Tragedy at Masada

samuel kee —  September 5, 2011 — Leave a comment

At some point in our lives, we long to be delivered from Masada.

This past week I left this update on my Facebook page: There is no life apart from God.  Today I have a story to illustrate what I was thinking.  Have you heard of the ancient story of Masada?  Masada was a fortress in ancient Israel, during the time of the Romans.  I believe that it was built by Herod the Great, to serve as a safe place for him to flea.  Later, around 70 a.d., about 1,000 Jews fled to Masada to hide from the Romans.  Even though some of the Jews tried to revolt against the Romans, those that fled realized that they did not stand a chance.

So they managed to procure the palace of Masada, which was an ideal place for them to hide out, for years, if needed.  There was plenty of water and food storage, plenty of things to do at the palace, and, most important, it was virtually impenetrable.  It was built on a cliff and there were just two paths leading up to it; these paths were very steep and precarious, however, and crawling with snakes.

After a while, the Romans learned of the new colony of Jews living in Masada.  The Jews at Masada loved their new freedom from Roman rule; though the Romans were not so fond of the idea.  So 20,000 soldiers were sent to take back the 1,000 Jews living at Masada.

It was just as hard as they thought it would be.  After some unsuccessful attempts, the Romans had to re-group and re-plan.  Even with 20,000 soldiers, they still could not manage to scale the cliffs and break into the mighty fortress.  After some thinking, they went to work on building a long dirt road up the cliff to the palace.  It was a grueling process to build such a massive dirt highway; but, it was the only way to reach the rebels.

The dirt road to Masada took the Romans seven months to complete.  Seven months.  Can you imagine what it must have been like for those living in the fortress, having to look out your window every day for seven months and see the enemy slowly and relentlessly approaching?

Nonetheless, when the Romans finally made it up to the fortress, instead of being attacked by the Jews, who had seven months to plan, they were met by nothing but silence.  Nobody stirred in Masada—there was no war cry, no weapons, no counter attack, and no army.  The Romans entered the palace only to find 1,000 bodies.  All but a few of the Jews killed themselves, according to the Jewish historian Josephus.  Men, women, and children.  All were dead.

Their “leader,” Eleazar Ben Yair, had riled them up with a stirring and no doubt cultic speech, telling them that they’d be better off dead than have to be ruled byRome.  So they chose death rather than submission.

Ironically, because they loved their freedom so much, they chose the pathway of the least amount of freedom, death.  And I can’t even begin to describe the horrible ways in which they died on that plateau in Masada.

“There’s no life apart from God.”  Many of us equate God with the Romans and our freedom with Masada.  We don’t want to submit to God, to follow his rule in our lives.  We prefer the liberty we have in the palace on the rock.  We hate the thought of having to submit to God’s ways.

Ironically, not to choose God means to embrace Masada.  There is no life apart from God.  If he doesn’t rule us, then we have no hope of life, because God is life.  Here’s where my analogy breaks down, of course, for God is not like the Romans.  God does not have a cruel or unfair reign, like the Romans did.

His kingdom brings life to all of its citizens.  To run from his rule means to exit the kingdom of life.  God’s rule keeps you on the narrow pathway to life, the road to true freedom, and the portal into happiness.  By submitting to God, you are training your soul in the ways of life.  All of the other things we submit to actually lead to death; intuitively and/or experientially, we get that.

Some of us are in bondage to so many so-called freedom givers.  The more material possessions we have, for example, the more they “have” us.  The more sexual freedom we have, the more it keeps us in its chains.  The more power we have, the more it corrupts us.  There’s just no way out of the fortress.

Scripture contains the heart cry of someone like us who is dying for a Liberator.  “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:21-24).

At some point in our lives, we long to be delivered fromMasada.

Our Liberator comes not to destroy us, but to give us life.  His dirt road was a crude Roman cross, where he himself was the bridge between heaven and hell.  He laid himself down so that we could walk free.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Scripted

samuel kee —  September 3, 2011 — 2 Comments

We cry out for a savior to pull us out of the script

I’ve been thinking about behavioral scripts a lot lately, probably because I just got the new album by Icon For Hire called Scripted.  Icon For Hire is a metal band from Decatur, IL, who is now on tour with Brian “Head” Welch.  I had the opportunity to meet Icon For Hire—Shawn, Ariel, Josh, and Adam—they are top-notch individuals and incredibly nice.  I’ll get back to Scripted in a minute.

Behavioral psychology (I was a psych major) teaches us that people use hundreds of scripts each day.  Scripts are routines that we memorize when we’re in familiar situations.  When seeing someone in the morning at work, we know exactly what to say and do.  We simply follow the “script.”  When checking out at the grocery store, we follow a script.  When talking with a friend, we follow a script.  When meeting someone new, we follow a script.  We not only follow verbal scripts, but also we apply scripts to people, in order to stereotype them, and easily brush our hands of them.  If we see a certain ethnicity, for example, we follow a script in our interactions with him or her.

By following scripts, we are mentally able to “check-out” and exert the least amount of physical, emotional, and intellectual energy.  In any given situation, a script tells us what kind of behavior to do or expect.  Thus, scripts put distance between people; we no longer engage another, but merely act out a memorized script.

Here are some lyrics from Icon for Hire’s song Scripted:

I know they’ll come with what I’m owed; My enemies belittle me reminding me the penalty of all my deeds despite my plea is death; Don’t let go cause; Don’t wanna be this; Don’t wanna be this; Death is mine I know.

In this song, it’s recognized that humans are bound by scripts.  We know that we’re sinners and we deserve death.  That’s where we’re headed and we cannot get out of the script no matter how hard we try.  So we cry out for a savior to pull us out of the script, “Don’t let go!”  When it comes to spirituality, we need a script-breaker.  We cannot operate on how things have always been, for that would spell tragedy for us.

We follow scripts when it comes to God, if you haven’t figured that out yet.  Even if we aren’t surrounded by enemies, as in the song, but friends, we follow scripts.  Even those in church could need a script-breaker.

I’m thinking of John 2:13-22, that part about the temple worship.  It was just another day in the life of the typical Jewish worshipper.  They were offering sacrifices in the temple.  They were bringing their tithes and their offerings.  They were exchanging their foreign currency for the native stuff.  It was just a typical scripted day in the life of these good religious people.

Then along comes the Script-Breaker, Jesus himself, who storms the temple with a whip and a war cry.  Jesus knows no script.  He rushes the temple and tosses over all of the tables.  He frees the animals and flails his whip like a madman, no doubt piercing skin along the way.  All the while he’s shouting out Bible verses.

The Script-Breaker knew that religious scripts needed to be crushed.  There were things that were getting in the way of our relationship with God, scripts that put a convenient distance between us and the Almighty.

What scripts do you follow with God?  Maybe you don’t believe in God, and that’s your script.  You follow the script of disbelief so you don’t have to deal with God.  Or maybe you have a religious script; you know what routine to follow to keep others happy, hoping that it will keep God happy, too.  Or you might have a prayer script; you say what you need to say to “get through it” and keep God at a distance.  Perhaps you have a cultural-script; you follow what the culture says about God rather than investigating him for yourself.  If the culture says that there are many ways to God or that God is whatever you want him/her/it to be, then that’s what you’ll believe, just so you won’t rock the boat.

Maybe your script has to do with money.  You do whatever is financially reasonable rather than whatever is divinely commanded.

The truth is that Jesus hates our religious scripts, for they put a wall up between us and God.  When a wall is up, we cannot experience his healing and life-saving presence.  We forget that we are loved by God himself, despite who we are.  We are left to face our enemies and death alone.

Icon for Hire is challenging our scripts; we don’t have to follow them and they don’t have to destroy us.  There is a way out—for he broke his way in.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Parable of the Table

samuel kee —  September 1, 2011 — 3 Comments

You note the irony, but drown in the peace of the moment.

Close your eyes and imagine the following…wait, go ahead and open your eyes.  My fault.  Anyhow, imagine yourself sitting at a fine dining table.  The waiter comes out and skillfully tosses a white table cloth onto the table before you.  There’s no mistaking it, you discover, your waiter is God himself, The Waiter.

He comes out of the back room again carrying plates and silverware, setting the table so that you can eat.  He goes away and then comes back again, this time with your drink—an ice cold glass of whatever-you-like.  Or maybe it’s a steaming hot mug of whatever-you-like.  He leaves and then returns, this time with the bread.  And don’t forget the butter.  Lots of butter.

Just when you can hardly believe that God is serving you, you hear familiar voices at the door.  Peering to your side, you see disturbing faces through the window.  Coming from these faces are angry shouts of ridicule and threats.  Not only are they shouting, but also they are pounding—pounding anything they can throw a fist at.  The cacophony normally would send you into hiding, but not this time.  You are in the presence of God, and he is serving you at the table.

Who are these at the door?  They are your enemies.  They are out to destroy you, to tear apart your reputation and rip you limb from limb.  They hold horror in their hands and hell in their hearts.  The shouting gets louder and they bang at the walls, but the door remains locked and you remain at the table.

The Waiter gracefully turns down the blinds at the window, hiding their faces.  He then begins to sing a song that drowns out the sound of your enemies.  Rising from his chin is the voice of Louis Armstrong, as The Waiter sings “What a Wonderful World.”  You note the irony, but drown in the peace of the moment.

Continuing his song, The Waiter brings out the main dish, the wine, and eventually the dessert.  You have never dined like this before; never have you been so cared for and never have you felt such peace.  For a moment you realize that the enemies are still at the door, but that doesn’t matter, God is taking care of you right now.

You remember some words from Psalm 23, which say, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

You take another drink, a deep breath, and gaze upon your Waiter.

“Nothing is hurried, there is no confusion, no disturbance, the enemy is at the door, and yet God prepares a table, and the Christian sits down and eats as if everything were in perfect peace.  Oh! The peace which Jehovah gives to His people, even in the midst of the most trying circumstances!” (C. H. Spurgeon).

What enemies are at your door right now?  Are they physical, spiritual, or emotional?  The presence of enemies in your life is not necessarily an indication that you’re doing something wrong or that God is not with you.  The presence of enemies is merely a clarion call to dinner, where you must sit and God must serve.

He will get you through this.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Hazing

samuel kee —  August 30, 2011 — Leave a comment

You won’t make it very far without someone who is willing to stand up for you.

School is starting again, and so is hazing.  I just heard from one of my students who joined the college soccer team; he was hazed.  This reminded me of my own hazing story when I joined the wrestling team at the University that I went to.

Here’s how it worked for us on the wrestling team.  At some point during the beginning of the season, the team would beat you up.  There was nothing fancy or creative about it; freshmen did not have to get inebriated, shave their heads, moon the mailman, kiss an ugly girl, or anything like that.  We simply were beat up by all of the non-freshmen on the team.  Classy, I know.

My freshman year, I watched this happen with my other co-freshmen, over and over and over.  I forget how many of us there were, but one-by-one, each was dog-piled and thumped.  Practice after practice, somebody got it.  And you never knew when; that was the insanity of it.  It would happen suddenly and without warning, giving you no time to escape.  One by one the hazing continued, down to the last freshman—me.

I hadn’t gotten it yet and I was swimming in anxiety.  Then, one practice, it happened.  The wrestling room got eerily quiet during one of our drills.  My head shot up like a deer hearing a breaking branch in the woods.  I looked around and saw the guys, like vultures, starting to swarm me.  I knew what was coming next.

In a flash of rare brilliance, I suddenly threw myself on the floor in a spread eagle position.  I yelled out, “You don’t need to hold me down!”  (Usually it would take several guys to hold the flailing freshman down, while the others hit him.)  I continued to shout, “Go ahead, hit me!”  I begged them to hit me, but nothing happened; they stopped in their tracks as I repeatedly said, “Hit me, go ahead, hit me!”  But none of them could bring themselves to do it, not a single blood-thirsty one of them.

Then my wrestling partner said, “We can’t hit him if he wants us to hit him!”  “That’s no fun!” said another.  “We can’t do it if he wants it!” agreed a third.

And one by one, they dropped their fists and left.  Nothing happened to me; I didn’t receive one, single punch.  As I lay there completely vulnerable on the mat, the guys went back to their drills and practice continued as normal.  I was not hazed that year (or ever).

So what did you learn from this?  When someone wants to beat you up, just lie down and let them do it?  No!  That is an awful strategy and is not the moral of my story.  I should have gotten beat up that fateful afternoon.  (Just so you know, I think that hazing is a terrible problem in our schools today, one that greatly angers me.)

The moral of my story is subtler and more penetrating; it has to do with someone else in my story—my wrestling partner.  He was the first one to say, “We can’t hit him if he wants us to.”  He was the first one to come to my defense, to speak up on my behalf, as I lie there as an idiot on the mat.  Were it not for him, the story would have ended up a lot different.

Do you have an advocate like that?  Someone who will stick up for you?  A partner that you “roll” with?  As in wrestling, so in life!  This world will beat you up and you won’t make it very far without someone who is willing to stand up for you.

Of course, the greatest Someone is Jesus, who is always standing up for us (www.hopestands.com).

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Toys from Trials

samuel kee —  August 29, 2011 — 2 Comments

He makes our toys with us, out of the raw stuff in our lives.

My dad would give me a scrap piece of wood.  I’d grab a pencil and begin to dream.  I would usually draw either a gun or a car on the wood.  I’d have to stick with drawing the profile only, because he would do the rest.  He’d take the board and clamp it on the work bench, so that it wouldn’t move around under the pressure of his jigsaw.  Using the small blade and careful turns, he’d cut out the new toy for me.

After being cut out, I would sand it so that it was soft and smooth, leaving no trace of the blade on the wood.  Sanding would make the toy look like it had always been a toy; you’d never suspect that just moments before it was a forgotten piece of wood.

Sometimes I’d paint the new creation, too, adding internal details appropriately to the external shape.  Then it would really come to life.  It was no trouble introducing these new toys into a child’s world of play.

I read a blog post today by Nicola Tsoi, who was reflecting on the days when parents made such wooden toys for their kids.  Nicola wrote, “It encompasses and symbolizes everything about a parent/child relationship.”  It’s a lot easier to buy toys from the store; and I know that these wooden toys were an inexpensive way for my parents to provide for five children.  Even knowing that, however, the wooden toys have always been my favorites, by far.  They’ve meant the most to me.

Sometimes God gives us toys the easy way: he takes us to Toys R Us and has us pick something out.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But sometimes, he makes our toys with us, out of the raw stuff in our lives.  It’s slower, but it’s deeper.  It’s not as easy, but it means the most to us as we look back over the years.  Do you know that famous Bible verse in Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  I have a sense that the kind of “good” that God is referring to in this verse looks more like my dad’s wooden toys and less like the manufactured ones from the store.

God’s “good” comes slower and is deeper; it’s a “good” that we play a role in and discover together.  It’s a good that is fashioned out of the resources of our lives.  It’s a good that comes from our Heavenly Father spending more time with us, working with us to get it right.  It’s a good that comes from the surprise of seeing an ignoble block of scrap come to life before our eyes.

Or maybe we’re the block of wood, which reminds me of when Jesus stood before the thousands with just a few loaves of bread and a twinkle in his eye (Matthew 14:13-21).  Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it—and it was enough for all.  God takes us blocks, blesses us, cuts and sands us, and then gives us to the world.

Toys from trials are always the most profound gifts from God in our lives, to us and to others.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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The Issue

samuel kee —  August 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

To me, it’s a social justice issue; that’s why I’m so passionate about hope.  In America we’re realizing that we must care for those in need.  The church today is especially sensitive about caring for the physical and emotional needs of others.  We join or create campaigns to fight against hunger, famine, or sickness, for instance.  It is good that we are doing these things.

As I write this, many are attempting to end their lives.  Many feel that they are worthless, nobody cares, and nothing can go right.  So they make the choice; rather, the choice makes them.

All the while, we have an answer.

One person is standing up for us.  Even though death tried to take him away from us, he came back.  At the end of his battle with death, only Jesus was left standing.  And he remains standing for us.  Nothing can cause him to sit, quit, or die on us; he remains standing for us.

That’s why the resurrection of Jesus (that moment when he beat death on death’s own terms) is the strongest source of hope that we could ever have.  We can never say that nothing is going right in our lives, so long as Jesus has beaten death.  We can never say that nobody believes in us, so long as Jesus is standing up for us.  We can never say that life will not turn out well, so long as Jesus stands, showing us that it all ends in life and glory, rather than death and condemnation.

One million people will commit suicide this year.  That’s one million people that probably do not know that one man is standing up for them.  And for every suicide there are 15 more attempts; that’s about 15 million people who are searching for one good reason to go on.  September is Suicide Awareness month.

Here’s my video:

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Who Will Notice Me?

samuel kee —  August 25, 2011 — 3 Comments

We long for someone to come along and say to our souls, “You are mine.”

The newborn baby was thrown out, into a field, where it lay in its own blood, encircled by its own uncut umbilical cord.  The baby wore nothing but bruises, mud, and blood.  Its parents did not want it, nor did they take the time to wash it, wrap it, or pity it.  It’s hard for me to say this, but the parents even abhorred their own child, the day that it was born.

It was a girl.

She had no eye to pity her, as she lay in the tall grass of the field, waiting to die.

Then a man came along and saw her wallowing in her own blood.  Getting down on both knees beside her and gently placing her into his hands, he said, “Oh child, live!” (Ezekiel 16:6).  The gentle man did everything in his power to care for this little girl.  He cleansed her, clothed her, and loved her.  As the story goes in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, “I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine” (Ezekiel 16:8).

We are the little girl, abandoned and left to die, wallowing in our own blood and caked with mud.  We are in a lonely and ironic field, whose flowers are beautiful, but whose elements are brutal.  We long for someone to come along and say to our souls, “You are mine.”  That alone would be enough to rescue us, restore us, and redeem us.

The man did not need the baby he found in the field, he wanted her; and there’s a huge difference between “need” and “want.”

The part that stands out to me today has to do with his actions toward her.  The passage in Ezekiel details very carefully how the man washed her, anointed her, and clothed her.  “Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.  I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather.  I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.” (Ezek 16:9-10).  He goes on to describe the costly jewelry he placed upon her.

This is the heart of relationship: washing off someone’s dirt in order to reveal the beautiful person beneath.  Prejudice does the opposite, it flings more mud and causes more blood, covering the beauty and condemning the priceless soul.  Thus, true community can be modeled after this portrait of the man and his little girl.  Community is the place where we cleanse away the dirt from others in order to see who they really are.  We refuse to live with stereotypes, fears, and apathy toward one another.  We don’t settle for letting others wallow in the filth in which they were cast, but are nurses, every one of us, who care for and covenant with each other.

We claim each other, too, just as we have been claimed by God: You are mine!  I’ll take you, dirt and all.  Then, after claiming each other, the community refuses to leave a person as he or she was found.  We cleanse each other, clothe each other, adorn each other.  We make each other beautiful, despite the tragedies of our past.

There are more out there, too, you know.  Many more people thrown out into the field, waiting for someone to come along and notice.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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A Call To Be Unpopular

samuel kee —  August 23, 2011 — 1 Comment

If no one has told you yet today, you are amazing!

In my Bible study tonight with my children, I read the end of Luke 14.  The part that stuck out to me the most was verse 25, which says, “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them…”  Now wait just a second.  What do you think Jesus said to the “great crowds?”  What an opportunity, eh?  Guys like me dream of having “great crowds” following us.  Some of us live for that possibility.

We sit through endless meetings at our businesses or churches, trying to figure out how to make it happen, how to get the great crowds to follow us.  Or if you’re a student, you, too probably dream of having great crowds following you.  We love it when we are loved; and some of us have the disease of Liking To Be Liked.  We’ll do anything to make friends, grow in popularity…or at least hang on to the few dozen Facebook contacts we have.

Deep down, we long for our existence to be confirmed; we think that such affirmation comes from how many love us.

Not Jesus.  He had great crowds following him and we would expect him to turn to the crowds and say, “Now be sure to tell your friends to ‘Like’ me on Facebook tonight!”  Or how about, “If you’re a newcomer at following me, be sure to fill out this friendship registry so that I can send you a welcome packet!” which really means, “we’ll do or give you anything in order to get you to stay—can’t you see how desperate we are!”  Yes, we’re consumed with building ourselves up.  And that desire will consume us, for we’ll give ourselves away in unfortunate ways in order to be validated by another.

Young ladies do this all the time.

And so do boys.  Both give themselves away in order to achieve an identity.

Okay, now back to Jesus’ response to the great crowds.  He turns to the crowd and he says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (26).  Then he goes on to say that we must be willing to allow the government to execute us in order to be his follower (verse 27).  Wow.  What a pep talk.

Jesus turns to the crowd, and instead of pampering them, he pummels them.  I don’t think he could have said anything worse; he said just the right words to drive away his followers.  I’m not even going to try to “explain away” what Jesus said, lightening his words so that they’re not too offensive to you.  First of all, Jesus wouldn’t want me to do that.  Second of all, his words were offensive!

How is it that Jesus can drive away his followers, when I so desperately want to do the opposite?  What does this story teach us?

Jesus was a genius at social intelligence, there’s no doubt; through scenes like this, we can see his confidence.  We learn at least two things about Jesus: he was comfortable at being himself and he had a mission he was trying to accomplish.

Those two attributes of Jesus alone are worth their weight to you right now.  First, learn from Jesus how to be comfortable being you.  Second, get a mission and go for it, whether the crowds follow you or not.

If no one has told you yet today, you are amazing!  The way that God has created you is simply breathtaking.  Nobody else can be you.  Nobody else can teach me about God like you can.  You bear his image and shine his goodness.  Don’t deny the world of that; don’t compromise your being in order to self-satisfy your craving to be loved.  Let God be your source of love and validation, so that you can be freed up to be you and do what you were made to do.

Your mission is not to satisfy the crowds, but relentlessly to follow God’s dream for your life, wherever it ends, with or without friends.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Is God Talking to Me?

samuel kee —  August 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

His sheep follow him in the little steps of life.

How do I know if God is talking to me?  This is a question that I am asked frequently by those who are trying to discern God’s will.  Most of us do not hear God’s audible voice, which complicates the matter.  How do I know if my feelings are really coming from God or if they’re just coming from me?

I can think of two basic ways of knowing if God is talking to you or not.  First, if it really is from God, then it will not contradict Scripture.  God will never tell you to violate his Holy Word.

Second, if it really is from God, you’ll know it.  I like to show this from Mary’s story in John 20:11-18.  In this passage, it’s remarkable to see how nothing can shake Mary from her sorrow.  Mary is chained to sorrow because of the death of her friend Jesus; it says that Mary was weeping (11).  Her sorrow is so thick, that not even the presence of two angels can shake her (12).  Even though two angelic beings are right in front of her eyes, she cannot unchain herself from sorrow in order to see hope.  Even more, the resurrected Jesus himself appears to her, but her sorrow still does not permit her to become unstuck (14).  She does not even recognize the person for whom she is mourning (15)!

None of us have had or ever will have such bold experiences of God in our lives, not only seeing him, but also hearing his voice audibly.  So, back to my first question, “How do I know if God is talking to me?”  Based on the example of Mary, it would seem as though more is involved than just speech and voice.

Mary does eventually snap out of it; and this moment is the key to our understanding about discerning God’s will.  Even when the two angels and sight of Jesus himself don’t penetrate her sorrow, something else does.  In verse 16, we read, “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’”  At that moment, Mary snapped out of it; she turned to him in complete recognition of whom he was.  Her chains were broken and she was set free.

What was so remarkable about Jesus saying her name?  To see this, we must go back a bit earlier in John’s gospel, to chapter 10, where Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd.  Then he adds, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (3).  Notice the parallels and fulfillment between this text and Mary’s story.  Jesus calls his own sheep by name.  We can hear him saying, “Mary!”  Then it says, “and leads them out.”

Jesus called Mary by name and then led her out of her sorrow.

As I said above, if it really is from God, you’ll know it.  Truly hearing from God means that you’ll be changed in some way.  His word and will come to you with power; by nature, when he calls your name, he will lead you out.  How will you know if it’s really God talking to you?  It will be unmistakable: he will ask you to follow him in some way.

God knows his sheep and his sheep know his voice, especially the longer they walk with one another.  His sheep follow him in the little steps of life, tracking with his voice as they hear from him daily in Scripture.  We sheep can discern the voice of a stranger, “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (5).

Most of us can discern God’s will; our problem tends not to be with hearing, but with submitting.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Porn Free

samuel kee —  August 19, 2011 — 1 Comment

If you only focus on Technique, then your life will collapse.

As a pastor, it is a privilege and honor for me to hear courageous stories from guys who admit they struggle with porn.  It’s not easy to own up to this subtle, yet deadly, addiction.  And when they get to the point of confessing their sins, the next question is always the same: how do I stop?

Some guys, of course, don’t want to stop.  Actually, lurking deep down in our intentions, even most guys who go so far as to admit it’s a problem, really don’t want to stop.  Others, however, truly are sick of the cycle and ready for relief.  What do I say to them?

If you turn on Christian radio or consult religious books on the subject, inevitably and unfortunately, you’ll hear the same sort of message about how to become porn-free.  The message that is hawked has to do with strategy.  Namely, try such-and-such technique in your fight against porn; methodology abounds as the issue is attacked from a “how to” vantage point.

I’ve read or heard boatloads of such methods.  “Bounce” your eyes away from an alluring image; don’t put your computer in your room; don’t have internet on your phone; don’t be alone with a source of temptation; don’t watch certain movies; don’t listen to certain music; get new friends; download accountability software; get an accountability partner; find a hobby; go for a jog, etc.

All of these techniques are very good and helpful, don’t hear me wrongly, but they will fail you if you rely only on them.  I promise.  For your heart, like mine, is black and wicked; and the source of our sin is not outside of us, but inside of us.  And mere technique will not get anywhere near the source of the problem.

A few posts ago, I wrote about Aristotle’s triangle of knowledge.  At the bottom of the triangle is truth; above truth is morality; and above morality is technique.  This is an extremely helpful way forward, and can help the both of us in our struggle against sexual sin.

Here’s why.  Truth is at the foundation; everything rests on Truth.  Truth is “What.”  Because of the “What” we know “Why” some things are right and some things are wrong; that’s Morality.  Once we know “Why” we ought to do some things and not others, we can begin to explore “How” is best to live; that’s Technique.

Technique—How do I live out morality?

Morality—Why are some things right or wrong?

Truth—What is reality?

If you only focus on Technique (How do I live out morality?) then your life will collapse.  There is no Truth beneath it.  When we fail to put Truth into our lives, then we have stunted morals and failing technique.  Technique alone will fail us.  Any approach to help you with porn that only gives you a handful of techniques will fail you.  You and I first need a foundation, which is the Truth.

Therefore, the best way to fight against a porn addiction is to put Truth into your life.  We have to bolster the foundation; only then will our Morality be revived and our Technique be successful.  Without Truth, every crumbles; you’ll never be convinced of good Morality and deep down you’ll care less if know how to do it.

Once we’re convinced of the Truth, Morality and Technique flow naturally.  I believe that with all my heart.

The Truth that I am speaking of is God’s Holy Word, the Bible.  The more Bible we ingest, the stronger our foundation becomes.  It’s not just about reading, but about meditating, memorizing, and feasting.  Scripture is your soul’s food and without it you’ll starve and collapse in a heap on the floor.  And no methodology will be able to revive you.

Our world is filled with those who are selling the latest Technique.  It’s sickening to me, because, in the end, when we sit in the ashes of our failure, shame is heaped upon guilt.  Drunken with failure, we hobble over to the next Technique, only to be knocked to the ground again.  The cycle continues until you finally give up.

You and I have to put God’s Word into our minds and hearts every day.  We have to build-up the Truth in our lives through Bible reading, listening to sermons, attending Bible studies, praying about Scripture, etc.  Do whatever it takes to build your foundation.  Let the Truth adjust your Morality; and let your Morality inspire your Technique.

Sorry to say that this post was not about “Ten Ways To Be Porn Free.”  I don’t want to be that cruel and deceptive to you.  I want to point you to the only wellspring that will work, God’s Holy Word.  Here’s the beautiful thing about God’s Word, which sets it apart from being just another Technique: it is more like acid than water.  In other words, when acid touches something, it affects it.  Intrinsically, acid has changing power.  It’s the same for God’s Word; when it touches something, that something will never be the same.  Even if you don’t see it, trust the process and know that God’s Word is always at work (Isaiah 55:11); for it is “living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

We are not only saved by grace, but also we are sanctified by grace.  Grace, as Bonhoeffer wrote, will justify both the sin and the sinner.  In other words, God’s grace through Jesus on the cross will not just make you pure “on paper” but also in reality.  His grace will affect your life and change you for the good.  God’s grace will give you a new heart with new desires, as we un-handle our old life and grab hold of the Truth, which is the only way to new life.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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