Resistance Training & The So Called "War on Christianity"

Turn on the television or pick up a paper and you'll eventually hear about the "war on Christianity." Some of my secular friends aren't aware of it, but for sure there is a war on Christianity. Whether you know about it or not, you have chosen a side.  Everyday, our nation slides further down the slope of godlessness. Even though the roots of our nation are embedded in Christianity, our nation is caught up in a rat race. The liberties we took for granted only two decades ago are eroding away. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is winning the war against Christianity, at least by the world's definition of winning. The problem with winning the rat race is in the end you're still just another rat. So when China destroys a church building, it's headline news to say " the war on Christianity" .click here for the story.

Here in the west, as we enjoy last comforts our Christian heritage has afforded us, there are those that would have us tow the line. Well meaning people want us to just go back to the way it used to be. I used to be one of them. I now have changed my mind. It's not that I no longer have hope for America. It's not that I don't love her. I just understand and recognize the enemy's tactics.
For three months, I have been trying to reverse the damage of twenty two years of bad choices.  I have dropped forty four pounds. I can see muscles where I've never seen muscles in my life. I had to tear down the old body to build up a new one. I feel younger. My confidence level is at an all time high. All because of the resistance training. Even though I am not at my goal, a funny thing has happened. I have gone from hating the resistance to embracing it because of the results. Embracing the resistance is the power swap our enemy is afraid of.  Our enemy has allowed us to become gradually fat. We have traded the nutritious truth for what Satan feeds us ...that taste sweet now. Complacency has covered our weak spiritual muscles. We need to exercise our faith. Miracles can only happen in the midst of a crisis.  If  being a follower of Christ, is about becoming more like Christ we need the resistance.
The truth is every since before the cross, there has been a war Christianity. Way back in the garden.  The war isn't about our freedoms, our fortunes, or our culture. It's not about buildings. It's about souls.  It's about connecting to our creator. That's never easier than with the resistance. Christianity isn't a lifestyle. It isn't an idea. It's a relationship. You can't win a war against relationships because no one can take away the love between friends. You can't destroy the church. People are the church not buildings.  Unlike buildings, when you tear people down, they have a way of becoming stronger. It was the way we were designed. For reasons the world can't understand, the church flourishes in the persecution. Maybe that's why Jesus said to love your enemies.

Father, help me embrace the resistance. Help me endure the resistance. Underneath this mess, is what you want me to be. Though in this world I'll never complete my goal, help me look as much  like Jesus this side of heaven.

Let Me Tell You What I Don't Know

I believe every word of the Bible. I read it, study, and apply as much of it as I can to my life. I'm not alone, there are people who believe it just as much as I do, who disagree with my take on some of it. We agree on the main points though. Peter said "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation."  He probably said this because moments after being told he'd be the foundation of the church Jesus called him the devil. That I understand, but there's a lot of the Bible that's a total mystery to me. For example, God seems to complicate some solutions that seem rather simple to me for all-powerful master the universe. I mean, why did Noah need to preach for 120 years for absolutely no one outside of his family to be saved? Or, why in the world did God allow His people to become enslaved in the first place? How was Jesus a man and God when at the same time He was God's son? Did God conquer death from heaven, the cross, the grave, hell or all of the above? Just under the top of that mysterious list is predestination verses free will. It's a conundrum over which many a Christain has worn out a brain cell. The Bible clearly indicates repentance is a choice while saying we are chosen by God himself. How can both Paul be right in Romans 9, if Jesus's right teaching in John 3? How do I respond to those kind of questions? I don't know. I don't know if it's one or the other or both at the same time. Oh and I don't believe you know either. If you do know, praise The Lord, but don't waste your time trying to explain it to me. It's obviously over my pay grade. I've seen members of the body Christ come to almost blows arguing over this issue. They cite bible verses driving home their point of view in the name Jesus.  If both sides were honest, they'd admit there's more questions than answers concerning this issue. When Christian discussion turns into a Christain doctrine debate, charity goes out the window. Someone said we are supposed to love one another just like Jesus loved us. Who was that guy? That's hard enough with God's help and impossible without it. Jesus said that the world would recognize us because we loved one another. Yet, who in there right mind would blame the fact we stink at it on God even if He's in control and has a plan? Or, do we stink at it because we aren't the real thing?  Perhaps, the world doesn't believe us because we act as if we don't love one another. If we act like everyone else, then there's nothing special about us, is there? Meanwhile, widows and orphans... Aren't there enough demonic forces to battle here without arguing with one another? It saddens me we spend so much time debating trivial matters rather than doing the things God asks us to. The kind of things no one can argue or find fault with like we are commanded to do throughout the Bible.  Like the verses found in Romans 12:18, Galatians 5:22-23, or Titus 2:8 for example .

God never promised us we'd have all the answers. The greatest mystery of all is found in the sacrifice of Christ. Nope, I don't know why He did. I don't know how He did it. I don't know why He chose me or how It works. I don't know much. But God knows. He has His reasons. You can debate how or why He did it. You can even debate who he does it for. When? Where? I've read it and I'm still don't know.  Because He loves me and I love Him, I will work as if it depends on me. I believe, hope, and pray it depends on Him. One things for sure, someone else's salvation doesn't depend on you or me.  Nevertheless, I'll leave the mysteries to Him and the debate to someone else. As Job says "God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. (Job 37:5 KJV)". 

Are you listening?

Scientist may have found evidence of a creator.

"Proofs in the pudding" whatever that means.

Check out the link above. So scientist have discovered more evidence to support the Big Bang theory. Before creationist roll their eyes, with this new evidence comes strong support for a creator. To make a long story short, the new evidence suggests in addition to a starting point of the universe, the Big Bang had to have a starter. A catalyst, a pusher if you will. Something outside of time, space, and matter had to pull the trigger. Exciting as that may be for believers, you can rest assured much time a research will go into finding a more logical explanation. Some people won't listen to reason. What if science actually proved the existence of God? Would that make more people have faith? I don't think so. In fact, I don't think even seeing God would change a thing since we tried to kill Him the last time He was here. Apparently, God puts more stock into listening rather than seeing. "Seeing is believing " but the bible says " faith comes from hearing". After all, if you can't see that there's a creator, you are visually impaired and ain't no amount of magnification gonna fix it. In order to have faith in something you don't have to see it, or understand it but you got to listen to it.  Witness to enough people and you'll find most don't want to listen to it. Jesus said they wouldn't listen even if someone came back from the dead then He did just to prove it.  Take Romans chapter one. We have. "Clearly seen" and are "without excuse". Mankind knows the truth yet we have rebelled since the garden. Do we have to have data from the telescope to tell us how big God is? Is He hiding so well we need a microscope find Him?  Believing is not equivalent to faith for even Satan believes in God. Belief is something you can develope by understanding what you know. Faith is believing in something you know you can't understand. And God is too wonderful to understand, don't you know. 

There Will Be Crosses

 "Real men don't cry" is a lie the devil made up. One of his better ones, actually. I saw a real man crying today and he's a man's man and a rock in my book.  It broke my heart to see him that way.  It made me think about how being a follower of Christ is an invitation to war with Satan. Though there's a place for positive attitudes, the idea that life will somehow be a positive cloud nine, mountain top experience for Christians is as fictious as Star Trek. "Give your heart to Christ and live long and prosper."  Those words serve a fantasy much better than the reality. And the reality is we need a "real" god.

Two words blow what I refer to as the "Gospel According to Spock" ( the prosperity gospel) out of the water and prove real men do cry. "Jesus wept". http://mobile.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2012&version=NET. (Read John chapter 11 pay close attention to verse 16.)Those two words say so much about not only life, but also the giver of life. A life that isn't always a void of heartache . I'll be the first to admit, there's comfort in knowing the creator God is just and all powerful.  But before we all break out into the chorus of "He's Got The Whole World in His Hands,"let's be honest.  As in awe as we may be of His majesty and power, it is hard to find a friend in that. But a god that lets us see Him cry, we can be friends with that God. 

It's not just the fact Jesus cries but what he cries over that gets me. The suffering of a friend and the anger and frustration in the attitudes surrounding him from his friends to his enemies. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Even in perfection, his life was real and positively human. Before the betrayal of Judas, he had felt the frustration of relationships. Before his pain in death, he felt the pain of life. Those closest him, then as now, suffer . But it these words, that hold those who would preach the prosperity gospel in contempt . "And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38 NET)".  I can almost see Jesus writing those words in red in the margin of a copy of  " Your Best Life Now ".

 Following Jesus is sometimes painfully disappointing and hard work. It isn't easy to forgive. Forgiveness, not prosperity, is the heart of the gospel message.   It's only through the work on the cross the work the work of the gospel gets done. It's there we can find forgiveness for ourselves and others. We certainly won't carry a cross unless we embrace the one Christ carried for us. The one we we built for Him and effectively and personally nailed Him to. Crosses not meant to adorn the necks, but instead, to scar the backs of those who do the work of real gospel. Real people, in the real world, with real problems, needing real forgiveness, serving a real God. If there is forgiveness, there will be crosses.

The Burden of Proof

Everyday, I hear of a new article trumpeting the charge for atheism. 

Uber-inteligent people, convinced God doesn't exist, articulate the ignorance of anyone who believes in a creator. Those believers, like myself, who openly defend the faith are often labeled delusional. Many of us lack either intellectual prowess or spiritual fortitude to debate the likes of Stephen Hawkins or Christopher Hitchens. If we are, in fact ignorant, then for sure ignorance is bliss. To be clear, I'm not attempting to defend my mediocre intellect. That would be a whale of a task. Really, my God doesn't need me to defend Him. Quite the opposite is true. He isn't a yeti, or a little green man from outer space. He can't be authenticated or quantified metaphysically speaking . So, what I find tragically comical is the burden of proof for a creator, placed on believers by many atheist. Why do we have to prove anything? Much evidence exist for things that are unprovable. Like your love for your children. As evident as it might be, it's impossible to prove. At the same time, you know it is true because you experience it daily. Just because, someone who's never been a parent hasn't got a clue what that kinda love is, doesn't mean it isn't real. You wouldn't feel pressure to prove that. The same should apply to matters of faith in God. Imagine someone  analyzing a beautiful painting, while trying to explain why the paint randomly, spontaneously adhered to the canvas, to the sons and daughters of the artist . Despite many scientists who believe, from Sir Isaac Newton to today's Francis Collins, many atheist still often condescend to believers as parents of children with an imaginary friend.  As if, nothing can exist outside of what men have a capacity to measure. Atheism means placing your faith in mankind and only mankind. Let that sink in. It means explicitly trusting modern men, whose feet barely left the dirt less than 200 years ago, to explain the cosmos. It means trusting the data and integrity of intelligent life with modern technology in its infancy to explain everything. A 15 billion year old ever-expanding universe, being measured by beings whose farthest reach is their moon, who are convinced the possibility of a creator is laughable. It's akin to weighing the ocean with bathroom scales while claiming pigmy right whales are extinct. By the way, modern scientist missed that one by 2 million years or so with a recent discovery of one. http://m.livescience.com/25656-pygmy-whales-living-fossils.html   . I'm not suggesting that new science can't be trusted even though it often debunks ideas once held as scientific truths. Rather, that 15 billion light years wide and counting, leaves a major margin for error.  Ruling out any possibilities isn't good science. It's arrogance. Not admitting a creator is a plausible theory to the origin of the universe is a closed minded agenda. Don't discount what you don't understand because you haven't experienced it. You never know what might wash up and change everything you once held as true. So you still don't believe in God? Can you prove that? 

A Major Award

 If you have seen the "Christmas Story", you'll no doubt remember the lamp scenes. Perhaps you missed it, but hiding behind  the soft glow of "electric sex" gleaming in the window was what Ralph's father referred to as a major award. What is about awards? Why do some people need them so badly? I've won a few contest over the years but I've given up the Grammy. But I have known a fake friend or two who can still hope for an Academy award. Truth is, my house is void of any trophy, ribbon, or plaque. I have never been the best at anything. I'm not much on sucking up or shutting up. So, I am not up for any nice guy awards. Certainly as a Christain, I have never been as nice as I'd like to be. Ever notice those special people who never seem to be rewarded? Like those forgiving souls in the tough marriage, determined to make it work, inspite of the advice of friends and family.  Or dads, who work multiple jobs to stay one step ahead of bankruptcy, though everyone suggests the easy way out. Parents who never give up their kids. Especially, those people big enough to step out. Out of their comfort zone or out of the way.  How about those people, who stand in the way of the wolves in sheep's clothing. Even at the risk of being perceived judgmental, stupid or a host of other negatives adjectives, those wonderful people make the tough decisions, and do the hard tasks. They deserve an award. What they often get is opposition from the world and attacks from the devil.   Following Jesus means overcoming  fear of disappointment. It means obedience before acceptance. Emulating Christ is rewarding but never expect an award for it. Jesus writes His name on stained  hearts not stained glass.  Remember how the world awarded Him?

Decorating for Christmas

I love Christmas. There truly is something magical about it. More so than any other season, Christmas, makes us want to to transform the world into what we wish it was.  Doors are opened and food is offered freely to complete strangers. Decked out houses are cleaner, in preparation for parties and visitations.  Despite being busier than ever, people try to be nicer. Decorations are everywhere. Lights of all colors pierce the darkness making the world a brighter place. Then there is the Christmas tree. It's wrapped in lights, with specially placed ornaments in just the right spots to fill the "holes".No matter how perfect a tree looks, there are always holes to fill. Our lives have been decorated by Jesus. He has transformed us into lights. He uses us, by carefully placing us into lives to help fill the holes that only He can fill. No matter how perfect a life seems, there are always holes to fill. After salvation, as a part of worship and in spreading the gospel, our purpose may very well come down to simply decorating someone's life. Even if only briefly, make a difference. It's the best combat against depression I have found. No doubt the enemy will remind us of our failures. He'll tell us we should have come farther by now. He'll say you're not fit for decorating. God places his ornaments when and where he wants them. His decorations are always up, it's always our moment to shine.

Is Seeing Believing?

There's an old saying "seeing is believing". A saying, that will probably soon disappear because we live in a day an age when we cannot trust our faculties. The boundary lines of reality have been blurred by the film industry. "Reality tv", movies, and video games have disconnect us from our imaginations and have robbed us of our creativity. With smart phones, we can create videos that rival the special effects of Hollywood just a decade earlier. All that is needed to escape reality is an avitar or a x-box. If you don't have time for that, you can always tweet or post about how dreadfully wonderful your life is on Facebook. Perhaps, that's one reason God has reminded us that we should walk by faith, not by sight. He knew there would come a day when we could not trust our vision. But I say we never could.  

We don't see with our eyes, we see with our minds. Need proof? That last dream that you remember, you saw that in your head right? Was it real? Our eyes process light along the optic nerves into our brains but what we see is our own perception. No two perceptions are just alike. That's about 7 billion " how I see it is" or opinions on planet earth. Makes you long for some absolutes, doesn't it?

Thankfully, God hasn't left us to our own devices when it comes to understanding him. He has chosen to reveal key information about Himself to us in His word. Over and over, He tells us to give little attention to the things we can see. Jesus even told Thomas blessed are those who believe who have not seen. Paul had this to say in 2 Corinthians 4:18" So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Finding an invisible God isn't all that hard if you know where to look. The key is you have to be looking. The wonders of God may be hidden in creation but the God of wonders isn't exactly hiding. He tells us, if we seek him we will find him, if we seek with all our heart Jeremiah 29:13.  Seeing isn't believing because belief isn't a visual response. Belief is a response of the heart.

You might find Jesus anywhere. Well, almost. You can't find Him in a manger. That's been done. Incidentally, all those who found Him there were looking toward heaven. You won't find Him on the cross either. "It is finished". It couldn't hold Him. You won't find Him in a tomb. That rock rolled a long time ago.  The grave couldn't keep Him .Those places have two things in common. All were forever changed by a brief encounter with the savior and all are empty without Him .Whether you're looking through a telescope or walking through a valley, gazing at something fascinating or just having a busy night at the office tending your sheep, Jesus can be found. When you find Him, it will be your heart, not your eyes, that is mesmerized. Unlike the manger, the cross, and the tomb, Jesus doesn't make brief encounters with the heart. Only Christ can fill a heart. Your heart is uniquely designed to hold Jesus. A heart He encounters is never again, empty. However, it will be forever changed. There will be decorations. Merry Christmas.

You Don't Scare Me Anymore.

 

Not much scares me. On my trip to Africa, I walked, climbed, and crawled from the plains to the mountains, for a glimpse of the dangerous wildlife. Knowing parasitic insects, three of the worlds deadliest snakes, large charging animals, and many feared predators, lived where I was walking, climbing, and crawling. Never once was my faith stifled. I've ridden horses and even an ostrich. I've been cave diving. I have crawled into a shark cage to observe great whites up close. I have no fear of flying. My job involves working with live electrical circuits from time to time. I live in a house where the ratio of men to women is one to three. Public speaking, considered the number one fear, rated higher than fear of death, it's a piece of cake for me. Belief in an infallible God's perfect plan, affords one many freedoms. Yet, I dread every Halloween. I don't do scary movies. I don't do masks. (By the way, I am always packing, so you might want to pull that practical joke on someone else). Halloween, I literally hate it.
Even though I know the history behind Halloween, this isn't some attempt to condemn those who celebrate. I want people to have fun. I don't care what night it is.  However, I could actually see you put on a mask and it would still creep me out. Silly, I mean, all that stuff isn't real, right? While it might be true there are no monsters underneath my bed, our faith teaches the existence of demons is real. Over the years, studying the bible, I found the stories of Satan and his demons most disturbing. To be honest, it scared the crap out of me.' I guess, knowing those who worship demons count Halloween as their most sacred day made me a little nervous. Ephesians 6. reminds us our enemy supernatural.  Somehow, I keep forgetting, living inside of us is the supernatural creative power of the universe, the Holy Spirit. The same power that kicked Satan's butt out of heaven, kicked the door in at his house and stole his keys. I keep forgetting, all the verses that belittle our enemy. Like, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4 God has given is a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind instead of fear.2 Timothy 1:7 There's more, lots more. From time to time, when I get the wind knocked out of me, I look through the word for some ammunition to use against the evil one. Recently, while still shaking in my godly armor, I swung my sword when I came across a passage in Isaiah 14 :12-17 . It basically says, one day we will look at satan and wonder how we could have ever been afraid of him. Come to think of it, he does look a little puny when you compare him to how big God is.

Change

 For as long as I can remember, I have lived on Knotty Branch Road. Even before it was Knotty Branch Road. The United States Postal service changed my address three times on Route 2 before Knotty Branch got its name for some almost always invisible flowing body of water, supossedly behind my property. Now after forty years, you get used to things. You come to depend on them. Like the old house I grew up in. Or the forty foot plus magnolia tree that was in the front yard.

 My great grandfather built this home. It managed to survive four generations, four familys, Hurricanes Hazel and Hugo, and two close calls with tornadoes, despite the fact it wasn't engineered or inspected. But it was a cold house. So cold, the commode froze occasionally. Sometimes, we would all sleep on den floor by the gas heater. I could go on. Funny, I couldn't wait to get out of it but miss it so much now. But the yard was my stage. The magnolia tree was my favorite toy. Split in half, at the expense of my father's butt, had created the tree's huge twin trunks. I can almost smell the lemony aroma from the blossoms from the screen porch. It takes me back thirty four years, when a little boy will force himself to overcome his fear of heights by climbing to the top of that tree. Underneath, a brother and sister will bury treasure, in the form of a Snoppy piggy bank. That til this day, has yet to be discovered.  Magnolia cones make the best make-believe grenades, by the way. We barely scratched the surface of what all the leaves could be used for. Landmarks for 75 years or longer, the house and tree greeted me like two old familar souls until two weeks ago. Now, all that remain are the memories. They aren't all good memories, but some are wonderful. Watching the destruction of your original home is emotional.
 Like most of my emotional experiences, God shows up with His little lesson plans. This time, I was ready for Him. I was drawing the obvious parallels. "Material possessions are temporary. I know, Lord. Nothing here last forever. I know, Lord, you never know what you got till Yada, yada, yada.( NEVER yada,yada,yada Yahweh). "
 A week goes by, I still can't hardly recognize the road leading to my home.  Pondering how things will never be the same always exhaustes me. Then it hit me. I can't recognize my county, or my country anymore. Everything changes.  So this morning, in the spirit of change, (really to just avoid it) I decided to look down Knotty Branch the other direction, opposite of my old home. Just as I did, a  bald eagle landed in my yard! It's a rare sight. My first, and I could have missed it doing the same old thing.' It reminded me of Isaiah 41:10
"but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."" By the way Clint, this is not and was not your home. And the only thing you should come to depend on is me." God always has the last word.
Change is inevitable, but I don't have to like it. Our God, however, never changes. Constantly, leading us. Constantly asking us to wait on Him, while he changes, us.