View from Above

' O' Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic is Thy Name in all the Earth...'

                                                                                          ~ Psalm 8:9




Many years ago, I sat in the cockpit of a C-130 Hercules as we flow over Birmingham, Alabama.
From the seat, I looked to might right and saw night descending across the eastern portion

of the American continent; but to the left, the west was still holding daylight.
Below,  I could see roads and rivers, buildings and backyards, people and cars; one person being chased by flashing blue lights, while another was being transported in an ambulance with red flashing lights in a completely different part of the city, the two had no connection to one another whatsoever and were miles apart.
While I knew some things were large and others much smaller; everything had the appearance of being small because I was above them.


I could see everything and anything I wanted to see; teaching us once again that Air Superiority one of the most important factors during times of military conflict.


Spiritually, the view I had so long ago of the earth and its contents from that cockpit of the rumbling plane is the permanent view of God Himself, perpetually, continuously and eternally.
And to Him, we must seem extremely small, in size physically and in the realm of eternity, to One who endures from 'everlasting to everlasting.'


To place it in another context, if our Milky Way galaxy was the size of North America, our solar system would fit into a coffee cup.
Amazing, isn't it.


Yet, it is prayer, true prayer to a true God, which helps us draw near and know that we are not as tiny as we may think; that we are not so small in the universe or in eternity.


Prayer helps correct us while drawing us near to the purity and holiness of God.
Prayer corrects our innate irresponsibility as humans to think of ourselves in a self-centered, self-glorifying manner.
In other words, it cures what I call 'the fuzzy navel disease.'


You've seen this disease even if you don't realize it; it effects people in such a way that they are so centered on themselves or on someone else that they can see the fuzz in another person's navel without ever looking beyond that focus.


To put it in a more spiritual context, prayer helps us stop thinking of how God should serve us and our needs in life, and then we begin to serve Him better through our lives.
And Christians learn this through prayer, though the prayers offered may be in anguish, in pain, or even in doubt - yet, the result tends to be the same in the end.


The great patriarch Job learned of prayer's value to refocus our hearts during a time of self-pity and anger.
He saw how magnified and how far God is truly above us in all always.
You and I would do well if we meditated on the same.

True prayer, not conditional prayers, not ambiguous prayers, not prayers with wrong motives, but true prayer - lifts the believer above the pettiness that occurs in life.
It can even displace the horrible circumstances one faces, as God adjusts our hearts and minds to see the true context of pain, cancer or death.


It is true that in the physical, grand scheme of things we seem to be tiny and insignificant; yet, God has made humans valuable, significant, important and, once grace is received, something that even angels desire to be like.
The reason - humanity has been chosen as God's unique creation, the apex of all His holy works; but not just humanity, it is true for you and I individually.


In prayer, in a true time of communion with God, we should feel humbled and small; while at the same time, we should feel empowered and strong.
The difference is not in ourselves; but rather, in what God has made the Christian through the sacrifice and grace of Jesus Christ.


Now, I do realize this may sound somewhat odd to some believers in the Lord; that's OK.
It's not that we have differing opinions because one of us is absolutely wrong; we may differ because we have forgotten, or have never known, what it was once like in our relationship with God.


You see, there was a time, a time long ago, when conversation and communion with God was as natural and normal as the involuntary beats of your heart or the breath you draw at this moment.
Prayer was not the vehicle by which we talked to the Divine; the state of man's communion with God was a personal relationship in the presence of God Himself. Walking and talking with Him was a daily occurrence, if not more regular.


Since the fall of Adam and mankind's rebellion against the command and will of God, each passing generation seems to have become more and more removed from our Creator.
As a result, today - even among Christians - we are off our theological axis as our moral and spiritual equilibrium is skewed.


One problem Christians have with prayer  today is a problem never encountered by Adam nor by Jesus when He was on the Earth; today's believers will pray and they don't even know if they have been heard after they say, 'Amen.'
Maybe if you and I would pray in a manner appropriately we would see better results.
Maybe if we would stop 'directing' our prayers to God, as if we are organizing a military unit; maybe if we would stop 'ordering' our prayers like a lunch item off a menu and maybe if we would actually ask for specific things that we can see answered - then, maybe we can see the evidence of God moving and answering our petitions and thereby bolstering our faith, giving us a greater desire to serve and commune with God.


When a person prays, we are actually asking the Sovereign Creator of the Universe to suspend all natural laws and sensibilities on earth, for ourselves.

That's what we're asking and we have no idea how it works; but, as I can attest, be assured prayer does indeed work.


When a person prays a prayer, their words somehow cross from our material/physical world into a realm which is neither physical nor material.
It is immaterial and spiritual; it is God's domain.
Yet, in that invisible world, we do not know how our prayers work when received by God Himself.
That invisible, spiritual world seems less real to us than it did to Adam; maybe it's because he had met with God continuously and was the direct handiwork of the Almighty. Or maybe it is because we haven't made it real in our own hearts and minds.


This is not a new problem; of all the things the disciples could have asked Jesus to teach them, they asked not to learn to preach, or prophesy, or speak in tongues, or sing,  or reach the masses or anything else that is normally associated with the various sects of evangelical Christianity.
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.


And Jesus began then, what is now known as the Lord's Prayer.
His first words, 'Our Father;' these may very well be the key to every prayer; our understanding of the very nature of God Himself.


We tend to pray downstream rather than going to the source of the flow; it is from the mouth of God Himself by which every person lives and is sustained.
We tend to pray as if God needs to be informed and updated on all the things that are happening in our lives; sometimes, I begin to think that God may get bored with the same information He already knows, similar to how one would get bored in the middle of a movie they have seen 79 times.
We tend to pray in a manner which invites God to help us overcome whatever horrid circumstance we find ourselves in at the moment; rarely do I ever hear one pray who asks God to change their character so that these situations will not be entered into from the beginning.


But....
If a Christian will start with God, begin with 'Our Father,' approach the Source of all, they will soon realize God already knows, He already cares, and He is already moving before your thoughts were directed into words.
God knew of my cancer before it was ever discovered or diagnosed; He was also working to remove it in an unexplainable manner before the idea to ask ever became a notion in anyone's mind.


In communion with God through prayer, a person will also discover that His grace descends.
It is God Himself who bears the primary responsibility for the Earth and all its inhabitants; it is His grace that sustains us through the trembles and terrors of life.


In that bird's eye view from the cockpit I received a small portion of what God sees constantly. He sees you. He knows you. He loves you.
If you begin with God, your prayers will change because you will change.


And only prayer, true prayer, can change our hearts to become more like His.


Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Saints in a Sick Society

"Can one who goes the way of the Cross sit in the seat of Pilate when it falls vacant?"

                                                                                ~ Leslie Newbigin




The above quote is actually asking an age old question which every true Christian must ask themselves.
"How far are you, as a member of the Body of Christ, willing to work with the world which oftentimes opposes you and your beliefs?"


It's a deep question, but a relevant question.

The truth of the matter is that the Church as a whole will never fully reject or accept the culture in which we live.

We cannot; for, it is impossible, regardless of where we might live in the world.

Scripture indicates that the individual Christian is ultimately a citizen of Heaven.
While this is true, it must also be acknowledged that we have dual citizenship; we may belong to Heaven but at this time, we reside on planet Earth.


There is a universal moral law which is to govern us spiritually and it effects our practice in life ethically and religiously.
At the same time, we live in the world and in its societies; societies which seem to be growing sicker by the day.
And while we are in the world, we are to obey the world's physical laws of the land; that is, until we cannot morally or consciously do so.


To top it all off, Scripture gives us no clear guidance on the matter; nor does history.


Kings David and Solomon virtually combined what we would call 'Church & State;' the government of their time was interwoven with their personal faith; the rest of society was expected to follow suit.
Yet, the Prophet Elijah vehemently opposed King Ahab, who was a descendent and successor to both David and Solomon.
And while Elijah condemned Ahab for his practices and faced the wrath of his wife Jezebel, the Prophet Obadiah was in his court, virtually running it, while he was silently and secretly sheltering other true prophets from the persecution of the crown.


Isaiah was the court prophet in Hezekiah's reign; yet, Daniel was a government bureaucrat, serving in high offices in two pagan governments.
Is there any doubt both men served God and fulfilled His will?


Church history is just as muddled.
John Calvin sought to make Geneva a Protestant Christian 'haven;' yet, in his ruling, exact laws were enacted which governed how many dishes to be used at a meal, the length of a woman's hair and executed those caught in adultery.
Others have sought the solitude of desert monasteries, remaining as hermits, or rejecting society altogether and abandoning it.

Let me ask you - who was right?
Was Martin Luther correct in opposing the Church/State alliance of the German states or was the Lutheran Church correct in supporting and identifying with the Nazi regime?




Again, there are no clear answers where moral injustice or absolute wrongs do not exist.
Maybe the answer lies somewhere in the middle with our own leading of God's Spirit and the common sense He gave us.


As Christians, we will and should, reject some parts of our culture/society; such as acceptable reasons for murder, rampant or legal prostitution and tyrannical or excessively oppressive governments.
But we will also accept other parts of our society, such as the infrastructure (Paul used Rome's to spread the Gospel throughout the Empire), its transportation and its institutions.
And these should be used, specifically - for the benefit of the faith.


While we will accept or reject some parts of culture, Christians will also use some aspects to our own benefit, like the arts. Beethoven and Mozart both wrote music for the Church; today, where a missionary would be executed, their music speaks of God's truth in closed lands.
Not only will we accept/reject/use various parts of culture or society; Christians will also invent our own and inject them into society to advance humanity. This has happened through soup kitchens, clothing banks and adoption services for unwed mothers.


Yet, the question remains as to how the Christian rightly fits into modern society, while retaining our faith, which seems so ancient and outdated to the modern world.
It can be difficult, especially when many in modern culture view Christians as people who are 'right-wingers,' wanting to tell everybody else how they ought to be living.


It must be remembered, Jesus sent people out; He didn't hunker down with them hoping God would come and rescue the faithful.
But to accomplish the same purpose of Christ, Christians must act and display the virtues of Christ in living flesh through our actions, not through government or authoritarian means.


In the United States, the current year is an election year.
Even now, local politicians are courting the Evangelical Christian vote; one misconception has been that the Christian is faced with the choice between political right and left. In reality, the Christian should only face one choice, that between right and wrong.

It should also be noted that evangelical involvement with politics is a recent phenomenon; yet, it isn't an unheard of action.
In centuries past, when the Church pressed into the political realm, it caused a backlash for generations to come against the Church itself.
As evidence, one must only look to Europe's empty cathedrals and know that the vacancy was caused by a Church holding a tight grip on the people through the authority of the local governments.


The Evangelical Christian involvement in politics in the United States was caused by being left out of the process or ignored in the early part of the twentieth century.
Policies and governmental directions were taken which were contrary to their values.
Yet, what is happening now within the Church is the same thing that happened to Europe; a backlash.


The truth is that the more the Church has gotten into politics and have become more and more vocal, the more negatively it is seen by the public whom we should be seeking to reach.
In reality, the Body of Christ's involvement has caused the Good News of God to be obscured in favor of temporary advancement in the world.


Friend, we are to seek to persuade; not coerce.


Still, America's Bible Belt is also her Safety Belt.


So, how are we to fit into modern society?
The same way Jesus Christ told His followers to fit into their society.
We are to listen to His words in the Sermon on the Mount, and then go among the people and live the Beatitudes.


It really is that simple.


Until next time, win one for the good guys.