If the Shoe Fits...

Listening to the radio the other day, I heard an advertisement with a girl proclaiming that this particular station, "Fits my lifestyle." That's always what we're looking for. Diets, shoes, friends, furniture, & radio stations are all designed to fit your lifestyle. We like to do the same thing with our religion. Postmodernism tells us that whatever we believe is truth. Society tells us that if it works for us, it's okay. Even under the umbrella of Christianity, there are infinite denominations designed to fit our lifestyles. The bible is clearly against the "all paths to God" view in Ephesians 4 by saying,

"There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

We spend so much time trying to make God and his word fit our lifestyles. We try to make the Bible a practical guide for living that we can twist or redefine to make it mean whatever we want. But that's just not the case. There is nothing practical about carrying our cross to glorify our Creator every day. The Bible does not fit the human lifestyle. So, why do we try so hard to make it fit? Why are we so determined to bring the Bible down to our level? As Isaiah 55 says, "...my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Instead, let us try to make our lifestyles fit the bible. Romans 12:2 says,

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable, and perfect."

Don't conform to the postmodern world by trying to make Christianity fit your way of life, because it won't. Rather we should be making our lives parallel the perfect word, because that's what our God has called us to do.

Faith is the Victory

II Samuel 23:11-12

"And next to [Eleazar] was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory."



Do you ever find yourself in a battle in the middle of a lentil field? Probably not.

But you do fight a battle of faith every day and you'll often find yourself fighting alone. For the most part, we look for the easy way out. When it comes down to your decision to do right or wrong, flight always seems better than fight. At least, that's what Shammah's comrades thought. When they saw something threatening them, they ran. These men left Shammah behind to fight the battle. Shammah stood in the middle of the field and took down every Philistine that came at him by the strength of God.

In this story we look down on the men that ran, but how often do we do the same thing? We spend so much time preparing to fight, but when the time comes, we run. If we're scared or we're not sure what to do, the it seems the best choice  is to run away from it. But Shammah took his stand. Shammah knew that he was going to do the right thing, and he probably made that decision long before the Battle of the Lentil Plot. We need to know what we're going to do in a situation before it occurs. We need to know when we'll say yes & when we'll say no. We need to draw the line before someone tries to cross it. If we do this, we'll be prepared to take a stand for what's right & we won't have to hesitate or question it. And when Shammah chose to do the right thing, he didn't just do it halfway. He stood in the middle of a group of huge Philistine soldiers and killed every one of them. It was probably scary, difficult, and tiring, but he didn't stop until the job was finished. How did Shammah do this?

He relied on the strength of the Lord instead of his own. When we are like the other men who relied only on their own strength, we have every right to run. We can accomplish nothing apart from God. But when Shammah trusted in the all consuming power of God, he "worked a great victory." Shammah didn't just survive, he didn't just win a battle-  through God Shammah destroyed his enemies and gained a great victory.

When we're caught off guard in a lentil field (or anywhere else), it seems easy to run. But instead of running from our battles, let's fight for the name of God and in the name of God. Even when we are at our weakest point and we are all alone, the power of God is greater than any enemy, whether it be society, sin, or any other thing that is not of God. If we choose to take a stand and glorify him, we can overcome all things and achieve a great victory.

A Little Less Talk...

"When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent."

Psalm 10:19

This is something I really need to work on, so I will begin here, because God's words will always matter far more than mine. 

Lessons from bin Laden

A few warnings before reading:

I would like to preface this post by saying that I in no way support religious extremism, terrorism, the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, or persecuting others because of their religion (or any other reason, for that matter). I am in no way suggesting that Christians should go out and kill thousands of people to get their point across. I would also like to point out that the average Muslim does not support the extremist cause or feel that literal extermination is the appropriate way to eliminate non-Muslims.

Osama bin Laden was proud of his work. Why? He believed he was doing the right thing by killing thousands of "infidels." Though his actions are considered wrong according to a vast majority of earth's population (typical Muslims included), Osama bin Laden thought that what he was doing was right in the eyes of his god. He risked his life, as well as the lives of his friends, family, and anyone who came in contact with him. He left his home and trained for decades. He spent years dedicated to developing master plans to achieve his goal. He put forth all his money, broke local/national/international laws, and successfully killed thousands so that he could proclaim the name of Allah. He was one man who single-handedly changed the face of his religion and forever changed the world in the name of Allah.

So, what are you doing? If the poster child for wickedness can fearlessly fight to proclaim the name of his god, one that isn't even real, why can't Christians fight for the true God? Sometimes it's a struggle for us to even let people know we're Christians, much less stand up for him in the face of a world seeking to destroy you. We often have a hard time paying attention to 5 minutes of a worship service, much less devoting our lives to glorifying God. If we had a passion for saving souls like bin Laden had a passion for eliminating infidels, this world would be a vastly different place. If we truly believed that we could change the world in the name of the Almighty God, I believe that that the results would be earth-shattering.

What's even better is we don't have to fight with plane crashes, bombs, and AK-47s. Ephesians 6 tells us that we aren't fighting flesh and blood, but we're fighting evil forces, aka Satan. God has provided us with a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, the readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). Not only that, but our all-powerful God will fight for us. Furthermore, we already know that we win in the end. We have no reason not to fight. If we were all better Christians than bin Laden was a Muslim extremist, the world could certainly say that the battle belongs to the Lord.

Don't Forget

Tonight at church we had a short service to pray for those of us heading back to school in the next few days. A powerpoint was shown that scrolled through the names of every child K-12 that attends my church. One was missing. My own. It will long be debated who was responsible for this unfortunate typo, whether it be my beloved preacher Adam or the church secretary (aka, my mother). But rather than sulk in the immense shame of being forgotten, I remembered a verse about names & remembering. Isaiah 26:8 says,

"In the path of your judgments,

O Lord, we wait for you;

your name and remembrance

are the desire of our soul."

This is an interesting verse for me to think about. Is the name of the Lord really the desire of my soul? Is it the desire of my soul to remember God? Not his blessings, not his miracles, not his Providence- just remembering his name. This is easier said than done in a world that is constantly hurling messages that propose the opposite. But even if I acknowledge that the mere thought of the Lord, Creator, Savior, King, and God of this world is able to change everything about me, is it the desire of my soul all the time? Even when I'm in the path of judgment, I am to desire God. So, even when God is punishing me for the times I've forgotten him, I am to desire him. Why? Because I worship a perfect God that created me for a perfect reason and wants me to fulfill his perfect plan. He wants to make me the best I can be. That's why he blesses me, that's why he punishes me, and that's why he needs to be the desire of my soul.

When You Run

One of my favorite bands, The Avett Brothers, has a song called "The Weight of Lies." The chorus goes, "...when you run make sure you run to something and not only from..." This got me thinking about running. At first I thought about the several unfortunate years I spent on the middle school cross country team. Then I thought about I Corinthians 9:24 which says,

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it."

I think a lot of Christians spend most of their time running from Hell. They don't do anything wrong because they don't want to go to Hell. They are running from something but they aren't running to anything. Running from Hell doesn't always mean running to God.

Many times we settle for what the world hands us. Sure, everyone would run from torture, but sometimes we stop early. We stop at material gain. We stop at comfort. We stop at acceptance. We let these things be our prize. But God offers a far greater prize if we run to him. God offers Heaven- an eternal home where we can be free from all pain and free to fulfill our original purpose and worship our Holy God forevermore.

So, why aren't we running to him? Running is tiring. God's perfect ways are extremely distant from this imperfect world, and no matter how far we run, it's always a long way. But Christ went the extra mile for us. He tired so that we may have rest (Mt. 11:28). Running hurts. Constantly running tears muscles and puts your body under stress, but it strengthens it too. God puts us under trials so that our faith may be made stronger (Rom. 5:3-4). Running is an individual sport.You decide which direction you want to go, how far you want to go, and when you stop. But God has provided us with both his constant presence (Heb.13:5) and a body of people to run with you, the church.

So, let's not just run from wrong. Let's not casually meander in the direction of righteousness. Let's eagerly sprint toward God and all that he has offered us so that we may live the life he designed us to live, both on this earth and forever in Heaven.