Another Fire

Associated Press headline: "Boy with matches started fire." (October 31, 2007, describing one source of the most recent California fires)
Local Church headline: "Member playing with words starts fire." (Way to often, describing the source of incredible damage to the Body of Christ)

I repeat the admonition of a few weeks back - "Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue. . .sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by Hell." (James 3:6)

We need to remind our kids and our arsonistic friends never to play with matches. We need to remind each other never to play with words. Both are too dangerous to imagine.

Listen!

Seems like the guys I am running with these days are all getting hard of hearing. It affects their speech too, I guess, because I have noticed that they mumble and it's often hard to hear what they say. Old ages has it problems.

Isaiah wrote God's words when He said, "I called and no one answered; I spoke and they didn't hear." (Isaiah 66:4) It's a difficult life when we cannot hear the Word of God. I know that we sometimes miss it because those who are charged with the responsibility to preach and teach get side tracked on issues other than Truth. The clamor of distraction keeps many from hearing the "still, small voice" of God's Spirit, and often, we are just too busy to stop and listen, hear, and understand. The last part of verse 4 in Isaiah 66 says that those who fail to hear choose evil and that in which the Lord does not delight.

Maybe it's time to get our hearing checked!

Touching People

“Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him.” Mark 1:41

We have used the term “touching people” metaphorically so often we may have lost sight of what it means to physically touch someone with a spiritual perspective. There are lots of reasons why we must be careful about touching people. Certainly Jesus had a reason not to touch this individual from the narrative in Mark. After all, not only was he contagious, it was a violation of the Levitical Law.

The key word here is “compassion.” Jesus recognized that meeting the needs of people involves more than words. Healing one of a disease is a paramount focus in this Scriptural passage, but it is also important to recognize that He has the opportunity to allow this man to regain some of his humanity, and He chose to exercise that option. We would not doubt that Jesus could have healed his body from across the street if He so chose. But He did not. He chose to touch, and with that touch to indicate that we who are the Body of Christ in this world can utilize this most human activity to convey the genuine llove of God for mankind.

It is always inappropriate to touch inappropriately. It is never right to touch someone who chooses to maintain a safe distance from others. But in most circumstances, a hand becomes a vehicle for the transference of care and concern, demonstrating authentic llove for one another. Jesus never separated His words from His work.

In Matthew 25, we are given the “inasmuch” ministries of life. All of them involve human contact. Feeding, clothing, visiting the sick and confined, all demand a measure of touching others. In so doing, we are, in reality, touching Him.

There is a lot of doubt in the world thatJesus Christ is real and that those who follow Him really care (read: llove) about others. When Jesus confronted that doubt about His reality in relationship to the Apostles, He said, “And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Touch me. . . .” Perhaps there is more significance there than we had imagined.

Viewing the Scene

Where I drive there are constantly Police cars, Ambulances, and Fire Trucks. People seem to keep running over each other or just "wrecking out" all by themselves. I've seen it all before (having been both a Police officer and a Paramedic). I have no desire to see any of it again.


But I am always behind someone, or someones, who want to gawk. Stop the traffic, nearly cause more of the same, and all because they must see what surely they must have seen a hundred times before.

I wish God's people had the desire to see what is all around them. The carnage left by the enemy in the lives of individuals is everywhere. We are the Police, Fireman, Paramedic they need as we practice the disciplines of llove and share the Truth which changes lives positively. Next time you see someone hurting, stop and llove. It's the right thing to do.

Headline

"Thousands flock to American football stadium to flee flames."

This AFP headline caught my attention. It's not unusual for thousands to flock to football stadiums. Most people would rather be there than, say, at Church.

My thoughts, however, ran to an old song I have heard a few times. It's about all the people who are flocking into the Churches of every Nation, one day too late. Whether one believes in "Hell-fire" or not, or the "rapture" of the believers, there is coming a day when it will be too late to avoid separation from God forever. The Bible speaks of a place where one is tormented in the flames, with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Nothing could be worse than coming to the final certainty there is no hope for all of eternity of being in the presence of God.

Flock over to the Church of Jesus Christ and discover how to escape the second death.

Is It Time?

Mike Huckabee! Can he beat some other guys in the early primaries? Some are saying yes.
Mr. Huckabee is a most interesting candidate. Conservative, Constructionist, Christian. Maybe it's time for a Check.

His election as President might cause me to rethink yesterday's blog.

Is The End Near?

I am sure most folks believe that the United Sates of America is invincible. We have the most powerful nation on Earth militarily. We have an unmatched financial capability, and our economy continues to thrive. Our standard of living, our health care, our resources, both from a human and production standpoint, are unmatched.

What is catching up with us is a collapse of the Governmental system we have established. If we don't find and utilize the right leadership in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government, we are nearing the end of this Nation as we know it.

The ignorance and apathy of a majority of individuals regarding these matters is incredible. When everyone who wants more from Government gets it, there will be an irreparable financial shortfall and our economy will collapse under it's own weight.

There are a few leaders out there who are not out there to allow such to happen. Let's pray God moves them to the forefront before it is too late.

Perseverance

Just when folks ought to be making a decision about joining the race for the White House (the election is still more than a year away), the race has been going on so long some are starting to drop out. Some pundits are saying the Democrat Party candidate is already assured and the other hopefuls are winding down rapidly. Whatever perseverance they had is waning in the difficulty of maintaining a candidacy which costs millions of dollars.

The fact is a lot of the folks who are part of the Family of God are having a struggle with perseverance as well. We should not. Paul told the Church at Rome (see Romans 5:3-4) that the difficulties that come our way build perseverance, and that endurance produces proven character, which in turn produces hope.

I hope the character producing difficulties of a Presidential race will result in some hope for the people of these United States that an individual worthy of the office will rise to the task. If not, we're in for some tough times.

What If?

I heard a part of Senator Craig's interview with Matt Lauer last night. I am choosing to believe him. If he is telling the truth, what has been done to him demands his forgiveness, even though typical of our society. His friends (worst of all), including Presidential candidates, Senate colleagues , the media, the "late night TV hosts", and others have defamed him shamelessly. If he is telling the truth, and even if he isn't, it is a tragedy.

It is not unlike a lot of situations, however. One speaks degradingly of another's actions without full knowledge. One accepts hearsay and innuendo, without learning the facts. The truth is, we should say nothing negative about another that is not absolutely true, and then only if it is necesary to protect others. Many lives have been ruined by false accusations and lies. Christians must never be part of that vicious circle of sin. A word spoken can never be retrieved.

Standing Against the Enemy

I feel for the Preachers/Pastors/Teachers who spend so much of their time standing against the Enemy. Unfortunately, the Enemy has a lot of help--and it's hard to know which "helpers" are the greatest problem.

There are those "helpers" who deny the Gospel, promote a Godless, immoral lifestyle, and trap so many folks in unbelief. Life is focused on the here and now, the pleasures of sin, and the certainty that nothing exists beyond this life.

Then there are those "helpers" who talk a lot about the "gospel," but it is a gospel of man-centered self-help that provides prosperity, health, happiness and the utilization of God as a cosmic buddy who supplies when we have desires. It is a message focused on the here and now, the pleasures of this world, and the certainty that God will never condemn men who are disobedient to His revealed Truth, but in mercy and grace will "take care" of the future.

I'm not sure which group is attracting more people into an eternity separated from God.

Sunday Activity

I was sitting in Church yesterday thinking of all the things I would rather do than be there, and I couldn't come up with anything. You've heard about guys who spend so long in prison that they become "instutionalized?" They can't imagine being free again. They don't now what they would do without the order and discipline of the life they have come to know.

I think I am like that about Church on Sunday. Does that mean there is something wrong with me? The number of folks I know who feel that way about Sunday is very small in relationship to all the folks I know. Maybe I've just "lost it" in my old age. Could be my mind is too confused to think up new and different Sunday activities.

Imagine! Spending every Sunday in Church. Well, one thing I am sure of. . .the preacher likes me! So does God, the Father, and I like that!

The Winner

Mr. Al Gore, regarding your Nobel Prize:

Don't worry, God has promised that until He is ready, "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease."

And when He is ready, "The Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day, the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed."

Congratulations! Enjoy your prize. Just remember, God's got it all covered.

Happiness (part 2)

You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Psalm 128:2b

Happiness is due in part to right family relationships. No one who is paying attention can miss the evidence that family relationships in our stumbling Nation are in real mess. The issue is not just divorce (though that is a colossal problem) but our total lack of commitment as a society for correction.

When the home is right, the Nation will be right. Although we are not attempting to do so, reversing the order won’t work. Electing the right President (hoping at some point that becomes an option) or returning the United States Congress (undoubtedly an impossibility) to a organization focused on what is right and best for the people they represent, and providing for our National security, will not resolve the issue.

We are an unhappy people. Many people won’t work to provide for their family, and expect society to take their place. Those who do not know the sweetness of the provision that comes from one’s own labor struggle with happiness. Children who are left to their own devices, or whose parents are unwilling to say, “No,” never experience the happiness of obedience. Many parents have no idea what their children are listening to, watching, learning, or that in which they are willing or unwilling participants. Suffice it to say, “Fear of the Lord,” is not the first and last topic of the day.

It’s no wonder there is so much despair. The Government is out of control. The family is out of control. Our individual life is out of control and often the thought of better days is nostalgic rather than expectant.

The Psalmist said, “You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.” He does not leave that to the vicissitudes of chance, but to very explicit instructions from the Creator and Sustainer of life.

Why would we ever think that we can design and manage our life, discover and live in happiness, succeed in accomplishing those things that really matter, all the while ignoring the Lord of Heaven who put us here, left us here, and instructed us how to live here? Yet we do! Saint and sinner alike, we wander along hoping to find happiness around the next corner, in the next job, with the next marriage, when our kids are finally gone from home (which by the way, never happens in most people’s experience), or when our “ship arrives.”

Selfcreation.com says, “Happiness is when I can say I feel good emotionally.”

Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

God said, “Happy is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.”

I say, “Pick one.”

Whose Truth?

As I listened to my preacher teaching "Romans" last night during Bible Study, I was reminded of all those guys (and ladies) on TV who are so popular. They don't teach the same thing, my preacher and several of those folks who have such a large following.

It's easy to pass if off as a "different interpretation", but that's not the issue. The things they say are 180 degrees divergent. I don't get the impression the Muslims are so divided, or the Mormons, or the Buddhists, or the Jews.

It's been said that "Christianity is in crisis." (I think it was that Hank Hannegraff guy that started that) I'm one writer who believes that may be the understatement of the century.

Change

Is change good or bad? Both? Neither? How much change is acceptable? Whatever the answer to these questions, one thing is for sure, for sure: change is inevitable!

Our Nation is changing. This isn't the fifties any more (not that most people remember what it was like in those days anyway). TV has changed, music has changed, movies have changed, politics have changed, and as a result, along with multitudes of others changes, society has changed.

The Church has changed. Good, bad, or indifferent, the Church of the 21st century is not the Church of the 1st, 10th, or 20th century. Theologians are divided, main-line denominations are shrinking, Truth is subjected to the whims of believers, and an amalgum of concepts and ideas are replacing historic traditions and practices.

Change is coming to the Church near you. Are you ready?

Return

I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22

For most of us there is a place we call ‘home’. It is where we keep our stuff, find our familiar things, especially those with which we are most comfortable, and sometimes it is close to our family. We have friends at home, we know were to go for stuff we need, and we lie down in a relaxing bed each night with an assurance that we are safe and sound.

Sometimes when we are away from home, it is not so cozy. We are disturbed by unusual sounds and sights, uncertainty about where things are (like the grocery store), and awakened nightly by some invisible force that inhabits the strange bed in which we find ourselves.

Coming home is good!

So it is with our Spiritual experience. Why we ever wander from the presence and power of our Redeemer is a mystery, and yet the reality of that fact in our lives is inescapable. I am always amazed at how a cloudy, misty morning can so quickly turn into a bright, beautiful day as the sunlight chases away the gloom. So it is with God as he comes to remove the infectivity of our sin and despair replacing them with purity and rejoicing.

All we must do is return. A song from my past says, “Return to the One who loves you. Return to the Savior who cares. He gives perfect peace, your burdens He’ll bear. Just return to the Savior who cares.” (copied)

The Heat Is On

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. . . . Hebrews 12:1b

How sad to hear that at least one runner died and several others are in the hospital after the Chicago Marathon. Marathons are incredibly difficult even in the best of conditions, much less where the temperature is high, and one who has never competed in such a race has little idea of the difficulty of the task.

Running the race for holy living is another area where the temperature is rising and success has becomes more and more difficult. Distractions and diversions cut deeply into our ability to focus on the prize, commit to the finish, and run with patience. Dropping out of the race gets easier when we attempt to run alone, or without the water of life springing up in us by the power of God's Spirit. If you're in the race. . .find encouragement in the Body of Christ and the intimacy of His presence in you.

Happiness (part 1)

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Psalm 144:15b
Happy is the man whose hope is in the Lord his God. . . . Psalm 146:5 Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding. Proverbs 3:13

The Scripture is very clear about what makes us, or ought to make us, happy. I want to be clear that I am not talking about joy, or peace, or feeling good about something. Rather, I am talking about a genuine deep and abiding happiness that is sufficient for this present life.

In his book "Authentic Happiness" Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology, describes happiness as consisting of both positive emotions (such as ecstasy and comfort) and positive activities (such as absorption and engagement). He says that present happiness is based on positive emotions relating to both the past and the future.

Positive emotions relating to the past include satisfaction, contentment, pride and serenity. Positive emotions relating to the future include optimism, hope and trust. We find all of that in a right relationship with our Lord God. I am satisfied that He has redeemed me for the curse of sin, and I am content with His empowering Spirit dwelling in me, and proud of the reality that He has chosen me to be his Ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20a). I am optimistic that He will continue to provide for me according to His promises, my hope lies in the veracity of His Word which has never failed from the creation of life, and I am trusting fully in my Savior’s promise that He will never leave me, or forsake me, and will return bodily to take me to my eternal dwelling place in His presence.

Because of that Truth, positive activities abound. I am absorbed and engaged in the “Body of Christ,” exercising my supernatural gift to edify the believers, giving and receiving acceptance, forbearance, kindness, comfort, exhortation, forgiveness and llove. (And on some occasions, praise God, I am greeted with a “holy kiss” or two)

How can I not be happy? Unhappiness comes when I allow the enemy to snatch away my positive emotions, and leave me believing my positive activities are worthless and useless. According to him, God doesn’t llove me anymore, and my family of believers has turned away from my llove – or, is unwilling to provide those positive activities toward me. When I accept that lie, happiness flees.

I choose happiness. It’s my birthright, and I won’t let it go!

A New Paradigm

The Bible says that God "hates divorce."I know I hate it and the havoc it visits on families.

At the same time, I know God infinitely lloves the folks who find themselves with no other options (meaning they have exhausted all other possibilities), and I llove a few myself.

Today I discovered Collaborative Law (and it's operation in divorce cases). It may not be new to you, but it is to me. These people (attorneys, financial specialists, counseling/family professionals) are working together to make a disaster as palatable as possible. I think I like that!

If you know someone who is facing divorce, because they have exhausted every other possibility, tell them about this. It is going on nation-wide as best I can tell. It deserves exploration.

If you're in my geographical area of knowledge about this, drop me a note (christianwest1@gmail.com) and I'll give you some names.

Time For Change

Remember when your income tax was one (1) percent of your income? Well, I'm sure you don't, but that was the rate when personal income tax began in the United States. Now, it's. . .well, out of hand, as one would say.

Congress (both Houses of our Legislative Branch of government) seems to be interested only in themselves and the pork that will keep them able to focus on themselves, and investigating and castigating everyone that disagrees with them (note what has been the topic of conversation over the last few days).

Of all those running for President (who will begin a term in 2009) it's hard to know which one is the least scary. Or perhaps, I should just look to see which one is most scary and help to avoid him/her.

If I were a prophet I would predict that we are going to lose our Country. But I'm not a prophet, so I'll just say, I think we are going to lose our Country. We cannot survive with the current mindset, operation, and almost total focus on self-interest.

God knows we are going to hate being like all the other Countries.

Happy

Do you consider yourself a happy person? I find myself around some folks that evidently would answer that question negatively. I have one friend in particular that seems happy all the time.

I am confident that happpiness is a choice. And we make that choice regularly. It probably has more to do with focus than circumstances. I don't know anyone who doesn't have something to be unhappy about. But I want to be one of those people, and be surrounded by those people, who choose to be happy.

I'm happy I awoke this morning. Some didn't (they are not reading this note). I am happy that I have a job and people who llove me. I know that's not true for some, but there's more. The sun came up, the air is still breathable, and this is still a sovereign Nation. God is still on the throne, and the Church of Jesus Christ will prevail. Focus on some of that, and more!

Choose to be happy today! It could start a trend.

Worship

Jacob, when he was dying, . . . worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Hebrews 11:20

I’ve long been intrigued by this verse of Scripture. I do know that some translators have indicated the word “staff” here might be “bed.” In Hebrew the two words have exactly the same consonants. Since they were copied without vowels, it is possible that either could be correct.

I have thought about it from the perspective of a man having sufficient intimacy with God to find His presence and power real in the ordinary circumstances of life. Jacob didn’t require a particular place, or certain kinds of music, or the right “atmosphere,” to be able to focus his attention on worship. Rather, it was a part of the natural order of his daily walk.

I’m not sure we have that mindset in today’s undisciplined, disorderly society. We seem to need the trappings of our experience, whether that is a traditional or fully contemporary setting, to tame our minds for worship. The very thought of worshiping while driving to work, or mowing the lawn, or shopping for groceries, is somewhat foreign to our thinking.

This verse does reinforce in my mind the certainty that worship has its focus on the heart and not the head. I mean by that, worship is not precipitated by conditions but by intimacy, or if you prefer, familiarity, closeness, understanding, relationship, or even the confidence that God is “there” and one can access that presence at any time, anywhere.

One of the “preachers” I see on TV occasionally will interrupt his sermon (I use the word carelessly) to say, “Let’s worship,” after which some really poor music (in my humble opinion) wafts from the airwaves. That is only to say, are not the teaching/preaching/study of the Word worship? Isn’t the ministry of the saints to one another worship? Aren’t the praying and the giving and the welcoming of the guests a vital part of worship? Of course they are! And if you doubt that, spend some time discovering what the word “worship” means.

Now, most of those we can do while “leaning on our staff!” Maybe “welcoming the guests” is bit of a stretch, but, surely, praying for someone is a part of our ministering of grace to one another, but the point is, we need to rediscover the authenticity of personal worship when the Body is not gathered.

Take time to worship today! It may get your heart yearning for the beautiful koinonia of the Body gathered. I surely hope so.