From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun May 1 00:17:40 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun May 1 00:18:16 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Did He Know Doubt? Message-ID: <1AB02F9E-BA11-11D9-BAAC-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> For the longest time, I struggled with how Jesus could identify with man so completely. I understood that He was born of a mortal woman. I understood that He grew as a child into a young man that came into the manifest plan of God. I understood how He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and how He grew so weak that He had to be attended by angels. But, for a time, I always had a question in my mind: He always knew the bottom line. He knew He was the Son of God. He knew He had supernatural powers. He knew He could call down legions of angels. He knew that no matter what happened, He could never really know the complete despair and depression of feeling completely alone and lost because He always knew who He was. If all of this was true, how could Jesus really understand doubt? I struggled with doubt. It kept rearing it's ugly head time after time in my life. I can even say I resented that God had not devised a safety net for me to fall into so that I could always have that connected feeling with Him. I wanted to know who I was, no matter what happened. I brought this up in a class many years back and a good teacher just looked at me, smiled, and said, "Oh, but, Allen, He did know the despair of being utterly alone" He quoted this verse: "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? -- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 How much more did He know despair after having that safety net for His whole life and then having it taken away in His most desperate hour, than someone who never knew such security. We may often think God turns away from us, but, in the case of Jesus, He did. That is when the debt was paid. Every sin of all the world, past, present, and future laid on Him in His weakest moment. All for you and me. Doubt, despair and depression are part of Satan's whirlpool, his vortex, his black hole. It is not of God. Think veridical. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 2 00:08:24 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon May 2 00:09:00 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Lessons at Age Six Message-ID: Once in a while, someone will inadvertently say something that will trigger a massive block of memories. It can be a pleasant little interlude into the past, conjuring up the smell of freshly baked pies, smiles from Grandma, or that favorite fishing trip with your dad. Pastor Steve gave the announcements this Sunday and, as always, he invites everyone to stand up, turn to your neighbors and answer a harmless question designed to start a conversation. Today's question was, "Where were you when you were six years old?". Steve, old buddy, I hope you are kidnapped and taken to southern California where several large, nefarious persons duct tape you into one of those small boats at Disneyland and you are made to travel around and around on the Small World ride for an entire spring break. Oh my, what you dredged up! I was six in 1954. My mother, stepfather, sister and I lived on a farm in southern Colorado known as "The Poor Farm". My family were sharecroppers to one "Old Man Baloo". The fact that his favorite meal was sweetbreads and eggs (cow brains to you city folks) and that he was old, old, old and the scariest human on the planet to a six year old wasn't the worst memory. There was the night my mother tossed some laundry on top of the cream separator. When I got up to go to the bathroom in that sleepy stupor, I was convinced that the shape it made in the moonlight was that of a flesh eating monster. I retreated to my bed to spend the rest of the night under the covers contemplating death from a burst bladder or from being eaten alive. That wasn't the worst memory. There was the day I snookered my cousin into chasing me on horseback around the house where I expertly ducked under the clothesline (having practiced the maneuver several times) and watched him get caught about neck high and was, according to my aunt, "Almost decapitated". The paddling I got for that wasn't my worst memory. No, my worst memory of my sixth year was getting caught in my first black-hearted lie. Old man Baloo had lent my stepfather a shiny, aluminum flashlight to use while checking on heifers during their first calving should they decide to begin in the middle of the night. This marvel of technology sat on the back porch and was a great temptation to a six year old. One day, I did the unthinkable and took this new toy outside to play under the house and in the old silo. On the way back to the house, I stopped to use the outhouse. (No indoor plumbing at the Poor Farm). Upon leaving the outhouse, I bumped the shiny flashlight and down it went into the hole. I was mortified. I had been told on numerous occasions what would happen to me if I did anything to break the flashlight. Now, it was in the one location on earth that under no circumstances was I willing to venture. So, when asked if I knew where the flashlight was, I did the only rational thing that came to mind. I lied through my teeth. After all, where was the evidence? How could I possibly get caught? Even then, God had a plan. On its way down the hole, the flashlight had managed to hook on the wooden seat and turn on. That evening, while standing at the kitchen window, my mother started to laugh. She called my stepfather and I out to the front porch, pointed out the fact that the outhouse was now glowing and asked, "Young man, do you have anything to say about this?" I had my first Nathan moment right there. "You are the man..." 2 Samuel 12:7 . My sin was revealed with nowhere to turn and nowhere to hide. I was punished and forgiven. Every lie is bad, but the first time you get caught stays with you forever. Every lie is a ticking time bomb ready to go off and ruin your life. "There are six things the Lord hates... haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood." Proverbs 6:16-17 Thanks a lot, Steve. Next time try asking about ten years old. 1958 was a much better year. YBIC, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 2 23:41:51 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon May 2 23:42:28 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Tough Love Message-ID: <6E9417CA-BB9E-11D9-A794-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Tough love is a manly concept that sounds good when it applies to someone else. I was on the receiving end of that many times growing up. But, the one experience that stands out in my memory was during my short term basic training in Navy ROTC. When we arrived at the Army base, the world changed. Those friendly officers we'd be talking to minutes before were suddenly yelling in our faces to get off the bus, stand in a line, and stand at attention. If you had the wrong answer to any question, you joined several classmates doing push-ups in the mud. During those first ten or fifteen minutes my mind raced from wondering what I had got myself into to hoping I could make it through the whole camp without permanent injury. The rest of the camp was intense, rough, and educational. We were called either "rocks" or "meatballs" and treated accordingly. At the same time, we were crammed full of information and training. Were these drill seargants sadists? Did they do this just to watch a bunch of 18 year old kids panic and squirm? No, this treatment and training were to make sure that we learned valuable lessons and information in a short period of time. We were taught to listen carefully so that nobody got hurt on the firing range, on the rappelling tower, or while learning how to survive oil fires on the water. We were treated toughly so that we would be safe, so we could survive. Sometimes God will take you through what seems to be an unnecessarily miserable experience. You won't be able to see the reasons why until much later. But, rest assured, it's because He loves you and wants you to survive. "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." Hebrews 12:7-8 Don't be angry at God when times get tough. Thank Him for loving you enough that He wants to be your father, that He wants you to learn and not just fade away from ignorance. Doing push-ups with you, Wyatt Webb From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 4 00:03:31 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed May 4 00:04:08 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Promises, Promises Message-ID: <9FED970A-BC6A-11D9-8751-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> To make a promise is a good thing. To make a promise lightly is a sad thing. When we give someone what I call "the quick kiss", it is no more than an attempt to look good to the world. When we become aware of a need in a life, when someone is really reaching out, then we need to reflect on our own relationship with Christ. I am haunted by something that happened to me in San Francisco. I was on my first sales trip to the Bay Area and had booked a night in a downtown hotel. When I got to my room, I realized that it was a refurbished historical hotel. The rooms were just about big enough to change your mind in, but not much else. I decided to take a walk. I was looking for someplace to eat and chanced past an indentation, a small cleft, in a building. There, crouched and cowering, was a young teenage girl. She looked at me, wide-eyed, pupils dilated, and with fear. I was stunned. I look back on it now and I can see her face like it was yesterday. There she was, a fellow human being, and I, the one of means, did nothing. I thought about doing something, but I didn't act. Later in life, one of my own was in rebellion, away from home, and out of contact. During that time, that girl's face was the last thing I thought of when I went to sleep at night. Remember when David and Jonathan parted and they made a promise? (1 Samuel 20) Jonathan, although he disagreed with his father Saul, honored David, even to death on the battlefield. David never forgot that promise. The promise that passed David's lips had meaning from the heart. "Then David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"" 2 Samuel 9:1 David takes into his household Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. He is crippled from an accident while escaping after the news of his father's death. This act is a picture of how Christ keeps his promise. He seeks us out. He rescues us from the cleft in between the buildings. We must replicate David, because doing so reflects what Christ did for us. Don't wait! Make a promise and keep it. May God bless you today. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 4 22:36:02 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed May 4 22:36:38 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] More Powerful Than a Locomotive... Message-ID: <915B204F-BD27-11D9-8AE1-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I'm happy to admit that I'm a bit of a geek. I love good sci-fi. I'm a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm also a sucker for a good super-hero comic. I get a kick out of learning how each hero gained his superpowers and what kinds of villains he has to defeat. The writers have fun putting the heroes in unlikely situations and having them make just as unlikely an escape. Any good super-hero has a weakness, so the reader can identify with him. They have to be amazingly powerful, but human enough that we can sympathize with them. The Old Testament includes the accounts of several real men and women who could be called super-heroes. My favorite is Samson. He had supernatural strength and performed amazing feats that are hard to comprehend. He also had a weakness. "...As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands..." Judges 14:5-6 "As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men." Judges 15:14-15 Wow! That's amazing stuff. The truth is that Samson wasn't a super-hero on his own. His amazing strength and abilities came from God and they were only bestowed on him while he was doing God's will. They were also linked to his promise to never cut his hair to honor God. When Samson was conned into telling his girlfriend what his one weakness was (it's always about a girl, isn't it?), she sold him out. His hair was cut and the Spirit of God left him. The lesson here is that the very same Spirit of God can imbue you with supernatural strength, wisdom, and insight when you are doing His will. Don't let yourself be drawn off track. Don't be distracted. Don't leave your weaknesses unguarded lest they be used to bring you down. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" Phillipians 4:13 You and I can be super-heroes for Christ. And you don't even have to wear the colorful tights! Up, up, and away, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu May 5 23:12:10 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu May 5 23:12:46 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Fools and Bears Message-ID: When something is as valid now as it was thousands of years ago, you can say that it has survived the test of time. I believe this is the case for Fools and Bears. It was during a hunting trip on the Snake River. It was near that time of the day when you are dog tired and still a couple of hours from camp. I had already had an encounter with a rattlesnake that looked as if he could have ingested my backpack when we stopped to fill our canteens. I realized my down vest was missing from where I had tied it to the back of my pack earlier that morning. The term for my feeling was "extremely bummed out". I was tired, hot, and one of our party was complaining with every step. It occurred to me that I remembered crawling through some brush only about 500 yards back and there was a good chance that was when I had lost the vest. This is the fool part. I decided to drop all my gear and leave it with the group at the stream while I hoofed it back to where I was sure I would find my vest. To prove that this was the fool part, my friends didn't stop me. I must say that without my eleven pound rifle, a four pound pistol, two hunting knives, a Wyoming saw, deer hoist, deer bags, ammunition, and a thirty five pound pack, I felt pretty spry. I covered 300 yards or so back up the mountain, across a low flat, and up and around a rim rock to where I had earlier come through on my hands and knees. Lo and behold, there was my vest. I was feeling pretty good about my decision to come back. So, with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, I headed back around the rim rock, across the flat and smack dab into, not one, but two black bears. This is the bear part. As I reached for my trusty Ruger .357 Magnum, I suddenly felt like Matt Dillon coming out to face the killer gunfighter with a water balloon. It hit me that my gun was back with the guys at the stream. I remember clearly thinking, "This isn't a Disney movie." These two walking rugs stopped and looked me over. There was no doubt that they were not afraid of me. I, on the other hand, was giving no such impression for my part. I did what any red-blooded American hunter would do...I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Mike...two bears...black...chasing me." In my panic, I wanted to be concise, but not leave anything pertinent out. I then sat right on my rump on the side of the hill and proceeded scooting upwards while kicking logs, rocks, cactus, and anything else I could dislodge down on the critters. Allen: The human backhoe. My thought at the time was that because these two were together that perhaps their mother wasn't too far off. I wanted as much space between them and me as I could create without taking my eyes off of them. More fool part there. Meanwhile, back at the watering hole, the story goes that my pals looked at each other and said, "What did he say?" I gather it was like the Keystone Kops as these guys decided to mount the rescue. They gathered up my rifle, pistol, and pack and beat foot to the scene. Why they decided they needed to pack ALL of my stuff and ALL of their stuff up the mountain is still a mystery. By the time they reached me, they were three walking heart attacks. At this point, I was sitting on the hillside picking cactus out of my legs and rear end with my heart beating like a man who just realized his second parachute didn't open. "What the %&$^@! happened?" they asked in unison. "Where's the bear?" "Bears!" I answered. I wanted them to know it hadn't been just one, but a whole committee. "They left," I informed them. After I told them the story, the jabs started. My new nickname was "bear bait". It was decided that these two were cubs that had been treed by their mother to wean them and they actually thought I was their mother. Once I had my guns again, this foolish speculation stopped. I honestly don't remember how big they were. I do think that they thought that, whatever I was, I was a fool. They were right. My folly put me in much more danger than the bears. I knew better, but I let my poor judgment override logic and so did my friends. We have to watch each other's back and, from time to time, remind each other to not go out into the world unarmed. "Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly." Proverbs 17:12 Sometimes we are just a source of amusement to the Lord. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 6 23:35:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri May 6 23:35:45 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Pass the Cake Message-ID: <27F9691E-BEC2-11D9-9E1D-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I am an engineer by training and by trade. A software engineer specifically, but an engineer nonetheless. That training has caused me to view many everyday things with an eye to the related engineering principles that some people miss. For example, do you know why manhole covers are round? The engineer in me figures there are several reasons: A round shape cannot be accidentally dropped back through the hole. A round shape makes them easier to move by rolling. A round shape means you don't have to align the cover when you put it back. I had a similar spark of recognition while doing a bible study about giving. It reminded me of a situation that we've all been in. Imagine yourself at a birthday party where everyone is sitting around a living room. The cake is cut and pieces are handed out to the two people sitting nearest the table. They are asked to pass the pieces along to the next person. This is an efficient system because everyone will get a piece without having to crowd the table or form a line. Now, there can be some subtle advantages to being near the table: You will get to see many pieces of cake go by and select the one you like the most. You are also close enough to the cake cutter to make a request for size and shape. Those at the end of the chain have a harder time making such requests due to their distance and have less of an opportunity to choose a piece they like because they see fewer pieces. This system will even work if one of the people by the table refuses to pass pieces along. The cake cutter will quickly discover this and simply start handing pieces to someone else. The cutter will no longer have any interest in what the dead-end person wants since they already have a piece and are no longer useful to the distribution process. God works much like this when it comes to Him blessing and you giving. "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 So God wants to bless His children. However, God also wants us to be givers. He says that if we give, He will give us more so that we can give even more and thereby bring glory to God. If you're a giver, you are obeying God and have his ear and He will continue to bless you. If you aren't, you're a dead-end and He has no need to give you more because you won't pass it along to others. "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 That's a heck of a promise. You see, God is an engineer, too! He wants to distribute His blessings and uses us to make that happen. If you accept the blessing, but don't give to someone else, He will just work around you. He will still love you, but He can't use you. Be a giver and you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. While you're at it, give me a corner piece with that flower made out of frosting. Pass it on, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 7 23:41:11 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat May 7 23:41:49 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Goofy Goes to Hell Message-ID: <2AA6E25A-BF8C-11D9-A1C7-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> This Push Up is dedicated to Tom Sweetman. He was a friend, pastor, and counselor. God took him home at a very early age. He was a prince that thought he was a pauper. His funeral was attended by hundreds as he touched many lives one relationship at a time. His title for this lesson was "Goofy Goes to Hell". You'll have to grab your Bible to follow the references. Proverbs 7 starting with verses 6-8 I was just finishing washing my hands at the kitchen sink and happened to glance out of the window at the street. I spotted several young men on the corner doing what they do best: just hanging out. There was one in particular whom I had run-ins with a few times before. He was at that time in life when his attention was focused just below his belt and his head was just a place to keep his hair. He broke away from the group and headed up the block to an apartment building where a certain young, married woman lives. verses 9-12 He is not long in the street and, sure enough, she comes prancing out to meet him. She is dressed to gain the attention of anyone who might pass, but she has her eye on only him. She is loud and brash and is known to stray from home. She spends time down on the street and is always sure to pass by the corner where the boys are just hanging out. verses 13-15 She makes up some story that neither of them believes as to why she is on the street and then kisses him. She tells him how she came out only to meet him. verses 16-20 She tells him how she has prepared her bedroom for them with sweet smells and candles. She tells him how they should spend the night together and "drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses." verses 19-21 "Where is your husband?" he asks. "Don't worry," she says, "He has gone on a trip and from the things he packed he won't be home for quite a while." She runs her hands through his hair and whispers in his ear and "with her flattering lips she seduces him." verses 22-23 He takes the bait and like "an ox to the slaughter... as a bird hastens to a snare" he follows her up the stairs and to her apartment. "He does not know that it will cost him his life." verses 24-27 "Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, Any pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of Death." The next time some dim bulb tells you that the Bible isn't relevant in today's world, remember these verses were written 700 years before Jesus was born. Satan uses at least two weak minds to get you to sin. The bait and yours. Remember that all he has to do is get you to die without being saved and then he has you forever. If you are already saved, he wants to make you powerless to help save others. This story talks about a young man, but I don't have to tell you that the bars and taverns are full of supposedly mature men and women doing the same thing. Don't listen to weak minds and don't be one. Keep your sonar lit up and ping often. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 9 00:33:27 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon May 9 00:34:02 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Balance Message-ID: Understanding God's methods can sometimes mean acceptance without what we might call a reasonable explanation. As children, we may have all pushed our parents too far with one too many inquiries of "why?" As parents, we may have responded to our children when we were pushed in the same way with the classic response, "Because I said so. That's why." My opinion, and it is just that, is that God has a grand sense of balance; an equilibrium that must be maintained to be true to His nature. This balance is brought back to level, as it were, by reaching back before we were born to a sin that requires an affliction, that leads to repentance, and that leads to humility before Him. We were not in the Garden when Adam failed to act and sin entered the world. Yet, it was that act that is the source of our inheritance. The original "sins of the father" as it were. Many current afflictions may have their roots in the distant past. Although we feel the pain of brining the balance back, we have no right to demand an explanation from God. It is right because it is the will of God. In my study of the life of David, I was perplexed by an apparent dichotomy in David's behavior. Follow me, here. David sought out descendants of Saul to show them kindness (like Mephibosheth who is the son of Jonathan who is the son of Saul). David game him all of his grandfather's land and a place of honor at his table. Later on, Mephibosheth sides with a rebellion against David and David forgives him. In the end, however, David gives him over to the Gibeonites to be hanged. ( 2 Samuel 21:8-9 ) The reason seems to be to restore the balance for an attempted genocide of these people by Saul. The sins of Saul's bloody house could not be paid for with money. It took blood. Now, here is the really hard part, but I think it is relevant to today's world. Because of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament times, these executions were not out of revenge, but for the public good; to bring the balance back. These hangings were done at the beginning of the harvest to bring back the balance and break the chain of harvest mercies that God withheld from the past. To be sure, the old system is gone and Jesus represents the new system of forgiven sin by His blood. But, it seems that the balance must still be maintained. That is why executions for public good must not be thought to be cruel. God is moved when we strive not to avoid the tough decisions to maintain the balance. In the end, the balance will be maintained, if not on the current generation, then on the next or the next or the next. Men, how you conduct yourselves now can have ramifications on your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren. Food for though. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 10 00:10:43 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue May 10 00:11:18 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] What are You Worth? Message-ID: <9F675DEC-C122-11D9-A055-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Did you ever stop to think about how the value of a thing can be drastically altered depending on who has touched it? How many Louisville Sluggers come off the production line every year? You can buy one in any sporting goods store. However, find one that Hank Aaron hit a home run with or one that Reggie Jackson used in a World Series and it's a treasure. It might have come out of the very same tree as the rest of the run, but its value is quite different. The mind reels at the amount of money spent on the perception that an individual touch can change an inanimate object's value. Individual attention to a person can do a very similar thing. How many sons come off of the production line every day? How many fathers try to make them different from the rest of the run? "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us... For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them." Hebrews 12:9-10 Being shaped as a cut above the regular run means being under more pressure than the regular run. "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful" Hebrews 12:11 Then, however, the best of the run begins to look different and we see that two sets of fathers' hands are involved as more shaping takes place. "But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." Hebrews 12:8 So your value is about the hands that have touched you. It's bigger than a home run. It's bigger than the World Series. "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives" Hebrews 12:6 You see the difference in the gym every day. Guys keep adding more weight to build up, to stand out, and yet when they hit the street and God adds more weight, the cry often goes up, "It's too heavy. It's not fair. I can't do it." "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" Hebrews 12:7 "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you are reproved by Him" Hebrews 12:5 Sweat, guys. It's a good thing. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 11 00:16:46 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed May 11 00:17:21 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Is It Real? Message-ID: I love a good yarn. If you know me at all, you know this statement to be true. Good storytellers were what people had before radio and Hollywood. Making past or made-up events seem real is an entertaining art form. The Lord was a darn good storyteller and he used his stories to teach. These stories are called parables. Many cultures have preserved their history by passing along stories from generation to generation. Not to put too fine a point on the art of storytelling, I do want to extract an issue that separates storytelling from truth. All stories are fiction when held up to the standard of God. Man is incapable of not embellishing, omitting, or shading with prejudice when recounting a story. Our minds cannot perform perfect recall. When man creates a story, written, spoken, or acted, there is an appearance of history. Our minds fill in the gaps, or the set designer and the property master build and paint a replica well enough to fool us. Here is the pitfall for man. When we see or hear a story that contradicts the Bible we must gauge our response based on the difference between God and man. The difference lies in how we perceive apparent history. When God creates something and it has an apparent history, the created thing is real. When man creates something and it has an apparent history, it is an illusion. When God does it, it's a miracle. For example, let's look at the first documented miracle performed by Jesus. In John 2:1-11, Jesus makes wine out of water at the wedding. Looking from afar at a re-enactment or movie of this event, we will have a good picture of what He did. But, the wine in the movie is either colored water or put there before the scene was shot. When Jesus did it, it was real wine, and according to the description, it was good wine. This wine had a history of being grown, crushed, and aged. This wine had an apparent history. This wine held up to scrutiny. This wine could not be found to be anything but actual wine. Apply these thoughts to the creation, healing, and resurrection of Christ. They are miracles. They are events that are described, written about, and cross-referenced. The creation is mentioned many times ( Exodus 20:11, 1 Chronicles 1:1, Job 38:4-7, Matthew 19:4-5, 1 Corinthians 11:7-8 ) As men we must come to a point when we accept these things as fact. At the core of this decision is understanding apparent history versus illusion. Now you see me, now you don't. In love, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 11 22:49:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed May 11 22:49:46 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Are You Armed? Message-ID: <8F0FE768-C2A9-11D9-B8A9-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> There are some interesting aspects to my line of work. For one, it's quite new. My grandfather, a rancher, never saw the product of my efforts and probably wouldn't have thought much of it if he had. My father, a salesman, knows what I do and can appreciate the effort, but I'm in a profession that didn't exist when he was in school and it's all black magic to him. Now, I make a decent living writing software for computers. It's odd how the world changes like that. Another unusual aspect of my work is that a computer is not simply a tool I use to get my work done. It is the only tool I can use to do my work. It is so central to what I do, that when my office suffers a power outage, my coworkers and I simply pack up and go home. There is very little useful work to be done without a computer. Now, this isn't completely unique to my line of work. It's kind of like being a NASCAR driver on a bike or a deer hunter with a penknife. These situations don't make us completely useless, but we are certainly less effective. It doesn't make sense for me to try to perform my job with a paper and pencil; it's not the best tool for what I do. And yet, many of us attempt this insanity daily. Why, as Christians, do we not use the most effective tool available for living life? Why do so many of us leave the Bible, the Word of God, on the shelf while we struggle through a bad day at work or an argument with our kids? Some have never cracked a Bible. Some think of it more like 911 (only use in emergencies). The fact is that it was designed for us to use each day of our lives. Jesus talked about how important God's Word is while He resisted temptation: "Jesus answers, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'" " Matthew 4:4 (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3) We get a double whammy here. First, we see that Jesus wants us to treat the word of God as bread. That's something you eat three times a day. It's not something you save for Sunday dinner. Also, He's showing us how to use it. He is quoting scripture to resist temptation. Take note of that. Paul describes it as a Christian's weapon against the world: "Take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:17 I wouldn't ever think of trying to write software without a computer. How do we expect to go into the battle of life without a weapon? Every day men insist on entering the skirmish with a rock, or a butter knife, or nothing at all. God has given us a sword! It's an unbreakable, unbeatable, spiritual sword. Pick it up. Get familiar with it. Learn how to use it. Keep it at your side every day. You never know when you will need it, but you will need it sooner or later. Advancing on the enemy along with you, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu May 12 22:53:05 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu May 12 22:53:43 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Managing Attraction Message-ID: <468720A4-C373-11D9-8E8B-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> "Men are not complicated creatures. They just want another beer and to see something naked." - Jeff Foxworthy I don't think that every man can be reduced to such a base, shallow, and coarse description. I know a lot of guys that don't drink beer. Perhaps we don't see ourselves this way. I hope and pray that a closer relationship with our Lord pries open the cellar door to our souls to something much deeper. However, the marketing gurus seem to think that Jeff is right. You might not think so, but if you watch any commercial aimed at men it often says either overtly or subliminally, "Buy this product and get the woman." In some countries it is so blatant that it's more like, "Buy this product and get the naked woman." It's no secret that God made woman in such a way that most men go stupid over her various forms and proportions. In fact, I have heard it argued that, in Genesis, the description of "made man" and "fashioned woman" is different. The word for "fashioned" is descriptive of sculpting as an artist would to create something beautiful. If you want to do more research on that work with these two words: "imago" and "similtudo". My point, though, is that God did mean for us to be attracted to the female form, but He did not mean for us to lust after it. The country-western singer Charlie Rich had a song called "Behind Closed Doors" and that is great advice. Sex is a wonderful gift from God, but it belongs in an intimate, private venue with your wife. When we throw back the sheets and expose ourselves to the world, it's not sophisticated or progressive. It is more like entering the Louvre with a box cutter bent on showing the world that all the paintings are just canvas and globs of paint. For those married and those that will be married, your goal is: "Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?" Proverbs 5:18-20 Straight up: Being faithful to your wife will not kill you. Being unfaithful can. Don't believe the commercial that says, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." That's a trap, too. "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths." Proverbs 5:21 Just try to leave Jesus Christ at the airport when you land. Honor your wife and avert your eyes. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 13 23:17:09 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri May 13 23:17:46 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Do You Feel Like Dirt? Message-ID: I, like many men, am still attracted to things from my youth. For example, I still drift to models or miniatures of things. I see in the airline magazines those really cool ship models you can order. I imagine myself sitting at a workbench with all the great tools it would take to piece one of these sleek windjammers together. I see my friends and family standing in admiration over my efforts. Then, I think of the state of my garage and how I have been trying to get it organized for the past two years. Reality sets in and I turn the page. One model that sticks in my mind that I did put together was "The Visible Man". This guy was a plastic marvel with his individual organs and bones. I am sure my mom thought I was going to learn a lot of good science by putting him together. As it turned out, it was a boring adventure until I finished him. Then, I took him outside and blasted him with my BB gun. That was the fun part. I started thinking about "The Visible Man" again. Remembering his various organs being strewn over the yard, I wondered if a man can be "parted out". Dr. Ryrie does it in his book, "Basic Theology", this way: The facets of the immaterial aspects of man: - Soul - Spirit - Heart - Conscience - Mind - Flesh - Will In Genesis 2:7, God took materials from the earth and used His breath to give the form life. It really isn't debatable that man is both material and immaterial. James 2:26 refers to how the two are separated again at earthly death. When you look in the mirror, study the image and contemplate the immaterial. After all, the rest is just dirt. In wonder of Him and me, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 14 23:13:16 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat May 14 23:13:52 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Walking on the Edge Message-ID: <6D5EF20C-C508-11D9-8667-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I have always been a bit of a geek. When I was much younger, one of my favorite places to go was OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Every time we drove by that exit on the freeway, I would secretly hope my parents were taking me on a surprise visit. One of my favorite exhibits was one that many other people walked by; it was a two-story pendulum that was hung from the ceiling on the main floor. There was a large hole cut in the floor of the lobby so you could see where it swung in the downstairs cafeteria. Now this hole was surrounded by very tall plexiglas so the visitors could have an unobstructed view down below. As a child, this freaked me out a little because there was no obvious railing or other device that would prevent me from falling. I would always shuffle up to the edge, put my fingertips on the window, and look down without leaning on the barrier too hard. I was convinced it would go if I were to put all my weight on it. The irony is that for all of my fear to get close and look, the sight was always the same. Also, it was easy to walk downstairs and see it at the floor level without any fear of injury. And yet, I always felt that pull to ease up to the edge and look over. For me, this memory is an illustration of something we struggle with every day. As human beings, we are constantly exposed to temptation. As men, it is force fed to us by society. Get rich! Get women! Be cool! As Christians, we know very well what these temptations would do to us. Yet, far too many times we sneak up to the precipice just to take a peek over the edge. Sometimes, we back off and live to see another day. But, sometimes, we go too far and fall in. Now, God will always help you out if you depend on Him, but you will have suffered the consequences of your actions on the way back up. It's never any fun. Why do we hover around the edge? God has clearly marked those dangerous areas, but we just can't stay away. Even if you've never fallen in, the odds are against you. You can't expect to just keep peeking in forever without slipping just once. Why take that chance? The Word is very clear on how to deal with temptation. You are not supposed to just take a step back and stand firm. You are not just supposed to close your eyes and hope it goes away. You are supposed to flee. To me, fleeing means a full out run for your life in the opposite direction. There's no doubt about that command: "Flee from sexual immorality..." 1 Corinthians 6:18 "...flee from idolatry..." 1 Corinthians 10:14 And Paul wrote in reference to the love of money and wealth: "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness" 1 Timothy 6:11 Don't hang around the guard rail. Don't see how close you can get to the edge of the cliff. Don't peer into the volcano. Flee. Don't just flee aimlessly, either. Flee with the intent to pursue godliness and righteousness and the rest that Paul describes. Yank on my coat if you see me get too close. I'll do the same for you. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun May 15 23:57:10 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun May 15 23:57:47 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] From the Heart Message-ID: Growing up can be measured by the times we realize that what we have been taught has been metaphor or outright myth. As children, we really did, for a while, believe a little chubby guy came down the chimney once a year and left toys for us. As we grew older, we looked past the obvious clues like sacks from Sears and how you could exchange gifts from the North Pole could be exchanged at Toys 'R' Us. My own son and I were sitting on a bench at the mall when I asked him if he wanted to go see Santa. He said, "I know that isn't Santa. I know Santa isn't real." "Really?" I asked. Without looking up, he added, "Don't tell Mom, though. I don't think she knows." A small perplexing item that I remember was the first time I saw a picture of the human heart. "Wait a minute," I thought, "That doesn't look like the pictures I have seen." I was expecting a human heart to look like the standard valentine heart. The thing in my chest wasn't anything like the red version with the little angels buzzing about with the miniature bows and arrows. The experience was an important clue: that a guy had to be careful about jumping to conclusions. What do you think of when someone says, "From the heart" ? As Dr. Ryrie points out, "The heart is a very comprehensive concept in both the Old and New Testaments. Used about 955 times, it stands for the center and seat of life, both physical and psychical." Dr. Ryrie breaks it down: - Seat of intellectual life: Deuteronomy 8:5, Matthew 15:19-20, Psalms 19:11, Hebrews 4:12, Jeremiah 17:9 - Seat of emotional life: Deuteronomy 6:5, Job 27:6, Psalms 104:15, Isaiah 30:29, Nehemiah 2:2, Romans 9:2, Psalms 37:4, Psalms 73:21 - Seat of volitional life: Deuteronomy 4:29, Exodus 14:5, Exodus 8:15, Hebrews 4:7, Exodus 7:23 - Seat of spiritual life: Romans 10:9-10, 1 Peter 3:15, Ephesians 3:17, 2 Corinthians 1:22, 1 Timothy 1:5, Hebrews 10:22, Romans 2:29 The world is naive when it invokes phrases like, "From the bottom of my heart", "In my heart of hearts", "broken heart", "all of my heart", "Near and dear to my heart", "great heart", "big hearted", etc. They know it has a deep meaning, but they don't know where the meaning comes from. They use the phrases as if life were a commercial. It's only for emphasis, not for substance. Life with Christ and the Bible is substance and meaning. Your heart is something more than a pump. Look at these passages. You are a miracle. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 16 21:58:53 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon May 16 21:59:31 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Endure Message-ID: <5DCA8912-C690-11D9-B2FA-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Have you ever been here? "I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God" Psalm 69:3 Patience while waiting for God to answer is distress. It is during these times when all our negative emotions work against us. Anger, despair, and rage all converge as we feel abandoned. The total unfairness of it all pushes us to the breaking point. The saying that "God will not give you more than you can handle" isn't exactly true. There are times when He sets out to break you down. When we finally break and humble ourselves, we cry out, "Okay, you win. Just show me what to do." Then who is deciding when the humility lesson starts and when it ends? When is enough enough in God's eyes? God decides the lesson. Your job is to endure. Remember the example of the cross foretold in Psalms: "Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Psalms 69:20-21 Jesus paid for our sins, but we did them in the sight of God and we must acknowledge them before God. The price Christ paid saves us from hell, but not from our Father's discipline. His other great gift is His example. Do you want to be close to God? Then do what His son did; endure and don't sin. After the lesson is learned wisdom comes. "Make your ear attentive to wisdom. Incline your heart to understanding; And discover the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:2 If our zeal to know God should provoke the world, don't do anything to disgrace our Lord's reaction to humiliation. "Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes wait for the Lord" Psalm 27:14 Bite the bullet. Hang on. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 17 22:45:03 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue May 17 22:45:41 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Promises, Promises Message-ID: I was cleaning out the garage the other day and came upon a box of comic books from my youth. While flipping through a few and reminiscing, I noticed that one ad page that most comics had. It's the page that is clearly aimed at the six to twelve year-old boy advertising whoopee cushions, black gum, itching powder, and the ever popular X-ray specs. As a child, I was wise enough to know that these were gag items and probably not worth the cost of shipping. However, there was one item that always made me stop and stare. It was an entire footlocker full of plastic army men for $1.25. Such a deal! The ad showed hundreds of soldiers, tanks, planes, and ships. I would always get excited until I read the fine print and see that the actual size of the footlocker was less than six inches long. Then reality would set in. The ad was exaggerating. Then, I'd turn the page. When I was a teenager this same approach was used to try to sell me clothing, especially shoes. I remember lusting after Reebok Pumps. These shoes would actually allow you to pump air into the soles to fit your feet better. Of course, the TV ads showed NBA players flying through the air. They implied you would become a better player. I knew it was exaggeration, but I still wanted the shoes. In adulthood, those marketing geniuses have continued to pitch products at us with a surgical knowledge of what makes guys tick. Deep down we still want to be cool, we want to have fun, and we want to be loved. Car commercials promise coolness. Beer commercials promise fun. Ads for razors, after shave, and hair replacement promise women. We all know by now that these images are exaggerations. They are stretching the truth to suck you in. But, if your need is deep enough, you want it to be true. You ignore what your brain tells you and let yourself be swept up in the illusion. However, you will soon be disappointed. You will still have that need to fill. Nothing the world offers will ever satisfy. These things often look better than what God promises. That's because they are promising what they can't deliver. God promises and delivers. God is also honest with us about what it will cost. We must hand over our earthly life for salvation, but sin will cost us eternal life. We have to learn to see through the marketing of sin. They don't have truth in advertising laws in hell. It looks sweet, but it is poison. "... for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14 Jesus calls us on our choice to believe the known liar and ignore Him: "[ the devil ] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!" John 8:44-45 Change the channel or turn the page. Better yet, turn the tube off, close the magazine, and open the Word. Scripture will cut through the lies. Use it to discern truth. There you will see that God makes a better promise: "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" Isaiah 40:31 And you don't even need cool basketball shoes. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 18 22:52:03 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed May 18 22:52:41 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Guilty! Message-ID: <203F3968-C82A-11D9-BEA8-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> A component of man-made laws is that, when we don't like them, we can change them. One day, something is the law and the next day it isn't. This idea keeps the rip tide tearing along the shore. The only way to survive is to learn to surf the tide and avoid wiping out. A lot of folks will go afoul of a man-made law from time to time. When we do, we must check the current rule of law, get an advocate, and hope he or she knows the reef well enough that we can avoid a disaster. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. There are also those that break the law their whole earthbound lives and are never held accountable in an earthly court. God simplifies His process. First, everyone breaks the law. Second, everyone is guilty. Third, everyone has a price to pay. To avoid disaster you must plead guilty, the gavel must fall, and you must accept the sentence. "God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." Romans 2:16 Nobody escapes. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 The difference is justice. There's no jury manipulation, no loopholes, no plea bargains, no mistrial, and no media pressure. The sentences is always the same. Then, at the critical moment, Jesus walks up to the bench, shows the bailiff the holes in His hands, and He walks us out of the courtroom acquitted. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free..." Galatians 5:1 Guilty as charged. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 20 07:52:47 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri May 20 07:52:58 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Do You Know Who You Aren't? Message-ID: They say that everyone has a double somewhere in the world. I think I found mine. I was standing in a sporting goods store in Portland, flipping through an album of hunting trips taken all over the world by the two owners who were brothers. This store was just a sideline as they made a ton of money as Burns Brothers Truck Stops. At any rate, the younger Burns brother and I look identical. We looked more like brothers than he and his real brother did. I have to tell you that it was spooky, but on the other hand I couldn't help thinking how great it would have been if the pictures really had been of me. They traveled the world doing all they "guy" stuff you could imagine. They had all the toys, all the guns, all the boats that money could buy. It wasn't hard to visualize myself with all of that stuff. After all, there I was, right in those pictures. For several minutes, I was wealthy, successful, and could go where I wanted when I wanted doing what I wanted. It was hard to take a deep breath and return to reality. I don't know what happened to the younger Burns brother, but I know who I am. I also know that I have to be careful to know who I am not. I must measure my life against the standard of Jesus. I must realize that I am not always right. I must realize that I need to put on the yoke, not place it on others. I must realize that because everyone doesn't agree with me doesn't make them wrong. I must realize that proving one man right and another wrong isn't the point. My image is in my liberty, the liberty of Jesus working in my life to do what is right. "Go therefore and make disciples..." Matthew 28:19 He didn't say make converts to my personal thoughts and opinions. We are to teach what Jesus taught, not what I think. Because, in the light of day, I am afraid. I am scared and I need the verse after this: "... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" Matthew 28:20 Knowing there is a God and knowing I am not Him. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 20 23:58:45 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri May 20 23:58:53 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Make Excuses Message-ID: <5DA0D115-B546-4363-AB47-13DE2B19D5EF@clanwebb.com> Here is a list of some of the great excuses in the Bible: "The main said, "The woman you put here with me?she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Genesis 3:12 "Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." " Genesis 3:13 "Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, "The Lord did not appear to you." ?" Exodus 4:1 "Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you." " Exodus 4:10-14 "Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, "Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." So I told them, "Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off." Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" Exodus 32:22-24 These excuses all have one thing in common: They didn't work. Don't rationalize, guys. Obey. You will like the results a lot more. In there with you. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun May 22 00:15:56 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun May 22 00:16:34 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] No Excuses Message-ID: <5725C128-CA91-11D9-8B2F-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I went to college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a great place to live. It was smack in the middle of the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the country. A skip and a knock from Sedona, Walnut Canyon Indian ruins, the San Francisco Peaks, hunting, and fishing. I had three part time jobs and more discretionary income than I have had since. Oh, yes, and there were girls. In fact, at the beginning of my freshman year, the housing folks misspelled my name as Ellen and assigned me to a women's dorm. I wasn't saved at the time, but I was sure God liked me for a couple confusing hours when I first arrived on campus. I ended up living off campus one year with a friend. It was a great house on the outskirts of town. Among our many residents that came and went in that house was one who showed up shortly after I moved in and was still there when I left. He was a barn owl named Hoot. My roommate, Ken, had found him abandoned and brought him home as a youngster. Ken built Hoot a cage that hung off his bedroom window. It wasn't long before Hoot became just one of the guys. He roamed the house at will and would walk around on the hardwood floors with his talons sounding like a Broadway tap dancer. Hoot had his habits, like most of us, and we accepted his eccentricities as he had accepted ours. His favorite place to sit was on a log on top of the TV. Hoot would sit there for hours without moving a feather. Several times we would have young ladies over for dinner and TV (they usually cooked) and they would speculate whether Hoot was real or stuffed. We, of course, would say he was real and they, of course, would not believe us. How they could ignore the droppings on the log, I never understood. Anyway, about nine o'clock Hoot would decide it was time to clock in and get to his nightly rounds. He would spread his wings and give a short flap and hop to the floor. This event, of course, would answer that "real or fake" question. It also brought several screams. The exchange always went something like this: "He is real!! Why didn't you tell me he was real?" "I did" "I didn't think you were serious." "Why would I lie about such a thing?" "You should have really told me he was real!" "What can I say? I did tell you." "Take me home." Hoot's tragic flaw was his ability to kill the romance in an evening. Hoot never tried to disguise himself. The girls were told the truth and they were still surprised when the truth became evident. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse." Romans 1:20 Trying not to miss the obvious. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 23 00:12:29 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon May 23 00:13:07 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] My Way Message-ID: <065FC9D8-CB5A-11D9-94DF-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> We live in a country where the founding principle is freedom. We celebrate the independent spirit that overcomes impossible odds to succeed. We want to be in control. We want to make all of the decisions. We are free to live where we want, do what we want for a living, go where we want, and to choose what we eat, watch, drive, and wear. Freedom is good, but it's not safe. Freedom also means that you could fail at your chosen profession. You could watch TV that will ensnare you in sin. You could choose to drive a car that will bankrupt you. You could enter a marriage that was doomed from the start. These things happen because we couldn't see into the future or know the unknowable. Even though we have chosen to accept Christ as our savior, we are still free to either let Him lead or to continue driving on our own. Men were designed to be leaders. As children we are competitive and looking for the angle to move up the social hierarchy. It's very difficult to hand the wheel over to Jesus. If we can get past our pride, though, God will guide you. He can see into the future. He knows the unknowable. Let the big guy with the map drive for a change! It was a little before my time, but I am familiar with the Frank Sinatra classic, "My Way". This song is the epitome of the typical male attitude. It not only revels in doing things on your own, but it is even glorifying that fact at the end of the game. We love the movies where the hero loses, but goes out in a blaze of glory. (Remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?) It may be an exciting way to go, but Jesus won't think much of it when He judges our lives. You are fallible. You will fail. Frequently. God is infallible. He never fails. Who do we think we are that we can do better than He would? "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24 "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23 Jeremiah knew the secret. Man can never pull it off on his own. You have to trust in God. Let Him lead you. He knows the way. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 24 00:11:29 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue May 24 00:12:07 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Do You Know What You're Doing? Message-ID: <0CD65436-CC23-11D9-82AA-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> A Christian's testimony doesn't have to be dramatic or earth shaking. It's just a story of how Christ has worked in your life. By telling that story, you are giving evidence of Christ and who He is. My testimony certainly isn't tabloid material, but there are episodes in my life that are very clearly actions of God. As time passes, I am only more sure of that. The story of my professional life is one of unexpected twists and turns, but each change of direction was for the best. Each time we trusted in God to lead us, we came out okay. Here are a few examples: One year out of college I was working on a fairly dull project in a fairly dull company in the Portland area and we weren't making enough to make ends meet. After some interviewing at a local company, I was told that an offer would be extended to me any day. It promised to be more exciting, better pay, and to have better opportunity for promotion. Each week, though, I would hear that they were working on it and the offer was coming. In the meantime, I did an interview in the Seattle area on a whim. I didn't expect much to come of it. The Seattle company made me an offer right away and there was a decision window. I really wanted the local job so we didn't have to move, but it wasn't official. We waited on God to show us whether to wait on the unsure thing or take the sure offer into unknown territory. God led us to Seattle. That other offer never materialized and the company was bought and closed within a year. God knew what He was doing. Some years later, we were getting itchy to move back to Portland and, although my current job was good, I seemed to be stuck in the promotion chain. I interviewed with a company back in Portland and loved it. However, the offer was for the same salary, but with more taxes. I begged them to raise the offer so we could afford to accept. They increased the stock options, but not the salary. Again, we waited on the Lord. He led us to pass on that offer. Two months later, I was promoted to a management position that I loved. We were able to purchase our first house and we were content. That other company is still around, but I would never have had a chance to manage during that time. God knew what He was doing. A few years after that, the company I was a manager with was bought and closed. We were crushed. We had become very content with our lifestyle, our circle of friends, and our location. (By the way, beware contentment when God isn't the center of your life.) I applied for dozens of jobs in the same area so we wouldn't have to move. I also applied for one job in the Portland area. We really didn't want to move back at that point. We had planted roots. I had exactly zero offers locally, but I got an offer back in Portland. It was for less than I had been making and for a non-management position. We could have waited a full year living off of the severance package, but there was no promise of security in doing that. God led us back to Portland. My current job keeps sane hours (hard to find in the software industry) and has a great atmosphere. Most importantly, though, we went from a lifestyle where my job and my co-workers were the center of our life to a lifestyle where our church and our church friends are the center of our life. God knew what He was doing. God can lead by opening doors and clearing paths. In my case, He often leads by closing doors in your face and forcing you to change direction. The message of my testimony is to follow His guidance regardless. Don't worry, I have just as many instances of times I didn't listen and paid for it. It only confirms the truth. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb ... your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13,16 Listen to Him. He knows you pretty well. He knows what He's doing. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 24 23:05:03 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue May 24 23:05:40 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] The Rules Message-ID: All designers start with an idea and then create a prototype. The first working model is the culmination of a great idea. So it is with marriage. Adam and Eve are the prototypes of all males and females. They also modeled the first marriage. Most of you reading this are probably already married. Some of you already know that you didn't put in nearly enough thought before you got married. Nevertheless, brother, you are where you are and you had best get your arms around the rules: Rule #1: God made the rules. Rule #2: He isn't going to change the rules just because you didn't think it through before you got married. Rule #3: Getting angry, complaining, whining, and breaking the rules just puts off the inevitable realization that rules 1 and 2 are here to stay. Rule #4: You must leave (Genesis 2:24). Most men and women are still attached to either or both parents. This is often for emotional or financial reasons. Rule #5: You must cleave (think: weave) with your wife. (Matthew 19:5) Rule #6: You must become one, but still different (Ephesians 5:31) Don't get the raised eyebrow. God is the prototype for this: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Rule #7: God has given you responsibilities: Provider (Genesis 2:15), Protector (Genesis 3:17), Teacher (Genesis 2:17), and Ruler (Genesis 3:16). Don't get excited about that last one. The Hebrew for Ruler means one who leads or guides. Rule #8: You can give over authority to your wife. After all, in many cases she is smarter than you are. But, you cannot give over responsibility. It doesn't matter how dumb you are or how smart she is, in the end the buck stops with you. Rule #9: If there is anything wrong in your marriage, it's your fault. At least it's easy to remember. Rule #10: Your only hope is to get into the Word and to get on your knees. Guys, we are the only line of defense for our families. "Or how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house." Matthew 12:29 If you don't understand the rules, Satan will get into your house. Take it from someone who fell for Satan's head fake more than once. May God help all husbands. Allen P.S. You wife has rules, too. Under no circumstances is it your place to see that she follows them. From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 25 22:39:31 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed May 25 22:40:11 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Thoughts to Ponder Message-ID: <88EFCE98-CDA8-11D9-AB5A-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Sometimes the greatest messages come from the most unlikely and subtle sources. I received an email from my brother that was intended to bring a chuckle (it did), but I felt it also contained some very profound ideas for men walking with Christ. I have no idea if these are actual quotes, but they are truths nonetheless. "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal Think about this when you decide to walk on the wild side and fool around with sin. "If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." - Infantry Journal Or, if life is going too well and you aren't in the Word... "Tracers work both ways." - US Army Ordnance Think about this when you are passing judgment on another brother. "Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Infantry Journal Think about this when you open your mouth and write a check that your Christian brothers will have to help you cover. "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with one eye upon you." Psalm 32:8 Praise God that He is the same to us as He was to King David. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu May 26 23:52:47 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu May 26 23:53:24 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Will You Realize Your Potential? Message-ID: I am enough of a sports fan to actually follow the various drafts and draft lotteries in the off-season. When reading about these things, it is common to see the list of which players were drafted in which position for past years. That hindsight is always a fun game to play. There are those guys who were drafted high and never heard from again. There are those who were drafted very low and went on to succeed anyway. I remember the story of Len Bias. He was the number 2 pick in the 1986 NBA draft and was expected to be a star in the league. A few days later he was dead from cocaine intoxication. He had been a star through college and been drafted high. Expectations were high. And, then, he made a bad decision. His potential was never realized. I also followed the infamous career of Ryan Leaf. He was the number 2 pick in the 1998 NFL draft. It had been a toss-up between him and Peyton Manning as the number 1 pick that year. But, Ryan went into the NFL thinking he was done. He signed a fat contract and then proceeded to be labeled as lazy and unmotivated. He simply decided that getting to the NFL was enough. His potential was never realized. Then, there are players like Jerome Kersey. He was picked at the end of the second round in the 1984 NBA draft. If you read the draft list, you won't recognize any of the other names around him. Jerome went on to be a starting forward for the Portland Trailblazers during their a stretch of great teams in the late 80's and early 90's. He was from a college nobody had heard of and he had no business being as successful as he was. He realized his potential. Thinking about all of this led me to see a parallel in our Christian lives. Getting saved is a lot like getting drafted. We made it to the big leagues and we're getting an opportunity to play the game. Once you're drafted, though, your work isn't done. Once you're saved, you aren't done either. Truly, your work is only beginning because getting saved had nothing to do with your efforts, only your faith. You have potential to be used by God, but you have to do a few things: First, learn the playbook: "I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." Psalm 119:14-16 Second, make sure you aren't burdened with sin: "... first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" Matthew 7:5 Third, lose the illusion that you can be saved and lazy: "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" James 2:17 Finally, get ready to be used by God. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 Notice that God isn't waiting to see what you're capable of. He doesn't need to watch a spiritual workout to assess your ability. He already knows. He has already prepared the good works for you to do. You just have to recognize your birthright and do them. Depend on Him while you do them, but do them. Feel free to snap me with a towel if you see me slacking off. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 28 00:35:57 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat May 28 00:36:33 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Conscience Message-ID: <2136061A-CF4B-11D9-A686-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> The first time I pondered my conscience was after a movie. I can't tell you how old I was, but in those days we paid a penny for each year of age to get into the ISIS theater in Trinidad, Colorado. The movie was animated and had a little green bug in a top hat and tails singing "When you wish upon a star" and "Let your conscience be your guide." My concern for my conscience lasted about as long as it took to tear into my Abba Zaba candy bar, wad up the wrapper, and throw it at one of my friends. Later in life, that darned conscience showed up many times, but I could always reason with it. Now that I am saved, it has become a real nuisance. "Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking" - H.L. Mencken "I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do." - Christopher Reeve "Conscience is our magnetic compass; reason our chart." - Joseph Cook "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." - Mark Twain "Health food may be good for the conscience, but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better." - Robert Redford How we do play with a gift from God. I see my conscience in two ways: pre-saved and post-saved. Pre-saved it was like a tazer with faulty batteries. I always had it in my pocket. I knew how to use it, but I couldn't always count on it. Post-saved it is tuned and ready to go at a moment's notice. I understand who gave it to me. It allows me to be prepared to witness to the depth and reality of a spiritual commitment. "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers..." Romans 9:2 Pay attention to it guys. What it brings to your mind is what God wants from you. In Love, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 28 23:58:47 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat May 28 23:59:24 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Be Confident Message-ID: <1A79F5A6-D00F-11D9-86B8-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Like an increasing number of families around the country, we are homeschoolers. We only have one child to teach, but it still generates a full schedule for me and my wife. I have taken on about a third of the subjects to teach our son, David. One of them is math. Math was one of my favorite subjects in school because there was always a clear answer. You could calculate it. You could verify it with other avenues. There were ways to be confident in your answers. I'm trying to teach that methodology to David, now. When he works on a math problem and tells me, "I think that's right," I always challenge him to verify it. He hates it now when I recite my mantra, "There is a way to be sure." I use this statement to try to teach him that there are ways to be confident in your answer. You can do the math problem a couple of ways to see if you get the same answer. You can do the problem backwards to make sure it goes back to where you started. In higher level math, you can do proofs that leave no doubt whatsoever that the answer is correct. I want him to finish a math problem ready to bet the farm that he found the right answer. There's strength in confidence like that. God wants us to have that kind of confidence, too. Although, He has more powerful subject matter in mind. First off, you should be absolutely, positively confident in your salvation. If you have truly given you heart to Him, you cannot lose your salvation. It doesn't matter how bad you screw up. Repent. Ask for forgiveness. Get moving in the right direction again. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:27-28 Secondly, have confidence in the life God leads you to. Don't be discouraged by the criticism or mocking of unbelievers. Don't be jealous of what the world offers that you have spurned. You have accepted a path of eternal life. There is nothing better. "Remember those earlier days after you had first received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering... do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded" Hebrews 10:32,35 Finally, have confidence in introducing other people to the free gift of salvation and the confidence you yourself have been given. This is easily the most difficult part of my walk. I am terrified of telling people about Christ. I worry about what they'll think of me or if I will damage a friendship. You need to get over that fear just as I do. It is the truth. It is the only answer. And, it is our job to communicate it to the unbelieving world. "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Proverbs 28:1 Take note, though, you do not have to work up this boldness alone. Just like all good things, God wants to give it to us. We simply have to ask. "When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted." Psalm 138:3 "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:31 You are a child of God. Be confident that you will always be one. Be confident that you made the right choice and the life God has for you is the right one. For the sake of those God has placed around you, be confident in sharing the Gospel. You should ask God to give you the confidence you need, but you have to want it. Don't avoid it. Let's jump in together. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 30 00:41:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon May 30 00:41:45 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Lessons in Clay Message-ID: <2F716770-D0DE-11D9-AFD4-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> We had a great time Thursday night with Pastor Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church. It was a great time with men and a message from a man's man. The most important part of the evening, of course, was the message. Hutch can take a verse, tee it up, and hit it a mile. The thing is, though, it always has a slice or a hook to it and you begin to wonder if the thing will eventually end up on the green. "When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent) So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, "Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?" John 9:6-8 I always thought these verses were pretty straightforward. It was another miracle from Jesus, not following a particular pattern of methodology, so none could categorize our Lord as anything but unique. Seen through Hutch's eyes, it seems so much more personal. First, we have a man that is blind from birth. He makes his way every day to the same spot in the same place to do the only thing he is capable of doing: begging. It isn't much of a life by most standards, but it is his life. He has his place, his friends, and his job. Nobody expects him to do anything but what he does every day. He has all his excuse ducks lined up in a row and that is that. Along comes Jesus and the whole paradigm is blown. He spits. This is not a little sissy spit, but a good growler of a honker. Then He mixes in some dirt. Not just a little dirt to make mud, but enough to make clay. With this clay he walks up to an unsuspecting blind man and "whap!" He slaps it right in his eyes. What must this poor guy have thought? It couldn't have been pleasant. Then He tells the guy to get up and go wash his face. He probably didn't need to tell him to do it because getting the grit out of his eyes had probably become a priority shortly after dealing with the shock of getting sucker slapped. The point Hutch was making was that so often, for God to use us, He has to get our attention and shock us into action. He often gets the results He wants by irritating the very excuse we are using to stay stuck where we are. He didn't reason with this guy. He knew he had his excuses. He knew he was set in his life. Jesus created circumstances that motivated the man to go wash his eyes. You notice that He didn't tell him that if he washed his eyes he would see. He took the shortest route. Give him an unavoidable reason to go wash his eyes. This blind guy must have been thinking, "You bet brother, and don't you move. As soon as I get back from washing my eyes, I'm going to even the score no matter how many blind swings it takes." Instead, he leaves the only security spot he has ever known under a motivation he has never known and washes the mud out of his eyes. He can see for the first time in his life. The crowd reacts like most who don't like the boat rocked. All the folks in his sphere then cannot accept what has happened. They claim Jesus is a fake, but the facts do not escape the blind man who now has sight. "The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."" John 9:30 They reject the miracle and the man and throw him out of the only place he has ever known for security. Finally, the mission is accomplished for both the man and Jesus. "Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshipped him. Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." " John 9:38-39 Here is the point: If you are comfortable with all your excuse ducks in a row for why you cannot serve, then you are ripe for some irritation. When it happens and you give knee-jerk reaction, back off. If God brings you irritation, He wants your attention. The shortest way to new sight is to do what He is telling you to do. My advice, for what it's worth, is to wash your face. Been there. Done that. Bought the coffee cup. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 31 00:09:18 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue May 31 00:09:55 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] A Day in Prison Message-ID: A few years back, I was part of a group of guys that went to Oregon State Prison to play slow pitch softball for a day. It was one of those life-changing days. There were many aspects of that day where God spoke to me. Those walls were so high in the yard and those hours we spent with those guys were a multitude of contrasts. Every contact with a prisoner filled me with conflicting feelings. Some of those guys were downright scary with tattoos, battle scars, and hard, built-in snarls. One of the keys to my survival in commission sales has been fine tuning an ability to connect with a stranger in thirty seconds or less. I have to tell you that for the first thirty minutes or so, I was afraid to open my mouth. If they had not reached out to us, I would have just pitched and gone home as soon as possible. As tough as they were, they were like kids playing ball. It was a huge privilege for them to be on one of the many teams. They could lose the privilege for a variety of reasons, but losing your temper was a surefire way to be sent back to your cell. I was told that earning the privilege again was a long road. The rules for the games were set up to keep the game moving and done in under 45 minutes. So, I pitched 22 innings of ball that day under a hot, summer sun. They took great pride in hitting a ball over the wall. It was as if they could fly out of the yard with each one that made it. There were several as these guys were good. In fact, about halfway through the day we mixed players and formed teams that were part civilian and part prisoner just to make it more even. They didn't want us to leave. There were pictures at the end of the day and they gave us a trophy for sportsmanship because we made the time to come and play ball with them. At one point during the day, a flock of geese flew right over the yard from one end to the other. Everyone stopped and looked skyward until the last straggler passed over and out of sight. An old guy came over to me (he looked like nine miles of bad road), tugged my shirt, and sat down on the bench next to me. We had been warned that guys might try to talk us into all sorts of things using all sorts of stories. They might want our ball gloves, sunglasses, watches, etc. I was very wary. He said, "You know, last year one of them landed in the yard right over there by that little shack and she laid three eggs. She took care of them, but only one hatched. I used to bring her bread and cereal. The chick got too big to hide, so the guards took them both out." I didn't know what to say. I really think all he wanted to get across to me was that he wasn't all bad. One of the guys with us met someone he went to high school with and they spent time catching up on old friends. The guy who arranged for us to come was a friend of my pastor from Prairie City, Oregon. A nicer guy you are never likely to meet. A father of two girls, he and Pastor Mark talked about the hardware store in Prairie City. They talked about how old fashioned it was, the old wooden floor, where the nail bins were and just memories in general about their hometown. He is still there because in one unguarded moment while drunk, he killed a local police officer with his bare hands. They hugged and cried and he asked Mark to look after his girls. We all have free will and scripture, to my mind, doesn't really nail it down. "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God?through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:21-25 They say it takes a millionth of a volt to make a decision. I spent the day with a lot of guys that would give anything to have that moment back. Don't do anything in haste, unless it is to run away from sin. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 31 22:26:09 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue May 31 22:26:46 2005 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Lay Down Your Burden Message-ID: This email was forwarded to me this morning and I thought it was a great illustration of Jesus and our relationship with him. > A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a > glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" > > Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. > > The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends > on how long you try to hold it." > "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an > hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, > you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, > but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." > > He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we > carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes > increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. > > As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and > rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on > with the burden." > When Jesus was on the earth as a man, he had stress and burdens. "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."" Mark 6:31 However, when we accept Jesus as Lord and savior, we are allowed to put down our sin burden and walk away. "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!" Psalm 32:1 Modern man seeks and finds answers. He just refuses to accept the true source. "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12 But so many cannot leave them behind. "Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly." Proverbs 26:11 Do you really understand the concept of the forgiveness of sin? Or can you not stand living without them? Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun May 1 00:17:40 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 1 May 2005 00:17:40 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Did He Know Doubt? Message-ID: <1AB02F9E-BA11-11D9-BAAC-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> For the longest time, I struggled with how Jesus could identify with man so completely. I understood that He was born of a mortal woman. I understood that He grew as a child into a young man that came into the manifest plan of God. I understood how He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and how He grew so weak that He had to be attended by angels. But, for a time, I always had a question in my mind: He always knew the bottom line. He knew He was the Son of God. He knew He had supernatural powers. He knew He could call down legions of angels. He knew that no matter what happened, He could never really know the complete despair and depression of feeling completely alone and lost because He always knew who He was. If all of this was true, how could Jesus really understand doubt? I struggled with doubt. It kept rearing it's ugly head time after time in my life. I can even say I resented that God had not devised a safety net for me to fall into so that I could always have that connected feeling with Him. I wanted to know who I was, no matter what happened. I brought this up in a class many years back and a good teacher just looked at me, smiled, and said, "Oh, but, Allen, He did know the despair of being utterly alone" He quoted this verse: "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? -- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 How much more did He know despair after having that safety net for His whole life and then having it taken away in His most desperate hour, than someone who never knew such security. We may often think God turns away from us, but, in the case of Jesus, He did. That is when the debt was paid. Every sin of all the world, past, present, and future laid on Him in His weakest moment. All for you and me. Doubt, despair and depression are part of Satan's whirlpool, his vortex, his black hole. It is not of God. Think veridical. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 2 00:08:24 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 00:08:24 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Lessons at Age Six Message-ID: Once in a while, someone will inadvertently say something that will trigger a massive block of memories. It can be a pleasant little interlude into the past, conjuring up the smell of freshly baked pies, smiles from Grandma, or that favorite fishing trip with your dad. Pastor Steve gave the announcements this Sunday and, as always, he invites everyone to stand up, turn to your neighbors and answer a harmless question designed to start a conversation. Today's question was, "Where were you when you were six years old?". Steve, old buddy, I hope you are kidnapped and taken to southern California where several large, nefarious persons duct tape you into one of those small boats at Disneyland and you are made to travel around and around on the Small World ride for an entire spring break. Oh my, what you dredged up! I was six in 1954. My mother, stepfather, sister and I lived on a farm in southern Colorado known as "The Poor Farm". My family were sharecroppers to one "Old Man Baloo". The fact that his favorite meal was sweetbreads and eggs (cow brains to you city folks) and that he was old, old, old and the scariest human on the planet to a six year old wasn't the worst memory. There was the night my mother tossed some laundry on top of the cream separator. When I got up to go to the bathroom in that sleepy stupor, I was convinced that the shape it made in the moonlight was that of a flesh eating monster. I retreated to my bed to spend the rest of the night under the covers contemplating death from a burst bladder or from being eaten alive. That wasn't the worst memory. There was the day I snookered my cousin into chasing me on horseback around the house where I expertly ducked under the clothesline (having practiced the maneuver several times) and watched him get caught about neck high and was, according to my aunt, "Almost decapitated". The paddling I got for that wasn't my worst memory. No, my worst memory of my sixth year was getting caught in my first black-hearted lie. Old man Baloo had lent my stepfather a shiny, aluminum flashlight to use while checking on heifers during their first calving should they decide to begin in the middle of the night. This marvel of technology sat on the back porch and was a great temptation to a six year old. One day, I did the unthinkable and took this new toy outside to play under the house and in the old silo. On the way back to the house, I stopped to use the outhouse. (No indoor plumbing at the Poor Farm). Upon leaving the outhouse, I bumped the shiny flashlight and down it went into the hole. I was mortified. I had been told on numerous occasions what would happen to me if I did anything to break the flashlight. Now, it was in the one location on earth that under no circumstances was I willing to venture. So, when asked if I knew where the flashlight was, I did the only rational thing that came to mind. I lied through my teeth. After all, where was the evidence? How could I possibly get caught? Even then, God had a plan. On its way down the hole, the flashlight had managed to hook on the wooden seat and turn on. That evening, while standing at the kitchen window, my mother started to laugh. She called my stepfather and I out to the front porch, pointed out the fact that the outhouse was now glowing and asked, "Young man, do you have anything to say about this?" I had my first Nathan moment right there. "You are the man..." 2 Samuel 12:7 . My sin was revealed with nowhere to turn and nowhere to hide. I was punished and forgiven. Every lie is bad, but the first time you get caught stays with you forever. Every lie is a ticking time bomb ready to go off and ruin your life. "There are six things the Lord hates... haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood." Proverbs 6:16-17 Thanks a lot, Steve. Next time try asking about ten years old. 1958 was a much better year. YBIC, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 2 23:41:51 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 23:41:51 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Tough Love Message-ID: <6E9417CA-BB9E-11D9-A794-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Tough love is a manly concept that sounds good when it applies to someone else. I was on the receiving end of that many times growing up. But, the one experience that stands out in my memory was during my short term basic training in Navy ROTC. When we arrived at the Army base, the world changed. Those friendly officers we'd be talking to minutes before were suddenly yelling in our faces to get off the bus, stand in a line, and stand at attention. If you had the wrong answer to any question, you joined several classmates doing push-ups in the mud. During those first ten or fifteen minutes my mind raced from wondering what I had got myself into to hoping I could make it through the whole camp without permanent injury. The rest of the camp was intense, rough, and educational. We were called either "rocks" or "meatballs" and treated accordingly. At the same time, we were crammed full of information and training. Were these drill seargants sadists? Did they do this just to watch a bunch of 18 year old kids panic and squirm? No, this treatment and training were to make sure that we learned valuable lessons and information in a short period of time. We were taught to listen carefully so that nobody got hurt on the firing range, on the rappelling tower, or while learning how to survive oil fires on the water. We were treated toughly so that we would be safe, so we could survive. Sometimes God will take you through what seems to be an unnecessarily miserable experience. You won't be able to see the reasons why until much later. But, rest assured, it's because He loves you and wants you to survive. "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." Hebrews 12:7-8 Don't be angry at God when times get tough. Thank Him for loving you enough that He wants to be your father, that He wants you to learn and not just fade away from ignorance. Doing push-ups with you, Wyatt Webb From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 4 00:03:31 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 00:03:31 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Promises, Promises Message-ID: <9FED970A-BC6A-11D9-8751-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> To make a promise is a good thing. To make a promise lightly is a sad thing. When we give someone what I call "the quick kiss", it is no more than an attempt to look good to the world. When we become aware of a need in a life, when someone is really reaching out, then we need to reflect on our own relationship with Christ. I am haunted by something that happened to me in San Francisco. I was on my first sales trip to the Bay Area and had booked a night in a downtown hotel. When I got to my room, I realized that it was a refurbished historical hotel. The rooms were just about big enough to change your mind in, but not much else. I decided to take a walk. I was looking for someplace to eat and chanced past an indentation, a small cleft, in a building. There, crouched and cowering, was a young teenage girl. She looked at me, wide-eyed, pupils dilated, and with fear. I was stunned. I look back on it now and I can see her face like it was yesterday. There she was, a fellow human being, and I, the one of means, did nothing. I thought about doing something, but I didn't act. Later in life, one of my own was in rebellion, away from home, and out of contact. During that time, that girl's face was the last thing I thought of when I went to sleep at night. Remember when David and Jonathan parted and they made a promise? (1 Samuel 20) Jonathan, although he disagreed with his father Saul, honored David, even to death on the battlefield. David never forgot that promise. The promise that passed David's lips had meaning from the heart. "Then David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"" 2 Samuel 9:1 David takes into his household Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. He is crippled from an accident while escaping after the news of his father's death. This act is a picture of how Christ keeps his promise. He seeks us out. He rescues us from the cleft in between the buildings. We must replicate David, because doing so reflects what Christ did for us. Don't wait! Make a promise and keep it. May God bless you today. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 4 22:36:02 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 22:36:02 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] More Powerful Than a Locomotive... Message-ID: <915B204F-BD27-11D9-8AE1-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I'm happy to admit that I'm a bit of a geek. I love good sci-fi. I'm a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm also a sucker for a good super-hero comic. I get a kick out of learning how each hero gained his superpowers and what kinds of villains he has to defeat. The writers have fun putting the heroes in unlikely situations and having them make just as unlikely an escape. Any good super-hero has a weakness, so the reader can identify with him. They have to be amazingly powerful, but human enough that we can sympathize with them. The Old Testament includes the accounts of several real men and women who could be called super-heroes. My favorite is Samson. He had supernatural strength and performed amazing feats that are hard to comprehend. He also had a weakness. "...As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands..." Judges 14:5-6 "As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men." Judges 15:14-15 Wow! That's amazing stuff. The truth is that Samson wasn't a super-hero on his own. His amazing strength and abilities came from God and they were only bestowed on him while he was doing God's will. They were also linked to his promise to never cut his hair to honor God. When Samson was conned into telling his girlfriend what his one weakness was (it's always about a girl, isn't it?), she sold him out. His hair was cut and the Spirit of God left him. The lesson here is that the very same Spirit of God can imbue you with supernatural strength, wisdom, and insight when you are doing His will. Don't let yourself be drawn off track. Don't be distracted. Don't leave your weaknesses unguarded lest they be used to bring you down. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" Phillipians 4:13 You and I can be super-heroes for Christ. And you don't even have to wear the colorful tights! Up, up, and away, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu May 5 23:12:10 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 23:12:10 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Fools and Bears Message-ID: When something is as valid now as it was thousands of years ago, you can say that it has survived the test of time. I believe this is the case for Fools and Bears. It was during a hunting trip on the Snake River. It was near that time of the day when you are dog tired and still a couple of hours from camp. I had already had an encounter with a rattlesnake that looked as if he could have ingested my backpack when we stopped to fill our canteens. I realized my down vest was missing from where I had tied it to the back of my pack earlier that morning. The term for my feeling was "extremely bummed out". I was tired, hot, and one of our party was complaining with every step. It occurred to me that I remembered crawling through some brush only about 500 yards back and there was a good chance that was when I had lost the vest. This is the fool part. I decided to drop all my gear and leave it with the group at the stream while I hoofed it back to where I was sure I would find my vest. To prove that this was the fool part, my friends didn't stop me. I must say that without my eleven pound rifle, a four pound pistol, two hunting knives, a Wyoming saw, deer hoist, deer bags, ammunition, and a thirty five pound pack, I felt pretty spry. I covered 300 yards or so back up the mountain, across a low flat, and up and around a rim rock to where I had earlier come through on my hands and knees. Lo and behold, there was my vest. I was feeling pretty good about my decision to come back. So, with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, I headed back around the rim rock, across the flat and smack dab into, not one, but two black bears. This is the bear part. As I reached for my trusty Ruger .357 Magnum, I suddenly felt like Matt Dillon coming out to face the killer gunfighter with a water balloon. It hit me that my gun was back with the guys at the stream. I remember clearly thinking, "This isn't a Disney movie." These two walking rugs stopped and looked me over. There was no doubt that they were not afraid of me. I, on the other hand, was giving no such impression for my part. I did what any red-blooded American hunter would do...I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Mike...two bears...black...chasing me." In my panic, I wanted to be concise, but not leave anything pertinent out. I then sat right on my rump on the side of the hill and proceeded scooting upwards while kicking logs, rocks, cactus, and anything else I could dislodge down on the critters. Allen: The human backhoe. My thought at the time was that because these two were together that perhaps their mother wasn't too far off. I wanted as much space between them and me as I could create without taking my eyes off of them. More fool part there. Meanwhile, back at the watering hole, the story goes that my pals looked at each other and said, "What did he say?" I gather it was like the Keystone Kops as these guys decided to mount the rescue. They gathered up my rifle, pistol, and pack and beat foot to the scene. Why they decided they needed to pack ALL of my stuff and ALL of their stuff up the mountain is still a mystery. By the time they reached me, they were three walking heart attacks. At this point, I was sitting on the hillside picking cactus out of my legs and rear end with my heart beating like a man who just realized his second parachute didn't open. "What the %&$^@! happened?" they asked in unison. "Where's the bear?" "Bears!" I answered. I wanted them to know it hadn't been just one, but a whole committee. "They left," I informed them. After I told them the story, the jabs started. My new nickname was "bear bait". It was decided that these two were cubs that had been treed by their mother to wean them and they actually thought I was their mother. Once I had my guns again, this foolish speculation stopped. I honestly don't remember how big they were. I do think that they thought that, whatever I was, I was a fool. They were right. My folly put me in much more danger than the bears. I knew better, but I let my poor judgment override logic and so did my friends. We have to watch each other's back and, from time to time, remind each other to not go out into the world unarmed. "Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly." Proverbs 17:12 Sometimes we are just a source of amusement to the Lord. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 6 23:35:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 23:35:08 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Pass the Cake Message-ID: <27F9691E-BEC2-11D9-9E1D-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I am an engineer by training and by trade. A software engineer specifically, but an engineer nonetheless. That training has caused me to view many everyday things with an eye to the related engineering principles that some people miss. For example, do you know why manhole covers are round? The engineer in me figures there are several reasons: A round shape cannot be accidentally dropped back through the hole. A round shape makes them easier to move by rolling. A round shape means you don't have to align the cover when you put it back. I had a similar spark of recognition while doing a bible study about giving. It reminded me of a situation that we've all been in. Imagine yourself at a birthday party where everyone is sitting around a living room. The cake is cut and pieces are handed out to the two people sitting nearest the table. They are asked to pass the pieces along to the next person. This is an efficient system because everyone will get a piece without having to crowd the table or form a line. Now, there can be some subtle advantages to being near the table: You will get to see many pieces of cake go by and select the one you like the most. You are also close enough to the cake cutter to make a request for size and shape. Those at the end of the chain have a harder time making such requests due to their distance and have less of an opportunity to choose a piece they like because they see fewer pieces. This system will even work if one of the people by the table refuses to pass pieces along. The cake cutter will quickly discover this and simply start handing pieces to someone else. The cutter will no longer have any interest in what the dead-end person wants since they already have a piece and are no longer useful to the distribution process. God works much like this when it comes to Him blessing and you giving. "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 So God wants to bless His children. However, God also wants us to be givers. He says that if we give, He will give us more so that we can give even more and thereby bring glory to God. If you're a giver, you are obeying God and have his ear and He will continue to bless you. If you aren't, you're a dead-end and He has no need to give you more because you won't pass it along to others. "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 That's a heck of a promise. You see, God is an engineer, too! He wants to distribute His blessings and uses us to make that happen. If you accept the blessing, but don't give to someone else, He will just work around you. He will still love you, but He can't use you. Be a giver and you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. While you're at it, give me a corner piece with that flower made out of frosting. Pass it on, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 7 23:41:11 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 23:41:11 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Goofy Goes to Hell Message-ID: <2AA6E25A-BF8C-11D9-A1C7-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> This Push Up is dedicated to Tom Sweetman. He was a friend, pastor, and counselor. God took him home at a very early age. He was a prince that thought he was a pauper. His funeral was attended by hundreds as he touched many lives one relationship at a time. His title for this lesson was "Goofy Goes to Hell". You'll have to grab your Bible to follow the references. Proverbs 7 starting with verses 6-8 I was just finishing washing my hands at the kitchen sink and happened to glance out of the window at the street. I spotted several young men on the corner doing what they do best: just hanging out. There was one in particular whom I had run-ins with a few times before. He was at that time in life when his attention was focused just below his belt and his head was just a place to keep his hair. He broke away from the group and headed up the block to an apartment building where a certain young, married woman lives. verses 9-12 He is not long in the street and, sure enough, she comes prancing out to meet him. She is dressed to gain the attention of anyone who might pass, but she has her eye on only him. She is loud and brash and is known to stray from home. She spends time down on the street and is always sure to pass by the corner where the boys are just hanging out. verses 13-15 She makes up some story that neither of them believes as to why she is on the street and then kisses him. She tells him how she came out only to meet him. verses 16-20 She tells him how she has prepared her bedroom for them with sweet smells and candles. She tells him how they should spend the night together and "drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses." verses 19-21 "Where is your husband?" he asks. "Don't worry," she says, "He has gone on a trip and from the things he packed he won't be home for quite a while." She runs her hands through his hair and whispers in his ear and "with her flattering lips she seduces him." verses 22-23 He takes the bait and like "an ox to the slaughter... as a bird hastens to a snare" he follows her up the stairs and to her apartment. "He does not know that it will cost him his life." verses 24-27 "Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, Any pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of Death." The next time some dim bulb tells you that the Bible isn't relevant in today's world, remember these verses were written 700 years before Jesus was born. Satan uses at least two weak minds to get you to sin. The bait and yours. Remember that all he has to do is get you to die without being saved and then he has you forever. If you are already saved, he wants to make you powerless to help save others. This story talks about a young man, but I don't have to tell you that the bars and taverns are full of supposedly mature men and women doing the same thing. Don't listen to weak minds and don't be one. Keep your sonar lit up and ping often. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 9 00:33:27 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 00:33:27 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Balance Message-ID: Understanding God's methods can sometimes mean acceptance without what we might call a reasonable explanation. As children, we may have all pushed our parents too far with one too many inquiries of "why?" As parents, we may have responded to our children when we were pushed in the same way with the classic response, "Because I said so. That's why." My opinion, and it is just that, is that God has a grand sense of balance; an equilibrium that must be maintained to be true to His nature. This balance is brought back to level, as it were, by reaching back before we were born to a sin that requires an affliction, that leads to repentance, and that leads to humility before Him. We were not in the Garden when Adam failed to act and sin entered the world. Yet, it was that act that is the source of our inheritance. The original "sins of the father" as it were. Many current afflictions may have their roots in the distant past. Although we feel the pain of brining the balance back, we have no right to demand an explanation from God. It is right because it is the will of God. In my study of the life of David, I was perplexed by an apparent dichotomy in David's behavior. Follow me, here. David sought out descendants of Saul to show them kindness (like Mephibosheth who is the son of Jonathan who is the son of Saul). David game him all of his grandfather's land and a place of honor at his table. Later on, Mephibosheth sides with a rebellion against David and David forgives him. In the end, however, David gives him over to the Gibeonites to be hanged. ( 2 Samuel 21:8-9 ) The reason seems to be to restore the balance for an attempted genocide of these people by Saul. The sins of Saul's bloody house could not be paid for with money. It took blood. Now, here is the really hard part, but I think it is relevant to today's world. Because of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament times, these executions were not out of revenge, but for the public good; to bring the balance back. These hangings were done at the beginning of the harvest to bring back the balance and break the chain of harvest mercies that God withheld from the past. To be sure, the old system is gone and Jesus represents the new system of forgiven sin by His blood. But, it seems that the balance must still be maintained. That is why executions for public good must not be thought to be cruel. God is moved when we strive not to avoid the tough decisions to maintain the balance. In the end, the balance will be maintained, if not on the current generation, then on the next or the next or the next. Men, how you conduct yourselves now can have ramifications on your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren. Food for though. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 10 00:10:43 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 00:10:43 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] What are You Worth? Message-ID: <9F675DEC-C122-11D9-A055-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Did you ever stop to think about how the value of a thing can be drastically altered depending on who has touched it? How many Louisville Sluggers come off the production line every year? You can buy one in any sporting goods store. However, find one that Hank Aaron hit a home run with or one that Reggie Jackson used in a World Series and it's a treasure. It might have come out of the very same tree as the rest of the run, but its value is quite different. The mind reels at the amount of money spent on the perception that an individual touch can change an inanimate object's value. Individual attention to a person can do a very similar thing. How many sons come off of the production line every day? How many fathers try to make them different from the rest of the run? "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us... For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them." Hebrews 12:9-10 Being shaped as a cut above the regular run means being under more pressure than the regular run. "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful" Hebrews 12:11 Then, however, the best of the run begins to look different and we see that two sets of fathers' hands are involved as more shaping takes place. "But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." Hebrews 12:8 So your value is about the hands that have touched you. It's bigger than a home run. It's bigger than the World Series. "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives" Hebrews 12:6 You see the difference in the gym every day. Guys keep adding more weight to build up, to stand out, and yet when they hit the street and God adds more weight, the cry often goes up, "It's too heavy. It's not fair. I can't do it." "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" Hebrews 12:7 "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you are reproved by Him" Hebrews 12:5 Sweat, guys. It's a good thing. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 11 00:16:46 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 00:16:46 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Is It Real? Message-ID: I love a good yarn. If you know me at all, you know this statement to be true. Good storytellers were what people had before radio and Hollywood. Making past or made-up events seem real is an entertaining art form. The Lord was a darn good storyteller and he used his stories to teach. These stories are called parables. Many cultures have preserved their history by passing along stories from generation to generation. Not to put too fine a point on the art of storytelling, I do want to extract an issue that separates storytelling from truth. All stories are fiction when held up to the standard of God. Man is incapable of not embellishing, omitting, or shading with prejudice when recounting a story. Our minds cannot perform perfect recall. When man creates a story, written, spoken, or acted, there is an appearance of history. Our minds fill in the gaps, or the set designer and the property master build and paint a replica well enough to fool us. Here is the pitfall for man. When we see or hear a story that contradicts the Bible we must gauge our response based on the difference between God and man. The difference lies in how we perceive apparent history. When God creates something and it has an apparent history, the created thing is real. When man creates something and it has an apparent history, it is an illusion. When God does it, it's a miracle. For example, let's look at the first documented miracle performed by Jesus. In John 2:1-11, Jesus makes wine out of water at the wedding. Looking from afar at a re-enactment or movie of this event, we will have a good picture of what He did. But, the wine in the movie is either colored water or put there before the scene was shot. When Jesus did it, it was real wine, and according to the description, it was good wine. This wine had a history of being grown, crushed, and aged. This wine had an apparent history. This wine held up to scrutiny. This wine could not be found to be anything but actual wine. Apply these thoughts to the creation, healing, and resurrection of Christ. They are miracles. They are events that are described, written about, and cross-referenced. The creation is mentioned many times ( Exodus 20:11, 1 Chronicles 1:1, Job 38:4-7, Matthew 19:4-5, 1 Corinthians 11:7-8 ) As men we must come to a point when we accept these things as fact. At the core of this decision is understanding apparent history versus illusion. Now you see me, now you don't. In love, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 11 22:49:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 22:49:08 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Are You Armed? Message-ID: <8F0FE768-C2A9-11D9-B8A9-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> There are some interesting aspects to my line of work. For one, it's quite new. My grandfather, a rancher, never saw the product of my efforts and probably wouldn't have thought much of it if he had. My father, a salesman, knows what I do and can appreciate the effort, but I'm in a profession that didn't exist when he was in school and it's all black magic to him. Now, I make a decent living writing software for computers. It's odd how the world changes like that. Another unusual aspect of my work is that a computer is not simply a tool I use to get my work done. It is the only tool I can use to do my work. It is so central to what I do, that when my office suffers a power outage, my coworkers and I simply pack up and go home. There is very little useful work to be done without a computer. Now, this isn't completely unique to my line of work. It's kind of like being a NASCAR driver on a bike or a deer hunter with a penknife. These situations don't make us completely useless, but we are certainly less effective. It doesn't make sense for me to try to perform my job with a paper and pencil; it's not the best tool for what I do. And yet, many of us attempt this insanity daily. Why, as Christians, do we not use the most effective tool available for living life? Why do so many of us leave the Bible, the Word of God, on the shelf while we struggle through a bad day at work or an argument with our kids? Some have never cracked a Bible. Some think of it more like 911 (only use in emergencies). The fact is that it was designed for us to use each day of our lives. Jesus talked about how important God's Word is while He resisted temptation: "Jesus answers, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'" " Matthew 4:4 (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3) We get a double whammy here. First, we see that Jesus wants us to treat the word of God as bread. That's something you eat three times a day. It's not something you save for Sunday dinner. Also, He's showing us how to use it. He is quoting scripture to resist temptation. Take note of that. Paul describes it as a Christian's weapon against the world: "Take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:17 I wouldn't ever think of trying to write software without a computer. How do we expect to go into the battle of life without a weapon? Every day men insist on entering the skirmish with a rock, or a butter knife, or nothing at all. God has given us a sword! It's an unbreakable, unbeatable, spiritual sword. Pick it up. Get familiar with it. Learn how to use it. Keep it at your side every day. You never know when you will need it, but you will need it sooner or later. Advancing on the enemy along with you, Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu May 12 22:53:05 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 22:53:05 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Managing Attraction Message-ID: <468720A4-C373-11D9-8E8B-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> "Men are not complicated creatures. They just want another beer and to see something naked." - Jeff Foxworthy I don't think that every man can be reduced to such a base, shallow, and coarse description. I know a lot of guys that don't drink beer. Perhaps we don't see ourselves this way. I hope and pray that a closer relationship with our Lord pries open the cellar door to our souls to something much deeper. However, the marketing gurus seem to think that Jeff is right. You might not think so, but if you watch any commercial aimed at men it often says either overtly or subliminally, "Buy this product and get the woman." In some countries it is so blatant that it's more like, "Buy this product and get the naked woman." It's no secret that God made woman in such a way that most men go stupid over her various forms and proportions. In fact, I have heard it argued that, in Genesis, the description of "made man" and "fashioned woman" is different. The word for "fashioned" is descriptive of sculpting as an artist would to create something beautiful. If you want to do more research on that work with these two words: "imago" and "similtudo". My point, though, is that God did mean for us to be attracted to the female form, but He did not mean for us to lust after it. The country-western singer Charlie Rich had a song called "Behind Closed Doors" and that is great advice. Sex is a wonderful gift from God, but it belongs in an intimate, private venue with your wife. When we throw back the sheets and expose ourselves to the world, it's not sophisticated or progressive. It is more like entering the Louvre with a box cutter bent on showing the world that all the paintings are just canvas and globs of paint. For those married and those that will be married, your goal is: "Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?" Proverbs 5:18-20 Straight up: Being faithful to your wife will not kill you. Being unfaithful can. Don't believe the commercial that says, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." That's a trap, too. "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths." Proverbs 5:21 Just try to leave Jesus Christ at the airport when you land. Honor your wife and avert your eyes. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 13 23:17:09 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 23:17:09 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Do You Feel Like Dirt? Message-ID: I, like many men, am still attracted to things from my youth. For example, I still drift to models or miniatures of things. I see in the airline magazines those really cool ship models you can order. I imagine myself sitting at a workbench with all the great tools it would take to piece one of these sleek windjammers together. I see my friends and family standing in admiration over my efforts. Then, I think of the state of my garage and how I have been trying to get it organized for the past two years. Reality sets in and I turn the page. One model that sticks in my mind that I did put together was "The Visible Man". This guy was a plastic marvel with his individual organs and bones. I am sure my mom thought I was going to learn a lot of good science by putting him together. As it turned out, it was a boring adventure until I finished him. Then, I took him outside and blasted him with my BB gun. That was the fun part. I started thinking about "The Visible Man" again. Remembering his various organs being strewn over the yard, I wondered if a man can be "parted out". Dr. Ryrie does it in his book, "Basic Theology", this way: The facets of the immaterial aspects of man: - Soul - Spirit - Heart - Conscience - Mind - Flesh - Will In Genesis 2:7, God took materials from the earth and used His breath to give the form life. It really isn't debatable that man is both material and immaterial. James 2:26 refers to how the two are separated again at earthly death. When you look in the mirror, study the image and contemplate the immaterial. After all, the rest is just dirt. In wonder of Him and me, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 14 23:13:16 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 14 May 2005 23:13:16 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Walking on the Edge Message-ID: <6D5EF20C-C508-11D9-8667-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I have always been a bit of a geek. When I was much younger, one of my favorite places to go was OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Every time we drove by that exit on the freeway, I would secretly hope my parents were taking me on a surprise visit. One of my favorite exhibits was one that many other people walked by; it was a two-story pendulum that was hung from the ceiling on the main floor. There was a large hole cut in the floor of the lobby so you could see where it swung in the downstairs cafeteria. Now this hole was surrounded by very tall plexiglas so the visitors could have an unobstructed view down below. As a child, this freaked me out a little because there was no obvious railing or other device that would prevent me from falling. I would always shuffle up to the edge, put my fingertips on the window, and look down without leaning on the barrier too hard. I was convinced it would go if I were to put all my weight on it. The irony is that for all of my fear to get close and look, the sight was always the same. Also, it was easy to walk downstairs and see it at the floor level without any fear of injury. And yet, I always felt that pull to ease up to the edge and look over. For me, this memory is an illustration of something we struggle with every day. As human beings, we are constantly exposed to temptation. As men, it is force fed to us by society. Get rich! Get women! Be cool! As Christians, we know very well what these temptations would do to us. Yet, far too many times we sneak up to the precipice just to take a peek over the edge. Sometimes, we back off and live to see another day. But, sometimes, we go too far and fall in. Now, God will always help you out if you depend on Him, but you will have suffered the consequences of your actions on the way back up. It's never any fun. Why do we hover around the edge? God has clearly marked those dangerous areas, but we just can't stay away. Even if you've never fallen in, the odds are against you. You can't expect to just keep peeking in forever without slipping just once. Why take that chance? The Word is very clear on how to deal with temptation. You are not supposed to just take a step back and stand firm. You are not just supposed to close your eyes and hope it goes away. You are supposed to flee. To me, fleeing means a full out run for your life in the opposite direction. There's no doubt about that command: "Flee from sexual immorality..." 1 Corinthians 6:18 "...flee from idolatry..." 1 Corinthians 10:14 And Paul wrote in reference to the love of money and wealth: "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness" 1 Timothy 6:11 Don't hang around the guard rail. Don't see how close you can get to the edge of the cliff. Don't peer into the volcano. Flee. Don't just flee aimlessly, either. Flee with the intent to pursue godliness and righteousness and the rest that Paul describes. Yank on my coat if you see me get too close. I'll do the same for you. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun May 15 23:57:10 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 23:57:10 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] From the Heart Message-ID: Growing up can be measured by the times we realize that what we have been taught has been metaphor or outright myth. As children, we really did, for a while, believe a little chubby guy came down the chimney once a year and left toys for us. As we grew older, we looked past the obvious clues like sacks from Sears and how you could exchange gifts from the North Pole could be exchanged at Toys 'R' Us. My own son and I were sitting on a bench at the mall when I asked him if he wanted to go see Santa. He said, "I know that isn't Santa. I know Santa isn't real." "Really?" I asked. Without looking up, he added, "Don't tell Mom, though. I don't think she knows." A small perplexing item that I remember was the first time I saw a picture of the human heart. "Wait a minute," I thought, "That doesn't look like the pictures I have seen." I was expecting a human heart to look like the standard valentine heart. The thing in my chest wasn't anything like the red version with the little angels buzzing about with the miniature bows and arrows. The experience was an important clue: that a guy had to be careful about jumping to conclusions. What do you think of when someone says, "From the heart" ? As Dr. Ryrie points out, "The heart is a very comprehensive concept in both the Old and New Testaments. Used about 955 times, it stands for the center and seat of life, both physical and psychical." Dr. Ryrie breaks it down: - Seat of intellectual life: Deuteronomy 8:5, Matthew 15:19-20, Psalms 19:11, Hebrews 4:12, Jeremiah 17:9 - Seat of emotional life: Deuteronomy 6:5, Job 27:6, Psalms 104:15, Isaiah 30:29, Nehemiah 2:2, Romans 9:2, Psalms 37:4, Psalms 73:21 - Seat of volitional life: Deuteronomy 4:29, Exodus 14:5, Exodus 8:15, Hebrews 4:7, Exodus 7:23 - Seat of spiritual life: Romans 10:9-10, 1 Peter 3:15, Ephesians 3:17, 2 Corinthians 1:22, 1 Timothy 1:5, Hebrews 10:22, Romans 2:29 The world is naive when it invokes phrases like, "From the bottom of my heart", "In my heart of hearts", "broken heart", "all of my heart", "Near and dear to my heart", "great heart", "big hearted", etc. They know it has a deep meaning, but they don't know where the meaning comes from. They use the phrases as if life were a commercial. It's only for emphasis, not for substance. Life with Christ and the Bible is substance and meaning. Your heart is something more than a pump. Look at these passages. You are a miracle. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 16 21:58:53 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 21:58:53 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Endure Message-ID: <5DCA8912-C690-11D9-B2FA-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Have you ever been here? "I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God" Psalm 69:3 Patience while waiting for God to answer is distress. It is during these times when all our negative emotions work against us. Anger, despair, and rage all converge as we feel abandoned. The total unfairness of it all pushes us to the breaking point. The saying that "God will not give you more than you can handle" isn't exactly true. There are times when He sets out to break you down. When we finally break and humble ourselves, we cry out, "Okay, you win. Just show me what to do." Then who is deciding when the humility lesson starts and when it ends? When is enough enough in God's eyes? God decides the lesson. Your job is to endure. Remember the example of the cross foretold in Psalms: "Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Psalms 69:20-21 Jesus paid for our sins, but we did them in the sight of God and we must acknowledge them before God. The price Christ paid saves us from hell, but not from our Father's discipline. His other great gift is His example. Do you want to be close to God? Then do what His son did; endure and don't sin. After the lesson is learned wisdom comes. "Make your ear attentive to wisdom. Incline your heart to understanding; And discover the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:2 If our zeal to know God should provoke the world, don't do anything to disgrace our Lord's reaction to humiliation. "Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes wait for the Lord" Psalm 27:14 Bite the bullet. Hang on. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 17 22:45:03 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 22:45:03 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Promises, Promises Message-ID: I was cleaning out the garage the other day and came upon a box of comic books from my youth. While flipping through a few and reminiscing, I noticed that one ad page that most comics had. It's the page that is clearly aimed at the six to twelve year-old boy advertising whoopee cushions, black gum, itching powder, and the ever popular X-ray specs. As a child, I was wise enough to know that these were gag items and probably not worth the cost of shipping. However, there was one item that always made me stop and stare. It was an entire footlocker full of plastic army men for $1.25. Such a deal! The ad showed hundreds of soldiers, tanks, planes, and ships. I would always get excited until I read the fine print and see that the actual size of the footlocker was less than six inches long. Then reality would set in. The ad was exaggerating. Then, I'd turn the page. When I was a teenager this same approach was used to try to sell me clothing, especially shoes. I remember lusting after Reebok Pumps. These shoes would actually allow you to pump air into the soles to fit your feet better. Of course, the TV ads showed NBA players flying through the air. They implied you would become a better player. I knew it was exaggeration, but I still wanted the shoes. In adulthood, those marketing geniuses have continued to pitch products at us with a surgical knowledge of what makes guys tick. Deep down we still want to be cool, we want to have fun, and we want to be loved. Car commercials promise coolness. Beer commercials promise fun. Ads for razors, after shave, and hair replacement promise women. We all know by now that these images are exaggerations. They are stretching the truth to suck you in. But, if your need is deep enough, you want it to be true. You ignore what your brain tells you and let yourself be swept up in the illusion. However, you will soon be disappointed. You will still have that need to fill. Nothing the world offers will ever satisfy. These things often look better than what God promises. That's because they are promising what they can't deliver. God promises and delivers. God is also honest with us about what it will cost. We must hand over our earthly life for salvation, but sin will cost us eternal life. We have to learn to see through the marketing of sin. They don't have truth in advertising laws in hell. It looks sweet, but it is poison. "... for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14 Jesus calls us on our choice to believe the known liar and ignore Him: "[ the devil ] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!" John 8:44-45 Change the channel or turn the page. Better yet, turn the tube off, close the magazine, and open the Word. Scripture will cut through the lies. Use it to discern truth. There you will see that God makes a better promise: "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" Isaiah 40:31 And you don't even need cool basketball shoes. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 18 22:52:03 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 22:52:03 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Guilty! Message-ID: <203F3968-C82A-11D9-BEA8-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> A component of man-made laws is that, when we don't like them, we can change them. One day, something is the law and the next day it isn't. This idea keeps the rip tide tearing along the shore. The only way to survive is to learn to surf the tide and avoid wiping out. A lot of folks will go afoul of a man-made law from time to time. When we do, we must check the current rule of law, get an advocate, and hope he or she knows the reef well enough that we can avoid a disaster. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. There are also those that break the law their whole earthbound lives and are never held accountable in an earthly court. God simplifies His process. First, everyone breaks the law. Second, everyone is guilty. Third, everyone has a price to pay. To avoid disaster you must plead guilty, the gavel must fall, and you must accept the sentence. "God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." Romans 2:16 Nobody escapes. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 The difference is justice. There's no jury manipulation, no loopholes, no plea bargains, no mistrial, and no media pressure. The sentences is always the same. Then, at the critical moment, Jesus walks up to the bench, shows the bailiff the holes in His hands, and He walks us out of the courtroom acquitted. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free..." Galatians 5:1 Guilty as charged. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 20 07:52:47 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 07:52:47 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Do You Know Who You Aren't? Message-ID: They say that everyone has a double somewhere in the world. I think I found mine. I was standing in a sporting goods store in Portland, flipping through an album of hunting trips taken all over the world by the two owners who were brothers. This store was just a sideline as they made a ton of money as Burns Brothers Truck Stops. At any rate, the younger Burns brother and I look identical. We looked more like brothers than he and his real brother did. I have to tell you that it was spooky, but on the other hand I couldn't help thinking how great it would have been if the pictures really had been of me. They traveled the world doing all they "guy" stuff you could imagine. They had all the toys, all the guns, all the boats that money could buy. It wasn't hard to visualize myself with all of that stuff. After all, there I was, right in those pictures. For several minutes, I was wealthy, successful, and could go where I wanted when I wanted doing what I wanted. It was hard to take a deep breath and return to reality. I don't know what happened to the younger Burns brother, but I know who I am. I also know that I have to be careful to know who I am not. I must measure my life against the standard of Jesus. I must realize that I am not always right. I must realize that I need to put on the yoke, not place it on others. I must realize that because everyone doesn't agree with me doesn't make them wrong. I must realize that proving one man right and another wrong isn't the point. My image is in my liberty, the liberty of Jesus working in my life to do what is right. "Go therefore and make disciples..." Matthew 28:19 He didn't say make converts to my personal thoughts and opinions. We are to teach what Jesus taught, not what I think. Because, in the light of day, I am afraid. I am scared and I need the verse after this: "... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" Matthew 28:20 Knowing there is a God and knowing I am not Him. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Fri May 20 23:58:45 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 23:58:45 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Don't Make Excuses Message-ID: <5DA0D115-B546-4363-AB47-13DE2B19D5EF@clanwebb.com> Here is a list of some of the great excuses in the Bible: "The main said, "The woman you put here with me?she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Genesis 3:12 "Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." " Genesis 3:13 "Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, "The Lord did not appear to you." ?" Exodus 4:1 "Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you." " Exodus 4:10-14 "Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, "Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." So I told them, "Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off." Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" Exodus 32:22-24 These excuses all have one thing in common: They didn't work. Don't rationalize, guys. Obey. You will like the results a lot more. In there with you. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sun May 22 00:15:56 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 00:15:56 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] No Excuses Message-ID: <5725C128-CA91-11D9-8B2F-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> I went to college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a great place to live. It was smack in the middle of the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the country. A skip and a knock from Sedona, Walnut Canyon Indian ruins, the San Francisco Peaks, hunting, and fishing. I had three part time jobs and more discretionary income than I have had since. Oh, yes, and there were girls. In fact, at the beginning of my freshman year, the housing folks misspelled my name as Ellen and assigned me to a women's dorm. I wasn't saved at the time, but I was sure God liked me for a couple confusing hours when I first arrived on campus. I ended up living off campus one year with a friend. It was a great house on the outskirts of town. Among our many residents that came and went in that house was one who showed up shortly after I moved in and was still there when I left. He was a barn owl named Hoot. My roommate, Ken, had found him abandoned and brought him home as a youngster. Ken built Hoot a cage that hung off his bedroom window. It wasn't long before Hoot became just one of the guys. He roamed the house at will and would walk around on the hardwood floors with his talons sounding like a Broadway tap dancer. Hoot had his habits, like most of us, and we accepted his eccentricities as he had accepted ours. His favorite place to sit was on a log on top of the TV. Hoot would sit there for hours without moving a feather. Several times we would have young ladies over for dinner and TV (they usually cooked) and they would speculate whether Hoot was real or stuffed. We, of course, would say he was real and they, of course, would not believe us. How they could ignore the droppings on the log, I never understood. Anyway, about nine o'clock Hoot would decide it was time to clock in and get to his nightly rounds. He would spread his wings and give a short flap and hop to the floor. This event, of course, would answer that "real or fake" question. It also brought several screams. The exchange always went something like this: "He is real!! Why didn't you tell me he was real?" "I did" "I didn't think you were serious." "Why would I lie about such a thing?" "You should have really told me he was real!" "What can I say? I did tell you." "Take me home." Hoot's tragic flaw was his ability to kill the romance in an evening. Hoot never tried to disguise himself. The girls were told the truth and they were still surprised when the truth became evident. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse." Romans 1:20 Trying not to miss the obvious. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 23 00:12:29 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 00:12:29 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] My Way Message-ID: <065FC9D8-CB5A-11D9-94DF-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> We live in a country where the founding principle is freedom. We celebrate the independent spirit that overcomes impossible odds to succeed. We want to be in control. We want to make all of the decisions. We are free to live where we want, do what we want for a living, go where we want, and to choose what we eat, watch, drive, and wear. Freedom is good, but it's not safe. Freedom also means that you could fail at your chosen profession. You could watch TV that will ensnare you in sin. You could choose to drive a car that will bankrupt you. You could enter a marriage that was doomed from the start. These things happen because we couldn't see into the future or know the unknowable. Even though we have chosen to accept Christ as our savior, we are still free to either let Him lead or to continue driving on our own. Men were designed to be leaders. As children we are competitive and looking for the angle to move up the social hierarchy. It's very difficult to hand the wheel over to Jesus. If we can get past our pride, though, God will guide you. He can see into the future. He knows the unknowable. Let the big guy with the map drive for a change! It was a little before my time, but I am familiar with the Frank Sinatra classic, "My Way". This song is the epitome of the typical male attitude. It not only revels in doing things on your own, but it is even glorifying that fact at the end of the game. We love the movies where the hero loses, but goes out in a blaze of glory. (Remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?) It may be an exciting way to go, but Jesus won't think much of it when He judges our lives. You are fallible. You will fail. Frequently. God is infallible. He never fails. Who do we think we are that we can do better than He would? "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24 "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23 Jeremiah knew the secret. Man can never pull it off on his own. You have to trust in God. Let Him lead you. He knows the way. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 24 00:11:29 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 00:11:29 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Do You Know What You're Doing? Message-ID: <0CD65436-CC23-11D9-82AA-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> A Christian's testimony doesn't have to be dramatic or earth shaking. It's just a story of how Christ has worked in your life. By telling that story, you are giving evidence of Christ and who He is. My testimony certainly isn't tabloid material, but there are episodes in my life that are very clearly actions of God. As time passes, I am only more sure of that. The story of my professional life is one of unexpected twists and turns, but each change of direction was for the best. Each time we trusted in God to lead us, we came out okay. Here are a few examples: One year out of college I was working on a fairly dull project in a fairly dull company in the Portland area and we weren't making enough to make ends meet. After some interviewing at a local company, I was told that an offer would be extended to me any day. It promised to be more exciting, better pay, and to have better opportunity for promotion. Each week, though, I would hear that they were working on it and the offer was coming. In the meantime, I did an interview in the Seattle area on a whim. I didn't expect much to come of it. The Seattle company made me an offer right away and there was a decision window. I really wanted the local job so we didn't have to move, but it wasn't official. We waited on God to show us whether to wait on the unsure thing or take the sure offer into unknown territory. God led us to Seattle. That other offer never materialized and the company was bought and closed within a year. God knew what He was doing. Some years later, we were getting itchy to move back to Portland and, although my current job was good, I seemed to be stuck in the promotion chain. I interviewed with a company back in Portland and loved it. However, the offer was for the same salary, but with more taxes. I begged them to raise the offer so we could afford to accept. They increased the stock options, but not the salary. Again, we waited on the Lord. He led us to pass on that offer. Two months later, I was promoted to a management position that I loved. We were able to purchase our first house and we were content. That other company is still around, but I would never have had a chance to manage during that time. God knew what He was doing. A few years after that, the company I was a manager with was bought and closed. We were crushed. We had become very content with our lifestyle, our circle of friends, and our location. (By the way, beware contentment when God isn't the center of your life.) I applied for dozens of jobs in the same area so we wouldn't have to move. I also applied for one job in the Portland area. We really didn't want to move back at that point. We had planted roots. I had exactly zero offers locally, but I got an offer back in Portland. It was for less than I had been making and for a non-management position. We could have waited a full year living off of the severance package, but there was no promise of security in doing that. God led us back to Portland. My current job keeps sane hours (hard to find in the software industry) and has a great atmosphere. Most importantly, though, we went from a lifestyle where my job and my co-workers were the center of our life to a lifestyle where our church and our church friends are the center of our life. God knew what He was doing. God can lead by opening doors and clearing paths. In my case, He often leads by closing doors in your face and forcing you to change direction. The message of my testimony is to follow His guidance regardless. Don't worry, I have just as many instances of times I didn't listen and paid for it. It only confirms the truth. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb ... your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13,16 Listen to Him. He knows you pretty well. He knows what He's doing. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 24 23:05:03 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 23:05:03 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] The Rules Message-ID: All designers start with an idea and then create a prototype. The first working model is the culmination of a great idea. So it is with marriage. Adam and Eve are the prototypes of all males and females. They also modeled the first marriage. Most of you reading this are probably already married. Some of you already know that you didn't put in nearly enough thought before you got married. Nevertheless, brother, you are where you are and you had best get your arms around the rules: Rule #1: God made the rules. Rule #2: He isn't going to change the rules just because you didn't think it through before you got married. Rule #3: Getting angry, complaining, whining, and breaking the rules just puts off the inevitable realization that rules 1 and 2 are here to stay. Rule #4: You must leave (Genesis 2:24). Most men and women are still attached to either or both parents. This is often for emotional or financial reasons. Rule #5: You must cleave (think: weave) with your wife. (Matthew 19:5) Rule #6: You must become one, but still different (Ephesians 5:31) Don't get the raised eyebrow. God is the prototype for this: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Rule #7: God has given you responsibilities: Provider (Genesis 2:15), Protector (Genesis 3:17), Teacher (Genesis 2:17), and Ruler (Genesis 3:16). Don't get excited about that last one. The Hebrew for Ruler means one who leads or guides. Rule #8: You can give over authority to your wife. After all, in many cases she is smarter than you are. But, you cannot give over responsibility. It doesn't matter how dumb you are or how smart she is, in the end the buck stops with you. Rule #9: If there is anything wrong in your marriage, it's your fault. At least it's easy to remember. Rule #10: Your only hope is to get into the Word and to get on your knees. Guys, we are the only line of defense for our families. "Or how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house." Matthew 12:29 If you don't understand the rules, Satan will get into your house. Take it from someone who fell for Satan's head fake more than once. May God help all husbands. Allen P.S. You wife has rules, too. Under no circumstances is it your place to see that she follows them. From wyatt at clanwebb.com Wed May 25 22:39:31 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 22:39:31 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Thoughts to Ponder Message-ID: <88EFCE98-CDA8-11D9-AB5A-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Sometimes the greatest messages come from the most unlikely and subtle sources. I received an email from my brother that was intended to bring a chuckle (it did), but I felt it also contained some very profound ideas for men walking with Christ. I have no idea if these are actual quotes, but they are truths nonetheless. "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal Think about this when you decide to walk on the wild side and fool around with sin. "If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." - Infantry Journal Or, if life is going too well and you aren't in the Word... "Tracers work both ways." - US Army Ordnance Think about this when you are passing judgment on another brother. "Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Infantry Journal Think about this when you open your mouth and write a check that your Christian brothers will have to help you cover. "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with one eye upon you." Psalm 32:8 Praise God that He is the same to us as He was to King David. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Thu May 26 23:52:47 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 23:52:47 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Will You Realize Your Potential? Message-ID: I am enough of a sports fan to actually follow the various drafts and draft lotteries in the off-season. When reading about these things, it is common to see the list of which players were drafted in which position for past years. That hindsight is always a fun game to play. There are those guys who were drafted high and never heard from again. There are those who were drafted very low and went on to succeed anyway. I remember the story of Len Bias. He was the number 2 pick in the 1986 NBA draft and was expected to be a star in the league. A few days later he was dead from cocaine intoxication. He had been a star through college and been drafted high. Expectations were high. And, then, he made a bad decision. His potential was never realized. I also followed the infamous career of Ryan Leaf. He was the number 2 pick in the 1998 NFL draft. It had been a toss-up between him and Peyton Manning as the number 1 pick that year. But, Ryan went into the NFL thinking he was done. He signed a fat contract and then proceeded to be labeled as lazy and unmotivated. He simply decided that getting to the NFL was enough. His potential was never realized. Then, there are players like Jerome Kersey. He was picked at the end of the second round in the 1984 NBA draft. If you read the draft list, you won't recognize any of the other names around him. Jerome went on to be a starting forward for the Portland Trailblazers during their a stretch of great teams in the late 80's and early 90's. He was from a college nobody had heard of and he had no business being as successful as he was. He realized his potential. Thinking about all of this led me to see a parallel in our Christian lives. Getting saved is a lot like getting drafted. We made it to the big leagues and we're getting an opportunity to play the game. Once you're drafted, though, your work isn't done. Once you're saved, you aren't done either. Truly, your work is only beginning because getting saved had nothing to do with your efforts, only your faith. You have potential to be used by God, but you have to do a few things: First, learn the playbook: "I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." Psalm 119:14-16 Second, make sure you aren't burdened with sin: "... first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" Matthew 7:5 Third, lose the illusion that you can be saved and lazy: "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" James 2:17 Finally, get ready to be used by God. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 Notice that God isn't waiting to see what you're capable of. He doesn't need to watch a spiritual workout to assess your ability. He already knows. He has already prepared the good works for you to do. You just have to recognize your birthright and do them. Depend on Him while you do them, but do them. Feel free to snap me with a towel if you see me slacking off. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 28 00:35:57 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 28 May 2005 00:35:57 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Conscience Message-ID: <2136061A-CF4B-11D9-A686-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> The first time I pondered my conscience was after a movie. I can't tell you how old I was, but in those days we paid a penny for each year of age to get into the ISIS theater in Trinidad, Colorado. The movie was animated and had a little green bug in a top hat and tails singing "When you wish upon a star" and "Let your conscience be your guide." My concern for my conscience lasted about as long as it took to tear into my Abba Zaba candy bar, wad up the wrapper, and throw it at one of my friends. Later in life, that darned conscience showed up many times, but I could always reason with it. Now that I am saved, it has become a real nuisance. "Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking" - H.L. Mencken "I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do." - Christopher Reeve "Conscience is our magnetic compass; reason our chart." - Joseph Cook "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." - Mark Twain "Health food may be good for the conscience, but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better." - Robert Redford How we do play with a gift from God. I see my conscience in two ways: pre-saved and post-saved. Pre-saved it was like a tazer with faulty batteries. I always had it in my pocket. I knew how to use it, but I couldn't always count on it. Post-saved it is tuned and ready to go at a moment's notice. I understand who gave it to me. It allows me to be prepared to witness to the depth and reality of a spiritual commitment. "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers..." Romans 9:2 Pay attention to it guys. What it brings to your mind is what God wants from you. In Love, Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Sat May 28 23:58:47 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Sat, 28 May 2005 23:58:47 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Be Confident Message-ID: <1A79F5A6-D00F-11D9-86B8-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> Like an increasing number of families around the country, we are homeschoolers. We only have one child to teach, but it still generates a full schedule for me and my wife. I have taken on about a third of the subjects to teach our son, David. One of them is math. Math was one of my favorite subjects in school because there was always a clear answer. You could calculate it. You could verify it with other avenues. There were ways to be confident in your answers. I'm trying to teach that methodology to David, now. When he works on a math problem and tells me, "I think that's right," I always challenge him to verify it. He hates it now when I recite my mantra, "There is a way to be sure." I use this statement to try to teach him that there are ways to be confident in your answer. You can do the math problem a couple of ways to see if you get the same answer. You can do the problem backwards to make sure it goes back to where you started. In higher level math, you can do proofs that leave no doubt whatsoever that the answer is correct. I want him to finish a math problem ready to bet the farm that he found the right answer. There's strength in confidence like that. God wants us to have that kind of confidence, too. Although, He has more powerful subject matter in mind. First off, you should be absolutely, positively confident in your salvation. If you have truly given you heart to Him, you cannot lose your salvation. It doesn't matter how bad you screw up. Repent. Ask for forgiveness. Get moving in the right direction again. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:27-28 Secondly, have confidence in the life God leads you to. Don't be discouraged by the criticism or mocking of unbelievers. Don't be jealous of what the world offers that you have spurned. You have accepted a path of eternal life. There is nothing better. "Remember those earlier days after you had first received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering... do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded" Hebrews 10:32,35 Finally, have confidence in introducing other people to the free gift of salvation and the confidence you yourself have been given. This is easily the most difficult part of my walk. I am terrified of telling people about Christ. I worry about what they'll think of me or if I will damage a friendship. You need to get over that fear just as I do. It is the truth. It is the only answer. And, it is our job to communicate it to the unbelieving world. "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Proverbs 28:1 Take note, though, you do not have to work up this boldness alone. Just like all good things, God wants to give it to us. We simply have to ask. "When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted." Psalm 138:3 "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:31 You are a child of God. Be confident that you will always be one. Be confident that you made the right choice and the life God has for you is the right one. For the sake of those God has placed around you, be confident in sharing the Gospel. You should ask God to give you the confidence you need, but you have to want it. Don't avoid it. Let's jump in together. Wyatt From wyatt at clanwebb.com Mon May 30 00:41:08 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 00:41:08 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Lessons in Clay Message-ID: <2F716770-D0DE-11D9-AFD4-000A9599B718@clanwebb.com> We had a great time Thursday night with Pastor Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church. It was a great time with men and a message from a man's man. The most important part of the evening, of course, was the message. Hutch can take a verse, tee it up, and hit it a mile. The thing is, though, it always has a slice or a hook to it and you begin to wonder if the thing will eventually end up on the green. "When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent) So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, "Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?" John 9:6-8 I always thought these verses were pretty straightforward. It was another miracle from Jesus, not following a particular pattern of methodology, so none could categorize our Lord as anything but unique. Seen through Hutch's eyes, it seems so much more personal. First, we have a man that is blind from birth. He makes his way every day to the same spot in the same place to do the only thing he is capable of doing: begging. It isn't much of a life by most standards, but it is his life. He has his place, his friends, and his job. Nobody expects him to do anything but what he does every day. He has all his excuse ducks lined up in a row and that is that. Along comes Jesus and the whole paradigm is blown. He spits. This is not a little sissy spit, but a good growler of a honker. Then He mixes in some dirt. Not just a little dirt to make mud, but enough to make clay. With this clay he walks up to an unsuspecting blind man and "whap!" He slaps it right in his eyes. What must this poor guy have thought? It couldn't have been pleasant. Then He tells the guy to get up and go wash his face. He probably didn't need to tell him to do it because getting the grit out of his eyes had probably become a priority shortly after dealing with the shock of getting sucker slapped. The point Hutch was making was that so often, for God to use us, He has to get our attention and shock us into action. He often gets the results He wants by irritating the very excuse we are using to stay stuck where we are. He didn't reason with this guy. He knew he had his excuses. He knew he was set in his life. Jesus created circumstances that motivated the man to go wash his eyes. You notice that He didn't tell him that if he washed his eyes he would see. He took the shortest route. Give him an unavoidable reason to go wash his eyes. This blind guy must have been thinking, "You bet brother, and don't you move. As soon as I get back from washing my eyes, I'm going to even the score no matter how many blind swings it takes." Instead, he leaves the only security spot he has ever known under a motivation he has never known and washes the mud out of his eyes. He can see for the first time in his life. The crowd reacts like most who don't like the boat rocked. All the folks in his sphere then cannot accept what has happened. They claim Jesus is a fake, but the facts do not escape the blind man who now has sight. "The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."" John 9:30 They reject the miracle and the man and throw him out of the only place he has ever known for security. Finally, the mission is accomplished for both the man and Jesus. "Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshipped him. Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." " John 9:38-39 Here is the point: If you are comfortable with all your excuse ducks in a row for why you cannot serve, then you are ripe for some irritation. When it happens and you give knee-jerk reaction, back off. If God brings you irritation, He wants your attention. The shortest way to new sight is to do what He is telling you to do. My advice, for what it's worth, is to wash your face. Been there. Done that. Bought the coffee cup. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 31 00:09:18 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 00:09:18 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] A Day in Prison Message-ID: A few years back, I was part of a group of guys that went to Oregon State Prison to play slow pitch softball for a day. It was one of those life-changing days. There were many aspects of that day where God spoke to me. Those walls were so high in the yard and those hours we spent with those guys were a multitude of contrasts. Every contact with a prisoner filled me with conflicting feelings. Some of those guys were downright scary with tattoos, battle scars, and hard, built-in snarls. One of the keys to my survival in commission sales has been fine tuning an ability to connect with a stranger in thirty seconds or less. I have to tell you that for the first thirty minutes or so, I was afraid to open my mouth. If they had not reached out to us, I would have just pitched and gone home as soon as possible. As tough as they were, they were like kids playing ball. It was a huge privilege for them to be on one of the many teams. They could lose the privilege for a variety of reasons, but losing your temper was a surefire way to be sent back to your cell. I was told that earning the privilege again was a long road. The rules for the games were set up to keep the game moving and done in under 45 minutes. So, I pitched 22 innings of ball that day under a hot, summer sun. They took great pride in hitting a ball over the wall. It was as if they could fly out of the yard with each one that made it. There were several as these guys were good. In fact, about halfway through the day we mixed players and formed teams that were part civilian and part prisoner just to make it more even. They didn't want us to leave. There were pictures at the end of the day and they gave us a trophy for sportsmanship because we made the time to come and play ball with them. At one point during the day, a flock of geese flew right over the yard from one end to the other. Everyone stopped and looked skyward until the last straggler passed over and out of sight. An old guy came over to me (he looked like nine miles of bad road), tugged my shirt, and sat down on the bench next to me. We had been warned that guys might try to talk us into all sorts of things using all sorts of stories. They might want our ball gloves, sunglasses, watches, etc. I was very wary. He said, "You know, last year one of them landed in the yard right over there by that little shack and she laid three eggs. She took care of them, but only one hatched. I used to bring her bread and cereal. The chick got too big to hide, so the guards took them both out." I didn't know what to say. I really think all he wanted to get across to me was that he wasn't all bad. One of the guys with us met someone he went to high school with and they spent time catching up on old friends. The guy who arranged for us to come was a friend of my pastor from Prairie City, Oregon. A nicer guy you are never likely to meet. A father of two girls, he and Pastor Mark talked about the hardware store in Prairie City. They talked about how old fashioned it was, the old wooden floor, where the nail bins were and just memories in general about their hometown. He is still there because in one unguarded moment while drunk, he killed a local police officer with his bare hands. They hugged and cried and he asked Mark to look after his girls. We all have free will and scripture, to my mind, doesn't really nail it down. "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God?through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:21-25 They say it takes a millionth of a volt to make a decision. I spent the day with a lot of guys that would give anything to have that moment back. Don't do anything in haste, unless it is to run away from sin. Allen From wyatt at clanwebb.com Tue May 31 22:26:09 2005 From: wyatt at clanwebb.com (Wyatt Webb) Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 22:26:09 -0700 Subject: [Daily Push Up] Lay Down Your Burden Message-ID: This email was forwarded to me this morning and I thought it was a great illustration of Jesus and our relationship with him. > A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a > glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" > > Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. > > The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends > on how long you try to hold it." > "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an > hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, > you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, > but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." > > He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we > carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes > increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. > > As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and > rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on > with the burden." > When Jesus was on the earth as a man, he had stress and burdens. "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."" Mark 6:31 However, when we accept Jesus as Lord and savior, we are allowed to put down our sin burden and walk away. "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!" Psalm 32:1 Modern man seeks and finds answers. He just refuses to accept the true source. "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12 But so many cannot leave them behind. "Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly." Proverbs 26:11 Do you really understand the concept of the forgiveness of sin? Or can you not stand living without them? Allen