It's Time to Suit Up Duncan, OK

I live in Duncan, OK.  My guess is, until recently, some of you who read my blog had no idea where Duncan, OK was...and, honestly, I wish it had stayed that way.  Not that I'm not proud of my town, but I just didn't want you to discover it this way.  The tragic death of Christopher Lane, a young man who was visiting our wonderful community, is not the way we wanted break into the national news scene.  I mean, really, our town is a great town that could be known for so many things like its great community spirit, its wonderful churches, a hard-working population, or its resilience to trying economic times.  As much as I wish we could be know for any of these, at least for now, we will be known as the place where the young Christopher Lane was gunned down by a group of teenagers who were "bored".

As if Christopher Lane's death was not heartbreaking enough, the following week the Duncan High School received some sort of threat that was substantial enough to result in a closed campus, heightened police presence, and excused absences from all schools if parents chose to keep their kids at home.  Suddenly, the level of fear in our community skyrocketed.  It was no longer just about Christopher Lane....now it was about every kid in Duncan.  Panic swept across the pages of Facebook faster than an Oklahoma thunderstorm blows through town.  Even I was up until 1am reading about what happened, praying for the schools, and trying to process how I lead through this as a husband, a parent, and a pastor.  As I prayed, I was reminded of how as the Israelites made their way through the desert God constantly provided all they needed....yet they consistently would complain and forget His faithfulness.  When they needed safe passage, He parted the Red Sea.  When they needed food, He rained it down from heaven.  When they needed water, He brought it out of a rock.  He led them by a cloud in the day and fire at night.  He never failed them.

LET US NOT FORGET THE LORDS FAITHFULNESS!  His promise is abundant life!  It is the enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  If you are operating out of fear, you cannot operate in faith.  What stirs your fear?  The news?  Facebook?  THEN STOP IT!  Stop watching the news and reading facebook if it stirs fear in you.  God did not give you a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and a sound mind.  You have it already!  Use it!  Faith comes by hearing the Word of God!!  Don't base your faith on the circumstances.  Base it on God's promises.  They always were and always are true!  He never changes!  His love is un-failing!

On top of the fear, there is also a great deal of anger lying just below the surface.  If not dealt with properly, it will quietly grow and grow and grow into bitterness and then hatred.  We must understand what we are dealing with here.  You think it was the three teenagers who decided to kill Mr. Lane?  Was it their parents fault?  Could the community have done something to keep these kids from being "bored"?  These are all pretty loaded questions with very complicated answers, but honestly none of them address the real problem.  The problem is not the problem.  I tell this to people all the time, and they just look at me like I'm crazy...and I am.  I am crazy about the Truth.  The truth is God's Word and this is what it says:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:12

For me, this whole series of events is not about 3 bored teenage boys or anonymous threats to the Duncan HS.  Those threats aren't anonymous.  Seriously?  I know exactly who sent them.  His name is Satan.  The Evil One.  He is our enemy.  He is the killer.  He is the one who spreads fear.  He is the one who wants to destroy a community that is seeing revival in God's people.  He is like a kid at the grocery store who isn't getting what he wants, so he throws a fit knowing there is a pretty good chance he can get us to take our eyes off of Jesus and start to sink in an ocean of fear.

WELL SCREW YOU SATAN!  We are on to you.  We know what we are fighting against and we know how to fight.  We will put on our armor and stand firm.  We will wield the Word of God that is sharper than any two-edged sword and cut you down!  You have no power over us!  As a matter of fact, Jesus tells us in Luke 10:19 that He has given us authority over all the power of the enemy!  Let's stop looking to Facebook to get our information and start reading the word of God!  You want to fight for your kids?  You want to fight for your family?  Put on your armor!  It's time to suit up Duncan, OK.  It's not too late.  Our God is faithful.  He is our redeemer.  He restores what the enemy steals away.  Instead of planting seeds of fear in the hearts of our kids, lets plant the Truth of God's Word.  Give them Jesus.  Jesus is and always will be the answer.

Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  Then after the battle you will be standing firm.  Ephesians 6:13

Are You Trapped?

Does this little raccoon look very happy?  He obviously walked in, took the bait, and now he is trapped!  The one thing that he has going for him is that he knows he is trapped.  So many people today are trapped just like this raccooon, but what makes it worse is that they dont even realize they are trapped!  So how are people trapped you ask? 

Well, it starts with the bait.  You have to have some kind of bait to catch most animals in a trap.  Satan, our spiritual enemy, knows this principle also.  He uses a special kind of bait to try to trap us.  It's called OFFENSE.  I'm not talking about the opposite of defense.  I'm talking about being offended.  Have you ever been offended?  Did you realize Satan was using that offense as bait to try to trap you and render you weak and useless for the kingdom of God? He wants to take you out of the battle of advancing God's kingdom, and he knows exactly how to do it!  If you have ever been offended, Satan knows exactly what kind of bait to use.

As Jesus was talking to his disciples about what it will be like when it is close to the time of his return to earth He said this:

                 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Matthew 24:10 NKJV

The Greek word used in this verse for offended is the word skandalizo and it means to entrap. This word is also the name for the stick that was used to bait a trap to catch small animals. They would put the bait on the "skandalizo", the bait stick, and then when the animal tried to get the bait off the stick, it would set the trap!  Do you see the significance here?  The bait of Satan is offense!

So now that we know what Satan uses for bait, what is the trap?  Let's look back at the verse above:  first we take the bait and we are offended, then we betray one another, then we hate one another.  Do you see the progression?  What is the root of all of this?  How can we go from being best friends with someone to hating them?  The answer is bitterness and unforgiveness.  We do not betray and hate people unless we are harboring bitterness and unforgiveness towards them.  One of my favorite sayings is "Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.  I wrote a post about bitterness here that you can read when you finish this one :-). When you allow yourself to be offended, you set the trap of unforgiveness that leads to bitterness and eventually to hatred if not dealt with.

We must learn what offends us.  Satan knows, and so should you.  Once you know what the bait looks like it's easy to spot the trap and avoid it.  But what do we do if we are already trapped and cant get out?  We have to forgive.  Forgiveness is the key to our freedom.  So often when I have been offended I felt like the person who offended me had the key to set me free, all the while the lock was on the inside of the trap, not the outside, and I had the key! 

The difficult thing about forgiveness is that somebody has to die.  You heard me right.  You have to die.  I'm not talking about a physical death, but you do have to die to your selfishness and pride.  You have to die to your "right to be offended", which is really ridiculous.  You have to die and say that the relationship is more important than being right.  Who cares if you are right.  You will die a slow, painful, poisonous death if you stay in that trap.  The only person who has ever had a "right to be offended" was Jesus. 

You may be saying to yourself, "Jason, all of this makes sense, but I just dont know how to forgive someone that did something like this to me."  Let me tell you that I know with 100% certainty that you can forgive that person, and I know how you will be able to do it. Remember how I said that with forgiveness somebody has to die?  Well, my friend, somebody already died for your forgiveness and His name is Jesus!  He is God's only son who left his throne in heaven to come to this earth and redeem us from the curse of sin and death and give us LIFE!  

If you are finding it impossible to forgive, it may be that you have not received the forgiveness that comes with faith in Jesus Christ.  You see, we are all born sinners and in need of forgiveness from God.  Every last one of us has sinned against God over and over and over. But God was full of grace and He sent His son Jesus to die for us.  To be the sacrifice for our offense against Him.  Because of Jesus' death, you can have life and be set free!  When you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord of your life and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!  You will be forgiven!  You will be made a new creation!  

Those who have been forgiven best, forgive best.  If you have not accepted this free gift from God you will not be able to understand how to forgive best.  I urge you to start seeking God in His Word, the Bible.  You can get a free Bible here.  The Spirit of God is pursuing you because God wants you to be free.  He wants you to receive this gift.  He loves you.  When you are ready acknowledge to God that you have sinned against him and you want to turn from your sins, confess that you believe that Jesus is God's Son, your Lord, and that He died for you and rose from the grave!  Then share with your friends and family your decision to walk in the freedom of God's grace my friend!  You are forgiven and brand new!  It would be awesome if you could comment here and let me know too :-)  Blessings to all!  Get out of that trap and walk in freedom today!