The Bogeyman

* bogeyman

or bo·gy·man

^{[ boog-ee-man, boh-gee-, boo- ]}

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noun, plural bo·gey·men.

an imaginary evil character of supernatural powers, especially a mythical hobgoblin supposed to carry off naughty children. (Dictionary.com)

 

I was walking the dog yesterday morning along the golf course that sits next to our neighborhood, when we entered the area that I like to call “The Gauntlet.”  In this location between our house and the neighborhood park, the greenway condenses into a narrow corridor where a row of houses with open-fenced backyards face the golf course.  The houses have decorative chain-link fencing around their yards so as to allow for an open view of the fairway.

I humorously call it “The Gauntlet” because all but one of these homes have a dog (and most have multiple dogs) which bark like crazy whenever we walk by!  I have made up names for each of the pooches and will call them out to Fiver as we walk by.  My dog is fairly used to the menagerie that greets him twice a day and while he will occasionally respond to their soundings, normally he ignores them.  But I think it is kind of funny and can’t help but laugh whenever we go by… especially when an owner will come out in their bathrobe and yell at their dogs!

In the walk I alluded to above, I had been thinking about my morning Bible study when we entered into “The Gauntlet” and the various volumes and tones of dog barks began in earnest.  The last house in the line has, at times, up to five dogs of various ages and breeds, and yesterday, they were all barking… the deep wail of a hound, the higher pitched sound of a standard poodle, the tough guy call of an older Doberman Pinscher, and the sharp chimes of a couple of tiny timbered chihuahua sized dogs.

As that disharmony of sounds rang out and broke the quiet still of the morning, I suddenly burst out into laughter as the thought and picture of “The Bogeyman” came out of nowhere and popped into my mind! 

You see… I had been studying in the small book of Jude – sandwiched between 3 John and Revelation in the back of your Bibles – where Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote a general letter to the early church in order to warn the believers about a group of individuals (ie; “The Bogeymen”) who were circulating among them and were attempting to pervert the grace of God.  He wrote that these men had,

“Rejected the truth about God’s true character and principles, and instead, teach a powerless gospel that misrepresents God, fails to transform lives, and denies that Jesus Christ is our Lord and the source of our healing and restoration.” (Jude 1:4 – The Remedy) 

Jude then compares these deceivers to the angels who had followed Satan out of heaven and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who had also, in times past, rejected the truth about God… and then he declared to the early church Christians,

“In the very same way, these infiltrators create imaginary fantasies about God and the universe…” (Jude 1:8 – The Remedy)

I’m pretty sure that it was the blaring, unorganized cornucopia of mis-matched tones and volumes coming from that backyard, that infiltrated my peace and quiet and caused me to think about “infiltrators (who) create imaginary fantasies about God” in my life… and most-likely in yours as well!

I also thought of a 2011 Three Musketeers movie, that I hadn’t seen for years where, early on in the movie, a young and brash swordsman unknowingly draws his sword on an older and well-seasoned (the bad-guy in the movie) Swordmaster… and without any fear, loudly and flamboyantly declares “En Garde!”

Jude’s words of caution ring as true today, as they did to the fledgling church over 2000 years ago.  I would bet that all of us could recall personal experiences where our faith in the truth of God and His Word* was infiltrated and came under suspicion by people and institutions that believed differently than what we hold to be true in our lives.

I especially like the way in which the young swordsman, in the movie, faced his enemy.  He stood his ground on what he believed, pulled his sword and challenged the infiltrator to a fight! 

When that scene from that particular movie came into my head, I also I pictured the surprise that I experienced and the way I automatically responded to the first seizure that Piper had in 2009.  We had just gotten up on a Saturday morning, and were getting ready for the day, when she suddenly groaned, her eyes rolled and she began to shake… and without taking the time to think, I immediately shouted out “No, in Jesus name!” 

Like the young swordsman, I pulled the sword of the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17) and challenged the enemy who was attacking my wife (Acts 10:38) with the authority of Jesus’ name (Philippians 2:10).

She was standing about six or more feet away from me and as I yelled, she began to fall backwards toward the wall.  All I could think of was that I didn’t want her to hit her head.  So, I literally dove across the room and was able to insert my right hand behind her head and cushion it from contact with the wall!

I firmly believe that this is the way that God wants us to handle the infiltrators or “The Bogeymen” who come into our thoughts and/or our lives and attempt to lead us away from “the powerful Gospel that accurately represents God, transforms lives and confirms that Jesus Christ is our Lord and the source of our healing and restoration.”

The dictionary defines “Bogeyman” as “an imaginary evil character of supernatural powers, especially a mythical hobgoblin supposed to carry off naughty children.”

I think the key takeaway to this definition is that “The Bogeyman” is an imaginary evil character who was supposed to have come and carried off disobedient kids...  But in regards to our Biblical look into “The Bogeyman”, we’ve learned that as Christians, we have the right and authority over such influences in our lives (Matthew 28:18-20/Mark 16:15-20) and should continually grow in our faith to regularly exercise this authority over “The Bogeyman” who will regularly attempt to infiltrate every area of our lives!

Have a great weekend, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s BEST… and keep shouting “En Garde” to the lies and threats of “The Bogeyman”!

 

*See: John 17:17