Hoof Beats

Ebola, Russian antics, Mideast unrest, North Korean craziness, Isis on the rampage, economies dancing on a knife’s edge, earthquakes in strange locations, and multiple weather anomalies. The list could go on. These are the subjects of newsfeeds in 2014. 

As a follower of Jesus Christ, many passages from the Bible come to mind when reading world events. Consider the following:

Matthew 24:3-8

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Revelation 6:1-8

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

Regardless of our end times convictions*, we can’t ignore that it seems like Jesus’ return is soon approaching when comparing our world state with Scripture.  This begs the question for Christ followers- do we care?

Are we living as if everything will continue on as it always has for the last two thousand years, or are we living with an urgency- truly believing that Jesus could return at any time? How is it affecting our money choices, schedules, church focuses, relationships, pursuit of holiness, etc.? Even if Jesus Christ delays His return by another 1,000 years, we must remember that every person we encounter is potentially only one heartbeat away from standing before Him, either as Savior or as Judge. I know that my priorities need to be adjusted, how about yours?

Let us not grow fearful when reading today’s headlines, but let us grow more purposeful, remembering that we are ambassadors of our coming King, and charged to make His Name and the glorious Gospel message known.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

2 Peter 3:11-14

* I personally am premillennial in my theology, and split between historical premillennial or dispensational/pre-trib rapture positions.

Choked!

Like a giant boa constrictor, weaving itself up and around my body until it tightens to crush and suffocate me, a culture of constant connectedness through the Internet is threatening to do the same in my life.

Research indicates the detrimental effects of our Internet culture, including an inability to concentrate, loss of “deep thinking”, and addictive traits such as “needing” to check email and/or Facebook every 15 minutes. I can identify with each of these effects. Additionally, much time has been wasted and lost while I am content to “swim in the shallows and pass the time with passing the time” (DeYoung, 82). Finally, in our Internet culture, I/we are never alone as illustrated in this summarized analogy from William Powers’ book Hamlet’s Blackberry:

“Powers likens our digital age to a gigantic room. In the room are more than a billion people. But despite its size, everyone is in close proximity to everyone else. At any moment someone may come up and tap you on the shoulder- a text, a hit, a comment, a tweet, a post, a message, a new thread. Some people come up to talk business, others to complain, others to tell secrets, others to flirt, others to sell you things, others to give you information, others just to tell you what they’re thinking or doing. This goes on day and night…a ‘non-stop festival of human interaction’.” He continues, “we enjoy the room immensely- for a while. But eventually we grow tired of the constant noise. We struggle to find a personal zone. Someone taps us while we’re eating, while we’re sleeping, while we’re on a date. We even get tapped in the bathroom, for crying out loud. But no one else seems to know where the exit is. No one else seems interested in leaving. In fact, they all seem put off that you might not want to stay. And even when you find the exit and see the enchanting world through the opening, you aren’t sure what life will be like on the other side. It’s a leap of faith to jump out and see what happens.” (DeYoung, 83)

Fighting the Snake

As mentioned in previous posts, the Lord has been teaching me much about how to order my days by considering personal mission, guiding principles, and identification of life focuses. The book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman has been instrumental. Fighting the “Internet snake” is not just a practical issue, but also a deeply spiritual one.

Jesus lived long before iPhones, Facebook, wireless, and email. Yet, He was constantly inundated by crowds, and sought out everywhere He went. However, Jesus had a key strategy to deal with the “constant taps” in his life:

But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. (Luke 6:15-16, emphasis mine)

Jesus intentionally pulled Himself away to seek His Father. He kept this as His priority. I must do the same to grow in holiness, knowledge, and usefulness to Him. I must intentionally disconnect and allow time to think, reflect, study, and pray.

Even though I have implemented a few countermeasures to constant connectedness over the years, such as turning off my work email in the evenings and weekends, getting rid of my smart phone, and journaling, there is more I need to do in order to gain better control in this area of my life. While still considering specific steps, a few that have come to mind include:

•  Designating a weekly internet free day at home
• Limiting the number of items that appear in my Facebook feed and number of subscribed blogs
• Turning off my phone occasionally to minimize distractions
• Leaving my iPad at home or off more often, especially when getting together with family or friends
•  Only checking my email a few times a day, rather than “100 times” I currently check it.

 I will probably identify others. What ideas do you have or have put into place to release the snake’s choke hold on you?

May we all fight hard in this area, for God’s glory and His work in and through our lives!

Recommended Resources

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.

DeYoung, Kevin. Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book About a (Really) Big Problem.

Perman, Matt. What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done.

Powers, William. Hamlet’s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age.

Half Built Walls

Make up Your Mind already…

Last week I announced my intent to step away from my blog and focus on other priorities. After further consideration, I won’t shut down the blog completely, writing periodically on topics related to my God-given passions and life goals.

The Old Testament book of Nehemiah is a phenomenal lesson on leadership and strategy. The walls of Jerusalem had been down for 140 years before God burdens Nehemiah to do something about it. Empowered by prayer and gifted with vision and strategy, Nehemiah obtained the buy-in from a pagan Persian king and key leaders in Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Despite constant opposition, he divided up the work and the people completed the wall in 52 days. Yet, the project risked failure at the halfway point:

So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” Nehemiah 4:6-10 (emphasis mine)

How often do we start a work and are tempted to abandon it when we grow tired, discouraged, or face continued opposition? This has been a recent battle for me. It would be so much easier to “throw in the towel” in a particular area of ministry, instead of pressing on. I know that this is not the solution. Rather, the solution is found in Nehemiah 4:14c, “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome…” The Lord is great and His plans will succeed. He will bring growth. He will arrange the necessary components. He will bring the work to completion, just as he did in Nehemiah, because He is great and awesome!

I must press on, with a priority of prayer, and depending on the Lord to give me the strength and resolve for the work to which He has called me. Great days are ahead and I am excited to see how the Lord works, according to His great and awesome plans.

Fare Thee Well

It is time for an indefinite blogging hiatus; generated by the inability to keep up with a regular blog and personal reflection on how I should be focusing my time and energy.

I recently read What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman. This excellent book walked me through prayerfully considering and creating my personal mission statement; including core purpose, core principles, core beliefs, and life goals. As I build my life and calendar around these God-given passions and goals, certain activities need to be eliminated. This blog is one of them.

I cannot say whether I’ll come back to this blog. Perhaps one day, but not in the immediate future.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Finally, some parting music from one of my favorite bands:

Love My Neighbor?

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37

Every day I pass by those who have great needs and/or are spiritually dead. I am too often like the priest or Levite, passing by on the other side- physically or in conversation. Three key components are seen in the Samaritan’s response, as a model to love my neighbor:

• Hands-on. The Samaritan “got his hands dirty” by binding up the stranger’s wounds and carrying him on his own animal. Too often, I avoid situations because I don’t want to get involved or scared because “I don’t know them”. 
• Time. The Samaritan took the time and delayed his trip by a day (10:35) to care for the man’s needs. It is so easy for me use the excuse that I am “too busy” to get involved or ask.
• Resources. In addition to time and energy, the Samaritan gave without limit. I place limits on how much I’m willing to invest- whether time, energy, or physical resources.

 When I look at the Samaritan’s response to the dying man, I realize that this is not merely a “good deeds” issue, but rather a Gospel issue:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. -1 John 4:7-11

We love our neighbor, because He first loved us. As new creations in Jesus Christ, saved from our sins by His sacrifice on our behalf, we are to walk as He walked (1 John2:5).  Jesus is the perfect representation of the love we are to exhibit as demonstrated in the parable of the good Samaritan. Jesus “got his hands dirty” by emptying Himself and being born in the likeness of men. He took the time step out of His heavenly abode and come. He gave the ultimate resource- His own blood, shed on our behalf (Philippians 2:5-8).

As I consider what I must do to love my neighbor more, my prayer echoes the words from Brandon Heath’s song Give Me Your Eyes:

Give me Your eyes for just one second

Give me Your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach

Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten

Give me Your eyes so I can see

In prayerful dependence on God, it starts by being intentional toward others. I can get so busy that I don’t take the time to watch and listen to others around me. Every life has a story, I just need to take time to listen to it, as this video powerfully illustrates.

May we all show love to our neighbors, because of the great love Jesus showed toward us first.

In closing, I know that if we take time to love my neighbor, there will be rare times when they will attempt to take advantage of us. Great discernment and care will be taken when these situations arise, but it is not an excuse to not love others as God commands.