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

Bringing low the lofty truths!

Stepping out into the frigid winter air, I pull my hood tighter as the wind blows strong, threatening to push me clean over!

Honk! Honk! The sound falls onto my ears as I continue on, walking briskly so as not to be late to my class. I lift my eyes to the sky and catch the sight of the geese flying ore my head. What a breath-taking sight they are against the pink, blue, and purple hues cast on the clouds by the rising sun. I take a deep breath, thanking God for the beauty of this early morning and His good earth.

Focusing back onto the sidewalk, I note a tiny sparrow, hopping about. Scaring it, I watch as it flurries off to take shelter in the big pine tree.

Light flakes of snow begin falling, as I walk into the warmth of a building. In moments I will sit under the teaching of a professor, who will share some deep and profound truths from scripture itself, or drawing from the principles of it. But oh how I have already been taught that morning! No, not from the musings of humans, but rather from God’s good earth, and the creatures! Much is to be learned in the classrooms of faith, but much also can be learned outside of those walls amongst the creatures and plants that God has given as well.

So what could be learned from my walk from dorm to classroom? Starting with the wind, I am reminded of God’s power, and sheer ability to move me where ere He good and well pleases! Next the geese, they fly on and on, striving together to reach a destination, all the while they honk at one another. They do this to encourage each other to keep going, which is what I should be doing with the fellow Christian’s around me! We are all headed in the same general direction: Christlikeness. Like the geese, I have been given a voice box to be used to share encouraging words to help others keep going!

From the sparrows can be learned God’s special care, for in His Word He states that He cares for even them! How much the more does He care for me! Last of all, the snow is a reminder of many things. In scripture is talked about as coming like fresh snow, and it is also a reminder of Christ’s work on the cross and the forgiveness found in that and how we are washed whiter than snow! So you see, many profound truths (Power of God, edification of the saints, God’s sovereignty and providence, and God’s Word and Salvation), were there for me to be reminded long before I stepped foot into my classroom! How much we so often miss!

I am always refreshed and challenged when I read written works with things that are drawn from nature to teach a profound truth of God. Jesus did it countless times: the sparrows, lilies of the field, water, bread, light and countless others! He would take something loft, sovereignty of God, and use something He created to illustrate that teaching, thus bringing it low enough for us to grasp and understand.

It’s like a small child who desires a cookie from off of the counter and cant reach, but then his father takes notice and brings it down to the child’s level for the child to enjoy:

The chubby mud-stained fingers reach out strenuously. Little grunts escape the small pink lips. The little guy sticks his tongue out, as he tries yet again. The smell of the warm cookies on the counter has pervaded the entire home. He begins to salivate, at the thought of the gooey chocolate encased in warm sugar dough, as he once again tries to reach “If only I were just a foot taller…” After several more tries, frustrated he slinks slowly to the ground. Tears form in his clear blue eyes, “Just one cookie…”

“Daniel” His father’s voice startles him. Looking up into the concern filled face of his father; the boy sniffles and dries his tears. “Daniel, why are you crying son?” His father asks as he stoops to the boy’s level. “I…I wanted to give Timmy a cookie…he has been so sick with that cancer, and I thought this would cheer him up…but no one was here…and I couldn’t reach the cookies and…” Fresh tears form on the four year old’s face. “Oh Danny, how thoughtful of you, no worries my dear child.” With that his father stands tall, what seems like a sky scraper’s height to the little boy. The sun shines brightly giving his father a certain glow as he effortlessly reaches for a cookie. “My dad’s a hero!” Stooping back to his son’s level, his father gently hands him the cookie. Taking it with a huge smile, Danny hugs his father and walks gingerly to the door. Turning before he exits to take his cookie to Timmy, Danny says to his smiling father “Thankyou daddy! I love you!”

This is what I imagine it was like when Jesus shared His high truths of heaven in the form of a parable to the lowly people of earth. We, like the young boy, are unable of our own accord to reach up and grasp and fully understand the great truths of God, and apart from Jesus using parables and from the Holy Spirit enlightening us. Jesus is like the father in the story, reaching something high that we could not have otherwise gotten ourselves!
Much can be said of someone who is able to write this way. To write in such a way that things that are high and lofty, that almost seem totally foreign and unrelated to us, suddenly seem right on our level, and real, like we are able to reach out and touch. To write in such a way that we more easily identify with the characters, feeling what they felt, seeing what they saw.

Much is also to be said of a writer who is able to take a lofty truth and bring it low for us to grasp and understand! Christ did just this in His parables! Like the father at the outset of this paper, Christ helps to bring some rich cookies, to the floor level for all to reach and enjoy!

Whats your favorite parable and why? Mine is the Prodigal son and the lost sheep (Luke 15)

The Hand of God

Ever wonder what kinds of things God has saved you from? What disasters His hand stopped? Ever wondered at the mystery of God’s protective hand? Ever experienced it? Most likely you have whether you were able to see it or not.

The net that kept you from spinning out of control during that really bad storm…that “delay” with traffic that kept you from an accident further on down the road…that tornado that came so close, then took a sudden turn…the heart that stopped but then began beating once again (my cousin!!)...

That cancer that was violently threatening a life, death immanent, then suddenly nothing appears on the screen…the cancer gone… “snap” just like that! Doctors baffled…friends and families shocked…prayers answered…protection that had not been asked for given…delays that were such a pain suddenly became the welcomed friend…what a difference GOD makes. It is a wonder why we ever complain…why we see things as half empty when really they are half full!

Oh the pain that has been stopped…the accidents avoided…weather subdued…illness healed…we serve an AMAZING GOD! It is never a wonder to me why I experience pain, but rather why I have so little in comparison to what I really deserve!

I looked twice both ways. There I was at an intersection just down the road from my house, with the cars on my left stopped at a stop sign and only two cars to my right; I knew it would not be long till I was on my way to the old couple’s house for the weekend.  “After these two cars it’ll be safe…I’ll go after they pass…” I listen and watch as they whir past me.

 Pulling out into the intersection, my heart stops. I expected to view the road in my eyes…but came face to face with a yellow truck I had not accounted for! He came out of no where (probably an alley looking back in hindsight). I did the stop-go-stop-go thing (bad idea). He had to come to a complete stop to avoid hitting me.

I pull ahead and get into the lane and think to myself “phew! Glad there were no cops around to see that…big OOPS! Guess I need to watch more closely…yes yes Bethany you DO!” Just as I finished this thought I look in my rear view mirror to see the red and blue lights I have become so accustom to seeing lately…I had spoken (or thought lol) too soon!

I had enough wits (grace of God) about me to pull over into the nearest parking lot, (for there isn’t much room on the side on that particular street). Stopping, I take a deep breath… “what will I say? I don’t even know what possessed me to do that…” The policeman was out of his SUV and headed towards me, I quickly rolled my window down and prayed for God’s help and mercy.

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” Where have I heard this before? Oh, yes the four other times I have been pulled over! However, this time I could actually answer in the affirmative. I did in fact know). “Yes sir, because I pulled out in front of that truck.”

“Have we had anything to drink today?” (they always ask me this…hmm…) “No sir.”

“Have we had anything to drink ever?” “No sir.”

He asks for my stuff which I hand him almost second naturedly. He goes back into his car and sits there forever (like they always do). Finally he comes back…I was certain there would be a ticket in his hand and already had plans underway as to how I would try and cover the cost. “I will deserve what I get…” Turning to face him, he asks me to roll the window down a bit farther. “Do you have any sort of health problems?” “No sir, I honestly just did not see that guy…he came out of no where.” His next words cut to the quick:

“You almost got hit, if he had not stopped it would have been an accident. I’m going to let you go with just a warning.”

I was floored at this point. “You need to be careful on the roads, and be more watchful, wouldn’t want any accidents today.” With that he handed me my warning and got back into his SUV. I pulled away more carefully than I have ever done in my entire life! I waited till I was out of sight of him, and immediately broke down!

I have been struggling a lot lately, with a particular sin…it honestly is a constant battle. And lately I had begun to notice a drift in my relationship to God, and I had begun to fear that God’s wrath was building against me. Like how those huge rolling thunderheads on a hot summer evening, mean a storm is approaching, so I felt like God’s wrath was on my horizon and building greater and greater and waiting to strike at any moment.

I felt like God was against me, and that I was no longer of use to Him and at any moment it was all going to be over for me because His mercy was going to run dry on me and my rebellion.

It was a feeling and thought that was deep inside me…nothing that I told anyone else about…nothing that I thought about a whole lot, but certainly did think about.

Tears filled my eyes,. God…I deserved a ticket just now! Thankyou for your grace to me, shown through that policeman!” Those were my immediate thoughts (actually these are always my thoughts after getting pulled over). But this time the thoughts went further. Bethany…my daughter, you have been fearing my wrath, you think I have no use for you anymore because of your rebellion…I just saved you from that wreck!”

A light came on!! Fresh tears formed again, I could barely see the road I was trying to drive on, before long the tears were rolling down my face…I was sobbing. Father…I can’t believe Your grace towards me! I can’t believe you have given me yet another chance…I need to change! I have seen Your hand of protection before…but now I have seen it in my own life!

When I finally arrived at the old couple’s home I pulled out the warning and read it. The thing I was pulled over for is an FTY (failure to yield), this is ironic because not only was it a blunder I had pulled with my car, it was a blunder I was/am currently pulling in my spiritual road of life as well! When I sin it is a failure to yield to God, it was a blunder in my physical life and a blunder in my spiritual life as well.

I keep that warning in my billfold, to remind me of the grace of God, and of the fact that He is a God of second chances, and to remind me to yield to Him, and to remind me of the time I saw His hand!

 To receive something directly from the hand of the giver, is way more special than receiving it second hand! Recently I did a study through God’s Word about His hand.

 Here is what I found:

In 2 Chronicles 30:12 we see that there is a correlation between God’s hand and our obedience. So why then, when we do something right are we so quick to take the glory?:
“The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD.”

Apart from the grace of God: there go I!!

 The focus of this particular writing was on the “goodness”  in God’s hand. It was more focused on pointing out the protection  of God’s hand. But we must remember that while we sing “Stayed upon Jehovah” we must also sing “It is well with my soul.” What I mean by that is, while it is true there is protection from the hand of God, He also brings pain. But we always can know and rest in the fact that it is always for our good (Rom. 8:28). There are wonderful riches from God’s hand, sometimes they are sugar coated and sweet, other times they are bitter. But how we must accept both! We see the pain that God hands in Job 19:21:
“Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.”

May we accept the bad as we accept the good: with praise to Jehovah!! “Every blessing (good) You (God) pour out, I’ll turn back in praise….when the darkness (bad) closes in Lord STILL I WILL PRAISE!

Ever wonder why we pray before we eat? Ever had the “food prayer” become mundane? Ever go into auto-pilot during this particular “prayer time?” You know the prayer: “Dear heavenly Father, thankyou for this food. Amen” I sometimes wonder what He must think when we say things like that without really meaning it. I sometimes wonder how many times I actually mean it.  How our prayers could change!

 Ever grow tired of your job? Ever complain about it? Ever wish you didn’t have to work? What a different persecptive and work ethic we could have!

 How could our prayer for supper change? How could our work ethic (even a work day!) change? If we saw both as from the very Hand of the Almighty God!!  In Ecclesiastes 2:24 we see that both drink and food and labor are all from God’s hand:
“There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.”

This is the best part about the hand of God! Jesus being at the right of it: Mark 16:19
“So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
 Acts 2:33
“Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”

This is amazing because Christ LIVES!! And also because of the work He is doing for us at God’s right hand:

Romans 8:34 “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” There is no one who condemns! Because we have a Savior Jesus Christ, Who shows His scars He bore for our sins!

What we are to live for, what we are to aim for is also at the right of God’s hand:
Colossians 3:1
“ Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” We now have purpose and meaning in life!

The result of knowing God’s hand and what He holds in side it and what is at the right of it, is HUMILITY! God has power in His hand to lift up, to strike down. To give and to take away, all for His glory and that our hearts be drawn closer to Him. We must submit and trust in Him:

1 Peter 5:6
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time”

 But the best thing (next to Jesus being at the right of God’s hand) is the protection that those who have trusted Christ as their substitute for the penalty of their sin, have! Jesus and God (both!) hold us in their hand: John 10:28-30: “ And I (Jesus) give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father , who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Believers We got double the protection!! Two sets of hands on us!! PRAISE JEHOVAH once saved = ALWAYS SAVED!!

So friend, where are you?  Maybe you don’t have that double protection. Maybe you have never accepted Christ as your substitute for your sin. I urge you, accept Him today! If you would like to know more, reach out and message me!! I would love to share with you about my great Savior and what He did for you!

 Perhaps friend, you are saved, and maybe you are wandering like I was (and still do). May you know that God is a God of second chances and mercy, but also know that He does chasten (Heb. 12) those who He loves, He wants to be first in our lives because He knows that is the only life that is worth it all!

 Or Maybe you need a different perspective on:  trials…on blessings… on your own obedience…on Christ….on your aim and goal in life…on your job…on the food and drink…on the prayer you pray before eating your meals… maybe you need to more readily acknowledge the hand of God in these areas! Maybe you need to submit and humble yourself under His hand!

Whatever it is friends, I pray God has spoken to you through His Word and that the Holy Spirit  has convicted and that you get the help you need, and that you learn to trust God and submit and to change the things that need changed! May you have been encouraged!! God bless you, and may you see His hand in your own life as I have!

Ps. If you have seen the hand of God in your own life, please share! Comment and let me know how you have seen His hand! It’s everywhere!!

God can use anyone!!

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I can hear the blood pounding in my ears as my heart beat rises and adrenaline begins to flow. Looking around the dark and dusty cell, I take in the others around me. At the back of the cell, sits my mother, with her back against the wall and my two young twin brothers, one on each side of her. I watch her as she whispers in their ear. I know she is praying with them. The others around us, all cling to one another. The lump in my throat grows larger and larger as I watch mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, totally shaken, and petrified, tears filling their eyes. These were my church members, my family, the body of Jesus Christ, so Paul had told us, so why were we here…why were we about to become a spectacle of entertainment. Turning, I face the light, and begin pushing my way past the people to the door of the cell. Before I can even make my way all the way to the front, I already begin to hear the roar of the people outside the cell, it’s almost deafening. The sun shines brightly, all of my other church members have pushed themselves as far back into the cell as possible, to avoid the doom as long as possible, but here at the gate, with his hands wrapped tightly around the bars, ready to face his foe, this fate, is my father, the shepherd of this flock. Swallowing past the huge lump in my throat, I walk right up to him, “I won’t cry…I’m strong enough…just like him.” I place my hand on his shoulder, remembering back to a time when I barely reached his knee. Now I stand at least a foot above him.

He turns, his brown eyes set, with that stubborn sheen and determination. “Marcus, my son, I love you!” With these words he embraced me.

“Father, why…why does Nero do this? Why does God allow him to do this to us?” My father’s face got a look of shock that quickly turned to stubborn determination. His answer was not at all what I expected, but it was just the thing I and all the people with us needed to hear.

“We should count ourselves worthy to suffer for the cause of our merciful God and Savior Jesus Christ. We face this foe today for but a moment, then we shall all be in the presence of our God and Savior! I pray that you along with the rest of our people count this a privilege and blessing from God Himself.” He said these words loud enough for all to hear and by his words they were encouraged and all the men rose to stand at the front with my father and I. “May we men die first, leaving the women and children a bit more time.” I was shocked at my own words. Father’s eyes beamed with pride as he put his hand on my shoulder, “For Jesus Marcus, for Jesus.”

Suddenly the crowd went even wilder, and the doors of the cell were opened, but we were ready, the soldiers did not even have to pull us out, we all ran out with one accord, ready to face the lions of the coliseum.

Standing in the bright sun, my head spins. The roar of the people is so loud we can hear nothing else. Scanning the thousands of people in the stands, I spot the great Emperor. With head high, his haughty attitude permeates his whole being, and much to my surprise our eyes meet. Even from so far away I could see the hate in his eyes, and feel it, like a burning sensation. He smiled, one of the most sinister smiles I had ever seen, and raised his hand high. With that mere motion the lions were set free, and the chariots came rushing out of their place of waiting. Turning my eyes away from Nero’s chilling gaze, I face the foe. “This is it men, for our Lord!” I could barely hear the sound of my father’s yell, as we charged forward to meet our doom.

Not many years before this, Pilate stood before his very Maker, the One Who was at that very moment allowing Pilate’s heart to keep beating so that he was alive to make this sentence on Jesus.  Pilate had the audacity to think that he had total control of Jesus’ life and death, but he was sadly mistaken! Jesus quickly put Pilate in his place:

and he (Pilate) entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above;” ()

Pride was the first sin ever committed (Satan), and since that time it has been rampant on the earth and has oft been the driving force behind some of the most heinous

( humanly speaking) crimes. We see it here in the heart of Pilate; and we have seen it over time in the hearts of some of the worst of men we can think of : Nero, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and even Sadaam Hussein!

One cannot even begin to fathom what kind of darkness was in these men’s minds. But we do know one thing, the driving force was pride. They all had power and sway, and they used it in such a way to bring glory to themselves and to further their ideas and wishes. When we look back on there deeds, the lives lost, the pain felt and the damage done, we have a hard time seeing anything good of it. But that is because we have forgotten about the fact that they had this power, this sway, only because of God, for that was the basis of what Jesus told Pilate: the authorities only have authority because God Almighty has given it to them. While this may be disheartening, if it is coupled with the truth that God does only good (Rom. 8:28), it is actually enlightening and a blessing!  Because no matter who comes to power, or what they do, we know that ultimately God is in control and has only good as its end!

So in other words, while these men had awful and sinister things at heart planned (Pilate, Nero, Adolph, Joseph, and Sadaam to name a few) ultimately their plans were thwarted before they started, because God was in control the whole time, taking their bad and bringing good about through it! So in the end evil really does always fail, and not only fail but ends up being worked against its own self! Now that’s real power!

So with all that in mind, as we look now to Nero, a sick and demented man, may we not forget that God was working behind the scenes, using what Nero planned for evil, to bring about good:  “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Gen. 5:20)

Coming to Throne:

Nero was not actually born of royalty, so in all actuality he, from a human standpoint, should never have come to the throne! So we see even here at the very outset of his life, that God had a plan! God wanted Nero to come to the throne, it was God’s plan all along, and because God is always only good, we know that this was exactly what was to be, nothing more or less would have done!

 Nero was born to a well off family, and things started well for him. But sadly they took a turn for the worst, when the Emperor Caius Galigula at that time banished his family, and seized the family’s entire fortune. Nero’s father died after that when Nero was but three years old. His future looked bleak, with a single mother now trying to raise him and all their fortune gone. But it took a turn for the better when his mother married her uncle, who happened to be Emperor Claudius. Agrippina (Nero’s mother) had an agenda from the outset, but God was working in and through that too:  “Agrippina convinced Claudius to adopt Nero and in 50 AD he (Nero) became the probable heir to the throne, even ahead of Claudius's own son! In 54 AD Agrippina murdered Claudius and Nero became ruler at the age of 17.” (www.thenagain.info, accessed 2-17-12).

So we see that really, he never had a good example set before him, his mother loved money and wealth, and was willing to do anything to get it, and this most likely had a great impact on Nero as well. Being only seventeen, he most likely was not ready to take the throne, and having such a horrible example of a mother, it’s no wonder he became the man he was, but again this was all used of God!

Steps to Destruction:

Like many bad leaders, Nero started off well:

“Biographers cite that up until 59 Nero was known for his generosity and mildness. During this period he forbade capital punishment and contests involving bloodshed in the circus. He even reduced taxes. This side of the emperor disappeared when he ordered the murder of his mother, who was accused of treason in 59.” (www.thenagain.info, accessed 2-17-12).

So one has to wonder how he got from being totally against blood shed and capitol punishment, to hosting mass bloodshed of Christians and others in the coliseum and crucifying Christians and lighting them for his parties at his garden.

The road to destruction and sin is often not a like a slide at the park, where we push off (or slip) once and descend very quickly down, but rather it is a series of steps to the slide. These steps are often times small steps, so small no one even realizes where they are going, before it is too late, and then they have hit the slide. So too was this sudden change in Nero. It was not one decision, but most likely a series of them, that ultimately lead him down the path to the spiraling slide of sin.

The Last Straw Step:

One of these steps was what we know of as the fire in Rome. Most likely, this was the “last straw” step; the step that sent Nero off the rocker and spiraling down the slide of sin. It is one of the most well known events of his reign, and ironically it started within the Circus, the place where Christians would later be slaughtered: “Nero was in Antium when the fire started in the Circus Maximus. The fire spread and raged furiously over Rome for nine days.” (www.thenagain.info, accessed 2-17-12). Nero was not even in the city where the fire started, so why in the world could the people have blamed Nero for this? If a women’s husband dies, and she remarries only days after the death, people are suspicious and rightly so. So to, the actions of Nero following the fires, were cause for suspicion, for “when Nero returned he started to rebuild the city, which caused some to suspect Nero of planning the fire in order to make room for a new city built in his honor.” Obviously, no one wants to be blamed for something, and what do most people do when they are blamed? Most plead “not guilty,” and to plead not guilty and do it successfully one must have two things. The first being they must have an alibi, which Nero had (he was not even in the city where the fire started). Secondly, one would need a scapegoat, someone (or something) else to blame it on, Nero found this with the newest movement on the planet:

 “Nero, always a man desparate to be popular, therefore looked for scapegoats on whom the fire could be blamed. He found it in an obscure new religious sect, the Christians.And so many Christians were arrested and thrown to the wild beasts in the circus, or they were crucified . Many of them were also burned to death at night, serving as 'lighting' in Nero's gardens, while Nero mingled among the watching crowds.” (www.roman-empire.net, accessed 2-17-12).

The two very things that Nero, when he first came to the throne, was against: capital punishment and the circus, he now was using to kill Christians (Crucifixions and the circus).

Many of these elements seem almost “coincidental”: Nero coming to throne, though he was not even born of royalty, a fire that may have even been caused naturally. But ultimately we know that God was at work in and through it, and we know that it was for the greater good of all and the furtherance of His glory and kingdom, which in the end are the only two things that matter anyways!

Stark Contrast:

            Here in the book of Acts we find Paul coming before Nero. What a stark contrast this is! I mean here we have a man who used to persecute Christians, until he met the Savior on that road to Damascus (Paul), coming before a future persecutor of Christians (Nero). The stark contrast is easily visible, but what made the difference? I believe it was merely the grace of God! Often we are tempted to think that we are above certain sins, dare I say even better than Nero. But we are forgetting that it is only by God’s grace, for “apart from the grace of God, there go I!” In all actuality we are no better than Nero, and at the heart (which is where it really counts) we are fundamentally no different than him, just a sinner, the difference is the grace of God!

Often we are tempted to think that we are above certain sins, dare I say even better than Nero. But we are forgetting that it is only by God’s grace, for “apart from the grace of God, there go I!” In all actuality we are no better than Nero, and at the heart (which is where it really counts) we are fundamentally no different than him, just a sinner, the difference is the grace of God!

“The haughty monarch before whom the man of God was to answer for his faith, had reached the height of earthly power, authority, and wealth, as well as the lowest depths of crime and iniquity. In power and greatness he stood unrivaled. There were none to question his authority, none to resist his will. Kings laid their crowns at his feet. Powerful armies marched at his command, …Millions bowed in obedience to his mandates. The name of Nero made the world tremble. To incur his displeasure was to lose property, liberty, life; and his frown was more to be dreaded than a pestilence.”

          So we see, Nero was powerful, and haughty, and full of wealth and had many people under his sway. What a stark contrast to the humble and poor Paul, who had no power over people, but rather entrusted them to God:

“Without money, without friends, without counsel, the aged prisoner stood before Nero--the countenance of the emperor bearing the shameful record of the passions that raged within; the face of the accused telling of a heart at peace” (www.preparingforeternity.com, accessed 2-17-12).

 This is where raging passion and peace came to meet. Paul was totally at the mercy of this powerful and wicked Emperor, most would be petrified, too scared to even breathe. But not Paul, he opened his mouth and proclaimed the gospel to this man who, just like everyone else on earth, so desperately needed Jesus.

God’s Grace Extended:

            Could there really be a place in heaven for people like Hitler, Stalin, Saddam and Nero? The answer is an emphatic yes! Jesus didn’t just die for the so called “petty sins,” He died for the so called “big ones” too! All sin is evil and on an equal level with God! If you are climbing a mountain and you are trusting in a chain to hold you, and many chains break, would you fall? The answer is of course! On the flip side, same scenario, what if only one chain broke? The answer remains the same, you would still fall! It does not take many and the overtly heinous sins to condemn someone, it takes but one! That’s all! Think about it this way, most likely there are people in hell today who have sinned less than you have! That’s a sobering thought! We are all sinners on the same equal scale to God, but praise Jehovah that we are all also redeemable! I am just as redeemable as Hitler, Sadaam, and Nero! No one deserves heaven, but praise Jehovah that it is offered to all (John 3:16)!

So here at the throne of Nero, God extends His truth to Nero through Paul, giving Nero a chance for change:

“Never before had Nero heard the truth as he heard it on this occasion. Never before had the enormous guilt of his own life been so revealed to him. The light of heaven pierced the sin-polluted chambers of his soul, and he trembled with terror at the thought of a tribunal before which he, the ruler of the world, would finally be arraigned, and his deeds receive their just award. He feared the apostle's God, and he dared not pass sentence upon Paul, against whom no accusation had been sustained. A sense of awe restrained for a time his bloodthirsty spirit. For a moment, heaven was opened to the guilty and hardened Nero, and its peace and purity seemed desirable.

But we see from the passage, that Nero did not except this offering:

That moment the invitation of mercy was extended even to him. But only for a moment was the thought of pardon welcomed. Then the command was issued that Paul be taken back to his dungeon; and as the door closed upon the messenger of God, the door of repentance closed forever against the emperor of Rome. No ray of light from heaven was ever again to penetrate the darkness that enveloped him. Soon he was to suffer the retributive judgments of God.” (www.preparingforeternity.com, accessed 2-17-12).

Who knows, Nero may have repented, but it is highly doubtful, but what a wonderful picture of the grace of God in His life, who would have thought that God would have provided Nero a life-boat off the ship that was headed to destruction and ruin?

Complete Hopelessness

After Nero rejected God through Paul, the rest of his life was filled with horror towards the Christians, and then his own destruction and ruin in his end. His own people turned on him, his father had died as I said earlier when he was but three, and he had killed his own mother. He had no one left to help! He was in such utter hopelessness, without God, that in the end he took his own life:

“In this time of peril, Nero had not, like the faithful Paul, a powerful and compassionate God on whom to rely. Fearful of the suffering and possible torture he might be compelled to endure at the hands of the mob, the wretched tyrant thought to end his life by his own hand, but at the critical moment his courage failed. Completely unmanned, he fled ignominiously from the city and sought shelter at a countryseat a few miles distant, but to no avail. His hiding place was soon discovered, and as the pursuing horsemen drew near, he summoned a slave to his aid and inflicted on himself a mortal wound. Thus perished the tyrant Nero, at the early age of thirty-two.”

While this account of Nero is filled with utter hopelessness, and pain and horror, we also see God’s grace and goodness through it all! God used Nero, without Nero even knowing it, and even extended an opportunity for Nero to hear the truth and to turn in repentance! The grace of God is a mighty and powerful thing! Never to be taken lightly, for apart from it we would all be just like Nero! Filled with our own selves, our own agenda, sure our methods may look different, but when we get down to the heart of it all, we are all the same! Praise Jehovah then for His grace, and for His ability to take someone’s intent for evil and bring about good from it! As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Gen. 5:20)