Safe Landing

July 6, 2013: Asiana flight 214 made a crash-landing at the San Francisco airport. Two died and many were injured. Experts are investigating the cause, but it seems clear a connection with the pilots' failing to fully switch on the navigational landing controls may be at the heart of things.

Misunderstandings
It may look like I'm straying off-topic, but this morning my thoughts fell on an often pondered dilemma—why does wrong often look or feel so good and good seem sometimes so unexciting. It isn't always so and for some it isn't quite as strong a pull as for others. But why does the enemy seem so in favour of our having fun and being happy, and God seem so often against it?

My reading for this morning included this verse, which triggered all this:

The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ~Jesus

Instead of the pitchforked, red, torturing creature of modern depiction, the enemy is described in the Bible as beautiful, an "angel of light," one of the greatest of angelic beings, but also one like a lion crouching to devour (us) his prey. So in summary, he can appear attractive but with your and my destruction as his aim.

(Authenticity test: the enemy has taken countless lives, but never once offered his own for you.)

James in his letter to the church wrote:

16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Using Proper Navigation

And what does this have to do with an airline crash? 

In flight, I imagine there are many times an inexperienced pilot must feel tempted to doubt his navigational equipment. When entering storms or dark clouds, uncertainty must creep in about the direction or altitude. Should you follow your own feelings and instincts or trust the controls? It is even possible, as with flight 214, to believe you are trusting the controls only to discover in a fiery crash that you never fully switched them on.

Landing the Plane

Doing what feels good or makes us happy is like ignoring the navigational system and choosing to fly on our instincts. The cost is greater than what affects you or me. The hurt jars many who depend on us. 

James knew how deceptive feelings are when he reminded his people not to be "deceived." Real and lasting good is from our Father, who does not change with modern ideas and fades. He truly desires what is for our best (that we may have "full" life), but we must trust His navigation of our way Home even when it doesn't feel right. Trusting anything else will lead to wounds, separation, destruction and loss.

Let's daily check who is in control.

Is Your Faith Completely Naked?

My friend, Leesa Barnes, is hosting a blog series featuring faith-centered professionals providing advice on how to add more naked faith to your business.

These faith-centered workers are men and women who are bestselling publishers, success coaches, association directors, solopreneurs, online community managers, motivational speakers, professionals who have been on their own journey to add more faith to their sales, marketing and customer service.

Beginning on April 2, 2012, Leesa and her guest authors (including yours truly on April 4th) will provide you with tips over a 30-day period. You’ll also get action steps that you can take each day to help you on your journey to reintegrate more faith into your business. Whatever your work (paid or volunteer), you can benefit from these insights.

Are you ready to get naked with your faith?

Click here to add yourself to the announcement list so you can join the community of other faith-centered men and women.

K.R. Pent

James—The Big Picture

James is one of my favourite books of the New Testament. I have been working for some time to memorize all five chapters. One thing that helps is to understand how each section flows logically into the next.

Have you noticed how easy it is to isolate a verse? It's like handling a piece of a puzzle. Oh, I know. We go back to check context with the chapter and surrounding passages, but to get the BIG picture...

Well, for myself, I wanted to look at the big picture of the book of James. I thought I'd share it with you in case it is helpful.

James, though a brother of Jesus, sees himself only as a servant of God and Jesus. He writes to Christian Jews scattered and persecuted in various nations.

James begins and ends his letter by encouraging the believers to persevere in spite of the suffering, because it is the means to maturity and completeness in their faith. The good that is promised is worth the struggle and the waiting. (James 1:2-4, 12; 5:7-11)

When believers find they lack wisdom (are incomplete), James admonishes them to ask God. Since wisdom is God's will for His children, doubting He will give it is a sign that a man is "double minded" in his walk.

Temptation is not from God. Good gifts are from God. If we are led astray by "gifts" of temptation, we are deceived and will miss God's perfect gifts. God "does not change like shifting shadows."

We need to repent of the sins of tongue and life that we've committed. The cure to avoid future temptation is to study and apply God's Word. Our relationship with God will be evident by our care of the helpless and our purity from worldliness.

Wealth is often in the hand of the oppressor (James 2 & 5). Yet even in the hand of a believer, it should never lead to special treatment by other believers. The rich should be humbled knowing their riches will not last and are not what is ultimately important (2:1-5; 1:9-11).

All people should be loved as we love ourselves. No favouritism allowed. Showing favouritism is breaking a the law of God. Breaking one law makes us guilty of breaking the law of God. Instead, we should show mercy to all, and God will judge us mercifully.

Is it possible to be saved by faith and not show it in how we live? NO! Faith that is not accompanied by action is dead...not really faith at all. Even the demons believe in God.

Watch your tongue. Nothing destroys or leads someone astray easier than the wagging tongue. It is inconceivable that a mouth that truly praises God can also slander other humans who God made.

Envy and selfish ambition are of the devil, signs of disorder, and seeds for evil practice. God's wisdom will show by a life that's "pure, peaceloving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

When we pursue selfish ends, God will not answer our prayer. Fights and quarrels amongst God's family are signs of selfish ambition. We need to repent and seek God. If we resist the devil, he will flee from us as we submit and humble ourselves before God. If we continue to slander and judge each other, we should fear God's judgment.

If God tells us to give or to do something, we should not put it off. Don't say that after you accomplish X,Y, & Z, you'll have what you need to obey God. Putting off what He asks of us is sin.

God's judgment will come on oppressors. Be sure to be waiting for God and not oppressing your brothers and sisters in the faith. Instead, pray for yourself, praise God, and pray for others.

Rather than condemning brothers and sisters for their weaknesses, we should confide in one another about our struggles (be a "safe place" for other believers to be honest about theirs), so that we can pray for one another. If we do this, we will be healed from sin's strongholds. What could be greater than rescuing a fellow Christian from the deadly spiral of sin!

In summary, watch your tongue and watch your life; don't trust in riches (your own or somebody else's); do not slander or condemn a believer in your thoughts or conversation, but show mercy as you desire God to be merciful to you; depend on God for all you need and let His life flow through you producing godly works.

And finally, never give up living the truth! Christ is coming soon!

Into Thin Air

I recently read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Jon, a journalist, joined one of the teams on the 1996 tragic expedition of Mt Everest where eight fellow climbers died.

To be honest, the book topic did not peak my interest. I find it hard to relate to the drive that causes men and women to risk their lives for a moment that will not make any significant difference. My mom, however, who has great taste in literature, convinced me I wouldn't be able to put it down.

The story gripped and haunted me. At least three of the eight who died on May 10, 1996 were guides. They knew what it took to survive. They knew the caution signs. They used the right equipment.

The main dangers each climber faced, besides the obvious one of falling, were

1. Ice in their oxygen tubes or running out of oxygen. They were acclimated enough that they could breath even in the thin air, but the sublimental oxygen increased their chances of not succumbing to several deadly altitude sicknesses and enabled them to have clearer reasoning.
2. Not keeping warm enough. The solutions (besides warm clothing/equipment) were to keep moving, even at times of rest, and to drink hot tea.

I don't mean this to be a book review, so, naturally, I see parallels for the Christian life.

One of my father's favourite quotes (though I don't know the source) is "Few men run well to the end."

The apostle Paul said something similar to the church in Galatia: "You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?" (Galatians 5:7)

It may sound metaphorically contradictory to combine climbing and running, unless you understand that the climb to the top of Mt Everest is a race against time, limited oxygen, elements, and physical limitations.

We, as Christians, should never relax our guard against the flesh. We need the oxygen of conversation with God through His Word and prayer.

1. If sin blocks the flow of life from Him to us, we may very likely wander off a spiritual cliff or discourage others in their search for God.
2. If we do not keep busy serving Him, our abilities may freeze up, becoming limited; pride or other sins may cut off our dependence on God to use our gifts, and we may lose our privilege to serve in an area. Or if we refuse to give or receive the warmth of fellowship, we will become cold, weak, and ineffectual.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)

And what about non-Christians? What is their part in the climb of faith? Scripture makes it clear that without the Holy Spirit of God they are, as we were, "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). They have not even made it to Base Camp.

For those of us born again by the Spirit, let's not become confident in ourselves, our talents, our intellects, or our energies. We need to remind each other from where our righteousness comes: "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

Paul said: So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)

Far from discouraging us, this should cause each of us to cling more tightly to the hand of our Father, to lean closer to hear the beat of His heart.

Jesus warned us: "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).

Let's encourage one another in our walks to look to Jesus and to do good, to love and to fellowship.

Let's remember our capacity for sin and our Source of righteousness. We need to believe as Paul did: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst (1Timothy 1:15).

If we seek God, He promises we will always find Him. If we climb in our own strength, we will always fall. This world is stronger than we are, but our God is stronger than all.

How the Blood Works

I've often wondered why God made the payment of sin to be death when He knew He would have to pay it in order to have any relationship with us at all.

Recently, my Pastor preached on the biblical covenants. Last week he reiterated God's covenant with Abraham. All these covenants were made directly to the Jews, but the Abrahamic covenant promised to spill over to the rest of the world through Abraham's Seed—Jesus.

Another unique distinction in the covenant with Abraham (here still called Abram) is how the oath was sworn.

Yahweh said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to Him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.....

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram... (Genesis 15:9-12, 17-18a)

In the ancient Near East when a covenant was sworn, both covenanters would walk through an aisle of dead animals, such as described in Genesis. The purpose of doing such said, in essence, that both were agreeing to fulfill the covenant or sacrifice their lives.

Throughout the Old Testament, Yahweh was always the One reaching out to mankind. With Abraham, it was no different. Yahweh desired to fulfill a promise through this man. Being a man, however, Abraham would not be able to keep his end of the contract, perfect obedience to Yahweh's covenant, for himself or for his descendants; therefore, all of us would be condemned to eternal punishment...the sacrifice of our lives.

Because Yahweh desired a relationship with the human race, He took the fulfillment of the covenant upon Himself. He alone walked through the dead animals, guaranteeing the covenant at the sacrifice of His life.

Humans, Abraham and every person throughout time, has failed to keep the requirements of God, as Yahweh had known. To remind us of the horror our sin is to Him, He required that the Jews sacrifice animals. The lambs, goats, cattle, etc. took the death that we deserved. This did not cleanse us of our sin. It only reminded us of the blood that needed to be shed because of our faithlessness.

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 9:22)

As Yahweh foreknew, a time came when sacrifice had to be made. He came in flesh. He came to be one of us, to experience the temptations, yet to resist them. Someone once pointed out that His withstanding the temptations were a greater test of His empathy than if He had given in to them. Because He resisted, He knows the extent of temptation's strength.

For thirty-three years as a man, He completed our half of the covenant, which not one person in thousands of generations had been able to do. At the same time, as God, He fulfilled His promise to sacrifice His life because of our breach of the covenant.

Jesus blood became the entrance into the New Covenant. The cost is incomparable. Because it cannot be matched, any who refuse to enter into this covenant through Jesus will never find peace with God. Any who refuse to accept Jesus death as their payment will be required to pay with their lives...for eternity.

Each Easter we remember again, not just the sacrifice, but that Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection placed Him at the right hand of Yahweh to interceed for all who come before God in His Name.

Are you trying to arrange a covenant of your own, which will leave you the sole fulfiller and the one responsible for a perfect life?

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

God paid it all. There is no greater insult to Him than to say: It wasn't enough.

(Picture curtesy of http://www.freefoto.com/)

Can My Faith Survive In the Twenty-First Century?

Our world gets noisier all the time. Have you noticed? So many messages: billboards, text, instant, skype, mobile phones, e-mail, Facebook, radio, TV, You Tube, Twitter, Ipods.... It's endless. Even if you just scan and don't take the time to study, your brain picks up a plethora of messages and many get filed away.

Most messages we'd classify as neutral. Yet even the neutral ones have a reason behind them, an angle on life that may or may not match up with your own. Once received, one must analyse the material: Is it true? Is it a lie? If one doesn't, the default is that whatever comes in becomes part of the filter for seeing life.

For example, morality. Is it only natural for a guy and girl to have sex? In fact, if you're listen to most messages, it is unnatural if a couple were not to have sex. If you hear it enough times, doesn't God's verses on waiting and keeping the marriage bed pure seem idealistic? Why wait?

At seven years of age, I watched my older siblings reading the Bible. That year a desire awoke in me to follow in their steps. Many years I struggled at being consistent. One of my best friends in high school was probably my greatest help. We not only kept each other accountable, but we'd wrote notes of encouragement for the other to find in the morning, we'd pray together for our favourite musicians wherever they'd be performing, and, on vacation, we'd wander of to a quiet spot and start the day in private devotions.

These times of constant practice have become a part of me. Routine is now calculated around the time needed to spend in God's Word. Are they always deep spiritual times? Sadly, no. Often I have read just to read and my prayers may sound more like wish-lists. I try not to let this be the case, but I come regardless of how mechanical it feels. Even those times, dry though I may be, have helped to build a solid wall of truth in my heart and mind.

I know they have, because of some questions on good and evil that have come to my mind. Questions that you'd know the answer to in Sunday School, but in the private of your heart you hear a voice that sounds so convincing. Then, suddenly, it's as if the light of God's Word shines on the question and you see it as the Old Serpent of Genesis. No direct verse may come to mind, but you know the truth, because it is daily filling you, renewing your mind.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

Do we think that Satan sleeps? That he takes days off? Why then do we think that we can skip what God describes as the armour that protects us (Ephesians 6)?

I'm thankful that circumstances worked to make daily Bible reading and prayer part of my life. I don't take credit for that. But I am convinced that unless you spend time daily with God, your faith will die or become so sick, it will not function.

No, I do not believe in losing your salvation. I do believe that if you truly want to follow God, you have to make a disciplined effort to pursue Him ("You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" Jeremiah 29:12). If you do not seek Him daily, the messages all around you will crowd out His Word until your heart is cold and unbelieving.

We are in a constant spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). If we do not pick up the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, the breast plate of righteousness (practicing giving, fasting, compassion, encouragement, worshipping in church), and the helmet of salvation daily, we will be exposed and hit by the flaming arrows of our enemy. He has no love for us. He does not have mercy on us when we are unprepared to fight. He'd gladly kill us in our sleep. To have us live without an active faith is his best weapon to hurt the heart of God.

It's much easier to hear those loudly babbling in our ears or before our eyes than it is to pursue the True and Living God. But is it worth it? Gain the whole world and yet forfeit our soul?

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about those who waste their life and then face God. Verses 14-15: "If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

Life is so short and eternity so long, let us do now what we will wish for all eternity we had the chance to do again.