POP 397 - Checkmate

In this episode Tony shares 2 important metaphors.

The first one concerns the game of chess.

When you're playing chess, the objective is to get your opponent in "checkmate".

This means he doesn't have any moves left.

In this metaphor Tony compares our relationship with God to the game of chess.

In one sense God is attmepting to get us in "checkmate", which means we surrender completely to his will, plan, and Lordship for our life.

God's was is better than my way.

And in an interesting turn of events, it can often be the sexual area of a man's life that God uses to finally get that man in "checkmate".

It's when we become desperate enough as a result of our struggle with sexual brokenness, compulsion, and addcition, that we often come to the place where we're finally ready and willing to do the work we need to do that will allow God to work in a deeper and more powerful way in our heart and life than ever before.

CHECKMATE!

The second metaphor is taken from the wonderful movie, The Wizard of Oz!

When the farmhouse crashes down, and Dorothy opens the door and steps over the threshold, the movie changes from black and white to color, and she delivers the most significant line of the entire movie:

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!"

In this sense there's a kind of "before and after" in each one of our lives.

The metaphorical "Kansas" (in black and white) represents the old way we used to live our life, and the metpahorical "Oz" (in color) represents the new way of life God has intended for us.

It's the way of God and the way of his kingdom.

We're in a new and different place we might not really understand, but we're finally positioned to experience the life, healing, restoration, and redemption of God in our heart, life, and sexuality like we've never experienced before!