Simplicity in the Complexity

Author's note: I wrote this about 7 months ago or so:

Here I sit, coughing, nose stuffy, listening to one of Selah’s African hymns come from the guestroom where Jed and Will are playing it for the thousandth time this week. From the family room I can hear a news network chatting about the economy and the stimulus bill, for the thousandth time this week. I can’t comprehend the magnitude of what’s going on, nor can I foresee the future. But I have a small inkling that this is going to change things for the worse. At least, that’s what some are saying…

…The little boys are re-playing the Selah song. Now Dad is talking to Mom on the phone about the big boy’s basketball tourney in Helena. I wonder in a few months from now where we will be. Things are always changing, but with what is happening nationally, the change is bound to be more ramifying. But in the midst of all this, somehow, I am not afraid. Maybe I don’t know enough to be afraid. I’ve heard of rumors of decadence like this nation has never known before. And I know things are much more complicated than that…

…Now Jed is crying, because he got in trouble for making Will cry. He wrecked one of Will’s creations. Now Will has stopped crying and moved on. I think these times bring us to the point of release. We must let go. Of course I want God’s blessing on our nation, but sometimes nations get stiff-necked and won’t acknowledge God. And that is one of the worst things they can do. Sometimes God gives people over to their selfish desires. That’s scary. But as God’s children and products of His grace, He is looking out for us even now. And sometimes He requires that we let go of what we never owned so He can give us the only thing we really desire…Himself. Seek Him and He promises we will find Him. Ask for wisdom and He promises to give it. Obey Him and He promises to bless. Disobey, and He promises to curse. Maybe it’s not that complicated after all…

…Now I hear Little House on the Prairie playing in the next room. Some things never change. And in times like these, where the economy is warping, money is vaporizing, and the high places are thoroughly corrupt, the Rock is firmer than ever. He never changes. He helps us stand firm and let go of things He is shaking, the idols of this age (personal peace and affluence), to show us what He is giving us that is unshakable: His kingdom come. I pray He will give us wisdom to act out of courage not fear, to plan strategically for future generations, and that through us He would glorify His name, revive our lands, and let peace and righteousness kiss. He has the whole world in His hands, even this house on the prairie. And now I think I’ll go cuddle up on the couch with my sibs, have some hot tea, and watch Little House, the sum of which never cease to be a great comfort to a stuffy nose and ticklish throat.

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live." -Deut. 30:19

"For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." -Hebrews 12:25-29

Author's note: Guess what? 7 months later, nothing has really changed. :)

A True Fairy Tale

What if I told you a story?

Once upon a time, there was a world. This was a pretty young world, as far as worlds go.

In a very small piece of this world, on a dry patch of desert, lived a small, scrappy, scraggly-bearded tribe of warrior-shepherds. They were surrounded by other nations that were bigger and more numerous than they, so their lives were mostly spent in conflict. But in their religion, they believed their God was more powerful than all their enemies' gods put together, so they didn't give up. Their religion had been handed down to them by their wandering sun-bronzed sheep-herding fore-fathers for generations, since the world began. They believed their God promised them victory through a coming leader, so they raised their families and fought their battles all looking forward to the arrival of the promised leader, who would wipe out their worst enemies, and they would inherit the earth.

So what happened next, you ask?

Sure enough, a few hundred years later, their Mighty Leader came. He fought their worst enemies, and became their King. He then told them to go out and make his reign known to the whole world and to spread his kingdom to the four corners of the globe. Victory was theirs, he promised, even if they were few in number now. Someday they would outnumber the stars, and all the scattered enemies would either become allies, or perish. So the people went out to do just that.

Then what happened?

A few thousand years later, they had grown from a few hundred scraggly-bearded shepherds, to cover a third of the entire world. Their holy book was read by the people of hundreds of different languages. The promises of their God were being fulfilled.

What if I told you that this is a true story?

It is. The small tribe of shepherds was Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the tribes of Israel…and us. The promised leader is Jesus Christ, who defeated our worst enemies, freeing us from the bonds of sin, Satan, death, and ourselves. The religion that literally overtook the world in the last 2,000 years is Christianity. Since it began under the stars with Abraham, and before him, it has affected the lives of over 2 billion (2,000,000,000) people today. That is 1/3 of our world today. The book that was originally written in only Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, is now translated into over 2,287 languages around our globe.

So why the long faces today, brothers and sisters? We have a winning track record! Jesus didn’t tell us to disciple the nations in vain. He said the gates of hell wouldn’t prevail against us! In case you didn’t know, gates aren’t used for attacking…they’re used for defending against attack. That means hell is on the defensive! Or at least it should be, if we are about the business of expanding the Kingdom of light into all recesses of the world, instead of hiding in the dark predicting when doomsday will come.

The Kingdom isn’t tied to America, or any nation. It transcends them. Nations rise and fall, but the Kingdom can only grow. Look at history. See where we have come from? Now look to the future, a few thousand years from now. What growth of the Kingdom might we see?

How will you advance it?

“For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” ~Isaiah 11:9