How To Know God

John 14: 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
No man can see God face to face and live. For God is holy and in His holiness what ever is of sin cannot be in His presence. The corrupted nature of a human being must be spiritually transformed into something incorruptible. Man could never accomplish this on his own so God in His grace made a plan of salvation. That His eternal Son would become a human being and take man's place on a cross. Since man is corrupt the sacrifice would have to be incorruptible. There could only be one way for this to happen. It would have to have been the sinless Son of God.
God became a human embryo in the womb of a teenage Israelite. She would have to be a virgin in order that the offspring would not be tainted by the human bloodline of Adam. There could be no other way than for it to have been via an immaculate conception.
So Jesus Christ was born into the world to save sinners. The Bible had been refuted before it was ever published. Mankind has furiously tried to disprove the word of God as being truth but mankind has yet to accomplish this. And for good reason. Only God could come up with such a story. Only God could come up with such a plan. When you see it for what it is it is impossible not to see that this plan had to be exactly the way it happened. This is one of the reasons that the many who refute God's word end up failing in their refute. The plan is too perfect and has no holes in it at all. Of course it doesn't, it's God's plan.
No man has seen the face of God and lived but thousands saw the face of Jesus Christ during His earthly lifetime. Not only did they see His face, they heard His words and witnessed His acts. Some actually touched His body. Some touched His resurrected body. And you can count on it that many were touched by Him as deep down as a person could be touched.
How many of them were able to put two and two together that this man was more than a man. That this man was actually Emmanuel; God with us. That when they looked into His face or heard His words or touched His hands that they were actually seeing, hearing and touching God Himself. Jesus said that He and His father were one. That there was nothing that He said or did that didn't originate from His Father. Jesus was completely dependent on the Father for everything (that's a lesson in itself for us believers). And He perfectly represented His Father to the world.
The beliefs around the world about who God is are as varied as we can imagine. He can only be who He is. There is only one way to the Father. There is no other approach to His throne but through the bloody mangled body of Jesus Christ. And He began His mission here as an infant.
Consider who this infant really is. Consider what it would mean if you would allow yourself to be touched by Him. Consider the possibility that this babe in the manger is actually God wrapped in human skin. If you know Him you know His Dad too. Wow.

If you don't know Christ you can't know God.

No Christ, No God.
Know Christ, Know God.

The Real Reason For The Season

1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Why was this infant born into this world? Why did God single out a teenage virgin and have her conceive by way of the Holy Spirit a child who would be human and yet God at the same time? Why did this infant grow up to develop a fairly sizable following through the performing of miracles and the greatest teachings ever uttered in all of human history? Why did He say the things He said? Why did He do the things He did? Why would He endure physical, emotional and probably spiritual suffering that is beyond all comprehension? Why would he voluntarily take upon Himself the penalty of death for the sins of all mankind? Why in one fell swoop would He defeat the power of sin, death and Satan all in one weekend? Why? Why? Why?

I enjoy all the "stuff" of Christmas. My wife does a real nice job decorating the house making it look nice and festive. Who doesn't enjoy Christmas lights? There is a different feeling in the air. Is it from childhood Christmases that were magical and highly enjoyable? And who wouldn't like the food! From Thanksgiving to the New Year there is a feastivus for the rest of us. And then the depression and guilt of January when droves find their way to their local gyms. Is the feeling of this time of year from the hope that life could somehow be better than it usually is? Is it the hope that family members would get their acts together and that we would actually one day become a family in it's best sense? Is it the hope that someday, one day, the problems, the trials, the hurts will all end?

I've been reading a book by Martyn Lloyd Jones on John 14 lately. I was reading last night about how many people see the Gospel message as a means to make our world a better place to live in. And how people become disappointed when life doesn't get better and then question the authenticity of the Gospel because somehow God hasn't made all that is wrong right. Mr. Jones wrote about how the social gospel; the one that people use to think they can have more riches, more stuff, a better life here on this earth and peaceful societies where wars never occur and everyone gets along is not the message of the Gospel but is a perversion of that message. Think about it. Where is there any Scripture that states that if we believe in Christ and become great Christians that our lives in the here and now and the world around us will be repaired of all the damages that sin has brought into our world? We still dwell in flesh that wants to and does sin. We still dwell in a fallen corrupted world where it's inhabitants largely deny the existence of God and most certainly reject the Christ of the Gospels. How could we become so deluded as to think it's all going to get better when Satan has a stronger grip of this world and it's people than God does?

I've been criticized for some of my sermons being too "heavy". That people would rather hear about the love of God and how God can make them feel better about themselves and that you should leave out the more unsavory aspects of the Gospel message such as judgment, repentance, sin and especially hell.

Why? Why? Why?

Christmas is about a bit more than the tinsel, Santa Claus, cookies, presents, family gathering together, the hopes and dreams yet realized; it is about Jesus Christ coming into this world as that infant in order to do one thing and one thing alone. To save sinners.

Not to make the world a better place. Sorry if that ruins your holiday spirit but search the Scriptures and see if it's not true. Jesus' teachings, miracles, prayers, sweating drops of blood in anguish, giving up His spirit on that cross when it was all finished is all about one thing only. All of us are sinners. All of us have defied God. All of us are deserving of the penalty of death. But He came into the world to save us from this penalty and from all that sin does to us. And in doing so He also stated that He was going to return to take us out of here and with Him for eternity (John 14:3).

The better place won't be here. It will be there with Him and His Father in eternity. It is on the other side of the veil. He promised He will return to take us with Him.

That day will be the Christmas of all Christmases. These other ones are but a glimpse of what will come. We all long for something better because we all know this can't be it. The feeling of the season I believe is really the hopeful expectation of His return where all will be fulfilled. Where Christmas and it's hope will be a non-stop, never-ending reality.

It will literally be the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving and...

This is why.

Devotional 12-12-11

John 14 I go to prepare a place for you.

Theres a place for us. Not just somewhere but a specific location and destiny. The night of His arrest Jesus provides these words to His disciples to put their hearts and fears at rest. He begins by telling them, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe in Me also". These men were about to face a weekend of hell. Although Jesus had told these men repeatedly about the need for His death there is no evidence that these men really believed it or were prepared for it. You can bet that when the thing came down, for these men it seemed like the end of the world. Jesus knew that these disciples were going to struggle mightily with troubled hearts and that the only thing that would provide them any sense of peace would be the surety of His word. Until that glorious Sunday morning, the surety of God's word would be all they would have. So Jesus gives them the solution to the troubled heart. Believe. In God. And in Christ. They would need nothing else to get them through. He even reassures them by saying "If it were not so I would have told you". The preparing of the eternal place is not limited to a construction site in heaven. It is taking place right now on earth as it is in heaven. The holy site on earth where this preparation is taking place is not in a building made by human hands but in a temple nonetheless. The preparing of the place is also taking place in the believer. The continued sanctification of the washing of the water of the word takes place within the believer every time the Bible is read, spoken and listened to. This living word is slicing and dicing away all the dross that needs removing in order for the believer to believe in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation and a life of difficulties, trials and tribulations. God has given us exactly what He gave to those disciples that weekend. Living words of love, grace and hope. And He has given us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is at work within you cleaning out all that is unholy and providing comfort in the midst of the storm. Just as it was that weekend for those disciples, a stone will be rolled away and the promise of the word will be as real as the breath in your body. The place will be looking you right in your eyes. The place will take His hands and lovingly wipe away the tears that will be no more. The place isn't just a room in mansion. The place is the person who spoke the words of promise and hope. Anything less would be no place for me.

What Is Truth Part 2

What Is Truth Part 2

It’s the summer of 1993. I go to God in prayer and ask Him exactly what a friend recommended to me; “God, reveal Yourself to me”. I hear no voice from heaven nor do I receive a visit from a celestial angel. But what I did get was as crystal clear as anything I have ever “heard”.

 “You must believe in Me through My Son”.

There was no audible voice or a sign in the sky but a crystal clear, distinct impression that I sensed within me. I can’t explain it other than my prayer being answered. I’ve had others wonder if it was just my own mind talking back to me. I can’t say that there haven’t been times when I wondered that myself. But far too much happened that drastically changed my life from that first prayer that I screamed out to God three years earlier when I was dying from more emotional pain than I can describe and had developed a 21 year dependence on drugs and alcohol. Way too many “coincidences” and major changes had taken place since then (like getting clean and being able to actually stay clean) and I could not come up with any other answer than the God who I had rejected my entire life literally saved my life when I sincerely asked Him to. I try to be a rational and logical thinker and I honestly could not come up with any other answer. And please try to understand that I am as skeptical on these matters as they come. When this all went down in ’93, I initially wanted nothing to do with the God of any religion, particularly the religion I was somewhat raised in which was Catholicism. I wanted nothing to do with any religion. But I had developed a belief in a God who hears and answers prayer because I had experienced far too much to believe otherwise. I did not come into this belief shouting halleluiah but instead came into it kicking and screaming. Most of the people I had associated with were as left wing as they get and I knew that most of them would think I had lost my mind. I initially worried what they and many others would think. But no matter where I went all I could hear was that “impression” resounding through my mind.

“You must believe in Me through My Son”.

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. I asked God for Him to reveal Himself to me and this is the answer I get back. It was not the answer I thought I was looking for. But in hindsight it was the answer I had been seeking my entire life.

Because the answer pointed me not to a church or to a religion, but to His Son. It was a direct command to go to Jesus Christ. And what I have found out was that it was He that I had been looking for all these years. Not that He was lost of course; that was my position. I just found what my heart, mind and soul had desired above everything and everyone else. It was (and still is) all about Him.

I am also the first to admit that my experience with becoming a Christian was a relative and subjective experience. It didn’t begin with much, if any of a coming to a truth through absolute and objective means. It was all based on my thoughts and feelings, even though much of my thinking and emotions were contrary to wanting to believe in Him. But as I stated in Part 1, my thinking process had begun to change and I was looking at the idea of God as I did when I described the reality and truth of the chair. It had stopped making any sense to me that there could be a God who embodied all the differing attributes that many religions and people had placed on the idea of God. There were far too many contradictions in all of these differing beliefs. I have heard many say that all religions are essentially the same; that they all teach love, kindness, do unto others as they would do unto you and so on. Well upon further examination, nothing could be further from the truth. There are many similarities in religious beliefs but the differences are far too different for them all to be able to “coexist” alongside of one another and have all of them equally be true.

The one similarity is that they all state that they are the truth. How can that be when one religion states that the messiah hasn’t appeared on this earth yet (Judaism) while another says the messiah has appeared? How could one say that there really is no God (Buddhism) while most others say there most certainly is a God? How could one say that there is one God in three persons while another says there are at least 330 million deities (Hinduism)? How can one religion claim that unbelievers must be converted or face death (Islam) and another religion claim that a person must pick up their cross daily and love one another sacrificially in order to follow their God?

How can Jesus Christ make such an exclusive statement that “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. How could this be if all of these other religious beliefs are equally valid? How can they “coexist” alongside one another? How could they all be the truth?

They can’t. It’s just not possible. In order to believe that they can one must suspend all logic and reason. You either have to completely reject the Gospel message and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and believe something else or you must believe that His claims are true. You can’t have it both ways. Remember that one of the signs of stable mental health is the ability to perceive, understand and operate in reality. No matter how sincerely you believe something if it doesn’t hold up to critical analysis and rationalism then it can’t be true. I may believe with every fiber of my being that I am the President of the United States but upon the first layer of examination anyone could see that it’s just not true.

When someone says that “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” then that person is either a lunatic, a liar (as C.S. Lewis and Josh McDowell have pointed out) or that person is stating a fact.

In 1993 I sincerely ask God for Him to reveal Himself to me. Against my own beliefs and wishes I get the clear distinct impression that “You must believe in Me through My Son”.

The only way to the Father is through the Son. You must believe in Me through My Son.

I had never read John 14:3 before in my entire life.

Imagine my surprise when I finally did. And then when I read the rest and found that all of it held up against my logic and reason.

What is truth? Looks like it’s that guy called Jesus, the Christ.

More to come…

Devotional 12-6-11

^{Philippians 3:13
12} Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

What is it that Paul hopes to lay hold of? It is the very thing Christ laid hold of when He laid hold of Paul.
What Christ laid hold of for all of us is no less a miracle than all the others he performed. I believe it is the greatest miracle of all. Healing blindness, feeding multitudes and raising the dead is pretty impressive stuff. But to lay hold of the penalty of all sin of all time, to perform the righteous transaction that resulted in salvation to be offered to all who would receive it in order for a promise of eternity with God is as impressive as it can possibly get. That none of us has to be concerned or in fear of having to be good enough, to have to perform enough good works in order to maybe be granted entrance into His kingdom is an incredible, awe-provoking gift.
Christ dies in order to lay hold of us. We are the end result of His receiving glory. Paul understands that it isn't about attaining perfection in this life in order to be right with God. He understood it will be about laying hold of a robe in which the wearer of that robe will be the embodiment of all we've ever wished for, dreamt about, longed for and hoped for. He will be the Alpha and the Omega and in His presence in eternity nothing within us will yearn for anything else ever again. We will know fulfillment like we never had before. For we will share in His never ending glory and presence.

Holy Father we come to You in the name of Jesus Christ and we thank You for making a way for us, that You laid hold of us in order that one day we will completely in Your eternal presence lay hold of You. May this be our mind set as we go through this life with its difficulties and struggles; knowing that You have completed the work; that we are already laid hold of by You and that nothing can change that. Thank you Lord for this most precious of gifts. May we walk in a manner that is worthy of this gift. In Your holy name,
Amen.

What Is Truth Part 1

What Is Truth?

John 18; ³⁷ Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
³⁸ Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”…

truth

1. the true  or actual state of a matter: He tried to find out the truth.

2. conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement.

3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.

4. the state or character of being true.

5. actuality or actual existence.

Pontius Pilate asked the most important question ever asked. More important than even, “will you marry me?” And he asked it of the only person in all of human history who could’ve given the most accurate answer possible. For the person he asked this question of was none other than Jesus Christ.

Never mind that Pilate wasn’t earnestly seeking the truth as he was just throwing out a response to Jesus’ statement that Jesus was here to bear witness of the truth and that whoever is of the truth hears His voice. Pilate wasn’t a man interested in truth as much as he was interested in political correctness and people pleasing in order to keep his position and his head. Pilate was nothing more than a puppet in this whole passion play but a puppet nonetheless who was given a minor role of supposed “authority” over these proceedings. God had put this particular man in this role in order to carry out His plan of salvation. So the fact that Pilate’s most important question wasn’t asked with sincere and noble purposes means nothing to the fact that this question really is the question of all questions.

What is truth?

Today the truth is up for grabs. And is a sense it always has been. Man has been the sole definer of all that he surveys since man could survey. Throughout the ages man has looked around and within him and has come up with a vast multitude of answers to this most important of questions. According to definition truth is basically what is real; what is actual; what is reality. A verifiable or indisputable fact, proposition or principle.

Why is this question the most important of all questions? Well ask someone who has been accused of murder but who is actually innocent. Their very life depends upon the findings of truth. If in fact it is true that the accused is innocent than most people would agree that a horrible injustice and crime was committed if the accused was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison or even death. Most human beings would agree that this is not only wrong but would be a tragedy. And that’s because we value life and we value truth. Even those who reject The Truth throw themselves into dramatic spasms when they are accused of a wrongdoing that they actually didn’t commit. No one likes or accepts being falsely accused. It is a horrible offense to the person and to those who know the truth.

If someone in your own home stole something from someone else in that home wouldn’t it be a major problem? Wouldn’t the victim demand the truth about who took whatever it was they took? Why would this be important? Well we also value justice. Particularly when we have been victimized. And without truth justice is impossible because there would be no way to right the wrong unless the truth about the event was made known.

Truth is inherently important to all of our affairs in this life. A standard barometer of good mental health is whether or not a person has a good understanding of reality. If I were to tell you that I was in actuality the Queen of England and if I were actually convinced of that then you would accurately assess that I have lost my mind. If I were to tell you that I was typing these words while riding a magic carpet across the Ganges River in Iowa while eating raw pigeon then you would certainly doubt the veracity of this information. This in turn would jeopardize my reputation in being an honest person. If I talked badly about you behind your back and then played nice nice with you in person then my integrity would be badly compromised. You wouldn’t be able to trust me. Without trust a good relationship is pretty much impossible. When there is no trust it is because truth was somehow compromised in the relationship.

In this day and age, truth is most certainly up for grabs. Truth is considered by many, if not by most people anymore to be relative and subjective instead of absolute and objective. In other words, you and I get to make up our own separate interpretations of what we see as being the truth. Coming to a definition of truth via relative and subjective methods means that a personal bias forms the definition. In some situations in life this is understandable and one of the only methods available in order to determine truth. This happens frequently in relationship interactions. We all see and interpret events in life differently. That’s been one of the greatest problems I have seen in marriage counseling because both parties see things very differently from one another and both think that they are right. When allowance isn’t made for the other person’s perspective then you run into a dead end. I find it important to at least consider that my perspective on a given situation could be flawed because upon further examination it frequently is. This is a way of coming to the truth through relative/subjective means and it has its place and can be very useful.

But when trying to come to a proper and fitting definition of truth in many other areas of life the relative/subjective method is greatly flawed. For instance, the chair I am sitting in is made primarily of wood. As far as I can tell it is also made of glue, stain and varnish. Although these components can be used to make a multitude of other items in this case they were specifically designed and manufactured to be a chair. I don’t need someone else’s perspective on what they think the chair is. The vast majority of human beings would correctly agree that it is indeed a chair. But If I were in the minority and sincerely and genuinely believe it was something else, let’s say an aardvark then once again the integrity of my mental stability would be in question. No matter how sincere and genuine my belief would be, this chair would remain a chair. It could be altered to become something else but at this moment in time, it is a chair. This is absolute/objective reasoning about the truth of an object. It is what it is no matter what anyone thinks, feels or believes.

There are probably as many views about whom and what God is as there are people in the world. We are certainly living in a time when the number of the world’s religions has increased dramatically. Combined with the vast array of spiritual belief systems you have a cornucopia of differing beliefs about God and about spirituality to choose from. And then there is of course spiritual and even religious belief systems where God is not part of the equation.

So let’s at least consider the possibility that there is a God. If I approach this idea from a relative/subjective deduction then this idea of God would be fully based on my thoughts, feelings and bias. And with those I agree with. In other words I can make God out to be whatever I want to make God out to be. If I don’t like the idea of God found in religion I can choose other attributes to this God. I can view God as a warm, fuzzy friend who doesn’t care one iota about how I treat others or about my morality. In this view, God is never judgmental or punishing. Or I can view God as some distant, impersonal force that guides the universe in some either random or karma type of way.

 In 1990 I began to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings because I needed help to stop using drugs. It was in N.A. that I first encountered the idea that you could create a God of your own understanding. This had tremendous appeal to me at first because I did believe in the idea of a higher power but I wanted nothing to do with the God of any religious belief. I was told by recovering addicts that it was important to believe in something, pretty much anything greater than myself or else I was going to fail at staying clean. Some even told me I could make a higher power out of anything I wished, like a doorknob or a light bulb. Praying to doorknobs and light bulbs made no sense to me even then but I did believe in a God who was kind, loving and non-judgmental. Eventually I was confronted by the 3^rd step of the 12 step program which states, “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.”

I guess the fog of the many years of drug use had begun to lift as I was able to begin to think rationally about things. I didn’t know it at the time but I was beginning to move from thinking about God in relative/subjective terms to absolute/objective terms. I really began thinking about this God of our understanding business and how there are so many differing beliefs and views on who and what this God is and that I really had no clue whatsoever. This was the starting point. I had to admit to the truth that I didn’t know. I began to look and think about this God as I did when I described the chair I am sitting in. The chair is what it is no matter what personal bias I bring to it. I thought about people in the same way. We all have different opinions of a person but none of us can absolutely define a person because our personal bias comes into play. A person is who a person is regardless of what any of us think about that person. I began to apply this same logic to the idea of God. No matter how many different beliefs and views there are of God at some point God must simply be who God is. It made no sense to me that God could be this multi-faceted being that everyone was making God out to be. It made no sense. It still makes no sense.

The chair is a chair. It was designed and its function was for a human to sit upon.

God is who God is. And just as we can’t define another person based on our perspectives, prejudices, bias, thoughts and emotions we are incapable of defining God based on those same methods. If there is a God, then He is the only one capable of describing Himself to us.

I believed there was a God. At times I felt that I could sense His presence and His care for me. And for some reason knowing who and what I could about Him became more important than anything else.  I desperately wanted to know the truth about who this God is.

So I did what a good friend told me to do.

Ask God in prayer to reveal Himself to me.

I had no idea what I was in for.

Facing Anxiety With God's Help

This is a little piece I wrote about two years ago to help some of my clients who were struggling with anxiety. The dilemma they faced wasn't just about the anxiety but the unspoken "law" that it's somehow wrong for a Christian to struggle with fear and anxiety. The truth is that many believers do struggle with this problem as well as many more. Pretending it's not there doesn't help in the least. Seeking God's help though is the remedy and with God there is no shame or condemnation.

FACING ANXIETY WITH GOD’S HELP

 Jack Heinicke B.A. Christian Counseling

One of the most common themes of instruction found throughout the Bible is for man not to worry and not to fear. God is our Maker and our Creator who formed every single one of us in our mothers’ wombs.  He formed the innermost parts of our being. Obviously God knows us far better than we know ourselves. So why would our Maker instruct His creation over and over again to not worry and to not fear? It’s because He knows that this is our general tendency when experiencing the daily stresses and difficulties of life, not to mention the more severe trials, tribulations, disappointments, frustrations, aggravations and tragedies that occur in every life. I don’t know of any person who doesn’t have a story to tel.  At the very least, we all have numerous disappointments and hurts that have caused us to worry and fear. And in most cases people know what it’s like to experience great difficulties, grief, abuse, being misunderstood, alienation, abandonment, and feelings of being unloved or unlovable.

God firmly knows what life does to us. He also knows what has been done to us and what we have done to others. He knows it is our tendency to go through these difficult experiences and come away filled with fear, anger, resentments, bitterness and NOT BEING ABLE TO TRUST. We have trouble trusting those around us. We have trouble trusting ourselves. Worst of all, it leads our minds to a place where it becomes almost impossible to trust in a God who would allow these events to occur – a God who would allow people to harm one another and experience things in life that cause us to fear, worry, and have anxiety.

The problem is that we have placed our trust in the wrong place. All human beings are fallen. That includes our parents, our spouses, our children, our Pastors, our friends and ourselves. Now it is certainly not an unreasonable request or expectation to want to have people and deep relationships in our lives where we can trust one another. And trust is a vital component in any relationship. One of the signs of a good, healthy and Godly relationship is that there is a large degree of trust between those in the relationship. But even in the best of relationships someone will eventually unintentionally hurt the other’s feelings; someone will do something or not do something that the other sees as hurtful. You could put Gandhi and Mother Theresa in the same home with one another and eventually one of them is going to get annoyed with the other. This is what happens between fallen, flawed humans.

But something entirely different takes place between fallen flawed humans and a pure, perfect, holy God. What takes place in this relationship is that the fallen and flawed can ALWAYS count on the Other in this relationship to be exactly what He says He will be. God is a God who cannot lie. And what God has stated clearly in His word is that we are not to place our complete trust in one another or in our own thoughts and feelings but only in Him for He is the only one who is worthy and capable of being completely trusted.

Deuteronomy 31:8
”And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

Joshua 1:5
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.

Matthew 28:20
”…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

God promises us that He is with us always. Now I know there are times where we don’t sense God’s presence, where we don’t feel that God is with us. The problem when we trust more in our thoughts and feelings than in God’s word. This is one of the greatest problems in the church today: Christians who trust and rely more on their own thoughts and feelings to determine what is true and real than placing their trust in what God’s word says. Our thoughts and feelings are fleeting. They sway like the wind. But God’s truth is eternal and unchanging. After everything on this planet is long gone, God’s word will remain God’s word.

The truth will set us free and it is of vital importance to understand that our feelings are not truth. They are emotional responses to the multiple events that take place in our lives. FEELINGS ARE NOT FACTS. Feelings are chemical reactions that occur in our brains as a result of how we interpret the events of our lives. There is nothing wrong with our feelings, for God created us to be emotional beings. Emotions have a very important place in our lives. There is rarely anything wrong with what we feel, but when we allow our feelings to guide and direct us we have made a God out of our feelings. And some of the inevitable results will be fear, worry, and anxiety.

If you have yet to do so, it is now time for you to begin placing more trust in God and His word than in your thoughts and feelings. Your thinking leads to your emotional state. We can easily think our way into anxiety and depression. So now we need to find a way to think our way out of it. And the best way is always God’s way. The best way to live, to love, to enjoy life and even to think is to think in the ways that God would have us to think.

The following Scriptures deal with the preceding subjects of thinking, trust, fear, and anxiety. They have clear, easily understood approaches on how to effectively deal with anxiety. As you read through theses verses, ask yourself if the majority of your waking time is spent on trusting in what the truth of God’s word states or rather on your own thoughts and emotions.

Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 3:5-8
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones”

Proverbs 12:25

 “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up”

Psalm 34:4   I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
         And delivered me from all my fears.

Philippians 4:6-7 ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:8 Meditate on These Things ⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Psalm 55:22  ²² Cast your burden on the LORD,
         And He shall sustain you;

Luke 12:22-26 Do Not Worry  
²² Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁶ If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”

Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength”

Hebrews 13:6 “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’

Without knowing it, these verses are actually changing you spiritually. The Bible itself states that God’s word is:

Hebrews 4:12
...living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The best therapy we will EVER receive is to allow the word of God to reach as deep down inside of us as it can possibly go. No medication or counseling technique or therapeutic method performed by man will EVER do for us what these words will do for us. These very words are alive and powerful enough to pierce through everything within us and are more than capable of ministering to our greatest needs. It is a matter of whether you trust in it or not.

I am not advocating eliminating therapeutic methods or the need for medication to deal with anxiety. For some people medication is a necessity and needs to be dealt with by those who are qualified to prescribe and monitor it. Some very helpful ways to deal with anxiety include taking care of yourself physically. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating right? Are you getting exercise? What things do you do to minimize stress? Are you able to allow yourself the time to lighten up, relax and have fun? Do you challenge your thoughts that lead to fear and worry? Are your fears and worries actually realistic? Are there unresolved emotional wounds from the past that you haven’t allowed yourself to emotionally work through and for Christ to bring healing to yet? Once again, with the help of your counselor these issues can be faced and be dealt with.

It is important to deal with the physical and emotional parts of our lives. But just as important is the part that seems to get neglected more than the others and that’s the spiritual side of our lives.

You are here for Christian counseling which operates from the basis of God’s word and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. From that basis we will work together to help you to deal with your anxiety.

PLAN OF ACTION:

1.     Pray daily. Prayer is simply talking to God and giving God time to answer. God will sometimes give us very clear impressions on how to deal with whatever issues we bring before Him in prayer. He will often remind us of Bible verses that apply. Knowing God’s will for our lives is as simple as knowing what His word says. Sometimes God doesn’t give us clear defined answers. That’s okay too because God simply wants us to trust in Him more than answers He provides. Bring your burdens, your hurts, your fears and worries to Him over and over again. What is also very helpful in prayer is to thank God for the multiple blessings you have in your life. This is what it means to praise God. Having a grateful attitude towards God alters us deep within and will change how you think and feel. It also helps to focus in prayer more on God changing YOU than in changing your circumstances or changing other people. God is more interested in developing you into the image of Jesus Christ than He is in anything else. If we are turning to God to help with anxiety, then becoming more like Christ is a wonderful idea because Jesus had no fears or worries at all. And if Jesus had no fears or worries, why should we?

2.     Read your Bible daily. God’s word is the spiritual food that nourishes our soul and spirit. Your physical body can’t survive for very long without food and water, so what happens when our soul and spirit become malnourished? We spiritually wither and die. Not physical death, but spiritual death. Spiritual death is not an option for the Christian. So read your Bible. Allow it to work on you. Ponder and meditate on what you read. For dealing with fear and anxiety, the verses listed above and many more will provide tremendous spiritual benefit to help you to cope with your anxiety. Attend a church where the Bible is being taught and where you are encouraged to fellowship with other believers who can help you to deal with your issues as well.

3.     If you are on medication, take it as prescribed and work on improving the physical and emotional quality of your life through methods listed above. Continue seeing your doctor or psychiatrist for monitoring your mental health. Find godly ways to minimize stress and anxiety. Talk with your counselor if you are unsure and need additional information on how to deal with your anxiety.

So as you can see, there is tremendous hope for those who suffer with anxiety. You are not alone. Approximately 6 million American adults ages 18 and older (or about 2.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year) have panic disorder. Approximately 7.7 million American adults age 18 and older (or about 3.5 percent of people in this age group in a given year) have PTSD. Approximately 6.8 million American adults (or about 3.1 percent of people age 18 and over) have Generalized Anxiety Disorder in a given year. 1,2

Remember that with God all things are possible.

“According to the Bible, there is nothing wrong with realistically acknowledging and trying to deal with the identifiable problems of life. To ignore danger is fooling and wrong. But it is also wrong, as well as unhealthy, to be immobilized by excessive worry. Such worry must be committed to prayer to God, who can release us from paralyzing fear or anxiety, and free us to deal realistically with the needs and welfare both of others and of ourselves.” (Dr. Gary R. Collins, Christian Counseling, p. 66.)

References

1. Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.

2. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates by Demographic Characteristics. Table 2: Annual Estimates of the Population by Selected Age Groups and Sex for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004 (NC-EST2004-02) Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau Release Date: June 9, 2005. http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/

 

The Word Is Not In Them

Jeremiah 5:13
And the prophets become wind,
For the word is not in them.

The importance of whether or not His word is in us cannot be understated. You can basically divide the world into those who His word resides in and those where His word doesn't reside within. Even within the church this distinction of who has it in them and who doesn't speaks volumes about the issues we see taking place within the church as well. This is not at all a call to judgment about who has it in them and who doesn't. Besides, its not like we have the technology to set up some type of security gate so that when someone enters church it lets us know whether His word is in them or not. Plus to do so would be a bit un-Christ-like anyway. The church needs to be a place that welcomes whoever He sends to it because the church is a hospital for those who are ill from the condition of sin than it is a place for perfect Christian people to hang out. But it is of utmost importance that we as individuals see to it that we do what is necessary for His word to be in us.
Jeremiah is a difficult book in that God has reached His breaking point with the back-sliding of Israel and Judah. That says a lot for God is extremely patient and long suffering towards us sinners. But eventually, enough is enough. And God realizes that patience is no longer the virtue needed to get His people to turn back to Him and that He eventually has to resort to drastic measures. In this case God will send armies from the northern nations to overthrow Israel and Judah and take captive His people into a long and agonizing exile from the land He had given to them.
But of course, God being a God of mercy, grace and love doesn't finish the story there for He includes a provision for a remnant of Israel to eventually be spared this exile, and that His people would eventually return to the land of milk and honey in order to restore the nation of Israel and for God to make good on His covenant promise to Abraham.
After this restoration occurs, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son; the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, to save man from sin. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and in His promise came the provision for the indwelling of His Holy Spirit to reside within those who would believe in Christ. That the Word would dwell within human beings. That His word would be in us.
That is the distinction. If you are one who has His word dwelling within you then you are blessed beyond measure.
During the time of Jeremiah and during our time, there are those who claim to be believers and followers of God but unfortunately it appears by their fruit that the word really isn't in them. Once again, this is not about judgement of these people but it does explain a lot about why they don't respond to those around them and to the issues taking place in their lives in much of a Christ like manner. I honestly would wonder about people who attended the same church as I did and would hear the same messages I heard week in and week out and how they seemed to struggle with seeing their own sin and the necessity of going to God on a regular basis for Him to deal with those issues they struggled with. I would notice that it was far easier for them to point the finger of blame at others instead of at themselves. And then I would have to be on guard for my own spiritual pride as if I were somehow a better Christian than they were. If you notice, my focus was on what was wrong with their Christian walk and not as much on my own. And then the word in me would put me in my place by reminding me that I have no right to criticize the Christians around me. Especially if I haven't been praying for the the very issue that was bothering me about them. This is a problem because it is one of the chief tactics of the enemy to divide the church.
It is still an issue. It isn't about memorizing the Bible because Satan obviously has that down.
It's about whether His word is in me and if I am participating with the sanctifying work of His word in me. The words from my mouth, the attitude that comes with those words, how I view and treat those around me, how I see myself in comparison to them and ultimately how I see God all comes down to whether His word in me has any real effect or not. Am I allowing His word to pierce soul and spirit, joints and marrow and do I pay attention when it is discerning the thoughts and intents of my heart? Am I taking responsibility for what it shows me and being real with God about those things the word reveals within me that needs to be cut away by the Surgeons blade?
If not then the substance of my very life; of every word; of every action is wind. Not the wind of the Holy Spirit, but a fruitless wind that amounts to nothing.
But with His word within us, hell itself trembles. Mountains will be cast down. Lives will be changed for eternity. The lost will be found. The hopeless and unloved will know hope and love.
And best of all, we will be more and more like Him.

Holy Father we come to You in the name of Jesus Christ and ask that You would see fit to instruct us in Your ways and in Your word so that it penetrates our very souls and dwells deep within us. If there is anything that stands in the way of this taking place we ask for You to reveal to us what it is we need to do to remove it so that there is no blocking the flow of Your Spirit in our hearts so that we would become fountains of living water to drench those we encounter with You. We thank you for Your word and the power that it has on us and on those around us. You and Your word is our only hope and we look forward to eternity with You in order to adequately thank You; for eternity isn't long enough to thank You for all You have done for us.
In Your holy name,
amen.

Thanksgiving Devotional

Psalm 26:7
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.

In the life of my wife and I now is a 6 month old granddaughter. Thank you (that's for the congratulations some of you just thought). Her being in our lives really is worthy of congratulations. She is precious to us. I dare say to us she is pretty important to us. She is a BIG priority. She needs lots of attention, affection, protection and most of all lots of love. She's too young right now to understand any of what is going on in her life but even science has realised the great importance of this stage of her life being critical to her overall well being and development. So we have our part to play in doing whatever we can to help her. And as a result, we are immensely blessed. All it takes is a little upturn of the corners of her mouth and for those big blue eyes to grow wider and to brighten up even more and we receive payment of blessings in dividends.

That's all it takes is a moment of being looked at in the eye with a smile on a face and the recipient is blessed in the greatest of all possible ways.

She can't sing a song yet. She can't dance a jig. She can't come home with a good report card yet. She can't wash the car. She can't clean her room. She can't come home on time. She can't get into a good college yet. She can't go to work and get a raise. She can't even say "I love you".

So what has she accomplished that is worthy of congratulations so far in her 6 months? Well shes messed up a whole bunch of diapers so far. She's thrown her toys around enough for it to qualify for an Olympic event. She drank up all kinds of formula. She requires and demands constant attention except for when she's sleeping and even that's a crap shoot (pun intended). She's done absolutely NOTHING that we would consider to be successful or valuable as a contribution to the world. She just is. And she cannot be any more precious or valuable to us than she was on the day she was born. Or on this day. The day before her first Thanksgiving.

Psalm 139 tells us that God Himself forms the innards of every human being. The inner person, the personality, the soul of the person. And since it is God who creates all that we see and creates us in His image and likeness it stands to reason that every human being is fearfully and wonderfully made.

So it's safe to say that being proclaimed in this Thanksgiving devotional is that a voice of thanksgiving is proclaiming the wondrous and most valuable and precious work of God in creating someone in our lives named Brooklynn.

She is most precious to us. But she is no more and no less precious than any other person. To bless us she will never, ever have to perform or do anything to earn our love. Even if she stops smiling and looking back at us with those incredible blue eyes, our love for her will not and cannot ever change. It will always just be.

Today I can find millions of things to be thankful for. Two of them are in my immediate vicinity as I write this. And from what I've come to know of God I find it hard to believe that He doesn't feel the same way about all of us. Every one of us. That all of us need not do a thing to earn His love and acceptance. His love and acceptance of us just is.

Do you ever doubt His love for you? Most of us have from time to time. And there is a wonderful answer to that doubt. The answer can be found 2000 years ago dying on a cross. If that doesn't dispel the doubt about His love I doubt that anything else can.

And all he wants is for us to trust in the love offering of His Son and from time to time, to gaze back at Him with a smile and big wide eyes that simply say, "thank you".

Happy Thanksgiving.

Holy Father we come to You in the name of Jesus Christ and we thank you for blessings too numerous to count. Even if we are struggling with some great difficulty or loss this holiday we can still find something to be thankful for. And if we can't than we know You understand and will help us to work through and to deal with whatever has happened in our lives. Help us to have hearts of gratitude not just on this day but everyday for You are good and worthy to be praised, no matter our circumstances for Your love remains and always is. You give us at least that to count on and that is more than enough.                                        
In Your holy name, amen.

A Kind Of A Devotional (sort of)

Sorry about not getting any devotionals up lately. Busy with packing for our move on Saturday. But I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that life goes on.
It seems like in most peoples lives, they grow up in whatever neighborhood and it's not altogether uncommon for them to live out their lives there. Others move but it's usually not too far from the birthplace. And still others move states away but most people generally settle down and put down roots; raise a family; watch them grow up all and watch it from the comfort of the home they will probably live in until they die. That is what seems to happen to most people.
Sue and I are not most people. I'm not into competing for who has the most problems because we all know of people who would gladly trade their problems for ours. Well, at least a few people anyway. And I'm not at all into the woe is me perspective, looking for sympathy for the plight of the lives we live. That's not what either of us are about. You get past the point of "why me" eventually because you never get any answer to that question anyway. No, where you eventually get to is a place where it just don't matter anymore how you want your life to go. I know this sounds negative; a throwing in the towel, massive resignation scenario but I believe there's more to it than just that. And believe me that internally I have been in a very negative place about all of this, but as my previous posts noted, I don't see my emotional states as being anything real. My emotional states are far too transitory to put any real value into and besides, the God I believe in instructs me to not live my life based on my emotional states but instead on the truth of Him and His word. This is very challenging, especially when my emotions are at a fever pitch and I want to throw my temper tantrum. Now I know that the worlds wisdom tells us our feelings are of paramount importance and that we have to express them and process them and go on Facebook and explain all of it to everyone who will read about it in between of playing Farkle in order to be someone who is understood.
Well I don't really give a rats patootie anymore if anyone understands me. Heck, I don't understand me! Why would I expect anyone else to. Well, God understands me but He's got the capacity to understand all of our foolishness combined. Think about that one for a second. That will blow your mind.
Jesus talked about how He had no place to lay His head. The Bible tells us that we are pilgrims, strangers, that this is Not Our Real Home (get the clue?). It tells us that we are just passing through, that we are on a journey and that how we live our lives here has everything to do with how we live it out in the real home, the place Jesus promises us in John 14, the eternal home.
Paul talks about in Acts 20 about how he doesn't count his life as being important enough to care about what happens to him in this life, as long as he is continuing the journey that the Lord has set for him and that he chooses to not to let anything that happens in this life to move him away from God and from what God has ordered for his life. And if you know anything about Paul's life it was not a life of wealth and worldly success resulting in material prosperity. But Paul was probably one of the most prosperous people you would ever want to meet because his prosperity was in knowing Christ. Jesus also stated that it we really want to follow Him we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily and then we get to follow Him. John the Baptist knew what was important was less of me and more of Him.
In other words the message of the Bible is not a feel better about yourself, be all you can be, get rich quick scheme; as many today (Joel Osteen) present the Scriptures to be. It is a message of sacrifice to the point of death of the self that can only be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit guiding someone internally to put those emotional states into their proper perspective and in their proper place. The proper perspective is to understand that these emotions cannot be my guiding force that instead it must be God. The proper place it to take the emotions along with the flesh that clings to them and nail it to a cross, daily, every second of the day if need be.
There is no way I can call myself a Christian, spend time with the Lord in prayer and encounter Him in the Scriptures and come away from that thinking that I am to be guided by my emotions. Emotions have their place but as a Christian they are never meant to take the place of God and His guidance.
And in order for God to transform us by the renewing of our minds and to mold us into the image of His Son, we must know a little something of what it is like to be Him. Not in what we would consider the more glorious aspects of His being but the parts of His life and being that we would rather do without. I am speaking of course of His suffering. If I am really interested in getting to know Him I need to get to know something of His suffering. And I don't have to get out of bed in the morning looking for it. It just happens. And it seems to happen in ways where it strikes deeply; as in the aspects of it coming into our lives through those who are closest to us.
In order for me to truly love I need to know the pain of rejection and even abuse. I have come to know these things. In order for Christ to dwell in me and for Him to work through me I must know the experience of suffering and not just something I heard in a sermon. And so He has shown me. And then He says, "love them as I have loved you". To which my flesh immediately replies, "you must be kidding". To which He immediately reminds me of a place called Calvary where His Son stares down at me through a bloody and torn face radiating mercy, grace and love to me. And silently He speaks to me about how He is not at all kidding and that this is love. And then He points to the ones who have caused the rejection and the abuse and tells me that if I want to truly follow Him I must be willing to do the same as He has done. To forgive them, to have mercy on them, to bestow grace upon them and to love them.

I thought I was just going to check in but something takes over my fingers as I am typing.
What I'm saying is there is no way I can call myself a Christian, study and teach the word, seek the Lord in prayer and come away from all that thinking that my feelings really matter when it comes to this move or anything else in this life that I'm not too crazy about. And God all along is providing His grace. Which for me is more than sufficient.
Turned out to kind of be a devotional after all.

Devotional Tuesday Nov. 15

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

We awake from sleep. What is the first thing on our mind? It could be a vast number of things. "I wish I could stay in bed" or "I wish I had went to bed earlier" Maybe theres a major issue were worried about. Maybe there some serious illness we have or a loved one has that consumes our attention. These things happen. There are so many things going on in all of our lives. Where are our minds focused throughout most of our waking hours? It's so easy to place most of our focus on whatever seems to be the most pressing of all the issues and make that the meditation of our hearts. Meditation isn't necessarily chanting a mantra in a lotus position while burning incense. From a Biblical definition it's basically what we think about and more precisely what we focus on in our thinking. It's what we're dwelling on in our minds.

And then there's the thousands of words that come out of our mouths everyday. What is the content of our conversations? I love to talk about football with other football fans and impress them with how brilliant I am about football when the truth is there is probably more that I don't know about football than what I do know about it. Maybe we talk about the TV shows we watched last night, the issues going on in our relationships or maybe it's about how messed up the government is. Once again there's a vast ocean of topics to discuss. And what about the tone of our conversations? Are we interested in those we are talking to or do we just use them as sounding boards? Are there some words sprinkled into our conversations that we wouldn't be caught dead saying in church? Are we engaging in gossip? Are we complainers? I remember hearing a pastor call complaining the language of the lost. Ouch!

To be a Christian means to be a follower of Christ. So with Christ as our role model we need to find out about what He meditated on and what He talked about and how He talked.

A pretty good clue is found in John 12:49-50
For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

And also again in John 5:19
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

Jesus said nothing and did nothing unless it was from the Father. From the Gospel accounts it's pretty certain that the focus of Jesus was primarily on His Father first and then on people next. As far as the cares and concerns of the world they were at best a distant third. Every word He spoke pleased the Father. Every meditation of His heart pleased the Father. Every act He committed pleased the Father.

The Psalm above compels and challenges us to live in the same manner as Christ did. But the verse also reminds us of Who has redeemed us from the slavery of sin and Who is our strength in order to walk, talk, think and act as Christ did. Don't try this on your own power (don't try this at home boys and girls or someone's gonna get hurt!). You'll end up frustrated and wonder if your even saved at all. We easily forget whose power it is that equips us and enables us to follow Him. It's easy to forget these things when the focus of our minds and the focus of our words aren't on and from Him. It is the Lord's strength and redemption which allows us to follow Him and to let His Spirit flow through us in order to reflect the glory of Christ in word and deed to the world around us.

Holy Father, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ that you would grant us the ability to focus our minds and the words of our mouths in a manner that would be acceptable and even pleasing to you. Forgive us for when we fail in these endeavors and grant us your grace another day to remind us as often as need be to turn our minds and our mouths over to You. Give us strength in Your redemptive power to reflect Your Son to those we encounter in this world today. In Your Holy name, Amen.

Being A Fan

The Baltimore Ravens (long drawn out, infinite sigh).
I had season tickets in their first year back when they played at Memorial Stadium on 33rd St. It was 1996 and NFL football was finally back in Baltimore. My seats were in the corner of the end zone about 13 rows above the field. Right below me was the former Orioles dugout which the Ravens players used to come on and off the field. I couldn't believe my eyes at the size of Jonathan Ogden the first time I saw him up close. This was the year when they drafted Ogden and Ray Lewis. VinnieTestaverde was the quarterback and Ted Marchibroda was head coach. It felt great to finally have a team but it was bittersweet in that we acquired the team in sort of the same way we lost a team (the Colts). It wasn't exactly the same but I felt bad towards Cleveland Browns fans because I knew what they were going through and no matter how you spin it, it sucks to have your beloved team leave town, no matter the reason.
That first game was a powerful experience. Before game time they had a ceremony where they marched out a bunch of the ex- Colts who had played in this stadium. It was emotional for me because my dad has just died that June and he would have loved to been there. It was through him that I found my love of sports, especially Orioles baseball, Colts football and Clippers hockey. That was one of those moments where missing my dad was pretty hard.
The Ravens played and beat the dreaded Oakland Raiders. The emotion in the stadium was beyond intense. I hadn't been to a pro football game since the early 80's and went to tons of baseball games. I wasn't prepared for the intensity of a crowd that finally got an NFL team after years of anguish and add to it a crowd who was severely liquored up. I had stopped all drug and alcohol use 6 years prior. It wasn't like I'd lived my life in a seminary, far from it. But these people were going nuts. Especially as the team was coming off the field where I was sitting. It seemed like all those years of pent up frustration and anger had all come to a head in one bright and shining moment. I looked at my friend and said, "we got to get the heck out of here". Fights were breaking out everywhere you looked. The sense of violence and danger was palatable. I'm a Dundalk boy who wasn't big on fighting but I'd been in a round or two. Usually these kinds of scenes weren't an issue for me. But as we got to the ramp going down from the seats I look above me and someone has another person held up in the air getting ready to throw said person over the railing right on top of us. Everyone was squeezed together and you could just sense that everyone was going to flip out and just start throwing punches. I seen some stuff go on at Oriole games but nothing like this.
But we made it out alive. And we made it through about 4 really bad seasons of football. I would watch the Ravens at 1:00 p.m. and then watch a "real" NFL team play at 4:00. That's what it felt like. But they were our team, we loved them and we rooted all the way. Finally that 2000 season arrived. Every Ravens fan knows what that was like. Watching your team have such a crazy season (5 games without an offensive touchdown, a defense that was primal) and then go into the playoffs the way they did was incredible. I'll never forget that first playoff game at home against the Denver Broncos. I had watched every game of the season and knew the defense was something really special but this defense on this field on this day played like they were possessed. They had ratcheted up their intensity to a level I had never seen anyone play at. I knew that if they could keep this level of intensity up that no one could beat them. And thats what happened.
This town basked in the afterglow of that for a few years. Even after the Elvis Grbac debacle the team stayed pretty much competitive. Then came Kyle Boller. Could this be the franchise quarterback? Their still looking for some of the balls he fumbled. Then came an old advesary who had beat them in the playoffs, Steve McNair. The team stayed competitive but still couldn't get it done. They had went 13-3 in 2006 but the next year went 5-11. One of the biggest problems seemed to be consistency. at times they would look like the real deal and other times like that team that played here in the first 4 years.
And then came two rookies; one at head coach and another at quarterback: John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco. One was a special teams coach and the other from the University of Delaware. Once again the question lingered in the air, "could this be..."?
I write this after watching yesterdays game at Seattle. A week after watching them at Pittsburgh. Two totally different games. And what seems like two totally different teams. I'm not talking about the opponents.
Here's my problem. The question remains the same question. Granted nothing in pro football can be predicted or taken for granted. Ask the Philadelphia Eagles. Granted, so many teams this year have jumped from mediocrity to brilliance back to mediocrity. And some have gone straight from brilliance to horrible and have stayed there. Only one team has been brilliantly consistent (Green Bay). So maybe I'm asking or wanting too much. Maybe the lockout really did cause some of what were seeing league wide, I don't know. All I know is that I don't know if I can take much more of this. This is nerve wracking. One week it seems like this team is the legitimate real deal and then the next against a scrub team they become the scrub team. I imagine it's got all of them at One Winning Drive banging their heads against the wall too.
Sports is a weird thing. I remember a guy I worked with years ago who could care less about football and the Ravens. When the rest of us were sitting around disecting the teams performances and being better coaches than the real coaches my work mate would say, "well, one teams gonna win and one teams gonna lose". As much as he used to frustrate me, he was obviously right. I know what he said was a given but it kind of rang true with some kind of profound enlightenment.
Because no matter what happens on that field, it's really only football.
As much as it evokes something in me that connects me to my dad and a different time, it's still just a game. We get pretty darned caught up in it but it helps to have someone around who puts it all in perspective.
Especially after a game like yesterday's.