"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand." (Eph. 6:11)
I woke up this morning to the sounds of war. No, I haven't made a trip to Baghdad or to the front lines of Afghanistan. I was sitting in my chair in my bedroom reading the Bible, but hearing the trainees at Fort Jackson taking target practice. They are training for war. Our country is at war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and we are facing serious threats from North Korea and Iran. Our local newspaper did not have any reference to those wars in it today at all. We don't want to be reminded. The week that women laid down their lives for freedom in the streets of Iran, our front page news was focused on our obsession with Michael Jackson. Even Charlie's number one angels death (Farrah Fawcett) faded in comparison in our minds.
The Bible reminds us that we are at war in this world, and that Jesus has called us to be on mission. We are waging war against the kingdom of darkness. The Lord's Prayer is ultimately a war time prayer. We are to pray, "Your Kingdom Come, Your will be Done."
We have been fully armed and equipped with weapons of righteousness according to 2 Cor. 10. We are to be diligent in prayer Ephesians 6 tells us. We are either actively resisting the devil and his forces, or we have already surrendered in this battle.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
First Things First
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Deut. 6:4)
These are the opening words of what Israel came to call the "Shema". It is the central declaration of their faith, and of the Christian faith to in a sense. God declares He is the only true and living God. He is the supreme good and the ultimate One. He alone deserves all of the glory and praise, and our full undivided allegiance.
If I were to stand in the pulpit and church and declare that to the degree that we don't love God foremost in our lives, that is sin; To the degree that loving God is the foremost commandment, if I don't obey that I am committing the greatest sin, no one would likely take offense. They would probably say "Amen" in their hearts if not out loud.
But if I stand up and declare that as Americans in church we are guilty of idolatry. We have substituted false gods for the worship of the one true God, I believe people would argue, if not outloud at least in their heart. Isn't it true, however? Are we not largely a consumer church? Do we not make it all about us? We say its all about God, but is it really?
Take a look at your checkbook and your calendar and see. Where we spend our money tells us what is important to us. How we spend our time tells us what is important to us. Is God in the first place of our lives? I don't mean in our speech, but in our actions. If we say that we love God, if we say that He is first, but our actions don't show it, are we also liars? Are we fooling ourselves? Are we trying to fool others?
You say these are harsh words. Should we not be called back to reexamine our lives? What is the greatest good? What is our number one priority? What is the real guiding principle of your life?
These are the opening words of what Israel came to call the "Shema". It is the central declaration of their faith, and of the Christian faith to in a sense. God declares He is the only true and living God. He is the supreme good and the ultimate One. He alone deserves all of the glory and praise, and our full undivided allegiance.
If I were to stand in the pulpit and church and declare that to the degree that we don't love God foremost in our lives, that is sin; To the degree that loving God is the foremost commandment, if I don't obey that I am committing the greatest sin, no one would likely take offense. They would probably say "Amen" in their hearts if not out loud.
But if I stand up and declare that as Americans in church we are guilty of idolatry. We have substituted false gods for the worship of the one true God, I believe people would argue, if not outloud at least in their heart. Isn't it true, however? Are we not largely a consumer church? Do we not make it all about us? We say its all about God, but is it really?
Take a look at your checkbook and your calendar and see. Where we spend our money tells us what is important to us. How we spend our time tells us what is important to us. Is God in the first place of our lives? I don't mean in our speech, but in our actions. If we say that we love God, if we say that He is first, but our actions don't show it, are we also liars? Are we fooling ourselves? Are we trying to fool others?
You say these are harsh words. Should we not be called back to reexamine our lives? What is the greatest good? What is our number one priority? What is the real guiding principle of your life?
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