Bulletproof

I want to share a story in American history that shows the hand of God working to shape a person, to lead a nation, as recorded on pages 11-13 of Toby Mac and Michael Tait’s book, “Under God” (2004).

The French and Indian War: Account of a British Officer-- July 9, 1755

    The American Indian Chief looked scornfully at the soldiers on the field before him. How foolish it was to fight as they did, forming their perfect battle lines out in the open, standing shoulder to shoulder in their bright red uniforms. The British soldiers—trained for European warfare—did not break rank, even when braves fired at them from under the safe cover of the forest.  The slaughter at the Monongahela River continued for two hours. By then 1,000 of 1,459 British soldiers were killed or wounded, while only 30 of the French and Indian warriors firing at them were injured.

    Not only were the soldiers foolish, but their officers were just as bad. Riding on horseback, fully exposed above the men on the ground, they made perfect targets. One by one, the chief’s marksmen shot the mounted British officers until only one remained.

    “Quick, let your aim be certain and he dies,” the chief commanded. The warriors—a mix of Ottawa, Huron, and Chippewa tribesmen—leveled their rifles at the last officer on horseback. Round after round was aimed at this one man. Twice the officer’s horse was shot out from under him. Twice he grabbed a horse left idle when a fellow officer had been shot down. Ten, twelve, thirteen rounds were fired by the sharpshooters. Still, the officer remained unhurt.

    The native warriors stared at him in disbelief. Their rifles seldom missed their mark. The chief suddenly realized that a mighty power must be shielding this man. “Stop firing!” he commanded. “This one is under the special protection of the Great Spirit,” A brave standing nearby added, “I had seventeen clear shots at him… and after all could not bring him to the ground. This man was not born to be killed by a bullet.”

    As the firing slowed the lieutenant colonel gathered the remaining troops and led the retreat to safety. That evening, as the last of the wounded were being cared for, the officer noticed an odd tear in the arm of his coat. It was a bullet hole! Amazed he took off his coat and he found three more holes where bullets passed through his coat but stopped before they reached his body. 

    The 23 year old officer went on to become the commander in chief of the Continental Army and the first president of the United States. In all the years that followed in his long career, this man, George Washington, was never once wounded in battle.

    Fifteen years later, in 1770, George Washington returned to the same Pennsylvania woods. A respected Indian chief, having heard that Washington was in the area, traveled a long way to meet with him. He sat down with him and discussed the events of that day recalling his orders to have the officer shot and then his orders to cease fire as he realized he was under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit. He then said, “I am old and shall soon be gathered to the great council fire of my father’s in the land of the shades, but ere I go, there is something bids me speak this voice of prophecy: Listen! The Great Spirit protects you and guides your destiny—you will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail you as the founder of a mighty empire. I am come to pay homage to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven, and who can never die in battle.”

    This story of God’s divine protection and of Washington’s open gratitude could be found in many school textbooks until the 1930’s. Now few Americans have read it. Washington often recalled this dramatic event that helped shape his character and confirm God’s call on his life.

Though a thousand fall at your side,

Though ten thousand are dying around you,

These evils will not touch you.

Psalm 91:7 NLT

Holy Father, it strengthens our faith to hear this story of a man who you prepared to lead our nation, as you prepared Abraham to lead the Israelite nation. Thank you for your protection of our nation’s freedoms. We ask that you continue to choose men to lead this great nation and that you grant them the wisdom and the courage to lead this nation in ways that you desire.
In the name of Jesus,  Amen.

Terry Smith
Stephenville, TX.

I Wonder...

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. - Colossians 3:12-15

I wonder how many people would know the good news of Christ if they were approached with the virtues listed in verse 12 instead of a spoonful of “right doctrine?”  I wonder how many marriages could be reconciled if the church approached the spouses with the virtues listed in verse 12 instead of their opinions and interpretations of what God says about divorce and remarriage.  I wonder how many alcoholics would choose Christ instead of the bottle if they were overwhelmed with the virtues listed in verse 12 instead of a lecture on the dangers of drinking too much.  I wonder how many non-believers would think about believing if they were overwhelmed with the virtues listed in verse 12 instead of overwhelmed by what awaits them in hell.  

I wonder.  Do you?

As I see a friend wandering further from the church because of accusatory and self-righteous text messages after hearing of a mistake he has made, I can’t help but be disappointed as people ask what he needs and I simply respond with “love and prayers.”  

Let me encourage you this day to love people freely, to show compassion freely, the show kindness freely, to express humility and gentleness in abundance and to exhibit patience freely and abundantly.  In doing so, whether they realize it or not, they will simply see the love of Christ pouring out of your words and actions.

Jeff Jones

Decatur, Texas

Beloved of God....Period!

I'm working ACU Leadership Camps this summer. The theme of our high school camp, Kadesh, is "Identity." The theme centers on the idea that our identity is found in being the beloved of Christ. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Our staff spent the entire week before camp started prepping for the events that we put on for the campers. My friend, Mitch, and I were put in charge of one particular event that involved writing some poetry. The event basically consists of a group of people reciting poems that they've written about lies that satan makes them believe about their identities. At the beginning of prep week, we had zero poets and needed at least four. We were getting pretty nervous. To be honest, we didn't think anyone would have any interest in (or the talent for) writing these poems.

The day that we needed our poems arrived and Mitch and I waited to evaluate our potential poets. Six girls and three guys walked in, poems in hand. Needless to say, we were thrilled to immediately have more options than we needed. We sat down in a circle and had each person read his or her poem.

The first poem is about a little girl whose father beat her mother, who told her she wasn't pretty enough, who told her she could never do enough to make him proud, who abandoned his family.

The second is about a guy who felt empty, whose facade says that he's happy, who smiles enough and laughs enough to make you believe that everything is okay.

The third is about a girl who has a little brother. Her little brother had a fatal illness for years. She got put on the back burner. She was expected to be strong. No emotions, no needs, no nothing. Just her brother, all the time.

The fourth is about a girl who grew up in a wonderful family, who had many talents, who had many friends, who had many reasons to be content, and who abused her body with an eating disorder.

The fifth is about a girl who survived leukemia, who doesn't understand why she survived and so many others don't, who doesn't understand why she had to experience something so brutal in the first place.

The sixth is about a girl who is enmeshed in American culture, in a church tradition, in media that says all she will ever be is weak. Because she is a woman.

The seventh is about a guy who made the decision to drink underage and drive, who got arrested, who is still reaping the consequences of that. Who believes that that one mistake is the only man he'll ever be.

The eighth is about a guy who is going into ministry when he graduates from college, who is passionate about the Lord, who deeply loves and serves people, and who suffered from an addiction to pornography for years.

The ninth, and last, is about a girl who wants to be perfect, who is defined by her achievements, who believes that if she didn't have her achievements, no one would have any reason to love her at all.

We listened to poem after poem. After the last poem ended, we sat and stared at each other for awhile. The weight of all those lies was almost tangible. I wasn't expecting nine people to walk in the room and lay their hearts on the line. In that moment, I felt so vulnerable. I could feel the tears pressing against my eyelids. These were my friends, my fellow counselors. So many heartbreaking experiences, but not very much life lived, yet.

I know their hearts, I know their struggles, I know how much they love the Lord. The part that's so hard to swallow is the fact that satan knows all those things as well as I do. He knew exactly how to attack every single one of us. If he chooses the right lies, it's so easy to ditch the belief that we're the beloved of Christ and succumb to his lies.

Each of us have been delivered from the things that we wrote about in our poems. But it's still so easy to let the past creep in and redefine us, stripping away our worth and making us into whatever it wants us to be. This is dangerous, because the past will define who we are in our future, if we can't move past the past.

We are the beloved of Christ in our past, present, and future. He rose and conquered the grave so we could wear that name. The lies in those poems already hung with Him on the cross. Continuing to live in the midst of those lies would be death. But “death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

After we prayed and thought about it that way, the poems stung a little less. We are the beloved of Christ.

Father,
Thank you for calling us Your beloved, despite the ways that we fail. Thank you for being strong where we are weak. Thank you for letting us find our identity in who You are. We love you.
Amen.

Erin E. Daugherty, Abilene Christian University

Gabriel was Right

We typically think about Father’s Day as a day to do something special for dad.  It’s a good tradition.

I was jogging a couple of days ago and got to thinking about Father’s Day and found myself walking down memory lane.  (I’m glad I was running alone!)  Memories came tumbling into my mind and heart like a river out of its banks.  In a word, it was overwhelming. 

As I continued around the park in my partial “out-of-body-experience” for some unknown reason my thoughts veered into the storyline in the Book of Job.   I would like to think I have enough faith to get through what Job experienced.  But, honestly, I think about the story of Job and I cringe.  It’s not the theology in the book or God’s sovereignty or any of the other big ticket items that travel across the terrain of the story that unsettle me.  I cringed at the thought of life…without my wife and children.    

One thought stumbled into another one and...I got to thinking about Father’s Day.  Honestly, I couldn’t think about it as “our day”, dads.  I was overwhelmed with the thought of how much God has blessed me by surrounding me with a terrific woman and four fantastic kids.  All I could say as I traveled down “memory lane” was “Thank you, Father, for allowing me to be one.  Thank you for putting these people into my life.” 

There have been a lot of great moments.  That said, there have been some moments I would take back and ask for a “do-over”.  Mercy and understanding restored my heart when I needed it most!  As I continued on my run, God’s word came to me from the Gospel of Luke.  It was one of those “sit up and pay attention” moments.  When the angel Gabriel announced that Elizabeth would give birth to a little boy named John who would be the forerunner for the Christ, he gave an interesting description of his life and ministry.  Tucked away in Gabriel’s words are these words:  “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children…”  (Luke 1:16-17).  The Message version says, “…he will soften the hearts of parents to children.”  You wouldn’t think a dad’s heart would need softening where his kids are concerned.  But, Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, told the truth then and now.

As a father and former child I know firsthand what it was like to live in a child's world.  Life looked very different through ten year old eyes than it does through the pair I’ve got now.  Life was simple.  I had very few worries beyond the school house and the city limit sign.  That all changed with the emergence of adulthood.  The world got bigger.  Responsibility jumped out of the dictionary and came to life.  Dad, can you relate to this?  Life has a way of pressing us and squeezing a lot of good things out of us with the result that we get too focused.  What dad hasn’t felt edgy and overwhelmed on occasion?  Life can become a very crowded experience.  Stuff comes at us relentlessly.  And, we can FEEL it.  I can still hear Gabriel’s words.  Can you?      

Paul said, “Husbands, go all out in love for your wives.  Don't take advantage of them....Parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.” (Colossians 3:19, 21 – The Message)  I’ve read Paul’s words in Colossians many times.  Bet you have, too.  Living them is not really about understanding the teaching of the text.  The text is…well…simple.  As dads, it is about how we manage all the life experiences, pressures, stressors and trials that envelop and challenge the awareness and commitment this text teaches.  Being the kind of husband our wives need and the kind of dad our children need is about managing our own hearts first.  Focus is essential to good leadership. 

God put us at the helm.  We pilot the ship.  It is our calling.  It is our blessing.  And, it is the greatest joy we can experience in this life.  So, how’s your soft side, dad? 

Fellow dads...let's make this Father's Day an atypical one.  Let's embrace Gabriel's words.   Share your heart with your family.  Tell’em what they mean to you.  And...somewhere in that experience I am certain God will move.  What is more, we will all be the better for it.   

Father, you have given us everything we need to be the kind of father’s we need to be.  May we look to you for guidance every day.  Quiet our spirits and soothe our hearts as we lead our families in this sojourn called life. May be never lose the softness that is essential to being the kind of men, husbands, fathers and leaders you need us to be….they need us to be.  Thank you for giving us the incredible privilege and blessing of family.  Amen

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas

The Word...Nothing Compares

Word of God speak
Would you pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your Majesty.

To be still and know
That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your Holiness.
Word of God speak. 

Mercy Me  “Word of God Speak”

The Bible is the #1 best seller of all time in the world with no other book even close.  In fact it continues to be the #1 best-seller each year of all books.   Estimates are that 2.5 billion to 6 billion copies of the Bible have been sold.   Why is this when it seems so many dismiss it as being irrelevant.   Read these combined passages from John 1 and Hebrews 4. 

In the beginning was the Word.  The Word was with God and the Word was God.   God’s Word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword.  It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (John 1:1, Hebrews 4: 12).

The Bible is more than a book on the best seller list.  It’s alive, God breathed, knows us and reaches into our innermost being.  It is powerful, it is eternal, and it provides true life.  It is the Word.  No wonder it dwarfs any other book in sales, because we are not dealing with a book but the embodiment of God Himself.

When the Word is understood as being God, being alive, and being something that judges our thoughts and feelings a different view is revealed.  Instead of me examining the Word it is examining me.  How can I stay in tune and discern this awesome, amazing Book?  Instead of just reading the Word, approach it with reverence and see it as holy.  This is a spiritual experience to be taken in with all my senses.  Spiritual listening with the heart attuned to the Spirit’s leading.   Be open and aware expecting something will be revealed, inviting an encounter with the Word God and the Word Jesus Christ.  When I enter in this posture the Word speaks.  More than reading the words it is holding them, touching them with my senses, and feeling them while being led by the Spirit.  Take it as bread and drink hungering and thirsting for its righteousness.  Ingest it tasting its goodness and receiving its nourishment.  It is through this sensory experience of taking in the Word that we experience God.  It is so powerful and so personal that with His Spirit in us we cry out “Father”!  (Romans 8:15)  A deep yearning with deep feelings, a call of affection, of help, of submission, of assurance of the knowledge He is there and He is fully with me.  This is a new way of thinking of and seeing scripture.  It is God Himself.

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14)

This approach and understanding of the Word does not come easily and requires effort, attention and practice.   After you have spent time reading scripture try to be quiet.  God Himself said through the Psalmist: “Be quiet and know that I am God.”  Not just being silent but quieting your mind.  Not thinking about yourself, others, work, play, school, kids, parents, nothing.  Your mind is quiet.  Open, listening, meditating on staying quiet yet alert to the revealing of God through His Word.  Being quiet is an acquired skill that requires practice and consistent attention.  Over time the fruit of this exercise is an amazing delicacy of revelation.

Discernment of the Word is like the Emmaus story where the two disciples’ eyes are opened to recognize Jesus and know the “resurrection” was in fact true.  He is in the flesh, and in front of them.   This is the journey to see the Word for what it is: Jesus Christ as God Himself and the realization of the kingdom.  As I read the Bible I want to make it about me, about my comfort, my success, my prayers being answered, and many times my glory.  My awakening and the true revealing of being in tune with Scripture is the realization that it is about God the Father, about His glory, and His promises of true life which is a perfect relationship with Him and His son Jesus Christ.  Until I look to Him, and view all from the perspective of seeking, asking, knocking, looking, listening, and longing so that I can know Him, I will miss the reality of life in Christ.  The disciples, apostles, and those who walked with Jesus spent days, months, and years with Him.  Yet they did not understand who He was or what He offered until after He was killed, raised, and then appeared to them. 

Lord open my servants eyes and let him see.  II Kings 6: 15-17
Teacher I want to see.  Mark 10:51

If His own disciples misunderstood who He was how do I find Him?  I must stop all that I am “doing” and be still, silent, fallen before my Father in heaven, completely submissive and say here I am.  I trust Him and allow Him to transform me and show me what the true life and abundant life is really about.  Communing with God, discerning His Word, following His Spirit’s leading allows me to know Him.  Being present in the Word, listening, seeing, hearing, and knowing His voice when it comes is from my Father.  I bow in worship, I thank Him and He is glorified.

Father, thank you for your Word that is beyond our comprehension.  Give us wisdom, discernment and understanding.

Scotty Elston
Shallowater, Texas

While I Was Driving

Can you remember the last time you had a “life-changing” moment? You know the kind. It’s one of those “aha” moments. Everything stops for a moment. Maybe longer. Whatever else is true about the moment, one thing is for certain: You know something big is happening in your life.

Sometimes it comes when a child is born – usually the first child. Or, when the last child flies the nest. It can be when we step across the stage and receive a college diploma or slip on a ring and say our marriage vows. Sometimes it’s in the form of a medical report, or sitting in hospital room with a close friend. These “aha” moments can be small. Sometimes they are huge. In a moment of time we move from free spirits to philosophers. Contemplation sneaks up and grabs us. We look at time differently. Our mind, spirit and senses awaken in new ways and process life with greater interest and precision.

About this time last year I had a conversation with someone who had come to the proverbial fork in the road. I guess it was an epiphany of sorts. Here is a rough transcript of what he said.

“I was driving to an out-of-town appointment a few days ago. I had a lot of road ahead of me. There wasn’t much on the radio that interested me. So, I just drove in silence. I thought about all kinds of things: family, job, friends, places I had traveled. For some reason I started thinking about my spiritual life. To be honest, I’ve never really been one of those people who spent a lot of time in contemplation about “life”. I just live it moment by moment. But, for some reason, I began to think about my life in ways that I had never thought about it. Maybe it’s because I’m past forty. I not sure really. I just know that this time the moment of contemplation lingered. In fact it took me down roads in my heart and mind that I’ve never traveled. I knew one day I would eventually journey down those roads. I just thought it would be later in life. And, I guess that’s when it hit me. My life is NOW. It’s happening now – not tomorrow. I realized that for most of my life I sort of “hung around” my faith…around Jesus. But, I never really sat down and said, well…like Isaiah, “here I am…send me!” I felt all manner of emotion. Sadness. Tension. Fear. Hope. It’s unlike anything I have ever experienced. I realized that this road trip was a “turning point” for me. My spiritual stars had come into alignment and my life was being “called by God” to write a very new and different kind of chapter. The crazy thing about it all is that I’ve known most of this stuff all my life. I guess my spirit had finally gotten to a place at which I could see and hear what the Lord has been trying to tell me for years.”

I don’t know about you, but I love that story. It leads my mind to the Apostle Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus recorded in Acts chapter nine. Talk about epiphanies! His life was never the same after that. God may not move in our lives as dramatically as he moved in Paul’s life. But, I think He moves nonetheless. He knocks, calls, nudges, pokes, woos, and "speaks" to us in a variety of ways, much like He did to my friend a year ago, to tune our mind and heart to His frequency. I can’t help but wonder if there is something God might be trying to get me to sit up and pay attention to in my life? How about you? I pray we all have ears to hear. It is a blessed thing indeed when that happens. It’s then that we see our life journey as more than an experience. It becomes a divine journey into the heart and will of God.

O Lord, save us from simply traveling across the earth defined by routines, schedules, and life experiences. May we lean into the dangerous experience of contemplating about faith and life. Tune our ears to your calling. Quiet our fears. Calm our hearts. Help us to give to you our moments in the spirit of wisdom so that you are honored by our lives. Thank you for Jesus who taught us to say, “My meat and my drink are to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His purpose.” May we seek it with every fiber of our being. Amen.

Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas

Out With Fear

People have an affinity with fear. It’s a tricky dance we do, fear and us. Fear almost always gets to lead because we don’t like to fight her for the lead on something so complicated. She guides our steps, directs us into intricate spins, presses us close to her so that she can whisper sweet nothings in our ears.   Her whisperings are much more than “nothings,” however. They’re more than we want to hear, more than we want to ponder, and they add an unnecessary tension to decision-making. Her voice decides where we will go, what we will do, and how we will do it. Her voice is so forceful. We let it force us right into emptiness.

And maybe we don’t even realize that we’re acting out of fear. It can be deeply entrenched in other things, so deeply entrenched that we can’t even pick it out of a crowd of emotions and thoughts . . .
I’m afraid to pursue a career that evokes all my passion because I might not make that much money.
I’m afraid to give up [insert addiction here] because living without it might be hard.
I’m afraid to apologize because it might be rejected.
I’m afraid to share the gospel because it might not be accepted.
I’m afraid to love people unconditionally because they might not love me back.
I’m afraid to ask questions in my faith because I might not find answers that I like.
I’m afraid to delve deeper into the Word because it might call me to a higher standard than I’ve previously pursued.
I’m afraid to give away the things that I have to people who need them more than I do because I might live a little less comfortably as a result.

. . . But I’d rather not settle for dwelling in the conditional nature of that which comes after the “mights.” Living life running from the “mights” isn’t living life at all. It’s hiding from life. If you really hate this life and if you’re really discontented, maybe you need to check out your motives for doing the things that you do. If the reasoning behind them is because the alternative has more risk involved, then no wonder you’re unhappy. The joy of investing in an experience that is inherently good should outweigh your fear of possible consequences.

Fear is the absence of faith. Last time I checked, we’re called to faith, not fear. Acting out of fear is about the same as assuming that God’s power cannot transcend human weakness. God has worked (and continues to work) through some seriously weak people.

Own up to your fears and weaknesses and let the Lord work through them. We have nothing to boast in apart from God’s grace. That’s freeing. I’m not obligated to create situations that allow me to boast in myself. Anything I could create will eventually turn to dust anyway. I’m letting God create the situations and I’ll bring my weak self to them. Anything glorious that comes from my involvement in said situations is by the grace of God. That’s something to boast about.

“God has chosen the world’s insignificant and despised things--the things viewed as nothing-- so He might bring to nothing the things that are viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. But from Him you are in Christ Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts, must boast in the Lord.”
I Corinthians 1:28-31

Amen.

Erin E. Daugherty, Abilene Christian University