The Emperor’s New Foes

 bob-maclafferty  1 Response »
Mar 312012
 

Successful. Charismatic. Powerful. He redesigned his country’s judicial system from the ground up. He personally led his people in a nationwide spiritual revival. He commanded a standing army that dwarfed that of the United States. He would have been a serious contender for Time’s Man of the Year!

In spite of all that, the instant his recon squad made their report, he knew that he was in over his head. They reported that the combined armies of three neighboring countries had already invaded his country and were dangerously close to the capitol city. Alarmed, he hired a team of consultants….. No. Alarmed, he reinstituted the draft and considered weapons of mass destruction…… Uh.. No.

Alarmed, he called all his people to join him in the capitol- men, women, children.  He asked them to fast and then led them in prayer.

“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 1 Chronicles 20:12 NIV 1984

And “they stood there before the Lord.” verse 13

The answer came from an unexpected place. A man addressed the king and said he had heard from the Lord.

This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.  Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.  You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”  verses 15-17

Early the next morning, they looked down across the valley and the enemy camp. Not one man was left standing. They had slaughtered each other to the last man. The victory was more far-reaching than just the outcome of that day’s battle.

The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.  And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side. 1 Chron 20:29-30

Jehoshaphat knew a few things.

He knew about mission. He devoted his life to making his country one where people had high value and his Lord was central.

He knew about vision. He knew that only by focusing his eyes solely on God could he hope to be successful and to be successful at the right things.

He knew about humility. He knew that he was totally dependent on the power of God in his life.

He knew how to listen to those God sent to support him.

I face challenges today. Do you? 2012 still looms large, a year filled with uncertainty. My job. Staffing. Expenses. Revenue. My family. Distance. Separation. I don’t have all the answers yet. But I know Who does.

I know that with His power I can live and lead in a way that will please Him.

I know that if I keep my eyes focused on Him, everything else will become clear and in a way that makes Him look good.

Unlike the character in the fable that rhymes with the title of this post, Jehoshaphat was not deluded into believing foolish falsehoods, but kept his eyes focused on his Lord, enabling him to recognise and follow truth when he saw it. How about you?

Glass Beach Conversion

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Jan 092012
 

Glass Beach is a fascinating bit of sand tucked between rocky cliffs on the Pacific coast.  For decades, early in the twentieth century, local residents dumped trash over the cliffs and into the ocean. From time to time, fires would be lit to reduce the size of the pile. Everything from household trash to old cars was dumped into the ocean with no thought given to the environmental damage it caused.  In the late sixties, dumping was prohibited and cleanup efforts were initiated. Unfortunately, they were only partially successful.

As the decades went by, nature accomplished what man could not.  Through the pounding waves, the ceaseless shifting sands, the unending cycle of tides, the beach was purified. Garbage gradually washed away or decomposed, and broken glass reduced to polished jewels littering the beach with colorful sparkling light.

 The amazingly complex creation that we call the ocean was designed by God to do so many things for us. The water cycle purifies and moves water across our world. The oceans moderate our climate and affect the quality of the air we breathe. In fact, the design is so robust that it minimizes the effects from the damage we have done and continue to do to the world around us!

This Christmas Eve, just at sunset, I stood on Glass Beach, my family clustered around me, feet in the glass, waves lapping just a few feet away. As we looked across the waves, the last light allowed us to glimpse the glass jewels mixed with the sand and pebbles beneath our feet. I marvelled aloud, amazed at the power to re-create, the power to turn dangerous garbage into something uniquely beautiful.

A piece of broken glass laying on the beach is nothing but dangerous trash, waiting to slash the feet of unsuspecting passersby. We do so much damage to our hearts and minds, filling them with trash, letting evil corrupt and control, crowding out the good, making us, just like the broken glass, dangerous and hurtful not only to ourselves, but to those around us.

The powerful action of sand and surf turning the glass over and over changes it into something very unlike its former self. Something that is no longer harmful but a thing of beauty. And just like that glass, God can clean and polish us, changing that which was harmful and ugly into something sparkling and beautiful, something that brings joy and light to those it touches.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 NIV

Image: Matthew Lee High

Let’s Make a Little Noise!

 bob-maclafferty  1 Response »
Oct 292011
 

One week ago today, I enjoyed spending a beautiful, fall day hiking with family and friends. Talking and laughing, we reveled in the fresh air and sunshine. The air began to cool as we reached the end of our hike. Rounding a bend, we came upon an abandoned ammunition storage bunker. Wisely, the door had been left open to reduce unsatisfied curiosity.

We entered the bunker, a large, round, concrete room, it’s domed ceiling completely buried in the surrounding hill. The first word spoken echo-bounced around the room. We all joined in hollering and making all sorts of strange and wild noises, enjoying the booming sound. Someone suddenly said, “Guys, we have to sing in here!”

And so we did. With our two dogs watching with rapt attention, four couples, three young and one more seasoned, lifted our voices in praise and worship to our Father! We let our voices lift without restraint. Strong male voices leading and lifting, clear female tones echoing. Joining in melody, completing with harmony, we let it all out. No audience but Him. No critic or censor, no restraint of convention or tradition.

The sound lifted higher and higher, filling the room, the sound flowing out of the open door and down the trail. We sang hallelujahs to the Lord. We sang about the sweet sound of amazing grace. We sang our plea for Him to abide with us, even as the day faded into night.

Then some … stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 2 Chronicles 20:19 NIV.

Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;  Psalm 66:8 NIV

The last time you sang your praise, did you do it with your chin buried in a hymnbook, hoping that your voice would be drowned out by those around you? Did I mumble the words out of habit, letting the meaning slip through my ears, not stopping in my mind to register?

If someone heard my voice, would they believe that the sweet sound of grace is truly amazing? Would they really trust that my heart knew one thing, that Jesus loves me? Or does my lack of enthusiasm and passion tell a different story, one that contradicts my words?

Whether a dark and dusty bunker or a soaring cathedral shot with sunlight,

Whether eight voices or eight hundred,

Whether voices perfectly modulated and pitched or throats straining to reach unfamiliar notes,

Whether the simple melody of a praise song or the swirling melody of a traditional hymn,

Stand up,

Lift your face heavenward,

Lift your voice,

Lift it long and loud,

Pour your heart as a living offering,

Through the sound of your voice.

Love. Do You Get the Message?

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Oct 242011
 

I recently enjoyed sitting with a group of teens around a roaring campfire. We ate, we laughed, we talked, we laughed! We sang praise songs together and we worshipped together. I asked them a question. “How could you best show love someone you meet on the street, someone you don’t know?” Several  felt that hugging the person would be the best way to express love. Another thought that listening to them would be a good way to show love. Great answers, I thought.

God, the Father asked Himself the same question. How do I show love for people who don’t know Me? Worse than that, how do I show love for people who hate Me? How do I communicate the simple equality, that Me = Love, to them? How do I share with them a picture of what unselfish love really looks like?

In my Bible, I read many stories of God showing grace, mercy, love to a rebellious people who kept running away from Him. Over and over, He welcomed them back. Did more than that! He ran after them!

A couple of weeks ago, I viewed The Passion of The Christ, the 2004 film directed by Mel Gibson.  In a very  graphic and violent way, the film let me experience the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life. It was the best of films. It was the worst of films. It forced me to experience Jesus in a way  that I had never done before. Although the spoken language is either Latin, Aramaic, or Hebrew, even without the supplied subtitles, the message comes through loud and clear.

What message is that? Our Father God sent His Son, His only Son, to live, and then to die in the most vicious, violent and degrading way known to man. And this death was at the hands of the very ones for whom the message was intended!

This movie is not for the faint of heart. If you don’t want to be affected to your very core, don’t watch it.  Yet, I urge you to watch it and let the message wash over you, pierce you, trouble you, sadden you, anger you, amaze you.  And change you.

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 person, though for a good person 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 NIV.

Father, I am amazed at Your message of violent grace and love. How could you give that way? How could you love that way? Help me to love that way. Help me to look more like Your Son.

Healing Connections- Take it to the Source

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Sep 192011
 

A work colleague came to me recently, confiding that she had a problem with her boss. When congratulating her for winning a contest, he had put his arm around her waist for a picture. She had felt uncomfortable saying anything at the time because it occurred in public, but it had made her feel very ill at ease. She had seen a fleeting facial expression from a coworker in the same situation once that suggested she was not alone in her discomfort. I asked her if she had spoken to her boss about the incident.

A young student friend of mine shared that during school lunch breaks, a friend of hers would push tables apart so that only certain mutual friends could be included in the group eating lunch together. It made her feel embarrassed and ashamed to see some excluded. I asked her if she had decided what to do about it.

So often, we find ourselves irritated and upset by friends or acquaintances who have wronged us and yet we say nothing. Afraid of confrontation, we keep our concerns bottled up inside. They simmer, growing hotter until they boil over in an angry attack. Or, we just work out our frustrations by sharing the issue with anyone and everyone but the person directly involved!

Does God care about relationships? If so, is there anything practical in the Bible that can apply to situations like this?

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” Matthew 18:15 NIV.

Yes, the principle found in Matthew 18 has direct application in the workplace and at school. Healing can take place only when the wound is exposed and cleaned. I can hear you saying, “But it’s so hard to confront someone! I feel awkward and scared!” Well, yes, that is true. We don’t seem to balk at cleaning out a bad cut to prevent a worse problem through infection. Why wouldn’t we want to expend energy to heal something more important than a cut?

God wants to bring healing to our lives and this includes our relationships. In fact, healing our relationships with others, and with Him, is His greatest desire for us.

But what does a person say when they confront? Making personal attacks won’t help. Finding a way to honestly, directly and gently share feelings is critical. Here’s a few sample sentences to consider:

“It makes me feel very uncomfortable when you touch me that way.”

I feel sad when you leave out some of my friends. Let’s push some tables together!”

“I’m not comfortable with you putting your arm around me.”

“Yesterday when you put your arm around me, I felt embarrased and ________. Please don’t do that again.”

No matter what you say, you will feel better doing something active and positive about it. Don’t let another day go by without choosing to confront, not for the purpose of putting someone in his place, but for the sake of mending a damaged relationship.

Does Matthew 18 apply in the workplace? Is there a place for God’s healing principles outside of the church building and the New Testament? Oh, yes. Start the healing today.

Faith Finisher

 bob-maclafferty, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Sep 182011
 

Grape. That was the color of Pete’s new bicycle.  Metallic grape with shiny high rise handlebars and streamers from each handle and a banana seat. Jet black knobby tires and red reflectors. A basket between the handlebars and even a pretend lisence plate with his name on it! Pete just turned six and this was his birthday present! Sitting on the grass in the back yard, he stared at it, resting in all its glory, the kickstand keeping it upright.

“Pete,” his mother called from the back door,”are you ready to ride?” He nodded vigorously. He could hardly wait for it. Almost flying, he thought. It must be almost like flying. His mom came out the door and called to his dad to join them. She walked halfway down the gentle hill in the back yard and waited.

Pete felt his dad lifting him onto the seat and placing his feet, one on each pedal. Kicking the kickstand up, he held the bicycle upright by the back of the seat. Suddenly the ground seemed to be very far away! He couldn’t even touch it with his toes unless the bike was leaning. He started to tremble and looked behind him to make sure his dad was still holding on. The handlebars jerked sideways as he looked.

“Don’t look back, son,” his dad said. “Look at your mom!” Pete looked across the yard to his mom waving at him with reassurance. He looked at the ground, seemingly so far beneath him and the bike tilted to the side. “Don’t let go, Dad!” he hollered. “I’m right here, son,” he heard his Dad’s voice behind him. Push on the pedals!

Pete pushed on the pedals and felt the bike move forward. Looking back, the bike began to wobble. “Look at your Mom,” his dad repeated, “Don’t look back and don’t look down!”

Have you ever had someone tell you that you just needed to have more faith? How do you do that? I don’t know about you, but I’ve struggled to figure out how to “have” more faith. Somehow I needed to find a generator inside me somewhere to make some. Then everything would be ok.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! I can’t make more faith anymore than Pete could make his bicycle stay upright! Listen to the words from Hebrews 12:2 in four different versions.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.  Good News Translation

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. The Message

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. New Living Translation

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,  New International Version

We don’t need to focus on the ground, on the bike pedals, or on who’s holding the seat. Just like Pete, we need to keep our eyes glued to Someone ahead. We need to keep focused on Jesus who not only gives us the very faith we need to trust Him, but makes it grow in our hearts as long as we keep our eyes on Him.

God Loves Strays

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Aug 142011
 

We had decided to spend the day at the farm. So many things to do. Horses to catch, pasture to bush hog, fences to fix. We pulled the truck into the yard, close to the old farm house and a couple of old, barely standing sheds. Piling out of the truck, checking for boots, bug spray, sunscreen, the works. We looked forward to spending time working and playing outside together.

Suddenly, ,my youngest daughter heard some unexpected rustling noises from one of the sheds. She went to investigate, peering deep into the dark shadows at the back of the old building. She started hollering when she finally discovered two tiny puppies cowering in fear, pressed against the back wall of the shed.

They were black and tan bundles of filthy fur. Covered with huge, swollen ticks, ribs showing like washboards, they whimpered, fearful of every movement. They were so pitiful, so disgusting, so unbeleivably filthy.

She and her sister gathered them into their arms, loving them into calmness and peace. They slowly pulled each tick from their irritated skin. Cuddling them on the way home, the pups began to whine pitifully, their little bodies crying out for food.

A vigorous, warm and sudsy bath washed the dirt from their skin and fur. The girls scrounged food for them and they ate their first meal in days. Exhausted, they crashed, falling into a deep sleep.

They had been abandoned days before, obviously wandering through woods and grass in search of food and shelter, finding only dirt and ticks along the way. How could someone desert them like that? Leaving them defenseless, unable to care for themselves in any way.

Why did my daughter choose to find them, choose to rescue them, choose to heal and feed them? We could have found cleaner, healthier puppies. We could have chosen their breed, their age, their background, their genetics.

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. Matthew 18:12-14 NIV.

Why did my daughter choose them? They were lost and she found them. It was as simple as that.

Do you feel lost, unsaved, unloved, unclean, unworthy? Not clean enough to come back to the fold. Not worthy enough to be loved, to be searched for, to be valued?  Your Father will cry out with joy when He finds you, not because of your cleanliness, not because of your health or your nutrition. He will celebrate just because you are found. He is not willing to let you stay unfound! It is as simple as that.

Zeke and Sissy still love being saved!

I’ve Gone Too Far

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Jun 262011
 

Have you ever heard someone say,”I’ve gone too far to come back to church now”? Have you ever thought,” I’ve been too bad to come to Jesus now”? It’s a normal human response.  We are used to experiencing relationships with limits and conditions.  Marriages are expected to fail. Families dissolve and children are left out.

Is it difficult to imagine that this is not God’s plan for relationships? Or are we so accustomed to broken promises and commitments that we expect the same from Him?

What do we expect from our work relationships? If our behavior or performance doesn’t measure up to the expectations of the boss, how long will we keep the job?

What do we expect from friends? If we aren’t as charming or entertaining as we were in the past, will we stop getting invitations to parties, events, meals?

What do we expect from our church? If we make the wrong mistake, if our behavior doesn’t match with that of the average member, do we start getting the evil glances, the brush offs, maybe even an invitation to go elsewhere?

I’m so glad that our Father values relationships differently than we do.

It’s not about how bad you’ve been or how far you’ve gone. It’s all about how good He is! Do you honestly think that His sacrifice is not big enough to outweigh your sins? How dare you! How dare I? All the way from Hitler to me, our sins are drowned in His love, our evil is overwhelmed by His goodness!
Do you think you need to get your act together before you come to Him? Do you think you need to clean your life up before you’ll be acceptable? His sacrifice is more about His love and His goodness than about our sin, our shortcomings.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Father, You’ll Reject Me When?

 bob-maclafferty  No Responses »
Jun 252011
 

How do you convince someone that you mean what you say? Repeat it? Say, “I mean it!” I learned a new literary term recently. Adynaton- an expression that refers to an impossibility. Here’s an example: When pigs fly! or Not in a month of Sundays! You can probably think of several others. We use them to help us express how unlikely it is that something will happen.

One student says to another, “I’m going to make an A on the next Algebra test!” “When pigs fly, his realistic friend replys”

A father says to his daughter,” I’ll love you always!” She replies,”Really dad, how long?” “Until he** freezes over,” he responds.

When I read the Bible, I see God using so many methods to convince us of His love. Through stories, in David’s Psalms, in the gift of His Son. He has left no stone unturned in His attempt.

Did you know that God even uses adynatons? Yes He does! Jeremiah was a prophet during a very bad time. Israel had fallen away from God and into captivity. Their country was in shambles. Try this adynaton on for size! This one’s a direct quote, something in God’s own words.

This is what the LORD says,

he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:
“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”
declares the LORD,
“will the descendants of Israel ever cease
to be a nation before me.” Jeremiah 31 NIV

Will ocean waves fail? Will the moon and stars cease their shining? Will the sun turn dark? I don’t think any time soon, especially since God is in charge of each of them.

Well, our place in God’s eyes, and our place in His heart, is as constant as the world that He created!

If that’s not enough, God shared another one for Jeremiah to share with us-

This is what the LORD says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,”
declares the LORD. Jeremiah 31

I love that! Can I take a yardstick to the heavens, to a limitless universe? Can I know everything about the earth we live on, even down to its core? I don’t think so. In that case, God will never, NEVER, reject me, even considering all they mistakes I have made!

As unsettled as our world has become, as unpredictable as the tornadoes and weather disasters are, all of us search for constants in our lives, things we can count on, things that never change no matter what happens.

There is one constant, one thing only, that will never change. That one thing is our Heavenly Father’s love. It is not dependent on our behavior, on circumstance, on whim, on hormones, on politics. Count on it.

Humans Divide, Jesus Unites

 bob-maclafferty, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jun 102011
 

I grew up in a culture where my color was in the extreme minority. There was only one other in my fourth grade class of the same color. When I moved, it was to a place where my color was commonplace and where prejudice by my color against others was as rampant and ancestral as the prejudice “they” held against us.

One of my daughters just returned from another country where the native population is treated with disrespect and disgust and open loathing. They are even charged higher prices in the market. All by another ethnic group who are immigrants to this nation.

I see teachers and parents screaming and shouting at children, whether young or teen treating them in ways that they never expect to have reciprocated or copied.

I see employers making arbitrary and stereotype-based decisions based on an employee’s sex. I see them implementing unfair pay practices based on favoritism or expediency. I see discipline and termination occur on a whim, based more on personal preference than policy and principle.

I see preachers and pew-sitters, no matter what the denomination, talking of “us” and “them” when referring to all those not belonging to their particular fellowship.

When will it all end?

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 NIV.

When will it all end? Never! Until we follow the never critical, always loving example of Jesus Christ.

What divisions are you making this week? Are you choosing to value others by an arbitrary characteristic- something that makes them different?

Are you a supervisor choosing to treat young employees with criticism and negativity rather than affirmation and support? Are you a parent whose children feel ugly and dumb, rather than beautiful and special? Are you a teacher whose students hear more shouted words of anger and impatience than calmly spoken ones of guidance and encouragement?

There is neither teacher nor student, Catholic nor Protestant, employer nor employee, poor nor rich, educated nor experienced.

Whatever your role is- at home, on the job, in the pew, no matter what your spiritual focus, I challenge you to see the value and intrinsic goodness in treating those around you as if they have a very high, and very equal, value.

Father, let me lift up those around me where ever I am, no matter what their color or creed, their social or financial status, their age or sex. Let me value each one like Jesus values them. Power me to fight prejudice and pride, injustice and unfairness, divisions and biases, in people, and in organizations, and in me.

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