Spiritual Warfare - III

Another weapon God gives to counteract the devil's schemes is the gospel of peace. Scripture says we live in emnity with God. It is the gospel which provides the basis for restoration and reconciliation. It provides a path for peace. We have peace with God through the gospel.

What Satan wants is for us to walk in fear and guilt. Fear of God's displeasure and condemnation, and guilt over our failures. If our focus is on God's wrath and our failures, we will never step out in love and faith. The peace of God gives us a firm foundation to stand and move from.

The basis of peace is a true knowledge of the gospel. Wth that, we can approach God with peace in our hearts. We can take risks. We can get our eyes off ourselves and onto people who need God's love.

We could take this a step further and take this true understanding of God's path to peace and restoration, and bring it to others. What Satan hates most is an increase of God's kingdom. Loving people demonstrates God's nature; proclaiming the gospel with a subsequent faith response by someone who was listening is an actual claiming of Satan's territory.

Abraham

There is a story in the Bible about Abraham. God chose Abraham to be the founder of several different nations, including Israel. But his wife could not bear children. God promised him a son; and when Abraham was old, he fulfilled that promise.

Isaac was the apple of his parent's eye and evidently, owned too much of their hearts. So, God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt sacrifice as a test. And amazingly, Abraham acted in obedience. He took Isaac and was prepared to kill and burn him. At the moment when Abraham was ready to kill Isaac, God stopped him and provided a ram instead.

Many people consider this story a picture of what God intended to do through Jesus. While they were going to the place of sacrifice, Isaac asked about the fact that there was no lamb. Abraham said, "God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering."

And God does. God gives a substitute for Isaac, because Abraham was willing to trust God. And it is the same with each person. If we will trust God, he will send the Lamb of God (Jesus) to save us from death.

Spiritual Warfare - II

Satan attacked the first people with lies. What God commanded them was not true. God's word was not trustworthy. God is not trustworthy.

Of course, the first people acted on these lies, and the world's DNA was infected by what the Bible calls "sin." There is now in man a tendency to move away from God. The God-man relationship is broken. The man-man relationship is broken. Man's relationship with himself is broken. His tendency is to choose directions, actions and attitudes that damages himself.

The cure is to choose to go away from, counter to this tendecy. THe first step is to declare the truth, because the devil's first step was to lie.

Satan will lie to us, just as he lied to the first people.  It is the lie in our thoughts that will move us to make wrong decisions. Remembering and declaring truth will cancel the wrong thoughts.

Satan's lies will not always be obvious. It can be difficult to recognize the lie amid all the claims of "pleasure", "peace" and "profit." It can be difficult to recognize the lie among all the attempts to obscure it -- "old fashioned", "narrow-minded" and "judgmental." (Especially when the family of God underlines and highlights the lies with their own practices.) These are only a few of his lies to persudae us to follow his other lies. And if he succeeds in getting us to believe one of his lies, we will hear it again and again.

We need to live by the truth. To live by the truth, we need to know the truth. So, it is important to be engaged with God in the scriptures. It is important to obey God in making disciples. It is important to persist. Even if we succeed obeying God only once in a million times, God will take any step of obedience, of faith, and treat it like "bread and fish." (A reference to the story about Jesus feeding at least 5000 people with one person's lunch.)

THe Body of Christ - IV

SInce, we are all parts of the whole, we will all advance together, and we will all retreat together. When a church planting movement sweeps across a tribal groupin India, churches popping up in unprecedented rates, salvations  so fast it takes your breath away, we are all part of that. We can all rejoice. We can all pray for a continuing, a growing and a spreading.

But we do not seem to take this connectedness seriously, especially in the west, especially in America. In those places, the church has uncovered the opposite, but in some ways, an equally wonderful truth. Which is -- there is an unlimited potential in the individual. Especially if he walks in love and the Holy Spirit.

Metaphors break down eventually. It can be seen most clearly in the stories of individuals for whom the truth og God has become most real: Jesus, Paul, Hudson Taylor, Charles finney, Charles Wesley, to name a few. These men took two extra steps to obey God, and God's Spirit moved in a tidal wave across the landscape.

But such individuals are rare. So God put us into teams, with steps of obedience creating a synergy. Teams are almost more powerful than the afore mentioned spiritual giants. Egos need humility, which can result from mutual submission. Unity must be maintained. The simple mixing of people into a powerful team is a miracle in the current age of "me first", "you're worth it" and "do your own thing."

But to go one step further, the growth of the Body requires the health of the whole Body. People charge on to achieve personal growth. But we are losing something if we do not go together. To grow more completely in the things of God, we need to go together, in order to grow together. We probably cannot go with 50 people. But we do need a team that provides all the necessary things for life and growth.

We are designed by God for health, growth and reproduction. We have discussed the necessary ingredients for these things. Here is another -- one another.

Spiritual Warfare, Not Necessarily Nuclear War

Paul encourages us to use all the tools  at our disposal, because Satan has developed strategies against us. The purpose of Satan's strategies is to take glory from God and to make our lives miserable. People were designed to live in joy and peace; if Satan can get us to live without joy and without peace, he has succeeded. MIsery per se is not really necessary. He has moved us away from our design; he has stolen glory from God.

MAny people reguard Sata's plots as actual attempts by Satan to harm us, our family, our friends, or our property. I certainly do not mean to say that if Satan can do any of these things, he will not. What I am saying is that for far too many of us, he does not need to. All he needs to do is whisper about some problem, some worry, some concern, and our minds filter it through a non-God grid. And we roll it around in our brains. It is not prayed over. It is not considered in the light of what scripture says. It is certainly not regarded in a way the brings purification of our hearts and minds -- as scripture promises that any trial will.nor is it regarded in the light of God's mission.

Rarely are any of these things done. And when we fail to shine God's light on circumstances, Satan wins.

The Body of Christ - III

Since, we are parts of a whole, all the parts need to work together. Hands and eyes need to be coordinated. Feet need to find a rhythm, or most certainly, the nose will complain loudly. Even the invisible kidney must do its part ... or the whole will come crashing down.

The health, growth and ability to reproduce of the body is based on the ability of each part to perform its function. It is the same with the Body of Christ. In most churches, a minority - which includes the leadership - does all the work of the church. And it specifically states in Scripture that the leadership's responsibility is to teach and empower the other members of the Body to serve God, to build the church and build God's kingdom.

Obviously, the leaders should obey in all areas too. But they should still teach the rest of the Body how to obey God in all areas too. They should proclaim the gospel, and they should teach the body how to effectively proclaim the gospel. They should physically serve, and they should teach the Body how to physically serve. They should love, and they should teach the Body how to love. They should pray, and they should teach the Body how to pray. They should teach the Body how to complete all areas of obedience, and they should teach the Body how to teach others how to complete all areas of obedience.

The Body of Christ - II

Another thing the body metaphor should teach us is that we are parts of the whole. This had so many applications, it is mind-boggling.

The church is made up of many parts. Those parts are people. And those parts – young, old, male, female, every tribe, every language – are the body of Christ. There is no group, no sub-group, no individual person that can be written off, excluded or disregarded.

When I was younger, I sprained an ankle. More recently, I have suffered a bout of gout. Both caused quite a bit of pain in the affected limb. I couldn’t walk correctly. Opening and moving through doors was a problem. One part of my body was affected, and it had a ripple effect throughout my whole body.

I had kidney stones. A kidney is internal, and unseen. It goes about its job without fanfare, praise of even, awareness on the part of the rest of the body. But when the stone moves, the kidney becomes center stage. It calls the shots for the entire body.

If one part of the Body does not function fully, wholly, in joy, in love, in the Holy spirit, the body cannot work well.

If a person puts sugar in the gas tank of a car, if a person eats a McDonalds-only diet, if a person is surrounded by pain, ugliness and neglect, these engines – the car the human body and the human spirit – will not function, or will function very poorly.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A church is only as strong as its weakest part.

In the US, we tend to judge the strength of a church by its size, by the charismatic qualities of its leaders, and by its well-oiled ministry machinery. We ought to be looking for the least fruitful, least mature, least popular among the church members. We ought to look at their lives in the midst of the Body, and in the midst of society.

The Body of Christ

Anyone who know anything about the Bible knows Paul's metaphor for the church. He calls it the body of Christ.

A metaphor is a way of comparing two unlike things with the intention that the comparison helps us understand something better. This metaphor should probably teach us several things.

One of the things is that the church is the hands and feet of Jesus in the world today. When Jesus lived in the world, wherever he went , he brought love, truth, healing, forgiveness, acceptance, conviction, change and newness. As his hands and feet, we need to go to the places he went. We need to do the things he did. We need to have the same effects he had.

The Gospel

God's plan is to fix everything! When God created the world, it was perfect. The relationship between God and man was perfect. The relationship between people was perfect. Nature was perfect. The minds and bodies of people were perfect.

The first people made wrong decision, and the corrupting influence, which Christians call "sin," was released into the world. The relationship between God and man was corrupted. The relationship between people was corrupted. Nature was corrupted. Minds and bodies were corrupted.

When people think of the gospel today, they focus primarily on bringing man into right relationship with God. Part of this focus could be man's ego-centric nature. And this is true. People do filter all phenomena through the lens of self. The main question they ask themselves is, "How does this affect me?"

Part of this focus is equally the prominence God gives people in his story. The Bible says that God gave rule of the world to people. God gave people the pivotal decision of walking with him and bringing life into the world, or walking away from him and bringing death and corrpuption into the world. And now, if we choose to walk with God, God's spiritual DNA is injected into people, and God's people are injected into the world. And through God's people, God's DNA is injected into the world and counteracts the corruption of sin.

Man's relationship wi5h God may not be all the story, but it is a central part of the story. Man becomes the conveyor of God's restoration given to the world through Jesus.

It is  like man introduced a "sickness" into the world. This virus infected and damaged everything. So, God introduced an "anti-sickness" named Jesus to infect everything again, but to restore everything that was damaged by the first "sickness." And human beings are carriers of this "counter-sickness."

Live in Joy -XVII

I have completed looking up all the places where joy is mentioned in the Old Testament. And it continues as we have already observed: joy is generated by living in relationship with God and living in agreement with his design.

However, I found myself asking the question, "Why is joy important?" We saw when we began this exercise, that joy is part of the picture of man living in holiness. Joy is a natural result of man living in relationship with God and a natural result of a life of obedience. Joy was a daily component of Jesus' life, because he lived closest to God and was the most obedient person whoever lived.

We tentatively defined joy as an attitude of positive enthusiasm or passion toward life.

I recently finished a book called "Born to Run." The basic premise of the book is that human beings were designed for long distance running. (We are also designed to seek out greater efficiency. That's why people seek ways to avoid running.) The author presented information from science and anthropology to illustrate the theme. Interwoven with the rational "proofs" were stories from primitive tribes famous for running, and stories from the world of ultra-marathons, that is, races of 50 to 100 miles.

At one point, one of the characters realizes the spiritual aspect of running. Successful, excellent running is based on joyfully embracing it. Joy motivates its pursuit. Joy motivates continuing with or without outside reward.

Motivation is pivotal in any endeavor. Without improvement or any other reward, it is only an internal heart motivation that urges a person to continue a difficult course of action.

And pursuing holiness in a corrupt world can never achieve any real success. There can be improvement, even significant improvement, but never real mastery. Joy becomes an important motivation towards pursuing holiness, as well as an indicator of success - as it is a "natural" result of living in agreement with God. Joy can be part of creating an upward spiral by motivating greater obedience.

Living in Joy - XVI

I am still poking around different portions that mention joy. At the moment, I have not been seeing anything new.

There does seem to be two primary bases for joy. One is our relationship with God. Two is acting in agreement with our God-designed natures.

Relationship, as we tend to use the word and concept today, is defined rather simply. It involves talking and hanging out. Relationships go far beyond that. It involves actions  for and against, offense and forgiveness, judgment, restoration, comfort, presence,and yes communication of all sorts: teaching, explaining, joking, consoling, reproving, warning, etc.

One of the reasons God gives commands is so we know how to live. Obedience to these commands does not follow some arbitrary group of rules. The command follow a design. They either make life more efficient, effective and full, or they enhance our relationships with God and people. That's why the Bible speaks so much about obedience.

And mission is another part of design. It is also part of relationship. Working as a team to achieve an over-arching goal builds relationships. It builds a common mind-set. And in the case of people teaming up with God, it develops God's mind-set in people.

Revival

While I was driving to work, I began to consider my latest batch of Bible passages about joy. This batch is from a list of proverbs in the Bible. This thinking led to a chain of thoughts.

1. The proverbs associated with joy seem to be taken up with living out God’s design for man. In other words, joy comes when a person has thoughts, attitudes, words and actions that agree with the life God intended man to live. The basic name the Bible gives to this pattern of living is “holiness.” When people live in a holy manner, they have joy and people around them have joy. Family life works better. Cities work better. Individuals work better.

2. Of course, I am reminded about the current reality. One does not have to listen to the news too long to realize that people are not living in a holy pattern, in a way that God would prefer we do not live. And if people are not living in a holy way, they are not experiencing too much joy.

3. So, what can be done to turn the situation around? We are designed to live a life of joy. We are not living in joy because we do not live in agreement with our design. We could move toward holy living. But people cannot live in holiness. History teaches that time and again.

4. One way that holiness has been “imposed” on people is when they are overwhelmed with the presence of God. (Imposed is an incorrect word. Imposed denotes coercion. And people cannot be coerced to welcome the presence of God. Unless one says that they imposed God’s presence on themselves.) This type of implanting of holiness has been referred to in history as a “revival.” God makes himself know in a community, and people’s hearts, attitudes and life change. America has undergone several revivals. China has undergone some too. Individuals change; and good sweeps across society.

I guess the only sure way for good to sweep away evil is for the world to undergo revival.

Live in Joy - XV

Now that Thanksgiving is over, maybe we can get a little regular again ... until Christmas anyway.

I am still wandering around the songs and poems I mentioned in my last entry. Thus far, it is more of the same. Joy comes from being connected to God. Joy come from being in agreement with what God says.

There was one poem where the writer was remembering the bad things he had done in his life. According to the Bible, everyone does bad things, everyone is condemned for them, and everyone can be saved from condemnation through Jesus' work on the cross and their trust in that work.

The writer says at one point, "Give me back my joy." It is obvious from the rest of the poem that he is depressed and miserable from these reflections. So, what was it that disrupted his joy? It seems as though he knew his connection to God had gotten polluted.

Live in Joy - XIV

There is a part of the bible that is a collection of poems and songs. I have not gone through all of them, concerning the references to joy, but there are a couple of themes, so far.

Awareness of God's presence is a common theme. Realizing his nearness and how he is active on behalf of people bring joy. Seeing, hearing and walking with God are obviously different than relating with people. We connect with God by focusing our hearts.

Another means of knowing and understanding god comes from read and meditating on the Scripture. But knowing is not enough. People are designed to live in agreement with Scripture, Obedience brings joy. Joy because people are flowing with their design.

Live in Joy - XIII

I roofed my house over the weekend, so my focus has been elsewhere as a result. (For those of you in the know, we thought we were going to be able to roof over the old roof. But we discovered -- the morning of -- another layer hidden underneath. Which means we have to tear off all the old shingles. Which is a lot more work, a lot more mess and a lot more wear and tear on the body. And requires other materials to complete the project. Gives me field experience in learning how to live in joy.) 

But I did observe, in my short time thinking about joy, that when Israel returned from the foreign lands that there was a time where they rediscovered the things of God: the Scriptures, the celebrations, and the rhythm of meeting God and living with and for him. As they became reacquainted, they developed a renewed relationship with God. They began to see him differently. They began to live with him differently. This renewal of relationship also brought a renewal of joy.

Live in Joy - XII

At this time, you will remember that Israel has developed a habit of associating God's presence with a particular building and location. The temple that Solomon built became that focal point. They could not really function in their relationship with God without it. I believe that it was God's intention to wean the people away from such a practice, but, as we also know, the kings and leaders were for the most part not following God. The temple was a tangible reminder of God's presence and desire to bless ... if they followed him.

The kings continued to disobey God and continued to encourage the people to disobey God. And when God led the people into this land, God promised that if they stopped obeying, one of the things he would do was allow a foreign army to conquer them. And one finally did. But God also promised that, after a while, he would redeem and restore Israel.

At this time, conquerors developed a method of assimilating subjugated peoples into their kingdoms. They forced people to move. They forced people to live hundreds of miles away from their homeland. Without cars, trains and planes, hundreds of miles was almost insurmountable. They mixed the conquered peoples together.

And that is what happened to Israel. The conquering army destroyed the temple, leveled Jerusalem and moved the people a long ways away. 

Sometimes, God tells one of his servants what he is going to do in the future. And he did tell one of them how he was going to redeem and restore his people ... using a different invading army to conquer those who conquered Israel. And that servant wrote what God showed him down. So, when a new king did conquer, Israel told him how God prepared the way and worked for him. And they showed him what god's servant had written. The king was impressed and he let the people return back to Jerusalem and their homes.

With different waves of migration, Israel rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple.

Remember, Israel had gotten used to associating meeting God with being at a specific place. So, when the temple was destroyed, the connection to God was disrupted. They were unable to connect to god with the same closeness and the same reality. So, when the temple was rebuilt, the connection was re-established in a vital way. Imagine how the burdens of hearts were relieved. There was a vivid sense of God's nearness and a rush of joy.

Live in Joy - XI

Then, this king died and Israel again had a series of good and bad kings. The good kings tried to correct the  influence of the bad kings. But it seems like it is easier to move toward the bad.

Certain, important events happened in the history of Israel. These events, their results and God's part in them told the people much about God's nature, his relationship with people, and his plans. So, he instituted yearly celebrations to remind people consistently of the event, what God did and why their relationship with God and their lifestyle was important.

But, as the bad kings began to introduce things that were counter to knowing and following God, the people began to observe the celebrations less and less. They were not reminded of God's among them nor the relationship they should have with him. Which increased the downward spiral away from God.

When a new king, who tried to follow God, began to rule, he cleaned up a lot of areas that had gone bad. He tried to re-establish a lot of things that had been forgotten, like the celebrations. 

He sent messengers throughout Israel inviting people to come to one of the celebrations. Since, God's instruction was to gather together in Jerusalem and it was a pretty serious thing to travel in those days, many people chose not to go. But many did.

Because of logistical issues, they had to postpone the celebration one month. (Imagine celebrating Christmas at the end of January.) The celebration was supposed to last one week, but it made such an impression on people that they continued for another week.

And the people went home overjoyed!

Did the joy come from a two-week long party? Or from reconnecting with the god of the universe?

I would like to say that I have been to parties where everyone seemed to have a good time, but joy was not the overall mindset. Joy seems to come from somewhere else besides good times.

Live in Joy - X

After Solomon died, there were numerous kings. Some followed the Lord. Some turned away from him. Most turned away. And as God promised, turning meant misery for the people.

One day, one of the kings who did follow God was told that three nations were sending their armies against Israel. The king and the people went to the temple. The king prayed to the Lord on behalf of himself and the country. He asked for wisdom and direction, because they could not stand against the armies coming to attack them.

God spoke to one of the men there. And he told the king God's message. God said they would not have to fight. God would fight for them.

The king and the people believed what God told them. So, when they assembled the army, they put the choir and the band in front. They did not celebrate after the battle. They celebrated before the battle. When they began celebrating, the armies who were supposed to attack them began to attack one another. Israel was in time to see the results. And Israel rejoiced.

Yes, they rejoiced because of the results. They were saved from the overwhelming armies attacking them. They also rejoiced because they had walked with God through this experience.

• They sought him, his presence and his help when it first began.
• They acted according to what they told him.
• They remembered him in worship on the battlefield.
• And when they arrived home, they immediately went to the temple and worshiped there again.

God was at the fore-front of their heart-focus.

Comments on the American Election

The election has just completed. I don’t know who even won yet. I am purposely writing this in a manner that avoids opening an internet browser, so I won’t accidentally see. I have a few comments that I hope will put a little perspective on what just happened.

The last several years, when the election results are announced, the Christian community in America as a whole starts wailing “Oh, no! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” in anticipation of every possible thing that could go wrong will go wrong as a result of the new government. Well …

• The Christian community should remember that it also is a member of the Kingdom of God. And that its first allegiance is to the Kingdom of God. And their King was not surprised or dismayed by the results of this election. He was perfectly prepared and perfectly in control.

• The Christian community should remember that its instructions in relation to the government are to pray for it. What should be inserted at this point is a long, eloquent discussion of prayer: its power, its effect and its desirability. I will not do so at this point, but I will remind the Christian community that as its first allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, prayer should be aimed at God’s presence and kingdom being manifested in the country. That should be the aim of our prayer. That should be the aim of our actions and attitudes. And maybe your political vision does not put people in a position to bring that.

• The Christian community should remember when God’s kingdom flourished. When did God’s kingdom grow the fastest, the most? Most people would say that first century after Christ. Who was in control at that point? The Roman empire. (WARNING! Sarcastic comment coming.) And of course, the Roman empire was first and foremost concerned about individual liberty and the rights of minorities. The Romans put thousands, if not millions, of Christians to death in cruel ways. The intention was the eradication of the Christian movement. But under this oppressive government the Kingdom of God boomed! At the time of the communist revolution in China, the Christian missionaries were thrown out, and the Chinese leaders were imprisoned and executed. The purpose was the eradication of Christian influence, as well as other religions. The result was the least educated, least gifted and the least anointed were left. The movement should have died. Instead, it hexi-deci-tuple-ized.

Instead of doom and gloom, any election, any change in the fortunes of a country should be looked on as an opportunity for the Kingdom of God to grow, the presence of God to be manifested and the glory of God to be revealed.

UPDATE: In 1949, it is estimated that there was 500,000 protestant Christians out of a population of 450 million. (One tenth of a percent.) Estimates are now 40 million to 130 million in a population of 1.35 billion. (3% to 9.6%, respectively.)

Live in Joy - IX

But David was not able to build the new meeting place before he died. He worked hard to assemble material and make preparations. After he died, his son Solomon became king; and he erected the new meeting place.

Once it was built, Israel had a gigantic ceremony to celebrate its completion and dedicate it to the service of God and his relationship with his people, which the meeting place was to support.

(The people could meet with God. They could maintain their relationship in proper way. They could demonstrate to the world God's nature, his purpose and his relationship with people, using this meeting place as the focal point.)

After the dedication ceremony, they held a feast and Solomon gave gifts to the people. And the people were very joyous.

Again, Israel had a joint mission ... and it was complete. Unity pursuing and completing a beneficial mission, as a team, brings joy.

NOTE: Some would argue that pursuing God's mission with this building as the focal point actually disrupts and diminishes the ability to complete God's mission. I agree a building should not be the focal point -- Jesus should -- but I do think it can be a tool. It depends on the amount of time,energy and passion it consumes.

At this time, Israel had not thrown off the habits and trappings of Egypt ... as many current day people maintain the habits and trappings of previous times.

What is important is focusing on a person's heart and his attachment to Jesus. Attachments to tools is secondary.

(As we know, if the only tool a person has is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. But I sometimes think the people who speak loudest about this are people whose only tool is a screwdriver.)