Pastor's Pen

A Treasure In Earthen Vessels

2010-05-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

2 Cor 4:7-9 & 16 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; ... For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Cheryl Dinges is a 29-year-old Army sergeant from St. Louis. Her job is to train soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. But the greatest struggle in her life is not the combat she engages in daily with well trained, able-bodied warriors. Her greatest fight is with a hereditary disease called Fatal Familial Insomnia or FFI. As I read her story in the most recent issue of National Geographic I was somewhat surprised to learn about the absolute necessity of sleep.

My wife and I are very much “Type A” personalities. We both possess the exceptional ability to overload ourselves to the extent that we simply must burn the candle at both ends in order to get things done. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried to slow down and take life easier, but I must confess that I simply am not satisfied unless things are running full steam ahead. Because of this, sleep is a rare and precious commodity in our home. We often go to sleep after midnight and my alarm regularly goes off well before 6:00 in the morning.

You can imagine my interest as I began to read about the harmful, and even fatal, effects of persistent insomnia. Sleep, and the necessity of the physical rest that it brings to our bodies, is one of the enigmas of the medical and scientific arenas. With all of our knowledge and understanding, science and modern medicine is hard pressed to tell you exactly what sleep does for your body. However, the evidence presented by the disease that Cheryl battles is that when the human body fails to sleep, it dies. Patients with FFI never live long after the disease finally robs them of their capacity to sleep. Death comes for no apparent reason, with no obvious cause. A lot of interest has focused on the cause of the death that overcomes those that suffer from this genetic insomnia but there is no obvious physiological reason for death. The best explanation is simply that they die from a lack of sleep.

Of course, the obvious application of this little piece of knowledge is that we really do need our beauty sleep. There is no doubt that some of you live just like I do and, by ignoring the needs of our bodies, we may very well be doing incomprehensible damage to our physical well being. However, as I was to contemplating that truth, God began to deal with my heart from another angle. There is no doubt that I neglect the physical needs of my body in the realm of rest and refreshing, however, the tragic truth tonight is that many of us also neglect a spiritual desire of the same nature. There exists a rest and refreshing that comes only from the presence of God and I am convinced that we ignore that need at the peril of our spiritual well being.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Paul describes born again believers as vessels that contain the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. What a wonderful treasure we have been entrusted with. What a tremendous transforming truth that we have received. The knowledge of God and the revelation of the mighty God in Christ is the very light of truth and it is described by Paul as a tremendous treasure. One would suppose that, in keeping with the analogy, the treasure would be safeguarded in an infallible receptacle, a fortress, or a stronghold. However, that’s not the case at all. According to Paul the glorious gift of God, the precious treasure of the Holy Ghost, resides in jars of clay.

This is an important truth. We may have been filled with the spirit of God but we are still simple, frail, human vessels. The Ancient of Days, in a wisdom that defies human logic has chosen to house his spirit in the hearts of mere humans. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, reveals the reason for such a decision. God has chosen to house the treasure in earthen vessels to show that the excellency of the power that works within us belongs to God and not to us.

Often, when we study this passage we place our focus on the treasure, on the wonderful thing that God has given us. However, tonight, I want to turn our eyes towards the vessel. The vessel is just a simple container of clay. It is, in all truthfulness, a weak vessel. It is subject to trials and troubles; it is burdened with problems and imperfections; it is but a frail jar of clay. But God is not afraid to house the revelation of his glory in human vessels because He controls the trials, He masters the storms, and He provides the grace to overcome the imperfections.

God is glorified through weak vessels. Paul said, on a different occasion, “When I am weak, he is strong.” When, in spite of my weakness, this frail human vessel shines forth with the incredible power of God that surpasses human understanding, all of the glory belongs to God. That’s why he chose these human vessels to become the ambassadors of heaven. Because anything good that comes from these jars of clay can only be attributed to God. God is glorified in these feeble earthen vessels.

This is a wonderful revelation, but we would do well to remember that the implication of this understanding is that God will, most assuredly, allow this fleshly vessel to be assaulted by the cares of this life, because that’s when His glory shines through us. Indeed, Paul launches from that familiar and much celebrated verse into another often quoted passage, acknowledging in the very next verse that, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” This is the nature of the earthen vessel. It endures much hardship and many trials.

It was Job that said that man’s days are short and full of trouble and the inescapable fact is that we will be troubled, we will be perplexed, we will be persecuted and we will be cast down. It’s not my intention tonight to be discouraging, nor is it my desire to highlight only the negatives of this life, but I want to make an important spiritual point and in order to do that we must see this earthen vessel for what it is. This flesh is always going to have its struggles. The jar of clay is always going to be subjected to the pressures of day-to-day living. This earthen vessel will always be assaulted by the storms of this life.

But, thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. Just because we are troubled doesn’t mean that we have to be distressed. Just because we are perplexed doesn’t mean that we have to be in despair. Just because we are persecuted doesn’t mean that we have been forsaken and just because we are cast down doesn’t mean that we will be destroyed. Nope. As a matter of fact, the opposite is true. We can be afflicted in every way, but not crushed; confounded, but not driven to depression; mistreated, but not abandoned; even struck down, but not defeated. We can endure life’s passing afflictions while demonstrating the grace of God, because of the treasure that is housed in our earthen vessels. The treasure that shines through our weakness is also the power that sustains us and keeps us through every trial and every storm.

This is the crux of the matter. The vessel may be frail, but the treasure is not. The vessel may be subject to the pressures of this life, but the treasure is not. The vessel may be beaten down, and driven to its knees, but the treasure rises above the occasion. This is what I want you to grasp tonight, the precious gift of God, the treasure of his spirit that he has placed in your life, is more than able to sustain you through everything that this life might bring against you. The power is not in the vessel. The power is in the treasure and as long as we guard the treasure, God will preserve the vessel!

Here’s what concerns me tonight. When I find myself overwhelmed with the things that need to be done and the myriad of tasks I have committed myself to, I tend to neglect the physical needs of my body. I’ve already mentioned my persistent habit of not sleeping the way that I should in order to focus more time and attention on the things that need to get done. It is but a small leap to reach the conclusion that if we are inclined to neglect our physical needs when we are pressed on every side, how much more likely are we to neglect our spiritual needs as well. I am convinced that there exists a great danger of becoming so involved in the trials, troubles and pursuits of this present life that we fail to preserve the treasure that is within us. If that’s the case, we do so to the detriment of our spiritual well being.

The treasure is what preserves us. The presence of God in our lives is the sustaining strength to endure the hardships and pressures of this life. The treasure is the power within the vessel. If we neglect the treasure, we put ourselves in a dangerous place. There is a rest and refreshing in the Holy Ghost that we desperately need. There is a renewing that refreshes the treasure within us. That refreshing comes only from the presence of God. And I’ve come to tell you tonight that we need that rest! We need to spend time alone with God, we need to escape from the cares and toils of this life, on a regular basis, and find our way into the presence of God. There is a rest there that is necessary to our continued well-being. Just as surely as failure to sleep can kill the physical man, if we neglect our need for spiritual rest it will imperil our spiritual man.

Paul understood this, which is why he wrote, in the verse 16 of the same chapter, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” It was that daily renewal that kept the jar of clay from cracking under the strain. The reason he didn’t faint, or falter, or fail is because he was renewed day by day. The outward man, the earthen vessel, was strained, distressed and troubled. But the inward man, the treasure in the earthen vessel, was renewed day by day. It was the daily renewal that kept the man of God from giving in to despair and hopelessness. It was that much-needed rest and refreshing that he experienced day by day that enabled him to rise above the trouble and tragedy of his life. And it is that daily renewal that I am afraid that we are too easily persuaded to neglect in our personal lives.

We need rest. We can’t afford to neglect that need. This is the way God made us. Our bodies were designed, for reasons beyond the understanding of medical science, to operate well for 15-17 hours and then to sleep for 7-9 hours every day, without exception. If we ignore that truth we do so at our own peril. In February of last year a commuter jet crashed en route from Newark to Buffalo , killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground. The co-pilot and the pilot had only sporadic moments of sleep the day leading up to the crash and National Transportation Safety Board concluded that their performance “was likely impaired because of fatigue.

Physical fatigue is dangerous and that’s a truth that few will disagree with. However, what I want you to see tonight is that spiritual fatigue is just as dangerous. When you fail to find a place of spiritual rest on a regular basis you neglect the treasure in your earthen vessel and your ability to rise above the troubles and temptations of this life is impaired. How many people have lost out with God, given in to some tragic sin, or drifted away from God because they failed to recognize the importance of a daily renewal for their spirit. We need rest! We need a spiritual renewal!

Researchers say that if you spend a week sleeping only 5 hours a night, then your ability to react is impaired to such an extent that it is equivalent to a person with a 0.1% blood alcohol level, which is the legal definition of drunkenness. Yet, many folks in the church carelessly neglect the condition of their souls, existing for weeks and weeks on end with only the spiritual refreshment that they might glean in our regular weekly worship services. We have often wondered why the church today seems anemic compared to the church of yesteryear. I believe that the problem lies in our failure to recognize our need for spiritual refreshing on a regular basis. Many have questioned what it will take to have a genuine apostolic move of God today. Can I submit to you that it starts with daily renewal of the treasure that is within us! These earthen vessels can’t endure the trial of time and pressures of life without a constant, consistent rest and refreshing. We need a spiritual rest!

Sleep is a peculiar thing. Your body has no capacity to store up its beneficial effects. I know that, when we miss a night of sleep, we like to use terminology that says that we are going to “catch up” on sleep. But the real truth is you can’t store it up and you can’t catch it up. Sleep is sufficient only for the moment. No matter how much you sleep today, you are still going to need to sleep tomorrow. And, if you neglect to sleep today, your body will still be renewed with its normal amount of sleep tomorrow.

The same is true in regards to our spiritual rest and refreshing. God provides places of rest and refreshing for us on a day-to-day basis. The blessing of today is sufficient for today, but by tomorrow, you are going to need a fresh blessing, you are going to need a fresh anointing. No matter how great of a blessing you might get tonight, tomorrow your soul is going to begin to long for a fresh blessing. If, by chance, you neglected the longing of your soul for a fresh blessing yesterday, then that longing is still going to be there today. You can’t make up for the blessing you missed yesterday, but today’s blessing will be sufficient for today.

This is the way it was in the wilderness with the heavenly manna that fell from heaven. It was only good for a day. After the day was passed it quickly became rank and inedible. You couldn’t store it up, but there was always a sufficient amount for the day at hand. Day-by-day, God prepares for you places and times of refreshing. Day-by-day, he provides you with an opportunity for the rest that your spirit so desperately needs. Day-by-day He gives you an opportunity to renew he treasure in your life.

The problem is that some of us have, for far too long, neglected the rest and refreshing. And I’m here to tell you that if you neglect the treasure, the vessel crumbles. If you neglect the treasure, over time the vessel loses the battle. If you fail to preserve the precious presence of God in your life, over time the earthen vessel becomes so weak and weary in the battle that it succumbs to the tide of trouble and despair. Mark the words of this preacher tonight – we need rest! We need spiritual renewing. We need to find our way into the presence of God and drink deeply from his cup of refreshing. We need to be renewed, day-by-day, in the presence of God!

I find it refreshing that Paul, in his writings makes no attempt to conceal the fact that this earthen vessel is often weary and distressed. He said, in 2 Cor 7:5 that when he came into Macedonia, “Our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.” We had no rest. There was trouble all around. There was physical opposition, people and spirits that were opposing us. And on the inside, there were fears. Fear of failure, fear for safety, fear that we would be overwhelmed.

If we were honest about it tonight, we’ve felt that way before. We’ve struggled with the turmoil and chaos, with the self-doubt and fears. That’s the nature of this earthen vessel. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that there are those, under the sound of my voice tonight, that are struggling right now with those same feelings. You are burdened and weary. You have grown tired with the trouble and turmoil of life. You’ve wondered if, perhaps, there is something wrong with you. You’ve grown distressed with your seeming inability to rise above the circumstances and you’ve been made to feel like a failure because your strength is nearly gone.

I’ve come to tell you tonight that there isn’t anything wrong with you. You’re simply an earthen vessel and, in the midst of the dilemmas and difficulties of your life you’ve, perhaps inadvertently, neglected the rest and refreshing that your soul so desperately craves. The problem isn’t that the vessel isn’t strong enough. The problem isn’t that the vessel is weak and frail. The problem isn’t that you are a feeble earthen vessel. The problem is that you’ve neglected the treasure in your life. And I want to encourage you in the Lord, to find a place of rest and refreshing and renew the treasure in your life. There exists a rest and refreshing in this house this evening that will be water to your soul and a renewing to your troubled spirit.

Jesus extended an invitation in Matthew 11:28 to all those that labor and are heavy laden. The first word denotes active travail and the second word relates to weariness. Some are actively involved in the fight right now and others are passively burdened by the weariness of your soul. It doesn’t really matter which category you fall in, tonight, the message is still the same. Jesus said, “Come unto me… and I will give you rest.”

Rest. Refreshing. A spiritual renewing. Come unto me and I will give you rest. That word “rest” means to calm, comfort and refresh. It reflects the Old Testament concept of rest as a release from the pressures and tensions of life and the peace that follows that release. That’s what we need tonight. We need rest. We need relief. We need the peace that follows that release. That’s what the Lord longs to give you tonight, rest.

The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 50:4 that God had anointed him to be able to speak a word in season to him that is weary. I believe that God has given me such a message tonight, a word in due season to that are weary. I have a message for you. God has extended an invitation for you to come into his presence and find the rest and refreshing that nothing else in this world can give you. There is rest here. There is a refreshing here. There is a peace that passes all understanding in this house. God has prepared you a place where you can, in the words of the Psalmist, “Lie down in green pastures…”

Come into the presence of God. Come and find rest for your soul and refreshing for your spirit. Come and renew the treasure in your life. Come.

No Pardon...

2010-04-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

The New York Daily News published an interesting article two weeks ago. It seems that the nation’s oldest library, the New York Society Library in Manhattan still has an old ledger that contains the records of all the books that were checked out from the library between July 1789 and April 1792. At that time, New York was the nation's capital and Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay are all included in its pages as patrons of the library. They each borrowed books and returned them. However, one very prominent figure from American History wasn’t so faithful. On Oct. 5, 1789, President George Washington borrowed the "Law of Nations," a treatise on international relations, and Vol. 12 of the "Commons Debates," which contained transcripts of debates from Britain's House of Commons.

The entry for that transaction contains no return date. Recently, the long lost 14-Volume set of “Commons Debates” was rediscovered and Volume 12 was missing, lending credence to the supposition that the books were never returned. The books were due by Nov. 2, 1789, and have been accruing a fine of a few pennies per day ever since. If the library were to try to collect the late fees that have accrued over the course of 220 years, the inflation adjusted total would be somewhere around $300,000. It was suggested, by one writer, that the only recourse was a presidential pardon. A pardon would totally wipe away the vast, outstanding debt.

If, indeed, the descendants of President Washington sought a pardon and if the current administration were to grant such a pardon, it would be the first pardon issued by President Obama. Although the Constitution provides the president virtually unlimited power to "grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States,” presidential pardons have long been the source of much controversy. Because of this, first-term Presidents have traditionally shown a great reluctance to wield the power of the pardon.

A presidential pardon signifies an official forgiveness for a federal crime and restores forfeited civil rights such as the right to vote or bear arms. It is, essentially, the only means by which a person can escape judgment for the wrongs they have been convicted of. Once a person is pardoned, there will be no further judgment for their crimes. If their sentence has not been fully served it is commuted. If they have not yet begun to serve their sentence, then it is completely wiped out. A pardon removes judgment from the equation, allowing a crime to simply be forgiven without satisfying any verdict.

When it comes to matters of sin and salvation, there are some who believe that salvation is, in effect, God’s version of a pardon. There seems to be, in some circles, a prevailing belief that God can just dismiss sin without any consequence at all. Forgiveness has been equated to the idea that God, in his great mercy, can determine to simply “overlook” sins. Nothing could be further from the truth! I want to go on record, loud and clear, with the statement that God doesn’t pardon sin. He can’t. If He did, he would cease to be God.

In order to understand this it is important that we fix in our minds the nature of God’s reaction toward sin. Sin provokes the wrath of God. It demands judgment. The problem with sin is the fact that it does violence to the constitution under which God and humans live. Sin is rebellion against God, it is an attack against God’s honor and holiness. If God could tolerate or condone sin in any measure, He would no longer be God because sin usurps an authority that belongs only to God, it is an affront to the very nature and character of God.

Sin asserts the idea that the sinner is, in some way, above God and outside of the realm of God’s authority because sin ignores the laws that God has imposed in our lives. It says to God, “I know better than you do what is good for me and my life.” This is why sin demands the destruction of the sinner. This also explains why the wages of sin is always death, and the soul that sins must surely die. The only way in which the honor of God can be satisfied and sin can be atoned for is through death. The wrath of God demands it.

God’s wrath is not like human wrath. God doesn’t lose His temper and become enraged, like we do. He doesn’t fly off the handle and go into a fit of rage. God’s wrath is a deliberate, controlled, unwavering kind of anger. It is not an inconsistent passion that can be turned on and off or one that diminishes with time. It is the automatic, deliberate reaction of a holy God to sin. After Israel fashioned the golden calf and worshipped it, God said to Moses, in Exodus 32:10, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them.” This controlled aspect of God’s anger against sin is expressed clearly in Jn. 3:36, where the wrath of God is said to “abide on” the individual that doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ. Where there is sin, there is, of necessity, the abiding wrath of God.

This is where the mercy of God comes into the equation. We are all sinners and have all fallen short of the glory of God. Because of this, each of us is under God’s wrath. The cross was God’s answer to sin and Paul indicates in Romans 3:21–26 that our justification is based on the removal of God’s wrath through the propitiation of the blood of Jesus. The blood of a substitute removes the wrath of God. It satisfies the need for judgment and death. In this manner the offering of an atoning sacrifice at Calvary appeased the righteous wrath of a holy God.

Here’s the truth of the matter: For God to be God He has to judge sin. He cannot and will not simply “pardon” sin. He will not commute the sentence. If God is to remain holy and just, then every sin must be judged. Calvary provides a place of judgment where the penalty for our sins is fulfilled, a place where the wrath of God is appeased. God’s controlled wrath was poured out at Calvary. It was fully satisfied at the cross. This is the miracle of Calvary! The judge that demanded judgment also became the one upon whom that judgment was executed. To keep from pouring out his wrath on us, God became a man, and poured out that wrath upon himself. Through faith in and obedience to the plan of salvation, our sins are judged and we go free. There is no other way. There is no pardon for sins. When it comes to sin, God will always judge it. His holiness demands it.

God’s mercy is holy and righteous because it is based upon the fact that sin has been judged and His wrath has been satisfied. God’s judgment will be holy and righteous because all sin that stands before him will be judged. Some will come before God in judgment and will have already applied the blood of Jesus. When God looks at them He will see that sin has already been judged and His justice and his mercy will be in complete harmony when He pardons that individual and says, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” However, some will come before God with sin in their lives that is not covered by the blood of Jesus due to the fact that they have not believed in and fulfilled the plan of salvation. Once again, His judgment and His mercy will be in harmony. The judgment of God will condemn sin, the wrath of God will be poured out and the mercy of God will be fully aware that a way of escape was made but the sacrifice was either neglected or ignored.

The estate of President Washington may have a pretty good case for a presidential pardon and there is probably a pretty good chance that, if they ask for one, they will receive it. However, the fact remains that God issues no such pardons. He has made a way for the price to be paid through the cross. Through the plan of salvation, which appropriates the work of Calvary into your life, He will bear your burden for you. He will bear the judgment for your sins, but He will not overlook sin or fail to judge it. In every case, His wrath will be satisfied, His justness will be appeased and His righteousness will be intact. The price will be paid, one way or the other…

Doing the best that I can do...

2010-04-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

This evening as I have sought to clear my mind and prepare a thought from the word of God for a mid-week service I have found myself contemplating a verse of scripture that I have read many times and even preached from on several different occasions. However, as the word of God is prone to do, this familiar passage is communicating to my heart in a new and refreshing manner tonight. I seriously doubt that there is any student of the word of God, on any level, that has not at least considered the poetically beautiful way that Solomon addresses the cycle of life in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. With an insight that is hauntingly familiar to every heart, the writer shares a list of opposites that illustrate the truth that there is a time for every activity under heaven.

Anyone who reads that striking poem is quickly provoked to consider the rapid succession of this fragile thing we call life. It is, at the same time, bitter and sweet. It contains, sometimes in the same moments, both hope and despair. Life is made up of both glorious sunrises and long dark nights. It is all contained within Solomon’s brief poem: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to harvest; a time to kill and a time to heal. The list goes on and on: weeping and laughing; mourning and dancing; finding and losing; loving and hating. There is an intrinsic beauty to the whole of the passage, yet there is a stirring sense of the profound that echoes through it.

This is the fabric of the life that we live. Everything has a season and a time, everything happens according to God’s grand design. Life has both pleasures and disappointments, both triumphs and defeats and they happen to each of us with the simple passage of time. No single moment is eternal no matter how pleasant or horrific it may be, with the passing of every second we march steadily forward to a different season and a different time. Through the course of a life one experiences the myriad of extremes: love that sustains us; betrayals that debilitate us; triumphs that validate us and tragedies that overwhelm us. Through it all we are left to wonder at the meaning of our lives. Questions haunt our souls and fuel our doubts and fears. Who hasn’t raised their face to heaven and mouthed the futile words: Why me? Why here? Why now?

The poet makes a comforting statement in verse 11 when he says that God “has made everything beautiful in its time.” But he also acknowledges that it is beyond the scope of our understanding to grasp the plan and purpose of God in our lives. God makes everything beautiful but he doesn’t always reveal to us the mystery of the beauty in our lives. God works everything together for good, but all too often the scope of God’s good is obscured by the harshness of our present reality. We know, in our hearts, that He makes all things beautiful. We know, by our faith, that he gives beauty for ashes and joy for mourning but the reality of this present life sometimes seems to overpower that simple assurance.

Perhaps this is why the writer comes to the conclusion in verse twelve that there is nothing better than to be joyful and to do good as long as we live. The phrase “nothing better” is an understatement of sorts. The intended sense of the verse is that “the best thing” that we can do is to determine in our hearts to be joyful and do good, no matter what this life brings us. The best that we can do is to resolve, regardless of the season and the time of our lives, that God is good and He makes all things beautiful. I don’t always understand it, it won’t always make sense, some mysteries I’m never going to solve but the best that I can do in this life is to make up my mind to be joyful in all things. I have discovered, in the course of the sorrows and challenges of my brief life, that there is, indeed, a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. There is, in the presence of God, a joyfulness that surpasses all the trials and tragedies of my life. Perhaps the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned is that I can be joyful in all things.

So tonight, as look across the landscape of my life, I must acknowledge that not everything is good, not everything is perfect, and some things simply are not going to work out the way I would have wanted them to. However, even in the face of disappointments and difficulties, I’m reminded of the promise that He makes all things beautiful in his own time. Faced with that truth, the least I can do is turn my heart towards heaven and recognize the goodness of God in my life. According to Solomon, the best that I can do, in the highs and lows of this life, is to be joyful and to do good. The best that I can do is to mingle a measure of joy with my sorrow, mix some gladness with my heartaches, and merge a little praise with my multitude of pains.

Somewhere in the midst of all the mysteries of this life there awaits the simple understanding that, in time, God makes all things beautiful. With that truth in mind, I have determined to do the best that I can do…

Matching Your Mountains

2010-04-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

On July 4 1894, American folk poet Sam Walter Foss published a poem called “The Coming American”, and it went like this:

Bring me men to match my mountains, Bring me men to match my plains;
Men with empires in their purpose, And new eras in their brains.
Bring me men to match my mountains, Bring me men to match my plains;
Men to chart a starry empire, Men to make celestial claims.
Bring me men to match my prairies, Men to match my inland seas;
Men to sail beyond my oceans, Reaching for the galaxies.
These are men to build a nation, Join the mountains to the sky;
Men of faith and inspiration, Bring me men, bring me men, bring me men!
Bring me men to match my forests, Bring me men to match my shore;
Men to guard the mighty ramparts, Men to stand at freedom's door.
Bring me men to match my mountains, Men to match their majesty;
Men to climb beyond their summits, Searching for their destiny.

I have long been intrigued by the phrase “Men to match my mountains.” For many years the mighty mountain ranges of the Midwest served as barriers to the growth of the fledgling nation. Only after brave men and women forged trails through the mountains that opened the west to exploration and settlement could this great nation stretch from see to shining sea. Until that day, those mountians stood as defiant obstacles sending out a challenging cry for men to match their greatness and stature. Their very existence was a demand for "Men to match my mountains."

In religious circles we hear many references to mountaintop experiences as those high times of our lives when everything is going well. Likewise much is said about the valley as the times of trial and difficulty. However, the distinction is not nearly as simple as that. Mountains, in and of themselves, present both a challenge and an obstacle that must be overcome. The victory and reward of standing on a mountaintop is only achieved after the exhausting experience of conquering the mountain. The truth is that the mountains themselves are somewhat intimidating but their very presence calls out for men to match the mountains.

If you intend to live for God, if you have a desire to strive to do some great work for God, you might as well settle the issue right now: There will be mountains in your life. Mountains that defy you and challenge you to overcome them. Mountains that represent challenges, and struggles. Mountains that become obstacles and even, sometimes, mountains that are occupied by the enemies of your soul. It is these mountains that become the obstacles that stand between you and the things that God has for you in this life.

My desire today is to encourage you. Don't shrink away from your mountains. God has given you a faith and courage to match the mountains in your life. Blessing waits for you on the mountaintop. A fresh experience with God waits on the other side of the obstacle. A hard fought victory awaits the soul that will fight their way up the mountain. The conquering of some mountains will be a long difficult battle where every step forward is a small victory. Some mountains will be marked by the long lonely struggle of a solo climb to the summit. And some mountains will merely be obstacles in your path that simply must be overcome. Together they will challenge you, they will try your faith and test your commitment. But make no mistake about it, the mountain top is worth the struggle that it takes to reach it. If you are to obtain all that God has for you in this life, if you are to be everything He has called you to be, you will have to match the mountains that He has placed before you.

Can you hear their voices? The mountains in your life are beckoning to you. Come, climb, struggle and conquer. The mountain only yields its treasure to the soul that braves its dangers. Can you hear the cry? It echos from the hills and over the valleys, "Give me men to match my mountains..."

You, my friends are the men and women that can, indeed, match the mountains of your life. Why don't you make up your mind today to rise up and match your mountains?

The Just For The Unjust

2010-04-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

Easter 2010
Today, we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter sums up the significance of the whole weekend in a single, short but profound, verse: 1 Peter 3:18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. This is the reason why we celebrate. Jesus Christ died on a cross for my sins and for yours, the just for the unjust. In order to bring us to God, he died in the flesh but was quickened by the Spirit.

Substitution
If we are going to grasp the significance of the cross we have to understand the biblical implication of substitution. That’s what Peter means by the just for the unjust. There are many facets to the meaning of Christ’s death, but the central element of the sacrifice that occurred at Calvary is substitution. This simply means that Christ died in our place, the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous, heaven’s perfect lamb for the sins of the whole world.

The cross stands at the center of the bible. The whole biblical record, up to the cross, points to the cross and everything after the cross is dramatically influenced by it. The finished work of Calvary is, bar none, the single greatest act of God in all of time and eternity and it was in the mind of God from the very beginning. This is why Rev 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:19 agree together that Jesus was the lamb “slain from the foundation of the world.” The cross wasn’t God’s way of reacting to sin. It was God’s plan to deal with sin before the first sin ever occurred. God foreordained that he would purchase the church with his own blood, he knew, from the beginning, the price that he would pay for sin.

According to Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death and Ezekiel 18 tells us over and over again that the soul that sins shall surely die. When Adam and Eve sinned, in the garden, death took a hold of their mortal bodies. It would take over 900 years for that death to be fully realized but it began to work in them immediately. However, at the same time they experienced spiritual death. The spiritual death was instant. They were no longer righteous; sin robbed them of spiritual life and severed their fellowship and communion with God. The price for sin is death. In order for Adam and Eve to be saved from their sins, something had to die. The problem is that Adam and Eve couldn’t pay that price because they were already dead. So something else had to die in their place, if they were to be saved.

Right there in the garden God introduced the concept of substitution. God slew animals and took from them bloody coats of skins that He used to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. From the very beginning God was spelling out the principle of the cross. Death, bloodshed, substitution and atonement, all occurred in those few moments at the beginning of it all. An animal became the substitute, it died, its blood was shed and its bloody coat made a covering over Adam and Eve’s sin. That’s what atonement is, it’s a covering for sin. It allows man to have fellowship with God by virtue of the fact that his sin is covered, or atoned for, by a substitutionary sacrifice.

That foundational principle is repeated throughout the biblical record. Its represented in the ram that was caught in the bush when Abraham prepared to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, out of obedience to God. The words of Abraham to his precious son ring with a strong prophetic tone down trough the pages of scripture. When Isaac inquired about the absence of a sacrifice, Abraham responded in Genesis 22:8 “God will provide himself a lamb.” Indeed, God did just that. As Abraham drew back the knife to perform the sacrifice that God had required of him, the angel of the Lord stopped his hand and revealed to him the ram that was caught in a bush, a sacrificial substitute for Abraham’s son. But the power of Abraham’s faith filled statement extends beyond that day to the day when God literally provided himself as the substitutionary lamb.

Over and over again the concept repeats itself through out the scripture. When Moses prepared to lead the Hebrews on the exodus form Egypt he was warned of God that the 10th plague would be a visitation of the death angel upon Egypt. On that dreaded night, when the death angel passed over he would claim the first born of every home. But Moses was given a promise in Exodus 12:13 that he relayed to the Hebrews, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Every Hebrew family was to select a lamb, a perfect spotless specimen, and that lamb was to be sacrificed for their family. On that night, the night of the first Passover, the lamb became the substitute for the children of Abraham. When the death angel saw the blood on the doorposts of the home he passed over that home because the price had already been paid. The death of a substitute was the only way to escape the judgment of God.

That Passover was the first of many as God instituted a covenant with Israel through Moses, the foundation of which was substitutional atonement for sins by the death of a lamb. From that point forward the pages of the word of God are soaked with the blood of countless sacrificial lambs. Every year on the Passover, the familiar scene was played out. Each family would sacrifice a lamb to atone for their sins. As many a quarter of a million lambs were slain each Passover. Each one is a substitute for sins. The blood that flowed from those multiplied millions of lambs provided a covering, an atonement, for sins.

However, all of that blood could never fully take away sins, it only provided a temporary covering for sins. Hebrews 10:4 tells us that “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” The lambs of the Old Testament only pointed to the day when God would provide “himself” as the perfect sacrifice for sins. That’s why when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him that day in John chapter one, he looked beyond the millions of animal sacrifices and pointed to the true “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Redemption
The death of Jesus was substitutionary. Just like the lambs of the Old Testament, Jesus died for our sins. He became our substitute as he was offered in our place, the just for the unjust. However, his sacrifice accomplished more than the atonement of the Old Testament. The blood of Jesus was the vehicle of redemption. Redemption is the concept of being set free by the payment of a ransom price. It is built upon the application of a common legal transaction of biblical times. When a man became a debtor and owed a debt that he could not repay there was a legal system in place that allowed him to work off his debt as a slave to the person to whom he was indebted. It was a type of indentured servant hood, a means for a man to satisfy a debt that was too great for him to pay in any other way.

Once a man entered that obligation, he was bound by it. There was only one way to terminate that agreement and that was by the payment of a redemption price. In that special allowance of the law a redeemer could pay the price that was owed by the individual thus setting them free from their debt. There was only one catch. The redeemer had to be a kinsman of the person to be redeemed. He had to be a blood relative. There was no other kind of redeemer except the kinsman redeemer. This is why the blood of bulls and goats wasn’t sufficient to redeem sins. This is why millions of gallons of blood shed by millions of sacrificial lambs would never set man free from the bondage of sin. The price could only be paid by kinsman!

This is why John started his gospel the way he did. He establishes from the very beginning the validity of the blood of Jesus. “In the beginning,” he says in John 1:1, “was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.” And when he gets to verse 14 he says, “the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” It’s the same message that Paul broadcast in 1 Timothy 3:16, " And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” In the person of Jesus Christ, God became our kinsman. He became a man so that He could become our redeemer. There wasn’t any other way. Because of sin, we owed a debt we could not pay. We were in bondage to sin. That’s why Jesus told the Pharisees in John 8:34 that whoever commits sin is the slave of sin. Because sin is the slave master that each of us was bound to from birth. And we didn’t have the resources to purchase our own freedom. It was a debt that we could never overcome!

Thank God for the precious blood that was shed on Calvary’s old rugged cross. He purchased our salvation. The cross was about more than just covering up sin. The cross was about paying the price for sin. Jesus was a man just like you and me with one vital exception. He wasn’t born under the bondage of sin. He wasn’t born in debt to sin and, although he was tempted in all points just like we are, he never gave in to sin. So when he went to the cross he was still spiritually alive. He could do what no other man could do, he could die for sins because he wasn’t already dead.

That’s what happened at the cross. A legal transaction took place. Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of the entire world and bore them to the old rugged cross. Because he knew no sin, he could stand in my place and in your place and pay the price that we each owed for our sins. This is what Peter means when he says the just for the unjust. It was more than just another substitute. This was my kinsman. This was flesh and blood. This was Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. And when he died, he died for me. Not just instead of me, but for me. He died the death that is the price of all my sins. He paid my price. He redeemed me at the cross and not just me but every man woman and child that ever lived. Jesus Christ was the final sacrifice for sins. He was heaven’s only spotless lamb.

That’s why Peter said, in our text that “Christ also hath ‘once’ suffered for sins.” The meaning conveyed by the original language is not “once upon a time” but rather “once for all.” That’s what the writer of Hebrews is so adamant about in Hebrews chapter nine where he says, in verse 26, that Jesus has appeared once for all to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just two verses later he reiterates the fact that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. The cross was God’s final answer to sin, it was where God provided “himself” a lamb. The cross is where God put on human flesh and paid the price for sin all by himself! The Holy One of heaven laid down his own life for the redemption of all of fallen humanity: one perfect lamb; one horrific sacrifice; and one final victory. The just for the unjust!

Reconciliation
As wonderful as that truth is, its not the end of the story. Peter said, in our text, “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” This is the purpose of the cross. It’s about more than just atonement. It’s about more than just substitution. It’s about more than just redemption. It’s also about reconciliation. That’s the end goal of the cross. It’s the purpose that Paul gives, in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” God was in Christ and by his own death reconciled us to himself, he restored us to fellowship with God.

The sacrifice that happened on a hill called Golgotha was about making it possible for us to be reconciled to God. Peter said, He did it that He might bring us to God. The language there is interesting. The phrase “bring us to God” is a technical term that means “gain audience at court.” Because of the work of Christ on the cross, we now have an open access to God, we are able to gain access to his throne. We are able to enter into a relationship, a fellowship, a communion with God. The work of Calvary provides a way that we can come boldly before the throne of God!

What was accomplished at the cross allows us to have access to the marvelous grace of God to meet our daily needs. When Christ breathed his last and death claimed its only righteous victim, the veil of the temple was torn in two. That act of God symbolized the fact that the glory and presence of God that had been shut away behind the veil for all those years was now made accessible through Jesus Christ. We can enter into the Holy of Holies, we can come boldly before the very throne of God, we can bend our knee in his presence and make our very petition known and he will hear our cry and be faithful to meet all our needs. That access is gained through the application of the death of Jesus to our lives. He said of Himself, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” He is the way that we gain access to all the promises of God!

Quickening
Lets turn one more time to our text and see if we can catch a glimpse of how God, in Christ Jesus, reconciled us to himself. Peter said, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” To catch the significance of this we’ve got o back up to the reason why humanity needed a substitute in the first place. We, according to Ephesians 2:1, were dead in our trespasses and sins. We couldn’t pay the debt we owed for sin because the price of sin was death and, by virtue of our sin, we were already dead! But Jesus died in our stead; he died in our place. Going back to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 again, in verse 21, we learn that He, who knew no sin, became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. God, in Christ Jesus, became flesh so that He could be put to death in the flesh.

We were already dead because of sin. Death reigned in our mortal bodies and there was no hope for us without a miraculous resurrection. Dead things don’t have the ability to live again on their own. Only God has the power to speak to that which is dead and bring it back to life again. This is exactly what he did. He died for our sins. He tasted death, he laid down his life only to pick it up again 3 days later! Peter says, He was put to death in the flesh but He was quickened by the Spirit.

That’s why we celebrate on Easter morning, instead of on the day of the crucifixion. We are celebrating more than just the fact that He died for our sins. We are celebrating more than just the fact that He paid the price for our redemption. We are celebrating more than just the fact that He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. We are celebrating the fact that he brought resurrection and life! We are celebrating the fact that he conquered death and the grave. His words echo from the pages of scripture (John 11:25-26), “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” That’s more than just a physical resurrection! Whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. That my friend is a spiritual resurrection!

The spirit that quickened Christ and caused that dead body to live again after 3 long days in the cold clutches of death, that same spirit has the power to bring resurrection to the spiritual man. What Adam lost in the garden, Jesus redeemed at the cross! The garden introduced death in a twofold manner, spiritual death that was immediate and a physical death that was more long term. Jesus by his resurrection brought both an eternal life that is long term and a spiritual life that is immediate. This is what Paul is speaking of in Romans 8:10-11, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

Pentecost
That same spirit that quickened Christ from the dead, is this spirit that was poured out in an upper room in Jerusalem just 50 days after Easter. Acts 2 reads this way, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The spirit of God that quickened Christ, is the same spirit of God that filled the 120 believers gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.

That’s the day the church was born. That’s the day that the wonderful miracle of what happened at Calvary was finally realized. That’s the day that God poured out his quickening spirit on humanity, bringing spiritual resurrection to that which was spiritually dead! And that my friend, is the true miracle of Easter. Not only did he die, not only was he buried, but he rose from the grave. And when he rose from the grave he not only purchased eternal life, he also opened a door by which we could enter into fellowship with God. He purchased a spiritual resurrection that we must have in order to have eternal life.

Before too long a crowd gathered in the streets of Jerusalem to see what the excitement in the upper room was all about. And Peter preached to them about the death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of God. When he was done preaching they were convicted and they asked him what they needed to do to be saved. My friend, I’m here to tell you this morning that it was no accident that Peter answered their question the way that he did. He said, in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Let me tell you, this morning, how you can experience the wonderful, transforming power of Easter in your own life. Easter is more than bunny rabbits and Easter eggs. Easter is about the resurrection and life and, most of all, its about a personal spiritual resurrection that you can experience for yourself. Its what the Bible calls being born again or a second birth because it consists of new life, a spiritual life. That which is dead in your spirit due to the bondage of sin can be resurrected back to life again by the spirit of God. That’s what the Holy Ghost is, it’s that quickening spirit of God that we’ve been talking about this morning.

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that we celebrate this morning, is the way that we come to God. We experience death in repentance. Repentance is all about dying out to sin. It’s about more than just being sorry that you got caught. Its about changing your direction, and reversing your course. Repentance is coming to God and saying, “I’m a sinner. And I want to change.”

After we’ve repented, we are buried with him in baptism. In repentance the old man dies with Christ Jesus. In baptism the old man is buried with Christ Jesus. That’s why Peter was very specific when he told the multitude to be baptized “in the name of Jesus.” Because we are buried with him, in his name. Peter promised that if we repented of our sins and were baptized in Jesus name, we would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That’s the quickening spirit of God and you will know when you receive it because you will speak in tongues just like they did in the upper room! The Holy Ghost is the resurrection and the life, it is the gift of God, and it, my friend, is the real meaning of the Easter story.

New Birth
The third chapter of John contains an incredible story of an encounter between a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, and Jesus. Nicodemus was convinced that Jesus was, indeed the Messiah. Jesus spoke to him about this second birth that I’ve told you about this morning. He said in John 3:3 that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was taken aback and asked how it was possible to be born again. Jesus, in his answer, confirmed the message that Peter had not yet preached on the day of Pentecost. He said that being born again consisted of being born of water and of spirit.

The next statement that he made was profound. He said, in John 3:6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. In other words, that which is born of the flesh is dead, but that which is born of the spirit is life. This morning the message of Easter is simple. If you want to make heaven your home, you must experience the resurrection power of Easter! You must be born again!

The Breach and The Paths

2010-03-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

The nation of Judah and the city of Jeruselam were conquered and carried into Babylonian captivity in 606 BC because they failed to keep their covenant with God. There were many reasons for the judgment that came upon the people of God, they were involved in all kinds of idolatry and immorality. However, the breach between Israel and God began long before open sin found its way into their lifestyle. II Chronicles 36:21 points back to the foundation of the judgment when it states that the captivity of Judah would last until the land had enjoyed all the Sabbath years that it had missed – seventy years worth of rest for the land.

In order to grasp the significance of that you must understand a little about the Land Sabbath that God instituted in His law. God commanded Israel to let the land rest every seven years. When Israel failed to do that she opened the door to evil, greed, and oppression. The law of the Land Sabbath freed every Israelite from their debts every 7 years and prevented their downward spiral that would lead to destitution. The endless cycle served as a check and balance to keep the rich from taking advantage of the poor. It also enabled those with financial problems to have another chance and eliminated the rich from forming monopolies. It was an ingenious method of governing a nation.

At the end of every 7 Land Sabbaths or every 50 years there was mandated a year of jubilee. In that year ownership of all lands reverted back to their original owners. The price of land was determined in relation to the year of jubilee. Its value was derived from the expected harvest between the time of purchase and the year of jubilee. This promoted a good work ethic and exalted industry. Land was not viewed as mere real estate but was regarded as the source of food, its value was based upon its ability to produce. If Israel had continued in God’s plan then eventually their nation would have known no poverty and every person would have been a productive part of society.

However, they broke God’s law. If you count backwards from the year of captivity, counting 7 years for each of the 70 sabbaths that God declared had to be fulfilled you discover that the breach of God’s law began in the first year of King Saul’s reign. If you will remember the people wanted a king so that they could be like other nations. But, apparently, they wanted a king so they could cast off God’s laws. Saul usurped the land, debts were no longer cancelled and the land was no longer returned to its rightful owners.

Shortly after Saul became king we are introduced to a new problem in Israel, problem they never had before. When David hid in the caves in his effort to escape Saul, just 40 short years after Saul became king, the bible tells us in 1 Samuel 22:2 that the group of 400 men that gathered around him to make him their captain were discontented, distressed and in debt. They were outlaws because of their indebtedness. The whole situation never would have existed under God’s original plan, their debts would have been canceled every 7 years.

The countdown to captivity began when Saul cast off God’s laws creating a breach between God and his chosen people. It culminated 70 Land Sabbaths later when the Babylonians invaded. In the course of that 490 years the Nation of Israel was so transformed and broken down by sin, idolatry, immorality and greed that it was barely recognizable from what it once had been.

The prophecy of Isaiah 58 takes place as the 70 years of judgment is drawing to a close. God is setting the stage for the return of Israel to her beloved promised Land. Ezra is on the scene, anointed by God, returning to Israel with priests and other Jews with a promise to turn back the hands of time and restore the former glory. God has raised up a Nehemiah and he is following in Ezra’s footsteps returning with pilgrims and a desire to rebuild what had been laid to ruin. God has even given him the favor of a Pagan king that will finance his expedition, underwriting the whole thing at his own expense. And Isaiah has found his prophetic voice and begins to prophecy that about the restoration of Israel. There’s a certain feeling in the air, it is evident to all that revival is immanent. God is getting ready to restore what the canker worm has eaten, to return the years that have been stolen from the people of God. Restoration and healing are coming to the people of God.

Isaiah 58 reveals dramatically the keys to this process. He admonishes the people of God to seek the Lord, to cry out to him and not to forsake his commandments. Remember, they got into this situation because they ignored God’s commandments. So Isaiah stresses how important it is to ask the Lord to show them the right way, to delight in approaching the Lord. To seek his face and find his favor. Then he begins to pronounce blessings upon them. They are going to shine. They will grow in strength. The Lord will return to them. He will restore his glory and majesty and he will prosper them in all that they do. In the curse of his prophecy, Isaiah bestows upon them two titles. They shall be called the repairer of the breach and the restorer of the paths. (Isaiah 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of the paths to dwell in.)

Today, you and I live in a world that has cast off the laws of God and is reaping the results of that. We live in a world that is held captive by sin, immorality, idolatry and greed. Many years ago the laws of God were usurped and today the world is reaping the effect of the breach that exists between man and God. As the church we have a kindred calling to that of Nehemiah and Ezra. God has determined in us to restore his glory and his majesty in this present world. God has chosen us to be light in the darkness, and he desires to crown us with his glory and majesty. I believe that, in the year 2010, we find ourselves in much the same atmosphere as the one that Isaiah prophesied in. There’s a certain feeling in the air, it is evident to all that revival is immanent. God is getting ready to restore what the canker worm has eaten, he’s getting ready to return his glory to the church. He’s getting ready to turn lose a revival the likes of which we have only dreamed. Those people that followed Nehemiah back to Jerusalem were embracing a land they had never known, they were putting their hopes into a dream that they had never experienced for themselves. They lacked the wealth, they lacked the prosperity, they probably lacked even in the skill but they determined to build a city and a tabernacle that would be worthy of the glory of God. And that humble temple that they built would be crowned with a glory like none before it, because it would be the temple that would see God manifest in the flesh walking through its doors.

God’s calling the church of this generation to go to a place we’ve never been. To embrace a dream that we’ve never experienced. We’ve heard about old time revival, we’ve celebrated the stories of brush arbors and moves of God that transformed entire regions and impacted whole cities. I believe that God is calling you and I to commit ourselves to a move of God that will far outshine anything God has done before. Sure, times are different. Sure, the it’s a different generation. Sure we are up against a different mindset and culture. But god is still God and my bible still says that the latter shall be greater than the former. God can, and God will build a church in this last day that will tower far above anything he has ever done before.

In light of that I want to take a short look at the two titles that are characteristic of the people that God will use in this endeavor.

Repair The Breach
First they will be repairers of the breach. A breach is the perfect definition of the condition that exists between humanity and God. It speaks of a rupture, a gap, a broken relationship. We live in a world that is separated from the mercy of god and the grace of God by a breach. It’s a breach that results from breaking God’s law. It’s a breach that results from discarding God’s commandments. And it permeates every aspect of life in this world.

You and I, if we are going to see the revival that God has reserved for us, must embrace the role that he has given us. We are the repairers of the breach. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. Its our job to stand in the gap between lost people and heaven and bring them together! We are called to make up the hedge.
 
The Bible is filled with examples of people that fulfilled this calling. The most striking example is Abraham who stood between God and Sodom, pleading not just for the life of his nephew but for the lives of a whole region that steeped in sin and immorality. Abraham cared enough to stand in the gap, even though he knew how thoroughly wicked Sodom was. Moses also stepped in when God was angry, standing in the gap in the most literal sense : offering his own life for that of his nation. What this world needs is more men and women of God who are willing to lay their lives aside in order to see a lost people saved! This is what it means to be a repairer of the breach. Somebody that is willing to set aside your selfish pursuits and pour out your life that someone else might be saved. God is looking for that kind of person in this generation:

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall,  and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it;  but I found no one. Ezk 22:30

So often we question why revival tarries. Many times the answer lies in us. Before the Glory of the Lord would be renewed in Jerusalem, somebody had to step up and become the repairer of the breach! God is looking for a man that will make up the wall, that will stand in the gap. God is looking for a Lady that bridge the breach that exists between this world and God! Ezekiel portrays a God that is reluctant to judge, but has no choice since he can find no intercessor. I believe it breaks God’s heart every time a soul slips into eternity lost. God will judge, because he is just. But I believe mercy weeps when God looks for a man to make up the hedge and fails to find one before its too late!

We have a calling. We are the repairers of the breach! Its our job to stand in the gap, to make up the wall, to connect people to God! I want to challenge you to renew yourself in the role of repairer of the breach.

Restore the Paths
The second thing that Isaiah calls the generation that will see this great revival is the restorer of paths to dwell in. At first glance it would appear that God wants them to restore paths so folks can live in the paths. But the intention of the original language was not paths that became dwellings but rather paths that led to dwellings. The paths that were to be restored were the paths that would lead them to dwelling in the land. They were the paths by which they would obtain the revival that God had promised. They were old paths, they were neglected paths, they were the once well-traveled roads home. But years of neglect have caused them to fall into disrepair. Isaiah prophesies that the generation that will experience the restoration of God’s glory will be a generation that will restore those old paths.

If we are going to see the revival that God longs to give us, it will be because we restore some old paths. The same roads that led to revival before are still the only way to get there today. They are roads that are paved with sacrifice. They are the old paths of prayer and fasting. They are the old paths of becoming students of the word. They are the old paths of denying the flesh and taking up the cross. As much as the world changes, some things will always remain the same. The roads that lead to revival are still the same today as they always were.

If we are going to see the move of God that He longs to give us, we will have to make a conscious effort to get back to the old paths. We need to restore things like the Word and Worship. We need to restore paths like Righteousness and Anointing. You can’t sidestep them if you hope to see revival. We need to be diligent to restore the paths of Prayer and Fasting. These are the old paths that must be restored. Paths like Godliness and Sacrifice are still the only roads that lead to a move of God.

If we are to fulfill our role as repairers of the breach then we must embrace the role of restorers of the paths.

I truly believe that God has prepared us for such a time as this. Just as he raised up Ezra. Just as he called out Nehemiah. I believe that God has positioned us. If we will repair the breach and restore the paths, God will move.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Worth and Waste

2010-03-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Sunday before Easter and on this week, some 2,000 years ago, the Easter story unfolded. If you were to follow a chronological timeline of events you would discover that this past Saturday night was the night that Jesus sat with his friends at a feast in the home of one Simon who had once been a leper before he met Jesus. What unfolded at that feast was one of the most talked about events in the life of Jesus. The fame of that special act of worship was declared by Jesus to be as unforgettable as the gospel, in that everywhere the gospel was preached, that story would be told too.

It was an incredible event but it was not a unique occurrence. What happened that night in Simon's house was a reenactment of sorts of something that happened much earlier in the life of Jesus at the home of a Pharisee in Galilee. On that occasion a forgiven prostitute, out of the overflow of a grateful heart, brought her most valuable treasure, her life’s savings in the form of a precious ointment in an alabaster box. In an act of unselfish love she fell upon the feet of the master and as she kissed them without ceasing, she poured the precious perfume upon the feet of Jesus, washing them with her tears and her hair. The self-righteous Pharisees at that dinner sought to condemn Jesus because of the manner of woman that she was. But Jesus reminded them that, because she had been forgiven much, she loved him much in return. And her offering was not extravagant but was simply the product of an overflowing heart!

Mary was a close follower and friend of Jesus and, no doubt, she knew of this incident. She had heard the story and marveled at the pure unadulterated worship that drove that nameless woman to pour her love upon Jesus. Mary was a worshiper herself; she was the one that was scolded by her sister, Martha, for sitting at the feet of Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, we know from that narrative that she hung on his every word. She listened to what he said as if his words were, indeed, the words of life itself.

Lately the words of Jesus had changed somewhat in tone. Many times they had heard him say, when threatened, that his time had not yet come. But now, as this final week of his life was upon them, Jesus was doing everything he could to warn his followers that the time was at hand. Now he was saying things like. “My time has come.” But no one was listening. No one was getting it. No one, that is, except for Mary. Mary heard him and Mary understood, what perhaps no one else understood. She realized that something pivotal was about to take place. She sensed the subtle change in the things Jesus was saying and how he was saying them. It is doubtful that she recognized that his death was so near, it is doubtful that she fully understood just what he meant, but it is certain that she felt motivated to lavish upon Jesus some profound display of worship in this critical hour.

So she drew from whatever resources she had. She robbed her penny bank, cashed in her savings, scraped together all her extra money and purchased the costliest fragrance she could afford. Both John and Mark record that the ointment was worth 300 Denari – about a years wages. It was encased in an alabaster box, just like on the previous occasion, and the box itself was quite expensive. When Mary came into the room that night, the Saturday evening before the crucifixion, she had in her hands the very most expensive gift that she could afford. It was everything she had and it cost her very dearly to obtain it. But she had only one thing on her mind. In the midst of the increasing tension, in the face of the upcoming Passover, with a sense of urgency to the hour, she wanted nothing less than to make an undeniable statement of worship and praise. Mark says she broke the alabaster box, which further increased the value of the offering. With tears of worship and adoration she started with his head and proceeded to anoint his feet, washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair. She was a woman driven by worship, her heart was filled with gratitude, and the fragrance of her praise filled that room.

Her sense of the value of Jesus, told her that the sacrifice of ointment wasn’t enough. He was worth so much more than that, but that was all she could afford. His worth to her dictated that, not only would she anoint him with the oil, but she would sacrifice the alabaster box as well! His worth to her is what was on display that evening; His value to her. She was saying, in her worship, Jesus you are worth so much more than this to me. You are priceless beyond comparison; your worth knows no measure. This is the best that I have to offer and I’m bringing you my very best, but my tears declare the fact that I know that even my best isn’t good enough! You deserve this many times over. You are worth this and so much more! This was the greatest display of worship that Mary had ever seen and she wanted to emulate it that night. It wasn’t about eclipsing what had previously happened. Rather, it was about saying from her heart, you are worth that much to me... I want to be a part of that kind of praise. I want to render to you that kind of worship.

It was a beautiful scene. But, in the midst of such an incredible display of worship, that was the place that Judas weighed worth against waste. At the same time that Mary was declaring the worth of Jesus, Judas was lamenting the waste. She was enthralled with the worth of the word made flesh. He was angry over the waste of such a precious ointment. Where Mary saw worth, Judas saw waste! John’s account lets us know that Judas was the ringleader in the effort to discredit Mary’s offering. But John also informs us that Judas’ motivation was less than noble. John tells us in John 12:6 that Judas didn’t care for the poor but, rather, he was a thief. He kept the moneybox, he was the treasurer for the disciples and, unknown to anyone (except Jesus), he had made a habit of stealing from what went in the moneybox. Because of that, what Mary, and millions of bible readers since, have seen as the ultimate statement of the worth of Jesus, Judas saw as a lost opportunity for personal financial gain. If the gift had been given to him in order to sell it and distribute it to the poor. He would have been able to pilfer a large sum of money from the exchange. His anger at the display of worship was rooted in his deep sense of greed.

However, at the time, he was one of the twelve and they all trusted their friend Judas. He began to stir the disciples to anger, saying, “What a waste!” What a way to squander such a valuable resource. Eventually this bitter reproach found its way into a sharp rebuke aimed at Mary. But Jesus stepped in. He quickly let them know that Mary wasn’t being wasteful at all. Mary was right in the center of the divine will of God. Mary didn’t fully realize it yet, and the disciples hadn’t come to understand it yet, but the death of Jesus was at hand. And, since he wouldn’t be in the ground quite long enough for the traditional means of anointing the dead, it was needful that his body be anointed while he was yet alive! God used Mary, due to her sensitive spirit and her willingness to express the worth of Jesus in her life, in an incredibly significant gesture. Jesus said, “She has anointed my body for my burial!” She didn’t even know that was what she was doing. But the one thing she did know was that He was worth more than anything she could ever do for Him.

If you read the book of Matthew, this story is told out of context. Matthew doesn’t tell it in the chronological manner that Mark and John do. He, in the context of Jesus’ final night with his disciples, inserts this story into the narrative just before Judas goes to the High Priest and offers to sell Jesus. It seems as if Matthew is telling us that this incident was what motivated Judas, it was the thing that opened his heart’s door for Satan to come in and use him. It was the greed. He was consumed with the material wealth. He couldn’t see the worth for the waste! He couldn’t see the worship because he was to busy morning the loss of the perfume. In the face of incredible worship, in the presence of declaration of unparalleled worth, Judas could only shake his head and mutter, “What a waste!

Perhaps it was this act and the Lord’s approval of it that made Judas willing to betray the Lord. From this scene Matthew returns to the narrative and tells us that Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus. Talking about worth and waste: Judas agrees to sell Jesus for the paltry sum of thirty silver coins. Thirty pieces of silver was the sum due as compensation to an owner for the loss of a slave. It was worth only about a third of what Mary’s ointment alone had been worth! Oh what a waste! Jesus, the healer, the teacher, the savior of the world and the precious lamb of God was sold for the price of a slave!

It is highly doubtful that the money alone is what induced Judas to sell Jesus. But it seems abundantly evident from the way that Matthew chooses to tell the story that something transpired in Judas’ heart when he ascribed a value to Jesus and determined that he wasn’t worth the sacrifice being offered to him. I doubt that, at that time, he valued Jesus as low as the slave’s ransom that he would eventually sell him for. But the truth is that he made his great mistake when he exalted something -- anything -- over the value of Jesus in his life. That’s when he turned worth into waste.

Today, that’s a trap that we should all endeavor to keep from falling in. Because, before people lose out with God they first reach the place that they weigh worth against waste. They first come to the conclusion that something in this life is more precious to them than Jesus. I want you to know tonight that you are walking in a dangerous place when you begin to look longingly upon the things that you have to given up in order to be a part of the church. When you begin to look at the cost of your praise and the price of your devotion with regret you are walking the same dangerous path that Judas walked.

I have a simple question for you: What is Jesus worth in your life? How much is too much. Where do you draw the line. Is it asking too much to spend a few minutes each day in reading your bible? Is it asking too much o spend an hour each day in prayer? Is it asking too much to push away your plate and fast one day a week? What is the worth of Jesus in your life? What if he asked you, like the rich young ruler, to sell all you have and give to the poor and come follow him? What if he asked you to swallow your pride in an act of complete worship? What if he asked you to forsake your occupation to serve him? How much is too much?

I don’t ever want to get to the place where anything in my life is worth more to me than my walk with Jesus! I don’t want to ever get to the place where I value anything over my worship. I don’t want to ever get to the place where I set anything about the value of my salvation. My desire this evening is to give the Lord anything he might desire from me. My desire this evening is, like Mary, to pour out my very best for him whether he requires it or not. You understand, nobody asked Mary to make that sacrifice. It came from her heart and lowed from her incredible sense of the worth of Jesus. That’s the way I want to live. I want to pour out my whole life to the glory of Jesus. I want to give everything that I have that he might be glorified.

Judas serves as a warning to all of those that start out with good intentions but let this life capture their heart. Judas started a journey away from God long before that fateful night in Simon’s house. I don’t know exactly where and when he started stealing from the treasury. I only know that somewhere along the way he exalted himself over Jesus. That’s where the true question of worth and waste came into play. Judas valued himself and the desires of his own flesh over his relationship with Jesus. Because of that he wasted his life, his opportunities and even his soul. Perhaps this is why Jesus referred to him in John 17:2 as the son of perdition. That literally means the “son of waste.” This was Jesus’ way of echoing Judas’ words. Oh, what a waste… Oh, what a tragedy. Judas had so much going for him, so many opportunities before him. But he wasted it all because he failed to realize the worth of Jesus in his life!

I can think of no more tragic epitaph for a life than to have it recorded that Jesus said of you, “Oh what a waste!” After all the preaching you have heard, after all the bible studies you’ve partaken of, after all the opportunities you’ve had… Oh, what a waste. What a waste it is to lose out with God. What a waste it is to lose your soul over things in this world that really have no worth.

Don’t let your life be wasted. Recognize the worth of your relationship with God. Recognize the value of God’s will and his desire for your life. Most of all, you need to recognize the value of the gift of salvation that He has given to you. Nothing in this world is worth as much as His presence in your life. Nothing in this world is worth the price that has been paid for your soul.

Perhaps this is what Paul had in mind when he admonished the church in Thessalonica to “walk in a manner worthy of God.” To do anything else would be to waste the precious gift of salvation that God has given you. How will your walk with God be characterized? Worthy or wasteful? It’s up to you to make that choice. Why don’t you choose worth over waste?

Of Shipwrecks and Sin

2010-02-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

I have long been amazed at the grace and beauty of the old wooden sailing vessels. Few things in this world compare to the splendor of one of those old ships with all of its sails deployed. And few images are as striking as the image of that old sailing vessel enduring the ferocious wind and riding the fury of the waves. The marvel of it all, in my mind, is that they were built with nothing more than rudimentary tools and raw wood. Years of labor, many acres of hardwood, and centuries of hard earned knowledge went into the crafting of those mighty sailing vessels of old. When the work was finally finished the majestic thing that sailed away from the shipyard was more than just a boat, it was a floating work of art, a weapon of war and a tool of trade.

With the striking beauty and majesty of the seafaring ship, there must have been nothing more tragic, in ancient times, than the horror of a shipwreck. I recently read the story of a Swedish Warship, the Vasa, that was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage in 1628. Three years of steady labor, 40 acres of hardwood, tons of cargo and weaponry -- all lost just a few hundred yards from the shipyard. After firing her farewell salute, the Vasa was struck by a brief storm with strong cross winds and she listed heavily to one side. The gun ports were still open and they sank below the water level. In just a moment of time, the ship was flooded and took only minutes for her to sink.

The water was relatively clear and only a 100 feet deep where she sunk, it was said that her masts and deck were somewhat visible below the surface of the water. What a tragedy! This remarkably beautiful vessel, the product of long years of hard work, the pride of her King's fleet, now lay at rest on the ocean floor. Until she settled into the mud and silt on the ocean floor and finally fell into the obscurity of the ocean, every ship that sailed in and out of the shipyards could see the majesty of the Vasa caught in the cold wet fingers of the deep. I have no doubt that many a sailor looked upon that stricken ship as on of the greatest tragedies of his time.

With all of its masterful handiwork the ship below the waves was a constant testimony to unfulfilled potential. It was built to master the wind, yet they watched as it shifted with the tides. It was crafted to ride the waves, yet it lay buried in the deep. Below the waterline, eerily visible through through the deep, the ship was a hollow reminder of what could have been. Oh the battles that might have been won! Oh the mighty voyages that might have been undertaken! Oh the glory and fame that might have been claimed. The hopes and dreams of years of craftsmen were held captive by the dismal grave of the deep.

Paul, in the opening chapter of his first letter to Timothy, said that some have made a shipwreck of their faith. What a dreadful word picture, shipwrecked faith! Faith that was once full of potential. Faith that was once full of dreams and hopes. Faith that has now been relegated to the graveyard of the deep. It is a terribly illustrative statement of a life that was once full of faith but is now just a hollow shadow of what it once was. It represents the greatest tragedy of the ages. Lives that were were molded for some greater undertaking, hearts that were called for a higher purpose, people that somehow got sidetracked along the way and now lie shipwrecked in the oceans of life. What a tragedy!

The pertinent question is how does one shipwreck their faith? Paul says that they did it by rejecting a good conscience. Ships were built to be the master of the seas. Barring some flaw in the workmanship, they aren't very fragile or easily capsized. As a matter of fact, in most cases one has to ignore some critical realities in order to wreck one of those mighty vessels. Somewhere in the makings of the tragedy of a shipwreck are the sailors who failed to close the gun ports, or the navigator who ignored the depth readings. somebody failed to heed the warning signs and sailed their vessel into treacherous waters.

The same is true for those that shipwreck their faith. Faith is shipwrecked when a good conscience is ignored. Faith is shipwrecked when an individual ignores the warning signs and chooses to proceed through treacherous waters. In order to shipwreck your faith, Paul said, you've got to ignore the innate sense of right and wrong that God has placed in your heart. In order to shipwreck your faith you've got to turn a deaf ear to that small still voice of warning that speaks to your heart. That's the real tragedy of shipwrecked faith -- it isn't accidental. No one intended to end up shipwrecked but the master of the vessel ignored all warnings and recklessly ventured into waters that were known to be dangerous.

When you ignore your conscience the result is always sin. And sin, my friend, is the offensive obstacle that does devastating damage to faith. It is sin that strikes the life below the waterline and results in shipwrecked faith. You can't afford to flirt with sin. You can't afford to play with sin. You can't afford to give place to sin in your life. Because, inevitably, sin will sink you. If you ignore the warnings of your heart, if you press on beyond the comfort of your convictions, sin will devastate your faith. And, when it is finished it will leave behind the sad tragic evidence of a shipwrecked, that empty shell of lost potential and forgotten dreams.

Thankfully, shipwreck doesn't have to be the end of the story. After 333 years in the deep, the Vasa was hauled from the water in pretty good condition. Because of where she sank and the very unique conditions of the water where she came to rest, the ship was, against all odds, preserved by the very water that had claimed her. Instead of rotting the old timbers of oak heartwood, which had a high iron content, were largely preserved. It took 6 years to raise her from the ocean floor and bring her to dry dock but, eventually, a massive restoration project began. Very few ships are as fortunate as the Vasa, very few find life again after the watery grave of shipwreck. But the Vasa will stand as a testimony through time that shipwreck doesn't have to be the end of the story.

In the case of shipwrecked faith, just as in the story of the Vasa, there exists a hope of restoration. There is an answer for sin. Paul declared a few verses later that Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all. There is hope today for hurting hearts and shipwrecked faith. Jesus, by his blood, has made a way, where there seemed to be no way, that faith can be restored and hearts can be made brand new. Sin may result in shipwreck, but mercy can lead to the restoration of the soul. I am reminded this morning of the hope that is found in redemption. By the grace of God, even shipwrecked faith can sail again...

I Run The Race -- Guest Blog

2010-01-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

I begin to run
Mountains and cliffs rise above me
I climb them
Streams and ravines cut through the land
I cross them
My muscles burn
I run faster
My feet ache
I run on
Sometimes I stumble
I get back up
I lose my way
I correct my course
I pass the finish
I stop
I begin to run again
No obstacles rise above me
I run free
I no longer have pain
I run quicker
I am running through open fields
The eternal race goes on

*********

Author's note: Life is a race, we run into problems, but the race goes on. One day we will die, and the race will end. But then we will begin the easy, painless, unstrained, eternal race of heaven.

{Written by my oldest son, Rocklan McCall. Age: 11}

Like A Thief In The Night

2010-01-14T05:29:00.000-08:00

They were warned but they were not ready. They knew it was coming. One could easily argue that it was, for the most part, public knowledge that the threat was looming before them but life continued as if it would never happen. However, it did happen and it happened in a big way. The world was rocked Tuesday as a devastating earthquake suddenly struck the nation of Haiti. It was the largest earthquake ever recorded there and its epicenter was situated very close to the densely populated capital city. The results of the massive quake are horrific. All day long the press reports and photos have been streaming out of that Island nation and they tell a tragic story of death and destruction.

Scientists have warned for years that the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, was at risk for a major earthquake. But I was intrigued today by a CNN article that shared the fact that less than two years ago five scientists presented a paper during the 18th Caribbean Geological Conference, stating that the fault zone on the south side of the island posed "a major seismic hazard." Their findings followed a study in which two geologists found a heightened earthquake risk along the fault zone. "This is seismically a very active area of the world," one of the geologists, said. "Geologists should not be surprised by this earthquake."

Indeed, few were surprised that the earthquake occurred but the tragedy is that even fewer were ready for it or, in all reality, were even expecting it. The problem wasn’t the nature of the warning. It was specific enough. The problem wasn’t the timing of the warning. It was recent enough. The problem wasn’t the validity of the warning. It was substantially validated by the data available. The problem was the nature of the event. One geologist explained that it can take hundreds of years for the threat to manifest itself, making it incredibly difficult to predict the timing of an earthquake.

The problem was that they had all heard this warning many times before and, though it had often been forecast, it had been over 60 years since the region had seen a significant earthquake and hundreds of years since one has actually struck in this particular vicinity. So people did what people do, they processed the warning, recognized the threat it forecast and quickly returned to life as normal. They knew it was possible, they knew it could happen at any moment but they were predisposed to believe that, because it hadn’t happened yet it wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon. Somewhere within the psychological make up of humanity there exists a bias towards the normal, the belief that things will always be as things have always been.

Peter introduces us to the same line of thought regarding the Second Coming of the Lord. In the last days, he says in 2 Peter 3:3, there shall come scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Right up to the rapture of the church there will be that feeling that, because it never has happened before, it isn’t going to happen any time soon. Right up to the very moment that the trumpet sounds, human reasoning will be saying nearly 2,000 years have passed since he said, “I come quickly.” Surely, this won’t be the day.

Peter calls them scoffers. A scoffer is someone who treats lightly that which ought to be taken seriously. When Noah began to build his ark and preach the message that God had given him, they scoffed then as well. Noah was a preacher of righteousness; no doubt he called men to repentance. But the idea of judgment seemed far-fetched and rain was a concept that was hard to grasp. It had never happened before. Nobody had ever seen such a thing. The human bias for normalcy kicked in. Things will always be as things have always been. So they mocked him. They scoffed at him. Some literal translations render scoffers as “mockers with mockery.” They rejected the truth, they failed to heed the warning, they ignored the preacher and they buried any hint of conviction under the heavy-handed humor of mockery. And in all of their bravado they sacrificed truth on the altar of public opinion. They scoffed and mocked because they weren't willing to make the change that wold have been required if they had accepted the message of Moses at face value.

There are those that shrug off the announcement that the Lord is soon to return because it has been such a long time and he hasn’t come back yet. But Peter points out the fallacy in this kind of thinking. He says in verse nine that the Lord isn’t slack concerning his promises, he’s just longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Some have interpreted God’s patience as a leniency towards sin. God hasn’t delayed his coming to embolden sinners. God has provided time to give every opportunity for men to repent! God hasn’t held back judgment and wrath because he’s soft on sin, God has held back judgment because of His great mercy.

This perceived delay of God is actually an indication that He has a plan for this world and that He is working His plan. He doesn’t move according to man’s timetable and he isn’t influenced by cultures that mock him or governments that ignore him. He has a plan. He set it into motion before he ever laid the foundations of the earth. And he will bring his plan to pass in his due time. Meanwhile those that aren’t yet ready to repent, scoff at the coming of the Lord. They treat lightly that which should be treated seriously. They ignore it, as if by failing to acknowledge it they somehow can escape it. But those who hear the call of mercy and are moved by the love of God, take advantage of the patience of God and find a place of repentance.

The church stands somewhere between the scoffers and the repentant and, I believe that the church is in a very precarious position. If we aren’t careful we will be lulled into a sense of complacency by the very patience of God that has given us an opportunity to reach a lost world before its too late. If we aren’t careful the same cavalier spirit that has gripped the world will grip our minds also causing us to adopt a mindset that allows us to live as if his return is some distant thing. We must be vigilant. We must remain ready. This is and always has been the posture of the church. The church is forever embodied in the image of Israel on that first Passover night – partaking of the lamb while fully clothed and ready to go! We are to live our lives in a constant state of readiness. His coming will take this world by surprise. But, to the church, it should come as no surprise. We are admonished over and over again in scripture to watch, to be ready, to anticipate the return of the Lord.

This is why the parable of the 10 virgins is in scripture. Its not there as a warning to the lost. Its there as a warning to the church. Its there to put forth the fact that it is possible to sit on a church pew, be faithful in attendance, to look right on the outside and appear right in word and deed but be lulled to sleep and lose out with God. The truth of that parable is that there will be some that thought that they were a party of the wedding party but will discover too late that they have allowed the fire to burn out. I don’t want to be among that number and I don’t want any in this church to be either! We must be ready! You must make sure you are ready. Don’t be complacent about it. Make sure, every day of your life, that you are ready to meet the Lord!

There is a spirit of complacency that would seek to find its way into the church. An attitude that treats serious things lightly and makes a mockery of the things of God. This cavalier spirit is the same spirit that produces the attitude that the return of the Lord is a far distant thing. We simply can’t afford to give place to that spirit in our lives. The absolute truth is that each of us must be ready for the coming of the Lord every day of our lives.

I can’t tell you when he’s returning. No man knows the day nor the hour. However I can tell you that some will meet him long before he returns. For somebody, today was that day of judgment. For thousands of souls in Haiti, Tuesday was that day. The crux of the matter is that I must be ready at all times because I have no guarantee that I will ever see tomorrow! I must live my life as if this is the last day I will ever have and I simply MUST be ready for the coming of the Lord!

The May 1984 National Geographic showed through color photos and drawings the swift and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman Cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden, the residents were killed while in their routine: men and women were at the market, the rich in their luxurious baths, slaves at toil. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. Even family pets suffered the same quick and final fate. It takes little imagination to picture the panic of that terrible day.

The saddest part is that these people did not have to die. Scientists confirm what ancient Roman writers record--weeks of rumblings and shakings preceded the actual explosion. Even an ominous plume of smoke was clearly visible from the mountain days before the eruption. If only they had been able to read and respond to the warning! I have no doubt that the same cavalier attitude gripped the people in those doomed cities then as the spirit that has gripped our world and has tried to make inroads into the church. The seductive reasoning that compels people to ignore the danger signs and warnings and continue on as if nothing will ever change.

This is one preacher who will stand before you and declare that it’s all going to change someday. And that day is going to come to some sooner than it comes to others. In light of that fact we owe it to ourselves to search ourselves in the presence of God. We owe it to ourselves to find our way to an altar and insure the condition of our souls. God is not slack concerning his promises, but he is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Don’t let the patience of God be in vain…

Don't Sleep Thru The Harvest!

2009-10-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

It's harvest time, here in Northeast Arkansas. Normally this is the time of year that all of the farmers are in high gear getting their crops out of the fields. However, this year we've had an excess of rain with another 4"-6" in the forecast. Many fields have standing water in them and their crops are simply inaccessible to the harvesters. The abundance of rain around here is quickly becoming a tragedy.

Around here, there’s only a narrow window of opportunity during which the crops can be harvested. However, that’s not true everywhere. Many parts of the world enjoy a continuous harvest season. One can visit southern Florida, portions of the Rio Grande Valley, Southern California, or other tropical areas and discover a continuous process of sowing and reaping. Those regions represent the spiritual realities that we, as Christians enjoy. We have a continuous harvest season in the spiritual realm. There is never a time when one can say that due to bad weather or to the season of the year it is impossible to labor in the spiritual harvest fields. There is always, every day of your life, the opportunity to work in the harvest field.

With that in mind I want to share some rambling thoughts about the harvest. First of all, it is a law of nature that before there can be a harvest there must be a time of sowing and cultivation. You can't reap where you don't sow. However, every farmer knows that his responsibility doesn't end when he puts the seed into the ground. There are months of cultivation between the sowing and the reaping. Farmers will plow up the soil. Then they will plant the seed. After that, proper care will be given to the cultivation of the crops in order to reap an abundant harvest in the fall.

The church should, likewise, be in a continuous process of sowing the seed. The harvest is in our hands. It exists in the form of seeds that have not yet been sown. It is our continual responsibility, as sowers of the seed, to be busy, everyday, sowing the seeds of the gospel. Careful and continuous efforts need to be put forth to cultivate the confidence and the friendship that enables you to reach someone for the kingdom of God. If we are faithful in sowing, in due time we will be successful in harvesting.

The passage of time from spring to fall is long and slow, but the process is necessary in order to produce a harvest. Likewise, winning a soul can be a lengthy, time consuming process, but if we grow not weary in well doing eventually our labor will pay off. One important thing to remember is that harvesting is not a thing that can be rushed. You can’t harvest corn while it is still green and you can’t pick cotton before the bolls open up. This is also true with a soul. It takes time for people to become “ready” for harvest. That amount of time is different for every man. Sometimes we have great difficulty discerning the seasons of a life and if we aren’t careful we grow frustrated. The simple truth about the harvest is that, if we will remain faithful, when the time is right, God will open the door.

While it is true that the church should be continually involved in sowing seed, it is also true that the church should be in a continual harvest season. Where there is a time to sow, there is also a time to reap. To neglect the harvest in the time of reaping is to waste all of the previous effort put forth. It is a law of nature that the harvest must be gathered when it is ready. Cotton will lose its weight and color and quality if it is not picked at the proper time. Corn will fall over and rot if it is not harvested before the winter winds and rain come. The golden yellow wheat fields will turn white and will soon rot if not harvested. The same principle holds true in the spiritual realm. When men and women are ready to be reached with the gospel, there exists an ever shrinking window of opportunity in which we can reach them.

Because farmers recognize this principle, harvest season is a critical season. There’s never enough hours in the day. When a farmer gets a break in the weather and a chance to get into the fields he may run his tractors long into the night or even into the wee hours of the morning because the harvest simply must be gathered while it is ready. So it is with the souls of men. When they are ready to be reached, there may be but a short window of opportunity in which to reach them. The church we must realize that the harvest is urgent! There is an inherent urgency to the hour. We must redeem the time, doing everything we can as urgently as we can to reach those who are ready with this gospel truth!

Right now, in homes across our community farmers are fretting and worrying about the crops that are still in the fields. The quality and value of cotton is degraded every time it gets rained upon after the bolls are open and ready for harvest. However, even more tragic is the fact that it is entirely possible that some of these fields won’t be accessible until the cotton has already been ruined! As the church we should be gripped by that same knowledge. An opportunity is passing from us, even right now. Some soul that is ready to be reached is going to slip into eternity before we reach them if we don’t launch ourselves into the harvest with all that we have. I promise you that, if we can catch a dry spell, the farmers will labor 24-7 to get those precious crops out of the field. How much more urgent should our efforts be? Harvest time is right now!

In Proverbs 10:5 we are confronted with the uncomfortable truth that there are those that choose to sleep during harvest time. "He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame” During this urgent moment when the opportunity is there and souls are ready, there some who would rather be idle and careless as an open door slips away from us. The tragic truth is that, while we sleep, the harvest is going to waste in the fields. Won’t it be a tremendous catastrophe if all those beautiful white cotton fields can’t be harvested this year because of the rainfall. What a wasteful shame it will be to watch those fields go to ruin when it is readily evident that they are ready for harvest.

Unfortunately, the farmers can’t help it, but the church has no excuse. There is no spiritual obstacle stopping us from getting into the harvest. The only thing that impedes us is our own casual laziness. It would be a shame if, after years of cultivating the harvest field, we failed to seize the opportunities that are before us and allowed the harvest to go to waste in the field. The pressing truth is that we don’t have the time to be casual and indifferent about the harvest. We can’t afford to sleep through the harvest. This is our hour and if we do anything less than give it our very best then, according to the proverb, we are a son that causeth shame!

I want to admonish you this morning not to sleep through the harvest! It's high time that we stirred ourselves to wakefulness and realized the opportunity that is before us. A harvest stands ready around us, the only thing missing are the reapers. When Jesus saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion toward them and said to his disciples (in Matt. 9:37 – 38), “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

It doesn’t take long, as you drive down the roads, to recognize that it is harvest time. As a matter of fact, it is with no small degree of disappointment that we see that the tractors are not yet in the fields. However, as the church, we need to take another look at our world and recognize the same truth. The fields are white already to harvest. How it must disappoint our heavenly father when he looks and sees no laborers working the harvest. Today, I want to encourage you to stir yourself, awaken yourself, and make a fresh commitment to the harvest.

It is harvest time. The harvest is ready. Who will go reap it?

Mercy and Judgment (Part 3)

2009-10-22T07:00:00.001-07:00

In Psalm 101:1 David declared that he would sing of mercy and judgment. In that declaration, this was the thing that David discovered: Judgment mingled with mercy produces the sweet sound of praise. I’m no musician, but I know that Harmony is created in music when treble mingles with bass. When high mixes with low, it produces the sweet sound of harmony.  David, in this moment of reflection, looked back upon his life and recognized the sweet harmony produced by the intermingled threads of mercy and judgment.  David had learned that no praise is so sweet as the praise of the one that has encountered both judgment and mercy in his life. The sweetest praise is the praise of one that can sing of judgment and mercy together. 

No doubt, We are all familiar with the story of Esther, perhaps one of the greatest love stories of all time.  However, one, often overlooked detail of that story is the process of preparation that Esther endured before her night with the King.  Twelve months were required in preperation before she was ready for her date with the king. There were six full months of bitter, where she was soaked in and saturated by the pungent bitterness of the oil of myrrh.  However, during the second six months of her preparation, Esther soaked with sweet odors. She was lavished with exotic perfumes composed of the sweet odors of cinnamon, aloes, cassia and calamus.

The incredible thing about this lengthy process is that the Persians had discovered that the bitter blended with the sweet produced the loveliest of aromas.  However, while it may have been a breakthrough discovery for the Persians, it was part of the prescribed formula, given by God for the oil of anointing.  In the oil of anointing, Myrrh was blended with Cinnamon and Cassia, along with other ingredients, to produce the substance that was the vehicle of God’s anointing.  God has long recognized the irresistible attraction of the mingled aroma of bitter and sweet.  Even in the Jewish Passover celebration the Bitter herbs that cause them to remember the years of bondage and pain are dipped in the sweet mixture of fruits and nuts that reminds them of the goodness of God. 

Bitter and sweet blended together is a theme that echoes through the scriptures.  Revealed within it is the tremendous truth that Judgment and Mercy mingled together give birth to the sweetest praise.  This is the wonder of a life lived for God! The hard times mix with the easy times.  Dark nights give way to bright days.  Terrible storms of chaos and confusion yield the stage to beautiful sunsets of peace and contentment.  It is the blending of it all together that produces the song of praise.  I will sing, David said, I will sing of Mercy and Judgment. 

It’s the mingling of judgment and mercy that gives birth to the most pleasant of all praise.  It’s in the night, when the darkness comes crashing in that your heart truly learns to sing.  Its in the turmoil and trouble of this life, that you really learn that you can trust in God.  And it’s the thankfulness for mercy that born in the darkness of judgment that gives rise to the song that moves the heart of God.  Don’t let the storm steal your song!  Don’t let the trial rob you of your praise!  The sweetest sound that heaven will ever hear is the voice of hope that rises from the darkness of the night and declares its faith in the mercies of God. 

It’s mercy and judgment mingled together that produces genuine praise.  This is why the misguided notion of praising a God of mercy but dismissing the idea of judgment will never produce a genuine relationship with God. You can’t know God’s mercy, and truly appreciate his provision, if you never recognize his judgment.   And the beauty of it all is the wonderful fact that mercy and judgment, working together, produce the wonderful aroma of praise.  It was the lingering scent of the burnt offering combined with the blood applied to the mercy seat that produced the cleansing fire of atonement in the old tabernacle.  It was the blending of suffering and mercy that produced our own precious salvation on the cross of Calvary.  Today, no matter where you are in your life, it is the mingling of mercy and judgment that will produce the sweetest praise in your life. 

Mercy and Judgment (Part 2)

2009-10-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

God has long used Mercy with Judgment to compliment each other. The people of God experienced the bountiful mercy of God but that didn’t exempt them from the heavy hand of his judgment. Often, the blessings of God caused them to become overconfident in their own abilities and they would abandon the ways of God. Each time judgment came into their lives to lead them back to the mercy and grace of God.

Through the pages of the scripture the co-mingling of Mercy and Judgment was often present. The Ark of the Covenant contained within it the bowl of Manna that had been provided by the grace of God. That wonderful token of blessing was a consistent reminder that God had shown them his mercy. However, in the same ark, under the same mercy seat, right beside the manna lay Aaron’s budded rod, a consistent reminder of the authority and judgment of God.

David said it, in the ever-popular Shepherd’s Psalm, “Thy rod (judgment) and thy staff (mercy) comfort me…” The shepherd’s staff was to sustain and console the sheep. It was the symbol of loving kindness and mercy. But the rod was to discipline the sheep. It was the symbol of correction and judgment. And David said, together, they comfort me!

Even in the Old Testament Tabernacle, we find judgment and mercy mingled together. The Bronze Altar provided the only means of approach to God. It was there that the blood was shed, in judgment. And it was the blood, from the altar, that would be poured out upon the Mercy Seat, obtaining the grace and forgiveness of God. However, the neat thing is that on that brazen altar there was a bronze grate that rested on a recessed ledge inside the altar. The grate, where the sacrifice was placed, was the same height from the ground as the mercy seat. The place where judgment and wrath were poured out and the place where mercy and grace were granted, existed on the same level in the tabernacle of God.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ fulfilled all the ordinances of the law. He became both our sacrifice and our saviour. Even in his life, mercy and judgment were intertwined. He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. God poured out all the fury and wrath of judgment upon himself at the old rugged cross. However, the story doesn’t end there, by his stripes, Isaiah declares, we are healed. The blood that was shed has set us set free. He offered one sacrifice, one time, facing judgment for every man and loosing mercy for whosoever will.

The only place where there will be no judgment is heaven and the only place that there will be no mercy is Hell. Everything suspended in between contains a mixture of judgment and mercy. Some will be constrained by judgment and discover everlasting mercy. Others will reject God’s mercy and afflict themselves with unending judgment. But, in any case, judgment and mercy will always be comingled in this life. The one doesn’t exist without the other. It is the two working together that produces the song of the redeemed.

“I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.” Psalm 101:1

Mercy and Judgment (Part 1)

2009-10-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

On the occasion of assuming the throne of Israel, David wrote the 101st Psalm, which is regarded as the Psalm of the Magistrates. It is said that rulers, after David, read this Psalm on the day of their inauguration. It would certainly be a great beginning point for any administration. Contained within it, is the wisdom of a king and great guidelines by which to rule a kingdom. However, at the outset, as David takes his harp and begins to sing, he reflects upon his life and pronounces a mixed blessing. “I will sing,” David says, “of Mercy and Judgment.”

What a wonderfully strange mixture! When David looks across the landscape of his life and the events that have brought him to this place he is compelled to sing of both Mercy and Judgment. Hidden within the history of his life is a beautifully tapestry composed of both extremes of God’s love. One is the antithesis of the other. One exists on the opposite end of the spectrum from the other. But in the course of his life, David sees the two of them woven together in such a glorious harmony that it produces singing in his heart.

Mercy, taken alone is the obvious instigator of praise. It is the result of God’s blessing and his provision. Everything about mercy is wonderful and good. And one can easily see how David would sing, as he often does in the Psalms, of the wondrous mercies of God. Mercy is a magnificent thing and there is no doubt that this shepherd boy elevated to the throne had ample opportunity to rejoice in the glorious mercy of God.

But David doesn’t just sing of Mercy, he sings also of Judgment. This is much harder to understand. Judgment speaks of the wrath and chastisement of God. No doubt, as David looked back upon the course of his life he saw, mingled among the shining diamonds of Mercy, the dark lumps of Judgment. He remembers the times that God has chastised him. He sees dark moments when, because of his own pride or self-will, he defied the will of God and did things his own way. And he remembers, in vivid detail, the stinging rebuke and the painful punishment of judgment in his life. He remembers what it is to face the judgment of God.

In this critical moment of reflection, David recognizes that any life that knows Mercy will, inevitably, also know judgment. He recognizes that, even in the pain of judgment, there is the understanding that this is the price of Mercy. Had there been no judgment there would have been no mercy! Had God not loved him enough to hold him accountable for his wrongs, God would never have cared enough to deliver Mercy in his darkest hours.

Mercy and Judgment are on opposite ends of the spectrum of God’s love. But they work together in every life. Judgment, chastisement, and the impending threat of them provide boundaries in the life of a believer even as mercy and grace sustain and provide for us. If you took the time this evening to reflect upon your life, you would find the same comingling of Mercy and Judgment that inspired David to sing.

Across the fabric of your past you will see a bright and glorious thread of mercy, that reflects each time God has blessed you and delivered you. That wondrously golden thread of blessing and provision. But braided through the same life is the equally dark and bold thread of judgment. It doesn’t take us long to remember the hard times and difficult places that we got into by our own hand. When we were stubborn and stiff-necked and refused to heed the gentle call of God. We can all remember those times when Judgment compelled us to seek Mercy. When trouble and trial pushed us to our knees and compelled us to seek the face of God. Thank God for that dark thread of judgment in our lives, for it is the judgment of God that keeps us humble and watchful. It is the judgment of God that has taught us to depend on him. We’ve learned, over time, through the venue of our missteps that we can’t place our faith in our own abilities or resource. But we’ve discovered, by the same avenue, that the mercies of God are tender and lovely. And we can place our trust in him.

Judgment keeps us honest, it keeps us submitted to God. While Mercy, precious mercy, keeps us hopeful and confident in the grace of God. We live in a world and a generation that would like to strip God of his judgment. They want to serve and worship a God of mercy but deny that he is also a God of judgment. David understood what this generation has failed to grasp, without judgment there is no mercy. And where there is mercy, there will always exist, right along side of it Judgment. In David’s song, we find them bound together in praise. When they are mingled together in the life of a child of God they produce a reason for worship.

Thank God for Mercy AND Judgment.

Playing Hide & Seek With God

2009-10-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

When my boys were younger one of their favorite things to do was to play "Hide and Seek" with me. My youngest son, particularly, delighted in the game. He was really good at finding a great place to hide, but he wasn't so good at staying hidden. As I would begin to search for him he would get tickled at how great his hiding place was. The closer I would get in my unfruitful search, the more he would giggle, until he simply couldn't contain himself. Inevitably his laughter and sheer delight with the game would betray his carefully chosen hiding place.

In my study and sermon preparation this weekend I read a familiar scripture from a translation that I don't use very often. The imagery provided by this different translation brought the memories of playing hide and seek with my young son to my mind. Jeremiah 29:11 begins like this, "I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. When you look for me, you will find me." However, the last portion of verse 13 and the first part of verse 14 are what jumped out at me. The Lord declares, "When you wholeheartedly seek me, I will let you find me..." (Jeremiah 29:11-14 GWT)

The wonderful news enclosed in that verse is that we serve a God that wants to be found! To my young son the joy of the game was in being found by his loving father. He wasn't near as interested in evading me as he was in being found by me. That's why it never bothered him that he gave himself away. I want you to know, today, that God wants you to find him. As a matter of fact, He's gone out of his way to make it easy for you. He said, "If you will seek me with your whole heart, I will let you find me."

So many times we convince ourselves that God is hard to find. We often feel like a blind man stumbling in the dark looking for the light switch. When the real truth of the matter is that God is easy to find. The only prerequisite is that we seek him with our whole heart. I wonder, today, what you would discover in God if you would only take him at his word and seek him with your whole heart. I am persuaded that he longs to reveal himself to you, that he has a strong desire to draw you closer to him.

So, what are you waiting on? Perhaps its time that you found a place of prayer and said, "Ready or not, here I come..."

Issues of the Heart

2009-09-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today my wife and I took our boys to Arkansas Children's Hospital for their heart checkups. As many of you know, both of our sons are under the care of a Cardiologist. They share a common heart defect (they both have bicuspid aortic valves.) However, my younger son was also born with a congenital blockage in his aorta that required heart surgery when he was only 6 days old. The purpose of this visit was to listen to both heart murmurs and insure that nothing was changing in their condition and, in the one case, to check on the integrity of the repair that was done.

Being parents of heart patients, my wife and I have learned a lot along the way about the different conditions that our boys have. One of the things that we learned early on was that they check for problems with scar tissue around the blockage repair by comparing blood pressures taken in the arm and the leg. These two should be relatively close together. Today was the first check in over two years and we were surprised to discover that the nurses noted a 20 point difference between the arm and the leg. This was an immediate source of concern for me and I was quite certain that it would concern the doctor as well.

When the doctor finally came to see us, after a resident and a student had their turns with our boys, he brought up the disparity in blood pressures and told us he had decided to do an echo to check on the heart function and the site of the repair. After the echo was finished, it was determined that the heart function was normal but that the repair was too difficult to see with an echo. Next we discussed an MRI in order to get a better look at the site of the repair. However, much to my surprise, the doctor ordered the MRI to be done next summer.

“Next summer?” I couldn’t believe it. I was ready to find out something right now! The doctor proceeded to explain that even if there was some restriction from the scar tissue developing it wasn’t anything that was happening fast. “Next summer we will be 10 years removed from the surgery,” he said, “and that’s a good point to assess any possible problems.” What he said next stirred my soul. In issues of the heart, according to the doctor, things develop slowly.

I began to turn that over in my mind. It appears to me that, once again, physical truth bears out a greater spiritual reality. In matters of the heart, things develop slowly. I’ve been in church all my life. I’ve watched people come and go. I’ve seen folks lose out with God along the way. But the truth is that I’ve never seen anyone walk away from God overnight. I’ve never seen anyone decide on moments notice to walk away from grace and abandon their faith. The truth is that these things happen slowly.

Bitterness takes time to get a grip on a heart. Unfaithfulness and deceit take time to overtake a person’s convictions. In matters of the heart, it is a slow process that turns one away from God and separates one from the presence of God. I would venture that there are many out there today that are far from God that never intended to end up there. They never intended to grow cold in their spirit. They never intended to let their faithfulness slip. They never intended to put distance between themselves and the loving presence of God. But it happened to them. And it happened so slowly that many of them didn’t even realize, until it was too late, just how far they had drifted from God.

I simply want to remind you today that in matters pertaining to the heart, things happen slowly. It is absolutely critical to each of us that we maintain the condition of our hearts on a daily basis. A drift away from the presence of God may be a slow and gradual process but the absolute truth is that if we aren’t vigilant to bring ourselves into the presence of God on a regular basis, we will drift away from him. It doesn’t happen fast and it isn’t sudden. But, mark my words, it does happen. This is why it is so essential that you maintain a relationship with God, that you spend regular time in prayer and the study of the word. This is what Paul was talking about when he admonished us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by a process of renewal.

I want to encourage you today to renew your mind in the Lord. Renew your heart in his presence. Allow the goodness of God to wash over you, allow the presence of God to minister to your life. In his presence, those little things that would take root and begin to develop in our hearts are exposed and rooted out. In his presence, conviction stirs our souls and attitudes and issues are resolved. In his presence all things are made new and old things pass away. It is that continual exposure to the presence of God that guards your heart against that inevitable slow drift away from God.

The good news is that, in issues of the heart, things develop slowly. If you've neglected your relationship with God, there's still time to turn back to him. If you've been drifting away from his presence there is still time to get things back on track. I want to encourage you today to make it a point to spend time in his presence. We could all use an honest heart checkup from the master physician...

Today Is The Day!

2009-08-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know it, I am a habitual last minute kind of guy. I have lived by the motto, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. However, the older I get the more I realize the uncertainty of tomorrow. There are things that I desire to do in this life that, if I keep putting them off, may never get done. This is the thought that was on my mind this morning as I read from the 28th chapter of Genesis.

The story is a familiar one. Jacob is on the run, fleeing from his brother's wrath. Esau is sure to pursue him and will definitely be angry enough to kill him if he catches him. So Jacob leaves Beersheba and heads towards Haran but exhaustion and nightfall catch up with him along the way. Stopping for the night, this fugitive lies down to sleep. However, in the darkness of night, God visits his dreams.

Jacob dreamed that night of a ladder stretching from heaven to earth and he saw angels ascending and descending on the ladder. In his dream, the Lord stood above the ladder and declared, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac..." The most interesting thing, at this point in the story, is what God didn't say. He said, I'm the God of Abraham and of Isaac, but he didn't say anything about being the God of Jacob.

This meeting between God and Jacob was not just a chance encounter. Jacob is on the run. Life's problems are more than he can bear. He has caused in his life a situation that he simply cannot face. Death and Destruction are on his trail and he is desperately looking for a place of escape. He needs some shelter, he's in desperate need of a savior. It is fitting that, while he was running from his problems, he ran headlong into the problem solver!

He didn't plan it this way. He wasn't looking for God. He wouldn't have counted himself worthy to be in His presence. Rather, God came looking for him. God steps right into the middle of the mess he's made of his life and confronts him face to face. Remember me? Remember sitting on your Grandfather's knee and hearing stories about me? I am the God of Abraham. Remember the God that your daddy served? I am the God of Isaac.

God was doing more than just reminding Jacob of the past. The dream that night was about an invitation to a fresh start. The God of Abraham and Isaac was saying to Jacob, I want to be your God too. Cast your cares and burdens on me, I can shoulder your heavy load, I want to be your God. Come walk with me and I will walk with you. god made promises to Jacob that night, follow me and I will fulfill in you the covenant that I have made with your Father and Grandfather.

Jacob woke from that dream wit the knowledge that he had been in the presence of God. The experience was so extraordinary that it frightened him. “Surely the Lord is in this place," he said, "and I did not know it.” In awe and respect he erected a monument to the glory of God. He changed the name of the place, calling it Bethel meaning "the house of God." It was his first real encounter with God. In his darkest night God became more than just a story his Daddy told him. God became more than just the provider his Grandfather had talked so much about. God became real, a present help in a time of trouble.

The thing that got my attention this morning was Jacobs reaction to God's overtures. Jacob vowed a vow saying, "“If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God." Jacob had a supernatural experience with God. God had found him at his lowest point and overshadowed him wit the glory of his presence. However, Jacob walked away from that experience with a mind set that said, "One of these days the Lord shall be my God."

God reveals Himself to Jacob. He invites him to taste of the goodness of God. He sends an implicit invitation, I want to be your God. But, while Jacob was awed at the display of God's glory, he wasn't ready yet to relinquish control of his life. Instead he was content to say to God, if you help me then, one of these days, I'll make you my God. What a shame...

The truth, today, is that many of us do God the same way. We know we need to get closer to Him. We recognize that He is calling us to a deeper walk with him. But we procrastinate, saying to God, one of these days I'm going to answer your call. When I get a little older. When i get married. When I settle into a career. When I finally retire. When I have more time. Then I will serve you and you will be to me my God. The tragedy of this is that none of us is promised that we will ever see tomorrow.

There is a reason why Isaiah 55:6 admonishes us to “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.” It is the same reason that Paul admonished the church in Corinth that "today" is “the day of salvation.” The truth is that there is no guarantee that our "then" will ever become "now." The only now that we have is the day that we were given when the sun came up this morning. I want to encourage you today to make this the day that your "then" becomes a "now."

If you've been thinking that "one of these days" you are going to get right with God, make today that day. If you've been telling yourself that "one of these days" you are going to answer his call, then make this that day. Today is the day, for none of us is promised any other day.

God is still calling out to you. How will you answer Him today?

His Blood Was Precious Blood

2009-08-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

Did you know that blood has a voice? When Cain slew Able, God said to him, in Genesis 4:10 (ESV), "the voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground." The voice of innocent blood has the ability to speak and it gets the attention of God. I don't know what all was going on in the throne room of heaven that day but the blood of Able would not be denied an audience with the Ancient of Days. It pressed its way into the presence of God and made its plea known.

Able's innocent blood cried out for vengeance and retribution. Able's blood demanded judgement for a stolen life, for innocence crushed beneath the weight of jealousy and hatred. Able's blood said, "I am innocent and I demand judgement." God responded to the cry of Able's blood and confronted Cain, passing judgement upon him for the murder of his brother.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that the blood of Jesus also has a voice. However, the blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Able. Where the blood of Able cries out for judgement and vindication, the blood of Jesus cries out for Mercy and Forgiveness. This is why I'm so thankful for the blood of Jesus. When He shed his blood on that old rugged cross he became my advocate, the vocal defender of my soul.

Revelation 12:10 describes Satan as the accuser of those who trust in Jesus. It goes so far as to declare that he "accuses them day and night before our God." But, in 1 John 2:1, the word tells me that we have an advocate, a voice that speaks on our behalf. I beleive, this morning, that the voice of our advocate is the voice of the blood of Jesus. That precious blood covers our faults and failings and cries out for mercy and forgiveness. It offers no defense, it makes no excuses, but rather, by virtue of its own innocence, it demands mercy! So John writes in Revelation 12:11, "and they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."

I'll be the first to admit I've made mistakes and I've not always been perfect. But, when the accuser comes around to remind me of my past, I'll be content today to let the blood speak for me. His blood speaks better things. His blood speaks of mercy and forgieness. And his blood, combined with the word of my testimony is how I'm going to overcome the accuser of my soul!

This morning I celebrate the voice of that precious blood! It speaks of healing and deliverance. It speaks of mercy and grace. I'm so glad that His blood was not just the blood of another spotless lamb. But his blood had the power to cleanse the hearts of men. His blood has the power to heal my body and set my spirit free. I'm so glad that I know that his precious blood still flows from Calvary.

Thank God for the blood!

Bad Things And Good People

2009-08-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

This week several preachers that are very close to me are facing very dangerous medical situations. These are good men and what is happening in their lives amounts to a bad thing. Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people?

A few years ago my wife and I went through an incredibly difficult time. Our first son was born and required surgery when he was only 6 days old. In the following 2 years he had 6 surgeries for a variety of reasons, none of them was particularly life-threatening, but each of them represented a difficult obstacle for his mom and I. We discovered, in that time, that one of the most difficult things you can do, as a parent, is to relinquish your baby into the hands of a surgeon and watch them walk down that lonely cold corridor that leads to an operating room.

Two years and 23 days after my first son was born, his little brother made his grand entrance into this world. The doctors recognized, almost immediately, that there was a problem with our newborn son. The saga that followed was the culmination of an incredibly difficult 2 years. Our baby boy was born with a congenital heart defect. As they rushed him to a special care facility we were cautioned that it was likely that he wouldn't survive the trip.

I'm so thankful, today, for the power of prayer. Prayer was made that day, in the name of Jesus, and a process of healing began. There was an immediate radical change in the condition of our son's health, however, six days later he still had to undergo heart surgery. When the surgeons were finally done with us and he had recovered enough to finally go home, they warned us that we were looking forward to, at least, one more surgery within the next 4 years. However, that 4 years came and went and my precious son has not needed the second surgery. God is good!

During that trying time I contemplated the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" During one of my study times, God impressed an answer on my heart. I'll never forget preaching a message that rose from the answer to that famous question.

Today, nine years later, I find myself contemplating the same question. I'm going to have to go digging through my old notes and see if I can find and revisit the sermon I preached then. But I don't have those notes handy at this moment and I just want to jot down some random thoughts that are running through my mind in relation to the subject.

God, in his infinite wisdom, treats all men equally. As the scriptures say, time and circumstance happen to every man and, when it rains, it rains on the just and the unjust alike. Just because you are a "good person" doesn't mean you are sheltered from the rain. It only means that you will never go through the storm on your own. It will rain, the trials will come, and the difficulties will be there. But through it all, God is there with you to strengthen and encourage you as you overcome the obstacles in your path.

I believe that there is a reason for this. If God began to reserve hard times and difficult things for only those who truly "deserved" them then he would no longer be the impartial judge that his very nature dictates that he must be.

Consider this: God is no respecter of persons. Our salvation is based upon this premise. The gospel is to "whosoever will." It wasn't reserved just for those that were "good" enough because if it were, we would all be lost. Rather, God shows his mercy, without partiality, to anyone that will hear and obey his word. David said, in Psalm 130:3 (ESV) "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" The answer is simple, none could stand if God wasn't impartial in his mercy.

This simple truth follows that premise. God doesn't mark down your righteousness as reason to exclude you from the storms of this life because if he did, his righteous nature would dictate that he mark down your iniquities and exclude you from his mercy.

Because of this I choose not to fear the storms of this life but rather to celebrate the fact that the same God that is impartial in the trials and tragedies of this life is abundant in his mercy towards me! He walks with me through every valley. His rod and his staff, they comfort me. He prepares for me a table in the presence of mine enemies and all of this is possible, in his righteousness, all because he didn't shelter me from the valley!

The Man In The Mirror

2009-07-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Near the end of the first chapter of James, the author admonishes his readers to be doers of the word of God rather than hearers only. He immediately lets us know that the one who hears the word but doesn't apply it to their lives is caught in a trap of self deception. They have convinced themselves that, because they have chosen to expose themselves to the life giving word of God, then they are, by virtue of that fact, righteous.

There is a problem with their logic. It is not enough to simply hear instruction if you refuse to act upon it. Hearing the word of God has never been a standard of salvation. However, acting upon what the word tells us has always been the cornerstone of salvation. Therefore we should all strive to be more than just hearers of the truth of God's word, we should each strive to apply it to our lives.

James follows that profound truth with a supporting example that, I believe, contains volumes of truth. He tells us that the person that hears the word but doesn't act on it "is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." (James 1:23-24 ESV) This individual is distinguished from the doer of the word who looks in the mirror and sees his own reflection but doesn't forget what he has seen and so acts upon it.

The difference between the two is what I find interesting today. The first is an individual who studies the mirror for the sake of looking at the mirror. He's not nearly as concerned about what he sees in the mirror as he is with studying the mirror itself. The second man, however, isn't gazing intently at the mirror at all. He, rather, is captivated by what he sees in the mirror. It's his reflection that is cast by the mirror that has captivated his attention.

The world is full of people who claim to be students of the word of God. Educated men who have devoted themselves to the study of God's word as well as casual students who study the word from time to time. Most people who profess a faith in God attempt to spend at least some time each week reading the word of God. However, James has exposed us to a truth that there are two kinds of people that study the word.

First there are those that read the word or listen to the preached word for the sake of studying the word alone. They read for understanding and insight into the language and meaning of the word. They may dig deeply for some truth concealed in the word of God. However, for the most part, the object of their interest is the literary work called the bible. They hear the unmistakable voice of God's word but their focus is on the voice more than what the voice is saying.

Another group exists, though, that studies the word not for the sake of knowledge about the word but rather for the sake of knowledge about themselves. These seekers peer intently into the word of God in an effort to catch a glimpse of their own reflection in it. The purpose of their pursuit is not a knowledge of the scripture but rather a knowledge of themselves. They listen to the voice of the word in order to hear what it is saying about them.

There will always exist a gulf between the first and the second. The hearer only will change the word to fit their philosophy of life. Molding it and crafting it to fit in their world view. These individuals can take the bible and bend it to say anything they want it to say. They are masters at fitting the word into their view of life.

The doer of the word, however, will always be changed by the word. They read the word in order to see their life as it is reflected by the truths contained therein. Their life focus is to be molded to fit into the view of their life presented by the word. They remember the reflection of themselves that they have seen in the word and make the changes that conviction has dictated in their hearts. The hearer studies the word to find a way that is pleasing to them, the doer studies the word to make sure they are pleasing to the word. There is a vast difference between the two.

I am challenged today to do more than just read and research the word, rather I'm looking for the man in the mirror...

Strangers and Pilgrims

2009-06-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

For some reason, over the past several days, my mind has been on a foreign country where I have ministered in the past. I have found myself, several times over the last week, or so, stopping to pray for the missionaries that I know there and the church that has been established there. I've got Asia on my mind and that's where my thoughts are flowing from today.

Taiwan, and Asia at large, is a unique place with a rich culture. The people are different, the language couldn't be further from English and the customs have a character and flavor to them that are unique to that region of the world. One of my favorite memories from my first trip to Taiwan was sitting down with Bro Richardson and a Taiwanese gentleman and learning the ritual and culture involved in the brewing of tea. Just the sharing of a casual, common drink was a ceremony of sorts that had significance and meaning wrapped up in each step of the process.

Over the years I've been privileged to make several trips to Taiwan and minister there. Early on, even before the first trip, I began to study the language and the culture in an effort to acclimate myself to what I knew would be a totally different kind of place. Being a consummate reader, I read everything I could that dealt with China and Asia at large. I hired an Air Force translator to teach me Chinese and later I enrolled in a college level Chinese course where I learned not only to speak Mandarin but to read and write some of it as well.

When I was there I did my best to fully embrace the experience, making every effort to adopt the customs and practices that were native to the land. However, no matter how hard I tried, it was always going to be painfully obvious that I was a stranger. I could speak enough Mandarin to get around on the streets, but not without a pronounced western accent. I could honor the customs and attempt to say and do all of the right things but never would I get it perfectly right because, the simple truth is, that I never fully grasped the significance of each thing. As hard as I tried to blend in there was no way to conceal the fact that I was still a foreigner. I felt comfortable and at home in Asia but the simple truth is that I was a stranger, and that is all I will ever be in a foreign culture.

In the second chapter of his first letter to the church, Peter felt led to remind us that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world. "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims," he said. (1 Peter 2:11) The next two chapters contain real world advice on how we should live our lives based upon the understanding that we are strangers. As strangers in this world, we are reminded that we will never quite fit in. As strangers in this world, there will always be something different about us. It will show up in the way we talk. It will show up in the way we dress. It will show up in our manners and customs.

I simply want to remind you today that we are strangers and pilgrims. This world is not our home. We were never meant to blend in. If and when the church becomes just like the world, it ceases to be the church. The reason for this is that our citizenship is not of this world. We serve another king. We are subjects of another kingdom. We answer to a different, higher law. Our lives are governed by a greater authority than the system of this world. We would do well to remind ourselves of that truth often.

Peter recognized the fact that it is in our nature to want to blend in. It is in our nature to want to fit in. Nobody likes to stick out like a sore thumb. For the same reason that I endeavored to learn as much as I could about the culture of China and assimilate it into my life, we feel compelled by our flesh to fit in with those around us. If we aren't careful we will begin to measure ourselves by the standard of this world. If we aren't vigilant we will begin to adopt the thinking and viewpoint of carnal flesh. So Peter warns us, in the same verse, to "abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."

The passions and desires of our flesh war against our soul and strive to compel us to conform to this world. Our own human nature will endeavor to mold us into a form that is acceptable to this world. But Paul warned us in Romans 12:2 to "be not conformed to this world." Instead he urged us to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind." What a great piece of instruction. Our flesh wants to conform to this present world and so it wars against our soul. But we must understand the simple premise that we may be in this world, but we don't belong to this world. As a result of that understanding, it falls to each of us to insure that, each day, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Each day, we must get into the presence of God and renew our minds. Each day we must find the time to go before the throne of God and be reminded of our true citizenship. It is absolutely critical to our soul and our salvation that we maintain the distinction and separation that identifies us, both to the world and to ourselves, as strangers and pilgrims in this world. Because, one fine day, He's gonna split the eastern sky and call us home to be with him and on that day I'm going to be glad that I never made my home down here.

I want to encourage you today. Heaven is our home. We are the children of the King. We belong to Him and we were never meant to "belong" in this old world. The old songwriter got it right, "This world is not my home I'm just passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue…"

If Grace costs me anything...

2009-06-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I haven't posted all week because I've been at church camp with my boys. I thought I'd go ahead and jump start this week with a piece that I wrote about a year ago. I hope you are blessed by it.

The words shocked me. “If grace costs me anything, then I don't want it.” Brent is just a good old boy. He owns a drive-thru coffee shop and, to hear him tell it, his call in life is to share the gospel with his customers. He learned, a long time ago, that I was a Pentecostal preacher and, from my perspective, it seems as if his call in life is to argue doctrine with me every time I pull through his shop.

Not long ago I pulled into his shop and it was obvious from the first hello that he had been prepping himself for my next visit. He launched into a dissertation on how it was unscriptural to consider baptism as a step in the process of salvation. We bantered back and forth a bit as he prepared my drink. I quoted a few scriptures about baptism and I made an argument based upon the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. However, as the discussion progressed, we moved to the subject of grace and ended up discussing the premise, presented in Romans, that faith and obedience are inseparably linked. After a little while, my drink was finished, a car was waiting and we broke off another engaging conversation.

It happened as I was pulling away, and I must admit that I was totally unprepared for it. As a matter of fact I was a little taken aback when he leaned out of the drive-thru window and hollered after me, “If grace costs me anything, then I don’t want it.” I hit my brakes and paused for a moment and, emboldened, he continued, “If grace costs me anything, then it is not grace anymore.” The car behind me pulled up and I pulled out of the parking lot shaking my head in utter disbelief.

I knew such thinking existed, but I had never heard it put so bluntly. The concept is mind boggling. To believe that the grace of God is acceptable only if it requires nothing in exchange is an incredibly self-centered approach to God. What about the disciples? They walked away from everything to follow Jesus. What about Paul? It caused a total change in his life, even his identity was altered. I shook my head in shock because I’ve always believed that the grace that cost so much at Calvary required something of me in return.

This afternoon, I read the first chapter of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “The Cost of Disciplehip.” According to Bonhoeffer, those that would seek to justify sin rather than the sinner have hijacked the message of grace. His premise is solid and his reasoning is sound. I can clearly see where so many took a wrong turn many years ago and perverted the message of grace. As I read, my mind went back to that encounter. It, truly, breaks my heart to hear a sincere young man make such a flawed statement. He really believes that the only way he wants grace is if he doesn’t have to change a thing to get it. The question arises, if God intended to leave his followers just like he found them, then why would he endure the pain and the agony of the cross?

As much as it hurts me to say it, I’ve been witness to this same kind of thinking as it has crept into my generation of Apostolic Pentecostals. It seems that the mentality of the hour revolves around the question of just how little can I do and still be saved. There are those that would say that if you can’t tell me this will send me to Hell then I’m going to do it. Period. The fundamental spirit behind this kind of an approach to serving God is no different than the young man who made the brash statement, "If grace costs me anything then I don’t want it." The end result is the same. It revolves around a mindset that would rather justify lifestyles and fashion choices than to justify the inner man.

Can I humbly say, this afternoon, that no matter what grace costs me, I want it. No matter what I have to leave behind, I’m hungry for it. There is no price too high to pay, no sacrifice too big to make. The old songwriter cut to the chase when he penned the words, “Above all else, I must be saved.”

I firmly believe that God loves you just like you are, but I also believe that He will never leave you that way. I join my voice with that of the early church that proclaimed, I’ve been bought with a price and my life is not my own. Understand this, my consecration and dedication, as manifested by a separated life, are not about earning God’s grace but rather they are about manifesting God’s grace. He made a change in my life and I firmly believe that, if I continue walking with him, that change will be manifest in my life!

We must put an end to the mentality that shuns sacrifice and dedication. It's time to stop the spiritual decay that manifests itself in a desire to please the flesh and appease spirits of this world. We are the children of God. We are called out of darkness and into His marvelous light. It's high time we embraced the costliness of our salvation. Take up your cross, echos the cry of those that gave all they had, and follow Jesus.

This generation my choose a cheap form of grace to the detriment of their own spirituality... But as for me, give me grace -- no matter the cost!

We Started This Race To Finish It

2009-06-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

The race had been completed over an hour before. Most of the spectators had already moved on to other things. However, as the darkness of evening settled over the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, a striking figure entered the far end of the stadium. The winner of the race had already been declared. But, to every one's surprise, this lone runner pressed on towards the finished line. As he hobbled into view it became apparent why he was lagging so far behind the rest of the field. One leg was bloodied and bandaged, and his body was racked with pain. In spite of it all, however, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania pressed through the cold darkness towards the finish line.

This struggle of endurance in the face of a seemingly insurmountable obstacle brought the remaining crowd to their feet. As the injured runner finally crossed the finish line the crowd roared in appreciation of the remarkable moment they had just witnessed. It would go down in history as one of the most memorable Olympic moments ever. A reporter, recognizing the significance of the moment quickly went to the lone, persistent runner and asked him why he didn't quit the race after he realized that there was no chance at all that he could win it. Akhwari famously replied, “My country did not send me 7000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7000 miles to finish it."

Several times, in the New Testament, this life that we live is likened to a race. Today, I am reminded that we are all running a race. We are all striving to win this race. In athletic events, Paul tells us, all run but only one receives the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24) However, the wonderful truth of the race that we are in is that we can all obtain the prize. We all run to obtain the same prize and, unlike most races, we can all obtain the thing we are running for.

The reason for this is that the prize for this race does not go to the swiftest. This is a race where the prize goes to the one that endures until the end. Jesus said in Matthew 24:13, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Everyone that crosses the finish line of this race will be rewarded with the prize that we all strain for. I want to remind you this morning that the focus isn't on running the race, the focus is on crossing the finish line. The prize lies in finishing the race. And we can all obtain that prize, simply by running with endurance until we finally cross the finish line.

When I was younger I really liked to run. I ran a couple of miles every evening. However, in the fall of the year, after the time changed, it would get dark too early for me to run. (At the time we lived on a busy highway with no sidewalks, and running in the dark could prove to be dangerous.) Each spring, when the time changed again, I would have to start all over again building myself back up to where I could run 2 miles. I discovered that the easiest way to do this was to run until I didn't feel like I could go any further. At that point I would then pick a target, a goal, somewhere ahead of me and encourage myself to push until I reached that goal, where I would slack off and complete the two miles at a walk. The next day I would push myself to that same point then challenge myself to go a little further. Using this method, I could quickly extend my range each day until, before too long, I was running the full two miles. The thing that compelled me was the finish line that was constantly set before me.

Today, I believe that we would all benefit by lifting our eyes from the present circumstances of this race and extending our vision to catch a glimpse of the finish line. I want to remind you that God didn't start you on this journey just so you could run in the race of life. He started you in this race to finish it. He didn't put you in your current situation just so you could throw your hands up in frustration and quit. He put you here, and determined this course for your life, with one goal in mind, that you would finish the race. I want to encourage you this morning, not to abort the process. Don't stop short of the finish line. It really doesn't matter how fast you run, or how well you run, or with how much style and grace you run, it only matters, today, that you keep running. Our single goal, in this life, is to cross the finish line that God has set before us.

Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews instructs us to run the race with endurance. (Hebrews 12:1) He acknowledges that there are going to be trials and difficulties along the way. He acknowledges that there are going to be times when you stumble and fall. He doesn't preclude the idea that you may very well find yourself running this race while bloodied and bandaged from the hardships along the way. As a matter of fact, he goes so far as to tell us that these tests and trials are for our benefit and that they must be met with perseverance.

It was verse 12, however, that caught my attention this morning. There the author encourages us to "lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees." We are all running this race, and we all find ourselves in places, from time to time, where our hands are drooping and our knees are weak. But I want to join my voice with that of scripture and encourage you to lift up your eyes and take a long look at the finish line. This is what we are striving for. This is the reason we press on. This is the strength that fuels our endurance. We aren't living for this present life anyway. We aren't running for a corruptible crown. We are striving for the prize of eternal life. We are running for the greatest treasure of all and nothing in this world is worth abandoning the pursuit of the finish line. We started this race to finish it.

I want to encourage you this morning to keep running. Run, that you might obtain the prize. Run that you might cross the finish line. There is no prize for starting. There is no prize, even for running in the race. The prize resides in finishing the race. So keep running...

The Powerful Attraction of an Urgent Harvest

2009-06-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

In the fourth chapter of John, Jesus left Judea to go to Galilee. The events that are conveyed in the first 42 verses of that chapter are the direct result of the fact that when Jesus set out on this journey he chose to walk the road less traveled. It seems that devout Jews refused to take the direct rout from Judea to Galilee because it passed through Samaria.

The Samaritans were of a mixed ethnicity. They were part Jewish and part Gentile. As a result they were despised by both Jews and Non-Jews, alike. According to 2 Kings 17:24-31, the king of Assyria brought foreign people in to settle in Samaria in 722 BC. Over time this band of interlopers intermarried and intermingled with some Jews (remnants of the Old Testament's Northern Kingdom) who remained in the area. These Samaritans were not only of a mixed race, but it seems that they also mingled their faiths together into a brand of religion that was all their own.

The Jewish influence from those that were descendants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel assimilated into the Samaritan culture. History tells us that they had their own version of the Pentateuch, their own temple on Mount Gerizim, and their own rendering of Israelite history. As a result, tensions often ran high between Jews and Samaritans. There was even a point in their history, according to the historian Josephus, that fighting between them got so intense that Roman Soldiers were called in to break it up.

Because of all of this, strict Jews, in order to avoid defilement, would normally bypass Samaria by opting for a longer route that involved crossing the Jordan and traveling on the east side. This was the more common, and safer route of travel. This is the way that you would expect a religious leader and his band of devout disciples to travel from Judea to Galilee. However, the scripture says that Jesus "had to pass through Samaria." (John 4:4 ESV)

Jesus "had to" go through Samaria. Not because it was the shortest route of travel. Not because it was the only way to get where he was going. Not because it was the preferred road to travel on. Jesus had to pass through Samaria because of the powerful attraction of an urgent harvest. Jesus was compelled by his purpose, which was to seek and save the lost. That purpose compelled him to pass through Samaria because he knew, as only he could know, that a desperately hungry woman was going to be making a journey to Jacob's well that day. Jesus had to go through Samaria because the harvest was ready and the opportunity was at hand. I believe this morning, that Jesus was compelled to journey through Samaria because, as the Messiah, he was attracted to a hungry heart.

I won't spend a lot of time this morning retelling the familiar story of what transpired at Jacob's well, instead I would like to jump to the end of the story if I could. After Jesus met the lady and ministered to her at the point of her need, his disciples returned. We know, from scripture, that they wondered what Jesus was doing talking with this woman at the well. Perhaps they were wondering, as well, what they were doing in Samaria. I believe that this was the case because when the disciples started discussing food with Jesus, he quickly turned the conversation to the subject of the Harvest.

I believe that Jesus was answering the lingering questions about why he had chosen this route and why he had stopped at this well when he said, "Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." (John 4:35 ESV) I believe that the thing that compelled Jesus to travel through Samaria was the powerful attraction of an urgent harvest. It was the understanding that the time was right, that a precise moment had arrived and an opportunity was going to pass if it wasn't seized upon that compelled him to journey through Samaria.

I have lived in farm country all of my life. One of the primary crops around here is cotton. Cotton, like other crops, has a very distinct window for harvest. There is a limited amount of time that a farmer has to reap the harvest from the time that it reaches the state of being ready until the point that it is degraded beyond usefulness. There is a precise, particular window of time that is finite and will eventually close. I believe that Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, saw this dear lady in Samaria and recognized that the window for harvest had arrived, that the time was now. He was compelled to go to Samaria because of the urgency of the situation.

In his statement to his follower, and to us by extension, he stressed the fact that the harvest was an urgent, timely thing. He said, you look around and say, "In four months the harvest will be ready." When, in fact, there are those around us every day that are ready right now. Look again, he said, the "fields are white for harvest" now. Paul told the church in Corinth that "now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV)

My friend, there are those around us that are desperate, hungry and ready for this gospel message now. Today. If we could ever see that we would realize that the harvest holds an attraction that is based in the urgency of the situation. If we wait four months to try to reach them we will lose them. If we wait for a more expedient time, this opportunity is going to pass. For some of those around you, now is the time!

The Psalmist tells us that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." (Psalm 37:23) I can't help but believe, today, that God is leading you and I into a harvest that is ready now. I believe that, as God orders the direction and events of our lives he compels us into encounters that have been divinely orchestrated because a hungry heart is present. My prayer today is that you and I won't get lulled into the mindset that looks around at our world and is content to say that harvest is coming "one of these days." Rather, I pray that we will be gripped by the urgency of the harvest and seize upon the moments and chances that God orchestrates in our lives so that we may snatch some "out of the fire" before it becomes too late. (Jude 1:23 ESV)

I am reminded of the words from an old song that says, "Lead me Lord and I will follow." Today I want to do more than just follow the route that the Lord has chosen for my life, I want to capitalize on the opportunities that he places in my path!

The Million Dollar Matress

2009-06-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Last week I heard an interesting story. It seems that on last Tuesday a lady in Hiriya, Israel, had a bright idea and went out and bought her mother a new mattress. Her mother had been using the same mattress for many years and this thoughtful daughter felt it would be a good thing to replace the old, lumpy mattress with a brand new one. Apparently her mother wasn't there when she made the substitution, removing the old and replacing it with the new. After accomplishing her good deed for the day, she grabbed the old, lumpy, mattress and drug it out to curbside for garbage pickup.

This is where the story gets interesting. At some point in the day she realized that she had made a dreadful mistake. In all likelihood, her mother finally came home and recognized immediately what had been done. You see, that lumpy old mattress was stuffed with a million dollars in cash! It seems that the mother didn't trust banks and figured that her mattress was the safest place to hide her life savings. For years she tucked away the excess of her earnings amassing a sum that is considered to be a fortune in any country. But then along came the daughter and started tossing out the things she didn't understand. It made no sense to her to keep that dusty old mattress around.

Once she realized what she had lost she ran frantically to the curb to get it back, only it was gone! The trash collectors had already run and the mattress, presumably, was on its way to the landfill. She quickly notified the landfill that she had lost a mattress with the whopping sum of a million dollars stuffed inside it. What followed would have been comical if it wasn't for the seriousness of the loss. The spent days, with heavy machinery, scouring the landfill in Hiriya, to no avail. The mattress was lost and isn't likely to be found again. The family has now surmised that its possible that some homeless person saw the old mattress on the side of the road and took it for their own. It's entirely possible that tonight, in the city of Hiriya, a poor destitute homeless person is sleeping on a million dollars.

The thing that strikes me about this incident today is the fact that the young lady so casually discarded such a valuable thing simply because she didn't understand the importance of the thing. That old mattress had been there for years, its significance was shrouded by the fact that it was outdated, used up, tired and worn out. So she discarded it. She didn't bother to ask her Mother if there was a reason for keeping it around. She didn't bother to try to discover the significance of it. She just assumed that her limited knowledge of the matter was enough and she tossed the old mattress, along with its fortune, out to the curb.

I am concerned today because, there seems to exist, in my generation, a contempt for landmarks and foundations that have been previously established. The mantra of the revisionists hinges on the idea that anything that is not explicitly stated in scripture is up for grabs. I am sorely afraid that, in the rush to relevance, the essence of who and what we are as a movement will be sacrificed by some on the alter of convenience. I am not one to run around and scream that the sky is falling, however, the more I hear voices among us that question what have long been established positions of the church, the more troubled my spirit becomes. I don't intend any disrespect by comparing our standards and heritage to an old mattress, however, I'm afraid that, in keeping with the story above, some are determined to throw the old mattress out to the curb without ever truly grasping the significance of it.

The stances, standards, and positions we have inherited are not perfect but they have come at a great cost and have been preserved by great sacrifice. It is my desire that a voice of caution would be heard, loud and long, before we tear down in a few moments what was built over the span of generations, before we toss to the curb the riches of a heritage that some of us don't understand. I truly believe that when Esau sold his birthright he thought he was doing what was most expedient for the moment and most beneficial to him. I don't believe he realized the true value of what he lost in that exchange until years down the road. However, the writer of Hebrews tells us that "afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears." (Hebrews 12:17 ESV)

I am afraid that it is possible to barter away something precious today, the value of which will only be realized somewhere on down the road, after it is much too late to repent and turn back. I'm afraid that somewhere along the way, some in my generation are going to begin the frantic search for an old mattress that has been permanently lost to them. The poor lady in Israel employed every resource available but never found the mattress. Esau sought it with tears, but couldn't reclaim what he had lost. I, for one, don't want to walk down that desolate road of regret. I further don't want to see my generation relegated to that path.

I have, long since, determined that I will not casually set aside those things that have defined us for years simply because it may seem to be the expedient or convenient thing to do. Somehow, today, I doubt that the nice, new, firm mattress sleeps half as well as the old worn out lumpy one did. As for me and my house, we're gonna keep the mattress...

The Escape Fire

2009-06-16T05:55:00.001-07:00

It happened on August 5, 1949. A crew of 18 smoke jumpers jumped on a fire in Mann Gulch, Montana. On the ground they linked up with a park ranger making their total strength 19 men. As they attempted to advance to a safe location near the Missouri River the fire jumped the gulch and cut them off. The crew Foreman, Dutch, a 33 year old veteran firefighter, had gone ahead to scout and discovered the main fire less than 300 yards from them and advancing. He described the fire at that point as being 200 feet deep and over a mile wide burning 15 feet high.

Recognizing the danger and the fact that he and his crew were caught in what he later called a "Death Trap" he surveyed his options. Forest Service doctrine for fighting fires at that time consisted of four options for a crew in his situation. 1) Find safe harbor in water, however the fire was now between them and the river. 2) Back burn to create a fire stop, however the fire was too close for the back burn to have time to create an area big enough to stop the fire. 3) Work your way through the main fire to get to the relative safety behind it, once again, this option was made impossible by the size and mass of the fire. No one could work through 200 feet of solid flames and survive. 4) The final option and the one that Dutch chose for his crew was to head for high ground. Fires have a way of breaking up and weakening at the top of a ridge line where the ground is rocky and there isn't much fuel.

Dutch returned to his crew and ordered them to reverse course, post haste. About 500 yards later he gave his second order, drop all heavy packs and equipment. As Dutch worked his way to the front of the line conveying this message to each man they began to realize the seriousness of their situation. It was only moments later that they began to feel the intense heat of the main fire breathing down their necks. It dawned on each man that he was running a race he might not win. They began to run for their lives. Some were faster than others and what had been a tight little formation became a long ragged line.

Each man had one thought on his mind, to reach the safety of the ridge top. It became their singular fixation blocking out everything else, they were in immanent danger and there was apparent safety at the top of the ridge. There was only one problem, they were still in the timber and they couldn't yet see the top of the ridge. They didn't know how far away it was or even if they had enough time to make it there. Still they ran, uphill, because that had to lead to safety.

Dutch was the first to break from the tree line several yards ahead of his crew. When he stepped out into the dry grass on the hillside, the top appeared to be 200 yards ahead. Dutch realized, in that moment, what no one else knew, there was no way they were all going to make it to the safety of the ridge top. It was then, in an apparent flash of genius, that Dutch had a moment of intuition. Kneeling in the grass he began to light his own fire, ahead of the main fire.

Three of his crew came upon hem, kneeling in the grass lighting a fire. It shouldn't be hard to imagine what they must have thought when they looked across the open hillside and saw their boss playing with matches in the dry grass. One survivor later said, "We thought he must have gone nuts."

Turning to the men Dutch began to try to explain his reasoning. "Come into my fire" he said. But before he could say much more someone said, "I'm going to the top!" And the three men resumed their race to the top. The next 30 seconds was a dramatic scene as Dutch waded out into the flames of his own fire and pleaded with each man that ran by, "Come into my fire." Like the first three, each man was so fixated with reaching the top that they paid him no mind. Finally, time ran out and the main fire hit them with all of its might. Dutch ran into his own fire and flung himself down in its hot ashes as a 200 foot deep burning inferno broke around him. It took 12 minutes for the fire to pass him by. In that time it consumed all of the crew, save two who made it to the ridge top.

Although the Mann Gulch fire occurred early in the history of the Smoke Jumpers, it is still their special tragedy, the one in which their crew suffered almost a total loss and the only one in which their loss came from the fire itself. It is also the only fire any member of the Forest Service had ever seen or heard of in which the foreman got out ahead of his crew only to light a fire in advance of the fire he and his crew were trying to escape. There is now a name for Dutch's fire and it even has it's own place in Forest Service Firefighting doctrine. They call it the Escape Fire. The two survivors later told a review board that if they had understood what Dutch was doing they probably would have joined him in the safety of his fire.

Can I tell you this morning that this world is destined to be consumed by the fire of judgment. You can't outrun it. You are in a race you can't win. We are surrounded, on a day by day basis with people that are going to lose their bid to outrun the fire of Hell. The real tragedy of the situation is the fact that there is a way of escape, but many of those same people have ignored it.

There is a way to escape from the grip of sin. There is an Escape Fire! On the day of Pentecost God poured out a fire of another kind and it is the only means of escape from the fire of judgment that will one day consume this world. I have made up my mind, on this Tuesday morning, that I'm going to do everything I can to ignite an Escape Fire in my city and invite as may people as I can into it. I realize that, just like in the original story, many will ignore my pleas and pass me by in their failed attempt to outrun the wages of sin. But that won't stop me from calling to a world as it runs by, "Come into my fire!" Somewhere, somehow, somebody will hear my cry and escape the thing that is pursuing them. My job is to keep the Escape Fire burning.

Pardon me while I go build a fire...

Unattractive Glory

2009-06-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

In Exodus God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle. This house of worship would become the dwelling place for the glory of God. It was an exquisite building, with a framework of wood overlaid with pure gold. It was concealed behind colorful, costly materials. The tabernacle was adorned with beautiful draperies that, according to scripture, were skillfully embroidered. Its construction was attractive in every way possible.

Only the very best was used to create this tent of meeting where God would commune with man. Moses employed the most skilled of craftsmen. Following the instructions of God, they wrapped the tabernacle in the finest of linens and the purest of gold. They clothed it in royal colors like blue and scarlet and purple. However, the wonder of it all, is that the beauty of what was inside made the coverings pale in comparison.

Within the exquisite finery that covered the tent were riches beyond the wildest imagination. The holy vessels contained therein were composed of pure gold. Beaten into shape by skilled hands, not poured into a mold. They were original pieces. Nowhere on the face of this planet was there any other like them. There were the finest of jewels and the most precious of metals. Everything about the place was exquisite beyond comparison.

But the finest of it all was still concealed beyond the veil. In that holiest of places where the ark of the covenant resided, where the mercy seat was established, beyond the veil was the most precious treasure of them all. God’s glory resided in that segregated area called the Holy of Holies. IT was there that God came down into that place and filled the tent with his own glory. The greatest treasure of the Hebrews wasn’t the gold and jewels that made that place sparkle and shine. It wasn’t the skilled artistry or fine linens. The greatest treasure that they possessed was the glory that resided beyond the veil.

In Exodus 26:14 God commanded Moses to cover all of these unprecedented riches with the basest of materials. He was instructed to cover it all with ram’s skins dyed red and to cover that with badger skins. Badger skins! This was the same leather that was, and still is to this day, used to make sandals for the feet. All of the beauty of the tabernacle was concealed from the eye by a covering of a base, common, valueless material. This remarkable tent was disguised in the unremarkable covering of badger skins. This unique tabernacle that was unlike anything this world had ever seen was completely obscured by the worthlessly common material of choice for sandal makers!

It is unlikely that anyone who looked upon the rough badger skin exterior of the tabernacle could possibly have imagined the riches housed within. Were it not for the cloud by day and the fire by night, no one would have singled out that coarse, unattractive tent as the dwelling place of God. However, housed within the unattractive exterior of that tent was the hope of Israel and the glory of God. It is this striking contradiction that appeals to me today. Beauty concealed in the common. Riches concealed in the ordinary. The glory of the almighty was housed within the confines of the unattractive. God, by design, placed his glory in an unattractive package!

I want you to know, this evening that the Glory of God is often contained in what, to the casual observer, appears to be an unattractive package. On the outside it is base, common and unattractive but when you press beyond the outward facade you will discover that housed within the unattractive is the riches of God’s glory in all of its splendor. There is a lesson to be learned there. Somewhere in the unattractive circumstances of your life, God may be trying to reveal to you His glory.

Consider this. Many years later God invested his glory into a different tabernacle. John 1:1 tells us that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14 tells us that “the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” That word translated as “dwelt” means to fix a tent or a habitation upon. It has alternatively been translated as a verb form of the word tabernacle, meaning God tabernacled among us. The idea conveyed is that, in Christ, the glory of God dwelt. It was as a tent spread over him. John said (in the same verse), “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” In Jesus Christ, God invested his glory into a tabernacle of human flesh.

This is important to me, today, because Isaiah chapter 53 describes this same Jesus. Starting from verse 2, Isaiah described him this way: “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” The same glory that was manifest in the tabernacle was invested into the flesh and blood of the person of Jesus Christ. And, once again, the package was unattractive!

Jesus led a life of persecution and opposition. He was well acquainted with struggles and rejection. He was a man of sorrows and pain, who was no stranger to grief and human frailty. When God robed himself in flesh he surrounded himself with ruin and misery. He lived in the chaos that sin had made of the world. He spent long days doing good, with little thanks for his trouble, and long nights watching in prayer. The hard life that he lived took its toll upon his flesh until the prophet looking through window of time would say that there was no beauty about him that we might even desire him.

Such was the nature of God’s glory in this unattractive package that he accomplished his greatest work by the avenue of a violent, shameful death. When wicked men were through beating him, mocking him, and spitting on him, they nailed him to a cross. Satan laughed gleefully as his body was raised on that old tree. The demons of hell rejoiced as the body containing the glory of the Almighty was marred and disfigured beyond comprehension. The men who saw him hanging there that day would rather hide their faces from him than to behold the brutal horror of his appearance. However, just like with the tabernacle of old, one would never guess that the rough badger skin exterior of the one that hung on that cross was but a covering that housed the Glory of God. God reconciled man to himself and let his glory shine in salvation but obscured it all in the most treacherous and ugly event in the history of the world. Concealed within the pain and agony of the cross was the hope of the whole world! God’s glory was, once again, invested in an unattractive package.

I want to share with you a simple truth about the glory of God. There is a certain quality of God’s glory that is at its best in the midst of the unattractive. There is a certain quality about the glory of God that shines its brightest in adverse circumstances. God does his best work when his glory is wrapped up in the unattractive packages of life. Just ask Daniel, who learned this truth in a lion’s den. Or go ask the three Hebrew children who found this out in the midst of a fiery furnace. God’s grace is most obvious and god’s glory shines the brightest in the crucible of difficult times and troubling situations. Paul and Silas discovered this in a Phillippian jail.

Be careful how you judge the circumstances of your life, God has a way of wrapping his greatest miracles in the fabric of trial and trouble. God has a way of concealing his glory in the base, common, unattractive parts of our lives. When things aren’t going our way, when it seems like the deck is stacked against you, when trial and trouble are your constant companions, get ready because that’s the place where God’s glory really shines in your life. I want you to know, tonight, that God’s glory is no stranger to sickness and suffering, its no stranger to trouble and turmoil. As a matter of fact, it is at its best in the most trying of times!

Paul was afflicted with a thorn in his flesh. You will remember the story, contained in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Paul prayed three times for the Lord to remove this messenger of Satan that continually harassed him. However, God’s only answer was to say, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul was learning an important lesson about the grace of God. Often times when we encounter hardships and trial we seek a means of escape from them. We pray, like Paul did, asking God to take them away. We want God to deliver us by substitution. We want him to substitute health for sickness. We say give me deliverance instead of pain and weakness. But the simple fact of the matter is that sometimes God’s glory comes to us wrapped up in unattractive packages and if he substituted something more attractive to us, we would miss the tru blessing of his glory in our lives.

Sometimes our blessings come through transformation, not substitution. Sometimes this is the only way for God to demonstrate his glory to us. Rather than removing the affliction or problem in our lives, he gives us his grace so that the affliction works for us and not against us. His grace transforms us in the midst of the trial. He doesn't change the problem, instead he changes us. It is in those times that we discover the riches of God’s glory in the most adverse of circumstances. Once Paul grasped this concept he respond to the trial by saying, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” This is where it gets interesting.

The verb “rest” is the same word used by John in John 1:14 and conveys the same image and connection to the tabernacle. As a matter of fact in the Amplified Bible the verse is translated this way: "Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!" Paul was saying, it is in this unattractive circumstance, in this trying time, in this terrible thing that I find that the glory of God has pitched a tent over my life. From the outside it may be unattractive. From the carnal point of view it’s a tragedy. But once I push beyond the veil and get to the heart of the matter I discover the incredible glory of God at work in my life.

Once I got past complaining, once I quit praying for God to take it from me, I discovered that, in my weakness, God was exhibiting his glory. I found the riches of the presence of God, I found that joy unspeakable and peace beyond measure once I pressed through the veil of my suffering and encountered the presence of God. It seemed as if God has cast a tent of badger skins over my life and placed within that unattractive package the immeasurable glory of God! All of a sudden, Paul said, I am “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10 ESV)

I want to encourage you today that God has a plan and a purpose for your life. Even when you find yourself in hardship and trial, even when you find yourself in unattractive places, lift up your eyes and behold the glory of God. Its in those unattractive circumstances that God pitches his tent over your life and overshadows you with his unfathomable glory! When trouble comes, get ready. When sickness overtakes you, get ready. When your enemy rises up against you, get ready. God is just about to demonstrate his incredible grace in your life. You’re going to come out of the other side of the valley with a fresh experience of God’s glory in your life!

I found a good thing!

2009-06-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord," said Solomon in Proverbs 18:22. Today's post is purely personal because sixteen years ago, today, I began to discover what it means to find a good thing and obtain favor from the Lord. God has graciously blessed me with a wonderful wife that is a princess among women and I must say, today, that I am very thankful for the blessing that she has been to my life.

I am sure that, from the time that it was first recorded, Proverbs chapter 31 has been the standard by which wives are measured. In that biblical portrait of a godly wife we find a woman that is far more precious than jewels and is trusted by her husband. "She does him good," Solomon says. (Proverbs 31:12 ESV) I have to say, today that my wife is indeed far more precious than any material thing. Of all the good things I have found in this life, none even begins to compare to my precious wife. I have learned over the years that I can trust her completly, in all things, because she always does right by me.

The portrait of a wife, in Proverbs 31, is not the stereotypical portriat of a housewife. Solomon doesn't portray a woman that is overly overly occupied with dirty dishes and laundry, a woman whose daily life is defined by the demands of her job, her house and her family. Rather, he portrays a strong, dignified, multi-talented, caring woman who is an individual in her own right. She is her husband’s partner, in everything he undertakes. She is the biblical fulfillment of a helpmate. She is what God created Eve to be, the extension -- the completion -- of her husband who is her partner in this life. This is, in every way possible, the kind of wife that God has blessed me with.

Just like the woman that Solomon described, my precious wife has a good head for business as well as the heartfelt sensitivity and compassion to care for and fulfill the needs of other people, often putting their needs, wants and desires ahead of her own. With grace and composure she approaches the challenges each day brings. Her children will ise up, one day, and call her blessed, but, today, I want to say that I love and respect her for her kind, generous and caring nature.

However, with all that she does and all that she is involved in, this precious wife of mine places here walk with God above all else. Her primary concern is God’s will in her life. I have watched her, on many occasions, sacrifice and do without so she could contribute to the work of God. She is a woman after God’s own heart. "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain," Solomon said, "but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." (Proverbs 31:30) This is the kind of wife that I have. She is a godly woman that demonstrates a love for God and a desire to live a life that is pleasing to Him. This, above all else, is the trademark of the woman that Solomon was describing. This is the trait that I cherish above all others.

I have discovered in my life that God has indeed blessed me, beyond my wildest expectations, with a good thing. I cherish the mornings that I get up and discover her open bible on the kitchen table. When I see that open bible, I know that some time during the night she has been up and spent time in prayer for her family. That knowledge, in the whirlwind of this life, is a treasure far greater than any other. To know that my wife is my partner in all that I do and that she stands beside me in prayer.

There is much more that I could say about my precious wife, I have learned that there is wisdom in her words and there have been many occasions that I wished, after the fact, that I had listened more closely to her advice. I am afraid that, in the hustle and bustle of this bsuy life we lead, I may have neglected, on many occasions, to tell her just how precious she is to me. So, today, in front of God and whoever happens to read this post, I want to say that from the bottom of my heart I am thankful for the wonderful lady that God has allowed me to share my life with. She is a woman of virtue, a wonderful mother, a loving wife and the crown jewel of my life.

Sixteen years ago I thought it would be impossible to love my wife any more than I already did. However, from that time to this I have discovered that I knew precious little about what it really meant to love someone. Over the years, through the hardships and victories, I have learned to love my wife in a way I didn't even know was possible. As we celebrate our 16th year together I look to the future with expectation because I know that, with her, I have discovered a love that gets sweeter as the days go by! I look forward to growing old with her by my side.

If I may depart for a momen from scripture I would like to conclude with a nice quote that I read today by none other than the illustrious Dr. Suess. He said, “You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” I want to say to my wife, today, that with you by my side reality is far better than all my dreams! I love you! Happy Anniversiary.

Look Up!

2009-06-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

Several years ago a survivor of the Holocaust named Ernie Marx spoke in southern Indiana to some high school students. He spoke of one of the things that stood out in his memory. "The Germans," he said, "wouldn’t let us look up at the sky. Because if you looked up, that gave you hope. We were not supposed to have hope. I saw many children bloodied beyond belief. Their only crime was that they looked up."

I first read that statement several yeas ago and it stirred my heart. Ernie Marx's tormentors understood that the only way they could break the will of their subjects was to rob them of hope. They also correctly surmised that hope would be derived from "looking up." So they constrained them from ever casing their glance heavenward.

I believe, today, that Hell understands this principle. The enemy of your soul knows that if he can relegate you to the confines of your life and cut you off from heaven, then he can rob you of your hope. When you don't take the time to look heavenward your problems seem bigger. When you get bogged down with everything that is going on down here, the situations in your life seem unmanageable. Your enemy understands that if he can get you so tied up and tangled up in the affairs of day-to-day living that you fail to connect with God then he can rob you of your hope.

Perhaps this is why the Psalmist David said, in Psalm 121, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." I will lift up my eyes, David said, because when I take the time to look up I realize that "my help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." David understood that when he took his eyes off of his current circumstance and took the time to look to heaven he discovered new hope that he wasn't alone in the struggle. As he looked to heaven he came to the conclusion that the one who watches over him neither sleeps nor slumbers. God is aware of my circumstance, David said, and he will preserve my soul.

What an incredible encouragement David found in the simple exercise of lifting up his eyes! This morning I want to challenge you to take the time to look up. For just a few moments you should stop in the midst of your busy schedule and look up. Why don't you take the time to look towards heaven and catch a glimpse of your God? If you do, as you spend a moment in prayer in his presence, you will discover that He is watching over you. As you lift your eyes from your current dilemma and gaze towards heaven you will discover that He is the only source of help that you need.

Those German soldiers had it right. Your true source of hope and encouragement is found by taking the time to look up. Looking to heaven may not change your problems but it will change your outlook. The dark valley will still be there and the storms may not dissipate but your outlook will change. As you look towards the one that watches over you, the one that neither sleeps nor slumbers, you will find hope rising up within you because He's the one that will preserve your soul. When you take the time to look up you come face to face with the One from which you hope comes.

Today, I have a simple word of encouragement. Stop. Take the time to look up this morning. That's where your help is going to come from...

The Crier's Well

2009-06-02T07:25:00.001-07:00

Judges chapter 15 contains the incredible story of Samson's victory that was won with the Jawbone of a donkey. Many of us remember the story from Sunday School of the fight that ends with "heaps upon heaps", a thousand men slain by the jawbone of a donkey. The story itself is a great testimony of the blessing and deliverance of God in the face of, seemingly, insurmountable obstacles.

However, it is the events that immediately follow this story that have caught my attention today. After the battle was over and his weapon had been discarded, Samson was weak, weary and "sore athirst." (Judges 15:18) He was so weak and weary that he felt sure that his great victory was about to be turned into an even greater defeat. He believed that he was about to " die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised."

In many ways I can identify more with the Samson of verse 18 than the Samson that sung his victory song a few verses earlier. I have experienced my great victories and I have stood upon the "hill of the jawbone" (Ramath-lehi means the hill of the jawbone) where God wrought wonderful deliverance out of the ordinary substance of life. Seemingly ordinary things, like jawbones, have resulted in great battles won and victories declared.

However, I often discover myself in the place where Samson found himself after his great victory, weak, weary and thirsty. How quickly the glow of victory fades and the harsh reality of life sets in. How quickly the Sunday Night shout is transformed into a Monday morning struggle. I have been there many times. More often than I could ever tell, distress comes on the heels of victory. Trial sometimes seems to follow triumph. Perhaps that's where you are this morning. If so, I believe I have a word from the Lord that will comfort you.

When Samson found himself thirsty, in verse 18, he called upon the Lord. What happened next was even more incredible than the victory that was wrought with the jawbone of a donkey. The next verse says that "God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw." Apparently you can interpret that in several different ways. The King James Version seems to lend itself to the idea that God clave a place in the jawbone that Samson had discarded, other translations lean more towards the idea that God clave a place in some prominent feature of the land where Samson was. To argue the point will only serve to distract from the real truth of the matter. The truth is that God made a way, by miraculous means, in an unlikely place to produce a lasting spring of water to satisfy Samson's thirst and revive his spirit.

When Samson felt like he was dying of thirst. When he felt like he was going to be overcome by his enemies. When his circumstances seemed to be about to overwhelm him. Samson cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard his cry and answered with springs of life-giving water. "And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived." (Judges 15:19 ESV) Samson then named the place En-hakkore which means the Crier's Well. The name is, in and of itself, a testimony. Its Samson's way of saying, "I cried out to the Lord and he heard my cry and answered with springs of water."

It is the next phrase of verse 19 that got me excited this morning. There is a place of refreshing called "The Crier's Well" that according to Judges 15:19 exists "in Lehi unto this day." Lehi is the place where the Philistines assembled to capture Samson. Lehi is located in the lowlands of southwestern Judah. It was the valley that was supposed to be the end of Samson. It was the valley that was supposed to destroy him. It was the valley where the enemy intended to bind him and rob him of his victory. Lehi was intended to be a place of defeat.

The literal meaning of Lehi is somewhat uncertain. According to Harper’s Bible Dictionary, some translators read "in a troop" for Lehi. Kind of sounds like the place where David was when he said, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." (Psalm 23:5) Samson was in Lehi, in the midst of a troop, in a place intended to be his undoing. Yet, it was in that place that God provided springs of refreshing. And, to me, the most wonderful truth of the scripture is that the spring is still there today!

When you find yourself weak and weary, when you find yourself dying of thirst, there exists a spring in Lehi. When you are surrounded by a troop, when you are in a valley of defeat, there is a spring of refreshing in Lehi. It is called "The Crier's Well", and it's still available to you if you will but cry out to the Lord. There’s still a well that will revive the spirit that is revealed to you when you cry out to God from the midst of your dilemma. It is the crier's well. And it’s still there, to this very day.

I want to encourage you this morning to find the rest that exists in the middle of the battle. I want to encourage you this morning to drink from the well that exists in the lowlands of your life. I want to remind you that there is a crier's well. When you cry out to God your cry releases the flow of heaven's life giving, living water that revives you in the midst of the valley. I hope you find it this morning and drink deeply from the criers well...

Losing Sight of the Reason

2009-06-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Today's post concerns something that happened last summer. I was diligently working away at my latest “project”, an old boat that I was “fixing up” for my boys and me to use last summer. I picked it up in a very "used" condition and promised my wife, “This will be a GREAT summer project for me and the boys (they were 7 and 9 years old at the time) to work on this summer.”

I enthusiastically launched into the project, enumerating the many things that needed to be done and working out a plan of attack. Over the next few days I worked diligently, utilizing every moment of daylight afforded to me each evening. I repaired the winch, installed a trailer jack, added new brake lights, performed various other minor repairs/replacements and rewired the whole thing. Finally, I got tags for the boat and trailer and decals to put the registration number in the appropriate place on the side of the boat.

I was pretty pleased with myself that evening as I surveyed my handiwork. While the project was not yet complete, the first phase would be complete as soon as the registration number was applied. My boys and I would then be able to take her out for the first of many fishing excursions that coming Saturday. I settled into the task, working diligently to insure that each number and letter was lined up perfectly.

That’s when it happened. My precious wife stopped by to check on my progress. “It looks great.” She said, and I beamed in pride. But she didn’t stop there. What she said next took the wind from my sails, “I thought this was a project that you AND the boys were going to be working on, together.”

As she walked away I sat for a moment and pondered the thought that, in my desire to make sure everything was done in precisely the right manner I had overlooked the entire “reason” for the project. This was supposed to be about spending some quality time with my boys. This was supposed to be about teaching them life skills that would be valuable to them as they grow into young men. Yet somehow, in the desire to do my best, I left behind the most important part…

About that time my seven year old walked up and asked to help. My first thought was, oh no! These need to be neat and straight. Everyone will see them. There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t let my 7 year old put them on… However, I was surprised to hear myself saying, “Sure son, you can help. Go ahead and put the next number on.”

For the next few moments my son and I spent some valuable time together which, in reality, was the impetus for taking on this project in the first place. We laughed and worked together as he endeavored to prove to me that he could, indeed, put the numbers on straight.

I learned a valuable lesson, again, that day. The time I spend with my children is precious and priceless. If you see my boys and me in our boat you might notice that some of the numbers are a little crooked or wrinkled but strangely, I’m OK with that. You see, we did this project together. And that matters more to me than the wrinkled and crooked letters. Furthermore, in the coming weeks we need to paint the old boat, install some seats, and finish a few other odds and ends things. I’m going to warn you ahead of time that the paint job isn’t going to be perfect because I plan on letting my boys do as much of the painting as they want to. After all, this is OUR project!

I also learned another lesson in all of this. Sometimes it’s so easy to get so caught up in the details of what we are doing that we lose sight of the purpose. Even in our ministry, if we aren’t careful, we can get so bogged down with the business of the church that we lose sight of what the church is all about. There is, after all, a compelling reason that motivated each of us to embrace the ministry. This morning I want to challenge you to take a few moments and reacquaint yourself with "why" you are doing what you do. Sometimes, in our desire to do our best, if we aren’t careful, we can leave out the most important part…

A Commencement Address

2009-05-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to be the commencement speaker at a graduation tonight for a local Christian School. Today I'm posting that address because, while it ministers to the graduate, I sincerely believe that it will also minister to your life.

I want to congratulate our graduate tonight. I celebrate, with you, the fact that you have completed a portion of your life. You have achieved an accomplishment of great value. As you receive your diploma, tonight, you can stand proud in the fact that you have finished something. You have completed the course. It has been a year of new beginnings, a year where you became both a charter member and a graduate of a newly reborn school. It is fitting that, in this year of new things, you are embarking on a new phase of your life.

As you close the door on High School, a door swings open to the rest of your life. Until now, your steps have been mandated by others. Until now, you had no real choices about what school you would attend or what field you would study. However, you are now starting a new era in your life. Moving forward you will be faced with many decisions. A whole world of possibilities is opening up before you. My friend, this evening we are standing on the horizon of your future.

It is a future that will largely be shaped by you. Your decisions, your choices, your work ethic, these are the things that will shape your future. I’m certain, tonight, that, from your point of view, the future looks good. I’m sure that you have high hopes and big dreams for yourself. I want you to know that I believe in you, the people gathered here tonight believe in you. We believe that you can change the world. We believe that your life can make a difference in this world. We hope with you for great things, amazing accomplishments, and a secure future.

However as we stand here together and gaze into the brilliant future that stands before you I want to share a little reality with you. As bright as the future looks right now, I can tell you with certainty that there will be dark days ahead. As inviting as it is now, I know from experience that somewhere over the horizon there is a storm brewing that will endeavor to destroy you. I wish I could tell you that, after High School, the rest of your life is a bed of roses, but it isn’t. I wish I could tell you that it will all be sunshine and smiles, but it won’t. Just as surely as I’m standing here right now life is gonna throw you a curveball or two.

There are going to be moments that try your faith, trials that dim your spirit, and struggles that sap your strength. I don’t mean to be the herald of bad news and it isn’t my purpose tonight to simply rain on your parade. I want you to know that there will be discouraging times ahead because I have a word from the Lord tonight that will help carry you through those times. When life is tiring, when you are struggling with your flesh, when bills aren't paid, when work is exhausting, when life is demanding, and when the future becomes unsure, I want you to remember this night. I want you to remember a commencement speaker that shared a special verse of scripture with you.

In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord declared (ESV) "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I want you to know this evening that God has plans for you. He has a plan for your life. This is the message that I need to convey to you tonight. Your life isn’t at the whim of circumstance and chance. Your future isn’t going to be determined by the economy or political situations. Certainly these are difficult times and it is likely that their impact will last many years, however, God has placed you here, at this time in your life, in this current climate for a reason.

Tonight, you’ve got to understand this. Your life isn’t governed by random circumstance. God has a plan for you and you can trust in his plan. His plan is to bless you. His plan is to prosper you. His plan may lead through some difficult valleys. His plan may take you through some turbulent storms. But his plan is for your good. His plan is to give you hope and a future. His plan is to take you where you truly need to go.

God has a plan for your life. It is this simple knowledge that gives the ability to trust the Lord and walk where he leads. Perhaps that's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that "we walk by faith, not by sight." Because, if we understand that God has a plan for our lives, then we also understand that we can’t always trust what we see and understand. Sometimes God's plan is going to take us in directions that, if we heeded our own understanding, we would never choose to go. Sometimes he's going to lead us into things that we, according to our own understanding, would do all that we could to avoid. However, the simple truth of the matter is that the road that leads us into God's plan for our lives will sometimes lead us through dry wells and barren wildernesses.

The only way to survive the journey is to learn that you can trust in the Lord. Tonight, as one who has walked this road a few years before you, I want to encourage you tonight with this simple truth, God has a plan for your life and you can trust his plan! His plan is to prosper you, not to harm you. His plan is to give you hope and a future. This, above all else, is the message you need to get tonight. You need to settle it in your heart. No matter what you face, no matter where this life takes you. God has a plan for you!

In light of that simple truth I want to give you a few pieces of instruction to help you stick with God’s plan for your life. First, understanding that your life is ordered by God’s divine plan, if you are going to follow that plan then you must know and love God. My first piece of advice for your journey is this: Get to know God. Get closer to him than you’ve ever been. As you grow older and walk through more difficult times your relationship with God is going to become increasingly important to you, nurture it now. Develop a relationship with him and a love for him because the faith that allows you to trust in his plan for your life springs from your relationship with him.

Secondly, worship God. The main thing that you will do in heaven is worship God. I truly believe that you need to get in the habit of practicing while you are down here. Don’t let life get in your way, don’t let yourself get too busy to worship. And remember this, worship is more than what we do on Sunday mornings. It’s more than music, the message and prayers. Worship is an on-going relationship with God. It’s a lifestyle, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whatever you plan on becoming after tonight, first and foremost, make it a point to become a worshiper. Remember this, God will move heaven and earth for a worshiper. And there are going to be times when you need him to do just that.

Third. Make church a major priority in your life. Many young people come to the place where you are now and discard their faith. In so doing they walk away from more than just the support structure of the church, they abandon God’s plan for their life as well. Many new things are going to be coming your way in the coming weeks and months. You are going to embrace new decisions and a new direction for your life. But, whatever you do, don’t relinquish your place in the church. You will need the fellowship of the body of Christ along the way. It may not seem so important right now but, mark my words, the day will come when your relationship with the church will be the thing that carries you through dark storms.

Part of God’s plan for your life is to make you a part of his family. His family, in this current world, is embodied in the church. Make yourself a part of a church family. Make the church a central part of your life. Become active in your local fellowship. This is important because you were never meant to go through life alone. Someone got it right, years ago, when they said that no man is an island. No man can make it alone. So God created a spiritual family. The church is a major part off God’s plan for our world and it is a major part of his plan for your life. Become an active part of it. Your spiritual family will not supplant your natural family but it will compel you and carry you through places where your natural family will not be able to go with you.

Finally, as you make choices that will impact your future determine to find God’s purpose for your life. This is the most important thing that you will do because it’s the source of true contentment in this life. There is nothing quite like knowing that you are walking in God’s will for your life. This happens when you live your life with an awareness of God’s purpose for you. You are going to find yourself, in coming months, worrying about an education and a career choice. Those things are important but they will never give you the complete satisfaction that you desire unless they are combined with a sense of God’s purpose for your life.

God has a plan for you. God uniquely shaped you in a certain way to make a certain contribution with your life. Make it your goal to find out what God’s purpose is for you. When you do that, your career choice will be easier, the decisions about education will be easier, because it all works in harmony with God’s purpose for your life. Tonight you will graduate from High School, but somewhere down the road you will graduate from this life. When you do, nothing is going to matter more than the fact that you have walked in God’s purpose for your life. You won’t carry your career, or your education, into eternity. But, if you find God’s purpose for your life and walk in it, His purpose will carry you to Heaven.

Tonight you graduate into a world of uncertainties. As one man said, great opportunities surround you but they are disguised as unsolvable problems. I believe, tonight, that you will conquer the obstacles and make an impact on your world. I believe this because I know that God has a plan for you. And his plan is to prosper you. His plan is good. Find it and walk in it. That’s the key to true happiness in this life.

Faith That Preserves The Soul

2009-05-26T15:58:00.001-07:00

It seems that, for several weeks now, I have been drawing from the same well. With very few exceptions the time I spend in fellowship with the Lord has resulted in inspiration in the area of faith. This past weekend, while pursing what I believed was an unrelated thought, God led me into another facet of the whole subject that should have been obvious all along but had managed to remain concealed to me. The scripture that I was using for my text led me to a study of the myriad of Hebrew words translated as hope in the Old Testament. I discovered in the course of that study that the common thread between all those words is the fact that they reference a faith that is directed towards the future.

Hope is, simply put, forward facing faith. It is hope that invites us to look ahead in confident expectation. Hope rises up and says that the current circumstances are not final. Hope declares to us that this is not the end of the story. No matter how bad things may get or how contrary the evidence may be, it is hope that refuses to lose heart. According to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 it sees te momentary affliction as a transient, temporal, passing thing. Hope, according to verse 18, "looks not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."

This forward facing faith that peers into the future looking for the fulfillment of a promise is, after all, the essence of hope. Paul said, in Romans 8:24-25, that hope that is seen is not hope at all. Rather, hope reaches for what it does not, even can not, see. This is what hope really is. It is an intense optimism of the spirit that refuses to relinquish the belief that a better future is just ahead. It strives, with all that it has, for that which has not yet been realized. It tops the mountain and gazes across the valley with the firm belief that the destination lies just across the way. It will not give up and it will not back up. Hope is thoroughly convinced that the promise that hasn't yet come to pass, is just about to be realized. It invests itself, fully, in what it cannot presently see.

Perhaps this is why Paul said, in Romans 8:24, "for in this hope we are saved." Because our salvation relies on this hope. Paul said that we groan inwardly and wait eagerly, in anticipation of the promise that we have only heard of but have never seen. There is a significant longing of the pirit that manifests itself in hope that propells us towards heaven's open door. Every person that is saved will possess within their being this fervent hope that declares, this world is not my home. It is a hope that is constantly striving for a city whose builder and maker is God. It is a hope that propells the sinner form the pew to the alter, it is a hope that persuades the bound to leave their habits behind and pursue a better way, it is a hope that persuades men and women to lay down their lives and lal they have and reach for that which they can only see through the eyes of faith.

The greatest challenge to this kind of hope is the tendency, that we all possess, to get bogged down in the present circumstance. Today's affairs, today's circumstances, today's problems and doubts and fears will attempt to entangle and entrap you and rob you of your hope. If we aren't careful we will allow the circumstances of this life to temper our hope. I want to encourage you today to make a conscious effort to keep hope alive in your heart. If we aren't careful our faith may become jaded and our hope may dim. Life will give us every opportunity to turn back, to shrink away from the promise of God. With this in mind, the writer of Hebrews said, in Hebrews 10:39, "we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."

I feel compelled today to remind you that there is a faith, born of hope, that preserves the soul. When the things of this life would damage and destroy you, hope rises up and preserves the soul. When trouble and tragedy would diminish your fervor, hope looks to the future and propels you on. There is a preserving hope that results in a persistent faith that refuses to give up and toss in the towel. Perhaps this is why Paul says, in the next verse (11:1), that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the assurance of the thing that you can only hope for, it is the conviction of the thing that has not yet been seen. That's the kind of faith that preserves the soul, it endures the moment but strives for the promise.

God Has A Plan...

2009-05-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

In the authoritative voice of a man anointed by God, Jeremiah spoke of judgment for Israel but he also spoke of promise. After pronouncing the terrible captivity that was to come he proceeded to share in Jeremiah 29:11 that the Lord had declared "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." This afternoon this scripture was prompted to my mind out of the blue and God spoke to my heart as only he can. The thought was simple but powerful, "I have a plan for you!"

God has a plan for me. He has a plan for you as well. And his plan, the prophet reminded us, is to prosper us, not to harm us. His plan is to give us hope and a future. I don't know about you but I am excited today by the simple yet profound knowledge that God has a plan and a purpose for me!

I know what you're thinking. So what's new? I've known all along that God had a plan for me. I've known all along that God was directing my paths. Yes, me too. But there' something about that sudden confirmation that can only come from a heavenly experience. There's something about realizing that God knows right where I am and He has a plan for my life.

His plan may lead through some difficult valleys, his plan may take me through some turbulent storms, but his plan is for my good. His plan is to give me hope and a future. His plan is taking me where I truly need to go. It is this simple knowledge that gives the ability to trust the Lord and walk where he leads.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, David said, I know that you are with me! There's something about knowing that God is with you, that makes even the most difficult of places a comfort to the soul instead of a terror to the flesh. Pardon me if it's too elementary for you, but I just want to celebrate the fact, today, that God has a plan for me!

God has a plan. That's good enough for me. Lead on, precious Lord. Where you lead, I'll gladly follow...

The Day That Nothing Happened...

2009-05-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

It was just an ordinary day. It was a day like any other day. It was incredibly, boringly normal. The sun came up on the eastern horizon and settled down in the west. The usual business was conducted, normal people went about their normal lives with no real notable events taking place. It was just another run-of-the-mill day. One single day in a monotonous week, buried in a normal month, hidden in a year full of such days. It was just another date on a calendar. It was probably a day just like today, a plain old ordinary day.

As a matter of fact, the day was so unremarkable that England's ruling monarch, George III, reportedly wrote in his journal that "Nothing of importance happened today." That pretty well summed it up. The affairs of state had been seen to, the political wheels had continued to turn, the business of a nation had been conducted and nothing of any real importance had occurred on that simple, unassuming, ordinary day.

However, on the day that nothing happened the wold was completely changed. Future days, months and years would bear witness to the monumental change that occurred on that quiet, ordinary day. In retrospect, it was a day that would shape the future of nations. It was a day that would forever impact human society. It was the day that freedom was born and liberty was declared. That day was July 4, 1776, and it was the day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. What an incredible day!

As I read the words written by King George earlier today it caused the wheels to begin to turn in my mind. It was a day just like this one. How many times do we take fore granted the gift of another normal day? How many times do we look around our seemingly normal lives in the midst of an average day and label it as unimportant, as a day when nothing of any importance is going to take place?

I want to remind you today that it was on a day just like this that this nation was born. The repercussions of that event have framed the worlds history from that day to this. It was on a day just like this that roman centurion became the first of many Gentiles to be filled with the wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost. That day the gospel was demonstrated to be for the Jew and the Gentile alike and you and I become benefactors of the promise of God. It was on a day just like this that Stephen was stoned to death. That day was forever burned into the memory of the man who would later be used of God to deliver much of the New Testament to us. It was on a day just like this that a preacher decided to start holding revival meetings in an abandoned livery stable on Azusa Street.

Today may feel like an ordinary day. It may seem to be destined to be a day during which nothing of any importance will take place. However, I feel impressed to nudge your spirit today and remind you that it will be on a day like this that a chance meeting will plant the seed for the revival that will transform your city. It will be on a day like this that a spiritual foothold will be gained that will lead to a revival that will change the face of an entire region. It will be on a day like this that he will split the eastern sky.

It may seem like an ordinary day but "this is the day which the Lord has made." (Psalm 118:24) This is a day that was divinely ordained for your life. This is a day that God planned for you before you even woke up this morning. Don't make the mistake of writing this day off as just another ordinary day. Today is full of promise. Today is full of opportunity. God has good things in store for you today.

I can't help but wonder today what kind of fruit tomorrow will bear from what happened in our lives today. How will this single, simple, ordinary day shape the coming weeks and months of our lives? Who will you talk to today? Who will watch you from a distance? Who will be touched by your example today? What open door will god place in your life today? What opportunity will present itself in the disguise of a day where nothing of any importance happened?

Indeed, this IS the day that God has made for you. Don't waste it, don't over look it and don't underestimate it. God has a purpose for this simple ordinary day...

Trust in the Lord...

2009-05-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

Solomon, in his profound wisdom instructed us to trust in the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5) Trust is a very difficult thing to truly exhibit. To trust someone else you must first relinquish your trust in yourself. This is exceedingly difficult for us humans. Many times the lessons that life has taught us have led us to the conclusion that the only person we can truly trust is ourselves.

However, as it is with many of our carnal conclusions, nothing could be further from the truth. The Lord is the only one that we can truly trust, even above ourselves. The problem is that true trust in him is often a last resort for us. Like the woman with the issue of blood, we tend to exhaust every possible avenue available to us before we finally place our full trust in the Lord.

Why is this? Mainly because we have a predisposition to trust in what we can see and feel. We have been conditioned to trust our natural senses. We use them to define our world as well as our possibilities and impossibilities. In many cases we have simply learned that it is safest to walk by sight. We have learned that we can trust what we see and understand. We have learned that it is safest to sail in waters that allow us to keep the shore in sight.

However, the wisdom of Proverbs declares, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5 ESV) What a difficult piece of instruction! Not only are we commanded to trust the Lord rather than our own ability, we are also admonished not to trust our own understanding.

Solomon has directed us to subjugate our senses to our faith in God. Trust the Lord, he declares, beyond, or even in spite of, your own understanding. Ignore what you can see, or understand, and trust in the Lord. Ignore what the balance sheet says and trust God. Ignore what the doctor says and trust God. Ignore what the lawyers may say and trust in the Lord. Ignore what the economy declares and place your trust in God. What a powerful admonition. It's much easier to write it, however, than it is to live it.

The bottom line is that the instruction to trust the Lord is very difficult to assimilate into our own realities. However, the record of both history and the scriptures bear evidence to the fact that when we ignore this simple wisdom bad things are prone to happen. Trust is not an easy thing. But it is a necessary part of our walk with God. Only by trust can we truly walk in the places that he has determined for our lives.

Abraham was promised a child after his own understanding told him it was too late for he and Sarah to have children. Abraham fell prey to the tendency to trust our own understanding over the word of the Lord. He came to the conclusion that he needed to help God out. The next move that Abraham made caused him to father a problem instead of a promise. Because he failed to trust the Lord, he set in motion a struggle that continues to plague our world even to this day. All because he trusted what he could understand instead of trusting the Lord.

Perhaps that's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that "we walk by faith, not by sight." This is the key to following God's will and way in your life. Sometimes he's going to take us in directions that, if we heeded our own understanding, we would never choose to go. Sometimes he's going to lead us into things that we, according to our own understanding, would do all that we could to avoid. However, the simple truth of the matter is that the road that leads us into God's will for our lives sometimes leads through dry wells and barren wildernesses. How will we ever survive those journeys unless we learn, perhaps somewhere along the way, to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts, and not to lean on our own understanding.

That's where I find myself today. Trusting in the Lord. Walking by faith. Knowing in my heart that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD." (Psalm 37:23 ESV) So, today, I press on...

What Manner Of Man Was He?

2009-05-14T06:37:00.001-07:00

In Matthew 8 Jesus and his disciples get on a boat to travel to the other side of the sea. When they got out to sea tragedy struck, a great storm arose on the sea and the boat was being swamped by waves. The disciples, many of whom were skilled fishermen and veterans of the sea, became afraid for their live. However, in the middle of the storm that was terrorizing them, Jesus was asleep. He who was peace found peace even in a stormy situation.

They went to him and woke him saying, “Save us Lord; we are going to die.” He promptly responded, “Why are you afraid, O ye of little faith?” He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. Everything fell still at the sound of his voice and peace settled in where only moments before a storm had raged. Shocked and no doubt somewhat surprised, the disciples, according to scripture marveled and said, “What manner of man is this? Even the winds and the seas obey him!”

I find it somewhat interesting that those who would eventually know him best were faced with the same question that would later haunt the minds of the multitudes who would come into contact with him and those in authority that would condemn him. A Roman soldier would one day stand at the foot of his cross and marvel that this, without a doubt, was surely the son of God. But here we find the disciples, those that will learn the answer to the question much better than anyone else, asking among themselves, “What manner of Man is this?”

I find a challenge in that question because the manner of man that he was is the manner of man that I must strive to be. I think it would be a good exercise for every man to measure themselves against the answer to that question. What manner of man was he? When I formulate an answer to that question I set a goal to strive for. Because, the manner of man that he was is the manner of man that I must strive to be!

A Timely Anointing

2009-05-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

Timing. So many times in our lives the difference between success and failure is timing. In the grand scheme of things there is no consolation prize for doing the right thing at the wrong time. Therefore, it is absolutely critical in our lives that we not only walk in sync with the will of God but that we maintain step with the timing of God. The fact remains that it is one thing to know the will of God but it is another thing, altogether, to know the timing of God. And I believe that when you get the two in sync there exists a special, powerful anointing that comes upon you when you are pursuing the will of God and are in tune with the timing of God.

If you stop to consider it you will quickly come to the conclusion that God is precise and timely. When he created all that is he measured a span of time to operate in and designated specific creative moves for specific days in his time line. Creation was in tune with a timing ordained by God. Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh, told his own mother at the wedding in Canaan, "My hour is not yet come." (John 2:4) His ministry was in tune with a timing. There was a plan and a purpose to what he was doing. When the time was right he would stand in the tabernacle and read from the book of Isaiah. When he finished he would state, with all the authority of heaven, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:21)

This day. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. This day. The time was finally right, this was the day that was ordained in the plan of God. I don't believe we can overstate the importance of timing. Many people miss God’s timing and as a result they miss God's anointing on their life. I believe that when you are in step with God's will and God's timing that there is a special anointing to accomplish the task at hand.

Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait. Waiting is one of the hardest things to do. None of us likes to wait. But, when God says wait, you better wait. We mess things up when we try to rush God. If you don't believe me, go ask Abraham. The waiting was incredibly important because the promise wasn't going to come until God's timetable was fulfilled.

He told them in Acts 1:8 you shall receive power. I’m gonna do it -- at a specific time. Jesus could have said, get ready, here it is. I’m going to empower you now. Have a prayer meeting right here and I’ll pour out the Holy Ghost. Here it is. It’s yours. Now go change the world. But instead he said, "Wait."

Acts 2 starts with the declaration that the day of Pentecost was fully come. God's timetable was built around the foreshadowing of the Old Testament. God was waiting for a specific day during which to pour out the promise. And, when the time was right, God opened the windows of heaven. Perhaps you have been waiting a long time for a promise of God to be fulfilled in your life. Perhaps you've labored a long time without seeing the results that your faith declares that you are going to see. I want to remind you this morning that God's going to come through when his time is right.

I hear the words of Galatians 6:9 echoing through the eons of time: "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." In due season. When the time is right we are going to reap the harvest that God has promised. The time is coming and if we don't faint from the waiting we will reap with rejoicing!

Straining Toward the Goal: I Press...

2009-05-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Paul said, in one of his most memorable declarations (Philippians 3:14), "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." I press on, towards the the goal, he said. I press for a mark that I have not yet obtained. I press for some promise, some blessing, some prize that I have seen on the distant horizon but haven't yet obtained.

As a matter of fact if we back up a few verses we will find the author of much of the New Testament declaring, with passion, that he has not yet obtained that which he is pressing for. Brethren, he says, "I do not count myself as having obtained what I'm striving for. But this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press..." (Philippians 3:13 ESV)

I press. I believe this forward driven stance, this perpetual straining towards some future promise, is a biblical trait of an apostolic church. Paul said, I'm straining forward. I'm reaching. I'm striving. I'm pressing. I'm putting some effort into this thing. I'm straining towards my promise. We wonder, sometimes, why revival tarries. We wonder sometimes why we aren't seeing a breakthrough. I'm afraid that we spend too much time waiting for it and not enough effort straining towards it.

Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait. Wait for the promise. Wait for God to pour out an apostolic anointing. The disciples did exactly what they were instructed to do. They went to the upper room to wait. But there is some defining characteristic of that book of Acts church that always turns a waiting room into a birthing room. They didn't sit back on their haunches and talk about the weather. They didn't kick around the various political issues of the day. They found a place of prayer and they pressed.

This is their idea of waiting for the promise. They pressed their way into it. They strained towards the thing that God had promised he would do. When the day of Pentecost was fully come they were found reaching for the promise. They were found pressing their way into the presence of God. They were found straining towards the prize.

The prophet declared in Isaiah 66:8 that "as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." This my friend has long been recognized as the barrier to revival, but let me restate it once more. It will be the travailing, the pressing, the straining, the pushing that produces the results that the church is hungry for. It will be that insatiable desire to obtain the promises of God, to reap the harvest that God has promised, to experience the end time revival that scripture declares.

It is the pressing that will produce the promise. In light of that, I have made up my mind to press like I have never pressed before!

I press...

Forward Facing Faith: Simeon

2009-05-08T07:17:00.001-07:00

The second chapter of Luke contains an often overlooked story about a man named Simeon. We don't know a lot about Simeon but we do know that he spent his days in the temple in prayer, worship and humble expectation that one day he would see what he had only perceived in his faith. His passionate pursuit of a promise was fueled by the fact that the Holy Ghost had revealed to him that he would not see death before he first beheld the Christ.

I wonder, this morning, how many times do fail to listen as the Holy Ghost whispers promises to us of things that are yet to come. I wonder how many times in our lives do we allow all the background noise of our lives to drown out the small still voice of the spirit that speaks of better things to our souls? How many times do we actually hear the voice of the spirit trying to persuade us that God is going to bring a promise to pass but, instead of pursuing the promise, we allow doubt to rob us of the promise?

Today I want to place the spotlight on Simeon. He's a relatively small player in the grand scheme of the New Testament. He has a bit role and only a few verses are used to sum up his whole contribution to the story of the life and death of Jesus Christ. But Simeon was a man of great faith. He was a man who heard a promise in his spirit and he saw it through eyes of faith. He was a man who possessed a faith that pressed for a promise that had not yet come to pass. A faith that compelled him to spend his days in the temple in prayer and worship, watching and waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. I don't believe he was shocked when Mary and Jesus came into the temple. While he was overtaken by joy, I don't believe that he was overtaken by surprise.

I believe that, as he took the Christ from his mother's arms, he was going through motions that he had rehearsed many times over in his mind's eye. I believe that the moment when Jesus was carried into his life was a moment that he had already recognized because of the perception of his faith. Because of a tenacity of faith that refused to relinquish hope in what the spirit had promised, he saw his promise come to pass. I submit to you that it was this forward facing faith that compelled him to heed the directing of the spirit to be in the temple on that particular day.

I want to cultivate that kind of faith in my life. Faith that will recognize the fulfillment of the promises of God in my life as something that has already been seen and recognized through the perception of faith. I want to have the kind of faith that looks beyond the current circumstance and physical distractions and see, inhope, what god is getting ready to do. Even as Simeon saw what he had only perceived in his spirit become a reality, the spirit continued to speak to Simeon and through his eyes of faith he saw things that would never come to pass in his life time.

As he held the culmination of his promise in his hands, he gazed into the eyes of his savior and peered, once again, into the future through eyes of faith. When Simeon held Jesus his natural eyes saw a baby being presented at the temple in accordance with the law. But his faith saw salvation! When Simeon said, in Luke 2:30, "My eyes have seen your salvation" he was talking about more than what his natural eyes had perceived. Forward facing faith perceived what could only be seen through the prism of promise. He looked upon that baby Jesus through the lens of the prophet Isaiah's words. Faith looked forward to a day when the bondage of sin would be broken. Faith proclaimed what the spirit had spoken to him, this child I hold is the Christ!

As Simeon held Jesus in his arms his faith perceived what John would later declare. He saw a light that had shined in the darkness. He saw more than a child, he saw the light that would bring revelation to the Gentiles. This forward facing faith of Simeon looked beyond even the salvation of his own and saw a salvation that was to be extended to whosoever will! That's the kind of faith I'm talking about, a faith that is always looking forward to the better things that God is getting ready to do.

Simeon's whole life, up to that moment, had been lived in pursuit of the promise that he would see the Christ. However, as he held his promise, his faith looked forward to a greater future and latched onto a promise that would outlive him. I believe that Simeon died in faith, looking forward to a promise that was yet to be fulfilled. I am reminded of Hebrews 1:13 which declares that, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

This is the kind of faith I'm talking about. Faith that sees the promise afar off. Faith that is fully persuaded of a promise that has only been seen on the distant horizon of hope. Faith that embraces and clings to the promise of better things that are yet to come. This, my friend, is the quality of faith that I want to cultivate in my life. It's a continual expectancy that God still has better things in store for my life, for my family, for my church, and for my city. I don't know about you this morning but I am persuaded to embrace what my heart has only seen through faith and press towards the promise with all that I have!

Forward Facing Faith: Part 3 -- BlindSight

2009-05-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

The visual cortex is responsible for processing visual information. In the 1960s, Cambridge psychologists removed this part of the brain from a monkey named Helen. Amazingly, they found that Helen was able to gradually develop her visual response until her “sight” was nearly as good that of a healthy monkey. The phenomenon was later confirmed in humans: A patient with a damaged visual cortex “could still guess the position and shape of objects,” although strangely, he insisted he couldn’t see. His eyes still worked, but only on an unconscious level. The researchers termed this unconscious vision “BlindSight.”

BlindSight is defined by the Oxford Concise Dictionary as "a condition in which the sufferer responds to visual stimuli without consciously perceiving them." It describes a phenomenon where a person who has lost the part of the brain that interprets vision and is, by their own acknowledgment completely blind, responds to visual stimulation that is, apparently, perceived on a subconscious level. It describes a vision that responds to things it can't see.

This, my friend, is the core of forward facing faith. It is a faith that seeks results beyond what it can see and understand. It is a faith that, because it dares to seek what it can't see, brings into being that which was only hoped for. Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said, in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith provides substance to those things that are not seen, those things that are only hoped for.

I recently heard an amazing story about a man who was born blind. He lived his whole life blind. He grew up and fell in love. He and his sweetheart got married and had children. He lived a completely normal life with the one exception: He was blind.

Late in life his doctor read some developing research and performed some tests on the man. To make a long process short, they learned what was causing the blindness. And they told the man that they could perform an operation that would restore his sight. After a life lived in complete blindness he agreed to allow them to perform the somewhat experimental surgery.

The day came and the doctors performed wonders in their surgical procedure. When it was finished and they unwrapped his eyes, to the surprise of both the man and his wife, he was able to see. For the first time in his life, he could really see. However, the more astonishing fact was that he immediately recognized his wife. He knew who she was without being told. When his kids came into the room he knew them before they spoke, without any form of identification. Even though he had never seen them in his life.

When the doctors became curious and began to ask questions he told them that he recognized them because over the years, even though he couldn't see them, he had perceived what they looked like. Countless times he had used his hands to memorize the facial features of those that he loved until he developed a perception in his mind of what they looked like.

The phenomenon wasn't limited to his children. When they walked out of the hospital he was able to identify things he had never seen before. That's a fire hydrant he said, because he had stopped to rest many times next to a fire hydrant and felt of it with his hands. As he was walking there were things that he saw that he recognized because he had stopped along the way before, when he was blind, and felt of those things. Now he was able to recognize them when he saw them. He recognized things because he had perceived them in his mind. All along he had been extending his imagination to perceive what he had not yet seen.

This is what faith is all about, extending your vision beyond what your eyes can see. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "We walk by faith, not by sight." The problem with sight is that it tends to obscure faith. If we aren't careful we will allow the vision of faith to be blocked by what we see with our natural eyes. If we aren't careful we will allow what the doctor says to rob us of our promise. If we aren't careful we will allow what the newspaper says to rob us of our faith. If we aren't careful we will allow the naysayers around us to convince us that this is as good as it gets. Friend, can I tell you this morning, that it is time to extend your vision beyond what you can see. It is time for BlindSight, that vision that reaches for something that is yet unseen.

It's the vision of faith that compels us to reach for what we haven't yet obtained. This is the source from which forward facing faith flows. This is the vision that keeps hope in our heart and turns away the negative report of our enemy. This is the vision that allows a child of God in the darkest of times to cling to the hope that Joy comes in the morning. This is the vision that compels a struggling church to stand fast in faith and declare that better things are yet to come. This my friend is forward facing faith, a faith that looks beyond what it can see and strives for what has only been perceived by the eyes of faith.

St. Louis Cardinal’s announcer Mike Shannon is well known for his mishandling of the English language. Fans that listen to the Cardinals on the radio have come to call his most outrageous errors of speech Shannonisms. They are many and they are often funny. Comments like, “This big standing-room only crowd is settling into their seats"; "Our next homestand follows this road trip"; or "That ball was hit high sky." My personal favorite is a misspoken cliché that speaks volumes to my soul. After an incredible play Mike will bellow in his excitement, “I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t believed it.”

I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't first believed it. There is an incredible truth in that simple statement. There are things in your walk with God that you will never see if you don't first believe in them. That's what forward facing faith does for you. It extends your faith until you are able to perceive what you've never seen. It extends your faith to the point that it compels you into the promise that you have been given. I wonder what there is in your life, today, that you will never see if you don't first loose your faith to believe in it...

Forward Facing Faith, Part 2

2009-05-05T17:26:00.001-07:00

Today I have been stirred by a verse of scripture that has, once again, challenged my faith to look through the prism of promise into the hope of what God can bring to pass. Luke 16:16 say, "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." Another version (ESV) says that "... everyone forces his way into it." The ESV also offers in a footnote this alternative translation, "...everyone is forcefully urged into it."

I read that today and felt something stirring deep down on the inside. Everyone that wants to be a part of God's promises, presses his way into it, or forces his way into it. Not everyone gets the message of the Kingdom of God. Not everyone grasps the promises and blessings of the good news of the Kingdom of God. But, without exception, those that do get it have a deep seated faith that forcefully urges them into the promise of God. There is something within them that becomes so stirred that it absolutely refuses to accept the current condition as the end of the story!

Forward facing faith presses its way into the promise of God. This is the common characteristic of every man that receives God's promises. They abandon the anchors of their past and the constraints of the present to press, by force, into the promise of the future. This is the one thing that every seeker of God must have in order to receive the blessings of God in their life.

The past will endeavor to tell you that you can't change. The past will endeavor to tell you that everything has to stay the way that it always has been. The past will do its best to hold you down and hold you back, it will remind you of all the other times you've tried and failed. It will remind you of your inconsistencies, of all your past faults and failures. But there's something in forward facing faith that refuses to be anchored to the past. It forcefully compels you to reach out to the promise of a brand new life. It forcefully compels you to invest your hope in the precious blood of Christ. It compels you to cast off the hold of your past and believe that you CAN change; that you can be different; that there can and will be a better day in your life.

Your present will endeavor to entangle you and snare you to try to keep you from realizing God's plan and God's will for your life. It will distract you with the problems and cares of the day. It will bog you down with the tedious details that must be taken care of. It will endeavor to tie up every waking moment with the effort to solve the present problems that are around you. But there is something about forward facing faith that forcefully compels you to set aside these present concerns and pleasures in the pursuit of a much greater blessing that has yet to be revealed.

This was the attitude of that little lady with the issue of blood. Her past said you've been sick a long, long time. You've spent all your living on doctors and remedies. You've proven over and over again that your circumstance is hopeless, the story has no happy ending. But she refused to listen to the voice of the past. Forward facing faith said, if I can just get to where Jesus is, there is still hope.

The bible tells us that there was a great multitude pressing in on Jesus that day. I can just here the voice of her present circumstances declaring to her that this is useless, there's no way you are ever going to get the attention of the master. He's so busy and he's surrounded by so many people. There's no sense in even trying. But forward facing faith said, "If I can only touch the hem of his garment..."

The scripture tells us that she pressed her way through the crowd to obtain the healing that she longed for. She pressed. Can I tell you this morning that the only way to loose God's promise in your life is to press. You've got to press for this thing, it doesn't come by accident and it doesn't happen by chance. The promise is yours but you must determine to pursue it.

The Psalmist said, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after." That's the voice of forward facing faith. It is a singular faith that has a single desire for the promise of God. It says, "I will seek it as long as I live, and I will not give up until I obtain it." Its a strength of desire that outweighs all the things of this present world. It compels us, it forces us, it presses us into the promise that God has for our life. It is a faith that says that I won't be satisfied, there must be something better for my life!

Luke 16:16 declares to us that everyone that obtains the Kingdom of God possess that kind of faith. Its the faith that it takes to move the sinner from the pew to the alter. But it is the same faith that pushes a man of God beyond the mediocre and into the promise of God. It's a faith that we must have in order to even become a part of the kingdom of God. But it is also a faith that we must maintain if we hope to grow in the kingdom.

I'm afraid that this is where many miss out on God's promise for their life. They taste the fervency of forward facing faith at an alter of repentance, but discard that passionate pursuit somewhere along the way and settle for less than God's best for their life. It is my desire, this morning, to challenge you to pick back up that fervent forward facing faith and pursue, again, the promises of God in your life. He's not finished with you yet. As long as there's faith, there's hope. Peer through the prism of promise this morning and press for what you have not yet obtained.

Forward Facing Faith

2009-05-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

There is something to be said for faith that neither gets bogged down in the present nor anchors itself to the past but rather looks forward to the future with longing and desire for something more. It is that forward facing faith that, while holding fast to the foundations of past blessing and past experience, presses through the difficulties of the present and reaches for the promise of the future. Forward looking faith peers into tomorrow to catch a glimpse of promises fulfilled.

This is the faith that God has been dealing with my heart about today. A faith that refuses to believe that our best is behind us. A faith that refuses to accept that our present circumstances are as good as it gets. A faith that longs for and desires after the future. A faith that enables the mind to believe that there is a better day ahead, that the best is yet to come. This is the kind of faith that I must cultivate in my life.

The foundations that we've been given are great. Our glorious past is wonderful. The heritage that we continue is a priceless treasure. But I must extend my faith to believe that God isn't finished with us yet! The past is to be saluted and honored but I still believe that the end of this thing will be better than its beginnings. I hear the words of my master echoing in my ears, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do..." (John 14:12) Greater works and better things are still before us.

The present circumstance is often overwhelming. It requires, even demands the majority of our time and attention. The details; the circumstances; the struggles; the battles; even the mundane tasks; our present demands our attention and attempts to dominate us. But forward looking faith says, "I refuse to accept things as they are." I may have to endure the present, but my hope is in the future. Forward facing faith refuses to be constrained within the limits of what can be seen and understood at this present time. It refuses to define tomorrow in the terms of today's abilities or inabilities. It refuses to trade the warmth of hope for the stark coldness of reality.

With a boldness that can only be drawn from hope, forward facing faith embraces a promise that has not yet been fulfilled. It sees the future, not through the lens of the present, but, rather, trough the prism of promise. Its a faith that invests itself in a hope for a better tomorrow. A faith that yearns for the better things that have been spoken but haven't yet been fulfilled. It's David with a king's anointing and a shepherds staff. Its the little old lady looking at the prophet and saying all is well when her son lies dead in his bed. Its that inexhaustible faith that is fully vested in the possibilities that exist only as mirages on the horizon.

This is the kind of faith that looses the promises of God. This is the kind of faith that isn't content to grow comfortable in the present but reaches into the future and pulls itself into a promise. It's the kind of faith that believes, without compromise, that if God said it, he's gonna bring it to pass. It's the kind of faith that acknowledges that God is sovereign, he's in control, and it places its trust fully in Him to open the doors that no man can open and to make a way where no man can make a way.

I find myself, more and more, being challenged to exercise this kind of unwavering forward facing faith...

A Greater Generation

2009-05-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

When Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, was released in 2004 it gave voice to a rising sentiment that America’s greatest moments were in it’s past. That the greatest victories have already been won, that the greatest sacrifices have already been made and that the many of the greatest heroes have already died. From that time to this, the cry has only amplified. The prevalent message seems to be that only in some generation in the distant past were there genuine heroes that were willing to stand against tanks and tyranny. The comparisons have been made and many have lamented the loss of a generation of young people who were willing to lay down the comforts and convenience of life in order to pursue a greater good.

While I have a great amount of respect for that generation and the very real sacrifices that they made to preserve our freedoms, I’m not sure I agree with the message that this wave of nostalgia sends to the current generation. It seems that we, as a nation, have already written off the young people of this and future generations. It seems as if we are declaring to them that they will never equal the dedication, sacrifice and victories of that past generation. Even more tragic, it feels as if many in the church have adopted this same sentiment. I don’t believe we could be any further from the truth.

When I survey the young people of this current generation I see a group of young people that are looking for a challenge to which to rise. I see a group of young people that are willing to make sacrifices and hungry for a cause to believe in. I don’t believe for a moment that the age of heroes is limited to the past. I believe that our greatest heroes have yet to take the stage. I believe that our greatest heroes have yet to distinguish themselves in battle. I still believe that the best is yet to come!

I am, relatively speaking, a young man. However, when I look at the generation that is coming up behind me I see a tremendous group of capable young men and women who have a genuine burden to reach their world with the gospel. I understand that, by and large, they haven’t gained the wisdom of experience and the vibrant energy of their youth hasn’t yet been tempered by the cold hard realities of life. However, I believe that their desire is genuine and that their faith is real. I believe, with all that is in me, that they are about to distinguish themselves, like no other generation, on the spiritual battlefield of life.

The word is on their side in this matter. My bible tells me that the latter rain is going to be greater than the former. Faith tells me that the end of this thing will far outshine the beginning. We are not a part of a lineage of heroes that diminishes with time. Rather, the lineage of the faithful grows stronger and more powerful with the passing of time. With every generation this message is amplified and apostolic authority is multiplied.

Perilous times are upon us. All that can be shaken will. Even the elect, if they aren’t careful, will fall away in these last days. The darkness of night has made itself prevalent even on the brightest of our days. But, in the midst of an immoral, godless, and humanistic generation there echoes a promise from the word of God that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20 ESV) I believe that there are genuine heroes of the faith in the upcoming generations that are about to arise and confront the spirits of this end time. I believe that there are anointed young men and young women of God that are about to experience the greatest revival that has ever occurred. I believe that our apostolic heritage is in good hands!

I simply want to extend myself this morning and express my faith in the Godly young people that are taking up the mantle of apostolic authority in their generation. I understand that they are young; I understand that they will make mistakes; and I understand that they will have their struggles. However, I believe that, just as a past generation found their courage on the distant battlefields of history and distinguished themselves with honor and sacrifice, heroes are about to emerge from this generation as well.

This morning I applaud you. To all of the young men, to all of those that are yet unproven, I applaud your faith and zeal for the things of God and I challenge you to take this message of hope to a lost world and make your mark on your generation. I truly believe that you are the generation upon whom the ends of the world have come. And I believe that you are uniquely anointed to meet that challenge and overcome it by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony.

This morning I applaud a greater generation… Let the heroes arise!

Songs In The Night

2009-04-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

In Job 35:10 one of Job’s friends declares that God is the one who “gives songs in the night.” At first glance songs in the night seems to be an odd phrase. Who sings in the night?

However, when you really begin to consider it there is an interesting theme here. The night is that dark time in your life. The night is that place far from the comfort and security of the light. The night is where bad men do bad deeds. The night is where evil lurks and enemies plot and plan your demise. The night is where your mind conjures up all kinds of fears, worries and doubts.

It may be true that monsters lurk in the darkness of the night. However it was in the Night that the angels sung to shepherds in their fields when that precious baby was born in a manger. God didn’t wait for the brilliance of day to share the wondrous good news of the birth of a savior. Instead he invaded the night with a song of praise. Peace on earth was sung in the darkness of the night and it was a song perfectly suited for the night. Isn’t that, after all, exactly what Jesus was? He was the light that shined into the darkness.

My friend, I just want to remind you today that we serve the God that gives songs in the night. Consider this, it was at midnight that the cry came to the wedding party, “The bridegroom cometh.” It was in the darkness of the night that the good news first reached the ears of those who had been waiting and watching. In the night their hopes were fulfilled. In the night their faith was realized.

This is an important little nugget of truth because you are going to have to walk through the night sometimes. There are going to be times and places where the storm clouds are going to hover low and the darkness of night is going to press in upon you. However, you serve a God that gives songs in the night!

The wonder of that truth is that it is in the darkness of the night when your soul really falls in love with or savior. It is when the skies are black and pressing in, when the doubts and fears crowd their way into your mind, in the darkest hours of your life, that’s when the Master gives you a song of grace and comfort. That’s when you truly learn to trust him. That’s when you truly learn to love him.

In the course of this life you will walk some lonely dark roads. However, the wonderful truth is that you will never walk them alone. The one who walks with you and will never forsake you is the one that gives songs in the night.

He’s the one that gives joy in times of sorrow.
He’s the one that gives peace in times of trouble.
He’s the one that whispers calm in the raging storm.

Today I simply want to remind you that you are walking through this life in the company of the peace speaker. He alone has the power to give songs in the night. The next time that troubles and doubts and fears come crashing in on you, the next time that you find yourself lost and alone in the darkness of the night, why don’t you reach out to the one that gives songs in the night and discover just how sweet the night song is. The sweetest of all songs is born in the dark crucible of the night. That’s where joy is born, that’s where hope is revived. That’s where God demonstrates his love for you.

He, alone, gives songs in the night. How sweet his songs are!

The Bones of Encouragement

2009-04-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

I preached this thought this past Sunday night. Later on, when I get back to my notes, I'll try to post a more detailed version of the thought but here's the cliff notes version: Joseph, on his deathbed, commanded that when the Hebrews returned to the promised land they were to bury him there. The account in Genesis states that he shared with them the prophecy given to Abraham regarding the 400 years of captivity and the eventual deliverance of the Hebrews.

The thought was basically that during the 400 years that followed those old bones of Joseph were a constant reminder that, no matter how bad the situation may seem or how horrible the captivity may become, the day was coming when they would be delivered. That box of bones was Israel's source of encouragement during those long years of captivity.

The Pharaohs could pour out their fury on the Hebrews, they could try to crush the dreams and break the will of their slaves in Goshen but the fact remained that somewhere in the midst of the Hebrew camp was a box of bones that declared that "this too shall pass." Workloads could be doubled, task masters could become more violent and demanding, every male child could be slaughtered but there was a box of bones that carried a constant promise -- one of these days we are going to leave this place behind. For four hundred years that box of bones represented the hope of the Hebrews.

When deliverance finally came and the children of Israel found obstacles and armies standing in their way, that box of bones was a steady testimony that they were going to make it. When they had the Red Sea at their backs and the Egyptian army before them that box of bones said God is going to deliver you. When water was scarce and rebellion rose up in the camp that box of bones was a stark reminder that the journey doesn't end here -- we are going on to the promised land.

Eventually, the scripture tells us, they buried those bones at Shechem. The same Shechem where a dreamer was tossed in a dry well and sold by his brothers into slavery. It was at Shechem where that box of bones found their promise fulfilled. Joseph had returned home to be buried with the patriarchs and the word of God had been proven to be true once again.

The remarkable thing about the story is Joseph's forward looking faith that transmitted hope to the generations that would follow him that, although he would die in Egypt, the journey doesn't stop here. I proceeded to preach about the church. the foundation that was laid before us and the hope that has been passed down to us. This church is ordained by God and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Though Satan rages, though the economy falters, though our nation may fall into a moral abyss, this church is destined for revival. This church will be triumphant. And, one fine day, this church is leaving this old world behind. The journey doesn't end here. I've got a box of bones, the church, that declares we will be more than overcomers.

That's the view from the cheap seats on a Thursday afternoon!

Posting Drought

2009-04-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've been through a bit of a posting slump lately. Things have been extremely busy at the church in the run-up to Easter. We started a small paint project that turned into a major remodel. The good news is that I plan to put the final touches on that project tonight. Things should start slowing down a little for me now and I hope I can return to a more regular posting schedule.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping.

2009-03-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

The law of sowing and reaping is one of those biblical themes that spans the whole of scripture. From the beginning of Genesis, where God emphasizes that everything produces seed and fruit after its own kind, to the final book in the Bible, where men reap in due season what they have sown in their lives, the simple idea of reaping and sowing is underscored in the word of God.

We often think of this law in the sense that God will not be fooled, a man WILL reap what he has sown. In regard to that principle, wise parents and teachers warn our young people that if you sow the wild oats you will reap the whirlwind. However, this isn't the whole of the concept. There is a positive aspect to the law of sowing and reaping as well. If you sow in righteousness you will reap in blessings. Therefore, we advise others as well as ourselves, live faithfully and righteously and you will reap the benefits and blessings of walking with God.

For much of my life these two principles have been the foundation for my understanding of the law of sowing and reaping. However, recently, I have become aware of another simple truth contained within this timeless law. There is a statutory, binding, aspect to this simple law in both the physical and natural realms. It is simply this: Where you sow you will reap. The converse is equally true: Where there is no sowing there will be no reaping.

Why does this matter? Because, the law of sowing and reaping pertains to much more than just judgment and blessing. This simple governing principle that God put in place from the beginning emphasizes the fact that where there is sowing, of any kind, there will be reaping, of the same kind. If you sow wheat you will reap wheat. Ask any farmer. Where wheat is sown, it produces after its own kind. Even in lean years, even in times of drought, at least a portion of what is sown results in a harvest.

Jesus touches this principle in several ways in the gospels. In a notable example, He told a great crowd in Luke 8 a parable about a sower that went forth to sow seed. Later, as He explained the parable, he told the disciples that the seed is the word of God. He then underscored the simple truth behind the law of sowing and reaping, if you sow you will reap. Not every soul that hears the word will receive it and bear fruit, however, if you are faithful in sowing you will be faithfully rewarded in reaping.

Perhaps this is why Paul told the Corinthians that one plants, another waters but God gives the increase. Because there is a statutory aspect to the law. If you will sow, you will reap. You and I don't create the harvest, we only sow the seed. God gives the increase. By god's own law, if we sow faithfully, sooner or later there will be a harvest where the seed is sown.

With this principle in mind I have found myself coming back to a simple theme over the last six weeks. With the image of Psalm 126 in my mind I have constantly reminded the church that "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

I am persuaded that the harvest is in our hands! Revival is ours to have. We have, within our possession, the powerfully fruitful word of God and the law is steadfast. If we will sow it faithfully and indiscriminately in accordance with the example of the word of God, we cannot help but reap a harvest in due season.

I am reminded that a farmer once admonished me, "seed is cheap, sow it." It costs us little to share the benefits and blessings of the gospel but it gains us much in terms of harvest. I fully believe that we will each experience a revival that is directly proportionate to the amount of sowing that we have been engaged in.

I simply want to encourage you to sow the seed. Share the word of God. Share the blessings and promises of God. Tell anyone that will listen just how good your God is. The key to reaping lies in the sowing. Let me encourage you, friend, don't grow weary in well doing, if you are faithful, in due season you will reap a harvest. Your efforts are not in vain. They can't be in vain. Where there is sowing, there will be reaping, God's law requires it!

Lessons From A Snowflake…

2009-03-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

The Snowflake Man, Wilson Bentley was 15 when his mother gave him a microscope. It was snowing on his birthday, so he used his new microscope to look at a snowflake. In the fleeting moment before it melted he glimpsed its six points and the intricacies of its patterns. That day excited a passion that never subsided. During the next 50 years, Wilson Bentley took over 5,000 pictures of snowflakes.

In all his photographs of snowflakes Bentley never found two alike. In fact, he was the first to recognize and catalog this fact. Bentley said, “Every crystal was a masterpiece of design; no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”

Wilson Bentley photographed over 5,000 snowflakes and found no two identical. Understand this, there are 5,000 snowflakes in just a swipe of snow, and 10 million to a cup. There are 18 million snowflakes in a single cubic foot of snow -- and not one of them is like another. The chances of two snowflakes being exactly alike are about one in a million trillion.

This is the first lesson you can learn this afternoon from a snowflake. You are unique! Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God himself intentionally made each of us who we are. There's not anybody in the world like you. There never has been, and there never will be. The same God that calls the snow from his storehouse and insures each individual flake, trillions an hour, is uniquely formed – he crafted you in your mother’s womb. He made you uniquely you! If you were to search the whole world, you wouldn't find two people who had the same footprint or fingerprint or voice print. God fashioned you and formed you and he made you perfect according to his plan and purpose for your life.

You, as a person, are the combination of many seemingly random things. Not only are your fingerprints, voiceprints, footprints, even the design of the iris of your eye, completely unique. You are further made an individual by other factors. You are the compilation of DNA gathered from both your mother and father. DNA that was further impacted by your grandparents and great grandparents, on down the line. Your personality and character are the compilation of all of your life experiences. Everything that has happened to you along the way. Your education, your work, your skills, your talents, they all combine together to make a completely unique you.

This leads us to the second lesson to be learned form a snowflake. What stunned and motivated Bentley to study snow was the tremendous balance of order and recklessness. Whatever their pattern and variety, all snow crystals are six-sided. This fact had intrigued the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. In 1610 Kepler wrote a book called The Six-Cornered Snowflake. Why, asks Kepler in his little treatise, do snowflakes fall as six-cornered starlets? There must be a cause, he asserts, for if it happens by chance, then why don’t snowflakes fall with five corners or with seven? At the end of his little book, Kepler confesses his ignorance and leaves the problem of the snowflake’s symmetry to future generations of natural philosophers.

The riddle of the snowflake has since been partly solved. Physicists have traced the snowflake’s six-sided secret down into the heart of matter, to the form of the water molecule, and, ultimately, to the laws of atomic bonding that give the water molecule its shape. Water is a combination of an atom of oxygen linked with two atoms of hydrogen in a regular hexagonal lattice. That forms the foundation for the shape of a snowflake. But their growth as crystals has an element of randomness that gives them their individuality.

Snowflakes look stable but at the atomic level they are a frenzy of activity, as the water shifts and electronic bonds between molecules are made and broken a million times a second. Faults in the crystal jump from place to place and are repaired. “And somehow,” he says, “in the midst of this atomic chaos, the snowflake acquires and retains an ordered form.” The snowflake is one of nature’s most profound mysteries. Beauty and structure arise from a delicate balance of order and disorder.

This is the second lesson you can learn from a snowflake this afternoon. Your life may seem to be the compilation of random chance but there is a divine order to the events and happenings of your life. All of these external forces that have shaped and formed you – while they may seem random – were divinely orchestrated to order your life according to God’s purpose. God has a plan for you. You were shaped for a purpose! You're not here by accident.
God made you for a reason.

You were designed by God, and it was his idea to make you. It's not a mistake. You were planned before birth. The Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." The Bible clearly teaches that you were purposefully and personally planned and designed by God. His loving hand made you exactly the way you are. Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world. God designed you to minister to hurting world. Your experiences, the seemingly random events of your life, have conspired together to make you a tool in the hands of the lord uniquely fashioned for a singular purpose. There is a work that only you can do. There are souls that only you can reach. God has blessed you with experiences, both good and bad, that uniquely equip you to minister to some individual in this world that desperately needs to know him.

We can marvel at the snowflakes, but human beings are much more complex than snowflakes. Each of us has been endowed by God with a completely unique spectrum of gifts. Each one of us can do things, say things, think things in different ways. Each of us fills a specific role in the Kingdom of God! In a hurting world every need must be addressed. And in order to accomplish that every one of us must excel at being that perfect individual that God made us to be. Today, lets learn a lesson from the snowflake. It was formed in a seemingly random and chaotic environment. However, when it finally made landfall, there was a specific, ordered and unique six-pointed design to it. Let it remind you today that you were fearfully and wonderfully made by God, for his purpose!

This brings me back around to our final lesson to be learned from a snowflake today. As I studied snowflakes last night I discovered something that I never knew about snow. Scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core. Snow crystals begin their growth on a nucleus of wind-borne dust. Every snowflake has at its center an invisible grain of dust. A water molecule bonded to that speck of dust as it fell through the atmosphere. It happened once, twice, three times, and more, gathering weight, and then it was lifted again by the updrafts of the wind, each time acquiring more water molecules that form the branches and points of the snowflake. The flake keeps getting bounced back up into the atmosphere until it becomes too heavy and finally falls to the earth as a completely unique snowflake.

I must admit, I was shocked to discover this last night, particles of airborne dust provide the nucleous about which snowflake crystals grow. Without dust there would be no snow…. But what struck me last night was the fact that every snowflake has a heart of stone. A “dirty heart” if you will. The process of the formation of snow covers that heart of stone with the pure white of frozen water crystals. We have a lot in common with snowflakes. We also had a heart of stone. We also had a dirty, sin stained heart. But the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah (1:18), extended us an invitation, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”

My favorite thing about a snowfall is how it changes everything. The whole world becomes a much prettier place for at least a few hours as a fresh blanket of new snow covers all the impurities and imperfections. Everything is made brand new by the miracle of snow. The Lord, extended you and I an invitation to experience a similar transformation in the spiritual realm. When the blood of Jesus is applied to the heart of an individual, it cleanses him from all sin. God removes every stain and washes him even whiter than snow. This is why David prayed in Psalm 51:7, “…wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Wash me, David said. Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow. How do you get whiter than snow? The answer lies in the third lesson we can learn from a snowflake this afternoon. In the Hebrew language there are two words to express the different kinds of washing, and they are always used in a distinct manner to indicate the kind of washing that takes place. One word for “wash” indicates the kind of washing which only cleanses the surface of a substance, which the water cannot penetrate. This is the kind of washing you do on your car, or your floor when you mop it. You can’t wash it through and through, you only clean the surface of it. This is the kind of washing that takes place in a snowflake. The speck of dust is covered. It is concealed. It is transformed on the surface, but at it’s core it is still dirty. Just like the pristine tranquil beauty of a snowfall. Under that snow, all the trash, and imperfections are still there and in a few hours of harsh sunlight, they will be revealed again.

However, that’s not the word that the Psalmist used. The Hebrew word used by our songwriter is one that signifies the kind of washing which penetrates completely through the substance of the thing washed, and cleanses it thoroughly. It is the word that is applied to the washing of clothes – a process where a thing is washed through and through. This is the same word that David used in verse 2 of this same Psalm (51:2) when he said "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;" Wash me, David said 5 verses later, and I shall be whiter than snow.

This is the third lesson to be learned from a snowflake. In the matter of cleansing, we are different from the snowflake. When God washes us, he washes us whiter than snow. He doesn’t just cover up our dirty heart – he washes it through and through. My sins don’t remain, their stains are gone. I’ve been given a brand new heart! My past is forever past. It has been cast as far as the east is from the west – never to be remembered against me again!

As I looked over my yard today I was struck by the sheer beauty of the snow. But I was also reminded that this beauty is a passing thing. Tomorrow it will all be a muddy mess. Today all is pristine and white. Tomorrow things will be muddy and messy and generally worse than they were before the snow.

As I considered that, I was very thankful for the cleansing blood of Jesus. I’ve been washed in the blood – and it was more than just a temporary change. My soul was cleansed by the blood of the lamb. I’ve been washed through and through. That's the most valuable lesson we can learn from a snowflake...

How Many...

2009-02-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

Acts 18:9-10
Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

Corinth
Corinth was an ancient city founded on a natural trade route with a good harbor for ship traffic. It was destroyed by the Romans about 147 BC but rebuilt by Julius Caesar a century later. The revived, rebuilt Corinth exceeded all the cities of the world, for its splendor, magnificence and opulence. Its public buildings and baths were embellished with beautiful columns that gave birth to the Corinthian Order in Architecture. According to history, Corinth became a leading city of Greece and the seat of the Roman proconsul for the Roman province of Achaia.

Corinth was known for its wealth and luxury with a bustling commercial and industrial center boasting a population of almost 700,000. However, Corinth was also renowned for its drunkenness and immorality. It was a vile city that epitomized the decadence of the Greek world. The city was the site of a great temple of Aphrodite, whose priestesses, known as sacred prostitutes, freely roamed the streets while plying their trade. So notorious was this city for its lewd conduct that the verb “corinthize” came to signify the act of being a prostitute and the phrase “a Corinthian girl” was synonymous with the term harlot.

In Acts 16:9-10 Paul responded to a vision from God calling him to Macedonia. The fulfillment of that calling would lead Paul to found churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and possibly Athens before finally turning his attention to Corinth. Corinth proved to be a testing ground. Here, Paul experienced obstacles and opposition, but it was also here that Paul had his greatest breakthrough in his first missionary journey.

In the narrative of Acts 18 we find Paul in the process of endeavoring to evangelize Corinth. We catch small glimpses into his ministry there. We know from the witness of scripture that he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. We also know that they opposed and reviled him, to the extent that he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent.”

Up to this point in the Acts account, in every city that Paul visits opposition to his ministry normally results in him being forced to leave a place of ministry and move on. It is likely that, as we come to verse 9, Paul was discouraged by the violent opposition of the Jews and probably was in danger of his life. He was likely entertaining thoughts of moving on and ministering elsewhere. He references his mindset and condition in 1 Corinthians 3:20 (ESV) when he says “And a I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling…” However, as his moral dipped low, God stepped in with a vision.

“Be not Afraid,” the Lord said. Though his enemies plotted his demise the spirit informed him, “No man will be permitted to lay hands on you.” But God didn’t stop with a promise of protection. He provided an incredible glimpse into his plan and purpose for Paul in Corinth. “Speak and hold not thy peace,” the Lord declares, “for I have much people in this city.”

I have much people!
The Lord looked at the teaming masses of immoral people in Corinth and said to Paul, “I have many in this city who are my people.” What a phenomenal statement! God wasn’t talking about a church that was already established. He was talking about people that were still lost, people that hadn’t yet heard the gospel message, people that were desperate, hurting and bound in sin.

What he was saying to Paul was that there were many in Corinth that had not resisted his Spirit. There were many, in the midst of the sin and vice of Corinth, that God looked at and said, their heart is tender towards me. They haven’t spurned my advances and they are ready to embrace my Gospel as soon as you declare it to them. Speak! Hold not thy peace. There are many that are ready to hear the gospel. Speak! Tell somebody because there are people here that are ready! They are mine, God said, and I’m commissioning you to reach out to them.

How many?
When I recently read this passage I was stirred in my spirit. I began to recognize the fact that when the Lord looks down at Lake City he sees more than a small apostolic church struggling to survive. He sees the multitude of people that are bound in sin and mired in the immorality and vices of this world. As he gazed upon those people he marks out those among that number that are sensitive to him, those that are hungry, those that haven’t rejected his advances. And of them he says to the church, “Speak. Hold not thy peace. I have many people in this city!”

I have come to the realization that God has people in our city that are his. People that don't know truth. People that haven't ever visited our church. People that are hungry for a change and are ready for someone to sahre with them the wonderful truth that we have.

There are those within this city that live within blocks of this church that have not rejected the spirit of God but have hungered after him. They've made mistakes, they are bound in sin and tradition. They don't know the truth but they are ungry, they are sensitive to God and God is commissioning us to reach out to them! It’s our job to reach them. It’s our job to speak to them. It’s our job to hold not our peace but proclaim the saving message of God’s love and forgiveness. Its our job to lead them to the cross of Calvary, to take them to an alter of repentance and bury them in the waters of baptism that they might receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They are HIS people and they are our commission.

I have pondered the question for several weeks now. How many are there? I've come to the conclusion that there are more than we have even begun to imagine. I believe there are more than our church can contain. I believe that God has MANY in our city.

I've also come to the conclusion that we will never know how many there are until we reach out to them. Unless we reach them, they will never come. Unless we invite them the will never enter the church. Unless we tell them they will never hear. Unless we show them they will never see.

Paul stayed in Corinth and ministered for 18 months. It became the greatest revival of his ministry to that point. All because he heard the voice of the Lord and answered the call. The greatest revival the church has ever experienced is before us. I believe that the Lord is sending a message to the church that isn't much different from the message He sent to Paul. Don't stop now. I have many people in this city.

I think its time we endeavored to discover just how many there are...

The Greatest Treasure

2009-02-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

An Exposition of Psalm 139

David is well known as a “man after God’s own heart.” It is a title that was bestowed upon him by God, no less. But, even as a man that loved and worshiped God with all his heart, David was not without his faults. He made mistakes, demonstrated bad judgment and failed miserably from time to time. Perhaps the greatest failure of his life was when he chose to send his armies to battle as he, their king and leader, remained home in the safety and luxury of his palace. Out of that bad decision and poor demonstration of leadership arises one of the most sordid chapters of David’s life.

While his armies were at war David was lounging on the rooftop of his palace, watching another man's wife bathe. Eventually David committed adultery with Bathsheba. And, when she conceived a child, he had her husband killed to cover up his sin. When all was said and done David felt like his secret was safe. His darkest secret was hidden from everyone. His throne was secure. However, while David had successfully concealed his sin from those around him, God knew what David did.

Eventually David learned a powerful lesson. God wasn’t content to let David continue to drift further and further from him. Instead, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sin. And, by exposing his wrong and convicting him, God led David to a place of repentance where, although the consequences of his sin were not erased, the sin itself was forgiven. It was some time after this that David composed the beautiful words of Psalm 139.

At a casual glance the song would seem to be all about the knowledge of God. However, the Psalm is set in motion by the first verse which proclaims more than just the incredible knowledge of God. The Psalmist says, Lord, you have searched ME and known ME! While the Psalm is an incredible testimony to the inexhaustible knowledge of God, it is more then that. It is a personal statement of the fact that God sees and knows You as an individual

God knows everything that there is to know about you. You can’t hide anything from him. He sees the secrets of your heart. He looks upon the innermost part. He knows what no one else knows. Those things that you have hidden away deep within the recesses of your heart that nobody else knows about, God knows. That thing you thought you got away with, that incident you thought was concealed, God knows about that too.

The Psalmist begins in verse one by saying that the Lord has “searched me” and “known me.” The Hebrew word for “searched” originally means to dig, and is applied to the search for precious metals. The Psalmist said, Lord you have dug around in my life and have exposed everything that is there. I may have buried some things in hopes of concealing them, but you, O Lord, have searched them out. You know everything about me.

Not only do you know what is inside me, the Psalmist shares, but you are constantly aware of where I am and what I’m doing. You know when I sit down and you see me when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. Lord, you even know what I’m thinking. From far away from me, you hear the secret thoughts of my heart. That’s getting pretty intimate my friend.

You see, the Psalm isn’t just about the vast knowledge of God, it makes that knowledge personal. David said, in verse three, "You searched out my path and my lying down. You, Lord, are acquainted with all my ways." He said, "Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. Not only do you know what I’m thinking, but Lord you know what I’m going to say even before I say it."

The tongue, according to James, is the most difficult member of our body to control but it possesses great power. With the tongue you can speak life or even death, you can build up or tear down. The tongue is this unruly member of the body that is difficult to contain. But it is of the tongue that David now speaks. He says, "Lord I have trouble controlling my tongue. I don’t always know what I’m going to say next, but Lord you know even before I do!" This is how well God knows you. He knows what you are going to say even before you say it.

David said in verse five, you have hemmed me in. You go before me and follow up behind me. You have laid your hand upon me. It boggles the human mind to think of this kind of personal involvement on the part of God in the life of every human being. With over 6 Billion people in the world today, this kind of knowledge would simply overpower our minds. There is no way we could ever be consciously aware of 6 billion people and know every thing about them all of the time. But, to God this is no problem. God, without confusion, beholds as distinctly the actions of every man, as if that man were the only one alive.

When David contemplates the wonder of that truth, he declares, in verse six, that "such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it." There is simply no way that you can even begin to grasp the absolute fullness of God’s knowledge of you. You may have convinced yourself that you don’t really matter, that no one is really that concerned with you. But God, knows you intimately. He know you in a way that I can’t even begin to describe to you.

Not only that, but he knows where you are. The Psalmist said, "Where shall I go from your Spirit. Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Hell, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." You can’t escape the presence of God. You can’t conceal yourself from his all-seeing eye.

The Psalmist goes on in verse eleven, "If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you." Men love darkness, because they believe the can hide their deeds there. But David said, even the darkness doesn’t hide me from you. You see me even when I hide myself from view. When I conceal myself behind closed doors and turn out all the lights, still yet the darkness is light to you and you see me and know me. There is nothing I can do, nowhere I can go, no hiding place I can find that will conceal me from you.

David said, in verse fourteen, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."

And then he comes to the reason for the Psalm. Finally in verse seventeen we find the point of this entire song. David said, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!" This is the point of the Psalm. David treasures the knowledge of God. David said I delight in your thoughts O Lord. I’m glad that you know me. I count it among my greatest treasures that you have such vast knowledge of my life.

Not many men would welcome an in-depth look into all their affairs and dealings. Not many men would be comfortable with someone else looking in upon their innermost feelings. However the Psalmist says, in reference to God’s incredible knowledge of his life, your thoughts are precious to me! I delight in the fact that you know me. I am comforted by your vast knowledge of my life.

The key to David’s delight is found in the final phrase of the Psalm. This vast knowledge of God, David says, leads me into the way everlasting. I treasure your knowledge, O Lord, because without it I will never make heaven my home.

As he Remembers the time when he was caught in the web of his own deceit, when he had convinced himself that he had hidden his sin and that somehow he would escape its consequences, David is now thankful for the man of God that confronted him with God's knowledge of his life. Because David now realizes that, without the conviction that was brought upon him by the probing eyes of God, he might have never repented for his sin.

As he looks back at that dark chapter of his life he sees the hand of God leading him back to the way everlasting. And he takes great delight in the fact that he can’t hide anything from God. As a matter of fact, in light of God’s incredible knowledge the Psalmist comes to this powerful conclusion in verse twenty-three. "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

This is the conclusion of the matter. David invites the Lord to search him anew. Dig through my heart and my life. Search mo, O God, and know my heart! Find everything that is within me, reveal every secret sin that might be hidden, don’t let anything escape your gaze. Because, above everything else, I want to stay in that way everlasting.

"Try me," David says. The terminology comes from the forging of metal. David invites the Lord, “Try me. Test me. Put me through the trial.” Do what ever you have to do to me, O Lord, to secure my soul for eternity. Know my thoughts, know my intentions. Judge my inner heart. Know everything there is to know about me. Because I understand that by that knowledge of me you will lead me to everlasting life. If there’s anything in me that’s not like you Lord, I can trust you to reveal it to me.

This, my friend, is the message of Psalm 139. If you will humble yourself before God, if you will surrender control of your life to him, he, by virtue of his vast knowledge of your life, will lead you to eternal life. His convicting spirit will reveal flaws and faults in your life. His penetrating gaze will make sin uncomfortable in his presence. If you will invite the searching of the Lord, he will lead you in his perfect way. This is what we need, more than anything else. We need God to search our lives and make us right.