Christian Hardships

"The Pope?! How many Divisions does he have?"

~ Josef Stalin

It is amazing to me how American Christians deal with hardships or turbulence in their lives.
In the last 40 years or so, we've been taught to pray it away and  have faith that God will take it away.
For this attitude, I blame televangelists. 
But I digress.

True persecution of ministers or Christians in general continues even today in some countries in the world.
In the modern era, the most notable government sponsored persecution has come from the Communists.
When the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian Czar, murdering everyone in sight, they immediately sought to end religion; it is, after all, the "opiate of the people" as their ideological father has stated.

Between 1917-1921, the Bolshevik Communists executed over 1,200 Orthodox Priests.
After World War II, their dealing with Protestants was even worse; condemning evangelicals to

Banner over door reads:
 "Monks - The bloody enemies of working people."

insane asylums.

In all, the Communists in the former Soviet Union killed well over 100,000 Orthodox Priests and Bishops - this from a group of people who deliberately chose to run a country without God believing the overall good of man would triumph.

Looking at other Christians around the globe, they tend to view hardships vastly different than Americans. 
For some reason, Americans seem obsessed with pain; maybe that is the reason prescription medication and addiction has sky rocketed in recent years.
We don't want to hurt; but I can tell you from personal experience when I had cancer, those drugs aren't for people who just don't want to hurt - they are for people who don't want to feel anything at all because the pain is so bad.

The prayer meetings in our churches seem to focus on illnesses; one even called it an organ recital - with people talking about their livers, spleens and such. 
Our requests to God for healing seem right; but do you realize this is unique to America?

In the past, Christians expected to face opposition; many pastors spent time in jails for their

Adoniram Judson

faith, like Adoniram Judson, the Baptist Missionary.
Yet, today, because of his work, more than a million Burmese Christians can trace their heritage to Judson's faithfulness in his suffering.

To put it bluntly, the Health & Wealth Gospel of the modern Electronic Preacher is simply a cruel lie to the hurting.
Most Christians, even American Christians will experience some type of discrimination. 
Usually we think of Muslim countries when it comes to discrimination against a believer, but the truth is that the secular world can be just as bad or worse.

In the United States, we are blessed enough to have religious freedom; yet, Jesus still complicates life at times.
By instinct, we hate suffering and loathe trials; which begs the question -
"Why in the world would anybody choose to follow a man who promises more hardship like Jesus?"

But amazingly, it has been my experience that those who suffer the most tend to complain the least.
Hardship in our lives seems to quicken our appetite for God; something of a spiritual homesickness occurs.
We seek and we want God more because of our suffering; instinctively we know He is our true comforter.

No person gets exempt from hardship of Earth; how we receive it - that makes all the difference in the world.
For if we receive it with God's presence - we'll soon find that it is a peace which transcends all understanding.
How else can you explain the peace to the survivors and parents of national tragedies?

What hope could an atheist give after the September 11th attacks on New York?
Or what about the shootings at Columbine or Jonesboro, Arkansas?

Jonesboro Aftermath

What Agnostic could have provided comfort, compassion and hope in the wake of those teenagers being murdered?

Even at the Boston Marathon, when two terrorists in the name of their religion sought to kill and maim innocents -there was no non-believer offering a view which would provide strength and hope.
What hope could they give the hurting?

Can you imagine any of them saying: 
"We live in a meaningless world and you should expect pain without any meaning."

Wow...that's comforting.

Yet, I know those lives lost had meaning - individual meaning, not as a society, but as a person.
And the pain and suffering they experienced, had meaning.
The difference is that God makes a difference in a persons life.

Why do Christians in oppressive, Third World countries seek to minister to those who are hurting - even when persecution could result?
God - He is the difference in a person's life to where they become more than they ever imagined as the vessel through which He touches the world and offers the grand hope of redemption through His Son.

For you see, God is in the recycling business.
He redeems the good out of the bad; resurrecting our hope out of every tragedy.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

The Small Screen

 "For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness..."

                                                                           ~The Apostle Paul, 55 AD

Last week my denomination concluded it's Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD.
The Southern Baptist Convention is routinely criticized and hammered by the media; many times, unjustly.
There are many fine men and women who are a part of, and believe in, the ministry and mission of the Southern Baptist Convention; of which, I am one. 

Being a student of history, I realized that it took the SBC 150 years to apologize for its support and role in the horrible institution of slavery in the United States.
As I read reports online and watched Baptist Press present the election results, I silently wondered what the church will apologize for 150 years from now, after I am long in the grave.

If I was to apologize for something that seemingly defines the Church in this day and age, it would have to be our complacency. 
Somehow, the command of Christ to 'go ye to all the world' has become, 'Why don't ya'll come to church...'

Unwittingly, we have bought into the the Big Screen message of the world and have stopped being the Body of Christ in the world, teaching the redeeming message which contradicts the values of society.

I recently read a story from 2004 which demonstrates exactly how the Church should act in the world.
The 2004 election in the Ukraine was a mess; if you can remember the election of 2000 in the United States, just know that we don't have the market cornered on 'unusual election practices.'

In that election a man named Viktor Yushchenko challenged the party in power.
When the election was called, the State Run television (there's little freedom of the press overseas) had an anchor that spouted the party line:
                               "Ladies and gentlemen, we announce that the challenger, 
                                Viktor Yushchenko has been decisively defeated."

Sounds good...too bad it wasn't true.

Yet, this fact would have gone unknown to the world except for the fact that there was one person whom the Party did not take into account.

Viktor Yushchenko

In the bottom corner of the television screen was a deaf translator who told the world, beginning with the watchers who were deaf tuning in, that what the anchor was saying on State Run television was an absolute lie.

Anyone who could see and understand the small screen learned the truth.

This act of patriotism and honor began what is now called the Orange Revolution.
Soon there was a new election and Viktor Yushchenko won decisively.

If you have missed the analogy: The world is the Big Screen; the church ought to be that Small Screen announcing the truth to the rest of the world with honor and courage.

According to the world, it is the beautiful, those with money, the powerful; it is these who are important and worthy.
That  is the Big Screen picture, but the truth is that most people in the world aren't like that even though we are told repeatedly throughout our lives we are supposed to be like that image.

When Jesus enter the world seen, He told everyone not to believe that Big Screen picture.
Some believed and discovered the truth; many didn't and still don't today.

The Big Screen message to us today: Indulge. Consume. Enjoy. No Worries.

The problem is that this idea is exactly like Communism; it sounds good but it just doesn't work out.

Nearly all of our health problems in the United States stem from our own over-indulgence.
Smoking - It can lead to COPD, Cancer and a host of other problems.
Obesity - It comes from over eating; which can also lead to Diabetes.
Alcohol - This one will make you do stupid things that hurt yourself and eventually kill your liver.
Sex - Seriously,  if so-called 'safe sex' worked there would be a reduction of teen pregnancies, absentee fathers, and diseases.
But the truth is that STDs are rampant even in retirement homes today; but on a very adult level I must tell you that sex is not suppose to be dangerous. 

Quite truthfully, we are destroying ourselves with that which we believe will make us happier.

One question: Shouldn't we be paying more attention to the people on the Small Screen instead of being overshadowed by the lie on the Big Screen?

It is we who are Christians who are to announce Kingdom values to a decadent society. 
WE are the people who are to lead our culture and teach others that we can refuse to believe the lie that is propagated.
For we are not Masters of one another but servants of a God of Love, who is always reaching out to those who seek Him in truth.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Out of Control

"It's dark at the foot of the Lighthouse."

~ German Proverb

One truth that I have learned about myself is that I am a thinker, an observer. Sometimes I will be having a huge, analytical discussion within my mind and then say something, which makes perfect sense to me, but to my wife it seems that I am in need of a straight jacket.

The one draw back is indeed the tendency to withdraw and watch - people, places, things, interactions.
When it comes to God and people who claim to have an encounter with Him, I watch and listen, trying to reconcile what is taking place with actual theological and Biblical truth.
At times, it does not help when you are trying to understand another person's spiritual reality; yet, if it is a Biblical experience, the truth will prevail.

I have noticed over time that the wealth are turned off by dramatic, ecstatic displays of emotion when it comes to spirituality.
This is also true of the educated and the socially conscious.
For one, what might be normal seems insane to another.
Yet, the point of the "spiritual" is a connection between a tangible human and an invisible Holy Spirit.
To some, it terrifies; to others, it captivates; and to still others it embarrasses them.

I have seen television preachers "slay in the Spirit" hundreds; yet, I cannot help but think as to why Jesus didn't perform such deeds.
Presumably, He had all the spiritual power and gifts that any man could have; yet, He settled on compassion, grace, truth and love as His greatest demonstrations - along with His miracles, of course.

On the other end of the spectrum, I once read that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was praying in the pulpit one Sunday and he was overcome with emotion.
So much so, he swooned to a degree but was unable to speak any words.
Afterward, he did not revel in what had happened; instead, he was embarrassed.

When I was sick, I did not find spiritual truth in fantastic displays but in the quiet moments within God's Word; or, within the compassion extended to me by others.
When God speaks, He does not need to shout to announce His presence or His truth.
He simply needs to reveal Himself in a way that is meaningful to His child.

One area people think God is revealing Himself is in modern Charismatic music; a few phrases are sung, repeated again and again.

This is a Church service, not a concert.

At best, the music is mediocre; in no universe can the lyrics compare to Amazing Grace, the theology of Charles Wesley's writings nor the music written from the hand of Beethoven. 
Yet, millions are mesmerized by something that is clearly lacking; quite possibly, they have never been exposed to the real revelation of God's nature in music.
But I digress.

I have also observed people lay hands on other Christians, praying "for the Holy Spirit to fill them" and be evidenced by either being "slain in the Spirit" or through the modern "speaking in tongues". 
I find this intensely discomforting.

Nowhere in the New Testament is an individual "prayed through" to any spiritual gift, such as the gift of tongues; certainly, there is such a gift, but this is not how the early church were blessed with it.
As for being 'slain in the Spirit,' quite frankly, there is no Biblical record of such an act being performed or taking place beyond the conjecture of a bad and stretched interpretation.

There are various movements and churches who promote these things; I cannot analyze nor explain their positions on such matters nor would I attempt to.
Again, as I said before, my "observer's syndrome" does not help when I'm trying to understand another person's Christian Spiritual Reality.

Yet, among some of these sects, I have witnessed an act called "holy regurgitation" where people literally engage in the practice of vomiting "demons and bad spirits" out of themselves.
I have seen uncontrolled laughter, respectable people crawl around on the floor and make animal sounds and act like chickens - all they insist is under the power of the Holy Spirit.

While these are public spectacles, it is interesting to me that the one public display of the Holy Spirit I have been able to count on has been tears.
Tears speak volumes.

The New Testament speaks consistently of the Holy Spirit; therefore, every Christian should want more than fire insurance with the Spirit's indwelling.
The only way we learn more of the Holy Spirit's work in us and in the world is to turn more and more to Jesus.
It is then that the invisible Holy Spirit will begin to take on a face; it is the face of our Lord.

Jesus Christ is an actual, vivid, real picture of what a human being connected to God through

the Holy Spirit ought to look like.

When people are released from a cult and they are deprogrammed, after being liberated they will soon denounce the propaganda they were fed.
Christians must be careful not to engage in the same type of propaganda, especially when it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit.
You see, Jesus never brainwashed anybody; He always left form for a personal choice with rejection being an option.

In today's world, due to the charismatic or Vineyard movement, among many Christians there is fear and discomfort when mentioning the Holy Spirit.
I wonder what the apostles would think; modern Christians are afraid of God's Comforter. 

Interestingly enough, modern Christians don't want to lose control; we want ourselves and God, alone, one-on-one.
The funny thing is that it was never intended to be that way; we are Christians, which means we are to live out our faith among a community of like-minded believers.

Already within us, the Holy Spirit has provided many needed insights.
He reveals things to us, He warns; He also gives us a self-awareness.
Until we take the time to commit to long periods of silence and listening, we will miss that internal voice of God dwelling within us called the Holy Spirit.
God might speak all through our lives, but until our ears are opened by the Spirit, we will not hear Him.

After we are converted and begin the Christian life, we do relatively the same things as we did before. 
The only difference is that every act now has a reference to God.
We need not clean ourselves up before we come to God; instead, the Holy Spirit indwells and forms us to become like Him from inside out.

And that is how we gain ultimate control over our lives - by giving it to Him.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Total Makeover

Beauty Mountain, Fayette County, WV

"Now, with God's help, I shall become myself."

                                                                                      ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Being a Christian and being discipled should never be a question of whether or not a person is going to do it.  
Discipleship is becoming the man or woman God has intended us to become and it is not a matter of whether it will happen.
Instead, it is a matter of making room in our lives for God so that He can live in us and make us become alive in Him.

As a younger man, I never wanted to 'be' from West Virginia.
All too well I realized the horrid stereotype which surrounds the Mountain State and the people within her borders. 

Montani Semper Liberi

In our politically correct world, it is no longer agreeable to society to make jokes about any group of people in the manner Archie Bunker did weekly on NBC's 'All in the Family;' save two groups of people: Christians and West Virginians.
I fell into both categories.

Even today, occasionally I will hear an outsider or a so-called intellect on television make a remark about Appalachia or West Virginia - their ignorance and intolerance is never condemned.

It took me to learn something that every recovering sinner needs to learn about out spiritual heritage.
While we may wish to be someone else, God does not want to work with a different personality; He chose me and you in whom His Spirit should dwell.
Though we may want to change who we are, God wants you and I; taking us just as we are but loving us too much to leave us that way.

One thing I have learned during my sicknesses is the fact that God wants us to become more ourselves by realizing our real self God originally intended which is now marred by sin.
As I look in the mirror, my torso holds 19 scars from the various surgeries - each shouting a cry from the fall of man so long ago.
God did not create me defective; yet, I am - therefore, the fallen creation and sinfulness of man must have contributed to my condition.

But in life, I have found that many strive to become something they are not; seeking to become people or have talents which they were never intended to have.
Even preachers go through such trials; many in small churches want to become more like Billy Graham - reaching millions with integrity.
But the truth is that in the life to come you and I will not stand before God and be asked why we are not more like Moses.
The Holy Spirit guides us not to be Moses, or David Jeremiah, or Billy Graham or anyone else.

He guides us to become ourselves.

Whether you realize it or not, you and I are special in God's eyes just as ourselves.
I am a flawed man, scarred physically and spiritually from life's battles; yet, I am a flawed man in whom God intentionally chose to dwell.
Knowing this, it causes me to trust God even more and it creates a confidence in Him that grows daily; it is liberating.
And to become whom I was intended to become, we must be liberated from the image of the world which has been imputed on us and not deny the man or woman God has chosen to share His Glory with in eternity.

The Apostle Paul described Christ's relationship with the Church as a mystery.
In my opinion, Paul may have been the greatest Christian who has ever lived; but calling it a mystery tells us that even he had difficulty understanding the intimacy God seeks to have with us by choosing us and giving His Spirit to dwell within us.

In this line of thought, there is a great paradox:
Everything about us screams that we are unworthy; yet, the Apostle John  teaches us that God lavished His great love on us.
So much so, in the life to come, we shall be like Him.
And this tells us that even now, even while we are in Christ and growing in Him, there still remains within us something that is hidden and undeveloped.
All the while, the Holy Spirit continues to work  and reveal it to ourselves and show us the total makeover God is doing with us.

With this in mind, if God loves us, who are we to refuse to love ourselves; while we may be unworthy before Him, He has chosen to make us worthy in Himself.
Accepting God's love means that we must silence the internal voices that say we are not worthy; while those voices may be true according to the world's standard - God has changed everything by liberating us in His Son.

This is truly an amazing thing to grasp; God loves me and desires me to love Him.
Quite possibly, human words will never capture what that truly means outside of the Bible.
Yet, I know without a shadow of doubt that God does love me because He has shown me that love through His grace - and this love and grace tells me exactly who He is.
God loves - it defines His nature as much as His holiness does.

Human beings are worthy because we are loved; when we are loved we experience His grace.
Some things in life are loved because they have a certain value placed upon them; other things are worthy because they are loved.
Supermodels are loved for their beauty; baseball players are loved because of their ability to hit or throw a baseball; scientists are loved because of their experiments and discoveries - but the love each of these experience and enjoy is limited in scope and nature.

In my home, in my children's bedrooms are two Build-a-Bears in camouflage. 
These bears were purchased and  built by a member of my church and given to me to give to

my children just before I deployed. 
To my family, it has been a blessing worth their weight in gold. 

Within the two 'combat bears' is a voice-box which recorded my words to them so that when they missed me, all they needed to do was press a button and they could hear my voice encouraging them that brighter days were ahead when I returned.
Now, these bears have no intrinsic value in and of themselves, but they are greatly loved.
And because they are greatly loved, they have on them a great worth that is irreplaceable. 

Thankfully, God's love is not based on our worth in the eyes of the world.
God's love comes by His grace; in doing so, it imparts to us salvation - a priceless free gift, purchased with blood and available to every man, woman and child on the planet.
Theologically, the Christian is worthy because they are loved - and what greater act can there be on the part of a Christian than the love of God being demonstrated through their life to those who need it most in the world today?

But this takes time, for like watermelons - to get the best ones, you've got to let them grow.

Over the last several months, I've learned a lot about what surgeons do during operations.
In particular, I've researched organ transplants and they are absolutely amazing.
Do you realize that when a patient undergoes an organ transplant, they are given anti-rejection drugs until the new organ is grafted into the patient's body and it becomes a part of them as if it has always been there?

Friend, the Holy Spirit works just like that in the life of a Christian.
It is the Spirit of God which keeps us from throwing of the new nature the Lord has imputed to us.
While the new nature is not a foreign object - it is just restoring us to our intended state - it seems that it is foreign because we have lived so long in this fallen world.
A makeover by God's Spirit, once allowed to take root in our souls, is a fresh breeze of air.

On a parting note, there is a question each Christian should ask themselves daily about God's love within them, about their spiritual progress and about their growth in the Lord.
You see, God has sought each Christian out and chosen them; as such, God's delights in us.
That being true, every day, we should ask ourselves:

                                           Since the Holy Spirit dwells within me, did I 

                                            give Him the opportunity to delight in me

                                            as His child?

The thing that does glorify God in our lives, the one thing that truly signifies to the world that God is at work through us is being the hands, feet and heart of God in this fallen world as the Church and Body of Christ.
When you and I embody the mission of Christ in compassion and love as He has extended to you and I, we become a clear sign pointing to God and His grace and love.

That my friend, that is the real makeover and who you and I were created to be before the beginning of time itself.

Until next time, go win one for the good guys.