Simplifying My Life: It was so Easy!

By David Ryser

A few weeks ago, I was walking through a Wal-Mart store.  I looked over their selection of books and found one written by a Christian author entitled "100 Ways to Simplify Your Life."

Imagine that!  I was able to simplify my life immediately…and in 100 ways!

How did I perform this amazing feat?  By not buying the book.

By not purchasing the book and making the recommended changes, I uncluttered my existence by at least 100 ways.

Who knew that simplifying my life could be so easy?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

I Knew I Should've Taken a Left Turn at Albuquerque: The Gospel According to Bugs Bunny

By David Ryser

My students and I stood staring at one another.  Where was God?  One moment we had been worshiping in the sweet presence of God.  In an instant, His presence was gone.

We had taken a wrong turn.  What should we do now?

It was our habit to come together every day, about an hour before class, to have a time of praise and worship.  God would meet us.  His presence would fill the room.  Today was no exception.  We basked in the nearness of God.  Our worship came to a place of transition, and one of the students suggested we take a particular direction in the worship.  I gave my assent.  We changed course.

The moment we did, the presence of God fled from the room.  What should we do now?

We were stunned!  We had come together to meet with God.  Now He was gone.  We didn’t know what to do.  Feeling somewhat responsible for our predicament, the student who had suggested the current direction of worship proposed we should go back to where we were in worship when we had last sensed God’s presence.  The idea was to get back “on track” and proceed from there.

I agreed we should give it a try.  We did.  It failed.  God was gone.  We were heartsick.  What should we do now?

I directed the students back to their seats in the classroom.  As I approached the podium, I sensed this was a teachable moment.  But what did God want to teach us?

As I took my place at the front of the room, God spoke softly into my heart.  I told the students to take out their Bibles and turn to Numbers 14.

Numbers 14 records the failure of Israel to enter Canaan.  Moses has led the people to the Jordan River.  In preparation for their crossing, twelve spies are sent into Canaan to observe the land (and its inhabitants) and bring back a report.  When the spies return, they all agree that Canaan is a land of abundance.

At this point, their agreement ends.  Ten of the spies describe the strength of the inhabitants of Canaan and advise against going across the river.  Two of the spies acknowledge the strength of the Canaanites, but argue in favor of crossing the river and taking the land God has promised to them.

The people of Israel choose to believe, and act upon, the majority report.  They refuse to cross the Jordan River.  Moses pronounces God’s judgment on them for their lack of faith and for their disobedience.  He prepares to lead them back into the wilderness.

At this point we typically stop reading and then teach a nice message on having faith in God and the consequences of disobedience.

But the story isn’t finished.

Numbers 14:40-45 tells us that on the next day, some of the people repent of their decision of the previous day and declare to Moses that they are now ready to cross over into Canaan.  Moses recommends against this course of action.  He informs them that when they cross over the Jordan River, neither he nor the Ark of the Covenant will accompany them.  They will be on their own.

The people ignore Moses’ advice.  They cross over into Canaan, and are soundly defeated by the Canaanites.  After mourning the defeat, the people of Israel turn away from Canaan and go back into the wilderness.

For 40 years.

Does missing God by just one day make that much difference?  Sometimes.

One of my professors used to say, “If God calls you to New York, and you go to Los Angeles, God’s plan for the rest of your life begins in Los Angeles.  And it may or may not include going to New York.”  When we take a wrong turn and miss God, should we go back to where we goofed up and try to get back on course?

It never worked that way for Bugs Bunny.

When I was a kid (a term used to describe the elapsed time between my birth and today), I enjoyed watching Warner Brothers cartoons.  One of my favorite cartoon characters was Bugs Bunny.  A typical Bugs Bunny cartoon would begin with Bugs tunneling underground and then popping up to discover that he had not arrived at his intended destination.  He would then pull out a map, look it over, and exclaim, “I knew I should’ve taken a left turn at Albuquerque!”

And then his adventure would begin.

But he never, not ever, began his new adventure by going back to Albuquerque.

And neither do we.

I was raised in the heavily forested region of western Washington State.  Hiking in the woods was a popular recreational activity.  Occasionally someone would get lost while hiking in the forest.  We were taught from an early age what to do if this happened to us.

When you first realize you are lost in the woods, the first thing you do is:  STOP WALKING!  To continue walking is to become more lost.  If you knew the correct direction to go, you wouldn’t be lost.

And so it is with God.

One of the greatest mistakes we make as individual Christians and churches is to plunge ahead when we miss God.  However we miss Him.  It might be a decision we made.  It might be the wrong choice of a song in a worship service.  It might be an entire congregation going a wrong direction.  Typically, we either charge ahead blindly into the unknown while becoming more lost, or we try to retrace our steps to get back where we were before we became lost.

It won’t work!

When we miss God (either individually or corporately) and find ourselves out of His presence, we need to stop.  Just stop.  Wait for Him to find us and tell us where to go and what to do next.

Wait.  Wait, in spite of life’s pressures.  Wait, in spite of the expectations of others.  Wait, in spite of the demands of ministry.  Wait, in spite of impatience and frustration.

God’s plan for you will begin right where you are.

Even Bugs Bunny knows that.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

...got lysine? Becoming what God made You to Be

By David Ryser

I was at a conference in Toronto.  The speaker closed his sermon by saying, “Christians spend too much time in church, and not enough time at the movie theater.”

I was dumbfounded to hear these words spoken from a pulpit.  The speaker had been making the argument that moviemakers, musicians, and other artists are gifted by God to express His truth.  Even if they do not know God.  He had been talking specifically about how he receives revelation from God while watching movies.  I was pondering his closing statement when God spoke two words into my spirit.

“Jurassic Park.”

And then God began to speak to me about the state of the institutional Church by using the themes found in Jurassic Park (both the movie and the book).

The premise of Jurassic Park is that scientists have been able to recover the DNA of dinosaurs by finding their blood in mosquitoes that had bitten them.  The mosquitoes then had been encased in tree sap, thus preserving both the mosquito and the dinosaur blood.  Using this DNA, it was possible to recreate dinosaurs.  An entrepreneur had funded this research in the hopes that he could use the dinosaurs as the centerpiece for a theme park featuring these creatures as living exhibits in a jungle setting.

Dinosaurs as zoo animals.  Sounds dangerous.

Prior to opening the theme park, the investor/owner invites three experts to inspect the park.  This group consists of two paleontologists and a mathematician (specifically a chaos mathematician).  The paleontologists are excited by the opportunity to see and study living dinosaurs.  They are blind to the fact that these dinosaurs, while in a climate that is suitable to them, are being used in such a way (as living exhibits) that is foreign to their original design.

Malcolm, the mathematician, takes one look at the park and declares that it is a disaster waiting to happen.

There are too many variables.  The dinosaurs are a fundamental unknown.  No one really knows what they were like in the past, but it is certain they were not designed to be captive zoo animals.  No matter what safeguards are in place, something will go terribly wrong.

The owner and his staff set about to calm Malcolm’s fears.  They point out the security features of the park which include electrified fences and impassable moats.  In addition, the dinosaurs have been created female to prevent them from breeding.  The park is located on an island to prevent their escape.  Even if they do escape, there is a final failsafe:  The dinosaurs have been genetically engineered to be lysine deficient.  If they do not receive lysine (an amino acid) in their diet, they will die.  The park staff provides lysine in the diet of the dinosaurs in the form of plant food (for the herbivores) or animal product (for the carnivores).  Without it, the animals cannot live for more than a few days.

It sounds like a good plan.  Too bad the plan doesn’t work.

As the old saying goes, dinosaurs will be dinosaurs.  Before long, they begin to act like the wild animals they are and prove to be uncontrollable.  Not only do they make a mess of the park, but some of them actually manage to escape the island.  The park has to be shut down, and the damage contained by a strict quarantine of the island.  The dinosaurs that have escaped are not thought to be a threat because of their lysine deficiency.

Wrong!

The book ends with reports of sightings of strange animals in the jungle.  People and animals have odd bite marks on their bodies.  There are unidentified footprints on the jungle floor.  Along the path of the footprints, there are opened bean pods.  The beans have been eaten by whatever animal left the footprints.

The beans are rich in lysine.

So what does this have to do with the Church?  Everything.

Christians are designed to be passionate lovers of God who are aggressive co-laborers with Him, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth.  We are called to be soldiers in God’s army.  The job of an earthly army is to kill people and break things…and then to occupy the territory won in the war.  In God’s army, we take the light & life of God and assail the gates of the kingdom of darkness.  And we prevail against them (Matthew 16:18).

There is a violence, a wildness, an unpredictability, and an uncontrollability inherent in all of this.  This is a picture of a spiritual battlefield, not a spiritual zoo.  The local church is the training ground for God’s army.  Its job is to prepare the believer for battle.

So why does the local church more resemble a theme park where the Christians are on display for everyone to look at?

And do not think for a moment that this state of affairs is unintentional.  Every Bible College student preparing for vocational ministry takes classes such as Pastoral Theology and Church Administration to learn how to keep God’s people on the reservation.  To keep them under control in order to make them useful for nothing more than to serve as workers in the Church machine.  And we make sure that they do not learn how to hear from God and operate in His power for themselves.  Because if they did, they might do something crazy like minister God’s love and power outside of the church building and programs.

God’s people are lysine deficient, spiritually speaking.  And they are intentionally made to be that way.

Our churches typically are not about training and equipping God’s army for battle.  My friend Tim has correctly pointed out that the threefold purpose of most churches is to:  1) Propagate a message (typically not the gospel; more like an organizational sales pitch), 2) Pool resources (ostensibly for ministry, but usually for the upkeep of the physical plant and the staff), and 3) Control a congregation through a common, unifying vision (Can you say “Jurassic Park”?).

I don’t see establishing God’s kingdom anywhere on the list.  Do you?

As I saw all of this, God spoke again into my spirit:  “My people will become what I made them to be.  And they will do what I have made them to do.  They will find a way to escape the religious system that is holding them back.  And if they lack anything because it was withheld from them, I will make sure they get it.”

I can’t decide if that sounds more like a promise or a threat.  I suppose it depends upon where you fall in the battle between the religious system and the Kingdom of God.

…got lysine?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Should You Be as Strong as an Ox?: There is a Downside

By David Ryser

“Church would be great if it wasn’t for the people.”  The pastor who uttered these words from the pulpit was trying to be funny.  But I’d been a pastor for 14 years, and I suspected that behind these words was some bitterness and hostility.

And a lot of truth.

Proverbs 14:4 says that, “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.”  Ministry is a dirty business sometimes because people can be such a mess.  More than one pastor has confided to me that they have become weary of “scooping up sheep dip” or “shoveling ox patties” (or some other such colorful expression describing the glamorous work of vocational church ministry).

Pastors do not typically enjoy mucking out the church barn.

But the mess comes with the people.  And a church without people is no church at all.  Without the people who comprise the congregation, the local church goes out of business.  Pastors know that, in their line of work, they will have to be involved with people’s lives.  And the work of an operating church has to be done by someone, so people are needed to do the work.  The larger and more successful (at least by our standards) the church, the more people there are in attendance.  And the more work there is to be done.  This requires more people to do the work.  This requires more people to attend the church.  And this…

You get the idea.

Running a church requires people.  And people are messy.  As nice as the church might be without people, this is not a viable option for the pastor.  And the pastor does not need just any kind of person to be a worker in the church.  The Bible has a lot to say about the quality of character demanded of a person who holds a position in the church.  And if someone is going to have a position in the church, that person should be committed to the church.  After all, we cannot have someone teaching Sunday School (or serving in any other church program) who does not attend the church services.

The pastor needs church workers who have the character of Christ, the commitment of Esther, and the strength of an ox.

So I’ve been thinking about oxen.  In Jesus’ day, oxen were prized as draft animals because of their great strength.  They were able to do arduous labor such as plowing and pulling heavy loads.  Of course, oxen have drawbacks as well.  Oxen, like people, are messy.  But they are strong.  The advantage of their strength outweighs the disadvantage of their mess.  So typically the owner of the ox was willing to clean up the mess made by the ox in exchange for the benefit of his great strength.

Hence, the sentiment expressed in Proverbs 14:4.

But an ox has another important downside as well.  Oxen, by definition, are males of certain large species of cattle.  Because they are male, they are stronger than their female counterparts.  But they are also more aggressive, unpredictable, and uncontrollable.  In order to harness a bull’s strength and keep him under control, the owner of the bull castrates him.  This castrated bull is called an ox.

This is the price you pay for having an ox instead of a bull.  The ox is sterile.

And the ox’s sterility is not an accident.  It’s not as if the ox had a mishap while learning to ride a bicycle as a calf and inadvertently neutered himself.  The ox was intentionally gelded by his owner in order to take advantage of his strength without the problems caused by his natural aggressiveness.  So the owner is not allowed to complain that the ox is sterile.  He neutered the ox himself!

Which brings us back to the Church.

Because pastors need church workers to do the labor of the church programs, we set out intentionally to train them.  We take people whom God intended to be passionate, aggressive and fruitful members of His kingdom and then spiritually neuter them to keep them under control.  We don’t call it spiritual gelding, of course.  We call it spiritual maturity, and we call what we do to them “covering” (a synonym for “smothering” in this case).  Instead of coming up from underneath them as servant-leaders and raise them up to be and do what they were created by God to be and do, we pastors come up over the top of God’s people and smother any “wild fire” in them.  And then we deliberately turn them into passionless worker bees (which are also sterile, by the way…but they’re female) in the church hive.

And then we criticize them from the pulpit for being unfruitful!  How stupid can we be?  They are unfruitful because they are sterile!  And they’re sterile because we made them that way!

If a farmer complained that his ox was sterile, we’d think he was a moron.  So what would we call a pastor who complains about the sterility of his spiritual oxen?

And it’s not as if the people of God do not burn to be more than they have been made to be.  I was sitting in a room listening to a frustrated church worker as he described his aggravation with trying to balance all of the responsibilities in his life.  He said, “I’m a husband, father, employee, and church leader.  And I’m not doing a good job at being any of them.”

He went on to detail how he is required by his church to be committed to the services and activities of the church in order just to qualify for ministry in one of the church programs.  He estimated that he spends about 25 hours per week in service to the church.  With tears in his eyes, he admitted he did not have the time or energy to continue on at this pace.  He was neglecting his wife, children, and work to be involved as a leader in a church program.  He was paying a terrible price to work in his church.  And, most tragically, he summed up the fruit of his service to the church by saying, “And I don’t even touch anybody.”

What have we done?

Is the so-called “ministry” of our church so important that we must destroy the lives of the people of God to do it?  Is it necessary to sterilize and enslave them for a life of drudgery on the religious treadmill?  Knowing that if they grow weary and fall to the side, there will be someone else climbing the sacred ladder who will be all too happy to take their place...until they also fall?  Are God’s people made to serve the church organization?  Or should the church organization be structured in such a way as to serve the people?  To encourage, enable, and empower them to be and do what God intended (Ephesians 2:10)?

Do we have no fear of God?  How do you suppose He feels about all of this?  We have created a religious monster that exists only to feed and expand itself.  It consumes all of the resources poured into it just to survive and grow.  Meanwhile, the Kingdom of God has not advanced at all.

So I don’t know if church would be a better place without people.  But I’m beginning to wonder if the people would not be better off without church.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Religion, Politics, and Patriotism: The Idolatrous Prostitute Church in Action

By David Ryser

Ever since the most recent national election in the United States, my e-mail account has been bombarded with dire warnings concerning the current president, his political party, and his policies/agenda.  Even before the election, so-called prophets were warning of various kinds of disaster should a particular candidate become president.

Some of these “prophetic” words (both pre-election and post-election) even suggested this candidate/president might be the Antichrist.

If the current president of the United States is the Antichrist, I will be greatly disappointed.  I was promised an Antichrist who is intelligent, charismatic, and endowed with amazing supernatural powers.  If this man is all we get for an Antichrist, I want a refund.

In all of this, I find myself greatly troubled by the American Church becoming increasingly involved in the business of politics and aligning herself with a particular political party.  My concern is three-fold.

First, I am concerned that the Church is expending time, toil, and treasure that rightly belongs to God and His kingdom.  We are called to be ambassadors of Christ who are His witnesses (Acts 1:8) and who are engaged in the business of making disciples (Matthew 28:19) for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom on the earth.

2 Timothy 2:4 says that “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of daily life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”  What part of that verse do we not understand?  Judging by my e-mail, many American Christians are engaged in spreading the gospel of Evangelical Conservatism rather than spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My second concern is that the American Church is placing its hope of security and well-being in the political fortunes of a particular political party.  Many are running around with their hair on fire in a panic over the president, the political party currently in power, and their policies and social agenda.

Did God fall off of His throne when the current president and his political party came into power?  Is our savior the Lord Jesus Christ, or is it our political party of choice?  As Christians, we are supposed to be betrothed to Jesus as a virgin bride.

We are not supposed to be prostitutes who trade our votes for political favors.

And we’re not even decent prostitutes!  Most prostitutes at least get paid for their favors.  We give away our votes for free!  What has our political party of choice done for us…ever?  I posed this question to a friend, and he cited the Defense of Marriage Act which recognizes that marriage is between a man and a woman.  I reminded him that this Act is not law, does not have the force of law, and has not prevented several states (by judicial fiat or legislative action) from redefining marriage.

Passage of the Defense of Marriage Act as a compensation for the Evangelical Christian vote is a lot like paying a prostitute with a counterfeit banknote.

My third area of concern as I read the e-mails and other “Christian” political literature is an increasingly unbalanced view of patriotism.  As American Christians feel more threatened by the direction the United States is going (especially socially), many have begun to contend for their country and its future in ways that may not be healthy in the long run.  They are calling for a return to Christian values that they believe made the United States a great Christian nation.

The United States?  A Christian nation?  The United States has never been a Christian nation!  Our Founding Fathers prohibited such a thing!  Has anyone in the Christian Conservative Movement read the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States recently?

This rising tide of patriotism within American Evangelical Christianity is taking on a tone that is more nationalistic than patriotic.  Patriotism is love of country.  Nationalism is more like worship of country.  Nationalism is a form of idolatry.

To the extent that the Church in the United States is nationalistic, it is also idolatrous.

As I look at the current political, social, and economic situation in the United States--and the Evangelical Christian response to it--I am reminded of Weimar Germany.  As the political, social, and economic situation in Germany deteriorated in the 1930’s, the Church (specifically the Lutheran Church) desired order instead of chaos to the point where the Church was a significant force in bringing Adolf Hitler to power.

I use this example to illustrate the unpredictability of “Christian” politics.  It would be good to remember that the Evangelical Christian vote first became a significant political force in the United States in the national election of 1976.  It was a major factor in the election of Jimmy Carter as president.

Need I say more?

So what can we as American Christians do?  In the United States, citizens have a right to vote for our leaders and their policies.  We should exercise this right and support the candidate--of either political party--whose policies most nearly align with our beliefs and worldview.  It would be best if we would do so as independent voters who are not “in bed” with any particular political party.

And it would be good for us to remember that it is God who raises up political leaders for His own purposes (Daniel 4:17; Exodus 9:16; cf. Romans 9:17).  And His choice might not always be our choice (Jeremiah 27:5-8).  To the extent we can in good conscience, we should submit to governmental authority (1 Peter 2:13-15).  Paul’s admonition in Romans 13:1-7 is particularly ironic since it was the Roman government which eventually executed him.

Having exercised our rights as citizens, we live with the results.  We pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-3) even if we didn’t vote for them because the Word of God commands us to do so.

We should not put our political leaders in the place of God.  My salvation, and well-being, is not determined by who occupies the office of the Presidency or the party in power in the Congress.  The president and other politicians are irrelevant to the advancement of God’s kingdom.

And ultimately, God and His kingdom are what we should be primarily concerned about.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Meeting God: Seeing Blue in a Red World

By David Ryser

“How do you explain knowing a loving Father God to someone when that person has no concept either of God or of a loving earthly father?”

This question was posed by my wife who wanted to witness effectively to a loved one.  She desired for him to meet the Father/Daddy of the Bible and not the fire-breathing tyrant of religion.  She had been trying to explain the concept of a loving Father God to this person.  But he was unable to grasp the ideas of God or of a loving father--much less the concept of God who is also a loving Father.

Hence, her query.  And my initial brilliant response, “That’s a good question.”  (This is the reply I always give when I don’t know the answer to a question, and I’m stalling for time to see if one occurs to me.)  Since that answer didn’t seem to satisfy her, I thought about her question for the next few days.

Jason Henderson, in his wonderful book The Lie & The Light, colorfully illustrates this problem.  He likens a person who knows God to someone who has lived all of his life in a world where everything is red.  Because there is such a variety of red (light red, dark red, cherry-red, tomato-red, blood-red, scarlet, etc.), there are many words to describe these differences. But all of them describe some kind of red.

Then one day, a man sees blue.

How exciting!  The man is so overwhelmed by seeing blue that he goes and tells everyone about what he has seen.  The problem is that all of the words he uses to describe the color blue are “red” words.  He has no words to describe blue.  And it complicates matters that his friends have only seen red.  How can he describe blue (using “red” words and speaking to “red” people) in such a way so as to enable his friends and family to understand exactly what he has seen?

He can’t.  Because no amount of explanation or teaching will enable a “red” person to see blue.

One of my professors at ORU, Dr. Robert Tuttle, described this problem in somewhat different language.  Because he was a minister and a theologian, people often challenged him to describe God in such a way as to prove His existence to them.  When they would do this, Dr. Tuttle would agree to do so…as soon as they could describe the taste of an apple to him.  He would say, “I have never tasted an apple.  Please describe to me the taste of an apple so I will know exactly what it tastes like.”  After several minutes of endeavoring to do so (through several varieties of explanations and analogies designed to describe the taste of an apple to one who had never tasted one), the person inevitably would give up the attempt.

Then Dr. Tuttle would respond, “You can’t even describe to me the taste of a stinking apple!  How do you expect me to describe God to you?”

The only way to know what an apple tastes like is to bite into it.  I must experience it to know it.  The same is true of God.  The Bible says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8a, among others).  Not read and see, or study and see, or listen to a sermon and see.  Taste!  I must experience the taste of an apple to know it.  I must experience God to know Him.

There is no substitute for experiencing God.  If we do not experience God, we cannot know Him.  There is no true knowledge of God apart from experiencing Him.

So now I had the answer to my wife’s question.  The only way her loved one could come to know a loving Father God, without prior knowledge of either God or a loving father, would be for this person to experience Him.  The problem is that there are no words that will enable this person to experience God.

We need another strategy for bringing people to God.

Meeting God is a lot like meeting anyone else.  In order for me to meet someone, two things are needed.  First, I must have the desire to meet this person.  Otherwise I won’t go to the effort required to meet them.  Second, I need someone who knows both me and this other person to introduce us.  Knowing one or the other of us won’t do any good.  The one introducing us must know both of us.

This is how it works with God.

In order for people to meet God, they must desire to do so.  Since this desire cannot be created by words alone (you cannot describe blue with “red” words), there must be something besides words that will motivate a person to want to meet Him.  In my experience, the most powerful motivator to induce people to seek God is the life of a genuine lover of Jesus.  If we are living the Christian life, so that the Life of Christ on the inside of us is being manifested on the outside of us, people will see the effects of that life in us.  Some aspect of God’s character and workings manifested in our lives will attract them to Him.  This will provide us with an opportunity to introduce them to Him.

But you cannot introduce a person to someone you’ve never met yourself.  This is why people are too often introduced to the god of religion rather than to the God described in the Bible.

In order to introduce people to the one, true, and living God, we must know Him.  We must have experienced Him.  We must have tasted and seen that He is good…that He is all He claims to be in His Word.

Do we have that kind of relationship with God?  Do we know Him and manifest His life and presence in our own lives?  Do we demonstrate the power of God in healings, miracles, and signs & wonders (Mark 16:17, 18; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5)?  Do people want what we have?  Or are they hoping that what we have isn’t contagious?  Do people hunger to meet our loving Father God because although they have no concept of God or of a loving Father, they sure would like to meet whoever it is that we know?

We had better get some good answers to these questions because meeting God is a lot like tasting an apple.  A person needs to know someone who has tasted an apple, liked it, and has one to give them...and encourages them to take a bite.

Are we that someone?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

The Inflatable Church: An Object Lesson

By David Ryser

I just finished watching a video report about an inflatable house of worship in Germany.  It seems this small blow-up cathedral is hauled around the autobahn and filled with air for church services at rest stops.

Imagine!  A church building filled with nothing but hot air!  What will they think of next?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Coming to God as a Child (Part 7): Fix It

By David Ryser

It’s every parent’s nightmare.  Your young child has come to you with a broken toy.  As you peer down at the jumbled collection of wires, gears, and other assorted gizmos, your heart sinks.  What a mess!  Then you look at your child.  She’s trying to be brave, but her chin is quivering and her eyes are full of tears.  She looks up at you.  She believes you can do anything.  Then she squeaks out two little words.

“Fix it.”

Just thinking back on that scene, replayed many times, still makes my blood run cold.  And now I have grandchildren.  This means I have fresh opportunities to stare stupidly at the spilled insides of unspeakably complicated contraptions.

And into the eyes of a trusting child who wants me to, “Fix it.”

Jesus taught that those who wished to enter into the Kingdom of God (also called the Kingdom of Heaven) had to do so as little children (Matthew 18:3, among others).  One of the endearing--if somewhat misguided--qualities of small children is that they believe their parents can do anything.  Including fixing anything…especially a favorite toy.  And it doesn’t matter how it got broken or who broke it.

Anytime someone asks, “How did this happen?” that’s code for, “I don’t know how to fix this thing!”

When something is broken--a life, for example--why do we not bring it to God?  Unlike an earthly parent, God is able to fix whatever is broken in our lives.  And He’s good at it.  If not for “repaired” murderers, adulterers, and other assorted weirdoes, our Bible would be a pamphlet instead of a book.

Why do we take our broken lives to our friends instead of to God?

A two-year-old child would not take a broken toy to another two-year-old to fix it.  She takes it to an adult.  Usually to a parent.  To someone who knows more about it than she does.

Why don’t we take our broken lives to God?

From reading the Bible and life experience, I have discovered at least three reasons for why people do not go to God with their brokenness.

First, some people keep their broken lives as a pet.  They rehearse their troubles to anyone who will listen.  They do not do this to find a solution to their problems.  They do it to get attention.

One example of this sort of thing occurred when I was in Graduate School.  A classmate of mine worked as a prayer counselor for a nationally-known ministry.  His job was to answer phone calls and pray with the callers.  A person called one day wanting prayer that the Social Security Administration would approve an application for disability benefit payments.  This person was physically disabled, was unable to work, and needed the money.  The prayer counselor said, “I have good news for you!  You don’t need disability payments!  How about I pray that God would heal you so you could work?”  The caller responded, “No, no, no, no, no!”  Then the caller began speaking slowly as if to a dimwit, “I-want-you-to-pray-for-me-to-receive-my-disability-payments.”

There is no cure for this.  If you come across someone who is keeping their broken life as a pet, run for your life!

The second reason people do not bring their broken lives to God is that they do not believe God can fix them.  They don’t put it that bluntly, of course.  But when presented with the opportunity to dare to hope that their lives will get better, they begin to describe all of the reasons why God can’t fix them.  Why their situation is unique.  Why, in effect, their brokenness is bigger than God.

Jesus ran into this type of problem at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-7).  When He asked a lame man if he wanted to be healed, the man never did answer the question.  Instead, he listed all of the reasons why God couldn’t do it.

Like the man at the pool, people who believe their broken lives are bigger than God need to meet Jesus.  When they discover how big He is, the size of their brokenness is put into perspective.  What happens next is up to them.

The third reason, and related to the second, that people don’t bring their broken lives to God is because they believe God won’t (not can’t, but won’t) fix them.  Something they’ve done--some sin or failure--is beyond God’s ability to forgive and repair.  This mixture of self-centeredness, arrogance, and stupidity can be difficult to overcome.  I know…from personal experience.  Fortunately for people like us, the Bible is full of stories about people whose lives were full of sin and failure.  And God fixed them.  Some of them became heroes of the faith.

I have yet to run across a sin-paralyzed Christian whose misdeeds were worse than David’s.  Or a Christian whose failures were bigger than those of Abraham, Moses, Peter, or any number of people in the Bible who went on to greatness in God’s kingdom.

We need to get over ourselves.  The attention we get from keeping our problems as pets is pathetic.  And it’s temporary.  Questioning God’s ability or willingness to fix our broken lives does nothing to improve our lot.  No one ever received the help they needed from God by doubting Him.

And if we come into God’s kingdom as children, then we must come believing our heavenly Father can fix anything...and that He loves us enough to do it.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Coming to God as a Child (Part 6): Catch Me!

By David Ryser

My one-year-old grandson was hanging upside-down as I held onto him by one of his ankles.  He was laughing and squealing with delight.  I was on the verge of having a heart attack.

And I was learning something about the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus tells us that we must enter the Kingdom of Heaven as a little child.  I have discovered that little children do weird things.  For example, they like to climb up onto a couch or chair and wait for you to come by.  As you walk past them, they will leap from their perch and shout, “Catch me!”

Adults do not do this.

When you hear the words, “Catch me!” you had better be ready to catch somebody, because that child is already in the air.  The decision to jump has been made and executed.  Only the catch is in question.

And it is a question only for the one doing the catching.

My grandson played a variation of the “catch me!” game with his father.  When being held, he would suddenly launch himself backwards out of his father’s arms.  His father would catch him, and the two of them would have a big laugh about it.

The problem is that no one had bothered to tell grandpa about this game.

I don’t blame my grandson for this oversight.  He was only a year old.  And grandpa is the first person in a baby’s life that throws him up into the air and makes him laugh until he pukes.  So how was he to know of my ignorance?

Does this sound like a recipe for disaster?

So I’m standing in the middle of our living room, holding my grandson in my arms.  Suddenly, and without warning, he launches himself backwards out of my grasp.  Down he goes--laughing all the way--toward the floor.  I’m flailing in the air trying to snatch onto any available body part before he lands on his head.

At the last moment, I grab onto one of his ankles.

So now he is hanging upside-down with his head mere millimeters from the floor.  And he is laughing!  And it’s not just polite laughter…he’s cackling like a hen that’s just laid 3 eggs.  I’m gasping for breath (and trying to retrieve my wits) as my heart attempts to blast through my rib cage.

And as I look at my grandson, I realize that he never at any time thought he was in danger.  And I ask myself, “Why can’t I be like that with God?”

Because I’m not.

When I’m standing on life’s “couch” and God is passing by, I don’t leap and cry out, “Catch me!”  I don’t launch out for Him with total abandon knowing He will catch me.  Instead, I want to be sure He will catch me before I jump.  And I won’t just take His word for it.  I want to see in the Bible that He promises to catch me.  Then I want to go to Bible College to make sure what the Bible says is true.  And then I want to go to Graduate School to craft my theology of jumping.  And then…well, you get the idea.

By the time I’m ready to jump off of the couch, God has already moved on…a long time ago.

The problem is that we don’t trust God.  And where does this mistrust come from?  We aren’t born with it.  If we were, then little children wouldn’t play the “catch me!” game.  So where does it come from?  And when did it happen?

I don’t know.

By that, I mean that I know why and how this mistrust of God operates in me.  But each of us has a unique history, so the reason you mistrust God may be different than mine.  Whatever the source of our mistrust, we must deal with it if we are ever going to have adventures in God’s Kingdom.

And everyone has this problem to one degree or another.

How many times do we read in the Bible where God or an angel appears to someone and says, “Don’t be afraid…”?  Even after God gave orders to Joshua, Gideon, and others, He commanded them to be of good courage and dealt with their fear.  Paul exhorted Timothy not to be timid, but rather to be courageous in his ministry.

Why would it be any different for us?

If we are going to go on God’s adventures and do exploits in the Kingdom of God, we must learn to trust Him.  We need to overcome our mistrust of God.  We will face the source of our mistrust and overcome it.

And it won’t be a lot of fun.

We will need to be willing to see the truth about ourselves.  And the process will involve some pain.  Maybe a lot of pain.  But until we trust God, we will never follow Him with total abandon.

Like a one-year-old child flying out of his father’s arms saying, “Catch me!”

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Coming to God as a Child (Part 5): Mimics

By David Ryser

Somewhere there is a picture of me taken when I was a small child.  In the picture, I am wearing grown-up clothes.  And I look ridiculous.  In part this is due to the fact that the clothing is way too big for me.  And in part it is because I am wearing one of my grandmother’s old dresses!

That picture could be worth a lot of money if it fell into the wrong hands.  And if I had any money.

The point that I’m making is that small children love to play dress-up.  What parent has not been amused by their young child clomping around in their shoes or putting on an article of their clothing?  It’s not just that the child wants to look grown up.  The child wants to be like the parent.

And this desire is expressed in ways other than in the choice of fashion wear.

Children also copy the mannerisms of their parents.  Gestures and speech patterns, along with attitudes and behaviors, are picked up by children.  Every parent has experienced the discomfort of hearing the child say something that sounded clever when the parent said it, but doesn’t sound so funny when a three-year-old says it.

And sooner or later, every parent is faced with the truth that children do not grow up to be what you taught them to be.  They grow up to be what you are.

Why?  Because all children are mimics.

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus tells His disciples that all who enter the kingdom of Heaven must become as a little child.  In Ephesians 5:1, Paul encourages believers to be imitators of God as beloved children.  The Greek word translated “imitators” (or “followers” in the KJV) is μιμήτής, and is where we get our English word “mimic.”

We are called to be mimics of God.

How can we mimic someone we do not know intimately?  How can we imitate someone we are not around?  How can we copy someone if we cannot see or hear them?

We can’t.

If we are going to be imitators of God, we must find a way to be in His presence.  To see what He is doing…and how He does it.  To hear what He is saying.  And we need to be in an intimate relationship with Him so we can know His heart.

This is easier said then done.

A pastor friend of mine has determined that until God tells him otherwise, he is going to spend all of his Bible reading time in what he calls the “red print.”  His reading of the scriptures will be restricted to the four Gospels, with an emphasis upon the words of Jesus.  He wants to focus on what Jesus did and said.  As the Holy Spirit breathes life into the words on the page, my friend believes he will come to know Jesus more.  And the better he knows Jesus, the more able he will be to mimic Him.

It sounds like a good plan to me.

You see, having entered into the Kingdom of Heaven as little children, we begin to grow in the knowledge of God.  All good parents desire for their children to grow up and become responsible adults.  That little one clomping around in your shoes today will someday grow into them.

A friend once shared with me a vision she had concerning me.  She saw me as a little child with big shoes.  She said they looked like oversized clown shoes on me.  They were much too big for me.  I was having trouble just walking around in them.  As she was considering this odd sight, and wondering what would become of me, God spoke to her.  He said, “He will grow into them.”

I didn’t much appreciate it when she shared it with me.  But I’ve not forgotten it.

So although we enter the Kingdom of Heaven as children and maintain a childlike trust in our heavenly Father, His desire is that we grow in our knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:15-21; 3:14-19, among others).  He wants us to grow into the “shoes” He has prepared for us.  He wants us to become and do what we were created to be and do (Ephesians 2:10).

He wants us to be mimics of Him.

God desires that we talk like Him, act like Him, and love like Him.  We are the only Bible some people will ever read.  We are the only Jesus some people will ever see.  When people observe us and get to know us, will this experience give them any inkling of what God is really like?

Maybe.  It depends.  How good of a mimic are you?  As good as a six-year-old?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com