I Can’t Believe He Just Said That!

My wife read me a blog post the other day about a lady who was doing some shopping at her local grocery store.  She was minding her own business looking at some fresh produce when all of a sudden a 70-year-old man slammed his cart into her and rolled over her foot.  One of her toes began bleeding profusely and she was in a good deal of pain.  An employee ran to get some paper towels to soak up all the blood.  The older man asked if she was ok.  Being honest and bold, the lady replied, “No sir, actually I am not okay.  You just slammed your cart into me, and ran over my foot with your cart, and I’m bleeding and in pain.”  At this point the elderly man made an unforgettable statement.  He said, “Well if you were wearing proper footwear it wouldn’t have happened.”

This story has one of those “I can’t believe he just said that” moments.  Did he honestly believe this entire event was a direct result of improper footwear?  I‘m not a huge fashion buff, but I don’t think steel-toed boots are very popular for women right now…or ever have been for that matter.  When I heard this story, I wondered, “Why would he say such a thing?”  The reason is all too clear: he was trying to shift the blame.

People constantly try to shift the blame to anyone and anything other than themselves.  It doesn’t matter what it’s about or how conclusively the evidence points to them.  Now, it’s easy to look at this old man and realize he was 100% in the wrong and clearly see that he was trying to play the “blame game” here.  However, it’s much more difficult to see that we are in the wrong when we begin shifting the blame.

One of the most blatant examples of the “blame game” in Scripture is Adam and Even in Genesis 3.  After eating the forbidden fruit and being confronted by God, Adam turned and blamed Eve (vs. 12), and then Eve blamed Satan (vs. 13).  Some jokingly wonder if Satan began looking around for someone he could blame as well.  What God did in this situation was very telling.  All parties involved were punished.  All three had sinned and therefore all three deserved punishment no matter whose “fault” they thought it was.

It’s easy to blame someone or something else when we are in the wrong.  Don’t play the blame game.  It takes a lot of guts and maturity to admit you are wrong.  Let’s seek to be people who take responsibility for our actions when we are wrong.

Let Your Balloon Go

A certain denomination had a strange idea.  They were holding a conference and had a large crowd in attendance.  They decided to give everyone a helium filled balloon.  The people were told to release their balloons at some point during the worship service when they felt particularly joyful and wanted to express the joy in their hearts.  So, throughout the service balloons were released and floated up into the sky.  However, after all the worship activities were completed, over 1/3 of the crowd were still holding on to their balloons.

Now, there are plenty of negatives that could be pointed out about this very strange idea, but putting those aside, I found it shocking that over 1/3 of the people never let their balloons go.  Maybe some of them were still waiting for the right opportunity or maybe they just never felt joyful enough to let it go.  Whatever the reason, it seems like many Christians today also fail to “let their balloons go.”  In other words, we fail to express the joy of being a Christian.

Being a Christian should give us plenty of reasons to be joyful and to express this.  Proverbs 10:28 says, “The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”  The hope that we have as Christians is definitely a cause of joy, but too often we become so focused on wants and desires of this world and we forget about the joy we feel and should be letting out.

People are always looking for true happiness.  The hope we have as Christians is a source of genuine joy and happiness.  This should be something we are letting out and sharing so people can have the same.  As 1 Peter 1:8-9 says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”  Christians today have not seen Christ and yet we still love and follow Him.  As a result we have an inexpressible joy and salvation.  This is undoubtedly worth sharing to our lost and spiritually dying world.

Even though we have this joy, let’s not hold on to it.  There is so much happiness to share with our world, don’t be caught at the end of time still “holding on to your balloon.”  Let’s let our joy out for others to see so they will want to have the same.

“Slow and Steady Wins the Race”

A certain businessman who was well known for cruelty and ruthlessness once told Mark Twain about a goal he wanted to accomplish before he died.  He said, “Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  I will climb Mount Sinai and read the 10 Commandments aloud at the top.”  Mark Twain said in return, “I have a better idea, you could stay in Boston and keep them.”

Many people in this world, intentionally or unintentionally, live by the saying, “Go big or go home.”  Like the businessman, this is also applied to spiritual things.  Maybe the business man wanted to make up for many of his failings by doing this, or maybe he just wanted to do something people would see as spiritually iconic.  Whatever the reason, all of this points to the fact that people tend to think the “big” things make them more spiritual.  We plan extensive mission trips, conduct major spiritual events, and spend weeks at a time for intense spiritual training and growth (i.e. church camp).  Don’t get me wrong, every single one of these items is fantastic and needed.  They always help renew the spiritual fire within us.  The problem is, many people’s spiritual lives are only comprised of these “big things.”  There is no filler, no consistency, and no “little things.”

As the popular Scripture Hebrews 12:1 states, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Our spiritual life is a race, and it’s an endurance one at that.  It is not all about the quick, huge spiritual boosts and world outreach events.  The spiritual race is all about consistency and each little step.  Little things like Bible reading, prayer, going to worship, and hanging around Christian people are ways we stay on the right path and keep towards the goal in a “little,” yet vital, ways.

Even though most bear the mindset, “Go big or go home,” the Bible has the mindset of “Slow and stead wins the race.”  Which saying is most like your spiritual life right now?

Punished For Stealing 7 Cents

“For 7 cents, now you’re making someone a felon for the rest of his life,” Anthony Stewart’s lawyer exclaimed after the sentencing was passed.  Anthony, a 15-year-old, was going to be facing 2-6 years in juvenile detention for stealing a whopping 7 cents.  Stewart’s lawyer pleaded for the judge to treat her client as a youthful offender so he wouldn’t have this felony hanging over his head the rest of his life.  The judge was not willing to make such a compromise.

Like Anthony Stewart’s lawyer, this sentencing seemed to make several people upset.  However, here is the full story.  Anthony Stewart and his friend took BB guns that looked like real pistols for the sole purpose of robbery.  These two young men later came upon a 73-year-old man.  They knocked him to the ground and Anthony proceeded to punch the old man in the face.  Then they stole every solitary cent the man had on him, a staggering 7 cents.  While some might be upset with Anthony’s punishment over such an insignificant amount, an important question must be asked.  What if the old man had been carrying three thousand dollars or more?  There is no doubt that the young teen boys would have taken all of it.  The felony has nothing to do with the amount the boys stole.  It has to do with the crime itself and their malicious intent.

This story reminds me of a very common mindset in our culture.  Christians and non-Christians alike are constantly trying to justify sins by labeling them as “little” and “insignificant.”  We talk about “little white lies,” “small mistakes,” and tag certain failings as “no big deal.”  The problem is, Scripture makes no such distinction.  The Bible condemns all lying (Colossians 3:9; Leviticus 19:11; Jeremiah 9:3; etc), all stealing (Exodus 20:15; Leviticus 19:11; Matthew 19:18; Romans 13:9; etc), and all sins (Isaiah 59:1-3; 1 John 3:4; Romans 3:23; etc).

While we may label some sin as a “small” and “trivial,” the Lord doesn’t.  The consequences of sin can be significantly different, but all sins can separate us from the Lord, even the “little” ones.  Let’s not get caught up in the flawed mindset about “little sins.”  All sins are serious.  All sins need to be addressed in our lives.

Popularity

A man’s home was being overrun with mice.  There were so many mice that setting traps just wasn’t getting the job done.  So, he decided to go with the poison route.  He set out a box of poisonous food the mice would find very tasty.  That night there was a feeding frenzy.  The mice completely overwhelmed the food and cleaned out the box by morning.  The homeowner put out a second box and the same event unfolded the next night.  After that night the man’s house remained quite and free of mice.  This poisonous food ended up being so popular that it brought about a feeding frenzy and killed off all of the mice.

Why was this poisonous food so appealing?  It looked good, smelled delicious, and tasted great.  But beyond all this, it became “popular.”  As a few mice discovered the food and how tasty it was, soon every mouse in the area wanted to eat it as well.  Then a feeding frenzy occurred.  This is when all of the mice want the food so badly that they compete, fight, and swarm all over just to get one little morsel (similar to piranhas).  The result of this popularity was death.

Popularity can be quite dangerous in our culture.  The reason is because the things that are popular can also be toxic.  We follow today’s trends, fads, and worldly mindsets so willingly because that is what is popular.  The problem is, these popular items are typically interlaced with poisonous aspects like lust, greed, lies, immodesty, drunkenness, and the list goes on and on.  Just think about today’s popular movies, TV shows, music, video games, party “activities,” clothing trends, etc.  Our culture is constantly sending us messages about what we “need” to look like, be like, and own.  Just like the mice, when we see other people “enjoying” something, we become jealous and want some of the pleasure for ourselves.  The result is that we consume some of the poison our world offers us simply because it is popular.

As Christ said in Luke 9:25, “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?”  The things that are popular in this life are many times the things that cause us to forfeit our souls in the next life.  May we also keep in mind that “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33).  No matter what our friends, our culture, or anyone else says is “cool” and “popular,” if it is against Scripture then it just isn’t worth it.  May we always seek to be popular in God’s eyes, not our culture’s.

Think About Your Thoughts

Frank Outlaw composed these motivating and thought provoking words:

“Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

What wise words.  And they are so very true.  Whatever people think about is what they will say, do, and become.  This concept is phrased very well, but this thought is not original to Frank Outlaw.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:34-35, “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?  For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. “

1 Samuel 24:13 says, “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’….”

We see statements like these throughout Scripture (Proverbs 19:3; Isaiah 32:6; 59:7; Matthew 15:18; Luke 6:43-45; Ephesians 4:29; etc).  Clearly we need to be thinking about the focus of our thoughts.  In other words, we need to be careful what we are thinking and what runs through our minds.  Why?  Because our thoughts have such a huge impact on our lives that it could end up being the difference between remaining faithful or falling away into sin.

So often I hear people use vulgar language, tell twisted and impure jokes, talk about immoral things, and I am reminded that this is what they fill their minds with and exactly how they think.  Typically, the reason people are angry, hateful, rude, arrogant, etc, is because this is what fills their minds.  If not harnessed, this will eventually form their character and influence where they will spend eternity.

We must take the time to consider what are we thinking about.  Are they pure and kind thoughts, or are they vulgar, immoral, and hateful?  What we think about will end up being what we become.  What do your thoughts say about what you will become?  It is never too late to adjust our thinking.  If nothing else, I hope this will at least give us something to “think” and pray about.

“Conversations With God”

The above is a title of a book series that author Neale Walsch wrote.  What are these books about?  It is essentially a series of answers written from “God’s point of view.”  Or in other words, if you were to walk up to God and directly ask Him a question, here are the answers He would give you.  Walsch claims these are not just his thoughts and ideas but they came directly from God Himself.  In an interview with Larry King, Walsch said:

“It started in the darkest moment of my life, Larry, when everything was going wrong in my life. My career was reaching a dead end…So I called out in the middle of the night…I really began screaming out silently inside myself, what does it take to make life work? Somebody tell me. What are these rules?…And, Larry, I heard a voice clearly as I am hearing now, right over my right shoulder, so clearly, I turned around and thought someone had come into the room. It was 4:30 in the morning, and the voice said, Neale, do you really want answers to all of these questions or are you just venting, and I can recall my response after I got over the shock of not finding anyone there, I thought, well, I am venting, but if you’ve got answers, I’d like know what they are. And with that, I received the answers to most of the most astonishing questions and the most extraordinary answers, and as they began coming to me and literally filling my mind, I thought I’ve got to write this down…” (Larry King Live, April 7^th, 2000).

And with that Walsch began writing “Conversations With God” and giving God’s “answers” to many of life’s tough questions.  But before we look at some of “God’s answers,” let’s be reminded of a few of points about these books.  First, this series of his was on the “New York Times” best-sellers list for over 130 weeks.  Second, Oprah largely supports this book and even had Walsch on her show.  Third, his books are being sold and distributed in schools through the Scholastic Book Club and probably other means as well.  So, why is this book so terrible and sickening?  Here are some of Walsch’s questions and answers from “God.”

• A girl is wondering why she is a lesbian?  “God’s” answer is that she was “born this way” because of genetics.  Then “God” tells her to go out and celebrate her differences.
• Another girl asks, “I am living with my boyfriend.  My parents say I should marry him because I am living in sin.  Should I marry him?”  “God” answers, “Who are you sinning against?  Not Me, because you have done nothing wrong.”
• Another question is about the forgiveness of sins and how God handles this.  “God” answers this question by saying, “I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive…there is no such thing as right or wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people.”

If you are anything like me, this is about a profane and irreverent as a person can get.  His book series is jam packed with question and answer sessions just like these.  And to make matters worse, everyone from 10-year-old kids all the way to 90-year-olds are thanking him and being influenced by his works.  To be honest, there is so much wrong with this entire book that it seems ridiculous to even give it the time of day.  The problem is, there are several honest and sincere people, including children, who are being deceived by false teachers like Neale Walsch.

Ironically, we don’t need to have a “conversation with God” to know that Neale Walsch is wrong.  Scripture, the authentic “conversation with God,” warns us about people like Walsch (Galatians 1:6-10; 1 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 John 7-10; etc). So, let’s boil this down; what should we do about this?  Let me concluded with 2 suggestions.  (1) Let’s spread the word about this false teacher and the trash his books are endorsing.  (2) Let’s keep watching out and guarding our children and ourselves from such repulsive teachings.