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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Five Strategies for Dealing with Persecution

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed~ 1st Peter 4:12-13

Persecution. It’s a twenty-first century problem.

According to Open Doors International, a non-denominational group that monitors Christian persecution, every month 322 Christians are slain solely for the offense of being Christian. Two hundred and fourteen Christian churches or Christian owned properties are destroyed. And 722 acts of violence (rapes, beatings, expulsions, abductions, forced marriages) are committed against Christians. At least fifty countries are systematically targeting Christians for extermination; in some countries Christianity is on the edge of extinction.

 Even in countries where Christians are not routinely mistreated, attitudes towards Christians are rapidly shifting. These shifts are unsettling.

Christian speech is openly discouraged and sometimes even suppressed in public arenas. The President of the United States recently called out Christians at a prayer breakfast for “not being loving” and glibly equated recent slayings of Christians by Muslim extremists to exploits committed nearly a thousand years ago during the Crusades.

 Christian symbols are being removed from the public square for fear of offending those of other faiths or no faith. Christians who voice views outside accepted social norms are bullied and ridiculed in public forums and have in some cases lost their livelihoods. Many predict that that Christianity or at least some forms of Christian speech will be criminalized in the near future.

 These developments have left Christians anxious about the future. Many are uncertain about what to do for Christians who are experiencing persecution in other countries. There are at least five things Western Christians can and should be doing in these tough times to prepare for the future and help others experiencing persecution.

#1 Refuse to Panic

This is not the time to become unnerved, unsettled or weird. Panic benefits no one. Christians have been persecuted in the past and we will be persecuted in the future (1st Thessalonians 3:2-4).  This is a time to put our trust in God and put every effort into bolstering our faith through deeper prayer, study, service and friendships with other Christians.

#2 Commit Already

Many American Christians have a rather feeble relationship with Jesus. The typical self-identified “committed Christian” attends church an average of 1.5 times per month, does not read or study the Bible regularly, pray, follow Christian teachings, or contribute to Christian causes. None of these behaviors are prerequisites for salvation, but they do reveal commitment level. If your relationship with Jesus looks more like a casual hook-up than a committed relationship, today is the day to get off the fence and start taking your faith seriously.


#3 Live a Consistent Life

Everyone agrees that Christians should treat non-Christians with kindness. However, unkindness is not the only only misstep that hurts the cause of Christ. Lifestyle choices inconsistent with biblical teaching, sexual atheism, hypocrisy, publically bashing Churches and tearing down fellow Christians create just as many issues as unkindness or lack of love. Christians who consistently live inconsistent lives make it easier for unbelievers to rationalize the mocking and mistreatment of Christians.

#4 Get Out There

This is not the time for Christians to retreat into their own little worlds. Locate a reliable news outlet and read up on the issues. Find out who your legislators are and contact them regarding issues that concern you, especially issues regarding religious liberty and oppression of Christians around the world. If the legislators in your state don’t care about these issues, work to elect new ones.  

#5 Pray  

Prayer is a neglected discipline. Christians should pray more often, and rethink the substance of our prayers. Most prayers tend to be focused on physical and financial needs rather than the spiritual. God cares deeply about our physical needs but He is truly moved when we ask Him for wisdom, spiritual understanding, and hearts inclined toward repentance.  Prayer is the most powerful and consequential thing we can do for persecuted Christians around the world. They need us to pray that they will have peace in the midst of their trials, the strength to endure the pressure, and relief from their tormenters. They pray for us; the least we can do is to return the favor.

Jesus never promised that life would be easy. Nor did He promise that everyone would like us or grasp our motivations and message. This period of history is shaping up to be one of those times when Christians are misunderstood and sometimes even hated. This is not the time for retreat or compromise. This is a time to deepen our commitment to our God and trust Him with every thing we’ve got. 


Sunday, April 19, 2015

When Things Look Bad

We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. ~ Isaiah 59:9b-10a

Yesterday was a bad day. I lost a battle with discouragement over a myriad of unresolved issues that have left me feeling anxious, uncertain and more than a little cranky.

 Monday we discovered the security at our health insurance company was breached and every member of our family has had their personal information stolen. Therefore, it is possible that at this very moment some punk thief is enjoying the European vacation I have always dreamed of, and we are footing the bill for it.

Our family has seen more than its fair share of challenging changes over the course of this past year and it is likely that we have yet another big one coming. It appears that there may very well be ANOTHER move on the horizon and we still haven’t finished unpacking from the last one. To complicate things further we really have no clue where we will move or when it will happen. Subsequently, a whole bunch of fairly critical decisions are presently on hold until we know something definite.

  The heat has returned and so have all of the slithery, skittery desert creatures. As a result my (mostly) irrational fear of our backyard has returned in full force.  Furthermore, a much-needed new diet and exercise regime has left me feeling achy, irritable and hungry. The payoff has been a solid two-pound weight gain.  

I am well aware that in the grand scheme of eternity none of these issues are the end of the world. In fact, there are plenty of people on this planet who would gladly trade my mostly first-world problems for their much more real and pressing troubles. 

 That awareness did not keep me from wallowing in some of the most negative feelings imaginable for a few hours last night. It was sad because I really do know better than to go there. I have learned the hard way that self-indulgent wallowing solves nothing and only leads to greater feelings of discouragement. However, feelings—especially negative feelings—are rarely ruled by logic or good sense.

My negativity was still going strong and steady at bedtime and as a result I had a hard time getting to sleep. The next morning I was still feeling tired and a bit sorry for myself when I opened my Bible and came across this gentle reminder courtesy of our all-knowing God:

 We live by faith, not by sight~ 2nd Corinthians 5:7

As I meditated on the verse and how it so readily relates to my own life right now, I was reminded of something I heard our youth Pastor say in a sermon when the two older kids were still in high school.   

“Feelings are the F-word of Christianity”

The poor guy took more than a little heat from some irritated parents over that statement. Many felt it was crude and poorly stated. But truth be told, he had an excellent point.

His point was that feelings are capricious things that should have little impact on the way wise Christians operate in this world. Feelings can and will trip us up in a million different ways. Feelings, if left unchecked, will lead us into situations Christians have no business being in. Feelings are the root of virtually every kind of heartbreak in this world. Feelings will lead us to doubt even the most obvious of truths. Feelings cause even wise people to do and say things that cannot be undone.

 Facts can also trip us up sometimes. Facts can tell us what is true at the moment, but not everything that is true at the moment is immutable. Situations can change and God is ultimately in control of the outcome of every situation.  

God reminded me this week that we are called to live not by their feelings or even by facts but rather by faith. The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is the evidence or proof of facts and realities that we are unable to see or touch in the here and now.

Walking in faith does not mean that we ignore reality or dodge responsibility. Living by faith means trusting God to work out the details of what we do see, and remembering that feelings lie and facts change, but our heavenly Father can be trusted even with the most exasperating of circumstances.    








Sunday, April 12, 2015

Pride and the Fall



This month marks the anniversary of an event that has transformed our family drastically in more ways than I can count. This time last year a ten-year-old girl came to our home for a visit and has since became a permanent member of our family. We have not experienced a dull moment since.

Integrating a new member into our family has not been easy or stress-free. There has been a great deal of joy but there have also been more than a few tough adjustments on both sides. It is not easy for a kid to adapt to a new family, nor is it easy for a family of adults to adjust to the changes and loss of freedom that inevitably comes with a young child.

All the challenges aside, I can truthfully say that the good has far outweighed the bad. At this point we cannot imagine our family without her. Zoey has brought a whole new depth of joy and laughter to our home. She is a kind, clever, imaginative girl with many gifts and talents.

 Sadly, organization and analytical thinking are not among them.

In all my years on this Earth I have never seen anything quite like her unique brand of disorder and chaos. In the span of a few hours her bedroom can easily devolve into a weekend cleaning project. She pays zero attention to detail, which causes her to lose as much stuff as she hangs on to and she has been known to brush her teeth before breakfast to save time.

Her chronic lack of common sense has led the older kids to refer to her as a “Dufflepud” after the sweet but silly creatures in The Chronicles of Narnia. Dufflepuds boiled their potatoes before planting them so they could harvest cooked potatoes and washed their plates before eating to save time after dinner.

Thankfully, there have been major improvements in these areas, but we still have a ways to go before she becomes the paragon of organization and logical thought that I am praying and believing she will one day become.

So you can imagine my skepticism when she informed me that I had failed to fill out a permission slip for a field trip properly. To my shame, I didn’t even have the good sense to look at the thing before I launched into a calm but condescending little lecture. I smugly informed her that there was no way I had made an error on something as basic as a permission slip for a 5th grade field trip.

To her credit, Zoey nodded politely and obediently put the slip into her backpack. As she was heading out the door I decided to give it a second look and discovered that she was indeed correct. I quickly apologized and corrected my error, but not before I made a fool out of myself and hurt the feelings of a sweet little girl.

Such is the sin of pride.

It happens to the best of people. It could be argued that the better a person becomes, the more likely they are to become prideful about it. The list of things that causes pride to dominate our interactions is as long as it is varied. Our skills, business connections, education and track record can all become sources of pride. The danger in this type of pride is that we begin seeing our selves as infallible and we resist taking input and advice from others and no one is clever enough to do life all alone.  

  Perhaps the most foolish and dangerous type of pride is pride over the things that are outside our control. Pride over physical appearance, material blessings, race and background can lead to every kind of prejudice and social evil none of which has any place in life of a Jesus follower.

The deceptive nature of pride requires constant prayer and frequent self-assessment. Prayer is essential because without God’s help and guidance we may never become self aware enough to want change or empowered enough to make it happen.  

And change, as difficult as it can be, is essential. Without it, we will never become the people God calls us to be—and we might just drive away the very ones He has called us to reach.








   

Sunday, April 5, 2015

The Root of All Misery

 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will~ Romans 12:2

Those of us in the Western world are blessed to live in what could be called the very best of times. Despite all the political and social turmoil, it is without question a fantastic time to be alive. Women can vote and own property, education is compulsory for all children and even folks in the most modest of circumstances own televisions. 

Human ingenuity has allowed all sorts of regular people to live in a level of comfort and ease that was formerly unknown, even to the wealthiest and most privileged in earlier times. The magnificent wonders of coffee, central air, disposable diapers, hot showers, automobiles, smartphones, and pizza delivery never fail to blow my mind and remind me exactly how fortunate I was to have been born in the 1960s and not the 1860s.

The marvels of our era make it possible for almost anyone to satisfy nearly any craving or whim with very little fuss or trouble. And yet, inexplicably we are perhaps one of the unhappiest cultures in the history of humanity. Untold millions are hooked on things that people in other times would have viewed as extraordinarily strange—activities like shopping, social media, online pornography and Candy Crush Saga.

Millions more are dependent on mind-altering substances both legal and illicit. Some are so lonesome and socially isolated that they are willing to pay strangers good money just to hear them talk about their issues. Divorce rates have been soaring for decades and nearly two-thirds of adults say they are unhappy with their lives. Loneliness, discontent and addiction are not exactly the hallmarks of a happy, well-adjusted people.

Some have observed the conundrum of blessing and misery and concluded that the problem lies with the blessings. This crowd chooses to go the monastic route and shed the stuff. I do not take issue with this logic. No rational believer would quarrel with the notion of casting off a materialistic mindset. Jesus was painfully straightforward regarding his view of materialism when he admonished two brothers arguing over money with this warning:

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions~ Luke 12:15

Nothing good comes out of unrestrained materialism. However, I do not believe that materialism is the source of our misery. The stockpiling of material possessions is more of a symptom of the problem than the actual problem.

The problem is focus.

The blessings of our age come with a tendency to focus all of our attention on ourselves. The dark side of cozy houses, career opportunities, universal human rights, central air and pizza delivery is that these things can easily cause us to think that we deserve more. Getting our needs met, having our preferences filled, and seeing our rights recognized can easily become the driving force in our lives. When these things become the driving force in our lives we become wholly self-focused, and self-focused people are miserable.

Jesus assures us in Matthew 10:39 that if we voluntarily give up our life, i.e. rights, convenience, comfort, preferences, for His sake we will find authentic peace and lasting joy. Conversely demanding more life, as in more rights, convenience, comfort, preferences leads to self-focus and self-focus is the root of misery.

The solution to our conundrum is two-fold. First we must train our spirits and our minds to recognize the conveniences and comforts of our time for the mind-blowing blessings from God that they really are. The proper response to hot showers, universal human rights, electric blankets and pizza delivery is awe and gratitude to our great God for allowing us to experience these profound blessings. 

However, gratitude alone is not enough. We must also get outside of ourselves. We accomplish that by using what we’ve been blessed with to serve God and people. Serving breaks the bondage of self-focus and materialism and enables us to see life, people and our own selves from God’s perspective.

Serving accomplishes yet another even more significant purpose. It molds us into the image of Christ. Jesus was the ultimate servant and the standard for all things Christian. When we serve like Jesus served, our love and good deeds draw the unbelieving world to faith in our God. This world would be a much better place with a little less of us and whole lot more of God.