One of the many things I do is to create the powerpoint programs for our church services. It's fun, a creative outlet, and a good way to keep me out of trouble. It's also a nice way to do a little more reflecting on what's being said. Sometimes, I have an advantage in the fact that I've (a) read the bible text and the pastor's sermon a few times earlier in the week, (b) I've either cut-and-paste-ed, or typed the text into the powerpoint slides, and (c), I've seen it a few times as I'm testing out the program. Of course, I'm disregarding the fact that I'm also the one that puts all this in the printed worship folder. Downside is that it does make the actual Sunday morning service a bit more boring than it ought to be -- by the time 8:00 rolls around on Sunday, it seems like re-runs to me! But I digress...

Thing that caught my eye this morning was the Gospel reading for this Sunday, which deals with Jesus heading out into the desert for 40 days, and His temptation. (Luke 4:1-13) I've heard this story time and time before, since Sunday School. But this time, the last verse caught my eye...

When the devil had finished all this tempting,
he left him until an opportune time.

...and The Message paraphrase...

That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily,
lying in wait for another opportunity.

And then a few images popped into my mind, from "The Passion of the Christ." Images of "the devil" character that always seemed to be lurking in the background while Jesus was being arrested, "tried", tortured and crucified. I get the feeling he was popping in and out of Jesus' mind all throughout this ordeal, constantly asking Him, "Are You sure You want to do this? Wouldn't it be easier to just stand down, and follow me?" It's at Jesus' "weakest" that the devil comes on the strongest.

Ain't that the truth? Technical problems never hit when you're testing things out, or rehearsing; only when you're live. Powerpoint always works on Sundays in the "middle-of-nowhere-July", when the attendance is low, but on Easter Sunday or Christmas Eve, look out! The soundboard never acts up until you really need it. And the one time you forget to buy batteries for the microphones is the one weekend you need them the most. And it's not just me -- look through history! I remember reading in a book that I've got to find again that throughout American History, we've NEVER been attacked when our military budget was running high. Ironically, that portion of our national budget has always been at it's lowest right around 2001, and 1940, and 1911. No one attacks you when you're strong, only when you're at your weakest. And it makes sense; it offers the best shot of victory!

The devil never tries tempting you, taunting you, teasing you when your at the top of the world. It's when things seem at its most darkest, most hopeless, most worst that the devil brings his "A" game. And if it doesn't work this time ... "he retreats, temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity."

A central part of my theology is that through my faith in Christ, and what He did for me, to use a hymn title, "The Fight Is Over, the Battle Done." The devil's lost the game, Christ has beaten him. But sometimes, I think it needs to be stated that due to our free will, we can chose to deny Christ, deny our God, and reject it all. Jesus won the war, but it's ours to lose? Life doesn't get any easier by being a Christian. God doesn't fill in all the potholes, eliminate all the road construction, nor make gas 89c a gallon all the way home. In fact, I feel it only makes me a bigger target for the devil (even more so when I work in a church, dealing with technology that makes temptation soooo easy to get to). But my faith does make dealing with poor road conditions, constant detours, and the high "costs" of traveling through life on the route I've chosen easier to handle. All I have to do is keep playing the game, following the game plan developed by Jesus. Then, the final result is a tally in the "W" column.

What say you?