Children Fighting Dragons

A poetic expression of our hope in honor of the warriors, so weak and young (babes really!) compared to our ancient Enemy, who fight our Enemy with me as a part of New Hope Community Church and everywhere the battles are fought...

See them there, the children fair,

they're gathering for war.

 Armor-clad, they must be mad!

Those babes are bearing swords!

Little ones, what have you done?

You cannot hope to win.

See the beast, the one you meet

 and tremble before him!

Rising tall before you all -

behold the great dragon!
Now you see how foolishly

it is you carry on.

Oh, but wait, what turn this takes!

What gives the dragon pause?

Who else comes, with heaven's drums

to join the children's cause?
Drawing near, the monster's fear
is Jesus, Heaven's King.
Children turn with hearts that burn -
 Oh, listen to them sing!
Confident, they turn to it;
They face their ancient foe.
With what might they each do fight;
they match him blow for blow.

So it is the children win,
one field then another;
Stumbling some, as trials come,
strengthened by each other.
"Carry on, beloved ones!"
their Savior-King calls out.
"As you do I'll be with you,
defeating fear and doubt."
So fight on, you holy ones,
our God is on the move!
No retreat, stand on your feet -
God's with us, we can't lose!

(Re)Starting from Scratch

Question: Have we truly become like children who are "starting from scratch" in understanding God, His universe, others and ourselves, or are we just adding some good insights from Jesus onto our already-framed view of everything?  This is one of the most pressing questions that we face as disciples of Jesus!

When I decided to follow Jesus, I had at least some awareness that I was wrong about things.  At the most basic level, I knew that I had sinned against God and had messed up my relationship with Him.  As I got to know Jesus and His truth more, I became more and more aware of the scope of my error.  By now, I have found that I have been wrong about everything!

It is startling to realize at this stage of my life with Jesus that He is actually intending to completely remake me and my thinking, not just correct some critical errors that He may find.

Some seem to envision (as I certainly did for a long time) that when we come to follow Jesus we are dirty cars that need some cleaning and polishing.  We were dirtied with sin and Jesus had to wash us off with His blood so we'd be clean enough to enter Heaven.  The real truth of the matter is, not only were we dirty cars, we were totaled!  Our engines were corrupted and rewired to run the wrong way, our exhaust systems were blocked and our brakes were shot.  Jesus doesn't just offer carwash, He offers a complete repair!! 

This picture is a bit crude, of course; any comparison of a person to an object has to be to some extent.  Still, it points out a major flaw in the understanding many have of the nature of salvation.  When we reduce salvation to a judicial or legal matter of being let off the hook for bad deeds committed, we leave ourselves open to this error.  However, when we come to understand that salvation is the recreation of the whole self, we're freed to walk in the fullness of life with God and fellowship with His Son.  When we embrace Jesus' offer to actually restore us to the fullness of our humanity, we can become fully human.

So then, if Jesus is right about everything and I'm wrong about most things, it stands to reason that I should learn everything from Jesus that He's willing to teach me.  I can't be content to learn only what I have to know to "make it to heaven".  If I believe Jesus, I'm convinced that I'm being called and invited to belong to the eternal kingdom of God.  I'm going to be a part of this kingdom forever, so I really should become as familiar as I can with how things work here.  Who else but Jesus can teach me that?

Disciple, come to Jesus with the assumption that you're wrong and that you have to start from scratch.  What if all you knew about money is what He and His apostles teach through the Scriptures? Time management, relationships, self, sexuality, food, entertainment - what if we actually started to unlearn and relearn these things based on our Master-Rabbi's viewpoint?  Rebirth and repentance demand it and discipleship provides it.  Here's to starting over!