Monthly Archives: October 2009

Planned Abandonment

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“He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”1

Michael Josephson tells how “management guru Peter Drucker advocates a practice he calls planned abandonment. He stresses how important it is that managers develop the wisdom and courage to regularly review what the organization is doing and determine whether it’s worth doing. He urges executives to note and resist the systemic and emotional forces that make it difficult to abandon activities that drain resources, detract from central goals, or otherwise impede progress.”

This same principle needs to be applied, not only in the business world, but also to many areas of life. Some of us, for example, who are codependent need to come to our senses and abandon our neurotic need to rescue an addict from the natural consequences of his/her self-destructive behavior.

Sadly, some so-called Christian churches that teach a toxic type of religiosity that controls people and keeps them in the bondage of legalism also need to be abandoned.

Remember the religious people of Jesus’ day. They were expecting and waiting for their long-promised Messiah (Savior), but, because Jesus didn’t come the way they expected him to come and do what they expected him to do, they failed to recognize their Messiah when he came, rejected him, and had him crucified. They were blinded by their own man-made religious traditions and, instead of abandoning them, they clung to them tenaciously. How tragic.

Unfortunately, many are still doing this today.

If our religious beliefs and/or traditions are man-made and are not in harmony with God’s Word, we need to summon our courage to abandon them and come to Jesus, the Savior of the world, and follow him.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see any self-destructive behaviors I may have and give me the good sense and courage to abandon these ways. And if my beliefs and faith are not in harmony with your Word, please help me to see the truth, abandon my long-held misleading religious beliefs, and come to Jesus and follow him. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: For god’s way of salvation see “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. John 1:10-12 (NKJV).

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If You Loved Me … Yeah … Right!

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“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified [set apart unto God]: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother [or sister] or take advantage of him [her]. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.”1

A Daily Encounter reader writes, “I have a male friend who doesn’t accept the restrictions in the Bible regarding celibacy before marriage. He says that if he loves, cherishes, and respects the woman, it should be okay to have sexual intimacy. I told him that there are Bible verses regarding this, but have only found some and have trouble explaining further. Can you please help me and will you please consider writing on this topic.”

Sounds like a familiar line. Men—Christian or otherwise—who claim that sex outside of marriage is perfectly acceptable on the basis of their love for a woman, is pure manipulation. The Scriptures make it very clear that fornication (sex outside of marriage) is sinful. It’s not sinful because God says it is sin. God says it is sinful because it, like all sin, is harmful to those whom he loves—us!

Apart from health reasons (which of itself is sufficient to remain celibate outside of marriage) and the risk of an unwanted child, and then for some, abortion, sex outside of marriage can blind a couple to what kind of person their partner really is. Furthermore, becoming physically bonded too soon can and does stop couples from becoming emotionally and spiritually bonded, which is an essential foundation for building a healthy marriage and home. Furthermore, sex outside of marriage for those who rationalize that you’ve “got to try before you buy,” doesn’t prove a thing. Many couples who have been active sexually prior to marriage sadly discovered that once they were married, the sacredness of sex was over. Unfortunately some men give “love” to get sex while some women give sex to get “love”—a blind fallacy this turns out to be.

We may not always like God’s ways and they may not always be easy to follow, but God’s ways are always for our benefit. We defy them to our peril. We simply cannot improve on God’s plans. It’s much smarter, wiser, and healthier to get in on them. And in the end, investing in God’s ways and following his rules always produces great dividends.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the desire to know and study your Word so I will always know your directives. Give me the good sense to know that your directives are always for my good, and please give me the strength to abide by them and never compromise them because of my own fleshly lusts and desires. Help me to always live in harmony with your Word and your will. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 (NIV).

NOTE: For additional Scriptures on this topic see Romans 1:28-30; 1 Corinthians 5:1-2; 6:12-14, 17-19; 7:1-3; 10:7-9; 2 Corinthians 12:20-22; Galatians 5:18-20; Ephesians 5:2-4; Colossians 3:4-6.

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Pruning for Productivity

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Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father [God] is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”1

In preparation for his sermon about Jesus being the vine, and we the branches, Brett Blair shared the following: “I must admit that I know very little about the particulars of the wine industry. So I did some reading in this area and found it to be quite fascinating. Grape vines are very rugged in one way, but in another sense their fruit is very delicate and requires being treated with kid gloves. A young vine is not permitted to bear fruit for the first three years. It is therefore drastically pruned in December and January to preserve its energy. The particular branches that do not bear fruit are cut out to further conserve the energy of the plant. If this constant cutting back was not done, the result would be a crop that was not up to its full potential.”2

Sometimes we wonder why God allows us, his children, to go through so many trials and tribulations; and yet, when we look back over the past, we can see how God was with us guiding our every step and pruning us so our lives would become more fruitful and productive. As the writer to the early Hebrew Christians wrote, “No discipline [or pruning] seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, while I can’t say that I have ever enjoyed your ‘pruning’ in my life, I thank you for all the trials you have used in my life to do this. Help me to realize when trials come that you are using these to help me become more and more like Jesus in every way and accept them with an attitude of gratitude. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: For further help see “Lessons from Suffering” at: http://tinyurl.com/exuyw.

1. John 15:1-2 (NIV).

2. Rev. Brett Blair. www.eSermons.com.

3. Hebrews 12:11 (NIV).

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No Hiding Place

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“Don’t just pretend to be good…put away all deception, envy and fraud. Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation.”1

I read the other day about a little boy who loved to play Superman.

Each morning three-year-old Ray would ask his mother to pin a bath towel to the back shoulders of his size 2 T-shirt. Immediately in his young imaginative mind the towel became a brilliant magic blue and red cape. And he became Superman.

Outfitted each day in his “cape,” Ray’s days were packed with adventure and daring escapades. In his mind, he not only played Superman, he WAS Superman. This fact was clearly pointed out when his mother enrolled him in kindergarten class. During the course of the interview, the teacher asked Ray his name.

“Superman,” he answered politely and without pause.

The teacher smiled, cast an appreciative glance at his mother, and asked again, “Your real name, please.”

Again, Ray answered, “Superman.”

Realizing the situation demanded more authority, or maybe to hide her amusement, the teacher closed her eyes for a moment, and then in a voice quite stern, said, “I will have to have your real name for the records.”

Sensing he’d have to play straight with the teacher, Ray slid his eyes around the room, hunched closer to her, and patting a corner of the frayed towel at his shoulder, answered in a voice hushed with conspiracy, “Clark Kent.”2

We laugh at this child’s imagination and childish self-deception. Sadly, too many of us as adults put on a public face (our “Super-whatever” mask) and pretend to be outwardly what we’re not on the inside so that we will be liked and accepted—and as a means of avoiding facing our own reality. And when we live with this deception for so long, we end up believing our mask is the real us. People may “like” my public mask but as long as I hide my true self, I will never feel loved and will end up living among people alone apart. The realty is that I can only be loved to the degree that I am known.

Furthermore, unless I admit to myself and to God who and what I really am, I will never be able to feel truly forgiven nor fully loved. We try, like Adam did when he sinned, to hide from God, which is totally unrealistic, since we can never hide from God no matter how we try. As David wrote, “Where can I go from Your Spirit [Oh God]? Or where can I flee from your presence?”3 Much wiser and much healthier to come to God and admit who we truly are, ask for and find his forgiveness, and be freed to grow and become all that God envisioned for us to be and do.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you know me as I truly am and love me regardless. However, please help me to stop hiding behind any false front, to be honest with myself and with you so that I can experience your forgiveness and become all that you want for me to be, and be an open channel through whom your love can flow to others. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 2:1,3 (TLB/NLT).

2. Source Unknown.

3. Psalm 139:1-7 (NIV).

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Blessings of Unanswered Prayer

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Jesus said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father [God] in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!.”1

Terry Fitzgerald Sieck shared how she “was in the habit of praying very specifically for what she wanted. She told God in great detail about the kind of job, the kind of husband, the kind of life that she envisioned for herself. And Terry was frequently frustrated. One day, a friend suggested that she try a different tack. Give God a blank sheet of paper, the friend suggested, and let God give you his list for your life.

“Not long afterwards, Terry went back to school—something she hadn’t anticipated doing. And she met a wonderful new man whom she eventually married. He didn’t fit the criteria of her earlier list, but he was everything she wanted in a husband. When Terry turned her life over to God’s will, God provided for her needs in ways she couldn’t have imagined.”2

There’s nothing wrong with asking God for what we would like, but to get prayers answered, they need to be in harmony with God’s will. And while “some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers” (as the country song puts it), he often does give us the desires of our heart when we pray in harmony with his will.

I think God has a great sense of humor too. For instance, my last car had just under 200,000 miles on it. It was old but still okay for running around town, but I didn’t feel safe in driving it long distances anymore. For months I had been looking for a good bargain on a mid-size SUV (not a gas guzzling one) as I carry lots of stuff for our work. I prayed, “God, I don’t really need an SUV but it sure would be nice to have one.” Within two weeks I found a fabulous bargain on a year-old, low-mileage vehicle. I now own an SUV and have found it a great help in our work.

I think one of my son’s “prayers” was answered too. His vehicle was giving him all sorts of problems so I sold him my old car for $1.00—which he borrowed from us to pay for it!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you hear and answer my prayers. Thank you, too, for the times you haven’t answered my prayers according to my wishes which, if you had, it may have done me more harm than good. Help me to live and pray in harmony with your will so that I can be sure that you will answer my prayers one way or another. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: See article, “How to Pray Effectively” at: http://tinyurl.com/kb62w.

1. Matthew 7:11 (NIV).

2. Terry Fitzgerald Sieck, found in Stories of God’s Abundance for a More Joyful Life (Lancaster, PA: Starburst Publishers, 1999), pp. 196-198.

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Trust

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“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”1

“In her autobiography Climbing Free, rock climber Lynn Hill shares the peril she faced in May 1989 while scaling a cliff face in France. As Hill reached the top of a 72-foot ledge, she leaned back into her harness to take a rest. Somehow, her rope wasn’t fully connected to her harness. When she leaned her weight on it, she fell backward into space. You can imagine how terrifying this was—falling through the air with nothing to catch her. Amazingly, she survived the fall.

“As an expert in her field, Hill relied fully on her equipment. She had every expectation that her harness would support her full weight. Her experience illustrates the dangers of putting your faith in something that may fail.”2

Many of us have learned the folly of putting our trust in others who let us down, or in accountants who adjusted their books to make their company look good on the stock market, or in the stock market itself—or in a broker who stole his clients’ entire retirement funds (of whom I am one of the victims).

Living in this world we are going to be let down at times. We can’t always avoid it. But the most important thing in life is that we don’t put our trust in a false god or a false religion and discover too late that when we come to the end of life’s journey, we had not put our trust in the Living God and his only way of salvation. We can trust in man-made religions, our own interpretation of the way to heaven, or we can trust in Jesus who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through me.”3 And again, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven [than that of Jesus] given among men by which we must be saved.”4

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the name of Jesus—the one through whom you have provided mankind’s only way of salvation. And thank you that I can trust fully in your Word knowing that you will never let me down. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: See God’s way of salvation at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. Psalm 146:3-4 (NIV).

2. James B. Meigs, “Extreme Living,” O, The Oprah Magazine, July 2002, pp. 35-37.

3. John 14:6 (NIV).

4. Acts 4:12 (NKJV).

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Dis-Appointments

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“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”1

In his book, Empires of the Mind, Dennis Waitley shared how “in the 1920s, when Ernest Hemingway was working hard to perfect his craft, he lost a suitcase containing all his manuscripts—many stories he’d laboriously polished to jewel-like perfection—which he’d been planning to publish in a book. The devastated Hemingway couldn’t conceive of redoing his work. He could think only of the months he’d devoted to his arduous writing—and for nothing, he was now convinced.

“But when he lamented his loss to the poet Ezra Pound, Pound called it a stroke of luck. Pound assured Hemingway that when he rewrote the stories, he would forget the weak parts; only the best material would reappear. Instead of framing the event in disappointment, Pound cast it in the light of opportunity. Hemingway did rewrite the stories—and the rest, as they say, is history. He became one of the major figures in American literature.”2

For those who daily commit their life to Christ, our disappointments, as another has said, are God’s appointments in that he wants to use every adverse circumstance to help us grow and become more mature and better persons.

Speaking personally, in much younger days it was when I was lying on my back on a hospital bed following an accident on a construction site that I “heard” the still small voice of God calling me to the work I am still doing today. Years later, it was a family crisis that led me to leave my homeland of Australia—a situation that God has used to more than double my ministry. Like many of our readers, I could name many more disappointments to show how they were blessings in disguise and how God has used them to bless me more than I could have ever imagined.

He wants to do the same for you too. He will as you commit and trust your life and way to God every day for the rest of your life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I commit and trust my life and way to you and ask that you will use every disappointment in my life as your appointment. Turn each negative experience into a blessing, and use each one to make something beautiful out of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 8:28 (NIV).

2. Dennis Waitley, Empires of the Mind (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1995), p. 122.

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Taking a Stand—Making a Difference

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“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”1

An English bishop once said, “Everywhere the Apostle Paul went there was either a revival or a revolution. Everywhere I go they serve tea.”

As you can well imagine, when I write on such topics as homosexuality and abortion, and seek to present a biblical view, I don’t get served tea. In fact, I get both bouquets and bricks. The bouquets are very nice and are appreciated. The bricks are usually well aimed and could hurt deeply if I took them personally, which I don’t. I also usually lose a number of subscribers at these times.

The reality is if as a preacher, teacher, or communicator I speak or write to please everybody, I will end up pleasing nobody and my life will never amount to anything worthwhile, and I certainly won’t please God.

If we want to make an impact on our society, Christians need to take a loving but firm stand against pornography, illicit sexuality, abortion for any reason (not including if the mother’s life is in serious danger), homosexuality, alcoholism, etc., and all the things God opposes, for they are ultimately self-destructive. Furthermore, let us not vote for politicians and leaders who don’t take a stand against such behaviors regardless of their political affinity. And let us not purchase the products of companies who support organizations or groups who promote the things God hates.

By way of interest, if we don’t hate unrighteousness, we don’t love righteousness. If we are to be true followers of Jesus, we need to hate the things God hates and love the things he loves. While he loves sinners, he hates all sin. As Christians we are called to impact and change our culture and not allow the culture to impact and change us.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the desire to know your Word, the wisdom to understand your ways, and the courage to stand up for what you say, and not be conformed by today’s culture with its ever-increasing non-biblical, politically correct world view. Grant that my life will make a difference—no matter how small—so that I will not have lived in vain. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV).

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Hot Potato Follow-Up

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“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”1

In response to a recent Daily Encounter on homosexuality a concerned subscriber asked for any suggestions that I could offer to help her talk and witness to a friend of hers who had chosen a lesbian lifestyle.

I didn’t have a clear-cut answer, but here’s what I suggested:

I don’t think situations like this ever have a simple, pat answer. I certainly don’t have any such advice. And while I don’t want to sound too simplistic, I think it is very important that we ask God to help us to be as Jesus to all questioners and to give us the right word at the right time.

A girl, whom I will call Mary, attended one of my weekend seminars on “Loving and Understanding People.” A participant asked about homosexuality and I expressed what God’s Word had to say about it and added that, at least for some, its roots can go back to childhood which can cause a woman to unconsciously be searching for the mother love she never received, and where a man may still be searching unconsciously for the father love he never received. Mary was extremely upset with me. In no uncertain terms—in front of the entire group—she declared in no uncertain terms that I was “a pharisaical religious b——!”

This was quite a shocker to say the least. I simply answered, “Sometimes I probably am.” It turned out that Mary was a lesbian.

To my amazement Mary turned up a few weeks later at a week-long, live-in workshop we had for those who wanted to work on unresolved personal issues. There were about 25-30 people in attendance. In this entire week not one person condemned or judged Mary. Early in the week I told Mary that while I didn’t agree with her lifestyle, I loved and accepted her for whom she was. In fact, the entire group loved and accepted her and by the end of the week she even gave me a very warm hug and said, “Maybe you are right.”

All too often it is a lack of love that drives people into acts of sin as they search for their unmet love need in all the wrong ways and places. And only love will ever bring them out again—that is, God’s love through us. True, we are to hate the things God hates, but at the same time we are to love the people God loves. And while God hates sin of all kind, he loves sinners of every kind. We need to do likewise because we all qualify as sinners.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, before I ever point a finger at anyone else, please confront me with any unresolved issues and sinful ways in my life. And help me always to love fellow sinners—and be ‘as Jesus’ to them—even when I see their sinful and self-destructive ways. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 4:2-3 (NIV).

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A Little Child Shall Lead Them

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“And a little child shall lead them.”1

“I had been a children’s Sunday School teacher at a particular church for quite a while,” wrote one lady. “I dearly loved it and its people. I had tried, on many occasions to get Bob, my husband, to take an interest in that church. He went twice, once because there was to be a big dinner after, and the second time to see the Christmas play, which I had written and directed.

“Bob owns Big Sun Tree Service and a few days before Easter, while trimming a tree, a branch hit him on the jaw causing it to crack. He did agree to go with me to church on Easter Sunday. However, before we left he bit down on an oatmeal cookie and ended up breaking his jaw and spending Easter afternoon at the emergency room.

“The following Saturday I asked him if he would like to go to church with me in the morning, and, remarkably, he said ‘I might as well, I don’t have anything else to do.’ At church, during the meet-and-greet time, one of the youngsters, Ethan Moody, handed me a $5.00 bill. Puzzled, I asked him if he wanted me to put it in the offering plate for him, and he replied that this was his allowance, and he wanted to give it to my husband to help pay for the dentist. I knew I couldn’t give it back to him, because it would hurt his feelings, so I gave it to Bob and quickly explained what Ethan had said.

“In that service when Pastor Ben gave the invitation, Bob accepted the Lord. Later that day I asked him what had prompted him to make that decision? He told me it was many things adding up over a period of time, but that the icing on the cake was when Ethan gave him ‘his weekly allowance to help pay my dental bill.’ That action had reminded him of the times I had explained to him of how God, because he loved us so much, gave up His only son to pay for my sins.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, like the child who expressed his love in a tangible way, help me to do the same for others in need who cross my path and whom you bring into my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Isaiah 11:6 (NIV).

2. Source unknown.

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