Wax On, Wax Off

If you've seen "The Karate Kid", you know about Mr. Miyagi.

If you're not familiar with this guy, allow me to explain.

In "The Karate Kid", a young guy is troubled by getting picked on, so he approaches Mr. Miyagi about teaching him some karate. Instead of karate though, he gets taught how to "sand the floor", "paint the fence" and waxing the car, using the elusive "wax-on wax-off" technique. Further, when the kid tries taking shortcuts to do the job faster, Mr. Miyagi comes out and corrects him. One scene showed the kid (Daniel) sanding the deck until night, and instead of using the two hand-sanders, he was using both hands on one. Mr. Miyagi called him on it, showing him the right way yet again--do a few circles with the left, and a few with the right. Left-a circle, Right-a circle. Finally the kid gets upset and complains that all he's doing is being used for odd jobs... and it turns out that the way the jobs were done were training him for karate. The same weird, unefficient moves that were used in sanding the floor, painting the fence and waxing the car were ideal for defending against punches and kicks.

Today I'd like to talk about how God sometimes plays the Mr. Miyagi card.

We're human. Sometimes we take shortcuts in life. The things we used to do the "right way" evolve into doing things the "better way"... better because the job the procedure is applied to gets done faster, or with less energy.

God sometimes gives us stuff to do, not just to keep us busy, but to train us for something else later on. There is a "better way" that we can do it--a way that makes it easier on us--but are we defrauding ourselves out of bigger lessons that could be learned by doing it the right way? How often do we think that God is focusing on the job at hand, when He's really not, and we concern ourselves with getting the job done well?

I just got done reading 1 Samuel 13, and the part where Saul chose to make the sacrifice instead of waiting on Samuel really stands out. Samuel was the one that was supposed to do the sacrifices, but Saul chose to do it when Samuel hadn't shown up by the proper time. Saul's reasoning was that the sacrifice needed to be done so that his army would defeat the Philistines, and Samuel wasn't there, so the next best thing was to just do it himself. Instead of using biblical ethics, he used situational ethics.

That wasn't the proper response. Putting that rule in place wasn't for Samuel's job security, it was for people to learn to trust and wait on the Lord. Samuel was God's prophet, so if he really needed to be there at a particular time, God would get him there on time. Saul's reaction to this really revealed what was in his heart. When things got dicey, Saul trusted in himself, not in the Lord.

So, my point is, think about what things are going on it your life that God's given you to do. What kind of work is going on inside you that seems indirectly related to the job? Don't short yourself by doing things the quick way if the right way nets you more growth in your faith in the Lord.

Behind the Scenes 3

Received another comment from Anonymous:

Your opinion does not change the fact the invisible fairies are true either. What kind of argument is that? There are books dedicated to the question of where "morals" and a sense of right and wrong come from. Simple answer, if society doesn't figure out that lying and throwing rocks aren't productive, its a society that doesn't last long. When you treat people nicely, you feel nice as well. It isn't some magical being who channeling rules into our heads. If what your talking about is truly unknowable and you concede that point, then you still remain ignorant in your description of it. Merely asking the question doesn't get you off the hook. Atheists who haven't moved things along? Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Richard Dawkins, Einstein...you've reduced this to name dropping because of your ignorance? The fact that you end on the absolute ridiculous Pascal's Wager only shows just how little you know what your talking about. Didn't you know the only people god lets into heaven are the people who have the gull to disbelieve in him? Are you willing to gamble? Understand how ridiculous you sound, then try again.

Your opinion does not change the fact the invisible fairies are true either. What kind of argument is that?

You're not getting what I'm saying here. Neither of our opinions have any effect on whether what I'm saying is true.

There are books dedicated to the question of where "morals" and a sense of right and wrong come from. Simple answer, if society doesn't figure out that lying and throwing rocks aren't productive, its a society that doesn't last long. When you treat people nicely, you feel nice as well. It isn't some magical being who channeling rules into our heads.

If what your talking about is truly unknowable and you concede that point, then you still remain ignorant in your description of it.

I never said it was unknowable.

Merely asking the question doesn't get you off the hook. Atheists who haven't moved things along? Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Richard Dawkins, Einstein...

I was thinking sarcastically along the lines of Hitler and Stalin...

you've reduced this to name dropping because of your ignorance? The fact that you end on the absolute ridiculous Pascal's Wager only shows just how little you know what your talking about.

All I did was state a two-variable problem: Either this is true or false, and what would be the possible reactions to it? Even looking at it from a utilitarian point of view, the choice is obvious.

Didn't you know the only people god lets into heaven are the people who have the gull to disbelieve in him? Are you willing to gamble? Understand how ridiculous you sound, then try again.

Anon, I haven't made fun of you, or called you names on your blog, so don't track mud through mine, ok? I'm not required to sit here and reason with you. You and I have got two totally different ideas on what's true and what's false.

I'm required to witness what's happened to me, to people around me. That's why it's called "witnessing"--it's because I was there when it happened, and I was who it happened to. You weren't there. So stating that what I'm saying is false because it's never happened for you is moot. Stating that it's false because you don't believe in God is moot. And really, if I said it's true
because I believe in it, that would be moot.

We're going to round and round on this because I'm talking about absolute truth, not this "It may be true for you, but it's not true for me," stuff. This is the kind of real truth that exists regardless of if everybody believes it's false. It's true... and it doesn't care what any of us think.

This whole blog, including the arguments we have, is meant as a witness for what God's done in my life. You can say anything you want about how I'm deluding myself, or how I'm blinding myself to the truth, but everything you're saying about it goes against Truth. That doesn't make you differently-opinioned, it makes you wrong.

There. I said it.

I'm sorry that I can't pull God out of my back pocket and say, "Here's God. He's real. Repent and believe." The only thing I have for you is my witness of what God's done in my life. I didn't choose for it to happen. I didn't wake up one day and say, "It's a slow day, I think I'll get saved." It wasn't on my own terms. Most Sundays I'd go to church and sit under preaching, and come
home and sin dozens of ways and none of it would bother me. There was a little bit of niggling in the back of my mind about how I was living my life, but I could squash that down easily enough and keep going. I also made sure to pray for forgiveness so I could live like I had a license to sin.

One day though, I remember looking in the mirror and suddenly I realized what a mess my life was. No lead-up to this point, just WHAM, I was convicted. It wasn't my timing, and up to then, teachings just kind of slid over my head. I cannot explain why it happened when it did other than it being supernatural.

Such a radical change has happened in my life, and already I know you might say it's just a bunch of psychological misfirings or mental conditioning, but I'll explain anyway. I wish you had been my right-hand man five years ago, going with me everywhere I went and doing everything I did. If you were, you'd see how different things are now.

Everything about me has changed.

The best way I can describe it is, I'm a changed person inside and out. What's more, I can look back and compare to how I USED to act, and what my responses USED to be to certain things, and it's totally the opposite. My motives are different. Now, everything I do is for God's glory. I belong to the Lord. I use the word "belong" because the evidence of what He's done is so clear to me that it's like looking down and seeing a brand on my skin. There is no doubt.

Anon, I've given you some of my background in the past, back when we first met. You know that my line of work requires some intelligence. Does it even seem possible that I could switch it off in favor of believing in some cosmic vending machine?

Behind the Scenes No. 2a

Received a comment from someone curious about the goings-on at camp:

I read the blog "The Camps, and a Prayer Request" and then I read the comment posted by anonymous. Wow! I don't think two people could have beliefs/opinions any different than these two. I'm curious...did the kids have to be forced to sit and listen to the preaching or were they there because they wanted to be there? Does God really want to send everyone to hell? Were the kids hyped up about what they heard, forced or not? How do people know where to find a passage in the Bible that suits their situation? Where do I turn to find help?

I'm curious...did the kids have to be forced to sit and listen to the preaching or were they there because they wanted to be there?

The kids and staff were sent rules and schedule and what's going to happen at the camp. Everybody knew way ahead of time that coming to the camp means they would hear some preaching. We did keep a schedule on when things happened. They weren't forced though, and many stayed around in small groups discussing what they'd just heard.

Does God really want to send everyone to hell?

Of course not. This is why He sent Jesus for us to take the punishment on His behalf. Up until Jesus' crucifixion, people were responsible for providing for their own sacrifices. The reason for this is that God told the people these sacrifices were just a shadow of a perfect Sacrifice that would come later on. They were told to excercise faith in God's promise, that it would be fulfilled, and if they did their sins would be forgiven. Jesus was that perfect Sacrifice.

How do people know where to find a passage in the Bible that suits their situation? Where do I turn to find help?

If you're looking for a particular type of passage, a Nave's Topical Bible should help. Verses and chapters can be found based on subject matter. If you're looking for help, and you're not a Christian, please don't waste time. The Bible says that if you seek after God with all your heart, soul and mind, He will be found. If you have a healthy fear of Hell then I would say you're probably pointed in the right direction.

Hope this helped.