No Style Points

I must confess.
I missed the State of the Union address a few days ago.
By the time the day's "loose ends" were all tied up and put away, the "analysts" were busy processing the speech.  I did catch Senator Mark Rubio's response to the "State of the Union."  As expected, the political jousting began.  But, suddenly.... drama!  The senator from Florida paused in the middle of his rebuttal speech and....got a drink of water.  Simple quenching of thirst?  Faux pau?  Political gaff?

What I found interesting in the pundit's "analysis" of the dramatic gulp was the common suggestion that he may have wagered his political future (i.e., a potential 2016 presidential run) on this water episode.  Why?  Because he forfeited "style" points.  And, style is in big time.

It once again reminds me that we are hungry for all the wrong things as a nation.  In fact, we aren't hungry at all.  We are distracted and biased.  We speak of concern for the things that "matter" only to make a big deal out of a "drink of water" in the middle of a speech.  We aren't into "substance."  We look for opportunity - any opportunity - to destroy the opposition.  Any bullet will do the trick...even "style."

I wish style was only a political issue.  Unfortunately, it isn't.

We can do it in the body of Christ, too.  Style comes in a lot of shapes and forms.  Our preoccupation with style reveals some scary things about how we think about the Word, the kingdom, what it means to be the people of God, the gospel and a host of other things.

This all makes me think about Paul's reminder to the Corinthians in the first two chapters of First Corinthians.  Before they bought in lock, stock and barrel to an understanding and "telling" of the gospel that gave it more "style" points, Paul reminds them that God chose the foolishness of the message to confound those who are wise according to this world (1:18-21).  The One who designed the gospel said "tell them about Christ and him crucified."  In fact, Paul says, "I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus and him crucified" (2:2).  Later he says, "For my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (2:4-5).

Our world and American society in particular are seductive.  In a society enamored with style, the surreal and the "next three minutes", it is imperative that God's people remain cognizant of the "substance" of what God is doing in the gospel for the sake of distracted humanity.  To borrow again from Paul, "But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.  We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God" (Corinthians 4:2).

We are all about water....living water.

Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas

Lord, My Desire Is To Be Like You…

What do you do at the end of the day?  You’re exhausted after dealing with your sick two and four year old.  You are five and ½ months pregnant.  You live 5,000 miles from the nearest family member and your husband is hunting black bear with his bow in the wilds of Alaska.  You are unsure of his return time….and it is the day before Mother’s Day!  Do you feel sorry for yourself and give into the bitterness and resentment that runs like an underground hot spring in the depths of your heart, letting it spew out like a geyser on those around you?  Or do you turn away from anger and give into the loving kindnesses and comfort of God’s Holy Spirit instead?

You may not have been in a circumstance like this, but I know that each one of us faces temptation every day of our lives.  As a mother of young children with another one on the way this is just one example of temptation I faced this week.  Sin desires us like a ravenous wolf crouching at the door.  Just as Cain had a choice to “do well and not let sin rule over him”, we too have that choice.

As a young adult working out my faith independently of my parents the temptations were far different than they are now, but the attack is still the same.  Satan seeks to distort the truth (John 8:44), entice me with my own desires (James 1:14-15), and ultimately lead me away to be devoured (1 Peter 5:8).  Generally the assault is now on my relationships; my marriage, my friendships, and with my children.

We see Satan’s three-fold attack illustrated in the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-8).  Satan first seeks to twist and distort the Word of God so that we will not believe or be saved.  Once someone has heard the good news and acted on their belief, he tempts them hoping they will fall away.  Finally when a person of faith shows a real commitment, Satan fashions a special strategy of distraction so that they won’t mature.  This is where he wants to keep us: distracted, ineffective, weighed down by the cares of this world...not bearing fruit.

We must be aware of Satan’s pursuit and act in that awareness.  Jesus warns us that temptation is necessary (Matthew 18:7) and we can easily play into Satan’s web of deceit if we act as if we are somehow impervious to temptation.  A wise man I know calls it, “putting on our spiritual make-up”.  So often we go through life unaware of the spiritual battle waging around us and come Sunday morning we put on our “spiritual make-up”, go to worship and act as if everything is just dandy.  One of two things is happening:  Either our senses have been dulled to a point where we are like the seed in the thorns, entangled in the web of this world and its desires, or we deceive ourselves and our Christian brothers and sisters into believing we have it all together.  Either choice is preventing us from having an honest and good heart that bears fruit with patience (Luke 8:15).

I thank God we have a Savior that is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, was tempted as we are and still without sin (Hebrews 4:15).  My prayer during times of temptation is summed up in the following praise hymn:

“Lord, my desire is to be like you.
Say the things you say…
Do the things you do…
Let me hear your still voice…
Through all the other noise…
So that I can be…
Just what you want me to be.”

Dana Jaworski
Anchor Point, AK

Peace in the Struggle

We are all in a struggle! Whether or not we like it, we are all in a struggle. We struggle physically, emotionally, and spiritually to survive in this world. We struggle physically against disease, weakness, and the comprehensive effects of aging. We struggle emotionally to “feel good.” We want to feel good so that we can accomplish all that needs to be done for the benefit of others and ourselves. We struggle to live spiritually in a fleshly body (Gal 5:16-17).

The world around us caters to the physical, but our souls long for more attention, even peace!

Our body, soul, and spirit can long so intensely for peace in the midst of this struggle that we can begin to despise the struggle itself. We all tire of the struggle and at times may wish for the struggle to be over.

The Bible describes our human struggle, as God’s people, according to God’s purpose for us. The Bible never offers us freedom from the struggle, during this life. It does, however, offer us perspective that can guide us and strengthen our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

Moses says in  Ps 90:10, 12 –  The length of our days is seventy years — or eighty if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow for they quickly pass, and we fly away. . . . Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Paul would encourage the saints in Ephesus to see Christ’s power, reign, and dominion over all things for the church (Eph 1:19–22) as they face their struggle against the devil’s schemes.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Eph 6:10-18 NIV).

May God help us to see our struggle for what it really is, and seek His armor to stand strong in it! For Jesus can save us spirit, soul, and body (1 Thess 5:23–24). He is faithful and He will do it!

Peace (in your struggle).

Jay Don Poindexter

Merkel, Texas

We can all be winners in the living of life

Another Super Bowl has come and gone.  This last one came and had a little trouble going.  

A priority to host our life group from church for dinner and Bible study in our home at the same time as the game required a blackout on watching the big sports event until our guests were leaving.  It was a surprise to find that the game had been delayed by a power failure at the New Orleans Superdome, leaving lots of action left to watch before the winner would be declared.

It was certain, however, that one of the teams would win and the other would lose.  This rule in athletics and our obscession with sports has contributed to our buying into this win/lose concept in life in general.  If I win, you have to lose.  

The only passage which I have found in the Bible which gets close to the win/lose concept is found in the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24ff:  “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”  He goes on to speak of the enthusiasm and effort he himself is expending in living the Christian life.  He did not want to become disqualified for the prize after he had preached to others.

In this passage Paul is mandating intensity in our running the Christian race.  But even though he says it is like a race in which only one wins the prize, the context reveals to the disciple that all who qualify can win the prize.  It ought to encourage us to know that the Bible teaches that it is possible for all of us to win in the business of living.  In fact, the Bible mandates not only our seeking a win for ourselves, but we are commissioned to make an effort to help others win.

It was a joy to discover some years ago a voice for the win/win philosophy in the acutely competitive area of business.  Stephen Covey was being paid large sums of money to instruct people trying to “get ahead” in business to “think win/win.”  I never got to hear him, but found his refreshing message in his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  His words:  “In our inter-personal relationships, we should strive for every transaction we have with each other to be a win/win situation for each person.”

If we persist in the “I win/you lose’ approach to life, we will come to share in the loss we have promoted.  If I destroy you, ultimately I will be destroyed.  Dr. Benjamin Franklin understood this when, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he said, “We must all hang together, else we shall all hang separately.” 

Perhaps this can best be illustrated in the home scenario.  If parents win and kids lose, what happens to the family?  When kids rebel and get their way, refusing to assist parents in their God given responsibility of home leadership, just how much is their winning worth?  When the family is fractured or bruised, how can anyone claim a win?

Selfishness is always at the root of the win/lose philosophy.  I want what I want, when I want it, no matter what it does to anyone else, leaves the battlefield of life strewn with unattended wounded.  On the contrary, the win/win philosophy is rooted in selflessness.  Yes, it does take care of self, but always with a view to bringing others along for the win.  

Early in the Bible (Gen. 4:9) Cain asked God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  The answer to that question is given in many ways in Scripture.  Perhaps Galatian 6:2 answers it best:  “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – 

Phil. 2:4

Joe Baisden

Belton, Texas

When Encountering Fog...

Can you remember the last time you were traveling somewhere and came up on a heavy fog?

A weather man can give a "meterological explanation" for how fog develops.  My knowledge of fog is less sophisticated. But, what I do know is that you can't see through it.  And...it really slows down your travel time!

Not all fog is visible.  Can you remember the last time you found yourself in a spiritual fog?  Just like a visible fog, spiritual fog can settle over our lives slowly and quietly.  And, it affects how we travel through life.

The Book of James was written to Christians who were living in hard times.  Questions about God, the significance of faith, arguments within house churches, and painful trials and fatigue settled in over their lives.  Faith, peace, courage and wisdom had come to a crawl in their lives.

It is said that sunlight creates conditions whereby fog dissipates and eventually lifts.  The same is true spiritually.  Perhaps that's why James penned these words:
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word,which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

"Be slow to speak and slow to anger."  Good advice when entering fog.  Our nature is to go quickly...everywhere.  "Foggy" moments warrant slowing down, getting quiet in our spirits and allowing God to speak to us.  "Slow to..." is often a prelude to blessing.

Be quick to hear.  It's often the last thing we want to do.  Jesus said, "Take care how you listen."  So many blessings can be found and pains averted by simply listening to wisdom.

Put aside the junky stuff.  Our hearts can get gummed up with all kinds of things.  The kind of stuff that empowers spiritual fog and makes a bad situation worse.  Pride speaks to our hearts and we listen.  The word of God is usually close by but only humility can allow it admittance into our hearts.

Be a doer of the word.  Engaging the word provides insight and perspective that helps us see the road ahead.  It gives us the counsel and direction we need to move out of the fog into the spiritual express lane.  James says such a person will be blessed in what he does (v. 25)

Are you encountering a foggy patch of road?  Perhaps these words from James can be just the thing to help you move around it and into a place of strength and blessing.

Father, we need your word to help us through the foggy times in our lives.  May we always surrender ourselves to the wisdom of your word.  It is truly a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.  Amen.

Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas

A Word for the Streets...Really

A few days ago I had lunch with a couple of friends and we spent a good part of the time talking about evangelism.  One of them made the remark that believers spend a fair amount of time discussing the need to share our faith and strategizing about how to “connect with people” but at the end of the day there is still an awkward disconnect between our intention and follow-through. The other friend weighed in with a few comments on approaches we’ve taken in the last twenty five years, i.e., soup kitchens, friend days, giving away clothes, seminars on various topics, etceteras.  But then he said, “We are doing some really good things but I often wonder how much “message” is actually getting through to the people in the streets.”  Perhaps you have had similar thoughts.

The early church was a people with a message.  And, they knew their message.  Scripture doesn’t say anything about gallop polls in the first century.  In one street episode after another the Book of Acts shows the early church engaging people with the gospel message.  And, whether it was – to borrow from Paul – “in season or out of season”, they shared the good news about Jesus Christ and His kingdom.  To be sure, the message was packaged in different ways depending on who was being addressed (Acts 17:1-6; 22-32).  Nonetheless, the message was “in the streets” to the point that they got slammed with the indictment: “These men have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). 

Modern notions of cultural advancement notwithstanding, I don’t think human nature has changed since the first days when the gospel was preached.  I think what Jesus said about human beings and, what Paul, or other apostolic writers said about the gospel as truth and our need of it as sinfu people is as true today as it was when the gospel was first preached. 

Each time I read the book of Acts I see the early church “in the streets.”  It was a deliberate effort on their part.  They talked with people.  They asked questions.  They reasoned with people (Acts 17:2; 19:8).  They presented the story about what God had done in Jesus Christ as not only good news but the best news a person could hear.  It was God’s call to them.  The way they talked about God in Christ brought people to decision.  A decision, after all, was the point of the conversation.  Early Christian preaching was done with an eye toward “doing something” with the message (Acts 13:44-48; 18:6; 22:18; 26:24-29).

That luncheon a few days ago got me to thinking.  I wonder if we spend too much time trying to “figure out” people instead of simply engaging them in conversation about such things as what they believe about what it means to be human, or to live well, or what they think about Jesus? 

I’m reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthians urging them to drop the cultural sandpaper and stop putting a “high buff and polish” on the gospel.  He says, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).  He goes on to say that some people understand the message and some people don’t (1 Cor. 2:14-16).  In fact the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18).  But God is well-pleased with the foolishness of the gospel (1 Cor. 1:21). 

We’ve had some great conversations about everything from worship assemblies to women’s role to what we put on the pew cards.  We’ve fine-tuned welcome committees and snappy advertising slogans (which are everywhere nowadays).  We’ve done demographic studies, completed surveys ad infinitum, embraced small groups and put annual baptismal goals before congregations.  The reality is our congregations are shrinking.  We have shown maturity in a number of areas, but the question remains:  are we really “on message?”   Do we know it?  Do we really care about it?  Do we have the courage to speak it?    

I have mixed emotions as I think about our conversation over lunch a few days ago.  It thrilled me and bothered me.  I was encouraged by new ideas and new possibilities but, equally as much, it reminded me of something that we dare not out grow as a people, namely, being people who know the story about Jesus and who are willing to take it into the streets every day. 

What do you think?  Acts 8:5 says “And they went everywhere preaching the word.”  I pray that text becomes characteristic of us soon. 

Gracious Father, open our eyes to see the cracks in conversations that provide us opportunity to share your love, mercy and calling with someone.  Give us courage to say simply and gracefully what you would have us say so that the power of your gospel can have the opportunity to bring someone to Christ.  Thank you for allowing us to be your ambassadors every day.  Through Jesus who makes all things new….Amen

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas

Stories: They aren’t Kid’s Stuff

For most of us, our earliest childhood memories involve stories.  We are raised with them.  In the context of stories we got our first exposure to biblical concepts like forgiveness, love, truth, God’s sovereignty, peace and calling to mention but a few.  Verses were put into our minds.  Texts came first and then their meanings.  This experience is sort of like a calculator in the hands of a five year old child. He knows how to turn the thing on, but he hasn’t figured out what all the buttons can do.  It’s just a cool piece of technology.  By the time he is a teenager he has figured out buttons and can do sophisticated math problems. 

I think about biblical stories in a similar fashion.  Every time I hear a particular biblical story my mind drifts back to my first hearing of that story.  I’m not exactly sure why I do that – it just happens.  But more to the point, each “hearing” reminds me of the calculator example.  The buttons in the story have come to mean so much more to me now than when I first heard them.  Stories read differently now.  They have taken on a larger dimension.  They aren’t read simply to “remember the story line”.  Colored pictures and flannel graph boards (remember those days?) have given way to more sophisticated reflection and imagery.  The teaching imbedded in the story has through reflection and an accumulation of life experiences sewn itself into my life.  Some are read with a more serious attitude. Others make still make my heart skip with joy or triumph.  There is greater respect for the magnitude of what happened in the lives of the people who make up each storyline.  I suppose a good way to describe it would be simply that the storylines have become “more human and real”.  Perhaps that’s because I have become more aware of my own finitude, weakness, and need for God and His word.  Stories are no longer “kids stuff”. 

I think that’s why God gave us so many of them.  We are children only for a season.  As spring follows winter, we grow up and life is there to meet us.  “Ready or not…here I come!”  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve fallen headlong into a story of some kind.  On occasion they have served as a warm blanket that warmed my spirit or a stick across my spiritual backside or a strong hand that pulled me up and said “keep walking…straight ahead!”  One thing is for certain:  My life wouldn’t be what it is today without biblical stories. 

Perhaps that’s what Paul meant when he wrote these words: 

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

Perseverence.  Encouragement.  Hope.  Those are big buttons on our spiritual calculator.  We do well to spell them as children.  Learning what they mean is where the real blessing begins.  And, biblical stories – reading them, thinking about them, praying over them – are just the kind of travel companions we need as we experience life’s tests.  Paul says God gave them to us for our instruction.  It is up to us to find them, love them and live in the blessing that they provide. 

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas