For Narnia And For Aslan!!!

"For Narnia and for Aslan," screams my 3 year old as he stands there dressed in his medieval knight armour stretching his sword to the sky. If asked who he is, he'll claim he's Peter in his best English accent. If he's not playing Peter then he's pretending he's Sir William from the movie "A Knights Tale." If you were to ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he'll say, "I'm going to be a knight!" He loves pretending to fight the bad guys and of course rescuing the beautiful princess. He's not all that different than his older brother when he was his age or even me for that matter.

I kind of think its in our DNA. I think its something in us that was placed there by our Creator. Something in us that longs to be a part of a bigger story. A longing to live for something much bigger than ourselves. It manifests when we are young in games of fantasy where we play the parts of knights or superheroes or soldiers, etc. As we grow, I don't think that thing in us ever really goes away, I just think we become very well at learning how to suppress it or ignore it. The fact is we were created for a bigger story. We were created to live for something much bigger than ourselves. The problem is, we often allow this world, in which we live, to get our eyes off of the other world in which we live. While we are physical beings, at the same time we are spiritual beings. We live both in a physical world and a spiritual one. While we may be accountants or salespeople or office personnel in the seen world, Scripture calls us kings, priests, and warriors in the kingdom of God. The difference in we adults and kids is that while playing the part, our children truly believe for that moment they are who they are pretending to be while we struggle with our true identity. In our minds, we are that accountant or salesperson or office staff, and while we know what Scripture says about us, we just can't wrap our brain around it. What's crazy is that the world in which we are kings, priests, and warriors is more real than the one in which we are accountants, salespeople, etc.

I know its hard to comprehend a world that we can not see. But, our seeing it doesn't determine its validity or reality. The truth is there is a world much bigger and more real than just the one we see. Its a world where we put on the armor of God and become part of a story much bigger than ourselves. Its a world where mommy's and daddy's become warriors fighting for their children's souls. Its a world where mommy's and daddy's take on the role of priest in order to go to God on behalf of their children. Its a world where mommy's and daddy's are truly kings and queens and have been given all power and authority over the enemy and see to it that all is well in their kingdom.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking I don't dress up enough in order to play my role. While I could write more, I think I'm going to step away from the laptop and pick up a sword. Perhaps you should as well. Let's step into that story that's bigger than ourselves. "For Narnia and For Aslan!!!"

The Day The Snake Got Loose In Our Church

While growing up, one of my Dad's favorite story tellers was a man named Wendy Bagwell. Over the years I've probably heard this man's retelling of his encounter with a back woods snake handling church close to a hundred times or more. If you want a good laugh, you can check him out here on youtube.com. Now, Westlake Fellowship is not a snake handling church. And it was obvious by my "handling" of this snake that it was not something I did often.

Fortunately for all the members of Westlake, this snake encounter happened on a Saturday when I was the only one in the building. It all started while I was on my way out of the door to put up some signs. When I opened the door, there in front of me was a nice size water moccasin. I won't try to guess the size as I'm sure in my mind he was at least 5 feet longer than he actually was. Now, my first instinct when I see a snake is usually to kill it. This day was no different. Because I was headed out to put up signs, I had two large poles in my hands so I used them as my weapon. While still inside the door, holding one pole in one hand, I attacked with the other. However, the snake was not in defense mode, but he himself was in attack mode. He lunged for the pole in an attempt to strike it. Every time I tried to hit him with the pole, he leaped into the air trying to strike it. After a few futile attempts at hitting a moving target, I was thinking of a new strategy, when all of a sudden that crazy snake came in the building. Not only did he come in the door, but he proceeded to come after me. I was retreating to safety up some stairs, trying to think how I was now going to get that thing out of the building. The snake on the other hand was not taking time to think. He just kept coming. Up the stairs, mouth wide open, this snake just kept coming after me, leaping in the air trying to strike me.

At this point, I began to sweat just a little bit. Thank God I had a couple of long poles in my hands, but the fact is this snake was extremely fast and I didn't want him to get upstairs and crawl somewhere where I couldn't get to him. In my mind while attempting to keep a safe distance from him, I was thinking of the possibilities of what could happen come Sunday morning if this crazed snake was still in the building. I had to get him out. I finally dropped one of the poles before I put a hole in the wall and went back into attack mode determined to get this intruder out and then deal with him appropriately once outside. Somehow, someway I managed to get enough of him with the pole that I was able to sling him down the stairs and out the door. Once outside, neither he nor I relented. He attacked, I attacked and when the dust had cleared, my opponent lay motionless on the ground in two pieces. Ok, if you've ever killed a snake they aren't really motionless at first, but I thought that was really a good line.

I stood there chuckling for a moment thinking to myself, "Did this really just happen?" I mean this was a crazy encounter. I have come across numerous snakes in my lifetime, but never had one come after me like that. Here weeks later, the memory of that snake with its wide open "cotton mouth" striking at the pole and at me, is still extremely vivid. At the time all I knew was I had to do whatever was necessary to get that thing out of the building.

In scripture our enemy is referred to as a snake or serpent. There are times in our lives when like me, we open the door and we allow him to enter. Maybe we didn't want him to, but the truth is once the door is open, he doesn't ask permission. Like that crazed snake that day, our enemy just storms right in. Perhaps, it was something we saw on the Internet that opened the door, or perhaps it was an unhealthy thought we meditated on too long. It could have been endearing yourself to a co-worker of the opposite sex, rather than with your spouse. Maybe, it was a choice we made to compromise in an area, or a time we let our eyes see something we should never have allowed them to see. There are thousands of ways we can open the door to the enemy and once he's in he can be very difficult to get out.

One thing is true, once the enemy has made his way in the door, the intensity at which we war with him has to increase. Like me on that day facing that snake, it is at this moment we have to determine to do whatever is necessary to get the enemy out. If we do not, trust me, it will eventually effect every person in that house. Perhaps, we need another hand in the battle with us, and we need to swallow our pride and solicit the help of a trusted friend. Whatever the case, if we choose not to go into attack mode and deal with the enemy, his work of destruction will be evident everywhere.

Although, that snake had me backtracking at one point that day, the truth is I didn't take it all that seriously until that happened. It's when I quit playing around and got serious that I defeated that snake once and for all. The same holds true for us when dealing the devil. As long as we don't take the fight seriously, he'll have us backtracking. It is only when we begin to take the fight seriously that the enemy starts to encounter defeat.