“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5, ESV)

I am often guilty of complaining about my work situation. My job isn’t easy. The hours are not great. The corporation is all about making money, not about virtue, kindness and love. I also have to work with people. They can be difficult and most are very worldly. I don’t work with very many Christians. So I get discouraged and complain.

The other day I was strongly convicted about my attitude. One of my co-workers came to me and said that he was thankful that I was working with him. He told me that he was glad to have another believer working there. My first reaction was, “I know, we need to stick together. It’s hard here with so many ungodly attitudes.”

His response hit me like a ton of bricks. “I know. Most of the people here don’t know Jesus. That’s why I’m glad you are here to help encourage them and share the good news with them.”

Wow, those words were powerful! They smacked me upside the head and some sense was knocked into me! I’m on mission. I am not stuck here. I am placed here. This is a foreign land and I have been sent to share Jesus. My store uniform is the clothing of the indigenous people. They speak their own language using terminology and phrases unique to that people group. They live in their own culture, a world centered on money and performance. I have been placed among the heathens to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like any other missionary, I will suffer. I have to give up time with my family to be on the mission field. I have to trust God for provision and support like any missionary. It is necessary for me to filled with the Spirit and His power daily. I will have to learn about the culture and interact with the people for a time before they are receptive to my way of life.

I need to hold fast to these words from Peter. “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:14–15, ESV)

Therefore it is necessary that I take up my cross daily and head into my mission field. The Lord will lead the way. I pray that many will be saved through the ministry of the few missionaries that I am privileged to serve with. It won’t be easy. Please pray for us as we brave the greed filled, results driven foreign culture to bring the Good News of Jesus.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24–25, ESV)

I am saddened by the pro-suicide discussions that I have been hearing lately. As a Christian, I do not agree with the “death with dignity” advocates. There is nothing dignified about dying. It is an undignified situation brought on by mankind’s sin against a Holy God. It is never good, right, happy or dignified. It is loss, sadness, pain, and ugly.

It was not the way God intended things to be. He is about life and living. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, ESV). The enemy or our soul is the one who kills and destroys.

It seems to me that it should go without saying that Christians would oppose the ideology of the assisted suicide activists. But I have discovered that many do not. I know because I have been hearing their views on this travesty. “To each his own” and “Well, I wouldn’t do it but it might be right for them” are popular platitudes that are going around.

The Scripture is clear, God places great value on life. There are reasons that we as Christians should choose life. Here are just a few of those reasons.

• God created mankind in His own image. Only people have the stamp of God on them. They are not just another animal that we can put down to save them from suffering. He breathed into them the breath of life. They are unique and special, unlike any other created thing. God placed such a great value on humankind that Jesus came to die an undignified death to provide life everlasting for all who would come.

• People face an eternal destiny after death. We should not hasten death for the unbeliever. As Christians, we desire that all people would find Jesus as their Savior. The unbeliever has no hope after death. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, ESV). Our desire for all is that they have time in this life to find Jesus, and who knows if the limited suffering in this life might be the catalyst to bring them to Christ.

• Christian’s are called to pick up their crosses daily and follow him. We bear the burdens and exult in the joys of life. “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.” (Isaiah 49:13, ESV) We do not avoid suffering, we praise God who comforts us and shows compassion to us as we go through the difficulties of life. We live until God chooses to call us home.

• “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10, ESV). Life and death are in God’s hands. When people presume to defy God and supersede his authority, it is sin and sin is never right, healthy, or dignified.

“Not only is suicide a sin, it is the sin. It is the ultimate and absolute evil, the refusal to take an interest in existence; the refusal to take the oath of loyalty to life. The man who kills a man, kills a man. The man who kills himself, kills all men. As far as he is concerned he wipes out the world.” G. K. CHESTERTON, Orthodoxy

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” (James 1:19–20, NIV)

Absalom was a handsome and well-liked young man. He had a beautiful sister that he loved. Her name was Tamar. Their mother was the daughter of a king and their dad was a mighty warrior who would be king. It seemed that Absalom had a pretty good life, except he had a dysfunctional family.

Absalom was the third born son of David the king of Israel. “Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron” (2 Samuel 3:2–5). And this was only the beginning of the women and children in David’s household.

I f only the dysfunction stopped with multiple wives and half siblings. It didn’t. Absalom’s older brother Amnon hatched a plan to get Tamar, Absalom’s beautiful sister, alone and then he raped her. It seems that Amnon, like his father, had a problem controlling his desire for pretty women.

And the story goes on. Absalom was very angry at what Amnon had done, understandably. And to Absalom’s credit his first response wasn’t spurred by anger but was to act out of love. He loved his sister. He took her into his home even though she was a disgraced woman now. He even named his daughter after this tainted sister. This love was admirable, but the anger still seethed. Absalom never got control of his anger, and eventually become unloving even to those he previously loved.

When no official punishment came upon Amnon by the government, which meant his father King David blew it off, Absalom grew angrier. I think his resentment grew with each passing day as he waited for justice and nothing happened. So Absalom started thinking about revenge.

The idea worked through Absalom’s mind for two years and then he acted on it. He threw a party for his siblings and invited his father also. Absalom’s dad didn’t show up. I wonder if David had attended if the outcome of the story would have been different. Anyway, at the party Absalom ordered his servants to kill Amnon. He sought revenge for the crime against his sister.

Some would say the murder was justified because Amnon deserved it. I am not sure I would disagree. What I did learn from reading about Absalom was that his anger overtook him and it destroyed his life. It didn’t end with the murder of Amnon.

Absalom’s resentment for his father grew. He tried to usurp his father’s authority. Absalom started a coup in an attempt to dethrone is father and establish his place as king in his stead. Absalom did some despicable things during this time, including raping his father’s concubines. He violated the sister’s of other men, and I am sure that in his anger, he believed his sin was justified.

The story ends with Absalom’s untimely death. He got stuck in a tree and Joab, the general in charge of David’s army, ran him through with javelins. Absalom died in rebellion against his father, but also in rebellion against God. His anger and his inability to let go of his past hurt and pain, lead to his ultimate destruction.

I wrote this summary of Absalom’s life after realizing how easily anger can overtake a life. It can easily start out as justified. If left unchecked, it will turn into a vengeful spirit and will eventually lead to despicable acts. The choices that Absalom made out of an angry spirit caused more harm to more people than the sin of Amnon. Absalom never stopped to think about the harm he was bringing to Tamar his sister, nor to Tamar his daughter. He didn’t stop long enough to see the destruction he was leaving in his wake.

Anger is a serious issue and must be dealt with. Letting go of anger is healthy and will save us from future harm. It will also save us from harming others. I learned from Absalom’s story that anger left unchecked is a destructive force that leaves a path of horror and pain in the lives of those around us. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God, it produces sin, sadness, and death.
Dear Lord, help me to let go of all anger today. Let me trust you to deal with evil doers. Help me to remember the wisdom of James, be “slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires”.

“The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.’” (Revelation 2:18–20, ESV)

Two-year-olds are self-centered. They have a difficult time thinking of others needs. They also try very hard to demand their own way. It is not uncommon for them to follow a parental directive with “no!” Mine is a favorite word. It is often amusing and frustrating to watch their tactics for getting attention. All in all, they think the world revolves around them.

Wise parents teach them that they have to be kind and share. They teach them delayed gratification. With supernatural perseverance, the parents train children to say yes to what is good and healthy, including obeying the parents often unexplained directives. From this wise parenting, children learn the power of ours instead of “mine”. They learn to give attention and in return attention is reciprocated. They learn that the world is immense, and all that exists is not about them.

A loving parent wants a child to grow to be healthy and happy. So they teach them that they must “Deny themselves.” They teach them to make healthy and wise choices rather than self-indulgent ones. No one wants a 21 year old to continue acting like a two-year-old, throwing fits whenever he or she doesn’t get their way. They will not function in society, in church, nor in their family if they do not learn to give up their self-indulgent behavior. Neither will they be happy with themselves.

We have established that indulgence and immediate happiness does not lead to long-term health and contentment, so we train our two-year-olds. We make them brush their teeth because it is good long term not because it is fun now. We make them eat their dinner before they eat dessert, so they are getting the nutrition they need. As good parents, we teach a two year old to share with others. We teach them to be kind. We teach them to take turns. We teach them to deny themselves for the common good.

We also teach them delayed gratification. We will go to the park later after we pick up our toys. We will have the chocolate after lunch. Learning to control their impulses is necessary to them growing into healthy people.

I said all of this to remind us about the necessary work and self-denial (and parental denial) that leads to maturity. It needs to be said because we see much immaturity in Christianity today. There are many overindulged and lazy Christians who are acting like two-year-olds and demanding their way.

The rules of a healthy household, a healthy family are found in the Bible. It isn’t hard to figure out what God wants. The Bible teaches love, gentleness, understanding and acceptance. But it also teaches that there are times to say “NO.” It is unloving for mature Christians to stand by and tolerate sinful behavior in a less mature believer. Loving them often means saying, “Thou shalt not …” We need to teach denying yourself, taking up your cross and perseverance in the face of adversity. We need to lead others into maturity.

Thought I would write this as a reminder that sometimes tolerance is unloving, and it displeases God!

“If your brother sins against you…” Matthew 18:15 (ESV)

I had been abused, sinned against. My abuser convinced me that I was responsible whenever he sinned against me. I lived weighted down by guilt. I always thought I should be smarter or better prepared, so I would examine myself constantly (often by unhealthy introspection). I would pray and study, trying to figure out ways to prevent being sinned against. I truly believed I should have control over the situation. The fact that I couldn’t change things left me feeling awkward, uncomfortable and sad.

Recently, I learned a simple, but extremely valuable lesson. People can sin against you even if you are doing everything to the best of your ability. And their sin is their responsibility, as I learned at work the other day.

One of our young cashiers was doing her job to the best of her ability. She was kind and helpful to the customers. She checked them out and bagged their merchandise. She did her best for them. One of the women took the cart and pushed it towards the door while the other one messed around with her wallet.

The lady who was pretending to pay stalled long enough for the other woman to work her way to the door with the merchandise. When the woman at the register scanned her card, payment was denied. She scanned it again. It was denied again. This woman scanned a few more cards. All were denied. In the meantime, the other woman had loaded everything in her car. The woman in the store said, “I have to go to the car and get some cash, these cards won’t work.” She left. They had run out without paying.

The manager was called. I came to encourage the young cashier. She was very upset and crying. The manager was trying to find out what went wrong and how we could have prevented this from happening. The cashier kept saying she was sorry. When I finally had a chance to talk with the cashier, I realized she had done her best. She had trusted that this transaction was just like the hundreds of others she did every week. She gave great customer service and showed kindness to the thieves. Her choices were admirable and right. The thieves’ choices were evil and selfish.

I felt so bad for this young woman, and I told her that it was not her fault. I encouraged her to learn from the experience. I encouraged her to build in some safeguards to her best practices. I also told her that she had been victimized and was not responsible for the sin of those women. As I spoke with her, the Lord spoke to me.

I realized that there are times when we are sinned against even when we are doing everything to the best of our ability. We cannot control everything or everyone around us. Even though we are left with pain and embarrassment, it may not be our fault. It is not a sin to be victimized. Jesus was victimized, and we know He didn’t sin.

All of this may sound relatively simple. But simple or not, I had it wrong. I always believed that I had some power to solve it, to fix it, or to avoid the pain from sin. I believed if I was just better, smarter, or holier, sin wouldn’t affect me! How foolish.

I now realize, I have been sinned against and although it is not pleasant, it is ok. I can keep going and strive to do what is right. I can continue to show kindness and give good customer service. I can live my life in relationship with God and not feel weighted down by the sin of others. I am free to love and enjoy the hundreds of right and good transactions that come my way.

Why? Because I know that no matter what people do, they cannot separate me from God’s love. I may not be able to fix or solve many of the issues that I encounter, but I can rest in God’s love for me. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:18,37). For nothing can separate me from the love of God!