Monthly Archives: April 2012

I watched a man hang his head in shame and defeat just the other day. Exposed to be weak, revealed to be untrustworthy, embarrassed publicly, and laughed at by the devil. Already in prison for another crime, now, even while still in prison he had just been caught stealing. He was caught with his hands in the purse of a female officer in search of a cigarette!

As a thirty-year smoker he simply could not resist the desire, the craving, the crutch, the addiction of tobacco, even though capture was probable. His head hung in humiliation and pain as the rough sergeant stripped him of what little he had left. A trust that had taken many months to build was destroyed in seconds and laid scattered and shattered on the floor. The sergeant man-handled him, jerking his pockets inside out as everything fell before him. The saddest part of all was the total lack of respect this thief had even for himself! There was no sign of hope in his eyes, no talk of I can do better, only total acceptance of what he was, a completely broken spirit with nothing left to give.

His every body language was: “I am a defeated man…I can never change…there is no hope for me.” Totally defeated and broken, the victim of his own sin; it was obvious this man was the ‘slave’ of his craving, tobacco was the chain, and Satan the master. It was evident that after many years of sin and the bondage that goes with it…this man no longer had a heart to fight or a heart to hope. He had become the Tin Man, in need of a heart.

Totally defeated and broken, the victim of his own sin; this man was living the life of a ‘slave’, an addict, without fight or hope, his heart lost long ago, he now accepted his plight completely. This is who he had become, this is who he was, and he had just been caught again.

America! Land of the free???

Maybe in years gone by, but no more! Chains come in many forms, and slave masters are well paid. The flesh is so easily addicted, and then what do you do? We have become a country full of slaves and color has nothing to do with it. A drug store on every corner and liquor stores between! Our children are sedated in order to go to school and more marriages divorce than survive! Pleasure, money, and entertainment have become our masters and we the willing slaves! Our prisons are overfilled and undermanned, requiring early release back into our streets! The innocent become victims and women are raped! The womb is invaded for convenience sake! Young people kill with the stone-cold heart of professional assassins, as we simply pop another pill, put it on our charge card, sink deeper in debt, and watch bankruptcy rates soar. Who can blame those who turn to sleeping pills and tranquilizers for their answers?

Non-racial, equal opportunity…slavery! Red or yellow, black or white, all are equal in his sight! Come one come all, to the land of the lost! There is a sad fact the Bible teaches us about sin. Repeated acts of rebellion and sin slowly ‘hardens the heart’. Little by little the heart dies a thousand deaths until it becomes hard as stone, and the conscience seared as with a red-hot iron! We become people past feeling, numb, going through motions, craving passion, enslaved to our sins, and a part of us wishing to die.

Little by little the heart dies a thousand deaths becoming as stone, and we become the Tin Man in search of a heart.

Then comes the moment of truth for we know who owns us. Once again our master has betrayed us as we stand there in weakness and shame. No where to run and no place to hide! You are desperate and want to cry out to God, but does the Tin Man still have a heart?

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all of your heart.”  (Jeremiah 29:13)

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine ‘heart’ that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the ‘heart’ man believeth unto righteousness…  (Romans 10:9-10a)

And so the Tin Man’s search begins. Do you still have a heart? A heart to hope? A heart to fight? A heart to give to God? Or have you come under the Curse of the Tin Man, in need of a heart?

 It is an inward search we speak of, an inward journey back to God, seeking a heart that can still be touched by pure love. A heart that can still be moved to repentance, compassion, and hope!

The plain truth is that so many of the pleasures of sin are highly addicting. Satan knows how easily the flesh is hooked, like a fish on a line, ready to be reeled in, slowly…don’t want the fish to get off the line, you know. Very slowly, wear him out, get him close and then scoop him up in the net. The hook leads to leverage, and eventual control. I believe most of America is addicted to more than one thing. It is a multitude of addictions Christ has kept us free of. It is a sad state of affairs, but because God is God, there is still hope!

“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stoney heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”  (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

Only God can do the kind of heart transplant needed in a lost soul. His guidelines and laws are meant to keep us free and give us victory! Do not be afraid of words like statutes and ordinances, those are just code words for walking in the Wisdom of God! Wisdom is good! All the good things of life are found in the wisdom of God!

The self-seeking and self-centered life, is a journey that eventually winds down and collapses upon itself. It is a spiral that winds inward, instead of outward. It is a toilet being flushed. The flesh always hungers…give me, give me! The flesh life becomes meaningless and hollow. Some people figure this out in time to be saved, others remain the Tin Man clear to the bitter end. I promise you, the key to true joy in life is getting your mind off yourself, begin listening to God, discover that special thing ‘in you’ that he means for you to give to the world, and be fulfilled. The question is, do you still have a heart to believe, and will you give it to God?

“The Tin Man’s Curse.”