FAITH: ITS VITALITY AND WONDER

Faith is the robust power source of the human heart.  Its reach is both deep and stunning.  Why, one might inquire?  It is faith that legitimately reverses, may even implode, the discouraging things of the seen.  Faith isn't wishful thinking.  It is factual forward movement.  We walk by faith and not by sight, insisted the Apostle Paul.

I wish to perpetuate the message that believing God is stunning simply because of the meaningful, glorious, and radical factor known as hope.  The heart that believes God possesses an incurable hope even when all measurement of socially-accepted knowledge verifies, or at least portrays, the opposite.

How can there be a more fascinating tool for one's daily walk than to possess a deep faith in our active God who delivers for the believer two fundamental facts:

1. He makes dead situations, goals, hopes, and dreams come back to life.
2. He can make something out of nothing, from nothing, with nothing.

When we are faced with moments that appear to be "the end", we are free to imagine possibility and potential.  This is powerful for every relationship, each plan, and all goals.  God gives life to things which man could conclude as DOA.

And then...and then a trait of Him that I so find unfathomable, yet true, is God's ability to bring about wonder when there was no other sign that such remotely could be possible.  I would stand alone 40 years ago in a church auditorium and plead with God that He would help me to reach the whole world.  He immediately moved me to a congregation in the very center of America which happened to have a vast reach.  Too, God placed me over an annual workshop that continues to dream of inspiring world evangelism.  And more, He created at my fingertips a computer with email and Facebook, etc. that has a reach which goes....well....around the entire world.

This is who we are!  We are linked into a system that is never shut down by any visible distress; but is rather empowered by an invisible certainty called faith.  Faith isn't a term reserved for weak religiosity.  Rather, it is the hallmark of an individual daring to resist things as they are in order to actively seek the wonders that are not....yet.

May we have the courage to walk in the Jesus-arena where the Spirit of God lifts us higher than our best corporate imaginations.  From reading my Bible, I pick up that He isn't close to being done with the wow-factors!  Just because a dream has died it doesn't mean that it can't be resurrected.  And, just because there are matters that are yet to exist does not mean that they can't come into being if one would but believe with the hope of what God can create...from our nothing.

(as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.  In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be." Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

OH HOW WE NEED STRONG PEST CONTROL

There is an element, maybe an ideology, that seems to really bugs (pest) us.  Like a gnat or even a buzzing fly, there is a constant among us that causes us to wish we could take just one good swat and bring that annoyance to an end...for good.  I speak of simply learning to be content.

I've learned to break much of my daily frustration that comes about...always comes about...when things don't go the way I had planned.  Being content can hit the mind as something negative; like in lazy or lethargic or status quo.  It could appear at first-light, I would guess, to lack motivation and energy.  Yet, such is far from the truth.

To be content would include liking who you are and where you are because you carry a deep conviction that God is in the lead; not nervous, cautious, critical self.  To lack the ability to like right now carries an undermining threat of getting in the way; getting in the way of the Spirit's leadership for we have set out to stir life from our own feebility.

To be content is to accept the day that unfolds whether with friend or encountering a foe.  Circumstances are not our boss.  Neither are associates radical moods. Contentment in the Spirit is...profoundly so.  Pay raise or cut, success or failure, victory or defeat, we do not flinch.  Compliment or criticism...both fit our walk and we will learn to be....quite content.

From the Word of God provided by the Spirit of wisdom, one of the greatest of His features is that He gives us the very best pest control known to the mind of man; contentment in all settings.  Drive and ambition?  Of course we have it!  But we will not lose awareness of the wonder of right now just because interruption strikes here and there on a regular basis.

We've got living to do; but fear and worry beg to be behind the wheel.  Whad'ya say we let contentment be the chauffeur?  We'll likely enjoy our travels so much more.

II Corinthians 12:10
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be    content in whatever circumstances I am.  

TRUST THE SPIRIT OF GOD

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

There is an entire new world wrapped up in this statement of Jesus.  Life.  Life is the drive of every individual.  Furthermore, it is the same goal as God's; to give us life.  All of creation wants the same thing.  We deeply desire to really live.

Conflict is immediate when the flesh wishes to be the boss of our inner spirit.  Inward man houses the Holy Spirit.  God's Spirit works with ours.  Flesh isn't a matter of muscle, sinew, or any other physical attribute.  Rather, it is the focus of the mind.  Basically, we either worship God or else we worship our comfort and preference.  

A key factor within this challenge is the mind; do we trust God or do we rely on our mode of approach to life?  Do we really believe God or do we truly (even secretly) believe that life is up to us?  Shall we go with the Spirit of God or do we hammer out some sort of plan for daily reason or practicality?  

The fleshly mind insists upon explanation.  The inner man thrives upon mystery.  Fleshly thinking is riddled with constant fear.  The inward person operates from the divine code of resurrection power; whatever is dead can live and whatever isn't yet, can become.  

Oh, how we hang our spiritual hats on the fascinating truth of Romans 4; (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.  The exhilarating truth that Jesus did die and did rise again is to be repeated within our actual walk.  The spiritual mind believes this to be true.  The mind bent on the flesh believes it to be a bogus statement.

Proverbs 3:5 comes into play in a very crucial moment.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  Here we have a choice either to trust God or trust our own judgment.  I don't know about you; but my inclination would be to trust God even those times when I can't understand Him rather than trust myself with my own understanding.  Would you have similar inclination?

SIMPLIFY

Life is being challenged.  It is said of some that they have a hard life.  Each of us may find ourselves in such a mix along the way.  Truly, there is a push-n-shove that goes on in the inner man that needs to be addressed.  Psalm 46:10 solves much of this; Be still and know that I am God.

To be still was not a natural Terry Rush phrase.  Fidgety.  Nervous energy.  Always on the move; never sitting still.  I found that activity was more of my god than God was. To be still means we wait on Him to do the kind of productive work that is both meaningful and lasting.  Yet, it is so hard for guys like me to sit...still.

So why would I live in such a tangled and very busy web that wearies the soul?  Why would you?  And is there a way that we might crack the code of busy, Busy, BUSY?  The answer is Y-E-S.  So, I give you ideas which might help you with your demanding load.

1.  BREAK THE NEED TO PLEASE EVERYONE....because you can't and you won't.  I thought I could; but life unfolded and proved to not be the case.  There are times...many times...when some will conclude that I am selfish and indifferent.  But learning to say "No" to ten requests allows me to say "Yes" to the ministry of God for the moment.

2.  BREAK THE NEED TO BE RECOGNIZED....because you don't need it.  I wanted a reputation of a do-gooder; one who accomplished stuff....important stuff...big stuff.  In reality, I was on course to be less productive because I was busy trying to be impressive...so I assumed.

3.  BREAK THE NEED TO APPEAR TO BE A HARD WORKER....because this interferes with God using our personal vessels to do the work He designs for each of us. We don't run this show.  God does.  Trying to support the appearance of doing faithful work is precisely why we accomplish very little.  Rather, may we spend our time dependent upon Him; His leadership and His skills.

To simplify is to let go.  To simplify is to relax.  To simplify is to trust that God can when we are clueless.  To simplify may mean we have no report to impress others; yet, the $25 we gave to missions in secret fed a tribe in a distant land.  It is God who is productive.  We are the vessels of His love.

If you write a book that motivates thousands, yay you!  If you never write a book, but read one, and from that other person's writing you were motivated to enhance a neighbor's life...yay you!!  Simplify, my friend, that God might get things done through us.  To be busy chasing after spiritual activity may be blocking God out more than letting Him in.  Just a possibility.

To simplify in the kingdom work is the idea that we really might get more done by asserting ourselves less so that God is allowed to use us for His plan of bringing life to a hurting world.

WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE TO GIVE OTHERS....

....maybe it's your day to receive.

Be still.  He is God.  Enjoy even the silence of uncertainty.  He will lead.  God always has...and He always will.

Therefore...celebrate right now!!

SPIRITUALITY: THE CONTEST BETWEEN GENERATIONS

Andrew Murray wrote nearly a century ago, Worship is man's highest destiny because in it God is all.  Decades later this call seems to remain; the works of one's heart reaches peak performance when we are enamored with God more than anything or anyone else.  We worship Him; not in formality, but rather from impulse to declare to Him that He is our glorious God.

Generations struggle, oddly, from generation to generation.  By that I mean that each younger one tends to push against the stuckness of the older generation.  Even more ironic is that every younger group eventually becomes the older group and, uh-huh, guess who's now stuck?  The very core, who decades early pushed against the tradition which stifled development of the church, becomes the very thing these once opposed.

Nothing has changed and nothing is new.  If you are of the older generation, beware of your standing in the way of Holy Spirit movement.  If you are of the younger, fight to stay new day by day in the Spirit rather than succumbing to the way we've always done it.

So why is this happening?

The Spirit draws us into newness day by day.  That would include flexibility, adjustment, learning, growing, and maturing.  In other words it would be known as change.  What goes overlooked, my opinion, is that due to the Spirit one is to be newer (younger) today than yesterday...II Cor. 4:16.  In effect, every generation is to be newer every day which would make us all what?

The.  Same.  One generation.  In the Spirit!

Generational divide is due to the flesh's yearn for satisfying self; doing things in the order which we prefer.  The music I like...or don't like.  The preaching style, the decor, the outreach approach; all of these can (and do) replace the devoted, committed worship of Father.  When this goes on, neither generation is correct; old or young, because each has become more inclined to please one's taste rather than glorify the One.

Generational unity comes about when we all realize we've become guilty of the very same disease; driven by self-satisfaction.  The church has a world to reach.  Our harmony will take us into uncharted waters; whereas our stances and objections stifle.  Every younger generation carries the threat of being led away from God by the older generation's insistence that we do church the right way; meaning the way we've always done it .

Our communities have opportunity to be re-reached by those of us still in the church.  Our hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Jesus is the goal that some may have missed at one crucial point when among us.  May we make perpetual adjustments in order to help every age range become the same age range....new....every...day.

I NEVER INTENDED TO BE A PART OF A CHURCH

In my earlier years I understood church to represent two basic elements: hypocrisy and boredom.  Oh, I didn't know any hypocrites personally; but I heard plenty about them by just passing through ordinary life.  The word was out.  Insincere.  Needy.  Useless.  I learned early on the ropes of why church wasn't a thing for me.

But the big distraction was my absolute boredom.  I'd take a stab at attendance hoping to get one of those public recognitions in front of the whole church for perfect attendance for three months straight.  I never got one ribbon; not one.  I couldn't take it.  My favorite part of church was when it ended.  What a relief; but I was still determined to try to get one of the ribbons...somehow.

So what changed?  Due to the influence of several others, I began to study the Bible.  I'd carried my Bible, but never really regarded it as anything that would mean much in my daily walk.  Basically, the Bible was something religious kids got for graduating from 8th grade and I was thanking God that I didn't get one.

But when I began to seriously study the Word, life began to make sense.  It took on meaning with an incredible retirement plan that was out of this world.  I learned to watch Jesus move through a community caring for rejects; ministering to the hurting as well as the ignored.  His Spirit began to call me into a deeper relationship of understanding both Father and neighbor.  There was a need in community to survive the inevitable; heavy discouragement.

Therefore, I speak to those who read these posts who, like me at one time, don't care for church and don't see the need for it.  I very much understand.  I would ask you, as did I, to reconsider.  God  isn't after you to go to church, sit  in rows, and endure the best you can for 90 minutes.  Are you kidding me?  Do you really think His Son died on the Cross simply to tie up half of your Sunday?

We are stranded.  We are stranded in sin so deeply that we can never do enough good to climb out on our own.  The time will come when you will want to say to a friend nearby or some distance away to explain to you the concept of starting life over...a real new beginning as.  The time will come when you will want to find out why you believe or disbelieve in God; rather than coasting through life with a smattering of criticisms here and there of people who have earned your disapproval.

Everyone is eventually headed for the cemetery.  But God is genius.  He knows full-well how to derail our eternal demise.  He calls each of us to go to a water-grave first via baptism that our sins would be washed away.  He was serious.  That's why He sent His Son; to learn what it was like to be a human with all of our frustrations and frailties.  God didn't call us to be the best we can be in hopes of going to heaven after we take our last breath.  He has more.  He wants us to bring our moody lives to an end while living that we might experience heaven's blessings while walking a new life.

Me?  I'm still dumbfounded that I love the church concept.  I didn't even want to go to church.  Now....I seem to be locked in!!!  God changes things because He changes people.  We can't escape earth's grinding us to eventual death except for One way out.  His Son.  We are to believe in Him, be buried in Him in baptism, and be elated that we can defy earth's discouraging days by focusing upon the invisible attributes of the Difference Maker who lives to operate from within each of us....every....day.

LIVING FROM BOTH EXTREMES

The system of church could use a vigorous boost.  The body of Christ will always do well to consciously remain new in Spirit day by day.  It's this new zone which challenges us; calls for us to function from such a perspective.  It would seem that hope awaits us, the church, when we decline to function somewhere within the realm of middle-zone in order to operate from the edge...both edges...at the same time.

We are not right with God because we figured ourselves out.  We are saved because He figured us out.  We do not earn our salvation.  It is a gift from God.  Jesus is the one right.  We are the ones who could not save ourselves.  When we make inward adjustments to believe we could not save ourselves; but that He did, an entirely new frame of walk should take place.  Any arrogance due to self-salvation should slip away as an atmosphere of humility should increase.

We are called to live from both extremes; the energy of the Holy Spirit while fully aware of the non-power of ourselves.  Faith on one side and surrender on the other, we become free to enter the dynamic that only God can supply.  There is no middle of safety or forewarning or management.  God runs the show and we most certainly do not.  Our job is two-fold; to stay out of the way and to get into His way.  We are to live from both extremes...and this takes, therefore, a double-commitment of sorts.

From human logic it would seem at first glance that we would be one or the other. Yet, from faith's perspective it is both...simultaneously...confidence in Him and the lack thereof in ourselves...we are to be empty of self in order to be full in Spirit.  Living from these two extremes make life tick.

BE A PEOPLE OF THE CLOTH

Each of us is embedded into the fabric of the living continuum.  We are of the one cloth called humanity.  Gloriously, there is variation.  The differences, though, contribute to the completion as well as complimentation of every person.  No one is an island; not one of us.  Our spectacularity comes about because we have joined the ranks of person-hood which celebrates life rather than bemoans it.

There is one cloth.  Of course, threads vary in color; they even vary in roles.  Some may serve by being grouped with other threads upon the cuff of a garment while others help pad a shoulder.  The cuffs will be involved in reach.  Simultaneously, the shoulder may avail itself to one who needs a good cry.  Yet, the entire cloth-effect matters in some form to every person along the way; repeatedly so.

You, my friend, are not exempt from participating as a thread of the cloth.  As such you might find yourself threaded, sown, and partially clipped.  Just beware.  You have a role to play.  Especially those nearest you are affected by you....so brighten up. Straighten up.  Awaken to your role.

You are a part of the cloth...for WE are a people of the cloth of God called humanity.

PREACHERS: WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT HASN'T BEEN SAID?

Standing before an assembly of ordinary people to deliver what is known as The Sermon is an absolute privilege that I, personally, didn't see coming.  It is outrageous in task and immeasurable in privilege.  Why?  Because it is within this fundamental earthling process that the Divine connects with us....with all.

The task before me Sunday by Sunday is increasingly challenging.  When one has been at a church for say a few years everyone in front of you is basically of similar mindset. About year seven for me I began to notice an additional challenge.  How do I say important and fundamental matters to the original ones who have already heard and the newly added members who have never heard of such matters before?  And then complicate this by staying through year 20, 25, 30, 35....and now year 39.

For example, I'm currently preaching to a group who have heard much about the Holy Spirit and my personal illustrations that go with it.  Yet, an entire rookie group also sits before me who haven't heard of such concepts.  How are we to maneuver such a Holy mixturistic terrain?

We trust in the activity and the action of the Living God.  He will speak beyond our human words.  He will supply ideas and give direction that the speaker has no idea what hearers need.  He does.  We don't.

I know for me that I don't run the show.  God does.  I am weak.  He is strong.  Fact.  His Word is practical, impractical, profound, and confusing...all in one Package.  Those of us who speak wish so deeply to impart words which breathe life into very dear people.

But we can't pull it off by our cleverness of speech.  The truth is that we must rely on the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done; all the while we stand before this group absolutely clueless of how to say and exactly what to say.

So preacher friends of mine, do not resist the cluelessness of our task.  It's a vital part of the God-scheme.  He baffled the entire creation by first presenting Himself as an infant.  As such, He became the hope of the world.  Do not fight being inadequate (though we are very strongly so); but rather remain enamored with the incredible reach that Father has for His beloved created ones.

Preach the Word.  Preach with incredible awareness of how terribly small we are and how immeasurably immeasurable He really is.  As long as we are preaching His message it will always be new...even if it has already been said...many...times.

WHAT GOOD IS JESUS?

I spent a good many years as a believer fundamentally clueless about the Son of God. As I write along these lines, do understand that I am certain that at this very date I have merely scratched the surface of understanding this man; our Savior.  My deficiency was that I gave church more thought than I did the head of the church.

Somehow in some way somewhere I began to take note that I was doing a lot of Bible teaching and preaching; but my emphasis was not so much about Jesus.  Oh, I used his illustrations or teachings when they fit my need for emphasis.  Yet, to watch him, observe him, portray him was a basic blank in my efforts because I had church work to do... and...quite a bit of Bible to learn.

When I began to watch Jesus I saw him move about in ways that I wasn't thinking.  He seemed to care about people...as if it were his doctrine or something.  He seemed to be siding with the anti-church crowd.  Odd, I thought.  Isn't the reverse our goal...my goal...his goal?

Jesus never met a sinner he didn't absolutely love.  He dared to go into the parts of town where others would ignore.  The caliber of associations seemed to be noted due to their hearts more than their accomplishments.  Humble?  Yes.  Cowardly? Never....even as the religiously devoted plotted their raid in the Garden.

What good is Jesus?  Well, first let me say that he really isn't much good to me if I'm fighting to present my self-righteousness.  My self-goodness leaves me stranded for even it is contaminated by sin.  I am in the league of the apostle Paul who had a very clear picture of how nothing he was.  That would be me...much more so.  Honestly, it would be all of us.

What good is Jesus is that he gets us.  He.  Gets.  Us.  He understands humanity for he was encapsulated in our zone as well.  He grasps our weaknesses...and covers for us with his might.  Jesus is all about rescuing the perishing, saving the lost, and empowering the weak.  That's what good he is.

Jesus isn't an imaginary nor distant spiritual figure-head who knows nothing about earthenship.  No, he was measured by it; groomed with it.  And he beat it for he did that thing (due to power of Father) where he took earth's final word and bombed it.  He annihilated death.  He ruined it!

That's just a smidge of what good Jesus is.  There's more!  We are still in kindergarten...just beginning to learn!  He is that much!!  Therefore, due to this Wonder, might we afford to park our high-horses, dismount, and continue to learn from the One who has the ultimate grasp on living successfully?

KEEP THE LIGHT ON

Darkness swirls about.  It rolls in.  It stays.  It eventually takes a hike which gives each of us a bit of a break.

We never know exactly who among us is experiencing the dread of darkness.  Discouragement.  Depression.  Shadows slide across our hearts and minds like breezes...or storms.  We never know who's next to take a disturbing hit.

So I say to each of us to keep the Light in our hearts on.  Words of gratitude may never be said to us; but the warmth of lights' glimmer coming from our eyes may be just what a friend--or a stranger--among us needs for the moment.  People need people; especially do we need those who mingle among us with their lights on.

GOD IS ALWAYS MORE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE...

...so let your creative juices flow!  Dare we enter into the potential He supplies without boundaries?  Might we dare imagine what could be for mankind to be blessed that no one has thought of just yet?

I think so.

FORTY WEEKS LEFT BEFORE STEPPING UP

In mid-July of next year, I will step up into semi-retirement.  It's a weird feeling that comes mixed with a combination of excitement and thanksgiving.  Because I believe we tend to waste valuable time dreading or worrying or fretting over so many matters, may I share the experience of this particular privilege?

July 15, 2017 will mark 40 years as the pulpit guy for Memorial Drive.  Who wouldn't have loved to be me over these years.  I've lived a dream.  Of course there were necessary moments of challenge which must take place in our work. God has been faithful to gift me with His promised resurrection power when I was in over my head.

Did I really think that He gave us resurrection power because everything was to always go right?  No, even our tough days are to be marked with confidence that He runs the show...and we don't.  He always makes yeses out of heavy threats.

God gives us His Spirit that we may freely choose to walk within the wonder of being made new day by day.  Oh, how I love that truth.  It isn't a theory; but an actual daily experience.

So I have 40 weeks before stepping up into the next stage of God's Kingdom efforts; some of which will include me.  I've practiced in my mind (Philippians 4:9) walking through these remaining days with wonder in my heart.  It.  Is.  Here.  I fully intend to enjoy every day of these upcoming weeks with a most thankful spirit.

My gentle Shepherds and our in-sync staff give me room to like right now...and every right now.  I will not waste it with one pestering worry.  Stepping up will be my goal. And, we will do it well.

So, I've been thinking about July 15 of next year.  I think Mary and I will go on an immediate road tour...really.  I've got a brother and sister-in-law (and a bunch of nieces and nephews) in Louisiana that I want to go see.  Ah, and why not stop by West Monroe and visit my Duck Dynasty friends?  They might just want me to make a guest appearance on their show....I've got the time.

Too, this road tour must include the insistent call to stop by for a game or two at Busch Stadium.  Might I need to toss out the first pitch?  Sign a few autographs?  Pose for a few pictures?  Do more interviews?

Beyond St. Louis, we might drive up to Quincy, Illinois to see old friends from the church where I once had the privilege of preaching...and then drive over to our home towns to visit family and friends.  Ah wait...road tour...better pass back through St. Louis for maybe another game?  This is looking good!

So here's my message; I don't know how semi-retirement works.  I've never done it before.  But I know this, I will be wide-eyed excited for a privileged past, a love-right-now present, and a resurrection empowered future.

Forty weeks from now I will step up into a new arena filled with wonder and opportunity.  And you, dear reader, are a significant part of the fabric of my walk. Thank you....really.

MY POWER VERSE THAT WON'T QUIT PRODUCING

BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be known to God.  And the PEACE of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, LET YOUR MIND DWELL on these things.  (Philippians 4:4-8)

This text unlocks life...all of it.  Did you catch that?  It unlocks life.

Regardless of age, regardless of experience, regardless of inherited standards, determining to let our minds dwell with thankfulness upon the incentives above brings fantastic peace.  The world needs people to be at peace within their own minds.  This remains a pertinent need now.

Of course, verse 9 is magic because it calls for us to practice the being thankful; practice training the mind to dwell on the life-factors.  Life doesn't go according to how moments unfold.  Some of those will be positive; others quite negative.  No, life comes about by our mindset.

Doing so doesn't call for us to pretend that things are okay when they are not.  Rather, the expectation is that we will note the favorable value of elements which reside squarely within the very center of distraction and pain.  God isn't naive to our frustrations.  But He surely knows how to help us transcend every one of them.

It isn't ever a matter of circumstance.  It is always a matter of where we choose to set our minds.  In all situations, the heart of gratitude coupled with a genuine focus upon perceiving the benefits of every right now will produce a breakthrough for which every human being yearns.

LIFE DEPENDS ON THE PLACEMENT OF OUR BACKS

Stress.  Concern.  Pressure.  These three, and more, push and prod.  They poke.  They jab.  We live with these elements which frustrate; even depress.  Their forces are so strong that it is often said that our backs are against the wall.

What would this phrase, "Our backs are against the wall" imply?  Cornered?  In trouble?  No way out?  The idea is that there seems to be no way of escape.  However.... ...however, I believe that I have some very encouragingly Good News for you today!

I know this will seem strange; but success in life is fundamentally determined by where we determine to put our backs.  You may not realize it, but we are the ones who decide where such is to be placed.  Oh yes, we talk as if we had no choice in the discouraging matter.  We didn't ask for the rough time; the bad days.  They just happened and now look; our backs are against the wall.

Enter Jesus.

One of the most astounding truths of life is found in this true, real, authentic person known as the Son of God.  And would you like to take a guess as to how he, in one single move, transformed one's outlook?  He took the most basic hindrance (negative force) of all men and women and changed the background.  Yes, the BACKground.

Jesus moved any who dare to follow from having our backs against the wall to having our backs against our own crosses.  This is one gigantic shift of positionalistic dimension!  When our backs are against the wall, we are fighting for survival.  But when our backs are against the Cross we are fighting for others' survival.

This transition changes everything....like in EVERYTHING!

When our backs are against the Cross, an entirely new outlook on life takes place.  We are talking major transition here within the scope of simply re-placing our backs.  We love our friends AND our enemies; where beforehand we were defending our territorial inclinations.  We become dependent on His resurrection power with deep and abiding hope when our backs are against the greatest source of hope on earth...the Cross.

Step away from the wall, my friend.  Step over to the Cross.  In this one move you will bring a hope a community like no other.  This....is the power of God within us...that will person by person...change the world.