Proverbs 4:5 “Get wisdom! Get understanding!”, and again in 7, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”

The Lord calls us in the beginning and in the end to get from Him understanding. In all our amazing technological advances in medicine and science, i would suggest we, as general mankind, actually understand very little of the Everlasting, Glorious Who behind the what. i also think we are headed for a giant, incredible series of  “Ahh-HAH!” moments as the world gets darker and God becomes brighter, and more present in our understanding. Just like the disciples did in John 12, they had a huge, “Ahh-hah!” moment. John 12:16 “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and understood they had done these things to Him.” When Jesus was glorified, they remembered and said, “Ahh hah”, they understood.

This is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. It’s a wonderful cafe at the end of Old Field Road where every Friday for 30 or more minutes is cool jazz and contemplative conversation. Actually, actually, this Friday is a very special Friday, this being Acoustic jazz night. i hope you’ll continue to lend us your ears; let’s go together and better understand what it is God is saying to us. Catch you on the bounce after the following brief interlude.

i went to the Firecracker 400 at the Daytona Speedway one year. All the people and all the cars all jammed together for a day of racing….there were SO many people. Great day in the morning! Part of that race event was something called “qualifying”, which is where each race team puts their car on the track and makes the fastest lap possible, with the race officials measuring the time it takes to go around the track in one complete lap. Qualifying places the drivers, from fastest to slowest, in the starting lineup…of course the faster the better, of course being at the front is better than being at the back.

How many of us are qualifying amongst our brethren in hopes of a better position as it relates to those around us? God never, ever asked us to qualify for His love or grace. It is not “if” we do such and such He will love us, nor is it “when” we do such and such He will love us more and extend us grace. Many believers have strayed a pretty good ways away from the basic gospel message that Jesus loves us….period….and we need understanding that we don’t have to qualify. We were born and breath, therefore we are qualified for the Love of God. Without understanding we are just part of the blind multitudes whose minds still wear the veil of “not understanding”, and not until we meet Jesus is that veil pulled away for a huge “Ahh-hah!” moment.

i’ll say it again, we don’t have to qualify for God’s love or favor, Jesus qualified us all at Calvary when He was crucified for our redemption and was raised from the dead that we would have life, and have it more abundantly. Let us understand and grasp this fully: we don’t have to qualify for God’s love, He does love you and is relentless in His pursuit of you, whether you hold your mouth right, say the right things, or make good decisions. It’s not God loves you “when” or God loves you “if”, it is simply………….God loves you. Got understanding?

Many years ago i needed to know what God wanted to do; i was at the end of the road in the place i was living. i had no understanding what to do next. i prayed, fasted, read my Bible, inquired from my well traveled friends as to the Word of the Lord … technically, i was doing everything right; still nothing, just silence as far as what God wanted to do. i would ask Him, “What do You want to do?” He would reply to me, “What do YOU want to do?” We went round and round, honestly, it was a bit maddening. i had no clue what i wanted to do but believed if i persisted and pursued Jesus, He would show me. i was determined, for possibly the first time in my life, i was determined, doggedly determined to not make a move until the Lord gave me clear direction. For four years i listened, wrote down my dreams, took notes, listened carefully to those i respected, listening for any Holy Spirit Resonance in their words. Also, i studied like a man crazy obsessed to understand. Metaphorically, i had my long distance field glasses out all day and night, watching the horizon for any sign of God’s word to me. Still there was silence. Don’t get me wrong, i did indeed have significant dreams and there were many times scripture came alive to me, but i knew i couldn’t make my dreams fit my agenda, nor make my agenda to fit my dreams and visions. i’ve done that before and it just doesn’t end well. i had to wait. i remember crying out to the Lord saying “Lord, please, we’re on the same team here! You and i talk all the time. i feel like sometimes the enemy knows more about what’s going on than i do. Why is that? i don’t understand!” In all the words i received, all the dreams and visions the Lord gave me, the truth was i didn’t understand what He was getting at. It was as if there was a veil across my spiritual eyes and my knowing and understanding had met a brick wall, not operating together like two people shaking hands in agreement. In complete desperation it seemed a tipping point came one morning when i truly fell apart before the Lord, “Why don’t You tell me what i want to do, then i can ask You for that and You can then give me understanding as to what to do?” i think that prayer was two things, it was the prayer of a righteous and desperate man, and it was from a heart which was abandoning all things in order to understand God’s direction. From then on, the Lord slowly began to unfold His plan, but even at that, most of the time i didn’t understand what i was hearing and seeing. But it did get better. Over time, i became interested in looking at property in a different part of America, west and north of the Mississippi. i didn’t know why i was interested, i just knew i was interested. Into my mind came the idea to get rid of my stuff, so much stuff. i had a dream of an airplane which couldn’t fly because there was too much ballast. In the dream the Lord said, “You weigh too much and you’re flying too low.” So i divested myself of all my stuff, reducing myself and my possessions down to next to nothing. Ahhh….i began to understand…the Lord gave it to me to put together the dots so to speak, exercising my mind. Then one day, i understood, (TING!)…i was going to move and i even knew where. Now i began to understand, to comprehend. i gave away my extra car, tools, and most everything else. One morning, as i was speaking with a friend, she pointed to the sky and said, “Look!”….there, in the sky, an airplane was sky-writing … it read, “Time to go”. Then i had a very vivid dream where i was standing on a large dock looking at an old sailing ship. As plainly as can be, i heard God say, “The wind and tide are with you, weigh anchor, set your sails, drop the tiller, get up and get gone.” (TING!) i understood. So i packed up all my stuff and drove 2700 miles to my new home. i didn’t understand what i was going to do there, but i understood what to do for the time.

If we ask the Lord, He will show us. God always confirms His word to us. Hold! Hold! Wait for it ….and position yourself. Get ready. Remember, there may be a lengthy character building exercise He does in order to prepare us for what’s next, so don’t get in a hurry if you can help it. If we ask God for understanding and are willing to pursue Him and wait, He will give us what we’re looking for. Do you get me?

Ephesians 1:17-18 ^“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”.

Understanding – it’s one of the benefits of knowing Jesus. Understanding is one of God’s attributes which He shares with me, and for me, i don’t know about you, but for me, i’m ever so glad God shares this quality of Himself with me. According to Ephesians 1:17 & 18, if God didn’t give us understanding we wouldn’t have it. Some of us may avoid that truth, but it is still the truth none-the-less. When we believe in Christ, confessing Him with our mouths and believing on Him in our hearts, there comes an unveiling. Unless the Lord unveils our hearts we will be like the people of 2 Corinthians 4: 4, “ whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” But because we have believed on the only begotten Son of God, our eyes are opened and we are made alive. 2Cor4:6, “For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:7, “Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.” In this case, the word understanding means a “mental putting together”, and in Hebrews 11:3, the idea of understanding means to exercise the mind, observe, connect the dots, and comprehend.

In John 8:27, when it says, “They didn’t understand that he spoke to them of the Father.” “Didn’t understand” in that verse is used in the sense of perception not linked to grasping what was said so we get the picture that to perceive, or know, is not always linked to understanding. There are many many things i know of but i have no clue as to understanding the application. In Luke 18:34, when scripture says they understood none of these things, it means they had not put together the dots mentally and comprehended what Jesus was saying. When we possess knowledge and God discloses the inside scoop to us, we call that “insight”. Luke18:34 reveals what Jesus was saying was hidden from them, hidden being the word “krypto”, and not until Jesus unveiled their eyes did they have any understanding. i can only conclude if God doesn’t give it, we don’t get it, and it is a kindness He extends mankind wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Consider Matt5:45 where Jesus says, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. But it is the spirit in man, meaning the breath and inspiration of the Almighty which makes him understand, according to Job32. Let us stand in faith that the Lord is faithful to give us comprehension in the time we need it, to possess a “mental putting together” in all things. The Lord is faithful, and it is the desire of His heart for us to understand.

i read somewhere that those with understanding are able to abstract the meaning out of information, meaning they “see through” the facts to the dynamics of what, how, and why. On a side note, there is truly a difference between the facts and the truth. Understanding is a lens which brings the facts into crisp focus. Understanding produces “rules of thumb” or principles. i have witnessed miracles in my life, but really didn’t know what i was observing until the Lord walked me through the reasoning which became knowledge. i’ve heard it said Knowledge is the facts and knowing the truth. Understanding is the ability to lift the meaning out of the facts, and Wisdom is knowing what to do next. i think that maybe a little narrow, but it’s pretty good. Knowledge is recognizing what we see, and understanding is connecting the dots to become an Ah-Ha moment.

Proverbs 23:23 “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.” i’m confident most of us want the wisdom and understanding but don’t want to sit through being instructed, yet the truth is, we’ll have to be willing to let the Lord instruct us. Think… if you’re not willing to sit with Him and let Him teach you, what makes you think you’re going to come to understanding without Him? We desperately need to seek the Lord for Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. The truth is, the world is completely lost without the Love of God, for without God’s redemption, there are no alternatives except to be lost. There is no other door to Heaven than through Jesus Christ. The god of this world demands we prepare a table before him, but God in His generosity and kindness prepares a table before us. i am no one important with titles and accolades, but i can say this….i am a foot soldier in the army of the Living God, desperately trying to hear and understand what He’s saying.

Got understanding? Think about it.

There are things of God which are beyond our ability to understand, like His peace – Philippians 4: 7 “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” God is the perfect poet and He will never get tired of dreaming and imagining us. The Love of God is beyond me, i don’t understand, but yet there He is, guarding our hearts in His endless pursuit of us the object of His affections, regardless of ourselves.

Look to the Lord for your understanding. Go in peace this week, be strong and courageous.

It’s acoustic jazz night, it being the fourth Friday of the month. Sit back, relax, let the smoky mood and soft rhythm settle into your ears. ?Can you see the vision as it’s cast in your mind? Trust God to open the eyes of your heart and soul to see what He sees. Just…..let His vision in you play.

Turn off the main highway at Old Field Road and go all the way to the end. I’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late evening, cascading banks of the Okluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. And yes, the Okluhwahhah is a real place in a real town, no kidding.

So glad you are here this evening, we always enjoy spending some time with you in contemplative conversation. Speaking of contemplating, i’m still learning to sip life, taking time to taste, rather than gulp and swill. A few years ago i watched my son eat a hamburger…he totally inhaled it in about 4 bites, it was astounding. i don’t think he actually tasted it much. Internally, i asked the Lord where my son learned to eat that way, i heard Him say, “From you.” Oh. From that point on i determined i’d take the time to sip and taste life rather than gulp and swill.

Are we strong and courageous? How did we get that way? Were we born like that, or is real strength and courage as God has granted grace to men?

Let’s let the music play a moment, coffee refills are free after 7 here at Outposts, so as we say, tap your toe, dream a little, and i’ll be back in a moment.

Alright, moving along. i’m going to use a previous conversation between a boy and his father which goes like this: A little boy said to his dad: “Dad, how am I going to be brave if I’m always afraid?” The father replied: “Son, it’s the only time you can be brave.”  Is it possible to really know the value of a good thing unless you’ve had something which totally didn’t work? i may say “i’ve got the best hammer in the world.” But my wise friend might ask me, “How can you tell? Have you ever had a bad hammer?” If i’ve only had one hammer and never used any other nail driving device, truthfully, i have no concept of the contrast of good and not good.

i find God to be the Lord of contrasts. i believe it’s true, He’s constantly speaking in many ways, but among all that He’s always speaking to us in contrasts, like day and night, good and evil, hope and despair, honesty and dishonesty, plus and minus, up and down. And this evening it is the contrast of strength and courage vs. weak and afraid. i have held off speaking of the concept and value of being strong and courageous because i’ve realized that i can’t effectively know how to talk about “being strong and courageous” unless i understand the contrast of “being weak and fearful”. To be honest, i’ve realized the idea of “weak and fearful” has been far more prevalent in my life than “strong and courageous”. The Hebrew perspective of the word “weak” is one of wings too limp to catch enough air to lift off or the inability of a mist to move even the simplest things. And i’ll just say this about fear: Faith and fear are complete opposites, they cannot reign in the same heart. While fear cowers, faith stands. While fear frets, faith prays. While fear looks within, faith looks to Jesus. Fear despairs, faith hopes.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul says: “…And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” That word “weakness” means literally, without strength. In other words, God’s amazing favor and His dynamic explosive power are made perfect in the midst of our native feebleness and moral frailty.

Ambrose Redmoon said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” And Winston Churchill adds to that “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Are you a courageous person? i think most of us have probably spent a lot of our lives being scared rather than courageous, and we’ve fixated on the outcome and opinions of others rather than sticking to our faith.

Courage seems elusive sometimes, especially with people who need to find courage to just leave the house or go to the grocery store. i say if God asks you to step out and you’re afraid, do it afraid, that is courage under fire. We all do things which require courage on a daily basis, and what is a conscious effort to be brave to some is merely second nature to others. i have been told i am very brave, but if the truth be known, at the time, i was more clueless as to the consequences of my actions, so it wasn’t conscious bravery, but more sheer ignorance which caused my appearance of courage. One time a buddy and i were throwing rocks at a hornets nest that was big as a watermelon. Another fellow nearby said we were brave. That wasn’t brave, that was colossal ignorance as to the potential consequences. Stupidity can masquerade as bravery, but the truth is, it’s just stupidity.

Ignorance and stupidity aside, sometimes it takes the third – or fourth – or fifth – or hundredth time of practicing courage before the intensity of fear dissipates, the idea is to persist until we overcome. Now there are two good words for the week, “persist and overcome”. The deep breath which precedes a jump into the ocean is the same as that which precedes a step into an unknown situation or a different space. How do we find that courage and strength we so desperately need? Most times courage isn’t shouting, being loud and defiant, but is seen in just saying at the end of the day, “I’ll try again tomorrow.” One of the greatest afflictions upon the Body of Christ today, is a loss of courage and being overwhelmed in our own systemic lack of strength.

Psalm 18:2 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Oh, and i know well how easy it is to say “Just trust in God”, and it often irritates me when some well meaning person says, “If you’d just…” then they tell you a scripture to quote to yourself. “If you’d just…” is easy to advise others of, but when it’s only you looking in the frightened eyes of yourself in the mirror, “If you’d just…” doesn’t hold much water. We don’t find courage and strength by turning scripture into a mantra, but we do find courage and strength when we grip to Christ in faith. And for some, maybe even that seems sort of lame to say, but it is the truth. Somewhere there, we must find courage and strength to persist and overcome even if all circumstances say we should just quit as many others have done. The courage and strength we are looking for is in Christ and Christ alone, really and for reals.

i have searched high and low for another source of strength and courage and there is none other than Christ. i’ve tried to have strength and courage in and of myself, and that was worse than a dead end road for it was no road at all, it was just a big “no where”.

Admitting to God that we are weak and fearful is a good thing. James 5:16 “Make this your common practice: Confess your faults to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed.”

The sincere prayer of confession by anyone who is living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Courage is a thing of intention and leadership. It is like powerful waves washing upon the shore over and over, and is intrinsic of God who is the faithful one, and because He has courage, we have courage. In our leading a life of being strong there is exemplified grace of the crowned believer who carries the sword of the spirit, and in our transforming practice of strength comes a constant invitation for more transformation. Like saying the more i practice my strength in Christ, the more i am strong in the power of the Holy Spirit. The more we are courageous, the more we are courageous, and the more we are strong, the more we are strong. To those who have will be given, and those who have not will be taken away. On a side note…i believe honesty and transparency is systemic to courage and strength.   .

i must say though, it seems that admitting our faults, in the eyes of some people, appears to them as weakness, and it inspires their hyper-religiousness to kick in, motivating them to counseling rather than relating. To many, admitting to ANY difficulty or fault just looks like weakness, when really, it is strong and courageous to be honest and real, while employing tact and diplomacy. E.E. Cummings said, “It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are.”

Many people feel that to admit there are times when they are weak and fearful gives other people power over them. But regardless of the possible down side of admitting i am sometimes weak and fearful, in my confession, i am strong in Christ. Here’s another personal admission, in hopes others will relate rather than put on their religious suit of counsel: i’ll be honest – i don’t have what it takes. i don’t have it and that’s the truth. But Jesus does, and He lives in my heart, and in Christ i am strong and courageous, AND i am prosperous and highly favored! Not merely surviving, but prosperous and that so doesn’t mean having money and stuff either.

Personally, i’d like to NOT be SO acquainted with “weak and fearful”, but the facts are, there are times when I AM…. 2 Corinthians 12:10, “….. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” And Hebrews 11:34, “….out of weakness they were made strong, became valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Coming to resolve about what exactly God is talking about in those scriptures has very little to do with lifting weights, boxing championships, or being tough. Admitting my own lack of courage and that i’m weak doesn’t mean i’m stupid, a failure, worthless, or a whining, spineless, sniveling, pasty, potbellied old man. Practicing spiritual, emotional, and intellectual honesty in today’s environment is truly an act of courage and bravery. And that’s not being honest on behalf of someone you think is not being honest. We can’t be honest for them according to our perception of what they aren’t being honest about. God never asked us to take a fearless moral inventory of our neighbor you know. That’s not our job. i’m speaking of honesty about ourselves, from God’s point of view, not capitalizing on all our badness, nor living out a fairytale of only seeing and hearing our sparkling moments with no responsibility for our secret actions.

i’ll be the first to say, most of us will never know how strong and courageous we are until it’s the only option left.

In 2Kings 18 when the King of Assyria came against little Judah, Hezekiah was the King at the time. The Assyrian generals called for surrender, speaking fear and defeat to the Jews, telling them all sorts of terrible things. In 2Kings 19 we see Hezekiah, in what i believe is a terrible and stressful situation, going before the Lord on his hands and knees, laying out the Assyrian letters of challenge, saying to God (my paraphrase here), “Can you see this? This is terrible! This is a black day, a terrible day—doomsday! Babies poised to be born, but no strength to birth them. What do You want to do?”

Hezekiah was desperate for courage and strength because he knew if God didn’t step in, they were goners, done for! Not only did Hezekiah step out in faith towards God, but i believe the Lord gave him courage to face down the Assyrians and not surrender. That night, the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army, leaving the invading army dispirited, slump shouldered, useless as weeds, fragile as grass, insubstantial as wind-blown chaff. Judah was saved. They were truly weak and fearful, and they knew it, but in the Lord their God, Yahweh, they found strength and courage to persist and overcome.

Jesus creates hope in the middle of discouragement and gives us endurance in the midst of trouble. Jesus inspires the depressed and motivates those who are feeling down and out. Jesus is the foundation for being courageous and the fuel for the engine of persistence. Friends, let’s put the pedal to the metal for courage and persistence and not be moved from our position of faith. Tell the truth even if your voice shakes.

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” Joel 3:10 “…. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”  Say this with me. No, i’m serious, say this with me, “I am strong in Christ!” And again, “I am strong in Christ!” Tell that to yourself in the mirror every morning and night. Tell yourself that as often as necessary until you get it, and get it down in your heart of hearts! Let your ears hear what your mouth is saying…  say out loud, “I am strong in Christ!” Write it on the mirror in every bathroom in the house, so every time you look at yourself, the words go in your eyes to remind you.

Let us take the word of the Lord to heart, and stand on it, believing God more than men or the devil, being strong and courageous, persisting and overcoming through Christ our Lord! Think about it.

i’m not a fearful man, but i have been told that it’s not that i’m so courageous but more i’m not smart enough to know when to run away. Either way, in my heart of hearts, i see myself as a strong and courageous man, yet honest and vulnerable. How about you? How do you see yourself, the unvarnished truth?

This has been Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation, a fine establishment in the crook of the river, at the end of Old Field Road. i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Harley Stepp, Ed Zangerle at Zangerle’s Farrier service, Rev. Ralph Banning, Charlie and Jenny McDonald – 2 of the finest people i’ve ever known, old dancing fingers himself – Eddie over at Area 22 Guitars, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Hadouk Trio, Antoine Dufour, Darol Anger, Billy McLaughlin, and Didier Malherbe. All music use is licensed by BMI.

As we go our way this week, present to the world God’s character in you, it’s the fruit of rubbing shoulders with God, not the performance identity of a job, or the presentation identity that we display to others. Every day with Jesus is a day of defining, moments which bring us solid, consistent definition in a very fluid, mobile, and inconsistent world.

Everyone in the world, and….i suppose every living thing in the world, is always choosing, as was mentioned in a previous program. But our ability to choose is based on our ability to discern the differences between our choices. That discerned difference is based on some standard in us which we got from somewhere and someone.

i heard a talk given at a conference a while back in which the speaker was saying they did a study of the ability of women to tell the difference between nail polish colors. They picked 3 different colors of pink, that difference was based on the manufacturers labeling, they removed the labels, and asked a panel of women if there was a difference. All the women said there was no difference in the three samples. When the experimenters placed the labels on the appropriate bottles, suddenly, the women re-decided, saying, “Oh yes, i can really see the difference now.” Clearly, the ability to choose depends on our ability to discern differences, and they didn’t see the difference until someone told them there was a difference.

By what standard do we base our discernment on? And my standard is not necessarily your standard. In Judges 17:6, the idea is that everyone did according to their own standards of what they consider right and wrong, good and bad. It says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

It’s a beautiful evening, so enjoy the cool jazz and ponder our contemplative conversation concerning “Standards: Where do you get yours?”, and we shall return after a moment of repose.

Mankind has decided on so many variations of standards. It’s becoming increasingly more evident the top thinkers of this world system want everyone and everything to become stable, predictable and measurable, but according to what standard of stability, predictability, and measureability? Hmmm…top thinkers according to who and by what standard are they “top thinkers”? Doctors tell us that the “standard of care” for cancer or some other affliction is the accepted and approved way of dealing with our issues. But more often than not, the side effects far out way the benefits, but yet the “standard of care” is still pushed as the accepted and approved medical procedure…..which speaks to me that the purported standard is not the real standard. i believe when we’re told, “Oh this is the standard of care”, it really means, “This is what we always do, whether it works or not.”

In our society we have devices which give us standards and as example, thermometers, tape measures, volt meters, clocks, and even some baby bottles which measure in Imperial, U.S. customary, and metric, all on the same bottle. There are economic standards, measuring standards, surveying standards, weight standards like  Avoirdupois based on 16 ounces in a pound, Troy based on 12 ounces in a pound, standards of grammar, and on and on, ad naseum.

There are measuring systems or standards in the world of all sorts… but the truth is, here it is: units of measurement are essentially arbitrary; in other words, people make them up and then agree to use them. There is almost, and note the use of the word “almost”, almost nothing inherent in the universe which dictates that an inch has to be a certain length, or that a mile is a better measure of distance than a kilometre. Over the course of human history, however, first for convenience and then for necessity, standards have evolved so that communities would have certain common benchmarks.

In our striving for standards to live by we’ve even come up with government run institutions which are responsible for being the bottom line for standards, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

A musical group tunes to the same standard, if they didn’t, everything would be chaos. A lot of folks really resent rules and standards, but if there were no particular standards, we would still be in the stone age. But in a way, our society has become so inundated with standards about standards with standards about how to keep the standards, a lot of folks have simply begun doing what Israel did…..and every person went into their own house and did what they felt was right in their own eyes. Some have actually declared there is no real truth except for what they want it to be. Honestly, that sounds more like an attempt to justify any crime or cruel thing someone may want to do.

If i took a fearless moral inventory of my neighbor, i would be passing and failing them according to my idea of what is right and wrong. They may not appreciate my standards at all. Besides, it’s not my job to make sure other people get it right, it’s their job to take their own inventory and take action to be straight with the Lord. Romans 14:4-5, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

And then…. there are our personal standards, and boy howdy, now the idea of standards gets very hazy, totally subjective, and extremely difficult to see.

What are your standards? Where did you get them? We’ll be right back.

        All the standards in this world are indeed dizzying. Everyone trying to find a means of agreement, but yet it seems we all so consistently disagree, in general. We’re so easily offended, which drives us to being naturally defensive, making the entire human race roughly a bunch of very contrary people. In the words of a well known author, It would seem the stupid ones are overly confident in their own mind, and the brilliant seem so full of doubts.

i believe we all want harmony but can’t seem to agree on our means of unity. Oh my, what will we do, what will we do? Maybe the question, What CAN we do? could be a good place to start.

Isaiah 59:19 “So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard….”

i’m confident in today’s world we need a better standard of how to live and act, other than the standards and definitions according to the whim of men, bureaucrats, and twisted thinkers. Today’s world certainly has very fluid standards and mobile boundaries, so we absolutely shouldn’t be willing to define right and wrong by such worldly subjective standards –We need a more sure standard who does not change, is reliable, consistent and repeatable, does not lie, and loves us enough to not only help us, but He IS our help, hope and redemption.

Contrary to confused objectors, the media, and the voice of a self-defining, self-declaring world, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and King Jesus himself ARE the standard. Rest assured Jesus is the RIGHT standard, the standard of all standards by which the universe is measured. Isaiah 11:10 (NKJV) “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a standard and a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”

For many the media has become the great discipler, and the news service is often taken as the truth, and truly sometimes it is, ?but how can we tell what is true and what is not, when so much of the same media service is NOT true too? We need something, someone more believable. We say it is God, but is it really? If we really really believe the Lord is truly who He says He is, it should be a radical game changer. Is God your bottom line? Think about it and be honest, brutally, the unvarnished truth please. We can’t keep lying to ourselves and be surprised when we eventually don’t know which way is up anymore. If we can’t be honest with God and ourselves above all else, how do we expect to be honest with the rest of the world?

Jesus Christ is the standard and example, the pinnacle of all things a human should be. He is the standard – not in size, not in age – but in moral, ethical and principle character. Many preachers, and multitudes of professing people, are engaged in a relentless pursuit to find out just how many imperfections and infidelities, and how much inward wrongness is allowable with a quote/unquote “safe state” in Christianity…how bad can it be before they’re not ok anymore…..oh but how few, very few, are bringing out the fair Gospel standard.

“Our Standard is Christ” because Christ is the only standard …and listen now, this is not a marketing slogan— it is a commitment. Jesus set the standard for how we are to live with others, how we deal with ideas and concepts, understand the world, love and forgive, set personal goals and boundaries, and focus on what matters in life. Any other standard would be secondary to this high calling for every believer. Philippians 3:14 “ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” In attempting this discussion about what standards are important to us, i think we should also be willing to explore another question: what other standards could there be?  Any other standard we might consider is insignificant in comparison to “Our Standard is Christ.”

As believers in Christ and those who live in His Name, we hold the Bible to be the truth; we believe Jesus is who He says He is; we believe God and the Bible are the bottom line for our morals, principles, ethics, conduct, and character, cover-to-cover, from beginning to end. We have met the Lord and by our profession, we accept Jesus Christ as our standard.

Everything Jesus did with others reflected the nature of God – from the work He did alongside Joseph as a carpenter’s apprentice – to preaching the Sermon on the Mount.  From conversation over a meal, to struggling with fatigue from the business of the day, to the way He developed relationships – it was all about showing and living the nature and love of God.

Every outward action in the life of Jesus grew from an inward spiritual strength, and so, for Him and for us, we can’t focus on the outcome without linking it to the indwelling of God in our heart, soul, and mind.

Psalm 118:8-9 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”

Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.”

With Christ, not wise men or this world, but Jesus as our standard, and our allowing God to direct our path, rest assured He will bring us to our best … and then propel us beyond what we think is achievable or possible. J.C. Ryle said, “The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus, are indeed widely different. They are more than different. They are flatly contradictory one to the other.”

And dear family, nobody cheats and succeeds by trying to possess worldly standards and God Standards both. You cannot play both sides. You cannot love, like Jesus said in Luke 16:13, both God and the world.

Jesus Himself is our standard, the bread and butter of our faith. i think i’m encouraging everyone to consider carefully by what standards you live, not to breed a war, for that’s not the attitude of a soldier in the army of the Living God, but to encourage us all to take God seriously in all accounts and by all means. i suppose for those who would ask, “What exactly is your point”, i would ask the question, “Is He God or not? And if He is, then act like it!” That’s pretty pointed, but at the same time it’s a very relative question for the days we live in where we’re overwhelmed with choices and most of us can’t hardly tell the differences between one option and the other. Christ is a distinct and obvious standard, and the gospel is really simple. Is He God or not? And if He is, let’s act like it.

Think about it!

Thank you for listening! i hope you’ve enjoyed the contemplative conversation and cool jazz in the middle of a chaotic world.

This has been Outposts, a fine establishment in the crook of the river, at the end of Old Field Road. i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Hill Top Garage, Ed Zangerle at Zangerle’s Farrier service, Rev. Mark Fox in Mars Hill, Kevin, Perry and Tommy of the Mebane Freedom League, Williams Painting, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Michael Blake, Paul McCandless, Didier Malherbe, and Terence Blanchard. All music use is licensed by BMI.

By what standard do we base our discernment on? M y standard is not necessarily your standard. Let us have our harmony within the Body of Christ by choosing Christ as our standard of unity. Give God all the Glory,
“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

And at that, i’ll say good night and be blessed, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

If i’m not mistaken the last topic was about Peacemakers, those who do more than just keep the peace, but actually step into the fray and make peace with themselves and others. There is a difference, you know, between keeping the peace and making peace.

At this juncture, let me add, among a few other things i figure there are two subtle but significant constants in life…. waiting and conflict. We spend the majority of our lives waiting, and there is always a never ending opportunity for conflict, in one form or another. Seeing as how having to wait and dealing with conflict are such a constant in all of our lives, you’d think we’d be better at it. Amazingly though, we are not.

Tonight’s topic is conflict, do we submit and resent, rebel and persecute, or choose to step into the fray and resolve things, if at all possible? There’s just too many stones being left unturned and as a result conflict persists in our lives. Even if left to ourselves, we are conflicted by opposing ideologies banging around in our heads. To me, it seems …odd…that many churches want to advance the gospel, but typically don’t offer much on how to deal with conflict.         Friends, any time people gather in groups, there will come conflict….eventually, somebody is going to have a conflict about something with someone else. Should we do what we usually do, just say nothing and let it ride, hoping the issues will just magically go away? Probably not the best approach i’d say. The clash among people doesn’t actually just go away, it simply morph’s into something else, only to rear it’s ugly head later on. i believe we spend a lot of time teaching nice principles and only uplifting doctrines from scripture, cycling through our “go to” Bible verses looking for one to make us feel better about …um, something ‘er other, but we spend almost no time learning to resolve conflict, in a setting where struggle, strife, and rivalry is so at the forefront of issues which need to be dealt with. We’ll continue in a moment, tap your toe, dream a little, and i’ll be right back.

Let’s think about 1 Sam22:1-2. “David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.”

i see the entire cave of Adullam experience as a defining moment for several issues. Historically, Jewish history has it the cave of Adullam, near the city of Adullam, wasn’t far from where David defeated Goliath, it is near where Moses saw the glory of God, and historically it is the same cave where God spoke to Elijah, so it was a pretty important place.

Because of Saul’s desire to put a spear into David, the songbird of Israel took off and hid in a cave. David was conflicted, and Saul was very conflicted. i think something else that was interesting is that David seemed to have a knack of drawing to himself others who were distraught, discouraged, and dissatisfied (that is the three d’s there, did you catch that? Distraught, discouraged, and dissatisfied).. and they were all the three d’s in some fashion or another…..they were all conflicted, with no apparent means of resolve. They were all on the run, they were all in hiding, and they were doing their best to out distance the conflict which pursued them. Whatever the problems were with each of those in the cave of Adullam, their difficulties were great enough they were driven out of where they were. How is it they all seemed to end up in the same place about the same time? Was it God’s doing, directing their paths whether they knew Him or not?

Psa35:11-12 says “Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about. They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn.” This scripture is the crux of our modern society political system. Conflict is on our door step and we can’t out run it.

When people embellish the truth and make sure others hear of it, it is ruthlessness seeking to set a bias for a hidden agenda, personal conflict then becomes the focus, and they discredit anyone who might oppose them. I am amazed at the people who don’t like the way you talk and they just feel it is of the utmost importance to make sure you know THEY don’t approve. I think that’s bizarre. They leave their bitter words at our feet, and then abandon us to deal with the damage in their wake, isolated and cast off. Leviticus19:16 says we should never go around being a slanderer of others…. that word slanderer there means a scandal-monger, as in someone who loves the chaos of conflict, and causes others to be seen as unbelievable. Being a tyrannical and terrorizing witness, interrogating others in such a way so as to make them admit to things they, in truth, know nothing about, casting shadows on justice and upon doing the right thing, God says it is wrong. He likens it to standing up against the life of your neighbor, and it happens all the time in our justice system, and actually, i think this behavior is generally promoted in our country these days.

Have you ever felt that way? If anyone says ‘no’, i certainly would challenge the honesty of the reply. Conflict is all around us, and avoiding it is impossible. I don’t believe we are so naïve that we somehow believe that avoiding conflict is possible, so let us, the Body of Christ, embrace conflict and begin learning to resolve our differences instead of pretending a smile, making a face, and breaking off our relationships. Going away is not an answer unless it’s under extreme circumstances with no other option.

As in 1Sam22, David’s conflict had become a crisis, but unlike David, our conflicts don’t have to become a deadlocked dilemma. Many serious issues can be prevented by simple early attention. i believe managing a potential conflict long before it’s a crisis is a great investment of time and energy – do you know what i mean? But many times we just let things fester until they are gale force winds of conflict, then we fly into action with a knee jerk reaction and none of it have to be that way had we dealt with things before they got wound up tight as a clock spring.

Maybe… instead of seeing conflict as a good reason to go somewhere else, we should be brave and have those challenging conversations as an opportunity for a deeper association with others. Before you run off make sure you’ve done all you can do to stay connected. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with everyone.  And yes i’m speaking to all the “church surfers” out there, and those who desperately want deep relationships, but find it too scary to disclose enough of themselves to actually make it happen. Is that you? Maybe it’s me. But surely it is us.

In light of the conflicted David, his “mighty men of valor” and their crisis with Saul, what did they do about it?…. ‘cause you know, enduring looong running conflict without resolve….well, that sort of pressure tends to warp your head around over time. They couldn’t run fast enough to get away; they couldn’t find a cave deep enough, a ditch long enough, or a country far enough. David needed a different outcome, so, by God’s guidance and power, David did something other than run, he turned and embraced the conflict; he began to turn his problems into possibilities, and to me, he came up with some creative responses. Like in 1 Sam24:2-3, when Saul was chasing David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself, little did he know that David and his gang of desperate men were pressed far back in the cave.
David’s rough crew wanted to kill Saul right there when the King was so very vulnerable. They figured if they got rid of Saul, then their conflict and crisis would end. Isn’t that what we do? “Let’s get rid of so-and-so, then our problems will be over.” “Let’s get rid of this-n-that, then, yes THEN our problems will be over.” But shortly, we are conflicted and in a crisis all over again. The problem isn’t outside us but inside us. In David’s case though, he knew better and said, in so many words, “No way guys, we’re not doing that! We’ll do this God’s way or no way at all!” David needed a different outcome, so he employed a different approach. 1 Sam24:7-8 ^“ ….And Saul left the cave and went his way. Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.” i bet Saul was quite embarrassed and humiliated to find out a whole gang of people were watching him relieve his bowels, and even though they had the chance to kill him they practiced self control. After that, David took the opportunity to plead his case to Saul in an effort to resolve the conflict as best he could. He played down his judgment and criticism, restraining his inclination to cast shadows on Saul.

How many of us, sitting out there listening to this, need a different outcome from the one we usually get when things get a bit testy in our relationships?

i think quite a few people prefer a large body of believers, not just because there is a greater opportunity for fellowship, but also because it is easier to control how close we get to others and how much of ourselves we reveal. In a small body of believers, there grows a much more profitable relationship…it’s closer, but it requires persistent diligence, humility, and grace. In large bodies we don’t have to be particularly responsible or accountable, and if anyone challenges us and our behavior, well, this is America, we just move on to the next place. More than a few pastors have expressed deep concerns over the fact that most of their congregation is comprised of sheep from another pasture.

Friends, when we run from the problem, we run from God’s promises, and when we run from God’s process, we run from the blessings. There are people who have encountered conflict, and rather than deal with it, they set themselves above and apart, maintain they are right so as to make the other person wrong, and then, they just move to another pasture. My friends, we are conflicted and we need to begin to learn to deal with our conflicts and resolve our differences.

Are you thinking about how things ought to be, instead of how things are? In the mind of many people, it’s usually the “other person” with the problem and we are somehow innocent and above it all. Rather than aiming our finger at the other party, let’s think about what our part is in the situation. Are we honest about ourselves? Do we strongly hold to our idea of “how things should be”? How people should behave? What ought to happen? Are you constantly judging if someone is being polite or rude, what is correct vs. what is wrong? We can get totally lost in our focus on everything wrong with anything and never get anywhere. Do you realize how many people there are who seem obsessed with what’s wrong with the church and rarely get around to being devoted to what is right with God? Conflicted i tell ya’, conflicted!

Do we hold ourselves to an impossible standard saying, “I’ve got to get this right, because if I can’t, I’d better not even try.” If we do that we’ll just turn into Eeyore and go stand in the rain some place.

Jesus said in Matt11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

i’d like to point out we all need rest, and faith in Christ brings us much needed rest, but it does not absolve us of dealing with our conflicts with others… and running off to another pasture doesn’t remove the conflict, it only delays our dealing with it all. Some important words in that last scripture are “take my yoke upon you and learn from me”. i’d like to share this basic wisdom which God has planted in my heart…….resolving my conflicts starts with me, not with them, but with me. If i want others to be different, then i must be different, if i want a different outcome i must begin with a different approach, being consistent and repeatable, and do it and do it and do it until the conflict in my sphere of influence begins to turn around.

Everyone has dreams and they imagine the way life might be. Of course we do, and we’d be foolish to not admit it. We were born to dream and imagine, so it’s not a fault we need to fix. But, does the movie in our head actually match the real-life situation? There are two lives going on with us….there’s the life inside our head and the life outside our head and we’ve got to make adjustments in order for the two to get along. When the life inside doesn’t get along with the life outside, we are conflicted and need some resolution in order to live at peace with ourselves and others.

Jesus did not run from the conflicts around Him, oh boy, and He was seriously surrounded by conflict. Not only did He not allow Himself to get swallowed up by the world around Him, He chose to embrace the conflict, and respond with the appropriate assertiveness. i said “appropriate assertiveness”.

Listen you who are so easily offended: Jesus didn’t practice a defense because He didn’t carry an offense. What’s with all the defensiveness these days? i say there’s multiple offenses underneath driving the need to be defensive. And oh, how easily we all get offended, wow.

If we want to reduce some of our conflicts, lets open doors not close them, let’s learn to ask ourselves some really relative questions like: How can i move this forward? Do we dwell on how unfair someone was, playing the situation over and over in our minds? Ask yourself, can i improve the situation without demeaning myself? <<<SAY THAT AGAIN —Is the issue about what i imagine, do i have the facts, have i listened and understood the other person? What is this r-e-a-l-l-y about? How else could i see this? Now, i’ve got to say though, asking those questions and getting some answers is a real discipline, so it may take practice in order to entertain such self-inquisition. Be strong and courageous.

Friends, if we withdraw and then go silent, giving someone the “silent treatment”, is anything resolved? The silent treatment is an exercise in pain about who can care less, the most, the longest?. <<<SAY IT AGAIN— It should be no skin off anyone’s nose to listen and understand the other person. No one said we have to agree, but we can certainly listen, right? i believe Jesus was an active listener and he participated in the conversations with the disciples. He asked them questions as they asked him questions, He invited them into the conversation rather than just telling them answers. Jesus is our example of how we should live, act, and have our being; He is our example of how to live out our conduct, character, and conversation.

Conflict….ahhh, what a difficult topic. Re-thinking pain and how we deal with it can be trying, to say the least, especially when we’re the ones in pain, and ignoring it all doesn’t make it go away, in fact, if we ignore our pain, check it out, this is important…if we ignore our pain, it simply becomes triggers. Here is a sticky statement: undealt with pain today, becomes tomorrows trigger points.

i think the following is a good question, What do you do when the other person is screaming at you? Maybe just emotionally screaming, you know, some people are very emotionally loud but yet speak softly. You might feel shame that someone would dare speak to you like that, or maybe anger at yourself for feeling stupid and even being there, but never the less, there you are, getting slammed, and it seems like nobody cares. In fact, the look on their faces, sometimes, is as if other people seem to think you deserve getting yelled at. How do you act? Do you retaliate, or scream back? Gosh, that really solved things, huh? Do you remain calm and choose to engage rather than be driven by the volume of the conflict? Maybe we just smile, back away slowly, and say to ourselves “I’ll never go there again”. Yea, we’ve all done that one.

How many times in our lives have we decided, “I’ll never go there again”? Did … not going, where ever “there” is, actually resolve anything, or did the conflict follow us around, staring at us, begging to be resolved? …. and if we think unresolved conflict won’t follow us, uh-huh, just give it time. Hear me on this: God WILL get our attention. It’s sort of like taking a job, the boss brings up some places you need to improve. You get offended and quit. If you’ve had three or four jobs in a short time span, maybe it’s not the job, ya’ know, maybe it’s you and the Lord is talking to you about you. He does that you know. It’s nice and makes us appear all composed when we quote the Bible and be all spiritual, but if we really, really want to know the Lord and want more from our walk, we’re going to have to quit hiding and resolve our internal conflicts.

How many of us peg the meter between worry and indifference? We think to ourselves… we’re supposed to be trusting God but yet we find ourselves worrying. To escape the weight and burden of worry, and worry does have crushing weight, we flop over to being indifferent. “Fine! i don’t care!” we say to ourselves. But before long we’re feeling guilty about being indifferent because we know God is never indifferent, we’re supposed to be a light on a hill to the world, but yet here we are being indifferent. To escape the guilt of feeling indifferent we try to press forward, quote some scripture, and tell ourselves we’re trusting God again. But…it’s not long before that worry starts c-r-e-e-p-i-n-g back in, and shortly we’re pegging the meter under the weight of worry again. Back and forth, slamming back and forth. What’s really going on there? What i’ve illuminated is a conflict that is common among people in general, and i believe the Lord is the only one who can leads us to resolving the conflict.

And now for Jesus. He is the highest peacemaker in history. From the Garden of Eden, there came a conflict between God and man. God knowing the end from the beginning resolved, from the beginning within Himself, to give to us the ultimate gift to resolve our conflicted souls if we’ll simply embrace Him. This is the truth… Jesus is our example about how to deal with conflict.

Criticizing, casting shadows on others, name-calling, self-elevating arrogant declarations, and passing out ultimatums are poor options which block resolve >>> and feed conflict. We often re-write our story in our minds to make it something other than what it is so we don’t have to deal with life. If we want a different outcome, we’ve got to initiate a different approach.

We are the Body of Christ and i believe God wants us to be experts in dealing with conflict. He gave to us Jesus, who bled and died for us, in order that we would be free and no longer need to be slaves to sin. Let us open doors, not close them, and quit all that running away. Behold the Lord stands at our door and knocks, and anyone who opens to Him, He will come in to us and eat with us, bringing with Him Love, Grace, Peace, and the power to change, and change we must for we can not continue as we were. God has changed direction and we must change with Him. Oh and saying, “That’s just the way i am”, man, that’s a terrible answer. Think about it.

i want to be a warrior with an open heart. i want to be an influencer like Samuel and ultimately Jesus….an influencer not a manipulator. i need a different outcome so i’ve got to let God teach me a different approach. Here’s another sticky statement: A manipulator works for the outcome to favor themselves at the expense of others; an influencer works for the outcome to favor the other party as well as the influencer, as in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that who so ever would believe on Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 is a win/win solution to our conflict; it’s good for God and it’s good for us! That is ultimate peacemaking.

i’m Social Porter…thanks for joining me this evening here at Outposts, an engaging and cheerful cafe at the end of Old Field Road, which overlooks the late evening cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River.

All music was by The Hadouk Trio, Mommy & Me, Frank Gambale, Chick Corea, and Lyle Mays. All music use is licensed by BMI. If you’re so inclined, please go to Living In His Name.org, go down to the bottom and drop a nickel in the bucket. All donations are greatly appreciated.

This evenings topic has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, The Whistle Stop Cafe on McCrackin St., Ruth Orginals out Chimney Rock Highway, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

As you go your way this week, choose to step into the conflict in front of you, ask God for wisdom to go forward, be honest, get low, be transparent and authentic, opening doors not shutting them. Until we meet again, be strong and courageous, amen!

Good evening and welcome back to another, hot off the digital press, Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. The stars are out in full force tonight, singing glorious melodies to God …. there’s a slight breeze out of the south west with a forecast for the rest of the week of cold, dry, but clear and crisp.

I’m Social Porter and i’ll be your host this evening, taking up an unusual topic of terrorism and what it means to be “under siege”, of course from a biblical perspective, and of course in a spiritual sense.

In this present day and age, i have come to the conclusion that our Christian faith is under siege. And if that is true, what are we going to do about it? Maybe a better question is what CAN we do about it and are we willing to take action, bravely hoisting our colors up the flag pole.

i’m not saying this to propagate some conspiracy theory, by any means, but i must say, there is a growing mound of evidence that hell is unleashing wave after wave of assault on the Body of Christ in an attempt to spite God to His glorious face, right to the bitter end. The enemy knows he is doomed and beaten at the cross on Calvary, but it appears he’s not going quietly. Our spiritual person is under siege, our immune systems are under siege, our finances are under siege, our ability to speak the truth is absolutely under siege, our hope and faith is under siege, and maybe even most evident – marriage, love, covenant, and peace are under siege….marriage and covenant being reduced to an agreement and a contract, treated as something voidable at anytime at the whim of the participants…and that’s just wrong, and cruel creating contusions of the soul which are deep and long lasting.

Hell knows that if any goodness gets a foothold, if any righteousness gets a grip, if honor and being honest really stands up and writes the truth on the wall – not just “a” truth is it seems best to someone who doesn’t want the entire truth, but the whole truth according to God who, Himself, IS the standard of what is true, if honor and honesty actually stand up and write the truth of the Lord on the wall, then admission of defeat by darkness will be undeniably evident. Interestingly, hell knows it has been beaten, darkness knows it has failed and it’s end is eminent, but even in light of the fact Jesus Christ defeated evil forever, the devil and his buddies carry spite and hatred to the bitter end.

It should be an interesting topic, with what is an amazing array of responses, everything from “Amen!” to people saying i’m crazy. Stay tuned, enjoy the cool jazz, turn the lights down low, and lend me your ears for a short while.

Part of the idea of being a terrorist and practicing “terrorism” is getting people to participate in the fear that an attack is imminent while the “where” and “when” are always a mystery. For terrorism to work, people must buy into the fear, they must be willing to participate in some fashion or another.

My friends, we give the devil too much press, actually i think ANY press is too much press for him. Also, we give evil and fear too much power whether real or virtual… it’s the fertile ground where terrorism thrives, THRIVES on the power of holding their victims in limbo, in fear until they, the terrorist shows up, all in their good time, to work “well deserved judgment” on their victims, and of course that judgment is according to the one doing the terrorizing.

This may be a bold statement for some, but i say:

At this time in history, “Loss of heart” is one of the most formidable weapons against us today.

In light of that statement, i think it would be good to understand what being “under siege” looks like. 2 Kings 24:10 “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.” More than a few times Samaria and Jerusalem came under siege.

Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times and besieged 23 times.  Another author suggests that it has been the subject of at least 118 conflicts. Jerusalem has been a city of conflict for thousands of years – and to me i think its an ironic twist given that Jerusalem means “city of peace”?

After pondering the idea of “being under siege”, i’m wondering, what does an invading army do in order to be able to say they “set the city under siege”?

i believe the first order is to terrify the people, cause them to be afraid, get them to buy into the idea that they could be injured somehow, and their way of life and culture are threatened. Influence the people to believe they aren’t safe unless the government provides some kind of “safety”. I heard a woman in the grocery store telling her neighbor, “i just don’t feel safe anymore.” I thought to myself, “the truth is, you’ve never actually been safe. Safety has been an illusion. The truth is… badness could happen to anyone at any time, and to think “we are safe” is truly an illusion.” Keeping people terrified means to get them always looking over their shoulder, wondering when bad things will happen, thwart their trust of their leaders and even of their own decision making abilities. Fear is always first and last in their mind, keep them watching the evening horror stories called the news. Tell them the media services always gives the truth, and people should be afraid, very afraid. Fear is the main ingredient. Get them thinking and obsessing over what terrible thing will happen to them next.

Terrorists work to whip people into a fear-frenzy using one of their biggest weapons: people against other people.

Listen to this and hear: If hell can’t get a foot hold in a gathering of believers, they’ll send a disgruntled, dissonant (harmonically unresolved) Christian in to plant discord, backbiting, dissatisfaction, finger pointing (an aiming gun or judgment), and a splintered posture of discouragement. That sower of discord will likely be somewhat correct about the failings of leadership, and will appear to have the “inside scoop” on sound doctrine. .  It is part of being under siege. It is terrorism, born at the gates of hell. Remember, the first thing to do when under siege is 1) keep your head. Don’t let yourself get rattled. Remember God’s promises and don’t be driven by panic and reckless emotion. Keep your head.

2 Kings 25:1 “Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.”

What in the world is a siege wall or a bulwark? In my life i can’t say i’ve ever actually seen a “siege wall”. As best i can tell, it is a high mound laid up against the city, all around. Historically, there are reports of attackers building up mounds around fortified cities higher than the cities walls, hemming the people in, thereby controlling all the going out and coming in, able to cut off all the food in or out…. i reckon control is the key word.

Another thing to do when laying siege to a people or city is to try and cut off their water supply, or devaluing their currency, causing the currency to become worthless. Many towns were situated so they had water inside the city walls, like a good running spring in town maybe, but some towns had a creek or a river which ran through them, which made a nice layout until the town came under attack. The fact that the water supply was outside the city made them vulnerable. If an enemy were to lay siege to their town, the enemy would simply divert the water from the town and wait for the towns people to dry up and die, thereby the attackers would win the fight without loosing a single person or even firing a shot.

And here is another powerful tactic for laying a city to siege: propaganda. It is huge. Spreading lies about the worthlessness of the people and how much better everyone else is. Lie to them about their faith, mix truth with lies, so often, the people can’t tell what is real or not real, breed confusion, influencing them to not trust anyone except those closest to them, and even those alliances can be influenced to become even narrower. Think, the enemy of Heaven is constantly working to divide the Body of Christ, get us squabbling of petty issues which some people think are so important. “He wore sunglasses in the sanctuary! God won’t bless us!” “She was dressed in a jacket and street pants, doesn’t she know God won’t bless her looking like that!?” We aim our fingers at people for the dumbest things and then act like God has given us the INSIDE SCOOP and we just need, we NEEEEED to make sure they, the infamous “they” know of the pending wrath of God they are bringing upon us all with them and their nefarious and iniquitous behavior. Do we think God is really that brittle and we can run Him off so easily? We are under siege.

When we read in 2 Kings 18 about how the king of Assyria came against all the fortified cities of Judah, propaganda was huge…. and it’s always so smooth and reasonable sounding. A general shouted up to the watchers on the wall in 2 Kings 18:19-20 “¹⁹….”Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have strategy and military strength–but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?”

They went on with their propaganda by telling the people to not listen to their king, especially when he says God will help, or God will deliver them. Ohh, whatever you do, don’t listen to that foolishness!
Does any of this sound familiar? This day and time we’re being told, albeit indirectly most of the time, don’t trust God. Why listen to Him? He’s not going to help you? You’ve gone too far this time, He can’t even hear you? Nobody cares about you, you should just go home, sit in the dark and wait to die, God isn’t coming.

Ever heard that stuff? Yea, most of us have and it….is…..a…. lie. It’s part of being under siege!

i believe hell has issued the orders against God’s people similar to what is written in Ezekiel 4:2… “Lay siege against them, build a siege wall against them, and heap up a mound against them; set camps against them also, and place battering rams against them all around.” Do you hear all the “against them” words? And what’s worse, many delusional believers seem to have joined the ranks of the enemy, self-assured they’re doing the right thing, to help build the walls blocking our hearing and seeing Jesus. We must remember that the will of our enemy is fully set against us, with all power, all day, all night, unceasing, giving no quarter.

The pestilence which creeps by darkness, seeing our demise, works  …to “cut off our water supplies”, or our relationship with God, …to make us “lose heart”, or create distance between ourselves and Jesus, coupled with our own obsession with shame. They magnify our personal sense of failure and rejection, in hopes to propagandize us into surrender. Think! If you can get a man convinced that he is worthless and makes no difference in anything, that he’s a failure, his kids are going to failures, and everyone thinks him a fool, then one by one, the strong men will just go waste away, convinced they are worthless, never exercising their valor, strength, and faith in God.

The enemy works to “build bulwarks against us” or inspire, real or virtual rejection and abandonment by family, friends, or our church family. They position themselves to “prophesy against us”, sending disgruntled fellows to inform us we are irredeemable, “you’ve gone too far for God to ever use you again”, that you are unsuitable, that we are “bad”, giving us a continuous stream of words facilitating our own extreme self-loathing. We are constantly manipulated in order to “cut off our Leadership and Captains”, using our own rejection from friends who speak into our lives. The enemy is busy planting seeds which sever relationships, encouraging us to lead isolated and detached lives, singled out and alone…isn’t that a picture of the term, “easy prey”?

i’ll say it again, i believe, and this is just what i think:  “Loss of heart” is one of the most formidable weapons against us today.

Many people have become convinced and grow fearful that it’s true that “it’s gone too far and we probably can’t …”. Yes, their are are so easily filled by the news services that doom is just around the corner, so just sit down and wait for the inevitable.

Maybe the “spirit of Eyore”, right out of “Winnie The Pooh”, is really a real thing, huh?!!   Another fellow and i used to joke about “the spirit of Eyore”, but i believe it is a valid “spirit type” that brings with it a down turned mouth, weights not wings, feelings of pointlessness, and despair (to name a few), so much so that we’ll run into the desert and lay under a tree and weep to God that we are the only one left and what’s the point of going on.

There seems to be so many little “word tangles” going on everywhere, and i mean everywhere…people finding a reason to not speak because one person looked a little narrow-eyed at the other, or didn’t exactly talk right, or was too honest, or not honest enough in the other person’s opinion, and on and on. They prayed too loud, not loud enough, with too much authority or not enough, laughed too strangely, didn’t laugh at the pastors jokes, dress to short of too long, wrong shoes, hat too big…..our reasons to reject other people are just absurd, preposterous and nonsensical. The word fatuous comes to mind, which implies being not only foolish, dull, and vacant in mind, but complacent and highly self-satisfied with their own aiming finger as well. It’s often like a world of little judgments all stacked up in a summation of failures. Living in the shadow of that stuff makes you feel like you’re constantly looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. Ah yes, the aiming gun of judgment, judgments all stacked up and steaming. This maybe a bit crass, but when we stack up the judgments against each other it’s kind of like watching horses or cows in a barn…if they just pooped once and left, that would be one thing, but they poop on top of poop on top of poop and it just piles up and piles up, and then it gets all in their feet and they get foot problems that make leg problems, and then they’re just generally sick…all from standing around day after day knee deep in their own waste, wondering what that “smell” is, and “why do i not feel well?”

We are under siege and our only way out is Jesus! He alone is the only hope!

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.”

Ephesians 6:14-15 “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

i say “Hold The LINE!!” Don’t budge or give an inch to hell! Our ground that God has given to us belongs to us, it is Kingdom property, Stand Firm and HOLD THE LINE!

We must be diligent to not allow things to stand that have been allowed to stand, have courage to ask what we think are unaskable questions, have a humble heart to pursue resolve. Did you hear that? Pursue conflict resolution, not “who is most right”, but resolve the conflict if you can. Be persistent in your pursuit of resolve, put your self-importance and inclinations toward elitism on the altar and set fire to them. Burn your self-importance, title grabbing needs, put them on the altar of sacrifice and light that junk on fire. Yea, you’ve got you and office now, people call you pastor this and apostle that, and yea, you wear a nice suit and the church pays for your conference attendance and business trips, but in your heart of heart you feel like something is missing, like you left something behind when you moved into the swanky neighborhood and started posturing for the camera. The enemy will use these sorts of things, prying us one against another to tear the house down with our own hands. Be strong and courageous!!  We will not back down from the face of terrorism.

i’m calling us back to humbling ourselves before the Lord, lifting one another up before the Lord for blessing not cursing, and when all else fails, HOLD THE LINE and keep on keeping on, don’t stop! Bless your enemies, pray for them, speak hope and encouragement to them, and declare righteousness and holiness over them in the Name of Jesus. Even to the curse-makers, spell-casters, witches and warlocks! We want to leave behind the gathering darkness and yield to Jesus. I don’t want them hurt, i want to bring them with us to Heaven and that hell wouldn’t win not one of those.

Jesus is our defense and provision, and even under siege, i can assure you Jesus has already won it all and hell has no foothold of a chance to ever return to power and authority. Ever. We are not slaves, we are freemen and will NEVER come under the authority of darkness again.

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Think about it.

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”

i’m not angry, i’m passionate. Go to those who are having a hard time, shield their eyes from the sun, give them a drink of water – i don’t care if they are grouchy, you be bigger than that. Here is how we continue in victory, even when under siege: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

i’m Social Porter, thank you for joining me this evening for Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation. All music was provided by the Pete Minger Quartet, the Allan Broadbent Trio, Darol Anger, Gary Willis, Plas Johnson, and Larry Carlton. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Support was by Living In His Name Ministries, my beautiful brother at Area 22 Guitars, Allan, Kevin, and Tommy at the Mebane Freedom League, Tony and Danielle of McDowell Electric, Paul at International Tile, Shepherd Funeral Home serving down home potato salad and fried chicken while you’re waiting for your loved ones to be processed, and Jeff and Karen of Trinity Bakers on main street where there’s always something good in the oven.

Be strong and courageous this week, do the right thing, tell the truth, and hold the line of God’s righteousness up to the world, nail your colors to the mast for all to see. Be encouraged, Jesus is coming back and, be at peace.

Have you ever heard God say something to you that seemed to make no sense? And you knew it was something excellent but His words didn’t seem to connect to anything you understood? That happened to me many years ago, and has happened many times since, but at that time i didn’t get it so i put His words on the back burner for another day. Why? Because i know this to be true ….God never tells us something for no reason, nor does He tell us stuff just so we can say, “I know.” He tells us things to build us up, and for the benefit of the Body, to make us and others more fruitful. Everything He says is for a reason and purpose and just because it doesn’t seem to go anywhere in the moment, we can rest assured, one day, God will connect the rest of the dots, so to speak, and it will be an amazing “ah ha” moment, if you know what i mean.

Many years ago the Lord said to me, “The date is today, the time is now. This is what we’re doing and forward is the way we’re going.” i struggled trying to understand it, but what He was getting at seemed very elusive. Of course i understood the words, but they just seemed to go in a circle a little. It was sort of like saying, “If you do, you do, and if you don’t, you don’t”. At the moment you’re left thinking to yourself, “Say what?” Anyway,  you get my point i’m sure.

Reiterating a little, at the time it was almost an obscure thing to say, a silly sounding sentence of nothingness, but in the last years i’ve realized there really was something to it. What he said addresses … a specific part of a season – today, the specific moment of the season – now, He’s addressing what is being done – as in doing what is in front of us to do. He’s pointing out the direction of His actions in us – which is forward, all while being in our season of where God has us. Yet it’s still a little general sounding … or is it?

What is your heading? Are you more concerned about your ministry launch date than your relationship with Jesus? Which is more important?

So, so many people are incredibly concerned about not knowing their God-designated direction, but i must add, i believe many have far more direction than they realize…maybe becoming awake in Christ is more God’s point than actually having a blueprint of “your calling”.

This is Outposts, a live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. When you turn off the main road and go all the way to the end, at the bend of the river up against the old growth tree line is a fine cafe called Outposts; a place of contemplative conversation and cool jazz.

As we make our way into our time this evening, i’ll be your host and hope you enjoy the virtuoso performances along with tonight’s topic: What’s your heading, your direction? Are you waiting on the call of God to make a move, maybe He’s waiting on you to make a move, and what does the call of God look like anyway? i’ll be right back.

Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” i think that is what is meant by “The date is today”. In other words, be where you are today and don’t sweat tomorrow so much that you become riddled with anxiety over what might or might not happen. It’s all too easy to get lost in the whirlpool of yesterday, or get caught up in the swirl of tomorrow and not be in the room for today.

The Lord spoke something to me, He said, “Most people spend an inordinate amount of time in yesterday or tomorrow, lost in the serpentine, twisting mists of fading yesterday, what was, and are bewildered at the possibilities of tomorrow, or what will be.

We worry so much about everything and even when we think we are trusting God and not worrying, often at our foundation we are still wrestling with tomorrow. “The date is today”. We are here and now, today is the specific part of the season you are in. It maybe you are in a desert place and have been for a while, or maybe it’s a season of favor and prosperity, or a time of storms where you are growing by leaps and bounds but so uncomfortable. Regardless of the season, which could be in days or years, today is the specific date of that season. In other words, whatever God brings to your hand today – that is what you do. Don’t focus on the storm clouds or the howling wind, and i know, when it seems the storm is howling and the water is flooding your boat it’s really hard not to focus on what might happen, but Jesus is saying focus on Me, today, not yesterday which is gone, or tomorrow which isn’t here yet, the date is today and the time is now.

God beckons us to be in today, this time, and in the moment, divided time, with Him, working in today in His purposes, speaking His peace today for those who’s yesterday was so terrible they feel they have no tomorrow. Today and now. Listen to what God says and consider, think about it and roll it around in your thinking until you understand His intent for today and now.

Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

Straightaway, the sense of “the time is now” means …at the present time or moment, and in this case there is an adverb of date, the word “now”, and a noun, the word “time”… as in “when”. Let us not only view the idea of “time” as something passing and we are slowly passing away with it, but more  seeing it as a sign and opportunity of grace, with the Greek idea of “opportunity” as ….a starting point. The word “Now” is an opportunity, or starting point, to have great grace in the face of an unmerciful world in it’s last harsh breaths, and our presenting it with the opportunity for salvation by the hand of Christ.

i believe the Lord means more than just chronos time with respect to a clock, but in the sense of God’s Now which is kairos time, as in a decisive moment, precisely at the most opportune minute, the exact time a decision must be made concerning a “critical situation”. “God time” is not a perchance time, or something that happens merely considered as “fortunate”, but God-time is an exact and conscious definitive action. Additionally, God’s “now” includes kaironomia, which is a very interesting word meaning, “in the moment there is the will to create”. Those are moments of indeterminate time in which something special happens, powered by the Holy Spirit. The date is today, the time is now, not later, not a historical time, but “now” time as a conscious definitive action.

In the Old Testament, God made Himself known as “God of the now”. In the New Testament He continued to make Himself known as “God of the now”, and today, He is still our very present help in our time of need by making Himself known as our “God of the Now”. The Lord said in Exodus 3:14 “Tell them I AM has sent you.” “I AM” is present tense, He is the God of now. The date is today,and the time is NOW.

Consider then, God is busy bringing things to pass.  Now, He comforts, encourages, teaches, and equips. Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;” The date is today and the Lord is also God of the Now.  Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for the past, it can be full of good memories, and it can be used as a learning experience. But Now, the present is good for making the most of life… whether you are in a position to make lemonade or are empowered to do great things.

Many people in church are living in the past. They look to the cross and only see a suffering Savior. They keep him on the cross because they can manage him there. He forgives them their sins when they need Him to and he doesn’t get in the way of their lives. To them, He’s more a resource held only to the outer edge revolving around themselves, than He is the center of their lives and they revolve around Him. Many read only the comfortable verses. In their minds, it sets the grace in which we hope in some future “revelation” of Jesus. For them, God is either back there, or somewhere up ahead. But I don’t think the revelation is just future. God will not be nailed up to some cross and forgotten by His people. He is the God of now.

The date is today, the time is now. This is what we’re doing.” What is “this”? Many times, for me at least, “this” is a vague word in my vocabulary and i often get called on it because i reference something which is specific by calling it “this” or “that”, and usually no one knows what i’m talking about….. but here, it means the thing, or idea that is present or near in place, time, or thought. To say, “This is what we’re doing” means we do what God has brought to our hands to do, taking action, in the present, and we won’t deviate from our task…keeping our focus until we are released to do something else.

In other words, as in Colossians 3:23-24  ^“ …whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

These words speak of the very attitude by which we live and how we approach any task in life. The phrase “this is what we’re doing” is action.

Living and doing life as unto the Lord, in all we do, in all we say is largely about attitude….and that’s attitude as in the “pitch and yaw of our heart”, or how we lean in our hearts toward God, which starts with intent. A bit of trivia, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Aleph, and along with one of several literal meanings, it means the sound you make before you make a sound…..which would be intent. According to Revelation 2:23 God knows our most subtle intentions. He said, ^“…I am He Who searches the minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts…”

With all my heart, as best as i can muster strength, i work to do what God brings to my hand. Sometimes what He brings to my hand can take several years, other times it is only minutes. Regardless it is all a valuable work unto the Lord, large or small.

i used to be concerned with “what MY ministry was”, but as the years have gone by, my ministry consists more of what so ever God brings to me today, my ministry begins when i wake up and ends when i go to sleep, and honestly, i don’t concern myself much anymore with “wishing i knew what my ministry was.” First in my heart is a continuous upward pointing to God and His sovereignty, and everything else is secondary. i serve the Lord, first, foremost, and last.

FORWARD – moving toward what is ahead or in front. Philippians 3:13-14, ”Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The date is today, the time is now. This is where we are, this is what we’re doing. Forward is the way we’re going. As for yesterday, that was then and this is now.

Paul encourages us to live as Christians in the same manner: throwing away our old way of living and moving ahead into our new life of obedience to God and faith in Jesus Christ. Like the Israelites moving into the Promised Land, we can actively come into the likeness of Jesus for the purpose to destroy the wickedness in our life, or we can simply settle down and live with it. “Oh well, i might as well get used to the darkness. That’s just the way it is.” No…. it’s not. To move in and possess the new life, we must drive out the old thoughts and practices to make room for the new. It requires persistence, and a willingness to pursue a growing abhorrence of evil. God is dynamic, He is always moving forward, and i think that if anyone seems to believe they are standing still, in reality they are going backwards because God is always moving forward.

All this time later, i realize i am living in God’s statement to me of 18 years ago, “The date is today, the time is now, this is what we’re doing, and forward is the way we’re going.” That was then, and this is now. i suppose it wasn’t nearly as non-sensical as i thought at the time.

Has God spoken to you, and what exactly did He say? Are you living in today, the now of life? Are you taking action putting your hand to the plow of what God has brought to you? And are you moving forward? If we can’t answer a solid “yes” to those questions, then we need to be asking the Lord, “What can You and i do to change my situation?” Then listen, please listen, the answer is there. Guaranteed. Think about it.

It has been another wonderful evening here at Outposts, enjoying acoustic night which only happens on every fourth friday of the month.

Be encouraged, Yahweh is for us, He’s on our side! Gather your thoughts, let yesterday become the past and trust God for tomorrow. Be in today, in the now with our Lord and God of Now, and set your feet moving forward, hidden in every moment is the opportunity where change is possible.

Tonight’s program of Outposts has been also sponsored by God Almighty as Himself and the Kingdom of Heaven, Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Werner Graphics where the Kingdom of God is artistically brought to life, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by Alex de Grassi, Jeff Titus, Al DiMeola, Keith Jarrett, Michael Hedges, the Acoustic Jazz Quartet, and W.G. Snuffy Walden. All music us is licensed by BMI.

The date is today, the time is now. This is what we’re doing and forward is the way we’re going! Thanks for joining us and we’ll meet again next week!

Persistence

Calvin Coolidge said: “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.”
When we use the term, “Press On”, as it’s used in Philippians3:12, it means to be diligent and keep on keeping on, don’t stop, don’t deviate, focus and keep on straight ahead. Persistence has won battles, it has been an undeniable aid in everything from restoring marriages to scientific discoveries to overcoming drug and alcohol addiction.
Galatians6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Persistence. The Greek word for “abide” occurs 127 times in the N.T., 35 times in it’s variations in the gospel of John alone. A major concept in abiding is persistence, continuing on, to tarry, and carry on. Considering how often the Lord uses the word in scripture, i figure He sees persistence important for us to practice.
“Cave baestiam”, Latin for “beware the beast”. One of satan’s favorite things to do is to try and get us to give up! However, God tells us to endure, persist, continue, and finish. Let me say those four again …. endure, persist, continue, and finish.
Persistence is one of God’s more subtle attributes, but an attribute of the Lord nonetheless and we should be aware if God was not persistent and did not share His persistence with us, we would yield to the world and capitulate easily in the wave of wrongness of character, which daily, if not hourly, washes over the world around us. Evil may be persistent, but God is more relentless in His pursuit of us than we have enough imagination to grasp.
Thank you for joining me this evening, i’ll be your host here at Outposts, a late evening broadcast from the cafe at the end of the road which overlooks the gently flowing Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge and every evening is pleasant.
This evening’s topic is one of God’s attributes: Persistence. The Lord has pursued us with His enduring, everlasting love, He persists in His relentless reaching and seeking of those who are His to bring us home to Himself.
Consider for a moment if you are a persistent person and in what way. i’ll take a typical break and be right back.

i want to re-tell a story, a sad story, of someone i met at a nursing home. i’ll call her Gladys. When we first walked into her room to visit, she was laying on her bed, covered by a crisp, freshly creased sheet and thin faded blanket, staring at the wall. She was bone thin with very fine gray hair pulled tight across and behind her head, withered facial features, and was pale, nearly translucent pale, her skin so thin you could see the veins just below the surface. She was so frail and still we thought she was dead were it not for the faint rise and fall of her chest barely perceptible only if we stood silently and watched for a moment. Holding our breath with intense focus, we paused for a moment hoping she would turn her head and speak, but when that didn’t happen, i ventured forward and asked how she was today. In a voice as thin as the rustle of dry leaves, while still staring at the wall she replied that she was just laying there waiting to die, tired of being in this world and was done with breathing. Finally, she slowly turned her head to look at us, and from very thin pale lips, told us she didn’t understand why she was still alive. With perplexity in her voice she continued on saying her heart just kept beating and beating, and she had decided to just wait on it to quit. So, everyday, all day, every week she waited.
The next week we came back and there was Gladys, laying in her bed, almost exactly as she was the first time we met. Hands folded across her chest on top of the sheet and blanket, skin thin as wet paper and her eyes were closed. i spoke softly to her a little above a whisper and asked if she was awake. With her eyes still shut, she said “Yes”. i told her it was a beautiful day, it was warm, and the flowers were blooming everywhere….then i asked her why her eyes were closed. She said she was tired of looking at the walls and didn’t want to see the world outside. She insisted she was still waiting to die.
A month or so later, Gladys really did die. She died from a failure to persist….she didn’t want to be here anymore so badly, her body just simply stopped. It took her over two years to will herself to die, but it appeared she had accomplished her goal.
Sadly, we came to find out, two years prior to that, someone had prophesied to Gladys she only had a couple years left and God was going to take her home, and in light of that foolish and cruel prophesy to a healthy woman with children and grandchildren, Gladys decided that if that was the way it was going to be, then she’d just lay down and wait. She waited for over two years, failing to persist everyday a little more and a little more, until one day, she indeed left the land of the living.
Gladys was a good example about where we go when we cease our persistence of the Lord, life, love, goodness, hope, peace or any other good thing God has sowed into our lives. After meeting Gladys, i realized that it’s the truth. Any of us, if we allow it, can become so sad, so resigned to ceasing to breath, we will, at some point, stop. God has another plan though.

After that dreadful story, i much prefer a “positive perspective of persistence”….that phrase has a nice rhythm doesn’t it? “Positive perspective of persistence.
Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. In other words, we press on even when we feel like quitting. Standing firm to the end is not a way to be saved but is the evidence that a person is committed to Jesus. Persistence is not a means to earn salvation; it is the by-product of a truly devoted life.
Joyce Meyer said, “Typically, i have to do the right thing with a right attitude for a long time before i start getting right results, that’s persistence.” i believe she was right. In my experience, though limited, i too have realized i often have to treat people right for a long time before they begin to treat me the same way. Persist in treating people right is the key phrase there. That means even when they don’t treat us well, we repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Just as natural seed finally takes root and the beginning of a plant breaks through the ground, we also will see breakthrough if we continue to do the right thing, regardless of what others do. Again, the sticky words are “continue to do the right thing”, persistence.
People frequently give up too easily. When their feelings quit on them, they quit too. There is what i call, “The spirit of Eyore”, which sounds just like Eyore on Winnie the Poo. Eyore’s attitude says, “What does it matter? No one cares anyway.” OR “It’s ok. i’ll learn to live without it.” OR “It figures, might as well go home.” OR “Nope, just got lonely being so popular. i figured being boring old me was better’n being something i ain’t. Hope you’re not too disappointed.”
When we give up, or cease to persist, despair and hopelessness is just a breath away. Let me encourage us all, when we are pressured to give up and turn our back on our friends or even Christ Himself …. don’t do it. Remember the benefits of standing firm, and continue, or persist to live for Christ. Matthew10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”
Enduring means to persist, and it doesn’t mean to persist in order to be merely be saved, it means to persist in our pursuit to apprehend Jesus, our life, the Lover of Our Souls. He is the source and focus of our persistence! Altogether.

Just because we give up on something, does that mean we are a failure? No. There’s a time to doggedly continue on just like there’s a time to let go and go in another direction. Several years ago, two other men and i had a men’s meeting we called the “20/20 Men’s Group”. We persisted for a year, and at the end of that year we felt the Lord point us towards re-assesing our efforts. In our re-assesment, we perceived the Lord to encourage us to let it go. Honestly, i didn’t want to because i loved the idea of the “20/20 Men’s Group, but i also know it’s better to follow the Lord instead of keeping on with something He’s moved on from. So we let it go, and it proved to be a good idea. Does that make us failures? Absolutely not. When to stop pursuing something is a good question, for truly, there are times to cease to pursue a direction which previously we knew to be the will of the Lord. If God changes direction, we must go with God, not be stubborn adherents to an old paradigm.
Greg Herrick wrote that “stubborn faith is not the same as persistent love.” Just because someone’s great great grandparents did church like they did, if God has requested we change our way of doing things, then change. When the great great grandparents started the church, it was a great idea. But people have changed, culture has changed, ideals have changed and we mustn’t be so stubborn as to not change when God has moved on. If we’ll not change, what was once a great blessing could easily become a restraint so tight we can’t hardly breathe anymore. The gospel message is the same, of course, but how we go about doing it may have been called to a higher place by the Lord. If we will move “with” the Lord we will do more than simply grow but will flourish. Persist in the pursuit of Jesus, not persist in a paradigm you like, methods you’re comfortable with, or some melancholy idea of “the way we used to do it.” In fact, i believe the phrase, “We ain’t never done it that way before” has stopped many ministries from continuing to prosper.
Here’s an interesting example of persistence with change: Ever heard of a company called “Traf-O-Data?” No? Well, me either. How about Microsoft? Oh, yea, we’ve all heard of that one. As it turns out both companies were started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Traf-O-Data was the first company they started in 1972. Gates and Allen ran it for several years before throwing in the towel. They gave up. But, if they hadn’t given up on Traf-O-Data, then there might never have been “MicroSoft”, and i must say, they did much better with MicroSoft than their original idea.
So how do you know when to press on vs. when to let go and follow God’s lead to a new thing? Here’s some questions to help in the re-assement of things: Is your plan still correct and how can you tell? We’ve gotta be honest about that one. If it’s not correct, update the plan. Wait on God to confirm it, and yes, the Lord does, unwaveringly, confirm His word. Is your goal still correct? If not, update or abandon your goal. There’s no honor in clinging to something when God has moved on. Here it is, hear me on this: Persistence is not stubbornness.
i am my own best example of stubbornness which i have often confused with persistence. Letting things go was hard for me. I had always believed we should never give up, that once i set my mind to something, i should hang on to the bitter end. i figured the only thing worse than dying was quitting. You know, the old captain goes down with the ship and all. i often felt like a failure if i surrendered and didn’t grip my project even tighter in an effort to “make” it work. It was hard for me to learn the difference between persistence and stubbornness. Again, if God changes direction, we must go with God, not be stubborn adherents to an old paradigm.

Romans14:19 “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which we may edify one another.”
Persist in apprehending that which makes peace and edifies the body of Christ.
Colossians1:23 says we should persist in our faith, persist in our being established and firm, not moved from the hope held out to us in the gospel.
1Corinthians14:1, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
This obviously means to persist until we apprehend love, to persist in reaching towards the spiritual gifts God has for us, especially prophesy…. and don’t let the word “prophesy” scare you off. i think so often we get stuck on a word and miss the content, and i don’t mean to buy into crazy doctrine but simply don’t get stuck on a word like “prophesy” just because it’s not in the scope of our vision. Persist to understand what God means, and just because some individuals have done it poorly doesn’t mean it is not a viable gift from the Lord.
Persist to walk in the truth, not just the facts, but the truth….truth and fact are different. Remember also there is a balance in persistence. 1John5:18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin”, it isn’t necessarily the one cookie that makes us over weight, but the lifestyle of cookies we persist in. It isn’t automatically the one-sy, two-sy of things we do wrong which defile us, it is the lifestyle of wrongness which we persist in. The key word for today in 1John5:18 is “continue” or “persist”. Like in 1John3:6, it says “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” That scripture isn’t speaking of a single act, but a lifestyle. It is our conduct and habits which reveal if we really know Jesus or not. Remember: There is balance in our persistence and persistence is not stubbornness. Ceasing to persist on something does not mean anyone is a failure.
i read somewhere that the value of persistence comes not from stubbornly clinging to the past. It comes from a vision of the future that is so compelling you would give anything to make it real. This life is real, God is real and alive. i really believe persistence of action comes from persistence of vision. Let me encourage us all to pursue God for our vision and dreams. It ain’t over yet, and i’ve not heard the bell ring, so let’s put our shoulder to the wheel and persist in our pursuit of Jesus. Think about it.

Persistence allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to do so. According to early Christian writers, there are two virtues of courage: Patience & Persistence. Patience is enduring difficulties or danger without being inordinately cast down. Persistence is continuance in spite of difficulties or danger. If there exists in us true courage, therein is faith & hope also, and if there is hope and faith, patience and persistence are close at hand.
In Luke5:17-20 Jesus was teaching in a house and some guys carried a paralyzed man up onto the roof. There they took apart the roof, and lowered the paralyzed man into the room so Jesus could heal him. Those guys were VERY daring, not to mention it was probably very messy considering there was dirt and roof stuff falling onto the people below. i’d bet anything people complained and maybe even yelled at them to stop, but yet they persisted because they had hope something would change, they had a vision of the future for their friend. Let us be willing to persist on behalf of our neighbors in the same way.
i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Cannie Ledbetter at Oakdale Cemetery, Skyland Battery and Ignition, Mr. Jack Johnson at Johnson’s Gulf Service, Elmo and Mary Hogan, and Trinity Bakers where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Miles Davis, Pete Mills, Jeff Berlin, and Rob Wasserman.
All music use is licensed by BMI.
Be persistent this week, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. Be at peace and let Jesus be your rest and comfort. Until we meet again, Amen.