Mothers-in-Law Rejoice!

If you have not yet checked out Lynn Autry's ministry website at www.mothersinlawrejoice.com you'll want to do that.  My wife has a passion for helping people negotiate sticky in-law relationships.  On the site you will find a link for ordering her ebook It's All about the Mother-in-Law based on a serious study of the biblical book of Ruth.  Information also appears on how to secure a workbook version for personal or group Bible study.  Her ministry will be exhibiting November 11-13 during the SBC of Virginia's Annual Homecoming at Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, VA.  If you're in the area stop by and learn how this ministry may benefit you and those you care about.

Learn from Lance

 I awakened Monday morning to the news that cycling legend Lance Armstrong has been stripped of all seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life.  It is one of the most stunning disciplines ever handed down by anybody in the world of sport.  Some, including Armstrong himself, may quibble with the allegations or the discipline meted out by the agency but the story is a powerful reminder to everyone that they must play by the rules.

The same principle may be found in the Word of God.  Paul was quite conspicuously a sports enthusiast and frequently wove sports metaphors into is writing.  This was particularly true in writing to the Corinthian church because the isthmus of Corinth was the scene of the famous Isthmian games.  The competition included horse, foot, and chariot-racing; wrestling, and boxing. The prize was a garland of pine leaves. Two sports images are played by Paul in First Corinthians 9 to stress the self discipline the Christian athlete must impose upon himself if he or she is to compete successfully in the spiritual arena of life.

The Apostle/Sportsman runs out with the language of thee runner to reinforce his point about competing appropriately.  “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly” (1 Corinthians 9: 24-26 NIV).

Paul takes a picture from the world of boxing and gets in a nice jab for the importance of self discipline in the Christian life.  “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9: 27 NIV).

Lance Armstrong is a warning to everyone competing in the race of life that no matter how successful you appear to be and what others feel you have accomplished there remain humiliating penalties for breaking the rules.  Armstrong drew a major following even among those who have no real interest in cycling because of the feel good story of his victory over cancer that started in his testicles and spread to his lungs and brain.  Nevertheless one cannot rely on past success to guarantee victory today or tomorrow.

Discipline and determination are vital parts of the discipleship process in all our lives.

This post originally appeared as a column in The Daily Press.

The Bottom of the Ninth

They called him “The Georgia Peach” but he was by no means soft, small and fuzzy.  Ty Cobb was one of the meanest hombres to ever take to a baseball diamond.  The native of Narrows, Georgia was the fiercest of competitors and his numbers belong to the record books:  Highest lifetime major-league batting average (.366), most career batting titles (12), most career steals of home (54), second in career hits (4,189 – first in AL), second in career runs scored (2,246 – first in AL), third in career steals (892 – first when retired). That’s not the half of it.  My Atlanta Braves could use his talent right now!

After his storied career, Cobb finally came to faith in Christ through the witness of another baseball legend, Bobby Richardson.  Lamenting his late-life conversion, the Hall of Famer said shortly before his death, “Tell the boys that I’m sorry I waited until the bottom of the ninth inning to get right with God. I wish now that I had done it in the top of the first.”

 His unusual deathbed observation underscores the wisdom of surrendering to Christ at the earliest possible age.  The only thing better than being saved at twenty is being saved at nineteen; the only thing better than being saved at nineteen is being saved at eighteen; the only thing better than being saved at eighteen is being saved at seventeen; the only thing better than being saved at seventeen is being saved at sixteen; the only thing better than being saved at sixteen is being saved at fifteen; the only thing better than being saved at fifteen is being saved at fourteen; the only thing better than being saved at fourteen is being saved at thirteen; the only thing better than being saved  at thirteen is being saved at twelve; and the only thing better…well, you get the point.

Ty Cobb is one of many reminders that it’s never too late until it’s too late.  God is willing to save those closer to death than birth just as He is ready to save those closer to birth than to death.  But those without much life left to live may find themselves wishing for a do over.  When one has so little time to live for Christ in this life it’s more than sad; it’s tragic.  So much witnessing that could have been done will never be done.  So many ministries will never be accomplished.  People who could have been influenced for God and good will never know those blessings.

A late arrived at faith is going to be full of regrets but it will not be marked by the greatest regret – going out into eternity without Christ.  That’s a regret no one in hell will manage to shake.  Whether you’re in the top of the first in life, the seventh inning stretch, the bottom of the ninth or somewhere in between, come to Christ and tell the Peach you met his Jesus on is advice.

This post originally appeared as a column in The Daily Press.

God is Passionate about People

God is passionate about people.  Though there are better than 7 billion of us on this planet right now, God has a personal interest in all of us.  When Jesus said, “For God so loved the world,” (John 3: 16) He wasn’t talking about the world of birds and bees and flowers and trees.  He was talking about the world of people.  While God is certainly not disinterested in this terrestrial ball we call Earth, He is most vitally interested in the people who breath its air, consume its food and drink its water. 

The Olympics have provided us a window on the world illustrating the kaleidoscope of cultures on the planet.  God is madly in love with people from every continent, country, color and culture.

 One of the surest proofs of God abiding interest in people is the amount of space He devotes in the Bible to the names of people.  In all 3,237 different people are named in the Bible.  Some share names with others.  There are 5 Johns, 13 Josephs and 31 Zechariahs in Scripture.  Some have symbolically suggestive names.  Jonah, for instance, means “dove.”  Ironically he was a real war hawk.  Some names describe physical characteristics like that of Esau whose name means “hairy” or Careah meaning “bald.”  Some got animal names like Deborah (“bee”) and Rachel (“ewe”).  Some got long, almost unpronounceable names like Maher-shalal-hash-baz (“Speeding to the Plunder, Hurrying to the Spoil”).  Can’t you just imagine the kidding you’d get on the playground with that one? 

 The first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles is genealogy consisting of long lists of names.  Matthew (Matthew 1: 1-16) and Luke (Luke 3: 23-38) provide extensive genealogies of the Christ.  When Paul drew his magnum opus, the Book of Romans, to a close he named 35 different people who were special to him and the church in the imperial city (Romans 16: 1-23).

 The extensive naming of people in the Bible shows how “the Father from whom every family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3: 14-15) cares intimately for each created man and woman.  Augustine observed centuries ago that God loves each of us as if there were no one else to love.

 God is immeasurably concerned with each of you reading this column.  He is also intensely concerned with those who will not read this column.  God is deeply concerned for those who cannot read this column.  God loves the big shot, the little shot and those who ought to be shot!  He loves you!

 The God who knows the fall of every tiny sparrow to the ground and numbers the hair on every single head on the planet (Matthew 10: 29-30) is interested in the minutia of your life today.  His love was unforgettably proven on the cross where His divine Son died to provide our salvation.

 Two questions demand an answer today: (1) God knows you but do you know Him? And (2) God loves you but do you love Him?

 

This post originally appeared as a column in The Daily Press

The Battle of New Orleans

As this column goes to press I am in New Orleans, Louisiana.  On the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812 I am recalling the Battle of New Orleans fought in this area January 8 – 9, 1815.  That decisive military action led by Major General Andrew Jackson is still regarded as the greatest land victory of the war.  It, no doubt, helped serve to catapult “Old Hickory” to the presidency later in life.

 Jackson's victory saved New Orleans, but ironically it came after the war was over.  The Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium December 24, 1814 effectively bringing an end to the war.  Hostilities continued in the Mississippi Delta until late February when communications finally reached combatants in Louisiana bringing an end to the conflict.  Sadly, the United States and the United Kingdom together lost 441 soldiers with another 1706 wounded and 645 reported missing in a battle which did not have to be fought.

On a far more cosmic scale many are waging a war that has already been won.  On the Cross Jesus shouted, “It is finished” (Jhn. 19: 30) not “It will soon be finished” or “It is almost finished” as if we must win a victory He only began.  Jesus never does anything partially.  Is work is always finished work and that includes His work of victory for the believer.  We fight from victory in the Christian life not for victory in the Christian life.  Victory is not ours due to self effort but due to the absolute sufficiency of our Savior and the true victory He secured for us at the Cross.

In the Bible victory is never in doubt for the Christian.  “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2: 14).  “No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8: 37 HCSB).  “This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith” (1 Jhn. 5: 4 HCSB).  Jesus Himself terms us “victors” (Rev. 2: 7, 11, 17, 26; 3: 5, 12, 21).  He said, “You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous!  I have conquered the world” (Jhn. 16: 33 HCSB).  The world may say we are defeated but the Word says we are dominators! 

One aside to our analogy:  the Treaty of Ghent ended the war but left the issues which led to conflict largely unresolved.  Be assured Jesus’ victory at the Cross was no fiction!  He won a real victory and resolved the issues He came to resolve.

There is no reason for any follower of Christ to permit our external enemy (the world), our internal enemy (the flesh) or our infernal enemy (the devil) to kick our spiritual teeth in and leave us less than conquerors.  By God’s grace and for His glory we can move from victory to victory today regardless of our opposition or difficulties. 

Some Practical Tips for Your Prayer (and Listening) Life

Recently I offered a friend some advice on praying and listening.  I am reproducing some of the material here in an edited version in hope that it is beneficial.  These tips grow out of my own walk with God but I hope they prove helpful to you also.

The question about listening to God is a common one.  Wandering minds are as much of a hindrance to prayer and listening as are wicked minds.  The devil really doesn’t care what we set our mind on as long as it isn’t God and His Word.  Our common mistake is to treat prayer and listening as two distinct things and they are really two dimensions of the same thing – communion with God.  All real communication is twofold.  There is speaking and feedback.  Dividing up our time with God into neat compartments like “prayer” when God hears me and “listening” when I hear Him isn’t the stuff of relationships; it’s the stuff of religious jargon.  My time with the Lord must always be speaking and hearing at every point.  To state it more correctly, it must be hearing and speaking.  Our best prayers are off-base without the Spirit’s tutelage.  If I don’t hear from God at the outset, the onset and throughout my time with Him it won’t be time with Him.  It will be time with myself I pass off as time with Him.  Hurry is the death of prayer but if I sit long enough before the Lord he will speak volumes and a great deal of what He has to say I am disinclined to hear.

Here are some practical tips I have learned through the years:

1.       Whatever I wake up thinking about in the morning I assume to be the appropriate place to start my conversation with God.  God doesn’t slumber or sleep and I expect Him to direct my thoughts appropriately at an hour I may be incapable of truly focusing them.

2.       Certainly specific aspects of prayer (praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession and petition) should be included in our praying but resist the temptation of believing that the same order must be duplicated everyday and on every occasion.  The psalmists certainly did not do that.  Be free enough to respond to what God is saying through your spirit, His Spirit and His Word.

3.       The greatest prayer warriors (and listeners) have been people who incessantly prayed Scripture.  The only way  I can be sure I‘m praying a perfect prayer is to pray perfect Scripture back to God.  George Muller, arguably the greatest man of faith since apostolic times, said he never had success in prayer until He learned to pray Scripture.  When I pray what God has already spoken He speaks again and with clarity and authority.

4.       Trust me, when I pray Scripture, either from memory or from the Bible before me God has more to say than I can possibly absorb.

5.       The apostles gave themselves to the ministry of prayer and the Word.  The two are forever wed.  Prayer without the Word becomes fanaticism, emotionalism and/or mysticism.  The Word without prayer becomes intellectualism and formalism.  The two hold each other in balance at any and all points of the divine communication process.

6.       Sufficient is the evil of the day.  Manna should be gathered daily.  We pray for and receive our daily bread.  God’s mercies are renewed each new day.  God sometimes gives long-range plans but most of what He says is for the moment.  If I obey Him today He has something more to say tomorrow.

7.       The most significant things God says are not new but reinforcements of truths we thought we already understood.

It's on my mind and from my heart!