A Political Conversation

This is a conversation I recorded between two Christian friends leading up to the November elections. Jim and Derek thought it would be beneficial for people to see how Christians could sharply disagree regarding current political events and yet remain friends and respectful of each other’s views.

Derek: Okay, so here we are. Jim and Derek, two Christian brothers who have known each other for years. We have found that during these turbulent times we don’t agree on all the stuff that’s happening in our world politically. So how do we disagree respectfully? The world needs to see Christians operating in unity and love, even when we disagree. Jim, you come from a conservative pro-Trump standpoint, and I’m a “Never-Trumper”.  And just what are the reasons behind that? We’re gonna flesh those out.  Jim, a lot of these issues are near and dear to your heart.  You have worked in pro-life ministries.  I mean, some of these issues have been very prominent in your life—for instance, when you see Donald Trump signing pro-life legislation and electing pro-life judges and things like this. Tell me more.

Jim: So, as you mention, I am a guy who had an abortion with with his girlfriend when I was 28, before I knew the Lord (I came to know Jesus at the age of 37). I almost instantly realized what I had done for the first time in my life because everyone was pro-life who was a Christian, and I understood why because the Bible is very clear that we need to protect the innocent and defenseless, and they are the most defenseless people in the world when they’re in their mother’s womb. And so I was instantly pro-life and, by the grace of God, I felt instantly forgiven. That’s it.

Jim: So, when it comes to the life issue, I am all about extending grace first.  Grace and forgivenss are available through the Cross of Christ to anyone who has an abortion (or any other sin) in their past.  That’s the good news, right?  The gospel?  And, so I would love to see if we, as Christians, could extend some grace to President Trump.  No president ever has been more vilified and attacked by the media and social media and people in general.  He is attacked a million times a day and lambasted 365 days a year.  And, yes, President Trump is pro-life. And what I really appreciate about him it’s his conviction to stand when so many politicians would have been hedging. He said he would be pro-life. A lot of Christians didn’t believe it. They thought he just did that to get votes. But he’s been the most pro-life president we’ve ever had. Ever.  And life is the biggest issue to me. If you don’t get life right, well?

Jim: So to me life is the main issue. You call evil good like they do in New York when they legalized late-term abortion and then they light up the skyscrapers pink to celebrate that late-term abortion is now legal, that is sick to me.  So life is the big decision, and even if it’s just symbolic, he’s the first president ever to go to the March for Life in Washington, DC. The first president ever.  He spoke and that’s huge.

Derek: I appreciate what you have said and how you share your heart. This main issue—the pro-life issue—and how passionate you are about it resonates. And you know, as a Christian, I stand right there with you. It is my sense that there are not many people anywhere who like the idea of aborting babies. I mean, whether you’re left or right, I think that the issue for people who are pro-choice is that this is their decision and the government can’t legislate that for them. This is a very personal decision. It’s something that people languish over. But to have the government tell a person what they can do with their body or not, is their decision. The other issue is when people ONLY see pro-life issues concerning Christians, they believe that is incomplete.  There’s lot of other issues for lower-income mothers especially, like childcare, healthcare, tax breaks, and all of the other aspects of caring for the child once they are born.

Derek: My wife, who is third generation Latina, feels very personally about welfare reform. So she went to work for a welfare-to-work program. And we see people who are being tethered to welfare their whole lives long.  But to help them become independent, to help them find a good vocation, is really needed. So what I think a lot of people feel is that if we’re going to mandate that you have your baby, are we going to be there when you have the baby to support you with a job, with the childcare, with the health care, and these other services? Or are we going to say sink or swim?

Derek: I’ll just speak a little bit about Donald Trump.

Jim: Can I interject one thing, before with with the pro-choice? I would say I am a pro-choice-pro-life guy. And what I mean by that is, I think a woman can do whatever she wants with her body. But I don’t think she can touch the other body that’s inside her. So it’s not just what a woman does with her body, as her choice. Her choice was already made. (Now if you want to talk about rape and the 1% or the less than 1%, that’s fine) But her choice was made when she was in a life-creating act. Nine months prior to the baby being born, that was her choice. If she wants to be involved in life-creating and then end it, I would say absolutely intervene. Also, I think the church needs to be the church, and the government to be the government. The church needs to share grace for those who cross the border, the church needs to encourage their congregants to vote for life, support the local pregnancy center, support the local harmony house that has places for single moms who need help to raise them up!

Derek: Gotcha!  Now regarding Trump, I think one of the reasons why I am anti-Trump is that when I have this privilege of having a vote, it’s extending to me a trust. I am spending a measure of faith in a person and truly character does count. I’m putting trust in a person in their integrity and their character to carry on a very important task. I think this is an important thing that established a lot of people as anti-Trump because they’re anti-demagogue. They see this greedy, lustful, corrupt, all about money, his own name, and not a person of character, and not really a trustworthy person—perhaps even a sociopath, a person who’s not capable of true empathy who doesn’t really understand other people. Recently, when he was interviewed and asked if he needs forgiveness from God and he says, “No.” He says, “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything wrong.”  Such a person scares a lot of people, including me.

Derek: Now we spoke earlier so let’s talk about the Biblical standard for liberalism and conservatism.

Jim: Sure. Hopefully this conversation will move the ball forward a little bit when it comes to political views, and conservative Christian or conservative Republican viewpoints. And I have no problem voting for Trump again as this (pro-life) is the biggest issue.

Jim: The other things that I see from a conservative standpoint that are very clear Biblically are first, marriage as designed for a man and a woman. Second, there are two genders, there aren’t 47 genders, there’s male and female. And support for Israel. I see those very clearly. God says (speaking of the nation of Israel), “I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you.” The Republican Party blesses Israel, and I can assure you that Israel wants President Trump to be reelected.  Religious liberty is another issue.  You know that four years ago the Democrats wanted to take God’s name out of their convention. And that’s the tip of the iceberg that they want. To me, liberal policy and the Democrats have been so far far left that, ultimately, they want government to be God.

Jim: Republicans are for less government and more religious liberty and not just for us to be Christians, but Muslims to be Muslims and Jews to be Jews and the atheist has the right to do that too. And that is supported, frankly, by the Republican party right now. But it’s going to get worse by the Democratic Party. So those are the issues that I think are very clear Biblically.

Derek: Well, for Biblical justification as a “never-Trumper”, the fruits of the Holy Spirit is where I would start. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.  These are hoped-for virtues for living, but we don’t see those much in Donald Trump.  Maybe a different set of values, like combative, rude, ambitious, etc. These days, even in the church, it’s fighting time.  For instance, with the COVID-prompted closure of the churches, what I see happening is a motivation to care for other people. If this is an airborne disease and we can stop the spread of this disease to others by not gathering inside enclosed spaces with lots of different people singing and things like that, that will help. That’s one thing that infectious disease experts all over agree on. They are not targeting churches per se. They’re targeting professional sports,  concerts, etc. the gathering of people in close spaces.  They recognize it is dangerous no matter who you are. So when I see Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, making these edicts about gatherings? It’s not targeting churches, per se, it is targeting gatherings, period.

Derek: Jesus taught on the two greatest commandments… Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.  The young man who was questioning Jesus wanted to justify himself, and said, “Who is my neighbor?” And then Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. The story is about a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan who all encounter a broken, injured man.  The first two ignore the man, but the hated, despised Samaritan cares for him and bandages his wounds.  Jesus asks who was a neighbor to the injured man? The one who showed compassion!

Derek: And so I think that’s the heart of what we’re seeing right now in the response to the racial tension—that there are a lot of evangelical Christians who say, “it’s this liberal agenda! or that Black people are somehow to blame, once again, for this trouble, but we’ve got a person who’s hurting, injured and broken by the side of the road, and we’re not expressing compassion.

Jim: I would suggest that President Trump has done more in his three years for the black community than President Obama did for eight years or Joe Biden did for eight years. And he’s the one bringing about police reform. He’s the one that has black unemployment to the lowest level in years. But, yeah, you got to start with the conversation and with compassion.

Jim: The Church of course needs to look at itself, but that doesn’t justify Antifa. That doesn’t justify the riots and the looting and I know you agree with that, but it’s like…

Derek: so I would just push back a little on that. We see this “Yeah, yeah, BUT white lives matter too” response. Of course, all lives matter. But we’re having a conversation about black lives matter right now. And this is where it’s time to just listen, man. Not run off to the places where we’re comfortable with the status quo with whites in the privileged position. Let’s listen to the ones who are hurting.  Let’s be in solidarity with the hurting.

Derek: When it comes to Trump, man, some of the sound bites and the ways that he reacts to racism and white supremacy, wow.  He could say something on script one day and then tweet something that night seemingly justifying the exact opposite thing so when I look at the man’s character, there’s not a lot for me to trust in.

Derek: Some of these policies, Jim, I’m right there with you.  Some of the things that he signed into legislation for pro-life and for historically black colleges and universities, etc. These are great and I am really grateful for some of these as a Christian but I think why can’t we produce somebody better than him!?

Jim: I agree with you, like, why don’t you just give us your Twitter accounts? Like, give Pence veto power over your tweets? No, don’t send that out, Donald. So I agree with you on that. On many of his things that he says.

Jim: But I will say, first and foremost, I’m most concerned about the policies. When we talk about the man, again, Dr. Dobson says he led him to Christ a few years ago. If that’s true, I don’t know. But I do know that our journey is not a straight line and we don’t go from being a complete narcissist and womanizer to Mother Teresa in a day. That’s a long journey. And it’s a harder journey when you’re in the spotlight. I was sold out from day one when I when I knew Jesus but some people just takes longer.  What I have seen with President Trump is I’ve seen some humility when he’s prayed for. And he seems to humbly bow once the prayer starts and I don’t think that that’s a photo op. I see him as he’s going to Air Force One. He’s a military guy. He stops everything to salute. He’s very respectful. I think that’s a sincere heart. And yeah, he says some really stupid things. Can’t we do better? Yeah, I can’t wait for Nikki Haley to be president. That would be awesome. But Joe Biden is not better.

Derek: My vote would be with Biden, as a Christian. And the reason is, because I see the man having EQ, emotional intelligence. He just understands people. I just don’t think Donald Trump understands people. I think that it’s a human business at the end of the day, it’s caring for people, and it’s competent leadership. You know, it’s discouraging when you see the most professional, most qualified members of Donald Trump’s cabinet leave by the droves saying this man is incompetent. He can’t read. He can’t listen, and can’t understand a daily memo. He doesn’t understand any of the issues. Remember, Jim, these are cabinet members who were committed to Donald Trump, they want to be there and work on that team and support the man, but this is an absolute train wreck. We were talking Rex Tillerson to John Bolton to James Mattis to John Kelly, that’s pretty discouraging. Have you ever seen members of other cabinets, other persons come out and write this kind of stuff about the commander in chief?

Jim: I think at his core, he’s a fighter. I’m just saying that’s who he is. He loves to fight. And if he hired someone and then thought, I shouldn’t have hired that guy, well, it’s not gonna end well because he lacks compassion like you say.  Also, I don’t trust John Bolton’s book. But his current Secretary of State is a believer with strong Biblical values. And he has surrounded himself with a lot of seemingly great godly people. So I’m encouraged by that. Are those leaders in Biden’s cabinet? Doubtful.

Derek: This has been great, John. This next election we pray God’s will be done and that in voting we would be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Just give us a final word, John.

Jim: Well, one last thing about President Trump that I find is they say you’ll know a tree by its fruit. His kids seem great. They seem hard working, well spoken, successful. They’ve all made something of themselves. And they seem to love their dad.  And, that is actually a little surprising.  I mean the world is filled with children, particularly children from uber-wealthy families who actually despise their dads.  And Melania seems like she has so much grace. I mean, she gets slammed all the time too. Maybe It’s just this exterior of President Trump’s that is so crass. Maybe it’s for a time such as this. Maybe if his exterior wasn’t so tough, he wouldn’t succeed.

Jim: I don’t think Biden will ever become pro-life as there’s no way the left would let him do that. I don’t think he has the conviction to do that. He certainly didn’t do anything as Vice President for eight years that would help further that. In fact, the other day we learned Nancy Pelosi’s gonna ramp up the support for Planned Parenthood, which is their number one priority.  Government-funded abortions is where Planned Parenthood makes all their money and that’s one of the first thing within 100 days Biden said he’s gonna get back as part of Obamacare.  Obamacare could even make churches pay for abortion insurance, so I think you’re really pie in the sky thinking otherwise.

Derek Prayer: Jesus, thank you so much that we get to talk about these issues and, Lord, we’ve cut to the heart of love. Just hearing John’s heartbeat and that you know all about this issue that is so important to him and to you, God.  We want to love our neighbors as ourselves. We want to demonstrate love and compassion, Lord, as your hands and feet, to do right by you. We pray for President Trump, Lord God, that you would help him and help his cabinet. We pray for all those who are in positions of leadership during this pandemic, all through this crazy year of 2020. Help President Trump with grace and wisdom.  We pray, Lord God, for those who are in other leadership positions. We pray for Gavin Newsom. We pray for people who understand infectious disease much better than Donald Trump or Jim or me, God. We pray that they would get understanding of this disease and how it’s passed along how, Jesus, and make real, quality decisions that we can implement in this country. Your hand is still very much involved in the affairs of men. Yes, we are hopeless without you, Jesus.

Jim Prayer: Father, I just agree with those prayers and I just really thought the year 2020 would be the year of perfect vision and, maybe we’re correctly seeing all the chaos. I just pray for your outpouring Lord. If indeed President Trump already knows you, I pray he would grow up and we’ll know a tree by its fruit. I pray that he would grow in joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, Lord God. I pray for all the pastors who have a decision to make whether to open or close and follow the edict or not, that they would just seek you out. Yeah. And that you would speak to them. And whatever decision they make be made with grace and peace. We love you. And we thank You, Jesus, Amen.

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Three Not-Particularly-Religious Paths to Jesus

I love the church and I love it’s traditional forms of worship, it’s liturgies, it’s playbook (the Bible), it’s pantheon of heroes new and old, and, most of the time, I even love my fellow Christians (ha ha). I came to know Jesus in one of the more common ways…at a Christian summer camp called Woodleaf (YoungLife). But I want to tell you about three women who came to know and love Jesus Christ in three not-particularly-religious ways that will make you smile.

First, there is Jane. She is analytical, rational, logical, and methodical. The smallest errand to the gas station is plotted, planned and calculated. Not surprisingly, Jane was a great student from the get-go. In fact, school was the place she shone most brightly.

Growing up in church, Jane was taught to read, believe, and follow the Bible, but she was never a devotee of the Bible and had trouble believing many of the stories. From her viewpoint, it wasn’t logical or orderly and didn’t “compute”.

Then one day, Jane was enjoying a cup of coffee and looking out her kitchen window when she noticed a spider spinning a web. All of the intricacies of the process, from the measuring of each length, to the design itself, to the material created within the spider for the webbing—it all flooded her mind and she was amazed at the complexity and orderliness of God’s creation.

And at that specific moment she became a Christian. She knew an accident couldn’t have brought about such detailed design, only God could.

Then there is Roberta. She loves fashion. She loves, loves fashion. Throughout her childhood she would fill sketch books with dresses and outfits she imagined. She cultivated fabrics and designs that caught her eye, and envisioned herself becoming a fashion designer one day.

Yet she is raised in the church where fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle are not on the approved reading list. She becomes resigned to the idea that as a Christian, a career in fashion would probably not happen. She discards those dreams, and senses that a little part of her has been discarded as well.

As a 20-something, she starts attending the young adult group at her large church and meets Deedee. Deedee is a self-described “fashionista” who loves Jesus. The two of them connect on a deep level and Roberta begins to realize that maybe fashion is not bad or sinful, but is the artistic way she is naturally wired. And she plunges even deeper into her faith.

Finally, there is Anna. Anna works in Hollywood and is not a Christian. One day she goes to see a movie called “The Last Temptation of Christ” (which the church establishment, if asked, would tell her is blasphemous in its depiction of Christ). When she sees Jesus the carpenter working in his shop and sweating, she has a flash of revelation that God became an actual man. He was a flesh and blood person who lived on earth! It was the moment she says that she became a Christian.

I believe the bottom line is that God is waaaay bigger than the boxes we assign Him to. He will use movies, spiders, fashion, and so much more to reveal His love to our hearts. Is He trying to speak to you? Maybe it’s in a way you’d least expect:-)

Jimmy Stewart…Bomber Pilot

You may remember Jimmy Stewart from his iconic movie rolls in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “The Philadelphia Story”, and “Rear Window”, but did you know Jimmy Stewart was also Col. James Stewart, WW2 war hero?

I have been reading a biography of James Stewart focused upon this very significant aspect of his life. In fact, the two people to speak at Jimmy Stewart’s funeral, with full military honors, were his pastor and Lt. Gen. Roger DeKok from the US Air Force. No Hollywood celebrities spoke, though many were in attendance and were close friends. Those closest to him knew that his military career was more significant to him personally than his Hollywood celebrity.

Col. James Stewart was revered and loved by the men he led and respected by his superiors. In one of my favorite anecdotes, Col. Stewart and his 489th squadron is on a bombing mission over Germany and notices that the lead commander of the 389th squadron (Stewart’s superior), has made a navigational error on his return flight. He notifies this superior of the mistake, but is assured by the commander that his calculations are not incorrect, and to continue to follow him on his present course. As a squadron commander overseeing several aircraft and their crews, Col. Stewart is faced with a difficult decision. Should he continue to follow this commander and his squadron of ships, in tight formation, on a potentially calamitous detour into enemy territory? He knows that to do so is to put his life and those of all his squadron in danger.

What will he do?

What would you do? My guess is that it is not the same thing James Stewart did.

He decided to obey the order of his superior and support them on a misguided trek into enemy territory, knowing that his commanding officer was in error. The reason? Simply to follow the two cardinal rules of combat: “persuade your leader of his mistake, if you can, but follow him, right or wrong”.

When I read this with my 2019 peacetime brain, I thought that those rules sound utterly ridiculous. Why would you risk the lives of dozens of men just so as to not “show up” your C.O.?!?!?! Let the superior officer eat some humble pie! After all, he deserved it!

But as I continued to read the biography, I came to a better understanding of war and the terrors associated with it. When crew members, by the grace of God, were able to land safely back in England with their flying fortresses decimated by anti-aircraft fire and “flak”, crew members could often not stop shaking for days on end. The experience was absolutely terrifying in every sense of the word. Absolutely critical to the success of any wartime endeavor was the clearheaded and organized chain of command. If that broke down, success was virtually impossible. Col. James Stewart knew what successful soldiers have always known, obey your commanding officer.

It turned out that approximately 60 Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs (enemy fighter planes) noticed the mistake and pursued the straying bombers. Several lead planes, including the one flown by the mistaken commanding officer, were shot down, but Col. Stewart did not lose a single plane or man from his 445th squadron, and offered critical support to the 389th so that more planes were not lost.

When his superiors recognized what Stewart did, the commendations poured in.

What I appreciate most is that in wartime, one must not lose sight of the bigger picture. In war, lives are tragically lost and mistakes are made, but if the objective is maintained, success is achievable.

As you follow Jesus Christ in this world, do you have a bigger picture in mind? Do you take a long view in your mind’s eye of the Christlike man or woman God is seeking to form you into? Battles are fought and lost, distractions, errors and mistaken judgments are common, but consider the end. Will you receive that commendation from our Lord, “well done, good and faithful servant!”? You have been faithful. You have obeyed. You have not strayed when the temptation was there to do so.

And so, Christian, today consider how you can best maintain your course. And one day enter into your Heavenly Father’s Kingdom!

The Holy Spirit Guides Us

I was stopped at a traffic light a few weeks ago in Goleta and saw something I will never forget.

A scene was unfolding that was dangerous to say the least. A blind man with a cane and a seeing-eye dog was crossing the street and approaching a construction zone. The sidewalk was under construction ahead of him and there was nowhere for him to walk but into the street. As I was noticing this, a huge Mack truck was approaching him from the opposite direction.

As I was considering whether to roll down my window and start yelling, the seeing-eye dog calmly and confidently did his job (it was a he, by the way).

First, the dog pressed into the man’s leg and the man stopped. The truck did as well and then it proceeded slowly ahead. After the coast was clear, the dog nudged the man slowly into the street, hugging the caution tape of the construction zone as he went. The man was safely led around the danger and on his way.

Two things occupied my thoughts as I drove off. The first was the skill of the dog to navigate the danger so competently. The second was the responsiveness of the man, who understood the directives of the dog and obeyed them completely. I was actually pretty emotional that a dog could be trained to be such an amazing helper and guide.

Then it dawned on me. What a picture of the Holy Spirit! If a dog can be that helpful to lead us through the dangers of city streets, then how much more can we trust the Holy Spirit of God to lead us around the pitfalls of this life. Holy Spirit is infinitely more wise, loyal, trustworthy, and competent. Ask Holy Spirit to be your guide and ask him to help you with your awareness and responsiveness to His Lead. His guidance will always lead us down the right path.

Why We Aren’t the Champions, by JD Walt

Mark 9:30-37…
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

CONSIDER THIS
“I’m the greatest.”

Who says that? O.K., well there was Muhammad Ali who gave himself the nickname, “The Greatest,” but it’s just not something you hear people saying too often.

Until we realize the sin du jour of every age is that of comparing ourselves to others. Every comparison we make with another person, whether we admit it or not, results in one who is greater and one who is lesser.

It’s human nature; to want to be the greatest, to be the best, to be #1. That the disciples argued about who was the greatest as they walked along the road was par for the course then as well as today.

A sports team can be ranked at the bottom of the league, but if they happen to pull off a win, all of a sudden the index fingers shoot up into the air of players and fans alike accompanied by the exultant cries, “We’re number 1.”

We all do it. It’s why one of the favorite songs of all time has to be Queen’s “We are the Champions.” I suppose a little friendly competition can be a good thing, if only we could leave it on the field. Unfortunately we can’t, or at least we don’t. Oftentimes as I’m scrolling through Facebook or Instagram it strikes me as one massive competition to show who has the most perfect kids and the most awesome family vacations and the most dreamy homes and meals, and on it goes. The competition really kicks into high gear as December rolls around, and the dreaded Christmas letters start pouring in. You know what I’m talking about. Someday I’m going to write a Christmas letter that tells all the horror stories and dark secrets of the prior year’s real family life. Imagine reading that one!

Jesus takes this “We are the Champions” mentality and turns it upside down. He does it by redefining the meaning of the word “greatness.” Greatness, according to God, has nothing to do with being superior and everything to do with becoming a servant. It doesn’t mean making oneself a doormat for others to walk on. Servanthood does not mean thinking of yourself as a loser or as somehow worse than others. It means putting the needs of others ahead of yourself. This is hard, and if it seems easy you are either a) not actually doing it, or b) maturing into a bonafide follower of Jesus.

A final note: While serving means activity, in the greater sense it means identity. This is why Jesus lifts up the child in their midst. A child is a child not because of some effort they make. It is who they are. In those days, a child was as status-less as a slave. To be a servant is a mentality. It is a state of mind. Paul put it like this:

Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing and taking on the nature of a servant….” Philippians 2:5-ff

Becoming a servant is a way of seeing oneself in a new light, in the light of the greater greatness of the glory of God. In the end, becoming a servant is a way of seeing others in a new light, in the light of the greater love of the Love God.

THE PRAYER
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Lord Jesus, I get what you are saying about greatness, but it is still head knowledge. I need to grasp it as life knowledge, which is the wisdom that can only come from your mind to mine. Do that in me. I am willing. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. For the glory of your name, Jesus. Amen.

THE QUESTION
It is one thing to serve, yet quite another to take on the mentality of a servant. How are you doing this in your life?

Growing in the Holy Spirit

One of the most memorable lines I heard this summer was from a friend who was sharing the story of his entrance into the Holy Spirit-filled life. He said, “I was brought up in church, but I was bored with God. Then one day I prayed… ‘God, if you are THIS “ALMIGHTY”, there has to be more to following you than this!’ And that’s when the Spirit broke into my life. I have never been the same.”

Are you dissatisfied with the depth and fullness of your Christian life? Do you have a feeling there must be MORE? Then you may be on the cusp of a breakthrough that will change your life forever. Some call it a “holy discontent”.

Entrance into the Spirit-filled Life always begins with a dissatisfaction with what the world is offering and a hunger for more of God.

JD Walt writes, “Ever since the exile from Eden that’s been the story. No matter how much we try to dress it up and make ourselves at home here, with nice cars and fancy restaurants, and highly edited Facebook lives, underneath it all is a fallen world. It often takes a stripping away of such accouterments to realize this. Sometimes fasting can help “prepare the way” for such a realization. The Spirit of God creates the conditions that make for the prerequisite path of holy discontent. No matter how “ok” things may appear to be, they are not ok. Great awakenings happen when people begin to respond to the Spirit’s movement to “make a straight path,” to do something different; to interrupt the patterns of so-called prosperity.” (Seedbed Daily Text)

I believe there is hunger and thirst for God growing among us. Great awakenings and great revivals start with individuals in communities who start praying, hungering, and turning to God together.

May our hunger pangs grow…

The Year in Review

Recently I was kicking back, like Chuck and Clydesdale in the picture above, reflecting on the last year at LLIV and I was just amazed.

About one month ago I was sitting with a young man who has been attending our church and we prayed together at breakfast. Now that might not sound like such a big deal but it was. You see, the day beforehand, this young man had called me and told me he was ready to accept Jesus into his heart. I don’t know if a breakfast could be any better!

I also was reminded that this year we celebrated at least 4 “FIRSTS”. Check this out…

In the fall we launched our first “OPEN HOUSES” for fellowship and fun. We had about 12 of them all told and they were great! Each was unique in the games we played, the food we shared, the locations and hosts/hostesses, and the people who attended. We undoubtedly grew closer together as a church and were able to fellowship with several people who normally do not attend LLIV.

In the spring we had our first ever “Parenting and Prayer” Workshop. We met for 5 weeks and, once again, welcomed several people outside of our church family to join us.

On Easter Sunday, we celebrated our first-ever wedding AND baptism!

On Memorial Day, we took our first-ever church trip to Knott’s Berry Farm.

Not bad for one year, wouldn’t you agree?

As we continued to have amazing services outside in the park, we have had to deal with some irritating bugs and the transition of our beloved Tom and Doris back to FMCSB. The finances at church remain tight, but it hasn’t squeezed the Holy Spirit out. He is as alive and active as ever.

God is good, church. God is good!

The War of Prayer, by JD Walt

Acts 2:32-35

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

CONSIDER THIS

Yesterday landed us in Acts 1 and the Ascension of Jesus. Today we come to Pentecost and the Church’s first sermon. Didn’t we say this series on prayer would begin with the Old Testament? Thanks for remembering.

The fascinating thing about today’s text is it contains the New Testament’s most quoted verse from the Old Testament. Psalm 110:1 appears at least six times in the New Testament…

The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Psalm 110:1

This gives us prayer’s agenda and final destination: until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

These ten words form the agenda of “on Earth as it is in Heaven.” The  enemies of Jesus are Satan, evil, sin, death, and darkness, which show up in everything from oppression to opioid addiction, from cancer to child slavery, and from poverty to pornography.

To pray means to participate in the triumph—not of good over evil—but of Jesus over the Evil One. Somehow and in some mysterious way, God chooses to win the battle through the participation of our prayers.

Jesus primary vocation as he sits at the right hand of God is to pray. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25. In fact, Jesus’ primary vocation as he dwells among and within us is to pray. He prays without ceasing.

It would stand to reason that as we abide in him, we too pray without ceasing, and this not primarily because we are praying but because he is praying. Discipleship to Jesus means learning to pray in agreement with Jesus, in union with the mind of Christ. This does not come to us naturally. It must come supernaturally.

“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

Prayer means many things to many people. Biblically speaking, prayer means war. Prayer means advance. Prayer means recovering what has been lost and taking back what has been stolen. Remember back in Ephesians how Paul closed his teaching on warfare in the Spirit? And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people—Ephesians 6:18.

As I write this, I am leaned back in a leather chair with my feet propped up on a footstool. I’m thinking about Satan and evil and sin and darkness as that footstool. This is the vision. The way is made by the prayers of Jesus. The way is made by our participation with Jesus in that work. Wouldn’t that be a welcome shift—from my prayer life to the prayer life of Jesus? That’s where all this is heading.

THE PRAYER

Lord Jesus, you are right here, right now. And you will win the battle. I am sorry for always beckoning you to my side. I sense you saying it is time for me to come to your side. Show me the way beyond my own thin agenda that I might enter into your prayer life and step into the real battle where all you do is win. Right here, Jesus. Right now Jesus. Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

What if we’ve missed the point of prayer. What if most of what we have learned about prayer is more shaped by culturally transmitted folk religion than the revealed Word of God?

What is the significance of Psalm 110:1 and why do you think it appears so much in the New Testament?

Is your prayer life lagging? What might it mean to join the prayer life of Jesus?

Learning Greatness (aka Humility)

The pursuit of Christian greatness is an art, not a science.  While there are clear commands in Scripture that the way up is the way down, pursuing Christian greatness (aka humility) does not preclude discipline, passion, hard work, and focused effort.  This often confuses people who would equate those disciplines with self-seeking ambition.  I confess they confused me at times.  Those lines have been blurred in my heart’s motives more than once, which is why the pursuit of Christian greatness could be called an art—something requiring a sensitive touch.

Let’s start with what we learn from the Master, Jesus.

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus exhorts followers to “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart”.

“When he (Jesus) had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” -John 13:12-17

“When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” -Matthew 20:24-28

In Andrew Murray’s classic, Humility, he writes, “How little this is preached. How little it is practiced. How little the lack of it is felt or confessed. I do not say, how few attain to it, some recognizable measure of likeness to Jesus in His humility. But how few ever think of making it a distinct object of continual desire or prayer. How little the world has seen it. How little has it been seen, even in the inner circle of the Church.

“Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Would God that it might be given us to believe that Jesus means this! We all know what the character of a faithful servant or slave implies—Devotion to the master’s interests, thoughtful study and care to please him, delight in his prosperity and honor and happiness.

Jesus taught on humility extensively (Matthew 5:1-12; 18:1-3; Luke 9:46-48; Luke 14:7-11, etc.) and modeled humility to the end of his obedient life.  And His disciples eventually understood it.  They were able to claim themselves as “bondservants” and “slaves” of Christ and to exhort followers to have the same mind in themselves (Philippians 2:5-12).

But how quickly they (and we) forget!  After the revelation of Christ’s humility and our call to imitate it, we go right back to arguing about who is “greater”.  The required sensitive touch I mentioned above is required of us as we examine ourselves.  Let us use exacting and sensitive skill in assessing the condition of our hearts.  And always, always, always, seek to take the position of a humble servant.

To draw from Andrew Murray, the question we must then ask ourselves is whether we wish to please our master with outstanding devotion to his interests?

If your answer is yes, then here’s part 2.

One writer named Jimmy Page (not the guitarist for Led Zeppelin) believes that devotion equals the sum of focus, passion, and action.

In our devotion, let us stay focused with our Master Jesus always before us providing direction. 

Our love for Jesus fuels our passion to serve Him.  We have motivation to rise each day and energy to love others as ourselves.  We know that God opens every door, and if we are faithful in small things, He will grant us management of big things.  The possibilities of Christian service are global, dynamic, and miraculous. 

And we always take action.  Our service to Jesus is not passive.  It is always moving forward.  We give thoughtful care to please the master in ways that honor him and delight him.  We do not bury our gifts in the sand, but move, assess, respond, correct, improve, and move forward again.

Greatness (aka Humility) and focused, disciplined, energetic hard work are not mutually exclusive ideals.

Let’s conclude with Andrew Murray… “We have seen humility in the life of Christ, as He laid open His heart to us: let us listen to His teaching. There we shall hear how He speaks of it, and how far He expects men, and specially His disciples, to be humble as He was. Let us carefully study the passages, which I can scarce do more than quote, to receive the full impression of how often and how earnestly He taught it: it may help us to realize what He asks of us.”

Who is This? The Deliverer!

21 Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.
23 Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. 26 At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.
27 Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” 28 The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee.

Authoritative teaching brings out the evil spirits here. Who is this? The Deliverer!

This was an overt confrontation. But what about us? What are some of the evil spirits we deal with?

Truth is, in our culture, for better or for worse, we do not see overt manifestations of demons like this very often. But that doesn’t mean we are without our problems. The single biggest problem we have which opposes the authority and presence of Jesus is RIGHT HERE! It’s Self!

AW Tozer writes of this challenge to each of us and he compares it to a veil. A covering. Something blocking the unhindered flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives to transform us.

Where does he get that idea? From the Bible…

2 Corinthians 3:13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.
16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Do you recall what happened when the Jews saw Moses after he was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and night receiving the 10 Commandments? His face was GLOWING with the Glory of God! It was awesome. But what did the people ask him to do? Cover it up! They didn’t want that much glory. It disturbed them.

It was the same way when the mountain was quaking with fire and smoke. They said to Moses, you go up there. We don’t want to go up there or we will die. You go to God for us.

You see, we like our safe distances away from God. We have more control that way.

The idea of the veil in 2 Corinthians 3 was referring specifically to Jews and their religious heritage, but Tozer sees an application to all of us, Gentiles included, who hold onto a veil that keeps us arms distance away from God. It must be removed.

“What is it? What but the presence of a veil in our hearts? A veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us. It is the veil of our fleshly, fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgement of the cross…an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.” (The Pursuit of God, Tozer 42)

“The threads of this veil are not something we do, they are something we are, and therein lies both their subtle and their power…self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.” (Tozer 42)

Self can live (very long) unrebuked at the very altar. Religious people can exist for a looooong time without removing that veil.

One of the greatest passages in the Bible that describes what we are getting at is in a conversation between Jesus and his leading disciple, Peter.

21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

“We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Savior passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate.” (Tozer 43)

“It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free.” (Tozer 43)

We have known too many church-going Christians who are NOT FREE. Ego, Fears, Absorbed with Self, Pride.

God wants us free. He will do the work, but we have to “take up our cross”. We have to be willing to lose our lives. This is an invitation to pain.

There is a word of caution here. Many religious leaders who are actually wolves in sheep’s clothing, charlatans, understand this principle. It is within us. Innately, we understand that like Jesus, our journey leads to a cross. We know deep down that is where the victory lies and so we are open to this conversation and then a wolf comes in and says give it to me, along with your money or your body, or whatever. (Tozer 44)

This has to be the work of God. People must only facilitate and encourage the work in others, not interfere with it.

“Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiated the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy “acceptance” from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen.” (Tozer 44)

“Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the presence of the living God.” (Tozer 44)

Let’s pray that we enter into that work.

I pray that you might have a “Cone of Silence” (from Get Smart) experience with God today. Where God and you can communicate together without interruption or interference and He can reveal to your heart where you might have a VEIL that needs to be removed.

Let’s pray…