NoRegrets

God, A Giver.

2011-12-23T09:13:00.000-06:00

God loves, God gives.

Think of it. God, because of His tremendous love gave and continues to give.

In the beginning He gave by creating an atmosphere that would be conducive to meaningful relationships

He gave us significance by allowing us to call a spot in this universe home, and by choosing to walk with us.

He gave us time, a new invention that could be invested or squandered.

He gave us beauty, in the universe, the earth and in each other.

He gave us opportunity to live with purpose.

He gave us choice so that we could love.

He gave us a real fight so that the victory could be extremely sweet.

God gave us His Word.

God gave us a host of examples in life to follow and to avoid.

He gave us His son, who would come and give and give and give until He had nothing more He could give.

He gave us an example of what absolute power and authority looks like and how it should be used.

He gave meaning to every breath, to every life, to every death.

He gives us hope, in that while we were sinners He died for us.

He gives us significance and security that we could never find anywhere or in anyone else.

God gives rest to the weary, strength to the weak and power to the powerless.

God gives wisdom and understanding.

God made us in His image. God is a "giver". As I get older I understand that the most precious moments in life are not found in getting of a gift but in giving a gift. As a child there was the excitement of being loved and opening a gift that was picked especially for me, but, as I age, it becomes about giving....giving myself, my time, my talents, thoughts and prayers to those I love.
This Christmas I encourage you to pause and consider what God has given you and to dedicate yourself to imitating Him this season and in the years to come for there will be a time where the life on earth that He has given, He will take. He will then give again. He will give those who have accepted His gift, eternal life and a sinless eternity. For those who have been faithful He will give rewards. For those who have rejected His gift, He will give eternal hell.

In the beginning God.....In the end, God....

It is amazing that God decided to give so that we might participate with Him in abundant life.

We wish you a wonderful Christmas celebration.

Daniel 1:9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,

Daniel 1:17
17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

John 3:16 “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self- control.

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Galatians 1:3-5 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Dave Wager davewager.com

2011-12-08T16:09:00.001-06:00

Keeping It Simple

Sometimes I think we make the simple complicated. It seems that whenever I want to enjoy a hotdog, there is always someone around to tell me a plethora of reasons why I willbe suffering if I eat that hot dog. I guess my simple mind is thinking of beinghungry and trying to fight starvation, rather than the ramifications of non-organic beef, chicken, and pork.

Perhaps, at times, to know more than one needs to know isgood. If the hot dog, long- term, is actually detrimental to my health, I wouldbe wise to listen to the argument. However, for me, if I trusted the person andthey were not a competing brands hot dog salesman, a simple warning couldsuffice, and more than that becomes information overload.

I often see Christians in the marketplace complicating thesimple. We so often want to argue points, quote Scripture, and give historylessons, when the one we are talking to may not be interested in such enormousamounts of information.

For example, in this election year, we will hear much aboutthe issues on all sides of the aisle. Abortion will be, no doubt, a topic ofdiscussion. We will have groups gather and walk with sandwich boards down citystreets with pictures of dismembered fetuses in hopes to educate. Others willdebate the very idea of life, and when it starts, and who is in charge ofcaring for those who cannot care for themselves. The labels pro-life and pro-choice will beassigned to candidates, campaigners, and citizens.

In reality, the issue is not really pro-choice or pro-life;it is whether or not we are pro-God or pro-self. Abortion is not a problem; it is a symptom ofa Godless, self-centered society. The problem is our ignorance of God and ourchoice to not include Him or obey Him, for if we did include and/obey Him,there would be no need for abortion. There would be no need, because we wouldonly be sexually active in marriage, and we would be faithful to our spouse, soany baby who is conceived would be conceived in the context of a lovingenvironment that would allow it the best chance possible to succeed. All babieswould be born to moms and dads (man and woman) who would be intentionallyloving God and others and be committed to the ideals of the family that God hasset forth.

The abortion symptom has gotten too complicated, with toomany pictures, and not enough talk about the problem that arises when we haveno absolute, no God, and no authority.

That brings us to another symptom (problem). That symptomwould be those who think that there is no God to answer to, and who think thatthis world and universe came into existence by itself as a matter of chance.Christians are busy filling their heads with many details as to how one mightconvince others of the reality of God. We take apologetic courses, evangelisticcourses, family life seminars, and go to youth conferences. We fill our time with experts in service, anddoctrine, and debate. Yet, in the end, we change nobody’s mind, and the factsbecome idle trivia that someone one day puts on cards for a Bible trivia game (asif there was trivia in the Bible).

If we are to convince an unbelieving world that there is aGod, we need to live our lives as if there is one. Our life could be theapologetic. That would keep it simple. If we wanted to evangelize, we could just be genuinely excited aboutGod’s grace and mercy, and live as if we are excited about it. (Here in Packercountry, I am not sure we need to give anyone a course on Packer Evangelization;it kind of happens automatically.) Really, if we know all the arguments, andcan debate the experts, but live as if God is not real, or His Word is notauthoritative, then we really have nothing to say.

We could try to take a course on evolution versus the BigBang theory, and come up with a thousand irrefutable facts that prove God’sexistence. Or, we could use the simpleto answer the profound, because when you have truth on your side, too manywords usually cloud what you are trying to say.

For example, many people get embroiled in a debate over theactual age of the earth. Some say the rocks are a million years old, and somesay they cannot be that old because of a young earth. All I really know is thatthe Bible tells us that God created the earth in six days. He meant what Hesaid. Not only that, the age of the earth is not important. Since God created amature earth, He created things with age. I have no idea what age he createdAdam or Eve, but they were mature. The trees were mature, as they had fruit onthem, so, whatever age a mature fruit tree was/is, they were at least that oldat creation. Likewise the mountains and bottom of the sea, I assume, werecreated with age and looked that age. So, when a non-believer tells me theyfound a rock that is a billion years old, I say, “Wow!” (I respond that way notbecause I think the earth is a billion years old. It is not that old; it is a young earth. Checkout the Bible.) I respond that way because, for all I know, that rock doesnothing to support or decrease the idea of a young earth, and I think about howamazing God is to be able to create something with age. Sometimes, the answersare simple.

The State of the Church in America

2011-10-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we have a hard time understanding what we mean when we say church. To some, it is an institution that has been put in place for their personal benefit. To others, it is a place to visit, to be religious on Christmas and Easter, before attending family gatherings and celebrations. Still others use the church as a crutch for whatever ails them.

The church in America has become somewhat impotent, yet the reasons for such a slippage into meaninglessness seem to be a mystery. To most, church attendance is not that important, and we have made it legalistic to be required to attend. In fact, a football game, a late night party, or a summer cottage can take the place of going to church, and we have no guilt, shame, or remorse for our actions.

Some might look at this problem as that of the individual, and there is some merit to assigning the problem to the people. Certainly, the church has become something we do instead of who we are. It has become something we give to, rather than something we live for. It has become something we need, rather than something we want. It has become about us, our tastes, our desires, and our personal importance. It has become a place where we can gather with our friends, sort of like the old television program, Cheers, without the bar.

Others might see the problem as belonging to the church in that it has become irrelevant, out of touch, or a waste of time. Some see a leaderless democracy that yielded to the loudest voice, while others have issues with music, worship, programs, and lighting.

Perhaps the problem lies in society where we have now gotten so used to multiple voices and inputs that the church has become just another voice, another input.

It would be arrogant of me to believe that I understand all of the reasons for decades of decline, but it would be foolish of me to believe that the church is in good shape and has met the challenges of our nation and culture in a way that would honor our Lord.

For starters, one needs to understand the difference between a church as individuals and the institution of the church. The institution has little meaning, and when we assign it great meaning, then we devalue the individual. As the institution side of the church increases, the individuals become more and more expendable, and less and less important. The institution grows and the individual shrinks. Soon there is little to support the enormous “structure” we have put into place, and it quickly fades into oblivion.

If we view the church as a body, the body of Christ, and not a structure, it is a group of individuals. (This is not to say that we do not need structure, as we do.) These individuals are entrusted with the Great Commission, and Satan is doing battle against them today. This group of individuals is light in darkness, salt in a decaying world, and hope to the hopeless. In the process of life, they get beat up and trampled on by the forces of evil, and often need to escape in order to renew their strength, purpose, and power though something we call “fellowship.” This fellowship is sweet and a place that soldiers, real soldiers, would not give up for a football game, a party, or a cabin in the woods. This fellowship is so important that they would rather die than live without it, They would rather fight than quit, and they would rearrange their lives to see it happen.

Perhaps that is problem number one in the church. Perhaps, in its attempt to reach the lost, control the government, and clean the environment, they have lost focus on the idea of being a resalination plant. Perhaps the church has become about those who cannot have true fellowship, and has thereby lost its importance. Perhaps the church has lost the idea of being salt and light, and now works at blending light and darkness, giving it a strange hue of grey that makes people more depressed than excited.

Maybe there is just a lack of leadership in the church today. Since most churches seem to be for the people, by the people, and of the people, the leadership is often hamstrung in its effort to lead. There needs to be endless committees, endless discussions, and political efforts put forth, rather than having leadership that has spent their time on their knees and who are ready to teach, lead, and challenge the real body to take on the world in which they live.

It could be that the church has just messed up the basics. In 2 Timothy 4, young Timothy is told to preach the Word. Then he is told to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with patience. It seems to be clear that this would be a good thing for the modern pastors to embrace. Some certainly preach the Word, but do it is a haphazard way. Some only reprove, some only rebuke, and some only exhort. Few seem to do all three, which is evident by the fact that 57% of those who say they are born again Evangelicals think that there is more than one way to heaven. (There is not....John 14:6.)

Maybe the church is in its current state because the church has begun to trust the gift rather than the giver, or has manipulated its people to reward the rich and powerful with positions of power and authority, because they are rich and powerful. Maybe we have lost the idea of the institution holding people accountable, to being a shepherd of the sheep, and a watchman on the wall.

Perhaps, due to the plethora of words in our culture, the church has just added to the pile and the abundance and has caused them all to be somewhat irrelevant because they all come from the same power base--our self, and our understanding, and our personal benefit.

Whatever the reason, the church today is not what it could be, and does not seem to be desiring to be all it could be. The answer lies in individuals who walk intimately with God and begin to identify those around them doing the same, and who begin to regularly meet in order to hear the Word, reprove, rebuke, and exhort each other. Perhaps we need the leadership in the church to lead and to quit worrying about the political fallout. Perhaps we need to make the church about God again, and not about us.

The church, the real church, is the bride of Christ, not a brick and mortar structure. It is important to Him. It should be important to us, so if it is not, we need to take time to figure out why, and to start to readjust our lives to reflect what is really important.

Rod Dreher, in the Dallas Morning News, wrote the following: "But it should be remembered that a religion that makes no demands on people other than that they follow their bliss and be nice to everybody else is a religion that has no power to change minds and hearts. It will not inspire people to heroic deeds of self-sacrifice for the greater good, nor is it likely to endure."

Maybe it is time to have a new reformation. Maybe it starts with me.

Dave Wager davewager.com

Obama's Own Words

2011-09-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Dave Wager davewager.com

We Want It To Be True

2011-04-25T13:49:00.001-05:00

So often we desire something so badly that we make it true. In fact, we might even say, “Well, it is true to me,” or “It is true for this person or that person,” and watch the people we are talking to nod their heads in agreement.

In reality, the people we are with should be nodding their heads in disgust.

It is typical of mankind to want to make up truth. In the Christian world we often hear people talk about God leading them, when in reality, they are leading God by their wishes and desires. They so want something to happen or be true that they assign the "God's will " tag to it to silence their critics.

We often craft the stories we tell to our friends about ourselves and our lives so that the image we want to portray is clear.

Oprah, who grew up Baptist, once declared that Jesus Christ could not be the only way to heaven. Rob Bell, who cannot fathom the idea that Ghandi would be in hell, has decided that eternal punishment is not consistent with what his wishes would be, and what his God would do, so he has declared a new doctrine, a purgatory doctrine of sorts. Radical Muslims believed that running airplanes into buildings would be an act that satisfied Allah and give them great standing in the next life. Senior Digambar monks wear no clothes. They do not consider themselves to be nude — they are “wearing the environment.” In the practice of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a living person, acting as proxy, is baptized by immersion on behalf of a deceased person of the same gender. The baptism ritual is as follows: after calling the living proxy by name, the person performing the baptism says, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you for and in behalf of [full name of deceased person], who is dead, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” The Jedi Church believes that there is one all-powerful force that binds all things in the universe together. The Jedi religion is something innate inside every one of us. The Jedi Church believes that our sense of morality is innate. So they promote that you quiet your mind and listen to the force within you!

Woodism is a pop-culture-based religion created in 1996 by Reverend Steve Galindo. They follow the late cult director, Edward D. Wood Jr., and they look to him as a savior. At The Church of Ed Wood they use Ed and his films to inject spirituality into those who get little fulfillment from more mainstream religions like Christianity. By looking at his films and his life, they learn to lead happy, positive lives. They strive for acceptance of others and of the self.

One individual responded as follows when asked about religious beliefs: "One person's folly is someone else's truth. In many respects, any thing which is based on faith alone is just plain illogical whether it involves Xenu, Snakes, Fairies , Reverend Moon or a Virgin birth."

One person's folly is another's truth? I would think that this is using the word "truth" loosely.

We people are goofy when we decide what is true, rather than discovering truth. It is strange to think that my logic is the measure of all things true. It is obvious to anyone who ever took a debate class that rhetoric does not equal truth. It is obvious that those who intimidate are not always right, and that intimidation in and of itself has nothing to do with truth.

Today in America we are a people, a sheep, following whatever sounds good to us or whatever makes sense to us. Mostly, we follow whatever makes our lives easier or affirms us the most. We have opportunity to listen to many pontificates for hour upon hour, and have become followers of Oprah, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rob Bell, or Joel Olsteen.

What happened to those who followed Christ? Where are they?

Truth is. It needs discovering, not making up. It will win in the end no matter how much it takes a beating during the middle of the game. Truth will stand, and all who break the truth today will be broken by it tomorrow.

I am not claiming that I know all truth. I am stating that there is a truth that will be evident, and it will not be dependent upon a common vote, a smooth talking Oprah or Rob Bell.

The Scriptures tell us that Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Deceptions are lies in a terminal state, for when we hit that level of belief, we have little hope.

Here is what we all know for sure.

Somehow, the earth and universe came into existence.
Somehow, we, personally, came into existence.
At some point, we all will die.

Since even the most moronic person who ever lived and the most brilliant would agree on these three points, we can at least begin a dialogue.

Somehow, there was born an earth, sky, and universe. Once again, if logic was the only game in town, we could conclude some things from the existence of the earth, sky, water, etc.

For example, the very computer that I am typing these thoughts on is something that also exists. I need not prove its existence to anyone, for the fact that I am typing on it and looking at it proves my case of its existence.

I, too, need not prove that the earth, sky, water, rocks, animals, or humans exist. They do, and all would agree to that.

I would also be safe in assuming that the computer on which I am writing this document was designed by someone, manufactured or made by someone or some process that was put in place by the designer, and eventually was created to fulfill the purpose for which it was designed.

Now, I do not need to know the designer, or like the designer, or agree with the designer to make any of my assumptions true. In fact, I could believe what I want, but my belief does not make anything true or false, and may indeed cause me to do some very foolish things with what was designed.

For example, I could decide that the designer did not know as much as I did about his design and purpose, so I would discover other uses for this computer that, I believe, would be better than the designer's plans. I could use the computer for a doorstop, and it could work perfectly for this purpose. In fact, it may be the best doorstop ever.

As foolish as it may be, I could eventually order computers for my entire company, and ask my employees to use them as doorstops because they work so well at holding the doors open. In this strange thinking I have indeed acknowledged and purchased something that was designed and manufactured, yet my shortsightedness has minimized the computer’s potential.

The universe, earth, and we, ourselves, were obviously designed. To think other than that puts one in the "moronic" category. If we were designed, we were designed with purpose, and we would be achieving that purpose or wasting it.

It is easier to never realize our potential. It is easier, much easier, to never be plugged in and used as a doorstop. Who’s to judge as to whether that not be a noble purpose?

I would say the same thing about the second universal observation. It seems quite obvious to all that the human body was planned out. There is very little random involved in the physical life we have. Our bodies seem to operate at a specific temperature, needs certain nutrients, need oxygen, need water, etc. We can believe anything we want to about temperature, nutrients, oxygen, and water, but the fact of the matter is that we need these things in order to sustain the life we have. Things are what they are and they work the way they were meant to work.

For example, we burn calories in order to have energy and keep warm. If we eat too many calories, we store the energy in the form of fat. If we eat too little, we stay skinny and could be lethargic. We can believe whatever we want to about weight loss and fitness, but the fact remains, calories in, calories out is what causes excess or not enough weight.

Man is intricately made. Therefore man has a creator, and since we have a creator, we have a purpose. As we ignore that purpose, we get caught up in being human door- stops, thinking that we do that well. We begin to think of ways that we could live to give us significance and security, and find neither in that we are looking for them in all the wrong places. Without a creator, it makes no sense. Without a purpose, we live for whatever is in front of us, and it becomes our purpose. We eventually begin to believe our personally written press clippings, and surround ourselves with those who would agree and applaud us.

This is interesting, at best.

The final universal fact that we agree on is the fact that all who are living will die. This is not hard to prove, and we as people learn this at a very young age. The fact of this matter makes this life, at best, a temporary place in our history. We come into existence one day, and if we make it out of the womb, we live x amount of years before dying and having our bodies turn back into clay. The human body that I give so much attention to today will be worm food tomorrow.

We all know this. We do not like it or dwell on it, because to us, this life thing is the only certainty we have, so we think.

In reality, death is more certain than life. Think about it. I cannot tell you for sure that I will be here the rest of this day, or tomorrow, or a year from now. But, I can, with certainty, tell you that I will die. It seems for me to live as if what is uncertain is certain, and what is certain as uncertain, is foolishness.

If this universe and our world in our universe had a designer, then it has a purpose. If my life had a designer, then I, too, have a purpose. If one day this wonderful body and brain I have will cease to function and become worm food, then either that is my purpose, or there is a greater and grander scheme at work in the universe.

I think it is much more logical to believe in a designer and in specific purposes rather than random design and purposeless existence.

If there is a designer and a purpose, then I would be wise to discover it, and not make it up according to my own desires and understandings. If there is a truth, it is not for those who are most eloquent, but for those who are most diligent.

Significance and security will never be found by those who seek them. Instead, they will be found by those who seek God, for if you would seek Him with all your heart, your mind, and your soul, you will find Him, and He will give you, as a gift of living in the context of your creation, the gift of significance and security.

The fool says in his heart there is no God....or no hell....or no truth....

Why have we elevated fools to such a status that allows them to influence our make- believe truth?

Dave Wager davewager.com

Christ's Death Is For Our Life

2011-04-22T08:42:00.003-05:00

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Jesus, the creator and sustainer of all life, of all things gave himself so that we might escape hell? No. So that we might have a sugar daddy in the sky? No. So that we might have fellowship in a local church? No. So that we might have hope for the future? No.

Sometimes we get things mixed up because we want to mix it up. This verse is often quoted but seldom applied. We love the idea of God dying for us, that makes us feel very special as it should. But we forget as to why He died, the reason that is stated in this verse.

He died so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

His death was not just about saving us in our death it was and is about life. Life now, life abundantly, life that gives meaning. We have no life without His death, His death is meaningless if it has no effect on our lives, today.

Titus 2:11-13
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

The grace of God that brings us salvation is about training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.

Those who portray Christianity as something that is good for the future while ignoring the present are deceived. Our salvation has three aspects to it. We are indeed freed from the penalty of our sins because of the death of Jesus but we can certainly look forward to a glorious future. The saving from our sins and the secure future are worth celebrating, but we are also saved today, right now , from the present power of sin in our lives and we need to live that way.

The benefits of being a Christian are benefits that are ours now, not someday. Our fellowship with God is now. Our love for our fellow man is now. Our lives have meaning, our deaths have purpose and our eternity is secured.

God's grace is not about an arrangement to avoid hell, although this is indeed wonderful, it is about loving God today, in public and allowing Him to use us to show the world who He is.

He, Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that se might die to sin....that we might live to righteousness.

This is not legalism, this is freedom. This is not being judgmental to other lifestyles, this is being obedient to the one and only God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Did yo ever wonder why God was never described as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau?

Perhaps Esau never really got it. Perhaps Esau allowed the present to be so important it destroyed what could have been. Perhaps Esau viewed God as one he needed for his future but not for today.

Jesus died on a cross, a cruel and agonizing death so that you and I might....die to sin and live to righteousness.

Dave Wager davewager.com

The New Legalism

2011-03-24T05:16:00.001-06:00

Colossians 3:1-10
Chapter 3

Put On the New Self

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Ephesians 5:1-12

Walk in Love

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

Paul sounds like a judgmental fundamental legalist. Yet we know he is not. Yet, when someone tells us that we ought to adjust our lifestyle today to reflect the fact that we love and honor and walk with God, we often give them the label of being judgmental, fundamental, or a legalist.

Can you imagine a modern day preacher actually saying what Paul said? He might say that we need to focus our minds on eternal things, that the things of this life are not worth putting our time and effort into. He might say that we need to die to ourselves so much so that our lives are hid with Christ in God, or that when people see us, they actually see God in our words, actions, and deeds.

If that were true, and the verses we started with are true, then our pastors might tell us that it would inconsistent to continually fill our minds with the sexual innuendos that are ever present on television and movies, and that we should guard our minds as to the many songs we fill it with that speak of sex, money, pride, despair, etc.

But if he did that, he would be labeled judgmental and legalistic.

What is interesting here is the idea of judgment and legalism being thrown as a defense for disobedience and disregard. As in all cases of re-creating normal, the one who holds to the truth, the true normal as God created it, must be found deviant in order for the deviant to become normal.

So the one who holds to the idea that one who loves and walks with God would not watch Desperate Housewives, listen to Lady GaGa, or spend three hours watching a movie that promotes things that would make God cringe, can be disregarded, and it could sound "spiritual" to do so.

In order for deviant behavior to become normal, the normal must be found deviant. The best way to find one who holds to obedience in our God is to find a way where he/she does not hold to obedience. Therefore, the accusation of legalist or judgmental is often used to silence the obedient, even as the crowd shouted "Crucify Him" to silence any real rational thought, and make the leader think that the majority is right, even while making an absurd request.

The reason the crowd got the crucifixion was because the leadership, who could have set Jesus free abdicated his responsibility. By washing his hands, by not using the power and authority he had for good, by doing nothing, he changed normal. When leadership could have taken a stand, they chose to be silent.

Throughout history Satan has used an excellent strategy to normalize deviant behavior. In the Garden of Eden he played with Eve's mind getting her to wonder if God really meant what He said. It was not as if Eve did not know what He said; she did. It was his goal to get her to add, understand, use her human logic, and make a decision based on what she thought was best. He worked at moving the authority from God to Eve. He worked at getting her to elevate herself and her thinking and to actually believe that God left something out, and that she could make things better.

Satan was a deceptive liar and Eve fell for it. How could she have disobeyed God when she clearly knew what He said? How too can we disobey God when we so clearly know what He says?

Legalism in the old times was something that happened as those who wanted to follow God added rules to what God said so that every knew how to apply what He said even when what He said was abundantly clear. Eventually a whole new document was created, called the Talmud, that was bigger than the Old Testament Scriptures. In the Talmud, and other writings, the writers went into great detail about what God meant by what God said. The rules that were written became equally or even more important that the Scriptures themselves.

The fact is, Jesus Himself got mad at this. One day as he was walking with His disciples, on the Sabbath, they reached out and grabbed some grain and ate it, and were accused of "harvesting" on the Sabbath. Jesus rebuked those who said this because the "rule" of the Sabbath was one of making sure we set aside intentional time to have a relationship with Him, and not about how many steps one took.

It is not really difficult to understand what God has said. We make it difficult when we need to add to it to make it work for us. For example, from the passage we started with in Ephesians it says this: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

This does not seem to need too much interpretation. I need to imitate Christ in dying to myself. I should not allow any sexual immorality or impurity or covetousness to be a part of my life. That would not be proper. I should not allow any filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking. I need to live understanding that one day there will be an accountability time with God as to how I lived, and those who disagree with this are deceivers whom I should avoid.

In fact, I should do everything I can to do in my life what would be pleasing to my Lord.

That means that I should watch the television programs and listen to the music and watch the movies that would please God. I should speak and spend my time and money in a way that would please God.

If I have trouble understanding this, I can turn to other passages of Scripture that can help me understand it such as Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

The reality is the new legalist needs to add to what God has said. They need to determine how many swear words are acceptable when watching a movie or television program. They need to determine how many sexual innuendos are acceptable, how much violence is approved by God, and how many crude remarks makes things acceptable. In fact, this is the same crowd that needs to determine how many alcoholic drinks are acceptable before one’s mind is altered, and how many inches above or below the knee a skirt must sit before it is considered modest.

Before you know it, those who claim to not be legalistic are the most legalistic, judgmental people that exist. In order to keep one foot in this world and one in the Spiritual realm, they have had to devise rules of acceptability for both. The new Talmud is gaining size, and it is far worse to break its rules than those given in Scripture. After all, we’re not really sure that God meant what He said.....or are we?

The Bible really seems to teach an all or nothing idea. We are not sort of saved from sin; we are saved from sin. We are not to be sort of pure; we are be pure. We are not to be sort of holy, but holy. We are not to be 95% faithful in our marriages; we are to be faithful.

It is the new legalists who have defined purity, as often portrayed on a bottle of water, as 98.9% pure. We all know that the word pure and 98.9% do not go together, but some marketing genius saw an opportunity to make something mutually exclusive not mutually exclusive.

The Bible is clear. If we get it, if we understand the message, this message changes our lives. Our salvation is about our faith in Jesus, in what God has done for us in accepting the invitation He has given us to be His children. If we get it, we understand that as a child of God we need not live like those who are not His children, and we adjust our lives according to reality, not culture. If we get it, we see that no sexual misconduct is acceptable, no greed, no gluttony, no pride, no hatred, no....etc.

That makes it easier than setting up rules. It instead allows us to set up life.

In the name of grace and love the new legalists have given license to self and sin. They know what God said, but are making up what He means to fit what they like. They call it "relating" to the world. They talk about a loving Father who created this world for them to enjoy, and they are going to enjoy it. They call those who challenge them legalists and judgers. They seek significance and security in things, when it is only available in Him.

The church is again inhabited with those who have been deceived; the evidence is in the impotence of their self-proclaimed faith and the continual cycle of failure that comes when each man does what is right in their own eyes.

We may not always understand God, but we must always obey Him, and when we start to mix our desires and understanding in our decision to obey or not, we end with a deadly mix that yields false hopes, dreams, and reality.

2 Timothy 3:16 - 4:5
16 Every scripture is God- breathed, and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for improvement, for training with respect to righteousness, 17 in order that the man of God may be complete, fitted out for every good work.

1 I solemnly charge you as one who is living in the presence of our God, even Christ Jesus, the One who is on the point of judging the living and the dead, I solemnly charge you as not only living in His presence, but also by His appearing and His kingdom; 2 make a public proclamation of the Word with such formality, gravity, and authority as must be heeded. Hold yourself in readiness for this proclamation when opportunity presents itself and when it does not; reprove so as to bring forth conviction and confession of guilt; rebuke sharply, severely, and with a suggestion of impending penalty. Pleadingly exhort, doing all this with that utmost self- restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong, and accompany this exhortation with the most painstaking instruction; 3 for the time will come when they will not endure our wholesome doctrine in that they will hold themselves firmly against it, but, dominated by their own personal cravings, 4 they, having ears that desire merely to be gratified, shall gather to themselves an accumulation of teachers. In fact, from the truth they shall also avert the ear, and [as a result] they shall receive a moral twist which will cause them to believe that which is fictitious. 5 But as for you, you be constantly in a sober mood, calm, collected, wakeful, alert in all things. Endure hardships. Let your work [as a pastor] be evangelistic in character. Your work of ministering fully perform in every detail…

Dave Wager davewager.com

Democracies Dark Side

2011-03-17T06:42:00.000-06:00

1 Samuel 8:7-9

7 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say
to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king
over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought
them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they
are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn
them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."

This was democracy in action. The people voted, the people demanded, and the people
were wrong. It is easy to get into a frenzy and join the rest of the sheep in running
in circles. The other nations have a king; we do not. They are normal; we are not.
We want to be normal; we do not care what it costs us.

Sometimes we can be most foolish.

God certainly gives man real choice and allows this real choice to be translated
into real consequences. We the people are only free when we hear and obey the voice
of God. We the people would be wise to know God and to obey Him, and to identify
others who know Him and listen to them.

This is an interesting dilemma here. God, knowing what was ahead, allowed those
He loved to make a bad decision. God must value free choice. He must value the idea
of man choosing to listen over making Him listen. This idea is consistent with the
story of the Prodigal Son. The father in that case probably knew that if he gave
his son what he requested, his son would squander it all, waste it, and ruin his
life. The father gave it to him anyway. The father knew that if this boy had this
resource, he would be a hurting man soon.

Then, as the boy was gone, perhaps dad waited every day for the destroyed boy to
come home. Then one day he saw him, and ran to him. Quite amazing.

When they got back together he put sandals on his feet and killed his fatted calf.

This boy was continually being surprised by the father. First, he probably thought
he would never get his inheritance early, but he did. Second, he thought that he
could never be forgiven, but he could. Third, he thought that his position as a
son could change; it could not.

I am sure the boy lost his inheritance, but never lost the love of the father or
the position as a son. I am sure he lived with scars, scorn from others, and a
lifelong regret. The father knew what was going to happen, and he let it happen.
I am sure he warned the boy the first time he asked, and he probably warned him
over and over again during his young life as he saw danger signs emerging. But,
the boy was insistent, and the father knew that this would teach him a real life
lesson.

It is my job to warn the next generation of the problems that will arise from ignoring
God, living for self, and creating a new normal that is dictated by the pagan world.
But they will probably not listen. I must warn them against living for riches, against
the evils of alcohol and trusting in money. But, they will probably not hear me
as they turn to others who approve such things.

So, I think I will go fatten a calf, and pray and watch and wait. One day, they
will come home, dirty, ruined, and ashamed. Their lives will never be the same.
Their youthful resources will have been scattered. Their minds, filled with the
ways of pagan thought, will be warped and slow to comprehend, but I will be there
to welcome them home.

I personally will be saddened with the thought of them leaving, I will be sad while
they are gone, and I will be saddened at the thought of what could have been, even
though I will be overjoyed at their return.

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne, Thy saints have dwelt secure;

Sufficient is Thine arm alone, and our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame,

From everlasting Thou art God, to endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight are like an evening gone;

Short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away;

They fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,

Be Thou our guard while life shall last, and our eternal home
Dave Wager davewager.com

For Those in Madison Wisconsin

2011-02-20T12:52:00.000-06:00

If the teachers and others who are protesting in Madison really believed in their cause they should take whatever consequence comes from their actions. The idea of calling in sick and then getting a doctor to lie about being sick is unethical and most cowardly. These are not people whom I would trust in leadership positions. They have proven themselves liars and cowards. (Those that are actually doing that.)

Everybody certainly has the freedom to express their opinions and we have provision for such events. No one needs to lie or hate.

Likewise, the Democrats who left town for Illinois are acting quite immature. There are not a majority of Democrats in the Senate for a reason. They need to deal with the reason, not run and hide. (Some of us in Wisconsin would be willing to draw a line around Madison and give it to Illinois....then perhaps we could land grab the U.P. and all would be good!)

If those in Madison represent the unions then again, I would like to have nothing to do with the unions for the membership seems to be liars and haters while pretending to be concerned for the next generation and the union bosses seem to be fine with that.

The problem has been that throughout the last many years we have been a nation of pretenders. We have pretended that we care about the next generation while absorbing all their resources and making it impossible to for them to ever get out of the hole we dug and placed them in. We keep wanting our due at their expense. We condemn the deficit while fighting to keep our part of it. We talk about love for country, love of children while being willing to ruin both by how we live and act.

Democracies cannot last without the absolute authority of God, because eventually the masses become so self absorbed that those with power keep voting themselves privilege while heaping the responsibility on the less privileged masses. As self indulgence increases, the foundation becomes weaker and weaker until it collapses. Entitlement rather than responsibility creates a lazy society.

Those in Madison prove the point. They are interested in solving the problem, but not at their expense even though they spin it to be about some nobler cause.

The public worker in our state is well cared for. They are cared for better than much of the private sector when it comes to wages, benefits etc. (Check some of the private school teachers salaries or some other non-profit salary and benefit packages) They should be holding a rally thanking the state government for how nice they treated them throughout the good years and support the fact that there needs to be big changes to solve a big problem.

Then our state students would actually have a lesson worth learning from them. Until then, the parents of our state need to use them as a bad example of how one resolves differences. (Once again, we held an election, these are the results. There is another election coming up in a few years.)

Dave Wager davewager.com

An open letter to the young lady who feels alone today...

2011-02-14T19:45:00.000-06:00

You were made to be loved.

I know there are times you feel like you were made to be used, but that is not the case. In fact, as you look at our wonderful creation and hear the voice of our Creator, you find that you were indeed made to be loved by Him and to love Him. As God crafted the world in which you live, He saw that it was good, for it was being crafted for you. God personally created you and personally created the world in which you live for you, as one of His many gifts to you.

Since we live in a world that is Godless, we often do not see how special life really is, and we feel used, cheap, abused, and hopeless. God, who started it all, had a plan. This plan involved loving, and you are the target of His love.

Take a look around the room you are sitting in. Pick an object, like a lamp, or a couch, or a pen that you might have in your pocket or purse. As you look at that object you will know that that object has some kind of value to the one who owns it. They bought it, with a price, so that, whatever it is, it can be a part of their lives. Not only that, you will notice that the object was something that someone designed for functionality. The object actually has a purpose to fulfill, and whoever bought it and is using it has undoubtedly agreed. You would also know, even without too much thought, that whoever designed this object also had to find someone to manufacture or make it. You know it did not just appear. In fact, you would have to be a bit moronic to believe so.

Indeed, if a lamp had a predesigned function, a designer, a purpose, and a maker, then our entire universe and you yourself did as well. You are wonderfully designed, as is our entire universe, and the very observation of that design screams of a designer and a maker.

Therefore, you were designed with purpose, and your purpose is to be one who is loved of God and loves God. The byproduct of doing that will also allow you to love other people.

It is important that you know that, because as you do, you will begin to live in the context of being one who is specially crafted, instead of acting as an accidental blob of protoplasm, which those who want to believe that all things came into existence on their own would like to believe.

Those who do not understand this are miserable, because they cannot live in the way they were created to live. In our first illustration, you would know that the owner of the lamp could do anything he/she wanted with the lamp, since they owned it. They could use the lamp as a baseball bat or a canoe paddle on the lake. If they do, they will both look stupid and be stupid. You see, what they have done is use the ownership of the item to abuse it, and in the process, destroy it.

God made you to love you and wants to love you, but, in real love, you have real choice. If you have real choice, you then also have real consequences. Those consequences are either good or bad according to your choices.

The Bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, that God Himself knit you together in your mother's womb. The Scriptures are clear that even before you were conceived, God knew all about you. He gave you your eyes, your nose, your personality, etc.

It is obvious to anyone who reads the Bible that God wanted to make it clear to us that we were made to live life in an intimate bond. Relationships, real loving relationships, are what we were created for and what we long for. God, by His own design, was intimately bonded with you during your time in your mother’s womb, and you were made to enjoy and respond to Him, and you did.

You were not only made to be intimately bonded to God. You were made to be intimately bonded to you mother. For nine months you were one with her. From the time you were born you were longing for her and looking to her for love, affirmation, and care. You were created to be intimately bonded to your father whose genetics you share and to whom you desire to be close. One day, you will chose a spouse of your own and you will make the most powerful and longest lasting human intimate bond with him/her, and begin the process of loving relationships all over with a new, yet to be known by man, generation.

You see, the wonder of life, the beauty of life, is in its relationships, its loving relationships.

Sin, in our lives and in this world, has robbed us of these relationships. Sin first and foremost blocks us from God. Sin also blocks us from working out that intimacy with our human dads, and, in fact, has caused many human dads to not even be around.

If our effort to be intimate without God and His plan, we have prostituted ourselves. Men have thought about women as objects to use instead of treasures to love. They have allowed their temporal urges to dictate and could care less about the woman or the life they have started, and are more than willing to abandon all in their ultimate pursuit of self-satisfaction. Women, in general, have bought into this routine. They have seen how much attention men give to those who are objects, and they long for being loved, so they line up and pay the price. In doing so, they have abandoned the way they were created, and while searching for significance, they find despair and abandonment.

You indeed want to be significant, so you search for it. You compromise, you cheat, and you do things that you regret in order to feel "good" about yourself. In the end, you lose, because the significance and security you seek cannot be obtained by seeking something or someone. It comes as a gift from God and is yours for that taking.

Here is the simple plan.
God made you and loves you and desires you to be all He created you to be. He is older than you, smarter than you, and loves you, so you can trust Him. The first thing you need to do is restore your loving relationship with Him, so that you can, once again, enjoy the plans and purposes of your life.

God knows that we are sinners, all of us, so instead of beating us up with it, He chose to send His Son Jesus, to this earth to take our punishment for sin and restore the relationship that was stolen by this sin. He saw your need and made a way for you to once again be in His family at His expense. In essence, He saw you as a needy abandoned child, because that is what you are in the sense that Satan and a Godless world offered you much, but delivered you nothing. He knows your need and sent Jesus to meet it.

God does not want you to use you, or abuse you, and He does not even need you. He wants you. He wants to love you and be loved by you. He wants you to be in His family and to begin to live as you were created. His offer is clear, but He will not force you to choose this forgiveness and restoration because love demands choice.

Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you now have the capacity to love. You can love God and others. You can begin to see the critical way you were created and choose to live within its contexts. You will see the difference in being loved and being used. You will begin to restore your human relationships to being healthy, and begin to really live life while not fearing death.

This happens because you have restored the intimate bond that was yours in your mother's womb.

If you are not in God's family, you have no hope of ever achieving true significance and security. It is as if you are malfunctioning. But as you grow in knowledge and grace, you will begin to see that your love for God, your spouse, and children continue to grow as well, and that satisfaction comes from living in the context of how you were created.

God is not angry; He is loving. He is not waiting to punish; He is waiting to forgive. He is not hoping to use you as a bad example, but as an object of His grace and mercy. He has promised to forgive and restore. In fact, He will forgive as far as the east is from the west and wants to restore that incredibly important intimacy.

The choice is yours. Choose this day what direction you want to go. After all, it is your choice.

Dave Wager davewager.com

A New Way Of Thinking? In Washington?

2011-01-14T07:40:00.000-06:00

A Chance For Civility

Our president went to Tucson in order to represent our nation in the tragedy that unfolded there. While there he represented us well and spoke of a need for civility in government dialogue. He seemed genuine, sincere and, well, presidential.

I could not help but be a bit skeptical because I have heard these words before and have yet to see any movement in Washington that indicates that they are anything more than words. In fact, if the politicians were Christians and talking like that we would be on them for their hypocritical words and reject their form of Christianity as something that lacks authenticity.

Even though those were my immediate thoughts, I also had some other, more sane ones. I realized, that as I have prayed for this president and our leaders that God was at work even though I did not always see it. I remembered times in my life, game changing moments that changed the way I think and interact with others. I remember those hard times as being "good" now and realize that without them I would not be the person I am today. (I suspect there are more yet to come!)

With that in mind I am hoping that the tragic events that took place in our nation will be one of those events for our President. I am calling on President Obama to continue to lead us in a way where his actions authenticate his words that were spoken that memorial service. I call on him to gather those who, while he was calling for civility and a new way to do business, were raking our House Speaker over the coals for choosing not to attend the memorial service. (I have no idea why but it seems as if some did not get the memo and are still trying to not waste a "tragedy" for personal gain.) Mr. President, I urge you to gather those who were part of this and publicly reprove, rebuke and exhort them to change their ways.

I want to believe that this national tragedy will make us a better people. I want to believe that this moment in history will be a turning moment for our president in regards to authentic leadership. I still believe that people can and should be growing and changing and I am watching to see if it will happen.

There are really many tragedies that happen in our peoples lives each day. Many of them not reported. Today there will be a little girl who is abused by a trusted relative or friend. Today there will be men absorbing pornography and living to victimize our nations mothers and daughters. Today there will be self-centered greedy people using and abusing anyone and any system they can for selfish gain. Today we as a nation will see tragic results of narcissism resulting in untold hardships.

The man who pulled the trigger in Arizona did not start out his life with this goal in mind. There was a process that took place in his life and in our culture or national life that fed his fury. We, as a people who love our freedom, do not want to limit access to certain activities and therefore will face this kind of tragedy again.

Among this carnage there were also displays of tremendous heroism. Great darkness often makes whatever light is available shine brighter. There are some, who we should tip our hats too and thank for being ready and willing to act.

This tragedy, in a very weird and sorrowful way, has sparked a bit of hope. Something our president ran on. I hope that this time in history will show a nation that turns back to God because our leaders realized the utter depravity of man without God and were willing to publicly show us what repentance and restoration looks like. I would hope that we can open a national dialogue on the process of normalizing evil and the the results of the same and eventually conclude that perhaps boundaries actually produce true freedom and security and total freedom leads to a nation of self absorbed unstable citizens.

Freedom has never been free.

We will see if this historical event has any effect on our national leadership and what is important to them. Time will tell.

Dave Wager davewager.com

Commitment?

2010-12-06T14:27:00.000-06:00

People are committed to all sorts of things. Some good, some bad and some...well the jury would be out on.

Years ago, Bill Bright shared an excerpt written by a young Communist. It said:

"We communists have a high casualty rate. We live in virtual poverty, and turn back every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We communists don't have the time or the money for movies, concerts, or T-bone steaks or decent homes or new cars. I am in dead earnest. It is my life, my business, my religion, my sweetheart, my wife, my mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream about it a night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens, as time goes by. Therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force which both drives and guides my life. I've already been in jail because of my ideas and if necessary I am ready to go before a firing squad."

It is amazing to think of such dedication for such foolishness.

Yet, it seems as if our culture is often dedicated to the unimportant. We seem to live lives that remain enslaved to the ways of this world, the ways of the Evil one while having the opportunity and invitation to live as free men in God's family.

A billion years from now I wonder what the paragraph will read about my (our) live (s). I wonder what the angels in heaven will think of us when they read it.

Dave Wager davewager.com

Religion or Christianity?

2010-10-18T19:57:00.002-05:00

Matthew 6:1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Religion ruins people’s lives; relationships make lives worth living. Religion is based on what others think God thinks; relationships are based on proximity and inclusion of God in our lives. Religion is based on doing; relationships are based on being. Religion is based on feelings; relationships result in feelings that come from intentionality in time and energy. Religion forces man's way upon God; relationships allows God's love to permeate our very being. Religion creates guilt; relationships promote grace. Religion demands conformity; relationships demand unity within diversity. Religion is about me; relationships are about others. Religion promotes a caste system; relationships promote equality. Religion uses people; relationships celebrate people. Religions give rules; relationships create behavioral distinctions. Religions give false answers to imagined problems; relationships give real answers to real problems. Religions breed guilt; relationships foster forgiveness. Religions use the fear of people to control; relationships use the fear of God to set free. Religions run airplanes into buildings to destroy life; relationships give their own life to preserve life. Religions abuse power; relationships give power. Religions mask sin; relationships expose sin and deal with it. Religions are of Satan; relationships are of God.

Religion is man’s attempt to make God into man's image when God created man in His image. Religion drives people from God, whereas relationships drive people to God. Religion is a pretend relationship with God; relationships are real relationships.
Religion may be the most harmful thing sinful man ever created, more harmful than weapons of mass destruction, more harmful than drugs, alcohol, pornography, Hitler, and Stalin combined.
Matthew 7:22-23 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? ’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. ’
There will be many who come to God one day thinking that their religion appeased Him, when He never wanted appeasing, He wanted loving. There will be many who follow the rules of man, the rules of the church, who are good in the eyes of men, but who do not know God, never knew God, and promoted darkness with their life rather than light.
Through religion, Satan has blinded eyes. He has given millions false hope and destroyed their lives on earth as well as giving them no hope for eternity.
Religious people are not trustworthy because, in the end, they do what they do for themselves. Their religion is about them, their status, and their comfort. Their God is a made up God, made from Scriptural sound bytes mixed with cultural norms, personal preferences, family traditions, and human wisdom.

Religion is Satan's greatest counterfeit. A counterfeit has no value and is falsely circulated as if it has value and even accepted by the untrained eye as valuable.
Counterfeits have value until one who knows the original shows up and points out the imitation. Jesus came to earth as God's Son, pointed out the imitation, and those in charge of the charade crucified Him. In a strange way, Jesus used them to accomplish His will, to allow Him to demonstrate His love. The trouble with that is those He used were miserable people trying to protect their pretend system. In their lives, they were liars and miserable creatures. In their death, they faced an eternity with no hope. Tragic indeed.

God loves man and desires a real relationship with him. He loved us when we were sinners, when we were undeserving. He loves us as we are and calls us to Himself to have a relationship with us. He has reached out His loving hand in invitation to have a relationship with Him.

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
This is not religious or a religion. This is an invitation to be in relationship with Him. The tragedy of relationships that are offered is that they are offered, but never realized. The real tragedy in relationships is separation.
Think of the feelings that we have had when someone we love dies. We are often devastated. It is not that we did not know man would die. It is that, at least for now, we will be separated from the one we love. We all know it is coming, but the idea of separation is not pleasant.
The ultimate tragedy in life is that we have been separated by sin from a God who made us and loves us. This sin is tragic because it separates us from Him and causes us to live lives that are out of sync with reality. The sin in our lives keeps us from God and keeps us from truly enjoying life. God, knowing our problem, made a provision so that we could end the separation we have with Him and give us the freedom from the power of sin in our daily lives. His love is extended to all, no matter their status, no matter their country, no matter their past sins. He knows us and knows that we have sinned, and He loves us and extends His offer to us.
His offer is one of incredible value. He did not offer us an opportunity to be a part of His family at our own cost, but at His cost. He saw our need and knew that He had the power, authority, and resources to meet our need, and decided to pay the entire price of our adoption Himself. He wants to repair the damage of sin, and it starts with making us aware of it, and Him making provision for it.

John 1:10-12 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Religious people reject the love and forgiveness of God given us through Jesus. They will continue to do, do, do, hoping that someday they did enough. God has said that He wants to be our Father, and that He has already made provision for you. He only asks that you accept His provision, His son, Jesus Christ.
You see, God sent Jesus to save, not condemn. He sent Him to die so that we can live. He sent Him to repair the devastation of sin. God sees us as helpless wandering children in need of a loving parental relationship, and offers to be our Father. He offers us a chance to be in His family, to be loved by Him, to be in relationship with Him. But, because it is an offer not based on guilt or coercion, but on love, He leaves us the choice of accepting His gift.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

God wants us to be in relationship with Him. He does not want us to appease Him. He wants us to enter a relationship with Him and live our lives with the purpose He created us to have from before time was ever created. He gets no satisfaction from our efforts to be religious, to pay homage to some angry deity, but delights in our childlike faith, our love, our time with Him, and our obedience to Him.

God is older than us, smarter than us and loves us. We can trust Him.

You can trust Him.

If you have been involved in a religious system, you have many doubts. You wonder if you will ever be good enough since the system is set up for doing and not being. You think constantly about what others think when others have no control of your relationship with God, or your eventual destiny. Religion, or trying to appease a God who wants our love, is wearing you out and you are tired, lonely, and discouraged when no one is around to impress.

I invite you to find a place to sit a while, a place with no distraction, no noise, no electronics, and no media. Sit and think about your life. Have you had a relationship with God, or have you been involved in a religion? Would you be willing to start a relationship with Him....because He is waiting for you, to be actually be a part of His family, to be your loving Father and forever Friend. Will you be one of the many who stand before Him one day and see God reject you because you rejected Him through your religious practices? Or, will you be one whom He identifies as His adopted child, who was in relationship with Him, and for whom He has made a place for eternity where we will never be separated from those we love again?
In this quiet place read the following verses, think about what they say, and talk to God. (Just talk aloud, or think; He will hear you. He is waiting for you to respond to Him!) Then respond to God's invitation.

Romans 1:20-21: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Romans 10:13 “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

John 14:1-6 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going. ” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? ” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Titus 3:3-5 “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit….”

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Matthew 11:28
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Dave Wager davewager.com

Are Christians Really That Dumb?

2010-07-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

We often say things to make a point and have no real basis for the comment. This stems from our extreme narcissism in that we believe that all that we see and understand is all that there is to see and understand. In fact, we become so self-absorbed that anyone who thinks differently than us becomes an enemy and is treated with contempt. The idea of dialogue about ideas has been lost because our personal significance has been tied to us being heard and our ideas being right. So, we fight and fight hard to try and convince the world that we alone, or I alone, am right, and thereby valuable.

This notion is most troubling. Recently, Susan Jacoby wrote this in the Washington Post.

There has always been a strong correlation between religious fundamentalism and lack of education. About 45 percent of Americans who have no education beyond high school believe in the literal truth of the Bible, while only 19 percent of college graduates do. Two-thirds of college graduates, but only one-third of high school graduates, believe that living beings have evolved over time. The sneer in Sarah Palin's voice when she calls Barack Obama a "professor" is most evident when she speaks to people who share her contempt for education and learning. (Washington Post, July 22, 2010)

I guess that these "facts" say what you want them to say. She thinks it speaks of the foolishness of those who believe in God, whereas I tend to see it as a failure of our educational institutions to teach truth. She is inferring that those who believe in God and truth are ignorant, dumb, uneducated, and, even a sub-class of citizen. I see it as those who excel in education are most arrogant and rather foolish to think that the universe popped into existence on its own, and have worked at developing and protecting an illusion that man is all there is. With this thought process, we find a system in place that continues to work at creating a "truth" that fits our conclusion, rather than discovering truth as it is.

In general, I would conclude from the facts in this article that higher education makes one more arrogant and estranges him or her from God, and therefore should be avoided since there is no greater tragedy in life than the separation from God.

I personally find this author filled with hatred and cynicism, one who wants to divide people into classes, and one who could ignites hatred--something hate crime proponents wrote the hate crime laws for.

Another writer, DAVID WATERS,FEBRUARY 2, 2010; 9:10 AM ET, wrote this about Susan.

As many Christians and Jews would point to a God-given morality but would still have very distinct views on certain moral questions, even within their own faith (historically - homosexuality, slavery, role of women in church, working on sabbath, capital punishment, etc), Jacoby can lend a voice to those of us who have a morality that is personal and shaped by society but are not driven by Judaic law. In fact, we may argue that the great moral laws cross all religions at their best (Christian, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism) BECAUSE they are universal (give or take) human ideas of how to treat one another and create a stable society that were elevated to the ideals set forth by a higher power. Atheism, in a mature form, is not angry anarchy that lashes out at religion, but simply looking for a collective and personal moral code independent of an external god and an uneasiness with god driven framework that seems to many of us to be extraneous to the equations of 1) How do you treat each other well, 2) How do you set a common sense of morality, 3) How do you set a balance between duty, punishment, etc. Atheists are "evil" but are normal folks who want to build a moral society outside of personal religious worship and the fractionalization that it may cause (your religion or mine!).

Once again, you must get whatever you want out of what is written. To think for a moment that calling all those who believe in God dumb and creating a new class structure is something that shows tolerance and is not angry is amusing at best.

When Jesus came to earth He came as a common man. He was poor and uneducated, but He knew, loved, and obeyed the Father. Jesus, God, showed us how one could and should live, and demonstrated what love was as He laid down His life for others. Jesus became nothing so we could become something. Jesus affected the world.

The apostle Paul knew and loved Jesus and was one of the most educated people of his day. He was abused many times by the elite of his day, the very group he was once a part. Eventually they imprisoned him and killed him.

Jesus and Paul have probably influenced history more than any others in history and the so called elitist, educated crowd put them away. It is ironic that this many years later we remember these two, and many of their elitist torturers are forgotten.

I do not think it is much different today. I think people like Mother Teresa will be remembered forever, for their kindness and love, while those like this Susan will be forgotten. Knowing God and loving God and people is what really matters, and you do not need to have an advanced degree to do this. If an advanced degree stops you from doing this, then perhaps it is not advancing you anywhere.

Dave Wager davewager.com

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14

2010-06-23T14:53:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, May 16^th,2010, the Wall Street Journal had an article about nonprofits spying on people in order to secure their money. They told of tactics such as data-mining software that help find wealthy individuals who have shown prior interest in your work or work like yours so you can casually meet them and befriend them in order to one day land the big gift. It is interesting that one of the summary statements of one of the fundraisers was that it is all about establishing relationships at the point of service. Those who are trying to find money for nonprofits know that they need to establish a relationship with you in order to “get” your money.

It seems, once again, that our culture gets it wrong. Their narcissism has made relationship all about themselves. We are being trained to have relationships for our benefit, to take your money rather than for loving you and showing you Christ. In fact, the article went on to say this: “ When your favorite non-profit isn’t busy saving the whales, chances are it’s making a serious behind-the-scenes effort to know you better--using increasingly sophisticated technology. It can survey your salary history, scan your LinkenIn connections or use satellite images to eyeball the size of your swimming pool. If it’s really on the ball, the charity can even get an email alert when your stock holdings double. There is good reason most nonprofits keep these research efforts behind closed doors; “it creeps a lot of people out.”

Justifying snooping for a good cause seems to be acceptable. “At the University of New Haven in Connecticut, Advancement Services Director Carl Pitruzzello uses custom alerts that let him know when donors who are officers at public companies buy or sell stock. Medical institutions have been particularly aggressive about prospect research. Some use software to screen admissions lists; some even train doctors to identify new prospects. Once a patient is scouted as VIP, the perks roll in. At the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, some 1,200 donors and volunteers can get priority for appointments with specialists.” “At San Diego’s Sharp HealthCare, major donors receive a card with staffer’s pager numbers.” “There are virtually no limits to the snooping charities can do, as long as they follow the law.”

It seems to me that Christians often follow, somewhat slowly, what works for a Godless culture. I have been to seminars that teach us to “friend raise” and to talk to individuals in a way as to assess their net worth so that you can ask them for a gift in the range of their ability to give. I have been told, at Christian seminars, that we should get people to give us money so that they pray for us, because their prayers follow their money. In essence, if they are not giving, they are not praying. I have been told at Christian seminars that we need to make sure that our donors know how their gift will benefit them so they will feel good about giving and will keep giving in the future. I have been told that we need to find those who are “successful” and generous, and put them in places of honor in our organization, like our boards and inner circles of influence.

I have never been told at these seminars to just love God and do right. I was never told to put those who love God, and pray, and love people in places of honor or on our boards. I was never told that the widow’s small gift would be adequate, or that we should focus on our mission rather than making our mission paying our bills. I was never told that it would be a sin to treat those with money better than those who have none. I was never told that we should not encourage people to give because of need or guilt, but that we should present all things in ways that encourage people to give no matter what, because, after all, it is a Godly cause.

At Silver Birch Ranch we want to encourage you to partner with us, not because you will benefit from it or because we have a need, but because you love God and are obedient to His call in your life, and because He has laid the burden of this ministry on your heart. We will not be purchasing that fancy data-mining software that will help us spy on your portfolio or know when you are buying or selling stock. We will not present the opportunity to you in a way that will allow your gift to make your pride swell, and we will not give you special treatment because you have decided to partner with us. Our goal and prayer is to honor our God, and we are praying that we will find and partner with many who want to honor God. We cannot treat those who are poor differently than those who are wealthy. That would be and always has been a sin. We will not make a relationship with you in order to use you, but we will relate with you in order to love you so that we together can serve our King.

It is not that we do not have plans that need financing; we do. In fact, at this point in our history we have some very aggressive plans and tremendous opportunities that we are trusting God to lay on the hearts of His people in order that the needs be met. We would hope that you would consider partnering with us or talking to others who can so that we can continue to glorify God on these grounds. The Bible tells us that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and like rivers of water he moves it wherever he wishes. Our God knows the plans. We believe He gave them to us. He knows our needs and He is capable. If He tugs on your heart to help, I will look forward to your call (715-484-2742 x233).

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? James 2:1–7

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:1–3

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? Isaiah 2:22

Dave Wager davewager.com

The New Normal

2010-05-29T15:44:00.002-05:00

I was listening to the news reporter asking some tough questions of one of our leaders in Washington D.C. She asked if the choices this administration made were unethical, illegal, or just normal for Washington. The answer was that it was normal for Washington, and therefore the “crime” wasn’t really anything that needed further investigation. The Washington insider was saying that there was a “normal” in Washington that was less ethical, less transparent, less legal than in other places, but that everyone knows that is how Washington operates, so since it is in line with their normal, it is fine. In fact, he said, it is so normal, that this issue will be forgotten in three days.

I was amazed as I listened and watched and saw that everyone accepted this answer. Then I began to wonder. Is there a new normal? If there is a new normal, how did the old (ethical, transparent and legal) become unacceptable?

This is interesting and somewhat distant from me, but the concept of living in a new normal, one that has deteriorated a bit, is not new at all. For example, the women’s clothes that are often shown in the malls of America today would be the wardrobe of hookers in the sixties. The entertainment that is normally brought into our homes would have been unacceptable in the seventies. The “show boats” in the sporting world would have been punished when I was a boy. Twenty years ago there would be no celebratory showers for young pregnant teenage moms. Football players were always big, but when I played, fat was not acceptable. Evangelicals now eat, spend, dance, amuse themselves, and drink alcohol like those who have no relationship with God or no guidance from our Heavenly Father. Unpayable debt is normal. New cars, even if you cannot afford them, are normal. Narcissism is understandable, and satisfying one’s urges is quite normal.

One of the most shocking things to me is the amount of young people who have been duped into the world of porn. Little girls are being entertained by a preponderance of sexual deviance that has now been normalized, and are driven, by curiosity, to the internet to find out what this sex stuff is all about. Boys mix curiosity with overactive hormones and constant sexual stimulation that brings them to a lifelong struggle with lust. Most men, even if they will not admit it, objectify women, and women, desperate to be normal, to be “wanted,” dress in a way that fuels the man’s mind, thereby contributing greatly to their problem. (Women hate being objects, just objects for men’s pleasure, but they keep dressing, moving, acting, and talking in ways that continue to promote such behavior. ) It is now the norm and who wants to be abnormal? Who would want to be different than society/culture? Are we not to be people who relate to culture? Aren’t we to fit in so we can reach the lost?

Actually , no.

The idea of drugging oneself to reach the drug addict, or becoming an alcoholic to reach the alcoholics, or committing adultery to reach the prostitutes, is ridiculous. In fact, Jesus tells us that we should be “salt” and “light” in this world. Salt is something that kills bacteria. It was and is a preserving agent. When salt comes in contact with the “meat,” the “meat” will respond; it will be preserved. The salt does not take on the meat’s characteristics. It changes the environment of the meat by cleaning up its environment and not allowing agents of decay to settle in. Light is another powerful example. Light is something that is much different than darkness, and, in fact, is the opposite. Darkness can never overtake light. Light always overtakes darkness. Therefore, we, as children of the King, are to be different than the normal of the world. We are to be salt and light. We are to be a preserving agent, a guiding agent, those who preserve the world by eliminating the decaying agents, while illuminating a path towards the true normal.

We are all sinful by nature and Satan plays us like a fine instrument. He knows that we would not intentionally, at least at first, run into sin, so he needs to lure us, to make us think that we are missing out. He needs to peak our curiosity so that we explore things we wonder about, and while we are exploring, we fall into the snare of whatever sin we were wondering about. We excuse our behavior by telling ourselves, and perhaps others, that we are not as bad as someone else, or our habit is not that bad, or that we are not hurting anyone, so all is well. We use the norm in our Godless society to measure ourselves rather than God’s Word, and we work finding friends who reinforce our behavior rather than challenge it. We talk about being able to love God in the midst of our activities, even though we are breaking His heart, and we continue to live our secret shameful lives while portraying strength and normalcy to the world around us.

The leaders in our lives are those we have been empowered for leadership, so they need to normalize what we have normalized or we will find others, many others, who do as we do and reinforce what we do. Those who will not join us are marginalized by being declared as legalists, judgmental, and unloving, even though the holding of us accountable has nothing to do with legalism, judging, and is the most loving thing they could do. We have gathered a group, a worthless community, of those who think like us, those who have, along with us, created a new norm, and all of those who are on the outside are not deviants.

It seems that the steps to disaster, to this new norm, are curiosity, opportunity, indulgence, and then addiction. If we break the chain anywhere along the line, we might be able to achieve a different outcome. For example, if we were able to stop the continual flow of sexual innuendos to the child’s mind, they may not be so curious as to what this “sex” stuff is all about. If we could limit the curiosity factor and eliminate the opportunity to explore such things, that would go a long way to wiping out the indulgence and addiction side. In fact, to prevent problems is always easier and cheaper than fixing them later. This can never be accomplished if the significant adults in a child’s life are involved in adult movies, adult bookstores, adult drinks, and adult computer sites. Children want to drive cars because adults drive cars and they cannot wait to be one. They want to, as early as possible, be an adult, so we need to show them, not just talk to them, but show them the normal, the real normal, as how to live as adults.

We, the adults, need to go back to our basics, to get our normal from something that cannot change. We need to live our lives as Christ lived. We need to entertain ourselves the way Christ would. We need to spend our money the way Christ would. We need to dress the way Christ would. We need to show that the real normal in life comes from the One who created life. We need to, without apology, set up environments that cause curiosity about God, His grace, His mercy, and His love, and give them the opportunity to explore that. We need to set a new norm while being careful not to be legalistic, but not allowing the accusation of legalism and judgmentalism to silence us or alter our behavior.

We need to live in a radical way and make radical, or holy, the new norm.

Or, will we face the consequences of what could have been, for eternity.

Dave Wager davewager.com

A Fool Says In His Heart There Is No God.

2010-05-09T08:12:00.000-05:00

Recently we observed a national day of prayer. During that day there were several news reports that interviewed those who were opposed to a national day of prayer. There reasons were varied, but most of them were promoting a national day of “reason”. One, who seemed to be acting as a spokesman for the group called prayer evil and talked about how prayer did more harm than good and should be eradicated from society.

The response of the news media was sad in that they gave credibility to such thought. The man who was interviewed was indicating that “man” was the beginning and the end. He made it clear that he did not need or want any God and that he was convinced that mans reason was all that was necessary.

So If I were a reporter, I would have had a few questions for him.

“Where were you when God laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,
and as it was clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?
For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. Who is it who said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’
“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.
The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?
Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!
“Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?
Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?
But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
“Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?
(I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)
Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?
“Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?
Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?
Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?
“Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?
Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.
“Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?
Can you direct the sequence of the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?“Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?
Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?
Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?
Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?
“Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?
Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?
“Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?
Do you know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery?
They crouch down to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring.
Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave home and never return.
“Who gives the wild donkey its freedom? Who untied its ropes?
Who placed it in the wilderness; its home is the wasteland.
It hates the noise of the city and has no driver to shout at it.
The mountains are its pastureland, where it searches for every blade of grass.
“Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?
Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you?
Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?
Can you rely on it to bring home your grain and deliver it to your threshing floor?
“The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.
She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.
She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them or a wild animal might destroy them.
She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She doesn’t care if they die.
For God has deprived her of wisdom. He has given her no understanding.
But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider. “Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?
Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying!
It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength when it charges out to battle.
It laughs at fear and is unafraid. It does not run from the sword.
The arrows rattle against it, and the spear and javelin flash.
It paws the ground fiercely and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.
It snorts at the sound of the horn. It senses the battle in the distance. It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.
“Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south?
Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest? It lives on the cliffs, making its home on a distant, rocky crag.
From there it hunts its prey, keeping watch with piercing eyes.
Its young gulp down blood. Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.”

Then, after asking these questions, I might ask him to consider this:

“Take a look at old dinasours, which someone made, just as someone made you. It eats grass like an ox.
See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly.
Its tail is as strong as a cedar. The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.
Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron.
It is a prime example of God’s handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.
The mountains offer it their best food, where all the wild animals play.
It lies under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds in the marsh.
The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream.
It is not disturbed by the raging river, not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it.
No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.

Then, I would continue with these questions:

“Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw?
Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike?
Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?
Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?
Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with?
Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops?
Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?
If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. You won’t try that again!
No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.
And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me?
Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.
“I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form.
Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?
Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible!
Its scales are like rows of shields tightly sealed together.
They are so close together that no air can get between them.
Each scale sticks tight to the next. They interlock and cannot be penetrated.
“When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn.
Lightning leaps from its mouth; flames of fire flash out.
Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.
Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.
“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck strikes terror wherever it goes.
Its flesh is hard and firm and cannot be penetrated.
Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone.
When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror.
No sword can stop it, no spear, dart, or javelin.
Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood.
Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.
Clubs are like a blade of grass, and it laughs at the swish of javelins.
Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.
“Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.
The water glistens in its wake, making the sea look white.
Nothing on earth is its equal, no other creature so fearless.
Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts.”

After these questions I might want to ask how big he feels living in the Milky Way universe which is about 100,000 light years across and is one of fifty thousand million galaxies and what he has done today to maintain them.

It is a fool who claims there is no God. There is no “reason” without God and therefore this man’s request was foolish. Not only that, our nation’s leadership keeps moving away from acknowledging God while trying to focus on man’s reason to solve our problems. It is foolishness and it will not work.

There is a God. I know and love Him. He is “reason” and there is no other.

There is nothing more dangerous than a Godless culture for then we must rely upon man’s “reason” for all things and man has no “reason”. Without God we open the door to “might makes right” and begin to believe that rhetoric actually equals truth. Without God, we are subject to manipulation, narcissism and hedonism. Without God man will do right in his own eyes and history proves that you lose when this happens.

There is no real life without God, only existence. We, as individuals, families and as a nation need to pray to God, not to whoever, not to allah, not to a higher power, but to the one and only God of the universe, the Creator and Sustainer of life, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We need to humble ourselves before the Almighty or be humbled by Him. We need to quit being politically correct and call fools, foolish.

(Questions taken from Job, 38-41)

Dave Wager davewager.com

It matters where I place my matters

2010-05-03T20:45:00.006-05:00

Psalms 4:4-5 (NLT)
⁴Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude
⁵Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the Lord.

It is sometimes easy to allow sin to control me, to think about things I should not think about, to be angry with someone, to sow seeds of hate and disgust.

More often than not, I want to speak first and think later. I would much rather run into the situation, rather than walk away from it. I would much rather solve it, than live with it.

This is good to a degree, but there is another side to the coin. In some ways, the problems in my life are problems that could have been set up by God to allow me to let Him work them out. It could be that the best course of action is one of silence. It could be that I need to meet with God, go to bed, and ponder what is going on, rather than spewing my thoughts out the instant they arise.

There are times in my life where my desire for "resolution" outweighs my desire to trust God. I must learn how to be silent and allow God time to work. I must act on what I know, and not always on what I feel or what I think.

If I am unjustly treated, did God know that I was unjustly treated? Yes. If God is my Father, and I was truly unjustly treated, would He stand by silently? Maybe, maybe not. He is God, and I am Dave, and He has not missed one thing that has, or is, or will be happening on this earth. I must not act as if He missed something.

Today, or the next time I want to take matters in my own hands, I need to slow down, give it to God, and wait for Him to make an action plan. This is easily preached, but difficult to apply. Help me, God!

Dave Wager
davewager.com

Guard Your Eyes....Please.

2010-04-28T09:57:00.000-05:00

Media posted by Dannah Gresh on 04/27/10

A few weeks ago, a colleague in the Christian publishing and speaking world suddenly needed an audience with me and my team...and fast. You see, over the weekend his eight-year-old daughter had a sleepover with a nine-year-old friend. When his fourteen-year-old got on the Internet after they’d used it, she found herself seeing images no girl (or woman, for that matter) should ever see. His heart was broken by the fact that both of his little girls had been forced to look at images that rip the innocence right out of girlhood. It should not surprise you that this happened. It happens in most houses everyday. It may be that you were the eight year old, or the fourteen year old that it happened to.

The fourth most-searched word on the Internet for kids ages 7 and under in 2009 was “porn.” For all kids up to age 18, sex was No. 4, porn No. 5. (According to data collected by OnlineFamily.Norton.com.) This supports some research I saw a few years ago out of Britain, stating that the average age of the first inception of pornography has dropped from around twelve or thirteen to age seven or eight. Seen any lately?

Job 31:1 records Job’s promise to God. He’d made a covenant with his eyes to look at no vile thing. Have you made just a covenant? If not, it’s not too late. Here are a few steps you need to take to be successful.

Pornography is a problem. Many young people, with whom I talk, if they level with me, are struggling. When you add pornography to the already overcharged hormones fueled by various other forms of media, the results are devastating. I do not know that many young women actually believe they are being objectified by an entire culture.

Here are some suggestions from a dad, who loves his daughters, his wife, and our Father.

1. Realize that pornography is a trap, and like any trap, be on the lookout for it to show up and get you when you least expect it.

2. The problem with addictions like porn is not what it seems. The problem with porn is not a sexual problem; it is a heart problem. It may start with curiosity, but it becomes something a person will give his/her life to. We need to really work at understanding and living in the love of God, and realize that what He says is not simply a set of rules, but from the heart of a loving Father. We also need to remember that the pictures that are viewed are daughters, moms, and sons, and be broken-hearted instead of entertained. Some of us have portrayed God as one who need appeasing, one who judges instead of one who loves and wants what is good for us. We need to spend time often talking of our loving Father.

3. Realize that often when we give Satan a foothold, we give him the hammer that he beats us with. We flirt with movies, music, and lifestyle that keeps us so close to the edge that a slight mistake could be devastating. Adults need to demonstrate a different way to live. We need to show a genuine love for God and have our hearts break about the things God’s heart breaks for. We need to adjust our lives in order to live in a way that tells the children who love us to follow us, closely, and know that if they do, they will be driven into loving God. We need to do everything we can to allow our children to grow up in an environment that demonstrates God’s love and not love for self. Perhaps we need to spend more face to face time with our kids so that they spend less Facebook to Facebook time.

4. I would suggest that you monitor cell phone usage and that you be allowed to read any and all text messages, see any posted pictures, and insist that you be their friend on their social networking sites.

5. I would insist that all of the computers in my possession, both at home, office, or laptops have the program Clean Internet on them. (http://cleaninternet.com ) Clean Internet is a wonderful filter that does not slow down your computer. I have tested it myself and with some who have struggled with porn, and found it both effective at blocking porn, as well as non-restricting on surfing decent sites. Most accountability software I do not care for because it slows your computer down; this does not. Clean Internet is not actually on your computer. It is not a program you install and you cannot take it off at a whim either. They take into account your profession and will unlock sites upon your request (rather speedily). There is an accountability component if you like, but I have found that the young men who have been in accountability programs tend to spend their time trying not to get caught rather than learning to live in real love and purpose. (If you do sign up for Clean Internet, if you put SBR as the code when registering, $10 will be donated to Silver Birch for needy campers.)

6. Realize that you are not a legalist because you care and adjust your environment in a way that will nurture instead of destroy.

7. I would work at ways that would show your admiration for your children apart from their physical beauty. I would ask older women to help younger women by talking about and training the younger women to dress modestly. Modest, once again, is not a legalistic term. It is a real word used in the Bible. In general, modesty means that you dress in a way that does not bring attention to you or various body parts. Sometimes I think women act “dumb” on this one, yet they all know when they have dressed modestly, so let’s make that the new norm.

8. I would not make this an issue of certain teachers, churches, or culture. I would make this a matter of listening to God or not listening to God. Adults should personally be demonstrating that as they love God, they obey Him. If God tells us to flee youthful lusts and to make no provision for the flesh, then we listen to Him and not make the messenger, whoever it might be, the problem.

9. Let’s talk about the real problem. The problem is that we have pushed God out of our nation, our communities, our families, and our personal life. We want to do what is right in our own eyes, rather than listen to God. In fact, there would be all kinds of problems solved if we would listen to God. If everyone listened to God, there would be no abortion issue for the politicians to argue about, because all would be abstinent before marriage and faithful in marriage. Therefore, no abortions would be necessary. When we try and solve the problem without God, we only argue and never solve the problem. Our kids need to see adults who do not ignore God, but who embrace Him and His ways as a solution for life’s problems.

10. Sincerely love God and your family. If you love God, for real, you will obey Him, and you will be in tune with His Holy Spirit who will guide you. We need to be intentional about really loving God, our family, and our friends, and enjoy the benefits that come from living and loving as we were created to.

My heart is often broken these days because we have removed the guardrails and keep experiencing tragedies that could have been avoided if they were in place. I am not now or ever speaking of stagnant rules, but instructions and guidelines given to us by our loving and living Father. He is no legalist; He is our Father. He is older than us, smarter than us and loves us. We can trust Him.

Dave Wager
davewager.com

Listening to ?????

2010-04-21T08:58:00.002-05:00

It seems as if we have minimized the Holy Spirit in the Evangelical community in the United States. We have replaced Him with good things, things that He could use, but things that have indeed replaced Him. Instead of counting on the Spirit of God to lead our leaders we count on the majority. Ministries have studied secular businesses and figured out how they need to operate, and they have replaced the Spirit of God with long range plans, feasibility studies, strategic plans, etc. The individual has replaced the Spirit of God with the plethora of books available on any topic. Psychology seems to be equal to if not more important than God's Spirit, and we place our hope in our doctors, insurances and retirement plans.

What would happen if the Spirit of God was trying to get someone to give away their retirement money? Would that individual even be listening, or has the logic of the day replaced the Spirit of the Lord? What if God wants a successful business man or woman to leave his/her business and travel to a foreign country to use his/her talents to reach the unreached? Is that person available or does it need to pass through a committee? What if God wants a pastor to really attack a false teaching that has crept into his church? Will the pastor have the freedom to speak what the Spirit has put on his heart or does he feel he needs to "modify it" so that the congregation will accept what he says?

God is still at work, and He still uses men and women who are available to His Spirit to accomplish His work. We need to act as if this is true.

Dave Wager
davewager.com

What If?

2010-04-06T14:52:00.000-05:00

What if we have this thing we call Christianity wrong? What if it is built upon what is perceived as best for us, rather than on what is best?

What is the best? Is it Christianity really about Christ? Is it about dying to self? Is it about glorifying God? Is it about living and dying in the manner it was meant to be?

If it is about God, then why have we made it about man? That could only lead to disaster.

It seems to me that so often we do everything we can to make God, Creation, and our churches about us. Our prayer times are about us, our giving is to causes that benefit us, our “giftedness” is about us, our pastor needs to be about us, our voice needs to be heard, our friendship wanted, and our lives need to be affirmed.

Not only has it become acceptable, in essence, to worship man; it has become the norm. We now gather in our ministry meetings and talk about what we are capable of doing. We make long range and strategic plans according to what we see us being able to do. We recruit people to join us who can contribute to our cause. We plan, scheme, and implement in ways that work at diminishing our faith in God and maximizing our belief in ourselves. For some reason, faith and trust in ourselves is the new norm.

It does not stop with churches and other various ministries. Our families have become all about us in the name of Christianity. We now have taken self-centeredism to a whole new level. The church became the enemy of the family in that it was taking too much time away from family interaction and healthy relationships. We limited our services and went from Bible meetings three times a week to messages that packed relevance (to me) and “wow” (to me) to one (30) minute time frame a week. The new norm for the self-centered Evangelical family was supported by the Bible, and taunted by those who were lazy and self-centered, rather than those who love and died to self. Soon, our world revolved around our children, which would sound good to most except that our children were being trained that they were the center of the universe. We allowed them to set a schedule, and we felt guilty if we limited anything they wanted to do. They did not learn of a church that was a vehicle in which to serve. They learned of a church that was about them, their happiness, and their comfort. The great institutions of the church continued to become more and more image-producing and less and less substantive. Family weddings became focused on the bride instead of Christ, funerals focused on the man instead of the message, and resources were ours to manage, instead of God’s used for His purposes.

In reality, families seemed to shift from serving others to serving themselves. Now, they spend their time at sporting events, watching television, being immersed in media, and, in reality, spend more alone time than when they were “overactive” in church work. The fruit is obvious.

This new brand of syncretistic self-centeredness seems now to have taken over. We think so much of ourselves that we now think we can give our opinions about God, the Bible, politics, and other things, and have people listen to us because we are us, not because we know anything about these things. We think that suffering shows that God is not God, and that hardship is to be avoided. The Evangelical life has little contrast in comparison to those who do not know Christ, and is therefore offing them no real hope, for there has been no real change. God, if presented to an unbeliever, is presented as one who needs appeasing rather than loving, and one who, if a part of your life, will be your “sugar daddy in the sky.” We now drink like the world, dance like the world, eat like the world, entertain like the world, build houses like the world, go on vacations like the world, drive cars like the world, structure our ministries and businesses like the world, have weddings like the world, have parties like the world, and now even worship like the world, all in the name of Christ. (Worship songs are often now about us and our feelings, rather than about God and His attributes, so worship has moved from being God-centered to me-centered, and we like it that way.)

The idea of dying to self seems old-fashioned. The idea of contrasting the Godless world seems to be archaic thinking, even though we are told that this world is not our home, that we are aliens here, and that we should fix our thoughts on things above and not on things on this earth. The idea of being radical in our love for God and people is good as long as it is redefined from actually doing what is best for someone to enabling someone. We trust God to do the tough work now, since Christianity is about us and we shouldn’t have to, so our sugar daddy is now the only one responsible for speaking up, convicting, and leading. We will just live our life loving and saying little; after all, God can take care of His own business.

In many respects, our Evangelical Christianity has become a worthless religion, much like that of any man-centered religion. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? (Matthew 16:24)

The Apostle Paul said this: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” ( 2 Timothy 3:12) We will be persecuted, not because we desire to be, but because it is what will happen when darkness tries to overtake light or render salt useless. The way of the King and the one who loves God is about God and His business. He/She is obedient because they love; they do not love because they are obedient. They adjust their lives according to absolutes, not according to a Godless norm, and they care deeply--deeply enough to confront, deeply enough to give, deeply enough to die…..

I am not sure we even see the problem within our churches, for the demise has been gradual and well accepted. Perhaps it is time to ask God to reveal to us our real heart, to show us the real whys behind our doings. Then, it would be time to repent, relinquish, rely, and redeem the remaining time, lest He come and clean His own house.

I am not certain of everything we need to do, but this I do know--that today I need to be intentional about loving the Lord my God with all my heart, and all my soul, and all my mind, and my neighbor as myself. This will demand that I look at all things through a lens of love—a lens that shows what is best for those I am looking at, and not what is best for me. As I die to self,,I will see fruit in abundance, and will begin to live in a manner that was meant to be. I invite you to join me in this journey.

Dave Wager
davewager.com

Bad ideas gone badder

2010-04-01T19:56:00.003-06:00

A new, controversial dormitory option known as gender-neutral housing is gaining support at some colleges in California and across the nation. In the 1970s, many U.S. colleges moved from having only single-sex dormitories to providing coed residence halls, with male and female students typically housed on alternating floors or wings. Then came coed hallways and bathrooms. Now, some colleges allow undergraduates of opposite sexes to share a room. About 50 U.S. schools offer this housing choice, according to Jeffrey Chang, who co-founded the National Student Genderblind Campaign in 2006 to encourage gender-mixed rooms. Participating schools include UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth, Sarah Lawrence, Haverford, Wesleyan, Pitzer College and the University of Michigan. Chang estimates that at schools where the option exists, only 1 to 3 percent of students living on campus choose a roommate of the opposite sex. [Source: Los Angeles Times, March 15]

Does anybody really think this is a good idea? Where is the leadership these days? This is a bad idea and another reason why the educational system needs a major overhaul.

A culture handles deviant behavior in one of two ways. It punishes it or it normalizes it. Once again those who are in charge of some of most prestigious colleges have defined deviancy up and normalize the deviant. Ideas have consequences and the young people who go to these colleges will be affected by these decisions.

Dave Wager
davewager.com

The dilemma is great. The answer is obvious. The cure is undesired. The end is clear.

2010-03-30T15:21:00.001-06:00

There is a great problem in our culture today that is not unique to the Godless. Our nation is trying to live without God. There is not room for Him in government. There is no room for Him in public. There is not room for Him if He is not one we control, so we either ignore Him or make Him up in order that we might be able to control who He is and what He is about.

The consequences of this are enormous. Without God, the only and true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there is no reason for life, there is no “way it should be,” there is no “ethos,” no absolutes, no norms, no “as it should be.” Without God there is purposelessness. We become accidental blobs of protoplasm, we shrink in importance, and have no reason or ability to be significant. Without God there is no right and no wrong. There is only good and bad, and that scale keeps moving as it needs something to be compared to. Without God, abortion is an issue, “family” needs a new definition, and things that were once considered deviant can now be acceptable. Without God there is no real structure, no real love, no real anger, no real authority, no real plan, no real purpose, and no real people. Without God I am the only thing that ultimately matters. I could be about me and use you and justify all things in the context of my personal understandings, ideas, and desires. Without God I would be god. I would determine right and wrong and make the decisions about life and death according to my feelings, understandings, and comfort. Without God there is no real giving, care, love, concern, or compassion for anyone other than myself. Without God I must somehow figure out a way to always satisfy self, to always make sense of all things, to always make things work to my advantage, to always bend, twist, change, and distort the rules so that I get an advantage. Without God pleasure is all there is, love is a feeling, and life’s successes are measured in what brings me the most pleasure and the least pain. Without God I am no different than a wolf, rabbit, mouse, tree, cabbage plant, or amoeba.

Without God all things are random, purposeless, and meaningless. Without God we would have leaders who led from the basis of what is good for them, how to keep their power, and how to force their agenda. Without God we would be more concerned with consensus than we would be concerned with being right, for there would be no right; so consensus would rule.

Without God things would be a mess. It seems as if we as a nation want the fruit of righteousness ( good marriages, honest, hard working people, generous people, kind people, purposeful living, etc.) while trying to cut down the very tree that produces the fruit.

The answer to our nation’s problems will not and cannot be solved by Godless people. Ideas have consequences, and living in a nation that is trying to legislate from a Godless position is foolish, dangerous, and a guaranteed failure. We, as a nation, have decided that we will not and cannot have God as foundational brick to our culture. (That is not what our founding fathers believed; that is what our current leadership believes.) There is a consequence for this. There is a cure for this.

What will it be, the consequence or the cure?

In Genesis, chapter three, we are told that Satan had a dialogue with Eve. If the dialogue happened today, it might sound like this:

“ Did God actually say that you need to acknowledge Him, love Him, obey Him, and love others?”

We might answer:

“Yes, we know what God has said. He said in the beginning God, not in the beginning man. He said that we were made to love Him and to love others and that our lives were created to be purposeful, and to bring Him glory (meaning to show the world who He is by how we live).

Satan might answer:

You think so? Do you think that God really made you in order to glorify Himself? Isn’t that a little self- centered of Him? Perhaps you have not thought this thing through, or have not understood God. God knows that when you live in a way that pacifies your lusts, thoughts, cravings, and desires, your eyes will be opened, and you will be god yourself.

So….when we looked around and saw that the fruit of self-indulgence looked so good, and thought that we could relate so much better to the world around us if we fit into this world and saw what we would be missing if we really listened to God….

So….we bit. And we offered this fruit to those we loved.

Then our eyes were opened, and we realized that this decision had consequences that would be devastating. We realized that we had been had by Satan and our own godless thinking.

Satan is a liar. His ways always lead to destruction. A Godless leadership in a nation has no hope of restoring the nation. The issue is God, not abortion, budgets, or immigration. God does know what to do, but if we are not listening, we will be condemned to the consequences of our Godless thinking.

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Without God, there is no hope.

Dave Wager
theomegaforce.org

The Health Care Debate May Not Be About Health Care

2010-03-23T11:44:00.001-06:00

I do not know what is in the health care bill that was manipulated into passage. I am not sure how many pages it actually is, because I have heard different numbers. It seems as if there are close to three thousand pages and then several hundred other pages that explain something that could not be explained in the three thousand or so pages.

I have heard that in the health care bill there are provisions for changing the student loan program, and other ideas, concessions, and benefits to those who needed extra persuasion to vote for the bill. I heard a lot of arguing, fighting, name calling, and anger. The talk was not one of finding answers. It was one of winning and losing. They talked about winning the vote or losing the vote. They talked about the ramifications of the vote in terms of winning and losing seats in the next elections. They talked about building Obama’s legacy and the historic nature of such a bill.

Like I said, I do not know what is in the bill. I do know that if you want to talk about winning and losing, it is the normal American citizen who lost. Here is my reasoning.

First and foremost, it seems as if those who work in Washington are playing a game, rather than trying to lead. It seems that this game is about power, money, influence, and leaving a legacy. It seems as if this game bends, twists, and changes rules, and is more intent on perceptions than reality. Our leadership seems, to me, to have lost the purpose of leaders, and that is to insure that all the power, influence, and resources they have been entrusted with should be used for the good of the people, not the good of the party or elections or self.

Secondly, it seems as if the bill was rushed through without adequate time to read and digest its meaning. There is no real physical way to read that many pages and weigh the ramifications of what was written in the time span they were given. Certainly, we the people did not have the opportunity to see and evaluate. Even if it were posted for three days, I would not have been able to read and understand and evaluate it because it was too long, and, I am sure, too wordy. It seems foolish, at best, to pretend that you read, comprehended, and evaluated the long-term ramifications of all the bill’s points.

Thirdly, our federal government has proven to be incompetent. They cannot run a post office that works, Medicare is in trouble. Social Security is going broke, and many government workers seem lazy, self-absorbed, and overpaid. There does not seem to be anyone on the federal level who can make a budget work, and almost all of our political leaders seem to be liars. I would never give someone who has proven incompetence more to be incompetent about.

Fourthly, it seems as if the people in DC don’t even try to control the spending. Our President flies an expensive jet everywhere way too often. If he were the president of a company that was in the financial condition of this country, the plane would have been sold. In fact, I do believe that Washington made a big deal about the private jets the auto executives flew to their meeting once upon a time. It seems to me that in this day and age, when we can hold electronic meetings, that a company, like the United States, that is way out of money, should be holding electronic meetings. I do believe that the money saved by keeping our President home would be extremely substantial. I know that is not what is going to happen, because he has to sell his policies because they do not stand up on their own merit. The politically expedient thing to do is to politic, face to face. The President does not want to solve the debt problem or he would live differently. His talk is cheap.

Fifthly, our nation’s leaders seem to reward irresponsibility. They seem to thrive on enablement. They do not love the people or they would work at helping them be responsible. We all know, at least those of us who live with and observe real people not involved in political policy making, that irresponsibility is out of control. For example, the leaders in Washington talk about extending unemployment to alleviate suffering, when many who are on unemployment play the game in order to stay that way. Government health care is better and cheaper than having it on your own, and many need to make sure they make a low enough salary to keep the food stamps. These programs are good and were set up for those who were truly in need to help them transition, but they have been and are abused, and everyone knows it, but they continue to talk about extending benefits as the loving thing to do.

We also talk about extending health coverage to everyone when the top three problems that eat up the medical dollars are medical conditions caused by personal choice. Smoking, obesity, and alcohol make up the top three problems, and nobody has to have this problem that does not want it. When you add sexually transmitted diseases to this, texting while driving, and other foolish behaviors, the medical bills become enormous. In a nation of freedoms I believe people have the right to do these things, but freedom without responsibility does not work. It would have been the right thing for our leaders to say that we are extending coverage to the needy, but not to the irresponsible. Those who need medical care because of smoking, obesity, alcohol, or sexual promiscuity will pay the bill on their own.

Instead, our leaders keep talking about how compassionate they are, and parade people in front of us who need help in order to divert the real issue.

That brings me to my sixth reason, which is that our leaders in Washington do not know the real issue. The real issue is something they cannot talk about, because they have been so into self. The real issue is the abandonment of God. The abortion issue is not one of life or choice; it is one of disobedience to God. If one was sexually abstinent before marriage, and faithful in marriage, we would not have an abortion issue to talk about. Since our leaders ignore God, there are no absolutes, which means that they leave all issues up for debate, and the best debaters win. The ideas of right and wrong have been replaced by the good and bad, and winning and losing is measured by who gets his/her way, instead of who aligns themselves with God and His ways. Even more frightening is the fact that this nation was founded on Biblical principles (only fools or liars believe anything else), and as these foundational bricks are removed it will only be a matter of time before our building collapses.

It seems as if our nation wants the fruit of the tree of righteousness, but not the tree. Somehow we want good marriages, families, and honest people who work hard, but we ignore the very principles that bring about that fruit. Any nation who turns from God, the true God, will pay the price, and I am afraid that the cash register drawer is opening.

As I said before, I do not know what the health care bill is all about. I do know that ideas have consequences, and having a liberal President, Senate and House will yield certain results. We, as a nation, deserve whatever comes, because we elected them, we allowed rhetoric to trump principle, feelings to trump truth, and false hope to trump sound reasoning. I am sad because there is no way to sustain things the way they are. As I grew up, each generation was able to be “better off” than the one that went before. I do not think that will be true for the next generation. I think that my generation was so self- absorbed that we lived the good life on borrowed dollars, and are now hoping we can make it to the end of our lives with minimal impact to us, while not caring for who comes behind us. It is the consequence of reckless self- absorption.

If I had a solution to offer, it would be simple. I would fire everyone in Washington who has contributed to the mess we’re in and hire those who have a fear of God. I would hire people for one term and ask their businesses to hold their jobs for them. I think that if we had normal people who were successful running a hot dog stand and loved God, we would be able to turn this around. If they were there, in Washington, for one term, and would return to their normal job after one term, then they would make decisions knowing they would have to live with the results. I would recruit the reluctant rather than the power hungry. I would pay them the average pay of the people in their district, and give them the same health care that a majority of the people in their district have.

In summary, Washington is a bunch of Godless narcissists who cannot be trusted with the good of the people. So, no matter what they passed or will pass, it will mean trouble. I guess I don’t even need to read that three thousand pages……somehow I feel like I accomplished something.

Dave Wager
davewager.com

Are Camps Still Needed?

2010-03-04T19:21:00.001-06:00

" Ours is an over-stimulated culture, and an insidious side effect is that our inner worlds are atrophying. As our world becomes more and more driven by external stimulation, and our lifestyles mirror the dizzying speed of our technology, we focus outward at the expense of the inward. We take leaps and bounds in one direction, but drift from another, which can have the effect of alienating us from ourselves, others, and God.

My wife and I recently witnessed the disorienting nature of technology at a local movie theater. The next day, perhaps ironically, I recorded my reflections on my blog:

There were three people in the rows in front of us who had their cell phones open during the entire movie. They were text messaging and surfing the Internet and otherwise annoying people. As I saw those cell phone screens open during the movie, I observed that the people using them were not fully committed to being anywhere during those two hours. They were physically sitting in the theater, even sitting with others who accompanied them, but their minds and hearts were scattered all over the place. They were not fully present, in terms of their attention, to the visual and auditory experience in front of them. They were not fully present to their friends and family that they were sitting next to, and they were not geographically present to the people they were text messaging. They had a hand and foot in several different places that were disconnected, leaving them as some sort of radical amputees. There were everywhere and they were nowhere.

Aside from how piercingly bring a cell phone screen can be in a dark movie theater and how bizarre it is to text message during an intense and complex spy movie, I got to thinking about how handheld technology affects our sense of personal identity. So many people walk through their lives as ghosts, not fully present to anything, gliding through places and around people but not really seeing or experiencing or being seen or experienced." (From Introverts in the Church by Adam McHugh)

After I read this quote, I could not help but agonize over the truth of what was explained. It seems to me that our culture is a mile wide and an inch deep. We are losing the capacity to think, to reason, to ponder. We have replaced being with people with electronic interaction activities. We have defined community as those who are connected, while not really being connected to anyone.

As we meet, we are always aware of a cell phone vibration or Ipod Touch signal. At home, the laptops are open, the television is on, the phone is in hand, and the people we love are connected to everything while being engaged in nothing.

We live lives of lonely desperation, and hope we find some answers in some, any, or all of our connections.

Really, the fundamentals of life have not changed, even though the technology has. There is a need and even a longing for depth in relationships, even if there are few models to show us what they look like. Silver Birch Ranch offers an alternative to our contemporary lifestyle that focuses on the inner life, on knowing Christ, not just connecting with Him, and learning how to make Him known. We still have places where people can get away, look at each other, and engage fully with another human. Our Wisconsin campus is at the edge of thousands of acres of national forest, and our Canadian campus is the definition of "remote." I once again invite you to investigate what the tool of Christian camping is really all about. I encourage you to come to camp this summer as a family, or come as a counselor with your children and their friends, and see what a week, disconnected from the external world, will do for you and those you bring.

Oh…and when you come, turn your cell phone off at the gate, and do not ask if there is an internet connection you can use. Instead, look at people, listen to them, and connect face to face. Look at God, take time to sit by the edge of the lake and listen, look, and feel around you. Come and take time to feed your inner self and strengthen what is becoming so weak before it's too late.

Resources available at davewager.com

Change I can believe in

2010-02-16T17:16:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 15:2 (ESV)
²The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

I think it is time for a change.

I was thinking recently about the upcoming election cycle we will all need to endure. As I thought about it, I thought of the immense amount of dollars that we will be spending on the various campaigns. It seems to me that millions, if not billions, of dollars are spent each election in order to secure seats of power and positions of privilege.

I began to think…..The other day a gentleman approached me and was talking about investing in our Nicolet Bible Program. The very first question he asked was one concerning our effectiveness. He wanted to know if we are accomplishing what we claim to be accomplishing and for which we were seeking financial aid. I found the question reasonable and proper, and proceeded to answer it for him.

But, I could not help but think about what is going to be happening in our elections. There will be a grand effort to raise millions (billions) of dollars to put toward a system that is in utter failure. People will want money, and lots of it, so they can tell us the bad about their opponent.

I don't know about you, but I know that the sitting senators in Wisconsin do not need to campaign. We know what they believe in, we have a clear record, and their words, if they do not match their record, should ring meaningless. They do not need to spend any money on a campaign, and if they do, they will not be clarifying their position, for their positions are clear; they will be demeaning an opponent.

Then I began to think…what if…..

What if the business world would put their money where their mouth is (or in this case, not put their money….) and refuse to donate dollars to this broken system. What if we the people decided to not donate a dime to a political candidate? What if we forced all of the campaigns into bankruptcy?

I am not saying we should not give to worthy causes. I am saying that supporting what is going on in Washington D.C. is not a worthy cause. It does not work, and there is no evidence of it working now or in the future. Those who are a part of the establishment are responsible for this record deficit we face, and have yet to have the courage to do anything to clean it up….except talk.

In fact, I would like all who read this to encourage anyone and everyone to stop donating to political causes until we can be assured that our leaders will actually lead. Instead, find a charity that is doing the job, preferably a Christian charity, and check them out. If they pass the smell test, donate your money to them. Let's make this year a record year in supporting causes that work, in backing charities that are actually charitable, and who have real, time-tested track records and/or leadership. Let's bankrupt the corrupt and flood the righteous.

While we are reassigning wealth, let's do the same to athletics. There is no reason that people in this country should be given millions of dollars a year for playing a game. Let's bankrupt the greedy by not buying those club seats, giving up our season tickets, and canceling our NFL ticket package. Let's take that money and give it to an organization that is doing something to change the future by investing in children, providing for widows, and instilling dreams of what could be if a nation would humble themselves and seek and obey God. Let's make those who are truly out to honor God those who have the wealth, the facilities, and the clout.

Let's quit contributing to things that have no real significance and start reassigning our wealth.

I am not advocating class war or penalizing the rich. I am advocating that the rich penalize the ineffective. I am hoping that we as a nation, at the end of our run, can look back and see that our lives mattered, that we were successful in things that actually mattered, and that we used our tremendous (but temporal) power and wealth on something that actually mattered.

Our government does not work. Many of our schools do not work. We pay people way too much who do things that matter way too little.

It is time for a revolution….of sorts. Let's bankrupt the system by bankrolling the things that actually matter. We need to start watching for companies that donate to political candidates, and realize that their companies are foolish in the way they are using their money, and instead, invest our money in companies that will use the profits we give them more wisely.

I never thought I would be for a redistribution of wealth, but in this sense I am. I am pledging not to give any money to any campaign, and when possible, will mute all campaign commercials when they invade my news program. I am going to do all I can to minimize the impact of the meaningless and maximize my impact in things that would matter. I want to, at the end of my life, be successful at the things that actually mattered. I already know what my senator believes in; he need not say a word. I will not vote for him based on what he has done and has not done while in office.

Join me.

A message to the generations

2010-02-03T11:59:00.001-06:00

To the older men….

Titus 2:1-2 (NIV)
¹You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

What is it that the older men should be reminded of or taught? Why?

Perhaps it is so that the younger men have a model, and example to follow. Here is the list.

Older men are to be temperate, or not extreme in behavior. They need to live in a way that is worthy of respect. They need to be those who are disciplined and exhibit faith, love, and endurance.

If I were writing a letter to an older man in the church I would write this:

Dear old Christian soldier,

I am watching you. For many years I have watched to talk about your faith, your love, and a God with whom you say you have a relationship with. I am watching to see if what you have professed is actually worth having. I want to know that this relationship with God you talked about has actually refined you, changed you, and made you into the person you talked about could be, rather than the person you were.

I will know this, because, as you age, you will argue less and love more. You will not be as concerned about your way being right, but you will be concerned with being right. You will be more concerned with what the hearer heard and less concerned with what you said.

I will watch your relationship with your wife, because a lifelong of loving her as Christ loved the church should be paying some dividend. I will watch what you do with your money and time, because you now have a lifelong savings in the bank, and an abundance of time. I want to know if you believe in generosity, or just talked about it. I want to see if you will trust God at your most vulnerable time, or if that was only for the good times when you had a backup plan.

I am watching to see if you actually believe in the sanctity of life and the idea that God makes no mistakes, by watching how you treat others who may be less fortunate than you in health, finances, and possibly even family. I am watching to see if you are just putting in time, or investing your life.

As I watch you, I pray for you and cheer you on, for you are the one who now stands in a prime position to say more with your life than you ever said with your words. Please do not mess us this most precious opportunity.

And to those who are young, I offer this advice. Pay attention. There are who have loved and walked with God and are saying something that you need to hear. Do not miss their message. There are others who live in self-absorbed lives who think that they have finally arrived at the point where they should now be served and honored the rest of their lives. Please love them, but do not allow them to influence you, for that is not the ultimate goal.

To the Christian women….

2.2.10Titus 2:3-5 (NIV)
³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Are there older women who are taking on this responsibility? Are there older women who are looking for younger women to train them to love their husbands and children? Are there older women who are praying for God to show them younger ladies with whom they can meet and mentor, so they can show them, teach them, and instruct them to be disciplined and pure, to love being a mom, and love their home (not their house). Are there older women who have a real desire to model submission to their husband, and to teach the next generation what that looks like and what that means?

I personally wonder if the older women get it. (I know, you can dismiss me as a messed up man, or you can hear out my frustration and weigh its validity.)

You would think that the mature women in the church would insist on certain things that we know are absolute, like modesty, for example. It seems to me that if you try and define modesty you're pegged as a legalist, and if you ignore it, you're not dealing with what is obviously God's will. (Hence you have a dilemma and remain silent.) There have been many times when I saw a young woman dressed in order to get attention. (My definition of modesty is this: One should wear clothes that do not bring attention to you and/or any body part.) You could watch the boys' heads turn as she walked by. It was not as if the girl was beautiful; she was just revealing. (It is amusing to see those who think they are beautiful when they are really just very revealing.) Then, some of her friends or even some older women would come up and talk to her and tell her how "cute" her outfit was. I was shocked at the "cute" line, and wondered where were the older women who are supposed to be teaching? This modesty thing is not a questionable thing in God's sight; it is something He addresses.

Honestly, I think women know exactly what they are doing. I think they buy clothes in order to be "eye candy" or turn heads. I have heard Christian girls talk of their outfits and say things like this when talking about what style of clothes to buy: "If you've got it, flaunt it." I think that women love to be pretty and noticed, and it might be the ultimate insult to be considered a "plain Jane."

I once went to view a Christian girl's family pictures on Facebook and saw a bunch of pictures of her and her Christian friends dressed and ready for prom. Their dresses revealed all, and I can only imagine what things looked like when they began to wiggle to the music. (Isn't that the problem, beginning to imagine?) There was nothing modest about it, but the older women in position of influence in these girls' lives, obviously defended what was going on, and encouraged it, rather than correct it.

I think women know exactly what they are doing when they dress this way, and I think that those who had the responsibility for teaching and did not will be held accountable. When I bring this subject up, usually women say something like "All men are warped" or "Get your mind out of the gutter" or "It does not matter what we wear, 'cause you will lust anyways." Perhaps. But what about God's direct teaching on modesty? What do we do with that?

Please, ladies, tell me I'm wrong. Tell me that what I have observed is not true, and that it is isolated and unusual.

Or, change your behavior, for the sake of the King and the next generation.

As an older man….

Titus 2:6-8 (NIV)
⁶Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.
⁷In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness
⁸and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

And what is it that young men need to be encouraged to do?

It starts with encouraging them to live self-controlled or disciplined lives.

What does that mean?

Well, really, it seems somewhat self-explanatory. Young men need to not allow their emotions, feelings, or urges to drive them. There is a right and wrong, and they need to live in the right, and avoid the wrong. They do not need to satisfy every desire. They need not satisfy every urge. It is not about instant gratification. It is about long-term success.

One does not learn self-control easily. It could be something that is done in a legalistic way that destroys one's faith and blurs the entire idea of a loving and meaningful relationship with God. It could be ignored, for fear of something that leads to legalism. It could be something we hope they catch.

Regardless of my personal stance, Paul tells Titus to encourage young men to be self-controlled so that is what I need to do. As an older Christian man, I need to encourage discipline. I need to model it, teach it, talk about it, and insist in it.

Why? Because it is an issue that God wants me to deal with. So, instead of arguing the validity of teaching self-control, I need to obey God and live and teach self-control.

I also need to encourage the men to raise the bar of their personal standards rather high. This standard of doing right should be applied to "everything." I need to encourage them to show an intentionality of purpose in life, to be disciplined in their speech, and to live in a way that unbelievers and carnal believers would be at a loss as to accusations.

I, as an older man, need to exhort, but I also need to exhibit.

I need to take this responsibility seriously.

My Great Fear

2010-01-22T15:31:00.001-06:00

The fear I have is not the destruction of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness but that, which leads to the destruction of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The fear I have is not murder, but that which leads one to murder.

The fear I have is not abortion, but that which leads to abortion.

The fear I have is not a lack of prayer in schools, but that, which has led to the lack of prayer in schools.

The fear I have is not the problem of pornography but what has led to us to allowing pornography and has led people to view such.

The fear I have is not divorce, but that which has led to divorce

The fear I have is not war, but that which has led to war

The fear I have is not violence in entertainment, but why it is that there are people viewing this violence.

The fear I have is not death but those who live as if death is not going to happen to them

The fear I have is not hell but what has led someone to choose hell over heaven.

The fear I have is not suffering a heart attack but that I will do nothing to prevent the heart attack and then blame God for my poor health.

The fear I have is not the pain that I will enviably suffer but the fact that I will not have prepared for the pain and that in my pain I would become a pain to others.

The fear I have is not that I will be poor, but that although I am rich I will remain poor.

The fear I have is not that man will annihilate man with some sort of sophisticated weaponry, but what has led man to invent such weapons of mass destructions.

I fear that since we have become a world that reacts rather than responds we have become people with misdirected fear. We must become a people who fear the poor process rather than the destructive end. The emphasis should be on our journey, not on the end in that if we are on the right path now we will end up where we should be.

God help me understand what I should fear and adjust to what is before the disaster strikes. Help me understand what I must do to avoid those disasters you have not planned for me, and be prepared for those I must go though. Help me never be the cause of a disaster that is outside your plan and realize that a disaster in my eyes that is in your plan is no disaster at all.

I must learn to fix one eye on the goal, the end and the future while keeping my other eye on the process. Should I forget one, I lose at both.

God, help me hate the wrong steps in the journey while loving the journey. God help me see the world the way you see the world and the end the way you see the end, as a great beginning.

Running For Public Office

2010-01-06T12:13:00.001-06:00

I would like to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate for the great state of Wisconsin. It does not really matter who I run against; it is time for all the incumbents to be replaced. It seems to me that those in Washington have lost touch with why we sent them there. It seems as if they are taking no personal responsibility for the messes we are in, and they fear the cures for our problems more than the problems.

It is time for some new thinking. I mean real new thinking, like people being in the Senate who will have the interest of the people, first and foremost, on their mind, and where a real fear of a real God is a driving force for good. We need leaders who will gather and talk about what is best for our nation rather than what deals they can cut for their state. It is time to hold our government officials accountable for the lies they have peddled, the bribes they have given, and the self-interest they have served.

I will not be running as a Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian, because I am not sure what any of them really believe. I will run as a citizen who hates what is in Washington, and will fight to make it what it could be.

I know that that last line sounds like rhetoric, so let me be specific about what changes would be made.

First, I would change the electoral process. Instead of wasting billions of dollars on campaigns when we could be using that money in so many good ways, I will not accept any money from anyone. I will not go out on the campaign trail. Instead I will produce a "white paper" of my views and ideas and have it posted on a website for all to read. This will give everyone in the nation a chance to look at exactly what I believe in an acceptable timeframe for both reading and understanding. I personally will pay for the web site. I will not attack my opponents or tell you what they believe. You can do that on your own.

Secondly, I will make few promises. The issues facing this country are complex, and need someone to take them on one at a time, and work the plan they have while they make another plan. It is ludicrous to believe that anyone is so smart today that they can actually have answers for tomorrow, when they have no real idea of what tomorrow will bring. Therefore, I will not only work the plan I have while I make a better plan, I will pray often for God to guide my decisions, and live in a way, and make decisions in a way where God could bless these decisions.

Again you might be asking what that looks like. Well, abortion for example, would be something that I would say nothing about. Although I am opposed to abortion, I think that it has become the issue when the real issue is that we as nation that have turned our back on God and His ways. You see, God created man and woman and the family, and has made it clear that before marriage we are to be sexually abstinent, and that after marriage, we are to be committed to each other for life, and be faithful (sexually) to each other. You see, when this is the emphasis, there is no need to talk about abortion, because there would be no need for it. We have the issue of abortion because we refuse to talk about, listen to, acknowledge, or suggest that God has a right way to do things. I would even suggest that with or without God, man/woman is better off in life being abstinent before marriage and faithful in marriage. This lifestyle would solve many, many problems, from sexually transmitted diseases to unwanted pregnancies. Since we are looking at how I would do things differently, I will continue. I would work towards eliminating alcohol advertising and raise the drinking age to 30. I know that my critics would say prohibition does not work, but, obviously, neither does indulgence. You see, our prison system seems full of people who made mistakes while under the influence, there are many killed on our roads because someone was under the influence, our domestic abuse shelters have too much business due to alcohol, and there are too many, once again, unwanted babies due to drunk unions. It seems to me that our desire, as a nation, to drink is causing extraordinary pain and suffering. In fact, I believe (if facts found on the internet are true…which you never know…) that we see more people die each year from alcohol abuse than we have seen in the entire Iraqi War so far. Something just seems wrong about this, and you would think those in charge of watching over the people would have something to say about it. (Unless, of course, it would ruin their parties.)

Since I am trying to show how things can be different I will continue….I would give those of us who work for the government less of a salary, and I would limit the President's trips on that expensive airplane. I am not sure he needs to hop around the world for state business as much as he is doing. We live in an age where he can connect in other less expensive ways. As far as salaries, I would identify a middle class and come up with what the average salary and benefits are for someone we classify as middle class, and I would give my colleagues and myself that salary. It just makes sense.

Thirdly, I would work at the cure instead of prepare for the death of our economy. I guess I would need to have my wife in on this one, because I am not that good with numbers. So, I would ask her to come up with a national budget and be the enforcer. We have had to do this as a family, and she has been successful, so it is time we put someone with real experience on the job. There will be some tough choices because our leaders to date have spent on the national credit card and lost all control. It is really too bad that our children will need to tighten their belts so much, but we have left them no option.

Fourthly, I would handle the health care bill a bit differently. I would first identify what is going well in our health care system, and talk of ways to strengthen that. Then, with that clearly in mind, I would begin working at what is broken. I would take one issue at a time and discuss it. For example, I would talk about allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines. I would stay with this one issue until we come to a consensus. President Obama had a great idea in being transparent, so I would do that. (I would like to say that I would continue that policy, but it has not happened.) I would want to make sure that the American people saw what we were talking about. After we came to a conclusion on that, we would work on frivolous medical law suits or something else that rises to the top, and pick them off one at a time. Honestly, what they are doing in Washington now is just plain goofy.

I know I do not have a whole lot of experience in foreign policy or being commander-in-chief, but I did play football in college and learned a lot about teamwork, goals, fighting, etc. that I will apply as needed. I have been a faithful husband for thirty years and have two wonderful daughters who are somewhat normal. I know that after you check me out, you will find out that I grew up in Chicago, so I want to get that out of the way right away. I really was young then, and had nothing to do with Chicago politics, but, I cannot run from what it was. Perhaps I had a good seat to see how it should not have been.

Seriously, I am not really running for office just playing with ideas. I would not know what I would need to do in order to qualify for office, although, it would be easy to see that I was a natural born citizen of these United States. I do write this to warn our people and to encourage our people to think differently about who we send to Washington in 2010 and beyond. Maybe we need to focus on those who do not want to go, but who would be good for us. Maybe we need to reform the election system in our minds and band together to dismiss all of the incumbents and put in place a bunch of commoners who actually know how decisions in Washington affect real life. Maybe we need leadership who are humble enough to admit that they do not yet know all of the answers or even all of the questions, and who tell us the process they use to make decisions. Maybe we need leaders who love God with all of their hearts and souls and minds and the people as themselves.

Then again…..this is America. We're probably too sophisticated for this simple way of life.

Praise God?

2009-11-20T09:43:00.001-06:00

Psalm 150:1-6 (NLT)
1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven!
2 Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness!
3 Praise him with a blast of the ram's horn; praise him with the lyre and harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes!
5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

There comes a time when after we have thought of who God is and placed Him in His proper context that we sit back and are amazed. The only words that come to our mind during these times are words of praise for who He is and what He has done.
Should this attitude be my norm? Should I be here every day? Or, is this something that comes "at times"?

What is it that causes this spontaneous outburst of praise?

I think that if I would just open my eyes and see the sunrise or sunset today. If I would take the time to watch some children play at a playground or pause to watch the geese flying south overhead. If I would take the time to notice the color of the fall leaves and the splendor of the majestic white pine tree. Today, if I would take time to listen to an older saint and help someone who is helpless and perhaps use my time and resources to meet the needs of the needy.

Then maybe I too could join in on this praise to God.

On the other hand, if I choose to guard my comfort, focus on my needs and make me the center of the universe I will have trouble praising God for I would be living out of context.

For today, the choice is mine. I will know if the choice is right by what spontaneously flows from my mind and mouth.

Why Give?

2009-11-03T09:16:00.001-06:00

2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I am not to give money, time or talent just because of a need or a feeling of guilt that may overtake me lest I become susceptible to the Evil one's games in trying to play me. I am not to give reluctantly or wishing that I could keep the resource for myself.

Most non-profit organizations base their appeal on need or guilt? Should I not address need? Should I only give when I am cheerful about the gift?

Why give?

Does cheerful giving come from the attitude in which I give? If I am a steward instead of owner, if I see my resources as building the kingdom instead of my self-centered life, if I have responded to the Spirit of God instead of the appeal of man perhaps I would be a bit "giddy" in my giving.

Does anyone in America give because God moves them to give or do we give based on appeal?

Does it matter?

Would it matter?

Mission Support

2009-10-29T14:02:00.001-06:00

This week I heard of another friend who was headed to work with an organization, here in the United States, who needed to raise financial support before beginning his job. Another friend shared with me the woes of his financial condition in that he was in the midst of a ministry, and his support has been less than adequate. I turned on the radio and heard the Christian Radio Share-A-Thon over and over, and over and over again. They spoke of the importance of supporting their work, because after all, I benefited from it, so I should pay for it. In fact, I guess, I should give sacrificially to benefit me.

My mind flashed to conferences I attended where I went to seminars on how to raise funds. I was told that I needed to make sure that those who could give had reason to give. I was told those who gave need to continue to be pampered so that they continue to give. I was told that we need to build a board of directors around the givers, and that if they gave, if their treasure was with us, their hearts would be with us, and they would pray for and partner with us to accomplish great things.

I find it odd that we operate this way in America. I find it odd that in this country we need to ask people to raise support in order to meet the needs of Americans. I understand why we might need to support someone overseas in remote destitute places, but here in America?

Why is it that Americans will not pay for something that benefits them spiritually? They seem to have no problem paying full price for golf (and all of the equipment involved), or a baseball game, concert, football game, play, etc. I am not sure I ever heard someone raising support so they could work at Ramada Inn, so that Ramada could keep their prices lower. When a person goes to a football game and pays $65 for the ticket, then spends another three dollars for a drink, as well as exorbitant prices for other snack food, parking, and a tee shirt, there seems to be hardly a whimper. Why? Well, they understand that in order to have a winning team, and an entertaining team, there is a price to pay. After all, if we are going to pay Brett Favre a million dollars a month, we need to get that revenue from somewhere.

What does that say about our society? Does it mean that if a person is involved in the Lord's work, if they are dedicating themselves to the King, we pay them….nothing? The fact of the matter is that those who name themselves Christians in our culture seem to be all about themselves. They will give money if it is about them, and if they are asked properly, or if their family would benefit. They will pay for entertainment and relaxation, and would expect to do so.

But we as Americans will not pay what it costs to nurture our souls.

I have been involved with and have watched many Christian organizations who have asked their staff to raise their own support in order to work with them. What they have basically said is that in order for us to meet the spiritual needs of our country, we need to make it a bargain. What that means to the organization is that their employees will spend a significant amount of time each year sizing up their friends, family, and guests to see how they could help meet their needs. It means that the organization will have to have more workers than secular organizations, because at anytime their staff may need to head out on deputation to raise support. It means that we need to have endless classes on how to "approach" people as to how they could support us.

I know what it has been portrayed to mean because I am in insider. It is portrayed as helping people learn to depend on God, it is portrayed as a way to help others invest in eternity, and , my favorite is that it has been portrayed as a way to get people to pray for you since where their treasure is, their heart is.

But, I have some questions.

Do I really want people praying for us whose treasure is their money?

Do I even want to partner with people whose treasure is their money?

Do I want to partner with people who give because of what they get or put people in powerful positions of leadership and policy making because I want to gain their money for our purposes?

Do I want to partner with people who give out of necessity and compulsion, and run campaigns that talk about necessity and compel people to give when the Scriptures teach us to not do that.

I cannot help but think of Jesus watching people give at the temple. He told us that one did it right. She did not have much, but what she did have she gave to God. She did not give out of her abundance, but just gave.

This is the lady I want to partner with. I want this lady on our Board of Directors.

The American church is impotent because it is all about itself, and our expectation of those who serve our King is that they should do this for nothing, at great personal sacrifice, and, for me.

I think the next time a church or individuals ask for a discount we might ask how many of their students went to prom last year and paid full price, or how many went to a concert, play, movie, or ball game, and paid full price, and ask why it is we expect those in Kingdom work to sacrifice.

Perhaps I overreact; perhaps not.

I am not God;, I am Dave. I indeed have found a treasure that is worth selling all I have in order to obtain, and I am discouraged to see so many who consider it something that should cost them nothing.

What is the Price of Arrogance?

2009-09-30T09:57:00.001-05:00

1 John 2:26-27 (NLT)
²⁶I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.
²⁷But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

Uncomfortable with the direction of the country? It is either because you think your life will be affected adversely or because the Holy Spirit is poking at your soul.

Recently the president of France expressed concern about our president. He said, in essence, that our president was naive and arrogant, a most dangerous combination; for if one is naive and un-teachable one remains a great danger.

Certainly this was Satan's original sin as well. He was naïve in believing he could be greater than God and arrogant in that he believed he could actually pull it off because of who he was.

In my mind, I would like to be disgusted with our president for such behavior, yet how else would I expect one who is Godless to behave? If we are not longer a Christian nation then we will no longer have Christian leaders who would have the ability, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to die to self and use their power and influence for the good of the people. Those without Christ do not have God's Spirit, they do not have the capability to make decisions based on anything but what is good for themselves.

Perhaps we have allowed the lie of segmenting society, separating church and state, to influence our thinking. Perhaps we believe that politics should be "neutral" when it comes to God, and commitment to God and His ways. Perhaps we have been deceived, once again, into believing that man can, in some way, shape or form, achieve greatness without the Creator's blessing, even apart from any connection with Him.

Wherever there is pride and arrogance there is a playground for Satan. This would be true in a church, a family and in a nation.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
¹⁴Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

Without servant leader who are submissive to God we will crumble as a nation. Blessing will never come from our own hand; it only comes from the hand of God. Time will prove this true.

As for me, it is time to humble myself, pray and seek God's face. I can do nothing, but God will act when the time is right and when He acts I want to be identified with Him and His purposes. God is capable of directing world affairs and I am not. God will win this battle and I will win as well if I choose to align myself with Him.

It is good to wish our nation would turn to God. (Not a god, but to God.) It may be politically correct to encourage a "Religious Melting Pot" of sorts for leadership but it weakens the very fabric of society to the point of certain destruction. Strength does not come from a diversity of opinion it comes in a commitment to truth. Truth is not something that we decide it is something that we discover and adjust too.

History shows us that nations who ignore God pay a severe price. I pray that we can learn from history and not from experience.

Lies….The Stuff of Life?

2009-09-02T13:49:00.001-05:00

Lies….The Stuff of Life

Do we really lie to ourselves? It seems as if we always have a positive spin on what we do or what we say. It seems as though people do not really have a "mirror" to look at when evaluating themselves, or, if they do, the mirror is so distorted that what they see looks acceptable.

This past week I was astonished at the eulogies that were heaped upon Ted Kennedy. It seemed as if nobody wanted to really talk about what was obvious. Ted was talked about, by both sides of the aisle, as a man who fought hard for the downtrodden, for those who were less fortunate, for those who were "helpless." He was talked about as a man of faith, as one we could and should emulate.

Really?

Do we really believe this or is it just normal and acceptable rhetoric that we often verbalize after someone dies? Isn't this the same man who fought to have innocent babies killed through abortions? Weren't these babies the "least of these," the innocent, the helpless? He did not help them. In fact, he did what he could to make certain that our nation could destroy innocent life. He pandered to the visible living at the expense of the invisible. He lived a life of luxury, position, and power, and did not use his position to help the most innocent and needy.

If Saddam Husain and Adolf Hitler had understood how to make murder politically acceptable, perhaps we would be honoring their memories instead of remembering them with disgust.

Ted Kennedy will never have to answer to me, but he will give an account of his life to God. We/I can believe whatever we/I want to believe, and say whatever we want at his or any funeral, and the truth will be unchanged and the Judge will judge.

Perhaps we talk about figures like Ted Kennedy with glowing remembrances because we want to believe the best, because we want to trust those who were and are in leadership, or because we are hoping that it might have been better than it was. Perhaps we understand that we are not the ultimate Judge and that after one's death, it does no good to speak ill of him/her.

Or, perhaps we actually believe that one who fought so against his church doctrine and against the unborn is a man of "deep faith" and "a champion of the helpless," so he deserves an honored burial place and the honor of an eternal flame.

Sometimes I just wonder what is really going on….

Bring Back The Sanity

2009-07-29T13:48:00.001-05:00

Daniel 4:34 (NIV)
³⁴At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

Sanity- a state of soundness of mind, reason, rationality, sensibleness, and reasonableness.

This comes when I raise my eyes. This comes when I praise my God and honor and glorify Him. This comes when I recognize what actually is.

It is time…..now raise your eyes to our King and allow your sanity to return.

What Does God Hate?

2009-07-20T07:57:00.001-05:00

Does God hate what brings us to sin as much as the sin itself?

The Scriptures seem to indicate that God does not just view murder as wrong, but the hatred that leads to murder is equally wrong. Sexual sins are wrong, but the thought of sexual sins, lust, is equally wrong. Being greedy is wrong, but coveting is equally wrong.

Gluttony is condemned, but what is it that leads to gluttony? Drunkenness is a sin, but what is it that leads to drunkenness? Laziness is a sin, but what is it that leads to laziness?

Could it be that under the banner of freedom and our fear of legalism, we often condemn the sin but ignore what brought us to the sin, when if we eradicated what brought us to sin, we would not be in sin? Could it be that we are concerned about the wrong end of this problem, and are more like modern -ay Pharisees than we would like to admit?

Perhaps we need to adjust the end of the problem we are addressing. Perhaps we need to adjust the path in order to change the ultimate destination.

Fantasy Land

2009-07-15T08:30:00.001-05:00

Satan is the author of confusion and lies. If God is the originator of truth, Satan is the force behind fantasy.

It seems as if our nation is living in a kind of fantasy world. There are many who live with enormous amounts of debt. They live a life that cannot be supported by the "reality" of their income or status. If they "need" something and have the ability to put it on credit, they do so. Our President seems to understand this fantasy world quite well. When he came to office, he did whatever he could to make sure the source of our fantasy, money, continued to flow. In fact, he decided to bankrupt our nation and then use this bankrupt government to bail out a bankrupt baking system. For some reason there is this idea that spending more money that we do not have in order to support a lifestyle we cannot have will eventually bring about success and prosperity.

The young people who have not created this financial fantasy have been living a fantasy life of their own. Most young people today do not have a real life, but a life that is lived vicariously through various television programs, reality shows, Facebook, My Space and Twitter. Teachers and pastors have had to resort to media clips in order to make their points because the only reality our people know is reality as portrayed to them on the big screen. Oprah and Dr. Phil have become symbols of truth and give hope to millions, and the nation dreams about what it would be like to be the next American Idol.

In middle of the mess, we unexpectedly lose the king of fantasy, Michael Jackson. The media made sure we heard of nothing else and had plenty of pictures of people wailing and mourning the "king of pop." This man will be missed for all the good he has accomplished; in fact there may never be another who could sing and dance like him, and that must be what really matters.

Our nation's leaders are living frantic lives trying to keep the fantasy going, for no one wants it to die on their watch. Our young people are frantically trying to make sure they have the latest electronic devices and are Facebooking, twittering, watching movies, and cheering on American Idol so that they can feel like they have a life, like they belong.

Satan is the author of confusion. He is the author of fantasy.

God deals with truth and absolutes in the real world and universe.

Fantasies always come to an end, and in this case, there will be no "happily ever after" ending.

The Sad Reality

2009-06-25T07:36:00.001-05:00

Lines from Lewis Carroll's Alice….and the Cat.

Alice: Would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here.

Cat: That depends a great deal on where you want to get to.

Alice: I don't much care where-

Cat: Then it doesn't matter which way you go.

Alice: -so long as I get somewhere.

Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that….if you only walk long enough.

This is way too much like a conversation I am having over and over with high school seniors and college freshmen. Perhaps Lewis Carroll was prophetic.

In contrast, Paul says: Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. "Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)

Go wherever or press on…..the choice is mine, for today.

Appropriate At What Age?

2009-06-18T07:11:00.001-05:00

It seems that our double standard has hit an all time low. David Letterman said the following this past week.

"These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl. I mean, look at my record. It has never happened. I don't think it's funny. I would never think it was funny. I wouldn't put it in a joke."

What was said was inappropriate about a 14, 18, or 80 year old. Having an audience laugh shows an acceptance of such degrading talk.

Women are degraded in porn, they are degraded in advertising, and they are degraded on mainstream television. It is marketable to degrade women, to make them objects of pleasure, and the target of jokes. It is protected by our freedom of speech.

The sad reality is that all of this degradation is acceptable to our general public. If we as a society would turn off David Letterman, he would be jobless. If we refused to watch television that degraded women, we would get fewer programs that would do so. If we refused to buy products that used sex to sell, we would see less sex to sell.

The reason we have the problem is because there is an audience that accepts and responds to it. As I have been told, it works, so it is done.

I think it is time to stop it. It is time for us all to turn off Letterman, to refuse to watch television and movies that degrade anyone one. You will not be legalistic for refusing to watch programs that degrade people. You would be wise.

Blurring the Lines

2009-06-08T18:37:00.001-05:00

Evil happens not only when we do evil, but when we blur the lines between good and evil.

Often we work at keeping the lines blurred in thinking that this blurring of lines helps us communicate better, or relate more, or avoid confrontation. In fact, we may spend so much of our time finding middle ground that we never advance, and this lack of advancement is tantamount to going backwards.

For example, one might argue that in order to "relate" to a Godless culture we need to live in a manner that the Godless would understand. He/She might state that in order to be able to talk with them we need to live in their neighborhoods, drive the cars they drive, entertain ourselves the way they entertain themselves, and in essence, erase all distinctions that might show us to be different.

As we do this, we blur the lines of demarcation. As we do this, we give little incentive for them to change, and little reason for them to see us changed.

What would happen if we decided to live in a neighborhood that was less than our income could normally support so that we could use the excess resources we save for kingdom work. Would that hinder us from being a testimony to those in our income bracket, or make us more intriguing? Would that hinder us from being a testimony to those in our "poorer" neighborhood, or make us more intriguing? What if we drove cars until they actually needed replacing, and then replaced them with reasonable, gas efficient models? Would that stop us from "relating" to our peers, or give us something to talk about? What if our marriages were solid and our commitments were unquestioned? Would that help or hinder our ability to "relate" to those around us?

Sometimes I think we have taken upon ourselves the responsibility of changing hearts, and we do so by trying to "relate" to people who do not know God, rather than trying to live our lives to please God. It is not our job to "relate". It is our job to obey and to love. It is God's job to convict and to bring people to Himself and He uses obedient, set-apart people to do this. This does not mean that we live "strangely" on purpose; it means that as we live in obedience to God, our lives will be strange to those who choose to live without Christ.

This "blurring" the line thing is something that permeates all erroneous thinking. This past week I listened to our President speak to the Arab nations. If you listened to his speech and his statements to various heads, of states you would be totally confused as to what we as a nation stand for and who we are. He seemed to say the following: We are not a Christian nation but we are not quite Muslim. We would be a large Muslim nation if it were not for all the Christians. Israel has had it hard, but they have been hard. The Palestinians have been mean but they have had others mean to them. At the end of his speeches I realized that, in trying to relate and not offend all, he related to none, and offended all.

That is how it is with Christians who blur the lines. That is why we are losing a generation.

New Teen Craze

2009-06-03T16:04:00.001-05:00

I read an article recently describing the new teen craze of "Sexting." This, for those who do not know, is when a person takes a risqué picture of themselves, and sends it to someone for review….for whatever purposes. This is becoming quite prevalent in that on a recent spot check of phones it was found that 39% of all cell phones were used to send these indecent messages, and 48% of the teens' phones had received such images.

Think of it. Almost half of the teens' phones received unacceptable images of their friends.

What are they thinking? Where do they get this from?

It seems to me that the laws in our nation are out of whack, and the kids are just being consistent with the reality in which they live. Our society, as a whole, has dropped any semblance of standards. We allow pornography, but not for minors. We tell people that we cannot do anything about the porn industry because of freedom of speech, and then condemn it at certain ages.

In fact, we have a history of telling young people that if you are an adult, you can do all sorts of things that would be harmful to you if you were a child. If you are an adult you can watch porn, smoke, drink, watch "R" rated movies, etc.

I guess, since you're an "adult," you will show "responsibility" in your actions. Then again, is it ever "responsible" to watch porn, smoke, drink and watch "R" movies?

Could it be that the real message is that when you turn into an adult you can become irresponsible since there is no law against irresponsibility? Could it be that our children, who desperately want to be "grown ups," long for the irresponsibility they see in adults, and are now imitating that on their phones?

Technology, whether it be nuclear energy, movies, or the ability to take pictures on phones, can be used for good or bad. The only way anything will be used for good would be if we remain subject to Almighty God. In a nation that has moved away from being able to set any absolute standards, we will continue to morally deteriorate until the good life that was once abundant here in the United States will just be a memory.

Taking God, as God, Father, and Judge out of the picture leaves us with lewd, unacceptable pictures. We should not wonder why Godless people act Godless. The answer will never be more laws….The answer for our nation is more God.

The Day Reason Dies

2009-05-24T14:45:00.001-05:00

Without a clear understanding of right and wrong that lies outside of ourselves, we will disintegrate as a culture from within, and face formidable challenges from without.

There has been much said in recent days on why Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Even though I agree with the majority of thought on this issue, the reasoning behind the thought does not make sense.

Why should Iran not have a nuclear weapon when the United States does? What makes us different? Are we morally superior than those in Iran? Do we get to have these kinds of weapons because we would show restraint in using them? (As if we never did use them….) Do we have these weapons in order to keep the rest of the world as vassals of the United States?

I would agree that if we, as a nation, lived by the standards put forth in God's Word, we could be trusted with great power. In fact, anyone who is subject to God's Word could be trusted with great power. Those who know and obey God understand that their resources should be used for the benefit of the people, for the advancement of the Kingdom, and for the care of the orphans and widows.

Those who are not subject to God are not trustworthy to hold power. This would mean that those in the United States who are not subject to God or anywhere else in the world should not have access to weapons of mass destruction.

In any case, for the Godless leaders of the United States to tell the Godless leaders of Iran that they are not trusted is philosophically baseless argument. What our leaders are saying is that we, as Godless leaders, have some sort of moral superiority, therefore you are not allowed to have what we have, because you might use it and we would not. (It makes you wonder why we have them then?)

We live in dangerous times, not because there are weapons of mass destruction, but because those who control their use are Godless, self-serving people, who justify their actions on the basis of what is best for themselves and for their power base.

Good leaders have power, but they understand that their power has been given to them for the good of the people, and that they will be held accountable for their leadership to Almighty God, who will not be swayed by rhetoric, party, or fear.

I hope Iran never gets access to nuclear weapons, yet I have no confidence that those in charge of our nuclear arsenal are worthy of our trust either. Once again, as always, my trust remains, unashamedly, in our God.

For who is like me, and who can challenge me? What ruler can oppose my will?” Jeremiah 50:44 (NLT)

2009-05-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

A young man recently wrote "Dear Abby" because of his concern for his father becoming sexually active with other men. He was disturbed by what was going on and asked Abby how he might better deal with this.

His first problem was to ask "Dear Abby," who obviously pulls her ideas from whatever is most politically correct, and not from what is right and wrong.

She told this young man that it should no longer shock people that someone has chosen to act like his father is acting. She went on to say this: "Times have changed. Today a person's sexual orientation is no longer considered something to be hidden. One constructive way to deal with it would be to realize how fortunate you are to have the kind of relationship you have always had with your dad. Be supportive, don't judge and love him for the parent he has always been."

Bad advice.

The loving part is good; we should always be loving. But love cannot watch someone destroy themselves and say nothing. Love cannot watch someone deliberately do evil and only think of the good times they used to have. Sexual activity outside the boundaries God has given us is wrong. It was wrong four thousand years ago, and it is wrong now. No matter what the culture might believe, it will always be wrong in the future.

God's ways are not outdated. He alone is the One who decides what "right and wrong" are. He is always right. We must not adjust God or His dictates to our culture, hopes, dreams, or desires.

There are probably thousands of children who read this article and were exposed to the casual way "Dear Abby" diminished the value of God and His ways. She is either fearless in telling the nation to ignore the dictates of God, or is a fool. We as a nation are either foolish for thinking this is wisdom, or fearless in declaring that our "norm" will now dictate right and wrong, even when going directly against God.

God is the lighthouse; we are the ship. He will not alter His course, but we must, or we will face certain destruction.

Psalm 33:12 (NLT)
¹²What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.

Do our lives back what we talk about?

2009-05-07T11:04:00.001-05:00

There is a crisis in our nation in that Christians are not acting like Christians. We seem so concentrated on being forgiven that we forget to be holy. We find causes to rally to and open our lives to scrutiny of a press that does not care about right and wrong but about their personal agenda.

Any liberal in the country would give their life for freedom of speech, yet when Miss California exercised it she became target #1. When she said she did not believe in Gay marriage and later claimed it went against what God has said and she would not go against what God has said.

That should have been enough for the media. She exercised her right as an American citizen to speak what she believed. However, we are seeing that free speech is not free.

In fact, this young woman has been taking a beating and, quite frankly, was not prepared for such an onslaught. If one is going to take a public stand then ones life will be publicly scrutinized. We do not battle flesh and blood but the prince of the power of the air and his thugs and they are good at what they do.
When the liberal press got a hold of this girl they found that she had topless pictures of her self and threatened to use them. She denied it. They proved her wrong.

The major problem here is the same problem most Christian Americans face. We talk but have little conviction to back our talk. It was obvious to the media that a Christian should not lie and pose nude and they were more than willing to point this out in order to discredit the person.

I know, we can now claim that we are not perfect, just forgiven but as we say that, as true as it is, we set the bar pretty low.

What we need to do is go back and study men like Daniel, in the Bible. The big wigs of his day wanted to destroy him, but the only problem they could find in him was that he prayed.

If I want to be used of God in a significant way today, I need to prepare by being obedient to Him in all things, by watching my life so that if I am accused of anything, it is that I love God, my wife and my children.

It is important that we who name the name of Christ be ready to stand up to scrutiny because it will come.

Live today as if your life and decisions actually matter cause you never know when you will be thrust into the limelight.

Let's live as if sin is actually bad.....

Dave Wager
theomegaforce.org

The Ways Things Are

2009-05-06T11:33:00.002-05:00

In life there are things that are whether we want to acknowledge them or not. For example, real maple syrup comes from maple trees no matter what we say, believe, or choose to ignore. The color red has already been established. We can call it whatever we want, but red is still red. Snow falls in the winter in Wisconsin. We may wish it was different, but it is what it is.

Intelligent people spend no time arguing things that "are." They acknowledge them and adjust their lives to the obvious.

It reminds me of a story of a warship traveling through the night on a special mission. In the middle of the night the captain saw a light in the distance in the very path that the ship was headed. He sent out a warning to the oncoming "ship" that it would need to alter its course in order to accommodate the warship. Soon the captain received a response that told the warship that it should adjust its course by 15 degrees. The captain sent another message giving his ship's name and his personal credentials and demanded that the ship approaching him adjust their course 15 degrees. In a bit, there was another response telling the captain that he needed to reconsider and adjust his huge warship's course, or face dire consequences. This time, the captain was angry and started to talk about the firepower this ship possessed and the importance of his mission to national security, and issued a final ultimatum: adjust your course or face physical force that could lead to injury or death of your crew and loss of your contents. After a while the captain received word that another message had just come from the approaching ship. It said "We are a lighthouse."

Obviously, this captain's conversation would have been different if he knew that he was speaking to something that was immovable.

It could be that in our culture today we have begun to believe that the immovable is moveable, and our discussions demanding things to change are foolishness. If you were to check out all fifty of our nation's state's constitutions, you would find God acknowledged. In my own state of Wisconsin our preamble says: "We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility…." These constitutions were put in place to guide us; they were not put in place for us to guide.

God is God. I am Dave. God is and always was. I once was not. God changes not. Dave changes.

It would be very good for us as a nation to realize that there are things that will not change because they cannot change. God will always be God, whether we acknowledge Him or not. If we do acknowledge Him and honor Him as God, we will one day look brilliant, as we will have navigated this life quite well. If we do not acknowledge Him, we will look like a foolish captain who has been telling a lighthouse to move.

Who Sets Our Ideals?

2009-04-22T12:59:00.001-05:00

This week, President Obama said the following: "And the last point I just want to emphasize, as I said yesterday at the CIA when I visited, what makes America special in my view is not just our wealth and the dynamism of our economy and our extraordinary history and diversity. It's that we are willing to uphold our ideals even when they're hard. And sometimes we make mistakes because that's the nature of human enterprise. But when we do make mistakes, then we are willing to go back and correct those mistakes and keep our eye on those ideals and values that have been passed on generation to generation."

What are our ideals? Who sets the "ideal" agenda? Do our ideals include the killing of unborn babies while we condemn the torturing of the born terrorists?

If we were to dismantle the foundation of a building brick by brick, what would eventually be the end result of the building?

President Obama does not believe that the United States of America is a Christian nation, and it may not be. But if it is not, then we can expect the nation to fall, for our nation, our way of life, our liberty, and our freedoms come from the fact that the nation rests upon the foundation of Christian principles. We, like any civilization, cannot withstand the dismantling of our foundation.

Without a "plumb bob," or some accurate measuring device, there is no right and wrong, only good and bad. Truth becomes something that can be debated, and the majority or those with power can begin to believe their own lies and make decisions based on their comfort and control.

In reality, there is a right and wrong that is foundational to all successful human endeavors, and it lies outside human manipulation.

The actions and words of this president are reckless and will lead us towards a crisis that we have never seen in our history. I cannot help but think that that is exactly what this administration wants, for they firmly believe that times of crisis give great opportunity for change, and change is what this president says he is about.

Those who know our nation's history are Christians, know Scriptures, and need to stand firm.

John Jay, one of the authors of The Federalist Papers , one of the three men most responsible for the ratification of the Constitution and who was George Washington's pick to be the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (meaning he knew what The Constitution meant), said the following:

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."1

Perhaps we should take his advice in the next election cycle.

John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1890, Vol. IV,p.393, Oct. 12, 1816

Christianity Unraveled

2009-04-15T10:38:00.001-05:00

What is the foundation of Christianity? Christ.

Why does the world work? Why It there consistency in sunrises and sunsets? Christ.

Why is there food to eat, trees to provide wood for homes, and fuel to heat and provide electricity? Christ.

How did the universe come into existence? Christ.

How will it end? Christ.

I have concluded that Dave is just not that important.

Are the themes we have at church helping or hurting the cause of Christ? Are our churches about Christ or about us? Are we focused on what we focus on or what God focuses on? Could our churches' intent be the same as giving an alcoholic a bumper sticker at an AA meeting that says "I am not sober, just forgiven,"

Is the goal to be sober if you're an alcoholic, or just forgiven?

Is the goal to be "sinless" if you're a Christian, or just forgiven?

Does it matter?

Moving Off The Gold Standard

2009-04-09T09:07:00.001-05:00

Moving Off the "Gold Standard"

This week our President informed the rest of the world that we were not a Christian nation.

Although many may think that our leader is stating the obvious, and he may be, he is also declaring a new philosophy that will ignore the obvious importance of our nation's Christian heritage and declare independence from God from this day forward.

To imply that we were never a Christian nation would be foolish and prove a lack of understanding history. To state that we are not now Christian, or have any "religious" loyalties is to be honoring man apart from God.

Years ago the US dollar had value because it was measured against the "gold standard". It was so valuable that all nations of the world began to measure their economy against that of the United States and so stable that that the rest of the world adopted the dollar as their standard monetary measurement. Since our nation has moved off the gold standard our dollar has a diminished value and the rest of the world is discussing other currency that may be "better" used as the standard monetary measurement. The further away from the gold standard we go, the more useless our currency becomes.

Our nation, as a culture and a people has travelled down the same path. We were once a nation where people risked their lives to come and resettle in hopes to have a piece of the American Dream. We were a nation of ethics and were ruled by laws that were extracted from the early Christians and Deists. Our nation's values came from our Christian leaders, from the Holy Scriptures and the boundaries we placed in our lives gave us the freedom to live in a way where we honored our God by loving Him, our families and our neighbors.

Because of our Christian heritage we understood right and wrong and applied these truths to everyday living.

What I heard from our President this week was that we have moved off that "gold standard" of Christianity and that we would now try to sustain what was built on a Christian foundation without Christ, without God.

This means that our leader has officially moved us off the "gold standard" and has diminished the value of these United States of America. Even more I fear that we as a nation will be in trouble in that our leader has openly defied our God by denying Him the glory that is due Him by acknowledging that our greatness has come from Him and from those who have lived to glorify Him.

It is difficult to know what is ahead for our nation's economy because we have never been so far off the "gold standard".

It is difficult to know what is ahead for our nation's people in that we have never been so far off the "gold standard" spiritually.

May God have mercy on us for we have sinned….We have sinned by ignoring God's hand and presence in our past. We have sinned by ignoring God in our present and stealing His glory by claiming our accomplishments have taken place apart from Him. We have sinned by intentionally excluding God from our future.

I have no idea what our current President means when he ends a speech in this country with….and may God bless America….

Why would He?

Trust

2009-03-11T09:28:00.001-06:00

Trust

I am struggling with trusting our new president and our government officials. I feel badly that this is the case in that I want to trust them, yet their words and actions do not mesh.

Our president, while campaigning for office, spoke of great changes that needed to take place. One area he talked about was for change in the normal partisan politics. Another area he spoke often about was the end of politics as usual in the area of "earmarks" in appropriation bills.

It seems that our president's pragmatic desires have driven him to say whatever is convenient at the moment, whatever would expedite his image and win the crowd. There is little that is not partisan in Washington these days, and there is a bill that he says he will sign, with over 8,000 earmarks in it.

What could be his justification for lying to the public? What justifiable reason could he give to outright lie?

I have heard him say that this is Bush's problem. I have heard him say that when it becomes his problem, he will deal with it differently. I have heard those in Congress say that this is a small part of the bill, and that the detractors should quit whining.

If I invited you to my home for dinner and told you that all the food was good except for a little bit of arsenic that spilled into the sauce, would that make the good food still good? If you knew a husband, who claimed to be a good husband, yet beat his wife one day a week, would that make him a good husband for six days a week?

Is lying acceptable because it is old business or because it only affects a small percentage of the truth?

Is somebody that lies a liar? Should they be trusted?

We need to be on guard for things may not be what they seem, or perhaps they are.

In any case, it seems we have elected the fox to guard the hen house. I would sleep with one eye open.

Instant Relationships

2009-03-05T11:15:00.001-06:00

Instant Relationships

Relationships are important. They are important enough to rearrange your life for them, and they are marginal if we don't rearrange our lives for them.

I may be old, but the foundational principles to good relationships have not changed. Intimate or good relationships still take intentionality and exclusivity in time. By that I mean that in order for me to have a good relationship with Linda, or anyone, I need to make time for her, and she for me, where we do not share our attention with something or someone else. It is not okay for me to carry on a heart to heart conversation with Linda while reading a magazine and watching the news. I need to put the magazine down, turn the television off, and look her in the eyes while listening to her heart.

Exclusivity in the moment is part of a healthy relationship.

That is what gets me concerned. It seems that there are many who are carrying on relationships (at least that is what they call them) with people they say they love, while only interacting with them by chance and with partial attention. It is not unusual for someone to be talking to someone on their phone, watching television or listening to the radio, while chatting or checking out what is going on in Facebook and talking to another friend who happens to be standing or sitting next to them all at the same time. They seem so focused on who is not there that those who are there are like they are not there (if that makes sense).

I think it is time to remind ourselves that healthy relationships require more than a daily Facebook line or a distracted conversation. I would appreciate it, if you are ever talking to me, that you forget you have a cell phone, that you let your answering machine pick up your land line, and that you close your laptop.

I am sure that this is not a new problem and that our forefathers were concerned about the young people of their day looking at the smoke signals from distant villages, while the elders rambled on, but I do think it is different somehow. I think that in the age of communication we have the illusion of relationship without the substance of relationship. We are deceived into believing that we have all sorts of "friends" from across the world, when, in reality, we really know very few people, and few really know us. In reality, we are lonely people in search of significance and we think we are finding it by having multiple shallow acquaintances that are actually costing us the intimate friendships we long for.

It seems odd that in the age of communication we communicate so poorly.

We Are Blind

2009-02-24T12:01:00.001-06:00

We Are Blind

We, as a nation, are blind to certain problems and opportunities. If we as a nation are blind, then I, too, am blind. Jesus told us that we need to be careful not to point out the speck in someone else's eyes while we are sporting a beam in our own.

So, when I say that we as a nation are blind, I mean that we, me included, are at times blind to what is really going on around us.

For example, we know that greed can and does cause all kinds of problems, but we do not want to deal with the issue of greed, because that would mean that we would need to define it, and that I, and or others, would be guilty of such an attitude. Since we do not want to live with guilt or shame that is caused by the action of greed, we will just assume that we are not greedy, and those we suspect of greed we will not engage in debate, because we do not want to offend anyone.

We know that the consumption of alcohol causes great pains in our world. I tried to find accurate statistics, but found them varying greatly, so I do not even know who to believe. One thing is for certain, though, the abuse of alcohol causes more pain and sorrow than almost any other human activity. There are many statistics that tell us that the abuses of alcohol are cause for up to half of all the medical bills, up to half of the prison population, and up to half of all rapes and other violent crimes. All of the statistics I read told a story of more who die each year in this country than in the war in Iraq. The money spent to care for this, no matter who is telling the story, is astronomical.

There are also varied statistics (which is not surprise if you have ever studied statistics) on how many Americans are overweight and what that will do to us as a nation. The loss of productivity, medical bills, shortened lifespan, and decreased life enjoyment are apparent, as is the cause. We eat too much and exercise too little.

I heard a commentator on television say that abstinence would never solve the sexually transmitted disease problems and unwanted pregnancies. I do not know what this person was thinking because indeed abstinence would solve both problems.

Many years ago I was asked to be on a school sex education curriculum task force for a public school. As we sat and talked about ways we could help the teens of our district reduce unplanned pregnancies and stop the flow of sexually transmitted diseases, I offered the idea of teaching that abstinence be at least taught as a viable option. The committee members looked at each other and then at me, and frankly told me that it would never work.

My thought was "Why not?"

It seems we cannot solve the alcohol abuse problem in the nation because our people like to drink.

We cannot really solve the greed problem in the nation because we like being greedy.

We cannot stop the obesity problem in this nation because we like to eat too much.

We cannot stop the unwanted pregnancies, so we push to keep abortion an option, because we want to have sex.

We do not want to solve these problems; we just want to eliminate any negative consequences for any actions we enjoy.

It won't work.

Is it really too much to ask a people to abstain from alcohol, to eat only what they need to be healthy, to exercise on a regular basis, to abstain from sex when unmarried, to remain faithful in marriage, and to be generous with their resources with those in the world who are in need?

Can you imagine what this would do to our personal lives and relationships, our national economy, and our world's health?

Our nation is in trouble and we are going about the cure from the wrong direction. We are nation of kings in search of servants. We are busy amusing ourselves in life, while fearing death, for everything we have accumulated in life will leave us at death.

We need something outside of us to measure right and wrong and we need to know the difference between right and wrong and good and bad.

The choice, for now, is still ours and will have ramifications for our future.

Head In The Sand

2009-02-17T09:35:00.001-06:00

This week there has been much talk about the new stimulus bill that our Congress passed. Some think that the contents of this bill will save our nation's economy. Others think we will sink into a "stagflation" unknown since the days of Jimmy Carter. Time will tell who is right.

There was no possible way that anyone could have read, analyzed and thought about what was voted on in the time they were given. That does not surprise me. In fact, most of our nation thinks that opinions formed on limited information, during this, the information age, is fine. People who have never read the Bible or have read it once become experts on what it says. Those who have never sat in on a foreign relations briefing become experts at foreign relations. Those who have not been successful in their own marriage or in raising children become experts in family. Members in church are asked to vote on what they think the "will" of God is for their church while never really seeking or hearing the voice of God. We live as if our opinion is what really matters and as if facts are only pertinent if they support our opinions.

Those who wrote the stimulus bill had an agenda, something in the bill that would be good for them, that needed the cover of urgency and fear to get it passed.

In our culture there is a plethora of words. So much so that words have taken on a diminished value.

I am not sure what was in this bill. I am not sure who wrote the bill. I am sure that those who voted on something this massive without discussion, debate and a complete understanding have made a mockery of the office they hold. I ask that we, as citizens of this nation, eventually vote out anyone who voted for something they did not read and understand.

The President seems to be a talker like the rest of our nation's leaders. He has talked about inclusion and about changing the way Washington works. This was a partisan bill that carried on the long tradition in Washington of operating out of a pool of ignorance.

If President Obama were a man of his word, if he actually believed in debate, bipartisan politics and transparency he would realize that this did not happen and would veto the bill until it could be read, thought about, debated and adjusted so that all involved would actually have their voices heard.

President Obama's approval rating is quite high proving once again that facts, if they get in the way of our opinions just do not matter.

It is so easy to run for president, so hard to be president. It is so easy to talk, so hard to back up your talk. His actions prove that he does not believe what he says. Therefore, he is not a man of character. If he is not a man of character, he cannot be trusted.

The Bible makes it clear that any nation whose god is not God, a nation that will not honor God by living by the foundational principles He has set forth will be destroyed. It seems as if the United States is not really "relevant" in the "end times" prophesies in the Bible. For this to happen we would need to move towards "irrelevancy" at some point.

Perhaps, with the current leadership in place and the way we conduct business, we have taken a leap in that direction….

Daniel 5:22-23 (ESV)
²²And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,
²³but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.

Trying Something Old

2009-02-11T09:49:00.002-06:00

Almost six decades ago, former president Herbert Hoover wrote a warning that I fear America has not heeded. After calling attention to several new programs and concepts, including "New Freedom" and "New Religion," Hoover stated, "We have overworked the word "new"…. The practical thing we can do, if we want to make the world over, is to try out the word "Old" for a while. There are some "old" things that made this country…Some old things are slipping badly in American life and if they slip too far, the lights will go out of America. (What in the World is Going On? Dr. David Jeremiah)

I listened to our president talk the other day during a town meeting he held in Florida. He talked about the extreme hardship many were experiencing and I wondered if he really understood hardship. He talked about how much people wanted to work, and I wondered if he ever met the crowd that tried to work the system so they did not need to work. I heard him say that it was time to quit talking and start acting as he spent most of his day travelling and talking. I heard him talk about the arrogance of those corporate executives who took their corporate jets to meetings while he got to his massive corporate jet on a massive marine helicopter. I heard him talk about the insiders in Washington as if he did not live there. I heard him talk about "inheriting" a mess and wondered what his role as a US senator was during those years. I saw a lady mouth the words "we love you Barak" with tears streaming down her face and thought I was looking at a rock star rather than a president.

Needless to say all of these stay thoughts bothered me.

But what has bothered me the most is the fact that this president speaks as one person while living as another. There was a lady who told him that she was praying for him and he acknowledged that he needed those prayers and depended upon those prayers while opening the flood gates of human destruction to the unborn. The bill that he is endorsing is quite discriminatory against religious organizations in that it prohibits federal dollars for: "...modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities--used for sectarian instruction, religious worship...or a school or department of divinity; or in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission."

During these economic tough times is it not the Christian organizations that have risen to take care of the needy? Is it not the Christian groups that operate out of love and concern for the welfare of people regardless of available funding? Of course it is. Perhaps that is why they can be ignored. They will operate despite our government's ignorance of their importance.

While there is money being available to help stop STDs, there will be no money available for those who teach that the ways of Christ are the only real solution to our nation's problems. It won't matter to the faithful; we have served without government money for years.

I do not know how God could or would bless a nation that has decided to "fix" its problems without Him. There seems to be a clear historical record of what happens to nations whose god is not God.

When we destroy the foundational bricks on which the structure of our society has been resting we will surly teeter and fall for no culture can survive the tests of time without a secure footing.

It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible….George Washington

The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of the truth- that God governs in the affairs of men. And, without His aid, we shall succeed in the in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. Benjamin Franklin

Remember ever, and always, that your country was founded, not by the most superficial, the lights, the most unreflective of all European races, but by the stern old Puritans who made the deck of the Mayflower an altar of the living god and whose first act on touching the soil of the new world was to offer on bended knees thanksgiving to Almighty God. Henry Wilson, Vice President under Ulysses S Grant.

The Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God and spiritual nature and needs of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in a way of peace and salvation. America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture. Woodrow Wilson

(Quotations from What in the World is Going On? by David Jeremiah. Pp. 127-8)

I am ready to try "old" for a while….

Make Camping a Tool

2009-01-06T14:51:00.001-06:00

When I go into the auto shop at our camp, I am always amazed at how the mechanics there can skillfully use the tools at their disposal. When it comes to doing the impossible, they smile and get all excited about their latest purchase and the chance they will have to accomplish a difficult task with relative ease. It is even more impressive if I have been working on a problem for some time, and they come in when I am bloody-knuckled and on the edge of despair; they walk to their tool box, pick up a new tool, and walk over and solve my problem.

It is equally impressive watching mechanics talk to the Snap On (Tool Company) representative. Their discussion revolves around the latest and greatest in tools that can solve a host of problems. As they talk, the adrenaline flows, the eyes widen, and the disaster stories of unsuccessful attempts to fix the problem without this tool flow like water over Niagara.

Those who understand Christian camping get excited, just like our mechanic friends do, over the tool of camping and what it can do in the body of believers at a local church. Camping is not the church, but a tool in the hand of the church. Camps make some of the jobs that the local church is working on easier to accomplish.

Camps are ideal places to hear God's voice apart from the normal distractions. Camps foster a safe, yet challenging environment that forces young people out of their normal comfort zones. Camping is conducive to building relationships, especially significant adult relationships, that yield great results in understanding and responding to both God and man.

When I was a leader of a youth group in the Chicagoland area, I always attended camp with my students. In fact, the camping experience was so powerful that I made it a requirement for all of my leaders to go to camp as a counselor, and bring the students from their small groups with them.

Here is how it worked. I would ask about five students in my group to come to camp and invite five of their non-Christian friends from school to join them. I would then go to each of their invited friends' homes and talk to the parents about camp and the experience we would have. I would invite the parents to check me out, to check out our church, and to check out the camp.

We would have contests in our club to help young people become excited about bringing kids to camp. We would begin talking about it in January and not stop until the bus left. We would arrange transportation, finances (if necessary), and prayer groups from church. We would do whatever it took to get our clubbers involved in the evangelism process.

When the time came for camp, we would go to camp together. (Usually I was the bus driver!) At camp we swam, rode horses, rafted, water-skied, laughed, cried, sat around campfires, and

heard God's Word taught. Each night I gave a wrap-up devotional and made a point to talk with each one of my boys concerning his personal salvation. As I developed a relationship with these boys, they fell in love with God and me. I had the privilege of leading them to the throne of God, taking them home, and having them begin to attend our youth club on a regular basis. I was able to follow up after camp with the families and tell them about our experience in person, while, once again, inviting them to our church or to special club nights designed to reach parents.

In all of this, I had a "sidekick," a teenage leader-in-training, by my side. I was able to infuse both the excitement of being used by God and the proper attitudes. I was able to disciple with my assistant leader. I was able to excite my clubbers about their role in evangelism, and I was able to see our club grow and reach out to parents.

It is sad to say that today the tool of Christian camping is not well used. There are few who are willing to put in the effort to use camping to its maximum potential. There is less and less involvement with adults from church, and more and more hiring of college-aged young people to do work that they are least qualified to do.

It is my hope and prayer that we can pick up, dust off, and begin to use the tool of Christian camping, once again, to its maximum. It is time for church leaders to once again include Christian camping as an integral part of their ministry instead of an afterthought. It is time for churches to "own" the camping experience, instead of farming it off to the young and willing.

Silver Birch Ranch will be hosting a special day for any pastor or youth worker who would like to come (for no charge) and discuss how to maximize the use of Christian camping in his/her church. On March 6-7, 2009, you are invited for supper and a special evening session. Then, the next morning, we will have some silent and solitude time until lunch. After lunch we will have a debriefing, and you will be welcome to return home, refreshed, renewed, and energized.

If this date does not work in your schedule, I encourage you to call me, Dave Wager, at 715.484.2742 x233, and arrange a private meeting to discuss how your church would benefit from using the tool of camping to its maximum.

The local church needs to take advantage of this powerful tool. I look forward to the dialogue.

(Comments/Questions: dave.wager@silverbirchranch.org)

Worthless Words

2008-12-30T14:05:00.001-06:00

When there is an abundance of anything, we begin to take our abundance for granted. If I had millions of dollars, the value of one dollar would be somewhat worthless to me. If I had storage bins of food, the idea of a single piece of chocolate would be minimized. If I have several cars, the idea of owning a car would not be that special.

In our culture, we have a preponderance of words, which is making the idea of actually hearing what someone has said harder and harder. It is not that words have no value; they indeed do. It is that they have a diminished value due to the atmosphere in which we live.

Today people are encouraged to give their opinions in national polls about subjects they know little to nothing about. If we check the social networking pages, we see that our friends woke up grumpy, ate oatmeal for breakfast, and are sad that it is raining outside. As we go through our day, we hear the voices of talk radio pontificating on every known subject that could be crossing the newswires, and gathering opinions of those who have anything to say on the matter. When we get home, we turn on the news and ingest hours of verbal dissection and verbal bantering after we have listened to Oprah talk of mostly insignificant stuff and Dr. Phil solve the emotional problems of a third world chef who feels he is unappreciated for his ability to produce perfect rice. We end our day listening to Larry King interview whoever is saying anything about everything, and catch our late local news, which is encouraging us to participate in a poll on the ethics of injecting mice with a gene from jellyfish that makes them glow in the dark.

To make matters even more bizarre, we are constantly barraged with poll numbers concerning everything, everyday. There seems to be a daily poll as to the President's popularity, whether we should be in Iraq, and if we think the Arabs are sticking it to us with oil prices, or if those prices are from the greedy American oil companies.

Before we go to bed, we check our email, text message a few friends about the fact that we are now going to bed, finish our daily blog on global warming and its ramifications on the third world snake population, Facebook our opinion to Fox news, and Tweeter Larry King.

What we have not understood is the fact that this abundance of words, this continual atmosphere that has been created for meaningless dialogue, has diminished the use of words to the point where they land totally benign on the listening ear.

The fact of the matter remains that my opinion on certain topics is actually not worth hearing . I am not saying that I am not valid as a human. I am saying that if you come and ask me my opinion on the proper use of force in interrogating hostel prisoners of war, I am not really in a position where my opinion should matter.

I do not ask eight year-olds for investment advice. I did not ask my mother for advice as to what our college football team should do to turn around a losing season. I did not ask my daughter for mechanical advice when my lawn mower did not work. I did not ask my wife for advice on how to sharpen my chain saw.

Our county is getting a bit goofy in asking advice on all topics from all people and thinking that we are actually getting somewhere. It is even goofier to think that people think that because they have an opinion, it is both worth sharing and listening to.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. (Proverbs 25:11 (ESV))

Today, everybody wants to write a song. Everybody wants to be heard. Everybody wants to try out for American Idol, to have their moment. We talk, blog, Facebook, text, call, tweet, etc. We have become so self-absorbed and have developed so many tools to remain self-absorbed that we gauge our worthiness by the amount of Facebook friends we have, and we actually think they are friends. We think that going to movies and playing on Facebook with someone constitutes a good relationship, when neither of those venues promotes healthy discussions.

Oftentimes we seem silent when we should be speaking, and we speak when we should be silent. The atmosphere is so "goofy" that when we see someone we love making mistakes, we say nothing. We say nothing because they have the right to speak, to think, to have an opinion, and to express themselves. We say nothing because words are okay if they are tolerant, if they do not accuse, and if there is not absolute in them. Words in our culture are only acceptable if they are meaningless, culturally correct , bland, tasteless and acceptable to all.

If we actually used words to encourage or rebuke, we would be using them wrongly and possibly alienate those we love.

This seems to be a problem. The free-flowing of words needs to stop the minute you actually say something that matters. That is why pastors so often do not really define what they are preaching about. They often leave the application up to you; they often talk of things that need defining, yet leave you the listener to define it. The pastor may talk of loving our neighbor and bringing people to Christ in our neighborhoods and have every head in the congregation nodding in agreement. Yet, all leave the building and nothing changes. There is total agreement in concept and a total misunderstanding in reality. The words that were spoken were only spoken to the point where the heads would nod and affirmation was achieved. On the way out the pastor can feel good about himself as the congregants affirm the major points of the "dynamic" message, that in reality will change nothing in their lives.

Why is it that we stop talking when we should talk, and talk too much when we shouldn't? Could it be that we have been so indoctrinated in the idea of worthless words that now those are the only words worth uttering? Do we even believe that there are "words" that can and should challenge all we do?

Do we believe in God? I mean, do we really believe that He is God, the creator and sustainer of all life? Do we fear God? Do we believe in absolute truth?

I am not speaking of truth as I see it, or truth as defined by debate or rhetoric; I am talking about absolute truth! Shouldn't the discussion be about what truth is and not my opinion about truth? Should I not be speaking in terms of right and wrong, instead of the relative good and bad?

You see, when all people have been trained that all opinions matter, they reduce what God has said to opinion. When God's Word becomes opinion, we become susceptible to "spinning" what He has said to mean what we want it to mean. We make sure that the Word of God and the Church we go to spin the Word of God the same way we spin it. We make sure that we are "comfortable" rather than challenged. We make sure our opinions are heard. We make sure that things are actually about us.

Our culture has been conducive to making sure we surround ourselves with people like ourselves. We shop around for a church like we shop around for jeans. We want a place where we are significant, rather than a place that allows us to be a servant. We want our voice heard in the church government, and want to make sure our children are affirmed and coddled.

We do not really want to be challenged with words that actually strike at what we are doing or saying, or make us think about readjusting our lifestyle. We are people in search of constant affirmation, and we are going to the wrong well to get our satisfaction.

In order to solve the problem of a preponderance of worthless words, we need to go back to the beginning and see if we have the foundational bricks of understanding in place. You see, we use words to both express ourselves and to convince others of our "rightness" or position. We seldom use words to defend the truth. In reality, since there is a God, and He has given us His Word, we know what is right and wrong, and know what, one day, we will be judged by.

Therefore, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.

Proverbs 1:1-5 (ESV)
¹The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
²To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

In the atmosphere of the day, we are busy defending what we say and do. We are a self-centered, arrogant people, and a self-centered arrogant people cannot be used of God or respond to God. We need to be those who position ourselves as learners. We need to understand that there is absolute truth, and the way we spin it or understand it has nothing to do with it being truth. We need to see that we have adjusted our lives to truth, and not try to adjust the truth to our lives. We need to realize that God is God and that we are not. We need to know that God is older than us, smarter than us, and loves us, and that we can trust Him.

Psalm 1:1 (ESV)
¹Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers….

Secondly, we need to realize that the hours we spend listening to the worthless words of those who do not know or love or fear God is dangerous to our thinking. As we continue to let the preponderance of words in our lives, we begin to diminish their value and believe their lies. We change the truth of God into a lie, and place human understanding and rhetoric in its place. We no longer submit ourselves to the truth of God, no matter how it is delivered, but to the skill and ability of man to speak and make logical sense to us.

Man was made to live in fear. We fear not eating, so we work. We fear not being popular, so we make friends. We fear being sick, so we buy insurance. We fear not having fun, so we buy toys. God knows how He made us, and He made us to fear Him. This misplaced fear causes us to speak when we should be silent, be silent when we should speak, and allows those who are intimidating to have the "final" word.

As we fear God, we begin to straighten out all the errors that come from the self-centered preponderances of self-expression, and realize that the universe was indeed created and revolves around God and not us. As we fear God, we begin to search for truth and how to apply it, rather than acknowledge it as another opinion. As we fear God, our words become "aptly spoken" and are like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Because of the diminishing value of words, the least effective means of reaching a lost nation is by speaking to it, unless the speech, the words, begin to challenge rather than accept things the way they are. Words that blend in with the normative behavior of the culture are not worth uttering. Words that challenge thought, that drive people back to the absolutes, are words that need to be spoken.

It would be nice if there was an atmosphere for such words, but there is not. So, these words, if spoken, may tear of the fabric of our culture and of many churches because they will be words that drive us to the Word. These words will be words that speak of absolute right and wrong, instead of the relative terms of good and bad. These words, uttered by a stammering uneducated person will have more power than the rhetoric-rich Ivy League graduate, or the powerful political spin, or meaningless religious, politically-correct pastor.

It is time to go back to the basics and know that we are not God, that we do not create truth, and that we will be held accountable to the truth, so that dialogue will once again center on trying to understand truth instead of exalting self.

Without this fundamental change we are doomed.

Be Good for Goodness Sake?

2008-11-21T10:29:00.000-06:00

There is an agnostic or atheist group that has taken out ads on Busses in one of our major cities. The ads say, “ Why believe in God? …. Be good for goodness sake”.

If this was not so pathetic it would be humorous. It became more pathetic when one of the organizers of the ads was interviewed and stated that it is a harmless ad that was intended to promote their values.

Here is the problem as I see it. First of all, a lack of values is not a value. Having no God would not be a value. Having a no God mind frame would promote a “might makes right” mentality because ultimately we answer to nobody but ourselves. If indeed we answered to nobody but ourselves then we need only justify all and any actions to ourselves. This is quite easy to do.

Secondly, it is impossible, without God, to know what good is. Good and bad are comparative words. In other words, they need something to compare to in order to be understood. If I said I had a good steak at the restaurant down the street I am obviously comparing that steak to some other steak I had at home or some other restaurant. If I said I feel good today, it would be a comparative statement involving how I felt yesterday.

In each example given, you would really have no idea what I am talking about. You would have no real idea of what the steak tastes like or what I am actually feeling like. Those are safe statements because they cannot be refuted. Whoever came up with this ad campaign has made safe statements that they think cannot be refuted because, after all, how could anyone disagree with being good just for goodness sake!

Well, I really have no idea what they are talking about because they have taken the only benchmark, God, out of the picture. It seems to me that these people have more money than they know what to do with and the bus company should be grateful for their sillyness.

Dave Wager
theomegaforce.org

Our taste in leadership is determined by our appetite.

2008-11-13T15:44:00.002-06:00

I am very dissatisfied with the election outcome. I am obviously in the minority, but I do not believe that electing someone who has the ability to talk qualifies him for leadership. I am uncertain as to why a nation would embrace an individual whose greatest accomplishment to date has been a book, or books, about him. It is beyond me why we would put someone in office who approves the killing of unborn children and who would approve judges who will legislate from the bench, one who has forsaken his role as a Senator for two years in order to convince us that he needs to have the most powerful position in the world, and one who has spent approximately one-half of a billion dollars to convince us of his merits during a time when our nation is in great financial stress and danger. (We would need no convincing if he were truly qualified.)

Since the United States has drifted from a republic to democracy, we have become a nation that is the path towards destruction. We are now a nation of sound bytes, of polls, of rhetoric that harnesses the masses’ opinions, and the masses are all about themselves.

The greatest generation is slowly leaving the reigns of leadership to the selfish generation, and the selfish generation has now elected one of their own. We now have a president who has promised more than he can possibly deliver, but we do not care because his promises were all about us.

I have done what I could and have voted for the candidate I thought would be best capable to lead our nation. I was outvoted and, the United States and I as a citizen will be civil in the change of leadership. I will support our new leader as long as he does not conflict with the dictates of our God. I will pray for our new leader and all our government leaders, for their decisions will set an environment in which we will need to operate. Mostly, I will pray for our leaders because that is the proper response for a Christian.

As I look at the slate of candidates that have been selected, I realize that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and like rivers of water He moves them where-so-ever He wishes (Proverbs 21:1). I understand that my hope has never been in government or in human leadership, but in God Almighty and that has not changed. I realize, that in the end I will not judge those in leadership of this nation, but God will, and His judgments’ will be accurate, so I am to pray that they will make the right decisions and stand before God clean.

I am not called to start a rebellion, but I am called to die to myself, to love God and my neighbor, and to pray for my leaders, and I shall do that. I do not serve an angry God but a loving God who wishes all to come to repentance. I serve One who demonstrates power through weakness, obedience, and death to self. So that must be the goal.

So, to President elect Obama, I wish you and your family well. I pray that God will grip your heart and soul and that you would be impressed with the task you have been given and that you would humble yourself before God Almighty and seek His face as you lead this nation. And, may all those who make decisions concerning this nation be humbled by their position, awed by God’s power and responsive to His love and Spirit.

So be it.

Joel 2:12-13 (ESV)
¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)
¹The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.