Whispers of God

It had been a long week! I had went to the older couples farm to take care of them. It was Josh and my first week apart since being married L. My heart leaped within me each mile that I passed bringing me that much closer to Shepherd’s pointe….to my home…to Joshua!

When I arrived home, Joshy had many things to share, as did I (after having limited communication all week). He had that gleam in his eye, the one he always gets when he has bought something special for me or someone else. His whole body gives him away, he can’t keep secrets, especially not surprises for the ones he loves. He can hardly contain himself and it’s rather fun to watch!

 

“I have something for you sugar.”

“Oh Joshua…”

“Sugar it’s an early birthday present…come with me it’s in the pole barn!” He was so excited. The gleam in his eye twinkled even brighter! We were only a week from my birthday…I am one who loves to be surprised but likes to save the surprise for the actual day. Like I don’t like opening presents early, I wait till the day of, I like building the anticipation…not sure why, so of course I said : “Let’s just wait till it is actually my birthday.”

“Um…you don’t want to do that sugar…come on…come with me to the pole barn!” The hesitation, that sly smirk beginning to steal his face, coupled with the  fact that he had been saying that he was going to buy me a sheep…a little lamb for my birthday…could this be it??! I love sheep, and have wanted one for sometime. Our landlord had said we couldn’t have sheep as livestock…but he hadn’t said anything about just having one as a pet. Would Joshy really have been serious when he said he would get me one for my birthday?

 

Excitement leapt up my stomach and into my throat as I entered the pole barn. “It’s in here, in the kennel.”  “Shall I cover my eyes?” I ask as we near the little dog kennel. “Yes!” So I cover my eyes and stand there. “Okay hold out your hands but keep your eyes closed tight.” His voice can hardly contain the excitement.  This is it! This is my sheep!

 

 For a split second I hesitated ….  “wait…hadn’t Josh also been talking about getting a guinea pig as well…oh no! He knows I’m afraid of them.” Despite my fear of getting bit by whatever furry thing he was going to place into my hands, I kept my hands held out to receive my present.

 

I felt the soft fur and a warm body, upon opening my eyes I saw the cutest orange striped cat! I couldn’t believe it! I had mentioned only once that I like orange striped cats the best, not wanting one just saying that I liked them. And lo and behold Joshy got me one!

 

Now I have always been more a dog person. In fact if I had to choose I would always take a dog over a cat. This is mainly because most cats are sneaky and also because they mostly just stick around because you feed them. Most are more concerned about playing and chasing and catching. While dogs on the other hand almost worship the very ground we walk on. They are obsessesed with pleasing us, obsessed with being with us, not because of the food, but just because they love us. This is the way my sweet mini Aussie shepherd/border collie Fiona is. She loves Josh and I to death and would do anything to protect us.

 

Cats just don’t do that, they are just not as loyal as dogs are. Don’t get me wrong, I love almost all animals (minus guinea pigs lol), so therefore I do love cats and was thankful for this kitten Joshy got me. Little did I know just how much I would come to love him.

 

I wanted to name him “Tony Stark” since I was Ironman for the cooks parade this summer. Plus too since he was striped and looked like a tiger it could also be “Tony the Tiger” since Josh and I LIKE cereal so much!

Tony ended up being very different than most cats I have met. Most cats love to play, and they get distracted easily. Tony, however, was not like that.

 

When we would go outside he just followed me. In fact we got him some toys and even those could not deter him, he was all about people. He just wanted to snuggle and wanted to be with us all the time. In fact when we would leave him in the pole barn in the kennel at night he was always devastated. Crying out really loudly and obnoxiously.  He would follow me just like a dog would…just like Fiona always does. He was just like having another puppy. OH the fun we had, how close we had grown, and only a week had passed and already we were almost inseparable. I took him with me whenever I could.

 

It was the day before my birthday and it was a beautiful morning! The red hues of the sunrise brightened the sky as I ran the last jaunt of my morning run. It had been a wonderful night. We had some college friends (soon to be married..Betsy and Aaron J ) and my little sister over for pizza and a movie. What fun we had sharing and talking, playing the Wii and showing them all the things that we had been blessed with. Aaron especially took to our kitty Tony as did Nana (she is so much like me!).

 

Now it was time to awaken Joshua and Nana, so we could feed the animals (especially Tony) so that we could be on time for the Hawk game at my parents house.

It was set to be a fun day.

 

After breakfast Josh went outside to search for the extra cats we had taken in for a friend of ours, whilst nana and I went to the barn to feed the ducks and Tony. I quickly let Tony out of his kennel and fed him some tuna. Turning I glanced at Chief, and thought I had better feed him too, since we wont be back till late. Another thought quickly followed that but what if he gets out like he did the other day…you should just wait and let Josh do it….but I want it done now…I can handle it…he wont get out.” Oh how I wish I would have listened and followed my second line of thinking…but rather I went with the first and third line. I crossed over and got his food, and opened the door. BAD MOVE! He slinked right out past me, and made a bee line for little Tony. I screamed “NO! NO CHIEF!”

 

Nana looked up from her spot next to Tony. Her eyes looked huge as chief came barreling over, headed straight for the kitten at her feet. How thankful I am that she didn’t move to pick Tony up…who knows what chief might have done in his fury. He was running entirely on instinct at this point.

 

Tony’s hair bristled and he hissed so loudly and swiped at Chiefs muzzle. Tony could have easily run away and climbed onto something higher…like our fridge or the duck kennel. But no he stayed right where he was and readied himself for a battle he could never win. In hinds sight Josh and I figure that Tony was trying to protect Nana. She was right next to him, and he being such a loyal cat didn’t know that chief was a danger to us at all but only to him.

 

I watched in complete horror as chief grabbed Tony in his mouth and began to shake him. I screamed so loud and went running for Josh, nana screaming right behind me. Chief is huge weighing almost 80 pounds..I was no match for him, plus he does not listen to me, so I ran for my knight in shining armour. I ran for Joshua. Joshy will fix this….it’s all going to be okay.”

 

Before I could even step out of the pole barn, Joshy was there asking what was wrong. All I could get out was “ It’s chief…he has Tony!” Josh quickly brushed past me pulling the pole barn door shut behind him, leaving nana and I in the little alley between the barn and the house.

 

 I collapsed by the door to our house, not even bother to go inside I just covered my head and cried. Nana was next to me crying as well. All the while I just kept thinking that Joshua would right my wrong. That some way somehow Tony was going to be okay. Chief would let go and all would be alright.

 

We could hear him yelling at chief. Telling him no. Finally, things got quiet. I gathered my strength and went into the pole barn. “Joshy…”

“It was too late beth…just go in the house.”

 

“NO! It can’t be!” I walked over to the kennel and peaked inside. There Tony was just lying there. I grabbed him. His body was limp but it was still warm. “Oh Tony…oh my precious…no!” I just kept saying no over and over as tears spilled down my cheeks. “He is so warm…Josh he has to still be alive…are you sure? There’s no marks on him…just a little bit of blood…not much…he has to be alive Jos..”

 

“No beth, he is dead.” Josh said solemnly. My eyes filled with tears a fresh and I started sobbing uncontrollably. “NO!”

“Beth just go inside, okay? Just go inside…I’m going to bury him.”

“No!” I kept crying and saying no and ran into the house. I couldn’t stop  crying. I just collapsed on my bed and cried. Then came the anger. Fury at the dog who had killed my precious kitty. I got up off my bed and wiped my tears and stomped out to the barn. Josh had gone to the field to dig a hole. WE laugh about this now that I ran out to the barn and grabbed the wire kennel and yelled “I hate you” at chief over a dozen times.

I was angry at chief when really it was my fault. I had been the one that opened the door.

 

A door that should have never been opened. I had wanted a job done and wanted it done right then, and because I did not take the time to wait, it cost me something dear to me.

Chief was acting out of mere instinct. I had turned loose something that should have stayed bottled up.

 

I got up enough courage to go and join Josh for the burial of our kitty, whom we only had for a week. My voice was raw by this point from screaming and crying and yelling. I cried like a baby. Death is a hard thing, something I have always hated, and somewhat feared as well. Not because of where I would go, no I have the assurance that because of what Christ did on the cross and in rising again, I know that when I breathe my last here on earth it twill be my first breath in heaven with my dear and precious Savior and King and with God my Almighty Creator. I just fear the unknown of death. What does it feel like? How will it happen? The fear of the unknown.

 

I once was told that death is something to be hated and feared because it was never meant to be. In the beginning there was no death, in fact death was not in God’s original plan. But because of sin death has now passed upon everything. Everything that lives will eventually die (except the believers that are still alive at the Rapture of Jesus Christ’s church). Death is un-natural and should have never been. But worse than physical death is spiritual death.

 

Physical death has a remedy: Belief in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Spiritual death, however, has no remedy. We are all born spiritually dead, and dying physically. If we accept Christ before I physical death we will escape spiritual and eternal death in Hell. Once we physically die, if we have not accepted Christ then we will die spiritually and there is no remedy for that. WE all get one life  in which to accept the spiritual and eternal life offered, if we reject that then we will die spiritually for all eternity.

 

Death is a cruel thing. It comes unexpectedly (no one knows the exact time one will breathe their last breath), it rips loved ones from us and tears what we hold dear apart from us. That day before my birthday it took Tony from me. There one moment, gone the next. The Bible says that it is this way not just for little kittens like Tony, but also for all living things.

 

 But unlike Tony, we have life after death. Tony is gone and is no more, but my brother who passed while still in my mother’s womb, Joshua is what we called him, he lives on and so do all other humans.

 

Where will you live on when you pass? Where will you go? Do you fear death because you have no idea where you will go? If so please reach out! I would be more than happy to help you know and accept Christ as your Savior and how to be made right with God and begin your relationship with Him.

 

After we buried Tony, we went inside. I asked Josh for forgiveness, for jumping ahead, and for not thinking things through. It was my fault that Tony had died.

Something that I told Breanna that day, something I hope she never forgets, is that God is always trying to teach us.

 

Everyday, in everything God always has something for us to learn and ways for us to draw ever closer to Him. I told her that too often it is really easy for us to miss these lessons. To just not think things through and not try and find these things out. It is far too easy to just dismiss things as “coincidence” and totally miss the still small voice of God calling us higher.

 

So what was God trying to teach me at that moment??

 

I often want things done and done “now.” I am like a microwave. No, microwaves don’t really make elaborate meals, however they sure do heat things, and fast!

Joshy, however, is worlds apart. He is concerned more with doing things well. He tends to be more like an oven, which makes more elaborate dishes, but it takes its good sweet time at it.

 

Krista took her good sweet time in learning to walk. She observed for a long time and then one day she was able to just stand up and go, because she had watched and observed. I on the other hand, didn’t think things through. I just forged ahead. As you can imagine I banged into many a  wall time and again! In fact my mother never ceases to remind me of the truth that almost every week there appeared a wound from the battle.  

 

My mom was asked almost every Sunday what had happened to her young toddler that she would always have a goose egg on her forehead.  The mother always just sighed and explained that this I had insisted on walking and just forged ahead, whether I was fully prepared and ready or not. For that I payed with bruises and goose eggs.

  

 

Sad to say that what I exercised in walking (forging ahead with no real thought or practice) I also in turn did in just about everything I did. As I grew older it didn’t matter whether it was school work, or an instrument, or fishing, or a game, or cooking (too bad for my poor hubby) or cleaning, I always just forged ahead, “jumping the gun” so to speak.

 

Never really taking as much thought as I probably should to what I am doing. I always want things done quickly, it didn’t matter if they were done the very best they could be, just so that they are done and quick enough so I can move to the next thing. Although I do not rush everything in my life, it is true, many many things that I do (esp. new skills) I just forge ahead.

 

This was exactly what I had done the morning that Tony died. I had forged ahead. I wanted something done and just did it. Not really taking the time to think things through and take the time to care.

 

We are blessed that nothing worse happened. That chief didn’t go for the ducks. Or that nana didn’t pick Tony up, for if she had no doubt chief might have jumped on her and could have knocked her clean over and she may have really gotten hurt.

 

I could almost hear my Father in heaven…. “Bethy, did you see that? You are always forging ahead, always wanting things done quickly and in your timing. You need to slow down, I have been trying to tell you this for a long time, and you know this. I love you and I want you to use the way I made you for my glory and in my way.

But this Bethy…this is not my way. I created you with a desire to get things done, but there is a balance my daughter…you must find it! You remind me so much of another daughter of mine…of Martha…you need to change your focus…you need to turn your entire passion and self towards me alone.”

 

The following day was my birthday. Joshy and I ended up finding three free cats. Two kittens and their mother (all orange striped), and after we pick them up we also found some Bengal kittens ( a brother and sister). Joshy wanted to make my birthday special and that he did! I couldn’t help but be reminded of the story of Job, how he had lost everything dear to him, only to have it all be given back to him and that SEVEN FOLD!

 

Its true, I had lost Tony, but I gained Gibbs, Ziva, Toby and Tigger and their mom Chloe. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. But He is always to be blessed and praised in the both the giving and the taking. Often in the giving, we feel invincible, we become obsessed with the blessings that we often forget about the Blesser!

 

The new cats are wonderful, I love them all. But truth be told they are not quite like Tony. While they love people and show affection, they are easily turned aside to toys and distractions. They are not like Tony who was totally focused on people.

 

We are often like that. God desires for us to be like Tony, totally devoted and filled with a passion for only Him. But instead we often end up like my Kitty Catties (Gibbs, Ziva, Toby and Tigger). Too often we are turned aside to focus on the “blessings” of this life instead of focusing on the “Blesser.”

 

Too often we become so wrapped up in the gifts He gives (money, jobs, talents, time, loved ones, animals, possessions, knowledge, a fit body, food, the newest gadget, attention from others…the list goes on).

 

WE all have at least one (or many) things that turn us aside. Satan knows this and knows our weak points and uses them against us. We must be like Tony though! We have to be like him when he faced Chief. He stood up in the face of great opposition. He readied himself and used the tools given him. We have been given tools as well (a full set of armour!). Why don’t we use them?

 

This incident is filled with the whispers of God. He has spoken to me in the midst of this happening, but I had to dig for it. Had to think through the event, and mull each moment over in my mind. But as things always are with God there is always far more to still be learned…no doubt I have only barely begun to scratch the surface! So here are only some of the small whispers that I have heard:

 

1. Slow down and think things through.
2. Be more like Mary in the Bible and metaphorically like Tony my kitty: totally focused on my Owner. Laying aside the idols and distractions that so easily turn me away. Stop being like Martha in the Bible and metaphorically like my new kitty catties Gibbs, Ziva, Toby and Tigger: only half sold out, distracted by the things of this world.
3. Put on the armour and ready myself to fight Satan, like Tony readied himself to fight Chief.
4. Also the brevity of life. Life is short! Tony was there one moment, gone the next. People are no different. Are we ready to meet our Maker? Are we physically dying but spiritually alive?
5. Lastly, I was reminded that God is always trying to teach me. Always trying to draw me closer to Himself and to the image of His Son.

 

So what is God teaching you lately? What are something’s He has been whispering to you? The thing about whispering is, it always causes you to lean in closer to the one whispering, and causes you to cease talking (for fear of missing it) and to just be still and listen. Funny thing is, I think that’s God’s entire idea behind it all!

So what is He whispering to you?? Are you leaning in? Or do you not even care to hear it? Are you still talking over Him? It’s easy to do. Are you dismissing it as something else, as just coincidence? What is He whispering?

 

Spiritual Counterfeits (part 2)

I have always been known in my family for my stubbornness/tenaciousness. Wound up within my heart is an energy that is fierce and ready to stand against whatever gets in my way, no matter the cost. The sheen in my eye, the curled lip, I won’t give in. At two it took the form of not giving in when mom and dad told me for the umpteenth time not to tease Krista. At five it took the form of not wanting to wear the new shoes mom bought me. As a teenager it looked like me rebelling against my parents and not heeding their warnings about the young man I was dating that I should not have been. As a college student it looked like me being unwilling to surrender to marriage, “I will never marry!” Oh how I digged in…how I wanted my way. How I manipulated and stood my ground. And the list goes on and on and on!

That was what my stubbornness looked like. That is when I’m living for self. But when turned around that stubbornness could be tenaciousness, could be useful. At two it could look like me wanting to stack the blocks and not giving up till they were stacked just as they were supposed to be. At five it looked like me witnessing to the new kids I met…making sure everyone knew about Jesus.  As a teenager it could look like me sticking to my decision to honor my parents and break off the wrong relationship with that young man.

I tell people all the time that I was my parent’s hardest child to handle, and my parents would say the exact same! It’s true I have grown over time, but it has been very evident this summer that I still have a LONG ways to go!

 

I could feel it. I knew God was trying to get a hold of my heart in the area of my eating disorder, but I wouldn’t give in! I wasn’t ready. Sure I was praying about it everyday, begging God to change my heart and mind about it. I begged Him to change me from the inside out. But really I still wasn’t ready.

I dug my heels in. I had just graduated college in May, and was looking forward to a wedding, but first I had to survive ten weeks of serving the Lord at IRBC as a cook. I knew that I was struggling, and felt so inadequate to serve the Lord in such a position, such a low spiritual state. But no one will know right? No one will find this out…no one will even be able to tell.  Besides you need to lose weight for this wedding…you have gotten HUGE lately, I mean just look at yourself.”

“I hate how I feel so fat….something has to change. I know I can lose lots of weight while I work at camp! Working long hours in the heat and running everyday. Things will get better! No one will know. Sure mom has warned you not to lose weight while at camp…but she wont be up there all the time…this should work.”

“No…No Bethany! People will know! People will find out…you need to heed your mom’s warning! There is so much at stake! Purpose in your mind now to change, to stand strong and to grow at camp and not fall back into your sin. Stand strong!”

 

Oh the battle that was raging for my heart ever since I was sixteen. Satan knows my struggle well, he knows how easy it is to trip me up. Oh how I fight, how I struggle…and it seems that a lot of the time he wins battle after battle. But I know that God is an awesome and loving and gracious God, and no matter how many battles Satan wins, God will win the war, and that’s all that matters!

 

It was Sr. high camp now…I had made it thru most the whole summer as a cook at IRBC. I thought I was “getting away” with my little secret…but people knew…God wouldn’t let me hide (praise Him). I remembered the verse “be sure your sin will find you out.” How true that was!

“You are so skinny!”… “Have you lost weight?”… “That’s all your eating?”… “you can’t run in this heat!”… These comments were made by many people. Each was a warning directly from God. Unbenounced to the people whose lips passed these questions at me, God was using every single one of them!

And is’nt that just like Him? Have you ever noticed how in scripture when someone disobeyed Him, how He always asked them questions…graciously giving them a chance to speak truth and come to Him in repentance and be restored though they do not deserve it. Some examples would be Adam and Eve, Cain, and countless others. That is just God’s way though, it is not a wonder at all that the scriptures refer to our God as a God of grace and mercy! He never lets any sheep of His to stray long!

 

These questions kept coming at me all summer long. I avoided them seemingly easily, with excuses and glossing over the issue or worse lying about it. I wanted to stay in the dark…but God kept turning on the flood lights! I couldn’t hide long.

 

As I said it was Sr high camp now.  One of the biggest and hardest weeks of our entire summer. Serving close to 600 at every meal, staying up a little later, and working harder. It was the big push to keep going!

But oh how the Lord always seems to do a mighty work this week. If you asked us as a staff, we wouldn’t trade any hardship or trial of Sr. High camp for the great work that God does in the hearts and lives of all those teens. While it is exhausting it is also encouraging and uplifting!

 

There I was, trying to hide…quenching the spirit time after time. I knew God was on my tail…He wouldn’t give up. Every sermon…every devotional that I had heard and read this summer all seemed to shine the light even brighter on my sin of an eating disorder.

I was beginning to get tired of hiding…beginning to break down and see my need for a change…see my need to come back to the One true God and forsake the idols I had stuck up. They were not delivering…I still felt empty...longing for more. I also knew I was getting dangerously thin...and I needed to be rescued and set free from the Lord.

 

What do you think happened next? Let me guess you think that I heard a sermon that just leveled me. Exposed and enlightened me like never before..right? Wrong! He actually used His Word (sermons and devotionals all along the whole summer) but the thing that was the “final straw” was God using the song service and the choir’s song to get a hold of my heart.

 

Never in my life has the Lord used that as He did that day. The song leader at Sr/ High camp does a wonderful job every year at putting songs together. Tim Jones is his name. And I always thought that putting together a song service would be a “piece of cake.” Right? You just pick out a few songs, line up a pianist and put together a choir piece. Wrong! Not for Mr. Jones. This past year I learned that he stays up late into the night praying and pouring over the prep of the song services for the next day.

 

God used the message of the songs that night to finish the work He had started in me at the beginning of the summer. He helped me to see my selfishness for what it was…helped me to remember that I had been bought at a price (the life of His One and Only Son Jesus Christ). And helped me to realize my need to surrender to Him.

 

I usually try not to cry in front of people and usually do a pretty good job of that…but I broke down right there in my pew amidst a sea of sr. highers. I cried out to the Lord and surrendered in that moment before the service even really started.

 

Now, it’s true I surrendered in that moment…but as I saw in the following days (and even now) it really is often a moment to moment surrender. The battles still rage…I still struggle. But the amazing thing is God sent me accountability (the other cooks as I was able to confess to them and enlist their help)…Lynnae also stepped in and we had some good discussions about it…my mom was the most help checking with me daily…and of course Joshy has been used by God as well J.

 

The battles are far from over…they will rage until I am finally set free from this body and forever sanctified and join my Savior in heaven (whether by death or rapture..MARANATHA!).

 

It’s a daily struggle…I stumble a lot, but the amazing and most wonderful thing is: I have seen first hand the kind of gracious God we serve! I didn’t just read about His grace, I have SEEN it first hand!

Also how wonderful to know that when I surrender to Him, He has the power to take my ugly stubborness and turn it into tenaciousness to be used for His passion and purpose!
How AMAZING is our GOD?? He can take sin and turn it inside out and use it for His glory!
May I allign myself under Him and forsake the counterfeits of Satan...they never work and their end is devastation and destruction!

 

Friends,  I pray that you know today beyond a shadow of a doubt that God always seeks that which is lost (Luke 15). If you, like me, are lost/were lost may you come to Him! Whether that be the first time for Salvation from your sin and sinful self, or once again because you are saved but you (like me) have wandered. I pray that if you need more help or if you have questions that you reach out to God first and foremost in prayer, but then also to the Christians around you, or even myself! I am here, no question is a dumb one...no need to feel shame...I am a sinner same as you! So please reach out and get the help if you need it!

 

From one wandering sheep to the others out there, may you come to the fold of our wonderful and loving Shepherd!!

Counterfeit (part one)

The green ball flies through the hot summer air, whizzing ore the grassy green field. The ball lands and is instantly engulfed in the green blades. Camouflaged now by its nest in the grass, the ball eludes the little pup that sprang for it when it was thrown. The pup is not deterred however, despite the tall grass and the fact that the tennis ball has totally disappeared from view, the puppy tenaciously keeps after the ball. Zigzagging left and right across the field, nose to the ground, she pauses only every once in a while to sniff the air, trying to catch even the faintest odor of the familiar smell. My scent is what she is striving to catch. Joshy and I watch her with pride. Fiona has been a delight to both of us since Joshy got her for me for Valentines Day. She is quite an odd looking dog, with her brown eyes that have blue swirls in them, and her blue merle coat (typical of the Australian shepherd). She has a very slender body and long legs and ears that stick up and quite a long snout, all this combined I guess makes her look like a coyote, for I have been asked on many occasions if she is one! Makes me even more proud seeing as I love wild dogs J.

Anyways,  Joshy and I were greatly delighted when we first discovered how good she was with fetch. Running hard after the ball, she always brings it back and gives it to us for another round. She will play fetch all day if we let her. Even when she is beat tired, as soon as she catches sight of her Frisbee or hears the sound of a tennis ball on concrete, she is to her feet, eyes sparkling; they dance almost daring you to throw whatever is in your hand.

 

“Look at her Joshy…she won’t give up till she finds it or we call her off and stick her in her kennel.” A winsome grin tenderly lights upon his handsome face, that cockeyed grin I love so, as he says “I know. She won’t.”

“She is a good dog…I’m so proud of her.”

 All the while, all she can think about is finding that ball and bringing it back to us. For she knows that we will be most pleased with her, and this is the her soul desire at the moment: for her masters to be delighted. And Nothing, nothing would stop her, she will keep after that ball till she finds it, and find it she always does, because she is tenacious, she won’t give it up!

 

The  hot summer wind blows my fly away hairs all about, Joshy slips his hand into mine as we walk side by side. We were both buzzing with talk about different things, lost in conversation. Suddenly Fiona begins to bark and strains at the leash. Our attention is ripped from one another to a stupid squirrel in a yard we were walking past. Josh pulls Fiona in closer. “Fiona, NO! Fiona that’s enough, Fiona…” That stern tone is hardly ever heard from Josh’s mouth. He is such a sweet man, he is usually either really happy (hyper lol) or sad, never usually angry or stern. But when he is, he gets a stern tone. Employing that now, Joshy continues to call her name, pulling her from the yard and back onto the sidewalk. Had Josh not been stronger than Fiona and able to pull her away, she would stay after that squirrel till it got away or she got it.

So was this her tenaciousness at work again as it was with the tennis ball? Or was this something else? Stubbornness is more like it! It is her tenaciousness twisted around in an ugly and most annoying form.

 

For every good thing of God, Satan always offers a counterfeit. This is something that looks very similar to the “real deal” but is totally false. It’s like having a bowl of whipped topping (God’s goodness) before us and then a bowl of shaving cream (Satan’s counterfeit), they both look alike but are obviously very very different! Used for two very separate purposes, and won’t work well in either’s place.

The one that is probably most popular is God’s Creation Account in Genesis 1 verses the Evolution Theory in Darwin’s’ book. They look alike in that they both try to answer how everything got here, but the difference is one is a theory and one is indeed fact (Romans 1)!

            As I have pondered these things betwixt Satan and God I have found that there are many “real deals” and their “counterfeits” combinations.

Some that hit closer for us perhaps are the world’s philosophy of “love yourself” verses God’s law that says we ought to love Him first and then others (Matthew 5:45).  Notice even how different the wording is there. One is a philosophy, this carries with it the notion of if you want to, it’s up for grabs and for debate. While God’s is not a philosophy it is a command. It is a must, it is not up for debate or discussion; we are to love God and our neighbors, end of story! Notice the very different purposes as well. One is centered on purposes and goals that help to satisfy and delight self; while the other is centered on purposes and goals that help to satisfy and delight God.

           

The one that hits closest to home for me is tenaciousness (God’s) versus stubbornness (Satan’s). Some might say “well are they not the same thing?” My argument is that they are not. True they are both energy that stands against something. Like a rock in the midst of a mighty and raging river. All about the rock things are tossed too and fro. Sticks, logs, foam and leaves are all at the mercy of the currents. They are moved along by the current, taken wherever it goes, but not a rock. It stands firm in its place, despite the pounding water against it. Both tenaciousness and stubbornness are like that rock, they both stand against the currents that come their way. They both don’t budge.

           

 However, there is obviously a fine line betwixt the two. The difference lies within their end, within their goals. Tenaciousness has a good goal, a goal that is set on delighting in and satisfying God no matter the cost. While stubbornness is focused entirely on self, on delighting in and satisfying self, no matter the cost.

 Think back to the two scenarios with my pup Fiona. In the first scenario, with the frisbee, we would say that Fiona was being tenacious. She was focused on pleasing her masters and would not give up till she did it. However, with the squirrel, she was being stubborn, digging her heals in and not willing to move. In one instance her energy and ability to not give up was good, in another it was entirely wrong and a hindrance to us, her owners. The same can be said of us and our relationship to God! When we are focused on what God wants us to be doing (the Frisbee), when we have delighting Him as our highest goal, then our stubbornness is actually tenaciousness. But when we have delighting self as our goal that tenaciousness is twisted into stubbornness. So what we need to watch most closely is not what we are heading after (the Frisbee or squirrel) but WHO we are heading after. For when we truly have pleasing God as our goal our stubbornness becomes tenaciousness. Our pride becomes humility. Our selfishness becomes selflessness. Our hate becomes love. Our anger becomes peace. Our stealing becomes giving. Our lying becomes integrity and honesty. Our hurtful and wrong speech becomes blessing the Lord and others, and the list goes on. It’s no wonder than that Christ told us to “guard our hearts, for out of it spring the issues of life.” He knows that we were made to worship, made to delight someone other than ourselves, and He knew that whoever/whatever has the thrones of our hearts would be played out and seen in the things we do and say.

So much can change just with (W)who is on the throne of your heart!

Sibling Rivalry

Pride sparkling in his eyes, my father brought the little bundle down to our level so we could see. “This is Joseph.” Krista and I were but four and two. Our little bodies swelled with excitement. Little did we know that we would have the privilege of repeating this very seen three more times! I have had many different reactions from others upon hearing that I grew up in a family of six kids.

Things like: “Never a dull moment” (They are right there…from making a sand box out of our couch, to climbing on our roof while dad was in a deacons meeting, to breaking windows, to making fun movies, to stunts like no one would believe!). Things like: “Aw I bet that was fun! Someone always has your back.”

 What dreams my parent’s must have had for us! They longed to see us get along. I can’t imagine what it was like for them when the first fight broke out amongst us. It was most likely between Krista and I (there would be many to follow…to my shame). Probably over a toy, or over the attention of our parents. How it must of hurt my parents to see us fight so. “They are sisters!”

I can still remember one of my dad’s favorite sayings “You are ___ (insert sibling name: Krista’s…Joe’s…Andy’s..Caleb’s…Breanna’s) best friend! You should not treat them like that!” It is a saying that I appreciated, and that he said so often that we all began to refer to each other as such: Friends (Still do!)

I would even tell my own friends that my best friends were my siblings, many of my friends said they had wished they could have that kind of relationship with their siblings. I always wondered why they did’nt…sure us Duffy kids fought (still do) but at the end of the day we always asked for forgiveness and did our best to mend the ways and call eachother friend once again.

Sibling rivalry… it happens…it is to be expected…or is it?

I could hardly contain myself. Focus Bethany, focus! You need to get this literature paper done! Right…yes of course…BUT how can I when I know Joshy will be here any minute with my valentine…my sweet lil pup..??!!!”

Moments later, I got the text I had been waiting for, telling me he was here and that I should come out and see her. I practically ran out of that library at faith! Once outside, under the light of the moon, I could see Joshy’s face beeming with pride, and with the joy of seeing my own face light up. He set the tote down and I rushed to it. Down inside was the cutest furball I had ever seen.

“Do you like her?”

“Oh Joshy, I love her!” I would have given him a hug, had we not been “on campus.” Lol. “Good, she is your valentines day gift.”

Joshy and I were elated!! God had already blessed us with a Siberian Husky (Joshy’s dog chief), and now here we were, blessed once again. This time with a little mini Aussie mix pup that was free! He brought her home and I fell in love with little Fiona (we wanted an Irish nameJ ).

She is all spunk, and has quite the little character about her. Timid around strangers, is her only downside J. She melts my heart!

The lady we got her from, had an “accidental litter.” Her mini aussie male got to her female border collie. So she gave all the pups away for free. By the time we had heard about it, she had a home for all accept Fiona (which was ironically the one I liked the best from the pics.).

Since we have been blessed with a farm, Joshy and I knew that we would want some good hardy “farm dogs.” So we told the lady that if anyone backed out on any of the others we would take just one more…little did we know what we were getting into!

A couple of weeks went by, we were really beginning to enjoy Fiona. I took her out to run at the farm any chance I could. It’s always fun to go to the back pasture and run down that big hill (reminds me of little house on the prairie lol) and watch Fiona speed past me!

She is also HUGE on fetch and so that was a joy as well! Oh and she loves chasing soccer balls, and I love kicking them!! Anyways, it was fun!

Then the day came when we were contacted by the lady we got Fifi from. She told Joshy that someone had backed out on taking Fiona’s sister, and asked if we wanted her. Joshy of course came to ask me what I thought. Now, I have always loved animals, but especially dogs in particular, what an amazing blessing to have a man who loves them just as much as I do.

Sometimes I wonder why from the beginning I have always had a fascination with dogs, and living in the country and farm life and hunting and fishing…God knows best!! He has had a plan all along…so thankful He is writing my story and not me!

Anyways, I said “yes” of course. I could see the joy light up in Joshy’s eyes. We will own two pups…sisters at that! “It’ll be like having twins!!” Joshy just rolled his eyes.

“Okay maybe not quite…this will be fun thought sweets! Two farm pups!”

If only we had known! He went to get her and brought her back. I loved her too. But as I got to know her, I loved Fiona a bit more, and Joshy began to love Alice more.

I was expecting Alice to look a bit different than Fiona, but Alice (also an Irish name) was night and day from Fiona. She not only looked different, she was different!

 Where Fiona is lighter colored and looks more like an Aussie, Alice is much darker and looks like a border collie.

Fiona has a bit more course of a coat (not real course) but Alice is extremely soft. Where Fiona loves to play and is all “GO GO GO!” Alice is more of a cuddler, she would rather lay by your feet and have you pet her. Fiona is far more scared of the cows out at the farm and will only bark at them, Alice however, charges at them and runs at them like they are little chickens! So as you can tell, they were not cut out of the same mold!

But all that was okay. It would have been nice to have two different types of dog at the farm. It would have been nice to have Fiona the “go go go” and Alice the brave, and all their stark differences. I came to love them for who they were, enjoying their strengths and differences.

But they did’nt get along at all! We learned this early on. When we first introduced them their immediate reaction was to growl at one another. Not at all what Joshy and I had expected and even looked forward to. We figured that since they were sisters, and since they had not seen each other in forever, they would whimper and kiss one another and have some puppy play. It was kind of a huge let down to see their hair bristle, and watch them be so wary of one another. It was like they were judging one another and protecting themselves.

As time went on, we discovered that we could not feed them together. They began to fight over food. And not long after that they began to fight over us, and the attention we gave to each. Joshy and I were at such a loss as to what to do. We loved them both, we had plenty of food for both, plenty of love for both.

But they just would not stop fighting. It was awful! They fought so hard they would make each other bleed. Their fights would last for quite some time (until they ran out of steam to keep going).

It was sad and devastating…we just wished they would get along…we longed for them to just “get over it” and back down. They only had their puppy teeth, but were already doing damage. They were sisters…were they not suppose to love one another? Truth is they were fighting for dominance. For significance, they wanted to be more significant than the other.

Upon watching fight after fight, I began to be afraid to even spend time with them anymore, for fear that another fight would break out. I no longer looked forward to time at the farm because of them. It was just a mess! I was beginning to dread having them both! Something had to change. So we gave Alice to a really nice horse farm. She is a good herding dog, and will do wonderful there I am sure.

Someone on the outside looking in on this little story might think there is nothing to be learned. Or perhaps you have picked up on the obvious lesson of being wise in ones decisions. But what about the less obvious lessons? There are somethings to be learned here of not only our relationship with others, but with God as well!

Alice and Fiona were aiming as I stated before, for significance, for prominence above the other. They wanted Josh and I to choose one over the other. Alice wanted us to be all about her, while Fiona wanted us to be all about Fiona. They each wanted ALL the food (“leave no food for the other” mentality.) They wanted all our attention for just them (leave none for the other pup).  They could not show love to one another (as we think they automatically should…being after all sisters!) because they were too busy trying to get to the top!

It was painful to watch, it was sad and it made me fearful to watch them fight. This friends is a picture of what it must be like for God Almighty to look upon the fights Christians with other Christians!!

If you are a believer, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you are now a child of God: “John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”

The World does not understand this bond with have with God:

1 John 1:3 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

If we are then children in relation to God, then we are then and therefore siblings of all saved people!! Is’nt odd how we just assumed tht Fiona and Alice would get along simply because they are sisters? Everyone who I have talked to about their fighting, agrees with me, they should get along, they are sisters!

 God must think the same!

How it utterly must devastate Him when He sees us, His dear children, what He must think… perhaps He thinks “What ____ is fighting ____??! They are sisters (or brothers, or siblings depending upon the situation)…this should not be!” We think it odd when sibling animals fight; we think the same even when we see physical, blood related humans fighting! How much the more should we when SPIRITUAL SIBLINGS FIGHT!

 Christians fight, we have all seen it (and have most likely had our share in the spiritual sibling rivalry). We Christians fight other Christians for many different reasons. Over where we sit at church, over what music should or should not be played in church. We fight over the color of the carpet for pete’s sake!

We all know and have known these things. But what it can boil down to, is often exactly what Fiona and Alice’s boiled down to. We all want to be significant; we all want everything (nothing left for any other but us). It started at Satan’s fall (wanting to be better than God) and has trickled down to every part of creation! We want the lime light! We want our way, or the highway!

These desires drive us, they sit on the thrones of our hearts, and we all know that what is in our hearts comes out! God through the writer James, the brother of our Savior Jesus Christ, tells us exactly why we fight with others:

“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage  war in your members? ² You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^[c]with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3. We fight because we have wrong desires. We either desire the right thing at the wrong time, or in the wrong way.

From watching my own dear puppies fight, I can begin to see a small picture of what it must be like for God the Father to watch His dear children (Christians) fight their siblings! Fiona still has scabs all over her neck from the battles (Alice managed to get none).

We too, have battles, and we too often get hurt as well (emotionally, for some maybe even dare I say physically). If you take a look at the armour of God Eph. 6, you will quickly notice that all of the weaponry is frontal. What I mean is it is all to protect the front of you. Why you may ask…that’s because Roman soldiers (Paul’s inspiration for the armour of God) needed not be protected on their backs, because their comrades, those fighting by their sides, were to protect one another. Thus the statement “I got your back!”

You see we don’t have protection for our backs, they are exposed, perhaps this is why it stings SO badly, and also why it is so odd, when siblings turn and weild the sword against us (for some reason the battle of music comes to mind…probably because often Scripture is pitted against scripture in this battle!). What God must think when He sees this! Oh the wounds that should have never been there!

Sad thing is, our job as soldiers is to stand, not to advance (significance thing we always aim for and fight over). We are not to aim to gain ground but rather to keep the ground we have! But how hard that is when we begin to fight our comrades! We lose ground folks! And Satan gains it!!

So perhaps you are currently involved in a battle with another Christian. WE must remember we ARE SIBLINGS! We are all Children of God! We don’t need to fight for significance, God uses everyone and has gifted us all:

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace was given ⁾according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore it says,

“⁽When He ascended on high,
He ⁽led captive a host of captives,
And He gave gifts to men.” Eph. 4:1-8

We are ONE! Did you catch that?? We all serve the same God! ONE GOD! We are to keep the unity! Did you catch that? We were all once the same: captive! Did you catch that? And what has God done? He has given us gifts! Just like Fiona and Alice were not the same, just like they had their own set of unique strengths and weaknesses, so too all Christians have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. But the same is true for all: we have all been given gifts! So use them! Don’t be envious of other’s gifts, be thankful to God for them!

 Christ said we are to be known by our love for each other (other Christians). One of the greatest hinderances to the furthering of His Kingdom is the battles we fight with one another…it damages our testimony to the unsaved:

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

So perhaps today you need to mend a relationship with a sibling (spiritual) of yours? Does love need to cover it??:

“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

Do you need to forgive? Be forgiven? Whatever it is, above all you are to love:

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

I pray you were challenged as I have been!

Postmodernism

Introduction:

            In order to understand this problem, we first must define it:

“Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the previously dominant modernist approaches. The term "postmodernism" comes from its critique of the "modernist" scientific mentality of objectivity and the progress associated with the Enlightenment.”

If you are like me after reading that, you are like “okay…and that means what?!” Truth be told, postmodernism is difficult to define. This is because it is constantly changing, very complex, and often contradictory as well.  However,  it is what it is: post-modern thought. Thus it came after modernism, so perhaps the first thing we should ask is “what is modernism?”

“Whereas modernism rejected religion and superstition in favor of science and reason, postmodernism repudiates any appeal to reality or truth … and, thus, frowns on those who believe anything with conviction” (McDowell, Josh, with Hostetler, Bob). In other words:  

An entire generation of young people today believe truth is not true for them until they choose to believe it. They believe the act of believing makes things true. Once they believe, those things will be true for them only until they choose to believe something else. As soon as something more appealing comes along, they are likely to begin believing that — whether it is biblical or not” (McDowell, Josh, with Hostetler, Bob). 

To be quite honest that’s scary, for both the youth leader, and the teen! For the youth leader, because we fear they will never listen, never believe and if they do believe, there is always the chance they may one day fall away when something newer or more appealing comes along.

For the youth there is fear because they live in constant uncertainty. Nothing is ever solid. Nothing is ever true for always; what is true for today may not be true tommorrow. Everything is up for grabs, and that is a scary and unstable world to live in!

So how do we overcome this seemingly difficult thought process? How do we shed light, on this dark mind-set? How do leaders help their teens who face this, and how do teens find that solid ground that God innately put the desire in us to find?

Possible Solutions:

As with every problem, there are many possible solutions to it. This is not “new.” We have been fighting this kind of mindset for quite some time, and as with many things that we fight with over time, the supposed “solutions” to it grow more and more as each day passes.

 Take the problem of cancer for instance. It has been around for a long long time. Many possible solutions have been tried to fight it: from chemo, to radiation, to organic and home remedies. The possibilities to fight cancer are almost endless! Yet, still today, research is being done. Right now as you read this, in laboratories all over the world, scientists are still trying to find “The Answer.” That one remedy that stands above the rest, because it cures cancer once and for all.

So what has been tried for the issue of post-modern thought? What are some “possible solutions” to this problem? The following things have been tried to fight Post-modernism:

A) Argumentative approach:

This is one of the most common ones. This is where we make the case for God in an argumentative way. It can take many different forms. It can look like a father talking so long and hard, backing his teen to a corner, not even giving the teen a chance to speak, tell where his heart is, and ask honest questions.

It can look like the mother, who just argues with her teen whenever beliefs and convictions are brought up.

“We just need to argue with them long enough, and hard enough, and make Christianity look and sound right and look “appetizing” enough, as it were, then our teens will believe! Then they will hold fast!” These are the main thoughts to this approach.

B) Brushing over it:

This is the exact opposite of the above approach. Where as the above approach is boisterous and out there, honing in on the issue and shining bright police lights on the teen, this approach totally brushes the problem under the rug.

In other words, it is never brought up in youth group. We just preach a “lovely gospel,” a gospel of peace and God being a God of love. We don’t ask questions, we don’t search too deeply; we stay on the surface, drinking milk, leaving the meat for fear of choking on it. This approach settles for just belief. Their only aim is belief, thus they teach truth as a concept that must be grasp. This is dangerous and goes actually right along side of post-modern thought!

 If we can just get our teens to believe Christianity, then that is enough. No need to bring up the harder issues, no need to discuss deep things with them, no need to push them farther.

C) Immersing self in Post-modern thought

In this approach, instead of studying the real deal, and getting secured in that, we study the unsolid ground, the counterfeit, till we know it in and out, so as to be able to answer to it.

The problem here is that often the counterfeit is just that, counterfeit, thus it always seems right. It is so close to the real deal that it looks just like it.  Thus the temptation to fall into this yourself is HUGE! No one is above falling! In fact the Bible warns us to “take heed, lest we fall.”  No matter your age, it is wisest to study the real deal, so well that you can know and identify the counterfeit.

If you were a shepherd, looking for the wolves in sheep’s clothing, would you go out and study the wolves? Would you go up to them and say “hey, just wondering…might I just take some real close look at you…get some pictures, that way I know what to look for when you come around.”

NO! That’s the last thing you would dream of doing. Why? Well first off, you would more than likely become lunch yourself, and thus not even be around to protect the sheep from the wolves. Secondly, because you know that when the wolf does come, and no doubt he will, he won’t look like himself, he will look almost exactly like your sheep.

Thus, what should you study? Is there yet hope? Yes! You would need to study your sheep, because they are all the real deal! That way when the wolf does come, dressed as a sheep, you will more easily pick up that misplaced patch of wool, that slightly askew walk, you will be more likely to smell that different scent. Why? Because you have studied your sheep! You have studied the real thing, and you know exactly what sheep are supposed to look like and walk like and smell like.

In much the same way, we need to look at post-modernism. Post-modernism is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. You, as the youth leader are the shepherd, are supposed to look out for the sheep, and the sheep are your youth, the teens in your youth group.

Is the wolf just about as dangerous to the shepherd as it is to the sheep? Yes! Sure the shepherd is a bit better protected and not as susceptible, but the danger is still there for him to be attacked like a sheep. So in the same way, the danger, though not as great perhaps, is still there for the youth leader to fall into post-modernism, as it is for the youth themselves. So don’t waste your time, and put yourself in danger, by trying to study the wolf (post-modernism), instead study the real deal, so that you will be able to detect when there is a wolf in sheep’s clothing in your midst!

Argument for Correct Solution

There must be a better approach then to argue with teens, or to just plain old speak the truth and aim for belief only. There must be a better approach then just the fluffly “love them” approach as well.

Truth is teens need both! They need to have the truth spoken to them and laid out there plainly for them to see and grasp, and yet they also need love, they need to know that Christ loves them. They need that age old balance that God always knows we need: “Speaking the truth in love.”

In today’s day and age, many parents fear what their teens will end up doing.  They fear things like drug abuse, suicide, or getting caught up in wrong friendships, relationships with the opposite sex, or alcohol use. These are all fears that parents have of their teens falling into. It’s true, parents should fear these things, but more so than that, they should fear something deeper than the externals, they should fear these things at their root, within the heart of their teen.

“While parents need to fear what their children could be tempted to do, they need to be more concerned with what their children are led to believe.” (McDowell, Josh, ).

For what you believe in, you live for, and what you live for drives your actions. So the greatest fear we should have for our teens is, a fear for what they place their faith in, what they believe in!

A. Satan’s Counterfeit

 God has warned us (believers) that we are in a battle! He said that it is different than any battle we have ever known, because it is a battle where our enemy is not seen with the average human eye. Our battle is hidden: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

Post-modern thought, is a weapon that Satan uses. He is our hidden enemy, and sometimes his weapon of choice is post-modernism. Like a wolf, circling its opponent, looking for their opponent’s weakness, so Satan does the same. He knows that post-modernism is attractive to our teens, and he fluffs it up and makes it look way good. But the problem is that teens don’t see that it’s fake! Satan’s tactics are always to offer a counterfeit of something good that God offers us first.

You see God offers us so much more, and yet Satan seems to offer us the very same things that God does. But truth be known, is that Satan’s offering is slightly askew,  it costs him nothing and it costs us everything! God’s gifts, however, cost Him a great deal, but cost us nothing. Satan has a way of making his counterfeit look so real, we buy into it as if it is the “real deal” and are left broken and alone when we discover that it is worth nothing. It was a mere imitation, and a poor one at that, of what God’s real and good gifts are.

So you see post-modern thought, though attractive to youth, though promising so much, is a seemingly flowery and peaceful path, that leads only to death and hell:
“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14: 12, 16:25).

God knew that we would struggle constantly with the ways that “seems” right, thus this verse can be found twice in proverbs, and only a chapter apart! That is saying something! As the old saying goes: “when God repeats something, we had better pay attention!”

            This problem is never easy to spot, because it “seems” right. It looks almost exactly like the real deal, but is slightly off, and if we but take the time to look, we would soon discover the discrepancies behind post-modern thought.

            So we know that it is a hard problem to spot, and we have established that it is a counterfeit of God’s REAL DEAL. We have also looked at how some have approached post-modernism. So the question remains: what is the right answer? What is God’s answer to “post-modern” thought?

        

            B.  God’s Real Deal

            To answer these questions, I must first present to you the real deal: God’s gift, that Satan tries to counterfeit using post-modern thought. Satan counterfeit teaches that truth is a concept, God tells us that truth is a Person, His Son Jesus Christ: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).

Satan teaches that truth constantly changes and is different from person to person. God tells us that truth does not change, for Jesus is God incarnate and He “never changes or casts shifting shadows” (James 1:17) “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Finally, Satan teaches that all truth is equal, while God says that truth is truth for all. For Jesus did not say that He was “a truth” but rather “THE TRUTH!”: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6).

Thus God’s real deal is: truth is a person, and truth is truth for all people at all times.

            Now that I have gone through God’s real deal, what is God’s answer to post-modern thought? I believe it can be found in the following steps.

   1) Know what you believe:

First and foremost we as leaders must have more than beliefs, we  must have convictions! How can you help someone that is falling, if you yourself are falling as well?  I mean, let’s say you are climbing a mountain, and your climbing partner is above you. You are struggling a bit, and he notices, and even knows the solution to the problem, having had more experience than you. Reaching out his hand, he asks you to grab it so he can pull you up, but both of your ropes are insecure. How stupid would it be if you grabbed his hand, you would be no more secure than he, because neither of you have really secured ropes in the first place!

So it is in the Christian walk. Sure you may have been a Christian for a long time, you may even know the answers and the right paths to take, but if your rope is not secure, if you don’t even know what you believe and are not absolutely convinced of it, how can you even help your teens?

Some may say, well we should just know post-modernism. We should just study and know it well. Problem there is that what you saturate yourself in, you may yourself fall into! Like I said before, it is almost just as easy for a youth leader to fall into post-modernism, as it is for a youth. Don’t be arrogant thinking that you are above Satan’s traps, take heed lest you fall! Know what you believe, saturate yourself in it and move beyond belief to convictions! Be grounded in it, so that you may have a firm hold and be able to help another up!

 2) Be ready and open to listen

To believe in something is to “accept it as true, genuine, or real.”¹⁷ But as we have pointed out, teens are conditioned by today’s culture to believe nothing is objectively true, universally genuine, or real in an absolute sense. They think something is true, genuine, or real only when they accept it, subjectively, for themselves.

            Teens today are bombarded by so many beliefs and systems of supposed “truth.” Whether from school, the internet, television, magazines or even parents, friends. So we see the avenues for doctrine are endless. Often times they receive conflicting and contradictory messages. This is what it is to live in a fallen and cursed world where Satan’s counterfeit and lies are rampant. Thus teens are going to have questions, and they may even question their own faith. We need to be there to listen to their questions, and to hear them out as they wrestle against things unseen: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). We must  be ready to listen and then be also be prepared to help them to put on their amour and protection :

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph. 6:14-18).

3) Get the teens from belief to conviction

                  To believe is not enough! Our teens need to be deeply rooted in their beliefs, they need to have firm, and strong convictions, and be standing on them. Josh McDowell puts it this way:

“If teens are to withstand the pressures and temptations in today’s dangerous world, we must help them move beyond subjective believism … to firm convictions. They need to be so thoroughly convinced of what they believe they will take a stand for it regardless of the consequences” (Josh McDowell,).

To believe is not enough because belief is go just accept something as true, genuine or real. They need to have convictions because to have convictions takes things a step farther: “to have convictions is to be thoroughly convinced that something is true.” It goes far beyond just personal preferences or subjective opinions. It is absolute!

Obviously to be this way is to go totally against post-modern thought. In other words we need to help equip our teens to go against the flow. This will be a very difficult task. It will be much like sticking them into a down stream canoe and asking them to head upstream. The flow of water will be pushing hard against them, it will take all of their energy and they will be tempted to just stop rowing and head with the flow of the river.

But we must not allow them to give up, we must help them see that their desperate situation and call out to God for strength and help! We must help them to see that God can equip them with the things they need (an upstream canoe) to push against the flow of post-modern thought so that they can head in the direction God has for them.

Post-modernism can be attacked firstly just by taking the focus off of the “what” and onto the “who.” It is so easy to get distracted by things and never get to the real heart of the issues.  This often happens with teens and youth leaders when they place their focus on truth as a concept that must be grasped.  We must remember that truth is a Person (Jesus Christ).

This will change our whole approach to Christianity and how we teach others about it as well! Literally it takes down the three main points of post-modernism: for when we realize that Christ is the embodiment of truth, truth is no longer subjectively created.  It is objective!  Second, truth can no longer be relative and change from person to person. What is true for one is true for all! And finally when we realize that truth is a Person suddenly all truth can not be equal, there are not several ways to God, there is one!

Thus, when we teach truth as a concept, we are buying into post-modern thought! But how it is rejected when we turn around and teach truth for what it is: a Person! I think this is one of the main things we can do according to scripture.

Another thing we can do is to help them to know what they believe and why they believe it.  Many teens do not even know simple doctrines and why we hold to them. Many do not even know where to find in the Bible the basis for their own beliefs. We can begin by helping them to see from God’s Word what they believe and why:  

It is not enough to have convictions. The actions of terrorists and suicide bombers demonstrate it is possible to have deep, abiding convictions and still be tragically wrong. That is why evidence is crucial to Christian convictions. Christianity is a verifiable faith based on clearly recognizable and accessible historical facts. To move teens beyond belief to conviction we must guide them through an examination of the evidences for what they believe. Only then will they be equipped with the conviction that Christianity is objectively true. (McDowell, 2002).

4) Hold forth the importance of application

            In a world where truth is a concept, it is kind of meaningless to apply it to everything. However, when truth is realized as a Person, suddenly application can be everywhere and it is endless in its opportunities! God has forewarned that belief is not enough, we must have actions to back up our faith. In James chapter one verse twenty one, God says that yes it is true, we need to receive and believe His Word. However, He does not stop there, He takes it further by saying that we need to apply what we know to our lives:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a” forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25).

Thus to show teens the evidences, to show them from the Word the truth, is not enough! They must be encouraged to apply these truths!

Deep convictions are built not only on what the mind believes, but also around what the heart has experienced. Christian faith is intended to be a personal experience; it should have a profound and relational meaning for each of our lives.Most young people, however, do not understand how their faith can be meaningful in their everyday lives. They may have been told faith in Christ results in eternal life and involves a call to right living. But most teens see little correlation between what they believe (about God, truth, or the Bible) and their relationships with friends and family, or their future in life. (McDowell).

We offer them so much more than a concept, we offer them a Person, a relationship, and that in turn can affect every part of their lives! What an opportunity lies before us!

Conclusion

The main thing is that we must present truth not as a concept, but rather as a Person. I believe this will change our whole approach and it easily tackles the basic thoughts of Post-modernism: Truth is subjective. Truth is discovered not through God’s Word but through looking at philosophy, religion, art and science. Truth is created by culture, and people are the products of their culture, thus what is true for one may not be true for all. When we realize that truth is a Person truth becomes subjective, truth is discovered in God’s Word, truth is created by God, not culture, and thus applies to all people at all times!

Regardless of what we think or feel, God and His Word are absolute truth:
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) His Word lasts forever, it is for all people of all time:

“The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” (Psalm 119:160). “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Thus the truth is something we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we believe is true. So regardless of what man thinks, understands to be true, or believes or is convicted of, God’s Word stands on its own; it is and always will be the only truth! Whether we believe and hold to it or not!

Bibliography:

Mcdowell, Josh, with Hostetler, Bob “Today’s Youth Need Our Help To Go … Beyond Belief”

McDowell, Josh with Hostetler, Bob “Beyond Belief to Convictions.”2002