Today, even now, people are gathering in living rooms all over this country to sit down on couches and La-Z-Boys and fill themselves with chips and dip while watching the biggest sporting extravaganza of the year. People will dress themselves up in team colors that they wouldn’t necessarily wear any other day of the year and shout and yell for players they don’t know, just because it’s the Super Bowl. As I’ve told many people, I’m rooting for the Broncos. They were my team before the season began, and they’re my team today. I keep hearing words like ‘delusional’ and ‘denial’ but I refuse to listen to the nay-sayers.
Maybe it’s the hoopla and the hype, maybe it’s just the fact that America loves a battle of champions. And to have two teams lining up across each other, beating each other silly until one team comes out on top - well, there’s just something about that seems American. Now, I don’t want to go overboard, but in many ways the Super Bowl is a uniquely American, patriotic event. The colors and pageantry. The fireworks. The loud noise. The excess of commercialism and the prevalence of scantily-clad cheerleaders. American football is known throughout the world for all these things, and each year, people flock by the billions to watch this spectacle known as the Super Bowl.
And you know, its really funny, when you see the game later, it almost grows in stature to mythical proportions. Quarterbacks become ‘field generals.’ Running backs become ‘thoroughbreds.” Linemen are “warriors,” Linebackers are “gladiators,” and defensive backs are “assassins.” Coaches are “geniuses,” “masterminds,” and “tacticians.” And as time passes and their victory is shown again and again on ESPN Classic, they become remembered as mighty men of valor who fought courageously and won the golden icon for their beloved city.
With this focus on these mighty men, it is appropriate today that our time of worship should be today on what it means to be a mighty man of valor before the Lord. And if you take the time to look in your Bible to study this issue, you’ll find something pretty interesting. I find it incredibly interesting that our world history is filled with many many mighty men of valor, as recorded in Scripture. In fact, that term “mighty men of valor” is found 27 times in the Bible, all in the Old Testament. A search of the more simple term “mighty men” brings up an additional 49 references, including one in Revelation. So the Bible has identified thousands of men throughout history who have been men of might and men of valor.
And if we look in Scripture and notice that there have been these men in the past, and we see that there will be these men in the future, it only stands to reason that it is possible that there are men today who can be and should be labeled as being a mighty man of valor. If that be true, it should lead us to ask a few questions. Questions like:
§ Are there any mighty men of valor here today? If so, what does that mean? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
§ If you are not a mighty man of valor, do you want to be one? Are you willing to do what it takes? Are you content to be anything less than a mighty man of valor?
§ What does God want from our men today? How long will our men disobey and avoid the very call upon their life, for the sake of convenience or apathy?
To address these questions, we will go to the Scriptures, to gain insight and make applications on each of our own lives today. My prayer is that we would each be responsive to the Holy Spirit this day, and we would be willing to set aside anything that keeping us from being the men of God we were designed to be - mighty men of valor.
Please turn in your Bible to the Old Testament book of Zephaniah, chapter 1. Zephaniah was a prophet who was a direct descendant of Hezekiah and he prophesied during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. He prophesied at a time of spiritual rebellion and apathy. The overall tone of this book is fairly dark, until the Lord reveals the hope of a coming day when Hebrews shall be a praise of all people on the earth. What is relevant to us, though, are the words of verses 12-18, that offer cautions to those in the audience who are mighty men of valor. Hear the words.
So what we have is a strong statement of condemnation and conviction upon all the people, but a particularly strong message against those who are known as mighty men. And these men are in big trouble. They will not escape judgment. They will not be able to fight their way out of it. They will not be able to buy their way out of it. They will not be able to debate or barter their way out of it. It will bring them to their knees. It will humble them, it will ruin them, and it will be right and appropriate when it happens.
Now, let’s keep that passage in mind as we hop over to the book of Zechariah, chapter 10. Zechariah prophesied this message approximately 120 years after Zephaniah’s prophecy, and his words were spoken in order to give God’s people hope amidst trying times. Interestingly, though the aim of the message is the similar in both passages - the call to repentance for the purpose of hope - where we see cautions in Zephaniah, we see challenges in Zechariah. Read chapeter 10 with me now:
In this passage, we see great words of hope, whereas we saw earlier foreboding messages of doom. God here promises that He will raise up His people, He will establish His men as mighty men, and prosper them and grow them and bless them. This is such a disparate message from the words of condemnation of Zephaniah. So, we the church today, are well served to take a little time and draw some conclusions from these two passages, so we might learn and determine to be children of the promise of hope, rather than heirs to the promise of condemnation.
The conclusions that we need to draw here are determinations of the variables in place that will make the difference between blessing and bane. And the first factor that we can conclude is the factor of leadership. Both groups have mighty men. Both groups have men who are in charge -whether it be figurative or literal. Both groups have men present, but the question we need to answer is - who’s really in charge?
What we’ll discover is that the Lord is in charge of both groups, but only one realizes it before it is too late. In the prophecy spoken through Zephaniah, God comes with authority to rain judgment upon those who falsely assumed that they were in charge and had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. To these, God took from them all they had gathered. To these, God removed all they had put into place. To these, God demolished all they had raised up. On the other hand, when we see the prophecy spoken through Zechariah, when God visits those who recognize God is their leader, He will build them up, He will restore and redeem them. He will strengthen them. He will bring them increase.
This is the variable of leadership. When man leads man, the inevitable result is ruin. When man says “We will do what we will do and expect God to bless unilaterally because we are His,” man is usurping the throne of God, and He will not stand for it. He will judge it, and with His judgment comes loss. But those who say, “We are servants of the Lord, and we will do only what He wants us to do, and nothing else,” only then do the people of God understand the proper chain of command. With this understanding comes prosperity and blessing.
The second conclusion to be drawn is one of laziness. The clear point of distinction to be seen here between the two prophecies is that the mighty men of Zephaniah were lazy. They presumed upon God. They toiled in their own efforts, in their own reasoning, and in their own logic because they thought they had the liberty to conduct the Lord’s work however they saw fit. And it brought them ruin. The mighty men of Zechariah, on the other hand, were men passionate about following God. They were made to be like the horses of the Lord. They were under the full bridle and control of the Holy Spirit. They were eager to be used, to be directed, to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. And it is that eagerness of spirit that made them subject to the full blessing of God.
And there is a third conclusion to be drawn here today, and that is the conclusion of liability. The bringing of judgment and blessing befalls each of these groups because of the attitudes, the behavior, and the conduct of the mighty men spoken of in each passage. The clear message to us today is that God will hold the men He has appointed as leaders liable for their leadership. You cannot blame anyone else. You cannot hand off your responsibilities to your wife, nor to your children. God will not hold them accountable for your failure to do your job. He will hold you accountable. And your attitudes, your behavior, and your conduct are and will be the standard God uses to bring forth judgment or blessing upon this congregation.
That leads us today to the simple culmination of choices. Today, God’s mighty men are called to make a choice. Are you going to be a mighty man of God? This is what it means to be a mighty man of God. It means to follow the leadership that God has established. Christ is the head of this church and He is to be followed absolutely. God will bring in a new pastor to this church in due time, and the men of God must lead the entire church to follow, support, pray for, encourage, and serve alongside the pastor God brings you. There is no room in God’s kingdom for those who will undermine, backbite, or act divisively against the man God brings to you. If you cannot follow God under the pastoral leadership of the man God brings here, you need to go somewhere where you can, instead of making it your intent do drive that pastor away. This church is God’s church, not your church, not your next pastor’s church. Romans 13 says that God establishes His order for your good, and for you to bristle against it is to invite judgment upon yourselves.
To be a mighty man of God also means that you cannot be lazy. You have to get out of the pews. You have to stand up and be counted. You need to be the leaders of your home. You need to be leaders of the ministries of this church. You need to be Kingdom leaders. We need to take the responsibility because it is our responsibility. If your wife has taken that responsibility away from you because you’ve been too lazy, then today is the day to claim it back in love. Ask her forgiveness for shirking your responsibilities and assume the God-given position of servant leadership that God has ordained for you.
There have been many times in history where the church has continued on, atop the backs of the faithful women of the church. And I thank God for those women. In fact, I believe that we are in one of those periods of time right now. At this church, two women are in active service for every one man who is. Two or three woman arrive to pray for every one man who shows up. We have several ministry teams where the only man in leadership is the pastor. And while I am very thankful for the ladies’ willingness to serve and to give, we must put two and two together to figure out that one main reason we struggle is because too many of our men are being lazy. They have said that anything else and everything else is more important than your time and service in the church. And we need to understand that in a fallen, sinful world it is the tactic of the enemy to use everything at his disposal to convince you that this lie is true. But we need to grasp that there is nothing more important than worshipping God day by day. We will teach our children through it. We will lead our families by it. We will edify the Lord and He will grow His kingdom with it. But when the mighty men are lazy and deny the importance of following God all the time, we shouldn’t be surprised or upset when the judgment inevitably arrives.
Today, men, your choices are simple ones, with profound implications. Assume your liability. Refuse to be lazy and apathetic. Become passionate in your zeal for the Lord. Ask the Lord to renew you, to rejuvenate you, to refill you. Ask the Lord to humble you, to assume the leadership of your life. Let Him reign today, so the days of your future will not be days of doom, but rather, days of prosperity and blessing.
1/25/2003
who needs a shepherd, anyway?
I just read where the Roman Catholic Bishop of Northern California told the governor of that fine state to renounce his position on abortion, or cease taking the Holy Communion. To this, Gov. Davis' spokesperson said (sic) "the bishop should quit telling others how to practice their faith."
3 points of order:
Rom. 13:1-5
1 Cor. 11:18-31
2 Tim. 3:1-5
amen and amen.
3 points of order:
Rom. 13:1-5
1 Cor. 11:18-31
2 Tim. 3:1-5
amen and amen.
good news
On Wednesday in Craig, the husband of a very dear friend of our prayed for the forgiveness of his sins and to receive Christ as Lord!
Please pray for him to grow in his faith and to be the leader of his home that God wants him to be.
Please pray for him to grow in his faith and to be the leader of his home that God wants him to be.
1/24/2003
conversation starters
Valentine's Day may very well be my favorite time of the year, confectionarily speaking. I should qualify my statement by declaring that Christmas is the overall champion of holiday sweets-offerings, because very little can surpass my dad's home-made fudge of various flavors and my mother-in-laws turtles and peanut brittle. St. Val's day, though is a special in its own right because it offers the Conversation Hearts. When you look at particular candies that are mass produced around a given holiday, Conversation hearts are by far superior to all contenders.
Easter -- Peeps. After 10 or 12 of those marshmallow ducklings, nausea is inevitable. And partially digested yellow birds don't look nearly as cute coming back as they did going in. Cadbury Eggs were a strong contender for many years, but their influence has been watered down with the influx of egg-shaped snickers, dove truffles, and milky-way bars. Of course you have the Easter Bunny eggs, but really, all you really have is a fancied-up Hershey Bar designed to elicit a carnivorous rage. Or maybe its just me.
disclaimer: these are not regurgitated peeps. These peeps were involved in the highly illegal underground world of peep jousting. Let this image be a visual reminder of the perils of Peeps with toothpicks.
Halloween -- Kandy Korns. You can bite off the whites and leave the orange and yellow in the candy dish as a joke, and you can pretend you have walrus, vampire or vampire walrus teeth. After that, you've pretty much explored the gamut of this seasonal treat.
disclaimer: this is not Kandy Korn. This is the Rock Band Korn. It's all that came up in the image search. I'm sorry. However 4 out of 5 dentists recommend that you do not eat Korn of any variety spelled with a 'K,' suggesting such 'korn' is intentionally misleading, atttempting to confuse people into thinking they are actually eating a vegetable rather than candy, or in this case, a Rock Band's CD.
St. Patrick's Day -- nothing. Green Beer doesn't count. Neither do Lucky Charms.
In Fact, when you look at all the other holidays on the calendar, what your really have is just a feeble attempt by candy-makers to repackage their candy in the appropriate colors. It must work because they keep doing it, but they're not offering us anything special.
This said, I return to the Conversation Heart. The sweet treat that's fun to eat.
Talking points on this fine item:
1. The small ones are the only good ones. Big ones are too brittle.
2. The pink ones taste a bit like Pepto Bismol. I'm quick to share the pink.
3. Brach's smalls are the best, especially if eaten within 3 days of opening the package. After that, chipped teeth are a strong possibility.
4. Yellow is the best, followed closely by green, and then purple and orange.
5. This only leaves white, which can be reminiscent of an antacid tablet. Again, I don't mind sharing those.
6. The newer '21st century' messages are quite lame. Fax Me and You Rule just don't meet the standard of Ask Me, Get Real, Too Cool, and Soul Mate. You Rock is a heart of fairly limited application. Recipients really only include chair-bound grandparents, 80's Hair Bands, or Mr. Hudson and Mr. Duane Johnson (AKA 'The Rock').
7. Nothing is quite as wonderful as being handed a My Hero heart from my daughter.
8. This is one of the few candies where discretion must be used before sharing. For example Dino Mite would be the perfect heart to give to Jimmy JJ Walker, but Hey Babe may not be the best heart to give to a nun.
9. God has created within us Conversation Hearts. It's true. Romans 2:15 says the law of God is written in our hearts. 2 Cor. 3:2 says that we Christians are living epistles written on the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Christ, written not by ink but by the very Spirit of God.
10. My best guess of what my heart reads, as written by the spirit of God
U R Mine
4 given
My Child
One Way
Shine On
Tell Others
B Bold
XOXO
I Am
Love You
1/23/2003
i love my president because he's a man of principals principalities ideals
from WSJ Best of the web:
just yesterday, I heard him say that Iraqi soldiers that followed Saddam's orders would be persecuted as war criminals. I know he meant prosecuted. didn't he? what I really enjoy is when smug pseudointellectuals get caught making the same errors they pin upon others.
'His Own Unique Style'
A photo caption in an article on "Bushisms"--those minor verbal miscues the president makes--states: "In his own unique style, Bush told voters in Bentonville, Ark., that he'd been 'misunderestimated.' " So while ABC makes fun of Bush for misspeaking, it commits to writing the redundant phrase "his own unique style"--as if it would be unique if it were someone else's too. We always expected more from a major network, but we guess we misoverestimated ABC.
just yesterday, I heard him say that Iraqi soldiers that followed Saddam's orders would be persecuted as war criminals. I know he meant prosecuted. didn't he? what I really enjoy is when smug pseudointellectuals get caught making the same errors they pin upon others.
controversy in the body
blogs 4 god recently entertained the controversial notion that abortion is wrong by encouraging a parody of an actual poster contest proffered by planned parenthood. Several well-respected and talented bloggers responded in protest, including a few like Kevin and Irene and Jordon, each of whom I read on a regular basis. And actually, I am writing my comments here because of them (which I hope will be taken as 'a good thing,' when it's all typed and done).
I took the time to read every blog that I could and here are my summary observations:
1. Consensus that abortion is wrong
2. The resulting division over the parody poster/slogan contest is indicative of a larger problem in the body of Christ.
And in the second summary statement, I believe the irreducible factor that seems to be so continually challenging is embodied in this word: grace.
First, we (Christians) failed to gracefully address the horribly traumatic issue of abortion by actually engaging in a parody. I understand the point of satire is often to drive home the stark barbarity of an issue. Malice is rarely the intent, correction of a wrong, rather, is. Few could read Swifts' A Modest Proposal and not be repulsed by the content, yet at the same time convicted by the intent. That stated, when we act without grace to those desperately in need of it -- even if our actions are covered by the banner of satire or parody, we risk reeking of Pharasaic legalism if the intention of satire or parody is missed or superceded by a larger, condeming inference of moral superiority.
Few of us would be comfortable with our own every day thoughts, much less our deeds, presented for ridicule in such an insensitive manner. But we seem comfortable with this form of parody because we are ridiculing a nameless, faceless problem. 42 million babies since 1972 is incomprehensible. But each one of those babies had a mother -- and a father -- who sinned grievously and is in need of redemption and restoration (not mentioning the untold number of Christians who have willfully aborted the unborn). And the church -- Christ's Bride and God's temple -- has been called to be a refuge, a sanctuary, and a home of healing for those most desperately in need of it. For us to wantonly throw out slogans like, Babies, the other white meat makes us guilty of the same objectification that creates an attitude embracing the very actions we claim to loathe. When Christians strive harder to assault the sensitivities of 'wrongdoers' than we do to be ambassadors of reconciliation, we become guilty of being known more for what we are against rather than who we are for.
Then, to compound the problem, those who are outraged by the smarmy condescension react by excising themselves from those who were offensive, though I'm not convinced the Christ offers us that liberty. Rather than exhibiting the grace that was obviously lacking in the original offense, the additional lack of grace only exacerbates the conflict, instead of ameliorates it. Our motives in 'separation' may be good: showing our outrage to others, particularly if they are new, growing believers, or even pre-converted seekers; having our own sense of good taste so violated that we cannot continue the fellowship with the offenders. Whatever our motive, though, it will be largely unappreciated by those who observe the departure. Those who are intended to benefit the most by such an action tend to be the ones damaged the most. How this applies to an 'e-community' I don't really know. My hope is that Kevin and Jordon rethink their decisions to leave blogs4god because there are many times I am reminded to visit their blogs by a commentary of a post supplied by the compiler. In a big world with lots of people giving their two cents, it would be unfortunate to lose two decent voices that should continue to be heard (or read) by as many people as possible).
Jesus said, "by this all will know you are my disciples, by your love for one another. (John 13:35)" We have twice-offended the cause of Christ by twice mis-identifying the enemy (thanks Irene, for that insight). Ephesians 6:12 reminds us who we are fighting. To everyone else we are told to love and abound in grace. I encourage disagreement, discussion, and dialogue -- it's how we grow. But never at the expense of a schism in the body of Christ.
I am passionate for life, especially the life of the unborn. But we must continue to value one another and minister to one another gracefully, so that when we are led to minister to others in grace, our testimony cannot be used against us in a world so inclined to reject grace and the first and easiest excuse to do so.
I took the time to read every blog that I could and here are my summary observations:
1. Consensus that abortion is wrong
2. The resulting division over the parody poster/slogan contest is indicative of a larger problem in the body of Christ.
And in the second summary statement, I believe the irreducible factor that seems to be so continually challenging is embodied in this word: grace.
First, we (Christians) failed to gracefully address the horribly traumatic issue of abortion by actually engaging in a parody. I understand the point of satire is often to drive home the stark barbarity of an issue. Malice is rarely the intent, correction of a wrong, rather, is. Few could read Swifts' A Modest Proposal and not be repulsed by the content, yet at the same time convicted by the intent. That stated, when we act without grace to those desperately in need of it -- even if our actions are covered by the banner of satire or parody, we risk reeking of Pharasaic legalism if the intention of satire or parody is missed or superceded by a larger, condeming inference of moral superiority.
Few of us would be comfortable with our own every day thoughts, much less our deeds, presented for ridicule in such an insensitive manner. But we seem comfortable with this form of parody because we are ridiculing a nameless, faceless problem. 42 million babies since 1972 is incomprehensible. But each one of those babies had a mother -- and a father -- who sinned grievously and is in need of redemption and restoration (not mentioning the untold number of Christians who have willfully aborted the unborn). And the church -- Christ's Bride and God's temple -- has been called to be a refuge, a sanctuary, and a home of healing for those most desperately in need of it. For us to wantonly throw out slogans like, Babies, the other white meat makes us guilty of the same objectification that creates an attitude embracing the very actions we claim to loathe. When Christians strive harder to assault the sensitivities of 'wrongdoers' than we do to be ambassadors of reconciliation, we become guilty of being known more for what we are against rather than who we are for.
Then, to compound the problem, those who are outraged by the smarmy condescension react by excising themselves from those who were offensive, though I'm not convinced the Christ offers us that liberty. Rather than exhibiting the grace that was obviously lacking in the original offense, the additional lack of grace only exacerbates the conflict, instead of ameliorates it. Our motives in 'separation' may be good: showing our outrage to others, particularly if they are new, growing believers, or even pre-converted seekers; having our own sense of good taste so violated that we cannot continue the fellowship with the offenders. Whatever our motive, though, it will be largely unappreciated by those who observe the departure. Those who are intended to benefit the most by such an action tend to be the ones damaged the most. How this applies to an 'e-community' I don't really know. My hope is that Kevin and Jordon rethink their decisions to leave blogs4god because there are many times I am reminded to visit their blogs by a commentary of a post supplied by the compiler. In a big world with lots of people giving their two cents, it would be unfortunate to lose two decent voices that should continue to be heard (or read) by as many people as possible).
Jesus said, "by this all will know you are my disciples, by your love for one another. (John 13:35)" We have twice-offended the cause of Christ by twice mis-identifying the enemy (thanks Irene, for that insight). Ephesians 6:12 reminds us who we are fighting. To everyone else we are told to love and abound in grace. I encourage disagreement, discussion, and dialogue -- it's how we grow. But never at the expense of a schism in the body of Christ.
I am passionate for life, especially the life of the unborn. But we must continue to value one another and minister to one another gracefully, so that when we are led to minister to others in grace, our testimony cannot be used against us in a world so inclined to reject grace and the first and easiest excuse to do so.
my socks are thick
and accordingly, my shoes don't fit well today. So I'm working sans Nikes. Please excuse my deference to podiacal (a real word? you be the judge) comfort.
a.m. sports wrap-up
I'm totally impressed that the Williams sisters are in the fourth consecutive major final opposing one another. And Andre Agassi is impressively working toward his 4th Austrailian open championship. Isn't he like 74 years old?
Michael Jordan became the 3rd leading scorer in NBA history. And it only cost him his marriage and his legacy of going out on top as a champion. Way to go!
The Raiders and Bucs play just a couple days for the championship of the known world. Oakland is favored. I'm rooting for the Broncos. And I don't care what anyone says, I'm not in denial.
In giving a "shout out" to Kelli's uncle Gene and aunt Geraldine, the U of Texas lady's hoops coach just won her 800th career game. They're big fans, so we can root for the "lady longhorns," too.
now, on to the five-day forecast with Stormy Weathers.
Michael Jordan became the 3rd leading scorer in NBA history. And it only cost him his marriage and his legacy of going out on top as a champion. Way to go!
The Raiders and Bucs play just a couple days for the championship of the known world. Oakland is favored. I'm rooting for the Broncos. And I don't care what anyone says, I'm not in denial.
In giving a "shout out" to Kelli's uncle Gene and aunt Geraldine, the U of Texas lady's hoops coach just won her 800th career game. They're big fans, so we can root for the "lady longhorns," too.
now, on to the five-day forecast with Stormy Weathers.
good advice
from monster.com:
make sure your email address conveys the right message. Be professional. john.doe@somewhere.com is much better than hotbabe45@somewhere.com
make sure your email address conveys the right message. Be professional. john.doe@somewhere.com is much better than hotbabe45@somewhere.com
1/22/2003
on the cutting edge of science
also via the WSJ best of the web:
Scientists study why the elderly fall
I spent a whoooooole lot of time not paying attention in honors physics back in high school, but one word keeps pinging my brain:
gravity
it's not just a good idea. Its the law. (someone funnier than me once said that)
Scientists study why the elderly fall
I spent a whoooooole lot of time not paying attention in honors physics back in high school, but one word keeps pinging my brain:
gravity
it's not just a good idea. Its the law. (someone funnier than me once said that)
and we hold these things to be true...
from the WSJ 'best of the web:"
I would think that this would be incredibly offensive to African Americans. I'm offended as someone who prefers simplicity, as well as the assumption that we are racially on an 'equal playing field.'
The Soft Bigotry of the Teachers Union
The New Jersey Education Association's Web site features a brochure for download called "Getting Involved in Your Child's School." It comes in three versions; the first is simply described as "a parent's resource" (links in PDF format). The second is written in Spanish, but the third is curious. It's called the "African-American version."
Why is an African-American version necessary? Who knows, but there are differences between the text of two versions. For example, here's how the "parent's resource" answers the question: "Why do teachers need my help?":
Today, there is an increasing emphasis on individualized instruction--fitting the curriculum to the child. Teachers want to employ new methods and materials to give each child personal guidance.
When you assist teachers with growing paperwork, make instructional materials, or conduct a science experiment, you give them more time for planning activities, for trying new teaching strategies, and for working directly with children. As a parent volunteer, you allow them to be more effective teachers--and the school obtains your skills and services that might be unavailable due to financial limitations.
Here's how the "African-American version" answers the same question:
Today, teachers want to use new methods and materials to give each child personal guidance.
When you assist teachers, you give them more time to work with children. You allow them to be more effective teachers.
We actually like the African-American version better; it takes just 36 words to say the same thing the parent's resource says in 91. But another way of looking at it is that the New Jersey teachers union seems to think their material has to be dumbed down for the benefit of black parents.
I would think that this would be incredibly offensive to African Americans. I'm offended as someone who prefers simplicity, as well as the assumption that we are racially on an 'equal playing field.'
hunting stories
my dad sent me this link of an animated story, called "fishin ain't so bad." It's not offensive, or vulgar...just...male.
It reminds me of a couple of things.
I can remember eating at a Singles banquet at Riverside Baptist Church, as a relatively new Christian. I was sitting next to this guy who was bragging about how he liked to go out to the wilderness during hunting season and raise a ruckus to scare away the deer from the evil hunters. I was silently eating my supper wondering what the bag limit happened to be on the Colorado Broad-chested Urban Moron when -- no kidding - he said, "I just think it is so cruel that these deer are killed just so we can eat them....who has tried these meatballs? They're delicious!
the great songwrite Phoebe Buffay once wrote:
The cow in the field says 'moo'
The cow in the field says 'moo'
Then the farmer hits him on the head with a hammer
and that's how we get hamburger
The three most disturbing words on an ingredients list: mechanically separated chicken. I read this on Slim Jim's and Campbell's chicken noodle soup while waiting for prescriptions. I bought the soup anyway. Decided to not "snap into a Slim Jim."
The first time I went hunting after I was of legal age, my dad and I were out on our property. Saw a nice little 3 point buck and fired away. Alas, it was not as clean of a shot as I'd have had liked. After tracking a blood trail for about 250 yards, finally came upon it lying behind some tall brush. rather than a kill shot to the heart, lungs, or brain, I instead gave the poor animal a lead enema. Shot it in the rectum. I'm as ashamed to type it as you are to read it. Anyway, my dad then gave me the .357 pistol to shoot it in the head and end its misery. I pull back the hammer on the revolver, aim from point-blank range, and pull the trigger.
I missed.
"Are you trying to scare the thing to death?" my dad asked. He took the pistol and succeeded where I had failed. I was a little reluctant to continue hunting after that, but Ted Nugent helped me work through those issues, and have had many more successful hunting ventures since then....
except when I went elk hunting with a good friend and our dads. We were in a valley and a herd of fifty elk came over the ridge. just as we took aim, bullets started slinging and whizzing right over our heads. Apparently, hunters lining the valley thought the homo sapiens standing between them and their trophy wall mounts were a small price to pay. we all fell to our faces and were told to take aim. I settled on a HUGE cow (female) elk. My friend and I fired instantaneously. We both shouted, "Got it!" and (yep, you guessed it) arrived at the fallen beast to discover that we had both shot the same animal. That year, I took home half an elk. not many people can say that. Other than that, my hunts have really been successful.
except for the one time Kelli went with me and we didn't see anything on a full weekend of elk hunting. Upon going back to the folk's land, I still had a deer tag to fill. So, I felt the need to impress my future wife with my ability to slay a deer. Took a 400+ yard shot at a large buck. Didn't come close, but felt compelled to hunt it down and shoot it and put it in my freezer. I stalked the animal. Got within fifty yards. Squatted down to get in shooting position and complete the task.
and sat on a cactus.
I couldn't have been more pathetic if I were Wile E. Coyote. At 20 years old, I had to have my mommy remove cactus quills from my rear. Kelli was certainly impressed.
I haven't hunted now in probably five years. A lack of time more than anything. And that I'm the only one in my home who'll eat venison. But I look forward to that day in the future when I can take my son to the rugged Colorado landscape and embellish story after story, and spend some wonderful time together. Just him, me, and a fully-loaded high power rifle.
It reminds me of a couple of things.
I can remember eating at a Singles banquet at Riverside Baptist Church, as a relatively new Christian. I was sitting next to this guy who was bragging about how he liked to go out to the wilderness during hunting season and raise a ruckus to scare away the deer from the evil hunters. I was silently eating my supper wondering what the bag limit happened to be on the Colorado Broad-chested Urban Moron when -- no kidding - he said, "I just think it is so cruel that these deer are killed just so we can eat them....who has tried these meatballs? They're delicious!
the great songwrite Phoebe Buffay once wrote:
The cow in the field says 'moo'
The cow in the field says 'moo'
Then the farmer hits him on the head with a hammer
and that's how we get hamburger
The three most disturbing words on an ingredients list: mechanically separated chicken. I read this on Slim Jim's and Campbell's chicken noodle soup while waiting for prescriptions. I bought the soup anyway. Decided to not "snap into a Slim Jim."
The first time I went hunting after I was of legal age, my dad and I were out on our property. Saw a nice little 3 point buck and fired away. Alas, it was not as clean of a shot as I'd have had liked. After tracking a blood trail for about 250 yards, finally came upon it lying behind some tall brush. rather than a kill shot to the heart, lungs, or brain, I instead gave the poor animal a lead enema. Shot it in the rectum. I'm as ashamed to type it as you are to read it. Anyway, my dad then gave me the .357 pistol to shoot it in the head and end its misery. I pull back the hammer on the revolver, aim from point-blank range, and pull the trigger.
I missed.
"Are you trying to scare the thing to death?" my dad asked. He took the pistol and succeeded where I had failed. I was a little reluctant to continue hunting after that, but Ted Nugent helped me work through those issues, and have had many more successful hunting ventures since then....
except when I went elk hunting with a good friend and our dads. We were in a valley and a herd of fifty elk came over the ridge. just as we took aim, bullets started slinging and whizzing right over our heads. Apparently, hunters lining the valley thought the homo sapiens standing between them and their trophy wall mounts were a small price to pay. we all fell to our faces and were told to take aim. I settled on a HUGE cow (female) elk. My friend and I fired instantaneously. We both shouted, "Got it!" and (yep, you guessed it) arrived at the fallen beast to discover that we had both shot the same animal. That year, I took home half an elk. not many people can say that. Other than that, my hunts have really been successful.
except for the one time Kelli went with me and we didn't see anything on a full weekend of elk hunting. Upon going back to the folk's land, I still had a deer tag to fill. So, I felt the need to impress my future wife with my ability to slay a deer. Took a 400+ yard shot at a large buck. Didn't come close, but felt compelled to hunt it down and shoot it and put it in my freezer. I stalked the animal. Got within fifty yards. Squatted down to get in shooting position and complete the task.
and sat on a cactus.
I couldn't have been more pathetic if I were Wile E. Coyote. At 20 years old, I had to have my mommy remove cactus quills from my rear. Kelli was certainly impressed.
I haven't hunted now in probably five years. A lack of time more than anything. And that I'm the only one in my home who'll eat venison. But I look forward to that day in the future when I can take my son to the rugged Colorado landscape and embellish story after story, and spend some wonderful time together. Just him, me, and a fully-loaded high power rifle.
in my inbox
hmmm...
A Sign at a Business Establishment Philadelphia, PA:
"WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000 ARAB TERRORISTS THAN WITH A SINGLE JEW"
This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia. Most would be outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement. One would think that anti-hate groups from all across the country would be marching on this business. And that the National Guard might have to be called to keep the angry crowds back.
But, perhaps in these stressful times, one might be tempted to let the proprietors simply make their statement. We are a society who holds "Freedom of Speech" as perhaps our greatest liberty. And after all, it is just a sign.
You may ask what business would dare post such a sign?
Goldberg's Funeral Home
(Who knew morticians had a sense of humor?)
A Sign at a Business Establishment Philadelphia, PA:
"WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000 ARAB TERRORISTS THAN WITH A SINGLE JEW"
This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia. Most would be outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement. One would think that anti-hate groups from all across the country would be marching on this business. And that the National Guard might have to be called to keep the angry crowds back.
But, perhaps in these stressful times, one might be tempted to let the proprietors simply make their statement. We are a society who holds "Freedom of Speech" as perhaps our greatest liberty. And after all, it is just a sign.
You may ask what business would dare post such a sign?
Goldberg's Funeral Home
(Who knew morticians had a sense of humor?)
the tests are in
and Kelli and Kaylyn have captured the streptococcal (strep) bacteria in their respective throats. At much personal sacrifice, they have quarantined themselves from the general population for 48 hours. While their efforts are substantial, we should warn you that there is a slim possibility that the remant strains of the bacteria may be in hiding out in the environment, and may attempt to strike if the opportunity arises.
btw -- I had to go to webmd to learn that this was bacterial, and not viral.
btw -- Cotter threw up in the car on the way to get the ladies' medicine. He's fine. Just sympathetic.
btw -- it took over two hours to fill the prescription. The scripts were for penecillin and a penecillin variant. It's not like they had to fly to Africa and hunt down some ebola-stricken monkey to create an antivirus. I'm standing at the counter and thinking, "I'm no pharmacy tech graduate, but I think even I could to to the 'p' shelf and find what I'm looking for." And Kaylyn's cost nearly $60 -- with the copay. Took it home and she doesn't care for the flavor. So, not suprisingly, she's not keen on taking it. But I've informed her, for $60, she'll be swallowing down every last drop of that suspension liquid -- so we don't have to buy it again.
btw -- when Bryan goes shopping and has to wait two hours, he ends up as a casualty of 'impulse purchases." I actually bought scissors yesterday because they were only $1. I need scissors like I need a hole in the head. Which is what the scissors are for, I suppose.
btw -- speaking of a hole in the head: my Wal-Mart associate actually said this - - "They can find a way to re-attach a head to a spinal column, but they haven't found a cure for strep." I just nodded my head, thankful that I didn't need to have it reattached to my spinal column.
and one more thing -- when I get sick, Kelli just has one more baby to take care of. When Kelli get's sick...Kelli just has one more baby to take care of. I tried to buck up and do her job...but I'm wasn't very good at it. At 3:30 when Kelsi woke up because Cotter cried out that Pinnocchio's nose scared him, I should have gotten up and secured the perimeter and controlled the situation. What did I do? "Hunnneeee....I've got to get some sleeeeep. Kelli didn't gripe. Didn't scold me. Didn't whine (since there was enough for both of us). She got up and rocked Kelsi to sleep.
Despite my efforts, at times I can still be quite lame.
Kelli...is awesome.
do my glands look swollen to you? I think I'm beginning to feel flushed.
btw -- I had to go to webmd to learn that this was bacterial, and not viral.
btw -- Cotter threw up in the car on the way to get the ladies' medicine. He's fine. Just sympathetic.
btw -- it took over two hours to fill the prescription. The scripts were for penecillin and a penecillin variant. It's not like they had to fly to Africa and hunt down some ebola-stricken monkey to create an antivirus. I'm standing at the counter and thinking, "I'm no pharmacy tech graduate, but I think even I could to to the 'p' shelf and find what I'm looking for." And Kaylyn's cost nearly $60 -- with the copay. Took it home and she doesn't care for the flavor. So, not suprisingly, she's not keen on taking it. But I've informed her, for $60, she'll be swallowing down every last drop of that suspension liquid -- so we don't have to buy it again.
btw -- when Bryan goes shopping and has to wait two hours, he ends up as a casualty of 'impulse purchases." I actually bought scissors yesterday because they were only $1. I need scissors like I need a hole in the head. Which is what the scissors are for, I suppose.
btw -- speaking of a hole in the head: my Wal-Mart associate actually said this - - "They can find a way to re-attach a head to a spinal column, but they haven't found a cure for strep." I just nodded my head, thankful that I didn't need to have it reattached to my spinal column.
and one more thing -- when I get sick, Kelli just has one more baby to take care of. When Kelli get's sick...Kelli just has one more baby to take care of. I tried to buck up and do her job...but I'm wasn't very good at it. At 3:30 when Kelsi woke up because Cotter cried out that Pinnocchio's nose scared him, I should have gotten up and secured the perimeter and controlled the situation. What did I do? "Hunnneeee....I've got to get some sleeeeep. Kelli didn't gripe. Didn't scold me. Didn't whine (since there was enough for both of us). She got up and rocked Kelsi to sleep.
Despite my efforts, at times I can still be quite lame.
Kelli...is awesome.
do my glands look swollen to you? I think I'm beginning to feel flushed.
sacrilegious hocus pocus
Illusionists Penn & Teller, Lance Burton, & "the Amazing Jonathan" (I can't even type that name with a straight face) band together to ricule Christ, His followers.
1/21/2003
proverbs #19
Satan loves to keep Christians so over-busy in "the Lord's work" that the Lord can get no opportunity to tell them what He wants them to do.
1/20/2003
my statement of resignation
Back in seminary, Kelli and I made the determination that we would always be willing to follow God wherever He was leading us. Throughout the years following that commitment, the Lord has taken us to exciting places of spiritual discovery and development. His leading brought us here to First Southern Baptist Church, and we have thanked God every day for allowing me to pastor a church family that has loved us and supported us. I’m quite certain that I have learned more than I have taught and my family has been blessed repeatedly by your sacrifice and generosity. When we arrived here just a short fifteen months ago, we came with dreams and expectations of establishing a lifelong ministry here, pledging to ourselves and to you that we would invest our lives here as long as the Lord ordained for us to do so.
Recently, I was contacted by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to discuss becoming involved with a ministry opportunity. When I learned that I would be unable to be a part of that ministry and continue serving as your pastor, I declined the opportunity. NAMB continued to pursue the possibility, and I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that I had pledged to always be willing to go wherever He called, whenever He called. After much prayer and much discussion with Kelli, we have determined that God is indeed calling me to resign my position as pastor of this fine church, effective February 16, 2003, to assume responsibilities as the men’s missions education editor for the North American Mission Board. This new opportunity will allow me to use the gifts of writing and editing multiple publications, teaching in conferences around the country, and also to develop the pastoral gifts of counseling and encouraging.
Kelli and I want to thank you for all that you have done for us and alongside us. We want to thank you for loving us and praying for all of us. We truly believe that God has wonderful blessings in store for this church and we are excited to hear all He accomplishes through you in the years ahead. Please know we will continue in prayer for you. Thank you and we love you.
Recently, I was contacted by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to discuss becoming involved with a ministry opportunity. When I learned that I would be unable to be a part of that ministry and continue serving as your pastor, I declined the opportunity. NAMB continued to pursue the possibility, and I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that I had pledged to always be willing to go wherever He called, whenever He called. After much prayer and much discussion with Kelli, we have determined that God is indeed calling me to resign my position as pastor of this fine church, effective February 16, 2003, to assume responsibilities as the men’s missions education editor for the North American Mission Board. This new opportunity will allow me to use the gifts of writing and editing multiple publications, teaching in conferences around the country, and also to develop the pastoral gifts of counseling and encouraging.
Kelli and I want to thank you for all that you have done for us and alongside us. We want to thank you for loving us and praying for all of us. We truly believe that God has wonderful blessings in store for this church and we are excited to hear all He accomplishes through you in the years ahead. Please know we will continue in prayer for you. Thank you and we love you.
1/19/2003
more on sanctity
got this story from this blog, both of which are very good.
two quick comments:
1. this is a great quote, wisely worded: "By working together to protect the weak, the imperfect and the unwanted, we affirm a culture of hope and help ensure a brighter future for all."
I believe that the unborn since 1972 have been denied their civil rights. The right to life. The right to liberty. And the right to the pursuit of happiness.
2. NARAL says that this is a "decision to be made between a woman and her doctor." The doctor in focus is most often an abortionist who daily violates his/her hippocratic oath to protect and preserve life because of significant financial motivations. The woman is most often frightened, uncertain, confused, and/or inconvenienced by the presence of the infant human child in her womb. AND -- most often, the man responsible for the contribution of the sperm to the ovum (remember, that's still how pregancy occurs) is excluded or absent.
How often can 'good decisions' come from two people -- one of whom is fearful of the inevitably dramatic change of life and the other who is driven almost exclusively by greed -- when two others who have an intimately vested interest (see: father and child) in the outcome?.
One more thing -- in the 90 seconds it took to read this entry, five (5) infant human children were murdered at the hands of an abortionist.
five futures never realized
five voices never heard
five smiles never seen
five life dreams never pursued
five family lines never blessed
five cries never comforted
five potentials
lost
for what?
two quick comments:
1. this is a great quote, wisely worded: "By working together to protect the weak, the imperfect and the unwanted, we affirm a culture of hope and help ensure a brighter future for all."
I believe that the unborn since 1972 have been denied their civil rights. The right to life. The right to liberty. And the right to the pursuit of happiness.
2. NARAL says that this is a "decision to be made between a woman and her doctor." The doctor in focus is most often an abortionist who daily violates his/her hippocratic oath to protect and preserve life because of significant financial motivations. The woman is most often frightened, uncertain, confused, and/or inconvenienced by the presence of the infant human child in her womb. AND -- most often, the man responsible for the contribution of the sperm to the ovum (remember, that's still how pregancy occurs) is excluded or absent.
How often can 'good decisions' come from two people -- one of whom is fearful of the inevitably dramatic change of life and the other who is driven almost exclusively by greed -- when two others who have an intimately vested interest (see: father and child) in the outcome?.
One more thing -- in the 90 seconds it took to read this entry, five (5) infant human children were murdered at the hands of an abortionist.
five futures never realized
five voices never heard
five smiles never seen
five life dreams never pursued
five family lines never blessed
five cries never comforted
five potentials
lost
for what?
the sanctity of human life
one father's dedication to his daughter
the well-presented ohio right to life page
some images of the grace of God
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! (Psalm 139:15-17)
global average of women to abortions -- 1:1
and on a related note
two stories I wrote for SBCLife for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday back in 1998, and another on the loss of a precious life, grieved by a seminary dean (and here are the sites related to his son's convicted murderer).
the well-presented ohio right to life page
some images of the grace of God
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! (Psalm 139:15-17)
global average of women to abortions -- 1:1
and on a related note
two stories I wrote for SBCLife for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday back in 1998, and another on the loss of a precious life, grieved by a seminary dean (and here are the sites related to his son's convicted murderer).
sermon
Our church has experienced some exciting situations in the past week, and those experiences have led me to seek the Lord’s leading on what to preach. And because I’ve always strived to be responsive to the Holy Spirit, today’s message, you will find, does not share the title nor scripture of the one printed in your bulletin.
About ten days ago, we came together for a monthly ministry meeting, and the subject of the school came up, as it often does. There was, for the first time in my time here, real discussion about the school ministry. The main result out of that meeting was a newfound awareness of on the part of the church to search for the will of God through fervent prayer. After listening to the fine message by chaplain Pritt given last Sunday, and the words of those who felt led to speak before the congregation emphasize this need and reality even more. Then, just this past Wednesday, in our church council and deacons meetings, two themes prevailed through both discussions: prayer and revival.
Prayer and revival. Revival and prayer. Two sides to the same coin. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Bert and Ernie. Laurel and Hardy. We’ve been talking about prayer and revival for fifteen months here, and for all the talk that has been had, we’ve seen little in terms of prayer and even less in terms of revival. Oh yes, we’ve got the same 25 people showing up each week for our prayer meeting. And I thank God for that 25. And I absolutely believe God (can and) will do more with 25 people devoted to prayer than he will with a church of thousands going through the motions. So please do not hear me being critical to anyone who has made a commitment to being a prayer warrior for the kingdom. The problem we’re experiencing, in my observation is because we have confused the mechanics of prayer for the purpose of prayer. Too many of us seem to think just because we close our eyes and bow our heads and say a few words and wrap it up in a bow that says “In Jesus’ Name I pray,” then God is somehow bound by a magic spell to answer our prayer. This isn’t prayer, any more than my going into the capitol building and shouting “helloooo” to hear my echo is me addressing congress.
In this spirit, I believe God has given me a message today that we may be corrected on what God wants and expects from us if this church ever is to experience spiritual victory and the accomplishment of all that God has planned for this church. My prayer is that All of God’s people will hear His word and be convicted and encouraged wherever the Spirit reigns.
Today, I don’t have a fancy three point alliterated message for us. I only have one verse of Scripture that we will receive from the Holy Spirit and examine for understanding and submission. The scripture is this, found in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.
The reason why the Lord has given me this verse, I believe is two-fold. First of all, I believe He has given this passage because it is one of the most popular scriptures in terms of all the “talk and rhetoric” of revival and prayer. Christians all over this church, all over this country will be quick to quote this scripture in the conversation that says, “we just need to be praying for revival.” Whenever this scripture is said, its almost always followed by “amens” and “that’s right” but I’m not so confident that it is often followed by actual prayer. So, let’s break it down and let the Lord speak to us, so that we may, as James says, be doers and not just hearers of the word, so that we will not deceive ourselves.
First off, God addresses the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to “my people who are called by my name.” He is talking to us! We need to understand this – God is not waiting, as Richard Harris says, “for the pagan, mean, evil, depraved, ruthless, decadent lost sinners to come to him so he can heal the land.” He is waiting for His people. Those who are called according to His name. He is waiting for His bride, the church. God understands that it is the nature of people in darkness to behave darkly. It is the nature of man to be a sinner. It is the nature of one who is a slave to the world to behave the way their master dictates. But God has issued the clarion call, “my people, who are called by my name!”
How many of you here are Christians? Raise your hand. That word “Christian” is the name of God. It’s not your name. It’s His Name. Jesus is the Christ. If you are a Christian, then you are a follower of Christ. And if you are a child of God according to His name, then God is talking to you! He is waiting for us to get to a point where we can handle and receive God’s blessing. He’s waiting for us to become “bless-able.” But we’re not behaving that way. We are the children of God behaving like we are the sons of the adversary. We are children of light who prefer to live in spiritual darkness. We are children of truth, who choose to deal with lies and deception. We are children of the King who reject the prosperity of heaven for the poverty of the flesh. And as long as we conduct ourselves in this manner, we will not hear from God, and we will not receive the fulfillment of His promises of blessing.
And some of you here today will be quick to say that you’ve been forgiven for all your conduct and so you justify bad behavior incorrectly under the encompassing grace of God. And if you are tempted to make that mistake, I encourage you to hear the next words. God declares, “if you will humble yourselves.
And if He’s waiting for us, what is in the world is He waiting for? He’s waiting for us to humble ourselves! He says, “If you will humble yourselves….” He’s making it clear here that God’s people have a paramount need to humble ourselves. And if I ask “do you know what it means to humble yourselves?” I’m not being clever or mean spirited. I’m honestly asking, because some people do not have a clue what it means to be humble. They don’t know what it takes to move from a high and lofty estimation of one’s self, and to humbly lower themselves, so that they are thinking of themselves appropriately.
To humble ourselves mean to rid ourselves of pride. What does God say about pride? He refuses to answer prayer because of pride. It causes sinful words to fall from our mouths. Pride inevitably brings about shame. Its fruit is contention. It deceives. It generates violence. And most important, the Lord has set Himself in opposition to the proud. He hates it and will bring low those who are filled with pride.
As bad as pride is, you would think it would be so obvious to recognize. But pride thrives when cloaked as false humility. In fact, Paul sternly warns the Christians to not be defrauded of their reward by those who are guilty of false humility. And false humility is Satan’s tool to indulge the desires of the flesh using sweetly-worded but never-fulfilled motives. And the tactic is so effective because often, God’s people don’t want to look ‘mean’ by challenging or confronting something that sounds so good and nice. And when that occurs, sin dwells in the camp of the Lord, and the cause of the Kingdom suffers.
We must rid ourselves of pride. We must confess that our ways are sinful. We must declare – no way but God’s way! We must say, “I don’t care if I have to go back to ground zero, to step one, to ‘point A,’ I will humble myself and deny and reject and repent of anything that has come between me and my Savior Jesus Christ.
We also must rid ourselves of self-sufficiency. So many Christians, and dare I say, too many of us, are self-sufficient. We claim to want to glorify God, but only if we can do it for Him. We say we want to trust Jesus, but we hold on to our money and our time and our talents like they are non-renewable resources. Friends, this is just not possible. We bring no glory to God on our own. We bring nothing but our availability to the table when it comes to bringing Glory to God. Anything that we have in life we only have because He has given it to us, and we must therefore release our grip of death upon it or it just may turn around and choke the life right out of us! God brings glory to Himself, and He has ordained to use man to accomplish this. But He has no fellowship with the proud, He sets Himself against the proud in opposition, and He will glorify Himself at the expense of the proud if the proud will not humble themselves.
Then God says, “pray.” Again, we do such a good job talking about prayer. But too few are really doing it. We still have people who will show up faithfully for business meetings to make sure their vote is counted on a ministry where they’ve got a vested interest, but they won’t make the time to come pray with their church family the other three Wednesdays a week. We have people who are quick to decry the evils of this world and Satan’s seemingly firm grip on the things of this world, but would never dare to engage the enemy through fervent prayer.
Maybe we need to be reminded what prayer is. Prayer is nothing less than the vehicle that moves us from our will to God’s will. Prayer doesn’t inform God of our motives; it is to align us to His purpose. Praying is submitting oneself to God’s perfect will, no matter what His will provides. It means accepting God on His terms, not challenging Him to accept us on ours.
I tell you this, too. We must – must – cease offering prayers that the Lord cannot answer. When we ask God to bless people (namely ourselves) who are mired in sin, the Lord cannot answer that prayer. And if you want to counter, “the Lord can do anything,” I’d argue that the Lord cannot do anything that is in contradiction with His character and nature. He hates sin. He will not bless sin. He will judge it, though, and we are told to flee from His judgment, not ask for it! Furthermore, we can no longer ask God to bless ministries – any ministry – that has born fruit of dissention and animosity. He simply will not do it! And I tell you this – its not the ministry’s fault. It’s the people’s fault. Ministries – even ones that still manufacture good works – can lose the blessing of God when the pride of people leads that ministry to be operated in the flesh than in the Spirit. And God’s people cannot presume upon God that He is obliged to bless something that He left because He opposes the pride of those who are stewards over it.
On the heels of prayer, God says, “seek my face.” The only way we as Christians, our ministries, our church is pleasing in the sight of God is if we humbly, fervently seek His face. You cannot have a proud heart and see the face of God. You cannot entrench yourself and say, “we will not change, we will do it my way,” and expect to see God smiling upon you. Only by seeking His face can we see ourselves as we truly are. Only by catching the glimpse of the Father can we see the error of our ways. Flesh loves pride. Ego breeds the pharisaic ‘holier-than-thou” attitude. Only when we behold the countenance of our high, holy, perfect, pure Father God do we recognize the truth. This is who we are: sinners in need of forgiveness. Fallen people saved by grace. Redeemed believers who are called, commanded, and accountable to be ambassadors of Jesus to this lost and dying world.
God says we must turn from our wicked ways. He is calling us to repent. We must turn from our ways. They are wicked. Ways that attack our brothers and sisters in Christ are deplorable, disgusting, and wicked. We must turn from them! We must turn away from the words and deeds that destroy the fabric of unity of our church. We must turn from the ways that advance our own cause at the expense of the body. It doesn’t matter how much you support any person, any ministry, any cause. If you have said or done anything – ever – to damage this church, whether you intended to or not, you must repent!
And I say this, too. It doesn’t mean just saying “I’m sorry.” I’ve discovered that “I’m sorry” and and a $10 bill will buy you a small coffee at Starbucks, and leave the clerk thinking you felt bad you didn’t have a $20 for the next larger size. “I’m sorry” are two cheap, hollow, ineffectual words that do more harm than good if they are said in a spirit of repentance. Repentance is much more than just being sorry. It is true remorse that you have offended the other. You are only repentant if you are grieved in your spirit that something you said or did inflicted harm on another. Repentance means that not only are you full of regret, but you will be intentional about not inflicting further damage on that person again.
With this in mind, I say this – if you think you are a Christian just because you said “I’m sorry” to God, you may be full of false hope. The standard that God has set is repentance. Jesus said, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” You must turn from your wicked ways, you must forsake evil, and pursue the ways of God by the leading of His Holy Spirit.
If we do not turn from our wicked ways, we will experience two inevitable results. First of all, you’ll see that nothing will change. The ministries that struggle now will continue to struggle. The battle for commitment will continue to seem like a losing one. The peace, the joy, the fellowship – they’ll all continue to be tidal experiences, coming and going, rising and falling based upon the crowd you happen to be with at the moment. And if our church still refuses to turn from its wicked ways – individually and corporately – God will remove His hand of grace and provision from it completely. And if He ever does that, our church will join the cemetery of churches filling Florence that are alive but dead, open but closed, gathering but not communing. May we commit to not letting that become the destiny of our church. May we today establish a firm resolve to humble ourselves, to pray, to seek His face, and to turn from our wicked ways.
If we will do this today – God has given us this promise: “I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.”
Oh, that we would grasp the beauty and majesty of this promise. He will hear our prayer. He will turn to face us. He will return to fellowship with us. He will revive our Spirits. He will restore us to prominence. He will heal our land. He will cure us. He will commune with us.
My heart’s cry for fifteen months has been that the Lord would hear our prayer. That he would end the infighting. That He would bind the enemy. That He would prosper our ministries. That He would grow His kingdom through us. That He would stir up the hearts of our men to be leaders. That He would pour His Living Water to quench the fires of contention. That He would heal our land. I believe in my heart that you want that, too. But we must humble ourselves. We must pray. We must seek His face. And we must turn from our wicked ways.
And we must be willing to spare no expense for this to occur. Today, I expect the Holy Spirit to move you from your pews. I have asked God, I have begged God to convict you of your hard-hearts. I have asked God to convict your spirits of apathy. I have implored God to reveal your actions and attitudes of pride. I’ve asked God to do these things not so one side or the other can say “AHA!” but so the congregation can say, “amen. Lord, hear our prayer!” God is eager to heal us. His Holy Spirit is aggressively moving today so that we can have renewed fellowship with Him. Today, this church must commit to undoing years – and I mean years – of evil, wicked ways – making it right with whomever has been harmed – no matter what the expense. What this church does today, individually and corporately, sets the agenda for its course of the future.
About ten days ago, we came together for a monthly ministry meeting, and the subject of the school came up, as it often does. There was, for the first time in my time here, real discussion about the school ministry. The main result out of that meeting was a newfound awareness of on the part of the church to search for the will of God through fervent prayer. After listening to the fine message by chaplain Pritt given last Sunday, and the words of those who felt led to speak before the congregation emphasize this need and reality even more. Then, just this past Wednesday, in our church council and deacons meetings, two themes prevailed through both discussions: prayer and revival.
Prayer and revival. Revival and prayer. Two sides to the same coin. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Bert and Ernie. Laurel and Hardy. We’ve been talking about prayer and revival for fifteen months here, and for all the talk that has been had, we’ve seen little in terms of prayer and even less in terms of revival. Oh yes, we’ve got the same 25 people showing up each week for our prayer meeting. And I thank God for that 25. And I absolutely believe God (can and) will do more with 25 people devoted to prayer than he will with a church of thousands going through the motions. So please do not hear me being critical to anyone who has made a commitment to being a prayer warrior for the kingdom. The problem we’re experiencing, in my observation is because we have confused the mechanics of prayer for the purpose of prayer. Too many of us seem to think just because we close our eyes and bow our heads and say a few words and wrap it up in a bow that says “In Jesus’ Name I pray,” then God is somehow bound by a magic spell to answer our prayer. This isn’t prayer, any more than my going into the capitol building and shouting “helloooo” to hear my echo is me addressing congress.
In this spirit, I believe God has given me a message today that we may be corrected on what God wants and expects from us if this church ever is to experience spiritual victory and the accomplishment of all that God has planned for this church. My prayer is that All of God’s people will hear His word and be convicted and encouraged wherever the Spirit reigns.
Today, I don’t have a fancy three point alliterated message for us. I only have one verse of Scripture that we will receive from the Holy Spirit and examine for understanding and submission. The scripture is this, found in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.
The reason why the Lord has given me this verse, I believe is two-fold. First of all, I believe He has given this passage because it is one of the most popular scriptures in terms of all the “talk and rhetoric” of revival and prayer. Christians all over this church, all over this country will be quick to quote this scripture in the conversation that says, “we just need to be praying for revival.” Whenever this scripture is said, its almost always followed by “amens” and “that’s right” but I’m not so confident that it is often followed by actual prayer. So, let’s break it down and let the Lord speak to us, so that we may, as James says, be doers and not just hearers of the word, so that we will not deceive ourselves.
First off, God addresses the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to “my people who are called by my name.” He is talking to us! We need to understand this – God is not waiting, as Richard Harris says, “for the pagan, mean, evil, depraved, ruthless, decadent lost sinners to come to him so he can heal the land.” He is waiting for His people. Those who are called according to His name. He is waiting for His bride, the church. God understands that it is the nature of people in darkness to behave darkly. It is the nature of man to be a sinner. It is the nature of one who is a slave to the world to behave the way their master dictates. But God has issued the clarion call, “my people, who are called by my name!”
How many of you here are Christians? Raise your hand. That word “Christian” is the name of God. It’s not your name. It’s His Name. Jesus is the Christ. If you are a Christian, then you are a follower of Christ. And if you are a child of God according to His name, then God is talking to you! He is waiting for us to get to a point where we can handle and receive God’s blessing. He’s waiting for us to become “bless-able.” But we’re not behaving that way. We are the children of God behaving like we are the sons of the adversary. We are children of light who prefer to live in spiritual darkness. We are children of truth, who choose to deal with lies and deception. We are children of the King who reject the prosperity of heaven for the poverty of the flesh. And as long as we conduct ourselves in this manner, we will not hear from God, and we will not receive the fulfillment of His promises of blessing.
And some of you here today will be quick to say that you’ve been forgiven for all your conduct and so you justify bad behavior incorrectly under the encompassing grace of God. And if you are tempted to make that mistake, I encourage you to hear the next words. God declares, “if you will humble yourselves.
And if He’s waiting for us, what is in the world is He waiting for? He’s waiting for us to humble ourselves! He says, “If you will humble yourselves….” He’s making it clear here that God’s people have a paramount need to humble ourselves. And if I ask “do you know what it means to humble yourselves?” I’m not being clever or mean spirited. I’m honestly asking, because some people do not have a clue what it means to be humble. They don’t know what it takes to move from a high and lofty estimation of one’s self, and to humbly lower themselves, so that they are thinking of themselves appropriately.
To humble ourselves mean to rid ourselves of pride. What does God say about pride? He refuses to answer prayer because of pride. It causes sinful words to fall from our mouths. Pride inevitably brings about shame. Its fruit is contention. It deceives. It generates violence. And most important, the Lord has set Himself in opposition to the proud. He hates it and will bring low those who are filled with pride.
As bad as pride is, you would think it would be so obvious to recognize. But pride thrives when cloaked as false humility. In fact, Paul sternly warns the Christians to not be defrauded of their reward by those who are guilty of false humility. And false humility is Satan’s tool to indulge the desires of the flesh using sweetly-worded but never-fulfilled motives. And the tactic is so effective because often, God’s people don’t want to look ‘mean’ by challenging or confronting something that sounds so good and nice. And when that occurs, sin dwells in the camp of the Lord, and the cause of the Kingdom suffers.
We must rid ourselves of pride. We must confess that our ways are sinful. We must declare – no way but God’s way! We must say, “I don’t care if I have to go back to ground zero, to step one, to ‘point A,’ I will humble myself and deny and reject and repent of anything that has come between me and my Savior Jesus Christ.
We also must rid ourselves of self-sufficiency. So many Christians, and dare I say, too many of us, are self-sufficient. We claim to want to glorify God, but only if we can do it for Him. We say we want to trust Jesus, but we hold on to our money and our time and our talents like they are non-renewable resources. Friends, this is just not possible. We bring no glory to God on our own. We bring nothing but our availability to the table when it comes to bringing Glory to God. Anything that we have in life we only have because He has given it to us, and we must therefore release our grip of death upon it or it just may turn around and choke the life right out of us! God brings glory to Himself, and He has ordained to use man to accomplish this. But He has no fellowship with the proud, He sets Himself against the proud in opposition, and He will glorify Himself at the expense of the proud if the proud will not humble themselves.
Then God says, “pray.” Again, we do such a good job talking about prayer. But too few are really doing it. We still have people who will show up faithfully for business meetings to make sure their vote is counted on a ministry where they’ve got a vested interest, but they won’t make the time to come pray with their church family the other three Wednesdays a week. We have people who are quick to decry the evils of this world and Satan’s seemingly firm grip on the things of this world, but would never dare to engage the enemy through fervent prayer.
Maybe we need to be reminded what prayer is. Prayer is nothing less than the vehicle that moves us from our will to God’s will. Prayer doesn’t inform God of our motives; it is to align us to His purpose. Praying is submitting oneself to God’s perfect will, no matter what His will provides. It means accepting God on His terms, not challenging Him to accept us on ours.
I tell you this, too. We must – must – cease offering prayers that the Lord cannot answer. When we ask God to bless people (namely ourselves) who are mired in sin, the Lord cannot answer that prayer. And if you want to counter, “the Lord can do anything,” I’d argue that the Lord cannot do anything that is in contradiction with His character and nature. He hates sin. He will not bless sin. He will judge it, though, and we are told to flee from His judgment, not ask for it! Furthermore, we can no longer ask God to bless ministries – any ministry – that has born fruit of dissention and animosity. He simply will not do it! And I tell you this – its not the ministry’s fault. It’s the people’s fault. Ministries – even ones that still manufacture good works – can lose the blessing of God when the pride of people leads that ministry to be operated in the flesh than in the Spirit. And God’s people cannot presume upon God that He is obliged to bless something that He left because He opposes the pride of those who are stewards over it.
On the heels of prayer, God says, “seek my face.” The only way we as Christians, our ministries, our church is pleasing in the sight of God is if we humbly, fervently seek His face. You cannot have a proud heart and see the face of God. You cannot entrench yourself and say, “we will not change, we will do it my way,” and expect to see God smiling upon you. Only by seeking His face can we see ourselves as we truly are. Only by catching the glimpse of the Father can we see the error of our ways. Flesh loves pride. Ego breeds the pharisaic ‘holier-than-thou” attitude. Only when we behold the countenance of our high, holy, perfect, pure Father God do we recognize the truth. This is who we are: sinners in need of forgiveness. Fallen people saved by grace. Redeemed believers who are called, commanded, and accountable to be ambassadors of Jesus to this lost and dying world.
God says we must turn from our wicked ways. He is calling us to repent. We must turn from our ways. They are wicked. Ways that attack our brothers and sisters in Christ are deplorable, disgusting, and wicked. We must turn from them! We must turn away from the words and deeds that destroy the fabric of unity of our church. We must turn from the ways that advance our own cause at the expense of the body. It doesn’t matter how much you support any person, any ministry, any cause. If you have said or done anything – ever – to damage this church, whether you intended to or not, you must repent!
And I say this, too. It doesn’t mean just saying “I’m sorry.” I’ve discovered that “I’m sorry” and and a $10 bill will buy you a small coffee at Starbucks, and leave the clerk thinking you felt bad you didn’t have a $20 for the next larger size. “I’m sorry” are two cheap, hollow, ineffectual words that do more harm than good if they are said in a spirit of repentance. Repentance is much more than just being sorry. It is true remorse that you have offended the other. You are only repentant if you are grieved in your spirit that something you said or did inflicted harm on another. Repentance means that not only are you full of regret, but you will be intentional about not inflicting further damage on that person again.
With this in mind, I say this – if you think you are a Christian just because you said “I’m sorry” to God, you may be full of false hope. The standard that God has set is repentance. Jesus said, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” You must turn from your wicked ways, you must forsake evil, and pursue the ways of God by the leading of His Holy Spirit.
If we do not turn from our wicked ways, we will experience two inevitable results. First of all, you’ll see that nothing will change. The ministries that struggle now will continue to struggle. The battle for commitment will continue to seem like a losing one. The peace, the joy, the fellowship – they’ll all continue to be tidal experiences, coming and going, rising and falling based upon the crowd you happen to be with at the moment. And if our church still refuses to turn from its wicked ways – individually and corporately – God will remove His hand of grace and provision from it completely. And if He ever does that, our church will join the cemetery of churches filling Florence that are alive but dead, open but closed, gathering but not communing. May we commit to not letting that become the destiny of our church. May we today establish a firm resolve to humble ourselves, to pray, to seek His face, and to turn from our wicked ways.
If we will do this today – God has given us this promise: “I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.”
Oh, that we would grasp the beauty and majesty of this promise. He will hear our prayer. He will turn to face us. He will return to fellowship with us. He will revive our Spirits. He will restore us to prominence. He will heal our land. He will cure us. He will commune with us.
My heart’s cry for fifteen months has been that the Lord would hear our prayer. That he would end the infighting. That He would bind the enemy. That He would prosper our ministries. That He would grow His kingdom through us. That He would stir up the hearts of our men to be leaders. That He would pour His Living Water to quench the fires of contention. That He would heal our land. I believe in my heart that you want that, too. But we must humble ourselves. We must pray. We must seek His face. And we must turn from our wicked ways.
And we must be willing to spare no expense for this to occur. Today, I expect the Holy Spirit to move you from your pews. I have asked God, I have begged God to convict you of your hard-hearts. I have asked God to convict your spirits of apathy. I have implored God to reveal your actions and attitudes of pride. I’ve asked God to do these things not so one side or the other can say “AHA!” but so the congregation can say, “amen. Lord, hear our prayer!” God is eager to heal us. His Holy Spirit is aggressively moving today so that we can have renewed fellowship with Him. Today, this church must commit to undoing years – and I mean years – of evil, wicked ways – making it right with whomever has been harmed – no matter what the expense. What this church does today, individually and corporately, sets the agenda for its course of the future.
proverbs #17
to put off repentance another day means one more to repent of and one less to repent in.
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