Lost Crusader #159 Be Careful What You Ask For

 “Ask, and it shall be given you…for every one that asks receiveth…”

Matthew 7:7-8

Though Jesus talked about Hell more than anyone, He preached a very positive gospel. That is because the gospel, like the Law His listeners were familiar with, has more to say about what people should do than about prohibitions, and more about rewards than punishment.

Prayer is an essential part of a relationship with God and to encourage prayer, Jesus had important things to say about it. One of these things was the assurance that prayer is heard and answered. Not sometimes, not if you do it right—but always.

In the last century, parents were familiar with the benefits of saying, “No” to childish requests. Of course, we’ve evolved since then. If you don’t believe me follow young parents around the store and see the change for yourself. God’s an old-fashioned Father, there are times He says no, but not as often as you may think.

The mistake many make in asking God for something is that they believe God works like a genie from fairy tales. Rather than a puff of smoke and a loud Poof! Announce an answer, God answers by granting real things. Ask God to give you patience—if you dare. He will give it by sending you troubles to be patient through. Ask for wisdom—prepare for some tough lessons. Ask God for peace—He will show you the cross of Christ and tell you that is the way to peace.

Jesus in the same lesson as the text above also said that if you ask for a fish, he will not give you a serpent. That is, He will not give you something that will kill or destroy you. Uncountable millions of dollars could as easily be the death of a person as poverty. God knows where you fit in the spectrum, but neither does He shackle you.

Israel asked for a king so they could be like everyone else. God told the prophet to explain what having a human king would be like. When Israel insisted on having one anyway God granted the request, and the mistake became clear right away and Israel had to learn to live with their answer.

When we ask something in prayer it’s good to remember we are asking from the passenger seat and God is determined to drive us where we need to go to be the people He intends for us to be. Prayer is as much a lesson as a gift. Before you ask, think about what it will take to produce what you are seeking—believe me God is thinking about it.

Maranatha

Know Jack #372 Well, Say Something

 “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jeremiah, not the bullfrog, but the Hebrew prophet, decided one day that he had had enough. His words had gotten him beaten, scorned, and thrown into a deep, dark hole. He made up his mind that he was just going to shut up. Silence, however, made him feel like he had a fire shut up in his bones. He went back to writing and speaking.

Sometimes writers don’t just have something to say—they have to say something. St. Paul, a prolific writer, and speaker, once said, “Woe is me, if I preach not the gospel.” Who he was in his own eyes, and in the eyes of God, depended on him expressing the message he carried inside.

I readily identify with both men. There are simply things that must be said, and you are the only one who can, or will, say them—consequences be damned.

It’s like having a huge, festering infection set up in your leg. You’re feverish, moaning in pain, you can’t walk, and there’s no one around to help. You must open the wound. You know it’s going to hurt, but you also know it will kill you if you don’t do it.

I have made the mistake that other people understand that about my writing. This is not a knock against anyone, it is just that writing truly is one of those things where unless you seriously write, you don’t really understand.

I have written, at least, one book that I didn’t particularly want to write. I wrote it anyway because I felt I must. It has made virtually no money and garnered few readers. I have no regrets because I wrote it for my own well-being.

Writing for acclaim and riches will leave you disappointed and depressed (as some very successful writers have discovered). Any real satisfaction or joy you find in writing comes only when you put into print something that must be said that only you can say.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #158 A Simple Gospel

 “And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”

2 Kings 5:13

If the story is unfamiliar to you let me set the scene. Naaman is a general for the King of Syria and he has leprosy. It comes to the king’s attention that there is a prophet in Israel who could cure leprosy, so he sends Naaman and a small detachment of soldiers to find Elisha. When they do, the prophet doesn’t even come out to meet the great general. He sends out a message that if Naaman goes wash in the Jordan River, he will be healed.

Naaman’s upset because he was disrespected by the prophet, and refuses to consider doing what Elisha said. On his way home, his servants, who proved wiser than him, shared with him the advice in the text. Naaman, probably with a what-can-it-hurt shrug, dips himself in the Jordan and is healed.

The publishing company I work with, like most others, asks authors to send them a synopsis of their book before it is accepted. Now there are a multitude of websites that go into complicated formulas to explain how to do this. There are also agents and publishers who demand the formula. But all anybody really wants is a book report that tells what the book is about.

Christians have a great propensity for overcomplicating the gospel. Now, I do not deny the Bible can take you deeper into philosophical, metaphysical, and theological study than anyone could go. However, understanding and sharing Christianity need go no further than personal experience.

For me, one of the greatest arguments for Christianity is found in the simple statement of a blind man healed by Jesus. The rabbinical scholars wanted an explanation of how the man was healed. The man’s answer was that he didn’t know anything except—I was blind, but now I see.

He did not know how, he did know who. Christians need no theological degree beyond their personal testimony to their experience. Experience will always trump theory.

Relating your personal experience requires a certain overcoming of fear. The fear is misplaced, but it is real. If you feel fearful, that’s good—overcoming it with your story is even better. You need not do some great thing to please God. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Belief and a simple statement of it is enough for God.

It’s usually those with no part in Christianity that wish to debate theology and proper Christian behavior. They have no fear delving into subjects they don’t understand and generally resort to scorn when they find themselves in over their heads.

Socrates thought he was a pretty intelligent guy, and most people would agree. The reason for his thinking was that he was the only guy around who knew that he knew nothing. When it comes to your Christian faith, don’t be afraid to be like Socrates. And remember the old saying, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Maranatha

Know Jack #371 Whatcha Wanna Do?

 “Retreat hell! We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.”

Gen. Oliver P. Smith

 

When I was studying for the ministry, I was told that if I could be truly happy doing anything else then I should to go do it. Today, I’m a writer, so I guess we know how that turned out. Except that’s not exactly how it went down. I haven’t given up the ministry, I simply found that being a church pastor wasn’t for me. I’m too caustic. So, I decided to advance in another direction.

I discovered, the hard way, that writing is the direction I was always meant to follow. Once I found that out, I found a sustainable happiness nothing else could give me. It wasn’t easy. I wrote on my breaks at work. I wrote on my days off. I got up at 3AM so I could write undisturbed. I wrote when people got angry at me for writing and when they told me I was being a fool.

I’m not boasting because I don’t think for a moment that I did any of it right or that I’m a big success as a writer. I just did the best I could. I’m still doing that in hopes someday I’ll mature into the guy who does do it right.

It’s about priorities. You have to pay the rent to have a place to write. Being fed, warm, and clothed is nice too. I’ve done a lot of different jobs trying to support my writing. But I’ve always envisioned myself as a writer. Writing is part of me, jobs were always something to be changed when they demanded too much of my writing time.

It bothers me at times when people I share my faith with take issue with the subject matter of my writing. However, that is usually because they judge my books by the covers, not by the content. Bayou Moon has a werewolf on the cover. It is not a story about a monster. It is a story about a rather ordinary man who has to battle a monster and balance what is right with what is legal in order to protect others.

The message hasn’t changed over the years, but the messenger has. My youngest daughter and I have always had fun with a scene from Disney’s The Jungle Book in which Mowgli met a group of vultures who weren’t quite sure what they wanted to do next. Humor aside, there comes a point in life when you have to answer the question that the vultures in the cartoon never seem to be able to do.

“So, whatcha wanna do?”

I think I’ll write.

Lost Crusader #157 One Risen from the Dead

 “…if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”

Luke 16:31

We are approaching the season when the advent of Jesus will begin to captivate our immediate attention in greater ways. As one out of step with the times, perhaps it is not surprising that I chose (?) today to speak about the Resurrection.

But then again, the Resurrection is somewhat incidental to what I have to say. It is my opinion that Christianity does not begin with a knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus. Christianity really begins with an honest self-evaluation coupled with the realization that “good enough” is not good enough nor is being “as good as most Christians”. Jesus readily stated that many calling themselves Christians are not entering into the Kingdom.

Popular notions about differences in cultures and societies are as falsely magnified to the point of being overblown as televised news coverage. The truth is cultures and societies are more alike than different when it comes to an objective right and wrong. All utilize a standard that is, for the most part, untaught.

I didn’t need my parents, the school system, league rules, or a village to tell me it was wrong to just walk up and club someone over the head with my baseball bat. Still, I knew it was wrong. (It might have satisfied a certain notion that they had it coming, but still, it was wrong, and no amount of rationalizing could make it right.)

Moses outlined for us the divine view of right and wrong. The prophets expanded on the practice of faith and the dangers of taking other paths. Moses and the prophets tell us what is needed to live a life pleasing to God. From their writing, it is clear to an honest person that they do not “measure up”. The standard against which humanity is measured in the judgment of God is God Himself.

To fall short in the minutest detail (to even think a wrong thought) is to fail—there is no grading curve with God. I feel safe in saying no one has measured up yet. God, knowing some of us need to have a picture drawn for us, sent His Son to demonstrate “good enough”. The people who got the picture crucified him.

The rising from the dead demonstrated that the holy example and standard of God could not be killed. We have all seen the signs at public events that read John 3:16. Some of us even know what that Bible verse says.

Submitted for your approval is John 3:17. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” The world and the people living in it are already condemned and the judgment is sealed. We know on some level, there is none righteous, no not one. It doesn’t take one risen from the dead to tell us that.

The one risen from the dead is for those who see the need, the Way out of our predicament. Those who are unconvinced by their own lives and conscience that they have done anything wrong have no need for a way out and are not interested in one risen from the dead.

The Resurrected Christ is the crown jewel of faith. The Cross is the way to win it.

Maranatha

Know Jack #370 He’s Got a Sense of Humor

 “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

Romans 11:33

I’m borrowing heavily from the Lost Crusader today to tell something about myself. I know that God has a sense of humor. The scriptures say He laughs at the foolish notions of His creations. I once worked in a locked Psych Unit, so, it’s not hard for me to imagine God laughing. However, I believe there are times when God takes an active role in creating humorous situations. It’s almost as if He’s testing us to see if we can laugh along.

We had a great time Saturday at the Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival. We sold quite a few books. For me, the amazing thing was running into people who knew my name.

In high school, I wanted to be weird, but I never wanted people to know my name. To be the weirdo in the purple tie-dye and the diamond-shaped shades was sufficient for my need for recognition and acceptance.

When I became a Christian, I desired more than anything else to just fade without distinction into the church. The notion of personal recognition was abhorrent to me. What I didn’t count on was God’s sense of humor. Next thing you know, I was standing in a pulpit. Then, before I knew it, I was leading songs too---acapella at that. The quiet, extremely private guy I liked being was pushed onto the stage and had to learn to dance in a hurry.

Now that I’ve taken up writing, I can hide behind the pages. Ha! Just when I think that people are showing up wanting to meet the author and shake my hand. I just have to laugh at that because I believe somewhere God is having a good chuckle at how uncomfortable doing that makes me. It’s not that He’s being cruel. He’s answering my prayers. It’s just that He’s having fun doing it.

I realize that meeting people and promoting my books and, however incidentally myself, is a must if people are going to read my stuff. Nevertheless, it takes a certain amount of sucking it up and just doing it on my part. Appearing foolish doesn’t frighten me. Occasionally it may slow me down a bit, but scare me? Obviously not—as my blogs attest.

That said, I’ll be going out to meet people who read my books and those I want to persuade to read my books every chance I get. If you meet me, just come on up and shake hands. You’re welcome to laugh along with me if it makes me blush or ramble. And why not? God is having a good time with it, and so should we.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #156 Childlike or Childish?

 “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:2-3

I suppose there are opponents of Christianity who would agree with Jesus here and identify the faithful as naïve and equate belief in God with belief in Santa Claus and the Eastern Bunny. That I believe they do so to their own hurt is my take on such opinions.

I do find it interesting that C.S. Lewis found a return to reading fairy tales a mark of maturity while Picasso described it as a hallmark of his approach to art. Childlikeness requires an unlearning and reevaluation of much of our public education. Hemingway described the process differently but said that shedding inhibitions was the key to honesty in writing.

It was not childish gullibility to which Jesus alluded. It was the capability of children to trust, to be openly expressive, and to love freely. I don’t know about you, but I was better as a child at all three than I am today. The road forward is a journey of unlearning what people have taught me and returning to the heart God gave me. This is what Jesus was speaking about.

Now, I am well aware that not everything associated with being a child is becoming an adult. There is a huge difference between being like a child and being childish. Jesus’ description of his detractors is spot on with today’s thinking.

“But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, ‘We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented.’

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking and they say, ‘Behold, a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.’

“But wisdom is justified of her children.”

The childish notion that God should dance to your tune, cater to your preferences, and be at your beck and call keeps many people from a relationship with God.

A relationship with God is not a fellowship of equals. It is a communion of king and subject, or more to the point, parent and child. Could this be the reason why God chooses to identify as Father, and why we abhor seeing a child dictate to its parents?

Come as a child, the lesser in surrender to the greater and you will find God. In finding God, you will find the everlasting freedom to be the unique creation you are meant to be.

Demand your rights, refuse to be instructed, throw a tantrum, and be offended by what is asked of you, and you will find the way is clear. God does not reign over the unwilling. They are left with the dog-eat-dog life they now enjoy.

Maranatha