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.