Spiritual: Reproving Sin

Reading in 1 Samuel this morning and was really struck by God's judgment against Eli, the priest of the Lord, for not reproving his sons for their very bad priestly behavior.

Take a look at what they did:

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand and he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

(The priests servants robbed the people.)

Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw." If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."

(The priest's servants defiled the sacrifice and bullied those making an offering.)

Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD. Also, they slept with the women who served at the doorway at the tent of meeting.

Breaking it down, Eli's sons robbed and oppressed the people and Eli did not rebuke them. God said, "Enough," and cut off Eli's heritage. Like, "No man will grow old in your house."

His sons were killed on the same day, and Eli died when he heard the news. Sin is serious business. Even Eli said of his sons, "God will intervene when man sins against man, but who will intercede for man when he sins against God?"

Thus, the need for a Redeemer. A Savior. Jesus. He alone is the mediator between God and man. But my thought today as I read 1 Samuel was how Eli shamed his own name and his sons by not confronting their sin. God's anger was more at his silence than the actions of his sons.

Had they been rebuked and disciplined, their lives would've been spared. They'd not have defiled and oppressed the people. Sin cannot be endured or tolerated. First in our own lives. Second, in the lives of others. We misinterpret Jesus's words "Do not judge."

Actually, we are called to judge. But first, see to our own issues. Like, don't go calling out a girl on gossip when you gossip. Don't call out sexual immorality if you're involved in sexual immorality. There are plenty of verses on how and when to judge others. There's actually health and healing in judging -- shall I say discerning -- the words and actions of others.

If your friend is beating his wife, do you just let it go because "you don't want to judge?" No. You confront him, tell him it's wrong and he needs to change. You offer help and support to deal with why he behaves in such a way.

Parents! Discipline your children. Don't let the go on with ungodly behavior because you don't want confrontation. Or don't want to admit your children aren't perfect. You will save them a lot of pain if you shed light on the darkness of their hearts.

I love the verse, "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. but the rod of correction drives it far from him."

Eli lost his families right and heritage because of his unwillingness to deal with his sons. They lost their lives. It cost Israel the arc of the Lord -- the presence of the Lord. Don't look the other way when you see sin. It may cost you the very presence of God.

On Writing Diva NashVegas - Final Thoughts

Many of the Diva NashVegas reviews have said how brave Thomas Nelson was to let me doing something edgy.

What, you ask, did I do?

After reviewing Aubrey's life, I did not see her as virginal. Taking into account her spiritual compass was whacked when her parents died, and subsubquently she lost her brother by abandonment, I couldn't see her towing the line.

First she's wounded. Her moral compass is now being directed by the life of celebrity. She's away from God because He allowed he parents to die.

I recently read a statistic that said most Christian woman do not consider their sex life submitted to God. Now that's a sad commentary on the Church.

So, in light of that, I felt Aubrey would have a past, and in fact, be in a sexual relationship with her current boyfriend turned fiance.

Otherwise, I just did not feel she would be authentic. However, I didn't want to make her a "ho" or a sex pot. I wanted her to be normal, feeling she's living right by only sleeping with a man she loves, but I tried to hint at underlying conviction. Deep down, she knows it's not the right thing to do.

The Ryman Scene

I decided to have a judgemental fan of her parents confront her. What I wanted to show was that often religious people sin more than those they judge.

When this woman confronts Aubrey about her life of sin, it is without love and mercy. She's harsh and condeming. When Aubrey responds with humilty, the woman is almost angered.

The juxtaposition here is the kettle calling the pot black. The woman is no better than Aubrey.

Yet, Aubrey hears her. Which I think speaks so much to her character. She realizes while the messenger is all whack, the message is right. Loved her for this.

Coming home to Jesus

It's hard to write spiritual content. One, it so easily comes off preachy. Two, I don't want to present my soap boxes or my slant on things to such a wide audience. Seven million plus Christians pray in tongues, I'm one of them, but not all who love Jesus do. I wouldn't want to present anything in a book that would distract from the true story. I'm not wimping out on what I believe, I'm just avoiding a potential argument when there is no need.

So, spiritual content is difficult to weave. I always want to present a realistic picture of the faith journey.

I try to think different, go out of the box, be intentional in my character's spiritual journey. Maybe have things happen to them I'd like to have happen to me: see a vision or something.

Because Aubrey is strong, I decided she would make the decision to go to church when she realizes she's heading in a direction she doesn't want to go.

She gets up one Sunday morning and decides to go to church. Period. God meets her there. The pastor of this church is my real life friend and man of God, Shawn Bolz. He's not a pastor of a church, but a minister of the Gospel nonetheless. And the man has seens some stuff! Good stuff. God is awesome.

Finding true love

When Aubrey finds her true love, she holds him off for a long time. She wants to do this right. We see her love, even desire for him, but also her desperate desire to get her life in God deep and strong.

In her spiritual journey, I hope the readers discovers a Father of love. One who will always welcome the prodigals home. One who understands the weak human heart and the tug of the flesh. Aubrey is like so many of us, once lost, but now found.

The Lord is always there for us, arms open wide. If only we won't give up on ourselves.

Overcoming Fear & Anxiety - Part 1

As a kid, fear wasn't an issue with me. We moved around as my dad attended school and while I was shy on the first day of a new school or meeting new friends, I was never afraid.

Fear was only an issue after watching the Wizard of Oz. I'd be in my room under the covers imagining the witch showing up in my room.

I'm sorry, but let's be honest. The Wizard of Oz is stupid movie to show a kid.

So, fear-in-general, not part of my genetic make. But "it" came calling.

The first time I felt anxious fear I was twelve. I woke up in the night feeling weird, odd, condemn, afraid of losing control or doing something horribly sinful.

Overwhelmed with negative thoughts and feelings, I did the only thing I knew to do, throw the covers over my head and pray.

Interesting to note this "attack" came in the dark, dark of night, not the light of day.

My parents were a tad older than the folks being caught up in the Jesus Movement, but they were impacted by the move of God in the mid '60s and early '70s. My dad had learned about "overcoming by the blood of the Lamb" and so he taught us to pray the blood of Jesus as protection.

I prayed such a prayer, hiding under the covers that weird night. But this battle was not about hiding from something in the room, like the wicked witch of the west, this battle came from within. I didn't understand it. But at twelve, I understood to fight it.

Thirty some years away from that first moment of fear/anxiety, I guess some of it might have been hormonal, but the prescription for overcoming was the same as any problem.

Jesus.

In today's modern Christian mind-set we go about with a PC view of our enemy, the devil. "Oh, I'm saved, he won't bother me."

Hello? If not you, then who? The heathens he already has in his grasp. No, dear ones, he doesn't fight fair, and as lovers of Jesus, we have a BIG OLE TARGET on our backs.

He will harass us, discourage us, fight us, oppress us.

He's a clever enemy. He doesn't come at us full on in warfare gear. We'd recognize him. He comes at us in whispers. Subtly, through words, feelings, emotions. Lies we believe, even words we speak over ourselves. Through words spoken over us. And yes, the sins of our fathers and mothers.

But be can and will overcome. But we must fight.

So, my next encounter with fear happened about seven years later ...