Friday, June 26, 2009

The Three Phases of Cranky

I know - I get cranky once in awhile. The good/bad thing about it is that I very rarely deceive myself. I know when I'm "there."

I've come to the conclusion that there are three phases of a cranky person:

1. I will affect the entire mood of the house. (Bad)

2. I realize I'm getting cranky, so for the sake of the house, I will separate. (Better)

3. I realize I'm getting cranky, so I will work through it and not allow my mood to become the mood of the house, nor will I separate. (Best)

We have the same phases with the things that bother us in a church. The morally neutral areas of Christian living. We either bring everyone down with us, divide, or acknowledge and try to work through them.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I Samuel 7 - A Great Chapter

I'm getting ready to preach through I Samuel 7 this Sunday night so I'm throwing out some thoughts on what is really a great passage of scripture:

1. When the Israelites finally get that this divided heart thing is not working, they mourn and seek God. Samuel tells them that they have to "clean house" and then they got rid of all of these foreign gods. It never ceases to amaze me that we think we can have this wonderful relationship with God while clinging to all the garbage of the world. God does not co-habitate.

2. They return to the Lord - but the Philistines still attack. A return to God doesn't guarantee an end to the battles. They may even escalate.

3. When God does come in - there is no battle. Just like Revelation 20:7, when Satan is released and preps for battle. God breathes, it's over. (Whatever your interpretation of this passage: futuristic, symbolic, preterist - it's pretty cool). Point: When God breathes, the enemy dies. Do we realize that the authority of the Creator of the universe is within us when we seek to advance His kingdom? The gates of hell cannot stand against Him! Again - there is no battle when God breathes!

4. Ebenezer - "Thus far has the Lord helped us." I love this part of the victory, because in "thus far" is the expectation of greater things. (or at least different things - they may not be greater.) It's a marker, but one that's placed along the way, not at the end. Samuel is expecting more. I get charged by this because sometimes I think that where I am is the end of the story. There are greater things to come if I will only open my heart and my mind to God.


Once when I was administrator of SSCA, one of my teachers came up to me with an interesting problem. Seems he had written on one of student's Progress Reports: "Student X has had a great term thus far." The mother called him livid - was he expecting this to be temporary? Was he expecting her son to fail, to be unable to keep up with this pace? We laughed about this (after the meeting) and told Mrs. Capozzi to relax, but at least she understood something, something that Samuel also knew: "Thus far" means that things can change along the way. For good or bad.

I read this chapter and I get challenged and excited. Get rid of the garbage, be prepared for battle, know that with God victory is assured, and expect great things. Not a bad chapter.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Psalm 23 and the Manifest Presence of God

While walking today, I was reciting the 23rd Psalm and finding a wonderful freshness to it. Walking in paths of righteousness. For His Name's sake. For You are with me. All these phrases were working through my head when the Spirit put upon me that His presence was within me, changing this a bit:

The Lord is within me - my greatest want has been satisfied.
Every place I lie down is a green pasture.
Quiet waters are found on the busiest city streets.
My soul has been restored.
Every path is one of righteousness, for His name is upon me.
The shadows of the valley of death are seen for what they really are -
The Reality within me overwhelms them.
Perfect Love has driven out fear.
His presence is a rod within me, removing all things that hinder,
Bringing comfort and peace to my soul.
I am able to invite my enemies to the table,
To love them and feed them from the food that has been set before me,
For I have been anointed with the oil of His Spirit.
His cup overflows through me into the world.
Goodness and love pour out of me,
All the days of my life,
For I am the house of the Lord.
Forever.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Down Goes Dagon!

I Samuel 5:4 "But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained."

Once in awhile we need to remind ourselves that we are not to be living in a defensive posture. God is the most powerful Force in all of creation. There is nothing that can stand before His presence and survive unless He allows it.

When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, they put it in their temple with the rest of their 'gods.' This is something we like to do with God - mix Him in with everything else in our life - but His mere presence simply won't allow for it. When they came in the next morning, Dagon, their chief god, was on his face before the Ark. So they set him back up again. That's what we always do - we reset our gods into place when they get knocked down. But the next morning, as we read in I Samuel 5:4, not only was Dagon down, but his head and hands were knocked off. It was as if God was saying: "He has no wisdom (head) or power (hands) in my presence," and broke them off to make that statement as clear as possible.

You are the Temple of the Living God - God Himself dwells within you - do not live today in a defensive position. Do not play to 'not lose.' Play to win. Too many teams I've coached or played on have made this mistake. They just play to not lose, to keep the score respectable, to survive until the final buzzer or the last out. We often live this way as Christians, curled up and hoping to make it to the end, huddled in our churches until it's all over, whatever that even means.

But God is advancing His kingdom - through you and me. Let's be bold and confident as we head out into the darkness. Let's pray with greater expectations. Let's expect the kingdoms of darkness to fall in the face of the Lord of all Creation, it's head and hands smashed on the threshold, as if desperately trying to get out of His presence, but not able to make it, because He doesn't just defeat the enemy, He destroys him. "Where O Death is your victory?" It doesn't exist. Satan has no grip on the child of God. The Cross has destroyed any last vestiges of power that Satan had over you.

I get chills just thinking about it. The gates of hell cannot stand in the presence of God. But through the precious blood of Christ, I can.

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Violence of Silence

Obadiah 10 - 12 "Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune."


When a brother is plundered, and you stand off to the side in silence, you are a part of the violence. It is as though you have the sword in your own hand. Edom, the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, watched in pleasure as the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. This silent assent was just as bad as if they were one of them and they were punished as if they were a part of the plundering.

In our own lives, this can range from silent satisfaction when a brother stumbles (yes, Christians do this), gloating over the failure of a local ministry, ignoring the murder of the unborn, all the way to inactivity while brothers and sisters around the world are slaughtered. I wish I knew the appropriate Christian response to these global tragedies, but at least I can eliminate silence as one of the options.

"On the day you stood aloof . . . . you were like one of them."