What to Say to a Jehovah’s Witness

I was sitting at the park this morning with a friend of mine while our children played.  As we were just about to leave, she spotted some Jehovah’s Witnesses walking down the street, coming our way.  My mind immediately began to race.  You see, I have many family members who are 100% committed to this religion and for me, what the Enemy is doing to deceive these dear people has become very personal.

A few years ago I came across a ministry called Watchman Fellowship–a ministry to help those wishing to “rescue” their friends and loved ones from false religions.  They have excellent resources available and I have called upon them to help me a few times over the years.  I wish I had someone from that ministry in my back pocket today, or at least the mounds of literature I had waiting for me at home.  Although these Jehovah’s Witnesses in the neighborhood did not approach us today, if I had been better prepared, I would have approached them.

So today’s post is, in part, for my review and my preparation. . .there are things that I could have said to them.  They are taken from the book by Ron Rhodes entitled “The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness.”  So today, after my son is in bed, I’m curling up with this book again and preparing for the time when God gives me another opportunity to lovingly share the Truth with those that the Deceiver has distracted.

I would recommend this book by Ron Rhodes.  Everyone has had “that” experience–where a Jehovah’s Witness has come to your door–what will you do the next time?  (By the way, this author also has a book for talking with Mormons if this touches any of you personally.)

Focus on the Family’s ‘The Truth Project’

I’ve recently completed a video series called “The Truth Project” put out by Focus on the Family, and I have to tell you. . .it was life-changing!  It lays out the importance of having a biblical worldview in every way, and in our every day life.  It also illustrates quite frighteningly just how big the “war” on Truth has become.  Here is a succinct description of the series taken from The Truth Project’s website:

“In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.¹

Because of this, today’s believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life’s ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.

To counter this slide within the body of Christ, we are launching one of the most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of our ministry-Focus on the Family’s The Truth Project.

The Truth Project is a DVD-based small group curriculum comprised of 12 one-hour lessons taught by Dr. Del Tackett. This home study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life.”

Each of the 12 lessons powerfully discusses issues such as “What is Truth?”, “Who is Man?” and “Who is God?” as well as what our involvement should be in our community, nation, and world.  I would highly recommend this series to anyone wanting to ground themselves in the Truth and gear up for the battle we are already in.

Visit http://www.thetruthproject.org/ for more info or to watch a promotional video.  Bottom line:  Truth matters.

Excellent Video Depicting the Fall of Man

A friend of mine sent me this video this week.  It is an artistic and creative depiction (using paints and poetry) of the fall of man, and it is powerful!  Please take the time to view it, and may it draw you to Jesus in gratitude and fire you up to “put on the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11) and take your stand in this spiritual battle we are in.

Click here to view video:  http://vimeo.com/11555977

Burden of Truth by Charles Colson

Well, it’s happened again. . .I’ve read another great book by the wise and godly Chuck Colson.  This one is called Burden of Truth: Defending Truth in an Age of Unbelief and I’d like to just give a few quotes as a teaser.

“If there are predictable consequences to physical acts [such as when we drop a pen, it falls to the ground due to gravity], why shouldn’t we assume there are predictable consequences to moral acts?”

“As modern culture rejects the Christian heritage [that God loves and created each person], it is losing its basis for individual rights and dignity.  Today’s postmodernism dissolves the individual into the social group.”

“The loss of personal virtue always leads to an erosion of political and economic liberty.”  Here, Colson takes the reader through the link between immorality breaking down the family, then that breakdown potentially leading to an increase in crime and drug use (statistics show), and then in turn, the need for more government involvement in families lives.

“[These days we] base moral views on sentiment, not conviction.” 

Do you see the truth in these statements today, and if so, in what ways?

God’s Love

My son and I have a bit of a game we play.  It’s called “Who loves whom more?”  As you can guess, he claims that he loves me all the way to the top of God’s head in heaven, and then I claim that I love him to God and back times ten.  And on and on.  But in thinking about my love for my child and being unable to adequately express the depth and breadth of that love in words, I think that this must only be one tiny, miniscule fraction of the love God has for us, his children.  And with that, I let the David Crowder Band take over in this video below of their song, “How He Loves.”  Let God touch your heart today.  (Hit “Continue Reading” below–haven’t figured out this glitch in the system yet)

Cloud of Depression

My apologies to my faithful viewers who have been dissatisfied with my low number of posts so far this new year.  I’m finding that I just do not have the time to post as frequently as some of the top-viewed blogs, and if I were to try to keep up a set number of posts per week (as I have done in the past), it will be to the great disappointment of my son, who understandably whines at me to play with him when I start to get tunnel-visioned in my writing.  So I’ve been making a choice, in favor of motherhood, and to the detriment of my writing, but that’s ok.  So hang with me.  I will find a way to create more hours in the day, and will be back with more regular blog postings before long.  Thank you for your support!

In the meantime, I would like to post an article that I wrote for a Caring Ministry at my church.  It is on depression, and it is something that, I believe, could touch the heart of a lot of people, especially now that the excitement of Christmas has passed and the routine of a new year has set in.

The Christmas trees are down.  Families and friends have flown home.  The delicious food that we indulged in now sits, maybe not so comfortably, as a few extra pounds on our hips and stomach.  We are returning to the daily grind of life, and for some of us, because of a growing depression, that daily grind feels like more than we can handle most days.

Maybe you are feeling a let-down after the highs of the holidays–a gloominess that you know from past experience is temporary and will be gone before long.  This is quite common for all of us at one time or another.  Maybe depression set in a year ago as the market plummeted and you are having trouble seeing past your financial circumstances to the promises of God.  But maybe some of you are feeling a suffocating sadness, like a fog that has engulfed you and won’t lift–a sadness that has been around for a while, stealing your energy, motivation, and joy.

Depression, as defined by the Mayo Clinic, “is a medical illness that involves the mind and body. It affects how you think and behave and can cause a variety of emotional and physical problems.”  It can be brought on by a variety of things-biological imbalances, an unhealthy thought-life, unrealistic expectations, difficult circumstances, unresolved anger, unconfessed sin, hormones, or physical factors such as a lack of sleep or nutritional deficiencies, to name a few.  If you think you may be experiencing symptoms of depression, please click here to take a self-assessment quiz:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression/MH00103_D

So what do you do if you find yourself in that fog?  Where can you turn for help?  I hope to offer you some short-term help here, and then some long-term hope.

Short-term help:

If we are to rise above and conquer the depression that threatens to consume us, we must build our hope on something other than ourselves and the shifting wind of circumstances.  As the well-known hymn exclaims, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”  Because of Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins and resurrection in victory over sin and death, we can take part in His life and His inheritance, now and eternally.   If you do not have that assurance of new life and eternal hope, please click here, and begin today to build your hope on nothing less than Jesus.

Once we have that foundation sure and secure, there are some things we can begin doing today that will help to lift that cloud of depression. 

We can change our thought-life.  We’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat.”  Well, the same applies to our minds.  If we feed on negative thoughts, we will begin to feel negatively.  Are you aware of the things you are telling yourself throughout the course of a day?  Are you aware of how those negative thoughts are then followed by negative feelings?  The world teaches us to trust our feelings most of all, and then all too often our feelings become our truth.  We need to, instead, cement the Truth of God in our minds and let His Truth lead us, not our feelings.   “For as he thinks within himself, so he is”  (Proverbs 23:7a).

We can seek God’s perspective on the hurts that we have.  Take your anger, guilt, unmet needs, and expectations to God and seek His perspective on it.  He has something healing and instructive to say about all of it in His Word.  Ask Him to help you see things as He does and then find Him to be your strength, comfort, and guide out of the pain.

We can renew our mind with Scripture.  “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”  (Romans 12:2).  We are commanded to hide the Word of God in our hearts, so that God’s promises can be recalled at any given moment when our minds, our circumstances, or the enemy try to get us in a negative mindset.  We are in a battle for our minds, and often times, during periods of depression, this is even more the case.  “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your mind and in your heart, so that you can do it”  (Deuteronomy 30:14).

(Additional Scriptures to memorize and meditate on:  Psalm 69:1-3; Proverbs 23:7a; John 14:27; Philippians 4:19; Philippians 4:6-8; Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 147:3;  I Corinthians 1:3-4; I Peter 5:6-7; Isaiah 41:10; Isaiah 43:2; Isaiah 40:29; Romans 8:38-39)

We can discover, or re-discover, our identity in Christ.  God’s Word is overflowing with promises and declarations about who we are as Christians.  For example, we are accepted (John 1:12, Colossians 2:9-10), secure (Colossians 3:1-4, 2 Timothy 1:7), and significant (Ephesians 3:12, Philippians 4:13).  Knowing that our depression is not our identity and that there is hope is essential.

We can immerse ourselves in studying God’s never-ending love for us.  The Bible says that God loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) and that “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).  These truths go a long way in soothing our aching heart and healing us from the wounds of life.  

We can develop an attitude of gratitude.  It may take practice, or maybe beginning a gratitude journal, but a grateful heart is one of the best ways to see past your circumstances and see the blessings in every day.  “Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”  (Ephesians 5:19-20).

We can look at our diets and activity levels throughout the day.  Research shows that sugar, for example, in most people can cause the blues.  And, although many of us have trouble finding the motivation to workout, exercise releases endorphins that help depression.

(Adapted in part from Victory Over Depression by Bob George)

Long-term hope:

The Bible tells us that God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” ( 1 Corinthians 1:3-4).  Many wise men and women, committed to comforting others through the troubles they have either experienced or watched others experience, have written books that can be of great instruction and consolation to you.  Consider checking them out:

Victory over Depression

Bob George. Harvest House Publishers 2001, Paperback, 204 pages, $7.12

Don’t Waste Your Sorrows

Paul E. Billheimer. Christian Literature Crusade 1977, Paperback, 130 pages, $4.42

Victory Over the Darkness

Neil T. Anderson. Regal 2000, Paperback, 264 pages, $6.50

Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes

June Hunt. Harvest House Publishers 2008, Paperback, 128 pages, $2.98

Bible Cure For Depression/Anxiety (Fitness and Health)

DONALD COLBERT. Siloam 1999, Paperback, 74 pages, $1.28

How to Stop the Pain

James B. Richards. Whitaker House 2001, Paperback, 208 pages, $8.23

If you think that you may need more than the help this article offers you, please contact a caring biblical counselor in your area, so that someone can take you by the hand and walk you through some of the healing hope of God’s Word.  Above all else, know that you are not alone.  Even in the darkest hours of the night, Jesus is there with you.  Resist the temptation by the enemy to devour you in discouragement and isolation.  Let others know of your struggle and draw comfort from the body of Christ.

If you would like help locating a counselor in your area, click here.

I’ll Offer My Heart

Each year many of us are enchanted by the idea of making New Year’s resolutions.  Whether we strive to lose weight, spend more time with our kids, or patch up that strained relationship, January reveals our highest motivation to try new things and improve on the old.  But come December, many of us find that we run out of steam to complete our resolutions somewhere around March.  At our church, our worship team leads us in a beautiful song called “The Stand” by Hillsong United.  Some of the lyrics include, “What could I say, and what could I do, but offer this heart, Oh God, completely to You?”

And then it hit me.  Could one line from a song encapsulate any and every resolution that we might list and hope to check off the following year?  What could be more important this coming year than to offer your heart to God?  We celebrated his birth during Christmas, and everything it represents-His life, His love for us, and His sacrificial death.  Have you offered your heart to God, accepting His gift of eternal life and the Holy Spirit to guide you?

For those of us who have made that initial step of faith, inviting Jesus into our heart as our personal Savior, we know that our relationship with Him does not stop there.  It is a good practice to ask ourselves, “Have I surrendered all of my heart, every day?  Am I holding anything back from the Lord, or have I offered something to Him that I’ve now revoked?”

Often times, our New Year resolutions are about trying to “fix” things in ourselves that can only come from filling the void with Jesus.  Only He can be a perfect fit.  Is there anything on your resolutions list that, at its very core, could not be resolved with offering your heart and soul to the Creator God and reestablishing a direct path from your heart to His?

The rest of this inspiring song says this: “I’ll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the one who gave it all. I’ll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered; all I am is yours.”

What do you need to surrender today and in the coming year?  Consider offering your whole heart, surrendering it into the hands of a Savior who has proven trustworthy, and then watch his miraculous power at work in your life.

As One Who Believes

One of our favorite holiday movies as a family is The Polar Express, starring Tom Hanks.  It tells the story of a young boy who doubts the existence of Santa Claus and is, therefore, not experiencing the full blessings that the Christmas season can bring.  He is unchanged and unaffected by the importance of Christmas because of his doubt.  One night, he is whisked away on The Polar Express, a train headed straight for the North Pole, where he meets Santa and his elves, and along with having the adventure of a lifetime, he comes away a believer, forever changed.  I’m reminded of a similar story in the gospel of John, chapter 20.  Thomas, often labeled “Doubting Thomas,” has just been told about Jesus’ miraculous resurrection and, as much as he wants to believe, he remains, so far, unchanged and unaffected by the power of the resurrected Christ.  In verse 25, Thomas says, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

So often I find myself shouting into the Bible, “Thomas, believe!  He really has risen.  His power is real!”  But do we not all struggle with doubt just like Thomas at some point in our lives?  Do we not say things in the quietness of our minds that reveal our doubts?  Jesus, are you even real?  Can you really breathe life into this hurting relationship?  God, by your power, can you really provide the food and pay the bills when we do not have the money?  I don’t know, God.  Sure, there are stories in the Bible of your miracles, but what kind of power do you really have in my own, seemingly insignificant, life?  I . . . I am just not sure I can believe. . .

Where are you in your belief?  Are you like the young boy in the movie or doubting Thomas from the Bible who finds it difficult to believe outside of sight?  Are you saddled with unbelief, unaffected by Jesus Christ, the man who was born quietly, died sacrificially, and whom we honor today?  Or have you embraced the Savior and therefore, the transforming power of the Christmas story-the baby in the manger, the Christ on the cross, and the Spirit at work in your life?  There is something very special about Christmas, but it goes beyond the playful anticipation of Santa Claus and his presents or the parties and eggnog.  These are nothing compared to the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).  There is nothing quite like celebrating Jesus’ birthday as a member of his family, as one who has put his “hope in the living God;” this, “Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”

What kind of Christmas will this be for you-one of doubt, or as one who believes?

Merry Christmas from those of us here at Standing on Truth!

Thanking God for Blindness and Fleas

Helen Keller was a deaf and blind child born in 1880. Despite all of her hardships, she went on to become a college graduate, author and political activist. She also has a very powerful and memorable quote attributed to her: “I thank God for my handicaps for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.”

Corrie ten Boom was a well known Holocaust survivor who lost both her sister and father in the prison and concentration camps. She is the author of The Hiding Place, and in that excellent book, she writes of reading the New Testament one day with her sister, Betsie, out of view of the prison guards. As they were reading, they came across 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, which says, “pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” She and Betsie then took turns thanking God for their crowded barracks and the annoying fleas.

Fleas? Corrie questioned that. But her sister’s response was this: “Give thanks in all circumstances. . .It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.’”

How do people such as Helen Keller and Corrie ten Boom thank God for their physical disabilities and family loss? How do they thank God for blindness, persecution, and fleas? How do we, as God’s children, stay grateful through the hurt, doubt, and fear of these times-through distressful diagnoses, layoffs, and foreclosures?

Allow me to take advice from author Elizabeth George who said when we face trials and temptations, “acknowledge God’s hand.” Isn’t this what being thankful and grateful is all about during this holiday season? No matter what you face this Thanksgiving, is it possible to parse through the pain and find all that there is to praise about our Lord and acknowledge about His work in our lives? It is in our gratitude that we may be reminded more easily of His many promises to us.

Promises for. . .

Protection (Isaiah 43:1, 2)-”When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

Provision (Matthew 6:25-34)-”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Peace (Philippians 4:7)-”And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Purpose (Romans 8:28)-”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Look for God’s powerful hand in your life. Thank Him for each and every trace of it. Keep a gratitude journal or spend time every day praising Him for all He does for us, and the ways in which he turns our trials into testimonies of His grace. He’s there. He cares. And “with our prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,” the Bible says, He will offer us everything that we need at the perfect time that we need it, so that we also can “consider it all joy,” James says, when we “encounter various trials.”

Footnotes: Philippians 4:6; James 1:2

Alcoholism and My Friend, Robert

This weekend marks a special birthday to me.  It would have been the birthday of a long-time friend of mine.  He died nearly two years ago of an enlarged heart.  He was only 40 years old.

About 14 years ago, I was an aspiring writer whose passion was poetry.  I had ventured downtown to an ecclectic coffee shop to observe people, be inspired, and write poem after poem into the late night.  I did this often.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one who came here for good coffee and inspiration.  Robert lived a few streets over in a worn-down apartment building and his only mode of transportation was his own two feet.  He walked in to this coffee shop that evening with a sketchpad and his drawing pencils.  He literally bounced a little when he walked, he had such a spring in his step.  We struck up a conversation and although I’m fairly confident I didn’t share my poetry with him that night (I was rather shy about my work), he showed me his amazing drawings.  Although his types of drawings were not what you would consider beautiful or serene (he sketched monsters and villians, much like you would find in a comic book), there was no denying his incredible talent, and the detail he put into each sketch showed an unbelievable patience and skill.

We became good friends from that night on.  He spent Thanksgiving with my family one year and we would go to concerts and movies together often.  But more often than not we would meet in our favorite coffee spot and talk the night away or attend a poetry slam together.  He was a kindred spirit.  He was also a man deeply entrenched in alcoholism.

Drinking was the one stable constant in his life–his trusted friend that he turned to more than anything or anyone else.  As much as I tried to “rescue” him, I was in school at the time and couldn’t be with him 24 hours a day.  He did not have family nearby, and his drinking alienated him from others. 

I remember one morning my roommate woke me up at 3am.  A nurse from the hospital downtown was on the phone.  Robert, in a drunken stupor, has been picked up by the police for stumbling through the streets and falling down, injuring himself.  He had requested they call me.  I will never forget the drive from the hospital to his apartment that early morning.  It was as if I were a priest and Robert were a parishioner.  He was confessing, through tears and regret, the secret years of his life that he wasted by drinking, the relationships that were ruined, and the unforgiveable (to him) things he had done during his dances with the drink.  I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a man that broken, that raw, and that honest.  Maybe that was a cry for help. 

Yet his drinking continued.  As a sober man, Robert was sincere, decent, intelligent, and caring.  He would give a person the shirt off of his back at the first hint that they needed it.   He had a heart of compassion and love.  It was painful to watch his nightly drunkenness turn to depression and despair, and in hindsight I myself feel pain when I think of the times I innocently had a drink with him.  I know now that I missed many an opportunity, and no doubt simply enabled his behavior.    

Although I spoke to him about my faith–he knew that I was saved by grace–and although I let him know that he could be too, Robert was not a believer.  After he moved out of state, I sent him a Bible and a clearly outlined salvation message, but in all the years I knew him, I stopped short of knocking down his door, intervening in his life (for his alcoholism) or following up with him as to why he was rejecting Jesus.  I can only assume that he continued to deny Jesus the opportunity to come into his life, even up until his life was over.  I pray that I’m wrong.

I vacillate between the deep regret that haunts me over what I should have done for Robert, and the small hope that lives inside that maybe, in one of his darker moments, he remembered what I shared with him and made a decision for Christ that saved his eternal life.  Nevertheless, there will never be another person that can take the place of Robert in my life, and I hope and pray that there is never another opportunity wasted for me to be bolder for Christ.

And so this weekend, I remember Robert fondly.  And I also remember The Great Commission, and recommit myself daily to my purpose in this life.

“Go then and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19).

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