Just How High Is That Calling? (Part 3)

God’s design for the Christian walk hinges completely on faith. The writer of the book of Hebrews said it is impossible to please God without it. Our life in Jesus begins with faith. It takes faith to believe and see that he is the Son of God who died, was buried and rose again. For what purpose? So that we could be reconciled with the Father and enjoy eternal life with him for eternity. But faith for that one-time expression of trust is not enough. We must continue daily in faith. If we can do all the right things laid out in scripture for upright living through our own determination, we don’t need God. Indeed, some have come to that conclusion. Paul said whenever that happens, the believer has gone back under the law and no longer walking in the freedom grace gives.

When I started this short series, I used physical examples of the high calling. I did so because in our humanness we tend to reduce obedience to God down to physical acts: attending church regularly, tithing, reading the Word and spending time in prayer. These are all things we can do in our natural strength. God’s design is much higher, much greater. This explains why Paul said he had to continue to press on. He knew he had to reach beyond his natural abilities in order to walk by faith.

Jesus said for us to be perfect even as his Father is perfect. Paul wrote we have been made more than conquerors. Jesus said he has sent us out in the same way the Father sent him. Think about the wisdom, the power, the mercy, the grace, the love, the acceptance, the purity of heart in him. Do you believe you have been called to those heights?

About this time that standby objection pops up in minds: I’m only human. Paul refutes that. He says we are new creatures. That is the way we were, but no more. That life is dead and gone. The life we are living now—right now in the flesh—by faith is no longer us, but Christ in us. Jesus in his humanness was able to carry out the Father’s plan. Jesus in us can do the same.

John wrote in 1 John 3:1-3 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Most probably read verse 2 with the hope of being transformed in the twinkling of an eye when Jesus appears. At that time, and only then, will we be righteous. Until then, we rely on that moment when by faith we were forgiven so the Father sees Jesus’ blood covering us. And we hope he accepts our Christian deeds as good enough. Thinking we must wait until Jesus returns to become righteous voids verse three—especially the “just as He is pure” part. What if in pressing into the high calling of God we become so much like Him we can see Him as He is? What if “when He is revealed” refers more to a work of confirmation than transformation? In other words, when He is revealed, our souls rejoice because the life in us is a perfect match, and we recognize and welcome His appearing. I know I would like an encounter such as that much more than having to face the greatest report-card-day experience of my life.

Like Paul, I say I have not obtained that point of perfection in my life…yet. Also like Paul, I keep pressing for that mark of God’s high calling. There are days when I don’t press hard or even not at all. But I thank God for my wife and other believers in Christ who surround me and remind me that I don’t have to abide in my old selfish ways. I have at my disposal all the power and authority of the heavenly kingdom to tear down the things in my life I allow to spring up between me and my Lord.

If you are pressing on, too, I would like to hear from you. I could always use more pace setters in my life. What are your thoughts? What helps you press on?

Just How High Is That Calling? (Part 2)

In part one I likened the high calling to an object that could be touched. I asked if in your mind you could reach it from the comfort of your easy chair and ended with a challenge to stand up to answer God’s call to work in the kingdom.

Keeping with the distance analogy, can you now reach it by standing on tiptoes, or do you need to jump with some hang time to reach the high calling? Think of our daily challenges as poles stretched across our paths, we could approach them as limbo poles to bend over backwards and pass under, or we could try jumping over them? This rabbit had his own answer to jumping the hurdle.

I can’t speak for you, but I know myself. Creature comforts often win out over going out of my way to do what I know is right. I’m not even talking about volunteering for social programs or dropping a bill in a beggar’s cup. I’m talking about showing kindness to a difficult co-worker, turning the other cheek, asking forgiveness, or loving instead of criticizing. Yeah, I’ve done it. I have been so right in my own eyes that I never stopped to think about what God wanted to do in the situation. In fact, sometimes I didn’t even want to know. But Paul wrote we have been given the spirit of love, power and a sound mind instead of fear, and we have the mind of Christ. If that is true (and it is), then what is my excuse?

Those situations are difficult to deal with, but what if reaching the high calling is more like pole vaulting? The height of a low pole vault challenge is enough to stop me in my tracks. I think back at my youth and remember how my unnecessary extra weight kept me anchored to earth. Now at my age with those pounds still hanging on, that pole vault might as well be the height of the world’s tallest building. It makes no difference, physically.

Thankfully, God never asks any of us to do the impossible. That’s his specialty. His high call for us may seem at times out of reach, but he always provides what we need to complete it. But like Paul, we can’t think we have passed the final exam and graduated. As long as God has a purpose for you to accomplish in this life, a higher call exists for you to reach for. With Paul, press on for the prize of the high calling.

Just How High Is That Calling? (Part 1)

Paul said he pressed on for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Most of us are drawn to think about that prize. And I have no problem with such a focus. After all it is quite a carrot for us: eternal life in the presence of God’s glory, ruling and reigning as a co-heir with Jesus—a concept too wonderful for our finite minds to fully understand. But recently I began asking myself about the high calling. I wondered what Paul had in mind when he expressed concern over how much farther he needed to go. The man who is responsible for writing most of the New Testament confessed he needed to press on more. How much higher was the high calling in his mind?

Already he had given up his youthful ambitions. He passed up a comfortable lifestyle that could have been his and chose instead to live as an itinerant speaker who experienced being spurned, chased down, stoned, arrested, shipwrecked, and held under house arrest until his eventual martyrdom. What more could this high calling expect from him? Or on a more personal note, how high is that calling in your mind.

Christianity is not a spectator sport
If we claim we are Christians, we must not think we can reach the high calling from the comfort of our overstuffed arm chair. Remember, we are talking about God’s high calling. The prophet Isaiah told us God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours. He has a purpose and a plan that goes beyond saving us from hell. Peter exhorts us to be diligent to make our calling and election sure so we don’t stumble in our way. Walking in the Christian way requires movement and change. We must rise from our comfort zones to the occasion and act upon God’s word for our lives.

Only be careful that you don’t step into someone else’s vision for your life.
It has been said of some Christians that they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. The criticism means to point out how some Christians want to save your soul but leave you in your wallowing hole. Many Christians have selected pet causes to champion: hunger, homelessness, equality, or abortion to name a few. Their passion cannot be questioned nor their reasons. However, in their zeal to win their war they often forget how the condition of the hearts have contributed to the problems and fail to be the Lord’s ambassadors for his kingdom in search of lost souls.

Your new life began by the Spirit; live it by the Spirit                                 Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” There is a certain expectation God has of all who claim to be his disciples. Like the proverb that states if a man won’t work, he will not eat; his followers must do the work of the kingdom as faithful stewards of what he has given us. It is not a matter of doing works to receive grace; it is because of the grace we have received, we work.

Once we have put our trust in Jesus Christ, we have accepted his calling. While there are no shade-sitting supervisors in his kingdom, there are no menial tasks. His calling is a high calling. Stand up and answer.

The Battle as Seen from Above

We are in a battle. In the past few years, we have seen that phrase shift from mystical or even allegorical meaning to headlines of activities on our nation’s streets. Christians have been the target of many philosophical attacks which have tried to whittle away beliefs and our faith. Depending on definitions of fairness and justice, Christians have found one another in opposing battle lines. The war has been about fighting for the prize: the USA.

I can’t say it any clearer. That is not the prize Christians are to be fighting for. Paul said he endured hardships, beatings, shipwreck, imprisonment, and in many other ways reckoned himself dead so that he might live unto Christ, so that he “might obtain the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) As the Lord’s ambassadors, we fight for His kingdom.

We are using the wrong weapons in our current war because we are fighting for the wrong prize. We would not be reeling from one confrontation to the next if we used the weapons provided us by the Lord. Paul said they are mighty. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4, NKJV). We need to start with these.

Sincere and humble

Colossians 3:22-24 indicates our first weapon is our heart attitude toward the Lord in all our relationships. “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

 While in this verse Paul’s mention of bondservants refers to those who are indentured or enslaved to another, he and the other apostles often referred to themselves as bondservants to Christ and exhorted us to have the same understanding. Within that mindset, we must be sincere (genuine, without cracks) in our hearts toward the Lord.

2 Chronicles 7:14 expresses the same theme in the familiar verse, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then…”

Indeed, we can’t even see the kingdom without first being born again, and that birth comes by first being “poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:3, NKJV). Our new birth, our walk by faith, our obedience to the Spirit, even our enduring to the end requires that depth of humility and sincerity. So also our warfare.

Forgiveness

It seems too simplistic to say it, but Jesus built His ministry on forgiveness. He taught it through healings, through parables, and through pointed statements. Following His example, we must have forgiveness in our weapon arsenal.

Jesus spoke to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. That proclamation won a spiritual battle for the man’s soul. It also struck a decisive blow against those who appear to be religious but have no life, as they said only God can forgive sins. Jesus then answered them with a question and an act. He proved He had the authority to tell the man his sins were forgiven by then telling the man to rise and walk. (See Matthew 9 and Luke 5.)

After giving His disciples the model prayer—often called the Lord’s Prayer—Jesus added that if we don’t forgive others, the Father will not forgive us.

He struck another blow to the teachings and traditions of men when He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;” (Matthew 5:43-45, NKJV).

Humility, sincerity, and forgiveness all come together when Jesus points out God does not honor our worship without them. “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift,” (Matthew 5:23-24, NKJV).

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” This is our purpose in the warfare. That’s why weapons after the flesh work contrary to God’s plan.

Only through these can we be effective with the other weapons. And, only through winning the war for the kingdom will we have a lasting impact on our nation.

Learning Our Best Weapon

Why is one of our greatest weapons to pick up and use the last one we choose? Paul’s letters to the churches carry powerful challenges in his prayers. I have many times skipped them. Sometimes, I skimmed them as part of his greeting and paid little attention to them. Other times, I focused on specific instruction for the church, looking for that next thing I needed to change in my life, and so overlooked them.

My attitude toward them (and the new values I assigned them) changed when I considered two things: 1) the application of the prayers to the situations the churches were facing, and 2) the tremendous investment Paul continued depositing into each church. Then I saw in them precious promises and instructions as well as proof of the love he had for them. Paul relates in the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians his prayers and observations of the church. My awakening happened as I read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 with emphasis on verse three. For me, this passage highlighted Paul’s purpose and power in praying for them.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

I assessed my prayer life and found it lacking in this area, and I hate to admit it, but I believe it is lacking in most or nearly all American churches or American Christians.

Paul said there will be a great falling away. We see in our generation the first in church history (at least since the Reformation) to lose numbers. However, I don’t think it is the Great Falling Away that Paul was touching on nor that which Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24. In answering His disciples’ question about when the end would come, Jesus added this sign: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another,” (Matthew 24:9-10, NKJV).

I have long interpreted verse ten to be referring to Christian brethren who become offended at God because end times did not happen the way they had it figured out. They become a Judas to the last generation and the most vehement accusers and persecutors of the true believers.

When these verses came together for me, I repented that I have not prayed the types of prayers Paul prayed, that my love didn’t extend beyond Sunday gatherings and voiced needs. The battle is all around us, and the onslaught is taking its toll. We have a weapon near to us where victory is won. Paul recorded several examples how we should pray for one another

He prayed in his letters to Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi:

• for the Lord to pour out more grace and peace toward them,
• that they do no evil and be made complete,
• with unceasing thanksgiving for them,
• that they receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation of knowledge of Him
• that their understanding be enlightened,
• that they would know the hope of His calling,
• that they would know the riches of His inheritance toward the saints,
• that they would know the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe,
•  that they be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
• that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
• that they may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge,
• that they may be filled with all the fullness of God,
• that their love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 
•  that they may approve the things that are excellent,
• that they may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.

I’ll stop there and let you find the rest of the list. I only ask that you consider the effect one man’s prayers have had and, with me, pick up the challenge his life has given the church. Then imagine what the outcome could possibly be for the church in America when the church picks up the weapon of prayer and uses it for the best advantage as Paul showed..

Cultural Tsunami

The 2012 movie The Impossible depicted the experience of a family on vacation in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami hit the southeast Asian coast. The scenes thrust us into the chaos, confusion, anxiety, and fear that came with the giant wave.

Recalling it, I think we can easily relate to it from crazy dreams we might all have had. I’m talking worse than dreaming you’re back in high school, late for class, can’t find your locker, and—you’re naked. No, I’m talking about those dreams that cause you to sit up in a cold sweat from having fought your way through one chase scene after another and only finding your pursuer is always a step ahead of you, leaving you no escape. Then when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, a tornado pops up right behind you.

More to the point, it almost seems allegorical to our recent world and national events. Only we can’t leave the theater, turn the channel, or wake up to discover it’s been a very. Bad. Dream.

For the past year or two, I have tried to remain silent on political discussions. That has been excruciatingly tough. I hate what’s happening, and it’s in my nature to want to fix things. Whether I speak up or remain silent proves the most difficult when I see things so clearly, but others refuse to consider my points. After months of the struggle, I finally have come to a place in my faith where I can cease from the struggle. I still hate what I see happening, but I have a fresh understanding.

A majority of Americans recognize and value our nation’s Christian roots. A cultural coup is afoot to displace God in this land. The current pattern for life expectancy of a nation going from formation to world leader to self-destruction is around 250 years. Counting from the Declaration of Independence, we are celebrating 245 this year. This coup comes at a significant time. The driving force in the current struggle is the tactic used from the beginning of time.

Eve didn’t have to eat the forbidden fruit and give it to Adam, but she did. Satan distracted her from what she was doing and redirected her to the off-limits tree.

Likewise, Cain didn’t have to kill his brother over the sacrificial offering, but Satan distracted him from the correction and help offered him and redirected him to the hurt and rejection he felt to the point he blamed Abel.

The same tactic is at work in our lives right now. For generations, Satan has distracted Christians from what we are called to do. Trying to shore up faith in America, energies were committed and depleted with building walls against teaching evolution in schools. When that battle reduced to skirmishes, the front line turned to fight demon alcohol. We even joined ranks to fight fascism and communism on the world’s stage. More distractions came when prayer and Bible reading was removed from schools, women could kill their unborn children, and doctors could assist in suicides.

The political warring of the last four years then topped with Covid-19 reveals how weak and vulnerable we’ve become. Spokespersons from each camp talk of good things to come if we only follow their plan of action. We love to hear those words. We want to see an end to the strife and life in the USA united and prosperity restored. Normalcy.

I have broken away from the crowd. My outcry is Jesus doesn’t save nations. He saves people. Our country may not survive, but his kingdom will. I believe his focus is on those who call on his name, speaking to them to exercise their citizenship in his kingdom. I believe the peace, sanity, good will toward others, meeting physical needs of the hurting, honoring others regardless of ancestry, and everything else contrary to what divides us were included when Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”

Instead of struggling to keep my political thoughts silent, I now use the distractions to remind me to trust Jesus more. Satan hates it when the church worships the Lord. Praise and worship are part of our most powerful weapons against him. I suspect he will either change his tactic against me or apply more pressure to get me to stop praising Jesus. I trust Jesus will complete the work he started in me and keep me in those times.

By the way, I also believe one of the worst things that could happen for Christians right now would be a return to peaceful times. They tend to lead us into complacency and apathy. Seek his kingdom and his righteousness right now.

Out of the Uglies

Whether they looked to the left or to the right, they could see only trouble, panic, hardships. Barred from most businesses, they could not find work. To make matters worse, religious leaders and the government added harsh threats. In a desperate effort to survive, many left lands, homes, and anything they could not carry or cart as they escaped to foreign nations.

Peter wrote words of deep encouragement to the people described above. No catch phrases or empty maxims for him. He might have used a most exceptional meme if they had been around at the time, but only if it touched the heart and spirit in a convicting way.

After acknowledging their circumstances (calling them pilgrims or sojourners among foreign nations—forced out of their homeland), he directs their thoughts to a higher level. He gives them a new identity to take on. He calls them the elect (personally selected, chosen) of God, and he gave them a mission: wherever they are, sprinkle the blood of Jesus.

Our lives have been upended by a microscopic enemy invader. We have been forced into a lifestyle foreign to us and filled with massive uncertainties. The uglies in us have risen to the top. Even if we haven’t participated in the aggressive or greedy activities we see on the news, what has been our reaction? I know I’ve spoken about the insanity of buying a year’s worth of supplies. I ridiculed the fact that shelves were cleaned of toilet paper, but healthy foods were still in full supply.

Then a brother gently reminded me that people were reacting out of fear. When I thought about it, so was I. My imagination had played out one scenario after another of possible outcomes and how our country could be forever changed in ways I hoped I’d never see. I wanted to push back and force others to see hazards in their paths.

The day after my friend spoke, I read the opening to Peter’s first letter. I thanked the Lord for preparing my heart for seeing how Peter’s words apply to our time and to my heart. It’s no chance happening that I’m alive in Christ at this time and in this calamity. Jesus chose me, and if you are in Him, He chose you, too. With His selection, He has assigned unto us the task of “sprinkling the blood of Jesus” wherever we are. The Holy One is within us and will touch others through us as we give Him glory and honor in our lives.

Grace and peace be multiplied.

I Need a Break

Photo by Charles Huff

Comfort. Where do we find it? How do we define it? Do we recognize it when it’s right in front of us?

Jesus said those who mourn are blessed for they will receive comfort from God. Paul exhort us to comfort one another with the comfort we have received. When everything around us batters our sense of direction, stability, and worth; it’s hard to find the comfort.

How do we access it? How do we connect?

I remember a friend who had experienced a tragedy so great that he wanted only to get blind drunk. I stayed with him to keep him safe. Justification: doesn’t Proverbs say something about giving strong drink so a man can forget his sorrow? My friend succeeded in his goal. In his case it worked. He was finally able to release his grief. And he also got so sick, he never got drunk again. Even so, I don’t have this strategy on my solutions list.

I have often sought escape through other more acceptable means. Get alone in nature and let the tension drain out as I observe the beauty and wonder around me as I vent to God. (Yes, those two can work together and simultaneously.)

Doing something on the opposite end of the pendulum swing. Go to a museum or theme park, watch a comedy movie, have dinner with my wife, or when circumstances are right, take a getaway for a night or two. Sometimes these allow me to get far enough from the turmoil to allow my mind to have a fresh approach.

Beyond these things, we could add hobbies, crafts, even work if our emotional earthquake is at home in the family. Any one of them provide an opportunity to clear our minds and refocus. Sometimes, that is sufficient. Other times, we return from our quiet place only to find our situation still unstable and perhaps volatile.

A better place to go to:

The Bible contains stronger recommendations that provide comfort and peace beyond understanding. The good news is there are far more than I have room to list. Search the scriptures and you will find the one perfect for you
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The Book of Psalms have many calming declarations.

“I was crying to the LORD with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain,” (Psalm 3:4 NASB).

All eight verses of Psalm 121.

“When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,” (Psalm 61:2b, NKJV). But, again, the entire Psalm.

Psalm 23 and especially verse 4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me,” (NKJV).

Jesus shared his own encouragements:

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you,” (John 14:18, NASB).

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33, NASB).

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11, NASB).

If that isn’t enough, the apostles shared their own discoveries through the persecution and suffering they saw and experienced.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all [d]comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:6-7, NASB).

“I pray that the eyes of your heart [x]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the [y]saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe,” (Ephesians 1:18, NASB).

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you,” (1 Peter 5:6-7, NASB).

These are but a sample. I want to share something that happened years ago but still encourages me today. It was a time of trauma and failure, but Jesus proved himself trustworthy and faithful.

When my second born was thirteen months old, he contracted spinal meningitis. The part of my heart which was not torn with grief was angry that God had allowed such a thing. I feared what my little one’s future might be like or how short it might be. Through the raging storm in my soul, I heard God say he knew just how I felt. My first thought was, “You are God. You are above sickness and calamity. You know the end from the beginning. How could you possibly know how I feel?”

Unruffled, he simply said, “Because I went through it with my Son.”

My arrogance crashed down on me and smothered the raging fire of anger, rebellion, and pain. I repented, and God turned my mourning into dancing. The doctors were amazed at my son’s speedy recovery and without any effects remaining.

Do you have favorite comfort verses? Please share them.

If you have a memory of the Lord’s help and comfort, let me know. You can be a guest blogger on this site. Remember, Paul exhorts us to comfort one another with the comfort given us.

I see something beyond the horizon

The last weeks’ blogs took me a step further away from what I have tried to use this site for, but closer to the real purpose. It revealed more of me than what I was fully comfortable doing. At the same time, it opened a door to a message I’ve kept, for the most part, on lockdown in my heart from these pages.

Background
In the 1960s, God poured out his Spirit on the Church. Revival broke out on America, and many souls were saved. In our excitement over what God was doing, we looked for ways to expand it in greater ways. Television evangelism mushroomed. The enemy of our souls stirred up ridicule, calling it a movement of weak minds. Some of America’s leaders stepped forward and formed the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Association to show the gospel makes perfect sense to intellectuals, too.

More failures
During these years, in spite of the spiritual advances, we lost other battles. Roe v. Wade brought the greatest holocaust on mankind ever in the history of the world. Madelyn Murray turned her hurts and bitterness against our youth and nation to successfully take prayer and Bible reading out of school. The Church answered with the formation of the Moral Majority and fought fire with fire.

Our efforts to turn those two battles around have actually divided and weakened the Church. Our true enemy took his battle to the generations who were not aborted. The number one cause of death among teens is suicide. He added Columbine, Sandy Hook, and most recently Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The Church fumbles and further divides over gun control.

Where we went wrong
What happened? How did the Church lose the power and drive it experienced in the early years of that revival? Simply put, we thought we could improve on what God began. And, we busied ourselves attacking every advance by our soul’s enemy as if life were some giant Whack-a-Mole game. Demonstrations, boycotts, legal suits, legislative lobbying became our weapons of choice. These all served to divide the church even more as not everyone agreed with Bible interpretations. Even when some verses are not open to conjecture, personal preferences won out over them.

Course correction
We must learn and accept this one fact. We cannot improve on God’s plan and he hasn’t changed it. Jesus won the battle over our true enemy by going right to his stronghold and pillaging it. Scripture says he descended into hell, took the keys from him and led out souls he had held in captivity. The war is for the souls of men. Nothing we can do by our design will accomplish God’s purpose. Until we fix our eyes on him, becoming obedient to his Word and his Way, we will continue to face defeat. But once we can align our hearts to his, the issues that now divide us will fade away. Unless…well, I will have to save that for next time.

An Unending Praise Service: Morning Symphony

From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord’s name is to be praised…Psalms 113:3

 

In the early morning stillness before anyone else in the house was up, I found my thoughts returning to memories of my teen years. I had traveled through time and space to late August in southern Illinois far from the end of January in the frozen northern part of the state. Instead of snuggled in the corner of our soft couch, I was standing in the middle of the woods at the beginning of squirrel hunting season with a shotgun in my hand.

I had learned from my older brother to get into the woods before the sun came up and the squirrels started moving about. The sky had turned from ink to gray; all around me the earth was in a shadow…cool and quiet. Finding the place to start the hunt, I settled in alone with my thoughts, awaiting my prey.

Gradually the woods began to wake up, unaware that I was there. The sky brightened from gray to light blue. The chickadees started their “chick-a-dee-dee” calling as they flitted from one low twig to another. Then the crows and blackbirds called to one another and to the morning high in the tree tops. A short time passed and a new song could be heard, sometimes that of a cardinal or a robin. All the while, the sky continued to deepen its tone from the powder blue to a rich sky blue. And then a blue jay flew through the lower tree branches, calling out as he swished by. The wind, too, awakened and stirred as the sun’s rays burst forth over the horizon, adding the rustle of the leaves to the celebration of the dawn. Finally, the squirrels’ barking could be heard as the staccato notes of a finale to some symphony.

That’s it! I don’t think I fully realized it at the time, but that is why I enjoyed squirrel hunting. I had often wondered why I enjoyed the sport when I was so bad at it. The occasional success in taking a squirrel home for cooking later brought some satisfaction, but what captivated me and kept me returning was the beauty of the woods. It did not possess the majesty of the mountains; it lacked the lure of adventure suggested by a white-water river rushing to somewhere beyond. Its beauty is simple, honest. A tree felled years ago by men harvesting honey, crumbling to dust now. Tangles of underbrush. A banana spider watching over its web stretched across the path. One tree—choked out and pulled over by some vine, seeking its time and place to rest—is held up by another tree still standing, appearing only slightly burdened by the weight of its neighbor.

 

And the music! The music is new every morning, yet the same—ordered and arranged by the Creator. It is a symphony of praise, a symphony that begins so quietly, so serenely at first with the chickadees and gradually builds to a full crescendo as dawn gives way to day. A symphony being played with the unique voices and instruments of each territory, endlessly announcing the coming new day all around the spinning globe. As long as the earth remains, dawn is never ending, and it presents a ceaseless offering of praise to God by His creation.

Psalm 66: 1, 3 says: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! … All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” All the earth speaks of more than all the people of the earth. All the earth means all of creation. That morning I saw with my eyes, heard with my ears and had the understanding of my heart opened to the morning symphony. I choose to join creation in giving him the adoration he deserves.