It’s hard to feel safe these days.  The very notion of “safe-space” has become one of the essentials of modern life. 

It arose within the precincts of the counseling room, a place where one could feel comfortable in addressing problems of a highly personal nature.  It has since become caricatured by the eruption of sequestration from people of other races or ethnicities, cultures and even differing opinions that ostensibly threaten one’s sense of appropriateness or personal satisfaction; notably, on college campuses.

Life has certainly become horribly unsettled.  Any semblance of social equilibrium appears to be gone.  Divisions have erupted on every conceivable front, from racial to political to generational.  One risks even laughter these days, as humor, along with respect and reverence, is rare to find.

The day looks to be gone when we can rely upon the established institutions for leverage and balance.  The worlds of media, academia, government, entertainment and even religion have found their foundations badly shaken, as well as motivations.  It’s just outright hard to trust anyone or anything anymore.

But one can still trust in God.  He is worthy of our trust.  The Bible refers to Him as our Savior, our Deliverer, our Rock, our Fortress, and our Stronghold.  Look to the Lord and you set yourself in the direction of One who can’t be moved.  The world that He inhabits cannot be shaken.  And those who look to and trust in Him will be held safe in His hands, securely ensconced in His presence, and firmly-anchored in the hope that belongs to them.  They will stand fast and, having done all, they will stand, courtesy of the promise, the power and the presence of the Almighty.

It is what it means to be saved.  We are saved from and we are saved for; being so saved, we are safe in and from.  We are saved from our sin and its concomitant and consequent adversities.   We are saved for God Himself, to live as beloved children in His presence, for the dual purpose of worship and witness.  We are safe in the gift and reality of His salvation, as He Himself is our protection and deliverance.  And we are safe from all manner of attack, being insulated in range from false witness to satanic stratagem.

The concept of salvation, at the most general level, is easy enough to articulate.  One who is saved has become safely-ensconced within a stronghold, a stronghold being a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld against attack.

The Christian is one who is secure in his faith because he is in all things upheld by his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.  And she is one who, being safe and secure, is called upon to be such a stronghold for others.  The Church of the living God is meant by God to be a stronghold within and whereby others may find welcome, rest and security because of the all-encompassing, all-embracing benevolent presence of the Almighty.

A stronghold is a place wherein rest and recovery is had and nurture and training is pursued.  The Church is ordained to be both hospital and rehabilitation center on the one hand, and a training institute or academy on the other.  One’s experience of salvation should be essentially synonymous with one’s healing and training, the one from, and the other to confront, the ravages of sin.  It is an act of divine and glorious grace that we are so beautifully saved from that which damages us, as it is that we are called to be expressions of grace and glory as we reach out to those similarly damaged.

A stronghold is a place from which mission and witness goes forth.  A stronghold attracts outsiders to its safe haven, while it compels its inhabitants to go forth from its protective environs in order to share and spread its message.  The Church, when she is true to her calling, is a means of attraction, as its light draws many to her, and is a mode of propulsion, as her constituents go forth “into all the world,” “as lambs amidst wolves,” as light amidst darkness, as the aroma of Christ amidst the stench of sin and death.

I have always been grateful to my Lord that my lovely little fellowship has always offered a hospitable and warmly-disposed environment for visitors and guests.  I have often remarked that no one within our orbit need ever be lonely, as my congregants receive others, not simply with a word of welcome or a handshake, but into their hearts, and they are heart-receptive from the very get-go of a new relationship.  New people are assimilated almost immediately, becoming “old friends” almost over-night.

But these same old friends are given the task of reaching out to, and receiving others into, the fold.  I always encourage congregants, as they step out of the building, to greet any passers-by, as a friendly acknowledgment or a sincere smile can such a difference, as one someone may desperately need that point of contact.  We become missionaries the moment we take leave of church.  One’s worship parleys into one’s witness.  One’s safe haven becomes another’s beacon of light and ambassadorial embassy. 

What plays out within the walls of a local church is significant.  It is there that Christians find opportunity to spiritually grow in concert with other believers, find meaningful rapport with those same believers, and become attuned to the collective identity of the Church, within which we come “under the umbrella” of God’s safe haven or stronghold.

It should be as lovely an experience as anything else in this world, as it hails from God’s world; as such, we should be able to find contentment, assurance and acceptance, as well as peace amidst a world gone increasingly and sinfully mad.

But it should also be a challenging experience.  We must make ready to engage this world, being adorned with spiritual armor and spiritual weaponry.  We present Jesus.  Our lives are the smell of life or death.  Our Word, to borrow the proverbial adage, separates the men from the boys, because it is cast upon and in-dwells blood-bathed believers who wield the Word as the Spirit’s sword and prayer as ultimate weapon to defeat the enemy and recruit damaged souls for Christ’s Kingdom.

God’s Word addresses the whole idea and reality of such a salvation and stronghold in a helpful variety of ways:

Save & Rescue – He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13, 14).

He has rescued us.  Modern man does not recognize his need to be rescued.  He doesn’t require fortifications of any kind in his mind; then again, he has security systems, police and paramilitary agencies, powerful weaponry and the nuclear umbrella.

Modern man doesn’t even understand the concept, let alone the reality of, salvation.  He is self-sufficient and independent.  Challenge and opportunity lie before him.  He wants experience and excitement.  But salvation is that of which he knows nothing.

It is that of which he knows nothing because he has lost sight of the concept and reality of sin.  Karl Menninger’s famous query, “What ever happened to sin?” continues to hang like a pall over the myriad of blueprints for social engineering and bevy of utopian-spawned dystopias.  Ask oneself why one never hears of sin from the politicians and “experts” – even the preachers!  It is critical to ascertain the root of a problem if one is to find a solution; at least, that’s what “science” and accrued wisdom of teaches us.

But the Christian understands.  He or she gets it.  We once were lost but now are found.  We once were blind, but now we see.  We once were deaf to God’s voice, but now alert and vibrant to it.  We were at one time “like all the rest” in that we were “objects of wrath.”  We were once not a people, but now we are the people of God.  We were once prisoners in the dominion of darkness, but God has rescued us, bought us back and redeemed us from such a prison.  We become a shared blessing! 

German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaks a telling truth in his exquisite little volume entitled Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community:

“The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus.  The greatest psychological insight, ability and experience cannot grasp this one thing:  what sin is.  Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of man.  And so it does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only forgiveness.  Only the Christian knows this.”

It is a lesson learned and accrued amidst the brutalities of the so-called “school of life,” as it proves to be preliminary to new lessons to be learned and lived, new lessons that we receive within the safe haven of Christ’s immediate Presence and amongst His family, new lessons to be applied as we disseminate ourselves on behalf of those around us who have yet to learn of another way of life (which is blessed) or of the claim and call of another master (who is the Lord), who establishes the principles and vitalities of another world (which is the Kingdom of God).

He has ushered us into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Jesus, the place where divine glory dwells (Psalm 26), as most notably does the love of Jesus.  We are redeemed and we are forgiven – Yes; the divine stronghold is impregnable, yet pregnant with divine fruit and blessed fact.

Run to & Be Safe – The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10).

Just as God launched a one-man commando raid to rescue us, we free and able to make a mad, calculated, sure-thing “run for it,” as we flee the enemy.  We flee from the devil as we draw near to God.  We run from trauma as we jump into His arms. He calls to us to “Come,” and we respond to His call by coming – running; even!  But it is the righteous which run and will find safety; after all it is they who have the God-given capacity to identify and run to their divine place safety.  There is such power in the name of Jesus!

A friend of mine always says that the “safest place to be is at the center of God’s will.”  He’s right.  It is His will for us to spend our days in His Presence, as it is His will that we go forth in His Name, something we do, if only because we abide in His Presence, as He is ensconced in our lives, a mutuality of existence that will attract the attention of those to whom we are called that we may reach out, even snatching some from the fire.

I love what Holocaust-survivor Corrie Ten Boom has said:  “I’ve experienced His Presence in the deepest, darkest hell that men can create … I have tested the promises of the Bible, and believe me, you can count on them.”

We run to God and are safe.  We are always in God’s Presence, and are always safe.  We are always conveying, intentionally or unintentionally, by design or by nature, the grace and glory of God wherever and with whomever we find ourselves, because God is there; consequently, we remain safe, and become a haven of safety.

We Will Not Fear– God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.  God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.  Nations are in uproar; kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice the earth melts (Psalm 46.1-6). 

There is no reason to be afraid, nor does fear have any legitimate place in the stronghold that is God.  We are safe no matter how catastrophic is the crisis.  We needn’t fear, no matter how overwhelming things appears. 

The language of Scripture posits natural disaster of such monumental magnitude surpassing even Pandemic and Pandemonium.  Does anything less suffice than to be able to say, God is our refuge and strength?”

I have been very much concerned that churches – better; perhaps, God’s people – have lent themselves to fear amidst the Pandemic.  I’m not suggesting that we should have been fools, but never should we have given way to fear.  Confront our fears; yes, and look them dead-in-the-eye; by all means, but never give way to our fears. 

Much damage has been done, damage that is not simply the effects of the covid virus.  We have allowed governing authority to usurp our rights as American citizens (making full allowance for those early days as we were trying to get a handle on the virus), thereby placing our congregants and parishioners at grave risk.  We have effectively taught our children that church is a “nonessential” service.  And we have done grave disservice to the quality and effectiveness of our witness. 

The great English founder of Methodism, John Wesley, entered into what we evangelicals call “saving faith” by way of the incredible witness of the Moravian Christians while aboard ship en route from the colonies to England.  A storm had struck, one of such violence and duration that everyone was convinced that death was nigh.  Fear consumed the passengers of the ship; Wesley, no less. 

But a group of Moravian missionaries stood atop deck and, with great fervor and joy, worshiped God.  The ship survived, and the Moravian witness, highlighted by their lack of fear, further accentuated by their consummate trust in their Lord, gave birth to much fruit – most notably, the new birth of John Wesley from Anglican priest who knew not Jesus to John Wesley of Kingdom of God fame!  Would that our witness as believers in Jesus Christ today, especially as we live amidst perilous times on all fronts, would be so fervent, so convicted and so joyful … and far less fearful; God have mercy upon us!

Yea; behind the walls of our divine stronghold, before His Person and amongst His people, there is peace.  There is protection.  There is promise.  There is God, who both carries the turbulent day and clobbers the day’s turbulence by way of Jesus Christ.

We Will Be Led – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23).

May we call this text a “fan favorite” of people everywhere?  It’s assuredly in the Top Ten of any student of Scripture who loves the Word of God.  And it is the experience of every single Christian who has truly surrendered his or her life to Almighty God. 

Consider what won’t belong to us, courtesy of our Great Shepherd:  We shall not want, nor shall fear any evil.

 Our current generation of western citizens have not known want in any meaningful way, but we have come to know a multitude of reasons to be afraid, especially since the events of September 11, 2001.  A day is forthcoming when I very much fear the want that will prove pervasive, as well as a great deal more of which to be afraid. 

Christian:  Let the world watch you.   Let them see Christ in you.  Allow them the privilege of observing how He takes care of His very own. 

He will make us lie down in green pastures, meaning our lives will be beautifully blessed with the spiritual parallel to natural verdure.  He will lead us alongside of quiet waters, the imagery of which conjures a sense of tranquility and rest, even though one lives in a war-ravaged, war-weary world.  He restores one’s soul, a restoration badly-needed, as countless lives are otherwise lived out under horrible siege.  He leads us along paths of righteousness for His name’s sake – Ah; the rub lies here, as righteousness is the great requisite if anyone is to overcome human sin and worldly corruption.  And we are blessed with such a gift via the goodness of God’s character and the character of His Name.

I was taught this many times over the expanse of my life and ministry.  We look to Him, in keeping with all of creation.  Everything has been created for His glory, from the trees of the field that will clap their hands to the sun and moon and stars that have been set in their respective places.  Man; especially, has been made in the image and after the likeness of God.  His glory is the reason for all there is, especially the birth of His people who have been given new life in and through Jesus Christ.  Those of us who live for His glory very quickly and very thoroughly come to experience the blessed fact that within His all-consuming, everything-directed glory is contained our every blessing.

This is true even amidst death, our ultimate but His handily-defeated foe.  He is with us even when we are found to be in death’s valley, though with everything that He is and has are we comforted – Nothing is spared in order to bless us. 

And everything is preparatory to what awaits us, as a table is being made ready, one that is on full display before anyone and everything that would try to hurt us.  It is a table that is set and around which we are served in honor of our victory, as signified by the anointing of oil to our heads, as indicated by the sheer wealth on spiritual display, aka “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,” (and well into the vast expanse of eternity, aka “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  No one can get to us or harm us, not now, not ever!

Have you experienced any meaningful victory?  Have you been enabled to overcome some addiction or horrible circumstance?  Can you imagine the Day when one needn’t even consider, let alone confront or overcome, such pressing need or desired outcome?

The martyrs who were fed to the lions in the early days of Christian history understand.  So do the missionaries who forsook all to follow and to share Jesus.  As do many former drug addicts who have been liberated by the power of the Gospel – All glory to God!

We Will Be Grateful & Worship – You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.  You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirit of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel … Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:22-24, 28, 29).

To live within the liberating confines of God’s saving embrace is pure joy.  Some of us straddle the fence wanting one foot on the side of the world and the other on the side of the Kingdom.  We play both ends to the middle, thinking we pretty slick, not wanting to deny ourselves anything of this earth and not wanting to make a full commitment.

But talk with those who have made the plunge; so-to-speak.  I have never met an earnestly committed Christian who actually believes that anything was actually given up, given what one accrues from being saved from sin and the world, as well as being saved for God.  The privileges of Christian devotion are deeply satisfying in nature.

First; we get to Mount Zion.  London was always a destination for me, as Ireland was for my wife.  We got to both places together, and it was grand but; surely, Mount Zion, where our God resides, is far grander than Buckingham Palace or the Cliffs of Moher!

Second; we enter into fellowship and active service with a heavenly host of angels who are characterized as being “in joyful assembly.”  I’ve been with 35,000 people when the Red Sox pulled off a victory in the bottom-of-the-ninth at Fenway Park, and it’s absolutely gleeful, but I have every reason to believe that my fellow “fans,” aka angelic worshipers, will prove to be even more stimulating and splendid!

Third; we will find ourselves amongst all those saints of yore who went before us.  I will encounter my Welsh grandparents, as well as be reunited with my dear parents and two of my best friends.  The martyrs of who gave their lives so that we’d have the opportunity to make it into the Kingdom will be there to receive us with reverent gratitude.  Such giants of our faith as Augustine, Wesley, Billy Graham and John Paul II, will humbly and joyfully receive fellow travelers who have trod Christ’s path.  Brethren around the world who share Christian service with us today will come joyfully together to worship our Lord and revel in His glory.  My; I get excited just thinking about it; all the more, let us be about the business of getting ready for such an august occasion!

More significantly; we have come into the fullness of God’s Presence.  God will be center-stage.  All will move towards Him in one great, comprehensive thrust, each phase of which will build upon and compound the earlier, all in exquisite harmony and joy, as we encounter the One who was described by the Catholic philosopher Bernard Lonergan as the great “Eureka!”  Get me front-row seats; if you can, but I’ll be more than happy to settle for bleacher seats – It’s going to be grand!

How else does one describe being so safely and supremely ensconced, as the Kingdom to which we are heading “cannot be shaken” – Talk about a stronghold within which there is impregnable security and the full measure of divine joy?  I’m grateful just thinking about it, and so should you – All the more; “let us be grateful and worship the Lord acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire!”

We Do not Have a Spirit of Fear, but of power, and of love, and of self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

A very taut truth, one that God drove home to my heart during my earlier days in life and Christianity.  I was a young man struggling with lack of self-worth and confidence, angst-ridden and pathologically intense.  The Spirit of God enabled me to hear Him speak to me through this potent verse, giving me the momentum to pursue and to receive its liberating truth for my life.  A freedom was set in motion in that day that fuels me; still. 

I have spoken of the fear that I believe has adversely affected the Church in these days of Pandemic, but I can speak even more authoritatively to the fear that beset me when I was a pubescent, fear that literally all-but physically paralyzed me, fear that kept me in-large-measure sequestered for upwards of three years, fears that nearly institutionalized me. 

I am honored to report that Jesus Christ took the time to visit me within the privacy of my bedroom during those trying days, weeks and months – Heck! – during those years.  His Presence settled me, established foundation and structure, and gave me hope.  I had been so badly overcome with personal fears that the devil was given opportunity to come at me, making my time of difficulty even more difficult.  I was awash in psychological pathologies that became the devil’s playground.

 But God steadied me, held me tight and worked within me.  The day did come when I was able to break through the fears, for which I give my Lord all the glory.  He never left my side.  It was as if He picked up the divine stronghold and brought it to me!   He saved me, secured me and, with preparation and time, He sent me to share the message of salvation and bring the divine stronghold to those who also and badly needed it – May my life always be one of praise to Him!

It is; after all, for such that salvation has been proffered.  The prophet long ago wrote of Christ and of each of us: 

“See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.  Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land” (Isaiah 3.2).

Christians can be such embodiments now; albeit imperfectly and finitely, as we await that glorious day when Christ both embodies and reigns – As always, ever & anon; May the Name of Christ be praised!

Besieged but Never Broken!

Our divine stronghold proves its consummate worth when life comes against us.  Life is replete with faithlessness, deceit, treachery and false witness, just for starters.

The attack may come from a loved one or a heretofore trusted friend, or out-of-the-blue from a stranger.  It may come via governmental corruption.  Such forces come against us with all vehemence and vengeance.  Still; remember that God is our stronghold!

No weapon formed against us may prosper.  What is meant for our evil God will intend for our good.  All things, even the evil that would assault and destroy us, will work to our good if we love God and have been called according to His purpose.

Consider the litany presented by David.  When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh.  We shouldn’t be surprised when the world, our flesh or Satan make their move, nor should we have any doubt as to their ultimate defeat.

When my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  I never anticipated the verbal attack one Sunday after church service by a congregant.  It led to a falling away by a number of my flock, the results of which could have been devastating for my church, my pastorate and me, but God sustained us, carrying us through a period of great difficulty on so many fronts, whether emotionally, programmatically and financially.  The attack stumbled and fell, albeit very dramatically!

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. It may take a while, as such woeful predicaments may often be protracted.  Life’s traumas rarely find resolution within a neatly-packaged presentation lasting 48+ minutes peppered by advertisements.  You will rightly experience a sense of siege.  Satan never lets up.  The flesh is relentless.  But God is greater still, and He will not allow any ultimate harm come to us.  Jesus made clear the blessed fact that no one will ever snatch us out of His hands (John 10:28-30).  Our divine stronghold is impregnable.

Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.  The battle often erupts suddenly, seemingly out-of-the-blue, with the end result of a violent, knocking one off of one’s feet.  I’ve been there.  I’ve experienced that.  You never see it coming.  But God has, and He is ready to orchestrate the frightful affair to His glory and out benefit.

So; we have reason to be confident, though never in ourselves, whether in our personal wherewithal, strength, talents or resources.  We have only so much in the tank, and we aren’t to fight back by fleshly means or with carnal weaponry. 

We are instructed and exhorted to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Ephesians 6:10).  We trust in Him unto our salvation in every way and on all levels.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your path.” – Wise words when originally offered; they remain wise words as currently received!

I have known adversity on several fronts, from my early days during which I was virtually confined to my room in near-paralysis resultant of pathological fears that nearly had me institutionalized, to several rounds of undue rebellion against my pastoral authority, outright demonic attack, and an ongoing saga with severe cardiac issues that culminated with a trip to undergo surgery at the hands of the one doctor in the entire western world who could treat me.

I have learned through it all to trust in Jesus.   He calls me to be faithful to Him.  He is inherently faithful to me.  I need not worry.  I need not fight back.  I need do nothing other than to continue along my path of cross-carrying, self-denying God-honoring, neighbor-blessing realities.  My enemies will stumble and fall.  God will vindicate me, even as He must discipline me.  I am still here and in-place, and He is still using me.  I have every reason to be confident – God’s praise in all things! 

Bradley E. Lacey

May 6, 2021