Jesus black belts

I was listening to a guy in his 50s talking about mixed martial arts. He had studied fighting for 40 years. He was a martial arts enthusiast and held a black belt. Everyday he put himself through a grueling routine of stretching and punching bag work. His body was conditioned to be as hard as a rock and his mind contained untold numbers of strikes and submission holds. Wherever he went he wore stretch jeans so he could kick someone in the head. Another fighter was with him, and they both started laughing that, outside the ring, they had never been in a fight. They had trained their entire lives for something they never used.

Many Christians are like this. They attend Church and pray to God daily. They study His Word and read devotionals. They are Jesus black belts. Yet they never use it. There comes a point when you stop studying to go to the mission field and you actually go. Many should be teachers yet they act like students. They are feeding themselves instead of feeding others.

When you join the army you go through basic training. You are trained to be a soldier and how to shoot a gun. When your training is complete you are sent to combat. Many people join a Church and are given a sword (the Bible). They are trained on sword play and are formidable. Yet that’s all they do: train with their sword and polish it inside the Church. The enemies of God are devouring people outside their Church walls, yet they are inside, training and training but never engaging the enemy. Such soldiers are useless to their General.

There is a bloody battle raging the streets all around us. And given the direction society is going, it appears we are giving up sacred ground. Given this fact, allow me to ask you 2 questions:

1. Do you read your Bible everyday?

You better! Your bible is your weapon. Can you defend yourself and defend those weaker than you? When Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan, He refuted Satan with Scripture. A Christian without a sword is useless. Step towards maturity. If you've done this, you're the one I wrote this for, proceed to question number 2.

2 How many people did you bring to the Lord this year?

Doesn’t that question make you feel naked? Many of us spend more time doing our hair and makeup than spreading the gospel.

The grey chest hair - an eternal reminder

The other day as I was shaving, I noticed I had a single wiley grey hair on my chest that shone like a beacon amongst its darker brethren. The song, “one of these things is not like the other” played for a moment in the back of my head, until I noticed the tune and smote it violently. These children songs from my kid's DVDs will haunt me till the end of my days

Yet this hair deviled into the germane. Despite a fleeting thought to fetch a black giffy marker to color it, I could not help but see that that hair represented time.Or more specifically, an approaching end to my time.

“Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here”. (Psalm 103: 15-16 NLT)

This Scripture when plucked out of the Bible and portrayed individually doesn't give us the most cheerful disposition. Yet that is how it gives us such a profound perspective: on how we should be living in the here-and-now. Our first phase of existence is fleeting, but in the following verse we see a foreshadowing of our second phase. We see an introduction of eternal life, and this is what gives us hope.

“But the love of the LORD remains forever with those who fear him”. (v17)

We only have a small allotted amount of time here on this big blue sphere. And that grey hair proclaimed that over half of my time was up. And I could not help but wonder, “What have I accomplished for my LORD”? He has given me talents and abilities. He has entrusted me with resources and friends. He has touched me with health and situated me in a first world nation. He has blest me in so many ways. I was once darkness but was born again into light. He plucked me up out of the mud, and cleaned me up, and loved me at a great expense to Himself. I know my purpose in creation is to glorify Him: To please Him. Yet so much of my time is spent on myself:  Which eternally, is spent on nothing.

"Where O death is your sting"? Remembering a man of God

Billy Graham wasn’t the only great man to pass away recently. My cousin Daryl died today. He was in his mid-40s but had the intellectual development of a grade 5 or 6er. He was born with excessive fluid pressure in his brain and had several operations to put a tube in his head to drain it. As a teenager he fell into a pool and drowned, but was revived. This incident further contributed to his diminished mental state. Yet what he lacked in IQ he made up for in joy and inner beauty.

Spiritual sociology and the zombie apocalypse

Have you ever sat in a hectic mall and people watched? It’s akin to bird watching, yet you observe the immensity in diversity of the crowds before you. They hurry to and fro in their busy lives; each with a distinctive personality and outward projection. It’s amazing how alive and invigorated they all seem, with family and friends tying them together with unseen bounds. And yet, what we perceive is not an accurate depiction of the reality before us. If life were representative of a movie, we could speculate that the world around us is an ongoing drama, perhaps with comical elements and some adventure. The cast of characters around us are each the protagonists in their own personal unfolding story lines. Such `life’ is observed within the narrative; People living and being people. I am nothing more than a simple bird watcher, a movie goer, and I sit in a dark theatre and enjoy the intrigue of this movie of life on the screen of my retina. Yet because I sit in the dark, I fail to see the reality just beyond the theatre doors: The bigger world beyond my darkened perception. God’s Word allows us to glimpse the outside world: the real world. And to see that those around us, who are like us, are not well. That something is dreadfully amiss, and that humanity is terminally ill.

taming the tongue

Flyleaf: "I'm so sick, Infected with where I live". - The Christian's Conundrum.

Flyleaf expresses our sinful sorry state with their song, “I am so sick”.

Exalting oneself above God precipitated the fall of mankind, and our created order. Questioning His judgment is to replace Him with yourself: to exalt yourself above your Creator. The prideful position that dropped Satan from the heavens likewise dropped mankind from Eden. And we landed in a world of thorns and death. Tainted flesh: Adam’s legacy lives on in his children. We desire to exercise our wills above His own. We trade happiness for sorrow and have done so millennium upon millenniums.


How to crawl out of this hole? As the Flyleaf song sings:

"I'm so sick, Infected with where I live" 

... the allures of the flesh (of this world) are ever before us and within us. As Paul voiced this tension,
"Who will save me from this body of death (Romans 7:24)?". The Flyleaf song sings of sexual tension, but the lures are many. How does one resist the want of carnality, the hunger of iniquity? How does one deflect the attraction of the flesh? And we hear Paul’s reply,

"Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ my Lord (Romans 7:25)." Dwell not on the thoughts of the flesh, on the desires for sinful satisfaction. Dwell on and with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We are prone to stray thoughts. These we must contend with in till the Lord’s return. Yet we should not allow them to covet. We must not fixate them within our minds and entertain them in our hearts. This is a conscience act. A stray thought is a spark in the mind and easily snuffed. But if we capture that thought, and dwell upon it, and nurse it into a fire, it will grow. Carnal thoughts are kindling to fires that will burn your life. When kindling comes along, discard it. Likewise, dwelling on the things of God is a conscience act, to be nurtured and perfected.

"I will break into your thoughts with what's written on my heart
I will break, break"

 

We must take ownership of our thoughts and break out from this cycle of death and decay. We must serve God with our mind and soul, we must serve God with our flesh. And when we do so, we will shed our chains of iniquity and progress on the road of sanctification. The road that leads to Paradise.

Do what is necessary

If you're like me, you sometimes feel like you're dragging your Christian feet. Many times I ponder, what am I supposed to do? What is God's direction for my life? How am I to serve Him and engage the world around me? I think many times, I simply overthink it. Instead of analyzing how I'm supposed to change the world on some momentous scale, I need to simply be obedient in my neighborhood.

I'm not Mother Teresa, yet perhaps i can buy a burger for a homeless man on the street.

I'm not Billy Graham, yet perhaps I can share my faith with someone close by.

God can use you, to move mountains, even if only in the life of one person.

born again - the metamorphosis of sanctification

 

from a worm (a creature designed and desiring to eat .. a gut with legs)

comes the realization, the touch of God,
of birth, of beauty with the power to fly,
of metamorphosis, of being born again and at one within the sky .. next to God.
it is the path we all take from the dirt to the clouds.
thank God for the chrysalis, that changes the worm,
thank God for the Christ, that changes the soul into something beautiful.

Hints and warnings – God’s voice through others

It’s interesting how God can jar you from your stupor and remind you that He is shaping events.  We know that He’s involved in our daily circumstance, yet I am awe stricken upon the reception of direct communication.  This month two of His children had the privilege to rattle my moorings with spoken words; Rattled by the blessed acknowledgement that He chose to include me in on an aspect of His itinerary.  The first was a sister that needed a spiritual hug. As we have all had the disprivilege of meandering through the `valley of the shadow of death’, she was currently trudging through this tired old path. I offered her my usual encouragement and direction by pointing her towards the holy mount. Yet she startled me by telling me God had revealed to her that I would be her “mentor”. This has never occurred to me before. God had told her I would disciple her. There’s something beautiful about that, and yet subtly terrifying: To be entrusted with a task, revealed through the Spirit’s good pleasure. It should not be taken lightly. And I pray I do not get in the way of accomplishing what God’s intentions are.

God’s eyes: Tale of two souls

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)

Imagine how different this world would appear, if we saw it with the Lord’s eyes. Yet our eyes are corrupted by an iniquitous infection that twists this reality. Despite the spiritual decay that lambasts our souls and stigmatizes our retina, the Lord has sent His Helper to His children. The significance of this will always be understated, for it is impossible to overstate this miracle: that the God of all would commune with us. And despite our fragile fleshen forms, He wishes to fill us with His love, and teach us to see as He sees. This is our lot, until we are brand-new and have our cataracts removed. As such, I lean on and glean on His guidance, and occasionally I catch glimpses of His honor amongst us in His children: as I see with fleshy eyes and a tainted spirit, slightly corrected by His holy lens.

 I perceived two people, one devoured by shadows and the other emitting God's light; I wish to compare and contrast these dissimilar souls, both of which I met this week. They are like opposite poles on a magnet that repel one another in lifestyle and outlook. I don’t believe I have met two more divergent individuals. Both of them are struggling with life setbacks, one more of his own making, and the other by nature of her birthplace. On the one hand a man of superficial outward strength, and on the other, a woman of veiled inward strength. It is interesting how two people encumbered in a similar happenstance would react so differently to the world around them: One with anger whose desire is for himself, and the other with love whose desire is for others. Equally interesting is how the fallen world would measure them, if it happened to share a moment in their company.

Mark
 

I ventured into the inner city to meet up with a friend that is struggling with homelessness, and while at a soup kitchen he introduced me to one of the individuals I referred too.
 

As seen with earthly eyes: Mark walked in through the front door and started looking for a seat to sit on. He is homeless and this shelter is his preferred place to eat. People seemed frightened of him. I’ve spent many days in a gym, and Mark was the biggest body builder I’ve ever seen. His arms were 21 inches thick: Which is like a teenager’s waist. His trapezoids touched his ears, and his chest and lats where like sides of beef. I am unsure if he could walk through a door without turning one shoulder forward and the other back. He was a monster who had overinflated himself with copious amounts of steroids … to the point where he looked surreal, more like a cartoon caricature of a man. He walked and acted in a way to draw attention onto himself.
 

He rotated his sleeping habits between sleeping on the streets and sharing a bed with numerous women enamoured by his physique. The frequent one-night-stands seemed to further his perceived self-worth. He was such an odd compilation … the homeless body builder; well dressed, well groomed, a good looking face, and a physical gargantuar. He preferred to spend his days in the gym instead of working. Work would distract from his size which would in turn diminish his self-worth. His need to feel physically superior actually hindered his ability to achieve employment. And the exercitation of this ego made him subsequently unemployable. I have never met someone whose desire for physical grandeur had actually made them homeless. His was a pride gone awry.
 

Mark was powerful looking; Strong looking. He carried himself with confidence and had a trigger temper. The previous week he had apparently exploded in a rage and terrified the mission. This week he seemed to receive special treatment based on his prior antics … as volunteers quickly offered him a level of service I’ve never seen before in a soup kitchen. A man came over with a pitcher of milk, filled Mark’s glass and put the pitcher beside him for refills. Another man would refill his glass whenever it was half full. Everyone appeared to walk on egg shells around him. Mark had taken a seat next to me, and I gave a friendly greeting. Without acknowledging me, he verbally disparaged me and looked down on me (he tinged my anger and I flared up, but that’s a story for a different blog post). What’s important was how he challenged a stranger and symbolically spit in my face without provocation. Because of his demeanour, and because of his Olympic proportions, he was feared and garnered some form of odd respect. Due to his powerful presence and the strength of his personae, he was someone people regarded as powerful and wished to emulate. Yet he was the littlest man I have ever met.
 

Mark was a narcissist. His world was built around pleasing himself. His ego was more grotesquely inflated than his body; he fancied himself the epitome of a tough guy, and refused to take any inconvenience from anyone. I know what a tough guy is, and this isn’t it. A strong man is strong for those around him, not for himself. In fact, when Mark was younger, he was too tough to listen to his parents. And now he’s too tough to listen to an employer. 30 years old, physically strong enough to lift an Honda, and he’s homeless and hooked on meth. All his time and all his money is spent on himself. He is the sun and everything revolves around him.
 

He is a contradiction; a visual alpha male incapable of supporting himself, let alone helping others. His spirit is so weak that he cannot see God, only himself. His mind is so fragile; that he cannot relate to people around him, for fear that his virtual reality would be obliterated: that he would see his insufficiency and need for Another.
 

As seen with spiritual eyes: Mark is on life support. His legs are so weak he is incapable of walking. He is skinny, transparent, fragile, sickly … he is barely breathing. His every thought is of himself. He has squandered all that has been entrusted to him upon himself.
 

Anna
 

And then there is Anna, the other person I referred too that is the polar opposite of Mark. My sister is so luminous she burns my eyes. A magnificent woman whose strength humbles Atlas: who fictitiously carried the earth upon his shoulders.
 

Anna as seen through earthen eyes: Anna is little, 5 foot 0 and 100 pounds. She is the eldest of 7 siblings. Her family is impoverished and lives in the Philippines. She is not affluent and fairly poor. And Anna has a troublesome and serious heart condition.
 

As seen through my teary eyes: When she was 18 years old, she could not marry her love. Her family’s impoverished state prompted her to selflessly give up her relationship and to seek employment in another country. For 15 years she has worked in a foreign land as a nanny and sent the money back home to her family. Her father became sick and Anna took the medical expenses upon herself to treat him. Anna became sick but did not have the luxury to stop working. Her family needs her. Although she is greatly indebted and very sick, she refuses to stop sending her family money. She even refuses to tell her family that she is ill, because Anna does not want them to worry about her.
 

I could tell you many stories about Anna that would leave you in humbled bewilderment. Suffice it to say, she pours her life into those around her. The extent of which, I don’t fully understand. How she could be so selfless at the expense of her own well-being and future, and unwilling to even let those she sacrifices for, know of the depths of her sacrifice for them. As such, she doesn’t even receive recognition and honor for it. She burns my eyes when I look at her.
 

As seen through spiritual eyes: Anna is a giant of massive proportions; she has strength to move mountains. My sister is so fragile and so weak by outward appearances, yet she is spiritually unmoved by the world around her. It slaps her, mocks her, and she cries but shames it with her love. Her strength is in God, not herself. She leans on the Master, not her own devices. She worships Him every morning, singing songs of praise. She walks daily, holding the Father’s hand. Her physical heart is weak, but her spiritual heart channels love to those around her.
 

She shared with me a long term goal. She wished, when she had managed to pay off her considerably large debt, to save money to help her nephew have a better life. She makes 500 dollars a month, sends money back home to her family, is paying medical expenses for her failing health and for her fathers: and her ambition (for when her debt is finally paid off) isn’t to have “me” time, or to spoil herself because she deserves it. It isn’t to try and better her own condition, but to instead help her nephew.

Two people walk into a room. The first one is a man so physically strong that he dents the door knob as he turns it. The world stares in admiration of his presence. He is a physical tiger by outward appearances. Yet spiritually, he is a dying neonatal kitten. The second person, no one notices. She is a tiny, unhealthy physical specimen. Her entire body would weigh as much as the first guy’s arm. Yet, her soul touches God, and as such, she could bench-press the universe. I wish the world would see with God’s eyes.

Dark Spirits - A black hole trying to take your light

We decided to meet at a coffee shop.  Two strangers brought together by a flyer I posted around town.  A week prior, I had made a flyer inviting people who have questions about God to phone me.  It also invited those suffering from depression to seek me out.  I try things, and if they don’t work, I try other things.  Occasionally, by God’s grace, He elects to use me for some small task.  This was one of those days.

Listen ... I bring Good News

Whether you're broken or whole, this video's balm for your soul.

See a child enjoy life with her Creator:  a life abundant and a life of joy.  Yet, as she grows older a myriad of influences intercepts this relationship and interferes with it.  We see her lured away by the world and seeking to belong in it; Amorous men, the allure of mammon, frivolous parties, popularity, drunkenness and addiction ... empty living.  Her self worth was shaped by her Creator's perception. She was beautiful. Now lost, her worth is defined by the depraved world around her and she doesn't know how important she is anymore, she feels worthless, empty, and alone. 

But watch the Father, the Son, the Husband call to her.  He loves her oh-so dearly.  If only she would return to Him, He would return her lost joy.  Broken, despondent, suicidal, the dominoes are in place and the evil one comes. He is the man-in-black - the father of lies - and he schemes to kill the Master's beloved creation.  "You are worthless" he tells her.  Two narratives are presented in her life: (1) one from the giver of Truth, and the other (2) from the father or lies.  One makes her beautiful, the other makes her worthless. Seek the Truth sister and it will set you free.

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)

Strive for the Father and He will strive for you.  Call Him, seek Him, demand Him in your life.  He is all that matters.  A treasure of endless worth.

What joy to see her return to her first Love, her true Love, her only real Love.  She claws and fights to return to Him, while the world claws and fights to stop her. And suddenly, by turning to Jesus, she is blanketed by His impenetrable embrace and finds peace - true ... lasting ... joyous ... peace.  She is loved and remembers she is beautiful, a child of God, found once again in her heavenly Father's warm embrace.  Praise Jesus!!

(if video doesn't load, use link to view:  https://youtu.be/g8vL3cN1fRc)

(if video doesn't load, use link to view:  https://youtu.be/g8vL3cN1fRc)

Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (NLT: Matthew 11:28)

Lifehouse's Everything Drama

The Sad Anti-Christian Atheist Troll

As you gander about online, perusing your interests, you will inevitably stumble across two age-old combatants locking horns on eternal issues. In particular, I refer to the endless discourse between Christians and atheists. I suspect a sizable percentage of the internet’s content is composed of these two fractions engaging one another.

Many the times, within google+ or elsewhere, you carouse for some meaningful snippet to uplift and nurture your soul. I find it is always a joy to meet a kindred spirit that loves Jesus as much as I do. Yet curiously, upon any Christian site you choose, you will quickly find an antagonistic atheist presence there. Some seem to spend more time on these sites than many Christians. Many of my siblings-in-Christ relish the opportunity to witness to these unusual personalities: unusual, in that they apparently find some form of need, or perverse pleasure, in trolling Christian sites. A troll by definition is a twisted and ugly creature with an unnatural hostility towards creatures of the light. The name is fitting for these particular atheists. Many Christians view them as a ministry opportunity, and some as an annoyance to be ignored. I hold both these views depending upon the particular atheist, and whether they are potential seekers or vulgar haters.

Yet, the other day I suffered an epiphany of sorts that gave me time for pause. While I understood my motive to converse with these atheists, I began to consider the uncomfortable reality of what their motivation would be to seek me out. This yields a particularly interesting insight into the psyche of an anti-Christian atheist troll, given their beliefs and how they choose to spend their time. Given the blink of life they have, they seem to have an unhealthy preoccupation that borders on manic when it comes to religious people. While they should be living out their moment on hedonistic pursuits, they preoccupy themselves with an activity that takes time away from pleasurable endeavours. The only explanation would be that they take pleasure in trying to hurt Christians, to rattle their cages and shake their world views. - And when you take the time to think about it, you begin to see the sad, empty, little lives that they live. And this insight shifted my perspective - of the nameless God-hating troll on the other end of the keyboard - and evoked my pity.

The Dueling Madonnas - Saint verses Sinner ... And How it Affects us.

We all have role models, even when we don’t realize it. Influences from what we’ve seen and admired subliminally exert a gentle pull on our souls. An undetected yearning to be like `that person’ or like a particular quality `that person’ has. After watching Schwarzenegger or Stallone I feel an heightened manliness. Their testosterone pumps mine up. I think my chest even get hairier after I watch their movies. I had to stop watching Jackie Chan after I ripped all my pants. You girls may admire the style or attractiveness of some lady, and wish to copy her makeup, hairstyle, or the way she carries herself. If you put a child before the tube with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on, within an hour they’ll be kicking holes in your walls. They want to be a ninja turtle. I’m not talking about idol worship, puppy love crushes, or deification. I’m articulating a principle in humanity where we actively shape ourselves and are shaped by what we see and feed on. And whether good or bad, we are pumped when we see things we wish to identify within ourselves. This when recognized, can be a source of immeasurable spiritual strength. Or when ignored, the means of our destruction. And it is a powerful ingredient in a parent’s cookbook for the development of Godly children.

Faith Bubble - An Unhealthy Substitute for Foundational Faith

Faith is a wondrous thing.  Some people are gifted with it and have a propensity to move mountains. Others are not, and struggle to move the covers off themselves so they can get out of bed.  My mother is a creature of pure faith.  She doesn’t know much about science and isn’t particularly well read historically.  Yet when the antagonists of God berate her, their faulty conjectures strike her as hollow plenitudes: They have no more substance than the breath that carries them.  She isn’t trained in a particular academic field and as such, capable of correcting their folly by referencing publications and learned men.  No, that is not within her scope.  But what she does have is an innate God given PhD In faith; Such that, their attempts to rattle her are futile.  And her exemplified relationship with God rattles them.

We can’t all have my mother’s faith (or a gifting of faith).  And neither do we need it.  Paul instructs us that that which we believe is rational, and he is correct.  What he means is, we can see and affirm many things about God and Christianity without faith - and that this in turn, builds our personal faith. God is evident in His creation, and this insight is unmistakable to many by simple observation, and to others by study.  This does not negate faith.  There are areas where faith is required.  This is God’s intent and prerogative.  Many wonder why He wouldn’t simply reveal Himself to the degree that we could not deny Him.  How could you not believe in Him if He shook the earth from a pillar of flame and commanded us to listen?  Or, wouldn’t it be easier to evangelize the world if Noah’s ark was perched in plain site, and all we had to do was point at it?

Mr. T - Strength in God.

Hollywood is a spiritual wasteland and a distributor of moral decay.  So I am always pleasantly surprised when I see a man strong enough to proclaim God in these badlands. `Strong' is a good descriptor for Mr. T.  He is known for being a strongman.  I just never realized that his true strength was spiritual.  I used to love watching him on the A-Team.  I think it’s fair to state he has the best sneer in the business.  In fact, I’d give him an Academy Award for it.  Yet beneath his rough and gruff persona is an heart attuned to God.