Author Archives: Rick Mauderer
Arguing with God
Most of us argue with God. We argue with Him about who we really are, and about what He has done for us.
Pretty stupid, eh? Of course, it depends on who or what we think God is. If we think God is just like a man, then we can argue all we want. Who knows, we might get our way and outsmart god. That’s right, small “g” because if we really could argue with god and win, then he wouldn’t really be God after all. Yet, there are a lot of people who have that view of God. That kind of God cannot create the heavens or the earth, plan our lives or protect us. Then again, that god is very convenient because with a god like that, we don’t have to worry about anybody telling what to do or how to live – we can do as we please. This is the idea that Satan would love for everybody to have about God.
Then there is the other extreme – the god who is very large, and all-powerful, hence, impersonal. Somebody who is all-powerful tends to want to be treated like TinMan or Scarecrow or Lion initially treated the Wizard of Oz – with great fear and trepidation. He is so great he could never be our friend, or even take the time of day for us. He is too important and way to busy for us. Kinda like aloof – “Way up there.” Satan likes that idea too. Why bother going to a god who does not care?
But then, I guess that is why we argue with God. We really don’t want to believe He is Who He says He is! If he is god number 1, then he surely cannot heal our diseases, or manage our affairs. Certainly, not those of a world of over 6 billion people – all at the same time. On the other hand, if he is god #2, he would never care to even be involved in our lives. Yeah he made the world, but now leave him alone already, alright!? Kinda like the dirty, stinky, greasy homeless man wanting a date with Miss America. Really? You can hear the Valley Girl talk already – “Like, gag me with a spoon!”
God is both and neither of those. He loves us like a loving father loves his child. He is almighty and all-powerful and really did make the heavens and the earth, and He is REALLY big. In fact He fills the universe. He also longs to fill your hearts, if you’ll let Him! He would never force His way – He is not like that. HE longs for you to know Him personally. He wants to heal you. He wants to bless you with good things. He wants to redeem your marriage. He wants to talk with you and guide and direct you every day, but He will never force His way on you. He wants a family that wants Him.
See, I can hear the arguing starting already! “God wants ME?? No way!” Or, “God is too busy to heal me!” Or, “God doesn’t bless people, people get what they work for!” Again, Satan loves those lies. He came up with all of them! Then tell me, why does God say certain things in the Bible? For example, like this:
Isaiah 40:11 – “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.”
Why does God want us to know Him as Someone who carries His lambs in His bosom? And why would He care enough to “gently” lead those who are with young? Notice the passage says He feeds His flock like a shepherd, He doesn’t make them go find food in the wilderness all by themselves. It is an action by a loving shepherd.
Ever thought about what pleases God – what REALLY makes Him happy? Scripture tells us!
1 Corinthians 1:21-22 – God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
It actually pleased God that we came to know Him! Don’t think HE didn’t know what you did last summer, or even last night. And guess what else, He even knows what terrible thing you will do next! It didn’t change His opinion of you. He is PLEASED to have you in relationship with Him!
One other thing. Can you tell me ONE time when a person came to Jesus for healing in the gospels that Jesus did not heal them? Far as I can tell, EVERY person to come to Jesus for healing got healed – AND forgiven. Hebrews tells me that –
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” -Hebrews 1:3
So, wanna know who God is? Look at Jesus. Jesus was never too aloof. In fact that is what got him in trouble with the pharisees, remember? That He hung out with sinners. Even Jesus Himself said, “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” -John 14:9
Stop arguing with God. He said He loves you. He wants to heal you. He longs to spend time with you. He wants to talk with you. Enjoy Him! Worship Him!
Locusts
I still remember Leon Chamberlain fondly. A great man in my eyes. He owned a ranch in the mountains around Douglas Wyoming. I wish I had a picture of him. This is the church he often attended. I remember hearing him in the chapel of Lone Tree Bible Ranch in Glendo Wyoming way back in the summer of 1978. No preaching, he just told stories. Stories from the mountains about real life. He spoke about living your life for God. I was a new Christian, and what I was hearing was revolutionary! If you live your life for God with no holds barred – nothing reserved – He will bless you and watch over you with His favor. He read out of John 10:10 where he said that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, and he spoke about wolves who would try to break into the sheep pens and steal animals. He would wait with his rifle and shoot any animal that tried to break into his little lambs and kill them. That was incredible to me to think that my God would protect me with that same type of passion. Leon went on to say that Jesus came to give us life and gave us life that was abundant. That was God’s desire for us. Wow.
Then he told this story, and used Psalm 78:46 for his verse: “He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust.” Leon, being a rancher, was pretty close to his ranching buddies around him. They always helped each other out. When it was hay bailing time, they helped each other when they could. If a tractor broke, they helped each other. If there was a break in a fence and livestock was getting loose, they helped each other. There was one difference, however. These men did not know the Lord. Leon did, and he tried to introduce Jesus to his ranching buddies. They wanted nothing to do with Jesus. They all still got along – for the most part – and had good relationships, but this Jesus thing was the one item that made Leon a butt of jokes. Now, in school, when people bully you, you can go to the teacher or the assistant principal. But when you are a grown man, what do you do? Well, Leon did what any grown man should do – he gave it to the Lord, and remained their friend. God is very clear that He WILL take the cause.
The clouds were gathering and the wheat crop was ready to be harvested. All the ranchers in the valley were concerned because if it hailed, it would destroy the wheat crop and leave the ranchers with a mess in their fields and a mess in their finances. They all got together, and decided to get the combines out and harvest the wheat knowing that if they worked together they could get it done faster – fearing the hail. But it was Sunday. Leon didn’t work on Sundays. He felt that Sunday belonged to the Lord – he feared the Lord more than hail. Now, at this point in the story, I deviate from my dear brother Leon in his theology about working on Sundays, because even Jesus said, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11). But the point of the story is this: God wasn’t rewarding Leon’s theology. God could care less about Theology. God loved Leon’s fully devoted heart. Leon Loved the Lord, and the Lord loved Leon. The hail did come, and those ranches only got some of their crop in. Except Leon. For some strange reason, all of that hail just seemed to miss Leon’s fields. Not one iota of damage hit Leon’s crops that Leon could see. On Monday, he started to harvest his own wheat – without the help of his neighbors – and got it all in that week, intact. His neighbors had a lot of their wheat destroyed and knocked down by the hail. Leon honored the Lord with his life. The Lord honored Leon IN his life.
Back to Psalm 78:46. So locusts are a symbol to me. A symbol of the world’s curse, and a symbol of our own disobedience. When we disobey the Lord, we open ourselves up to the curse of the Locusts. Egypt disobeyed a direct command from the Lord, and God sent locusts to them. Leon’s friends refused to bow their knee and honor God, and then made fun of their friend who loved Jesus. So God sent them some “locusts” in the form of hail. Not because God is mean, or is punishing them, but because He is loving – trying to turn their hearts to Him like it says in Amos 4:6.
I want God’s blessing in my life. More than that, I want God’s blessing in my family. I want a healthy family tree. I do not want the locusts of Psalm 78:46 to invade my family tree. Locusts are a physical representation of a spiritual reality. Demonic forces – “spiritual termites” I call them – can destroy a family tree through disobedience of the parents. I came across this verse the other day that made me stop in my tracks. It reminded me that the health of my family tree is dependent upon my obedience to my God. If I walk away from God, or choose to disobey Him, I invite the locusts into my life, and locusts don’t play…
Joel 1:4 – What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
Like Leon, I want to honor God with my life. If you have been walking away from God, and are tired of the locusts, then do an “about-face!” God is ready to hear you! He longs to walk with you and spend time with you!
Joel 2:12-25, “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster…I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”
Families Low On Function 2
Nature abhors a vacuum. I have seen it time and again. That is why God invented leadership, because Godly leadership fills that vacuum with goodness – IF it is good leadership. Not all leadership is Godly. After nearly 2 decades working as an assistant principal in a large suburban school district in North Texas, I have seen the results of poor or no leadership in the lives of children. I have dealt with children whose moms got involved with a man who was a poor leader and raped her children, while she turned her head. I have seen dads turn their head while while the mom is on drugs and do nothing to help the family other than to immerse himself into his job to cover his pain and provide an excuse not to have to be home. I have seen parents watch their daughters get involved in abusive relationships and do nothing to rescue their daughter. I have seen parents get so involved in drugs that they spend ALL of their money getting high, and leave nothing for the kids for food, and let their kids’ teeth begin to rot out (thank God for my friend the Christian dentist who fixed their teeth free of charge!). Yes, nature abhors a vacuum. And when it finds a vacuum, nature fills that vacuum with whatever the world will offer at the time. Have you seen what the world has to offer? I just named a small part of the list above. Ironically, just today details emerged about the young man arrensted in Tampa who was going to try to blow up his school on the fist day of classes. What is interesting is that when police arrived at the house to search the young man’s house and found all they were looking for, they “also found a marijuana growing operation” in the same house. How does something like that happen without a parent knwoing about it? Exactly – it would seem the parent knew. Leadership. The Bible tells us plainly in James 4:4, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” That is partly because there is not much goodness in the world, and that is because man, by his own volition, put the world under the control of the evil one. So what does this have to do with families? Everything!
King David was a dad. He as a dad like his own dad. If you read my post from yesterday, you know that hios dad was not necessarily the best dad! That is how it works. Dads will be dad like their own dads. Moms will be moms like their own moms – good, bad or indifferent! Our job is to turn our parenting over to Jesus to let Him transform it. David did not get that. If you remember the story about Bathsheba, David started off that whole year on the wrong foot. David (the nation’s LEADER) should NEVER have taken himself out of the role of leader when times were getting tough.
1 Samuel 11:1-2, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David…remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful…”
It only goes downhill from there. David abdicated his leadership. He took a back seat, and let nature have its way. Good leaders never let nature have its way. Because David let nature have its way, the nation was never the same and neither was his family. He has the affair with the woman who was named Bathsheba, he has her husband killed and pretends for over a year that it never happened until God sends a prophet to deal with his lack of leadership (and lack of communication!). As time goes on, one of David’s sons (Amnon) rapes his sister, and pretends like nothing happened (kinda like David did with Bathsheba!), and David, again, does nothing to address the issue for years. Finally, David’s other son (Absalom) takes matters into his own hands and kills the other son who did the raping. Time goes on, and because of Absalom’s anger against his dad, he tried to overthrow his dad’s rule. While David is on the run, he hears that Absalom is acting so immorally, that he has sex with all of David’s wives on the roof of his house in front of everybody, and when Absalom is finally killed, David weeps bitterly: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (1 Samuel 18:33).
Godly leadership. We all need it. It is not always easy. Godly leadership makes a family strong, and healthy. Godly leadership keeps the enemy at bay. Take a break for a minute, and nature will fill that void with all sorts of “stuff.” Take a lesson from King David. Peter wrote about leadership in the new testament as well:
1 Peter 5:1-5
So I exhort the elders [leaders] among you, as a fellow elder [leader] and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd [lead] the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders [leaders]. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Families Low on Function 1
Some words are overused. Perhaps I should start a new phrase – “Family Low on Function” instead of the psychologically sterile “Dysfunctional Family.” There are many examples of such families, and I am no exception to being raised in one. It is my goal, however, to break that cycle in my current family. I would guess I am batting about 500 or so, which, in baseball, would get a multimillion dollar contract, right?
King David. Put into kingship by God, right? It is proof positive that a person does not have to have all their stuff together to be used by God. Whoo! I feel relieved! But did you ever wonder what David’s family was like? I am guessing not the best. Let’s look at some evidence:
When Samuel came to anoint the 2nd king in Israel, he asked Jesse to bring all of his sons to him. Samuel looks at each one, starting with the highest GQ factor first, and each time God tells Samuel “nope.” What? God isn’t moved by GQ factor? Judging by God’s comment in 1 Samuel 16:7 (But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”), I would say not!
1 Samuel 16:11-13, “Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.”
I think that is one of God’s pet projects – choosing the least to use His Power through! Look at Mary, mother of Jesus. Look at Gideon. Wandering Abraham. Fickle Peter. I could go on, but I diverge…back to “ruddy” David. Jesse had all of the “significant” sons come to see the Priest Samuel. Stop. What dad, in his “right” mind would leave a child out of this big event? Would you leave your youngest at home and take all of the “cool” kids to the 4th of July fireworks? Would you leave your youngest at home to watch the cats while the rest of the family went to see the president come to town? Jesse could have set up a rotating schedule of taking care of the sheep because after all, the directions were to bring ALL of his sons. He could have put a hired hand in charge for a day. But there was this question in Jesse’s mind. “David? What can he do? He is a runt. He can’t do nothin. I’ll just leave him out back with the sheeps – surely he can’t be the one God is going to anoint King, can he?” CAN HE? I am not sure what was wrong with David’s dad, but I am sure David was quite wounded because of it. I want to challenge each parent or parent-wannabe to think big about each of your kids. Pray for them. Even before they are born. During pregnancy, speak to them. Speak destiny into their lives. If you teach them right, raise them right, love them right, they will have Jesus living big inside of them.
I am sure David felt hurt being left out in the cold. Even in the summer when it is over 100 you can be left out in the cold. And I am pretty sure this was not the first time this happened. Neither would it be the last. Remember Goliath is still in the future, and where was David when all of that started? Stupid sheep. David’s dad sent him with food for his brothers, and when he got to the battle lines, he heard Goliath’s taunts, and it bothered David. David said, “Yo dudes, what’s up? And why is this giant talking about God this way? Isn’t anybody going to do anything?” His brother reminded him. “Dude, aren’t you supposed to be with the sheep?” Scripture records the interchange like the typical sibling squabble in a house of kids, “What!? Can’t I say ANYTHING??”
1 Samuel 17:26-30 “And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.”
You gotta love the judgementalism in Eliab’s words. All he does is see David there, and he judges David as being there with “presumption” and “evil.” They definitely need some time away from each other! Kids pick up from parental attitudes. I think Eliab was only echoing his father’s attitude about David. Ever known someone who was the butt of jokes? You know when you are the runt, and always picked on by your brothers, and then left with the [stupid] sheep day after day, you get to talk a lot to God. Sometimes you can hear Him when He talks back to you! This is where the lifeline of David was developed with God. All you have to do is read the Psalms of David and you can hear his communion with his God. This is marked by his response to his brothers above: “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” Did you catch the adjective there? “Living…” God is alive and well with David. From a relationship forged through time in the wilderness with God, through the dysfunctional familial relationships where David cried out to God, through the threats on his life from a lion and a bear, David and God were close. If your family is low on function, God is high on it! When David’s dad left him in the cold, God will not! When his brothers wrongly judged him, God will not! When people thought lowly of David, God will not! Break the cycle of low function! Plug into the functional God!
Part of God’s Team
I am often caught in the modern-day trend of thinking where if I have to wait more than 10 seconds for anything, I get impatient. It seems like red lights at traffic intersections take forever and my feeling is that sitting through a light will add 10 minutes of driving time to wherever I am going. I have timed them with my watch. The truth? They take from 30 seconds to 1 minute to cycle through-depending upon the light. Wow! Our minds are programmed to listen to the liar who make us anguish and impatient! This leads us to do things of our own doings to “help us out!” My thoughts drift to Abraham – who was told that he and his wife would have a child. More than 10 seconds pass. Decades pass. He and his wife are getting older. He figures he will help things out, so he sleeps with somebody else to get this child born. Obviously God needs help, right? My thoughts then go to Israel. They prayed for hundreds of years to be delivered from Egypt’s bondage. That means some people actually died never seeing their release. I wonder how many of them tried things on their own? I wonder how it worked for them? Then I think of the man in John 9 who was born blind.
John 9:1-4,
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work…” (ESV)
In God’s goodness, he chose to use this man to demonstrate His workmanship. His goodness. It says he was born that way, and that by this time he was a blind “man.” So, he was perhaps 20? 30? That is a long time to wait! A long time to be blind. But Jesus did come. In HIS time. Now the man – for the first time EVER – can see. I wonder how he felt the first time he actually saw blue, or clouds, or water? Amazing. But did you catch verse 4? Jesus pulls a fast one in His words! Jesus does the works of God, then He says “We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day…” He included his disciples in His work. He also includes us! We are a part of the work God is doing among us. There is a time coming, Jesus says, when no one will be able to work. But until that time, get after it! “Git ‘er done!”
Hello world!
I am starting a blog through WordPress. Why? Funny you should ask! When I was in 10th grade at Mound Westonka High School, I had just become a new Christian after a scuba diving accident. I’ll never forget the day it dawned on me that I was actually a Christian! Before that, I Christians and thought they are all weird! Anyway, I got this thought that said, “I am actually a Christian! Who would have thought!?” Then my next thought was “Christians have Bibles, and I ain’t got one!” It was about 8:30 that evening and I had no clue what to buy or where to buy it from – but I knew I had to get one. I looked in the phone book and I found this little bookstore called “Northwestern Bookstore” and it sold Bibles. So I called them and pleaded with them not to close at 9:00 until I got there – I had to buy a Bible! I got there with just a minute or two to spare, and the guy behind the counter sold me a big ol’ Scofield King James Bible. I went home that night and even though I didn’t understand much from the “Shakespearean” language it was written in, was still amazed at what I read (I eventually got a much better and more readable Bible!). I was getting a whole new download for my life from heaven!
I got into the habit of taking this Bible with me to school – since I got there pretty early each day – and read it a little before classes each day. I had this insatiable thirst for what I was reading. I hated reading – but loved reading this new book! It did something to my heart and soul. Now, I have no idea why, but I started reading – of all places – in 1 Samuel. Some passages just jumped off the pages at me – like 1 Samuel 12:24-25, “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” Then, Ezra. Ezra 7:10 was a heavy hitter to me! Then Jeremiah – and it was there that it hit me. I read this passage that forever changed my life. Jeremiah 1. Again, it was something I could not explain at the time, but it was like God reached down from heaven and told me that this would be my life verse. I couldn’t wait to go back to read it each time I had a spare moment. I finally knew what my purpose in life was!
Jeremiah 1:4-10 –
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
To this day, whenever I get the opportunity to proclaim God’s word to people, I get real excited. Much like a little calf gets branded with his/her ranch owner’s brand – declaring for the rest of that animal’s life who (s)he belongs to, God has put His Spirit in my heart – branding me in a way – declaring who I belong to for the rest of my life. And I am not complaining because God is good! Always has been. Always will be.
Rick Mauderer 