The Enemy

The Enemy

 

The short excerpt is from Ron Hutchcraft, and the Scripture is Ephesians 6:11-12:  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 

Several years ago, there was a blockbuster movie called Independence Day, and it was about an alien invasion of Planet Earth. As this alien force moves across the world, the American military throws its most sophisticated weapons at it, but they cannot stop it. Even the White House gets destroyed, and the President barely escapes with his life. Other countries try to resist with their military, but no one is even close to a match with this invading force. Well, something very interesting happens. The world s leaders begin to wake up to the fact that suddenly they all have a common enemy and it is not each other anymore. Allies and enemies begin to work together to defeat their enemy, and sure enough, they win big!

 

If that movie had a moral, it had something to do with uniting to beat an enemy that threatened them all; an enemy that no one of them could have ever beaten alone.

 

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.  Think of someone in your family there is a conflict with right now, or someone in your church or your ministry that is driving you crazy. Put their name in that verse. My struggle is not against ______.  Your struggle is not ultimately against them, but it is against the devil.

 

The one who is trying to drive a wedge between you and that family member or fellow believer is none other than the prince of darkness himself. But he wants you to think that they are the problem instead of him, and we play right into his hands when we allow ourselves to focus on our differences, on our wounded feelings, on our turf, on our frustrations. 

 

In that movie, until the forces of earth realized that they were up against a common enemy, they fought separately and they lost. God is calling us to wake up to our common enemy and to do whatever we have to do to remove the walls and fight together.  We have battled the enemy separately long enough, and it is time we come together to win what we could never win alone.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Hold Them Loosely

Hold Them Loosely

 

The short excerpt is by Ron Hutchcraft, and the Scripture is 1 Samuel 1:27-28 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.

 

A little boy had been trying for many days to capture one of the little birds that snacked in the family fields. He had tried over and over again to hide in the bushes and surprise one of those birds enough to get his hands on it. Finally, after many failed attempts, he captured his prize. And he could not wait to show his mommy. He wrapped his hands around that little bird and he ran all the way to his house. As soon as the little guy saw his mother, he proudly extended his cupped hands and said, Mommy, I got a bird! He is really cute! But his joy did not last long. As he slowly opened his hands for his mother to see, he noticed the bird was not moving - or breathing. It was one heartbroken boy who cried, Mommy, I was afraid I would lose him, but I held him so tight, I crushed him.

 

The story is just that - only a story. But the mistake the little boy made, well that is not just a story. It is a mistake made by many a mom or dad with a son or daughter they love very much. They held them so tightly that they lost them.

 

We tend to forget that a child is a trust from God; a gift He is given us to help care for, provide for, and develop. But they belong to Him, not to us. So a mom or dad who parent by God s design understand the power of these simple words: love them deeply, but hold them loosely.

 

In 1 Samuel 1 Hannah, the mother of Samuel, God s man to be the greatest judge who ever governed His people, had been unable to conceive for many years. But the Bible says that she kept on praying to the Lord. Ultimately, God wonderfully gave her that much-prayed-for boy, and she named him Samuel, which means heard of God. In Hannah s eyes, the sun must have risen and set on that boy; but she understood that while you love your child deeply, you hold him loosely.

 

Hannah gives Samuel over to the Lord for his whole life.  What a prayer for you to pray each new day as a mom or dad, no matter how young or how old your child is.  For his whole life or her whole life, he/she will be given over to the Lord.  Each day, you give that child back to the One who gave that child to you.

 

When you do that, you can avoid that unhealthy kind of love that crushes a child and often loses a child. A controlling parent, a manipulating parent, a guilt-tripping parent, a shaming parent, a dominating parent - those are parents who will ultimately produce the very results they fear by holding too tight.

 

Love them deeply - hold them loosely so they can learn to fly as God made them to.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

The Heart

 The Heart

The short excerpt is again from Jennifer Pharr Davis in her book, Becoming Odyssa, to be released later this Fall.  This book is from her first time of hiking all 2175 miles of the Appalachian Trail.  The scripture is 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

 

Before I started hiking the trail, two of my biggest concerns were that I would be bored or lonely, but I think I actually experience loneliness and boredom more at home than on the trail.  Maybe the fact that I was not lonely had more to do with the quality of relationships than the quantity.  In college, I remember sitting in a packed classroom or cheering at a football game in the midst of a massive crowd, yet I would still feel alone.  I had also spent the last three years loathing social mixers.  Traveling around the room and having the same meaningless conversations with different people left me feeling empty inside.

 

The problem in college, and in life, was that there were a lot of people who knew what I was, but they did not know who I was.  No wonder there was so much pressure to look a certain way, when usually the only thing people got to know was someone s outer image.

 

One of my favorite things about the trail is that you did not see your face.  I mean, I guess you could have seen it in the reflection of the water, but there were no mirrors, no vanities, and no places to check yourself out.  I used to think that people perceived me based on how I looked but on the trail I felt like people perceived me by how I treated them, by what I said to them and how well I listened.  I felt beautiful when I made other people smile.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Truth Claims

Truth Claims

The following short excerpt is from Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Luke 23: 34 Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

To say, No one should make truth claims because that leads to oppression and is just a power play is the biggest power play of all.   Everybody does make and believes truth claims, and to say that no one should say that they have the truth is itself a power trip and a way of getting on top.  It is not making a truth claim that leads to oppression, but it is what is in the claim.

Several years ago I was absolutely amazed by the reports that came from the Amish community when a man came into the school and slaughtered those little Amish school girls.   We understand that one of the little girls who was killed offered to die for the rest of them.  She said, Kill me and let the rest go.

They did not watch television or movies, so where would she have gotten that idea of dying for her friends?  When it was all over the reporters themselves were amazed that the community and the bereaved families not only forgave the man who did it, but they took up a collection and prayed for the widow and the children of the man who did it. 

Now by anyone s definition the Amish are fundamentalists, and they believe that they have the truth.  Have you ever heard anyone say, Fundamentalists think that they know the truth, and that leads to oppression?  It did not lead to oppression there, and why not?  Because it depends on what the fundamental is?  The fundamental in this case is a man dying on a cross for his enemies-a man with whose last breath blesses the people around him and prays for their forgiveness.  If you take that into the very center of your life, then you begin to see that it is not truth claims that lead to oppression and erode freedom but what is in the truth claim.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

We Reap What We Sow

We Reap What We Sow

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley in his book, The Best Question Ever, and the Scripture is Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

 

Nothing has stolen more dreams, dashed more hopes, broken up more families, and messed up more people psychologically than our propensity to disregard God s commands regarding sexual purity.  Their results are predictable, but most people think that their outcome will be the exception.

 

In my chiropractor s waiting room I struck up a conversation with a woman whose son was reading a book I had read, and she asked me if I was a teacher.  When I informed her that I was a pastor, she launched into a detailed account of her unfaithful husband and subsequent divorce.  When she mentioned that her husband had run off with his younger secretary, she went on to talk about how quickly he had married his mistress and how difficult it was to find a job that left her with the flexibility she needed to raise their middle-school-aged son.

 

I shook my head and said, Well, let me assure you of one thing:  Your husband is far more miserable than you will ever be. She looked confused, as did the other people in the waiting room who were pretending not to listen.  What do you mean by that? She asked.

 

Well, pretty soon your ex s new wife is going to want to start a family, but he is not going to want to do that because he already did that once.  She is going to be upset, and either way he goes, he is not going to get what he wants.  One day he is going to wake up and realize that he is stuck.

 

Immediately, the guy to my left, whose nose had been buried in his newspaper, blurted out, You got that right!  Apparently I had hit a nerve.  But since I had already opened up one can of worms, I just ignored his comment and focused on my new friend.

 

She sat up a little straighter and actually smiled at the thought of her ex suffering for a change.  You know, I did not think about that, but I bet that you are right.  And he is definitely not going to want to start another family.  Then she turned and said, But how did you know all of that?

 

I am a pastor, I said.  I have seen this played out more times than I can count.  Solomon was right.  There is nothing new under the sun.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Being Still

Being Still

 

The short excerpt is from Jennifer Pharr Davis in her book, Becoming Odyssa, to be released later this Fall.  This book is from her first time of hiking all 2175 miles of the Appalachian Trail.  The short excerpt is Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

 

Being still was a relatively new concept for me.  I could not remember much stillness in my pre-trail life.  And the times I do remember were highly uncomfortable.  My whole life had been spent feeling like I should be doing something.  I learned that I did not need much to be entertained.  I did not need loud music, bright lights, or TV.  I just needed to be still.

 

Until now, I had not been okay just being, I had to be doing.  Everything was part of a schedule, a routine, a constantly flowing series of commitments.  I never stopped after I finished an activity, I just looked ahead and prepared for whatever came next.  I started to think about how many different things I used to do in a day.  I would schedule myself to the max, and the only free time I would leave was taken up with getting from one commitment to the next.

 

On the trail, all I had to do was walk.  It was up to me how far I wanted to walk and where I wanted to end up.  I could stop when I wanted, I could eat when I wanted, I could take naps at any point during the day.  The trail allowed me to feel a strong sense of freedom, and it helped me to see the oppression of a busy schedule and the multi-tasking required by civilization.  I no longer saw what was civil about filling my life with commitments if I could not stop to watch the sunset or listen to the birds sing.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Success Screams At You

Success Screams At You

 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller of New York City, and the Scripture verses Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
 
Adversity and blessings can show you the idols of your heart.  Cynthia Hymal used to write for the Village Voice, and she lived in New York City for many years and got to know a lot of people when they were struggling artists, actors and actresses.  Afterwards some of these people would hit it big and become celebrities, so she knew a lot of people before and after.  Here is what she says about celebrities.
 
I pity celebrities, I really do.  Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Barbara Streisand were once perfectly pleasant human beings, but now their wrath is awful.  I think when God wants to play a really rotten little joke on you, He grants you your deepest wish and giggles merrily when you want to kill yourself.  Sly, Bruce and Barbara wanted fame; and the morning after each of them became famous, they wanted to take an overdose.  Why?  That giant thing that they were striving for, that famed thing that was going to make everything okay and make their lives bearable and provide them with personal fulfillment and happiness had happened, and they were still them.  The disillusionment turned them howling and insufferable.

Now Cynthia Hymal is not right about God playing a rotten, dirty trick on you.  However, unless you are delighting yourself in the Lord, certainly she is right in saying that the worst thing that God can do to you (see Romans 1:24-32) is to give you the desires of your heart.  Very few of us get the ultimate success, but the few who do are absolutely appalled.  There is an awful lot of dysfunction and unhappiness amongst the very elite, and there are all sorts of studies that prove it.  Why would that be?  The few of us who do make it to the very top suddenly see something that is appalling.  There is something so wrong with the human soul, a vacuum so big that you can put in 3 million dollars, 10 million dollars, you can become the biggest star and celebrity in the world, and you still are not going to be happy.  It still will not fulfill you and be enough. 

When you realize that you begin to ask yourself what in the world will ever satisfy me?  The Bible says that the hole is God shaped, and therefore success screams at you that you need God. 

Champions, have a great summer!-David Vining