ANGER: The Animal's Fury

Ever wonder why you can't control your anger? It's because there is a deadly animal inside you, tearing you apart. It's that part of you that says things that deeply hurt the people you love even though you don't really want to hurt them.

It's whatever produces the dark side of you - the bitterness, self-destructive thoughts, adulterous inclinations, and the anger. This is the side of you that you hate. The people you love hate it and God hates it, but you seem powerless to fight it off.

Jesus describes exactly who this animal is. He said in John 8:34 , "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin." Sin is this untamable monster inside of us and the Bible is very blunt when it describes what this animal will ultimately do to us. "Sin when it is full grown gives birth to death." The wild animal of sin is a killer. It can kill your relationships, self-respect, reputation, future, and ultimately it can take you to hell.

You're helplessly at the mercy of this killer animal except that someone intervened - someone who loves you like no one has ever loved you. In God's own words in 1 John 4:10 , "This is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin."

God knew that you could not survive the fury of this animal called sin, so Jesus turned all the fury of the animal on Himself when He died on the cross. The death He took on Himself wasn't just physical; it was the agony of an eternal hell. The amazing part is that He lives today and He has won the fight!

This incredible rescue could reach you this very day at the moment you put all your trust in this Savior to be your Savior. You know the power and the fury of the animal of sin. It's time you experienced the rescue of the One who loved you so much that He willingly turned the fury of sin on Himself.

ANGER: Volcano Scars

When you're angry, you're probably a lot like a volcano. You erupt, spew out your lava, and often blow away a piece of the other person, if not yourself.

Every one of us carries around parts of us that have been mortally wounded by something someone said to us in anger. They may have forgotten it, but we can't ever forget it because those create volcano scars. Why do we do this to other people and usually the people we love the most?

Proverbs 12:18 says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword." That's the awesome power of our angry, irresponsible words. Proverbs 18:21 says that "The tongue has the power of life and death." We can say things that make a person feel more alive or that make them feel dead inside. You've had it happen to you, haven't you?

The Bible pays a high tribute to a person who's under control. Proverbs 16:32 says, "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." That's real manhood.

If you're tired of erupting and leaving volcano scars on people, maybe it's time to follow the steps to becoming an extinct volcano:

1. Confess your anger and your reckless words as the sin that they really are. Bring it to Jesus' cross and treat it as some of the ugly sin that literally killed our Savior. Then confess it to the victims of your anger.
2. Don't let the lava build up; deal with issues right away.
3. Make yourself listen and ask questions before you speak. James 1:19 says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." If you listen, you'll be slower to have anger.
4. Don't say anything at all until you're under control.
5. Make Jesus Christ the Lord of the raging animal inside you. We've all got one. That's the uncontrollable parts of us that are constant reminders that we need a Savior.

Give it to Him for this new day. If volcanoes could think, maybe they'd think twice about blowing their top. The volcano might reason, "You know, maybe I'll feel better for a while, but is it worth blowing away a part of myself? Is it worth blowing away a part of a person I love?" Well, when we think about it, we know it's not worth it. The tongue has the power of life and death and "reckless words pierce like a sword." Haven't we left enough volcano scars?

Ek Tu Hi Bharosa... Hindi Song..

ANGER: Human Volcanoes

It's tough living with a volcano that could go off any minute. Could that be how the people around you feel?

When the stress, pressure, and aggravation build up, maybe you become a human volcano - blowing up and doing some serious damage, especially to people you love. Like a volcano, the eruption is over fairly quickly, but the damage it does can last a lifetime.

Maybe your temper is part of your "dark side" and it is out of control all too often. It may be the devastating things that you say and do when you're angry, your selfishness that continually wounds and crushes people, or a sour negativity and bitterness that poisons your life and the lives of people around you. It's all deadly molten lava that keeps spewing out of your life - often hurting most the people you love most.

The battle you fight with your explosive dark side is not a new battle; it's at least 2,000 years old. Romans 7:15 says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." That's a struggle we all understand too well, isn't it? The way we treat our mate, our children, our co-workers, and maybe our friends. We don't want to be that way, but we just can't seem to stop. The passage goes on to say in Romans 7:18-19 , "I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing." How many times have we resolved to do better and failed?

There is good news, because the Bible shows us how to move from despair to deliverance. Romans 7:24-25 says, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" That's just what we need. We need a rescuer, someone who can lift us out of the trap of this sin-mess. That's where the hope is! Jesus Christ came here to deal once and for all with this sin monster that's so powerful inside us, sin that cuts us off from God now and forever. Jesus went to a cross where He died to absorb all the power and all the death penalty of our sin. Then He declared total victory three days later when He walked out of His grave under His own power!

He wants to bring that victory into your life to forgive every sinful, hurtful thing you've ever done and give you a new beginning. He stands ready to actually move into your heart, to control what you have never been able to control, and to beat what has always beaten you. He's the Rescuer reaching for you. Now it's up to you to reach back and grab His hand and tell Him, "Jesus, You are my only hope. I don't want to be like this anymore. I'm placing all my trust in you to be my Savior from my sin." With Him in your life, you don't have to be what you've always been. You can be what the Bible calls "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17 ).

When Jesus was on earth, He was with His disciples in a violent storm that threatened to destroy them until He stepped to the helm and said three words: "Peace, be still!" The storm was gone. Today, He wants to do that for the storm that rages inside you.

Hindi Christian Song: Ae Mere Mann...

ANGER: The Longer It Waits, The Harder It Gets

Maybe there's a strained relationship in your life right now, and there have been too many sunsets and bad feelings toward someone. The problem is probably bigger than it used to be, but right now is the smallest it will ever be. This issue will never be easier to address than right now, no matter how hard that might seem to you. It's only going to get harder. It's only going to get more costly, and you'll only turn darker inside.



There's a good reason for this. It's like food remnants on dirty dishes. If you deal with them right away, they're soft and easy to remove. Just rinse the plate, and the food falls right off. If you wait, it turns hard so you have to scrape and work, and it's tough to remove it because it's stuck tight. Maybe that's why we call unresolved anger "hard feelings."

Anger turns hard very quickly, and that gives the devil an opportunity to enter a marriage, a parent-child relationship, a friendship, or a church. At the core of every marriage break-up there has probably been an issue that was once a small one, but it was not dealt with immediately. At the core of a broken parent-child relationship, a hurting friendship, or a divided church, there are people who didn't clean up their anger when it first appeared, when it was still small and relatively soft, so it's led to a terrible outcome. The devil got his foot in the door.







Ephesians 4:26-27 says, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." Here's the Biblical clock on strained relationships. That clock runs out at sundown every day. Remember those old westerns where the marshal might say, "You better be out of here by sundown." Well, that's what we're supposed to be saying to any anger, resentment, or conflict that comes up. "Get out of here by sundown."


Today is always your best opportunity to go to that person and do whatever it takes to repair things. Be willing to confront them to apologize and receive or give forgiveness if needed. Talk it through with them and pray together. You say, "Well, that's going to be tough." It won't be as tough as not doing it. You just cannot afford that hard spot in your heart that develops from the anger that you stuff inside. Don't let it grow instead of letting it go.

Anger and bitterness never stays the same size; they always grow. Remember the dirty dish. There is nothing to gain in waiting to resolve the problem, because the longer you wait, the harder it gets.

ANGELS: Fascinated with Angels

Are there really angels out there? In today's climate of curiosity about spiritual things we're fascinated with angels. There are all kinds of books about angels, T.V. programs, pictures, decorations, and toys.


We've started to look beyond earth stuff for some answers, for some hope. For many, this spiritual quest has taken them to the realm of the angels.


The truth can be found in the Word of God. God tells us where angels fit into the whole scheme of things. The Word of God says in Hebrews 1:6 , "And again, when God brings His first born into the world He says, 'Let all God's angels worship Him.'" It tells us here that there definitely are angels, and He commands all of them to worship His Son.


What's their job? We read in Hebrews 1:14 , "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve. Other places in the Bible show that they're God's delivery people or messengers. What's important is who sent them. He's the One to pursue. He's the One to study. He's the One who should fascinate us.


You just learned something incredible about the One angels came to the earth to announce - God's one and only Son, Jesus. Later in Hebrews 2:9 it says, "But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone."


Beyond the angelic messengers is a life or death message. Jesus left the glory of heaven to "suffer death." The one person in history who could not have His life taken from Him is the Son of God. He gave His life on a cross tasting "death for everyone."


The bad news from the Bible is that we are under an eternal death penalty for our sin - for running our own lives instead of letting God run them. The good news is that Jesus loved us so much He did what only He could do. He died the death penalty we deserve to give us the eternal life we don't deserve.


If you've been looking for spiritual peace and spiritual reality, it's been waiting for you all along, in Jesus. It becomes yours when you commit yourself to this awesome Savior. No angel, no prophet, no religion could die for your sins, only God's Son could do that, and He did. Your search could be over today. It can end at the nail-pierced feet of Jesus.

Book Review: Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission by Ronnie Floyd

The word *hope* has been thrown around a lot over the past few years, and it seems to me that it may have lost some of its meaning.  When the *hope* that people think they are getting turns to dismay, disappointment, and disillusionment, it may be a wake-up call that the focus is not on the Messiah.

Ronnie Floyd, a pastor, has recently written Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission.  While the "last great" part of it may seem rather fatalistic, in a greater sense, it is.  He wants the reader to appreciate that there are millions (or perhaps billions) of people dwelling on earth who have not heard the good news and are not saved.

His argument is that rather than tithe, pray for a handful of missionaries, and move on with your life, you should be active--evaluating yourself and your commitment, engaging and enthusing your church, "talking" Jesus daily, and reaching the next generation now.

As someone who routinely tutors "the next generation" and has conversations with them about their priorities, their goals, and their lives, I can attest that this is one of the greater challenges.  As the author expresses, however, it is Our Last Great Hope.

I think this book would be especially useful when read as a group -- women's or men's groups at church, church leadership, college-age group, or any other similar group.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 

Book Review: Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff

In Has God Spoken?, Hank Hanegraaff, “the Bible Answer Man” turns his attention toward the attacks on the reliability of Scripture.  He does so through catchy (if sometimes forced) alliteration and acronym-filled arguments while sprinkling in the occasional pop culture reference, possibly to lighten the mood from what he fears may be getting too academic (though I obviously can’t predict his reasoning).

Hanegraaff opens the book by stating the problem of popular attacks on Biblical inerrancy, specifically citing Barak (Obama), Bart (Ehrman) and Bill (Maher) among a “procession of political pundits, professors, and public personalities” that call into question its reliability.  (I told you he liked alliteration.)

Having established the attacks, Hanegraaff proceeds to answer some key questions while providing evidence, utilizing the tool of acronyms for memory purposes.  He offers MAPS to follow in this debate - Manuscripts, Archeology, Prophecy and Scripture.  These main headings he breaks down further.  I’ll discuss them briefly.

Manuscript COPIES – Copyist practices, Oral culture, Papyrus and parchments, Internal evidence, External evidence and Science of textual criticism.  In this section, Hanegraaff offers a look into the stringent practices of historical copyists of Scripture while examining the impressive precision of oral tradition in cultures that thrived upon it.  He also points out the many pieces of manuscripts and early dates of them while marveling at the harmony within Scripture and historians’ support of what Scripture says. 

Archeologist’s SPADE – Steles and stones, Pools and fools, Assyrian archeology, Dead Sea Scrolls and Epic of Gilgamesh.  Hanegraaff points out that other religious writings, the Book of Mormon for instance, make many claims about places and events that simply cannot be backed up archeologically.  The Bible stands in stark contrast.  Many of its places have been excavated and archeology is time and again revealing that Scripture is accurate in what it says.

Prophetic STARS – Succession of nations, Typological prophecy, Abomination of desolation, Resurrection prophecy, Superstar ABCs.  Pointing to various prophecies and their fulfillments, Hanegraaff highlights the impressive track record of Scripture.  From the notable progression of national powers offered in the book of Daniel to specific prophecies regarding the Messiah, he lays out events that could not happen simply by coincidence.

Scriptural LIGHTS – Literal principle, Illumination principle, Grammatical principle, Historical principle, Typology principle and Synergy principle.  Having used Manuscript Copies, Archeologist’s Spade and Prophetic Stars to illuminate the reliability of Scripture, Hanegraaff focuses this last chapter on ways in which one may read and study Scripture well – interpreting it accurately and applying it faithfully.

For a layman, this book is a good starting point.  It will bolster your assurance in the reliability of Scripture, offering sound reason for believing the truth that is found in the pages of your Bible.  However, it falls short in what seems to be Hanegraaff’s main claim, to provide a sound, academic defense of inerrancy.  Before you stone me as a heretic, let me explain. He repeatedly alludes to Bart Ehrman, a notable professor who writes and teaches against the accuracy of Scripture.  Hanegraaff also uses some very technical terms for textual criticism, terms which he uses incorrectly and which are very familiar to Ehrman (and any other textual critic regardless of whether they side for or against inerrancy).  If Hanegraaff were to enter into an academic debate with Ehrman using the material he presents here, he’d be torn to shreds.  That said, if you’re looking for an academic discussion, this is not the book you’ll choose, for the casual reader concerned about the reliability of their Bible, this is  a great place to start.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 

Book Review: God's Love Letter's to YOU, By Larry Crabb

God's Love Letters to You, a 40-Day devotional experience by Dr. Larry Crabb, is one of the best devotional books I've read. In fact, I didn't want to read just one a day as intended. Dr. Crabb is a well-known Christian psychologist, teacher and speaker, and he uses his background to inspire us into real conversation and thoughts with the God of the Bible. Using personal letters from God (straight out of the Bible) to us, he is challenging us to hear the love story God is telling us, and to awaken our souls with God's word of life. After each day's devotional, there are also moments to reflect and a short prayer. I particularly recall day 17: Jonah Where God demands our cooperation. Dr. Crabb reminds us that God says, "We are to grow up. Our days of naive worship and shallow intimacy are over. We are wrong to demand GOD's cooperation with our understanding of life. Because God loves me and because His plans are for my good, He demands that I cooperate with Him. There is no other way to enjoy His Presence. When life hits a bump that God could smooth but doesn't, will I countinue to think that God should surrender His wisdom to mine and do what I think best?" Oh what a mess I would be in then. As a good friend of mine would say, "Oh me, Dennis!" 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”