Living for Jesus
Relying on Your Own Experience Leads to Spiritual Vertigo
Written on 3 December 2007 by BevK
I woke up on Sunday with the worst case of vertigo I have ever had. I couldn’t get out of bed without help because the very act of sitting up set the room spinning. Today I got out of bed on my own, but I was still listing into walls. This usually gets better once I’ve been in an upright position for a bit. I know exactly which movements will start the room spinning, and I work hard to avoid doing those things.
As I was reading My Utmost for His Highest today, the following struck me, “If your faith is in experiences, any thing that happens is likely to upset that faith; but nothing can ever upset God or the almighty Reality of Redemption; base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God.” This reminded me of my own problems with vertigo. The world around me begins spinning because my inner ear is off. It’s telling me one thing and my eyes another and the world seems to spin out of control. As Christians we’re called to keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, but we tend to start looking at things from our own experience and when things don’t go according to how we think they should, our world spins out of control and our faith becomes unsettled. But nothing changes God, so rather than fix our eyes on what we believe by experience to be true, we should always fix our eyes on what we know is always true, Jesus Christ.
Sphere: Related ContentEnvy
Written on 20 August 2007 by BevK
In my reading of late I’ve discovered several articles on the theme of envy. In his article “Sinful” for National Review Online, Jonah Goldberg says,
We almost never discuss envy anymore. “One may admit to pride, avarice, lust, anger, gluttony, and laziness, and one may even boast of them,” Gonzalo Fernandez de la Mora wrote 20 years ago in Egalitarian Envy. “There is only one capital sin no one admits to: envy. … Its symbol ought to be a mask.” This is a shame; the most pathetic of the seven deadly sins is perhaps the most consequential.
He looks at envy from a political prespective.
More damning, however, is that these studies turn a vice into a virtue. With the exception of the self-esteem movement, which glorifies pride, it’s difficult to imagine another area where we so shamelessly tout a sin as the basis of public policy.
In Sunday’s edition of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, the cover story was “Green with Envy? Get Over It.” Author David B. Crabtree offers four steps to getting past wasting our time on envying the possessions or accomplishments of others.
Pat Barrett in “Rotten Bones and Other Side Effect of Envy,” gets to the heart of how envy grows within us and causes us physical, psychological, and spiritual problems. Several other sidebar pieces give examples of envy. I think that most Christians recognize when they are being envious, at least initially. It’s not an emotion that feels “good” or “right.” It’s a sin that all are susceptible to because people don’t just envy wealth, they envy other’s good looks or personal relationships. I think that the inundation of advertising in our lives often fuels an envious spirit. Television shows where the average family lives in a nice well-furnished home has caused me to envy the nameless “they” who are doing better than I. Envy of unsaved neighbors who drive a better car and go on annual vacations morphs into self-righteous back patting thoughts about how we could have those things, but we (cue organ music) tithe to the Lord.
If you struggle with envy, I suggest you read the TPE articles. They have some sound advice as well as scripture that will help you overcome envy in your life.
Sphere: Related ContentCounterfeiting the Holy Spirit
Written on 20 July 2007 by BevK
I read today in My Utmost for His Highest:
When we are in an unhealthy state physically or emotionally, we always want thrills. In the physical domain this will lead to counterfeiting the Holy Ghost; in the emotional life it leads to in ordinate affection and the destruction of morality; and in the spiritual domain if we insist on getting thrills, on mounting up with wings, it will end in the destruction of spirituality.
Just last night, I was describing to a friend of my daughter’s people who like to get slain in the Spirit. They always go forward and always get slain, and in very many instances do so in a dramatic way. One woman in particular would gracefully fall after checking to be sure there was someone there to catch her. On one occasion after falling senseless to the floor, she readjusted her skirt and then resumed her pose. She was counterfeiting the Holy Ghost. She was one of those group of charismatic Christians who always seek the thrill, when, as Oswald Chambers says they need to base their lives on the sure knowledge that He is with them always not just in those in tingly Holy Ghost moments (especially manufactured moments.)
The reality of God’s presence is not dependent on any place, but only dependent upon the determination to set the Lord always before us. Our problems come when we refuse to bank on the reality of His presence. The experience the Psalmist speaks of - “Therefore will we not fear, though . . .” will be ours when once we are based on Reality, not the consciousness of God’s presence but the reality of it - Why, He has been here all the time!
I do not mean to say that I think everyone that is slain in the spirit is manufacturing the moment. Far from it, but spiritual maturity means that we are not spiritual thrill seekers looking for the next anointed speaker or the next miracle worker.
Sphere: Related ContentThe New New Atheism
Written on 16 July 2007 by BevK
Attacking “God” has become a lucrative book business. But there’s not much substance behind the latest atheist tracts.
The New New Atheism is an excellent article by Peter Berkowitz. Read the entire article where he presents his case against Christopher Hitchen’s latest book “God is Not Great.”
Sphere: Related ContentThe case for the new new atheism has been restated most recently and most forcefully and wittily in “God Is Not Great” by my friend Mr. Hitchens. It must be said that Mr. Hitchens is simply incapable of uttering or writing a dull sentence. And it should be added that only a very daring or very foolish person would throw down the gauntlet on an issue so close to Mr. Hitchens’s heart.
But his arguments do not come close to disproving God’s existence or demonstrating that religion is irredeemably evil.
Pray for India and Religious Freedom for Christians There
Written on 6 June 2007 by BevK
Our family has a heart for India, and when I read things like this, I am very sad. Please pray that the freedom of religion professed by the Indian constitution will be a reality and not a sham. Ministries all over India are being circumscribe in their activities, even in places that have respected them in the past.
The Hindu Nationalist Party of India is trying to enact an anti-conversion bill in the northern state of Uttarakhand. That brings to eight the number of states in the country who either have such a law on the books or have a proposal circulating in the legislative assembly.
On February 8, the United News of India reported that the BJP promised an anti-conversion law in its manifesto for the Assembly polls in the state.
Gospel For Asia’s KP Yohannan says they do have a severe effect, but “in spite of these laws being passed, people are giving their lives to Christ. Jesus said, [speaking to His apostles] ‘(Upon this rock) I will build my church,’ and they paid the price with their lives. And the church continues to grow.”
How will this new law affect them? Yohannan says that if the law in Himachal Pradesh is any example, their missionaries are in for a rough time. “Ever since they passed that law, we have had more difficulties and more persecution. We are praying that no matter what, the Gospel will go forth, and we must continue to share the love of Christ with these people, no matter where they are.”
Read more at Mission Network News.
Sphere: Related ContentA Tale of Two Men
Written on 25 May 2007 by BevK
The time and place of one’s death is never assured, unless one is dying of terminal cancer. When we’re young, we tend to think death is somewhere far in the future, so we don’t take care of the eternal things.
The first man lived a typical American life. In his early forties, he had a good paying job, a wife who loved him, and beautiful young children. Church was a part of their lives, but not really part of his. He was the husband who came to church occasionally to appease his wife. He understood the Christian message; he just wasn’t ready to take it up, yet. He’d get to it when it really mattered. This man died suddenly, of a disease that hid itself right up to the end. He died never having accepted Christ even though he knew what he was risking.
The second man lived for himself all his life. Now old, he was suffering the consequences of a life of excess. Slowly fighting for breath he stubbornly held off his brother’s pleas that he accept Jesus as savior. With death near, he was planning to continue his obstinate refusal to allow someone else to be the guiding force of his life. His brother prayed. A call was made to an evangelist. Little progress was made from his visit. But God had a plan for this man’s life. The nursing staff, beautiful Christian women, took up the cause. By the next day, the man had accepted Jesus, and the difference was stark. The gloom and depression of dying had been replaced by joy. Finally knowing the savior, he now knew that Jesus wasn’t about denying him life but was in fact giving him life even as his own physical body failed him.
It’s joy to know the savior. He offers an abundant life. We cling to things that we are sure he will make us give up if we take up his offer. Loathe to give up our habits, we choose to refuse his call never understanding that Jesus doesn’t ask you to give up your cigarettes or your drinking. He asks you to believe on him and make him Lord of your life. Yes, you will give those things up, but it won’t be a tsk, tsk, naughty, naughty, slap your hand, be a good boy kind of thing. Jesus offers something better, and once you begin to experience the joy of living life with him there with you, you’ll reach for more and more of the something better.
You can live your life like the first man and find yourself in an early grave without a savior. Or you can live your life like the second man and find yourself at the end with a life of despair meeting and accepting the savior just moments before you step into eternity. Or you can accept Jesus as your savior now and have an abundant life now. Trials and tribulation, additions and wrong choices will still plague you, but there will be joy in your life because you will be united to the one who truly loves you and truly wants the best for you and truly has the resources to make that happen for you. How you live your life is always your choice. Before you accept Jesus, you cannot know the glory that waits on the other side of acceptance. Don’t let the habits you think you must hold on to keep you from choosing Christ.
Sphere: Related ContentGuarding Your Mind While Watching the Tube
Written on 22 May 2007 by BevK
Our family has a Blockbuster account for receiving DVDs through the mail. It makes renting movies simple. While the service offers reviews of the available movies, I’ve found that a good source for determining whether we want to rent a movie is to read what Plugged In Online has to say about it. They offer an excellent synopsis along with information in the following categories: positive elements, spiritual content, sexual content, violent content, crude or profane language, drug or alcohol content, and a conclusion. I appreciate the detail in the reviews. You can find information on movies currently in release as well as DVDs available for rental. They have more than a 1000 reviews available.
The site also has music and television sections. You can support the online version by subscribing to the print version.
Sphere: Related ContentDoing, Doing, Doing
Written on 18 May 2007 by BevK
I was reading My Utmost for His Highest this morning and found it was in keeping with what I have been struggling with myself. Rather than simply walk with God, I try to do things for God. If I don’t have a list of things accomplished by the end of the day, I don’t feel like I’ve had a worthwhile day. If I haven’t done something for someone else, I haven’t done anything. I spend a lot of my time doing for other people. Which, in and of itself, isn’t wrong, but if it keeps me from concentrating on God or keeps me busy doing what I think is best, then it is cover for my own self-centered thinking rather than Christ-centered thinking.
Sphere: Related ContentJesus says that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. “Do not bother about being of use to others; believe on Me” - pay attention to the Source, and out of you will flow rivers of living water.
Single Motherhood
Written on 15 May 2007 by BevK
My strong advice to all young women is to avoid being a single mother at all costs. That means when you find Mr. Right, you need to think in the long, long term. Will he be a good father? Will he be the kind of husband who makes sure that there is a roof over your head and food on your table? Sure you can take care of those things right now, but when you’re eight months pregnant and you need to take time off from work, will you be able to do that? Or are you attaching yourself to a deadbeat? If he’s willing to live off you now, why would that change in the future?
Of course, that also means that he will in fact agree to marry you without getting “the goods” in advance. If a man is going to be the father of your children, he needs to respect you. You’ll need that respect when your sons reach their teen years. Is Mr. Right the kind of man who will look his sons in the eyes and tell them they will not disrespect their mother? Does he respect his own mother? If he does, he’s almost sure to pass that disrespect on to his sons. Is he the kind of man who will be there when your sons are teenagers or will he have skipped out to greener pastures when the going gets tough?
It may sound stodgy and old-fashioned, but a reliable, responsible, faithful husband is worth his weight in gold. Avoid the guy that makes demands on you that aren’t in your best interest to “show you love him.” How about he shows he loves you by loving you as Christ loved the church? Christ died for the church.
Of course, if you narrow your focus to men who regularly attend church, read their Bibles, pray, and have a relationship with God that isn’t dependent on being near you, you’re much more likely to find a man who will be Mr. Right in your eyes and in God’s eyes. Since God only wants what’s best for you, you’d do well to go with someone He approves.
Being a single mother is harder work than you can imagine. Father’s are important. Whether your children have a true father is up to you. Think long term. Choose wisely. Storms may still come, but you won’t have created storms you could avoid.
Sphere: Related ContentThoughts on Mothering
Written on 13 May 2007 by BevK
Every mother of more than one child has times when she feels stretched in several directions at once–trying to meet the needs of each individual child. In fact, often a mother of one or two who is thinking of having more children asks herself, “Will I be able to handle more than one or two? Will I love each child as much as the first? How will I manage if they all need me at once?” There’s only one adequate response–the same Lord who blessed you with the children will enable you to take care of them!
This article by Tamara Eaton at CHFWeb is great Mother’s Day reading.
Thoughts on Mothering
As the homeschool mother of a houseful, Tamara has the experience to back what she has to say.
I believe the key is to keep our focus on what’s really important and not let other things interfere–our children are only young once and we can let up on housework, laundry, elaborate meals, outside activities, etc., when necessary, to take time to really play with them, read to them, talk to them, listen to them, discern their needs and BE THERE for them!
That’s advice that you can’t take too early in your children’s lives. Because eventually, you’ll come to realize it. Better early than late.
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