Metamorphosis: it isn’t just for insects. August 15, 2012
Posted by #4 in Christianity, Everything but the kitchen sink.Tags: Acts of the Apostles, butterfly, caterpillar, caterpillar to butterfly, Christian, Damascus, God changes hearts, Holy Spirit, metamorphsis, Paul, Pharisee, Saul
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Consider the lowly caterpillar, just-a-munchin’ on the plant it hatched on. He ain’t worried about anything. Just munching munching munching.
munch munch munch
Perfectly happy. Unless of course he is visited by a winged glutton. But this is a happy caterpillar, so we won’t consider his untimely demise. He gets to live.
Munch munch munch.
Perfectly happy. He doesn’t consider that he is not complete. He has no concept that his future will be much different than munching all day long. He isn’t worried about anything. He isn’t upset about anything. Rain, shine, wind, it’s all the same. Munch munch munch.
He doesn’t care that others may not be like him; may not munch like him; may have a different philosophy altogether about munching. Still not concerned.
He thinks he is doing exactly what he is supposed to be doing.
But something changes.
It may subtle or it may be startling (we will never know) but one day the munching stops.
Maybe he is finally full, as full as he could ever get or maybe the plant no longer tastes good (again – we will never know) but on this day he wanders away from his munching and finds a nice shady out of the way place where he won’t get visitors knocking on his door, and then. . .
our lowly caterpillar does something he has never done before in his entire life: He spins a silk anchor to his new digs, sheds a final layer of skin then hunkers down wrapped up in a hard shell called a Chrysalis.
Wow – it’s really dark in here!
He didn’t learn how to do this in caterpillar school. His momma didn’t show him how to do it during his childhood. The government didn’t start a program with taxpayers money to do the shedding for him. It just happens.
One day he is happily munching, the next he is locked away in darkness. And then something wonderful happens.
He changes.
He doesn’t just get reformed; learning new skills like how to get along better with other caterpillars and not being too judgmental of their munching habits – he totally changes.
What he once was, he will never be again.
Inside that chrysalis a drastic and dramatic alteration is occurring. The caterpillar is helpless: he can’t stop it, he can’t get out of it, and he doesn’t know what’s happening.
After a certain amount of time goes by, our lowly caterpillar awakens from his beauty sleep and wants to stretch. It’s been a long time since he inched along his beloved stems munching on leaves and he is tired of the cramped quarters. He wants out.
So he opens the door and climbs out of his chrysalis. But something is different. He doesn’t want to inch along. He wants to fly!
He doesn’t want to munch the leaves. He wants something sweet, something that tastes better than anything else!
I’m beautiful! and MAN this tastes good!
He is no longer a lowly caterpillar. He is now one of the most beautiful creatures on the earth. Our friend the caterpillar has left behind all that he was and has emerged something totally different in appearance and actions. He is free.
What Mr. Caterpillar just went through is called metamorphosis. He was one thing and then he was another. He changed.
But this process isn’t just for caterpillars.
People can go through a metamorphosis too.
Consider a man named Saul.
Saul was born into a very religious family. He was raised in the Jewish faith and taught to go to the temple and worship YHWH (or Yahweh for those who like vowels).
He was a very good student. He was diligent. He was determined. and he was brilliant.
Saul was so zealous for his religion that he said of himself : “I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.” Philippians 3:5
He was happily doing what he thought he was supposed to be doing. And Saul was doing it better than most others. Munch munch munch.
Saul was so zealous that when followers of the crucified and risen Jesus refused to follow the strict laws set by the Pharisees, Saul wanted to eliminate them. When a young man named Stephen was caught by the religious leaders he said to them “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” This so inflamed the leaders that they all took up stones and killed Stephen. Saul stood by and held the coats of those throwing the stones. and he approved of the brutal murder.
Saul approved whole heartily with eliminating followers of “The Way” as it was called back then. He received approval and letters from the Sanhedrin to track down every Christian. Saul had proved most efficient at this; he dragged men women and children to prison and he also killed some. He wanted to kill them all.
One day Saul was on a road, traveling to Damascus with letters authorizing him to arrest and drag back to Jerusalem any Christians he could find. but something changed.
It was dramatic. It was startling. It was not subtle. The book of Acts chapter 9 records it for us.
“As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
Just like the caterpillar who had no choice, Saul was thrown into darkness for 3 days. He was, in effect, inside a chrysalis. and unbeknownst to him, he was about to make a very drastic change. Saul was not being reformed. He was not learning how to play nice with the Christians he so hated. He was not learning how to be politically correct so that he would not offend. He wasn’t going through some government program funded by taxpayers to help him overcome his circumstances that were to blame for his actions he totally changes.
What he once was, he will never be again.
A man named Ananias is sent by the Lord to Saul and Ananias . . . laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.
What Saul just went through was a “metamorphosis”. He was one thing and then he was another. He changed. He was no longer Saul, he became Paul. He no longer persecuted Christians, he was now one of them. He was no longer a Pharisee, he would preach against them.
Saul went into his change hating and persecuting Jesus.
Paul came out of his change preaching Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 9:20).
He was no longer an unlovely hate filled creature, he was now something beautiful. And he had the sweetest thing of all. He was free!
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul received salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul went on to become the most prolific evangelist of the first century. He wrote more letters to churches than anyone and they became the bulk of the New Testament. His writings, even today, are more profound than any rendered by the greatest philosophers lauded by this world.
So you see, metamorphosis is not just for insects.
God can make the same change in anyone. He can take the hardest heart and mold it into the most lovely. He can take the most hated, vile and despised of us and completely change them into a new creation, one eager and willing to spread the good news.
God is in the business of changing hearts. and just like Saul (maybe not as dramatic as Saul), he can change you too.
Are you ready?
Divorce: a growing trend among Boomers? June 24, 2012
Posted by #4 in Everything but the kitchen sink, It's called Sin.Tags: Baby boomer, Bible, Christ, Christian, Divorce, Marriage, Relationships
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First of all, I want you to know, I’m not an expert. On anything. I am, however, opinionated.
But I try very hard to base my opinions on a reliable source: The Bible
and just in case you didn’t know – the Bible I am referring too is none other than the Word of God, given to the nation of Israel through prophets and disciples, and made perfect in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
That Bible.
In my opinion, there is no other written word on the planet by which man can adequately base his life and personal and public decision making. It also happens to be the only reliable account of the history of earth and its inhabitants.
So it mystifies me; puzzles me; irritates me; and down-right angers me when people write anything concerning why people behave badly and refuse to consult the very book that has the answers they need. This basically leaves their article pointless, baseless and inconclusive; because it is written solely from a spiritually dead perspective. Anyone who lives their life without Christ is spiritually dead. Ephesians 4: 18 tells us “18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; “. In other words – if you are living apart from God and refusing his gift of eternal life, you are unable to know truth and are susceptible to any teaching, no matter how ridiculous and fraudulent.
Case in point: This article, written by Casey Dowd and posted on the Fox News Business site, attempts to define the reasons for growing divorce among the Baby Boomer generation: those retiring or having retired. Marriages of 40 plus years are now ending in divorce, especially among the rich and famous. Let’s look at their conclusions and, based upon Scripture, the Word of God, see if they are right.
1st reason for divorce among Boomers: “Baby boomers tend to be the group that has the economic livelihood and the economic feasibility to get divorced. Whats really interesting is that divorce rates will increase in both good and bad economic times. When there is a lot of money in marriage, divorce is a reasonably easy financial solution because when it comes to dividing the assets, there are enough for both parties. Marriages with not a lot of money tend to be more financially strained which can lead to stress and increase the risk of divorce. The baby boomer generation is hit most by those extremes.”
Basically what is being said is that money is the reason: if you have lots of money, it’s easy to get a divorce; if you are poor, that tends to cause problems that lead to divorce. This is circular reasoning – having money and not having money lead to divorce.
1 Timothy 6:10 tells us, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” So money really leads to sin, not just divorce, and blaming money for divorce is really just a cop-out. It’s not the real reason.
2nd reason: “The one thing that I hear consistently, regardless of the specific catalyst, is lack of communication–that is by far the universal response. Infidelity is certainly a catalyst and often labeled as a reason; it plays a very large role in the breakdown or end of a marriage. A really healthy marriage is hard to puncture, but one that is on somewhat-shady ground is very easy to puncture. It really gets back to the individuals and how they feel about infidelity based perhaps on their beliefs, value system and background. Infidelity is used as a catalyst reason for ending a marriage 50-70% of the time.”
So lack of communication and infidelity lead to divorce among Boomers. I daresay that is getting too defined; lack of communication and infidelity probably covers all age groups regardless of race, background or circumstances. But is that accurate? Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48 tells us “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ..
According to Jesus Christ, lack of communication and infidelity are pretty much covered under this command to do good to those who hurt, hate and spitefully use you. Lack of communication is really just a fancy way of saying each person in the marriage is being selfish and prideful and doesn’t want to work with their spouse. Infidelity is nothing but pure selfishness. Our culture preaches on looking out for number 1 and you are the only one you can rely on – ideas that are diametrically opposed to marriage. A shallow person with no real values or humility will listen to this garbage and believe it.
3rd reason: “What is happening in Hollywood is almost sexfying divorce. Maria Shriver is the perfect example: the preppy girl who went off to school, married someone who is a little bit of a bad boy, but very successful. Arnold wasnt all brawn, he also had brains. This is the fairy tale of your average baby boomer and now Maria has just found that her marriage has been basically a bit of a facade. I think we will see a bit of a movement to empower baby boomer women. I am worried that we might be creating a victim sex appeal divorce baby boomer trend. I believe if we can get divorcing right we will actually see an increase in marriages.”
This one just plain doesn’t make sense. How do you get divorce right? Divorce is utter failure, there can’t be anything right about it. And blaming Hollywood for divorce? Please. I can see how someone hooked on tabloids can be fooled by the rich and famous and get caught up in following those lifestyles, but blaming divorce on this reeks right up there with all those morons who blame their criminal lifestyles on their circumstances and upbringing. Where did personal responsibility go? Right down the cultural sewer pipe. When we stand before God at judgement, He won’t give us the opportunity to blame our actions on others or even on circumstances.
2 Corinthians 5:10 (NLT)
“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”
This article, though it may have some accurate statistics, does not even come close to explaining the reason for divorce and it’s advice on how to break the news to children or even to work out the finances of divorce, and it does nothing to discourage divorce. Marriage is an act of love, commitment, humility, selflessness and obedience. When marriage is made for any other reason, and apart from God, it is doomed to fail. Sin takes over and destroys the union. Jesus himself even said that Moses granted divorce because of hardness of hearts. So what is the real reason for divorce?
It’s called SIN. Blaming divorce on anything else is false, untrue, misleading, wrong and stupid.
