Overcoming Fear

 We all know that sex sells. Companies have used sex to sell everything from cars to cabbage. But sex seems to be yielding its throne in the marketplace. Fear may be surpassing sex as the emotion of choice for marketers who want to control commerce and politics.

Life insurance, annuities, real estate, technology and political candidates are all marketed through the advertising of fear. Fear sells. Marketers call it “shockvertising.” It is sometimes referred to as “fear mongering.” Companies know that FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is one of the most powerful motivators for purchase of their products.   Politicians portray their adversaries as the devil and warn the world will sink into the apocalypse if we aren’t careful.  

We have always lived with fear. Those of us who grew up in the 1950s learned to “duck and cover” beneath our desks in the event of a nuclear attack. (How much protection that would have provided, I don’t know.) Many of us lived through the cold war, the Star Wars arms race, Y2k hysteria, 9-11 and Covid. Adults under 30 have no memory of walking freely into an airport terminal without TSA security.

 Every generation of every age has had reason to fear.  But, like those who have gone before us, we must not surrender.  We must live our lives with courage, confidence and hope.

God does not desire that we live in fear. In Isaiah He says, “Do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not look anxiously about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you; I will help you.  Surely, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” (Isaiah 41:10-11).

 Jesus spoke a great deal about fear and how to overcome it. Speaking to his disciples, Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? … Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12). When the disciples were on the sea, struggling against the wind in the dark, Jesus came to them and said. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 The Apostle Paul wrote, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7).

It is important that we not fall victim to the fear tactics of market manipulators and politicians. It is important that we find faith that frees us from the paralyzing fears that can rob us of power and love and a sound mind. 

Listen Up!

 My wife is a great listener.  That is one of the reasons I married her.  She listens intently, not just to me, but also to anyone speaking to her. I once watched a total stranger stop her on the street in New York and spill out their life story.  I have witnessed the same thing on subways, in train stations and shopping centers in the U.S. and Europe.  You can see it in her eyes.  She focuses.  She doesn’t glance around the room wondering if there is someone else she should speak to. She doesn’t look beyond you.  Her eyes don’t glaze over in a fixed stare that pretends to listen while she thinks about something else. 

 I lose focus.  One word can trigger any number of divergent thoughts causing my mind to race off in pursuit like a dog chasing cats.  At other times I leap ahead, thinking about what I want to say rather than listening to what is being said.  I have to discipline myself to re-focus on what is being said, sometimes scrambling to piece together the gaps that I missed during my mental lapses. 

 My wife knows this. She can see it in my eyes.  Sometimes she will stop talking and the silence will awaken me from my temporary daydream.  “You’re not listening,” she says.  Of course she is right.  But occasionally I am lucky enough to be able to repeat the last sentence that she spoke, retrieving it from some kind of digital recording in my head, even though its meaning was not being registered in my brain.

 Listening is a powerful gift. It is transformational. When someone listens to us without judgment or accusation, we hear and see ourselves differently. Somehow the act of having someone truly listen enables us to sort through our emotions and confusions to reach better conclusions.  Feelings of isolation and loneliness dissolve and melt away when someone listens to us. The listener, by listening, has the ability to heal.

 Most of us are far more intent on being heard than hearing. When we pretend to listen, we are, more often simply waiting for a gap, a chance in the conversation to insert our already preconceived conclusions. We interrupt one another with conversations that often are running on different tracks.

 How many times have we injured someone, or simply failed to help someone, because we were too quick to speak?  How different our world would be if parents listened to their children; if bosses listened to their employees; if businesses listened to their customers; if politicians listened to the people; if persons in power listened to each other?  Maybe if we were better at listening to one another, we might be better at listening to God.

 The Bible says, “Everyone must be quick to hear and slow to speak.”  (James 1:19).  God says, “Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:2-3).

Crisis of Truth

 There was a day when we felt we could trust the elected officials who led us and the journalists who interpreted the news.  We believed Washington “could not tell a lie.”  Lincoln was known for his honesty.  We always knew we could trust Walter Cronkite, whether he was reporting the assassination of JFK or describing the first lunar landing. But those days seem naive and far away. 

 The world has become much more complex.  The truth is far more difficult to discern.  Nixon’s claim that he was no crook and Clinton’s assertion that he “never had sex with that woman,” eroded our trust in the Presidency.  Today we feel caught between “fake news” and “alternate realities.”  Matt Lauer left us disillusioned with journalists.  We hardly know who to believe.

 A recent article in Psychology Today stated, “Despite all the barriers that exist in our way – social media, lying politicians, a decaying journalistic culture, and even human psychology—citizens in a democracy must find ways to distinguish what’s true from what’s false. Democracy is at stake.”

 NBC News reporter Andrew Rafferty said, “We live in a world where lying has become an art.  Politicians, celebrities, characters on the screen, all lie.  They do so convincingly and without remorse.  And technology has moved prevarication into a whole new realm.  The world where ‘seeing is believing’ has vanished.”

 The ninth commandment is essential to personal, relational and societal health. “You must not lie.” (Exodus 20:16 Living Bible).

 When we ignore God’s instructions on truthfulness and honesty, we sow the seeds of our own misery and destruction. Whether marriage, family, business or politics; in the home, the school, the work place and the world.  

 So, what should we do?  First, we must practice telling the truth to our children, to one another, in business and personal relationships.  Above all, we must be known to be honest. We must not lie.

 Second, we must practice discernment. We cannot believe everything we hear and see at face value, especially social media that has little or no accountability. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world,” (1 John 4:1).   

 Third, we must place our trust in the One who alone is truthful, honest and above reproach.  We must trust God, confident that He knows our hearts, our secret thoughts and every word we speak.  “Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.” (Romans 3:4).  “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He watches over the way of His godly ones.  Then you will discern righteousness, justice, and integrity, and every good path.  For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be delightful to your soul; discretion will watch over you,” (Proverbs 2:6-11).

Spiritual Awakening

 In the early 1740s a young printer in Philadelphia reached an agreement with an itinerant preacher from England to print his sermons and journals. With Benjamin Franklin’s assistance in the printed word, George Whitefield’s preaching sparked a spiritual flame that ignited Colonial America.  In his autobiography, Franklin noted he could not walk down the streets of Philadelphia in the evening without hearing families singing Christian hymns. Whitefield joined John and Charles Wesley as leaders of the Great Awakening.

 At noon on September 23, 1857, a businessman named Jeremiah Lamphier waited for others to join him for prayer in a room on Fulton Street in New York.  Six people showed up. The next week, 20 came.  Then 40.  They started meeting daily. The crowd swelled to more than 3,000 following the financial panic of October 14.   In less than 6 months, 10,000 businessmen were attending daily prayer meetings in New York. More than 10,000 came to faith in Philadelphia, 5,000 in Boston. At its peak, 50,000 people a week were professing faith in Christ.  In Bethel, Conn. businesses closed for prayer.  Led by laity and crossing denominational lines, the movement swept more than one million people to faith in Christ leading up to the Civil War.

 During the Civil War a little-known shoe salesman from Chicago ministered among the Union troops.  Afterward, he gave up selling shoes to win souls.  In the last half of the 19^th century, Dwight L. Moody preached to over 100 million people in the United States and the U.K.   On one occasion more than 130,000 people assembled to hear him preach.

 A tent was erected in Los Angeles in 1947 following WWII and an unknown evangelist named Billy Graham was invited to preach. The three-week revival stretched into 8 and launched Graham’s career.  For the next 50 years Billy Graham preached to over 210 million people in more than 185 countries.  He became close friends with Martin Luther King, Jr in the 1950s and supported the Civil Rights movement.  Graham became a spiritual advisor and confidant to every President from Truman to Barak Obama.

 In the 20^th century the Christian faith exploded in the Southern Hemisphere.  The number of Christians in Africa grew from 9 million in 1900 to 350 million in 2000. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, “global Christianity is experiencing remarkable growth, defying expectations and surpassing population rates.”  According to studies at Boston University School of Theology “over the last 40 years, Christianity has grown faster in China than any other place in the world. It’s gone from approximately 1 million Christians to around 100 million.”

 But what about the 21^st century in the United States? In an era dominated by violence, prejudice, corruption, rising rates of suicide and addiction, this generation has been adrift without a moral compass. But there is hope. USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the Barna Group all indicate there is a growing interest in Jesus among the young, specifically among Gen Z men.  The American Bible Society “found an increase in Bible use and engagement.”  The New York Times reports that “Bible sales have spiked, driven largely by first time buyers.”

 When Jesus came, John preached to huge crowds calling for repentance.  Anna prayed (Luke 2:36-38), as did Simeon (Luke 2:25-35).  Each of us can encourage moral and spiritual renewal.  With every honest decision, with every generous action, every kindness, every act of forgiveness, with every prayer, with faith in Jesus we can see our world transformed.  

What Made America Great

 The America I grew up in was seen as the shining light on a hill.  We took pride in the inscription on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 Instead of decimating our enemies after World War II, we helped them rebuild.  Germany and Japan embraced freedom and prosperity and became two of our strongest allies.  

 We fought and died in the jungles of Vietnam, not for ourselves, but for others.  In its aftermath we welcomed Vietnamese and Hmong refugees who integrated into our cities.  Christian churches sprang up among various groups: Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian, Thai, Korean, Liberian, Nigerian and many others.  Spanish speaking churches continued to thrive.  The Christian faith swept across South Korea until it became the second-most missionary sending nation in the world.

 When I visited Brazil I was welcomed as a celebrity because I was an American.  Children ran through the streets and people crowded in the windows to see someone from the United States. When I served briefly as pastor of an English-speaking church in Nuremburg Germany, older Germans often expressed their gratitude for GIs who helped them rebuild their nation.  We thought of ourselves as a generous and welcoming nation, blessed by God to bless the nations of the world.

 But all of that seems to be changing.  We are well down the road of putting “America first.”  The question is no longer, what is best for mankind, for the world and for posterity, but what is best for us.  We have transitioned into a “me first” mentality.

 Instead of asking, how can we help our neighbor nations fight the gang violence and corruption that causes families to flee to our borders, we ask only, “how can we keep these people out?” In our efforts to “make America great again” we seem to be losing the values that made America great in the first place.

 Our movies, our media and our politics often portray us as a covetous people.  We seem to have adopted Gordon Gekko’s maxim that “greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”  We have turned a deaf ear to the tenth commandment: “You shall not covet.” (Exodus 20:17).

 The Apostle Paul confessed that this commandment was his undoing. “I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.’” Romans 7:7-8).

 When we start down this self-centered path we sow the seeds of future calamity in our communities, our nation and the world. “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet, but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.” (James 4:1-2).

 Paul’s conclusion is applicable for all of us: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” You shall not steal, “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Romans 13:9).

Guadalupe River Flood - When Disaster Strikes

 There are no words to express our grief over the loss of life in the Guadalupe River disaster in Texas. More than 100 people including at least 27 girls and counselors at Camp Mystic lost their lives in the flashflood. Many have commented on the faith and courage of the young women. Our own granddaughters, ages 14 and 12, are at camp this week in Colorado.  We can only imagine the profound pain for the mothers and fathers, family and friends whose daughters were swept away in the sudden surge.  Our hearts break for them. We constantly pray for them.

We have learned that our planet is subject to natural disasters that devastate human life: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires. We have witnessed the destruction that can be leveled on human civilization when such things occur.

I stood on the shore at Banda Aceh, Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami and witnessed the devastation that laid waste that capital city. It claimed the lives of a quarter million people. My daughter and son-in-law volunteered in the recovery efforts after Haiti was decimated with similar loss of life. A single year saw twenty-two quakes measuring 7 or greater on the Richter scale. In one year earthquakes struck Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Japan, Mexico, the Solomon Islands, Ecuador and New Zealand.

Natural disasters will occur.  Where and when they will strike and with what force, we never know, though meteorologists and geologists continue to search for clues.

Whenever disasters like this strike we are prone to ask questions that usually revolve around “Why?” Even though there are no answers to that question that can remove the pain or recover our loss.

 Jesus addressed this question on more than one occasion and gave us some insight into the answers. When he addressed a crowd regarding a recent building collapse he posed a rhetorical question: “Do you think that those who died when the tower at Siloam fell were more sinful than others?” And answered his own question clearly, “I tell you, no.” (Luke 13:4). 

When his disciples discovered a man blind from his birth they asked a similar question. “Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his sins or the sins of his parents that he was born blind?” Jesus answered them, “It was neither that this man sinned nor his parents. He was born blind that the works of God might be made manifest in him.” He then proceeded to heal the man so that he could see. (John 9).

Not only was Jesus clear that disasters would occur, He was also clear about how we should respond. “We must manifest the works of God.” We must pray for those who suffer loss and share their grief.  And we must give. My favorite organization for responding to disasters over the years has been Texans On Mission.  They have a long history of working effectively with local and global organizations to bring meaningful help where disasters strike. They are especially adept at providing clean water and clean up volunteers when needed. I know their leadership personally and have great confidence in them. Donations can be given for disaster relief at www.texansonmission.org.  There are many others

Dealing with Guilt

The Minnesota humorist, Garrison Keillor, once observed that people do bad, horrible, dirty, rotten and despicable things, then, instead of repenting, they just go into treatment.  “Whatever happened to guilt?” he lamented. “Guilt, is the gift that keeps on giving.”

 Keillor’s tongue in cheek appraisal of guilt belies the truth.  While there may be a few sociopaths who feel no remorse for their actions and show no capacity for guilt, most of us know the feelings of guilt only too well.

 Religious leaders sometimes revert to guilt as the trump card to keep church members and parishioners in line.  Parents use it with children.  Siblings, co-workers and even friends occasionally rely on it to get their way. When husbands and wives are unable to settle a heated argument, one or the other often reverts to guilt’s lethal weapon by recalling past offenses that were supposedly forgiven and forgotten.

 In its best moments, guilt can protect and guide us, much like the pain that teaches us to avoid a hot stove or sharp objects. When we respond to guilt with confession and repentance, we can move forward to live a better life on a higher plane.

 But guilt can be destructive and debilitating. Sometimes we feel guilt over clearly remembered wrongs we have done. At other times we may feel guilty and not know why.  We wake up with a feeling of unworthiness and shame with no specific deed to identify as the source. Our feelings of guilt are irrational, leaving us at a loss to identify the source or the solution.  Guilt can lock us in its prison and shackle us so that we feel helpless.  It robs us of energy and steals our joy.  Guilt can leave us smoldering in anger or suffocating in depression. 

 The good news is that Jesus came to set us free from guilt. When confronted with the woman caught in the act of adultery, he dismissed those who condemned her and said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way and sin no more.” (John 8:1-11).

 We can live our lives free of guilt and self-recrimination. Paul wrote, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:1-2).  John wrote,  “We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” (1 John 3:19-20).

 An interesting thing happens when God removes our guilt, and we know it. Not only can we live with greater joy and freedom, we no longer feel compelled to heap guilt upon others.