There have now been too many interrelated events this morning for me to not write this post. I was way more productive yesterday than I had intended to be and I am a little tired from all that. If that is too cryptic, I spent way more time than I would have liked to at two home improvement stores, maintained the fireplace, organized part of the garage, and for good measure, replaced a leaking garbage disposal. So I thought maybe I could get a bit of a day off today. And then...
The Holy Spirit said, "Leaders are not always right." I had not even finished mulling that when my wife asked, "In Romans 12 it says that we are to do what is right in the sight of everyone. Wouldn't that make us man-pleasers?" I gave her the best answer I could, but at that point I was still not making any connection. Then I opened my email. The last headline on the list was the notification of a comment by "Anonymous" on my blog. I was still okay. Of course I had to read the comment. You can read it for yourself, (I do not seem to be able to get the link in here right now, but the comments are on the post entitled, "Heart of a Warrior") but my understanding of the sense of it is that there is more than one way to pursue spiritual warfare and he/she (?) is not sure I am using the correct approach. Okay. No problem. I appreciate the input. Were that as far as it went, I can live with that. How many of you know, the Holy Spirit is not going to let something like that rest?
Let me put those things together for us. Please read the whole context before deciding I am wrong or even being a little harsh. I am just reporting. Wherever a religious spirit has any measure of control, the leaders are the problem. We cannot live our lives to please people who are themselves problems, or participants in the problems. The clear teaching of Romans 12 (and various other Bible passages) is that we each have our own jobs to do if the body of Christ on earth is to be victorious over our enemies. I obviously cannot speak for anyone else, but I am confident I am doing what I am supposed to do.
Now of course I have to clarify the previous paragraph. All the leaders are not the problem. I am not indicting your pastor or my pastor or the leaders of any of what we call "paraChurch" ministries in the Santa Maria valley. I am only writing about the ones who are participating with the religious spirit by seeking their own and controlling and/or otherwise keeping the flock of God from "...attaining the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13) Listen, even the ones who are causing the problem are doing it ignorantly. They are good men and women. If they understood what they were doing, they would not do it. Do not let anything written here inspire you to ignore Hebrews 13:17, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account..." (Hebrews 13:17)
As for the question, my wife posed, our responsibility as Christians is to do the right thing. The only people we are required to please in any endeavor are those who, "...see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16)
That would have been all I had to say except that there is a fourth occurrence today that probably set the three we have already mentioned in motion. Tom Demaree, whom we have mentioned before, is relaunching Pentecost Walk in Santa Maria. The culmination is a prayer walk this very afternoon from the Foursquare Church to City Hall. (I really hope I have all that right. Do not make your plans to attend until you check with someone else to be sure.) Tom is a man we greatly respect and support prayerfully and financially. Tom is doing spiritual warfare a different way than we are. When I worked at FedEx, we would have given him an award called, "Bravo Zulu" for fulfilling his call to ministry with all his spirit, soul, and body. You go Tom!
I am about to hit the "Publish Post" button knowing that I might have to un-post and re-post this. We are almost out the door to hear Pastor Jack Hayford speak at a local church. Jack was our pastor for several years, quite a few years ago. He is a giant among pastors and theologians. He always has a word from God. He might say something today that needs to be stated or clarified here, but for now...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Let Go
I was not going to write another post today, but then I was inspired by something I read. Let's back up thirty plus years and take a running start at this.
When we were married, we were associate pastors at a church in Ventura, CA. Two blocks down the street from that church there was a Pussycat Theatre. For those of you who do not know about those theatres, you can probably guess from the name what kind of movies they show. On the marquee of that theatre, the title "The Joy of Letting Go" once appeared. My wife thought that would be good sermon title. Some times it takes a while for me to catch up. Did I mention that was thirty some years ago?
In an effort to not bore you too badly before I come to the point of this post, I will not give you all the details, but I found out my nephew who is ten years old is on Facebook. I pulled up his profile. He has more friends than I do. I am trying to get past that inequity. Anyway, I looked at his friends who come up on the profile page and some of them are considerably older than he is. On one profile I saw activities of "hunting and fishing and 10 others." Intrigued as to what kind of woman likes hunting and fishing, I wondered what the 10 others were. The last one struck me. It read, "You'll never find the right person if you don't let go of the wrong one." I could not tell if that were an original quote so I sent a message and asked if I could use it. She graciously responded in the affirmative. So the quote is used with permission of Rachel Morris of Denton, TX. Hey wait. I think I was there last month. Sorry. Mental break. I am back.
You'll never find the right person if you don't let go of the wrong one. That sounded interesting to me. Then it sounded important, then it sounded essential. I have no idea how important it really is. My mind is still running wild, working on that one.
I work with people in recovery from substance abuse. One of the first things a person in recovery has to do is change who he associates with, where he goes, and what he does. Obviously that is not the only group of people who hold onto things they should not. Any time any of us wants to make a change for the better we have to let go of something.
It now occurs to me that most of us cannot change because we cannot let go of something or someone. We feel we need that other person, thing, house, car, church, job, etc. to make us feel worthy, valuable, whatever. We want to be wanted, but we need to be needed. We tend to think we will lose something if we make a change. The truth is that when we make the proper changes, in obedience to God's will, we have a net gain because He adds more than we give up. I do know whereof I speak. My life was turned upside down about two years ago by a lie. The difference in my life now did not seem possible before that. I am a little embarassed to admit, I did not even realize God wanted me to make some changes until I was forced to make them. I am now seeing the difference.
My maternal grandfather was a good man. He was not, probably, the most intelligent man on earth, but he worked hard at a lot of different jobs and had his own business for several years. I believe he was just seventy years old when one day he was complaining about the aches and pains that often come with age. I told him he would probably live another ten years. He said he did not know if he wanted to. He was not of any use to anyone. I am not sure he believed me when I told him he had value to lots of people including me. Come to think of it, maybe he did. He lived another fourteen years, if I am not mistaken.
We are about to get Biblical and spiritual here, just so you know. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to, "...lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) The question, then, is what ensnares us? The obvious answer for people in recovery is drugs or alcohol. It seems most people do not understand that most often (if you need a number for "most often", I am guessing well in excess of 80%) people who abuse any substance are trying to fill a need in their lives. The need can be as complex as a physical, brain malfunction or as simple as peer pressure. There is something the person feels he or she is missing and they they try to compensate with something else.
Those of us who do not abuse substances simply substitute something else for the substances. It might be work or some other kind of service. It could be the things we possess. Perhaps your football team has your focus to the point of obsession. Maybe you know people who live for their children or their pets. At some point we feel the need to control other people so our universe stays intact. (Wow, this is getting heavy.) I know I just stepped on a lot of toes. That is kind of my job here. I picked mine up off the floor as I started to type the paragraph because I just had a feeling about what was coming.
How about we just skip to the bottom line and avoid any additional bruises to our egos? God has more for you than you can imagine. Yes, I have scripture on that, 1 Corinthians 2:9. You will never appropriate the promises and the blessings of God while you hold onto the things that are now weighing you down and ensnaring you. They may be good things, but they are not the best things. You may think you have all you want and need, but now that I have gone to meddling, there is a nagging in your spirit that you are not walking in all the fullness God has for you. I would apologize for initiating that nagging, but I would be being disingenuous were I to do that. That, also, is part of my job. And yes, I have scripture on that too, Colossians 3:16, or if you prefer, Hebrews 3:13.
With that, I am done. God bless!
When we were married, we were associate pastors at a church in Ventura, CA. Two blocks down the street from that church there was a Pussycat Theatre. For those of you who do not know about those theatres, you can probably guess from the name what kind of movies they show. On the marquee of that theatre, the title "The Joy of Letting Go" once appeared. My wife thought that would be good sermon title. Some times it takes a while for me to catch up. Did I mention that was thirty some years ago?
In an effort to not bore you too badly before I come to the point of this post, I will not give you all the details, but I found out my nephew who is ten years old is on Facebook. I pulled up his profile. He has more friends than I do. I am trying to get past that inequity. Anyway, I looked at his friends who come up on the profile page and some of them are considerably older than he is. On one profile I saw activities of "hunting and fishing and 10 others." Intrigued as to what kind of woman likes hunting and fishing, I wondered what the 10 others were. The last one struck me. It read, "You'll never find the right person if you don't let go of the wrong one." I could not tell if that were an original quote so I sent a message and asked if I could use it. She graciously responded in the affirmative. So the quote is used with permission of Rachel Morris of Denton, TX. Hey wait. I think I was there last month. Sorry. Mental break. I am back.
You'll never find the right person if you don't let go of the wrong one. That sounded interesting to me. Then it sounded important, then it sounded essential. I have no idea how important it really is. My mind is still running wild, working on that one.
I work with people in recovery from substance abuse. One of the first things a person in recovery has to do is change who he associates with, where he goes, and what he does. Obviously that is not the only group of people who hold onto things they should not. Any time any of us wants to make a change for the better we have to let go of something.
It now occurs to me that most of us cannot change because we cannot let go of something or someone. We feel we need that other person, thing, house, car, church, job, etc. to make us feel worthy, valuable, whatever. We want to be wanted, but we need to be needed. We tend to think we will lose something if we make a change. The truth is that when we make the proper changes, in obedience to God's will, we have a net gain because He adds more than we give up. I do know whereof I speak. My life was turned upside down about two years ago by a lie. The difference in my life now did not seem possible before that. I am a little embarassed to admit, I did not even realize God wanted me to make some changes until I was forced to make them. I am now seeing the difference.
My maternal grandfather was a good man. He was not, probably, the most intelligent man on earth, but he worked hard at a lot of different jobs and had his own business for several years. I believe he was just seventy years old when one day he was complaining about the aches and pains that often come with age. I told him he would probably live another ten years. He said he did not know if he wanted to. He was not of any use to anyone. I am not sure he believed me when I told him he had value to lots of people including me. Come to think of it, maybe he did. He lived another fourteen years, if I am not mistaken.
We are about to get Biblical and spiritual here, just so you know. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to, "...lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) The question, then, is what ensnares us? The obvious answer for people in recovery is drugs or alcohol. It seems most people do not understand that most often (if you need a number for "most often", I am guessing well in excess of 80%) people who abuse any substance are trying to fill a need in their lives. The need can be as complex as a physical, brain malfunction or as simple as peer pressure. There is something the person feels he or she is missing and they they try to compensate with something else.
Those of us who do not abuse substances simply substitute something else for the substances. It might be work or some other kind of service. It could be the things we possess. Perhaps your football team has your focus to the point of obsession. Maybe you know people who live for their children or their pets. At some point we feel the need to control other people so our universe stays intact. (Wow, this is getting heavy.) I know I just stepped on a lot of toes. That is kind of my job here. I picked mine up off the floor as I started to type the paragraph because I just had a feeling about what was coming.
How about we just skip to the bottom line and avoid any additional bruises to our egos? God has more for you than you can imagine. Yes, I have scripture on that, 1 Corinthians 2:9. You will never appropriate the promises and the blessings of God while you hold onto the things that are now weighing you down and ensnaring you. They may be good things, but they are not the best things. You may think you have all you want and need, but now that I have gone to meddling, there is a nagging in your spirit that you are not walking in all the fullness God has for you. I would apologize for initiating that nagging, but I would be being disingenuous were I to do that. That, also, is part of my job. And yes, I have scripture on that too, Colossians 3:16, or if you prefer, Hebrews 3:13.
With that, I am done. God bless!
Heart of a Warrior
Occasionally we write about men in the program at the mission. Unlike some of the television dramas that change the names to protect the innocent, we have never done that. We will not make an exception this time. Then again we do not really have anyone there who is innocent.
Let me tell you how the title for this post came about. It is a two-part explanation. It was probably about two months ago. I can never be sure of time frames longer ago than vacation, but that seems about right. We were having devotions at the mission. I was saying something, which I am certain was scintillating, and looking at the men as I did. I looked at CJ and the Holy Spirit said, "That man has the heart of a warrior." I said that out loud to the group. One day the next week, CJ told the group he really wanted to have the heart of a warrior. So then this morning--about 5:00 the Holy Spirit spoke this title to my spirit. (Yes, it is Saturday. I have mentioned how I feel about these early morning wake-ups before.)
If you google the phrase, "dysfunctional family" you will see a picture of CJ's family. (Obviously not true in case you have not googled yet.) Suffice it to say, CJ had no idea how to live a normal life before coming to the mission. Now that I type that, I am not sure we are helping him figure out whatever a "normal" life is, but that is all right. We are still giving him some things he can use when he completes the program.
You could ask any of the other men in the program who is the most "spiritual" man in the program right now and they will tell you it is CJ. They know "spiritual" when they see it because they get it hammered into their heads on a daily basis. In case you are wondering, "spiritual" is usually about 180 degrees off what we "think" is right. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25) Is CJ perfect? That depends on your understanding of perfect. He was lost and depressed when he came to the mission over four months ago. He did not know where he belonged. Now he is redeemed by the blood of Jesus. He has been baptized in water. His mind is pretty much 180 degrees from where it was when he first showed up in my office. He knows he is where is supposed to be. He is helping other men in their Christian walk and this post is evidence that he is teaching me something by the way he is living.
I tell people CJ is my first choice if I need someone to guard my back. Did I mention he is about five feet nine inches tall and weighs around 300 pounds? He could probably stand to lose a few pounds, but I have never seen calves as thick as his. Aside from all that, I would trust him to guard my back--to be behind me. He has the heart of a warrior.
Most of us know someone who is a U.S. Marine. I use the verb "is" because I am told "once a Marine, always a Marine." In his autobiography, Roger Staubach writes about being at the Naval Academy. He writes that he could always tell which cadets were going to be Marine officers because they wore combat boots and ran when they did not have to. In his words they were, "gung ho". They were not only dedicated to what they were doing as the other midshipmen were, they were enthusiastic about it. Being a Marine is more of an attitude than anything one does. Being a warrior is pretty much the same thing.
Right now a group of us are in training to defeat the religious spirit over the Santa Maria valley. Many of us do not even know we are being trained. We do not recognize the Lord's discipline in our lives. I even have one man (intentional understatement) in the program who avoids the discipline he knows he needs. He is typical of those who do not have God's vision for their lives. (Proverbs 29:18)
We are still dealing with people who think we are making all this religious spirit stuff up as though we are looking for a purpose or our destiny in the wrong place. This whole blog thing is intended to raise the awareness of the church--the called out ones--in the Santa Maria valley and anywhere else people would encourage and support us in prayer. Be sure the battle is real. We have already seen a few, minor victories. Those keep us encouraged. When we see men like CJ making progress as he is, we can say with the Psalmist, "This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:23)
Let me tell you how the title for this post came about. It is a two-part explanation. It was probably about two months ago. I can never be sure of time frames longer ago than vacation, but that seems about right. We were having devotions at the mission. I was saying something, which I am certain was scintillating, and looking at the men as I did. I looked at CJ and the Holy Spirit said, "That man has the heart of a warrior." I said that out loud to the group. One day the next week, CJ told the group he really wanted to have the heart of a warrior. So then this morning--about 5:00 the Holy Spirit spoke this title to my spirit. (Yes, it is Saturday. I have mentioned how I feel about these early morning wake-ups before.)
If you google the phrase, "dysfunctional family" you will see a picture of CJ's family. (Obviously not true in case you have not googled yet.) Suffice it to say, CJ had no idea how to live a normal life before coming to the mission. Now that I type that, I am not sure we are helping him figure out whatever a "normal" life is, but that is all right. We are still giving him some things he can use when he completes the program.
You could ask any of the other men in the program who is the most "spiritual" man in the program right now and they will tell you it is CJ. They know "spiritual" when they see it because they get it hammered into their heads on a daily basis. In case you are wondering, "spiritual" is usually about 180 degrees off what we "think" is right. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25) Is CJ perfect? That depends on your understanding of perfect. He was lost and depressed when he came to the mission over four months ago. He did not know where he belonged. Now he is redeemed by the blood of Jesus. He has been baptized in water. His mind is pretty much 180 degrees from where it was when he first showed up in my office. He knows he is where is supposed to be. He is helping other men in their Christian walk and this post is evidence that he is teaching me something by the way he is living.
I tell people CJ is my first choice if I need someone to guard my back. Did I mention he is about five feet nine inches tall and weighs around 300 pounds? He could probably stand to lose a few pounds, but I have never seen calves as thick as his. Aside from all that, I would trust him to guard my back--to be behind me. He has the heart of a warrior.
Most of us know someone who is a U.S. Marine. I use the verb "is" because I am told "once a Marine, always a Marine." In his autobiography, Roger Staubach writes about being at the Naval Academy. He writes that he could always tell which cadets were going to be Marine officers because they wore combat boots and ran when they did not have to. In his words they were, "gung ho". They were not only dedicated to what they were doing as the other midshipmen were, they were enthusiastic about it. Being a Marine is more of an attitude than anything one does. Being a warrior is pretty much the same thing.
Right now a group of us are in training to defeat the religious spirit over the Santa Maria valley. Many of us do not even know we are being trained. We do not recognize the Lord's discipline in our lives. I even have one man (intentional understatement) in the program who avoids the discipline he knows he needs. He is typical of those who do not have God's vision for their lives. (Proverbs 29:18)
We are still dealing with people who think we are making all this religious spirit stuff up as though we are looking for a purpose or our destiny in the wrong place. This whole blog thing is intended to raise the awareness of the church--the called out ones--in the Santa Maria valley and anywhere else people would encourage and support us in prayer. Be sure the battle is real. We have already seen a few, minor victories. Those keep us encouraged. When we see men like CJ making progress as he is, we can say with the Psalmist, "This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:23)
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