Tag Archives: C.S. Lewis

The Mystery of Fear

Posted on January 13, 2013 by expressyourself4him

As a child, nightmares blanketed my thoughts as I tried to outrun Bigfoot throughout my neighborhood, escape the Boogie Man who was underneath my bed or reenact a scene from a Creature Double Feature that I had watched earlier in the day.  While awake, I became afraid of heights after visiting the Empire State Building and snakes during a few close calls where snakes slithered between my legs while cutting the grass in my backyard.  Adolescence brought with it a fear of rejection, especially by girls that added to my already fragile psyche.  Never did I once challenge fear; instead I ran away like a little girl, awestruck by this mystery.

Catholic hymns like Be Not Afraid conveyed a little hope to my soul, exposing this unnatural emotion.  In addition, hearing priests read from Proverbs and Psalms from the Bible produced a sense of peace to ease any remaining anxieties of fear.  Yet, in high school I wasn’t mature enough to ask intelligent theological questions.  On the other hand, the busyness of college prevented me from contemplating the unsolved mystery of fear.  The timing was not right for me to tackle this subject, put on hold for another time down the road toward Elm Street.

Like a scene from Back to the Future, God revealed the answer I was searching for as I opened up Proverbs 1.  According to Solomon, unlocking wisdom in life starts with a reverent fear of God.  The spirit of fear on earth uses apprehension, panic and trepidation to form a constant state of worry.  Biblical fear is the key for attaining the cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude, Proverbs 1:1-7.  These qualities are available to anyone according to C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity.  However, this is only half the mystery.

The missing link and final piece of the puzzle is found in 1 John 4:18.  According to John, the disciple whom Jesus loved as a son, proclaims “perfect love drives out fear.”  The only obstacle to obtaining perfect love is sin.  C.S. Lewis states in his chapter entitled Theological Virtues, access is limited to just Christians.  This love comes from the power of the Holy Spirit mentioned in 2 Peter 1:3-4.  Therefore, if anyone seeks charity, hope and faith, you must come to Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5.  The apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 4:4-7 gives a glimpse of what one can expect when the Holy Spirit helps you conquer the mystery of fear.  “Be Not Afraid!”

by Jay Mankus

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You Can’t Handle The Truth

Posted on January 9, 2013 by expressyourself4him

As I awoke early this morning, God convicted me of a painful reality.  Though I try to put on a good act, my daily priorities tell another story.  When I can’t even muster a few moments with God on the Sabbath, its a sign my heart is not in the right place.  In fact, my actions resemble King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:10-16, making things up as I go without following the Lord’s commands.

God didn’t send me a prophet like Samuel to reject me.  Rather, God used a nightmare to unveil the masquerade which is my pitiful display of Christianity.  The Holy Spirit drilled in me the danger of comparison, an at least you’re not like them mentality.  C.S. Lewis suggests that if you eliminate competition, pride can be eradicated in Book 3 of Mere Christianity.  However, the moment you start keeping score, 1 Corinthians 13:5, pride rears its ugly head.

The Roman Church became susceptible to this temptation according to the apostle Paul.  Like most societies, Roman citizens began to rate specific sins, similar to a top 10 list used my numerous media outlets to enhance their weekly programming.  According to Romans 1:18-32, acts like wickedness, idolatry, homosexuality and sexual immorality made the top 5.  Yet, Paul pulls a fast one on these Roman Christians with one additional verse, Romans 2:1.  With a simple line, Paul knocks off all of these hypocrites from their pedestals.

This same logic resides in modern churches today, recently penetrating my own soul.  As people try to make themselves feel better through  a comparison of lesser individuals, they are entering grave danger.  Paul made sure he exposed the spiritual condition of these Roman believers with hard hitting facts from Romans 3:12.  What’s the truth about sin?  All sins are equal, except for blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, Mark 3:28-29.  Whether you failing to obey God’s commands or not upholding the truth of the Bible through inaction, both are sins, crystal clear in James 4:17.

by Jay Mankus

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Sink or Swim?

Posted on December 21, 2012 by expressyourself4him
Jesus walking on water jesus-and-peter-walking-on-water.jpg photo

I believe God has blessed each person born onto this earth with various gifts and talents.  Some of these are obvious while others take time to develop before you see the fruits of your labor.  Since I stuttered from birth, God endowed me with a competitive spirit, physical abilities and a love for all sports.  However, I only tasted failure in one sport, basketball.  After being one of only 2 white players to make my 6th grade elementary team in inner city Wilmington, I was cut twice in Junior High.  Afraid of rejection for a 3rd consecutive year, I decided to skip tryouts, too scared to find out if I could sink or swim?

If there is one thing you could say about the disciple Peter, he certainty was a character.  God blessed Simon with personality, probably the loudest and most out-spoken of the 12 disciples based upon the 4 accounts of the gospels.  This strong will led Peter to try things that the other disciples were either terrified of or unwilling to the take risk.  Such is the case in Matthew 14:25-33 as Jesus walks on water toward a boat filled with disciples.  Peter trusted Jesus enough to speak up, get out of the boat and for a moment actually walk on water. However, as soon as he began to take his eyes off Christ, focusing on a gust of wind, he quickly sank into the rough waters.

Its only fitting that I tried out for my high school swim team as a sophomore.  Though I had experience swimming, I was only proficient in breast stroke.  Since free style was the main stroke stressed in practices, I never completed a full practice all season.  I spent more time sucking wind, choking on water I kept accidently swallowing and gasping for air after the warm up, let alone all the sprints.  Despite the initial embarrassment, by the time I graduated I swam in nearly every high school event.  In fact, my senior season I actually won a 100 yard butterfly race.   Like Peter, I overcame my fears to get out of the boat and try something new.

C.S. Lewis devotes 2 chapters to faith in Book 3 of Mere Christianity, emphasizing proper Christian Behavior.  Chapter 11 defines faith and chapter 12 illustrates practicing faith.  Lewis uses an analogy of a child learning to swim to help visualize genuine faith.  First, beginners need to see other children actually swim.  This affirms within them, “hey, I can do this.”  Second, learning how to swim takes practice by developing the key fundamentals to float and guide through the water.  Finally, faith comes into play, believing that once your instructor lets go of you, you will swim and not sink.  In life, the Holy Spirit is our spiritual swim coach, counseling our heart when we sink and sending angels to lift us above the wake left by trials.  Each new day is like being on the starting block, waiting for the alarm to go off.  Don’t be like the other disciples; get out of your comfort zone and take a leap of faith for Jesus!  Sink or swim; the important thing is being obedient to God’s calling.  Let me know how it goes.

by Jay Mankus

Just for laughs, I thought I would include my best but slow swimming times.

200 Individual Medley, 2:39 (somehow I won)

100 Free, 58 seconds (in practice)

100 Back, 1:09 (I don’t think I even placed)

100 Fly, 1:11 (I think the leader got DQ’ed to allow me to win)

100 Breast, 1:12 (This is the only event I qualified as an individual for states)

I swam 33 seconds for 50 breast, my leg of the 200 IM Relay which finished 3rd in states.

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Inside the Heart of God

Posted on November 26, 2012 by expressyourself4him


As a child, I had a flawed view of God.  May be it was because I was raised in a strict Roman Catholic home or due to the fact I was afraid of being struck with a yard stick by nuns when I couldn’t recite the Our Father or Hail Mary?  Either way, these experiences led me to develop an Old Testament perspective of God, one of judgment and wrath.  Like C.S. Lewis’ opening paragraph of Book 3 in Mere Christianity, I felt as if God was waiting to punish me each time I sinned.  This sense that God was going to strike me with lightning every time I made a bad decision blinded me from seeing inside the heart of God.

Thankfully, God allowed me to study under some of the greatest Bible teachers in the country to help dissolve these false assumptions.  Pastors like Alistar Begg of Truth for Life in Ohio, Bill Hybels and Lee Strobel at Willow Creek in Chicago and Tommy Nelson of Denton Bible Church at several college retreats laid a solid foundation which I have been able to build upon since getting married.  On Friday night, while listening to Christian music for 3 hours, God gave me a brief glimpse into the heart of God.

Since I have a tendency to get impatient with people, especially non-believers, God reminded me of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  Jesus spent 3 years serving others, reaching out to the needy and re-educating the disciples to prepare them for life after his ascension.  The only people Jesus ever got angry at were religious leaders, teachers of the law, his own disciples at times, those who didn’t welcome his own disciples in Matthew 10 and anyone who tried to turn the House of God into a den of robbers.  Jesus knew that most people are blinded by Satan in their minds, 2 Corinthians 4:4, unable to grasp the gospel like the parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:24-30.

When you begin to discern the spiritual elements behind a person’s actions, Ephesians 6:12, you are able to overlook their sin to love and pray for people.  Knowing the heart of God is one thing, carrying out God’s love is entirely different.  This is why the apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.  If you have tried to love, then you know how hard it is to do, day in and day out.  However, if you follow the blue print in Colossians 3:12-17, you just might be able to display the heart of God to those people you cross paths with daily.  The next time you become impatient like me, remember Jesus’ perspective in Luke 19:42 by having compassion on sinners like a shepherd reaching out to his lost sheep!

by Jay Mankus

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Stop the Presses!

Posted on October 23, 2012 by expressyourself4him

Large Stop Sign

Expressions vary by genre, with each generation and the geographical area where you reside.  Terms like wicked good probably doesn’t mean anything to you unless you live in New England.  Or if you lived in the mid-west, shopping for pop may be difficult until you realize I am referring to soda.  Thus, when I say stop the presses, what I really mean is stop everything and listen to what I am about to say.

Last Sunday, a word from the Lord was impressed upon me during church.  I felt a strong calling to share some important news with a neighbor.  However, whenever I was at home, distractions prevented me from carrying out God’s message.  Like the  servant in Matthew 25:24-25, I was unfaithful, burying my gift of discernment.  According to Matthew 25:28, if anyone develops lazy habits like me, God can take away your gift or talents.

Although the context of this parable is focusing on a specific monetary value, Job suggests the Lord can and does give and take away things, Job 1:21.  Since the message God gave me was time sensitive, it does me no good to share the news now since it doesn’t apply.  However, the next time I receive a message from the Lord, I am going to stop the presses!  I will put everything else on hold, seek out the person and deliver God’s message.  Carpe Diem: seize the day!

by Jay Mankus

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Breaking Free

Posted on October 14, 2012 by expressyourself4him

According to 1 Peter 5:8, the Devil is like a roaring lion, seeking easy prey to devour.  This is accomplished by isolating us from the pack, people that care about us and try to protect us from harm.  Once on our own, we are like sitting ducks or in the case of the caption above, an antelope in the desert, vulnerable to any of its predators.

Dr. Ed Murphy, in his book The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare, illuminates this fact in chapter 4, entitled Rebellion in the Heavenlies and on Earth.  According to Murphy, a curious human mind often embraces Satan’s thoughts.  Within the Genesis 3:1-7 encounter, Satan awakens Eve’s mind to the realization of disobedience.  As soon as Eve’s emotions and will embraced the apple, sin was only a matter of time, James 1:13-15.  Once a person is tricked, oppressed or held in bondage to a specific sin or sins, they must break free as soon as possible.

C.S. Lewis addresses this point in book 1 of Mere Christianity, Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe.  At the beginning of chapter 5, We Have Cause to Be Uneasy, Lewis suggests the sooner you make a U-Turn, a complete break from sin, turning 90 degrees in the opposite direction toward God, the quicker you will get back on track spiritually, Matthew 7:13-14.  The apostle Paul gives Christians a blue print for breaking free of sin in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Since the enemy fights us with spiritual weapons, Ephesians 6:12, we must be ready to fight this battle with the proper weapons.  If Satan uses carefully chosen words, subtle in nature, to distort reality, you must begin to take your thoughts captive.  Remember, Satan is deceiving people daily into following his deceptive ways, becoming independent from the will of God.  Therefore, the only method to truly break free from sin is through setting your heart and mind on things above, Colossians 3:1-4.  This includes living out Colossians 3:15-17.  Don’t be defeated, make your thoughts obedient to Christ and victories will follow!

by Jay Mankus

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Why Bad Things Happen

Posted on September 30, 2012 by expressyourself4him

Whenever something bad happens to good people, there will always be questions, grasping to make sense of why this or that occurred.  According to C.S. Lewis, there are only 2 rationale views to explain these questions, Christianity and dualism.  The Christian view is based upon Galatians 5:16-18, where the sinful nature wages war against the Holy Spirit, tempting humans through their flesh toward evil as the Spirit draws individuals back toward goodness and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:25.

The secular worldview often clings to dualism.  Dualism believes there are 2 independent and equal powers behind every act, allowing good and bad things to occur.  These 2 forces have been in conflict with one another and always have been.  The only weakness of dualism according to C.S. Lewis is there needs to be a third party, a judge to decipher which power was the source behind a specific event.

Despite these 2 major theories, the Bible contains several people who have attempted to solve this question.  Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 suggest good and evil are simply a byproduct of obedience or disobedience.  Exodus 20:4-6 infers that good and evil are directly proportional to generational blessings and curses.  Job’s 3 friends believed his trials were a direct result of punishment from God due to a sin or sins he committed.  Meanwhile, even Jesus’ own disciples in John 9:1-5 believed God allowed a child to be born blind for something his mother and or father had done during the pregnancy.

The reality of this quest to understand why bad things happen to good people is you will never completely solve every situation.  God might provide insight in a few days, weeks, months or years after a trial, yet not every answer will be revealed to you while on earth.  As I continue to seek clues about circumstances in my own life, all I know is the truth behind Ecclesiastes 3:11.  Regardless of what happens, “God will make everything beautiful in His time!”

by Jay Mankus

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Relentless Determination

Posted on August 24, 2012 by expressyourself4him

In the movie Shawshank Redemption Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, an accountant falsely accused of killing his wife.  After fighting for survival while on laundry duty in prison, the warden begins to show favor toward Andy, moving him to Library duty.  Eventually, Andy is put in charge of the library, getting permission to write the state for funds.  For 3 years, Andy shows relentless determination, not stopping until he receives his goal, money and donated material to update the library.

The Lord convicted me today that I often give up before I reach my goal or desired destination.  Sometimes people read too much into closed doors, failure or lost opportunities.  Trying something once, twice or a few times and abandoning it isn’t honoring to God, especially if you are going in a direction you are passionate about.  As C.S. Lewis declares in Mere Christianity, success is the process of arriving, not actually arriving.

As I continue to search for my place in the world, a song by Michael W. Smith, I need to dig down deep.  Like a 3rd stringer trying to make an NFL team, the person who demonstrates relentless determination often opens the coaches eyes and sometimes wins a spot on the team.  Desperation can bring out the best in someone, especially if they are fighting for their livelihood.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!  Faith in a cause leads to relentless determination, James 2:18.

by Jay Mankus

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Filler Up

Posted on March 31, 2012 by expressyourself4him

When gas stations first opened up in America, they were all full service stations.  As soon as a car entered a gas station, a rubber cord would trigger a bell telling everyone inside or out, their next customer was ready for service.  Workers literally ran to greet you.  Customers would roll down their window manually, cranking a level with their hands.  Meanwhile, outside the car, one attendant would greet you at your window, another immediately began cleaning your front windshield for free, a moment later another asks to check your fluids and oil level with one last servant standing at the pump waiting to hear your order.  Depending upon their vehicle, customers often said, “filler up with leaded or unleaded gasoline.”

As I reflect upon history, I am reminded of C.S. Lewis.  In Mere Christianity, within a chapter called the Shocking Alternative, Lewis devotes this chapter to Free Will.  Lewis compares human beings to a car.  Cars were designed to run on petroleum.  However, if you don’t put the correct fuel in your vehicle, the engine does not run properly.  When individuals try to put alternative fuels into a gasoline or diesel engine, your car will breakdown or result in a destroyed engine.  Likewise, people were designed by God to run on the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, if you try to substitute other resources in place of the Spirit, our own bodies and lives will begin to break down, falling apart.

This leads me to my most important point, when Christians don’t stay connected to Jesus, we die, John 15:1-5.  Often, we get so busy with our own lives that we go through 24 hours periods without filling up on God’s Word.  One of the reasons we 5 Hour Energy Drinks are so popular is that people are substituting powerful drugs in place of the Holy Spirit.  God has reminded me this morning that if I don’t slow down to read God’s Word daily and prayer for strength, I will be running on empty with nothing to give to others that day.  However, when I fill up by meditating on God’s Word, my energy level intensifies, I leave my house with a heavenly mindset and have many things to offer those I encounter.  Therefore, don’t leave home without regularly filling up on the Bible, this can have everlasting results!

by Jay Mankus

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