Book Review:
Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ by John MacArthur
"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; that is your oath."\
-Balian of Ibelin - Kingdom of Heaven.
There was a time once, when chivalry was the standard men lived by, when Sir was a title with meaning and weight behind it, not just a term of respect that future son-in-laws call their potential father-in-laws. A time when the pen was not mightier, but swords ruled, it was a sign of wealth and status. It was the best gift that could be passed on from father to son. A time when a a good man was defined by his character, valor, honor, and chivalry. When you owned whatever you did either good or bad, and took the consequences. A time when the greatest compliment any man could receive is to have someone who knew your father say to you, "you are your father's son".
Could you imagine that comment today?
Would any guy these days take it as a compliment?
What has happened to men that we no longer take that as a compliment?
Many books have been written about this topic. The problem with fathers, sons, and the relationship or lack there of between them. Being a true man, and a man of God. These are important topics. This is not to say that there weren't these problems in medieval times, but can you think of any man you know, yourself included, and myself included for that matter.
Who doesn't want their own son to take that compliment like gold?
I want my son to take that compliment as the best compliment he could receive.
So what do we do? First we must learn to live like real men of God, following kingdom principles. Be men of honor and valor. Respected by men and God alike. Chivalrous and upright. King David command's his son Solomon and all men on how to be men. "Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: "I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;" (1 Kings 2:1-3).
What kind of man will you chose to be? Will you follow the Lord, and walk in the ways of a righteous man, a godly man? Or will you walk in the ways of this world, and not be the type of father your son wants to be come, the type of father who draws a violent and negative reaction.
What will your legacy be?
Will your son want to continue it?
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Joshua 1:9
"What makes Christ glorious, is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies."
- Jonathan Edwards
Often times in life there are reoccurring themes, those things that just seem to constantly come to the surface. The first few times this theme presented itself in my life, i brushed it off. i believe that is something that we often times do, we tend to think its the other people who have a problem, not ourselves. The theme continues to knock on my door however, it cannot be ignored, it must be accepted in, and even if grudgingly we must allow it to chisel away at our exterior, when this happens more of God is revealed in us and potentially through us.
i have always said that one of my greatest strengths is also my greatest weakness. i am for lack of a better term, a passionate person. Always have been, and always will be. When this passion is properly controlled, and harnessed, it can be very dangerous for the Kingdom of Heaven. However, if i let my passion get the better of me, go uncontrolled, look before i leap, etc. i potentially become very dangerous for the domain of darkness. Just like any other emotion, on its own passion is not sinful, it is only when we let ourselves be controlled by that emotion, when Satan is able to use it against us.
So how do i keep myself from being controlled by this emotion, and learn how to control it? Find a role model and work to pattern my life after how they handle it. Jesus is called the Lion of Judah, and for good reason, He is God, and has all power and authority on heaven and earth. He could have easily done away with any of his opposition, done anything that he wanted. But he didn't. In his book "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ," John Piper has a chapter titled "The Lion and the Lamb," in this chapter he discusses all the ways in which Jesus lives out the perfect juxtaposition of these two diverse excellencies. It doesn't seen possible to be both a Lion and a Lamb. To be a Lion-like-Lamb, and a Lamb-like-Lion. Jesus knew how to control his passion, yes he turned over tables and drove people out of the temple with a whip that he made, but it came out of righteousness. He chose to become the lamb of Judah, instead of the Lion to give us all life. There is no greater example. Being a Lion is a good thing, but being a Lamb-like-Lion is a Godly thing. So we must "rise and rise again, until lambs become lions," but always be a lion the way that Jesus was, and never the lion that Satan tried to get him to be.
" The Lion of Judah conquered because he was willing to act the part of a lamb. He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday like a king on the way to a throne, and went out of Jerusalem on Good Friday like a lamb on the way to the slaughter. He drove the robbers from the Temple like a lion devouring its prey. And then at the end of the week he gave his majestic neck to the knife, and they slaughtered the Lion of Judah like a sacrificial lamb."
- John Piper Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ
"The Knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost a maidenlike, a guest in hall, a gentle, modest, unobtrusive man. He is not a compromise or happy mean between ferocity and meekness; he is fierce to the nth and meek to the nth."
-C.S. Lewis (The Necessity of Chivalry)
[disclaimer - this is a male focused blog. nothing against you women though]
David and Goliath might be the most famous, and oft paralleled story there is, with the one exception being the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. War movies use this story line with out fail, and for good reason. Our lives can be viewed from this same story line. We like to be able to put ourselves in the roles of our favorite heroes; Maximus Decimus Meridius, Aragorn, William Wallace, Balian of Ibelin, Robin Hood, King Arthur, etc. We want to be the brave hero, the one leading the charge, the one fighting the battle, winning the heart of the beauty, and embarking on an epic adventure, where we discover who we are and what we are made of. We want to be the one who gives the speech that compels our fellow men at arms to victory. We want to be the ones to stand defiant in the face of our enemy or oppressor. Rightfully so i believe. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a hero, a knight, a conquerer. In fact we are called by Christ to be this person, this man. For God's Kingdom, and for the other people in our lives.
Romans 8:37 tells us that we are more than conquerers in Christ. What empowering words. Ephesians 6 gives us the armor we need, and Romans 8 tells us we are more than conquerers. What this means is that we can be that hero that we see in popular culture movies, and we can be the hero's we see in the Bible. David, Jonathan, Samson, etc. War epics run rampant through out the Bible. How can we be this hero though? How can we be more than a conquerer? In each of these accounts the hero, is at some point empowered, anointed, or knighted. Looking at the original story line we can see this very clearly; 1 Samuel 16 tells us the story of David's anointing "So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power." (1 Samuel 16:13) as we know David then goes on, through the power of the Spirt of the Lord to defeat Goliath. It must be stated that David was the youngest son, of one of the weakest families of the weakest tribe of Israel, in other words he was one of the very last people most would have expected to do this, and be anointed king. David was knighted for service in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus does this exact same thing with the 12 apostles he gave them power and authority (Luke 9) Jesus then anoints all who call themselves Christian's with the "great commission" in Matthew 28 when he gives all authority in heaven and on earth, to fulfill his commandments and make disciples as we are going of all nations.
Ephesians 6 tells us to take up the "Sword of Spirit, which is the word of God.". When a man is knighted his is given a sword, to signify the event, and the change that has taken place. When you are knighted, you become much more than you were before, you have power, and authority, you are respected and feared. In Acts, the people are baptized by the Holy Spirit, David is anointed and the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him. We are compelled by Paul to take up the Sword of Spirit. When you become a Christian, you are baptized by the spirit (not making any statement about when this officially happens). You are in other words knighted by Christ for service in the Kingdom of Heaven. This means you have within you the ability to be the hero you wish you could be in the movies, or in the Bible. God has anointed you as his gladiator, his warrior, his knight, we are made more than conquerers. We are called to live indestructibly. We must, as Marianne Williamson said, liberate others from their fears by being as powerful as we are capable of. God has a plan for us, a purpose he has placed us here to fulfill, and until that is achieved we are indestructible. This is the way those great heroes lived, with an understanding that they were indestructible and that they liberated, empowered, and often knighted others to live up to their potential. And we live Kingdom centered lives. We constantly fight the intense battle that we are intrenched in, we are storming the Castle and taking ground for the Kingdom.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you have been anointed, and Knighted. You have been given the Sword of Spirit, your name now has a "sir" in front of it, denoting you are a Knight in God's army. You have been given that authority. We must remember that we cannot do it alone. There are many others in the battle as well. They are our allies and will stand shoulder to shoulder with us, fighting until the end. But we must deliver the motivational speech, that God delivered to us through our actions daily. We must liberate others, by living indestructibly, through faith not fear.
"[True knights] are both gentler than lambs and fiercer than lions, in such a wonderful and peculiar way that I am very nearly incapable of deciding what I think they should rather be called, monks or knights, unless I should perhaps more appropriately name them both, since they apparently lack neither, neither the monk's gentle disposition nor the knight's fierce strength. What can be said, but that this is the Lord's work and a miracle in our eyes."
- (Bernard of Clairvaux, De Laude Novae Militiae)
[disclaimer - this is a male focused blog. nothing against you women though]
David and Goliath might be the most famous, and oft paralleled story there is, with the one exception being the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. War movies use this story line with out fail, and for good reason. Our lives can be viewed from this same story line. We like to be able to put ourselves in the roles of our favorite heroes; Maximus Decimus Meridius, Aragorn, William Wallace, Balian of Ibelin, Robin Hood, King Arthur, etc. We want to be the brave hero, the one leading the charge, the one fighting the battle, winning the heart of the beauty, and embarking on an epic adventure, where we discover who we are and what we are made of. We want to be the one who gives the speech that compels our fellow men at arms to victory. We want to be the ones to stand defiant in the face of our enemy or oppressor. Rightfully so i believe. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a hero, a knight, a conquerer. In fact we are called by Christ to be this person, this man. For God's Kingdom, and for the other people in our lives.
Romans 8:37 tells us that we are more than conquerers in Christ. What empowering words. Ephesians 6 gives us the armor we need, and Romans 8 tells us we are more than conquerers. What this means is that we can be that hero that we see in popular culture movies, and we can be the hero's we see in the Bible. David, Jonathan, Samson, etc. War epics run rampant through out the Bible. How can we be this hero though? How can we be more than a conquerer? In each of these accounts the hero, is at some point empowered, anointed, or knighted. Looking at the original story line we can see this very clearly; 1 Samuel 16 tells us the story of David's anointing "So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power." (1 Samuel 16:13) as we know David then goes on, through the power of the Spirt of the Lord to defeat Goliath. It must be stated that David was the youngest son, of one of the weakest families of the weakest tribe of Israel, in other words he was one of the very last people most would have expected to do this, and be anointed king. David was knighted for service in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus does this exact same thing with the 12 apostles he gave them power and authority (Luke 9) Jesus then anoints all who call themselves Christian's with the "great commission" in Matthew 28 when he gives all authority in heaven and on earth, to fulfill his commandments and make disciples as we are going of all nations.
Ephesians 6 tells us to take up the "Sword of Spirit, which is the word of God.". When a man is knighted his is given a sword, to signify the event, and the change that has taken place. When you are knighted, you become much more than you were before, you have power, and authority, you are respected and feared. In Acts, the people are baptized by the Holy Spirit, David is anointed and the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him. We are compelled by Paul to take up the Sword of Spirit. When you become a Christian, you are baptized by the spirit (not making any statement about when this officially happens). You are in other words knighted by Christ for service in the Kingdom of Heaven. This means you have within you the ability to be the hero you wish you could be in the movies, or in the Bible. God has anointed you as his gladiator, his warrior, his knight, we are made more than conquerers. We are called to live indestructibly. We must, as Marianne Williamson said, liberate others from their fears by being as powerful as we are capable of. God has a plan for us, a purpose he has placed us here to fulfill, and until that is achieved we are indestructible. This is the way those great heroes lived, with an understanding that they were indestructible and that they liberated, empowered, and often knighted others to live up to their potential. And we live Kingdom centered lives. We constantly fight the intense battle that we are intrenched in, we are storming the Castle and taking ground for the Kingdom.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you have been anointed, and Knighted. You have been given the Sword of Spirit, your name now has a "sir" in front of it, denoting you are a Knight in God's army. You have been given that authority. We must remember that we cannot do it alone. There are many others in the battle as well. They are our allies and will stand shoulder to shoulder with us, fighting until the end. But we must deliver the motivational speech, that God delivered to us through our actions daily. We must liberate others, by living indestructibly, through faith not fear.
"[True knights] are both gentler than lambs and fiercer than lions, in such a wonderful and peculiar way that I am very nearly incapable of deciding what I think they should rather be called, monks or knights, unless I should perhaps more appropriately name them both, since they apparently lack neither, neither the monk's gentle disposition nor the knight's fierce strength. What can be said, but that this is the Lord's work and a miracle in our eyes."
- (Bernard of Clairvaux, De Laude Novae Militiae)
Like to read? Want to get into reading? Wish you didn't have to pay for books? Well there is this awesome website where you can get free books in exchange for reviews of the books you read! I hope that some of you will take advantage of it. THANK YOU BOOKSNEEZE!!!
The face of Mariner's baseball will never be the same. The man who started it all, who called the very first pitch, and painted such a magical story of baseball in the Pacific Northwest for 34 years, Dave Niehaus passed away today (Wednesday Nov 11, 2010).
It's weird how you can feel like you know some one you have never met before, you get to know the real person when they are in the business of sports broadcasting. Their personality is displayed with every word, with ever catch phrase, and with how they responded. Phrases like "My Oh My," "That ball will fly away," and "Get out your rye bread and mustard grandma it's Grand Salami time," will forever been etched in the minds of all those who followed Mariner baseball from its inception in 1977 until the last pitch of the 2010 season.
He is a legend, a true broadcasting great who will forever have a soft spot in our hearts. I don't believe there ever was or ever will be a greater supporter of Mariner baseball. We have streets named after players, and we affectionately call Safeco Field "the house that Griffey built," Dave deserves a momento as well. He might be at the top of the Mariner's legend's list, or just behind Griffey and Edgar, but he definitely belongs with the likes of Bone, Sweet Lou, The Big Unit, Dan the "Man", Dave Winfield, and a handful of others.
My Oh My, Mr. Niehaus, baseball will never be the same with out you. You were truly one of the greats, and for all of us who heard you we were blessed. Thank you for sharing your gift! You will be missed.
Jesus told them "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'move from here to there' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
-Matthew 17:20
Currently Aaron, the pastor of Real Life on the Palouse, the church i attend is doing a sermon series entitled "The Gospel of the Kingdom," the focus of this series is on living out Kingdom lives. No matter what you do with your life vocationally you must live out the Kingdom, for the gospel is not just about salvation but about Kingdom living. The sermon series is about applying Kingdom principles, all the things God calls us to live out in the Bible, to our every day lives.
We are called by Jesus to "make disciples of all nations as we are going" paraphrase of the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). So how does this all tie together? For myself, the connection came when Aaron started explaining the point behind the new sermon series. There is this guy who came up with what he calls the 7 mountains of culture, which are basically the 7 areas of influence that drive culture and society, they are Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media, Arts & Sports, and Business & Technology.
(disclaimer: what follows is not "inspired" it is my own personal hermeneutics and theology. So feel free to take it however you choose.)
As soon as Aaron mentioned the seven mountains and the fact that each of us is called to one of the different mountains, and that God has wired us to truly thrive in that setting, an that each of our callings is unique I though of the verse about moving mountains. We must remember that serving God does not require entering vocational ministry, but it might, for me that is my mountain. That is how i am called and designed to serve the Kingdom. But for most people that is not their calling, nothing wrong with that. With in that mountain there are specific spheres of influence, we are called to champion that sphere for the Kingdom of Heaven, to advance the Gospel, God's mission, and make disciples as we are going. The cool thing is that when we find that sphere God grants us an amount of authority. We must step boldly into it and accept this authority, if we don't Satan will take it. So i thought to myself, maybe this is what Jesus meant by moving mountains? Maybe he meant mountains in a metaphorical sense, and that if we live out our lives through faith and Kingdom principles we can move those "mountains" for God, we can make them Kingdom centered instead of worldly centered. How awesome would that be? What an awesome legacy to leave, what a Godly way to "Out live your life".
So what ever your mountain is, climb it with confidence and faith in the Lord, step boldly into the authority that God has given you. To do anything less would be to sell God, the people around you, and yourself short. That is exactly what Satan wants.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
-Marianne Williamson
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Next Up List:
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- The Dream Manager - Matthew Kelly
- A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller
- Father Fiction - Donald Miller
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