i don’t know about you, but sometimes…sometimes i am just so very tired of struggling. Oh and how often it just seems my days are filled with one little struggle after another….. just tedious …. so many things in a row are “almost but not quite” and it’s so very irritating. It’s like whenever i’m in a hurry the world around me goes into slow motion….. maybe i’ve got to duck into a store to quickly get something, and it feels like everyone is taking forever to decide even the smallest decisions…. if they are going to get this brand or that brand all the while their cart is blocking the isle and you’re thinking to yourself, “They are all virtually the SAME! Just pick one!” But we can’t do that, so we smile and just practice our virtue of patience, all the while we are broiling inside.

We are “the strugglers”. i fully believe where there is no struggle, there is no progress, and there is no strength; where there is no struggle there is no maturity, no learning to endure and persist which are two very important functions if we plan on continuing to breathe air. i believe most people who never have to struggle with life and everything is handed to them are typically very immature ….without struggle in life there would be no empathy, we couldn’t relate to other people’s trials, their rejection, abandonment, or not being loved.

i hope you will all take to heart some of what is shared … sometimes all we need is a little place to set our feet against in order to make course adjustments for important changes over the long run.

The topic is struggling and those in the Kingdom of God who struggle forward, whom i’ve dubbed “The Strugglers” for their valiance and passion to find some way to wrap their fingers and hands in the robes of God Himself. We struggle to get up a hill and not fall backward, and then we struggle to get down the same hill trying to not fall forward. Even so, the value of struggle is immeasurable and valuable.

Psalm 95:8, “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,” …..a more literal translation of the words  “harden your hearts” is a picture of a yoke with teeth that is heavy and oppressive biting into the very core of Israel’s heart… there was an argument between them and the Lord….it was a struggle of epic proportions while wandering in the wilderness. To harden your heart would mean to refuse to hear and see…. and if you did hear and see, you would refuse to do the wisdom….all born out of the poison of bitterness and iniquity while resenting God for the struggle.

Having wisdom and doing wisdom are often very, very different things. i think to myself sometimes about how often the Lord extends me wisdom and i don’t listen…i have no idea why i don’t listen…i really don’t know …. even so, my unbelief that God is speaking to me or my rejection of His wisdom always complicates my daily struggle. HA! You’d think i’d know better by now, you know?  God extends us wisdom to relive some of our struggles, not only that but He often simply clears the path in front of us providing us times of easy progress for a bit. In fact, for all we do NOT see and hear, there is no telling the obstacles the Lord removes from our path which we don’t know about. In His kindness, He helps us through our struggles.

The Bible is chock full of strugglers…. those who made, in one fashion or another, forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction. It would be easy to point out general things like war because everyone in every war is obviously struggling over something. But i’d like to be a bit more focused on significant individuals whose struggles made an eternal impact on our lives today.

Elijah always struck me as this incredible tower of courage, exercising such confidence in God. In 1 Kings 18, he acted with such certainty…..it’s as if he knew exactly what to do, where to do it, and with whom…..he seemed to have such assurance as to how everything was going to work out, going forward like a man who was so sure of his steps….it was downright majestic.

In 1 Kings 18, he did that whole thing with the prophets of Baal….it was like, no problem, he was the perfect God’s-man in the moment. But, when the prophets of Baal were all dead, and he heard that Jezebel had decreed that he would be dead by the next day, it says in 1 Kings 19:3-4, “….Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4  Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life…”

There was a terrific struggle going on inside him. On one hand, he was determined to accomplish the intent of God’s heart, but on the other hand, he was gripped by fear and ran away to the wilderness and lay crying under a tree for God to kill him. Elijah was one of the strugglers, just like you and me.

By and by, the Lord sent an angel to get him up and give him food…. in his struggle, the Lord made a way. Elijah was strengthened and found the courage to rise again and continue on. “Continue on” is the key phrase.

Douglas MacArthur said, “The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle: the roar of the crowd on the one side, and the voice of your conscience on the other.”

The path of least resistance is one of the greatest lies we will ever believe. We live in a world that makes so many things easy for us, that we begin to live as though the easy way is the best….always. If i’m sitting in a coffee shop with a cup of caffeine, a computer, and a cell phone, and can access any information or contacts I need without moving, i think i’m happy. I can listen to any music in the world that I want to with just a few clicks, see what any person or organization is up to with just a few more, order anything I might need online, or watch whatever I want to watch.

In a world where so much is so easy, the deciding factor in what I do becomes what I WANT. And let’s be honest if given the choice between doing what I want and what I don’t want, I’m always going to lean towards what I want.

What I have come to realize though (sometimes quite painfully), is that what I WANT is usually not the same as what i NEED. In fact way too often, what i NEED is exactly what I do NOT WANT. So what becomes one of the most regular and life-defining choices is the choice between taking the easy path to what I want versus the difficult path to what I need. Struggle becomes an active choice rather than a life necessity. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes disaster hits and we are thrown into struggle without any say in the matter, but day-to-day, struggle is usually something we have to choose.

i realize that you, like myself, get so, so tired of struggling with everything it seems. For example, i have to go to Walmart, and i have to park so very far away, and it’s so hot and my feet hurt and i’ve got a headache, and, and, and…. just choosing to get up and walk to the store is a struggle. Once i get inside it seems it’s a day of all days when everyone seemed to need to return stuff, get their prescription filled, or had to bring the entire family to the store….as if the entire city came to THAT store at THAT moment….just incredible; some people stand in the aisles as though they are the only people shopping on the planet, their kids are screaming, and it seems everyone has a bad attitude, not to mention the old guy on a little go-cart who is running into people on purpose because they are in his way. It is nothing short of a struggle just to be there. Sometimes i think it would be easier to go deer hunting with nothing but a short rope than to struggle with people.

BUT!  Without struggle, it is impossible to grow. Muscles do not grow or strengthen without stress and without being pushed to their limits, and neither do people. We need struggle … as bad as we don’t want it, we neeeeeed struggle in order to become stronger … without it, we slowly deteriorate….we literally have dystrophy.

i think to myself occasionally, “But Lord why oh why do i have to struggle THIS much and for so long it seems?” In the middle of struggle, it seems time slows down to a torturous tick for someone’s delicious thrill of watching us struggle. Of course that isn’t true, but when in the middle of struggle, our conflicts just seem amplified.

Mark 4:36-38, “Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “We are going to die here! Don’t you even care?”

Those guys were in such a struggle, trying to be considerate and not to wake the Lord up while simultaneously trying not to die at sea. And don’t you know they struggled against their thoughts of asking for help or not. Obviously, they believed Jesus could rectify the situation, but the panic in them…” Don’t you even care?” indicates a terrific internal struggle. The Lord is aware of our struggles and just because we don’t necessarily see or hear it, He is moving mountains and shifting the Heavens on our behalf.

i believe Herman Melville was correct when he said, “Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, demonstrating its everlastingness.” Jesus was the real deal. He was, is, and will be the standard of authenticity, and everyone who met Jesus met with their own incredible internal struggle, thinking, “Who IS this guy?”, “When He’s around it just upsets my little world.”, or “Why is He here? Who does He think He is?” John 7:11-12, “Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” They were people who struggled with who Jesus was and what He represented. His straight-up honesty and authenticity was unnerving to those who lived an inauthentic life, spoke non-credible words, and were unconvincing in their actions. He was authentic, real, honest, trustworthy, and lived with His entire heart committed to the purposes and values of the Father.

i read somewhere that authenticity has a high price. It could cost your career. It definitely costs you the path of least resistance. Authenticity dooms you to a life of struggle; to a life of risk; to a life of uncertainty, rejection, and danger. It takes the spoon full of sugar away from the medicine so that you have to taste the bitterness of what you need when it goes down. It takes the disguises away so that you see the monsters in the darkness around you as well as the ones in your own mind. It feels the sting of trial and the bloody sweat of conflict rather than the comfort of the cushioned facade, and it makes you stare failure in the face rather than avoid it.

So as painful as it is, being authentic and real brings struggle, and struggle brings growth. When life is easy, growth is a struggle, but when life is a struggle, growth is easy. You may be in a place where life is smooth sailing, or you may be in a place where life is incredibly difficult for reasons outside of your control.

Yet, even so, we the people, are the strugglers. We struggle to be convincing in a very unconvincing world. We struggle to be credible in a very non-credible world with a very non-credible government, doing very non-credible business. We struggle with illness and go to doctors who often see us as dollars rather than people who are ill. We go to schools where the entire facility is often no more than a business and when they tell us they care, we struggle, because we, so often, find them very not believable.

i can assure you, the Lord is the most authentic and genuine person in the universe. He is trustable, believable, and faithful light years above anyone or anything on this mud ball we call Earth. Where there was no way, God has made a way. When we were bound, slaves to sin, chained in darkness, Jesus made a way. Without struggle, the little chicken would never live past the breaking out of its shell, without struggle we would have no heroes or champions. Without struggle, we would just be cruisers and posers with no character content. Friends, God has given us the courage to struggle and win. We, the strugglers, who believe in Christ as Savior, are more than conquerors, and to be a conqueror requires struggle.

Listen for the struggle in this scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, “But in all things, we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

Do you hear the struggle places, the places of conflict and the victory? How often do we, like Paul, find ourselves in situations where we are pressed to have patience? Constantly. When Paul was in heartache, in grief, in desperation for food and shelter, when he was beaten and incarcerated he struggled with life and people, yet he was more than a conqueror. Through God’s gift to us of strength, wisdom, and perseverance, instead of responding like a spoiled little kid who had never faced adversity, Paul exhibited not bitterness and wrongness of character but as it says in Galatians 5:22-23, he lived out the life of a righteous example, “….the fruit of the Spirit….love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

2 Cor 12:7-10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” Then Paul writes, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong”

Friends, we are the strugglers, living through a life that sometimes is so very trying. And oh isn’t it easy to say that if we didn’t struggle we wouldn’t be strong, but then how much more difficult it is to actually get strong because we struggle. We all have days where everything seems just tedious.

Enduring and persisting in the face of struggle are crucial to learning, because learning is a hard and messy business.

Consider the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, wow, now that’s got to be one of the most heroic survival stories of all time.

Have we wept over our sin? Do we cry over the sinner? Where am i willing to go if God requests it of me? Am i willing to yield my self-indulgence to God in order to gain Christ? Those are all points of choosing and struggle. A man assured me, vehemently, not too long  ago that it is not God’s desire that i be poor, and in fact, God wanted me to be wealthy and if i was poor it was my miserable lack of faith that made it so. Oh my, what a lie! What a struggle because, often, most of us don’t find ourselves being filthy rich and are living regular lives. We are not the focus. God’s point is HIS SON and that the Lamb would have the reward of His suffering….and this  bloodsucking, vampiristic doctrine of prosperity breeds listless complacency born on the wings of fatness to take up an issue against God when our agenda doesn’t happen…even to the point that a pastor of a large church told me, “you can’t go to church if you don’t have any money, and if you don’t have any money, you might as well just not go.” and he was serious, all jesting aside. What a struggle in us those words can cause. This is not good! i have been witness to hearing another pastor stand up and rebuke the spirit of indebtedness on his congregation, city, state, and nation and then 10 minutes later inform everyone that the church was “now able to put your tithes and offerings on your credit card if you’d like.” What??!! This is incredible! i was thinking “am i really hearing this?!” While people were struggling against being slaves to debt, they were being called back to enter into debt. Even so, we struggle against all odds to be the people of God, never-the-less.

There were men of God many years ago who left their homes to go with God where ever He would lead. Many got on a ship to a destination in April of one year only to arrive at their destination in May of the next year… and that was only just getting there. (would i do that? Probably not. Am i even willing to hear it?)  They didn’t have any books written, no support base of people pledging money, no tape or CD ministry, no booking agent, no advertisements no posters or schedule of meetings for when the “great man of God who holds many titles” would arrive. They didn’t have a marketing committee to promote them. Many were rejected by the local board of deacons, many had no “mission board” endorsements, no one knew them in the place of their destination most of the time, many times they didn’t even speak the language, and they suffered cannibals, disease, insect hordes, bad and poison water, repetitive rejection, slavery, imprisonment for no reason that made sense many times, they were burned out, burned down, beaten, whipped, and even thrown into holes under the city which were then closed up and they were forgotten, and that’s just a start. But yet these early examples of the carriers of the gospel message pressed on with the call of God on their  lives. They struggled forward and today we call them heroes of the faith…and for me, they truly were. Yet, standing out as THE reason among many reasons, they considered that Jesus Christ was more important than they were…they knew we don’t deserve Christ but He deserves us, and they went forward that the Lamb who was slain from the foundations of the world would have the reward of His suffering. Amen.

i am proud of my struggle for the Gospel to go forward with the call of God on my life. And you? Where are you in this? Stand up church, it’s time to stop feeling sorry about your struggles and stand up in the name of Jesus. Be strong and courageous!

Friends, In the middle of all our struggles let us not lose heart. i’ve said before that i believe that one of the biggest difficulties in America is loss of heart.

2 Corinthians 4:15-18, “For all things are for your benefit, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary struggles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

We are the strugglers, those who endure and persist in the Lord regardless of the struggles and conflicts. Don’t lose heart, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and remember, strength will rise when we wait upon the Lord. Wanna be strong?… then you’ll have to learn to wait, but while you’re waiting you’re getting stronger and stronger.

Breathe man, breathe, after all, you are in the grip of His grace. Drive carefully and watch out for your neighbor. i’ll talk to you next time. Amen.

Faith vs Risk

Faith is the eternal optimist, risk is the eternal pessimist.

Today, the word “risk” is used in everyday speech to describe the probability of loss, or maybe the likelihood of accidents of some type. Risk has everything to do with actions, investments, or attitudes which could result in a negative outcome. Risk assessment has everything to do with measuring that negative outcome and deciding alternate courses of action with a lesser probability of loss. And one more, risk management is about making strategies to manage negative outcome, and to control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events. A good example of a risk management team is in Dan6:2, “And over these 120 princes were three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king might not suffer any loss.”

Risk has become a common word, and is used whether the risk in question is quantifiable or not. The word seems to have originated with the Arabic, (pronounced then spelled out) “rizq”; Italian seamen used the word (pronounced then spelled out) “risco”, in reference to the danger of uncharted areas of their maps. The French also used a variation of the word, (pronounced then spelled out )“risqué” in reference to a metaphor meaning, “difficult to avoid at sea”, or “sailing into uncharted waters.”

As we discuss risk reality, i’d like us to see further than what the world understands of risk to what God means of “risk”, how faith relates to risk, and how our skill at navigating risk gets better as we mature and gain experience….well, at least, it should get better. Also in the mix is the contrast of faith and risk, and no, they are not the same.

i don’t know about anyone else, but for me, i really don’t have a lot of sequential words in me, contrary to popular opinion. Sure i can ramble on like a marble rattling around in a box, but still, the words only qualify as rambling. So, one day the Lord told me something, He said if i would be diligent and apply myself, if i would do what i call the “dig and sift” of His Word, meaning dig it up and sift through it for treasure, He would be faithful and give me words and topics that would speak to people about three inches below the surface of where they live, and that’s exactly what He’s done.

Tonight’s topic is faith and risk. How do we act in faith and risk together? What is risk to you and what parts of your life do you feel are your biggest risks? If you know the truth, is there any risk involved? And, what is your idea of a necessary risk, responsible risk, irresponsible risk, and how does your choice of risk affect you and the people around you?

Sit tight, keep your peace and i’ll be right back.

A friend of mine won the West coast 500 Pro Class Motocross many years ago, so he seemed like a good first candidate for a deeper discussion of faith and risk. In our discussions, along with other racing strategies, one phrase which really caught my ear was his use of the term, “controlled crash”. He won by pushing everything to the absolute edge – once he was on the track, everything – every curve, every shift, every jump, every slide – from start to finish, it was all a controlled crash, always on the edge of winning it all or losing it all. It’s when everything is pushed to the edge of the envelope, and when things are pushed slightly beyond that edge is when the controlled crash occurs.  He was never damped by the possibility of failure, he said that an over focus on the “failure potential” skews our risk assessment. Even though quite a few years have gone by, he still lives life in sort of a controlled crash, the only difference is that his maturity and experience have highly influenced his risk assessment, therefore he has a greater degree of success in all he does. Here it is again: maturity and experience highly influence our risk assessment….or at least it should.

We can easily get lost in models, procedures, and plans but in the end it is imperative to follow the leading of the Lord rather than an outline. Don’t get me wrong, outlines are good, of course, but at some point we must stop following the lines, per se, and “step off the page” of “how the model or procedure mandates” and flow with God. Can you hear that?

Now i suppose it would be easy to perceive the phrase, “controlled crash” as an oxymoron – or that it is a self-contradictory phrase, like saying something was a “cruel kindness”, but here’s what is meant by “controlled crash”: when something slips out of our initial plan, it speaks of the action taken to minimize the damage. Like when riding a horse at a full gallop and somehow your feet come out of the stirrups. You knew it was possible that this could happen, but in order to have a little control over the potential catastrophe which could easily follow, you already thought about what to do next. We see bull riders who do it all the time. They know the risk is high that they will get thrown off, but in the moment they are becoming dislodged, they are keeping their cool and thinking, not about the failure to make the ride to the buzzer, but about how to best dismount with as little damage as possible.

Acts 27:15 says, “And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.”

It was a controlled crash meaning they couldn’t get out of the storm, it was all out of control, they picked a course of action that might minimize any potential damage, so they went with the wind, and “let her drive.”

A “controlled crash” takes into account that it’s possible things will not go as planned and dedicates some planning over what to do next. Some would call it “Faith with a contingency plan”, which is something we’ll get to shortly.

Gambling addicts bet the house, but rarely have a back up plan in case they lose it all, whereas a good stock investor may risk a great deal on an investment, but almost always has an exit plan. Becoming part of a limited liability corporation is a risk, but the smart business man always has a larger, more detailed exit plan than the entry plan. Is your life just a crash waiting to happen with no strategy in the event things don’t go as initially planned, or is it a controlled crash where you’ve made a contingency plan built of “if this, then that”?

As with other topics, there is also the other side of risk which must be considered, and that would be “safety”. People who risk little have a high need for safety therein is a fear of failure which prevents many of us from many things. Frequently we tend to “overcorrect” when we’ve navigated life poorly, so i can also assume that “overcorrection is a fear of failure”. As example, possibly a person’s life style was too loose, so they overcorrected by becoming too severe and stringent. Pilot’s often over shoot or miss a runway because the airplanes attitude was incorrect, and rather than make a small correction, for fear of not correcting enough, they over correct, and then overcorrect the overcorrection, etc, etc. For fear of not correcting enough they corrected too much, thus, they must pull up, circle the runway, and try again.

Like the story Jesus told in Matt25 about the three investors. One received five talents, the next two talents, and the last one talent. The first investor risked big by investing all, he risked big and it paid off; the second investor also risked big and it paid off big; but the third was gripped by fear of loss, fear of the master, fear of … well …. just fear….he had a greater need to be safe than to take a chance, therefore he risked nothing. The servant who chose to be safe rather than risk, could, i imagine, have possibly declined to be the investor, it is possible he didn’t absolutely HAVE to take the challenge. But after he accepted the challenge, he blamed the master as to why he did not risk an investment saying, “’Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’”

The servant’s fears were unfounded and what’s worse, he blamed the master for his own faithlessness and fear.

What the servant thought was safety by not risking, did not prove very safe at all. Here is the next insight: The need to be safe tightly governs our ability to risk.

In the process of developing the idea of faith and risk, i woke up one morning and the Lord gave me the bright idea to do some interviews. He said go to business men, individuals, missionaries, street people, asking them what their idea of risk is and what is an area in their lives which they considered to really be on the edge and risky. Out of those who responded, there were a few who felt being a leader was a risk which they didn’t feel willing to take. Their need to be safe exceeded their ability to possibly take up a leadership role in a fellowship of believers, even though they were completely qualified.

Can we conclude then, for some people, their fear of failure, maybe even their fear of success, coupled with a need to be safe, can actually exceed their ability to be obedient? Obedience is a thing of faith, and i believe that sacrifice is a thing of risk.

Luke 19:26, “”He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.” This scripture has many meanings … like most parables it is multi-faceted, but one way to read it is Jesus is speaking about those who risk with God, and those who play it safe. Here is a different view of the same scripture from the Message Bible, “”Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.”

i believe most people who would rather “play it safe” are so worried they might get it wrong, might be seen as foolish or stupid, or judged harshly by others, so much so that they never move up and out into God’s destiny for them. Always playing it safe is such a fear filled lifestyle. Most believers really do have something to say, but very few of them actually get around to saying it. It is safe to just be quiet, and risky to voice what’s on your heart. Many in leadership seem to rarely encourage others to exercise their faith and take a chance. It’s almost as if they just want the congregation to attend, listen, do what they’re told, leave their money, and go home. Sounds more like a business plan than expanding the Kingdom of God, … i don’t know…maybe, maybe not. This is another insight: the need to be safe, not only tightly governs our ability to risk, but maybe even prevents our obedience to God.

Risk, in and of itself, includes fear perception – as in what we might lose, what might not happen, or what may not be fair according to someone… but …. faith is the opposite of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

In light of that, is risk even a part of our spiritual vocabulary? i believe, yes, but not as the world presents it. When we trust in God, take Him at His word, and let faith have it’s way, risk changes and becomes obedient to the rule of faith rather than the rule of possible loss.

Yet faith is about the probabilities of increase and is anchored in hope and the kindness of God, it is intrinsic to trusting God. Martin Luther King said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Faith is not having answers.

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Faith is the eternal optimist, risk is the eternal pessimist. Faith is an enthusiast; risk is the critic of enthusiasm. Faith is a grace maker, risk is full of “yea but”. Faith thinks in probabilities, risk thinks in improbabilities. Risk says there is a 20% chance of failure, faith says there’s an 80% chance of success.

Being safe though is not acting in faith nor acting with risk. But isn’t living without faith in Christ a risk in itself? Some would say, “Well what if there is no God?” i say, “What if there is and all things are as Jesus said they are?” What if the Bible isn’t true? Ok, what if it is? Isn’t living without faith in the finished work of Christ the biggest risk of all? To play it safe and not believe or disbelieve is also a huge risk, not choosing IS choosing.

Playing it safe is about incurring no loss, and also incurring no gain; playing it safe seems like a freedom from danger, but really is danger masquerading under a facade of calm; playing it safe means not being rejected, but also means not being accepted. Playing it safe means never stepping beyond the possibilities of loss or gain, never falling in love and never falling out of love, maybe never being completely miserable but also never being completely happy either. Playing it safe seems to me to be, just nowhere with a big nothing in your pockets. Giving up fundamental things in life just to feel safe, to me is actually being a slave to fear, as fear steals a little more and a little more from you, all with the promise that “now you’re safer than you were before.” …. Until one day, there’s nothing left, and you are safe in a prison cell of your own making, with all scary things walled out, and you are walled in, alone in the dark.

Benjamin Franklin said, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

We are not called to live a life of risk but a life of faith, but yet, there are times we must count the cost of possible losses. Being people of faith does not mean there is no such thing as risk you know. i believe Luke 14:31 addresses the idea of counting the cost of potential loss or gain. It says, “…. what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.”

The scenario of Luke14:31 isn’t acting in fear, it’s having faith and also having a contingency plan, and there is nothing wrong with a contingency plan.

Faith is the correct governor for risk, and when risk comes into subjection to faith, suddenly risk is not so much about measuring the failure potential, but more about a contingency plan as faith outlines it. The just shall live by faith, not by risk. 2Cor5:7, “We live by faith, not by sight.” The phrase “by sight” there means we don’t live by what we can observe and measure. Faith is the officer and manager of risk. Learning to count the cost is a part of life and we all try to employ ideas and actions which curb the potential of unfortunate circumstances.

When we go on a trip, we check the air in the tires and the engine oil. Some would say that is not faith but fear, i say it is wisdom to make an effort to check the air and oil. It is wise to have a contingency plan, if possible. It isn’t born out of fear but wisdom. And yes, it is possible to go crazy making contingency plans, but easily we are back to a fear thing. Faith is the correct governor for risk, not fear.

Faith says that i’m going forward and going back is not an option, and….my contingency plan is that i also carry with me a can of Fix-A-Flat in-case of a flat tire, some extra engine and transmission oil in-case one of the two run low, or maybe a little extra gasoline in-case i’m nearly out of fuel and there’s not a gas station around. Maybe part of my contingency plan is to take a few tools in-case i need to work on something on the way. Faith says we’re going forward because going back is not an option, so position yourself and make the necessary contingency plans, because either way, we ARE going forward.

Faith is better than risk, thus obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience is an operation of faith, but sacrifice requires a loss. Paul incurred personal loss, but his spirt was ever profiting. Obedience should outweigh our sacrifice. Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,” Abrahams obedience out weighed the possible sacrifice of his son, thus there was no need to incur the loss of his son because he was obedient. Under the governering power of faith, risk comes into it’s right relationship with our lives.

Let’s talk about King David for a moment. In 1Sam17 we see David going forward in the name of the Lord, on behalf of Israel to face down an obnoxious, arrogant, loud mouthed giant. David was a man of faith, so when he’d set his mind to face Goliath, going back was not an option. *But*, just because he was going forward in faith, didn’t mean he didn’t have a contingency plan. i would guess David was a crack shot with his sling and an amazing warrior with just a staff in his hand, however, he had thrown enough stones and had enough experience that he knew better than to go meet a giant with no contingency plan. Verse 40 reads, “Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.” As it turned out, one stone did the trick, but he had a contingency plan of four other stones just in case. Actually, Goliath had four brothers, and the Jews hold to this day the five stones were to kill Goliath and his four brothers, if they showed up. So in that case the other stones weren’t a contingency plan but each had a destination in mind. It wasn’t fear, it wasn’t a lack of faith, it was wisdom. Faith says “going back is not an option”, wisdom says “if possible, make a contingency plan to make an assurance of success”.

Recently, a man said to me, “It’s foolish to go to a funeral until the day of the funeral,” to which i feel it’s important to add, “That’s true, but it’s equally foolish to wait until the enemy is attacking to circle the wagons.”

What did other people in my interview process think of faith and risk?

When i asked one fellow about his idea of risk, he replied, “I guess if I had to sum it up, I’d say that the greatest risk that i see is in that which we can’t see, or perceive.  People, even believers, go about life in this world and don’t believe, or don’t care, that there are unseen forces in a constant struggle around them.  These forces greatly impact the physical properties around us, and yet we can’t “see” them.”

i wonder, does that mean that because we can not see the “unseen forces” around us that we believe we will suffer a loss of some sort?

Many believers are willing to risk in what they can not see, and i consider it an unreasonable risk to NOT believe in the unseen, spiritual realm. i think it an irresponsible risk to NOT let Jesus be the Lord of my life. Believing in the unseen, having faith in what we hope even when we don’t have any answers, believing our words can speak to circumstances many continents away….is it risk or is it faith?

If we speak of risk, as believers we must also speak of faith. As believers, we are called to a life of faith. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Daniel walked in faith and stepped out in huge risk by refusing to bow down to idols in Dan6, even though there was a decree which would call for the death of anyone who did not. He was sure of what he hoped for and was certain of what he could not see. He would not have normally gone down to spend the night with a bunch of hungry lions, but when the time came, he rose up as a man of faith choosing to believe that God would deliver him. Faith is the eternal optimist, risk is the eternal pessimist.

Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Matthew Henry wrote that, “Noah knew his neighbors would ridicule him for his confidence, and he would be the song of drunkards; his ship-building would be called “Noah’s folly”. But Noah got over all that, and a thousand such objections. His obedience was ready and resolute: Thus Noah built in faith and obedience, willingly and cheerfully, without murmuring and disputing.”

Noah exercised his faith, preferring to be obedient to God, rather than to be paralyzed by the risk of losing the respect of men.

One person whom i know said her idea of risk was, “The risk of loosing your job because you’re too vocal in your workplace, or the risk of coming under ill-will in your church because you have an opinion and state it.”

i’ll bet you something though, that if the Lord told her to speak out in her work place or church, she would be obedient and speak up in faith. True, in her mind she would certainly weigh her options, but i’m fairly certain she would choose obedience to God over the possibility of loss of her job or the approval of her church.

One man said risk to him was “the uncertainty and probability that I’ll be found out as an ignorant nincompoop who doesn’t even have the smarts of fish caught in a net. Then to be tossed aside as unimportant and not worthwhile.” Yet everyday, that man steps out in faith, taking a chance on relationships or being considered as frivolous and unnecessary. Everyday. Why? Because in faith he knows that God validates him and to God he is never irrelevant and unimportant. His faith and obedience out weigh the risk which is set before him.

Another fellow said he felt a huge risk for him was “believing he hears God.” That may seem an irresponsible risk to the world, but for conscientious and arden believers in Christ who go forward in faith, often on nothing more than whispers, dreams, and visions, it is an an irresponsible risk to NOT believe they can hear God.

A pastor in Covina, California told me a story about how living like Jesus was a risk. He wrote, “In the 16^th century in Holland a group called the Mennonites were outlawed, and when found they were often executed.”

“One of them named Dirk Wellens was being chased across an ice field when his pursuer broke through the ice and fell in. In response to his cries for help, Wellens returned and saved him from the icy waters.  His pursuer was grateful and astonished that this man would do such a thing for him.  Nevertheless, thinking it was his duty, he arrested Wellens.  A few days later, he was executed by being burned at the stake in Asperen Holland. It was precisely because of his Christlikeness that he was executed.” Dirk Wellens acted in faith and considered being obedient to the call of God to be far more important than the risk of dying. His obedience and faith far outweighed his sacrifice.

And lastly, a short list of irresponsible risks, or hazardous liabilities which costs too much would be: coasting, or “listlessness” and “idle hands” are an irresponsible risk; not reading my Bible is an irresponsible risk; becoming apathetic is an irresponsible risk; not going to God for discernment but taking the word of someone who makes hours of Youtube videos which sound really good… is an irresponsible risk; beliving i don’t need God and can succeed on my own is an irresponsible risk; pretending i am more than i am is an irresponsible risk; to me, being disobedient is an irresponsible risk; kindling a small, cozy flirtation, while fueling an acceptable/manageable/secret lust is a very irresponsible risk. Those are just a few, so what would your idea be of an irresponsible risk?

Where are you on this weighty subject of faith and risk? Is the risk of being ridiculed for speaking up, rejected for being honest, persecuted for standing for the gospel of Christ, is the risk so large to you that you’re willing to be disobedient to the call of God? Are you willing to risk the betrayal of your conscience, is that a betrayal you’re willing to live with? Is the love of God and the apprehending of Jesus important enough to you that when the Lord calls you, you’ll catch that plane, move to another place, or speak up against injustice?

Hebrews 11:6, “…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” At that i say to us all, Selah, or “stop there and consider a little.”

Faith is better than risk, and obedience is better than sacrifice. As we focus on Christ, our skill at navigating life’s possibilities gets better as we mature and gain experience. As we grow in faith, we learn to see the faithfulness of God, not over focusing on the “failure potential”, which skews our assessment of what’s in front of us. As we allow Jesus to teach us about life, we become strong and courageous and our need to be safe, which tightly governs our ability to step out in faith. In light of allow Jesus to teach us about life takes on a new diminsion where we are more willing to try, metaphorically, walking on water believing Jesus will give us a hand up, rather than being safe while staying in the boat.

If you’re facing down the giants in your life, by faith in Christ, they will fall before the Lord, but don’t think it weakness to put a few extra stones in your pocket, in other words, there’s nothing wrong with having a contingency plan – it is wisdom.

Faith is the eternal optimist, risk is the eternal pessimist.

It has been my pleasure to present the 100^th edition of Outposts, let me thank you for listening. Each edition has been a product of the diligence of Living In His Name Ministries, Paul at White Knuckle Studios, Area 22 Guitars, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven. i’d also like to thank Evelyn Whitaker, Kevin and Molly Knox, Dave Johnson, Jerry Price, Sandy Thornton, Jerry Werner, and Jon Ojala for all the time they gave in conversation about this evenings topic…those folks are absolutely brilliant. Most of all, thank you Jesus for loving me….how can it be, how can it be, that God would love a man like me.

All music was by Bill Douglas, Jimmy Wahlsteen, Didier Malherbe, Joe Magnarelli, Paul Hanson, Billy McLaughlin, Plas Johnson, Andreas Vollenweider, and Joe Sample. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Be strong and courageous this week and exercise your faith in Jesus. It’s time to walk on water, so take a chance with God and step out of the safety of your boat. Amen!

Stewardship is a “touchy” subject …. many seem to resent any mention of money from church leadership, even though scripture does discuss it in plain words. Also, i’ve noticed, almost anytime stewardship is mentioned, among the very first thoughts in our minds is about money, but truly, money is just a small part of the stewardship the Lord has called us to. It’s a provocative subject, and many will, when it is mentioned, inject all sorts of pro’s and con’s into the conversation. Strangely enough, “giving an account” also seems to be an oddly difficult conversation. There’s just something about “accountability” most of us seem to avoid, no one seems none too eager to tell the narrative of where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing with their time and resources . We know how the widow gave when Jesus sat opposite the treasury and watched, as seen in Mark 12, or how Ananias and Sapphira lied about their giving and how there came to them some very final results, to say the least, for telling the “untruth” in Acts 5.

We may appreciate Paul’s statement to the Corinthians about the Macedonians giving of themselves before they gave their gift in 2 Corinthians 8. We might even feel we know what our neighbor ought to give to their church or another charity. However, it is another matter when we sit down to take inventory of our own “take home pay”, so to speak. But that is what the scripture says in Luke 16:2. It says: “Give an account of your stewardship.” Did you get that? Not your neighbor, not your spouse, but your stewardship. It means to sit down and tally a “trial balance”, in the words of a bookkeeper, to see where we stand with God. And for those of us who would like to know, a “trial balance” is when we take a snap shot of all our accounts, giving account of our stewardship of our treasures…..and i’m not talking about just money either.

This is Outposts and i’ll be your host this evening with cool jazz and contemplative conversation from the late evening cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

Taking a good, honest, inventory is always a good idea, although we all tend to feel very exposed or uncovered, but, in the long run i believe the Lord wants us to tell the truth about what is r-e-a-l-l-y on our shelves and in our pockets. Let’s take a break, and i’ll be right back.

Many years ago i worked in manufacturing. We made generator regulators, some nearly as large as a train car …  there were many specialized parts of steel, copper, and many electronic parts which were used in building our products. Some of the electronic parts were very special and had order lead times of over 10-12 months … they were very special indeed. On a side note, “Lead time” is how far in advance a part must be ordered for it to be in-house in time to be assembled and make the shipping deadline. The warehouse inventory specialists had to keep an almost constant inventory, and if they forgot to order something, and lied about it on the inventory, they could easily lose their job. i remember once, a friend of mine, an inventory specialist, was supposed to have ordered a very special transformer but somehow he missed his queue to order it. When inventory time came, he lied about what was really on the shelves, because he thought he could get the parts in fast enough to cover his poor stewardship. It wasn’t gonna happen and he was found out. The manufacturing manager gave him his walking papers immediately. It would have been better for him to say he missed his ordering queue, than to lie about the inventory.

In Mark 6:38 Jesus asks the disciples a question saying, “How many loaves and fishes have we got? Go and see.” The “go and see” part means for them to take an inventory. Suppose they had lied to Jesus reporting there was more in the basket than there really was, how do you suppose things would have gone with them? Or what if they lied and said there were none because they pocketed the items in hopes of turning a profit later on? Maybe there would have been an addition to Sermon on the Mount called, “Sermon in the Desert”. There is a lesson of stewardship and being an administrator there in Mark 6.

Taking an accurate inventory of what we’ve really got is important. Telling ourselves what we’ve truly got on the shelves of our heart gives us a snap-shot of what and how we ought to pray, it re-centers us as to who God is and where we fit with Him. How do we know what to talk to God about unless we have an honest and truthful idea of exactly what we’ve got and what we’re about?

In Exodus 38:21 Moses asked for an inventory, or as the King James puts it, a “sum of the tabernacle”. They were counting everything to see what they really had, not what they might have, or what they dreamed they would have sometime in the future, but real time, in the NOW, the brutal truth of what in actuality was in their possession. It was a check-up of the Stewardship of the Treasuries. Have you taken inventory lately? Ever? One way to take inventory is through prayer. Charles Spurgeon said, “If God gave us favors without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, and revelation of hidden poverty.”

Being a good steward of the gifts God has given us is a learned endeavor, and truly, everyone is born with God-given capacities, but what we do with those God-given gifts is a choice we must make.

 The realization and exercise of our God given giftings is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. The Lord didn’t give you gifts just so you could put them on the shelf, nor did He give them to you so others could be exploited for your own gain. Use them wisely. Think how you would feel if you gave your child a wonderful gift, and your little loved one just put it away, or held it in contempt, or sold it to the kid down the street? ….why do we think our Father is any different towards us? God has made us rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion. There’s a good word, “Think generous”. Generous in kindness, generous in mercy, generous in patience, generous in hope. Generous in the exercise of your giftings. Think generous!

Someone asked Daniel Webster, a leading American statesman, a senator from Massachusetts, and the 14^th and 19^th U.S. Secretary of State, “What is the most solemn thought that has ever entered your mind?” He replied without hesitation, “My most solemn thought, and i have it often, is my personal accountability to God.” We must face the truth that every one of us is accountable to God for the use we make of the gifts and blessings He has entrusted to us. Some think God doesn’t heal anymore…read your Bible and think again. Some think God doesn’t speak to men anymore … read your Bible and think again. When, not if, but when God speaks to you….listen. By the fact God is speaking to you….that in itself is a gift. Use it. He’s not speaking to you for nothing.

Fritz Kreisler, an Austrian-born violinist and composer, once said, “I was born with music in my system. It was a gift from God. I did not acquire it. I didn’t even deserve thanks for the music. Music is too sacred to be sold, I never look upon the money I have as my own. It is public money. It is only a fund entrusted to me for proper disbursement…”

What are you doing with the treasures God has given you? Do most of us even have an idea of what they are?

In Matthew 25 there is a parable about talents (or gifts) and what three servants did with their talents. Rev. R. R. Belter wrote, “The man in Matthew 25:26 said, “I went and hid my talent in the ground,”, and he is not the only one on whose tombstone, in the “Cemetery of Neglect” such words were written. Arthur Brisbane, whose’ syndicated column we read with relish years ago, once penned these words: “The greatest loss to the human race has not been caused by floods or by fire, not by epidemics which have spread disease over vast areas and with the sickle of death mowed down millions, nor by earthquakes and topical storms; neither by record-breaking crashes of Wall Street … the greatest loss … has been in the buried talent of God’s people.”

Reverend Belter continued saying, “Is there anything more pathetic than a trained teacher who will not teach, a beautiful voice which will not sing, a pastoral gifting that will not shepherd, an apostolic anointing not allowed to plant, an efficient businessman who will not give to God the benefit of his knowledge, or a lawyer who will not serve in Church councils so that his Lord can have the benefit of talent which God alone gave him? We have men and women in all walks of life, who have been given blessings, but refuse to be a blessing.”

Someone, anyone, please tell me the difference, between the person who neglected the talent God gave them and the one who simply misuses it by not using it? Our gifts and talents may not be, in our estimation, a “big” talent at all, but we are to serve where we are with what we’ve got, the best we know how, as unto the Lord.

Asaph was a steward, He was appointed and purposed to make all provision and preparation as necessary to take action as the keeper of the Kings forest. You think you’re not a steward of anything? Think again my friend. God has made us stewards of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding as He gives it to us, stewards of the Kingdom of God, stewards of the reflection of Glory, and stewards of worship and praise. He has given us stewardship of our communications with Him and others, stewardship over investment, and multiplication of His investments, and stewardship of our pursuit of the mysteries of God. We are absolutely stewards, and not having a title and position in church doesn’t mean we are not.

1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” A steward is someone who is an administrator of the house, one who oversees, and each one of us has authority over ourselves, in mind, body and spirit. Are we good stewards over what God has given us? Mediocre maybe? More specifically, ?do we see the value in ourselves as God sees that value, enough so that we are willing to take responsibility for being a good steward over our giftings? We can’t be neglecting our gifts just because we find them scary or we might get it wrong…that doesn’t negate our stewardship. Just because someone one you respect says the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for today, does not negate our responsibility of stewardship. If you don’t believe they are for today doesn’t mean suddenly they aren’t for today, it simply means you don’t believe it. Stepping out in obedience and being willing to use the giftings God has given us is part of growing up, and i’m quite certain the Lord is calling all of us to be mature believers, rightly occupying our place in the Kingdom. Our stewardship and gifts do not possess us, we possess them. 1Cor14:32 says that the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, meaning the gift doesn’t possess him or her, but they possess the gift.

Our giftings don’t have to just be under the heading of the “big five” as seen in Ephesians 4. Some have pockets full of hope, others have a gift of just meeting people….people just like talking to them. Some have a gift of just knowing how to help before other folks seem to know they even need help, they just show up right on time, it’s more than a knack, it’s a gift and leading of the Lord. There are gifts of writing and communicating….some people in the Body of Christ are simply wonderful, vision imparting communicators. There are people with organizational gifts, administrative gifts, gifts of compassion and grace, gifts of imagination and dreaming, the gift of spoken languages, gift of mathematics and the practical application; there are people who just ooze kindness….those are all gifts from God and we are the stewards of those beautiful things the Lord gave us. What will you do with what God gave you, while practicing humility and gentleness, being patient, and supporting one another in love? Are we going to bury our giftings, or use them for the furtherment of the Kingdom of God? Think about it.

This has been Outposts, brought to you live from the edge of the gently flowing, Ockluhwahhah River, where every evening is pleasant, and harmony is not an exception but the standard of life. i’m Social Porter and this production has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, the Knox clan in Mebane N.C., Jax-Pax one stop grocery store, White Knuckle Studios, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Plas Johnson, Mitchel Forman, Mark Egan, Cindy Cashdollar, and the Western Swing Allstars.

All music use is licensed by BMI.

Use the giftings God has given you, be accountable to God for the implementation of what He has planted in you. Be a good steward of your treasures. God doesn’t give us gifts just so we can keep them hidden in our pockets. Think generous, lavish His love and blessings on others, cut the cord baby, and let it flow. No longer allow unbelief or sour doctrine to restrict your service to the Lord and the world around you. Paul said in 2Cor9 that In the use of God’s gifts in you and in your being generous in sharing them with everyone else, the world around you will see your confession of the gospel of Christ.

Listen carefully to the Lord, be strong and courageous! Peace my friends, be at peace.

It’s a beautiful evening and i thought i’d go outside on the deck which overlooks the beautiful river below. i’m Social Porter with Cletus Iaomi and you’re listening to Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation, broadcast semi-live from the deck of a rural cafe which overlooks the virtual cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is oh so pleasant.

You know, just looking up at the night sky just makes me smile. Every evening leads into the next day, so pause for a moment, don’t stay inside if you don’t have to, breath in the clean evening air, and if the weather allows and you’ve got the time, it’s your chance to plan another brand new day.

There is just something profound about looking into the depth of the night sky. God is absolutely beyond brilliant…. capitalize the “G” remove an “o” and you get God. He’s more than good He is God, and all He’s done and will do is the very epitome and personification of “goodness”.

Do you realize just how many people are carrying around an offense; walking around in churches and fellowships all across America carrying with them some burdensome thing which hinders their forward progress? A true offense may not seem like it weighs much in the moment, but just give it time, it’ll get ridiculously heavy. The potential for offense seems available everywhere, all the time. What is it which hinders you and … where are “the peacemakers”?

Every turn in life offers some new opportunity to be offended and conflicted. Sometimes it seems justified, other times, maybe most of the time, the offense is just pride and arrogance. Please note i used the term “seems justified” because truly, there is NO good reason to carry around an offense, weighing you down, bending your mind and feelings around like a hair pin. And the longer we carry that offense, the more it twists our decision making mechanism into something God never intended, influencing everything else in our lives. Haven’t you met someone who was just bitter about almost everything? i can just about guarantee you it started somewhere with an offense and unbending unforgiveness.

Jesus and the Bible are our example of conduct, character, morals, principles, and ethics, so it’s important to note, Jesus NEVER carried an offense around. And because He didn’t carry an offense, He never needed a defense.

Anytime i meet someone who is defensive, they usually have pockets of offenses stored away and rotting. What will you do about your offenses, because eventually, we’ve all got to deal with our baggage?

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.” Come out of hiding you peacemakers. It’s time to get to work.

Tap your toe, dream a little, and i’ll be right back.

The Bible contains all of the promises and principles needed for true peacemaking. One of the earliest Biblical records of arbitration and making peace was Moses.

          Exodus 18:13, “And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.”      When Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law saw what was going on he asked Moses what he was doing. Moses replied in vs 16, “When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.” Moses was evidently acting as an arbitrator and using the statutes of God and His laws as his standard. That’s a good place to start, but Moses was taking it upon himself to be the decision maker without encouraging the people to be involved with God’s standards and statutes for themselves.

If we read on we see Jethro passing wisdom on to Moses by saying Moses should teach the people right and wrong so the people would know for themselves, and to delegate authority to Godly men to help with the job of making peace. i like that, teaching people right and wrong so they would know for themselves, not needing some agency standing over them, dictating their every move even to becoming the thought police. We all need to know right from wrong and God as our standard, not our neighbor or the government.

Are you a peacemaker, or an offense-taker? And i did say peacemaker. There is a difference between peacekeepers and peacemakers. In order to be a peacemaker we must be active participants of peace….while passive observers never get involved enough to make peace. Peacekeepers simply keep the chaos down to a tolerable roar. A peacekeeper serves to diffuse violence or the physical lead up to violence, whereas the peacemaker works to create a lasting nonviolent and creative community. One is a bandaid, the other is a lasting fix.

We can’t make peace by demanding the exercise of the law. Some think that by making the law louder with more severe penalties we can make peace in our communities, but truthfully, condemnation never delivered anyone from immorality or criminality…the law may have scared them into remission, but without Jesus, no one ever became reconciled and transformed.

The 1873 Colt Peacemaker was originally made by Colt Firearms, chambered for .45 Long colt cartridges. It has been called the “gun which won the west”. Law men enforced the law and used the Colt Peacemaker to keep chaos under raps among warring parties. Enforcing the law does not make peace, it just keeps the law. People stopped fighting only because they might get shot, not because their internal conflict was resolved. The gun helped keep the peace in a way, but certainly didn’t serve to create any long term unity. Maybe Colt Firearms should have named it a peacekeeper instead of a peacemaker.

So right off the bat, it seems to me that for any of us to be peacemakers, we would have to start by knowing something about peace for ourselves within ourselves…. wouldn’t you think?

i make notes to myself and i jotted this interesting factoid out in my little book. i have no idea who wrote it but here it is: “It is estimated that in all the history of humanity less than eight percent of recorded history can be described as times of peace. In the last 32 centuries there have been fewer than 300 years of peace. Historians tell us that within the last 300 years there have been 286 wars in Europe alone.” God has given it to us who are empowered by the death and resurrection of Christ to be more than peacekeepers who control, but peacemakers who impart lasting peace, real peace to whom so ever would have it.

Gal5:22 says one of the fruits of the Spirit is peace, and Mark 9:50 says, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” i like that, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Let us “be worth our salt” and season the world around us, being peacemakers not offense-takers. On a side note, a really interesting explanation of the idiom of  “being worth your salt”, is that the Roman soldier’s wages were often paid in salt. As a result the person’s worth was the weight of salt paid for wages earned. Of course then, the higher in rank and better soldier you were, the more salt you were given.

According to Matt5:13, we, who believe in Christ, are the salt of the earth. We should be able to have an effect on the earth and those in it. Salt was and still is very valuable and i think the Lord is saying to us to “have value in yourselves and practice to be at peace with each other”. We are to be exercising our gifting which the Father has given us, never allowing a conflict to continue if we can help it…. oh and don’t you know there is opportunity for offense to ride on every side. Unresolved conflict is like having the devil around – if you let the devil ride, the next thing you know he’ll want to drive.

As people who are reconciled to God, we are called to respond to conflict in a way that is remarkably different from the way the world deals with conflict. The world returns anger for anger, and judgment for judgment. Romans 12:18-19 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends…”

Our society seems to be obsessed with revenge and making sure other people get what “they deserve”. But i think a good question is how do we measure out “what they deserve” according to who? If it is what we deserve according to the world, then the only right the world extends to us is the right to suffer, but if it’s what we get according to Jesus, ahhhh….now we’re talking reconciliation! We get what we do not deserve, grace, because Jesus got what He did not deserve, judgment, suffering, and crucifixion. If He had not died and been resurrected from the dead, we would not get grace but condemnation.

When Jesus was crucified, Pontius Pilate asked the people what they wanted to do with Jesus, and with one offended voice they cried out “Take Him away! Crucify Him!” The unfounded judgment and prejudice was incredible. Jesus came to give mankind the opportunity to make peace with God, He was being a peacemaker between man and God, but yet all the people could say was “Crucify Him!” The wounded conscience and biased mind of the people was so offended, many missed the visitation of God.

Instead of setting our eyes on our own desires or spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about what others may do, or not do, should have done, or could have done but didn’t,  let’s take delight in the Lord and posture His love by demonstrating forgiveness, wisdom, and exemplary character.

Offense is easy. hell makes sure ample opportunity abounds for offense. If the devil can get people motivated against people, prying their unity apart at the seams, then the people will become distanced from God, who is the very source of their peace, and maybe he can even influence them to learn to live with an ever deepening wounded conscience. To most people, peace is simply “the absence of strife.” But God’s view of peace is much deeper and much bigger than simply an “absence of conflict”. The Lord says true peace comes when we are re-established between ourselves and God.

What will it take for you to be a peacemaker instead of an offense-taker? Are we willing to undertake the task of being peacemakers? After all, Matt5:9 says being a peacemaker is one of our ear marks.

As quoted from the Peacemakers Pledge, “Instead of blaming others for a conflict or resisting correction, let us trust in God’s mercy and take responsibility for our own contribution to conflicts.” If we get offended and think if we just go and tell the other person the problem, they’ll just own it…. well, chances are very good the other person doesn’t even know they’ve offended anyone, so we can’t expect the other person to make everything alright for us. It is our responsibility to be reconciled to God; no one can accept the peace offering of the Blood of Jesus for us, neither can we receive this gift of God on behalf of someone else.

Another quote from the Peacekeepers Pledge says, “Instead of pretending that conflict doesn’t exist or talking about others behind their backs, we will overlook minor offenses or we will talk personally and graciously with those whose offenses seem too serious to overlook, seeking to restore rather than condemn. When a conflict cannot be resolved in private, we will ask others in the body of Christ to help us settle the matter in a biblical manner. Matthew 18:15 from the Message, “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend.” That is called being a peacemaker. Did you get that? If THEY hurt YOU, !YOU! go to them and practice your conflict resolution. And if they don’t then knock the dust from your feet and wait on God to resolve the dilemma.

How many of us get offended and just quit on the relationship and go home, saying, “I’ll never speak to her again!” or “That’s the last time I give him any of my time!” OR, and i think this is often the action most take….. we smile, speak our spiritual talk only if necessary, generally keeping silent while maintaining our fascade of well being…. and just move away, maybe even to another church body, allowing the offense to stand and fester, thinking if we just don’t say anything, maybe it will go away. My friend, No, it does not just “go away”, there are no words which come out of your mouth which do nothing and will just “go away”. Do you know just how many offended people there are in churches today? There are so so many sheep from another pasture out there church surfing because somewhere they got offended and just moved to another body until they got offended and then moved again, and then moved again ….until it became a lifestyle of not dealing with conflict and simply moving on. It is truly a scandal!!

In John 6, when Jesus said “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him,” His disciples had a hard time with this. So Jesus asked them the question, “Does this offend you?” “Offend” is the Greek word, skandalizo, where we get our word for scandal. What Jesus was asking was “do you think my words cause you to stumble, becoming entrapped?” Offense is a trap, it immobilizes and neutralizes the offended person.

Offense is a stumbling block, but by the grace of God we can turn it from a stumbling down to a stepping up.

Conflict resolution has got to be one of the most under-developed skills in the Body of Christ. Honestly, i think true “peacemakers” are hard to find today, but i also think that in the days ahead, God will raise us up to be just that, peacemakers.

How about this? Instead of accepting premature compromise or allowing relationships to wither and fade, how about we actively pursue genuine peace and reconciliation—forgiving others like Jesus has forgiven us? How about if we take the time to look for and find … just and mutually beneficial solutions to our differences?

i tell you this too, just because we’ve forgiven an offense and gone to the other person and found an amicable solution, by no means signifies we must allow that other person back in our lives. There truly are some people in this world who are not good for us.

My job as a peacemaker is to reconcile men to God, with other human beings and with their own selves. When Jesus walked the earth as a man, the world was divided. One race hated other races, one nation hated other nations, and people of one religion hated other religions. An example of this is the feelings between Jews and Gentiles. The Jewish man thanked God for not being a Gentile, a slave or a woman. He despised the half-breed Samaritans, even to the point of walking many miles out of his way to avoid contact. He was saying to himself, “Oh my gosh, i’m so glad i’m not you because you’re so wrong and i’m so right.”

Peacemaking starts at home. The starting point of being a peacemaker for others is that we, ourselves, first must make peace with God. If we can be at peace and comfortable within our own skin, i believe that is a huge hurdle we’ve jumped by the grace of God which easily impacts the world around us.

What’d’ya think? Peacemaker or offense-taker? What’s it gonna be? Learning conflict resolution or just being mobile sheep; finding win/win solutions, being honest and trusting God, OR  leading a life of being offended and always moving on to another pasture? We all must decide for ourselves. Think about it.

Hear this and hear well…as one fellow wrote: “Jesus embraced the worst sinner, touched the vilest leper, purified the most despicable prostitute, took all types of people and joined them together into one beautiful family of God. He paid a high price but saw his mission as a peacemaker as a priority in his life.”

The solution for family feuds, racial strife and civil conflict is Jesus. Peace does not come by political party, economic system, national flag or the United Nations. Jesus is the One who brings peace.

Thank you for listening in this evening. i’m Social Porter with Cletus Iaomi and this has been Outposts, cool acoustic jazz and contemplative conversation, brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, the always amazing Andrea at Viva coffee house in Tucson Arizona, Area 22 Guitars, Kyle Walker alias Joe, Miss Gertrude Allen, Eugene Fowler at Fowlers Amoco Service, Myrtle Long, and Trinity Bakers where there’s always something good in the oven.

All music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Jazz For A Rainy Day, Billy Cobham, Alex Gunia, and Curtis Fuller. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Do you spend your time pasting band aids on situations, just keeping the chaos and turmoil to a low boil until the next offense and explosion of drama in your life, or are you willing to do the work of learning to be a peacemaker, practicing God’s idea of conflict resolution, learning how to foster a long term, creative solution that is a win/win for everyone?

Matthew 5:44-45”… Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

Make peace with God, yourself, and your neighbor, BE the example of how the Lord asks us to conduct ourselves. Peace my friends, real peace in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Rainy day, dream away. There’s a casual drizzle this evening, everything is wet … it’s a nice all day drip from the sky. It’s just been one of those days, you know, not too warm, not too cool, the wind softly picks up every now and then to let you know it’s still around. Everything about today just points to taking a good nap, playing a game with friends, making a fire in the fireplace accompanied by good food and good conversation.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a late night semi-live broadcast from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge, and every evening is pleasant, even if it’s raining. i get a chuckle out of some folks who complain every time it rains … i marvel that they don’t seem to realize if it didn’t rain, they’d have no water to drink or water for their precious lawns. If it weren’t for the blessing of rain, everything would quickly begin to look like a desert.

“Always“, and “Never” are, what i call, ultimate words. There are very few things in this life we live which are “always“, and “never“, but yet in the Bible there are ultimate words used. i believe the Lord wants us to be involved with His ultimate intent and purpose, thus He uses ultimate words for us to ultimately trust Him and ultimately believe Him. Ultimate – to the utter most.

“Always” – at all times; “Never” – at no time. Another ultimate word is “Every“, meaning all individuals and parts without exception. Do we take these words seriously? We say we do, and we read the scripture and agree enthusiastically, but often we live it out in a way which indicates we’re not taking God as seriously as we say we do.

In Matthew 28:20 Jesus said, “I am with you always,”, meaning, for believers, He is with us “at all times”.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14, Paul says God always, at all times, leads us in triumph in Christ. Always, and there is not a time in Christ, which God does not lead us in triumph. We may not see it, but if we stay the course with what the Lord has directed us in, we will see His “triumph” happening in us and around us. The English “always” comes, in this case, from Greek, “πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας” (pasas tas hēmeras), which literally means “all the days” or “the whole of every day” and is unique to Matthew 28:20. The most common Greek word for “always” (pantote), appears most everywhere else in the New Testament, except here, in Matthew 28:20 where Jesus uses a much more vivid and colorful word to express the extremity of His intention. It is no general “always” as “pantote”, but it’s “always” as in, “to the end of infinity and back”, “always“. God means what He said, says, and will say  , and Jesus is conveying to us His commitment to us whom He loves.

Always. And, i must add, if we fail to enter into His triumph at the time, the Lord is relentless and begins to set the stage to lead us into triumph. He will not cease His efforts until we have breathed our last. 2 Corinthians 2:14, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”  Notice, Matthew’s gospel begins with Jesus as “God with us” (Matthew 1:23) and ends with this promise of ongoing presence — The ultimate phrase “God with us” frames the entire book around God’s nearness to His people. Always.

1 Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails“, at no time does Love ever fail. Ever. The word “love” here is Greek “agape”, not romantic love, “eros”, not brotherly affection, “phileo”. The phrase “love never fails” is unconditional, and that is the love of God, not the “like” of men. Teenagers fall in and out of “like” all the time, “Like” will fail, but Love never fails. To say love “Never fails” means it does not collapse, give out, or come to an end. If we don’t recognize His love at the time, God is relentless and tireless in His efforts to influence our hearts to enter into the success of the Love of God, as seen in Christ who loves us unflinchingly and without fickleness. In short, “Love never fails” declares the superiority, permanence, and reliability of God’s kind of love over everything else. It will outlast spiritual gifts, knowledge, and even this present age — making it the most essential thing for Christians to pursue. Never.

Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hmmm … “I will Never leave you,” and “I will always be with you.” Always, meaning time out of mind and past the horizon beyond the vanishing point, and Never meaning more than just “did not” (past tense), but “is not” (present tense), and “shall not” (future tense). In fact, God is so very God and is never man, He so transcends any and all our human thinking, ethics, and especially our moral faculties, that men cannot see God and live. Always God, Never man.

Ultimate words. i think we should take God seriously… of course, but do we?

Amongst us there seems to be, what i call, a Perception of Disconnection. Here of late i have been asking God that i would somehow spend more time with Him, and that i want to talk to Him more often than i do because i’ve realized i don’t talk to Him as often as i think i do. i have a vision of a long, straight line and on it are occasional blips of how often i actually speak to the Lord. To my disappointment, there are long sections of flat line. So i’ve become acutely aware of how much i talk to God and, in the summary of things, i am pretty dissatisfied with how little i actually do stop what i’m doing and take the time to talk to God. It is not God who is unavailable but me who is unavailable. God is ALWAYS engaged. The disconnect is that, according to my perception, i thought i spent more time with the Lord than i did. What i thought i was doing and what i was really doing were widely different. Additionally, i’ve become acutely aware of how thankful i am that Jesus incessantly intercedes for us, as it says in Romans 8:34.

We so often have opportunity to interact with God, but yet many times we tend to sit and stare. Why? Why do we so often sit and stare, not talking, not thinking … just staring, empty headed instead of speaking to the Lord, or praising? And in those moments, many of us, more often than not, believe we perceive the Lord is somehow disconnected from us when it isn’t readily apparent anything is going on … no events, no conversations, no emails, no text messages. Many of us have a “perception of disconnection” and it is not true.

We are not disconnected. According to the finished work of the cross, for those who believe on Christ, we are always connected. Do we believe that? Never disconnected. The Lord said so with His ultimate words “always with you”, and “never forsake you”. It seems to basically come down to whether we actually trust God or not? Don’t you think? Let’s get a better grip on that word “never” as the Lord intends it. A few times Jesus used the word “never”, like in Matthew 5:26, He didn’t just mean “never” as we think of it in English. The way He used the word, it was an absolute negative combined with absolute denial, like saying “not, very not”, it’s emphatic and categorical “certainly will not”, “absolutely will not” and there are not “and” “if’s” or “maybe’s” about it in the strongest possible Greek to deny something. The way Jesus uses the word “never” in that scripture emphasizes reconciliation and consequences. “Never” there seems to underscore the urgency of reconciliation and the certainty of judgment if ignored. That is a lot to think about. Where are you in all this?

How is it God uses ultimate words like “always” and “never” in reference to His relationship with us, but we are still selective listeners, not hearing always but most of the time, and not never, but maybe not? We read the scriptures, give a big amen, but then we want to get selective about how much is “every thought” which should be taken captive, and how often is “always“, or how seldom is “never“. Measuring, like how wrong is too wrong, and how right is right enough like a bunch of silly children with twisted thinking trying to calculate how much then can get away with. When the Lord said “take every thought captive”, He meant not just the bad ones, but the good ones too, but we decide to be selective and re-decide the word of the Lord of “every thought” transforming it to become “pretty much only these thoughts”. God said “I am with you always“, but yet we often find ourselves re-deciding how often is “always“. The Lord said, “I will never leave you”, but yet we re-decide His words, measuring how seldom is never, as if one time out of 1000 is close enough to call it never. Close enough is NOT God’s character, pretty much and almost are not His style. i think God meant exactly what He said when He used the words, “Always“, “Never” and “Every“.

The Lord said those ultimate words because He meant them. He did not approximate, and i think it worthy of saying again, He did not say “for the most part“, or “pretty much rarely“. He did not say “take most thoughts captive” … that’s not what God said … He meant what He said.

We, who believe on Christ, are connected to God through the blood of the Son, whether we perceive it, feel it or not. By faith, my connection with God is as consistent as the Son, and Jesus never fails. Ever. Jesus is with us and will never leave us or forsake us to the ends of the earth, and we can bank on that with our lives. God expects us to believe Him, always. Amen!

Here are a couple examples of indirect uses of “always” and “never”. God is a lavish giver, right? Right! He is the very definition of “generous”. Romans 8:32 reads, ^“ He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him also freely give us all things?” The Lord, our God who gave us Jesus His Son delights to generously, and graciously give us “all things”. These “all things” are always in addition to Christ, but they are never instead of Him. According to Romans 8:32, they come along “with Him”. In other words, if we didn’t have Jesus, we wouldn’t have anything, but because we do have Jesus, we have everything.

Here’s another scriptural use of “always” and “never”. The Lord is beautiful, He is always beautiful, and in light of Romans 8:32 “all things” of the Lord come along “with Him”, Him being Jesus, then all i can conclude is flowers are beautiful, because Jesus is beautiful, puppy’s are delightful, because Jesus is delightful, sunsets are stunning because God is stunning, the work of our hand is fulfilling because God is fulfilling. Rainbows are amazing because God is amazing. Real love sweeps our minds and hearts away on the wings of the morning because the love of God sweeps our minds and hearts away on the wings of the morning. God is always delightful, always stunning, always amazing, always sweeping, and always fulfilling. God is always the ultimate source of joy and if it weren’t for the Lord, there would never have been joy. God is always working, always reliable, always near, always victorious, always compassionate, always wise, always truthful and if He wasn’t first and lastly truthful, there would be no steady truth in the universe. God is always listening, always kind, and always patient. He is the very personification of patience and kindness. Because He is patient and kind we can be righteously patient and kind. He is always merciful, always loving, always just, and sovereign.

In the book of John, Jesus did NOT say, “for I pretty much do what pleases him.”; while praying, Jesus did NOT say, “I know that you mostly hear me,”; Jesus said that He always does what pleases His Father and that the Father always hears Him. In Luke 21:36 Jesus did not say, “Watch therefore, and pray a lot… “, He said to “pray always”.

Ok, all this talk of the Lord really stirs my heart…let’s get going again….

Here’s a verse that is hitting on all cylinders, 2 Corinthians 9:8
^“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

All i can think is wowee-kazow, God has made such an incredible provision for us, how is it we seemingly walk around in such a beggarly state sometimes? Did you catch all the Ultimate Words in that? i mean, God is incredible, always, and He only gets better and better.

Do you hear the heart of the Lord towards us? This is incredible! It says in Isaiah 40:4-5 “ Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Wow, that is incredible or what? What kind of person makes such off the charts promises like God? And keeps His promises. You do know hypocrisy is the Achilles heal of man kind and God is the only one, in all of forever who does all of what He says and the rest of us are all hypocrits for no human ever does all of what they say.

What is even more amazing is not only is He confident that He is able to do all that He says, it will all happen and every eye shall see, and every mouth confess and none shall be able to halt. The word “all” is infinitely inclusive, excluding none, “every”, means each is counted and no part was not counted, “none”, is empty set, less than zero, and “never” is a an absolute negative combined with absolute denial.

When we’re in the middle of a dark season, when things aren’t well, the car has a flat tire, we burned breakfast, maybe a child or spouse is in real trouble, loss of a job, or just general sadness, resulting in disappointment or even depression, when we’re in the middle of a tough time, it’s hard to find a place to grip God’s promises, but grip we must for the Lord will empower your hands to hold tight to Him. He is not ignorant of our difficulties. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses…”

Trusting God is at the core of most of our problems one way or another. Friends, have faith and trust God, He will finish what He started in you. Jesus is able. According to Ephesians 1:21, God set Jesus “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” He is able, always was, always will be, and there is never a time when the Lord comes up short. It’s the truth.

Think about it.

The Lord is indeed the all in all, the every in every, and the reliable always in the midst of the vicious circumstances and limitations of never. God alone has made us alive, and has made us to prosper in the face of howling storms. 1 Corinthians1:5, “For in him you have been enriched in every way–in all your speaking and in all your knowledge — “

This has been Outposts, brought to you semi-live from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees lean gently over the rivers edge, and every evening is oh so pleasant. i’m Social Porter and this production has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Clarence Cable at the Sky Line Drive In, the wonderful ladies out at Ruth Originals, Kevin, Perry, and Tommy of the Mebane Freedom League, the world famous Paul Powers, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

i hope this week you’ll remember God’s extraordinary promises and that when He says “all”, “always”, “none”, ”every and “never” we should stand firm on His word, with the idea of standing firm meaning to be planted and not be moved. The Lord never jokes around nor is He ever vague.

2 Thessalonians 3:16, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”

God has woven the need for justice into the very fabric of creation. Like all ideals however, justice has its greatest value when it is lived out in daily life. Justice is not served only when it suits our whim, and otherwise is cast aside like a used cloth until it fits our purposes again. Justice is a consistent banner that should fly at the top of our flag pole along with truth, and mercy. In many cases the pursuit of justice comes at a price, and each individual needs to determine whether he or she will pay that price. Like honesty’s clarion call, the shofar is blowing in another type of clarion call for justice. Can you hear them?

The call for justice, i believe, resonates across the universe as a universal cry to God for deliverance; a call against the outbreak of sin which kills every bit of matter in the universe due to invasive evil, dishonesty, deceit, and a whole string of really really bad choices. Friends, many of us treat sin as its own beginning and end, but God sees it as sin being the end point not the beginning. It begins with wrongness of character, iniquity, which finds a reason to transgress God’s standards and statutes, transgression, and when iniquity and transgression have done their work, sin is the result.

The plague of sin infected people from birth to expiration date, or from our beginning to the end – every rock, memory, tree, concept and idea, due to sin, are destined to fade and die because of the plague of sin. i believe our true hearts desire is for all things to be made right again, as they were in the beginning – in the beginning, before the decimating disease of sin infected all creation, there was no such thing as death and decay, hatred, lies, deceit or dishonesty. Jesus Christ redeemed fallen man, He balanced our books for those who will believe. Justice, was done, once and for all, when Jesus made a way for all to be reconciled who would believe and call on His name in their day of trouble.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts.

This evening, i’ve decided to begin the discussion concerning the weighty subject of justice. No small topic indeed. i must admit right here and now, it was hard for me. i found myself often being angry because the more i dug into what God intends concerning justice and how my nation actually plays it out is truly an ugly contrast. i did the best i could to present the topic of justice as balanced as possible, but on the heals of that let me add that the aberration of justice in our land is a stench in the nostrils of the Father. With that said, let’s forge ahead.

Man is characterized by his God given ability to contrast and compare, to analyze and understand. God given understanding comes through a right relationship with God, and by that right relationship, by that ability to contrast and compare, righteous justice is done. Our right relationship with the Lord is the door, the point, and the connection to differentiate and separate things in our decision making machine within us, joining spirit and matter. Justice.

As in our conversation of honesty from last week, a very similar question about this also, how do we speak of justice without discussing injustice also? Honesty, truth, and justice are of the same spirit, the same God-DNA, and it’s impossible to have truth without honesty, or justice without truth. It simply can’t be done.

As i made an attempt to write about justice, i realized how much a part of injustice is constituted by deceitful contrasts, dishonest comparisons, and twisted thinking; i thought about how injustice is so often overshadowed by a mouth which speaks one thing while the heart is inclined in another direction. And from the last program, the Hebrew for “deceit” literally means to “steal away the mind” in the sense of saying one thing with our mouth, when we really mean something else in our heart.

Also, it occurs to me that even habitual liars hate being lied to, but if we despise lies and deceit in our society as we say we do, why do we so often tolerate it from our own leadership with seeming indifference? And you know, i think that same leadership sort of counts on us being indifferent, and that’s not good.

Are we, at our core, a just people? Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.” Are we, the church, are we “just” in our heart, do we give right of way to our neighbor? We say we live by faith, but if we are not just, and doing justice, how far will our faith go? From God’s perspective though, being  “straight” or “just” should be the pattern of our lives. We are to be the people who are trained by grace and live in patterns of grace, but also the people who walk straight and live in patterns of justice. From Leviticus the Lord commands us to use right weights and measures, and it was a big deal. The Lord said we are to judge righteously according to the truth not showing partiality or bias. And i’ve gotta tell you, righteousness is only gained through conformity to standards set out in the word of God and we only conform by the blood of Jesus. Remember, “righteous” is a legal term defining our right standing with God by the sacrifice of Jesus. Justice is exacted freely and never ever ever has an eye on gain or wealth. Whether by nations or individuals, righteous conduct can only be gotten by, metaphorically, plowing up fallow ground, sowing in faith in Christ, and reaping the mercy of God. And right there is another pattern which holds hands with justice, sowing righteousness and harvesting mercy.

So, let me ask then, How do you think God views us who say we have faith but do not do right justice? Our government and judicial institutions are absolutely rife with justice for money, and it is a stench in the nostrils of the Father. Friends, to rule on behalf of the wicked for a price is perversion of righteousness, for it takes away the righteousness, the decency and Godlikeness of the righteous.
Do we walk in the ways of the Lord? Hosea 14:8-9 The Lord says, “I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me.Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is able to distinguish and understand? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; The just walk in them…” If we as a nation, are not living out a just life because we are just people in right relationship with the Lord, are we walking, as a people, in the rightness and justice of God? No.

Speaking of justice and judgment – are we willing to gather to ourselves the judgement of God? If we didn’t have His judgment, blessing and reproof, we would still be blind and dead in sin. He alone is the only one with a circumspect view of every man and can rightly weigh each person’s life. God is straightforward and is the personification of justice. In fact some scholars believe one of the Hebrew names for the Lord, “Adonai” is derived from a root word which means “to judge”, meaning that in the middle of the Name of the Lord, is the concept and action of righteous judgment.

Isaiah 26:7, “The way of the just is straightforwardness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just.”

Augustine said, “If a man has no order within himself, then there is certainly no justice in an assembly made up of such men.” Oh man!

To further paraphrase, in order for real justice, for righteous justice to happen, it must first begin within ourselves, meaning we must be in subjection to God. Only when this order-of-things prevails in ourselves, can we act justly to others, being consistent and repeatable.

A nation with no justice is a nation who is smeared with the refuse of shame.

Denying our neighbor justice is the same as putting them to shame, and chances are good that if we put our neighbor to shame, then we ourselves are probably clothed in shame also in some fashion or another. Just like war begins inside a man’s heart long before it extends to the world around him, justice begins inside a man’s heart long before it extends to the world around him.

We, as people, are a social bunch, but for true justice to happen in our society, we must first be part of the society formed with God, a just and God-centered society lived through our being rightly related to God. In that just and right relationship comes harmony, unity, internal and social peace.

Does our nation possess those things? If you believe we do not, then what’s at the core of that lack? And i know, it’s easy to just say, “Our nation needs Jesus”, that’s true of course, but i mean something closer to home. If our nation doesn’t possess harmony, unity, internal and social peace, then i must also conclude we as individuals don’t posses them nearly like we think. Afterall, we ARE our nation, and our nation is us. We can’t keep blaming things on the infamous “they”, when “they” is really “us”.

Job 34:17 “Can he who hates justice govern?” Consequently, there can be no right justice without Christ. i know maybe i’ve said this too often, but i think it bears repeating until it sinks in – a nation with no justice is a nation with no peace, and without Christ there can be no justice nor peace.

The classical definition of justice was to “render to each his due,” interestingly, there are those who would say there should be no violence in doing justice. But, in the course of justice, certain people need to be “punished with a certain kind of harshness.” It’s not that punishment shouldn’t happen within the enactment of justice, but more what we cannot do is return evil for evil with a desire for vengeance.

From the book, Concerning the City of God Against the Pagan, written by St. Augustine, “Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale?  Without justice, those criminal gangs are a group of men under the command of a leader, bound by an agreement like a corporation, in which the spoils are divided according to their agreed on portions.”

Injustice is injustice whether the unjust are paupers or kings. Much of our leadership today is very unjust, but because they are large and we are small, they seem to see themselves above the law. When they act like that they are called government officials, but when we act like that we are called criminals.

Here’s a great little story about a pirate who had been captured and was taken to be judged in front of Alexander the Great. As the story goes, the pirate knew he was about to die, so he just spoke his mind.  The king asked the fellow, “What is your big idea of trying to dominate the seas?”  And the pirate answered, with uninhibited insolence, “My idea is the same as yours, dominating the earth!  But because I do it with a tiny craft, I’m called a pirate; because you have a mighty navy, you’re called an emperor.” Do you see the injustice of tyrants in that? Jeremiah 22:13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work...”

The Lord wants justice and righteousness, literally, to cascade through our lives like a strong and powerful river. Justice is not something the Lord wants to wash through us only when it’s convenient, similar to a fair-weather friend which is like a ditch that only runs full during the rainy season.

What we do in our relationship with God is what we do in our relations with our neighbor – we cannot love God if we do not also love our neighbor. Luke 10:27 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.‘”

If we, as a nation, will not practice justice and righteousness in our courts of law, our national devotion to Christ has fallen short. Notice i didn’t say, “can not” but “will not”, which means much of our leadership, on some level, is probably aware of the need for right relationship with God; they are aware of the need for truth and justice, and it’s not that they can’t come into right relationship with God, but they won’t. Our leadership lives in what i call a “momentary truth”, in other words, what is true for today, may not be true tomorrow. It is a life of “mobile boundaries”.

Right relationship with God is the cornerstone to doing justice, and as we’ve said, a nation with no justice is a nation with no peace, and a nation with no peace is a nation who lacks right relationship with God.

God Himself is at the nuclear core of everyone, we were made in His image, He has enabled everything that is, to be. We need to see God’s intent and His action, the two go hand in hand. In Genesis 1:26 we see the Lord’s intent, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...” and then in Genesis 1:27 we see His action, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.”

We often speak of justice, but increasingly, we never seem to get around to taking action and doing justice. In other words, our intentions are good but if we don’t take any action then we’ve done nothing more than think about it. This is the crux of the big deal written about in James 2, if you say you have faith, then show me your works. Like saying, you’ve told me all about your intent, now show me the results of you taking action on your intentions.

Mary Clark, in her paper concerning Justice, writes that, “justice is one of the four main forms of loving God. When we are rightly related to God, we are rightly related to ourselves and to the world around us.”

From that we could conclude, that a nation that is wrongly related to itself, as seen by it’s lack of justice, is a nation that is wrongly related to God. People with a God-relationship, who’s heart is willing to pay the price of justice, has in it’s pockets not only harmony, but unity.  Unfortunately, most of us want harmony but we can’t seem to agree on our means of unity. Hear this: Justice prepares us for the vision of God.

If you’ve got Jesus in your heart, then by the very nature of Him, you have what it takes to be put into action. Here’s a challenging question: Are we willing to pay the price of seeing justice done?

The origination of the word “dynamo” is the Greek word, “dunamis” the same word we get our English word “dynamite” from. Love and compassion should be the dynamo, or “dynamite” of justice for without love and compassion, justice is just law without mercy.

When we do justice out of the Love of God and compassion, we are accomplishing the commandments of God, for Love, as it’s written in Romans13:9-10, is the fulfillment of the Law. “… and whatever other commandment there may be, is summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

As believers, we need to understand that justice is one of the main safeguards of order, peace, and progress. With even scales and balances righteous justice equally favors all and does not press excessively on anyone. Rightly done, justice gives our leadership enough authority to do its legitimate end, while it effectually bars the road to tyranny and violence.

Psalm 50:16-17, “But to the wicked, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.”

i’m always amazed to hear people, who disdain the Lord to His face and who don’t even like to have a thought of Him in their mind, when it suits them, suddenly decide to use His name to get justice for themselves. The world hates His instruction, and they throw His words to the ground when it suits them. They pick up His statutes, and handle His covenant when it suits them. It’s always according to a worldly agenda that is all about themselves. To quote Job 34:17 again, “Can he who hates justice govern?” If our leadership has thrown God’s love and words behind them, and mingled righteousness with rebellion, deceit, and dishonesty, again, can those people who hate justice actually govern? If preferential treatment is given to the wealthy, but the poor are cast into prison without much more than a smattering of a trial, is that justice?

i knew a man who had poor boundaries, but his wife was constantly pushing and manipulating, emotionally leveraging everything about their lives in her favor. One day, he lost control, he blew up and got violent, though not doing her any physical harm. The next thing he knew he was in court, did a little jail time, took mandated anger management classes and paid fines with money he didn’t have. The reality is the angry person was his wife, not him.

True, he had boundary problems, but was he truly the violent one? When it all goes to court, all the court saw was another angry man, only assessing the facts, not the truth. Did they really do justice? Did they simply leverage the facts in order to get a conviction? Did the wife feel justified because it was mercy for her and justice for him? Too many attorneys do the right thing only when they’re paid enough; too many prosecutors leverage the facts in excess in order to get a conviction, and too many defenders leverage the facts by omission to get an acquittal, but it seems no one is really interested in the truth, and finding the balance point of justice.

It begins with a right relationship with God. Like all ideals however, justice has value only when it is lived out in daily life. In many cases the pursuit of justice comes at a price, and each individual needs to determine whether he or she will pay that price. Are you willing to pay the price for justice? Think about it.

Honesty is like a clear ringing bell set high on a hill. Similarly, justice is a clear sounding trumpet that needs desperately to be heard. 1 Corinthians 14:7-8 “… how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?”

Jesus is calling us to stand firm in His Name. Standing firm, means a posture that is not in repose, or at it’s leisure. That’s “standing firm”, not “sitting down to fold your hands”. Get up! Take action. It’s not enough to just be on the path, we must move our feet.

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts.

The Lord knows your name, so go with confidence this week, doing justice in your house and your community, in the name of the Lord for the cause of Love – it’s the right thing to do. Amen!

Good evening friends, this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge and every evening is pleasant. It’s a gentle establishment at the end of Old Field Road, set on a hill with a view all the way to the horizon. Accompanying a little cool jazz is tonights contemplative conversation based around perception, reception, receiving, having understanding, and learning….it’s a thing called wisdom and insight, and man, oh, man do we need some.

Matthew 11:29 (NKJV) “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.”

Running parallel with wisdom is another glorious gift God has given to us, and that is the gift of learning….we can learn. Birds learn, ants learn, even trees can be trained… and what so ever way we train them, whether a tree or a child, that’s the way they will grow, for better or worse. Hey, even fish learn. We don’t need easy, we just need possible, and our God has made a way.

In Matt 11:29 Jesus told the disciples to “learn”. Another way to put it is to know and receive instruction, as in Proverbs 1:2-3 “ To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;”

Some key words in that scripture are To receive, to know, and perceive. Proverbs 1:8 says for us to “hear the instruction of your father”, or so to say, listen and learn when your father instructs you. When God says, “Listen to me” or “lend me your ears”, He’s saying, “This is not small potatoes here, pay attention.”

Now, not to capitalize on an old idea too much, but this is a value added perspective for us to pay attention to how often God uses certain words and phrases in scripture. Many times, to know how often God mentions something is to get a good idea of how important He thinks a concept, truth, or idea is for us to grasp. In light of that, the idea of learning, perceiving, getting wisdom, hearing and receiving instruction is mentioned MORE than 250 times in one fashion or another. When God mentions something THAT many times, we need to “give Him our ears”, or listen, perceive, and receive, because, as i understand it, God never tells us stuff just so we can say, “i know”.

If we are learning, we are also teaching. So i have to ask myself then, What are we teaching, and what are we learning? And when it comes to our children, even when we aren’t teaching, we are still teaching by living life in front of them and they are still learning. In a way you could say we are contagious. Tap your toe, dream a little, and we’ll be right back!

In a song by Graham Nash which was released in 1970, there is a line in a verse which says, “teach your children well”. We and all the world around us are learning, even when we don’t know we are learning, we are learning, so we, as believers we need to seriously consider, “What are we teaching?” To reiterate, if there is learning, there is also teaching going on in some fashion.

Being able to learn is a God-thing you know. If God didn’t give us the ability to learn we all might as well be rocks or something mindless and inanimate. And here is a truth and a fact: If God doesn’t give it, we don’t get it.

Like in Numbers 29 when Moses was reciting to Israel all the things the Lord had done and encouraging them to “…keep the words of this covenant, and do them…”, in verse 4 Moses says, “But GOD didn’t give you an understanding heart or perceptive eyes or attentive ears until right now, this very day.” If He doesn’t give it, believer or not, then we don’t get it.

Who is the sole source of wisdom? God. Where does a wise man get his wisdom? God. Who gives understanding to the heart? God. Who opens our eyes? God. Who gives us ears to hear? God. And once we perceive, who gives us insight to understand what we’ve perceived? God. If God doesn’t give it, we don’t get it. There comes first the idea that i am seeing, second i may recognize what i am seeing, and last i understand about what i’m seeing.

There is also a balance to this: i believe everyone is born with the capacity to get understanding as is bestowed on us all by God from the beginning. There ARE extraordinary students and teachers who refuse to acknowledge God, but we need to remember that the Lord makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. But i want to take it a step beyond this world by saying learning is one thing, but we can’t make the most of things solely with what we were born with. Just because we can breath, think, and choose doesn’t mean we automatically know the best choice and actually possess the courage and strength to put it in motion.

Actually putting what God says in motion requires more than just carnal learning abilities. We need Jesus in order to make our understanding and knowledge to go beyond just our brain. We need more than good understanding and knowledge, but God understanding and knowledge.

As was mentioned previously, the Lord takes the idea of teaching so seriously, that the idea of teach, teaching, being instructed, and giving instruction is mentioned over 270 times. Teachers are like pruners, they train the vine and gently cause it to prosper in order to make it more fruitful. Teaching is such a big deal to God He even mentions in James 3:1 saying “don’t let many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” or “held to a higher standard”. Are we careful who we listen to? Do we check the instruction of teachers comparatively against the Bible or do we just take someone’s word for scriptural accuracy? C’mon, we can’t allow ourselves to become so complacent that we cease to check out what we allow in our eyes and ears. We can’t take the word of a friend of a friend concerning what the Lord says and means. i consider it irresponsible to take the word of someone just because they have published books and speak a lot without checking out what they are presenting as wisdom. If someone comes to your church and tells you the way to build a bigger better church is to squeeze the people, pounding them constantly about giving money, money, money, something is off with that and we must have some wisdom about what to do.

2 Peter 2:1 says there will be false teachers amongst us who bring in heresy or a “wasting disunity”. The Lord is saying, “Be careful what you see little eyes, be careful what you hear little ears, be careful little mouth what you say, be careful little hands what you do, be careful little feet where you go, and be careful little heart what you love.”

At this point i think it prudent to mention four basic guidelines for sound doctrine that we should use as a check and balance system: 1) Sound doctrine applies to the entire Body of Christ, 2) Sound doctrine should be by two or more scriptures for Deuteronomy 19:15 says “…by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.”, and 3) Sound doctrine is based on the entire Bible, cover to cover, not just select feel good verses, just the O.T. or just the N.T., but cover to cover. And 4, all scripture is relevant and necessary for the edification and instruction of the Body of Christ today. Rom15:4  “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

In light of those guidelines, when we employ them…. they are easy to put to work in all our getting wisdom and knowledge as it’s driven by the standard of God’s righteousness and the Bible. The world certainly has very fluid standards and, what i call, mobile boundaries, so we shouldn’t be willing to define right and wrong by such worldly subjective standards. We need to get knowledge and wisdom from a better source. And wouldn’t you know, it just our good fortune that Jesus Christ has made a way us to approach the sole source of imagination, salvation, wisdom, and knowledge in the universe, God Himself, and absolutely anyone can come to God through Christ. Lend me your ears! This is a good thing. Get wisdom and instruction for yourself from the best place, GOD! Be wise and learn well.

Proverbs 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.”

i’ve often thought that for me personally, being wise enough to know wisdom and understanding when i see it would be truly wonderful because over the years i’ve felt i’ve missed many of God’s gold wisdom nuggets. Although i may have missed the opportunity, in His continuous faithfulness, they weren’t gone and He brought them back around, but truly, i would like to get better at perceiving and receiving instruction from my righteous source. When wisdom knocks on our door, do we even perceive it, or is it just obscure to our eyes and fuzzy to our ears? How many men and women have married the wrong person, and the Lord really was extending them wisdom and flags of warning, but they simply weren’t in a frame of mind to hear and see?

i fear many are sleepy eyed, they hear the lullaby of the world and it sings softly to them that it’s ok to doze off for a while, and in the mean time, while they’re asleep, the world is changing. The dazzle of this world fills their senses, and often, Jesus, the wisdom of God is right under their noses and they don’t know it, and i don’t mean just those who are lost and undone either. Sleeping people don’t learn well, nor do they teach anything but how to sleep.

i heard a man say once ‘One of the things we’ve learned from history is that we don’t learn from history.’ There is understanding and wisdom to be learned from history, and all i can think is we and our leaders aren’t accepting the God-activated gift of learning, which takes life to a whole new place. H.P.K.R. – Hear, perceive, know, and receive.

It seems to me we take for granted the opportunities to learn as God places circumstance after circumstance in front of us. Maybe we have become complacent to change and the chance to expand & grow. Like the elderly man who finally took up the notion to own a computer and learn to use it. He went about it like a man with a new car, he purposed to learn about his new tool. Do we listen to the Lord with the same enthusiasm, lending Him our ears, looking diligently for the work of the Lord so we can go join Him in it? Not only do we come into this world with the ability to learn, when we let Jesus into our lives, suddenly our ability to get instruction and wisdom is supercharged!

We can begin getting wisdom and receiving instruction by cultivating a mindset of faith and trust in Christ…and that very simple intent of our heart leans us towards embracing the endless possibilities within the relationship with our beloved; being instructed and learning from the Living God ignites creative thoughts, pushes past our current limits and comfort zones, engages us in a deeper purpose than just serving ourselves, and makes us fully alive.

Jesus told the disciples to “learn”, “ To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity”… God’s teaching and our learning causes us to come completely awake— He makes us to thrive consciously. Amos 5:6, “Seek the Lord and you will live,” He was not just speaking of eternity. He was speaking of living life right now. And, conversely, isolate yourself from the love of the Lord, and you will join the living dead, or those without Christ….you know, people can’t say they are genuinely alive just because they are not medically dead.

We cannot be fully alive if we treasure our hatred more than we treasure the Love of God, Jesus Christ. Anyone who is so thoroughly tied to the past, their disillusionments, and disappointments doesn’t love history, but might very well simply be escaping the present. We have to teach our children well and be present in the room. In order to teach well we must learn well. i can’t give away what i don’t have, and if i don’t possess knowledge, understanding, or my gifting is imaginary, i can’t give it away. Sort of like a man who has chicken pox but he tells everyone he has measles. It doesn’t make any difference how loudly he tells everyone he has chicken pox, the only thing they can catch is measles. We can only give away what we’ve actually got, and if, by God’s revelation and insight, you realize you don’t possess wisdom and insight, go to God and get something better. Ask Him to cause you to have a better attitude and to have right things to give away that others would prosper and be fruitful.

It is difficult to maintain our momentum in Christ if we are dishonest, disingenuous and hypocritical. If we live in our own false little world where we attempt to create reality with our lies, we will become dull and will live like tarnished silver. The truth sets us free to be who we are rather than who we fabricate ourselves to be. We have to teach our children well, thus we, ourselves have to learn well. Jesus said in Matt 11:29, “Learn from me”. Know, perceive, understand and receive, let’s give the Lord our ears. We pray “Lord teach us that we may prosper!” Think about it.

Wisdom isn’t just knowledge, but “know how.” God’s wisdom enables us to “know how” to do things, and includes having the ingenuity to formulate a plan and then to carry it out in the most efficient manner. Even if you think you’ve got plenty, get some more, because obviously if you think you’ve got enough, the truth is you’re in short supply.

This has been Outposts, a little bit of well spent time with cool jazz and contemplative conversation. This program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Sinclair Men’s Wear on main street, service in step with southern progress at Best Radio and TV, Eddie over at Area 22 Guitars, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

According to Ephesians 4:21-24, if we hear God and are taught of God, then we are empowered to put off our old conduct and are renewed in our spirit and mind. Learning, God-activated learning teaches us how to put on the new creation we become, in true righteousness and holiness.

Give the Holy Spirit your ears, surrender to Him your eyes, teach your children well. Thanks for joining me, drive carefully, watchout for the other guy, and we’ll catch up next time.