reggie's random reflections

Email exchange

2012-02-23T06:43:00.004-05:00

In Sunday's sermon I spoke about the doctrine of election. It generated the following email exchange with one of the members of our church. If you did not hear Sunday's messages, Sunday morning and Sunday night, you may need to go to the website www.bbcva.org and listen in order to have context. I have removed certain parts of the email exchange that could give the identity of the person away. I think it is an example of how two brothers can be on different sides of an issue and have a God honoring discussion about it. I also wanted to put it here to help clarify my position. The sender of this email was unclear where I stood after listening to the sermons. I hope my responses to the emails at least clarifies where I stand whether you agree with my thoughts or not.

Pastor Reggie,

As far as Sunday's sermon I love that you will be doing verse by verse in 1 Peter. I certainly struggle with election and did not envy your efforts to define the ground between free will and predestination. Heady stuff. I ended the night still not quite sure where you plant your flag - although it is clear that you're not on either extreme. Here are some of my thoughts on the doctrine of election; how does this align with your thinking?

a.       Definition: God’s decision to choose us to be saved which was made before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4,5). This act is compatible with all of His attributes and demonstrates His matchless grace (Eph 2:7,8) and displays His glory (Eph 1:6, 12, 14). Considered the first step in the process of God bringing us to individual salvation and its cause lies completely in God and is grounded in His grace. Election is necessary because man is totally depraved, hopelessly lost in sin, and so God makes election a prerequisite for faith and salvation and, thus, receives all of the glory for salvation.

b.      Election is unconditional – God chose us because He decided to bestow His love upon us, not because of any good, faith or merit on our part (Rom 9:16,18,22-24). It is not a matter of fairness – God would be perfectly fair to save no one.

c.       God’s choice of people to salvation was made freely and for His own purposes before the foundation of the world (1 Cor. 1:27,28; Eph 1:4). Election may assure that those chosen will be saved, but it does not alone save them. People are saved by faith in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Election is not based on foresight or foreknowledge.

d.       Reprobation – sometimes referred to as “double predestination” - a very difficult doctrine whereby the condemnation of sinners lies within themselves and is the sovereign decision of God, grounded in His justice (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 2:8; Jude 4; Rom 9:21-23). The Bible does not present the idea of reprobation and God must not be accused of tempting with evil (James 1:13). Some Christians follow Augustine’s teaching that God is only active in the salvation of the elect and He is passive with regard to the non-elect. At the end of this difficult and challenging road, however, we must affirm that God’s sovereignty must reign over all of creation, and yet He is in no way culpable for evil or predestination to hell.

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My response:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on election. I will try to clarify where I stand. I can not affirm most what you have shared with me, even though none of what you have shared would be a "test of fellowship" in my thinking. However, I will say that I am not a reformed theologian, and most of what you have shared is right out of the reformed theology hand book. Reformed theology sounds too close to the "double predestination" line for my taste. Points "a" and "d" seem to be in contradiction. As I said in the message, "Any theology that makes God responsible for sending someone to hell is a bad theology in my view." God deciding ahead of time who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, makes Him responsible for condemning someone to hell. The bible says that "whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Scripture also says that it is not God's will that any should perish but that all would get saved. (2 Peter 3:9) So it is not God's choice before the foundation of the earth that condemns them, it is their rejection of Christ that condemns them. If election is prerequisite to salvation, then there is no opportunity for salvation for those who are not "elect" in that sense, which seems contradictory to John 3:16. If God is responsible for condemning someone to hell because He did not "elect" them, that to me seems to contradict 2 Peter 3:9. So I look for a different definition of election. Election in scripture is presented as being tied up in foreknowledge: Romans 8:29 "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." God knows who will be saved ahead of time, and they are elect from God's point of view before the earth was formed, because He knew that they would choose Christ before the earth was ever formed. Anything less than that means man does not have a choice. I reject the notion that man is "totally depraved" and has no ability therefore to choose God. Joshua said, "Choose this day whom you will serve......as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24). Peter called his listeners to faith and repentance in Acts 3 because He knew they had the ability to make a choice. He pleaded with them to repent and turn to God. Paul said, we "persuade men" in 2 Cor. 5:11 because he knew they had the ability to choose Christ.

Isaiah 56:3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." 4 For thus says the LORD, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

To me this passage helps illustrate the point I am trying to make. These people described were not part of the chosen people in Isaiah 56. They were foreigners who chose to join themselves to the Lord. They had the ability to choose to put their faith in, and to follow God. Their election was based on their choice to follow God, not a predetermination. The foreigner described here becomes part of the elect in the sense that God knew ahead of time that he would exercise his "free will" by choosing to "join himself to the Lord."

Agreed on one point.....it is a very difficult issue. And one that takes great maturity to engage without deteriorating into attacks.....and I hope and pray that nothing that I have said, even though I did refute some of your thoughts, is taken as an an attack. I love you and respect your perspective, even when it does not mirror my own.

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Response I received:

I just LOVE this kind of discussion and your email is a real blessing. However, the engineer in me always wants to figure "it" out. I have learned that the more I move down that path, the longer the road gets... The pragmatist in me also screams that in light of eternity it doesn't really matter whether we understand it or not, just be obedient and get out and spread the Good News and God will do what God will do.

Your points are good and I find myself nodding as I read and wrestle with this. But I can't leave just yet (smile) as I have 2 more thoughts/questions: if God's foreknowledge of who will choose Christ and who will reject Him is the basis for their election, does that not place salvation totally in human hands? In that case, the omni-everything God acts based upon the actions of sinful man... That makes me uncomfortable.

Second thought is more fundamental and has to do with the starting point - If all mankind deserves damnation then we'd agree, I suppose, that God would be Righteous and Holy and Just even if no one was saved. Starting from that presupposition then, the free gift of salvation is based upon God's grace and mercy and He may, therefore, chose those whom he chooses. After all, His will may be that none will perish but has He not chosen them to do so (or allowed them to) when He has the power to have all come to Christ?

I am not set in my ways or my thinking and I truly enjoy the discussion as it causes me to study, reflect and consider alternative views. Thanks Pastor for the exchange. And I have never looked at Isaiah 56 and so especially appreciate that perspective.

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My response:

As I read your thoughts I love what you have to say "In that case, the omni-everything God acts based upon the actions of sinful man...That makes me uncomfortable." I must tell you brother that is a compelling notion. It is a breeze that sways me. And in the spirit of Agrippa's conversation with Paul in Acts 26 let me say, "Thou almost persuadest me"...but I have to say, it doesn't totally blow me over there. Let me see if I can articulate why. That line of thinking starts with a base line and works from that place. Here is the base line: if man makes a choice in the salvation equation, then that diminishes the sovereignty of God. For me, I see no conflict between God giving man a free will whereby he can choose God, and the concept of His sovereignty. In fact I would argue that He has such a comfort level with His own sovereignty, that He chose to create beings with free moral choice. They could choose to follow Him, they could choose to reject Him. For me, to limit man as simply acting out in a cosmic play, some script written in heaven before time began, seems to limit omni-everything God to an insecure control freak that is uncomfortable with any beings in the universe making choices other than Himself. That somehow seems to limit God to me. Actually, I think that giving humans the ability to choose or reject Him, strengthens the notion of His sovereignty as opposed to detracting from it.

You make the statement: "If God's foreknowledge of who will choose Christ and who will reject Him is the basis for their election, does that not place salvation totally in human hands?" I want to respond to that part of what you say. I do not see it that way. The fact that the Father wanted to redeem man kind is the basis for salvation / election. And yes God would have been totally Righteous, Just, and Holy if it had been His choice to redeem no one and cast us all into hell. But His desire was to redeem man. So He made a way. It is the Father's desire to save man, followed up by the sending of His only begotten Son, the sinless life, the substitutionary death, bodily resurrection of Christ....it is these things that that provide the basis for salvation. And that was all in God's hands. He did not have to do any of it. All you and I had to do to get saved was believe it. That is why the bible says "It is by grace we are saved". Grace is the Father's desire to save us, and the Son's obedience in allowing Himself to be the propitiation. So grace as displayed in these things provides the basis. Oh, there is more to that thought...it goes like this: "through faith. It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast." Eph 2:8-9. In this passage the bible teaches us that "faith" is that "through" which we are saved. There was God's part, that was "grace" because He did not have to allow a way, and then there is our part "faith". The spirit of the passage compares His part and our part, presenting the idea that a healthy understanding of salvation is going to always place way more emphasis in the equation on God's part than man's part. God did all the work, really. Man just simply believed that Jesus is who He says He is, and that He did the necessary work as our propitiation. That is why salvation is called a gift. All we really did to get saved was accept the gift. In this sense, believing, or exercising faith is not really a "work". The first century Jew would have the back drop of the law in his thinking, and following the law as a means to salvation. By comparison, having to follow the law to get saved with all its stringent requirements, or having faith in Jesus....having faith in Jesus as a means to salvation and not having to follow the law...now that is a gift.

The greatest love of all

2012-02-20T08:27:00.000-05:00

I caught a few minutes of one of the early shows on television this morning to see an over head shot from a helicopter of Whitney Houston's burial. They were playing her mammoth hit song, "The Greatest Love of All". I actually remember that song quite well. I am not sure why I know so many of the lyrics. I have never sat down with the intentions of memorizing the song. But there was a key lyric that stood out to me as I was watching the scene of the hearse pulling into the grave yard:

"Because the greatest love of all, is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all."

Whitney belted that lyric out with an intensity and quality of voice that mesmerized audiences world wide. My personal evaluation is that there has never been a more talented singer.

I must say however, that I disagree with the lyric above based on scripture. It is not love of self that is the greatest love of all.

Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live 20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

The greatest love of all, is the love of God. According to the bible, blessing and cursing are riding on it.

I heard on the news that Whitney was raised in church and got her start singing gospel songs. A close family friend stated that Whitney's whole family was Christian. It sounds to me like somewhere along the line, Whitney left her roots and bought into a worldly philosophy that brought her life to a tragic and sad end.

Just reminds us all, the greatest love of all is the love of God. No amount of success, fame, money....nothing can replace it.

Blow the trumpet

2012-02-08T08:37:00.001-05:00

"Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people" Joel 2:15

Most fasting is a private matter between an individual and God. There are however, occasions of public fast. The example cited above in the book of Joel would fall into that category. Whenever there is a public fast, there are a couple of key ingredients. I want to go over them because I called our church to a public season of fasting and prayer during December to last through the end of February.

1) The corporate fast is called for by a spiritual leader
2) There is some compelling reason for the fast that typically involves emergency

I know that many of you are participating in the season of prayer and fasting in various ways and I want to encourage you as we are in the last month of our season by sharing some ways that you can pray specifically.

Pray for the families in our church for financial provision. Several are out of work. Many have had to take jobs making less money. Many who own businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Many of our Senior Saints are living on fixed incomes, but their expenses are constantly rising.

Pray that God would provide the resources that Bethel needs to do all that God is calling us to do. Pray that there would be no ministry effort that goes undone, that God is calling us to do, that is not done because of a lack of funding.

Pray for spiritual growth in our church, so that we as individuals, and corporately would bring much glory to God.

May God richly bless you as you continue to do the hard work of intercession!!!

Practical considerations for fasting

2012-02-07T06:08:00.000-05:00

In the forty days of Jesus' fast in Luke 4 we are told that "he ate nothing" and that "he was hungry". Satan tempted Him to eat. That seems to indicate that Jesus was abstaining from food but not water. This is usually what is involved in a fast, that is abstaining from food but drinking water.

There are several examples of an "absolute fast" where people abstain from food and water. All of those situations appear to be a desperate measure of dire emergency. For example Ester instructed in Ester 4:16 "G, gather all the Jews......and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do." Ester had been informed that an edict had been declared by the King to have all the Jews exterminated on a particular day. She was going to approach the King and ask him to repeal his edict. Ester knew that if her request displeased the King, that her life could certainly be in jeopardy. So she requested to have all the people engage in an "absolute fast" for 3 days to seek the intervention of God in the situation.

The human body cannot go without water much more than three days. Moses and Elijah did absolute fasts of forty days that must be considered supernatural. I would caution you that the absolute fast is the exception, and should never be attempted unless you have an absolute very clear command from God, and unless is it absolutely clear to you that God wants you to do otherwise, do not go beyond three days.

Most fasting will involve abstaining from food but continuing to drink water.

I also want to offer a practical word of caution to those who have health issues.

If you take medications that will burn a whole in your stomach if you do not eat food, I would caution you not to totally abstain from food. For you a fast may be a reduction in food intake as opposed to totally doing without food. During your "semi-fast"eat enough food to get you out of the danger zone for stomach problems that your medication would cause if you took them on an empty stomach. But eat no more than what would be required to get you out of that danger zone.

If you have diabetes or some other health issue that causes you to have to pay special attention to your diet, exercise great caution in regards to totally abstaining from food.

It may be wise to consult your physician about fasting if you have extenuating medical issues. It may give you the opportunity to have an interesting spiritual dialogue with your doctor. Imagine having this conversation with your doctor:

"Doctor, I don't know if I ever mentioned it to you before or not, but I am a Christian. I am really sensing a drawing from God lately to develop more intimacy with Him. The bible teaches Christians that fasting is a way to do that. However, I also want to consider practical matters before starting a fast. Now Doc, you know the medications that I am taking. You know my health issues. How much food would I need to consume if I wanted to cut my consumption to the absolute minimum without putting myself in danger physically?"

Think about the witness that would be to your physician if he or she is not a believer!!!

Now by all means, if you have a clear command from God to fast, and you absolutely know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have heard His voice......then far be it from me to give you any advice that would cause you to disobey God. If it is not that clear to you that you are hearing from God on it, I urge you to take the advice that I have offered on this blog post if you are an individual with health issues that need to be considered before entering a fast.

The right motive for fasting

2012-02-02T06:55:00.000-05:00

Matthew 6:17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Throughout the bible fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. There are health benefits. You can find plenty of articles on the internet regarding the potential health benefits of fasting. That must never be the motivation if you are going to achieve anything that will aid your spiritual life. In fact, motivation is the single most important factor. Wrong motivation when it comes to fasting will render it unproductive for your spiritual life.

The Pharisees wanted everyone to know when they were fasting. They would let their appearance become disheveled to give the outward impression that they were suffering through a fast. They were fasting and they wanted everyone to know. Jesus was teaching that they had their motive wrong. The motive ought to be to grow in intimacy with God, not to put it on display so everyone else can see how spiritual you are.

That brings us to a major reason for fasting....intimacy with Christ. Consider this passage:

Luke 5:33 Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"

The Pharisees were watching Jesus and picking him apart attempting to find fault with him. They thought they had an issue that they could get some traction on, so they bring it up. Notice how Jesus responds to their criticism:

Luke 5:34 And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."

Jesus is saying, the purpose of fasting is to achieve intimacy with Me......I am with them face to face, so there is no need for them to fast now.....but one day I will be crucified and ascend to the Father, and when I am no longer with them physically, then they will fast.

So the motive is intimacy with Jesus.

To what degree do you desire intimacy with Jesus?

I played some football in High School. I had had a football coach that during a tough game would get us huddled up and say, "This game is going to boil down to who wants it worse. We are in a dog fight. The dog that wants it the worst is going to win. YOU GOTTA WANT IT!"

Can I say to you that when it comes to achieving deeper intimacy with Christ, YOU GOTTA WANT IT! If you are just fasting so that you can feel better about yourself because you did something spiritual you won't grow closer to Christ.

Before you fast, check your motive. Make sure there is but one thing and one thing alone that is driving your soul to fast.......to know God deeper.

It's time

2012-02-01T07:13:00.000-05:00

It's time to move on from making a case for fasting to other matters concerning this lost biblical discipline. But one more blog entry to make an appeal that I feel in my heart and spirit needs to be made to some of you out there reading this.

Reggie, you ask, "Why are you going to such lengths to try to make a case for fasting?" Because you need to be totally convinced in your spirit that what I am saying about fasting is true or it will avail you nothing. If you have not totally bought into the notion that it is a biblical discipline that absolutely needs to be just as much a part of your Christian experience as prayer and giving, you will not approach it in the right frame of mind and heart. If you approach it with the wrong frame of mind it will not work for you. You can not approach fasting with an "experimentation" attitude. "Let me try this to see if it works for me." You have already doomed it to fail. I want to get into reasons to fast on the next blog post or two.......but before I do......if you are not totally on board with this idea, please understand that you are rejecting something that has been portrayed in the bible as something Jesus assumed people would do. I must lovingly say to you that if you are not on board, it is because you are stiff necked and not responsive to the Lord, and are resistant to the Holy Spirit. You have defined what your Christian experience will consist of according to your own tastes and not according to biblical revelation....and the Holy Spirit is not involved in anything that does not line up with the Word of God. Folks this is serious stuff. Fasting is not some item on the Christian buffet that you choose if it suits your fancy. "Well, that fasting stuff just isn't for me." Then biblical Christianity isn't for you. You have created a Christian experience that you like instead of being instructed by the biblical revelation.

It is a very dangerous thing to be presented with truth and reject it. It is not even the fruit of a true child of God.

May the Lord soften every heart that has hardened itself against the truth of God.

Who's who list when it comes to fasting

2012-01-30T13:49:00.000-05:00

Scripture has so much to say about prayer and fasting that I think we would do well to recapture this discipline of the Christian life. I am sure if you have been following my blog posts that statement is no surprise to you at this point. I will continue to make the case by pointing to some of the people in scripture of whom it is said they fasted. It reads like a who's who list of the faith, and many of these characters are people who's lives you have studied in great detail hoping to glean from their lives things that will point you toward increasing godliness. Yet you may have you overlooked the fact that fasting was a great part of the spiritual lives of the following according to scripture:

Moses the law giver (Deuteronomy 9:9)
David the king (Psalm 35:13)
Elijah the Prophet (1 Kings 19:8)
Ester the queen (Esther 4:16)
Daniel the seer (entered a partial fast Daniel 10:3)
Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:37)
Paul the apostle (Acts 9:9)

and last but certainly not least.....Jesus the Christ (Matthew 4:2)

This is not a total list. There are many more who could be named. But this is just a smattering.

Do we think that this is a list of people who would be good examples for us to follow? Of course the only perfect one on the list is Jesus, but certainly the scripture teaches us many valuable positive lessons from the lives of some of these other individuals. Why would we ignore a discipline then, that was a significant part of their spiritual lives?

More to come in future blog posts regarding fasting.

Only by prayer and fasting

2012-01-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

Matthew 17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 "So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." 17 Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

Okay folks let's get out of the shallow end of the spiritual pool. Time to swim out to the deep end. As I continue to make a biblical case for fasting on these blog posts, today I point your attention to this story recorded for us in the gospel of Matthew. A man brings his son to the disciples of Christ for healing. The son is obviously afflicted with something like epilepsy or as the father in this story describes it in the King James Version "he is a lunatic." The context of the story helps us clearly understand that this young man's condition was the result of demonic possession. The disciples were unable to cast out the demon. So Jesus comes behind them and does what they could not do, and the boy is healed. After the incident, the disciples inquire privately of Jesus, "Why could we not cast it out?"

Jesus' answer to this question provides some great insight into the role of fasting in the life of the believer. Jesus tells the disciples their lack of faith prevented them from casting out the demon.

The next thing Jesus does is He refutes a conclusion that could be easily drawn from His remarks. The disciples might have easily believed that Jesus was saying the amount of your faith is the key. Actually HE SAYS THE OPPOSITE!! Jesus says, it only requires the faith of a mustard seed. Wow, only the faith of a mustard seed? I would think to cast out a demon, it would require at least a dump truck load of faith, but you are saying Jesus, that it only requires the faith of a mustard seed? That is exactly what Jesus was saying.

Okay, I get it. So what was the missing ingredient for these disciples? Allow me to answer that. WHAT WAS MISSING FROM THE DISCIPLES WAS THE POWER AND ANOINTING OF GOD ON THEIR LIVES. What does it take to cast out a demon? Power...spiritual supernatural power.....accompanied by the faith of at least a mustard seed. I think most of us can handle the mustard seed faith part.....but where does the power of God come from? Glad you asked because Jesus answers the question for us.

"This kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting."

Where does the power and anointing of God come from? Prayer and fasting.....

So what do you want dear Christian. You want an average Christian life, or do you want the power of God resting on you? Apparently according to the words of Jesus, there are some things that you will never experience in the Christian life, and some things that you will never be able to do in the spiritual realm apart from prayer and fasting. The choice is yours.....you can experience all God has for you.....or you can settle for part of it. Go for all of it.....consider making prayer and fasting part of your Christian experience.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Prayer and fasting

2012-01-27T09:33:00.001-05:00

In December I called the church to a season of fasting and prayer for the next three months. The season will come to an end in February.

I have had several inquiries about fasting since calling the church to a season of prayer and fasting. I have started to realize that people have not been exposed to it very much and that in large measure, most are unsure how it fits into the Christian walk. Many have expressed to me that they are not sure that it needs to be a regular part of their relationship with God. I therefore am going to spend some time writing about prayer and fasting on this blog as a matter of information.

Let me start by laying a foundation for the practice of the discipline of fasting. I must offer that I believe that this is sad, that there is a need to do this. It shows me how far we have drifted away from biblical Christianity in America. Please do not feel guilty if you have had a less than favorable attitude toward fasting. But please realize that if it is not a discipline that you have practiced or are really open to practicing, you are more a product of your culture than you may realize. It is indicative of the drift away from biblical Christianity that has been occurring for a long time in America. I have noticed the practice of fasting more when I have gone over seas on mission trips more than I have seen it mentioned or practiced in America. Many in the modern church particularly in America are not familiar with fasting, and are not convinced that it is something that they need to consider doing. In a culture that is dotted with shrines to the Golden Arches, and Pizza Temples on every street corner, fasting seems out of touch with the times. But it is a discipline that the Christian would do well to rediscover as a vital and useful part of their Christian experience and their walk with Christ.

I will begin making a case for fasting from the life and teachings of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Jesus said, "When you fast......" and then started to give instructions about what to do and what not to do when you are fasting. Notice that Christ did not say, "If you fast....", Jesus said, "When you fast..." Christ teaches on fasting as if it were a foregone conclusion that those who desire to follow God would practice it. It was such a part of their experience that Jesus makes no attempt to "make a case for fasting." Jesus fasted, this is very clear in the bible, and He just assumed that it was something that those who wanted to know the Father were going to do.

Consider also that Jesus' instructions on fasting were part of what we know as "The Sermon on the Mount". His teaching on fasting is in the context of His teaching on prayer, and giving. It is clear that there is an assumption that fasting, prayer, and giving are all disciplines that need to be practiced in the life of the believer, and therefore Jesus was teaching on them. Now I am not convinced that a single one of you reading this would deny that prayer and giving are two Christian disciplines that are vital elements to the walk of the believer. So let me ask this question, "Why would we exclude fasting when Jesus puts it on the same level in his teaching with prayer and giving?" I sincerely hope the answer is clear in your thinking.....the inescapable conclusion if we are going to be intellectually honest in regards to the teaching of Jesus is this: We should not exclude fasting, but should put it on par with praying and giving as disciplines of the Christian life because Jesus did.

More to come....I will talk in more detail in regards to Jesus' teaching on fasting, how we see fasting portrayed in the bible, what fasting is intended to accomplish in the life of believer, some practical considerations in regards to fasting, and much much more on the topic in future posts. Stay tuned.

Wisdom

2012-01-26T08:20:00.000-05:00

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

One of the themes of the book of James chapter 3 is wisdom. He mentions two things in the verse that precede our focal passage for the day. He says points out that meekness accompanies true wisdom. James also mentions that wisdom has only one source....GOD!

Then in this verse he makes a connection that I am not sure we often make when we think about wisdom. He points out the relationship between certain qualities, (namely holiness, good attitude, good behavior, pleasant disposition) and wisdom from above. From above is a careful distinction that James is making. He is giving characteristics of the wisdom from above, that is, wisdom from God. If it does not possess these characteristics then it is not wisdom.

Let me unpack here what James is saying to us. If you see someone that is not holy they don't have wisdom from above. If you see someone that is not a peace maker but always stirring something up, they don't have the wisdom of God. If someone is not gentle, but instead they are harsh and mean, they do not have the wisdom of God. Unreasonable people do not have the wisdom of God and they always demand their own way no matter what (and get nasty, back biting, and gossipy when they don't get it). If someone is not full of mercy, but is quick to judge they don't have the wisdom of God. If someone is not faithful to God but is constantly wavering in their faith, they do not have the wisdom of God. If someone is hypocritical, they do not have the wisdom of God.

Now let's consider what someone is who has no wisdom? They are a fool. Strife stirring, mean, harsh, unreasonable, judgmental, self centered, nasty, gossipy, unfaithful people are fools. Don't be a fool. Learn to know wisdom.

Follow God no matter what the cost

2012-01-23T07:27:00.002-05:00

Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

Elimilech and Naomi move from Bethlehem to Moab to avoid a great famine that hits the land. They have two sons Mahlon and Chilion. Their sons marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. Elimilech dies. Then Mahlon and Chilion die. Naomi, having lost her husband and both her sons, makes the decision to move back to Bethlehem. Naomi encourages Ruth and Orpah to remain behind in Moab. Perhaps, Naomi reasoned, they could find husbands among their people.....it would probably be difficult for Ruth and Orpah to find husbands in the land of Bethlehem being Moabite women. And after all, they are both still young with a lot of life in front of them.

Orpah stays in Moab, but Ruth insists on going to Bethlehem with her mother in law. One of the motivating factors for Ruth, was that she recognized that the God she had worshiped being part of Naomi's family, the God of Israel, was the one true God. It was an unacceptable thought for her to return to a people who worshiped false gods. But to follow God by going with Naomi would not have been the most prudent economic decision for Ruth.

Ruth becomes an example for believers in that she followed God no matter what the cost. Too many believers make decisions based, not upon the will of God, but on whatever is going to produce the most positive outcome for their family financially.

There is no shame in financial prosperity, and the bible tells us that God delights in the prosperity of His people. However, if there ever comes a time in which following the direction that God wants you to go, comes into conflict with the best economic decision.......choose God's direction. Follow God, no matter what it costs you. By the way, I hear the rewards in heaven for sacrifices made here are pretty substantial.

Share the good news

2012-01-18T07:06:00.001-05:00

Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

We are sent by Jesus like lambs among wolves. We are chosen as His ambassadors as if He were pleading His case through us. We are given seed to scatter. We are laborers in His harvest. We are to use our feet to carry the good news to all who will listen. We are called to be witnesses unto Him in Jerusalem, Judea and all Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. All these are different ways the scriptures tell us that we are to share the gospel.

It is everywhere in the Word of God and yet some Christians still for some reason live their lives as if they bear no responsibility in this area. They view sharing a witness for Christ as if it is exclusively the activity of paid professionals or super spiritual types. It is the responsibility of every believer to be a witness for Christ.

When is the last time you shared?

Joy not burden

2012-01-16T07:34:00.000-05:00

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

How do you experience your relationship with God? Is it burdensome for you to keep the commandments? If you experience obedience to God as something burdensome, something that you do out of a sense of obligation rather than something that is a source to you of deep abiding joy, your understanding needs to be tweaked a little.

It all begins with the gospel, and more specifically, your understanding of the gospel. Jesus died for your sins. That was not something that you deserved, it was an act of grace. Grace means unmerited favor. You now have unmerited (undeserved, unearned) favor with God. Favor with God was earned for you because of what Christ did at Calvary. HIS favor was credited to your account when you received Jesus! Jesus did this for you while you were yet a sinner! (see Romans 5:8) All these things will ultimately culminate in you spending all eternity with God in paradise!

A deep understanding of what I have shared in the previous paragraph produces one thing and one thing only: deeply felt gratitude. When you feel that gratitude toward God, it deepens your love for Him. That in turn makes obedience to Him a source of great joy for you deep in your soul.

Where are you in regards to your walk with God? Are you experiencing it as a burden, or is it a source of joy? If it is a burden, seek to deepen your understanding of the gospel. There you will find the key to permanent joy.

Be Spirit led

2012-01-09T08:40:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

Paul is addressing the carnality of the Corinthian church. It was a huge issue for them that was causing lots of problems. I can testify 2000 years later carnality is still an issue in churches. Carnality is caused by people not being led by the Spirit. Reduce it to its basic element and that is what you have. We will be led by two things as Christians.....the Spirit, or ourselves. If we are not led by the Spirit we are led by our own desires. Our "self" can be broken down into three components:1) What we want 2) What we think 3) What we feel.

Self centered thinking is the hallmark characteristic of carnality. When we get carnal it is no longer about what God wants, it is about what we want. When we get carnal it is no longer about what God thinks, we act on what we think without consider God's thoughts. When we get carnal its about how we feel and what we feel like doing and not how God feels and what He wants us to do.

Let me share with you three steps to becoming a spiritual giant:
1) Ignore what you want, and accept the will of God.
2) Ignore what you think, find out what God thinks (if you don't already know search the scriptures or seek His face for wisdom).
3) Ignore how you feel and do the right thing regardless of how you feel.

If you practice these three steps in your life, you will walk with God in wisdom and power.

Remember folks, it is not about us....what we want, what we think, and what we feel....its about HIM.

The gift of the Messiah

2012-01-05T11:06:00.000-05:00

I will give You for a covenant of the people. Isaiah 49:8

We all gave and received gifts during the Christmas season. More than likely, you received gifts that you do not really care for that much. You were certainly appreciative of the thought that went behind the gift, but the gift itself is of no use to you. You probably received a gift or two that was really what you wanted as well.

Isaiah reminds us that the Messiah was a gift. He is speaking writing the words of God the Father in Isaiah 49, so we are to understand the portion of Isaiah 49:8 above as a quote from God the Father Himself. The Father is telling Jesus the Christ that He is giving Him for the people.

We could ponder for an eternity of eternities the implications of this gift and never reach the bottom of that well. Christmas has come and gone, however pondering the wonders of the giving of Messiah is a yearlong pursuit, not exclusively a Christmas time activity. Consider what the great preacher of yesteryear Charles H. Spurgeon had to say about the implications of the gift of Messiah:

In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Consider that Word "God" and its infinity, and then meditate upon "perfect man" and all His beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or can have, is thine-out of pure free favour, passed over to thee to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not console you to know that all these great and glorious attributes are altogether yours? Has He power? That power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to preserve you even to the end. Has He love? Well, there is not a drop of love in His heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you may say of it all, "It is mine." Hath He justice? It may seem a stern attribute, but even that is yours, for He will by His justice see to it that all which is promised to you in the covenant of grace shall be most certainly secured to you. And all that He has as a perfect man is yours. As a perfect man the Father's delight was upon Him. He stood accepted by the Most High. O believer, God's acceptance of is thine acceptance."

All that is His, is yours......let that thought encourage your heart today.

Avoid spiritual pride, spiritual despair

2012-01-03T09:20:00.000-05:00

Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

In one phrase found in 2 Peter is our goal as believers. The new year provides a natural time to reflect upon where we have been and where we are going. I have been prayerfully thinking through that over the holidays from a personal stand point, and also from the stand point of the church. For me the two are intimately connected, because no church can rise higher than its leader. If I stop growing spiritually I can put a lid on the church. Its a sobering thought and a challenge to me personally to strive toward growth.

This verse reminds me that real Christian growth is inseparably connected to growing in the understanding of grace. Understanding grace is what really frees us up as believers to live obediently for Christ. A misunderstanding of grace leads to a performance based Christianity. A person who misunderstands grace is compelled to serve because they are trying to earn the favor of God. The result is either spiritual pride or despair. Spiritual pride results when such people perform well according to their own evaluation. People who fall into spiritual pride become like the Pharisees, thinking more highly of themselves than they ought, looking down on those that do not measure up to their exacting standards. On the other end of the spectrum is despair. Despair results in those who do not perform well. They feel like miserable failures and tend to give up all together on living for God. Both of these are extremes to be avoided, and an understanding of grace is what keeps us from spiritual pride and despair. It helps us to live out the command of Romans 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment,

Seek to understand grace more.....It will set you free, and it will cause you to grow spiritually.

Thanks

2011-12-23T10:18:00.000-05:00

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

I am not sure why, but for some reason even to a greater degree than at Thanksgiving, at Christmas I get really reflective about everything I have to be thankful for.

There are so many people that have been such an incredible blessing to me at Bethel in so many ways. It has been such a privilege as your pastor to share our lives together. We have celebrated our victories together, we have walked together during our trials. We have rejoiced together and we have mourned together.

I am sitting here as I write this and I am going back over and over in my mind the many things that different members of Bethel have done over the past year to show me that they love me, and to bless me. I feel like I could never repay the many acts of kindness that have been extended on my behalf. I am earnestly asking God to repay your kindness with His blessings.

I just want to stop and pause, and say to you that I do not take for granted the wonderful privilege that it is to serve as your pastor. I am a blessed man. Thank you for the privilege.

From the Hester family to you and yours.......have a very blessed and merry Christmas!!

Help me finish

2011-12-21T08:40:00.002-05:00

Acts 20:24 "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."

The attitude that Paul expresses in this verse of scripture as he addresses the Elders of the church at Ephesus is the attitude that in large measure made this man the spiritual giant that he was. Paul's attitude was one of self sacrifice. He did not calculate every move through the lens of what it was going to cost him personally. He did not withhold anything from God even to the point that he was willing to put his life in danger for the cause of Christ.

Wow! What an example the Apostle Paul sets for us as followers of Christ. What an important truth he teaches us in these words in Acts 20:24. Paul is essentially saying, "I am going to do what God has called me to do and I don't care what it takes, I don't care what it costs me, I am giving no thought to self." Paul understood that this type of attitude was necessary to finish the race well. Notice that he says he adopts this thinking "so that I may finish my course." Paul understood that he would not finish the race if he started thinking about the personal cost involved.

If Paul some where along the way, stopped and thought to himself, "I sure have given up a lot to follow Christ. I sure have made many sacrifices. Look at all that I have done for God and look where it has gotten me. The more I have done for God the more heart ache and trouble I seem to experience. Maybe it's not worth it. Maybe I have done enough for God and sacrificed enough for Him and maybe it's time for me to just relax and enjoy life a little bit. Think I'll go back to Jerusalem and just cool it for a while so these people will stop trying to kill me for preaching Christ."

The minute you start to think about yourself the outcome is predictable. You will be tempted to quit on God, or at least curtail what you are doing for Him.

The Word

2011-12-20T07:22:00.001-05:00

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.......14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John's gospel tells the Christmas story in a different way. Whereas some of the other gospel writers tell us about the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus, John cuts to the chase regarding the theological implications of the event.

At the center of our understanding of the gospel is the correct identity of Jesus. He is not simply a good moral teacher who led an exemplary life worthy of being imitated. He is that, but to stop there as many have done is to ignore the most important aspect of who Jesus was. John makes it clear that Jesus was God. He was God who put on flesh and "dwelt among us."

I can ponder that theological truth for an eternity of eternities and never exhaust all the implications. The greatest implication of all is that because He was God, He could save me from my sin.

Thank you Lord Jesus for leaving the glory of heaven, to enter this cesspool of a world, to save sinners like me. My soul and spirit magnifies you today.

Continual worship

2011-12-19T06:46:00.000-05:00

Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

The Lord through the prophet Hosea under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit pointed out something lacking in the worship of the people of God. He pointed out that there was outward expression of worship with no inward effect. They were going through the prescribed rituals, like offering animal sacrifices and burnt offerings. The reality of the situation is that their hearts were far from God. God is not pleased with superficial, surface worship.

When Mary says "My soul exalts the Lord" in what has classically become known as "The Magnificat" recorded in Luke 1, she expresses a thought that wells up from deep within her inner being. The word "exalts" is the word in Greek "megaloonay". The first part of that word is borrowed from the Greek language and applied in many contexts in English. "Mega" means "huge". We put "mega" in front of just about any noun if we want to express the idea that it is great, large, or expanding. The idea expressed is that Mary is overwhelmed and overcome by the glory, the wonder, the majesty, and the awesomeness of the Lord.

It does not stop with a one time experience. "Megaloonay" translated in our English bibles "exalts" or in some versions "magnifies" is a present tense continuous action verb. That simply means that it is a continual action. Mary does not express a thought that is a one time event. She expresses an ongoing thought of worship.

That reminds me that my whole life is to be one big worship service. Worship is not something that I am to do at 9am, 10:30am, and 6:30pm on Sunday......it is a lifestyle.......God grant us worshiping hearts.

Unity

2011-12-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

Philippians 2:1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

We all love to hear the song during the Christmas season, "It's the most wonderful time of the year". Can I make a declaration? If you work on a church staff that presents its budget in December, that just simply is untrue for you. Introduce the notion of how to spend money in the church and you get a wide variety of opinions. I have now officially been through it as a pastor 11 times. When it comes to creating a church budget, there are always extremes to be dealt with. Some people are risky, and some are very conservative. Some are for "passing a faith budget" that is far beyond the congregation's ability to reach.....Some are for passing a budget that is less than the previous year's tithes and offerings so the church can "squirrel away money for a "rainy day".

When you are on a church staff you see the potential for division. People with different opinions about how to spend money can get polarized, and the enemy can get a foothold, divide and conquer. It is a stark reminder that if we in the church are going to remain unified, it is not our opinions that are going to do it. The last word of our focus passage for the day is the key to unity. It is the word purpose. Our opinions are not going to unify us....it will be a sharp focus on the purpose. The purpose is to make disciples.

Different people will have different opinions in the church on how to spend the money, but if the ultimate focus is to reach people for Christ, God's people are not going to press their opinions to the point that it divides the body, and thus compromises the church's ability to reach people for Christ. There will be a "big picture" understanding, so that those that do not get their way will not do damage to the body over the fact that their suggestion or budgeting philosophy was not ultimately adopted by the church.

I saw some disagreements and some differences of opinion during the budget process at Bethel this year. I am happy to report that even though the discussions got spirited at times, no one got nasty. Everyone expressed their opinion in a respectful way. When it comes to those that did not get their way, nobody took their marbles and went home.

We are moving forward together....as soldiers of the cross. That's the way it should be.

Spiritual breathing

2011-12-12T21:22:00.001-05:00

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

One of the things that we do quite naturally if we are healthy is breathe. We don't have to think about it we just do it.

I want to introduce you to a concept that Campus Crusade for Christ founder the late Dr. Bill Bright called "spiritual breathing". It is a concept that if practiced will transform your spiritual life. Spiritual breathing first acknowledges that people sin even after they are saved. Many Christians are in denial about that idea, but the bible says in 1 John that if we say we have no sin we are liars and the truth is not in us. The idea is to recognize it when we sin, and to confess it right away.

When we sin, we know that we have grieved the Holy Spirit. We often just go on about our business without doing anything about it. We try not to think about it and often just try to suppress it in our thinking until the Holy Spirit reminds us about that sin some time later. Dr Bright suggested that what all Christians ought to do when they sin is confess and ask forgiveness right away. Do not let long periods of time go by with unconfessed sin in your life. When you sin, don't wait until the invitation after the Sunday sermon to get right with God. Confess your sin to the Lord immediately. Sin breaks fellowship with God. You can sense it when you disobey the Lord that your fellowship with Him is broken. Confessing sin restores fellowship with the Lord. Confess your sin, then ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, appropriating His fullness in your life again. Continue walking in the Holy Spirit now that your fellowship with God has been restored. IF you practice this it will become as natural as breathing....thus the term "spiritual breathing".

Let's review the process of "spiritual breathing". When you sin, confess it to the Lord right away. Do not wait. Claim 1 John 1:9 which says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Ask the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit understanding that it is God's command to be filled with the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18). Understand that the bible teaches us that we get what we ask for when we ask according to the will of God (see 1 John 5:14-15 above). So now having restored fellowship with God, walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

Practice this art of "spiritual breathing" and you will have less time in your life with unconfessed sin in your life. As you keep short accounts with God, your fellowship with Him will deepen.

Listening while busy

2011-12-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

1 Kings 19:12......and after the fire a still small voice.

I have some more thoughts to add to Tuesday's blog post regarding the small still voice. I mentioned a key to hearing the small still voice is to get alone with God and block out the competing noises. That is true and I do not wish to hedge that thought. Jesus got off by Himself and spent time with the Father and we need to do the same.

However, there is one key idea that I think is definitely worth talking about when it comes to this concept of listening to the small still voice of the Holy Spirit. We can not always stop what we are doing and get off to a quiet place to listen to God. We must be able to hear from God in the midst of a busy, noisy life as well. Most of us are only able to have quiet time in the morning and have jobs that do not lend themselves to taking breaks to go pray. So the question begs asking, don't we still need to hear from God in the busy and loud portions of our life? I would say so. If that is true, then we had better develop our ability to hear the small still voice of the Holly Spirit even when there is a lot of noise, a lot of activity, and many competing voices.

If we are going to walk with God, we must hear moment by moment. That is only done when we learn to sense the Holy Spirit's guidance when life is full of activity and there is no opportunity for getting quiet and still before the Lord. That is why the Apostle Paul taught that we are to "pray without ceasing." We can not constantly stay on our knees with our eyes closed and our heads bowed, but we can live our lives in a constant attitude of prayer. When we live our lives in a constant attitude of prayer, we have listening hearts that hear the voice of God even in those portions of life that are noisy and busy.

Lord help us to block out all the noise and hear you, so that you might order our steps even in our busy day to day routines.

Small still voice

2011-12-06T10:55:00.001-05:00

1 Kings 19:11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

If we are going to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit guiding us day by day, moment by moment as believers, we must learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit guiding us. So often we are looking for the voice of the Holy Spirit in the miraculous. It is true the Holy Spirit makes the will of the Father known to us through the miraculous at times. The Holy Spirit does speak through signs and wonders at times. However, most of the time the Holy Spirit does not speak through signs and wonders. Most of the time He speaks through the small still voice.

Elijah was in a spot in his life where he was not able to hear from the Lord, because he was listening the wrong way. If you read the story that precedes our focal passage for today you will find that God had just spoken to Elijah through the miraculous as Elijah took on the prophets of Baal and called down fire from heaven. In our focal passage for today, God gave Elijah an object lesson to let Elijah know that the normal way God speaks to us is not the miraculous. Those are rare comparatively speaking. The norm is the small still voice.

In order to hear the small still voice, we have to get quiet. When someone is whispering you can not hear them if there is a lot of back ground noise. You can only hear a small still voice when you are in an environment where there are no competing noises. If we are going to hear from the Father through the Holy Spirit, we have to shut out the competing noises, and get still and quiet before HIM. Do you have time each day, when you get quiet and still before HIM listening to HIS small still voice? It is a key to hearing from God.

Filled with the Spirit

2011-12-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

Yesterday I preached a message on Peter's denial of Christ. In the message I pointed out that after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit Peter was a different man. We read in the book of Acts that Peter became a bold witness for the Lord Jesus. When Peter denied Christ, he was operating in the flesh. In Acts Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter went from coward to courageous.

The main idea of the sermon yesterday is that we will be witnesses if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the same way Peter became a witness once he was filled with the Holy Spirit. I wish I had time yesterday to explain how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I did not. So I thought I would talk about it here.

Theologically we must understand that we all receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. It is not another event in the life of the believer, but rather it is simultaneous with salvation. So when Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to understand, the Holy Spirit does not leak out of us. To be filled with the Spirit means to allow yourself to be guided by the Spirit. It is possible even after getting saved to live carnal. That is, to live fleshly. It is possible to deny the Holy Spirit control of our lives. Some would argue that point with me. I would submit to you the notion that those who disagree with me have not carefully studied 1 Corinthians 3. Paul clearly addresses the Corinthians as believers. These were not lost people. They were just behaving carnally. They were not allowing the Holy Spirit who dwelt in them to have control of them. The result was behavior and attitudes that did not glorify God. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit wants to guide us into behavior and attitudes that glorify the Lord. That is the ultimate goal of the Holy Spirit.

Once we receive the Holy Spirit we then must be yielded to Him in order to appropriate His power in our lives. Acts 1:8 says: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you....." I want to emphasize that word "power". With the Holy Spirit comes supernatural "power". Through the Spirit you can do things that are only attributable to the power of God......for example, witnessing for Christ when left to your own devices you would be silent. Add the "power" of the Holy Spirit and otherwise timid people become bold witnesses for Jesus.

I use the word yielded because the Holy Spirit wants to be our "guide". He is the one who communicates to us the will of the Father moment by moment in our lives. We must be yielded in the sense that we are listening to Him. If we are in a state of prayer constantly, asking the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us moment by moment in our lives, He speaks to us in the small still voice...... When we hear the small still voice of the Holy Spirit and follow His prompting, that is when the power surge kicks in!! That which we would not have the ability to do own our own, the Holy Spirit empowers us to do.

It starts with a listening heart...... The Holy Spirit wants to guide you.....are you listening?

Stay tuned for more on being filled with the Holy Spirit on this blog in the coming days.

Power

2011-12-02T08:12:00.000-05:00

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses......Acts 1:8

We began a study last night in Prayer Meeting on the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 is the thesis statement of the book. The book of Acts accounts how the early members of the church were filled with the Holy Spirit. Once they were filled with the Spirit they went about declaring the gospel. They were beaten for sharing the gospel, they were jailed for sharing the gospel, they were threatened for sharing the gospel, yet nothing would stop them. Quite a different bunch from the ones who were hiding out for fear of being discovered. What is the difference? It is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Inseparable in Acts 1:8 are the concepts of the filling of the Holy Spirit, receiving power, and being witnesses. It is the Holy Spirit's power that transformed those in the early church from cowards to courageous.

If we are not being witnesses we must conclude that we are not operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit made witnesses out of wimps in the early church and He will still do that today. As you examine your life ask yourself this question: "Am I really a witness? When is the last time I shared the gospel?" If you are not being a witness, it is probably because you are not appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

More to come in future posts about how to appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Thinking the right way

2011-12-01T08:40:00.002-05:00

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

A person's thoughts in large measure determine their life. This is a biblical concept.

The New Age movement has picked up on this concept and twisted it a bit. Much has been written from that philosophical point of view on concepts like visualization, and speaking the reality you wish to create. They teach people to visualize what you want, meditate upon it, and eventually it will become a reality. They teach people to speak what you want and eventually it will manifest itself. As such, a person is able to create his or her own destiny.

The problem with the New Age concept is is that there is something that they ignore. Their philosophy is nothing more than humanism with a new wrapper. Humanism is the philosophy that elevates the efforts of man and makes man the center of the universe, not God. The New Age philosophy of manifesting your destiny by your thoughts and words ignores the sovereignty of God. God is in control, and if HE does not want it to happen it will not, no matter how much you think it or how much you speak it.

1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

The key to it happening.....it must be HIS will. If we think we can "create" a destiny with our own thoughts and words, we place ourselves in the position of God. God is the only creator, and nothing gets created apart from HIM.

Now that I have hedged against the danger of sliding down the slope into new age philosophy, let me say that within the boundaries of the will of God, our thinking will in large measure determine what we are. For example, if we are negative thinkers, we will attract negative thinkers to us. Positive people are not attracted to negative thinkers, they are repelled by them. If we are surrounded by negative thinkers, we will not be in an affirming environment, and thus we will probably not achieve at our highest level. So to some degree in that scenario, our thinking has determined what we become. On the other hand if we think positively, we will attract positive thinkers, and we will be surrounded by an affirming environment, not a bunch of whiners and complainers. We will be encouraged by our relationships to achieve at our highest level. With those kinds of relationships a person is most likely to reach their full potential. In this scenario a person's positive thinking has raised the bar for what he is able to accomplish.

Now to further illustrate what this text means and what it does not mean let me offer this as an example. I can think about wanting to be a tail back for the Washington Redskins all I want ........folks it ain't happening no matter how much I think it. It is beyond the scope of my ability. I am too slow and too fragile. One hit from an NFL linebacker and I would be out for the season. It is questionable whether I would ever walk again. However, if I learn to think the right way, I can become a more effective pastor. That is within my grasp. That is within the boundaries of God's will for my life. If I learn to think the right way I can become a better husband and father. That is within my grasp, and it represents the will of God for my life.

Apply a little positive thinking in your life. It will not make you something you are not called or designed to be, but it will make you the best you that you can be.

Freedom

2011-11-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

We all love to point to our Christian liberty! Rightly so. After all, the bible tells us that as new covenant Christians, we are not under law but under grace. However, the question begs asking, "How are we going to use our Christian liberty?" Our passage of scripture today reminds us that we are not to use our liberty as Christians as an opportunity to gratify the desires of the flesh. Using the grace of our Lord that way tramples it. With that kind of attitude you become a disgrace to grace.

May we go deeper? If a person uses their liberty as an occasion for the flesh, are they really free? What is real freedom? Might I suggest to you that real freedom is not the freedom to do what we want to do, but the freedom to do what is right? It is only through the power of Christ that we are able to be over comers and live lives that are pleasing to Him. Those who are really free, are the ones that have experienced the transforming power of Jesus to make us new creations who thirst after righteousness. I see a huge gap between the state of the person I just described and the person who is making excuses for sin. Do you see it?

Do not use your freedom in Christ as a justification for vice. Let your freedom in Christ empower you to be free from vice. If the son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.

Thanksliving

2011-11-24T12:03:00.003-05:00

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

It is awesome that we live in a country that still sets aside a day to thank God for His blessings. It is sad that many in our country, probably the majority will go through the entire day without really acknowledging God. They will eat lots, get together with family that they really don't like (grumbling about them all the way there and grumbling about them all the way home), watch football, watch movies and never once stop to give thanks to the Lord for His blessings. Nevertheless, it is awesome that we set aside a day in our country for the purpose of remembering the Lord's provision.

Time for confession. I was sitting here a few minutes ago feeling sorry for myself. My wife is a Registered Nurse and has to work today. Chances are she won't get off until 8:30 or 9:00 tonight.I happen to love her and I miss her. It's Thanksgiving day and I would like to be with her today. In the middle of my pity party, the thought occurred to me, it's Thanksgiving and I should spend some time with the Lord this morning telling Him how much I appreciate Him and what I am thankful for instead of sitting here feeling sad about what I don't have. .....As I started to tell God all the things that I could think of that I was thankful for, it suddenly dawned on me that I had stopped feeling sorry for myself. I noticed that I had been released from my little pity party. Right at the exact time that I had that thought, the phone rang and it was Kay. She said, "I had a free moment and wanted to call and say happy Thanksgiving, and I love you. Save me some food I am going to eat no matter how late I get home tonight." She only had time to talk for about two minutes, but I felt like that was God's little gift to me. I just said, "Thank you Lord. Forgive me for feeling sorry for myself earlier."

Feeling sorry for ourselves for what we don't have is the opposite of a thankful spirit. I am reminded of something this morning. It is impossible to thank God and think about what you don't have that you would like to have at the same time. If we will just learn to live out 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in our lives, Thanksgiving can be more than just a holiday.....it can be a lifestyle.....thanksliving!

From the Hester family to you and yours: Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Final thoughts on the model prayer

2011-11-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

Matthew 6:13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'

Jesus asks for the Father's help to avoid temptation. It reveals a deep desire Jesus had to be pleasing to the Father. There was a thirst after righteousness. There was a longing for holiness. For a lot of Christians, there is no such longing. They want to see how close to the pig pen they get without falling in. Jesus wanted to be as far away from the pig pen as He could get and He prayed to the Father to order His steps away from filth. We would do well to pray along these lines daily. Praying this way will create in us a longing to live holy lives.

As the prayer begins to close, once again Jesus mentions the Kingdom. This time He says, "Yours is the Kingdom." Jesus begins by referencing the authority of the Father, and He ends the prayer by once again acknowledging the authority of the Father. The Kingdom is the Father's and we ought to make mention of it in our prayer lives. It is a reminder of who is in charge. Nobody walks into the King and demands anything. Even Queen Esther was apprehensive about approaching the King on behalf of her people the Jews. When you approach a King, you approach humbly. Jesus teaches us to pray humbly. Beware of approaching God with a sense of entitlement as if the Lord owes you something. For the record, He does not.

Jesus finishes off the prayer with more praise, mentioning the power of the father, and the glory of the Father. I am struck by how much of the prayer is devoted to recognition of the attributes of God and how little is devoted to asking things from God. I am not saying that we ought not to ask anything from God. Nothing could be further from biblical teaching on prayer. We are told in the scripture Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." So we ought to ask for whatever we want. The point I am simply trying to make is that we do not spend enough time in prayer praising God and just worshiping Him. Jesus teaches us in the model prayer to spend a larger proportion of our prayer life praising the Lord. I challenge you to spend more time in prayer praising God. I bet it will make your prayer life deeper and richer.

The model prayer continued

2011-11-22T06:46:00.002-05:00

Matthew 6:12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Now in the prayer Jesus moves into confession of sin. Confessing sin should be a regular part of our prayer life. For the believer, understand that confessing sin is not a matter of salvation. That is already settled for a truly born again person. It is a matter of relationship. When we do things that displease the Lord, in order to restore our relationship, we need to confess those things to Him. I personally believe that there is nothing else that will determine how our relationship with God goes more than regularly confessing our sin to Him. Confessing sin shows that we are conscious of the things in our lives that please and displease the Lord. Confessing sin will make us more sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Confessing sin is a key to spiritual growth because it causes us to remove things from our lives that need to go.

Jesus also teaches in this model prayer how important forgiveness is. People are sinful and they do hurtful things. Jesus is teaching us to forgive in light of the fact that we want forgiveness from the Father. When someone does something to hurt you, take that pain to the Lord. Then forgive them....declare to the Father that you are forgiving them.....it will release you and prevent bitterness from settling into your heart.

Jesus is teaching us two more very important elements to our prayer life: 1) Confession of sin 2) Properly dealing with those who have wronged us in our prayer life. Do you have sin in your life that you need to confess to get your relationship with God back to where it needs to be? Do you have hard feelings toward others that have mistreated you that need to be taken to the Father? If so, confess your sin. Pray for the Lord to help your attitude toward the person that wronged you. Pray for God to bless them today. In the process, you will feel a weight lifted from your soul, and you will experience deeper intimacy with the Lord.

Even more on prayer

2011-11-18T11:13:00.000-05:00

Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.

Jesus is teaching us to pray by praying a "model prayer" for us in what we have come to know as "The Lord's Prayer". The prayer was not meant so much to be repeated, as it is to provide guidelines and principles that help us to pray in a way that is pleasing to God. Do you ever think about whether or not your prayer is pleasing to the Lord? Solomon's prayer pleased God....1 Kings 3:10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. We ought to consider whether or not our prayers please the Lord. If we pray the way Jesus taught us to pray our prayers will please God.

Jesus acknowledges the authority of the Father, praises the Father, and recognizes the sovereignty of the Father in verses 9 & 10. (see previous posts for more detail) Then in verse 11 Jesus asks for daily provision. He does not ask for next weeks provision. Jesus asks for what is needed today. When we pray, we recognize our total and utter dependency upon God to provide what is needed today. Jesus is teaching not only something about prayer, but also something about life. None of us are promised tomorrow, so we need to take each day as it comes. Jesus tells us later on in Matthew's gospel, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself." Matthew 6:34

This goes way against the grain of western world thinking. We live in the land of insurance, IRAs, 401Ks etc. There is so much built into our culture that is designed to hedge against tomorrow's difficulty. It is so easy for us even as Christians to start trusting in those things and have our sense of security in them and not in the Lord......

Jesus says the way to live is one day at a time totally dependent on the Father. May our prayer lives reflect a daily dependence upon HIM.

More on prayer

2011-11-17T09:49:00.002-05:00

Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

I have been at the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV) annual meeting in Richmond which is why I have not blogged in a while. The SBCV is our Baptist state convention comprised of 564 churches from all over the state of Virginia. Some of you recall that approximately 40 of our people went to the "Families on Mission" mission trip in Big Stone Gap Virginia? That mission trip was sponsored by the SBCV. The SBCV annual meeting was a glorious time of worship, preaching, testimonies of what God is doing all across the state, and a little bit of business thrown in. I am in awe of what God has done in so many of the churches of our state convention, and I wish that every one of you could have been there to hear the many inspiring testimonies of what the Lord is doing through Southern Baptists all over Virginia.

Last week I was writing about prayer and will continue. In verse 10 we see Jesus acknowledge the sovereignty of the Father. That is what He is doing when He says, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We ought to always pray reminded that the Kingdom of God is coming. One day Jesus is coming again! So no matter how bad it gets down here....no matter how hard serving the Lord becomes.....we need to remember that it is only temporary and that the Lord Jesus is coming again. Remembering that Jesus is coming again will affect the way we pray.

We also need to remember that God is in charge, He is in control. Nothing happens that God does not allow. So when we pray, we need to be mindful that we are praying to the one that has the whole world in His hands.

In Jesus' prayer, we can observe 4 steps in verses 9 & 10 so far:
1) He teaches us to acknowledge the authority of the Father
2) He teaches us to praise the Father
3) He teaches us to look forward to God's coming Kingdom
4) He teaches us to recognize that the Father is sovereign

Jesus does all that in His prayer before asking anything from God. I challenge you when you pray, to spend time in your prayer life in these 4 areas above. Linger in His presence as you do and you will experience intimacy with God on a new level.

Prayer continued

2011-11-11T07:35:00.000-05:00

Matthew 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Jesus is teaching us to pray. He starts with an acknowledgment of the authority of God the Father.

Then He says "Hallowed be Your Name". Hallowed is an interesting word. In the Greek it is the word "hagiazo". On seven other occasions in the New Testament, the word "hagiazo" is translated "sanctify" in English versions of the bible (John 17:17, John 17:19, Ephesians 5:26, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 9:13, Hebrews 13:12, & 1 Peter 3:15). I point this out because it gives us some insight as to the meaning of the word "Hallowed", not exactly a common word in English. "Hagiazo" means to "set apart". It is closely related to the word "hagios" which is the Greek word for holy. So when Jesus says, "Hallowed be Your name", He is saying holy, sacred, set apart be Your name Father God. Jesus is saying, may your name be honored above all other names. It is praise of the highest order.

When we pray, Jesus is teaching us that our prayers should not consist solely of the things that we want God to do for us. We are told in scripture to ask for things from God, and we will talk more about that later. But it is notable that before Jesus asks anything from God the Father, He first spends time praising Him in prayer. Do you do that? Do you ever have time in your prayer life where you are not asking anything from God but just simply are praising Him? You should.

Sometimes we treat God like He is our "Genie in a bottle" or our "Heavenly bell-hop". We come to Him with the list of things we want Him to do to make things better in the universe, without ever spending any time adoring and praising Him.

May I tell you from personal experience, that if you spend time praising God in your prayer life, when it does come time to ask for something from God..... it will change what you ask for, and it will change how you ask for it.

Prayer

2011-11-10T09:03:00.000-05:00

Matthew 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven....

If you are an active member of Bethel Baptist you will be receiving a letter in the mail from me within a day or two. I am calling the church to a season of fasting and prayer. So in my devotional time, I am doing some personal study on prayer, and I will be sharing some of that with you on this blog.

What we have come to refer to as "The Lord's Prayer" in Matthew chapter 6 is Jesus' instruction on prayer. He tells us to pray in this way. So Jesus did not mean for "The Lord's Prayer" to be an incantation that we repeat. He was teaching principles about prayer as He prayed.

Notice how He starts the prayer: "Our Father who is in heaven..." This is a recognition of the authority of the Father. He is Father, and He is in His exalted position in Heaven.

God the Father is the Creator, the All Mighty, the All Knowing, the All Powerful God of the universe, the Great I Am. Powerful prayer starts with a proper understanding of who God is. And even though we will never fully comprehend our awesome God.....we should continually pursue getting to know who He is. As you do, you discover that God is an inexhaustible well as you reach deeper levels of understanding in regards to who He is. The more you understand who He is, the more in awe you become of Him.......and it will affect your prayer life.

In "The Lord's Prayer" Jesus is teaching us to start our prayers by acknowledging the authority of God the Father. When we pray this way, it helps to put us in the proper mind set, so that we pray the right way.

Trust and obey

2011-11-08T07:04:00.000-05:00

"But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy'" (2 Kings 5:11-12).

Naaman was an army general with a terrible disease known as leprosy. It was a degenerative condition of the body tissues that literally caused the flesh to deteriorate to the point where limbs would eventually fall off in the advanced stages. It was a horrible and dreaded disease. Lepers were separated so as not to infect the rest of the population. It was suggested to Naaman by a young servant girl of the king's house that the prophet Elisha could heal him. Elisha sent a message to him: "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed" (2 Kings 5:10). When the instructions came as to what Naaman was to do, it seemed ridiculous to him.

God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Therefore some of the things that God tells us to do may not always make sense on the surface. We have to be careful about trying to "figure God out." God instructed Joshua to march around the city of Jericho seven times. Jesus told a man to put mud on his eyes to have his sight restored. Jesus told Peter to catch a fish to get a coin to pay his taxes. None of them questioned God, they just did what He said.

We must learn to listen to God and do what He says, whether it makes sense to us or not.

Thanks

2011-11-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

Last night I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love during "Pastor Appreciation" night. There were so many kind and encouraging things that were said to my wife and I that it was hard to take it all in.

One thing that sort of comes with the territory when it comes to being a pastor is scrutiny. Every sermon, every decision, your wardrobe, your demeanor, everything in the church you are to some degree held responsible for whether the decision was yours or not......everything is scrutinized all the time by someone. Any pastor will tell you, a lot of the time the only people you hear from are the ones that have some negative feed back regarding you or the church. So as a pastor you have to develop some thick skin and let a lot of stuff roll off of you. You also have to learn from the scrutiny and change the things about yourself that need changing that you can change (because some of it you can't change, it's just who you are) and try to improve constantly. So the scrutiny can be a good thing......but honestly over time it wears you out......unless it is balanced with some encouragement and some positive feed back along the way.

Hopefully none of us serve the Lord for the praise of men. Ultimately we serve God because we love Him and we desire to please Him. But encouragement sure is nice. And last night I received a whole lot of it. Thanks Bethel for a tremendous outpouring of love last night. I count it a privilege to serve as your pastor.

Use your talents

2011-11-04T14:18:00.001-04:00

Matthew 25:15 "To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.

Jesus tells a parable about three servants that were given money to mange by their owner. A "talent" was an amount of money equal to about 20 years of wages for the average person of that day. The money is a metaphor for the modern day English meaning of the word talent (gifts and abilities). So the idea is that everyone gets a lot. We do not need to overlook that thought. Most people have more ability than they give themselves credit for, and tend to "let themselves off the hook" so to speak. They do nothing for God, and justify it by reasoning that they have no ability.

Even though everyone got a lot, everyone in this story was not treated the same. One got five talents, another two, and another one. Jesus does not pretend in this story that all of us are alike. In fact Jesus acknowledges that we are different. Not everyone has the same potential. Some have more potential than others.

This is both relieving and challenging at the same time. It is relieving because it reminds us that God is not going to hold us responsible for doing things that He did not gift us and call us to do. Our tendency sometimes is to compare ourselves to others and to feel guilty that we have not accomplished what they have accomplished. That is just the devil's way of making us feel worthless.

It is challenging at the same time, however. Because it is a reminder that God is going to hold us responsible for using what He has given us. It begs the question from each one of us, "Am I using what the Lord has given me to its full potential?" We should all ponder that question.....

Die daily

2011-11-02T07:59:00.002-04:00

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:24-26).

There is an irony observable in nature that Jesus sees and relates to the spiritual realm. When wheat dies and falls to the ground, out of the death of that wheat comes many seeds. Through the death of that wheat kernel comes the potential for so much life.

This is analogous to what happens in the spiritual realm. If we die to self, and let Jesus live through us we create life. If we die to ourselves and allow Christ to live through us, we will be witnesses for Him. Those seeds of the gospel that we scatter will produce born again children of God. But it all starts with us making the decision to be dead to self and alive to Christ.

There is another irony in this passage of scripture. Jesus says that people's efforts to hold on to their own lives are futile because ultimately such people lose their lives in the end. In a sense Jesus is giving us a picture of the person that is truly saved.....the truly saved person has lost his life.....God is not fooled by people who participate in religious activity yet hold on to their own lives in every other sense.....that is not a born again person, that is a religious person. Jesus said you must be born again to see the Kingdom of Heaven. So according to Christ, losing your life is not just a matter of being a good Christian.......it is the evidence of whether or not you are a Christian at all.

Provision

2011-11-01T08:06:00.002-04:00

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about'" (Gen 22:2).

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that he would have a son. Years went by, but eventually Isaac was born, who was the promised son.

God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son to demonstrate his obedience to God. Abraham waited so long for a son, and now he is being told to sacrifice him. This doesn't make sense but Abraham starts to follow through on what he is told to do. God sends an angel to tell Abraham not to harm the boy. God provides a ram caught in a thicket for the sacrifice. God provided what was needed in a miraculous way!

Just reminds me I need to always do what God tells me to do whether it makes sense to me or not. It is only when I obey in this way, I get to see God make His most miraculous provisions, just like Abraham did.

Barriers to receiving wisdom

2011-10-31T09:49:00.001-04:00

1 Kings 4:29 Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore.

I have another one of those Monday morning hangovers. No, I did not go out drinking last night. I gave that up a long time ago. I am talking about a different kind of hang over where I can't get Sunday's sermon out of my system yet. It is difficult when you pour yourself for several days into a text, a teaching outline emerges from your work, key thoughts and life application of the text also. Then you deliver the sermon and give the invitation. Then it is over. Church is over and it is time to go to Golden Corral. Time to start thinking about next Sunday's message. Typically though I get a sermon hangover and it sticks with me into Monday. I try to write a blog entry about another subject and nothing flows out of my spirit, except what I preached about yesterday. It takes me until Tuesday to get over it. Why do I share all this? Because some may ask, "He just preached about this stuff yesterday, why is he writing about it today?" Now you know.

Solomon was a wise man, and there were some reasons why he was wise.

1) He was a man who wanted to please God. Solomon asked God to give him wisdom to know good from evil. He wanted to always do the right thing and please God.

2) He was humble. He recognized his need for God. Reminds me of the words of Christ: John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." Solomon recognized he could do nothing apart from God.

3) He was not self centered. When given the chance to ask anything from God, Solomon did not ask for something that would be a direct benefit to himself. He did not ask for riches, or political favor, or good health......he asked for wisdom to be able to lead the people well. His concern was for others, not for himself.

Now these are three reasons why Solomon was a man to whom God desired to impart HIS wisdom. I am sure there are more than just three reasons why God gave Solomon wisdom, but if we could just get these three down our lives.........maybe God will want to impart HIS wisdom to us as well.

Wisdom vs Knowledge

2011-10-28T18:13:00.001-04:00

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

It's been said, "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit but wisdom is knowing not to put tomato in your fruit salad." Wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing, but they are connected. Knowledge is information. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the information you have. You can know something, but if you don't know how to apply what you know in the practical world, then your knowledge does not help you too much. If we are going to be fruitful Christians we need both. Solomon tells us that the Lord is the source of both.

I am doing some study on Solomon since I am going to be preaching on his life in our morning services for at least the next two weeks. He is synonymous with wisdom because when God gave him the chance to ask for anything, he asked for wisdom. The bible tells us Solomon received wisdom from the Lord. 1 Kings 4:34 Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon does not take credit himself for his wisdom, but recognizes God as his source. In the New Testament, James affirms what Solomon tells us when he says, "If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God."

So if you need some wisdom, take some good advice from Solomon and James.....ask God.

Slow to anger

2011-10-26T11:14:00.000-04:00

Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.

Please forgive me for stating the obvious, but you are going to be wronged in this life by other people. It is not a matter of if, but when, how, and by whom? The real test of spirituality is not "What are you going to do about it? You are not going to actually going to let them get away with it are you?" The real test of spirituality is this one "Are you a big enough person to let it go?"

There is a time for anger. I am not telling you to be a door mat all your life. The bible says be angry and do not sin. Jesus got mad and turned over tables. Nobody got in His way either. There is a time for righteous indignation.

I was watching a football game a couple of Sunday afternoons ago. A defensive lineman pushed an offensive lineman after the play was over. The refs did not see it. The offensive lineman retaliated. The ref saw that one and threw a flag. The offensive lineman caused his team to get a 15 yard penalty.

We all have a tendency to want to "push back" when wronged. But we need to ask ourselves, "is this worth me getting angry?" If the answer is yes then we need to make sure we express it in the right place, and in the right way.

Let's be reminded that our scripture for the day says it is is to our glory to overlook it when we have been wronged. We should be much quicker to be angry when injustice happens to others, very slow to anger when it happens to us, and quick to overlook it when it happens to us.

Lord help us to show the same grace to others you have shown to us.

A picture of intimacy

2011-10-25T21:45:00.001-04:00

Revelation 2:17 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'

Some do not believe in a personal God. Some believe that God has treated the universe much like you would treat a wind up watch....just wind it up and leave it alone. Some adhere to the idea that God has "wound up the universe" and He is letting it wind down without intervening.

But in contrast to that idea, the verse I have shared with you today illustrates the personal nature of our relationship with Christ and His direct involvement with those who know Him perhaps as well as anything else in all the scripture. We are told that when we get face to face with Jesus, He is going to give each of us who know Him a white stone. That white stone is going to have a name on it. Names in the bible had significance. Names meant something. The name on the stone will reflect something about the recipient. Only the recipient and the giver of the stone will understand the significance of the name.

It brings me comfort to know that as I am walking through this journey called life, Jesus is walking it with me. One day I will be able to see Him face to face and He will give me a "nick name" on a white stone that reflects some intimate part of my journey with Him.

That thought helps give me encouragement to press on.

Silence can be golden

2011-10-24T14:51:00.000-04:00

Proverbs 17:27-28 He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered wise.

In the 1966 case Miranda vs Arizona the Supreme Court of the United States held that an elicited incriminating statement by a suspect will not constitute admissible evidence unless the suspect was informed of the right to decline to make self-incriminatory statements and the right to legal counsel (hence the so-called "Miranda rights"), and makes a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of those rights. In other words, if you get arrested, you have the right to remain silent. Even though everyone has the right to remain silent, not everyone has the ability. They therefore often end up making incriminating statements that are used against them in a court of law.

The bible teaches that silence is often the best policy. My Granny Hester used to say, "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all."

Have you found Proverbs 17:27-28 to be true in your experience? Have you noticed that "know it all" types seem to have much to say and that those who really do know a lot sometimes are the quietest ones in the bunch? Have you also noticed that people who know what they are talking about can remain calm while they share their viewpoints? In contrast have you noticed those who are not as confident about the subject matter try to intimidate others with their tempers and easily get hot under the collar? If only people who are quick to speak and quick to weigh in under any circumstances knew how they were perceived by others........they might choose silence more often.

I am not sure where this originated, but one of my personal favorite sayings is this one: "It is better to keep silent and let people think you are an idiot, than to speak and remove all doubt."

Words to live by

2011-10-21T09:37:00.000-04:00

I came across these words attributed to Mother Teresa. She had them written on one of the walls in the home for children she ran in Calcutta, India:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

These words ministered to my heart this morning.....thanks for allowing me to share them with you. Hope you have a blessed day.

Wisdom

2011-10-19T09:14:00.000-04:00

Proverbs 3: 5 Trust in the Lord with all you heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Over time our lives become the sum total of our daily choices. Foolish choices over time can lead to a life that is at best - simply wasted and meaningless, or is at worst - a huge mess. To keep from wasting our lives, or to keep from making our lives a total mess, we need the wisdom of God.

Proverbs helps us to recognize two very important first steps in receiving the wisdom of God......

1) Trust in the Lord. You have to believe that HIS wisdom is what you need or you will trust in everything but Him. Trusting God in this verse is presented as the opposite of trusting yourself. Your understanding of things may not be accurate. You need to seek God's understanding of things.

2) Acknowledge Him in all your ways. Give Him access to all your life. Some people compartmentalize their lives and have certain parts of their lives where it seems as if they are saying to God, "Hands off this area, I can do this on my own." Is there any area of your life in which you have shut out God? You have to open up every area of your life to God if you want His wisdom.....

Lord, teach us to know Your wisdom.

Demolition and construction

2011-10-18T08:02:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 "See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant."

Several years ago I remember driving by a a spot where some old abandoned office buildings used to be. They had been removed. The area looked strange without those old buildings. It was several months before I happened to be in that area again. By now erected in place of those run down buildings were some beautiful condominiums. Those old office buildings had been neglected and were falling apart. They were really an eye sore to the neighborhood. The new condos totally transformed the area. It was a mini ghost town before. Now there were people out on the sidewalks walking dogs, jogging, sitting in chairs drinking tea and coffee......signs of life existed where there had previously only been an empty shell of a building.

It reminds me of what God does in us spiritually speaking. When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, we learn what that word does. It plucks up, breaks down, destroys, and overthrows. There are some things in us that need to be plucked up, broken down, destroyed, and overthrown. There are attitudes that need to change, there are habits that need to be discarded, there are thought patterns that need to be abandoned.....and it is the word of the Lord that does that.

I often get people who tell me after a message, "Pastor that message really stepped on my toes this morning." What is really going on here? Did I sit in my office while I was preparing and say, "I am going to really nail them to the wall this week!" No, that's not what is going on. What's going on is that the word of the Lord has just been presented and applied, and the word of the Lord (not the preacher) is tearing down something that needs to be torn down in their lives.

The good news is that it does not stop there. Jeremiah said the word of the Lord also builds and plants if you look at the last part of verse 10. The word of the Lord is not just to tear you down and make you feel awful. In place of what God tears down in you through the word, HE wants to build something new into your life. But He can not do it until the demolition project is over. The folks that built those condos could not build them until the old office buildings were out of the way.

Embrace the process.....it is a process.....do not resist it, do not resent it and God will tear down in you the things that need to be torn down and rebuild you into something beautiful and full of life.

The Potter and the Clay

2011-10-17T14:29:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah 18:2 Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

I just got back in from a mission trip to Argentina. God did amazing things while we were there. He used our team to reach many people with the gospel. Dozens were saved. I stopped counting. I figure that God's score keeping is what really matters anyway. I would have thought it was worth it if nobody got saved. We are simply called to be faithful. He is the Lord of the harvest and the results are in His hands. But it was a blessing to be able to see visible fruit for our efforts.

However, what stands out to me about this trip is is the dramatic work that God was doing in the hearts of the people who went. There were 12 of us on the trip, 11 people from Bethel (including me) and one pastor friend of mine. Out of the group one sensed a call to preach while on the trip. One couple sensed a call to the mission field. One witnessed for the first time. One gave testimony that he had grown cold in his relationship with God and that the fire is now rekindled in his heart. One lady overcame great anxiety to even go on the trip. Pretty incredible stuff happened in the lives of the participants.

They went to be a blessing, and they were blessed. They were clay on the potter's wheel. The potter is the Lord, and we are the clay. Last week God did some reshaping and remolding of the vessels on the trip.

It reminded me that God is continually shaping us into what He wants us to be. How about you? Are you letting your life be shaped by the potter's hands? What is it that God wants to do to make you a vessel that is more useful in His hands?

I challenge you to ponder these thoughts in your quiet time.....

Rejoicing, patience, and prayer

2011-10-06T08:36:00.001-04:00

Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

Romans 12:12 is in the middle of a shotgun style set of instructions for believers from the Apostle Paul. It is easy to miss the details when you get a whole lot of instruction in a short space. As I was doing some reading in Romans 12 this morning this verse tucked away in the middle of a passage loaded with commands jumped out at me. That's the way it always seems to be for me. I can just be reading along in a passage of scripture that I have read hundreds of times before, and a verse or portion of a verse will jump out at me with fresh new meaning.

I often preach three point outlines. Someone asked me once, "Why do all your sermons have three points?" I had no good explanation. The next Sunday I preached four just to break up the monotony. The following Sunday I went back to three. It just seems to work with the allotted time. I have trouble handling more than three thoughts at a time. Three seems to be my limit. I can go to the grocery store without a list if I need three things. Add a fourth and I need a list or I'll forget something. So maybe it has more to do with the limitations of the preacher than anything else.

So maybe Romans 12:12 jumps out at me today because it contains three thoughts: 1) rejoicing 2) patience 3) prayer. I have never seen the connection between the three ideas as clearly as I do today in this verse. These are not three isolated items. Paul is connecting them here, weaving them together. How can you be patient in the middle of a trial? If you are rejoicing in the hope that you have in Christ it will make it easier. If you are continuing to pray consistently it will help you with both 1 and 2.

I have been fortunate to be exposed to some believers along the way who had really consistent prayer lives. One key ingredient to all of their prayer lives was extended times of private praise and adoration of the Lord. I have come to understand that the element of praise and adoration flows naturally for the person who has a consistent prayer life. Praise and adoration of the Lord leads to rejoicing. You can not praise God for who He is and what He has done without rejoicing! It will will get you happy! Once a person gets up off their knees and reengages the material world, they can not just cut off that rejoicing that they were doing while they were praying. The attitude of rejoicing and gratitude before the Lord lingers. It then affects how they handle the difficulties that come along.

Pray consistently. It will help your attitude, which will help you cope with the trials life brings in a way that brings glory to God.

Facing the truth

2011-10-03T21:39:00.000-04:00

Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.

Someone shared this verse with me today. It relates to what I preached yesterday. It is Monday and I am still marinating in it. To nutshell yesterday's message, David fell into sin, but confessed that sin in Psalm 51. As a result he grew in the Lord. If we are going to grow in the Lord, we too need to confess our sin. We will all fail God at some point. When we do we should not run from Him but run to Him in confession and repentance. In this context, failures can actually become a spring board to spiritual growth. God can take our failures and bring good out of them that way.

But the key ingredient to it all is truth. This does not happen if we are not truthful. If we are not willing to admit where we have failed God then we are not being truthful. We are deceived. The Lord is not near us as long as we are living deceived.

It is so easy for us to live self deceived. We as humans are so good at justifying our wrong behavior and our wrong attitudes. When we do that we are refusing to face the truth of the matter, and the result.....God is far from us. The only way to bring Him near is to face the truth about ourselves, confess and repent.

In order for us to do this, we must have help from the Spirit of Truth. HE is the one that must reveal it to us. This should be our prayer: "Lord help me to see through the power of your Holy Spirit anything in my life that does not bring glory to you. If there is an attitude I have that needs to go, or a habit that needs to go show it to me. Help me not to make excuses for it or justify it, but just simply to confess it. Lord help me to not only see it and confess it, but I need you to help me forsake it."

That is the stuff that spiritual growth is made of......

The gospel is not broken

2011-10-01T20:13:00.002-04:00

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

On Thursday of this week I board a plane and take a mission trip to Argentina. It will be my 5th trip to Argentina working with Eduardo Bouldain who runs a church planting ministry there. It will be my 11th international mission trip overall. All of the trips I have taken so far have been to places with third world conditions. One of the things that is so refreshing about taking mission trips to the third world, is you see what Christianity is like without the heavy influences of materialism. It is budget time at our church. Different departments are presenting their budget requests for 2012. The Finance Committee will compile all the requests, make projections about expected income for 2012, and then present a budget to the church to be voted on in December.

If I can make an observation after 11 years of walking through this process as a pastor.....in the American church we don't think we can get anything accomplished for God without money. When you go to Argentina you see that they get so much done with so little. In the American church we seem to think that expensive gimmicks are necessary to build the church. Some times I think we are in the "Six Flags Over Jesus" mentality in the church in America. (Six Flags over Georgia is an amusement park just in case you don't get the reference). It seems that we think that you have to entertain people and spend lots of money amusing folks before you can get them to Christ in America. There it seems that they just rely on the gospel to build the church. It seems like a purer form of Christianity to me.

I believe we are deceived in the American church. We don't need gimmicks to get people to Jesus. The gospel still works. It is still the power of God unto salvation. When the bible says it is "the power of God" it literally means that there is supernatural power associated with the simple gospel.

Every time I have been to Argentina, we have spent most of our time sharing the gospel. It is the way that they build the church. Every time I go, I see people who were led to Christ on previous trips serving in the churches. They prove that the gospel isn't broken. It still works. We could learn a lot from our brothers and sisters in the churches in Argentina.

From victory to depression

2011-09-26T16:17:00.001-04:00

I preached about Elijah from 1 Kings 18 & 19 last night, so he is still fresh on my mind today. It is hard for me to put so much work in preparing a sermon, and then totally let it go once it is finished. They tend to linger with me a few days until I get really heavily involved in preparing the next one. So I have an Elijah hangover today in that regard.

In 1 Kings 18 & 19 Elijah takes on the 450 prophets of Baal. He throws down a challenge to them.

1 Kings 18:23-24 "Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox, and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. "Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people answered and said, "That is a good idea."

As the story goes, the prophets of Baal call on the name of their god. They get no answer. Then Elijah calls on the name of the Lord.

1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

Elijah is used by the Lord to show forth HIS great power. Elijah calls down fire from heaven and has the prophets of Baal put to death. What a great spiritual victory! You would expect that Elijah might be really super encouraged by the fact that the Lord used him in such a great way and that he might be able to live off the spiritual momentum of that event for a long time. Yet just as soon as Jezebel finds out what has happened she threatens Elijah. Elijah, the brave man of God, runs and hides. He becomes so depressed that he asks the Lord to kill him.

What does this little story teach us? Well lots of things. Among them that if a guy like Elijah who was used so powerfully by God can get depressed to the point that he no longer wants to live, then it can happen to any of us. Notice what Elijah does in 1 Kings 19:5. He goes to sleep. Then an angel of the Lord was sent to minister to Elijah. How does the angel minister to him? The angel gives Elijah something to eat and drink then lets Elijah sleep some more.

Not always, but sometimes depression is brought about by too much activity. That could possibly be what is going on with Elijah in this story. I suggest this as a possibility because the treatment for the depression as administered by the angel does not involve counseling or any type of pep talk....the remedy is food and sleep.

I do not mean to over simplify a debilitating condition like depression. For a man in my position to do so would be irresponsible and reckless. So please do not think I am suggesting in all cases that the only thing depressed people need to do is eat a meal and take a nap and all will be better. I am not suggesting that at all, but sometimes when we get temporarily depressed it is because of over activity.

Are you getting enough rest or are you burning the candle at both ends? It will catch up with you eventually.

Jesus needed down time....so do you.

Watching closely

2011-09-23T19:16:00.000-04:00

Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

I support Israel. The verses above govern the way I think about foreign policy as it pertains to Israel. I take the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 12 to still be in effect today. Israel makes up the descendants of Abraham. I believe that those who bless Israel will be blessed by God and that those who curse Israel will be cursed by God. So when I say I support Israel please understand my position is not as motivated by my political views as it is my understanding and interpretation of scripture. Over the years the United States has been a strong supporter of Israel. I believe that is one of the reasons the United States has been so materially blessed in recent decades.

With the Palestinians requesting statehood before the United Nations the Israeli / Palestinian conflict has been moved to the forefront of international debate. I am watching carefully and praying intently that our government will be a friend to Israel during these days. I am praying for the Lord to turn President Obama's heart toward Israel. I am persuaded that if we are not a friend to Israel, the United States could be placed under a Genesis 12 curse. Watch with me and pray intently that the United States will bless Israel, and in turn receive a Genesis 12 blessing.

Signs of the times

2011-09-22T07:31:00.000-04:00

Matthew 24:12 "And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.

Last night in bible study we were discussing the end times. The bible gives a description of what things will look like right before the return of Christ in Matthew 24. There are several "signs of the times" that are listed in that chapter, but one just jumped out at me in light of recent events.

The "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was just officially repealed with the United States armed forces. So now it is no longer necessary for gays and lesbians to conceal their identity. It is now totally acceptable thing for them to be gay and serve in the military. One of the local news channels sought out a lesbian sailor for an interview who was glad that she could openly declare her homosexuality and remain in the navy. This sailor made a telling comment: "Hopefully this will open the door to being able to get more benefits for gay and lesbian couples." Obviously they view the propagation of their lifestyle and philosophies as an agenda to be promoted, and this is just one building block along the way to their ultimate goal. Their ultimate goal is that the homosexual lifestyle would be viewed with total equality to traditional marriage. They will not stop until they get that.

Proponents of the homosexual lifestyle think they are on the side of what is morally right. They believe they are on a campaign to right a wrong in our society. We live in an age in which people call right wrong, and wrong right. It is a sign of the apostate age in which we live. It is one of the signs of the times that Jesus will return soon.

My 10 year old son asked me an odd question yesterday, "Dad, is cussing a sin?" I was rather shocked. I said, "Yes it is son, the bible says let no unwholesome talk proceed from your mouth." He said, "I knew I was right about that." I replied back, "Why do you ask?" He said, "Because one of my friends at school said he did not think it was a sin. I told him that the bible says it was wrong. He said it wasn't wrong in his opinion. But he doesn't get to decide what's right and what's wrong, God does. Right dad?" I told him, "Right son."

We don't get to make the rules. God does. And He has said homosexuality is wrong (see Romans 1:27). When we see that people in large numbers are ignoring what God has said about right and wrong, do you know what that means? I think Luke said it well:

Luke 21:28 "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

Look up! Jesus is coming soon!

A common theme

2011-09-20T17:12:00.001-04:00

I am preaching messages Sunday mornings and Sunday nights that are a little different from anything I have done so far in my 11 years in the pulpit. I am preaching a series called "Life Lessons from Characters of the Bible". It is a departure from my normal approach to pulpit ministry. My favorite way to study scripture and to preach scripture is to go verse by verse through books of the bible. But I will say that it has been a blessing to do these character studies and I do see the value in other approaches to studying the bible other than strictly verse by verse.

So far I have preached about Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David, and Jonah. There is one common theme that seems to keep emerging.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,that no man should boast before God.

God often chooses people to work through that are unlikely candidates. God is in the business of bringing glory to Himself, not humans. God gets the glory when something great is accomplished through someone that is not great himself, because everyone recognizes that it was not the man that accomplished it, it was the Lord working through the man. As we study characters of the bible, this idea keeps coming up over and over again. I have never done a study of any kind that has highlighted this concept in my thinking quite the way these character studies have.

It is more apparent to me now than ever that the normal course of things for the Lord is to use people who are very ordinary and very flawed when He wants to accomplish something. The characters that I have taught on so far: an arrogant man, a murderer, an adulterer, a wimp, and a disobedient man. So if you are ordinary and flawed, then you are just the type of person that God would choose to accomplish His will!!

Ministry multiplier

2011-09-16T09:06:00.001-04:00

I have always known that ministry multiplies. What do I mean by that? When one person does ministry for another person, it encourages them in some way to minister to someone else. So in that sense ministry seems at times to multiply itself. Said another way, one random act of kindness breeds other random acts of kindness. There is a residual effect at work.

A series of events occurred yesterday afternoon that illustrate the point. If you are reading this blog I am going to assume you know my wife had shoulder surgery three weeks ago yesterday. But I understand I have some readers from outside our church, so I guess I should not assume that. She is getting better gradually, but it has been a slow process for her. Dave Barrett (a member at Bethel for readers who don't attend our church) had almost the exact same surgery done. Dave said he did not get a good nights sleep until four weeks after the surgery. He said the pain meds didn't touch the pain. So he just suffered through. I tried to tell my wife going in that it was going to be a tough recovery. Let me state plainly before God, the holy angels, and the readers of this blog that I tried to tell her. But she thought she was going to have surgery and be ready for push ups and chin ups within 48 hours, and be back to work within three or four days. So far, to her surprise, her recovery experience has mirrored that of Dave Barrett.

With Kay slowly recovering, I have taken primary responsibility for making sure there are meals for our family to eat each night. This is challenging because my repertoire is somewhat limited when it comes to cooking. Fortunate for me, my kids think McDonalds' is a five star restaurant. But last night we had a very special treat. Two precious ladies from the church made dinner and brought it by! Honey ham, macaroni and cheese, green beans, dinner rolls, and brownies for desert. Can I get a witness, a hallelujah, and an amen please?

This is how that ministry was multiplied. Yesterday I had a couple of hospital visits to make and several other "loose ends" that had to be tied down before I could call it a day. I also needed to get home, pick up my son Ross and get back to the church in time for 5:00pm Upward football practice. (I am head coach of the Ravens!!). I thought to myself, "I need to get home in time to try to get something going for dinner." Then the thought occurred to me, "Wait, two of our friends from the church are bringing dinner tonight!! I do not have to worry about that. That gives me more time this afternoon." Right about that time the Holy Spirit brought to my mind one of our members who is going through a really tough time right now. She has been teaching Sunday School at Bethel longer than I have been alive. (I probably just gave it away for some of you right there). The Lord just spoke softly into my spirit and told me to go see her and encourage her....after all, you have some extra time now.

Those two ladies that brought the meal to our home last night had no idea, that in an indirect way they were helping minister to a faithful member of our congregation by their act of kindness to our family.

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Do something randomly kind for someone else, and sit back and watch God multiply it.

Legacy

2011-09-14T20:18:00.000-04:00

Young people do not typically think about legacy. Since turning 45 in August for some odd reason I seem to be giving the concept a little more thought than I ever have. If the Lord Jesus tarries and there is a generation that comes after I am gone to be with the Lord, what will my legacy to that generation be? I am seeing more and more it is about the impact that I can make on the lives of younger people who will be here bearing fruit for Jesus after I am in glory with God.

Sign ups for new teachers in the childrens department at Bethel have been rather slow over the summer months this year. Entering into the fall we still have less than an adequate number of adult volunteers to staff childrens ministry. In an effort to get some more workers for the harvest, Debi Tharrington who serves as Childrens Director, and I thought it might be a good idea if we have one of our faithful teachers share a word about what it has meant to teach children over the years. So Max Chappel, one of our childrens department teachers, shared a word of testimony during the morning services about what it has meant to him to teach 5th grade boys.

Something about Max's testimony really stood out to me. He shared about the impact that Mr. King (his Sunday School teacher when he was about 10 or 11 years old) had on his life. Max admitted that he was rambunctious and he knew that Mr. King wondered if any of the boys learned anything. Mr. King had no idea what he was doing when he invested in the life of Max Chappel. Little did he know that he was investing in the life of a boy, who would grow to be a man, who would then invest his life in 5th grade boys.

I wonder if one day one of the boys who have come through the 5th grade department at Bethel will be telling of the impact that Max had on his life when he was a wild 5th grader?

Matthew 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

By investing in the lives of 10 and 11 year old boys, Mr King was laying up treasure in heaven. By investing in the lives of 5th grade boys, Max is laying up treasure in heaven. But anybody that Max is able to invest in.....Mr King had a hand in it....One day these boys Max is teaching are going to grow up, and some of them will invest their lives in others......Max will have a hand in it. This is the investment plan that keeps on giving.

Lord help me not to waste my life. Help me to be like Mr. King. Help me to leave a legacy of lives forever changed for Your glory.

Some final thoughts on humility

2011-09-13T20:24:00.000-04:00

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

I am meditating on what humility looks like during my quiet times. I am asking the Lord to help me see where pride is at work in me. Let me tell you, it is a prayer God will answer. The last phrase of Romans 12:16 says, "do not be wise in your own estimation." Rare is the person who truly thinks that way. Most people are very opinionated. I have often said that if you get five baptists in the same room discussing anything you will have at least six opinions, because at least one will have two opinions on the same subject. It is true though, that most people think a whole lot of their opinions. I have found that a lot of people think that they are pretty wise. Why would they be so opinionated if they did not think themselves to be wise?

Now think about it. What is a person that is wise in his own estimation going to do? They are going to be pretty proud of their opinion. What is the next logical step? They will devalue the opinions and perspectives of other people whose opinions differ from theirs. The bible teaches us not to do that.

Now let me restate something that I have previously stated on this blog that I think needs to be restated at this point. We are NOT talking about doctrinal truth here. When it comes to doctrinal truth, it is not a matter of opinion. God has spoken and none of our opinons matter. The man or woman of God stands firm and unwavering on matters of doctrinal truth as put forth in scripture. What we are talking about here are things that are not black and white in the word of God, and are therefore open to opinion. Let me say that even on items that are not black and white in the word of God, there are principles in the scriptures that can be applied that help guide us as believers. The believer who desires to honor Christ will apply biblical principles in situations that the bible does not address directly.

Now with that aside, the bible teaches us that the humble man or woman does not think so highly of his own opinion. What naturally follows is an attitude of the heart that genuinley listens to others, and values their point of view, even if it differs from your own. This kind of mutual respect leads to healthy God honoring relationships. When relationships are like this in the church, it leads to a harmonious, unified body. But let a know it all enter the picture, and he can tear the church to shreds, causing division, general disharmony and leaving a wake of destruction in his path.

God, teach us to be humble so that we will have healthy Christ honoring relationships with others. May you be glorified in it.

We must never forget

2011-09-12T06:44:00.000-04:00

There are events that shape every generation. What took place in our country ten years ago today has done more to shape life for us in our generation more than anything that I can think of. It was the date that the "war on terror" really went into full gear. I mean, we had experienced a couple of episodes here and there with terrorism up to September 11, 2001, but certainly nothing of this magnitude.

I remember where I was and what I was doing. I was in a philosophy class in at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr Bruce Little was in the middle of his lecture when someone slipped into the class and whispered something in the professor's ear. Dr Little stopped lecturing and turned on the television in the front of the classroom. We saw smoke ascending from one of the twin towers. As the reporters tried to make sense out of what was happening, we watched in shocking disbelief as the second airplane slammed into the other tower. When the dust cleared around 3000 lost their lives that day as we entered into a new era in our history, the war on terror.

Ten years later a lot of American blood has been spilled to see to it that the war on terror is fought on foreign soil. We must never forget the people that died that day, and the people who have died in the last ten years to keep us safe and free. In spite of our problems, and they are many, I still believe that America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth. The nation founded as "one nation under God" has sent more missionaries than any other nation in history to share the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. So to protect America is to protect our ability to continue to carry a huge gospel witness on this planet.

Thanks to all of you who risk your lives to see that America is a safe and free. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

More on humility

2011-09-09T21:24:00.000-04:00

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

I am meditating on the character trait of humility from Romans 12:16 during my quiet times these last few days. The text says "Do not be haughty in mind." In other words, do not think yourself to be better than other people. The bible says that God is no respecter of persons (see Acts 10:34). That means he does not esteem one over another. A person's income, race, nationality, occupation, education, does not matter to Him. You have a PHD? God is not more impressed with you than someone who is a high school drop out. You have climbed the corporate ladder and have a lot of people that report to you? God is not more impressed with you than he is the lowest level employee in your company. You have a pretty heavy bank account and can afford most anything you want? God is not any more impressed with you than he is the people who will pay for their food today with food stamps.

In the eyes of God we are all equal. Righteousness, love, faith...these are the things that get God's attention.....not the other things that are such a source of pride among people.

I have often said you can tell a lot about people by how they treat folks in low places. Watch how someone treats a server at a restaurant, or how they treat a clerk in a store. A Christian should not get nasty and treat the server or the clerk like dirt under their feet. Christians ought not to act like politicians in a social setting, only associating with those that are able to improve their social standing through the association. A Christian should not "work the room" only speaking to the most popular people in the room and ignoring the less influential ones. Humble people don't associate only with people that can benefit them in some way. The humble treat everyone equally.

Lord help us not to be "high minded" associating only with people can benefit us in some way through the association. Help us to treat people equally like you do.

Humility, the rarest of traits

2011-09-07T11:33:00.000-04:00

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

This passage of scripture is a call to humility. May I make an observation? It seems to be in short supply. How many people do you know that you would consider humble? Romans 12:16 shows us some ways to identify humble people. It is not an exhaustive treatment. By that I mean the verse does not tell us every way to identify humble folks. But it does give some pretty significant ones.

We are told to be "of the same mind" with others in the church. The Greek word translated "same mind" is the word "pronoontes". It literally means to "think alike". In this context it means to live peaceably or in harmony with others in the church. In order to do that, it will necessitate at times adjusting our thinking so that we can live in harmony with others in the church. Our church is filled with different people from different backgrounds. We have young, old, northerners, southerners, PHD's, those with little education, those with money, those who are poor, military, ex-military, civilians, people raised in baptist churches, people raised in other church backgrounds, people who just started going to church last month.....and I could go on and on. We are diverse. Everyone will see things differently based on their background. Background provides a lens through which we see everything and process everything. So if we are going to "be of the same mind" it will mean in the church that we may have to yield our opinions to the opinions of others at times. There are times when we do not need to budge.....but those times should only be when doctrine or truth is going to be compromised.

But most problems at churches do not involve doctrine. They involve people's opinions. We need to give ground on these items and we will if we are humble. Hard headed and opinionated people cause more strife in local churches than anything else I have seen. Don't be one of those people. Be someone who is quick to yield to the opinions of others as long as doctrinal truth is not involved.

Ask yourself, "What kind of church member am I? Am I one of the opinionated ones that thinks he/she is always right or am I pretty easy to get along with?"

Chew on these thoughts....more to follow on the subject of humility.

Moses avoided worldliness

2011-09-03T08:40:00.000-04:00

I am meditating this morning on tomorrow's sermon. We are studying the life of Moses tomorrow and next week before moving on to study David.

Moses starts out living in the lap of luxury in Pharaoh's house hold. He gives all that up to be with his people the Hebrews. The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt and were considered by the Egyptians to be a lower class of people. They cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard their cry. He set Moses apart to lead the liberation effort. But Moses had a list of excuses as to why he could not fulfill the roll. Moses wrestled through all those insecurities and eventually went on to fulfill his divine destiny.

Moses fulfilling his divine destiny started with a choice.....it was a choice to forsake the world.

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

The world has such a strong pull. It is alluring. Most are not able to overcome the tug of the world on their heart strings. As a result they end up missing most of what God has for them. Worldliness prevents people from walking in the plan that God has for their lives.

No one achieves their divine destiny until they settle this issue in their hearts: Am I going to pursue God or the things of the world? You will waste your life if you choose to pursue the world.

By the way...you can not do both. We desperately need to have a Joshua moment who said in Joshua 24:15 when he was speaking to the people "choose this day whom you shall serve......but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord."

Joshua was determined to not fall into the world but to follow God. We need more of that kind of gritty resolve to follow Jesus in the church today.

Put on love

2011-09-01T16:16:00.000-04:00

I am using a devotional this year that I received as a Christmas present. It has been such a blessing. I would like to share today's devotional thought with you.

Colossians 3:14-15 Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

We are told to put on love, as if it were a garment. How do you put on a garment? It starts with a decision. Before I put on a shirt in the morning I walk over to the closet, choose one, and make a conscious decision as an act of my will to put it on. Paul is telling us that love is the same way.

Yet our culture does not teach us that love is something you put on or take off. Our culture teaches us that love is something you "fall into" or "fall out of". Our culture emphasizes the emotional aspect. Elvis had a popular song (some of you are old enough to remember him) called "I can't help falling in love with you". The title of that song grasps the essence of the prevailing cultural ideas about love. It is something that either happens or it doesn't. If it doesn't you can't help it, if it does you can't help it either.

Totally different idea of love is presented in scripture. Scripture teaches us that when it comes to love, you can help it! Furthermore, we are commanded to help it! Love according to scripture is a choice!

The awesome thing is that when we choose love, we are able to let the peace of God rule in our hearts too! That's the icing on the cake.

Now let's face it, it is easier to love some people than it is others. When it comes to loving the unlovable, that is where God really gets involved. Is there anybody in your world you are struggling to love? Ask the Lord to help you. He will. He never commands you to do anything that He does not help you do!

Hard to watch

2011-08-31T16:19:00.000-04:00

Today my 14 year old son Davis who will start the 9th grade at Kempsville High School on Tuesday of next week had surgery to remove a growth from his right middle finger. A couple of months ago he mentioned that he felt a knot on the side of his finger. It kept getting larger so we made an appointment to have his primary care physician take a look at it. The primary care physician referred him to a hand specialist. We went to see the hand specialist who examined him and said, "I need to take some fluid from this thing." He exited the room and re-entered with a needle. He inserted the needle and said, "It is rock hard. Can't get any fluid out of it. I don't know what it is. It needs to come out." So he set the date for surgery.

This morning as they prepped Davis for surgery and took him back, I thought to myself, "I sure wish that was me on that stretcher getting ready to have surgery and not my son." Watching my children suffer is harder than suffering myself.

Then the thought occurred to me, I wonder what God the Father must have gone through as He watched His only begotten Son suffer on the cross. I am sure that the Father suffered tremendous heart ache as He watched His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased (Mark 1:1) endure the cross. For me it added a new level of appreciation for my Heavenly Father today.

Thank you Father God for loving us enough to watch your Son suffer. Because you were willing to endure that heart ache, we have a living hope.

More about Face Book

2011-08-30T20:45:00.000-04:00

I am not done with my Face Book soap box. I want to get back on it for a bit.

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
An ambassador is someone who represents someone else. We most often think of people who represent nations to other nations. The bible teaches us that we are representatives of Jesus to those that do not know Him. God pleads through us to bring others to Christ.

Some Christians seem to forget that they are representatives of Christ when they get on Face Book. Remember for those of you who Face Book that the content of your Face Book page makes a statement to everyone who can see it about who you are. The content of your page either confirms that you are a godly person who walks with Christ, or it exposes your carnality and worldliness. Can people who see the content of your Face Book page tell that you are different because Jesus is in your life? Or would the content of your Face Book page have little difference from that of any pagan?

Remember Children of God that you are representatives of Christ, even on Face Book.

I don't like Face Book drama

2011-08-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

I know that many think that I am antiquated and out of touch for what I am about to say. I don't do Face Book. Don't hear what I am not saying. I am not condemning those who do Face Book. In fact every one in my family does Face Book except me and Ross (he's 10 and too young to do it). My wife and my two teenagers think I am a weird kook who needs to get with the times. They are continually extolling the virtues of the Face Book lifestyle. I know that Face Book is a very popular way for people to keep up with each other these days, and can serve to help people stay connected in a fast paced society. That is a good thing. My perception of Face Book from the outside looking in is that it can be really time consuming, and quite frankly I have been reticent to involve myself in anything that will take up more time in my life that is already overflowing with things to do. That fear is my primary reason for avoiding it.

I know that Face Book has many healthy, and positive uses, but I am watching a growing, disturbing trend even among Christians and the use of Face Book. I am watching a proliferation of what I have come to refer to as "Face Book drama". People go after each other on Face Book. In Christian circles they don't often name each other. They post general comments about things that they don't like, or types of people that they don't like. They speak in veiled language so that only their closest friends can "read between the lines" to understand to whom they are really making reference. Often there is a specific set of circumstances they are addressing that those closest to the poster of the material are familiar with. The face book posts become a way for angry people to blow off steam, and take cheap shots in front of their friends when they don't have the back bone or the spiritual maturity to actually go to the person they have the issue with and have a discussion one on one.

How do I know that all this goes on when I do not do Face Book? I hear other people talking about it. I could pay off the note on the Roberson Center if I had a dollar for every time I have heard people in the last year say something like, "Did you see what so and so put on Face Book yesterday?" What usually follows is some cheap shot that one person took at someone else. I know I have heard at least 20 times in the last month about Face Book drama in different forms.

The bible gives a command in Matthew 18. "If your brother sins against you, go to him." Some Christians are living out a revised version of that verse, "If your brother sins, Face Book about him."

Come on folks, grow up. Enough with the Face Book drama please.

You got to be kidding me

2011-08-27T17:16:00.000-04:00

I have been tuning in from time to time today getting updates on the hurricane. The television stations were all reporting about a couple that refused to evacuate their sail boat in the Ocean View area near 9th View. One reporter said that people pleaded with them, warning them to evacuate, but they would not heed the warnings.

The outcome was predictable. The sail boat broke from anchor and washed up on the shore. The boat flipped on its side (probably totaled) and the inhabitants had to be rescued to save their lives. They put their own lives in jeopardy, as well as the lives of those that had to come to their rescue. I found myself angry with them because of their foolishness.

Acts 20:25 "Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

The Apostle Paul spent three years in Ephesus warning people to repent and follow Jesus. He knew full well the consequences of rejecting the gospel message. He was heart broken to the point of tears that many would not heed the warning, repent and be saved.

Sad but true, many that we try to share the glorious gospel of Jesus with will not receive the good news. When someone rejects the gospel, we ought not get angry with them. If we are thinking about this with the right attitude, we will be heart broken for them and we will continue to pray earnestly that they would open their eyes to the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have we warned someone to receive Christ that has rejected Him? Have we shed a tear for them? Does it break our heart? It ought to.

A hard call

2011-08-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

I watched the news off and on for the last several days and struggled to determine if we should cancel church services Sunday. The property Bethel is located on is prone to flooding. We have several inches of rain standing in the parking lot typically after a hard down pour. They are calling for 10 inches of rain...I shudder to think what that may have the potential to do to the church. Also there is the high probability that we will be without power at the church and in the surrounding communities after the storm.

Yet I remember a storm about fourteen or fifteen years ago that was hyped every bit as much as Irene, and we braced for the impact. At the last minute the storm took a sharp right hand turn and missed us for the most part. We hardly got any rain at all. The greatest winds we saw were only 20 mph. So with that memory running in the back of my mind I thought, "I would hate for us to cancel services and have nothing happen."

Then I remembered Isabel. She packed a serious punch. Crippled this area for several days. I thought, "If this is like Isabel, I don't want people out in this stuff trying to get to church. It will be dangerous." After hours of praying, thinking, and wrestling before the Lord with this decision, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "It is time to get some counsel from the members of the Church Board." So I did. When I spoke to the members of the Board, Bill Kidd, Tim Bean, Frank Elkins, Lee Simmons, and Darryl Orell something funny happened. God was speaking to their hearts the same way he was speaking to mine. They too had all been prayerfully wrestling with the issue, and God knit our hearts together with the decision. Now I have peace about it no matter how it turns out.

Decisions, decisions, life is full of decisions. It dawned on me that this situation provided a pretty good pattern to follow for difficult decisions. Some good things to do when you need to make a decision: 1) Prayerfully reason it out. Pray and ask God to guide your thoughts. Ask for wisdom. It is not a sin to use the noodle God put up between your ears. Some times it becomes abundantly clear to you in your spirit what the Lord wants you to do just as you think it through prayerfully. 2) Seek Godly wisdom from people you know love Jesus and have your best interest at heart.

Proverbs 16:16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

Pray through your decisions, seek advice from mature Christians and the Lord will reveal His wisdom to you. When you have the wisdom of the Lord, you have something money can't buy!

Kay is doing well

2011-08-25T20:56:00.000-04:00

Today my wife had shoulder surgery at Leigh hospital. Going in we were a little nervous. We knew that she had bone spurs. We also knew she had some scar tissue from an injury she sustained several years ago. Recently the pain had reached unmanageable levels, thus the decision to have surgery. She has been living in chronic pain for the last two years that has become progressively worse.

We were told there was a possibility that she had an issue with the tendon that attaches the bicep, and that it may actually have to be reattached. Recovery from that would be rather extensive. I waited with nervous anticipation to talk to the surgeon after the surgery to find out how extensive her damage was, and to see if the Doctor was pleased with the way the surgery turned out.

Eventually the surgeon did come out and gave an excellent report. The bicep tendon was fine. There were bone spurs removed and scar tissue removed. The surgeon told me he expected her to make a full recovery and regain total use of her shoulder.

That's the way life is....sometimes it is good news.....sometimes it is bad news. Today is good news. Thank you Lord, we'll take it. Help us to rejoice and praise You even in times when the news is not so good.

The news isn't looking good at this hour with the approach of Hurricane Irene. Most all news outlets are reporting that we could be dealing with a category 2 storm here in our area by late Saturday, early Sunday. Makes me think of an old song that I love called, "Til the Storm Passes By". Here's the first verse and chorus:

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face,
While the storm howls above me,
and there's no hiding place.
Mid the crash of the thunder,
Precious Lord, hear my cry,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

Watch over us precious Lord. Keep us safe until Hurricane Irene passes by.

Did you feel that?

2011-08-23T15:06:00.000-04:00

Did you feel that? That's the question everyone was asking. I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant having lunch when it hit. Apparently a 5.9 earthquake hit out in in north central Virginia about an hour ago. People felt it as far away as Canada I am reading on the internet. For a few minutes I thought someone had slipped some Sake into my hot and sour soup. By the time I figured out what was going on, it was over.

Most Tuesday mornings we get together as a church staff to discuss issues that need to be discussed, to pray for each other, and to pray for those in the church that we are aware of that are dealing with difficulty. We also have some time in the scriptures together. This morning our devotion was from James 1 where the bible says to "count it all joy when you encounter trials."

After the earth quake was over, it occurred to me just how fast these trials can occur. Some trials you can see coming. We know Hurricane Irene is on the way and we are praying that we are able to stay out of her path. If she hits us, at least we can say we had advance warning. But some trials hit you so fast you do not see them coming.....just like the earthquake......I heard no warnings....everything just suddenly felt unstable beneath me. When the ground beneath me gets unstable, I am so glad my life is built on the Solid Rock, The Lord Jesus Christ. With Him in your life, the trials are still scary, they are still painful, and they can rock your world.....but you know that eventually no matter how bad it gets, He is still in control and in the end things are going to work out.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking (or today shaking) sand. Build your life on the Solid Rock. He will be there for you, even when the world is shaking beneath your feet.

Finishing Well

2011-08-21T21:39:00.002-04:00

I enjoy watching golf on TV. Last Sunday afternoon I witnessed the most painful thing I have ever witnessed in 30 years of watching golf on TV. I tuned in for the final round of the PGA Championship which was played at The Atlanta Athletic Club, John's Creek, GA. For those of you unfamiliar with professional golf, most golf tournaments are four days. Each day the players play 18 holes. They add the scores each day. The player with the lowest score after four rounds wins. Typically the tournaments start on Thursday and end on Sunday. There are four tournaments a year that are called "Majors" (the PGA Championship is one of them). They are the most prestigious tournaments and therefore the hardest to win.

Thirty four old Jason Dufner played great the first three days, and he was having a great round Sunday. He carried a four stroke lead to the tee of the fifteenth hole. He had a four stroke lead with four holes to play in the tournament. He had this one in the bag. Here is a guy who had never won on the PGA tour at all, and he is leading one of the most prestigious tournaments by four strokes with only four holes to play. That is when it all started to fall apart. Dufner bogeyed three of the last four holes and ended up losing the tournament. For the first 68 holes of the tournament, he dazzled the field. But in the end he fell apart. He did not finish well.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Notice that the bible says we are to run with endurance. Golf tournaments are long in comparison to other sporting events. A football game is over in about three hours and a baseball game is about the same. Most basketball games are done in about two hours, but a golf tournament lasts four days. Golf tournaments are analogous to the Christian life. The Christian life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. And it matters how we finish. More and more my prayer is these days, "Lord help me to finish the Christian life well." As I get older (just turned 45 August 10th) I find myself thinking about that more and more. What a tragedy it would be to run most of the race well, only to blow it at the end.

Lord help us all to run with endurance, Lord help us to finish well.

Being Like Jesus

2011-08-12T11:52:00.000-04:00

Our last night of VBS was last night. VBS at Bethel is unlike anything I have ever seen. At the risk of sounding totally biased, let me say Bethel does the best VBS I have ever seen. It starts with the decorations. they are incredible. The church is transformed for the theme. Hours and hours of preparation go into decorating. We have some of the most talented, creative people on the planet that start decorating a couple of weeks in advance and they go all out. The first time I saw our church do VBS when I arrived as pastor, I saw them in the decorating phase and simply could not believe the number of hours they spent and the extent to which they went. To be honest at first I thought it was a little over the top. I have a different opinion now. I see how valuable creating the right environment is. When the kids and the adult leaders show up for VBS and see the whole church transformed with all the decorations, there is an excitement in the air that is hard to explain. They feed on that excitement and the energy it creates all week long.

The other piece to the whole Bethel VBS phenomenon has to do with our adult leaders. They really get into it. They don't complain about being tired, they don't belly ache about how hard their day was, or talk about how much they don't want to be there.....for them it is all about the kids. They love the kids and it is so apparent. That is the intangible piece that makes it so incredible.

Apparently Jesus loved children too.

Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:13-14

The disciples thought the kids were an interruption to the work of God. Jesus made it clear that they are the work of God.

When you love children, you are being like Jesus. Thanks Bethel for being like Jesus, and loving the children.

Bearing Fruit

2011-08-10T23:21:00.000-04:00

I heard that our South Africa Mission Team missed their connector flight in DC because they were late getting out of Norfolk. That means they will be one day late getting to their destination in South Africa. I am expecting to hear great testimony about what God does on this mission trip through our people. Why are my expectations so high? Because of the difficulty they have faced.

I have noticed over time that some of the most fruitful ministry efforts I have seen or been apart of, have come in the face of great difficulty and many obstacles. It seems like all h - e - double hockey sticks is breaking loose, and in the midst of it all God shows Himself mighty and you see tremendous fruit.

The enemy is not going to let you bear fruit for God unopposed. The enemy will throw everything at you to try to throw you off mission.

We are headed into the last night of VBS tomorrow. God is moving. This is my sixth VBS since becoming Pastor of Bethel. I believe all things considered, this is probably one of the best (if not the best) VBS I have seen at Bethel. I have seen the enemy attack. Some of our VBS workers have experienced great difficulty this week. I was talking with one of our workers who was unexpectedly called into work at 2:30am and still made it to VBS. I know of a couple of workers who are dealing with personal health issues. Several are dealing with health issues in their families and extended families. But they were still there serving God!!! They have legitimate excuses to bow out, but they are still there!!! It blesses my heart to see it. The commitment is an amazing testimony and God has honored the sacrifice. I have not heard the number, but I know that our people presented the gospel clearly and a number of children trusted Christ as savior tonight. HALLELUJAH!! That's what it is all about. That's why we do VBS. Names were added to the Lambs Book of Life tonight!

It is a predictable pattern....push through the difficulty, serve God faithfully, God honors your sacrifice, multiplies your efforts and you see the fruit.

"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." John 15:8

It is an awesome thing to see that as we have a team traveling half way around the world to reach people for Christ in a foreign land, at the same time we are reaching children right here in our own mission field. Thanks Bethelites for bearing fruit, and glorifying the Father.

By the way, thanks for all the cards, notes, emails and well wishes. You folks sure know how to make a guy feel loved and appreciated. Kay made my favorite. Chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I enjoyed a slice tonight when I got home from VBS. It goes down pretty well with a glass of chocolate milk, by the way. I needed it about like I need a hole drilled in my head. But I didn't let that stop me. It's been a good birthday.

Not sure I like it

2011-08-09T23:00:00.000-04:00

45 years ago tomorrow at 11:55pm I came into this world. That means that I was one contraction away from being born on the 11th but I digress.

Honestly when it comes to birthdays anymore I can't decide whether or not to feel festive and celebratory, or whether or not to be depressed. In all sincerity I am vacillating about every twenty minutes between giddiness and despair. "OH Boy..tomorrow is my birthday!!!" Twenty minutes later. "Tomorrow is my birthday..again? already? You can't be serious I just had one!"

Getting older in some ways is good. It makes for a great excuse. "I am getting old" gives you a pass at things you could not get away with when you were younger. You can be a little crankier and a little more forgetful without people getting upset with you....They just say, "He's getting older." It's as if the universe understands your plight as you age. I am already getting invitations in the mail to join AARP... that's a plus. I have seriously contemplated retirement. I have enough in my retirement fund to retire.....but I would have to go back to work in two months because I would be flat broke by then. With age you actually do become a little wiser and no longer have to learn everything the hard way. That's a good thing. But on the downside, every year there are things I could do before that I can't do anymore. Every year there are things I continue to do that I shouldn't do anymore (but continue to do anyway, can I get a witness?). Like trying to play my 14 year old son Davis in one on one basketball a week or two ago....I walked like the missing link for the next two days.

All in all I have to say, that if I die tonight in my sleep I have lived a charmed life. I had the most awesome parents growing up, the best brother a guy could want. He has awesome taste and married an incredible lady. They have two daughters (my nieces) that are simply two of the most precious little girls I have ever laid eyes on. I have a wonderful wife, three awesome kids, and a church family that is filled with some of the best people I know. I have the wonderful privilege of preaching the bible week in and week out to people who love God's Word and live it. (and they even pay me to do it.....isn't that awesome??) I serve with a cracker jack staff at that church along side men and women who love Jesus and are gifted to do what they do.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8

Depressed or celebratory? Guess it really just boils down to how you choose to think about things. At any given point in life I have things to celebrate and things to be depressed about.

I think I have talked myself into it.......I'm choosing to celebrate.

Another awesome night of VBS tonight by the way! Special shout out tonight to those working in the Preschool Department. Don't mean to slight the rest of you, I am grateful to God for you all. I spent a little time in the two year old room tonight. We had lots of two year old's...it is truly pandamania or pandemonium.... but plenty of dedicated workers. You guys rock! Glory to the Lamb.

The boys are getting thumped in the offering battle. I think I have a sliming coming my way Thursday night.....oh well, small price to pay to motivate the kids to give to a good cause.....the real beneficiaries are the kids in Colombia who are living in poverty.

Wonder if they know?

2011-08-09T09:30:00.000-04:00

We are in VBS (Vacation Bible School) this week at Bethel. We are having ours at night from 6pm -9pm. That means that most of our adult workers work all day and then volunteer at VBS each night. As I meandered about the campus last night just watching what was going on, I saw so many adults pouring themselves into the kids. It is exhausting work. These kids are excited. They have been hearing about VBS as the adults talked it up and have been anticipating it for a while, and finally it's here!!! So they are ramped up, full of energy. The adults are tired before they ever get there, and trying to maintain the energy to make it to 9pm. I can see the exhaustion in the faces of many of the adults through their smiles. I just thought to myself, PRAISE GOD! Praise God that there are some people who will do what brings glory to God instead of doing what they feel like doing. Praise God that there are people who will fight through the fatigue, exhaustion that they feel to pour into these precious little lives.

Then this thought occurred to me....I wonder if they know? I wonder if these adult workers know that they are making an investment with their time and energy that will probably outlive them? When you are trying to work with children, and teach them spiritual truth, it is easy to sometimes get the impression that you are wasting your time. It is easy to think, "Why am I wearing myself out doing this? Are these kids getting anything out of this at all?" But I know one thing for sure after a decade of vocational ministry....they are often "getting it" more than you think they are.

Then the verse occurred to me found in Galatians 6:9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

Keep up the good work workers. I know you are tired. Press on. What you are sowing into their lives will produce a harvest. One day you'll stand in front of Jesus face to face, and he will show you things that your labor produced this week that will amaze you.