Zombie Response Vehicle and a Warfare that is much more REAL

Dropping the Bear off at school the other day, I took a different way home because I was grabbing gas for the Queen's minivan extraordinaire.  Yes, I am that good of a husband, I know...

On the way home, I ran across an old ambulance made up in Halloween garb that declared itself a Zombie Response Vehicle.  Not exactly this, but something like it:

I laughed a little, judged the people who owned it for being strange, and kept driving - wondering how in the world a TV show like The Walking Dead could affect people's vehicle choices.  And then the thought crept in.  "What if Zombies are real and we just don't know it?" (** Please note:  I don't believe in zombies.  I just hadn't had enough coffee to be sane **)

But here's what hit me (after another cup of black liquid sanity):  we do have an Enemy who is real and is yet unseen.  His effects are genuine.  His power legitimate.

I look around my world right now - much less THE world right now - and see the craziness that exists and seems to be contagious.  I don't know the ins and outs of the recipe, but I do know that spiritual warfare plays into it in more ways that (a) we can see and (b) we acknowledge.  There is not a demon under every rock, but there are demons who wreak havoc and create all sorts of trouble for people.  There are Tempters who invite us to do everything but the right thing.  There is a real spiritual bondage that comes when people reverse the polarity of their moral compass.

It's real, dear reader.  Be aware and be on the alert.  A roaring, proud lion seeks people (and marriages and teenagers and reputations and ministries) to devour. (cf. 1 Peter 5.8)

On Planned Parenthood and the Sale of Baby Parts

A pic of PP Medical Director Debora Nucatola

I have no idea what to say about this story.  By all verifiable sources, it is true that Planned Parenthood is taking body parts of aborted babies and selling them to increase their profits.

I don't even...

I can't even...

On the one hand, it's wicked enough to kill the unborn.  As an adoptive dad, I've put my money where my mouth is twice.  And I commend that route to birth moms and parents who can adopt.

On the other hand, to turn a profit twice over by this murderous act is heinous beyond imagination.  What kind of wickedness is this?  As one said, "It's not only that they were deprived of their lives, but also that their corpses were desecrated for profit."

Some thoughts...

1.  If there is any justice left in the U.S. justice system, people like this will go to jail.

2.  The justice of God, though potentially unseen now, will indeed prevail.  They are set in slippery places; they will fall to ruin - destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors (Ps. 73.18-19).

3.   If the church is to have any moral voice in the world, we darn sure better speak up here and now and to this issue.  Furthermore, we better darn sure step up our game for orphan care and advocacy.  If we can't get angry about this (without sinning, as instructed), then we should become monks and wait on the Second Coming.

4.  If the word "evil" isn't in your vocabulary, it should be.  We shouldn't surrender that in the name of political correctness or cultural relevance.  In days of old, the people living around the Israelites would sacrifice their children by fire to the god Molech by rolling them down into a ramp into a pit.  God spoke about it multiple times in the OT.  And this is worse.

May God have mercy on us all.

Controversy Week: Mark Driscoll (now Updated)

I have been mulling some comments about some things happening in conservative evangelical life in the U.S.  All three of the circumstances have some controversy surrounding them.  I'd like to weigh in for a moment.

Let's start with the lightning rod, Mark Driscoll.  He's planted a church in Seattle, seen thousands come to Christ, been a part of controversy before, and has, in my estimation, been a pretty good guy who has done good Kingdom work.  Some disagree with that last phrase (which they have the right to do), but God forbid my life being under the same scrutiny as his.

The problem, as I see it, is he started believing his own press.  In the South, you might say he was getting a little big for his britches.

First, there were plenty of controversial sermons.  Just Google "Mark Driscoll controversial sermon" and you'll have enough material, a good portion of which is not worth your time.

Second, there were plagiarism issues.  He, pretty clearly, plagiarized a chapter in one of his books.  I'm in a doctoral program where not citing sources gets you kicked out.  I'm not sure that publishing a book should get a pass either.  Then there was plagiarized material in a study guide the church sold.  Then more material in another book.  Then a sermon, more or less.

Now, here's the deal on some of this.  I have ingested several books in my lifetime that have had such impact on me that I can quote them without knowing that I am quoting them because it has become part of my thinking.  He gets a pass from me on stuff like this.

Here's the difference:  when someone says, "Hey Trent, that's from Dallas Willard's Divine Conspiracy, right?"  I typically think for a second (to make sure that's right), and then say, "Yep.  You should read that book again!  It's just that good!"  If someone asks, "Hey, why didn't you give him credit in your sermon?"  I look at them, and yes I have done this, and say, "You know, some of his writings have soaked into me and they just come out at various times.  But you're right - I should have said it was Willard's material.  Spread the word that the good part came from him, okay?"

Driscoll hasn't done that to my knowledge.  He's berated a talk show host.  He's backpedaled on some of his claims.  And he's blamed an unnamed research assistant who conveniently no longer works for the church.

Lastly, there is the New York Times Bestseller issue.  His church (!) paid over $200,000 to get his book on the NYT list, some of that going to a company that specializes in gaming the system and some of it going to purchase books per that company's recommendation.

Confession:  I've never written a book, though some day I hope to, so I don't know the pressure that comes along with actually selling the stuff.  However, gaming the system to make the NYT list seems to go way beyond "getting the message out" and "all things to all people in order that I might win a few."  Long past contextualization, it seems like cheating.

To his credit, he has withdrawn his moniker as a NYT bestselling author and taken some other steps.  But the deal is that the church still paid for it and it undoubtedly profits Driscoll, something the IRS calls inurement and frowns upon with penalties.

** Update ** Driscoll has written a letter of apology that gets a solid 'B' from me.  It specifically addresses the NYT issue and vaguely addresses some other stuff.  Link here.

Here's why all this crud matters (at least to me, and I hope to you).

We gripe about politicians who don't do what they say, do the opposite of what they say, or cut a deal that's good for them and bad for everyone else.  We fuss when our boss messes us over and takes credit for something he had the tip of his pinky in, but no other investment.

But we have nothing to say when one of the more famous pastors in America (is that the problem in a phrase?) has all this happen in a matter of a few months and gets called on the carpet for it, with barely a word of explanation but lots of excuses?

Shame on us.

If God withdraws His hand from what appears to be a substantial, theologically informed, Spirit-driven movement among the younger generation, it may be because we tolerated the celebrity instead of loving the Truth.

I'm not on a witch hunt here.  Again, God forbid my life be under the same scrutiny.  But we have to speak to our own.  Judgment begins with the house of God.

Dennis Rodman and the Lie of Individuality

Dennis Rodman is a basketball freak.  He grabbed more rebounds in his NBA career than anyone else.  And apparently, all those piercings and tattoos have turned him into just a plain ol' freak.  I told the Queen that I didn't think I'd get on Rodman's lifeboat if I was on the Titanic.  He's fruit loops.

He recently visited North Korea, much to the chagrin and frustration of basically everyone in the thinking world who processes oxygen through respiration.  In doing so, he pretty much bit the head off of Chris Cuomo in an interview that left everyone scratching their non-bit-off head.  But don't worry, he was drinking.  That's why he was crazy with Cuomo. [Story Here]

His essential message related to a North Korean prisoner named Kenneth Bae is that he wasn't messenger or emissary of the United States, but a personal friend of the potentate of NK.  Therefore, it wasn't his problem (and the guy was probably guilty anyway).  This is Charles Barkley's "I'm not a role model" on international steroids.

The problem with this line of thinking is it assumes that evil / sin / bad stuff in the world is contained in some spiritual flask or moral beaker with a Bible verse stopper in the top.  Nice.  Tidy.  Isolated.

But the evil / sin / bad stuff in the world isn't contained like that.  It's more like a consistent, toxic sludge dripping into the water supply for years upon years.  Poisoning is widespread and nobody gets away from it.

For a moment, let's get off the crazy train that is Dennis Rodman and bring it down to where we live. Because I have - and you have too - thought to yourself that the opportunity to sin or the missed opportunity to do good didn't really have a connection with anyone else.  It's isolated.  Contained.  Call it the lie of individual sin.  We've thought it.

And we're dead wrong.

Sin, whether of the Rodman variety or something a heck of a lot closer to home (like the computer screen you're reading this on?), always has consequences.  Always.  And they're not solely contained in the heart of the man or woman who commits the sin.  There are repercussions.  Some are slow drips.  Some are failed dams.

A wife leaves her family because of her adultery and blames her husband.  Dam.

A college student tells himself it's just videos on the computer and no one knows and it doesn't matter anyway.  Drip.

A dad always has emails to answer and phone calls to take, and a son who doesn't know how to dribble a basketball.  Drip.

A women's small group at church is the generator and promulgator of much of the church's gossip, all in the name of prayer.  Dam.

Dennis Rodman can't get around that.  We can't either.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Fear, Accountability, and stuff like that

I'm writing a paper for my most recent class on the theology of accountability in Jonathan Edwards.  Sound like a snoozer?  It's not.  Frankly, it's scared me more than a little bit.

I believe (and I think Edwards did too) that we must give an account to God for our lives.  It's not that we won't be covered by the blood of Jesus for our sin.  It's that we must give an account.  Edwards' last official sermon to his people at Northampton after they fired him was about how they and he must stand before God on Judgment Day to give an account for how the ministry was done and how the minister was treated.  That's courage.  Or conviction.  Or both.

Consider these verses, see if they place an appropriate amount of fear in you:

He who made the ear, does He not hear?  He who made the eye, does He not see? (Ps. 94.9)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5.10)

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account (Heb. 4.13)


And there are many, many more.  Sin is tempting, but remember that accountability is real.  And that kind of fear is good in preventing us from sin and pushing us toward holiness.

Egypt - something to think about

I had a friend and church member ask me about Egypt and whether or not we, as a church, were going to speak to it.  I mentioned it yesterday and gladly bring it up again here.  Persecution against Christians by any majority group has proven to do two things through church history.

First, it purifies the church.  Those who are there because there are family pressures or ethnic pressures or "this is the way we grew up" get the heck out of there when they have to face persecution.  Indeed, the root that doesn't go deep doesn't support the plant during hardship (Mark 4).

Second, it grows the church.  Because those who are serious about their faith endure persecution well, the church grows.  Because they love their enemy and pray for persecutors, the church grows.  Because they tend to die well when they do die, the church grows.

Pray for Egypt.  And remember that religious persecution against Christians exists, and it's not far away.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

P.S. As a great reminder that Jesus has Egypt on the brain, check this link out: The Holy Family in Egypt.

Sermon Notes from Sunday 8.25.13 on Ephesians 6:10-13

Here are the sermon notes from Sunday on Ephesians 6.10-13.  You can get these notes in PDF and the sermon audio on our website, sermons.heritagepark.org.  You can also get the sermon audio via our podcast on iTunes.

Ephesians

Part 26 – Standing Amid the Battle

Ephesians 6.10-13

Three Realities for Us:

We live in a Spiritual Battle

·      You may not know it or want it, but it’s the reality of our lives

·      Don’t fall for the lie that it’s invisible

·      Don’t fall for the lie that it’s not physical

We have a Clear Enemy

·      His name is Satan, the Deceiver and Accuser

·      He uses Temptation to Deceive us

·      He uses Condemnation to Accuse us

·      Don’t let him deceive you into thinking he doesn’t exist

·      Don’t let him distract you from the true enemy

We must Engage

·      Through our presence, we push back the darkness

·      When opposed, we stand in His strength and with His supply

·      He gives us armor for protection

Laughing at Satan, Laughing at Nazis

I know I've posted about this before, but I think it's worth doing again.  And I'll here provide the appropriate Hat Tip (a.k.a., the HT) to TwentyTwoWords.com for publicizing the video that will make up tomorrow's Snakes are Scary post.

Here's the story from 22 Words:

A German propaganda film called “Triumph of the Will” was released in 1935 to bolster support for Hitler. When the British got a hold of it, they re-edited it and added a lighthearted dance tune to make the German military and Hitler himself look like silly wind up toys. Then they released it as their own propaganda. 

The British loved the humor of the simple mockery. In contrast, when the Nazi Minister for Propaganda Joseph Goebbels saw his work reappropriated to undermine his cause, he left the theater screaming curses.

Why is that?  Because evil cannot bear scorn.  C.S. Lewis quotes Martin Luther at the beginning of The Screwtape Letters, Lewis' classic book on spiritual warfare:  "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to the texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."

In other words, if the promises of the Scripture cannot fight off the temptation, start laughing.  Laugh at the Enemy and his schemes.  Laugh at the shame he's trying to bring.  Remember your sin, and then remember it's paid for and laugh.

Reversing the accusation and propaganda is a powerful strategy in the spiritual battle.  If Satan reminds you of your sin, remind him that Christ paid for it on the cross.  And then laugh.

Pride cannot stand scorn like that.  And no one is prouder than Satan.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

(and stay tuned for tomorrow when I'll post the video mentioned above)

Happy Reformation Day

A moment that shook the world.  Happy Reformation Day!

Empty, Full

Empty me of the selfishness inside,
Any vain ambition, and the poison of my pride.
Any foolish thing my heart holds to
Empty me of me so I can be
Filled with You.

Empty Me, by Chris Sligh

That's a song worth listening to in Christian music.  More than that, it's a prayer worth praying.

But I'm glad the last line is in there.  In teaching on the Holy Spirit this fall, I'm thinking a lot about Paul's command to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5.18).  And I think about that in light of Jesus' admonition that if He cleans your house out, it better get filled up with something else or the demons (literal or figurative) will return with all their friends for a frat-style toga party and never leave (Luke 11.24-26).

So a simple exhortation for you and me on a Wednesday:  don't think about emptying yourself, think about being filled.  The filling of the Spirit in my life is the best way to dislodge and displace the sin that remains.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Ted Nugent, a friend, and a boil on a leg

A friend dropped by the office yesterday and told me a story.  Apparently their cat at one point got a boil on its leg which was big and puss-filled and ugly.  Under the advice of their not-a-DVM neighbor, lancing it became the option of choice.

So he volunteered to hold the cat.  The neighbor was the lancer.  The cat was the lancee.

Can you guess the next part?  The cat got lanced.  The holder got bit on the hand.  The neighbor got a heck of a show.

But the bite wasn't bad.  More like a mild scratch.

Until that night.

At midnight, with a swollen, aching hand and streaks of red running up the arm into the shoulder, my friend thought it might be something worth being concerned about.  After a few hours of pain, fever, nausea, and appropriate cat-cursing, an ER visit was made.

He had never heard of Cat Scratch Fever before, not even Ted Nugent's version.

Some IV antibiotics and a night in the hospital later, all was well.

It was too funny of a story not to retell, so I did.  But there's also a moral to be had.  Some of us think we have things in control when we have no idea what we're dealing with.  And some of us think marks we have are small little issues when they're big, hairy, hospital kinds of deals.

Any application for you today?

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Noise

Music and silence - how I detest them both!  How thankful we should be that ever since Our Father entered Hell - though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express - no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise - Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile - Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires.  We will make the whole universe a noise in the end.  We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth.  The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end...

Uncle Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood
in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, Letter 20

(and for those unfamiliar with the book, it is a series of letters from an older demon to a younger one, thus "Our Father" refers to Satan and the notable contempt for Heaven)

And for the record, as I finished this post, my cell phone noised about, letting me know I have a text message.  Ironic, isn't it?

Can you sing this?

A little friend here is battling Rhabdomyosarcoma.  They are from our former church in Waco.  Having spent some time at MD Anderson, I got to pray with them on an occasion or two.  And then this past Sunday...

A 7-year old hero singing about God's goodness.  If that's not spiritual warfare, I don't know what is.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Joking with the Devil

I referenced in last Sunday's sermon a quote I thought was from C.S. Lewis.  It is located in his Screwtape Letters, but it is an epilogue attributed to Martin Luther.  Here's the larger quote...

The best way of getting rid of the devil, if you cannot do it with the words of the Holy Scripture, is to rail at and mock him.  For he is a proud spirit, and cannot bear scorn.

There's even more, wherein Luther gets all German and crass.  But suffice it to say that the pride in the Devil will not allow him to receive jesting and jocularity at his expense.  I wouldn't advise using it in every scenario.  I think saying "no" is the best first option.  And quoting the truth is next.  And then changing the environment or context of the temptation.


But if he won't yield, making fun of him might be the strategy.


But that's just me (and a German monk quoted by a British professor) thinking thoughts...

The inevitability of sin

I have been thinking a lot about sin and temptation this past week because I preached about it on Sunday. One of the things that's been stirring in my mind is how the Enemy will do his best to make you (and me!) feel that sin is inevitable.

The temptation may be strong and you may be rejecting it.  Thoughts keep popping into your head.  Emotions are running amok and all over you like a steamroller.  Visions of you doing what you don't want to do play in 1080p Hi-Def on a 55" LCD screen in your mind.  The object of your obsession appears everywhere you look.  On and on.

And you may be winning that battle on all fronts.

So what does Satan do?  Give up?  Hardly.  He'll switch tactics and start whispering not a lie about the temptation itself but about your inability to resist it.  He'll start saying that's inevitable and you might as well give up.  It's going to happen, you and he both know it.  You've never held out before (even though you may have) and you won't now.  It's in your genes and you know how addictive your father or mother or sister or brother was or is.  And besides, you know you like it.

That's the lie he'll speak.

And we have to combat it with the Truth.  There is no temptation that has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and God faithfully provides a way out during the temptation every time (1 Cor. 10.13).  Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4.4).  Sin is pleasing for a moment, but only for a moment (Heb. 11.24-26).

Sin is NOT inevitable.  And every time Satan speaks, he lies.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

PLEASE Give me 3 minutes

Fast forward to the 12-minute mark.  The whole interview is incredible and packed with wisdom.  But if you only have 3 minutes, jump to the 12-minute mark.  This is J.I. Packer answering Carl Trueman's question:  "Dr. Packer, what would you say to younger people?"

Always on Guard

I spend time working out three times a week with a friend.

And then I come home and eat a brownie.

One friend works on marriage #2 and works hard.

And then makes some regrettable decisions.

In a conversation today, I told a friend that I'm in ministry.

And most every day, I ask God that before I'd do something stupid to embarrass Him or my family, He'd kill me (a prayer I learned from Billy Graham).

Brownies are one thing.  Life is something else.

May we be always on guard, always watching - the Devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom He may devour.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Tree of Life Day 74: Ephesians 4-6

The Spirit who inspired the Word is the Spirit who helps us wield the Word.

If the Word is called the Sword of the Spirit, we can rely on Him to help us wield it whenever we face trial and temptation.  When they come - and they will - our eyes go to the Word and our dependence goes to the Spirit.

Just a brief example...

You get the call that every person dreads and the doctor uses the word cancer.  In that moment there's a choice to be made:  you can run to God or away from Him.  The Enemy, of course, would want the latter.  Every trial that we go through is a temptation to turn our back on God just like every temptation to sin is a trial to endure.  Even in the Greek language, they're one and the same word.

If you run to God, you will find that the Spirit brings passages to my mind from the Word about hope and healing.  Whenever you face discouragement or despair, the Spirit will wield the Word to help me fight those.  You can preach the Truth to yourself so that your feelings don't rule your world but God does.  You can turn those Scriptures into prayers and relate to God on the basis of what He has said.

On and on we could go.  But the key is this:

The Spirit who inspired the Word is the Spirit who helps us wield the Word.  That's how you do internal spiritual warfare.

KONY 2012

Just watch it.  Give me 30 minutes of your time and watch it.

Sneaking up on a Bear with a BB Gun

My completely awesome middle son, the Ninja, who fears nothing or no one, had a funny exchange with the Queen the other day.  He told her that he wanted a BB gun and she asked why.  He replied he wanted to go hunting.

Queen:  But why would you want to hurt the little animals like squirrels and rabbits and birds?

Ninja:  Mom, I wouldn't hurt them.  I'd sneak up on a bear or a tiger or something.

After dying laughing at the re-telling of the story, this thought hit me:  how many times do we approach spiritual warfare woefully unarmed and pathetically outgunned.  When it comes to our adversary, he's a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour.  We don't have to go looking for him.  He comes looking for us.

You don't take a BB gun to that fight.

No small pellets of determination or will-power or "I promise I'll do better next time" will do.

Sin is waiting to grow large enough in you to kill you according to James 1.  You better load up with heavy artillery like prayer and Bible memory and spiritual friendships.  Don't take a BB gun on a lion hunt.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...