Tag Archives: Chris Farley

Elijah Was Someone Who Made a Difference. What About YOU?

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1 Kings 18 is a fascinating Chapter to read. If you haven’t really read it in awhile (or ever), take a few minutes and READ the whole chapter. It is full of tension, drama and even has great dialog. It features Elijah the prophet, whose life would make a pretty interesting mini-series.

In 1 Kings 18, he confronted the evil minions of Ahab and Jezebel on Mount Carmel. The god Baal was a Mesopotamian pagan deity whose name was a form of the word “Lord”, closely associated with fertility and storms. (If you ever read “Lord of the Flies”, you’ll know that “Lord” was not always used in church.) But, anytime you combine being pagan with fertility, your PG worship rating goes right out the window– as do morality, decency, and true godliness. Under King Ahab’s corrupt leadership, Israel had begun to ramp up their pagan worship of Baal, and the Lord sent Elijah to do something about it.

Ahab was peeved that Elijah would think of challenging his cultural playground (much like certain groups in 2025), so he decided to cancel Elijah by stacking the deck against him in a head-to-head winner-take-all challenge. He put his 450 prophets in the game to defeat Elijah in front of everyone, once and for all. “So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.” (1 Kings 18:20-21, NIV)

A Dramatic Confrontation

The full chapter of 1 Kings 18 contains one of the great stories in the Bible. While Ahab was King of Israel, he and his evil wife Jezebel reinstituted Baal worship with its corrupt high places and pagan practices. Ahab the king was a bad guy, but his wife was even worse. Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets wherever she found them according to verse four, so it took great courage for Elijah even to appear before the king, much less challenge his authority. But challenge it he did, and Ahab gathered his 450 prophets of Baal to stand against this one man.

Picture the scene: a evil King surrounded by corrupt priests wielding power over a confused people. They gathered on Mount Carmel for an epic confrontation between God and evil. (That’s not a typo: If you think about it, it’s never “good versus evil” it’s really always about God versus evil!) It was a dark chapter in Israel’s history, and the nation stood at a crossroads between the Lord and 450 prophets of Baal. What a moment! What a story!

God Versus Evil

Elijah confronted them with a challenge: each of us will prepare a sacrifice and then call upon God to consume it with fire. The prophets of Baal went first to no avail. They danced, threw fits, and cut themselves. Nothing happened. No fire—no testimony. Their story ended in futile pursuit of a false, vain god whose only power existed in temporary pagan pleasures. (Not so different than most pursuits today, is it?) While they gyrated and cut themselves, Elijah taunted them and their phony gods, setting the stage for his turn.

Elijah then poured water over his sacrifice until it was soaked. Then he did it AGAIN. Then he had them soak it with water a THIRD TIME. If the deck was stacked against Elijah when this confrontation started, he doubled down by drenching his altar and sacrifice until it was literally underwater. When he got everyone’s attention, he finally called upon the Lord, and the Bible says, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.” (18:38) What a finish!

The 450 prophets of Baal were proven to be charlatans and deceivers. And after watching the Lord’s fire rain down from heaven, the Israelites came to their senses: they acknowledged and followed God. In the wild aftermath the prophets of Baal were pursued and struck down, to a man.

One Life

There are a couple of things important here: One, never underestimate the power and influence one person can have. James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a man just like us”. Wait, what?! Is that true? Perhaps one person like you can help someone turn their life around. (To paraphrase Chris Farley’s motivational speaker Matt Foley: “Even if that person is YOU.”) Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” So, then, DO SOMETHING. Even if you don’t change the world, you may change YOURSELF.

Second, Elijah confronted evil by calling down the fire of God. When is the last time you asked for God’s fire to come down and consume you? Ever? (No story, no testimony…) Like Elijah, we live in a world where leaders support shaky beliefs, people follow false gods, and evil seems to be gaining… And a lot of folks are on the fence like the crowd watching Elijah, interested on seeing whether God will work, but saying nothing. They are waiting to see whether a new chapter of Acts will be written… I’m thinking this world could use a few more fired-up Christians, and the world could change, one heart at a time. Could it happen?

Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Give it a shot, you might be surprised. And think of the story they might write about YOU someday!

Fire on the Mountain

Ahab ruled with evil lust.
He worshipped Baal, he screamed and cussed,
He broke the covenant’s sacred trust
And woke the Lord’s divine disgust.
Jezebel was his evil Queen.
She did some things that were obscene–
More evil than Ahab had been,
Hateful, powerful, cold and mean.
Their pagan prophets made the scene,
(Just read it in First Kings Eighteen)
But it was all corrupt, unclean,
The worst stuff you have ever seen…

Against them, just one prophet came:
(Elijah was his given name),
A man who prayed, and stopped the rain,
A man of faith. He changed the game
When he alone on Carmel stood
And challenged Israel to do good.
Elijah, see, he understood,
In an hour of need, that Yahweh COULD
Display His power against great odds:
If you need help, then ask for God’s.

To buy my latest book, Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David
To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-1&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread
For the Kindle Edition, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Bo-Jackson-ebook/dp/B01K5Z0NLA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-2&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread

If You’ve Succeeded, Give Credit to the Foundation of Your Success

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Whenever people work together, there is always a question that comes up: Who Should Get the Credit? (And we’ve all worked on that school team project where somebody does nothing but still gets the grade you worked for!)

The human ego is an amazing thing, fueled by the survival instinct, self-interests and a hierarchy of needs and hidden agendas that would make Maslow’s head spin! I’ve often thought it should be called “Igo” instead of ego. As Chris Farley’s motivational speaker Matt Foley may have said, “There is no “I” in team, but there IS an “M” and an “E”!” But for my money, Igo is a far more logical word than “ego”.

Gimme An I

Igo certainly makes itself known in the business world, and it even pops up in the humble circles of Christian ministry. Maybe that’s why Jesus told his disciples, “And herein is that saying true, One man  soweth, and another reaps. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.” (John 4:37-38 KJV) He knew that the work he started would be a shared project.

There’s an old saying that it’s amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit. Jesus was reminding the disciples not to get too proud about what they were able to do. Their accomplishments were based upon the labor of many who went before them. Men like the Patriarchs, the prophets and even John the Baptist and his disciples had labored before them.

Credit Due

This is so true in life. Much of what we do, we accomplish because someone has gone before. Think about it: Can YOU take credit for learning to walk, or to tie your shoes? Someone else taught us to read, to solve problems, to be independent… you are who you are at least partly through the labor of others.

Before you roll your eyes at your elderly Mom’s lack of knowledge about technology, just remember that she’s the one who potty trained you and taught you how to use a SPOON. My own mother passed away over thirty years ago, but I know I owe her many debts. I also owe my Dad and Stepmom, my wonderful grandparents, and numerous other teachers, coaches, and friends along the way! I can’t even begin to estimate the contributions they made to my growth along the way.

So, to all of those of you who have taught me, who labored before me so that I could grow, I give a heartfelt THANKS! You deserve the credit for any growth I have or progress I have made. Each of us attains more because of what has been accomplished by those who have gone before. Isaac Newton said it this way: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Intellectual and Spiritual

In our spiritual world, the same thing applies. Without the labor of others we are surely at risk. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.” Someone else has studied or lived the Gospel in such a way that it motivated or inspired us. Don’t forget to give them credit. We have all entered into a greater enterprise that requires higher stakes. It offers richer rewards than any business endeavor or athletic competition.

To every one of you who has taught me spiritually, or who has encouraged me, or challenged me to be about God’s business, again I say thanks. Believe me, I don’t have any illusions about who I am spiritually: I am a selfish sinner saved by grace. I have failed many times, and I’m still very much a work in progress.

But, there is a legacy of love upon which I walk, and through which I rejoice! I am blessed, not because of my own merit, but because someone loved me and taught me to continue past those first, halting steps. If you are laboring, I hope you will encourage someone today and have faith in the Lord of the harvest. And if you are reaping, I hope you’ll take a moment to remember those who prepared the way for you to be fruitful!

Credit Line

We all take credit for what we do– but when you’re keeping score,
Remember the legacy of love from those who’ve gone before.
They found some diamonds in the rough among your rocky ore…
Remember there were hands that picked you up from off the floor,
Who taught you how to use a spoon, to read, to do a chore!
They worked in you, you worked in me– and if we work some more,
Our legacy may bear some fruit, upon some distant shore…

To buy my latest book, Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David

To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-1&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread
For the Kindle Edition, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Bo-Jackson-ebook/dp/B01K5Z0NLA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-2&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread