Control Freak (2)

Are you a control freak?
Turning family and finances over to God

Control Freak (part 2)
By Kevin Probst




Those who struggle with the idol of control in their lives often want to control their FAMILIES. I’ve seen fathers who are so insistent on controlling the lives of their children they become physically and verbally abusive. Husbands sometimes threaten their wives because they feel insecure if they aren’t in ‘control’.
Wives will sometimes use the ‘silent treatment’ on their husbands or nag them in an attempt to control their behavior. I’ve seen parents use religion like a club to force their children into submission and maintain control over their lives. Using something sacred as a tool to achieve our own selfish ends must certainly border on blasphemy.

It’s all about gaining control and achieving power. It’s about stepping out of the Kingdom of God and setting up your own kingdom. At some point God will step in and remind us of who is really in charge. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 9:11 “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” What was he saying? Life isn’t fair. Stuff happens! It happens to remind us who we are and where we stand in relation to God.

I was recently reading from one of my favorite theologians to my five year old son. Dr. Seuss has written a story called Yertel the Turtle. It’s about a turtle that wants to be the king of the pond. Yertle gets all of his subjects and begins to stack them up on each other. He then begins to climb the backs of the other turtles in order to elevate himself. He climbs higher and higher, he is seeing more and more of his own kingdom. But there is a little turtle near the bottom of the pile that is feeling his lunch. He needs to burp and when he does the whole stack of turtles tumbles down and Yertle falls back to earth. When we build our kingdoms we are only a burp away from total collapse.

When it comes to families, it’s not pleasant to feel that we have no control. The mysterious reality is that we become less and less helpless when we give up control of our families to God.

Those who lust for power and control often do so in the area of FINANCES. I was playing golf with one of my older sons a while back. My sons were born and reared southern but they couldn’t escape some of my Yankee traits. Yankees tend to just put it out there. Justin and I were talking about how tight and ‘stingy’ I am when it comes to money. I was a little stunned when my son just ‘put it out there’ in a very respectful tone. “Dad, don’t you think maybe you’re so tight because you don’t trust God enough?” Ouch! I pondered that for the rest of the day.

I have seen young people come to Christ during my ministry. Their new life in Christ is characterized by a desire to obey. They seek to be baptized, they want to attend church so as ‘not to forsake the assembling of themselves together.” They want to develop a prayer life and read their Bibles so as to develop a deeper relationship with their newfound Savior. But, there is one area where younger Christians often struggle; finances. There seems to be a common resistance to participating in the act of obedience that calls for tithing.

The common argument I hear regarding tithing is that it is an Old Testament concept and therefore it must be non-applicable. I would reply, “The Ten Commandments are Old Testament concepts yet they are certainly applicable.” It is also argued that tithing isn’t taught in the New Testament. Not true, the early apostles had much to say about tithing and giving. When we tithe we demonstrate our willingness to obey God in an area of life where many struggle with their own greed. Be assured, God will return to you a full measure of grace, favor and blessing that cannot be imagined. This is the only place in scripture where God extends a bold challenge for us to test him. Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

When we come to that fork in the road that requires we take one path, let us choose to take the path of obedience. Be sure, either choice has its consequences. I’m reminded of God’s calling to Jonah. “Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh to preach.” Jonah was appalled. No way was he going to the hated city of Nineveh, in fact, Jonah turned about and went the exact opposite way. Then God sent a fish, and a worm and finally a hot east wind. Jonah found himself sitting under a withered tree in the baking sun and said to himself, “You know, I’m not in control here after all.”

Sometimes God sends ‘stuff’ into our lives to remind us who is really in control!

“…my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19

Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

Control Freak

Control Freek


By Kevin Probst

A Kun-trohl Freek is someone who has a strong need to control people or situations. Maybe you know one. Maybe you are one. We can get so wrapped up in our desire to be in control that control becomes an idol in our lives. We want to control circumstances, people and our own future.

The control freak says, “It’s my way or the highway.” A refusal to release this rigid, unbending attitude can place great strain on our relationships.

I’ve never thought of myself as a control freak, but, let me invite you to a place not always so pleasant. Come into my world. Come into the Kingdom of Kevin. Life in the Kingdom of Kevin is most pleasurable when I’m sitting in my big easy chair in my study and I’m feeling inspiration to compose a sermon or develop a lesson plan. The thoughts flow easily and swiftly from my mind through my finger tips into an awaiting laptop computer. All is well in the Kingdom of Kevin.

But, eventually I have to leave the Kingdom of Kevin. I slide into the seat of my truck and turn the key and venture out onto Interstate 185 leading south into Columbus, Georgia. This is when life in the Kingdom of Kevin begins to deteriorate. Cars going too fast. Cars going too slow. Cars riding your bumper. Cars pulling in front of you. My frustration level begins to rise.

We arrive at a restaurant. I want my food cooked just right. I want it delivered to my table in a timely manner and I don’t want the waiter coming every three minutes to interrupt my conversation to ask if I need a refill on my drink. Only a camel could drink that fast.

Finally, I find myself heading back home. In the Kingdom of Kevin a leather couch awaits me in a cozy living room. It is so nice to plop down and turn on my big screen T.V. Then I hear the sweet voice of my lovely wife calling from the kitchen, “Honey, would you like me to bring you some chips and a coke?” If this happens do you know what it means? It means I’ve entered the wrong house!

Control freaks have one major problem, the people in their lives. Those people are all imperfect people making the most of living in an imperfect world. When disruptions arrive in the Kingdom of Kevin I know its God reminding me that I’m not in control after all. It’s God reminding me that This is My Father’s World.

“This is my Father’s world.

O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.”

I want to control my own FATE. I’m reminded of the Burger King slogan, “Have it your way.” I find myself too often wanting to have it my way. One of the most famous songs ever recorded was made popular by Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way.” For what it’s worth, this song happens to be the more popular song sung at British funerals. It’s about a man who is approaching the end of his life. He has chosen his own path, he has blazed his own trail. He looks back at all his accomplishments and proudly proclaims “I did it my way.”

One day I’ll stand before the God of the universe. When I look at the great Judge of Mankind I don’t want to say, “I did it my way”. I would rather say, “I did it your way.”

Kameron is my five year old son. When we travel the back roads of Harris County I occasionally let him slip into my lap and drive the car. He loves this but it literally drives his mother bananas. He places both hands on the wheel and off we go. I believe in letting my children make mistakes so they can learn from them. So, occasionally we leave the road. Sometimes we cross the center line and these are opportunities for me to teach. Sometimes I have to grip the steering wheel to save a good neighbor’s mailbox. Kameron wants me to let go because he thinks he can drive the car without my help.

Why do we insist on steering our own lives? Why do we want to grab the wheel when God is sovereign and all-wise and when he can drive so much better than we can? Why do we compete with him for control? When I’m driving I look out over the dash and I can only see as far as the next curve. But God has a bird’s eye view of everything. He not only sees the next curve, he sees the next hill, the yonder valley and all the curves and dips and bumps that lie ahead.

God reminds us that He is in control. Read the first ten words of the Holy Script. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” The first concept God wanted us to grasp was that he was in control. We act foolishly when we attempt to wrestle control of our lives away from God.

As a child growing up in the outdoors of western Pennsylvania, I used to toss homemade ‘boats’ into French Creek and watch the water take them where it chose. Letting God control our lives is submitting ourselves to the flow of his will and being content wherever that may take us.

"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will."

Proverbs 21:1 ESV

Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

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Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

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Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

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Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

Its Written In The Stars

It is written in the stars.


By Kevin Probst

It is my habit to awaken long before sunrise and take an early walk while communing with God. I live far enough in the country so that my view of the sky is not polluted with man-made light. It often looks like a spread of black velvet upon which God randomly threw a smattering of star-lit diamonds. The beauty and wonder of it can literally take my breath away. I feel most near to God during those quiet moments shared before the rest of the world awakens.

Stars seem to hold a special place in the revelation of God. He chose to use the revolution of the stars and the rotation of the planets to provide a means for his creatures to precisely measure time. Gen 1:14 "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs and to mark seasons and days and years." Certainly God’s communication with mankind was hampered by sin after the fall of Adam and Eve. There was no written scripture for at least 2500 years after the fall. God certainly could have walked away after men chose to disobey but his love compelled him to continue wooing the heart of the unfaithful. God chose to communicate through his own creation.

Psalm 19:1-4 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” God uses a universal language to reveal himself to mankind through his celestial creation. The Bible is wonderful in its ability to reveal the nature of God but it is not exclusive. Paul declared to the Romans that God also reveals himself through his creation. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Keep in mind that the ancients spent a lot more time studying the skies than we do today. They often slept on their rooftops because of the excessive heat. They didn’t have televisions and i-pods to entertain themselves. So, they looked and pondered the skies above.

Scientists have contemplated the number of stars in the universe for thousands of years. It is estimated that the Milky Way galaxy alone has 100 thousand million stars. It is also estimated that there are 100 billion galaxies much like ours. Each of those galaxies has 100 billion stars. With that incomprehensible number in mind, consider the words of Isaiah (40:26) “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name? Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Not a single star is out of place. God has positioned and named each one of them.

We are often hesitant to study the stars for a revelation from God. We look upon astrology as an idolatrous substitute for the genuine revelation of God. Satan always attempts to corrupt whatever good thing God provides. When Jesus’ disciples asked him what would be the sign of his return he replied, ““There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.” (Luke 21:25) It is okay to look for signs in the heavens but it’s not okay to believe those stars control our lives. God’s revelation of himself through the stars was evident in the oldest book of the Bible. God had strong words for Job (38:31-32) “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons…?” You can feel Job’s humility and get a sense of the ancient’s knowledge of the heavens when we read the words in Job 9:9 “He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south”

I recently watched Rick Larson’s presentation, “The Star of Bethlehem”. Larson provides a well thought out explanation for the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. When Jesus was born people saw wonderful things happening in the skies. When Jesus was crucified all hell broke out on earth. The earth shook, the veil of the temple was rent. The sky darkened as the sun was obscured and later that night a blood moon, a lunar eclipse, revealed itself as it peaked over the horizon.

John was exiled to the island of Patmos at a very advanced age, perhaps in his eighties or nineties. John received a great revelation of God by looking to the stars. “A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” (Revelation 12:1-5)

John is describing the birth of Jesus as he sees it revealed in the heavens. Larson makes the case that the “woman” is the virgin (virgo) mother of Jesus. She gives birth to a child from the tribe of Judah (leo). The dragon is Satan who attempts to destroy God’s plan to save mankind by destroying the Christ-child. Herod acts as Satan’s tool to accomplish this. God gives us signs so that we will hunger for more truth. He wants us to draw nearer and strive for a fuller revelation.

We who are Christians anticipate the coming of Christ to earth again. We don’t know the day or the hour of his return but it may very well be written somewhere in the stars.



The Star of Bethlehem produced by Stephen McEveety

Rick Larson’s website: http://www.bethlehemstar.net/




Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.

Idolatry: Creating God in Our Own Image

Idolatry: Creating God in Our Own Image


By Kevin Probst



As an apologetics teacher in a local Christian school, we sometimes debate theological issues. It is a rather common occurrence for my students to vehemently defend the 'right' of a Christian to sin. "Mr. Probst, we sin every day in word, deed and truth. We are human and we can't help but sin." Recently, a student asked me if a Christian who committed a murder would go to heaven. I declared that murder was something Christians were prohibited from doing. I was saddened to observe most of the students in my class choose to argue for sin instead of for holy living and Christ-likeness.

Christ was always urging people to cease sinning. He told the woman at the well to "go and sin no more." The message of John the Baptist was to "repent". A new generation of Americans is very much into confessing sin but not at all into repenting of sin. Repentance means "to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life."  There seems to be a determination to have your cake and eat it too.

Americans are infected with a kind of smorgasbord Christianity. Take what you like and leave what you don't like. They are much interested in getting in but not much interested in growth. Many want to invite a Savior into their lives but very few want him to be Lord of their lives. Salvation is acceptable, even desirable, but sanctification is rejected. We are quick to load up with extra helpings of grace and love but we leave behind sacrifice and repentance. Like children, we want desert but not meat.

A new generation of Americans has been taught that salvation is available to any who will repeat a mantra of magic words. They have a misperception of a God overloaded in grace and depleted in justice. Their god forgives them even before they ask. He forgives their sins even before they commit them. They have formed a god to their own liking who will provide salvation at their own convenience. They set him on a shelf like an idol and call upon him to forgive their sins at their own command and in their own time.

This kind of cheap-grace religion is often propagated by American ministers who are more concerned about the number in their pews than the salvation and discipleship of souls. We invite them to our churches and feed them a cotton candy theology. We massage them and take great pains to be sure they all leave feeling good about themselves. Compare this to Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."  We certainly don't want to allow ourselves to plunge into legalism but we must not compromise the truth that God is a God of justice as well as a God of love.

George Barna addresses the "costless faith" of our culture in a cover story for Christianity Today. (1) The message today is that a solution has been devised by a caring God to offer us salvation after the fall of man. A mental consent that He is indeed the son of God pretty much does it. If you can bring yourself to commit to this, you're in. Nothing is said of life change, even radical life change.

Barna states that the purchase of this eternal life insurance policy results in 'born again' people 'living just like everybody else'. Many will claim that the danger of this is that those who hunger for Christianity will embrace an attitude that says, "If Christianity doesn't really change you, I don't want it." Barna says, "Those who have turned to Christianity and to churches seeking truth and meaning have left empty-handed, confused by the apparent inability of Christians themselves to implement the principles they profess." (2)

I believe the greater danger is that thousands are clinging to a theology that says 'you can become a Christian without experiencing any significant changes in your lifestyle.' They believe a deception that they can have the best of both worlds, 'I can enjoy the pleasure of sin and I can still please God and go to heaven'.

Barna's research is revealing, "The spirituality of Americans is Christian in name only. We desire experience more than knowledge. We prefer choices to absolutes. We embrace preferences rather than truths. We seek comfort rather than growth. Faith must come on our terms or we reject it. We have enthroned ourselves as the final arbiters of righteousness, the ultimate rulers of our own experience and destiny. We are the Pharisees of the new millennium." (3)



Works Cited:

1. Christianity Today, August 5, 2002

2. The Second Coming of the Church, p.5

3. Second Coming of the Church, p. 23


Kevin Probst - Is a teacher of Apologetics and History at Calvary Christian School and Associate Pastor of Crosspointe Nazarene Church church in Columbus, Georgia.