Barbed Wire for Fun and Eternal Profit

Entering the office of seminary professor Dr. LeRoy Ford, I was immediately struck by the different strands of barbed wire decoratively placed around the walls of the small room. I was in my first semester as a religious education student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The year was 1967.

Following my eyes and sensing the question forming on my lips, Dr. Ford explained that he had joined a barbed wire collector's club in Fort Worth. Perhaps he was reared on a farm, I thought. But after a little gentle probing (we shared the trait of curiosity), he explained that he had joined the group as an opportunity to witness.

My next thought was that I had just met "The Nutty Professor."

"I don't get to know many unsaved people," Dr. Ford continued. "This seemed like a good place to meet a few." Stunned by his creative approach to evangelism, I would soon discover LeRoy had a creative approach to everything.

He loved photography, skilled in picturing flowers and other wonders of nature. He relished the Mexican culture and studied all things Aztec. He was a Baptist historian, a talented cartoonist, an artful editor, and the author of several books.

LeRoy supervised my doctoral dissertation. He got me my first writing assignment with the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay). I took every course he offered, including his very first practicum on curriculum design. I modeled my teaching, curriculum writing, and editing on the skills, instruction, and values of LeRoy Ford.

Our earthly friendship of 45 years ended yesterday. Dr. Ford died July 9, 2012, after a short stay in the hospital. I already miss him.

LeRoy is survived by his talented wife Jeanette, an archivist and author in her own right, children and grandchildren, and hundreds of students. I was his favorite, I tell myself, smugly. We all thought we were. He made everyone feel special.

Freedom from Religion?

As we approach Independence Day, I'm confused about a group known as the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It promotes non-religion—that is, the right not to believe in God. I guess I'm confused because the right not to believe is a belief! This group believes there is not a supreme being.

But the Freedom from Religion Foundation does not call atheism a religion because then the foundation would have to free itself from itself. However, atheism is a belief system. Atheism purports to answer the questions: where did I come from? (a one-celled amoeba) What's wrong with the world? (religion) What's the meaning of life? (leave it better than it was) Where do I go when I die? (nowhere) It fails to answer what "better" would look like because, of course, truth to them is relative. But I digress. For a fuller treatment of this subject, read chapter 6 of my book, When Christ Sets You Free.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation actively seeks to eliminate religion from secular society—schools, the airways, the halls of Congress and state legislatures, and the military, to name a few. Its lawyers sue to stop public prayers and other displays of religion, such as manger scenes on public lawns. Of course, it also wants to express freely its right to win converts to its position, or-er-belief in nonbelief.

If the U.S. were "free" from religion, we would then only be "free" to practice non-religion. We would have to live as though we were not religious—except in our churches, synagogues, and mosques.

I think I've just described Communist Russia, where the religious were only allowed to practice their faiths in a few state-sanctioned churches—churches that abided by the rules imposed on them. This is still the case in Communist China.

This way of life is not appreciably different from the many countries that allow only one state-sanctioned religion. For example, you are only "free" to be a Muslim.

I'm beginning to wonder if freedom from religion isn't religious oppression. Methinks this Independence Day, I'm going to thank God for freedom to worship in America. I may not have many more opportunities.

It's a Plot!

The Writer’s Plot Writing Conference
The Story Continues...
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Furman University
3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29613

Keynote Speaker: Harold Underdown
Early Bird Special Price: $80 until June 16th
Regular Price (after June 16th): $100
Manuscript Critique: $45 (first 10 pages)
Special Critique with Harold Underdown for rejected manuscript consultation: $45 (first 10 pages)
Deadline for submission: June 16th

Register online: www.thewritersplot.com
10% discount for TWP members for all prices

Presenters include:

Harold Underdown – consulting editor, former vice president & editorial director at ipicturebooks, former editorial director at Charlesbridge, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books

Edie Melson – social media marketing expert, author of best-selling ebook, Social Media Marketing for Writers and a devotional, Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home When Your Soldier Leaves for Battle

Vonda Skelton – author of Seeing Through the Lies (for women), three Bitsy Burroughs Mysteries (for children), and numerous magazine articles for adults

Patricia Thomas – author of 7 picture books, including “Stand Back,” said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” as well as numerous magazine articles and short stories

Pam Zollman – award-winning author of 40 children’s books, hundreds of short stories and articles (for adults and children), and former editor at Highlights Magazine.

Alan Gratz – award-winning author of six children’s and YA books, short stories, magazine articles, plays, and several episodes of A&E’s City Confidential

Jessica Alexander – Associate Editor for Peachtree Publishing

Katya Jensen—Editorial and Subrights Coordinator for Peachtree Publishing

Diana Flegal – Literary agent with Hartline Literary Agency

Worry-Free Living: LifeStride

Life can be lived in strife or in stride. LifeStrife leads to worry-filled living, not worry-free living. When we live as though we are the center of our own universes and the answer to our own problems, we are soon overwhelmed by them. 

Self-confidence is replaced by self-doubts, which in turn make us fearful. We are caught in cycles of worry, fear, more worry, and more fear.

Jesus had a serious issue with both fear and worry because they represent mistrust of God. God has never been shown to be unfaithful. Why would we fear earthly eventualities if God is in control of everything (Ps. 27:1; Rm. 8:31)?

Jesus described a life devoid of worry in His sermon on the mountain. Bluntly, He said, “Don’t worry about your life” (Mt. 6:25). Easy for Him to say, you might think. But Jesus lived off of the generosity of His followers, without permanent shelter, much less a steady income. He pointed to the birds and the flowers as examples of God’s provident care.

LifeStride

When Jesus promised we could share in His kind of life, He gave us the secret for doing so. Jesus explained that He was the vine, and we were the branches. If we would remain nourished by Him, we would bear fruit equal to or greater than His! (See Jn. 15:1-5; 5:20.)

Life can be lived in stride instead of in strife. To stride is to take a step—that is, to make progress. Such a life can be free from striving. LifeStride is life walked in the Spirit’s power. Our inability plus our availability equals God’s ability.

In his book, Radical, David Platt writes: “This is how God works. He puts his people in positions where they are desperate for his power, and then he shows his provision in ways that display his greatness.” Life stride assumes the watchful eye of a heavenly Father and a caring Son who lives to bring our concerns to His Abba, Daddy.

 

Let’s resolve to be people of faith. Life can be lived in stride instead of in striving.

Worry-Free Living: LifeStrife

My puppy Coco sleeps about 18 hours a day. She doesn't worry about where her next meal is coming from or if she'll have a roof over her head tomorrow. You might call her attitude toward life an example of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:25-34. Coco is definitely not consumed with anxiety!

In my book, When Christ Sets You Free, I identified two extremes of how believers approach life. The first is LifeStrife. The second is LifeStride. One of them leads to worry-free living.

LifeStrife
When we forge ahead on our own, bypassing godly wisdom and operating in our own power, we can expect a life filled with struggle and contention—in other words, a life of strife. Those of us who strive work very hard. We often choose burdensome tasks and unbalanced loads. Jesus, on the other hand, described the life He offered: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt. 11:30). Instead of a heavy, unbalanced load, Jesus promised an even yoke. The analogy is two oxen pulling together instead of pulling against each other.

LifeStrife is a dog-eat-dog way of existence (pardon the expression, Coco). But it's as American as apple pie and baseball. "Earn your keep. Work your way to the top."

If you study the major religions of the world, you will find they are based on LifeStrife: please God by doing for Him (doing vs. being). Humans do the work, and the Supreme Being is hopefully satisfied by their efforts. This approach to obtaining salvation reflects an amazing consistency: self effort.

In matters of faith, believers gravitate toward the code of “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” LifeStrife is the essence of most religion, but it is the antithesis of faith. Faith is giving control to God. Striving is the illusion of control.

The opposite kind of life is LifeStride. In my next post I'll explain the implications of "striding" instead of "striving."

Worry-Free Living: Internal GPS

One Christmas we bought our son Mark a portable GPS system for his car. Most new cars come equipped with one, but Mark drove a vehicle with “history.” He needed a GPS because Mark is, shall we say, directionally challenged.

During the holidays, Mark headed for his best friend’s home in Murphreesboro. He was to be back at 6 p.m. for dinner. When the meal was ready, Mark hadn’t arrived, so his dad called him. “Where are you?”

“I don’t know. I’m lost.”

Now, think about this. Mark had been back and forth to his friend’s house dozens of times over the years. How could he be lost?
His answer surprised us: “I’m using my new GPS. It’s taken me a way I don’t recognize. I have no idea where I am.”

Mark’s plight sounds familiar to all of us who have tried to find our way on a strange road.

The Bible is our road map for life, but we may find ourselves navigating in rough terrain. The road may appear unmarked, without specific
Scriptural guidelines. It requires steps of faith, taking unfamiliar paths just as our biblical forbearers did. Getting off and then back on the road is one thing; staying on the road is quite another! I call it “living between the ditches.”

These ditches are spiritual paradoxes such as We can know God. God is mystery. And Christ sets us free. We are slaves of Christ. Now, since I’m into paradoxes and polarities and antonyms, I’ve coined two extremes of how we approach life. The first is life strife. The second is life stride. Stay tuned to read about the differences and which leads to worry-free living.

Hospitality: My Elisha Room

If you've read my last postings, you are familiar with the fact that Kimberly lives in South Carolina. However, she makes monthly trips to Nashville for cancer treatments at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center. Although the cancer treatment—an experimental drug—is "free," the expense of transportation, meals, and hotels over the months had eaten into her family's pocketbook. I feel led to offer my home as a place for Kimberly to stay.

In October, 2011, Kimberly came for her first stay at "Betty's Bed & Breakfast." Although it might appear that Sim and I were being the “good Samaritans” in this story, actually Kimberly was the answer to my prayers. You see, we had an “Elisha room” at our house, and I had been disappointed that we were not having occasion to use it regularly for ministry. In the pastorate, we seemed to always have someone visiting the church—whether a missionary or evangelist or ministry friends—but since leaving the pastorate, our extra bedroom and bath were sitting idle.

In case you don’t remember what an Elisha room is, here's the story from 2 Kings 4:8-10: "One day Elisha went to Shunem. A prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to eat some food. So whenever he passed by, he stopped there to eat. Then she said to her husband, 'I know that the one who often passes by here is a holy man of God, so let's make a small room upstairs and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Whenever he comes, he can stay there.'"

My "Elisha room" is downstairs rather than upstairs and unlike Shunem, the view from the windows is the beautiful rolling hills and green foliage of Tennessee. We've had guests from Canada, Kenya, China, and Mexico. They have ranged from a ballet troop, to international students, to great evangelists. Of course, the most important guests have been my grandchildren!

The first Wednesday that Kimberly stayed with Sim and me, we went to prayer meeting at my downtown church. Kimberly met the people who are usually at "our" table. After the service, an interesting thing happened. One of my friends stopped me to say, “If Kimberly ever needs a place to stay, and you can’t keep her, let us know.” It seems she and her husband also have an "Elisha room." Sure enough, in November, Kimberly stayed with this couple, as I had family visiting. And they remain on stand-by when we are not available to keep Kimberly.

Since I have begun sharing Kimberly's story with others, I've found several families who have "Elisha" rooms. They just didn't have a name for this special place! Practicing hospitality is at the heart of Jewish and Christian teaching. Some scholars list hospitality as a gift of the Holy Spirit. If you have an empty bedroom at your house, think of ways it can be used for ministry. Opening your home to those who need a place to stay is an invitation for angels to visit (Heb. 13:2)!