March 2016 – Tri-Valley Baptist Church

“DOING WHAT ALL THE KING’S HORSES AND ALL THE KING’S COULD NOT DO”.

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Mar 272016

PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: “DOING WHAT ALL THE KING’S HORSES AND ALL THE KING’S COULD NOT DO”.

(By: Ron Woodrum)

One of the most interesting movies of the 1970’s was the 1976 movie All The President’s Men, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.　 The movie was about how two Washington Post reporters-Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward-played a vital role in uncovering the Watergate Break-In and Watergate Scandal.　 E.Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, working for President Nixon, masterminded a break-in and wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972.　 The names Virgilio Gonzalez, Benard Barker, James McCord, Eugenio Martinez, and Frank Sturgis were not household names.　 But those were the five that were hired to break in and tap the phones of the Democrats.　 On the night of June 17, 1972 they entered the Democratic headquarters, through doors entering from the parking garage, that were　rigged with tape, to remain unlocked after closing time.　 Another unrecognizable name, Frank Wills, the Security Guard working the building that night, found the doors rigged and called the police, fearing a break-in.　 The police arrived to　capture the burglars red-handed.　 The leading burglar-James McCord had papers and money in his pocket linking him to E.Howard Hunt, G. Gordon Liddy, and eventually Richard Nixon, and all the President’s men, who were implicit in the attempted cover-up that followed, and ended in President Nixon resigning the Presidency, on August 9, 1974.　 After the President was informed of the break-in,　he and his 12 closest men decided it was not that big of a deal, and if they would all stick together, stick to their story, they could weather the storm and it would pass without implicating them.　 But like “‘all the king’s horses and all the king’s men in Humpty Dumpty’s fall-all the President’s men could not pull it off either”.　One of the casualties of the Watergate Cover-Up was President　Nixon’s hatchet man-Chuck Colson.　 This Scandal sent Colson to prison in June of 1974, for seven months, for obstructiion of justice.　 He was born again, after reading C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, just before　going to　prison.　 He wrote a best selling book describing his conversion titled Born Again. 　While in prison he was so affected by　what he saw that his life was changed forever.　 He gave up a lucrative career to lead a life of ministry to prisoners, all over the world, called Prison Fellowship. He described his call to that ministry in his second book-Life Sentence.　　 But it was in　his third book, Loving God, that Colson　linked the Scandal of Watergate to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.　 He said　that watching all the president’s men fail to keep the cover-up together convinced him that the resurrection of　Jesus Christ is the most proven and established fact of history.　 How?　　Because “All the Saviour’s Men” did what “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, and all the president’s men could never do!”　

　　　　 In Colson’s words all that the President’s men had to do was to stick together and stick to their story.　“But after March 21, 1973 everything changed-it was all downhill, and fast!　 Conversations grew thick and heavy as they talked about perjury, obstruction of justice, and stonewalling…the kind of talk that gives grown mean weak knees and sweaty palms”.　 Colson goes on to explain, “with the most powerful office in the world at stake, a small band of hand-picked loyalists…could not hold a conspiracy together for more than two weeks…the natural human instinct for self-preservation was so ooverwhelming that the conspirators, one by one, deserted their leader, walked away from their cause, turned their backs on the power, prestige, and privileges”. What does all this have to do with the Resurrection of Jesus?

Colson says when it comes to believing in or rejecting the Resurection of Jesus Christ one only has two choices.　 One is to accept the testimony of the disciples as true evidence of His resurrection.　 “The other is to reject it as fraud, and one must conclude that there was a conspiracy-a cover-up if you will- by eleven men with the complicity of up to five hundred others.　 To subscribe to this argument, one must also be ready to believe that each disciple was willing to be ostracized by friends and family, live in daily fear of death, endure prisons, live penniless and hungry, sacrifice family, be tortured without mercy, and ultimately die-without ever once renouncing that Jesus had risen from the dead! That is why the Watergate experience is so instructive for me.　 If John Dean and the rest of of were so panic-stricken, not by beatings and execution,…but by political disgrace and possible prison terms, one can only speculate about the emotions of the disciples.　 Unlike the men in the White House, the disciples were powerless people, abandoned by their leader, homeless in a conquered land.　 Yet they clung tenaciously to their enormously offensive story that their leader had risen from His ignoble death and was alive-and was the Lord.”　　 Remember that the normal reaction to all that had happened was to deny the Lord, like Peter did.　 But after witnessing the real bodily resurrection of Jesus, they knew that Jesus had conquered death, and there was nothing to fear now　 standing for the truth, even if it cost them their lives.　 Colson concludes-“take it from one who was inside the Watergate web looking out, who saw firsthand how vulnerable a cover-up is:　 Nothing less than a witness as awesome as the resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and Lord.”

　　　　 The only alternative to believing that truth is to believe that the disciples perpetrated a conspiracy and hoax until their last breaths, staying united in their stories.　 They were willing to die for a lie.　 Watergate proves that to be an impossibility.　 Edward Gibbon, the noted historian, in his famous work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, states that the “pure and austere morality of the first Christians” was one of the reasons for the fast growth of the early Church.　　They were hardly　candidates to perpetrate a lie.　 Michael Green, scholar and principal of St. Johns College, summarized why the early disciples could hold to their story-it was because it was the truth.　 He writes, “the resurrection was the belief that turned heart-broken followers of a crucified rabbi into courageous witnesses and martyrs…you could flog them, imprison them, kill them but you could not make them deny their conviction that on the third day he rose again!”　 That is why the Saviour’s men could do what the kings men and the presidents men could not!

“HE’S BACK!-A CLEAR AND ETERNAL LESSON FOR US?”

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Mar 202016

PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE:　 “HE’S BACK!-A CLEAR AND ETERNAL LESSON FOR US?”

(By: Ron Woodrum)

　　　　 When I say-“he’s back!”-what comes to your mind?　 In 2013,Timur Vermes,　released a documentary, more of a mockumentary that tried to present how Hitler would react today, if he returned to modern Berlin Germany.　 But that is not what I am referring to.　 Or perhaps you　thought I was making a　reference to George W. Bush’s return to political life,　when he traveled to South Carolina to campaign for his brother Jeb, who was running for president.　 A promo trailer for another Jaws movie; Rocky Balboa; or Michael Myers?　 No-none of those.　 But if you had said, “O.J.” you would have been correct.　 A recent six episode series The People v. O.J. Simpson　　was　released to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of　 the American Crime Story.　 It is the recounting of the trial of last century when Orenthal James Simpson was tried for the　 June 12, 1994 death of his ex-wife Nichole, and waiter Ronald Lyle Goldman.　 The trial ran from January 24, 1995 to October 3, 1995 being described as “the most publicized crimminal trial in American history”.　 Newsweek called the trial “The Trail of Blood” on its cover; Time titled it “An American Tradgedy”.　 The current drama stars David Schwimmer, of Friends, as O.J. ‘s friend Robert Kardashian; John Travolta as lawyer Robert Shapiro; Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J.　 For most of us who lived through it we would not call it the “trial of the century!”　 My appraisal of it would agree with Don Henley’s summary of it in his 1995 hit, The Garden of Allah.　In the song he describes Satan laughing at the state of justice in America,　and the triumph of evil.　 Here are the lyrics:

　”Today I made an appearance downtown

I am an expert witness because I say I am…

I will testify for you, I am a gun for hire, I am a saint, I am a liar

Because there are no facts, there is no truth

Just data to be manipulated

I can get you any results you like

What’s it worth to you?

There is no　wrong, there is no right

And I sleep very well at night!

No shame, no solution, no remorse, no retribution

Just people selling t-shirts

Just opportunity to participate in the pathetic little circus

And winning, winning, winning!”

Those words, combined with the proposition　about the bloody gloves, “If they don’t fit you must acquit!”　　　just　remind us that the trial was a magnaminous “miscarriage of justice”.　 We watched as he was acquitted and said he would search for the real killer.　 Something he never did for a second.　 Then it was followed by a civil case in February 1997, that found O.J. guilty of the wrongful deaths of Nichole and Ronald　Goldman,　　awarding the Goldman family　　　$35.5 in　damages.　 Then in 2007 O.J. co-authored a book　entitled If I Did It:　　Confesssions of a Killer.　 All of this just reminds us that in America, if you have enough fame and fortune, you can literally get away with murder!　 You might be asking me now why I am wasting your time recounting this “pathetic little Circus” that resulted in such a “miscarriage of justice”.　　 Actually you can blame it on the late Chuck Colson.　 Chuck Colson?　 Yes-let me explain.　 Years ago I intrigued when Colson wrote in his book Loving God, that Watergate, another crime of the century, that ended in the first and only resignation of a President of the United States, actually proved for him that the Resurrection of Jesus　 Christ is an incontrovertable historical fact!　 More on that next week.　 But after reading his thesis I discovered that real life experiences can teach us, in very real ways-spiritual truths.　 O.J.’s　 trial and acquittal does just that.　 Just a couple of weeks ago another O.J. intrigue surfaced.　 At a press conference at LAPD headquarters Capt. Andy Neiman announced that a police officer just turned over a knife that was discovered on the property of the Simpson mansion when the Brentwood estate was being razed.　 Apparentlly a construction worker found it and gave it to a police officer who had kept it in his possession all this time.　 How bizarre?　 What if the knife was the one used and contained DNA evidence against O.J.?　 Would we finally see justice for Nicole and Ronald Goldman?　 University of Southern California law professor Jody Armour answered that question for us.　 Even if the knife was the one used in the crime; even if it was covered with DNA proving O.J. guilty as the killer- Armour said, “The 5th Amendment ensures double jeopardy would preclude a second trial for O.J. Simpson…O.J. cannot be tried again for that double murder!”　 Incredible!　 He got away with murder and will never be brought to justice!　 How unfair!

Before you throw your hands up giving up on the American justice system, saying “Justice is indeed blind-in more than one way”-please learn a truth from this law that could be called “The Gospel According to O.J. Simpson”.　 Orenthal James Simpson is not the first, nor the only guilty person to get away with　his　　 crime.　 Before you throw your rock-think about the crimes that we committed against God.　 If you and I committed two sins a day, one of commission, and one of ommission, (a underestimation of magnaminous proportions),　 we would be guilty of 51,100 sins, crimes, breaking of laws against a Holy God.　 Just one act of disobedience brings the sentence of death-spiritual death; physical death; eternal death!　 God’s courtroom makes no mistakes.　 His evidence against us is irrefutable and indefensible.　 We deserve eternal damnation forever in a place of torment called the Lake of Fire.　 But as Paul states in his Magnus Opus of Biblical writings, the Book of Romans, “where sin did abound, grace did much more abound”. (Rom. 5:20).　 In that chapter Paul also tells us the good news of the Gospel is that through the cross of Jesus Christ, God can be just, and the justifier of those guilty of heineous sin!　 When we embrace the death of Christ as our propitiation for sin, and trust Him as a Substitute and Saviour, “he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”.　 The Guilty goes free, because the Innocent took our penalty.　 We are acquitted.　 We are justified.　 Read Romans 8…it begins with “No Condemnation” and ends in “No Separation”.　 We benefit from God’s Superior Law of Double Jeopardy.　 Since the guilt and penalty for all of ours sins, past. present, and future were placed on Jesus on the altar of　Calvary’s cross, our sin debt has been paid in full.　 Remember all of our sins were still future when he died on that tree!　 Never will we face judgment or be tried for our sins again.　 They are paid in full, and as Scripture reminds us are “removed from us as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12); “Cast behind God’s back” (Isa. 38:17);　 “cast in the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19); to be “remembered no more”　(Isa. 43:25;Heb 8:12).　 We will be reviewed and rewarded for our service, but will never be retributed for our sin!　 O.J. will not be that fortunate.　 Unless he confesses and repents-God’s justice will prevail on him for all eternity!　 But for us, who to Jesus for refuge have turned,　　we　are blessed as the chorus says, “Gone, Gone, Gone, yes my sins are gone!　 Buried in the deepest sea; yes that’s good enough for me; I shall live eternally.　 Praise God My sins are gone!” That should make you “sleep very well at night!”.　

　　　　 Erwin Lutzer illustrates this truth with the story of some firefighters fighting wildfires out of control.　 Finally the situation got desperate and they had to flee.　 Realizing they could not outrun the fire, one of the men lit an area of grass on fire.　 He did so as his partner protested!　 He then exhorted his partner to help him stamp out the fire.　 As they kneeled in the center of the burned-off area he told his partner, “The fire cannot come where the fire has already been!”　 When you find yourself being reminded of the travesty that occured in O.J.’s case, thank God for the travesty that came our way through the travesty of Calvary that became our triumph in Christ.　　 Then rejoice that we are all living　the “Gospel According to O.J.!”

“THE CROSS OF CHRIST STILL TOWERS OVER THE WRECKS OF TIME!”

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Mar 132016

PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE:　 “THE CROSS OF CHRIST STILL TOWERS OVER THE WRECKS OF TIME!”

(By: Ron Woodrum)

　　　　 The year was 1970, the tail end of the wild ’60’s in American history.　 Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the famous Methodist missionary/author/evangelist was asked to name the number one problem of the Church.　 He replied quickly, without hesitation-“the number one problem of the Church today is irrelevance!”　 He went on to say that most of the oppositioin to the Church today stems from disappointment.　 We promise to make men different-but somehow leave them indifferent!　 The promise goes largely unfulfilled.　 Dr. Jones went on to tell the story of a millionaire who said, “If Brother Stanley cannot convert me, I will sue him!” half in jest, and half seriously.　 Dr. Jones explained, “what the world is saying is that if the Church cannot deliver on the message it preaches, we will sue you for breach of promise.　 You promised this, now deliver.　 Show us you can convert us, there is no other hope any other direction”.　 A fairly recent Gallup poll reports that 77% of those surveyed feel that the Church is losing its influence in America.　 George Barna puts it very bluntly: “Let’s cut to the chase.　 After two decades of studying the Church in America, I am convinced that the typical Church as we know it has a rapidly expiring shelf-life!”　 In 1998 he predicted that the Church would experience a massive revival or major ruin!　　 Nearly twenty years later you be the judge!　 Have we seen a massive revival?　 Or a melt-down of ruin?　 Have we seen penetration or petrification?　 Explosion or Implosion?　 The Church in America has lost its influence.　 As the world has grown darker we have neglected to fan the flame, and reflect the Light of our Glorious Lord into that darkness.　 G. Campbell Morgan remarked, “The Church did the most for the world when it was least like the world”.

Ephesians is the N.T. parallel of the O.T. book of Joshua.　 In Joshua, as he began to lead the People of God, into the darkness of the Idolatry of the Land of Canaan, God told him, “Every place your foot shall tread on that land have I given you, as I told Moses” (Joshua 1:3).　 Joshua and the people of God, in the Old Testament were commanded to Walk in the land and every step would be a conquering step by the power of God, dispelling the darkness of the Land with the Glorious presence of the LORD.　 Today as Paul tells Christians to Walk in Life, in Liberty, in Light, and in Love that is more than verbage and imagery.　 It is the power of God, sending us out into the kingdom of darkness.　 Each step replaces death with life; each step replaces defeat with liberty; each step replaces darkness with light; each step replaces despair with love!　 In Philippians Paul told the Philippians to rejoice because all of his seemingly adverse circumstances had “fallen out unto the furtherence of the Gospel!” (Phil. 1:12).　 The word “furtherence”　 is the word-prokope-which means “advance forward”.

Insteading of retreating in our influence, God wants us to have a walk that will take us forward into the world.　 One that is annointed with His power.　 One that will conquer with each step!　　　 We can see this happen as a slow but saturating sunrise, or a slow but systematic shining.　 David told his son Solomon that God can penetrate darkness in the way he does it every twenty four hours!　 In Proverbs 4:18 David said, “The steps of the righteous are like the rising sunlight, which shines a little, and a little more, until the day dawns, and the full day arises and shines in its fulness!”　 Or we can do what Jesus said, “Let your light so shine among men that they will see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).　 Or what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:15-16 “be harmless and blameless Children of God…shining as lights in a crooked and perverse world, holding forth the Word of Life”.　

At one of the darkest times in his life, one filled with anxiety, depression, and drugs, Hank Williams captured this truth in his familiar Gospel Song-” I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin; I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in; Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night; Praise the Lord-I saw the Light!”　　　　 That same light, emanating from our Glorious Savior, reflecting off the faces of His dear children, who make up His Church, still has the power to light up the darkness!　 Don’t ever doubt that.　　 C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity like I believe in the Sun.　 Not just because I see it, but by it I see clearly everything else!”　 God’s light has a way of doing that still today.

When Robert Louis Stevenson was a young child he was sick alot.　 He couldn’t go out and play with the other children much.　 He spent alot of time watching at the window.　 One evening he sat there while the sun was going down, and darkness was setting on the town.　 He watched as a man, the lamplighter came down the street lighting the gas lamps.　 His nurse came upon him and asked what he was watching.　 He said, “I am watching the man punch holes in the darkness!”　 It must have seemed like that.　 Each newly lit lamp dispelled the area darkness until soon the entire town was aglow with the warm light of the lamps.　 Our nation, our state, our city,our neighborhoods could use a little “punching of holes in the darkness”.　 We can do it one step at a time, while we wait for the sunrise!　 Amen?

On the south coast of China,on a hill overlooking the harbor of Macao, Portuguese settlers once built a massive cathedral.　 But a typhoon proved stronger than the work of man’s hands, and some centuries ago the building fell in ruins,　except for the front wall.　 High upon that jutting wall, challenging the elements down through the years, is a great bronze cross.　 In 1825 Sir John Bowring was shipwrecked near there.　 Clinging to the wreckage of his ship, at long last he caught　 sight of that great cross,　it　showed him the path of deliverance, safety, and salvation.　 After his dramatic rescue he was moved to write those familiar words, that later became his hymn that has blessed millions:

“In the cross of Christ I glory,

Towering over the wrecks of time;

All the light of the sacred story,

Gathers round its head sublime”.

That is why the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians-“I am determined not know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified” (I Cor. 2;2).　 Helmut Thielicke wrote about the secret of the greatest preacher the world has ever seen-Charles Haddon Spurgeon.　 He wrote, “In the midst of the theologically discredited nineteenth century there was s preacher who had at least six thousand people in his congregation every Sunday, whose sermons for many years were cabled to New York every Monday and reprinted in the leading newspapers of the country, and who occupied the same pulpit for almost forty years with any diminishment in the flowing abundance of his preaching and without ever repeating himself or preaching himself dry.　 The fire he thus kindled, and turned into a beacon that shone across the seas and down through the generations, was no mere brush fire of sensationalism, but an inexhaustible blaze that glowed and burned on solid hearths…fed by the eternal Word.　 Here was the miracle of a bush that burned with fire and yet was not consumed”.　 When asked the key to his powerful preaching Spurgeon said, “I announce my text…and make a bee-line for the cross!”　 THAT CROSS TOWERS OVER THE WRECKS OF TIME-AND BRINGS RESCUE AND RESTORATION OUT OF THOSE WRECKS!　 LIFT IT UP HIGH…THE WAY OF THE CROSS LEADS HOME!

“MODERN-DAY DILEMNA-THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE INNER MAN”

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Mar 062016

PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: “MODERN-DAY DILEMNA-THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE INNER MAN”

　　　　 The other day I had the joy of visiting with one of my very best Pastor friends through the modern day miracle of instant e-mail.　 He asked about the Church and ministry today.　 He and I have been involved in Southern Baptist ministry now for parts of six decades-beginning in the late sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and two decades now into the 21st century.　 We were discussing how different things have been since the nineties.　 Ministry has changed drastically in the last half of our six decades!　 The changes have been so drastic that Gordon MacDonald has documented the changes in his book Who Stole My Church-What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century.　 The question every faithful Pastor faces is-do we surender to the user-friendly trend or remain faithful to Biblical patterns of ministry-or a combination of both?　 Or what? I admitted to him that I have not found the answer that has satisfied my committment to ministry.　 I am willing to make adjustments but have not yet been convinced that the current trends, in spite of the fact that they may result in gathering crowds, are the Biblical model that should be embraced.　 Then my friend Allen Camp said, “the problem with the Christian culture we are working with these days is that they have been desensitized-demoralized-and defeated!”　 I have spent the last 3-4 days meditating on what he had to say.　 I think he may have diagnosed a very pertinent truth about the Christian generation of the twenty first century.　 Desensitized…Demoralized…and Defeated…and content to accept that reality as the norm.

Perhaps our generation of believers have been Desensitized to True Spirituality.　 In his book by the same name, Francis Schaeffer warned that these post-Christian tendencies would permeate the Church at the End of the Twentieth Century.　 (See his book by that same name as well!).　 Christendom has been offered and accepted a counterfeit for true spirituality.　 The Apostle Paul, in II Corinthians 4:16 talked about “the outward man perishing on a daily basis but the inner man being renewed day by day”.　 But by accepting a counterfeit spirituality as a substitute the lack of inward renewal and transformation leaves the believer weak and hollow inside.　 A.W. Tozer was prophetically insightful in seeing these tendencies coming several years ago when such tendecies were in their infancy stage.　 He wrote, “A German philosopher many years ago said something to the effect that the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man”.　 Tozer went on to say, “If this is true, (and I believe it is), then the present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of the Christian is in serious decline.　 The average man has no central core…no spring within his own breast, no inner strength to place himself above the need for repeated psychological shots to give him the courage to go on living.　 He has become a parasite on the world, drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him”.　 Tozer was referring to the views held by the German philosopher and theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher.　 Schleiermacher believed that a Christian proved the “will and Spirit of God…by the silent working of the inner man”.　 Tozer said, “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was…for this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world.　 But of late she has become tired of the abuse and given over the struggle.　 She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.”　 Tozer accuses the Church of borrowing the world’s style of entertainment, Christianizing it in content, and using it to attract and occupy the sons of heaven with.　 To him it is a counterfeit void of true spirituality that has left us enemic in our faith.　 That is certainly something we should seriously consider.　 Could such entertaining amusement desensitize our generation to proven disciplines that have edified us in the faith?　 Tozer certainly feels that is true.　 He concludes, “in an hour when mature saints are so desperately needed vast numbers of believers are reverting to spiritual childhood and clamoring for religious toys” patterned after the tendencies of the world.

Having been desensitized by counterfeit spiritual disciplines, that are really nothing more that sanctified entertainment for Christian spectators,　 perhaps that has led to a generation of believers that have become demoralized over time.　 Samson satisfied his every fleshly appetite repeatedly.　 Eventually lying in the lap of temptation, and constantly satisfying every urge took its spritual toll.　 Delilah discovered the secret of his strength to be his relationship with God, symbolized by the unhindered growth of his hair.　 Once that was interupted, Samson went into spiritual battle totally unaware that he was now “as any other ordinary man!”　 (Judges 16:20).　He had become desensitized to spiritual things by feeding on fleshly things, and it had taken its toll.　 He was captured, they put out his eyes, and Samson imprisoned by his failure, completely demoralized to where he despaired even of life itself.　 Another favorite author of mine quotes another German author, (with a staggering truth for us).　 Eugene Peterson, author of the　Biblical paraphrase The Message, 　has written an excellant book on Spirituality titled A Long Obedience In the Same Direction.　 In that book, he quotes a very unlikely source for Christians to be listening to.　 He quotes the Agnostic Philosopher Freidrich Neitzche’s words “The essential thing in heaven and earth is…that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.”　 Peterson claims that long obedience in the same direction is missing from the lives of most who claim to walk with the Lord in our generation.　 Could it be missing because we have been desensitized to spiritual things by compromising repeatedly by choosing the flesh over the spirit so often that we don’t know the difference any longer?　Some of the fleshly entertainment may be cleverly disquised as new and appealing spiritual entertainment.　 Maybe we should not be so quick to exchange proven ways of worship for the “new and improved” alternatives being offered to us without testing them out first!　Maybe accepting substitutes, without testing them first,　has left us demoralized.　 We know we are devoid of the birthright of our spirituality, and like Esau, we shed tears over our choices, but lack genuine repentance to pursue the genuine over the counterfeit.　 Over the years I totally misunderstood the passage in the book of Hebrews that talked about Esau being a “profane” person who forfeited his birthright by choosing the fleshly over the spritual.　 Hebrews 12:17 says that Esau “sought repentance with tears but could not obtain it”.　 I always understood that to mean that Esau sought repentance with tears but was denied it because of his years of wrong choices, and now it was too late for repentance.　 But another German Evangelical author by the name of Erich Sauer, in his book In the Arena of Faith opened my eyes to a different interpretation.　 Sauer points out that Esau still wanted the birthright.　 He still wanted the prosperity and results that were due him as the “firstborn”.　 But he did not want to change his heart or his nature.　 He wanted his father to repent of his decision to give it to Jacob instead.　That is the only repentance he sought! 　He sought that reversal with tears!　 But finally he　settled for missing out.　 That is the current status of many demoralized worldly Christians today.

Having been desensitized by current trends; having been demoralized　 by years of failed choices, and shedding tears over what has been forfeited, but no genuine tears of real repentance,　 have we　settled for defeat as the norm for the Christian life?　 Bruce Larson, in his book Ask Me To Dance, (referring to David dancing before the Lord in total abandonment to his enthusiasm for the Lord),　 thinks so.　 He points out how many Christians, after repeatedly choosing pathways that lead to failure, wave a white flag of surrender, and settle for such defeat as the norm for the Christian life.　 He quotes a poem by Dorothy Parker, titled The Veteran, that expresses this tragic choice.　 He writes,

“When I was young and bold and strong

Oh, right was right, and wrong was wrong,

My plume on high, my flag unfurled,

I rode away to fight the world.

‘Come on you dogs, and fight!’ said I

And wept, there was but once to die

But I am old and good and bad

Are woven into a crazy plaid,

I sit and say, ‘The world is so

And he is wise who lets it go.

A battle lost, a battle won,

The difference is really quite　small my Son’

Inertia rides and riddles me!

That-has become　my philosophy.”

(“The Veteran” in the Portable Dorothy Parker.)

Allen and I both agreed that what is needed today is to keep on being faithful in challenging the　believers of our generation to seek the things that produce True Spirituality.　 That requires　us to　be able to discern between the real and the counterfeits that are being offered by so many today.　 But the reality is we have a generation that has been marked and marred by a stifling spirit of desensitivity; demoralization; and defeat.　 Recovery will require genuine repentance and revival.　Paul said that we need our inward man “to be renewed day by day”.　 Back in 1972, Godspell told us how to renew ourselves in their song Day by Day.　 They sang- “Day by Day-three things I pray-　to see thee more clearly-follow thee more nearly-love thee more dearly”.　 Simple recipe for revival.　 God send that revival.　 Let it begin with me…and how about you too?