Pastor Dan’s May Newsletter
STANDING TALL
There is a whole world out here developing of people that have lost their skin. I mean, where do you look for heroes these days in a society where virtually no one wants to take a stand for anything. What happened to men and women of faith, of flesh and blood models that are out there to pattern our lives after? Webster defines a “hero” as “a person admired for achievements and noble qualities; one who shows great courage.” Charles Swindoll, in his book “Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit” defines hero much simpler than that. He writes, “a hero is someone who stands tall when others shrink back.” He goes on to say a hero is someone who, “swims upstream while the majority of people go with the current.” Are you living life right now in the shadows and just not wanting to engage with others on saying or even doing what is right? Are you simply going along for the ride with the majority and not realizing the potential you are missing for Christ? Are you looking away from today’s rare few heroes that speak up for what is moral, right, decent, true, and righteous and sitting quietly on the sidelines of your life?
Using Swindoll’s story of David, travel back with me to the valley of Elah where young David, still only a teenager, took on the giant Goliath who, marching back and forth, taunted the armies of Israel. King Saul and his entire army stood frozen because of Goliath’s size. His deep, booming voice added to their fear. David, however, would not be intimidated. David shows up and cannot believe what he is seeing or hearing from the people. He could not believe the fear they had for Goliath. David asked the people, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David was teased by his own brothers for acting like a tough guy. But David understood that Goliath represented much more than physically scaring a few skittish soldiers. No, Goliath had the audacity to stand against the God of Israel and defy His power. How dare that happen, David pronounced. David saw this challenge as a cause worth dying for.
And with the power of the Lord God firmly living in his heart and soul, just one smooth stone sling from the skilled shepherd’s sling found its mark, sending the 6”9” human crashing to the ground, and silencing the Philistine threat. Here is the point of this story I share with you. David forgot the odds as he went for thejugular and acted in faith and trust. He didn’t measure what other people would think. Did not, for one second, care about his social standing in the community and how he would be perceived. There is, without a doubt, a risk involved in taking heroic stands and measures today. Besides the physical peril, the very risk of being misunderstood, maligned, cancelled, and mistreated is real. But…to do nothing makes matters worse. And doing brave, risky, and heroic things also means you will probably act alone.
William Wilberforce stood alone against slavery. Patrick Henry, a voice for America’s independence, shouted the words…” Give me liberty or give me death.” One of my hero’s is President Teddy Roosevelt and his famous speech delivered at The Sorbonne in Paris in 1910. In that speech he said, “It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
The Apostle Paul, appealing to Caesar and his kings, military leaders, and prominent city leaders after being imprisoned spoke to King Agrippa in a speech for the ages. It was about his life and his journey. It was about his supernatural conversion of faith and his love for Jesus. He described for all to hear how he was changed and when he answered that voice that asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He testified and spoke to all people saying that Jesus changed him. He explained that it was Jesus who told him to “arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose, I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things to which I will appear to you.” Go, my friends, and do the same.
In Christ,
Pastor Dan