Out of respect, I’ll not name him.  But when I was a kid growing up in church, one of the men in our church fell asleep during the sermon almost every Sunday. He was so obvious because he sat in the back row of the choir, the highest point in the church.  He fell asleep with his head tilted all the way back and mouth wide open.

Now that I am a pastor and preach every Sunday, I know how our pastor felt about sleepers.  I take preaching very seriously, though I try to have fun with it. I want my sermon to be moving, educational, inspirational, motivational, challenging, encouraging, and yes, to some degree even entertaining. I understand my preaching style is not everyone’s cup of tea, and I am OK with that. That doesn’t stop me from working towards the goal of being the best that God wants me to be.

As preachers, we bear the responsibility to prepare and deliver sermons prayerfully under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We are SO dependent on HIM for everything that we do. The moment we begin to believe that we have anything of ourselves that makes us good preachers, we are DOOMED.

However, listeners also have a responsibility. I have heard too many people say (about my preaching as well as others’), “I just don’t get anything out of it.” Granted, we preachers are apt to have a “bad day” from time to time, and some who stand to preach do so consistently unprepared and under-prayed. Yet often the fault of a boring sermon may fall upon a listener who is not prepared to hear what God is saying.

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My sister works for the local Coroner’s office.  Hers is not a job just anyone can do, and I am proud of her for doing the job so well.   She often receives calls in the middle of the night to go to a scene where a body lies dead.  The first thing the Coroner’s office has to do is to confirm the body is in fact dead.  Sometimes they make that call at the hospital after an ambulance delivers a victim of an accident.  When that victim dies before arriving at the hospital, the Coroner applies the term Dead on Arrival, DOA for short.

From a spiritual perspective, God calls us to pronounce ourselves dead while at the same time living for Him.  This death, of course, is symbolic but vital if we want to grow in our faith. To truly live the life God desires us to live, we have to surrender control of life to God. Paul stated it well in Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

How Do I Declare Myself Spiritually DOA?

Scripture teaches us at least three areas to which we need to consider ourselves dead.  I begin each new day reminding myself that I am DOA – Dead on Awakening – to these three areas of life.

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One of the more popular television programs these days is The Walking Dead.  The series, based on a comic book series by the same title, depicts life in a post-zombie apocalypse.  Survivors struggle to rescue society from “Walkers” (zombies) who threaten their existence. Though the zombies seem somewhat alive, they are actually dead and are merely shells of former human bodies.

While the show is purely science fiction, there is a sense in which following Jesus calls for us to be alive and dead at the same time.  Jesus calls us to be a “living sacrifice.”

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. – Romans 12:1

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According to an article in the New Yorker from about a year ago, 88 percent of Americans own a Bible.  About 25 percent own more than 5 copies.  The Bible is not only the best-selling book of all-time, it is also the best-selling book of the year every year.  According to www.guinnessworldrecords.com, more than 5 billion Bibles were printed between 1815 and 1975. 

photc by Abby Henry

With so many Bibles in American homes, we should expect our country to act more Christian than it does.  The sad truth is that although the Bible is readily available, it is scarcely read and studied.  Even many who identify as Jesus-followers seem woefully Biblically illiterate. We are living in days that reflect God’s prophecy in Amos 8:11:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

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The crowd packed the room. They were all in town for the celebration that was just a couple of days away. All of the men of course gathered in the living room talking about current affairs, politics, and religion. Oh, yes, religion . . . always. The discussion usually was quite lively. In fact, to this group there was no separation of church and state. Religion and national politics always meshed, not just in conversation but also in everyday life.

She slipped into the room unnoticed at first, but then as she made her way into the inner circle, everyone began to notice. This was not the first time she had crashed the party. She seemed always to want to challenge social mores and mingle with the guys – especially when He was in the house. Oh how she loved Him. Not like most women love men, hers was not an attraction that caused her to want to know Him in an intimate physical sense. It went much deeper than that. She loved Him not for his man-ness, but for his God-ness.

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In the words of leadership mentor and author Jim Collins, “Good is the enemy of great.” Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources similarly states, “It is a sin to be good when God has called us to be great.” What one discipline keeps most people from realizing God’s best for their lives?  The failure to set and maintain priorities prevents many from moving to the next level spiritually, personally, and professionally.

Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).  Paul urged the Philippian believers to discern what things are the best (Philippians 1:10).  Those admonitions stand in contrast to how many of us live.  We tend to move from circumstance to circumstance dealing with what seems urgent at the moment.  We live more like firemen putting out blazes than intentional disciples serving the Master’s wishes. While we thrash away at the urgent, the important often goes unattended.

When we set and maintain priorities we establish in advance the standard that will decide our courses of action.  I cannot tell you what your priorities should be and how you should order them. I can tell you that if you place Jesus at the center of them, you will accomplish eternally significant results.

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I spent some time today reflecting on the blessings that have accompanied my life.  I share my thoughts with you today in hopes you too will recognize the hand of God on you and give Him praise.

I did not choose the time and place of my birth, nor the family into which I was born. In His sovereign grace and to the praise of His glory, God placed me where He did.  I am thankful to live in the times in which we live. I am thankful for the family into which God placed me.  These blessings I received prepared me for where I am today and for the direction my life will take from this moment forward.  To God be the glory!

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