Spoiling For A Fight
11/4/2003 6:52:16 AM
I just spent the weekend battling the flu- mostly a losing battle. This morning I arose with an encouragement from a brother who prayed the prayer of faith over me. So I am feeling better and spoiling for a fight today. After being locked up in my house with nothing but my inadequate faith as company I've decided to come out fighting. I am sick of letting the same old things drag me down. Not so much the flu, but the agents of the enemy that are designed to keep me spiritually "sick." The entertainment of this world, the cultural extravagances, the blind acceptance of immorality that makes wickedness common. We are lulled into a slumber by these things. Like these things will hold off their impact on me if I just ignore the issue long enough. We give a wink and a nod to the spiritual world, imagining that everything will be alright in the end, somehow. A sense of urgency overtakes me this morning as my spirit recognizes the Voice of the Holy Spirit within me exhorting me to stop "playing possum" with the enemy. It doesn't work. He's got much more time than I can afford to spend playing that game. There are legions of him and only one of me. I can't afford to play spiritual "possum." I can't afford to slumber. Out of my innermost being resounds this need for truth. I'm spoiling for a fight today because my brother woke up this morning spoiling for one too.

When Our Flesh Stinks!
11/5/2003 6:57:58 AM
We cannot continue to let sin dominate our spiritual existence. The old routine is wearing thin: Clinging to our sins, repenting in a moment of conviction, slinking back to it like a hog to its wallow, then repeating the process ad nauseam. The old excuses are sounding hollow in my ears. The old reasonings are clanging noisily. Why don't we just make our bodies living sacrifices, as is our reasonable service unto God. By the time our flesh begins to stink in our own nostrils, imagine how long ago it must have turned the stomach of God.

Worshippers Of Secularism
11/6/2003 9:53:09 AM
I am amused by the worshippers of secularism who scoff at Christians, accusing them of trying to force their values down the throats of society. The only thing that angers these priests of atheism is that their stranglehold on the public’s attention is occasionally interrupted by a few moments of Godly spirituality, courtesy of a “born again” Christian. The secularists can’t allow a cross or a manger display to be seen by the citizenry. The Ten Commandments are dangerous to them. They push their agenda, which is to separate God from society, church from state, relentlessly. Their arrogance is born of ignorance. They do not even realize that they, too, are serving a god. Just not the God of creation. They hate our purpose because it competes with theirs. We evangelize to bring people into the family of God. They evangelize to take things from people. Our God demands service from us while their religion is self-serving, in a literal sense. Theirs is the god of “personal freedom.” If you disagree with them, they still expect you to die for their right to silence you. Everyone serves some master. EVERYONE!

To My Lonely Friend
11/7/2003 4:27:59 PM
I know the dark one named "Alone." I know his lure. I know his smile. I know his whisper in the edge of night. He sings softly to me from the drains on busy streets. He whistles at me from airport storage rooms. He calls for me in the alley behind the mall. A song, a dance, a life. A chance to capture myself in perfect harmony with my mirror. Me and my shadow. Happy. Free. From the hustle...the bustle. The rats who are racing whose steps keep retracing the path of the lemmings who have risen to new heights before us. Oh come with me, my love. Come with me and together we will be alone!

Not Letting The Sun Go Down On My Wrath
11/11/2003 6:50:11 AM
I am always shocked when I discover I have an enemy. I have so few, if any. When I find out someone is angry with me, disgruntled about me, or out to get me, I am flabbergasted. I harbor no bitterness or ill-will towards anyone. It is not worth it to me. I can't stand to have something between Laura and me. I used to be sure that each night I went to her and cleared up every possible problem that could have taken root between us during the day. I figured I was abiding by the command to "not let the sun go down" on my wrath. It hit me one night, as I was making sure we could go to bed with a kiss,  that the sun had gone down hours ago. I admit that was a pretty technical way of looking at it. But basically, I was being technical in my approach as it was. I saw that the point was not to get things right simply before I went to bed but to do so immediately. When a hard word is spoken, seek forgiveness right then. Do not give even a moment for the enemy to plant a root of bitterness. When we bring our sacrifice to God and we have anything against our brother or sister, we are commanded to drop everything and go to them. To get it right before continuing with our religious duty. I thought I was doing good by only making Laura suffer until sundown. Of course, it was only my relationship with God that suffered the rest of that day. Now I get it right with her, with others, and with God in the very moment when I can.

The Jessica Lynch Phenomenon
11/12/2003 6:50:49 AM
Rarely does anyone capture the imagination of the American people like the little girl soldier who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital. Jessica Lynch makes no claim as an American Hero. An argument can be made that she is one simply for her willingness to defend her country on foreign soil. Others debate whether or not she should be treated as a hero since the circumstances of her experience indicate she was less than valiant in battle. To me, the entire debate misses the point. The phenomenon of Jessica Lynch isn't based in her own heroic actions, although I personally hold she is heroic for her efforts in Iraq. It was the heroism of those around her--those who protected her, fought to defend her, and eventually rescued her--that touches our citizenry. Jessica represents every American. Those who lost their lives around her fought to protect her from the enemy. To them, she was a very present representation of every American they were there to defend. Those who rescued her risked life and limb to secure her freedom just as they fight for the freedom of every American every day. It is who Jessica represents that makes her special among the many who have given the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. I see her less as GI Jane and more as the girl next door. And I believe those who fought next to her felt the same way.

Losing The Beatitudes
11/14/2003 9:08:29 AM
We tend to spiritualize the Bible to such an extreme that we are losing our ability to just read the Word and do it. Everything becomes imagery in this skewered approach we take. The beatitudes are practically explained away as being spiritual truths wrapped in physical descriptions. Certainly there are levels of truth concerning everything we read, but there is the absolute as well. There is the actual meaning. The thing that was being said. Literally. We've gotten to a place where it takes a commentary to read the Word of God. Didn't the early Protestants risked life and limb to be able to read and interpret the Bible for themselves--not have it filtered through a "priestly" class? We've made reading the Bible so difficult to do. How sad!

Beautiful Leaves
11/18/2003 7:08:45 AM
With the fall rains, which are so much needed these days, I find my yard full of leaves that the trees no longer intend to bear. The multi-colored wave of foliage is beautiful this time of year. Funny how all of that beauty is possible only through death. Those leaves are dying. That's why the green has faded into the many colors of the prism. It is through death that such a magnificent view is realized. Just a strange little thought on a rainy day in the Deep South.

Traditional Family Values
11/19/2003 5:55:46 AM
I am always amazed at the human ability to confuse matters. There seem to be no absolutes with some people. Self-justification leads to all sorts of meandering logic. The current debate over traditional family values illustrates the point. Simply put, traditional family values are those values that promote the traditional family. It seems easy enough, right? Never underestimate man's ability to muddle truth with self-serving reason.

Thanksgiving
11/26/2003 9:36:05 AM
This is my favorite holiday! The family is all in. The weather is great. The children are laughing and playing since school is out. Football is on every station. Ahhhh! And Thanksgiving is the least commercialized holiday of them all. They've tried to sanitize it by calling it "Turkey Day," but it just doesn't hold water. This is Thanksgiving. No two ways about it. This is the time of year people seriously begin to look to God in thanks for their many blessings. Every day should be Thanksgiving.