We’re coming to the end of apple season here in upstate New York, and I am grateful. Yes, grateful.

The problem is that I love apple season.  From about January on, I can hardly wait for fresh, tart, juicy apples, instead of those tasteless, mealy things the grocery store has – some of which, I discovered this summer, come from New Zealand, probably on a very slow boat.

My all-time favorites are MacIntosh, and they have been especially large and juicy this year.  Then a couple years ago after the Mac’s were done for the season, my local orchard convinced me to try Crispins.  Ooh-hah!  They are very crisp and tasty, and they keep very well.

This year, my hubby got me two large bags of Macs and a very cool gizmo to peel them, core them, and slice them, making that process much easier for my achy hands.  This has resulted in apple pie and multiple batches of Apple Brown Betty, from an old friend’s excellent recipe.

So why am I glad apple season is almost over?  Because I made the mistake of reading this the other day:

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

Like Eve, I think apples are among the best things that God put on this earth.  I certainly desire them almost all year, and I would have to admit that I’m passionate about them.  And I have definitely not crucified my flesh in this regard.  In fact, I feed this passion.  I cater to my hunger for all things apple.

Are apples sinful?  Of course not  (unless God has told you not to eat them, and we all know how that turned out for Eve.)

The sin is that I’m feeding my flesh instead of my soul.  I’m letting my fleshly desire and passion rule what I do, instead of crucifying that flesh.   It would appear that  a little discipline and self-control are in order.

I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
(1 Corinthians 9:23-27)

As always, Christian bloggers are invited to participate in the Word for Wednesday. See the WFW tab above for details.

I was following links this morning, and came across a story that the media largely ignored. Here’s part of a wire story from FoxBusiness posted in the Markets section:

Members of Ecuador’s national police and members of the air force on Thursday started protests and went on strike against the government of President Rafael Correa.

The heated protests started after the Correa administration went ahead with reforms that will cut benefits and affect decorations that increase remuneration for the police and military.

Police officials burned tires in the streets and protested against the government, while air force officials shut down the airport in Quito. The army has said it supports Correa.

Here are more details from a missionary in the area:

In a matter of hours Sept. 30, a nation of 14 million people found itself at the mercy of gangs and hoodlums, ransacking and looting at will.

Ecuador, the South American nation I have served as a Southern Baptist missionary for 24 years, isn’t known for being politically stable. With eight presidents in the last 10 years, Ecuadorians have seen many uprisings, strikes, demonstrations and unrest. Trouble struck again Sept. 30.

That day, as we were going out to celebrate my wife’s birthday, we noticed people running down the streets. Traffic backed up along the side streets of our neighborhood. Within minutes, word spread: “The national police are striking. Go home immediately, lock your doors and stay there!”

Even as I rushed to get back to our house, businesses were locking up and people were jumping into their cars. When I stopped someone to ask what was going on, he shouted, “They’ve robbed the bank down the street! There is looting all along the shopping district a block away!”

With the threat of more than 40,000 national police walking off the job, chaos and terror soon reigned across the country.

Patriotic Christian Americans know, of course, that nothing like this could ever happen here. But just for a minute, I ask you to imagine that it could.  Just for a minute, think about a scenario that would leave our country at the mercy of looters and criminals.  Think about how our military would react.  Just think.

As you imagine this situation, try to figure out how you would react.  As this missionary did, I suspect that most of us would try to find safe haven for ourselves and our loved ones, but what would your next step be?  Would you dig out your ammo and clean your guns?  Would you set up barricades to harden your safe haven?  Would you venture out to get food and supplies to last through the storm … even if you had to turn into one of the looters to do it?

If you thought to pray, what would you pray?  Would you pray for safety for you and yours?  Would you pray for God to restore our country, to eliminate the fear and chaos?

A couple years ago I took a walk through the New Testament prayers.  Almost all of them are prayers for people’s souls.  They are prayers for Christians to walk as Christians, to know God, to share God.  Prayers for personal safety and earthly comforts are rare.  Here’s part of one of my favorites:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19)

Here’s what that missionary and other Christians are doing in response to the chaotic events in Ecuador.  Would we do as well, or would we just want our creature comforts restored?

While this latest round of political unrest is tragic, we ask Christians around the world to pray that it will become the catalyst for a long-awaited harvest of souls here in Ecuador. On Oct. 10, all evangelical Christians in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, will unite in a citywide evangelistic effort. We will blanket the city’s schools, parks, media, homes, government offices and sports arenas in an attempt to reach the entire city of 3 million people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray that the tragic events of Sept. 30 will prepare people’s hearts to respond to the Gospel.

Hell is happy to provide us with vain philosophies and other mental futilities by which we are blinded, flattered, coarsened, and calloused until our damnation is complete; these must be rejected and left behind as we draw nearer to Him who loves us and will heal us from our wounds — self-inflicted and otherwise.

-Jim Wetzel, WFW 9/22

The statement above generated a rant in my heart that continues today, as I see person after person cling to error when God reveals the truth.  So consider last week’s rant this week’s Word for Wednesday:

Why is it that so many people refuse to reject the old when God is trying to show them the new? Christianity is supposed to change us from “glory to glory,” and yet so many cling to their understanding from decades ago, not acknowledging that God reveals Himself to us in bits and pieces as we are able to bear it.

I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (John 16:12-13)

Out with the old man that causes us so many problems. In with the new, that looks more like Jesus every day.

Scenario I: You and your buddies Mike and Jim got up at oh-dark-thirty and drove three hours to your favorite ski resort.  You got there before the sun, bought your lift tickets, and were really looking forward to a crisp, sunny day of racing down the mountain.

As you left the lodge for the lift line, though, three buses pulled up and disgorged a horde of foreigners — ignorant foreigners who mulled all over the place in their street shoes, ruining the snow pack at the bottom of the run.  They obviously didn’t even speak the language, if you went by their confused looks when people started telling them to get off the trail.  Great.  Just great.

“C’mon,” you said to Mike and Jim.  “Let’s get at least one run in before they figure out how to get up the mountain.”

You and Mike hustled to the lift line, and Jim said he’d catch up to you in a bit.  You and Mike caught a chair, and you continued to grumble all the way up the mountain.  When you got to the top, though, the sun was bright and the snow was fast, so you forgot about the foreigners as you set off down your favorite trail, Mike close behind. You forgot, that is, until you got down to the bottom and had to dodge around the foreigners who were still in the way and still wrecking the snow.  Where was the ski patrol?  Why weren’t they getting these idiots out of the way?  This was getting downright scary.  How many of them were there, anyhow?

As you tried to work your way back to the lift line, you realized you hadn’t seen Jim.  You finally spied him heading toward … the beginner’s slope?  Then you realized he was leading one of the foreigners, who had somehow acquired a pair of skis.  They were laughing and Jim was obviously trying to teach the guy how to walk in skis.

Scenario II: If you substitute America for the ski resort, Muslims for the foreigners, and police for the ski patrol, I think you’ll have a pretty good understanding of what many American Christians think about the Muslims in our country today.

• We resent foreigners that show up at our mountain, ruining our day.
• We expect them to act like expert skiers, even when they don’t have skis.
• We get scared when a lot of them show up.
• We think they should know the language.
• When they don’t “get it,” we want the ski patrol involved.

Expecting anyone to act like a Christian when no one has told them about Christ is ludicrous.  Making laws to that effect not only violates the First Amendment, it exposes our selfishness in wanting to keep the “mountain” to ourselves, and our hypocrisy in focusing on outward behaviors instead of a heart filled and changed by the Holy Spirit.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. (Matthew 23:4)

Runnin’ late today. I’ll finish it and update here … sometime.

Saturday morning update:  I finally had a block of time and some brain power, so here’s my Word for Saturday.

*   *   *

A few days ago a visitor to my blog was referred to last week’s WFW when they searched for today’s post title:  how can good truly overcome evil? The question has stayed in my heart, and I’ve wondered about the person who asked it.  I realized how far away from this viewpoint most Americans live, so I’ve decided, with a little trepidation, to try to answer.  The question deserves an answer.

The question is based on scripture, so I’ll start with the relevant passages:

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For you will heap burning coals on his head,
And the LORD will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

Paul expands on the idea in his letter to the Romans.

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

When I first read this as a new Christian I didn’t understand it, but I really liked the part about heaping burning coals on someone’s head.  “That’ll fix ‘em,” I thought.  Even now, I hear Christians that think that this is a means of getting even or bringing down the wrath of God on someone, but I don’t believe that’s the attitude this verse is supposed to encourage.

Instead, by resisting the human urge for revenge, the “enemy” might feel shame for what he has done and might be brought to repentance and reconciliation with God, which should be the goal of every Christian. Resisting that urge is not an easy thing to do, of course, because our natural instinct when we are hurt is to strike back.  If our child or another innocent is hurt, we want to strike back twice as hard.  But here are some examples, so it can be done.

In II Kings, Chapter 6, the king of Aram was warring with Israel, intent on being its king.  He would send war parties to attack, but Elisha the prophet would send advance warning, and the king of Aram was unsuccessful.  So he sent a great army, but Elisha prayed that they would be blinded, so they were captured and brought before the king of Israel.  We pick it up after Elisha has prayed for their sight to be restored.

Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” He answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel. (2 Kings 6:21-23)

A more modern example comes from The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, p. 215.  In case you’re not familiar with the story, Corrie worked as part of the underground who protected Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland.  She and her sister were arrested and sent to a concentration camp, where her sister died.  After Corrie’s release, and then the end of the war, she traveled around Europe encouraging people to heal by turning to Jesus and forgiving their enemies.

It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck.  He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time.  And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face.

He came up to me as the church was empyting, beaming and bowing.  “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.” he said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!”

His hand was thrust out to shake mine.  And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them.  Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more?  Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand.  I could not.  I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity.  And so again I breathed a silent prayer.  Jesus, I cannot forgive him.  Give me Your forgiveness.

As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened.  From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His.  When He tells us love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

And that, I think, answers the “how” of the question.  How can good truly overcome evil? When the Holy Spirit enters our heart, He brings the goodness and love of God for us to dispense as needed, if we are lead by the Spirit and not the flesh.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (Galatians 5:16-17)

In that short passage from Corrie, I can see from the other side, as well.  I strongly identify with the Nazi soldier’s statement, “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!”  That sense of amazement is related in my testimony.  I was subsequently filled with gratitude to God, which gave me the desire to be changed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ – who is, of course, the best example of good overcoming evil.

Here are a few more related verses, so I’ll leave the “last word” to God’s Word.

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.(James 1:17)

and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake. (Philemon 1:6)

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

As the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the battle continues to rage over plans to build a mosque near ground zero; a church in Gainesville, Florida has dubbed the day International Burn a Quran Day; and analysis of the 9/11 text messages posted by Wikileaks reveals that the greatest emotional response to the attack was not anxiety or sadness, but anger.   Here’s a chart showing how we felt as the day progressed:

I submit that the anger represented in this chart has only continued to increase over the past nine years.  Not satisfied with destroying Iraq and Afghanistan, with murdering  thousands of civilians, we seek further revenge.  We want to burn their holy books and prevent them from building their holy buildings.  In our hearts, we don’t want them in our country.  As many people I know would say privately, “kill the towelheads.”

I am not concerned with how the “many people” act.  As Paul told us,

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES. (1 Corinthians 5:12-13)

But I am deeply concerned with those who call themselves Christians, particularly those in public places, for I am seeing and hearing little on this subject that reflects Christ.  I am particularly grieved by the common attitude that Americans “deserve” the respect of Islam, that our desires are more important than theirs, which is the complete opposite of this biblical injunction:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  (Philippians 2:3)

If we are truly living for Christ, then our concern would be to win Muslims to Christ, not satisfy our own sensibilities.

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

Do not mistake my meaning.  I am not among those who think that all religions are equal, or that Muslims are going to heaven.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

I believe this completely, and am convinced that until I was born again at 39, I was destined to hell.   No good deeds or acts of martyrdom will gain us access to God.  Only repentance and faith that Jesus died for our sins can accomplish that.

So then, if we have truly been saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, our response should not be to banish Muslims or denigrate Muslims, because it is not Muslims that we battle:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

This is an oft-quoted verse, but at least as it relates to 9/11 and Islam, few Christians seem to actually believe it.  We respond no differently than the world.  We want to keep what we think is ours, and forget that it all belongs to God.  And we want revenge.  Oh, how we want revenge.

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

If we continue to seek revenge, if we continue to try to outlaw Muslims in this supposed land of the free, then we are exposed as hypocritical Christians and have already been overcome by evil … and Islam has won America.

Most Christians acknowledge that we are living in the end times, pointing to the declining morality of the culture around us.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Some Christians acknowledge that at least part of the institutional church is in trouble, pointing to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its official acceptance of homosexuality or the likes of Ted Haggard.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. (2 John 1:7-11)

A few Christians, myself among them, are convinced that the deception has become so open and so widespread that we are watching many be mislead, just as Jesus forewarned us. [Matt 24:11]

And when it comes to the issue of church and state, America vs. God, many refuse to hear the truth, and choose instead to follow those who tell them what they want to hear, among them Barrack Obama, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck.  Like the Israelites of old, they want to follow a flesh and blood king instead of God.  [1 Samuel 8:5] The popularity of these charismatic figures fulfills another prophecy:

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

They have refused the truth and are being deceived:

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12)

If you are among them, I beseech you to wake up!  Heed the many warnings the Bible gives us about who we follow and who we associate with.  Beware of those who place love of America above love of God.   Do not follow those who, for their own selfish purposes, take advantage of your concern for our country, those who don’t enter by the door but sneak in some other way.  Turn to God, not to a wannabe king.

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:1-5)

It’s been a long couple weeks, but I’m finally getting back on my feet.  Turns out that a new thyroid medication was reeking havoc with my fibromyalgia, causing overdose symptoms.  Eewww!!  Anyhow, that’s done and here I am to thank all of you for your prayers and notes of encouragement.  It’s nice to know you’ve got my back.    I’ve got some catching up to do, but I hope to make the rounds in the next few days.

I recently had a discussion on a Christian forum I joined earlier this summer.  The other party’s most recent post included the following, in reference to the pledge of allegiance, which he insists is a prayer:

Indivisible means we can never be separated from our God who rules over us.

While I agree that individual, born-again believers cannot be separated from God, regular readers who have seen my many, many posts about various aspects of church and state will know that I don’t count America, the nation, in that number.

At the mini level, “indivisible” was included by Bellamy when he wrote the pledge in 1892, not because our country couldn’t be separated from God, but to reinforce the notion that America is “One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove.”

At the macro level, while our country may or may not have been formed as “the direct result of the providence of God,” I find it impossible to believe that God is currently directing our government to murder over 50 million unborn babies or thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.  There is an immeasurable difference between God and America, and I believe strongly that we will be required to choose which is first in our lives.

As so often happens when an issue is at the front of my mind, I came across a reference that applies.  I’ve been reading an excellent series at Herescope by Pastor Anton Bosch, who has long held my respect, titled The Money God.  The whole series is worth your time, but in Part III, The Political Kingdom, here is part of what he had to say:

Throughout the 3-year ministry of Jesus, his disciples and the multitudes who followed Him, expected Him to establish a material, political Kingdom. It is likely that a number of the Twelve followed Jesus because of this expectation. Several of them were of the party called the “Zealots.” Simon is specifically named a Zealot (Luke 6:15). And in addition there is evidence that Simon Peter, John, James and Judas (Iscariot) were all Zealots. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, the Zealots were one of the political parties of the day. (The others were the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Essenes – the Zealots had broken away from the Pharisees.) The Zealots were on the extreme right of the political spectrum, and they were called Zealots because of their zeal for national Israel and their hatred of Roman domination.

Throughout the ministry of Jesus there is evidence that the Twelve expected Him to establish a material Kingdom immediately: “they thought the Kingdom of God would appear immediately” (Luke 19:11). In response, Jesus tells the parable about a nobleman who went away to receive a Kingdom, thus indicating that He had to go away, receive His kingdom, and then return (Luke 19:12-27). The request by James and John, through their mother, for the second and third positions of political power in the Kingdom (Matthew 20:21) was also based on the anticipation of an immediate, literal Kingdom.

Jesus frequently tried to discourage the Twelve, and others, from thinking about the Kingdom as a literal and material Kingdom. Sometimes He did so by inference, teaching that the Kingdom was made up of the meek and that the greatest in the Kingdom were little children. But He also demonstrated unequivocally that he had not come to remove the Romans. This He did by paying taxes and teaching obedience to the Romans (Matthew 5:41), even allowing them to crucify Him. But Jesus also taught very specifically that the Kingdom would be taken from the Jews and given to others (Matthew 21:43), thus removing all doubt about a revival of the state of Israel.

Matthew 21:43 caught my attention:

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.

This brought to mind this passage:

If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Romans 11:16-23)

God does not love Americans more than He loves the Jewish people.  It is pure arrogance to think that America can never be separated from Him.

I’m in the middle of a fibromyalgia flare, and have realized over the last few days that it hurts to think – yes, think. So no WFW this week, but hopefully I’ll be back at it next week.

My apologies, also, to those who have left comments which have gone unanswered.  See above.

While I was driving the other day, a curious thought occurred to me to:  God is a lot of things, but He’s also not a lot of things. In fact, as I thought back on my Christian walk, I realized that a good share of what the Holy Spirit has taught me involved changing my view of God and separating Him in my mind from everything and everybody else – the things “God is not.”

It can be hard to change your mind when you’ve believed something your whole life, or when you’ve invested heavily in a certain viewpoint, particularly when it’s about God.  Many people, in fact, refuse to do so, clinging to a lie because it’s too hard to let it go. I believe this is what God calls “a stubborn people.”

For those who are willing to be changed, the first step is often an emotional sense of betrayal by whoever lead you to believe the lie in the first place – a heart-felt, “But I trusted you!”  Some people never get past this stage, turning their back on God and never moving forward.

When we  forgive and move on, though, we find that we’ve acquired some healthy discernment.  We’re not as gullible as we were before.  And after going through this a few times, we find that we’ve become a little more like the Bereans who “received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”  (Acts 17:11)

That eagerness, I think, is key.  The desire to know God’s truth, no matter the cost, no matter how stupid we may look, is what keeps the Holy Spirit opening our minds to new concepts.  Conversely, if we don’t receive a love for the truth, “God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.”(2 Thess 2:11)

So that’s a peek at the “God is not” process from my perspective, and here are a few of the times I’ve been through it.

God is not my father – my natural father, that is.  Because our natural fathers are often the first male authority figures in our lives, we have a tendency to equate them with God.  While my own father had a lot of good qualities, he was not a forgiving man.  He traveled a lot when I was little, often for three or four weeks at a time, and he was distant by nature, as well.  So when I had sinned and knew I needed God’s forgiveness, I believed I could not be forgiven.  I was resigned to paying the price to an unforgiving God who was always far away.  You can read the rest of the story here, but this was the first of my “God is not” lessons.

God is not the pastor. Right after I got saved, God planted me in a local church.  Because I was so grateful and so open – and because standard church structure encourages it – in my mind God and the pastor were one and the same.  A few instances of the pastor’s humanity and God quickly cured me of that notion.

God is not the church. There’s something special about the first church where we embraced God.  We love all the people and support the church’s activities with a whole heart.  Church often becomes “the place” where we meet God, “the place” where spiritual things happen and spiritual truth is learned.  But God is not confined to a place or time, and when He “appeared” in unexpected places when I least expected it, I finally realized that Sunday morning is probably the least important time of my Christian walk.

God is not the earth. I’ve never been the treehugger that some are, but I surely appreciate the world that God made for us.  I can be captivated by the various shades of green contained in a woodlot or a butterfly flitting from flower to flower.  But these things are not the Creator, merely the Creation.  The ideas that God “is” nature, or God “is in” nature are becoming more common, but they are heresies that are not supported by the Bible.

God is not America. This has been my most recent “God is not” that began three years ago when I suddenly found that I could no longer say the pledge of allegiance.  Since then, I’ve posted about various aspects of this issue, some of which are here:

• A biblical approach to the issues of church and state
• WFW on The Manhattan Declaration: Whose Kingdom?
• WFW: Prayer, a Christian Nation, and a Young Soldier
• WFW: A Christian Nation or a Nation of Christians?

The problem with all of these “God is not”, and why the Holy Spirit wants to renew our minds, I think, is rooted in the first two commandments:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exo 20:2-6)

God is a jealous God, and to the extent that we give glory to anyone or anything else, we take it away from God.