Not by a Cause

I couldn’t help but smile as he spoke. He exhumed confidence, assurance, candor, hope, belief, conviction, and unity. He spoke to a crowd of approximately 125,000. He was a beacon of light illuminating the night.

Though I whole heartedly disagree with his politics, I noticed something unique about his crowd. The crowd was an amalgam. Black standing next to white; Hispanic shoulder to shoulder with black. It was truly a moment that I thought was reserved for the hallows of Eternity when all the Church would be gathered for its eternal reward.

I pray that history will not simply remember that Barack was the first black president. Though the accomplishment of a minority attaining the greatest and most powerful office in the world is unprecedented, in my eyes it was greatly diminished by the crowd that gathered in Chicago, IL to hear the president elect give his acceptance speech.

I pray that history will remember in that particular crowd that there was young and old, black and white, Spanish and Indian, all the colors of the rainbow representing, for the first time since 9/11, a united America. For the first time in a long time, the United States was personified in the masses of unified ethnicities who had banded together, lifted up their voices, set their hands to the plow, and made a unanimous decision to be led by one individual.

How beautiful and breathless and mesmerizing was it to see all those different shades of humanity stand side by side, united not by a cause, but by a dream.

The Apostle Paul told us to pray for those who are in authority over us. I Corinthians 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Barack Obama has stepped into the office of President of the United States of America and is now ordained by God to lead this sovereign nation.

I Timothy 2:1-3 states, I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.

If you want to please God, you will pray for President Obama and that God’s hand will be on his presidency. It is sin and devilish for you to do otherwise.

Peter writes in I Peter2:12-14, Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

When the Apostle Peter wrote this, he was not telling Christians to pray for the Emperor of Rome that everyone had come to love and did the will of God and was kind and generous to every citizen, captive, and slave of Rome.

Peter was telling Christians to pray for Nero, the Emperor who martyred Christians by using them as human torches at his parties. We are nowhere close to Martyrdom here in America.

Be RIGHTEOUS! OBEY God! HEED the words of the Apostle’s Paul and Peter! SINCERELY PRAY for President Obama. Just like myself, I’m sure he can use every one of your prayers.

(c) Aaron Brown, 2008.

Temptation

James 1:12-18
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
Verse 13 conveys that people think that God is tempting them. Why would anyone believe this? My personal belief is that religion teaches us that God punishes us for our mistakes and failures by tempting us or allowing us to be tempted. Or perhaps if we were just more spiritual, then we would be somewhat “holier” and less tempted. Maybe if I read the Bible more, I would be spiritual enough to escape temptations. Or perhaps if I prayed more, then temptations wouldn’t come. If perhaps we just did more “works” in the Church, then temptation would not come our way.
Now, I agree that being in the Word and praying more will alleviate the burdens of temptation. Our focus and attention will actually shift from earthly things to heavenly things, but for the individual to believe that temptations only come to depraved individuals is a fallacy. One of my favorite quotes by Kenneth Hagin is, “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop it from landing and building a nest.”
I can’t stop all the temptations that come my way from coming. However, I do have authority over whether or not I entertain those thoughts and allow them to build strongholds in my mind.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. The imagery that is used in the Greek language is that of a fish and bait on a hook. Our struggles with temptations are very similar to this analogy. If you’ve ever gone fishing, you can bait a hook with a worm. The fish will swim up and circle the bait and you can see this from the ripples and flux of the water around the cork. Then you see the cork bob up and down in the water and this is indicative that the fish is “nibbling” on the bait. Then, after the fish has nibbled a little…
CHOMP!
The fish clamps his mouth over the bait and gets itself caught on the hook.
What happens when the fish gets hooked? Simply put, the fish is subject to follow the hook wherever it goes. If the hook exits the water, the fish will exit the water and leave its natural habitat because it is no longer able to escape the hook.
This analogy is just like our lives. We see something that tempts us and we know we should not have anything to do with it, but the bait looks so good. So we stupidly tell ourselves that we want to partake wholeheartedly of the bait, we’ll just go near it. We’ll circle it over and over, piquing our curiosity and lust by looking at it from every angle. Then, after we’ve done this long enough the lines blur, and we figure we might as well “nibble” on it since we’ve gone deep enough to view it from every angle. After we’ve nibbled on it a little bit, we think to ourselves that we’ve been nibbling on it long enough and since we’ve come this far, we might as well wholeheartedly partake of the bait. And…
CHOMP!
We’re hooked. We have to go wherever the hook leads us. We “flirted” with the bait so much we didn’t see the lines blur, and we go from circling the bait to wholeheartedly partaking because we allowed the lines to blur and self-deception to creep in. We are super remorseful. We ask ourselves how this all happened, and the truth is…
…each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts.
The reality is that a temptation is not a temptation unless you desire it. You can’t be tempted with something you don’t desire.
Let me explain: I have not drunk soda pop in over two years. I do crave it from time to time, but I don’t really desire it. You can put me in a room full of pop and no water and I’ll simply think to myself, “Well, looks like there’s nothing here for me to drink. I’ll just have to go without.” You can’t tempt me with it like you might have could in the past because I have brought the desire of soda pop into subjection by the choice I made not to partake of it.
However, if you waive a cheesecake in front of my face, that is a whole different ball game! About a year ago, I had a roommate named Joel. Joel brought home a cheesecake from work. Well, I am wholeheartedly partaking of the cheesecake. In the course of time, I look at the box and see that there are 500 calories per slice! (Yes, I had the same reaction when I read the caloric content).
I needed to put the cheesecake down, but my desire for the cheesecake was so strong that I chose not to put it down. Then I told myself that I would put the rest of the cheesecake away into the fridge and “nibble” on it through the next few weeks or so. And there the cheesecake sat, in the fridge.
But the cheesecake was like the Poe’s, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” It seemed to call to me from the refrigerator. At one point it seemed that I began to pace back and forth across the fridge, knowing that the cheesecake was in the fridge.
“I know you’re in there,” I called to it.
“Come to me, Aaron!” The cheesecake called back.
It was talking to me.
And I wanted to talk to it.
Therefore, I made the choice to just go ahead and eat the cheesecake so I wouldn’t have to go through the awful ordeal of being tempted day in and day out of this cheesecake.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Back to the fish analogy: desire is conceived by circling the bait and giving it your attention. Nibbling gives birth to sin. Sin, when it becomes full grown in your life, leads to chomping on the bait.
I think that so often when we read this passage of scripture and see death, we immediately think of physical death. This is true, but Satan may not want to simply kill you physically. He may target your spiritual life. Or perhaps he will aim at your social life. Maybe he’ll shoot arrows at your professional life. Whatever area of your life it may be, Satan wants to bring forth death.
For instance, if you’ve ever lied to your parents, and you did it habitually, that brought forth a type of death. By you lying, you “murdered” your parents’ ability to trust you. There was a death in your relationship with your parents.
So, what is the point?
The point is, you have to make a choice. Do you choose to enter into your temptation, or do you choose to disavow the desire inside and please God instead of gratifying those desires.
Now, I warn those who give into temptation to be careful. Once you give in, Satan will whisper in your ear, “You gave in. You’re unworthy of God’s love. Don’t go to Church on Sunday, because you are a sinner. If you do go to Church, don’t raise your hands and sing songs of praise, you hypocrite.”
Don’t let the deception continue. Pick yourself up off the floor and purpose to make better choices, repent from your ways, and go on for God. Don’t continue giving in to temptation. Go to Church. Raise your hands. Sing those songs of praise. Don’t be deceived. God still loves you.
It all starts with the choices we make. We make choices every day.
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Solarus

The riverhead formed the Source. It was so named due to it providing life for Solarus’ farm; surrounding village; but most importantly, his family. The Source had experienced drought before, but no drought had brought such a surreal experience. When the draught occurred many days ago, Solarus was never distraught over the lack of provision. He didn’t look at the trickling stream that lined the bottom of a once vibrant tributary that sustained his life and worry at night.

Solarus never lost sleep.

No tossing and turning.

No bloodshot eyes in the morning.

Solarus took no care, especially when the trickle along the bottom of the riverbed ceased in front of his own two eyes. That’s right. Solarus actually saw the water stop flowing in the river.

It was and then it was not.

He simply stood over the river, watching calmly, knowing that the river would return, someday – soon – he rest assured. There must be a reason that such an occurrence issued. But a gentle smile spread across the face of Solarus as he looked at the empty river.

Then he walked away.

Everyone looked to Solarus for strength and support. No one really troubled him regarding the fate that had befallen the Source. His calmness seemed to spread a canopy over his family and the citizens around him. If Solarus was calm, then everyone around him figured there was no need to worry.

When people had troubles, they came to Solarus. He would sit and listen to their predicament. If they cried, his eyes remained dry. If they became enraged, he kept calm. At the end, he would exhort them and say, “It’s okay. Everything is going to work out. Do you believe me?”

Every time he asked that question people would reply, “Yes.”

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“No,” they replied. A smile would spread across their face and they would say, “I’m going to go now. Thank you so much.”

Solarus had aspirations. He just wasn’t sure what to do with those aspirations. He was comfortable in his community and received great joy from his interactions with the people. He daydreamed sometimes of what life could be if he were a king or a prince or a nobleman – perhaps a politician or poet or theologian.

Maybe a thespian – a thespian who had all the leading roles. One who performed in the center of the stage with the spotlight nestled solely on him. He would have all the thought provoking lines. All the funny lines as well. The other actors would appear in the background or stage left or stage right, with few lines. What lines they did have would only point to the greatness of the center staged, spotlighted Solarus.

Merchants were appealing as well. Merchants made big deals, bartering relentlessly with spice traders and sellers of scarlet and purple. He could finally afford all the wonderful things his wife secretly wanted but never asked for.

But those daydreams were not Solarus. Deep down, Solarus was quiet and contemplative and ever desiring to be humble and retain his quiet nature.

After many days had passed, Solarus walked to the lifeless river and gazed at the dried mud, which now flaked and left crack marks all throughout the floor of the riverbed. He stared at it intently, brooding over his thoughts, and the needs around him. And it was in his brooding that he arrived at his conclusion.

He would go to the source of the Source.

Solarus had many questions in life, and since his livelihood was fed by the nurturing stream provided by the Source, he decided to follow the river to its beginning and find the explanation as to why it had dried up. He called his wife and children to him and made his announcement. Since Solarus rarely asked anything of himself but always freely gave of himself, there was no objection to his decided endeavor.

Solarus’ eldest son asked to accompany him, but he was denied. Solarus told him that, “sometimes you have to journey alone in order to find the answers you are looking for. Sometimes answers refuse to uncloak themselves till one is absolutely quiet and intent on finding the answers. Other times, answers appear without your beck and call, but only at the oddest moments.” Solarus’ son dropped his head, but didn’t protest his father’s command. “Besides, it’s your responsibility to look after your mother.”

Solarus left the next morning, and walked for days. The sun beat gently down upon him during the day. His skin felt only gentle perspiration. Sometimes Solarus would begin laughing as a tiny sweat bead began to roll down his back. En route to his lower back, a cool breeze would blow and turn the warm sweat bead into a cool sweat bead. It would tickle even more as the chilled bead traversed his back.

At night, the moon bathed the ground in its shine. The earth was bathed in the moonshine, turning everything in sight to gray as Solarus made the rocks his pillows. He would stare up at the moon as the frogs and crickets serenaded his busy mind into a lull. His eyes would close and he would think of his wife, his children, his farm, his community, and just before he faded into dream he would realize…

… how blessed his life truly was.

Solarus enjoyed his meandering up the river. He had good health and a happy home. He felt grateful for the sun on his face and the breeze that gently buffeted his body. Despite the draught, the trees remained green and the bees busied themselves from flower to flower, collecting the precious pollen. With the ooey gooey feelings and the natural beauty that inundated his senses…

…what more to life was there?

And it was when Solarus’ mind pondered that question that he saw the beginning of the Source. When he arrived, it was just as he expected. He crawled into the riverhead of the Source.

Solarus sat in the dry, empty, crusted riverhead. It was the exact spot where three rivers met, converged, and became one river. One river journeyed from the east, the second sloped down from the north, and finally the last river trekked from the west. Solarus had not expected that the three rivers feeding the Source would be dry as well.

Solarus gazed up the river to the east, allowing his eyes to probe the length and depth and height of the dry, waterless, riverbed. He did likewise in succession to the other three rivers. They too shared the desiccated state of the first river. Mud would have been welcome, but parched earth and cracks in the floor were the only manifestations provided for his eyes.

To see what Solarus’ eyes saw would have left most deflated and hopeless in the sight of utter dearth. Life would have appeared to be over. Solely the entropy of misfortune would be the only provision afforded by the three rivers.

But in Solarus’ inspection he realized that each river exuded itself from a respective mountain. The mountains themselves were covered in snow. Probably ice, too, Solarus thought to himself. It would only be a matter of time till the gentle sun that had previously beamed its soft rays atop Solarus would turn into blistering rays that would melt the snow and ice, thus providing life and health to the three rivers that fed the Source.

Eventually the Source itself would regain its vitality. The trickles would turn into gushes of water which would build into steady flows of river. Soon the banks would be teaming with the issues of life for all who relied on the Source.

And it was in this thought that…

…Solarus’ easy smile returned to his face.

“Everything will be okay.” Solarus mused aloud. “All things are as they should be.”

Solarus considered pulling himself up from his seated position in the dry riverhead.

“Time to go home,” Solarus said aloud as he stood up, yet remained standing in the Source’s riverhead. Once out, he could walk down the river in the opposite direction he had come.

“Everything that can be done has already been done.”

And Solarus stood there, staring at the mountains. If he saw the trickle in the river cease before his eyes, he would wait till he could see the trickle rematerialize in front of his eyes.

It was and will be again.

Solarus stood…

…waiting.

“Everything that can be done has already been done.”

(c) 2008, Aaron Brown

Manipulation

Manipulation.

When all is done, there is nothing to be done, except wait. Anything else would be manipulation.

For instance, it’s like a cup of coffee sitting in front of me. The beans have been brewed, the coffee itself poured from the confines of the coffee pot, the sugar and cream added. Gently it has been stirred.

Is it complete?

No.

Not precisely.

Let us agree that it needs to cool a little. It’s too hot. To drink it would burn your tongue.

But the best thing to do is to let it cool for a few minutes.

You could manipulate it. You could blow on it, but if you blow too hard the coffee might spill out of the cup, onto the table, and you would lose the tiny, precious drops.

You could put it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool it down. You might leave it in too long and it will ice up or freeze.

You could add some ice cubes, yet that would dilute the taste.

Add some more sugar (which is terribly non-sensical, but that’s never stopped me from doing something), but that might make it too sweet for the proper taste.

More cream and its consistency is too creamy.

So what do you?

Maybe you gently blow on it and you clasp it gently in your hands, holding it close to your mouth. The blowing on the coffee doesn’t affect it so much as your hands, which shimmy and shake ever so little. Without realizing it, you tip the cup ever so slightly forward, and then when you blow on the coffee, a tiny drop jumps over the rim of the cup and escapes onto your clothes beneath.

The best recourse?

Leave the cup of coffee on the table. Get up from your chair and take care of that paperwork. Make that important phone call that will only take five to ten minutes. Get the kids out the door onto the school bus. Put those items away that you’ve been putting off.

In other words, shift your focus for the time being.

It’s only five or ten minutes.

But five or ten minutes will leave your cup of coffee intact. It won’t be diluted. It won’t have ice chips in it. It won’t be too sugary. Not too creamy. All the droplets will be there.

Because a good cup of coffee is like waiting for Schlotzsky’s to open.

It just takes time.

And the least amount of manipulation of the cup of coffee will depend on how good it tastes.

I Samuel 13:5-15

Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.

Sometimes, our problems seem to be gathered against us, ready for battle, just like the Philistines gathered against Israel. And just like Israel, we begin to become overwhelmed by our situation.

Presently, God could be saying, “Not now,” to you.

Just like Samuel told Saul, “Don’t sacrifice now, I’ll be there in seven days.”

But you’re growing antsy.

Restless.

Desperate.

Don’t sacrifice before its time to sacrifice. I know, I know. The chariots are all around you. The walls of the world are claustrophobically closing in on you with the cares and desires of this world. You want to scream because the walls are inching ever so close. You have to do something. You must do something. You must – sacrifice?

Especially don’t sacrifice if it seems like all the time has run out. Your Samuel could be just over the horizon.

Over the horizon comes Samuel. But Samuel did not bring words of affirmation with him, he brought questions of irritation. “What have you done?”

But Saul had to do it himself. He had to try to manipulate the situation. Anything not done according to God’s prescription is a manipulation. Saul replied, “I felt compelled.” I have no doubt that Saul “felt” compelled, but the truth is we ALWAYS feel compelled. We always want to touch and prod and poke at our circumstances, vainly attempting to make the situation more amicable to our own desires.

Samuel’s response? “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you.” The penalty for manipulating? An end to Saul’s family’s reign over Israel.

That last line will leave you silent.

I don’t know if the prescription for our present day manipulating is an end to our gift from God. However, it does seem to push the arrival date off. Or, you might be able to manipulate the situation and get what you want sooner, but with consequences.

You see, the right thing, at the wrong time, is the wrong thing.

You see, what you need is for everything to line up and be in order so that the equation reads: the right thing, at the right time, is the right thing.

Saul had the right thing, did it at the wrong time, and ended up with the wrong thing.

Saul had his cup of coffee. He had to blow on it and spill the drops (of his family’s eternal reign). Saul had to add more cream and sugar so he could go to battle. Saul had to drink from the cup of coffee and burn his tongue. He thought he would enjoy the taste of the coffee, but instead it burned his taste buds and he had trouble following God ever since.

Saul manipulated his cup of coffee and thereby had trouble following God from then on out because he couldn’t “taste” God correctly anymore.

(c) 2008, Aaron Brown

Voice

There was a tiny pinhole of light fissuring in the vastness of Darkness. It really wouldn’t have seemed all that important unless it was taken into account that there was never any light in Darkness before. The pinhole of light was literally a phenomenon. The phenomenon became unfathomable when the light from the pin hole began to shake the universe of Darkness.

Darkness quaked?

The fissuring light began to spew matter across the void. Blues and reds and purples and violets spattered and glooped into the void. The pin hole expanded from a tiny point in Darkness to a splitting, swollen opening. Light was pushing too rapidly to exit the pin hole, when…

Eruption!

It was deafining!

White light erupted in spiraling streams emanating around a steady pillar of light from the opening. The pillar of light pushed endlessly through Darkness. The spiraling streams of light danced through Darkness like bolts of electricity from a static ball that children touch. Lightning bolted from the pillar of white light as well. The lightning was shades of green and yellow that once it reached its full extension, shattered into a billion pieces, leaving nebulae and stardust in its wake. Needless to say, the pin hole, if there even was a pin hole anymore, or at least the opening itself, was no longer visible.

Amidst the pillar of light, the gloops of reds and purples and violets, the spiraling white light around the pillar of light, the bolts of green and yellow lightning, he appeared.

If you were there, you wouldn’t have missed him. He was unlike anyone seen before. He was facing the pillar of light as it trekked through Darkness, as if the pillar was pushing him uncontrollably forward. He turned his head first, to position it so he could face toward Darkness. Slowly, he brought the rest of his body to the forefront, so that you could see plainly that he was indeed leading the procession that followed him.

He was transparent and definitive and solid and fluid all at the same time. He was full through and through, as if life vibrated voraciously inside him

A soft smile spread across his face as his eyes caught the eyes of Darkness.

Who was he? Perhaps, who is he?

He was and is Voice.

Voice began calling out through the expanse of Darkness. The strains and melodies of the vibration of his voice traversed through the entropy and defied the call from Darkness to cease and subsist. Darkness squinted his eyes at the reverberation encroaching upon his territory and thought to himself, ‘What do I do now?’

Because there was nothing before, it was hard to really measure how long Darkness had enjoyed his time of gloom and despair from the created. Darkness knew that he was no match for Voice. Not even Voice could dictate whether he would begin or end the light once the desire was set in motion.

Darkness had the outline of a man. Darkness that surrounded him paled in comparison to the darkness that he was and is. Darkness was deepest, darkest darkness. If you were there, you wouldn’t have missed him. His being seemed to defy all light. What set Darkness apart was his contrast from the rest of darkness. Nothing could exist in him and by him. The only part of darkness, apart from the outline, that you could catch was his eyes.

Darkness called out again, “Stop! Wait!” And finally, desperately, helplessly, “Please stop!”

But Voice chose not to heed. He simply passed on, undeterred by the vociferous cries from Darkness. The only response he supplied was his soft, easy smile spread across his face. It was not so much the reverberations of Voice that bothered Darkness, it was what was left in the wake of the waves from the pillar of light that followed Voice in his stately procession.

The wake of Voice.

The wake is what terrified Darkness.

There were hues of blue and white and red and orange and green and…

…every color imaginable. There were colors that will not be seen for another millennium escaping from the pillar of light. These colors began as single strands of color in the wake, but slowly, gracefully, the colors not so much mixed, but melted slowly into each other, like the painting board of a painter who has canvassed it with several colors as he creates his masterpiece.

And that’s what Voice was doing. Voice was painting his masterpiece. Not quite his magnum opus. That would come later. But for now, it was about the colors.

The colors swam across Darkness, and it could do nothing to stop it. No matter how much Darkness cried out against Voice and the colors, it was still powerless.

Darkness trembled.

(C) Aaron Brown, 2008

Adam Lives in Theory

Adam lives in Theory…

…but he wants to reside in Garden City.

Adam ponders this thought as he sips from his cup of coffee. He sets the porcelain mug down on his knee and takes in a sigh as he looks over the wrought iron guard rails that enclose his balcony. The morning sun peeks its rays through the gaps the city’s buildings leave in-between each other, but he doesn’t see the sun, just the rays. His eyes focus on the wrought iron, how each bar twists on itself up and down, while each bar rises into an ornate cherub resting atop the bar. He lifts the mug up to his mouth, takes another sip, and gives another sigh.

Adam lives in Theory, but he really wants to go back to Garden City.

Adam attempts to reminisce as to why he chose to leave Garden City and come to Theory. Did he make this choice? Or did a choice make him? If lives are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts. And everyone knows that the purpose of ghosts is to haunt, to linger, and to remind that there was once something here, but whatever it was is not tangible anymore.

And Garden City is not tangible anymore. ‘I wish I could go back,’ he thinks to himself. His mind twists and curves, breaking down each element of his past, attempting to separate those elements into atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks. ‘If only I can figure it all out, then maybe I can go back,’ Adam deduces within himself.

He picks up his mug of coffee and clasps it in both hands while he takes a sip. Adam’s mind drifts back to the early days in Garden City. He had a great job. It didn’t seem to pay a CEO’s salary, but the benefits were phenomenal. He set his own hours, worked beside his wife, had full control of the product and could partake of it anytime he wanted. And the best part, his father, the CEO of the company, would come in of the afternoon. He and Adam would sit down and discuss the happenings of the day, what occurred with the product, what could be done better, what was done right, and then they would leave the plant and take a walk together and chat into the evening hours.

Adam cringes at this thought. Why does he cringe? Because, Adam chose to give it all up.

At the thought of giving it all up, Adam bangs his mug up and down several times on the table adjacent to him. The mug doesn’t break, but he still feels the pain of an ill-made decision that haunts him like a ghost.

Adam got an offer from a rival company that manufactured a lesser (but deceptively packaged as equal) product. The company looked so good. It offered him the opportunity of a lifetime. Adam would go straight to the top due to his talents and managerial skills. Adam would become a coveted CEO. He would have a title. Think of it, a title. Titles have power and distinguish you from others. Finally, he would be able to elevate himself to the level of his father.

Besides, his father seemed to be the everlasting CEO of the company and didn’t seem to be passing the company 100% on to Adam for some time. How could Adam wait? It was the opportunity of a lifetime to be just like his father. It was a shortcut indeed, but soon he could taste all that he theorized his father tasted.

Adam’s wife, Eve, she helped in the decision, too. She was excited at the opportunity to have a CEO husband. They could leave the confines of Garden City and really become something in Theory. Eve spoke of the house they could buy with the new salary. She had hopped on the internet and began house hunting in Theory. She compelled Adam forward, telling him how wonderful it would be to have a CEO husband. And the final urging came when Eve said, “We can be just like your father.”

Adam never consulted with his father over the decision. He kept it from him for a couple of weeks in their afternoon skull sessions. His father knew that something was troubling Adam, but Adam wasn’t forthcoming. Besides, Adam had freewill. He could choose what he wanted to do with his life and family.

Adam took the offer and cleared out his desk. His father came in that afternoon and began asking the other workers as to where Adam was. Adam was almost out the door, not wanting to face his father, who had given him everything. Adam’s father yelled Adam’s name. From the door of the plant Adam yelled back the news across the noisy equipment, “I’ve taken a new job.”

His father asked, “Where are you going?”

“To Theory.”

“What is it that you want in Theory? Is this life not good enough?”

“I want to be just like you,” and with that Adam walked through the door, closing it behind him. The steel door closing made a clanging noise that echoed through the plant, and the door’s resounding seemed to convey finality to all who heard it shut.

Adam lifted the mug up to his lips and finished the final sip. The sun edged higher over the buildings and Eve slipped out onto the balcony. Eve was more beautiful now than when she and Adam were in their youth. Though age had set in, she remained radiant. Adam didn’t really know what he had. Well, that’s not true. Adam knew he was lost without Eve. But Adam didn’t love himself, and if you can’t love yourself, you can’t truly love anyone else.

And this left Eve as a shell of a person. She had her dream home, but not her dream life. Five children, but the first two sons were gone. The eldest had jealously pushed the younger into oncoming traffic in the city of Theory. The eldest fled and they never really heard anything else from him, only that they think he had married a girl with the maiden name Nod. This left two sons and a daughter.

Eve often blamed Adam for making the wrong decision and moving to Theory, and Adam resentfully would shove his anger back toward her for compelling him to become a CEO and being just like his father. Adam felt trapped, and instead of blame himself and his poor decisions, he blamed his wife, Eve. He saw her as the cage of his confinement. It was her that wanted more. More home and more family and more money and more and more…

It was obvious that she drove him to become a CEO and leave his father. It was her fault the two eldest kids turned out in such a mess. How could he be to blame, he was never home due to work, and it was her responsibility to raise the kids. She wanted to be a stay at home mom. It was her responsibility.

28 years in Theory. 30 years of marriage.

Eve once confided to one of her children that she and Adam’s marriage could have been a good marriage. 30 years of could have had been. That is a scary prospect. A marriage that could have been good, never was. A marriage that could have been good instead spent 30 years being mediocre and accusory. Adam, in his state of low self-esteem, would periodically accuse Eve of having an affair with the pastor of the local church that Eve attended faithfully. Adam made cameo appearances at the church, trying to assist everyone in knowing how important of a CEO he is.

The children learned not to bring friends home. It was just easier closing their inner lives off from their school mates. Besides, who knew when Adam would have a terrible day at work and bring his problems at work home with him? The kids would count the days in-between Adam and Eve’s blow-ups. If more than two weeks went by, the kids got a little nervous, because they all knew that things were just too good to keep being good and that a fight must be inevitable.

So, one son clung to the father hoping that there was this virtue and idealistic image of his father. The other son slowly grew apart from Adam and made his way away from home toward his grandfather in Garden City. He didn’t call home much. The daughter, scarred by her two older brothers’ incident and needing a male role model to look up to needed her father, but her father carried the guilt of ill-treatment for his wife over 30 years and felt that the best thing to do was be like Mr. Spock and not display or feel any emotions. When she needed someone to validate her mother’s image, Adam wasn’t there. When she needed someone to validate her inner essence, Adam still wasn’t there. The daughter eventually found attention but only in the wrong places.

Adam would later confess, just a few weeks before he was sitting on the balcony, sipping his coffee from his porcelain mug, that his life once had meaning, till he left Garden City. Adam professed that his life was a waste since he left Garden City. 28 years of waste. His family had crumbled. His job brought no fulfillment, not like before. He was growing older, and the prospect of growing feeble scared the hell out of him.

Adam had inherited the wind.

Nobody told him life was going to be this hard. That it gets tougher as you keep going.

Adam lives in Theory…

…but he wants to reside in Garden City.

The crown of the sun is just now edging over the tallest skyscraper. The porcelain mug is empty, much like Adam’s life. Adam slinks down in his chair and fixes his eyes on the cherubs that rest atop the twisted wrought iron. The cherubim leave Adam feeling abandoned by them. They don’t protect him from much. Adam keeps trying to figure everything out. ‘How did I get here? What did I do?’ And then the reality of the true question hits him, ‘what is it that I was looking for?’

And everything came flooding in on Adam’s brain. Everything that he wanted was theoretical. Theoretically he wanted to be just like his father. Theoretically he wanted the title of CEO. Theoretically taking the rival offer would make his life better. Theoretically Eve would be happy. Theoretically his family would be better off.

Theoretically.

Theoretically took him from Garden City to the metropolis of Theory.

What Adam realized is that theoretically took him away from his father. Theoretically got him a title that gave him pseudo-elevation. Theoretically got him a screwed up marriage. Theoretically didn’t hold much water.

‘Could I return to Garden City?’ Adam wondered to himself. ‘Could I return to my father? Return to my former life? Could I?’ All Adam would have to do is pick up the phone and tell his father that he wanted to return.

What Adam didn’t know is that for 28 years, his father has kept his job open. Though his father is aged by now, he seems immortal. His father stares at the phone sometimes, wondering if Adam will ever call home.

Adam could return to Garden City.

He could.

But he won’t.

Adam tells himself that he’s too old. It’s too late. Change wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be simple.

Eve sits beside Adam, but she doesn’t know what he’s thinking; she only senses his discontent; she theorizes that she is the source of his discontent. 30 years of marriage and they’ve only drifted apart. She loves Adam desperately, but he can’t reciprocate. He doesn’t know how anymore. Though his affections should center on Eve, only blame and guilt does he correlate to her.

He’s a little too self-absorbed as well. All they seem to do is share a bed. They sit there for a few minutes, looking at the emerging sun. Adam picks up his empty, porcelain mug and angrily throws it over the balcony. He rises and exits through a sliding glass door back into the house. Eve now sits alone, tiny droplets of tears forming in her eyes. She catches them with her elegant fingers.

Adam lives in Theory…

…but he wants to reside in Garden City.

(c) Aaron Brown, 2008

He Will Have No Other Gods Before Him

He will have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3).

It has only been three months since God delivered His people from the land of Egypt and from Pharaoh’s armies, and the chariots. He has brought them through the Red Sea on dry ground. He has provided food in the wilderness. He has called his children to Mount Sinai, so that they may become a nation of priests of the Most High God.

The first thing God says is, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (Exodus 20:2).” The LORD tells them who He is, and what He has done for them.

And then He says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Exodus 34:14 states, (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). Jealous is jealous of your attention.

He will have no other gods before Him.

So why do we put gods before the LORD?

We reside in the West. We don’t carve images of stone and gold and wood of other gods, but we definitely find other gods to serve. We serve our spouses and significant others, we exalt our occupations, we work our fingers to the bone for things that only bring temporary satisfaction, we magnify our ideologies, our educations, our triumphs, our conceits, and our pursuits (to name a few).

Yes, we have many gods in the West to serve.

But the biggest god in the West that we serve is…

…ourselves.

He will have no other god(s) before Him.

We really enjoy serving ourselves. How often do we say, this is what I want. This is what I must do. I have to accomplish this and that. And slowly but surely, we begin to…

…drift away.

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away (Hebrews 2:1). The imagery that is suggested is that of a ship on the ancient seas that required constant attention to the helm and the charts, so that careful calculations must be made in order to keep it en route. And when we set out to serve ourselves, we begin to drift away. We don’t realize it because our lives are like the open sea. When you are in the middle of the sea, everything looks like sea, because that is what it is, open sea. No mile markers, landmarks, or lighthouses.

There is so much about our lives that we don’t know or understand, especially regarding our futures. Since our unknown lives are like the sea, we sometimes panic and begin to make calibrations to our route instead of sticking to the course. So we begin to develop plans and schemes (and I’m not saying it is necessarily wrong to plan ahead). But in our planning and scheming we choose to discard the original map and replace it with ourselves, because it’s easier to serve ourselves. So you might be asking, what is the original map or route or destination? Well, it is…

The Lord.

The Anointed One, Jesus.

The Spirit of Holiness.

God’s intent for the children of Israel was not simply to get them to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The original plan was “Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness (Exodus 5:1).’” God didn’t send Pharaoh a message, “Hey, tell Pharaoh to let My people go, so that they can escape Egypt and go to the Promised Land.” No, it was let them go so they can worship Me.

Notice that God doesn’t take the Hebrews directly to the Promised Land. Where does He take them?

To Mount Sinai.

But why?

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6).”

And the LORD pours out the Ten Commandments to the Hebrews. Then the people say, “We don’t want God to speak with us, how about God speaks to you and you speak to us?” They forfeit their ability to hear God directly and be His priests.

Then God says, “Okay, Moses, I want you, Aaron, two other cats, and 70 of the elders of Israel to come up to the mount. They come to the mount and see God.

That’s right.

They SEE God.

After six days of smoke, thunder, lightning, and the presence of God on the mount, God speaks and tells Moses to come up into the cloud. It is in the presence of God that Moses was being taught by God, and he would relay the teachings to the children of Israel (Exodus 24). But what happens at the bottom of the mountain?

The children of Israel begin to murmur and complain (Exodus 32). They turn to Aaron and say, “We don’t know what happened to this Moses who brought us out of Egypt (I thought God brought them out of Egypt), so make for us gods to go before us. Now, in Exodus 24, Moses commanded Aaron and the others to wait for him on the mount till he comes from out of the presence of God. Yet somehow, Aaron and the elders made their way back down to the camp of Israel.

And Aaron, who has seen God (Exodus 24:10) tells the children of Israel, “Okay, give me your golden earrings and I’ll go to work.”

Now this is what blows my mind. Aaron and the elders have seen God. On top of that, the children of Israel have seen all the signs and wondrous plagues of Egypt, God’s saving hand bring them out of Egypt, the Red Sea parted, the departure on dry ground, the death of Pharaoh and his armies, provision in the wilderness, and if that wasn’t enough…

God, The LORD Himself is on the top of the mountain. They see the thick cloud. They see lightning and hear thundering flash and zip around the top. They SEE the awesome Presence of the LORD…

…and they don’t care.

Make us a god to go before us.

They see the mountain on fire and they say, “Make us a god to go before us.”

Commandments 2 and 3 out the window.

He will have no other gods before Him.

The golden calf started centuries of idolatry for the children of Israel. You can read every book following Exodus and there is some mentioning or story of an issue with idolatry. One of the most egregious, idolatrous sins that the children of Israel committed was during the times of the kings.

The Canaanites worshipped a goddess named Asherah. As with most pagan worship, sexual immorality was associated with Asherah. Eventually, the Hebrews mix Yahweh (the LORD) with this pagan goddess, Asherah (Watson, 2002). Somewhere and somehow the Hebrews “married” Yahweh to Asherah. There were temples built and dedicated to this marriage with the inscription, “To Yahweh and His Asherah.” And what did the children of Israel do at these temples?

Orgies galore.

There were temple prostitutes that one could engage in covenant breaking, immoral sexuality which was deemed as worship to Yahweh and His Asherah. The Israelites did this despite Exodus 20:23 “You shall not make anything to be with Me….”

I am the Lord, you will have no other gods before Me.

Eventually, God has enough and banishes the children of Israel to Babylon.

Babylon translated means, the gate of the gods.

Babylon was a buffet of gods. Take your pick. Which one or how many do you want to serve and prostitute yourself? Here is Marduk, Sin, Shamash, Nergal. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, worship Anat, Adramalech, and Nabu. Imagine standing in line at the Golden God Buffet and thinking to yourself, ‘I’ll have some of that fried Marduk. Oh, look at the creamy, mashed Nabu. And I hope that the lady in front of me doesn’t get all the medium rare Nergal, I would really like some.’

And it is here that Israel finally gets it. Once the Hebrews are given a smorgasbord of gods, their indulgence becomes a realization, and they finally see the errors of their ways. After Israel’s captivity, they return to the Promised Land, and they never ever have another problem with idol worship. Sometimes God allows us to be immersed in our idolatrous sin so that we will become sick of it, and never do it again.

And in America, we have our smorgasbord of gods. But our gods aren’t necessarily named Marduk or Asherah or Dagon. Our gods have names like Mercedes Benz, sex, drugs, power, ill-gotten wealth, retirement (and trust me, that is a god here in the West), or my personal, favorite god of choice:

Me.

That’s right.

Me.

Me wants to be happy. Me wants to be comfortable. Don’t ask me to sacrifice or give up something, because gods are all powerful and people give and worship to gods, not vice versa. Don’t get in the way of my personal happiness. And like the Hebrews mixing Yahweh with Asherah, we mix our own personal desires and wills with God. We attempt to justify desires that are not the will of God for our lives by telling God that we are doing it for Him, but really we are just being selfish.

He will have no other gods before Him.

Now for a long time I have changed the wording of this passage. Here is the actual wording: “You will have no other gods before Me.”

You have control of which god or gods you choose to worship. God never says, “I will remove these gods from you so that you won’t have the opportunity to worship them. God says, “You remove the gods from you.” James 4:7 “…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

You resist!

Whether it’s your 401k, you career, your significant other, your goals, dreams and aspirations, or yourself – resist!

You have seen the wonderful works of God. The amazing miracles wrought by His hands. Don’t think that He’s forgotten you.

His delay is not a denial.

Whatever it is you’re hanging on to, don’t let it become your god.

Let the LORD be your God.

Hebrews 12:18-24 “For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

He will have no other gods before Him.

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks (Hebrews 12:25).

(C) Aaron Brown, 2008