Exhortations

I thought I'd end this year's writings with a few "exhortations" from my prayer journal, all of which I hope to live out. May we all live them out.

"Jesus, give me eyes to see You everywhere." It is so easy to think and feel like the Lord is only involved in our lives on a part time basis. We believe that we see Him in the expected places, our worship services, devotional study and prayer time, and so on. We don't so much expect to see Him where we work, play, or spend our leisure. We especially don't expect to see Him in the lives of those He brings to us. It's in the lives of other people, especially difficult people, or needy people, or physically, emotionally, or mentally offensive people. Yet Jesus clearly stated that we would. In His parable of the sheep and the goats, He said that He had appeared to us as those who were sick, in need, or held in "prison." When we ministered to such as these, He said we ministered to Him. When we ignored them, were repelled by them, turned away from them, He said we rejected Him as we rejected them. Are you as convicted as me in this? It's so easy to look away from the unattractive, the unlovely, the ones who can only take and not give anything back. Yet it is in these that we may see His face. How many times did we miss His face in the past year in such ones? How many times will we do the same in the coming year?

"That I would live fully, deeply, boldy, in every area of my life." Jesus said that He came to give life, and to give it in abundance. Is the life you and I are living in His name worthy of the life He died to give us? Think on that. Are we day in and day out examples of spiritual mediocrity? Of holy blandness? We are to live vital lives. He has given us lives that are to make a difference in the world around us, that have an impact. Do we exhibit levels of joy, peace, wisdom, strength, and love that attract people to us, that make them want to know why and how we live as we do? Does anybody want to have the kind of life we have? Is the only thing they can say about us that marks us as different, is that we go to church? So many live waiting to die. The follower of Christ should die living their life in Him to the fullest extent possible. Are we doing so right now? No, life is not always exciting. There is the monotony of daily routine, but for the believer, even there we can live with zest, with joyful expectation. With a steadfast hope that flies in the face of all that can seek to steal His abundant life. This year, no matter our age, will we live a life that honors His life? That reflects a possession of all that He has given us in that life?

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8...."May we learn to be blown by the Spirit wherever He pleases." Much is written concerning living in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, following the leading of the Spirit, almost all of it very rich. Yet, one can't live by the Spirit while remaining dull to His voice. And many of us, too many, are. Our spiritual ears aren't tuned to Him because our hearts aren't tuned to Him. His voice too often is just one of many voices seeking our attention. We can't follow someone who's directions aren't heard. To live out John 3:8 takes an intimacy most of us don't ever develop or even seek. As a result, we tend to be blown by every kind of "wind" and end up going nowhere, or worse, into places of harm and destruction. The winds of the Holy Spirit are always directed by God, and though we may have no idea where He might be leading us, we trust Him knowing that He is the wind. As we rest in Him, we can trust Him to "fill our sails" and take us along in the pathway He's chosen for us. It may go in many different directions and to many different places, but we rest and trust in that where He takes us is for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory. May we, in this coming year, be so yielded to Him, that He is able to carry us along in the steps of His will. Oftentimes not knowing where He takes us, but always trusting that it will end in His "broad place."

By His grace, I hope to live out these "exhortations" this year. May it be your heart to do so as well.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Name Droppers

 "Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, and on earth and under the earth." Philippians 2:9-10..."In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Acts 3:6....."The only thing that distinguished His servants was that they were authorized to use that Name." Watchman Nee

Somewhere along the line in life you've probably met a "name dropper." You know them. The people who like to "drop" a name of someone who's usually well known, and who they know. A celebrity, or person of influence. People who are important, and when they "drop" those names, the desire is that they will be seen as important also. Such people can be very tiresome and most of us avoid them. However, when it comes to Jesus Christ, the use of His name is not for the purpose of bringing attention to ourselves, but all attention and glory to Him. We who are His are really a people of no name serving the One whose name is above all names.

There's a refrain in one version of the song, "No Longer Slaves" that goes, "There is power, in the name of Jesus. There is power, in the name of Jesus. There is power, in the name of Jesus, to break every chain, to break every chain, to break every chain." Another song goes, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's just something about that name." Something glorious, powerful, majestic, mystical is in His name. I know in my life there have been times in prayer where I was so weighed down with need that I couldn't even put into words what I was feeling in my spirit. In those times, all I could do was say His name, over and over again. And in response came a deep, abiding peace. That which seeks to oppress, hinder, even harm us, cannot stand in the face of His name. There is power in His name, but do we really live like we believe that?

In Acts 3:6, Peter and John were in the Temple when they walked past a man crippled from birth. He was begging for money. Peter told him he had none, but he gave him what he did have, the healing power of Christ. And the healing came not from Peter and his name, but from Christ's. As Watchman Nee says, those who are His are authorized to use His name. The authority of Christ has been passed on to His followers. It is not a power and authority that we can use indiscriminately, and at our choosing, but when He leads us into situations where a word of healing, or victory, or deliverance is needed, we may speak His name and know that whatever it is that holds that person or situation "in chains" is broken by the power of His name.

This is what we, the church, have been raised up for and called to. We're to speak life into death, sight into spiritual blindness, peace into chaos, and joy into despair. Young and idealistic people are often told by someone that they can "change the world," and seek to do so through social and political means. But as the lyric goes in the classic song by The Who, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Whatever change is wrought almost always takes them into deeper darkness. It is for His church to go forth in the power of His name and "heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers," but instead, we've mostly been sitting in our pews and chairs, singing and preaching to each other inside the walls of whatever structure we meet in. Oblivious to the power of the name of the One we say we follow.

May we be "name droppers" of the King. May we freely go out speaking, singing, sharing and proclaiming His name. When we do so in the power of His Holy Spirit, chains will break, and lives will be made free. Let us be those who look for lives and situations into which we can "drop His name." His name, like His word, never comes back empty.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Christmas Past Pt 3

 "Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28...."This advent word is not meant for the well-fed and satisfied, but for those who hunger and thirst. And like a miner buried alive in the mine, we hear every blow, every step closer the rescuer takes with extreme alertness. Can one even imagine that the miner ever thought of anything but the approaching liberation from the moment he heard the first tapping on the rock?" Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This week I've shared two stories of past Christmas times in my life. Stories of how, in the midst of pain and suffering, He broke through with His infinite hope and assurance. With this last entry, I want to share a story of how He brought me out of the shadowlands. How He restored the years "that the locust had eaten." How He gave back to me, that which the enemy had said was lost to me forever. His Word says that He came to "seek and save that which was lost," and if we will trust Him, He will do so in ways beyond belief.

This story takes place during Christmas, 1993. It had been four years, seemingly unending years, since the collapse of my marriage and ministry. During that time many voices had "spoken" as concerned about my pastoring again. Most were voices that offered no hope. Voices that encouraged me to be realistic; single men didn't pastor churches. Most especially, divorced single men didn't do this. I needed to realize this, accept it, and get on with my life...a life that would never again have such a role for me. The problem with all this was the voice of the Father was never one of them. So, I held on to the promise of restoration I'd believed He'd given me. Step by step, the days turned into months, and then years, but in a manner that only He could work, the door opened to come to Virginia and plant a church. A planting that had next to no visible resources, few people, and little reason to expect it to succeed on any level. One person told me it would be a miracle if I was still there after 6 months. None of this made any impression.

Some would call what I had an "opportunity." I called it God. I had been longing for this door to open, and I had told Him that whatever door He did open, I would go through. Like the miner, I had been "hearing" in His still, small voice, that my redemption was drawing near. When the door suddenly opened, I knew it could be no one else but Him, and all the dissuading voices in the world would not keep me from stepping out into what seemed a void and finding the Rock that is Christ to stand on.

So, there I was, on that Christmas Sunday, leading worship for a small, but vibrant group of believers. He'd blessed us with a wonderful place to meet, and we'd decorated it all for the season. We sang, we prayed, we rejoiced. In it all, I saw the glory of the Lord. Here I was, doing again what the devil said I'd never do, in a place the devil said I'd never be. And all because of His grace that wouldn't let me go, wouldn't let me quit, and allowed me to hear the Rescuer coming for me even when I felt trapped in the deepest darkness. My redemption had come near; my redemption had come. My Redeemer lived and lives. So it is for all who will look up, raise their heads, and look for the redemption that He has promised and that will surely come.

You may well find yourself in that "cave" today. Do not be swallowed up by the darkness but believe and know that His Light swallows up all darkness. The Rescuer stands outside the cave wall. He has come. He will bring you out...if you'll just keep looking up.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Christmas Past Pt 2

 "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means, 'God is with us." Matthew 1:23...."I know that my Redeemer lives." Job 19:25..."Satan wants us to believe that there's a place so dark and demonic that Jesus can't come and conquer it." Beth Moore

There are so many times in my life where this Scripture has literally come alive for me. Times when I knew, in ways beyond description, that Jesus Christ, Immanuel, was with me. Not just beside me, but within me. Exercising a presence, comfort, and hope that I could never have believed possible. Times when the words of the old hymn ring out in my heart, "He's real, He's real, I know He's real." One such time was on the morning of my first Christmas after my wife had left. I was back at the home I grew up in, and when I awoke that morning, the weight of the pain and heartache I felt hit me in a wave of heaviness and darkness.

I remember walking downstairs, where the rest of my family was. We had always used Christmas Eve as the time to exchange and open gifts, so Christmas morning was just a time of family communion. At that time, no one else in my family knew Him, and though they had sympathy and compassion for what I was walking through, I felt completely alone. Memories of Christmas past, when my marriage had been whole, or at least seemed so, flooded in. Along with them came the whisper of hell that said that not only was that past lost to me, but my future was as well. All I felt was crushing pain, and a deep desire for all of that pain to be gone. I wanted Him to make all of it go away, but life in this fallen world is not like that. We can try and run from pain and disappointment, but one way or another, they will always catch up with us. And in all of this He wished for me to know and experience something more. Something greater. The pain would not be leaving,, but neither would He, and no matter how great the pain, the grace He poured out upon me would be greater still.

Beth Moore said that Christ means to come to the tomb of our loss and call us forth. On that Christmas morning, that is exactly what He was doing with me. What I remember about that day is mostly that I was tempted to just give up. Give up hoping in Him, holding to Him, living in Him. What I also remember is that Jesus, my Immanuel, my Lord, would not let me give in to that. I felt pain. I knew fear. I had no idea at all as to what would become of me. He had not promised me anything in this place but that He would be with me, that He wouldn't leave me or forsake me. That if I would continue to hold onto Him, weak though my hold might be, He would not leave me here. I wanted to be anywhere but "here," but "here" is right where I was. And I had the promise of His presence, and that promise called me to keep on walking. I was going through hell, but by His grace, I wouldn't be stopping there. He called me forth.

Jesus, Immanuel, got me from that day to the next day.....and the next one, and onward. I didn't stay trapped in that place. Not physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Jesus is the bright morning star. and though His shining may seem hidden, He does shine. If we believe Him, and keep on walking, all the while in His presence, felt or not, we will see His glory break through. He is the God who breaks through. He broke through that morning, and many mornings, and days and nights since. Immanuel; God with us. I have known it to be true in Christmas past, Christmas present, and am assured it will be so in all the Christmas futures that remain for me. It is so for you as well. Do you know it today? Hold on to Him, for He is surely holding on to you.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Christmas Past Pt 1

 In these last few days leading up to Christmas, I thought I'd share with you 3 writings from 2018 that detail some of the things, both joyful and painful, that I walked through with Him during the Christmas season. I hope they speak to you, and I hope that He is more real to you this Christmas than He has ever been before.

"Don't be afraid! '' he said. "I bring you good news of great joy for everyone. The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David." "Christ is being lost in the faith that bears His name." Erwin McManus

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved Christmas. For so long, it was because of the human element of it, gifts, family, and just the all-around good feeling of the season. It was not until I first came to know Him, on that long ago August night in 1979, that I began to understand what Christmas was really all about. Nearly 40 years later, I'm still learning how much more I have yet to understand.

McManus said Christ is being lost in the faith that carries His name. He's also being lost in the season that bears it as well, but not for the reasons we're so quick to focus on. He's being lost not just in the insistence that we say, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." And not just in the rank commercialism of it all. I think He's being lost in the tragic absence of joy, particularly in the hearts of His people, when joy is to mark the lives of all to whom He has come. He is joy itself, yet in our hearts and lives there is so little joy at all. We have let the cares of life, the emphasis upon what we lack rather than who it is we have, coupled with countless other "stuff" to steal His gifts of joy, peace, and hope. I know. I have walked through such times, and too often.

I remember my first year in ministry. I'd taken on a very tough assignment but was sure He would bring me forth to "success" in it. Yet what was happening wasn't success at all, at least as to how I defined it. It was Christmas, and in the living room was our tree, fully lit. I have always loved looking at a lit Christmas tree in the dark. It always seemed so uplifting to me. Yet on this night, it wasn't. All I saw was that which was not. The church and my ministry was not where I wanted it to be. Within me were feelings of disappointment, discouragement, and yes, anger. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Why was it this way? Why wasn't God "helping" me more? I wanted good news, but all I seemed to have was bad. As I sat there, wallowing in my self-pity, I was also listening to a radio program. In it, the story was told of a pastor who had planned a great Christmas celebration for his church, and waited in the foyer for all the arrivals. Yet no one arrived. He was alone in the church, crushed and defeated. As he stood there, a group of carolers came by. He felt the impulse to step out and join them. To sing, along with them, of the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ. And as he did so, the joy of the Lord filled his soul. His plan for himself had fallen apart, but the Father's plan had come together. In that simple story, I saw myself. The proclamation of joy that had been announced to me on that August night, was announced to me again on that night. I had been contemplating giving up in despair, but now, the joy of the Lord called me onward. This place was not the end. This chapter of my life may not be the one I had wished for, but He was not finished writing my story. He still has not finished...and His joy keeps calling me, leading me on. The joy of the Lord is my strength.....especially when I have none of my own...which is often.

This week, I hope, with His grace, to share a few stories of my "Christmas past." The theme that I hope speaks loudly, is the gift of His joy, peace, and hope in the midst of both the darkness and the light. A child has been given us; a Savior has come. All heaven rejoices, and so must we. The "stuff" will conspire to keep us from seeing the Son, but if we'll look past it, we will behold Him. A friend of mine, Kerry Willis, always signs his correspondence, "All joy." That is what we must know in all places. His joy, as our joy, is all joy. May it be yours, and mine....today and always.

Blessings,

Pastor O

His Goodness

 I would have despaired, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Psalm 27:13.....

..."We can come to God in the confident expectation that we will see His goodness here, now, and forever.....Your goodness will show up in every situation I face, in every area of life." Chris Tiegreen

We're at the beginning of Christmas week, and though it is a time of joy and wonder for so many, it is anything but for more than a few. Those walking through the grief of this life, from the death of loved ones to the collapse of a marriage, to the wanderings of a prodigal child, know very well the deep, gnawing pain that this time of year can bring. Maybe you're walking through such a time right now. If you are, I encourage you, indeed, exhort you to trust in the words of David the Psalmist from Psalm 27. When all the forces of darkness and this world seek to pull you down, dare to look up....and believe. You will see His goodness again. Perhaps much sooner than you think. 

A.W. Tozer wrote, "God never tires of inviting people to come and experience His goodness and taste His wonderful grace." In those very real times of heaviness and sorrow, we must continue to tune our ears to His voice. If we do, we will hear His persistent invitation to come unto Him, to experience Him. To experience the One who is goodness itself. 

I know the very real pain of loss, of being separated from loved ones, and of living in the midst of circumstances that only seem to get darker and more hopeless. All we can see is the grey horizon of more days and hours like the ones we've already lived. Like David, our "adversaries," be they people or events, are everywhere. The enemy whispers in our ear that our God is nowhere to be found, that He's abandoned us. This is where we must choose to believe what He's promised, that He will not leave us or forsake us. We must choose to listen to the words of a song I heard a number of years ago; "When you're going through hell, don't stop." Press on. Know that He gives you the strength to do so. Know that this is not where it ends for you. He leaves no one in the wilderness. He leaves no one in the middle of the storm. He takes us through. He gets us to the other side.

In the years since I first came to Him, I have known so many Christmas seasons of great joy, but I have also known some that held great pain and heartbreak. Pain so deep that I felt on the edge of despair. Heartbreak so devastating that I simply wanted to fall beside "the road" and give up. But always, David's words from Psalm 27:13 would come to mind, along with other of His promises of hope. I chose to believe, in spite of all appearances, that I would see His goodness, experience His deliverance, and that his was not the place that I would perish. And I experienced His goodness immediately in that by His grace, I had the strength to take another step, and another, and then another.....till I reached the other side. 

Fellow travelers, if you know something today of what I speak, answer His invitation to experience His goodness. You will. He is faithful. Where you are is not where your journey ends, not if you journey with Him. Press on! In His grace and strength, press on. You will see His goodness and taste His grace. He leaves no one, especially you, in the wilderness.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Worship?

 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  John 4:24....."Is it the voice of heaven or the traditions of men that determine how long we worship Him?" Francis Frangiapane....."Father, may we not fail to recognize the time of our visitation."

The western culture is a culture on the go....even on Sunday. The great majority who attend what we call "worship services," have a clear expectation of just what and how long those services should be. I'm not advocating for long services and even longer sermons, but I am wondering if our expectations, which have turned into our traditions, are hindering, even harming the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in our gatherings?

If your fellowship meets on a Sunday morning, the general "rule," whether stated or not, is that everything needs to be ending by the noon hour. If you're part of a multiple service fellowship, then the ending time element is even more pronounced. Then you're focused on not only getting the people out in a timely manner, but getting the next group in. Most fellowships can become very efficient at this. Timing is everything. I get it. I've been a part of it, and am still a part of it. This is not a blanket condemnation, just a plea for consideration. How, and where may we be missing Him in all of it? Where are we not recognizing, and missing, our own "time of His visitation?"

I know of a gifted worship leader who really "leads worship." They have a number of times taken a break in the song list to share something from His heart with the congregation. They confided in me that they've often felt a spirit of suppression in doing this. I think it comes in part from their feeling that this is not part of what people expect. The song service is for songs, words from Him are for the sermon time. That's the way it's always been done. Tradition. And then, you have the other end of the spectrum. What if the anointing is so heavy upon the singing and music that the Holy Spirit begins to move powerfully over the congregation? What will that do with the planned order of service? And who decides when there has been "enough?" What happens with "getting them in and getting them out" then?" What happens with people's expectations? Who is it really, that is Sovereign over what we call worship? And who and what is it that we really worship? Almighty God, or the way we "do church?"

Frangiapane said that "the goal of a visitation from God is that we become the habitation of God." The culture that has so heavily influenced us is in desperate need of a church that is the true habitation of God. A church where the fullness of His Holy Spirit reigns and ministers. A church that realizes that worship is not what we attend, but what we do and who we are. May we, you and I, go beyond the realm and practice of "doing church." May we be the church as He created us to be. May we earnestly seek both His visitation and habitation. May we live in expectation of both. May we miss neither.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Power

 “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me. John 14:30....

"Satan is the prince of this world, but the prince has no power until the King is dead, and our King lives forever." Norval Hadley

Jesus spoke the words in John 14 as the cross loomed before Him. Satan, His and our great enemy, was certain that his purposes would be achieved by Christ's death on that cross. Everything that would unfold would seem to indicate that this was true. Jesus was seized in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was dragged before the Jewish high council, humiliated in their questioning of Him. He was then turned over to the Romans and horribly tortured before being forced to carry His cross to the site of His death on Calvary. His death would be what Satan believed would seal his victory. Except that it didn't. Jesus foresaw all that was to come upon Him. It was all part of His Father's plan for the breaking of the power of sin over a fallen and lost human race. The devil was indeed approaching Him as He spoke those words, but He knew, even in the midst of all that was to come, that he had no power over Him. All the power lies in the hands of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It still does and will forever. Because it is so with them, so it is so for we are His. It will be so now, and forever.

We live in a fallen world. Scripture says that Satan has rulership of this world and because of that evil abounds and grows. We who are His will not be immune to the attacks of a being who hates and despises our Lord and those who are His by faith. He will never cease approaching us with harmful intent. We have to know this, but we must also know that as He had no power over our Lord and Savior, he has none over us as well. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was the greatest and most powerful ruler in the world. So great was his pride that he had a huge golden statue erected of himself, demanding that all would worship him through that idol. God, through a series of events, would prove to Nebuchadnezzar how powerless he was in comparison to Him. Through Daniel the prophet, He said to Nebuchadnezzar that he must learn "that it was God who ruled in heaven." With those words, Nebuchadnezzar became an insane outcast in his own kingdom. He was humbled and he indeed learned who it was who truly reigned.

Our spiritual enemy Satan will never learn this on this side of eternity. He thought he had defeated and destroyed Christ on the cross. He didn't see the resurrection that was to come. He didn't see Christ's triumph over sin and death, and over he who is the author of sin and death. As always, he underestimated the power of the One who is the Author of Life. He still does. Just as he underestimates the power of those who are in Christ. He will ceaselessly approach and He will ceaselessly be routed because he has already been completely defeated on the cross and in Christ's resurrection. The enemy's power is always under the control of the sovereign power of God.

So long as we live in this physical realm, we will be exposed to his attacks. We need to be aware of this and aware and discerning of his approaches. But we must live in the sure truth that he has no power over us. All the power lies in the One who is the true King, and who gives His power freely to those who are His. Who are His children. We must be a people who know our enemy, but even more, who know our God, who know our Lord and Savior, and who we are in Him. The author of death could not hold the Author of Life. Neither can he hold us. May we live in this truth, this power, this life.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Unction

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.....Unction...The anointing of the Holy Spirit upon a sermon so that something holy and powerful is added to the message that no preacher can generate no matter how great his skills.

A pastor I have long known and have the greatest respect for, recently told me of a sermon he'd heard the previous Sunday. This man is an encourager of all pastors, not a critic. So, what he said carried great weight. He said the preacher of the church delivered a thorough message on holiness of life. Everything he stated was doctrinally correct and he found no fault with anything he said. But he was deeply saddened by the fact that "there was no unction" in his preaching. Scriptures were read, truth was spoken, but the wonderful power and anointing of the Holy Spirit was not upon them. He felt like he had attended a lecture about holiness, not a message from the heart of God and His calling us to a holy life. I don't think his experience is an isolated one. I think unction, as defined above, is a missing element in much of what passes for preaching in the modern church.

I'm not making a judgement on that pastor, or any pastor's spiritual state, but I think there is a serious lack of biblical unction in the western church. Power is released in a message when the heart of God, who gives the message, melds with the heart of the preacher who proclaims it. The message is not empowered by the preacher's emotions or intellect, but both his emotions and intellect can be anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. It is a mystical thing that no man or woman can create or produce. It comes only by His Spirit, and when once someone has heard such a message, proclaimed in such power, there will never be any doubt as to whether a message has had His anointing and presence upon it or not.

If you read Hebrews 4:12 and highlight what it says, that it's sharper than any two-edged sword, that it cuts between our soul and spirit, reaching the very innermost of our being, and then agree that this is true, shouldn't a sermon message, based in His Word do the same? How many of the sermons you've heard of late have really done that? How many really took hold of your innermost being?

There are a wide range of reasons why this is so. Lack of preachers soaking themselves in the presence of God. Lack of fervent desire to be such a messenger of God, as well as a desire to be saturated in His Spirit. There's also the reality that preaching is no longer seen by many in the church as a primary, actually the primary role of the pastor. Preaching in many places has assumed a secondary role. Add on the fact that in much of the church, we've settled for mediocrity in spiritual things while emphasizing secondary ones. We seem more concerned with the impression we make on the people than we are the impression His Holy Spirit does. Most of all, we have watered down the Word itself, and stayed away from subjects that could be labeled unpopular or controversial. Leonard Ravenhill said that if Jesus Christ had proclaimed the message coming from most American pulpits these days, He'd have never been crucified. Are we, am I, are our churches, proclaiming the kind of message sure to get us in trouble with an unredeemed culture and a lukewarm church? Jesus confronted the religious culture as well as the secular one, and both joined together to put Him to death. They wanted to silence Him, but they didn't, because the risen Christ continues to speak 2000 years later. Is there anyone that wants to silence what we're preaching, what our church is proclaiming?

These are some things I'm thinking this day. I invite you to consider them as well. May the Word we say we believe not only pierce and cut the hearts and inner beings of others, but ourselves as well. May it do so with unction.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

The Ent

 Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.  Psalm 27:14...."God values drawing out our interactions with Him into a piece of artwork. He's writing an epic poem in our lives, and we'll miss Him if we have a Post-it note mentality." Chris Tiegreen

I love Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings trilogy, both in book and movie. In a story full of interesting characters, some of the most interesting as well as mysterious and frustrating are the Ents. They were treelike beings charged with caring for the forests of Middle Earth. The most noted of them in the book and movie was Treebeard. In the story, the battle for Middle Earth between the forces of the incarnate evil of Sauron and the free people of Middle Earth is raging. Two Hobbits, Merry and Pippin have made the acquaintance of Treebeard, and are hoping to enlist his help against the wizard Saruman. To this end, Tree Beard calls together all the Ents to discuss the prospect of joining in this war. Merry and Pippin expect a quick decision. They don't get it as the Ents discussion goes on and on. With all patience lost and his frustration boiling over, Merry pleads for a decision to be made and for the discussion to end. Treebeard responds by telling him that the Ents have just finished saying hello to each other and that Ents "never say anything unless it takes a very long time to say."  In one of his wonderful devotionals, Chris Tiegreen writes of how so often, God, in His dealings with us seems very much like an Ent, and we, in response, very much like Merry and Pippin.

Tiegreen writes, "His dealings with us are usually a process. A lengthy one." We live in a fast food, fast service, fast everything culture. We struggle with delay. We want everything now, including growth not only in our relationships, but in ourselves. We want to get to where we want to go immediately. God understands what a cost that would be to our spiritual, emotional, and mental development. God always has the long game in mind. We want to go for the quick win right now. When we converse with Him, we tend to do so with quick summaries of what we're after. God is after us. He's not nearly so interested in what we want as what He wants us to be, and what He wants for us. He's willing to spend a lot of time getting us to see and understand this. We, like Merry, cry out for Him to do something. He patiently answers, if we'll hear Him, that He is. The Scripture that comes to mind here is God speaking through His prophet saying, "I am doing something that you would not understand if I told you." 

Many have compared God's working through our lives with the making of a rich and beautiful tapestry. Two things about the process are true. No one can see by looking at the back of the tapestry what is being woven in the front. The other is that any truly beautiful tapestry requires painstaking skill to weave. The master worker weaves themselves into the tapestry itself. Cheap tapestries are easily found. Masterpieces are not. The Father is always in the process of creating masterpieces. His desire is that we be one of them. But we have to yield to the process.

Merry and Pippin never heard the conversation of the Ents, but they did see the result. The Ents defeated the might of Saruman and his Isengard fortress. What had become the evil filth of Isengard was cleansed by the work of the Ents. It was worth the process. The Father is at work to do the same in us and through us. The delays and seeming side trips in that process can frustrate us, try us, but if we will yield to Him, trust Him, He will make a masterpiece of us and other masterpieces through us. Even now, He weaves Himself into our lives and through them. He'll write no Post-it notes for us. He'll pen beautiful prose and poetry. Epistles of His love and life. And as He does so, we'll come to hear, understand, and love His language. And we will love God the Ent, who speaks in ways we've always longed to hear, but never did....until now.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Gluttons

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 2 Kings 2:9....."He rewards sincere spiritual gluttony - those who pursue a double portion not for their own glory but because it is right and good to do so." Chris Tiegreen

To be a glutton is to be in a dangerous state both physically and spiritually. The Bible clearly sees it as a sin of total self-indulgence. The food glutton becomes focused on one thing, the consumption of food for their own enjoyment. Whatever the psychological, physical, and emotional elements that may go into this condition may be, an obsession with having more is at root. Yet the writer of the above quote, Chris Tiegreen, is promoting the practice of spiritual gluttony. How can this be?

The verse from 2 Kings is from a conversation between the prophet Elijah and his assistant and successor, Elisha. Elijah was about to be taken up by the Spirit of God. He had ministered long and hard for God. He had been used mightily and God had worked many miracles through him. He had also suffered greatly for the Lord. Elisha had witnessed all of it, the glory of God displayed through Elijah, and the terrible cost to Elijah in it. Elisha had been a faithful student, and Elijah wished to reward him, asking what he might give him. Elisha asked for a double portion of the very spirit that Elijah had ministered in. On the surface this would seem to be a very improper and self-gratifying thing to ask, but we have to keep in mind that Elisha had witnessed everything that had happened in Elijah's life, the triumphs and the sufferings. Knowing the heavy price Elijah had paid in ministry, he asked for twice the portion of the Spirit he had ministered in. He had to have known he was also asking for twice as much suffering. Even so, he desperately wished to walk and minister in the fullness of His Spirit and thought it worth whatever the cost would be to live and move in such fullness. That's how deep his hunger for Him was. How deep is ours? Do we so desperately want His Life, His Spirit, His Presence, that we willingly, joyfully take not only the gain of it all, but the cost as well?

We all admire the "spiritual giants" that we have witnessed throughout His church and Kingdom. Many of us aspire to have what they have, and minister as they do. Do we have any understanding of how such men and women came to be those people that we so admire and want to emulate? Do we understand that such people are made by God through a process, a journey. A process and journey that will always include fire, trials, pain, hardship, and more than a little suffering. They became mighty in the Lord because in the Lord they faced and overcame adversities that the enemy meant to destroy them with. They knew how weak they were in themselves, but they also knew how strong they could be in Him. Elijah was such a man. Elisha wanted to be such a man as well. Not for his own glory, but for God's. It is those who most desperately wish to bring Him all the glory who are given the opportunity to do so. Paul said that he could do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthened him. He also said that it was no longer he who lived, "but Christ who lives in me." Paul lived for His glory. Do we? If you have been entrusted with a ministry for Him, for whose glory do you really seek? If it is for His glory, have you surrendered to the journey, the cost that must be paid in order to walk and minister in such a spirit? Tiegreen says "God's favor comes to those who weigh the costs and willingly accept them."

Spiritual gluttons. Such have His favor in the Kingdom. Such live and breathe this prayer shared by Tiegreen, "Please, Lord, more. Always give me more of You." May this prayer drive our hunger. May it bring us into the feast that is His life.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Tight Places

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 "We serve a God of the 'tight spots.' In those places, the God of power is standing by." Chris Tiegreen

One of the meanings of the Hebrew word for trouble is "a tight place." Someone then translated Psalm 46:1 as "He is abundantly available in every tight place." I think that's true, and the Lord knows, life can bring us into many a tight place. What we do "with Him" in those places will determine the state of our spiritual life.

Tiegreen says that very often in these places, all God shows us is His "poker face." For non-gamblers, this is the facial expression that a poker player will show to those he's playing against. It's the poker player's ploy to not give away what cards he is holding. It's his hope that the others have no idea of what in his hand. It may be hard to think of the Father in such a way, and for sure He does not gamble with our wellbeing, but just as surely, He will lead us into places, often very tight places, where He will give us no indication of what He's doing or why we're there. Tiegreen writes, "What we choose to believe here is critical." What will we believe here? If we're in such a place now, what are we choosing to believe....about Him? About His Word and His promises? It's a choice. What's ours? What's yours?

God is a Master of the Poker Face. He leads us along and then we suddenly find ourselves in a spot where we seemingly cannot go forward or in any other direction. We cry out. He doesn't answer. In that place, other dangers can also appear. We continue to cry out and He continues to say nothing. We believe He's there, but He's showing us no response. And now we're starting to wonder if He really is there? Once we've begun that, we open the door to start wondering about a great many things. His faithfulness. The power of His promises. Most of all, we can begin to wonder if we can trust Him. As Tiegreen says, what we choose to believe here is critical. It's so easy to say we will trust Him....until we have no choice but to trust Him. When the sides of the tight place begin to press ever tighter, and the way through and out appears more impossible to breach than ever. He promised to be abundantly available. So where is He?

This is the way of God. He took Moses to the backside of the desert. He took Joseph into a prison. He took Daniel into a lion's den. He took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a flaming furnace. So will He take you and me. What will we believe? Can we reach such a place of trust that we can say with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" He didn't slay Job, and He did deliver him, but Job saw nothing but His "poker face" for a considerable length of time before He did. In His tight place, He chose to believe. The same choice will come before us. Maybe it's here now. If not, it is on its way.

Tight places and poker faces. We are living in days that will bring His church such experiences in abundance. May we choose to believe Him when all we can do is cling to what He has already promised, even if He's not presently speaking or showing Himself. He is abundantly available. Trust Him in that. Whatever your tight place is, He and His power are there with you. Know that beyond the poker face is a heart aflame with love and care for you. In His time and in His way, He will show it through. Choose to believe it, because it's true.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Other Thoughts

 One of my favorite writers is a Christian psychologist named Larry Crabb. His books have ministered to me in so many different ways. Today I wanted to share with you a few of his quotes that I've written down in my prayer journal.

"What's going on in our worship that I, or anyone, wouldn't want to miss?" I posted this on Facebook recently and one of my friends replied, "The Holy Spirit." I think every bona fide believer would agree with that, but the question is, "Is the Holy Spirit actually going on' in our corporate gatherings?" I just read today the passage in 2 Chronicles and the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem by King Solomon and the nation of Israel. Twice it is related that the Spirit of God so came upon the people that the priests of the Lord could not minister. They, along with everyone else were simply overwhelmed by His Presence. Now, I am not saying that this is to be the normal worship experience for any of us, but when was the last gathering of believers that you were involved in where the Holy Spirit actually "took over?" I don't mean where you sensed His presence and knew He was there. I mean where everything, music, singing, message, every part of the planned service, fell by the wayside because He came in such a way that our plan for things was gone, and what He intended to do was taking place. A gathering where all we could do was follow His leading and let Him take us where He would? I wonder; how many of us, pastors, worship leaders, congregants would be comfortable with such a time of worship? How welcome is the Holy Spirit in His church? Can we actually surrender the course of what we're doing in what we call worship to Him? Questions that demand answers.

"Every person sitting in church is addicted to something other than God." This is an offensive statement to us. But I think it is far more true than we can admit. If we examine all the "things" that have hold of us in our lives, we can see that it is. How many of us are more connected to worry, anxiety, fear, than we are to Him? Those would not be prevailing in our lives if we weren't. We may not ever take a drug or a drink but are as much an addict as anyone who does. The internet, entertainment, sports, shopping, gaming, and yes, ministry. These and countless more can take hold of us, control us, and have much greater impact in our lives than He does. Crabb says, "Our addictions counterfeit the pleasure we're to know in Him." It's true. We seek to fill our emptiness, an emptiness only He can fill, with counterfeits. And as we turn to these counterfeits, like drugs, alcohol, and sex, we need more and more to satisfy. We're addicted to that which is not Him. So, as we contemplate these words, where in our lives are they true and we're living them out?

"We've become 'church shoppers' more than truth seekers." Jesus told us to seek first His Kingdom, but we're more prone I think to seek that which adds to our comfort, security, and perceived well-being. In 37 plus years of ministry, I think I can count on one hand the number of people I've encountered who, when seeking a church, say they are looking for a church where they can know Him more deeply. Children's ministries, teen ministries, young adults, opportunities to be on the worship team, or a place that offers a visible position are all more common than that. We're willing to do a lot of "shopping" in order to find it. This is not to mean that we shouldn't seek out the right body of believers in which to belong. It does mean that we do not approach the search as a consumer, which most do, but as a seeker of His heart. Where can I most powerfully experience Him? That ought to be the driving force. Is it? In the place you're now a part of, is that what brought you there? Or was it something much less? Something that is not really Him?

Just a few more of my, or should I say, Larry Crabb's thoughts.

Blessings,

Pastor O

The Gap

 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one."  Ezekiel 22:30....."A blinded world needs us to stand, to fight, and to pray." Chris Tiegreen

When you read the verse from Ezekiel, what registers upon you? Upon us? When you look at the word "land," what do you think it refers to? The particular nation you live in? Surely. Does it also reference the church? I think it does.

There is no question that the culture of America has plunged into ever deepening darkness. Many speak of the "new normal," even in the church. Sin, perversion, violence, sexual confusion, murder, pornography, sex trafficking, pedophilia, and a raging epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction. No one feels safe. Few if any trust their government or the media that is supposed to hold the government accountable. This is the new normal, and we, even in the church, have become desensitized to it all. We just shrug and say that it's the way of things today. Spiritual blindness is not only the characteristic of the world. It's becoming the characteristic of much of the church as well. The Bible says that we sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. We have been sowing for a long time now. We are seeing only the beginnings of the reaping. It is the desire of God's heart to deliver us from the judgement sure to come upon a wayward world and backslidden church. How many of us will really stand with Him in that desire? As He looks about for those who will stand in the many and ever widening gaps in the culture of the world and the church, does He see no one, including not seeing us? Not seeing you, or me?

There are many today who are more than willing to be politically active but remain spiritually asleep. Believers should be actively involved in the political process, and seek to elect those who at the least, stand on morally righteous ground. However, we will not overcome the darkness at the ballot box. It is much too late for that and was  never an option anyway. We will fill the gap and push back the tide of darkness and death from our knees, and from our pulpits, and with our testimonies. Not with words of anger and hate, but of heartfelt love for a lost human race. Yet the words we speak must be words of truth, spoken in both boldness and love. Many will reject that truth, some violently. For the sake of those held captive in the darkness, we cannot leave off. We must press on. We must stand in and upon Him, Jesus Christ, as we stand in the gap both for those engulfed in the darkness, and for the Almighty God who seeks through His church to rescue them.

The gaps before you and I are everywhere. In every level of society they are there. In every institution and system. The disease of sin permeates everything. In Isaiah 6, as God appeared to him, Isaiah heard God speak of the terrible state that the people of Judah had fallen into. He issued a call; "Who shall I send, and who will go for us?" He didn't address Isaiah directly. He was issuing a call to all of His people. Isaiah heard it. We're not told how many didn't hear it at all, or heard but ignored it. He was looking for "gap fillers." Isaiah answered, "Here I am. Send me." That call has never ceased to go out from the throne of God. Which of us heard it today? Which of us will go? The life of the land we live in and the church body that we're a part of are at stake. Moreover, eternity is at stake. The gaps continue to widen. Who among us will go to fill them?

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Goads

 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 9:5......"Some of us 'kick against the goads' for a lifetime, all the while believing that we are surrendered to the will of God." A.W. Tozer

Acts 9 details the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Known as Saul before this, he was a dedicated Pharisee and defender of the Jewish faith. He had zealously been persecuting, imprisoning, and even killing Jews who had become followers of Jesus Christ. He had been present at the stoning of Stephen, an eyewitness to not only his death, but to the powerful witness of the reality of Christ as he died. He had heartily approved of it. After witnessing Stephen's death, his persecution increased, and he was traveling on the Damascus Road with the full intention of arresting and jailing every believer he found there. On the way, he was waylaid by the risen Christ, who spoke the words of Acts 9:5 to him.

It seems curious that Jesus would talk about Paul kicking against the goads, the pricks of the Holy Spirit. If anyone was dedicated to a cause, a cause he believed to be of God, it was Paul. Yet the Holy Spirit had made a deep impression upon the heart of Paul through the manner of Stephen's death, but surely to the witness of those believers he'd been persecuting. There was something about it all that continued to bore into his heart and spirit. Something real. Something undeniable. He fought against it by increasing his efforts at attacking His church. Yet deep within, he knew that the faith and witness of those he'd been tormenting was real. He couldn't get away from it. Kick though he might, the pursuit of the Spirit grew ever stronger. Paul thought he was surrendered to God. It took the appearance of Jesus Christ on that road for him to "see" that he wasn't. That he was anything but surrendered. How like Paul might we be? Where are we like him today?

It is so easy for us to say we're yielded to Him and yet in so many different ways kick against Him. How many areas of our lives has He brought His Spirit to bear upon, convicting us of wrong attitudes, actions, and responses? More often than not, we find ways to put Him off or just outright ignore Him, acting like we never actually heard Him. He speaks to us about how we behave in our marriage, in our stewardship of the resources He has given us. He speaks about how we are raising up our children in Him, or more correctly, how we're not. He speaks to the manner of how we're serving Him, or carrying out our ministry for Him, or the lack of service and ministry altogether. The list is almost endless. His Spirit goads us, pricks us about it all, but we go on kicking. What will it take for it to end, and if we go on, what will be our end?

Before he met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, Paul was not a believer, though he believed he was. Afterwards, no one in the Bible displayed a more steadfast faith than he. Where do we believe that we're fully faithful, but we aren't at all? Where have the goads of conviction been digging and we keep ignoring or denying? Two results lie ahead for us. The first is that they get more intense until we can no longer deny them, and we yield to Him and His will. This can be a painful road, but a great one, because we become more deeply His. The second is much less so. We continue to deny and grow ever harder in our resistance. Eventually we have become calloused to the goads and pricks and no longer even notice. Instead of full surrender we have chosen full disobedience, and the terrible end of it all. Which option are we, you, closer to? Where are you on your own Damascus Road?

Blessings,
Pastor O 

Consecrate

Consecration is a voluntary act of committing oneself to worship, prayer, and service to God. The word “consecrated” literally means: “to unite by force with the sacred.”......"Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?" I Chronicles 29:5

I have read the above Scripture many times before, but today, it really impacted me. The word "consecrate" really struck me. It's a word not much used or experienced by much of the modern, western church. In the midst of a consumer centered culture, we have become a consumer centered church. Lord, forgive us.

King David spoke the words found in I Chronicles 29 upon his speaking before the people, commissioning his son, Solomon, to succeed him as king, and to undertake the great and holy task of building the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Building the Temple had been the passion of David's life. He sought it as the greatest act of worship he could offer. Yet the Father had told him it was not to be his part to do so, but that of his son, Solomon, to do so. As David told the people this, he spoke of all the gold, silver, precious stones, and so on, that he'd given and dedicated for the building of and ongoing worship in that Temple. He then, in the words of I Chronicles 29:5, asked who among his listeners would join him in this act of dedicated, consecrated worship of their Almighty God? The people responded with a floodgate of offering, not just of precious minerals and jewels, but with the entirety of themselves. They and all they had was consecrated to Him. It was their ultimate act of worship. We understand so little of what moved their hearts to do so. We understand little of it because we know so little and experience so little of what true consecration is.

We link the word "dedication" with consecration quite often. We also prove that we know very little about that word as well. This can be witnessed by the number of parents who bring their children to church in order to "dedicate them to the Lord." The participate in the ritual, and then sadly, their participation ends with that ritual. This is proven by the careless, lazy, and irresponsible ways so many parents "train up their children in the Lord." If we can't be faithful in the consecrating of our children to Him, how can we be so in anything else? 

I think people have become fearful of all this. We link it up with the practice of cults and pagan sects, but it is biblical. Scripture says that we are not our own, but His and this is true whether we believe it or agree with it or not. To consecrate ourselves and all that concerns us is an act of total devotion and trust. It is also an act of telling Him that we'll not give ourselves over to the pursuit of that which is profane or sullies His name. It means that wherever we stand, we stand with Him, and that makes it holy ground. We're to treat it as such. It doesn't mean that we dress in weird robes and go about chanting Scripture or praying loudly in public. It does mean that we live in complete awareness of His presence, of His holiness, and that we have made ourselves completely available to Him for His use at any time and in any place. We have, as Romans 12:1 says, presented ourselves to Him as a "living sacrifice." Our will is completely surrendered to His. There is only one way for us to live this out: we die to our own will so that we can live to His. This is what Paul meant when he said that he had been "crucified with Christ," and that it was no longer he who decided his way, but Christ. All of this is found in the meaning of consecration, and all of this is why it is not a popular topic preaching and discussion in the church today. We are rarely willing to be living sacrifices for Him. We're even less willing to die to our self-will that we may live to His.

There is so much more to say and write about all this. I'll close with the last words of the definition of consecration shared in the beginning. "To unite by force with the sacred." To truly be consecrated by force with Him means that He has done the great work of entirely sanctifying our lives and hearts. This is a work of grace that is accomplished when we freely offer ourselves up to Him, dying to ourselves that we might live unto Him. David called all the people to such an act of worship with the Temple. Christ calls us to such an act of worship, you and me, today. The people responded to David. How will you and I respond to Christ?

Blessings,
Pastor O