You're Looking Great Today!

Living life on God’s terms often seems impossible.  I have to remind myself constantly that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  In my arrogance I often find myself moving God off the throne.  “Step aside, Lord.  I’ve got this!”  Ha!  After Satan rips me to shreds and bulldozes me into the ground the Lord lovingly reaches down, picks me up, dusts me off, and reminds me that He is on the throne for a reason.  You probably never struggle with that, but I do.

Part of the struggle is learning to accept His judgment, and His alone.  My life is a constant battle to allow God to reign.  I know in my mind that He is sovereign.  In practice that is not always true.  So I have to go back to the basics.  God told us how he wants us to come to Him, setting the terms clearly for us.  Jesus shared them in the Sermon on the Mount.

I must come to Him poor in spirit, with nothing to offer.  Too often I think I’ve got something God could use.  Ha!  What arrogance!  Second, and equally important, I have to come to Him broken hearted over my sinfulness.  God blesses those who mourn.  Until I’ve seen just how destructive my sin is to me and those around me I will never receive the wonderful comfort He has to offer.  Third, I have to come to Him in humility, accepting His sovereignty and lordship, willing to accept the consequences of my actions and His rule in my life.  And last, and perhaps most important of all, I must long for a right relationship with Him so much that it is akin to starvation!  Hungering and thirsting for righteousness, seeking Him with my whole heart will bring satisfaction.

With that proper approach to God, coming to Him on His terms, things change.  He fills me with mercy.  Because our relationship is in the right place my heart is purified through His renewing Spirit and with clarity and insight I see Him as I should.  When I’m in that proper place my heart is burdened for the lost and I want to help others make their peace with God.  I have to!  Then there’s that whole being persecuted for doing what is right.  That part isn’t so much fun, but it does tell me that I’m where God wants me to be.

When my eyes are on my Savior I’m okay.  Too often they wander, and when they do I start to think that I’m in charge, that I reign.  In my sovereignty all of you don’t measure up.  Perhaps in your sovereignty I don’t measure up, although I can’t imagine how anyone could think that way.

Of course that is why God reminds us in Matthew 7:1-6 that we lack the ability to judge.  Don’t!  Do not judge lest you be judged!  Like me, there are those who struggle with the whole idea that we are incapable of judging.  Surely that word doesn’t mean what I think it does!

Fortunately for all of us it does.  The word judge in this instance is the Greek word KRINÕ (krinw).  When interpreting Scripture I follow three rules very carefully.  First, I give each word its normal natural meaning.  Second, I let Scripture say what it says.  Third, my interpretation must agree with all the rest of Scripture!  (Of course, if I haven’t read all the rest of Scripture I’m in trouble right from the start!)  So I looked up verses that use this word to get a sense of its normal natural meaning.

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.

John 3:17 NASB

Do not judge lest you be judged.

Matthew 7:1 NASB

Who are you to judge the servant of another?  To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:4 NASB

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this–not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Romans 14:13 NASB

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

I Corinthians 4:5 NASB

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

James 4:12 NASB

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:12 NASB

KIRNÕ (krinw) primarily means to separate, select, choose; hence, to determine, and so to judge, pronounce judgment.  If we really want to be accurate we can analyze the use of this verb in these verses as follows:

a.     To assume the office of a judge

b.     To give sentence

c.     To execute judgment upon

d.     To form an opinion (Romans 14:5)

These are all things we like to do when our eyes are focused on others instead of the Lord Jesus.  Perhaps that’s why Jesus used such a strong word picture in Matthew 7:2-6 to help us understand why we are completely unable to judge.  Here we are, worried about the little splinter in our brother’s eye when we have an entire tree in our eye!  Is it possible for us to remove it?  No!  Only God can remove it and give us clear sight.  When that happens our eyes are fixed on Him, not on each other!

Furthermore the Scripture is very clear on my condition.  I’m just never in a place where I could possibly judge another.  According to Psalm 41 and Romans 3:10-18 apart from the Lord Jesus there is within me no righteousness, no understanding, no turning toward God and His ways, and no good.  Verses 13-18 talk about the condition of my heart apart from Jesus, along with Jeremiah 17:9-10.  My heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?  The Lord is the only one who can search my heart and test my mind!  No wonder He warns me not to try to judge another!

I get it!  I’m so busy fighting this battle to keep Him on the throne of my life that I have neither the time, nor the ability to look upon another and determine anything beyond what Scripture reveals.  God’s laws are written for me so that I can know what is evil and what is good, and I’m going to be so busy applying those things to my life I can’t worry about what you are doing!

In fact, if I’m judging you, and finding you wanting, it’s a sure sign that His mercy is not evident in my life, and I’ve pushed Him off the throne again.  Therefore, for today, as long as I can remember this lesson and apply it, when I look at you I want to see all the potential of what Jesus can do through you today.  I want to encourage you to walk in His ways, live life on His terms, and accomplish wonderful things for Him.  In fact, you look pretty good right now!  May your life bless many today!

Poverty, Hunger, and the Homeless

Absurdity is the only word that accurately describes allowing a democratic bureaucracy to address poverty, hunger and homelessness.  Let me give you an example!  Recently I received a document from HUD, which turned out to be the official government’s final definition of “homeless.”  The document filled one hundred and one pages!  Would you like to know how much the study to produce that document cost the taxpayers?  Here is a hint.  It cost more than one year’s budget for Grace Resource Center, which is approximately 1.2 million dollars!

Poverty, hunger, and homeless are three abstract nouns with which we are all quite familiar.  For those of us who have experienced any of these conditions understanding the needs of those locked in the bondage they represent enables merciful and effective ministry.  Yet Scripture is clear that it does not fall merely to those who have experienced poverty, hunger, and being homeless to minister to those still in one or all of those conditions!

Ministry is the key word.  Governments cannot do ministry!  Many initially will disagree with the next statement I’m going to make, but if you think about it carefully, perhaps you’ll be able to see why I make it.  Only true believers (Christ’s disciples) possess the resources necessary to effectively minister to the needs of those in poverty, the hungry, and the homeless.  Please allow me to explain.

For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.”

Deuteronomy 15:11 NASB

“But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.

Zephaniah 3:12 NASB

God took the time to give specific instructions regarding how we were to deal with our poor, hungry, and homeless.  Some of it we accomplish without much effort, and in that particular part of the ministry we’re usually very efficient.  Our Lord, however, was not satisfied to have us simply provide a handout, but rather a hand-up.  And that, my dear friends, is where the job becomes much more difficult.  Just remember that nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

And you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat.  You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Exodus 23:10-11 NASB

If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother, but you shall freely open your hand to him and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

Deuteronomy 15:7 NASB

How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.

Psalm 41:1 NASB

Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

Psalm 82:3 NASB

He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.

Proverbs 19:17 NASB

Asaph’s cry to the Lord in Psalm 82:3 came at a time when compassion and obedience to God’s word had all but disappeared from the temple and priesthood.  Certainly the words of the verse suggest that there are consequences to being disobedient to God’s commands regarding the weak, fatherless, afflicted and destitute.  Here we must be very careful, for our churches must never lose sight of what it means to do God’s justice.

There’s an old saying:  “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  Steve Baker, Executive Director of Grace Resource Center has refined that statement.  According to him helping a hungry man means teaching him how to own the pond!

One needs to understand the root causes of poverty so that better insight into how to do justice to the afflicted and destitute, helpless and fatherless may be gained.  Certainly one can weigh the efforts of our current government and admit that welfare is not the answer.  Instead of freeing those in bondage to poverty, hunger, and the homeless the welfare system further enslaves them!  Asaph’s cry in Psalm 82:4-5 shows us that in his day the same problem existed.

Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.  But these oppressors know nothing; they are so ignorant!  They wander about in darkness, while the whole world is shaken to the core.

Psalm 82:4-5 NLT

Obviously the idea of delivering the poor, hungry, and homeless from their plight is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures.  It takes a lot of work to help a person in bondage to become free, to come to God on His terms and live life on His terms.  In many cases that will require years of painstaking labor.  Here are some Scriptures to help us better understand what God expects:

Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Proverbs 10:4 NASB

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.

Proverbs 14:23 NASB

Let him who steals steal no longer, but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.

Ephesians 4:28 NASB

Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business.  We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living.

II Thessalonians 3:11-12 NLT

Our goal with those who are in bondage to poverty, hunger, and homelessness is to help them become self-sufficient to the point where they can give something back, helping others in need.  Before I go further it would be appropriate to identify the two types of people in poverty, hunger, and those who are homeless.  Different methods will apply to each of these two groups.

There are those who are in poverty, hungry, and homeless through no fault of their own.  Many of them are people who have worked hard but through some tragedy have lost everything.  Katrina certainly produced many such people.  Tornadoes, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes, hurricanes, floods, avalanches, and war are common causes of poverty, hunger, and homelessness.  How many have fled to America from famine and war-torn lands with nothing but the clothes on their backs for the opportunity to live in a land of promise?  Folks in this predicament tend to be less of a challenge than those who are in the other group.

The second group is quite a different challenge.  The following verse will give us some insight into what is at the root of the problem:

Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest.

Proverbs 6:6-8 NASB

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues vain things lacks sense.

Proverbs 12:11 NASB

He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.

Proverbs 18:9 NASB

I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense; and behold it was completely overgrown with thistles, its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

Proverbs 24:30 NASB

Generational poverty is a direct result of losing sight of the root causes and dealing with them inappropriately.  The welfare system is designed to develop generational poverty rather than release people from its bondage because it is incapable of targeting the root causes and actually providing help.

For instance, let’s take Johnny, a third generation welfare recipient.  Johnny’s grandmother did not even go to school.  Her home was broken and dysfunctional.  Her daughter, Johnny’s mother, was born out of wedlock and raised in the home of a woman given to sloth and laziness.  Surrounded by multiple siblings she was raised in a loud and profane environment without respect.  Both grandmother and mother were consistently told by social workers and teachers that they were stupid.  The actual words may not have been spoken, but the message was clear.  As a result substance abuse, and domestic abuse became the norm.

Johnny got the same message, growing up in a violent culture without hope.  Most likely he’s ADHD and bi-polar, but had never been diagnosed.  As a result he begins to self medicate in order to retreat from the shame at a very early age, abusing alcohol or drugs, or worse, both.  He drops out of school by the ninth grade.  Johnny doesn’t read, has a vocabulary of 400-800 words, many of which should never be thought or spoken.  He cannot use complete sentences and when he communicates he needs physical gestures to interpret what he is saying.  He is unemployable, unmotivated, and will spend at least two terms in prison.  Chances are very good he will get some girl pregnant and start the whole cycle over again.

Second and third generation welfare recipients develop an entitlement mentality, instinctively look for a hand out rather than a hand up, do not respect themselves, and therefore do not respect anyone else or anything else.  Instinct is the basis of their decision making, not reason, for they see no future for themselves.

Many in our culture would rather not admit that people like Johnny exist, and most of them will ignore him and his needs.  He will always accurately read our body language and actions.

The only way to target the root causes of poverty, hunger, and homelessness is to give people hope, to give them a future, to help them to envision themselves as loved, respected, and worthy.

Truly, only those who can see another person through the eyes of Christ, as one worthy of a future in Him, only true believers (Christ’s disciples) possess the resources necessary to effectively minister to the needs of those in poverty, the hungry, and the homeless.  Only Jesus can change a heart.  A person who experiences the power of God in his or her heart and learns to follow His word in obedience will become a good and productive citizen.

Christians often forget that the vacuum in every soul that only Christ can fill is a very real and tangible thing.  Every person locked in the shackles of poverty wants something better, and will look for it in all the wrong places.  Some will look in a bottle, some will seek a higher high, others will try sex, some will even try to be parents, but until they meet Christ the void will remain.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.  Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.  Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

Proverbs 4:23-27 NLT

Weapons of Mass Destruction

As we remember what happened in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001 there are images that will always tug at our hearts, stories that will always bring tears of pride and deep sorrow to our eyes, and a sense of loss difficult to express.  Describing the permanent blank in the lives of wives, husbands, children, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and friends of those who were taken from us seems impossible.  All who have died since in the resulting conflicts on foreign soil constantly remind us of the real weapons of mass destruction–human beings filled with prejudice born of bitterness, rage, anger, and malice and fueled by hate and selfishness.

On September 11, 2001 heroes rose from the ranks of humanity, and they continue to rise every day since then.  I prefer to think of them more as people that represent what America is at its very roots.  These are men and women who put duty to God and country and their fellow man above themselves and stepped forward to risk life itself to help others and protect the innocent and helpless.  In the process they experienced losses that will haunt them for the rest of their natural lives.  Yet they would willingly step forward again to do what they knew was right, regardless of the cost!

Pictured on the right is my son, Jeremy with his lovely wife Savanna.  He was among the first to enter Iraq and though I feared for his life I was filled with pride to have a son who embodied true patriotism.  James Madison said it this way:  "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it.  We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."  John Witherspoon, member of Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President of Princeton University identified an American patriot with these words:  "[H]e is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind.  Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not [would not hesitate] to call him an enemy to this country."

Pictured on the left is my son Jeff with his lovely wife Tawny and their son, Brody.  Again, in observing my son as a man, and as an American citizen, I am filled with pride to know a man who embodies true patriotism.  Although he did not serve in the military he is no less a soldier fighting for what makes America great.  His character reminds me of the words of Jedediah Morse:  "To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys.  In proportion, as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in the nation . . . in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom.  I hold this to be a truth confirmed by experience, and it follows that all efforts made to destroy the foundations of our holy religion ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.  Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

Both of these men exhibit a strong faith in Jesus Christ, and they are true disciples.  Jeremy and Jeff believe that the moral principles and precepts contained in Scripture form the basis of all of our civil constitution and most of our laws.  Because they do not neglect the precepts contained in the Bible they are not men given to vice, crime, ambition, injustice, or oppression.  Working hard they have been successful early in life.  Jeff, on the left with Brody on his shoulders is an electrician.  Jeremy, with Eldon perched on his shoulders works at China Lake.  Their wives are women who face the challenges of life as young mothers with amazing confidence and humility.  Bristol, Eldon, and Brody, their children know they are loved, are nurtured by both parents, and will grow up with the Godly influence of parents who love God and each other.  The future of the Bennett family is full of potential and promise.  And that, is the true nature of America!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stand, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence sums things up nicely:  "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor."   There are many men and women in America today who still believe in being true Americans.  Patriots, one and all, they quietly take their places with a strong sense of duty to God and country, stepping forward to do the right thing without reservation or fear.  Some would call them heroes.  They would call themselves Americans.

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

Titus 3:1-2

Herein lies the difference!  Human beings filled with prejudice born of bitterness, rage, anger, and malice and fueled by hate and selfishness will not and cannot govern themselves, to control themselves, to sustain themselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.  On the other hand, men and women, boys and girls who are obedient, ready for every good deed, unwilling to malign anyone, uncontentious, gentle, and showing every consideration for all men will always stand in sharp contrast to the former.  Since the dawn of man these two forces have clashed.  Until the end of the age of evil, heroic warriors will always be needed to rise up against those fueled by hate and selfishness.  In the return of Jesus Christ alone will the end of these battles come.  Let us pray for His quick return!