We Are At War: Man on a Mission Part 2

"For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost,"--Jesus from Luke 19:10 (NIV 1984).

A large majority of the Church is not accustomed to attributing words such as fierce, wild, and warrior to the name and reputation of Jesus. It is much more comfortable with meek, mild-mannered, nice, and humble. These terms tend to stand in stark contrast to the others like a ketchup stain on a white shirt. One of our fears in ministry is the assumption that we prefer one set of personality traits to Jesus over what has been long preserved in the traditions of the church. If we want to attempt to fully understand Jesus and learn to trust him, he must be taken in as a whole. He is all of the above and a whole lot more. A further look into his mission will shed more light on the man.

Simply stated, this is a search and rescue mission. "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). One of my all time favorite films is Saving Private Ryan. It is a story set in the Second World War of several army rangers handpicked to save a single paratrooper dropped deep into enemy territory. It is a mythic representation to what Jesus is out to accomplish. Jesus must go deep into enemy territory on a rescue mission of epic proportions. On the surface, the mission hardly seems worth the risk. However, it will prove to be his greatest accomplishment. The likes of which would require the guts of a Navy Seal.

What is Jesus really after? Notice the verse says "what was lost." We tend to use this verse to refer to lost souls without the hope of Jesus by saying "the lost". There is no problem using it in that way, however, the implication is not limited to the salvation of persons. Jesus is offering restoration of the whole person, namely the Image of God. He is not trying to scrap the project, nor is he just simply wanting to salvage what is left. His business is in restoration of what was lost. Jesus is after the whole person, transform them by restoring his glorious image and likeness, making them new.

This will not be easy. In fact, it will require even more than a warrior's heart. It is not a "lust for blood" that drives Jesus, it is his passionate love for us that compels him to stage his invasion of the world. Jesus is not looking for "subjects" to obey him (obedience has it's place, but that is not all Jesus calls us to). He is looking for lovers, or intimate allies who will join him on his mission to retake the world. This is why Jesus seems to be so shy when it comes to demonstrating his power. Love cannot be forced. It must be chosen. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NIV 1984). He fights for us, because he loves us.

Winning over our hearts will require even more than service, it means he will have to die. Philippians 2:8 says of Jesus, "being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!" This is a passionate move of love on the deepest level!

The heart is tenderized and we are awakened to the beauty this man emanates. When we see Jesus as all of what he was meant to be as a warrior, as lover, everything comes into focus. He lives as both, not to confuse and distort one way over another. Rather, they complement in him a need to both love those in need and at the same time take a stand against evil. In a world at war, Jesus is the fierce warrior come down from heaven to face the stench of the enemy and give his life to save his beautiful beloved bride, the church. We live in a captivating love story set in the middle of an awful war. It is in Jesus, who inspires our love and confidence, we place our hope.

"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5: 25-27)

**Disclaimer**
I know there are men who are uncomfortable with the understanding of Jesus as intimate lover for obvious reasons. This is part of the great distortion of the evil one and a message like this can dissuade rather than invite confidence in Jesus. It must be understood, that it is the church who is the bride of Christ and not us individually, men or women for that matter. In keeping with the Scriptures, the love Christ has for the church can only be likened to that of a husband and wife. It is the deepest knowledge of love that we can understand in this world. Individually, we love Christ intimately, not in a sexual sense, but more like a Son and his Father, or better a band of brothers on a shared mission of dangerous proportions. It was Jesus who chose twelve men who followed him and loved him. There were several women, as well. They looked up to him and enjoyed his personality and companionship, none of which was sexual in nature. Take Jesus in as much as you are comfortable with. Like any relationship, it takes time. With every encounter with the words and personality of Jesus, you will learn to trust him more and more.

We Are At War: The Reality

What if the world is not what most people believe it is? What if there is more going on around us than the ordinary day to day?  What if there is more to you than meets the eye?  What if it were told that we were born into a world at war, that forces of good and evil were at work in a world that you cannot see, and the way you lived impacted the final outcome? Would it change the way you live?
Probably. In fact, it is safe to say the heart really wants to believe this is all true.

Most Christians understand the major theme (and perhaps the only theme) of the Bible is love.  We are told "God is love," and we are expected to "love one another."  This is true; every single bit of it. It's just not all there is.

What about war, what most consider to be the antithesis of love? Would most Christians make the claim that a major theme of the Bible is war? Hmm...didn't think so.

What, then, does the Bible say? Well, before diving in, it's important to establish war as a real and relevant theme of the Bible. The words war, battle, and fight are mentioned in scripture just as much as the words love, loving, and beloved. What is God trying to say in this? It cannot be ignored. However, it has been.

The church has mistakingly all but erased the reality that we are at war. It's like a grandfather clock with a pendulum swinging from one end to the other. It works on balance. But when the clock is moved and placed on an incline, no matter how slight, the pendulum stops swinging, and is then off balance. The clock becomes unstable, unbalanced, and therefore, loses its place in the world.

Most of the Old Testament documents the battles and wars of the people of Israel. In fact, war is the vehicle God often (not always) chooses to deliver His people from their enemies. In reading many Old Testament passages, we come across some pretty gory stuff. What does a modern day Christian make of all this?

The New Testament continues the theme. What is the political situation Jesus is born into? Turmoil. Judea was a political hotspot, an unstable region of the Roman Empire. What do we make of His disciples? Paul and his fellow apostles faced persecution in the forms of imprisonment and death for their dedication to "a gospel of love and peace." Perhaps the world is not as safe as we have been led to believe.

How do we reconcile the coexisting themes of love and war in the Bible? Please understand they do not stand in tension with one another. Talk about confusion! Instead, they compliment each other. We fight because we love--there will be more on this later.

For now, we must live as if we are at war. Brave, yet cautious. Cunning, with a sharp wit. No longer can we go on as "just citizens". We must be more!! We must be soldiers in a long and dangerous war.

Over the next several weeks, you can anticipate more on this war we were born into. Journey with us as we explore its various aspects. Please contribute your thoughts to the conversation, regardless of whether you are buyers, skeptics, or critics. Let's answer the questions and debate the answers! May the Bible be our guide!

The Same Old Thing

Just the other day, I was asked how my day was going. "Oh, same stuff, different day." As soon as the words left my mouth, the Holy Spirit checked me. Where did that come from? Are those the real thoughts about my life? Have I come to a place where everyday is just the same old thing?

We've all been guilty of thinking like this. Life, at least for most of us, goes on with very little day to day change. My goodness, we're practically repeating the ramblings of that old Teacher from Ecclesiastes, "There is nothing new under the sun, ever."(1:9 NIV, italics mine)

According to Eldredge, losing paradise was not the worst thing to happen to this world. (Desire, p. 9) The fact that we're very much used to it is. We brush our teeth. We go to our jobs. We watch the news. We go to bed fully expecting to get up the next day only to do it all over again. Why? It's the way things are supposed to be, or at least, that is what we tell ourselves.

Just take your life the way it is right now. Someone has just given you the news that from here on out, your life will never change. Your health, your finances, your relationships, all of it will not get any worse, nor will it ever get any better than what it is right now. React to that with as much honesty as you can muster. What conclusions do you come to? My guess is the heart has little patience for "the same old thing".

Shouts of Lament

Grandma's House. If you would have told me when I was a kid that one day I would lose all of that joy and adventure, I wouldn't have believed you. It just didn't seem possible that life as I knew it would change. But change it did, dramatically.

I was in my first year of college away from home when the telephone rang. The memory is so fresh. It was my father on the other end of the phone. Through choked up tears He broke the news. "Grandma is gone."

Grandma was the closest person to me to die. She had lost control of her car down an old country highway not three miles from her home, my personal paradise. The news was devastating.

Looking back now, I realize I lost more than a grandmother that day. I lost access to my boyhood proving grounds. Not long after the funeral, all of her possessions were sorted through and the home was sold. Please understand, that land was more than just a piece of real estate. It was an intricate part of my masculine journey. It was the only place in my little world where I felt most alive. Able to be my truest self there, it was my sanctuary, my holy ground.

Just like that, it was all gone, torn away. Disbelief set in, as for most people when they suffer significant losses and devastating disappointments. Divorcees, amputees, and surviving spouses know what I'm talking about. At the moment, our hearts reject the reality. Again the secret to our hearts rise to the surface. This is not the life we want.

Even more devastating than Grandma's death is the dilemma that I, like so many others, got use to my loss. We come to a point where we embrace the idea that this really is the way things are supposed to be. As a result, we struggle with the truth that we were not made for this.

Desire: Setting Forth

Before I get too far into this post, I must explain what is going on. I've been reading John Eldredge's book Desire. I've read it before, but this time I chose to utilize the study guide companion to the book, giving me a place to jot down thoughts from my reading. What you'll be reading over the next several weeks will be my personal journal through what is perhaps one of the most important topics we could ever address.

Mile 1, Segment 1: Setting Forth

The heart is truly an amazing thing. It is a mysterious thing, but it is nonetheless amazing. Now, I'm not talking about the involuntary muscles pumping inside our chests that we learned about in grammar school. The heart I'm referring to is the core of our being, the center and the secret to our existence. It's the heart we least like to talk about, yet it is the most significant thing about us. If we want to know the reason for our existence, this is where our journey must begin.

Within the heart, there is held a secret. Eldredge names that secret to be nothing other than desire. It is the drive to find life as it was meant to be. There are times we are keenly aware of desire; and other times, scarcely so. Yet, it is always there. We all want life, however, we are at a loss when it comes to finding it, or making it last. Life always seems to evade us, but it is desire that keeps up the hunt.

This may sound strange, but hang with me for a moment to demonstrate what we're talking about. A friend that I work with is your all around outdoors man. Some of his favorite activities include hunting, fishing, and camping. At a moment's notice, he's ready to go. That is the life I long for. Not his life but the life that is ready and able to abandon the shirt and tie and go enjoy an adventure. That looks really good to me now.

What about you? Is there something about someone else's life that looks good to you right now, you'd prefer it above your own?

The Problem with Tips and Techniques

These days I have to prepare myself when recommending a book for someone. Just the other day I was approached by a man and his wife. Things were no longer as they were meant to be in their marriage, like on the day of their wedding. Just as I began to mention a book for them to read, the lady stopped me.
"We've tried that!"

Counseling? "That, too!" Praying together? You guessed it. They have been victims of tips and techniques Christianity.

We are bombarded with a myriad of tips and techniques. Try any bookstore and go to the self-help section. There you will find hundreds of titles giving ten, twelve, fifteen steps to a better life, marriage, child, whatever. Most pulpits today are delivering similar messages to their congregants.

We've limited the gospel to a type of spiritual humanistic psychology written in Christianese. When Christ came, he did not bring ten steps to being a better Jew. There were no five point sermons on how to relate better with other people. The people already had the Ten Commandments, but they were not meant to "save" them. Instead, the commandments showed them they needed a savior.

If tips and techniques were all we ever needed, then there would have been no need for Christ to go to the cross. We could save ourselves. The gospel would have become one among the "Do It Yourself" guides. It's not our work, but the work of Christ that accomplishes God's purposes in us. It is the life Jesus has to offer.

But what life is that exactly, if not tips and techniques?

It is the freedom to truly live from our hearts. It is freedom to accomplish great things, take a stand, and embrace a larger world. It is freedom to love your wife in a way that unveils her beauty and to father your children to become all they are capable of becoming. Freedom to find your place, your calling in God's kingdom, which was inscribed on your heart since before the day you were born.

This life only comes we when allow Jesus to free our hearts of all that has wounded, all that holds us captive and imprisoned. To make right what has been wrong. (Isaiah 61, 1-3) To awaken us to the purest and truest desires He has written on our hearts.

If Jesus had a three point sermon, it was Luke 4:23. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me"(NKJV).

Possessing the kind of freedom mentioned above will require much from us, too much on our own. It will require a heart that places its own selfishness aside. It will require a will to lay down our lives for a larger story. It will require an obedient spirit to surrender to the voice of God. These are not tips and techniques, but life-saving gifts from Jesus made possible by his glorious cross.

By the way, the book I recommended to that couple? Its Love And War by John & Stacy Eldredge. No tips and techniques. None. Check it out for yourselves.

Prepare For Battle

I keep a sword in my bedroom next to where I sleep so when I wake up, it's the first thing I see. I want to see it. I need to see it. Because the life I want for me, my wife, and my kids is difficult. It's difficult because it is so opposed. This does not mean that I walk through life paranoid, constantly looking over my shoulder. I enjoy life. I enjoy my wife. I enjoy my kids. They are worth fighting for.


The sword is primarily a symbol for me; meant to remind me, "heads up". It is also a reminder of God's strength in me. Now, if you think I'm coming across as a little melodramatic, then the Apostle Paul was over the top. What did he tell us to put on in Ephesians chapter 6? The whole armor of God. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit. In other words, don't go out unarmed and unprepared for a fight. He reminds us that we are at war with our enemy, and we had better be prepared in order to take him out. "...[Be] strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms," ~Paul, Ephesians 6:10-12.


Is this how you live? Most people, Christians included, do not live as if there is a war raging all around them.


Be careful not to confuse the work of our enemy to be limited to your misery. How often do we hear, "Oh, the devil is really fightin' me today, just makin' my life miserable?" While I don't dare say that the suffering of people is not partly the result of our adversary's work, it's not the only thing he is after. He wants to take you out! Jesus makes that clear when he tells us, "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. He is after something much more valuable than our comfort. Primarily, he is after our heart, and he'll use whatever means to steal from it, kill it's passion, and destroy it's hope.


Every day we wake, we are facing a battlefield full of danger and opportunity. We must be armed and prepared--with sword in hand--to defend what is most precious: the hearts of our wives, our children, our friends, and yes, even our own hearts.

What Is Rally Point?

I'm so glad you asked! In order to answer this question, there are some things you need to know about me, my experience with a transformational message as old as time itself, and the mission I've been called to.
Let's start with the man.
I was born and raised in the Middle Georgia Area, and brought up in a very conservative/traditional denomination of the Church. I became a convert to the Christian faith at a very young age. Church attendance was important to my family, so you could imagine that I was present every time the doors were open. You could say I had a very religious upbringing. I participated in everything that a good Christian was supposed to participate in, and did it all very well. I went to Trevecca University and pursued a degree in religion with an emphasis in Pastoral Ministries, a career path I know that I was called to. I served in two senior pastorates, both of which were let's say, "less than perfect." Then came to my home church in Middle Georgia to serve as an associate pastor for almost five years.
This is where life for me began to change.
After two difficult pastorates, I needed time to heal, restore, and recover. There was no better place than the home in which I knew and loved. It was an opportunity for me to continue serving while seeking and finding the much needed restoration that my soul needed. Little did I know that I needed so much more, and it was the more that God so desperately wanted to do in my life.
It began with a gift, a Christmas gift in fact, from my sister-in-law. It was a gift card to Barnes and Noble. Well, after a month or two I finally got to use my card. At the suggestion of my wife (believe me guys, sometimes its good to listen to your wife) I picked up the book Wild At Heart by John Eldredge. A revolution took place in my mind and then it trickled down into my heart and to the rest of my life as it penetrated every part of me. Never, and I do mean never, have I heard the gospel presented in such a way. How did I miss this? Then upon looking back on my life and the wounds given to me by family members, friends, churches, and superiors, I began to receive God's healing and I allowed Him to restore not just me, but my masculine heart. These wounds throughout my life carried with them a message, "You have nothing to offer, you're a failure, and it would just be better for you if you just played it safe the rest of your life." I believed it, and because I believed it, I checked out on my wife, family, and church. I became afraid to offer what these people in my life really needed, my heart. I gave them my mind and my hands, but not my heart. There is a difference.
Thankfully, my story doesn't end there. No, because this story is not about me. It's about Jesus. The man who made no apology for being a man. The man who sacrificed all for the good of those who would take up His charge. The man who fought for those who could not fight for themselves. The man who offered me a place in His fellowship because He saw that I did indeed have something to offer. The man who looked at me and refused to see a failure, but a victor. The man who taught me that living safely is not living at all. By His grace I've been following ever since.
This is my story. My next post will be the transformational message that impacted me so, and thus is the message of Rally Point. Please feel free to leave your comments below and sign up as a follower. May God bless!!