For Those Who “Take One” for Jesus

    • Joseph had his brothers.  (Genesis 37:5)
    • Moses had the sons of Korah.  (Numbers 16:1-3)
    • David had Shimei.  (2 Samuel 16:5-8)
    • Nehemiah had Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshen.  (Nehemiah 2:19)
    • The religious leaders of His day despised Jesus.  (Matthew 26:3-4)
    • Jesus said that we would be hated, talked about and persecuted on account of Him.  (Matthew 5:11)
    • Paul reminded us that all who desire to live godly lives would be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12)
    • Winston Churchill famously said, “You have enemies?  Good.  That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

So…

Hang in there faithful brother and weary sister.  You are not alone, in fact you are in some pretty famous company.

God has not placed more on you than HE is able to bear.

Stay faithful.

Don’t lose hope.  Look to Him.

You have not escaped his sight and your plight has not gone unnoticed in heaven.

Great is your reward.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. – Matthew 5:12

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. – James 1:12

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 1:6-7

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. – Hebrews 12:1-3

 

3 Lessons I Learned from a Day of Eavesdropping

I took my wife’s vehicle in for an oil change Friday morning, never expecting that a visit to the Wal-Mart Auto Center would initiate a daylong spiritual reflection.  As I sat in the waiting area, I was forced to listen to two different conversations of people I did not know. I decided to pay more attention to what people around me had to say, and by listening, I came to three conclusions.

Conclusion #1: We need to be careful with our words.  One of my greatest challenges in life is discerning the times and seasons of Ecclesiastes 3:7 – a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Be mindful that ears are everywhere listening to what we say.

Conclusion #2: People are generally negative.  Most of Friday’s conversations involved complaint, criticism, and condemnation. I want to make a more conscious effort for my words to be positive and uplifting.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing.  Philippians 2:14

Conclusion #3:  People are hurting. We live in a hurting world, but we have the greatest message of hope – Jesus loves so much that He gave His life, and all who trust in Him can have meaning and purpose.  I must consciously choose words that build up others and point them to the hope that is found in Jesus.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. – Ephesians 4:29

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6

Let’s be more intentional with our words.  Let’s choose to speak grace and not grumbling.  Let’s build up and not tear down.  Let’s point people to Jesus and the hope that is found in Him.

What Makes Pastors Tick

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pastor acrobatI love pastors.  Really, I do. I am humbled and blessed to be counted in their number. Several pastors have made an impact on my life and I am thankful for their godly influence. Each has had a part in me becoming who God has made me.

I want to give you a glimpse inside the heart and head of a pastor. Two verses in Hebrews 17 summarize quite well the awesome sense of calling we pastors feel.

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith… Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. – Hebrews 13:7, 17

Pastors and Their Role

First, pastors bear a tremendous responsibility. When a pastor looks out over his congregation, he is looking into the faces of men and women that God loves dearly. God places a pastor in their lives to teach them His Word, show them His way of life, and watch over them on their journey of faith.

Second, pastors realize a great accountability. In verse 17, we learn that a pastor must give account to God for fulfilling the ministry God gives him. The Bible teaches that we all will give an account for how we build in the foundation of our relationship with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:9-10 and 1 Corinthians 3:12-15), but a pastor has a second accounting to give. He accounts for his personal life, as does every believer, but he also has to account for how he watched over those people God entrusted to him. Most pastors I know – especially the one I know best (me) – feel a trepidatious sense of accountability to God. That is why our heart breaks so when we see people miss out on what we know He wants for them.

Finally, pastors live with a unique sensitivity. Hebrews encourages their readers to follow the leader so that his ministry will bring him joy rather than burden. Most people could never understand the life of a pastor, and I could never begin to explain it. A pastor lives his life on an emotional and spiritual rollercoaster. The highs are great, the lows, quite painful. During some of those lows, I have had well-meaning people attempt to encourage me by telling me, “don’t take it personally.” For a pastor, that is just not possible. You see, pastor is not my job, it is not something I do . . . pastor is who I AM.

Pastors Always On Duty

A store clerk, bus driver, factory worker, or cubicle denizen can clock out and leave their job behind them.Very seldom does someone they do not know recognize them in public and say, “Hey, there’s the secretary at my insurance agent’s office . . . let’s watch and see what she does.” A pastor never clocks out, never has the option of “turning it off.” There is never a time when a pastor is not the pastor.

Pastors are often the butt of jokes, and so often we deserve it. But the calling on a pastor’s life is no joking matter. Pray for your pastor, he needs it. Pray that God will give him wisdom well beyond his own. Then trust your prayers. And trust your pastor too. Let him do what God has called him to do – lead you, teach you, challenge you, even correct you if necessary.

Connect the Dots in Your Mind

dotsLet’s play a little game of spiritual connect the dots, shall we?

Dot 1: The Bible clearly teaches us what God wants to accomplish in our lives:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. – Romans 8:29

Dot 2: The Bible also clearly teaches is that our thoughts determine who we are:

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

Dot 3: If we are what we think, and if God wants us to become like Jesus, then it stands to reason that our thoughts should gravitate toward Jesus:

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. – Colossians 3:2

…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2

So, my simple challenge to you today is this: think much and often of Jesus. The more you fill your mind with Jesus, the more like Him you will become. First, avoid things that draw your mind away from Christ. Be careful what you let into your minds. Then, fill your mind full of God thoughts. You can play Christian music on your radios, CD players, and mp3 player, or surround yourself with Scripture verses – on index cards, desktop backgrounds, or wherever our eyes roam.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

We bring our thoughts captive to Christ when we intentionally think of Him on a regular basis. The more we think of Him and consider Him in our lives the more we become like Him. So I challenge you to begin connecting the dots between where you are and where God wants you to be. It all starts in your mind.

 

Nothing Is Never Happening

An interesting situation unfolds when one reads 2 Kings 6. The Syrian king is preparing to attack Israel. Secretly (so he thinks) he plots and plans with his trusted leaders, but no one can keep secrets from God. God lets Elisha in on the plans and Elisha tells the King of Israel. The Syrian king questions his advisors to find out if one of them is the traitor, and they are quick to point out that God’s prophet Elisha knew even the most intimate of Syria’s plans. They tell him that Elisha can even tell Israel’s king what the Syrian king speaks in his bedroom! Funny stuff!

As you might imagine, the Syrian king sets out to “silence” Elisha. When the Syrian army surrounds Elisha’s home, his servant gets quite nervous. Yet Elisha encourages him to not be afraid and asks God to give the servant a glimpse of what is going on “behind the scenes.” What the servant sees is God’s heavenly army on chariots of fire surrounding the Syrian army. Just a glimpse into the spiritual realm emboldened the servant. He realized that they were not alone and that God was fighting this battle for them. Read the story. The ending is incredibly funny, at least to me it is, the way God allowed Elisha to embarrass the Syrian army.

But, friend, take courage in the fact that God has not left you alone to face your battles either. Something is always going on behind the scenes in your life. I like to say it this way NOTHING is never happening. If you could only see what God is doing in the spiritual realm of your life you would never be afraid. God, who is for you, is fighting for you, and HE IS UNDEFEATED!

Take courage when facing the obstacles you CAN see by remembering the forces of heaven that you CAN’T see are already deployed on your behalf. As Elisha said to his servant, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” Trust and obey God. Don’t abandon Him, He has not abandoned you.

My prayer for you is the same prayer Elisha prayed for his friend: “Lord, open their eyes and let them see.”

Some Thoughts on Worship Music

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I’ve read a couple of articles lately about worship.  In church circles, that is quite the hot topic these days.  The first article is one by LifeWay President Thom Rainer concerning what attracts the Millennial Generation (those born 1980-2000) to worship.  You can read it here.  The second article, written by Christian layman David Murrow, ponders the reasons most men do not sing during worship times in church.  You can read that article here.

Both articles were very insightful and both challenged me and encouraged me.  As a pastor, I want to see my congregation genuinely worship God in a way that pleases Him primarily and edifies us additionally.  The problem with most worship discussions, I believe, is that we focus on how to please the wrong audience.  We discuss what music appeals most to a certain generation, demographic, or other affinity group.

We debate whether we should sing hymns, contemporary songs, or both sung from hymnals or projected on screens, while played by bands or organ and piano.  The deciding factor in those determinations is usually the preference of the majority of people in the church or the perceived attraction of a target group. The truth, however, is that our worship needs to focus on an audience of ONE – God himself who alone is worthy of our praises.  Instead of considering the preferences of our majorities or target groups, we should be asking ourselves if our worship pleases God.  Does our selection of songs communicate genuine and substantive praise TO GOD?  Is the effort with which we engage singing worthy of the ONE to whom we sing?

The key is not hymns, contemporary songs, books, screens, bands, or organs, but about singing upbeat celebratory songs that are easy to sing, knowable or learnable, and that have rich theological meaning, not fluff or gimmicky.  That is the kind of music that reverberates through the corridors of heaven and exalts our Lord.  It’s about HIM not me.

Worship leaders and Pastors; ask yourselves some questions as you prepare the worship service.  Do the songs we will sing make sense?  Do they really say the things God wants to hear?  Can the average person sing this song? Are we celebrating the glory of God or singing for the beauty of the song? Is the song keyed properly? Are the words simple to sing but substantial in meaning? Is God basking in the attention He is getting from my worship?

Worshippers, connect with God this Sunday when you worship.  Don’t just stand there, sing…sing to God.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.”  – Psalm 66:1-4

When God Delays

At some point, I would like to calculate over the course of several months how much time I spend waiting during an average day.  Traffic lights, on hold on the telephone, in line at the store, in the drive-through at a fast food joint, and a seemingly million other ways I am forced to wait.  I am not a patient waiter.

I have to admit, that in weak moments, I even get impatient with God. I expect God to immediately grant all my requests in the manner I asked Him to grant them, and when He doesn’t do so, I am tested. Recently I have some issues for which I have been praying and have yet to see God move.  As I prayed complained to God one recent morning, He reminded me of a truth I needed to remember.

I say that I believe in that God is all-knowing and that He knows best.  I say that I believe that God is all-powerful and is able to do ALL that He deems good and best.  I say that I believe in God’s providence and that He has planned my life for His glory and my good.  I say I believe those truths, but when I get impatient with God I act as though I don’t believe them.

Well meaning people console us in our times of waiting by reminding us that “God’s delays” are not necessarily His denials, but there are no such things as God’s delays – His timing is always perfect.  He is an on-time God.  What seem like delays – those times which tempt me to grow impatient – are only delays from my vantage point, not God’s.  He is purposefully working out His plan, His way, on His time, positioning my life and my circumstances for His glory.

I can relax, live in the moment and trust my future to an all-wise, all-powerful, on-time God.  He has my life on track.  You can trust Him too.  Wait. Rest. Trust. Believe. 

My times are in your hand… Psalm 31:15

Accountability or Legalism?

SS Attendence cardA recent conversation with a friend brought back a childhood church memory that I had all but forgotten – the Sunday school attendance card.  Each Sunday, we recorded how “faithful” we had been during the week in such matters as daily Bible reading, lesson study, giving an offering, and church worship attendance. Individuals and classes received grades related to the accomplishment of those activities.

My guess is the demise is due to at least two somewhat opposite conditions.  On the one hand, such a practice could lead to a legalistic and empty pride.  One might simply go through the motions of “accomplishing” all the activities indicated on the card and feel good about themselves for merely doing them, all the while receiving no real lasting spiritual benefit from them at all. On the other hand the practice may have disappeared due to our great aversion to accountability.  We didn’t want to read our Bible daily, bring an offering, stay for church, or study our Sunday school lesson, and we didn’t want anyone else to KNOW we didn’t do it, so we removed the evidence.

While those activities may have become someone’s legalistic benchmark, they were at least initially deemed to be disciplines of spiritual value.  Studying one’s lesson, reading one’s Bible, contributing financially, and attending church are all ways that God uses to help us become more Christlike.  I am not advocating a return to the Sunday school attendance card, but I do think we need to discipline ourselves to godliness (1 Timothy 4:7).  When we removed the accountability, we stopped developing disciples.  When we stopped developing disciples, we fell sorely behind in impacting our world for Jesus.

I strongly encourage you to find an accountability partner or group who will spur you on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25) and challenge you to INTENTIONALLY engage those activities that will help you grow to be more like Jesus.