Overcome Evil with Good

Thursday’s killings at Ft. Hood bring a range of emotions including anger. When was the last time you were really angry?

As I drove home late Thursday evening, I listened to news coverage of the events. Early reports indicated the lone shooter is a Muslim who urged others to “stand up against the Aggressor.” The sense of outrage and anger was almost tangible.

The next thing I knew, I was thinking of a doctor friend of mine who works at one of the VA clinics in Cincinnati. He’s a Muslim and originally from Pakistan. I remember Ed Nye talking about Muslims who have experienced dreams or visions revealing Christ. Then I started praying for the doctor along those lines and for the safety of him and his family. If you know me, you know this does not come naturally. I lean heavily toward Truth and Justice in these kinds of situations.

Before you think I’ve lost my mind, consider what Paul wrote in Romans 12:14-21:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly Never be conceited. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Read it a few times. Let it sink in. Overcome evil with good.

Guarding Your Heart

Vigilance is the “action or state of keeping watch”.

Proverbs 4:23. Over the years I have used this scripture at one time or another with each of my kids as a warning of letting anything or anyone else get in the way of their relationship with God.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23

The same applies to us as we consider Jude’s encouraging words at the end of his brief letter. How do you guard your heart? Jude gives us three areas to consider.
…Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Jude 20-21

1. We build the faith by “hiding the word of God in our hearts” Psalm 119:11

2.In Romans 8:26 we read “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

3.And John reminds us in his first epistle; “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.” 1 John 2:24

Hiding God’s word in our hearts brings Life to what we believe and makes me more aware of my own need and weakness so that I lean upon the Spirit of God to intercede.  When those two areas are working together, I believe there is a real, tangible sense of  remaining in the love of God.

He Knows My Name

When we consider the greatness of God in our lives, we can see that our identity is based upon who God
is and how he relates to each of us. So, does God care for us personally?

I remember a song written several years ago:

I have a maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hand

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And hears me when I call…

Isaiah was inspired to write of God’s promises to us.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you…” Isaiah 43:1

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Have you ever been afraid? of the dark? losing someone close to you? Afraid of circumstances?

Throughout the Scriptures God encourages us to not fear what may be coming next. Why?

He has redeemed us.

He is our God.

He will give us strength and He will help us.

When we recognize God has a personal interest in us, it should give us at attitude of confidence and hope.

Twisted Things

In Acts 20: 29,30 Paul warned the people of “fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

Twisted things. A friend of mine asked me recently how a group of believers could follow after twisted things and leave the Truth of God’s word behind.

Twisted teachings are often subtle and designed to pull people away from the Faith. Jude wrote of “certain people who crept in unnoticed.” False teachers appeal to our desire to be justified in our actions. The people Jude wrote about probably spoke the Truth-but only part of the Truth. Like the original false teacher in the Garden, who asked “Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?”, these people plant a seed of doubt helping people rationalize their actions. “Didn’t Jesus say to judge not? How then can you say that any way of living is offensive to God? What’s the harm in telling part of the truth to someone to make them think more highly of you?” What’s the harm? Really.

How can we as followers of Christ do anything that contradicts the Truth? Paul, Peter and Jude all warned of keeping the Faith pure.

How can we recognized the ones from among us speaking twisted things?

Paul wrote to Timothy saying:

“…evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3: 13-17 (ESV)

Study the Scriptures. Is the person on the radio or in the church or in the ABF saying something that compromises the Truth even though it sounds good or desirable or even reasonable? Take a few minutes to read 2 Timothy 3. It will challenge your thinking.

Grace or Mercy-What’s the Difference?

This week I heard someone ask – “what is grace?” Someone responded that Grace is mercy.

What is mercy? Mercy can be viewed as compassion or forgiveness. I receive mercy when I do not receive the punishment I deserve when I have done wrong. A judge can give me mercy. My wife does give me mercy.

While mercy is closely related, grace goes one step further. One definition of Grace is “the free and unmerited favor of God. Grace is receiving something I absolutely do not deserve and can not earn on my own.

Paul wrote in Romans 3: 22-24 that “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ (is) for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

So it is a little easier to see why Jude considered the proper perspective of grace to be one of such importance as he addressed “those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ”, with the first of his two primary concerns -those who “pervert the grace of our God into sensuality.”

Jude says that certain men crept in unnoticed. Their false teaching was subtle. In the 1930’s Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined the phrase cheap grace.

“Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.

Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.”
The Cost of Discipleship

Today, take a few minutes and think about the Grace of God. How will you respond?

The Theatre of the Mind

As a kid I discovered the power of radio through the broadcast of what I think was called “Masterpiece Theatre”. The actors and sound effects helped my mind create pictures and scenes and expanded my imagination.

What was a teenager doing listening to AM radio at night? We didn’t have great television reception through an over-the-air antenna. Cable and Satellite was not available either. The fact that my mind had an opportunity to think about other things beyond the television world did not make me “brilliant”, but I think it protected me to some degree from the clutter we face today.

The images we are bombarded with day in and day out can have a numbing effect on our lives and our conscience. What’s playing in the Theatre of your Mind? The Balloon Boy fiasco? The latest episode of your favorite TV show? A YouTube video? Something else?

Are you even aware of the effect on your life or your way of thinking? The New Testament tells us that “bad company corrupts good character”. Computer experts coined the phrase “garbage in-garbage out”.

Maybe it’s time to rethink my choices.

What are we thinking?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

A few weeks ago I met with a woman for a video project at the Teen Challenge center in Louisville called Priscilla’s Place.
For the video, she insisted I use a mug shot from her time in prison before she became a “new creation”. Many of the people
I have met through Teen Challenge have a similar story. After a period of some type of life controlling addictions, they hit rock
bottom and realize their need for Christ. They are careful to view themselves as God sees them.

So how does God see us?

“…Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Isaiah 43: 1,2

There is great freedom in realizing that ” I’m not who my family says I am; I am not who my boss says I am; I am not
who my spouse, or even my appearance says I am.” But instead…”I am who God says I am.”

The lady at Priscilla’s Place understands it. Do we?

A Failure to Communicate

As I stood in the hallway of a doctor’s office recently I was reminded of the line from Cool Hand Luke spoken to Paul Newman’s Luke by the Captain, ” What we have here is a failure to communicate.

At the other end of the hall a family was being checked in by one of the medical assistants. One by one the husband, wife and two teenagers, a boy and a girl, took their turns weighing in and having their vitals checked.

What struck me was the fact that as each of the kids finished with the weigh-in, they immediately opened their phones and started texting to unseen people while ignoring their parents, the medical professionals and each other.

I wonder what we are thinking. Technology meant to help us stay connected is keeping us in touch in only the most superficial ways.

I spoke with another physician about this recently and he expressed his concern that our “failure to communicate” is really more serious as we have a generation lacking the skill of face to face interaction.

Now I have to finish this entry, check my email and facebook status….

Something Unexpected

Over the last several weeks, I have been leading a class discussing Timothy Keller’s The Prodigal God and the implications of Jesus’ parables found in Luke 15 – the lost sheep, coin and sons.

In each of the illustrations there is a celebration of the lost being found.  In the final parable, the celebration begins when the younger son “comes to his senses” and returns.  Jesus tells us of his expectations.  He would apologize and then ask for a job – working for the father and having enough to eat. Most of us would say that his expectations were hopeful and maybe reasonable.  But Jesus shatters our expectations.  Again.

In most of our lives, our expectations of family reunions fall painfully short, yet when the younger son returns the father runs to him, embraces him and kisses him.  The younger son received something unexpected.

I thought about the unexpected reaction this week as I heard David Crowder’s version of  How He Loves Us this week.  The original song contained a line ”so heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss”.  Honestly, the line made me a little uncomfortable and I was interested to see how Crowder handled the lyric.  His version refers to something unexpected – a surprise – “so heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss.”

This morning we talked about how the Salvation of God is experiential. This brings me back to the younger son.  He expected something very different than what he received.  He expected a legal agreement.  Work for pay. He received the father’s love and mercy and restoration to his position in the family.  An unforeseen kiss.

 

Not Christian Enough?

It seems that followers of Christ are sometimes their own worst enemies. We take the Truth of the Gospel and then make it nothing more than religion- a list of do’s and dont’s that somehow will establish a connection with God. In the end religion is a dead end.

In his book The Reason for God, Timothy Keller writes: “Think of the people you consider fanatical. They’re overbearing, self-righteous, opinionated, insensitive, and harsh. Why? It’s not because they are too Christian but because they are not Christian enough.”

Not Christian enough? Consider this. Some of us focus almost exclusively on the Jesus of the New Testament who challenges the religious leaders of His day and who raised the bar on moral expectations. We focus on the Jesus who said that even looking at someone lustfully is an act of adultery.

Where is the Jesus who had compassion on people? What about the Jesus who healed the man who was paralyzed and then challenged the man to leave his life of sin or something worse would come upon him? Or the Jesus who rescued the woman caught in the act of adultery and then said for her to leave her life of sin.

We are not Christian enough when we fail to represent the whole life of Christ to the world around us. Ask Keller said, we can appear self-righteous and harsh instead of compassionate for the people we live and work with. I’ve been guilty of this in the past. Have you?

Paul wrote in Ephesians four that we should speak the Truth in Love. Jesus never winked at sin, but his mission was to restore the relationship between God and mankind and he did that by perfectly balancing Grace and Truth.