Tag: bible verse

Posted on

Your Tax Dollars (Not) at Work

Hiding on Grandma’s couch is one of the only things this camo pattern’s good for

Right after Basic Training I got shuttled off to another section of Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, TX. It was here I began the long road to become an instructor for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, & Escape, or SERE.

Of course, right after Basic, you’re not much good for anything aside from doing what you’re told. It’s nothing personal…you just don’t know anything yet. You have to hang around for awhile and learn how things are done (sadly, the thing that makes the most sense isn’t commonly done). Our first week or so after arriving at SERE was spent doing what we call “in-processing,” which in our case consisted of some paperwork and sitting around listening to lots of briefings. We didn’t interact with the SERE instructors during that week other than to say “hi, we’re here;” we did our in-processing en masse with administrative troops that did it full time.

One day, probably the week after we finished all our in-processing, I think our instructors had some stuff they had to take care of at the school building, so they sent us back to our dorms to do our details…where we cleaned up and were supposed to make the place shine. One thing that’s important to understand…this was in early 2004; we were in the midst of two wars and the military infrastructure to support them was crying uncle in some places. Rumor had it that the dorms we were staying in had been condemned, but had been pressed back into service for the war effort. We could do our details for weeks, but it was only going to make the place look so nice, you know? Sending students to do details in the dorms was just a way of keeping them out of our instructors’ closely cropped hair for awhile.

Now I was still pretty new to this, but apparently we didn’t get sent back to the dorms to do details very often, and when we did, it was seen as a great opportunity to goof off. The training was pretty intense, so having some free time was a nice thing to have, because we were all wound up pretty tight.

I guess I happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the more senior students pointed at me and said “You, you’re on Sergeant watch.” He sat me by a window where I could see the main entrance to our building. If I saw anybody that wasn’t a student approaching the entrance, especially any of the SERE instructors, I was supposed to raise the alarm.

I have no idea what everyone else was doing, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what we were supposed to be doing. If one of our instructors had snuck in the back door and caught us, we would have paid pretty dearly for it. I was still young enough in my Air Force career not to know it, but punishment through physical exercise was something you come to embrace in SERE Indoctrination. Uniform look like garbage? Get down and start doing flutter kicks. Is your hair too long? That’s a set of pushups for each hair that’s touching one of your ears. Suffer an egregious lapse in judgment during the weekend? Heaven help you.

After staring hard out the window for awhile, one of our SERE instructors rounded the corner of the building, heading toward our door. I was still so new that I didn’t even know the guy’s name. “It’s Sergeant…one of the sergeants is walking up the path!”

One of the more senior students rushed to the window to get a better look, and sure enough, he saw Joe walking toward the front door. With a muttered curse, he ran out of the room and down the hallway, letting everyone know they needed to look busy…now. About 10 seconds later, guys were mopping the halls, vacuuming the Day Room, washing windows, dusting stuff that didn’t have a speck of dust on it, and scrubbing stuff you never even thought about scrubbing.

Joe wasn’t a sadistic dude, but if he had caught us goofing off, he would have dropped the hammer on us! It would have been one of those “everybody do pushups until I get tired” moments. Then after hearing us struggle for awhile he would have said “are you getting tired?” When we said yes, he would have said “okay, roll over on your backs and start doing flutter kicks.”

I wouldn’t say we performed our duty in an honorable way that day, but it provides a different bit of context to a famous Bible verse about being watchful. First Peter 5:8 says Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

I don’t think Joe came there to try to catch us doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. He was probably just coming to the dorms to say “okay, we’re ready for you to come back now,” but if he had seen what we were actually doing, you can bet he would have devoured every last one of us. Whether he was intentionally trying to catch us or if he caught us as targets of opportunity, the result would have been the same: we’d be toast.

The devil is the same way. Constantly on the prowl, he’s looking for believers to devour. I don’t think he bothers too much with nonbelievers…he already owns them, so why would he waste effort on them? He’s looking for enemies to pick off. Sometimes he’s targeting a firmly planted Christian through an ongoing campaign against them, and other times he comes across a Christian that’s teetering on the edge of something they’re not supposed to be doing. If he sees that, he’ll put his campaign on pause and pounce on the target of opportunity. Enticing that believer to sin enables a whole host of tools that can be used against them to cripple their effectiveness as the hands and feet of God (guilt, shame, desensitizing of sin, fear, doubt, follow-on consequences, etc.).

Therefore, as Peter says, be on your guard and on high alert, because your enemy’s looking for an opening where he can nail you. Don’t give him the opportunity.

Posted on

Of Course THAT’S When She Walked Through the Door!

Years ago I found myself bringing my toddler son out in our backyard to give him a change of scenery. He was a curious little guy, and sometimes even just bringing him to a different room or out in the backyard kept him busy for a little while.

Our yard at the time was very small, but it had plenty of stuff for my little guy to explore. It was fenced in, had an HVAC condenser unit, a shed, and a little sandbox. There was always something to clean up back there, so I busied myself doing that while my son set about exploring his environment.

I think I noticed a strange look on his face right around the same time my wife came outside to join us. Having “Mom Radar,” she spotted his expression right away and hurried over to him and opened up his mouth. To her disgust, my son had picked up a little Roly-Poly (a pillbug) and put it in his mouth. She fished it out while half laughing and half scolding her husband. If only she were married to someone responsible, he could be trusted to care for the well being of this little boy out in the backyard!

Man, I blew it. Daddy fail. There are other fails, but this is probably one of the more mild ones. I still have the teenage years ahead of me, so I’m probably going to blow it on multiple occasions when the stakes are higher.

This Sunday is Father’s Day. Everyone out there has a father. Maybe you have a fabulous relationship with your dad. You may have had a terrible father. You may not have ever met your dad. Whatever the case may be, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that if he hasn’t already, your dad is probably going to let you down at least once (I’m certainly no exception). Even if he loves you, he’s human, and humans make lots of mistakes. (It’s not a dig at you, Dad!)

I can also guarantee you, though, that not only does your Heavenly Father love you, but He does NOT make mistakes. He loves you enough to rebuke you, to discipline you, and to steer you in the direction He wants you to go in, even if it’s not the direction you’re trying to go. Whereas I try to let my kids be kids and encourage them in some of their interests without knowing what they’ll someday become, the Lord controls different aspects of your life to get you to arrive exactly where He wants you to be, right when He wants you to be there, with the right experience already under your belt.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. –Proverbs 19:21

“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. -2 Corinthians 6:18

Happy Father’s Day to the dads out there!

Posted on

God Hasn’t Changed One Bit

About a year ago we had a brief reunion to celebrate some milestone birthdays in our family. It was a special time where we got together with loved ones, some of which I hadn’t seen in about 15 years. I also returned to my uncle’s house for the first time in 25 years. It was a wonderful time of celebration and it was so good to catch up with everyone.

In the course of traveling to the get-together, we spent a couple nights at my parents’ house. This is the house where I grew up, and now I’m bringing my kids there for visits.

Although my whole family’s been to my parents’ house plenty of times, on this particular occasion I took the opportunity to take a walk by myself around the neighborhood and see what things looked like.

There were parts of the neighborhood I haven’t seen for probably 15 years or more, but it had been 30 or so since I really knew it well. So many memories came back as I walked around (some of which I’ve written about before). I used to cut through that backyard all the time on my bike until the owner yelled at me for leaving bike tracks in his lawn. I got stuck in the mud when that house was new. I wonder whatever happened to the people that used to live here? I helped build that house right there. Oh wow, those people were awesome, I wonder how they’re doing?! Don’t go trick-or-treating there, that lady hands out little boxes of raisins. Here’s the hill that a friend and I went flying down on a piece of plywood nailed to a skateboard. A bunch of us did backyard wrestling all the time right over there on that grass.

It was crazy to see how much things changed, but at the same time how much they stayed the same. Like going back to visit your elementary school as an adult, the place just kinda seemed smaller than I remembered. Trees that were small when I was young had now reached full size, while others had been removed. That house looks like it’s in shambles, but that one looks great. Between when I lived there as a kid and when I went for a walk around the place, some houses in the neighborhood had been sold and resold an unknown number of times, but other houses still had the same owners. At the homes where my friends had lived (and where I had spent lots of time), I wondered what the insides of the houses looked like now. Was that crack in the drywall still there?

It was a bittersweet trip down memory lane. As a kid I recognized everyone’s car, but now if someone drove past and waved, I probably wouldn’t have a clue who it was. The weird part was that the driver could be someone that was a child the last time they passed me in a car.

Whether it’s houses, cars, or people, none of it lasts forever. Time relentlessly marches past, and the older we get, we become increasingly aware of how quickly it passes. I’m incredibly grateful that even though I’m becoming more and more aware of just how fleeting this life is, God hasn’t changed one bit in the entire time I’ve been walking this planet. Cultural shifts about what is and what isn’t acceptable continue to change, and so does conventional wisdom. Through it all though, the God watching over me today is the same one that set the planets in motion, who brought the Israelites out of slavery, and who blinded Saul on the road to Damascus. Only His covenants have changed, and they’ve only gotten better with time.

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
    but you are the same, and your years have no end. -Psalm 102:25-27

Praise be to the everlasting One, and all glory to the One who invites us to spend eternity with Him (in bodies that don’t degrade)!

Posted on

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Solid Footing

After I passed the SERE Indoctrination course in Texas, the Air Force moved my fellow course graduates and I up to Fairchild Air Force Base in eastern Washington state. Fairchild AFB is the site of the Air Force’s main survival school.

In some ways the environment was more relaxed. The screening course was about two weeks long, but the upcoming course was six months long. With such a lengthy course that starts only twice a year, if you missed the start of one class, you could be waiting around for awhile before the next class began.

While waiting we had various tasks and activities to perform. We’d work out together in the mornings five days a week, with every Monday being a PT test that the rest of the Air Force only did once or twice a year. On Monday afternoons we’d do a 7-mile timed ruck march. The other afternoons during the week usually involved some sort of training in a section of the base where we could practice using an ax to fell trees or split wood, perform other firecraft training, or practice building shelters. Another afternoon was usually spent cleaning a particular building, repairing equipment, or prepping and resupplying stuff we’d used previously. Every now and then we’d spend a few overnights out in the forest somewhere, learning to use the skills and tricks we’d picked up.

One of the cool things we regularly got to do was grab our loaded rucks and pile into a bus and we’d get driven to state parks or national forests or some kind of wilderness that was open to public use, and we’d go on 10+ mile hikes to help prepare our bodies for the upcoming training. The only real rules given to us were that we had to carry a decent weight in our packs, we had to bring water, and we had to wear the boots we’d use in training, but aside from the boots we could wear whatever we wanted. It was a relaxed version of intense training and we’d get to apply more things we’d learned along the way.

About this time of year, April or May, we went for one of these hikes up in the mountains somewhere. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, but it was warm enough that the snowpack was melting.

Someone tell that goober that his survival vest doesn’t go with that outfit

We came to one spot where some small evergreens were sticking out of the snow. As we walked through the patch of trees, a few guys started sinking waist-deep into the snow. It was a total surprise to me. I had no clue what was going on…it almost seemed like some kind of snow shark was swimming around underneath us or something, picking us off one by one.

It turns out that during the winter, as the snow fell, the evergreens acted like umbrellas. The snow piled up around the outside of the trees, but near the trunk a snowless void remained. Weeks or months later when some unsuspecting Air Force students came walking along and got too close to the trees, the snow shifted underneath them and started to swallow them up. Though the trees looked small, their full height was hidden from view. In this picture, Carl walked right between two trees growing close together, and after sinking into the snow he had to get a hand up. The surface he had been walking on, despite its appearance, was not as solid as what he had imagined it to be.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

We live in strange times. Up is down, black is white, right is wrong, and wrong is right. The snow that humanity stands on is shifting around us, leaving us in a state of confusion with unsteady footing. As the world goes off in search of today’s version of a moral compass (and gets ready to change it tomorrow), build your life not on the shifting footing of the world’s ideology, but on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, which does not change.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”-Matthew 7:24-27

Posted on

That Was Just a Warning Shot, God Doesn’t Miss

How tolerant is God?

We all make mistakes, right? Sometimes they’re accidental and sometimes we do the wrong thing even though we know it’s wrong. So…what’s God’s level of patience with us?

Fortunately, God often gives warnings before He gives punishments. We just need to be sensitive to hearing those warnings and being humble enough to change the thing we’re being warned about.

In the Old Testament we see a lot more examples of God “letting ‘em have it” as a result of bad behavior. In one instance, the book of Numbers, chapter 11, tells of a recently liberated Israel growing restless with God’s miraculous provision. By this point it had been over a year since God first provided manna, and the Israelites were getting pretty sick of it.

I can certainly understand how eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for over a year would get old. When you’re not carrying any spices, there are only so many ways you can alter the taste of something that’s already bland to start with. The first part of Numbers 11:1 says “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused.” The notes in my study bible say that this wasn’t just a passing grumbling; their complaining was outward and loud. I can imagine God saying “Oh, I’m sorry, you’re not pleased with the fact that I spared you from the horrible plagues that beset your captors, then I set you free from bondage, and now I’m bringing you to a fruitful land you’ll call home? I’m feeding you what you need and your clothes and shoes aren’t wearing out, but I’m not moving fast enough for your liking? Did I miss anything, your highness?”

Moses wrote the book of Numbers, and sometimes it’s kind of funny to see how he was in a hurry or just didn’t feel like taking the time to elaborate as he wrote things down. Maybe writing materials were in short supply. Here’s verse 11:1 in its entirety. “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.”

It seems like God doesn’t take the same approach these days. Imagine if He unleashed His wrath every time we did something displeasing to Him? There’d be nobody left!

Let’s consider what He did, though. Yeah, He let some of His anger off the chain, but He didn’t go as far as He could have. Israelites became known for their complaining. The fact that He focused His wrath “on the outskirts of the camp” suggests that He intentionally limited the damage. God doesn’t miss. It’s not clear how the fire started; I don’t know if we’re talking about raining literal fire down from Heaven or if it was “just” divine fire that sprung up in certain portions of the camp, but the outcome was the same…God made an example out of a relatively small number in order to serve as a warning to everyone else. The text doesn’t tell us who bore the brunt of God’s wrath that day, but from what we know about Him, I’ve got to think that they weren’t totally innocent of wrongdoing.

God tends to give warnings before He metes out punishment. In our current era, having people fall over dead doesn’t seem to be quite as common as in Bible times, but He has other ways of warning us to get back on track. A conscience is crucial for doing that. You’re also more likely to heed small warnings if you have a humble spirit. I can’t be sure, but I’m thinking the folks in Numbers 11 probably weren’t all that humble. God turned to straight up death and destruction as a warning. In your case, if you’re doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing, hopefully you’ve got enough humility that reading a post like this is enough to get you to say “you know what? I need to make some changes.”

God will give only so many warnings before He gives you over to the path you’re choosing. Are you doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing? If so, let this post serve as one of those warnings to you. It’s time to face the fact that changes must be made, and that you’re the one to do it.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

Posted on

Is the Clock Being Run Out on You?

In the world of sports, if you’re winning near the end of the game, one of your biggest goals is to keep the clock running. You work within the rules of the game to avoid doing things that will stop the time from ticking away.

The goal is to make it harder and harder for the opponent to do anything significant in the diminishing amount of time that’s left. In football you want to tackle runners before they get out of bounds. In basketball you want to chew up as much of the play clock as you can before taking a shot. In hockey you want to control the puck and make the other team come to you. It’s all meant to use up as much of the clock as you can in order to give the opponent less time to mount a comeback, ultimately increasing your chances of victory.

So now let’s put a spiritual application to this.

Consider Satan’s situation for a moment. First John 5:19 says “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Since each member of the human race is born a sinner, we are all initially part of Satan’s domain and are destined to spend eternity separated from God. The only way he can lose those souls is if they accept Christ and cross over to His domain. In that sense, Satan doesn’t need to play to win, he just needs to play to not lose.

Time is the one thing that everyone has the same amount of. Whether talking about the unsaved or believers that aren’t striving to go deeper with God, I’ve got to imagine that one of Satan’s biggest strategies is to run out the clock. Let’s look at unbelievers first. From Satan’s perspective, as long as they’re preoccupied with something that has no eternal impact, they’re in a good place. “Learning about 18th Century French literature (or physics, or social activism, or anything else that consumes your passion and drive)? That’s great…you get after it with everything you’ve got!” As long as that person’s busy with something that takes a lot of their brain power, there’s not a whole lot left over to take a look up at the stars in the night sky and wonder about their creator.

It’s the same thing for those that have accepted Christ but are preoccupied with the here and now. If you have a talent that Christ has called you to use, but instead you’re spending your time streaming the latest season of whatever show you happen to be enjoying, in all actuality, that’s keeping you on the bench. I’m learning that life moves pretty quickly, and it seems like it moves a little faster with each passing year. I have no idea how much sand I still have left in the hourglass, and you don’t know how much you’ve got left in yours, either. The things we thought we’d have plenty of time to do don’t actually get done unless we live with intentionality. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy shutting off my mind through a variety of ways, but there’s a difference between a little bit of relaxing and a seriously large amount of cumulative hours.

So I have to ask…what’s your biggest time-suck? Facebook/Instagram? Netflix? Some sort of mindless games? YouTube? Wordle, anyone?

Some of the cheerier armchair philosophers will say that this life is really nothing more than sitting around and waiting to die. For those that aren’t following God’s lead and using their spiritual gifts…maybe those philosophers are right.

I urge you…live your life with eternity in mind. We only get one go-round to make a lasting difference, and we’re supposed to be taking this opportunity to glorify God and be part of building His kingdom. Don’t let the adversary run out the clock on you when there’s still so much left to do.

Lord, there are so many distractions out there today. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by sensory overload. Help me know the difference between healthy forms of unwinding and plain old wasting time. When giving to You, finances are usually the first thing to come to mind, but show me where and how You want me to honor You with my time, as well. Amen

Posted on

The Time Will Soon be Past

Every year in early November, our church does a harvest/fall festival. Kids are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes and there are a lot of games and opportunities for kids that are elementary age and younger to win candy. It’s a community outreach that brings a lot of families onto the church grounds, and it’s usually a lot of fun for the kiddos.

One of the recurring attractions is a giant inflatable obstacle course. It’s set up so that two people can go head-to-head through tunnels, barriers, walls, and some other weird stuff. All three of my kids have done this, and I think I accompanied each of them on their first time through.

The girls each thought it was okay, and they still go on it most years, but my son is the one that wants to take on his old man each year. He’ll wait in line for a long time to make sure he gets a shot. When he was little, I’d hang back as we were going through the course and make sure he got past a certain set of obstacles before clearing it myself. As the years went by, I’d have to hang back a little less each time. Now I’m not hanging back at all. Once we start, it’s an all-out dash to the end. I’m vaulting over stuff, bouncing off the walls, and leaping up as high as I can on walls to keep up with him.

The final challenge on the course is always climbing up a steep hill and then sliding down the other side. The last time we raced on the obstacle course, we arrived at the last challenge at the same time and started scrambling up the wall. We got to the top at the same time, but when he hesitated to swing his feet around in front of him for the slide down, I plunged right on through, going down the slide head first. I hit the finish line having given my best.

I’m pretty sure this was my last year taking the crown. As he gets bigger and faster, I’m getting slower and less flexible. If I win next time (a big “if”), it will likely be because I’m able to have a cleaner run than he does. It’s a fun tradition, but I know my time as obstacle course champion will soon be over.

The Bible compares the Christian life to running a race. First Corinthians 9:24-25 says Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

For all of us, the race we’re running will one day end. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re no longer in the race simply because you’re no longer able to physically do the things you used to be able to. If you’re still breathing, God’s not done with you and there’s more work for you to do. I encourage, and even plead with you, finish your race strong! When you get to the top of that final obstacle, don’t stop to admire the view or get your legs in front of you; dive headlong with abandon over the peak of the challenge God commissioned you to face.

Posted on

The Hierarchy of Christian Focus

Today’s post marks sort of an interesting milestone. Since I started the site, I’ve had three posts written by guest authors. Since this is the blog’s 203rd post, that makes this the 200th entry I’ve written. Woohoo!

Okay, something a little different today. I’ve been trying to develop this one for awhile, but I don’t know that it’s baked all the way through just yet. I can’t be the first person to think of this concept; there’s probably something similar in a seminary textbook or some theological dissertation somewhere, but this is the version I came up with and am sharing with you.

You’ve probably heard of Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs.” In short, you need to have your basic needs met before you can tackle more advanced challenges. If you’re not sure where your next meal is coming from or where you’re going to sleep tonight, you’re probably not throwing yourself into difficult engineering scenarios or sculpting great pieces of art. Another way of looking at it is to see that the people doing big things in life probably aren’t worried about the things that are near the bottom of the hierarchy.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

This is a famous principle that’s been around for quite some time now. I’m not sure what got me thinking about it, but I started thinking…there’s got to be a version of this that applies to Christ followers.

Now, before I get into this, I want to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit does as He sees fit, and is perfectly able to do anything He’d like through anyone that’s anywhere on this scale, so I don’t want to make it seem like someone is a failure if they don’t get past the first level. The thief hanging on the cross next to Christ didn’t get real far on this hierarchy, yet his example has been referenced countless times since then to God’s glory and for the benefit of other believers. For some, though, my hope is that this helps spur them on in their Christian walk, possibly encouraging someone seeing this post to move up a level or more. 

Each new level in this hierarchy is something amazing and miraculous to the person that’s just arrived there. Getting to a particular level is not a sign of a certain level of intelligence or some  other measure of worldly success; it’s more often an indication of a person’s level of maturity in Christ. There may not be clear delineations between levels, and there may be some rising and falling that occurs along the way. Some believers may reverse some of the levels in this pyramid or even skip a level every now and then, and some levels may even intertwine. This is just a general version of life after acceptance of Christ.

Let’s get started.

Often, when a person commits their life to Christ, crossing over from Satan’s kingdom to that of eternal life in Christ, it’s marked with a sense of awe, of wonder, at God’s mercy and grace. “He did that for me!” It’s incredibly humbling to realize the extent of Christ’s sacrifice, and those that are young in the faith are often overwhelmed by the fact that God left the comfort of Heaven to be a part of Humanity, fully knowing what would happen and how many would reject Him. The first level of the “Hierarchy of Christian Focus” is “Marveling at Christ’s Mercy and Grace.”

Hierarchy of Christian Focus, Level 1

What comes next? Those new to the faith, whether they fall on shallow soil or good soil, want to know more about God, praise Him for His goodness, and draw nearer to Him. It’s so important to get new Christians plugged into a community of fellow believers where they can grow in the faith. Too often they fizzle out because they don’t find anywhere to get plugged in and receive mentoring or guidance from those that are more mature in the faith. The second level of the hierarchy is an Excitement to connect with God.

Hierarchy of Christian Focus, Level 2

Those two are very close together and are often interwoven. After that it gets a little tricky. Do you think the Devil is going to stand idly by while someone that defected from his rule assists his enemy? (Spoiler alert: no.) He’s going to try lots of different things to get your faith to die on the vine. If he can’t stop you from defecting, he’ll do what he can to limit the amount of damage you can do to him and his domain. I wrote a series on some of the tactics he uses awhile back. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) Though it can happen anywhere in the pyramid, in the third level, Christians have their first major encounters with doubt and pushback. They start learning to overcome those obstacles, and it’s something they’ll likely encounter for the rest of their lives. When we start getting down on ourselves, it’s easier to worry that maybe we’re on our own. I’m fond of the line from one of Lauren Daigle’s songs: “Remind me once again just whose I am because I need to know.”

Hierarchy of Christian Focus, Level 3

Precursors and hints at the fourth level of a Christian’s focus may have been happening even before they accepted Christ, but in the fourth level, Christians stop fighting the calling that God’s been whispering (or even shouting) in their ear. This is where believers move beyond a faith that had, up until now, been able to “fly under the radar.” Some people have an easier time following their calling than others, but it generally involves being willing to say “yes” to a feeling that prompts them to enter waters they perceive are a little too deep. There’s a stark realization that “I can’t do this on my own, but I also can’t not do it.” Think Gideon, David, Peter, and Paul. “What I’m doing right now makes no sense, but I know it’s what I’m supposed to do.” It’s the thing you were placed on Earth to do; it’s your purpose in life. You can ignore it if you’d like, but you’re intentionally avoiding the fulfillment of your potential if you do.

Hierarchy of Christian Focus, Level 4

I’ve heard it said that God is working on you until you take your last breath. That means He’s always stretching and growing you. In the fourth level you step out in faith to pursue the path you believe Christ has for your life, but in the fifth level you look back at the amazing things He’s accomplished through you, only to find another seemingly impossible challenge that will grow you in a different way (or maybe place a new, insurmountable spin on something you were already working on). Successfully start a business that you didn’t see coming? Congratulations, now it’s time for you to adopt a child refugee or sell the business and go to seminary. At this level, it’s important to keep leaning on God even though you start growing comfortable with the idea of doing things that “can’t be done.”

Hierarchy of Christian Focus, Level 5

By the time you reach the sixth level, you’ve seen and done a lot of things in your Christian walk. You’ve learned a lot, both about how to do things and how not to do things. In the sixth level, you realize that the most important legacy you can leave is to help pave the way for those believers that will come behind you. You want to train and/or empower them to do things that will advance the Gospel and the Kingdom of Christ. I recently heard a speaker say that as he’s laying on his deathbed sometime in the future, it’s his desire to see the backs of fellow believers advancing past him to go further and do things that he never could. Ladies and gentlemen, the things we do with our lives are important, but there are few things more important than helping other believers reach their potential. This is true for Christian parents, Christian mentors in all areas of life, and Christian peers. Iron sharpens iron.

Hierarchy of Christian Focus, Level 6

All along the way, there are upward and downward pressures that help or hinder movement up the pyramid. Time spent reading the Bible, praying, and relying on Christ all help grow the trust you have in Him and help you move up the levels, but at the same time the Devil is trying all manner of tactics to bring you back down. If he can’t stop you from switching teams, he’ll do everything he can to render you ineffective at the upper levels and keep your faith to yourself.

Hierarchy of Christian Focus

There may be more levels, but I simply may not know what they are.

Like I said earlier, God can use anyone at any level to bring glory to Himself and for the benefit of other believers, but I believe we should all strive to get to a higher level.

And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

Posted on

Our Peace in the Chaos

Merry Christmas to you all! Today’s post comes courtesy of a guest author, my wonderful wife! I wish you all a wonderful time of celebration commemorating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ​Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

God accomplishes what we cannot. Peace. How our world needs this. We see chaos, disorder, fear, disagreements, and anger. This is what the plans of man get us. On our own and in our own flesh we are selfish creatures seeking our own way. Only Christ in us can help us set aside our agendas and ask “what would Jesus have me do…in my world, in my day, in this situation, in this very moment, what should my response be?”

As believers and followers of Christ we are called to be His hands and feet to the world around us. But if we don’t fall on our knees, see our need for our Savior, and ask Him to open our eyes to the WHY that He came, until we understand our hopelessness apart from Him, we will skim over the need and just keep bustling around this season. We try to do it in our strength and get wrapped up in to-do lists, cookies, presents, trees, decorations, plans, and schedules. Then, instead of feeling peace and joy as we serve those we love, we feel stress in the midst of our striving and controlling what we think Christmas needs to look like and be like. We lose sight of why we even celebrate it.

But see, that’s what it is, isn’t it?​ Our striving is this need for control, for as the world around us spins by, we long for order in our chaos. We need to see that in our need for peace, we tend to grasp at control, and instead of releasing and looking to God we put it on ourselves to find the peace and we try to control the outcome. We try to make it all okay. We try to give our kids and loved ones security and peace as much as we can through our striving, and the things we do and plan. Now the wish for that in and of itself is not wrong; it is normal. We all long for security and peace. We know deep down we were created for more than this and Heaven beckons to show us the need for our Savior. We see this world as fallen, broken, and not as it should be; we long for peace, but the more we seek to control things ourselves and grasp at peace in our own strength, the further we get from the one who actually does control it all, and who offers us true peace in Him.

Christ alone is our security, our hope, and our peace in the midst of all our chaos. He who came as a baby into our world knows just how much we long for peace and how much we need Him. So let’s take a minute to be still, to reset, and to seek Him alone for that peace.

Acknowledging our need for Him is the first step to that peace. We need to see our sin, brokenness, and hopelessness apart from Him and turn to Him for salvation. He came to save and to bring us back into relationship with the Father. We now have access to the throne room of God through prayer because of Christ! He is where the peace is.

So this Christmas season, may we look to Christ for our peace. May we remember He loved us so much that He gave up Heaven to come for us. He came and poured into the world His love and forgiveness and only in Him can we now go and pour out into those around us. Our desire to give peace and order isn’t wrong, but it becomes wrong when we take it on ourselves to bring it apart from Christ. For He is the true reason and gift of Christmas and through Him alone can we have that peace that passes all understanding, (Phil 4:7) and spread that joy, peace, and hope to others.

Merry Christmas all, from our family to yours. May you feel His peace over you no matter what your circumstances may be.

Posted on

“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.