Curse of the Flying Hunting Dog

Sometimes - more often than not - the opinions of those around us just don’t hold water. In the South where I am from there is another expression for an ill-thought-out plan, argument or opinion: That dog just don’t hunt. Bad grammar and all!

As for the nonsensical title of this blog it serves two purposes: first, to get curious people to read it and second, to link common southern sense with biblical truth. The truth in question is the verse:

Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight. Prov 26:2

In common English this means that an undeserved curse is like a fluttering bird that will not land, namely not land on you. It simply has no validity and should not be worried about.

Throughout our lives we will encounter people – even in the church – who try to define us by something other than God’s truth. In the worst sense people are sometimes told that they will always be a certain way, and that “way” is invariably not desirable.

It might be, “You will be a failure”, like your sibling, mother or dad, or, “God cannot use you” because of something in your past or a perceived lack of gifting. I pastor people all the time that can’t seem to dislodge these lies from their souls. These defining lies are more like curses, and they seem to be carried from one generation to another.

This post cannot encompass this subject in full, but suffice it to say that every word of man that seeks to define us in any way must measure up to the word of God. A good man at his best can only encourage and equip us, but it is God the Father who defines us.

I have personally come to the point that when someone says something unbiblical or stupid about me I am better able to quickly compare it to what God’s word says. If the person’s statement doesn't measure up I say, “Sorry, inadmissible in a court of grace.” I then forgive the person and move on. I also try to equate what they say to the photo of the dog in this post. This helps me smile about it all.

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:16,17

The Dearly Departed, Former, Whatever We Used to Be

I asked some Ukrainians recently if they consider themselves former Soviet Ukraine or just “Ukraine.” The answer was unanimously “Ukraine”, but the media still frequently refers to this region as the former such and such. This is of course to highlight the contrast from old to new, but it gets a bit old if the past was negative and if you are the one being described as the former: alcoholic, drug addict, felon, dropout, etc.

I never hear of the US still referred to as the former colonies although this was probably the case in Great Britton for at least a century after our independence. Of course, there are a few die-hard anachronistic types who still call us the colonies.

In a funny way my country’s national Independence and our spiritual rebirth – salvation through Christ - were a little like immigration in that we moved from one jurisdiction to another, but we moved legally without getting on a boat or plane.

Paul – formerly Saul the persecutor - tells us in several places that the spiritual change was so drastic that the old person – who we were outside of Christ – is actually considered legally dead, and we have new lives in a new kingdom. If this is the case we should adopt the customs and identity of the new kingdom, namely of the King Himself, and renounce the old ways of the old world.

Now considering the former there was a time when it was inconceivable that the status quo could pass away; case-in-point, the former Soviet Union. But it is gone. Someone believed that it could pass, and it did. Then there was Saul the aforementioned persecutor. Well, I am sure the first church held out little hope for him at the time, but God also changed that in a moment.

The same could be said for friends who we now consider former atheists, former substance abusers, former Muslims etc. There are even now nations like Iran that we may consider to be both national enemies and a collective enemy of the gospel that are at the tipping point of becoming something altogether different with regards to God, something better and maybe even something good.

In all of this the celebration of a New Year is a good place to reset the compass of what faith can do, but the real change in nations begins with a change in hearts, and that change can take place in one moment for an individual. The change can be so profound that the hint of the former will eventually become a distant memory. So “Out with the old, and in with the new” can be a statement of faith after all.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:17

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:11

Never Disappointed

For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." Rom 10:11

Imagine that you lived in a world where nothing lets you down. All politicians do what they promise, your job is secure, products work as advertised, everyone thinks you are great, your church exceeds your expectations and your pastor never makes mistakes or offends you.

In motivational seminars they often ask, “What would you do in life if you knew you would never fail?” They then offer to sell you a product that will help you achieve that goal, and if it does not work you will be disappointed with the people who sold it to you, disappointed that you couldn’t fulfill that dream and disappointed at yourself for either buying that product or not having the initiative or talent to make it work.

Yet God promises that in such a world of guaranteed pain and failure it is possible to NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED. That is, if we trust in Him. But what does it mean to trust in Him? The list of scenarios are as long as life itself, but trust in God implies ultimate trust and this is where we can begin in our understanding of never being disappointed.

Ultimate Value: If you allow anyone on this planet to define you or ascribe value to you then you will be disappointed. The best that I can do even as a Christian leader is let you know how God values you, but I might also be having a bad day and by not being as polite as I should you might judge your value by the amount of attention that I give. This is a best case scenario – it happens in every church every Sunday - but this world is even meaner and will rip you apart with unkindness. However, God shows us how He values us by what He gave to save us, His only Son. Jn 3:16

Ultimate Purpose: Forrest Gump asked his mama if he had a destiny, but even his mama could not fully define his destiny and she truly loved him. We are not feathers floating around to nice theme music. The reality is more like hopscotch in a mine field at times.

God defines our purpose, but He does not wind up our lives like a toy and then walk away while we stumble through the pitfalls of this world alone. He is actively fulfilling His promises and causing all things to work together for ultimate good. Even when man lets us down by dropping the ball of our lives – case in point the life of Joseph – God is the one who is really in control. It is a promise. Rom 8:28

Ultimate Accountability: I am accountable to many people, but ultimately I am only accountable to God. If I seek His face and obey Him the best that I can and still am not successful by man’s standards I can be content. I am called to obedience. I am also called to fruitfulness, but that fruitfulness is based on abiding in Him and may not always be deemed success by this world or even by some in the church. By some of the standards that I hear these days people would even call the life of Jesus a failure if I were to tell the same story in a modern setting and change the names. The same would go for the Apostle Paul. But God was pleased, well-pleased!

God never promised freedom from pain in this life. He never promised that people would not let us down. He never promised that everyone would love us and be for us and be excited about our destinies. But He did promise that our hearts would never be broken by Him, and if we will come to Him with broken hearts, He will heal us. He also made a few more promises that will not fit in this post, over 3000.

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Rom 5:3-5

My Big Toe Advocate

My first school bus was bus #133, and it was so old that it looked like one of those school busses you might see in a cartoon that actually had a face and could smile and talk. You know, like Thomas the Tank Engine. I was in the first grade, and during my first few weeks I felt like young Forrest Gump as all the older kids staked claims on the best seats.

Of course the most prized seat was at the back, and only the toughest guy could stake that claim. Not only did this guy - a 6th grade bully who was twice my size – claim the back of the bus as his fiefdom, but for some reason he decided that the big toe on my right foot was his enemy. For many days he would stomp the heel of his shoe on that toe until it was swollen, bleeding and infected.

I was afraid to tell my parents, but my mom saw my limp and after seeing the damage she made me show my dad. Well, my dad, Arthur Watkins, was your typical working-class guy who slaved in a local textile mill his whole life. He was neither the best dad nor the worst dad. He had hands made of steel, and I was generally afraid of his wrath. However, I was soon to see a side of him that I will never forget.

Instead of totally losing his cool my dad just asked me how long this had been going on and who was doing it. He usually said things like, “If a bigger guy bullies you just pick up the nearest stick and knock him in the side of the head.” But this time was different. He just quietly said. “This won’t happen to you again.”

The next day I was on the bus heading home, and dad would arrive home from work an hour after me. The bus soon squeaked to a stop near my house, the double doors swung open and as I began to exit the bus I met the towering figure of my dad getting on. It was a Clint Eastwood spaghetti-western moment, and I knew that some kid on the back of the bus probably would not live to graduate 6th grade. People get arrested for stuff like this these days.

I froze as my dad passed me and went to the back of the bus. He approached the bully who by now was getting spiritual. He looked the kid in the eyes and said, “You have been hurting my son. It will never happen again.” And then without another word we got off the bus and walked home together.

I have never forgotten this day, and it reminds me that if our earthly fathers protected us as best they could then what about our heavenly Father? If I had known what my natural father was capable of doing on my behalf I would have confronted this bully with confidence long ago.

If we also knew the advocacy and power of our heavenly Father we would not put up with the harassment of the bully of our souls, the devil.

By the way, that guy never even looked at me again until I met him over 30 years later. I was preaching in a church, and he was in the congregation. I talked with him after the meeting, but I never mentioned the incident because he did not remember me.

I’ll bet he remembered my dad though!

Missions: Ejection, Reflection & Reconnection

When I served in the United States Air Force my job was aircrew life support. This had to do with everything that kept the pilot of an F-15 fighter jet alive: parachutes, ejection survival kits, water survival training, helmets, oxygen masks, etc. One day I had just changed out the survival kit on an ejection seat before the pilot climbed in for a mission. The kit including a life raft that automatically deployed and inflated after the pilot was released from his ejection seat. Hopefully, he would never need this…

I had a few more jobs that day, and upon returning to the squadron shop I found out that the same pilot had just ejected over the Gulf of Mexico. I froze and turned pale with fear, but we later found out that all my equipment had worked and the pilot survived with injuries after punching out at over Mach 1 and landing in the Gulf.

The pilot was not in error, and the cause of the crash was structural failure. The Air Force knows that a pilot’s confidence is often low after a mishap, so they always seek to get the pilot back in the cockpit as soon as he is physically able. Our pilot was flying again in a month.

On the mission field there are also mishaps of various degrees where the missionary has to punch out, leave the field (eject). This could be battle-fatigue, health-related, severe persecution, marriage or family related or even spiritual failure.

Regardless of the reasons I have found that even though many ministries do a good or average job of sending out missionaries very few know what to do when a missionary has to eject. This is true for small ministries and large denominations alike. The ministries and leaders do care about their people, but they just don’t have the experience with this phase of ministry.

Some missionaries end up as adjunct staff members of churches with little definition, few who understand them and little to do because it is believed that they need an extended break from all ministry. This is often called “being retooled”, but this is not only a misnomer but a total misunderstanding of what the missionary needs.

I have experienced this to various degrees during our 16 years on the field, and I now find myself advising other missionaries who feel that they have failed, been fruitless or found themselves on the perpetual “sick list” of their ministry because they needed to eject for a season.

While the needs of many missionaries are very unique and not easily understood by the sending agencies there are some simple principles by which we can keep our missionaries encouraged and moreover, in a state of health in all areas of their lives. There are not many who will uproot their lives to move to another country, so we would be wise to help those who do as much as we can. The bench of replacements is usually empty, so I have compiled a short maintenance list that will keep us flying. To be fair to my own ministry many of us are working on ways to better implement these ideas.

Retool
I hate the way this word has become a blanket answer for actually doing little, but in the right context it means to sharpen or give a better tool for the task. The zeal of the worker is not in question, only the effectiveness of the tool. This is a matter of training, and training does not mean sitting. It means doing.

Rebuilding
When something has been built wrongly it needs to be repaired or built again from scratch. It might need a new foundation altogether. Some missionaries have a works or a man-pleasing foundation that cause them to burn out quickly. This might also cause them to burn others out. Unfortunately, this may take an extended season of sitting and learning how to be a follower of Jesus all over again. The famous racing horse Seabiscuit had been trained so badly – trained to lose so other horses would feel more confident - that his new trainer said that he just needed to learn how to be a horse again.

Relaunching
This happens when an attempt at launch reveals a faulty strategy or poor state of readiness. Reassessment, correction, and subsequent better preparation will make a relaunch more effective. Again, inactivity is not the answer. Listen, study, Work!

Refreshing or Refueling
When someone needs encouragement then we should simply encourage them. This is not a complex or deep concept. The umbilical cord from sending nation to the field is often long with limited nourishment – encouragement, coaching, mentoring – coming through. The missionary might have done everything right and still have met with little success. Refreshing comes with periodic breaks in ministry to spend time with God, family and missionary friends who know how to encourage us with new perspective and wisdom.

Restoring
On most computers there is a “restore point”. This rolls back the operating system to a time before the virus or mistake was made that caused the computer to shutdown. Restoration when there has been personal error is not easy, but suffice it to say that there must be a plan to remove the error and reboot the person’s life and ministry at that point. The restoration can occur in proportion to the health of that person and the renewal of trust with those who were affected by the failure.

Resuscitate
To bring back to life, from death or near death. This is essentially CPR. All people, saved or unsaved, are valuable to God. If you don’t believe this then look at the average price paid for each individual life. A good shepherd will leave the 99 for the one.

A battered reed he will not break off, and a smoldering wick he will not put out, until He leads justice to victory. Matt 12:20

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Is 40:29-31

Discipleship or Eugenics?

Most people know the first word but not the second, and few would ever guess the connection between the two in the context of raising up leaders. Eugenics is a dark science that sprang from Darwinism. It basically tried to improve humanity by sterilizing those races or economic groups deemed to be substandard so that only the so-called best of humanity could multiply. In other words it allowed only a special class to bear fruit. The worst modern example of eugenics in action was the Holocaust.

When I was a young believer a school of thought had crept into the church which said the people most capable of changing society with the gospel were the ones that were already the cream of the crop. Some Christians were even told to target these people with evangelism and to bypass “ordinary” people. Even recently in the former Soviet Union this teaching has gained new ground where one Christian leader actually said that revival or lasting change could never come from “ordinary” people. It would only come when great world leaders repented. See Gattaca for some shock value.

All of this runs counter to everything in God’s word, and the ultimate root of this perspective I believe is a desire for success in the eyes of men. I thought that I was immune to it myself until I found an inner voice saying, “Don’t waste too much time with these people. They are not movers and shakers. They will take too much work to clean up.” Ah! Even though I did not agree with this I had still heard this teaching enough to have been stained. I am now glad to be free of it!

The subtle cancer of eugenics pops up all over the place in Christianity, and I have wanted to say the following for over 20 years. Why do Christian ministries hire models for church or ministry promotional photos rather than using their own people? Wow, it felt good to say that! Even though most of us do not hire models to represent our faith we do hire professionals to do the ministry that we ourselves should be doing.

I am thankful to have heroes of faith, but an over-reliance on the “super pastor” can essentially render the rest of us fruitless. The biblical purpose of leadership is to lead and equip others to minister, not to atrophy the potential of others by doing it all ourselves because we think we are the best at doing it.

I am not naïve in my position here because I do know that functional people can bring stability to a ministry when they come to Jesus, and dysfunctional people can be high maintenance for many years. However, we should try to reach and train them all and not be a respecter of persons.

I have seen functional people get saved and grow quickly as leaders as God used their natural abilities to advance His kingdom. There are also functional people who are self-reliant and stubborn about yielding to God. I have seen people from the so-called bottom of society rise incredibly by the grace of God out of profound dysfunction and bondage to a position of leadership and fruitfulness that simply confounded my reasoning.

What is the lesson in all this? Judging people by their appearance, abilities and position in life is ultimately judging God as an inept creator and an impotent redeemer. It is also a subtle seed of humanism which is a nice way of saying a spirit of antichrist.

Below our skin we are all the same. The same DNA. The same nature. The same price that was paid. The same glory given to God when one is saved. Shepherds, fishermen and one Carpenter can still turn the world upside down.

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. 1 Cor 1:26-29

Simple Christian Investment Strategies

No, I have not rediscovered some long-lost mineral mentioned in the Apocrypha that will extend your life to 120 years if you eat a bowl of it every day. Such things make it onto certain Christian TV programs as the newest thing that the church needs to buy. Within a month they go the way of the dodo and the latest exercise equipment that collects dust in our basements and garages. I never cease to be amazed at what some people will fall for.

Concerning Christian investments I am not talking about a business either, but it may involve some money. In a time where the bottom is falling out of investments there are some people who actually invest in things long-term, and when there is instability in the market they just wait for things to return to normal.

In God’s economy investment usually means something long-term. The resources that we invest are simple: time, people and materials. The things that we invest into are visions, projects and last but not least, people.

Investing in God’s people is probably the best and safest possible investment, and let’s take a look at why. First of all this is where God places His investment. He gave up His best possession, His only Son, to save people, so they must have tremendous value despite the fact that they are prone to self-destruction and are often relegated to the basements of society.

God not only purchased these people, but He then invested His very Spirit into their lives. It is often hard to see why He did this because His Spirit is always in a tug-of-war with their stubbornness and self-will.

Now hold on Wall Street or Church Street because God is resolute in His investment strategy. He is not subject to change with the wind like these two aforementioned streets. God has an enormous arsenal of resources at His disposal. He can do miracles beyond comprehension – not to mention that man is one miracle and the earth that we stand on is another – to accomplish His goals. Alas, He forgoes this so that His investments, you and I, can get the word out instead. He does this even though we are not always the best promotional ads for His kingdom.

So why is investing in people the best Christian investment strategy? Because at the end of the day it has the greatest return because all the other bells and whistles, steroidal church growth methods, gimmicks, etc fail to realize what God’s goal actually is.

The goal is people, and investing in people so that they can in-turn become investors in people is the best way to reach people. It works this way because people respond better to people than they do to anything else. This is how God made us, and He made us this way so we could respond personally to Him.

As a husband, father, missionary-pastor and sometimes mentor I can attest that there is no substitute to investing personally into the lives of others. When we all do this using God’s values and goals the return is nothing less than a changed world. Any other investment will eventually become a dodo.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. Matt 6:19-20

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Tim 2:2

By the way, I know I overuse that last verse, but as long as the church underutilizes it I will keep harping on the same thing.

I Must Decrease

One of my favorite areas of ministry is mentoring young believers and young leaders. I enjoy seeing new believers discover more and more about Jesus, His grace and His call to reach others. I enjoy seeing young leaders take more responsibility and come up with ideas better than my own. I am also a little selfish here because if the young leaders will do more then I will have to do less.

LESS. Now that is not a popular word. As in fashion where “Green is the new Red” we now find that “Less is the new More.” I am hopelessly colorblind, green really is red for me, so I probably ruined that last example. The problem with this new – actually ancient – spiritual fashion is that some leaders just can’t get enough of “more”.

I often hear of leaders still trying to hold the reigns on peoples’ lives, on the creativity of their leaders and lastly on the pulpit. In its extreme it is both sad and tragic as a whole generation is stunted in their growth because of one person.

John the Baptist set the bar when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Jn 3:30 I think that this frightens many leaders because they simply cannot see the Holy Spirit moving in anyone except themselves. Other leaders think that the most talented has to be the one up front, and some are more simple-minded in their approach. They think that they are Moses incarnate.

“Less” and “Decrease” do not mean a decrease in the kingdom of God. This actually means increase in the right context. A kingdom that depends on one man being the conduit of the power of God will surely blow a fuse. The fuse is often the pastor. However, the increase comes from the enormous magnitude of effectiveness when God’s power, creativity and purpose are manifested in all His people. We want the lordship of Jesus to increase in the lives of all people, not our lordship.

There are several areas where this principle causes more growth:

• The more I come to Jesus on a daily basis and rely less on my natural strength, the more His kingdom will be manifested in my life. Still working on this!
• My daughters are at the age where I am mentoring them to make their own decisions. I often ask them what they think God would lead them to do in a specific situation. This sharpens their discernment, and this is necessary now because in a few years they might have their own families. They will still probably call me though to babysit.
• Young believers have to be carried at times, but we need to help them stand on God’s word, and we have to instill a personal faith in them that does not rely on the people or things around them. They need to be weaned from us so they can feed themselves.
• Young leaders need to be able to express their own creativity, and we need to give them reasonable latitude to make important decisions even if we might disagree. Letting people skin their knees a little with some not-so-so-well-thought-out-plans can be a valuable lesson. We can’t insulate them from pain and failure, but we can help them grow in wisdom to make mature decisions.
• We can also simplify the vision so that our personal gifting is not projected over them. Let them be creative. They hear from God as much as we do. Let them take the wheel sometimes.
• Let them take the wheel more.
• Then give them the wheel.

When we hold on to the wheel we will eventually lose it, and God’s kingdom invariably suffers a setback. When we decrease and let Jesus increase in the lives of others we actually lose nothing. People grow, God’s kingdom grows and the leaders whom we helped only invite us back in as wise counsel and eventually peers.

Even Jesus wanted His disciples to do more miracles than He.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Jn 14:12

The Minimum for Salvation

It was one of the most eclectic groups of pastors I have ever been in, and we were all navigating our way through a class on Systematic Theology 101. The teacher had a Reformed background, but the pastors ranged from Arminian to Calvinist in their experience. They all agreed that they were at least saved, but they could not agree if they were saved before or after they repented. You might not be familiar with the debate on this, but it is humorous at times. Another thing they could not agree on was “how they stay saved”.

How to stay saved. It is also not a new debate, but I will state my belief here and now. Trying to stay saved is like concentrating on keeping my heart beating. The thing will beat whether I think about it or not, and thinking about it too much will probably shorten my life due to stress. Striving to “stay saved” will also wreck our walk with God. He keeps my heart beating in the same way He keeps me in His hand. Jn 10:28-29

Anyway, the teacher was talking about grace that day, and those of a legalistic persuasion were getting nervous because all their “works” and energy to stay saved were being rendered null and void with each consecutive verse from the teacher. Then one pastor knew he had the question that would stump the teacher.

“So then, what is the minimum someone has to do to be saved?”

The teacher paused just long enough to inhale enough air to answer. He neither planned to hear such a question that day nor did he plan the answer that he gave. It just popped out to the astonishment of all the listeners.

“The minimum to be saved is the same as the maximum to be saved.” No one expected such an answer, and most of the class had that expression on their faces that puppies have when people try to talk to them, just a slight tilt of the head to one side and a tightening of the brow. It was a wonderful moment that I have never forgotten.

The teacher went on to explain several simple truths, and a few of these are from me:

• It is not what we do to be saved, but it is what Jesus did to save us. He did the work. Rom 11:6
• The Holy Spirit reveals to us that we are lost, no hope, no exit, just very lost. Jn 16:5-15
• The Holy Spirit brings to life whatever we have read, seen or even thought about concerning the gospel and our lives.
• The Holy Spirit reveals to us the person and ministry of Jesus through whatever we have read, seen or even thought about.
• Something happens in us, a breaking, a softening. We can sit quietly, we can wail in terror or we can laugh. It makes no difference how we respond with our emotions.
• In the end we yield; we give way to Another. He takes control ever so gently and turns everything to a new direction. This is repentance.

So then, where is the work? Sorry I left out our contribution, but it comes in various forms:

• We work hard to resist the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives before we are saved…and sometimes even afterwards.
• We work hard to convince people they are lost. Sorry, it is not our job. The Holy Spirit does the convicting.We are to be living witnesses who share our hope.
• We work hard to punish ourselves even after God has forgiven us.
• We try to clean our spiritual house with bulldozer techniques instead of letting God gently remove the baggage.
• We run so far ahead of God in His plan to the point of exhaustion. He then walks by as we are straining at the oars – He is usually walking on water – and He instantly brings us to our destination. Mark 6:45-52; Jn 6:16-21

Yes, we do a lot of unnecessary work trying to help Jesus finish what He has already done and accomplish in our strength what He plans to do through us by His strength.

Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Heb 10:14

Christian Victory & The Battle at Kruger

No, Kruger is not a city occupied by the Philistines in the Old Testament. It is a national park in South Africa where some tourists took a very rare video of a pride of lions attacking a baby water buffalo. As you can see in the video the attack begins like many you have seen on Animal Planet. A large buffalo tries to ward off the lions, but the buffalo’s calf follows too closely. The lions capitalize on the situation by chasing the young calf into the water. While in the water the lions get in a tug-of-war with a crocodile, and the calf is the rope but the lions wrench it from the mouth of the crock.

Then things change, and they change unexpected and drastically. You can watch this video which has finally caught the attention of National Geographic because it was a viral hit on Youtube.

The calf is rescued by an extraordinary display of courage from the herd, and the lions experience something that they never experienced before, defeat of the predator by the prey. The irony of nature is that the buffalo has superior strength and superior numbers, but in its mind it is the prey and the lion is the predator.

As Christians we often develop a victim-prey mentality that determines the outcome of any given battle before it starts. This is ironic considering the strength of the God whom we serve and the resources that He has bestowed upon us for spiritual battle.

Our adversary also has the ability to sniff out the weak among us – it is often us – and he isolates that person while the flock grazes in ignorance. It does not take much effort to rescue the weak, just a phone call, a visit and some encouraging prayer.

Also, the best defense is often an offence, and as soon as Christians know their identity, calling and power the sooner victories will follow. We also need to take care of the weak and young among us.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Eccl 4:9-12

Atheism: Camping at God’s Grave

Concerning belief in God there is a broad spectrum of positions ranging from devotion, to acknowledgement, to ignorance and finally direct opposition. I have met many people in my life all holding different positions. Many religious people are indifferent, and most who call themselves atheists or agnostics are only stating a shallow opinion on the subject.

However, standing at opposite ends of the spectrum are two camps that look at each other in total disbelief and fascination. The committed atheist wonders at the life committed to the unseen deity, but the believer must also wonder about the commitment of the atheist. I checked Google today and there were 15 million hits for the phrase “There is no God”.

Motive & motivation are always a factor in belief or unbelief, and I marvel at the determination of the atheist to prove that something does not exist. He even becomes angry at that thing that does not exist to the point that he seems to be camping out at the grave of God, always digging a hole to prove that it is empty. He can’t seem to tear himself away from digging much like a dachshund my wife once had growing up. He was obsessed with turning over large rocks in the back yard to see what was under them. After he turned over the rock he would proceed to do it again and again until we stopped him.

The committed atheist often becomes one at a young age before having devoted a lot of study to the subject. There is usually some event that has shattered his view of God. It could be the failing of a leader, a misrepresentation of some biblical truth by a charlatan or an unexplained loss. Personal failings are often projected onto God with illogical results. “I am mad at God about myself, so I will keep him in exile. I will maintain his nonexistence.” Simple revenge. All evidence after this is seen through these glasses as objectivity is lost and the radical is born.

You would think that once the idea of God has been eliminated that the person’s anger and moral crisis would disappear; however, for the committed atheist it often intensifies. I see a similar thing in people who have unresolved issues with a loved one who has passed away. In their hearts they are still arguing with that person to the point that they feel anger when they visit their grave. Some atheists are in a worse situation because they are angry with what they believe is an empty grave.

One aspect of radical Atheism’s continued fight with the nonexistent god is what it considers to be “the problem of evil”. While claiming that evil exists – an assumption that requires an absolute morality - they claim that a benevolent god whose existence defines good & evil does not exist because evil exists. Once again, their hearts reveal that they are waging a personal debate - based on God - with a personal God…who can’t exist. A non-existing god is kept in place as the whipping boy for humanity's failures, and the radical atheist can scarce live without him.

There are a great many arguments on each side of this great debate, and I have encountered many of them. I am one who has committed his life to knowing a personal God, but I do not understand a life committed to proving God does not exist. If God does not exist then our existence is short. Why waste time debating unless the questions of the soul concerning God are not really answered? Why not “eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” as Solomon said?

Life is indeed short. All sides agree. Eternity is long. Atheists do not agree on this, but in private they wish for a good eternity when they reach their later days. The irony of it all is that God did have a grave. He became like us, lived like us, died like us and inhabited a grave for a few days. The grave could not hold Him though. It will not hold us either from entering one of two eternities. Pascal wagered that closing the door on God is not wise, and even though it is an old wager it is still a good one.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Heb 11:6

… the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen! Luke 24:5,6

The Typist: Monkey, Maker or Lucky Mud

I was discussing the new movie Expelled with my daughters the other day, and I was able to recount to them my own experience with the Intelligent Design vs. Evolution debate. For those of you who do not know, the movie is a documentary about free speech restrictions and harassment towards people – in the US of all places – who adhere to the Intelligent Design position.

As a Physics student who was also a new Christian at the time I often found myself in the middle of debates, but one occurrence always comes to memory. It took place in my Thermal Physics class where we were discussing the mathematical representation of entropy. Hey, don’t tune out here. I will keep it simple.

Here was my professor’s presentation: How long would it take a monkey typing randomly to eventually type out Hamlet with no mistakes. The monkey of course cannot read, and we assume that in this thought experiment that even if we gave him 4 billion years of trial and error he would not just evolve into William Shakespeare and figure it all out. He is just a random key puncher.

Next, we increased the odds by allowing 30,000 monkeys to work together for 4 billion years. A lot of bananas needed for motivation. Will one of them come close to typing out Hamlet? The statistical answer is “NO”. Then my professor likened the odds to this happening to the odds of humans and chimpanzees not being genetically related. Yes, he used this to support evolution. Since there was very little difference in our two DNA's he postulated that we must have come from the same line.

The argument made a weak point, but there were other problems. The DNA line was similar, but it did not point to a common ancestral origin. It pointed to a common originator, designer or Creator as some us refer to Him. In much the same way that engineers use the wheel for a myriad of inventions the Creator used four limbs, a trunk and a head for most of His design.

I said nothing in class that day because I had a plan up my sleeve. The monkey argument had a more gaping flaw, so the next day before class I snuck in 30 minutes earlier and wrote on the board, “What is the statistical chance of nature at the typewriter being able to type out the classic work known as DNA in 4 billion years?” Hamlet contains over 130,000 letters and the odds of it being typed with a universe full of monkeys is 1 in 10^183,800. This is basically ZERO.

Now for DNA. The human genome contains about 3,100,000,000 letters which is equivalent to 100 Manhattan phone books. This is 23,000 times the letters in Hamlet. We still come out with ZERO CHANCE, a bigger zero if you know what I mean.

Yet here we stand pondering the typist. Shakespeare, whose DNA is similar to a chimp, can type out Hamlet and a few other works, but a chimp cannot type out the word “banana”. There is another Typist I think – you may not agree – and in light of the sheer impossibility of wind, water & fire being in the publishing business it is not unreasonable to inquire if there is a ghost writer behind it all.

My professor – one of my favorites – walked into the class, read the board, grunted and then erased my question. He did not do the math.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalms 19:1

A New Leaf or a New Day

The New Year is a time when many people make resolutions, goals or radical commitments for change. There is very little spiritual significance in the change of the number 2007 to the number 2008, but there is a lot of momentum when whole societies try some kind of change all at the same time.

A number of years ago I started to go to the gym – oh, I need to resolve to go back – but I started my routine a few months before the holidays. After January 1st my trainer, Anatoliy, said, “Watch, the gym will fill up the next few weeks, people will exercise themselves sick and then give up.” True to his prediction, we watched in awe and humor as new faces came and went. The main problem was that people had unreasonable goals and they were trying to undo in 5 visits the damage and excess of living that they accumulated over their entire lives.

Christians often greet the New Year by thinking that God wipes away the past year and that all they have sown in the past will somehow cease to exist at midnight on December 31st like Cinderella’s ball costume, only in reverse fashion. The sad news is that this simply is not so.

However, the good news is that with God we do not need a New Year to make things right. God’s mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness never fails. Goals for the New Year are good, but the best way to realize them is not a sudden unrealistic surge of activity. Setting the daily goal to meet with our God insures a stable life where mercy is ever-present and foundations are laid at a rate where they can solidify to make us strong throughout the year.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;Great is Your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"Therefore I have hope in Him."

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the person who seeks Him.

It is good that he waits silently

For the salvation of the Lord. Lam 3:22-26

The Beginning & End of Truth: Knowing God

When I began this series of posts on the goodness of God I recalled a meeting with Religious Affairs (RA) in Ukraine on September 11, 2001. The meeting was to decide weather I was breaking any laws that would allow them to deport me. We were tense in the meeting about the outcome, but there was one thing that was not in question. This question had been answered before a similar RA meeting exactly two years previous.

In September 1999 we had just returned to Ukraine after a furlough to a church that was under attack by forces outside and some who had sneaked in to wreak havoc. God had blessed us with purchasing our first home in Lviv, but I quickly found out that my visa status was in serious question, thus another summons to RA right after I arrived.

My blood ran cold with fear. This was not the fear of death but the fear of failure and getting kicked out of the country. I would also lose our new home. I started praying and confessing the word from Joshua 1 where God had promised to give me every place I set my foot and to not be afraid. I went to my favorite prayer place, a beautiful hill called High Castle that overlooked the whole city, but on this day altitude did not equal closeness with God.

God’s Word simply would not stick to my soul, so I went home in frustration to ask God a very different question. It went something like this: “Ok God, forget about this new house, my vision, getting kicked out! I just want to know one thing, and I am really sick of it. Why am I afraid?” Well, He answered me more clearly than I had ever experienced.

“You do not believe I will care for you and that I am for you no matter what the outcome of this trial.” This was unconditional love, and I was thunderstruck. I had been serving a different taskmaster, myself, until that day. The fear now vanished, my mind cleared and truths that had been read many times over exploded into my soul. This was God’s ultimate goal for me, not to do but to know. True fruitfulness is a fruit of knowing - knowing truth.

In 1st John 2:12-14 John writes to three groups of people who have various levels of maturity. He affirms them for what they have learned based on how long they have been walking with Jesus:

Little Children: You know the Father & your sins have been forgiven
Young men: The word of God abides strongly in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Fathers: You know Him who was from the very beginning.

It is ok to be a child – when you are young. Unfortunately, many Christians never get past simple salvation truths. Their faith is only for themselves and getting to heaven. Young ministers also fall into a trap. They go into service while not knowing their God or His Word. They get beat up severely. Another mistake that they make is that they think ministry is the goal or the pinnacle of spirituality. It is not.

The fathers understand most of all because they have come full circle. God was using their ministry to others to teach them about Himself. They have come to know God in His fullness not simply through study but by experiencing God’s faithfulness in countless battles and adverse circumstances. I am so grateful to God for my trials as a missionary because without them I would have never begun to learn the fullness of who God is on my behalf. I am still learning.

Our friend, Asaph, in Ps 73 has also come full circle:

Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Ps 73:25-26

• What are the lies that prevent God’s truth from sticking to your life?
• What are the hurdles that you can never get over?
• Are you asking God the right question?

He is faithful to answer. Matt 7:7-11

Footnote: a reflection on present-day truth

A terrible tragedy happened this week in Virginia as a young man was so convinced that the world was against him that he took the lives of many as well as his own. Imagine the thoughts in his head, day and night, festering hatred and darkness until it ruptured into this massacre.

We read about Hitler and others who seem not to be even human, and we will probably never meet such people. We read about this killer in Virginia and realize that, yes, it is possible to meet such an unstable person.

On a closer level we meet bitter and cynical people every day who are quite functional and would never hurt anyone. A larger category is our upbeat friends who struggle with insecurity at times.

Then there is the person who believes everything that God says about him and lives accordingly bringing blessing and life to those around them. The Hitlers of this world are quite rare, but so are the Josephs. I have tried to show a common theme in all these people. The degree to which we exhibit light or darkness is to the degree that we believe truth or lie.

• May we all endeavor to be like Joseph as we walk this journey in a foreign land.
• Let us also be quick to share The Truth with others who are bound to some degree by The Lie.
  

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 2

Manasseh & Ephraim, Truth Part 6

Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said,"God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." He named the second Ephraim, "For," he said,"God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Gen 41:50-52

This is the first time in the life of Joseph where we get a hint of what he was feeling during all of his ordeals. He does not tell us directly, but does so in a more profound way. Many people of that day named their sons in a way that exhibited a part of the character of God or declared how they thought God was dealing with them. Joseph declares in the names of his sons that God has healed him from his pain and that God has blessed him in the midst of affliction. He is declaring that God is good.

How did God actually cause Joseph to forget his pain? I believe that it was by blessing him – this showed that God had not abandoned him even if his brothers had – and then by showing him God’s purpose in it all. (Rom 8:28; Gen 50:20). We ultimately forget what is unpleasant by remembering what is good, and in this case, Who is good.

This is in stark contrast to how his father, Jacob, viewed his own trials which did not even come close in severity to those of Joseph. God also blessed Jacob everywhere he went, but Jacob was in constant inner struggle. What is the difference between father and son? The condition of the heart.

Their father Jacob said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me." Gen 42:36

For those of us who are not as spiritual as Joseph – this is my group - most of forgetting pain is tied up in forgetting the lies and torment of the enemy that was associated with the problem. This is also remedied by realizing God’s goodness. Not convinced, too simple? Just turn it around then. When all the dust is settled and you are healed of your pain – regardless of how long it takes – what would have been the solution? You would have had some encounter with God, and His truth would have flooded your soul saying that He is good and He cares for you.

There is no Plan B or magic pill for life, only God.

Zaphenath-panea, Truth Part 5

Imagine for a moment young Joseph as he considered the dream that God had given him. What could it possibly mean? All he knew is that in some way he would rule over his family, and that is about all we and Joseph know until we all get surprised by Pharaoh many years later. What Joseph actually saw was a glimpse of one moment of the dream, yet the fullness of this dream was hidden.

As Joseph went from his dream to a literal pit, became slave then prisoner all seemed lost. The plans of man seemed to rule supreme, and there was nothing Joseph could do to change his situation, not even encouraging an influential person with his spiritual gift. He was simply a forgotten novelty, good for a moment but not needed afterward.

So where was God when all this was going on? Frankly, right in the middle of it, and He was bringing Joseph, his family, and Pharaoh into a head-on collision with a problem that eclipsed any of their dreams or insecurities. It ultimately was not about any of them or their positions. It was about the salvation of the known world from a terrible famine. The need is the same today, but the famine is greater. It is spiritual.

In one day the only man who knew about the problem and had the authority to act was aligned with the one man who understood the magnitude of the problem and had the perfect solution from God. In rapid succession Joseph was remembered, found, washed and brought before Pharaoh. Joseph’s gift – it had never stopped working and had even brought him here – manifested in such wisdom that Pharaoh made him governor of Egypt and gave him a name that described his true calling, Zaphenath-panea, which is often translated “God speaks”.

Joseph was eventually reunited with his family as they traveled to Egypt for food. They were fearful when they realized that the one whom they had condemned was now the one who could save them. Joseph’s ultimate response was mercy. He was walking in the footsteps that Jesus would one day reenact on a much grander scale, with the descendants of the same brothers and ultimately with the whole world.

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
Gen 50:20

A few simple truths from this story:

• God is in control even when evil seems to prevail, and His goals are always GOOD no matter what the circumstances. Rom 8:28
• Serving others during adversity gets our eyes off of ourselves and protects us from the lies of the enemy.
• It is ultimately not about us or fulfilling a personal dream. It is about God’s goodness and mercy to a world that treated Him like they treated Joseph. It is about saving the lost.
  
  צצפנת פענח - He still speaks. He still saves.

Great Expectations, Truth Part 4

"For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jer 29:11

In the Dickens’ classic, “Great Expectations”, the protagonist, young Pip, finds that his advancement in life is not due to chance. It is due to the tangled, behind-the-scenes manipulations of characters with varied motives, some selfish and some good as we see in his benefactor, the convict Abel Magwitch. Still, even what is meant for good produces bad results in both character and position in life.

In our lives we often fall into several traps as to why we think we succeed or fail. It could be due to our abilities or lack of ability. It could be due to our strict adherence to a code of ethics that God might honor if we hit the mark. We may see ourselves as victims of circumstance or the decisions of others, or it could be that God has lost track of us in the crowd of over 6 billion souls that inhabit this sphere. It is a sad and lonely thought to be lost in the crowd or to be the victim of the crowd as we see in Dickens’ and our present world. We already saw that Asaph almost fell victim to this mentality in Ps 73.

However, it could be – and this is the truth - that our God is loving and active at a level of detail that incorporates our frailties into His plan. He detours opposition and produces an even greater good than our greatest expectations. In this light let’s look at another protagonist, Joseph, whose opposition was great but whose benefactor was greater, God, and let’s walk beside him with the benefit of knowing the end of the story from the beginning.

Joseph had a dream. It was from God, so this was a good start. However, the moment he shares this dream, things go horribly wrong. His whole family ridicules the dream, and after his brothers attempt to murder him out of jealousy, they sell him into slavery to people from another nation. Joseph is carried against his will further and further away from the fulfillment of his dream. In captivity his gifts continue to work, and he advances – as a slave.

In lesser crises we as Christians too quickly look to our circumstances and comments of others to interpret for us what has happened with our lives. The friends of Job are a great example. Here are a few thoughts, and think of Joseph’s outcome when you read:

• “I really thought that God wanted me to do that, but no one else thinks I am capable. Maybe I did not hear God or He does not think my life is important.”
• “My vision is big, but I just lost my finances. Friends think that I should be satisfied with what I have, with my station in life.” They say, “His circumstances show that he must not have the faith necessary to accomplish the task.”

After a continual dose of this kind of thinking we give up, throw away hope and the dream, yet this dream comes back to us and even produces fruit for us in the darkest of places as with Joseph. This is actually a torment at times as the lies of the enemy intensify to keep us out of the presence of God. The truth of the matter is that we might just be right in the middle of God’s plan, learning His faithfulness, learning to love Him more than the dream and growing in character. And in one moment God can overrule all people and circumstances to establish His will in our lives as with Joseph. God is good, He is in control, He never changes. Do you believe this?

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." Deut 31:6

The Apple Myth, Truth part 3

One of the greatest misconceptions of the Bible is that Adam and Eve were so overcome by the desire for the forbidden fruit that they decided to disobey God. It simply did not happen that way. Creation was not that fragile, and the first family was not fighting the same internal struggle that we deal with every day. One more point, the Bible does not say that the fruit was an apple, but that is not so important right now.

The devil is not very original. He uses the same tactics with us today that he used in the beginning; however, his tactic – The Lie – is so subtle that we do not even recognize it at the first reading. Let’s follow along. In the beginning…

God was good – in the eyes of the first family – and evil was bad. The barrier to disobedience was enormous, and it had to be removed before Eve would even think of that which was bad. The barrier was GOD, so the enemy had to get Him out of the way. This is how he did it:

"…Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" Gen 3:1
Lie #1: Has God really said anything?

“…You surely will not die!” Gen 3:4
Lie #2: If God did say something, He lied!

"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:5
Lie #3: God lied because He wants to keep something good from you.

Summation: God must not be good, and that thing He was keeping from you is not really bad.

Now after this we see Eve’s new perspective: When the woman saw that the tree was good for food… Gen 3:6

Before the enemy’s lies God was good and sin was bad. After “The Lie”, God was perceived as bad, or less than good, and that which was bad became good. Communion was broken with God, man died spiritually and the compass of his soul and body now received all of its so-called truth from the world. This accurately describes the inclination of the unsaved world today.

When God gives our sprits new birth through Jesus we still have to deal with a body that is oriented towards the world. Our souls – mind & emotions – are caught in the crossfire between the lies of this world, what our flesh feels to be true and the The Truth that now resides in our spirits.

This awkward position is a terror to new believers because they do not understand what has just happened to them, and it is too often the source of a low-grade depression in older believers who find themselves trapped in the same realization that Asaph was in. (Ps 73).

Like Asaph, we can only come out of the haze when we come to the truth of God’s Word, and because the world and our bodies do not take a break from trying to contradict God we cannot afford to take a break from His presence or His Word.

Here are some encouraging truths that will sustain us in this battle.

• God sees us as being perfectly forgiven for all time – because we are completely forgiven - even though He is still perfecting us. Heb 10:14
• The inner battle that we have is common to all Christians, even to the Apostle Paul. 1 Pet 5:8-10; Rom 7:15
• Believing that GOD IS GOOD is the sentry at the door of our hearts that saves us from many attacks. Rom 8:28-39
• There is no condemnation for us while we are in this process of practical transformation. Rom 8:1
  

In my upcoming posts I hope to show you that the enemy uses the same simple attack today as with Eve. However, we can build a fortress of truth concerning how good and powerful God is on our behalf. This is our encouragement. He loves us, He is good, He is God.

One Man’s Junk is Another Man’s Treasure

I used to watch a show in the US called the “Antiques Road Show.” In this weekly series expert antique appraisers would travel the country to meet with ordinary people who would bring out their old stuff – often junk – to a local community center to see if it had any value.

The drama would usually begin like this. You would see the appraiser walk from table to table and then walk back by a certain table a second and third time for a glance at a certain item. When this happened the owner would get nervous thinking, “he must see something valuable.” After all, they had all seen the show before, which is like American Idol for your attic or basement.

I remember once the expert stopped to talk with a woman who had an old-looking table that wasn’t particularly attractive. He looked at the top, but he would always look underneath to see if there was a stamp indicating the name of the craftsman who made it. Once he was satisfied with his observations he would start to ask questions: “How long have you owned this? Do you know the history of this table? What do you use it for? What do you think it is worth?” The routine was always the same.

The woman answered that the table had been in her family several generations, but she did not know the origin. She said she actually had it stored in her basement with paint cans stacked on top. The appraiser shook his head in disbelief and began to tell her the history of the piece. He knew from the stamp underneath that it was made by a famous early-American craftsman. He also related that it was the missing piece of a famous priceless collection to which the woman’s eyes grew bigger. “So, how much do you think it is worth now?” he asked. The woman shyly replied, “Several thousand dollars?”

“Well” said the appraiser with a pause in his voice, “I think that at auction it would get at least $200,000.” The woman’s mouth hung open, and she could not close it for a short while. “Will you sell it?” he asked to which she quickly replied, “Absolutely not!” “What will you do with it then?” he continued.

“One thing is for sure”, she exclaimed, “I will certainly never stack paint cans on it again, and it goes straight to the dining room where it will be the showpiece!” When this woman found out the identity of her table’s craftsman – this was what gave it the value – and then it’s hidden value her whole mindset changed.

As people we often live in the basement with junk in our hearts and waste stacked on top of us. Once we know who our Maker really is and the cost that was paid to redeem us our whole mindset changes. This is the truth that Jesus spoke of when He said:

“…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
John 8:32

For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
1 Cor 6:20

And, what was the price?

"…Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
Rev 5:9

The cost was exceedingly high, and to go on with life as usual after this revelation shows that we really don’t understand the gospel.

What should change when we get our true appraisal from God?

• We will have a positive motivation to turn from sin.
• We will want to know our Maker more.
• We will no longer believe the “other appraiser”, our adversary, the spiritual pawn shop owner.
• We will become traveling appraisers who eagerly desire to tell others their true worth.