March 15th – Proverbs 15: Lesson Learned Down the Barrel of an AK-47

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1

I remember it like it was yesterday. We were in the Congo. The Pastor’s son we were with had just died and we were in the morgue to identify the body and pray for the baby to be raised from the dead. The morgue attendants let us see the body but quickly tried to usher us out before we could pray. The pastor would not be denied. One of the guys on our team stood with the pastor and let the attendants know that we would not be leaving without praying for the baby. Tensions ran high. The atmosphere escalated and neither party backed down.

Finally, the morgue attendants locked our team behind two iron gates. A couple of the security guards came running up yelling and brandishing AK-47’s, waving them in our faces. Through the gates both parties were arguing. Through an interpreter we discovered that they were holding us behind the Iron Gate so that they could call the authorities. Our interpreter overheard the call to the police. He looked at me and said, “This is not good. What we have done is unlawful. We will stand trial and spend 4 years in prison. They are telling the police that an angry mob has entered the morgue illegally and are causing a problem. The police are dispatching 30 men in riot gear to take care of us. They will come with guns and clubs, we will be beaten!”

My heart sank. I REALLY did not want to get beat up by an angry mob of Congolese police. More than that I didn’t want to rot away in a Congolese jail for 4 years, away from my wife and kids. I texted my wife in the US: “Under arrest, PRAY” Now, between the harsh words being spoken through the gate and the fear concerning our beating to come, emotions were boiling. I tried to center on the Lord and I simply asked the Holy Spirit, “What do we do?”

As soon as I asked, I heard the reply in my spirit: “A gentle answer turns away wrath...” I quickly instructed the men with our team, “A gentle answer turns away wrath… So calm down and be quiet! When the police get here they will find us as gentle as doves. Got it?!” It took a few minutes, but after taking a few deep breaths, the team relaxed.

When the police showed up, they came ready for a fight. Their faces were steeled for a confrontation. They came with guns and clubs, but when they jumped off the truck, what they saw was NOT what had been described on the phone. We were as gentle as doves, not raging like lions. After being interrogated (with a gun in our faces the whole time I might add) we were let go.

LIFE LESSON?
The Bible works. Read the entire story starting here.

March 14th – Proverbs 14: Harvest Is Messy!

“Where no cattle are, the stall is clean, but much gain is by the strength of the ox.” – Proverbs 14:4

I love the Bible. The Word of God is a straight shooting masterwork. This Proverb sets dead in its sights one of the failings of the church today and is telling us something so simple, yet so profound. Sure, when there are no oxen everything is neat and tidy. There is no mess in the stall, no poop to shovel and no stench of ox. But there is also no harvest. There is no produce from the field.

Sadly, many Christians would rather have a clean crib than a full grain house. This is especially true of leaders in the church to whom a “clean crib” is of utmost importance. Many pastors and leaders value a clean, tidy and predictable working environment more than they do fruit! They will gladly trade the glory of harvest to avoid a mess. Many churches more resemble a factory than a farm. The factory environment is sterile, the workers are given simple, monotonous tasks that they must perform time and time again and thanks to the assembly line, the finished product is the exact same, every single time.

But the farm is different. To see any produce you have to get dirty. You are working with smelly animals and every day is different. You cultivate the land, but God produces the harvest. We’re called to harvest, not cleanliness. So many high output Christians are discarded by the “Factory” churches today because they disrupt the status quo and make messes. Many leaders are looking for passive and docile sheep instead of powerful oxen. But I’ll take a messy but productive ox any day. I’ve determined to bear as much fruit as possible while here on earth so I have something to throw at his feet in eternity.

LIFE LESSON?
Don’t fear the mess, just start shoveling.

March 12th – Proverbs 12 – It "Seems" Right!

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.” – Proverbs 12:15

Everything a foolish person does “seems” right to them, that’s why they do it! Wise people understand that simply believing a course of action to be right, doesn’t make it right. Knowing this, they open themselves to other points of view and receive counsel for major decisions. More than that, when are presented with truth that challenges their opinions, they actually HEED the advice. This is a huge key to Wisdom.

Wise people start with the assumption that they have much to learn and don’t know everything. Foolish people assume that because they think it, it’s right. Wise people see the value of getting advice and understand that there is safety in the multitude of counsel. Foolish people run full steam ahead into every problem, KNOWING that their way is right. Even in the face of crushing personal defeat as a result of poor decisions, the fool rages against all sound judgment. (Pro. 19:3)

Wise people don’t start with the assumption that they are right. They understand that they may not be seeing the entire picture and TRUST those close to them to help them discern the right path. I am ALL ABOUT the priesthood of every believer and our ability to hear from God for ourselves. You shouldn’t have to go to your Pastor or friend to decide what to have for dinner or what to wear to work. But at the same time we need to realize that at best, we see in part:

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part,” – I Corinthians 13:9

We need the body of Christ! Foolish people see no value in sharing their lives with other believers and running things by (many times, older &) wiser people. Why? Because their way “seems” right to them… all the time! Only a great fool would assume that they know all, see all and understand all.

LIFE LESSON?
Find someone with lots of wrinkles and gray hair and HEED their advice!

March 11th – Proverbs 11: How to FAIL

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” – Proverbs 11:2

The scripture is clear that pride precedes disgrace. Basically, if you want to be humiliated and debased, allow pride to enter into your life. Disgraced people are proud people. Conversely, humility precedes wisdom. Wise people are humble people. Why? It takes humility to gain wisdom. In order to gain wisdom you must first recognize and acknowledge your lack or need and then secondly, you must seek out the solution to fill the lack. Proud people don’t do this.

WHAT PRIDE IS NOT:

Somehow, false teaching has convinced the body of Christ that anyone who is bold or confident is proud. This is not so! Pride has NOTHING to do with volume, personality or confidence. Proud people are confident in THEMSELVES. Wise people are confident in the LORD. Pride is all about self-reliance. Humility is all about dependence. Being confident in who God is and who you are in God is NOT pride. On the flip side, having your confidence rooted in your works or ability is the essence of pride.

The acid test of pride is disgrace and the acid test of humility is wisdom.

Several years ago I acquired a large account through my design business. We were hired to redo all the signage on a large hotel in Atlanta. The project was huge, dealing with factors I had never before encountered. When my Dad heard about the account, he strongly warned me about getting in over my head, encouraging me to either get help or give someone else the account. Arrogantly and with an eye towards the big payday for completing the account, I presumed I could handle it on my own.

Boy was I wrong! Before the nightmare project was over, I would lose several months of time, be threatened with lawsuits and lose my shirt to the tune of $12,000 on the disaster.

LIFE LESSON?
Wherever you find a disgraceful chapter in your life, you will find pride.

March 10th – Proverbs 10: Walking Securely

“The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” – Proverbs 10:9

Early on in my walk with the Lord I did my best to avoid sin for a variety of reasons.

#1 – Sin is bad and God hates it.
#2 – Guilt & Shame when I sinned.
#3 – Fear of getting caught.

These reasons were moderately effective for avoiding most kinds of wickedness, but sin still had an attraction and hold over me. I mean, why do you think most everyone lives in sin? It’s attractive and enjoyable. The only problem, as the proverb declares is YOU WILL BE FOUND OUT. No matter how well you attempt to hide, cover and disclose your wickedness, it will come out in the end.

Then I had a revelation that changed my life.

I remember having a stark realization that I truly enjoyed the lasting benefits of living in righteousness and holiness much more than the passing pleasures of sin. It was a simple, yet profound truth. The sense of peace and clarity I had when walking in integrity was MUCH more appealing to me than a lifestyle of deception and darkness. My head hitting the pillow with a clean conscience was invaluable. No longer was I gritting my teeth, trying NOT to sin. I was authentically moved to do right for the pleasure it brought me. I call this grace based holiness. We walk in holiness for the superior pleasures of loving God, not only because it’s the puritanical right thing to do.

These days, I have found it incredibly effective to appeal to this desire when calling sinners out of their lifestyle of darkness. They can look into my eyes and see that I am at peace. There is power in a clean conscience. The security of my walk of integrity is attractive to a world filled with fear, anxiety and insecurity.

LIFE LESSON?
It’s ok to live righteously for the benefits, stop trying to be a hero.

March 9th – Proverbs 9: A Love/Hate Relationship

“Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.” – Proverbs 9:8

How you respond to correction, instruction and rebuke reveals what kind of person you actually are. If you love and cherish correction (and the people who bring it), you may be wise or at least on the road to being wise. If you detest correction (and the people who bring it) you are well on your way to being a mocker, if not a full blown idiot.

Getting mad and hating someone for bringing a rebuke in no way belittles them, it just reveals your (lack of) character. Oh, how I have heard mockers rage at the person that dared correct them! At least when someone corrects or adjusts you they are being truthful to the way they see things. Right, wrong or indifferent, they had the conviction to stand for something they believe. You on the other hand have no right to get bent when someone corrects or adjusts you. If they were wrong, analyze and move on. If they were right, analyze and adjust, it’s that simple!

I have long seen that wise people not only respond well to rebuke and correction, but they actually look for it! A fool announces his great plans to everyone around him, while a wise man will ask for counsel and advice before he ever emotionally commits to the decision. That’s important. Some people will have already emotionally made their decision, be completely married to one course of action and then “ask” for advice, with no intention of actually following anything other than what they have already decided.

You get no points for that, sorry.

So think about it for a moment, who do you love? Who do you hate? Does it have something to do with what they have said to you? If you only love those who have never confronted you and hate those that have, you might be a mocker.

LIFE LESSON?
Who you love/hate says everything about YOU.

Hiatus

As you may have noticed, I have not updated the blog in a couple of weeks. This is due to a trip I took to Israel. The trip was awesome and life changing, I would highly recommend one. But between the rigorous travel and tour schedule, not to mention the jet lag, I wasn't able to update from February 26th - March 8th.

Coming home I realized that a Monday-Friday format would be best, so I will update the blog 5 days a week (at least) with the occasional weekend post if something strikes my fancy.

Blessings,
Ryan