New wineskins

Recently, I ran into my junior high youth pastor – I haven’t seen him since I was in junior high!  He left our church to be a senior pastor just as we were leaving his youth group.  It was awesome to see him and catch up.

Among the things he said that totally blessed me was this:  You’ll never know how influential your junior high group was.  So many of you had a call on your life.  You guys were amazing – you would sit on the floor for 45 minutes and worship every Wednesday night…

It reminded me of another time I was talking with a children’s worship leader at a conference, and I was reminded of my grade-school days.  God gave me a picture of the amazing things going on in the sanctuary of our church – things were exploding (not literally, of course) – and downstairs, the basement was packed with kids lifting the floorboards above with praise and worship.  The work upstairs was built, to some extent, on what was going on downstairs.  My mind was blown.

These days, at our church, the youth group is on fire (again, not literally, although they are called the FIRE Squad), and our youth pack the front rows – THE FRONT ROWS – and throw all they’ve got into worship every Sunday morning. 

I’ve heard from the youth leaders that some of these kids come from rough homes; they bring broken hearts and require a lot of love and care.  It’s our job, as a church family, to embrace them and love them and release them to do God’s work. 

New wineskins?  Check.

Pride and spiritual conflict

What a fascinating premise today – pride is linked with spiritual conflict. 

I’m working on a thought.  Here it is:  pride is the expression of selfishness, and selfishness is the root of sin.  We want our way instead of God’s way.  What if pride isn’t just another (deadly) sin?  Isn’t rebellion, however slight, at the core of pride?  And rebellion against God is, indeed, what sent Satan out of heaven.

So pride leaves a door open for spiritual conflict.  Resisting the devil goes hand in hand with acknowledging my place in God’s protection, with humility. 

The passages Neil gives in the first paragraph are so practical.

1 Peter 5:1-10 talks about serving one another.  The phrases that stuck out were that we are to lead not by telling folks what to do, but by being a good example (v. 3), which demonstrates humility, and the directive that each of us is to serve one another in humility (v. 5). 

James 4:10 was worded so beautifully in the New Living Translation that I’m writing it for you here:

When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up and give you honor.

My marching orders for the day.

No fear

Sometimes Neil gives information I wasn’t necessarily looking for…  It’s helpful, though, to have the facts and be prepared with a plan.

Have you ever been awakened in the night, at 3am or otherwise, sensing a presence?  If I have, I can’t remember it.  I did, however, experience a fearful wakeup of another kind…

My husband was away on a business trip, and I hate being alone, especially at night.  In the middle of the night, I was awakened out of a sound sleep by what I thought was someone pounding on my front door.  Thinking it through in the light of day, intruders don’t usually knock, but at the time, it was terrifying.

I sat up in bed, listened for all I was worth, and then said out loud, “God, if someone’s out there, please show them the enormous, big, burly angel you have guarding my house.” 

And then it hit me:  if I was so sure that the angel was there – God was diligently protecting me – what did I have to be afraid of?  Instantly, the fear was gone.  I laid back down and went right back to sleep.

Neil’s steps are:  Consciously place yourself in the Lord’s hands, resist Satan with the spoken Word, and go back to sleep. 

I’ll log that away, should I ever have to use it.

The conversation

I’ll admit it – I’m reluctant to have the conversation with my kids.  You know, the one where I explain the spiritual realities and pitfalls.  Maybe they’re too young…  If I did it right now, they would be terrified.

But it’s not too early for the prep work.  I can look for opportunities to lay the foundation for the full lesson at a later time; I can listen for any experiences they may have and be ready to deal with and explain them, on an age-appropriate level. 

I’m a Sunday school teacher for elementary aged kids; I can look for opportunities to speak the truth about spiritual forces and Christ’s authority. 

When it comes down to it, it’s not hard or complicated.  I just need to think through the words I would use. 

I appreciate Neil’s conclusion: Knowing his [the devil’s] schemes and learning to resist him and take authority over him is the biblical response…the fear of the Lord is the one fear that expels all other fears.

Lesson plans

Today, I’m challenged by this from Neil:  Whatever we think will make us happy, satisfied, successful, etc., is what constitutes our belief system.

Kind of deep for a Friday.

I’m reminded, though, of a shift that happened when I was a teacher.  We were required to write out our lesson plans for each week (in a Lesson Plans book, of course) for two reasons – first, to keep us on track, and second, if we woke up sick, a substitute would have a fighting chance to make it through the day, sanity intact.

Probably it was the result of a seminar our principal attended – she never really said – but at one point, she changed the way she wanted us to write lesson plans.  In each 1½ inch square for each subject for every day, in addition to the workbook page numbers, etc., we had to write lesson objectives.  I learned to write small.

I also learned, after a brief struggle, the value of having a specific, measurable objective in mind as I taught the lesson.  I felt a sense of accomplishment when, at the end, I could see that I had met my goal.  I learned how to write objectives in my sleep, too.

As this year comes to a close, I’m inspired to reflect on what my life objectives are – what I think will make me happy, satisfied, successful, etc.  No, I won’t drag out my old lesson plan book (I’m sure I still have one around here somewhere!), but I need to get better at looking at the big picture.  I’m going to be asking God to speak to me in that process.

Why don’t you join me?

Don’t open that door

So there’s this dog, see?  Neil’s illustrations crack me up, although I’m guessing PETA might have things to say about beating the dog…

That being said, I was pondering the cause and effect at play here… 

I once had a roommate who was a little lost on the concept of cause and effect.  Unfortunate things would happen to her, and she would never see them coming!  (She is the sweetest person on the face of the earth, for the record.)  We would watch things happen, see what was ahead, and think, Of course she’ll get it this time!  No, hardly ever.

The principle of cause and effect are written into the universe; read the book of Proverbs if you need a refresher.

My point is this:  we’ll never overcome sin unless we identify the cause.  Until we do, stuff will just keep happening to us – or so it will seem. 

Thank you, Neil, for reminding us that God would never set a system in place in which we were powerless; He set us up to be able to win. 

Now, about that dog…

Conflict and opportunity

If I could take just one thing to heart from today’s reading, it would be this:  Judgmental people are people in pain.  It’s the key for me to be able to recognize confrontation as an opportunity to be gracious to someone and tend to their needs, instead of curling up into a ball (on the inside, if not on the outside), or lashing out in return.

I don’t know many people who enjoy conflict; it seems we each have our own way of either avoiding it or dealing with it badly.  Conflict should come with an instruction manual, full of lists of Dos and Don’ts, don’t you think?  It should have drawings, too.

I love that Neil shows us how to sidestep the surface issues, though – that’s where we usually get caught up!  There’s almost always something else beneath the surface, hence the emotional charge.  So if I can get over the instinct to self-protect, I realize I have nothing to defend (that’s where trusting God, for real, comes in), and I can show love to someone who needs it.

I just ear-marked this page in my book.  If you’re reading along online, I guess putting a bookmark on today’s page would be the equivalent.