It's NOT All About Me!

 I love all of the plot twists and turns in the story of Esther.  It's a book filled with "I didn't see that coming" moments.  From a queen who won't cooperate with a vile request and gets deposed, to snatching up all of the beautiful virgins for the king, to him picking the least likely, to a villain in chief, Haman who hates Jews and plots their demise to a queen risking her life for her people...the story just keeps moving in a serpentine, "good news, bad news" type of way.

Picking up the thoughts from my last blog post (That ONE Thing I Can't Let Go), let's dive back into the next twist.  Haman has a 75 foot pole erected to impale Mordecai because Mordecai refuses to bow to him.  He just can't let it go.  Though he is second in command of all of Persia, this one measly guy won't bow!  So his wife, Zeresh, tells him to erect a 75-foot pole, ask the king for permission to impale Mordecai, and then go on his merry way.  He orders workmen  to work through the night to be ready in the morning to off Mordecai so that he can then be happy and free to enjoy dining with the king and queen exclusively.  But...Plot Twist...

That very same night while the workmen are setting up the sharpened 75-foot pole, the king can't sleep. So he has the Persian equivalent of counting sheep brought in.  "Read the royal records to me," he commands.  Somewhere in the reading was buried the story of Bigthana and Teresh, two would-be assassins that Mordecai had overheard talking to each other about killing the king.  He had reported them, and after examination, his report was found to be true.  They were dispensed of.  End of story.  Next Story.

"Wait..." says the king..."what was done to repay Mordecai for his loyalty and kindness?" A question he sits with all night, because he gets the report back that nothing had been recorded.

New day.  Haman comes early to the king's chambers to make his request and the stage is set as they play a small game of "no, you first".  And here is where it gets good.  Let's pick up the story in Esther ch 6.

Esth. 6:3 “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.
His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

Esth. 6:4 “Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.

Esth. 6:5 So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered.

6 So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”

Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?”

Which is where I want to pause us in this story.  Pastor Tripp Prince wrote, in response to this verse:

"One of the greatest and most persistent challenges that any of us ever face is that of self-love.  What I mean is this: We live as if we were the sun around which all of life orbits.  Our lives, careers, passions, hobbies, interests, activities, all of them fueling the obsession that is 'self'. And when we give into this delusion, we are unable to see the world as it truly is.  We fail to see the joys and sorrows, wants and needs of others, because we are entirely blinded by the one-man act called, 'my life'." Dwell Daily Devotional, Sept 8, 2025

And Haman reminds us of that proclivity within all of us.  Oh...we might try to distance ourselves from the vile Haman, but we each have within us the capacity to ask "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?" We might not say it out loud, yet it resonates deep within us.  Our lives, lived out, are inherently selfish.  Don't believe me?  

Who are you thinking about when someone gets in front of you in the 15 items or less lane with 23 items in their shopping cart?  Who are you thinking about when you are stuck in the far left lane behind a person going 10 miles less than the speed limit?  What about when boarding a plane?  You might abide by their boarding procedures to remain civil, but inwardly you are hoping that there will still be overhead bin space for your carry on and that the person next to you doesn't want to talk and spoil your plans for me-time.

So what do we do if we find ourselves in league with Haman?  Again from Tripp Prince: 

"The first step to genuine transformation is to admit that you and I are capable of this kind of self-delusion.  To say otherwise is to deny the truth of the human condition, saying we are well, when, in truth, we are sick and in need of healing.  Left to ourselves, you and I are no different than Haman.  Yet thanks be to God, by His love and power to work within us, His Spirit is setting us free from self-love, slowly but surely revealing to us the power of loving our neighbors and even our enemies as we love ourselves, that we may know the joy of being children of our Father in heaven."  Dwell Daily Devotional, Sept 8, 2025

We must learn and acknowledge, on a daily basis, that we are not the center of the universe...and that's a good thing.  When I allow God to be God and remove myself from my paltry throne, I begin to grow in love towards others and seek their good.

A person who never learns that, while perhaps, like Haman, could even possess almost unlimited riches and power, will always be bereft of those things which truly enrich us as human beings.

God, deliver me...from me.

That ONE Thing I Can't Let Go

I was revisiting the story of Esther in Scripture for my devotions (which, if you haven’t read it lately, you should…it has more plot twists and turns than the best roller coaster) and I came to the part in the story where Haaman, the obvious villain in the story, had just finished telling his wife about his exclusive dining experience with the king and queen and how he had another royal invitation for the following evening.  But at the conclusion of the dinner, as he exited to head home, there was Mordecai, a Jew who wouldn’t bow to him.  Let’s pick up the story in Esther 5.

 

Esth. 5:9 Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious. 10 However, he restrained himself and went on home.

Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife,

11 and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.

Esth. 5:12 Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!” 13 Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”

Isn’t that just like us? We can be in the middle of a plethora of great things happening…but we focus on the one small galling thing we might have in our lives. Or we could be getting tons of compliments—but there’s that one critical remark that our mind goes back to. Over and over again we may restrain ourselves outwardly, but that thing…that one miserable thing…keeps showing up to ruin everything else. Our hearts are not happy. Our spirits are unsettled and like a festering sore, our attention keeps returning back to that one thing. We just can’t seem to be happy until that thing is dealt with. And not just dealt with, but in a decisive way so that WE win BIG!

Zeresh comes up with a plan. Check this out.

Esth. 5:14 So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feeta tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.

Does that blow your mind as much as it does mine? “You’ve got a problem with Mordecai? Kill him and then go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” Let that sink in for just a second. Impale him and then go on your merry way…WOW!

Yet, isn’t that how we tend to treat things in our culture today? If you can just kill him or her…oh, maybe not their body…but his influence, her reputation, his credibility, her relationships…if you can just take them out of the running…gut them…impale them, as it were, then you can go on your merry way to dine with the king.

How many times have I been guilty of dropping a word here, or an accusation there, an assassination attempt of their character and reputation, so that I can go on my merry way to the banquet?

Jesus taught another way to deal with those people who really annoy you—and it really is counterintuitive! Not impaling—but in loving them.

 

Luke 6:27    “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. ³⁰ Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. ³¹ Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

 

“But that’s hard!” you might be thinking.  Yes it is…but it can spare you from a plot twist that only comes back to haunt you.   To be continued…

Ancient Assyrian Impalements
"Hanging"

The Love of the Giver

 Thomas A Kempis wrote: A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.

Think about that- when I see the gift of salvation provided in abundance and freely bestowed on me, I have to go beyond the gift of God, and examine what caused Him to want to give it in the first place—the Love of God.  So while I value the gift, the gift is only there to lead me to the Love behind the gift.

 

And therein lies the reason we got trapped into all this commercialism surrounding Christmas in the first place.  We got the whole gift thing.  That made sense.  God gave to show His love—therefore, we can give to show our love.  So we give to those we love.  At least that’s where it started.  But then we began to spread that out a little to include those we appreciate.  And then we found out about political correctness, and we expanded it to giving gifts to those we couldn’t afford to offend or else to those by whom we wanted to be thought of more highly.  

And the gift giving became the focus, instead of the love behind the gifts.  When you separate the value of the gift from the love of the giver, you are left with raw materialism.  And then our worth becomes measured by the expense of the gift.

Let’s take a look at John 1 then, and take a look at the Giver of the gift in order to see if we can see the love of the Giver. 

 

John 1:1   In the beginning was the Word, (capital W—but who is this Word?) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. (being with God and also God himself would give us a clue.  Next John turns to the function of the Word)  3   Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (Keep your finger there and let’s go back to Genesis 1 and see if that’s true.)

 

Gen. 1:1   In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

 

Wait—God just said—let there be light and there was light?  How did that work?

 

Psalm 33:6-9 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.  7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.  8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him.  9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

 

Did you catch that?  By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.  Go back to John 1:3-4   Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

 

The Word was the enacting power in the creation story.  In Him was life…without Him nothing was made that has been made.  But watch this.  Jump down to verse 14. 

John 1: 14   The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

He, the Word, the Life-giver, the one that made everything that has been made—came down and made his dwelling among us.  Why?  To offer Himself to us in relationship.  To help us understand what God was like. 

 

After centuries of mankind enduring the powerful lies of Satan about what God was like, Jesus came to show us exactly what God was like.  And it wasn’t what we thought He would be like at all.  

 

Degenerate human nature says, “Show your power and gain respect!”  But the One who had the most power in the universe—the One who, with a word, could create all things, cloaked His power in the guise of a Baby.  But Satan knew the potential of that power and tried to have His life snuffed out as a toddler.

 

Degenerate human hearts crave money and wealth.  But the One who had everything and came from a place where gold was so cheap they used it as a paving material for streets and building material for the walls, walked through this life unencumbered by material possessions.  And Satan tried to tempt him with everything that man considers important, promising to deliver it all if Christ would only bow down and worship him.  But relationship with the Father is what Jesus centered on because it was the source of His strength as well as the heart of His mission.  Nothing else was worth having.

 

So Satan decides that if relationships are what we need, then present before the  degenerate human heart a string of them.  If one isn’t good enough, cast it aside and grab another.  But each one leaves us only more damaged than the last and leaves a string of broken people and relationships in our past.  Satan knows that if he can keep them shallow and surface, they will never be as fulfilling as God intended.  Jesus chose to focus deeply on that one relationship that mattered—the one with His Father—and that enriched all of the relationships He had with people.  It freed Him from the shallow and the surface.  It allowed Him to go beyond the outer protective shell that people would throw up around themselves, and penetrate to the heart of each.

 

It allowed Him to see the need of Zaccheus—not more money or things—but relationship.  

It allowed Him to see the need of Nicodemus—not more money or power—but relationship.

It allowed Him to see beyond the sin of the woman caught in adultery with her guilt and shame, and He knew she didn’t need more of that, so He offered grace instead.  He offered her relationship.  Not one that condemned her away from the presence of God, but one that restored her to God through Himself.  And that was beyond comprehension to the degenerate human heart.

 

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

 

John 1:9-10 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  10  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

 

Has life soured for you because you have been living it your own way and now everything is falling apart? Have you been striving for the wrong things, thinking they would be the fulfillment of your dreams, all the while having a nagging knowledge that tells you that the fulfillment will only be temporary?  Have you been measuring your worth in dollars and cents with the false god of materialism, yet finding that no matter how much you buy, it leaves you unsatisfied?  Do you find yourself in shallow or broken relationships knowing that they won’t truly be the answer, but not willing to let go, simply because you fear being alone?

 

Then the good news found in Jesus, is that he comes to offer Himself.  He's the Right Answer to a mixed-up world.  A relationship with the Word (capital W) can allow Him to speak a re-creative word (small w) into your life.  He can make you and your world all over again. And He can make it better, richer and with a brighter hope for your future. But it can’t be done apart from Jesus.   Any striving for any of these things apart from Jesus will only leave you more broken, more frustrated and more destitute at the end of the day.  How do I know?

 

John 1: 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

 

That’s where the right answer for your life is found.  In Christ.  Alone.  In Him is life and that life is what can bring light to your life.  It can re-orient your priorities, bring fulfillment and purpose to your life, show you what is truly important, and restore relationships and deepen them beyond your wildest hopes, dreams or expectations.

Are you ready to try Him...again?  Or perhaps, for the very first time?  Then simply ask Him to come in and speak that word into your life.  And if you need help knowing what to do next, I'd love to hear from you.

Social Media Grenades vs The Way of Love

Almost a year ago,  I wrote Of Facebook Cannons and Twitter Bombs to examine how too many of us are seeking to right wrongs by weaponizing  our social media feeds to force change with those that have wronged us.  I ended with the line perhaps we need to live like Jesus and lead with love.

In that piece, I looked at the counsel Jesus gave in Matthew 18 on how to deal with those that have wronged us.  Sadly, many Christians totally ignore that counsel, and instead of airing their grievances with the person, they go straight to the Twitter feed or Facebook feed and call out, not just those that have wronged them personally, but those who merely irritate them or hold a view counter to their own.

I've observed on more than one occasion, even pastors, those who I'm certain must have read this passage at some point in their training, totally skipping over Jesus' very words of counsel and blasting other pastors on their social media platforms for the things that are contrary to the view of the one posting.  

In fact, some haven't been personally wronged at all! They merely disagree with what is being said in a sermon or a Twitter post, or in a meeting where something was said, and out come the social media grenades, hoping to blast that person and their opinions into oblivion.  

I just read a new one the other day and it greatly saddened me, and once again gave me cause to ponder.  And as I was pondering all these things the other morning, I decided to re-examine what God is calling us to as we deal with one another, especially fellow Christians. I wrote a Facebook post about what I found and incorporated part of it here.  Look at what Jesus Himself said to His disciples.  

John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have.

In this day and age of cancel culture, weaponized social media feeds and a polarized society on just about every front, it’s becoming harder and harder to like, much less love, those who are not like me, who think differently or who are sometimes just downright mean. Yet the command remains. 

To stay faithful as a follower of Jesus means we have to love others like Jesus loved. And it is impossible to do that unless we stay connected to Jesus. 

It’s like an electrical circuit. It is in connecting to Jesus and letting the love of Jesus flow into you so that it can flow from you to others that enable you to obey His command.

Perhaps you, like me, have found that loving others is easy to say, but hard to do. And as I seek to do that, I recognize that I can’t do it without the power of Jesus in my life. That’s why it is necessary to stay connected to the Source of Love. To (pardon the pun) stay grounded in His word.

Obeying His command to love, keeps me in His love because I recognize that there is no possible way I can do that on my own. Simply keeping the 10 commandments apart from loving others will do you no good. Jesus calls us to love as He loves. He doesn’t just call us…He commands us. Over and over. Check these verses where He reiterates it. 

John 13: 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

John:15:12-14 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

John 15: 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Are you seeing the theme emerging that Jesus was trying to get across to those of us who profess to follow Him? Yet many of us spend our time arguing, judging, and comparing...Even calling people out on our social media feeds, seeking to show others our disgust or disdain at what we consider to be their errant thoughts and ideas without ever following the council in Matthew 18. hmmm...

Perhaps it's time for a refocusing of our spiritual priorities and returning to our calling to love.
What was it Jesus said?  

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

The Bride of Christ has a Cutting Habit

As a pastor, I am weary. Not only of the whole Covid thing, or the political thing.   I'm  weary of wading through much of the stuff that gets sent to my inbox by well-meaning people that I love who are trying to "get me on their side" in hopes of using my influence to help gain a following. Yes, I'm weary of Christians who have forgotten their calling and have made it their mission to champion lesser callings even to the detriment of the other members of the church.

We Christians, have almost always, been our own worst enemies.  And many of us have ceased to promote the cause of God as we have been side-tracked promoting the causes of men.  And whenever that happens, division occurs in the church.

To be sure, there is already plenty to divide Christians, what with our doctrinal differences and understanding of the scriptures from our varying vantage points and ecclesiastic filters.  Differences of opinion have always existed, but they don’t have to divide us.  In fact, they can be learning points as we discuss and share our understandings with others and they with us.

It’s when we cease discussing and instead, begin yelling, both verbally and non-verbally, that the damage is done.  And let’s be clear, there is lots of damage being done to the Body of Christ right now by those inside it.   It is as if the Bride of Christ has become enmeshed in self-destructive cutting, seeking to do another part of the Body in, never realizing that cutting one part of the body always takes its toll on our own part of the Body.  We can’t build up our side while the other side bleeds out!  We are ONE BODY!

And to an on-looking world, we appear to be more and more psychotic, and the cause of Christ is dismissed as ludicrous and laughable.  And as the Body bleeds, it bleeds precious souls who can no longer stomach the infighting and the aggression shown by one part for the other.

Often, those are the souls of the young, who take the very life-blood of the Body with them.  They have enough Jesus that they want to hold on to Him, but want to distance themselves from His Bride because they either cannot make sense of the Church any longer, or they themselves have been led to take up lesser causes by those in charge.

This is not new, you know.  We find an interesting story recorded in the book of 1 Corinthians. The topic: Meat offered to idols.  Oh…it was divisive.  

“We are free in Christ!”, one would say, “and therefore it doesn’t matter that it was offered to idols!”   “But we have left idol worship and there is so much other food out there!  Why should we go back to eating that food?”  “You are just yielding to fear and not standing in your freedom in Christ!”  And the debate got so hot they finally asked Paul to weigh in.  And Paul approached it from a whole different angle than they were expecting.

1Cor. 8:4    So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. ⁵ There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. ⁶  But for us,

  There is one God, the Father,

by whom all things were created,

and for whom we live.

And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,

through whom all things were created,

and through whom we live.

And those on the “freedom” side of the issue went…aha…see…WE were right!!  But Paul isn’t done yet. Let’s read on.

1Cor. 8:7    However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. ⁸ It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.

Do you see where Paul is heading here?  And the next sentence is key here as we even look for application today.

1Cor. 8:9    But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. ¹⁰ For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? ¹¹ So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. ¹² And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 

And then Paul finishes with his own declaration—¹³ So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.

The principle is simple— Live your life in such a way that you seek to build other people into stronger believers. It means living as a Christian on a higher plane than just our own thoughts and beliefs.  It is taking others into consideration as we hold ourselves to a higher standard of seeking to be Christ-like in our behavior. It means humbly laying down our “rights” as humbly as Christ laid down His life.  

And yet, here we are a few thousand years later, and many of us have either never stumbled on this part of the Bible, or have forgotten this principle as we use the same logic and arguments of those in the world and seek to pummel those who oppose us into alignment with our beliefs about politics, the virus, masks vs. no masks and vaxx vs. anti-vaxx.   And when they refuse, we either redouble the direct attacks at them, or we (perhaps angrily or perhaps sadly) leave them and join others who believe like we on those topics, and talk about how ignorant, mislead and wrong the other side is.  And we forget that they are someone for whom Christ died.

While I’m not suggesting that you violate your own conscience in any way, I am suggesting that perhaps you could tone down the rhetoric when discussing them online, as well as in person, with someone who may not see things as you.  Where you may see a conspiracy or loss of freedoms, others are living in abject fear of a disease that has perhaps already taken a loved one from them.  To ridicule them for their fear doesn’t build up the Body of Christ.  It cuts it open.

And while you may believe that everyone should be wearing a mask, being critical, judgmental and dismissive of those who perhaps choose not to or see it as an invasion of their freedom also doesn’t build up the Body.  It cuts it open more.

Have you considered that it is pride that keeps us from even wanting to humble ourselves to help someone on the other side?  What if we were to humble ourselves, for the sake of Christ, and actually try to apply Biblical principles to the difficult situation that we face?

What if, for those who believe it is necessary to wear masks for the health of the whole community,  we were able to re-apply Paul’s words of 1 Cor 8:7 here?  Perhaps we could rephrase it to read:  “We don’t lose anything if we wear it and we don’t gain anything if we don’t wear it.”  In other words, wearing a mask is not necessarily the point, but what if, though I might not believe in their efficacy, I went ahead and wore one in public, not for MY sake, but for the sake of those who are fearful and just want to feel safe?  Could I further the cause of Christ by simply being considerate of others?  

And for those who would love to see forced vaccines, what if you were to go back and look at verse 12.  "And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ."

Christ’s way has never been one of force, or ridicule, or superiority, or battling of words or any of the things we employ as we seek to best our opponents, whether inside or outside the church.  His has always been a way of love and of choosing to humble oneself for the good of others, putting their needs ahead of one’s own.

Have we forgotten why Christ died and the message He entrusted to us?  It isn’t to politics, or to champion masks or vaccines that we are called.  We are called to so much more.  Ours is a calling that is to help people see that God loved so much that He sent His son Jesus to die because He was not willing for ANY to perish!

If we continue on, I fear that with each jab, stab or slice, more precious souls will continue to bleed out of the Body, leaving it weakened and dying.  And we are doing it to ourselves! We were meant for so much more.  Christ calls us to a higher level.  And if we continue to attack one another within the walls of the church, Christ’s sacrifice and message of Love is totally voided and nullified in the eyes of an onlooking world.

Though the commandments, the Sabbath, the Sanctuary and the Second Coming doctrines are all important, NONE of them are what Christ said would be His identifying mark of His followers.  There is only ONE identifying mark and we are missing it badly right now, Church.

John 13:35  “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

The left hand has to stop cutting on the right and the right has to stop slicing the left.  We are all ONE body.  Let’s take care of ourselves through the power of Christ and then get on with taking HIS message to a dying world because THAT is our true mission.

Philippians 2:5-11
5    You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6    Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
⁷  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸  he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9    Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹  and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Step Away Before You Re-engage

Hey Christian Leader…are you tired?  Mentally exhausted?  Physically drained?  Emotionally spent?  Me too. What we have been going through the past months (and especially the last 2 weeks) is enough to drain the life out of the best of us.  Unless you are a person who thrives on quarantine and conflict…or conflict in quarantine…or some other combination of the same, if you are like me (and because you are human…I know that in at least some ways you are) you can only take so much of the fevered pitch before you have to step away.

And that’s ok.  You can’t sustain the emotional knife edge for very long anyway.  So, let me invite you, first, to step away. Perhaps for only a few hours, or just an afternoon. Maybe a day or weekend.  Step away and unplug.  Disconnect from the news.  It will be there when you get back-and it will still be mostly bad.  Take leave of your social media platforms for a while.  The discussions will be still be there, and just as heated, when you get back.  For your own mental health’s sake, back away, unplug, disconnect and take some time reconnecting to the Source of peace and mental health.

As I look around at the events in today’s world, I see the social injustice and racism, the riots and demonstrations, the verbal volleys on social media, the political posturing and the name calling.  My emotions run higher as I come to understand the intolerable things that people of color continue to have to bear and the senseless killings of innocent people.  It IS an outrage.  And it NEEDS to stop.  MUST stop.

Alongside that, protests that start peacefully enough suddenly turn violent, and more lives are lost, buildings are burned and looted and justifications are put forth as to why it should be that way.  And dialogs that could be productive, cease.  And defensiveness escalates with emotions that are already running high and understanding ceases.  Battle lines are drawn and enemies are declared.

But stop.  Step back and consider.  PEOPLE aren’t our enemies.  They are simply victims of our one great enemy, the devil.  He has sold us all different versions of the same lie… “YOU can be like God.”  In essence…YOU. CAN. BE. GOD! (really only for you, but that’s in the fine print). But we take that to mean that WE are the ultimate cause in the Universe.  

But we, who belong to the King of Kings, must look at thing a bit differently.  We must recognize first, that He is God…and not we ourselves.  And as God, He does call His followers to right the wrongs and lift the lowly and champion the cause of those who are oppressed.  But we must do it in HIS way in order for lasting change to take place.  All other methods simply breed resentment and when the time is right, resentment spews forth hatred, which ends up bringing death.

This is why it is so important to stop, step back and unplug for a bit before we re-engage.  In fact, before any of us go running off to right wrongs, we must be under HIS control and not our own.  How do we do that?  Isaiah 1 gives us a clue.  Isaiah is addressing the church and the inherent problems that come with a group of people who are only partially committed to the Lord.  Here is a sampling of the things that God was saying in a vision to Isaiah.

Is. 1:2               Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth!

                        This is what the LORD says:

            “The children I raised and cared for

                        have rebelled against me.

³           Even an ox knows its owner,

                        and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—

            but Israel doesn’t know its master.

                        My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

⁴           Oh, what a sinful nation they are—

                        loaded down with a burden of guilt.

            They are evil people,

                        corrupt children who have rejected the LORD.

            They have despised the Holy One of Israel

                        and turned their backs on him.

He goes on to list some of the problems the country was currently having.  The country was in ruins.  Towns are burned.  Foreigners are plundering and destroying.  Sound familiar?  And how did God’s people respond.  By doing more of the same thing they were doing that caused their destruction in the first place.  Gave more offerings.  Said more prayers.  Offered more sacrifices and hoped for the best…with no internal change.

And God said. ¹¹         “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”

                        says the LORD.

            “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams

                        and the fat of fattened cattle.

¹³         Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;

                        the incense of your offerings disgusts me!

            As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath

                        and your special days for fasting—

            they are all sinful and false.

                        I want no more of your pious meetings

¹⁵         When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.

                        Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,

                        for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.

Then God comes to what He is really interested in.

¹⁶         Wash yourselves and be clean!

                        Get your sins out of my sight.

                        Give up your evil ways.

¹⁷         Learn to do good.

                        Seek justice.

            Help the oppressed.

                        Defend the cause of orphans.

                        Fight for the rights of widows.

Is. 1:18           “Come now, let’s settle this,”

                        says the LORD.

            “Though your sins are like scarlet,

                        I will make them as white as snow.

            Though they are red like crimson,

                        I will make them as white as wool.

Did you catch that?  And some are saying…. “Yes!  Let’s go fight and help the oppressed!  Let’s defend the cause and rights of orphans and widows”.  But not yet.  Stay unplugged for just a little longer.  Because in verse 18 God says: Let’s settle this. NLT. Other versions say “Come let us reason together.”  In other words, before you run off, there is something that needs to happen in your life.  You need to let me get rid of your sins and your evil desires.  You need to be washed!  Your words, your actions, your attitudes all need to be laid down so that you can accomplish things in the way I want them accomplished.  Through Love.

That means that, no matter your color or ethnicity, as a child of God, after letting Christ deal with your sins, you see His call to take up the cause of the oppressed in the way that Jesus would have you do it, rather than through use of the world’s might-makes-right-tactics.  

What would that look like?  It would look like you using whatever gifts and abilities the Lord has placed within you, and utilizing those as you follow the Holy Spirit’s stirrings in your heart to work to alleviate injustice no matter where it is found, in a manner in keeping with how you were created.

It means you put your shoulder to the wheel and utilize your influence for lasting change in a way that the outside, unbelieving, world can respect. It means you refuse to use their catchphrases that would inflame, choosing thoughtfulness and carefully chosen words instead, that can bring calm.  It means that you recognize the diversity that God has put into all people and you celebrate, rather than denigrate that.  Beyond ethnic differences, expand your view to include gender, generational curses, culture (community, church or school) and even personality types.

Wait, what?  I was tracking with you until you made that last turn.  Ok.  Let me break it down.  We are all different.  VERY different, which, if you haven’t noticed in all the realm of creation and nature, is exactly the way our Father likes things.  Which means that I don’t have to respond exactly like you in order to support you, whatever your race, circumstances, etc. might be.   I can be free to support the cause of justice in ways that you might not have even considered.  

For example, I’ve seen many in recent days write an iteration of this idea.  “If you are silent, you are complicit to the problem.”  Meaning, basically, if you are not saying something against this, you are guilty of spreading it.  I get the ideology behind that statement, especially coming from a non-believer, but what that statement actually does is simply shut off every other avenue of support I may have been able to offer if I happen to be, say, an introvert.  If I were an introvert, I wouldn’t want to march and shout things out.  I would probably shy away from conflict or controversy, and I wouldn’t want to post on my social media because I don’t want to be noticed. But, if encouraged in a more constructive way, I might donate to a cause or work behind the scenes in silence, or reach out in love to a friend of another race.  But if my silence is my complicity, then with one broad brush stroke, I have been de-valued and my potential contribution reduced to nothing.  That too, is an intolerant act, against someone whose only crime was to be born with the "wrong" type of personality.

So perhaps, instead of those type of statements, often written when emotions are running high and passion is running deep, what if we ran our emotions and passions through the filter of the Holy Spirit and in an attitude like that of the early church facing the injustices to the Greek widows,  engaged in dialog to see how we might, together, move as God’s people to address the issue of injustice in practical ways using all of our combined gifts?  Dialog in the Spirit and then implement in His power.

James gives us good counsel when it comes to how we might proceed.

James 1:19    My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Work on yourself first.  Then look out for others.

James 1:26    If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

May we allow God to change our hearts and then may that change help us to reach out to right the wrongs, bring justice where it is needed, stand with the oppressed and lift the fallen.  And may He accomplish it, not through our anger, but through His love and the power of His Spirit living in each one of us.  

Ok…now you can go re-engage...with a regenerated heart and with the love of Jesus.

Look Again for the Very First Time

Are you ready for another round of look again...for the very first time? The game where we take a fresh look at some perspective of Jesus life that we may have heard so often that we fail to be amazed by it. Here we go...be amazed...

Your name is Mary. You’re a hooker. A street-walker. A prostitute. Nobody at the church wants you hanging out in front of the entrance, and you assume that if the church people don’t want you, their God doesn’t want you either. You watch from your corner as the people leave the evening service, giving you cold glares as they walk by or drive off. Not a problem for you. You’re not wanting what they have to give anyway. You’re waiting for a certain someone to come out of the church. Here he comes now. One of the Pastoral staff. He shakes hands with the last of the parishioners and watches as they disappear around the corner. He locks the building and then looks your way. You’ve seen that look hundreds of times before. The look of a man hungry with lust. He looks around to make sure that no one is watching and then gives you the signal. You leave your corner and head for your previously arranged meeting place a few blocks away. By the time you get there, he is already inside and waiting. You are barely undressed when the door comes smashing in. It’s the rest of the pastoral team. Grabbing you, dragging you from the bed as you clutch at sheets and try to cover yourself, they half-lift, half-drag you out into the streets.


Your mind is swirling. This is it. This time you lose. Set up by the pastors. You know the rules. You mess around and get caught, you die. You’ve played the odds and this time you lose. You’ve been in and out of a hundred beds, and so you figure it must be your time to go.

Inwardly you cry for a God to save you. But why would He? His people know you’re scum. His word says that an unfaithful woman should be stoned. No. No use crying out to Him. Take the punishment with as much dignity as you can muster. Suddenly you are flung in front of the Teacher, your sheet being ripped away as you hit the dusty street. Curling up you try to cover yourself from all of the laughter and leering eyes as the pastors say, “Teacher, Moses and the law say that we should stone this woman. What do you say?”

You know what any holy man will be forced to say and you brace yourself for the rocks. Abruptly, you realize that all has grown quiet and then you hear the question. “Woman, where are your accusers?” Looking up slowly from your curled up position, you realize no one else is around. It is just you and Jesus. He is taking His outer cloak and covering you. You respond, “I don’t see anyone, Lord.” And then His response takes you totally by surprise, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin.” You look again. And you see for the very first time that He is smiling.

Go ahead...be amazed!