There was a lake not
too far away from the college I attended. Some of the college’s classes either
took place on the lake or took field trips here. I did some canoeing on the
lake for one of the Outdoor Leadership Training courses. The college offered waterskiing
during the first half of the fall semester, too.
I don’t remember what
course it was; it must have been some kind of Biology or Ecology class that
brought us to the Lake one September day. Our class was going to use the same
speedboat that the college used for waterskiing to go out into the lake and take
water samples at various depths.
There were too many
students in the class to bring out in the boat all at once, so we split into
two or three groups that took turns heading out to the middle of the lake. The
driver, a student named Laura, spent a few minutes driving out to deeper water,
a few minutes taking samples, a few minutes joyriding, and a few minutes
heading back to the dock to switch out students.
I was in the last group
of students to head out on the lake. In order to make room for more students,
the professor stayed behind on the dock while the rest of us rode off to the
middle of the lake. As we sped along, I looked around the boat. It was very
similar to the one I had driven for a few summers and had enjoyed going
kneeboarding behind. As providence would have it, on the floor of the boat sat
a lifejacket, a kneeboard, and a ski rope.
We started collecting
our samples or doing whatever experiments we were supposed to do. I wanted to
say something about wanting to give kneeboarding a try, but thought it would be
too crazy. As we wrapped up our tasks on the lake, I couldn’t help myself any
longer. I forget how I did it, but I asked Laura if she’d be open to letting me
jump in the lake to go kneeboarding. To my great surprise, she said
“sure.”
I didn’t ask any other
questions. I lost the shirt/shoes/socks, emptied my pockets, donned the life
jacket, grabbed the board and rope, and jumped into the water. It was cold, but
I didn’t care. We got lined up, Laura hit it, and we were off to the races. The
water was a lot choppier from the wind than I was used to, but I was kneeboardingin a science class.
We were far enough away
from the dock, or maybe around a bend in the lake so that the professor and my
classmates on land couldn’t see us. We didn’t want to goof off too long and get
in trouble, so after a bit of tooling around, Laura stopped the boat and I
climbed back in. We stowed everything and headed back to shore. Come to think
of it, I don’t think anyone on shore even knew what we’d done.
There will be key moments in your life where you only
have a single opportunity to seize the chance to do something you want to do. There’ll
be times when it simply will not happen unless you step out and make it happen.
If you hem and haw, you’ll be stuck watching as the opportunity passes you by.
You might have to
abandon the norms you’re accustomed to. I didn’t even have swim trunks, but
when Laura said she was open to my request, I was in the water with no
questions asked, wearing whatever clothes I already had on.
Many times in this blog
I’ve written that God will place opportunities in your path to do something
great. I’ll use this post to clarify: He will place the opportunity for you to
do something great just off your path.
God loves the timid, but He also has a special place in His heart for the bold.
If there’s something big, bold, and brash that you feel called to do on Christ’s behalf…don’t sit on it. God might bring an opportunity near your orbit, but you’re going to have to pursue that chance…you’ll need to run after it and chase it down. If you feel called to make it happen, live with abandon. You might even have to jump into the cold water with your regular clothes on.
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As a kid I always hated
this time of year. There’s a mental shift once the calendar gets close to
rolling over from August to September. Even if the temperature is in the 80s or
90s, the pool’s still closed after Labor Day. All the fun and relaxed schedules
of summer come to an end, and it’s time to once again get into the routine of a
new academic year.
As an adult I look
forward to this time of year. The heat and humidity of summer (ever so
slightly) start to fade, it becomes safer to venture outside without breaking
into a sweat, and football season starts up again.
It’s a time of new routines.
Once you’re set in a
routine, it becomes difficult to make changes to it. My guess is that if you
regularly attend a church, there are either end-of-summer events going on right
now or a series of kickoff events for various ministry programs coming up in
the next month.
My challenge to you: be
intentional about designing your Fall schedule. If you’re like most people, you
probably don’t have a whole lot of extra time. If you’re interested in a Bible
Study, some kind of home group, or discipleship class that’s starting up soon,
you’re not likely to join it once it’s already been meeting for a month or two.
If you want to make it happen, do what you’ve got to do so you’re at the
kickoff event or the first meeting.
Hello Fall
I know it doesn’t seem
like it now, but in about six weeks you’re probably not going to be willing to
commit to an ongoing gathering because Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
After that December starts and, well, we all know how busy that month can be,
so you won’t be able to jump in to anything new until a few weeks into the new
year.
Whoa! In two sentences,
four months flew by! I meant for this to be a little ridiculous, but I suspect
it also rings true for a lot of people. The sole point of this post is that you
can’t just let life “happen” to you; you have to take control of your calendar
and wrangle it so that you set yourself up to spend time doing the things you
want to be doing.
The end of summer is a
great time to look ahead. By all means celebrate the fun memories you’ve made
over the past few months, but if you spend too much time looking backward, your
schedule will be dictated for you.
This post will likely be censored or unavailable for readers in east Asia.
At the end of World War
II, many nations across the globe were exhausted, in physical and financial shambles,
and/or struggling to define their identity. One of those nations was China.
The quick version is
that in the late 1940s the two most powerful groups in China that had worked
with the United States to combat Japanese forces struggled against each other
for control of the nation. The Nationalist group, losing strength and support,
began to flee toward the ocean in order to escape the Communist group. Upon
reaching the Pacific, with the adversary not far behind, the Nationalist
leadership escaped to an island off the coast of China, an island now known as
Taiwan. The Communists went on to establish firm control over mainland China,
and vowed to someday reclaim Taiwan, which they view as a rogue Chinese
territory.
That was 70 years ago. China still intends to reclaim and annex Taiwan, by force if necessary. The Chinese Government knows, however, that if it suddenly grabs Taiwan all at once, the international outcry would be detrimental to its long-term goals, so it came up with a different plan. It’s been slowly exerting pressure on those within its sphere of influence to either support the idea that Taiwan belongs to China, or at least avoid supporting Taiwan in any way. The Chinese populace is not nearly as distracted and forgetful as we are in America, and the idea is that over time there will be so little international resistance that eventually China will reach out and pluck Taiwan for itself and the outcry will be manageable. Unfortunately for Taiwan, there’s evidence that the plan is working.
Don’t believe me? Let
me show you an example.
Not long ago Tom Cruise
introduced a trailer for his upcoming movie, Top Gun: Maverick. This is a
sequel to the original Top Gun movie that came out 34 years before the sequel.
I’ll admit, I’ve watched the trailer a few times and I’m definitely excited to see
the movie some day.
It wasn’t long after
the trailer went public that an eagle-eyed fan noticed something very peculiar.
There’s a brief shot in the trailer where Maverick (Tom Cruise’s character)
puts on an old bomber jacket that he wore in the first movie. The jacket is
full of unit patches that signify some of the assignments Maverick completed.
The fan did a side-by-side comparison of the jacket from the 1986 film and the
jacket from the sequel. He noticed that where the 1986 jacket had a large patch
containing flags from Japan and Taiwan, the 2020 movie replaced those two
portions of that patch with similarly colored ambiguous shapes.
This was not an
accident; it was quite intentional. China doesn’t get along with Japan or
Taiwan. Rather than simply write in a minor plot change that uses a different,
newer jacket, (or even avoid camera angles showing that particular patch) the
people that made this movie decided it would be best to rewrite history in
order to appease China. It would be different if China made the change itself
before allowing it to play in Chinese theaters, but here the actual patch from
the world’s first major summer blockbuster was deemed unpalatable and updated
before it was even released in America. Now the movie posters act like it never even happened,
history is erased, and the people that never saw the original won’t even know
anything happened.
Imagine…this level of
sinister manipulation by “soft power” methods is engineered by earthly minds.
If mere humans can orchestrate this type of behavior, imagine the level of
sneakiness and underhandedness that the most powerful of all angels is capable
of.
Now, before you get any
crazy ideas, no, I’m not saying that China is run by the devil. I think this
instance is an excellent illustration of one of his tactics, though. He knows
he’s headed for an epic clash that he’ll eventually lose. In the meantime
though, he hates God and us so much that his main motivation is to rob God from
receiving glory. He does it through discouraging/distracting Christians from
doing the work God calls them to do and by doing everything in his power to
prevent humans from becoming Christians. That’s it. At the end of the day,
that’s all it is.
Satan knows that a
sudden power grab is too overt and people would too easily recognize it for
what it is. With that in mind, he works a little slower, in smaller steps but
always pushing toward making the world a place where anything goes and
Christianity is labeled as too intolerant and restrictive. Think about how much
Christian influence the United States has lost over the last hundred years, or
even the last 20 years.
When you shape the
narrative, it’s much easier to control the outcome. As a Christian you can’t just
hide your head in the sand and hope things will get better; you need to engage
the culture. If someone tells you that “there are no absolutes,” you can politely
remind them that their statement is self-contradicting. If someone tells you
that “everything in life is meaningless!” you can ask whether or not they
believe their assertion has meaning.
Engage the culture.
It’s your culture, after all. Push back against ideas that run counter to what
you know God would want. It’s not easy and you might be alone, but if you don’t
do it, it won’t be long before Christians end up in a situation with the
adversary posturing to reach out and pluck this isolated refugee enclave so it
can do what it feels is best with this group of troublesome upstarts.
Boy, I’m a fan of those Marvel
superhero movies. I’m not nearly as big a fan as some of the people out there,
but it’s been fun to keep up with each new movie and see how the stories
unfold. My wife and I went to see the first one…Iron Man…when it first came out
in theaters in 2008 (she’s a cool wife). That was back before we had kids. Now,
11 years and over 20 movies later, the whole “Avengers” franchise came to a
head with its most recent installment, “Avengers: Endgame” this past spring.
It’s been very interesting to
observe, because while each individual movie was its own story, each one also
contributed to the telling of a larger story that was always looming in the
background. You’d probably be okay if you missed one or two of the minor
movies, but if you hadn’t seen any of them before and you just walked in and
watched the latest one, you’d be completely lost and you would have missed out
on so many of the details.
In the superhero movies, the good
guys always win, right? Well normally yes, but that’s not what happened last
year with “Avengers: Infinity War.” At the end of that movie, the team of
superheroes had been defeated soundly. Many of them were killed, and everyone
on the planet (and beyond) had to endure the consequences of the heroes’
failure. It was a far cry from the fun, upbeat “save the world” superhero movie
Marvel usually produced. When my wife and I went to see that one, we actually
heard kids in the back of the theater, crying.
After watching “Infinity War,” we
had to wait a whole year…until just a few weeks ago…to find out what happened
next. We knew they couldn’t just end the story like that; the good guys have
to win! We knew that by the end of “Endgame,” it would all be okay and the
heroes would be back on top, but we didn’t know what path the story would take
to get there. We could even make some solid guesses at a few of the major plot
points, but we had no idea how the movie would fill in all the details.
Photo courtesy of comicbook.com
My friends, though it’s a strange
comparison, this is exactly what it’s like being a Christian and serving the
God that created the universe. The Bible lets us know that things are going to
get very dark and bleak in the years ahead. Even right now, I’d say that during
this time period in history, fewer Americans than ever before value God or
attending church. Christianity is viewed as an intolerant and archaic belief
system that’s essentially just a bunch of rules about what you can and can’t
do. The influence of church in today’s society has weakened to the point where
even people within the Christian community pick and choose what they believe
from the Bible, or twist what it says in order to justify tolerating things God
hates. I just recently heard about the president of a seminary here in the
United States who does not believe in the virgin birth or that Jesus rose from
the dead. How far have we decayed that a person with this type of belief system
could be president of an institution that educates future pastors?
There’s good news though. The good
guys will win. What’s really interesting is that the church is still
God’s plan for the world. Christ redeemed the world, but it’s the church’s job
to get the word out. In order to let people know about it, God’s “Plan A” is to
use the church, and there is no “Plan B.”
Do you know what that means? This is
the exciting part…it means that even if the church as we know it completely
dies out and loses all influence over today’s culture, it will morph into
something new and more effective that reaches people with the news of how
unsaved souls can gain salvation through Christ. The book of Revelation
foretells of a revival toward the end. This means that the evolving
church…whatever it looks like at that point…won’t just do an okay job, it’ll
rock at it with God’s help.
Well that brings up an interesting
point. If the collective church is going to undergo so many changes, how will
we know what we’re supposed to do? If you’re really serious about studying the
fall of the church’s influence and the tough times ahead, it’s easy to stress
out. I find that the easiest way to not stress out about it is to simply follow
God’s prompting when you feel it. (You’ll know it when you feel it.) In Matthew
chapter 10, Jesus instructs the disciples about how to conduct themselves as
they go out and spread the message. Notice how he discourages worry here:
“18…and
you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony
to them and to the Gentiles. 19“But when they hand you over, do not worry
about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what
you are to say. 20“For it is not you who speak, but it is
the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
It’s as if He’s saying “I have a
plan. I’m going to have you be a part of it. All you have to do is whatever I
tell you, and it’s all going to be okay.”
At this point, some people would say
“sure, but that’s for other people…pastors, missionaries, people who get paid
for it.” Nope. It’s for everyone that follows Christ, whether it’s your
occupation or not. We’ll all be given opportunities to be part of the plan, and
all we have to do is whatever task He sets before us.
The good guy wins in the end. We can
guess at some of the major plot points, but we don’t know how the details will
get filled in. There will be epic struggles, and we’ll lose some friends far
too soon. In the end though, the wrongs will be set right, the tears will be wiped
away, and we’ll all celebrate together when it’s over. Isn’t that the team you
want to work alongside and contribute to?
I don’t remember if I was 16 or 17 but I worked as a lifeguard a few of my teenaged summers. The Christian conference center where I worked was always very busy in the summer time, so when I wasn’t doing lifeguard or pool stuff, I usually had some other type of work to do.
One morning I sat in an
office near the conference center’s front desk, doing data entry for some
upcoming summer programs. I heard someone come running in the front door, and breathlessly
told the front desk attendant, Kari, that there had been an accident down on
the river. On the other side of the Delaware River, right across from us, there
was a rope swing. Apparently a pair of guys that had been paddling down the
river stopped to play around on the rope, but the rope snapped on one of them while
they were mid-swing. According to the guy who came running in, his buddy was
conscious, but couldn’t get up. Since there were some people hanging out on the
conference center’s dock, the uninjured guy saw them and paddled over to ask
for help.
Kari called an
ambulance to get them rolling, then came back to where I was. She asked if I
could just go see if there was anything I could do to help or if there was
anything I could find out.
As I ran across the street
and arrived down at the dock, the guy in the boat was just paddling away in his
boat, heading back over to his buddy. I asked the people on the dock what was going
on, and got the same info I already had. It sounded like the guy in the boat
was super panicky, and it wasn’t clear if the injured guy had a hurt ankle or a
hurt back. There were no other boats around. A canoe would have been absolutely
fantastic at that point, and the conference center’s ski boat would have been
even better, but the waterfront equipment wasn’t going to be set out for the
day for another half hour or so.
I didn’t know how long
it would be before the ambulance arrived. I looked across the river to where
the guy was still laying in the water. That was too far to swim. Well…maybe?
It was, right? I had never
tried it, but that didn’t mean it was too far. I’d been swimming laps in
the pool; in fact I swam hundreds of yards most weeks, but I never went more
than 25 yards without touching a wall. This was probably only four or five pool
lengths. The guy over there might have a broken back, and if his buddy did
anything crazy, it could have a lasting impact. Before I knew it, I ran up to
the pool and grabbed a big red rescue tube, then ran back down to the river. I
was already wearing swim trunks; I kicked off my shoes and took off my shirt. I
put the rescue tube’s strap across my chest and waded into the water to start
swimming across the river.
No big deal, right? It
was the same thing that I did in the pool. Everything went fine at first. I
swam with purpose, I was confident I could do it, and the adrenaline gave me a
boost. I had swum hundreds of laps in the pool, so I knew to lay as
horizontally in the water as possible, even though it felt unnatural, so I
could streamline my body and reduce the effort I’d need to expend.
But that was in a nice
clear pool, with goggles. There were no lines on the floor here telling me I
was going in the right direction. I had to keep picking my head up to check
where I was, where my destination was, how fast the current was taking me, and
if there were any boats coming. Picking my head up meant my body was more
slanted in the water, so I had to work harder to go the same distance. Without
goggles, the water kept getting in my eyes and I had to squint or miss half a
stroke to wipe my eyes to see again. My feet kept kicking the rescue tube or
the strap it was attached to, so I had to modify my kick. The adrenaline burned
off, and I was in the middle of the river, getting tired and starting to doubt
myself.
I ended up switching
strokes for awhile. I didn’t move very fast, but it helped me rest enough to
resume my previous stroke. After what seemed like forever, I made it to the
other side. I was glad when my feet touched land again and I was able to walk up
out of the water to find out what was going on.
It turns out the guy
hadn’t broken his back or anything quite so severe, but his leg was probably
broken. The river bank was too steep to get him up to the top, especially since
he was a bigger guy and I didn’t have any shoes. The rope swing was on the back
edge of a field. Any emergency vehicles were probably going to have a rough
time finding the dirt road that led to us. I sent the injured guy’s buddy out
to the main road to help the ambulance find us, while I stayed with busted-leg
guy.
The emergency folks
didn’t have all the information they would have liked, so they activated the
swift-water rescue team. Now, my hat’s off to volunteer paramedics and river
rescue folks, because they never know what they’re going to deal with when they
show up to a call. I have to say, though, I was a little amused when a guy in a
life jacket, wetsuit, and a helmet tossed a throw-bag (a rope with a weighted
end) near us as I sat on the shore of a gently flowing river, wearing only swim
trunks, while the water gently lapped our feet.
They got the guy out
and loaded him into the ambulance. They patched him up, and I don’t know what
happened, but I’m sure he was fine after a few weeks on crutches. Thankfully by
the time they were driving off our waterfront equipment was getting set out,
and of all people, my dad came idling up to me in the conference center’s ski boat
to give me a ride home. I was glad I didn’t have to swim back.
What a crazy story. Where
in the world am I going with this? I have three things to elaborate on:
First, no matter who
you are, daunting tasks lay before you. Whether it’s the struggle to make it
through yet another mundane day or fighting against something that threatens to
annihilate your way of life, the choice to either stand on the sidelines and
watch or step forward to get your feet wet is up to you. The road will be hard,
but things God placed in your pathway previously have helped equip you for the
journey.
Secondly, you don’t
have to have all the answers in order to be helpful. I was afraid this guy fell
off a rope swing and broke his back and that I was going to have to deal with
some crazy complicated scenario. I wasn’t an EMT, I was just a teenaged
lifeguard that was trained in CPR and first aid. I don’t think I even had a
driver’s license yet. If the guy had been in real bad shape, the only thing I
had with me was a glorified pool float. I knew more than either of those two
other guys did, though. I may not have done anything to save the day, but by
deciding to wade into the river, I kept things from getting worse. We’ve all
been there. Maybe you see something at work or at church where you know it’s
not going to end well, despite the best intentions of the people involved. If
you see something they don’t, even if you’re not the expert, consider offering
some insight that can keep things from getting worse.
Finally, when God made
you, He broke the mold. While we’re all made in His image, you’re not like
anybody else on Earth. Think about the things that come naturally to you…the
combination of talents, interests, and traits that are unique to you. We’ll
call that unique combination your X factor. In this day and age there is an
urgent need for people to make use of the X factors God gave them. There is
nobody else in the world that possesses the exact same X factor you do. You
might be thinking something like “but you don’t understand…I don’t have a
position of authority…I don’t even talk with that many people…I’m a nobody.”
Let me tell you something: the Bible is full of “nobodys” that chose to get out
of the way and let God put their X factor to good use.
Many, if not all, of us have been given opportunities…opportunities to do whatever it is that we’re best at. It’s one of the greatest gifts a person can receive: a chance to do what you were made to do. Incredibly, many of us put it off. “I’ll do it tomorrow,” or even “next week.” What kind of arrogance is it we have when we assume “the same opportunity God is giving me right now will still be there in the morning”? The only thing you have for sure is right now. If God’s been nudging you to do something, what are you waiting for? It’s time to do it right now. Call that person right now. Stop delaying and set your idea in motion right now. Get it done right now. Wade into the water…right now.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. -Philippians 4:13
I’ve got three kids.
I’ve had my share of seeing one or more of them knowing that they ought to tell me something, even though they
don’t want to.
You can see the nervous fidgeting, their eyes looking anywhere but at you, and you know right away that the longer they take to tell you, the worse the irreversible damage might be somewhere. Did they flush something weird down the toilet and now it’s clogged and overflowing all over the floor? Did they pick up a fish from the fishbowl and accidentally drop it on the floor? Did they accidentally hurt their brother or sister, who now needs help in a hurry?
Your mind goes crazy
thinking about all the things that could
be wrong, and all you want to do is find out the truth so you can take
immediate action if you need to. As the kiddo stands there, searching for the
right way to break the news to Dad, it’s maddening to see them slow down even
further, hinting at things to gauge how Dad reacts to different approaches. On
the inside you’re screaming “just TELL me already!”, but you know that will
stall the truth even more, so you have to cover any appearance of urgency and
gently coax it out of them without looking mad.
Have you ever been in a
situation like that? All you want is the truth. It might be at the doctor’s
office after some test results come back. You see them start to hem and haw,
uncertain about the best way to deliver the news. All the uncertainty you’ve
been wrestling with has created more anxiety, and all you want to do is yell
“just TELL me already!”
Have you ever felt that
way on a grander scale? Not just for a blip during your past, but over a much
longer span of time. You’ve had your ups and downs, but it feels like there
ought to be more. Maybe you have a nice family, a nice house, you even have a
great career, but it still feels like something’s missing, or that you’re waiting
for the other shoe to drop. What’s this life all about? You don’t even care how
it’s going to make you feel; you just want someone to tell you the rest of the
story.
Well if you want it,
here it is.
You’re not good enough.
I’m not talking about not being good enough at your job, at being a nice person, or at not burning the crust in the oven. I’m talking big picture. When everyone, including you, was born, they were set on a course that does not lead to Heaven. And why? Because nobody’s perfect. Heaven only accepts perfection. Even if folks are good people that lead good, moral lives, after this life they are headed for eternal suffering and anguish. It’s not good news, but this is the sound of the other shoe dropping. If you don’t believe in the afterlife, I understand how it might sound kooky. Here’s the thing though…have you ever been on the other side of death?
There’s good news about
all this: there is a sure way to change course. There is a way out of this default
eventuality.
You’ve heard the name
Jesus Christ. You may even have said it a few times, but who is He? He’s God’s Son…the
power of God incarnate…all the power of God in human form. If He lived in
Heaven, why would God show up as a person on Earth?
It’s kind of an odd answer: to withstand your punishment and serve your sentence on your behalf. Christ was perfect and fulfilled all of God’s laws flawlessly, but was wrongfully accused and executed. He spent a full day in Hell, taking my place, taking your place, taking the sweet grandma down the street’s place, taking the death row inmate’s place. Then He conquered it: He came back to life the third day after His death. By doing this He broke the power of Hell. Out of love, Jesus Christ now extends a hand to everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, orientation, national origin, regardless of everything. None of that matters, because each of those people falls short of perfection. By accepting His invitation, you switch sides…you’re no longer destined for eternal suffering and sorrow regarding this missed opportunity. People that take His hand are clothed in His perfection; they are destined instead for a joyous future in God’s presence alongside others that have made the same decision.
Some will tell you that
many roads lead to Heaven. I’m sorry, but that’s simply not accurate. A
relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to ensure an eternity in Heaven.
He even said so in John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Now I just want to
explain something. My writing is simply not compelling enough to convince
people to make this decision. If you feel something tugging at your mind and
heart, though, that’s God working on you. I’m just the method He’s using to
reach you. Please don’t ignore the pull…Christ can whisper to you, but He won’t
force you to switch sides. You don’t have anything to lose, but you have
everything to gain.
Maybe you’ve never
prayed before, but if you’re open to this, pray this prayer along with me:
Dear Jesus…thank you so
much for loving me even when I don’t deserve you at all. Lord, come into my life,
change me, break me, make me new, make me whole…forgive me. Purify my heart.
Jesus I believe you died on the cross and rose again three days later. You are
my savior and one day I will live with You forever. But meanwhile, help me to
stand for you. To shine for you, to make a difference and let your truth be
known. Use me Lord, Holy Spirit fill me to overflowing. I love you so much! In
Jesus’ name, amen.
If you’re not quite ready for that, but you’re open to hearing more, I encourage you to listen to this man’s story. We’ve heard of instances where people die for a few moments on the operating table, only to be revived and tell stories of a brief vision of Heaven. But what if we got a brief view of Hell? It’s a remarkable story.
For those with a little less time (or for more encouragement after the first video), have a listen to this song. It conveys why Jesus would give up everything…because the Savior of the World would rather die than live without you.
Even if you’re skeptical about all this, please consider passing this on. If you’re already on board, please share it either by posting it in your social media or by forwarding this link: https://daregreatlynow.com/?p=650
Eternity hangs in the
balance. Will you see someone in Heaven because you helped them get there?
You can tell a lot
about where someone’s from by the words they use and the accent they have. Do
they call it “soda,” “pop,” “sodapop,” or “coke?” Is it a “lollipop” or a
“sucker?” “Do they wear “tennis shoes” or “sneakers?” Is the word “y’all” a
part of their vernacular?
As a kid I lived in
Pennsylvania. I’m a little biased, but I don’t think I had any kind of accent
as a kid. It’s a funny thing though; we had some people move to our
neighborhood that came from North Dakota. There were also some grandparents
nearby that had long summer visits from a family that lived in Minnesota. As I
played and spent time with the kids of these Midwestern families, a funny thing
happened…I started saying words the way they did.
Accent map courtesy of the Washington Post
That time spent
together influenced the way I spoke. This is a pretty harmless instance of what
I’m getting at, but it’s a great example of how you are influenced by your
surroundings. You become like the people and attitudes that are around you.
Take a moment to stop
and think about the people and attitudes that are a part of your environment.
This is where you are headed. You are becoming more like them. Whether that’s a
good thing or a bad thing depends on what kind of people make up your
environment.
It’s a two-way street, though. The new neighbors from North Dakota were immersed in a new region, surrounded by people that did not have the same accent as them. For that family’s kids especially, the accent faded with time. You’re not the only one being influenced; you also possess influence over those that are part of your life. Do you exude positivity and an uplifting outlook, or do you drag people down with your presence?
It might be time to
re-examine the things and people you have in your life. What kind of friends do
you have? What kind of things are you doing together? Other relationships, like
family or work, give you fewer options with regard to your ability to choose
whether or not to interact with them. In those cases, focus instead on your
ability to make a positive difference in your shared environment.
In either case, whether
you can choose your associations or not, you have a choice as far as what kind
of contribution you will make to your environment.
“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
The Bible has this way of covering epic events in
just a few verses. One such story comes from 2 Samuel 23. The text is describing
some of King David’s “Mighty Men.” This section is essentially a hall of fame;
these are the bravest or fiercest warriors to serve King David. In just two
verses, the author describes the feat of a man named Shammah:
11 And after him was Shammah the son
of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where
there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the
Philistines. 12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the
field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.
The text is light on details, but we can glean some
of the important points. In an environment of panic and fear, everyone started
running away. For all we know, Shammah initially ran away right along with
everyone else. What we know is that at some point he looked around and saw his
countrymen fleeing the enemy, and he decided he was in a position to do
something about it.
There’s so much that’s left out. Was he trying to
simply buy some time to give his comrades the opportunity to escape, or was he
committed to putting a stop to this terror, right here and right now? If he was
running away with everyone else, he probably clenched his fists as his sprint
slowed, then came to a stop. It doesn’t seem like there was anything special
about this particular place, but this was the point in Shammah’s life when he
decided to take a stand. Turning to face the Philistines, he may have thought
to himself “This is it. Enough is enough. It’s time to fight.”
Taking first one step, then another toward the enemy
army, his insolence was an affront to the Philistine warriors. First they sent
out one man, then another, to deal with this ingrate. He likely dealt with them
one at a time at first. As he struck them down, they sent pairs, then trios,
but he dispatched them all. Then they came in droves. We don’t know how it happened;
it doesn’t even say what kind of weapon(s) he had available, but considering
the feats of the other “Mighty Men,” the list is not an easy one to get your
name onto. By making this list, his feats of bravery, skill, and boldness put
him in famous company.
We’ve all got battles of our own. You might witness
some sort of injustice that you have the power to (legally) rectify. You may
have the means, connections, or resources to provide new opportunities where
they are desperately needed. Maybe right now all you have is vision and
passion. There are overwhelming odds everywhere, but the drive within you has
been building and building. When will it happen? At what point will you say “This
is it. Enough is enough. It’s time to act”?
It’s time to stop running and take a stand. The army on your heels is fearsome, but if God called you to action, don’t be discouraged. Turn and face it, take your first steps toward it, and watch God work. Station yourself in the middle of the field, defend it, and allow God the opportunity to bring about a great victory today.
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The guy in the back with the dorky pose…don’t know him
The sun came out for
our second day on the whitewater. The rain and gloom had passed, and we were
all much more relaxed now that we had survived the first day of paddling. The
mood lifted once the gray skies, drizzle, and apprehension gave way to sunshine
and confidence.
As far as the water
level, this was a perfect scenario; it was an April weekend that followed a
large amount of rainfall in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, but the warmer
temperatures and rain helped melt a lot of the snow, which also ran into the
river. The result was a river so swollen with churning whitewater that even
many of the local guides had never seen it quite this big.
Our second day was a
little different from the first. This time we linked up with one of the local
outfits that knew the river pretty well, and we stuck close to them for a
collective “safety in numbers” advantage. Laura was still our raft’s captain,
and I was still paired with her to project the voice commands a bit further,
but we rotated some of the paddlers around between boats.
In the afternoon, the
local boat was in front of us, and then the next two rafts were ours. As we
came around a sharp bend in the river, all the color drained from our faces.
Spanning two thirds of the river was a gigantic standing wave that had a nasty
rip curl at the top. It was a freak river feature that could only occur when
extreme amounts of water shot through that section of the waterway. The guides
didn’t know it was there, and none of us out-of-towners expected to see
anything like it.
The local boat saw it
too late, and all they could do was try to paddle through it head-on. It was
too much for them; the boat got flipped right away and everybody got dumped in
the chilly water. The rest of us paddled for all we were worth to get to the safer
route. We safely made it past the wave, then surveyed the damage. Since we were
the first boat on the scene, we made for the biggest group of helmets bobbing
in the water. We started grabbing people by the life jackets and pulling them
aboard. The raft behind us picked up the guide, but we got everyone else. Our
kayakers started buzzing around the area picking up dropped paddles, disposable
waterproof cameras, and even somebody’s bottle of Coke.
We were very near the capsized raft at that point. I thought back to all the raft-flipping I’d done in the pool during the dull winter months. I must’ve flipped a capsized raft at least 50 times in the pool. All that training was perfect for a moment like this; if I couldn’t use that knowledge and experience now, what was the point of doing it at all? I wanted to go after it…
I actually put my foot
up on the rim of the raft to jump into the water. I turned back to tell Laura I
was about to go after the raft, but that’s when I realized the state of
complete disaster our own raft was in. It was pandemonium. Our raft was meant for
eight people, but we only put six of us in it at the start of the day. Now our
raft was bogged down with 14 people, only half of which had a paddle. Our raft
was a self-bailer, meaning it had holes in the bottom so water that splashed in
would drain out on its own. Instead of the normal inch or two of water on the
floor, now it was midway up our calves. We were still flying down the river,
but we were largely at the mercy of the current, headed towards God-only-knows
what kind of waves, whirlpools, or strainers, and nobody knew the plan to meet
up with the other rafts.
The people we just
picked up were understandably chattering away about what just happened. They loudly
thanked us for plucking them from the water, but all their excitement started
causing a major communication breakdown for our crew and all we wanted was for
them to stop talking! Laura’s tiny voice was yelling, trying to establish some
sense of order, but it wasn’t doing much to get through to the newcomers. I was
paired with her exactly for the purpose of echoing her commands loud enough for
everyone to hear. I wanted so badly to go after the flipped raft, but it
would’ve meant leaving them in an even more chaotic situation.
I turned my back on the
capsized raft and started echoing Laura’s commands in a voice loud enough for
everyone to hear. Our guests quieted down and our crewmembers in the front of
the raft, no longer distracted by excited yammering in their ears, were able to
hear us and start pointing us in the right direction. Everyone with a paddle
dug just about as hard as they could, and we sluggishly moved out of the main
current into the calmer waters near the riverbank. In the middle of it all, our
trip leader, Tim, paddled his kayak up to the flipped raft and jumped on. I was
pretty distracted with the situation in our raft, but the last I saw of him, he
was laying on the raft with a big grin, paddling hard and looking like he was
having the time of his life. (I know you’ll read this at some point, Tim…you
beat me to it!) Anyway, it took awhile, but we eventually gathered all three
rafts to reunite the guide and crew with their boat.
It was an adventure,
for sure. In the moment, it was absolutely crazy and scary, but even now, more
than 15 years later, I bet everyone on our trip remembers that portion of it. The
trip had so many fun details that I had to journal about the experience (which
is where I looked for a refresher)!
I can’t even tell you
how much time I spent practicing how to right a capsized raft while in the pool
at college. Most of it was done just for fun, but each time I did it, it helped
contribute to the overall muscle memory and cementing the automatic steps that
would need to occur when a raft actually flipped over on the river. What better
time to use this experience could there possibly be than this opportunity?
Here’s the crux of it
all though: just because you’ve focused so much time and effort into training
or preparing for a specific type of ministry or situation that you ignore
things that are “outside your lane” when God drops them in your path. To truly
be a player on God’s team, you need to be willing to do what needs to be done,
whatever that may be. Even if you haven’t prepared for a given scenario, He’ll
make sure you’re equipped with everything you need when He presents a new
challenge to you. The only thing you might be missing is a willing heart, and
that’s something only you have the power to control.
I left for Air Force
Basic Training one December day in 2003. Young men and women from all over the
United States converged on San Antonio, Texas, to begin their Air Force
journey.
For those that aren’t
familiar with military life, the whole idea of Basic Training for any military
service is to take a collection of individuals with nothing in common and teach
them, well, the basics of life in that particular branch of service. People of
every race and economic background, political persuasion, from all 50 states,
Washington DC, and territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, and various other areas,
all need to learn how to cooperate and function as a team. The different
branches of the military vary in how they do it, but in the Air Force, all
enlisted members complete Basic Military Training (BMT) and then move on to
train for the particular job they’ll be doing. In the same group of basic
trainees, you might have someone that’s going to be an aircraft mechanic,
someone that’s going to be a door gunner on a helicopter, someone that’s going
to be a medic, someone that works in finance, and someone on the bomb squad.
Basic Military Training
is a good idea, and is necessary for military service, but it’s a terrible
experience for most. I hated it. The instructors are determined to make every
round peg fit into a square hole. If trainees/recruits refuse to conform or
play by the instructors’ rules, they don’t make it in the military. All men get
the same haircut; we all march in unison; even the name of our clothes–uniform–explains
the level of conformity to which we had to acclimate.
For the first few days,
before we got our haircuts and initial uniform issue, we looked about as
different as could be. After we got our haircuts and clothes, we all pretty
much looked the same and even had some difficulties telling each other apart.
Over time though, we learned to distinguish between fellow recruits that we
couldn’t tell apart before, and we discovered that different people had
different strengths. Some were good at leadership, others at academics. While
one group might excel at marching, they might be terrible at physical training
or shining boots. We learned that if we were to succeed as a team, those who
performed at a high level in a particular area needed to help teach those who
lagged behind.
In BMT we all worked
together to complete whatever tasks the instructors gave us. We didn’t always
see the point of a given task, but we knew that we had to do it or life would
become more miserable.
It’s a little different
in the body of Christ. We all bring something different to the table, but
Christ values each individual more than we can know. Christ followers didn’t go
through their own version of BMT, but they all have the shared experience of yielding
control of their lives to Him. It’s a wonderful experience to
“graduate” into becoming a Christian, but that’s when, like when we
finish BMT in the Air Force, we scatter and perform our different jobs. We all
have different strengths and weaknesses, and we’re free to use our strengths
for the glory of God’s kingdom.
In major military
conflicts, commanding generals/admirals must decide the best way to position
their forces and resources to accomplish their objectives. They can break tasks
down and assign them to specific units. The individual Soldiers, Sailors,
Airmen, and Marines in those units don’t have the whole picture available to
them, but they have to do their best to accomplish their designated tasks,
trusting that their senior officers have made the best decision.
Now imagine if the
General assigned tasks not to individual units, but to individual people. Like in the military, in
Christianity we don’t always know why we receive the order to accomplish a
certain task, but if we don’t do it, our Commanding Officer has to figure out a
different way to accomplish His objectives. In His matchless power and wisdom,
this shouldn’t be a problem, but there’s always a reason why His “Plan
A” was His first choice. When we choose not to accomplish our tasks, or
not to accomplish them fully, there’s some sort of fallout for the big picture.
We might not learn what it is on this side of Heaven, but I can’t imagine
there’s much benefit from telling the Creator of the Universe that your way is
better than His.
If that sounds like
something you’ve done before, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for
your Christian walk. Resolve not to make that choice again. Easier said than
done, I know, but you can do it. God doesn’t tell you to do anything that He
won’t enable you to do. If it looked like an easy thing to accomplish, people
wouldn’t recognize that God had a hand in it. Everything will be in place by
the time you need it. I leave you with these words from Joshua 1:9, after Moses
died and Joshua, the new leader of the Israelites, had some enormous shoes to
fill:
“Have I not
commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be
dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
