Author: gabrieltew

The literal meaning of preposterous we see plainly in the Bible’s description of God, His Kingdom and His ways. The old adage getting the cart before the horse can serve as an idiomatic definition of preposterous. Pre means before, and post means after; getting what should come first and what should come last out of place, each in the other’s position, is what it means for something, or someone, to be preposterous. As carts can’t pull horses, so nothing else preposterous can function. Or can it?  When God does something, regardless of how it seems to us humans, it’s good and wise. 

Yet there are some examples of what seem, by our limited understanding, to be preposterous.

The Sign Comes After the Journey. Moses asked for a sign from God; he wanted something to validate God’s outlandish instruction to lead the Israelites out of Pharoah-dominated Egyptian slavery. 

The Lord accommodated. But the sign would come after Moses had obeyed, confronted Pharoah multiple times, pronounced ten miraculous plagues and convinced the Israelites to follow him into the wilderness through some impossible challenges and to the God-ordained destination. Moses would get his sign at the end of the endeavor, not the beginning. 

That’s preposterous. But a wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, God the Son would say 1,600 years later to the law enforcement officers (Pharisees) of the very Law God had given through Moses. And the sign He would give them would come three days after they crucified Him – His resurrection. 

In God’s system, validation can come after our obedience, and we need to adapt to His way of thinking, rather than requiring Him to adapt to ours. 

The First Shall Be Last and the Last shall Be First. This is pretty straightforward. If we want to achieve the highest position in God’s Kingdom, we should position others ahead of ourselves as much as possible. Servants are leaders, the humble are at the top and the least shall be the greatest. Those conventionally deemed worthless are the most valued and the most lost are worth leaving all others in order to save. It’s preposterous.

God Chooses the Foolish Things to Confuse the Wise. It seems we’re all lifelong sophomores. Sophomore means, literally, wise fool (sopho: wise; more: fool). A second year student has learned just enough to feel knowledgeable but still has more to learn than they realize. More study and maturity reveals more accurately where they stand in their knowledge. 

Mark Twain said he returned home from college and couldn’t hardly believe how much his parents had learned. A cartoon I saw put it this way:

Grandpa: A smart man said he knew much because he knew nothing.

Grandson: How did he know he knew nothing?

Grandpa: His wife told him.

God instructs us to not think more highly of ourselves than we should, to think of others as higher than ourselves, and to recognize that what humans consider foolish God may count as wise, and vice versa. It may be preposterous to us, but in God’s economy, it’s reality.
God Trusts Humans. This is the most preposterous to me. God, who is completely trustworthy does not get my trust, yet, though I am utterly untrustworthy, God trusts me. This should absolutely be the other way around. I have trouble trusting the one perfect in all His ways because I lack certainty; God knows for sure that I’ll mismanage the resources but gives them to me anyway. If you wonder what in the world I’m talking about, I’m basing this on 1 Corinthians 13:7. God, in His perfect love toward us, always trusts. This is preposterous, but such are the love and blessings of God toward us. 

As I do some years, I’m reading through the Bible in 2024. I’ve just this morning completed the book of Genesis, which ends with the story of Joseph, his father and brothers and their families having joined him in Egypt. By the end of the book, his father, Jacob, has actually passed away. If you’ve never read it or need a refresher, it would help to read Genesis 37 – 50 before reading this blog.

In this recent reading of Joseph’s life and times, a few lessons bubbled to the surface. Here are three of them:

1. Whatever evil comes against you, God will use it for good. Joseph’s brothers treated him wickedly. They ridiculed him, hated him, planned on killing him and ultimately sold him into slavery. But facing his brothers twenty-two years after their evils befell him, he’d seen those evil intentions evolve into good results. And Joseph’s perspective was now so clear, his heart toward them so pure, that he said to them, “It was not you who sent me here, but God.” 

Joseph recognized what we would centuries later learn from the quill of Paul the apostle. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called to His purposes. (Romans 8:28) Joseph went a step farther than recognizing that God had worked for good what others had caused; he said that God was actually the one who sent him into the troubles he would experience in Egypt. However, he didn’t let his brothers completely off the hook. “What you intended for evil, God meant for good,” he told them.

Oh man, if we could only remember in the midst of trouble that God will work it all out for our good! 

2. It’s ok to bless anyone, even if we think them ungodly. Pharaoh was the ungodly king of an idolatrous people. He considered God’s chosen people, the Hebrews, to be contemptuous. Yet Joseph used his God-given ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, and went the giant step beyond of offering the solution – and then executing that solution – to Pharoah’s and Egypt’s problem. In so doing, Joseph increased the nation’s wealth immensely. Of course, more than four hundred years in the future God would have all that wealth carried away in the hands of Joseph’s descendants, the Moses-led Israelites. But Joseph had no idea that that would happen; he was just being faithful with the abilities God had given him.

A millennium-and-a-half later, the ink of Paul would also affirm this Josephine principle. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (Romans 12:14) Talk about blessing! Joseph was, himself, responsible for increasing Egypt’s Net National Product (NNP) by billions, maybe trillions, of dollars in today’s US money. Again, that wealth would serve, over four hundred years later, to aid the transition of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage to settling the Promised Land.

Some of us believers work for ungodly employers; our purpose there is to be a blessing to them. What they do with their resources is between them and God.

Oh, that we could be obedient to God in blessing those He places in our lives!

3. Trust that God sees your kindness, regardless of to whom you show it. Joseph was shrewd and skilled enough that he could’ve given less than his best to Pharaoh and no one would have ever known. But, as was evidenced in his resistance of Potiphar’s wife years earlier, Joseph remained keenly aware that it was God’s whose eyes he knew were watching. It was God he was serving, more than any person or people.

The wisdom Joseph used in taxing Egyptian citizens 20% during the seven fruitful years shows bold excellence.  A 14.3% tax would’ve carried the nation through the ensuing seven years of drought with no loss of wealth. Joseph clearly intended to grow Egypt’s NNP by some 40%. And having that additional capital (in agrarian currency, like grain and livestock) would allow Joseph more opportunity to invest and increase the nation’s NNP, which he did quite masterfully.

Again, Joseph could’ve compromised, since it was pagan Egypt for whom he worked. But in his mind, he was actually serving God, trusting that God would see and somehow use these resources for His own purposes. 

Oh, that we could be so aware of the watchfulness of God and His ability to use all things for His glory.

“The scouts have returned, Majesty, with their report.” General Cassius knelt before the king of Cardonia, who sat on his throne.

“You may rise.” The king gestured with his hand. “And their report is?”

“Twenty thousand troops have formed in battle array atop Mount Zidar across the plain, Sire.” 

“Twenty thousand! I had no idea King Kobar had such strength. Muster our entire army for battle.”

“Sire, the total of our troops now number only ten thousand. Shall we lure the enemy close to our fortress where the odds may be more favorable?”

“Do our troops have the skill for victory in such a situation?”

“Not really, Your Majesty,” Cassius hated to admit. “Most lack experience while many of the veteran warriors are injured or fatigued from our recent campaign.”

“Then let us send a delegation to negotiate peace.”

“Honorable King, the only pathway to peace with Kobar is surrender.” Cassius felt a knot forming in his stomach as the words left his mouth.

“True, but better to surrender than loss of life and city.” The same knot welled up in the king’s throat. “Prepare the delegation to negotiate for peace, first by threat, second by treaty, and finally by surrender.”

“The good news is that Kobar is a good and fair king, Majesty. Perhaps he will be kind to you.”

“Perhaps,” the king replied, “What choice do I have, anyway.”

“Greetings, King Kobar. We come with hopes of peace; King Senah’s general, Cassius is gathering the army as we speak.”

“The only terms for your peace are full surrender.” King Kobar showed no lack of confidence.

“May we become allies by signing a treaty, my lord?”

“Why would I ally with weakness? Bring your king to me.” 

Stricken with fear, King Senah’s delegate knew he had no choice remaining. “May I comfort him with the news that you will spare his life?”

“His life will be better as my subject than it could ever be otherwise.” King Kobar had no hatred for Senah. “The more fully he surrenders, the better his plight shall be.”

The delegation returned to the palace with the message from King Kobar. King Senah rode out and ascended Mount Zidar and surrendered to King Kobar. 

King Kobar proved better than his word and reputation. The Cardonians were treated with provision and protection for generations; throughout King Jobar’s royal lineage, rulers were all kind to their subjects. 

So it is with you and me. We can either resist God or surrender to Him, so is there really a choice?

Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:31-33)

It takes a lot of wisdom and understanding to rear children so that they know grace firsthand by the time they’re adults. I don’t think I was successful at it in my parenting years because I didn’t understand how, or even that, it should be done. (Sorry, kids) 

If we want to know how to parent, where better to look than to our Heavenly Father? Think of His parenting life as spanning over human history. Ultimately, He introduced the grace phase, through His Son, Jesus. But He didn’t start with that approach; however, He knew that would be the final phase before we are glorified for eternity. 

In the first phase, God allowed mankind to develop without the Law; it wasn’t time for it yet. This is like the phase between birth and child-understanding, up through about age two or three; children can’t yet understand rules very well, so we teach them by reinforcing good behavior and correcting poor behavior. This is the phase when we try to convey two principles that may seem to the child to conflict with each other: our authority over them and our love for them. Also, like God did in this phase, we rely to a degree on the consciences God put in them when He created them. Whatever disciplinary or corrective action we take in this phase, the child needs to know we love them and are trying to help them become a good person.

Eventually, through Moses, God established the Law for His children. He was meticulous in prescribing the rules and the appropriate responses when the rules were broken. This is like when our kids get old enough to understand instructions and we can expect obedience from them. Their understanding is more important here than in the previous phase, when authority had been what we needed to establish. If you haven’t established your authority early in this phase, this phase will be very difficult because you have to play catchup, establishing authority and understanding for decision-making at the same time; but God makes all things possible. You’ll just need a lot of patience.

Then came the day God had prophesied and longed for – when He would send His Son to launch the grace phase. The Law had been in effect for about 1,500 years before someone (Jesus) fulfilled it (obeyed it completely). As part of the transition into grace parenting, Jesus demonstrated obedience to both the Law and the will of the Father.  That was a nice piece of parenting, Jesus setting perfect examples of obedience, sacrifice, justice and mercy; by the way, if you’re confused by the Son parenting us, remember that Isaiah called Him the Everlasting Father, and Jesus said He and the Father are one, and that if we’ve seen Him, we’ve seen the Father.

We need to bring our kids into an understanding of grace, which requires that the law be phased out. A ceremony marking this change of phase can be very effective. Once the phase has begun, if parents are still operating according to the law phase, the child will be confused, possibly resentful of parents’ not keeping their word, and probably doubtful that grace can really work, perverting the reality of the grace God offers us. Parents who hold to the law phase too long are like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, functioning as little more than law enforcement officers requiring more of others than they are able to do, themselves. 

It’ll be a very different, counterculture parent that really pulls off applying grace to their kids. Kids in their final days before and into college and/or career will, in the grace phase, experience the natural consequences of their actions, and, thereby, learn their lessons, but there won’t be additional consequences parents could impose for punishment. Rather, parents will function more like the Spirit that dwells within us, counseling them as they navigate life.

Kids moving into adulthood having been trained up as both recipients and conduits for others to receive God’s grace will be a shining light in their culture. What an awesome advantage, going into the adult world with God’s grace deeply ingrained in them! And that’s exactly what parenting with grace will yield.

Here are 4 ways to produce the motivation you need to accomplish your goals. They all begin with the letter C.

#1. Copy

There are people who live or have lived their lives in such a way that we can use them as models for our own lives. I, personally, don’t have one single person after whom I try to model my life, except, of course, Jesus Christ. But I see certain people as models for certain parts of life. For leadership, I want to emulate Abe Lincoln. For business, my father-in-law, George. For commitment to see something through to completion, my wife, Sharlene. For toughness, my brother, Jonathan. For non-fiction writing, Phillip Yancey. For fiction writing, Francine Rivers. For innovation, Steve Jobs. I use my kids, and even my grandkids as models for some things.

These models provide an image to shoot for in some way, and their images are so attractive that the idea of doing what they’ve done, in some sense, excites me. It motivates me.

I’m sure you have your system for using models for motivation as well.

#2. Chip

By chip I mean as, on your shoulder, something that rouses a bit of anger and determination, which serves as great motivation for accomplishment. 

The best model I know of for this kind of motivation is Michael Jordan. MJ was famous for using some slight made by an opposing player or coach as motivation to destroy them on the court at the next opportunity, whether that opportunity was the next day after the slight or a year later. Jordan could file these slights away and pull them up when the time came, place them on his shoulder as chips and display a wrathful vengeance that his opponents would rue. 

Shaqille O’Neal is another player who motivated himself with opposing players’ slights. He even once made up in his own mind a scenario that David Robinson had refused to give him an autograph when he was younger. Even though the incident never happened, Shaq so convinced himself that it did that he was able for an important game against Robinson’s Spurs to muster up a vengeance enough to play possessed by an intense anger with Robinson. Although I don’t condone taking revenge against other people, I am impressed with Shaq’s use of the chip for motivation.  

What’s important for us is that we use this type of motivation for accomplishment without the element of revenge. I’ve had people I respect laugh at me and even falsely accuse me. I try to use these chips for accomplishment, not against anyone. Vengeance is okay, but the Lord says He’s the one who has the right and ability to wield it. 

Personally, I use chips on my shoulder to make myself reach writing and ministry goals; this is the best use I can find for them  and they help people, rather than hurt anyone.

I encourage you to place a chip on your shoulder, but only for Godly accomplishment, not against anyone.

#3. Confidence

Things happen in our lives that serve as great confidence builders, and it’s next to impossible to accomplish anything without confidence.

In my college freshman English composition class, we were assigned to write a poem in the style of the Romanticism era. I wrote a poem I titled Prelude to Summer Dusk. My professor, Dr. Hayes, called me to his office where he said he suspected I had plagiarized the poem because it seemed like something Emerson or Thoreau would have written. I was both flattered and frightened. Dr. Hayes required me to explain the meaning of the imagery of the poem. Otherwise he’d assume I’d stolen it.

I was able to articulate the meaning of the poem, so Dr. Hayes accepted it and gave me an A for it. 

Being a writer wasn’t on my radar at that point in my life, but decades later, when I needed the confidence to believe I could be a good writer, I found it in remembering that experience with Dr. Hayes.

There are a handful of other experiences I remember to gain confidence for achievement. I’m sure yours are there for you, too, so let’s gather them to reach our goals in 2024. 

#4. Calling

Knowing our targeted goals are missions for God’s kingdom is motivating in itself. 

John 4 tells the story of Jesus speaking to a Samaritan woman at a well. After their conversation His disciples encouraged Him to eat. “I have food of which you do not know,” Jesus told them. 

What food was it that He had? He answered that question with the statement, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.”

I’ve always been intrigued by what Jesus said there. I’ve asked God to allow me to experience that, that I would be so motivated and energized by doing the work God has for me that by doing it I can go without food. 

God hasn’t seen fit to answer that prayer completely yet, but I have seen an energy come from working at the things He puts in my heart to do. Coincidently, my need for sleep has decreased over the past couple of years; I’m ok with about five hours per night, and focusing on the tasks He’s called me to seems to be where I get my energy. Unfortunately, my desire for food hasn’t decreased.

Discovering what it is God has called us to do does provide a real boost for us, whereas, expending energy on ungodly pursuits can be extremely exhausting. 

I invite you this year to join me in pursuing God’s callings and asking Him for the energy to perform them effectively.

Sometimes the truth surprises us. There are three messages God has spoken to my heart in the past that I want to share with you as we enter into a new year. 

#1. God is pleased with you. 

In the nineties, I stood one Sunday evening before Dr. George Brackman, who had just peached a great message and invited the congregation up to see if God would speak through him a personal word to edify them. Dr. Brackman promised that he would speak only the message he felt God was giving for the respective person.

I was the first person in line. Dr. Brackman placed his hands on my shoulders and said, “I am pleased with you.”

I immediately rejected that word. It couldn’t be true. What Dr. Brackman didn’t know was the battles with temptation I often lost. God and I were all too aware of them and there was no way He could find me pleasing. I left church that night believing Dr. Brackman had simply missed it.

A few days later I was reading the Book of Matthew. Chapter 3 records Jesus’ baptism by John. As Jesus came up out of the water the sky opened and the Father spoke from Heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Suddenly, I realized that I was in Christ; God said of Christ Jesus in whom I am well pleased. Therefore, it was true. God is well pleased with me, solely because I am in Christ. 

One of the nuggets of knowledge I gained in 2023 came from my friend Justin Huber. Justin pointed out that, when the people went, under the Law of Moses, to atone for their sins, the priest’s concern wasn’t for the sins of the people as much as it was for the quality of their sacrifice. They didn’t review their sins, but, rather, inspected the lamb, making sure the sacrifice was pleasing. If the sacrifice was acceptable, so, too, would be the people.

Even though God is omniscient, He is able to focus on specifics. Focusing requires a de-emphasis of the peripheral. Because of our faith in Jesus, God focuses on Jesus, voluntarily moving our sin to the de-emphasized peripheral. Because of His focus on His beloved Son, He is well pleased with us.

Please remember through 2024 that God is pleased with you.

#2. You are a blessing, not a burden. 

Pastor Jimmy Evans’ story is that he felt he was a burden throughout his life. His life’s circumstances, including the people in his life, caused him to feel that he wasn’t worth what he was paid or the benefits he received from anyone in his life.

One day, while Jimmy was in prayer, the Lord spoke to him, saying You’re a blessing, not a burden. God was letting him know that he wasn’t a burden to people, as they had made him feel; rather, he was actually a blessing to them. But when I heard Pastor Evans tell his story, what I sensed God was saying to me was that I am a blessing to God, not a burden to Him. This was surprising to me. I’d never thought God would consider me a blessing. It was my sin that drove Jesus to the cross. My burden is light, Jesus said, but that meant the burden He would place upon us, not the one He carried for us, right? 

Then I realized that it wasn’t my sin that drove Jesus to the cross; it was His love for me. It seems counterintuitive to me, but, somehow, God considers me a blessing, not a burden. The mystery’s answer, I believe, is found in His love. He loves us so much that He considers us a blessing.

Please remember through 2024 that you are a blessing, not a burden.

#3. You can do anything you want to do. 

If you’re wondering if 2024 can be a year of accomplishment, it can. If you doubt you can achieve your goals for this year, you can. Do you wonder if you’re smart enough? You are. Strong enough? You are. Enough? You are. If you can? You can.

As a music major in college, my primary instrument being voice, my junior recital was a series of songs in German by Robert Schumann called Liederkreis. It was a very challenging undertaking, and, being the undisciplined student and musician I was in those days, I procrastinated, positioning myself to need a near miracle to be ready a week before the recital. 

I made up my mind, buckled down and worked day and night those final few days. By the time of the recital, I was prepared.

If I do say so myself, I nailed the recital. I didn’t miss the minutest detail of notes, words, inflections, dynamics, anything. Every single point of correction my teacher had made in the weeks prior, I performed correctly in the recital. To my delight, I received a standing encore ovation.

But my voice teacher, Dr. Bostic, wasn’t impressed by ovations. He made his own judgments about his students’ performances. Very demanding and not at all easily impressed, Dr. Bostic was the most highly respected voice teacher at our college. Indeed, he was the chairperson of the music department.

Backstage, I saw Dr. Bostic in the line of people to congratulate me. When he reached me he shook my hand and said something to me. Then he pulled my hand so I would be sure to hear him and he said it again. You can do anything you want to do. His eyes pierced me. 

This may have been the first compliment he’d ever given me; but it was more than a compliment. It was a deposit of encouragement, the fruits of which I have fed on for decades now. 

If you think back across your life, I’m pretty sure you’ll remember a time when you accomplished something you feel very good about. We can use those memories for confidence and motivation.

Every time I face a difficult challenge, I picture Bostic’s face and hear those words. 

You may recall a time when someone spoke very encouraging words to you. Death and life, Proverbs says, are in the power of the tongue. Let those life seeds grow into a harvest you’ll reap this year.

Please remember through 2024 that you can do anything you want to do.

Happy New Year and may 2024 be a year of accomplishment for you!

The Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, describes the love that God has for us. Verse 7 includes the statement It always trusts.

Trust is something that should be demonstrated. God demonstrates every day in the lives of people that He trusts us. 

It’s funny. God is more trustworthy than we are, yet He trusts us more than we trust Him. 

He doesn’t require that we be trustworthy before He’ll put resources into our lives. Knowing we won’t manage our money well, He still provides it. Foreseeing we won’t be the flawless spouse or parent, He brings a wonderful spouse and beautiful children to us. 

Mary the Nazarene was trusted by God to carry and birth the Son of God. God has entrusted us Jesus followers to be carriers of the Holy Spirit. The best I can tell from Scripture, Mary was trustworthy in carrying God the Son; I’ve been less trustworthy in carrying God the Spirit. Yet, God is allowing me to carry Him to term (the length of my life).

Jesus the fetus was in Mary’s womb so that He could grow and develop, a process much dependent upon Mary. The Holy Spirit is in us to help us grow and develop. Jesus pulled nutrients from Mary’s body; the Spirit pours wisdom into the hearts of us who are carrying Him.  We have a great advantage over Mary. God has trusted both her and us; we (or I, at least) prove less trustworthy than did she, her with the great responsibility to the indwelling divine Savior, and us with great help from the indwelling divine Helper.  

Love always trusts. This is one of the many wonderful gifts God has given us: His trust. May He help us carry Him faithfully. Merry Christmas!

When I was nineteen, my dad and I had one of our epic arguments on December 22nd. I was a rebellious partier at the time; I left home in a huff and spent the next three days drinking and smoking weed.  I slept three nights in frigid temperatures and ended up being sick on Christmas day. The day after Christmas, with no other alternative, obviously sick and without any money, I drove three hours home, dreading the whole drive having to humble myself and seek refuge from the man with whom I was at odds. 

When I got home, I walked in the door to the most pleasant surprise. My mother was so glad to see me that she wrapped me up in a hug. My dad wasn’t a hugger or very expressive of his feelings, but his facial expression was relief that I’d returned home. 

Christmas was over. It was the 26^th. But my mom pointed me to the place where all my gifts still lay; the gifts had been there waiting for me since Christmas morning.

I had a fever, an achy body with chills and an uncontrollable cough, but suddenly I felt a joy that superseded my sickness.

What a wonderful surprise! What a welcome for a prodigal returned!

I’m still ashamed of my behavior that Christmas, but that was a microcosmic example of what Christmas is. 

Humankind had rebelled against God; we left Him to satisfy our own lustful desires. We found ourselves unable to thrive without Him, so He provided a solution for us. That solution was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. 

A newlywed couple from Nazareth, shepherds near the town of David, and wise men from the East were all exuberant at their learning of the Christ child. 

God still offers joyful surprises to those who will accept His invitation to believe in the One He sent to establish Christmas. 

Won’t you accept the invitation? Sick and disappointed with life though you may be, won’t you come Home for Christmas?

We know that, with all the distractions from the real purpose of Christmas, Jesus is the reason for the season. This Christmas Season I want to examine Jesus’ reason for coming to earth as the Son of God. I mean, Jesus is the reason for the season, but what was His reason for coming? I’ll spend this December’s blogs answering that question. 

Reason #1: Freedom. 

Jesus was born into a culture of barriers to many types of freedom. Those who accepted Him as Messiah often misunderstood the type of freedom He would bring, which barriers He would remove. 

The barrier many expected to be removed was oppression by an imposing empire, Rome in this case, but, had He arrived earlier, it could’ve been the Greeks, the Medes, the Persians, Babylon, Assyria or Egypt. Israel had been ruled for a total of more than half a millennium, if you add up all the eras of oppression. 

This was the freedom the Jews hoped for and expected. 

Then there were other freedoms they sought. John the Baptist wanted deliverance from His prison cell. One Jewish man asked for freedom from perceived unfair treatment by his brother in a civil squabble. But Jesus made it clear that these were not the freedoms He brought. 

Jesus pointed us to a different kind of freedom, one that many haven’t even known we needed. He said that the freedom He would provide would be the truest kind. Free indeed was the wording He used. The tethers He’d remove would be the strongest and most deceptive. We didn’t realize they were even there, yet they’d restricted our very ability to think and live. 

Jesus came to set us free from sin. 

But why did we need freedom from sin? What would we do with this freedom? What would be its purpose? To what would this freedom lead?

We find that answer, not in the words of Jesus, but in those of His servant Paul, who wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

In the movie The Patriot, an African American slave named Moses learns that he will gain his freedom after the U.S. wins the war. A small-minded bigot in his group of militia sarcastically and derogatorily asks, “What are you going to do with freedom?”

In the movie Harriet, Harriet Tubman tells her former master, “God don’t mean people to own people.”

These two movie lines affirm Galatians 5:1 concerning a different, albeit vital, kind of freedom. The truth of Paul, Moses (in The Patriot) and Harriet (also known as Moses) is this: freedom, itself, is the reason for being made free. Freedom isn’t merely a means to an end; it is the end.

Freedom is the reason Jesus came; it’s the reason Christmas exists. 

And we can say, concerning our spiritual, eternal freedom what MLK Jr. said about the hope for American civil freedom: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!

The ultimate, the final, the end: Freedom in Christ! Merry Christmas!

I’m not one to live in regret, but if I could have one redo, I know exactly what I’d do – or redo. 

I was eleven years old. The church our family attended, Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, had the tradition of the pastor standing at the front of the sanctuary at the end of the worship service during the last congregational hymn to receive anyone who would come forward for prayer. Some may go up to pray to receive Jesus as their Savior. Others may have a sick family member for whom to intercede. The pastor would pray with them for whatever need they had.

This particular Sunday morning, I went up to tell the pastor what I felt the Lord had said to me. 

I went up to the pastor and he bent down to whisper into my ear, “Gabe, do you know that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?” 

“Yessir, and I think God wants me to be a preacher.” I articulated what I’d perceived the Lord speaking to my heart. 

Then the pastor did what he sometimes did after speaking with someone at the altar. He stood up, turned, held up his hand for the singing to stop and addressed the congregation. “Gabe has professed this morning that he believes the Lord wants him to be a preacher.

The folks in the congregation had a very emotional response. Many cried and all seemed joyful. The singing resumed as everyone celebrated that God’s Spirit was active in His people, even this eleven-year-old kid. We got out of church a full half hour later than usual, and nobody minded, which was, itself, a miracle.

That was a top three highlight of my life, but the day wasn’t over.

That afternoon, after family lunch – which we called dinner – I did what I always did. I went to my friend Keith’s house where ten to twenty guys gathered to play basketball. Most of those guys were older than I, and I played the role of entertainer for the older guys. 

My talent was my artistic use of profanity. I imitated Richard Pryor, the foul-mouthed comedian of the day, and my friends in their late teens found it interesting – funny, even – that a kid my age could – and would – cuss with such skill and ease. 

Midway through the afternoon I realized what I was doing. My language was no different from what it had always been. My strong sense of the contrast between my afternoon behavior and what had happened that morning in church was embarrassing to me, especially since most of those guys playing basketball had also been in the worship service that morning. I felt like a terrible hypocrite, because I was. 

I realized I had a decision to make. Would I apologize to all those guys and embrace the call to preach or would I reject that call and resume my life of living, and speaking, whatever way I wanted? I’m embarrassed to say I chose the latter. 

I continued my life of choosing my own way over God’s way, and I don’t remember thinking of that Sunday experience again until ten years later when, at age twenty-one, I surrendered my life to Jesus and accepted His grace and His Lordship. After becoming a Christian, I soon remembered and embraced the call God had issued to me as an eleven-year-old. I still walk in that calling today, fifty years after that Sunday of calling-to-preach and cursing-for-fun.

So, what’s the one thing I would change in my past? My response to God’s call.

When the pastor asked me, “Gabe, do you know that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?” This would be my reply.

“Pastor Pope, I think God wants me to be a preacher, but I haven’t really even accepted Him as Lord and Savior. So this morning I want to ask Him to accept me and to help me accept Him and to help me walk with Him for the rest of my life and to help me to be the preacher he wants me to be.” 

That’s it. That’s the one change I would make. I believe that would change so many things in my life for the better.

Let me pose the question to you. Please don’t take on any regret, self-pity or bitterness towards another as you consider your response; in short, let your answer honor God. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be?