Monthly Archives: November 2009

Biting the Hand That Feeds Us

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“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”1

As reported by Chuck Colson in BreakPoint, a recent commencement speaker at Georgetown University, a Catholic school, was Francis Cardinal Arinze, the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. In his address Cardinal Arinze told the graduating students that “happiness is found not in the pursuit of material wealth or pleasures of the flesh, but by fervently adhering to religious beliefs.”

He also stressed the importance of the family stating that “in many parts of the world, the family is under siege” saying that “an anti-life mentality [is seen] in contraception, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.” And that the family is “scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions, and cut in two by divorce.”

And as Chuck Colson said, “Well, that’s a very Catholic message one might expect from a Catholic cardinal. But it proved too much for many in the audience. Teresa Sanders, a professor of theology, left the stage during Arinze’s remarks. Seventy other faculty members signed a letter to the dean protesting what one of them called Arinze’s ‘wildly inappropriate’ remarks. Really? As a result, the dean apologized for the Cardinal’s remarks and the ‘hurt’ they caused.”2

While I don’t think too many Christians are against contraception for married couples who take family planning seriously, everything else stated by Cardinal Arinze is certainly Catholic, Christian, and biblical. The opposition from the faculty is alarming for at least two reasons, not the least of which is because of the intolerance of another’s point of view that differed from their own in a place of higher learning where every view is, supposedly, to be given a hearing. It seems today in the West that every religion and every message except Christianity is tolerated. This is even of greater concern when this happens in a Christian educational center.

Even more alarming is the opposition of the faculty of a Catholic school who are opposed to some of the basic tenets of the Catholic and Christian faith. One wonders at their ethics in that they are teaching in a school where they disagree with its foundational principles. Why don’t they teach in a secular school?

And why is it that those who reject and oppose Christianity don’t leave a country—that was founded on Christian values—to live in a pagan land?

Far too many today want the benefits, blessings, and privileges that are based on and built upon Judeo-Christian values, but don’t want to accept the responsibilities that guarantee its continuance. Furthermore, they reject the very values that are the foundation of a free society. In doing so they reject the source of the benefits they enjoy. In other words, they’re biting the hand that feeds them—the hand of God!

We cannot have it both ways. We either accept God’s directives or go our own way. And whatever we sow we will reap—even if it is eventually.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me in the midst of the ever-increasing pressure to be ‘politically correct’ to stand firm with my feet placed solidly on your Word—the principles of which are eternal and will endure forever. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV).

2. Chuck Colson on “BreakPoint.” www.breakpoint.org

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The Power of One

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Jesus said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”1

“John Warr, an 18th-century apprentice shoemaker, was determined to be a faithful witness for Christ. Another apprentice by the name of William was hired, and John repeatedly talked to him about spiritual things, but the new worker didn’t want to be bothered. Then one day he was caught exchanging a counterfeit shilling for a good one. In his guilt and humiliation he asked John for help and prayer. Through the faithful witness of John Warr, that man put his faith in Christ and developed into a committed disciple.

“The young apprentice was William Carey, who later became a remarkably fruitful missionary to India. Carey’s life and ministry had a tremendous influence on the cause of worldwide gospel outreach in modern times.”2

Some of us get discouraged because we don’t feel that we are very gifted and don’t have a lot to offer God in service to him. John Warr could have said to himself, “I’m just a shoemaker and don’t have much to offer God.” But he didn’t. He just wanted God to use him and made himself available.

It’s amazing what God can and will do with anyone who will make him/herself available to God. And if you do make yourself available to God, you may never know until you get to eternity just how God used you to touch the life of others for eternity.

As blind Helen Keller said, “I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

And as the unknown author said:

One SONG can spark a moment,

One FLOWER can wake the dream,

One TREE can start a forest,

One BIRD can herald spring,

One SMILE begins a friendship,

One HANDCLASP lifts a soul,

One STAR can guide a ship at sea,

One WORD can frame the goal,

One VOTE can change a nation,

One SUNBEAM lights a room,

One CANDLE wipes out darkness,

One LAUGH will conquer gloom,

One STEP must start each journey,

One WORD must start a prayer,

One HOPE will raise our spirits,

One TOUCH can show you care,

One VOICE can speak with wisdom,

One HEART can know what is true,

One LIFE can make a difference.

May that life be yours.

Remember, too, “that all the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of one small candle.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I am your child and I want you to use me to be a part of your plan and what you are doing in the world today. Use me to spread the love of Jesus everywhere I go, and grant that people seeing Jesus in me, will want Jesus in them too. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 15:8 (NKJV).

2. Our Daily Bread, June 7, 1996

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Failure Is Never Final

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“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”1

Yesterday—or any other day—may have been the final day of your divorce, the day you were rejected, or the day you lost or buried a loved one; but as difficult as it seems right now, and as extremely sad as it is, in time it can become a day of new beginnings. Be gentle with yourself but do begin the grieving process as soon as possible so you will be able to resolve your pain. To do this effectively, there are several valuable qualities that will help you to face the future as uncertain as it may seem right now.

1. Have the right attitude. Attitude is what makes the difference between a painful experience becoming a failure or a success. You can allow your experience to leave you timid and afraid to step out again for fear of being hurt, or you can determine that your loss will be your teacher.

True, we need mountaintop experiences from time to time to encourage us, but we don’t grow through these. It’s in the valley of disappointment that we are given the opportunity to take stock of our life and move toward a greater level of growth and maturity.

2. Know what your purpose in life is. The more clearly defined that purpose is—and the more deeply it is embedded in your conscious and unconscious mind—the less loss will set you back. A spacecraft en route to the moon is off course 90 percent of the time. It is pulled back by the earth’s gravity and is continually drawn to one side or the other by additional forces. But it has a built-in computer that has a singleness of purpose that homes in on the moon. The computer is making continual corrections to keep the spacecraft on target with its purpose and goal.

Life is like that. If our eye is on our goal, if we have a singleness of purpose, nothing will stop us getting to where we plan to go.

3. If you failed in a relationship or in some other venture, remember that failure is an event, not a person. Because you failed doesn’t mean that you are a failure as a person. Not at all. The only real failure is not to try again, or not to get up one more time than you’ve fallen down. The important thing is to learn from your past, to use it as an opportunity to grow, and to move ahead to a more fulfilling and richer life.

4. Give God a chance. If you feel like you have failed, or believe you’ve done wrong, ask God to forgive you—and be sure to forgive yourself. And then, with God’s help, turn your failure into a stepping stone toward a better you.

Where a bone is broken and heals, it becomes the strongest part of the bone. The same is true of your broken places—where you have been hurt, have fallen and failed, or are afraid. When you bring these to God for his healing, his strength is made perfect through your weakness.2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to use every disappointment, loss, and setback that happens to me to help me grow and become a better, more loving, and mature person. And lead me to the help I need to do so. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV).

2. Adapted from the chapter: “Failure Is Never Final” in How to Mend a Broken Heart by Dick Innes. You can read more about this book and order it from http://www.actscom.com/store.

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Attitude Check

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“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”1

Ron Hutchcraft shares how a man he knew “would suddenly make this announcement: ‘Attitude check!’ That never meant much to me until I began to have some friends who are private pilots. But that word ‘attitude’ can be a life-or-death word for a pilot. One of my friends described a plane’s attitude to me as its position relative to the ground, to the horizon…. After decades of flying, including landing on aircraft carriers, he summarized the importance of a plane’s attitude this way: ‘Right attitude, you keep flying. Wrong attitude, you stop flying.’

“Pilots tell me that when you’re flying by your instruments—in those times when conditions won’t let you fly visually—you adjust your attitude based on an instrument called your artificial horizon. It actually shows you where the real horizon is. But when you can’t see any points of reference, your senses start playing tricks on you. One veteran pilot friend of mine said that even he has to sometimes fight his instincts and feelings that are telling him lies about whether he’s going up or down. The only thing that’s telling him the truth is his artificial horizon.”2

Life’s like that too. The attitude that was popularized a few years ago— “If it feels good, do it” —has had a disastrous effect on many an individual and on much of our society which has become incredibly permissive. As such we are on an ever- increasing slippery slope downwards.

Feelings can be one of the most dangerous directives to follow when it comes to choosing between a right and a wrong course of action to take. The instrument God has given to us to keep our attitude right is his Word, the Bible. We go against his directives to our own peril. As Christians we are to do right—regardless of what our feelings tell us. Right attitude, we keep flying. Wrong attitude, we crash.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word, the Bible, which gives me the right attitude to follow and to guide me safely through the storms of life. Give me sense enough to trust your Word and obey its directives—regardless of my feelings. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 119:10-11 (NIV).

2. “A Word With You,” Ron Hutchcraft, http://www.hutchcraft.com/.

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Life Without Love Is Lifeless

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“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”1

Dr. Alfred Adler, international psychiatrist, based the following conclusions on a careful analysis of thousands of patients: “The most important task imposed by religion has always been, ‘Love your neighbor….’ It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow man who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.”

As I have said a number of times, it may not be the most desirable for many of us, but we can live healthily as a single or without romantic love in our life. But we cannot live healthily without loving relationships—or at the very least, without one loving relationship.

I would agree with Dr. Adler in that, more often than not, it is a lack of love that drives people into self-destructive behaviors such as: looking for love in all the wrong places and getting deeply hurt and disappointed; acting out sexually as a false substitute for love; and turning to drugs and alcohol as a means to anesthetize or deaden the pain of emptiness caused by a lack of love.

So, if we are lacking in love or feel that we need more healthy love in our life, where do we find it? Easy question; tough answer.

First, it begins by admitting to ourselves and to at least one trusted friend exactly how empty and lacking in love we feel.

Second, remember that we get damaged in damaging relationships and are healed in healing relationships. This means we need to be in relationship with at least one loving, accepting, non-judgmental, trusted person (a capable counselor if necessary) with whom we can be totally open and honest and, step by step, open up and reveal our true self—warts and all. It’s only as we reveal who we truly are that we can be loved and accepted for whom we are, and not for what we have ever done or have failed to do. And as we are loved and accepted in this way, little by little we learn to love and accept ourselves.

This, of course, takes courageous work and time. However as we learn to love and accept ourselves, we are not only freed to change, but also in a position where we are attracted to loving people and they to us. Remember, we can only be loved to the degree that we are known—and we can only love and accept others to the degree that we ourselves have been loved and accepted.

Third, and most important, realize that we not only need the love of others, but most important of all, we need to know and experience God’s love, forgiveness, and his divine acceptance. As we open up to him and confess our true self to him—sins, warts and all—and ask for his forgiveness, he forgives us totally. And, of course, we need to learn how to forgive ourselves. Then we are freed to experience God’s love in the depths of our inner being. And joyously we will discover, as we grow in love towards others, our love for God will also grow and be enriched. As God’s Word says, “If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to find a loving friend with whom I can feel totally safe to open up and share my true self—sins, warts and all—and give me the courage to so do. Help me, too, to grow in love towards others so that your love is made complete in me. And then, help me to give the same love to others as they and you have given to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen”

1. 1 John 4:11-12 (NIV)

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A Creative Solution From Donald Duck

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“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”1

As is commonly known, one of the biggest killers of ideas is the excuse, “We’ve never done it that way before.”

However, profound ideas can come from the strangest places. Creative genius comes to people who are open to new ideas and different ways of doing things. For example, in 1964 the freighter Al Kuwait which was carrying 6,000 live sheep capsized and sank in Kuwait’s harbor. The sunken ship with its decomposing cargo began to present a serious threat to the country’s water supply through its desalination processing plant.

To overcome the problem the ship had to be raised and moved to a safe place without falling apart and dumping its poisonous contents into the nation’s water supply.

Karl Kroyer, a Danish engineer working in Kuwait, came up with a novel idea. He pumped 27 million ping-pong balls into the freighter’s hull which slowly raised it to the surface.

And where did he get this idea? From a Donald Duck comic book. Somebody sank Donald’s boat and he and his feathered friends raised it by filling it with ping-pong balls!

When it comes to creative living, a better place to get great ideas is in the words and examples of Jesus in the Bible. It pays to know it and hide its truths in our heart. One’s life is greatly enriched when it is lived in harmony with God’s Will and Word.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a greater love for your Word, help me to hide it in my heart ‘that I might not sin against you,’ and be guided by its principles in everything I am and do. Gratefully in Jesus’ name.”

1. Psalm 119:105 (NIV).

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Liberty or License?

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Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”1

A Daily Encounter reader writes: “I know lovely people who go to church and say they want and embrace an intimate relationship with Jesus—and are living with their lovers outside of marriage. A girl who works where I work says she loves Jesus and wants a close relationship with him. She goes to church every Sunday and is living with her boyfriend. We can’t judge.”

Can we really say we love the Lord but don’t obey him? As Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” The reality is it’s what we do, not what we say, that counts.

As God’s Word, the Bible, says, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”2 And again, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”3

True, as Christians we have freedom and don’t want to slip back into legalism—that is, doing the “right” thing outwardly but not from the heart. At the same time, our freedom or liberty in Christ is not a license to do as we please. As the Bible also says, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”4 If we continue to sin, we actually lose our freedom because we become a slave to, rather than a master of, sin.

Our reader also says that we can’t judge. Actually, while we are not to judge others, we are to judge actions. Again, God’s Word says, “But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.”5

Pastors and teachers are also instructed to rebuke and correct people who are sinning. Admittedly, there is a fine line between judging people and their actions, but if Christians would read the Bible, know what it teaches, and were sincere about obeying the Lord, their actions would judge themselves.

Sadly, too, what so many people fail to realize is that God’s instructions are for our good, not to take away the joy of living. Living in harmony with God’s will gives us true liberty but it doesn’t give us a license to do as we please. Also, when we sin, we not only hurt ourselves but very often others we are close to as well.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to love you sincerely from the heart. Help me to overcome my bent for sinning so that I will always want to live in harmony with your will and live to please you and not myself. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 14:15 (NIV).

2. Hebrews 13:4 (NIV)

3. 1 Corinthians 6:18 (NKJV).

4. Romans 6:15 (KJV).

5. 1 Corinthians 2:15 (NKJV).

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Loneliness … The Sad Affair

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“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”1

Ron Clarke of Tasmania shared how “one of England’s great poets, Rupert Brooke, who died in 1915, wrote the following note: ‘I felt a trifle lonely before I left Liverpool; everybody seemed to have people to see them off. So I went back on shore and found a dirty little boy who was unoccupied who said his name was William. ”Will you wave to me if I give you sixpence, William?” I said. ”Why, yes,” said William. So I gave him sixpence and went on board. When the time came he leaned over the railing on the landing stage and waved. So I got my six-pennyworth and my farewell—thanks to William.’”

How very sad. Karen and Richard Carpenter in one of their popular songs some time ago sang with deep meaning, “Loneliness, it’s such a sad affair … and I can hardly wait to be with you again.” How true these words were for Karen who starved herself to death because of her own loneliness and the feeling of not being loved. Being popular and in the limelight can never compensate for the need for close, loving relationships. I believe it was Janis Joplin, another popular vocalist, who said that the only time she felt okay was when she was on stage. The rest of the time she suffered from deep loneliness. She, too, took her own life with an overdose of Heroin in 1970. Even though “her career lasted only a few years, she has been hailed as the greatest white female blues singer who ever lived.”

Think, too, of the elderly whose friends have passed on—the divorced, those never married, widows and widowers, numerous children, teens, and their parents living in unhappy homes, spouses who are abused and have nowhere to turn for help, military personnel and their families separated at times of war … the homeless—the list of lonely people is endless. Loneliness is indeed a plague of modern society. It is a very sad affair.

The fact is we were created for relationships and while it may not be the most desirable, we can live without romantic love, but we cannot live healthily without close, loving relationships with at least one trustworthy friend. God himself is in relationship within the Holy Trinity. And think of Jesus; one of the first things he did when he commenced his ministry was to choose the twelve disciples “that they might be with him.” And while he never married, he certainly had close friendships with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. If Jesus needed close friends, how much more do we? To truly “be” is to be in relationship.

Perhaps the most pathetic loneliness of all is to feel separated and isolated from God.

For many of life’s problems there are no simple, quick-fix answers. One way, at least for some, is to find a Christian church where the people welcome strangers and reach out to the lonely—and where you can find God.* It can take a while to gain a sense of belonging, but I encourage you to hang in, and especially to join a small and accepting group. In countries where the Christian church is forbidden, some find companionship in an “underground” church. All of these people surely need our prayers.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how I thank you that you have created mankind for relationships and today I especially pray for the lonely who are everywhere. Please help me to be an encourager and supporter of at least one lonely person or family and please lead all of our churches to do likewise. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

*NOTE: To help you find God be sure to read the article at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian. Read also “Overcoming Loneliness” at:: http://tinyurl.com/3bg5xy.

1. James 1:27 (NIV).

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Feeling Close to God

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“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.’”1

A male Daily Encounter reader writes: “I wonder if you could give me some advice. Sometimes I feel as though God doesn’t like me and seemingly does everything to make my life a living nightmare. I have done all that I can to change my life and repent for all the things that I have done in my past and yet I still don’t feel the warmth of God’s love. Is it possible that it has anything to do with my not being christened or baptized?”

Of one thing you can be certain, God loves you totally and unconditionally no matter how you feel, what you have ever done or have failed to do. Be assured, too, that it isn’t God who causes our problems. We happen to live in a broken, sinful world where we all face trials and go through tough times. We won’t be delivered from tribulations until we get to heaven.

In the meantime, God wants us to keep growing towards wholeness so we will overcome many of our personal struggles.

Also, when God feels far away, it isn’t God who has moved. The barrier is in us. Neither does it have anything to do with whether or not we were christened or baptized. While Jesus picked little children up and blessed them, he didn’t christen them, and (though some will disagree with me) as far as I know there is nothing about being christened as such in the Bible, and while baptism is important, not being baptized doesn’t cause God to distance himself from us.

When God feels far away, it can be caused by un-confessed sins and/or by persisting in doing things we know that are out of harmony with God’s will. More often than not, however, that barrier has more to do with our impaired relationship with others, and especially so if it was with our parents in our developmental years. For those who had a close, loving, warm relationship—especially with their fathers, it is very easy to feel that God, the Heavenly Father, is also close, loving, and warm. But for those of us who felt their father was distant, cold, and/or punitive, we tend to project that on to God the Heavenly Father and feel that he too is cold, distant, and punitive. I’ve had to wrestle with this problem, too, so I can understand how you feel.

To overcome, you not only need to confess your sins to God, but you also need to have an open, honest, and trusting relationship with other men—or at least with one soul brother with whom you can share all your inner thoughts, feelings, victories and failures—one who will not judge, criticize or put your down or tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, but one who will love and accept you just as you are. Ask God to give you such a soul brother. As we grow close to others we will be able to feel close to God. (If you are a woman, you need a soul sister for this type of supportive relationship.)

Also, be sure to commit and trust your life to God every day no matter how you feel. Remember that God is close to you whether you feel it or not. Learn to thank God and accept this by faith regardless of how you feel.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you are not far from me and please help me to find the help I need so that I will be able to face and resolve any and all barriers in my life that cause me to feel that you are far away—so that not only will I know in my head that you are close, but feel your closeness in my heart. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 17:27-28 (NIV).

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Horse Sense

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“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”1

“On his radio broadcast Steve Brown explained that when a group of thoroughbred horses face attack from an outside enemy, they stand in a circle facing each other and with their back legs, kick out at the enemy. Donkeys, on the other hand, do just the opposite. They circle up, facing the enemy, and use their hind legs to kick each other! How often does the church [or families] do the identical thing—ignore the real enemy while attacking fellow believers.”2

An old cliché, but worth repeating, says, “The church is the only army that shoots its wounded.” This can be especially applicable to some divorced people in some church circles—even when the divorcee had absolutely no choice in the matter. Some churches have fought and split over their church music. Some denominations have split over insignificant doctrinal issues. I’ve seen bickering and backbiting destroy one church I know, and I know one pastor who was “crucified” through idle gossip started by a jealous, critical person. Most of those church members would never have dreamt of stealing this pastor’s transportation, which they would have considered to be a terrible sin, but thought nothing about stealing his reputation—and which did the greater harm?

Furthermore, when the name of someone we don’t like comes up, all we have to do is to say, “Oh him,” in a put-down-tone-of-voice, to sow doubt in someone’s mind about that person. And when we label people negatively, we negate them.

When we do these things, we are not acting like thoroughbred horses!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, deliver me from the sin of gossip, slander, backbiting, and divisive behavior. Help me to become a ‘thoroughbred’ Christian and not like the other kind. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:30-32 (NIV).

2. E. Glenn Wagner, Ph.D, The Awesome Power of Shared Beliefs (Word Publishing, 1995).

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