The Doughboy Army of Joel 3

Proclaim this among the nations:

Prepare for war!

Rouse the warriors!

Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.

Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.

Let the weakling say, "I am strong!"

To which I would add,   "AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!

Give me a black patch over me blind left eye so I might really feel it to me bones!!!!  Even grow out me beard a bit more!

AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

But what's the truth of this scripture as I dig in further?   Well.... replace that pirate yell with the sound that we hear from the Pillsbury Doughboy when his soft tummy gets poked.

"whoo-whooooooooo!"

Awwww..... isn't that cute?   I combined a few images to illustrate what I see, to engrave this image into your minds.

Reading with the guys in Joel 3, at first take we immediately resonated with the talk of battle.

It was, after all, in the same vein that we embody as Christian men.

Fighting men, rousing, proclaiming, attacking.....the weakling getting to say with pride, "I am Strong!"

Why would that not be something we feel right down to our souls, given the day and age we live in.

Look at your average, middle-class, middle-aged man. What do you see?

Do you see a man hardened for battle?  Do you see blood, sweat and tears?  Do you see scars from battle?

Maybe a nick or two from where he shaved this morning while daydreaming.

You see soccer dad.  You see comfort.  You see a faith that has a foundation forged of Jello.  Things get tough and persecution in the mildest of forms can cause an 8.4 on the Richter scale up in the echelons where we live.  Our heads are in the clouds!

Chaos! Destruction in our world, when one person in the office, one person in the family, calls us a Ninny for believing in a bunch of fairy tales!   Desolation and Despair when someone gives a question about our Jesus that we can't answer, when we don't have the answers to give an account of our faith, because we only spend 30 minutes a week in scripture, and having it read to us at that, on Sunday morning while we drool and dream of biscuits and gravy!  'Get on with it Preacher-man! I'm hungry!'

Shake our tree a bit, and we'll fall straight to the ground.  We're ripe for the harvest, fruit that is beyond ripe and to the point of rotten, having the appearance of being connected to the vine, when really we are primed to fall, hard, to the ground.

Yes!  We are a Doughboy Army!   We are softies, trying to put on our armor and pick up a sword that weighs more than we do.

Joel 3 is not a battle cry for the Lord's army.  It's a cry, yes, but a cry in vanity.  It's about the enemies of the Lord, from the fighting men right down to the Doughboys, weaklings who think themselves strong, marching into the onslaught of a righteous judgment.   They are rousing for a war they cannot win!  Beating their farming tools in weapons because they have no excuse.  All men will march.  All men will find that throne.  Not one will find refuge from that Day.

This scripture is the Lord, daring, calling out to His enemies!  He says, "Bring it! Bring your best!  I'm ready to meet you on the battlefield, and bring whatever you may, it won't even be a fight!"

What do we do about it today?  We cry for help!  For forgiveness!  For repentance!  I don't want to be a member of the Doughboys anymore.   That life, while soft and cuddly, is headed for the oven.

Get up out of the frying pan man!

Whatever it Takes

The Race

My little girl is a horse fanatic, so much so that she even speaks their language.  She is a professional whinny-er.  Horses, she says, do not say "nay." So, while we were on vacation we thought she'd really like it if we took her to the horse races.  She made sure to bring her cowgirl hat.  We tried to tell her it's not exactly a rodeo.  A little different crowd at these kinds of things, but she didn't care.

In her mind...

Everyone, especially little girls, should be allowed to pet the horses, and it's silly that it's not just a given.

All horses win. There are no losers. They run so fast and beautiful that they all should be rewarded.

Even the trainer and official horses should get prizes for how good of a job they do, and how pretty they are.

Black and white Pintos automatically are rated #1.

The jockeys should really learn to ride better, because when they sit up like that they're just gonna fall off easier.

All betting is friendly.

They should all get treats.

No horse should be spanked, and finally, all horses should be allowed to get their picture taken, with all their other horse friends, in the Winner's Circle.

In the real world, it's hard to remember every day that we are in a race.  Each step is one step closer to a finish line, but since we don't know where or when we'll cross that line, it's easy to become distracted.  Some of us drift, some of us stop running all together, and while some are dynamite exploding out of the gate, how many really strive with the endurance for a photo finish?

Even against the odds we saw a horse come up from behind the pack, a little fella that didn't look like he'd be a sure winner, but my oh my, did he ever finish well!  He gained ground with every leap.  His footing was sure, and by the time he crossed the line, he was 3 or 4 lengths ahead of all the horses who'd been picked to win.

I want to be one who can run the race with that kind of focus.  Every leap a sure one, every muscle focused on the next big push, not wavering to the left or right, but charged as if it's Reveilee, awakened and set like flint to finish, and finish well.

At the end of his life, before he was martyred, Paul penned some amazing words in 2 Timothy:

'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.' 

It reminds me of my little girl's attitude about winning.  It's not a space reserved for one.  So long as we can keep the faith and cross the line, then no matter who has crossed over first,  we win.

Go Make Disciples

Our very dear friends are right now jetting across the country at 30,000 feet, on their way to Haiti for the summer.  They've accepted the call to be the missionaries for Mission Haiti, a local organization that runs an orphanage and several schools in the southern village of Ti Rivier. 

It's hard, very hard to see them go, but comforting to know that the Babbs are in the hands of God.

Their kids and ours are close, so much that we can mark the days of the seasons just in sleepovers and birthday parties.  

I was with Heather on my first mission trip to New Orleans just after Katrina, and Torrey and I have been brothers through some rough and rocky travails.  God has used our families to teach one another amazing life lessons, and we have crossed paths over and over again in His plan. We both now have a strong desire for the people of Haiti.  God's plan is that we are not yet to serve together, but we're excited and hopeful for that day, knowing that if we are united in ministry, it will be because of His Will.

But for now, it's bitter sweet.  No campfires to share, no swimming, no bbq's, no fellowship.   Just the time in devotion to remember them and pray for their work there.  Kari and I both admit, we feel like our kids feel when we say goodbye. There's no proper way to keep the emotions from surfacing.  We want to hold on and not let go.  Almost like a good, strong temper tantrum and foot stomping is in order.  

Our ride home from the airport after our goodbye's was filled with ear-splitting silence.  Not a peep.  Just reflection.  In the end, we know that this is not our home and we are not our own.  Our hope is in the Lord.

And the BBQ's in Heaven are gonna be stellar!   

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.

Titus 3:14

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.....And this is my prayer: That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:3-11

The Refrigerator

By a twist of events we landed in the basement for prayer. We were a bunch of men sitting around asking God to pour out love, and as we sat emptying out hearts and refilling, recharging with that sweet Spirit of the Lord, I became aware of the old refrigerator next to me.  

It was gurgling and churning, chugging away.   It was scraped up, dented, paint chipped, and soiled from its many years living in the basement....yet here it was next to me, whirring.

It was doing its job.

I don't know the brand name of the refrigerator.  I don't know how old it is, how well it's made, or how much it cost the day it was wheeled off the showroom floor.   Don't really care.

It's doing what it was designed to do.

Fulfilling its purpose.

Plugged into the source of power, and it's working.

God,

To the rest of this world, make me like this refrigerator.

If I can just keep plugged into the source, if I can remember daily that my value, my identity, is found in You, I'll be able to do the things in this world that You designed me to do.

The world might kick me shut now and then, doors might slam shut from time to time, and on that outer shell if I've really lived, there should be an ample amount of scrapes and scars.  Life should be soiled into my pores.

But on the inside, where the power of Your Love flows, I'll be filled.

Not measured by the standard of man, but instead by the breadth of Your Hand.

When I'm held by You my name, my status, my rights.... my glory is not my own.  

Help me to do just what You built me to do.

In Your Name.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  

Eph 2:10

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self–discipline. 

2 Tim 1:7

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

1 Cor 13:3

Perspective

What does it take to be a missionary today?

To do as the bible says, to go and make disciples.
In the workplace, at home, or around the world, 

it really comes down to just one thing.

Perspective.

Really, you say?  What could that possibly have to do with it?

Consider this:

You can go the best school.

You can have the best teachers.

You can have the best training.

You can study under the greatest minds.

You can have the full backing and support of the church.

You can have the blood of royalty flowing through your veins.

You can be gifted in linguistics.  

You can be passionate and full of fire.  

You can be on the cutting edge of society.

You can, in the eyes of the world, be completely and totally accomplished.

You can be gifted.

Guess what?

It still comes down to

 Perspective.

Where you fit in a God-sized economy.

There was another man who was top of the top, best of the best in his class. 

He had all of the above, including

Power.

Money.

Status.

Reputation.

Job security.

The right name.

And yet he considered his entire life-work of accomplishments comparable to one thing:  

Poop.

Yep. Stinky. Smelly, Steamy

Excrement.

Allow me to burn this illustration into your mind:

Take a big whiff...hold it..... really let it sizzle the hairs in your nostrils....

in fact, click on the image and get a nice close-up....

hold it...really study it....

ahhhh.

Can't you almost smell that from where you're sitting?

That's right.  

In Philippians 3:8, Paul said every credential in his life amounted to something so worthless that the mere sight and smell might make you gag, all for the greatness

of just KNOWING Christ.

So what does it take to know Jesus Christ, to be found in Him, to be about 

His business

and not our own?

Perspective.

If you step in a little 'credentials' along the way, whether they be your own or the residual of someone who's traveled the road before you,

no worries.

Just scrape it off and keep walking in the Lord.

When it's His power and not our own, 

that's when we'll have what it takes to make disciples.

Darkness and Light

We can’t escape the fact that one of the world’s most evil men has been eliminated. Several years ago Saddam Hussein was executed, and now Osama Bin Laden has been eliminated, no doubt two of the most evil men my generation has dealt with. While I am not interested in discussing all the factors, nor do I want to debate the implications of what this means to America, or to the world in general, I would like to make a small minor point that I think is important for Christians. You do not make a room brighter by taking away darkness, removing darkness will never add light. The smallest candle flame will provide more light than removing darkness ever will. I’m not attacking, or defending, the action of the Government, but merely suggesting to Christians that if we truly want to change the world, we need to let our light shine. While I do believe the Bible calls for justice to be served, and evil to be dealt with, one thing you can’t deny, is Jesus’ explicit instruction to Go Make Disciples. Jesus knew that the world would always be filled with evil, but his last command was not “go eliminate evil”. His last command given in Matthew 28:19, known as the great commission, is to Go Make Disciples. Acts 1:8 says “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Remember Paul? Paul the apostle who was instrumental in writing the New Testament, the same Paul who persecuted Christians, the same Paul who recorded in his own words in 1 Timothy 1:13 “though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief”. Paul went from a zealous persecutor of Christianity to a courageous promoter of Christianity. What changed Paul? Jesus did! Romans 1:16 says that the power of God is displayed in… The Gospel! And as Christians we must remember that the Gospel is the way to brighten a room, the Gospel is the way to change the world. Go Make Disciples!

Ring the Bell for Jesus!

My girl has been practicing the bells with the other kids for the Easter program, and as a bonus she was able to bring her 7 year old friend with us to church today as a visitor. When my daughter's friend saw the other kids standing up on the stage to ring the bells for Jesus, she was in, 110% for her Savior. Right away she stood with them.
No inhibition. No practice.
Just the decision to stand up for Him, to ring her bell the best she could for Jesus Christ.  God, give me that same child-like desire to ring the bell for the wandering souls!

It just so happens that the pastor's sermon was about this verse:
1 Corinthians 15:1
'Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.'

When I think of a bell ringing, I think of its purpose.
Think of an alarm clock. A 4-alarm firehouse bell.  A church bell.  A dinner bell. Wedding bells.
All of them share the same voice.
Awake! Attention! Celebrate! Fellowship! Rejoice!......Come!

Jesus rose today.
He rings the bell for all of us, calling us to come to the Father.

A Matter of the Heart

Scripture Reference:

Luke 8:4-15

My daughter started growing grass just a few days ago.  We're all taken back with how quickly it has sprouted up, almost before our very eyes.
It's amazing what a seed does when it's planted in good soil.  How quickly that seed is received and the rebirth of new life breaks out and reaches for the sky.  And when that young sprout is nourished with light and water, it grows strong and sure.  
By contrast, there is another plant in our house.  A flower that I bought with my girl on our last daddy-daughter date, a couple of weeks ago.  We planted this beautiful, aromatic, vibrant young flower in a pot, and we filled it with the same soil as the grass.  But it was compacted in the pot. The water couldn't soak in, and the plant couldn't breathe. It also didn't spend any time on the window sill, and the roots, I think, were too big for the little pot.  There wasn't the proper room to grow. The pedals clutched together into a ball and withered, and what was once full of life is now choking away.   My daughter, three times this morning, has said to me,
"Daddy, we need to take that flower back to the greenhouse.  There's something wrong with it."
We'll go to the greenhouse, but I already know what they are going to say.
"How is this our fault? What did you expect? The soil is too hard, the water couldn't seep in, it hasn't had enough light, and this pot is too small!"
Still, there is life left in this flower.  It's not too late.  Things started out all wrong and we didn't give it our best, but there's a fighting chance, if we just change things up a bit.  It's been hard-pressed, but with a little lovin' it can persevere.

The heart of man is just like the soil.  We can receive the Good News of Jesus Christ, but it all depends on the condition of our heart.  Is the soil prepared today?
Will we nourish the seed?  Will we give it room to breathe, to live, to grow, will we yield to it and allow it to change us, to rearrange us?
Or will we press it, push against it, smother it....will we deny it?

Luke 8:4-15While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.

 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant.

 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
“ ‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’  “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. 

It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'!

We poured some wine vinegar into a bowl this morning, soaked it up with some napkin like a sponge, and put it to our tongues.  The taste was awful, the moisture was sucked out of our mouths, and the smell was terrible.  Then we imagined how that would feel in a wound, picturing Jesus up on the cross with cuts, scrapes and bruises all over his face and body...  Flogged, beaten, with that crown of thorns pushed down on his face.
When we read about the man who took the sponge and offered it to Jesus on a stick, we gloss over the entire meaning.  2000 years later we are lost in translation, but imagine that wet, dripping vinegar, being pushed up in His face, seeping in to those open wounds.  That extra, added, undeserved insult, just to top it all off....
and then He died for us all.

God's Eraser

Scripture Reference

Acts 3:19

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord

Just a Mist

Scripture Reference:

James 4:14

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.