Fight Like A Man

Take off your eye patch!

2006-05-04T21:51:00.000-04:00

Did you ever wonder why pirates wore eye patches?

Pirates wore eye patches to have one eye adjusted for the top deck and the other eye already adjusted for the darkness when suddenly going below deck. The strong sunlight while above deck on an oceangoing vessel could require minutes of adjustment to the dim lighting below deck. With virtually no light sources below deck, pirates would have to rely heavily upon their eyes to adjust. In the critical moments of modifying the rigging, navigating, and especially during battle, those minutes were too precious. A simple switch of the patch from one eye to the other saved time and was more convenient than being temporarily blinded when going between decks.

You see, a pirate wore an eye patch to "fit in" to both worlds - light and dark.

Did you know you wear them too?

You ever keep a journal of your challenges throughout the day? My friend Mark asked us to do so and he explained that within each challenge we can have one of three responses: spiritual, religious, or fleshly. The response from the flesh is obvious to all, but the difference between the religious and spiritual response lies in our motivation. If we use the spiritual words, but inside we are thinking "serves you right" - that is a religious response. If you carry a small notepad and keep track, you will find yourself constantly "switching your eye patch" between the fleshly, religious and spiritual you. However, keeping track of your responses will help you become mindful of the spiritual person you strive to be.

Paul said it clearly in Romans 12:1-2 (The Message):

1So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Did you ever realize you were so much like a pirate? Me neither. How often, each day, do we change our eye patch? One minute we're spiritual, the next fleshly, the next religious. Maybe if we take off our eye patch, we won't be able to adjust ourselves so easily.

Deeds Not Words

2006-05-03T12:02:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard the saying, "talk is cheap"? What does that mean? We all talk so much, don't we? Anyone can talk. Would it surprise you to know that Jesus, when asked to "prove He was the One", illustrated this principle.

Take a look at Matthew 11:2-6 (The Message):

2John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples 3to ask, "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?"
4Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on:
5The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.
6"Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!"

Interestingly, Jesus said to tell John about his actions and results.

James spells it out a little more clearly (2:14-18 The Message):

14Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? 15For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved 16and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you? 17Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

I know I need to be reminded to talk less and do more. How about you? Anybody can talk. I'm sure Nike never dreamed they would teach us one of the most important spiritual principles................JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you carrying today?

2006-05-01T18:25:00.001-04:00

Men, can we talk for a minute? We are men, right? We mess up. But the enemy uses our guilt to hold us down, to shame us from moving forward. If this is a constant source of trouble for you, I have good news.

Isaiah 43:25 says, ""I--yes, I alone--am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again."

Did you see that? God, FOR HIS OWN SAKE, will never think of our sins again. If they are a burden to God (and they are, see verse 24), can you imagine what a burden they are to us? Does this mean we can do whatever we want, and then throw the burden away? Of course not, Paul answered that in Romans 6. However, through repentance we can, and should, move on and quit carrying these burdens. They are weighing us down. What are you carrying today?