Yesterday I ended Words for the Day calling satan a bastard. It seemed appropriate to me, but one of my readers wrote the following:
“Because of something our pastor has recently been sharing from our pulpit, what he calls “this sacred desk” and I believe you too are speaking from a sacred desk and many are listening; I am listening, I was stuck on your words to describe satan when he finally meets Revelation 20:7-10. . .
When the thousand years are over Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth – Gog and Magog – to gather them for battle.
In number they are like sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city He loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
‘Hmmm . . . Smiles all over my face as I envision that sight . . . Poor bastard . . .’
What our pastor has recently been sharing from behind our church’s sacred desk is his concern over some things he hears from various pulpits . . . Words, he says, that should not be uttered from behind that sacred desk. I suppose I am wondering if “Poor bastard” is an example of what he was commenting about, but when I speak of my love and trust for Jesus Christ and then slip up and do let “unwholesome talk come out of (my) mouth,” I am as guilty as those my pastor speaks of.”
I responded to him as follows:
“Though you believe my desk to be sacred, it ain’t necessarily so – I’m no saint . . . Obviously I’m not into the legalistic. I think that many folks in the organized religious community, pastors notwithstanding, are more concerned over the fact that I might say damn, or call satan a bastard, or fail to quote a Scripture verbatim, or some other infraction of the law, than they are over lost souls doomed to an eternity in hell.
As for me I think more in terms of the lost.
I’m sorry that you were offended. Words for the Day is not refined by years at seminary, rather in the mean streets of this evil world and it is obviously not for everyone.
Without trying to get too philosophical I think WFTD’s appeal is more to everyday sinners like me who are struggling to make sense of this world, (which can be brutal). I try to present concepts to readers in encouraging terms that they understand . . . I suppose it’s inspiring to some, and the devil’s work to others.
It is what it is – It helps some and others not – It’s not for everyone – Thanks for the feedback.”
Hmmm . . . Last night I got another response from a reader that was as follows:
“My dog ‘Gunner’ is 12 – He has been pretty bad off in fact – Not even sure he could duck hunt last year. Well he did and brought back a bunch of ducks – Best year ever. This year no chance to take him even on easy hunt with his bad hips, but planned to take him in the morning, (since going in john boat and not walking in nasty swamp).
I just got home from south Georgia consulting trip. He was hit by a car and killed earlier this evening. We are in shock. He was our first baby – He was great since we struggled to have kids.
We are taking it hard, but again after reading your message it seems God took him away. My wife was not looking forward to decision to put him down if he went downhill. He could have fallen in the morning from boat and I feel guilty. We feel that while it hurts, God made sure he passed without suffering. It is strange he has avoided the road for 12 years. Anyway sorry to ramble but your email was right in the middle of this loss of Gunner and I don’t think that was by chance.”
I receive e-mails similar to this nearly every day of my life. It cannot be coincidence; there are too many instances of it occurring. I sincerely believe God routinely influences me to write about certain subjects on certain days. I don’t preplan writing WFTD, I just sit down and write whatever I’m thinking about on any particular day. Yesterday when I wrote of the tragic loss of one of our champion bird dogs and also about my beloved Labrador retriever “Bear”, it seemed to be God’s perfect timing for this reader.
Not long ago I could not for the life of me think of anything to write about; (something that is highly unusual). I prayed about it and prayed about it and finally decided to send one out about the subject of suicide. I did and the very next day got a letter from a guy who was planning to commit suicide the day he received my WFTD message, but instead broke down in tears and decided against it after reading it. This exact same thing has happened on three separate occasions over the past 14 years with three suicides averted.
It always gives me spiritual goose bumps to see God moving in my life and the lives of others.
There are those among you who frequently write and tell me that you don’t agree with much of anything that I say, and often you lambast me for my inadequacies. I receive hate mail from mean spirited pigs who merely like to blow, but I also receive correspondence from those with a good heart who sincerely desire to help me refine my message like the fellow writing about the sacred desk.
After 14 years of writing WFTD five days per week I take it all in stride. I struggle through this crazy world just like everyone else. I’m a simple person and I write about my struggles in simple terms and try to describe how God helps me get through (mostly) difficult days.
Nothing more and nothing less…
News flash: My desk is made of wood and does not glow in the dark and is not “sacred”. I’m as far from being a saint as the furthermost star in the furthermost galaxy, but occasionally God chooses to use even the most foolhardy sinner among us to comfort His children.
Now if a foolhardy uneducated sinner like me can occasionally impact folks positively for the Lord, just imagine what someone educated, refined, righteous, pure, and polished like YOU could do for Him, provided you would only see fit to put forth the effort and use your God given talents for God’s glory.
I still think of satan as a lowdown bastard and worse, but in the future I’m going to “try” and refrain from calling him one or making similar remarks out of respect for those among you who are offended by my coarse and vulgar language. The Bible is clear that we should not use such language and though it comes quite naturally to me; many things that seem right to me are not of God. If you continue to read WFTD and encounter something I say that you deem to be inappropriate, just skip over those parts and chalk it up to me as being a damned idiot.
Oops!
James 3:8
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren these things should not be so.