Category: christian living
How To Fight Like Heaven Against Hell
I was ambushed in college by a group of peers who sought to repay me for teasing one of their own. In fact, they kidnapped me. I was rushed upon in my own room and, as I tell it in The Day I Got Checkmated, “I fought as I had never done before, amazing myself as I beat back two at a time, wildly slinging some away and knocking others to the ground.” It was the most momentous fight I’ve ever had, even if only a friendly one.
The Quotable ‘Mike’
“We are a church culture that ranks sins.” from Leave None Behind
The Night Is Dark and Full of Terrors
Recall with me that richly devotional passage, Psalm 53:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Let’s change the wording and context of the verse, O.K.? Reimagine it being prayed to…Satan. That’s right, our adversary. Now you will be able to understand what you’re about to see in the following clip.
One of the most riveting scenes for me in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was when Kylo Ren, the bad guy, prayed to his deceased grandfather, Darth Vader, asking his forgiveness. It was attention-grabbing because…well, watch it for yourself.Read More »
Tithing: My Journey
Every Sunday at offering time it was the same scripture, Malachi 3:10-12, declared from the pulpit, King James Version: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house”. It became one of those things you couldn’t help but memorize because it was recited every Sunday. Some people know the Apostles’ Creed for the same reason. “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts”. My pastor always misspoke “delightsome”—“for ye shall be a delightforsome land,” he would say.Read More »
Fruit and Seed
Scripture extensively references fruit. Its significance generally ranges from harvested crops to progeny to quality of character. But I wish to draw attention to an important aspect of fruit that the Bible doesn’t highlight and perhaps assumes readers’ understanding. People living in first century agrarian society would have easily made the connection.
First: some science on how and why fruit develops. It begins when a plant is pollinated, maybe by an insect or the wind. Once pollen, produced by the male anther, has landed on the female stigma, it forms a long pollen tube that bores down to the plant’s ovary that stores ovules (eggs). Only then does the pollen release its sperm that journeys along the tube to the ovules where fertilization occurs.Read More »
The Provisions of Process
“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck…I am worn out calling for help.” (Ps. 69:1, 3)
While driving across town I meditated on an assurance the Lord had given me the day before about a problem I faced. Then, there came a familiar shoulder tap.
“Invite me into this area of your life.”
It took me by surprise. I thought, You mean with all the prayer, begging, and pleading I’ve done about this, I have never invited you? And again:
“You are seeking my intervention. But I desire to give you process.”
The Spiritual Life
What God had already taught me about lifelong spiritual process was in that moment scaled down to the very practical areas of my life that I may have always quickly blessed with a prayer and continued to struggle with on my own. After all, those areas are not “spiritual”, as spiritual goes, although he is concerned, right?
Wrong. All of life is spiritual. It is difficult for us to comprehend God’s ability to see in one moment our lives from beginning to ending, including all we’ll ever face, and how he will providentially add and subtract people, opportunities, and events and dispel evil plans—let alone know what role our own choices will play—all in making us who we are and are becoming.
So we err when we compartmentalize our lives and relegate God and his sovereignty to certain corners of our thinking and practice.
Things We Cannot See
I realized that although God has heard my every prayer and cry for help, there is something deeper he desires to make me see. I couldn’t help but feel that despite all my praying, begging, and pleading, I may have never truly trusted God with my case.
We all know that a wounded dog is a difficult one to help because it is actively engaged in protecting its wound. We can be like that dog: “God, I need your help! But don’t touch me here because I hurt. If you touch me and make me feel more pain, I’m going to bite you! So, just let me alone; I’ll deal with it by myself.”
In our devoutness we’d like to believe that we’re fully open to God’s dealings in our lives. Theoretically, yes, we usually are open to him. But practically it quickly becomes a different story—because it’s not pretty and easy when he starts touching and cleaning those wounds.
We cannot see what he can. He understands far better than we that a problem, whether a sin, a personal flaw, or a troubling practical matter, is not always a self-contained issue. Sometimes what we are demanding be quickly remedied, as if plucking a weed from the ground, has grown tendrils and affected other areas of our lives. For instance, once I pulled a growing root off an old house only to find that it grew from the house into the ground and the full length of the yard onto another property; where I severed it wasn’t half the distance to the source.
So, when we ask for God’s help, he may ask us for something deeper—an invite. It’s as if he says, “Are you sure? Do you trust me? Because to heal this might hurt a little in other ways.”
Process: A Holistic Approach
But what a grace it is! It is a holistic approach to dealing with our lives. Sure, he’s God and he could think problems out of our lives in an instant. But we’re not automatons; we don’t need to be fixed. We’re humans in need of healing. A holistic approach considers and respects the spirit-soul-body makeup he gave us; and it is rare that something affecting one part of us will not also affect another.
A holistic approach also harmonizes with that defining characteristic of God: his redeeming nature. Consider the gods of mythology and some religions today: when the deity is not pleased or mortals are wayward, what is the response? Rage. Vindication. Death. Such is not the nature of God, but rather he takes pleasure in renewal, renovation, refashioning. He glorifies. He begs the attention of a watching world that the irascible, mangy, emaciated, flea-ridden hound you see now will soon be the gorgeous, healthy, and devoted dog it was designed to be.
Getting More Than You Expected
God’s desire is to heal and deliver us, but he wants our cooperation to learn what he needs to teach us about ourselves. He wishes to show us how our emotions may be leading us astray or how our attitude is wrong. He cares to let us see how undisciplined we may be, keeping ourselves defeated. He hopes to uncover sensitive areas of our lives and administer inner healing and release. He must show us how we may be working ourselves into Satan’s hold. And on and on…
This is what “I desire to give you process” means.
I don’t mean to be unloving here, but stop waiting on a miracle because it probably won’t happen. Remember the first part—“You are seeking my intervention”? As we’ve experienced them, miracles are uncommon. God seems to prefer process because it engages and perfects us.
At this point the wrong approach is to run away, fleeing further pain, which is something to be considered. How many times has God made a promise to you about a matter and you celebrated and were confident in his answer only to see the situation seemingly crash and burn—and then you had to go through an extended process to discover the true victory he described to you? But in the end, were you not grateful and better off for taking the long way around? The experience worked more in you than you gaining the quick fix you sought.
Let me encourage you not to grow weary when after inviting God your life becomes even more topsy-turvy. It is God positioning you for the answer. He’s not hurting you; he’s blessing you. He’s renovating the house, gutting what’s outdated and useless to start anew and give you what you’ve only dreamed of and never thought could be yours.
The Human Element
Dark times can subtly creep upon us. Sometimes Satan is merely the one who capitalizes on other things happening with us. When I say dark times I don’t mean sickness, although that’s certainly nothing to be happy about; I don’t mean attack by an enemy. I simply mean unexpected emotional hardship in response to life experiences. It’s our own hearts taking us by surprise.
I’ve always referred to this as the ‘human element’. The phrase is rudimentary, lacking eloquence, and in need of explanation. Let me share two stories from my life to help you see what I mean.
Story 1: The Summer Burn-Out
I went to college in Oklahoma, so I didn’t often return home on the East Coast during holidays and summers. Instead, I would remain on campus and work. The school year had ended and my routine remained largely the same besides no study and working full-time to care for myself. I was to begin my junior year that fall and take some long-awaited major courses. But by the time classes started I was mentally fatigued, having never rested. By the end of that semester, my grades plummeted and I nearly failed two important courses.
Story 2: The Derailed Trainman
I once worked as a railroad conductor. One sunny day after our last move before returning to the hub, my engineer and I were halted. I had been secretly watched by an official and hassled for a trivial infraction; the fallout caused a very serious error minutes later. It landed both of us out of work on a 10-month probation that ruined me financially. I lost everything and had to rely on others. Outwardly I seemed fine, but I was emotionally devastated by my loss. When the time came to return to the job, I resigned despite offers of help from family.
From Stasis to Chaos
When I speak of the human element, I’m talking about unanticipated disconsolation, depression, or vices resultant of continual emotional wear or emotionally depleting events or results. It is elicited by both positive and negative experiences. One day life is swell—the family is fine, work is good, money is flowing, dreams are coming true; but the next moment we are emotionally blindsided and don’t know why.
It is the response of the heart that is atypical. Pain hurts and you cried; you were elated by your success—but there was more that was incited.
I speak of the subtle trajectories of the heart, the unexpected drawings and cravings certain experiences arouse and that point back to emotional flaws or deficiencies needing special attention. This is a poignant matter in our driven, innovative culture where we suppose we can continually be on the go and have every experience without proper solace and emotional reflection and repair; it only leads to breakdown.
We cannot always calculate how we will react to our experiences. There is no autopilot for our emotions; they change and must be managed. Have you ever been happy for a friend’s success and then for weeks battled your own feelings of failure? Have we not all observed the successful business person or celebrity, a rising star but a life spinning out of control. They cope with their success by drinking, through addictions and riotous living, and even suicide.
How we deal with life events, the good and bad, is plethora and accomplished in healthy and unhealthy ways. Importantly, we should closely monitor how certain experiences stimulate our emotional needs and carefully plan our responses. Being unaware or not fully honest about serious inner issues is risky.
And before you give me a gospel spiel, I understand what it means to live in the Spirit, to have strong faith, and to make Christ Lord of every part of me. It doesn’t change the fact, however, that godly folk wrestle with their emotions and become depressed. If you need evidence, the biggest book in the Bible is full of people who have shared these very stories and watched God bring them back from the brink. Our emotional reaction is one thing; a mindful and godly response is another—but we can have emotional struggles.
I offer no quips or solutions. I just think it’s important to know that the events of our lives affect us in more ways than are apparent, emotionally so; and that being attentive to our souls and how we handle life matters is vital to our emotional well-being—Christian or not.
A Word to the Accepted
I am perplexed as to why many Christians work so hard to be what they already are: the righteous. A strong emphasis on discreet living is too often undermined by pretense and hypocrisy; it is easily identified in churches and some Christian brands. This happens when preserving a godly image outweighs living as frail individuals liberated in the grace of God.
Our righteousness in Christ is a fact; we are unblemished in God’s sight.
But there are reasons we live as though this isn’t true. We feel that we have to prove our righteousness—to ourselves, to others, and to God—and become entrapped in works religion, forcing ourselves to earn God’s favor. Then, at the heart of it for many people is a conscience that remains guilt-ridden and desperate for penance, needing a deep understanding of grace.
On Sanctification
Conversion is a lifestyle of sanctification, which is inherently progressive in nature and governed by God’s abundant mercy. I can master one area of my life and bring God glory there while another area may present me a lifelong chore; and though I may stumble, God’s power remains available to help me overcome that vice. But sanctification is an act spoiled if we retain too strongly a judicial view of God. That is the reason why we feverishly sweep around our doors and morally dot our “I’s” and cross our “T’s”—because God must be appeased and there is no stumbling or he’ll be mad at us.
How paradoxical it is that those who sing “Amazing Grace” have not grasped it! We let the dust cloud of guilt, personal failings, and dim outlook make us overlook Jesus before us saying “I accept you.” He doesn’t accept us because we have it together, but rather because we need him, the Savior.
A Present Reality
This radical kindness is what makes our only duty—emulating Christ by producing the fruit of righteousness (Gal. 5:22-23)—paramount. This one way is how we prove not our uprightness, but our love for God and appreciation for his kindness to us. It is perhaps the greatest assurance of our salvation. Christ died and gave us his life (zoe); we kill sinful tendencies and grow in righteousness—but in full knowledge that we are broken and still accepted.
So we need not resort to works religion, sin management, or undue behavior modifications. Instead, we are now righteous. We are now saints of God. We are now entered into the kingdom to come.
A 'Mike' for Christ 