Life Lessons from Looney Tunes (‘What are You Chasing?’ or ‘Standing on Thin Air’)

I love the old Warner Brothers ‘Looney Tunes’ characters such as Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester the ‘Puddy Tat’; and of course Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.

Someone has said, ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.’  You don’t need to watch too many Roadrunner cartoons to realize that Wile E. Coyote is insane!  He does the same things over and over again as if they are going to work.  Wile E. is constantly after Roadrunner; continually chasing what he thinks he wants.  His sense of self worth is completely tied to his pursuit of his worldly desires.  When he fails, which he does, over and over again, he walks away dejected and defeated.

In one episode, Zoom and Bored, the Coyote is up to his old tricks again.  At one point in the madness Wile E. seems to have caught up to Roadrunner and they come to a screeching halt in a cloud of dust.  Wile E. knows almost immediately that he has lost again.  The dust clears from around Wile E.’s feet to reveal him standing on thin air.  After a pitiful look at the viewer, he plummets to the ground; it’s a long fall with a painful ending.  As Wile E. falls, the dust clears from around Roadrunner’s feet to reveal him standing on a solid rock ledge. 

Now because it’s a cartoon, and because he is enslaved to his worldly appetite, Wile E. gets back up and starts chasing Roadrunner again, usually ending up back in the same hole (remember that definition of insanity!)

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus urges His disciples to look past the desires and appetites of the world for things which are more substantive, more real.  ‘Don’t worry’, Jesus says, ‘about food, drink or clothes’.  In more modern terms He would say, ‘don’t worry about the iPhone, the X-Box or the Ferrari.’  ‘Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?’ (Matthew 6:25). 

We need food and drink to live, and we must trust God to provide these things for us.  We don’t need an iPhone or a Ferrari.  Sure there is nothing wrong with owning these things, but they aren’t the important things in life.

What are the important things in life?  Let’s think about Roadrunner.

Roadrunner knows that Wile E. is never going to catch him, so he lives with a sense of joy and exuberance in life.  Wile E. thinks he will be happy if only he can get the right gadget to work; if he can catch Roadrunner.  He needs what Roadrunner has- peace, joy, contentment, freedom

God wants us to have peace and joy in our lives.

Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10).  To follow Jesus, to truly follow Jesus, is not a matter of keeping a bunch of rules and trying to make God love you.

God loves you as much as He can possibly love you—‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…’ (John 3:16).  There is nothing you can do to earn His love because He cannot love you any more than He does right now.  And He will never love you any less.  If you are in Christ, there is nothing you can ever do to lose God’s love

Trying to keep rules is the work of the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy.

Living with a sense of peace that you belong to God and nothing will ever change that…that is getting on the road of living life to the fullest!

‘But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ (Matthew 6:33).

In life, particularly in our spiritual life, we need to be sure we are chasing after the right things.  If we chase the wrong things for too long, we will find ourselves standing on thin air.  And if we chase the wrong things for our entire lives, we are in for a long fall and we will find there is no bouncing back.

What are you chasing today?

The Blessing of Partners

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work” (Ecclesiastes 4:9niv)

With Living Wisdom heading for final publication, I want to take this opportunity, as promised, to publicly thank those who came alongside me with financial support.  Your generosity has overwhelmed me and made what once seemed impossible into a reality. 

In alphabetical order:   

Anonymous

Roy Barclay

Sally Brochu

The Brown Family

Ron & Lura Cole

Cheyenne Fernald

Ken & Sharon Fernald

Todd Fernald

Emelia Hardy

Keystone Community Church

Jeff & Connie Lander

Corey & Sarah Sesin

‘2 Pats Fans’

Even more than your generosity is your belief in the value of this project and your faith in me to carry it out.  One of my personal ‘demons’ has always been a lingering sense of inadequacy; as if what I have to say matters to anyone.  I confided in one person after finishing the first edit of the book that I could feel the breath of the enemy on my neck as he whispered these lies in my ear.  My confidant remarked that this was good evidence that I was on to something important.   Your support gave me the energy and determination to see this project through.

I would also like to recognize those who have supported me in prayer and with through other forms of encouragement.

I pray the Lord’s blessings on all and look forward to your feedback on the book.

Deepest regards

C 

Afraid of Christmas

Why are people so afraid to wish others a Merry Christmas?  Why are public places wary of displaying a nativity scene among the other ‘holiday’ decorations and images?

The excuses they give vary from a separation of Church and State to a desire to be ‘inclusive’ or ‘non-offensive’.  None of the excuses really stand up to scrutiny- but that is another subject entirely.

I don’t get as bent out of shape as some do with the refrain of ‘happy holidays’ as the season does include Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and New Year.  What gets me is the apparent fear to specifically acknowledge Christmas as one of these annual winter celebrations.

I would propose that this ‘fear’ comes as the result of a different type of fear. 

We read in 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”*

What does this have to do with Christmas?

Christmas is one of God’s expressions of ultimate, redeeming love; a love which is not a cause for fear but for faith and joy. 

When the angel appeared to Mary, his words were “Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30).  When he appeared to Joseph he said, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife” (Matthew 1:20).  And to the shepherds he said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). 

What God was doing to bring the Messiah into the world was an act of immeasurable and perfect love, and in this love there was no cause for fear.  Christmas is God’s declaration that He has opened a way out from under the fear of punishment, not by ignoring the offense of sin, but by taking it upon Himself through Jesus: “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

When a person receives this blessing, fear of God’s judgment is lifted as they recognize that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  This release and relief comes as God’s love is “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). 

We who know Christ are not afraid to face God because we are confident that He has declared us guiltless of sin; that because of Jesus’ sacrifice we are now counted as “the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is such good news!  Who would wish to silence this message of God’s love?

If “perfect love casts out fear” then the obvious suspect would be someone who is cut off from this redeeming love of God.  Only such a person could be so afraid of Christmas that they would do anything to keep it silent. 

The culprit is no less than satan himself.  Through his own rebellion he has forfeited God’s love and for him only dreadful punishment remains, a fact which fills him with intense fear.

We read: “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).  Jesus will ‘crush the head of the serpent’ (Genesis 3:15) and cast him into the Lake of Fire to be destroyed (Revelation 20:10).  Satan is deathly afraid because he knows what is coming his way.

Satan desperately wants for Christmas not to be true. 

Scripture tells us that apart from those saved through Jesus, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).  Satan expresses his own fear through those humans under his influence.  And so he ‘inspires’ ‘scholars’ and critics to declare Christmas a myth and a fable and would see Christmas silenced. 

If Jesus did not really exist, or if He was just a man born in the natural way; if the miracles associated with His birth are fables and if He died without rising back to life again, then there would be no reason to fear Christmas.  Christianity would be just one drop among many in the ocean of religion.  Perhaps he thinks if he can rid the world of Christmas he can escape or delay his punishment. 

But Christmas is true and because it is satan knows his days are numbered. 

For those who refuse to take the word ‘Christmas’ upon their lips and forbid it to be spoken publicly, perhaps they also, deep down, are afraid because Christmas is true.  And if it is, they must come face to face with the fact of sin and judgment.

So rather than get bent out of shape, Christians would do better to recognize the issue for what it is- a spiritual battle.  City councils, retail managers, school administrators are pawns in satan’s losing bid to forestall his own doom. 

Our task is not to fight for some ‘political’ victory in which a nativity scene may be displayed on public property, but to lay claim to spiritual ‘real estate’, taking every opportunity God presents to share the Good News in the hope that the love of God may fill the hearts of those around us and that they may no longer be afraid.

Merry Christmas!  

*Scripture quotes from the English Standard Version

This is the Day

As Jesus hung from a Roman execution stake, He endured the insults of the crowd gathered around Him.  Additionally Matthew’s Gospel records that He was verbally abused by the two criminals who had been pegged up on either side, who also “heaped insults on him” (Matthew 27:44).  But then something happened to one of those men.

 

As he watched Jesus endure the suffering, praying for persecutors, showing compassion for loved ones, the man was touched.  The reality of his own guilt and the innocence of Jesus pressed on him and his tongue fell silent as through his own pain he reflected on these things.  He could hear the man on the far side continuing to berate Jesus: “Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39)  He raised his head and called out to his fellow criminal: “Don't you fear God, since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40-41).  Then looking at Jesus he made a request: “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42)

Wracked with excruciating pain of His own, Jesus turned to him and answered: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Jesus’ comment has long been pondered and puzzled over. 

By one theological camp these words are put forth as definite evidence that when a believer dies they are ushered immediately into the presence of God.  The emphasis of the verse is “…today you will be with Me in paradise.”

According to other groups the words emphasize Jesus' truthfulness in that moment and the surety of a future promise.  They emphasize “I tell you the truth today…”

What if both miss the point? 

What if Jesus’ words have absolutely nothing to do with either ‘immediate ascension’ or ‘resurrection hope’?

In the course of my general reading I came across a thought which struck me as very profound, yet very simple.  What if Jesus was directing His thoughts to something from the past being fulfilled in the present moment?  What if Jesus was drawing attention to something about the event itself?

“Jesus, having compassion on [the repentant criminal] said: ‘I say unto thee to-day,’ –this day, above all others, –this day, when my prospects for a kingdom are apparently blasted, even ‘to-day,’ – under these most trying circumstances, – ‘I say unto thee…thou shalt be with me in Paradise.’”*

What a different lens through which to view these things!  Jesus declares to the man that on ‘this day’ when all seems lost, salvation is secured!   

While Jesus most likely spoke these words in Aramaic, Luke utilizes the Greek adverb semeron which can mean ‘today’ or ‘this day’.  Where else do we find the day of Jesus’ crucifixion spoken of as ‘this day’? 

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is Yahweh's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that Yahweh has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:22-24)

In the Hebrew the phrase is zeh ha’yom (‘this the day’) and in the Greek Old Testament hautay hey haymera (‘this the day’) using the same root word as in Luke 23.

Rather than Jesus making a singular promise to one man, Jesus is making a declaration to all men: ‘This is the promised and long awaited Day!  God has ordained this day that through Me, the rejected stone, Paradise is reopened!  Rejoice and be glad!” 

What He said to the thief, He says to us all: “At this present hour, though all the evidence would witness to the contrary, I am the victor and you indeed will share in My victory when My Kingdom comes.”

The discussion will continue on those other theological points but no matter which side of that debate you are on, I hope that all of us can step back and read this passage with fresh eyes.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cast out of Paradise with a mighty angel to bar the way back.  Now, because of the Day of the cross, Jesus has reopened Paradise that all who believe may enter in!  Rejoice and be glad!

Amen!

*McKinstry, M. The World’s Great Empires. Advent Christian Publications, Inc. & The Delmar Companies: Charlotte NC, 1973.  Print. p519

It’s About God

In 1636, amid the darkness of the Thirty Years' War, a German pastor, Martin Rinkart, is said to have buried five thousand of his parishioners in one year, an average of fifteen a day.  His parish was ravaged by war, death, and economic disaster.  In the heart of that darkness, with the cries of fear outside his window, he sat down and wrote this prayer for his children:

“Now thank we all, our God; with heart and hands and voices; Who wondrous things hath done; In whom His world rejoices.  Who, from our mother's arms; Hath led us on our way; with countless gifts of love; and still is ours today.”

As we approach our celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, I would like to reflect on one statement: My ability to give thanks is not conditioned by my circumstances; it is rooted in God’s character.  In other words, it’s not about how I feel; it’s about Who God is.

When we face trials in our lives, we naturally look at the circumstances surrounding us and feel overwhelmed.  The more we dwell on our situation the more our abilities to praise and thank God are diminished.

At sometime prior to 605bc God raised up a prophet named Habakkuk to speak to the Jewish people in the Kingdom of Judah, who had largely turned away from God.  As Habakkuk observed the wickedness of the people, he wondered about God’s justice.  How long could this evil go unpunished?  What would God do about it?

The answer was sobering: God informed Habakkuk that He was bringing the Babylonians to punish Judah.  If Habakkuk thought times were bad now, all he had to do was wait; things were about to get much worse.  Even more troubling was that the remnant of faithful people was likely to be caught up in the coming judgment.  Habakkuk had every reason to despair, but see how he responded:

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18 niv)

The situation can get as bad as it can possibly be, yet the prophet will “rejoice” in God.  The Hebrew word used for rejoice (alaz) means ‘to jump for joy’.  No matter how bad things are, Habakkuk will jump for joy because of Who God is; the Savior, the Source of strength, and the Victor; He is just and loving, faithful and merciful.  Habakkuk’s ability to give thanks was not conditioned by circumstances; it was rooted in God’s character. 

In writing the hymn, Now Thank We All Our God, Pastor Rinkart had it right!  This is what it is to know with certainty that thanksgiving comes from knowing Who God is, not from outward circumstances. 

Through Jesus Christ, a merciful and loving God has blessed us beyond all measure, we are saved from eternal destruction and have been made a part of His kingdom.  There is nothing that can happen, no situation or circumstance that is greater than that blessing.  It is only through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, that we may know what true thanksgiving is all about.

Christian, your ability to give thanks is not determined by circumstances; it is rooted in God’s character.  Whether you feel it or not, you are blessed.  Stop looking around and look up, because it’s not about how we feel, it’s about Who God is.

         

Be blessed. 

Overcoming the Christian Identity Crisis

⁹Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  ¹¹And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

The letter we call 1 Corinthians was written by Paul to correct some major problems affecting the congregation in the Greek city of Corinth.  Every problem was rooted in the fact that the believers in Corinth had no idea who or what they were.  Paul wanted them to be mature (see 3:1-2) and to this end he needed them to know who they were.

 

There are two types of people in the Scripture: the unrighteous (or the ‘wicked’)- those who live by the principles of the world to the exclusion of the Living God; and the righteous- those who seek to walk by faith in the way of Christ. 

In the above passage, Paul makes it plain that the wicked have no inheritance in God’s Kingdom, and then he details nine behaviors that are readily practiced by those outside of God’s way.

The key verse however is that which follows this list: and such were some of you…but…

The Corinthian Christians had been practitioners of these behaviors.  They were drunkards, sexually immoral and deviant, greedy, etc.  But now, through Christ, they are no longer consumed or controlled by the passions and principles of the world.  They have been “washed”, “sanctified” and “justified” by the atoning work of Christ and the real power of the Holy Spirit.  As such, they are not to live by worldly standards any longer; nor are they to think of themselves in these terms.  They are no longer ‘sinners’, but redeemed saints of God.

Christians continue to struggle with an identity crisis, and a subsequent inferiority complex.  Like the Corinthians, we all were once counted among the unrighteous, living by “the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).  But, like the Corinthians, we are such no longer!

A born again believer in Jesus is a child of God- no longer under the controlling influence of sin.  Surely each Christian faces temptation to stick our toe into the pool of sin; and sometimes we do fail to live out our Christian commitment, but that does not alter our true identity. 

Christians falsely label themselves: ‘worm’, ‘beggar’, ‘sinner’.  These terms do an injustice to the sacrifice of Christ Who died and rose again to make us, as Israel of old, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).  Through Jesus we are “beloved” (Jude 1) and “called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

Dear friends, for Jesus’ sake, may we see ourselves as He sees us: “washed”- cleansed from sin by His blood; “sanctified”- made holy by the Spirit of God and proclaimed through the waters of baptism; “justified”- right with God by our faith in Jesus’ perfect faithfulness.

True we are not yet what we are intended fully to be (see 1 John 3:2), but equally as true, we are no longer what we once were!  So by His Word you can lose the inferiority complex as you overcome the identity crisis.  You are His beloved saint! 

I pray we may all come to rejoice in this truth as we await the soon and certain Coming of our Lord to make us finally and fully what we know we already are.

Putting Political Correctness in its Place

Think of an insult, epithet or slur; got one in mind?  That was easy wasn’t it?  We humans are exceptional at tearing one another down, inventing all types of ways to debase our fellow humans.  We have abusive slang based on race, economics, culture, style of dress, religion, mental aptitude, sexuality, physical stature or traits…you get the picture. 

The social forces of the past 50 years have led to a philosophy designed to do away with such negative appellations; we call it ‘political correctness’, PC for short.  We can no longer call someone who cannot see ‘blind’ but must refer to them as ‘a person with vision challenges’.  Someone who we might have once referred to as ‘retarded’ we now are told is ‘developmentally delayed’.  This movement leaves many people perplexed, and sadly others deliberately increase their use of degrading terms as a direct challenge to the forces of political correctness.

As I randomly reflected on this the other day, I wondered: Have I misjudged the PC movement?  As a social-political conservative, my initial response to PC is negative resistance, but shouldn’t I instead, as a professing Christian, stand shoulder to shoulder with such a movement?

No. 

I should be better.

Here is the problem with political correctness.  It sets itself up as its own subjective moral standard, a humanist creation, which demands adherence for its own sake.  Political correctness is a self appointed judge, jury and executioner, the goal of which is not to lift people up, but to drag them down; restricting the voice of any who do not think or feel the way they determine to be ‘right’.  Its desire is submission to its own rule; its method is fear and intimidation.  Ultimately the underlying principle is control, which lies at the heart of all human systems.     

As a Christian, I look at these matters from a different perspective- the fundamental dignity of a human being; a person as a person with no thought to their color, gender, ‘handicap’, sexual choices (gasp!) or any other attribute or trait.  To see a person as a person and therefore to extend to them the elemental respect to which personhood entitles them.

There should be no debate over what makes a person a ‘person’.  All those belonging to this species we classify as ‘human being’ is a person- period.  From conception to end of life, this ‘human being’ is a full person.  The only reason we debate this is to gain our own selfish ends (i.e. abortion, euthanasia, etc.).

Humankind was uniquely created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).  I am not going to debate what this entails, the prime importance lies in the fact (the ‘what’) not necessarily in the details (the ‘how’).  But of greater importance is the ‘why’.  We human beings are created in the image of God in order that we, among all the creatures of the earth, may relate to and communicate with our Creator in a unique way.  The ‘fall’ of the first parents into sin marred that image and ability (see the wording of Genesis 5:3) but it did not eradicate it.  Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, reveals the full and true image of God (Colossians 1:15) and in Him the way is thrown open for that image to be renewed in human beings (Ephesians 4:24).

The well known story of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (found in Luke 10:30-37) is told in response to the question, ‘who is my neighbor?’ (see Luke 10:29).  In the story the religious personages debase the needy man by ignoring him.  The Samaritan acts for the well being of the man in need, not out of ‘political correctness’ but because it was the right thing to do!  The man in need was a fellow human being- period.  That’s the answer to the question.

Only through Jesus do we recognize that other people are my neighbors.  I would like to quote at length from Malcolm Muggeridge:

“Jesus…provides the possibility of loving God through, and in, Him, and, as part of the same process, of loving other men, our neighbors, through, and in, Him.  Thus the two commandments become one; to be celebrated in a Man –Jesus– Who dies, and sanctified in a Man –also Jesus– Who goes on living.  As out of Jesus’ affliction came a new sense of God’s love, and a new basis for love between men, so out of our affliction we may grasp the splendor of God’s love and how to love one another.  Thus the consummation of the two commandments was on Golgotha; and the Cross is, at once, their image and their fulfillment…[and] at last, triumphantly, we know what it is to love God, and looking outwards from within this love, we see our fellow men, all of them…every variety of human kind; see them all as brothers and sisters, members of one family, at once enfolded in God’s love and chained together by it…” (Malcolm Muggeridge ‘Jesus: the Man Who Lives’ Fontana 1976 p132-133)

PC does not seek for me to love my neighbor.  It rather demands I keep my mouth shut, my opinions to myself and my nose in my own business.  It tells me what I can or cannot call someone else, but isn’t that simply a continuation of the problem of assigning labels?  God, through Jesus, demonstrates a compassion and respect for the full dignity of a human being as a human being; a Christian dare do no less.         

As a Christian I roundly reject the presuppositions, assumptions, motives and humanistic underpinnings of political correctness.  Instead, I challenge Christians to step out in front, to take the lead in recasting the discussion.  It is about the fundamental dignity of a person as a person, something that should be upheld by every Christian, demanded by every Christian.  We refrain from insulting people, not because we are told to by the priests of political correctness; we treat people with dignity and respect because it is the right thing to do!  

When we hear slurs or derogatory comments, can we be bold in challenging those actions and attitudes not with the bullying threats of the PC philosophy, but in the compassionate and well articulated presentation of truth?  Not that we may exercise control over others, but that we might be agents through which the Lord may redeem a small piece of this fallen world.