I've been thinking about sobriety...

THE AFTERMATH

When I say I have been thinking about sobriety, I want to clarify that I am referring to "emotional sobriety." In his article Achieving Emotional Sobriety, author Dr. David Hawkins offers this definition:

"Emotional sobriety, as I define it, applies to maintaining emotional balance. It means attending to our emotional life when we are angry, discouraged and frustrated. During these times we are likely to react and react again, creating unbalance in our relationships."

One of the things Dr. Hawkins reminds me to do to achieve emotional sobriety is to SLOW THINGS DOWN - in every aspect of my life. He suggests taking time out to put things into perspective by being intentional about what I want to say and how I want to act, instead of becoming emotionally reactive.

And so, may I say that there has been a perplexing aftermath from the February weekend in Laguna when Phoenix Seminary was blessed by a huge jump in resources. When I researched what "aftermath" means the first definition was "a second crop of growth" which is intriguing indeed! Who knew there would be such monumental second growth from our experience?

Before we parted from Bruce Wilkinson at the end of the Laguna weekend, he predicted that we would be attacked by a crisis of faith which would test our belief in the days ahead. Ominously, I noted that the dictionary definition of aftermath did add, "the period immediately following a usually ruinous event" such as "in the aftermath of the war."

Let me hasten to say that God is still on His throne and I am confident that His purposes are prevailing. However, I have found myself in unknown territory after experiencing a particularly strong outburst of the presence of God in my life. I haven't written any blogs for several weeks because I have been doing what Dr. Hawkins suggested in his article - slowing down to acquire perspective.

What are the distinctives of this unknown territory? It seems to me that there are great paradoxes - wonderment at all the possibilities that resources provide but deep concern that those resources be stewarded well. Amazement that many people committed to stand with us but more sobriety than ever in managing all the expectations of relationships. Delight at what was accomplished by working together but consternation and heartbreak over emotional reactions and questioning of motives.

In my slowing-down-time, God has given me the perspective that the winds of war will rage on - battle, victory, crisis of belief, and then the marvelous purifying of faith. I am staying calm as I survey God's sanctification process and the incremental growth spurts that sustain it! I am disciplining my heart to believe that God is ever-present and active in the unknown land. I am, by God's grace, achieving emotional sobriety even in the aftermath.

1 Corinthians 9:26 & 27, "So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

I've been thinking about attacks...

RESISTING A SHARK ATTACK

Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit, has written a new book entitled Unbroken in which she tells an astonishing tale of survival, resilience, and redemption. During World War II, Louis Zamperini joined the Army Air Corps as a bombardier. After his B-24 Liberator crashed into the ocean, he survived 47 days on a raft at sea before his dehumanizing capture and torture by the Japanese.

While drifting at sea, Louie and two other surviving crew members experienced a fearful phenomenon - sharks. A shark is a carnivore predator, a meat-eating fish and one of the most feared animals of the sea. Sharks were uninvited, constant companions throughout the saga of the raft. Here are a few goose-pimpling excerpts:

"The sharks... were so close that the men would only have to extend their hands to touch them. The smallest were about six feet long; but some were double that size, twice the length of the rafts. They bent around the rafts, testing the fabric, dragging their fins along them..." p. 129

"The coolness of the ocean beckoned and couldn't be answered, for the sharks circled. One shark, six or eight feet long, stalked the rafts without rest, day and night. The men became especially wary of him, and when he ventured too close, one of them would jab him with an oar." p. 141

"As the men sat together, exhausted and in shock, a shark lunged up over the wall of the raft, mouth open, trying to drag a man into the ocean. Someone grabbed an oar and hit the shark, and it slid off. Then another shark jumped on and, after it, another." p. 156 - 157

"Growing wiser, they gave up flinging themselves haphazardly at the men and began stalking about, waiting for a moment when an oar was down or a back was turned before bulling their way aboard. Over and over again they lunged... Mac and Phil smacked them away." p. 157-158

During a strafing attack by a Japanese plane, Louie jumped overboard into the water and hid under the raft only to see the huge, gaping mouth of a shark emerge out of the darkness. As Louie prepared to fight with his bare hands some of his survival training came to mind.

"Louie remembered the advice of the old man in Honolulu: Make a threatening expression, then stiff-arm the shark's snout. As the shark lunged for his head, Louie bared his teeth, widened his eyes, and rammed his palm into the tip of the shark's nose. The shark flinched, circled away, then swam back for a second pass. Louie waited until the shark was inches from him, then struck it in the nose again. Again, the shark peeled away." p. 155

And then, an assault by the apex predator of all sharks. "Swelling up from under the water came a leviathan: a vast white mouth, a broad back parting the surface, and a long dorsal fin, ghostly in the moonlight. The animal was some twenty feet long, more than three times the length of the raft. Louis recognized its features from his survival training. It was a great white shark." p. 163

Contemplating the horrific shark experiences, I can easily make a connection to what the Bible says about Satan and the tactics he employs. I Peter 5:8,9, Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Hmmmm... bare my teeth, widen my eyes, and ram my palm into the devil's nose. This could well be another metaphor for resisting him and remaining firm in my faith. Certainly the threat is very real but I would like my life to be a tale of survival, resilience, and redemption, just like Louie Zamperini.

I've been thinking about traction...

OVER THE TOP

Our long-awaited Montage weekend in Laguna Beach with Phoenix Seminary investors is over but as I continue to reflect on it, all I can say is, "It was over the top!" Let me explain.

A week or so before we left for the weekend, Darryl and I were inspired by a movie about Sir Winston Churchill called Walking With Destiny. The movie documents the period of time after Churchill was named prime minister of Great Britain in 1940 up until the point the United States of America entered World War II.

On June 4, 1940, Churchill told the House of Commons that even though all of Europe might fall, "...we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end...we shall fight in the seas and oceans... we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..." Rarely, if ever, has a national leader taken over in such a desperate hour.

Churchill was a noted speaker, author, painter, soldier and war reporter. He demonstrated a matchless command of the English language and he spoke as he wrote - clearly, vividly, majestically. He used his rhetoric to bolster the people of Great Britain as they struggled for survival. Looking back on this chapter in his life, he wrote, "I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial."

His personal courage, the grandeur of his words, and his faith in victory, even if it was not yet clear how that victory could be achieved, inspired the British nation to "their finest hour." The mere sight of this stocky, determined man - a cigar in his mouth and two fingers raised high in a "V for victory" salute - cheered the people.

"Their finest hour" was a phrase lifted from a 36 minute speech Churchill delivered to the House of Commons on June 18, l940. Just a month after he took over as prime minister, he talked about the noble causes for which Great Britain was fighting. He said, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour."

Moved to tears by this phrase, I asked our committed prayer warriors to pray that this donor weekend would be our finest hour. I asked them to pray that our courage and strength would grow in direct proportion to our challenges. Instead of cowering before them - that our group of 100 souls would be unified and bound together in sharing the burden of sustaining Phoenix Seminary.

God did above and beyond all that we thought possible. The doors of heaven opened and Phoenix Seminary was blessed with financial commitments of over six million dollars. Every person attending gathered around Darryl and I in a prayer of commitment to build Phoenix Seminary and to stand firmly behind its mission of Scholarship with a Shepherd's Heart.

Finally, traction had come to pitch the seminary forward into the destiny God has already designed for it! His "over the top" display of power will remain in our hearts and memories forever. To God be ALL the glory!