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.