I feel it on all sides

I feel pressure to conform on all sides of me. The world has always been good at silencing men and women who have lived a life void of passion. I fear losing passion. When I lose passion, I lose my voice- my influence. I see so many people in the church today (men especially) who live fear-filled lives. They have neglected true passion. Too many men today are raising their boys to become just like them- spineless. Where do I receive enough passion to carry me through this life when the world just wants to silence me and make me like them? I am learning that the cross is the only place where true strength and passion resides.

Jesus faced fear. He felt more pressure on him (coming from all directions) than anyone could ever imagine feeling.

Christ did not endure the fear in the Garden, the fear of the whip, and the pain of Golgotha to make me a spineless fear-filled man. It's the passion that carried Jesus to the cross that I want to empower me. 

That's the same passion that filled many who have shook the foundations of history. 

- The martyrdom of the saints from Stephen to today's persecuted church. 

- Paul and Silas singing in the prison yards.

- The long quiet walk with Harriet Tubman along the underground railroad. 

- Rosa Parks and her refusal to give up her seat. 

- The young missionary facing the end of the spear.

- The man who kicks down the door of the brothel to rescue the girl huddled on the dirty floor. That's passion. I want to live like that. 

I want to be a part of a group of men in our church that are sick of just trying to survive what the Enemy throws at us every day. I want to be one of many who feel great angst and get TICKED off when injustice is rewarded- when the lowering of the bar is expected- when women are treated as objects and no one seems to care- when our teenagers are giving up their purity and their innocence because they've never been taught how to channel their passion- when there are so few who mourn over the loss of innocence in our kids or the apathy in the pews on Sunday mornings. I want a "kick-down-that-door" faith. And I cannot find it anywhere other than on that hill over 2000 years ago when passion changed everything. Everything. 

Blah

I am yelling right at this moment. AND NO ONE CARES!

Oprah

I have always been somewhat slow to jump on any bandwagon that is highly critical of anyone that seems to bring insult to the gospel. I guess I have always thought that lost people cannot support what I believe in the same way that I cannot support what they believe. They act lost because they are lost. I have tried to be objective, not emotional, and have tried to be slow to jump on any bandwagon.

But I think what I am learning is that some bandwagons need to be full. I am not so much interested in opposing a person as much as opposing their message and the damage that their range of influence can cause.  Anyone that says we ought to say and believe the phrase, "My salvation comes from me" or to say and repeat "I am the light of the world." ought to be countered. Followers of Jesus cannot remain silent to any person of influence that turns the message of the Bible upside-down. We would do well to see this interaction as warfare. 

But there is a major difference between fighting against a person and fighting against a belief system. This is where the difference lies in various Christians' definitions of warfare. Anytime you hear a Christian who is name-calling and slandering another person based on their belief system- you can bet that they have blurred the lines between tearing down a person and tearing down a stronghold. It's the difference between tearing down the image of God in a person and defending the image of God in a person.

Some Christians wage war against a person. Other Christians wage war against every argument and pretension that sets itself up against the gospel. The second one is best. Paul told Timothy  to "Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith." He also says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

We do not demolish people, people! Click here to check out the growing tide of "opposing ideas that is falsely called knowledge" from one of the most influential people in the world. Let our response be love. And let us stand firm in the faith, friends.

Afflicted (Part 2)

Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word . . .

It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.

The law from your mouth is more
precious to me
than thousands of pieces of silver
and gold.

Psalm 119:67, 71-72

It's good to be afflicted?

I remember being in one of the most beautiful places on the earth, Maui, having just surrendered to the ministry a week beforehand, and wondering why in the world I could not "feel God." I went the whole week without digging into God's Word. I had just come off a spiritual high at youth camp the week before- in Texas. Now I was in Hawaii, and I was at a loss for spiritual "want to." A tragedy. I have promised God that if He ever allows me to go back that I would be better next time:)
Psalm 119 tells me that for those who follow God, the "want to" seems to come in full force when one goes through affliction. I believe it. Some of the most precious times with my Savior have been in times of deep anguish. Granted, at times during the pain, I was too distracted with grief that I could not feel my way to my Bible to open it up. But God allowed me pockets of slight relief and I was able to open up God's Word and it was my lifeline. So, I find this at work: I don't like affliction, but I like being close to God more. It is good to be afflicted.
Good days and bad. Hawaii or Idaho. I want to be able to follow suit in Psalm 119:72, "The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold."

Rockway HTs

Cool video. Awesome story.

Confused

Confused. I am. Giants. I hate. Cheered for them. I did. Extremely put off and disgusted that they won and that it wasn't the Cows and so happy and giddy that the Pats lost. "I am really really angry!" I said. "Hee-hee. That's really funny," I said. Confused. I am.