Lay down your weapons

I've been thinking again about the so called "culture wars." Abortion, gay rights, evolution, prayer in public schools, the "war-on-Christmas," public monuments and displays of faith... It just seems to me that so much of it is not really about rescuing a lost world as it is about desperately trying to exert control over a society that seems out of control. Jesus already won the victory, all we have to do is stand- not attack and demolish.

I end up in an awkward position because some conservative Christians think that I'm a traitor fighting against them, when really I think of my self as a conscientious-objector and a non-combatant. If there's a battle, isn't it one for hearts and minds, even souls- not for authority or control or power or vindication? Isn't the goal to bring souls into the family of God and under his grace and forgiveness- not to kick people out, not to engage in some kind of religious ethnic-cleansing?   

^"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world." ~2 Corinthians 10:3-4. 

Today's weapons are words, laws, court cases, sound bites, arguments and debates, movements and organizations. But the weapons that I believe Jesus wants us to use are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. The tactic I believe He wants us to use are to heal the sick, feed the hungry, defend the widows, orphans and aliens, to visit those in prison, to turn the cheek, go the extra mile, give the shirt of our backs, to love our enemies and to pray for those that persecute us. Positive not negative, faith and love, not fear and anger, freedom not tyranny, progress not regression. You  might say that God's strategy is to fight smarter, not harder.

So brothers and sisters who are confounded by my political and social stances, please know that it's not that I'm fighting against you or failing to stand with you on issues that you are so passionate about- it's that I don't understand why you're so zealous about fighting when the outcome has already been decided. It was won on the cross. My God and His truth doesn't need feeble me to defend Him. Not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit reigns the Lord.

'Weapons' by Jars Of Clay
From their new album, The Long Fall Back To Earth

Halleluiah, we can finally hear
It's a miracle we feel anything at all
The things we planted on the worst days of the year
Grow to fingers that rip at the joy
And set our backs against the wall

LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN FRONT OF YOU

Halleluiah, we can finally see
How the bitterness was bruising on our skin
We didn't notice that grace had run so thin
'Till we're falling apart
And the cracks in our hearts let the truth sink in

LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN FRONT OF YOU (repeat)

Halleluiah, we can finally hear
It's a miracle we feel anything at all

So lay your weapons down
There are no enemies in front of you
There are no enemies in front of you

LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS, THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN FRONT OF YOU (repeat)

PrayerPoint~Insomnia

I have a dear friend in Indiana who writes these great short devotions on prayer that she emails out pretty regularly. Being an insomniac myself, I really appreciated this one and asked her if I could share it on facebook.

Today's PrayerPoint~Insomnia

I don't know about you, but there are nights my brain is in overdrive about one thing or another and sweet rest eludes me. During an intense, spiritual battle many years ago, I felt God leading me to pray during bouts of insomnia. Sometimes very specific people would be on my heart so I would pray for them and I would find out later they were going through a very difficult time. Lately, I have experienced probably just regular insomnia but I have tried to keep up the habit. Sometimes I don't know who I am praying for but that never seems to be the point...He just wants me to pray. Praying is a worthwhile activity....and there is always someone to pray for.

Next time you find yourself wide awake at 3am, maybe it is a Divine appointment and God has an assignment for you! (It could also be that late night pizza, BUT, you can even use that for God's work!) We are encouraged to 'pray continuously'....so look for those moments when God places someone on your heart and mind and lift them up in prayer. You may never know the full situation and that's ok. God does. And He delights in our communication with Him!

In Colossians 1:9, Paul (and Timothy) wrote "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding..." Probably anyone you know could benefit from a prayer like that. Praying through Scripture is a great thing. And remembering that you and I see only a small portion of a situation is important. God always sees the bigger picture. And He does amazing things through very difficult and painful situations. I find it is easier to pray in a more general sense than to get too specific.

God's blessings on your day!!!!
Liz

And never being able to shut myself up, I had to reply to her email with my own contribution:

One might assume that the Transfiguration was in the middle of the night or very early in the morning on Mount Herman because the Bible says that Peter James and John were sleeping. Moses and Elija appeared and began speaking with Jesus when Jesus had finished praying.

When He walked on water, He had been praying in the wee small hours of the morning, the Bible says it was the Fourth watch of the night (Matthew 14:25). The fourth watch, as the night was divided by Jewish or Roman soldiers, is between 3:00-6:00. It's always darkest before dawn, right? Quiet, still, lonely. One can imagine that this is the time when God called young Samuel's name in the temple.

PERFECT time to pray... and to listen.

There are those (both Christian and those involved in the occult) who think that this is the time when the spiritual realm is most active, and therefore God's people are somehow mist vulnerable- thus some Christians feel that it is powerful and vital that if God wakes you at this time, you should enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to become a prayer warrior at that time.

I don' t know the particulars to metaphysics here, I tend to either be so theologically conservative that I'd say we should trust God more than to get the heebie geebies about not being able to sleep in the middle of the night. I also tend to be rational, materialist, and of this world enough that I tend to be skeptical of such romantic perspectives on spiritual warfare. Be that as it may, I do know that God does incredible things when His people pray- so whether it's God gently seeking your attention, your spirit being jarred awake by the clashing of angelic swords on demon helmets, or whether it's total coincidence, midnight prayer is meaningful, powerful, and beneficial.

Liz commented on my noncommittal on the metaphysical possibilities here: "I, too, try not to get too wigged out about spiritual warfare, and at the same time, don't want to be disarmed either, if you know what I mean."

It's real, but in God's hands, we can rest in the victory that Jesus won on the cross. Or as the first Veggie Tales cartoon taught us, "God is bigger than the Boogie Man."

I always figure if my insomnia is caused by diet or illness or stress or bad dreams, rather than God's nudging- it's STILL a good idea to pray and nuzzle into God's arms. What better way to seek peace or security. Many's a time when I can finally find sleep, because He grants it while I'm praying.

You can try warm milk or hot tea, Tylenol PM or Benedryl, but there's nothing quite like prayer to get you back to sleep.

Click here to read a post I wrote about Fourth Watch Prayer a few years ago

Re: Fw: "Jihad--Some things you should know"

Gee whiz, somebody with too much fear and loathing has too much time with Macromedia Flash. Was that Wagner playing in the background? Liked it, but it's already WAY overused.

I don't know man, I appreciate that terrorism is bad and that Islamic fundamentalism is potentially dangerous, but why not nuke Saudia Arabia then? Weren't like 15 of the 9/11 hijackers from there? And didn't most of the funding for the operation come from there? I know that Republicans want to paint Dems as soft on terrorism if they want to treat it as a law-enforcement/investigation thing or a diplomacy and economic development thing instead of as a big bad ass military thing, but sometimes you need to stay calm and be smart instead of being a spaz. Kudos to the Brits on riding out this thing with their sailors for example.

I know you know your Bible and I knoy you know your history probably better than me, so forgive me, I don't mean to patronize, but allow me to throw some quotations at you to give you my perspective on this blatantly propaganda video clip-

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." ~Hermann Goering

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18

And more importantly...

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." ~ 2 Corintians 10:3-4 (Try Faith, Hope and LOVE, try the armor of God in Ephesiand 6:10 ff !!!)

And especially...

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" ~Matthew 5:43-47

How do we get the religious fundaMENTALs in our own country to listen to their Lord and chill out? Who was it that said "we have nothing to fear, but fear itself?" Definitely not a Bushie.

On 4/4/07,

Who writes this stuff. Granted, I'm no fan of Islamic Fundamentalism and Iran's leader seems to put the "mental" in Fundamental, but can it really be explained as easy as this piece of internet propaganda says it is? I'm not quite buying it. It smacks of Red Scare type propoganda to me. What are your thoughts?

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 10:29 AM

Subject: "Jihad--Some things you should know")

This is a heck of a video--if you haven't seen it before.

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/know-about-jihad/

Sunday School; Spiritual Warfare

So why do we even need this "Armor of God" that St. Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:10-19? What exactly is it that we have to "take our stand" against? Well, theologians have generally talked about three enemies of the soul- the World, the flesh, and the Devil.

What does that mean? Let's take them in reverse order: first the Devil. The Bible says that God created angels, His three archangels were Michael, in charge of guardians, Gabriel, in charge of messengers, and Lucifer, in charge of worshipers. Initially angels must have been granted free will, like humans. Lucifer became jealous both of God and of humans (the "crown" of God's creation). He and his angels waged war in Heaven and God kicked him out. He took his angels with him and this "fallen angel" became Satan and the demons. "Satan" or the devil are words that mean "the accuser." In the guise of the serpent, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin inn the garden of Eden, ever since he has constantly been trying to drive a wedge between God and man.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Some people thing that those "rulers, authorities, and powers" are various ranks or classifications of demons. I think of them a little like the "orks" in the Lord of the Rings movies, soldiers set up with responsibilities. Sound's scary, but it is important to remember that Satan is not God's equal. He is finite, he's not all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-present everywhere like God. Luther compared him to a dog on a chain, so long as you don't get closer than the length of that chain, you're safe.

Which brings us to the next enemy, our own flesh. A 1950's/60's comic strip character, Pogo the possum once said, "we have met the enemy, and he is us." Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Because of our sinful nature (original sin), we are all selfish, short sighted, and immature- at least spiritually speaking. We don't love God with all our hearts and mind and strength, and we don't love our neighbors as ourselves. We're plagued with doubt, anger, jealousy, lust, gluttony, etc. etc. Most of the time Satan and demons don't have to do anything to us, but they may take advantage of our weaknesses. I like to think of them like mice, rats or roaches. If I have good hygiene habits and clean up, I probably won't have a problem with these scavengers, but if I let the trash pile up, guess who's coming to dinner? Likewise, it's not always so much like some demon tempts you into a given sin, so much as it is that you're inviting demons to trap you into a cycle once you open the door by indulging in something you know is wrong.

Finally there is the world. There are some Christians who are so hyper-legalistic, and a little bit paranoid, that they think that the whole world is always out to get us and steal us way from God. Well, here's the thing, the world isn't a conscious, sensate, maniacal, malevolent force, like Satan. The world is, not one thing, it's everything. The cosmos, the order of things, the holistic system of systems, and what is that system made up of? People. And what do we know about people? They all have a sinful nature, selfish and short sighted- everyone out for themselves. So yes, there is money, power, sex, drugs, material possessions, different religions, different philosophies, victories and defeats, all kinds of things that could separate us from God and from each other if we let them. But like TV or money, or the internet, there is a lot of bad out there, but there is a lot of good too. It's not "bad" exactly, in and of itself. A shark isn't evil when it eats you, it's just doing what sharks do- eat. But in this "dog-eat-dog" world, if I am the little fish, the big fish is my enemy.

So yeah, we could sure benefit from wearing God's armor. Keep visiting this blog, over the next 7 weeks I'll be talking about each piece of armor in Eph. 6