Hammer on Anvil '

We have all probably, at some time in our lives, had to live with an untidy roommate. You know the kind. You come home from working a long shift, hoping for some sweet relaxation, only to find that your roommate is not at home and has left a mountain of dirty dishes in the sink. Before you can get yourself anything to eat, you have to start cleaning up a mess you didn't even make.

You go to do your laundry, and find wet clothing in the washing machine. Your roomie has done her laundry but neglected to put it in the dryer. If you want to wash your clothes, you need to first put hers in the dryer. Though you have verbally discussed dividing up chores, she repeatedly neglects to do hers. You don't want to enable her by cleaning up the mess, but you also don't want to live in a pig sty.

I was praying recently and asking the Holy Spirit to consume me, and it occurred to me that sometimes He feels like the clean roomie and I am the slob. Why? Because I ask Him to fill me and inhabit my body which is His temple, but I expect Him to move in with some rather unsavory roommates. Rather than cleaning house before He comes, I leave things as is and expect Him to live in the pig sty that is my life. "Here, Holy Spirit. Let me introduce you to my roomies: Anger, Bitterness, Ugly Speech, and Irritability." And then I wonder why He doesn't stick around.

See, my friends, the Holy Spirit is not given so that we can keep living the way we're living. God purchased us with the precious blood of His Son, and is the rightful owner of everything we are and everything we have. First Corinthians 6:20 tells us, "You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Before we ask the Holy Spirit to come and take control of our lives, we must be willing for forsake our own wills. It's a fair exchange: my life for the life of Christ in me, empowered by His Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is given to empower us to live like Jesus, but sometimes we desire His power or His gifts to enhance our own egos. For example, some people who speak in tongues think they are somehow more holy than Christians who don't. A gifted teacher may lack humility because he is constantly complimented about his gift. A woman with the gift of hospitality may become judgmental of others who don't share her love of having her home filled with people.

In all of these scenarios, it's obvious that the gifted people have lost sight of where their gift came from, and the reason it was imparted to them. Gifts and talents are never given so that we can lord it over those we don't think are as gifted as we are. They're not given so people can ooh and aah about what wonderful Christians we are. God pours things into us so that we can pour them right back out again, investing them in other people for the sake of His kingdom.

If you are feeling rather defeated today and wonder why your Christian life seems blah or powerless, examine your habits. Do you watch or read things that have little redeeming value? Do you play video games that glorify violence and gore? How is your thought life? These are all things that need to be cleaned up if we expect the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives.

If you feel like you need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit today, God is more than willing to honor that request. But first be sure the body you're asking Him to inhabit is a suitable home.

I quote and reference movies a lot. Usually at inappropriate times and typically the quotes are from Star Wars, Drop Dead Gorgeous, really bad horror and pretty much all of Christopher Guest movies. Why? Cause just like Nigel Tufnel's amp in This is Spinal Tap, I go to eleven, guys.

This one goes to eleven.

I don't want to be some kind of brash, loud, all-up-in-yo'-face type of person, but I don't think I've been given the luxury to always remain quiet and calm either. Job 32:18-19 says, "For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst."

Sometimes it feels like there's a riot inside me and when God starts talking to my spirit, you better believe I'm going to talk about it. I would be a jerk not to share what God is doing.

And what is God doing? Last week I wrote about 1 Samuel 17, how David carried the head of the slain Goliath around with him, and how it's about time we believers start telling others, showing the gore, per say, and yelling, "Look what God has done!!"

The whole idea of storytelling made me think of my favorite films and then a question arose: If your life was a movie, would you pay to see it? Believers, would you want to watch your story? Or would it be one of those movies that looks alright, but just sits in your Netflix queue?

I can't think of the whole, "Your life as a movie" without listening to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' amazing song, Life Is Cinema. By round two of the song, I was on the floor, before my God, straight up ugly crying. Like the Steel Magnolia's, "Shelby, don't be stupid" kind of ugly crying. (Don't pretend you haven't been there, haters. God gets real when you quit telling Him when and where He is allowed to speak to you.)

 I am not going to post that song here, because it has legit dirty words and ya'll are still real into pretending that your life movie doesn't occasionally feature the f-bomb. But I will post some of that lyrical truth, and then remind you that truth is truth, regardless of the source.

"Humble me, give me a conflict, a hardship, let me break through this cement
They're gonna be so disappointed when they roll the credits in
I realized that my movie sucked and I was the only one that could edit it."

Guys, the world is an enraged, in-caged monkey, throwing heaps of defecation right in your direction. Sure, that'll make a hilarious video on YouTube, but I want my life to be more than just a blurb about a zoo fail that went viral. I want my story to be an award-winning, possible sob-inducing, life-changing cinema lived victoriously for my Savior. Can I get an "Amen!?"

In this life you have few absolutes or guarantees. And let me be the first to tell you that the poo-wielding monkey flings without discretion. If you live in this world you are covered up and surrounded in it too! We are all trying to figure how to deal with the crap that's been thrown at us. The difference is we believers are supposed to take this conflict and make a story out of it worth sharing.

 Believers, we have got to step back and look at what our faith looks like to others. We should call our movie: Christians Living like Christians. It will star Kirk Cameron, show how we love to shop at discount stores for things we don't need, and will teach the proper ways to land a stellar side hug.

Is that what we want to be known for? What victory are you celebrating?

Christians, we are the worlds worst directors and biggest critics. We complain, compare and condemn everything that doesn't fit into our boxes of acceptable, when it is those very boxes that are holding us back from being real, relevant, and redeemed. We spend all this time and effort reaching out to a world that no longer wants to hear our message, because our lives look like they were directed by Harmony Korine.

We wade through the same monkey poo and life struggles as everyone else, but insist we're still sparkling fresh, like some wholesome ABC family Original. Believers, we might be edited for Hallmark channel, but our lives are no better than Showgirls. (You should not watch that one, by the way. It's horrible.)

Guys, we are turning people away in droves. Have you been on Facebook lately? Egads. We are the meanest and most confusing people on the internet. We are known for ours self-inflicted scars, terrors we've caused, and the answers for things that no one is questioning. Is it any wonder why no one wants to see our masterpiece?

Let's have real talk: Our movie sucks and we're blaming everyone else in the industry for it. We're a group of people pretending to be pretty for Jesus, pandering some sad story and suing when people don't like our characters.

We are trying to sell a black and white film, on a VHS format, to a world that can get the same story line, with better actors, a solid soundtrack, streaming for free and now featured in 3D.

Obi Wan Kenobi says in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, "You want to go home and rethink your life." And you do. You really do. I want you to take a moment and and get inside the actors studio. Get candid about what kind of movie you are making in your life and ask yourself if you would watch that stinker? Cause, right now, I don't know if I've got enough character or content for a reality series, forget the big picture. Guys, I don't think E! would even air this hot mess.

We are not the directors, not even the lead actors, we are mere bit part players, big pretenders and possibly the editors of something that will glorify the Lord, but only if we follow where He leads.

Let's pray, I suggest Psalm 25:4-5, and ask God to direct us. Let's seek the Father, get out of this filth and find the direction to make our lives films that would be worth watching.

I like to keep a neat yard. I really do. Nothing makes me happier than driving passed my own house and seeing the grass short, and the fence-line and sidewalk nicely trimmed. It brings me such a feeling of satisfaction.

Ask my wife. After mowing on Sunday, I kept saying, "Wow, would you just look at that yard." She would reply, "Yes, Brandon, it looks wonderful." Every time...only getting a little annoyed the more I said it. Or a lot annoyed. But who can be sure?

There are times, though, when I can't mow as often as I would like. Last year, our son Aaron was born. The days leading up to his birth had been very busy and our grass was growing taller. Then when we got home, we just wanted to rest as much as we could. So our grass got a little out of hand.

When the grass gets really tall, it takes longer to mow it. I have to put the mower on a lower setting so it doesn't go as fast. It takes longer to dry, so even if I'm mowing late in the afternoon, sometimes I have to stop and clean out the mower because the wet grass keeps clogging it up.

It is a much more tedious operation when I don't take care of my lawn every week as I should (especially during the spring).

The same is true about our walks with Christ.

We want to nurture and take care of our walk. We want to make sure we are following in His footsteps. But it has been so long since we have regularly done it. The grass is so tall. We know that if we start, it's going to be slow going.

We aren't going to be able to jump right in and pray an hour like we used to, or read several chapters in our Bibles. We know if we show up to Bible study this week, people are going to ask us tons of questions about our whereabouts.

If we go volunteer at a church activity or in the community, it's going to be difficult getting started. There will be people we don't know, a new environment to get used to, or we can't sit at home and watch the summer reruns of our favorite shows.

If we get serious about our walk again, we are going to face fears we haven't been dealing with or sins that we have allowed to creep into our lives.

When it has been a while, our walk with God can seem a bit intimidating.

But you know what? After taking those first steps and completing whatever task it is I set out to do (Bible reading, volunteering, or fellowship with Christians) I usually feel really accomplished. I ask myself, "why haven't I been doing this all along?"

There is something about following the will of God that brings satisfaction like nothing else can. When we pursue the purposes that God has given us, we feel like we are really living.

Sure, it may be slow going at times. There may even be tune ups we have to do along the way. I recently replaced the blades on my lawn mower. I cut up my hands a little and it took way longer than it should have, but the blades were terrible. But once I started mowing with the new ones, mowing went even more smooth.

So even when we tend to our hearts and follow after God, there may be little changes we have to keep making. But it's less frustrating when the other areas of our walk are in order. It is way less intimidating.

If you haven't been tending to the work that God has given you, it can seem like a bit much when getting back into it; but I strongly encourage you to jump in and do it! There is no living like living for Christ. Take things slow. If you have to get off the mower and make some adjustments along the way, take your time and do them. Don't give up. Keep truckin, or mowin, along.

A few months ago, I was feeling down because I had no real direction. Like I mentioned last week, I sometimes get upset about where I work and don't understand why I'm still there. I prayed about what I should do, where I should go, but wasn't getting an answer. One day after I had read Psalm 139 (which is a great chapter for lifting your spirits), the thought popped into my mind to read the last chapter in Job.