to plug in to one another's lives and build strong, lasting relationships. This is more than just for men to grow individually; it is in order that men might become stronger leaders.

In Ecclesiastes 10v.10: "If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed." (ESV)

If our hearts, minds and spirits are not sharpened and honed in by the Word, through prayer, and through community both with God and fellow Believers who are men, we must use more and more strength in order to lead our families, churches, and lives. Of course, we know that, on our own strength, we will NEVER be the leaders we need to be. But, we must continue to hold one another accountable in order to sharpen ourselves along this path. Wisdom is the key to leading in any circumstance.

Be wise and continue to hone the iron! Let us continue (or, in many cases, intentionally BEGIN) to meet together in accountability and love.

FCA in Little Elm

So, after quite the run-around, I finally was OK'd to make contact with the main FCA sponsor at Little Elm High School. My prayer is that, through the FCA program there, I will be able to impact quite a few students and lead them further in their walks with Christ.

I know that, for me at Cooper, FCA was not near as deep as I would have hoped it to be. Several of us tried to change these things, but, for the most part, were not backed up by our peers. I pray that I might be able to help some of these students at Little Elm step up to really lead their peers.

We're getting more and more plugged in at Providence, where we are now officially covenant members; I hope to help the youth guy there, Carl, in getting the youth group started. But, for now, I am hoping to take a few athletes from Little Elm under my wing and begin discipling them there. Who knows? They may even want me to speak or help lead huddle meetings.

Please be in prayer that we might see great potential in the students at LEHS!

The Right Hand

I returned form our LDC to Romania on Wednesday night, last week, full of excitement for the vision that the Lord has given us in Eastern Europe. In our week spent mainly in Timisoara, Surduc and Lugoj, we were so blessed to be able to network with many pastors with great vision for planting Evangelical churches in their areas of ministry. Upon arriving in Timisoara, we were blessed to be able to meet with the leadership at Stanca Baptist Church as well as the main leader for Campus Crusade in the area. Upon leaving our meeting, we knew that the Lord is moving to do incredible things in the English-speaking expats who live in the city, as well as the numerous international groups of students who are so hungry to know Christ. We then proceeded to the mountains of western-most Transylvania to meet with a large group of pastors, teaching them both the "Catalyst" leadership curriculum as well as "First Steps" church-planting material. They all soaked the material up and immediately began to discuss how to better network their own villages and communities and begin fleshing out what they had just been taught. From there, a couple more meetings in Timisoara and we left Romania with the feeling that the NEXT operations there, next summer, are going to be hugely successful in terms of planting churches and seeing people come to know Christ as Lord and entering into fellowship with other Romanian Believers.

On the flight over, I was poring over the Word and catching up on my "daily readings" (although I've not been very good about doing it daily and am currently a couple of days, i.e. about 12 chapters, behind) and came to the verse, in Exodus 15v.6b where the Word says: "...your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy."

This verse comes from a particular passage that many Bibles subtitle as "The Song of Moses," since it is the song that Moses and the people of Israel sang in reverence and worship to Yahweh. Another verse (15v.3) states, "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name."

We can so often lose sight of the fact that God is such an incredible warrior. Not only does He fight for His glory and renown, but He fights for His people, that they might persevere and, therefore, glorify Him even more in the world in which they live.

I've been meditating and chewing on this particular verse (15v.6b) now for over a week. How awesome is it that our Father, a mighty warrior, fights for His people? Not only does He fight for us and preserve us, but we see that He completely shatters the enemy. I should probably use a capital "E," so, the Enemy. Our God knows the battles and struggles we face, whether in our homes, our personal outlooks on the future, or our spiritual health, and He shatters, utterly destroys, the Enemy. This was vital in reminding me that we, the staff at NEXT, are not the ones who do the saving or have the masterplan for the operations we carry out in foreign fields, or at home, for that matter. It is the Lord!

The Lord carries us with His right hand, the hand of righteousness. With it He also breaks apart evil, both in our lives and in the World. Knowing this, we must see how powerful our God is, and that there is nothing, NOTHING, in this World, of which we need to be terrified or afraid. We know and are loved by a big and mighty God, and there is nothing to worry about in that relationship!

Duty Versus Joy

Today is the day when millions of people will line up and cast their ballot for who they feel should be the next leader of our nation. I know that there are numerous blog posts, today, covering this, but mine is a little different. You might be the voter who knows every in-and-out of your candidate, what they stand for and why you agree with them. You might be the straight-party voter, not giving any thought to anything but your party. You might be one of the people, like on Howard Stern's radio show, that had absolutely no clue what their candidate stood for, you're just voting on a slogan that makes you feel good. Or, you may be like me, and not vote... not because of anything wrong with the American electoral process, but rather because you didn't take the time to renew your voter registration and are no longer living within your precinct. I think that you should have to work for it, if you're going to vote, so I'm certainly not in favor of spoon-feeding people their abilities (like I've heard-tell of some certain people in Ohio with homeless people who are allowed to register and vote the same day). But, do we vote more out of duty (I don't know how many times already, today, I've heard it called "your civil duty") or out of joy?

Civic duty, to me, conjures up images in my head of sitting in crowded rooms full of people thinking of what they could be doing with their time instead of sitting in a white-walled cell. To me, a civic duty is serving on a jury and just going through the process of probably being eliminated as a potential juror. That is a civic duty, something no one really wants to do, but does in order not to feel guilty, be arrested, etc.

It should be our civic joy to be able to cast our ballot and decide the future of the American nation. We Americans are so ridiculously spoiled towards what goes on within our country that it is pathetic. We must bear in mind all the places around the globe where free elections don't take place, if any elections take place at all. Our elections are not rigged (although there would be some who would try to speak out against the last two), we aren't threatened under gunpoint if we don't vote the right way, and we certainly aren't imprisoned for holding particular political ideologies (although some, perhaps, should be). It should be a joy to get to do what so many Americans are doing today.

It is the same for matters of Christianity. Far too many of us do things in our lives out of duty, to God and the Church, rather than out of joy. We grumble about getting up on Sunday morning, "having" to tithe or support people, and being involved in a deeper way than just showing up to fill a seat. We don't want to help on a search committee, or as a deacon, yet we get upset and threaten to "leave the church" if the pastor says one thing that upsets us and our apathetic walk. We are a silly, immature bunch of people. Our joy in our Saviour should overflow out of everything we do and be seen by all who we encounter. We should not carry forth and walk out our faith grudgingly, as if we are going to the courthouse, but rather with overflowing happiness in serving the God who chose us to save; it wasn't the other way around.

Happy voting, and may we continue to trust the LORD more than any one man.

Christians, the New Enemy

This past weekend, I got to participate in Providence Church's men's retreat at Camp Amon Carter in northwest Ft. Worth. Aside from tons of junk food, Rock Band on the XBox 360, flag football, chilly weather, goofing off over cups of Starbucks, and typical "camp food" (think 4th grade school lunch, here), our speaker was an incredibly gifted guy named Steve Farrar (www.stevefarrar.com). Mr. Farrar's primary focus when he speaks and writes is leading Christian men to be better husbands, fathers, and overall leaders for Christ. It was so great to hear all that this man challenged us with!

In the second session that Mr. Farrar was speaking, he mentioned something fairly quickly that I had to chew on for some time (in fact, I'm still chewing on it as I write this). It wasn't something that really surprised me or anything like that, since I totally agree with his point on it, but it still just got the gears going. I didn't get a chance to really bring it up with the rest of my Home Group guys, but I plan on it over the next week or so. Anyway, what he said was this:

"In modern America, Christians are the new enemy."

I immediately began to think of the subtle ways in which Christians in our "Christian nation" are beginning to be persecuted, but how many more remain mired in apathy and don't really care. True, passionate and zealous Christianity stands opposed to the way that our nation is going, and that scares a lot of people. Far too many people who claim to follow Christ don't want to rock the boat and remain silent in their lives. We don't want to be seen as going against the flow of everything else that is going on around us, so we masquerade.

Does the statement that we Believers are the new enemy strike fear into our hearts, or does it embolden us and cause us to take strength to press forward? Although it's very subtle, Christianity, I would say, is much more of a threat to people than remote terrorism that we fight in faraway lands. I'm not meaning to sound completely callous towards the tragedies that our nation has faced and the fear that there are terror cells growing from within, even now; but, I would say that most people are more afraid of people with a burning desire to glorify Christ in every area of their lives. The main reason is that this will bring light to the darkness that too many of them are living in, and they're not happy with that.

Are we content with living in darkness, or do we truly desire to be that city on a hill?

Politeness (Ephesians 5v.25)

When we look at the fruits of the Spirit as listed in Galatians, being polite does not get thrown in the mix. In fact, as far as I know, the idea of politeness isn't exactly hit upon too much in the Bible. We see verses such as "Do unto others..." and then the fruits of the Spirit (which would seemingly point to being polite) as well as verses on being meek and being servants to others. All of these would, in my opinion, point to us being polite in our daily lives. It's a whole lot easier to glorify Christ in helping others rather than being a jerk!

One verse that should be focused on, though, when it comes to talking about being polite is Ephesians 5v.25. This verse doesn't just apply to us being polite, but rather to how we, as men, should love our wives and give ourselves up for them. One of the most powerful sermons I ever heard over this text was given by Dr. Ligon Duncan (Head Pastor at First Presbyterian, Jackson, MS) at T4G (Together for the Gospel) this past summer. As men, we are called to love our wives just as Christ loved the Church. When we think about this and the ramifications it has for us... Christ giving Himself completely, wholly, even to the point of death, we can understand a little bit more about giving to our wives (and even others), not just being polite. In light of that scripture, "polite" is a light word when it comes to serving our wives. But, I think that this can bear others in mind, as well. So, if we love others with this kind of power, we are going to just give more and more of ourselves.

When we know how we're supposed to serve, lead, and carry on as Believers and men, we understand that being polite is not just what we're "supposed" to do as Christians. It is an example of how we're to glorify Christ in our day-to-day living.

Saviour of the Nation?

On the way into the office this morning, I was behind one of the erratic Metroplex drivers that I've come to "affectionately" expect. As we fought through early-morning school traffic along the corridor known as Eldorado, I noticed a bumper sticker that said "Obama 08, Save Our Nation!" After having the gasoline-on-an-open-flame effect that my coffee (mud) does from the French Press, I was just looking for something to really think about. Why is it that we put so much faith in a man to be the saviour of our nation? We've always discussed it in the mainstream, but it seems that even more and more churches think that their job is not so much to preach the Gospel as to point out political wrongs in our nation and advise people on what choice Jesus would make if He were a registered American voter.

"But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me and beside me there is no Saviour." (Hosea 13v.4)

I'm really tired of the bickering back and forth between our parties about who's going to be the saviour of American society. If there is no saviour apart from Christ, then why do we enjoy labeling men as such? We need to stop putting so much stock in our flawed political system and be on our knees, praying that the real Saviour would save our nation. We don't need saving from poor economies, tax spending and high fuel prices. We need saving from our sinful nature that leads to greed, unwise stewardship, and the lust for comfort. We need saving from the myriad idols we have in American culture.

Benevolence / Mercy

Zecheriah 7v.8-10: "And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, whow kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart."

Benevolence and mercy are all over the Bible. Old Testament, New Testament... we see acts of benevolence and mercy throughout. Of course, the ultimate showing of mercy is God giving us Jesus Christ as Saviour and ultimate sacrifice for our sin. But then, we also see showing kindness towards widows, orphans, the needy, aliens, servants, leaders, and everyone we come in contact with.

Benevolence and mercy are two things that should come naturally to the regenerated heart. These are not natural, however, to the heart of the unrepentant. Why is this? Because, when still mired in sin, we only look out for the one we think is tops in our own minds, "Numero Uno..." ourselves.

We must be vigilante about remembering what Christ did for us in His limitless mercy, and desire to show that exact same kind of mercy in our daily lives.

Courage

Deuteronomy 31v.6 - "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."

As a man, I love movies that embody the characteristic of courage. Whether it's "Saving Private Ryan" or "Band of Brothers," "Braveheart" or "Ferris Buehler's Day Off" (think about the courage that Ferris had in skipping out yet another day of school and facing great punishment with his trip in from the 'burbs to Chi-Town. "24," "The Shield," any football game or rugby match, bull-fighting, the books of Ernest Hemingway, and cigars are other things that embody courageousness. I say cigars because they remind me of Churchill (my favorite historical figure of all time, aside from Christ) and General Patton.

Christian men are called out to live lives of courage and valor. Plain and simple, we are not called to be timid (although we are all guilty of it) nor to be fearful (and there are plenty of things to fear, deep down, in the world that we live in). We are called to rise above this.

Deuteronomy has (seriously) always been one of my favorite books of the Bible. Maybe it's because when I was in third grade, at FBC Lubbock, learning the books of the Bible, I spelled it quicker than Ross Polk and Stuart Blalock. Maybe it's because, deep-down, I'm very much a legalist... in pretty much all areas of my life. Maybe it's just because it's one of the main books of the Law, and I have had spouts of desiring to be a lawyer at all different points in my life (in fact, I changed majors in college thinking that I was going to go into International  Law). This verse, though, is one big reason I enjoy the book of Deuteronomy, though.

We are called to be strong and to trust in the Lord, not to fear "them." Who is Them? "Them," in my opinion, isn't just a physical foe (like the Springboks), but envelopes all the things that the World tends to throw at us in its attempts to break our wills and hearts. In everything that we face in this life, we MUST remember that God goes before us. Truly loving and trusting in Him, we understand that all of the hardships and doubts we fear and must face are ultimately for His glory. We take great hope in this fact. But, in knowing that God is the one who goes before us, we have the freedom to trust in His strength, in His power, and ultimately, in His goodness towards His children. Knowing this, we can face any circumstance that life throws at us with courage.

Justice

Jeremiah 22v.3 says, "Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place."

The idea of "justice" has become more of a post-Modern, "Do what you think is right." statement in the world that we live in. Whatever the individual thinks about justice MUST be justified, right? I mean, that's there personal stance. And yet, how much injustice runs rampant throughout the world based on these flimsy ideas of everyone coming up with their own idea of what real justice is?

Justice is something that far too many of us won't take a stand for, for fear that the injust could come back around on us. We are weak and pathetic little people. The whole "...deliver from the hand of the oppressor..." part of Scripture gets left out of our lives because so many of our lives are based entirely on fear.

And yet, we are the most blessed BECAUSE OF injustice. It was not "just" (humanly speaking) that Christ should die for us. It was not "just" that He took the place of His elect. What is just is that the wages of sin is death, eternal damnation and separation from God, and that we're all headed to Hell without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So, yes, fight against those who rob, murder, kill and steal. Take a stand against SOMETHING! And give thanks that we are not justified of our own merit, but rather by Jesus Christ. 

Bushido Intro

I'm pretty sure that I speak for the vast majority of men when I say that we love, and I do mean LOVE, having heroes (especially historical ones) who we can look back on and see a true commitment to what it means to be a man. Whether that be William Wallace, Winston Churchill, King David, or Andrew Jackson, we all have certain men who we can look back at and think, "Wow... I wish I could be more like that guy." Sadly, though, we live in an age where people have stopped really "thinking" about most things, period, so the idea of thinking about heroes in any sense than, "What a cool guy!" is a bit foreign to many men. This could be just one reason why men don't act like men should. But, I must say that there is great value in looking back, studying, and appreciating those who have gone before us, and seeing what qualities they lived out that we would do well to add or refine more in our lives.

There are several blogs and websites that I frequent almost on a daily basis. The official website for the New Zealand All-Blacks, Pyromaniacs, Facebook, Providence Church, City on a Hill Albequerque and a few others are on that list. One site / blog that I've just added to the daily list is called "The Art of Manliness." In a recent blog article, they talk about the Bushido Code. If you don't know, this is basically the code that ruled a Samurai's life in feudal Japan (not many men still really live by this code). There are eight main points, and I want to look at each one individually and how still very relevant these things are.

The Bushido Code is as follows:

1. Rectitude / Justice

2. Courage

3. Benevolence / Mercy

4. Politeness

5. Honesty / Sincerity

6. Honor

7. Loyalty

8. Character / Self-Control

Although these are things that men, globally, should probably live out, I want to look at how we, as Christian men, live them out from a Biblical perpective. Stay tuned for more...

-K-

Forgetfulness (Deuteronomy 4:9)

So I have a confession.... not that this will surprise many of you. I struggle with forgetting things. It seems that I've always got at least 217 projects thundering around in my head, and, if I don't write them down, I'll forget the majority of them. Some people call it adult ADD; I call it being spontaneously forgetful. Regardless, I was reading through Deuteronomy 4 this morning and saw the spiritual ramifications of forgetfulness, and how they even apply to this blog!

Beginning way back when, the Jewish nation developed a very strong culture of recounting the awesome works of the Lord, throughout their history. I mean, when you hear about the Exodus, the plagues, conquering other peoples, and the other things that happened in Israel's past, you can't help but think, "Wow!" The continual re-telling of these events only gave their children a stronger sense of the things that God had done. This was in order that the people may never forget.

We've sort of lost sight of the need to recount the awesome things that the Lord has done, though, in our day and age. It seems that many parents want to let their eleven and twelve year olds make "the choice" to be involved or no with things of the church. It's hard for me not to want to beat these people over the heads for thinking that their pre-pubescent CHILD is capable of making the best choice for their lives. It's like telling a small child to choose the occupation at a very early age (not too many of us actually grow up to be astronauts or Indian chiefs). 

Even in my own life, how often do I forget the things of God and think, "Why in the world did you guide me to this particular situation? How are you going to provide?!!" Then I'm slapped in the face and know that I have a lack of faith and strength and that nothing gets done on my own power so how dare I be so conceited and small? Same goes for even this blog... perfect way of communicating, yet, I forget. It is horrible to forget.

Before I digress into uncharted waters, we love you all, are thankful for those of you we got to talk to over our brief time in Lubbock, and look forward to hearing from all of you soon! Enjoy the September edition of "Holding the Line!"

-K-

Oh MAN!

There are times when I look to do the most embarrassing thing possible. "Why?!!" you might ask. I like to see people's reactions when embarrassing things, goofy things, things that, if they experienced them, might make them turn beet red and hide, happen to someone else (me). There are so many different reactions... from being ignored as a nuisance to someone doubling over, agonizing over the ab workout they're suddenly getting from laughing so hard. It's fun, for the most part, to make others smile.

There are also times, though, when I can be the one who wants to hide. Times of self-conscious indignation. Times of embarrassment for who I am. Times that I wish I was in New Zealand, either in a mountain stream on the South Island or on a rugby paddock busting knuckles and heads. There are times that I give much more thought to who I am around and what they might think of me than on simply doing what I need to be doing.

You might think that these "episodes" would come at places like the gym, while shopping for clothes, or even in an office setting or while teaching somewhere. The truth is, they don't. The truth is... they spring up out of nowhere. Different situations lead to me wanting to make the best possible impression. They're not always the same. In fact, they're rarely ever in the same situation. But, about once a week, some spontaneous episode of concern for what others might think weighs on me.

"Stop regarding man, in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (Isaiah 2.v.22)

There it is... the real way to look at what people think of me.

Light & Dark

There is a point along the tour, at Carlsbad Caverns, NM, where they turn off all of the lights on the path and you are left with between 15 and 25 other people, standing in pitch black darkness. The kind of dark that reminds you of inkwells. The kind of dark that reminds you of Bilbo Baggins' first encounter with Gollum in "The Hobbit." The kind of darkness where you could smack yourself in the face and never even see your hand. That's darkness.

There is also a point, upon waking up, when your eyes are still adjusting to being open and any sort of light makes you squint as though you're trying to read the Bible written on a grain of sand. One time, one of my roommates opened the blinds on me while I was attempting to wake up (we were about to embark on a roadtrip to Houston / Austin) and temporarily blinded me. I wasn't able to hold my eyes open for more than 30 seconds for what seemed like forever, but was more like 10 minutes. Even afterwards, I squinted until we were outside of Winters, TX. That's light.

Isn't it great to know that God is over both of those polar opposites?

In Psalm 74v.16, the Psalmist declares, "Yours is the day, yours also the night..."

This is such an encouragement to remember. In our seasons of great brightness, as well as darkness of the soul, God is sovereign and in control. When we feel that we, even as God's children, are at the lowest point we could come to, are fed up with waiting on God, and can't see how He could possibly work our situation for His glory (or if He's even there), we must remember that God is over the darkness. There is nothing that has escaped His Divine plan. When we feel that life as we know it could not get any better, our marriages and kids are doing incredible, the money is really coming in, and we are in the best seasons of spiritual growth, we must remember that God is over the light. It's not for our comfort, but for His glory.

This particular verse just reminds me of this truth: God is in control. He works all things for His glory in accordance with His will. The seasons that we go through are similar to those that everything else goes through... budding growth, periods of abundance, hardships, bleakness and then budding growth. In the midst of all these seasons, though, is the constant glow of the hope that we cling fast to... the fact that our Saviour is risen and will never leave us nor forsake us.

Stupid Animal

There are many different things you can mean when you call someone an animal. For instance, when you call someone "an animal" in regards to football, you're talking about one mean guy out there on the gridiron. When you call someone a "pig" talking about their eating habits, then everyone knows that that person eats a lot and in a sloppy manner. Then you've got things like "curious as a cat," "sick as a dog," "swam like a fish." Great similes. 

The thing about animals, though, is that if they are domesticated, they know their master. Ultimately, I think, all animals know their true Master, as well. Yet, unlike our bi- and quad pedal friends, we often do not.

"The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand." (Isaiah 1v.3)

Sometimes I feel like the stupidest of all animals, in that I so often lose sight of what the Lord has done, is doing, and has promised to do. I think that, somehow, the things that keep me nourished and going come from myself, rather than from the Provider. Unlike most animals, I kick and buck, at times, because at those times I really don't know the Lord very well.

There are plenty of times when a talking donkey has much more intelligent things to say that me, probably because he's better at following and trusting.

Toil and Trouble

So, the past week has not been the greatest. Although I'm excited to be living in the Dallas area, there have been several times of sadness and home-sickness. I've been pretty stressed about support-raising and simply going on staff with NEXT. I'm trying to get into a rhythm when it comes to being at the office, hopefully finding a place to work out, and simply the ins and outs of the Metroplex. We know that we're supposed to be here, but still...

"You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again, you will increase my greatness and comfort me again." (Psalm 71v.20-21)

Now is one of those times that I feel that I'm walking through troubles and calamities, even though my troubles haven't been all that huge, compared to what many people go through. But, I can hold fast, like David, to the promises of a God who truly does raise us up from the depths of the earth.

It is at different points in times like these when I remember that sanctification is a process, one that sometimes involves quite a deal of pain and frustration. But, in the end, it is this process that refines us, through fire, to look more and more like the awesome one we serve, Jesus Christ. How I want to look like Jesus to this world!

May His glory be seen amidst all of the struggles that we, His children, are blessed to go through.

Pax per Pugna. Soli Deo Gloria.

Settling In

So it's been far too long since my last post.

I know I'm a slacker.

I will be posting more consistently again as we get completely settled in to living here, in Little Elm.

Until then...

Little Elm

After a day of looking and a day of going back over to see it again and fill out paperwork, there's a very good chance that the Wiley family will be living in far-northern climes of the Metroplex in Little Elm. 10 minutes from the NEXT offices, 10 minutes from 24-Hour Fitness, 5 minutes from church... we both think we've got a winner with the house off of Ponderosa.

Look for pictures soon!

Thoughts on a Quarter Century

Yesterday was quite a birthday. My incredible wife planned out a surprise party involving my youth kiddos, we got to have staff lunch (although, in retrospect, I should have chose another eatery that I had not been to... just wanted something new, now that I've tried that one place, I'll never go back), and it was a sweet Wednesday night to end my tenure at Turning Point on (still have a couple Sundays, though!).

I praise God for allowing me 25 years to live for Him (although not all of them were devoted to Him), and I pray for many more to come. I praise God for the things that He has already taught me in my relatively young life. I praise God for my family, my friends, and yes, even my "enemies" who make me push harder and harder to study Truth and teach it to students. I praise God for continually being in control of my life, a sovereign God who is mighty to save. I praise Him for being the One before time, who has known me from the womb, and who continues to direct my path.

25... a quarter of a century... seems like quite a while... yet, I know that these next 25 years (God willing) will come and go just as fast as the first 25. "Man is but a vapor..." I want to be the heavy sort.

Churchill and the Lion

Sipping Peete's coffee this morning from Market Street, I'm finally back in the office and able to put together coherent thoughts to send out into the blogosphere, in hopes that maybe someone will find a nugget of wisdom in here and put it into use in their life. That's right, after a short hiatus to celebrate little Laura Kate and to attempt to get in somewhat of a rhythm with being a daddy and everything else, I'm finally hitting a groove.

In my personal and ministerial reading times, I've been devouring quite a few books over the last few weeks. I continue to plow through Keller's "The Reason for God," as well as Thomas' "The Beautiful Fight," downed Carson's "Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson" in 13 hours, am smack in the middle of Mark Batterson's "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day," and am picking up my reading on "The Shack" (although I'm a little wary of some of the stuff it's saying) and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes anthology. It is Batterson's book, though, that I really want to talk about.

Batterson obviously has a good imagination, because he takes a relatively unknown Bible story (that of one of David's mighty men, Benaiah) and turns it into a book. Granted, the premise is that there are plenty of lions that we face in our everyday lives, the question is whether or not we chase them into pits and struggle with them. There are plenty of other epic struggles in the Bible (Jacob wrestling the Lord, David and Goliath, etc.) but Batterson does a good job of bringing them all together to focus on one thing: when it comes to life, are we bold enough, in our faith, to step out there and attack that which we are most fearful of... usually trusting the Lord as Guide and Provider. This book, as well as a recent article in "Men's Health," really hit home with me.

The story of Benaiah was pretty much unknown to me before I heard about this book. Basically, Benaiah was an extremely valiant guy who was a soldier and is known for several endeavors: 1. fighting two Moabite warriors at the same time; 2. killing an Egyptian warrior who was close to 7-feet tall with the Egyptian's own spear (snatching it out of his hands!); and 3. chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killing the animal with his bare hands. All of these incredibly brave feats would eventually culminate in Benaiah being chief of David's personal guards and then head of the entire army of Israel under David. Batterson points out that, in every situation, the warrior ran to that which most normal folk would run away from. There are many lions in our lives, are we running away, or are we matching it roar for roar and bite for bite?

This was also an issue brought up in a recent "Men's Health" article where a particular reporter was doing a story over a group of Navy SEALs in Iraq and how they are mentally prepared to the point where they actually run towards a fight. The author actually recounts an instance where the base they were at began to be shelled by militants and everyone was headed for cover. As he ran, he noticed that the SEALs were calmly walking towards the bunker with purpose. Once inside, a shell exploded over 100 yards away, but the reporter recalls feeling like it was right on top of them. As he looked around in the flashlight-illuminated darkness, he noticed that all of the soldiers had a crimson hue to their faces, as though the fear was actually bringing them even more to life. When he asked them to shine the light on his face, he asked them what color his face was. Without even knowing the real meaning behind the question, the SEAL to his side said, "Really white, why?" The reporter concluded that, in all of their mental preparations, these soldiers had literally prepared for everything that could happen, not just the best scenarios.

One of my all-time greatest heroes is Winston Churchill. This was a man who, although not terribly deep, had faith in God, was a great speaker and motivator, had great intelligence, and who I sometimes wished, growing up, was my third grandfather. I've been listening to his speeches for the past couple of days, and I think Churchill was a guy who definitely understood what it was to stare the lion in the eyes and never back down. "Never never never give up!" he charged the British people as Hitler hurled bomb after bomb at their island, trying to break the heart of Europe's hopes. He defied all of Nazi Germany's pride, as well as many of his own people's fears. He stood up and simply would not sit back down. He knew the lion, and he wanted nothing else than to strangle the beast with his bare hands, until every last breath of the juggernaut had been squeezed out and the blood of the monster had become cold in its very veins. How I pray that I might be someone who stands up like Churchill. But, also, in a day and age and nation where everyone wants to be so politically correct and not hurt anyone else's feelings, I pray for leaders who actually do this same thing... in politics, in business, and in the Church.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..."

Acts 1v.8a

We, God's children, have power through the Holy Spirit to chase those lions, to stand up to the despots, and to do battle with the enemy in our lives. We have the strength to stand up against the flow and speak out for what we truly believe in. If called to it, we even have the might to speak out against entire nations; we just have to trust in the Lord for the words. We, as Believers, must stop being so apathetic and chase down the lions in our lives, trusting in God to give us the strength to push through and bring them down, that we might glorify Him through our conquering.

Out of the Loop

It is weird to get rocked out of your element.

Let's just say that last week really rocked me out of mine. 

I can't think.

Enjoy.

www.synerjack.com

Father of Lights

I never really think about how quickly your world can be changed, whether through incredible gifts or hardships. In a whirlwind of emotion, activity, prayer, and thought, Laura Kate Wiley made her way into the world yesterday (Monday, May 12th 2008) at approximately 1:46pm, weighing in at 7lbs.12oz. and creating quite a stir among nurses, doctors, and other newborns in Covenant Lakeside's Labor & Delivery Section, not to mention her family and families loved ones. And now, as I sit here and look out across Maxey Lake (is that its name?), baseball parks, and a pre-summer thunderstorm-esque cloudbank rolling across Lubbock's skyline, and then back into this hospital room that has been our family's sanctuary for the past day and a half at the two most important and beautiful women in my life, I praise my God. I praise Him and my heart cries out from within a resounding "THANK YOU, LORD!!!" for these precious gifts of love in family and friendship.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

James 1:17

A lot of my posts over the last few weeks have focused on this struggle that Carrie and I have endured on over the course of these last few months, in preparing to leave our jobs and follow the Lord to the mission field. This means stepping away from family and friends here in Lubbock, away from the church that has been a home and an employer for the last three years, and away from really all that we have known. Yet, tonight, I can see that this is one of those "perfect" gifts that the Father of lights has given to my family.

I have such a great gift in my beautiful bride, and another great gift was given to me earlier this week. The Father of lights has been the one who has opened my eyes to how incredible these two women are to me, and how my life will be focused on serving them. He is unstoppable in completing His will, and this is such a blessed part of that. 

My prayer, for Believers everywhere, is that the Father of lights might give us the eyes to see when He is raining down His blessings on us, and we brightly and joyfully give Him praise for what He has done!

Culture Clash

Most people tend to think that I'm exaggerating when I say that I read anywhere from four to six books at a time. I can remember my friend from Texas A&M, Alexa, wondering how in the world that was even possible. There is just so much great literature out there that I greedily eat up as much as I possibly can. Usually, my consumption focuses on tomes of theology and things like that, but I'll occasionally have an Ian Fleming or Robert Ludlum novel thrown in for some adventure, as well as classics and a few magazines, to boot (not to mention the blogs that I frequent out in the ether). I'm smack dab in the middle of one particular C.S. Lewis classic, right now, as well as Timothy Keller's "The Reason for God," but, spontaneously (I guess because I'm just so "crazy"), I picked up Gary Thomas' latest, "The Beautiful Fight," and began reading.

In Ch.2 of "The Beautiful Fight," Thomas' main focus is on the need to actually experience something when it comes to the Christian life. His sole focus isn't on that one thing, though... he does a pretty good job of describing how, in order to really grow as a Believer, one must have depth in both the experiential side of faith, as well as the intellectual. One particular quote hit me, though, as it was pretty much a punch in the face to the more liberal-leaning "Emergent" trend.

"We cannot compensate for being strangers to God by becoming friends with the culture."

As we see a growing trend of churches and even people who would claim to be Believers or Christ-followers (because the word "Christian" is just such a faux-pas when it comes to reaching people) leaning towards the mentality that "in order to engage culture, we must look like them!" and proceed to delve into the murky depths of a society bound for the bottom, we must remember that the acceptance of that which we know is wrong cannot happen. More and more of us are being inundated with the idea that social activism, politics and all other sorts of outlets are the places for Christians to really "live out their faith." But, more often than not, these same people have no real intimacy with the One they claim to serve.

In order for us to truly make an impact, we must have an intimate relationship with the One who redeemed and saved us in His life, death and resurrection. In that intimacy, the overflow is what carries us to do great things in different sectors of society. Our faith isn't in our political campaigning for the most PC candidate, getting all sorts of body piercings and taking up smoking to get along with a particular culture. Our faith is lived out through the overflow of joy that comes with knowing Christ as Saviour, and letting that joy take hold of every single thing we do.

Talks on Strength, from a Relative Weakling

I really enjoy lifting weights. Scratch that, I am near fanatical about lifting weights. Since Jr. High, I have needed to get in the weight room and throw some iron around. Many summer days were spent working on my bench press, squat, and power cleans in hopes of getting bigger, faster and stronger for the next football season. In rugby, at Texas Tech, several of us in the front eight would get together three to four times a week in order to lift and have some time together off the pitch and away from the bar. The payoff was the strongest "pack" that Texas Tech has ever had (we in the front three, the two props and hooker, all squatted over 600 lbs. at one point!). Since leaving rugby and university, I still have almost an animal instinct to be in the weight room to release a lot of the stresses of everyday life. I found a gym a mile from the Dominion that was 24/7 access, but they went belly-up, leaving me without a place to work out for the last 3 and a half months. Not the most joyous of times in my life! I have since found a new place to sling weights and have been there on a routine at 5am four days a week.

I have been lifting for some 13 years and have enjoyed every second of it (minus tearing my left biceps muscle, and other muscle strains, spasms, etc.). I don't enjoy getting bigger (ask my wife, I'm pretty self-conscious), getting "swoll" or staring at myself endlessly in the mirror like the many narcissists who frequent the gym. What I do enjoy is being able to be strong for other people. When people need a hand with something, they know that they can call me. The same goes for my intellect (this is not some narcissistic babble about myself, trust me!). I like to study and be wise about things in order to help other people. Richard Baxter nailed it in his book, "The Reformed Pastor," when he said, '...strength is not given to the strong for their own sake, but in order to be shared with the weak.' For these reason, I continually find myself pushing around a quarter of a ton (on certain lifts) and continuing to push myself to the limits of my physical and mental strengths.

A thought struck me, though, last Friday on my way up to my haven of testosterone. With all of my physical and intellectual strengths, why do I so often leave out the spiritual? Have I fallen into thinking that I can compensate for my lack of spiritual strength with bulging pectorals that can push over 400 pounds off of my chest, or thinking that a thorough critique of Lewis' "Mere Christianity" compensates for a lack of fervor in prayer? How silly and worldly could these thought get? 

What God spoke to my heart made me catch my breath a little bit as I was driving; a sort of sharp, cutting and almost searing question that cut me to the heart. "Are your physical and intellectual strengths a reflection of your spiritual strength, or a compensation for your lack of? You say you're bringing me glory by these things, what about your heart?" 

That's when I began meditating on Joshua 1v.9 in God's command for Joshua (as well as all of us whom He has called to Himself) to be strong. God continually calls us to huge and incredible things, things which are often terrifying when we look at them with our small, worldly eyes. Yet, when we understand that it is His strength that courses through our hearts and souls, we are emboldened to do incredible things.

Carrie and I are walking through a truly strength-testing time, in our lives, right now. Preparing for a daughter would be stressful enough on its own, but the thought that we only have a short time to raise our full amount of support for going on staff with our missions organization, will be moving in a few short months, and will be leaving behind our families, friends, and church home is really daunting. And yet, we have absolute assurance in that God has led us to this place in life. He is the One who we have followed, the pillar of fire and smoke in our lives who we trust with all that we have. Knowing that, I know what else He has called me to, as a husband, father, pastor, missionary and Christian: have strength. Be encouraged! Take heart and follow! 

My prayer, as I walk through this stressful and rough time with my wife and daughter, is that I learn what it is to have fortitude in the Saviour. How I pray that the strengths that I carry externally in physical and mental attributes will simply be outpourings of the amount of strength that comes from my faith and walk with Jesus.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Praise our Lord for how He walks with us, step-by-step, and even carries us sometimes; and how He is always there to give us courage through speaking to our hearts!

Be encouraged! Take heart and follow the Lord! "Further up, further in!" Sometimes the strongest words come from the meekest of characters.

A Little Bit of Wrastlin'

Over the course of the last few weeks, I've come to see the story of Jacob wrestling with God in a different light. Whereas, before, I was much more focused on the sheer intensity of hand-to-hand combat between the future Israel and his Lord, lately what sticks out is the tenacity that Jacob showed, even after having his hip wrenched out of socket, to just hang on.

"I will not let you go unless you bless me..."

Genesis 32v.26b

There are plenty of times, in life, where we are wrestling with God. Whether it comes to us being focused on our selfish desires rather than glorifying God, or simply thinking that we know, more than our Lord, what is best for us, we tend to wrestle with Him. Of course, what happens when the Lord is not testing our strength but, rather, is testing our endurance?

I think that there are definite times in life when we are wrestling more out of just holding on to something than out of anger or frustration. There are times when everything seems to be falling by the wayside and all we can do is hang on to what we know to be absolutely firm and solid... Christ, our anchor in this rough and tumultuous world. Like Paul clinging to a piece of driftwood and floating in the Mediterranean, we hold tight to that which keeps us afloat. There are so many different kinds of waves that batter us day-in and day-out, yet we have assurance in knowing that Jesus, as Lord, holds us steady.

Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!

We must be the type of people who hold fast to what we know to be true, and that is this - Jesus Christ is our fortress and rock. We have no one aside from Him.

Why? Oh, Why?

"For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me?" (Psalm 43v.2)

These words strike haunting chords in all of us, as humans. The very idea that a loving God could cause this kind of heartache baffles the majority of us and makes many a person stumble. In a world where so many, especially in the evangelical world, have associated following Christ with always being happy, as though Jesus were some kind of eternal high for our souls, this is a hard concept.

As Believers, we all walk the constant line of thinking for ourselves and our own selfish wants versus seeking God's face and what is bringing Him glory. Often times, our comfort and God's glory are quite opposite, colliding in one of those moments illustrated by crashing helmets on Monday Night Football. What we think is best runs right into that which God knows is best, leaving us to mutter, "I don't think God loves me. If He did, He would have given me..."

Here, in Psalm 43, is a sobering reminder that even those who are our spiritual heroes and sought God's face most had their trying times. David takes refuge in God, yet admits that he feels as though God has rejected him. There is yet another cross-roads in David's life: will he continue to persevere through the rough season, or will he fall into worshiping himself through trusting himself more than God.

In the season I'm in, right now, it can often seem like I'm saying "Why have you forgotten me, Lord?" And yet, through verses like this, I'm reminded that God will come through. This is a momentary season in the years of my life; years that I have committed, for a long time, now, to live in love to my Lord and my God. When things aren't working out the way we think they're supposed to, do we still worship? Who's plans are eternal - mine, or God's? The choice here is obvious... I am only living now in the temporary; I follow the Ancient of Days.

Delighting in the Lord

When it comes to the idea of "delight," there are many different definitions for it, depending on the person. For many, delight is found in a summer's walk at dusk, when the stars are just starting to twinkle in the sky. Others may have delight in playing host to a group of people (my mother-in-law takes particular delight when all of her kids are home). Still others may take delight in the smell of a freshly-mown rugby pitch that is just ripe for the sweat and blood that will be spilled on it. There is a plethora of different thoughts that can come to mind when a person thinks of delight.

In my personal study time, I've been moving steadily through the Psalms, for the fourth or fifth time. 

One verse that always sticks out to me is found in chapter 37. In 37v.4, we read the Psalmist verse, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This is one of those verses, though, that tends to be misunderstood by many. In a society where so many people love the whole "Health / Wealth / Prosperity" movement, we love verses that tell us we're going to get things. "Say this prayer and God will bless you ten-fold." "With a little more faith, God is going to get you that job where you can go buy your six-figure car!" "He must have not had enough faith, because God didn't rescue him from that disease..." and so on and so on. We tend to think along the lines that whatever we want, that's what God is going to provide. In our little human minds, we dumb delight down to being all about us.

"Delight yourself in the Lord..."

When we take delight in the Lord, we are glorifying Him most. As theologian John Piper says, "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him." This means that regardless what happens in the world around us, our chief joy and happiness comes from the Lord; not our bank account, not our 401(k), not the ever-increasing gas prices, our hobbies, or anything else (lest we make these idols). When we delight in the Lord, there is nothing that pleases us more than our walk with Him. 

"...and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This is where things get really misconstrued. If our joy and hope are found in the Lord, why do we think that we're entitled to the materialistic things that we often want. I don't know how many times I've had conversations with students who were disappointed with God because He didn't give them something they wanted and desired. "I really wanted a boyfriend..." "I wanted a new computer..." "I wanted my parents to stay together..." These are all great wants of a teenager, college kid, or even adult. But, the question here is not whether or not God gave the person those things. The question is whether or not the person was more focused on those gifts rather than on the Giver.

When we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, we are saying, "Jesus, there is nothing that I desire more than You. You are the desire of my heart and nothing in this world compares to you. I would give up everything for You." Sometimes, this may be asked of you. Delighting in the Lord is so much more than just feeling happy about God and singing few praise songs to him once or maybe twice a week. Delighting ourselves in Him means that everything we do has Him in mind. 

As Spring has "sprung" and summer time (at least here in Texas) is quickly approaching, there are many things that we take delight in, this time of year. There are many things that we can focus on and lose sight of the One who gave them to us. My prayer is that we truly take to heart what it is to delight ourselves in the Lord, and that we seek to live that out in everything we do in this life... as well as the next.

OBEY

There are certain times in life when God commands us to do something and we, without fail, give Him the "Say what?!!" response. I know that there have been several of these instances in my life, from Him telling me that football wasn't what I was supposed to do at university (He led me to something infinitely better - rugby) to the fact that I wasn't supposed to pursue a degree in biochemistry any longer to His constant reassurance that everything was for His glory as my mom succumbed to terminal cancer. In all of these things, after the initial questioning of God's goodness to His children and attempts to do things on my own,  I came to see how good it is to obey what the Lord commands.

As I sat in the lush garden at the pool area in Monte Compania outside of San Jose, Costa Rica, the scripture that I had gone over that morning with several of our high school students on the mission trip with NEXT kept echoing in my mind. I Samuel 15 is a hard chapter for many people, especially those who might call themselves "Emergent," "seeker-sensitive," or even good-ol' "post-Modern," in the sense of what God commands from His people, namely the king who He has set over the nation of Israel (Saul). Our infantile minds simply cannot comprehend why God would do something like wiping out a people known as the Amalekites. Nonetheless, that is exactly what He demands from Saul and the people of Israel.

Saul goes down to wipe out the people, and for the most part does, choosing to bring back their king, Agag, as well as the best of the spoils of war, namely the prized livestock of the Amalekites. But, Saul didn't carry out exactly what the Lord had commanded. "'Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have.'" All that they have? Saul brings back their king and their livestock as a sort of blessing for himself. He even goes so far as to set up a monument to himself at a place called Carmel!

The real moral of the story lies in what the prophet Samuel tells King Saul in 15v.22: "'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.'"

My wife and I have heard the Lord's calling on our lives for some time. Even before we were married, we knew that our ultimate calling was to become missionaries and see the world rocked even more with the Gospel. Our hearts beat for Asia, especially the southeastern portions of that vast continent. We are so incredibly excited about what God has in store for us in the next few years. 

But, at the same time, it is tempting to stay where we are most comfortable. Laura Kate's grandparents are all here in Lubbock. We love our church. We love ministering to the families and especially the kids who are under our care. We love our CORE Group and the friends that we've made there. We love the fact that at any time, we can drive a couple miles and walk around the beautiful grounds of our alma mater (Texas Tech). There is a lot to enjoy here in Lubbock. And yet, we know that to stay here, where we are most comfortable, would be a tragedy in that we would be setting our own plans and ourselves about the One we worship and live for.

Although it's hard (and it's an incredibly hard season, right now), we know what the Lord has commanded. Who are we to disobey the One who has given us so much in life? Obey what the Lord demands, follow where he leads, reach those who He uses you to reach.

Booyah... Achieved! (in the words of "Minus the Bear")

After quite a good bit of travel, I am finally home from my adventures in missions with NEXT Worldwide, planting two churches and five "cell groups" (future home-churches) in the Costa Rican towns of Birri and Heredia. It was an incredible trip!!!

The streets of both Birri and Heredia were ripe for the Gospel, as we saw 126 new Believers come to Christ in the four days we were amongst the people. Some of the evangelism that took place was none less than incredible, as there were numerous people who seemed to just have been waiting for someone to tell them about the Gospel. 

This brought to mind the passage of Romans 10v.14-15.

"How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'"

One of the other Lead Missionaries with NEXT, Matt, was telling me the story of a couple of friends of his who trekked some two weeks into the jungles of Vietnam to find a specific tribe of people who had not heard the Gospel. They faced numerous obstacles to get there: malaria, suspicious Communists, and even blood-borne diseases from a certain people who enjoyed three day-old congealed goat blood (they did not partake of that "delicacy"), but they finally arrived. When they got there, they began to notice, over the course of a couple of days, that the people really didn't seem to have any sort of religious belief system. There was absolutely none... no Buddhist leanings or Shintoism, nor even Communist belief in deifying "the State." The missionaries were bewildered and began asking some of the villagers where the rain came from ("The clouds...") or who made the sun come up ("It just does..."). The people didn't even have a bit of animism or ancestral worship. When the missionaries finally asked them why they didn't believe in anything, they responded, "Because no one has come to tell us what to believe."

There is a lost world out there, and my brief sojourn in Costa Rica only amplified the dire need of a fallen people to know and embrace the Gospel! May God again and again call us to the far reaches of the world (even if that's right in our own backyards!) to bring others to worship Him and bring Him glory forever more!

The Abominable Snowstorm

This past week, I had a thought roll through my head that hasn't been there in at least a year: "Today would be the perfect day to go to the park and fly a kite! I wonder where I could get one?" Lubbock's weather, Thursday through Saturday of last week, was absolutely beautiful. The tinge of spring was most definitely in the air, there was certainly no blowing dust (quite an anomaly this time of the year), and the sun was making everything a gilded tint of utopian beauty. 70's and on into the near 80's yesterday afternoon. And then? This morning, we wake up to near-blizzard conditions! So it is on the South Plains, the place where God patted Earth with His mighty hand and completely flattened it for some 250 miles! At least, that's what I like to tell people...

But seriously, a snowstorm following some of the most beautiful days we've seen in quite some time? You've got to be kidding me! Not that I don't like the snow (I love it) or the blustery cold and blasts of arctic air, not to mention how cute my bride looks all decked out and bundled up (especially with that baby bump!), but weather, please, make up your mind!

This reminded me, though, of something that I read in my study time last week. In Ezekiel (34v.26), we are reminded this: "I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing."

God is sovereignly over the seasons, and knows the patterns of the weather we face, physically as well as within ourselves. I would venture to say that the majority of us feel that we are going to constantly be blessed with the things we want in life, and that it is God's obligation to give us these things, since we believe in Him and trust in Him. We like to think that we deserve to be blessed constantly with material things. What we often refuse to look at is that the blessings of God come in their season. Our material well-being and feeling good are not obligations of God's. We know that, just as He takes care of the birds of the air, that He's going to take care of His children; this is a promise. But it is not always going to be material. Where we are constantly blessed is in the spiritual realms, where there is no longer (nor every has been) any merit of our own accord. We are eternally blessed by the sweet, precious blood of Jesus Christ. 

As the snow continues to come down in blankets that simply don't stick from the sweeping winds, I'm reminded: God's blessings come in their season, not when I, a dumb and selfish man, want them to. They'll be here when they're supposed to be. Do I still worship, though, when the landscape is arid and dry; when it seems like there's nothing but drought in my life? We are promised that we will have showers of blessing, because our Father loves us; but will we still worship when those blessings aren't in season and the ground is choked?

A Dangerous Presumption

A lot of us tend to live in this lingering cloud of presumption. We have been taught from very early ages that Jesus loves us "just the way we are." But, isn't there a problem with this, whenever we're constantly bowing to the World and worshiping other gods? Does God love it whenever we put our jobs, money, sports, material possessions or (gasp) even kids and family in front of Him? I beg to say that, although these are all great blessings and show God as being our ultimate Provider, He does not like the fact that the majority of us tend to put these things in front of our worship of and walk with Him. Jesus doesn't love us just the way we are when we're committing idolatry. In fact, He's beating down the walls of the World that we are content to be penned in by. Like a bunch of cattle penned in a trodden, dry, corral (ripe with our own droppings), Christ breaks down the posts and leads us to the lush pastures of the Kingdom.

This really struck me as I was reading through Psalm 19, this morning. The very last verse says this, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." King David does not live under the presumption that his words and meditations are already in accordance with the things of God. No, far from it. David knows what truly lies in a man's heart... sin and death. Our natural inclination is not one of love towards the Almighty, because we are hell-bent on doing things our way. A lot of us fall into presuming that, because we're Believers, that every single time we open our mouths or think about God, that we're just super-spiritual people and that we are always a pleasing aroma. The fact is that a lot of us are still content with the putridness of the World.

King David prays that his words and meditation WILL BE acceptable in the sight of the Lord. Not that they are already. Not that he already knows that his prayers will be pleasing. Essentially, he is praying that the Lord might put the words into his mouth and guide his heart to the correct meditations; he doesn't presume that he's already arrived at that point.

In a world where far too many of us live under the dangerous presumption that we're just such great people and that we're always blessing the Name of the Lord in all that we do, it is wise for us to step back and continually be in prayer that what we do in the future tense will be pleasing to the Lord. "Pride goeth before the fall." This is true in the spiritual life especially. Let us repent of pridefully thinking that we have already arrived at a spiritual stopping point and pray, beg God to continue to mold us, refine us, and hammer us into vessels that continually praise Him in all areas of life!

What We Deserve (Entitlement)

I really do like the taste of Market Street breakfast burritos (bacon, egg and cheese, if you're thinking about getting me one) and a cold Red Bull in the morning. Maybe once a week, I treat myself to this delicious and far-from-healthy breakfast on my way up to the church offices. 

Last week, as I walked out of the store, burrito in hand, sipping a new drink (at least new to Lubbock) called Bebe Kaffe (a very good "fizzy" espresso drink from Italy), I was almost run down in the parking lot by a lady driving her super-sized Lexus SUV, zooming to get the closest parking spot to the door, which  just so happened to be the one that is reserved for "Expecting or New Mothers." As she jerked to a stop in the spot, only feet from making me a human speed bump, yammering away on her BlueTooth headset, she paused, momentarily, long enough to look up at the sign that marked the spot as reserved. With a shrug, she sauntered off into the store for her morning shot o' caffeine. I would have understood a little more if she were just a snooty mom-to-be, but the "Proud Aggie Grandmother" sticker on the back windshield of her car let me know she wasn't a recent mom, nor would she be expecting kids anytime soon... 

This got me thinking about how much we, as both Christians and Americans, think we're entitled to. As I got to my office, typed on my notebook computer, sipped my espresso and my reverse-osmosis water, and went through my devotional time for the morning, I became extremely convicted. My reading for the morning... a brief passage in Acts.

In chapter 5, we see yet another example of how the early church and its leaders were persecuted as it really began to grown. The Jewish leadership was livid that the disciples had been teaching the people about Jesus Christ, since they could see that their power and influence would be greatly detracted from by this teaching. In fact, they had already begun to lose power in their spheres of influence. Angry at what had begun, they made a plan to arrest those who were teaching about Jesus. One of the Jewish council, though, a man named Gamaliel, told them that if the teachings were of men, then everything that they were teaching would come to pass and no longer hold value; but, if their teaching truly was of God, then nothing they (the Sandhedrin) would ever try would overturn what the men were teaching about Jesus (this makes me wonder if, later on in life, Gamaliel was converted to the Faith). The council then proceeded to call in the disciples and beat them with 39 lashes (evidently, 40 was considered inhumane) and told them not to teach about Jesus anymore.

The most challenging part of the passage, though, is what happened when the disciples left the presence of the council. "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name." Wow... they considered it an honor to suffer? How often do I consider it an honor to suffer for the Name?

The vast majority of us need to look at our lives and what we think we're "entitled" to. Am I mad if I don't get my morning coffee, have my Pandora radio on the internet, or if I have to pay a little extra for gas, oil, etc.? When someone pops off about religion (take the "New Atheists" (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and company), for example), do I get all huffy? How do I react when God doesn't give me that which I thought I was supposed to get, from the job promotion to the perfect little family? Do I count it as worth to suffer, in any way, for the most glorious and great Name in the universe, Jesus Christ?

May we all look less to the things that we arrogantly think we're entitled to, and more to the grace that is given us in Christ Jesus. What we deserve is death. What we have received is life. Where's our focus? May it forever be on the One who has given us all riches of the universe in Himself, and may we get beyond our human, selfish entitlements. What those disciples were so willing to suffer for, has still not been overturned by any efforts of man.

No more coffee for me this morning... 

Inmate, Mercenary, or Fulfillment? (Pt.2)

In continuing last week's post, the three areas of Deuteronomy 6v.5 need to be looked at in much further depth. We are told to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, all of our souls and all of our might. These three different aspects of human life show the three different ways in which we are to love God, and that our love to God is an all-enveloping one. Far too many of us who proclaim we're Believers attempt to love God in a certain compartment, then do our own thing in others. I remember having this realization when I learned about old "Daddy Rockefeller," an oil magnate who also taught Sunday school classes. This was a little strange to me, to hear about his cut-throat business tactics as he built up a huge petroleum empire, while separating it from his Sunday morning endeavors. Roughly 92% of this man's time was consumed with buying out other companies in the oil market and making money while the other 8% was spent teaching the Bible. To many, this would seem like a noble action. I mean, at least he actually spent time teaching Sunday school. But then, you look at the very un-Christlike way in which he conducted his business empire... The question remains, though, are we any different? Do we love God in any sort of an all-enveloping way?

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart..."

The heart carries so much weight in our lives. For starters, the very lifeblood of our lives is moved throughout our body by this amazing muscle. The heart is used to convey emotions and even rational. So, the importance of the heart is seen in that we love God with all of our emotions and thoughts. Every single bit of emotion we have in these shallow human lives, and every single thought that could ever jump between brain synapses are for God's glory, and His glory alone. This is heady stuff, when we think that love is simply an emotion. 

"...with all your soul..."

Every bit of our spiritual lives should be focused on serving and, therefore, glorifying the Lord, Jesus Christ. In the world that we live in, we so weakly attempt to be politically correct and say that "all world religions have some validity...", which is simply not true. They all have points where they say we all need to get along and treat others well, but if you're calling that validity, then a three year-old's imaginary friends who all get along and play nicely together are just as valid. It seems that so many of us American Believers want to just play nice with the World, as though we're way too timid and scared to take a stand and say that Jesus truly is "the way, the Truth and the life." Do we honestly believe that no one goes to the Father except through Him? We like to think that incorporating a little Zen Buddhism here, maybe a little bit of a "spiritual practice" like yoga (yes, this is a Hindu spiritual exercise), makes us extremely spiritual people, and therefore better in the world's eyes. I don't have anything against stretching and breathing, but don't attempt to mix in the Hindu nature of worship with the walk you are on with Christ. There's no room for it, and you certainly aren't loving God with all of your soul.

"...and with all your might."

This is lost on many of us. As I explained to a bunch of youth kids on Sunday morning, every single thing we physically do, from sleeping to eating to hanging out with our friends to making a bone-crunching tackle on the football field or rugby pitch to playing a musical instrument, writing a poem, or painting a picture, should be done with the idea in our heads that it is glorifying God. Not us, not our families, not our schools, but our Saviour. Every single ounce of anything we do is designed to glorify the One who gave us the ability to do it. Anything else is idolatry.

As Christians, we need to come to a better understanding that in order to truly love God, there is no room for anything else. We worship God through that which He has graciously given... our families, our jobs, our hobbies, financial blessings and futures. We do not worship those THINGS. We are called to love God completely, with every aspect of our lives. We must come to the point like Job, where, despite losing everything, our lives are still complete because we have Christ, and that is enough.

Inmate, Mercenary, or Fulfillment?

"Is love containable?" The professor of the philosophy class posed the question like a dagger, waiting to jab it into the unsuspecting heart of some hapless freshman. The real question, in this class, was whether or not love was real, but the majority of the class didn't know this. I happened to glance up from my crossword just long enough to see the redness start to creep onto the man's face, since no one seemed to want to answer the question at 8:00am on a Monday morning. This post-modernist had one thing to say as he ventured onward with his rehearsed speech: "Love is, quite simply, whatever you want to make it. Whether or not it's even real is up to you." That earned him a look from many, and a snide remark from a particular guy who really didn't want to be there and was still trying to figure out a ten-letter word for wildly funny (36 Across). It just so happened to be "hysterical," which is what this class was quickly becoming with its mind-numbing excursions into all things post-modern and "the deeper things of life," as the professor would say. 

The truth of the matter is that we live in a society where most people want to believe this. We like the idea of creating things for ourselves because it makes us feel like we're in control of something. From our spiritual lives to love, absolute truth to God, we like to think that we have the power to control things. It's like a tiny ant shaking its fist and saying "You can't do this, I don't even believe in you!" before the little boy mindlessly puts the beam of the magnifying glass on him.

Even as Christians, we like to come up with our own definitions for things. We like to have our own "personal spirituality," to be incredibly PC, to be looked at as being no different from the world. Unfortunately, far too many of us succeed in this arena. We ever so slyly develop our own ideas on the ways in which we should love God. We love God when He really blesses us with that new job or with that peace amidst the family strife, only to be completely out of church, fellowship and communion shortly thereafter. We depend on God for our food, but not our families... that's our kids' "choice" to make, since we think that our 14 year old is at the ripe age for great decisions. We try to separate the "spiritual" from the "secular" even if only in our heads, attempting to look like America's atheistic "separation of Church and State." How many of us really seek to love God in the way that He commanded to be loved?

In Thomas Watson's book "All Things for Good," the 17th Century Puritan pastor takes a long look at love. He devotes an entire chapter of this theological gem to God's people loving Him. Evidently, Watson faced many of the same things back then that we still see today.

The first of these is the idea of "compartmentalization." Dr. Wood did a sermon on this a while back with drawers and a hope chest, but Watson really hit home with his brief chapter. In it, he says, "God will not be an inmate, to have only one room in the heart, and all the other rooms let out to sin. It [the Christian's love to God] must be an entire love." Far too many of us who claim to follow the Lord do this very thing. We keep our walk in its compartment until Sunday or Wednesday, or if we need to look "spiritual" by saying a prayer at dinner time or when a friend is having a rough go at it. We attempt to lock God away and do our own thing until we really need Him.

The second idea is the idea that God's love is mercenary. We all like to think that "if I just do this, God will show His grace on my life and bless me!" There were several churches a few years ago who were teaching a revamped version of the "Prosperity Movement" with a particular book where if you just say the right prayer, then God is going to make sure that you're prosperous in all the ways of your heart. "Here's my prayer, Lord, now where's my money and my car and my nice new 2500 sq. ft. house?" We like to think that God's love and blessing is mercenary. "Many love God because He gives them corn and wine, and not for His intrinsic excellencies. We must love God more for what He is, than for what He bestows. True love is not mercenary." God is the Almighty, the Creator, the Author of Life, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords... and we're going to love Him because he gave us that 4Runner, rather than for being those things? We're going to withhold our love of our Redeemer until He gives us that relationship that we think completes us?

A very simple, yet deep, definition of the way in which we should love God is found in Deuteronomy 6v.5. Many of us have heard it, yet many of us have never even really thought about the way in which we should be loving God: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." Our love for God must be fully-encompassing. Our heart (emotions and thoughts), our soul (spiritual life), and our might (all physical aspects of our lives) are to be focused on one thing - glorifying God. 

Many of us need to re-evaluate how we define love. With February, the "month of love," already here, let us take the time to look at love in our own lives, from the people around us to the God we worship, and see if we are keeping them prisoner, loving them just for what they give us, or giving our all in love. Let's make sure that the philosophy professor inside of all of us has nothing more to do with the ways in which we love others. Love God, love people, love the Church; and do all of it with every ounce of your heart, soul, and might.

Facing Up

For a couple of years, now, I've been an avid fan of a guy who many find to be a bit, well, crazy. His name is Bear Grylls, main-man of the Discovery Channel's hit series "Man vs. Wild," a devout Christian, and former SAS serviceman. If you don't know much about Grylls, let's just say that he shows people how they can survive if put in a life-threatening situation in nature (although I'm sure he knows how to defend himself, since he was SAS, his show is about surviving on your own, in the wild). He does this by showing people what plants and animals are edible (often raw), how to build shelter, how to navigate and all sorts of other survival techniques. Just a week or so ago, some boys who fell through an ice-covered pond up north survived by copying what they had seen Grylls do after he was soaked in frigid water on a Patagonian glacier. They probably wouldn't have survived otherwise.

Many people don't know that Grylls is the author of a couple of books. He has written two books about his adventures, thus far, one called "Facing the Frozen Ocean" and the other called "Facing Up." I have just gotten done reading this particular book. Its main focus is on the harrowing adventure Grylls and a few of his comrades had as they scaled Everest in 1998. Upon completing this feat, Grylls, then 23, became the youngest Briton to scale the world's tallest mountain. It's a great adventure book, but, rather than being entirely focused on the physical aspect of his time on the mountain, the spiritual side continually shines through.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is one that Grylls has actually used on his show. It actually came from Grylls' father, who taught him how to climb from the time that Bear was a small boy. 

"You can never know how steep something is until you rub noses with it."

Life is often compared to being a mountain. Christ tells us that with faith we can move mountains. Mountains are places of beauty, serenity, and magic. Mountains bring rejuvenation. Do we catch a theme here?

How often do people simply sit back and whine about how "hard" their lives are? We are all guilty of acting as though life could just not get any worse, yet, if life is a mountain, how often do we really "rub noses" with it? How often do we get right up to it and see the steepness of it... whether it's a gently rolling hill or a sheer granite wall? Many of us mistake the cliffs for the dales and plains.

I know that, in my life and in my marriage, Carrie and I are about to face a new part of our climb. As we prepare for parenthood, there are many times that I can feel a bit overwhelmed and as though I'm scaling some massive mountain's face. But, when I realize, yet again, that God is the One who is leading us through this great adventure called life, it is not all that steep. Even the places that are tricky, He guides us through. As we prepare for a next step (no pun intended) with missions, the future can look greatly daunting, yet He has us in His hands! As we look to the future, and moving to Asia, buying homes, raising Christ-glorifying kids who will make His Name great among the nations, it can look like such an impossible task... and then I'm reminded. 

It's something that Bear Grylls took great hope and peace in as he climbed to the top of Everest.

It's something that we often sing worship songs about.

It's something that God's people, from King David to Believers in Burma today have held on to through all things this World can throw at us, even death.

Remembering that life is a mountain, the Psalmist speaks fresh spirit into our walks with Christ:

"I lift my eyes up to the mountains. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121v.1-2)

The same One who created the heaven and earth, is the same One who is walking with His children up the mountains of their lives, of which He has created, seen us through, and rejoices in, with us. I cannot wait to dance on this mountaintop when all is said and done, joyfully giving praise to the One who was with me through the entire climb.