Cloud of Depression
January 27, 2010 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
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:
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.
In Whom Do We Place Our Hope?
November 11, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Politics
You know that game you used to play when you were kids. . .a friend would say, “Name the first thing that pops in your head when I say ____.” Well, I wonder if we played that game with the world, and then read them the following verse, who would pop in their heads:
“In his name the nations will put their hope” (Matthew 12:21).
Are you thinking about President Obama right now? Maybe you know that this verse is referring to Jesus, the real Messiah, not our president, but how many Americans put their hope in the fallible man, Barack Obama? How many have placed him on a pedestal that no mortal should occupy and set their highest hopes and deepest dreams at his feet? His campaign was known for chanting hope across all 50 states. He promised it. He manipulated emotions with it. He won the presidency because of that strategy. People are longing for hope.
But how many Americans have been disappointed? And that’s not a statement on President Obama (although I deal with that in various other blogs), it’s more a statement on the inability of any human being–and the absurdity of such a request–to provide the hope that only God can provide, made available through Jesus Christ.
I’m not sure I’ve seen such desperation for hope as I saw last November. It saddens me that so many people are that hungry for something readily available to all in the Truth of God’s Word and in the person of Jesus Christ, and yet they placed their hope in a man until it bordered on idolatry. Many times I felt as if I were watching a rock concert in which women were on the front row, weeping from the emotion of being that close to. . .what?. . .greatness? I think we’ve attached some kind of Hollywood-star-status to our president and now many hang on his every word, looking for something he says or does to bring us life and fulfillment.
Lisa Harper, in a Walk in the Word devotional, says, “We need to quit bowing at the altar of mortal charisma.” And isn’t that exactly what many fans of President Obama have done? They are bowing down in worship of charisma. . .and in worship of the man that made them feel hopeful and empowered. This is a dangerous place to be. If charisma and good feelings are all that is needed to cause people to abandon their values, then we as a nation will crumble. And if charisma and good feelings are all that is needed to cause people to place their hope in a mere mortal rather than in a loving Savior, there is more at stake here than an election or even a country. Eternity is on the line.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you” (I Peter 1:3-4).
Click here for real, true, and lasting hope.
Alcoholism and My Friend, Robert
November 6, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
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).
Jesus
October 7, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
JESUS LOVES YOU!
No IFs, ANDs, or BUTs about it!
There was just a nudging in my spirit today that someone needed to hear that.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
SO, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR DAY ENTAILS, CARRY THIS WITH YOU:
JESUS LOVES YOU!
My Son’s New Life in Christ
September 30, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
We walked into church on Sunday, hearts full of joy. And there it was. The white rose symbolizing our son’s new life in Christ. . .the church, celebrating together a 4 year old’s admission that he was a boy who sinned and needed Jesus’ death on a cross some 2,000 years ago to erase those sins. What began with a question, “How do I go to heaven?” ended with a humble and sincere invitation, “Jesus, come into my heart and help me.”
The lessons taught to me through my child have been endless lately:
Converse with God over the simplest of things.
Give Him credit for something as seemingly mundane as helping you to eat your asparagus.
Sing a praise song to Him that you learned at church. . .but sing it to Him in the middle of the week.
Break into spontaneous prayer when your Mommy has a migraine and you want to help her.
Tell others unashamedly that you have Jesus in your heart.
Ask frequently “What’s God saying to me?”
Give in to the joy that Christ places in your heart and laugh without reservation.
As I’ve started reading through the gospel of John again this week, I came to chapter 3 this morning, as I was preparing to write this post. Here is (not coincidently) what it said:
John 3
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.“ . . .
31 “He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! 33 Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true. 34 For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. 36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” (NLT, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%203&version=NLT)
Ahhh, grace. . .redemption. . .love. . .relationship. . .belonging. . .family. Isn’t God beautiful to offer this to us, and now I can say it is equally, if not more, beautiful to see it wash over and transform my son whom I love so dearly.
Eyes on the Prize
September 7, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
This weekend, my family and I drove back from a Florida vacation. Our 4-year old was entertained for most of the 12+ hour trip, thanks to a DVD player that our friends loaned us. I had listened to about as many sermons and songs off of my Ipod that I could handle in one day and the view along the highway was nothing to write home about–this particular interstate was definitely more functional than scenic. After the first 6 hours or so passed, I began to feel a bit restless. I had just enjoyed one of the best vacations of my adult life and was filled to the rim with joy and peace, making hours of confinement in our small car feel like a sharp stick in the eye. I was ready to get home, if I must.
Then it hit me. The “going out there” trip was a breeze. Really. I can’t even recall thinking a complaint, and know I never voiced one. On the return trip, I was as antsy as a toddler who has to use the potty. So what was the difference?
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
What was different was my destination–”the prize.” On the drive to Florida, I was anticipating the beach, the ocean, and a week of little responsibility, no work, and a whole lot of sun and family time. I was “straining toward” what was ahead. On the way back home, I was anticipating laundry, the start of a new work week, and the sometimes wearying routine of “life as usual.” Don’t get me wrong. I love my home, and my family and friends here in our hometown. I even love my “life as usual” most days, but there is something magical about the excitement of a vacation and the beauty that we knew awaited us in Florida.
Matthew Henry, in his Concise Commentary on the Bible, says,
“He who runs a race, must never stop short of the end, but press forward as fast as he can; so those who have heaven in their view, must still press forward to it, in holy desires and hopes, and constant endeavours. Eternal life is the gift of God, but it is in Christ Jesus; through his hand it must come to us, as it is procured for us by him. There is no getting to heaven as our home, but by Christ as our Way. . .Believers make Christ all in all, and set their hearts upon another world.”
It’s amazing what we can endure when our eyes are on the prize. If Jesus is our Lord and Savior, our destination is heaven. Plain and simple. He has “prepared a place” for us, as it promises in John 14:1-4: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
So everyday can be as if we had a Florida beach vacation (times one thousand) in our sights!
Henry says, “So those who have heaven in their view, must still press forward to it”. What would our life look like if we had “heaven in our view” every day? What could we accomplish for Jesus? What could we endure as part of the command to “take up your cross” (Mark 8:34)?
I hope that I can make that Florida vacation last all year long, simply by remembering that what awaits me in heaven is exponentially better, and with heaven in my view, I can press on, keeping my eyes on the prize.
The Great Commission
August 5, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
I think I failed to obey God today. Not that I’m sure I do a wonderful job of obeying Him on a daily basis anyway, althouth I try, but this one was rather clear to me as I let my fears and insecurities get in the way of what God wanted me to do.
My son and I were leaving our local food pantry after having dropped something off, and as we were getting into the car and buckling up, I saw a woman sitting down on the curb right next to our car. Her arms were full of bags of food and she looked rather weary. I thought about how tough it must be to not have food in my refrigerator or those common “staple items” in my pantry. . .to not know where the next meal would come from if it were not for this food pantry ministry. And then, I immediately froze.
Let me give you some background here. In the last week, I have read two fiction books by an author I like very much named Terri Blackstock. I picked them up at the library strictly based on the author, not knowing what they were about. They were about evangelism–characters that felt a heavy burden to evangelize every day, many times a day, after receiving a temporary empowering by the Holy Spirit to see people’s “heart needs,” or spiritual needs.
These were the two books I read:
The Heart Reader by Terri Blackstock 
The Gifted by Terri Blackstock
And then you have to know that in my glove compartment of my car, I have several books–books that I’ve stocked up on for the exact purpose of evangelizing. Don’t think anything special of me, because although my desire to reach the world for Christ is bursting at my seams, and I send books and tracks out fairly easily, I have yet to have a face to face discussion about the saving work of Jesus Christ with a stranger I just meet on the street. But I had these books in my car, just waiting for an opportunity to be used:
He Did This Just For You by Max Lucado 
The NIV Gospel of John
Cross-Examination by Lee Strobel 
The 3:16 Promise by Max Lucado
And then you have to know that I felt the Lord speaking strongly to me to go and talk to this woman. . .to share with her the hope that I have and that she too could have. I felt it so strongly that I was motionless in my seat for what seemed like a minute or two, talking to myself about all the “what ifs.” I did manage to open the glove compartment and pull out the books, but one of those “what ifs” grabbed hold of my timid heart and sent me putting the car in drive and heading home instead.
I can’t tell you the disappointment I felt. God does not condemn, so I never felt that from Him, but I also knew that I had missed the exact kind of opportunity that I’d been preparing for and God had provided me.
I say all that to say this.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:35-36).
“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord” (2 Timothy 1:8).
So what’s my next action plan. . .a plan to get ready for the next opportunity that I’m given? Next on my reading list is the new Lee Strobel book:
The Unexpected Adventure: Taking Everyday Risks to Talk with People about Jesus
And I’m getting caught up on my recorded “Way of the Master” shows (the show that Kirk Cameron is involved in that teaches how to evangelize). And I am looking into participating in this Christmas outreach program organized by Good News Publishers, detailed at www.goodnewsofchristmas.org. And I’m praying that the Lord will give me another opportunity, and that I won’t fail next time.
I hope these resources encourage you to “go and preach the good news” with passion, love, and confidence.
The Disease of Self
July 17, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
There is a disease running rampant in our culture today, affecting marriages and families, inflicting pain and destruction. It is the disease of self. Self-centeredness. Self-seeking. Self-serving. Self-esteem.
“I have to be ________ (comfortable, happy, fulfilled).”
“I need to find myself.”
“I owe it to myself.”
“It’s all about self-esteem.”
Consumerism–we are getting very comfortable giving ourselves everything materially that we want or feel would satisfy us. Relationally–many marriages are crumbling not because of abuse or rampant infidelity (although there are certainly those as well), but because one spouse doesn’t make the other spouse happy enough, and isn’t it all about OUR happiness? The “Oprah-ized” nation–we follow Oprah’s every suggestion when she has show after show about how to find your true self, how to live your best life, and “know yourself,” without any mention of the one true God or Jesus Christ. Billboards, television, and print media appeals to our love of self. . .sending messages about how you deserve the flashy car, the bigger house, even the mistress or the alcoholic beverage. The psychology-driven culture has taught us that at the core of everyone is a basically good person that has been influenced by the bad world, the bad parents, the bad events in life, and that we need to throw all of that off of us in order to really find ourselves and be happy.
It’s all about us.
Or is it?
I was reading Hard to Believe by John MacArthur last night and came across this quote: “The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.” That is not what is preached in our society today. And sadly, it is not what is preached on enough lips of professing Christians either.
As Christians, we know (intellectually) the truth of Luke 9:23-26, which says, “Then he (Jesus) said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’” But do we know it in our hearts and minds–the same hearts and minds that drive us to act in much the same way as the world (who doesn’t know this truth) acts? This Scripture is very contrary to the world’s beliefs, but that doesn’t surprise me. In the end times, there is going to be an even greater distinction between the things of God and the things of the world, and the “road that leads to life” will appear so very narrow to us who are entrenched in the world. How many will miss the road altogether?
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:12-14).
Book Review: The Faith by Charles Colson
June 3, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Christianity
In a day when biblical Christianity is being watered down and morphed into a more tolerated version of itself (which I don’t tolerate well), it is imperative that true, born-again Christians come together and unify around the fundamentals of the faith. Beth Moore calls them the “backbone issues”. . .those issues that essentially define Christianity. . .as opposed to those issues that Christians can safely disagree on without damaging the faith.
Chuck Colson, esteemed and internationally known author, has written a book that is a must-read. It is called The Faith, and it clearly and compellingly takes the reader through “what Christians believe, why they believe it, and why it matters.” Colson is a master at weaving foundational biblical truth through the issues that face us as a society, and leaving us with practical and life-altering application.
Here are a few of his best statements and subjects:
Attacking Christianity – After giving us a brief run-down of 4 or 5 authors who have published and released books touting atheism, Colson points out that “according to the Wall Street Journal, these authors sold close to a million books in one twelve-month period alone.” Colson says that “attacking God” has become quite “lucrative.”
Textual Integrity — “The ancient manuscripts possess an astounding consistency and integrity. Scholars have a wealth of documents to work from, far more than are available with ancient manuscripts that no one challenges. For example, in the case of Aristotle, there are forty-nine ancient manuscripts, the oldest of which was copied 1,100 years after Aristotles’s death. In the case of the Bible, there are 14,000 manuscripts of the Old Testament alone. No other book even comes close. The next closest is Homer’s Iliad with 600. The devotion of Christians to their Scriptures ensured their transmission to future generations.”
He continues, “Why are the manuscript copies of Scripture so accurate? Jewish tradition provides one answer. According to Hebrew practice, only eyewitness testimony was accepted; and when copying documents, the Jews would copy one letter at a time–not word by word, not phrase by phrase, not sentence by sentence.”
Original Sin — “Our culture’s refusal to accept the truth of original sin has created a mentality of wholesale denial. We find the judgment in the word ’sin’ a far greater offense than the failings to which it’s applied.”
Satan — “As we’ve seen, Satan practices his deception not only on individuals but on whole cultures. He uses false religions and false ideas to ensnare cultures in evil. If he can turn a whole people toward worshiping a false god, he can compromise millions of consciences at once.”
The Great Commission — “We have two divinely authorized commissions. The first is well known, the Great Commission, to make disciples and baptize them (Matthew 28:19). But the second is equally important. It is to bring the righteousness of God to bear on all of life. . .to bring a redeeming influence into a fallen culture. I call this the Cultural Commission.”
Unity and Reconciliation — “The modern apologist Francis Schaeffer wrote a booklet called The Mark of the Christian, describing the importance of our unity and love for one another. Bitter division, Schaeffer wrote, gave the world the right to disbelieve the Gospel. That is our scandal.”
The Church — “The Church is a reclamation project, reestablishing God’s rule in the midst of a world still mostly under Satan’s sway.
Holiness — ‘The hard truth is that too many see Christianity in terms of self-improvement or as a guide to successful living; the command to holiness, the impetus for such change, is too often ignored.”
Believing in Life’s Sanctity — “Conservative Christians are seen as concerned only with personal morality, issues related to the family and sexual practices, ignoring issues such as social justice, the welfare of the poor, and human rights. And daily we hear the hue and cry about conservatives wanting to ‘impose’ their views on an unwilling society. Interestingly, that fearsome phrase originated not in response to Robertson and Falwell but goes back to the 1860 political campaign when Lincoln’s opponents charged he was trying to ‘impose’ his will upon slave holders. We can be grateful he did and freed the slave holders as well as the slaves from a morally corrupt and corrupting institution.
The simple fact is no one has the right in a free society to impose his will on anyone. All any citizen can do is contend for his point of view in the democratic process.
So Christians do not impose; they propose a vision of a culture of life, to educate and persuade, as a marvelous Evangelicals and Catholics Together document on life puts it, so that through ‘deliberation and decision: we might realize the promise of a more just and humane society, committed in life and law to honor the inestimable dignity of every human body created in the image and likeness of God’
Why should we love our neighbor, sometimes sacrificially, if his life is not sacred? No secular philosophy has ever answered this question satisfactorily. The Christian commitment to the sanctity of life is the ground from which the Christian’s love for his neighbor and community springs. . .love for neighbor begins with respect for the neighbor’s right to life; that is, to exist.”
Bold Truth — “People may call you an absolutist and accuse you of being judgmental. This fear of offending, I’m convinced, has caused many evangelicals to weaken their view of the Gospel. It’s true many see it as politicized, which is sometimes legitimate, and absolutist, which is not true any more than any other truth-claim, such as the sun rises, is absolutist. Some younger evangelicals and the emerging-church movement, when the shy away from truth claims, are reacting to stereotypes, and so rather than preaching or taking strong positions, they basically want to start a conversation, hoping somebody discovers Jesus. But ever since the Gospel was first proclaimed, the Good News has had a specific content: Christ is risen! A bold truth-claim if there ever was one.”
Science — “The belief of Christians in reason - the very meaning of Logos - also drove the scientific revolution. In fact, science itself might never have been invented if not for Christianity’s belief that all the world could be explored for God’s glory, thus initiating the inductive methods essential to scientific advance.”
The West’s Success — “In Beijing, an American journalist recently encountered one of China’s foremost scholars, a man who had spent long years studying the West. His colleagues and he had investigated the reasons for the West’s success and preeminence, examining our history, politics, economics, and culture. Their first conclusion was the West’s success was due to its more advanced military; later they believed it might have been the political system; or perhaps the economic system. But ‘in the past twenty years,’ one investigator said, ‘we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.’ “
Orthodox Faith and Changed Lives — “The orthodox faith is the one source that can renew Western culture. Why? Because the faith teaches how God can change humanity, and faithful Christians have demonstrated time and again this truth. If I didn’t believe Jesus changed my life or could change the lives of others, I’d have gone back to the law long ago.”
This book was one of the best (if not the best) books on the Christian faith and its basic beliefs that I have ever read. Check out The Faith by Charles Colson.
Freedom for All, If. . .
May 22, 2009 by Standing on Truth
Filed under Culture
It seems to me (and I’ve only been closely watching the political and cultural climate for about 10 years now) that this is an incredibly hostile atmosphere for freedom to survive in long-term. It is under attack from every angle, and I’m not taking about our War on Terror (oh, excuse me, our Overseas Contingency Operations). I’ve noticed that at an alarming rate, our freedoms as conservative, Christian, traditional men, women and children are in grave danger. There is a growing group out there (that includes the mainstream media) that wants to believe that the U.S. Constitution does not protect us “right-wing extremists.” They are doing everything in their power (never underestimate that power, by the way) to selectively strip away freedom from a majority. In their world, freedom is only “for all” if. . .
. . .If you are not a born-again Christian (unless you are willing to keep your mouth shut about it)
. . .If you are not a conservative
. . .If you are not trying to keep marriage traditionally defined, between one man and one woman
. . .If you are not Carrie Prejean, for example
. . .If you are not for smaller government and less taxes
. . .If you didn’t attend a Tax Day Tea Party
. . .If tolerance is your god
. . .If you aren’t fighting to overturn Roe v. Wade
. . .If the DNC or MoveOn.org received contributions from you in the last 8 years
. . .If you hate George W. Bush more than any other individual on this earth
. . .If you are a pacifist
. . .If you are in adamant denial of the existence of absolute truth
. . .If you are ok with radical, liberal, activist judges legislating from the bench
. . .If you want to stay ignorant about what the Founding Fathers actually set in motion for this country
. . .If you boycott the Fox News Channel
But I don’t fit the mold on any of those things, therefore, my rights and freedoms are in jeopardy. The Bible says that many scary things will happen in the end times, and although I have no idea if the “end times” are 10 years away or 1,000, I do know that this world is not my home (Ephesians 3:20) and I rejoice in my eternal destination. At the same time, I know that while I am here, I can gently and lovingly stand on the truth of the Word of God and fight to preserve what the Founding Fathers (and our Heavenly Father) intended this great nation to be, and I can do it without apology. And I have a feeling that those who feel their freedoms are in jeopardy, those who don’t fit the above either, are starting to rise up and fight again with confidence and conviction, and it’s a beautiful thing to see.
