The Bullet of Forgiveness: The Dying Thief

“But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’…" Luke 23:34

Let us all recognize with proper sobriety and humility that we, too, “don’t know what we are really doing”! We squander our resources, abuse our privileges, exalt the trivial, chase the easy, hurt others, diminish our communities, destroy our own self-worth and wound God’s heart. We are ALL fools! But in the horrible reality of our dense blindness, the Lord Jesus shows us the Father’s Heart! He promises to connect us to Himself by forgiving us!

These three words … Father, Forgive and Fools … contain the essence of all the issues that will ever concern each one of us while we walk the earth! To understand and respond to those three concepts with a full and eager heart will open the door to your highest possibilities as a human being. “Put” these three realities into your daily life God’s way and your discipleship will soar! It is then that only Christ will matter. Only then will His desires be your desires. Only then will you live among people as a reflector and agent of Messiah Love! Only then will you taste, drink and eat of the food that is from heaven … Jesus (John 6:26-40). Only when the Savior matters most to you will anything and everything else matter as it should.

To begin and continue this wondrous process is reserved for the one who lives with a passion and obsession to yield more of self to the Lord Jesus. To begin our journey we must say to Him … as did that wise criminal hanging with Him … “Lord, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” The confessing thief comprehended that he and the other crucified criminal were fools. He comprehended Jesus could talk to God as His Father. He comprehended the possibility that he could be forgiven! This repentant, crucified man didn’t know much but he did know enough! Once we comprehend the “God meaning” of these three words … Father, Forgive and Fools … we begin to comprehend life in all of its complexities and mysteries.

“Lord, remember me” … is a prayer the wise Disciple has often in the heart and on the lips!

“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” Luke 23:42

The Bullet of Scripture: Certitude is More Than Enough

Those of us who have experienced the reality of knowing Christ through “re-creation” have found that the Scriptures are simply His “love letter” to us through His chosen writers. Although God’s truth passed through the small capacities of these flawed, partial people, who cannot give us “certainty,” and because of our own ignorance, denseness and limitations to grasp “certainty,” the Lord chose … and still chooses … other people to help give us “certitude.”

The Scriptures have met the test of 3500 years of attack and vilification yet have given more evidence of certitude than any other philosophical, scientific or theological option available to mankind. Once a person reads the Book, the Holy Spirit will use the opportunity to open his or her eyes to the glorious truth it holds. Such is the joint witness of millions over the centuries who have found their certitude in Jesus Christ! They claim enough “certitude” to be as “certain” as a person can be!

What is your certitude? It’s being as certain as you can be about a matter without being able to prove it as certain. There is no way I can prove to anyone that the love I have for my wife, children and grandchildren is “certain.” I may resent them all in my heart and no one but me will know how I truly feel.

However! If you examine all the positive things I say about them, do for them, give to them, seek to be with them and sacrifice for them, etc. you will find enough “certitudes” to conclude that it is almost “certain” that I love my family! And that is enough to build a life on!

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The Bullet of Scripture: The Preponderance of Evidence

It is impossible to be completely certain about life’s most significant questions … especially the big ones! Is God real? What is the purpose of life? How do I find and give meaning to my life? We have more certainty when dealing with factual data: the boiling point of water at sea level on planet earth is 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or hydrogen is the lightest element on the periodic chart, etc. Yet even when dealing with natural facts that are measurable and quantifiable, it is not always possible to be certain. Consider the problem of the deepest point in the ocean and the highest point on earth … the Marianas Trench in the Western Pacific and Mount Everest in the Himalayas respectively. Refined measurements and the changing nature of earth features make true exactitude only a short lived thing; thus, a quick search for answers to just these two questions will bring about varying results from different, trustworthy sources. None-the-less, for general use we have a figure for each. (In case you wondered, the deepest point in the ocean is more than 36,000 feet down and the highest mountain is slightly more than 29,000 feet up.)

Not long ago I was involved in a discussion about the reliability of the Bible. The question posed was how do we convince skeptics that the Bible as true? I contend that the nuances between certainty and certitude should form the basis of our conclusion. Certainty demands a decision based on complete knowledge, something very few situations in life offer; we know the boiling point of water but we can not say with absolute certainty the depth of the ocean. On the other hand, certitude demands a decision based on the preponderance of facts. Most situations allow us to come close to a truthful decision because there are many sources of evidence. We teach in our universities as fact that General Julius Caesar wrote a book about his Gallic Wars in the first century B.C. We do this even though the oldest extant copy (still in existence) of the manuscript we have in our possession follows his death by some 1,000 years! This gives 900 plus years for it to be written by a forger! Can we be “certain” this did not happen? Still the preponderance of evidence favors Caesar as the author of this work and that the Gallic Wars by the Roman army against the Gauls did take place in what is today called France! There is far more “certitude” that Caesar wrote it than that he didn’t!

Our job in answering the question my friends and I discussed is not to present absolute proof that the Bible is “certain” but to present a preponderance of “certitude” evidence that the skeptic should consider before making an informed judgment. In short we should offer our skeptic friend the only sane choices that can be made … as certainty is impossible for flawed human beings to declare their remains only one intelligent option – certitude! We must consider mankind’s vastly limited power to know completely about anything, especially those issues dealing with the why of creation, purpose and the beyond. Hence, we are bound to live our lives out in certitude and not certainty. Our job as “witnesses to Christ” is to get others to take the chance of discovering what they are missing, not to convince them to give up their questions.

I have never met the author of a single Bible book nor a single translator for the first 3500 to 2000 years of its existence. I can’t “prove” the Bible with “certainty” … how can a limited little man like me sum up the last 3500 with authority? … but I can prove the Scriptures with “certitude.” The words I find there have been radically changing my life for over 60 years … and there are millions like me who would say the same.

The Savior the Scriptures tell of and promise to me is real to my heart and a powerful Presence in my life. In fact, I’ve experienced so many “certitudes” with Jesus that I am as “certain” about Him as anything on earth!

“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

The Bullet of Direction: The Complex Confusion of Mankind’s Language!

When we consider how God has revealed Himself in language, using the complex and amazing skills He created for humanity, we began to grasp why the Holy Spirit’s Presence is so critical to guide and teach us what true revelation means. Almost all words, depending on context, can have a multitude of meanings. People can speak thousands of words yet find at the end of all their talking they have only “built bridges to nowhere”! But not our Lord! All of His words to us are bridges to our heart that have an assured destiny! Every word He spoke while on earth and speaks to us now is a “bridge word” that we can walk on in our journey to His Presence, which is life! “The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).

Read carefully the Apostle Paul’s insights into how our Lord’s words are life:
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:10-14 (Emphasis added)

The Lord Jesus is well aware that humanity has a desperate problem understanding correctly what they hear and see. He quoted the prophet Isaiah when He explained the Parable of the Sower to His Disciples. The seed Jesus throws on the field of earth are His words! Some nourish the seed but most people don’t. "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND” (Luke 8:10, emphasis added). The Savior’s seed is the truth that is within every one of His words! “The Words I (Jesus) speak to you are life!” (John 6:63).

Without revelation about words we are blind and mute. Only when we establish and nurture a relationship to our Creator-Redeemer-Perfector God do we discover how to “put” the “in Christ” seed into our lives. We then begin to gain His “power answers” for living. Our Lord’s words alone, authentically understood, will sustain us and enable us to reign on planet earth! His words are our material and equipment with which we can build our “bridge over all the troubled waters of mankind’s mess.” The Savior’s Words are intended to become our bridge to His Presence! How is your bridge building coming along?

The Bullet of Direction: Describe That Bridge!

The more scientists study language the more we discover the complexities of thinking involved in just one single word. Furthermore, language makes a startling impact on our selves and our culture. One recent study explored the relationship between the gender of a word in different languages and the descriptions assigned to the object the word represents. One such object and word pair is “bridge.”

Both German and Spanish are languages using gender case for words; a simple example is the Spanish word for boy and girl. The word for boy is Niño and is in the masculine case. Niña, the word for girl, is in the feminine case. In German the word for bridge has feminine gender. Words used to describe a bridge by German speakers tended toward beautiful, elegant, slender, etc. In Spanish, bridge is masculine. The words used to describe a bridge in Spanish tended toward strong, dangerous, sturdy, etc. In short, the researchers discovered, the way we think about gender influences the way we think about and describe an object based on the gender given to a word by its mother tongue.

The researchers discovered this to be true even when they “made up” a language and assigned gender to various objects. They concluded that their findings “… suggest that the grammar we learn from our parents, whether we realize it or not, affects our sensual experience of the world. Spaniards and Germans can see the same things, wear the same cloths, eat the same foods and use the same machines. But deep down, they have very different feelings and perceptions about the world around them.” We are so familiar with and unreflective about our language, we usually fail to understand how much it shapes us. Depending on a person’s culture and education, words can be a bridge, a detour or even a dead end!

These new findings only make it more evident that we need “big help” to understand the reality and meaning of our world, ourselves and the words we use to interpret both. Thank God we have a Helper Whose job it is to teach us what we need to know! A Helper Who will guide us through our rapid complexities of experience. A Helper Who will interpret for us the mysteries of life. A Helper Who will enable a person to build a bridge between “where I am” and “where I need to go” in order to become “what I need to be”! A Helper Who will translate the words I read and hear so that I can appropriate truth … the truth from people and the truth from God.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26 (Emphasis added)

The Bullet of Repentance: Don’t Judge the Message by the Sign

As a college student I can still vividly recall being lost on the mountain roads of Colorado. None of us in the car knew the way. We were running late and it was getting dark. The map of how to reach the retreat center was so clear when we first read it in Texas. Now, we were confused! The panic of lostness and the frustration of wasted time began to take their toll.

At last … after retracing routs and kicking up mountain road dust someone noticed the sign we had all previously missed. The words had been heavily weathered. Part of the sign was broken off. It had been nailed on a fence post low to the ground. In addition, the left mount had broken loose and the sign hung more vertically than horizontally.

In short, everything that could be wrong with a sign was wrong! So it is with all people, preachers included. They are signposts to those of us who have their eyes open to read them. Some point us to what’s right by their good example. Others point us away from what’s wrong by their bad example.

Read the “signs” folks! They can lead us to the truth. What they are in themselves makes little difference if you use them to point you in the right direction. Don’t fret! It’s God’s business to handle the maintenance of “the signs.” It’s our business to read them and to move in the right direction.

The Bullet of Repentance: Treasure Among the Shards

When we give judgment into God’s hands, what remains for the rest of us is simple. Quit focusing on the other person’s obnoxiousness and failures and start seeking the lesson of truth for yourself. I recall watching a televangelist on TV one morning some years ago I had a hard time accepting. As I watched him again for a few minutes, I was repulsed and dismayed. His manner, his arrogance, his manipulative appeal to send your “seed money” to him, his affectedness, his delivery, his expressions, etc., left me amazed that he had developed such a following. His promise that you can “command” all you want for yourself from God is, in my view, a sick kind of theology.

I must confess, however, that in spite of all that was objectionable to me in this brother, there were a few principles, centered in Scripture, that spoke to my heart and mind. I didn’t need to believe God for the “goodies” he urged, but I knew I needed to believe God in a bigger way for other things.

The Bullet of Forgiveness: The Easter Miracle!

Most people want to be forgiven when they fail! Yet they often find forgiveness is difficult to give to others, especially when the “crime” against them is horrific … to their minds if not also to an objective observer. There are some events that anyone would agree are horrible in the extreme. How does one forgive the unforgivable? Consider the following story:

Visual images have power. The more compelling the image, the more power it wields over our thoughts and emotions. In the age of photography some pictures become so well known they form part of our national consciousness. One such is the image taken on June 8, 1972, by AP Photographer Nick Út. The picture would later win him a Pulitzer Prize. It was of nine-year-old Kim Phuc running down Viet Nam Route 1 surrounded by other fleeing children! Kim was naked, the victim of third-degree burns over half her body from Napalm bombs dropped mistakenly from a South Vietnamese airplane. In many ways it became emblematic of the tragedy of war; few who see the image will ever fully forget the horror it invokes. It was one of the most powerful pictures ever taken of how the innocent suffer for the insanity of human conflict.

Kim Phuc was treated for her burns in a Saigon hospital where she spent fourteen months and endured seventeen painful operations over a third of her body. But there was another wound that could not be so easily treated, her shame. She said of the thoughts running through her mind as she ran naked and burned, “… I would be ugly and people would treat me in a different way.”

After the fall of Viet Nam, her communist government used her as an anti-war symbol. She finally managed to seek sanctuary in Canada in 1992, where she, her husband and children live in Ajax, Ontario. She submitted an essay to the “This I Believe” project in 2007 in which she recounts her conversion to Christ as her Lord:

“I hated my life. I hated all people who were normal because I was not normal. I really wanted to die many times. It was another very low point in my young life. I spent my day time in the library to read a lot of religious books to find a purpose for my life. One of the books that I read was the Holy Bible. In Christmas 1982, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. It was an amazing turning point in my life. God helped me to learn to forgive – the most difficult of all lessons. It didn’t happen in a day and it wasn’t easy. But I finally got it.

Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.”

What an image! What a lesson! At the very heart of Easter is forgiveness … complete, free, pure, liberating, cleansing, priceless forgiveness. The child in the heart-wrenching photo that documents her pain and her shame discovered how deep and full it is. As we celebrate this Easter, let us wonder and praise anew for our Lord’s sacrifice. We, like Kim, may know we are forgiven and can learn to forgive in equal measure. Regardless of all the agonies that hammer this fallen world, our Lord’s spiritual surgery will fully heal our bodies, our minds and our hearts. He will do it for both the innocent and the guilty. Let us rejoice in His resurrection as the Father’s perfect approval upon the necessity of the Savior’s cross. Let us praise Him with cleansed hearts! Forgiveness is our only escape from the falleness of man and our entry into the Presence of God!

“But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’…" Luke 23:34

May our Lord grant you a most meaningful and life-changing Easter!

The Bullet of Repentance: Watch Out for the Tepid Life

A great tree can be destroyed by sudden lightning or a slow decaying disease. The Christian who lives many years without obvious “outer sin” can still be guilty of a marginally effective Christian life. In fact, their “lukewarmness” could do greater damage to the cause of Christ than an earnest believer who stumbles! (Revelation 3:15-16).

The real issue for those who “hunger after righteousness” is not … repeat … is not, sitting in judgment on those who fail. All preachers and laymen will sometimes choose sin, embrace failure and pursue error in various degrees. All of us often serve as “good examples of what not to be!”

The mature can always profit from their own failures as well as the failures of others. We must leave the ultimate evaluation of people’s failures and successes to God alone. He is the only one capable of defining what is “big sin” and “little sin.” He alone is capable of judging in truth the total effect of a life … clergy or layman … good or bad!

The Bullet of Repentance: Big Fish, Little Fish … All Sin

Question? What is your attitude toward the religious leader who is exposed in some hypocritical action! Looking back over the years, the “scandals” of several TV preachers are only highly publicized reflections of similar, yet less well known failures. Unfortunately and tragically, the sins of the flesh have ensnared, weakened and even destroyed many who started well. When a person enters the ministry God doesn’t drain the blood out and replace it with “celestial buttermilk”! All of us, clergy and laity alike, have feet of clay.

How much difference will “we allow” between the standards expected of a religious leader and those expected of a lay person? Of course what “we allow” and what “God allows” are different worlds! Some people “sin big” (adultery, theft, misuse of authority) and repent quick! Others “sin small” (laziness, selfishness, lack of responsibility) and repent rarely, if ever! Who does the most damage to the kingdom?

The Bullet of Truth: The Power of the Word in Troubled Times

The following words appeared in a newsletter from Dr. Billy Graham ten years ago … in 1999! The reference to the computer crisis of 2000 is not a misprint. Hear the words of Billy Graham about man’s continual dilemmas:

In our world, we see mighty, cataclysmic possibilities as we approach the 21st century. Small wars are being fought, and some nations are assembling highly sophisticated armaments – including nuclear, germ and chemical weapons – for the next war. Millions of people live on the edge of starvation. Ethnic violence seems to be almost worldwide. Economically, America is in a boom era, but one feels the uncertainty caused by the financial crisis sweeping many other parts of the world. And people are fearful of what computers will do as January 1, 2000, nears.

In such a world, and under such conditions, the Word of God has a message to stabilize the hearts of all who put their trust in Him. When some calamity sweeps our foundations away, we should turn to the Word for light and help.

When will we learn that nothing ever really changes on this earth but people who become new creations in Christ? People are still worrying … and they always will … until they turn to the Light of the Word! The power of our overcoming is always in proportion to our love for the Living Word, Jesus … our knowledge of the written Word, Scripture … and our yieldedness to the implanted Word in us!

“Great peace have they who love the law … nothing shall make them stumble in confusion.” Psalm 119:165

The Bullet of Purpose: The Only FIX That Works!

We are always trying to fix things! In fact, we live in the naive arrogance that all things are fixable. There is always an answer or solution to the “things” that complicate, confuse and conflict our little plans of well being. This is a fake assumption apart from Christ.

The Father has fixed things on earth so that they can never be fixed by man’s attempts, strength or solutions. In a fallen world the things created by human evil are unfixable outside of putting everyone and everything “in Christ.” It is not in demonic hearts to ever want this, much less to let it happen.

Even the Lord Jesus didn’t “fix” the world. It was in as great a mess when He left as when He came … except for one thing … there was now a message and an example on earth of the kind of permanent FIX the Father had in mind to achieve His eternal purpose. The Savior didn’t even fix things for His own life. It was short, hard and ended in horrific cruelty.

Hence, the primary point. My highest purpose as a Cross Disciple is not to fix things so I’ll be happy … or to fix other people so I will be significant … but to so yield to Christ that He will fix me and I will be a pleasure to the Father! Each of us needs a total makeover … a way to fix ourselves. This comes from self-discipling. Paul said it well:

“I have discipled myself so that in every situation I will be sufficient enough to fix my response to please Christ.” Philippians 4:11

The Bullet of Wisdom: A Few Well Chosen Words

Some time ago a friend sent me the following words of wit and wisdom from church signs. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did:

Free Trip to Heaven. Details Inside!
People are like tea bags – you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are.
Fight truth decay – clean with the Scripture daily.
Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives.
It is unlikely there’ll be a reduction in the wages of sin.
Do not wait for the hearse to take you to church.
If you don’t like the way you were born, try being born again.

Church signs can give bullet theology that we all enjoy. But the great truths of the Creator-Redeemer-Perfecter are also found in thick volumes on a theologian’s bookshelf. The words in these books represent freedom, truth, power and eternal significance. Each word must be carefully weighed and its exact meaning thoroughly thought through before the writer submits his manuscript for printing. That is the theologian’s job … to make each word count in the right way and with an exact meaning. The layman may get lost in the exactitude of theological discussion but we all must admire the precision and wonder of this Queen of Sciences … Theology!

Church signs are vastly different. They are meant to attract the interest of the passing motorist who has but a few seconds to grasp the words before they are far behind in his or her rear view mirror. Yet even as brief a statement as those found on such signs can carry theological impact. They, too, should convey freedom, truth, power and eternal significance. In their brevity they must be exact if they are to be effective. Precision counts … whether it is in a theological treatise or a church sign!

If precision counts so much in our communication of spiritual reality, how are you doing in your own efforts to make every word, thought and action count? And, above all, there must be precision following of Jesus if we expect to experience His precision promises!

The Bullet of Joy: Let It Overflow!

Our Ventures For Christ office is a happy place to work. Odd happenings and entertaining stories make us laugh quite often. We also have a serious side … working with people always exposes us to the painful, traumatic, agonizing, distressing and depression-filled situations of life in a fallen world.

I asked our office staff to try to think of some of our funniest stories to share with you. The result was hilarious … but not very productive. We brainstormed our memories but we couldn’t think of a single printable story although we laughed hard enough in the attempt; some of you may have heard us, we were that loud! There was the copier incident … but that was a little too embarrassing. There was the radio story … but that didn’t happen at work. What about the man who … no, we wouldn’t want to share anything too personal about another Believer’s misfortunes even though they were funny. Oh, well, it was fun trying!

Maybe the point of humor in our lives isn’t so much the stories themselves as the camaraderie, solidarity and universality of laughing together. It draws us together when we laugh with each other. Have you ever noticed how a well told joke in the course of a sermon brings the congregation together? That moment of shared laughter may just be a shared moment of heavenly bliss the dear Lord Jesus is allowing us to experience here on earth. “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly …” (Hebrews 12:22).

And above all … no matter what we encounter on earth or how bad things get … or seem to get … it cannot stop the Cross Disciple from getting closer to Jesus and enjoying His Mind about all things. Let’s loosen up … He has everything under control! “The One enthroned in heaven laughs …” (Psalm 2:4).

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11

The Bullet of Joy: Laughter Is Good For You

Last week, we considered the relationship between happiness, joy and praise. This week, let’s look at these three from a different point of view … humor and the role laughter can play in making us productive citizens of the Lord Jesus’ kingdom here on earth.

The following observations about laughter come from my dear friend Larry Walker of Visionwalk International Ministries:

“God gave us a great gift in the capacity to laugh. Look for those things that can be truly funny, or maybe take lightly some things that we take far too seriously. Most of all, never lose the ability to laugh at yourself.

Laughter results in muscle relaxation, pain reduction, lowers blood pressure, and even is helpful for digestion. It lowers stress, dissolves anger and frustration, and even soothes sadness. It unites family and friends, builds trust, and enhances relationships.

No matter the circumstances, the joy of the Lord can be ours and can be expressed, not only in prayer and worship, but also in laughter.”

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22) and if we truly “put” our expectations in Christ alone His joy becomes our joy! We then experience the impactive wonder of Nehemiah 8:10, “…for the joy of the Lord IS your strength.”

The Bullet of Praise: Giving Up Without a Fight?

There are many bad things in this world … there can be no argument about that! But … are we letting the Evil One gain an easy victory when we allow the bad to SUFFOCATE the wonder and curiosity, the praise and thanksgiving the Lord created us to have? Let’s place that thought against the beatitudes: “Oh, the happiness of the man or woman….” Our Lord is recommending a way of life that escapes so many of us. How few seem to be truly joyous in the ways He mentioned here or in any other of our options! How many of us have surrendered to dreariness and mediocrity?

Let’s remember that happiness usually depends on happenings. They are unpredictable and both good and bad. But the happiness Jesus teaches rests on more than what occurs. It has an element of joy that far exceeds the passing happiness of earth. Abiding and overcoming joy depends on loving and knowing Jesus. He never changes and our joy shouldn’t either, no matter how much our feeling of happiness waxes and wanes.

How can we fight back against the bad and the dull? Let’s consider the first point of the business book, Fish!* The authors suggest your attitude about your work determines in large part if you will be content, effective and productive. In short, we must have the right attitude … God’s attitude … toward our work if it is to be meaningful to us. How much more do we need that right attitude toward the life we claim to have “in Christ?” It is clearly obvious that American Christianity needs a real “attitude of praise” adjustment. Of course, I need to start first with me! How about you! If our praise for all He is doesn’t exceed our complaints for all the world isn’t, we demonstrate that we don’t know the difference between happiness and joy.

*Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen.

The Bullet of Praise: Are You Excited About Life?

Eighty-one-year-old Harry "Hawk" McGinnis is walking around the world – actually he has been doing it for years (since 1992) having visited 80 countries and traveled some 80,000 miles. He is excited about what he is seeing and doing. McGinnis said about his adventures, “The secret of life is to experience life. Life is about living life.”*

I wonder if, for many of us who claim to be Disciples of Jesus, there is a connection between that sort of attitude … or lack of it … and our own excitement for thanksgiving and praise. Have we lost much of the childlike sense of wonder and curiosity this world and the Father’s purposes should invoke? Mr. McGinnis’ adventurous spirit should challenge us to consider if we have forgotten to thank God for His creation and expectations! If we let go of such a basic level of thanksgiving, we soon find that it takes a LOT to inspire thanks of any kind, much less the emotional exuberance of praise.

When was the last time you stopped in your daily routine to tell the Creator “thank you” for the beauty of some small wonder of His world? Have you exulted recently in praise that He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything you see including you? How about taking a moment now to thank Him for what He has done and praise Him for Who He is? It might just help you capture a little of Mr. McGinnis’s excitement about life. Our journey on this earth was intended by the Father to be an adventure! If someone has lost his or her zest for it, they might be on the wrong road!

*Sunday, January 25, 2009, NPR’s Weekend Edition "Walker Talks About Journey."

The Bullet of Truth: Good Works Matter More

Examples of great folks who did their duty regardless of their feelings are legion. The lives of those pitiful souls who excuse their weak wills under the guise of not wanting to be hypocritical never bring impact on anyone or anything. Their pretense pales into insignificance beside the lives of those who disdain their feelings and act on love and duty.

It’s far better to do right even when you don’t feel like it than to do what you feel and allow what you know is wrong to take place. James 4:17 says it so well, “… to one who knows the right thing to do, and does NOT DO IT, to him it is sin.”

The hypocrite is not the person who does right even though he doesn’t feel like it! Right has been done, others are benefited, God is pleased and the one who has acted builds confidence! The real hypocrite is the one who knows what to do, but allows his feelings to keep him from it.

Finally, it’s a lot easier to work yourself into a good feeling than to feel your way into a good work! Think about it!

The Bullet of Truth: Feeling Verses Obedience

The extremes that we humans go to in order to avoid truth is amazing. Take the old bit that says, “I’m not going to do something for God when I really don’t feel like it because I don’t want to be a hypocrite.”

This pretense of truth is sickening. Example: “I’m not going to pretend to love her when I can’t stand her!” or “I don’t go to church unless my heart is in it.” (God commands us to go anyway.) Some of us have convinced ourselves that if we do what’s right and we really don’t “feel like it” it makes us a hypocrite!

Nonsense! It makes you a person of courage over timidity, will over emotions, right over wrong, love over laziness, compassion over self-interest!

Washington didn’t feel like crossing the ice-clogged Delaware River on a Christmas night during a wild storm. This act didn’t prove him a hypocrite, but a soldier of courage and daring. Jesus didn’t feel like being crucified. That He voluntarily allowed it didn’t prove Him a hypocrite, but the obedient son of God.

The Bullet of Reckoning: Tough on Love

But back to our first question, “Is the Good News of Jesus Christ more negative or positive?” Really it’s some of both, for one has to know there’s “bad news” before “Good News” can be good. My contention is that honest people know there is something wrong with them that needs spiritual fixing. They are not looking for problems but for answers. A dishonest person lies to himself and is condemned to a life of problems.

The Gospel is the greatest positive force on earth. For the person who is quick to admit need and the “creature-dependent” status of human life the “Good News” of Jesus Christ is an inexhaustible source of power, truth and love.

Here is an illustration: One of our men was talking to a woman sometime ago about spiritual things. When he mentioned our church, she lit into him on the hypocrites she knew who were members. She named mistakes, remembered failures and condemned attitudes. She then moved to the sins of the church in general and preachers in particular. (Incidentally, I wouldn’t deny many of these charges.) Finally after listening to all this for several minutes my friend politely broke in on her triad and said, “Lady, if you’ll excuse me, you seem to know more about what’s wrong with people than what’s right with God!”

What a fantastic response and what a great definition of the Gospel! A person doesn’t improve his or her life by studying the mistakes of others but by becoming an expert on the performance of Christ. Knowing “the truth” about what’s wrong is worthless unless you are pursuing “the Truth” about what’s right! The sooner we realize this the quicker we will embrace maturity.

So we’ve come full circle. Those who are seeking truth know their sins and need to know the love of God as the answer! Those who are not seeking truth will not be satisfied with any answer … positive or negative!

Soft on sin? No, just label me “tough on love!” Christ didn’t come to condemn people in their sin but to save them from it! (John 3:17). That’s about as positive as you can get!

The Bullet of Reckoning: Am I Soft on Sin

Through the years I’ve taken a lot of hits from people because, they said, I was too positive. Comments would run like this, “You talk great about love, but you need to say more about sin.” Or again, “You’re soft on sin!”

Just for the record I hate sin, both for what it does to people and what it’s done to me. Every bit of hurt, agony, loss, suffering and despair any of us experience comes from sin. My failures, depressions and regrets all trace back to that little word that is the source of so much havoc!

My bottom line definition of sin, if you will excuse the expression, is telling God, “He can go to hell, because you are quite capable of living in His universe without bothering with Him or His desires.” People do this either passively or aggressively. In either case, the Bible calls them fools.

American Christians desperately need a greater conviction about the horror and tragedy of sin. My heart breaks at the hundreds of folks I know where sin is wrecking the lives of wonderful people with so much potential.

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” (Psalm 14:1)

The Bullet of Compassion: A Ministry Open to All

We resist, if not resent, anyone who tries to penetrate the fog of our private world, our self-centered thoughts and activities. The apostle could not have been more accurate when he said, “In the last days … men shall be lovers of their own selves” (II Timothy 3:2a).

What will we tell God on Judgment Day? I can hear us now, “… When saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked or sick, or in prison and did not minister unto thee?” Then shall He say, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the lease of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:44-45).

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister … but whosoever will be chief (the greatest, the most respected and admire), let him (or her) be your minister. (Matthew 20:28 and Matthew 20:26)

The Bullet of Compassion: A Modern Day Good Samaritan?

Have you heard the true story of an experiment a small band of seminary students carried out on the fellow members of their class? The class was given an assignment on Luke 10:30-37, the familiar account of the Good Samaritan. The assignment was due the next day. Most of the men in the class traveled along the same pathway leading to the classroom the next morning. One of the seminarians wore old, torn clothing, disguised himself as though he had been beaten and bruised and placed himself along the path, clearly in view of all the young students making their way back to class. With their assignments neatly written, carefully documented and tucked under their arms, not one seminarian so much as paused to come to his assistance or wipe the catsup off his neck and chest.

Intellectually, the assignment on love and caring was completed. But personally had they really learned the lesson Jesus was teaching in Luke 10? Well, you decide. What’s happening? How can we explain the gross lack of involvement in other people’s lives? We well-taught Christians know (intellectually) Bible truth, but why are there so few “ministers”? Why so little application of truth we’ve “known” for years?

The Bullet of Choice: Becoming God’s Champions

All of us are adding and subtracting things, ideas, directions, etc. from our lives every day. The choices of what we keep or discard make us what we are.

The definition of sin I like most is, “refusing to accept the good gifts of God.” The Heavenly Father wants us to experience joy, meaning, satisfaction and worth. As Joshua put it, “Chose today Who you will serve.” The Bible is filled with God’s choices. Not to know God’s options leaves one in the dark walking down a dead end street.

Pursuing the essentials and rejecting the refuse of life brings strength for living. It is a shame so many have it reversed. We cling to the choices that make us losers. We seem to be blind to the power that produces champions. I pray you and I will choose well.

The Bullet of Choice: Strength Through Gain and Loss

During his tenure as Head Coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, Lou Holtz made a great statement at one of his daily practice talks to the football team. I’d like to pass it on.

He said, “Men, you grow stronger in two ways. You gain strength by adding something you need or getting rid of something that is hurting you. Understanding that distinction marks the difference between a champion and a loser.”

Exactly! What a man or woman chooses to get rid of or to add to his or her life determines in the long run what he or she becomes. Surrounding yourself with “weak” friends contributes to your weakness. Choosing “strong” friends, “strong” ideas, “good” options, “moral” alternatives and “God” goals can only make a person stronger.

The Bullet of Thanksgiving: The Glorious Word of God

When I stop to count my blessings one of my top items for gratitude is the opportunity I have to possess, study and hear the Father’s Voice through the Scripture.

Written by over forty authors, about many subjects, in three languages, over a period of 1,500 years … the wonder is that the Bible exists at all! Yet for centuries it has been recognized as one book with a central theme beginning with Genesis 1:1 and consummating with Revelation 22:21! These chapter and verse distinctions were not even added until much later. The current system we know so well first appeared in the Sixteenth Century A.D.!

The Bible has existed, as it is now, for 1,600 years with relatively few changes despite being translated into more than 18,000 languages and dialects as well as many English revisions. Every revision, incidentally, strives to more accurately reflect the original language texts and the intention of the authors. We must also mention the relentless efforts of the Bible’s critics and antagonists through the centuries. Their aim has been to destroy it literally … or to discredit it totally … a task which has preoccupied some of the finest non-believing intellects from generation to generation!

In spite of everything the Bible remains today, as it has for centuries, the best annual seller year after year! More copies are sold in any one year than all the other best sellers put together! Some time ago, one publisher indicated that more than five hundred million copies of the Bible are sold annually in the world. Its timelessness … its perseverance … its popularity … its perennial relevance … its universal influence … is the unmatched phenomenon in the history of all book publishing.

The Bible contains the Mind of God … His reasons, His desires, His attitude, His thoughts … for His creation. It is His “love letter” to all who know they need love to survive and thrive in a fallen world of hurt! I believe I’m as grateful for this Book as almost anything else on earth.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17, RSV)

Let me paraphrase the Greek: “Every word of Scripture has in it the breath, energy and life of God. We can experience this reality if we are hungry for His Presence. Every word will be of benefit to us … profit us in any circumstance … and give us the advantage no matter what our situation might be. These words from the Father’s Heart tell us what to do, what not to do, what to do better and what to do that’s best. These words of Scripture are essential and critical … needed in large doses … if you truly plan on the Father putting your life together in such a way that you most perfectly look like Him and become a complete human being … a man or woman of God. Only then will you be in shape to achieve and finish the Lord’s purpose for your life!”

The Bullet of Truth: Freedom in God’s Limits

While He was on the earth, Christ Jesus could have done it all! He could have done everything possible for a human to do – but He didn’t! This is even more true of us! We can’t begin to do it all … even think it all … and we shouldn’t even try. Let’s leave that to the religious fanatics and/or the self-acclaimed political saviors. For me, and I pray for my house, we will pursue only God’s "everything" that is specifically for us. I have determined that the "everythings" of the world are going to have to make it without me! And I hope without you!

"… don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you" (Romans 12:3). Likewise, don’t think of yourself more lowly than you ought! Think right … think His thoughts … about who and what you are. Note our Lord’s pattern, "I do only what the Father tells Me to do!" (John 5:19, paraphrased).

The greatest Life ever lived on this planet was "gloriously limited" to doing only the "everything" that the Father wanted Him to do. Looking at how Jesus lived, you and I would be fools to try it any other way. Hence, our primary life decision should be to strive to do and be only the "everything" that He desires of us! Nothing more and nothing less. In my book that’s the truth and, frankly, that is life as our Lord intended life for us to be! The amazing "grace truth" here is that yielding to our limits will result in finding our liberation. "If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed!" (John 8:36).

The Bullet of Truth: Know It, Live It

I am committed to doing as much as I can about all the issues facing our world but only inasmuch as I determine God is leading me to respond. Although I know my life is to be the answer to many problems, I also know my life isn’t the answer to all problems. I go with King David here when he said in Psalm 131:1, "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." What a relief! Knowing my limitations is my first great step to liberation; that is why I once entitled one of my sermons "The Liberation of Our Limitations."

On this earth I am the Master’s willing slave, His joyful servant and His obedient follower. My entire existence should be measured and standardized around what He knows is best for me to think and do. Our passion for daily living should no longer be determined by the "everythings" of the world, but by the "everythings" of God. It’s a thrilling way to live! One soldier cannot win the whole war. His is too limited. Yet he is unlimited when it comes to fighting his own battle. That is the only fight the Commander has ordered you to win!

The Bullet of Truth: "What Can I Do?"

We live the best life possible when we base our decisions only on what is authentic – the truth. We live the worst life possible when we base our thoughts and actions on what is false – the lie. The person who experiences the maximum positive meaning for these years on earth is the one with the most earnest and unrelenting passion for truth … Christ’s truth. The following is one of my most exciting finds in God’s treasury of truth.

Sometimes I tend to despair over all the tensions and problems of life that bombard my mind. If you love living, love people and love our world like I do, I’m sure you share my sense of being "overwhelmed." I’ve often asked myself, in light of the world’s dilemmas, "What can I do? I’m just one little man!" I mentioned that to the Lord one morning in my prayer time, and His answer nearly blew me away!

"What can you do?" I sensed Him saying as He threw the question back to me. Then, as clearly as I’ve ever felt the Lord tell me something, a new liberating message began to wash through my mind. "H.D., you can do everything I want you to do. Nothing more and nothing less!" The Greek puts it clearly and emphatically to Peter and to each of us in John 21:22: You Me Follow!

My heart was suddenly captured with a new exhilaration for contented action and an overwhelming peace for whatever was ahead of me. Terrorism, the national economic crisis, continued unrest in the Middle East, nations in revolution, the culture war, the church, politics, the terror of AIDS or the American tragedy of abortion, etc., etc. are no longer the biggest issues in my life. Neither are some of the less dramatic and smaller demands and duties which seemed to dominate so much of my time and thinking. Mowing the yard, paying the IRS, taking out the garbage, changing the oil in the car, mailing in the monthly bills, making a run to the grocery store and post office, the honey dos, or keeping up with my modest little investments, etc., etc. are just some of the "everythings" that the Father is pleased for me to accomplish. Seeing the Father’s purpose in it all can easily be missed. That purpose is to use every event in your life … big or small … as a microphone for His Voice. To hear and yield to His Voice is the biggest thing little people can do and it covers all the bases!

The Bullet of Satisfaction: True Fulfillment

The world in which we live judges almost everything by the dollar sign and by what one possesses. This subtle spirit has permeated the Christian world as well. We need to radically heed the warning of our Lord and beware of greed, of always wanting “more.” But for many of us, resisting this temptation is difficult because we don’t want to discourage it completely. God has promised to provide an avenue of escape as we confront areas of weakness in life but it won’t help if we keep leaving a forwarding address!

The solution? Stop comparing yourself with those around you and realize that God accepts you as you are. In addition, realize that all you own is a loan from God – it really belongs to Him anyway. As stewards we own nothing but are responsible for everything entrusted to our care. Everything we have is a gift so be grateful and humble. Only then will we understand true satisfaction in life. Only then do we learn the lesson of trusting Christ – not ourselves. Otherwise, we will be like the man in Dallas who had a Rolls Royce with a telephone in it. His friend saw it and decided he needed one too, so he saved and saved and finally bought one. He called his friend and said, “Bob, this is Bill calling from my Rolls Royce.” Bob said, “Can you hold a minute? The other phone is ringing.” The most powerful six letter word in our language to create peace is the word “enough.” To truly yield all things to Christ creates “enough in you” to handle everything else. Remember, noting is enough unless you are enough.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do it all through Him who gives me strength. Paul in Philippians 4:12-13 (my adaptation based on the NIV)

The Bullet of Satisfaction: Insidious Greed

A certain Quaker, in order to impress a lesson upon his neighbors, put up a sign on a vacant piece of ground next to his house which read, “I will give this lot to anyone who is really satisfied.” A wealthy farmer read the sign and said to himself, “Since my Quaker friend is going to give this piece of land away, I might as well have it as anyone one else. I am rich. I have all I need, so I am well able to qualify.” He went up to the door and explained to the aged Quaker why he had come. “And is thee really satisfied?” asked the owner of the lot. “I surely am,” was the reply. “I have all I need, and I am well satisfied.” “Friend,” said the other, “if thee is satisfied, then what does thee want with my lot?”

Jesus addressed the problem of greed many times during His three and a half year ministry. In fact, it was a major issue in His teachings. In Luke 12:15, the apostle records our Lord’s words, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist (hold together, adhere, stick firmly, subsist) in the abundance of his possessions.” Our rule should be to want nothing more and expect noting more except what our Lord desires of us or gives to us. Only that kind of Disciple knows satisfaction in its fullness.

The Bullet of Truth: The Perfect Model – Jesus

If our source of knowledge is a “satanic lie,” then we faith-act on illusion, that, ultimately, with the passage of time, diminishes and destroys us. If our source is “human wisdom” that reflects only our culture, we experience a mixture of good and bad consequences. Even if one’s earth experience is mostly good, there remains a growing spiritual emptiness. Natural living at its best is ultimately powerless to fill a person’s spiritual void and hunger! Without Christ the older we get the hungrier we become for significance and meaning.

Believing satanic lies leads a person into a life of deception, fantasy and waste. Although commitment to human wisdom is often flawed, it can bring temporary good; yet it offers no final solution to our deepest human problems and real needs.

Biblical truth produces “godliness which is profitable for all things” (I Timothy 4:8). The most significant life ever lived was that of the Lord Jesus. He faith-acted on His knowledge of the Father’s will and lived the most magnificent life earth has ever seen and time has ever known. A true Jesus Disciple creates eternal significant in proportion to his or her intake of Truth. Sorry spiritual nutrition and discipleship diets produce weak Christians. Mature Christians have healthy appetites for the Scriptures and for truth everywhere and anywhere they can find it! Massive doses of truth allow them to experience the joy of abundant living. It’s the only way to stay fresh in a world of fatigue! Only Truth as seen in Jesus and truth as grasped in the world will make one godly in a fallen world.

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. I Timothy 4:8 (NIV)

The Bullet of Truth: Sources of Knowledge

Scripture seems to indicate three sources of knowledge. First are the lies of Satan; second, the fruit of human wisdom; and third, the truth of a living God. Only these three choices are open to us. They alone are the sources that feed the knowledge banks of our minds.

It is readily apparent why we become what we think. It’s because we can faith-act only in response to what we know … or think we know! These responses and reactions over a period of time mold our character, our contributions, our desires and our destinies.

A beginning pianist learns notes and music (knowledge). She practices vigorously (faith-acts) and becomes (in time) an accomplished musician. Or a discouraged teenager hears that drugs bring release and happiness. He faith-acts on this knowledge and in time becomes a powerless addict! Options are endless for good or bad as we faith-act on our knowledge and face the consequences in time. The more of Christ, Who is the truth of all truth, that I can fill my mind with the more my faith-acts cannot help but increase my conquering in the future!

But solid food (a maximum truth diet) is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:14 (NIV with my annotation)

The Bullet of Truth: The Groundwork of Growth

Several years ago I was speaking to a group of pastors on “Staying Fresh in the Ministry.” The committee evidently viewed my thirty-five years, no-quit, non-surrender ministry at one church a valid credential. Certainly, to endure, to persist, to keep playing in spite of pain is one of the most powerful attributes of living. The Greek word for endure in my view means to “stay under the weight of truth.” Don’t run from the pressure of obedience.

It is my conviction that the ability to stay fresh while enduring is totally dependent on massive doses of truth! Increasing your capacity for the knowledge of TRUTH is the first essential in the triad of growth. Authority and significance for living come only through the three essentials of growth in the expansion and discovery of the wonders of the Lord:
1) Knowledge – intake of truth or lie
2) Faith Acts – applications of and response to our level of knowledge
3) Time – reaping the consequences of choices

Of these three, knowledge is the one which primarily separates qualities of living. We all “faith-act” … respond to choices put before us in accordance with our faith (confidence, values). We all have the same amount of “time” … twenty-four hours a day. Yet we do not all possess the same “God-knowledge.” Hence, it is the source of one’s “knowledge” that differentiates the greatness or mediocrity of life. Will our most authentic source be from our own limited conscience, our culture or our Christ?

For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 (NIV)

Three Christmas Angles: The Third Angel

Augustus Creaser was a canny man. He came into power out of the civil war following the assignation of Julius Creaser, his great-uncle and adoptive father. Carefully and intentionally he laid the foundation of an Empire out of the crumbling Republic. Being a strong administrator, he conducted a census in what was to become the birth year of Mary’s Son. In Judea that meant each family went to its tribal center to register. For Joseph and his pregnant wife the long journey to Bethlehem, the home of his ancestors and King David, must have been grueling. Imagine a cold ninety mile trip over rough roads with a pregnant woman on the back of a donkey! At its end, they found the city crowded to overflowing. “No Vacancy” signs were out all over town. Finally, an inn keeper allowed the couple “space in the stable,” out among the animals. It is here that Mary delivered her Son and laid Him in His “bassinet,” a manger … a feeding trough!

This Baby was unique, of the line of kings in a human sense, since his parents were of the House of David, He was also the Son of God, the King of kings … but no one recognized Him as such or even cared. Such a birth had to be announced with fanfare. And it was, but not in the way a royal birth is usually announced. No, this was even more monumental, more exciting, more overwhelming. The heralds to this royal birth were not ordinary men but angels. The crowd they drew was not the rich and famous of Judaea but the smelly and lower class shepherds drawn in from their fields and a motley collection of townsfolk and visitors from far and wide. This crowd foretold the kind of people the King of kings would seek and find. They were all humble enough to respond to His call.

Can you imagine the absolute astonishment and fear that must have overawed the first recipients of the herald’s cry? Put yourself in their place. You are out in the fields doing your job … keeping a night watch over your flocks … sitting by the fire, gossiping with your friends, nodding off for a few winks before you went out to patrol the sleeping animal’s bed ground to be sure no predator, beast or human, was lurking about. Suddenly you are confronted with an unbelievable sight … so glorious and terrifying you fall to your knees as the blaze of glory and sound of revelation surrounded you and your friends. An angel stood right there in front of you:
…. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
Luke 2:8-14 (The Message)

When the angels were gone, what would you do? These shepherds discussed their options coolly and collectedly, right? No, they quickly decided this good news had to be shared and off they ran to Bethlehem to confirm for themselves the wonder they had been told. Of course they fond the Baby and his parents just as they had been promised. This glorious conformation set their tongues wagging all the harder and they TOLD everyone they met, all over town, what they had experienced. The town was agog with the news in no time. Human voices now heralded the coming of the King … and they still do!

Three angels! Three different audiences! Three different messages. To a young woman (little more than a girl). To a man. And to a group. Each message was a part of a whole. Each message was what was needed at the time. The first message told a loved one what the Father is doing! I Am in you! The second message told a loved one what to do. I Am with you! The third message told loved ones WHAT TO SEEK. I will save you!

Thank God we have heard Him speak to us the same message. May our voices also join the human chorus!

From all of us at Ventures for Christ, the very warmest Christmas wishes. Bullets for the Battle will not post during the Christmas/New Years Holiday (we will return January 6th). We look forward to a prosperous New Year with you, or valued readers.

Three Christmas Angles: The Second Angel

Time passed. It became apparent that Mary was “with child” (pregnant). Now, everyone knew Mary was a “good girl” but she was also a married woman and apparently she and Joseph had anticipated their wedding a little. What a shame; young people were much too impetuous these days; no respect for tradition, that is what it is, these and similar opinions must have circulated among the neighbors. The problem was, Joseph knew better! He was 100% sure the child his Mary carried was not his.

As we speculate about the character of Joseph we have two solid facts to go on: Scripture calls him a righteous man (Matthew 1:19) and he had been chosen to be the earthly father (stepfather) of the Heavenly Father’s only Son. Joseph must have loved his young wife. The fact that he did not want to disgrace her in public but was contemplating a quiet divorce shows his concern. Consider some of the thoughts that might have run through his mind:

What should he do? He took marriage seriously. It was a solemn promise that affected a family far beyond the partners to the marriage contract. There was a heritage to consider. There was honor to uphold. There was the law that must not be disgraced. On the other hand there was his sweet Mary. He had no desire to hurt her, to cause undue disgrace and punishment. But how could he complete his marriage commitment with another man in the picture? Could he accept another’s child as his own and not let resentment grow toward both the child and its mother? Above all, how could he deal with his deep pain of betrayal? How he wished the answer was simple!

It would be best, surely, to quietly divorce Mary. Then she could turn to her child’s father and they could marry and be the family they should be. It would break his heart to let her go but better to distance himself from her, her folly and the liaison she had contracted that had brought them to this point.

Mary, his good name, Mary, his responsibilities, Mary, what the village would think, Mary, what is right and what is compassionate, Mary … it made his head ache. He wouldn’t disgrace her, no, but he couldn’t stay married to her. There couldn’t be a foundation of trust between them after this. He had to do what was right in God’s sight. He must follow the law but he couldn’t make a mockery of the woman he had loved … no, did love. There had to be an end … for the good of them all, for conscience sake … yes, breaking the marriage contract was the best answer. He would do it, no matter how it hurt; this lesser hurt was preferable to the disgrace of an unfaithful wife.

So Joseph drifted off into a troubled sleep … and into his own encounter with an angel.

… God's angel spoke in (a) dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").
Matthew 1:20-21 (The Message)

Joseph, too, found his own encounter with a heavenly messenger persuasive. He shared his own vision with Mary and she must have been even more relieved and overjoyed! He went through with the wedding and brought his Mary home. They both knew that the child she bore was special, so very special, and Joseph determined to wait until He was born before he and this lovely wife consummated their marriage. When “his son” was born he named the baby … JESUS!

Three Christmas Angles: The First Angel

In today’s world a marriage is made when the officiating minister or clerk pronounces a man and woman husband and wife. That was not so in the first century in the land of Israel. When a woman entered into a marriage arrangement, a betrothal, she was OFFICIALLY married even before she was claimed by the bridegroom and the dowry paid to her family. In modern terms, she was married before the wedding.

Rome ruled the land that God had given Israel at the beginning of our current era (A.D.). A king, Herod Antipas, sat on the throne but he was a puppet of this distant super power. Unrest and rebellion were always just under the surface in this troubled land but the Pax Romana extended even here. People still went about their business more or less normally.

The map of the land of Israel changed several times as the Roman Empire brought the area firmly under its control. In general it was called first Judea then Palestine. At the end of the era before Christ (B.C.), a large political unit of the northern part of Judea was called Galilee. Less than ten miles from the lake of the same name was the village of Nazareth. A hill town, situated at the southern end of the Lebanon Mountains, it was home to a young woman named Mary. She was married (betrothed) to a man, Joseph, but the wedding had yet to take place. Like most other young women, Mary must have anticipated her wedding with both trepidation and delight. Things were going well until an astonishing thing happened. An angel from God, Gabriel, appeared to her and greeted her with an incredible announcement. It is hard to imagine which Mary found the most amazing … the angel or his message.

Good morning!

You're beautiful with God's beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,

be called 'Son of the Highest.'

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob's house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom."

Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."
The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

the power of the Highest hover over you;

Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."

And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now:

I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me just as you say.
Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38 (The Message)

Mary hurried off to her cousin’s house where she found everything just as the Angel had said. Elizabeth was expecting … and so was she! How her heart must have burned and churned with the wonder and the dread of it! There was one duty, though, that must have weighed heavily on her. Joseph must be told of her condition very soon. She must have wondered … what would he do?

Image of Nazereth from The Holy Land Book (1842) by David Roberts

The Bullet of Marriage: A Powerful Solution to Relationship Woes

Just living together evidently doesn’t free one from legal responsibilities either. The California Supreme Court famously ordered actor Lee Marvin to pay “alimony” to the woman he had lived with for six years. Couples who live together “as though married” may be asked to divide their property “as though divorcing.”

Lacking a ceremony to define the relationship, couples usually move into an apartment together without ever stating their goals. One twenty-three year old woman stated that their relationship seemed to jump between, “I’m unhappy” to, “Who gets the cat?” They were afraid to be honest because they feared rejection if real angers, fears, needs and problems were brought up!

Score another one for Jesus, folks! His plan of how a man and woman can best handle their nature and the gift of sex can’t be improved upon or escaped. Just because people … both inside and outside the church … don’t heed God’s law of love and sex doesn’t put His idea of marriage out of date.

Marriage as God intended it to be is a permanent love arrangement symbolized by a ceremony (social) and sex (spiritual). Real marriage is a commitment to the community as well as to one another. It won’t work any other way! Thousands of men and women who mock God’s intentions for marriage are finding out that you don’t have to be married to suffer!

The Bullet of Marriage: More Than Living Together

Two things must be made clear about the Biblical teaching on sex and marriage. First, marriage is the general will for most men and women but many are called to a single state, equally blessed by God (I Corinthians 7:7). Second, sex is intended for pleasure and not procreation only (I Corinthians 7:2).

The Bible view of marriage is being lightly taken by millions of Americans. The militants are advocating alternate life styles of homosexuality and lesbianism as well as free (or no contract) marriages. Just “living together” has been the gospel of the “free sex” prophets since the 1960s. Marriage was “out.” Come and go was “in.” (Incidentally, true sex isn’t free … it costs!)

But the truth has reared up and slapped the “just living together” folks in the face. Today, marriage counselors and family therapists report a marked increase in their caseloads of “unmarried couples”!

One co-habiting couple having serious problems were advised to just break up, split and find someone else. To this, the distraught female member answered, “I couldn’t bear to go through a divorce, married or not!”

One counselor analyzes such couple’s difficulty by saying they experience “fear of abandonment” and “fear of closeness.” Real marriage, the symbol of a permanent love commitment, eliminates both. Real love says to each partner, “I want to know all about you and I’ll never leave you.” Or as the Scripture put it, “… and the man and his wife were both naked (total closeness and openness) and they were not ashamed (no fear of being rejected)” (Genesis 2:25).

The Bullet of Marriage: One Man and One Woman

Jesus Christ said, “A man should leave father and mother, cleave (be permanently faithful) to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. What God joins together let no man separate!” (Matthew 19:5-6).

Clearly, God’s major purpose with the sexes is for one man and one woman to become one. Two men can’t become one! Two women can’t become one! Ultimately, sex is but a symbol of “love unity” between a man and woman who have been given the capacity to create life in their own image. Homosexual or lesbian relationships can never create life.

One of the cutest expressions I’ve heard along this line is that if God had intended homosexuality to be right and to fulfill His intentions He would have put Adam and Bruce in the Garden of Eden rather than Adam and Eve!

Thanksgiving

The following was sent to me by a friend.

Love is never wasted!

It may not be the results or the reaction which is expected …

But it is never wasted!

In fact, love that expects positive reaction or results is something less than love.

Love never makes demands …

Love only gives …

And it does not cease when there is no reciprocity.

The true lover does not require the beloved to meet any conditions.

True love is unconditional.

The perfect Lover devoted Himself to others …

And they crucified Him!

This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience – it looks for a way of being constructive.

It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.

Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.

It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.

Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.”
I Corinthians 13:4-8

“God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“… if God so loved us, we ought to love one another” (I John 4:11).

Only a person who loves can know the meaning of Thanksgiving.

The holiday is upon us and this will be my only post this week to Bullets for the Battle. All of us at Ventures for Christ wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving full of family joy, time to count your blessings and praise to the Great Giver of all things.

The Bullet of Truth: Jesus IS Truth

Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, said, “Know thyself.” Jesus says, “Right on!” But the only way for a man to really know himself is to know God. Jesus added, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Men are prisoners to their own limited information. They are victims of the invisible. In rejecting Truth they become slaves to their own ignorance. Jesus promised that if you let Him make you free, you’ll really be free (John 8:36).

God came to earth in Jesus, not primarily to get men into heaven, but to get God into men! To those who put their faith (belief, trust and will) into Christ’s hands, will be given the power to begin living like sons of God … right now! Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? In essence, that’s THE TRUTH seriously Christians are all worked up about. Not the church! Not religion! Not being good for goodness’ sake! But the fantastic experience and reality of beginning to live like Christ! There’s no other “TRUTH” on earth like it! Have you found it? It’s a “Live It … Up” discovery!

The Bullet of Truth: What Truth?

The marble dedication stone on the library of my alma mater is engraved with the words, “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” As a bewildered freshman I thought to myself, “That’s really a great thought. I wonder who said it?” About a year later I ran across the statement in its full context. I was shocked. Jesus said it in John 8:31-32. I had been a Christian for less than two years, and the New Testament was very new to me. I shall never forget this wonderful discovery. Listen to the full statement: “Then Jesus spoke to some Jews who had believed in Him. If you continue in My Word, you are My true disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” Jesus is saying that it’s not just truth but THE TRUTH about Himself that frees a man up! In other words, the truth that should matter most to man is the Truth about Jesus who walked the earth as God in the flesh … in John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, THE TRUTH and the life …”

Truth is defined as that which conforms to fact or reality. Mankind has learned the truth about many things, but Jesus says the great truth to learn, above all others, is the truth about the God/Man relationship. Man can learn the truth about how to make money, how to fix an engine, how to use electricity, how to prevent polio, etc., but it still isn’t enough truth to pull a man over his deepest needs, desires and problems. There is still a vacuum, an emptiness.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

On April 14, 2004, two young Marines learned what it means to owe someone for your life. On patrol near the Syrian border with Iraq their unit, including Corporal Jason Dunham, engaged the enemy. Dunham found himself in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent who dropped a live hand grenade. In a split-second decision the corporal covered the deadly bomb with his helmet, shielding two of his fellow Marines from its full explosive force. His brothers-in-arms lived but Jason Dunham died eight days later.

A grateful country awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to this brave Marine for his sacrifice but it is his friends who most understand what it means to live and die sacrificially. They know that, like so many other Medal of Honor recipients who have throw their lives on hand grenades to save other, Cpl. Dunham died so that THEY might live.

In a magnificent parallel, Christians are called to throw their lives on the Devil’s hand grenades of life so that others may live. Sometimes these bombs in the Disciple’s way are minor: the Sunday morning crisis in the church nursery when not enough workers show up and someone throws him or herself over the problem by volunteering to step into the chaotic world of crying babies. Others demand the ultimate sacrifices of one’s life: the growing list of martyrs who have died for the cause of Christ reaches back to Stephen in the Book of Acts.

In my sermon, “The Biblical Patriot,” I speak of the three kingdoms we must live in as Disciples: the Kingdom Without (the Government of America), the Kingdom Above (the Government of God) and the Kingdom Within (the Government of Self). Our first priority on earth is the Kingdom Above; but that reality is given substance by how we rule the Kingdom Within. It is then we are qualified best to contribute to the Kingdom Without. The Patriot of the Kingdom who bleeds first for the will of King Jesus will bleed best as a Patriot of his or her Country! May our Lord grant that we conquer self and be His kind of patriot for both. Let’s yield to Him and do it, even though it means throwing all we have on the hand grenades that the “enemy” continually throws into our lives!

Photo Credit: Army Sgt. Osvaldo Ortiz sleeps next to the flag-draped transfer case and personal gear of his fallen friend aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft bound for Dover Air Force Base, Del. Ortiz accompanied the remains from Afghanistan to Dover AFB and eventually back to the soldier's home in Puerto Rico - June 2003. Photo by Staff Sgt. Peter Rimar.

Account of Cpl. Dunham's bravery: see Veterans Today.

Veterans Day 2008


Here are a few quotes that remind us of the courage and sacrifice it takes to live in freedom both of body and spirit. Let us set our hearts to live as the heroes of our nation who know that freedom is never free. Even more significantly, let us join our Master in living as He did so that in Him all men and women may be free indeed (John 8:36).

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. G.K. Chesterton

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight … II Corinthians 5:6-7

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Elmer Davis

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Quotes from: Quote Garden and New American Standard Bible

Photo credit: USAF personnel Isaac G. L. Freeman

The Bullet of Truth: Greater Than You Ever Imagined
(Part 3 of 3)

The Master takes a dim view of His children who are timid and unbelieving about what He wants to do for them. After calming a fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee the Lord Jesus rebuked the disciples for disturbing His nap and fearing they would die (Mark 4:35-41).

Amazed, they commented to one another, “Who is this that even the winds and waves obey Him?” Their estimate of Jesus was too low! They realized through this experience that He was GREATER than they thought!

The Christian’s major obstacle to living the triumphant life remains the same. We think too little of Christ! Until we see God’s greatness we will never see our own as created in His image. Until we experience what He can do for us we will despair of Him doing anything for anyone else!

God has temporarily allows the world “to be” as it is. Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The master is trying to teach me that He is greater than I think. Learning that gives me the assurance that I can be greater than I am! So can you! Frankly, that rather excites me!

Today is Election Day 2008

I trust you have voted in this historic Presidential contest as well as the other offices and proposals on the ballot this fall.

I want to recall to your mind a fundamental, eternal truth about human government. Our Creator God is Sovereign, no matter the outcome of any election. The Lord will be as much in charge of His creation and recreation on November 5 as He was on November 3 no matter who wins!

Let us VOTE our conscience, may our conscience PLEASE the Father and let us PRAY for all of our leaders as well as the victor as we TRUST in the Sovereign Power of Jesus! Nothing … nothing … can stop His purposes for each of us individually as we yield to His Voice for our specific mission of Cross Discipleship.

Note: Painting is Congress Voting Independence, a depiction of the Second Continental Congress voting on the United States Declaration of Independence. Oil on canvas. Source: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, via the Library of Congress.

The Bullet of Truth: Seeking Answers to Hard Questions
(Part 2 of 3)

We can “fake out” others, but the honest person can’t go on lying to himself! Not facing this reality is the source of our criticism, condemnation, hatred and despair over other people. Secretly, our own lack of discipline, unfulfilled dreams, hidden failures, repressed guilt, future anxieties, broken relationship and “floating anger,” etc., etc., destroy our optimism about the potential of our life.

Thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years on this earth have a way of slapping reality into you! You are driven to ask yourself basic questions you thought you had answered long ago! What’s really happening? Where am I going? Who am I in all this mess? Not to seriously seek answers to these questions is to commit emotional suicide!

The Bullet of Truth: Who I Know I Am Matters
(Part 1 of 3)

I have hope for myself! That may appear to be an egocentric statement, but there is more truth to it than error! Even though I am keenly disappointed in some of the things I do and think … or in good things I’ve failed to do … I will not give up on myself! After all, I’m all I’ve got to work with! It’s the same with all of us!

I have concluded that the major reason folks are disillusioned about other people is the personal disillusionment they grope with about themselves! It’s impossible to have confidence and hope in others when you don’t have it in yourself.

Oh, we play a good game and act out our parts! We pretend that things are as they should be “under the circumstances.” Yet deep down there is that growing empty feeling that something is missing and life doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

The Bullet of Truth: Soils of the Mind Where Truth Can Grow

As we look at the story of the sower and the seed in Luke 8:4-18 we find four soils or responses to the Lord’s Truth. The first two are unproductive. Let us look now at the remaining two.

Third, there are those who do receive Christ’s message, sink down roots and firmly believe. However, they never really make a decisive decision about who they will really serve … the teaching of God or the teaching of the world. They become “spiritual schizophrenics” … too Christian to really enjoy sin and too sinful to really know the joyous greatness of God. The thorns of the world which choke out the life of the seed are everywhere. Pleasure, riches and worries can choke the true meaning of life from all who don’t keep their minds “weeded” of false ideas!

Fourth, the true hearers and doers are ones who are honest about themselves and life, set their hearts on obeying God’s voice and stick to the truth in patience. They produce spiritual fruit to thirty, sixty or one-hundred fold. These are the folks who discover “life at its best.” These are the folks who begin to “live like God on earth.” These are they who begin to understand peace, love, forgiveness, joy, meaning and triumph.

It all begins with your mind (soil)! What seed (truth) are you cultivating? Whatever ideas you plant in your mind will grow in your life!

I challenge anyone, anywhere and any time to offer me greater ideas than those offered by Jesus Christ! As He Himself so well put it, “He who has ears (capability) to hear (opportunity) let him hear (responsibility)!” Who are you really listening to for the truth of life?

The Bullet of Truth: Soils of the Mind That Grow Nothing

One of our Lord’s most penetrating truths is found in Luke 8:4-18. It is called the story of the sower and the seed. The sower (Christ) sows His seed (Truth) on the soil (the mind of man). Our Lord says there will be four responses to His truth.

First, there are those who causally hear the teaching of Christ but never really take time to examine. They are distracted and over-impressed by the shallow goals and false realities of the world controlled by “the enemy” of God. No doubt our Lord had seen folks stop at the edge of the crowd while He was teaching, listen for a moment and then move on. These are the self-centered, flighty minds that never think beyond their own immediate desires.

Second, we find those who do stay to listen but their minds are poor ground for Christ’s truth because so many false and misleading ideas clutter their minds. The set of their mind is focused on the earthy, the physical, the world … on what they “hope” man can do rather than what God has promised to do. Their joy and interest in the truth of God lasts only until some greater pressure comes along and blows them in another direction. They take no time to put down roots in the soil of God’s truth and the wind of error blows them away from Christ.

These first two soils of the mind produce no plant much less a harvest. In our next post we will look at more productive soils.