From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 1 00:26:55 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue Nov 1 00:27:48 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Overflow Message-ID: Whatever your feelings about the Halloween holiday, chances are that you'll be snacking on some bite-sized candy for the next week or two. Now that I can no longer expect trusting folks to just hand candy out to me, I have to depend on the overflow. The excess candy that my coworkers bring in and share with the office is always plentiful. We all tell our wives that we'll take it to work so someone else will eat it. In fact, we're just hoping for more variety from the other guys so we can eat like we did when we were ten! What kind of candy folks bring in always tells me a little something about what they are like. I always hated the little suckers because they only lasted about ten minutes and seemed cheap. When those come in to work, I lose a little respect for that guy. On the other hand, I've been a devotee of Butterfingers and Reeses candy for years. When those come in to work, I feel closer to that guy and end up spending a lot of time around his cube. At least until the candy's gone. The point is that there's something to learn there. Not much, but a little. What are people learning about you? What do they think by what you bring to work? Analyzing candy choices can be a humorous activity. But, what about your attitude? Your speech? Your effort? If your co-workers know you are a Christian, they'll be watching all of these things to form an image of why a Christian is different. If they don't know of your faith, hopefully they'll see how different you are and ask why. If, however, you don't stand out from the crowd then you're not representing Christ well. They'll decide that there's no value in following Jesus. They won't see a difference. Worse, they'll find reason to think you're a hypocrite who says he follows a higher standard and then doesn't follow through. You don't have to be perfect, but if you are truly a new creation, then the proof is in the fruit you produce. "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:44-46 Notice that Jesus is not talking about simply putting on a good show. He doesn't want you to be an actor. He wants you to live the life He's laid out for you. He's telling us that the right way to change our outward demeanor is to change the heart. When you truly let Christ into your heart and let Him lead your life, the rest will follow. Any other way is impossible. Do this right and you won't feel the need to hold a grudge or get revenge. You will lose the desire to make a cutting remark or cut corners to get ahead. You will produce good fruit and unbelievers will recognize you for who you are from it. Don't try to clean up your rotten fruit. Let Christ replant the tree. The attractive fruit happens naturally. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 2 00:16:41 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed Nov 2 00:17:32 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Fear Message-ID: October 31st is a night that will be debated long after I have gone home to be with the Lord. Halloween doesn't have very pleasant roots, but over the decades it has evolved into somewhat of a fun evening for kids. It is a night that we dabble in "fun fear". Kids dress up, go out after dark, ring doorbells, and collect candy. We had a few on our little hill this year. I saw a fairy, a banana, a boy in a blow- up spider outfit, a couple of superheroes and, at the hardware store earlier in the day, a toddler dressed up as a green bean. The TV had an array of stories about haunted places, magicians, and then some movies that were meant to scare the sleep right out of you. It started me to thinking about the times I was scared as a child. Those were the times where fear of the unknown darkness overshadowed what I knew to be the truth in the daylight. We lived on a farm in Colorado as sharecroppers for a while and the house was a big old place built in the late '30s. My room was actually off a room that had a door to the side of the house. The room had a big hand-cranked cream separator. It was a strange contraption that in the daylight looked like a normal piece of machinery one might find on a farm. At night, with the moon coming through the windows the outline was very recognizable. One night, however, I awoke to look out my door and see what was a huge monster in the moonlight. The familiar outline was gone and in its place was something that had made its way into the house and was standing right outside my door. I was frightened to the point of not being able to cry out or even move. I lay there frozen and afraid to close my eyes. I don't know how long I just stared at this thing that was clearly staring back at me, but I then it was suddenly morning. I opened my eyes and then remembered the thing that was just outside my door. I looked out to see the cream separator with a pile of clothes on top that my mother had placed there after I had gone to bed. In the daylight, it became obvious that I had been petrified over a couple pairs of pants and a work shirt. My mind had done the rest. The Bible speaks of fear, but it also speaks of being terrified. I glean from scripture that being terrified is a step up from being afraid. "Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them." " Deuteronomy 1:29 "Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified." Luke 2:9 "to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop." Hebrews 12:19 It seems to me that fear is a warning that being terrified is right around the corner. Fear is a run-and-hide emotion or a gird-up-your- loins-and-stand-your-ground event. Terrified is a drop-your-sword, hit-your-knees and beg-for-your-life event. I suspect that when Jesus returns the unsaved won't be afraid, they will be terrified. Men don't find yourself there. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu Nov 3 00:43:52 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu Nov 3 09:59:55 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Get Well Soon Message-ID: <8bb357e49652170089386d254ec77090@clanwebb.com> I apologize if my writing is less than clear. I haven't been getting much sleep over the past few nights. You see, our son has been fighting a cold and we've been having to get up every four hours during the night to give him medicine. That might seem like overkill to some, but he is in a special circumstance. Our son has mild asthma. Usually, you'd never know it. When he gets a cold, though, we have to be extra careful. The two conditions can amplify one another and we could end up in the hospital in short order if we don't pay attention. So, we make sure he gets his meds on time and we end up riding it out without much difficulty. That's just the way we've done it for several years. The funny thing is that, during the day, you wouldn't even know he's sick. He coughs once an hour and feels a little tired, but not enough to keep him from playing video games or trying to wrestle me to the ground. When I have the same symptoms he does, I don't even stay home from work. For him, it's just a little more insidious. I praise God that when we all meet Him, we won't have to worry about stuff like that. Whether it's a little back pain or asthma or diabetes or cancer, it'll all be gone when we're home. "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." " Mark 2:17 In this passage, Jesus is using health as an analogy to describe why He came. I think there is truth in both meanings, though. I believe that Christ will heal all of our ills, but the primary one is sin. Christ will cover our sin, so that we can be in Heaven as pure and holy people. Our sin is a lot like my son's asthma. We look normal to other people most of the time. Nobody would know that we have a problem until something comes along to trigger it. Temptation causes us to buckle and aggravate the sin in our life. That makes us spiritually sick. And, if we aren't careful about the problem of sin it can quickly get out of hand. Soon, we'll be on a spiritual stretcher hoping God will hit us with the defibrillator. Don't wave it off when you feel yourself getting spiritually sick. Don't tell yourself you'll work through it and get over it. Go see the Great Physician. Tell Him what's going on. Tell Him what you need. He will heal you. It may not always be pleasant or easy, but He will heal you. Get well soon, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri Nov 4 00:28:39 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri Nov 4 00:29:27 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Dig Deep Message-ID: <712ac09964beeb5924303bb1f84d60c4@clanwebb.com> Don't you hate it when the world just shifts on you? Those times when you think you have something planned out and then, suddenly, the plan no longer applies because the world has changed. I'm not talking about when the speed bump comes up or the brick wall appears. Those are obstacles and you should plan to have those. I'm talking about how you have planned for years to cross the moat and storm the castle and then, one day, someone informs you that the moat is gone and the castle has been moved to the side of a mountain. For lesser men, it could drive you give up and take a long walk off a short pier. I was just reading about how this happened to a video game company. You see, game companies love to buy licenses to sell their games. A license is a recognizable property of characters or branding that will move a game to the top of the stack quite quickly. As you might expect, buying a license is very expensive and so it's quite a gamble. The right license might get you noticed, but if you have a bad game, it won't matter. On the other hand, if your game is great, but you don't have any recognizable characters, you may not generate much interest. It's something a company wants to be sure of before laying out a lot of money. Well, this certain company thought it could do well selling games based on the Lord of the Rings books. A good bet. The characters and stories lend themselves to games and there's a huge fan-base ready to go. So, they negotiated a deal with the license holder to use the characters, events, and locations from Tolkien's books. They then began to build several games ( a multi-year process ) and as they were getting ready to ship, they started to market these games. They had given the famous characters faces and a unique look that they hoped would become the de facto standard. What this company did not know, however, was that another, larger company had also worked with the license holder to negotiate a license to all aspects of the Lord of the Rings related to the movies that were being made. They too made games based on the characters and stories, but they were able to make their games look like the movies. The characters looked the same, the events were similar, and they even used the same actors to provide the voices. Once the movies were released, those actors were the definitive image of the characters. They were the voices. Those were the events kids wanted to re-enact. The first company was blindsided. Their games were ignored and did poorly because nobody could identify with their version of the stories or characters. They had spent enormous amounts of time and money on planning and executing this grand production only to have the movies come out and change the rules dramatically. There are many business rules to be learned from this story, but the biggest is in how to react after it happens. I can imagine that the leadership and stockholders of the first company were looking for heads to roll. The truth is that they couldn't predict the unexpected. The right thing to do is to pick up the pieces, learn the lessons, retrench, and move on. We can't predict the unexpected either. That's why we have to build our life plan such that it depends on God. Don't depend on what you see. Don't depend on what you know. It can shift. "He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." Luke 6:48 I love how this passage says "dug down deep". The rock is not easy to find in the world. It's not obvious for everyone. You have to look past the shifting sands and dig through it all to find where the rock is. Then build on it. We see those who have built on the sand only to see the world change underneath them. There's often nothing left. Sometimes, I feel like I've built on the rock, but I didn't dig deep enough. There's still a little sand between my house and the rock, so the storms do shake me a little, but my house doesn't fall down. After each storm, though, the sand has shifted and my house has settled a little closer to the rock. The world can change around you in an instant. The rock never changes, though. Make sure you won't get surprised and watch your house get upended. Build it on the rock. Make sure to dig deep. I better grab my shovel, I think I hear the sand shifting. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 5 01:17:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat Nov 5 01:17:59 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Careful Who You Talk To Message-ID: I spent a lot of my youth on fairly remote farms and ranches. For a period of time, my best friends were my sister and an imaginary guy I just made up. I remember my sister pretty well. The other guy is a little vague. Of course, he always was. She was a high strung girl with many talents. She was spiritual in the sense that she was always imagining things. I should say that some of her manifestations had logical explanations. One good example was a ghost that she swore was playing a piano on the porch at night. Her bedroom was the only one near enough to hear it, so we were all a bit skeptical. However, one night on my way back from the privy, I stopped dead in my tracks as there were notes coming from the back porch. Just what I needed was a ghost and a dizzy sister. It stopped playing, so I dashed past and into the house. The next day, I was forced to confirm that my dizzy sister was right. There had been a ghost playing the piano on the back porch. I added that he wasn't very good. One evening, the mystery was solved when we caught an old tom cat sneaking in and spending the night when we all went to bed. He came in through a tear in the screen door, up on the piano keys, and then strolled across to his makeshift bed on the floor in the corner. Because my sis was prone to this kind of stuff, and six years older than me, she pretty much ruled the roost when the folks were gone. She was also the cook while they were gone, and hunger being the motivator that it is, she could get me to do just about anything she wanted. When things got dark enough outside and quiet enough inside, she would get out the Ouija Board. This is a game, or so it is called, that includes a board with an alphabet inscribed on it along with the word, "Yes", "No", and "Good Bye". The only other piece is a three legged platform with felt on the tips and a clear plastic window in the center. The idea is for two or more people to place their fingers lightly on the edges of the platform (planchette) and ask "the spirits" a question. If they decided to answer, the platform would move about the board from letter to letter and spell out the answer or go to the "Yes" or "No". Now, here is the deal. I didn't have to touch the platform for it to start to move. In fact, my sister didn't have to actually touch the platform either. She could just hover her fingers over the piece and that sucker would take off without a question. Yeah, it was weird, but I was too fascinated to be scared. Sometimes, I would take a playing card and pass it between her fingers and the piece just to make sure she wasn't doing it herself. The game gave us the name of dead people, or at least it said that it did, and other spooky stuff. What happened on that farm some fifty years ago seems more than a game now that I have been in the Word for many years. There are spirits and demons. "Now there was a heard of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters." Matthew 8:30-32 This example is one of the most quoted from scripture, but by no means the only reference. A word search reveals well over thirty times when the subject is discussed in the Bible. It is a dangerous business to consult or attempt to communicate with these entities. Think of it as if you were to climb to the top of a power pole and begin to scratch away at the power line with your pocket knife. There will be a moment when you get a small buzz, and then there will be a moment when you are overcome and may not survive. God is very clear. "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off form among his people. " Leviticus 20:6 "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:31 "Now a man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them." Leviticus 20:27 Would a loving father place such warnings if he didn't mean to keep us from harm? Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 6 02:13:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun Nov 6 02:13:58 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Explaining Pain Message-ID: <57ef6f085be43402bf8d9dd1b3944378@clanwebb.com> They say that pain doesn't have memory. I guess that is true in the sense that you can't relive the actual transfer of the message to the brain that causes one to experience the moment. However, it is obvious that one can remember it was unpleasant enough that you don't want to go through it again. I guess that is why most people don't rush to the dentist with the same anticipation as they would have if they were heading to their favorite restaurant with a gift certificate. It is especially difficult to relate a painful experience of our own to another person. They usually understand that it was painful to us, but they can only relate to a point. Parents often find themselves in the position of trying to warn a child of what certain decisions can be painful and what they will feel like if they choose to make those decisions. It is a void that God has left in relationships, even to the point that Jesus could not relate the pain the disciples were going to feel when He was gone. In fact, they never really grasped the idea that He was going to leave at all. They would hear Him say it, but they were fearful of asking for clarification. They would discuss it among themselves, but by not going to the source, they make it harder to understand the event. "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." John 16:20-22 The best any of us can do is to follow the pattern set out here by the Lord. Tell them what is coming. Warn them that they won't like it. Give an example, so that they may relate, and then reassure them that because God is in control there will be a time for the saved when there will be no pain. That will be a time of only joy and it will never be taken away. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 7 00:48:37 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon Nov 7 00:49:23 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] First Hand Message-ID: I have been a history buff since high school. Studying the people and events that have made impacts on the course of the world is fascinating to me. No matter how much I read, though, it always feels cleaned up and prepared. The author almost always has hindsight filtering his writing. There's just something about first hand experience or, if you can't be there, a first hand account. I've been especially interested in learning about the first half of the twentieth century. Understanding the events of two world wars and what led to the Cold War. These are historical events to me because I was born after they happened. The end of the Cold War, the attacks on September 11, and things since don't seem like history to me because I lived through them. I have my own memories and experiences to draw on when considering those events. This past weekend, we were visiting with my parents, my sisters, and my grandparents. My grandparents have traveled greatly and experienced much. It's always an interesting mental exercise to consider the things they experienced and watched happen that I read about in history books. When discussing what it felt like when Pearl Harbor was bombed, they remember. When talking about what the public thought of Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower, they remember. There is more power in hearing their account than reading a distilled version in a book. You can get a sense of what they were feeling at the time and what it was really like. It's worth doing if you can. I imagine that it's hard for folks to identify with the disciples of Christ for the same reasons. Now, the Word is special in that it can speak to you more than any other book. It does carry living power in its pages. Read what the followers of Christ did and thought and you'll get a taste of what it was like to be there. It must have been powerful stuff. These men chose to follow a preacher who was saying something different than what they knew, and yet it made more sense than what they had been taught. They left their lives behind. They left their friends and family behind. Even after Christ was crucified and went home to Heaven, they never walked away from Jesus. They were powerfully changed. They went out and told anyone who would listen (and many who didn't want to) about what they had seen with their own eyes. If you had never met Jesus personally, it would have been a powerful experience to hear them tell their story. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phillipians 1:21 Paul had completely given himself over to Christ. He cared nothing about himself other than what he could do in obedience. That's a radical change. Jesus isn't walking among us like He did then. His disciples are no longer with us, either. To many in the world, these stories of Jesus and his disciples sound like a musty history book. It seems so long ago and it was all done before we were born. It's hard to feel the power if you only hear about Christ via pop culture and Christmas carols. Most folks feel He is just another historical figure that has little to no importance on their lives today. However, those of us who are saved know Him. We have experienced His work in our lives and we know that He spoke truth. We can be a little like those disciples. We can tell people what we have seen and felt. We can tell them how we are radically changed. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 You are still the most powerful method for introducing Christ. Not a book or pamphlet. Not a commentary or magazine article. You. You telling your story. You giving a first hand account. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 8 00:05:00 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue Nov 8 00:06:05 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] The Bottom Line Message-ID: <2a7ed555e66fb766e77b84865cb1b278@clanwebb.com> The bottom line is something that we hear a lot about when it comes to business. The bottom line is not a bad thing, but it can be a source of greed and malice. People get jobs because of the bottom line and, certainly, people lose jobs because of the bottom line. Sometimes, this happens through no fault of their own. The higher up the ladder you get, the less you are affected by the bottom line. Until, that is, you get to the very top of the ladder. Then, the bottom line is what your life is all about. As I stated, the bottom line is a good thing. It is only men and women that make it a bad thing. A good bottom line is what business is all about. In fact, the only reason to have a business is the bottom line. Moving goods and services into the hands of the public for a profit is what makes this country function. In the end, however, we leave behind the business bottom line and all that it has produced, be it good or bad. Our spirit has a bottom line, too. There are spiritual profits and losses. In the book of Job, we see a man that has lost his business bottom line. He doesn't understand why, but he understands who took it away. The interesting thing to me is that what he fears most is not the loss of all of his earthly possessions, friends, and family, but that he might lose his resolve and then his faith. "But it is still my consolation, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One." Job 6:10 There are examples of men that do feel the painful tearing away from God. King David: "Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O Lord ? how long?" Psalm 6:1-3 Peter, when he realized he had denied Jesus: "The Lord turned and looked at Peter And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly." Luke 22:61-62 Judas was so full of remorse from the separation that he hung himself. The lesson is not to lose faith, but the question is if we have the resolve. I will admit that I pray I never come to the point of despair where I am tested this way. The Word says that God will not give you a trial you cannot handle. However, He will give you a trial that will break you and then the question becomes whether you can handle being broken long enough to be restored. It is a one-sided test because... "He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"" Hebrews 13:5b This is the bottom line of life. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 9 00:21:54 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed Nov 9 00:22:43 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Be Logical Message-ID: I've heard it repeatedly. "If God loves us all, then why would He allow us to endure pain? Why would He allow innocent people to die? Why would He allow us to go to Hell?" Whenever I hear this argument, I always have to back up mentally and analyze the person asking. They usually have one of two goals in mind. Some want to prove that there isn't a God so that they can build their own moral system. Others believe there is a God, but they want to believe that as long as they have lived a good life, they'll get into Heaven. Or, better, that He loves us all, so we'll all go to Heaven. Both of these approaches come from folks who are uncomfortable with the thought that Jesus is the only way in. They don't like the idea that they have to give up their life to be saved. They really don't like the idea that there are consequences to their actions. As they insist to me that God is not who I think He is, I always get an image of a child covering his eyes and yelling, "This isn't real! This isn't real!" No matter how much the child obscures his sight or his hearing or how loud he yells, the child cannot change reality. God has told us what the reality is and yet folks choose to insist that it's different because they don't like that reality. Here's the thing: God is perfect. Everything that flows from Him makes perfect sense and cannot be argued away. We may never understand this perfect arrangement, but I certainly believe it to be the case. Everything He does or does not do follows clearly from who He is. It's logical. It just may be hard or impossible for us to follow here on Earth. In Isaiah, God lays out the fact that the life you live is a logical conclusion of the decisions you make. "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing an obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 1:18-20 I love how God starts off by basically saying, "Come on, now, let's think this through logically." He's making the point that the obedience brings one kind of life and rebellion brings another. You don't get to shake your fist at God and demand that He give you a good life. He's told you how to do it. You have to decide to obey. Notice that He's tied this to His offer of salvation (in the Old Testament, no less) through Christ. He's offering salvation and saying that the remainder of your life will depend on what you do with that offer. Don't be fooled by people trying to trick you. God does love us all, but He's not arbitrary. His law and His actions flow from who He is. You can't demand that He change His nature so that you can live your own life and still go to Heaven. That just isn't logical. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 9 23:57:51 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed Nov 9 23:58:45 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Shhh Message-ID: My wife and I have the privilege of working with the middle school youth group on Wednesday nights. There's nothing like forty or so kids between sixth and eighth grade to help teach you patience. I figure my job is to basically look intimidating enough to keep the boys from doing anything stupid or disruptive and to keep the girls from chatting to loudly during the Bible study. Sometimes, the kids remember that they outnumber the adults by quite a bit. Lucky for us, they are just as likely to forget it before the next week. The most recent evening was some kind of energy peak for them. The kids were especially charged up and had a really difficult time staying quiet and paying attention. Every time a rhetorical question was asked, they all started shouting answers. When it was time for the game at the end, they had to be calmed down twice just to hear the rules. It was a bit exhausting. It made it very hard for the leader to teach. It reminded me, though, of just how noisy and unruly our own lives can be. I have times when I can't sit still. There's always something else to be done. I allow the noise around me to increase and I just ride it like a wave. The problem is that when there's that much racket, you can't hear from God. "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." " Isaiah 30:21 I have this image of a father holding his son by the shoulders from behind and talking softly in his ear, "This way son. Watch out for that over there. Head for that hill." It's impossible to hear those directions if you drown it out with noise and distraction. Jesus set the perfect example of how to talk with God. "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16 "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35 And, even on the eve of his death: "Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." " Matthew 26:36 Make sure to turn down the noise once in a while. Find some quiet time so you can hear those directions whispered in your ear. Turn off the radio in the car and the TV at home frequently. Get up a little early when you can have the kitchen table to yourself. Then, just pray and listen. Don't let yourself be caught up in the energy of the moment or the world around you. The enemy would love nothing better than to simply distract you to the point of powerlessness. "Be still and know that I am God;" Psalm 46:10a Seek silence. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri Nov 11 00:10:46 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri Nov 11 00:11:38 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Test the Words Message-ID: One of the things I miss about my youth is trust. I know that trust can be a subjective thing from one person to another, but it really seems as if the pendulum has swung toward believing the worst about someone before we believe the best. While I was growing up, we thought nothing about leaving our home unlocked as well as our cars. Our first thought was that a neighbor in need might have to borrow something in an emergency and we would feel awful if they found a locked door when they came to our home for help. If we heard of some dishonesty, we were surprised and saddened rather than than the way it is today where it seems like the sin nature of man is affirmed. Riots and killings are supposed to be understood rather than punished. Sexual misconduct is looked at as something we have wrongly suppressed all of these years and now people are just more free to express themselves. As parents, we struggle with moral values and how to teach our children. I believe that to equip a child to discern between right and wrong, one must teach them to listen to people. If one listens with the intent of making a decision to trust, it has been my experience that the words of the mouth will reveal a lot. The decision to trust another person relies upon their words and then their actions. One without the other is only half of the information you need to make a quality moral decision. "For the ear tests the words As the palate tastes the food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right; Let us know among ourselves what is good." Job 34:3-4 It works both ways. As we entreat others to listen, we must be careful. "I said, "I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence." Psalm 39:1 "If you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth, " Proverbs 6:2 Teach your children to say what they mean and do what they say. In this way they will form a habit that will do well for them in life. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 12 01:11:39 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat Nov 12 01:12:32 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Trumped Message-ID: <2371a402ea8f252d1dc8c043a08b9831@clanwebb.com> When we were young, we played a lot of card games. On hunting and fishing trips, we would pass some evenings playing some penny ante version of something. As in those card games, there are trumps in life. Trumping usually has something to do with authority. For example, the IRS usually trumps just about anything you say. A judge's word always trumps that of the lawyers in the courtroom. By design or not, the world does usually have a final trump. That is to say, it has a final authority. A deck of playing cards is designed to have the four aces be the final authority in the majority of games. When you are reading scripture or defending the faith, you cannot help but come across scripture that is not as clear as other scripture. In these cases, we are taught to do our due diligence in study. Look at the literal reading first, as God is usually very clear. We must also look at the historical setting and related passages. Keeping in mind that the Bible, contrary to some misguided scholars, will never contradict itself. One rule, which I call the trump rule, is that we should interpret unclear passages in view of plain, clear, central ones. A fellow student put it this way, "Red verses will trump the black." Here is a good example of a trump verse "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:26-30 It is a red letter verse. It is very clear and it speaks with authority. The difficult verses in scripture will make us ponder a point, but they are few. Those few will not be confusing to the clear mind about God's kingdom theme or His redemption theme. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 13 00:22:20 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun Nov 13 00:24:26 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Consecration Message-ID: The word for the day is: consecration. Consecration n. 1: a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose (to a service or a goal); "his consecration to study" 2: (religion) sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God; "the Cardinal attended the consecration of the church" This dictionary explanation of consecration is an example of what happens when a Biblical principle is filtered through a world view lens. Read the verse below and contrast it with the example of "his consecration to study". Paul's passion cannot be seen in the dictionary definition using the words "setting apart" until one understands that Paul came to his passion through a life experience orchestrated by and for God. Consecration will be used to describe building dedications and sports records. We, as believers, must be wary of the trap of diluting Biblical principles so that they may be used as window dressing for worldly behavior. "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put not confidence in the flesh ? though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ ? the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in this death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Phillipians 3:1-11 Let's try this definition: Consecration n. the devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated (Exodus 13:2, 12, 15; Numbers 3:12). The Hebrews devoted their fields and cattle, and sometimes the spoils of war, to the Lord (Leviticus 27:28-29). According to the Mosaic law the first-born both of man and beast were consecrated to God. In the New Testament, Christians are regarded as consecrated to the Lord (1 Peter 2:9). Set apart for God, not for anything in the world. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 14 00:12:37 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon Nov 14 00:20:34 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Let's Watch That Again Message-ID: Can you imagine if there had been instant replay during the time of Jesus? Really, can't you just see a Pharisee tossing in the red flag for a review by the judges when Jesus sent the demons into the pigs. "Wow, that must have been against some rule somewhere. There must be a penalty for bringing people back to life, making the lame to walk, and the blind to see. He can't do that!" or "Are you blind? He must be from the devil!" or "You can't go around claiming you are God!" Man, the so-called wise men of the time would have thrown out their shoulders tossing flags. "The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and waves obey him!" " Matthew 8:27 Translation: "What a play, Jesus!" "And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." " Matthew 9:33 Talk about your Las Vegas magic show! "When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked." Matthew 21:20 Translation: "Man, did you see that? How did he do that?" "Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today." " Luke 5:26 Translation: "Who is this guy?" Yeah, that Jesus is AMAZING! Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 15 00:24:38 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue Nov 15 00:25:27 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Lose Your Awe Message-ID: <0164bc6f7ef2e782a441978b47b6729a@clanwebb.com> Pop culture can alter our language in dramatic ways. When the youth of any time grabs ahold of a word or phrase and uses it in new and creative ways, the meaning is changed. Often, the connotation is changed irreversibly. The 60s gave us "groovy" and "far out". I am a child of the 80s and grew up saying things like "radical" and "awesome to the max". Those words now carry meanings very distant from their original forms. In some cases, it's no great loss. In others, it clouds our past. Calling something awesome doesn't mean much anymore. I talk about my awesome shoes or an awesome new band. What we've lost is that awesome should describe something that literally strikes you with awe. I've had a few moments like that in my life: getting to meet NBA players when I was a kid, standing in front of my college when I first got to campus, watching my wife walk down the aisle. Those were moments of awe. I truly had to take a breath and just take in the scene because it was so amazing. When we describe God as awesome, we know in our heads what it means, but we've lost some of the weight of the word. When the Bible says awesome, we need to be thinking about something so amazing that it's outside of what we can normally comprehend. It makes you stand in awe. God is awesome: "How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Psalm 47:2 "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!" Psalm 66:5 "For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you." Isaiah 64:3 Jesus is awesome: "They were filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."" Luke 7:16 The Holy Spirit is awesome: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." Acts 2:43 Does considering God, Christ, the cross, and all that He has done for you really fill you with awe? Does it make you stop and just take it all in? If it doesn't, you might want to find that sense again. You need to consider God that way to have a relationship with Him. Go ahead, it'll be awesome! Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 15 23:54:59 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue Nov 15 23:55:48 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Miss Out Message-ID: "For the word of God is living and active." Hebrews 4:12a I find evidence of this verse every time I read the Word. I can read the same scripture that I've read dozens of times before and find something new. God is great that way and He speaks to anyone who spends the time. This very thing happened to me again the other day. But first, let me set it up... As a new Christian, I had a hard time figuring out exactly how to re-prioritize my life. I knew that Jesus had to be at the top, but I was struggling with how that translated into my daily schedule. It has taken me several years and I still don't have it quite right. I did figure out one thing pretty clearly, though. I shouldn't let anything frivolous distract me from my relationship with Him. It's easy for me to lose an hour or two playing a game or following some rabbit trail across the Internet. Heck, I can spend a whole afternoon just rearranging the tools on my workbench. I finally started to understand how these things were taking time away from my relationship with Christ. I started to manage that by simply making sure that those things happened after I had spent time with Jesus that day in prayer or reading His Word or just being quiet and listening. What God showed me the other day was that it wasn't just the frivolous things that get in the way. "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." " Luke 10:38-42 Martha wasn't goofing off or picking wildflowers. Martha was busy at work preparing her home and trying to be a good hostess. And, yet, she still missed an opportunity that her sister took advantage of. I think the nuance God was revealing to me was that it's not just the stupid stuff that gets in the way. Even the necessary and productive activities of life can get in the way. Putting in a little extra time at work, running a couple more errands, or even cleaning the garage well can be a distraction. You have to set aside your time with Christ before all of that. These things might be necessary to do your job or maintain your household, so don't ignore them. Just don't let them become an excuse. Jesus is too important to miss out on. Don't let anything get in the way of that. Frivolous or not. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 16 22:41:49 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu Nov 17 00:03:30 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Higher Ways Message-ID: <083773bb694b94f2ea4c6e997f0c41fb@clanwebb.com> I had it all figured out. I was at that amazing teenage apex where I was sure I understood how the world worked and I knew what had to happen. It was clear to me that this girl was perfect. She was smart (we shared a few advanced classes), she was a great athlete (basketball and volleyball), and she was pretty. We knew each other casually and had worked together in class from time to time. I finally got the courage up to ask her out. I will admit that I was a little surprised that she said yes. Nonetheless, I was excited. I picked out a nice restaurant and borrowed Dad's car. I got lost on the way to the restaurant and had to stop for directions. Dinner was a little unusual and made the conversation uncomfortable. When I took her home, she leapt out of the car and made beeline for the door. I think she was afraid that I might try to kiss her at the door or something. When the girl flees from your car, it's not a good sign. I was really depressed that it hadn't gone better. I never asked her out again. But, that was okay because I realized that I had been mistaken with her. Now, there was this other girl I knew at another school through some church friends. She was great! She was smart, she was on the dance team, she was pretty, too. As a bonus, I knew her parents well and had been spending a lot of time at her house since it happened to be the gathering spot for my group of friends. We started dating and I knew I'd nailed it. This was the girl for me. We really enjoyed each other's company and had fun hanging out with mutual friends. A couple of months later, we weren't seeing each other as much. I discovered through the grapevine that she had decided that we had broken up and was dating someone else. I was stunned that I was the last to know and couldn't understand how my plans could have gone so wrong. Several weeks later, I was in a bind. I had been a counselor at outdoor school and when I returned, I realized that my senior prom was only a month away. When I finally got the guts to ask another girl to the prom, she was already taken. I asked another girl. No luck. I got increasingly brave and asked girls who barely knew me. They already had dates. As my buddy and I were walking between classes, I was relating my plight. In a moment of humor he said, "Well, you could take my sister." I had never met his sister since she had graduated from a different high school three years earlier before he had moved to the area. I stopped dead and said, "Do you think she'd do that?" He shrugged so I told him to ask her. I really didn't want to go to my prom without a date. To my great shock, she agreed. I introduced myself to her when we met at the mall to pick out my tuxedo colors. We went to the prom a couple of weeks later. To make a long story short, that last minute date for the prom married me over sixteen years ago. She still ribs me about how it was a big step down for a twenty year-old to date her kid brother's friend. I'm amazingly blessed that God placed her in my life. In retrospect, I didn't have a clue about how to plan my life. I was absolutely convinced I knew what was best for me. I was terribly wrong. God knew what he was doing. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;" Jeremiah 1:5 "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths." Proverbs 5:21 God knew me better that I knew myself. He knew where my life was going and what was best for me. Furthermore, He's methods are a mystery to us. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8 That lesson has stuck with me. Whenever I find myself planning the details for anything more than a week in advance, I have to step back and remember that I don't have a clue what God has in store for me. But, I can be sure it's better than whatever I came up with. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu Nov 17 23:52:34 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu Nov 17 23:53:21 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Searching For Wisdom Message-ID: <474dce6a3c9e8d846f247618ec577f8a@clanwebb.com> Is it possible to try too hard to understand God? I have listened to many sermons, gone to many weekend retreats, attended many classes, and read many devotionals in an effort to get closer to God and understand His character. Now, I find myself working through the book of Job. Man, I do not like to read this book. But, I do so out of obedience while reading the Bible through each year (plus or minus a month). I get so depressed reading about how Job is blind-sided by God. What a seemingly rotten thing to do to a guy. Job is just doing his best to please God and, out of the blue, he suffers the most famous about-face in the Bible. I must admit that I am afraid that some fine time Satan will waltz into the presence of God and God will say, "Have you considered my servant, Allen?" I mean nobody wants that. I understand that all I am and have belongs to God and He gives it and He takes it away, but the thought of being something akin to a challenge between Good and Evil just isn't something I even want to contemplate. Yet, in the midst of my groaning and checking how many more chapters I have before Psalms, my eyes stopped and pondered and reflected upon one verse. One verse among all the depression that is the trial of Job while he contemplates the search for wisdom. If he could just understand, if he could just find it. He knows it is more valuable than anything on or in the earth. Among the torment he portrays that... "Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.'" Job 28:22 But those two don't seem to have it. Then in the next verse: "God understands its way and he knows its place." Job 28:23 He ends with a moment of absolute clarity. Through all the weeping and wailing, all the pain and suffering, all the questions, all the attempts to understand, he sees it and in two simple points he hits the nail right on the head. "And to man He said, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding." " Job 28:28 There it is. That's faith boiled down to the simplest idea. Only fourteen chapters to go. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 19 00:31:32 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat Nov 19 00:33:03 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Go There Message-ID: <77b341f6c217f74268a55fc0c89c099b@clanwebb.com> "Let's not go there." This is a phrase used when someone is heading for a controversial point that the listener feels is the wrong subject at the wrong time. Bible translators will do that in a subtle way when, I think, they just "don't want to go there." Well, one of my favorite guys who's never afraid to "go there" is Dr. Henry Morris. I heard the good doctor on a set of tapes given to me when I was a young fellow just starting to learn from people like Josh McDowell. By the way, those are a couple of good names to Google on some rainy day. Dr. Morris is no slouch in the academic world and is famous for using the laws of thermodynamics and time's arrow to show how the universe is on it's way down and not up, as the evolutionist would have us believe. He also has a very keen wit when it comes to some aspects of the Bible. In chapter 40 of Job, God, speaking directly to Job, is continuing to set the world right by reminding Job that the kingdom is His and Job is there at His pleasure. As if dotting the i and crossing the t, God describes two creatures He has made that roam the earth. Now you have to read the full description of these animals to get the full effect. "Look at the behemoth, [ The Hebrew translation is "beast par excellence". God was really proud of this one.] which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. [ It's a vegetarian ] What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! [ It's big ] His tail sways like a cedar; [ It isn't used for swatting flies ] the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, [ very solid beast ] his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, [ Either God made it early on, or it's at the top of the food chain ] yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. [ Doesn't have any trouble reaching food. It fears no other animal. ] Under the lotus plants he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. [ Likes vegetation and marshlands ] The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. [ Floods don't bother it. ] Can anyone capture him by the eyes, [ Remember, little children can lead elephants with a stick. ] or trap him and pierce his nose?" Job 40:15-24 The NIV study notes say that this is possibly the hippopotamus or the elephant. When referring to the tail swaying like a cedar, the notes say that it may be referring to an elephant's trunk. Now, folks, I have seen the tail of an elephant and a hippo. One thing they don't do is sway like a tree. Does this description fit these two animals? Or, should we go to the skeletons at the Museum of Natural History? "Oh, Allen. Let's not go there." The Bible is fun, isn't it? Next, we'll talk about squirrels and dragons. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 20 00:31:37 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun Nov 20 00:33:56 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Of Squirrels and Dragons Message-ID: Remember the story of the little boy in Sunday school for the first time? The teacher wants to slowly bring him into the flow of things, so she tells him that she is going to describe something and she wants him to tell her what he thinks it might be. She describes the following: It is gray and furry. It lives in a hollow tree. It stores acorns for the winter. What do you think it might be? The boy, very anxious to please and knowing it was Sunday school and that Sunday school was about one subject, gave this answer: "Well, ma'am, I know the answer is Jesus but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!" I think we do that with the Bible. We read a verse, the study notes, and a commentary and jump to what we think is the Biblical answer. The Biblical suggestion to this animal described in Job 41 is a crocodile. The scripture calls it leviathan. Matthew Henry's commentary, "The description of the leviathan, is yet further to convince Job of his own weakness, and of God's almighty power. Whether this leviathan be whale or a crocodile, is disputed." Let's read it: "His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn [ Whale or crocodile? The notes describe the next few verses as exaggerated poetic imagery. When has God ever had to exaggerate to make his point? ] Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. [ I thought a crocodile's belly was soft and, if rubbed, would put him to sleep. ] When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. [ The underside of a crocodile or whale did this? ] He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal? a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." Job 41:15-34 Well, ma'am, I know the answer is a whale or crocodile, but it sure sounds like a dragon to me. My God could make a dragon if He wanted to. My God is an awesome God. I can't prove that He did, but He could if He wanted. So there! Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 21 00:07:00 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon Nov 21 00:07:48 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Guarding the Switch Message-ID: <8bc256660badeca3694f5f8f5dad207d@clanwebb.com> I have been a Star Trek fan for many years. I grew up watching the reruns of the original episodes made in the late 60s. I quickly became a fan of Spock. He was brilliant, stoic, and, of course, logical. Those were traits I saw in myself, so I loved watching his interaction with the other characters. Spock did something else very cool. Whenever the moment called for it, he could simply walk up behind some guy and pinch his neck in a particular way that would cause the poor sap to collapse in a heap. Apparently, every alien race in the galaxy had a similar weakness because he would do it to quite a few folks. I tried to teach myself this technique by practicing on my friends. It just annoyed them. I never did figure it out. However, I was always intrigued by the idea that everyone had this incredibly weak point that could be exploited. It was like everyone had an off switch that someone could flip if they knew how. The older I get, the more I realize that just about every man has a switch like that. The difference, though, is that instead of turning us off, we get turned on. This switch has a direct line to the lustful side of our nature and it can have dramatic results. Satan knows this and will use every chance he has to flip the switch. The world has discovered this switch, too, and uses it to make money from any and every avenue. They use bikini models in beer commercials, lustful girls in the movie trailer, and even incredibly proportioned heroines in video games and comic books. All of these methods are attempts at flipping that switch. The problem with that is that it's a direct line to our sin nature. Men are hardwired to find women attractive. That part is okay. Our sin nature drives us to pursue those attractions. Unless you are considering asking the female in question out on a date, chances are you've crossed the line the moment you choose to pursue. Here's the good news. There's only one way to get to that switch. We can't disable it or change it's behavior. We can only make it harder to get to. The only access point is through our eyes. If we don't see it, we aren't tempted. Job knew this and he tells us how he protected his switch. "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?" Job 31:1-3 He didn't make a promise to just not lust when he was looking. He knew that wouldn't work. He controlled access to the switch by averting his eyes. Just not looking. I started doing this a couple years ago and it's made a dramatic difference in my thought life. It's incredibly difficult to retrain yourself, but it's well worth it. I will warn you now, though, that you should never go to the mall alone. There are times when there literally is nowhere to avert my eyes because I'm surrounded by stores and customers showing me more than I need to see. I have to stare at my shoes or close my eyes altogether and let my wife lead me on. I look goofy as heck, but I don't go home with dozens of new images teasing me and distracting me all night. Like an addiction, this is a weakness you will always have. Your only defense is to train your eyes to avoid the temptations. And don't ever think you've got it beat. That's precisely when it'll tackle you again. Clear some space in your head. Make a covenant with your eyes. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 22 00:12:13 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue Nov 22 00:13:10 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] A Unique Path Message-ID: Working with a few dozen kids in the youth group allows me to get all kinds of perspectives on parenting. There are kids whose parents are friendly and interested in what's going on. They like to chat with the leaders and see how their child is doing with the group. I don't pretend to know the ins and outs, but there are some genuinely strong relationships going on with those families and you can see it in the way the kids act. There are those kids who we are just barely reaching. They are tagging along with a friend, they aren't saved, and they aren't quite clear on the whole thing. Some of those seem to have great parents who just don't know Jesus. Some tell some sad stories that seem to border on neglect or active disruption of a close relationship with Christ. We work hard to open their eyes to salvation. Recently, I've seen a couple in another category. These are the kids who are just generally being kids. They complain about school. They talk a lot with their friends. They have to be reminded to be quiet during the teaching once in a while, but generally we're glad they are hearing the Word regularly and feel like it's sinking in. These kids have parents who are churchgoers and who seem to have strong parenting opinions. The issue is when the child isn't quite what the parent expected and the parent doesn't deal well. It might be expecting a son to be more involved in athletics or a daughter to do better in school. Whatever the reason, when one of these kids doesn't fit the preconceived mold of a parent, there's trouble. From what I've seen, this will drive an otherwise decent kid to rebel more dramatically. In one case, the child simply moved out. It's heartbreaking because that disruption at home causes a disruption with their spiritual relationship with Christ. A few of them are strong enough to maintain, but many of them are baby Christians and events like this can knock them loose from the support system offered by the youth leaders and their saved friends. Each time I've seen this happen, my mind comes back to a verse our pastor emphasizes frequently: "Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 The key here is that God isn't just talking about training a child to love God and follow His will. All children need that. But, also, the wording carries with it the concept that each child has a unique path to follow. As fathers, it is our job to train our children up in the unique path God has set before them. It is not for us to decide what our child will and will not do with their lives. All we can do is teach them to love the Lord and help them discover their path. We are only going to cause trouble if we decide ahead of time what that path should be and try to force the issue. That turns to conflict and rebellion beyond the normal discipline necessary for a child. Rebellion will drive the child away from their unique path and, in some cases, from their obedience of God, too. Take a step back and see how you are doing. Are you training your child up in the way that he or she should go? Or in the way you decided they should go? Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 23 00:12:19 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed Nov 23 00:13:11 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Trying to Put Faith in a Box Message-ID: Is faith a concept or a reality? The so-called academic world, the great thinks in our institutions of higher learning, see faith as a cultural phenomenon. It's something to be studied for comparison of peoples. Most would never stoop so low as to participate in faith, as it would be perceived as a sign of weakness. Faith cannot be studied in a closed system and it doesn't always produce the same results. Therefore, it isn't scientific. To combat what is perceived as the rantings and ravings of the brainwashed Christian mind, the secular elite frame their argument from their version of both sides while attempting to stay outside in order to take what they think is the emotion out of the discussion. It looks something like this: Overview of Academic Views Within the academic community, the main discussion revolves around how much weight to give the text of the Bible against counter-evidence or lack of evidence. Generally those giving more weight to the text of the Bible, assuming its correctness unless proven otherwise, and tending to interpret it literally, are called Biblical maximalists, while the opposing view is Biblical minimalism. The debate between the two sides is inextricably tied to how one views historiography: they disagree over how much weight documentary and indirect evidence should be given. Biblical maximalists view the Biblical narrative as a starting point for constructing the history, and correct or reinterpret it where it is contradicted by archaeological evidence. Biblical minimalists start purely from the archaeological evidence, and only consider Biblical accounts of value if they are corroborated by the archaeological evidence. Now that they have framed the argument academically, and we all know that academics are the only people that are ordained to think, they can now proceed to enlighten us. They waste no time. Genesis The Biblical creation story, up to and including the deluge, is generally regarded as myth by most scientists and many religious believers (i.e. non-creationists). The arguments raised come from cosmology, geology, evolution (in particular fossil evidence), and textual analysis of the Bible itself ? it is argued that this evidence indicates that the described events, if taken literally, are scientifically impossible. [These entries are from the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.] These people are out to relegate our faith in a God-created universe to philosophy and nothing more. If you fall for this tripe, you have no faith in God because the second you limit God in any way, you lose your faith in Him. God is not scientifically proven, but He is this: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" Acts 17:24-28 Don't falter, boys. No man can explain the universe because man did not make it. It was no accident of science. Faith does not need to be accepted by science. Science needs to accept the evidence of our faith. "Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty." John Calvin Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu Nov 24 00:31:06 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu Nov 24 00:31:59 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Crossing the Heart Line Message-ID: This question is this: Can a man look at a beautiful woman without it being a sin? If you have ever asked that question, then you know the answer. The translation of the question is this: How much sin can I get away with before it is evident? There is no doubt that as men we face a big diabolical paradox when it comes to women. God made them beautiful so we would be attracted to them. How do we know to stop the mental attraction when it crosses the line from attraction to lust? On top of that, they are no help at all in their attempt to attract men. There is definitely an element of a looker and a lookee. When is it lustful? The female form can be appreciated and in conjunction with demeanor, style, and personality, it can cause a man to try anything or die in the attempt. It becomes sin when the looker, lookee, or both crosses the heart line. You cross the heart line when you conceive the idea to go where you should not, physically or mentally, plot the way to get there, and pack your bags and go there. In short, if you have to ask the question you have already conceived the idea. That is why scripture gives us the most obvious of solutions: to flee. Beat foot mentally and/or physically. This takes discipline and discipline requires practice. "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly." Proverbs 5:21-23 When you feel you are about to cross the heart line, run (mentally and/or physically) as if you are avoiding hell... Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri Nov 25 00:58:04 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri Nov 25 00:59:01 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Recognizing the Obvious Message-ID: Methinks they protest too much. Whenever someone or some group is driven to protest loudly and at great length, there's a decent chance that you've hit a nerve. I came upon an article that seemed to be a clear example of that the other day. The state Board of Education in Kansas have decided to start teaching intelligent design alongside evolution in public schools. As you might expect, this set off more than a few self-appointed experts and caused them to lash out in a telling way. The religious studies department at the University of Kansas decided to fight back by offering a class entitled, "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies." Although some tried to play down the obvious aim of this class, there was no holding back the department chairman. He is quoted as saying "The KU faculty has had enough. Creationism is mythology. Intelligent design is mythology. It's not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not." Sounds like a nice balanced evaluation of the evidence, don't you think? I think I hear someone trying to convince himself that the flaws in his beliefs aren't really there. "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools." Romans 1:22 If you begin to explain how the human eye works to the average person and then ask them if this could happen accidentally, I suspect very few would think so. The simple thinkers and average folks can see the design in the world around them. It's the overeducated types that have decided that there cannot be a designer involved. "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." 1 Corinthians 1:27 The more we know about the universe, the less it seems like it could have just happened. The deeper we look inside of cells and what makes them work, the more complicated they are. All of these things point to the truth that we Christians know. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1 "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31a It's all from Him. Take no heed of those who are busy trying to convince themselves that the obvious isn't true. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 26 00:31:59 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat Nov 26 00:32:46 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] You Can't Shape God Message-ID: <4c3a9d694a798c651256ecdf81606282@clanwebb.com> "If God is all loving, how can anything bad happen or anyone go to this terrible place called Hell?" This is the type of question people make up so they can order their own universe. We as Christians are partly to blame. We don't portray God as He really is to the world. God is the source of all love, but that love does not overrule His righteousness. He's not going to forgo the entry requirements into Heaven even though He loves you. You can either choose to follow Christ or be perfect. There are no other choices. "If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers." Deuteronomy 7:12 People that make up attributes about God so they can have the rules they want in their own private universe are dreamers. "you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 13:3 Remember, everyone is in the game. Nobody is exempt. "Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools." Proverbs 16:22 To those that believe they can lead any kind of life as long as they fall above the average line, the "everybody does it" crowd: "Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!" Jeremiah 4:18 Get to know God. Gain knowledge. "The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young- let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance- for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:1-7 Don't make up God to fit your lifestyle. Make your lifestyle fit God's requirements. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 27 00:43:04 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun Nov 27 00:46:41 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Assume Message-ID: <5ae84302c04a1ec8ee461941ea115de8@clanwebb.com> Do you assume? I do it more than I should. Sometimes it gets me into trouble. That includes everything from social embarrassment to physical danger. I was in a restaurant one time and wanted to wash my hands. This place was one of those that used symbols as well as words on the bathroom doors. I glanced up as I came around the corner and very distinctly saw the word "MEN'S" and a cute little caricature that, for all the world, looked like a man in some sort of a European costume like a kilt or a man-skirt like the boys on the continent are fond of wearing during some kind of festival. Well, as I was washing my hands and admiring the frilly decor, I heard the stall door behind me shut and the next thing I knew I was washing my hands next to a woman I didn't know. She smiled and said, "Hello dear." At that moment, another woman walked in and said, "Oh, dear," and I was trapped. Thank goodness they laughed and I beat a hasty retreat. I retraced my steps and realized what I had done. The doors were situated such that as one came around the corner and glanced up at just the right time, all that was visible on the first door was "MEN'S". The "WO" part came into view an instant later, but that was after my mind had already come to the wrong conclusion. Sin can work the same way. We glance at a situation and our mind makes wrong assumptions. Before you know it, we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we are not careful, we can also presume, by virtue of what other people are doing, that a particular behavior is okay in the eyes of God. This is usually because we want it to be right and we lower our own standards of righteousness. King David wrote a Psalm about presumptuous sin: "Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:12-14 These everyday stumblings are like presupposing how a cold glass of milk is going to taste and then finding out too late that it has soured. We miss a lot by not being more careful in our everyday relationships. Be blessed by being a blessing. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 28 00:27:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon Nov 28 00:27:56 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Cool Cache Message-ID: <6932a80aae5e2f522f05d434082e782f@clanwebb.com> There's a cool enhancement used in computer hardware and software design. It's cool because it can make slow hardware or software seem faster without actually making it faster. This idea is called a cache (pronounced like "cash"). The idea behind a cache is to make it easier than normal to get information that you use frequently and thereby speed up the entire job you are attempting. One way to illustrate a cache is to think about an office. You have a desk and a filing cabinet. While you are working, you could take one of two approaches. One approach would be to get up from your desk, look through the cabinet to find the appropriate file, and read the information you need each time you need it. The next time you need another item, you would get up and find the file again. The other approach would be to realize that you will need lots of pieces of information from that file so you choose to bring it back to your desk. Now, whenever you need something from that file, you have it right in front of you. This has saved you many trips to the filing cabinet. Now, your desk is not big enough to hold every file in the cabinet. So, eventually, you will have to get up and get a different file. Furthermore, at some point, you'll have to put one of the files on your desk back in the cabinet. The magic is when you consider the amount of time spent looking up items from the files. Without taking the files to your desk, each time you needed to get a piece of information, you would have incurred a complete round trip to the cabinet. Let's say thirty seconds. However, each time you needed something that was already on your desk, it only took two seconds. Over the course of the day, ninety percent of your trips for information were from your desktop and ten percent were actual trips to the cabinet. So, on average, you spent less than five seconds per trip. You are able to store reams of files in your cabinet, but with a proper use of your desktop you have cut your average way down and made yourself very efficient. The effect is to make the cabinet appear to be much faster to use than it really is. Computers will always make the trip to the cabinet when they need the information. If they have to do it too often, they start to slow down. There is lots of research and theory being put into good cache design and it will likely always be happening. We do similar things in our lives, but since we aren't computers we will do something different when we don't have the information at hand. Sometimes, we'll go get it, but often we will guess, fake it, or even make it up. We are lazy by nature and will often skip the step of going to actual data. I find that some casual Christians will make this mistake with their walk. Because they don't read the Word enough, they often don't have the right information at hand when they need it. Instead of going to the Word to find out, they'll just fake it. But, if they haven't been in the Word to begin with, they will be faking it with very little to reference. How do we keep the Word close? "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word [...] I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119: 9, 11 Okay, so we need to have the Word written on our heart. How might we do that? "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8 Hmm, so, rule number one: Don't fake it. Rule number two: Study the Word so you don't have to. You want the desktop of your mind to be filled with scripture that you can refer to easily when you aren't sure. And when the right scripture isn't at hand, make sure to take the long walk to the Word and find it. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 29 00:13:00 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue Nov 29 00:14:06 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] The Meaning of Christmas Message-ID: Okay, it's Christmas and I'm hacked off. Every year at this time, the news organizations dust off their same old theories about the Christmas story. Last night was no exception. Several educated people (I use the term in the same vein as two people standing in quicksand telling each other that the situation has therapeutic value) were setting all of the Christians straight. They told us that we need the "stories and myths" of the Christmas season to shore up our unenlightened lives because we can't seem to face the world of facts. We, poor little emotionally unstable Christians, just can't seem to make it through life without our bedtime stories, they say. I am sick and tired of the condescending educated elite giving me a pat on the head and smile this time of year. One of these forty watt bulbs decided that because the son of Julius Caesar proclaimed Haley's comet as his father heading for Heaven, that the Christians made up the nativity to trump the son, Augustus. They showed a Roman coin with a star on the back as proof. This comes from a culture of people that made up a god for everything. These folks don't know what to believe. The one thing they are assured of is that as long as the taxpayer keeps paying they can keep speculating. Here are some things they've come up with until now: 1. They think the universe popped into existence out of nothing. An effect with no cause. 2. They believe it happened billions of years ago. 3. They believe man didn't stand upright until 50 to 80 thousand years ago (nothing like a little cushion in case somebody digs up some contrary evidence) 4. They believe man had limited social order 5000 years ago. 5. They believe man had open social orders only 500 years ago. 6. They believe man didn't really get his head out of the sand until the Industrial Revolution between 1750 and 1830. Now, here they are in 2005 confidently debunking scripture that has withstood the tests of bibliography, quantity, quality, and time span. It passes the internal test: The Bible has sixty-six books and they do not contradict each other. It passes the external test: Scripture is verifiable through non-Christian writings and archeology. Finally, the uniqueness of the Bible stands alone. No other collective works have claimed to have within its covers what the Bible truly contains: The inspired word of God. No other work has had anywhere near the world impact. No wonder these people don't want intelligent design taught in the public schools, they don't know what it is! Brothers, don't put your heads down to this world view, for we are a dangerous lot. Not all of us may have a PhD, but anyone can think and get a library card or surf the net for information. The ancient Greeks and Romans are dead. Our God lives. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 Stay strong and say "Merry Christmas" at least three times in every store you patronize this season. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 30 00:20:52 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed Nov 30 00:21:38 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Why the Rules? Message-ID: <9fbccaba916dc573cd4e41f8e57f1b9d@clanwebb.com> Being a follower of Christ will set you apart. If you do it right, people will notice. When they notice, some will tell you what's wrong with your faith. I have had folks tell me that following Christ means giving up all of the fun stuff. Others have declared with confidence that the Bible is just a book of "don'ts". God is seen as some cosmic killjoy out to suck the happiness out of life. One large hurdle for many an unbeliever is the idea that life will suddenly be boring and bland. This is seeing things all wrong. Now, it is true that the Bible is certainly clear on how we should live our lives. Forgiveness: "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times" " Matthew 18:21-22 Anger: "Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret ? it leads only to evil." Psalm 37:8 Adultery: "But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself." Proverbs 6:32 Integrity: "And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No', 'No'; anything beyond comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:36-37 And I could go on. Taken as snippets, these might appear to simply be restrictions on life or, at best, rules for good manners to others. God is setting up velvet ropes to keep us out of the more interesting parts of life so we can be more pious in our suffering, right? There's nothing of value here for me personally, right? Wrong! God has not laid out these rules of life to penalize us or hold us down. He has a clear encompassing plan: "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:9-12 Yes. The plan is that He loves you. He is not putting of ropes to restrict us, they are to protect us. He knows how dangerous and damaging those areas are and He's marked them off for us. And, just like the boundary markers on a ski slope, He also explains the consequences of breaking those boundaries. It's not an attempt to suck the joy out of life. It's a loving Father telling His children that if you walk off the course that way, you'll suffer years of guilt and pain. If you walk off the course the other way, you could die. If you stay on the course, you will have joy and peace. He's not trying to hold you down. He's trying to show you the way. Embrace it. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 30 23:31:51 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed Nov 30 23:32:41 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Never Too Late Message-ID: <4294d75b7a52e6e53cc3a10a180e0600@clanwebb.com> The gap between what a person hears to be the truth and what he or she may believe to be the truth can be huge. This thought process is evident in the person that hears that God forgives sin, but believes that their sin is so great that God will not forgive them. Cleaning up one's life is not a public decision. The results of the decision are what is public. What drives one to the decision is guilt. That overpowering feeling that eats away at our life until we simply must do something to fix the problem. This is a critical juncture, because it is here that many feel that they have already gone too far. So they turn their back on God convinced that they are a lost cause. "How blessed is he whose transgression [rebellion] is forgiven, Whose sin [missing the mark] is covered! [hidden to the world, but not to God] How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, [does not count the sin against him] And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heart of summer. Selah. I acknowledge my sin to You, And my iniquity [like a thirst] I did not hide; I said, "I will confess [tell it to God by stating it directly to Him in simple terms] my transgressions to the Lord"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah." Psalm 32:1-5 This is cleansing guilt. This is the fever the breaks. This is the wound that heals. It is never too late. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 1 00:26:55 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 00:26:55 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Overflow Message-ID: Whatever your feelings about the Halloween holiday, chances are that you'll be snacking on some bite-sized candy for the next week or two. Now that I can no longer expect trusting folks to just hand candy out to me, I have to depend on the overflow. The excess candy that my coworkers bring in and share with the office is always plentiful. We all tell our wives that we'll take it to work so someone else will eat it. In fact, we're just hoping for more variety from the other guys so we can eat like we did when we were ten! What kind of candy folks bring in always tells me a little something about what they are like. I always hated the little suckers because they only lasted about ten minutes and seemed cheap. When those come in to work, I lose a little respect for that guy. On the other hand, I've been a devotee of Butterfingers and Reeses candy for years. When those come in to work, I feel closer to that guy and end up spending a lot of time around his cube. At least until the candy's gone. The point is that there's something to learn there. Not much, but a little. What are people learning about you? What do they think by what you bring to work? Analyzing candy choices can be a humorous activity. But, what about your attitude? Your speech? Your effort? If your co-workers know you are a Christian, they'll be watching all of these things to form an image of why a Christian is different. If they don't know of your faith, hopefully they'll see how different you are and ask why. If, however, you don't stand out from the crowd then you're not representing Christ well. They'll decide that there's no value in following Jesus. They won't see a difference. Worse, they'll find reason to think you're a hypocrite who says he follows a higher standard and then doesn't follow through. You don't have to be perfect, but if you are truly a new creation, then the proof is in the fruit you produce. "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:44-46 Notice that Jesus is not talking about simply putting on a good show. He doesn't want you to be an actor. He wants you to live the life He's laid out for you. He's telling us that the right way to change our outward demeanor is to change the heart. When you truly let Christ into your heart and let Him lead your life, the rest will follow. Any other way is impossible. Do this right and you won't feel the need to hold a grudge or get revenge. You will lose the desire to make a cutting remark or cut corners to get ahead. You will produce good fruit and unbelievers will recognize you for who you are from it. Don't try to clean up your rotten fruit. Let Christ replant the tree. The attractive fruit happens naturally. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 2 00:16:41 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 00:16:41 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Fear Message-ID: October 31st is a night that will be debated long after I have gone home to be with the Lord. Halloween doesn't have very pleasant roots, but over the decades it has evolved into somewhat of a fun evening for kids. It is a night that we dabble in "fun fear". Kids dress up, go out after dark, ring doorbells, and collect candy. We had a few on our little hill this year. I saw a fairy, a banana, a boy in a blow- up spider outfit, a couple of superheroes and, at the hardware store earlier in the day, a toddler dressed up as a green bean. The TV had an array of stories about haunted places, magicians, and then some movies that were meant to scare the sleep right out of you. It started me to thinking about the times I was scared as a child. Those were the times where fear of the unknown darkness overshadowed what I knew to be the truth in the daylight. We lived on a farm in Colorado as sharecroppers for a while and the house was a big old place built in the late '30s. My room was actually off a room that had a door to the side of the house. The room had a big hand-cranked cream separator. It was a strange contraption that in the daylight looked like a normal piece of machinery one might find on a farm. At night, with the moon coming through the windows the outline was very recognizable. One night, however, I awoke to look out my door and see what was a huge monster in the moonlight. The familiar outline was gone and in its place was something that had made its way into the house and was standing right outside my door. I was frightened to the point of not being able to cry out or even move. I lay there frozen and afraid to close my eyes. I don't know how long I just stared at this thing that was clearly staring back at me, but I then it was suddenly morning. I opened my eyes and then remembered the thing that was just outside my door. I looked out to see the cream separator with a pile of clothes on top that my mother had placed there after I had gone to bed. In the daylight, it became obvious that I had been petrified over a couple pairs of pants and a work shirt. My mind had done the rest. The Bible speaks of fear, but it also speaks of being terrified. I glean from scripture that being terrified is a step up from being afraid. "Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them." " Deuteronomy 1:29 "Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified." Luke 2:9 "to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop." Hebrews 12:19 It seems to me that fear is a warning that being terrified is right around the corner. Fear is a run-and-hide emotion or a gird-up-your- loins-and-stand-your-ground event. Terrified is a drop-your-sword, hit-your-knees and beg-for-your-life event. I suspect that when Jesus returns the unsaved won't be afraid, they will be terrified. Men don't find yourself there. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu Nov 3 00:43:52 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 00:43:52 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Get Well Soon Message-ID: <8bb357e49652170089386d254ec77090@clanwebb.com> I apologize if my writing is less than clear. I haven't been getting much sleep over the past few nights. You see, our son has been fighting a cold and we've been having to get up every four hours during the night to give him medicine. That might seem like overkill to some, but he is in a special circumstance. Our son has mild asthma. Usually, you'd never know it. When he gets a cold, though, we have to be extra careful. The two conditions can amplify one another and we could end up in the hospital in short order if we don't pay attention. So, we make sure he gets his meds on time and we end up riding it out without much difficulty. That's just the way we've done it for several years. The funny thing is that, during the day, you wouldn't even know he's sick. He coughs once an hour and feels a little tired, but not enough to keep him from playing video games or trying to wrestle me to the ground. When I have the same symptoms he does, I don't even stay home from work. For him, it's just a little more insidious. I praise God that when we all meet Him, we won't have to worry about stuff like that. Whether it's a little back pain or asthma or diabetes or cancer, it'll all be gone when we're home. "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." " Mark 2:17 In this passage, Jesus is using health as an analogy to describe why He came. I think there is truth in both meanings, though. I believe that Christ will heal all of our ills, but the primary one is sin. Christ will cover our sin, so that we can be in Heaven as pure and holy people. Our sin is a lot like my son's asthma. We look normal to other people most of the time. Nobody would know that we have a problem until something comes along to trigger it. Temptation causes us to buckle and aggravate the sin in our life. That makes us spiritually sick. And, if we aren't careful about the problem of sin it can quickly get out of hand. Soon, we'll be on a spiritual stretcher hoping God will hit us with the defibrillator. Don't wave it off when you feel yourself getting spiritually sick. Don't tell yourself you'll work through it and get over it. Go see the Great Physician. Tell Him what's going on. Tell Him what you need. He will heal you. It may not always be pleasant or easy, but He will heal you. Get well soon, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri Nov 4 00:28:39 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 00:28:39 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Dig Deep Message-ID: <712ac09964beeb5924303bb1f84d60c4@clanwebb.com> Don't you hate it when the world just shifts on you? Those times when you think you have something planned out and then, suddenly, the plan no longer applies because the world has changed. I'm not talking about when the speed bump comes up or the brick wall appears. Those are obstacles and you should plan to have those. I'm talking about how you have planned for years to cross the moat and storm the castle and then, one day, someone informs you that the moat is gone and the castle has been moved to the side of a mountain. For lesser men, it could drive you give up and take a long walk off a short pier. I was just reading about how this happened to a video game company. You see, game companies love to buy licenses to sell their games. A license is a recognizable property of characters or branding that will move a game to the top of the stack quite quickly. As you might expect, buying a license is very expensive and so it's quite a gamble. The right license might get you noticed, but if you have a bad game, it won't matter. On the other hand, if your game is great, but you don't have any recognizable characters, you may not generate much interest. It's something a company wants to be sure of before laying out a lot of money. Well, this certain company thought it could do well selling games based on the Lord of the Rings books. A good bet. The characters and stories lend themselves to games and there's a huge fan-base ready to go. So, they negotiated a deal with the license holder to use the characters, events, and locations from Tolkien's books. They then began to build several games ( a multi-year process ) and as they were getting ready to ship, they started to market these games. They had given the famous characters faces and a unique look that they hoped would become the de facto standard. What this company did not know, however, was that another, larger company had also worked with the license holder to negotiate a license to all aspects of the Lord of the Rings related to the movies that were being made. They too made games based on the characters and stories, but they were able to make their games look like the movies. The characters looked the same, the events were similar, and they even used the same actors to provide the voices. Once the movies were released, those actors were the definitive image of the characters. They were the voices. Those were the events kids wanted to re-enact. The first company was blindsided. Their games were ignored and did poorly because nobody could identify with their version of the stories or characters. They had spent enormous amounts of time and money on planning and executing this grand production only to have the movies come out and change the rules dramatically. There are many business rules to be learned from this story, but the biggest is in how to react after it happens. I can imagine that the leadership and stockholders of the first company were looking for heads to roll. The truth is that they couldn't predict the unexpected. The right thing to do is to pick up the pieces, learn the lessons, retrench, and move on. We can't predict the unexpected either. That's why we have to build our life plan such that it depends on God. Don't depend on what you see. Don't depend on what you know. It can shift. "He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." Luke 6:48 I love how this passage says "dug down deep". The rock is not easy to find in the world. It's not obvious for everyone. You have to look past the shifting sands and dig through it all to find where the rock is. Then build on it. We see those who have built on the sand only to see the world change underneath them. There's often nothing left. Sometimes, I feel like I've built on the rock, but I didn't dig deep enough. There's still a little sand between my house and the rock, so the storms do shake me a little, but my house doesn't fall down. After each storm, though, the sand has shifted and my house has settled a little closer to the rock. The world can change around you in an instant. The rock never changes, though. Make sure you won't get surprised and watch your house get upended. Build it on the rock. Make sure to dig deep. I better grab my shovel, I think I hear the sand shifting. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 5 01:17:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 01:17:08 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Careful Who You Talk To Message-ID: I spent a lot of my youth on fairly remote farms and ranches. For a period of time, my best friends were my sister and an imaginary guy I just made up. I remember my sister pretty well. The other guy is a little vague. Of course, he always was. She was a high strung girl with many talents. She was spiritual in the sense that she was always imagining things. I should say that some of her manifestations had logical explanations. One good example was a ghost that she swore was playing a piano on the porch at night. Her bedroom was the only one near enough to hear it, so we were all a bit skeptical. However, one night on my way back from the privy, I stopped dead in my tracks as there were notes coming from the back porch. Just what I needed was a ghost and a dizzy sister. It stopped playing, so I dashed past and into the house. The next day, I was forced to confirm that my dizzy sister was right. There had been a ghost playing the piano on the back porch. I added that he wasn't very good. One evening, the mystery was solved when we caught an old tom cat sneaking in and spending the night when we all went to bed. He came in through a tear in the screen door, up on the piano keys, and then strolled across to his makeshift bed on the floor in the corner. Because my sis was prone to this kind of stuff, and six years older than me, she pretty much ruled the roost when the folks were gone. She was also the cook while they were gone, and hunger being the motivator that it is, she could get me to do just about anything she wanted. When things got dark enough outside and quiet enough inside, she would get out the Ouija Board. This is a game, or so it is called, that includes a board with an alphabet inscribed on it along with the word, "Yes", "No", and "Good Bye". The only other piece is a three legged platform with felt on the tips and a clear plastic window in the center. The idea is for two or more people to place their fingers lightly on the edges of the platform (planchette) and ask "the spirits" a question. If they decided to answer, the platform would move about the board from letter to letter and spell out the answer or go to the "Yes" or "No". Now, here is the deal. I didn't have to touch the platform for it to start to move. In fact, my sister didn't have to actually touch the platform either. She could just hover her fingers over the piece and that sucker would take off without a question. Yeah, it was weird, but I was too fascinated to be scared. Sometimes, I would take a playing card and pass it between her fingers and the piece just to make sure she wasn't doing it herself. The game gave us the name of dead people, or at least it said that it did, and other spooky stuff. What happened on that farm some fifty years ago seems more than a game now that I have been in the Word for many years. There are spirits and demons. "Now there was a heard of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters." Matthew 8:30-32 This example is one of the most quoted from scripture, but by no means the only reference. A word search reveals well over thirty times when the subject is discussed in the Bible. It is a dangerous business to consult or attempt to communicate with these entities. Think of it as if you were to climb to the top of a power pole and begin to scratch away at the power line with your pocket knife. There will be a moment when you get a small buzz, and then there will be a moment when you are overcome and may not survive. God is very clear. "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off form among his people. " Leviticus 20:6 "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:31 "Now a man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them." Leviticus 20:27 Would a loving father place such warnings if he didn't mean to keep us from harm? Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 6 02:13:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 02:13:08 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Explaining Pain Message-ID: <57ef6f085be43402bf8d9dd1b3944378@clanwebb.com> They say that pain doesn't have memory. I guess that is true in the sense that you can't relive the actual transfer of the message to the brain that causes one to experience the moment. However, it is obvious that one can remember it was unpleasant enough that you don't want to go through it again. I guess that is why most people don't rush to the dentist with the same anticipation as they would have if they were heading to their favorite restaurant with a gift certificate. It is especially difficult to relate a painful experience of our own to another person. They usually understand that it was painful to us, but they can only relate to a point. Parents often find themselves in the position of trying to warn a child of what certain decisions can be painful and what they will feel like if they choose to make those decisions. It is a void that God has left in relationships, even to the point that Jesus could not relate the pain the disciples were going to feel when He was gone. In fact, they never really grasped the idea that He was going to leave at all. They would hear Him say it, but they were fearful of asking for clarification. They would discuss it among themselves, but by not going to the source, they make it harder to understand the event. "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." John 16:20-22 The best any of us can do is to follow the pattern set out here by the Lord. Tell them what is coming. Warn them that they won't like it. Give an example, so that they may relate, and then reassure them that because God is in control there will be a time for the saved when there will be no pain. That will be a time of only joy and it will never be taken away. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 7 00:48:37 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 00:48:37 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] First Hand Message-ID: I have been a history buff since high school. Studying the people and events that have made impacts on the course of the world is fascinating to me. No matter how much I read, though, it always feels cleaned up and prepared. The author almost always has hindsight filtering his writing. There's just something about first hand experience or, if you can't be there, a first hand account. I've been especially interested in learning about the first half of the twentieth century. Understanding the events of two world wars and what led to the Cold War. These are historical events to me because I was born after they happened. The end of the Cold War, the attacks on September 11, and things since don't seem like history to me because I lived through them. I have my own memories and experiences to draw on when considering those events. This past weekend, we were visiting with my parents, my sisters, and my grandparents. My grandparents have traveled greatly and experienced much. It's always an interesting mental exercise to consider the things they experienced and watched happen that I read about in history books. When discussing what it felt like when Pearl Harbor was bombed, they remember. When talking about what the public thought of Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower, they remember. There is more power in hearing their account than reading a distilled version in a book. You can get a sense of what they were feeling at the time and what it was really like. It's worth doing if you can. I imagine that it's hard for folks to identify with the disciples of Christ for the same reasons. Now, the Word is special in that it can speak to you more than any other book. It does carry living power in its pages. Read what the followers of Christ did and thought and you'll get a taste of what it was like to be there. It must have been powerful stuff. These men chose to follow a preacher who was saying something different than what they knew, and yet it made more sense than what they had been taught. They left their lives behind. They left their friends and family behind. Even after Christ was crucified and went home to Heaven, they never walked away from Jesus. They were powerfully changed. They went out and told anyone who would listen (and many who didn't want to) about what they had seen with their own eyes. If you had never met Jesus personally, it would have been a powerful experience to hear them tell their story. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phillipians 1:21 Paul had completely given himself over to Christ. He cared nothing about himself other than what he could do in obedience. That's a radical change. Jesus isn't walking among us like He did then. His disciples are no longer with us, either. To many in the world, these stories of Jesus and his disciples sound like a musty history book. It seems so long ago and it was all done before we were born. It's hard to feel the power if you only hear about Christ via pop culture and Christmas carols. Most folks feel He is just another historical figure that has little to no importance on their lives today. However, those of us who are saved know Him. We have experienced His work in our lives and we know that He spoke truth. We can be a little like those disciples. We can tell people what we have seen and felt. We can tell them how we are radically changed. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 You are still the most powerful method for introducing Christ. Not a book or pamphlet. Not a commentary or magazine article. You. You telling your story. You giving a first hand account. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 8 00:05:00 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 00:05:00 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] The Bottom Line Message-ID: <2a7ed555e66fb766e77b84865cb1b278@clanwebb.com> The bottom line is something that we hear a lot about when it comes to business. The bottom line is not a bad thing, but it can be a source of greed and malice. People get jobs because of the bottom line and, certainly, people lose jobs because of the bottom line. Sometimes, this happens through no fault of their own. The higher up the ladder you get, the less you are affected by the bottom line. Until, that is, you get to the very top of the ladder. Then, the bottom line is what your life is all about. As I stated, the bottom line is a good thing. It is only men and women that make it a bad thing. A good bottom line is what business is all about. In fact, the only reason to have a business is the bottom line. Moving goods and services into the hands of the public for a profit is what makes this country function. In the end, however, we leave behind the business bottom line and all that it has produced, be it good or bad. Our spirit has a bottom line, too. There are spiritual profits and losses. In the book of Job, we see a man that has lost his business bottom line. He doesn't understand why, but he understands who took it away. The interesting thing to me is that what he fears most is not the loss of all of his earthly possessions, friends, and family, but that he might lose his resolve and then his faith. "But it is still my consolation, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One." Job 6:10 There are examples of men that do feel the painful tearing away from God. King David: "Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O Lord ? how long?" Psalm 6:1-3 Peter, when he realized he had denied Jesus: "The Lord turned and looked at Peter And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly." Luke 22:61-62 Judas was so full of remorse from the separation that he hung himself. The lesson is not to lose faith, but the question is if we have the resolve. I will admit that I pray I never come to the point of despair where I am tested this way. The Word says that God will not give you a trial you cannot handle. However, He will give you a trial that will break you and then the question becomes whether you can handle being broken long enough to be restored. It is a one-sided test because... "He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"" Hebrews 13:5b This is the bottom line of life. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 9 00:21:54 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 00:21:54 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Be Logical Message-ID: I've heard it repeatedly. "If God loves us all, then why would He allow us to endure pain? Why would He allow innocent people to die? Why would He allow us to go to Hell?" Whenever I hear this argument, I always have to back up mentally and analyze the person asking. They usually have one of two goals in mind. Some want to prove that there isn't a God so that they can build their own moral system. Others believe there is a God, but they want to believe that as long as they have lived a good life, they'll get into Heaven. Or, better, that He loves us all, so we'll all go to Heaven. Both of these approaches come from folks who are uncomfortable with the thought that Jesus is the only way in. They don't like the idea that they have to give up their life to be saved. They really don't like the idea that there are consequences to their actions. As they insist to me that God is not who I think He is, I always get an image of a child covering his eyes and yelling, "This isn't real! This isn't real!" No matter how much the child obscures his sight or his hearing or how loud he yells, the child cannot change reality. God has told us what the reality is and yet folks choose to insist that it's different because they don't like that reality. Here's the thing: God is perfect. Everything that flows from Him makes perfect sense and cannot be argued away. We may never understand this perfect arrangement, but I certainly believe it to be the case. Everything He does or does not do follows clearly from who He is. It's logical. It just may be hard or impossible for us to follow here on Earth. In Isaiah, God lays out the fact that the life you live is a logical conclusion of the decisions you make. "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing an obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 1:18-20 I love how God starts off by basically saying, "Come on, now, let's think this through logically." He's making the point that the obedience brings one kind of life and rebellion brings another. You don't get to shake your fist at God and demand that He give you a good life. He's told you how to do it. You have to decide to obey. Notice that He's tied this to His offer of salvation (in the Old Testament, no less) through Christ. He's offering salvation and saying that the remainder of your life will depend on what you do with that offer. Don't be fooled by people trying to trick you. God does love us all, but He's not arbitrary. His law and His actions flow from who He is. You can't demand that He change His nature so that you can live your own life and still go to Heaven. That just isn't logical. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 9 23:57:51 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 23:57:51 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Shhh Message-ID: My wife and I have the privilege of working with the middle school youth group on Wednesday nights. There's nothing like forty or so kids between sixth and eighth grade to help teach you patience. I figure my job is to basically look intimidating enough to keep the boys from doing anything stupid or disruptive and to keep the girls from chatting to loudly during the Bible study. Sometimes, the kids remember that they outnumber the adults by quite a bit. Lucky for us, they are just as likely to forget it before the next week. The most recent evening was some kind of energy peak for them. The kids were especially charged up and had a really difficult time staying quiet and paying attention. Every time a rhetorical question was asked, they all started shouting answers. When it was time for the game at the end, they had to be calmed down twice just to hear the rules. It was a bit exhausting. It made it very hard for the leader to teach. It reminded me, though, of just how noisy and unruly our own lives can be. I have times when I can't sit still. There's always something else to be done. I allow the noise around me to increase and I just ride it like a wave. The problem is that when there's that much racket, you can't hear from God. "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." " Isaiah 30:21 I have this image of a father holding his son by the shoulders from behind and talking softly in his ear, "This way son. Watch out for that over there. Head for that hill." It's impossible to hear those directions if you drown it out with noise and distraction. Jesus set the perfect example of how to talk with God. "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16 "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35 And, even on the eve of his death: "Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." " Matthew 26:36 Make sure to turn down the noise once in a while. Find some quiet time so you can hear those directions whispered in your ear. Turn off the radio in the car and the TV at home frequently. Get up a little early when you can have the kitchen table to yourself. Then, just pray and listen. Don't let yourself be caught up in the energy of the moment or the world around you. The enemy would love nothing better than to simply distract you to the point of powerlessness. "Be still and know that I am God;" Psalm 46:10a Seek silence. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri Nov 11 00:10:46 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:10:46 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Test the Words Message-ID: One of the things I miss about my youth is trust. I know that trust can be a subjective thing from one person to another, but it really seems as if the pendulum has swung toward believing the worst about someone before we believe the best. While I was growing up, we thought nothing about leaving our home unlocked as well as our cars. Our first thought was that a neighbor in need might have to borrow something in an emergency and we would feel awful if they found a locked door when they came to our home for help. If we heard of some dishonesty, we were surprised and saddened rather than than the way it is today where it seems like the sin nature of man is affirmed. Riots and killings are supposed to be understood rather than punished. Sexual misconduct is looked at as something we have wrongly suppressed all of these years and now people are just more free to express themselves. As parents, we struggle with moral values and how to teach our children. I believe that to equip a child to discern between right and wrong, one must teach them to listen to people. If one listens with the intent of making a decision to trust, it has been my experience that the words of the mouth will reveal a lot. The decision to trust another person relies upon their words and then their actions. One without the other is only half of the information you need to make a quality moral decision. "For the ear tests the words As the palate tastes the food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right; Let us know among ourselves what is good." Job 34:3-4 It works both ways. As we entreat others to listen, we must be careful. "I said, "I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence." Psalm 39:1 "If you have been snared with the words of your mouth, Have been caught with the words of your mouth, " Proverbs 6:2 Teach your children to say what they mean and do what they say. In this way they will form a habit that will do well for them in life. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 12 01:11:39 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 01:11:39 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Trumped Message-ID: <2371a402ea8f252d1dc8c043a08b9831@clanwebb.com> When we were young, we played a lot of card games. On hunting and fishing trips, we would pass some evenings playing some penny ante version of something. As in those card games, there are trumps in life. Trumping usually has something to do with authority. For example, the IRS usually trumps just about anything you say. A judge's word always trumps that of the lawyers in the courtroom. By design or not, the world does usually have a final trump. That is to say, it has a final authority. A deck of playing cards is designed to have the four aces be the final authority in the majority of games. When you are reading scripture or defending the faith, you cannot help but come across scripture that is not as clear as other scripture. In these cases, we are taught to do our due diligence in study. Look at the literal reading first, as God is usually very clear. We must also look at the historical setting and related passages. Keeping in mind that the Bible, contrary to some misguided scholars, will never contradict itself. One rule, which I call the trump rule, is that we should interpret unclear passages in view of plain, clear, central ones. A fellow student put it this way, "Red verses will trump the black." Here is a good example of a trump verse "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:26-30 It is a red letter verse. It is very clear and it speaks with authority. The difficult verses in scripture will make us ponder a point, but they are few. Those few will not be confusing to the clear mind about God's kingdom theme or His redemption theme. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 13 00:22:20 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 00:22:20 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Consecration Message-ID: The word for the day is: consecration. Consecration n. 1: a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose (to a service or a goal); "his consecration to study" 2: (religion) sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God; "the Cardinal attended the consecration of the church" This dictionary explanation of consecration is an example of what happens when a Biblical principle is filtered through a world view lens. Read the verse below and contrast it with the example of "his consecration to study". Paul's passion cannot be seen in the dictionary definition using the words "setting apart" until one understands that Paul came to his passion through a life experience orchestrated by and for God. Consecration will be used to describe building dedications and sports records. We, as believers, must be wary of the trap of diluting Biblical principles so that they may be used as window dressing for worldly behavior. "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put not confidence in the flesh ? though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ ? the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in this death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Phillipians 3:1-11 Let's try this definition: Consecration n. the devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated (Exodus 13:2, 12, 15; Numbers 3:12). The Hebrews devoted their fields and cattle, and sometimes the spoils of war, to the Lord (Leviticus 27:28-29). According to the Mosaic law the first-born both of man and beast were consecrated to God. In the New Testament, Christians are regarded as consecrated to the Lord (1 Peter 2:9). Set apart for God, not for anything in the world. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 14 00:12:37 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:12:37 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Let's Watch That Again Message-ID: Can you imagine if there had been instant replay during the time of Jesus? Really, can't you just see a Pharisee tossing in the red flag for a review by the judges when Jesus sent the demons into the pigs. "Wow, that must have been against some rule somewhere. There must be a penalty for bringing people back to life, making the lame to walk, and the blind to see. He can't do that!" or "Are you blind? He must be from the devil!" or "You can't go around claiming you are God!" Man, the so-called wise men of the time would have thrown out their shoulders tossing flags. "The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and waves obey him!" " Matthew 8:27 Translation: "What a play, Jesus!" "And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." " Matthew 9:33 Talk about your Las Vegas magic show! "When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked." Matthew 21:20 Translation: "Man, did you see that? How did he do that?" "Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today." " Luke 5:26 Translation: "Who is this guy?" Yeah, that Jesus is AMAZING! Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 15 00:24:38 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:24:38 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Lose Your Awe Message-ID: <0164bc6f7ef2e782a441978b47b6729a@clanwebb.com> Pop culture can alter our language in dramatic ways. When the youth of any time grabs ahold of a word or phrase and uses it in new and creative ways, the meaning is changed. Often, the connotation is changed irreversibly. The 60s gave us "groovy" and "far out". I am a child of the 80s and grew up saying things like "radical" and "awesome to the max". Those words now carry meanings very distant from their original forms. In some cases, it's no great loss. In others, it clouds our past. Calling something awesome doesn't mean much anymore. I talk about my awesome shoes or an awesome new band. What we've lost is that awesome should describe something that literally strikes you with awe. I've had a few moments like that in my life: getting to meet NBA players when I was a kid, standing in front of my college when I first got to campus, watching my wife walk down the aisle. Those were moments of awe. I truly had to take a breath and just take in the scene because it was so amazing. When we describe God as awesome, we know in our heads what it means, but we've lost some of the weight of the word. When the Bible says awesome, we need to be thinking about something so amazing that it's outside of what we can normally comprehend. It makes you stand in awe. God is awesome: "How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Psalm 47:2 "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!" Psalm 66:5 "For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you." Isaiah 64:3 Jesus is awesome: "They were filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."" Luke 7:16 The Holy Spirit is awesome: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." Acts 2:43 Does considering God, Christ, the cross, and all that He has done for you really fill you with awe? Does it make you stop and just take it all in? If it doesn't, you might want to find that sense again. You need to consider God that way to have a relationship with Him. Go ahead, it'll be awesome! Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 15 23:54:59 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 23:54:59 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Miss Out Message-ID: "For the word of God is living and active." Hebrews 4:12a I find evidence of this verse every time I read the Word. I can read the same scripture that I've read dozens of times before and find something new. God is great that way and He speaks to anyone who spends the time. This very thing happened to me again the other day. But first, let me set it up... As a new Christian, I had a hard time figuring out exactly how to re-prioritize my life. I knew that Jesus had to be at the top, but I was struggling with how that translated into my daily schedule. It has taken me several years and I still don't have it quite right. I did figure out one thing pretty clearly, though. I shouldn't let anything frivolous distract me from my relationship with Him. It's easy for me to lose an hour or two playing a game or following some rabbit trail across the Internet. Heck, I can spend a whole afternoon just rearranging the tools on my workbench. I finally started to understand how these things were taking time away from my relationship with Christ. I started to manage that by simply making sure that those things happened after I had spent time with Jesus that day in prayer or reading His Word or just being quiet and listening. What God showed me the other day was that it wasn't just the frivolous things that get in the way. "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." " Luke 10:38-42 Martha wasn't goofing off or picking wildflowers. Martha was busy at work preparing her home and trying to be a good hostess. And, yet, she still missed an opportunity that her sister took advantage of. I think the nuance God was revealing to me was that it's not just the stupid stuff that gets in the way. Even the necessary and productive activities of life can get in the way. Putting in a little extra time at work, running a couple more errands, or even cleaning the garage well can be a distraction. You have to set aside your time with Christ before all of that. These things might be necessary to do your job or maintain your household, so don't ignore them. Just don't let them become an excuse. Jesus is too important to miss out on. Don't let anything get in the way of that. Frivolous or not. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 16 22:41:49 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:41:49 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Higher Ways Message-ID: <083773bb694b94f2ea4c6e997f0c41fb@clanwebb.com> I had it all figured out. I was at that amazing teenage apex where I was sure I understood how the world worked and I knew what had to happen. It was clear to me that this girl was perfect. She was smart (we shared a few advanced classes), she was a great athlete (basketball and volleyball), and she was pretty. We knew each other casually and had worked together in class from time to time. I finally got the courage up to ask her out. I will admit that I was a little surprised that she said yes. Nonetheless, I was excited. I picked out a nice restaurant and borrowed Dad's car. I got lost on the way to the restaurant and had to stop for directions. Dinner was a little unusual and made the conversation uncomfortable. When I took her home, she leapt out of the car and made beeline for the door. I think she was afraid that I might try to kiss her at the door or something. When the girl flees from your car, it's not a good sign. I was really depressed that it hadn't gone better. I never asked her out again. But, that was okay because I realized that I had been mistaken with her. Now, there was this other girl I knew at another school through some church friends. She was great! She was smart, she was on the dance team, she was pretty, too. As a bonus, I knew her parents well and had been spending a lot of time at her house since it happened to be the gathering spot for my group of friends. We started dating and I knew I'd nailed it. This was the girl for me. We really enjoyed each other's company and had fun hanging out with mutual friends. A couple of months later, we weren't seeing each other as much. I discovered through the grapevine that she had decided that we had broken up and was dating someone else. I was stunned that I was the last to know and couldn't understand how my plans could have gone so wrong. Several weeks later, I was in a bind. I had been a counselor at outdoor school and when I returned, I realized that my senior prom was only a month away. When I finally got the guts to ask another girl to the prom, she was already taken. I asked another girl. No luck. I got increasingly brave and asked girls who barely knew me. They already had dates. As my buddy and I were walking between classes, I was relating my plight. In a moment of humor he said, "Well, you could take my sister." I had never met his sister since she had graduated from a different high school three years earlier before he had moved to the area. I stopped dead and said, "Do you think she'd do that?" He shrugged so I told him to ask her. I really didn't want to go to my prom without a date. To my great shock, she agreed. I introduced myself to her when we met at the mall to pick out my tuxedo colors. We went to the prom a couple of weeks later. To make a long story short, that last minute date for the prom married me over sixteen years ago. She still ribs me about how it was a big step down for a twenty year-old to date her kid brother's friend. I'm amazingly blessed that God placed her in my life. In retrospect, I didn't have a clue about how to plan my life. I was absolutely convinced I knew what was best for me. I was terribly wrong. God knew what he was doing. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;" Jeremiah 1:5 "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths." Proverbs 5:21 God knew me better that I knew myself. He knew where my life was going and what was best for me. Furthermore, He's methods are a mystery to us. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8 That lesson has stuck with me. Whenever I find myself planning the details for anything more than a week in advance, I have to step back and remember that I don't have a clue what God has in store for me. But, I can be sure it's better than whatever I came up with. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu Nov 17 23:52:34 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 23:52:34 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Searching For Wisdom Message-ID: <474dce6a3c9e8d846f247618ec577f8a@clanwebb.com> Is it possible to try too hard to understand God? I have listened to many sermons, gone to many weekend retreats, attended many classes, and read many devotionals in an effort to get closer to God and understand His character. Now, I find myself working through the book of Job. Man, I do not like to read this book. But, I do so out of obedience while reading the Bible through each year (plus or minus a month). I get so depressed reading about how Job is blind-sided by God. What a seemingly rotten thing to do to a guy. Job is just doing his best to please God and, out of the blue, he suffers the most famous about-face in the Bible. I must admit that I am afraid that some fine time Satan will waltz into the presence of God and God will say, "Have you considered my servant, Allen?" I mean nobody wants that. I understand that all I am and have belongs to God and He gives it and He takes it away, but the thought of being something akin to a challenge between Good and Evil just isn't something I even want to contemplate. Yet, in the midst of my groaning and checking how many more chapters I have before Psalms, my eyes stopped and pondered and reflected upon one verse. One verse among all the depression that is the trial of Job while he contemplates the search for wisdom. If he could just understand, if he could just find it. He knows it is more valuable than anything on or in the earth. Among the torment he portrays that... "Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.'" Job 28:22 But those two don't seem to have it. Then in the next verse: "God understands its way and he knows its place." Job 28:23 He ends with a moment of absolute clarity. Through all the weeping and wailing, all the pain and suffering, all the questions, all the attempts to understand, he sees it and in two simple points he hits the nail right on the head. "And to man He said, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding." " Job 28:28 There it is. That's faith boiled down to the simplest idea. Only fourteen chapters to go. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 19 00:31:32 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 00:31:32 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Go There Message-ID: <77b341f6c217f74268a55fc0c89c099b@clanwebb.com> "Let's not go there." This is a phrase used when someone is heading for a controversial point that the listener feels is the wrong subject at the wrong time. Bible translators will do that in a subtle way when, I think, they just "don't want to go there." Well, one of my favorite guys who's never afraid to "go there" is Dr. Henry Morris. I heard the good doctor on a set of tapes given to me when I was a young fellow just starting to learn from people like Josh McDowell. By the way, those are a couple of good names to Google on some rainy day. Dr. Morris is no slouch in the academic world and is famous for using the laws of thermodynamics and time's arrow to show how the universe is on it's way down and not up, as the evolutionist would have us believe. He also has a very keen wit when it comes to some aspects of the Bible. In chapter 40 of Job, God, speaking directly to Job, is continuing to set the world right by reminding Job that the kingdom is His and Job is there at His pleasure. As if dotting the i and crossing the t, God describes two creatures He has made that roam the earth. Now you have to read the full description of these animals to get the full effect. "Look at the behemoth, [ The Hebrew translation is "beast par excellence". God was really proud of this one.] which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. [ It's a vegetarian ] What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! [ It's big ] His tail sways like a cedar; [ It isn't used for swatting flies ] the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, [ very solid beast ] his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, [ Either God made it early on, or it's at the top of the food chain ] yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. [ Doesn't have any trouble reaching food. It fears no other animal. ] Under the lotus plants he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. [ Likes vegetation and marshlands ] The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. [ Floods don't bother it. ] Can anyone capture him by the eyes, [ Remember, little children can lead elephants with a stick. ] or trap him and pierce his nose?" Job 40:15-24 The NIV study notes say that this is possibly the hippopotamus or the elephant. When referring to the tail swaying like a cedar, the notes say that it may be referring to an elephant's trunk. Now, folks, I have seen the tail of an elephant and a hippo. One thing they don't do is sway like a tree. Does this description fit these two animals? Or, should we go to the skeletons at the Museum of Natural History? "Oh, Allen. Let's not go there." The Bible is fun, isn't it? Next, we'll talk about squirrels and dragons. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 20 00:31:37 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 00:31:37 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Of Squirrels and Dragons Message-ID: Remember the story of the little boy in Sunday school for the first time? The teacher wants to slowly bring him into the flow of things, so she tells him that she is going to describe something and she wants him to tell her what he thinks it might be. She describes the following: It is gray and furry. It lives in a hollow tree. It stores acorns for the winter. What do you think it might be? The boy, very anxious to please and knowing it was Sunday school and that Sunday school was about one subject, gave this answer: "Well, ma'am, I know the answer is Jesus but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!" I think we do that with the Bible. We read a verse, the study notes, and a commentary and jump to what we think is the Biblical answer. The Biblical suggestion to this animal described in Job 41 is a crocodile. The scripture calls it leviathan. Matthew Henry's commentary, "The description of the leviathan, is yet further to convince Job of his own weakness, and of God's almighty power. Whether this leviathan be whale or a crocodile, is disputed." Let's read it: "His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn [ Whale or crocodile? The notes describe the next few verses as exaggerated poetic imagery. When has God ever had to exaggerate to make his point? ] Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. [ I thought a crocodile's belly was soft and, if rubbed, would put him to sleep. ] When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. [ The underside of a crocodile or whale did this? ] He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal? a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." Job 41:15-34 Well, ma'am, I know the answer is a whale or crocodile, but it sure sounds like a dragon to me. My God could make a dragon if He wanted to. My God is an awesome God. I can't prove that He did, but He could if He wanted. So there! Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 21 00:07:00 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 00:07:00 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Guarding the Switch Message-ID: <8bc256660badeca3694f5f8f5dad207d@clanwebb.com> I have been a Star Trek fan for many years. I grew up watching the reruns of the original episodes made in the late 60s. I quickly became a fan of Spock. He was brilliant, stoic, and, of course, logical. Those were traits I saw in myself, so I loved watching his interaction with the other characters. Spock did something else very cool. Whenever the moment called for it, he could simply walk up behind some guy and pinch his neck in a particular way that would cause the poor sap to collapse in a heap. Apparently, every alien race in the galaxy had a similar weakness because he would do it to quite a few folks. I tried to teach myself this technique by practicing on my friends. It just annoyed them. I never did figure it out. However, I was always intrigued by the idea that everyone had this incredibly weak point that could be exploited. It was like everyone had an off switch that someone could flip if they knew how. The older I get, the more I realize that just about every man has a switch like that. The difference, though, is that instead of turning us off, we get turned on. This switch has a direct line to the lustful side of our nature and it can have dramatic results. Satan knows this and will use every chance he has to flip the switch. The world has discovered this switch, too, and uses it to make money from any and every avenue. They use bikini models in beer commercials, lustful girls in the movie trailer, and even incredibly proportioned heroines in video games and comic books. All of these methods are attempts at flipping that switch. The problem with that is that it's a direct line to our sin nature. Men are hardwired to find women attractive. That part is okay. Our sin nature drives us to pursue those attractions. Unless you are considering asking the female in question out on a date, chances are you've crossed the line the moment you choose to pursue. Here's the good news. There's only one way to get to that switch. We can't disable it or change it's behavior. We can only make it harder to get to. The only access point is through our eyes. If we don't see it, we aren't tempted. Job knew this and he tells us how he protected his switch. "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?" Job 31:1-3 He didn't make a promise to just not lust when he was looking. He knew that wouldn't work. He controlled access to the switch by averting his eyes. Just not looking. I started doing this a couple years ago and it's made a dramatic difference in my thought life. It's incredibly difficult to retrain yourself, but it's well worth it. I will warn you now, though, that you should never go to the mall alone. There are times when there literally is nowhere to avert my eyes because I'm surrounded by stores and customers showing me more than I need to see. I have to stare at my shoes or close my eyes altogether and let my wife lead me on. I look goofy as heck, but I don't go home with dozens of new images teasing me and distracting me all night. Like an addiction, this is a weakness you will always have. Your only defense is to train your eyes to avoid the temptations. And don't ever think you've got it beat. That's precisely when it'll tackle you again. Clear some space in your head. Make a covenant with your eyes. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 22 00:12:13 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 00:12:13 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] A Unique Path Message-ID: Working with a few dozen kids in the youth group allows me to get all kinds of perspectives on parenting. There are kids whose parents are friendly and interested in what's going on. They like to chat with the leaders and see how their child is doing with the group. I don't pretend to know the ins and outs, but there are some genuinely strong relationships going on with those families and you can see it in the way the kids act. There are those kids who we are just barely reaching. They are tagging along with a friend, they aren't saved, and they aren't quite clear on the whole thing. Some of those seem to have great parents who just don't know Jesus. Some tell some sad stories that seem to border on neglect or active disruption of a close relationship with Christ. We work hard to open their eyes to salvation. Recently, I've seen a couple in another category. These are the kids who are just generally being kids. They complain about school. They talk a lot with their friends. They have to be reminded to be quiet during the teaching once in a while, but generally we're glad they are hearing the Word regularly and feel like it's sinking in. These kids have parents who are churchgoers and who seem to have strong parenting opinions. The issue is when the child isn't quite what the parent expected and the parent doesn't deal well. It might be expecting a son to be more involved in athletics or a daughter to do better in school. Whatever the reason, when one of these kids doesn't fit the preconceived mold of a parent, there's trouble. From what I've seen, this will drive an otherwise decent kid to rebel more dramatically. In one case, the child simply moved out. It's heartbreaking because that disruption at home causes a disruption with their spiritual relationship with Christ. A few of them are strong enough to maintain, but many of them are baby Christians and events like this can knock them loose from the support system offered by the youth leaders and their saved friends. Each time I've seen this happen, my mind comes back to a verse our pastor emphasizes frequently: "Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 The key here is that God isn't just talking about training a child to love God and follow His will. All children need that. But, also, the wording carries with it the concept that each child has a unique path to follow. As fathers, it is our job to train our children up in the unique path God has set before them. It is not for us to decide what our child will and will not do with their lives. All we can do is teach them to love the Lord and help them discover their path. We are only going to cause trouble if we decide ahead of time what that path should be and try to force the issue. That turns to conflict and rebellion beyond the normal discipline necessary for a child. Rebellion will drive the child away from their unique path and, in some cases, from their obedience of God, too. Take a step back and see how you are doing. Are you training your child up in the way that he or she should go? Or in the way you decided they should go? Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 23 00:12:19 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:12:19 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Trying to Put Faith in a Box Message-ID: Is faith a concept or a reality? The so-called academic world, the great thinks in our institutions of higher learning, see faith as a cultural phenomenon. It's something to be studied for comparison of peoples. Most would never stoop so low as to participate in faith, as it would be perceived as a sign of weakness. Faith cannot be studied in a closed system and it doesn't always produce the same results. Therefore, it isn't scientific. To combat what is perceived as the rantings and ravings of the brainwashed Christian mind, the secular elite frame their argument from their version of both sides while attempting to stay outside in order to take what they think is the emotion out of the discussion. It looks something like this: Overview of Academic Views Within the academic community, the main discussion revolves around how much weight to give the text of the Bible against counter-evidence or lack of evidence. Generally those giving more weight to the text of the Bible, assuming its correctness unless proven otherwise, and tending to interpret it literally, are called Biblical maximalists, while the opposing view is Biblical minimalism. The debate between the two sides is inextricably tied to how one views historiography: they disagree over how much weight documentary and indirect evidence should be given. Biblical maximalists view the Biblical narrative as a starting point for constructing the history, and correct or reinterpret it where it is contradicted by archaeological evidence. Biblical minimalists start purely from the archaeological evidence, and only consider Biblical accounts of value if they are corroborated by the archaeological evidence. Now that they have framed the argument academically, and we all know that academics are the only people that are ordained to think, they can now proceed to enlighten us. They waste no time. Genesis The Biblical creation story, up to and including the deluge, is generally regarded as myth by most scientists and many religious believers (i.e. non-creationists). The arguments raised come from cosmology, geology, evolution (in particular fossil evidence), and textual analysis of the Bible itself ? it is argued that this evidence indicates that the described events, if taken literally, are scientifically impossible. [These entries are from the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.] These people are out to relegate our faith in a God-created universe to philosophy and nothing more. If you fall for this tripe, you have no faith in God because the second you limit God in any way, you lose your faith in Him. God is not scientifically proven, but He is this: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" Acts 17:24-28 Don't falter, boys. No man can explain the universe because man did not make it. It was no accident of science. Faith does not need to be accepted by science. Science needs to accept the evidence of our faith. "Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty." John Calvin Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu Nov 24 00:31:06 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 00:31:06 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Crossing the Heart Line Message-ID: This question is this: Can a man look at a beautiful woman without it being a sin? If you have ever asked that question, then you know the answer. The translation of the question is this: How much sin can I get away with before it is evident? There is no doubt that as men we face a big diabolical paradox when it comes to women. God made them beautiful so we would be attracted to them. How do we know to stop the mental attraction when it crosses the line from attraction to lust? On top of that, they are no help at all in their attempt to attract men. There is definitely an element of a looker and a lookee. When is it lustful? The female form can be appreciated and in conjunction with demeanor, style, and personality, it can cause a man to try anything or die in the attempt. It becomes sin when the looker, lookee, or both crosses the heart line. You cross the heart line when you conceive the idea to go where you should not, physically or mentally, plot the way to get there, and pack your bags and go there. In short, if you have to ask the question you have already conceived the idea. That is why scripture gives us the most obvious of solutions: to flee. Beat foot mentally and/or physically. This takes discipline and discipline requires practice. "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly." Proverbs 5:21-23 When you feel you are about to cross the heart line, run (mentally and/or physically) as if you are avoiding hell... Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri Nov 25 00:58:04 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 00:58:04 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Recognizing the Obvious Message-ID: Methinks they protest too much. Whenever someone or some group is driven to protest loudly and at great length, there's a decent chance that you've hit a nerve. I came upon an article that seemed to be a clear example of that the other day. The state Board of Education in Kansas have decided to start teaching intelligent design alongside evolution in public schools. As you might expect, this set off more than a few self-appointed experts and caused them to lash out in a telling way. The religious studies department at the University of Kansas decided to fight back by offering a class entitled, "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies." Although some tried to play down the obvious aim of this class, there was no holding back the department chairman. He is quoted as saying "The KU faculty has had enough. Creationism is mythology. Intelligent design is mythology. It's not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not." Sounds like a nice balanced evaluation of the evidence, don't you think? I think I hear someone trying to convince himself that the flaws in his beliefs aren't really there. "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools." Romans 1:22 If you begin to explain how the human eye works to the average person and then ask them if this could happen accidentally, I suspect very few would think so. The simple thinkers and average folks can see the design in the world around them. It's the overeducated types that have decided that there cannot be a designer involved. "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." 1 Corinthians 1:27 The more we know about the universe, the less it seems like it could have just happened. The deeper we look inside of cells and what makes them work, the more complicated they are. All of these things point to the truth that we Christians know. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1 "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31a It's all from Him. Take no heed of those who are busy trying to convince themselves that the obvious isn't true. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat Nov 26 00:31:59 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 00:31:59 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] You Can't Shape God Message-ID: <4c3a9d694a798c651256ecdf81606282@clanwebb.com> "If God is all loving, how can anything bad happen or anyone go to this terrible place called Hell?" This is the type of question people make up so they can order their own universe. We as Christians are partly to blame. We don't portray God as He really is to the world. God is the source of all love, but that love does not overrule His righteousness. He's not going to forgo the entry requirements into Heaven even though He loves you. You can either choose to follow Christ or be perfect. There are no other choices. "If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers." Deuteronomy 7:12 People that make up attributes about God so they can have the rules they want in their own private universe are dreamers. "you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 13:3 Remember, everyone is in the game. Nobody is exempt. "Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools." Proverbs 16:22 To those that believe they can lead any kind of life as long as they fall above the average line, the "everybody does it" crowd: "Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!" Jeremiah 4:18 Get to know God. Gain knowledge. "The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young- let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance- for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:1-7 Don't make up God to fit your lifestyle. Make your lifestyle fit God's requirements. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun Nov 27 00:43:04 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 00:43:04 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Assume Message-ID: <5ae84302c04a1ec8ee461941ea115de8@clanwebb.com> Do you assume? I do it more than I should. Sometimes it gets me into trouble. That includes everything from social embarrassment to physical danger. I was in a restaurant one time and wanted to wash my hands. This place was one of those that used symbols as well as words on the bathroom doors. I glanced up as I came around the corner and very distinctly saw the word "MEN'S" and a cute little caricature that, for all the world, looked like a man in some sort of a European costume like a kilt or a man-skirt like the boys on the continent are fond of wearing during some kind of festival. Well, as I was washing my hands and admiring the frilly decor, I heard the stall door behind me shut and the next thing I knew I was washing my hands next to a woman I didn't know. She smiled and said, "Hello dear." At that moment, another woman walked in and said, "Oh, dear," and I was trapped. Thank goodness they laughed and I beat a hasty retreat. I retraced my steps and realized what I had done. The doors were situated such that as one came around the corner and glanced up at just the right time, all that was visible on the first door was "MEN'S". The "WO" part came into view an instant later, but that was after my mind had already come to the wrong conclusion. Sin can work the same way. We glance at a situation and our mind makes wrong assumptions. Before you know it, we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we are not careful, we can also presume, by virtue of what other people are doing, that a particular behavior is okay in the eyes of God. This is usually because we want it to be right and we lower our own standards of righteousness. King David wrote a Psalm about presumptuous sin: "Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:12-14 These everyday stumblings are like presupposing how a cold glass of milk is going to taste and then finding out too late that it has soured. We miss a lot by not being more careful in our everyday relationships. Be blessed by being a blessing. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon Nov 28 00:27:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:27:08 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Cool Cache Message-ID: <6932a80aae5e2f522f05d434082e782f@clanwebb.com> There's a cool enhancement used in computer hardware and software design. It's cool because it can make slow hardware or software seem faster without actually making it faster. This idea is called a cache (pronounced like "cash"). The idea behind a cache is to make it easier than normal to get information that you use frequently and thereby speed up the entire job you are attempting. One way to illustrate a cache is to think about an office. You have a desk and a filing cabinet. While you are working, you could take one of two approaches. One approach would be to get up from your desk, look through the cabinet to find the appropriate file, and read the information you need each time you need it. The next time you need another item, you would get up and find the file again. The other approach would be to realize that you will need lots of pieces of information from that file so you choose to bring it back to your desk. Now, whenever you need something from that file, you have it right in front of you. This has saved you many trips to the filing cabinet. Now, your desk is not big enough to hold every file in the cabinet. So, eventually, you will have to get up and get a different file. Furthermore, at some point, you'll have to put one of the files on your desk back in the cabinet. The magic is when you consider the amount of time spent looking up items from the files. Without taking the files to your desk, each time you needed to get a piece of information, you would have incurred a complete round trip to the cabinet. Let's say thirty seconds. However, each time you needed something that was already on your desk, it only took two seconds. Over the course of the day, ninety percent of your trips for information were from your desktop and ten percent were actual trips to the cabinet. So, on average, you spent less than five seconds per trip. You are able to store reams of files in your cabinet, but with a proper use of your desktop you have cut your average way down and made yourself very efficient. The effect is to make the cabinet appear to be much faster to use than it really is. Computers will always make the trip to the cabinet when they need the information. If they have to do it too often, they start to slow down. There is lots of research and theory being put into good cache design and it will likely always be happening. We do similar things in our lives, but since we aren't computers we will do something different when we don't have the information at hand. Sometimes, we'll go get it, but often we will guess, fake it, or even make it up. We are lazy by nature and will often skip the step of going to actual data. I find that some casual Christians will make this mistake with their walk. Because they don't read the Word enough, they often don't have the right information at hand when they need it. Instead of going to the Word to find out, they'll just fake it. But, if they haven't been in the Word to begin with, they will be faking it with very little to reference. How do we keep the Word close? "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word [...] I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119: 9, 11 Okay, so we need to have the Word written on our heart. How might we do that? "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8 Hmm, so, rule number one: Don't fake it. Rule number two: Study the Word so you don't have to. You want the desktop of your mind to be filled with scripture that you can refer to easily when you aren't sure. And when the right scripture isn't at hand, make sure to take the long walk to the Word and find it. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue Nov 29 00:13:00 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:13:00 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] The Meaning of Christmas Message-ID: Okay, it's Christmas and I'm hacked off. Every year at this time, the news organizations dust off their same old theories about the Christmas story. Last night was no exception. Several educated people (I use the term in the same vein as two people standing in quicksand telling each other that the situation has therapeutic value) were setting all of the Christians straight. They told us that we need the "stories and myths" of the Christmas season to shore up our unenlightened lives because we can't seem to face the world of facts. We, poor little emotionally unstable Christians, just can't seem to make it through life without our bedtime stories, they say. I am sick and tired of the condescending educated elite giving me a pat on the head and smile this time of year. One of these forty watt bulbs decided that because the son of Julius Caesar proclaimed Haley's comet as his father heading for Heaven, that the Christians made up the nativity to trump the son, Augustus. They showed a Roman coin with a star on the back as proof. This comes from a culture of people that made up a god for everything. These folks don't know what to believe. The one thing they are assured of is that as long as the taxpayer keeps paying they can keep speculating. Here are some things they've come up with until now: 1. They think the universe popped into existence out of nothing. An effect with no cause. 2. They believe it happened billions of years ago. 3. They believe man didn't stand upright until 50 to 80 thousand years ago (nothing like a little cushion in case somebody digs up some contrary evidence) 4. They believe man had limited social order 5000 years ago. 5. They believe man had open social orders only 500 years ago. 6. They believe man didn't really get his head out of the sand until the Industrial Revolution between 1750 and 1830. Now, here they are in 2005 confidently debunking scripture that has withstood the tests of bibliography, quantity, quality, and time span. It passes the internal test: The Bible has sixty-six books and they do not contradict each other. It passes the external test: Scripture is verifiable through non-Christian writings and archeology. Finally, the uniqueness of the Bible stands alone. No other collective works have claimed to have within its covers what the Bible truly contains: The inspired word of God. No other work has had anywhere near the world impact. No wonder these people don't want intelligent design taught in the public schools, they don't know what it is! Brothers, don't put your heads down to this world view, for we are a dangerous lot. Not all of us may have a PhD, but anyone can think and get a library card or surf the net for information. The ancient Greeks and Romans are dead. Our God lives. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 Stay strong and say "Merry Christmas" at least three times in every store you patronize this season. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 30 00:20:52 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 00:20:52 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Why the Rules? Message-ID: <9fbccaba916dc573cd4e41f8e57f1b9d@clanwebb.com> Being a follower of Christ will set you apart. If you do it right, people will notice. When they notice, some will tell you what's wrong with your faith. I have had folks tell me that following Christ means giving up all of the fun stuff. Others have declared with confidence that the Bible is just a book of "don'ts". God is seen as some cosmic killjoy out to suck the happiness out of life. One large hurdle for many an unbeliever is the idea that life will suddenly be boring and bland. This is seeing things all wrong. Now, it is true that the Bible is certainly clear on how we should live our lives. Forgiveness: "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times" " Matthew 18:21-22 Anger: "Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret ? it leads only to evil." Psalm 37:8 Adultery: "But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself." Proverbs 6:32 Integrity: "And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No', 'No'; anything beyond comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:36-37 And I could go on. Taken as snippets, these might appear to simply be restrictions on life or, at best, rules for good manners to others. God is setting up velvet ropes to keep us out of the more interesting parts of life so we can be more pious in our suffering, right? There's nothing of value here for me personally, right? Wrong! God has not laid out these rules of life to penalize us or hold us down. He has a clear encompassing plan: "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:9-12 Yes. The plan is that He loves you. He is not putting of ropes to restrict us, they are to protect us. He knows how dangerous and damaging those areas are and He's marked them off for us. And, just like the boundary markers on a ski slope, He also explains the consequences of breaking those boundaries. It's not an attempt to suck the joy out of life. It's a loving Father telling His children that if you walk off the course that way, you'll suffer years of guilt and pain. If you walk off the course the other way, you could die. If you stay on the course, you will have joy and peace. He's not trying to hold you down. He's trying to show you the way. Embrace it. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed Nov 30 23:31:51 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:31:51 -0800 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Never Too Late Message-ID: <4294d75b7a52e6e53cc3a10a180e0600@clanwebb.com> The gap between what a person hears to be the truth and what he or she may believe to be the truth can be huge. This thought process is evident in the person that hears that God forgives sin, but believes that their sin is so great that God will not forgive them. Cleaning up one's life is not a public decision. The results of the decision are what is public. What drives one to the decision is guilt. That overpowering feeling that eats away at our life until we simply must do something to fix the problem. This is a critical juncture, because it is here that many feel that they have already gone too far. So they turn their back on God convinced that they are a lost cause. "How blessed is he whose transgression [rebellion] is forgiven, Whose sin [missing the mark] is covered! [hidden to the world, but not to God] How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, [does not count the sin against him] And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heart of summer. Selah. I acknowledge my sin to You, And my iniquity [like a thirst] I did not hide; I said, "I will confess [tell it to God by stating it directly to Him in simple terms] my transgressions to the Lord"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah." Psalm 32:1-5 This is cleansing guilt. This is the fever the breaks. This is the wound that heals. It is never too late. Allen