Serve the LORD with gladness... For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting.

Psalms 100:2, 5, KJV

 

It was near the end of the big game. The score was close and the outcome could easily swing from victory to defeat with a single basket from either side. I can remember looking down on the faces of my girls and seeing the anxiousness and tension. I couldn't resist reminding them, "Isn't basketball fun?" They started grinning at this reminder and went out and won the game. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand. It would have still been a fun game had they lost, but the joy is made all the sweeter in victory.

 

We are going to achieve victory someday! I believe that with all of my heart because I have read the agreement that God has made with us that is contained within the Bible. In part, this agreement reveals that God loves us more than we can imagine. It also shows that He has extended His grace and Jesus has shed his saving blood for all who desire salvation. We still have our part to do just as my girls still had to go out and play their best. But, unlike the uncertainty of the game, the outcome of our salvation is certain if we will only finish the game in the right way.

 

I believe we all need to reminded of this fact from time to time. It must be stressed that we indeed must keep up our end of the agreement, but if we do we know that God will not fail to keep up His end of the bargain. We read that in the 100th Psalm: God is good! His mercy is everlasting! Since this is the case, how can we not serve Him with gladness?

 

This is the part of life that I am convinced too many people miss. There is joy in playing a basketball game! I have played in thousands, from organized to pickup games in the gym and on driveways all across America. I have no idea what percentage of the games I won or lost, but I do know I had fun in just about everyone of them. I have also been on thousands of hikes and climbs and assorted adventures in my life. From climbing trees and mountain trails, to hiking through woods and walking countless roads with my wife, I have loved the journey.

 

I don't recall having ever said something along the lines of "let's go hike to the top of this mountain so we can get it over with", or "I think I'll climb a tree so I can do something fun afterward". The reason I never said that is because the joy is in the journey! I don't know that I was always conscience of this fact, but I do know that I have always gone on the journey because something about the process just makes me happy. 

 

I am convinced that this is the way God wants us to view our service to Him. That's why he had the psalmist write, "Serve the LORD with gladness", isn't it? Since this is the case, doesn't it make sense to do just that? Too often, I have seen people at the worship of the LORD looking as if they didn't want to be there. Now I realize that this could have been due to the fact that they were listening to me preach at the time, but there could have been other reasons. Sometimes we look around and see people with faces filled with concern, stress, and anxiety, and if we looked in the mirror we might often see the same thing.

 

But this shouldn't be! Just like we sometimes have to be reminded that the game is fun, we sometimes have to remind ourselves that serving God is joyful. It's true that this is sometimes hard to remember during the most difficult parts of both games and life, but remember it we must! For, it is when we remember that the joy is in the journey that we can truly be glad in our service to God. We are going to heaven! Why not act like we are excited at the prospect of arriving someday? 

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us, If it is encouraging, let him encourage...

Romans 12:5, 8

 

I still remember this event as clearly as if it had happened yesterday, though it took place almost 50 years ago. We had just moved to the Denver area and Mom signed me up for soccer. I had played that game for several years, but it had been a few years since I had played on a team. I had previously played at the right wing, a position reserved for the fastest players on the team. While I had previously been fast, I had stopped growing in height in recent years but had not slowed down any in my eating during that time.

 

What had slowed down was my speed. I found this out when the coach looked at me with a critical eye and decided to put me to the test. We had moved there after the season had started so all of the other boys had been playing together for a while and they already had the wing position nicely established. I believe my new coach was from Scotland, for he had a thick brogue accent. The right wing and I were matches in a race and off we went! Perhaps I should say "off he went" for he smoked me by about ten yards. Red faced, I trotted back to the coach and team. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting to hear, but I am sure it included laughter and a few derisive comments.

 

Instead my new coach, the one who was to instantly become my favorite coach of all time, said, "Aye, e's a winger". Loosely translated, this meant "Yes, this boy is fast enough to play the wing position."

 

Now as a new kid who was certain that he had just humiliated himself, I cannot tell you how much this small bit of encouragement did for me. When the coach later confided to me that, though I was indeed a wing, they sure needed help at the fullback position and did I think I could do that, I readily accepted. Even though the fullback position was typically reserved for the team tortoise, rather than the team hare, I immediately agreed. Looking back, I would have played anywhere that coach wanted me to for he had a gift of encouragement that just made you feel like you wanted to please him in anyway you could. So I looked at him then as I do now: As a great man!

 

How do people look at us? Do they perceive us as someone who is ready to pounce at the smallest mistake? Do they avoid us when they do make mistakes because they don't want to have their noses rubbed in it? Or do they seek us out because they know that we will have those much needed words of encouragement - words that will build them up rather than tear them down? It's important, I believe, that we think about the way people look at us from time to time. I have found that it takes very little thought to kick someone when they are down. At the same time, it also takes very little effort to help pick them back up.

 

But the difference between little thought and little effort is often enormous, for you have the power to breathe new spirit into others or to knock the wind out of them depending on which way you decide to handle them. I want to repeat that the difference in effort between building up and tearing down is almost nothing, but depending on which route you take, it will change the way they look at you.

 

My coach was a great, great man! You could not convince me to the contrary if you tried, for this is the way I will always look at him. How do people... look at you?

Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD's wrath comes upon you.

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger.

Zephaniah 2:1-3, NIV (1978)

 

One cannot help but look at the events of our nation in recent years and be very concerned. Those who consider themselves patriots are beside themselves when they consider all that has been done to this once great nation. The saddest part is that the most concerning things are those which are taking place from within, rather than some pernicious enemy from a foreign land. 

 

Consider the following things from a factual basis. I realize that many conspiracy theories can be made as to why these things are happening, and some of these theories do indeed involve people who are really involved in conspiracy, but examining the facts without delving into motives should be enough to make the point on its own. So, here are three areas which everyone will agree are causes of concern, even if they do not agree on the specific sources the problems.

 

First, the last three years have been filled with health problems that are above and beyond anything we have dealt with for most of our lives. It is a fact that American government agencies were involved in developing diseases in a foreign lab, and it is a fact that they were involved in a suppression of this fact from ever coming out. And millions of people have now died from a disease that is quite similar to the one they were developing.

 

Second, our borders are so wide open that millions of people are now in our nation that do not have the legal right to be here. Most are not criminals, but some are, and the ones that are not have overwhelmed our resources to the point that there is now a crisis. Those who are in charge of enforcing the laws are often the very ones assisting these people in breaking the laws. Further, they are stopping anyone who tries to do something about it. Imagine your house being broken into and some of your family having been beaten, molested and even killed. When you contact the authorities, you find out that they are turning a blind eye. Then, when you try and put up stronger doors to keep these criminals out, the police come and knock your doors down and then threaten to arrest you for even trying to keep the assailants out.

 

Third, many of our school systems are now accommodating people with X Y chromosomes sharing bathrooms and shower facilities with people who have X X chromosomes. Many school boards have gone along with this practice. Some of the parents who have complained to the school boards have been arrested and placed on terror watch lists.

 

We could go on and on, but the point is there: We have serious problems within our nation right now. So, what do we do? Is there anything we can do?

 

When our nation was starting out, the people faced problems which were just as serious. Their response should be of interest to us if for no other reason than it seemed to work. The men and women of that era prayed. And they didn't just pray for rescue from their enemies and relief from their problems. They first prayed for forgiveness. And they did so on a national basis. They called for days of repentance and fasting and prayer. You can still see the articles and ads in the newspapers of that time that announced these special days. There were many proclamations made in congress that called for these days of national prayer. Even Benjamin Franklin encouraged the Constitutional delegates to go back to praying on a daily basis, just as they had done during the days of the Revolution.

 

But if none of this convinces us as to the absolute necessity of repentance and prayer, then let the Word of God do so. In the passage quoted above we see God's prophet warning the people to leave their shameful ways and turn to God before it was too late. And it worked whenever the people of God actually did repent, because God has always preferred repentance that leads to forgiveness over punishment. But the patriots of their day had to turn to God before their nation could avoid the punishment, as did the patriots of our own nation over two centuries ago. Both sets of people could teach us an important lesson for our day, if we would just listen. And what is that lesson?

 

Before you can be a patriot who takes part in effective change for your nation, you have to first be a servant of God. For our nation of would be patriots, we are going to have to first repent and plead with God for forgiveness, before we can ever hope to have Him intercede for the country that we love. Otherwise, the country will not be worth saving no matter how many self-deluded patriots we might have who would prefer it otherwise.

 

Maybe it's time for a national day of repentance and prayer of our own. Perhaps it could start with us.

Like a city with its walls broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

Proverbs

 

This is a less cheery article than I usually like to have, but I think we sometimes have to talk about unpleasant things in order to do something about them. This unpleasant thing involves events that have been happening in the state in which I live, Texas. For several years now the border between our state and Mexico has been pretty much been opened up in order to let as many people who desire to come in. The ironic thing is that non-citizens wishing to cross over that same border in the other direction without permission are not only discouraged, but are treated as the criminals that they are.  In recent years, our state has been absolutely overrun in areas with these millions of criminals.

 

So, why aren't we doing anything about it, you may be wondering? In fact, our state law enforcement and government officials have done their best to prevent these lawbreakers from coming in, but they are failing miserably. Again, you may be wondering why, but the answer is clear and shockingly unapologetic: The criminals have an accomplice. So, why not do what we always do with accomplices to crime? And the answer will surprise some, but is all too familiar to those who are the victims. The accomplice in this case is no less of a power than the government of the United States of America! This, by the way is not something that they deny, so it is not a matter of opinion. They are proud of their complicity!

 

It has gotten to the point that when the state erects a wall, the federal government opens a hole in it. The Supreme Court recently ruled that they can, so they do. And now we have this ridiculous game of "chicken" where one side puts up walls, razor wire, and other barriers, while the other side pulls them down as soon as it has been done. Picture a situation in which your personal residence has been broken into numerous times in the past few years. Imagine some of your children being molested, others being beaten, some being killed. Your response is to build stronger doors with better locks, but then you find that your own police force is helping the criminals tear down your defenses.

 

What can you do? What do you do when the very people you pay to protect you have become the same people who participate in your harm?

 

There are several obvious answers, but none are pleasant. I'm not even going to try to address that side of the problem in this short article, but I will try to suggest a few things that I believe we should be thinking about. First, if we have enemies within the gates it is likely because we put them there. Second, if we want to avoid an all out war, then we should do our best to stop ignoring the fact that they are our enemy but that we still have some say as to whether they remain in positions of authority. Third, we can be a bit more cautious with the ones we put in to replace the enemy within. I'm not suggesting that this is easy, and we are all aware that it may not even be possible. But, like the example of our own homes and our own children, we need to at least try.

 

But before we can do any of this I think there is something we all need to think about very seriously: It is more than possible that the situation has occurred because we broke down our own walls of righteous defense and left ourselves exposed to the enemy. It happens every time we ignore God's laws and enter into sinful behavior. So the first thing we need to do before taking physical action is to repent! Physical walls often crumble because of neglect and the spiritual walls will fall for the same reason. I believe it has been our own sin - whether through intent or neglect - that have caused our spiritual walls to deteriorate, and so I believe it can only be repentance that we can begin to restore those walls. And once having repented, we can then implore God for His assistance. Given the extent of the sins of this nation, He may not come to our aid in the way that we hope - but He will come with the aid that is appropriate.

 

A nation that permits its children to be taught that we exist through some sort of cosmic accident rather than the intelligent design of a powerful Creator, has something to answer for. A nation that permits the Bible to be hidden while perversion is marched through its streets also has something to answer for. And a nation that has taken millions of the lives of the most innocent of our number because we have "chosen" to do so, really has no answer at all. 

 

We are distressed when we see our walls torn down in order to let criminals come in. Should God be any less distressed when we have torn down our own? It will not be easy, but we can do this. We can rebuild the walls of protection that are so desperately needed. But we have to stop merely complaining and start the building process. It will have to painstakingly be done brick by brick, and it will have to begin with that first brick. And even more importantly, it will have to begin with you.

 

I am sorry for the lack of encouragement so far, so let be just say this: Recovering from sin as wicked and pervasive as the ones we have been involved with in our nation has always difficult. So difficult in fact that most won't even try. But for those willing to do their part, God will help every step of the way. His grace is more expansive than even the worst of our sins, but He will only extend it on His terms. So let us meet those gracious terms by repenting of our foolish ways and stop tearing down our own walls. Then God will do His part because He loves us.

 

We are not without hope! Since that is a fact, let us begin the rebuilding process today. We can do this with God's help!