Category Archives: Devotional

Spirit Fire: Proverbs 19:11, The Path of God

“A person’s wisdom yields patience;
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”

It is astounding how on target Scripture is. With this one proverb, thousands of years old, it quickly ascertains the short sighted impetus of today. For my children, politics aside, we spoke of a garden. We discussed seed time and harvest. Wisdom is a seed that when planted firmly and deeply into the gardens of our hearts, souls, and minds, bears much fruit when given time. We saw “an offense” as a weed that, in a mysterious way in our mysterious gardens, can only be pulled by overlooking it.

“Glory” was the doorway we entered to see how Jesus fulfilled this proverb. Because of His sacrifice on the cross God overlooked sin, the greatest offense from the Garden till the End. The highest glory be unto Him, amen.

This proverb revealed the path God took for our salvation.

Spirit Fire – Proverbs 19:9, The Gospel In Reflection

A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who breathes out lies will perish.

Proverbs 19:9

This was the proverb for our last Spirit Fire. After we discussed what it meant and compared it with 19:5, we came to the question that really opened the night up: How will this happen? We found that this was really about God’s justice and righteousness. He will do it. His justice demands it.

We took a step back and saw the seed of wisdom that the Proverb practically screamed: Don’t be a false witness!! Tell the truth! Which lead perfectly into my favorite question: Where is Jesus, how does He fulfill this proverb? He is the Way, the Truth and the Life! To see Him more fully, we looked at this proverb’s reflection. If perishing awaited a false witness, what awaits those who follow the True Witness: “They will not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. It got fun as we realized how Jesus fulfilled it by flipping it. We take upon ourselves His righteousness. It enables us to pass through the punishment due us.

In the end we caught a glimpse of the fabric of this reality God’s righteousness demands and we saw how His love through His Son Jesus fulfilled it for our salvation. Amen Lord Jesus, amen.

Spiritfire Proverbs 29:3, “The Path of The Damned”

A person’s own folly leads to their ruin,
yet their heart rages against the Lord.

Proverbs 19:3

This was the Proverb of our last Spirit Fire. The raging heart against God for the person’s own folly IS the folly that leads to ruin. Raging at the only One who can save us only serves to lock us in the dungeon and throw away the key. Repentance is the only path we can take that won’t lead to our destruction.

Repent, lay down your arms against the One who made you. Your anger can’t save you, only Jesus the Son of God can. All the rest is the path of the damned.

Name Calling

One evening I heard my kids fighting about something. They were calling each other names like, “You Meanie!”, etc. I called for a time-out and we all sat down to talk about it. I said to my daughter, “Listen, if I told your brother to tell you to do something right after you called him bad names, would you do it?” She had calmed down by then and answered me honestly, “No.” I asked the same of my sons and they too answered, “No.” But then I asked them if they would obey their sibling after they had said all kinds of good things about them, and they all said, “Yes.”

There was so much truth in that short intervention. Obedience is why we go to Church, read the Bible, and worship. Communion, prayer, all the practices and disciplines of the Faith like fasting and offerings are centered on it.

Over the years I’ve heard all kinds of debates over worship music. I’ve also heard many recent thoughts currently dominating the scene of how we corporately interact with God: “Calling down heaven”, “Seeking His presence”, etc. These seem like good things to me, but along with just singing a tune, it has very little to do with obedience. Should we then save worship singing for only those who are perfect? It would be a solemn service practicing the sacrament of silence if we did.

It seems more fruitful to me to corporately and individually speak good things about God no matter the circumstances. It all lines us up for obedience when no other eyes are watching but His.

So no matter the style: one word over and over or doctrine loaded hymns, as long as it is a good Name we are calling Him by, may it lead us to obedience. Let us lay it down before His throne and use it to help us carry our crosses till we see Him face to face.

Psalm 40:1-17
Luke 14:1-34

The MMA Chapter

I stayed up late one night watching MMA videos on youtube. The more I watched the more I found I could tell who was going to win just by looking into their eyes. I could see the fear while their opponent would come in hard with fists, knees, and kicks a-blazing. The fights I saw were over in moments. The difference in size and muscle didn’t seem to matter, it all came down to form and timing. One punch or roundhouse kick squarely landed and it was over.

I watched some act tough before the fight, even I know that’s easily done, and then I saw them get knocked out before the first minute. I was most amazed at how quick every thing was when one came in ready to fight and the other just made it to the ring in time. I watched reigning champions get felled by newbies and I thought about all the training involved. All that confidence and pride didn’t help one bit. They were illusions, mental games played with disastrous results.

As I watched match after match, I couldn’t get Hebrews chapter 1 out of my head. That beginning chapter, more than almost any other first chapter in the New Testament comes out blazing hit after hit. In fact, the kick/punch combos don’t even slow down till the beginning of the 2nd chapter. Are there any still standing? No one. So I dubbed it the MMA chapter of the New Testament.

Each verse is an uppercut followed by an elbow then a knee kick to the face over and over again. You can almost watch the devil get blinded by the first shot, then in comes the next one, and the next one. The devil has no defense, he knows he killed most of the prophets, but now it’s the Son, the resurrected Son. The ground n’ pound has just begun. The chapter is relentless, no referee is in sight. The chapter goes back to the beginning, even the heavens and earth will perish, but the Lord remains. Where is the place for the enemies of the Lord? A footstool! They are beat into the ground and their bodies are left to prop up His feet.

By the time this chapter is finished, my mind is blown away by how completely the enemies of the Son are defeated. I know I wouldn’t want to face off against Him. Maybe we are here for 80 years, but the Lord? Before the beginning of time till after it ends, He is, and He reigns supreme.

Amen Lord, amen.

Downpour

Is faith a construct of community?

Does it not get affirmed and encouraged by the leadership of the board or corrected and disciplined by the elders if in error?

What if all you’ve seen is abuse of power from a crying wife of a leader in the faith to Scriptural misinterpretations for personal gain? Entire seminaries that dance to the liberal tune of the government to gain financial favor, meanwhile training up students to lead churches that thankfully don’t exist or if they do they are far from home?

What room is there for someone who sees the holes? The only stories that ring with a flare of familiarity belong to the prophets of old. They stood in a place between God and man, such a terrifying place, but what if it’s the only place that feels like home, the only place that is trustable and reliable? Authority becomes an excuse for selfishness and is merely something to avoid.

I think of the story of the Protestant faith, the whole reason for its existence is because of abuse of power. If the Catholic church had been more humble in its use, I wonder… Instead, they pointed to themselves and declared immunity to all wrongs by their divine right. People won’t stand for it; it was always only a matter of time. Churches still split and wives are still oppressed over the same issues.

The victims turn on themselves because of fear with the knowledge that majority wins, majority has all the stuff after all. There is no solid ground here which verifies its falseness to the oppressors. The weak betray what they desperately needed, what they could have known, but the isolation terrifies them. All of their stuff becomes held in hostage till they capitulate.

What is there for those who feel at home with Him but far from the machine? Do we create a place for ourselves out on the rocks far from civilization? What of the hope for more for the children? So many have made it through ok, maybe they’ll be fine. We train them up to withstand that which we couldn’t. Maybe if I had grown up with ‘greener grass’, but you are lying to yourself. Turns out the grass is an illusion, a poison if God is who you seek.

There is an understanding of faith, of church, of God’s Will that constricts life by those who would use it. Does the statement, “People discover their own faith” carry any accuracy, any truth at all? Is faith not determined by the majority? Can one really wash their hands of their own creations? God have mercy on us all. What if the faith they discover leaves them without house and home, and is far from doctrinal integrity? Who determines the definition?

Some have found a place. Some can not shut their mouths because they search and seek for that which is the cause of their discontent. In the end, God will use people like Martin Luther who will break the machine because they caught a glimpse of Him and found it is far from where and what they were told.

If only people could see that God is here and God is now. The Bible gives definitions that help to reprove and correct, but when that source becomes polluted with politics, again God help us. Whether it be Latin or interpretation by tradition and doctrine or use of supposedly neutral tools like literary criticisms, we will find having a relationship with a living God is a bit more uncontainable than that.

He lives and moves beyond us and within us, terrifyingly close and mind-blowingly far. It is more fun to follow St. Ephrem the Syrian when it comes to describing Him. “The Great One who became small” is a fitting description. “The far One who became near” brings Jeremiah 23:23-24 and Psalm 8 within reach. The omniscience and omnipresence of God fulfilled in intimacy are beyond our abilities to comprehend no matter what words we create to describe it. He defies the ways that surround us, ways we have known since birth.

Looking to Him gives life, even thinking about Him provides breath, a breath that breathes deeper and more completely than the ways of man. Beyond the stars and beneath the blades of grass, He is.

How do we respond? How can we ever hope to measure up? We always strive to earn and achieve, but what hope is there for us to One who has time and space in His hands? It is easier for some to embrace the madness of fools and deny His existence, or to say because of the machine that no one can know anything for sure.

But Jesus came so that we would know one thing for sure: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Maybe it would help us to realize all our theology is an umbrella made of tissue paper and we are in the midst of the downpour of His love.

Ceremony For The Aborted

January 7, 2017

We performed the ceremony for the aborted babies last night. It was a holy night whose meaning was even more poignant being so close to our celebration of Jesus’ birth. Its nearness to the New Year was also purposeful as the children never got to live even for a moment let alone experience a new year.

I began the time with prayer. How can anyone conceive of such a number as 60 million? If a person would say 1 of their names per second it would take almost 2 years to say them all, but they weren’t given names. Praying for all the people I won’t get to know and love or be loved by made me rely on His power, grace, and mercy to even utter anything more than “I’m sorry.”

We then sang Christmas carols for the little ones: Silent Night, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing, both of which hit me profoundly. It was a silent night for them but for different reasons, and the heralding of angels in the face of a pursuing king to prevent such a threat resounded hallowedly and mournfully at the same time.

We read Psalm 142 to honor the plight of those millions. We’ve come to know it as the Psalm for the Aborted. Verse 4 stood out to me as the number of deaths overwhelmed and prevented me from establishing a more personal connection of compassion. I didn’t know them.

After the Scripture reading, we let the kids read the letters they wrote to the babies. They were full of sorrow and joy as they reflected on their death and on the life they now get to have with God in Heaven.

I then read a poem I was given by the author to use during our ceremony. It fulfilled our time, our reflection, our response to all of the loss.

As we prepared to light the tissue paper to commemorate their brief life, my wife opened the trash can which resembled the only casket they were allowed and lit the paper I held in my hand. It burned up so quickly. I held it too long and felt a moment of pain before letting it go. We all watched as the paper fell.

Following this was a moment of silence where we invited everyone to think about the night. I looked closely at the arrangement of beautiful flowers my wife had prepared. The babies would never smell them. Their lives were not taken by an accident, nor was it by a storm or a flood. Tragedies beyond number, only the Lord knows them all.

We then read Psalm 23 to lead our thoughts in giving the children to God. Verse 6 stood out to me as it spoke of the hope we have for them. We then lit a candle to represent this hope, their eternal life with Him.

We closed by singing Joy To The World, and listened to an impromptu song made by my daughter for all the aborted. We then each laid our hands on the trash lid as a farewell and said Hebrews 11:38 together: “The world was not worthy of them.”

I then finished the ceremony in prayer.

The Order of the Ceremony for the Aborted:

-Opening Prayer
-Worship, 2-3 songs
-Reading of Psalm 142
-Time of Confessing and Declaring their life mattered
-Reading of poem: “We Belong To You”, by Megan Engstrom-Bussert
-Lighting of the kleenex tissue- commemorating their brief life
-Time of silence
-Time of Dedication: Reading of Psalm 23- turning the babies over to God
-Lighting of a candle- commemorating their eternal life with Him
-Worship, 1-2 songs
-Closing Scripture- Reading of Hebrews 11:38
“The world was not worthy of them”
-Closing Prayer

In The Thick Of It

It’s all about how you host His presence, the presence of God. It ignites the gifts of the Holy Spirit or leaves them dormant. It is sort of like a stem cell treatment. When those things get activated healing comes, but they lie dormant in our fat. There is a lot to compare with the spiritual life here. The point? We can either let life be dormant in fear, but don’t expect His presence there, or we can live it to host Him and be surrounded by His reality, “perfect love drives out fear” 1 John 4:18.

I want to be in the thick of it with Him. In the thick of His action, His presence, His reality, that’s where I want to be. All the rest of life is fading.

Spirit Fire, Proverbs 18:20: Whose Lips?

“From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.”

Now I know I see Jesus whenever I read the book of Proverbs to my kids, but tonight I was preempted by my daughter. Each night I give my kids the chance to explain the proverb to me before I try, most times Betsy and I have to explain definitions of terms etc. Tonight, however, my daughter dropped this on me that changed/fulfilled the meaning and our direction for the night:

“His” is referring to God.

We then talked about John chapter 1- the Word became flesh and lived among us. Which then lead us to talk about the reason for this next season, Jesus’ birth, and that in the garden of our hearts, souls, and minds, a new tree is growing… A Christmas tree! And this proverb, with my daughter’s saintly explanation, was its first ornament!

Spirit Fire: Proverbs 18:19, “An Offended Brother”

“An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city,
and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.”

Last night’s Spirit Fire started out a little daunting for me. I read the proverb to my kids and knew right away that it was going to be a difficult one to explain. Like so many other times in my life, I jumped in anyways, and boldly told them Betsy would explain it.

After we got definitions out of the way, Betsy began explaining by using our kids as examples. She sited times when one of my son’s made my daughter so mad from teasing her, (usually from copying her), that when he needed her help, (like going downstairs with him to get something, because that still scares him, but not her), he has to beg her over and over. Sometimes he has to pay for his offense to inspire her to help by giving her whatever works.

I am so thankful that is not how we have to come before God when we pray for help. Because of Jesus, though He suffered the offense of the cross did not use it as an excuse to punish us or shut us out, we can come to the throne of grace with confidence, Hebrews 4:16. He actually turned the “offense” around and made it a cause for joy not fear, because through it Jesus opened the way for us to be with God.

Jesus went downstairs for us all, not because we bribed Him. He suffered the greatest offense of the cross because He first loved us. And we, who follow Him, are called to love through offenses no matter how much we may want to bar the gates.

“Open the gates and love!”