Never to Be Defeated

It's strange how these blogs come about.

I was in church this morning, the service ends and we are filing out of the place, you know how it is...kind of like cattle. Suddenly, a kid of about 11 throws a paperwad (large paperwad) at another kid, misses and hits the ol' mailman. Well, I couldn't let that go, so right in the aisle, I stomped that punk's ugly little head and showed him that you don't mess with the mailman. Ok, actually, I didn't...but I did threaten to stomp him in good fun and gave him a noogie (and then had the other kid hit him with the large paper wad...hee hee).

I got to thinking about that...this paper wad throwing kid weighs well over 100 pounds, but I can still take him. My kids (11 and 8) weigh 85 and 55 respectively, but I can still take them both at once. Its getting tougher, but I'm still on top. My mantra to the 11 year old, in my best superhero voice is; "You cannot defeat the power of dad!!!" We wrestle and carry on, but dad power is too strong...for now.

But you know what? One day he's going to kick my tail and put me in my place. Sure, I'll be on social security by then, but still....one day both of them will probably be able to take me on their own. One day I will be defeated by my kids in a wrestling match. One day, this old shell of a body won't be able to take any more and will be defeated by the ravages of death.

The bible said that God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to take our sins on Himself and die for us physically, so that we wouldn't have to die spiritually. Death may take out these physical bodies out here on earth, but that's not the death I'm concerned about. The soul of the man will live on forever. When secure in the love of God and are in right relationship to God through Jesus, we can rest in the fact that nothing is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:28-29). Not death, life, angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, or any other created thing. NOTHING will be able to defeat us!

Also in this morning's service, our music minister sang an old Steve Green song called "Calvary's Love." I looooooove the chorus which puts defeat in its proper perspective;

"Calvary's love, Calvary's love
Priceless gift Christ makes us worthy of
The deepest sin can't rise above
Calvary's love "

I Cor 15 states that the last enemy Jesus is going to stomp is death. When time as we know it is over and Jesus gets that done, He's handing the keys back to the Father. The work will be done. Death will be swallowed up in victory. The cry (or the taunt, with an outrrrrrageous French accent) will be as Paul quoted it; "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY??? O GRAVE WHERE IS YOUR STING???" The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God who gives US the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." And since the devil won't go away, Jesus "will taunt him a second timea." Revelation 20 says that; "the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

My kids may defeat me in wrestling (maybe), younger guys will defeat me in basketball (not without paying a dear price) and the first death may take this shell of the body out, but the soul that God has redeemed for Himself by the blood of Jesus will never be defeated...never...never...NEVER! Thank you, Lord!!!

THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!!

That was the lament coming from the living room a couple weeks back, as my 11 year old son was taking on a new part of a familiar video game. He was stoked that he finally discovered how to unlock this portion of the game, but not as excited in finding out how hard it was. He obviously had made this same kind of complaint elsewhere, because I couldn't even open my mouth to encourage him before he blurted out; "I know, life's not fair..."

He's right. Life can be quite unfair, not always granting us the smooth sailing we desire to get from one stage of life to the next...even one day to the next. We've all had times where God allows things into our lives that WE don't think are "fair." But what's fair? Who is to decide what is fair? As a 12 year old boy at church says; "Fair is a place where you ride rides." He's right, too.

For most of society, and even spilling over into the Christian world, fair isn't based on a standard of right and wrong, nor is it interested in justice for all, but is firmly rooted in what I want and what I think ought to happen, so I can be happy. But if we're just gut level honest, fairness is the smoke screen to hide our selfishness, that we want what we want when we want it. The world pushes that all over us. "Obey your thirst;" "Have it your way;" "You deserve a break today;" even one of our local banks; "It's all about you!!" Life and everyone in it owes it to us that our lives be nice and cushy and that we have what we think we ought to have with a minimal amount of resistance.

God's viewpoint is completely different. Thanks to Adam and Eve, we come into this world an offense to God. We deserve death, we deserve separation from God, we deserve the Hell prepared for the devil and his angels. Our spiritual x-ray is not pretty, as seen in Romans 3. Ah, but again, the life's not fair goes both ways. Jesus took a horrible beating and crucifixion from the hands of men...punishment that HE didn't deserve, so that mankind's sin debt could be wiped out with a childlike trust in Him. There is a recent song from the Christian group called Reliant K that says that "the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair." That line really grabbed hold of me. We don't deserve to have any shot of getting to know God in a personal way. We have no merits in and of ourselves that would make the Creator of the universe want to hang with us. But yet, out of His great heart of love, he extends both His mercy and His grace. Mercy is NOT getting the punishment you DO deserve and grace is GETTING the good stuff that you don't deserve. God offers both in exchange of our pledge of faith to accept what Jesus did for us as the finished work to save us from our sins. That pledge makes us a part of God's family and cancels out the penalty we deserve for the sins of our past. It secures a place in heaven with Him for all of eternity, a place that God is working on currently for me to inhabit. Compared to what Jesus went through for me, all my troubles are piddly. As the Apostle Paul put it in perspective "the sufferings of this life aren't worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us."

Is life not fair? Absolutely...but I wouldn't have it any other way.

English As We Know It

It is amazing how the English language has changed in the last 50 to 60 years (not that I'm THAT old yet, or anything...) Perusing a dictionary from the 1960's or 70's seems strange--so strange that the words we find therein almost bring back memories, as it were. Words have changed in their meanings and we've added new words and phrases that just didn't exist even 15 years ago. Most of the changes can be attributed to the vast increase in modern technology. I mean, these days, kids are immersed in this technology from the youngest ages and most college students are required to have computers going in. In my whole college, there were only 3 people who had computers and all they were good for was typing term papers.

We've introduced terminology, phraseology and abbreviations into our everyday lives that at times defy description. Gone are the days of keen, groovy, swell and neat-o. Even funky, cool and awesome have gone the way of the dodo. I mean, come on..I am sitting here "blogging", connected by "wi-fi" to the internet, through my "DSL" router. I can group everything together on one "e-bill" and through an SSL, pay it with a credit or debit card. For "Ebay", there is the wonder of "PayPal" to pay for the items you put in your shopping cart. I "chat" with people I've never seen before and cannot hear, unless I "Yahoo", then I can whip out the "webcam" and microphone and see and hear people halfway around the world in just the time it takes for the data to "network hop" across the world. In our modern culture, "phat" does not mean overweight, a "dawg" is not usually a 4 legged, furry creature, and "geek" is now both a noun and a verb (the new phrase is "beware of geeks bearing gifts"...) Go figure.

We "rip" music and movies from the originals, then "burn" them to "cd" or "dvd". Doing things with those descriptions 20 years ago would render the objects unusable, maybe even irrecognizable. I can listen to a "webcast" of almost any radio station in the world, through the miracle of "streaming audio" and watch videos on my computer with "streaming video"...neither of which have anything to do with liquid. If we are "afk" long enough and actually want to leave home, we can "brb," "Tivo" the show we want and watch the program without the commercials later (LOL). We hang "dishes" on the sides or roofs of our houses (??) and put "buds" in our ears, so we can hear sounds. We have "bluetooths" and "blackberrys" and neither one are have anything to do with eating. "Software" is hard and breakable and "VOIP" is threatening to replace the good old phone.

You get the picture, I'm sure. You may be thinking, "What does all that have to do with the price of tea in China?" That's a really good question. I was just thinking, many times, we don't understand each other because of barriers, whether they be language, technological terminology or cultural phrases and idioms. When we talk to others, we wonder if we will be understood. Speak in technological, theological or medical terms and watch the "deer in the headlights" look form quickly. And what about God? I mean, if we pour our hearts out to God, will HE even hear and understand? The good news is that God does hear and God does understand, regardless of the language used, slang interjected, abbreviations added or even words that aren't verbalized, but spoken or shouted from the heart.

The Bible says that both Jesus Himself and the Holy Spirit receive our prayers, (spoken or silent), realign them and interpret them for us and then send them to the Father. That's what the Bible calls "interceding" for us. Geeky language doesn't frighten God, nor does slang...or anything else for that matter. He can handle it all. He invites us to come to Him and tell Him what is on our hearts. He chasteneth thou not for not using King James English. God is cool with your prayers, no matter how you want to express them. He hears you, He understands you and He loves you.

Know what? I think if Jesus were here today, He would probably utilize a "laptop," a "PDA" and have a "cell" phone with bluetooth headset for maximum portability and connectivity and when a really good joke was told, he would "ROFL" too....."imho," of course.

The Powerful Sound of Silence

It's 5:13am. I awaken for some unknown reason, but when I do I am greeted with the strangest sound....nothing. OK, I can see the clock, so the power is still on....but I hear nothing. No birds, no refrigerator, no cars driving by, none of the rain that was falling last night when I hit the sack. Nothing. Silence. It was weird, but nice.

See, our lives in the 21st century have become so fast and furious, and I might add, so LOUD, we have become uncomfortable with silence. I was at a house last night fixing computers and checking out a tv on the blink--a family of parents and 3 teenage daughters, who happened to have friends over. Dinner was cooking, a water fight was going on outside, a tv was on in every room, each girl had a laptop (that was on), everyone there had a cell phone that played music, surfed the web, sliced, diced and made julienne fries. It was a loud place. When I was done an hour later, I thunked the door on my 88 Cavalier shut and stopped, took a deep breath and (silently) thanked God for the silence for a second, before turning the key to go home.

In the scripture, silence is a good thing, most of the time. Even the saints of old were encouraged to be still and quiet.

David the psalmist wrote in the world famous 23rd Psalm that God made him lie down in green pastures and led him beside still, or quiet waters and there God restored his soul. Ahhh, tranquility and quietness. Do we know what to do with it?

The trouble with us is that when we don't hear anything, we think something is wrong. Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't anything wrong. We are quick to freak out and blame God and wonder where He is and does He really care. That is a very natural response to our daily dilemmas. But in the silence one of two things should be happening. One, like Psalm 23, we could be recharging our batteries and getting ready for the next assignment God will give us. Two, we are to be exercising the muscle of faith when God is silent and we wonder WHAT is going on. If we're not hearing anything and we are distraught about a situation, we have to trust that God has it under control.

Even David, when in a near panic in Psalm 4 said, "Tremble and do not sin. Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. [selah] Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust the Lord." This is the mailman's paraphrase....It's ok to be afraid, BUT think about God's track record and what He's done for you in the past. Then get up and do the right thing--and show your trust in the Lord by walking closely with Him and letting Him take care of the details.

Ps 46:10 encourages us to be still and know that He is God. But I've found that only when you get to know someone, will you be comfortable in silence. I've had that happen with close friends, my ex (in better times, of course), girlfriends, even for very short durations, my kids. When we are comfortable with God, silence won't be a cause to panic, but an opportunity to hear from Him. We learn that prayer is a two way street, we may find that God has things for us to learn there, if we'll just be still long enough.

Elijah ran from Jezebel after the showdown at the Mt Carmel Corral and hid in a cave. He was waiting to hear from the Lord. A huge wind came by, so strong it broke pieces of the mountain off!! Surely God was here!! But He wasn't. Then an earthquake and a great fire...but nada. Finally, the quiet blowing of a gentle wind...and there He was. He finally showed up. But Elijah had to wait until it was....shhhhh....quiet

Oh God, help us slow down sometime today, so we can shut out the rest of the world and hear you. Teach us how, so we become as comfortable as an old friend around You, even though You are the all powerful God of the Universe. And may we strive to be the best representatives of Your Kingdom that we can be, because we've spent quiet time with You today.

Skillet Meals

Being a bachelor, I have to cook for myself...which stinks...and sometimes REALLY stinks!! :P

Tonight's entree was one of those skillet meals that have everything included, just add 1/2 cup of water. While masterfully "cooking" this thing, I noticed that most of it was corn. That may not mean anything to you, but to a person with Crohn's Disease, that is not good. While lamenting the situation, I came to the realization that the corn and the amount thereof, was the reason that the meal was as cheap as it was. There was chicken in there, but not much. There were carrots and broccoli, but not much of either of those. There was pasta...a bit. But there was a ton of corn in there. Here's why...corn is plentiful, corn is cheap and therefore, corn is EASY.

I got to thinking about most of the people who call themselves Christians, including myself. If you ask most of us how we're doing spiritually, we'll have you believe we're doing well, striving hard, trying to please God. But if you could be a fly on the shoulder and follow us around, what you'd probably witness is that this life we call the Christian life is full of corn. We coast through our days and get by with the least amount of effort we can. We like it like the skillet meal makers...we like it EASY.

I was talking for a few minutes today with an 88 year old woman on my mail route. She was reading the old testament and was quoting things from it. She started with "I will bless the Lord at all times...." and I finished it with "and His praise shall continually be in my mouth." She smiled and repeated the same thing and complimented me on my recollection of the verse. But I got to thinking....but IS His praise continually in my mouth? or is it just when life is EASY, like corn?

Jesus said radical things like, if you want to be my disciple, you have to lay down your life, take up your cross and follow me. Abide in the vine so you can bear fruit. And if you bear a bunch of fruit, you'll show yourselves to be my disciples. NOT easy. Paul wrote that we are to rejoice in the Lord always. He even repeated himself again and said "rejoice!" Not easy. Jesus said that if we were his disciples, we would obey the new commandment that he gave...that we would love one another. OUCH!! Really not easy. This kind of stuff is the broccoli and chicken of the skillet meal. Quite a bit more costly, therefore, quite a bit less seen in the mix.

Living a real Christian life that pleases the Father is costly. He purchased us with the ultimate price--the blood of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. He gave His all to redeem us off the slave block of sin. All He asks of us is that we give our all to Him. Corn is not enough, or as David put it (in the mailman paraphrase) I won't make offerings to the Lord that cost me nothing. God, help us all to give of our best for You each day and leave the corn behind.