Christian Towers of Babel

…You will tell people about me everywhere…to the ends of the earth. Ac. 1:8

When man was first created, he was given a command intended for each succeeding generation. Men were to be fruitful and multiply and, while filling the earth, subdue it to the service of God (Gen. 1:28). After mankind’s depravity pushed God to destroy them with a cataclysmic flood, He reiterated to Noah His wish for us to fill the planet in Genesis 9:1. Instead, man decided in Genesis 11:4 to build a city and a tower whose top would reach the sky so that they would not be scattered over the whole earth. Contradicting God’s command, they established their own rules and attempted to “reach the heavens” with their own works. They valued reputation more than obedience.

Maybe they thought God would feel lucky to have such enterprising humans associate themselves with Him. Needless to say, the Lord was less than pleased and found it necessary to afflict them with many different languages in order to confuse all the workers and bring this great work to a halt.

Jesus also told His disciples that they were to reproduce themselves “in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But being human and naturally stiff necked, they followed part of His wishes by having a considerable number of spiritual children (Acts 2:4) but chose to remain in Jerusalem and even began developing a rigid hierarchy (Acts 6:2-3). God sent a persecution in Acts 8 in order to enforce His desire but He still had to give Peter another strong push to accept non-Jews (Acts 10). The disciples still had strong misgivings about spreading into the Gentile world (Acts 11:1-2) and even with more persecution to spread them further (Acts 11:19), most still tried to stick with their own people wherever they went.

This command still applies to Christians today. We are to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth with our own kind. We have the example of our Lord who chose to associate with publicans and prostitutes, the low class and the general scum. We, however, choose to build big beautiful buildings instead of sending our own out into the world. We choose programs over missions and build ever larger religious towers, lest our work get scattered, largely out of fear of losing reputation.

Now I have nothing against the Holy Spirit working greatly. But let me ask you this - when we pastors go to conferences, do we hear from missionaries or church planters? No, we are taught by CEOs of megachurches. We’re supposed to be impressed by the numbers and the programs… but you know, I wonder if the people in the town of Babel tried to impress others with the number of bricks or the beauty of their tower?

Studiously Avoiding God

“…There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” – Luke 15:10

A tzaddik lived in a town with a large seminary. He often sat in the city square where the up- and-coming preachers would stand and practice preaching to the passing crowds. One day, a young energetic man passionately expounded the Scriptures, not merely practicing but trying desperately to bring the people to repentance for their sins before God. The crowd recognized the difference and stopped to listen to the young preacher. His words moved them and they publicly wept while confessing their sins.

The wise man watched all this and began singing a cheerful hymn. The young preacher did not want to be rude, and the singing wasn’t disrupting the spontaneous service, so he patiently waited until the man stopped singing. Then he asked, “Sir, why do you sing such a cheerful tune when so many others are weeping and repentant for their sins?”

The tzaddik placed his hands on the young man’s shoulders and exclaimed, “The angels sing and dance when one sinner repents! Because of your ministry today hundreds have confessed their sins and are turning back to God. How could I not rejoice when so many sinners have taken their first steps on the Way?”

“You’re right!” cried the young preacher. He turned to the people and began singing with all his might, thanking God for His mercy and rejoicing in the forgiveness that the repenting sinners had received. The crowd picked up the tune and began singing with one voice in a mass demonstration of gratitude and worship.

Meanwhile, off to one side, the elder saw two seminary students who had ignored the whole proceedings while assiduously studying the Scriptures. The wise man went over, sat by them and began praying for their forgiveness. Caught up in the throes of his prayer, he began weeping. The students were astounded by this and asked, “Sir, why are you weeping and praying when so many in this square are singing and dancing?”

The wise man answered, “How could I not weep, when I see you pushing God away in your arrogance? You are studying the Scriptures, but forgetting the One who gave them to you!”

Too often we get caught up in the mechanics of religion and forget that the point is not religion but relationship. It’s not about attending church every week. It’s not about praying so many minutes a day or reading so many chapters of the Bible every day. It’s about developing a loving, dependent and grateful relationship with the Master. Oh, all those external things are very good, don’t get me wrong. But it would be like saying that cooking, cleaning and paying the bills are all there is to marriage! All those things are important, but there’s so much more. Something wonderful…something magical…it’s knowing God and letting Him know you in a deep, personal and intimate way. It’s love.

The Breath of God

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. – Genesis 1:2 NASB
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7 NASB

We have all seen people receive artificial respiration. They lie dying as the seconds tick away. Those helping them work frantically. There is a sense of desperation because if oxygen doesn’t start getting to the brain soon, that person - not just the body but the mind, the personality, the spirit of that human - will be gone forever. When watching TV shows, we get the impression that these attempts to revive are nearly universally successful but the truth of the matter is that as often as not, the attempt to restart the heart, or the breathing, ends in failure.

How like human attempts. We strive mightily but without much affect; so much effort for so little return. Whenever we do things in our own strength and in our own way, we can rest assured that God has a much better way.

In Hebrew, the “Spirit of God” is literally “the breath of God”. Earth was without form and void and covered by darkness until God breathed upon it.

In Genesis 2:7, Elohim again breathed upon a lump of clay and thus made man a living soul. God’s very essence is life. We see this in John chapter 1 where it says “In Him (Christ) was life, and the life was the Light of men.” Jesus also said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

Our lives without Christ are without form and void. Our daily activities are covered in the dark knowledge that death lies ahead. Everything we do will pass away and very soon our very existence will be forgotten. We are lumps of clay, inanimate doorstops; shapeless until worked upon by the Master Potter. Then the eyes brighten, the heart beats, the chest heaves its first breath of air and we become something wonderful.

Your life may seem useless right now. There may seem to be no meaning, purpose or goal. You may be “living a life of quiet desperation.” Come to Christ – the source of all life. You cannot separate yourself from the source of life and expect anything but death. John 1:5 tells us that when the light of Christ shone in the dark world, the dark world did not understand it. But that’s all right. You don’t have to understand why He loves you. You don’t have to grasp the fullness of His nature. All you have to do is trust Him. Put your life in His hands. Let the breath of God flow into your spirit. Then get ready to really live.

A Guide for the Trip

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path…My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end. – Psalm 119:105

Men are notorious for not reading instructions. They don’t want to read the map or ask directions. We laugh and many sitcoms have used this premise as the basis for a comic situation. “How foolish of him to be so arrogant as to think he can go it alone!” we think. What is it that makes us feel this way?

We learn as children that to learn something, we must ask someone older, wiser than ourselves. Ideally, this lesson would stick with us as we mature, but sadly, many of us feel we have become that older, wiser person we used to question. We feel we have learned all that is necessary.

The day after I earned my first-degree black belt, I was allowed to go to the head sensei’s class for the first time. He only taught black belts and then the black belts taught the rest of the students. Now I was a black belt and had earned the privilege of attending the senior classes. As I entered the hall, another higher-ranking black belt signaled for me to come over. You see, in our dojo, a senior student could ask you to practice any move with him and you had to obey. It allowed the senior student constant access to somebody with whom to practice. It also allowed the lower ranking student to see moves he would not normally get to see. I thought he wanted to welcome me to the hallowed ranks of the seniors. Boy, was I right! He signaled he wanted to spar. I bowed, and that was pretty much the last thing I remember, except for the brief flashes of floor and ceiling I saw as I was being thrown around like a rag doll. As I lay on the floor afterwards, trying to figure out which way was up, he leaned over my prostrate body and smiled. “The learning only begins with the black belt,” he said. Then he walked away.

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I am never too old or too advanced to be able to learn something from someone. I have achieved the rank of a fifth-degree black belt and there is still much to learn in the art of jiu-jitsu. I am now a pastor of a church and there is still much to learn from my parishioners and my fellow pastors. But why not skip all the senior students and go straight to the head sensei? Can you imagine what you could learn at the hands of the Master Himself?

How about you? Are you trying to journey through life without a guide? The Bible is filled with instruction and help for you. It has all you need to know to have a good trip through life.

God of Losers (El - Mighty One)

Finally, the day came when the El said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous.” – Genesis 7:1

Genesis 6:9 tells us that “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.” I used to think of what an honor it would have been for Noah to have been judged by God Almighty to be the most righteous man of his time. Now, however, with more time and maturity, I look at Noah with a growing sense of pity and horror.

Over the course of Noah’s story we are able to determine that he certainly was not sinless. Noah was not a hero like Moses (Ex. 2:16-17).

He did not attempt to negotiate on behalf of humanity like Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:16-33) or Moses did for the people of Israel (Ex. 32:11-14). We can be sure that over the course of the 120-year project, people asked Noah what he was doing, and yet after over a century of work, not one person outside his immediate family believed or followed him.

After the flood, one of Noah’s first priorities was to plant a vineyard, produce wine and get drunk! To give him some credit, however, it would put the greatest saint to the test to personally witness the death of a world. But when one of his sons, Ham, sees him naked and drunk in his tent and mocks Noah before the other two brothers, Noah does not curse Ham but Ham’s son, Canaan, and his descendants!

What’s the point? To denigrate Noah? Not at all. The point is that one of God’s names is “El” which means mighty, strong or prominent. El can rescue, El can salvage, El can work through even the most fundamentally flawed human. Here is a man who seems to have been a terrible witness, struggled with alcoholism and was a poor father; yet El was able to use him to salvage humanity. How? How did Noah qualify to be the savior of the known world in spite of his weaknesses? He was deeply, profoundly obedient to the will of God that he knew. His knowledge of God or of theology was not vast. His religious life was probably as superstitious and error-prone as ours. Yet because he jumped when God said jump, God pronounced him righteous.

El is not mighty or prominent because of the number of followers He has. He is not made strong by the buildings we build or the sacrifices we make for Him. El is intrinsically, essentially and by His own nature the Mighty One. If any power is transferred, if any glory, it is from El to us. And that transfer can only take place within the medium of obedience.

Thankful for Fleas

Let us come before him with thanksgiving. Let us sing him psalms of praise. - Psalm 95:2

How do you like it when you do things for people and they don’t appreciate it? Have you ever cooked a meal for someone who simply wolfed it down and never expressed any appreciation for it? Have you ever sung a song in public and no one even mentioned it afterwards? It certainly doesn’t encourage you to do it again, does it? How can you expect God to continue blessing you if you aren’t grateful for what He’s already done? If we are mean-spirited enough to assume that we simply deserve all God’s provision, don’t you think we are due for a reality check? God is a person. As such a relationship with Him can be developed like a relationship with any other person. You need to spend time with Him, talk to Him, be open with Him, listen to Him and last but certainly not least, you need to be grateful for all the things He does for you.

Spend an entire session of prayer simply thanking Him for His blessings. Thank Him for family, friends, fortunes won, fortunes lost (with subsequent gained wisdom). Thank Him for all the things that have NOT happened to you that have happened to others. Thank Him for creation. Not just generally but specifically. Go through and, like Adam, name all the creatures with a breath of gratitude. Appreciate all the beauty of nature while expressing worship for its Creator. Thank God for fleas! Corrie Ten Boom related that while in a Nazi POW camp, her sister encouraged God to even thank God for the fleas. Corrie thought her sister was crazy. Then she found out that the guards would not enter the barracks because of all the fleas and lice. This gave the prisoners at least one place that they could escape their tormentors gaze, even if it was only temporary.

God has a plan for everything and he uses even the Devil’s machinations to His own purpose. Remember Job? Satan wanted to destroy Job and for a while it almost seemed like he had succeeded! But God used the Old Serpent’s traps to make Job stronger than he ever was before. So thank God for even the things in life that you don’t like!

Ingratitude will paralyze your prayer life. Gratitude will feed it, empower it, enlighten it and embolden it. God answers “Thanks, God!” prayers with “Sure! No problem! Here’s a hundred times more!”

El Shaddai (God All-Sufficient)

And if they do cry out and God does not answer, it is because of their pride. But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say El Shaddai isn’t concerned. And it is even more false to say he doesn’t see what is going on. He will bring about justice if you will only wait. - Job 35:12-14

I once was the only white kid in school and a small group of kids was hitting me with sticks and throwing stones at me. I brought the problem to my grandmother but nothing happened. She did not reprimand those kids. She did not accompany me to school and keep them from beating me. I saw no action whatsoever. The attempted beatings (I did fight back) continued. She simply told me to keep on trying to do what was right and fight when I had to. I grew angry, thinking to myself how useless she was.

Then one day, I arrived at the school and the bullies were absent. The following day they all showed up black and blue, with very obvious marks of a tremendous beating! I thought perhaps my grandmother (in all her 5 foot, 100 pound glory) had taken care of them personally! But I discovered that she had gone to the school authorities the very day I had first asked for help. A couple of the thugs were the sons of prominent men; one was the eldest son of a local chief and was destined to become the village chief some day. One did not lightly deal with such children! So the school authorities watched from a distance to make sure they knew exactly who was giving me (the white kid) the beatings. They made sure there were several adult witnesses. They made sure I was not instigating the fights. Then, when they had all the facts and all the proof, they took it up with the boy’s fathers. Those boys got the beating of their lives! In Africa, they still believe in corporal punishment. I no longer had to duck stones.

Too often we grow impatient with God. We take our concerns to Him and in our immaturity, expect instant results. But God is not human. He is not at the mercy of weakness or emotion. He will intervene in due time, or as the Bible puts it, “in the fullness of time.”

God does not possess the characteristic of justice. God IS justice. He always does the right thing at the right time the right way. We must be patient and endure what He allows in our lives, trusting His judgment.

My grandmother later told me she was glad it had taken a little while to get all the facts straight and that I had had to deal with the thugs for a while on my own. When (more than a little disturbed by her callousness) I asked why, she replied that all boys needed to struggle some in order to become good strong men.

Dancing in the Hidden Light

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. – John 1:4-5

There once was a very poor tzaddik whose church could not afford to pay more than a pittance, not enough to live on. So the tzaddik lived in poverty. Despite this, the elder was happily satisfied with his small portion in life. He would walk about in threadbare clothes with an erect posture, radiating joy.

He loved the Holy Scriptures and would seek out wise teachers so that he could improve his knowledge and understanding of them. On one particular trip, he stopped for the night and asked a local man for shelter. The man would not invite the tzaddik into his home but allowed him to sleep in the barn. “What an honor!” thought the elder, “My Master also was not shown hospitality and was born in a stable!”

However, the Spirit was urging him to worship and pray and he could not rest until he had obeyed. The night was now well established and very dark. The poor tzaddik did not even have a candle by which to see his way or to study the Holy Scriptures. “I have no choice but to worship in the light that was hidden since the days of creation.” He mused.

You see, in the beginning Yahweh created light four creation days before He established the sun for our use. (Genesis 1:3; 16-19). Ancient scholars called this light the “hidden light.” They believed it was the spiritual light that God reserves for His beloved children. Our Lord Jesus was described as “the Light that shines in the darkness” (John 1:4). And prophets tell us that the New Jerusalem will need no sun, moon or candles because God’s glory will illumine it (Revelation 21:23; 22:5).

So that night the elder stood up in the dark and prayed to welcome in God’s day of rest. He used water and dry bread for communion. He meditated on God’s Word. He sang choruses, hymns and spiritual songs, dancing in the hidden light that the Holy Spirit had planted deep within his soul.

Tell me, Christian, are you overwhelmed by your pilgrimage? Is your way rocky and steep? Remember from whence you came and where you are going. Rejoice in the Way of Christ and dance in the presence of the Hidden Light of Christ within you. Spread that Light to others as you hike down life’s trail. After all, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16).

God's Bells

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold. - Psalm 18:2

The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn't know what to do. Napoleon's massive army was preparing to attack. A council of citizens was hastily summoned Easter Sunday to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender.

The pastor rose and said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord's resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us." So the church bells rang and the enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.

David describes God as: (1) a rock; (2) a fortress; (3) a shield; (4) strength; and (5) a stronghold. On the battlefield it is important to identify those elements that are constants and those that are variables. Rivers can be diverted. Towns can be flattened. Large rocks and mountains, however, are not likely to be moved. We can use them strategically to funnel the enemy or to give ourselves cover and concealment. God is our rock. He is a known in a life filled with unknowns.

A fortress gives us breathing room. It is a sanctuary to which we can withdraw to lick our wounds and be able to go back into the fray with a renewed vigor. God calls us to Himself offering sanctuary.

Body armor, or a shield, allows us to advance boldly without being overly concerned with our personal safety. God’s promise of eternal life, His assurance of salvation and His provision of the leading of the Holy Spirit is our shield. We can leap into life, uncaring for our own safety.

Strength is such a vital element of combat that hours of each day in the life of a Marine are spent in physical exercise and training. We Christians gain strength as we lean more and more on Christ. As we realize daily our own personal weakness and inadequacy and turn more and more to His strength we become more than conquerors.

A stronghold is a fortress that is built into solid rock, high in the cliffs. It gives those within it the strategic advantage of the heights. Christian, you stand high above your enemies. You are in a safe place. Why descend to their level? Why try to fight the battle on the field of their choosing? Trust God. Follow His rules of combat. As illogical as they may seem they inevitably lead to victory.

Yahweh (The Existing One)

“Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” The Lord Almighty is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Psalm 46:10-11

Think of a circle. Imagine that that circle represents everything – absolutely everything. It represents all space both explored and unexplored. It represents all matter and energy. It represents everything. There is nothing outside of the circle because the circle IS everything. Now–what would happen if everything inside that circle would disappear? Let’s say that it happened in 1994. What would you have in 1995 (assuming that time still exists independently of the universe)? Nothing. What would you have 200 years later? Nothing. It would not matter how much time passed. If there is nothing inside and nothing outside the set, nothing would ever happen, right?

I know – it seems obvious. But the implications are astonishing. It means that there has always, for all time and eternity past, been something. There has never been even a moment when there was absolutely nothing because if there was, nothing would have ever happened!

Atheists and Christians both agree on this matter. The difference is in what they believe that eternal existent was. Atheists believe that it was matter or energy (the two, after all, are nearly synonymous). But there is a big problem with that. Everyone knows that the universe has not always existed! It had a definite beginning. Atheists choose to call it the Big Bang. Christians choose to call it Creation. Atheists believe that a quantum vibration in the vacuum brought it about. Christians believe it was the hovering of the Holy Spirit over the great void. Actually in Hebrew, the word is vibrate so by all accounts it began with a vibration!

In the midst of all this Yahweh tries to get a word in edgewise. When asked to identify Himself to Moses, He gives the deceptively simple name “I AM.” Yahweh is ever-present one, the Prime Cause, the First and the Last, the Everlasting Creator, the source of Life. He is the only one who can truly say at all times “I AM.” You see, to God there is no time. He is beyond time. He sees the future and the past as one single point.

There are quite a few ways we could explore this strange feature of God. I would like to pursue one. We humans have a tendency to live anywhere but in the present. We dwell on the past or we worry about the future. We reminisce about the “good old days” or we can’t wait for the future. But Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34). Imitate God. Set aside what’s happened to you. Quit worrying about what might. Try to experience the presence of God in the now.

A Compass

Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I have come to you in prayer. Psalm 143:8

Prayer can be like a compass. It is a time to ask God for direction in your life. It is a time to ask Him to show you the way. If you ask honestly and in faith, He will always show you. Don’t expect Him to show you the next twenty years, for they are in a large part yet to be determined by your obedience. He will show you, however, the next step, the next goal. You must be satisfied with that and trust Him to take care of the rest.

This means that you need to spend some time simply being quiet. Prayer is a conversation. Sometimes God can’t get a word in edgewise because we are so busy jabbering, we don’t pause to listen. It’s fine to share your experiences, cares and concerns with Him – but you must also allow Him to do the same. How does God speak, you ask? Sometimes, as you pray, fall silent and simply wait. God will bring to mind things that you should take care of. Perhaps you’ll realize that you have offended someone and need to ask forgiveness. Sometimes He’ll bring a portion of Scripture to mind and you need to decipher what He’s trying to say to you. At times it’s crystal clear, other times He’s ambiguous. It’s like Christ speaking in parables. Go ahead and be as the disciples who asked, “Lord, what does that mean?” Either way, it requires careful thought.

Sometimes kneel with your Bible open and try to read with an open mind. So often we read in order to develop an outline for a sermon, or a Bible study, or in order to answer someone’s question. It’s important that we spend some time reading the Bible “purposelessly”. We must read to simply hear God’s side of the conversation. There will be times when you will sit, and sit, and there doesn’t seem to be an answer. Discouraged, you’ll get up and a few minutes or hours later something will happen or someone will say something to you that will be a direct answer to your question. Then you’ll have one of those “AHA!” moments and give praise to God. But even if you never get an answer, sitting quietly in God’s presence is never a loss.

However, you will never hear the voice of God if you are not quiet; if you do not ask; if you do not actually want to hear. You demonstrate your desire to hear when you don’t place limits on His answers. He knows you want to hear when you obey when He speaks. If He’s already spoken to you about something and you have yet to obey, don’t expect Him to speak any more until you take care of business.

As Near as Life

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? – Deuteronomy 4:7

God tells us in Amos chapter 5 “I hate, I reject your festivals. Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting stream.”

Pastors and priests sometimes make us feel that religion must be complex. They develop detailed liturgy and stress the importance of ritualism but in actuality, it is only to promote their own importance, not to elevate God. These wolves in sheep’s clothing would have you believe that you cannot achieve a state of worship without the cathedrals, the stained glass, the clergy dressed in various uniforms droning on and on about things that have little or nothing to do with the Way. In fact, some religions even practice their ceremonies in languages their followers don’t even understand!

Gaining your Beloved’s attention does not require elaborate ceremony. He does not need an organ prelude to hear you. Mass choirs and choreographed movement, interpretive dance and power point presentations are not necessary to keep Him from losing interest. If your church has bells, you can rest assured that they are for humans, not for the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. A single thought unites you with Him. He is so close that He inhales your exhalations. As you lean over to tie your shoes, you move through Him “for in Him we live and move and exist,” (Acts 17:28). As you eat at your dinner table you might as well set an extra chair because you have a listening host. God is closer to you than the vein in your neck. He is your very life. He throbs through you in a passionate call for intimacy.

Try placing your fingers on your throat’s jugular vein. Leave them there, feeling your heart’s pulse deep within your body. Meditate on the fact that God allows each individual beat. Believe that He is intimately involved in each beat. He cares about you. He is concerned over your body’s function. Take five minutes and focus on your heart’s beating. Make yourself aware of how many functions your body is performing during that time without your conscious control. Imagine what it would be like for one or more of these autonomous activities to cease! Feel the throbbing life that is His gift to you. Then thank God for sustaining you.

Kilkenny Cats

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Galatians 5:14-15


There were a pair of proverbial cats in Kilkenny, Ireland, who fought till only their tails were left. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left creating this popular limerick:

"There once was two cats of Kilkenny
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
'Til instead of two cats there weren't any."

Too many times we see Kilkenny Cats in churches - people who are more concerned with the boundaries of their fiefdoms than they are with the boundaries of the Kingdom. They make sure their fingers are in every pie. They make sure that they get their due. When two of these people get together they either “bite and devour” one another, each seeking the dominant position, or they form an alliance in order to control others better.

Jesus taught repeatedly that the way to “power” and influence in His kingdom was by having a servant’s heart. He taught that the way to get more authority was to give your authority away. He taught that the way to live life fully was to give your life away for others.

This can happen not only in individual churches, but also in the Christian community. We must beware of seeking dominance for our own local church. We must not let one group of believers fight another group and thus give the cause of Christ a black eye. I’m not speaking about the essentials; the virgin birth of Christ, His sinlessness, Christ as the only Way, Truth and Life; salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. I’m talking about all the other little nit picking, critical and negative issues that humans just seem to thrive on. Sometimes it seems that we create issues just so we can find a position of power in a little subgroup. We would rather be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in God’s great ocean! But we have bigger fish to fry (if I may mix my metaphors)!

We have a common enemy, the Devil. And according to 1 Peter 5:8 he “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.” Let’s follow the advice of the very next verse “Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.” Let’s stop the turf wars. Let’s stop biting and devouring one another.

A Fish in Hand

Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” Heb. 13:5

A small fish caught in a net said to the fisherman, “I am too little to be a good meal. Even if you boil me or roast me – I won’t be enough to truly satisfy your hunger for long. Let me go and keep growing. I promise to return to you two years from now. You will find me in this same spot, large and seven times as fat. If you wait till then to eat me, it will be like a great feast in your house, and then your hunger will be truly satiated.”

But the canny fisherman replied, “Better is a little fish which I now have within my grasp than a great whale which my neighbors may catch and eat before I can get to it later.”

This proverb is known throughout the world in several forms. “Better is a handful of satisfaction in your own palms than heaping handfuls of hope in the hands of another.” “Better is a bird enclosed in a cage than two hopping on a hedge.” Or, here in the United States the aphorism was formulated by Benjamin Franklin as, “Better a bird in the hand than two in the bush.”

As popular as this proverb is, you’d think that it would be easy to live by. Yet many Christians still struggle with the concept of contentment. Contentment is not dependent on wealth, nor does it have to be stifled by poverty. Seek neither poverty nor riches. Wealth by itself is neutral – neither good nor bad. The key is to thank God for what we have and to use our time and resources to please Him. Satan’s goal is to get us to believe the illusion that knowing more or having more will make us content. Actually, it just shows we’ll never be satisfied. A person who is never satisfied is a person who will fail to fully trust God. Knowing that our real home is with God in eternity should help us be content with what we have now. Making wise personal investments here will bring us great wealth in heaven. Godliness with contentment is great gain.

So learn contentment, for love of “more” brings misery. Keep free from love of “more” and you will be content. This kind of contentment promotes peace. After all, life does not consist of what one possesses. Do not lay up earthly treasures, but heavenly treasures. Seek first God’s kingdom. Though there are many ways to have transient peace, lasting genuine peace is found only in a trusting relationship with the Lord.

Ten Soldiers

“I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” Philippians 1:4-5

You may not be gifted as a missionary. You may never have to face the danger of martyrdom. It’s not everyone’s task to face the devil in his lair and send him packing through the power of the Holy Spirit. You may spend the entirety of your life safely within the confines of the state or county in which you were born. But you can take part in the great battle.

Pray for those who are so gifted and tasked. You cannot imagine how comforting it is to missionaries, evangelists, pastors, or prisoners of conscience to know that there are prayer warriors calling their name before the throne of God. It is enough psychologically to know that people remember you. One of the key elements in breaking a prisoner of war is to get them to think they are all alone and forgotten. If they find out that their friends and family are moving heaven and earth to free them, you’ll never break them.

But prayer is so much more than psychological comfort. There is real power granted whether or not the recipient is aware of the prayers. A group of missionaries were serving in the jungles of South America. They were attempting to reach a tribe that was known for killing strangers. One night, the tribesmen surrounded the missionaries. The missionaries couldn’t see them in the darkness, but could hear them moving in the jungle underbrush. All night long, those men and women prayed, asking God for deliverance. Finally, in the predawn hours, the tribesmen left without firing a shot. Many months later the missionaries made successful contact and a church was begun in that tribe. They asked the natives why they hadn’t attacked that night many months earlier. The natives replied “Because of the ten soldiers.”

“What ten soldiers?” the missionaries asked.

“There were ten soldiers with rifles,” the natives insisted.

Later that same year, while on furlough, one of the missionaries was relating that story to a supporting church. After the service, an older gentleman approached him. “What was the date of that incident?” he asked. When informed of the date, the man took out a journal, checked the date and told the missionary “On that day, our prayer group was praying for you when we were impressed that you were in serious need. We prayed earnestly for you for hours. That night there were ten of us in attendance.”

You may not be a great missionary. You may never know the adventures of the front lines. But your prayers are just as needful as their service. Don’t let them down.

Meditation: Pray for missionaries, evangelists, pastors, or prisoners of conscience.