Don’t Bail Out

January 24, 2012 Leave a Comment

A pilot announced to his passengers that three of the plane’s four engines had conked out. A few seconds later he came out of the cockpit, walked past them, and put on a parachute. He opened up the back door and just before jumping said, “Don’t worry folks, I’m going for help.”

This world is filled with people who will bail out on a difficult circumstance when the sledding gets rough. They won’t be going for help either; they’ll be looking out for themselves. Sadly, too many times this applies to how we Christians relate to following Jesus.

One of the most somber questions that Jesus ever asked is found in John 6:67. Let me set the context for you. A tremendous crowd of 5,000 men (not counting women and children) gathered around Jesus to hear Him teach near the slope of a mountain hovering over the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus miraculously fed this crowd by using a young boy’s lunch of five loaves of bread and two small fish. Following this miracle, the crowd tried to take Him by force and make Him their earthly king. Wanting no part of such an election, He dispersed them, commanded the twelve to get in a boat and cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and went up into a mountain alone.

That night a terrible windstorm swept down onto the Sea of Galilee, preventing the twelve from making much headway to the other shore. When they reached a state of exhaustion and despair for their lives, Jesus walked on the water, calmed the storm, and joined them in the boat. At that point the boat was miraculously transported to the other shore.

The following morning many of the original crowd got into boats and crossed over to find Jesus. They caught up with Him in a synagogue in Capernaum. Shortly afterward, Jesus accused these people of only following Him for His miracles. Then He launched into a weird teaching about Him being the bread of life and how they needed to eat of His flesh. You talk about throwing cold water onto a fickle bunch! When the teaching was finished, they turned away and never followed Jesus again. Just as He had said, they were only interested in following Him as long as the miracles were rolling and the teachings were pleasant and easy to understand.

It’s at that critical moment that Jesus looked at His chosen twelve and asked the penetrating question, “Do you also want to go away?” Some of them may have, but Peter spoke up before anybody else could answer. He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Good for you, Peter!

Tell me, Christian, are you right now going through a difficult time with the Lord? Are you confused? Are you frustrated? Are you out of heart? Has He hurt your feelings? Trust me, you aren’t the first to go down such a road. The question is, how will you respond? Will you turn back from following Christ? Or will you, like Peter, understand that turning away from Him is akin to turning away from the source of life and truth? Please understand that I’m not talking about a Christian possibly losing his or her salvation. As the old saying goes, “once saved, always saved.” What I’m talking about is breaking fellowship with the Lord and bailing out on what He is trying to teach you through your difficult times. Trust me, such a bail out might provide a modicum of temporary relief, but in the end you’ll come to know all too well that you should have stayed on the plane with your Savior.

Filed under Adversity, Backsliding, Choices, Christ's miracles, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Eternal Security, faithfulness, perseverance, Problems, Rebellion, Truth Tagged with , , , , ,

The Clinched Fist Of Joseph Stalin

December 15, 2011 Leave a Comment

Ravi Zacharias tells a story that he heard personally from Malcolm Muggeridge, the legendary English journalist, author, and media personality. Muggeridge had spent some time with Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Joseph Stalin, while they were working together on a BBC production on the life of her father. Joseph Stalin was, of course, the communist leader who once ruled Russia with an iron fist and an incomprehensible coldness. During his reign, untold millions of people were put to death by his command. The numbers are so high that experts can only give broad estimates as to the actual total.

According to the story that Svetlana told Muggeridge, and Muggeridge in turn told Zacharias, Stalin was plagued by terrifying hallucinations as he lay dying on his bed. Then suddenly he sat halfway up in bed, clenched his fist toward the heavens, fell back upon his pillow, and was dead. It was if his last gesture in life was literally a clenched fist toward God.

It would be easy to assume that a man such as Stalin had lived his entire life in open rebellion and opposition to the idea of any kind of God. That would be a wrong assumption, however. The fact is that when Stalin was sixteen he received a scholarship to a Georgian Orthodox seminary. He even did well in his classes until he missed his final exams and was expelled. Not long afterward he began reading the writings of Vladimir Lenin and became a Marxist revolutionary.

Looking back over Stalin’s life it isn’t hard to deduce that he had an excellent opportunity to not only receive Christ as Savior but also spend his life in service to Him. After all, that is what seminary students usually do. But somewhere along the way Stalin came to a spiritual crossroad and chose to reject Jesus. Then, like Pharaoh in the Old Testament story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, once the hardening of his heart began there was no stopping it.

We should all take Stalin’s example and learn from it. For one thing, it is a dangerous thing to reject Jesus when He comes to you offering salvation. For another, even if you are a Christian, it is a dangerous thing when He comes to you offering guidance, direction, and commands for your life. To reject light is to embrace darkness. To rebel against a word from the Lord is to choose to walk in your own foolishness. To shun blessing is to invite judgment.

So, has the Lord been telling you to do something? Perhaps He has been convicting you of your need of the salvation found only in Jesus. Or, if you have experienced that salvation, perhaps He has been giving you some specific command or word of wisdom concerning a situation. Well, all I can say is that whatever He has been sharing with you, you need to grab hold of it incorporate it fully into your life. I’m not saying that you will ever end up like Joseph Stalin, but I am saying that there is always a great danger in clenching your fist toward the Lord and saying, “No.” With that in mind, I’ll leave you with the words of Proverbs 29:1:

He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Filed under Attitude, Choices, Disobedience, God's Will, obedience, Rebellion, salvation Tagged with , , , , , ,

A Cautionary Tale About Rebellion

October 5, 2011 Leave a Comment

Sixty year old Jan Davis was a professional parachutist. She was also involved in the dangerous sport of “BASE jumping.” “BASE jumping” is leaping off fixed places, plummeting toward the earth for a few seconds, and then pulling your parachute chord. The letters B-A-S-E represent the fixed places from which one can jump: B (buildings), A (antennas), S (spans, bridges), and E (earth, cliffs).

On October 22, 1999, Jan and four other jumpers were in California’s Yosemite National Park to jump off the 3,200 foot granite cliff known as El Capitan. They were jumping to protest the fact that the Park had made BASE jumping illegal in the wake of the six deaths and numerous injuries that jumpers had incurred in the Park. The jump would prove the safety of the sport. Jan’s husband had come along to film the event, and several reporters were also on hand.

Jan was the fourth of the five jumpers. She launched off the cliff, fell for twenty seconds, and then fatally crashed into the rocks. Her chute had failed to open properly. Her husband and the reporters stood there stunned, having just watched Jan plunge to her death. The husband even had it on film.

I’m really not trying to be insensitive to the Davis family, but I think we can glean a spiritual lesson from Jan’s needless death. Over and over again the Bible warns against the sin of rebellion (such as rebelling against a logical law that has been enacted). Consider the following passages:

1. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry… (1 Samuel 15:23)

2. A evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him. (Proverbs 17:11)

3. There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths. (Job 24:13)

4. “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20)

5. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound in prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. (Psalm 68:6)

And so it is with these verses firmly in mind that I ask you this question: Are you, in some way, playing the rebel these days? Well, if you are, what are you rebelling against? Is it something reasonable? Is it something understandable? To use the proverbial saying, you aren’t making a mountain out of a mole hill, are you? Think hard now and be honest. It just might be that you have taken the matter way too far.

Filed under Attitude, Choices, Disobedience, Rebellion, submission Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Forgiveness, But Not Change

October 3, 2011 2 Comments

I live in a small, rural county in the so-called “Bible belt.” It’s the kind of place where there is a church on every corner, down every side road, and up every holler. Consequently, it can be hard to find someone who has no qualms about admitting to not knowing Christ as Savior. What I mean is, it seems like just about everyone I meet was baptized as a kid, has their name on a church roll, claims to attend somewhere, knows pastor so-and-so as a friend, etc. You get the idea. We’ve got religion, church, the Bible, and prayer running out our noses.

But what bothers me about our little county (approximately 15,000 in number) is how easily we blur the line between authentic Christian conduct and rank worldliness. Some of the same people who go to church every Sunday morning don’t mind doing a good deal of drinking and carousing on Saturday night. Some of the ones who rant and rave about the sexual sin of homosexuality evidently don’t understand that adultery falls in that same category. Some of the ones who are quick to request prayer for themselves or their families are also far too well versed in backbiting, gossiping, and rumor spreading.

My point is that a lot of people love to hear about Christ, the Bible, forgiveness, grace, and salvation, but the numbers dwindle significantly when the topics become repentance, godly conduct, separation from the world, and personal holiness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not promoting a works-based plan of salvation here. I myself sin every day and have to spend more time than I should asking the Lord for forgiveness of those sins. But with me sin is the exception, not the rule. It occurs outside the norm. It’s the uncommon, not the common. That’s what salvation has done to me (or better yet for me).

Perhaps an illustration will help me say what I’m trying to say. Little Billy was dressed for church in his Sunday best, but his mother wasn’t quite ready to go. So he went out in the back yard and started playing in the dirt. In just a few minutes his clothes were absolutely filthy. When his mother saw him she was furious. Passionately, Billy said, “Mom, I’m real sorry. Please forgive me.” She replied, “Okay, you’re forgiven but go change.” But Billy didn’t want to go back in the house and go to the trouble of dressing again. So he said, “No, I’ll just go as I am.” You see, he wanted forgiveness but not change. And, unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of Billys running around out there these days.

Filed under adultery, Backsliding, Change, Church attendance, Disobedience, Forgiveness, Hypocrisy, Personal, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, salvation, Sin Tagged with , , , , , , ,

God Is Not Mocked

September 15, 2011 Leave a Comment

Dr. R.G. Lee was one of the most famous Baptist preachers who ever lived. From 1927 to 1960 he served as the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. During those years the church grew in membership from 1,400 members to 10,000. He also served three terms as the president of his denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention.

Dr. Lee once used the following illustration:

Newburg, New York had a society led by Bline Palmer called The Druidical Society. It had a high priest and met to ridicule and destroy religion. Infamous and blasphemous acts were performed. At a meeting they burned a Bible, baptized a cat, partook of a mock sacred meal and administered sacrament to a dog.

In the evening, he who administered the sacrament was attacked with a violent inflammatory disease and died before morning in great bodily and mental agony, his inflamed eyeballs protruding and his tongue swollen. Another was found dead the next morning. A third died in a fit a few days later.

In five years of the organization of the society, all thirty-six of the original members had met strange and premature deaths: one of horrible swelling, one found dead in bed, one died in convulsions, one froze to death, three died in accidents, five were suicides, two were stoned to death, seven died on the gallows and eight were shot.

What does the Bible say? “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked…” (Ephesians 6:7).

Filed under God's Holiness, God's Wrath, God's judgment, Rebellion, Sin, Sowing and Reaping, The Depravity of Man Tagged with , , , , , ,

Making Excuses For Your Sins

September 13, 2011 1 Comment

Four old codgers were playing poker for money in the back of their local store. Suddenly the sheriff walked in on them and said, “Gambling again, eh? This time I’m going to arrest you fellows just to teach you a lesson.”

At that point the excuses started flying. One of the men said, “I wasn’t playing sheriff; I just dropped in to talk.” Another one said, “I wasn’t playing either, Sheriff; I was just visiting.” A third said, “I just came in to warm up by the stove.”

The fourth man sat quietly as all this went on around him. He continued to hold his cards and never once took his eyes off them. The sheriff looked at him and said with a smile, “Well, you certainly can’t deny that you’ve been playing cards.” The old man, still not looking up from his cards, slowly drawled, “Now, Sheriff, who would I be playing with?”

Oh, the excuses we make for our sins! We blame everyone from our parents to the government, when all the while the heart of the problem lies with us. Please understand that I’m not minimizing any sins that have been committed by your parents or your government, but also understand that there comes a time when you have to look in the mirror and take responsibility for your own sins. Face it, you have about as much of God as you want in your life.

You probably know Christ’s most famous parable, the one about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). But do you know the verse that marks the turning point of that story? It’s Luke 15:17, which says of the son:

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’”

Be sure not to miss those all important words: But when he came to himself. You see, the prodigal’s life didn’t change for the better until he conducted a personal evaluation and was sufficiently shocked by what he found. And notice that Jesus didn’t say that the young man came to a revelation about how his parents had raised him, or one about how others had done him wrong, or one about the ills of his society. No, he came to a revelation about himself. He thought, “I brought myself to this lowly state.”

I don’t know your life, but perhaps you, like the prodigal, need to come to yourself. Maybe you need to stop blaming others for your troubles and start admitting to your own role in creating your mess. Excuses will only keep the status quo in tact and prevent you from returning to the blessings of the father’s house. I could also say a lot here about the importance of confession and repentance, but I’ll leave that off for another time. Right now the first order of business is to get you to realize that you are the problem. Until that happens, you’ll never be ready for the next step.

Filed under Addiction, Adversity, Attitude, Backsliding, Change, Personal Holiness, Problems, Rebellion, Sin Tagged with , , , , ,

Nibbling Your Way Into Real Trouble

August 31, 2011 Leave a Comment

Here’s a good word from Mike Yaconelli, who writes for The Wittenburg Door:

I live in a small, rural community. There are lots of cattle ranches around here, and every once in awhile a cow wanders off and gets lost…Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply: ‘Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of green grass right next to a hole in the fence, so it nibbles on that one, and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know, the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.’
…Backsliders keep moving from one tuft of activity to another, never noticing how far we have gone from home or how far away from the truth we have managed to end up.

Tell me, when was the last time that you looked around and got your spiritual bearings? Could it be that you have nibbled yourself right through a hole in the fence and are currently a long, long way from where God would have you to be? You didn’t start out with the intention of leaving your pasture. You didn’t have a premeditated plan to abandon God’s will. But it just kind of happened as you nibbled your way along through life.

I especially like what Yaconelli says about the backslider not noticing how far away from the truth he has managed to end up. Isn’t it amazing how we start to rationalize our sin or explain it away the further we get from walking with Christ? The black and white of scriptural truth becomes more and more a dull gray. And once that rationalizing and explaining away begins, all bets are off as to where we might end up. It doesn’t take long for a simple case of backsliding to become a full blown case of rebellion and catastrophe. Don’t let that happen to you.

Filed under Backsliding, God's Will, Rebellion, Repentance, Sin Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Swimming At Your Own Risk

July 28, 2011 Leave a Comment

Okay, here’s one last post about our Myrtle Beach vacation. Indulge me with this one and we’ll move on to other subject matter in days to come.

Last Thursday was our final day of vacationing before we checked out and began the approximately seven-hour drive home. So that day we wanted to give the boys one more opportunity to enjoy the ocean and pool. This had been the first year ever that Royce, our youngest, had enjoyed splashing around in the ocean more than splashing around in the pool. He had even used some of his own money to buy himself a boogie board so that he could ride the waves properly.

Well, for a good while Thursday’s day at the ocean hummed along delightfully just as previous days had done. The boys played in the waves while Tonya and I laid on the beach. Then I joined the boys in the water and Tonya waded in a few minutes later. So there we were, all four Mckinneys splashing around in the ocean, enjoying every minute of it.

But then suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt a brief but intense sting on my arm. A jellyfish had stung me. I didn’t shriek in pain and head for the shore, but it did hurt, about like a bee-sting. Since I had no clue what to do and didn’t want to create a scene from Jaws as millions abandoned the water, I decided to stay in the water and let the salt water disinfect the sting. I found out later that my plan was a good one. The worst thing you can do for a jellyfish sting is pour fresh water on it. That causes the toxins or whatever they are to spread.

After a few minutes, some small whelks raised up on my arm and I began to feel a slight tingling in my fingers. I thought, “If things get any worse, I’m going to get some medical attention.” But, thankfully, that was the worst of it and before long my arm was virtually back to normal except for the small whelks. Event over, right? Not so fast.

About twenty minutes after I got stung, Royce rode an exceptionally large wave all the way into the shallows. But before he even fully emerged from the water, we heard the scream. And he kept screaming as he hurled himself out of the water, ran to our beach blankets, and buried himself in one of them. Honestly, Tonya and I would have feared that he had been bitten by a shark if not for the fact that I had been stung by a jellyfish just a few minutes earlier. So we had a pretty good idea what had happened.

As it turned out, Royce’s sting was much worse than mine. It was as if a jellyfish had wrapped itself around his leg and kept stinging. He had big marks on the inside and outside of his leg and they were already becoming whelks. The poor little fellow, no wonder he had gotten out of that water so fast. I wouldn’t have hung around in there either!

As Tonya raced to comfort Royce, I made my way to our female lifeguard and reported the two stings. She immediately grabbed a spray bottle of vinegar and sprayed down my arm. Then she went over to Royce and did the same for his wounds. By that time he was beginning to calm down somewhat, but he didn’t want any more to do with the ocean for that day. So we gathered up our things and headed for the pool.

Now, here’s the thing that you ought to know about those two jellyfish stings. All week long, as the crew and I had ridden those ocean waves, a warning sign had been posted just next to the lifeguard’s chair along the shoreline. What did that sign warn about? Jellyfish! You see, Royce and I, along with dozens and dozens of others, had been swimming at our own risk all week because jellyfish had been reported in the area and the warning sign had gone up.

And so here is the spiritual application to all this: God’s word, the Bible, is like that warning sign. When your actions go against it, don’t be surprised when you get stung. Oh, you might swim around for a while and get along fine. You might even have some fun and enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. But, ultimately, God will not be mocked and His word will not be ignored without consequence. Jellyfish stings hurt, but those stings are nothing compared to the hurt that we bring upon ourselves by sin. And just as Royce and I could offer no legitimate objection to us getting stung, neither can the sinner who has been warned by God’s word and blatantly ignored it.

Filed under Choices, Disobedience, God's judgment, God's Word, obedience, Rebellion, Scripture, Sin, Sowing and Reaping, The Bible Tagged with , , , , ,

In Training To Be Used Mightily

July 7, 2011 Leave a Comment

A budding young soloist went to a great Italian musician for voice training. The master handed him a piece of music and said, “Practice this for one full year and then return here.” The request seemed a bit strange, but for the next twelve months the young man faithfully did his practicing.

At year’s end, he returned to the musician, confident that the master would change his assignment and give him a new, higher grade of music to learn. But it didn’t happen. The master simply said, “Practice the same piece for another year and then return here.”

Somewhat discouraged, the young singer returned home and begrudgingly rededicated himself to his task. For twelve more months he practiced that same piece of music over and over again. Then he returned again to the musician. As he went, he thought, “Surely this time I will be given a new piece to learn.”

Once again, however, the master instructed him to work at the same piece of music for another year and then return. But this time the young man objected. He said, “No, I want to practice something new. I have worked hard, and I deserve to move on up to a more advanced lesson.” Stubbornly, though, the master held his ground, saying, “No, my son, the same lesson this year.”

So now the young man had a decision to make. Should he continue to trust in the great musician and keep practicing the same piece of music? Or should he question the musician’s expertise and seek training elsewhere? Two long years had come and gone. The young singer had worked hard and done as he was told, but he wasn’t seeing any fruit for his labors. Maybe it was now time to cut his losses with the supposed master and change everything.

The young man pondered the issue for quite some time, but in the end he decided to stick with the great musician’s training. So he went back to practicing the same old lesson and faithfully worked at it for yet another year. Then he returned to the master.

But this time the singer wouldn’t be given any more preparatory assignments. Instead, the great musician simply looked at him and said, “Go, my son. You have nothing more to learn.” The young man was both shocked and relieved, but he took the master at his word and began auditioning for singing parts. He nailed performance after performance, no matter how difficult the song, and eventually he rose to become the leading singer in all of Italy.

How was such a thing possible? It was possible because that one piece of music that the singer had so faithfully practiced all those years held within it a certain combination of notes, and that combination had allowed his vocal cords to be developed to perfection. The master, of course, had known this all along.

Christian, it may be that God has had you working on the same assignment for years now. And it also may be that you have grown very tired of singing it. So you’ve begun to long for something new, something different, something that will break you out of your rut. Perhaps you are right now even contemplating going off and doing your own thing because you are tired of living the life in which God has stationed you.

Well, let me ask you this: Could it be that for the past several years God has faithfully been preparing you to do great and mighty works for Him in the future? And, furthermore, could it be that even now your spiritual “vocal cords” are almost perfectly trained to handle these great works? You see, at this point, the last thing you need to do is short-circuit God’s whole plan by foolishly abandoning your master’s training and making some change that you shouldn’t make.

Call this a warning. Call it a word of encouragement. Call it what you will. But just know that God never sends out His servants unprepared, and if He still has you working on the same old assignment, then your training must not be fully completed yet. You ask, “How much longer will it be?” I don’t know. All I know is that there will come a day when God will send you forth to put all of your training to incredible use for Him.

Filed under Adversity, Choices, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Doing Good, faith, faithfulness, God's Timing, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Impatience, Ministry, Music, obedience, Patience, perseverance, Rebellion, Reward, submission, Teaching, Temptation, Trusting In God Tagged with , , ,

Your Penny

June 23, 2011 Leave a Comment

Little Billy had his hand stuck in an expensive vase. His mother tried her best to pull the hand out but she finally had to resort to breaking the vase. Once it was broken, she saw that Billy had had his fist balled up the whole time. When she asked him why, he answered, “Because if I had opened my hand, I would have dropped my penny.”

Many a person is right now holding on to some “penny” of sin. Even when clutching the sin begins to complicate their life, they won’t let go of the sin. Even when clutching it gets monetarily expensive, as in breaking an expensive vase, they still won’t let go. Maybe the sin is drugs. Maybe it is alcoholism. Perhaps it is adultery or looking at pornography on the internet. Sometimes it’s greed, pride, or covetousness. The list of “pennies” can seem endless.

And please understand that the problem of “penny” clutching doesn’t just affect lost people. A lot of Christians are out there playing the role of little Billy too. I don’t know that repentance has ever made for popular preaching, but its popularity is certainly at a low ebb today. Many preachers today major on words such as acceptance, tolerance, mercy, patience, and love. Certainly these are Biblical themes. But we must be careful that our preaching doesn’t become so mush and gush that we downplay repentance into oblivion. You see, fists must always be released and pennies of sin must always be dropped.

So, I ask you, what’s that in your hand right now? Is it your personal penny of sin? Well, little Billy, you’re going to have to let go of it (repent of it) before God will help you get your hand out of that vase in which it’s caught. Don’t bother waiting on Him to break the vase for you. That’s not how He deals with sin. He’ll gladly set you free from your entrapment, but He won’t do it just so you can continue running along, having a death grip on your penny. But why hold on to the sin anyway? After all, isn’t it what has you in trouble anyway?

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Choices, Disobedience, God's Holiness, Personal Holiness, preaching, Rebellion, Repentance, Seeking Forgiveness Tagged with ,

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