So Goes the Captain…so goes the crew!

 

Believe it or not…this is the transcript of an actual radio conversation between a US naval ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995. The Radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on Oct. 10, 1995.

US Ship: Please divert your course 0.5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

CND reply: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

US Ship: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course.

CND reply: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course!

US Ship: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CORAL SEA*, WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW!!

CND reply: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

Okay, so that is really an old Navy joke and never really happened.  However, it really is useful as we are starting a new school year here in Texas.  I began to think about this story as I had recently heard it and how to apply it to my life.  I have heard this story many times and wondered why it kept coming back up.  Well, I was in church yesterday and was challenged with a commitment to get into the Word of God on a daily basis.  The challenge was made to not just do it for yourself, but for your family.  As a Husband and a Father, it is my responsibility to be the Priest of my home.  I am responsible for setting the tone for my family, spiritually.  I have to admit, I have done well at this on the personal level.  But in all honesty, I have been very spotty to virtually non-existent in leading my family spiritually, well.  They deserve better.  So, with that moment of transparency and a ‘new’ school year starting, I am making efforts to captaining my family spiritually on the path we need to go.

When I don’t fulfill my role as Priest of my family, there are dangers that can arise that leads to dangerous outcomes.  So goes the captain, so goes the crew…Look at how 2 Chronicles 36:14-16 says it…

2 Chronicles 36:14-16

14 Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem. 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple. 16 But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.

In this passage, we have the leaders of God’s temple and spiritual leadership becoming more unfaithful to the things of the Lord that they are supposed to be leading in.  Instead of doing the things of God that were prescribed in the Law, they began to turn to pagan religions that other surrounding nations followed.  The spiritual leaders desecrated the Temple that had been previously consecrated to the things of God.  The Lord loved his people and offered them prophets that would come to warn them of the path that they were going down.  He did this out of compassion for His people.  However, the people only mocked these messengers and hated the words that God sent to his people through them.  This resulted in the Lord becoming angry and His anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.

As the spiritual leadership of a family, nation, team or church goes, so goes that family, nation, team or church.  When the spiritual leadership turns away from following the things set forth by God in His Holy Word, it sets into action a path that is not a desirable path.  While God loves his people, He also grieves when they turn from His ways.  This grief turns to anger and eventually God will turn those and its spiritual leadership over to their sinful, prideful ways.  Adoption of pagan spiritual practices that originate from people and leadership that do not follow the things of God, leads to a desecrated Temple.  Today, this is played out more frequently in the form of idolatry.  This idolatry is found in tolerance of pagan religions, relaxed morals, justifications for actions and so on.  These are just excuses for behaviors that are contrary to God’s Word.  This applies to you as an individual because you are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  You have been set apart by God for His service and His plan.  When you turn away from following Him and choose to follow those outside influences of other religions, then you are desecrating what God has set apart.  This turning away and following outside religions in today’s society is called “toleration”.  When you tolerate the practice of other religions, then you have compromised your belief system and ultimately desecrated the Temple of God.  What you tolerate spiritually today, becomes status quo tomorrow.  As followers of Christ we are called to stand out, not blend in.

What is your plan for leading your family spiritually?

What steps can you take personally to prepare to lead?

How can I help you lead?

The Will of the Cow

I know what you are thinking.  What in the world is he thinking and how is this going to apply to my life?  And now, you are thinking, what in the world am I doing reading about a Cow’s will?  Do cows even have a will?  I mean, really…they eat grass, chew cud and make huge patties that when dried make great inexpensive frisbees.  On the other hand…please use extreme caution and a stick before picking one up to throw.  Now, on to the story…

My brother and I used to argue all the time.  We would always try to get out of doing our chores and try to get the other one to do our chores for us.  Growing up in Louisiana, neither of us liked to mow the grass during the summer.  It was HOT!  It was HUMID!  In fact, in our town, they discovered these Indian ruins that had hieroglyphics that when translated, they read, “Its hot in Louisiana in the Summer!”  Okay, I can’t back that up!  Either way, we would devise different contests to determine if we could shirk out duties on to the other one.  We would shoot baskets, we would throw baseballs for distance, we would chip golf balls from one end of the yard to the other trying to get them into a tire and the closest one would win.  If we couldn’t settle the chore duties through these games of skill, we would leave it to chance by flipping a coin…of course, 2 out of 3.  There would be statements made like, “If I make this shot, even though I lost at HORSE, you get to do the mowing.”  One shot…determined our next couple of hours and how dehydrated we would become.

 

 

A lot of times people who are followers of Christ, will leave their relationship with Him to chance just like I did with my brother in trying to decide who was going to do the yard work.  Take this account found in 1 Samuel 6:9,

9 If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”

This verse comes after the decision to find out if God was the one who sent the plague to the Philistines or not.  You see, the Philistines had stolen the Ark of the Covenant from Israel.  God sent a plague and they were really tired of it.  So, in verse 9, this is what they resorted to determine if God sent the plagues or if they were coincidence.  I am not a big believer in coincidence.   God does nothing by chance.  God does things according to His will, His plan.

Here, the priests of Dagon in Philistia, made that discovery that the Lord is a God of planning.  They made the comment that if two cows would cross a border carrying the Ark of the Covenant, then it would be a sign that God was the one that brought the plagues upon the Philistines.  If not, then it was just a coincidence. The cows went straight back to the land of Israel without deviating from the path.  What is flawed in the thinking of coincidence is that whatever object you use to determine what is destiny or coincidence can always be deemed coincidence by that object’s outcome.

I am not sure that I would want this…

to determine the Will of God for my life.

I believe that  God has a perfect plan for your life.  He cares for you. Even when you aren’t sure of the path He has you on, trust in Him!  Nothing happens by coincidence.  It is happening for His purpose and His plan in your life.  Remain righteous and let God order your steps.

Are you leaving your relationship with God to chance?

Are you making deals with God like I did with my brother?  If I could just make this shot God, I will…

Will you allow God to lead you where He wants you to go?