SAVING THE REFUGEES

“’Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…’”
Matthew 28:19-20a

Recently I watched the movie “Tears of the Sun”, starring Bruce Willis. In the movie he plays a Special-Ops commander who leads a team into the jungle area of Nigeria to rescue a doctor. His mission was to get only the doctor, but the doctor refused to go without the deliverance of the seventy refugees as well. As Bruce’s character is arguing this point with his Commander, he makes a statement that I find bold. “My team will complete this mission.” He went in for one mission, to save the doctor, and yet when faced with the possibility to leave helpless more to suffer the fate of death, he changed the rules by changing the goal of his mission.
I think what I find so bold about this comment is not that he stood up to his Commander, but that he saw the bigger picture. It would have been enough to obey his orders and get the doctor. It would have been commendable even. But seeing that all these innocent people were in the line of soon coming fire and disaster, he made the choice to extend his mission to include them.
This reminds me of our mission. However, I think it is safe to look at our mission in two ways. First, our mission is to get to heaven. How do we do that? We do that by accepting Christ as our Savior. In Romans 10:9-10 we read that, “If [we] confess with [our] mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in [our] heart that God raised him from the dead, [we] will be saved. For it is with [our] heart that [we] believe and are justified, and it is with [our] mouth that [we] confess and are saved.” This action and confession of Christ as our Lord brings us into a relationship with Him. Still this is only a portion of our mission. Should our mission stop here, however, it is still commendable. In essence we saved the doctor.
But the second part of our mission, and perhaps the part that many do not complete, is the making of disciples. In the final words of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives these words. “’Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’” This is the saving of the refugees. Are we completing this order given by our Commander? Granted some are. Yet not all people are Billy Graham. Because I am not, does that mean I should not even try to complete my mission? By no means. Keep in mind that not each person is given the same drop off location in the military. Does that make one unit better than another? It should not, for we are all on the same team.
So what is it I am trying to suggest in this devotional today? I am trying to get us to answer honestly the question of if we are saving the refugees. A few days back I posed on On The Vanguard’s facebook page this question, “If we are soldiers in God’s army, and the mission is clear, then are we fulfilling our mission?” Can I just be honest with you? I cannot say I have been fully fulfilling my mission. Some days I try, other days I leave it to the others in my unit. But those orders were given by Jesus to us, both individually and as a unit. Following this, I was placed here, at this drop off location in time and space, to work to save the number of God-less refugees that I can touch. It may be commendable that I am saved and my rescue is coming, but there are many more who need to be saved still. What am I doing to save them?

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3000 LOST, 3000 SAVED

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Acts 2:41

I realize we are not currently within the time known as the Festival of Weeks, between the time when Jesus ascended to heaven and when the Holy Spirit fell in the Upper Room, but I felt inclined to share some today concerning events that happened around this time. The Festival of Weeks is first named in Exodus 34:22, with a command given to celebrate with the first fruits of the wheat harvest. It is actually one of three times on the Jewish calendar when men were required to go to Jerusalem to celebrate and pay tithes. Following the timeframe of fifty days from the start of Passover, Jews and Christians alike celebrate and remember what we have come to know as Pentecost. But to gain a little more understanding behind this celebration, I want us to draw our attention today to Exodus 32:28. It is here that we read of more than just an agricultural significance to this festival, but rather are able to relate Pentecost to a commemorating of the giving of the Law, the Torah, to Moses. Let us start our journey then for today.
Starting a few verses earlier in Exodus 32:25, we read of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai to the sights and sounds of the Israelites worshipping the golden calf. The Bible describes that the people had allowed themselves to becoming the laughingstock of their enemies based on this action. So then, Moses took a stand. Standing physically at the entrance to the camp he said, “’Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.’” This decision shot to the hearts of the people and it is recorded that all the Levites rallied to him (v26) as well as others. Moses then turned to those who had come to him and gave the command of God, to strap a sword to the side and go throughout the camp killing those who had not chosen to follow God (v27). When the Levites had completed this command, three thousand people lay dead. Now right away one could argue that God’s ways seemed extreme, but does not Romans 6:23 tell us that the wages of sin is death? For these Israelites that chose not to follow after God and obey Him, they found death to be their punishment. For the remainder that had sinned, Moses sought the LORD’s forgiveness, begging that He forgive them or wipe Moses’ name out of the book.
In order to catch the relationship from this action then to Pentecost, we now need to skip ahead in time to Acts 2. It is here that we see another aspect of God’s redeeming qualities. To quote the former pastor of the church I attend, Don Finto, “On Pentecost fifteen hundred years earlier, when the Law was given on Sinai, three thousand died because of rebellion. On this Pentecost three thousand became the first fruits of new life in the Spirit.” After the Holy Spirit fell on the people in the Upper Room and empowered them with boldness, among other characteristics, Peter addressed the crowd that had gathered around mocking them. He explained that although they looked physically drunk they were indeed not, but rather drunk in the Spirit. Then, starting with a verse in the book of Joel, Peter preached one of the best salvation messages ever recorded (Acts 2:14-41). In the end, when the simple fisherman under the influence of the Holy Spirit had completed his message, he gave an altar call. And here’s the awesome part. “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
In one day, three thousand were slain because they chose to rebel against God and His commands. Years later, three thousand came into a relationship with God because their eyes and hearts were opened to who God was and they wanted to follow Him. The question beckons then, which one are you? Be careful to answer, though. I know personally that I have at times declared to God that I will follow Him and then shortly following found myself worshipping my own golden calf. If not for the grace of God, I too would face the Romans 6:23 penalty of death for my sins. God is looking for people who are sold out for Him so that He can pour His Spirit out on them. I pray this is not only the cry of our hearts, but also the way of our actions.

PROSTITUTING

“Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD’s commands.”
Judges 2:17

On a pretty regular basis I arrange with the Red Cross to donate my blood. I figure, freely I have received, freely I can give. While that may not be the true point of that verse (Mt 10:8), it does make for a laugh, or at least a smirk. Yes? Anyways, I have been donating my blood for some time now and for the most part know all the pre-giving questions that I will have to answer. I know what countries affect my ability to give, as well as my general overall health. So far I have never been turned down. But one question always catches my attention. It isn’t that I have done it, but that for me it is something I have never even considered. “Have you, even once, traded money for sex?” Honestly, while I know people do it, I cannot say I have ever, nor would ever. Yet while this may be true in the physical, I wonder if it is true in the spiritual.
The last few months I have been reading through the Bible. I recently finished the book of Joshua and found this fact. In Joshua 24:15, Joshua speaks to the masses that they needed to choose for their own selves who they would serve, the one true God, or other gods. The people answered in the verses to follow that they would serve the one true God. But in Joshua 24:19 Joshua says to the people, “’You are not able to serve the LORD…’” Why? Was God too much God for the people? Were their motives wrong? Were they just saying what Joshua hoped they would say? Regardless the answer, the nation again declared they would serve the true God. To this Joshua called them out as witnesses to their own words and choice, ordering they throw away whatever gods they happened to have, and yield their hearts solely to God.
The book of Joshua ends and the book of Judges begins. Joshua has now passed and the people begin to work to rid their new land further still of the ungodly inhabitants. Because the people of Israel were unable to cleanse the land fully, though, the evil began to sneak back in. This is in many ways the same lesson we see when looking at the account of Lot. In being close to Sodom, he eventually gave into the lifestyle of Sodom, even to the point of offering his own daughters to a sex-hungry people. But Israel’s giving in was not an overnight thing. In fact, we read in Judges 2:10 that when those who had followed Joshua passed, a new generation arose who neither knew the LORD, nor what He had done.
Now hold on! You mean to tell me that none of the fathers taught their sons the ways of God? None of the mothers taught their daughters the truth of what God had done? How can this be? Abraham passed his beliefs to Isaac, who passed it to Jacob, but the men who fought alongside Joshua failed to pass it on to their children?
Looking at the verses to follow we read of the problem this brought about. “Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals” (Jud 2:11). By not having the faith of their fathers passed to them, this new generation of Israel gave into the worship of idols and foreign gods. Maybe as a last ditch effort, God sent judges to save the people (Jud 2:16), yet they would not listen. Instead they prostituted themselves to these other gods, refusing to give up their wicked ways.
So that brings me back to my original thought - while I may not prostitute myself in the physical, or have been with anyone that has, have I prostituted myself in the spiritual? I have not bowed to other gods made of wood, stone, iron, gold, or materials like that, but have I bowed down to other gods in any other fashion? Am I guilty of prostitution? Have I taken the world’s payment in exchange for my allegiance to Him? If God is looking for a heart sold out for Him, for a person who will be obedient to His ways, and for a life that reflects His, then yes, I am guilty for I have not been all these things. As sad as it is, I have prostituted myself spiritually in exchange for the world’s payment. What then is to become of me and this behavior?
The answer for me is the same answer given to the people of Israel who constantly were wayward in what God decreed. Turn back to Him. Each time Israel went off track they went into bondage. But when they confessed and got right with God, the chains of their bondage were broken. Spiritual prostitution is sin and puts me in bondage. Therefore, like Israel, I too must confess it as sin and turn. When we confess our sin God forgives our sin. He cleanses us, forgives us, and forgets the actions done.

GOOD OR GOD?

Video devo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_fB-I-4a70&feature=c4-overview&list=UUBpDAju7oW9cppxV0BUIAXQ

SO YOU WANNA GO BACK TO EGYPT

“All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’”
Numbers 14:2-3

Do you ever finding yourself remembering the good ole’ days? I’m not necessarily talking about the days when a soda pop cost only five cents, but the days when you were a free bird. I remember them. I remember my single days in college, when I would spend my summers overseas on missions, or stay out late with the guys, or even go to Wal-mart by myself. But then something happened. I got married. Suddenly my alone time was couple time, which in time turned to family time. Gone were the days of being the free bird, now I was a papa bird. If you know my story, though, you know that after nine years of marriage I became a single papa bird. Over time I missed what I had had, that sense of a complete family with my kids and a wife. So I prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and invited you to pray, and prayed some more. Then something else happened. I got married again.
I have been married now for a little over four months, and I have to admit, sometimes I miss those free bird and single papa bird days. Sometimes I miss jumping on a plane and taking a trip, or splurging some money on myself, or even being able to waltz around Wal-mart alone. I think back and recall my freedom…but I never get too far. Why? Well it is because with all the good ole’ times also came a great deal of pain. When I was a free bird I suffered from being lonely. I had no wife or children to keep me occupied. And the same feeling of loneliness followed me when I was a single papa bird. I wanted the adult companionship that my children could not offer.
So which is better? Does the thought of missing the alone times sound better than the thought of being lonely? Or better yet, why is it that when we receive the blessing of God we soon long for the days before the blessing came? What do I mean? To help explain this thought, let’s look at the times of Moses. With the people of Israel enslaved to the Egyptians, they called out for a deliverer. When the time was right and the prophecy given to Abraham fulfilled, God sent Moses. Out of their slavery they came, a nation so numerous, yet thanking God that He had heard their prayers and made a way. But it didn’t take long before their joy turned back to sorrow. Exodus 14:11-12 records the people of Israel saying to Moses, “Didn’t we tell you to leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?” And this was not the only recording of their desire for the good ‘ole days of slavery. The Israelites are also recorded in Numbers 14:2-3 as saying, “’If only we had died in Egypt!’”, and in Numbers 16:12-13, “’Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert?’” And what is so sad about this last passage is that they considered Egypt to be the land flowing with milk and honey.
As I contemplate my life now, I can see where I too tend to have this same mentality. I fail to see just how God saved me from my ‘slavery’, be it my loneliness or what have you, just like I prayed He would. And now, when even the smallest of trials comes along, I desire to go back to the good ‘ole days, back to my slavery, with the thought that slavery is better than freedom. I have it wrong, thinking Egypt was the land of milk and honey when I know for a fact it is not. But I venture to say I am not the only one who does this. If you were to be honest with yourself, would you agree that you too have at times desired to go back to Egypt? Sure we survived in Egypt, but did we really live? God’s desire is for us to live in the Promise Land. So let us not find hardship and give up half way, travel back to our slavery and tarry. Let us live!

THE WORD OF GOD

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12

Awhile back I wrote a devotional about the sword Excalibur. As a lover of history, the age of knights and fair maidens is one of my favorite times to study. So it is then that I know well the tale of Excalibur. English history tells the story of a young knight who would become the British leader of the late fifth and early sixth century. That leader would be known in history as King Arthur. Although much of the life of the brave knight who became king is composed of folklore, due in part to the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth, there is little doubt that he did in fact exist. Perhaps the greatest debate then is the method in which he obtained this sword known as Excalibur.
There are two stories that continue to circulate, but the commonality to each is the sword’s magical powers. The first tale explains that Excalibur was the Sword in the Stone. In this account, the pulling of the sword from the stone was a feat that only a “true king” could perform. With his future rule as king granted because of his ability to lift the sword from its stone, he also won the rights to the sword itself. However, there is a second tale. It is in this folklore that the Lady of the Lake extended her hand from the waters to give Arthur his destiny, the enchanted sword named Excalibur. In both tales, the power of the sword is defined, for it is able to cut through iron as though it were wood and bring healing to its owner if he be injured in the fight.
While we may never know the truth of the sword that tall tales confuse for us, we do possess our own enchanted sword. The powers that cover our sword are not fabled uprisings or extensions from the waters, though, but rather a power that comes only from God Himself. We have the Word of God. This lamp unto our feet (Ps 119:105) is sharper than any double-edged sword. It is said that it can penetrate so precise, even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. And it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. It is this sword that we must take up daily as part of our armor (Eph 6:17). For how able to defeat the opponent is the knight who has no sword?
And while the sword may show itself needed for battle, it also shows itself needed as the medicine and healing agent for the wounded. It is to be hidden in our hearts so that we may not sin against God (Ps 119:11). It is to be obeyed so that the enemy does not have grounds to produce worse actions in our life (Jn 5:14). And it is God-breathed and useful for our teaching, rebuke, correction, and training (II Tim 3:16). This sword, the Holy Bible, inspired by men who followed hard after God, holds the key to eternal life and the power over eternal death.
You have been given this sword, this Excalibur, from God Himself. What are you doing with it? Is it sitting on the shelf collecting dust? Is it being used to ward off the enemy? It is the mysterious lamp unto your path, or the weapon that you’ve tossed to the side because you feel it doesn’t work right? Are you nurtured by this sword, or too afraid to consume it because it will change your life? God is no Lady of the Lake, but He has given you the power you need for every obstacle you will meet. He is handing you His sword now. Take it, and rise up as the warrior He is calling you to.

PLAYING WITH FIRE

“I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 16:8

When I was in my pre-teen years, I suffered briefly of being a pyromaniac. I know, you may think it hard to believe, but it is true. It started when my best friend and I were messing around with lighter fluid. We would squirt little patterns on the ground and then stand back, dropping a lit match. The fluid would burn up and leave us wanting to do it again. The patterns got more elaborate until one day I got the ‘bright’ idea to make a design from the ground up to his club house. I loaded the wood floor with fluid, being sure it was good and soaked, and trailed my path down the stairs, through the brush, and to our starting point. Then, standing a little distance off, I lit the match and watched as the liquid burned up and black smoke appeared. My ‘bright’ idea wasn’t that smart, though, and soon we were panicked, trying to grab the hose quickly to put out the fire that was eating away at the floor boards of the club house now. Between a mixture of water and sand, we got the fire out. I can still remember to this day the fear I felt, with legs shaking, as I think back to the potential blaze we just about had.
These days my pyromaniac-ism is under control. Sure, since then I have poured gasoline on a few hot wheels and watched them melt. Yes, I have made a bonfire in my BBQ. And true, I have tried to repeat the fiery furnace from Daniel 3 in my fireplace, but other than that it is under control. The fires I want to set these days, however, are of a different sort. I want to set people on fire with a passion for God.
I think of the words penned by David in Psalm 42:1. Just as the deer desired a drink, so David’s soul thirsted for God. Or how about Psalm 57:7 where David wrote that his heart was fixed on God. To me this speaks of passion. In Psalm 40:8 David even states he delights to do God’s will and His law is within his heart. But the one that sticks out to me most is Psalm 16:8, where David boldly proclaims, “I have set the LORD always before me.” The Message translation reads, “Day and night I’ll stick with God; I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.” Yet what does this mean? The word ‘set’ is the Hebrew word SHAVAH, meaning to agree with, become like, or resemble. David was so passionate about his relationship with God that he worked to resemble God.
So then, the next question I pose is how? How do we resemble God? Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us to be imitators of God and live a life of love. I Corinthians 11:1 tells us to follow Paul’s example as he follows the example of Christ. So perhaps the answer to how is in doing the things we know Christ did, which even Christ says were the things God did (Jn 5:19). Christ burned with passion to see people reverse their evil ways and come in surrender to Him. Christ portrayed a life of passion in healing people from all wounds, physical, emotional, spiritual, everywhere He went. And Christ etched out a life of passion in that while we were sinners He died for us.
I may have been a fire starter of sorts back in the day, but these days I want to set a new blaze. I want to reach out to people and extend the blaze I have for God to them, and walk in the example that Christ left for me. I am not the way to heaven, but I just may be a vessel God can use to start a flame in someone else. That said, I want to burn with a passion so blazing for God that it leaps off me and sparks a wildfire for God in someone else. I want to play with fire.

***check out this song by Britt Nicole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHIPe0JOr4w