Tiiiiiiiiime is on my side.....NOT

It has been said that ‘Time and tide wait for no man.”  Time is something that everyone has an equal amount of.  No matter how rich or poor you are.  No matter where you live or what nationality or race you are.  Every single person on the planet has the exact same number of hours in their day.  We’re all bound by time.  This week I heard some preaching that made me think.  It’s not something I’ve never thought of before.....I was just reminded and thought of it again.  God does not exist within the realm of time.  There is no “time” for God.  HE doesn’t have a past or a future.  HE just IS.  As a human, bound by time and it’s movement....this concept just makes my head spin.  I cannot wrap my mind around it.  I don’t know if humans even have the capacity to understand what it’s like to exist outside of time.  Not only does God exist outside of time....he also exists outside of the confines of physical space.  It’s such a mind-blowing thing to think about.  God, in His infinite existence, is everywhere, all the time.  People wonder where God came from....and the only answer is HE didn’t come from anywhere.  HE just IS.  

The only way I can even begin to comprehend this concept is to relate it to something I’m more familiar with.  My degree is in Audio/Video Production.  In this field we have two kinds of editing; linear and non-linear.  Basically, linear editing is when you have your master footage and you physically copy using a deck (like a VCR) from it to your edited product.  So you have two monitors and two VCRs.  As you watch your master footage play you physically copy it from that tape to the edited copy.  Once you’ve made a cut you can’t change it back. You have to put them in the right order the first time or start over.  The cuts must be in a line, hence the name “linear editing.”  In linear editing, timing is everything.  You have to pay very close attention to your time-code and you have to get your cuts right down to the individual frames.  The other form, non-linear editing, is much simpler.  In non-linear editing, it doesn’t matter what order you shot your film, it doesn’t matter what order you put your clips onto your computer.  You can take them and shuffle them around and put them in whatever order you want.  If you want to take a clip that you just filmed today and put it in front of a clip that you shot 3 weeks ago, you can do that.  In non-linear editing you put all your footage onto a computer and use an editing program to arrange your clips and add transitions and so on.  If you arrange things one way and decide to change them, you can.  It’s basically like copy and paste.  

So, this is kind of how I look at God’s existence and my existence.  I know it’s so simple and watered down that it doesn’t even begin to fully explain His existence outside of time....but it’s the only way I can understand it.  I live in a linear world.  I have to live today and then tomorrow.  Once today is over, I can’t go back and revisit it, likewise I cannot jump ahead to a future day and live it then come back to the present day.  God on the other hand, can be in any day in the history of time whenever He wants to.  He can see ahead to the future of time and He can see behind to it’s past simultaneously.  

It’s amazing to me.  It’s confusing to me.  So what does it mean to me?  It means that time is a precious resource.  It means, that I better make sure I use the time God gives me wisely.  The things I should do today, have to be done today.  The hours and minutes that tick by will never come back.  Some day my time, just like everyone else’s, will run out.  When that day comes, I will be held accountable for all the hours and minutes I used here on this earth.  I need to remember what it says in Ephesians; “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”  Christians need to be aware of the time they use each day.  We need to make sure that we’re not wasting the time that God has given us.  When I stand before Him at the end of time, I don’t want to regret the time I had on this earth.  So, make the most of your time.  When you can do something productive for the Kingdom, do it.  Don’t waste time.  It’s not ours to waste anyway, God gave it to us to use wisely.  So let’s be wise.  

Night of the living dead....

I was never one for watching scary movies....My brother however, really REALLY enjoyed scary movies.  He, being 12 years older than me, was a teenager in the early 80‘s; the zenith of scary-movie history.  In my opinion, some of the scariest movies ever made were born in the 80’s....granted, I was a little kid then...but still;  many of the movies that are probably considered “classics” in this genre were spawned during the 80‘s;  and they were some of my brother’s favorites.  I distinctly remember him having two  (not one, but TWO) Nightmare on Elm Street posters in his bedroom..AND a Night of the Living Dead (or maybe it was Return of the Living Dead) poster.  I, being 6 years old, was terrified of these posters.  TERRIFIED.  He also portrayed Michael Meyers (from the original Friday the 13th) for halloween one year....and was, as I recall, frighteningly convincing.  He and his best friend even undertook the task of making their own slasher flick one summer.....while  they were baby sitting me....I was told to “just  stay on the deck for a little while” while they videoed in the woods behind the house.  Hearing them pretend to kill each other in the woods was probably what kept me on the deck.  

So, what’s the deal, you might be wondering.....Why all this talk about scary movies? Wow, Beth Ann has really gone off the deep end hasn’t she?  Talking about zombies and Freddie Krueger and all this crazy stuff...No, I haven’t.  You know one thing that most of those movies have in common......In almost all of them, there’s a point in the movie where the villain appears to be dead and then comes back to wreak more havoc on some poor unsuspecting victim/s.  There are even whole movies based on the “living dead”...zombies.  I was reading my Bible this morning and something I came across made me think of all this.(weird I know)  You can find spiritual truths everywhere, yes, even in horror movies.  

“For he who has died is freed from sin. “ Romans 6:7 

“Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey it’s lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves  to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”  Romans 6:11-13

Sometimes I think we forget that we’re dead to our old selves.  When we sin, it’s like we’ve become Zombie Christians.  That old man of sin is dead, but it’s just like in one of those movies when you think everything is fine the bad guy is dead and then suddenly he jumps out from behind a tree and attacks you.  In these scary movies the good guy always has to figure out the way to defeat the villain.  Some villains even have special weapons you have to use to defeat them....you know the old cliche’s;  Silver bullets kill werewolves, a stake through the heart will kill a vampire etc.  Well, Jesus is the weapon that kills the old man of sin. 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, But the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”  II Corinthians 10: 3-5  

In all those horror movies, the villain is never just tolerated.  He has to be destroyed.  We shouldn’t tolerate “zombies” in our spiritual lives either.  They have to be annihilated!    

If a physically dead person climbed up out of their grave and started walking around harassing people we wouldn’t just accept it and say “oh....that’s just how it is.” “There goes Bob again....just don’t mind him.”  When your old, dead, rotten self shows up, don’t accept him or tolerate him either. 

“for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die;  but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”  Romans 8: 13-14  

The only way to defeat this villain is to KILL him.  Once you’re immersed and your old self is dead and buried, he should stay dead and buried.  When you see that zombie coming up, it should shock you.  You should wonder how he came up out of the grave and you should do whatever it takes to put him back in his place.  The wonderful thing is; God has given us all the tools we need to kill these “zombies.”  In horror movies, you can always tell when the villain is around, usually the music will let you know.  In your life, if you start to pay attention, you can normally see a pattern to your old self coming up.  When I neglect my memory work or my bible reading or (especially) my personal prayer time....that’s  when the zombie likes to show up.  So...listen to the music.  When you see yourself slipping, STOP.  Regain your footing and don’t let the zombies come up out of the grave.  

Sorry this post was kind of strange.....I told you it came to me when I was reading my Bible and even though it’s a strange illustration, it makes sense. (to me at least)  Until next time....

Nyame Nhyira Wo

BAM

April May Newsletter

Beauty in the breakdown

3/1/2011  11:05 P.M. Inspired by KB -C

Beauty in the breakdown

Sometimes I look at things in a strange way.  Particularly since moving to Ghana, my view of life has changed.  Oftentimes I find that there’s beauty in the breakdown.  

The flickering light in the bathroom that refuses to stay on long enough to be of any use at all....off, on, off, on; reminds me that the true light of the world will never go out.  The dripping faucet in the same bathroom reminds me that there is a fountain of living water that never runs dry.  The family I have now that’s really a mix of people from broken families reminds me that “family” is so much more than biology. The dropped phone calls and unreliable internet access remind me that I communicate with my real Father anytime, anywhere without wondering if He heard me.   The frustration of not being able to talk easily to some people because we don’t speak the same language reminds me that there’s never a language barrier with God.  The toe that was broken in a fluke accident where it got caught in my sandal strap reminds me that every member of the body is important...even the third toe on your right foot that doesn’t even really have a name.  

So many broken, run-down things are around me.  Everywhere I look I can see something that is not the way it should be.  They’re not really beautiful I suppose, but being able to find the beauty in those kinds of things is necessary in this life.  The most beautiful thought of all is that I know that I serve a God who isn’t afraid of a broken-down mess.  My God came down to this earth to be born to dirt-poor parents, in a barn.  My God became a human and washed the feet of his closest followers.  My God touched “gross” sick people and healed them.  My God loves to take a broken-down, mess of a person, fix them up and then use them as an example to all the other messy people around them.  My God sees my potential (and yours); who I really am, instead of a broken-down mess. 

Yeah, there’s beauty in that.... 

American Idol(atry)

A big house with a white picket fence.  Two car garage complete with two cars.  Two perfectly behaved kids and a dog.  People work themselves half-to-death trying to reach this standard....known as “living the American Dream.”  Keeping up with the Joneses.  Who created this standard anyway?  You know what I think is sad?  The so-called American dream mentions nothing about spiritual life.  So you have all these things...you’re living the life.  All the perks and benefits of those hours and hours of hard work you put in at the office.  But your soul is languishing.  You spend all your time and money and effort and thought on building your own little shrine to yourself and all “your hard work” until it’s so big that other people notice it and pat you on the back.  “Wow, look at that house!  You must be so proud.  You must have worked so hard!”  Guess what....that house is going to be gone one day.  People who make idols will become like them....a house is just a big empty box.  We put stuff in it, we live in it....but really it’s just a shell.  Put all your blood, sweat and tears into building up that house....what will it do for you?  In the end, you’ll be just like that house....empty.  The American Dream is really a nightmare....it’s an idol.  

Here in Ghana (even more so in other African nations) you can see actual “idols.” Meaning what you would typically envision when you hear the word idol.  If you go out to the village you might see an actual carved image or rock, or tree or whatever; that people offer sacrifices to and worship on a regular basis.  Now, in the U.S. you’re not going to see people bowing down in front of their cars or their houses....You do however see people investing a significant portion of their time, energy, money and thought into improving their status.  They might not physically bow down and worship their house or their job or their car or their hobby....but in their heart it’s the most important thing to them.  Sometimes they don’t even realize it.  It seems to me that Americans have a hard time recognizing their idols so we think they don’t exist.  Americans have idols....they’re just packaged differently than the idols out in the villages of Africa.  

Anything that you devote yourself to can become your idol.  Even (seemingly) good things can become idols.  I bet you know a guy that spends lots of time working in the yard of your church building; mowing the grass, trimming hedges, even doing small repairs and things around the building.  That’s great, maintenance needs to be taken care of....but if that same gentleman doesn’t ever do any outreach or personal Bible studies with anyone because he’s done “his part” working in the church...then the maintenance of the church building has become his idol.  What’s more important, the stones around the church building or the living stones that God uses to build THE church?  

People will never be able to fully submit to God and serve him until they recognize and eliminate the idols in their lives.  We have to thoroughly examine our lives.  Where do you spend most of your time and your money?  What do you spend most of your time doing or thinking about?  If our lives are not focused on serving God (even if you’re not working “in ministry”) then we need to seriously reevaluate our priorities.  Maybe I’ll post more on this later....but in the meantime, remember, where you heart is, there your treasures will be also.

Nyame Adom

BAM

Fearless...

“The Lord challenges us to suffer persecutions and to confess him.  He wants those who belong to him to be brave and fearless.  He himself shows how weakness of the flesh is overcome by courage of the Spirit.  This is the testimony of the apostles and in particular of the representative, administrating Spirit.  A Christian is fearless.”  Tertullian

I really like this quote.  It’s a very hard pill to swallow sometimes, but it’s SHOULD be true.  Since I’ve been in Ghana I’ve gotten a lot more into the Word and I’ve started to understand some things that I never even realized I didn’t understand.  Why are all those  stories in the Bible in the first place?  There are so many different occasions in the Bible where people displayed extraordinary courage or bravery in the face of certain death and doom.  When I was younger I just enjoyed the stories like most children do.  What child wouldn’t enjoy hearing such fantastical stories like Jonah, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions’ Den and so on?  But as a child they felt like “stories” to me...like fairy tails.  I know that I was aware that these stories were supposed to be different than other stories like Snow White or Aladdin, but I didn’t really understand until I got older.  The stories in the Bible are not fairy tales or myths.  They are historical documentation of the most amazing events to ever happen on this earth.  David, Goliath, Noah, Joshua, Jonah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego.....they’re all REAL people.  Just like you and I, they were once alive on this earth.  They had real families, real jobs, real problems just like we have now.  So what made them so extraordinary in the stories that have made them so well known?  It was their faith!  They were courageous because they really believed that the Bible (at least what they had of it then) was true.  They really believed that the Creator of the universe was involved in their lives.  

Now think about this.....they didn’t even have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit like Christians today do!  We have the potential to have SO much courage.  We don’t just have the occasional help of the Holy Spirit in extreme situations...He lives inside of us all the time.  The same Sprit that enabled Daniel and his friends to excel  in their training, and to withstand being burnt alive in a furnace LIVES inside of me.  The same Spirit that enabled Noah to be righteous when literally the whole earth was unrighteous and to build a boat for a flood even though he’d never seen rain, lives inside of me.  The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead....THAT Spirit LIVES INSIDE of my body!

Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, that thought is very complex.  It’s comforting to know that I have this tremendous source of power.  It’s also a little frightening.  Why?  Because, God knows my true potential.  So He knows if I’m living up to my potential....It’s also a little frightening because it’s just SO much power. Sometimes it freaks me out to think about what God could use me for if I just totally let go of myself and submitted to HIM in every aspect of my life.   Look at Paul, God used him to do amazing things....God also allowed him to suffer extensively.  Could I withstand suffering like that?  Could I do amazing things like Paul did?  I have to believe that I could if I really lived by faith and by the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Power can be a scary thing.  But the amazing thing is that the power of the Holy Spirit doesn’t have to be scary to us.  In fact there should be no fear at all of this power.  God loves us and there is no fear in love.  The power of the Holy Spirit is to enable us to serve God fully.  He gives us the power to do extraordinary things and to have extraordinary faith!  What an amazing gift that is!  

Nyame Adom (by God's Grace)

BethAnn