A Parable, Re-Told for 21st Century America

Taken directly from Luke 10:25-37. The only thing I have changed are names and geographic locations:

On one occasion a Christian who had attended church in the United States of America for his entire life stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 In reply Jesus said: “A man from Indianapolis, Indiana, was flying to Los Angeles for a business trip, and he got lost in the wrong neighborhood. He was attacked by gang members. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A church preacher happened to be going down the same street, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Sunday School teacher, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a homosexual man from San Francisco, who was also in Los Angeles on business, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and called 911 and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. Then he followed the ambulance to the hospital and stayed by his bed throughout the night and took care of him. The next day he went to the hospital billing office, took out a checkbook and wrote the hospital a check, as the man did not have any identification on him, and he had amnesia, and no insurance company could be billed for his stay. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return to Los Angeles next week, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The Christian replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Andy, the Bad-Ass Disciple

Part 3 of this story series ...



“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”~Japanese Proverb

There are only 13 Bible verses about the disciple Andrew, and of those, four are where he is in a "list" of the names of the disciples. 

Not much to go on when you're trying to unearth who this guy really was, is it?

So, as the Japanese Proverb above so eloquently states, the best way to unearth Andrew is to take a look at his friends. And this is where it gets really interesting, because the first mention of him is not in context with his connection to Jesus. 

It's in his connection to John the Baptist.

You may not think this reveals much, but during the past week I've been doing some digging and have discovered that anyone who was connected to John the Baptist in Roman-occupied Palestine was ... pretty much ... for lack of a better description ... a bad-ass. Before you click the X in the right-hand corner and accuse me of blaspheming, let me explain:

Andy was one of John the Baptist's disciples. We first see him in John, chapter 1, right out of the gate. He's the first disciple that John mentions. (Scholars believe John is the other disciple mentioned in this chapter, although not by name.)

But before we get to the exchange involving John the Baptist and Andy in the book of John, we have to dig a little deeper and look at the world surrounding John the Baptist ... and who was actually afraid of John the Baptist.

Meet Herod Antipas, also known as Herod the Tetrarch. 

I sort of think of him as the Michael Corleone of Palestine.

Ruthless, ambitious, intelligent and cunning, Herod Antipas had gone to Rome after his daddy's death to argue before Caesar Augustus that he should be granted kingship of Judea. There was a lot of bad blood in that family. His father, Herod the Great, was the psychopath that slaughtered the innocents of Bethlehem after Jesus's birth. (Hit Matthew 2 for that story.) 

Herod the Great had changed his will before his death to grant kingship of Judea, Samaria and Idumea to another son, Archelaus. The will gave Galilee and Perea to Antipas. A third brother, Philip, received Gaulanitis (today's Golan Heights), Batanaea (today's southern Syria), Trachonitis and Auranitis. 

I know, those are a lot of "itises" to bog down the reading, but stay with me.

The three brothers traveled to Rome so that Caesar Augustus could ratify this will ... but Antipas in particular wanted Augustus to throw the whole thing out and give him kingship of Judea, which Herod the Great had originally promised to him and changed at the last minute.

Antipas had support from family members in Rome for his claim. His brother Archelaus was viewed as a dolt who shouldn't be ruling. But Caesar went with the division of the land that Herod the Great had outlined in his will, although he gave Archelaus the title of "ethnarch" rather than, "king."

You know what ... until I started looking into this for this blog entry, I could never keep all of these "Herods" in the Bible straight. Are you confused yet? Because I still am.

OK, now here's where it gets really interesting.

There was another drama behind all of this infighting over Daddy's will and who was going to be king and who was going to prevail before Caesar.

And we all know that every good story really doesn't get great ... until a woman is involved.

In this case, the woman was Herodias, wife of Antipas's half-brother, Philip I. (This was another Philip. Why on earth there were two brothers named Philip ... Anyway, I'm sure somebody can explain that one to me, but it diverts from the story. At any rate, it's not the same Philip who received part of Palestine that we discussed earlier.)

Herodias also happened to be the granddaughter of Herod the Great ... so ... now follow me ... while she was Antipas's sister-in-law, she ALSO was Antipas's NIECE.

Got it?

ENTER ... JOHN THE BAPTIST.

Understand this.

Antipas divorces his wife to marry his niece, i.e., sister-in-law, what have you ... and he's also the ruler of the region of Galilee. We already know he's arrogant and proud, because think about it. Who in that time or place would have had the guts to go before Caesar Augustus and argue that his father's will should be changed and the kingdom should be ripped from his brother? We're talking a ruthless individual, somebody who would have no hesitancy whatsoever in divorcing a wife and bringing in a new chippy.

Also, while Antipas was in Rome arguing about this will before Caesar, all hell was breaking loose in Palestine. A group of rabble-rousers led by a guy named Judas, son of Hezekiah, attacked a palace in Galilee called Sepphoris. They took money and weapons and did a nice job terrorizing everybody.

It's important that you understand that Palestine/Israel at the time was anti-Rome for a number of reasons, and the people were going crazy. Everyone was on the lookout for the promised Messiah. And anybody who stood up to Rome and the establishment got attention. False prophets were rampant. 

And here comes John the Baptist. He's getting lots of attention from the religious leaders, who come out to where he was baptizing to point-blank ask him if he was the Messiah. And he has thousands of people following him around, for the reasons we just stated.

But it wasn't enough for John to baptize and prophecy that a Messiah was on the way. 

Oh. No.

John, like every good rebel, found a target to antagonize: Herod Antipas.

John preached against Antipas's adultery with his sister-in-law/niece. And because of his popular following, and because there was so much tension and hatred of Rome, and because there had been a very successful uprising against that palace while Antipas was away, and because the religious leaders actually thought John could be The Messiah ....

Antipas was afraid.

This tough, ruthless guy, this Michael Corleone of First Century Palestine, was actually afraid of John the Baptist.

And who was in the middle of John's ministry? Who was the first person we read about in the Gospel of John when John the Baptist starts talking?

Andy.

Tune in for the next part of the story ...

Andy the "Cultured"

Part 2 in this story series ....


His name in Greek was "Andreas," and, roughly translated, it meant, "manly."

By contrast, his older brother, named "Simon" by his parents (and who later received the name, "Peter" from Jesus), had a distinctive Aramaic name.

You may not think that signifies much, but the parents' naming choices for their sons reveal a lot about the two disciples' upbringing and world views before they met Jesus for the first time. And before we can get into the type of disciple that Andy was to, with and around Jesus, we first have to get our brains around his family and hometown.

His parents' choice of his name shows that this was a very culturally open family. Andy's birthplace was a prominent city in Galilee -- BethSaida. This mysterious place has recently been discovered after hundreds of years of searching, and archaeological excavations have uncovered some fascinating revelations about it:

It was very strategic in Roman-Empire-era Israel, at the tip top of the Sea of Galilee. An earthquake had disrupted the topography of the region, shortening the length of sea from 14 miles to 11 miles. As a result, today the site of the original city is further inland than it would have been 2,000 years ago. During Jesus's day, BethSaida was at the center of trade routes. It flourished with a year-round supply of water, fish and game and fertile soil.

As a result of its robust fishing industry, this seafaring community became a thriving, bustling place, attracting a diverse community. The Greek culture and language sat right alongside the Judaic culture and language. Anyone in the fishing industry like Andy would have been fluent in Greek and savvy and sensitive to Greek and Roman cultural nuances and differences.

But there was another over-reaching aspect to BethSaida: Its attractiveness to the Roman Empire, particularly Herod the Tetrarch.

Dr. Elizabeth McNamer is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Montana State University. Each summer, she participates in an archaeological dig in BethSaida. McNamer writes that excavators in 1996 uncovered a Roman temple in BethSaida.

She says, "Along side it  (the temple), there were incense shovels, the statue of a woman (Livia Julia), and coins depicting Philip and Livia. The temple is dated to the year 30 CE. ( Livia had died the previous year). That same year, we learn from Josephus, Philip raised Bethsaida to the status of 'polis,' a city, and renamed it Julia. By doing so he was promoting the observance of the Imperial cult and the embracing of all things Roman in this Jewish community. (He had already established Caesarea Philippi as a city dominated by the Imperial cult). It was a political act intended to curry favor with the Emperor." 

Think about this:

You're living in Roman-era Israel, specifically BethSaida, a hot spot for Roman pagan worship and culture, thanks to King Herod. And God has been silent for the past 400 years. And you're waiting for the promise of a Messiah to deliver you and your people from this Roman occupation and oppression.

That's where Andy was. 

He's an established pillar of the business community. He's been brought up in a home environment where Jews and Gentiles co-exist (even his name is Greek). He's living in a thriving metropolis on a major trade route in the Roman Empire. And his hometown also happens to be a favorite spot for King Herod, who likes the place so much that he eventually builds a Roman temple there. 

Like many other Jews at the time, Andy was on the lookout for a Savior. And at the same time, we've already established that Andy was no slouch. To borrow one of my favorite expressions, he was probably one of the sharper knives in the drawer. 

Andy, in short, was cultured and hungry -- hungry for freedom.

So it should be no surprise that when we first meet Andy in the Bible, he's hanging out with a guy that made King Herod pretty nervous. 

We now know him as ...

John the Baptist.

Tune in for part 3 of the story ....

(Research and background information has been provided by these Web sites: 

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/st.-andrew-the-apostle-11-things-to-know-and-share

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/st.-andrew-the-apostle-11-things-to-know-and-share

http://www.bibleinterp.com/opeds/myst357915.shtml

http://guidedbiblestudies.com/topics/andrew.htm)

Andy the Businessman

About 2 1/2 years ago, I started this story series for a dear friend of mine who is an agnostic. He'd called saying he was troubled, because someone (a believer) had compared him to the disciple Andrew. Not knowing anything about Andrew, he did some digging and discovered a couple of stories in the Gospels. And he was chagrined. It seemed to him that Andrew was like a "spare wheel," the guy who was "there" but just sort of one of those side-kicks who doesn't do anything of note. Why was he compared to this disciple? He wanted me to explain it.

I honestly didn't know the answer, so I did some of my own digging, and the results of what I was finding prompted me to start this story series here on this blog. But about two days after I posted this entry, I was hit by some personal unforeseen circumstances that really threw me under the bus. I sidelined the entry and didn't return to it.

Recently, though, as things have settled down in my own life, I have been reminded that I never finished this piece.

So here is Part 1 of the tale. In the next few days, I will post the rest of the story parts.

For my friend who originally asked the question ... this is really for you. And for anyone else who wonders whether you have a significant role in life .... this is for you, too.

Thanks for taking time to read, and now on to ...

Part one.

(Research for this story was provided by "Cast Your Nets: Fishing at the Time of Jesus," by Elizabeth McNamer)


When I was 12, a teacher assigned a family tree project. We were to interview our grandparents about their memories and get any information they could recall about ancestors.

My paternal grandfather, who I called, "Pop," had immigrated from Newfoundland to New England in the 1920s. I knew he'd been in the British Navy in World War I. And I knew he loved the sea. But other than that, I had nothing.

I remember sitting at a breakfast room table, notebook paper at the ready, and calling Pop to find out about the family's past.

"What did your father do?" I asked Pop.

"He was a fisherman." Pop replied shortly in a raspy voice.

I wrote that down.

"And do you know what his father did, my great-great grandfather?"

"He was a fisherman," Pop replied.

"OK. Well, this is going back a lot, but what about my great-great-great grandfather?"

"He was a fisherman."

My dad, who was listening on another line, chuckled when he heard me sigh.

"Pop, was my great-great-great-great grandfather a fisherman?"

"Yes. He was a fisherman."

We went on like this a few more times until Pop finally said, "Well, I don't know that far back, but I'm pretty sure that everyone else was a fisherman."

Today, as I read the story about Andy's life before he met Jesus, I can't help but recall that long-ago conversation with Pop.

See, Andy's family was in the fishing business, too. Now you might have heard sermons at your church about the lowly lives of fishermen. More than once, I've heard pastors wax poetically about Jesus hanging out with the stinky smelly men of the sea and how great it was that He gave them His attention.

But that description, quite frankly, is condescendingly incorrect.

In fact, fishermen were integral to the economy in First Century Palestine. And the men who owned fishing operations were savvy and successful businessmen. Think of them as active Chamber of Commerce members or pillars of your local community.

Consider the skills that the average Galilean fisherman needed. They weren't just sitting around in a boat. They had to be skilled at marketing their product. Israel's population at the time was about 500,000, and fish was a staple food. Not only that, dried fish from the Sea of Galilee was a "gourmet" menu item for Roman aristocracy. And in Jerusalem, fish was in high demand during religious festivals and seasons. So this required the fishermen to travel a lot.

And with travel during the era of the Roman Empire came along the need to know more than one language. The native tongue would have been Aramaic. But to converse with those who were buying the fish? You would've needed to know other languages like Hebrew, Greek ... and Latin, if they were selling to the Romans.

Are you getting the picture?

Andy was no dummy.

Fishing business owners also had to be skilled organizers in the running of their operations. They hired sailors and other fishermen to do labor (fish, mend nets, count fish). They were engaged in legal partnerships with each other. They had to maintain their equipment (nets and boats), deal with tax collectors and be skilled bargainers with their workers and buyers alike.

Andy and his brother Pete were in a partnership with two other guys, Jim and John, and their father, Zeb (a really wealthy fish business owner).

And it is against this highly successful backdrop of the business world that Jesus entered the picture and met Andy for the first time.

Tune in for part 2 of our tale ...

Holidays and "New Normals"

Since my 20s, I've put up my Christmas decorations immediately after Thanksgiving. And each year when I do it, I internally take stock of whether life is "normal" or "off kilter."

It wasn't until this year when I realized, however, that my definition of "normal" might be somebody else's definition of "spectacular." During the Christmas season of 2004, for example, I was still married. My husband at the time had exited the Army after three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I was feeling particularly grateful that he was home in one piece. I had a beautiful 2-year-old boy, one which doctors said I was incapable of carrying to term and who had survived a horrific pregnancy. We had one of those brand new "McMansions" in suburban Augusta, GA, where the weather was perfect every day. We had a fabulous church and were heavily involved. My business was booming. My then-husband had found an extremely lucrative sales job, and money was no object to any need. Our child was in a gorgeous preschool, and we had good friends, and family members were flying in for Christmas Day. We'd even just returned from a week that October to Disney World. I still remember my child coming down the stairs to the tree to see what Santa had brought for him, his oohs and ahhs and the piles of toys. I remember playing music that sounded like something out of "It's a Wonderful Life." I remember rib-eye steak for dinner and other holiday meals like rigatoni with Italian sausage and peppers. I remember baking in a kitchen that looked like a photograph on Pinterest.

OK.

To me, at that time, that was "normal."

That was what my life was "supposed" to look like on Christmas.

I was heavily blessed, as you can see.

At the time, I had absolutely no idea what was in store for me, and one decade later, I have had to survive a series of "new normals."

Ever hear the phrase, "This is my new normal?" Ever wonder what it means?

To those of us who say it, what we mean is that at one time, we had the picture perfect life ... one that to the outside world looked fabulous.

But then something tragic happens, and everything -- EVERYTHING -- is ripped away.

We have to learn to adjust to a life that is less than what we imagined our life should be. We have to recalibrate our expectations. We have to reassess how shallow we were and whether we were grateful enough at the time for the things we had when we had them. We have to take stock of the people around us and hug our kid a little tighter each time he goes out the door.

And to really give you a picture of this ... as we put up our Christmas decorations, we have to say to ourselves, "This is my new normal. This is me, putting up my Christmas decorations, in my life as I know it today, in the present. And I am grateful for it."

But are we? Are we grateful for our "new normal?"

It's taken me a very long time to get to a sense of peace about where I am today.

However, something happened this year that brought me full circle to where I finally achieved acceptance.

As I was unloading my Christmas boxes yesterday, I ran into a box that contained nothing but photographs. And these weren't just from my former marriage ... these dated back all the way into my early 20s. I realized as I thumbed through them, looking at the faces of family and friends over the years, that these past few years are just the most recent time I have had to adjust to a "new normal."

When I was 26, my father died the day after Thanksgiving. My "new normal" was a Christmas without him. I've had subsequent "new normals" where I've moved across country, where I've married and then had to adjust quickly to the war against terrorism, where I've had an infant at Christmas all by myself because of that war, where I've been divorced, where I've gone from great affluence to poverty, where I've discovered my child had autism, where I've been betrayed, where I've endured pain and sickness and where I've even faced fear of death.

But as I looked at these photographs, I didn't see tears and gloom.

All I saw was love, joy, laughter, peace. All I saw were treasures -- people who truly supported me, loved me and cared for me through each tragedy.

Most importantly, I realized that no matter what is endured, I have had blessed assurance that Jesus is mine. And that has been consistently true for me.

We sang that in church this morning.

"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior, all the day long. ..."

My "new normal" has never really existed!

My "normal" has always been the presence in my life of the One who holds me and sustains me when life goes off the rails. The photographs of my past moments revealed that in my darkest days, I carried that assurance with me, boldly, courageously, without flinching, with certainty.

I don't say that to brag. I say that because for me, this revelation this weekend has been profoundly empowering: to know that God has carried me through each "new normal" and to also know that during each life transition, I've rested confidently in His arms.

Are you facing a difficult holiday season? Are you looking over your shoulder at happier times? Do you think about intact families and remember when things were different? Have you had to endure enormous grief, betrayal, loneliness, despair and loss?

I do not doubt for one minute that you are in extreme pain. I've been through my own trials, and I don't know what's in the future for me. Will there be more to endure?

I'm here to tell you that yes, you may have a "new normal," but one thing will be consistent for you:

He will be.

If Jesus is yours, then nothing has changed. Yes, life circumstances and tragedies force us into paths that we wouldn't wish on our worst enemies. But if you are rooted in His love, you are still operating in the "normal" spiritual world of God's faithfulness and grace.

Lean on Him. Depend on Him. And when you start thinking about your "new normal," give it back to Him. He will give you the peace beyond your understanding and dwell with you.

This holiday season, I celebrate the only "new normal" that shook the world 2,000 years ago and changed everything for us forever:

"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." ~Isaiah 9:6-7

Embrace this "new normal." Celebrate it. Depend on it. Depend on Him. Call on Him, and He will answer you.

Anger

Recently, Google Maps did something that threw me off. When I log in with my location and destination, it will give me a list of steps. But after I got lost during a day trip this summer, I realized that as part of the list, Google gives you a general statement about what to do. Unless you click on the arrow to the right, you won't see the specific steps that dovetail into the general instruction.

For example, it might say, "Get on I-75 and follow it to the Georgia state line." But unless you click on the arrow, you'll miss the list underneath, which describes how to get to I-75 from your home and which highways will lead you around Tennessee before you jump back on to I-75 and hit the Georgia state line. If you don't click on that arrow, you might get to the Georgia state line -- but if you've never made the trip before, following the general instruction might actually get you lost.

I was thinking about this today, because I've been struggling with two Scripture verses -- Ephesians 4:26-27.

"'In your anger do not sin^': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

My dear friend Jason, who lives in Wales, sent that one in a tweet to me yesterday afternoon. It stopped me cold, and I replied to him that it was a great reminder. However, I said, I honestly didn't know the difference between "sinful anger" and "righteous anger."

What I meant by that was ... are there times when it's okay to be angry? The Bible verse doesn't address it. The verse also doesn't go into detail about HOW you're supposed to get PAST that all-consuming emotion. 

In short, this Bible verse is a "general instruction" on Google Maps.

This bothered me into the evening, and when I woke this morning, this was still on my mind. "How am I supposed to NOT sin when I am angry? Is anger sin?" 

I realized that to get to the answer, I have to do what I do with Google Maps -- click the arrow to get the specific instructions. And how do you go about that? By looking at verses in the Bible that pertain to anger.

Here's what I found, and if you also struggle with "sinning in your anger," I hope it helps:

1. Anger is not sin. If you dissect the verse, the verse does NOT say, "If you are angry, you are sinning." The verse says, "In your anger, do not sin." And how do we know that anger is not sin? Because God gets angry, too. God is holy and pure. There are countless instances in the Bible (heck, even atheists can cite them, and they do so vociferously) when God gets angry -- all the way back to the Garden of Eden, through Noah, through the 10 plagues in Egypt, through taking the Israelites to Babylon for 70 years ... you get the idea. Even Jesus got angry -- remember the scene where He overthrew the tables in the Temple with a whip? Check out that anger. Countless times. COUNTLESS TIMES that God gets angry. If God is holy and is without sin and He gets angry, then we know that anger is not sin.

2. Figure out why you are angry. In a moment of anger, stop and ask yourself the root cause for the anger. Sometimes anger is born out of something we ARE doing that is WRONG. I see this all the time with people who are very prideful. If you've ever called out a prideful person, watch them take vengeance swiftly. But then there are other times when our anger is justified. I get angry when I see people on Twitter deliberately misleading others with the "Prosperity Gospel" philosophy. (That's for another blog entry, but let's just leave it here that I get irate.) I get angry when someone runs a red light at top speed, and an old man was about to cross the street right before the car whizzed through. I get angry at political opponents when I sense that social justice is at stake. I get angry at situations like the case of Jerry Sandusky at Penn State University. Make a list of what makes you angry. You will be able to see that there are times when you are angry for really good reasons. This is the anger to which the Bible verse is referring. You are angry for a good cause, but then, the verse says, do not sin in your anger.

Now. How do you do that? Anger is such a forceful emotion. In the hands of a human being, anger can become unmanageable, and the results can be disastrous (not God, whose anger is always carried out in pure ways).

This is where we have to "click on the arrow," i.e., look at other Bible verses and references, to understand how we can be angry and still not sin.

What I didn't know until this morning was that Ephesians 4:26 actually isn't an original thought. The phrase, "In your anger, do not sin," is a quote -- it's quoting Psalm 4:4!

"Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still." 

Wow -- now look at that. The Bible says, "Be angry." Be angry! It's instructing us to be angry if our anger has a righteous reason.

And the second part of the verse is what we just did -- we figured out why we were angry by meditating on the root cause of the anger. That was the first step to not sinning.

So now you know the root cause of why you're angry. But what next? Just knowing the cause may not be enough to stop you from sinning. Let's look at a few real-life examples to drill this down. I'll list the situation, the "sinful response," and the "righteous response."To make this easy, we'll look at some things that make me angry. I'm sure you have your own list, but maybe some of ours will match:

Real Life Anger #1: Someone bullies someone else on Facebook for a political reason.
Sinful Response: Jump into the middle of the debate and launch into personal attacks about the bully and why the bully doesn't understand the situation. 
Righteous Response: Hide the post from the Facebook timeline and reach out to the person who has been bullied on Facebook Private Messages to let them know you support them. Ask what you can do to help them have a better day. And if you feel you need to set the bully straight, reach out to THEM on Facebook PM and express that you muted the conversation because you felt it was not edifying. (Note, you can only do this last thing with other Christians. We are responsible to each other to build each other up, but when dealing with non-believers, we are to care for them as wayward lambs. That's for another blog post, though. :-P)

Real Life Anger #2: Abortion makes you see red.
Sinful Response: Judge the women who are having abortions. Picket abortion clinics with hateful signs. Tell people who are having abortions that they're committing murder and are going to Hell. Hand them a tract on Psalm 139 and condescendingly tell them that you'll pray for them. (That's what I call a passive-aggressive sinful response.)
Righteous Response: Pray for the teenage girls and women who are confused and are in a sea of difficulty, confusion, fear and hurt. Volunteer at a Pro Life clinic, where these women receive free medical care during their pregnancies. Collect baby supplies for indigent women. My church does a really cool thing once a year where we collect baby bottles for a few weeks and fill them with money and change, then deliver all of the bottles to a place like this as a fundraiser. Do you know how expensive formula is? Diapers? Do a good deed and set aside tithe money to donate these items to a local charity that serves women in need or to a homeless shelter.

Real Life Anger #3: A driver in a giant red pickup truck that's the size of a Transformer rides your bumper and flashes its beams at you on a two-lane winding road with no street lights at 10 p.m. And it's snowing. Oh gosh, now it just turned to sleet. And your kid is sleeping in the back seat.
Sinful Response:  Slam on your brakes to get the guy to back off. Give him the finger. Scream curses. Slow your speed to 15 miles per hour on the stretches with a double line so that he can't pass you and will be stuck going the pace of a turtle. (Yes, I have done all of these things, numerous times.)
Righteous Response: Flip your mirrors so that the headlights won't blind you and so that your peace will not be disturbed. Additionally, when a tailgater notices that you've flipped the mirror, he or she usually backs off. There's no point tailgating somebody who can't see you in the rear-view mirror, and you've just taken the fire out of what they're doing. Continue on as if the driver is not behind you and pray for God's protection until you get to your destination. Keep an eye out for police officers. In one situation, I had a tailgater on a Sunday morning who, for whatever reason, decided to bully me even when there were four lanes and he could easily pass me. I have no idea what started it. Then I saw two police cars parked on the shoulder. So I slowed down, put on my blinker, and pulled up behind the cruisers and got out of the car, while the driver gunned his accelerator and sped off. I walked up to the police officer in his car, who now was looking at me like I had just pulled HIM over, and explained that I'd been tailgated and bulled for about five miles by the driver who had just fled the scene. Unfortunately, the police had parked on the county line and told me that they would have to radio ahead for an officer from another county to pursue the driver. Although I didn't see justice that day, I was grateful that my cooler head prevailed. I got back in my car and drove to church -- stress-free and with a smile on my face.

Do you see how you can be angry but not sin in your anger? 

If you hit a Bible verse that stumps you, just think about the Google Maps analogy. Pause and look for footnotes in your Bible that explain the context behind the verse. Sometimes it's easy, like this morning, when I saw a footnote that led me back to Psalm 4:4. Sometimes you'll have to do some digging. But the bottom line is, anytime spent in the Word is not wasted time. God will honor your efforts with His wisdom spoken to your heart ... and you will have the specific directions to answer your problem that you might not have had if you'd stuck with the "general advice" in one verse.





 

Mean Storm Waves and A Creature on the Water

So you're discouraged. Something in your life is eating at you, gnawing at your soul, keeping you up at night. If you've dealt with me on Twitter, you're well aware of my penchant for insomnia, and once I get going in the middle of the night about a problem, all bets are off on when (or if ) I'm going to fall asleep again.

If this is you, too, then I have a story for you ... the story about mean storm waves and a creature on the water.

The solution to your problem -- to every problem -- boils down to one word.
But before I give you that word, let's go through the tale. You will know this story already, but stay with me:


Picture guys in a boat on an open sea, and a storm sweeps up unexpectedly. The waves are terrifying and enormous and are overtaking the vessel.

Just when they think all hope is lost and that they will sink to their deaths, a figure appears on the water. It is bright and white, and light emanates from it. It moves across the waves, not flinching despite the sea's tumult. But the men can't make it out.

Finally, as it gets closer, they see this light is actually a man.

And they cry out in fear, thinking it's a ghost.

The man says, "Don't be afraid! It's me."

One of the guys in the boat is brash and strong. He's usually not afraid of anything and charges ahead into things without thinking. So he says to this ghostly looking creature, "If it's you, tell me to come out to you on the water."

And the creature says, "Come on out."

While the waves still press on the tottering boat, this guy puts a foot over the edge and into the water.

He is surprised when the sole of his foot feels like it has just hit solid wood, just like a floor. So he puts the other foot out, and to his astonishment, he stands up straight and doesn't sink. He believes the "creature" is now his buddy, so he walks towards him while the waves continue to crash and churn.

But just as he gets to within an arm's grasp of his friend's hand, his peripheral vision catches the waves.

See, although his friend has made it possible to walk on the sea as if it's dry land, the waves are still coming. And they're tall. And they're mean. And they're evil. And they're ominous. And they're freakin' terrifying.

Suddenly, the man is no longer focused on his friend, but he's now focusing on the waves -- and his fear takes over. The water beneath him becomes water again, and he starts to sink.

He screams, "Lord, save me!"

And his friend, Jesus, reaches over and grabs him and says, "Oh you. You have so little faith. Why did you doubt?"

Now what does this story have to do with your situation?

Everything.

The "waves" are your situation -- whatever it is that's keeping you up at night -- an unforgiving person, a divorce, a death, money problems -- what's your wave?

Sometimes you trust God and feel like you're walking on solid ground through the stormy sea. But then sometimes, like our guy in the story (by the way, his name if you don't know it was Peter), you start looking at those waves in spite of how God has helped you in the past.

Can waves be reasoned with? Can waves be controlled? Can waves be convinced to stop their attack?
You can't control the waves.

You can control your reaction to the waves.

The one word that will help you through all of this is:

Jesus.

Are you willing to call on His name to see you through this?