2015

Defeated

July 21, 2015 0Comment

When Dylann Roof shot up the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, it was evil on display. As a Christian, I think my concentration should be on good: love, God, Jesus, etc. However, at a time like this, in the wake of such a horrific act, I contemplate evil. If I believe in Jesus, then I have to believe in the antagonist…the Bad Guy or the Devil. In our advanced, Western culture, we kind of forget that the Bad Guy exists. It was Kevin Spacey’s character in the “Usual Suspects” that said, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”. His existence remains so mystical because it appears that he needs a human partner to pull off his evil deeds. The human partner, though somewhat culpable, takes the full blame and hides the true author of the evil deed. In other words, Dylann Roof pulled the trigger that killed those nine people. He should be held accountable, but we should not give the Bad Guy a free pass. It is simply impossible that nine people can be killed at a church, during a freaking Bible Study without the Bad Guy having a hand in it.

The Bad Guy is shrewd. The Bible says that he is not to be underestimated. Nevertheless, he showed his true impotence when compared with Jesus. I think the Devil simply overplayed his hand in Charleston. Don’t get me wrong, the killing of nine people is tragic beyond the power of words. However, as Roof himself said, the killings were supposed to start a race war. On the heels of the Ferguson and Baltimore, a race war, or at least a prolonged riot was very possible. And I would venture to say that Charleston is as racially divided as any city, especially since it was in North Charleston earlier this year, where a white cop was charged with murder for killing a black man. But a race war did not start. In fact, the opposite happened. We saw anger. We saw mourning. But we also saw forgiveness, mercy, honor, obedience, and perhaps the greatest display of Jesus’ true power that I have ever witnessed. Dylann Roof might have partnered with the Bad Guy to kill those people, but the people of Charleston, especially the people of the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, partnered with Jesus. The results are undeniable. The Devil was defeated in Charleston. I also believe that further defeat will follow. Although it won’t keep him from being executed and it probably won’t make the news, Dylann Roof will eventually give his life to Christ. And I believe it will be members of the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church who will lead him.

Charleston, however, is not the Bad Guy’s greatest defeat. He probably thought he had won when Jesus was crucified…….

I’m ending all my posts with an invitation to accept Jesus. If you would like at accept Jesus simply pray the following prayer or one like it: “Dear Lord, I’m a sinner. I acknowledge that You sent Your son, Jesus, to die for my sins. I humbly accept Your son, Jesus, and I now further acknowledge that I am forgiven of my past sins, my present sins, and my future sins.” If you prayed that simple prayer, you are saved. Now, you need to follow Jesus. Start reading your Bible. I would suggest starting with Matthew, reading all of the New Testament, then reading the Old Testament. Also, find a good church. Christianity was never meant to be done alone. You need to be in community with other believers.

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Heavenly Father’s Day

July 13, 2015 0Comment

A while back, I saw a facebook post written on Father’s Day. The gentleman who wrote the post said, “I’m going out to buy my mother something for Father’s Day”. That’s comical and sad all in the same breath. It’s strange, but most people (with a few exceptions, of course) have a positive opinion of their mothers. However, the opinions of their fathers are much more diverse, and sometimes much more negative.

The negative opinions of fathers has serious consequences for churches and Christianity, in general. For instance, when I think of the term “Heavenly Father”, I immediately think of the positive attributes of my earthly father. I was blessed with a good earthly father. However, if I’d had bad earthly father, then I would probably project his negative attributes to my Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, there are people whose earthly father was so bad that they can’t possibly comprehend the greatness of their Heavenly Father. As a result, God and Christianity doesn’t have much appeal to them. I believe it is a very effective strategy of the Bad Guy to attack earthly fatherhood because it diminishes the appeal of Heavenly Fatherhood. Tony Evans, Charles Stanley, and others have also spoken about the breakdown of earthly fatherhood (and probably much more eloquently than I).

Fortunately, there are practical solutions to the problem of bad earthly fathers. The first solution is forgiveness of bad earthly fathers. Fatherhood is a hard job. Being a good father is even harder. Cut your earthly father some slack. I’m sure he made poor choices, but maybe he had a bad earthly father as well, and that bad example got passed down the hereditary line to you. The second solution is the obvious, especially if you’re a father…..become a good earthly father. Most of us already know our shortcomings. We just need to have the will and the discipline to change. If you didn’t have an example of a good earthly father, find one. Get with a pastor. He can direct you to Godly men who are also good earthly fathers.

You should also crack open your Bible because the best example of fatherhood can be found there.

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Spiritual Warfare

June 30, 2015 2Comments

In our supposedly civilized, educated, western society, the term “Spiritual Warfare” raises more than a few eyebrows. Most people, including many Christians, think that the Spiritual Warfare is a superstitious remnant of bygone evolutionary era. The mention of the Devil and demons makes people more uncomfortable than wool underwear. Mention the Devil and demons too much and you’ll either get committed and or people will treat you like Forrest Gump on the school bus. So, why even mention it all? Primarily because I think that I’ve been called to mention it. Now, don’t get me wrong. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people who get a prompting from God, and then act on it immediately. I’ve been called to mention Spiritual Warfare for a while, and I haven’t because I didn’t want people to think I’m weird. One of my family members already said that I’ve joined a cult. While the topic is a little weird to most people, the Devil and demons are well documented throughout the Bible. And like I’ve said before, if I believe in God and Jesus, then I’m obligated to believe in the opposition.

So once we acknowledge the Devil and demons exist, the next logical questions are: What do they do? How do they operate? The Bible says that the Devil’s goal is to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). He is also described as “a lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The keys to a healthy understanding of the Devil and demons are truth and balance. The truths: 1) They exist, 2) They were defeated on the cross, and 3) God is infinitely more powerful than they are.

So, one might ask: if they were defeated and God’s more powerful, then why consider them? It’s kind of a warfare mindset. For instance, by 1945 the Nazis knew they were going to lose World War II, but knowing the inevitable outcome of the war didn’t keep them from fighting until the bitter end and killing as many soldiers as possible. In other words, the Devil and his helpers are going to harass and oppress as many people as they can until final end of the war.

Applying the preceding knowledge to everyday life is where balance is helpful. For instance, knowing that the Devil exists helps us understand why heinous acts, such as the Charleston church shooting, happen. Although I readily admit, it doesn’t help us understand why God allows it to happen. However, I don’t think we should run wild with the idea and expect demons to be involved in every aspect of life, such food spoiling in the refrigerator or the local sports team losing a game. Also, it’s not an exoneration for bad behavior. We all know a little kid who said the Devil made me do it. However, while not an exoneration, the Devil could be a contributing factor. It appears the he works with our weaknesses and faults to stack the deck against us, so to speak. So, while we have the final choice on whether we engage in bad behavior, no doubt we have been prodded and cultivated to a certain extent along the way. Another way the Devil works is through deception. The Bible calls him “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He can plant lies in our heads and make us believe that they are our own thoughts.

In closing, spiritual warfare can be scary stuff. Again, my advice is acknowledge it, consider it, don’t run away from it, but don’t run wild with it either. Also, my blog is, by no means, comprehensive. A more in depth study on spiritual warfare is Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson and any book by Charles Kraft.

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Faith, Hope, and Love

April 26, 2015 2Comments

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest is love.

I was in church this morning, and I felt like God wanted me to write this blog to one of my best friends and his family. I, of course, immediately made excuses why I shouldn’t write a blog to them. You see, my friend’s mother, Alice, just passed away, and his father also passed away very recently. It takes a lot of tact to write and to speak about biblical matters at a time of mourning. And to be quite honest, without God’s help, I am not up to the job.

The Bible says that there is a time for everything under the sun. There is a time for mourning, and now is definitely the time. My friend and his family are going to miss their parents. They are going to grieve, and there are no magic words that will fix that. But even in death and especially in death, three things remain: faith, hope, and love.

We have faith. We have faith in the promises that God made through Jesus. We have faith that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. We have faith that Alice has a new body, one that will never get old-no more sickness and no more pain.

We have hope. We have hope in that fact that the next time we see Alice, she will be in her prime. She will be complete and perfect.

But most of all, we have love. On Friday night, Alice’s visitation was held. As expected, there was mourning, but there was also an overwhelming sense of love for Alice and the family. And it’s certainly fitting for my friend because he loves people. He is probably one of the first people I ever knew who set the example of how to love people. He is inviting, generous, and non-judging. It was really cool to see that kind of love being reciprocated on Friday night.

To my friend: we are incredibly sorry for your loss, and we are here for you. But most importantly, we love you.

Defeated

Heavenly Father’s Day

Spiritual Warfare

Faith, Hope, and Love

You Missed

Intersection of this Life and the next Life

Child-Like

Inverse Hypocrisy

Spread it out before the Lord