People of faith experience less stress

by Barrett Vanlandingham

February 2, 2016

           Last Sunday after evening worship, my youth group met at mine and Lisa’s friends’ house for what we call a devotional.  David and Sara Perry provided the hospitality, the grilled hamburgers, peanut butter cookies and chocolate cake, and the 30 teens who showed up brought some serious appetites, their beautiful voices for praise, and some amazing insight that should be very encouraging for the older generation.

            I asked several of them beforehand to answer (in front of everyone) the question of three reasons why they have hope. Their answers with very little time to think about it were simply heart-warming.  One student said she has hope because God has a long history of choosing imperfect people to lead others in His path. Another said, “Hey, if David was known as a man after God’s own heart even though he messed up a LOT, maybe I have a chance!”  Another talked about the support he receives by being a part of a church family who places their hope in God. Another said he was encouraged by the examples of older Christians, “not just the really old ones, but also those in their 20’s and 30’s who are staying faithful to God.”  One by one, each of the teens expressed their feelings of why they have hope. It all came back to their relationship with God, their church family, and the way they see God working in their lives and the lives of others.

            It should be no surprise, but in a quick internet search I found survey after survey showing that people who place a high importance on the practice of faith and church attendance have lower stress levels, less depression, shorter hospital stays, longer lives, and happier lives than those who are less involved in church activities.  Even children of parents who attend church more often are reportedly less likely to be lonely or depressed.

            The surveys and articles I read were only a couple of years to several years old. But there are other articles, or letters I should say, that were written 2000 years ago that say basically the same thing. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew includes several verses that are devoted to telling people they have nothing to worry about as long as they are seeking God first (Matthew 6:25-34).

            The apostle Peter encourages his readers to give God their stress, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).”

            We already know that Jesus was a fan of meeting with fellow God followers each Sabbath.  In Luke 4:16, the writer says that Jesus “went into the synagogue, as was his custom.”  The important work Jesus had to carry out benefitted greatly by the frequency of time he spent in fellowship, worship, the reading of God’s word, and prayer. A Christian’s work today also requires this type of commitment that not only relieves stress, but provides hope. Have a blessed week!

The Christian Walk is not meant to be a run

by Barrett Vanlandingham

January 26, 2015

            When we read inspirational stories from the Bible, it is easy to get the idea that maybe we’re doing something wrong in regards to our Christian walk, otherwise exciting things would be happening all the time. There’s a temptation to compare ourselves to the Bible’s spiritual highlight reel, and then come to the conclusion that our spiritual walk is more like a crawl in comparison to what we read.

            Think about these stories: 1) Noah building an ark to save his family from the flood, 2) God testing Abraham’s faith by asking him to use Isaac as a sacrifice, 3) God asking Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, 4) Elijah calling down fire from above to prove his God was real, and that Baal was a false god.

            The fact is, there’s a reason why those of us who follow Jesus refer to it as the Christian walk, instead of the Christian run. It’s a long journey. Yes, there are times when we must “flee”. Paul urges Christians to “flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18).”  He also tells Timothy to remind God’s people to “flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2 Timothy 2:22).”  At one point, Paul even compares the Christian journey to a race (1 Cor. 9:24). Still, disciples of Christ must learn to walk first, not run. And even then, we must pace ourselves so that we do no become weary in well-doing (Galatians 6:9).

            The Holy Spirit inspired writers to record the incredible miracles we read about. But there was not a huge flood every year, and we have no reason to think that God required Abraham to prove his faith every day at an altar, or that Moses crossed the Red Sea every day, or that Elijah had a monthly showdown on Mount Carmel with hundreds of false prophets.

            Great men and women of the Bible had lives just like you and me. They didn’t have mountaintop moments and huge spiritual battles every day, and neither do we. God has never expected his followers to experience their spiritual journey in a dead sprint all the time. Even Jesus had to withdraw to quiet places to be alone and talk to His Father.

            This past weekend I took 41 teens and chaperons to Arlington for a youth rally with over 4000 more teens where the theme was “Walk”.  The message was basically that even though we often fail, and think we should be a several more miles into our journey than we are, we must remember that being a follower of Jesus means that we take steps, not leaps, towards our goal. It is important to practice trusting God every day with the little things in life. This builds our faith so that when the huge challenges come along, it is easier to trust God. It worked for Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and many others we read about in the Bible. 

            Remember Paul’s message to Christians in Corinth:  “For we WALK by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7, ESV).”  This week, think about these two questions:  What is the step God is asking you to take?  What’s holding you back from taking it?

            Have a blessed week!

God is still watching out for you

by Barrett Vanlandingham

January 19, 2016

            It is so nice when encouragement comes along unexpectedly. I was studying to teach a middle school Bible class a few days ago when I ran across a thought that just really made me feel good about life and faith, so pretty much everything.

            The study material I was reading from said that in the first century, the Jews used the terminology “the Word” to refer to God expressing Himself. The apostle John used the term “the Word” to describe Jesus and define Jesus as the One who was not only with God in the beginning, but actually was God, not just a part of God, or related to God, but that Jesus is God just like the Holy Spirit is God.

            “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3).”  These thoughts are echoed in Colossians 1:15-17.

            The rest of the chapter makes it crystal clear that John’s use of the term “the Word” meant “Jesus”. 

            Some people may wonder why this information should be so encouraging to Christians and really all of humankind. The reason is that the idea of God expressing Himself through Jesus is just one more puzzle piece that helps us understand our Savior a little better. We already knew from Genesis 1:26 that it wasn’t just God the Father by Himself there at the time of creation.  Genesis 1:2 says the Spirit was also there, and both John and Paul state that Jesus was not only there, but that He was the One doing the actual creating. This is totally consistent with the idea that God expressed Himself through Jesus (the Word). It is also interesting that in my Spanish Bible, “the Word” is translated “el Verbo” or in English, “the Verb”.

            The fact that God expressed Himself through Jesus is very encouraging because it was God’s Son, Jesus, who came to this earth to find out what life is like for us, to give us a living, breathing example of how God wants us to live our lives, and to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Scripture says that the blood of bulls and goats could not save us, but only the blood of God in the flesh, Jesus, “the Word”, “el Verbo”, the perfect sacrifice. Then, when Jesus ascended back to the Father, He sent His Holy Spirit to be our Comforter, our Advocate, and to continue making sure the Heavenly Father understands us, to this very day (Romans 8:26-27).

            In my times of spiritual struggle, I find encouragement in the fact that God knows exactly how we feel. It wasn’t a disconnected Jesus who came here, but rather God, expressing Himself through Jesus, “the Word”.   And because of that, the Bible says that we can confidently take our fears, failures, bad days, and any other kind of day to God in prayer, knowing He understands, and knowing He has provided a way to heaven for those who are willing to trust Him and obey His word. Have a great week!

God is faithful to his children

by Barrett Vanlandingham

January 12, 2016

            Every parent I know, myself included, has had days when they wondered what planet their offspring was living on at the moment. Most children have thought the same about their parents. We all have those challenging days, weeks, or even years. But the Bible’s most famous psalmist appears to have had way more than his share of tough days, though many of those were self-inflicted.

            King David’s own son, Absalom, even tried to kill him and take his throne after underhandedly turning many of the Israelites against the king, convincing them that only he understood their challenges and could provide justice in their favor. In fear for his life, King David fled Jerusalem for a time. In the end, David’s armies were victorious over the thousands of Israelites who had turned their allegiances away from him in favor of his son. Absalom wound up being killed by one of David’s generals in spite of orders to treat Absalom gently. It was the conspiracy by David’s son, and God’s righting of the situation that compelled David to compose what we know as Psalm 3:1-4. He wrote,

            “O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill.”

            In just these few verses, it is easy to see the anguish David was feeling as he was dealing with the disloyalty of the Israelites, the loss of his throne, the loss of a relationship with his son, and the death of a son.        With the piling up of all those negatives, it must have been difficult for David to defend his beliefs that God could save him. It is very possible that David felt guilt that his own poor decision making might actually be the reason Absalom was so rebellious. After all, David took no action when one of his other sons, Amnon, raped Tamar (Amnon’s half-sister). So, it wound up being Absalom who had Amnon killed for committing the crime against Tamar. That was the beginning of the breaking down of David and Absalom’s relationship.

            Even though David often acted wrongly, he knew that getting back on track with a faithful God was his only hope, whether the consequences were the result of a rebellious son, or the result of bad parenting. In our lives today, it is still easy to lay blame on someone else when things go badly for us.  

            One lesson we can learn from David is that our God is faithful, and will always lift us from the depths of despair when we cry out to Him. Lesson number two is that we are never too far away from God to ask Him for help.  He will always take us back even if there are consequences to pay this side of heaven. We all make mistakes. The only thing we can do is ask God’s forgiveness, and commit to serving God wholeheartedly starting right now. Have a blessed week!