Stop Those Divorces! NOW!

Why do we want to stop divorces? isn't it a good thing that our laws make divorce so easy? Don't you think that "No fault Divorce" is a boon to society, especially women? As one of my favorite teachers said so often:

"In America divorce is easy. The trouble is, separation is impossible."

No matter how long a couple has been divorced, separating from those past memories is almost impossible to leave behind. I recently spoke with a person who became upset because her current husband and her ex had a pleasant conversation together. Why was she upset? Separation of feelings, memories and bitterness is almost impossible.

For some reason, God hates divorce. Do you suppose He has a good reason or is it because he is irrational and a kill joy. God loves people but hates divorce. Maybe he hates divorce because it is harmful to the couple, their children and their family members. Our research on parents who have a disabled child indicates that some 85% of the couples who giver birth to a seriously disabled child get a divorce.

Can you imagine how difficult it is to rear a child alone without a partner? It is difficult. Very difficult. I have met many such persons, usually women, and they all say how difficult it is for them to manage the kids, the money, the responsibilities and the work they must also carry out. It is disastrously difficult.

Now add a serious disability to the mix and see what you get. It is an impossible task. Parents with a disabled kid find the stresses and strains so overwhelmingly difficult that they too often get a divorce. How hard would that be on the child and the mother? Unbelievable!

This is why we at Sweeten Life Systems work so hard to PREVENT divorces by teaching people how to live together in harmony. "I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony..." We can reduce the divorce rate. Believe me it is possible if churches would study the research on what causes and what cures toxic conflict. Not all conflict just the toxic kind. It can be done.

Healing Grace

“Now therefore’, continues the apostle, ‘why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?’…God did not want to put a yoke upon the neck of those whose hearts had been set free by the gospel…He would rather exhort them to stand fast in the liberty of Christ and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage’…..How could we ever admit the thought that those whom God had received in grace He would rule by law? Impossible! “We believe, says Peter, that through the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they.”

Both Jews..and…Gentiles…..were now to be saved through grace. And not only were they to be saved by grace, they were to stand in grace and to grow in grace….Those Pharisees were subverting the very foundation of the Christian faith; and so are all those who seek to put believers under the law. There is no evil or error more abominable in the sight of the Lord than legalism.”

C.H. MacIntosh

Do you agree that legalism is evil? Do your prefer legalism to God's grace?

Gracedagain is compiled by Tom Wood, Church Multiplication Ministries, a non-profit, whose mission is starting, strengthening, multiplying grace-centered churches through consults and coaching church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

Hide the Resurrection

Matthew 28

The Resurrection

1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Everyone has a different point of view about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. You will remember that not everyone was happy that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha were happy. Many of their neighbors were happy but Judas was not happy. He wanted money.

The Chief Priests were not happy. They wanted power and glory. Not everyone is happy to hear good news.

We have the same kind of thing happening in this story. The followers of Jesus were happy and excited but confused. The women were the first to hear that good news. They told everyone but were not believed. The same is true today. I know the resurrection occurred for it affected me and I can still sing the old hymn: "I serve a risen Savior; He is in the world today. I know that He is living; no matter what men say!"

Read the following passage and see that many of the same characters who wanted to kill Jesus and Lazarus in the first place now wanted to cover up the truth.

The Guards' Report
11While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.

And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

This last line reminds me of the resistance of many people today, 2000 years after the resurrection. Some people still do not want to hear good news. They are still trying to hide the fact that Jesus is alive. He is not dead. They may try to hide Jesus but He keeps coming back.

But don't give up. The Holy Spirit is still moving among the people of the world bringing them to Jesus.

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Spiritual Warfare?

A Warrior Wears Amulets
The "blood wars" currently raging in Thailand are really spiritual in nature. The BBC writes a very interesting story about the violent "blood" rebellion going on today.

In the battle for Thailand's political soul - played out over several years by "yellow" and "red" waves of protesters - symbolism is probably the most important weapon.

A powerful belief in astrology and the supernatural ('saiyasat') co-exists alongside an increasingly commercial, globalised culture.

This is not just a frame of mind found in far-flung rural areas. Many of the country's top leaders, civilian and military, have actively participated in magical rituals to seek special powers and enlist them on their side.

A leading historian of Thailand, Chris Baker, and top economist and political analyst Pasuk Phongpaichit, have produced a paper entitled "The spirits, the stars, and Thai politics".

The blood of the common people is mixing together to fight for democracy

It outlines several instances of serious consultation by leading political figures - from former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to the generals who led the coup against him in 2006 - with astrologers, spirit mediums and supernatural forces.

It details events such as damage to specific shrines and the smashing of a statue at the famous Erawan shrine in central Bangkok as efforts to either harness or distract spiritual forces at times of political tension.

"Of course this is not new; but there does seem to be a definite correlation between periods of military rule and upsurges of interest in supernatural influences on Thai politics," the authors wrote.

In the Secular Humanist West we tend to pooh pooh such sentiments but in the East they are central to life, love and politics. As a Christian, Teacher I have traveled to Asia many times and understand that Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism are rife with spirits and supernatural beliefs. Where we Christians ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit, the Eastern Mystics ask to be filled with many spirits.

In Yoga, for example, the practitioner is given a mantra to say over and over while meditating. That mantra is always the name of one of the Hindu gods, of which there are some 350 million. Thus, the mantra is essentially a way to ask those gods to fill the meditative person. This is why Yoga is not good for anyone but especially for Christians. Idolatry is never a good thing.

The blood wars in Thailand are in reality "spiritual wars" that call down evil spirits to do battle against other evil spirits. It is similar to Haiti with its Voodoo practices and are dangerous indeed for any of us to interact with.

Our Miracle of 2000

This situation actually started in 1999. I gained a substantial amount of weight from June through December of 1999 to the tune of 58 pounds. I also had a chronic cough.

My wife told some people at work about my weight gain and cough and one person said her mother who had the same symptoms. Her mother finally went to the doctor and found out that she was in congestive heart failure and recently died.

I do not usually find myself at doctor’s offices, but I made an appointment for a December Saturday morning. Dr. Van had the unfortunate responsibility to inform me that my heart was struggling and I needed to see a heart specialist right away. He prescribed Lasix, a medicine that is a diuretic and a potassium supplement. During the first eight days I lost 34 pounds of water.

Dr. Van referred me to a highly regarded heart specialist in our area, Dr. Gary Brown. Dr. Brown examined me and ordered an echo cardiogram (sonogram of the heart). The echo cardiogram confirmed both doctors’ initial beliefs about what was going on. My heart was enlarged and functioning very poorly. An ejection point percentage (the amount of blood pumped each time) was only 15-20%. A normal ejection point is between 55-65%. I was in serious congestive heart failure!

Dr. Brown prescribed medications and explained to us that my prognosis was very poor. I needed a heart transplant within the next five years if I was going to live. I had only a 20% chance of survival without it. Finding the right donor and making it through that surgery is monumental. Wow! What a shock.

Needless to say this news was unbelievable to hear and very hard to tell others around us. It was so difficult to share with our teenage daughter Bethany. She took the news very hard. She coped by internalizing her distress and the anxiety weighed her down.

In February of 2000, Dr. Brown performed a heart catherization and angiogram allow him to get more specific information on the performance of my heart. My ejection point percentage at that time was not much of an increase; only 20%. Additionally, my heart was three times larger than normal. My valves were still closing all the way which was positive news. The prognosis was still the same because of the low ejection point percentage and enlargement of the heart.

Many people told me they were praying for me. I really began to feel convicted about waiting for an answer to prayer for me but not praying for others who had needs. I thought that if God was going to help us that I needed to show my faith by praying for others. So I started going to an intercessory prayer group that met on Thursday evenings.

During the next year of 2000, three different groups of people anointed me with oil and prayed. My wife's boss brought a group together for prayer. Terry _______ invited a group of work associates and other concerned people in the community, some who knew my wife and some who knew me. Others were strangers who cared. Another group of close friends prayed for me and a third was made up of the Senior High School prayer group.

During the summer the youth in our church have a week long camp. They arrive in the morning and leave after a full day of worship, teaching, outreach, and fun. During that week I picked up our daughter and her best friend from the church in the evening. When I went inside to find the girls, I was unbelievably moved by the spiritual outpouring of prayer and love I saw from them. I was also privileged to hear their conversations on the way home in the van, which were centered on the work of God in them and others at the camp. They had started attending a youth prayer group after camp ended.

Each month I would see Dr. Brown and he would modify my medications. My ability to work for long hours began to diminish which took its toll on us financially and that added greatly to the stress! The Lord moved people to provide money for our mortgage and other bills from time to time so his care was evident to us.

During all this time my prayer was – Lord, give me, us, strength to make it through this. My wife's boss, told me his prayer for us was going to be more for more specific healing, not just strength to make it through. Many other friends also mentioned that this was also to be their prayer. I always thanked everyone for their encouraging words and I truly could feel God’s arm around my shoulders and he did give me strength.

I really was unaware how hard this all was on my daughter. She told us later that her greatest fear filled her mind with “Will my dad get to see me graduate? Will he see me get married? Will my children ever know him?” Her senior high group asked me to come into their room one evening so that they could pray for me. I cried as the group of ten teenagers and some leaders anointed me with oil and cried out to God for healing. What an experience to see teenagers act so selflessly and to be so concerned for another, crying and asking God to intervene.

Then about the same time, my wife, daughter and their friends went to a prayer meeting at our church on a Friday evening. During The meeting, my wife and daughter went forward for prayer for my heart. While several people were praying with them, the two friends also came forward to pray for me.

I did not go to that meeting because I was very tired. I was in bed reading and getting sleepy when I had a dream/vision of my daughter and her best friend coming into the bedroom followed by my wife and her best friend. As they all got closer to the bed I could see that _______ hands were cupped in front of her and that a gold beating heart was in them. She bent down and put the gold heart on my chest and then backed away. As the heart beat it sank into my chest leaving behind only the gold. That was it.

I kind of woke up, then went soundly to sleep. The next day my wife asked what if anything went on with me the previous night while they were praying. I shared with her my dream/vision. She asked me about what time in the evening this happened. I told her midnight, which was the very same time she and the others were in prayer!

I had my regular appointment with the doctor in another month and I kept praying for strength. In October I had my second electrocardiogram to see if my situation had progressed. Dr. Brown was not present at the test, but would share the results in three weeks at my appointment. During this time, one of the teenagers created a golden heart from a model he painted and placed it in a decorative wooden box for me. I still cherish that gift.

When I met with Dr. Brown we discussed the results. My ejection point percentage had risen to 45% - a 25% jump. Dr. Brown said that was great and almost unheard of in his 25 years practicing as a specialist. He told me that my prognosis had just gone up 1,000 times and that by the medical definition of congestive heart failure I no longer had it!

I then asked about the size of my heart.I wanted to know if it had grown larger? He looked at the report, then back at the previous report, then back again. He did this over again and even asked my birth date to verify that the report was mine. He told me that my heart had actually reduced in size and that never happens. I told him a lot of people had been praying and I just thanked God.

When I began telling people the results they rejoiced, praised God and some cried. My daughter sent out e-mails to all of her friends and youth leaders. Part of her e-mail include the line that ”Now my Dad will be able to see me graduate, get married, and even have children.” That is when I really knew the burden she had carried.

It was an unbelievable miracle! Dr. Brown said he could not think of a better diagnosis to give someone just before the holidays. You can imagine how we celebrated on Thanksgiving of 2000.

I feel thankful, humbled, and overwhelmed by this miracle as I ponder, why me? So many others have needs not yet fulfilled. My only hope is that this testimony will give others hope and strength in the knowledge that God does care and people care as well. It was a whole year of wondering and hoping and hanging on…don’t give up…

This miracle was made possible by another miracle. That miracle was the coming of Jesus to earth to show us his sacrificial love. It is through belief and receiving of this miracle that we can have hope for tomorrow as well as eternity.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”


Mike Butler