The Bullet of Contentment: What it Means

Contentment. Now that’s an interesting word. But what does it mean to be content? Webster offers his suggestion. To be content is to be happy enough with what one has or is, not desiring something more or different. Have you heard the following story?

There was once a wise, old Quaker who advertised that he would give forty acres of rich farm land to anyone who was perfectly satisfied with what he had. Shortly a seeker came to see the Quaker. “Are thee perfectly satisfied with what thee hast?” The hopeful guest quickly replied, “Oh, yes, I’m perfectly content!” “Then why,” questioned the Quaker, “dost thee want this land?”

Contentment and satisfaction go hand-in-hand. Thomas A. Kempis once said, “Chose rather to want less, than to have more.” But it seems as if our culture and lifestyle demands that we get more and more. When are we satisfied? I’ve heard that there’s a cemetery marker in England with this inscription. “She died for want of things.” Next to the marker was another which read, “He died trying to give them to her.”

The Bullet of Change: Books, the Book and the Spirit – Part 2

In my counseling ministry, I have witnessed that the Spirit of God gives insight into the deep hurts that have caused the trouble, and I have seen Him deliver through cleansing of the heart some who have been bound for years in bitterness.

This is why of all the books I have read, the Bible has been the most help. I believe without a doubt it contains the words of Jesus Christ. He said that, “The words I speak are in Spirit, and they are truth” (John 6).

As a freshman in college I witnessed one of Americas’ great generals giving his last speech in the Congress of the United States after being released from office by the President. General Douglas MacArthur said that, if we are to be saved, “… it must be of the Spirit and not of the flesh.”

Jesus Christ said in Acts 1:8 that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. In my own life I discovered, and am continually discovering, that I am powerless without the Spirit. Would I be too bold to suggest this might be your problem too?

The Bullet of Change: Books, the Book and the Spirit – Part 1

King Solomon shared a wise word that is beginning to make more sense to me every day:

“My Son, be warned. The making of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” Ecclesiastes 12:12

The number of book published each year is escalating at an amazing pace. If you read a book a month, you’re falling behind man’s accumulation of knowledge at a mind-boggling rate.

Consider the following statistics:

Worldwide, in 1996 there were 808,066 titles published, according to UNESCO's Statistical Yearbook 1998, as cited in The Bowker Library and Trade Almanac. (Research from U C, Berkeley)

The number of books published (in the U.S.) in 2005 is estimated to be close to 200,000, and that includes everything—adult and children's books, professional books and textbooks, paperbacks and hardcovers. (from Publisher’s Weekly)

As a pastor, I saw my own time literally swamped with the reading of books. A large part of my ministry has been in the area of counseling couples who are having troubles in their relationship, and that has necessitated a great deal of study.

Yet in my spirit I am aware of something that I want to share with you. The really important thing is the opening of the human spirit to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. He can accomplish in a brief time and with more depth far greater growth than all the reading of the many books can accomplish.

Solomon must have known this so he gave us the warning.

The Bullet of Growth: Learning Takes Time (Part 2)

One more great though from Carey is his statement on patience … “In achieving anything for God He makes us, like the farmer, ‘submit’ to the slow laws of nature.” There is nothing a farmer can do to “speed up the seasons.” He must cooperate with the laws of nature or fail. Clearing the land, breaking up the soil, planting the seed, guarding against pests and weeds and then waiting … waiting … for the soil, the sun and the rain to do their thing in God’s own time is his only choice!

So it is with those of us who seek to be the “spiritual farmers” of God! Something spiritual must be planted in our minds and lives if we expect spiritual fruit in our actions. A man who fills his mind with nothing but business, finance or sports will never have great thoughts or actions for God!

What we plant is what we grow and it takes time. Multitudes of folks wait in vain for something exciting and satisfying to happen to their lives but it never comes!

But, for those of us who plant God’s Truth in our minds it is different. The harvest might seem mysteriously slow but we have no choice but to submit to God’s laws! And why not … they never fail!

The Bullet of Growth: The Right Sized Burdens (Part 1)

“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” These words were part of a sermon William Carey preached before he gave himself to missionary service in India in 1793. Carey is recognized as the key igniter of the modern mission movement and is without question one of “the greats” of the Christian church.

Although he was untrained as a linguist and had no formal education, he taught himself Greek, Hebrew, Bengali, Sanskrit and eight other India dialects! He labored seven long years before he won his first person to Christ. He fought tremendous battles including minimal finances, opposition by the English government, persecution by the native populace, the fatalism of the cast system, the emotional horror of sati (the burning of a man’s widow on his funeral pyre), personal illness that brought him close to death, the mental breakdown and insanity of his wife and the illness and death of his youngest son … to name a few!!

Yet, Carey built one of the greatest works for Christ of any who ever sought to obey our Lord’s Great Commission. “God fits our burdens to our backs” were the words that sustained him!

What a great thought! Those of us who are parents would never deliberately “overload” our children! I would never have insisted, when unloading the car after a vacation, that my young son or daughter carry three suitcases, a hanging bag and four shoe boxes at the same time! Parents fit children’s burdens to their ability.

So it is with the Heavenly Father. He gives us enough burdens to stretch us and grow us but He never overloads us! God has promised that He allows only the burdens we can handle (I Corinthians 10:13)! Wonderful!

The Bullet of Time: Enough Time (Part 2)

The profound truth for all of us to realize is that God has given us all the time we need to do all we were created to do. Twenty-four hours is enough for any man, woman or child. College students often complain to me about how little time they have. The truth is that they have more free time in college then they’ll ever have in their life! The person who says, “I’m behind” or “I don’t have enough time” or "I’m frantically trying to catch up” is admitting he is occupied with areas God never intended him to be concerned with. Jesus Christ had plenty of time to do all the Father sent Him to do. He was never in a hurry. He was always “on schedule.” He never allowed second-rate activities to pull Him away for first-rate priorities. Thomas Fuller said, “Time misspent is not lived but lost!” A person doesn’t “find time” for anything; he must dedicate it.

Time cannot be expanded, accumulated, mortgaged, hastened or retarded. It is the one thing completely beyond man’s control. The only way man can escape enslavement to time is to make time his servant. The God who made time is the only adequate source to this discovery. When Jesus Christ said, “My time is at hand,” He indicated He held the key to the mystery and power of time. I hope you’ll “take time” to check Him out!

Sermon Audio Available

Listen to Dr. McCarty preaching at Fellowship Bible Church, Fort Smith, Arkansas, this past Sunday, July 15, 2007.

Go to www.fellowshipfortsmith.com
Select "Listen to Recent Sermons" from the menu, scroll down the sermon archive page to 7-15-07, Dr. H.D. McCarty. This will launch the player in your web browser window.

Thanks to Pastor Chris Moore for sending us the link to this great sermon.

The Bullet of Time: A Thirty-Hour Day (Part 1)

Someone has well remarked that “busyness” is the great sin of our age! Even those who supposedly have everything don’t have the time to enjoy it! Comments of “I’m too busy,” “I’m too far behind,” “When I find the time,” “This week is too rushed,” etc., seem to be on the increase as never before! The great prayer of our age could easily be … “If I only had more time!”

The greatest lesson God has ever taught me about time came as a result of a phone conversation with another church member. In concluding the call the good lady commented … “Pastor, you’re so busy. You need thirty hours in a day!” I used my most humble voice denying this and mumbled something about all of us needing more time. After hanging up the receiver, however, I leaned back in my chair, meditated on my self-appointed importance, the critical nature of my work and decided that I did need thirty hours a day! I was joyfully meditating on all I was going to accomplish in this “extra” time when the Truth of God, in its usual fashion, blew my mind with a different thought! God’s voice seemed to speak to me saying … “what an oversight on My part! When I created the twenty-four hour day, I didn’t anticipate that H.D. McCarty would come along and need thirty!!” ZAP! BOOM! POW! What a shot!

Then the truth began to dawn. When returning from Israel many years ago I experienced one of those “thirty-hour days.” We flew and flew with the sun, and it never got dark! It took me a week to recover my lost sleep from only one “thirty-hour” day!

Globalization: 17th Century Style
By Ruth Ann Stites

In an article in the May, 2007, National Geographic, “America Found and Lost: Legacy of Jamestown” by Charles C. Mann, the author examines the changes the arrival of settlers had on America and the world. Chronicling the movement of species, called the Columbian exchange, from the old to new world and visa versa, the article provides a new perspective on the changes colonization brought. While looking specifically at Jamestown, a much wider picture emerges, a global one. In one sense, the global economy we live in began with the first European settlements of the 1500 and 1600’s.

One import in particular provides an example of the scope of this globalization – the malaria parasite. The Indians did not understand that there were a vast number of settlers waiting in the old world for a chance of life in the new. They did not understand the forces they faced nor the hidden dangers presented by these people.

… records suggest a substantial fraction – as much as a third – of the immigrants in Virginia before 1640 were from the marshes of southern and eastern England. In the 17th century, these areas were rampant with malaria. It was not unusual for 10 to 20 percent of the marsh population to die in a single year according to Mary Dobson, a medical historian. In contrast to the rest of England, burials outstripped baptisms during much of the 17th and 18th centuries. Little wonder people from these areas wanted to emigrate to the Americas.

Due to its complex lifecycle, the plasmodium parasite moved rapidly from humans to new world mosquitoes. “This type of malaria rarely kills victims directly, but leaves them weak for months until the body gradually fights if off.” This weakening effect, as well as leaving the victims susceptible to other diseases, may very well have sapped the strength and vitality of the Indian efforts to drive out the settlers once the danger they represented to the Indian way of life became clear.

Contemporary reports indicate that malaria was well established as far north as the Massachusetts Bay Colony by 1640. “Since many more early colonists went to Virginia than Massachusetts, malaria could have been stalking the Tidewater there as early as the 1620’s.” The abuse heaped on the settlers of Jamestown – “Strachy was one of many who denounced what he saw as their propensity for ‘sloth, riot, and vanity’” – may have been the result of malaria rather than bad character.

Mann continues his analysis of the impact of malaria,

… we know that malaria spread throughout the East Coast, eventually playing a major part in the pageant of U.S. history. Without malaria, slaves would have been less desirable to southern planters: Most people from tropical Africa are resistant to the plasmodium parasite, the product of millennia of evolution in its presence. The disease became especially endemic in the Carolinas, where it crippled the army of British Gen. Charles Cornwallis during the Revolutionary War. England had by that time drained its marshes and largely been freed of malaria. Meanwhile, the colonists had become seasoned. ‘There was a big imbalance. Cornwallis’s army was simply melting away,’ says J.R. McNeill, an environmental historian at Georgetown University. McNeill takes pains to credit the bravery of the Revolution’s leaders. But a critical role was played by what he wryly refers to as ‘revolutionary mosquitoes.’ Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the war, on October 19, 1781.

Consider the results of the introduction of malaria in Virginia: Indian culture was destroyed and the people died or were displaced. An independent and hardy Colonial nation rose out of the early settlements sending the riches of the new world back to the old. Slavery moved populations and cultures from Africa to the Americas. The British Empire lost the Colonies. The world shifted and changed in part because of a single-celled parasite. The commerce between the old and the new worlds sealed the globalization of planet Earth.

There is, of course a spiritual moral to this story: One small change can have huge effects. When a person enters into a living relationship with Jesus Christ, the world shifts – nothing can or will ever be the same again. If countries can rise and fall over a single-celled parasite, how much more can a life lived for Christ change the destiny of those around him or her? May this be our vision for all we touch with Messiah Love. It is a wonderful “infection,” this Messiah Love, and it is our privilege to be carriers of the “Christ Life” to our world. So let’s get out there and “pass it on!”

Neither Dancing nor Weeping, Part 2

They treat God the same way. People say they want Him but find excuses to ignore Him. According to Jesus, the greatest of all the prophets was John the Baptist. He was an ascetic. He wore only a camel’s hair coat. He ate locusts and wild honey. He showed radical commitment to God. He preached the Kingdom. No one could accuse him of hypocrisy, but the people rejected him. Why? Too fanatical!

Jesus came with the exact opposite life style. He was well dressed, enjoyed life, attended their feasts, mixed with sinners. He was God’s Son, perfect. He was the greatest example ever of man in fullness. He came “living it up.” But the people rejected Him. Why? He was a hypocrite – not fanatical enough! He loved sinners and spent time with them.

So there you have it! The greatest of the prophets rejected! The excuse? Too fanatical! The greatest “man” ever to be viewed on earth, Jesus, rejected! The excuse? Too hypocritical! Let’s face it – for those who don’t want to face God’s truth about themselves, “any old excuse will do.”

Jesus ended His comments by saying, “Wisdom is always proven by those who listen to Him and obey His teaching.” Those who excuse themselves from obeying God always end up with “the short stick of life.”

It is obvious to me that the church can’t ever satisfy those who are excuse oriented. If the church asks for money for the poor or for missions, “All we want is money!” If Christians sell all we have and don’t “get ahead” in life, we’re called “impractical!”

Harry Emerson Fosdick once said that “A man may wait to make up his mind, but he can’t wait to make up his life!” You are deciding today, right now, what you are living for. If you are not living under the authority of God today, you are rejecting Him!

Jesus said, “I am the way … without Me you can do nothing.” Will you follow Him? There are only two kinds of people on earth: those who want to do something and find a way and those who always find an excuse.

Neither Dancing nor Weeping, Part 1

May God deliver us from excuses! It seems we always have a “good” reason for why something “bad” happens in our life. I suppose I hate my excuses as much as any other failure of my life. Oh, to be free from them! Emerson once said that, “Excellence is the perfect excuse. Do it well, and it matters not what follows.”

People are masters at giving excuses for ignoring God. Too busy … too young … too old … too tired … too dumb … too intelligent … too rich … too poor … too early … yet they all fall in the same camp … excuses! Alexander Pope said, “An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a guarded lie.”

While on earth, the Lord Jesus commented on the pitiful excuses of men in Luke 7:31-35. Men play games. Nothing satisfies them. They are like children who want to play wedding or funeral but find excuses to play neither.

31 "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners. ' 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children." Luke 7:31-35

“We Hold These Truths…”
By RA Stites, Ventures staff

The booming of the cannon in the 1812 Overture while the fireworks finale showers the sky with brilliant flashes of light provides a sensory extravaganza that epitomizes the celebration of the Forth of July in America. Whether seen from the National Mall with the Washington Monument in the foreground, as in the picture above, or from a lawn chair in a local park, a fireworks display stirs our senses and reminds us of both the joy and the sacrifice inherent in our nation’s freedom.

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence that fateful summer of 1776 promised, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” It was a solemn oath the founders of our nation made – they had so much to gain but also everything to lose. That is always the way with freedom; the benefits are enormous but to achieve and preserve them requires total commitment of life, possessions and heart.

The requirements of freedom are the same in the life of nations and in the realm of the spirit. Jesus said, “… If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. … If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:31-36) And in another place when asked the cost of this discipleship he said, “ … If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). The requirements of freedom are immutable – to possess this treasure fully requires a complete commitment to possessing it.

We, at Ventures for Christ, wish you peace and freedom this Independence Day, but, most of all, that you know the inexpressible joy of picking up your cross and following the Master.

Check This Out:
Visit the Ventures for Christ website for an outline of Dr. McCarty’s inspirational message, “The Biblical Patriot.”

The Bullet of Response: Following the Perfect Example

Our Perfect Master goes on to say in John 12:25 that “they hated Me without cause.” Sometimes, for no reason in us, people will criticize us, hate us, and make no attempt to understand us. No one can build a barrier strong enough to protect himself from the self-centered attacks of other members of the human race. Even Jesus didn’t!!

But take heart! God does not judge us by the accusations directed at us but by the responses that proceed from us.

We are not responsible for controlling others, but we are responsible for controlling ourselves. Hatred, criticism and misunderstanding are bound to come, but we’d better be careful that they don’t come from us.

When we’re tempted to misunderstand someone, or others seek to draw us into a “criticism session,” our “God response” should be as follows: “I’m sorry but I don’t understand enough about that person or the situation to comment.”

Responses like that were why the Father was well pleased with the Son. Even though Jesus Christ understood everything about His mission, the people and His situation before Pilate, He still kept His mouth shut!

Let us not be so foolish as to miss the enormity of such an example!

The Bullet of Response: Love Back

All of us deserve most of the criticism that comes our way. None of us can fully keep from being misunderstood. We all want to be loved, and we are hurt (or at least bothered) when folks hate us. What can we do about it?

We can fight back or love back. We can do “our thing” or “His thing.” We can do what most do or what He did. It’s either the “human response” or the “God response.”

A person who says, “I am a Christian,” should give evidence that his “human responses” are decreasing and his “God responses” are increasing. Otherwise his faith is suspect.

The Lord Christ told us that “a slave is no grater than his master. If ‘they’ persecuted Me, ‘they’ will also persecute you” (John 15:20). The word “they” doesn’t refer just to unbelievers, “pagans,” Pharisees, immoral persons, etc. – it refers to anyone who doesn’t love, even a Christian!

The Bullet of Reaction: You Have a Choice

In this life … and on this earth … we will never escape criticism, misunderstanding and hate. If a person can’t learn to deal with this kind of conflict then joy, purpose and peace will forever elude him.

The “sons and daughters of Adam” have only two options in reacting to hate and criticism: the “human resources” option or the “God response” option. All of us have tried (and still try) the “human response” option. It expresses itself in one of four ways: 1) defending self, 2) blaming others, 3) inner bitterness or 4) giving up! Each is a path to futility and despair.

The “God response” is only possible to those of us who have a measure of God’s Spirit by being His “born again” ones. It’s a pity we avail ourselves of this power so infrequently. When we practice the “God response,” we don’t get bitter, defend ourselves, blame others or give up; instead we chose to give thanks that an opportunity to express conquering Messiah Love has been presented.

The Bullet of Persistence: Even Perfection Is Not Enough

I was impressed recently in reading the Gospel of Matthew at how a perfect man, Jesus Christ, was constantly put down by the human race which He had created.

In Chapter 8 they begged Him to get out of their country and leave them alone. He had healed a man and upset their “business as usual” attitude.

In Chapter 9 He made a statement about what God had told Him to do and they laughed at Him.

In Chapter 11 they called Him a gluttonous man and a drunkard and part of the sinner’s crowd.

In Chapter 12 they plotted together how they could raise up against Him and destroy Him.

In Chapter 13 they said, “This is no one special. We know His brothers and sisters. He is the carpenter and Mary’s son and He is no different from us.” Scriptures say that “they took offense at Him.”

In Chapter 15 even the religious leaders are upset at what Jesus said.

That all the above was thrown at the Son of God is unbelievable, yet encouraging. Unbelievable that the perfect Son of God should be so treated. Encouraging that all who seek to follow Christ can expect the same.

As Christians we only have three choices about our response to God and others … give up … be perfect … or keep on keeping on. No one who takes Jesus seriously and who is really concerned about Truth can give up. None of us will become perfect overnight, or in fifty or sixty years for that matter, so the only option is to keep going and strive to appropriate the grace of God as rapidly as possible. There is no other way. Even being perfect won’t help … if our Lord’s example is taken seriously!

The Answer is ... Turn!

Is more knowledge the answer to man’s quest for peace, pardon, power and purpose? Decidedly not!

Giving people with spiritual vacuums just another fact or two is like rowing out and giving a drowning man one more drink of water (one of my favorite saying). People need more than facts … they need love and the assurance their lives are in harmony with reality. Only God … the AUTHOR of reality … can give that!

Incredible. Seventy-five percent of all the information available to mankind has been developed within the last two decades (20 years). Millions of pieces of information are created daily. The total amount is doubling every ten years. With seventy-two billion new pieces of information arriving yearly, how do you cope with it all? How do you gather it, edit it, disseminate it, store it and retrieve it?

Daniel 12:4 … But thou, Oh Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE INCREASED.

The prophet Daniel indicated that one of the signs preceding the return of Christ to earth would be a vast knowledge explosion (“run to and fro” speaks of increased travel). Both are literally being fulfilled in our day!

Some people cry, LEARN … this is our salvation! But, although knowledge is part of our uniqueness as humans, learning itself is inadequate to quench man’s earnest spiritual thirst.

Some say BURN … tear everything down. Destroy the system. Get mad. To you know where with everything but me and what I want! Still it’s not enough!

Some say EARN … make money and it will buy you all you really seek. Nonsense! Many of the rich are the most miserable specimens of humanity. Many more waste their lives seeking riches. It’s a delusion.

The Bible says TURN … give up on your own wisdom, goals and way of doing things and let God in Jesus Christ take control of your life. Thousands of folks who had tried everything else say this is what worked … and works … for them.

Have you really turned your life from futility to reality? Why no experiment with a Christ-directed life?

This same prophet, Daniel, was really in despair and trembling about the world situation in the 6th century B.C. Everything was confusion and uncertain. But, though the world blew up around him, he found the peace that passes understanding by turning.

When we turn, God comes to us in a new way. He always answers a seeking heart. Don’t be afraid Daniel, for from the first day you set your heat to understand and humbled yourself before your God your words were heard and I have come because of your words (Daniel 10:12).

Exciting isn’t it? Why not try it?

The Bullet of Assurance: Lion Power

See if you remember this: back in the sixties one of American’s larges oil companies captured the imagination of the country with the slogan, “Put a Tiger in Your Tank.” Even if you don’t a tiger in your tank is a powerful image.

The idea was that using their gasoline would unleash the strength of a tiger in your engine! Of course, gas is gas, but some of us could just “feel” that tiger in there and we bought it by the gallons.

Amazingly enough the Bible has exactly the same idea around 930 B.C. when King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 28:1 … “The righteous are as bold as a lion.” Or, to put it another way, those who live by God’s standards have lion power!

Boldness and zest for life come from being confident and assured about one’s source. To be right is to be strong! So it has always been. So it will ever be.

The Bible gives one of Jesus’ names as “The Lion of Judah.” No mistake I’m sure for the greatest person who ever walked the earth! Strength has authority!

Those of us who have received Christ as Savior … not just had a mental belief in His existence … have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. God puts His power in those who believe and obey (John 1:12 Acts 1:8 and 5:32). He does what no gasoline pump could ever do.

Therefore, the true Christian’s main task is learning how to progressively “let the Lion out” which he or she has inside. A joyful burden, to say the least!

In my own pilgrimage of following the Master I am gradually learning that His strength in me is greater than any force or problem against me (I John 4:4).

Sure, even the strongest of us falter and fail, despair and limp. But even the limping Lion has nothing to fear from the barking Chihuahuas!

Believe me, even life’s most difficult agonies are only Chihuahuas in comparison to God’s Lion in us … no matter how loud the bark!

Have you let God put “His Lion” in your life?

The Bullet of Relationship: The Right Place for Enthusiasm

My dictionary says that a fan is an enthusiastic devotee of any sport or diversion. But a fanatic is possessed by unreasonable enthusiasm, intemperate zeal or displays extravagant loyalty or frenzy. Finding the lines between a fan or a fanatic seems to be the lone privilege of only the anti or moderate religionist! I suppose any cause will always have followers in the frenzy category. But why is it that only those enthusiastic about Jesus earn the most frequent title of fanatic?

I’m sure I’m in the top ten percent of those who love the Razorbacks. I mean really love them as people. I have worked with hundreds of them over the years far beyond the superficial “hello” and “good game guys.” I hurt when we lose, but I consider myself a sane fan and not a fanatic.

There are others, however, who drive their motor homes to Fayetteville on Thursday to “get ready” for Saturday’s game! Coordinated and sometimes expensive “red outfits” cover wife and husband head to toe! Brown bags and hip flasks abound so as to add to the “spirit of the hour.” Both sides of the stadium strive to out-yell one another as leaders from the field jump and wave their arms as frenetically as possible. Spontaneous “boos” come forth from the mouths of the fans when an official errs from the truth (i.e., he made a stupid call – against us!) As regular as clock work some fan appoints himself the “preacher” of his section and rises at appropriate moments of prophetic need to scream some well-chosen expletives at our opponents or the officials. Finally, many in the congregation, excuse me, crowd, leave the game in anguish of soul over the trauma of loss.

Of course, these folk are simply athletic fans. A different breed than fanatics of the Jesus sort! We Christian fanatics seem to believe that God is more important than games! People are more important than pleasure! Love is more important than looks. Giving is more important than getting. Caring is more important than criticizing. God-enthusiasm is more important than anything else.

The law of the land seems to imply that it’s okay to be immoderately excited about the secondary (sports or whatever), but you are emotionally dysfunctional to be highly excited about what’s primary (God)! Funny world, isn’t it! This article may label me as a fanatic to some. If so, then I joyfully plead guilty. Let’s get excited about what is really significant and fantastic … Jesus Christ, the Lord!

The Bullet of Relationship: Don’t be Religious

In the past some people have referred to me and the church I pastored as religious fanatics! Me, of all people, a religious fanatic! Never!

First of all, I “hate” religion! Nothing is more boring, wasteful, misleading and deceptive than religion. The religions of man are the curse of the earth! Even the magnificent and liberating message of Jesus Christ has been corrupted and infected by religion and the religious. Religion exalts labels, traditions, forms and rules above the spirit of love, truth, joy and forgiveness! The former are necessary to the balanced life but without the latter they become the tools of enslavement!

But secondly, even though religion repels me, I am ecstatic about my personal relationship with the Father through His Son. I find loving God a most peaceful, settling, strengthening and satisfying experience. Besides, it is highly motivating and packed with wisdom. I am, to be honest, rather enthusiastic about it all! If the above confession makes me a candidate for fanaticism, then I’m fuel for the fire!