Dear Family, This is not what I wanted to do this morning. First, I need to start with the fact that I love the church. But I love the Lord even more. I am a kind and usually gentle person. But, when the Lord shows me something I have to act. I am moved by political and world events, but I hate to jump on bandwagons. They’re loud, garrish and crowded. “When you jump on the bandwagon, it means you begin supporting a hobby, idea, person, etc. after it has become popular or successful. Bright and ornamental, they [the bandwagons] were impossible to miss.” I really don’t care about being popular or successful.
Believe me when I say I’m not anything special. But, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time on this earth, it’s that everyone has a calling on their lives. That calling is as individual as their fingerprint. Every year, I like a lot of my brothers and sisters ask the Lord for a verse for the year. It seems that mine has been Ezekiel 33:6 - ”...if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life...I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ Actually, it seems that could possibly be my life-span verse. So, my “job” is to WATCH, pray and then inform my brothers and sisters of what the Lord has shown me. Then, their “job” is to pray about that. Others with callings similar to yours will come alongside. Their “job” is to brainstorm, collaborate, agree, hone, solidify, correct. Call me crazy - but, you have your own “job.” Now is the time to step out. Training time is over. It’s time to ACT! Here goes my part!
It pains me to the core to see the world as it is today. This is not the world or the America that my Italian great-grandfather invisioned when he boarded the ship. When he left Naples, and went through hell to become a citizen, I’m sure he didn’t envision a PC world, where the herd mentality would rule; where political and societal bullies would break the playground rules and be rewarded for doing so. I know this isn't the world I envisioned for my kids. They'll never remember a time when they felt safe and completely protected from the horrors that blazon across every medium. How did we get here? There are innumerable thories. Maybe none of them matter. Maybe what matters is what we, The Family, does from this point onward.
The enemy is a pro at mixing just enough truth with the lie making it palatable and tasty. Just today, my brother, Samuel Medina quoted A.W. Tozer - “The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.” We have been told a gargantuan lie. And the worse thing is - we swallowed it. We have been told that love is mamby pamby. We’ve been shown a picture of Jesus that laughs with us, loves us despite ourselves, and wrestles and tickles us while we squeal with delight. While this visage of Jesus is true, we’ve been convinced that there is not another side of His character. This side, while moved by compassion, was very confrontational and took a stand. Oh, He was loving, but we’ve forgotten that sometimes love has a not-so-politically-correct side. Sometimes it overturns tables and even bucks denominational lines. Sometimes it calls the religious majority fools, whitewashed tombstones, vipers and blind guides. We have traded in our keen vision(s) for blindness. We have accepted the lie that Jesus was only the Lamb of God. He was, but He was also the Lion of Judah.
So, let’s be Jesuslike. We can no longer be “my denomination only” believers. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved - not only the Southern Baptists or the Nazarenes. We have to have a world view that goes beyond the safe zones of our churches. We can no longer be isolationists, thinking “It’s not in my backyard.” In case you didn’t know, let me inform you that it IS in your backyard, and mine and your family’s. It’s been here, we’ve just been afraid to acknowledge it or bullied into not saying it. It’s time to admit that perhaps we’ve been duped and it’s time to do something about it.
Now, it’s time for me to exercise my gift Here’s the warning.
Ever since the atrocities happened in Paris, there’s been a battlecry to pray. It’s a fantastic cry. We are to pray. It’s probably the most pricipal of Christian responsibility. However, it’s not the only responsibility we have. We need to do more than pray. Prayer is the beginning. I can't think of one great person in the Bible who didn't pray first...but THEN took action as a result having that prayer answered. Whether it's calling D.C., taking a class, witnessing, starting a REAL outreach group in your hometown, showing kindness to strangers, or standing up in the face of evil - PRAYER ALWAYS RESULTS IN ACTION! Faith without works is DEAD. We can have all the faith in the world. We can pray ceaselessly. We can attend every church service and conference. BUT, unless we put that faith to WORK it's DEAD. Unless we're willing to act on the answer to that prayer, we are irrelevant, sissified, whiny babies.
We have had our heads in the sand of our sanctuaries for far too long. Instead of being His hands and feet. We've been sitting with His hands under our our thighs on soft, padded church seats, and we’ve had our feet planted inside our comfort zones. The wolf is huffing and puffing at OUR door! We've become too worried about being thought of as weird. The Word says we are PECULIAR! If you're a Christian, peculiarity is in your spiritual DNA. It's already too late. We're more concerned with being politcally correct and polite than we are with taking the answers to our heartfelt prayers and ACTING on them.
What else are YOU to do? Find, seek, search out where your calling lies. WORK on it. Get out of your safety zone. Are you to pray with that stranger? Start a blog? Write a book? Call D.C? It’s time to find you calling and ACT on it. For what it’s worth, consider this a call to action by a family member. The wolf is huffing and puffing at YOUR door!
Believe me when I say I’m not anything special. But, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time on this earth, it’s that everyone has a calling on their lives. That calling is as individual as their fingerprint. Every year, I like a lot of my brothers and sisters ask the Lord for a verse for the year. It seems that mine has been Ezekiel 33:6 - ”...if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life...I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ Actually, it seems that could possibly be my life-span verse. So, my “job” is to WATCH, pray and then inform my brothers and sisters of what the Lord has shown me. Then, their “job” is to pray about that. Others with callings similar to yours will come alongside. Their “job” is to brainstorm, collaborate, agree, hone, solidify, correct. Call me crazy - but, you have your own “job.” Now is the time to step out. Training time is over. It’s time to ACT! Here goes my part!
It pains me to the core to see the world as it is today. This is not the world or the America that my Italian great-grandfather invisioned when he boarded the ship. When he left Naples, and went through hell to become a citizen, I’m sure he didn’t envision a PC world, where the herd mentality would rule; where political and societal bullies would break the playground rules and be rewarded for doing so. I know this isn't the world I envisioned for my kids. They'll never remember a time when they felt safe and completely protected from the horrors that blazon across every medium. How did we get here? There are innumerable thories. Maybe none of them matter. Maybe what matters is what we, The Family, does from this point onward.
The enemy is a pro at mixing just enough truth with the lie making it palatable and tasty. Just today, my brother, Samuel Medina quoted A.W. Tozer - “The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.” We have been told a gargantuan lie. And the worse thing is - we swallowed it. We have been told that love is mamby pamby. We’ve been shown a picture of Jesus that laughs with us, loves us despite ourselves, and wrestles and tickles us while we squeal with delight. While this visage of Jesus is true, we’ve been convinced that there is not another side of His character. This side, while moved by compassion, was very confrontational and took a stand. Oh, He was loving, but we’ve forgotten that sometimes love has a not-so-politically-correct side. Sometimes it overturns tables and even bucks denominational lines. Sometimes it calls the religious majority fools, whitewashed tombstones, vipers and blind guides. We have traded in our keen vision(s) for blindness. We have accepted the lie that Jesus was only the Lamb of God. He was, but He was also the Lion of Judah.
So, let’s be Jesuslike. We can no longer be “my denomination only” believers. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved - not only the Southern Baptists or the Nazarenes. We have to have a world view that goes beyond the safe zones of our churches. We can no longer be isolationists, thinking “It’s not in my backyard.” In case you didn’t know, let me inform you that it IS in your backyard, and mine and your family’s. It’s been here, we’ve just been afraid to acknowledge it or bullied into not saying it. It’s time to admit that perhaps we’ve been duped and it’s time to do something about it.
Now, it’s time for me to exercise my gift Here’s the warning.
Ever since the atrocities happened in Paris, there’s been a battlecry to pray. It’s a fantastic cry. We are to pray. It’s probably the most pricipal of Christian responsibility. However, it’s not the only responsibility we have. We need to do more than pray. Prayer is the beginning. I can't think of one great person in the Bible who didn't pray first...but THEN took action as a result having that prayer answered. Whether it's calling D.C., taking a class, witnessing, starting a REAL outreach group in your hometown, showing kindness to strangers, or standing up in the face of evil - PRAYER ALWAYS RESULTS IN ACTION! Faith without works is DEAD. We can have all the faith in the world. We can pray ceaselessly. We can attend every church service and conference. BUT, unless we put that faith to WORK it's DEAD. Unless we're willing to act on the answer to that prayer, we are irrelevant, sissified, whiny babies.
We have had our heads in the sand of our sanctuaries for far too long. Instead of being His hands and feet. We've been sitting with His hands under our our thighs on soft, padded church seats, and we’ve had our feet planted inside our comfort zones. The wolf is huffing and puffing at OUR door! We've become too worried about being thought of as weird. The Word says we are PECULIAR! If you're a Christian, peculiarity is in your spiritual DNA. It's already too late. We're more concerned with being politcally correct and polite than we are with taking the answers to our heartfelt prayers and ACTING on them.
What else are YOU to do? Find, seek, search out where your calling lies. WORK on it. Get out of your safety zone. Are you to pray with that stranger? Start a blog? Write a book? Call D.C? It’s time to find you calling and ACT on it. For what it’s worth, consider this a call to action by a family member. The wolf is huffing and puffing at YOUR door!