Greater is He who is In you

One of the most significant realities as a follower of Jesus is, I have the Holy Spirit abiding in me! Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the World.

This past Sunday I told a story about people who wanted to do a prayer walk around my house to ward off evil spirits. I said that it wasn’t necessary because Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. I was then asked whether I thought prayer was important. The answer? Of course, I do, but not for warding off unknown evil spirits. 

Satans greatest tactic is fear, but the Apostle John reminds us, “perfect love casts out fear.” The Father’s perfect love expressed the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus, destroys the work of the enemy and satisfies the justice of God. Satan has no hold on me or any Christian for that matter. Some believers worry about evil spirits and react in ways that are unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, there is a spiritual battle wagging in the heavenlies, and Satan prowls, and we are to flee, but we are never to be afraid.   Not if we trust the power of God, which mightily works in us who believe.

How, then, am I supposed to respond to people who are compelled to speak against evil spirits? I am to remind you that the battle is not theirs to win, for the enemy has already lost. Yet, he still tries to cause fear, to trick us into conforming to the word. What we need is some good armor, wait, we have some.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” Ephesians 6:10-18

GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN THAN HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD....I’m just saying.

Look At Those Puppy Eyes

I keep promising Porthos that I will take him for a walk. I'm telling you that the dog knows what I saying. As soon as I come home, he is waiting at the door with those happy, expectant eyes. If I don't take him for a walk, he will go slump between the coffee table and the couch. It is truly a sad moment. It nearly makes me feel guilty enough to take him. I can think of every excuse under the sun; it's going to rain, its too cold, its too hot, I have other things to get done, and I don't want to get sweaty. Exercise has never been one of my strong points. I have a lot of ”want to”, but very little ”will to”. One of my favorite versus is: 

7 Train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7,8.

There you have it; exercise has temporal value while my practice of godliness has eternal value. I have learned that at 60 it takes a lot more discipline to out exercise my bad habits (which is not Rebecca's fault. She cooks healthy meals. It's the in-between stuff and a slower metabolism). The reality is that I should step up in the physical exercise without compromising the practice of godliness.

However, we live in a culture that spends an enormous amount of money and time on exercise, health and well-being, and very little time on godly character and behavior. Of course, if I had to choose between the two, I would choose the practice of godliness over physical exercise. The reward is much greater. 

If it's not raining, I think I will take Porthos for a walk. I'm just saying.

National Sibling Day, YAY!

Yesterday, April 10, was national siblings day. The holiday is appropriate for my ”What I should have said” blog this week since we discussed Cain and Able on Sunday. And since most of us have siblings, it would be good to talk a walk down memory lane.

My youngest memory was kindergarten and my brothers, and I entered into a paper hat contest. I was going to win the largest hat. I wore it over my body like a tent. Walking to the park the wind, picked up and eventually ripped my hat to shreds. I was devastated, and my brothers took advantage of the situation and took my place and winning my ribbon.

In the third grade, my brother was going to a friend’s house, and I was tagging along. He kept walking faster, but I hurried to keep pace. Be finally gifted, turned around and said, ”leave me alone and find your own friends.”  It was all I could do to keep the tears back.

In 7th and 8th grade they liked chasing me down and hitting me in the arm. I called the game, ”ultimate tag.” in the 9th grade they finally left me alone, though my oldest brother rode my horse to death.

Sibling relationships can be complicated. Cain and Able, Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael all argued over who was better than the other. I get their angst. Of course, my memories are colored, the stories embellished, and the good times hidden beneath the rubble. Yet, it was my sibling relationships that revealed the spiritual hole in my heart. 

When I came into contact with the gospel, I couldn’t help but accept such a wonderful gift. My new brothers and sisters were beyond my comprehension. They loved me for no other reason except for the Love of Jesus. So, for national siblings day (a day late), here is a shout out to all my all brothers and sisters in Christ. I love you all and thank you for loving me. I’m just saying…

Perkins Laws

When I was driving for Wingtip Couriers (Seminary Days), I observed several immutable laws. The first one was (and is) “the speed of an elevator is directionally proportional to the size of the building. The taller the building, the faster the elevator, the smaller the building, the slower the elevator. A ride to the third floor of either building has a differential of 3. The taller building takes three min., while the smaller building takes 30 (or at least it always seemed). Of course, the reason has nothing to do with the size of the building, but the type of elevator, whether lift or pully. Take the elevator at St John. If you need a lift to get to service, you might want to add 15 minutes to your arrival time.

The second law is similar, “the speed of traffic is directly proportionate to what lane you are in. Whatever lane I am in is always slower than the one I’m not, and if I change lanes, the other automatically speeds up allowing all the cars to pass me.” This law applies to any line, vehicular or pedestrian. It is also the most frustrating. Rebecca and I were deciding which drive-through line would be the fastest. We laughed and chose poorly. Who would have known that the one person line had an order the size of a football team, *sigh*.

Third law. This one I’m throwing in for free. It’s the law of customer service. “No matter where, the customer service representative of a retail store who greets you with a smile is always (or almost always) in training and will take twice as long.” Inevitably I always choose the smile. And yes you have to have patience with the trainees. Rebecca and I were at Lowe’s, and sure enough, the lady with the smile was just trying her best to help us. It took forever, and we still had to wait for the supervisor. “Bless her heart.”

There is an adage, “The longer you wait, the quicker patience comes.” Ok, I just made that up, but it’s true. If you want to learn patience you have to practice it; you have to put yourself in places where you have to sit back, take a deep breath, and realize that waiting is an opportunity to practice patience. The book of James says that endurance builds character. Waiting allows you a chance to pray, read your Bible, share the gospel, or even write a blog (I’m waiting while Rebecca shops for produce and the guy next to me in the cafe is blaring his radio...*sigh*...practice patience. I’m just saying...

What I Should Have Said

I have seen my share of the devil’s work among churches. He likes to nudge us into conflict, arguments, and division. What better way to sideline us from the work of the gospel. Our hope is expressed by John in his epistle, “For this reason Jesus appeared, to destroy the works of the devil.” We have a choice, to practice righteousness or to practice unrighteousness. I think it is good for each of us to stop and reflect on our church involvement. Has it been a passionate desire to proclaim the gospel and see people’s lives transformed, or have we settled for a “This is good enough for me” Christianity. The second leads to disgruntled family members when things do t go their way. The first rises above the fray and sets aside personal ambition for the cause of Christ. 

Honestly, I have found myself sliding by on occasion. It’s easy to get into ruts and coast on the good intentions of others. But I want to be more than that. I want my life to count. If the devil’s work has been destroyed, then I can step boldly into the unknown, trusting that what Jesus has in store for us is more than we can imagine. Instead of self-indulgent bickering, we look for common ground and press in to take hold that which is ours in Christ.

It has been good to be in a family (SJM) that has not fallen prey to these works of the devil. We have come a long way and have a long way to go before we are complete, but I believe our Father is pleased with our little family. As long as we trust in the Lord, our way will be made plain, and our path straight. Don’t be deceived; the devil isn’t complacent. We must be watchful and alert so that we will not fall prey to his schemes. I am just thankful that you have my back. I’m just saying.

I have the MAN Flu

It’s official; I have man flu. I woke up this morning with a101.4 temperature. Influenza causes temperatures to fluctuate between 102 and 106 at its extreme. The man flu is much worse because a slight rise in temperature can cause a man to tailspin. So, 101.4, I might as well be on my deathbed. Ache, hot and cold, coughing, and only an appetite for...the another day it was donuts. Just think how rough today is going to be.

Fortunately for me, I have a loving wife, unfortunately for me, she hasn’t felt well either. I tested the level of care I would receive by asking where the thermometer was, and when she told me where to find it, I knew I was on my own. That’s not true; she has been very attentive. To understand the man flu is to understand my dilemma.

Men like to come across as strong, but it doesn’t take much for him to give in to difficulty and depend on women. Look at Adam and Eve in the garden, or Abraham and Sarah. Samson and Delilah is a prime example as well as Debrah and the Men of Israel. Solomon was led astray by women, and Jezebel, well, she was her own kind of evil. This isn’t to say Thant women are evil, but that men can be weak at the worst, and indifferent at best. Indifference is when they don’t care about their responsibilities and give them over to woman willingly, and they complain when it doesn’t turn out the way they intended.

I like this passage out 1 Corinthians 16:13, “13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.” The Apostle is telling the men to stop being wimps, but taking responsibility. So, act like men and be strong. But their strength doesn’t lead to domination, but to love. True manly strength takes his responsibility seriously and cares for those under his charge, not for his own gain, but the welfare of others.

Yes, I may have the man flu, but I need to man up and take care of Rebecca as well. I’m just saying.

A Little Faithful Matters

“21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” Matthew 25:21

I have been thinking about this lately, partly because it is a principle that has taken me a while to learn. Little things matter. It goes along with the verse in James 5:12, “let your yes be yes and your no, no”. In other words, if you say you are going to do something, then take responsibility and finish what you start. I know, “ circumstances change”, and “more important things take priority.” I used to say the same things. If I didn’t want to finish and obligation I justified it with one of these phrases. Who can argue with you, right? And because of my past justification, I have given people the benefit of the doubt. Then I came to realize that those excuses exposed me as a fraud.

That’s right, a fraud. If I commit myself to something then I need to count the cost first. There is no shame in turning down an opportunity, but there is shame in ignoring a commitment made. Finish what you started, and if you don’t want to continue you sit down and talk it through with the person you made the commitment with. If I make a small promise and don’t fulfill it, then why would anyone allow me more responsibility.

In my experience, I have found this true among the people of the church. Think about it, few people skip work because they stayed up too late, miss basketball practice for the same reason. In the churches I have been at the attitude is that church is extra, volunteers, or optional. I don’t show up to nursery duty, no big deal. I commit to the choir, there are plenty of people. But shouldn’t our commitment to the church be as important as our commitment to the things of the world?

Don’t get me wrong, things happen, circumstances change, I get it. But if the cost is too big, let’s be honest and faithful. Look at Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) when they did not fulfill their obligations. I’m just saying