The Holy Hand Grenade

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will by My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 8:4 "Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went."

Jesus had told the disciples that they would go to these places and be living testimonies of the truth. The problem is that they were staying in their comfort zone of Jerusalem, so God used persecution to explode them into the other regions. After the stoning of Stephen, Philip gets blown into Samaria. I can imagine him standing in the streets going, "What in the world am I doing in this place?"

To their credit, wherever they find themselves they immediately begin preaching the Word. They don't sit around moaning about the circumstances that brought them there. They begin advancing God's kingdom where He wanted them in the first place.

This happened to me several years ago, where God took me out of a place I was very secure in and I found myself working in a school that was not on my radar. I submitted it to His sovereignty and He molded me and used me in ways that I could never have imagined.

Sometimes God will use tough circumstances like a hand grenade and "explode" you into a place that you weren't planning on going to. But in His plan, He needs you there, and you weren't going on your own. When this happens, we need to respond like the people of the early church - spreading the Word there, not complaining about how we got there and how we'd rather still be in the comfort zone of our own Jerusalems.

Again: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

Down Comforter

Judges 5: 28 - 30 "Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed she keeps saying to herself, 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera?'"

Once in awhile we need to remember the truth of the battle we are in. It's a battle against evil that is destructive and desperate, and there is no good thing in it.

Think of the story of Sisera's mother. He has been battling the Israelites, but as you read Judges 4 you realize that he is not coming home, that his head has been nailed to the tent floor by Jael. But his mother doesn't know this and is waiting for him, looking through the window for her beloved son. What comforts her as she waits? "Don't worry - he'll be home soon. He's probably just raping a couple of women and destroying innocent lives. Relax." Whew! That makes me feel better. Thanks, you truly are a magnificent comforter, one that I can wrap myself up in and feel warm and cozy.

In other words, her comfort was found in his evil nature. That is the world unmasked, brothers, and we better recognize that before we start to play around in it. It is a hideous and grotesque evil that left unchecked would go to places that would horrify us - and destroy us without a second thought.

Compare that with our Comforter. The Holy Spirit brings peace and encouragement. He picks us up when we're down, even praying our prayers for us with groans that words cannot express when we've reached the end of our strength. He is the pure essence of God dwelling within us and is like a fresh breeze and cool water running through our body.

But the world is not like this. It is a putrid cesspool that finds comfort in rape and murder. Submit to the Holy Spirit, the true Comforter, right now, and you can advance as the aroma of Christ against this stench. Play with the world, and be prepared to be devoured by it.

"Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." I rest in this truth and I would love to just write humorous ramblings all the time. But once in awhile I need to be reminded about the true heart of the world that in my flesh I am constantly drawn to, one that finds comfort in rape and murder.

More Rambling Church Thoughts

I was listening to a sermon from a pastor who said that he threw away all his commentaries and only reads his Bible, and that's what we should do. I see his point, but why would I then listen to another word that he said, being that he's simply a verbal commentary.

Why do people tend to fill in the worst swear possible when they see that one has been deleted in a sentence? Seriously - does that say something about where our mind would go if we let it? (And you know you do it!)

I once threw a dime into the back pocket of a co-worker as he walked away from my desk. I don't know why, but I'm still very impressed by that.

I hope whoever invented the Cheeto is sitting on a tropical beach somewhere. He deserves it. (I say "he" because I can't imagine any scenario where a woman would invent such a completely debilitating food product.)

For reasons unknown, I once put a peach pit into my nephew's diaper. My brother and his wife apparently spent the rest of the day trying to figure out just what their kid had eaten.

The people of this world often have greater expectations about the success and fulfillment of their mindset than Christians seem to.

I know I'm immature, but Psalm 78:39 never fails to make me laugh. (The NIV translation) Because that's all we really are: Butt Flesh

Christians are like the moon, either waxing or waning. There's no place of non-growth or non-decay. We're always moving in one direction.

Sometimes, when reading the story of Pentecost in Acts 2, I can't help but think that it wasn't so much the gift of tongues that the disciples received, but the "gift of ears" that the gathered crowd received, each hearing Peter's words in their own language.

I've often thought that if I had one wish I would like for everyone to feel about me the exact same way that I feel about them. If I loved them, they loved me with the same intensity. If I didn't want anything to do with them, they would avoid me, etc.

But now I really wish I had the gift of healing. There are so many hurting people out there. Just to be able to touch them and alleviate their pain. . . .

The only time I saw my brother say, "that's not right" after his wife died was when he heard of a friend who was leaving his wife and children. He couldn't comprehend it. He said, "I would have done anything to keep Jan and keep our family together. And he's just walking away." He's right. Fight harder.

I heard a good sermon illustration the other day. The guy said that we tend to view God like the man who's hired to clean up after the elephants at the circus. He follows the elephants around all day, picking up the poop that they drop behind them, like a Holy Pooper Scooper. But at some point, we've got to stop pooping.

I once had to go to the hospital because I got a bacterial infection from a cat scratch. My brother called to see how I was doing and they told him that I was listed in "Fair Condition." He asked how a serious illness could actually UPGRADE me from my normal condition. He's a very funny man.

I'm going to say this one more time: you can escalate or defuse almost any situation that you're in, and you know it.

I love I Samuel 30:24 "The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." God's fairness is not the same as ours. Of course it isn't. Because we aren't fair.

Pre-Prayered

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done."

The summer that we started the Christian school was an incredible whirlwind of God moving and putting pieces into place in amazing ways. With about a week to go before school was to open, I still didn't have a 5th grade teacher. So I sat in my office and prayed specifically for one. As I was praying, I also asked God to bring someone in who could lead a music group that would travel from church to church, promoting the school.

Within an hour, the phone rang. It was my father telling me that a friend of his had a daughter that was moving back home. He knew that she was a teacher, so I called her and to my surprise found out that she had been teaching 5th grade for the past several years and was interested in the job. I asked her, as I always did, if she had any other interests that could help the school. She said that she also led a small choir that would travel from church to church, promoting the school.

Okay . . . . and by the way God, can I have a million dollars?

I have always run under the assumption that God miraculously answered my prayer, right down to the specifics. Lately I've been re-thinking the whole concept of prayer, and this story. Did I move God? Or did He draw me into a plan that He was already putting into motion? I tend now to think that the deeper I got into prayer, the deeper I got into Him. This was what He was doing. He was putting a school together. Where I thought it was me moving Him, it was actually Him moving me.

In reality - my new thought brings me greater comfort than me dictating events and God responding. I would rather He be the one dictating the events and me responding.

I do believe prayer matters - and I do believe God listens. How this merges with my plans versus His plans is beyond me. I do know that the more I pray, the deeper into His thoughts I go and my thoughts begin to disappear - to the wonderful point where I think His thoughts are actually my thoughts, so that I begin to think His will is an answer to my prayers!

I don't think this is a deception, I think it's awesome, because in His will and in His thoughts is where I truly want to dwell.

Parking Lot Prayers

John 21:21,22 "When Peter saw him, he asked, 'Lord, what about him?' Jesus answered, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me.'"

After my sister-in-law died of cancer, I was driving in the car with my brother when we heard someone on the radio talking about praying for a parking space, and finding it!! Yeah for you!! You got a parking space with a two second prayer. We had just spent a year in intense, tearful prayer meetings, imploring God to save the life of a beautiful, productive, God-fearing, Christ-loving young mother of 2 small children . . . and she died.

But hey - you got your parking space! Who am I to begrudge you that?

I remember looking over at my brother and wondering what in the world was going on in his head. But he never showed anger, he never questioned God (at least out loud) and he never wavered in his faith. He just kept plugging away. He never said, "That's not fair."

Then I really started thinking and I came to the conclusion: it's not up to me to determine the story of other people, because I have no idea what is really going on between them and God. When Peter was being reinstated by Christ, instead of just sticking to his own business and rejoicing in the fact that he had just been forgiven, he started questioning Jesus about John's story. Jesus basically told him to keep out of it. If He wants John to live another 100 years, so be it. You follow Me.

I get it. In my selfish nature I don't always agree with it, but I do think I understand it. Everyone has their own story with Christ, and if Mr. X's involves finding a parking space by firing up a desperate prayer to God because he needs a gallon of milk, then okay. If my brother's story involves persevering through that trial . . . . . then what can I do but shut my mouth and follow Christ?

I don't love the concept of parking lot prayers, but I am overwhelmed by the reality of a God who loves me and is working my story out for His glory. In big things and small. In cancer and in a parking lot.

Strength That Matters

Psalm 62:11,12 "One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that You, O God, are strong, and that You, O Lord, are loving."

I went with our Young Adult group (I'm not a young adult, just the 'leader') to the Fiction Family concert at the Paradise last night. Yes, I went clubbing! Been a long, long time. It was an awesome experience and there's something about the depth to which Jon Foreman writes that really seems to hit me.

First, though, just a quick note to those who went with me: Quit referring to me as the chaperone!!
And to my wife: You know that little game you were playing where you would try to count the guys that were older than me? Not amusing.

Anyway, Jon Foreman has a beautiful song called "Your Love is Strong" and I assume it's based on Psalm 62:11,12 (and the Lord's Prayer). If you haven't heard it, download it now. It speaks to one of the aspects of God that helps me more than anything else: He loves me and He can do something about it.

When I was a freshman in high school, I somehow angered a junior to the point where he wanted to beat me up. (I must have been a wise-guy back then). One of my brothers was also a junior, and he cared about me, but he wasn't strong enough to help me. Another brother was a senior, and had the strength to take care of this kid, but he didn't really care enough about me to do anything about it. In the end, I got beat up.

We don't have to get beat up. God cares about us and can do something about it!! His love is strong. Seriously, is that not the greatest thing you've ever heard? He not only can get you out of the dark and into the Light, but He desires to do that because He loves you.

On another note, I also find it interesting in Psalm 62 that David says God spoke one thing, but he heard two things. How does that relate to our reading of Scripture? Can I get multiple meanings out one of His words? Is that reading too much into what David is saying?

Random Thoughts

My kids are a lot like atheists. They say they don't want anything to do with me but somehow they end up following me into whatever room I'm in.

I love how in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus takes the man's question about who is is his neighbor and says don't worry about that: Be the neighbor.

When you're looking for limits on how much you can forgive (like Peter) or who is my neighbor (like the expert in the law) - you've revealed your heart. When you want to know where the line is, you've already lost the battle.

I was reading Psalm 131 to my 8th grade class and a student asked me what it meant to be 'weaned.' I told him that it meant you're were no longer breast-fed. He then yelled out "I've never been weaned." Ummmm. ...... I don't think he quite understood.

The new hymnal now has songs from Chris Tomlin and other recent worship-song writers in it. Does this mean that we can't sing them anymore?

A snow day at church reveals a lot of people's real attitude about our Sunday meetings. They sound like kids hearing that school's been canceled when they find out church has been. Something just doesn't seem right about that. If we're excited about a way out, why do we get together in the first place?

I'm going to sound like a heretic, but what does it mean that everyone has the inalienable right to pursue happiness? I think that's a very gray area - because my happiness may depend on me hurting you. Do I really have that in-born right?

Which brings up another question: I know our founding documents also say that all men are born equal. Okay - I'll give that. But are we all born spiritually equal? Do we all have the same starting point from birth?

I'm struggling with this verse: "Make every effort to make your election and calling sure." Kind of seems contradictory when you think about it.

It's really cool to have Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida back together.

I like my heroes to have nothing to lose. Get rid of their wives and families so they can save the world with nothing hanging over their heads. Which, coincidentally, is what Christ asks us to do when He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him. We can't allow the world to have anything to hold against us to get us to stop moving forward. Hold everything you love with open hands.

I once interviewed five people for a job and each one told me that it was an answer to prayer. I ended up playing the true voice of God to only one of them. The other four? Well, let's just say that Satan never sounded so apologetic.

Psalm 81 says that if we open our mouth wide, God will fill it. I believe many Christians go through their lives with gritted teeth and therefore never humble themselves and open their mouths to receive that 'golden filling.'

I think that Obama's election was a classic case of the "times" creating a man and not vice versa. We as a country are so desperate that we've poured our collective hope upon someone who seems genuinely sincere and competent, but clearly not the demi-god he's portrayed to be. This speaks volumes of man's need for hope.

Speaking of hope, according to I Thessalonians 1:3, faith is the foundation of all things, love is the outcome of that faith - - - but hope is the fuel that keeps us moving forward.

We have become a country that sands off the edges: eliminating the unborn and boxing up the old.

Another time when I was teaching 8th grade Bible, a boy raised his hand and said, "Mr. Dagley, I have felt people." After a few moments of awkward silence, I realized he was trying to tell me that he had a flannel graph set for the Christmas story that we had been discussing.

I once had two people tell me that the other person was "Satan attacking me." I believe that both of them were correct.

The Divine Thread

Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things in in Him all things hold together."

I was lying in bed a few months ago and suddenly the thought hit me: It wouldn't take much for this to all fall apart. "This" being my life. I was especially thinking about my kids and I really felt strongly that there was only a thin string holding everything together in my life, and if it broke, then all hell would break loose. And I use that term literally, not flippantly. It's a very crippling thought, thinking it can all fall apart at any moment.

Then I was reassured by God: It is held together by a thread, but that thread is Christ and it will never be broken.

One of the main themes of Colossians is the Sufficiency of Christ in all things. I've been reading through it a lot lately, because I'm not sure that I truly believe it. If I truly believed that Christ was sufficient for everything, I would be living a different life, a more powerful and courageous life. Therefore I felt compelled by the Spirit to read this letter and I have am struck by the above verse - that Christ hold all things together. He is the Divine Thread, He has been there since the beginning, and in Him there will be strength and power.

This is a crucial point. If you don't think that He is sufficient, you will either move forward cautiously or not move forward at all. We can step out in complete faith that it will not all fall apart. When the economy appears to be crumbling and wars break out and "nature" runs rampant over cities, we can still move forward and know that our children, when they grow up, will also be able to move forward.

This is a very comforting thought for me. Now I can exhale. Now I can move.

That's Not Who I Am!!!

(Said in the voice of Jack Bauer):

The following took place between 6:45 and 6:50 on Christmas Morning:


Tom: (taking things out of his stocking) Hey, why did you get me lady's deodorant?

Ruth: That's what I always see you using.

Tom: I'm a man.

Ruth:

Tom: Seriously, why did you get me lady's deodorant?

Ruth: I thought it was what you liked to use.

Tom: I only use it because I'm too lazy to buy my own.

Ruth: Well how was I supposed to know that?

(Long pause)

Tom: I am a man, you know.

Ruth: You don't smell like one.

Tom: I hate you.

Ruth: There are Peanut Butter Cups at the bottom of your stocking.

Tom: I love you.

-------------------------------------

Here's the point: You can say what you want about yourself, but people only know what they see. For the past few years I've used Ruth's deodorant because I'm too lazy to buy my own. It's not her fault that she thinks I like to use it - I use it!

We like to think that we're someone different deep down. I'm really not this cranky. I'm really not this cynical. I'm really not this un-loving. I'm really not this lazy. I really don't cave in this easily to things.

BUT - that argument gets old pretty quickly if you live a life that shows something else. We can make these grand claims to ourselves all we want, but the life that is lived out long enough reveals who we really are.

I think this is why Henry IV part I is my favorite Shakespearean play. Hal knows he's someone different - a prince - even while he messes around with Falstaff and that useless, self-centered lifestyle. The reason I love this play is that eventually the king emerges from the crap. This is how we like to think of ourselves, eventually the king will emerge from the crap. BUT - - we often give ourselves too much credit and continually live out the life that is mediocre. If that's the case, then we ARE mediocre, there is no emerging king. You live long enough in a certain way, and before you know it your wife is buying you lady's deodorant.

We need to quit fooling ourselves.


By the way . . . . . I am a man.

Step Six: What is Fed is What Will Grow

Genesis 4:6 "Why are you so angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, IT desires to have you, but you must master IT."

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a great title. I've never seen the movie, but it describes perfectly to me what is going on with Satan and the destructive forces in my life. You see, I don't believe that Satan can get into the head of the believer, in the literal sense. When sealed with the Spirit, Satan is locked out. He is not omnipresent and He is not omniscient. But he can get in my head in other ways, and that is by watching me, like a "hidden dragon" and seeing what sins are "crouching tigers" by my door. What am I attracted to, what do I talk about, what do I complain about, what is consuming my thoughts - Satan watches these "tigers" and feeds them when I reveal them to him.

Psalm 73:15 says that "If I will speak thus I would have betrayed Your children," with the implication that if we vent our critical and doubtful feelings, those around us suffer. But I also use this verse to remind myself that if I am constantly revealing my inner struggles to the world (and to myself) then Satan will feed them. And they will grow.

Because there is a very simple principle in life: What is fed is what will grow.

I'm not saying that we should just stuff everything down inside of us until our insides rot, I'm saying that we have to quit playing with the things that are killing us because this is feeding them. Thinking about these things, complaining about them, meditating on them is feeding them. We feed our lusts by our thoughts. We feed our bitterness by our simmering angers. We feed our critical spirit, our cynicism, our discontent, our laziness, our apathy, our competitive nature . . . we feed them and they grow and then we wonder why we have no victory.

In conclusion to this brief series on defeating the IT in our lives, I've come to the realization that eradication of the IT is not going to happen, at least in most cases. We live with the lingering residue of our sinful nature until the day we die. Galatians 5: 16 says that we are to "live by the Spirit and we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." It does not say that we won't have these desires, just that they won't be fed to the point of devastating fulfillment.

Again - what we feed is what will grow. The Ishmaels (fruit of our flesh) must be sent to the desert, as Abraham reluctantly did in Genesis 21, and left to die. The Isaacs (fruit of the Spirit) must be fed and nurtured so they will grow up within us and in our homes.

There is no other solution. We know what the ITs are in our life and we simply have to stop feeding them. If you have a problem with lust, gouge out your eye! Get off the internet sites that feed it. Stop watching the movies that nurture it. Stop thinking the thoughts in your head that bring it life.

Stop giving the "hidden dragon" the food to feed the "crouching tigers"!!!

This is true for every IT in your life. We are without excuse. God has given us everything we need for a life of godliness in this world. (II Peter 1:3,4) If we're looking for a six step solution, we're just being lazy and avoiding the truth. Nothing more is coming. We have His Holy Spirit. We have His Word. We have the example of Christ and all of His riches. We have Christ within us!

Read John 6. Christ is telling us to feed on Him, to devour His flesh and blood, and let Him grow within us, until "Christ is formed in you." (Galatians 4:19) Then there will be no room for the IT in your life to grow, and Satan will have to move on to some other feeding ground.

What Do You Bring to the Table?

I've been reading the Gospel of John quite a bit lately, and it's very timely for me as I try to work out the irrelevant and the irreverent things in my life. I'm starting to see a pretty clear progression of the first 10 chapters in how Christ does exactly that.

In Chapter One the stage is set: The Word has become Flesh! In the next nine chapters we see how that plays out. God is in the world and things start getting knocked around pretty good. Let me take you through it:

Chapter 2: Christ takes His own mother - family - and puts her (nicely) in her rightful place. Then He takes the water jars that are used for ceremonial washings and ruins their original purpose forever. By filling them with wine they can never be used for the rituals that they were intended for. His purpose is clear: everything is coming down or being fulfilled. He then proceeds to the Temple and reveals that it's time has also come. It hasn't served its purpose so it's coming down. He Himself will fulfill its original purpose of bringing God to the people and the people to God.

Then in chapter three Christ nails the religious leadership by telling Nicodemus he should have known that it's about a spiritual renewal. Chapter four brings down the Samaritan worship rituals and as is always the case with Christ, He also takes down Jerusalem with it! ("Neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem . . . ")

In the next few chapters He systematically dismantles or restores the Sabbath, the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication. He clears the table, and brings Himself to it as the only option and the only true fulfillment of all of these rituals/holidays.

Which makes me think as I head into the New Year: What rituals/traditions/observances do I follow blindly without ever evaluating if they're still (or ever were) part of the Plan. He tells us in chapter 6 that we must feed on Him, consume Him: Christ is the meal, nothing else should be on the table.

So I ask again, what are we bringing to the table that doesn't belong? What things do we believe or hold dear to our souls that we would be shocked to find out when we get to heaven that we were wrong?

I'll tell you some things in my life:

I would be shocked to find out the Bible wasn't the authoritative, literal Word of God from Genesis to Revelation.

I would be mildly surprised if I found out that you could lose your salvation.

I wouldn't be shocked to find out I was wrong in my belief in the area of tongues or women in leadership.

As I read through John I'm reminded that I need to be constantly clearing things off the table and then picking them back up and holding them up to the true Light to make sure I haven't tied myself onto things that are not the Truth.

Anyone out there have any of their own 'thoughts' that they would / would not be surprised to find out that they were wrong?

The Motivation of the True Believer

Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

I've spoken to this point before but I really feel the need to say it again as we start another year: The motivational aspect of discipling really shouldn't be that difficult. The process may be hard, because believers come with baggage that needs to be patiently worked through - but the desire should be already there.

When the early church was forming, people were being saved by the hundreds. It was necessary for the apostles to work with them. But - it was the new converts who "devoted themselves" to the teachings and to fellowship and to communion and to prayer. They didn't need to be manipulated, convinced, coddled, provoked - they went after it. Probably imperfectly, and that's where discipling comes in, but they still had an immediate, intense desire to get into these things.

This is one of my biggest problems in the church today: we shouldn't have to try "methods" to get people to want to read the Word or to come to church, or to fellowship or to pray. It's an inborn desire that comes upon salvation and the sealing of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13,14) because that's what He wants to do.

If you find that you have to work really hard to get someone to want to read the Bible, to fellowship with other believers or to pray - then you may be looking at someone who has never really been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Step Five: Move IT

Judges 5:16 "In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Why did you stay among the campfires - to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart."

The other day I was eating breakfast with my kids when I realized to my horror that Josh had eaten a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and then left the table. I knew that I would be scraping the hardened remains of this wonderful cereal off of the side of the bowl - for the rest of my life. As anyone who has ever dealt with this before would tell you: if you don't get the Fruity Pebbles cleaned off while they're fresh in the bowl, it may require a power sander to remove them. They harden like cement - as if they're trying to become 'one with the bowl.'

The same is true with the IT in your life. When you are totally honest before God (read Psalm 139 for help in this area - it's basically an "I give up, You are everywhere" psalm) then a moment will come when you will know what to do. It is at that moment that you must act, or else whatever IT is will become like cement in your life, even more difficult to recognize and remove. These ITS want to become one with you - you cannot let them. They must be removed while they are fresh in your mind.

In Judges 4 and 5 we read of the great Israelite victory over the Canaanites, followed by Deborah's song. However, within her song, is a question for the tribe of Reuben: Why didn't you move when you heard the call? She implies that they sat around the campfire analyzing the situation when the call had already been given. They knew what to do, but they searched their hearts for too long and missed the battle.

Total honesty and immediate action are crucial to victory. If you get into His Word, God will reveal the inner secrets of your heart and you will know what needs to be done. You can't sit around the campfire and discuss it some more, or the light will slowly dissipate and you'll be harder than you were before you began the process. Your IT will become you, and you really don't want that to happen if you're truly seeking a life that is holy before the Lord.

Let's be honest here: You know what to do with the sin in your life. Do it now.