Heart Tracks - The Broken Seal

62 The next day.... the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. Matthew 27:62-66...."Then the angel spoke to the women. 'Don't be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn't here! He's been raised from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying.' " Matthew 28:5-6

For me, there is something powerful, yet simple and beautiful in these Scriptures. In Matthew 27, we see the religious establishment and system, coupled with that of the world, come together in their strength to prevent the fulfillment of that which Jesus had promised and foretold; His resurrection. This can't be taken lightly. The Pharisees were a powerful religious group. They had great control over the Jewish people. Equally mighty was the authority of Rome. It was not just that Roman guards were posted outside of Christ's tomb, it was also sealed with the literal stamp of Roman authority. To tamper with or touch that seal in any way was to invite death. So we see all the power of the religious spirit coupled with that of the world system in order to prevent what Christ had promised would be. The result of it all? An empty tomb. A risen Christ. A defeated spirit, and a spiritual systems power broken. Captivity was taken captive. Captivity is still taken captive...by Christ the King. He cannot be held by a world or religious system. And because we are His, neither can we. Yet many continue to be? Are you among them?

Where might a religious spirit hold us captive? Rules, laws, teachings, centered not on Him, but upon men. A religion where condemnation is the central trait. Where are we being held by things that tell us what we cannot do, or what we are, but say little if anything of what and who we can be in Him? Where in our lives has that spirit, joined with the spirit of flesh and the world placed a "seal" upon us, seeking to keep us entombed, away from His promise? In darkness, hopelessness. A living death. The devil, moving through these spirits, believes he can keep us in that place. He will succeed if we believe his lie. Yet he'll fail miserably if we believe the promise of the King. If we'll hear His voice calling us, as He did Lazarus, to "come forth!" When that happens, our dark dungeon, as Charles Wesley wrote, "Flames with light. Our chains falls off, our hearts are free, we rise, go forth, and follow Thee." The seal of death is broken. We are sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit.

What tomb holds you captive today? What seals has the enemy succeeded in placing upon it in order to keep you there? When we follow a religion we follow teachings of what men say of Him. When we follow Christ, we follow a Father that He makes known to us. And when we know Him, live in Him, no tomb or seal can hold us.

I have never forgotten the darkness of the "tomb" I lived in for so many years. Sealed in by my sin, helpless to escape. Trapped, and yet, in the words of Keith Green's beautiful song, His "love broke through." The seal of hell's accusations against me was broken. The stone of my sin was rolled away. I was free. And whatever "stones" the enemy tries to imprison me with continue to be rolled away by the power of His risen Life.

Where's the stone, the seal, the darkness in your life? He stands before it, right now. At His word, if you'll hear and receive it, the tomb will open, the seal be broken, the darkness extinguished by His great Light. The stone is rolled away. He calls you forth to Himself. No more tombs, no more seals, no more nights. Do you come?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Cross In The Cupboard

"So they took Jesus and led Him away. Carrying the cross by Himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull Hill (in Hebrew Golgotha). There they crucified Him. John 19:16-17...."A man named Simon, who was Cyrene, was coming from the country just then, and they forced him to carry Jesus' cross." Mark 15:21...."The cross is there, right from the beginning, we have only got to pick it up.....Jesus says that all Christians have their own crosses waiting for them...destined and appointed by God. Each of us must endure our allotted share of suffering and rejection. But each of us has a different share....But it is the one and the same cross in every case." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We're in the midst of another Easter week, and the cross will once again have a prominent place in the midst of it. For a week. Then it will once again recede into the background for the other 51 weeks.....I remember once as a child getting a chocolate cross in my Easter basket. It was solid chocolate, which every kid wants to get. I never thought a thing about it other than the joy of consuming it. I loved its benefits. That same kind of thinking has seeped into every part of the church today. We love the benefits of the cross. We're thankful that Jesus carried and died upon one for us. We take little if any thought about carrying and dying upon our own. If we do think of bearing a cross, we equate it with the daily struggles of life. Struggles that all, believers or not, grapple with. Such is not the cross of Christ. To carry and bear His cross means we enter into His suffering, His shame, and His rejection. This is not a lifestyle that is much preached upon, and is lived out even less. Bonhoeffer says that every believer has a cross "destined and appointed" for them by the Father. So few of us ever take it up. Like Simon, we have to be forced to take it up.....Except that the Father forces no one. Jesus commands us to pick up our cross and follow Him. It's our choice whether we do or not. Most often, it seems that, as pointed out in John, He carries it alone.

I keep thinking of that chocolate cross in my Easter basket. It wasn't the only "goodie" in it, and I looked forward to consuming them all. I think that's how so many of us view the life of faith. We believe on Him to provide lots of "goodies," blessings, for us to consume. My childhood basket eventually became empty. For the believer today, at least here in the west, the "basket" never gets empty. He's always filling it up with good things. We expect some problems, but He'll keep them at a manageable level. Abundant life is all about what can be measured, counted, and accumulated. Suffering may come upon us, but we expect Him to keep those times of short duration, and at a minimum of occurrence.....I once saw a church sign that advertised all that they offered. It summed it all up with "Just good stuff." That's what He provides us. A never ending basket of good stuff. Rejection and reproach as we bear His name and His cross have no place there. His cross is a monument we dust off each year and then put back in the cupboard. We never really think its for us as well. But it is, and He calls us to it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was safe in America as Nazism rose in Germany. He could have remained here, but he heard the call of Christ to take up his own cross, with its own reproach and rejection. His end was to die naked, hanging on a gibbet, a few days before the end of the war. His life and witness continue to speak on, as do Paul's, Peter's, the disciples, and all those unknowns who joined Him in carrying the crosses destined for them by the Father. They, as did Christ, bore the reproach and rejection for the glory set before them. They finished the race as more than conquerors. Will we? Or, do we keep looking for our bottomless baskets, filled with endless blessings? Does our cross go back in the cupboard come Monday?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Through Worship's Eyes

"Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.' " Revelation 4:1......"We can stand and stare at the world and see all that is wrong, but how would it change our lives if we began to see it through the eyes of worship?" Sheila Walsh

It's so easy to "stand and stare" at all that is going on around us and feel a deep sense of hopelessness. In this information soaked age, we are bombarded by a myriad of sources that tell us nearly every moment of every day how truly hopeless everything is. We in the church, entrusted with a message of hope, have not been immune to its effects. We see a world disintegrating before our eyes. We also see a church that in too many ways seems powerless to have any effect upon that disintegration. We labor, but so often, there is within us the fear that all of our labor is in vain. Something worse than simple doubt can seep into our spirits.....and that something is a cynical spirit. It can color every aspect of our lives. It also will rob us of our joy, peace, and hope. We may continue on in our work for and with Him, but our joy in doing so has been lost. So too then is His power and presence in that work.

Have you ever wondered what must have been taking place in the mind and heart of the apostle John as he lived out his last years on the prison island of Patmos? John, the beloved disciple, closest to the heart of Christ, trapped on an island, away from his fellow believers, and all he could see in his line of vision was a bleak landscape. His only company other prisoners, and the men who stood guard over them. If his position were only to stand and stare at his surroundings, how could he feel anything but despair? Yet Revelation tells us that this day was the Lord's Day, and John was worshiping.

In his worship, both his eyes and heart were called upward by the One he so loved. He was called up to see not what seemed to be, but what was. He was called up to have the Kingdom eyed view of all things. Called up to see as He sees, and so to know as He knows. He was called up to not only see but understand that the real line of his vision was to go infinitely beyond the island and its immediate surroundings. On Patmos, every door seemed closed. In worship, he saw a door standing open in heaven. That open door gave him a view of the very throne room of heaven. He was not held by the prison island. He was held by the heart of the King.

Someone said that many live just waiting to die, but that they were determined to die while fully living. So must it be for all those who are His. At some point, we all find ourselves on our own Patmos. We can stand and stare at what we see, or, we can choose to worship Him there. Standing and staring in the flesh will lead us down the path of joylessness and cynicism, to our own prison island. Worship will open our eyes to the reality of His Presence...to the open door to the throne of God. We see with His eyes, understand with His mind, and we are alive. Fully alive....even on Patmos.

If you're on Patmos today, it's easy to give in to the emotions that come with such a place. I know. I have. Yet if you, if we, choose to worship Him there, we too will see heaven's open door, and we'll gaze into the very throne room of the Father. When we do, everything changes. Especially us. His open door is there, and He calls us to Himself. Do we keep staring at our surroundings, or do we come up....and join Him? Will we see through worship's eyes?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Bucket List

"The poor deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can't help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, 'Is this idol that I'm holding in my hand a lie?' " Isaiah 44:20...."But He answered, 'You give them something to eat.' Luke 6:37....."If you spend your life trying to get more, is that the way you actually end up with less?....Why grow the list of what I want to have instead of the list of what I can give?...Is real life when you choose to be bread to all kinds of hungry?....Be the gift!" Ann Voskamp

After the movie "The Bucket List" came out, a lot of attention was given to people making out lists of things they wanted to do, accomplish, or have before the end of their lives. The idea was to have the greatest fulfillment of "self" possible during their time on earth. It sounds really great......to the flesh. It is the flesh's idea of the abundant life, and it's a message that has found a very comfortable home in the lives of we who are His church. Abundance is all about gaining and keeping. Abundance is all about us, and little, if anything, about Him and others. Others that He loves and sees, but we don't see, and are indifferent to if we do. Someone asked whether we go through life as "graspers or givers?" Which one are we? Which one is you?

Ann Voskamp writes of speaking to a cancer patient who told her that their Doctor said, "In our human bodies, the cells that only benefit themselves are known as cancer." Can there be a more chilling statement concerning our lives of self-indulgence, self-absorption, self-worship? The greatest and most powerful idol we may have is the self. And we can have a death-grip on that idol....literally. It's a cancer that steadily eats away at us....and of our relationship with Him...if indeed we have one at all. What do we long to hold in our hands? The fullness of His life and heart.....or the fulfillment of ourselves? Do we hold to a delusional lie, or to His abundant life and truth? Do we embrace a cancer that's destroying us, or a Person who frees us?

Mark Buchanan said that we're willing to give "up to a tithe." There's a broader meaning there than money. He meant that we have a boundary line drawn as to just how much we're willing to give of ourselves and what we have. There's a limit to our giving, but there never seems to be a limit to our getting. Some time ago I referred to a group of poor Chinese believers who were receiving an offering for people in a nearby village. A bag was passed around the group to receive that offering. Some of them had nothing at all materially to give....so they literally placed themselves into the bag when it came to them. Their meaning was clear. They would give the one thing they could to help with the need...themselves. Could we dare to believe for such here in our western churches? We would readily write a check, but most likely it would be out of our riches. The Father gives according to His. Few of us would be willing to place ourselves "into the sack."

Have we a Bucket List somewhere? Is that list all about what we can get before we leave this realm? A realm we really don't want to leave. Or, is it about all that we can give here, because we know here is not what we were created for. We have no treasure here. He's our treasure, and really, shouldn't the only item on our list be having fulfillment in Him? We'll find that by giving ourselves away. There's all kinds of hungry around us. Jesus told us to give them something to eat. Where on our Bucket List do we find that?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Useless?

"I replied, 'But my work all seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose at all. Yet I leave it all in the Lord's hand; I will trust God for my reward." Isaiah 49:4..."The Kingdom is given to those who can see beyond the visible and accept the ways of the King....I don't need to understand Your will in order to trust Your heart." Chris Tiegreen

We're a results oriented culture. Couple that with the fact that we're also an immediate gratification one as well, and you come up with recipe for frustration, discouragement, and ongoing feelings of failure. The culture we live in reinforces this. More often than not, so does the culture of the church. It may seem most prevalent in ministry, but really, it has permeated every aspect of our spiritual lives. Prayer, relationships, marriage and family dynamics. We're results oriented. We want to get to where we want to be. We're not much interested in what may be learned in the course of the journey. Especially as to what we may learn of Him.

I have been walking with Him for more than 38 years. I cannot begin to list all the times I have either thought or outright spoken words very similar to Isaiah's. What I was applying my life to, on the surface, seemed exactly as described by Isaiah; useless, a wasting of strength, seemingly to no purpose. Then again, how could I expect anything else when my only way of "seeing" was with eyes and understanding that only saw and measured according to the standards of an earthly kingdom. We have been created for eternity, and His desire is that we see all things from the perspective of eternity. Christ did. Christ does. We are created to as well.

Some years back, one who'd left their mate after struggling for sometime in the marriage, told me, "I've waited 5 years for them to change. Do I have to wait forever?" Such is the way many of us look at our challenges, our circumstances, and yes, our calling. We've been at it a long time. We've been willing to "wait on Him," but we've got an expiration date on that. The attitude, whether spoken or not, is the same; "Do I have to wait forever?" We may put a tremendous amount of energy into our prayers and our efforts, but our eyes continue to be on the results we want to get, not upon the One to whom we are speaking. So we look for what we want Him to be doing....and miss all that He may be saying, teaching, and leading in. We're willing to trust Him to do what we want....so long as it seems He may actually do it. When visible evidence of that fades, or isn't present to begin with, we tend to seek to make our own way....and forsake His. And we miss Him and His Way in doing so.

I'm very aware that there are times when His voice speaks into our spirit and tells us that we've "been in a place long enough." Our tragedy is that we most often decide what is long enough. We do it in every aspect of ministry, relationship, marriage, life. We've stamped an expiration date on our efforts. We're not going to go beyond it. And so we move off. We move on. But what have we missed, and how may we have missed Him?

The Father has called us to only one result; to be faithful. And in our being faithful, to be obedient. And in our obedience, we trust Him. Isaiah and Jeremiah were two prophets called by Him and entrusted with a message. A message that few regarded or listened to. Their times of frustration and discouragement were many. Yet in them, they always came back to the same place. They would obey Him. They would trust Him. They would press on. They would listen to one voice alone; His. Hearing Him. Knowing Him. Following Him. That was the one result they came to live for. And die in. Countless ones who've followed have done the same. Have we? Do we? Paul's end "result" was a prison cell and the headsman's ax....as the world saw it. He had gained the Kingdom, and fullness of fellowship with Christ the King. That was the only result that mattered to Him. He trusted Him to the end. An end defined by Christ. Do we? Do you? Anything else is.......useless.

Blessings,

Heart Tracks - 1000 Deaths

"Then Peter said to Him, 'Lord, we have left all to follow You.' " Mark 10:28......"Christ says, 'Give Me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.'.....I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want the whole tree down." C.S. Lewis....."Come die. In a thousand ways." Ann Voskamp

Not long ago I heard someone speaking about Paul, about how he was willing to assume the place of a "doormat" in order to glorify Christ. I wrote in my prayer journal, "Am I humble enough to be a doormat?" The circumstances of life keep teaching me that I'm not. I'm taught that every time I take offense at some slight, whether perceived or real. I'm taught that when my pride is wounded by any word or action that might suggest I'm not everything I think I am. I'm taught that whenever an opportunity to serve Him comes along, but I think the opportunity beneath me, or would not be noticed at all. I'm especially taught that in my response to criticism, especially when it is unfair and untrue. I learn anew that I'm not humble enough to be a doormat. I do not have, as someone has said, "the strength to be nothing." I don't have it. And I think it very likely that you don't as well. We may be able to put on a mask of humility, but within us, something far different than that spirit is seething and burning....looking for a way to express itself.

I preach and write a great deal about abandonment to Christ, yet He continually brings me up to the place of seeing how much of my life is not yet abandoned to Him. Especially as concerns my reputation and standing in the eyes of others. Does anyone else besides me have the same problem? Oswald Chambers said "Most of us know abandonment in vision only." In other words, it's a theory we believe in, not a reality we live in.

There is only one way to enter into the life of abandonment to Him. We have to be willing to die to self in a thousand ways....and then in a thousand and one more besides. To abandon ourselves to Him means to be willing to die to absolutely anything that stands between us and Him. To die to All. And in entering into that, we discover how vast are the number of idols, desires, hopes and dreams there are for us to die out to. There is no way into that life but through His cross, and His cross will not tolerate a little bit of our life given to Him here and there. As Lewis says, the whole tree must come down, not just a branch or two.

To die upon a cross was a most horrible death. It is said that one died a thousand times. The spiritual reality hasn't changed for us. The number of things we must die to seems endless.....but here's the joy and wonder; the amount of true Life that we enter into is infinite. We may die in a thousand ways, but the abundance we receive is beyond measure or count. And He calls us there, to our own Calvary. To the cross. His, and ours. Upon that Tree, our tree comes down. Roots, branches, all. All to Jesus we surrender. All to Him we freely give.....and All of Him is ours. That's how Paul could say that losing all, including his right to himself, was nothing in comparison to what he gained in the riches found in Christ.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Cracks And Leaks

"He tells what He has seen and heard, and how few believe what He tells them. Those who believe Him discover that God is true." John 3:32...."For I have passed on to them the words You gave Me." John 17:8...."How sad to get to heaven and learn that the enemy believed His promises over us more than we did." Sheila Walsh

There's a neat little praise chorus with the line, "All Your promises won't let go of me." I wish this was really the case with most of us. More than that, I wish it were so that all of His words to us would not let go. Dare we meditate just a bit on the wonder of what John the Baptist is saying in the above verse? Jesus Christ, whose place is at the right hand of the Father, and who is witness to and partaker of the infinite wonder of the Three and One God, makes known to us that wonder. All of what He has seen and all of what He has heard. And how little of it we believe. How little of it we receive. We grope along with scales over our eyes and veils over our hearts....and remain largely ignorant of all of it. He passes on all the words the Father gave Him for us, and we so easily allow them to pass on through us. They may be memorized in our minds, but their reality so often never reaches our heart.

Walsh's words are chilling. The enemy of our souls know exactly how powerful are His words and promises to us. He has no doubt that if we'll believe and walk in them all he will ever know in relation to us is defeat. Christ has fully defeated him. I've a good friend who says that satan refuses to believe he's defeated, so he fights on. He refuses to accept reality. He can be very skillful in getting us to not accept it as well. And so he attacks the very root of our faith, our trust and confidence in Him. Wherever he can isolate us from Him, deaden our hearts to His voice, close our eyes to His presence, he wins. Where today is he winning with you and me?

Someone has said that if we have never fully trusted in Him, in the truth of His words and promises, the "cracks" in our lives will allow our "strength and confidence" in Him to "leak out." We need to allow His Spirit to search out those cracks, and in His love, seal every one of them. Where are our cracks? Where is His Life leaking out from us? His Word tells us we are sealed in Christ. Only by fully trusting Him can we know the reality of that promise.

Yet it is more than just about His promises, believing them and His words. It is about our knowing Him. Knowing who He is, knowing that when we see and hear Him, we see and hear the Father. Knowing His heart, and then knowing it is also the heart of the Father. Knowing His love not just as a biblical fact, but a personal reality. And in that reality hearing His whisper of life into our life...so that our lives become filled with His life. And we're one...with Him, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit. Than we realize that His words are much more than ink written on a page. They are alive and written upon our hearts.

I read somewhere that when Jesus called Peter to walk out upon the life threatening storm waves, He called him to step out onto the very thing he thought would destroy him. He wanted him to believe that His words were infinitely greater than those waves. He wanted him to believe that His heart connecting with Peter's would never allow Him to sink. Peter wavered in his belief and trust, and began to sink. Where are we wavering today? Where have we begun to sink? Where are we sinking right now? Do we believe His words over us, to us, in us? Have we settled the question as to whether He is true? Or, are the "waves" more real to us than He is? Do the cracks and leaks in our spiritual lives make us blind to Him....and only aware of the storms and waves?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - As Jesus Passes By

"When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,' they told him. So he called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.' " Luke 18:36-38

Part of our living in this fallen world is having regrets. I know I have many of them. For me, the greatest are those times when I have missed Jesus. Missed Him in the lives and needs of people and situations that He has brought before me. Missed Him in the words that people spoke, or the behaviors they were exhibiting. Missed Him because I didn't see Him, didn't notice Him, didn't sense Him. I didn't because I was too busy seeing, noticing, and sensing something or someone else. Too often just noticing myself. He passed by....right before my "eyes," and I never saw Him. Lost chances. Lost opportunities. Chances and opportunities that won't come again, at least not in the same manner or way. True, there is no condemnation in the missing, but there is sadness. I didn't see Him, and the loss was mine, and even His, that I didn't

There have always been ample "reasons" for my missing Him. I had a lot going on. I wasn't in any position to really do or minister in that instance. I was under a lot stress, even pain and heartache. I was totally drained, and I had nothing to give. What I have failed to recognize in all these situations is that if He had thought that any of them were valid reasons to miss Him, He would never have passed by to begin with.

The blind beggar by the side of the road in Luke 18 could have easily never noticed Jesus. He could have stayed focused on his own situation and need. He could have been irritated by the noise and the crowd. He could have been angry that the crowd didn't pay any attention to him. I believe that instead, blind though he was, his heart told him that Someone unlike anyone ever before was passing by, and he should let nothing, absolutely nothing, keep him from encountering that One. So he cried out for the one thing he felt sure he would receive...mercy. Mercy from the One who is mercy itself. And he received that mercy...and his sight...from that One, that Jesus, who was passing by. In Christ, Light stepped into his darkness.

It is a tragedy when we miss Him in the form of people and needs that pass before each day. Only eyes that are seeking to see Him in everything will recognize Him in the many forms He takes in this life. Oftentimes, He comes in the form of the ugly, the undesireable, the unwanted, even our enemies. Some have said that they learned to see the face of Jesus in the lives of those who most despised them. Jesus often passes by in the form that the flesh will have little or nothing to do with.

Yet even more tragic I think is how we miss Him as He passes by our lives in the small things and ways of each day. In our thoughts, our emotions, our fears, and our hopes....and our blessings. In all of them and more He passes by. Will we see Him? Will we, like the blind beggar, cry out to Him for the mercy we so desperately need? Will we miss the chance to be used in His healing touch, or receive it for ourselves? This day, in ways beyond counting, He will be passing by. Will we see Him....or will we remain blind...as He goes by again....unnoticed? Light steps into the darkness. Will we allow Him to step into ours?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - What's The Spirit Saying?

"Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches." Revelation 2:29

Once, upon readying to depart for one of our denominational gatherings, I, feeling a particular need for Him, prayed, "Lord, I'm not much interested in hearing what our group's focus points are. I'm not much interested in hearing the thoughts and desires of men. Lord, I want to hear from you. I want to hear the voice of the Spirit there. I want to hear what You're saying." As I prayed that, the above verse from Revelation 2 came immediately into my mind. I knew it was placed there by the Holy Spirit. It's an exhortation to the Church from the Holy Spirit through the apostle John the on his prison island of Patmos. It's an exhortation the Spirit continues to speak today. It's spoken to anyone who is willing to hear. Are we, you and I, willing to hear what the Spirit is saying not only to the churches, but to us?

In the chaos of the times we are living in, God is speaking. Are we listening? We tend to look for the thunder of His voice, but I think He most often whispers. To hear Him we have to "strain" spiritually. There's no place for casual listening. All other voices, and the noise that can go with them, have to be shut out so that only His voice is heard. It seems countless books are written on how we can better to learn to listen to each other, and we've become very skillful at learning how. So much so that everyone knows what the current spiritual "superstars" are saying, but so few seem to know what God is saying. We identify problems in the church and in individual fellowships, and then we hold long discussions about what to do about them. We may pray before the discussion and ask God to be present, but then we generally consign Him to a corner and proceed to put forth our ideas on most everything. What would happen, if, on every level of the "organized church," we became a lot less organized, and just "shut up" and listened? What would happen if leaders and laity alike would lay down agendas, and ourselves along with them, and just lay before Him....listening to what the Spirit is saying to His Church?

In the Old Testament, it was said that, "Word from the Lord was rare in those days. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." How near to that are we living today. Despite what we say, what do our actions, decisions and choices really reveal? What do our gatherings, our "worship" times say? Whose voice is really being heard? Ours.....or His?

Let us read anew, with open and seeking heart Revelation 2:29. Then let us go to Him and in surrender simply say, "Lord, please speak. I, we, are listening. What are you saying not just to Your Church....but to me. Right now"

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Servant

"For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as One who serves." Luke 22:27....."For God so loved that He GAVE....." Ann Voskamp

How many times have you and I read the above Scripture and just passed over it? When we think of being a servant of the Living God, and of His Son, Jesus Christ, just how do we process all of that? When we think on what it means to serve Him, how much of that really comes down to the various jobs we do "at church?" To what degree is servanthood really our lifestyle? Are we really prepared, eager to be, "washers of feet" not only to one another, but to a world filled with those whose feet are covered with it's filth?

We're not lacking for "big vision" pastors and people in the church. Cast a great "vision" and then get people on board with it. We want people to sign on to helping us achieve the vision. There is certainly a place for vision, if the vision is truly from Him and not our own fleshly desires. But how much of it contains a place for true servanthood? How much of the vision is about "building the church" rather than serving it, and those it seeks to reach for Him? What would happen if the people of God truly engaged their world as did their Lord....as those who had come among as ones who serve?

I have in my prayer journal the question, "Do I have the strength to be nothing?" It came from the writing of another who asked the same question of themselves. To be nothing for Him requires a strength that can only come from Him. The One who became nothing in order to offer the human race everything in Himself. Do we have such strength? Do we dare to engage our world as ones who are among them to serve? What would be the result if we began to see ourselves as the servants of all those we come into contact with, wherever we are, whenever we are there? What if we started seeing people not as those we can get into our churches, but as ones we can minister to in some way, whether they ever come to our church or not? And whether they have anything to offer or not?

So many of us move in a spirit of entitlement. We are loud in our criticisms of living in the midst of a generation who see themselves as entitled, while being blind to our captivity to that same spirit. Others exist to serve us. Churches exist to serve us, and so do the people in them. We then take that attitude outside the walls of the fellowship, and it marks all of our interactions with the world beyond them. We spend our lives "sitting at table," and never notice that Jesus is not sitting there with us. He's busy washing feet.

This is not a call to look for more good things to do. It's a call for a heart transformation that can only come about through Him. A transformation that changes our attitudes, the words we speak, and how we see the people around us. They are no longer there for us. We're here for them. We speak blessing. We seek to bestow blessing. We keep decreasing....to nothing, while He, the Servant, increases in everything. He loved so much that He gave....and gives. And now, because of Christ in us, so do we. So do you.....and I. But do we?

His servants move about unseen....by all but Him. And as they do, they bless....and He increases through them. And the Kingdom grows, whether we can visibly see that or not. This day, and every day, we will go out among them. Will we do so as entitled recipients, here to receive all things......or as the servants of all, here to give all things? Do we have the strength to be nothing....so He can be everything?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Living Hope

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." I Peter 1:3

Last week I was so blessed to watch the funeral of Dr. Billy Graham. What a celebration of joy it was. All of his children and his surviving sister spoke. All of them, though saddened by the temporary loss of their father and brother, spoke with a holy joy, knowing that he, as he had often said, wasn't dead, but had entered into the fullness of His Life in Jesus Christ. All spoke with the full assurance that they would see him again, and be re-united not only with him, but with his and their Lord, Jesus Christ. The glow of the Holy Spirit was everywhere, and one couldn't be but moved by watching it all. I add to this the account given by a friend who had gone to see Dr. Graham as he lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda. He said that the faces of both the family members who were present, and those who had come to honor his memory, were faces reflecting the joy and wonder of the Lord. Hope and Glory were what was seen. So much so that some of the family members actually prayed with and led one of the attendees to Christ. Such is the case for all those who live secure in their hope that is Jesus Christ the Lord.

As I watched it all, the Lord brought back a memory to me of a funeral I presided over in the early years of my ministry. A couple had been coming to church. Both had a very hard lifestyle, and both had real problems with alcohol. Being a young pastor, I really had no great expertise or wisdom to offer them, so I offered the only thing I could; hope. A living hope in Christ. Not long after their beginning to come, the husband's mother died. I was the only pastor they knew, and was asked to do the funeral. It was the first funeral I'd ever done. I will never forget that day. There were four people in attendance. Her husband, her son, his wife, and a dear old lady who sat in the front pew. I felt overwhelmed as to what I could do to minister, but I placed my inadequacy upon Him, and tried to preach a message of hope and salvation in Him. At the end, I invited all to receive that living hope. The father, his son and his wife just looked at me....with faces that showed not anger, not even outright rejection, but utter and complete hopelessness and despair. I closed the service, and was shortly invited to come to the home of the couple. The father would be there as well. I thought that maybe this would be the chance to lead them to Him and to His Life. It wasn't. Not every story has the happy, celebration ending.

When I got there, all three were sitting at the kitchen table. Before each one was a glass...filled with whiskey from the bottle that sat in the middle of the table. As I sat with them, not knowing at all what I should do or say, and seeing in their faces no hope, no expectation, just despair. The look of the lost. The thought I had is that this must be a glimpse of what hell is. I tried, likely poorly, to speak hope and life, but the words seemed to fall right upon the table I sat at. They just continued to pour drinks...and the sense of darkness grew heavier by the moment. Finally, I sensed His leading to take my leave. I, and most importantly, He, could do no more here. I prayed a prayer that I don't think they heard, offered my help in any and all ways in the days to come, and left that awful scene.

The couple and the father came a few more times, but they were increasingly distant, and finally just walked away. My efforts to stay connected were rejected. The atmosphere that was present at that kitchen table was the atmosphere that they had chosen to live in. I grieved it all. They could have been born again into that living hope that is Christ. Instead, they chose the darkness of death. That was many years ago, and they come to mind often. That was especially so as I witnessed the celebration of joy in Dr. Graham's memorial. They had been invited to enter into the joy of that celebration. Did they ever? Or did they remain in the darkness of death? Did they ever receive that invite from that day into the celebration, or did they remain in the realm of hopelessness and despair? The realm of hell.

So what of you and I? Have we really entered into the life of His living hope? I don't ask if you ever walked an aisle to an altar, or prayed a prayer of salvation. I ask if you, we, have, by the witness of our lives, live in the joy, wonder, and glory of the hope we have in the risen Christ? Are you free from the grip of death and so held in the embrace of His love? Do we live in celebration of His Life....with full expectation that we not only will one day enter into it's fullness in eternity, but can live in all it's fullness possible right now? Are we most at home with brother Billy and his fellow celebrants, or, do we look and live more like those ones at that kitchen table? What really is our witness? Are we celebrants of His Life, or mourners because of our lack of it?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Defying Gravity

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14.....Gravity: The force that attracts a body towards the center of the earth......"The ways of the world are grabbing a hold. Won't let me go...It's taking it's toll down on my soul...Don't let me lose my sight of You. Don't let me lose my sight." From the song, Gravity, by Shawn MacDonald

Just recently I heard a the above song, and in it, the Shawn MacDonald expresses His desire to not be pulled away from the heart of the Father by the things of this world. He did not want the spiritual gravity of this realm to have such a claim on his heart as to keep Him from all the fullness in Christ that His Father had for him. As I listened, I thought that this is what is needed in the lives and hearts of His people. We need lives that "defy gravity."

SIr Issac Newton is credited with coming up with what is known as the "Law of Gravity," that objects will always be pulled to the earth by it's force. No one can defy this law. All living things are subject to it. And it's true in the natural realm, but not so in the supernatural. All of us, like Paul, have received that "upward call" from Him. He is always calling us up to Himself, to where He lives. Paul heard that call from the very first, and His life was marked by his ongoing response to it. Just as in the natural realm, there is a law of gravity in the spiritual. The difference is, those who are His are empowered by Him to live lives that "defy gravity." The force that pulls our flesh to the very center of the world value system and all of its ways, is overwhelmed by the power of the upward call of Christ that He speaks into the very core of our being. We defy gravity by setting our hearts and wills to heed that call....to be ever moving upward in Him. The force and power that seeks to pull us to the center of this world system, has its power broken in the force and presence that is Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. The gravity of this world cannot hold such as these. His upward call defies all of its might. And just as we have seen astronauts floating free in space, where the law of gravity has lost been broken, so too do we float ever higher and freer in Him as we live a life that never cease to hear and come to His upward call. The power of this world is broken as well.

We are born into this world anchored to it. It's values and ways are in virtually every part of our being. It's our DNA. We have no power in our selves to be free of it, and its end is always our destruction. Yet there is One who was never subject to its pull, and in Him, we need not be either. Christ's life defied every spiritual law of gravity. His was a life that responded only to the call of His Father, and in Him, we can live such a life as well. At the cross, the spiritual law of gravity, sin, was broken...forever. All who come to His cross, and yield to Him there, receive the power to live that life as well. Have you? Have you embraced His cross, His life, and the grace and power He gives to defy gravity? Or, does the force of this world still hold you in its grasp? He calls you upward. All the power of hell and sin is broken in Him. Answer the upward call....Defy gravity.....Come alive. Float free.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Killing Time

"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement." Hebrews 9:27...."We all get one container of time - but no one gets to know what size that container is.....You have only one decision every day: how will you use your time?" Ann Voskamp

After reading Voskamp's words, the question that came to me was, "Are we killing time, or is time killing us?" I'm also put in mind of an old beer commercial that used as it's main line, "You only go around once in life, so you've got to grab for all the gusto you can get." This is a piercing definition of the world's idea of how we spend our lives, our time here in this very temporary realm. It's all about us, and it's all about getting all we can while we can. Grabbing. Clutching. Holding onto, adding onto. This is what life is to be about. It's a value system that has found a warm reception in a large segment of the church. We've created quite a "Me" centered gospel here in the west. Jesus is the Savior, Healer, Giver of life who came for me. For us. It's all about us, and Christ is relegated to the role of supporting player. It's we who are at center stage. That's how we spend our time, and our lives here in this realm. A realm we have grown very comfortable with. Yet Voskamp says that "Time is not something to grab; it's something to give." So just what is it that we are giving our time to, spending our lives, literally, upon? Are we killing time, or is time killing us?

When Stewardship is preached on and taught in our fellowships today, most often it's about finances. I wonder if that's a sign of where our priorities really lie, in that which can be counted, accumulated, and added on to? Yet the Father's idea of stewardship has everything to do with how we spend our lives and upon what that we spend them. They say that in the average church, 10% of the people do 90% of the work, but it is not in the main about work. We can spend great amounts of time working for Him, but very little in actually knowing Him. The motives for what we do can be far more about us being in the spotlight than in bringing glory to Him. When that's the case, in the end, all we've done is waste time, not bring glory to Him in the midst of it.

I remember my first pastor preaching a message, and he used the name of one of the Old Testament figures who had lived a very long time. He said that all Scripture said about the man was that he lived and that he died. Nothing else. When the grains of the sand's of time run out of our containers, what will be said of how we spent our lives and what we spent them on? This is about more than being active in your church. It's about the entire focus of your life, of your heart. Is it set upon knowing the mind, heart, and desires of the King, and then being at His disposal for how He chooses to spend your life? Do we grab for the gusto, or give ourselves over to Him?

We are all living in time. We will all stand before Him to account for our time. If you have never come to know Him as your Savior and Lord, then now is the time for that to happen. The grains are running out of your container. Time will run out, despite satan's great lie that "there is still time." If you confess to be His, does your stewardship of time give proof of that claim? Are you held captive in time, or do you live above it in Him? Voskamp says that "The way to break times hold on me is to be broken and given with my time." Are you, are we, broken and given with our time...for Him, and for those He loves? They say our checkbooks and day planners show just who and what we are really devoted to. Who and what we really love. So do our thoughts, our dreams, desires, and hopes. What do yours and mine say? What will they say to Him on that day of accounting? Will we have just been killing time, or will time have killed us?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Once More

"When God spoke from Mt. Sinai His voice shook the earth. but now He makes another promise: 'Once more I will shake not only the earth, but the heavens also.' This means that the things on earth will be shaken so that only eternal things remain." Hebrews 12:26-27..."God is looking for those who will not only worship Him in spirit and truth, but also in crisis." Chris Tiegreen

I've a pastor friend who sees these verses as telling us that not only has the Father shaken the things of this world before, but that He will most certainly do so again. I think we are in the midst of such a shaking right now.

T. Austin-Sparks says of these verses, "God shakes the heavens and the earth to see how much of Christ remains after the shaking." They say the true character of a person comes forth in the midst of crisis. In the spiritual realm, when all that makes up our existence is shaken to it's very foundation, we find out just what our foundation really is. If it is Christ, it will show forth. If not......?

It's much easier to think in these terms when it comes to the church. We like to say that only those things done in Christ will remain. Everything done in our own strength is nothing but "wood and stubble." We can talk about whether the church is built upon the foundation of Christ, but what about our own lives? When our very lives get shaken to their core, just how much of Christ remains? How much of Christ is really there to begin with? At the very core and foundation of our lives, just who and what do we trust in? Who and what are we looking to? When we, like Paul, find ourselves on a "ship" literally being ripped apart on the storm tossed sea of life, does our confidence and trust disintegrate just as our ship does as well? Who and what abides at the very center of our being? Christ.....or something else?

I recently heard Franklin Graham talk of what happened when two of his Samaritan's Purse medical volunteers were struck with the Ebola virus while ministering to those afflicted with the terrible disease in Africa. He related the completely impossible circumstances he encountered in seeking to get one of them, Dr. Ken Brantley, back home to America for treatment. The time element was crucial, and though, with assistance from the U.S. government, they did find a means to get them back, the plane had a mechanical malfunction and had to return to Africa. That night, Dr. Brantley began to die. Through all this, people were praying. Franklin Graham said that as he prayed in his office, he noticed a shadow on his wall. A shadow that lengthened as he watched, until it covered the entire wall. His thought to himself was that "This must be the shadow of death," spoken of in the 23rd Psalm. He and everyone else continued to pray, and during that prayer, a government official came to the medical team working on Dr. Brantley with an experimental drug. It was risky, but they used it. Within an hour, he began to rally, and continued to do so. So much, that a new flight was made, and he was brought home where he made a full recovery. Key in all this was that if the flight had not turned back when it did, he would have died before reaching the states, and would never have had the drug administered to him. Everything in this was shaken.....Christ remained.

One of those involved in all of this said, "In this out of control situation, we trusted and believed that He was still in control." For Dr. Brantley, like Paul on that ship, "All hope of being saved" was gone when that plane turned back. Everything for everyone involved was shaken.....to the core.....yet in it all....Christ remained. The shadow of death could not overcome the presence and reality of Christ. In the out of control situation, Christ had never lost control. He never does. He never will. Only those whose lives are truly centered in Him know that to be so.

As a culture, and as individuals, our own "once more" shaking is upon us. What shall remain at the end of it? Of what are our lives truly composed? If it is anyone or anything but Christ, it will show. If it is Jesus Christ, that will show as well. What will show in you, and in me?

Blessings,
Pastor O