Why am I in Seattle?

Today is the final day of 2012.  I look forward to 2013!  As I finish this year, I am re-posting what received the greatest number of hits for the year.  It was also the first post for 2012 from January 1.

In this post, I explain why I was moving from Grace in Maine to First in Seattle.  I cannot believe it has been a year since I tendered by resignation effective on June 1!  So much has happened.  So much has changed.  Yet, my love for folks in Maine has not.  I am glad to report that Grace is doing well in my absence.  They have grown in community and by attracting new people to the gospel.  Praise be to God!

I am also glad to report that God is beginning to move and grow First in a variety of ways.  Just this past week we witnessed our first adult profession of faith since I moved.  There has been increasing openness to the gospel and its implications for current attendees.  New people- particularly some 20 and 30 somethings- are coming.  Through it all, God has been faithful and He has achieved His purposes.  I praise Him for a great year of transition.

Well, here is the biggest "hit" of 2012 from www.authenticgraceforlife.com.  It is a picture of how God worked to get me to move from a place of safety and comfort to someplace new.  Happy New Year to all!

This post is an explanation for my current church, Grace Bible Church.  I say current, because today I announced my planned resignation/retirement from Grace in the end of May to become the pastor at First Christian Reformed Church Seattle.  For some this news will be a shock.  To others it will not be a surprise.  For me, it is made with a very real sadness mixed with an intense excitement about the future for both Grace and my family.

The decision to leave Grace has not been made hastily.  In fact, just over a year ago, I began to feel what I would call as "Holy Discontent."  What I mean is that I felt like the Lord was about to do something and was trying to tell me something, but I did not know what it was!  I label Holy Discontent as an anxiousness and gut feeling that something is changing and the Lord is moving.  This change is from the Living God and not just wanderlust or any other human emotion.

I went into listening mode last fall.  I asked about three or four of my close ministry friends to pray for me and with me that I would know the cause of the Holy Discontent.  I talked with M.E. and asked her to pray.  During this time, I spent much time in the Word of God and in prayer seeking the Lord's face and His leading.

Then last winter, I began to get some clarity.  I came to know that the Lord was asking me to expand my influence in building the Kingdom of God.  He placed within me a strong desire to see this expansion of influence!  How?  Why?  Well for starters, the Lord led me through an interesting time of repentance.

When I came out of seminary, I was told by many that I would be and should be the pastor of large churches.  This sure sounded good to my ego!  I was also encouraged to teach since I had obvious academic and teaching skills.  I did not know which direction to turn, but I knew I wanted to do something big!  In the end, my Ph.D. studies allowed me the time to grow academically while putting off my call to the pastorate.

About eight to ten years ago, the Lord led me through a life-transforming encounter with His grace.  For the first time since I was a new believer, I came to see my sinfulness and my need for grace.  As I repented, the Lord showered that grace and mercy upon me!  During this time, He also clarified and propelled me to the pastorate instead of to an academic career.  But where should I go?

At this time, I was offered opportunities to church plant in places where the hope and goal would be to make a large church.  As I prayed about these opportunities, I felt like I did not have the character or experience to do this task.  I turned down the opportunities.  I repented of my fleshly desire to "do something big."

So what happened?  I turned from these opportunities to come to Grace Bible Church, a tucked away and small church in central Maine, with 21 members when I arrived.  We grew 18% the first day I arrived with my wife and then four children!

I loved this church and the people.  I still love them!  I became part of the community, and in the past seven years, we have seen steady growth.  Most of the people new to Grace were not churched folks.  Each year we have seen people profess faith.  I have grown as a person, a pastor, and as a man of God.

So what happened this past winter and spring?  The Lord convicted me of my sin again.  This time was the opposite of eight to ten years ago.  I know my sin tendencies and the inward curve of my flesh.  I have encountered many who are more than happy to celebrate roast pastor and roast man of God with their words and criticism.  I believed their lies.  I had come to think that the Lord could not use someone like me beyond where I was.

Our merciful Lord led me to repent of my lack of faith.  He encouraged me that He uses messed up people just like me!  In fact, He wanted to use me to build His Kingdom in deeper and fuller ways that I was currently engaged in.  He also revealed to me that He wanted me to move.  I could not believe it!  I was happy and content.  He promised to go with me.

At this time, I expanded out my prayer and advice network.  I probably spoke with between 30 and 50 people who knew me, knew the CRC, and understood the possible intersections between the two.  Universally, I was encouraged and prayed for.

At this time, I started the blog.  I started to write.  He opened up speaking engagements and worked mightily through my preaching and teaching.  For the past five years or so, I have had many unsolicited inquiries about my availability as a pastor.  I have respectfully turned them all down.  This summer, I had many inquiries.  The vast majority I turned down. The one I did not was First Church Seattle.

I remember agreeing to talk with them, even though I had no interest in moving across the country to Seattle.  M.E. asked why I agreed.  I can honestly say I had no idea!  I still do not know why I agreed after telling so many places I was not interested.

Our phone interview went well.  Very well, in fact!  They wanted to talk more.  I turned them down.  They called back and said they felt I was a great candidate for their church and its needs.  I confessed I had no feeling of calling to the Pacific Northwest.  I was trying to be gracious.  They responded a week later by saying that they strongly felt led by the Lord that I would be a great fit for their church.  Since I did not categorically say I would not consider it, they were recommending my name to the Council as a possible candidate.

I did not know how to respond.  Then I thought about the many conversations I had with CRC folks.  95% had encouraged me that it was easier to influence the CRC from outside of Michigan than from inside the heart of CRC land.  I spoke with several who knew my situation and the situation at First Church Seattle.  To a person, they encouraged me that this church was a good fit for my gifts and calling.  I agreed to be considered, though I put them off as long as possible.

In November, M.E. and I went to Seattle hoping to go, meet the folks, see the ministry, and then be able to tell them no.  As we were there, the Lord had other ideas.  M.E. loved the church, the Christian school, and the area.  She had a great time with the people.  I enjoyed every part of the experience, but I enjoy most things and most churches!  I was going to reserve judgment for later.  I will say that I had great conversations with people inside and outside the church.  I felt like I fit in.  People responded well to the gospel preached.

When we returned home, my older children both wanted to move to Seattle.  They felt like it would be a good fit for our family.  In the CRC, it is typical to put up two people for consideration.  Before the vote, I wrote in my journal that I would not consider the call unless I had 80-85% of the vote.  Almost the first thing I was told about the vote was that it was amazing that the first ballot went 80-85% to call me as their pastor.

All of this to say, today I announced a very tough decision.  From a purely business standpoint, this decision would be easy.  The problem is that I love and care about my friends and my church!  In the end, we followed where the Lord showed us to go.  I wanted all to have the context of why we made this decision.

We will be in Maine for the next five months helping Grace with the opening round of the transition, selling our many farm assets, and allowing our children to finish the school year.  While the Lord is calling us to serve in a different venue, it does not change our love for each one at Grace nor does it change our appreciation for our time in Maine!

The Diffusion of Innovations within a System

The days continue to march toward the New Year.  In the final quarter of this year, I had many posts that received similar amounts of attention.  I do appreciate your reading!  The post with the most hits concerned the process of organizational change.  It was first posted on November 12.  As we move into a New Year, I think these observations could be helpful for anyone in leadership or those who wish to be good followers of leaders.  (I guess this means if you wish to be a poor leader or a trouble maker who refuses to be led, you don't need the post?)

Yesterday was my final presentation concerning outreach and evangelism in our postmodern world.  In the past ten weeks in eight talks, we have explored the nature of our culture, the nature of church culture, and how to bridge the gap between the two.  If you are interested in downloading this talks, please go to our church website www.seattlecrc.org and look at the evening service sermons.  The sermon part of this site is not the easiest to navigate, but you can find the lectures and my lecture notes under each message title.

Anyway, through the lectures we have seen that the gap between our two sets of cultures is often more of a gulf/canyon/divide than a mere gap.  I believe the divide was clearly illustrated through the very strange and convoluted election results from last week.  We are living in a post-modern culture where one's beliefs (lets say about Obamacare or the economy) did not translate into voting.  As a culture, we feel free to hold a private belief about something and yet vote the opposite because of our desire for "fairness."  In fact, in Washington state, we approved both homosexual marriage and the use of pot for recreational use in the name of tolerance and freedom while overwhelmingly voting for larger and more intrusive government on every level.  Post-modernism does give interesting contradictions!  

So what do we do with this culture?  Is there cause for despair?

No.  No.  No.  Throughout these talks, I declared that effective evangelism is more than possible in our culture because today's western culture closely resembles the thoughts and tensions of the decaying first century Greco/Roman culture in which Paul effectively ministered.  I firmly believe that we are ripe for revival because the cognitive-dissonance between what we know at a heart level and what we do leaves us searching and empty.  Jesus is the only thing that can fill that need.  We merely need to communicate the gospel in a manner that the lost and searching can hear (even if they do not know they are lost and searching!).

Aw.  Here is the rub!  How do we do this?

I have posted many times in the past few months concerning this subject.  I firmly believe the full-orbed understanding of the gospel is needed.  It is the answer to every question.  Unfortunately, it is also not known or believed in and by many professing believers today.  Equally sad is the reality that many of our churches are not marked by gospel- and grace-centered outreach, but by 1950s or 1980s cultural markers that shield the true gospel from view.

How can we change these cultural trappings to allow the gospel to be seen?  It is a process!  Working in an established church is like riding a glacier.  Movement and change is often slow, almost imperceptible, but constant.  The goal is to help get the glacier moving in a certain direction.

Even this task is difficult.  There almost always is resistance to any movement within the church.  Even if we see that we need to change, we resist it.  Why?

The following is a chart concerning organizational change that was first proposed in 1964.  I have found it extremely helpful in diagnosing the difficulties and dealing with the process of change in the church.

Everett Rogers, The Diffusion of Innovations

Rogers argues that in the process of change, people adopt the change at different times and speeds.  The innovators are 2% of the people, but they come up with the ideas.  The early adopters are risk-takers who are often decisive folks who make up 18% of the folks.  When they hear the new ideas, they see the benefits and they jump on-board.  The ideal is to have these people in leadership!  

The early and late majority compose 60% of the people.  Some move quicker than others.  The early majority has ears for the opinions and thoughts of the early adopters.  They will change when given good reasons.  The late majority is marked by a willingness to listen to the complaints and objections of the laggards, who also make up 20% of an organization.  These late majority folks have to have these objections answered, but they are willing to go with the flow if the ideas appear to "work."

Meanwhile, the laggards are not bad or evil folks.  They just do not like change!  They will often have clear and solid questions about innovations.  As the organization moves through the stages of change, these objections must be answered to secure the late majority and hopefully some of the laggards.  It should be obvious, but some laggards will never adopt to innovations. 

What does all this mean?

The key to successful change within a church is getting 80% of the folks on board while praying that some of the laggards come along for the ride!

The reality?  Most churches listen to the laggards instead of the innovators or early adopters.  Desiring "consensus" they never move past the objections of those who are marked by a high propensity to resist change.  

In fact, many churches are lead by boards or councils composed to those who strongly resist change and new ideas on the basis of their protection of "the way things should be" which is code for the way things are.

The world is changing.  Our message is not.  Our means of communicating the counter-cultural message of the gospel is adaptable, though we always must be careful not to change our message of the gospel through our means of communication.

We have an increasingly lost and searching world at our doorstep.  Will we answer their calls for help, meaning, and solid truth?

Why our witness is often ineffective

The New Year is almost upon us!  In the third quarter of the year, I had many posts with a similar amount of hits.  I am picking one of my favorites.  This post from September 5 came at the beginning of my series on Evangelism in a post-modern culture.  I encourage you to listen to these talks found at www.seattlecrc.org.  The sermon page is a bit clunky, but we are working on it!

We want to see people come to know Jesus.  We want to see people in heaven with God forever.  We want to see people become devoted followers of Jesus Christ.  That's what you and I long for.  That's way you're reading this book.  You and I won't be satisfied until God's hand is stretched out and we're seeing more fruitfulness.

This chapter is about identifying and taking down barriers- old ways of viewing and doing evangelism. If we don't first understand what's holding us back, we won't be ready to embrace important new ideas.

Often when we start to make witness a passion and a priority, we run into a major barrier: our "boxes," mental models of ministry and evangelism that keep us from pouring our passion into new ways of witness.  If we are growing in our passion for witness but pouring our efforts and energy into the same structures and strategies we've always had, we will see little increase in fruitfulness.  After a time we will get discouraged and our passion will disappear.

Rick Richardson, Evangelism Outside the Box, 17.

This week at First CRC of Seattle we will begin a series on evangelism in our evening service time.  As with every new series, I wonder how it will go.  There is little that catches my interest and attention more than the topic of personal and corporate evangelism!  I only wish this topic was a passion of more people.

What do I mean?  Are not most biblical Christians interested in evangelism?  Yes, as a concept we are interested.  There are the great commands of scripture (Matt. 28:19-20).  There are the heroes of the faith who began and encouraged movements of grace by the power of the Holy Spirit (I think of Jonathan Edwards or the Wesleys).  Yet, I find most of us are more interested in the concept of outreach than we are in doing anything about it.

Why?

I think many of us are scared to death of witnessing for Jesus.  I think others are so self-consumed that they figure once they get their life in order they will begin witnessing (unfortunately this will never happen).  I also think that many of us have false and misleading views of evangelism and outreach.  We think of a method or a knowledge base that we must know and understand so we can be effective witnesses.  We know what worked (sort of?) in the past, and we hold to this method as the best way to move forward in outreach.  Yet, the conditions never appear to be just right.  In time, we talk about evangelism and outreach, but we do very little to make it happen.

The beginning of Richardson's book helps us identify the "boxes" or categories we have firmly in mind when we think about "proper evangelism."  I say proper, because most of us have some notion of how it should be done.  This is particularly true in churches.  

It is my belief that most churches do not engage in effective evangelism and outreach because we corporately have invented, maintained, and enforced methods of thought and ministry that actually work against effective outreach.  

This is quite a mouthful and it could be taken as quite accusative.  I do not intend it to be!  I work as a church revitalizer.  I love the Church.  I wish to see each local body of Christ moving forward in effective ministry.  I believe following the NT pattern, a healthy church will be constantly growing deeper in the gospel and outward in ministry.  Such a church will be marked by at least 5-10% growth in new converts per year, and it will have many young believers who need to be discipled.

The problem is I work in a denomination where this is seldom the case with our established churches.  I also find that my denomination is not alone in our struggles for healthy growth!

So, what do we do?  We talk about outreach.  We spend money on programs.  We look for and reward those individuals and churches who have effective ministry.  Yet, nothing seems to change.  In fact, our churches grow older, we find less children in the pews, and we can see strange and scary handwriting on the wall that says something has to be done.

So, we talk more about outreach, we get a new leader/pastor, we spend money on programs, and often still nothing changes.

Is it hopeless?  Is growth and outreach into this culture impossible?

Perhaps it is if we expect that God will and must work through the same means as He did generations ago.  Perhaps the problem is not our passion for the lost, but our way of thinking about how to "do church" and "do outreach."  

I honestly do not believe that individual and corporate evangelism is particularly hard in today's world.  I find that people are open to talking and very needy!  The problem is that our methods of operating need to "fit" with the way people dialogue and think.  Notice I did not say our theology should adapt!  Most of the time this is not true.  If we lose the gospel, we have no real purpose and no real message.  

What needs to change is our methods of ministry.

Some individuals and churches will change easily while others just cannot make the transition.  In 20 years, those that change will still be going strong while those that refuse to address their ministry "boxes" will be ineffective and possibly closed.  Thankfully God in His sovereign love will raise up other churches and other denominations to reach this generation!

As I work through this evangelism material for our church, I will continue to share some of my thoughts.  What do you think?

Worldliness, Political Agendas, and Cultural Force

In continuing with the greatest "hits" of 2012, today we will re-post from May 10.  In this post, I was reflecting upon several immediate political stories and their relationship to what the bible calls worldliness.  In the first couple of days after writing this post, I received almost no hits.  It was so popular that google must have sanctioned it!  I also had advertisement on the site in support of gay marriage.  Then, it got picked up by several other blogs and sites and it became my second most viewed post of the year.

Today, we will look at "Worldliness and Homosexual Marriage."

"Worldliness is believing good to be evil and evil to be good."

Yesterday was an historic day for the homosexual lobby.  For thirty five years, this political lobby has forcefully placed itself at the point of the spear in terms of politics and morality in the West.  In a clearly concentrated effort, these folks have labored to change public opinion about homosexuality.  It appears as if they are winning in their struggle!

How did they change public opinion?  The homosexual lobby began their labor in the public school systems.  From the 70s- through the 90s, California was seen as the gold standard for public education.  Their curriculum and educational methods were copied far and wide.  It became a truism that in terms of education, what California did would quickly sweep through the entire nation.

So the homosexual lobby worked diligently to change the educational curriculum in California.  They introduced sex education starting in first grade (you can never start too early!).  They made fourth and fifth graders read and discuss books concerning how little Billy can have two mommies or two daddies.  In a few short years, such nonsense was taught in public schools across the nation.

What happened?  Now 61% of Americans under 40 believe homosexual marriage is more than acceptable.  As one gay leader said while discussing homosexual marriage in Maine, "All we need is a few more of the grandparents to die, and then we will pass the law."  (Ed. note: After many attempts, they finally passed the law in November)  A successful campaign indeed.

Yesterday, our President declared that he was in full support of homosexual marriage.  He raised 1 million dollars for his re-election campaign in 90 minutes.  Even the White House confessed that this was a calculated political move.

Why would Satan have to make himself known in the West when the world system is captured by such worldliness?  Remember, worldliness is believing evil to be good and good to be evil.

There are many great ironies about this declaration and the homosexual lobby's efforts.  First, the homosexual lobby has ruined education in California and throughout America (just today an article was published stating that 78% of California 8th graders failed the national science test).  Our children exit high school and college knowing less and less.  We live in a knowledge based society, and because of our educational decisions, we are graduating students who cannot compete in the world.  Yes, our students know how to put on a condom by the fourth grade and they know how to have sex in multiple ways, but could they not figure this out on their own?  

Furthermore, by any objective standard other that sexual awareness, race awareness, and ecological awareness, California is no longer a pace-setter for education.  Each year it falls closer to the middle of the pack.  Of course they believe it is because they do not have enough tax dollars (they also argued the test did not include the "right" students to get the scores up!).  Why not look at a more obvious source: they no longer do real education!  Their education is now political propaganda masked as education.  (Ed. note: In November, for the sake of "education" they passed a referendum to increase taxes)

How dare I question these educational changes?  If I were working in Higher Education, as my training and skill set say I should, I would not be able to do so without severe repercussions.  To call the political propaganda we call education into question is to cross the line into mental illness.  It is the ultimate evil.  It is declaring war on gays, blacks, and women.  It is hate speech.

Just this week a woman was fired from the Chronicle of Higher Education for even proposing a certain field of study (in this case Black Studies) should be abandoned because it is purely political.  She has been called a racist and evil for her opinion.  The irony, I understand, is that she is married to a black man.  What a racist!  Never let the facts get in the way of demonizing someone you disagree with.

Worldliness is believing good to be evil and evil to be good.

A second irony is purely political.  The left in America has long argued for the strict separation of church and state.  Yet, several months ago, the administration argued and decreed that religious institutions would have to go against their faith to provide paid for contraception to all in their employ.  Now, the foundational religious institution of marriage is declared by the state to be wrong in its understanding of marriage as between a man and a woman.  It appears the left desires separation of church and state when the church wants to prophetically critique anything (that is hate speech), but it sanctions state interference and intervention when it comes to the left's core beliefs.

Worldliness is believing good to be evil and evil to be good.

I know that some who read this will immediately label me homophobic, racist, extremist.  I offer that as further proof of this worldliness!  I have many friends who are openly gay.  I have friends that are of different races than I am.  I am such an extremist that I believe we should be free to do as we wish without state interference or fear of state sanction.  Even those who disagree with me know I love and respect them.  

What I fear the most is that in our culture to disagree with this radical, tyrannical mob will soon be silenced by the arm of the state.  Now it is shrilly decried as hate speech, but soon it may be forcefully removed from consideration.  At that stage, our culture will be at its end.  At that stage, evil will be declared good and good will be declared evil.  Has the evil one so captured this culture that it is too late?

Stress, Friendship, and Community

A new year is almost upon us!  In keeping with many forms of media, I will re-post some of the top "hits" from the past year.  As the year has progressed, I have gained many readers from all around the world.  I am thankful for your time and reading!  What this means is that a top "hit" list from this year would be greatly skewed toward newer material.  So, I will start the list with one of the most read posts from the first three months of 2012- January 30th to be exact.  

May the Lord bless us as we prepare to move into a new year.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the Lord has been good to you. 

Ps. 116: 7

I have been reading an interesting book on the consequences of stress on the human body.  In particular, the author was commenting on the relationship between bad stress, which raised various "flight or fight" hormones in the body, and heart disease.  He argued that feeling trapped in a job or a situation where you feel powerless leads to increased stress chemicals in the body, which eventually lead to heart disease, strokes, and other major problems (such as death).   To me, all of this makes sense.  The question is how do we avoid such stress?

To begin, we should make some obvious life-style changes.  If you are in a job that makes you feel trapped and not respected, change.  Also, increase your exercise levels as this makes a major positive change in the body's response to stress.  He also recommended the drinking of wine with dinner, as moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to lower the stress chemicals in the body.  If you have listened to the news, all of these positive factors have been mentioned for quite some time even in popular media.  These are changes that we can and should make!

What I found interesting was his emphasis on developing good social networks and friends.  He observed several groups of people with what we would call horrible eating habits who have very low levels of heart disease.  He argued that these people have one thing in common: they are well integrated into a community where they have love, support, and fun.  

In the past thirty years, studies have shown that Americans increasingly are not integrated into authentic communities.  We isolate ourselves from others while retreating into time with only our families.  I believe we do so to our own harm!  The problem is that friendship and community take time to develop and nurture.  With all the kid's activities, work responsibilities, and general busyness of life, how do we find the time to develop and nurture friendships?

First, we have to admit and confess that we need real friends and community.  We need to ask God to help us find real friends and true community.  Most of us do everything we can to live in denial of our need for others.  We remain so busy, and we allow our children to be part of every activity under the sun so they are not deprived.  Even at church, we go and leave without really engaging people.  This is one great draw of the large church in that it facilitates the "feelings" of having many friends and fellow travelers without causing real engagement with others.  I believe it is also the draw of Facebook and other social networks that promote "connectedness" without really helping us connect.  We need real friends!

Second, we have to be intentional in searching for friendships and community.  We have to find people that we can "be ourselves" around.  Wow is this hard!  Where would we find such people?  How about in our church communities?  This presupposes that we will develop church communities that are not fake or shallow.  Places where it is O.K. to be known with all of our issues, needs, and strengths.  We will find people in these churches that we do not "click with," but we should continue to search until we find folks who will love us and relate to us where we are.  Again, ask God for wisdom in finding friends and companionship!

Third, we have to continue to develop and nurture friendships and community.  This takes commitment on our part and on our friends part.  Get together and laugh.  Enjoy time together not necessarily "doing stuff" but being.  I think this is becoming a lost art.  True friendship and community is found in spending time.  In today's age, time is our most precious commodity.  We horde it to our own detriment.  Spend time with friends and lower your chances of heart disease!

With that in mind, I am thankful for a week of rest in the midst of the holidays.  Time with friends.  Time to laugh.  Time to be myself.  I pray each of us enjoy these same blessings!

The Gospel Cure for Burnout

As a young pastor/visionary, I was awakened to this reality when a godly Christian layman in my first congregation came to see me.  I think I had plans for him to attend several meetings- two or three committee activities, and a planning effort or two- all in one week.  I mean, whatever else could be more important than my vision to build the church into an impressive lighthouse for the gospel?

Seriously and respectfully he said to me, "Pastor, I need you to understand something.  When I leave here on Sunday, I often go back home and then work on Monday and do other things I have to do and don't even think about the church or you for two or three days."

I was shocked.  I thought about church all the time.  I assumed everyone was caught up in my vision for a larger church, a more diversified staff, a more aggressive program.  And he's telling me that he might not think about it?  For two or three days at a time?  Astonishing!

Then he pointed out that he was not living for the church.  He was living to lead and raise his family in a godly way, living to make his job a place where his quality of work and his character reflected the Spirit of Jesus, living in a world that he wished to enjoy and in which he might experience the glory of God.  And he was also working to add value in the name of Christ to people who weren't as blessed as he was.

The church, he said, could help him do that by pastoring him.  Ot it could thwart him from doing that by overwhelming him with the insatiably ambitious demands of its vision.

Gordon MacDonald, "Blind Spot" Leadership, (Summer 2000), 33.

I do hope and pray that all of my readers had a blessed and enjoyable Christmas day!  In fact, I hope you are enjoying this entire season of praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I know I am enjoying the time.  I have taken some time this month to relax, decompress, and re-align my soul with the counsel and comfort of the Holy Spirit.  I am beginning to feel like a new man (again).

This morning I was reading through an old edition of Leadership magazine from my large collection of past edition.  I ran across this article my Gordon MacDonald.  I know Gordon MacDonald has made some awful mistakes in his life (like us all), but I love reading his thoughts on pastoral ministry.  I find them refreshing and thought provoking.

Today's quote I find particularly telling.  I am often telling folks in my church that I do not wish to overload them.  I think some are actually offended I would say such a thing!  Yet, it is an important reminder that all of us, particularly those committed to serving the Lord, need to hear.  I know we have to have meetings, we need to plan, and ministry must take place.  Yet, too many meetings, too much planning, and too much practice can ruin a ministry, and they definitely can ruin an individual.

Why?

The purpose of this life is to learn to grow in faith and dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  We do so by growing in repentance and faith.  All of our ministry, all of our church work, and all of our discipleship should grow us in this understanding and point us toward deeper dependence by faith.

Such faith must go somewhere.  It is not merely an internal feeling of some sort.  It has legs!  It must and will express itself in love (Galatians 5: 6).  The beauty of this work is that it happens in all of our lives, not just the church part!  In fact, if our faith is only expressed in church, then we do not understand the gospel and the glory of knowing Jesus.

The Church is here to help us grow in our understanding of the gospel, and its call should be for us to love and serve in our families, our work, and in all of our life.  Without this constant reminder and the encouragement of the Church, believers will walk away from living and believing the gospel.  I have met way too many believers who have grown strange in their faith and practice because they believed the church was not needed.  

In other words, the church is vitally important!  Yet, it is not everything in a believers life.  We are called to have a life in this world.  We are called to love our spouses, to raise our children, to work our jobs while fulfilling our occupation, and to be salt and light in a dark and lost world.  We have these responsibilities and privileges.  The church is a fellowship of believers who are to train and encourage us in these tasks.  Together we are stronger witnesses to the light than we ever would be separately!

Several observations now can be made.  In this post I only have space for one!  So here it is:

First, as individuals we must guard our hearts from overwork in any area of life.  If something leads us away from growing in dependent faith we must limit our exposure to this toxic poison.  

Such a toxin could even be seemingly good things.  Family is important. Biblically we have no higher calling than to love and take care of our families.  Yet, if we value and honor our families more than our walk with God, we have made family into an idol.  

Past generations seem to understand this danger better than we do.  They would guard honoring God above anything else.  All too often, we make family fun and comfort our highest priority, and neglect or relegate honoring God under our family's plans.  I do wonder if the past thirty years of parents have a higher or lower rate of passing on their faith to their children than previous generations.

The same difficulties that are found in making the biblical good of family into an idol, can also be found in our attitude toward working in the church.  Working, ministering, and serving our wonderful!  I find them a great joy.  Yet, when people do them to extremes or a church demands too much labor from its servant leaders, burnout and discouragement will result.

We all have different levels of ability, and we all have different places where service goes from joy to drudgery.  How do we know if we are approaching burnout?

Are you growing in dependent faith?  Do you find yourself growing in your understanding of the gospel because you are growing in repentance and faith, which leads to heart transformation and joy?  

Some seasons we find ourselves working too much, serving too much, doing too much.  We need to make sure it is a brief season, if we wish to run the race of faith for a lifetime.  Burnout is not a badge of spiritual achievement, but a cheap token of misplaced loyalty and power.  Come back to the source of the power for ministry, which is reliance on the Holy Spirit through dependent faith!  

How?  Take a break.  Renew yourself in the gospel.  Find others to walk with you.  Confess the danger your approaching burnout is placing upon your soul.  Most importantly, allow the church to refresh you instead of use you.  Take responsibility to guard your soul and to begin to refresh it.

This is a perfect week to start this process.  As we approach a new year, take some time to access where you are spiritually.  Are you growing in dependent faith?  What is the Lord really calling you to do and to be?  May each of us find refreshing and renewal in the gospel!  

Where is God? Why does He not answer?

"Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save;

Neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear." Isa. 59: 1-2

What exactly is Isaiah speaking of in this passage?  I believe for most of my Christian life I would have answered that this is the condition of those apart from Christ.  In other words, those who do not know Jesus as Lord and savior do not have the Lord's ear.  What can you do?  You should take heart that his hand is not too short to save!  No matter who you are.  No matter what you have done.  Jesus can and will answer if you cry out to Him in repentance and faith!  For years I would have said this passage is for unbelievers and it is a call to faith.

Let me give an example.  I have heard tell that I have a relative who affirms that he was living a life of wickedness, marked by self-centered rebellion. As he was driving down a curvy, mountain road in West Virginia, he was stuck blind.  He called out to God, and the Lord allowed him to get to the side of the road, where he repented and regained his sight. Not only is this story strange, but no one saw it coming, least of all my relative!  God's hand is not too short that it cannot save.

Yet, what about those folks who are not believers and they cry out to the Lord for help with an accident or illness, and He answers their prayer?  I have heard stories of miraculous divine assistance to un-believers in car accidents.  I have heard stories of God answering the prayers of non-believers for healing.  As I ponder these examples, my understanding of who has the Lord's ear has changed a bit!

Let me give another example that works in the opposite direction.  Why is that so many Christians feel at different times in their lives that God does not hear them?  They trust in Jesus, what is going on?

Even as I spent time speaking with the Lord in prayer and reading His word, I was struck by these questions.  I know there have been times and even seasons of my life where I wondered where the Lord was.  He just did not seem to hear my prayers for deliverance and my cries against evil.  Other times I did not feel peace even as I prayed for peace in the midst of life's storms.  Why?

One thing I have learned is that God's ways are not my ways.  What I feel and experience in this fallen world does not always match the ideal.  If I am God's child, why do I have such experiences?

I notice I have ended each thought with a question.  I think such questions- some would call them doubts- are helpful and good if they are handled properly.  What I mean is that we must not allow these questions to control our relationship with God.  Sometimes we must ask different questions.  

Instead of "Where are you and why have you not heard me," we should ask, "What are you trying to say?"  We must cling to and declare to our soul the promises of God.  By faith we are declared righteous.  We are His children and He loves us.  Jesus' righteousness is ours by faith.  This world is not all there is but is a shadow of eternal life.  We must meditate upon and believe these truths.

We also need to remember that the second verse of Isaiah 59 is also true.  "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear."

The unbeliever who cries out for help often cries out for mercy.  For a brief moment they confess their inadequacies and need.  They are vulnerable before the living God, and He answers.

The believer stuck in a situation can easily ignore the cry for mercy and instead cry out for justice.  "Lord, bring justice to this situation!  This is so wrong, fix it!"  

Our demand for justice means it will begin with us.  The Lord often uses bad situations to help us grow.  He uses them to point out our self-righteousness, our pride, and our sin tendencies.  When He does so, we should repent and believe!  Cry out for mercy and confess your need for grace.  Such prayers the Lord does not despise.

In other words, a believer is justified or declared righteous in the sight of God by faith.  From the moment of first faith, the Lord begins to shape us and transform us by His grace toward our created good.  This process, called sanctification, is achieved through dependent faith.  So, when we depart from dependent faith, the Lord often calls us back to repentance and faith by pointing out our sin to drive us back to Jesus.  We may not want to hear about it, but such a state of repentant faith allows the Lord to hear us!

May you walk in dependent faith throughout this busy and stressful day!

Living by Faith- Advice to new believers (and some not so new)...

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected it it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

1 Timothy 4: 1-5

Recently I was talking with a new convert to the faith.  This man had lived a rough and hard life away from God.  In the past couple of months, the Lord pursued him and brought him to faith.  It is so encouraging to see God work the ultimate miracle of bringing folks from darkness to light!

As we talked, it became evident that he was searching for what to do next.  What does faith mean in the real world?  What about my love for having a beer, watching football, listening to country music, etc.?  Now that I am a believer, what should I do?

I find this is often the question that keeps people from growing in their faith.  It is a question that keeps them in fear and doubt.  On the one hand, they do not wish to be a hypocrite who now goes to church but is at a bar.  On the other hand, they hear the call for faith that brings life, but they do not wish to be miserable by having to give up all they love.  What should they do?

I think much of what passes for Christian counsel on this issue is well intended, but not helpful.  Here is what I heard as a new believer.  

"You must give up all that worldliness.  You should listen to Christian music.  You should come out and be separate from all the evil of the world.  Destroy the music CDs, clean off the iPod and get music that is godly.  Come hang out with only Christians because your worldly friends will lead you astray."

Have you ever heard this advice?  Have you given it?

I think some of this advice is solid.  Worldliness will kill your soul.  Yet, what is worldliness?  My definition is that it is anything that makes the truth of God look foolish and the foolish traditions of our age look like truth.  There is much of "hard living" that is marked by worldliness.  Yet, as I often have argued in this blog, there is also much of our "Christian community" that is also marked by a strange "religious" worldliness.

What do I mean?

What is the most important element of the truth of God?  We are saved, sustained, and grow by faith in the objective work of Christ on our behalf.  Through repenting of our unbelief and believing in Christ as our only hope, the Holy Spirit transforms our heart by grace so that we live more and more in light of God's presence and will.  This is a process that often moves in fits and starts.  Yet, by His grace we do grow!

In place of this truth, many sincere (and some not so sincere- see Paul above) believers emphasize the human law and tradition in place of an emphasis on repentance and faith.  They emphasize the human will and "making right choices" without understanding that our will and our choices are driven by our corrupt heart.  Why?  Because their understanding of life is more often marked by our corrupt cultural understanding of humanity (coming from the Enlightenment and through postmodernism) than by a Biblical perspective.  

So, these folks emphasize what you should and shouldn't do to "help" people grow.  They emphasize avoiding "worldly" activities and enforce total immersion in the Christian community.  Many of these folks use church and the Christian community as a totally separate world- I would call it a Christian bubble- to protect themselves from the evil outside their bubble.

Notice the above passage by Paul.  "The Spirit says that in the later times people will depart from the faith  by ... forbidding things that should not be forbidden."  Honestly, did you see that coming?  Does he not care about protecting folks from worldliness, sin and death?

Of course he does!  He just realizes that worldliness, sin, and death can take many forms.  From this passage, what would he say about today's world and to new convert who is struggling to apply the faith to everyday life?

First, the bar scene can easily be marked by worldliness.  If it leads one away from faith, it is best to avoid it.  If drinking leads you astray, stop it.  If surfing the web leads you to surfing the porn sites, don't surf the web or don't ever surf while alone.  Avoid those places and behaviors that lead to sin.  Protect your faith by remaining in a place of repenting for your unbelief and believing in Jesus by asking Him for grace to grow deeper and to tell others about Jesus.

Yet, as a new believer, you will never have more contacts with folks that need Jesus than you do right now.  Go tell folks about Jesus and what He has done in your life!  Some will reject this message and perhaps you.  Others will share in your journey of faith and join you!  Tell your friends about what God is doing.

This might well mean that you meet them in the bar.  Why?  This is where you met them for years.  What is different?  This time take Jesus and your faith with you.  Ask Him to open conversations.  If drinking is a problem, drink a coke instead.  Most folks will assume it is rum and coke anyway.  The bar is not necessarily evil.  It is what you do while there that determines if the place or activity is good or bad.

In terms of music, does becoming a believer mean your music choices have to change?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  What would Paul say?  "Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer."  As part of the created order, music has a profound impact on our soul.  It can point us and prepare our hearts to reflect goodness or evil.  Like all art, it is a doorway to the heart.

Does the music you listen to lead you to sin by leading you away from depending on Jesus in repentance and faith?  If it does, then stop listening to it.  Perhaps as you grow in grace, you will be able to pick it back up later when you can bring Jesus with you as you listen to music.  

I have to be honest here.  I find that listening to much of what passes for "Christian music" does not help me grow in faith.  I find the lyrics trite and the musical ability of the bands mediocre at best.  I also find that much of the "Christian radio teaching" is not helpful to my growth.  Thus, I avoid it!  I love music and I have been musician and hung out with good musicians for decades.  I prefer good music and real lyrics to some worldly version of the Christian faith.

So, where does this lead us?  "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer."  Bring Jesus with you in all you do- work, play, hobbies, relationships, sex, eating, worship, and hanging out.  When you do, He will use it all to help you grow deeper!

Also, those new to the faith have an opportunity to witness that will never come again in the same way. Tell your friends.  You do not have to have it all together (trust me you never will), but you can point to the only one who does- the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessings by just listening?

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward,

and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person 

will receive a righteous person's reward.

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of water because he is a disciple, 

truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Matt. 10: 40-42

This passage has puzzled me for years.  What does it mean?  It is tucked into a chapter of Matthew where Jesus sends out his Apostles to learn ministry.  In the context, Jesus gives them a mission with instructions (vss. 5-15).  He then tells them they will face persecution (vss. 16-25), but they should not worry because whoever acknowledges him before men He will acknowledge before the Father (vss. 26-33).  Then he concludes with the promise that He came to bring not peace, but a sword (vss. 34-39).  (This is another tough passage!)  His final instructions are included in our passage.  They are a promise that whoever does receive the disciples will get a reward.

In this passage, the controlling verse is 10:40 "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."  After affirming that His person and message would cause divisions even within families, Jesus promises that those to receive the truth of His person and message will share in the blessings of God.  In other words, receiving the disciples illustrates folks received their message.

Here is where I find the passage extremely interesting.  Why would Jesus say such a thing?  The obvious answer is that His disciples will be telling about and performing miracles to prove the Kingdom of God is here in the person and message of Jesus.  Thus, to receive them means to believe them.  At the very least it means to affirm an openness to listen.  To such openness, Jesus promises blessing and reward.

How does this square with a statistic I heard several years ago that the average Presbyterian USA member invites someone to church every 17.5 years?  This statistic is rather old now, but I doubt the gist of it has changed!  

Let me put it another way, is there enough evidence in your life to convict you of being a sincere and dedicated follower of Jesus if such faith became illegal?  You might be a great person, but what sets you apart from your co-workers and friends who are also often great people?

We are a blessing in society when we live and declare the reality of the Kingdom as we found it in Christ.  Some will be shocked and dismayed by this testimony.  Jesus says fear not for I am with you!  Such a testimony might cause division.  Jesus tells us that such division is part of the game if you wish to be part of the growth of the Kingdom!  He tells us,

"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." 

Matt. 10:38-39.

In other words, why are you protecting your reputation with others and not concerned with your faithfulness to Jesus?  He is worth some division and persecution!  In fact, as we testify to the reality of His Kingdom, we will find true life as we take our reputation from His love for us.

When we declare who Jesus is with love and integrity, most people respond favorably.  Some do not, but most will listen.  Particularly those who know you!  As they listen with openness, God will call some to faith.  The promise of this passage is that you will be a blessing.  You will be salt and light.  

Do you wish your life to count for something in building the Kingdom of God?  Be open to declaring what God has done in Christ!  Fear not for He will go with you!

The Forgotten Spiritual Discipline

I love reading biographies, the stories of men like Oswald Chambers, C.S. Lewis, John Knox, Jonathan Edwards, Augustine, Paul, and Jeremiah.  As I read about their lives, I get the impression that our modern ideas about masculine maturity are a far cry from what godly men of earlier generations understood and practiced.

We talk a lot today about things like vulnerability and the courage to feel our pain.  They seemed more interested in worship and witnessing.We speak of honest communication and living up to our potential. They fell to their knees in brokenness and got up to serve.  

I wonder if the virtues we try to develop came naturally  to those men from years ago whose toughest battles were fought against whatever kept them from knowing Christ. ...

Religious men of today too often have found a convenient God, an immediately useful God promoted by leaders who are filled more by the thrill of adoring crowds than by their opportunity for quiet communion with God....

Men from earlier generations slugged it out in intensely personal battles that lasted for years, battles that lessened only when they abandoned themselves more fully to Christ, not merely when they felt a new passion sweep through them at a big rally or when they discovered some new insight about themselves in therapy.  The joy of finding Christ was released through brokenness over sin, brokenness that led to worshipful abandonment to God.  Knowing Christ intimately developed through a deep work of God's Spirit that took place sometimes in big crowds but more often during long seasons of agonizing prayer in solitude.

Larry Crabb, The Silence of Adam, 30-31.

It is amazing how much sleep changes things!  My daughter started sleeping for five hour stretches last week.  That allowed the fog to lift in my mind.  I think I gained back about 40 IQ points that I desperately needed!

Then this week, on the night of my birthday, she slept for 8 hours.  It was the best birthday present I could imagine!  Now that I am getting sleep, I feel like reading.  I also feel like praying and listening to God.  I feel like myself again.

Truly there is a close tie between our physical health and our spirituality!  

What does this mean?  Not all problems are spiritual problems.  Sometimes, dealing with a physical problem can help take care of the spiritual deadness and dryness.  In my case it was lack of sleep because of an incredible blessing.  In many others I have found it to be clinical depression, chronic pain, a stroke, or some other physical ailment.  All of these physical issues directly impact our spiritual awareness, openness, and ability to listen to God.

Yet, all too often the same process works in reverse.  I have often seen how an individual's poor spiritual condition can greatly impact their physical life.  Not only can and does a poor spiritual condition led to broken relationships, it also can lead to sloth or working too much, to anxiety or  complete detachment, or to anger or apathy.  

All of these conditions directly lead to physical issues!

As people, we are not merely physical entities.  We are whole beings made for the spiritual and physical to work together.

Here is the rub for most of us in today's world.  How do we do this?  How do we work the spiritual and physical together?

No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, the starting place is always the same: repentance and faith.  We never outgrow our need for repentance and faith!  In fact, as we grow in our knowledge of God and ourselves, we will find ourselves growing in our awareness of our sin leading us to quicker and deeper repentance.

Mature people in Christ will constantly encourage and challenge everyone they meet to walk in such repentance and faith.

Alas, such living is now an often forgotten spiritual discipline!  It is what our broken world needs the most, but it is also deeply lacking in our churches, in our community, and in everyday discussions.

Friends, let's be part of the solution.  Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into deeper brokenness over your sin.  Ask that He not let go into you arise transformed to greater worship and witness.  We have nothing to fear from such prayer.  While the world might say this is "death," it is really the pathway to true life, joy, and power.  We must not forget this spiritual discipline or we will not have a message to pass on to the next generation.

Praying through the Path of Life

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Ps. 16:11

Many years ago, while I was in seminary, I had a friend who shared my passion for seeing the lost come to know Jesus.  We were talking about what we did when someone embraces Jesus by faith.  I shared that I would get them immediately into a bible study and a discipleship group.  In the tradition of fundamentalism in which I had started my Christian journey, knowing scripture and being in an accountability and growth relationship was key.

My friend shared that while he thought that was interesting, but he did not do this.  Instead, he taught them how to pray because he figured if they learned how to pray, they would learn how to walk with God.

For years I have thought about this conversation and its implications.  I do not believe there is anything wrong with bible study and discipleship groups.  In fact, I still encourage them!  Yet, I think my method of encouraging a new believer to grow was a bit short-sighted.  

Why?  I had a mistaken belief that if I changed a person's mind, it would transform them.  Experience has taught me that this is not always true.  In fact, transformation through changing one's mind often does not bring about lasting and deep change.

You see, there is a vast and categorically different experience between knowing about God and knowing God.  

Knowing about God can bring a sort of intellectual satisfaction.  Yet, unless it leads to knowing God it does not lead to the fullness of joy found in the path of life.  Knowing about God apart from experiencing the presence of God through fellowship with Him will grow stale.  It leaves us with the knowledge that we should know better, but it does not have the power to change our heart that actually directs our whole being.  In other words, the heart will not serve the mind, but it must be transformed by the grace of God.

On the other hand, knowing God leads to fullness of life now and eternal life forevermore.  Knowing God transforms the heart.  In so doing, it will activate the mind and demands that the mind come to know more about the God whose presence brings fullness of joy.  Thus, the mind serves the transformed heart.

In light of this, the first question we must ask is do you know God?  Have you tasted the sweetness that is Jesus?  If you have, nourish this relationship by learning how to pray.  If you have not, pray and ask for God to lead you to the path of life.  This path is marked by a faith relationship with Jesus.  Such a relationship begins with prayer and it is nourished by prayer.

Prayer is not merely just us sharing with God our needs.  While this is part of prayer, prayer is much more.  It is also learning how to listen to Him.  The surest means of listen to God is through His Word.  Pray with the Bible open.  Pray through what you read and ask how the Living God wants to apply His Word to you.  Most importantly, pray!  Do not neglect this gift of fellowship with the Living Lord.  Learn how to pray often.  For God's presence is found as we meet with Him in prayer.

Have you known Jesus for years?  Do you find that your relationship has grown a bit stale?  I know at times in life, I found myself in exactly this situation.  Please go back to the basics: pray, and learn how to listen to God in prayer.  Seek after God until His presence is known, for in His presence there is fullness of joy!

How do you know when you have found Him?  Joy, pleasure, contentment, peace, love, and grace.  You will not just know the definition of these words, but you will taste and know them in your heart.  Such grace will transform your mind, your actions, and your life!

May this week be marked by the incredible life-changing grace of God in our experience.  Seek His face and find the fullness of joy in his presence!

Responding to National Tragedy

In much of the church's life in the twentieth century, however, both in Evangelical and non-Evangelical circles, the place of prayer has become limited and almost vestigial.  The proportion of horizontal communication that goes on in the church (in planning, arguing, and expounding) is overwhelmingly greater than that which is vertical (in worship, thanksgiving, confession, and intercession).  Critically important committee meetings are begun and ended with formulary prayers, which are ritual obligations and not genuine expression of dependence- when problems and arguments ensue, they are seldom resolved by further prayer but are wrangled out on the battlefield of human discourse.  The old midweek prayer meetings for revival have vanished from the programs of most churches or have been transformed into Bible studies ending with minimal prayer.

This was the picture in much of the American church until recently, and it is still almost universally the case in some instruments and organs of the churches which have to do with teaching and administration.  Why has this come about?  Perhaps it stems partly from the deficient teaching and emphasis on God himself throughout the church, and partly from the man-centeredness of much religious activity.  Deficiency in prayer both reflects and reinforces inattention toward God.

Richard Lovelace,  Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 153.

Today is a day of national tragedy.  Like most of America, I have been listening to the horrific details of a mass killing of kindergardeners.  Evil is so real and present.  Our society is experiencing decay.  Our churches are often catering to our cultural assumptions, so we have nothing prophetic and life-changing to say.

On a day like today, believers need to be reminded of our role in society.  We are the salt and light.  As our culture moves toward darkness, our light should be more attractive and compelling because of the contrast of light and dark.  All to often it is not.

What is going on here?  Why?  Let me offer one thing we as believers can do.

Did today's news draw you into dependent prayer or did it promote a desire to have a political discussion while listening to the news?  What about the remainder of the year?  In the presence of spiritual darkness, how do you respond?

In other words, what is your prayer life like?  Do you come before the Living God and pray like your life depends upon it?  Are your prayers mostly brief and about you and your needs?  Have you learned how to listen to God's leading?

What about your church?  Do you as a body of Christ come before the Living God and pray like your life depends upon it?  In our busy culture the Wednesday evening prayer meeting has often gone by the wayside.  Does your church have other groups that meet together for the primary purpose of prayer?  Does your church encourage such groups?

I am speaking from personal experience when I share that I have found growing in prayer to be difficult.  I will never forget the way my hypocrisy was most clearly exposed to me.  I was serving in a very good Presbyterian church in Asheville as an assistant pastor.  The church had recently lost its long-time senior pastor, and conflict was starting to brew.  Quite frankly the leadership of the church was opinionated, but not very solid or godly.  They were the leadership mentioned in Lovelace's thoughts above.  The people were growing restless.

Into the midst of this, I walked: a recent seminary graduate who the church leadership did not trust because the senior pastor hired me before he left.  The church's leadership team felt like I was foisted upon them and they did not like it.  I was asked to preach.  I chose the topic of prayer.  I encouraged the church to see that they were in a spiritual war, and that prayer was so desperately needed.  I pointed out that another assistant pastor has a mid-week pray meeting that was very sparsely attended.  I asked, "Does this lack of attendance not show our lack of attention toward God?"

The sermon was very well received.  I was glad!  Then on Wednesday, over 100 people showed up for the prayer service.  I cannot tell you the exact amount of people there, because I did not attend!  You see, I talked about prayer.  I knew prayer was important.  Yet, I did not join in prayer when it was most needed!

What a hypocrite!  Looking back, I can see that I did not join in mid-week corporate prayer because I really did not have a solid grounding in personal prayer.  I had not been led to a place where I personally prayed "like my life depended upon it."  

In the midst of my immaturity, God worked.  He led the church in one direction, and I headed off to further graduate study.  He also used this situation to constantly remind me of my obvious immaturity.  Through this situation and others, He worked over the next five years to change my heart concerning my need for prayer.  He used it to help me grow up.

Individually and corporately, most folks in America do not pray like their very lives depend upon it. It is something they talk about, but do sparingly.   Prayer does not drive their life or ministry.  If this is you or it is your church, I ask that you repent and believe!  You need Jesus and the Spirit to work to transform lives and communities.  Learn to depend upon Him.

I am so thankful this is not the case for all people.  It is also not the case for all churches.  Some individuals and churches have learned their need for Jesus and they depend upon Him for life.  Individually and corporately they have learned how to walk and live in dependent prayer.  These individuals and churches are the very life-blood of God's Kingdom on earth.  I pray that the Lord will multiply these individuals and churches!  

Friends, let us walk this week in dependent prayer.  May the Lord's grace lead us into deeper repentance and faith so that we might find our rest and dependence in Him!

Spiritual Warfare: Domination by Fear

Today I wish to return to the topic of spiritual warfare.  How does the devil work his schemes against us?  What are his strategies?  How do these strategies fit with our flesh and the world system?

The primary scheme of the evil one is to promote fear, anxiety, and self-concern within the heart of the individual and church.  As a result of this fear, we ignore the gospel promises.  We do not live by faith. Consequently, we do not tap into the awesome power and might of God!

Today's post is a repost from last November.  As I re-read my previous thoughts, I thought it matched well with my current thoughts and with what my life and church live through constantly.  Be on alert!  The evil one must be resisted by faith!

"For the Lord has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline." 

2 Tim. 1:7

"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in your faith;" 

1 Peter 5: 7-8

For many of us, we kind of like the way that Christian leaders and others have told us that those who sensationalize the devil have it all wrong.  We enjoying making fun of the "demon behind every bush" theology, and those who claim "the devil made me do it" when caught in any sin.  As a result, most of us do not study Satan's schemes, and we live our lives as practical secularists who deny a spiritual dimension to the temptations and issues in our lives.

On the other hand, there are churches and individuals who make every element of the Christian life a battle between God and Satan that we decide.  These folks live as practical dualists who give too much credit to Satan and his forces.  Often, they also neglect the awesome power and victory of Christ over Satan and his forces.  Neither position reflects the true direction of biblical teaching.

Both of today's passages describe one of Satan's primary methods of attack on the Christian: fear.  When we live in fear, we do not live a life of faith and trust.  Instead, we are marked by self-regard, self-effort, and a lack of knowledge of the true God.  Paul reproves Timothy because he lives in fear.  The gospel gives us a spirit of power and love and discipline, not fear!  

Peter tells us that our adversary prowls like a roaring lion.  I have heard it said that the roaring lion is not the one to worry about.  He roars to drive fear into his prey so that the intended victim runs away from the roar.  What the prey does not know is that his scheme drives them directly to the other lions in the pride so they can kill it.  Peter warns us to be aware and alert.  He commands us to stand firm in the gospel.  The devil may roar; but when you hear it, arm yourself with the gospel and Christ's victory!

As Mark Bubeck states,

"The victory of Christ over Satan is total and complete.  The person who appropriates and applies by faith the victory which Christ has purchased and provided will find a gracious, God-authored courage stabilizing his inner man." 

The Adversary, 80.

Fear takes many forms in our fallen world.  Some are wise and some are harmful.  It was wise to fear the 1800 pound bull in my back field.  I gave him a healthy respect and distance.  Yet, I did not walk about in constant thought and fear of that animal!  I was "sober minded" about his power and I sought to respect and be mindful of his power.  I knew he has a job to do, and I allowed him to do it without putting myself, my family, or visitors in his path.  I think this is an example of wise fear.  Why?  It illustrated proper respect and knowledge of this beast's power.

Other types of fear are mixed between wise and harmful.  It all depends upon what you do with it.  Most of these fears are even socially accepted!  For example, it is prudent to lock your doors in these desperate times.  Yet, those who live in fear of being robbed, those who think about it all the time, those who check their doors repeatedly for fear of an intruder do not walk in faith.  They believe that their resources and diligence will save them.  Where does God fit into this picture?  Most likely He doesn't.  Still, it is socially acceptable and encouraged to lock your doors!  Where do we draw the line?  That is a question for each of us.  If we walk in fear, we need to repent and ask God for mercy to rest and trust.  We need to ask for His protection.

Another example is parenting.  How many of us fear for the future of our children?  It is true that we have a responsibility to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  Yet, study after study has shown that those in the 20s now have been "overly protected" by their parents from life's hardships.  Why? I believe the key reason was a socially acceptable fear.  We fear, so we give money, protection, shelter.  The unintended consequence is a generation that "has a failure to launch."  Another unintended consequence is that we have given Satan ground into our families by walking in fear.  We have not been sober minded and aware of Satan's schemes.  We have fed fear, and without repentance we will reap the consequences.

A final example is ministry.  How many of us have not spoken to a neighbor about the Lord because of fear?  What if they reject me?  What will they think?  The real question should be, "Are they in bondage and do they need the gospel?"  If so, then out of love for them and in response to walking in the power of the Spirit, we need to share the gospel with them.  We need to pray that the Lord will open the door so it just flows naturally.  Most importantly, we need to say something!

Why do we not do this?  Fear.  Plain and simple, it is fear.  What about a ministry that you would love to start or be part of, yet you do not do so for fear that it will not go well or that you will "not find the time."  We so often put off to tomorrow what should be done today (to quote the great theologian Garth Brooks).

Again I say, fear is not from God.  "There is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out fear." 1 John 4:18  Do we not believe that God can work it out to bring someone to faith without making us their enemy?  Do we not believe that God can work through us, even with our frailties?  Do we not believe that God loves our children, and that He will take care of them?  Is everything really all about us?

I know what it is like to live in fear.  I know how we can busy ourselves so we avoid walking in faith.  I also can say clearly, walking in fear is not from God.  Pray about this.  Fear gives the devil a foothold in our lives, our families, our churches.  It is the primary way that Satan works to hinder the work of God.  

Pray through these passages I mentioned in this blog.  If the Spirit gives you insight into areas where you are dominated by fear, I ask you, no beg you, to repent!  Confess to God your sin and your need for His grace.  Ask Him to work instead of you thinking it is all about you.  Walk in faith.  Claim the victory of Christ and the truth of the gospel as your own.

May your life be marked by grace, trust, rest, and God's power instead of fear.  In so doing, you will defeat the schemes of the Evil one against you, your family, and your church.