A RED LETTER DAY, and a challenge.

Today is a day that many Christians have been praying for and that many others have been hoping for. Today, the Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS) struck down the heinous 1973 Roe v. Wade SCOTUS decision, which essentially made abortion a right protected by the US Constitution. In the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, SCOTUS reversed Roe v. Wade after 49 years and some 63 million child deaths, not to mention deaths of some of their mothers. 

This decision does not make abortion illegal, but it removes the Federal "right to an abortion found in the Constitution" that the drafters of Roe v. Wade created by misinterpretation, bad due diligence, and as the Dobbs decision quotes on page 52 of Justice Alito's majority opinion:

Roe was on a collision course with the Constitution from
the day it was decided, Casey perpetuated its errors, and
those errors do not concern some arcane corner of the law
of little importance to the American people. Rather, wield-
ing nothing but “raw judicial power,” Roe, 410 U. S., at 222
(White, J., dissenting), the Court usurped the power to ad-
dress a question of profound moral and social importance
that the Constitution unequivocally leaves for the people.

The point is that the 9 justices who handed down the Roe decision 49 years ago, essentially disenfranchised the American people by "enacting" a Federal "right" which is Constitutionally the business of the Legislative Branch and not that of “raw judicial power." In so doing, they removed not only the peoples' voice in the Congress, but the responsibility of duly elected state governments to determine, through elected officials, what that state's laws regarding abortion should look like. The Dobbs decision corrects that unconstitutional scenario, returning the power to make those decisions to the people (We The People), through their elected legislators. 

Now, of course, we can expect the pro-abortion political faction and Big Abortion to perpetrate massive violence throughout the nation. They have promised to do so this very evening. 

As Christian soldiers, we find ourselves in a challenging position. On the one hand, we can rejoice that the innocent image-bearers of God in the womb have gained some bit of protection, but at the same time we need to become even more compassionate for women who find themselves with child, when they hadn't planned to be. There are serious concerns these women are facing. Sometimes, they are being forced to seek abortions, because the child's father demands it on pain of physical harm or worse. Sometimes, they find themselves pregnant as the result of rape or forced human trafficking. The debate and the strident political arguing will continue, and may even increase in the aftermath of Dobbs. 

In my opinion, this challenge is one the church cannot afford to ignore or even take lightly. The rate of abortion among self-identified evangelical Christian women is appallingly similar to that of the general population. How will the church compassionately minister to these women? How will the church minister to unbelievers who have relied on abortion as last resort "contraception?" How will the church protect itself and its properties from the violence that is sure to come? 

God has told us that each human being is made in His image. (Genesis 1:26) That means not only the babies in wombs, but the mothers who are carrying them. If the church fails to step into this new paradigm with real solutions for women and their children, we will have failed to live up to Christ's command that His Ekklesia be salt and light in a dark world. (Matthew 5:13-16; 16:18)

I confess to having felt a bit hopeless and helpless in the whole abortion morass since 1973. Now I believe there is hope that many babies and their mamas will be protected from the scourge of abortion. That may present them with a whole host of other (but thankfully less dire) problems. 

When I was in high school, occasionally a female student would "go to live with her aunt out of state" for nine or ten months. This was code for giving birth to an "illegitimate" child and giving it up for adoption. The practice seems to have disappeared, even though there are thousands (or more?) of couples who are longing to adopt; so much so that adopting children from overseas has had to fill the void. 

The Book of James tells us that "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." I believe that in God's economy this verse applies to the post Roe v. Wade world in a magnificent way. Visiting orphans, of whom there may be many more now, in my own experience involves not only visiting but adopting an "orphan." His mother was in a broad sense a "widow." The birth father of my son, took advantage of her and then deserted her. I have had the good fortune to meet her some 20 years ago. She is a lovely woman who eventually married and had three more children. When my son was 18, he made contact with his birth mother and his three unknown siblings.

Of course, not every adoption works out this well, and this is where James's mandate to "visit orphans and widows" comes into play. These people, moms and children alike, have suffered unspeakable trauma, when the family that God intended for them did not materialize. My son, for example, made contact with his birth father via a letter and told him that he had only one question: "Why?" The man, who I regret to say was a youth pastor, denied knowing anything of what my son was writing about, including knowing his mother. I know that was traumatic for my son, because he told me it was. He felt rejected and devalued by a man who should have been not only teaching young people compassion, but living it out himself. 

To be completely candid, his birth mom told my son that his birth father was married and had three other children at the time. I can see the moral, ethical and emotional dilemma this new child created for him. He chose to deny any responsibility. He also chose to lie and mislead for his own protection, rather than confess and repent. I was the one who benefited from that cowardice. My son is an upstanding citizen, husband and father to two beautiful little girls, my granddaughters. 

But I digress. My challenge to all of us Soldiers of the Cross, is to do some self reflection, soul searching and praying about how we can be the church in this post Roe world and "visit the orphans and widows." There are God's image bearers who will now find that the "easy" solution of abortion is no longer an option. We need to be there for them, some how, some way.

This is a big assignment, Sergeant. Don't let the CIC down!

Podcasts and Plants

While I was waiting for Jill at the dental office this week, I listened to a podcast with N.T. Wright, British theologian, titled "Making Sense of the Trinity." I highly recommend this podcast. It presented a new paradigm for me not only in thinking about the mystery of the Holy Trinity but also in thinking about sharing the gospel with others. 

Here are a few thoughts that came to me as I listened to the podcast:

In my experience as a Christian, I have always been told that God loves us and sent Jesus to pay for my sins, so that I could be forgiven of my sins and be good enough to go and be with God in heaven. In the podcast, Wright talks about it this way: God loves us, in spite of our sin, so much that He wants to come and live among us. He longs to be our God and have us be His people. There are a dozen or more places in Scripture where God states His desire to dwell among His people. This is, for me, a whole new way of looking at the situation. Let me try and explain the difference this makes in my mind. 

In my former way of thinking, I was focused on my sin. I am a sinner in need of a Savior. That is true, of course, but since my focus was on my sin, I was missing out on a whole dimension of understanding God's love. The fact that I need a Savior is patently obvious to anyone who knows me, and the Apostle Paul wrote, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Later he wrote, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) These two verses are part of what has been dubbed the Roman Road to Salvation, which is sometimes offered as a concise statement of the gospel message. 

While the Roman Road clearly and concisely explains the need for a Savior, the method of salvation and the results of salvation, it is a bit like a recipe in a cookbook. If, like me, you love to prepare food, especially for others, you may find reading recipes to be a delight. But the recipe doesn't satisfy in the same way that eating and sharing the meal that results from following the recipe does. The recipe stirs the imagination, but the tasting fills the senses. The Roman Road is the recipe, but God also told us, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8)

For me, I think my knowledge of my earthly father has colored my perception of my Heavenly Father, and others I have spoken with admit to the same thing. My father was a decent man for the most part. He loved me, I'm sure, but he never said it in words until about a week before his death, when I was 61 years old. I grew up with strong moral instruction in a secure household, but I was never able to discuss feelings or emotions with Dad. 

As a result, I have struggled with an image of my Heavenly Father as an authoritarian, who loves me enough that He condescended to send Jesus to clean me up so that I might someday go to heaven and be with Him. Wright's view, that God loves me so deeply and passionately that He wants to come and live with me in spite of my sin, is revolutionary to me. 

Here's how I understand what Wright says in this podcast. The Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, has lived eternally in community and perfect love. God's plan is that the love and community shared by the three persons of the Trinity is now being extended to include the people He created. God created "the heavens and the earth and the waters under the earth and everything that is in them." (Genesis 1) He completed the creation by creating mankind (Genesis 1:26) to be His people, and He gave them free will to make choices in the perfect world He had made. 

Mankind chose to ignore God's commandment (Genesis 3:1-6), and thus sin entered the world. This was not a surprise to God. It was one possible outcome of giving man free will. God planned from the beginning that if (and when) mankind chose this path, He would intervene. Enter Jesus (the Son). Mankind needs a Savior, and Jesus came in the form of a human being to free mankind from the devastation of sin. Isaiah 61:1 puts it this way:  

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me [Jesus],
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Now Jesus appeared as a flesh and blood human being so that mankind could interact with Him on a personal level. He also came to bear witness to the Father. In John 14, 

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Once again, the disciples knew who God is through the Scriptures and the traditions of the Jewish community, but that was like the recipe. Jesus walked among them for three years so they could "taste and see that the Lord is good." 

Jesus' mission included paying the price of sin for all of mankind. His death made the payment, and His resurrection sealed the deal by conquering death, so that people can live eternally, free of sin. When these final tasks were complete, Jesus left the earth and His human form and ascended to His Father in heaven. Now here is where God's plan gets really interesting.  Before He left, Jesus told the disciples,   

...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)

So, now we have the whole of the Godhead introduced, each Person of which has a role among men.  Jesus told his twelve, 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father..." (John 14:12)

How could men do "greater works than these?" Because the Holy Spirit will indwell and empower them, and there are many more of them than the one man, Jesus. It was this plan that led to the disciples' ability to spread the gospel message, not only of salvation (focus on sin), but also of God's passionate love for mankind (focus on God's love), throughout the entire world. 

Did you ever grow some beans from seed? As I listened and these thoughts formed in my head, I got an image in my mind of a plant beginning with the seed, which contains all that is necessary for a new plant to grow and bear fruit. In my image the seed represents the Father, who provides everything. As the seed germinates, it sends down a tap root (Jesus), and as it emerges into a mature plant, it creates secondary roots and rootlets to nourish the fruit that is growing for all to see. These secondary roots are the Apostles to whom Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell them. The rootlets are all the saints (also indwelt by the Spirit) who are sent out by the Apostles, who were sent out by the Son, Who was sent down by the Father. The result is a world full of good fruit. And all of the parts of the plant are intimately connected. Each part has a role to play. The ultimate outcome is a world full of good fruit that nourishes God's people (physically, in the case of the plant, and spiritually in the case of God's amazing love). 

When I finished listening, I was spiritually refreshed and  excited to share this new vision of what it means that we will be God's people, and He will be our God. Please let me know what you think of my little image.

Jesus loves the little children

We live in an age of information overload. One of the ways I overload my own information is by subscribing to the US Postal Service Informed Delivery service. The way it works is that you give USPS your email address, and they send a daily email showing you what to expect in your mailbox that day. Today it tells me I will be receiving some "junk" mail from Matthew Staver, who heads up an outfit called "Liberty Counsel." 

Staver keeps his finger on the pulse of political developments in Washington, D.C. of interest to Christians. The mail hasn't been delivered yet today, but based on the photo of today's mailing, this one is about the fact that the Democrat party is desperately trying to pass a bill legalizing abortion. They are terrified that the Supreme Court will soon overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 SCOTUS decision that has resulted in the murder of some 63 million American citizens. 

I am baffled as to why the Left is so bent on abortion. They claim to care for everyone under the sun: the aged, the working man, minorities, children (really?). Encouraging abortion just seems counter-productive. For example, they are always talking about preserving Social Security, including Medicare, to support us retired folk. In fact, they have even proposed Medicare (government funded health care) for everyone. But the funding for Social Security and Medicare is rapidly running dry, primarily because our elected "representatives" in Washington keep robbing it to pay for other important stuff, like overseas abortions and bridges to nowhere. 

If you are a working stiff (or have ever been a working stiff), you know only too well that that money comes out of your paycheck every week. And as the population grows older, there are more and more SS/Medicare recipients. Add to that the declining number of legally employed US citizens, and you get an ever increasing burden on the American worker to support all of these aging folks. So, tell me how killing off 63 million potential taxpayers is going to help keep Social Security afloat. And while we are at it, how does the ever increasing SS/Medicare tax (the result of an aging population and a shrinking work force) help the working man? And above all how does abortion help the children who have been slaughtered? Oh, and one more thing; the darling of the Left, Planned Parenthood, which is supported by your taxes and primarily exists to snuff out the lives of helpless, unborn children, seems to build its clinics in predominantly black neighborhoods. How is that serving minorities? Seems more like a thinly veiled attempt at genocide to me. 

So, what's your point, Tom? OK, here it is. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE.  This is a spiritual issue. How did the United States of America, founded, according to the Mayflower Compact, for the glory of Christ, come to this juncture? It's simple, really. If you are a Christian and are paying attention, you will realize that we Christians have not been paying attention. Over the last century and a half or so, we have ceded everything in our nation to the secular, political Left. 

Education in this country originally was focused on teaching the Bible. Young children were taught to read, using the Bible. Some of our most revered universities were founded for the purpose of training clergy: Harvard, Yale, Princeton among others. Then came the "enlightenment," "a movement of the 18th century that stressed the belief that science and logic give people more knowledge and understanding than tradition and religion."* Then came Darwin's naïve "discovery" that everything was created out of nothing by accident. 

In the middle of the last century, SCOTUS, which had been packed with secular humanists, ruled that prayer in schools, reading the Bible in schools, the Ten Commandments (which are the foundation of English Common Law, the progenitor of our own statutory legal system) posted in schools...all of these were declared to be in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment; to wit: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." Conveniently, ignored were the next two clauses: "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech." 

And so, the tables were turned, and  the foundation of education changed, from teaching children moral living and basic skills like reading and writing, to the "socialization" of our children. In other words, public schools are now intended for experimentation in social engineering and  for the indoctrination of our children to reject God in favor of the state (or "science," if you like) and to reject truth in favor of nonsense. While the Left says it reveres "science," it only does so for the purpose of making science a foil for religion. If science becomes inconvenient in the pursuit of their goals to enslave our children, it too, is abandoned in the name of "equity" and "inclusiveness" and "diversity." 

So, what about the Democrats' mania to pass a national law enshrining abortion before Roe v. Wade is overturned? Well, if you are inclined toward political activism in the slightest, I encourage you to keep up a running dialog with your representatives and senators. Write them, call them, email them, text them, and let them know where you stand. Jesus told us we are the light of the world. But he went on to say a city on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and hide it under a basket, but they place it on a lamp stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

Being the light of the world means shining that light into what Paul called the darkness of this present age. Even a city on a hill can be hidden by a dense fog. Let us be the generation that lifts the fog that has settled on the church in America. Let us take the lamp out from under the basket (the four walls of our church buildings) and shine it into all of the darkness that surrounds us. Jesus said He would establish his Ekklesia, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. What is Ekklesia? It is a group of people "called out" as a congregation. Why then do we keep "going in" to our church buildings. We have been called to be "in the world, but not of the world." Jesus prayed to His Father, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15). We are not called to be monks, we are "called out" of our comfort zones into the world to shine His light into the darkness. 

Our school children are lost, frightened, hopeless, desperate. They live in a world of darkness, confusion, insecurity. The public educators that we have hired to "teach," teach them that what matters is their feelings, not truth. And then we are astounded when one of these insecure, confused babies follows his feelings of rage, picks up a rifle and picks off a few of his classmates and "teachers." This is not truly an attack on individuals, it is an attack on the pent up rage of a child who sees no other way out of the darkness and pain inflicted on him by a once great nation that followed the Light, and then switched it off. 

Be the light in your sphere of influence. Teach your kids truth. Tell your school board you are not going to stand silently by, while they preside over the destruction of America's most precious resource, her children. Confer with your legislators so they know where you stand. Talk to your kids' teachers, the PTA, the school administrators. At the very least, VOTE! There is risk in doing these things, but like Esther, you were called for such a time as this. THIS IS WAR! Turn on your tac light, and get into the fray.

 

*“The Enlightenment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20Enlightenment. Accessed 13 Jun. 2022.

Lord's Day

It is the Lord's day! As I prepare my heart for worship this morning, I think of all the saints who are suffering persecution around the world and may not be able to worship freely and openly. I am reminded of Colossians 1:9-11

⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy...

My brothers in arms, let us not forget to lift these comrades up in prayer. 

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

May God richly bless you today!

Resurrecting an old friend

In the roughly ten years since my last post on this blog, the world has seen drastic changes expressed in many forms: politics, religion, economics, education, health care, you name it. It is amazing to see what has changed. 

For me personally there have been changes, too. For one thing I am ten years older, and I am experiencing many of the frailties of an aging body. Last year, I spent six months in and out of the hospital battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia (for an account of that adventure, see my blog Red Cells and White Cells and Platelets, Oh, My!) This year I am in need of eye surgery, because the chemotherapy I have undergone, did damage to my corneas. I am a living testimony to the adage "Getting old is not for wimps." 

Another thing that has changed for me is a growing understanding of my Christian faith. My experience with leukemia has heightened in me the sense of how desperately dependent on the Lord I am; not only day by day, but also moment by moment. 

As I contemplate all of these things, I am convinced that I must speak up about them. I started this blog in January, 2009, because it was becoming obvious to me that Christians were (and are) under attack for our beliefs. This fact is, of course, nothing new. Jesus Christ, the author of our faith, was persecuted and eventually executed on a Roman cross, perhaps, the most humiliating, cruel, painful means of execution ever devised by the heart of mankind. But Jesus of Nazareth had an ace up His sleeve. On the third day after His execution, He stunned the world by rising from His grave and making that fact known by appearing in the flesh to hundreds of people. By doing so He inspired and empowered His followers, aka the church, aka the body of Christ, to go forth into the world and change it forever. Some people don't like that.

Over the twenty centuries since the church was founded, there has been an incessant desire among people in every age to destroy it. Why would people want to do that? After all, the church was the driving force behind the development of hospitals, universities, and even, or perhaps, especially the notion that there is a loving God Who cares about His creation. It is ironic that, in contemporary America, the enemies of Jesus of Nazareth vilify Him as a hateful man Who is a threat to humanity. 

Jesus Himself said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) That is exactly what He did on that Roman cross centuries ago. Not even the Roman Governor of Judea could find any fault with Him (John 18:38). The Roman centurion who oversaw the crucifixion admitted, "Truly, this man was the Son of God." (Mark 15:39) But the religious leadership of the day demanded that Jesus be executed, primarily because He was a threat to their privilege and authority. You see, the common men and women in Judea had been longing for someone to come and release them from their bondage. In their minds, the Messiah (Greek: Christ) would one day come and free them from the tyranny of the Roman Empire. 

When Jesus arrived on the scene, he quickly gained a following among the people to whom He stated

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

There are credible accounts both in and outside the Bible of wondrous healings and other signs that this Jesus was no mere mortal. 

One of the foibles of mankind is that we view the world through our own filter, as my wife would say. For four hundred years, Israel had suffered at the hands of his enemies, but the people had not heard from a prophet who might show them the way out of their plight. Then a young man named John came on the scene. He was an odd duck who stayed in the wilderness, clad in a camel hair tunic, eating honey and insects. But those who listened to his message were encouraged, for he proclaimed

...“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:23)

Finally, after 400 years, John was bringing hope to Israel. Through their cultural filter, they wondered; was the promised Messiah coming at last? Would He come marching in with a heavenly army to rout the hated Romans? Would He at last set the captives [Israel] free? John baptized countless Jews "for the remission of sins." People were cleaning themselves up so they would be presentable before the Lord's Anointed, now that He was about to show Himself. He would need some loyal warriors for His army.

What they all missed was that Jesus didn't come to rescue them from the tyranny of Rome. They had a greater enemy. They had been enslaved by the Roman empire for decades, but they were prisoners of war in the age old conflict between the Holy God, Creator of the universe, and Satan, once the most beautiful among the angels, now fallen into depravity, the chief purveyor of lies and opposition to God. 

They were looking for a mighty general. They got an unassuming carpenter... from Nazareth, a dirty little town in the middle of nowhere. What this carpenter came to free them from was the prison of their own sin. Israel has a long history of paying lip service to the God who created them, rescued them from slavery in Egypt, led them to a land full of bountiful resources, while they pursued other delights, including pagan worship, child sacrifice, murder, adultery, avarice...well, you get the picture.

They were the "poor," who lived unfulfilling lives. They were the "captives" who needed liberty from the oppression of Satan, who encouraged their lasciviousness. They were the "blind," who needed to have their vision cleared, so they could see how they had created their own misery by following after false gods who promised "the good life," but delivered only pain. They were the "oppressed," who needed to be set at liberty from the oppression of self-serving ways that led them to endless misery. 

The Carpenter from Nazareth came to free them from that, because even in a political hell, such as Roman occupation of their homeland, freedom from the oppression of a guilty conscience and self-loathing, that is the real freedom. 

Down through the centuries since Jesus appeared, people have had a choice. They can opt for false gods, who promise paradise and deliver things like addiction, loneliness, fear, falsehood, death and destruction, or they can come to the Lover of their souls for comfort and rest.

"...Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

What will you choose? 

In future posts I will address in some detail the salient points I have raised in this post. Like it or not, we are all involved in a spiritual war. How we conduct ourselves just might turn out to be a matter of life and death. 

Stay tuned.

The Eye of the Hurricane

There is a lot in the news lately about Hurricane Sandy, the weather phenomenon that is currently threatening the eastern seaboard of the United States.  I am far from a meteorologist, but I have learned in my lifetime that a hurricane is a cyclonic storm with winds blowing around a center at very high velocity. And yet, in the center of the storm is a region called the "eye" of the storm.  I am told that in the eye of the storm, the winds are calm, the sky may be clear and the weather quite mild.

I was reading a blog post by Lee Fortston today.  The post addresses forgiveness.  As Christians, we are commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us (Matthew 5:44).  In this blog post, Fortston talks about the battle we all face when we are hurt or maligned or disrespected.  She puts it this way:

When we feel hurt, betrayed, deceived, abandoned, abused, dismissed, or disrespected to any degree, our immediate response is to fight or flee. Fighting is associated with courage, while fleeing suggests protecting ourselves. Forgiveness requires that we surpass the instinct to fight and redefine the meaning of self-preservation. 

She also says, in a moment of understatement, that this redefinition of self-preservation is not an easy task.

It occurred to me, as I was reading this post, that life can be like a hurricane, full of noise and commotion, turmoil and destruction, but somewhere in the middle of all of that is the eye of the hurricane, a place of tranquility and peace.  That place, according to Fortston, is forgiveness.

We must find the still and certain center of our hearts, the place that wants to release the grievances and find peace. It’s the deepest part of our heart that knows, without doubt, that we are divine and there is no need to fight or blame. When we feel a tug to be still rather than to fight or flee, then we’re closer to that center, a territory so subtle and sublime that it can easily be overlooked.

 While I would not agree with her that we are divine (or at least I know I am not!), I would substitute "made in God's image," which does not connote divinity but rather that each individual, as the image of God, is deserving of respect and dignity, under any circumstances.

Forgiveness is the essence of grace.  One definition of  grace is "unmerited favor." We certainly receive unmerited favor at the cross of Christ. "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Even in a situation where you are clearly in the right, forgiving your brother (showing grace) will lead to peace, and often to reconciliation.  In just this way, God, through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross of Calvary, has not only paid the penalty for our sins, He has also forgiven our sins so that we might be reconciled to Him.

Jesus told Peter that we are to forgive our brother who offends us 70 times 7 times (Matthew 18:22), which is in fact to say an endless number of times.  Why?  Is it simply so people will think we are nice?  Will it make God love us more if we keep on forgiving?  No. He already loves us enough to give His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)  I believe the reason Jesus instructed Peter to forgive unconditionally is so that Peter would have peace in his own heart.

Jesus told the disciples:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27) These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

He apparently put a high premium on peace, which He said is available because "I have overcome the world."  It is the way of the world to react to tribulation by fighting or fleeing, it is the divine way to forgive and live in peace. 

Fortston relates the following anecdote, which I think illustrates Jesus' point:

Giving up the battle is a hard concept in a culture that thrives on drama and adversity. Before I grasped this concept, I judged a friend whom I saw backing off from an argument with a coworker, a situation where my friend was clearly in the right and the coworker clearly in the wrong. I inquired why she was submitting, and she said, “I asked myself if I’d rather be right or at peace. I’d rather be at peace, so I’m letting it go.” The ferocity in her eyes showed that this wasn’t the easiest choice, but it was the best one.

Fortunately for us, we have the Holy Spirit to help us make that choice. (John 14:26)  It has been said that unforgiveness is a prison we build for ourselves, for when we refuse to forgive, it doesn't punish the other person, but it enslaves us to our bitterness.  The alternative is to choose the peace in the eye of the hurricane and let the noise and commotion, turmoil and destruction of the hurricane of life rage on without us.  The simple choice is not always the easy choice, but choose forgiveness anyway. In forgiveness is peace. 

Know Your Enemy

As my wife and I continue to work with married   couples, we are constantly reminded of the powerful weapons that Satan wields in his fight against God's sovereignty.  One of his favorite tactics with married couples is to convince them that it is the spouse who is the enemy in the spiritual war in which we are all engaged. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

"God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him...For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.'" (Genesis 2:18, 24) This passage has profound implications for us humans, God's children.
Consider that God declared that it is NOT good for the man to be alone. Nevertheless, we men, in the current American culture, tend to be loners.  And the worst of it is that we continue to be loners after the wedding. God made us for relationship, first with Himself and next with our spouses.

Whereas most women tend to be more relational than most men, God intended for all of us to be relational, that is, to "do" life together. It is true that God made men and women different. We are not only different physically, but mentally and emotionally, too. That is not an excuse, my fellow males, to shut your wife out of your life, a thing too many of us do with frightening regularity. In fact, the value of relationships is to profit from the diversity that each of us brings to the table.

Our text continues by saying that God made a "helper" suitable for the man.  Are we to construe this word to mean that the woman is someone made to be a lackey; a go-fer; an Igor to Dr. Frankenstein?  (Do you really want to be Dr. Frankenstein?) If you consider that Greek translations of the Old Testament use the same word here (paraclete) as they do in John 14:26, when Jesus is describing the Helper whom God will send to dwell with us, i.e., the Holy Spirit, you are unlikely to be so deceived.  This is a helper to empower us and provide wisdom and strength.  This is a helper with whom we are to be equally yoked (II Corinthians 6:14), that is, we are to be harnessed together as a team, pulling for the glory of God.  Robert Andrews, in his wonderful book The Family: God's Weapon for Victory describes it this way: husband and wife are a "one-flesh fighting unit."

But I am a little ahead of myself.  Before God tells us that we become one flesh with our wives, there are two other things that He expects to happen. First, "a man shall leave his father and mother."  How many couples we have counselled who missed this step entirely.  Husbands  Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow is another good book on this subject.  Our passage says, "A man shall leave his father and mother."  It does not say "may leave" or "might want to consider leaving" or "it is suggested, if reasonably convenient, that a man leave."  This is a commandment, guys. So leave, already!

Don't let parents bully, shame, coax, cajole, wheedle or otherwise influence you into running your household their way.  Man up!  If you are not ready to be the head of your own household, don't burden your beloved with a meally-mouthed, spineless, namby-pamby husband.  God appointed you the head of the household (Ephesians 5:23).  Wives, this applies to you, as well; if you are not willing to respect and  submit to the leadership of your betrothed, don't saddle him with a nagging, shrewish ball and chain. Break the engagement, now.  Many a woman has entered into holy matrimony with the goal of emending her husband's faults, only to discover that, whereas Jesus told us all things are possible with God, with men, not so much.

Your spouse is NOT the enemy.  Build boundaries into and around your marriage. Your parents may have given you good advice when you were younger, and they may still have good advice to offer, but it is ONLY appropriate when it comes at YOUR request, not at their insistence.  Then, give it due consideration before prayerfully making YOUR OWN DECISION, which is not subject to review or criticism from your parents or anyone else.

The second thing God commanded is "be joined to your wife."  Your wife, at the day of your wedding, in a process which the Apostle Paul calls a mystery (Ephesians 5:32), becomes a part of your being; flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone; your next (very next) of kin.  If you are brother and sister in Christ, you already share His blood.  Realize that she is "my sister, my spouse." (Song of Solomon 4:9)  And while you are at it, remember that God commands you to be "enraptured by her love" (Proverbs 5:19).

All of this is to happen before you become one flesh with her in the physical, literal sense.  Is it any wonder that God has told us that sexual union outside of marriage is forbidden?  Once the banns have been read, commemorating your commitment to marry her and hers to you, the process begins.  In ancient Jewish culture, betrothal was as binding as marriage, requiring a bill of divorcement to break the commitment.  Less than a hundred years ago, people brought lawsuits for "breach of promise," when an engagement suffered a unilateral break. That is why Joseph was so troubled when he learned that Mary, his betrothed, was with child.  He wanted to "put her away quietly," rather than put her and himself through the scandal and humiliation of public divorce. (Matthew 1:19)

So, marriage is not, as is commonly said in our current culture, "just a piece of paper." It is a mysterious process of turning a man and a woman into a one flesh fighting unit in God's army. To be sure, they remain individuals, and yet in some magical way, they are irretrievably joined.  As such, they are helper and friend, sister and spouse, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church." (Ephesians 5:29)

Know your enemy. It is clear that your enemy is NOT your spouse.  Your enemy is, in the words of Paul, "...the devil...principalities... powers...rulers of the darkness of this age...spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:11-12) When you run up against the trials that life in this fallen world inevitably brings, "Count it all joy...knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." (James 1:3-4)  You are not in this battle alone, for you have a Helper, Who will "teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that Jesus said to you." (John 14:26) And if you are fortunate enough to be married, you have yet another helper, suitable for you. Engage in the battle together, and your burden will be lighter.

To paraphrase the immortal cartoon character, Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and he ain't your spouse."