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Two Dangers of the Past: Mistakes and Glory Days

August 4, 2015 0Comment

BnKDW7HCYAAB4Qn It’s almost cliché. Everyone says that you can’t live in the past. Don Henley in the “Boys of Summer” said, “A little voice inside my head said never look back. You can never look back.” Joe Dee Messina in her song, “Bye Bye” said, “I got my rear view mirror torn off, and I ain’t never looking back. And that’s a fact.” God also wants us to not live in past. An overriding theme of the Bible is that Jesus died for our past mistakes. Therefore, we are not condemned, but we are free from the guilt and shame associated with our former selves. It can be summed up in the following verse:

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

However, even though I know I am fully forgiven of all my mistakes (sins), sometimes I start thinking about them. Shame and guilt creep into my mind. Then I think about the sacrifice that Jesus made. He made that sacrifice so I wouldn’t have to feel shameful or guilty. I think it is border-line disrespectful to God to continue to dwell in shame and guilt when such a great sacrifice was made to rid me of shame and guilt.

Therefore, there’s a danger in living in the past. Dwelling in our past mistakes not only disrespects the sacrifice of Jesus, but it also hinders our development as Christians. It is difficult to be caring, loving, forgiving, charitable, and merciful to others if we can’t be caring, loving, forgiving, charitable, and merciful to ourselves. But there’s also an equally dangerous aspect of living in the past that has absolutely nothing to do with our past mistakes. I call it the “Glory Days” syndrome.

I know several people who want to live in the era of their past successes. This is especially true of men more so than women. And it’s just like the Bruce Springsteen song, “all he kept talking about….Glory Days”. Most of the time, the Glory Days consists of past accomplishments in sports, but the “Glory Days” can also be past successes at work or even past successes within the church. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging and celebrating our past successes. Past successes were, of course, blessings from God. However, when we live in the era of our past successes, we fall into the same trap as living in the past. It hinders our development as Christians. Our focus is in the wrong place. Our mission as Christians should be becoming more Christ-like as time goes on.

Paul puts this way in Philippians 3:13-14

¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So, we shouldn’t let the guilt and shame of past mistakes or the past successes of the Glory Days keep us from “straining forward to what lies ahead“.

PS: It’s okay to wear that senior high school jacket around the house for a few minutes. Just be sure to return it to the closet, when finished.

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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.

Two Dangers of the Past: Mistakes and Glory Days

Defeated

Heavenly Father’s Day

Spiritual Warfare

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