A Joke as a Weapon

I wandered over to my Instagram feed this evening.

Mostly to review any new and fabulous photos that may have been posted by the many photographers that I follow throughout the day today.

And…

My eyes and heart were confronted by what someone in my growing group of people that I follow and some who follow me…

…by…

A picture.

From my perspective, a picture that I thought was rather innocent and quaintly honoring to mothers. Mothers who in relationship with their God, spend time on their knees in prayer for their families, their friends and the world at large.

I would not have even thought to make an ugly, perverse or otherwise dishonoring joke about it.

But, this person certainly did.

Most of the time. Especially nowadays, I usually just would have made a comment to myself about people being… idiots, jerks, perverts, over-indulged and irresponsible brats… and then let it go.

But, this time I didn’t. This time I waded in and said what was on my heart.

I am not close to this person and I cannot claim any particular friendship, but because of family connections, I would call them… extended family.

And, for that reason, as well as the fact that this person is young enough to be my own child, I chose to call them out.

You see, we live in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to people of faith… people who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

And, no, I don’t expect everyone to believe as I do, or to accept what I say at face value. I know very well that I am imperfect. I know very well that my tongue and my pen and my computer can and have gotten me into trouble.

I’ll say it again… I’m not perfect… but God is perfecting me. I’m a person who is not without sin and I need God’s help every single day to live as I ought to. And, I don’t always get it right. This side of eternity, I don’t expect I will.

All that rabbit trail being said, I forgive this person for their rudeness and thoughtless use of an off color joke to make fun of those of us who put our faith into action through prayer… and yes, sometimes physically on our knees in reverence and humility before the God who created us.

We are fighting battles you see. Battles for our world that many others don’t ever witness. Battles for our loved ones that go unnoticed and unappreciated by those that may even be the subject of those very prayers.

They don’t understand. Maybe they never will. But God does. And He notices. And He hears.

I chose not to call this person out here. And I won’t. I did call them out on Instagram. And though it may temporarily earn me some grief from them or the others who joined in the “ugliness” in mocking those of faith. I won’t take back what I said. I said it in a certain sense of humility, and I told the truth.

We’re not expected to crawl in a hole when the truth needs to be said.

And, we don’t have to pretend that we approve of someone else’s bad behavior. Sometimes it needs to be called out, even at the risk of our becoming a target of further bad behavior.

Nobody who’s called out for doing wrong will react very well, at least not initially.

But, we cannot, must not, live our lives in fear and act like it’s ok for those who do not believe the way we do to mistreat us and pretend that it’s ok.

What will happen tomorrow when this other person sees what I wrote? I don’t know.

But I do care.

Because ugliness. Whether it’s disguised as a thin attempt at humor or not… is just ugliness.

I encourage you today and every day to honor those who go before you. Those who have fought battles on their knees in prayer for you and others.

Honor your Mom today and every day. After all, it’s Mother’s Day isn’t it?

As always… Seize the day!

Sincerely,

Mike <><

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.…  Ephesians 6:11-13

Living with Our Weakness

I know…

You read the title of this piece and you’re going… wait… wait just a minute Mike!

Mike are you suggesting that we just curl up into a fetal position and accept our frailty and inadequacy to the point where we don’t even try?!

Well, … ye… No! Of course not!

But I am going to say that in being human, there is an inherent frailty and weakness that is just reality.

We are finite. We are flesh and blood. We are susceptible to illness, disease, accidents, old age, violence and the collateral damage of war.

Argue with the facts all you want but life is in fact a terminal condition.

Until God fulfills the events of the book of Revelation, we are all subject to death.

Now you’re saying to yourself that I must be losing my mind. I mean, why would Mike travel this road? Why would I write about something this depressing or morbid?

Because it’s just reality. And at some point, you will be confronted with the realities that surround the final moments of this fragile, precious thing called life.

Unless we live long enough to experience the Rapture of the ones who love Jesus and we are carried away in an instant to be with Christ, we will all experience what it is to breath our last breath here on Earth. We will experience the surrender of the bonds that bind our souls to our bodies.

I have only really experienced this twice in my lifetime personally.

And, I can tell you that this process of our dying will never be easy. It can seem peaceful depending on how we physically leave, but it can also be very traumatic and even violent.

Do you understand though, that death was brought about because of the curse that is original sin?

The sin of Adam and Eve has passed on to all of us that are their distant relatives.

But of course, there is hope for us. And this hope has a name… His name is Jesus. We cannot save ourselves from death. We cannot do much more than sometimes prolong our inevitable end through medicine, through surgery, through radiation or dietary treatments. Prolong life yes, but prevent our eventual demise, absolutely not.

So, the question then becomes, how will you or I confront our mortality? Our date with destiny?

Will we do all we can to run from the reality of our passing? Or, will we confront the inevitability of our coming date with destiny and instead savor the precious time we have left here and invest our moments wisely in the others around us, especially our loved ones?

It’s your choice you know.

You see, God gave us our free will, and we can always choose how we react to a situation. Yes, we can definitely make a choice in regard to how we approach death.

However, please understand this. I’m not remotely suggesting that death is easy, or that you are somehow messed up because you haven’t handled it the way that thought you would.

Death is actually pretty hard. It’s painful and it’s traumatic. It’s an experience from the perspective of those left behind that will rock your world and leave you changed. Because it in fact leaves scars for those left behind.

Even Jesus carry’s scars from death.

But His scars are different than ours.

Our scars are the scars of separation and sadness. His scars are ones that speak of victory and hope!

You see, whether you accept this or not, Jesus’ scars speak of the conquering of death. For Jesus did not remain dead. He rose from His grave and stepped from death and it’s supposed victory over Him (and us) into new life. Eternal life!

Most of us will experience death here on Earth. Whether it is our own or that of another, we will go through the valley of the shadow.

But the question remains. Will you experience death as the passage from this life into a beautiful new existence through Christ and eternity with Him, or will you experience the painful passage from this great struggle of life into the darkness and separation that is judgement and hell?

You see, our weakness and frailty is just a given. It is a part of our human condition and existence. In accepting this weakness and turning it over to God, we are promised that our weakness will be made a strength. And I believe that the strength we can experience is that of our Lord Jesus living in us and enabling us to walk through whatever trials that life may throw at us. Even the greatest trial which is our journey from death into eternal life.

May each of us find on that coming day, the strength that can only come to us through our Savior Jesus Christ!

Go boldly into the new day my friends!

Seize the day!

Mike <><

“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.…” – 2 Cor 12:9-10