Satan’s Schema – Part 1

Most people would not claim to be following Satan - because they are not hosting Satanic parties in their homes or participating in evil rituals. But you are under his power and control if you are not under God’s power and control.

First of all, Satan is a lot smarter than you think. Remember, Satan was once an angel in heaven with God. He knows the system. He knows how to win the hearts of Christians and non-Christians alike.

He doesn’t appear in the form of a monster or a man in a red cape with a pitchfork. He comes in the attractive form of a helper or savior. He even appeals to Christians by using Scripture to back up his main points. Therefore, there are many government officials, actors, musicians, and even pastors (to name of few) who claim to be in the God camp but are actually in the other camp. They are not following the true God because they have been deceived by the "angel of light" - also known as Satan.

Jesus ushered in the Kingdom when he came to the earth. However, the fulfillment of the Kingdom has not yet come – therefore, we live in a age where Satan still has some authority and power to do as he wishes.

Jesus gets a dose of Satan’s crafty self (in Matthew 4) when he goes off into the wilderness. He tempts Jesus in these three ways by saying:

• Turn these stones into bread so you can have something to eat.
• Throw yourself off this building so that they angels can catch you.
• Worship me and I will give you all of the kingdoms of this world.
  

The next three blogs will be unpacking these seemingly trivial temptations by looking behind the scenes to figure out what Satan is really trying to do.

If we understand how Jesus was tempted, we’ll get a clearer picture of how Satan subversively attacks us on a daily basis.

The purpose of these writings will not be to help you get a one-up on Satan, but to realize that Satan has already been defeated by Jesus (because of the cross) and therefore we have the power available, if we are in Him, to overcome temptation and to live in peace with God and others.

Confessions of a Campus Minister

I desire others’ approval more than God’s approval most of the time.

I want people to think that I am more insightful than the majority.

I want people to think that I have it all together when I don’t.

I want people to think that I’m a few feet higher on the leadership totem pole than they are.

When I lose, I feel ashamed because the game is really all about me and not about enjoying time with my friends.

When people are talking to me, it’s hard to listen well because I’m thinking about the important thing that I’m going to say next.

When listening to sermons, I think about how I’m going to influence others with the content more than letting the content influence me.

With each community that I enter into, I look for the things that people clap for, and then I go and do those things.

How Should Christians Approach Culture?

House-flippers are kind of like gospel-centered Christians.

A normal citizen may pass by a banged-up house on the street or tour the home from the inside, reject it, and then move on.

But the house-flippers take a more gospel-centered approach. With every house that catches their eye, they view it as redeemable.

They search for the good in a house and then identify its areas of brokenness. They affirm that the house was once a brand new house designed by a good creator. But over time, as we know, every house begins to decay. Decay is the default. So then, the house-flipper goes about the process of redeeming the house (purchasing it for themselves) and then restoring it (reversing its decaying condition).

Paul, in Acts, walks up to a spiritually decaying people, affirms their God-given desire by saying, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious”, but then goes on to tell them about the Person (Jesus) who can redeem and restore them from their broken condition.

I think most fundamentalists would order that each banged-up house be torn down immediately and I think the liberals would chain themselves to the yard trees to promote tolerance (of the house in its current condition). One group tears down the house and the other group leaves the house the way it is. Neither of these approaches is love.

Which way do you usually approach culture?

Nudity Is The Point: Part 1 of 3

For years people have been wearing clothes.

Our attire has evolved from leaves to leather since our first parents, Adam and Eve, entered the scene.

When Adam and Eve sinned for the first time, they felt ashamed, not only emotionally but physically – spurring them to grab a few leaves and run for cover. I would argue that this physical act of “covering up” is a demonstration of what is going on inside the heart.

For some reason, for the however many years that Adam and Eve lived in the garden before they sinned, they felt no need to wear any clothes. We have to ask ourselves, “Why?”

Donald Miller, in his book Searching For God Knows What, says that he thinks Scripture teaches us that “Man is wired so he gets his glory (his security, his understanding of value, his feeling of purpose, his feeling or rightness with his Maker, his security for eternity) from God, and this relationship is so strong, and God’s love is so pure, that Adam and Eve felt no insecurity at all, so much so that they walked around naked and didn’t even realize they were naked. But when this relationship was broken, they knew it instantly.”

Once the relationship between Adam and Eve and God was broken, they continued to drift into insecurity more and more. They began to believe that what they did was so terrible that God could not possibly forgive them. So they ran and hid.

Perhaps counseling people in our world should be simpler that most people think. What if the majority of all our problems can be traced back to the idea that we have a broken relationship with our Maker and therefore are trying to find security and value in other things besides Him? What if the reason for the lusting of business success, popularity, or money can be traced back to the fact that we are cut off from the Source of Life and therefore are desperately trying to fill these huge voids in our lives.

What if a college student went on a drinking binge not because he or she was trying to take their satisfaction to the next level, but because they didn’t have any satisfaction in God and His way of doing things in the first place? What if a college girl had sex with a random fraternity guy not because she was intentionally trying to do evil, but because she didn’t feel like she was accepted and loved enough by God?

Maybe every act of sin or evil can be traced back to the fact that a broken relationship with God propels us into a life of filling the holes in our heart with things or people other than God - a life that causes us to put on our clothes and enter unsafe territory.

In part 2, we’ll contrast the characteristics of a “relationship with God” and a “broken relationship with God.” We’ll also connect these characteristics to spiritual nudity – the wonderful thing that Adam and Eve had going before the Fall, the kind of thing that God desires for us right here, right now.