Economy Crisis or Spiritual Crisis?

At the time of this writing I have done something today that I have not done since the 70’s – waited in line to buy gas. However, I think the price then was under a buck a gallon even in short supply and great demand. Today I had the privilege of paying $4.19 per gallon. Also the news that dominates the TV networks, newspapers and talk radio programs is the failure of some of our Nations largest financial institutions and the $700 billion dollar bail out our Government is proposing. The blame game has begun and no matter where you try to put it there is plenty left over to go around; everything from corporate greed, fraudulent lending practices, lack of personal fiscal responsibility on the behalf of the borrowers, to blaming the free market itself and deregulation. The politicians are on every news outlet pointing fingers at each other crying foul. Yet I have not heard one person describe what is at the root of all these things. We as a nation are in an economic crisis because we are in a spiritual crisis. The root of all of this is simply stated – sin.

Two thousand years ago John The Baptist came on a similar scene. The politicians of his day were Caesar, Herod and Herod’s sons, and Pontius Pilate all of whom were wicked and cruel and corrupt men. The religious leaders of his day were for the most part corrupted too as our Lord Jesus would later reveal. No wonder John The Baptist came preaching “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand…” and don’t miss this part – “the ax is laid at the root of the trees…” John was not wasting his breath dealing with the rotten fruit of his time. The rotten fruit is evidence of a deeper (root) problem. He simply pointed out that the tree needed to change (repent means to have a change of mind and direction) and he was bringing the ax to lay it at the root of the problem. We as Christians need to pray more and complain less about the economy. We need to get involved in the process of bringing about a real change; one that comes from Heaven, not the empty political promises of our day. Our hope should never be found in a political party nor should it be found in the economy but rather we should look unto the Mountain from which our help comes. Our hope should be in Christ who is our strength, our supply, our provider, our salvation, He is our everything and when a person has Him they have all they need.

To borrow from the overused political line of our day – The Wall Street crisis affects Main Street America. We understand that one crisis creates another. The rising cost of gas means rising food costs, higher airline tickets, higher costs beget higher costs. Natural disasters beget higher insurance premiums, higher taxes could be coming, etc. There is another spill- over I want to mention here - the effect on the church. Too many Christians allow economic crisis to change our giving patterns. The reason is simply put we have been giving to God out of our abundance or what we could call leftovers. Now many people do not have the leftovers anymore and they have never learned to give to the Lord from the “First fruits of all their increase as planned giving.” Many people in our society have gotten too much, too fast, too easy and have acted very irresponsibly with their gains. Now that they need to make adjustments to cut their losses, sadly, the first thing to go is their giving to the work of the Lord. The extra money (leftovers) they once had laying around in their checking accounts is now being used to pay for the rising costs of living. God’s work has never been put into their lives as a priority in their financial planning.

Things are not bad in and of themselves but when the purchase of things is a replacement of our investments in God’s work we have misplaced priorities. And, misplaced priorities lead to greed and pride, and is that not what we pointed out is the root of our Nation’s problems? Allow the Spirit of God to lay the ax at the root of this problem in your heart and change your mind about your investments to the Lord. Christian families who say they have nothing to give to the Lord’s work still have cable or satellite TV’s, cell phones for every member of the family, the latest gadgets and latest fashions, they dine out more than they dine in and still go on several vacations a year. But if there is something that must be cut it will most often be their giving to the Lord’s work.

Then there are those who really have been hit hard. They are behind in their bills, and they are struggling to make ends meet. They have more month than money for the month. My heart goes out to many of the people in our church family right now. I know personally what it is like to have to make adjustments in lifestyle to survive and make ends meet. But let me encourage both groups I have just mentioned. Keep the Lord and His work at the top of the priority list. He does not need our money but we surely need His blessing that comes from giving. And more than the blessing that is promised there is still a world that is lost without Him. I am reminded that is real poverty, no matter how much they have or do not have materially. And real wealth is only found in knowing Him no matter how much or how little we have materially. So do not let the economic crisis put you in a spiritual crisis. Keep looking to the One who is our everything!

Let the Games Begin

The Summer Olympics 2008 are underway for what will be one of the largest sporting spectaculars of all time. The world’s best athletes are in Beijing, China and the world is tuned in through almost every imaginable media outlet. Beijing has proved to be a controversial sight to host the event at best. We already have witnessed an unprecedented number of protestors and demonstrations leading up to the start of the Olympics. The Olympic torch relay had to continually be rerouted and much of its journey had to be somewhat covert to avoid the protests. Olympic committees have tried to hush and silence many of the athletes and coaches who would like to take the opportunity to speak out against China and its political and Human Rights policies. Visas have been revoked, some athletes have already been threatened and a few sent packing. Most of the athletes just simply want the opportunity to compete against the World’s best competition in the events for which they have trained for so many years. Many of these Olympians have gold medal aspirations. Others are not so much gold medal hopeful, as they just are proud to represent their Nation in such a way that will make their homeland proud.

I am competitive in my very nature and I love to watch particularly the track and field competition. No offence to you synchronized swimming fans. I have a track and field background and I find the track and field competition inspiring. I was reading an article on an airplane as I was returning from a mission trip to Africa. The article was in the Hemispheres magazine on United Airlines by Maria Johnson entitled “Running Strong.” It was about the 1964 Gold Medalist Billy Mills a Native American who was an unheard of athlete on the world’s scene. He seemingly came from out of nowhere to win the 10,000 meter race. Something no American had done before or since. A retired insurance agent and now a motivational speaker he shared his story in the article and I want to share a couple of thoughts with you. He grew up immersed in poverty on a reservation in South Dakota. His mother died when he was 8 years old and his father died when he was 12. He experienced a great deal of discrimination in his youth which added to an already difficult life. Mills shared this part of his life in the article and I quote,

Shortly after my mom died, my dad and I went fishing, but I was in another world. My dad hugged me and simply said, “Son, you have broken wings.” I started crying, and he said, “I’ll share something with you, and if you follow it, someday you’ll have the wings of an eagle. …Close your eyes and look inside your heart. What do you find?” Well, I was too young to understand, but he said, “I’ll tell you what you find: anger, because you lost your mom; hate because people have expressed hatred toward us; jealousy, because we don’t have anything of value; self pity. All of those emotions destroy you.” He said, “look down deeper, where the dreams lie. Find your dream, son. Pursue your dream. It’s the pursuit of a dream that heals you.

Somewhere in that conversation he suggested that he try sports and running became his passion.

Later in the article Mills described the last turn in his Olympic event quote again:

Coming off the curve, we were lapping a runner from Germany. He looked back and saw me coming and opened up the fourth lane for me. If he had stayed where he was, I don’t know if I could have done it. As I went by him, I thought we were going to bump, so I glanced back at him. At the center of his jersey was an EAGLE, the German insignia. It was so powerful. I went back to what my dad said- the wings of an eagle. With 30 yards to go, I’m lifting my knees, I’m doing the sprinting I’d been practicing. My thoughts were “I won, I won, I won, I won.” Then I broke the tape. It was an incredibly powerful feeling.

I considered this past Olympian’s dad’s words that inspired him achieve the gold medal. Look in your heart. Do you have broken wings that come from broken dreams? Are you consumed with anger, hatred, bitter feelings, do you carry unforgiveness, self pity and other emotional baggage? These things will destroy us and keep us out of the race we are called to run. We need to look to the One who promises to bare us up on eagle’s wings. The One who gives power to the faint and increases their strength. The One who promises to those who wait on Him, “…shall renew their strength; they shall count up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 We have more than the hopes of gold medals at stake. We have the reputation of our God whose banner we carry and whose name we bare. There is a crown to receive for His glory. A great cloud of witnesses from our homeland is cheering us on and for us to make proud. Let’s join the race as the World’s attention and focus is drawn to one place, Beijing. Let’s focus our attention on THE RACE and His Kingdom we represent.

As Christians what should be our response to these Olympic Games? Here are some practical ways we can enter the competition for the glory of God:

1. Pray for the Christian athletes to have boldness to share their faith during these games.

2. Pray for those who are handing out tracts and other Gospel literature in and around these games.

3. Pray for the underground and persecuted Church in China during these games.

4. Let each athlete that stands on a platform receiving a medal be a reminder to pray for that people group that they represent.

Let’s not just be couch potatoes during these Olympic Games or pew potatoes; but let us run the race through prayer for the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is worthy of our best efforts. Let the Games Begin!