Growing up, we raised horses. Appaloosa horses. Show horses. Not race horses. Not rough stock. Gentle, docile, peaceful animals.
Sometimes, you stumble across a bloodline that you really like. Typically, when this happens, you want to buy and accumulate more of that line. When someone presents you with a "deal-you-can't-pass-up" you try everything you can to make it work.
Once we stumbled across an opportunity to acquire a colt that was from a mare that we owned, but the father was Thoroughbred. Not just any Thoroughbred, but a really highly acclaimed Thoroughbred.
It seemed like the opportunity of a life-time.
This colt was beautiful and super FAST! She was Appaloosa, so there was a LOT of gentleness and calmness to her....yet she would spook very, very easily!
In horse terms, "spook" means " to startle or cause nervous activity."
Our facility was designed for Appaloosas. She spooked one day and in her panic she nearly cut off her leg! There was nothing wrong with her as a horse. She was simply in a place for which she was not designed.
It was the wrong environment for her.
Lately, we are seeing many posts and comments about "The Shack" movie, as well as many other "Christian debates" on social media. Many people are leveling charges of "heresy." We are not so concerned about whether the movie is worth seeing or which side of arguments we land on. That is not something you will see us comment on.
Our concern is more with WHY believers are fighting each other at every turn? Our contention is that many of us are in an environment that we were not designed for. We were made to be at battle but not with each other. We were made to be in a battle but not against flesh and blood.
This is how we were designed.
Yet when we have closed our borders, sealed up the doors, refused to go engage the lost, and closed our ears to the plight of the suffering and lost, then the warrior that is inside of us chooses to fight each other.
Our enemy is not each other. Our enemy is not flesh and blood (in other words, other people). This is a spiritual battle that must be fought in a spiritual way. We don't fight governments. We don't fight other people. Our battle will be won on our knees in prayer and then by walking out obedience to the direct commands of Jesus. The battle must be won against the evil in our own hearts first, then we can see clearly to address the evil that is around us.
It is time that we take on fear, anxiety, worry, selfishness, pride, and the fear of man.
What keeps us from engaging the lost?
What is it, inside of us, that keeps love from being the primary expression of our lives?
If we do not engage in the right battle, in the right way, we will end up hurting ourselves and each other.
Blessings from Berlin.
David and Keri