Russell Mckinney's Blog

Straight Talk About God and Life

Lessons Learned From The Tiger Woods Story

Things are getting kind of bizarre in the story of Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer. News broke early Tuesday that an ambulance had been dispatched to his Florida mansion sometime around 2:30 a.m. in response to a 911 call. The ambulance picked up Barbro Holmberg, Woods’ mother-in-law. She was rushed to a local hospital and listed as an “advanced life support” patient. Such a listing simply means that paramedics went beyond basic CPR methods in helping her. She was admitted for “stomach pain,” evidently responded well to treatment, and was released Tuesday afternoon to return to Woods’ home. 

This was just the latest chapter in a sad series of events that have played out over the past couple of weeks. The timeline runs like this:

-At 2:25 a.m. of November 27th, Woods crashes his vehicle into a fire hydrant and his neighbor’s tree. He is taken to a local hospital and treated for minor facial lacerations. He is quickly released and returns home. (Woods refuses to talk to Florida State Troopers for the next three days, and is finally cited for careless driving and fined $164.) 

-Shortly after the accident, the tabloids and internet become abuzz with rumors of Woods’ marital infidelity. (As of now, it’s impossible to sort out fact from lies, but the current number of alleged mistresses stands anywhere from seven to ten.) 

-On November 29th, Woods releases a statement on his website in which he says the accident was his fault and asks for privacy while his family works through a difficult time.

-On November 30th, it is announced that Woods will not be participating in his next scheduled golf tournament. The given reason for his withdrawal is injuries from the accident.

-On December 2nd, Woods releases a new statement in which he says, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”

-A few days later, several media outlets begin reporting that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, has moved out of the house. (I haven’t heard whether or not she took the couple’s two-year old daughter and infant son with her.) 

-Then comes Tuesday’s story about the mother-in-law being rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night.

As for Woods, he still hasn’t been seen publicly since his accident. Whatever the exact details of everything are, it now seems fairly obvious that it’s a sad situation. The entire family needs our prayers. I have been praying for them, and I hope you will as well.

With that said, I’d like to offer some Biblical lessons here. I don’t do this to kick Tiger Woods while he is down. As I said, I’m praying sincere prayers for him and his family. I offer these merely as a way to view the story through the lens of God’s written word.

Lesson #1: A son needs his daddy. Tiger’s father, Earl, died on May 3rd, 2006. He was a military man who stood for honesty, integrity, and responsibility. Up until his death, he was the driving influence in Tiger’s life. He was the one who molded young Tiger into a golf prodigy. Later on he wrote two books about his no-nonsense parenting style. Tiger has often mentioned how much he misses his dad. In 1st Thessalonians 2:11, the Bible teaches that a father should exhort, comfort, and charge his children. Proverbs 1:8 speaks of a father instructing his son. Would Tiger be in the mess he’s in now if his dad was still alive? No one can say for sure, but many would answer, “No.”

Lesson #2: Every husband must work at remaining sexually satisfied with his wife. Affairs typically occur when husbands aren’t sexually satisfied with their wives alone. The lust for more sex or “different” sex is a powerful, primal thing. That’s why Proverbs 5:18-19 warns: “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love.”

Lesson #3: The sin of adultery is a fire that burns the one who commits it. Proverbs 6:27-28 says: “Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared?” 1st Corinthians 6:18 says: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”

Lesson #4: No matter how much success, fame, and wealth a man has, his world can still come tumbling down if he doesn’t practice self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” A city without walls is wide open to be attacked and destroyed. So is a life lived without self-control.

Lesson #5: If you want to fall, be full of pride. Tiger Woods is well known for being supremely confident in his abilities, even to the point of being egotistical. Proverbs 16:18 says: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Surely one of Woods’ motivations for committing adultery was that his ego told him he could get away with it.

Lesson #6: All the self-will one can muster will eventually lose out to the power of the flesh (that inborn sinful nature of individuals). Woods’ strong will on the golf course is a major part of what makes him so good. But no man is so strong-willed that he can keep his inner nature of sin at bay for long. In Romans 7:18-19, the apostle Paul writes: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

Lesson #7: Your sins WILL eventually be discovered. Numbers 32:23 says: “…be sure your sin will find you out.” Isaiah 29:15 says: “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark. They say, ‘Who sees us?” and ’Who knows us?’”    

Lesson #8: Wealth doesn’t equate to contentment. Even though Woods has earned multiplied millions through his golfing and endorsements, there was obviously still something that prevented him from being content with his family life. 1st Timothy 6:6-8 says: “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Lesson #9: When you raise a child to worship the idol of sports, you shouldn’t be surprised when that child grows up to be lacking in morality and character. As I mentioned earlier, Earl Woods was an uncommonly influential father. No one can deny that he raised a champion golfer. But all those championships came at a high price. As far back as Tiger can remember, Earl led him to obsess over the sport of golf and devote himself fanactically to mastering it. Earl never taught Tiger how to keep golf in proper perspective and allow his spiritual side to develop. That inevitably caused some chinks in Tiger’s character and morality. In Matthew 16:26, Jesus asks the profound question, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  

Lesson #10: Buddhism simply cannot offer the help people need. By Woods’ own admission, he is something of a nominal Buddhist through his mother, who is from Thailand. He especially values the Buddhist practice of meditation. In a March, 2008 interview with Reuters, Woods said of Buddhism, “In the Buddhist religion, you have to work for it yourself internally in order to achieve anything in life…and in Buddhism to set up the next life. But in Buddhism it’s all about what you do and internal work.” Sadly, this religion and philosophy fly right in the face of Christ’s words from John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” They also go against Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God., not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

So, let me close by saying that Tiger Woods is just like anybody else on planet Earth in that he needs to place his faith (belief) in Jesus as his personal Savior. That will bring him forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:14), spiritual life (John 5:40), salvation (Acts 16:30-31), and the empowerment to resist temptation and sin (Philippians 4:13). Certainly Tiger’s life has taken a tragic turn for the worse, but if that turn leads him to the open arms of Jesus, the best will be yet to come for him. That’s my prayer, for not only Tiger but his entire family.

December 9, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Belief, Character, Choices, Desires, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, Husbands, Marriage, Money, Parenting, Priorities, Seeking Forgiveness, Sex, Sin, Sports, Temptation, adultery, contentment, faith | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Matthew Henry Was Thankful For

Matthew Henry was an English preacher in the late 1600s and early 1700s. He is best remembered for the legendary commentary set that bears his name. He died from a stroke while on a preaching tour in June, 1714.

Once, while Henry was traveling by horseback on his preaching circuit, he was held up and robbed. That night he recorded the incident in his journal. He concluded the record with the following prayer: “I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed.”

Friend, when you and I reach the place in our spiritual maturity where we think and pray like that, we won’t have any problem finding things for which to be thankful. Matthew Henry obviously had learned the lesson of Ephesians 5:20, which says: “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” May we learn that lesson as well.

November 24, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, prayer | , , , , | Leave a Comment

Life Is A Vapor, But Then What?

I got the call yesterday morning that a faithful member of our church passed away during the night. What made the news so shocking was the fact that Bill had seemed fine Sunday morning. He and his wife, Celeine, had taken their usual seats in church and enjoyed the service just like they always did. 

I myself wasn’t fine that Sunday morning, and Bill picked up on it as soon as he saw me. For various reasons, I didn’t sleep well Saturday night. Then I woke up Sunday morning with a fair amount of vertigo. That was only the second time in my life I had experienced vertigo, and I don’t want there to ever be a third. As I walked into church, I put up a brave front and figured that nobody would be able to tell that I was struggling a little just to remain upright. But when I walked over to shake hands with Bill and Celeine, Bill looked right at me and said, “You’re sick.” I’ve got to admit that I was taken aback by the straightforwardness of his remark and the accuracy of his diagnosis.

After I explained to him what was going on with me, he asked me something I will never forget. His question was, “When was the last time you had a physical?” I stuttered and stammered a little and then finally got out the answer, “Oh, I don’t know, I guess it was five or so years ago.” The truth was, I couldn’t remember. Bill’s reply was, “You ought to go have one. You might have some high blood pressure.” (For the record, I’ve had my blood pressure checked in the past few months. It was fine.)

After the Sunday service, I got involved talking to other people and didn’t really say much to Bill and Celeine. I regret that now. If I had known that was the last time I would see Bill on this earth, I would have made a point of spending a lot of time with him. But we never know such things, do we? Life really is “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

We don’t know exactly what took Bill’s life around 1:00 a.m. Monday morning. He lived each day with a garden variety of physical ailments. I can’t even begin to remember the number of hospital stays he endured, the surgeries and the procedures. At his home yesterday afternoon the family showed me the list of medications that he took. It looked like an encyclopedia of Latin. He had to have a chart just to keep it all straight. I think that’s why he encouraged me to get a physical. He knew far better than most how quickly your health can deteriorate.

I took great joy in informing the family that Bill no longer needs all his pills or his oxygen machine. His soul has now departed (Genesis 35:18-19) from his “body of death” (Romans 7:24). I’m happy for him. I’m also a little envious. I’ve noticed that something strange has happened to me over the past few years. I’ve begun longing for heaven to a degree I didn’t expect to reach until I was much older.

And here’s the shocking thing (at least it’s shocking to me): My increased longing for heaven springs much more from a desire to leave behind the pain, suffering, injustice, and wickedness of this world than it does a desire to see the splendors of heaven. I’ve begun to see heaven not so much as a desirable location but as an escape from an undesirable one. I’m as excited about getting to leave this world as I am about getting to enter into heaven.            

Do I still love my wife and want to spend our “golden years” together? Yes. Do I still love my two boys and want to watch them finish growing up? Yes. Do I want to hold grandbabies in my arms and get to spoil them? Yes. Do I want to keep on enjoying all the pleasures of life? Yes. But do I now see this life for what it is and look forward to a better afterlife? Most definitely! I think it’s quite appropriate that the text God has given me for Bill’s funeral sermon is Job 14:1-6, a passage which begins with the words: “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”

Bill is out of that trouble now. He is in that better place that we like to talk about. But his is only a better place because he knew Jesus as his personal Savior. Can you imagine how awful it would be if this life was the highlight of your eternal existence? Can you imagine being born of woman, living out your ”few” days (few in relation to eternity), experiencing all of life’s trouble, and then having your soul depart for a gruesome place of suffering and anguish? Can you imagine lifting up your eyes in hell and being in torment (Luke 16:19-23)? I don’t even want to think about such a horror.      

But the stark reality is that most of the people on earth right now are staring straight down the gun-barrel of that horror. They don’t know Christ as Savior and if they die tonight their souls will not go to heaven. This should compel us Christians to be all the more involved in evangelism. We must share the good news of Christ’s gospel with those who need it. Someone once shared that gospel with Bill, and he responded by placing his belief in Jesus as his personal Savior. For that reason, I won’t have problems preaching his funeral and his family won’t have to search fruitlessly for comfort. But that puts us in the minority, not the majority. And that, Christian, is not a good thing.

You say, “But Russell, I’m just one person and the task of world evangelism is far too overwhelming.” You’re right, it is. That’s why Jesus doesn’t expect you to take on that task. What He expects you to do is engage in individual evangelism. Don’t focus on winning the masses of China to Christ. Focus on that one person the Lord puts right in front of you today. You know the one, the one with your name on them.

Maybe the person is a family member. Maybe the person is a friend. Maybe the person is a co-worker. Maybe the person is a neighbor. Maybe the person is a fellow parent from your kid’s ball team. What I’m saying is, door-to-door evangelism to rank strangers has its place, but so does relational evangelism to people you already know.    

You see, the fact is, some “Bills” will die tonight, and one of them might just be a lost person you know. That person needs Christ, which means that he or she needs you to tell them about Him. Stop talking about politics, the weather, the economy, or the ball game, and press on into spiritual matters, eternal matters. Be tactful, but get the conversation there. Tell that person about Jesus.

If you don’t feel comfortable quoting scripture, at least tell the person what Jesus has done for you. Talk about the trouble you’ve experienced in this world and then talk about heaven. Make a point of explaining that you are guaranteed heaven only because Jesus died on the cross for your sins and you have believed in Him as Savior. You don’t have to hold an evangelistic crusade. You don’t have to try to be someone you’re not. But you do need to be a witness who’s trying. And don’t worry about how the person responds to what you say. That’s not your department. Your job is simply the telling.      

I will miss my friend Bill, but I know his soul now resides in heaven’s glory. He has been reunited with Christian loved ones who passed on before him. Most importantly, he now sees Jesus face to face. That Savior that he only knew by faith he now knows by personal appearance. That’s a joy that everyone should get to experience. I realize that’s not going to happen, but you and I can help it happen for some folks if we will open up our closed lips and share the gospel.

October 6, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Belief, Christ's Death, Coming Judgment, Evangelism, Heaven, Witnessing, death, hell, salvation, trials | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

“Lord, Send Us Rattlesnakes”

Once upon a time there was a family of backslidden church members. They had once been very active in church but lately had fallen away completely. The family consisted of a father and three sons. 

Many people had visited the family and asked them to come back to church. The pastor had paid them a call, as had the deacons. But all the visiting, counseling, encouraging, and rebuking had no effect upon the family.

One day when the boys were working in the field, a big rattlesnake raised up and bit the middle son. The young man became very sick. The doctor was called, and the prognosis was not good. The doctor said, “About all we can do now is pray for him.”

Those words sent the father into a panic and he quickly called for the pastor. The pastor immediately went out to the home and was informed of the desperate situation. The father said, “Please, pastor, we need you to pray.” The pastor said, “Very well.” Then he began.

He prayed, ”Oh wise and all-knowing Father, we thank thee for Thou hast sent this rattlesnake to bite this young man in order to bring him to his senses. He has not been inside the church house for a long time now, and it is doubtful that he has in all that time felt the need for prayer. Now we trust that this will prove a valuable lesson to him and that it will lead to genuine repentance.”

Well, the father and the other two sons were quite surprised at the bluntness of the pastor’s prayer. What they didn’t know was that the pastor was about to get even more blunt. He continued praying, saying, “And now, Father, wilt thou send another snake to bite the older son, another to bite the younger son, and another BIG ONE to bite this father. For we have all been doing everything we know for some time now to restore them to the fellowship of the church, but it’s been to no avail. It seems, therefore, that all of our combined efforts could not do what this snake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing left that will do this family any good is rattlesnakes. So, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes! In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.”   

In Psalm 119:67, the Psalmist wrote: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” People often ask, “Why does God allow His people to suffer?” While there are various reasons, one of the primary ones is that He does it as a means of chastisement. Hebrews 12:8 even says that if we are without chastisement, we are not true children of God.

No loving, right-thinking parent enjoys disciplining a child. We’d much rather see our kids display obedience. But the plain truth is, sometimes kids disobey, and that disobedience must bring painful consequences. If it doesn’t, what’s the incentive for obedience? God understands this better than we do. That’s why He is in the business of disciplining His kids.

Tell me, are you at a loss as to how to pray for a wayward Christian? Is there someone close to you who is legitimately saved but just as legitimately backslidden? If you have such a person in mind, do you love them enough to pray for God to send some “rattlesnake” to afflict them? We’re talking about the final card in the deck here, a ”last straw” request. Yes, it’s tough love taken to a sizable degree. But sometimes a “rattlesnake” can do what nothing else can: Get the person’s attention and bring them back to God.

September 15, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Backslidding, Parenting, Rebellion, Repentance, obedience | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

A Word To Parents

A man was confined to a hospital bed because of a lingering illness. One day, as he looked upon his windowstill, he noticed a cocoon. He grew excited at the prospect of getting to watch a beautiful butterfly ultimately emerge from it. Sure enough, he didn’t have to wait too long before the butterfly began its struggle to free itself from that cocoon.

But what shocked the man was what a long, hard struggle it was for the butterfly to free itself. The creature worked for hours and hours, but made little progress. Finally, the man decided to help nature along. He took a pair of scissors and leaned over and made the cocoon’s opening larger. This allowed the butterfly to crawl right out.

And that’s all the butterfly ever did: crawl. You see, the intense pressure that is involved with a butterfly emerging from a cocoon is designed to push life-giving juices back into the butterfly’s wings. Without those juices the wings end up deformed and unusable. In the man’s attempt to help the butterfly, he actually ruined it and condemned it to a pitiful existence of crawling around on the ground.

Parent, hear me when I say that you can do this same kind of thing to your child. One of the surest ways to produce a weak, morally challenged, emotional cripple is to always come riding in and save that child’s day. If you are determined that your child will never know trials, troubles, sufferings, and hardships, you are virtually guaranteeing that your child will know such things. Show me a parent who doesn’t understand or agree with the concept of “tough love” and I’ll show you a child who’ll end up the worse for it.

Study the great characters of the Bible, men and women who were God’s choicest servants. Study their lives and you’ll find that their character was forged in excruciatingly difficult experiences, just the kind of experiences that you plan to see to it never befall your child. Just as that butterfly needed to finish that struggle to break free from that cocoon, your child needs those vitally important juices that only the pressures of life can produce. Don’t rob the child of those pressures by taking your scissors and saying, “I’m just going to help out a little.” That “little” can be the ruination of the child.

Let’s say that a son is constantly getting into trouble at school. How should his parents handle that? Let the little delinquent face the music for his transgressions. That will teach him that there are consequences to breaking rules. A few days’ suspension from school might very well save him decades of trouble when he gets older.

Here’s an older daughter who has the bad habit of spending more than she makes. Her bills are behind. Her creditors are clamoring. Her credit is on the brink of ruin. What does she do? She calls up mommy and daddy and asks them to give her the money to fix her mess. And what should they do? If they want to push some fluids back into her wings, they’ll let her reap the sad crop of her out-of-control spending. Such failure and humiliation can be the reality-check she needs to learn to live within her means. Such a lesson is worth the few years it will take for her credit to be restored.

Oh, I sound mean, don’t I? You’re probably thinking, “I’m glad that guy’s not my dad!” Well, I’m not mean, but I am an unabashed proponent of “tough love.” I fully understand the lesson behind that story of the man who tried to help out the butterfly by making its struggle easier. I know the value of letting a difficult season play itself out and accomplish its good. And right now I’m wondering, parent, do you?

August 5, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Children, Parenting, Sowing and Reaping, trials | , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Maybe So, Maybe Not

Last week I wrote a blog entitled “Let’s Get Real.” In that blog I questioned why God allows Satan to win so many battles, even though I have no doubts that God has already won the eternal war. The post was about being honest with God. If we don’t understand what He is doing, or agree with it, we shouldn’t shy away from expressing that to Him in prayer. After all, how can prayer be real if it isn’t honest?

A few days later I was digging around in my files looking for something on a completely unrelated subject. In my digging I came across a story that I had saved from about a year and half ago. James Merritt, the pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth Georgia, used the story on one of his t.v. broadcasts and I jotted it down after hearing it. Since it applies to questioning the way God handles things, I thought I’d share it with you as a companion piece to “Let’s Get Real.”

There was an old man who was known as the wisest man in a certain village. Whenever someone wanted council they would go see this man. One day a farmer went to him and said, “A horrible thing has happened to me: My ox died. I’m a farmer and I depended upon that ox to get my fields plowed and my crops planted. Now I can’t plant my crops and I’m going to starve. Do you agree that this is the worst possible thing that could have happened to me? The wise man said, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

The very next day the farmer looked out his window and saw a strong, sturdy horse come galloping up to his farm. The farmer wouldn’t have tried to catch the horse if he had still had the ox, but the ox’s death led him to go out and catch the horse. It turned out that the horse was much younger and stronger than the ox and could plow ground much faster. Because of this, over the next couple of weeks, the man was able to plant twice as much as he would have been able to plant with the ox.

The man went back to the wise man and said, “I owe you an apology.” Then he told him the story about the horse. He finished the story by saying, “You were right. My ox dying wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. It was a blessing in disguise. The best thing that could have happened to me was getting this horse.” The wise man said, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

Three days later the farmer’s son took the horse out for a ride. But the horse threw him and the fall broke both of the son’s legs. Since the young man was the only worker the farmer had to help him get in his crops, the farmer was devastated. He went back to the wise man and said, “How did you know that me catching that horse was not going to be a good thing? My son getting both his legs broken has to be the worst thing that ever happened to me.” The wise man said, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

The very next day troops came to the village to take every young man away to fight a war that had just broken out. The only young man who wasn’t taken was the farmer’s son who was laid up with those two broken legs. Tragically, a few days later the village got word that every one of those young men had been killed in that war. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

My search through my files also uncovered two quotes from the late, great evangelist Vance Havner. First, Havner said, “God marks across some of our days, ‘Will explain later.’” Second, he said, “…all question marks will be straightened into exclamation points.”

So, how does this “Maybe So, Maybe Not” piece walk hand in hand with the ”Let’s Get Real” piece? The answer is, let us be honest enough with God to question Him or disagree with Him, but at the same time let us be humble enough to admit that His wisdom is infinitely superior to our’s. Another quote I like is, “Even when I can’t track Him, I can trust Him.”

We all need to be reminded of that, don’t we? Our knowledge and understanding are so limited. We don’t know what the next second holds, to say nothing of the next day, week, month, or year. But God does, and He can be trusted to always do right. Remember this the next time you’ve got a problem with the way He is handling things. I’m going to take my own advice and try to do it too.

July 12, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, God's Will, Patience, Problems, contentment, faith, perseverance, trials | Leave a Comment

Through Many Tribulations

David Livingstone was born in Scotland to poor parents. The family was so poor that he went to work in a cotton factory when he was only ten years old. Despite his poverty, he managed to get an education and eventually become a doctor.

At that point Livingstone could have gone into practice in Scotland and made an easy life for himself. But that’s not what he did. He chose, instead, to go to Africa and become a preacher-doctor.

Livingstone’s work took him deep into the heart of Africa, to places where no white man had ever been. He poured his life into the people of that continent, and in so doing became a living legend among missionaries. Even though he died penniless, he was honored by being buried in London’s famous Westminster Abbey.

A missionary society in West Africa once wrote to Livingstone and asked, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If not, we want to know how to send other men to join you.” Livingstone wrote back, “I don’t know what you mean by ‘other’ men joining me when none have come as yet. If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road.”

Christian, the tasks which are set before us in life aren’t always easy. Some of them can be downright brutal. The Bible makes no apologies for this. To the contrary, it says we enter the kingdom of God “through many tribulations” (Acts 14:22). It’s not the tribulations that save us or merit our entrance into the kingdom. Our salvation and kingdom citizenship rest solely upon our belief in Christ as Savior. The point is that we Christians needn’t expect easy lives just because we are God’s people. Yes, we’ll all make it into heaven in the end, but the road that takes us there will be marked by many tribulations.

And the word used is “many.” The tribulations will be numerous and they will come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. The famous preacher J. Wilber Chapman said that heaven was never so near to him as on the night when his firstborn child lay dead.

So, Christian, do you have some situation in your life right now that you would classify as a tribulation? Are you having to endure something that isn’t pleasant? Are you having to live with a circumstance that is very trying? Well, take heart in two things. First, your experience makes you “normal.” When the Bible says we enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations, it means exactly that. You won’t be the exception. Second, never forget that you are headed to a better place. You aren’t just going around in some sadistic circle; you are on your way to heaven.   

There was a Christian woman who grumbled all the time about her life. Her prayers were dominated by complaints and her thoughts were consumed by exaggerated ideas of how bad her situation was. Whenever someone asked her how she was doing, they soon regretted asking when she started whining about all her problems. 

One night this woman dreamed that she went to heaven and met Jesus. When she saw Him, she didn’t fall down before Him in praise, adoration, and thankfulness. Instead, she said, “Jesus, I’m so glad to get this chance to talk to you face to face. I just want you to know that my cross is too big for me to bear.”

To that, Jesus asked, “Would you like to trade it for another one?” The woman excitedly answered, “Yes, I’d like that very much!” Jesus then took her to a special room in heaven and said, “This is a room for crosses. Look around in here until you find one you like.”

In her looking around, the woman saw tall crosses, heavy crosses, ugly crosses, and twisted crosses. None of them looked appealing to her. Finally she looked over in a corner and saw a small, easy-looking cross. She said, “That’s it. I’ll take that one.” Jesus said, “Fine, that’s the one you brought in.”

June 6, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Problems, perseverance, trials | , , , , , | Leave a Comment

A Boll Weevil Experience

In his book, It Is Toward Evening, Vance Havner tells the story of a group of cotton farmers in the deep South. Year after year these men grew cotton. They put their profits back into it and set all of their fields in it. Then tragedy struck in the form of the devastating boll weevil. All of the cotton was destroyed and it looked as if the farmers were headed for the poorhouse.

Being farmers, though, the men persevered. In the wake of their disaster with cotton, they shifted gears and planted peanuts. Amazingly, they ended up making more money with the peanuts than they ever had with the cotton. When the farmers realized that what had seemed to be a disaster had actually turned out to be a boon, they erected a large monument to the very thing they thought had ruined them: the boll weevil.

Havner concludes the story by saying:

“Sometimes we settle into a humdrum routine as monotonous as growing cotton year after year. Then God sends the boll weevil; He jolts us out of our groove, and we must find new ways to live. Financial reverses, great bereavement, physical infirmity, loss of position – how many have been driven by trouble to be better husbandman and to bring forth finer fruit from their souls! The best thing that ever happened to some of us was the coming of our boll weevil.”

When God either causes or allows you to go through a boll weevil experience, you might think it is the ruin of you. You might say, “I will never come back from this. This is more than I can overcome. These wounds are too deep to ever heal.” But that is a wrong assessment of your situation. If you will turn things over to God and allow Him to help you, you won’t just get past the experience; you will come out the other end of it a better person who will, as Vance Havner said, “bring forth finer fruit.”

The book of Genesis gives us the record of Joseph’s boll weevil experience. He was sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37:12-36). He was taken from his homeland of Canaan and transported south to Egypt where he became the servant of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard (Genesis 39:1-6). He was falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:7-18). He was thrown into Pharaoh’s prison where he remained for two years (Genesis 39:20-41:1). Talk about devastating times!

But God took that whole experience and used it to bring incredible fruit from Joseph. After interpretting two dreams for Pharaoh, Joseph was made second in command of all Egypt (Genesis 41:1-46). Because of Joseph’s foresight and administrative skill, Egypt prospered through a seven-year famine (Genesis 41:48-57). Ultimately, because of his position in Egypt, he was able to reunite with his family and bring them from famine-ravaged Canaan to Egypt, where they thrived (Genesis 42:1-47:27).

I can just hear Joseph saying when his brothers sold him into slavery, “Lord, don’t let this happen to me.” I can just hear him asking when Potiphar’s wife told her lie, “Lord, are you going to let her get away with this?” I can just hear him praying as he languished in Pharoah’s prison for those two years, “Lord, it seems as if my life is over.” But then I can also hear him, as an old man, looking back over his life and admitting, “When I was going through that experience, I thought it was the end of me. But now I see that God used it to make me better than I was.”

Perhaps you are in a boll weevil experience right now. Something has happened that has just devastated you. If that’s the case, don’t give up hope. Times may seem hard now, but God isn’t finished working the process. He’s been clearing the fields of your old crop of service so that He can make room for your new and more fruitful crop. Don’t begrudge whatever it takes for Him to do away with your cotton because that cotton has to go to make room for your peanuts.

Is a boll weevil experience pleasant? Certainly not. Is it something you want to volunteer for? Not if you have any sense. But is it something that God can use to make you a better servant? Most definitely. He won’t expect you to follow those farmers’ example and erect a monument to your experience, but He will expect you to see the value in the experience. And there will be value in it. The fact is, you will never produce a certain quality and quanitity of fruit in your life until your boll weevil wipes you out and you are forced to rethink the way you live.

May 5, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, God's Work, Problems, perseverance | , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Fleas

Corrie ten Boom was a Jewish Christian who lived in Germany during World War II. She and her older sister, Betsy, were rounded up by the Nazis and taken by train to one of the worst concentration camps in all of Germany. Upon their arrival there, the sisters were tattooed with a number and placed into a cabin barrack for women. The barrack was so overcrowded the sisters had to sleep on the floor. What made their barrack even more gruesome than all the others was the flea infestation. Day after day, the women had to endure flea bites.

Early on in their imprisonment, the sisters decided to study their Bibles together and invite all the other women to join them. Most of the women showed no interest, but a few did. Every morning the sisters would lead in a time of Bible study and prayer. They lived under the constant fear that the guards would burst in at any time, confiscate their Bibles, and punish those who took part in the group.

One morning, after the girls had been imprisoned for years, they read 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Betsy was eager to obey the passage, but Corrie just couldn’t bring herself to give thanks for the fleas. Weren’t years of imprisonment bad enough? Wasn’t having to sleep on the floor bad enough? Why did their barrack, of all the barracks, have to be infested with fleas? If God was allowing the sisters to go through this time of injustice, the least He could do was take away the fleas. In the end, though, Betsy made Corrie thank God for the fleas. Older sisters do that kind of thing.

It was about three months after this that the sisters were at long last released from their imprisonment. A short time later they found a journal that had been written by one of their German guards. In one entry the girls learned why the guards had never interrupted their morning times of Bible study and prayer. Concerning that cabin, the guard had written, “We don’t ever want to go in that cabin because it is so full of fleas.” 

I don’t have a flea problem at my house. I can’t even remember the last time I was bitten by a flea. But I sure do have some other “fleas” for which I am hard pressed to be thankful. I didn’t ask for them. I didn’t see them coming. I don’t even think I deserve them. But I’ve got ‘em. And the Bible says that I’m to give thanks for them. That isn’t easy.       

In order for me to be obey this command, I must see my problems as somehow being a part of God’s grand plan for my life. He doesn’t make mistakes, and He knows how to use anything and everything to mold and shape me to become more like Christ. As Romans 8:28-29 says: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” No, everything isn’t good, particularly my problems. But God can use everything, even my problems, for good. As those two faithful sisters discovered, He can even use fleas.

Remember this the next time you find yourself griping and grumbling about a problem. You can’t see the big picture, but God can. He loves you, and that problem of yours might well be the chariot He uses to help you, not hurt you. Learn to pray words such as these: “Father, I don’t enjoy this problem, but I want to thank you for it. I do this in the faith that You are going to use the problem to somehow bring about good in my life.” Such praying will help you to see your problem in a whole different light, a light that produces trust in God rather than bitterness toward Him. It will help you to persevere when you feel like quitting.  It will help you to live victoriously in the midst of your “fleas.”

March 18, 2009 Posted by russellmckinney | Adversity, Problems, Thankfulness | , , , , , | 1 Comment