Author: Tim

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A New Spin on an Old Story

I’m pretty sure COVID is never mentioned in the Bible, but the book contains lessons we can apply to our current circumstances. I’m actually kind of surprised this hasn’t occurred to me before.

After centuries of God telling His people, the Israelites, that they need to straighten up (and centuries of them not doing it), He finally dropped the hammer on them. He warned them time and again, but they’d ignore or even kill the prophets. Once He had enough of it, He allowed the Persian Empire (Babylon) to raid Jerusalem and carry away most of the people as captives back to Babylon.

Many of the people refused to accept what was going on. They’d been brought up to believe that as Jews, God favored them. While true, that’s only part of the story. God selected the Jews to be His people, but warned them many times to follow His ways and pursue Him. By failing to do that corporately, over and over again, God finally had enough and allowed Babylon to serve as his instrument of judgment.

Still some chose not to believe what was happening. These people started giving ear to false prophets that popped up. One of them claimed (Jeremiah chapter 28, paraphrased) “Everybody, take heart! God will deliver us from this and we’ll be back home in Jerusalem inside of two years!” This message, though false, appealed to the people, so they believed it and threw their support behind prophets that proclaimed this message.

God, however, intended for these exiles to stay in Babylon for 70 years, and He didn’t hide His intent. Now, if you’re one of these people, living in a foreign land against your will, you’re going to live your life differently if you believe you’re only going to be there two years than if you believed you were probably going to spend the rest of your life there. Of course God wasn’t going to let this be the end of the Jews, but He works on His own timeline, not the one that people decide He should.

To help set the record straight, God had Jeremiah write them a letter. Paraphrasing from Jeremiah chapter 29, the prophet writes “look, everybody, you’re gonna be here for awhile. Build houses for yourself. Plant gardens and eat the stuff that grows in them. Get married to each other and have kids, and give those kids away in marriage. For now, this is your normal. No, it won’t always be like this, but that’s what it is for now.”

That’s our modern-day tie-in. The basic question here is “how many people have put off or canceled major life events because of the current circumstances?” Countless weddings have been postponed, untold numbers of students missed the opportunity to have a traditional in-person graduation ceremony, and it’s simply impossible to know how many other major trips or events have dropped or otherwise been put on hold.

The deeper question, and the one that has a more permanent impact, is “what God-honoring things have been put off or canceled because people decided that the world no longer met their definition of what the world should look like?” There are obvious things, like the cancellation of church services or outreach programs, but there have been varying degrees of success regarding the thing that have taken their place. For example, most churches this past summer probably either completely canceled or had a greatly scaled-back version of Vacation Bible School (VBS). Children are especially open to hearing about what Christ has done for them, and it’s important that Christians reach them. The challenge is addressing the same needs through different means, and the missed opportunities come when there’s no attempt to fill the gap.

That’s just an example. There are elementary-age needs, middle-school-aged needs, high-school-aged needs, needs for singles, for engaged or newlyweds, for men, for women, for families, for widows/widowers, for seniors, for professionals, for stay-at-home parents, and countless sub-groups of any of these demographics. The world needs you…whether it’s your creativity, your technological savvy, a spacious or special property you own, or a brand new idea that can be used to reach people in the name of Christ…this is your opportunity to step out in faith and make an eternal difference.

In this season of COVID, remember not to live like you’re still in Jerusalem. For the moment, we’re in Babylon, and we have to live out our Christianity and witness to non-believers within the parameters of our Babylonian environment. Build houses, plant gardens, and pursue long-term relationships. We may be here for awhile or we may not, but either way, we don’t have the option of letting the ministry opportunities stop. You might be the only thing that an important new undertaking is waiting for.

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Stop To Think About Why You Just Did That

I’ve got a twofer for you this time.

Way back when the world was normal and people went to work and shook hands and stuff, my wife would watch her friends’ kids when they were in a jam or just needed to run a quick errand.

I’m a very blessed guy, and my kids are still young enough to come give me a hug when I walk in the door from work. One day as I arrived home, I didn’t know it, by my wife was watching a friend’s little girl, Emmy. Emmy was younger than my kiddos, and she kind of followed their lead in whatever they were playing.

I walked in the door and my kids, who were a bit more wired than normal from running and playing with someone else, came running to hug me and gave a few shouts of “Daddyyyyyyyy!” It was a sweet moment for any dad, but I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Emmy try to figure out what to do. She was excited right along with the rest of the kids, but she wasn’t about to run up and hug some grown-up dude that wasn’t in her life other than right now at this very moment. She came running over to where we all were, and with a big smile, started jumping up and down. She was happy, but she didn’t know why.

Then, on another note, this past summer our family took a vacation to see some other family up in northwestern Ohio. This area was very near Lake Erie, and our family up there enjoys taking the ferry out to Kelley’s Island for a day of biking and walking around on the island. At the end of our island visit we all headed back onto the ferry for the ride back across to “the mainland.”

Now, I don’t know why this happens, but it’s one of those inexplicable “guy things.” I was standing at the back of the ferry with my son and one of my nephews, watching the island fade further into the distance. As I looked down at the wake the ferry made as it plowed through the lake, I gave in to the overwhelming urge to spit into the water. I think it was to get a sense of how fast we were going. Inside two seconds, and without a word, both my son and my nephew had also spit over the rail.

These are two fun little stories that help illustrate one very simple idea: no matter who you are, whether you’re a nine-year old playing with a little kid or a sunburned uncle on a family vacation, you have influence on other people. At the same time, other people have influence on you. Be mindful of the way you’re using the influence you possess; when it comes to meaningful interactions, are you using it to build people up or to tear them down? Assume there is no middle or neutral ground…can people see glimpses of Christ in you?

It’s also important to be mindful of those you allow to influence you. The authors you read, the speakers and songs you hear, and the entertainment you watch are all defining the norms you may adopt as your own. This is why it’s so important for Christians to spend time regularly reading the Bible. If you’re a Christian that doesn’t spend time reading the letter God wrote to you, it makes it much harder to “be in the world but not of it.” Instead the principles of Christian living get elbowed out of the way and shoved toward the back of your mind, while the stronger influences take root and play a more central role in guiding your thoughts and actions.

Our lives look much different than they did a year ago. There’s much more time for binge-watching things or ripping through a lot more books than normal. I urge you to guard your mind. (If you’re already making excuses about why it’s okay to spend so much time with one of the things you’ve been watching/reading, that may be an indicator that you and your conscience need to get on more honest terms.)

Well hey, we’re getting closer to the weekend. I hope you’re hanging in there and that you have (or that you had) a great day today. Use your influence to point others to Christ and what He’s done for them. They may not know.

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If You Just Need a Smile

You know, considering everything that’s going on in our nation right now, I just kind of feel like it would be a good idea to try to help you smile.

I’ve got three kids, and they’ve each got their own distinct personality. When they were little and they did something cute or funny, we’d write it down in what we now refer to as “the quote book.” It’s full of little stories or fun quotes that came from the kids or the sleep-deprived things that we did as parents of young kiddos. Now that it’s at least a few years after some of the quotes, our kids enjoy when I pull out the book and relay some stories we’ve written down.

Lately I’ve been taking a look through the book, and thought I’d share a few entries with you. Just for context, I’ve got a daughter, then a son, then another daughter.

My older daughter used to pick the most inopportune times to tell us about her day. When you have multiple young kids in the house, life is a blur. There’s not a whole lot of conscious thought that extends out past the next meal or bedtime. The minutes leading up to dinner were a mad rush of “go potty,” “okay, who still needs to wash their hands?” all while getting hot food on the table and scooping out some of the hot food early so it can cool off enough for the kids. Right as we sat down and things got quiet enough to pray, our daughter would pick that moment to start telling all of us about some event from earlier that day that was memorable in her mind. We’d all sit around the table, holding hands, about to pray but unable to begin. We could’ve shushed her, but…that just didn’t seem right. Then, just as she finished recounting her tale, but before we could jump in and start praying, her spellbound little brother would ask a question about her epic yarn. (“Nooooo!!!”) This happened at bedtime on a regular basis, too.

She could also open “childproof” caps before she could put together a complete sentence. We kept them away from her for awhile, and she lost the knack for it, but it still kept us on our toes.

She could also open “childproof” caps before she could put together a complete sentence. We kept them away from her for awhile, and she lost the knack for it, but it still kept us on our toes.

My little guy was the craziest blend of sweet and sour. He had heart-melting moments when you just couldn’t believe how compassionate or kind he was, and he’d have moments that make you want to pull out your hair. When he was little enough that he still slept in a crib, there was a time when my wife and I were laying him down and he saw his favorite little stuffed dog laying in the crib waiting for him, and my little guy let out a giggle. It made me appreciate how wonderful it must be to laugh simply because you’re happy.

On the flip side of his personality, there were other times he’d just utter blatant, unprompted lies. If he said “I don’t have anything in my mouth,” it’s a solid bet he just got into some snacks that he knew he wasn’t supposed to touch. He also knew that naptimes were for napping, but he loved to get up and look out the window. As he got big enough to come downstairs on his own after a nap, he’d reassure us by seeing us and saying right away “I wasn’t looking out my window.” The stool near the disheveled curtains suggested otherwise.

It’s also fun to look through the book and find little exchanges like when he and I were watching the winter Olympics on TV together when he was probably about 3. During a ski-jumping event, I told him “That guy’s from Norway.” He looked at the screen, interested, and said “Oh, is that his home planet?”

There are some slapstick memories, too. Parenting is a full-contact sport. All of our kids enjoyed when my wife and I read books to them. My younger daughter, when she was a toddler, had no concept of causing pain in other people. If I was laying on the floor and said to her “do you want me to read a book?”…man, I’d better watch out. She’d take off and find a book to read, which was great, but on her return trip, I needed to keep my gloves up. She’d come bouncing back at me in a full-speed toddler waddle, holding the book out in front of her. In the beginning, I figured she’d slow down as she got close. Nope. She came running with her arms stretched out in front of her, and she didn’t stop until she slammed me in the head with the book. (It didn’t take me long to learn to pay attention when she came running with a book, though I think it took me longer than it should have.)

This is the same little one who, when I held her in church during the live music, would watch intently everything going on up on stage. One time everything was quiet as the worship leader prayed, but my little girl kept her eyes open and was mesmerized by all the light reflecting off the shiny instruments. During the prayer, when her face was about six inches away from mine, she let slip a little burp that smelled like Cheerios.

Also, as our third child, she’s the only one I’ve used a dust-buster on.

And finally, to cap it off, here’s a story with all three. There was a phase (at least, I hope it’s a phase) where my older daughter liked to over-dramatize things, so she’d pretend to cry at certain things. The problem was that anytime my younger daughter saw someone cry, she thought it was her cue to start apologizing, even if it wasn’t her fault or she didn’t know what was happening. She’d keep doing it until someone acknowledged her, too, and would get louder as she went. Making it more fun was the fact that she couldn’t pronounce an “r” sound very well at that age. There was one instance where I sat in the living room and my wife and all three kids were in the kitchen. My wife and older daughter started acting silly, and began pretending to cry about something. Right around then my son, who needed to hear the same thing three times before it started sinking in, got hyper and did something he shouldn’t have, which distracted my wife. Imagine the sound of fake crying from one daughter, my wife talking firmly to my little guy, and an ever-more-persistent little voice saying “sowwy. Sowwy! SOWWY!”

You know, despite what you see on TV, there’s still some good stuff going on out there. Despite what you may see and hear, there are some good people in the world. Keep your chin up and keep smiling, because like I’ve said before, your joy and positive attitude in Christ is one of the things that will make people take notice, especially in times like this.

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Time To Get Back on the Horse

September is a gorgeous month for skydiving. The summer heat has lost its oppressive force, but you can still be comfortable either in shorts and a tee shirt or with a jumpsuit on top of that. It’s noticeably cooler up top when you get out of the plane, but it’s not cold enough to need gloves or extra layers yet.

Now, for those of you that don’t know me, I’m ordinarily a pretty laid back guy. If you see me lose my temper, something like, huge has probably happened. For some reason though, skydiving was a parallel universe for me. I was driven. I wanted badly to be good at freefall skills so I’d be able to turn formations deftly and be able to zip around the sky with other jumpers. When I tried learning certain maneuvers though, I’d try too hard, and I’d be more likely to lose my cool when something didn’t go the way I planned.

Goofing off with a buddy while waiting for our ride to altitude. It’s important to keep the mood light!

Early on I would jump out of the plane and my body tensed up. I’d go rigid not because I was nervous about plummeting toward the ground, but because I was overthinking the instructions and was too focused on trying to get it right. In freefall though, to get your body to do what you want it to do, you need to have your muscles very relaxed. Tensing your muscles causes all different kinds of problems for you. This wasn’t like kayaking, weightlifting, or skiing, where adrenaline or extra power can be a big help; this was an entirely new type of physical challenge…you had to stay chill when the wind is so loud you can’t even hear what someone six inches away from your face is screaming at you.

On one jump, I don’t even remember what happened…I just remember that even though I landed safely I was furious at myself for not getting the freefall objectives right. I mean like, livid. Before my canopy had even completely settled onto the grass, I ripped off my helmet and threw it on the ground, then started kicking it around for good measure. Oh, man, was I ticked! I was ready to get in my car and leave.

There was one instructor at the drop zone, Darlene, who really understood people and what makes them tick. She saw my little tantrum and talked with me about what happened on the jump. After our impromptu debrief she said something surprising. She told me that I needed to get one more jump in that day before I left.

It was surprising because on busy days you had to get in line to get a ride up to altitude; if people wanted to leave early, that was only good news for everyone else. I didn’t want any part of it, I was just feeling sour and wanted to take my ball and go home. She took a look at the schedule of remaining flights and found a way to get me another jump before I left that day. I jumped again, and it went much better than my helmet-kicker.

Darlene knew that if I left on the heels of a bad jump, it was quite possible that I might never come back. She understood that in order for me to flip the script in my own mind, I needed to walk out of there with success more fresh in my memory than failure. It didn’t need to be a stellar jump. It didn’t even need to be a great jump. It just had to be enough, in my mind, to crowd out the memory of a horrible jump.

It may not be skydiving, but you might be in the same boat today. You could be about to turn your back on the thing you thought you were meant to do.

Maybe you already walked away from it. You started walking and you didn’t even turn around to look back, because you want to convince yourself that this isn’t for you.

Well, even if you stepped away, what if you gave it another try? Do you have more to lose than you have to gain? It might just be worth another shot.

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Hope is a Powerful Agent

Since I’ve been spending a lot more time in my house over the past six months, it’s been interesting to go digging through closets or boxes and see what’s in there. A few days ago I listened to some old CDs.

One of the albums I popped into the CD player is Steven Curtis Chapman’s Heaven in the Real World. We’re talking 1994…hard to believe I’ve had it for 25 years or so!

As the music started, the beat and lyrics all came rushing back. I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since I listened to those songs. The crazy part, though, was when I started listening to the words.

Before the first song started, a voice track came on, talking about all the craziness happening in the world at the time. Violence erupting somewhere, drug seizures, natural disasters. It led into the first song, talking about a child looking through eyes of fear and uncertainty. I thought “Huh, not much has changed.”

The next song came on, and it was a similar story:

People say this world’s a jungle and sometimes I must admit
I’d be scared to death if I did not know who was king of it
But the truth is God created this whole world with His own hand
So everything is under His command

I enjoyed humming along with an old familiar song, and looked forward to the next track on the album. It got even crazier:

Once upon a time not so long ago in a land not so far away
Right and wrong were not quite so hard to know
And black and white were not so gray
Times have changed and now it seems
Conscience has gone the way of the dinosaur
But I believe it’s still alive and well today
In the hearts of those who will stand up and say (chorus)

Then the second verse went on to describe the conditions of the day:

There’s a banner waving saying tolerance will set you free, it’s the latest thing
While the consequences it leaves behind are like a ball and chain
But there’s a voice in everyone called conscience
That’s been around since God created man
And as we learn to listen to its whispering
We’ll find the greater freedom when we stand up and sing

Right is right and wrong is wrong just like it has been along
We cannot sit by and see conscience become history
So come on, get up and dance
Dance this dance with me

I’ll tell you what…this world is, and always has been, in a state of decline. This is nothing new. It’s sad to see, but to the Christians reading this, it’s important to understand that standing around wringing your hands is not going to make things any better. The hope that you have in Christ is one of the best ways of getting people to notice that there’s something different about you. Think of hope as the confident expectation of what God has promised. When you hope in Christ, you are trusting in God’s faithfulness.

It’s important for you to broadcast your hope. To do that though, you need to make sure your soul is getting fed. Reading the Bible on a frequent basis is one of the best ways to sustain your hope. The Bible reminds us of God’s faithfulness and the promises He’s made to His people. I’ll tell you a startling statistic I heard recently: during the time of Covid, one-third fewer Christians are reading their Bibles.

Talk about throwing a cinderblock to a drowning man.

The Church (not the building, but the people) is still God’s plan for spreading the Gospel and restoring the lost relationship between God and people. There are probably more people out there that are not going to Heaven than the number that are. In a time when things are, once again, crazy, those people need to see your hope. Please, let them see it.

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When the English Language Fails

As it turns out, when we read the Bible in English, we’re missing out on a lot of the little details you might otherwise catch if you were reading it in its original language (mostly either Hebrew or Greek). I recently learned something interesting about how the resurrected Jesus interacted with the disgraced Peter, who had denied Christ three times.

We’re probably all familiar with the passage in John 21:15-17. It’s the one where Jesus asks “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love you.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him “Feed My sheep.” – John 21:15-17

Just reading over it you might think “well that’s a little weird,” or “it’s because Peter denied Jesus three times.” Well, that might have something to do with it, but I thought it was interesting when I learned about a literary device used in the recording of this account.

When John wrote the gospel that bears his name, placing two words with similar meanings near each other actually amplifies the difference between the two. An example in our language might be something like “I love Krispy Kreme, but I adore Dunkin’ Donuts.” The words “love” and “adore” mean very similar things, but in this example, Dunkin’ is the favored product.

We’re looking at something along those lines in these verses, but you can’t see it in English. We’re dealing with two synonyms for the word “love,” but they have slightly different meanings. The one Jesus uses means loving without holding anything back…with complete and total commitment. Peter, still fresh off his stinging denials, isn’t quite so confident as he used to be in declaring his dedication. Instead of using the “total commitment” version, he responds with a synonym that declares his love/affection for Jesus, but is a little shakier as far as the commitment goes. Using our “original language lenses,” we read it again:

“Peter, do you love (total commitment) Me more than these?”

“Yes, you know that I love (I’m super affectionate for you, but maybe not super dedicated) You.”

“Feed My lambs.”

Then a second time:

“Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (total commitment) Me?”

“Yes Lord, You know that I love (affection but not commitment) You.”

“Tend My sheep.”

Now here’s where the twist comes in, and it helps reveal why Peter was so grieved. When Jesus asks the third time, He stops using the word for “love” that He’d been using. He switches to the word Peter’s using. Peter used this version instead of the one Jesus used because he thought he’d be safer. It pierced his heart to have Jesus question even this lesser level of love:

“Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (affection for, but not necessarily committed to) Me?”

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time “Do you love me?” And he said to Him “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love (affection without dedication) You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

Knowing this little insight, it helps us understand a bit better why Peter was so hurt by this exchange. Jesus knew everything that was still coming in Peter’s future, and this round of questioning helped prepare Peter to deal with his doubts and make the conscious decision to become completely devoted to spreading the Gospel.

God is really amazing in how He prepares people for what the future will bring. Some people seem to just be born with devotion to Christ, while others have to really wrestle with it. In either extreme, and everywhere in between, God knows you, and knows exactly what you need to emerge from that crisis of faith with complete commitment. Maybe you’re in the middle of that struggle right now. I personally would urge you to keep the faith, but for some people God needs them to lose faith before they can find it again. I don’t know what God has planned for your life, but He does, and He’s preparing you for it.

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You Change; Your Strategy Should, Too

I’ve written about kneeboarding before; it was one of my favorite things to do during my last summer in college and the summer after that.

There were a few of us that loved kneeboarding and wakeboarding. We’d get together and see what kind of tricks we could start doing. While it was fun to do solo, it kind of lost its thrill after a while. We got the idea to put two kneeboarders out there at a time. Then we tried two kneeboarders and a wakeboarder. We were able to do a lot more stuff that way; jump over each other’s ropes, switch ropes, hang off the same rope, it gave us more options.

At the end of one summer we were able to get four of us going at the same time. It was two kneeboarders, a wakeboarder, and a guy on a round piece of plywood. The attempt didn’t last very long, but it was fun to be able to say we did it.

We had a lot of fun on the river during those summers, but time marched on and we all went our separate ways.

Fast forward 16 years, and I had the opportunity to try kneeboarding at the same place.

Obviously a lot had changed, and I was a little nervous about it. Now I had a wife and three kids, along with less pliable joints, but I didn’t want to pass up the chance to give it a try. It ended up being a lot of fun, at least for a while.

As we got going, I did some stuff to help the muscle memory come back. After getting comfortable, I did a few basic tricks. Getting settled, I started jumping the wake a little bit. It all started coming back.

There were two main differences between kneeboarding as a young guy and kneeboarding as an “old man.” The first was that my workout routine had changed significantly since I had last gone kneeboarding. In my early 20s I lifted smaller weights at higher repetitions to help me have more endurance throughout the day in a physically demanding job. Years later I had switched to heavier weights at lower reps, so my arms had the power to handle more weight for short lengths of time. The second major difference is that, obviously, 16 years of wear and tear makes the joints less able to absorb impacts. These days my joints do a lot more grinding and popping than back when I did a lot of kneeboarding.

This time around I started out by doing the tricks of my old routine, because that was the mindset I was in. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the types of “tools I had in my toolbox” had changed. As it dawned on me that I had more power available to play with, I started getting more aggressive in the way I cut back and forth, how I followed the boat’s turns, and how I approached jumping the wake.

The cartilage degradation became apparent as I became bolder. Stronger arms helped me launch higher into the air upon hitting the wake, but it also set up my knees for higher impacts when I came back down. I didn’t realize it until it was too late. I cut the water hard, hit the wake hard, and pulled hard, and I think I got higher than I had ever jumped before, but I also landed harder than I ever had before. The kneeboard and I bounced off the water, and I immediately lost interest in continuing the run. The board caught an edge and I flipped over, into the water. I limped the rest of that vacation. (I would totally go kneeboarding again though.)

Unquestionably, it was fun up until that point. The lesson I learned that day was to be realistic about the tools you’ve got, and don’t just assume the tools that used to be there will always be available to you. Sixteen years separated my last two kneeboarding runs, and I instinctively began my latest round by assuming I had the same capabilities I had on the one before.

I’m afraid we might do this as Christians, too, sometimes. We all change as the years go by. The reality might be that we’re no longer willing to take the risks we used to take, but we believe we haven’t changed. Once willing to give of our time, talent, and treasure, we might double up on one of them and skip one of the others, even though God’s Kingdom may benefit the most from the thing you’ve backed away from.

Maybe the opposite is true; you may be in a better position right now than you’ve ever been before to give more of all three. Perhaps something that used to be a major struggle for you in your Christian walk is no longer a problem or a temptation for you, and you can now use your experience to help others with the same issue that was once so challenging for you.

If you’re a Christian, ministry might not be your profession, but you’re in the business of ministry somehow. Time waits for nobody, though. You gain and lose abilities. The tools in your toolbox change over time. Your strengths and weaknesses may switch places, and the goal is to adapt and pivot so that you back away from the areas where you’re losing ground and you’re always using your best skills to glorify God. Vigor and energy are here for a short time and can be crucial to getting something started, but a powerful prayer life often escapes young men and women. With life experience comes wisdom that augments the youthful enthusiasm that’s either on its way out or is long gone.  

Learn from the past, but don’t live there. You’re always moving forward. Any given moment in your life is only a snapshot on a timeline. Your life’s experiences have helped lead you to where you are today, and the things you do today will shape your tomorrow. You are on your way to becoming the person you’re going to be. The question is…are you pivoting to your new strengths as your old ones fade?

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Is It Worth That?

Imagine if someone offered you the chance to live for two weeks with two other people in an area about the size of three or four phone booths.

Before you answer, hold on a minute. It gets worse.

Courtesy of OhioMemory.org

It’s a closed environment, so nothing extra comes in, and no garbage goes out. All the food you’ll be eating during that time needs to be freeze-dried and packed inside. It’s not modern day freeze-dried food, either; it’s like, 1960s freeze-dried food. Add water, stir, and eat. Want to eat it hot? Add hot water.

On top of that, there’s no bathroom. You’ve got a little suction tube for liquid waste and you’ve got some bags for solid waste. Not a great deal of privacy, either.

What do you think, are you in?

Of course not. Why would anyone in their right mind sign up for that?

Now what if I told you that if you can endure these conditions, you get to walk on the moon?

From 1968 to 1972, the American space program sent a series of missions into space that resulted in 12 men walking on the moon and returning safely to earth. Would you be willing to endure the cramped quarters and terrible conditions if you could look forward to setting foot on the lunar surface?

That paints things in a different light, doesn’t it? Life is largely the same for a Christian; the main difference is that instead of two weeks, we’re looking at 80 or maybe 90 years or so.

This life has some fun times, and it has some miserable times. The older you get, the more you understand the temporary nature of things on this earth, and the more you realize that everything around you will one day turn to dust or otherwise become worthless. The joy, however, comes in knowing that you’re on your way to a destination of unspeakable happiness, where you come face to face with God Himself and can ask Him everything you’ve ever wondered about, you can praise Him with no distractions, and you can rejoice in the fact that nobody who’s there will suffer pain, heartache, or loss ever again.

The longest time of any Apollo mission that astronauts spent on the surface of the moon was during the final mission, Apollo 17. Two astronauts spent about 75 hours…a little over three days…either in the Lunar Module or out on the surface of the moon. That whole mission lasted about twelve and a half days from start to finish. Twelve and a half days in cramped quarters eating nasty food in exchange for 75 hours and three moonwalks on the moon.

In a Christian’s case, unspeakable joy that doesn’t end alongside your Savior in a body that doesn’t decay. That’s worth 80 or 90 years, even if a good percentage of them get rough.

Better times are coming. Hang in there.

Enjoying DareGreatlyNow’s posts? Let me know what you think. Email me at tim@daregreatlynow.com.

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Proxy War

Over the past few weeks I’ve touched on how Satan commonly employs the same handful of tactics. I’ve covered how he wants to keep unbelievers unbelieving, and how he wants to water down the effectiveness of those that have become Christ-followers.

So where does that leave us in this epic spiritual struggle for the ages? Well, a historical anecdote might help set the stage:

After World War II, our ally Russia (then the USSR) started to walk down a different path from ours, and our two nations became enemies. It didn’t take long before both sides amassed enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other (and the rest of the world) several times over. In light of this massive weapons buildup, it became crucial that the two countries avoid a direct conflict, because it could very easily escalate into something with terrible consequences for the entire world.

American tanks facing off with Soviet tanks in Berlin

Most of the developed world split into two camps: one that sided with the Soviets and one that sided with the United States. The two sides had radically different ideologies, and both wanted to strengthen their position and gain additional allies. No corner of the world went untouched by this indirect conflict (or “Cold War”).

Both sides knew that war with one another could quickly escalate to global catastrophe. Yet with both sides armed to the teeth, they couldn’t help but rattle sabers at each other in various ways. Both superpowers turned to supporting smaller groups or nations in fights against someone from the other camp. This led to a series of “Proxy Wars.” The Korean War, the space race, the Vietnam War, numerous conflicts in Africa, Asia, and Oceania were all just different chapters of the same story: the US vs. the USSR.

That’s where we are in the spiritual battle right now. The real story has always been God vs. Satan, but the fight plays out across the globe in chapters, fought through Christians and non-Christians.

You and I are “proxies” in a certain sense. We speak on Christ’s behalf when sharing the gospel, and the enemy’s efforts are sometimes manifested, either intentionally or unintentionally, through other people. What’s so easy to do, and I want to caution everyone against this, is to slip into the trap of thinking that the proxy on the other side, the unbeliever, is the enemy. Absolutely not! Satan is the enemy; the proxy is a soul that can potentially be saved, join the Kingdom of God, and do great things for Him! This is so important. Have a look at what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. – Ephesians 6:12

It’s very important to stress that although all people are inherently sinful, relatively few of them are malicious or openly hostile toward Christ and Christians. God can even take violent, hateful people and turn them into powerful assets for His kingdom (read the story of Saul’s conversion to Paul for an example). There’s nobody that God doesn’t love, and no matter how bad you think you’ve been (or how bad the worst person you can think of has been), God is willing to extend salvation to them if they accept Him as their Savior. We don’t know who those people will be, though, so it’s up to Christians (and this is where we often have trouble) to treat everyone as if God’s working on their heart to reveal Himself to them and bring them to salvation. This is where another Bible verse comes in:

Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. – Matthew 10:16

We’re supposed to be out in dangerous territory, spreading the gospel to people that haven’t heard it, and yes, to people that we believe will reject it or react violently to it. Proxies can harm us in multiple ways. We must balance between being on guard against them while showing them love, compassion, and the truth in the hopes that we help win them for Christ.

One of my favorite sayings is that you do not know what’s on the other side of your obedience. At some point you, as a Christian, will likely feel called to do something that makes you uncomfortable, and that’s by design. The Bible is full of stories of people that God stretched in some way to go do things they thought were impossible. God makes no pledge about giving you cushy assignments. He’ll take care of you…maybe not in the way you’d like, but if you follow through with what you’re supposed to do, you might be surprised at how things fall into place for you.

As I close today, I just want to reiterate that other people are not the enemy in our spiritual struggle; they are the prize! You will do nothing on your own to win them for Christ, but you have no idea what Christ will do through you according to His plan. Boldly accept His invitation to play a part in His master plan. You won’t be able to see where the road leads, but part of growing your faith is taking the first few steps without seeing where you’re going.

God didn’t offer to let us be choosy about the people to whom we bring the Gospel. They all need to hear it, and you might be the only chance someone gets to hear it.

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Red Teaming Humanity: The Christian Strikes Back (Part 4 of 4)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Today we wrap up the discussion on Red Teaming humanity…looking through the adversary’s eyes at how to fight against God’s plan for individual people.

In the way of review, let’s take a look back at what we’ve covered so far.

Part 1 of the series set the stage and described the likely mentality of the enemy we’re dealing with.

After that, to help as a memory aid, everything is arranged in groups of three that all start with the same letter. In Part 2 we looked at the basic steps God uses to lead someone to faith, along with the tools Satan uses to counter any or all of them. Whereas God addresses a Wanderer, then Wakens them by revealing Himself to them, after which they begin their Walk with Him, Satan takes a different approach. He’ll try to Fulfill the longings of the wanderer through other means, Fight the wakening by inciting chaos in the person’s life, and try to Flatten their walk if it turns out they’re serious about following Christ.

Last time, in Part 3, we started looking at how our adversary attacks Christians. If the goal is to prevent Christians from using their God-given gifts, talents, and resources to grow the Kingdom of God, many of the techniques he uses boil down to Dividing them so they cannot function as a cohesive team, Distracting them from what they should be focused on, and Delaying them from taking action.

Today we look at how Christians can combat the effectiveness of the tactics in Part 3. It’s very simple. Christians maximize their effectiveness in working for the Lord when they follow the three Gs:

Gather, Grow, and Go.

It’s so simple that it’s easy to overlook. Right now, though, it’s so important to understand these three Gs and follow through with them.

The Bible instructs us to Gather. Alone we are vulnerable to fear, quicker to question whether living a life of service to the Lord is worth pursuing, and prone to give up more easily. Together we can spur each other on to overcome those obstacles and encourage one another. Iron sharpens iron.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. – Hebrews 10:24-25

For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them. –Matthew 18:20

And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. –Ecclesiastes 4:12

Today’s world looks very different than most people would have imagined a year ago. We’ve all essentially been thrown into pioneer roles; we’re figuring out what “gather” looks like as we go right now. There may be a few places that are largely unaffected, but for the most part, if you’re physically going to church these days, you’re probably wearing a mask at least part of the time and you’re not sitting as close to others as you normally would. If you’re not going in person you might still get to hear the worship and sermon through online church, but it’s very hard to actually connect with people that way. As restrictions ease and we’re allowed more social freedoms, I encourage you to make an effort to get back to church, even if you have to sing with a mask on. There simply is no substitute for physically being in the same room with other believers.

It’s essential to find other means of meeting with fellow believers, especially if you consider yourself part of an at-risk demographic or if your church will undergo an extended period of time without being able to physically meet. Online meetings can work, conference calls can work, but I’d encourage you to be physically present with other believers SOMEhow. Outside-the-box thinking may help here; if it’s with just one or two other people, you can meet for coffee or in a park and maintain a decent distance between yourselves and still be close enough for great conversation that builds, encourages, and lifts up one another. If it’s a larger group, you can do the same thing or get more creative. It’s probably going to be awhile before we can have widespread potlucks again, but in the meantime, we can have get-togethers in church parking lots for example. If you have a big group of folks at your church that are just longing for time together, have everyone bring a camp chair and a bottle of water and sit, one person per parking space, and rearrange the group every 10 minutes or so. It’s important to have opportunities both for unstructured fellowship as well as those that are meant to build one another up.

Gather and Grow often go hand in hand. While you can watch videos and study the Bible on your own, living life as part of a community of Christian believers will help you really learn and embrace the Bible’s teachings. Other people see things in scripture that you don’t; you have experiences and interests that are different from other peoples’. Together you collectively bring more than what you have on your own. Much of the growing occurs as you read the Bible and supporting material on your own, but another big chunk of it also happens as you interact with other Christians. You can grow by learning from other believers, and on the flip side you can grow by mentoring other believers. Growth happens when you’re together.

When it comes to Go, the distinguishing characteristic of Christians is supposed to be the way they show love for one another. John 13:34-35 says A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Unbelievers are supposed to see Christians in action and know who we are by the way we love and care for people. You don’t have to go far to Go. There are limitless ways to show love to your neighbor, and your neighbor is…anyone and everyone. It’s not just people you know and have a good relationship with. Everyone has physical needs. Everyone needs human contact. Everyone needs a little shot of optimism, especially these days. If you can provide any of those things in a way that would make God smile, that might be exactly what He’s looking at you to do. It could be digging wells in a far-off land, going on a missions trip elsewhere in your own country, or taking a meal to a lonely shut-in in your neighborhood. There is literally no limit to the number of ways you can show love and compassion to someone that needs it, and your acts of love make people more willing to listen to what you have to say about Christ.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of this series. I’ve said it a number of times before on this blog, but it bears repeating in light of what we’ve been covering. Christians are empowered to do much more than what they think they are capable of doing, and it’s because the power of the Holy Spirit resides in them. If you consider yourself a Christ-follower, I urge you to take up the challenge you find before you; seek direction through prayer and move out with confidence. Not confidence in your abilities and prowess, mind you, confidence in the one that holds your life in His hands. Sometimes God prepares you for years to perform a given task, but other times you witness a need that anyone can fulfill, and you just happen to be the only “anyone” around. Please…be willing to let God work through you. You have no idea what events your obedience will set in motion.

In closing, I’ll say that as a Christian you should expect opposition. I recently heard it described as “if you’re holding the football, you’re going to get tackled.” Don’t be surprised when it happens, because it’s going to happen. It’s not the end of the game though. You can head to the sidelines for a break and for talking some strategy with teammates, but if you sit down and don’t plan to get up off the bench again, the other team has nothing to fear from you. In this game, the Coach is going to walk down the sidelines, point His finger at you, and tell you to get out there. It’s going to be scary, you’re not going to know how it’s all going to turn out, and you may end up having to be carried off the field. Just remember that you’re on the winning team and you’re not alone out there. Rely on your teammates and let them know they can rely on you. The Coach wouldn’t have pointed at you if He didn’t think you could do it.

Gather, Grow, and Go.

You hold more worth and value to God’s Kingdom than you can possibly imagine. There’s no ceiling as far as what God can do through His truly dedicated followers, but only He knows His plans for your life. Subscribe or check back every week for encouragement in reaching your God-given potential!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3