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Blog
May 16, 2012: Making U-Turns
During this past Christmas holiday, I had to pick up Justin at the Philadelphia airport. Although there was a new interstate completed since I was in Philadelphia, I still thought I knew the way. It was along I-95, so being in the northern suburbs, I thought I just needed to get to I-95 and go south. As I came toward the airport on the new interstate, I thought I saw a sign that said, “Airport- South I-95.” I took the exit, but I was puzzled to find that there was no sign of the airport.
I did think of doing a U-turn or even stopping to ask for directions, but I was sure the airport was on I-95. Plus I read the sign that said to go south. It was not until I saw the sign “You are now entering Delaware” that I was clear to me, somehow I missed it!
I later found out that the new interstate connected with I-95 south of the airport. I needed to go north. But why did the sign say “Airport-South I-95”? I was sure I read the sign correctly. The sign was one of those huge green and white signs that hangs over the interstate. But when I returned on the route later, sure enough it said “Airport-North I-95.” Somehow, amidst my misplaced confidence, I must have glanced at the sign and misread it. So I landed up in Delaware.
There’s a couple of life lessons I could learn from that venture. First, I’m not always accurate in reading the signs. Sometimes, there are things which may seem very good to me, but in my falleness, I’ve misread them. So I can come across a racy photo on the internet. The sign in my mind may say, “the path to true fulfillment”; however, if I take that route, even though it gives me temporary pleasure, in the end it leaves me empty. I need to listen to the Spirit’s conviction rather than to trust in my own fleshly reading of the signs.
Secondly, I did not do a U-turn right away because I was confident I was headed in the right direction. Sometimes we are so sure of ourselves that we continue our path, not knowing that it is taking us the wrong way. I can see this in my marriage. Sometimes Ollie & I will get into an argument. I will respond in way that is far less than stellar- OK, I’ll admit, sometimes I’m a jerk. But instead of recognizing where I’m headed and doing a U-turn, I’ll keep going because I think I’m right. It’s not until I go before the Lord and am honest with Him that I recognize that I have ignored His voice again, and have sinned against Him and against Ollie.
So what do we need to do? We need to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and conviction. Turn away from temptation. And when you do go the wrong way, be quick to repent- do a U-turn and turn back to the Lord. Otherwise, you may land up in Delaware! (no offense, Emily & all you blue hens!)
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May 9, 2012: Identifying Idols
This past Sunday I encouraged us to identify our idols by asking 2 questions: a) What are the idols I am tempted to worship? b) What specific things am I hoping to gain from them that only God can give me?
Both questions are important to ask. Why?
Let’s take my issue of finding significance in ministry results. This issue can cause me to spend too much time investing in ministry while neglecting other priorities like my marriage and family. So what happens if I just identify that overworking in ministry is my idol and I never identify why? I may be tempted to conclude that the solution is to simply stop working so much. However, the problem is that I don’t ever address the deeper issue of my idol. It’s only when I recognize that I am trying to find my significance in my work, that I really address the real solution, i.e., finding my significance in who I am in Christ.
I find many people make the same mistake when it comes to overeating. They may identify their idol as food, but don’t take the next step to ask, “What specific things am I hoping to gain from food that only God can give me?” As a result, their conclusion is simply, “I need to stop eating so much.” While this addresses the immediate issue, it does not get to the root problem. (By the way, we also need to recognize that some have weight problems due to medical issues or side effects from medications, not from idols in their lives).
If we don’t address the deeper issues, it will be like trying to keep a boiling pot from boiling over by putting the lid on the pot rather than putting out the fire.
For many men, they make the same error when it comes to pornography. They may identify the idol of lust, but don’t spend enough time asking what they hope to gain. Consequently, they tell themselves that the simple solution is, “Stop it!” But that solution only has limited success. Now on the surface it may seem like pleasure is the issue. But for many men, there are other driving forces. For instance, some men will say that the temptation is greater when they feel pressure at work or when they find themselves questioning their abilities. In this case, a man could be using pornography and the accompanying fantasies to affirm his manhood. Or they may be using pornography as an attempt to relieve their stress. Again, these are needs that only God can really meet. If we don’t address the deeper issues, it will be like trying to keep a boiling pot from boiling over by putting the lid on the pot rather than putting out the fire.
So the first step in breaking the cycle of idolatry is to identify our idols. What are the next steps? You’ll need to join us this Sunday to find out! See you then!
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May 1, 2012: Sipping lemonade vs slaying giants at age 85
When you read through the book of Judges, the book is not just an account of history. Every story that the writer included is there for a purpose, not just a recounting of what happened. So as you read through Judges, ask yourself, what was the purpose of this story?
For instance, Caleb is highlighted in chapter 1. In fact, the writer repeats the account that was already written in book of Joshua. There may be a number of reasons why this story was included. The following are just a few of them.
First, Caleb was a man who wholeheartedly followed the Lord. Caleb’s whole-hearted obedience stands in stark contrast to the half-hearted obedience of the rest of the nation of Israel. Caleb’s life is a call to us to ask ourselves, “Am I following the Lord wholeheartedly or half-heartedly?”
Secondly, Caleb’s faith is also in contrast to the nation of Israel’s lack of faith. It’s easy for us to think that obeying God is one thing, but trusting God is another. However, the reality is that faith and obedience go hand in hand. We will only have the motivation to obey God if we trust Him that His Word is true. In addition, we will only have the ability to obey God if we trust in Him to give us the power to obey. In many ways, just as the command to Israel to take the promise land forced them to trust God, so too our temptations force us to exercise our faith. Faith must necessarily precede obedience if we are to truly obey God wholeheartedly.
Thirdly, there is the issue of Caleb’s nationality. While studying for this past week’s message, I found something I did not realize before. Caleb was not a native Israelite, but a Kenite. Yet he was so thoroughly integrated into the faith and culture of the nation that Caleb could represent the tribe of Judah in the initial sending of the spies under the leadership of Moses. So Caleb exemplifies faith and obedience more than the native Israelites. It’s a reminder that the true children of God are the ones who follow Him wholeheartedly.
Finally, there is the issue of Caleb’s age. Caleb was 85 years old, when he asked Joshua to give him the hill country (Joshua 14:6-15). Caleb could have settled for retirement- He could have opted to sit in his rocking chair on his porch, sipping lemonade while watching baseball games on Jerusalem’s cable network, but he doesn’t. In Judges 1:20 it tells us that Caleb drove out the sons of Anak. Who were the sons of Anak? They were the very ones whom the 10 other original spies who were sent by Moses cowered under. They discouraged the nation of Israel by saying, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are…. The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there; the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:31-33). Yet Caleb drove them out- 85 years old and he is slaying giants; and it was not because of Caleb’s physical strength, but rather the strength of his faith in God.
I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want to be doing at age 85. I want to be slaying giants! I want to be taking territory away from the enemy and claiming it for the Kingdom of God. But what will it take? It will take a lifetime of wholeheartedly following the Lord. A life of “Trust and Obey.”
Let’s save the rocking chairs and lemonade for when we get to heaven!
So how about you? Do you follow the Lord wholeheartedly by trusting and obeying Him? In what areas or in what situations are you tempted to fall into the subtle trap of half-hearted obedience?
May you and I be slaying giants when we are 85! Let’s save the rocking chairs and lemonade for when we get to heaven!
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April 25, 2012: Chuck Colson
On Saturday evening, I watched one of the network news channels as they briefly announced the passing of Chuck Colson. They highlighted his indictment and imprisonment regarding the Watergate scandal. Although they mentioned he was an evangelical Christian, they did not mention anything about Prison Fellowship nor any of his positive contributions after he came to know the Lord. On Fox News, they also briefly mentioned Colson’s passing, but thankfully they did mention his role in establishing Prison Fellowship and gave a slightly more positive view of his life.
Colson's godly influence was felt from the halls of prisons, to the sanctuaries of churches, and even to the offices in the White House.
The secular world did not recognize the worldwide positive legacy that Chuck Colson left behind. But I guess that is always the way it has been, beginning with Jesus Himself. I personally was inspired many times by Chuck Colson and am so grateful for his book “Born Again” which had a positive impact on my father who read it while he was spiritually searching. Colson’s life is a great reminder of the incredible grace and redeeming power of Jesus Christ. He is a reminder to us all that it is not how you begin the race, but how you end that counts.
Chuck Colson founded Prison Fellowship, which now ministers in 1,300 correctional facilities, working with over 7,000 churches in the United States, and also in over 150 countries in the world. But his influence went far beyond Prison Fellowship. He was a thinker, philosopher, activist, and statesman for the evangelical church. His godly influence was felt from the halls of prisons, to the sanctuaries of churches, and even to the offices in the White House. The secular media may have not recognized his contributions, but he really was a hero of the faith.
Chuck Colson will be dearly missed.
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April 18, 2012: Staying Connected
This past Sunday we looked at Jesus’ teachings on abiding in the vine. The simple truth is that if we stay connected to the vine, we will bear fruit- fruit like love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control… fruit like seeing others come to know Jesus… fruit like ministering to other believers in the body of Christ.
So we need to stay connected, or in other words, we need to keep in step with the Spirit. But what causes us to disconnect? What causes us to cease walking in the Spirit and to begin to walk according to our own fleshly desires and power?
This afternoon, after an appointment, I stopped off at Wal-Mart to run a quick errand. Did I mention QUICK? After quickly gathering up my purchases, I zoomed up to the front, strategically assessing which line was the shortest, and jumped in line with only two people ahead of me- each holding one purchase. This was going to be quick. The cashier scanned the first person’s item; there was a brief exchange of words, and then the dreaded light began flashing as the cashier looked for a manager. I looked around to reassess the situation- the other lines still looked long, so decided to wait it out. After all, I could wait a couple minutes. OK, a few minutes. OK, 5 minutes. Finally, a manger stops by. She pushes some buttons on the screen. But wait, more problems. They scan the item again. They push more buttons on the screen. More words. Now the person directly ahead of me decides to leave looking for greener pastures. I decide to stick it out. They scan the item again. More words. More button-pushing. They scan the item again. I begin to feel my blood pressure rise. Why does this always happen to me? Why does this always happen in the line I get in? Is there something about me that causes cash registers to ring up the wrong price? Or do I just attract all the inept, slow cashiers and all the incompetent managers?
The only way we can stay connected to the Vine is to yield to Jesus’ Spirit, and humbly ask Him to live His life in and through us. That means His agenda. That means His timetable. That means His control and His power.
Then I hear a voice- I’m not sure if it was the Spirit of God, or just my own sermon being preached back at me- Will I stay connected to the Vine or will I let my impatience and my own agenda rob me from experiencing joy and peace, and yes even love for the cashier, the manager, and the other customer?
When we take control of our own lives by demanding our way, our time table, our agenda, we cease to keep in step with the Spirit. We disconnect with the Vine. The only way we can stay connected to the Vine is to yield to Jesus’ Spirit, and humbly ask Him to live His life in and through us. That means His agenda. That means His timetable. That means His control and His power.
As I stood in line at that Wal-Mart, I realized I could take control of my own life and get frustrated, or I could yield control to Jesus and stay connected with the Vine. So I prayed, “Jesus, I feel impatient right now. Would you bear the fruit of patience through me?” As the Spirit of God calmed me down inside, I sensed not only His patience, but also His peace. I even managed a smile and a pleasant thank you to the cashier after I left! Instead of feeling bound up and rushed, I felt a twinge of freedom, and yes, even joy!
So stay connected. If you do, you’ll bear His fruit.
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April 10, 2012: My Life Marker
This morning I took the Metra into the city. We passed a huge cemetery that I had not noticed before. As I looked out over the thousands of tombstones, it struck me afresh how each marker represented a life lived here on earth.
Who were these people? How did they live their lives? Where is each of them now?
It made me reflect back on this past Easter weekend. It also made me look forward towards eternity.
Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, are now enjoying an eternity with Him. Many in that cemetery have not only trusted Christ, but have also lived as His good and faithful servants by glorifying Him with their lives here on earth. What assurance Easter gives all of us who have received Christ! We have nothing to fear, and everything to look forward to!
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18
But for those who have died without Christ, they now await judgment and their final alienation from the One whom they have rejected and now fearfully dread. Sobering. That is why every Easter we attempt to make the gospel clear. That is why we long for people to come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. It challenges me to again reflect on my calling and mission- who has God placed in my sphere of influence? Whom has He called for me to pray for? Who awaits for me to reach out and touch his or her life?
In addition that cemetery reminds me that very few things really count in this life. In fact, one day, my life will also be represented by a marker. Perhaps one day another will pass by my grave, wondering how that person lived. By the grace of God, I want the angels to whisper and say, “Yes, here lies a man who by the grace of God, lived his life as a good and faithful servant of the living God.”
May the angels say that about all of us who are part of our Hope family!
“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
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April 3, 2012: The Blahs
I got up this morning feeling a little blah.
Maybe because yesterday, my day off, felt busier than I had wanted, even though I didn’t get done the things I desired. Or maybe because I have not been running as regularly in the past few days. Or maybe because I still have not completely wrapped up our taxes yet and the dining room table is still a mess. Or maybe it was just that I felt blah because I was feeling blah.
So I began my time with the Lord this morning not feeling like spending time with God. In fact, I told the Lord I was more motivated to jump into the things I need to do today than to spend time with Him.
But sometimes, we just need to tell our soul, “Worship the Lord, soul!”
I didn’t feeling like reading the Word, but I did it anyway. That helped some, getting my mind to think of spiritual things. Then I thought I should worship God. But I didn’t feel like worshipping God. But I thought it would be good for my soul. So I began singing along with a Chris Tomlin CD. Some great worship songs. God is indescribably, uncontainable… holy is the Lord… how great is our God… your grace is enough….
Sometimes, we just need to tell our soul, “Worship the Lord, oh my soul, worship His holy name!”
I wish I could say my heart was soaring by the time I finished worshipping. It was not. But neither was I feeling blah either. It was great to worship and focus on God. It did my soul good to connect with the Lord and reflect on His greatness. What a reminder of how great God is! He hung the stars in the sky and holds the universe in His hands! He is unchanging, even though our fickle hearts change all the time!
So the next time you feel blah, tell your soul, “Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, praise His holy name!” Then by faith, worship God. It’s better than a strong cup of coffee. Really. Try it.
May your day be filled with praise, not the blahs.
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March 27, 2012: Sleeping vs. Praying
This past Sunday I entertained the question, “If God tells us that we must pray amidst the battle, what happens if we don’t pray?”
Again, I affirm the sovereignty of God. However, that does not take away our responsibility to pray.
A great example of this is found in Matthew 26:41. Jesus tells His disciples in Gethsemane, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
As you know, the disciples did not heed His warning. They fell asleep and failed to pray. The result? When the heat of the spiritual battle intensified and their loyalty was challenged, they all succumbed to the temptation to desert the Lord Jesus. Their failure to pray was a huge factor in their stumbling.
Now God was still sovereign in the situation. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 26:31, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” God knew long ago that the disciples would not only fail to pray, but also that their failure to pray would contribute to their desertion of Jesus. Now it is important to note, that the prophecy did not predetermine the disciples’ actions. Rather, God knew ahead of time what the disciples would do and not do.
The bottom-line is this- if we expect to experience victory amidst the battle, we must pray.
Btw- God would give the disciples another chance. Each of them faced intense persecution and tradition tells us that all but John would give their lives in martyrdom. John died in exile on the island of Patmos. What was it like before these brave disciples gave their lives? I cannot say for sure, but I can almost guarantee you this- they all prayed. And in the end, they all stood firm amidst the spiritual battle that took their lives. They lost their lives, but they all won the victory amidst the battle.
So remember, stand, and pray. Remember you are in a battle. Stand firm wearing the armor of God. And pray at all times. If you do, God’s victory awaits you!
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March 20, 2012: Do our prayers change God’s mind?
Theologians have debated this question. At stake here is the value of prayer, but also the absolute sovereignty of God (that God is in control) and the omniscience of God (God knows all things).
There are a simple answers and more complex answers to this question. The simple answer is yes, our prayers can affect what God decides to do. In the parables that Jesus taught us, our prayers do have an impact on God.
The more complex answer is that God knows ahead of time what we will prayer. So in reality, it may seem like He changes His mind, when all along He knew what He was going to do. For instance, in the Old Testament, God had already shown Jacob that the blessing of the coming Messiah would be through the tribe of Judah. Jacob mentions this in his blessings of his sons. But later, when the nation of Israel rebelled under the leadership of Moses, Scripture tells us that God wanted to wipe out the nation of Israel. In fact, God offers to Moses to use him to introduce a new nation. Moses intercedes for the nation of Israel and God relents. Or does He? Did God actually change His mind, or was it really that God knew, even back during the life of Jacob, what Moses would pray and what God would do in response. I believe God knew all along what He would do. However, from our human perspective, it really does seem like God changed His mind. It this is the case, then how important were Moses’ prayers? They were crucial! If Moses had not interceded for the nation of Israel, God would have known that ahead of time also.
Some might question, “Is God still sovereign if He bases His decisions on what we do?” Some theologians would even say that God’s “emotions” are not affected by us since God is sovereign and unchangeable. However, if God so chooses to allow His decisions and even His emotions, to be affected by our choices, then He is still sovereign. Btw- God’s emotions are not like our emotions in that sometimes, we have little control over our emotions. Our emotions are often a reaction to our circumstances. God is sovereign and His emotions are affected by us only as He sovereignly allows. But Scripture teaches us that He does allow His emotions to be affected by us. Our actions and attitudes can either grieve Him or bring Him great joy.
But there is an even more complex answer to this. If God exists outside the realm of time, then concepts such as “change” are irrelevant because change is a function of time. For change to occur, there needs to be a before and after. If God lives outside of time, there is no before and after. Even questions like, “Do our prayers affect God?” Concepts like effect are also time-bound, because cause and effect are also functions of time. So in essence, when we take in consideration that God is not bound by time, what I just wrote in the previous paragraph is really irrelevant since I was writing from a time-bound perspective.
However, as I mentioned on Sunday morning, if we think about this too much, our philosophizing on theology can actually lead us away from the simple application of Scripture. If Jesus were physically here on earth and we were to ask Him, “Do our prayers affect what God the Father does?” I think Jesus would respond by simply saying, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him….’”
From our time-bound perspective, what we pray today does affect what God chooses to do tomorrow
From our time bound perspective, our prayers do have an impact on God and the decisions He makes. From our time-bound perspective, what we pray today does affect what God chooses to do tomorrow. From our simple time-bound perspective, God in His sovereignty does allow His emotions to be affected by our actions, attitudes, and by our prayers. God desires that we pray, because to Him, our prayers do matter. They are precious to Him. From our time-bound perspective, our prayers can change history.
So the bottom-line is this: we must prayer. Yes, we must pray. Yes, your prayers do matter. Yes, your prayers do influence what God does. So, pray today. In fact, pray right now!
March 13, 2012: God’s Creation
For this week’s blog, let me encourage you to look at a few websites that will help you expand your view of God.
The first is a website that Brandon Boyd showed me- http://htwins.net/scale2/. It’s pretty cool. It features a sliding scale which allows you to view things as tiny as subatomic particles and as large as distant galaxies. It gives you a picture of the complexity of the universe that God has created, both on a macro level and on a micro level.
The last two I already mentioned in a blog about worship. They are the Hubble telescope site ( http://hubblesite.org/) and the National Geographic website ( http://www.nationalgeographic.com/). Take a look at these sites and let them expand your view of God. By the way, you will need to sift through what is said on the sites- most of them will unfortunately credit the random process of evolution for these great magnificent creations of God. As believers, we know that the process was not random. It was carefully engineered by the most creative, innovative, artistic Creator who also weaved us into being.
Look on these sites, and be amazed! Then think of this- the God who created all these things is not only accessible for you to talk with Him every day, but He is also the One who lives in you through His Spirit. Marvel, then worship God, the Creator!
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March 7, 2012: Humility & Exaltation
This past Sunday, I mentioned that I had a blowout argument with Ollie last Friday. If you missed the worship service, you can listen to it online. Since then, God continues to bring to mind 1 Peter 5:5-7:
“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Although Peter begins by speaking to younger men regarding submitting to the elders of the church, he then expands the command as he admonishes all of us to submit to one another.
Either we will humble ourselves, which will then result in God exalting us, or we will exalt ourselves, which will result in God humbling us. So the real question is not, “Do I want to be humbled?” The real question is will my humbling be voluntary, or involuntary?
As I mentioned last Sunday, everyone will ultimately be humbled and exalted. The question is which order will it be? and who will do the humbling and exalting? Either we will humble ourselves, which will then result in God exalting us, or we will exalt ourselves, which will result in God humbling us. So the real question is not, “Do I want to be humbled?” The real question is will my humbling be voluntary, or involuntary? The former ends with exaltation by God. The latter ends with God humbling us. God will not have rivals. If we try to be God by exalting ourselves, He will oppose us because He and He alone is God. To be opposed by God is a scary place to be.
To humble ourselves before God necessarily results in also humbling ourselves towards others. If we act proudly towards others, it is an indication that we have not really humbled ourselves before God. This was very evident to me last Friday. When I humbled myself towards God, my attitude completely changed towards Ollie. On the other hand, when I allowed my pride, my self-righteousness, and my demands to claim my “right to be right” get the best of me, my attitude dramatically changed for the worse.
It’s interesting to note the end of verse 7 where Peter writes, “…casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” We often quote that verse when we are worried about life. But the immediate context is this issue of humbling ourselves before God and before others. So what does anxiety have to do with humbling ourselves before others?
When we submit ourselves to others, we consciously put their needs before our own needs. When we do this, we may wonder, “Who will meet my needs? Who understands my point of view?” God wants us to cast all those cares on Him, because He is the one who cares for us. He will take care of us. He will grant to us His favor.
This does not mean that we do not address issues with our spouse. We need to discuss our concerns and not bury them and play the martyr. Nor does this mean we enable people to continue in destructive behavior. Enabling a person is not really putting their interest first. Sometimes, the most loving thing we can do is to humbly confront someone.
God will not have rivals. If we try to be God by exalting ourselves, He will oppose us because He and He alone is God. To be opposed by God is a scary place to be.
The bottom-line is that we need to first humble ourselves before God; then in an attitude of submission to His Lordship, humbly and lovingly submit to others by seeking the best for their welfare. If we do, then in the end, God will exalt us.
So, do I desire that God exalt me or oppose me? The answer may seem all too obvious now, but in the heat of the moment, we can lose perspective. Remember this crucial choice. It may save you much pain as you seek resolution in a strained relationship.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you”
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February 28, 2012: Worship- Don’t let your method be your master
We tend to be creatures of habit. That can be good and bad. It’s good when the habits are good habits- like brushing your teeth before going to bed, and like putting your seat belt on before you drive, and like spending time with God every day. However, the downside of habits is that we can do them without thinking- like praying before meals, or like kissing our spouse when we get home from work, or like going through our nightly bedtime routine with our kids.
I find that worship can be like that. We can easily go through the motions of worship without really thinking about God.
How can we prevent that? One way is to vary your worship of God. Don’t let your method be your master. If you find yourself in a rut, try changing how you worship God. Remember the goal of worship is not perform a certain exercise, but rather it is to spend time connecting with God through adoring and meditating on His greatness.
We can all too easily go through the motions of worship without really thinking about God.
So if you mostly sing in your personal worship times, try reading a Psalm. Or maybe go for a walk and talk with God. Read a book about pursuing God or the character of God (Some suggestions: “The Pursuit of God” and “Knowledge of the Holy” by A.W. Tozer; or “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Phillip Yancey, or “Abba’s Child” by Brennan Manning, or “Knowing God” by J. I Packer, “Desiring God” by John Piper). Write a letter of praise to God, write a poem, make up a song, make a list of 201 things you are thankful for, go on a nature hike, go star gazing, go bird watching with a pair of binoculars, sit outside and listen to the sounds of nature while you huddle around a fire.
Also, if you are touched by a worship song on Sunday, note the song and then download it online to your ipod (note: we are now listing all the worship songs on the last slide of the message pdfs so you can reference them). I find that the exhortation in Psalms to “Sing to the Lord a new song” is a great exhortation to be followed. Keep your worship songs fresh, but also, revisit older songs and hymns that touch your heart. You may want to begin taking piano lessons or guitar lessons or even the drums to enhance your worship! Invest in your worship. God will be honored!
You may also want to visit a couple of websites that may touch your heart- like the Hubble telescope site ( http://hubblesite.org/) or the National Geographic Website ( http://www.nationalgeographic.com/). Although if you do, be careful we don’t spend all your time looking and never get around to worshipping! Also, sift through what is said on the sites- most of them will credit “evolution” for these great magnificent creations of God.
If you have any other suggestions for worship, please email & I’ll add them to this list. Remember, don’t let your method be your master. Worship should be something we look forward to, not something we dread nor something we do without thinking simply as a creature of habit.
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February 15 & February 22, 2012: Hearing God
Earlier last week, I received an email from someone who is not from Hope. She was wrestling with the whole idea of hearing God. For her, it sometimes resulted in sheer frustration. How do we hear from God? Below is how I responded. I changed her name to Jane Doe.
I began this response thinking it would be a few tips. Instead, it turned out to be a very long response with 16 suggestions. Instead of reading it all at once, I encourage you to make a hard copy for yourself and read portions of it during your times with the Lord. Hopefully it will help you to connect with God in a deeper way.
Dear Jane,
I can relate to your struggle. I too wrestle with hearing God. I wish it would come more naturally to me, but it does not. But I am growing in my ability to hear God’s voice. Let me share with you some principles/suggestions that have helped me.
1) First we need to recognize that God really does want to speak to us. When the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, Peter opened his first sermon by quoting from Joel. He stated,
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18)
Because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all people, we all have the ability to hear God speak. In the Old Testament, God spoke audibly to certain people, but He only spoke to a select few. Today, he desires to speak to all of us who have His Spirit. Note that in the quotation of Joel, it does not say He will necessarily speak to us audibly. (Btw- Can you imagine if God did speak audibly to all people today? I think there would be people all over the world thinking that they can now write authoritative Scripture. The church would be in total chaos.) Instead, God speaks to us in more subtle ways, which as always, shows His wisdom and grace in sparing us from ourselves.
2) We may not think we can hear God’s voice, but every believer can. The passage in Joel mentions sons, daughters, young men and old men. In other words, the emphasis is all believers since now in this age of the New Covenant, we all have the Holy Spirit. You may think you have not heard God’s voice, but I’d predict you have. Think about the last time you were tempted. Did you sense the Holy Spirit telling you either not to do something or to do something to avoid the temptation? That was God speaking to you. Or when you did sin, have you ever sensed the Spirit’s conviction? Again, you heard the voice of God. But is God only concerned about sin so that is the only time He speaks to us? I don’t think so. But why do we recognize His voice in those situations, but we do not in others? Let me propose a few reasons in the next principles/suggestions.
3) We need to expect to hear His voice. In situations regarding temptation or sin, we have come to expect His voice. So when we sense His leading in those situations or when we sense His conviction, we have come to recognize it because we expect it. But often we don’t expect it, so we can ignore His subtle messages. Let me illustrate this in two ways. I know of some people whose property backs up to the train tracks. I would have thought it would be very difficult to live and especially to sleep with the noise of the trains, but they have unconsciously conditioned themselves to tune the sound out. Unfortunately, we have unconsciously trained ourselves to tune God out, partly because we really don’t expect Him to speak to us. On the other hand, I used to have a clock radio which would softly click before the music alarm sounded. Eventually, I would wake up with the subtle click even before the music went off. Why does this happen? Because after waking up to the music morning after morning, my sub-conscious trained itself to recognize the click so I would sometimes turn off the clock even before the music went on. So whether we consciously or sub-consciously train ourselves to recognize God’s voice, we need to expect God to speak to us. But you might ask, “But how do I recognize the voice of God?”
4) Realize that recognizing God’s voice is an art and a science. I find that the science of recognizing God’s voice is easier than the art. The science is weighing all things out against Scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” So when we think we are hearing God, but it is not according to His Word, we know it is not from God. For me, that’s the easy part. The harder part of recognizing God’s voice is the art part. There is no simple formula for hearing God. But there are some suggestions which I continue to list below.
5) God may not speak to you in words only. When you think about when the Spirit prompts you when are being tempted, or when He convicts you regarding a specific sin, often times He does not use actual words. For me, sometimes it comes in thoughts. I began to realize that maybe the Spirit speaks to me at other times without words, but since I am waiting for a voice from heaven, I may miss Him. Paul says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:14-16). Paul says that the Spirit of God testifies with our spirit that we are his children. Most theologians will say that this is just a knowing, not a specific word from God’s Spirit. Perhaps when we tell people that God often speaks in that still small voice, we can miscommunicate that there will be actual words they will hear. Now, don’t get me wrong. I do believe that God sometimes speaks to us in words (see next point), but don’t discount that a thought may be from God. As always, be sure to weigh these out with God’s Word. He will never lead you contrary to His Word.
6) Don’t assume simple statements are not from God. Sometimes when I run alone in the forest preserve, I’ll ask God, “God, is there anything on your mind that you want me to know.” Sometimes, the first thing that will come to mind is a simple statement like, “I love you!” or “Trust me!” I can all too easily discount them, thinking that I must really just be talking to myself. But am I? Often the simple truths of Scripture are the ones we stumble over. I truly believe that if we fully lived in the reality of the simple truths of God’s Word, our lives would be dramatically changed. One other thing- don’t be surprised as you meditate on God’s Word, that God will speak a word to you. I remember when I was going through a very difficult time, I was meditating on a passage in Philippians 3 where Paul says, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death….” While I was running, I told the Lord, “I’m not sure if I can say that. Sure, I want to know you and I want to know your power, but I’m not sure I can say I want to know the fellowship of your sufferings.” As soon as I said it, it was as if Jesus said back to me, “Wayne, you can’t know me and know the power of my resurrection, without also knowing the fellowship of my sufferings.” The word hit me so hard that I stopped running and I began to weep. How much did I really want to know Jesus? Did I want to know Him badly enough that even if He were to take me through the fire, I was willing to walk through the trial if on the other side, I would know Him better? It was a simple statement, but it spoke volumes to where I was at. Don’t assume simple statements are not from God.
7) Give yourself the freedom to fail. I can remember one time I was running late for an appointment in Arlington Heights and my car was also running low on gas. I prayed and asked the Lord, “Should I stop, or should I just keep going.” I thought I sensed the Lord saying, “Keep going.” I asked Him numerous times, but seemed to get the same answer. In fact, I thought I heard God saying, “Trust me.” Sure enough, a mile from my appointment, my car runs out of gas. And this was before there were cell phones! It was humbling for me to go to a stranger’s home and to call the guy I was meeting and ask him to come get me. It was even more discouraging as I thought about my interaction with God. “I thought I heard You. Maybe this whole thing about hearing God is just bogus.” It really threw me for a loop. But realize, that sometimes you are going to hear from God, but sometimes you’ll miss it. Don’t let that discourage you. Just ask God for His grace to continue to seek His face and listen to His voice. BTW- While we are on the topic of failure, one of my pet peeves is seeing so called “high level” prophets advertised as “incredibly accurate”. If you look some of them up on the web, they will give you a list of all the things they have predicted that came true. Some look to them similar to how some people look at horoscopes predicting the future. Last year, I listened to one of them and his predictions for 2011. There were specific things he said would happen in June and in August of 2011. They did not come true. However, as far as I know, he did not recant them saying He must have missed hearing God. All to say, don’t get caught up with all the predictions of “high level” prophets. In my more carnal state, I think that if they predict enough things will happen, something will come true just by sheer chance. In my more spiritual state, when I look at Scripture, I do believe that God has given the church prophets. I do believe that they did get some things right. But I wish they were more honest with us about their track record. I think it would lend to a more balanced view of them, as well as how God speaks today and the necessity to weigh all things out. Now one bats 1000. No one.
How can you grow in hearing God’s voice? There is no simple formula for hearing God. I don’t know of seven habits of highly successful hearers of God. But here are a few things that may help:
8) Spend consistent time with God and His Word. There is nor substitute for spending time with the Lord. When you read God’s Word, you don’t need to wonder, “Is this God speaking?” We can know for a fact that His Word is His voice. Get to know His voice, by getting to know His Word. In fact, I personally think God will be hesitant to speak to you if you do not spend time in His Word, because you can too easily be led astray. Remember too that God’s ultimate goal is not just to help you make decisions, but draw you close to Him (see #11 below).
9) Spend time wrestling with the texts of Scripture. It can be easy to simply write off passages like 1 Corinthians 12-14 or the book of Acts. Yet I encourage you to wrestle with them and ask God, “What is God saying here? How does that affect me today?”
10) Take time to slow down and be quiet. Today, we tend to run at hyper-speed throughout the day while we have filled our life with all sorts of noise- We listen to the radio while on our way to work, we watch TV when we come home, we listen to our ipods while working out. God cannot speak to us when we are running around and filling out lives with noise. Remember the story of Elijah- God spoke to Him out the “sound of a low whisper” or “a gentle whisper.” You need daily times where you get alone and be quiet before God. In addition, it is helpful to periodically take more extended times when you go away to seek God’s face.
11) Obey what you already know God is calling you to do. God will not speak to us if there are already things He has told us to do, yet we are hesitant to obey Him. The Psalmist writes, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18). If we are to hear from God, we need to be obedient to the things he has already shown us.
12) Seek to hear God’s voice for more than direction or decisions. I think we can tend to seek God and His voice when we are faced with a major decision or crises. But we can tend to ignore Him when things are going really well or when we are not faced with a major decision. In fact, we can sometimes unwittingly treat God as a heavenly soothsayer, coming to Him when we want to know the future and what things we need to do to make the best decision we can make. How many times have I personally asked God, “It would sure be nice if you made things real clear- like one if by land, two if by sea!”? God wants us to seek Him in all situations. Whether we are faced with major decisions or when we sense we know the path to take, whether things are going well, or whether we are in a crisis, God desires that we seek Him all the time. If we consistently seek God, it frees Him up to speak to our hearts, knowing that we will not treat Him like a heavenly soothsayer.
13) Walk in the Spirit. If the prophet Joel said that the reason we will hear His voice in this age of the New Covenant is that His Spirit is poured out on all of us, then it is imperative to walk in the Spirit. One of the best definitions I know of what it means to be filled with the Spirit is simply “the Spirit-filled life is the Christ-directed life in which Christ lives His life in and through us in the power of the Holy Spirit.” The Christian life is impossible to live. Only Christ can live it through us in the power of His Spirit. So God desires that we consistently yield to Him. Bill Bright, a man who walked in the reality of the Spirit, would start each day by asking Jesus to live through him. Every morning, after getting out of bed, he would get on his knees and ask Jesus, “Would you live your life through me? Think your thoughts through me. Make decisions through me. Speak your words through me.” And then He would go throughout the day, trusting that his life was surrendered to God and that the Spirit of God would lead Him. When he took over the throne of his life through disobedience, he would quickly confess it to the Lord, get right with God, experience His love & forgiveness, and once again yield His life to the Spirit. As a result, God used him to found and lead a movement that has reached over a billion people for Christ! If you are going to hear God’s voice, we need to know the reality of what it means to walk in the power of His Spirit every day. It is then that God can lead us (see Galatians 5:16-26).
14) Spend time with those who hear from God. One of things which I love about the Evening of Worship and Prayer is that it exposes me to people who hear God more accurately than I do. It is great to learn from others! I’ve even cornered people for lunch, and drilled them with questions like, “How do you know if what you are hearing from God is really from God?” They have been patient with me in attempting to answer my questions. I will always be deeply indebted to them! Let me share a couple of areas in particular. I used to think that dreams are just your minds way of processing things unconsciously. And often times they are. But once In a while, I’ve become more aware that God may actually speak to me through my dreams (remember the prophet Joel saying, “your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams….”? I think I now qualify as an “old man”!!!!) It was not until hearing about how God sometimes speaks to others through dreams that it occurred to me that God may sometimes speak to me that way. It does not happen often, but it does happen. Here’s another example: God often speaks to others in pictures. To be honest, when I first heard that, I was a little skeptical. After all, if God is going to speak, why does He not speak out rightly? But then someone showed me a passage in Numbers where God says, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord” (Numbers 12:6-8). Sometimes, God purposely spoke to the prophets in riddles. At first I wondered why. Then I realized something for myself. Sometimes, if God were to speak to me in words, it’s hard to discern if it was just me thinking those words or was that really from God (especially if it has do with another person we are praying for)? However, sometimes God will bring to mind a subtle picture out of the blue. It’s not like I am thinking about the thing that comes to mind, but God will sometimes bring it. Now again, I must say, sometimes I miss it. This past Sunday, I thought that God showed me a picture of a person with a light purple blouse who may need prayer. Well, as it turns out, there was not a person in the entire cafeteria with the same color blouse. In other words, I missed it. I thought God was speaking to me, but apparently He was not. Should that discourage me? No. Remember hearing God is an art & a science. You will not always get it right. You need to give yourself (and give others) the freedom to fail.
15) Spend time reading books from Biblically-balanced authors on this subject. Let me recommend a few books that have been helpful to me. The first is more of a theological approach to this issue- “Surprised by the Voice of God” by Jack Deere. The second is a little more philosophical- “Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God” by Dallas Willard. The third you already know, it is a little more experiential, i.e., what does a conversational relationship with God look like. It is “Walking with God” by John Eldredge. I hope those help.
16) Hearing God is a skill to be developed. Because of Adam’s fall, hearing God does not come as naturally as it did for Adam and Eve in the garden. It is a skill that needs to be developed. As all skills which we learn, at first it may seem awkward. Do you remember the first time you put on skis? You probably thought how do people do it? But now look at you! I think about the first time I picked up a golf club. It seemed so awkward. It seemed inconceivable how some could hit that little ball with such ease and keep it in the fairway. For some who have developed the skill, it becomes much easier, although even the best need to keep working at sharpening their skills. I can’t say that for me, I’m there yet. Hearing God is still challenging. Like my golf game, I think I find myself more in the rough than on the fairway. But I’m committed to developing the spiritual skill of hearing God’s voice because I want to know God and I want to connect with Him.
Jane, hearing God, when approached with a Biblically-balanced approach, can enrich your walk with God. Beware of those who claim too much in this area of hearing God, but also beware of those who claim too little. I know you sincerely seek the Lord. Give yourself grace as you seek to hear His voice. I hope this long blog has been helpful. Feel free to drop me an email and let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
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February 8, 2012: The Creation Account of Genesis 1
This past Sunday I mentioned that the goal of interpreting the Bible is to understand the author’s original intent. Since God used human authors in this process of inspiration to produce His divine, inerrant Word, then God’s intent is really found in the author’s intent.
So what was Moses’ original intent in Genesis 1? Was it to give us a scientific account of creation? a historical account? or was there something more that was going on in this account?
There are many Christians who believe that Genesis 1 is a historical account of creation and that God created the cosmos in seven 24-hour periods. They may be correct. But I personally do not think that this was Moses’ original intent in this chapter. Now, I may get to heaven and find out I was completely wrong, but let me share with you what I personally think. (By the way, much of my thinking has been influenced by Dr. John Sailhamer, a former Old Testament professor at Trinity.)
There are many things we can say about this passage, but let me point out a few things relevant to our discussion. First, light is created on day one. In addition, there is “morning and evening” on day one, but the sun and moon do not show up until day four. It does not take a 21st scientist to see a contradiction in this. Even Moses would have seen a contradiction in this.
Secondly, I think we overlook v. 1 & 2 and immediately jump into the rest of the account. What was happening in v. 1 & 2? When Moses wrote in v. 1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” was that a summary of what was to follow in chapter 1, or was this a statement that before day one, God created everything? In other words, did God’s ex-nihilo creation (creating everything out of nothing) begin on day one, or did it begin in v. 1 prior to day one?
In addition, what do we make of v. 2? It says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” If the earth and water were not created until the seven days of creation, then why did Moses write this in verse 2?
In short, here is what I think is taking place. I don’t think this is a scientific, nor a simple historical account of creation. Rather, I think this is a vision of creation that God gave Moses. So in v. 1, God creates the entire cosmos. The galaxies, all the heavenly bodies, and even earth itself is created in v. 1. By the way, no time frame is mentioned in verse one.
In verse two, God gives us a picture of what the surface of the earth was like. It was dark. Water covered the earth. The Spirit was “hovering” over the waters. The word “hovering” can also be translated “brooding” like a hen brooding over her eggs, waiting for them to hatch. Note also Moses mentions that the earth was formless and void. It sets up what is to follow- that in the following verses (the seven days of creation), God is going to bring form to the formless, and fill the void with his creation. Verse 2 also sets the vantage point from which this vision will take place. The vision is not from the point of space looking down on the earth, but rather the vision is from the standpoint of the dark surface of the waters over the earth. So what is to follow is a vision, perhaps much like a movie that unfolds before Moses’ eyes.
So now the vision continues in v. 3. There is now light. The sun and moon are not distinct, since something in the atmosphere must have simply obscured them. Whatever may have obscured light from even touching the earth has now changed. Light now shines on the surface of the waters, but the sun & moon are still not visible. There is now evening and morning, day one. (btw- Genesis 2:5-6 seems to tell us that before plants were created, the atmosphere was very different from what we know of it today).
Then the vision continues. God brings form to the earth by creating land. He then begins to fill the land with vegetation. Then on day four, it mentions the sun and moon. Was this when they were created from nothing, or was this when the sun and moon became visible from the face of the earth, i.e., did something happen in the atmosphere of the earth that the sun and moon were now visible? I would argue the latter. This explains why Moses saw no contradiction in pointing out that there was morning and evening on day one, but does not mention the sun and moon until day four. He knew that they were created back in v. 1.
Now, you may be wondering if the days are actual 24-hour periods. I think Moses was simply telling us what he saw in this vision. It’s possible they were actual 24-hour periods, but more likely, they were more symbolic. Some might argue, but if we are to take God’s Word literally, don’t they need to be literal 24-hour periods? However, if this was a vision from God, like the dreams Daniel received or the vision which John received in Revelation, than there is much symbolism in visions. Further, if we were to look carefully at Genesis 2:4, it literally says, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the DAY that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Careful examination would note that the word “day” is singular. So, if “literal” means 24-hour periods, was the world created in seven days, or in one day? I don’ t think Moses nor the other Old Testament writers would spend time arguing over this. The issue is that God gave Moses this vision, so to talk about the seven days of creation would still be very accurate no matter if they were literal 24-hour periods or vast periods of time.
Someone might ask why God presented the vision of creation in this format of seven days. One reason is that God was establishing our need for a Sabbath rest. Since God rested on the seventh day, He establishes the pattern of us taking a Sabbath rest (Exodus 20:8-11). In addition, the writer of Hebrews sees an even greater Sabbath rest which we have entered (Hebrews 4).
So, if you were to ask me, “Wayne, do you take the Bible literally?” I would first respond by asking what you meant by “literal.” If “literal” means a wooden understanding (e.g.- believing that when the Bible says that the sun rose and the sun set, that the Bible was teaching a flat earth with the sun revolving around the earth), I would say no. However, if taking the Bible literally means that I believe the Bible as understood by the original intent of the authors I would say yes. But like the above explanation indicates, we need to read the Bible carefully, lest we miss what the writers originally meant.
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January 31, 2012: Talking at the Lord?
Recently, God has been impressing upon me the need to re-examine my prayer life. One of the things He has been showing me is the difference between talking at Him vs. talking to Him.
No one likes to be talked at by someone. Unfortunately, we sometimes do this with our spouse and children. We can talk at them without really engaging them. I find I can do the same with the Lord, especially when praying through a list of prayer requests. It’s all too easy for me to rattle them off like going through a grocery list. But part of the reason that God desires for us to pray is that we would engage and connect with Him. When we talk about having a personal relationship with God, what do we mean? We mean that we can relate to God on a personal level- that we can develop a close, intimate relationship with God that goes deeper than any other human relationship. In order for that to occur, our prayer life needs to be more than verbalizing a grocery list of requests that we vaguely hope will be answered. Rather it involves dialoguing with God and communing with Him.
There is a difference between talking at God vs. talking to God
So how can that happen? Let me suggest a few things that can be helpful. First, try verbalizing your prayers out loud. I find when I pray silently, I can sometimes not really think about what I am praying. In fact, it is not uncommon for me to pray and without even noticing it, my mind wanders to something completely different. By verbalizing my prayers aloud, I find I am more thoughtful about what I am actually saying to the Lord.
Secondly, try pausing periodically and seeing if you sense anything from the Lord. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t sense anything immediately. Developing a listening ear to hear God’s voice takes time. But wait and see if you sense anything. If you sense something, but you are not sure if it is from the Lord, you may want to write it down and wait and see if there is confirmation later. Again, if you don’t sense anything, don’t give up the practice of waiting and listening to Him. God wants us to seek Him with all our heart.
Thirdly, be watchful for ways which God wants to intervene in your life. I believe that God is so much more active in our lives than we realize, but we just fail to recognize His hand at work. For instance, last night we realized that the valve under our sink was leaking, dripping water into the cabinet. I called Menards in Antioch and the recording said they were open until 10pm. So I said a quick prayer asking God to make the repair go smoothly, hopped in the car, and drove to Antioch only to find the store closed. My response?-- frustration! We then called the Menards in Gurnee and confirmed that they were indeed opened until 10pm, so I went there. When I went to pick up the valve, I noticed that certain ones were on sale. At that time, a sales clerk came up, asked me if I needed help, and then told me what to get. I asked him about the ones on sale and he said the reason they were on sale is that they have been discontinued. He said that they tend to leak because they are dependent on an O ring inside which tends to deteriorate. My first reaction- “Is this guy trying to snow me?” But then again, the one that was on sale was only $1 cheaper, and the sales guy doesn’t make commissions, and he did seem to know what he was talking about. So I went ahead and bought it.
On the way home, as I was still feeling frustrated about how much more time the errand took, the thought did occur to me, perhaps God was at work. Perhaps God knew that my tendency would be to get the cheaper valve and down the road it would begin to leak again, so He took me to the store where someone would give me some better advice. Or maybe, I just needed another lesson in patience! Either way, did I recognize the sovereign hand of God at work in my life?
So next time you pray, pray to God and not at God. You may actually find He is listening and wants to communicate with you!
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January 24, 2012: Father Knows Best (by David Green)
David Green sent this e-mail to me a while back. It not only ministered to me, but to others who also read it. Someone suggested I post it. I hope it ministers to you as well! Here it is:
“I've been thinking lately about all of the illness and misfortunes that have occurred amongst the people at Hope. Have we unfairly been subjected to misfortune or are we blessed to be in a body of believers that is open to sharing their lives and thus we as a church see more clearly the plights of our body? I tend to think the latter, that we are blessed to be amongst a very open and caring community of believers.
“In the old TV show, "Father Knows Best", the idea was that the father of the family knew what was best for his family and though the ideas that he had were not always transparent to the rest of his family, his wisdom always helped the family. God is our Father and "Father Knows Best". It would be easy to look at all of the troubles that the people of Hope have been experiencing and wonder why God doesn't just step in and stop all of our troubles and "bless" the people of Hope, but then again we don't possess God's wisdom or vision. God can use all of the troubles that the people of Hope are having to be a great witness, not only to each other as the people of Hope, but to our community. As God raises Hope up to serve the community of Lindenhurst it will be a great witness to be able to share how we are ordinary people with ordinary problems with an extraordinary God who meets our needs with grace.
When we see problems, God sees opportunities... God is in control and sees opportunity where we see despair
“I know that I often refer to movie scenes to relate a feeling or emotion that I have and perhaps that is a way God allows me to communicate things that I find hard to express on my own. Here is a scene from "Apollo 13" that spoke to me of how God views the problems His people face. When we see problems, God sees opportunities. In this scene, the Apollo 13 capsule is re-entering the earth's atmosphere after suffering an explosion that has damaged the ship and some of the controllers are discussing the problems that the ship and crew faces and the great "disaster that might follow, while the one in charge listens with defiance and replies, "gentlemen, I think this will be our finest hour". The ship does return to earth safely with it's crew. God is in control and sees opportunity where we see despair. Watch the clip http://youtu.be/eOkAyUmyQko.
“Wayne I pray that God would lift you up, give you peace and wisdom as you help the people of Hope see the opportunities that God has in store for them, despite the troubles that they may be facing.” – David Green
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January 17, 2012: Inspiration, Incarnation, & the Humility of God
I think all of us are impressed when we see a professional athlete, who is being interviewed by a sports newscaster after an outstanding performance, yet reflects the personal character of humility. Humility amidst incredible performance—perhaps this is what was happening in the inspiration of Scripture.
This past Sunday, I mentioned how Scripture relates Jesus and the Word of God in passages such as John 1 where John writes, “In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Just as God worked through the human agent of an imperfect woman (Mary) to introduce the perfect Son of God, likewise God worked through the imperfect human agents (writers of Scripture) to produce His perfect Word. Just as Jesus bore the human characteristics of Mary, likewise Scripture also bears the human characteristics of the human writers. In many ways, just as Jesus was fully human but fully divine, likewise Scripture is also fully human (bearing characteristics of the writing styles of men), yet fully divine (the words of God Himself, perfect in the original autographs without any errors). We can summarize this in the following chart:
When you think about it, the incarnation of Jesus and the inspiration of Scripture were two of the greatest miracles of God. Yet isn’t it just like the Lord to downplay His supernatural powers? Perhaps this is reflective of the incredible humility of God amidst His awesome omnipotence. Jesus could have been delivered amidst great fanfare with the entrance of the Son of God flashed in the clouds for all too see. Instead, He was born humbly—in a small town, to unknown parents, born in a stable with a feeding trough as a bed. In a similar way, God could have given us His Word through the delivering of Scripture on gold tablets through the messengers of angels. Instead, God wrote His divine words through the agents of imperfect men. Outwardly, the process seemed so natural, yet in reality the process and the product were both divinely supernatural.
Both of these reflect the humility of God. Just as we admire incredibly talented people who do not flaunt their abilities, so too the humility of God shows through both of these miraculous events.
However, one day, God will enter the stadium. He will walk on the playing field. And the evil of this world will force Him to show us His incredible power. Then all will see His omnipotence in all His glory. But then, we who know the Lord, will also still be amazed at the glory of His humility shown to us in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the inspiration of Scripture. To God be the glory! He is really worthy of all praise!
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January 10, 2012: Bungee Jumping & Faith
My timing is impeccable! Last fall I used Joe Paterno as a message illustration the Sunday before he was fired. This past Sunday I used Hannah’s bungee jump off an abandoned bridge in Zambia just downstream from Victory falls as an illustration of faith. Then on Sunday night, this video of the same place Hannah jumped was on all the major news networks; check it out- http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/08/tourist-survives-plunge-into-crocodile-infested-waters-after-bungee-cord-snaps/. (Btw- if I ever use you as a message illustration, watch out!!!)
It is not the amount of faith that is important, but rather the object of your faith
But I guess the point I was making is still illustrated in this video- it is not the amount of faith that is important, but rather the object of your faith. The reason the girl was hurled into the river was not that her faith was weak, but that the object of her faith was weak.
Read what Matthew wrote in Matthew 17:14-20-
“When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ‘Lord, have mercy on my son,’ he said. ‘He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.’
“‘You unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.’ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
“Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’
“He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’”
I used to read these verses and think, if I believe hard enough, I can see more of my prayers answered. But I think I missed the point of the passage. The issue is not that we need to artificially muster up our faith. The point is that the amount of faith is not so important as the object of our faith. If our faith is in God, that God is who He says He is and does what He says He does, than whatever we ask Him He will do.
I think the problem with our faith is that often times, we don’t really know who God is or we are unsure what He says He will do. Many of us need to pursue getting to know God better and getting to know the promises of His Word. God’s character is unchanging. In addition, God shows throughout His Word that His promises are sure. So when we pray, trusting in God’s character and His promises, then we can be assured that what we are praying for will happen.
But what if we are not sure about His will? What if something we are praying about does not fall into the category of a black and white promise? What if God has not shown us definitively what His will is?
Then we pray with our heart’s desires, but we submit to His sovereignty. That is when the passage in James comes into play where James writes, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
So trust the character of God and promises of His Word. And also, make sure the next time you take a 300’ bungee jump, that the rope is worthy of your trust!
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January 4, 2012: Getting Back into Shape
Now that the holidays are over, I need to get back into shape. I filled the holidays with far too many almond crescent cookies, chocolate fudge, chex mix, toffee, chocolate chip cookies, etc., interspersed with an occasional clementine orange (after all, I wanted to stay healthy!). In addition, since we did a lot of traveling, our meals varied from rich holiday dinners with the extended family to fatty fast food on the road. All to say, I need to buffet my body rather than visiting more buffets!
But in addition to getting back into physical shape, I need to also get back into spiritual shape. The late nights and all the traveling took its toll on my morning times with the Lord. I caught times here and there to read and pray, but for the most part, they were far too short. Even this week, I find myself falling asleep as I begin to pray.
Can you relate? If so, here are a few very practical tips to get back into the flow of the Spirit:
First, make sure you stand right with the Lord. If you have any unconfessed sin, confess your sin and then claim 1 John 1:9. Don’t wallow in shame, but rather experience God’s love and forgiveness. The Lord loves it when you turn to Him. He does not shake His head in shame and say, “Well, it’s about time you came around!” Rather He always welcomes us back, as a loving father welcoming his prodigal child.
Secondly, begin again to spend consistent time with the Lord. If you are not in the habit of spending time with the Lord, begin spending a short amount of time, but do it every day. Don’t make the similar mistake of those who make grandiose commitments to physical exercise, only to peter out a few weeks later. Begin slow, but spend time every day with the Lord. If you are a more mature believer, you may also want to supplement your reading with a good Christian book. However, if you do, note the caution below.
Thirdly, consider turning off the TV for a while. I found that one of things that numbed me spiritually during the holidays was watching too much TV. With the plethora of football games, holiday movies, and U-verse HBO free days, I found myself all too often vegging in front of the tube. But like Christmas cookies and sweets, it’s all too easy to overdose, leaving your spiritual condition lethargic and demotivated. When Ollie left for PA, I took a day to fast from TV. It really helped me to sense the presence of the Lord more consistently.
Fourthly, consider getting back into physical shape. For me, it’s hard to be spiritually disciplined when I am physically undisciplined. Remember, whatever you do, start off slow, but be consistent.
Finally, be sure to worship and pray throughout the day. When I am spiritually out of shape, the tendency for me is to read, but not talk with Lord. Don’t get me wrong- reading the Bible or a Christian book can really help you to re-engage with the Lord. But you can also find yourself spending all your time reading and never getting to really communicating with the Lord.
So are you ready? Remember, start slow and be consistent. It was through consistency and steadfastness that the snails made it on the ark. May we do the same!
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December 30, 2011: Christmas Letdown
On Monday I was watching the news. They interviewed some people who were taking advantage of the after-Christmas sales. One woman made this statement, “Yesterday was all about Christ. Today it‘s all about me.”
The statement really hit me. At first I was taken back by how self-centered the woman’s statement seemed to be. But then I began to reflect on a question I had pondered earlier that day—Did Joseph and Mary ever suffer from a post-Christmas letdown?
When you read the Christmas story, it is full of supernatural events. The birth of John to aged parents, Zechariah losing and regaining his voice, the multiple revelations from angels and dreams, the virgin birth, the visit from shepherds, the testimonies from Simeon & Anna, the visit from the magi, the star that guided them, the warning to flee to Egypt—all of these events must have had Joseph and Mary’s heads spinning!
But I’m sure after a while, the supernatural was replaced with the mundane. There was the challenge of finding a place to live in Egypt. Joseph had to try to re-establish his career as a carpenter in the foreign land of Egypt. He not only had a credibility barrier being a foreigner, but he also must have fought with the language barrier. Did Joseph ever question God as he saw the resources of gold, frankincense and myrrh begin to dwindle as they used them to survive the difficult time living in Egypt? Mary, a teenage girl, had to raise a newborn without the help of her parents and her extended family. Who could she go to ask for advice? Did anyone speak Hebrew where they lived? Then there were diapers to change, laundry to wash, meals to make, food to purchase. Did Mary & Joseph ever have arguments as they adjusted to marriage and parenting? Scripture does not dwell on the mundane, because after all, the mundane is rather, well, mundane! So did Mary & Joseph suffer from a post-Christmas letdown?
May God give all of us the grace to keep Jesus the reason for each and every season
I pose that question because I find myself all too often suffering from that letdown myself. After gearing up for the holidays, after prepping for Christmas messages week after week, after traveling all over the eastern half of the US, and after devouring every kind of Christmas cookie and holiday sweets, I can find myself experiencing a letdown. That’s when it’s all too easy to shift the focus off of Jesus and on to myself.
But I so want these post-Christmas days, these post-Christmas weeks, these post-Christmas months, this post-Christmas year to not be all about me, but about Jesus. I want to be able to say, “On Christmas Day, it was all about Jesus. And today and tomorrow, it is still all about Jesus.” May God give all of us the grace to keep Jesus the reason for each and every season.
“For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain” - Philippians 1:21
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December 20, 2011: A Heavenly Christmas
While in PA, someone reminded me that this will be my Mom & Dad’s first Christmas in heaven. I never thought about that until then. It did make me wonder- what will that be like?
Will it be a grand celebration filled with majestic choirs of angels and stirring testimonies from all the Christmas figures, including all the prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah? Will they sing Christmas carols as we know today, or are there angelic versions in languages and tunes unknown to man? Will the setting be much like the worship scenes in the book of Revelation or more like the setting of that night in Bethlehem when the angels announced the birth of Jesus to all the shepherds?
Perhaps before the grand celebration, Jesus spends a quiet Christmas Eve with Mary & Joseph and all the shepherds. They reminisce as they recall, “Remember when…?” Perhaps Jesus also makes personal visits to Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Simeon, Anna and the magi.
Or perhaps, through His Spirit, Jesus sits with every believer, not only recalling the first Christmas, but also reminiscing on those special Christmas celebrations which they have shared with Him while on earth. They laugh. They cry. They sing. They talk. They rejoice. They worship. They bow in silence in the midnight darkness as the heavenly stars and planets twinkle and join the angels as they sing their celestial choruses of praise.
No one really knows what happens in heaven during Christmas. But this Christmas, I’ll be dreaming of heavenly Christmas, just like the one my Mom and Dad now know.
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December 12, 2011: God’s favorites
We have a friend named Julie. She used to joke saying, “I’m God’s favorite!” On the surface it may seem like an exaggeration of God’s special love or even a narcissistic expression of it, but there is actually a lot of truth to her statement. In essence, all of us who have Jesus Christ living in us are God’s favorite.
On that first Christmas, the angels proclaimed to the shepherds and to the world, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” The peace Jesus would bring would first be peace in our relationship with God. Because of His sacrifice and forgiveness, there is no longer any animosity or barrier that stands between God and those of us who have trusted in Christ. We who know Christ are the ones on whom His favor rests. Because Christ is in us and we are in Christ, God’s favor rests on us as it rests on Christ. In essence, we truly are special to God because we are now His children.
But I used to think, “How can we be ‘special’ if there are billions of us who are His children?” To say God’s “special billion people” somehow seems to lose the meaning of “special.” But I think this is because we view God as a finite being. If God were finite, then His favor and attention would be reduced by the vast number of His children.
Because Christ is in us and we are in Christ, God’s favor rests on us as it rests on Christ
However, because God is infinite, the number of His children does not reduce His favor on each of us. Infinity divided by billions still equals infinity. And so God can treat every one of us as special. He can grant to each one of us His favor as though we were the only one in the world whom He was granting that privilege. In essence, we are God’s favorite! Not that we are better than anyone else, because God’s favor has nothing to do with us, but rather it has everything to do with Him. Being God’s favorite is not a reflection of who we are, but rather a reflection of who God is.
So every time you bask in the incredible favor of God, you are bringing glory to the character of God. So go ahead, proclaim to your soul, “I am God’s favorite!” Not only will you lift up your own heart, you’ll ask bring a smile to God Himself!
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.
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December 7, 2011: Immanuel
Part of the result of the fall is the inconsistency with which we wrestle between what we believe and how we live.
I am personally reminded of this truth when I think about Jesus being our Immanuel, God with us.
God became flesh and dwelt among us. He became a man among men, a human amidst humankind. He came to be with us, to dwell with us, to relate to us in a way that we could understand and commune with Him. That’s the story of Christmas.
But then He went a step further. Jesus sent His Spirit to live in us so that He would truly be God with us forever. As I write this, Jesus is with me and in me through His Spirit. As you read this blog, Jesus is with you and in you through His Spirit.
If you lived every moment of today in the reality of living in the presence of Jesus, would your day have already looked different?
But here’s the question- Do we live daily in the reality that God is with us? Not just with us in theory or with us in a nebulous mystical sense, but that Jesus really is with us- right here, right now.
Stop for a moment and think- if you lived every moment of today in the reality of living in the presence of Jesus, would your day have already looked different? As you woke up and ate breakfast, if Jesus were there to share the meal you, would your breakfast time looked any different? As you drove to work, if Jesus were there in the front seat, would the drive have been any different? As you interacted with your co-workers, your boss, you customers, would your interaction have been any different? As you cared for and talked to your children, would your care and conversation been any different? As you interacted with your spouse, would your attitude been any different? As you shopped and ran errands, would your trip been any different?
The reality is that Jesus was there- He was there with you at breakfast, in the car, at work, in your house, in the store. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded that He is with me every moment of every day and live in that reality. That one simple truth can transform my life. So here’s what I am doing this Christmas- I wrote printed on a piece of cardstock the simple words, “Immanuel, God with us!” I am placing it in my phone as a constant reminder that he is with me and in me. As many times as I use my phone, I want to be reminded of His presence. If you are as forgetful as me, I encourage you to do the same.
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee, O Israel!”
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November 29, 2011: My Mother
Yesterday I got word that my mother passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Thankfully she knew the Lord and lived a full life. She was 94.
Mom was a model of servanthood and hospitality. I remember the first time I brought Ollie home to meet my parents. We drove in at 12:30am. I told Ollie that mom is going to want to feed us. Sure enough, after we woke her up she asked, “Are you hungry?” Before we could answer, she was pulling food out of the refrigerator!
But mom was also a model of one who rarely complained. Amidst the hardship in her life, she always remained positive.
Mom’s parents immigrated to the US after the turn of the century. My grandmother’s aunt who had raised my grandmother became seriously ill, so my grandmother boarded a boat back to Japan while pregnant with my mother. My grandmother’s aunt lived longer than expected, so my mother was actually born in Japan in 1917. During that time, my grandfather was still struggling to make a living. Since the American dollar went much further in Japan, he told my grandmother to remain in Japan while he stayed and worked in the U.S.
In 1923, Tokyo suffered one of its worst earthquakes in history. It happened just as many Japanese families had fired up their hibachis to prepare for dinner. Since most of the structures in Japan where made of wood, the entire city instantly became engulfed in flames. After losing all their possessions, my grandmother decided it was time to return to the US. So my mother was five years old when she first met her father.
Five years later my grandfather passed away. My grandmother considered returning to Japan when some of her friends encouraged her to run their newly opened fruit and vegetable stand by herself with her four children. She took up the challenge and my mother and her brothers engaged in actively running the store. With the onslaught of the depression, they found themselves struggling financially, but always had plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Later Mom graduated high school and was the first in her family to go to college, receiving her associates degree in Business and Civic Health in 1938.
On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor was bombed. With it came the destruction of their dreams as well. Early the following year, Japanese American citizens were classified as “enemy aliens” and were forced to sell their property and possessions and were shipped off into internment camps. My mother’s family was transported with other Japanese Americans to Heart Mountain, an internment camp in the desert-like plateau of Wyoming. There were no trees, only a few cactuses and rows of quickly constructed barracks which were drafty and ice cold in the winter and dusty and hot during the summer.
After the war, as the Japanese were released, my mother went east to find work. She obtained a job as a medical records librarian in a hospital in Philadelphia. Soon afterwards she met my father and the rest was history.
But in spite of all of this, I never heard my mother complain about her past hardships. She was never bitter or resentful for the loss of their freedoms in the internment camps. She never questioned God’s hand in losing her father or in allowing them to struggle financially in those early years in the US. Even towards the end of her life, when we would ask her how she was doing, not matter what the situation, no matter what she was challenged with physically, she would always respond, “I’m fine! Everything’s fine!”
Now, everything is truly fine for her! She is with the Lord, and with my dad. All those years of remaining positive, all those years of not giving into a complaining spirit- now she is truly rejoicing, not in spite of her circumstances, but rather in light of her circumstances! Here’s to you, Mom! Thanks for begin a great mom to us! We love you & we’ll miss you!
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November 24, 2011: Spiritual Amnesia
I’ve got a disease. It’s called spiritual amnesia.
It’s characterized by forgetfulness, especially forgetfulness of all the daily blessings God has given me. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one with this disease.
Deuteronomy tells us that the entire nation of Israel suffered from this disease. That is why God instructed and warned them through Moses:
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” - Deuteronomy 8:10-14
If you were with us on Tuesday night during our Thanksgiving service, you will recall I challenged you to write out 201 things for which you are thankful. I encourage you to follow through with that little exercise. It’s more than an exercise. It’s a remedy for spiritual amnesia.
So as Thanksgiving ends, and the shopping begins, be sure to thank God for your 201 things. In fact, keep giving thanks throughout the week, throughout the year, throughout your life, because spiritual amnesia is a serious disease.
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November 15, 2011: Silence is Not Always Golden
I think as we look back on the recent news regarding the Penn State scandal, we can take away a couple more lessons.
First, whenever anyone is aware that a child is being abused, immediate and definitive action must be taken to protect the child and insure that the abuse does not continue. This includes, but is not limited to, reporting the incident to the police.
Secondly, it’s not only what we do or say that is important, but also what we don’t do or don’t say. In some situations, silence and inaction are morally culpable. This was made very clear in the case of Coach Paterno and the then graduate assistant Mike McCreary.
I find it easy to question, “Why were they silent? With so much at stake, why did they not do more?”
But as I was preparing for our congregational meeting this past Sunday, it hit me--when it comes to sharing the gospel with those around me, am I guilty of the same inaction?
Today there are people all around us struggling with issues--marital problems, rebellious children, financial crises, creeping materialism, crippling addictions, eating disorders, relational conflicts, deep insecurities, overwhelming depression—the list can fill a page and more. In addition, those who do not know Christ are headed for an eternity separated from God, an eternity into a horror that is far greater than anyone has ever known on this earth.
It’s not only what we do or say that is important, but also what we don’t do or don’t say
Yet we have been entrusted with the greatest news that anyone can hear. It is the ultimate solution for any issue they will ever be confronted with. In fact it is the only way that they can reconnect with the One and Only One who can meet their every need. It is the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the message of eternal hope.
And yet, I wonder- How am I doing in making this message known? How am I doing in reaching out to those around me to help them come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? When I reach the end of my life and look back, will my inaction and silence be as obvious as those looking back at the Penn State situation?
I can use the excuse that I am busy doing other things in ministry. After all, I’m a pastor. But Jesus’ commission is clear. He commands us to go and touch lives with His life-changing gospel (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-49, John 20:21, Acts 1:8). Even as busy as Jesus was during His earthly ministry, He never lost sight of the Father’s commission to reach the lost.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we start banging on people’s doors or preaching on street corners. But I am convicted that if I am going to reach those whom God has placed in my circle of influence, I need to spend more time building relationships with them. They will never listen to the message of good news, unless they first see it lived out through the genuine interest and love expressed to them in the messengers that carry that good news.
So I am committing myself to consciously build into my schedule time every month to spend with someone who does not know Jesus. Time to get to know them. Time to listen. Time to care. Because in the end, I don’t want to look back and regret my inaction and silence. I want to be able to stand before Jesus and say, “By your grace, I did what I could to extend your rescue mission here on earth.”
Will you join me in that commitment? I encourage you at least once per month, to spend time showing someone who is unchurched you really care about them.
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November 8, 2011: Character Matters
This past Sunday I used Coach Joe Paterno as an example of well-respected character. However, today the sports news headlines are full of accounts and commentary of the sexual abuse scandal that has already rocked the reputation of the Penn State football program, a program that was known for its integrity and character.
The focus of the legal investigation is on an assistant coach, as well as the athletic director and one of Penn State’s vice presidents for perjury in covering up the abuse. But the focus of the commentary is on Joe Paterno, as well as Graham Spanier, the president of the university. Many are saying that even though the attorney general has stated that legally both did what was required, many believe that morally they did not do enough.
Some strongly believe that Paterno should step down. One commentary said, “The attorney general has determined that Paterno and Spanier did everything the law required. But a university president must be held to a higher standard. The most famous coach in college football history must be held to a higher standard…. Paterno should be allowed to finish out the year and retire with the honor and admiration he has earned since taking over as head coach in 1966. It might always be honor with an asterisk, admiration with a shake of the head. Joe will have to live with that.”
Whether Paterno should or should not step down as head coach, I’ll leave that up to the commentators, but one thing is clear- character matters.
In Titus we read through a long list of very high standards for leadership of the church. These characteristics fall under the umbrella of being “blameless.” In other words, as other New Testament translations put it, an elder must be a man who is “above reproach”, “unaccusable,” “having unquestionable integrity,” “having a reputation above reproach,” “well thought of for their good lives.”
This is because the character of the leader reflects the reputation of the church. And the reputation of the church, reflects the reputation of Christ Himself. Leaders in the church must be held to a higher standard.
I invite all of you to keep myself, the elders, and all of the leaders at Hope accountable to that higher standard. How tragic it would be that any of us would stain the reputation of Hope and the reputation of Jesus.
What will happen to Joe Pa and the Penn State football program has yet to be seen. But never forget, character matters. More than wins and losses, more than accomplishments and record books, character matters. My character matters. Your character matters. Character matters.
November 1, 2011: Chanel no. 5 for canines
On Sunday night I let our dog Maddie out into the backyard while I wrapped up the house to get ready for bed. Five minutes later I let her back in the house. That’s when I smelled it. Maddie had rolled in something and it was all over her. Needless to say, the smell was not roses! Apparently, the opossum who visited us the night before left us a gift that Maddie thought was Chanel no. 5 for canines. I was not a happy camper. I immediately opened the door and shooed her out again.
So here it was, 10:45pm at night. I had to pull out our outdoor halogen worklight from the garage, screw on the hose attachment to the kitchen sink, attach our special hose to it, and run it outside. So amidst the dark and cold night, here I was giving Maddie a bath.
As the steam rose from her, it was a reflection of what I was feeling inside. I was angry at Maddie. I was already tired and ready to go to bed. This was the last thing I wanted to do. Thoughts ran through my head like, “This is why people have cats rather than dogs.” I also thought, “Why do these things happen when Ollie is in GA?” The song lyrics ran through my mind, “You’ve picked a fine time to leave me Lucille!”
The thought did occur to me, “She’s only a dog. She doesn’t know any better.” But that did not help my attitude. I was angry and frustrated. I did not take it out on Maddie physically or verbally, but my attitude definitely came through. I justified it by thinking, “She’s only a dog and not a person. After all, she doesn’t know any better.” I also thought “Well, at least I’m giving you a bath with warm water. I could be washing you with the cold water from the outdoor hose. Maybe that will teach you a lesson!”
So inside I continued to rant and rave as I finished the bath and dried her off with a hair dryer. As I was finally getting ready for bed, the thought occurred to me. Did it matter what my attitude was? Again I reasoned, “She’s just a dog. And besides, no one is here to notice whether I have a good attitude about this.”
That’s when it struck me. There was someone there.
We are called to live godly lives not primarily because of the impact it may have on others, not primarily because of what others will think as they watch us; we live godly lives primarily because we want to please God Himself. The test of true character is not what I do or think when somebody is watching, but how I live when nobody is watching, because in reality, there is always someone who is.
Did it matter that I was angry and frustrated, rather than patient and joyful? Maybe Maddie could not discern the difference, but God could. In addition, God’s commands are always for our good. My anger and frustration only made the situation worse for me. I allowed the situation to ruin my last hour of my day.
So as I lay in bed, I confessed, repented, and thanked God for the forgiveness He so willingly extends. I also asked Him to help me be more godly. I know God heard and answered my prayers. How do I know? Well, the next day, after letting Maddie out in the morning- you guessed it! Deja vu. Once again, I pulled out the hose…
But this time, I had a better attitude. In addition, I combed through the back yard until I found the opossum’s gift. I guess God used Maddie to teach me something. So I abandoned the idea of trading Maddie in for a bowl of goldfish.
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October 25, 2011: The Marriage Dance
This past Sunday, I wrapped up this series on marriage by speaking on the dance of marriage—the unique roles that God has given husbands and wives. I think when it comes to roles in marriage, there are common misconceptions that I see husbands and wives often have.
For husbands the common error is to equate leadership with decision-making. This can result in 2 opposite behaviors. One behavior is to dominate their wives, thinking they now have the authority to make all the decisions and their wives are supposed to respond in blind obedience. This misses the New Testament teaching that true Christ-like leadership is servant-leadership. We lead by serving and sacrificing for our wives, just as Christ served and sacrificed for us. In fact, a careful examination of Scripture shows that the instruction to lead is really one aspect of the greater, overarching command for us to love our wives.
The other opposite error for husbands is to think that if leadership is all about decision-making, and if one’s wife seems very competent in making decisions, then it’s easy to assume that one can still fulfill his duty by just delegating the decision-making to his wife. But leadership is much more than decision-making. Leaders reject passivity, and instead take the initiative. This initiative is not just when crises arise, but rather it is initiative to develop their marriage relationship, initiative to pursue God, initiative to oversee the parenting of children, initiative to insure that the family is being provided for, initiative to monitor the family schedule to be sure the family is pursuing God-honoring, eternal values, and initiative to serve and sacrifice for their wife and children.
By the way, I find it interesting that when leadership is presented as making all the decisions, women object while men feel pretty good. However, when leadership is presented as the one who serves, sacrifices, and initiates, men start to squirm while women feel very motivated to hand the leadership mantle over to their husbands! If you are a husband, let me challenge you—leadership in the home is not easy! There are many men who are very successful leaders in the workplace, but very weak leaders at home. In fact, if you find leading your family is easy, re-evaluate your leadership. Chances are you’re not really leading with Christ-like leadership. Leadership in your family is an incredibly high calling, but with it also comes tremendous challenges. But God promises to supply His grace-filled strength. So men, step up and answer the call to love and to lead!
For women, the common error I see wives making is to equate submission with simply obeying their husbands (By the way, this is also related to viewing leadership as simply making decisions). However, Paul sums up the role of husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:33, by saying, “…each one of you [husbands] also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Submission is not just obedience; rather it is following a husband’s lead while respecting him.
Just as a husband is commanded by God to love his wife unconditionally, so a wife is to respect her husband unconditionally. Most think that respect must be earned, not freely given. However, just as God calls us to respect those in positions of governmental authority, regardless of their character, so too, God calls wives to respect their husbands unconditionally. For a woman to communicate in her attitude or actions, “I don’t respect you,” is just as devastating as a man communicating to his wife, “I don’t love you.” Respect touches the deepest needs of a man. It answers one of the most significant questions that men have stirring in their innermost being, “Do I have what it takes.” When a wife answers that question with a resounding “yes” through her respect, it motivates and encourages him to launch out and answer God’s calling of true manhood.
These complementary roles work together like a dance. However, just like dancing, marriage takes practice and work. Sometimes we step on each other’s toes. Sometimes we get out of step. In fact, sometimes we can even fall down. But God calls us to get back up, to trust in Him, and to continue dancing. If you both choose to do so, as the years go on, you will both find yourselves truly dancing with the stars!
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October 18, 2011: Conflict- God’s Opportunity in Disguise
Conflict. Just the word itself brings to mind all sorts of negative memories and thoughts. Heated arguments. Broken relationships. Pain. Hurt. Ouch!
But what if conflicts are one of God’s great opportunities in disguise? How so?
First, conflicts tends to bring us face to face with our own selfishness. In conflicts we see how we tend to hang on to our own rights, how we fight to get our own way, how we are more concerned with ourselves than others, how easily we slip into self-protection and self-preservation. God allows conflict to surface our need to relinquish our self-centeredness, pride, and self-sufficiency and turn to Him.
Secondly, conflicts are an opportunity to truly learn what it means to willingly trust in Jesus. When faced with trials we are forced to trust God in our desperation, but often we feel we don’t have a choice. In conflict we do have a choice. We can choose to go our own way and depend on our own fleshly wisdom, or consciously choose to trust in God. We learn what it means to willingly lay down our lives and yield to Him, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, “who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,” and to “entrust our lives to Him who judges righteously.”
Thirdly, conflicts teach us what it means to truly love. Jesus said that loving others is closely linked with loving God. To love others is to treat them as we would like to be treated ourselves. Loving involves blessing others when they insult and hurt us. Loving others means pursuing the difficult path to resolution and peace, even though out natural tendency is to take the easier route of either lashing out for the win, or acquiescing for the loss.
Finally, conflict can actually bring us closer to the person with whom we are having the conflict. If we are willing to invest in the difficult and hard work of resolving conflict, the relationship can go deeper, like those who have fought together in the battles of war and have come out victorious.
So the next time you are faced with conflict, don’t avoid it. Rather welcome it as God’s opportunity in disguise to bless you!
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October 11, 2011: Courageous
This past weekend, Justin surprised us by coming home from U of IA. It was great to see him and spend time with him.
On Saturday afternoon, we both went to see the movie “Courageous.” It was the first time in my life that I have gone to see the same movie three times in one week, but it was well worth it! In fact, it was really an answer to prayer. After seeing the movie the first time, I actually considered driving out to Iowa just to see the movie with Justin. It’s that good!
The movie is a great reminder of what really counts in life. When my dad passed away this past summer, I had the privilege of being with him during his last week on this earth. What was most on his mind was family. He expressed his love for my, my siblings, and my mother. Those were precious moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
"I find that during daily life, the ones I most love are also the ones I am most tempted to take for granted"
The time with my dad, reminded me that when the curtain closes on my stage and I find myself at the end of my race, very few things will matter to me. Possessions, accomplishments, status, and titles will mean very little. What will matter is relationships. First and foremost, will be my relationship with Jesus. But a close second will be my relationship with people whom I love.
Who will matter more to me than my own family? My wife and children are and will be the ones I cherish most. However, I find that during daily life, the ones I most love are also the ones I am most tempted to take for granted.
As men we are called to lead our families. Too often we think of leadership as the ones who make the ultimate decisions. But leadership is so much more than being the one who makes the final call. Leadership means we take the initiative to sacrifice, to serve, to pursue God and His kingdom, to model godliness, and to set the pace for keeping our family relationships a priority. It takes commitment, discipline, self- sacrifice, character and courage.
So men of Hope- will you rise above the sea of mediocrity to meet the challenge? Will you choose to swim upstream to fulfill your call as a husband, as a dad, as man of God? You cannot do this in your own power. Only the Spirit of God can transform and empower you to answer the call. But you must choose to respond. You must make the decision. He will not decide for you.
So “choose this day whom you will serve…. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
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October 5, 2011: Who is the Holy Spirit?
In our home group, we are doing a series on what it means to walk in the power of the Spirit.
For many of us, the Holy Spirit remains a mysterious entity of God. We know He is present. We know He is important. But we are not sure what He does nor how to relate to Him.
In the Last Supper discourses, Jesus repeatedly promised to the disciples that He would not leave them alone, but rather He would come to them and live in them. How would He do this? It would be through His Spirit whom He would send after He ascended to the Father. Listen to what Jesus said-
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:15-20)
"If you want to get to know the Holy Spirit, get to know Jesus"
Jesus specifically said to the disciples that they already knew the Holy Spirit for He was living with them. How did they know Him? How was He living with them?
They knew Him because they knew Jesus. The Holy Spirit was living with them, because Jesus was there with them. Jesus was telling the disciples that the Holy Spirit is His Spirit. That is why Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit living in us as being Jesus Himself living in us. If you want to engage in an insightful exercise, read through John 14-16 and underline every place where Jesus mentions that Holy Spirit and where He makes reference to “I in you.” It is one of the dominant themes in these chapters.
So if you want to get to know the Holy Spirit, get to know Jesus. The Spirit is not some mystical ethereal being who floats in and out of lives. Rather the Holy Spirit is simply Jesus with us and in us. He came so that we could experience Christ’s presence every moment of every day. He wants to transform us, to lead us, to empower us, and to use us to touch the lives of people all around us, including those who don’t know Jesus.
So if you are a believer, Jesus is right there with you and in you, even as you read this. So pause and recognize the incredible reality of Christ in you- He is the Holy Spirit! You cannot see Him, you may not even feel Him, but you know already Him.
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September 27, 2011: Learning from our African American brothers & sisters
Does life transformation take place more by what we do individually or by what we do corporately with other believers?
I think here in the United States we can over-emphasize individual sanctification (growth/life-change) and under-emphasize corporate sanctification. However, there are exceptions. In this area, we can learn a lot by our brothers and sisters in African American churches.
In the summer of 1981, I spent the summer in Washington DC working with college students on an inner-city summer project. We all attended African American churches. It was a great experience!
One of the things that stood out to me was how much African American churches emphasized community. Often, the Sunday worship service would last for hours, followed by a church potluck lunch. Many of the leaders shared with us that the practice dated all the way back to the days of slavery. For slaves, Sunday was the only day on which they had at least a little freedom. So they spent it doing life together. Church was not only a time for worship and hearing the Word of God, but it was also a time to connect with one another. On Sunday, they practiced the one anothers- loving one another, encouraging one another, serving one another, praying for one another, etc. Church was not just an hour and half service, but it was their community in which they experienced life transformation as they did life together. Sounds a lot like the first century church, doesn’t it?
I’m not suggesting we extend our Sunday morning worship. However, we need to learn from our African American brothers and sisters. God places a high priority on the role of the body of Christ in our growth and transformation. So we need to make doing life together a priority. When you think of many of the spiritual disciples we talked about these past 2 Sundays, many involve connecting with others- our Sunday morning worship service, small groups, discipleship, corporate prayer times, serving one another in ministry.
That does not mean we spend all our time with only believers. Jesus has called us to be salt and light to the world. We need to regularly reach out to those who do not know Christ. But Jesus said that a crucial aspect of the light we shine to those outside the church is the love we have for one another.
So make time for those disciplines which involve others. God wants to use the body of Christ to change your life, and likewise, to use you to help change the lives of others!
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September 21, 2011: Oak Trees
Consistency. Faithfulness. Endurance. Steadfastness.
As I look at our patio I see the wisteria vines we planted this past year. They have quadrupled in size. I’ve heard that wisteria vines can grow up to 10’ per year. On the other hand, there are the oak trees also growing in our backyards. Ollie wonders if they have grown at all since we have lived here!
But those oaks will be here for a long time. In fact, if Jesus tarries, they will be here long after we have gone home to heaven.
I think my natural tendency is to be more like the wisteria, than the oaks. I tend to like things done quickly. I know I’m not alone in this. Our microwave society pushes us towards instant results. Yet some things take time.
Life transformation is one of them. A deep abiding, steadfast walk with God is another.
So Jesus exhorts us not to be like the rocky soil that brings forth plants that rise up quickly, but burn out just as fast with the scorching sun. Neither are we to be like the thorny soil which allows other things to slowly choke out our growth.
But instead, Jesus wants us to be the good soil. It’s like those oak trees- consistent, faithful, steadfast, and enduring. Through the scorching sun and blinding snowstorms, through the dry times and wet times, through high winds and torrential storms, those oak trees just keep slowly growing, year after year.
When I was on staff with Crusade, I remember hearing from a frail man in his 90s. He was one of the few from the Student Volunteer Movement who was still living. The movement, which began in the late 1800s, launched thousands of men and women overseas into the mission field. He was one of them. But when I heard him speak to over a thousand students in Philadelphia, he was near the end of his race. But he was still running- he was still passionate about God, about His Kingdom, about the lost. He was not famous. He didn’t write any books. He won’t be mentioned in any church history books. But he had spent a lifetime loving and serving his Savior.
He was the good soil, the steadfast oak tree.
Oh God, would you allow me and my brothers & sisters at Hope, to follow his example?
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September 15, 2011: Evangelicalism, Patriotism, & the Far-Right
In the aftermath of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I think it is worth asking the question, “Is patriotism Biblical?”
Some might think that strange. Judging by emails that get forwarded- you know, the ones that come labeled with “Fw:Fw:Fw:Fw:Fw…,” it might seem that every committed believer should be a flag-waving, far-right, patriotic American. But is that necessarily true? Is patriotism Biblical?
Here are things we know are clear: The Bible says we are to obey government laws, pay our taxes, pray for government officials, and give them respect and honor (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, I Peter 2:13-17). Scripture also tells us that we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20-21).
In the Old Testament, Israel had strong national loyalty and pride, but they were chosen by God as a special people, given a special role as a people and nation in history. They were promised land and the privilege of bearing the Messiah to the world. But all that was for Israel. So what about us here in America?
I personally believe that when the main thrust of American patriotism is centered around gratitude for God’s blessings for this nation, it is very healthy. When we wave our flags because we are so grateful to God for His role in establishing and keeping us as a nation, I think God is pleased. I also think that patriotism that desires to recognize the men and women who have shown great sacrifice and courage in the face of danger is also honorable.
However, American patriotism can easily slip into ethno-centric, nationalistic pride. In other words, we can all to easily fall prey to the popular belief that we are superior to every other nation and people group on this planet. We can begin to think that as Americans, we are smarter, more determined, more ambitious, more innovative, more creative, more resilient, etc. than any other nation. That is when patriotism slides into a nationalistic pride that runs counter to the Word of God.
I find the line between healthy patriotism and unhealthy, national pride are often crossed in many of the campaign speeches of political candidates. The far-right candidates are just as guilty, and often even more so, than those who are far-left. (What would committed believers in third world countries think of some of the statements that are made that reflect American superiority?) Unfortunately, even many believers, especially those of us who consider ourselves evangelicals, can also fall prey to this error.
Don’t get me wrong. I love America. We have our flag flying outside our front door. So wave your flag, honor the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces, and cheer for America in the Olympics. But watch that you too don’t cross the line between healthy patriotism and unbiblical, ethno-centric pride!
“But our citizenship is in heaven….” (Philippians 3:20-21)
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September 6, 2011: Living Radical
One of the real life examples of someone who is living out the exhortation to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus is a pastor I know who lives in Ft. Wayne, IN.
Joe is one of the associate pastors of a large church in the suburbs of Ft. Wayne. He’s married, has young children, and ministers to many of the young adults in his church.
Joe moved his family from the comfortable suburbs into the city of Ft. Wayne in order to minister to those in the inner city. He could have stayed where he was, but he didn’t. He could have reasoned that his church was successfully ministering to many in the suburbs so he needed to stay put, but he didn’t. He could have argued that having a wife and kids excused him from the move, but he didn’t.
So now he and his family are ministering in the inner city. Every month, they lead a service day where they mobilize people in his church to serve the community.
I find it all too easy to think, “That’s Joe’s call. I’m sure glad someone is called to do that.” But what about me? Would I be willing to do that?
Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love, writes, “Most of us use ‘I am waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life’ as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet slow to commit to serving God.” Ouch!
Again, please don’t misunderstand. We need to keep in step with God’s Spirit. We do need to wait for God to lead. And the general principle which states that the greater the risk and the greater the step of faith, the more there is need for confirmation and wisdom still holds true. But I do think we can put off any consideration for doing challenging things by simply saying, “I don’t feel called.”
God may not have called me to move to the inner city, but He has called me to a life of sacrifice. The question is not whether or not I need to deny myself and take up my cross, but rather the question is what does that look like for me? What does that look like for my family? If the apostle Paul were to spend the year with me, what would he say? Would my life look any different after being exposed to his all-out radical submission to the will of God? Amidst the sacrifice, would there be less angst and more of a sense that I am living out of the overflow of joy and fulfillment from a life being swept up by the powerful, adventure-loving, life-changing Spirit of Jesus Christ?
So again I ask, what does it look like for me to deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus. And so I ask you as well- what does that look like for you?
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August 23, 2011: The Joy of Serving Others
Did you ever wonder, “If God is all powerful and does not need anyone, then why does He call us to serve in His Kingdom?” God could accomplish His work in many ways, including delegating the work of His kingdom to angels. So why doesn’t He?
Let me share a few reasons.
First, there is a general principle in Scripture captured by the words of Jesus in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The direct context of these words is the giving of money and/or possessions. But I think it also applies to serving others.
Within our fallen nature is a propensity towards self-centeredness. Left to ourselves, we would become self-absorbed with our needs, our challenges, our desires, our goals, our wants. Serving others forces us to look beyond ourselves to find greater purpose and fulfillment in life beyond our own personal world. Even secular research has found that the most fulfilled people in life are those who have pursued a meaningful purpose that goes beyond themselves.
Serving others is also a tangible way to serve God Himself. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.” He made that statement when He ministered to the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus also said when we meet the needs of others, even when it is meeting the needs of the “least of these,” we are ultimately ministering to Him.
In serving others we also get to share in the joys of seeing lives touched for Christ and transformed by His Spirit’s power. In 3 John, John writes, “I have no greater joy than this, to see my children walking in the truth.” Think of all the joys that John had. He had the privilege of walking and talking with Jesus. He was there when Jesus was transfigured. He personally experienced the resurrection of Christ. He was there when the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. He experienced the kingdom doors being opened to the gentiles and the gospel going out to the world. All of these would be on John’s highlight reel. Yet he says his greatest joy was watching the people he touched walking with Jesus. Watching God use us to transform lives for His glory brings great joy!
Finally, Jesus also promises us eternal rewards as we invest our lives in kingdom ventures. And so Jesus admonishes us not to store up treasures here on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but to store up treasures in heaven- treasures that are eternal.
And so the irony is this- if you want to be blessed, don’t focus on blessing yourself. Rather focus on blessing others by serving them. In the end, not only will they be blessed by your service, but you also will be blessed by God Himself!
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August 18, 2011: The Heavenly Congressional Medal of Honor
I remember my dad telling us the story of setting out with the 442nd battalion in WWII. He said the army loaded them down with heavy packs- so heavy, that it was hard to maneuver. So before heading out to the front lines, they lightened their load. Because most of them were short, they cut their wool blankets in two and left half behind. Dad said not far down the road, there was a huge pile of gas masks that all the soldiers also pitched. The men would rather risk getting gassed then being weighed down by the heavy weight. The battalion was light and quick to move.
If we are going to accomplish Jesus’ mission, we need to travel light. We need to not get bogged down by all our possessions. We need to be free to follow our commander into battle without a divided allegiance. He wants us to trust in Him rather than the security of our riches. That’s why Jesus told the rich man to sell all his possessions. The command was given not to increase his discomfort, but rather Jesus gave it for his own benefit.
And so God tells us similarly, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1Timothy 6:17-19)
The 442nd was the most decorated infantry division in WWII. In fact, even though most of the men have passed away, this coming October, the President and Congress will be bestowing the congressional gold medal of honor on the entire battalion as a unit. None of the surviving men will be thinking about the half blankets and gas masks that they left behind. Rather they will be enjoying the moment of honor and celebration.
One day, God tells us that we too will be part of an awards ceremony. And all our temporal earthly possessions will seem frivolous. Only one thing will matter- the commendation by our true Commander and Chief. On that day, our most prized possessions will seem like that half blanket that my father and the other men left behind. So determine now to travel light. You are part of the most decorated fighting battalion in all of history, led by the most famous Commander of all time, here to accomplish the most important mission that any military unit has been asked to accomplish- to join our Lord in His battle to save men, women, and children for all eternity.
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August 9, 2011: Evangelism & Heartburn
Evangelism. The word used to give me heartburn.
It conjured up visions of guys standing on street corners blaring out over bullhorns, “Repent! Turn or burn!” Or it made me think of people who were socially out of touch, going door to door trying to twist someone’s arm to convert.
Whatever evangelism entailed, I did not want to do it. In fact, I can remember a point in my Christian life when I told God, “I love to read your Word, I love to worship, I love being with people who know You, I love the Christian life- all except this evangelism thing. Why in the world did you stick in this command to share our faith? Couldn’t you have done it another way?”
But it is just like the Lord to take something that was my greatest fear, and turn it into one of my greatest joys.
I can remember as a brand new freshmen, meeting some people with Campus Crusade for Christ. I can remember arguing with them how their method of sharing their faith would turn people off. Not that I had any other better method, nor did I share my faith, but of course, I felt like I knew enough to tell them what not to do! That’s when one of the students asked me to just come along and watch and listen. What could I say?
I can remember getting together with him to meet another student whom neither of us knew. We talked about spiritual things and then he introduced the 4 spiritual laws booklet. He asked this student if we could get his opinion on it. To my surprise the student said yes. As we went through the booklet, he was open, but he was not ready to receive Christ. In the end, to my surprise, he thanked us! And that was it. No wrestling, no arm twisting, no “get right or get left” tactics. I thought to myself, “Ok. Maybe there is something to this.”
That is when I decided to check out a Campus Crusade meeting. Wouldn’t you know that at that meeting, they had a basic training on how to share your faith? The assignment was to take that little booklet and share it with someone that week. Once again I found myself thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding! What am I doing here? I feel like a guy going through cult training!”
After the meeting, I walked home with 2 other freshmen girls who lived in the dorm right next to mine. When we got to the library steps at Penn State, there was a guy sitting alone on the steps looking out over the grass mall. One of the girls said, “Hey Wayne- remember our assignment? Why don’t you go and talk with that guy?” Right! Are you crazy? At least that’s what I thought. But partly because I was too proud to say I was scared out of my wits to do it, and partly because I knew if I didn’t talk with this guy, these yippie-skippie Crusade girls would show me up by doing it themselves, and partly because I thought, “I’ll approach this guy & he will probably just say, ‘No, I’m not interested,’” I agreed to do it.
To my surprise the guy, named John, agreed to go through the 4 spiritual laws booklet. So we started through it. When we got to the point about needing Christ, John literally starts to cry! I thought, “Man, they didn’t tell us in the training what to do when this happens!” John then tells me, “I’m a last quarter senior. I was just thinking about how I have no idea what I’m going to do when I get out of this place. But I know one thing. I know I need God.” John went on to receive Christ! I could not believe that God could use a little booklet to draw someone to Himself. More amazingly, I could not believe that God could use me!
That was the beginning of a journey that God took me on to take one of my greatest fears and turn it into one of my greatest joys!
Today, I still believe the best way to share our faith is to first build a relationship and show people we love them (By the way, Crusade would also agree. But God also uses initiative evangelism as well.)
So take the step. It will seem scary at first. It will seem awkward and you will be afraid of rejection. You will wonder what people think of you. You will think to yourself, “This will never work!”
But then God will use you in significant way to lead another person into a dynamic relationship with Him. And then you wonder, “Why did I wait so long?”
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August 1, 2011: The Path to the Unencumbered Life
Did you ever read a portion of Scripture that you have been familiar with, only to be surprised as God uses it to speak to you in very convicting ways?
That’s been my experience so far in this series on following Jesus. To be honest, I first jumped into Scripture thinking I knew these passages fairly well. My intent was more preparation for this message series. But the more I looked at these passages, the more I’ve been personally challenged by them.
Am I willing to leave everything behind to follow Jesus? Am I getting distracted by the comforts and demands of my home? Do I find myself getting so entangled in the affairs of everyday life that I spend too much of my time doing what the spiritual dead can do?
I think about some of our neighbors whom we have said we want to have over for dinner. It’s been 9 years now, and we are still just talking about it. Ouch.
It’s all too tempting to think theoretically about what we might do, but then return to the same mode. But life is too short. What is God calling us to do? Are there more radical steps we need to take to get freed up? If so, what are those steps?
The passage we read this past Sunday is often labeled in many Bibles “The Cost of Discipleship.” But I wonder if a better title would be the “Path to the Unencumbered Life.” Jesus is not so much interested in calling us just to sacrifice, as He is to help us be free and unencumbered so that we can follow Him without getting bogged down or distracted.
So as we continue down this path of following Jesus, ask yourself, “What steps is God calling me to take to simplify life so that I can follow Him with less distractions and greater devotion.” Let’s live radically by following Him wholeheartedly!
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Sometimes I think that my best messages are the ones I preach in the car on the way home from church! So my blog gives me the opportunity to follow up with some afterthoughts. It’s all the things I wish I would have said on Sunday morning. Other times, it’s just things I’m still processing that have nothing to do with my last message.
So thanks for reading my ramblings. I hope you can get at least something from them!
Wayne Okamoto
Pastor
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