Above the Sun: Please pray for our schools

by Barrett Vanlandingham
August 9, 2020 

            With school starting in just a few days, it is important that we remember that prayer is the most powerful weapon we have against the forces of darkness. That is why prayer must be the first thing we do in spiritual warfare instead of only using it as a last resort.

            Paul told Christians in Ephesus to be strong against the devil’s schemes by putting on the full armor of God.

            “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

            Paul’s strategy centers on correctly applying the truths of God’s word to our daily lives. He stresses such things as faith, peace, readiness, righteousness, and salvation.  He ends his letter by giving Christians something they can do right now to make a big difference in advancing the cause of Christ.

            “ ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,(Ephesians 6:18-20).

            There are a lot of things we as individuals feel helpless to fix on our own. But the Bible never says we should expect to change things by our own wisdom and power. Even when James 5:16 says a righteous person’s prayer is powerful, it is ultimately because of God’s power that anything gets accomplished.  2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us that God hears our prayers and will heal our land when we turn from wickedness and approach Him with a humble attitude.  And James 4:3 reminds us that we must approach God with the right motives, not selfishness.

            The start of any new school year marks another change in seasons that often brings a little bit of chaos into the lives of students and their families, and teachers and their families. The 2020-21 school year obviously has some unique challenges ahead that will likely bring about a wide range of stress. As such, it will be more important than ever to remember we serve a God who has unlimited love and power.

            “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:24-27).

            Please pray peace, safety, and healing over our students, teachers, and staff this week and all year long as they go into uncharted territory. To God be the glory.  Have a great week!

Above the Sun: Jesus helps us maneuver the aisles of life

by Barrett Vanlandingham
August 2, 2020 

            A week or two ago, my son Britton and I went to Keith Hardware in Fort Gibson to purchase a short extension cord with multiple plug-ins for my flowerbed lights and fountains. I stopped off at the front desk and asked Brenda where I could find one. Without hesitation, her eyes glanced up at the ceiling and she said, “Aisle 18!”  I was in and out in about five minutes. I am always impressed when this happens at any store because being able to give an answer indicates the person is serious about their job and has invested time memorizing or at least becoming familiar with where things are enough to answer questions.

There are various times in my life when I had to come to grips with the fact that there were no short cuts to becoming good at anything. When I was a student (no matter what grade), I always dreaded when a teacher would call on me to answer a question if I did not know the answer. Many times, it was because I had not studied.

When I was a young television news reporter at KTUL-TV in Tulsa, I always dreaded those instances I had to give a report on topics when I was not fully informed or prepared. As time went on, I learned the value of asking lots of questions, listening to the answers, and being diligent in my research. I learned how to do my job!  Eventually, I moved to WVVA-TV in West Virginia and after a while I was awarded the title of Investigative New Reporter of the Year.

Several years later, when I was called into youth ministry, I was often afraid I might not be able to correctly answer someone’s question about the Bible or about life and how God’s word applies to it. The Bible tells the story of a challenge Jesus faced involving an encounter with Satan.

            In Matthew 4, after Jesus was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist, Jesus spent time fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry. After 40 days, the devil came to tempt Him, unsuccessfully, even though Jesus must have felt weakened physically from fasting. Each time the devil made a suggestion as to something Jesus could do to make himself happier, Jesus, without hesitation, started His response with the words “It is written.”  This is important, not just because it showed Jesus had knowledge of scripture, but because it showed what happens when anyone prayerfully and intentionally allows God and His word to guide their path. Jesus, as a young boy, had spent so much time in scripture, as did all Jewish boys, it was imprinted on His heart, ready for when He needed to give an answer.

            As He grew, life on earth was not easy for Jesus. We should not expect to have it any better (John 15:20). It takes determination to maneuver the aisles of life with all its many shelves and products to choose from. Someday, we will answer directly to God for how we lived life. The good news is that because Jesus was successful in overcoming the world (John 16:33), His followers can know we have a reward (1 John 5:13). We can rest assured that eternal life in heaven will be worth the tough choices we must deal with while walking His path (1 John 1:7).

Have a great week!

Above the Sun: A safe path still needs light

by Barrett Vanlandingham
July 26, 2020 

            As we were taking a moonlight stroll down Fort Gibson’s new sidewalk, my wife stopped in her tracks, pointed ahead, and said, “There’s a... there’s a... SNAKE.”

            Lisa must have eagle eyes because it was dark, the snake was 20 yards away, and there was just enough light coming from the nearest streetlamp that we could barely see a reflection bouncing off the low-lying visitor that appeared to be 5 or 6 feet long. With a meandering slither, it slowly left the scene, as if to say, “I’m leaving, but I will be back.” We continued our walk at a little faster pace until we got past where our not so little friend had been enjoying the heat of the concrete.

I think it was probably a harmless black snake. But I do not know for sure since even though we were walking on a safe new straight flat surface, it was dark outside, and we really could not see for sure what was ahead. The scenario got me to thinking about the Christian journey and the false sense of security we can have when we pick and choose verses out of the Bible to justify how we want to live, and the assume our spiritual journey is still headed in the right direction.

The Bible uses a lot of words and phrases to describe the choices we make that affect our eternal destiny: Narrow is the way that leads to life, broad is the road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), He will make your path straight (Proverbs 3:5-6), The blood of Jesus purifies us from sin when we walk in the light (1 John 1:7), Do not swerve to the right or to the left (Proverbs 4:27), A way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12), Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105), You make known to me the path of light (Psalm 16:11), My feet have followed closely his steps (Job 23:11), I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6).

            In the case of my snake story, I did not consider the fact that a safe walking surface also depends on adequate lighting to see potential danger. In our Christian journey, it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security just because we read the Bible regularly and worship each week. Those things are important, but if we forget to apply God’s word to our heart in the way we live our lives and the way we treat other people, we fall short of enjoying the beautiful life God intended for us.

            “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

            Have a great week!

Above the Sun: Challenges can lead to good things

by Barrett Vanlandingham
July 19, 2020

            As I sit by my window watching a much-needed afternoon rain, I couldn’t help but think about that old Tom T. Hall song: I love little baby ducks, old pickup trucks, slow-moving trains and rain. I love little country streams, sleep without dreams, Sunday school in May and hay. And I love you, too.

            What beautiful and simple lyrics that remind us to stop and smell the roses, and to show love towards one another. For all of the trouble our country has experienced in the last four months, you just cannot ignore the fact that many good things have come out of it, too. 1) We’ve been reminded that inappropriate words and actions can be hurtful to others. 2) We’ve been reminded that each person’s freedom ends where another person’s begins. 3) We’ve been reminded that patience, respect, and cooperation can go a long way in getting along with others. 4) We’ve been reminded that even though we all want good health and happiness, there are many different opinions on how to get there. 5) We’ve been reminded that time alone is great for self-reflection and re-centering our lives on the things that are most important to us. 6) We’ve been reminded that even with so many things being taken away and so many cultural changes, we are capable of accomplishing so much more than we ever thought possible before we were forced to think outside of the box. 7) And finally, we’ve been reminded that while some people do not appreciate being reminded of anything, other people do.

            That being said, my good friend Jim recently posted these words I could not resist passing along to you. It is a simple message that Jim gave his 21-year old son during a late-night conversation. Jim’s son, who is getting ready to move out, had questions about the Who’s, the Why’s, and the Where’s of life. Here were Jim’s answers: “Who am I? I am child of God, created in his image. Why am I here? To know God, love God and make Him known to my fellow man through God’s love. Where am I going? To be with my God without end. Everything else is details navigated and defined by the above.”

            Thanks be to God who has blessed us with time to think about the Who’s, the Why’s, and the Where’s of life. May we choose wisely how we walk our faith journey. Have a great week!

Above the Sun: Boring days are filled with opportunity

by Barrett Vanlandingham
July 12, 2020 

            Tah-Dah!  Today is “Paper Bag Day.” On July 12, 1852, American schoolteacher Francis Wolle invented the first machine to mass-produce paper bags.

            If you are saying to yourself, “That’s interesting, but paper bags have nothing to do with a faith-based newspaper column that encourages ‘above the sun’ thinking,” you would be correct.

            The reason I used that little known fact as my opening sentence was to illustrate that some days are just very average, nothing really exciting or unique about them. Judging from the trivia I found on the internet, July 12 is one of those ho-hum days in history.

There may be some of you who became a Christian on July 12 or re-dedicated your life to Christ on July 12. But I am guessing that spiritually speaking, July 12 represents a fairly average day in most of our lives. For me personally, I am okay with having a day where no news is good news. But for many Christians, having a boring day spiritually is a real downer, so to speak, completely unacceptable. For some of us, if we do not experience a spiritual breakthrough or have an incredible mountain-top moment often enough, our faith begins to dip, and our attitude begins to slip.

The purpose of this article today is to remind us that if we do not have an earth-shattering spiritual moment every day, that is not a bad thing. Maybe having a boring day is God’s way of encouraging you to do something you have not had time to do lately, like study God’s word, pray, or go strike up a conversation with a neighbor who could really use some human interaction. A boring day also gives us time to relax, reflect, re-evaluate, make new life strategies, go on a fast from tv and radio, or a social media fast. A boring day can be a valuable tool in helping you re-fill your cup.

Noah didn’t get to build an ark and survive a worldwide flood every year. Abraham didn’t have a direct encounter with an angel every day. Balaam’s donkey did not speak to him every day.  Peter did not walk on the water every time he had a conversation with Jesus. And Lazarus did not rise from his grave every time he died.

Most days are just not that big of a deal by the world’s standards. And most days are not even that big of a deal spiritually, at least on the surface, in that we do not experience multiple “wow moments” each week, month, or year. But that does not mean God cannot be seen working in our lives, our communities, and in nature every single day, and that IS a big deal. God created the human heart to beat over 100,000 times in one day and about 35-40 million times in a year! The question is, what will we do to honor God with the beats we’ve been given?

Have a great week!