Feb
8
Not Really An Underdog
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
That was my favorite kind of Super Bowl. I had a reason to like both teams and the game was close. I thought overtime was almost a sure thing before that interception. A great game played by a lot of classy players and no referee interference in the outcome.
I also love it when the underdog wins. Normally, this would lead me to a conversation about how the life of Jesus seemed like an underdog story. He was born out of scandal in a cave. He was mocked and ridiculed during his ministry. He was killed in a public and humiliating way. And, then, He rose again to defy all His critics.
Yeah, except that misses some of the backstory. Of course, it wasn’t like that with this Super Bowl, either. The Saints may have not been the favorite to win, but they weren’t some upstart that nobody gave any hope to. They finished the regular season 13-3. They had the highest scoring offense in the league. They had a tenacious defense known for takeaways. This was a very good football team. Winning the Super Bowl was a completely reasonable outcome.
By the same token, Jesus was not a dark horse. He had His critics, but He was, after all, God:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1
“[...]The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’
‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Matthew 26:63-64
He was God in the flesh. He wasn’t an underdog. He was simply discounted and ignored by those who didn’t like His message.
Do not minimize Jesus. Do not underestimate Him. Do not allow Him to be defined into a box only to be set aside.
Jesus is God. The only question is how you respond to that.
Feb
7
Intolerance
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
“Can we all just get along?” Rodney King, 1992
I just realized that anyone under the age of 25 probably has no idea who Rodney King is. That’s okay, it’s not important.
The sentiment Mr. King has here is commendable, but naive. For a large number of random people to get along, one of two things has to happen. Either everyone involved must be forced to agree by a central authority or everyone must choose to allow anything to happen.
This, of course, is the folly of tolerance. Tolerance has come to mean accepting and even applauding people with different belief systems. In some cases it means being coerced to celebrate all belief systems as equally valid. When people aren’t tolerant enough, the laws are changed. (Notice how option two starts to look like option one when you have dissenters?)
Anyway, my point is that agreeing to be civil is pretty different from what tolerance means today. And if you qualify as tolerant and accepting, I would argue that you’ve basically chosen to leave any moral standards at the door. By definition, celebrating alternative morality means ignoring your own. It’s illogical and unreasonable to demand that people live that way.
“Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 97:10
That’s right. We are to hate evil. We are to judge sin. We are to draw a line in the sand between what is right and what is wrong and stand firm.
We need to be careful to separate the sin we hate from the sinner we love, but there is a place for rigidity. There is a place for intolerance.
I refuse to tolerate sin. I refuse to get along with immorality.
Feb
6
Not Complicated
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Allen
Yes and no are perfectly good answers for some questions.
“Will Christians and Muslims ever agree?” No!
“Don’t you guys worship the same God?” No!
“Isn’t Allah the same God that’s in the Bible?” No!
Some things just cannot be resolved and this, in my opinion, is one of those things. The Koran says:
“They are unbelievers who say, ‘God is the Third of Three.’ No god is there but one God. If they refrain not from what they say, there shall afflict those of them that disbelieve a painful chastisement.”
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1
“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?’ ” Acts 5:3
It is very clear that the belief systems are too far apart to ever come together. We are as different as night and day. We do not believe in a ‘Third of Three’ God.
Don’t make it more complicated than that.
Feb
5
Will Not Do?
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Allen
Is it just me? Why do these stances by the super-intelligent make this country boy’s head want to split? I guess I should just stop reading this stuff, but I have the feeling that one of these days a mind will change.
Richard Dawkins, distinguished professor of zoology at Oxford University is speaking here and I thought he almost got it!
“The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less can we believe that it just happened by blind chance. Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an Intelligent Designer.” Yes, Richard, yes, yes, yes! Strike up the band and set off the fireworks. The man sees the obvious!
And then total blind faith kicks in, and I mean blind to the highest order.
“I am afraid I shall give God rather short shrift. He may have many virtues: no doubt he is invaluable as a pricker of the conscience and a comfort to the dying and bereaved, but as an explanation of organized complexity he simply will not do. It is organized complexity we are trying to explain, so it is footling to invoke in explanation a being sufficiently organized and complex to create it.”
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2
God will not do, Richard?
I need an Advil.
Feb
4
Do
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
Things don’t get done unless people show up to do them. Tasks don’t get finished without actual hands and minds working on them, exerting effort, and completing them. Businesses don’t succeed without dedicated effort on the part of the staff. How many basketball games have you seen where a team loses a close game because nobody wants to do the work and take the risk to score? You get five professionals on the floor all hoping the other guy shoots. Games are lost when someone doesn’t step up.
I’ve been more and more convicted lately of the need to step up and get things done.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1
I’ve always read this as a need to give everything to God. Today, I saw this as a call to give my actual, physical body to God. I read that as a call to do the practical and tangible things to serve God. It’s simply a command to DO.
Do you contemplate and meditate with the best of them? Fantastic! That is a necessary part of your walk. But, what’s the result? What’s the fruit? How do people know that you obedient to Jesus? If the results of your life don’t look any different, then you’ve missed the point.
Obedience is about action. Get out there and do!
Feb
3
Serious Searching
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
The benefit of perspective has shown me that my parents were teaching me important lessons, but there were definitely times when they annoyed the heck out of me. One particular lesson that was taught repeatedly to me and my sisters was learning how to look for a missing item.
The scenario was always something like this: Dad sends you downstairs to find an item. After a few minutes of looking, you call up saying you can’t find it. Dad replies with, “Try looking a little harder.” A few more minutes pass with no luck, so you call again. Dad comes downstairs, finds the item in five seconds and then spends the next five minutes on a lecture about how to make an effort to look and search. This usually included demonstrations.
I know I learned that lesson, because I found myself teaching it to my son in almost exactly the same way. Really searching for something valuable takes effort. It’s not a casual glance around or a passive moving of papers. It’s more like opening every drawer, looking behind every book, and even moving furniture, if necessary. You work hard to find something really important.
I was reminded of how hard I needed to be searching, when I read this Proverb about seeking wisdom:
“and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:4-5
Are you searching for wisdom like you would for hidden treasure? Or, is Dad going to have to come find it for you?
Feb
2
Myths and Wishful Thinking
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Allen
There I was, just walking along on the treadmill about 6:30 in the AM and watching the news while huffing and puffing. The anchor announces that there is a movement afoot to look for alien lifeforms not in outer space, but right here on earth. Being dutiful, the newscast interviewed a scientist with a lot of letters after his name. It seems that some have concluded that DNA-based life is all related, but there just might be some life forms not based on DNA in and around the planet and, by definition, that would make it alien to us. He then proceeded to state that because there are so many different types of life on earth and because there are so many millions of planets, it is only logical that there are alien life forms in the universe. We’ll leave that logical error for another discussion.
He goes on to say that nature produces life all the time and that it’s not that big of a deal and certainly not a miracle.
“Well, some people think all life is a miracle,” says the anchor.
The scientist responds, “Well, I know that gives some people comfort, but the fact is,” (now, pay attention everyone, this is a gem), “if you are a termite living in a mound, you think you are pretty special, but as soon as you come out of your mound and see several other mounds full of termites, you realize that you are not!”
“Can you give me an example of one of these life forms?”
“No, not right now. This is just an idea, but it could be right. Our planet could have been struck by a rock from Mars and that rock could have introduced a new life form here.”
Not right now? Could be right? Might have been? These are the same people that look at Scripture and the personage of Jesus Christ and have no problem dismissing it all as myth.
“In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.” Psalm 102:25-27
And that includes the stupid termites, too!
Feb
1
Freaky
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
While I would consider myself a comic and sci-fi geek, I have never been to a comic convention. I wouldn’t mind going to meet some of the artists I like or to see the discussion panels with actors and directors from my favorite movies and TV shows, but you wouldn’t catch me dead dressing up. I have nothing against those folks who go all out to get into costume or those who know every last line and detail of the entire Star Trek universe. I don’t wish ill on those that will spend hundreds of dollars on an old comic book or who want to have a traditional Klingon wedding. I just think they’re all nuts!
These fans are consumed by their love for the universe envisioned by a handful of people and populated by fictional characters played by actors. They are completely devoted to all things about this universe. They get passionate about defending it and arguing with those who would change it. It’s dedication to the point that some wonder about mental instability.
Make fun all you want (I sure do), but remember that people should wonder the same thing about our dedication to God:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5
We have the advantage that He is not fictional, but the unsaved may consider Him to be so.
So, how do you appear to them?
Does anyone think you’re a little nuts?
Has anyone called you a Jesus freak?
Jan
31
Simply Defined
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
God excludes. God hates. God rages. God condemns.
These are but a few of the claims thrown around by those who reject Jesus and God. These claims are based on their disagreement with God about the best way to a happy and healthy life. In some cases, these claims germinate in the minds of those who are angry with God for being who He is. In all of these cases, these claims are wrong.
“You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” Psalm 86:5
God forgives. God listens. God loves.
Just because you don’t like His response, it does not mean it isn’t a loving one. Just because you don’t like His paths, it does not mean that they are punishment. Just because God is righteous and just, it does not mean that He hates.
We cannot redefine the terms because we don’t like the implications.
Jan
30
Proper Focus
Filed Under Devotional
Written by Wyatt
“When we become aware of our humility, we’ve lost it” – Unknown
“for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome [pride], I should probably be proud of my humility.” Benjamin Franklin
I’ve always found this dilemma good fodder for jokes, but it’s only funny because it has a nugget of truth in it. We are called to be humble, but it isn’t that hard to become prideful about our humility. I think the solution is like everything else when it comes to following Jesus: Don’t focus on humility or love or kindness. Focus on Jesus.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2
If we submit to treating others as higher than ourselves and we work at bearing each others’ burdens, we don’t have time to be prideful. If we stick to listening to Jesus and just following Him, we won’t have time to get obsessed with one trait or another.
Be humble and gentle and patient and all the rest by being focused on Jesus.
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