God Running

In Praise of Misfits: Why business needs people with Asperger’s syndrome, attention-deficit disorder, and dyslexia

Check out this article from the Economist: “In Praise of Misfits” by Schumpter: Why business needs people with Asperger’s syndrome, attention-deficit disorder, and dyslexia.

It reminds me of something I saw recently from former atheist Michael Minot. He wrote, “You’re spectacularly made, imprinted with a unique design that is not of your own making. God made you wonderful!”

It reminds me of David’s attempt to use Saul’s armor: Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” David said.

So he took his own sling instead.

And slayed Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:38-39

It reminds me how God wants you to be the best you — you can be (with help from Him of course)

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:13-14)

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 Posted on June 6, 2012 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” -C.S. Lewis

“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”  -George MacDonald

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 Posted on June 5, 2012 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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Pirate’s Pain: The Story

Roger Rock Climbing

This guy reminds me of Job! Check out my friend Roger’s story of perseverance in the face of trials. (Originally posted at Pirate’s Pain — used with permission)

In 1969 I received a little award plaque at church that said, “Trust and Obey. -1 John 4:8” I was 10 years old at the time. Of course, back then, I didn’t realize how that would apply to my life, in a most challenging way, over the next 40 years.

On May 30, 2003, I woke up and went to the gym as usual. It was a leg (workout) day. I used the leg press machine and stacked 1100 pounds, I managed 3 sets of 10. On the last 3 reps I had the steroid monkeys yelling at me, encouraging me to push. I walked out of that gym on top of the world because 1100 lbs., for that many reps, was a goal of mine. I had lost 75 lbs. over that last year using exercise and diet.

I headed home, had a great lunch with my family, then went off to start my shift as a police officer. Within an hour, I became involved in a pursuit. I got ahead of the suspect and attempted to throw down spike strips, but by then, the pursuit had escalated to higher speeds: 70+ mph. I didn’t anticipate the additional speed, and thought I had enough time to deploy the spike strips, but suddenly, I looked up, and there he was. The young guy driving made eye contact with me as he jerked his steering wheel to the right. He intentionally swerved into my patrol car. I was standing just outside my vehicle so I tried to slam my door shut, and turned to run away. But as I pushed off to run, I heard a deafening bang, and felt extreme pain in my leg as my driver’s side door careened out and struck me just below my right calf muscle. I fell, or more accurately, flew, as I was launched into a nearby ditch. At that moment I realized, my world had changed.

They took me off to the hospital but the doctors misdiagnosed my injury. Over the next 3 months I had difficulty walking and the pain became progressively worse. I finally met a doctor who figured out the problem was a ruptured Achilles. Although my age almost precluded it, he was able to repair my Achilles tendon.

The only thing was, after the Achilles repair, the pain continued. I discovered I also had nerve damage in my right foot and was doing something the doctors call the monkey claw, which means it was curling in. Because of this I was unable to maintain my balance. So they broke my calcaneus, my heel bone, and moved it toward the outside of my body to try and stabilize my foot and help my balance. It didn’t work very well.

The joints weren’t working properly in my ankle. The pain continued for several more years. So they decided to fuse my ankle — they locked it into a fixed 90 degree position but even that didn’t help. I could barely walk if I used a cane. Meanwhile the pain kept increasing. So my doc and I began to discuss the idea of amputating my foot.

Then in November, 2007, I was riding my motorcycle, and managed to find some oil on a damp road in a construction zone. When I hit the brake the bike skidded, resulting in my foot hitting the ground and swinging outwards, then landing back on the floorboard. I looked down and saw a bulge the size of my fist showing out the side of the right leg of my leather pants. I thought (no kidding) “That’s gonna hurt.” I was losing control and had to lay the bike down. At that moment, it sunk in that my 15 year old daughter was on the back. I started to panic! My bike was crashing with my daughter on board! As I laid the bike down, I reached back and grabbed her. I threw her to the side of the road as hard as I could. Thank the Lord, she did a karate roll and landed on her feet. Somehow she was fine!

But they transported me to the hospital. I met with an orthopedic surgeon who told me my knee was crushed and that he wanted to put in an artificial knee. I asked him to contact the doctor I had been discussing amputation with. I begged him to amputate above the knee. I wanted to just be done with it — done with this life of pain. He told me I was on morphine and was making a poor decision. He spent 11 hrs., not installing an artificial knee, but preparing my leg bones for a future artificial knee operation.

Also, because of this accident, my pancreas shut down, causing me to become an insulin dependent diabetic. I just didn’t think that was fair because I had been eating very healthy food (although I later learned I was eating enough healthy food for a family of four).

The next problem presented itself when the surgical site became infected. I was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, and over the next two years, I had several surgeries to clean out the infection. On a couple of occasions I almost died. Several rounds of antibiotics were administered, some requiring a picc line that dropped the vancomiacin directly into my heart. Unfortunately, a side of effect of vancomiacin is hearing loss which is why I wear hearing aids today.

In 2009 the doctors and I made the decision to amputate my right foot because I couldn’t walk. Originally, the plan was to put in the artificial knee at this time but because I couldn’t walk, they wanted me to learn to walk on a prosthetic device for a year before they’d put in the artificial knee.

In 2010 they installed the artificial knee even though I was still in pain from the bone infection. I begged the doc to amputate above my knee if he found any damage to the bone from the infection, but he made the call to put in the artificial knee anyway. After several more surgeries to clean up infections, my prosthetic was remade, and I learned to walk without crutches! Hallelujah! Freedom, for the first time in years. Though it was very very painful, I could walk. Thirteen months later, I wound up in the hospital with a terrible infection in the stump of my right leg. This was from the deep seated bone infection I had been battling all this time. It was so bad I could no longer use my prosthetic. I was condemned to crutches or the wheel chair.

In December of 2011 I revisited my knee doc and asked, for the sixth time, for him to amputate above the knee. I’ll never forget our discussion. He looked like old Jimmy Stewart, he was very sincere, but he wouldn’t budge. He would not do the amputation. Though he didn’t know what was wrong, he wouldn’t remove the knee as we had agreed to do earlier.

Instead he sent me to another doc for a second opinion. The new doc read my file and found all the classic symptoms of residual osteomyelitis bone infection. He agreed to amputate above the knee. He gives me a great chance of beating the osteomyelitis by removing the infected part of my bone which includes the total knee and everything below.

My hope is for a new start on life, a life free from pain. Today, I’m just a few weeks away from surgery, and believing God is going to heal me.

Along with the medical hardships during this time of my life, my stepdaughter died of cancer, I lost my ability to work, my marriage was in trouble, and I experienced a variety of other serious problems. I was at the bottom. But one thing I realized: I still had a relationship with God. And I made a choice — to continue to follow Christ.

Here’s the weird thing about all I’ve gone through: I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I have a new understanding of God’s love for me. In fact I’ve never felt so loved by God as when He helped me through all these trials. I see provision that I never thought possible. I have a new appreciation for relationships, and what’s truly valuable in life. The timing of these problems was such that I caught my daughter at a crossroads, and because I was available, God used me to make an impact on her life in way that may not have happened otherwise. I’ve watched her walk with a mature faith in Christ in a way she may not have, had I not become available as a result of my injuries.

I’ve been stretched so greatly, I wouldn’t have thought it possible.

But I’m excited for life.

He died for me — I’ll live for Him.

Maybe you’re going through a trial yourself right now.

Bottom line: Trust in the Lord.

Whatever you’re going through.

Trust.

But my eyes are upon You, O GOD the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute.

Psalm 141:8

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 Posted on June 5, 2012 by

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Creative

The Card Players by Paul Cézanne: most expensive painting ever sold. Price: 250 million. (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

What’s the best thing you’ve ever created?

Maybe you’ve written something, a blog post, or a poem, or a book.

Or it might be you’re a great cook, a creator of spectacular meals.

Or perhaps you’ve redecorated a room, or even built a house.

Or written a song, or drawn a great picture.

Think back with me to what’s been your very best creation so far.

Now consider God’s: http://htwins.net/scale2/ .

And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?

Job 26:14

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 Posted on June 4, 2012 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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God, Fire, and Interpretation: Genesis 40:1-8

Four adults and three children were killed in this house fire in Philadelphia (Photo Credit: article.wn.com)

Read Genesis 40:1-8

In the last post on Genesis, we saw how Joseph, a young man, in the prime of his life and possessing all the desires young men in their prime possess, somehow avoided succumbing to the relentless propositions of Potiphar’s wife. (see previous post: Joseph’s 5 Steps to Avoid Temptation) At the end of the previous chapter, she (falsely) accuses him of rape. It was the word of a slave, against the word of the wife of a high government official, and, of course, she won. So Joseph finds himself in a dungeon. But, by God’s grace, he also finds favor with the warden of the dungeon. And after awhile, the warden puts him in charge of other prisoners.

In today’s post we’ll learn about two of Pharaoh’s prisoners, the cupbearer and the baker, and their respective dreams. And we’ll look at interpretation as it relates to fire, and as it relates to God.

Genesis 40:1-8

So Joseph has been in prison for some time when a couple of new convicts arrive. They were officials in the king’s court who had offended their master, the Pharaoh. One was the chief cupbearer, and the other the chief baker. And Joseph is assigned to take care of both of them.

They had been in custody for awhile when each of them, the cupbearer and the baker, has a dream on the same night, and each dream has its own meaning. The only thing is, neither of them can figure it out.

When Joseph shows up the next morning he can tell they’re both dejected. So he asks, Why so sad?

They both answer, We both had dreams but there’s no one to interpret them.

Then Joseph says, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Interpretation: Fire and God

On the topic of interpretations, and who they belong to: In my thirty years in the fire service, I have heard of only one person crazy enough to disregard the interpretation of a fire scene by firefighters. Unfortunately I experienced it first hand. The call came in around 7 in the morning, as a house fire with children trapped at 503 Alberts St. When we rolled up we saw the house was well involved with fire. I’ll never forget my surprise when, as we deployed off our fire engines, we were met by a man screaming obscenities. He was, if you will, challenging our interpretation of the fire scene — in no uncertain terms. He continued to scream obscenities at us while we removed three children trapped in a back bedroom of the burning house. Sadly, we were too late to save two of them. One survived.

Later we found out the man screaming was a neighbor, and Vietnam vet, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. After it was all over, he apologized profusely. He felt terrible. I actually feel sorry for the guy.

Let me ask you something:

If your house was on fire.

And your family was trapped inside.

And you were standing out in the street next to me.

And a half dozen or so fire engines rolled up to the scene.

Would you interpret that fire scene — or would you rely on me, as a firefighter, to interpret it for you?

Of course, you would rely on my interpretation — even though you wouldn’t understand much of what I did. Undoubtedly you’d have questions. Why are you cutting a hole in my roof? you might ask. Why are you using precious time to take your fire hose all the way around to the back? you may question. What are you doing with those big fans? And what does all this have to do with saving my family?

Yes, you would definitely have questions. There would definitely be things you wouldn’t understand. But to give you and your family the best possible chance, you’d rely on my interpretation anyway.

You would put your faith in me, as a firefighter, and you would be wise to do so. If you tried to figure it out yourself, your family could die in the flames.

And yet, the difference between me and you isn’t that great. After all, I’m just a man. My time on the earth may not be as long as yours. My life experience might not be as extensive as yours. My accomplishments probably aren’t as great as yours.

But still, you’d rely on my interpretation.

How much more then, should we rely on Jesus Christ’s interpretation of the scriptures, because of who He is.

I’m not talking about checking your brain. I enjoy discussing questions concerning scripture with others, and also exploring questions about scripture myself. Romans 12:2 says we’re to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. And the Jews of Berea received Paul’s information, but they had questions. So they diligently researched to see if what he was saying was true. (Acts 17:10-12)

Asking questions about the Bible is healthy and should be commended. The people at Berea were said to be of more noble character than others.

What I’m talking about is recognizing who Jesus is compared to who you are and who I am.

So who does Jesus say he is?

He said, He was with God before the world even existed. (John 17:5)

Jesus said to His disciples, If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father. How can you even say, Show us the Father? (John 14:9)

In these and other places in the Bible, Jesus says He is God.

In John 10:33 we see clearly, the Jews understood Jesus claim that He was God: “We are not stoning you for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  they said.

So it makes sense for you to rely on me, a mere man, not much different than you, for the interpretation of a fire scene, and for the salvation of your family from a house fire. How much more then, does it make sense for you to rely on the Christ, who is God, as much as you possibly can, for your interpretation of scripture, as well as your salvation.

The only thing that makes sense is to rely on Jesus’ view of scripture.

And how does He see it?

I think it’s impossible to read the four gospels without coming to the conclusion Jesus viewed (and views) scripture as God’s word.

“But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” Jesus said, substantiating the account of the destruction of Sodom. (Luke 17:29)

“Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.” Jesus said, confirming manna fell from heaven (John 6:49)

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—” Jesus stated, validating Daniel of the Old Testament as a real and genuine prophet. (Matthew 24:15)

Let the reader understand, Jesus really did view the Old Testament as God’s word. He quoted from twenty four different books of the Old Testament. He quoted from it often and as having the weight of God’s authority behind it. He accepted the Old Testament as “that which was spoken unto you by God” (Matthew 22:31) But please, let me encourage you not to take my word for it. Read the gospels and see for yourself.

I don’t think there’s any question, we’ll never understand everything in the Old Testament, or the New Testament for that matter, this side of heaven. The interpretation of scripture is infinitely more complex than the interpretation of a fire scene. If you have questions about a fire scene, it’s only natural you would have questions about scripture. But because Jesus is God, the only thing that makes sense is to view the scriptures as He did.

I know how to rescue people from a house fire (IF, you give me a handful of fire engines and 20 or so trained firefighters). So you put your faith in me. Jesus knows how to raise people from the dead! I know how to extinguish the flames. So you put your faith in me. Jesus created fire, and everything in the earth, and the entire universe!

In fact, because Jesus is God, it makes infinitely more sense for you to rely on Jesus for your interpretation of scripture, than it does for you to rely on me to interpret a fire scene. In either case, if you try to lean on your own understanding, you and the people you love and care about will get burned. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In the end, what you’re left with is a choice: Will you buy the secular criticisms of the Bible so prevalent on the internet today? Or will you believe God’s word in the same way Jesus did?

Will you believe the critics or Christ?

“Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8)

Joseph said it well.

Put your faith in Him.

Newly released book by Kurt Bennett, now available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

  • Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
  • How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
  • The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
  • How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
  • How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
  • How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
  • How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
  • How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
  • How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)

 

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 Posted on June 2, 2012 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis

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Documented Miracle — Man Falls 47 Floors and Survives

Doctor publicly concedes on ABC news: he has no explanation — it’s a miracle.

Watch the ABC news video here:

Miracle Man Falls 47 Floors and Survives

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 Posted on May 31, 2012 by

 Bible Study

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In Defense of Video Games

This is an outstanding post by Stephen Altrogge, who, early in his article, In Defense of Video Games, states:

“…first, some full disclosure: I play video games. I enjoy playing them as a way to unwind. I am a colossal nerd of pocket protector proportions. Sometimes I play with my friends online. And wear a bluetooth ear piece.”

From there he goes on to share his response to disparaging comments made about video games by Mark Driscoll and Russell Moore.

I thoroughly enjoyed this blog post.

And I don’t even play video games!

It’s a great read: In Defense of Video Games.

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 Posted on May 31, 2012 by

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“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from God” -Monty Williams, Winner of NBA Draft Lottery

NBA Draft Lottery — New Orleans Wins (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from God”  -Monty Williams, Coach of the New Orleans Hornets, Winner of NBA Draft Lottery

New Orleans was sitting at #3, but their lottery ping pong ball popped up at #1.

They’ll likely take Anthony Davis.

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 Posted on May 30, 2012 by

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Preparing to minister is not nearly as necessary as daring to minister

5 Smooth Stones (Photo Credit: NHOP Blog)

“Preparing to minister is not nearly as necessary as daring to minister.” –Jon Courson

David didn’t find what he needed to do battle until he ventured out to the battlefield. It was after he was on the battlefield that he found the five smooth stones for his sling. (1 Samuel 17:40) It’s the same for you and I. It’s when you’re actually doing it, that you’ll find what you need to bear fruit for God.

So get out there and do it. Sure, you’ll make mistakes. You’ll bumble around a bit at first. Every single person involved in ministry has, and still does.

That’s OK. God knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:14)

So go ahead, enter the fray.

Find your five smooth stones.

What are you waiting for?

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 Posted on May 30, 2012 by

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Loves Her New Shoes Too Much to Ruin Them by Wearing Them

shoes

“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.”
Proverbs 14:4

“Today I bought the most rocking pair of shoes I have possibly ever owned. I may even love them too much to ruin them by wearing.”  -Laura Summers Tweet

I saw this tweet today from Laura Summers (she was joking — I think) and it reminded me of a few cyclists I used to know. These guys bought these beautiful road bicycles, you know, the kind they ride in the Tour de France. And they loved them so much they were always perfectly clean, lubed, and polished. But the thing was, they were so focused on keeping their bikes clean and beautiful, they didn’t risk ruining them by climbing on and riding. And of course, that’s what they’re designed to do.

I can be like that about my faith sometimes. Jesus is so perfect. When it’s just He and I, in prayer, it’s so perfect. When it’s just me, by myself, singing praise to Him, it’s so perfect (except for my voice). But as soon as I venture out to engage with people, things start to change fast. When I venture out to church, or if I engage in conversation with a brother, or if I try to help out someone in need, problems arise. Things get dirty. Things get messy.

Just as soon as I involve people, elements of carelessness, chaos, and confusion are introduced — even heartbreak sometimes occurs.

If Laura chooses to wear her shoes, they’ll get scuffed up. They’ll get dirt on them. It’s not a question of if, but when.

When my buddies decide (finally) to ride their bikes, they’ll accumulate road grime, guaranteed.

When I engage with people, for Christ, there are going to be problems. But I need to engage anyway. I need to love God enough, and to love people enough, to find a way to deal with the difficulties I’m sure to encounter when I put myself out there among others.

God wants me to. He knows I can’t love people without engaging. And He knows if I bear fruit for Him, it’ll get messy. But He designed our faith this way. (James 2:14-26)

Life will be messy if you choose to engage, if you choose to put yourself out there for Him, if you choose to bear fruit.

But we have to do it anyway.

Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Proverbs 14:4

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 Posted on May 28, 2012 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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Joseph’s 5 Steps to Avoid Temptation: Genesis 39:6-23

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, Simone Contarini, Italian, about 1640 (Photo Credit: AlainTruong.com)

Read Genesis 39:6-23

In our last post on Genesis, we looked at Joseph’s seduction in light of Joseph’s fidelity — to God. (See previous post on Joseph’s Seduction) Today we’ll look at the same story, but we’ll focus on the 5 steps Joseph took to avoid temptation.

(The paraphrase of Genesis 39:6-23 is the same as our last post on Genesis. So if you read the last post on Genesis, you might like to skip down to the next section.)

Genesis 39:6-23

I don’t know what Joseph’s early responsibilities were when he first began at Potiphar’s house, but they may have been intensely physical because Joseph was ripped (“well built” verse six tells us). He was also a good looking guy. And because of this, Joseph’s master’s wife notices him and begins to proposition him, without much in the way of subtlety either.

“Come to bed with me!” she says to him.

But Joseph consistently refuses her. He says, Hey look, my master has such trust in me that he doesn’t concern himself with anything in the house; he’s put everything he owns in my care. I’m the top guy here. He’s kept nothing of his from me, except for you, because you’re his wife. So, with all that in mind, how could I possibly do such a terrible thing, and sin against God?

But in spite of his refusals, she persists. Day, after day, after day she continues to proposition him. But Joseph continues to refuse to go to bed with her, or even to be with her.

One day though, he goes into the house to do his work, and the place is empty. None of the other servants are around. Potiphar’s wife is the only one there. She grabs him by his cloak and says (for the one-thousandth time), “Come to bed with me!” But he escapes out of his cloak, leaving it in her hand, and runs out of the house.

When she realizes Joseph left his cloak in her hand when he fled, she calls in her servants and says, Look! This Hebrew is making a joke of us! He came in here to have his way with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream, he left his cloak laying here beside me and ran.

She keeps his cloak next to her until Potiphar comes home, and she tells him her story: That Hebrew slave guy you brought us came into my room to force himself on me. But fortunately, I screamed, and as soon as I did he left his cloak beside me and ran. This is how your slave has treated me!

After Potiphar hears the story he’s outraged. He takes Joseph and has him locked up where the king’s prisoners are kept.

But, while Joseph’s in the king’s prison, the Lord is with him again! God shows him kindness and grants Joseph favor with the warden. Eventually, his situation is the same or similar to when he was with Potiphar. The warden puts Joseph in charge of all the prisoners and gives him the job of running the place. And like Potiphar, the warden trusts him completely, he pays no attention to anything Joseph’s responsible for, because the Lord is with Joseph, and gives him success in everything he puts his hand to.

Joseph’s 5 Steps to Avoid Temptation

Joseph, a young man, in the prime of his life and possessing all the desires young men in the prime of their life possess, somehow avoids this temptation from Potiphar’s wife.

How’d he do that?

We see from our story, he took 5 steps.

1) Responsibility — Take It

We see in verse 9, Joseph says the words, “How then could I do such a…”

“How then could I…” Joseph said. He took responsibility for his own behavior. How many might have said, “Well what could I do? I’m just a slave and she’s the boss’s wife. I mean, really, I couldn’t refuse now could I?” Or, “Come on, give me a break, this was a situation where an older woman took advantage of a young man. What would you expect someone my age to do, with hormones raging? How could I help it?”

No, Joseph didn’t go there. He took responsibility for his own actions.

2) Recognize Sin

We see in verse 9, Joseph recognizes what Potiphar’s wife wants as something wicked and terrible. Joseph sees it for what it is: sin. The Bible is God’s word for humanity. He loves us enough to define sin in His scriptures and to warn us away from it. He does so not because he’s against pleasure, but because He knows in the long run, sin is disastrous for you. He’s trying to spare you from heartache and pain you’ll experience in the end, though you may experience pleasure in the short term. Today there’s a huge push in our culture to discount what the Bible says about sin as old-fashioned and irrelevant. Right now there’s actually a website author offering 1 million dollars for Tim Tebow’s virginity. This person’s stated goal is to bring our culture to the point where adultery is viewed as inconsequential. (see Washington Post article by Esther Fleece) I know that might seem unlikely right now, but many sins that were previously recognized as bad behavior have already been brought a long way toward a perception they’re trivial, or even a perception those who commit a given sin are victims.

Joseph didn’t discount what Potiphar’s wife asked him to do. He saw it for what it was. So should you and I.

3) Respond to God

We see in the last part of verse 9 how Joseph recognizes, if he gratifies his desires, he will sin against God. Joseph has a depth of relationship with God such that it would grieve Joseph to sin against Him. He can’t bear to sin because he can’t bear to disappoint the God he loves. Yes, he’s loyal to his earthly master Potiphar, but in the end, it’s God who Joseph is most concerned about. Living your life loving God, and concerned about God and what He thinks is one of the great keys to living the abundant life God has in mind for you. (John 15:11) “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,’” Jesus said in Matthew 22:37. (See previous post: How to Love Like Jesus — God First)

4) Refuse to be Present

We see in verse 10 he not only refused to go to bed with Potiphar’s wife, but he refused to even be with her. I wonder how many marriages would still be intact if both the husband and the wife decided to simply avoid putting themselves in situations that might lead to temptation. I’m talking about not friending the old high school flame on Facebook. I’m talking about staying out of bars. I’m talking about never allowing yourself to be alone with another person of the opposite sex, ever.

What a small price to pay if it results in you keeping your family intact.

And what a heavy price to pay if you break your family apart.

Today divorce is so acceptable, our culture has endorsed it so strongly, most are so nonchalant about it, you never hear much concerning its consequences. But five years after divorce more than 1/3 of children experience depression. Kids from divorced families are less successful in life than children from intact families, especially in their careers and their relationships. And the great majority of children from divorced families say they want their original family back together.

After a divorce, custody usually goes to the mother. And about half of all single mothers live below the poverty line — on average for six years. For African American single mothers it’s even worse: 2/3 are still single and in poverty 10 years after their divorce. (The Atlantic, McLanahan-Garfinkel)

No one talks about these things. You never see these findings in the news.

Joseph was a slave and didn’t have control of his own life to the degree you do. Yet he did his best to avoid putting himself in situations where he might be tempted. You can do the same.

5) Run

We see in verse 12, when he was unavoidably confronted with temptation, he fled. He left. He split immediately.

When she grabbed his robe, he didn’t stop and use the moment to teach Potiphar’s wife about his faith. He didn’t hesitate and share with her that he’s flattered but must decline, or how it’s nothing personal, or how it might be different, under different circumstances. He didn’t spend one moment on one word of conversation. And he didn’t go back for his coat. He bailed, he beat it, he bounced out of there — right away.

Again, how many marriages might still be intact if this were how people responded to sexual temptation.

Next time you’re confronted with temptation: leave, immediately.

The 6th Step (Two failures, and two outcomes: Why David recovered and Samson did not)

As an important aside, there’s one way in which Joseph was a major anomaly, he was able to avoid temptation without support from believing friends. This is profoundly rare. We can see the more usual pattern for humanity in scripture when we look at two other men of God who experienced temptation. Both Samson and David fell into temptation but only one of them recovered from its consequences. And here’s the reason why.

More was written about Samson than most other men in the Bible yet not one friend is named in all the pages devoted to Samson’s life. He was a loner. In contrast, David’s list of friends is a long one. And we see that he had certain friends like Jonathan who were especially close. (1 Samuel 18:1-5) And we see David was open to being held accountable, for instance when he subjected himself to correction by his friend Nathan. (2 Samuel 12:1-14)

So here’s the deal: To rid yourself of a temptation, like porn or alcohol or some other selfish pursuit, do whatever you have to do to find friends–men who have overcome the same temptation you’re battling against. Sit down with each of these men one at a time and tell them your story without pretense. If you become open and vulnerable, you’ll be surprised at how many friends you attract.

Going it alone as Samson did will almost certainly produce the same result that Samson experienced. You’ll become a prisoner. You’ll find yourself living life blindly walking in circles.

Instead, invest in friends the way David did. Develop close friendships the way David did. And become a man who is wide open to being held accountable–the way David did. Invest in friends the same way David did and you’ll find the same results that David did. He confessed his sin. He repented. And he never fell into sexual temptation again.

Joseph was an anomaly, an outlier. The first five steps are only the beginning steps to avoid temptation. The sixth step, that’s actually the biggest and most important step for us all.

Joseph Imprisoned

Of course, Potiphar’s wife had no integrity when it came to her marriage, and we see she had no integrity when she gave her account of what happened either. She lied and told her husband the Hebrew tried to rape her, using Joseph’s coat as a false proof of her deception. Interestingly, Joseph’s coat was also central to his brother’s deception before Jacob concerning his death.

We live in a fallen world. You can do everything according to God’s word and still wind up in a dungeon.

But Potiphar’s response is interesting because the punishment for attempted rape was death. And even though Joseph, a slave, was (wrongly) found to have attempted rape against the wife of a powerful official, Joseph is not put to death but put in prison. Verse 19 says Potiphar was angry but doesn’t say who he was angry with. Perhaps he recognized Joseph’s innocence but was forced to do something because of his wife’s insistence. Perhaps he even gave instruction for the warden to show Joseph favor.

Whether it came through Potiphar or not, God was the reason Joseph found favor in prison.

Even in the dungeon, God was with Joseph.

Nothing can separate us from His love.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

References:

1106 Design Love Like Jesus Book Cover

Newly released book by Kurt Bennett, now available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

  • Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
  • How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
  • The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
  • How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
  • How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
  • How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
  • How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
  • How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
  • How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)

 30 Comments

 Posted on May 26, 2012 by

 Bible Study, Genesis, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, Marriage, temptation

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Love Like Jesus — God First: John 2:14-15

Love Like Jesus God FirstIn the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

John 2:14-15

How Jesus Loved People:

Let me start with the obvious, you’re not Jesus Christ. That being the case, I don’t recommend you visit your local place of worship and clean house with a whip. But I do believe there’s a most important insight found here concerning how you and I can love like Jesus did. That insight is…

Jesus loved God first.

“Hey, this series is supposed to be about loving people,” you might be saying to yourself.

Well, God is a Person!

And Jesus loves God far more than He loves other people. Here in this passage of scripture we see He loved God with such abandon, He had no regard for what other people thought of Him.

In case you might think Jesus lost His temper here, read closely, and you’ll notice this wasn’t something done on impulse. Making a whip out of cords takes time. He knew what He was going to do ahead of time, and without question, He knew what others would think of His actions.

But He expressed His passion for His God anyway.

We gain additional insight into Jesus’ view of people’s opinions just a few verses further into the same chapter. In verses 23-25 we learn how many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Jesus loved God first, and He loved Him with abandon. He gave no value to what others thought of Him with regard to His love for His God.

How to Love Like Jesus–Love God First

It’s hugely important to love God first! To love Him far above and beyond anyone else. This is the idea behind Jesus’ teaching: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) Obviously Jesus taught over and over we are to love God and love people, and of course that includes the people in your family. What He’s saying in Luke 14, and what we see Jesus demonstrating when he cleanses the temple, is to love God first, far above anyone else. Jesus cares deeply about what God thinks, and what pleases Him. And He puts that above, far above, what other people think.

When I put God first, I’m blessed because I become focused on what’s truly important in life. When God slips out of first place, I quickly become mired down in the temporal. My heart and my soul and my mind are taken up with what’s happening at work, or on ESPN, or what’s on sale at Best Buy, or my next big project, or maintaining my toys, or whatever other temporal business presents itself. And a kind of inertia sets in. The more I move in the direction of the temporal, the further away I drift from God and the eternal. In my experience, when I find myself in this state of being, I’m usually brought back to intimacy with God through some sort of crisis. You can learn from experience, but it doesn’t have to be your own experience. Please, let me encourage you to learn from mine. Draw close to God before the trial comes. You’ll be so glad you did.

And there’s another, even more compelling reason to put God above all others in your life, and it has to do with shame. There have been times in my life when I was skulking around, embarrassed about my love for Christ. I lived in fear of what others might think of me. Man, I’m on dangerous ground when I live like that. Jesus said very plainly, “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9)

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be disowned by Christ before the angels of God.

So I need to love God the same way Jesus did: far more than anyone else, with abandon, giving no value to what others think of me with regard to my love for God.

That’s how Jesus loved.

That’s how you can love like Jesus.

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”

-Jesus Christ, Matthew 22:37

 

[Image via: AldoZL Creative Commons]

[You might also like Pastor Offers to Die]

 2 Comments

 Posted on May 23, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, John

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