The Exchange

"The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings there." 2 Kings 12:3...."The Exchanged the truth of God for a lie." Romans 1:25....."The high places in our lives are often not what we zealously pursue but what we passively tolerate....We fall in love with unlovely things. We exchange truth for a lie." Chris Tiegreen

When Moses went up on the mountain to commune with God and receive His commandments, the people below grew impatient with the wait. After all, they had never really "seen" or experienced Him as had Moses. They had lots of information, but they had little or no reality of Him. Yet they wanted to, in their way. So they convinced Aaron, Moses' brother to construct an idol according to their idea of Him. Aaron the priest, was to have been by Moses' side on the mountain. Instead he chose to stay below, where the half-hearted people were. He yielded to their requests and constructed the calf. Moses was beholding His glory on the mountain. Aaron and the people were gazing at a flawed idea of who they thought God was. Scripture says that they exchanged the glory of God for a statue of a grass eating ox. Where, in some way or ways have we done the same? Where are we doing so now?

Joash was king of Israel. Scripture says of him that he was neither a fully good or bad king. The first part of his reign was marked by many good acts, but the last part by a host of bad ones. He had obeyed God in many places in his life, but not in the most important. All over the kingdom were "high places," locations where altars were erected to gods who were no gods at all. Gods who were worshiped by the people in addition to the one true God, or completely apart from Him. Joash was to destroy these. He never did and they remained to draw the hearts of both the people and Joash himself away from Jehovah God. Could we dare to allow Him to search our hearts in order to reveal where we too have allowed high places to remain? Places where we may not so much worship as tolerate. Places where we feel a bond with. A bond that will always draw our hearts from Him.

There are some searching questions for each of us. Where in our lives do we prefer the company of the half-hearted instead of the fully devoted? Where are we "constructing" a God who more closely resembles who we think He should be instead of who He actually is? Where are the "high places" located in our hearts, be they relationships, activities, habits, desires, and goals, that draw both our heart and our person from Him? Last, are we ready for the consequences of allowing any and all of these to continue? There is cost, deep cost in doing so. On that mountain with Moses, He declared that we should have no other gods before Him, yet somehow, we always find ways around that command. John Calvin said that we are born as "master craftsmen of idols." Where are yours and mine? Where have we exchanged His glory for a dumb ox? Where have we traded His truth for a lie?

Blessings,

Do You?

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?' " John 11:25-26

Someone said that the deepest answer to any prayer was His peace. It is so because usually we think we will be at peace AFTER He has answered our prayers in the way we desire. This is not true peace. True peace is to be at rest in the depths of our spirit not only before He answers, but even if He should not. Few of us seem to live in the reality of such a response.

Many years ago, I wrote in one of my prayer journals, "Lord, may I have the mindset and heartset at all times that you are able, in all situations, to deliver, to heal, or resurrect, but even if you do none of these, I will not cease to believe and trust you in all things." I think I've fallen short of that realization more than I've come into it, but I know that my heart's desire is that I will live it out.....day by day, and moment by moment.

The above passage of Scripture is part of the exchange between Martha and Jesus after the death and burial of Martha's brother, Lazarus. For Martha, the worst had happened. Jesus had not come before Lazarus died. She believed that if He'd been there, her brother would have been healed. She still believed in Him as her Lord, but her faith, her peace, was shaken. How often have we been in the very same place? The words Jesus speaks to her soon lead to Him going to the tomb of Lazarus and calling him back to life. Her heart, and that of her sister Mary, as well as all others present, rejoiced in this miraculous work. Yet in the first words Jesus spoke to her is a truth that in our time of desperate need, in our time of darkness and pain, we so easily forget. He said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life." Then He asked her if she believed this. He asks us as well. Most especially does He ask this in our own hour of desperation. Do we believe it no matter what He does next?

The only way we can be at peace, deep, settled peace in our spirit, is if we believe, deeply believe, that in all things, in all needs, in all prayers, He is the resurrection and the life. He is this whether or not we receive the answer we seek. He is this when all the circumstances before us say He's not that at all. He is this when all of hell itself shouts that He's a liar. We are at peace because we know, by experience, that He is exactly who He says He is. And we trust Him. Even when He's three days late, as He was with Lazarus. Because when we believe this, we find, always, that Jesus Christ is never late. He is always right on time in establishing all of His purpose for us. Knowing this is trust. Knowing this is peace.

Where we are now, as the church, as families, as individual believers, we need to have this question settled. He is the resurrection and the life, reigning over death in all of its forms and ways. Do we believe this? Can we live in His deepest answer to our prayers; that He is, beyond any doubt, the resurrection and the life, and that He is such to us?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Contagious

"And when they could not find them they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.' " Acts 17:6

"Contagious" is a word much used in our culture today. We already know about how contagious the Covid-19 virus is reported to be. We're also hearing about all the violence erupting in so many American cities also seems to be contagious. We could use the word to aptly describe the steadily downward trend of morality, integrity, and so many other character traits of society. The word definitely carries a negative connotation for most, yet there is one place where I don't believe it does, and that is in His Church. Our culture, indeed our world, is desperately in need of a contagious faith. A faith that pierces the darkness, and brings healing, hope, peace, joy, reconciliation and relationship. It was what marked the early church, and continued to mark His church at various places throughout the ages. It needs to, indeed must, mark His church in this age.

I have always loved Acts 17:6. The one who spoke it didn't mean it in any way that would flatter, though he certainly spoke truth. The world, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ was being shaken at its very foundation. Where His people went, wherever they went, this shaking took place. His followers possessed a contagious faith. This faith, through the Person they believed in, shook not only the very foundation of the world, it shook the foundations of hell itself. Thus the enemy, through the spirit of the world and the flesh, sought every means to stop it, destroy it. He couldn't, because the people of the cross walked in such a vibrant, living faith and hope, that all the power of hell could not quench it or stop it. Such a faith is the need of our day. Such a hope is the need of our day. Are we, who call ourselves His, who call ourselves His church, capable of living out that faith? Are we capable of turning this world upside down, and shaking hell's foundations? Our Lord most certainly is. Are we?

His Word says that apart from Him we can do nothing. Apart from Him we are nothing. This means then that we must allow Him to expose everything in our lives that seeks to exist apart from Him. Then, surrendering it all, we allow Him to transform us into those who live fully in Him. Paul prayed in Galatians that Christ would be fully developed in the peoples lives. He must be fully developed in ours. Sadly, for too many, it has never been more than partially so. We're "half-baked" casual followers of the King. And so a contagious darkness envelops the world, while we who are partakers of His light appear powerless to counter that. We are not, and we need to wake up and know that.

I have a prayer in my journal that reads, "Father, transform us into a people where there is radical welcome, radical forgiveness, radical healing, radical confrontation of sin, radical worship, and radical love." Such a church will be contagious. Such a church and people will once again turn the world upside down. The world and the darkness it thrives in, hates it, but it will never be able to stop it. May we, you and I, be such a church and people. May we be radically contagious, turning the world, right where we are, upside down.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Darkness

"He shrouded Himself in darkness, veiling His approach with dense rain clouds." Psalm 18:11...."The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." Exodus 20:21...."My God, You light up my darkness." Psalm 18:28

Darkness doesn't scare God. It only scares us. In fact, His word says that darkness isn't darkness to Him. It doesn't diminish His vision, His power, or His presence. However, He can and does use it for His purposes. I believe that He's doing so right now.

There's a great deal of preaching, writing, and talking going on about the darkness of our days, and rightly so. They are dark. How we deal with that will determine the depth of our life in Him, and how much that darkness will affect and even imprison us. If we have eyes to see, eyes of His Spirit and not the flesh, we will see into and beyond the darkness. We will see Him. For as Psalm 18 reads, He often approaches us covered in darkness. I believe He approaches us right now. Will we fear and flee from the darkness, or will we believe that in it, no matter how thick, He can be found. He can be seen. And we can know that He is not only the Lord of Light, but that He is also Lord over the darkness.....even at its thickest.

As I write this, a thunderstorm is approaching. The sky is growing darker, and the rain clouds are full. Only minutes ago the sun was shining. Such change happens quickly in weather. So too can it in life. Storm clouds, and the heavy darkness that accompanies them can intimidate us. That is why we have to remember that He reigns over them, and He reigns in them, and He can and will use that darkness to bring forth His light. He will light up our darkness if we will dare to stand still in Him and trust Him for it. Darkness is not darkness to Him.

One other point here; Exodus 21 tell us that Moses entered into the thick darkness where God was. The people stood back in fear, for that is what the flesh will always do. Moses had the discernment to know that His God could be found there. He can always be found there.....if we will dare to enter in. Thick darkness will approach in all manner of ways, including the lives of people, of communities that He puts before us or calls us to. Our flesh will always be put off by such, but He calls us to dare to enter in, to dare to believe that when we do, we'll find Him present there. And if we'll be available to Him, He'll shine His light to and through us.

2000 years ago on a dark, storm tossed lake, Jesus came to His disciples, who were sure that they would perish. The storm had no power over Him, and what they didn't know was that in Him, it had no power over them. Whatever our particular storm may be, and no matter how dark the skies, He is there, in the midst of it, and He will save us....if we dare to lay hold of Him, and trust that He will. The darkness, no matter how deep, has no power over Him....or us. Know that. Believe that, and dare to enter the darkness....where God is.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Straining Forward

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Philippians 3:12...."Whatever we've been apprehended for will require a great straining forward in faith to take hold of." Anonymous

If you profess to have been converted by His saving grace, may I ask you, indeed, all of us, for what exactly did He save you for? Yes, we can list things and situations that He's saved us from, but for what purpose did He transform you from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His Light? I think most of us will struggle to come up with any kind of real answer to that. I think the majority of His people live out their lives without any real purpose. What purposes we do know of seem to fall into the category of fulfilling fleshly desires; a comfortable life, a good marriage, good kids, good job, successful ministry. In short, a life that brings us satisfaction. We can lay hold of that, but do we ever lay hold of what His purpose in all of it has been, and yet remains? That Christ be fully developed in our lives?

I once read a piercing question. It asked, "Is the life you're living a life that is worth Christ dying for?" Is mine? Is yours? When He created us, He did so with eternal purposes in mind, yet not many of us live with eternity in our thoughts or view. Can we really believe that His purpose for us doesn't go much beyond our living good moral lives, attending church, giving our tithe, and doing our daily devotional? The Father put a damning proclamation upon the nation of Israel when He told them that in all their history, "they had done nothing to rescue the world." God raised up the nation of Israel to be His witness to a lost humanity. By lives lived out in devotion to Him, they were meant to draw the unbelieving nations of the world to Him. That never happened. Their purpose remained unfulfilled. Does ours remain the same?

The above quote from the anonymous source is telling. We will not enter into His purpose by spiritually sleepwalking through life. We will need to reach out for it in order to discover it. The picture of our "straining forward" is a good one because entering into the fullness of His purpose will require us to stretch out, in faith, to lay hold of that purpose. We can never realize that purpose by our own effort. It will always be beyond us. But by His grace, we can. We can lay hold of that which can only be laid hold of in Christ.

Someone said of Paul's Damascus Road conversion that, "The one who was seeking to arrest the followers of Jesus Christ was himself arrested by Christ." When he set out on that road, he thought he knew his purpose. When he encountered Christ, every other purpose in his life fell by the side of that road. He was Christ's, and the remainder of his life would be lived out as His instrument and vessel. He wouldn't turn aside from that. Will we? Have we? Do we yet live for that for which He first took hold of us? Do we live for what He died for? Or, do we live for something else? Do we live straining forward, or shrinking back?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Missing Jesus

"But Thomas....was not with them when Jesus came." John 20:24....."Don't miss Jesus. It makes a doubting Thomas." Vance Havner

I just listened to Larry Norman's classic, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," which is his heartbroken lament over all those who will miss the return of Jesus Christ because they will not be ready. Not ready to believe, to receive, to embrace and live for Christ the King. That will be a terrible tragedy for all those not ready for that great day. For them, it will always be too late. I too wish that we're all ready. I pray we are ready now.

Yet there is a deeper meaning in this Scripture and Havner hits on it concerning Thomas, the disciple who doubted the report from the other disciples of the risen Christ. He wasn't there to behold Him, and so doubted the words of the other disciples. Havner makes the point that Thomas went another week before he too encountered Christ, and in that week, he, in comparison to the others, was an unbeliever. He missed Jesus, but in His mercy, He was given another opportunity to see Him. He didn't miss that one. Now here's a point for you and me; where are we missing Jesus? Where has He shown up in the events of our lives, and yet we've missed Him? Where has He appeared with the purpose of taking us deeper into our faith lives and experience, but we weren't "there" to behold Him? What act beyond belief did He intend for us but we missed, and so, as concerns that, do we remain, like Thomas, "unbelievers?"

I'm convinced that most of us miss Jesus on a regular basis. Thomas was meant to be with the other disciples when Jesus appeared, but something kept him away. What keeps us away? What is it that is so important that it will keep us from missing His appearing before us, to us, in ways we've never known? Here in our 21st century western belief system, the supernatural and miraculous remain as suspect to us in as they do the unbelieving culture around us. Thomas missed Jesus because he wasn't expecting Him. We miss Him because we have no expectation of His miraculous presence and activity in our lives. Someone said we believe little so we see little. How true is this of you and me? Where are we missing Him because we're not looking for Him? Where has He appeared but we weren't present to behold Him? And note, this can happen not just outside of our worship gatherings, but in the very midst of them. We're to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth...as a lifestyle. Yet multitudes of us gather weekly in His name but rarely, if ever, experience the power of His name.

Something distracted Thomas from Christ's desire for him. We don't know what it was. Grief? Anger? A desire for vengeance? Whatever it was, it caused him to miss Jesus, and though he got another chance, I doubt it had as deep an impact as what he would have experienced if he'd been where Jesus wanted him to be.

What distracts you today? Likely there are many things, relationships, people, jobs....ministries that are. Are there any that can compare with you have the experience of His fullness, His life, His presence? Are any of them worth missing Jesus for? If they continue, what will be the cost?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Arise!

Then Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." Mark 5:9..."The Church doing Christ's mission with Christ's heart in Christ's power should expect....full demonic assault met with decisive Kingdom conquest....When Jesus is on the move, the demons get no rest." Mark Buchanan

In His Word, whenever Christ encountered the demonic, there was usually a uniform response; violence. Not violence against Him, because they knew they had no power over Him. It was violence against those they possessed, their victims. Almost always, the humans they possessed sought to do harm to themselves, wounding and cutting their bodies, throwing themselves into a fire, and other destructive acts. In all of these, Christ silenced their voices, and broke their power over the ones they tormented. The truth of Buchanan's words were shown again and again in Christ's ministry. Some form of demonic assault always rose up against it. It still does, and we're seeing it unfold before our very eyes in our day.

We are seeing violence, lawlessness, rebellion, in unprecedented ways in our culture and throughout the world. Many see it as evidence for Christ's soon return, and perhaps it is, but what I believe is even clearer is that the enemy is rising up in these unrestrained ways because the sleeping church in the west is finally waking up, and hearing the words, "Arise, shine, for your light has come." True, many parts of His Body remain asleep or drowsing, but everywhere there are believers crying out to Him, turning away from that which is profane in order to lay hold of that which is holy. Satan has noticed, and he assaults this moving with all his might. Buchanan says that when Jesus is moving, demons get no rest. He certainly isn't at rest in the days we live in now.

It's always been popular to say the devil knows he's defeated. I've a good pastor friend that disagrees with that statement, and I agree with him. He said that the devil doesn't believe he's defeated at all. He thinks he can still win. He doesn't believe he was defeated at Christ's cross. He doesn't believe he was defeated by the empty tomb. I expect he will spend eternity in his hell refusing to believe he is beaten. So he fights on....in futility. But we, the people of the Spirit, cannot be complacent. We must respond to his assaults in His Holy Spirit power. We will see them intensify in these days and those to come. If we will press on in His power, we will experience decisive victory because that is the victory won by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's the only victory He knows. His victory is ours, but it is not entered into by slumbering at the side of the road. It is entered into by way of the cross and the resurrection. Yet, in which do we and our fellowships find ourselves? In slumber, or moving in the power of His resurrection?

I mentioned violence in the devil's assault, but there is a subtler, more disguised "violence" against us as well. We're seeing it in the form of the demonic control he seeks to implement against first the church, and then the entire culture as well. I heard a man say that the term "new normal" is being used to lull us into accepting controls and restraints upon us, once unthinkable, in the name of safety. He seeks to establish such control over us through fear....and he has realized far too much success. We, the Church, have the foremost responsibility to stand against this. If we don't, we too will be overcome. We will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory......because we have missed the call to arise, to shine, for His Light has come, is come, and will continue to come.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Masquerade Party

"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." Hebrews 4:12...."When you wear a mask, what ultimately gets masked is the power of Christ in your life." Ann Voskamp

Sometimes I think the greatest masquerade parties take place each week when the church comes together to "worship." There was a time in our culture that when people attended church, they wore their best clothing. For most, it was clothing they never wore any other time. This was so in my family, in those sporadic times when we tried to have some kind of church life. My brothers and I all wore sport coats, or even a suit. My mother would wear her nicest dresses and my father his only suit. The fact is, we never dressed this way for anything else. It was how we thought we should "look" in church. We weren't alone.

Though clothing styles have changed, our tendency is still to wear a "look" that only seems to come out when we're attending worship, or some other church related gathering. We tend to put forward an appearance that we think others expect of us, even what we think God expects of us. Like the clothing of my family, it's not what we look like the majority of our time. Sometimes it can be the result of being openly deceptive, but I think mostly it's because we think it's what others, especially the Father expects of us. We don't think we can be flawed people and still be followers of Christ. The result; we put on our masks, hoping to give the illusion of having it all together. And we end up with a masquerade party, but we never end up with real worship. The inability to be real and transparent with each other makes us unable to be real and transparent with Him. So the power of His Holy Spirit doesn't manifest in our lives or worship. We end up settling for warm fuzzies that are more about emotion than the Spirit. Voskamp's words become true. We mask His strength in our lives by insisting that we wear the ones we've created.

From the pulpit to the pew, and the platform to the floor, the need for true transparency and openness has never been greater. As the darkness increases around us, the results of it assault us within. We try to cope in our own strength, but we fail. And our feeling is that we're frauds. That if anyone knew how poorly we were handling life, marriage, parenting, and all that goes with these, they'd throw us out of the fellowship. We've bought the devil's lie. His Spirit tells us, if we'll listen, that in our weakness, we'll discover His strength. A strength greater than all of our flaws and all of the enemy's lies. The masks can come off as His power is unmasked and unleashed in our midst.

I'm beyond weary of masquerade parties. Are you? Let's dare to be unmasked and that we might be made whole....and free. Then the real party, the Kingdom party, can begin.

Blessings,

Learning Fear

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10...."According to a psychiatric reference book, there are over 2000 classified fears. Yet Scientists claim we're only born with two innate fears; fear of falling and fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned.......True courage is putting yourself in defenseless positions. This is the lifestyle that was modeled by Christ." Mark Batterson

How many of us live out the second part of Batterson's above quote? Who among us is willing to step out into a position that has no visible means of defense...as did Jesus? Who exposes themselves to real danger when the alternative is stay in a place of safety, secure and untouched? Only a fool would put themselves in such a position. There are not many who are willing to be "fools for Christ."

This is so because we've allowed the world to burn into our minds and hearts all there is to fear in it. Jesus said that many are called, but few are chosen. All who take His name are called to step out in faith for and with Him, but few are chosen to because all that there is to fear in the stepping out is more real to us than why we need not fear; He is with us. We've learned much more of the reasons for fear than we have of the one reason not to; knowing Him. Learning of Him. Experiencing that what appears to be the indefensible place, is in fact the place where we are surrounded by the walls of His salvation. So we never answer His call. We never step out. We never know what it is to be chosen to walk with and in Him. We've learned to fear, but have never learned to trust.

I remember when I took my first real step of faith only a year into my walk with Him. I felt like He was leading me into something far more than what made for my life then. I sought the counsel of my pastor, and he suggested that I might be experiencing His leading into some type of ministry. This led to my hearing of our Bible College, located 1500 miles away. My heart and spirit seemed to receive confirmation that this was where I was to go. I was so young in Him that I hadn't learned all the reasons not to go. All the things that were before me as obstacles. Obstacles that to the naked eye were very deserving of fear. I was not seeing them, but friends and family surely did. In their well meaning they sought to deter me, sure that going where I knew no one, had no idea how I would support myself, let alone pay the tuition required, would result in disaster. Yet go I did, believing all would be provided for. I entered into an indefensible position sure of my position in Him. And all that there was to fear never got the chance to prevent His leading me to where He wanted me to be.

I wish I could say that has been the case from there on. It hasn't. That simple childlike faith didn't always come forth as I learned all that there was to fear if I simply followed Him. Mountains, giants, hardships, challenges, all seemed more real than Him at times. Too many times I wanted more assurance than the promise of His presence. Courage, His courage didn't always win the day, as the fears that I'd learned kept me from the fullness of what He desired. So I missed Him in those places. Eternity will reveal just how much I missed there. As it will for each of us.

I think one of the reasons we learn to live in fear is how attached we become to "things," to "stuff," even to people. We can become so afraid of losing them that we fear totally abandoning ourselves to Him...in trust. When I left for that Bible College, I carried all I owned in my car. The risks of abandoning all to Him were still great, but not nearly so much as it became several decades later. My attachments have grown in number and strength. It becomes a much greater leap of faith to put all of it in the indefensible place according to my sight and sense. Learned fears always work against having courage in Christ.

In the end, it comes down to the question of what will we fear most? The loss of things, even all things? Or, the loss of the fullness of He who is everything? The first will result in our seeking a self styled security. The second will lead to a life fully kept and secure in Him. Someone said that if we will fear Him, we need fear nothing else. Let us lay down all of our learned fears and embrace the One who in fearing Him, makes us fearless. I'm ready for that. Are you?

Blessings
Pastor O

The Door

"I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God's Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. It was the Lord's Day and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast....Then I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven....And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and Someone sitting on it." Revelation 1:9-10, 4:1-2

The above Scripture has long held great meaning for me, and it continues to speak to me in the days we now find ourselves. I see in these verses some simple, yet easily overlooked truths. We would do well to let Him show us, as He did John, the power of these words.

John was likely the last living original disciple. Instead of being killed for his faith in Christ, he was instead imprisoned on the barren island of Patmos. His surroundings and circumstances had to be grim indeed. A rock island around him, a cave as his home, and only the company of criminals and harsh guards for him. Yet we do not see John bemoaning his fate, railing at His God, or sinking into self-pity. He surely knew that he would never leave that island. It would be his grave. Yet what we find him doing on the Lord's Day, and surely every other day, was worshiping His God. It is key that Scripture tells us that he was "in the Spirit" as he did so....A question here; can He be worshiped in any other way but in the Spirit? John was engaged with his Lord on every level of his existence, especially His spirit. How near to that does what we call "worship" come? More than that, when we find ourselves in places we don't want to be, are we more prone to complain and indulge in self-pity, or are our hearts drawn to Him in worship?

Another point here that we often overlook, is that while he was worshiping, he heard a "voice behind him." Likely, he was facing in the direction of Jerusalem. A friend suggested that he may well have had memories of what his life had been, the joy he had known as part of the church in Jerusalem, and the sweet fellowship he knew there. The voice behind him suggests that the Lord thought John was facing in the wrong direction. If he were to continue looking there, he would miss where it was He wanted him to be looking. He would miss what He wanted him to see. Memories are wonderful, but we can never indulge them to the point that we fail to see what the Lord is doing now. What He wants us to see now.

And that brings me to the last point of this writing. Once the Lord got Him looking in the right direction, up, he saw a reality that was far more real than the prison island he was trapped on in the moment. He saw a door opened into heaven, and through that door, he saw the throne room of the Father.........and the Father on His throne. He was seeing that his present circumstances, and the seeming hopelessness the enemy would like him to feel, didn't change the truth that in the midst of the undesired place, Almighty God still reigned. John's circumstances and all that were connected to them were still under the sovereign control and Lordship of the Father. And once John was able to see that, he was ready to see all that the Lord Christ had for him in the vision he received on the island of Patmos. A vision we now know as the book of Revelation.

Wherever we are today, as individuals, family's, as a church and people, no matter how dark it may seem, can we dare to worship Him there? Can we allow Him to draw our gaze upwards, so that we see Him, and the majesty that surrounds Him? Can we believe for the open door unto heaven?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Dried Up?

"So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while, the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land." I KIngs 7:5-7

Has your brook dried up? Has the place where He has set you become a seeming wasteland? Is this what you're finding in your ministry, your profession, your relationships.....your marriage and family? Chances are it is, and if not, and you really are following Him, it likely will one day be so. What will you do there? How will you respond? What will take place in your relationship with Him? All of these questions and more will be before you. They will demand answers.

Elijah surely loved his place beside the brook. He could witness God's daily care for him. All his needs were met and the hand of the Father was clearly evident. Until it wasn't. Until the place he loved became a wilderness, a desert. Where supply was suddenly cut off. Where His hand and work were no longer a daily happening. Where was God, and what would now happen to Elijah? More questions, and they too would require answers.

I've had a brook or two dry up in my life. Ministry, relationships, marriage and family. All at one time were "brooks" that I loved and would never wish to leave. Then they dried up. There was never one particular reason. Sometimes it was the result of a changing season, with one ending and another soon to begin. This was the case with Elijah. The Father had a new place for him to go, and a new person for him to minister to; the widow in Zarephath. But notice that he did not leave his place at the brook until he heard and knew the voice of his God. He didn't act on impulse, as so many do, he waited upon the leading of His Father God. At your dried up brook, this may be how He leads you. Then again, it may not. He may keep you right there, be it in ministry, in relationship, and especially as concerns marriage and family. This passage of Scripture doesn't relate such a path, but I know that He does lead in that way. In this too, we must listen for His voice.

Brooks and streams can be funny places. They do dry up.....on the surface. But often, underneath the surface, flows another, deeper stream. One that we must dig deeply to reach. God may well have a Zarephath for you, but just as likely, He calls you to stay still, stay attentive, and as you do, dig....deeper into the "soil" of your location, and especially, deeper into Him. If we will dare to do so, trusting in His voice and leading, and not in appearances, we will discover the new brook, filled with His life giving water. This will be so in all of the situations listed above. Into what has seemed barren and dried up will flow His water of life. And all that we thought had been lost can be renewed by that water. If we'll just dig.

If you're at your brook, or approaching it, do nothing without His clear leading. Go nowhere unless you're assured He already goes before you. If you have no sense of that.....dig.....deeply, and trust that the living water He has for you will flow anew into your ministry, situation, relationships and marriage. And you will find you didn't have to go to "Zarephath" to have it. Dried up brooks are no obstacle to Him. He will either lead you to a new one, or bring the waters lying beneath to the surface. Dried up brooks are not His final place for us when we obediently follow Him. Whatever the condition of your brook, is that your choice as well?

Blessings,
Pastor O

What More?

"What more could I have done for My vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?" Isaiah 5:4....."One day God will hold us accountable for all He has done for us. He will ask us to show Him the fruit of all His bountiful provision for our lives. What will He find?" Henry Blackaby

Blackaby asks a difficult question. One that can make us squirm. Oswald Chambers says such questions make us "shuffle our feet" in His presence. I ask a difficult one as well; can a fruitless Christian life even be considered Christian at all? I ask because there seem to be so many in the professing church who fall into such a category. Going to church, practicing the rudiments of the faith, prayer, activity, tithing, yet from it, producing little or no fruit at all. The lack comes from the fact that the practicing is done out of some sense of obligation. He expects it, so we'll do it, but our hearts are far removed from both the act and from Him. There is little fervor for Him in our prayers, little generosity in our giving, and little love in our activities. All of these flow from our hearts, but the soil of our hearts is fallow ground. They produce no lasting fruit.

The Father asks the question of His people Israel in Isaiah 5. He had done everything to bring them into that promised land, giving them all they needed to thrive physically, emotionally, and above all, spiritually. And they squandered it all. He meant for them to live in spiritual riches, but they chose spiritual poverty. They were to be a witness of His glory to all the surrounding nations, but instead they lived in such a way as to bring reproach upon His name. There was no lack in what He had given them. The lack was within them. Within their hearts. To what degree might we be like them?

Every believer is not expected to produce the same amount of fruit. Jesus said as much. But every believer is expected, indeed required to produce the maximum amount of fruit that their God given gifts can yield. And He has abundantly given us the resources to do so. Yet the average western believer doesn't look much different from the unbelievers who surround them. Someone said that the message of the western church has become one that says that happiness and fulfillment can be found in the same places that the world points to; success, possessions, financial security, and families that experience as little difficulty as possible. We look to become rich in the world's goods while remaining paupers in the things of the Kingdom. Because of this, the church has no more success in overcoming various addictions, divorce, crippling wounds of the past, terror as concerns the future, to name only a few, than does the unbelieving world. Jesus said that He freely gave us all things needed to live in victory, yet we too often fall into defeat. He can only ask us, as did the Father, "What more could I have done than I already did on the cross?" The battle was won there. The resources of the Kingdom, all of them in infinite supply were released there. Why do we not walk in them? Why do we have so little victory? What more could He have done?

The Father has placed the infinite resources of the Kingdom before us. He has given, but have we received? Problems and difficulties will certainly be a part of our lives in this fallen world, but we are called to live above them, not beneath them. We're to be victors, not victims. Overcomers, not overcome. One day, we, you and I, will be called to account. How will we explain our fallow ground, our lack of fruit? How do we explain it now? What more does He need to do?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Practical Atheists

"Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." 2 Timothy 3:5

More than ten years ago I came across a statement by a Christian author that has only grown more true with time. He said that a large number of professing believers were "practical atheists," living and making decisions as though there was no God. Disregarding Him and His Word in how they approached life, and viewing all the structures and foundations of the world order as bigger and more real than His. That's a chilling statement. How closely do our lives conform to it? In what areas of our daily life are we too, "Practical atheists?"

His Word tells us that we're not to be conformed to the ways of the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In this lies the root of our problem. Far too many who come to Him for salvation never allow Him to fully do His work of transformation. We hold on to our old, fallen ways of thinking and seeing this world, and more, His eternity. His ways, His life, His calling, and His Kingdom never become real to us. They may be an ideal, but they are too rarely a reality. We may take His name, but He has no real effect in our lives. We live by our natural senses and understanding. We may sing hymns and praise choruses extolling His virtues on a Sunday morning, but when we go out, we live by our own wits, and not by His Word and Presence. We truly are practical atheists.

It's not surprising to me that we hear of so many miraculous works of the Lord in what are commonly called "Third World Countries." In these places, death by disease, famine, war, and so on is a daily threat and presence. They are born into a world that is working against their survival. I've read that in Haiti, a child isn't even given a name until the age of 5 because the chances of it surviving till then are so narrow. For such, hearing the Good News of the Gospel really is life changing when they receive it. They believe. They believe that He is who He says He is, and can and will do all that He says He will do. They place no limitations on Him. They believe He is Almighty and they experience Him as such. They see miracles. Their lives are miracles. Why isn't it so with us? Is simple childlike faith just too simple for our rational western minds? We're at home in the natural. We can't comprehend the supernatural. Miraculous life makes no sense. His Word says that "My ways are not your ways," but we think our ways should be His.

We live in a culture that prides itself on its intellectual power. God, His Word, His Son, and His Holy Spirit are seen as myths from an earlier, unenlightened time. Science and human reason have been given preeminence. If it can't be explained by either or both, it can't be real. This is understandable in the lives of unbelievers, but how can it be so in those who call Him Lord? The truth is that though we may be able to believe in Him as a Savior, our minds, still held in captivity to a fallen world view, cannot grasp that He is all He has promised to be, and much more besides. We profess that life, but we deny the power of that life. We are, for all intents and purposes, practical atheists. Will we...will you, suffer it to stay that way?

Martin Smith of the band Delirious wrote a song titled "History Maker." In it is the lyric, "Is it true today that when people pray, We'll see dead men rise, And the blind set free? Yes its true, and I believe it. I'm living for you." He ends the song with this lyric, "I'm gonna be a history maker in this land. I'm gonna be a speaker of truth for all mankind. I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run into Your arms. Into Your arms again." This sin-sick world needs no more practical atheists. It is desperate for spiritual history makers. I know which, in Him, I want to be. Which do you want to be?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Witnesses

"You will be My witnesses." Acts 1:8...."The disciples were not to be preoccupied with the times and dates of the Kingdom. They were to be preoccupied with the King.......Are we making the mistake of watching for His second coming instead of being evidence for His first coming?" Chris Tiegreen

There has been a common thread down through the history of the church and our relation to the events of the world. In times of deep darkness, and this world has seen so many, there comes a great deal of talk about His soon return. In the 5th century, as the Huns overran the western Roman empire, many were convinced it pointed to His soon return. This has continued through the centuries, and countless sincere believers were sure the unfolding of the First and Second World War and the rampant evil of Naziism, meant His return was upon us. All of this is understandable, just as it is concerning what we see taking place before our eyes today. Evil in the western culture has been unleashed. Lawlessness is being honored, while those charged with keeping the law are reviled. We are not wrong to wonder if this time, we are very near His return. What we must guard against, and in this many fail, is that we don't become so absorbed in the conditions around us, and how they point to His coming back, that we miss Him in it. When we allow this to happen, the result for us is the opposite of how He wishes us to look for His return. We do so not focused on the darkness and its author, but focused on He who is Light and Life itself. The first will paralyze us in either complacency or fear. The second fills us with hope, joy, and the power to be a witness of His resurrection and life.

If you take the name and person of Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, then what is your witness in this time? Our witness is to be that as the darkness grows and deepens, the light of His life within us is to shine ever brighter. So brightly that no matter how suffocating that darkness may become, it is powerless to extinguish His Light within us. Indeed, that light is mightier than all the power of darkness coming against it. It literally pushes back the darkness. Are you and I, by our witness today, pushing back the darkness, or have we allowed ourselves to be disabled by it?

The world Jesus sent His disciples into as witnesses was a deeply dark one. It has always been a deeply dark one. Yet His expectation was that they would shine so brightly for Him that the darkness would have no option but to retreat before it. He has sent us with the same mission. He has sent us to be His witnesses. Will we fulfill the calling, or, will we simply wait for Him to take us home? For the believer, for you and for me, there is only one choice. Is it also your choice?

Blessings,
Pastor O