A Red Dragon, really?

Earlier this month, the Church of England discarded language about the Devil from the baptism rite. The report said,  “Gone are the days when parents are asked to take a vow at their children’s baptism “to reject the devil and all rebellion against God.”  The name of the devil has been deleted and replaced with “to turn away from sin” and “reject evil.”  Was the Devil insulted by this?  No, he does his best work from the shadows of disbelief.   

The Bible says that he hates you! Isn’t that a warm, fuzzy thought? It isn’t and yet, it’s true!  Worse, yet,  he is a powerful creature, bent on your total destruction.  Yes, there is a real Devil.  He’s not the pitchfork carrying imp of medieval art, nor is he the ‘second god’ of some dualistic worldviews. 

In the 12th chapter of the Revelation, John uses ‘sign language’ to tell us about an ‘enormous red dragon’ (a picture language symbol) who was poised to destroy the Messiah at his birth, who rebelled against the order of Heaven and was defeated by Michael, the archangel, who was kicked out of the Presence of God, and who now has "had a great fall; He’s wild and raging with anger; he hasn’t much time and he knows it." (Revelation 12:12, The Message)   You might think that John was just a man of another time and world view, a man who was steeped in myth.  I don’t!  He ‘saw’ as God’s Spirit gave him insight, that Evil has a name and a personality! "This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels." (Revelation 12:9, NLT)

But, John’s vision did not stop with the woe of the suffering. “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of  our God,  and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!” (Revelation 12:10-12)

I have great respect for the power of Satan and his demons, and so should you.  Do I live in terror? Not at all, nor should any child of God.  I am safe because of the sacrifice of Christ that erases my sinfulness. I am guided to life and peace by Spirit of God who lives in me. John says of Christians, "they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony."  (Revelation 12:11, NLT) He alludes to the Exodus story, where the Israeli people who obediently responded in faith by putting the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts escaped the death angel’s judgment. We receive Christ, by faith, and His sacrifice covers us.

When I see stories about men who beat their wives, just because they are bigger and they can; about terrorists who kill in the name of their god; about powerful people who live without a flicker of compassion for those who lives are ruined by their greed- I am convinced that evil is more than mistakes, misunderstanding, or lack of information.  Evil is personal, intentional, and aimed at anything and anyone God created and loves.  But, even as we face the attacks of evil that comes at us through ‘the world, the flesh, and the Devil’  we have a promise of victory!  Martin Luther wrote, in his hymn A Mighty Fortress, that though we walk in a world ‘with devils filled,’ who ‘threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us.’

Here’s a word from the Word. Meditate on it. Let the Truth give insight into your own behavior and that of those who are around you, then pray to be holy and to be part of the Divine Conspiracy to save Creation!

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7, NIV)

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV)

"He (God’s powerful angel) seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:2, NIV)
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I Belong To A Mighty God

I belong to a mighty God

(I belong to Jesus)

I'm guided by His staff and rod

(I belong to a mighty God)

I am justified by the good gift of the Lord

And I will testify

That I belong to a mighty God

I belong to a mighty God

I belong to the Holy One

(I belong to Jesus)

His work in me has just begun

(I belong to the Holy One)

I belong to the Lord of all

(I belong to Jesus)

I'll stand in Him and will not fall

(I belong to the Lord of all)

I am justified by the good gift of the Lord

And I will testify

That I belong to the Lord of all

I belong to the Lord of all

Lynn DeShazo

© 1993 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing (IMI))

CCLI License # 810055

In the buggy whip business?

Buggy whips manufacturing was a common business 125 years ago.  The long whips drove the horses that pulled the carriages. Then, along came the horseless carriage, and by 1925 the buggy whip business was limited by near zero demand!  Any business facing extinction because of changes in demand is compared to the buggy whip maker of old.  Many are stating that the Christian church in America is at that point.  We’re offering what fewer people desire.  It’s not just about the kind of music or the length of the sermon. Churches are facing real challenges. 

A recent article written for pastors reported the thoughts of sociologist Peter Berger.  He says our nation is now being “shaped by three deep and fast-moving cultural currents: secularization, pluralization and privatization. Big words. Even bigger ideas. But it’s within these words and ideas that we find the wider cultural key to the rise of the ‘nones.’“ 

Secularization is the removal of religious ideas and symbols from society.  The realm of the ‘sacred’ becomes isolated and irrelevant to the ‘secular,’ the day to day decisions that people make.
Privatization is natural next step for seculars. A person can believe most anything she wants as long as she keeps it to herself!  Religion and moral convictions are relegated to private practice only.
Pluralization is the competition of various ideologies and religions that make it nearly impossible for one central religion to shape the nation.  America is a swirling brew of philosophies and most have adopted tolerance to such a high degree that to even suggest the exclusive Truth claim of Christianity is an offensive act! 

I believe Berger is an accurate observer of American society and that the trends he describes are real. So, is the Church slipping into obscurity, fading away to extinction?  The Church of Jesus Christ will never die!  But, many churches (local congregations) will. They will fail to adapt or they will attempt to maintain programs, buildings, and staff that are simply too expensive.  Others will adapt too quickly and become compromised by the culture and in a short time become absorbed, losing their distinct identity as a church.  The YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) is an example of that slide.  When it was founded, the Y had a powerful Christian witness. It was founded in the mid-1800’s to help young men who were moving from rural farms into the cities to maintain their Christian life. The mission of the organization shifted and with that shift, Christianity completely disappeared from the Y.  Many churches will have the same fate in the next quarter century, becoming places for social gathering and/or to provide services to groups in need.

Jesus said “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18, NIV)  And, for 2000 years, she has remained. Sometimes she flourishes, sometimes she falters. In some places she fades, in others she shines!  But, His Church remains because God wills it.  That is why I am confident that Christianity is not on the brink of extinction.  I have no illusions, however, that the kind of church I have known for all of my life is guaranteed survival. 

Christian, to what extent have the trends described by Peter Berger overtaken you?  

• Have you separated your faith in Christ from your ‘real’ life? Is He Lord only of your hope of Heaven and your Sunday worship, but nowhere visible in your life at work, your choices about work, your life in your home? 
• Are you a ‘silent disciple’ unwilling to risk the ire of the world around you by talking of Christ, of God’s will and way?
• Have you allowed the myriad ideas around you to subtly creep into your mind, attaching themselves to the Truth that you learn from Scripture?

There are no simple answers for Christians, no easy solutions for churches.  With these trends we must become thoughtful students of the Word, intimate with the Spirit.  In these things we will remain both alive to God and distinct as His holy people with the sure hope of an eternal home prepared for those who love Him.

Here’s a word from the Word.  Jesus calls His Church to endure. May we hear Him speak.

 “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. 
I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

Remember the height from which you have fallen!

Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

(Revelation 2:1-7, NIV)

I am a hater!

Hate is a strong word that offends some people. The dictionary defines hatred as "an intense dislike, extreme hostility."  The tolerant culture in which we live tries to smooth out the wrinkles of hatred in us, and for good reason. Hatred is an emotion that packs the power of a bomb! If not mastered and properly focused, hate becomes a toxin that destroys. We need look no further than the news coming out of Israel and Gaza. Blind hatred has caused misery for millions on both sides of that war.

Still, there are things I hate. 

High on my list of things hated is abuse of power! 
Whether it is a government official throwing his weight around, a parent misusing his authority, or a spiritual leader feeding himself at the expense of those who follow him; I hate it. My blood boils when I see a powerful person exploit a weaker one.

I hate hypocrisy- in me, and in the world around me.  As much as I love authenticity, I know there are shadows in my life, places where the truth is obscured. It makes me angry when I become aware of a gap between what I profess to believe and how I live.  When I am in a room with a fake who is puffing and pretending to be someone he is not,  the desire to say, “Just stop now” is nearly overwhelming.

I hate senseless suffering.  At the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, those who were imprisoned there had to wear a hat at all times and stay on the concrete walkways.  If a prisoner stepped off the walkway, he was shot by guards in towers.  Sadistic guards would go among the prisoners, grab the hat from someone's head and toss it onto the grass.  Then they would order the man to retrieve his hat or suffer punishment.  When he stepped off the walkway, he was shot down or he was beaten to death! That is an extreme example, but the same kind of cruelty, just of a different degree, exists all around us.   Why people enjoy inflicting pain on others is a mystery to me.

I hate sin.  It’s not all black and white. There are large areas of gray. While I hate sin, there are parts of me that still desire it. The Bible reveals this as the normal human experience.  "The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge." (Romans 7:21-23, The Message)    I cannot trust my own resolve to protect me from doing wrong!    In fact, just about the time I start to feel self-assured, just about the time I conclude that I am beyond the reach of some temptation, I find myself locked in battle with it.   The Bible goes on to say, "Jesus Christ ... acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." (Romans 7:24-25, The Message)

Christian if you fail to acknowledge that you are prone sin, that there is an Enemy always ready to seduce you with temptation, exploiting even the slightest opportunity, you are likely to become all the other things on the list of things I hate! Me, too!  There is a sinful nature in me that only the Spirit of God can master and change. That’s why Jesus tells us to deal with the speck in our own eye before we try to remove the log in our brother’s eye!

If I don't not hate sin in me…

I will focus on the sins of others and become a critical abuser.  

I will fail to see my own failures and become hypocritical, with a stench of self-righteousness covering my life. 

I will inflict suffering on others by demanding from them what I cannot or will not demand of myself. 

That is why I love Jesus!  He invites me to the Cross, where He died to reconcile me to my Father and to restore, in me, the ability to do God's will.  I kneel in humility, acknowledging that I have sinned and that I am prone to sin again.  And, He sets me free. Forgiveness flows and I find release from guilt, renewal of hope, and the possibility of transformation.   Then, He invites me to be filled with the Holy Spirit, daily, and the power of the Spirit in me changes me 'from glory to glory.' 

Hate sin; but be careful that your hatred of it, drives you only to the Cross! Focus your hatred on sinners and it will destroy you and bring terrible injustice through you.  IF sin takes you to the Cross, you will be transformed into a warrior of love, making the world right.  

Here’s the word from the Word. 

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV)

_____________________

There is a name I love to hear

I love to sing its worth;

It sounds like music in my ear,

The sweetest name on earth.

It tells me of a Savior's love|

Who died to set me free;

It tells me of His precious blood,

The sinner's perfect plea.

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus

Because He first loved me.

It tells me what my Father has

In store for ev'ry day;

And though I walk a darkend path

It yields sunshine all the way.

It tells of One whose loving heart

Can feel my deepest woe;

Who in each sorrow bears a part

That none can bear below.

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus

Because He first loved me.

Oh, How I Love Jesus

Larry Dalton © 1974 Bud John Songs, Inc.

CCLI License No. 810055

Do you hang out at sin saloon?

While waiting for a flight in an airport this weekend I watched movie on Netflix made 70 years ago.  “The Keys of the Kingdom” is the story of a priest, played by Gregory Peck, who lives his life in quiet service in a missions station in China. There is no scandal, no hidden sin. Father Chisholm is just a man of principle who faithfully serves God and people in life’s up’s and down’s. He is a good man!   

That was once high praise, but today it is reason for skepticism. We are cynics, accustomed to revelations of flaws and failures in our politicians and preachers. We do not believe in heroes anymore unless they are in the comics. We are afraid of people with uncompromising convictions.  The only people, it seems, who are deeply principled are terrorists!

Being good is often equated with lack of sophistication.  It is commonly believed that clever people will enjoy just enough rebellion to be ‘interesting.’ This idea has crept into the church and holiness, shown in goodness and kindness, in being faithful and true, are out of style. Many Christians are profane in speech without feeling any shame. They flaunt their sensuality, indulge their appetites, and play the power games of the world adeptly.  They desire to be known as people who are relevant or ‘in touch’ more than they desire goodness.  Yes, in fact, to be known as a ‘good’ person would likely hinder their social acceptance.

God wants us to be good people. Paul urged early church leaders to teach disciples to "devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives." (Titus 3:14, NIV)  The list of the evidence of the life of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) includes the quality of goodness.  Are you good? Do you desire to be known for goodness?

Do not confuse a superficial piety with true goodness!  People who work at being better than others, who are extremely aware of the opinions of others and carefully craft each response and word to appear devout, come off as fake.  It’s just an act. Provoke them, tempt them enough and their rigid external controls will slip, exposing a heart that is corrupt.  That is not the goodness of the Spirit. Where the Spirit is transforming us into the likeness of Jesus, being good is no act, it is a way of life where love is real, selflessness is constant, faithfulness is life-long, integrity is above question, and service is deep and excellent.

"This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good." (Titus 3:8, NIV)  That word, “good,” is a translation of the word, “kalos” in the Koine Greek of the original text.  That word includes the meaning of beautiful, worthy, admirable, excellent, and genuine.  

 Christian, we need to rediscover the joy of living good lives.  Those are filled with God’s wisdom will not practice the pseudo-sophistication of this present world that allows them to sin on Friday night and sing God’s high praise on Sunday morning.  James tells us that those with true wisdom will "show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility." (James 3:13, NIV)

Good people may pass unnoticed. They will not be flamboyant.  They will serve without seeking reward. They will love even when it is hard. Why? Because that’s what Jesus did.  Their greatest desire is to hear these words when they stand before their Lord, Savior, and Judge - "Well done, my good servant!” (Luke 19:17, NIV)

Here is a word from the Word. Meditate on it and learn the way of the good.

"How well God must like you—
you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,

never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.

You’re not at all like the wicked,
who are mere wind-blown dust—

without defense in court,
unfit company for innocent people.

God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row."

(Psalm 1, The Message)

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