Category: Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back

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I Never Even Tried Before. Why not?

Boy, I don’t even think my parents know about this one. When I was in 11th or 12th grade, I did something very uncharacteristic of me. I decided to try out for the school play.

Now you have to understand, this was a very unusual thing for me to pursue. There must have been a cute girl in the cast or something. I can’t think of who it would have been, though. Honestly, I think I just wanted to try something totally new.

I can’t even remember what the production was, but I remember I decided to read for the part of a major supporting character. It wasn’t a lead role or anything, but it was somebody who’d grab a lot of attention when on stage. Think ‘Franc’ from “Father of the Bride” or a detective in some other play.

I’d never done a school play before (aside from stuff in elementary school). I went to the interest meeting, got a copy of the play, and grabbed a packet to fill out. In that packet I wrote down the part I wanted to play. One of the questions they asked was something like “if you don’t get your preferred role, are you willing to accept a different part?” I thought it over for a bit, then answered “no.” At some point I turned in the packet, and eventually received information for auditions.

The faculty member in charge of the play was an English teacher I’d had sometime in high school. She knew me from class, but I’d never worked with her in an acting capacity. Whatever the role was, I gave it a shot during the audition. I thought I did fine, but didn’t know the teacher’s thoughts on it. Ultimately, I didn’t get the part, and I don’t know who did. Since the “try something new” thing didn’t pan out this time, I didn’t even go see the play.

With the benefit of hindsight, I totally get why I didn’t get the part. Even if I had a really good audition, I had no track record for the director or other students to rely on. The director can’t take an unknown and throw him out on stage in a prominent role. Will he freeze? Will he nail it? There’s just no way of knowing. Besides, if we’ve got Joey over here, trying out for the same role, and the director’s worked with Joey before, she knows a little better what she can expect from him. Unless the director’s short on cast members, there’s really no upside to picking the brand new guy who’s only willing to play one particular role rather than someone who’s been in plays before and is willing to consider multiple roles if it helps the team out.

Christianity can be a little like this. When it comes to leaps of faith and following God’s lead in your life, track records of past experience are important. The twist here, though, is that past performance doesn’t help God trust you any more, it helps you trust God more as He provides for you in subsequently bigger and bigger ways. With the benefit of hindsight, you can see how your previous struggles and challenges helped prepare you for subsequent larger struggles and challenges. Again, this doesn’t build the Lord’s trust in you, but you get to look at your history of being faithful and seeing God at work in and through you. Seeing that, you trust Him more.

I’d also urge you to be willing to play something other than your preferred role. We can get comfortable in the ways we serve God, and become less and less willing to step out of our comfort zones as time goes on. The Lord loves a willing heart. I’ve heard it said that as Christians, we’re always in the furnace or on the anvil. God spends a lot of time honing us and shaping us into who He wants us to be. I believe a willingness to follow His call into waters deeper than we’re comfortable with is a great way to demonstrate our obedience both to Him and to ourselves.

If you have no track record of faithfulness to the Lord, why not start today? Start small. Begin reading from the Bible every day. Start tithing. Stop doing things you know you shouldn’t be doing. Get rid of stuff you know you shouldn’t have. Being faithful in the small things helps build that history, that lifestyle of obedience. As you follow through on those small things, God will give you bigger opportunities to make a difference in someone else’s life, or lots of other peoples’ lives.

But it all starts with small steps of faithfulness. Start building that track record today.

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Need a Confidence Boost?

Most of my posts are somehow geared at being willing to step out in faith to accomplish tasks you think are beyond your reach, yet which God has enabled you to perform. While I absolutely believe in that idea and use it as the blog’s central theme, it’s also important to help lay the mental groundwork for meeting such challenges. If you think of my normal blog posts as a movie, think of this one as their prequel.

I’ve learned through experience that if you’re willing to take risks in just about any aspect of your life, usually one of two circumstances hold true. The first possibility is that your back is against the wall and you’ve got no real choice; the risk you’re taking is probably the best of your bad options or it’s your last resort. While I acknowledge this as a driving force behind some risky behavior, it’s not the one I want to focus on.

The second possibility is that if you’re willing to take risks, you’re secure enough in who you are that the idea of failing doesn’t paralyze you with fear. If Christ is your savior, He will call you to do things you’re not comfortable with. It’s a risk to obey. You might fail. You may look like a fool. It could cost you.

I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but you need to hear this. If you’re a Christ-follower and feel God’s called you to some challenge requiring a lot of faith, let me remind you: you are a child of the One True King. Walk down the path with the confidence that comes along with your position. If the Lord commissioned you to pursue a specific undertaking, remember the enemy can harass you, but he cannot harm you without permission. Your idea of what success looks like might not jive with God’s take on it, but it’s part of the life your Lord called you to, so take that next step.

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Guard Against the “Prepper” Mindset

Nobody knows when Christ will come back, but if you look around at the state of the world today, it’s hard to imagine we’ll still be “business as usual” 20 years from now. (You never know, there could be massive revival and turning to God between now and then, but at least right now, it’s tough to imagine that happening.)

If you’re a student of Christian eschatology – the study of the End Times – you probably fall into one of two major camps. The first, and probably more natural, train of thought is to shake your head in disgust at what the world is turning into, and take “prepper-style” actions to safeguard yourself and your loved ones. With prophecies of the world’s end sprinkled throughout the Bible, it’s tough not to think about making preparations of some kind. I’d guess that at some time or another, just about every believer has looked at the news and considered withdrawing from society and spending their time almost exclusively with other believers. I get it, but I’d caution against it.

(See a past post on the difference between the Rapture and Christ’s Second Coming here)

The second camp acknowledges that even though difficult times are coming for Christians, Christ will snatch the Church out of this world before His plans upend normal life on earth. Current events testify to a rise in chaos, natural disasters, moral decay, and international conflicts. We don’t need to fear the wrath of the Lord acting corporately on us. This is a bittersweet situation; despite the apparent nearing of being yanked out of a fallen world to escape its most terrible conditions, it also means we have less time to do things that will have an eternal impact. We have to be intentional with the time we have remaining. Being “salt and light” means we’re helping point others to Christ, and it’s tough to do that by staying secluded in literal or figurative shelters that we’ve built for ourselves.

Of course, there’s no way for me to guarantee your safety or well-being if you follow Christ’s calling for your life, so please don’t think I’m promising something I can’t deliver. Living for Christ comes at a cost. Just know that since God has plans for your life, it wouldn’t make much sense for Him to allow you to get derailed when you’re walking the path He’s laid out for you. Without a doubt, you need to expect opposition; if you’re running with the ball, people are going to try to tackle you. If you’re living out your calling, though, opposition isn’t something you need to fear.

Time is short. The fields are ready, but the workers are few. Get out there and use the things God’s entrusted to you, because being called home while you still have something in the tank isn’t going to help anybody.

(Are you a literal prepper that’s resolved to separate yourself from society because of the turmoil and moral decay you see? Maybe an ideal ministry opportunity for you is to host Christians that are hamstrung by the anxiety they face from current events. Provide a place for them to seek respite while they steel themselves biblically for a return to their own ministry.)

Lord, people have been anticipating Your return for thousands of years. All of them have been wrong so far about when that day is. Whatever Your timeline, it’s obvious that the world needs You, and we know that You’ve put us here to help spread the good news of the sacrifice you’ve made to save us. Help us not get wrapped up in predicting dates, but instead to focus with urgency on employing the gifts and opportunities You’ve charged us with. Help us bring You glory. I ask these things in Your name, amen.

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Anchor to Something You Know To Be True

I’d like to stretch a metaphor here a little bit and compare the Christian life to rock climbing.

Most of the time when people go rock climbing, they climb a wall that’s been used plenty of times before. These types of places are usually well-trafficked and the climbers set up the rope at the top of the wall. Then both ends are tossed down, and one end gets tied to the climber’s harness and the other end goes to the person manning the safety line (the belayer). This setup is called “top-roping” because the rope is secured at the top of the climb. The belayer keeps the climber safe by locking down on the rope if the climber loses their grip, arresting the fall.

The trickier version is called “lead climbing.” Climbers start at the bottom of a wall and no rope is hanging down from above. As they climb they hook their rope into anchors in the rock they set along the way. This is the style used when a wall is immense and the rope isn’t long enough to cover the whole climb. It requires more skill and more attention to detail, because when top-roping all you really need to focus on is the climb, but in lead climbing you need to be paying attention to how far away you are from your last anchor point. When lead climbing, if you’re climbing straight up and you fall, you’re going to fall twice the length of the distance between the last anchor and the point where the rope connects to your harness. It’s not bad when there’s only three feet of rope, but you feel it a lot more if you’re 12 feet away from your last anchor.

Evil forces are arrayed against the Christian. Compared to a generation ago, there are fewer strongholds of Christian thought. Places that were formerly safe for the Christian are now battlegrounds. Evil is more prevalent and more accepted among the public, and it seems like the percentage of Christians in the population is dropping. Today I’d like to tie us into an anchor on our Christian journey, at least here in America, knowing that this trend will likely continue, but reminding you to take heart and be bold in Christ, because we know He wins in the end.

Normally I don’t like to use language of paranoia, but I believe there are people out there that spend time plotting about how to weaken the influence of Judeo-Christian values in America. I don’t know who they are, and I don’t know how many of them are out there, but I believe they’re doing it and I believe it’s working. Today prayer cannot be led by faculty or staff in public schools, for example, and nativity scenes can’t be displayed on public property.

Between what I see with my own eyes and what I read about in the Bible, I believe it won’t be long before the law turns against Christians. The first anchor I’d like to link us into is the fact that Americans’ freedom of religion (and speech) are guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Now the way I interpret this is that you should be someone that’s a committed follower of a religion in order to claim the protections of the First Amendment. By that I mean that you shouldn’t be some bigot that inflames conversations about homosexuality, for example, and then runs and hides behind the First Amendment. If you want the religious freedom guaranteed by this bedrock American idea, your life should be consistent with someone who’s trying to live out the principles of that religion. This privilege is not restricted only to Christianity, but to any American who seriously practices their religion.

What are the limits of this protection? In modern-day America, the rise of “woke-ness” means that serious pressure can mount against someone who dares to disagree with the prevailing narrative, and with this pressure often comes some kind of monetary loss (loss of sponsorships or endorsements, loss of a job, lawsuits, etc.). Even though the religious person is likely to be found not guilty if they are faithfully following the pillars of their religion, they will often still have to endure the headache, drama, and expense of legal battles, often at the hands of someone that is better funded and connected.

Additionally, there’s a fluid line when it comes to where the limit of protection lies. If someone makes up their own religion (which is perfectly acceptable in America) and practices it devoutly, that’s fine as long as it doesn’t affect other people. If, however, this person’s religion mandates the collection of doorknobs from other peoples’ houses, and the devout person steals doorknobs from neighbors, well that infringes on the life of someone else, now doesn’t it? That should probably not go unchecked.

The flip side of the coin can be applied to Christianity. The example from earlier will help here. Our religion’s holy book says that homosexuality is one type of sexual immorality, and is sinful behavior. Even though the Bible also says all sinners, regardless of past offenses, need to be told about (and can freely receive) God’s forgiveness, there are many people out there who mistakenly believe they have a right to go through life without being offended. If you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community, I can absolutely see how some of the things in the Bible would offend you (after all, the Bible is offensive to all people who embrace sin). I’m unsure of where that legal line between the First Amendment and the pursuit of happiness is, but I can definitely see how we’re setting up a clash between freedom of religion and infringement on personal happiness that will occur somewhere down the road. My guess is that over time the line will move to favor religious practitioners less and less, until religious freedom eventually starts outright losing and subsequently takes a back seat to people who feel wronged.

If you’re blessed to have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, He may have called you to endure hardship on His behalf. Take heart, though. The sufferings of this life, while painful in the here and now, will pale in comparison to the eternal blessings still to come.

God, this world is full of pain, suffering, and injustice. Please help us know when we should turn the other cheek and when we should stand up and fight to preserve the religious freedom we’ve enjoyed for nearly 250 years. We know the world will grow more and more hostile to Christians, so please help us embrace a mindset of being willing to follow You no matter what comes. Amen.

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Passing the Baton, and Time is Short

(This has been kind of a stressful week where regular routines got tossed aside and our family had to call some audibles. Part of that change meant not having much time or mental energy to devote to a blog post. My teenaged daughter was sweet, saw that I was stressed about not having the time to write something, and offered to let me use something she wrote. So without further ado, here’s the worldwide debut of my daughter’s writing skills. Thanks kiddo!)

Witnessing to people is hard. You know that’s what God tells you to do, and you can’t imagine people you know and love going to Hell, but sharing the gospel can be very difficult.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 that “for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” Thieves come unexpected and unannounced. As Christ said in Mark 13:32, “But concerning the day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

But what if you did know? What if you knew God was coming back, say, tomorrow at 3 pm? What are some things you would do before His arrival? I know one of my top priorities would be to tell my non-Christian friends. I would not care what they thought of me because I would know, Christ’s coming back! I would just want to save them from God’s wrath before it’s too late.

Well, we don’t know when Christ is coming back. But what we do know is that sometime, anytime, Jesus IS coming back. It could be tonight, five years from now, or maybe even tomorrow at 3 pm. The possibilities are endless!

My point is, God’s coming back. Those things you would do if Christ was coming tomorrow? Do them as soon as possible, for all we know, the Lord may be coming back tonight. Don’t be caught off guard.

What are some things you want to have done before Christ returns? How can you make them happen as soon as possible?

Lord, help me to live my life as if you were coming back anytime, because no one knows the day or the hour. Amen.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Awkward

If you don’t know me, let me just fill you in on a little secret…I’m sort of a weirdo.

(I feel like I can hear a bunch of virtual “Amens!” after that statement.)

A lot of people shy away from socially awkward situations. I can’t honestly say I enjoy them all the time, but I don’t really try my hardest to make them end, either.

Case in point: over the past couple of years people have been spending an unprecedented amount of time at home. I myself didn’t mind, but without anywhere to go, the four walls seemed to close in periodically. I definitely needed to get out and get some sunshine every now and then, even if the only thing I had to do was go for a walk or do something in the yard.

One sunny day a year or two ago I went for a walk, but it was a little chilly. I put on a fleece and a windbreaker, along with a hat that covered my ears. My hands get cold on walks, so I wore a pair of gloves. Sunny days call for sunglasses, so I grabbed a pair of those too.

The neighborhood I usually walk in has a bunch of cul-de-sacs, so I can do a lot of walking without actually being very far away from home. I had walked through this neighborhood many times before, and as I headed toward one cul-de-sac, I noticed a bunch of young kids, probably 5 years old or less, along with a bunch of moms, playing out in a front yard that was decorated with streamers and balloons. As I got closer, I could see that the driveway was also decorated. Someone had used sidewalk chalk to write in big letters “Happy Birthday Charlotte!”

Truth be told, I was very glad to see kids getting together in person and having fun, rather than trying to have some kind of virtual birthday party. But I also got the idea to maybe provoke one of those socially awkward situations.

Very aware of the fact that I was dressed like some thug who was casing the neighborhood, I considered for a moment whether or not I should proceed. That was probably part of the reason I decided to go for it. Slowing down, but not stopping on my trip around the cul-de-sac, I called out “Happy birthday, Charlotte!”

I had no clue which one Charlotte was, so I just kind of waited to see what would happen. There was an odd silence for a few moments. One of the moms, who I thought rolled with it pretty well, then spoke up. “Um, she’s around back, but I’ll tell her.”

I have no idea if that mom passed along my birthday salutation, but if she did, how did that conversation go? “Who said that?” “He didn’t say his name.” “Well, what did he look like?” “Eh, kind of like some guy that’s walking around the neighborhood deciding which houses to rob.”

I don’t remember if I told my wife this story or not, so when she reads this I may have just effectively banned myself from going for solo walks around that neighborhood.

Speaking of awkward situations, we’re commanded to preach the gospel to those that haven’t heard it. We’re supposed to bring Jesus to “all nations,” including our own. That can be a very hard thing to do, especially if you’re overly concerned about the awkwardness that might come along with it! It’s a very important thing to do, though. Eternity hangs in the balance.

One thing to consider is identifying ways to make the conversation easier for the other person. In the example above, I imagine that if my wife, who’s a very outgoing and smiley person, had been with me on that walk when I wished Charlotte a happy birthday, that group of moms would probably have been much more at ease than they were with just me. Consider whether it would be beneficial to address multiple non-Christians rather than just “cornering” one.

Also, if you’re one to stare at someone with an uncomfortably piercing gaze when talking to others about Jesus, well…maybe it’s time to dial it back just a bit. It’s certainly an important topic, but a high-intensity demeanor may not be the right approach. Ultimately you’ll be the best judge of the situation, and trying anything is better than not trying at all. As long as you’re not prompting calls of “stranger danger!” you’ve got the potential to get something going.

Check out this link for eight tips about talking to others about Christ.

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I Am Dangerous…In a Good Way

I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty excited about the widespread release of Top Gun: Maverick tomorrow.

I was too young to enjoy the original movie when it first came out, but after I saw it, it instantly became one of those movies that was easy to quote back and forth with other fans of classic 80’s movies.

(For the record, I’m still miffed about the studio whitewashing history in order to avoid offending China, but I’m hoping the rest of the movie will make up for it.)

I don’t go to the movie theater as much as I used to, but I’m going to make a solid effort to get there for this one. I thought about trying to see it in IMAX, but was afraid I’d get motion sick or something. As it is, I already bring earplugs to wear when I go to the movies. (I’m an aspiring grumpy old man. I’ll probably wear a cardigan and shake my fist at the screen while shouting “turn that infernal racket down!”)

This is a unique case; the sequel was made more than 35 years after the original. It makes you think back to some of the scenes from the first movie. Set in the Cold War, the whole film is about these cocky hot-shot fighter crews that go to a highly competitive school where they’re trained to be even more aggressive than they already are. There’s a lot of exciting aerial photography, tense rivalries, and high-octane action that plays well on the screen.

Uh oh. Five enemy aircraft inbound.

In the climax of the movie, two American fighter crews get into a fight with five enemy fighters. One of the American planes is the first casualty in the fight, leaving a sole U.S. fighter to contend with five enemy aircraft until help arrives. Fresh out of super-aggressive school, the remaining pilot announces “three MiGs dead ahead, coming down the left side. I’m going after them!”

Is this guy for real? This is insane! He’s outnumbered five to one, and he’s still thinking in terms of being on offense! Dude, you need to tuck tail and run if you want to survive!

And yet…it’s what Christians are called to do.

I’ve got some sobering news for you. If you’re a Christian that wants to let Christ shine through you in a world of darkness…that dark world is guaranteed to push back at you. The attacks will get personal, and they will exact a price from you. Yet He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

If you’re truly living a life that glorifies God and aims to strike deep at the kingdom of darkness, expect that opposition to be even greater. You will appear to be the underdog, but you’re supposed to be the underdog. If your actions are a cakewalk, that doesn’t bring God a whole lot of glory, now does it?

I heard something interesting awhile back. Aside from “praise the Lord,” did you know that the most common command in the entire Bible is some form of “do not fear?”

What’s the significance of that command’s frequency? It’s probably important to reflect on all the promises God made to His people, including promises to be with us, to provide for us, and to empower us to do His will. To me that sounds a lot like He wanted to set us up to be secure enough in His love and provision to be aggressive in living our lives for Him.

You’ll mess up. You’ll wonder if you’re doing the right thing. That comes with the territory. Stay true to the commands God laid out in scripture and He’ll be able to use you for great things even if failure is an old friend of yours.

The next time you have the choice of “bugging out” and running away from the challenge or standing to face something you know will be difficult, remember to focus on your security in Christ, knowing that if He’s prompting you to follow a certain course, He’s also prepared the way for you.

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“Abba” Ain’t Just a Swedish Pop Group

Last year as part of the effort to escape the oppression of COVID, our family went to the beach for an overnight. We had a lot of fun, got some sunburn, stayed in a hotel for the first time as a family, and ate some treats that we don’t normally have.

This was the first time in a few years that we had been to the beach. My son, 9 at the time, was now big enough to try using a boogie board in the surf. Since he was only 6 years old the previous time we’d been at the beach, he was a big kid now. In fact, he had even stopped calling me “Daddy” by this point. He was all kinds of excited that he had the chance to try out something cool.

Remember what it was like being a kid? When I was young I used to be the one that was rearing to go, but now I’m the slow parent. We stepped off the boardwalk and onto the sand, and he was ready to hit the water. My wife and I, on the other hand, still had to find a spot to set up blankets and umbrellas, then apply sunblock, then blow up whatever inflatable thing we had brought, have a drink of water, etc. Since my son was chomping at the bit to get started before I was ready to join him, I sort of explained what he needed to do in order to get going on the boogie board, and then he took off to give it a try.

He didn’t quite realize that you can’t really boogie board in the water that’s super close to the shoreline, where all the waves kept crashing. Being the enthusiastic guy that he is, he had fun giving it a try, but he wasn’t really able to get going for any significant distance.

After his old man finally got in the water, I gave it a try from some deeper water. I took a few test runs to make sure I was giving him accurate information. I found the technique that was working for me, then tried passing it along to him. In order for him to really get going, he had to come deeper, past the point where the waves were breaking.

He was fine with the idea of coming deeper, but it was tough for someone less than half my weight to do while holding a very buoyant board. As I stood in water that was probably waist deep for me, it was hard to watch him try to fight through the surf to get out deeper. His first attempt was a victim of poor timing; he ventured into the water at just the right time where the wave hit him while he was off balance. It knocked him down and pushed him back to shore. He got back up and gave it another try, but he tried again too soon. I would have said something to him, but I figured he’d see the next wave coming and hold off until it passed. Nope. The same thing happened and he had to pick himself up again. From where I stood, I could see he was having second thoughts about this. Holding the board made it so much more difficult to get out past the crashing waves when he ordinarily could’ve just dived through them or gone under them.

On the third try, with mounting failures fresh in his memory and fear building in his mind, I watched him enter the water much more tentatively. A wave approached him and it hit his board hard, reminding him of just how powerful the waves could be. I called to him, encouraging him from where I stood, but I could tell he wasn’t going to hang in there a whole lot longer. Moving slowly when he should’ve moved quickly, more waves bullied him. Struggling to keep a straight face, his eyes grew wide and he called out to me in fear, “Daddy, I don’t like this!”

It was a heart-wrenching moment. I moved quickly to him and helped get him steady. While still standing in the zone where the waves crashed, I told him I could help him get past the crazy part, but he was no longer willing to give it a try, he just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. It pained me to see him give up, and I tried several more times to convince him to give it another go, but he had made up his mind to stick to the shallows.

The part of that experience that sticks out the most to me was when my little guy’s enthusiasm melted away and he went back to calling me “Daddy.” He gave up on something that I know he would’ve enjoyed if he’d just done things a little differently. I could’ve forced him to do it, but I wanted him to want to do it, and it didn’t seem right to make him try something he no longer wanted to do (especially since it could have resulted in him fearing the ocean for years to come).

In the Bible, God goes by many names. One of them is “Abba.” The word “Abba” is something that Hebrew-speaking children call their fathers…it’s like saying “Daddy.”

The word Abba isn’t used often in the New Testament. It’s only used by two people: Jesus and Paul. Joachim Jeremias, a German theologian, remarked on Jesus’ use of the word. He writes “[Jesus] spoke to God as a child to its father: confidently and securely, and yet at the same time reverently and obediently.”

It makes sense that the Son of God talks to His Father that way. The part that’s crazy and amazing is this verse that Paul writes in Romans 8:15 and following. Paul’s writing about how we’re changed once we receive the Holy Spirit, and he says The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

This means that we (Christians) are adopted into the family of God. Not only that, but we’re loved and accepted to such a high degree that we’re given the privilege of calling God the Father “Daddy!”

The next time you’re overwhelmed or just having a hard time in general, remember that not only can you call on your Heavenly Father…you can call on your Heavenly Daddy. If you tell Him “I don’t like this,” know that He sees you, He’s got you, and He can get you where you need to be.

God, thank you so much for understanding us so well and for giving us so many illustrations by which we can get a better sense of Your love for us. You’ve assured us we’ll have hard times in this life. When we do, remind us to call on You, seek comfort in You, and remember that You’ll give us what we need for each day. Amen.

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Spies Like Us

Have you ever stopped to think that living for Christ can, in some ways, be compared to life as a spy?

No, not 007, with pen grenades and cars that shoot missiles from the headlights. James Bond movies can be fun to watch, but they’re not the most accurate depictions of what life as a real spy is like.

I’m sure there’s a lot of spying that happens today, but to me a lot of the interesting stuff happened during the Cold War. It just seemed like it was more interesting before you could hack everything through the internet. In some cases, there might be someone with access to very valuable information that feeds juicy tidbits back to their handler. You’d also have dramatic stories of Soviet pilots defecting with the latest fighter plane design.

In just about every case, you’ve got a human being that’s committing some level of treason against their country, and at least part of their mind is dwelling on the consequences they’ll face if they get caught. Some people are simply more given to worry, but excessive worry and the lifestyle of a spy are not compatible things. I can’t say that I’ve walked in their shoes or experienced the stress that they experience, but for many spies (or “assets”), there comes a point at which their life of ulcers and poor sleep gets to be too much, and they ask to be extracted or set free from the lifestyle they’re living.

That can be us as Christians. We’re simply passing through this world. “This rental’s not our home.” Working for God in the pursuit of bringing Him glory, we long for Heaven but we don’t know when we’ll get there.

Spies don’t work alone; the information or function they provide serves someone. That someone can be called many things: a spymaster, a handler, an asset manager (you might pause the next time you meet someone that describes themselves as an “asset manager”). That person’s role is to direct the spy what to do or what to report on.

When someone conducting espionage gets frayed nerves and tells their handler they’ve had enough and want to be “brought in from the cold,” the handler needs to weigh a few things. Can that asset be convinced to stay in place a little longer? How much longer will that asset be useful? Is it worth the risk of leaving them in place and being caught? Are they still motivated by the same factor that drove them to engage in espionage in the first place? The handler may need to pull out all the stops to convince the spy to stay in place and keep doing what they’re doing, and that may entail using stick, carrot, or both. After all, even if the handler is genuinely fond of their asset, the information will stop flowing if the asset leaves their post.

Ultimately, that spy lives their life in a way that reprioritizes someone else’s desires over their own. I think this is what Paul meant in Romans 12 when he wrote of our lives being a “living sacrifice.”

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Unlike an Old Testament sacrifice, where an animal’s life is taken in our place, we’re to present our lives and bodies as a “living sacrifice.” It’s a higher, more productive calling than a calling with a quick ending. It’s a life of service that spans years and in many cases multiple decades; compared with an ending on an altar, this kind of sacrifice can be much more taxing and take much more effort.

At one point or another, just about everybody has wished for the trials and difficult times in their lives to be over. Sometimes people even go so far as to pray for God to take them home before it gets any worse. While that would certainly take away the stress and shortcomings of what we have to endure in this imperfect world, it would severely restrict the amount of usefulness God can wring out of us in this life. In that regard, He’ll sometimes say “No, I need you where you are right now. Sit tight, keep doing what you’re doing, and I promise I’ll make it up to you later.” Like an actual spymaster, He may do this through reassurance, or He may do it by applying more leverage on you.

So here we are. We’re not home yet, but while we’re waiting for God to take us there (in His time, not ours), we’re to place God’s will above our own.

This next part is hard to hear; I wish I could look you in the eye and reach out and put my hand on your shoulder when I say this. The world will always hate Christ, and by extension it will always hate those that follow Him. If you’re a passionate and obedient Christ-follower, you will have your life of peace, prosperity, and fulfillment, but it’s probably not going to be here on Earth. So saddle up, grit your teeth, and dig in, being willing to endure difficulties and discomfort, because the part you’re waiting for won’t be until you’re finished here. It’s going to be worth it, though, so hang tough and let your Handler be the one to tell you what your role is and when it’s time to come in from the cold.

Next week’s post will have more on what it is that God wants you, specifically, to do in this life. Spoiler alert: I don’t know what your specific calling is, but I’ll talk about how to help you figure it out. If this is something that’s been on your mind, please spend the next week in prayer to help prepare you for it.

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Big Change is Afoot in Our Nation

I’m not sure of the best way to articulate this, but there’s something big happening in the way our government functions. I don’t mean to sound overly dramatic, and hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m not convinced it’s a good thing, and I don’t yet know what it will mean for those that openly follow Christ in our country.

A little in the way of background: for a long time in our nation, the person occupying the title of President of the United States has come from the political class. That is, they’ve served as a governor or senator before moving into the White House. The Washington insiders have their connections to one another, and have a “I’ll scratch your back if you make it worth my while” mentality. Neither side really places their constituents above the needs of the party, but when the party’s needs align with something their constituents are after, television cameras and reporters are invited to come in and cover it. Elected officials and career hobnobbers working in DC aren’t primarily there for “the good of the people,” they’re there for the perks.

Then in walks a president who’s not from the political class. He’s accustomed to the way things operate in the private sector: if you’re not doing it better than the next person, you’re losing. It’s one thing to think about applying that mentality to the government, but it’s another thing entirely to actually start moving in that direction. Have you ever been at a job when you get a new boss? He or she wants to take a tour…get the lay of the land…see what they’re working with. Well, the outgoing president more or less took that tour, and said “what’s behind this door?” The tour guide said something like “no, no, no, you don’t want to see what’s back there, Mr. President. Besides, we have a luncheon to get to.” But the President walked over and opened the door anyway. When he saw 300 copy machines in a room, and only seven pieces of paper, he said “what in the world is this?” It turns out that the brother-in-law of the college roommate of someone’s representative’s lobbyist owns a copy machine business, and somebody owed them a favor. The next day the news coverage wasn’t on the tremendous government waste, but on the fact that the president went against the wishes of a long-time, highly decorated tour guide who is from a different racial background than he is.

This story is made up, of course, but sort of shows where we’ve been for the past few years. This guy upends the apple cart. He says things that make sense to the average Jane/Joe, but it threatens the good thing that people in DC have going. That brings us to the past few days.

It’s becoming more and more evident that we don’t really have two political parties in DC; we mainly have one class of politicians that enjoy the power and perks that come with DC life. When this guy began threatening their gravy train, they sat up and took notice.

Now he’s the only president to be impeached twice. The first time was for a phone call where he was supposedly abusing his power by trying to take out a political opponent. The second time was for inciting a riot. Call me suspicious on this one, but the event where the president spoke was filmed; why aren’t his “beyond the shadow of a doubt” riot-inducing remarks being played non-stop on major news programs? Isn’t impeachment the top news story of the day? Also, why is it that rioters in Seattle can set fire to police stations (with cops inside), and rioters in Portland, Oregon can destroy, raze, and loot for months straight, but when the other side storms the Capitol for a few hours (which they should not have done, by the way), this is portrayed as the deadliest threat our nation has ever known?

All that is prologue. Here’s where the trouble comes.

Our nation’s leaders are not known for their calm, deliberate, and rational thinking. They whip up support for the things on their agenda, and the loudest voices (not the majority of constituents) more often than not get their way. Right now, what are the loudest voices calling for?

They want the president’s head on a platter, and they want anyone that supported him dismissed as a lunatic, danger to society, and stripped of their voice. There are many ways they’ll try to do this, and they’ll probably be successful at some of them (anyone here have a Parler account?). One of the first things they’re doing is a lightning-fast impeachment of the president. Keep in mind that Congress took eight months or so to agree on sending out $600 checks during the worst pandemic anyone can remember. Now they decided that, with less than two weeks left in his term, the president needed to be impeached again and removed from office. Why not just let him finish out his term, which now has less than a week to go? It seems to me that they’re doing it so he cannot run again for the office in the future. It would be one thing if it was his own party pushing nearly unanimously for impeachment, but it’s something else when the opposite party leads the charge. Using your power to take out your political enemy is, after all, what the president was impeached for (the first time around).

Here’s my concern. During times where emotions are running high, people follow leaders that have zeal. Well, someone is probably going to come up with the zealous idea that “since the president is a horrible person and a danger to society, the people that like him must therefore be horrible and a danger to our society, too. Many of the people that are his supporters also support religious values. Ergo, people that support religious values are dangerous.”

Of course it sounds far-fetched, especially since the freedom of religion is such a highly valued part of our country’s history. You can’t just stomp out churches! So what will happen is that churches will have to say the right things or avoid saying the wrong things in order to be granted certain privileges (like being tax-exempt organizations). If a sermon contains things that the state disapproves of, that becomes a problem for that particular church.

Change is coming. I ask today that you pray for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Congress, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the individual state governments. Pray that God would be near them all, and that He’d help the new administration govern in a way that honors Him, that they legislate in good faith, and that this nation is calmed while respecting the constitutional rights of all citizens.