How we think most of the time, what we think about most of the time, is who we are. Proverbs 23:7 says, ” as a man thinks within himself, so he is.” we can choose what we think about, but most don’t, their brain just does what it wants. Left to it’s own our brains naturally move toward the negative. You can call it mental gravity, down, down , down our thoughts go. During these times of increasing crisis and negative stuff on the news, television, and social media, if we feed on that stuff, we will become increasingly more negative, grouchy, irritable, fearful, and irrational.

It is so important that we ”take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” and that we choose to set our minds on the things above.

Philippians 3:18-19 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

I have made up little slogans that I meditate on; that is, I choose to think about them over and over during the day. Here are a couple,

I will love any person you sovereignly place into my life, no matter how hard they might be to love.

Jesus is coming any minute now, and I want so much to do well at the judgment seat of Christ, and to hear Him say, ”You did well, my son.”

Many people in the last three months have asked me about Romans 13:1-7, and exactly how submissive are we supposed to be?

Romans 13:1-4 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

There are some exceptions to Romans 13 in the Bible.

The rulers of the day commanded the apostles of Jesus not to speak about Jesus, and their response in Acts 5:28-29, ”We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Exodus 1:15-18 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives,. . .and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.

The United States of America was born as a nation by a war of resistance against the tyranny of England, and the ”Declaration of Independence, was the battle cry of that resistance.

Esther 3:2-4 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressing the king’s command?” Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them,

There was a plot to destroy all of the Jewish people by the Persian leader Haman. They were saved from certain annihilation by the leadership of Mordecai who resisted and was blatantly disobedient.He is honored as a hero every year in the celebration of the Jewish “Feast of Purim”.

There are many other exceptions to the rule stated in the Bible, but the greatest is Jesus Himself who refused to go along with the rulers of the day, and they crucified Him because of it.

Submission to authorities was not meant to be blind.

The movie about William Wallace in the movie Braveheart is probably my favorite, though I have a number of favorites. His freedom speech to his troops just before they go into battle was so good that I go to YouTube and watch it regularly as well as when he is being tortured to death, and he yells out at the top of his lungs ”Freedom”! as his last words. It is a favorite because the message resonates with my spirit, I crave freedom, every person does.

Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

During the days following the death of Jesus as the church was getting established some wanted to add extra rules for Christians to follow in order to be true Christians. Paul wrote the book of Galatians as a rebuttal to this teaching. God’s rules are few, don’t change or get added to, give joy, peace, and security, and increase our sense of freedom. Man’s rules are designed to control others, steadily increase in number and extent, they take away joy, peace and security, and they reduce freedom.

I was created by God to be free, Jesus died to set me free, and I feel increasingly oppressed when that freedom is taken away. When I am bossed around by ungodly people, with rules that are arbitrarily and unequally applied, which are dubious in their truthfulness, validity, and effectiveness, and which cause the society they are supposed to be helping to be divided and rebellious.

I am in a pick up with 3 other friends, pulling my boat on I-84 coming home from 5 days of fishing for catfish on Brownlee Reservoir. We had a wonderful time and caught over 100 catfish with about 10 of them being over 8 lbs with the biggest being 11 lbs. Being there for almost a week with little cell service it was a nice ”fast” from the news, social media, and information about all the crazy events happening. Riding home reading the news is depressing, saddening, irritating, and a bunch of other words. How do I respond, what do I do, what do I say, how do I live.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a 4 day white water rafting trip down the Roque River. I was operating a 15-foot rubber raft navigating it through the rapids and around the rocks. If I made a mistake I could end up in the river, with possible damage to my boat, to myself or my passenger, so I worked hard to maneuver the boat down the best and safest route, but still with some element of adventure in the ride.

The days ahead are going to require some maneuvering in regards to events and circumstances, as well as public opinion and differences in that public opinion, strong differences. It will take some pondering and thinking with lots of prayer for wisdom to try and keep from hitting any rocks. I am going on another whitewater adventure in August running the same raft down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon with 15 other people. This River is many times more dangerous than the Rogue River, so why am I going? For the adventure and the challenge which means excitment and fun.

So, my challenge as I deal with current events is to look at the whole deal as a trip down the Colorado River, and enjoy the ride. I will need to take careful control of my thoughts so that I can maintain the attitude of an overcome, and not that of a victim.

I am sorry about not much in the way of blogs for the last couple of days. I am camping on the Snake River, the Brownlee Reservoir at Huntington, Oregon, and there is no electricity to charge my phone and IPad and reception is very poor. There are 4 guys here on this fishing trip, and we are catching lots of catfish, and having a very good time.

Four of us our fishing the Snake River near Huntington, Oregon for catfish. We had a good day today and caught two that were 10 pounds and a number of 7 pounders and 2 to 6. Pounders. We have been spending a lot of time filleting.

It has been cold, windy, and rainy so when it gets warmer, we will catch a bunch more.

If a thousand people are asked the question, ”who do you think has had the most positive effect in regards to racism? I would guess that most would say, ”Martin Luther King Jr.” Why? Wise people pay attention to those who make a lasting difference, not just make noise, and learn from them. Martin Luther King obviously organized and led some very effective peaceful demonstrations. There were eight demonstrations that were particularly effective, but Dr. King’s most famous and most effective act as a civil rights leader came during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, on Aug. 28, 1963. The largest political rally ever seen in the US, it drew between 200,000 and 300,000 police and participants, to whom King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Why was King so effective? All effective leaders are effective for a reason; the reasons are observable and transferable. The Apostle Paul said, ”observe those who walk according to the pattern given in the Word, and follow their example.” I have read a lot about Dr. King, Winston Churchill, John Wooden, Abraham Lincoln, and many other world changers, always looking for the answer to the question, ”What works?”

There are a number of principles and practices that have been written about by those who have studied effective leaders, but I think that at the top of the list of what made Dr King so effective was his communication skills. He was able to inspire people to follow him by his ability to inspire them with his speeches.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

All of the Great communicators over the years who have inspired, influenced and motivated people with the power of their words have common denominators. One of them is that they know the difference between babbling and effective speech.

Marriages can be greatly improved by good communication; parents can train their children to be champions in life with excellent communication, leaders in every area of life can become very effective by improving the quality of their communication. Communicating effectively, speaking in a way that powerfully influences and motivates others is a skill that almost anyone can learn. A few do most just babble.

Why did people who participated in the riots across the country do it, what was their motive? How about those who participated in a demonstration, why did they do it? There were for sure a variety of motives, some very selfish and greedy and others with a very strong and sincere desire to have a positive influence in changing racism. The question that zealots ought to ask is, ”what works?” what actually moves things in our culture in a positive direction. In 5 years from now will there be positive difference in the level of racism in our country because of the riots and demonstrations that have taken place in the last two weeks? Demonstrating and rioting just to “make a statement” is a colossal waste of time, energy, money, life, and often actually moves things in a negative direction. True leaders, those who are the most powerful and effective change agents ask the question constantly, ”what works?” They are true leaders because they are not concerned with just making noise, but in producing lasting change, so they ask, ”What works”? Just making noise without actually changing anything is one of the Biblical definitions of a fool. Most of the “noise makers” we have seen in the news in the last two weeks aren’t really driven by the desire to change injustice, though they are certainly inflamed by the injustice, they are being driven by the selfish desire to be noticed, their involvement in a “cause” is driven by the selfish desire to bolster their own sense of worth and value by their involvement in a noble cause. What really makes them fools is that they are totally ignorant of their own motives.

True leaders have a “mindset”, that is a way of thinking that is different then most other people’s. They think, “what works”, what changes things, what influences the behavior of others, what persuades others to change? Their thinking is generally free from ego gratification, being genuinely concerned about the well being of others. They have the attitude of Jesus described in Philippians 2:5-7 ”Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself.”

So, what does work, really work, in making lasting change?

One of the really interesting and funny stories in the Bible is the one about the “seven sons of Sceva”.

Acts 19:11-16 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

So, the obvious question is, “why could Paul command demons to leave and they fled, and when the seven sons of Sceva attempted to do the same thing they end up naked and bloody.

2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.

Again, the same question, why did God strengthen and use Paul in such an extraordinary way? Can I get that privilege, have that power, do what he did or will I be devil food if I try.

1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,

Jesus considered Paul faithful. That means that the Lord examined Him, as it were, that Jesus has standards or requirement for those whom He is going to use to accomplish His will. The most important question is, “am I qualified to be a warrior for Jesus”? I so much want to be! I want, I want, I want more than anything else to be used by Jesus to change the world. It is a character issue, it is a holiness issue. I will press on to maturity, I will hunger and thirst for righteousness, I will, because I want.

When I was a kid growing up on the farm one of my Dad’s regular admonitions was, “don’t just stand there, do something”! Just standing around doing nothing was a sure way to get extra chores, the real nasty ones that nobody else wanted, like cleaning out calf pens.

As we live our life as a warrior for God, being an overcomer, a conquerer, most would recognize that we are not going to do it in the same way that David fought against Goliath. In fact in the New Testament there are some very clear “rules of engagement” that God has established if we are going to win against our enemy.

2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.

2 Corinthians 6:1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—

Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The basic principle of spiritual warfare is God does it, but He works when we do, He amplifies what we do. If we stand around doing nothing expecting God to work, we won’t see much. So God’s admonition to me is pretty much the same as my Dad’s, “Do something”!

The cool thing about fighting against the kingdom of darkness is that if we do it right we can’t lose, a guaranteed win. So, the most obvious and clear signal that we can send to God that we are charging ahead to stomp the devil, but with an attitude of dependence and trust in Him, working together with Him, is prayer. We are praying for wisdom, strength, and protection for ourselves. We are praying for justice in situations where we see injustice. We are asking God to Commission and energize angels to fight, bind, and resist the kingdom of darkness. We are asking Him to give spiritual sight to the spiritually blind so they can know the truth.

Being an “Overcomer” for Jesus is a great privilege, and nothing we do will amount to anything without much prayer.