Preemptive Conviction

So it really has been a while since my last post, which was something I was really afraid of when I started up the blog. I didn’t want it to be a “thing” for just a few weeks and then it fizzle out. But, I had this little nugget pop into my head the other day and I was actually in the middle of writing a very cynical post about Christians, so hopefully this will soften the blow for that one…

So I, at the beginning of summer, started studying the book of Daniel. I figured with all the recent talk of the rapture and the end of the world, I might as well brush up on some of my yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy. Another reason, I just really love the story of Daniel’s life. I’m about half to 4/6 of the way done when something about Daniel clicked for me. Sitting under great teachers of the Word, it had been shown to me that Daniel is one of the few characters in the Bible, that has no recorded sin in the scriptures. No where does it say, “But Daniel disobeyed the Lord,” or anything like that. This intrigues me, not because I think Daniel didn’t have any sin, I just think he invested the time to have the character that God would have for him, and that he understood just what affect sin can have on one’s ministry, so that he learned to “possess his vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 Thes. 4:4).

Some skeptics would be lead to think that its simply because Daniel wrote it himself, that he probably just skipped over that part, but really thats just a really lame way to avoid touching the fact that every word of it was inspired by God. Because IF the book is a fake, and Daniel did write on his own without spiritual influence, there is so much historical prophecy in it that has been fulfilled for Daniel to have known, it would make him psychic. So you tell me which is more easy to believe…

Anyway, the answer as to, why Daniel could keep himself in check and openly accountable before God was for a few different reasons I think. Two in particular that are accessible to all who call (and I mean REALLY call…) upon the name of the Lord.

1.) Heat of battle

I think that Daniel, even way back in his time, understood what Paul told of us the battle we face everyday. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12)

Now I understand that Paul’s message was AFTER Christ’s death, and is in reference to the Spiritual Kingdom of God (which would be a terrible thing to forget when talking about the context) but we must note, Daniel saw some pretty crazy things in his day, and I don’t think anyone can deny that he saw the spirit move, to sustain him and those around him, as well as to reveal dreams and visions. An angel even told him of the spiritual battle between the angels and the forces of darkness for 21 days, over the interpretation of a vision. (Daniel chapter 10) 

Also, while there was still much fighting going on in those days, involving who was going to reign over the world (AND the children of Israel…), Daniel never fought in those. He was taken captive and brought before the king, to be made a servant of the rising Babylonian Empire, so as a follower of Yaweh (God, as we know Him), he was going to be fighting something, somewhere.

Also also (and this is a real quick side note and then I’m gonna continue on with my point) God is eternal, and never changes. Because He is His Word, it never changes either, and so neither do its principles, so Spiritual warfare has been going since on the day there were two sides to fight it.

SO since the war was raging, and Daniel was invited to see it himself, I’m sure that his awareness caused him to understand another principle about the warfare that Paul also gives us. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 Tim. 2:4)

Daniel was too busy fighting to be caught up in frivolous sin. He had his life threatened on numerous occasions for following after the Lord, not to mention his people were enslaved, so he had more important (eternally significant) things on his mind.

I don’t even have to go there and mention that we as American Christians, get way too caught up on all the wrong things, and totally loose sight of what is really going on this earth. So in short, keep in the battle and you won’t have time to disobey God. The Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18) is one that really takes constant Attention and Intention, when we focus on that, not much else really compares, it also keeps us out of trouble. We like to call that, a Win-win.

2.) preemptive conviction

This is one that after thinking about it, I kind of got less excited about it hitting me so hard. a.) Because it made me realize how much I wasn’t doing it before, and b.) Its something I have heard for years... We all hear at a youth camp, sometime between the ages of 11-16, about how Daniel purposed in his heart to follow after God. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8) 

Of course this isn’t just an isolated event. Even though, it only says that he purposed in his heart to not defile himself with the king’s food, it should be pretty evident that he just “purposed in his heart not to defile himself….” and in that case, it was with eating things God said were unclean. It should be pretty clear just by giving it more than 2 seconds of though, but also by the example Daniel lived for 90 or so years, through 2 major world empires....

The point here is that Daniel had a purpose, a Pre-conviction to not dishonor the Lord. Not so that people would see it, not for His testimony, not because (to put it into modern terms) “it’s just what Christians do,” but because he was at all cost going to stand before God as blameless as he could help. 

I think we’re all missing a good bit of God-fearing, pre-conviction that goes way beyond just feeling sorry for a sin when we commit it, but that even goes so far to feel so at the instant the thought of disobeying the Lord even comes into play. This purpose, is to strive for righteousness that comes not JUST from the fact that Christ paid for our sin, but because He is able to remove us so far from that bondage, that we can escape having sinned. It’s the type of purpose that allows us to see the weight of acting in accordance to verses like: 

Psalms 1:1 -

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”

Romans 12:1-2 -

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Romans 13:14 -

“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

The list goes on and on really. I really think, that if we could just get out the rut of thinking that being Justified by grace is all that there is, and seek after the Sanctification that comes by extension of the faith that the Justifying grace comes through, we would see a lot more people come to the Lord and a lot less people fall away.

Grace and Peace.

Its like Spiritual HGTV

Hello friends! Quick word about the past week or so and then I can get to the goods…

Summer has “started,” but the only aspects of summer that I’ve participated in so far is staying up really late (but not getting to sleep in), and sweating like a fat man. SOAR has been really busy as of late but the first session of orientation starts in 8 or so hours and so it’s gonna be awesome. Ministry opportunities out the wazoo! So be praying for me to get use this job as a platform to point some new little Lion cubs to Jesus.

We’re back to 1 Cor. 3 and the analogies Paul gives us about our function as ministers of reconciling man to God. I wrote about our personal significance, based on what we bring to the table: none. The second installment was about viewing our ministry like the newly healed blind man who told Jesus, “I see men as trees, walking” (Mark 8:24) and how we are to take care to nurture these trees’ growth. So no comes the next analogy of the wise builder.

“Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (verses 8-11)

Small point about this section of scripture that I think is cool, but just a nugget compared to the big Mac God was serving me in Africa…

Paul says that he is the Master builder, that laid the foundation (which is Christ). This was written a little south of 2000 years ago. A message of God’s specific revelation to the church, via Paul. It is so amazing to me, to know that throughout the ages, God has preordained a people that would be called his. Followers of Him and inheritors of His Kingdom, who would be led by His word. With all that man has done to try and rule God out and discredit His Word, it has endured and caused its followers to endure as well, and will until Christ comes again. We just had church up in this blog! 

...Back to Corinthians...So since the foundation—Christ—has been laid, it’s time to build a house. “...But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon,” says verse 10. From this one half of a verse is where God began to throw down the message…

If I’m building a house, two very crucial parts of the house are going to be windows and doors. Physically speaking, no one wants to live in a house without either, no one builds a house without either.I mean prisons have them! Its not only important to have them, but also where are you going to put them? Where is the best place that is going to make your house appealing but also going to be practical and functional? Spiritually speaking it is equally important. The shelter part is fantastic, but no windows or doors means you’re life with Christ is in a box, edifying no one on the inside or outside of it and doors or windows in the wrong places are inconvenient or just useless. Putting your front door in your bathroom is not only inconvenient but also awkward and probably against public decency laws. Spiritually, I see the windows and doors of the house as ministry. These are the points where the personal meet the public. But what is so very key is to distinguish the difference between the two. I’ll use my time in Senegal to make all this previous stuff make sense…

I’m sure its pretty standard in the Christian world for most people who go on mission trips or even hear about one to think “Do I need to be a full-time missionary? Is this God’s will for my life?” While in Senegal I fought that feeling of getting caught up into the hype of it all just because I was on the mission field. I certainly felt like I could be there forever, but I can’t tell God what His plan for me is. But while there I caught such a vision and a passion to see the Wolof people come to trust in Jesus. “Surely, it can’t be a bad thing for me to just forget America and come live here and do this!” is what I thought, but I really couldn’t have been more wrong. (Back to the house) Senegal is not my Door. As of now, it is one  of my windows. Because of where I am in my life, I can’t just pick up and go live there. All my money would eventually run out and I would be miserable because God hasn’t called me there. A door is somewhere you go out and get into the world and do work, and bring people into your house as a refuge and to shelter them. A window, is a small opening in which you can serve a little bit at a time, but you don’t put your whole self through a window. The only people who enter and exit through windows are people who are going to or coming from somewhere they don’t need to be. 

I love Senegal and it, along with all of my new family there, will always have a special place in my heart; but it can only be a window for me as of right now. Who knows, in time God may give the go ahead to knock out the window to make way for my front door to go, but until then it can’t be my main ministry. As of now, my door is in Florence to the students at UNA. Its where I am most surrounded by people and have the most influence. It has to be the door until God directs me to change the floor plan. Until then I will serve Senegal by praying and visiting when I can, and will give money to support other global projects, because God has given me some resources to do that with, and I will just focus on where He's got me right now. 

I really hope this idea makes sense because this is a point that we all can get so confused on, seeking for, "Where does God want me? and What am I supposed to be?"

Honestly, if you have to go across the world just to actually start caring about pointing people to Christ, then you’re missing what missions is completely. To quote my beautiful, wise, virtuous mother: “God doesn’t care where your feet are, as much as He cares about where your heart is.” 

Grace and Peace, my fellow-laborers and builders. 

Shut up and rake!

So I left off with one of my meditations from my journey in Senegal, on the first half of 1 Cor. 3. The first bit there talking about understanding what our significance is in this world. In short, its nothing more than being sanctified followers of Jesus and that is the calling on every believer’s life, no matter what you can do, or how well you can do it. Christ is the only significance in us. 

Moving on, let’s pick up in verses 6 and 7…

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 

I thought often about this passage when working in the villages in Senegal. I was kind of  nervous about what sort of message I was sending because I knew that my words and actions could have effects on what non-believers see the gospel as. Because we are the body of Christ, the world will watch and judge what we say and do, because they honestly are fighting their own battle of rejecting or accepting the Truth of Christ, and sometimes we encourage them to take steps of faith, but sometimes we also push people away. I most certainly did not want to give any reason for anyone to see God or His Word (which is Christ) in a negative light.

What I had to learn from this passage however, is very closely linked to the afore mentioned topic of my significance in this world. Since only Christ is significant, I am only a laborer. Now, I don’t mean that in the sense that serving Christ is like slavery. The  Bible makes many references to being an effective body member, to being a laborer in the fields.

I mentioned in my last post, something that I think we all are capable of falling into when trying to minister: Making carbon copies. I don’t think we mean to sometimes, but we get so caught up in “Oh well this passage says this, and that passage says that, Oh and this one book I read has all these things to say about it and last sunday our preacher talked about these seven guidelines to…” and we almost go into over load. 

Now, I’m also not saying that we should talk about Jesus less. What I am saying is that since we are laborers taking care of God’s husbandry (that means a lot of plants and junk) then we need to be smart care-givers to the small plants, in order to nurture them to growing in the Lord.

Going back to verse 6, Paul says that he planted, and Apollos watered but God gave the increase. The growth process is the same in the Spiritual and Physical worlds. It requires a little planting, a little watering, and then comes the increase. 

1.) It is important that we know, no matter how good we can plant or water, that ONLY God can and will give the increase. It is not our job, because it is outside of our capabilities. This should take the pressure of us, and lead us to not trying to instantly grow a tree with anyone we want to see become a strong believer. Which means…

2.) Trees don’t grow over night! If a seed is planted, do you immediately saturate it with gallons of water, so that it will speed up its growth? Heck to the naw! You’ll only drown the seed and kill any potential. Souls are the same. If the seed is planted, it needs a little bit of water and then a good bit of time to take it in. After a while it needs more water, until it gets to the point that the root has taken hold and the tree is able to gather its own water.

This has lead me to my conclusion. We need to stop worrying so much about results based off how well we can communicate and just let the Spirit of God move. Shut up and rake! Plant a few seeds here and there in some good soil (because a good planter, only plants in good soil. Matthew 13) water it a bit at the appropriate times, and watch God make awesome things happen! 

Our call is simple. Jesus told us to make disciples. By His own example, he ministered to 12 men specifically, taking good care to nurture their growth. He did so for 3 years until His work was complete on this earth. 11 of those twelve men became the strong-rooted men who made disciples of others who became strong men and women, whose fruit went to make other disciples who “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) sharing the Gospel.


Practically, what I took away was this: I may not get to pray with someone, or even be present when someone gives their life to Christ, and that's ok. Because if I am faithful to just plant and water a little, in order to come back and water later or for someone else to do a little watering, God will still give the increase and it's all gravy because I got to take part, but God gets all the glory!

Sit tight, and we may be able to do more then 2 verses next time...but don’t count on it, because God’s word is good like that…

Peace and Grace