Nothing Else

 "Take nothing for the journey-no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic." Luke 9:3...."They (the Disciples) are loaded with power but light as a feather. They can go in His strength and not in their own." Chris Tiegreen

When Jesus sent His disciples out, He sent them carrying nothing but His power. They took nothing but the clothes on their back and the power He gave them. This is also what He gives us. Jesus believes we possess more than enough for the mission. Do we?

Oswald Chambers was one of the greatest Christian figures of the 20th century, or any century. He founded a school for the training of missionaries. Something he stressed throughout his teaching and writings was that the one who was sent wasn't to concern themselves with the "how's" that were before them. "How were they to live? How would they be provided for? How would all of their needs be met?" These are all legitimate questions...for those with the viewpoint of the world. Not for those who looked at everything through the lens of the Kingdom. Chambers did. The missionaries his school sent out did. Do we?

A few years back our District leader was sharing a conversation he'd had with a young man who felt called to come to Northern Virginia and start a ministry. However, if he were to come, he would need a guaranteed salary of $60,000 per year, plus benefits. This expectation is widespread. I talked at length with a young man who really felt a call to ministry, but he would not answer that call unless his family could be guaranteed the kind of financial security that matched what he was getting in his secular job. These are not isolated cases. I think they are becoming more and more the norm. The church and the Kingdom are suffering greatly because of it.

If you're in ministry as you read this, and you were offered a ministry where the only guarantee you had is His presence, His power, and His provision, would you go? Would you go even if you had no visible proof at that moment, other than the promise of His presence? These promises are all He has ever guaranteed us. For generations, they have been enough. I wonder if they remain enough. Are they enough for you and for me?

Tiegreen wrote that we can only accomplish our mission of living and communicating the Kingdom of God when we're unencumbered by false props. We are skilled at accumulating false props. I know I have been so. When I left my home in the Pittsburgh area for Bible College in Colorado, everything I owned fit into my 1978 Mustang II ( a true lemon if ever there was one). I was unencumbered. Upon my retirement, I needed the largest truck offered by U-Haul, along with the vehicles of others to move all my "stuff" from Northern Virginia to here in Lynchburg. I'd accumulated a lot of false props. If I had had all of them back then, would I have gone? I hope so. I believe so, but it would have been much harder. We're not free when we're encumbered. I knew I had nothing, but I also knew I had Him. I believed He would provide, and I believed He would be present. I would learn how much of His power also went with me. Lacking all those props opened me up to discovering His all sufficiency. I continue to discover it to this day. Yes, I've accumulated a lot over the last 40 plus years, but it is all just "stuff." I'm trusting that if He demanded that I leave everything by the side of the road and follow Him that I would. Still. Always.

We all have legitimate concerns, but the bottom line is will we surrender them all to Him, and trust Him with them? Do we have the faith and trust that in Him, in His power, we really can do all things, and that He will take care of us through everything? I believe we are going to be tested on this in these days. He will lead us into places where we have no visible support but Him....and that must be enough. Is it enough for you....and for me? Or are we looking for Him to provide some visible guarantees? All He gives is His Word and Himself. Nothing else. Is that enough?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Overturning Tables

 And Jesus went into the Temple and sent out all who were trading there, overturning the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those trading in doves. 13 And he said to them, it is in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer, but you are making it a hole of thieves. Matthew 21:13......"Jesus will zealously pursue communion with us even if it means overturning some tables."

Chris Tiegreen

It's easy to read this Scripture passage and assume that Jesus was most offended by the presence of the moneychangers and salespeople at work in the Temple. To a degree, He was, but it goes far deeper than what most of us know, and more, want to know.

I remember early on in my walk, and in memory of this verse, being offended when I saw a lady giving a product to another and receiving payment for it, all in the church sanctuary. I made it about the sacredness of His sanctuary, but Jesus didn't. He said that "My house shall be a house of prayer." In His Word, the Temple, or a church, was never seen as His house, though it has become common to refer to them as such. His "house" is our heart. The presence of all the commercial representatives was an offense to Him, but how much more is the presence of all the different types of "moneychangers" that we have given permission to set up their "tables" in our hearts? Jesus said that these men had made His Temple a "den of thieves." What are the thieves that we've permitted to have a presence in our hearts, that are a deep offense to Him, and a great destruction to us? That steal our love for Him? He made a rope whip, and in His zeal, drove them out, overturning tables in the process. He had no problem doing that. We don't either, when we simply think in terms of the local church sanctuary. How about when it comes to our own hearts, and the illicit business we tend to conduct there?

We can take great pains in setting up tables in our hearts whose presence grieves Him. We can come up with a multitude of legitimate reasons for them being there. Surely the Temple officials had. Most people who came to the Temple to worship and offer a sacrifice came a great distance to do so. It was an endeavor to bring their families, adding a number of animals for sacrifice would have increased the burden. Having them available on site would ease that burden. It would make all of it easier and more convenient. What could be the problem with that? This is how sin usually develops in our lives. We think of something we know is likely not right but come up with so many reasons as to why it can be a good thing, and how He must understand that is it and it is helpful to us. Compromise begins here and soon; we have a heart full of "moneychangers and their tables." And our communion with Him, most precious of all, is obstructed, even cut off. Only by wielding His "rope chord" and overturning those tables can He cleanse our defiled hearts and bring us fully back to Himself.

What Jesus did that day had to have been an amazing sight to His disciples and all who looked on. He was on fire with righteous anger. Moneychangers and their wares have no place in His house, our heart. He will do whatever He must to cleanse our hearts of them. He'll leave no table unturned. As He gazes upon our hearts today, what does He look upon? What are our tables? How many offensive wares have we piled upon them? Nothing matters more to Him than the condition of our heart. As He looks at ours, yours and mine, is He even now making His rope of chords? May every invasive table and ware in our hearts be cleansed so that once again, they can be a fit dwelling place for the Holy One of God.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Horizons

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” I Samuel 16:1....."The Lord is able to give us so much more than we lose when we part with all else to trust Him....Life is too short to dwell by any grave. We must proceed." Vance Havner

Samuel loved Saul the king. He was heartbroken that Saul's disobedience to God had caused him to lose the kingdom God had given him. He mourned it. Deeply. So deeply that he was unable to move past it. Someone said that we can get past that which we cannot get over. There are losses in life that will always bring a grieving sense of loss. Death, divorce, rebellious, wayward children, are just a few. Yet we cannot be held captive by them. We must move on, move past. The ache goes with us, but we are not in bondage to the ache.

So many of us dwell at the gravesites of our losses. Emotionally, spiritually, even physically, we remain there. And we are missing what yet remains for us in Him. God fully understood Samuel's grief. He knew how much he loved Saul. What had happened grieved the heart of the Father as well. Yet He had purposes yet to unfold. He had a man after His own heart, David, who was to be anointed as the next king by Samuel. That would not happen if Samuel remained frozen where he was. He had to move out, and go to where the Father was leading him. We do as well. We cannot live at the site of our deep losses, even the deepest of them. We have to move on, and we have to trust that He will not so much make up for the loss, for some can never be made up for, but we can trust that He has good things in store. Beautiful things from His hand. Our lives are not over. Our futures are not lost. He has, in some form or another, a "David" lying ahead for us. Press on.

I hesitate to use myself as an illustration because I don't want to seem to present myself as some kind of martyr. I'm not. There are countless others who have suffered much greater loss than me, but I do know the awful pain of loss. I know what it is like to have your 11 year old daughter literally torn from you and know nothing of her for the next 10 years. I also know the loss of watching her slowly waste away from the devastating effects of choices she didn't make at that time, but did make afterwards. I know the deep pain of rejection and betrayal by the mate you believed would be with you for life. I know the seeming indifference and outright rejection of some in the church who now saw you as tainted and no longer fit for His service. I know the loss of trusted friends through broken relationships, or their falling into sin, or their sudden departure into death. The pain of any and all of these was crushing, and there were times when I too could do nothing but stand by the "gravesite," unable to move on. To go on. Yet always, at every site, He found me, as He found Samuel, and asked that same question, sometimes gently, sometimes not; "How long will you go on grieving here?" Always He had more. Always He had life, joy, peace, and hope.

A young pastor blessed me with a great compliment recently. He said if there was one message for me to preach, it would be the message of victory. I hope that is so. If it is, it is of no credit to me. It is because in the midst of death, defeat, and seeming hopelessness, He always led me through, and He led me out. Neither failure nor defeat were ever final. His victory was and is. To paraphrase Paul, we can be struck down, but we are not destroyed. In Christ, we cannot be destroyed. We must run to the battle. Death and defeat are always Satan's horizon for us. Life and Victory are Christ's. Which Horizon are we heading to?

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Wisdom 2

Some more thoughts from my prayer journal.....

"In whatever you face today, ask to be driven further into His love and faithfulness." Chris Tiegreen

Our first response to adversity is usually to either avoid it, usually by running from it. We are not prone to run deeper into His reality in the midst of it. What would be the result if we did? The simple truth is that He will allow adversity, trouble, into your life. He means to use it for our good. He means to reveal Himself to us in it, to deepen our knowledge and experience of Him in it. It's in the wilderness where we are most likely to see the face of God. In His desert experience, Jesus became even more one with His Father, totally assured of who He was, and why His Father had sent Him. In His need, the Psalmist cried out, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than all." His Word tells us that "He is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble." We cannot know that unless we go deeply into the reality of that truth. Satan seeks to drive us, but if we look to Him, trust Him, the only place he can drive us is deeper into the experience of our God. We need to face every need, every adversary, every crisis with the idea that it is yet another opportunity to experience Him in even greater ways. The depth of His love and faithfulness is infinite. Let the stones rolled into your path be steppingstones into a knowledge of Him you never thought possible.

"We have professed believers aplenty, but how many disciples do we have?" Vance Havner

Where do you and I fit in as concerns Havner's quote? What's the witness of our walk? A disciple takes up the life of his master. The life their master lives, they live. This is not the way of the professing believer. The professing believer agrees with all the teachings of the Master, but they don't really believe that they need to totally commit to His life and ways. There is room to pick and choose. In fact, I think if there were an accurate category for the bulk of believer in the western church, it would be "pick and choose believers." The ones who decide where, when, and how they'll follow Him. Jesus never gave us permission to be such a follower, and we see the chilling evidence of that in John 6. Christ had told His followers that they could not be His disciples unless they surrendered all else in order to follow Him with all their being. Scripture says that most who had been following turned away at that. Jesus turned to 12 and asked if they too would leave Him. Peter replied, "Lord, where would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life." A disciple knows this. The professor still believes they can find some order of life, even good life, somewhere outside of Christ. They may never fully leave, but never will they fully follow. Who are you and I more like? The majority who walked away, or the 12 who stayed?

"We're not to enthrone the work, but to enthrone Jesus Christ in the work." Oswald Chambers

Now, in my 38th year of ministry, I can say how easily it is for us to fall into the sin, yes, sin, of exalting the "work" we do for Christ above Christ Himself. We get focused on the task, the goal, the result we want to see. It all becomes bigger to us than He is. We worship the ministry and the work, all the while missing Him, and withholding our worship from Him. When Christ's earthly parents realized that their son was no longer with the caravan returning home from Jerusalem, they returned to the city and frantically searched for Him. They looked everywhere, and finally, found Him in the last place they looked, the Temple, which the Jews saw as the dwelling place of God. They tried to rebuke Him, but He asked them where else would they expect to find Him but in His Father's house? Jesus knew what His calling and purpose were, and why His Father had sent Him. He would be about His Father's business, but that business began with His ongoing dwelling in the presence of His Father. Of dwelling in His heart. We too must be about His business, but we cannot fall into the idolatry of worshipping "the business." We must never cease to worship at the center of our calling. He will accomplish His work through us, but only as He accomplishes His work in us.

Just a few more nuggets of wisdom. I hope they spoke to you.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

What?

 "For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” Matthew 18:20

I've heard this verse used in seemingly endless ways, usually to make ourselves feel better about a poorly attended gathering. "There may not be many others here, but He is," we say or think, and this serves as some kind of balm to mask our disappointment. I'm not putting anyone down who's thought this way. I have myself, but like so many other Scriptures, I think we completely miss Christ's meaning in His words. A song I heard this morning got me thinking on a deeper level about it all, and I'll try to share some of my thoughts with you. I hope they come across with some clarity.

The lyric of the song, sund by Elevation Church's worship team, asked, "What would you do if He walked in the room?" Praise? Dance? Leap for joy? All of these? Before any of that, I wonder, in most of what we call worship in the church today, do we have any expectation of His actually appearing among us? Yes, I know He's there.He said He was. But as someone said, we too often sing and speak about Him as if He wasn't really there Not really very much with and among us. If Jesus actually did literally walk into our sanctuary this coming Sunday morning, how would we respond? Would we even recognize Him if He did? Singing and preaching about Him doesn't mean we actually know and are experiencing Him. Would we recognize Him, and if we did, would He really be welcome? More, if He did come, would we actually be there to behold Him? Or would be like the disciple Thomas, who was occupied with other things and missed the first appearance of Jesus to all His disciples after the resurrection. How many of us would just be pulling into the parking lot? I'm only half joking with that question.

My foremost thought in all of this is that our first response should not be singing, shouting, dancing, or praising. It should be that we are struck silent in awesome wonder at His glory in our midst. Throughout His Word, when He appeared in the Old Testament and New, those who saw Him simply fell on their face before Him. Unable to speak. Unable to do anything but worship Him. How many of us would be unable to do this because we simply have so little experience with true worship? 

What would we do if He walked into the room.....right now? One day, in one way or another, He will be before each of us. What will we do? It certainly is very unlikely it will be what we've been doing.......Just some of my thoughts for each of us to meditate upon.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Wisdom

 Today, I thought I'd share a little wisdom that I've gathered from my prayer journal. May it speak to each of us....

"How could you ever be dismayed at your situation with Christ at your right hand?" Henry Blackaby

How? Yet we so easily are. That's because the devil is very skilled at making us believe we've been abandoned, forgotten, set aside. He gets us to seeing everything through the eyes of flesh instead of the Spirit. I know. I've walked in those places. Maybe you are right now......One such time for me was on a bitter winter night in 1989. I was living alone on our District campground, living through the early stages of my eventual divorce. I came home late at night, feeling as discouraged and hopeless as I ever had. I wanted to just give up. I went down to the cabin I was staying in, and opened my Bible, looking for hope. I came upon the passage where Paul is speaking of his first defense before Caesar, and how everyone, even his closest associates, had left him. Then he related how as he stood there, alone, His Lord Jesus Christ came and stood with him. Neither Caesar, nor anyone else saw Him, but Paul did. He knew he was not alone. Christ was at his right hand. I knew then that he was at my right hand as well. I had begun to think that the cabin and barren campground were where it would all end for me. It wasn't. He led me out of there and into new areas, new opportunities, and best of all, a new life. How can we be dismayed if we know He stands at our right hand? Do we know this today? Do you?

"God is my Father. I will never think of anything that He might forget. Why should I worry?" Oswald Chambers

We are prone to anxiety, stress, and worry. In large part because we seek to maintain control. So, we constantly wonder and stress over whether we have made preparations for every potential happening. This is impossible, and in our hearts, we know it, but it doesn't stop us from trying. Chambers speaks a fact we too often forget. He is our Father. He is a good Father. His best for us is always in His heart. If we'll trust Him, He will bring His best to pass. We cannot foresee every eventuality, but He does. The pressure we subject ourselves to, and that the devil delights to increase, vanishes when we realize all we have in Him as our Father God. Jesus said that our Father loves to give good things to His children. In the Judean desert, stones had the appearance of loaves of bread, and scorpions could ball up and have the appearance of an egg. Jesus said if we asked Him for bread, He would not give us a stone, and if we asked for an egg, He would not give us a scorpion. He has given us all things in Jesus Christ. He could not possibly give us anything of more value than Him. Why do we doubt that He will care for us? Why might you be doubting today?

"Job's first reaction to his trial was to worship. He knew God was sovereign and that He was good." In our trials, few of us have the inclination of Job to worship. Complain, question, get angry? Yes, all of these and more. We do so because very likely, we have not settled the question as to whether we really believe He is good and that He is sovereign over all, even our most terrible circumstances. Because of this, we can't worship Him. What would happen in our lives if, when we gathered this week in our fellowships, we simply laid our cares and burdens upon His altar, at the foot of His cross, and left them there? What if we dared to believe that no matter how dark our circumstances, how permeated with death, He was in control, He was moving, and He had His ultimate good in mind through all of it? Would we be able to rest in Him? Would we be able to worship Him? This is an element that is missing in so much of what we call worship. Sinclair Ferguson says that the modern church is interested in what gives pleasure and what we will enjoy, and very little of the awesome holiness of God. This leaves very little room for the truly brokenhearted to come before Him, to lay it all before Him, trust Him, and find total peace in worship. Job's first reaction was to worship. How often is it ours?

Just a few thoughts for the day. Blessings to all.

Pastor O

Not Aware?

 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” Genesis 28:16

Jacob, through a series of less than honorable choices, has been sent from his home by his father Isaac. He had tricked both Isaac and his brother Esau into having Isaac give the blessing that was to be Esau's as the first born, to Jacob instead. This resulted in Esau swearing to kill him. To protect him, his parents sent him to his mother's relatives. We can only imagine what his emotional and mental state must have been. Alone, sent from the only home he'd ever known, and facing a completely unknown future. Exhausted, he fell asleep, and in his sleep, God appeared to him and gave him promises of his blessing, protection, and future well being. When he awoke, Jacob spoke the words in the above Scripture. He did not think God was with or perhaps even aware of him in that place. The Father proved that He was, that He always was, and always would be. How often do we find ourselves in a place like Jacob's? Do you find yourself there today?

I have in my prayer journal the question, "Who needs to show up? God, or us?" It's a legitimate question. In the difficult places and circumstances that we can find ourselves in, most always unwanted, we can easily question if He is there, if He is with us. A.W. Tozer said that we tend to think in terms of distance, miles, meters, and so on. He said that we think of Him as being spatial, "dwelling in space." He said that God contains space and that space is in God. He literally is "all in all." He said, "We should never have a problem with God being anywhere for the fact is, God is everywhere." David wrote in Psalm 139, "Where shall I go from Your Spirit. or where shall I flee from Your presence?" As Tozer writes, "Wherever we are, God is there. The problem is in acknowledging the presence of God wherever we are now." "Now" can be a very unhappy and painful place. Such places are where the enemy seeks to convince us that He is absent, and very distant from us. And totally unconcerned. Like everything he says, that's a lie.

This brings me back to my question of who needs to show up, God or us? Jacob was not ignorant of God and His ways. His father Isaac had been present in some of God's greatest acts in the life of his father Abraham. He'd heard of those events all of his life. He had always known of the unfailing faithfulness of his God. He had known, but he had yet to experience it himself. Now he was in the place that he would. God will be faithful to bring each of His people to this place. The place where our head knowledge can now become our heart experience. The place where we no longer ask Him to show up, but where we understand it is we who must do the showing. This is a place that we need to arrive at not only as individuals but as the church. In our day to day living, He is present. Are we? In our corporate gatherings, He is present. Are we? Who is it that needs to show up?

Where in our walk with Him, do we need to finally show up? Where in our Body life do we, His church need to show up? Who is it that hasn't been present? God, or us? May it not take our utter exhaustion and a dream from Him to make us realize that as Jesus promised, He will "never leave us or forsake us." When do we finally believe that He is always with us, and that this truth is not based on what we feel or see, but on what He has said, and continues to say. May we not, you and I, ever have to say again, "Surely He was (is) in this place, and I didn't know it." May we never again live unaware.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Seeds

 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6....."Only when we begin to understand the hideous nature of our sin can we begin to understand the depths of His mercy." Chris Tiegreen

Joni Eareckson Tada once summed up the crux of Christ's message to a lost world. She had it as, "Sin will kill you, hell is real, God is merciful, His Kingdom will change you, and I (Jesus Christ) am your passport." That's a powerful message. Where in the church is it being fully proclaimed? Is it being preached in yours?

I was in a men's prayer group this morning where the leader, our pastor, told of a happening this past Sunday evening. He, his son, and his son's friend were out driving golf balls. Next to them were a group of young college kids. F-bombs were flying, His name was being used as a curseword, and they were all talking about the events of a recent party, dropping acid, drunkenness, and so on. In the midst of it he heard His voice tell him that he was to speak to them. He's a bold guy, but he admitted his intimidation. Any of us would be. Yet he obeyed and stepped forward to ask if he could have just a few minutes of their time. One of them, a young woman, was obviously not interested, but her two male friends were open. He shared with them the events of his own once hedonistic life. He also shared God's mercy to him in it, and what He had done in his life since that day. They listened respectfully, and went on their way. The immediate results were not what mattered. What mattered was that he was obedient, and that he trusted God with whatever the results might eventually be. More, he had included all the elements of Tada's description of Christ's central message. So must we all....and that can be intimidating.

One of those present expressed doubt that the young people heard anything that was said, but I would strongly disagree with that. Almost 50 years ago, I, and a group of my friends were hanging on the street in the small college town we were living in. It was a hot summer night. Suddenly we were approached by a middle-aged man, who in every way fit the description of what we'd call a "square." We could not possibly have anything in common with him. He began to speak to us in a very friendly way, he a square and we a bunch of longhairs. Even so, we listened, and he brought the conversation around to Christ. We continued to listen. He ended up spending about an hour with us, and when he left, he had no visible results to count, but there were results. I don't know what seeds bore fruit in my friends as we drifted apart over the next few years, but they definitely bore fruit in me. On the surface, I laughed and joked along with the others, but his words, which were actually Christ's words, were planted in my heart, where they remained, until through a series of events orchestrated by Him, I gave my heart and life to Him 5 years later. His Word never returns void.

Somehow, we have fallen into fear of boldly proclaiming His Truth, all of His truth, to a lost world. We fear rejection. We fear offending. We fear scaring people off. Somehow, we never fear the consequences of not obeying Him. We must, individually and corporately, lay hold again of the message of Christ. Of His cross, and of His mission to the human race. Who knows what will happen in the lives of those three young people. Who knew what would happen in my life. That middle aged square surely didn't, but he was faithful. So must we be faithful. Fearless in our proclaiming, fearlessly trusting Him with the results. The world is desperate for this message. Will we be desperate to proclaim it?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Total Disability

 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; help us, LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.” 2 Chronicles 14:11

In the physical realm, there are few situations more frightening to us than having to live totally disabled. The feelings of helplessness would be beyond our comprehension. We would be dependent upon others for almost everything. We dread even the thought of such a life, and if we're a compassionate person, we grieve for anyone who does live in this way. In fact, we're often moved to help them in any way we can. Their weakness touches our hearts. We give our strength into their helplessness. 

Scripture tells us that in our weakness, He is our strength. We know this, but if we're really honest, living in the place where we must depend upon His strength is not one we embrace. Depending upon ours is what comes most naturally, but this will inevitably lead to our discovering what 2 Chronicles 14 says; we are helpless in the battle between the powerful (the enemy and the world system he works through) and the powerless (you and I as we live in that system). We face the "multitudes" of that system each day and the results are crushing. Our might will not prevail, but if we are willing to trust in Him, we will discover that His will. But there is a key to that discovery.

I've a pastor friend that announced some time back that he had declared "total disability" in his relationship with the Father. In all things, his dependence would be upon his God. It would not be upon himself. Many of us say this, but few of us have the courage to live it out on a daily basis. We can't resist looking to our own strength, so we rarely discover the depth of His. Jesus said that He "did nothing of Himself," that He only did what He saw His Father doing. Jesus Christ lived with His eyes fixed upon His Father. He modeled this for us, but so few of us are living deeply enough in Him to do the same. We don't know what to do in so many situations, but we are not living close enough to Him to discern what He is doing in those places. We've never declared total disability, and so we go on in our strength and miss all the fullness of His.

Here's the stumbling block in our declaring total disability; we are born with a bent towards being in control. In control of our lives, our circumstances, and the actions of others in and around our lives. This bent can only be dealt with at one place; the cross of Christ. It has to die there. Only then can we declare the total disability needed in order to discover His infinite ability. Only there will we discover the trust needed to live in that place. 

At the cross, Christ faced the multitudes of both earthly and spiritual powers arrayed against Him. There was no one to help but the Father, and into His hands He placed Himself. At the cross, in His weakness and complete disability, He prevailed through the soon to be displayed resurrection power of God. Christ at His weakest, conquered the devil and his multitudes at their strongest at the cross. So too will we. It starts with declaring our total disability. Our victory is assured in that place.

Blessings,
Pastor O

No Surrender

 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33...."Jesus overcame the devil every time, in every place, and on every level." Leonard Ravenhill

I think some may see me as not being realistic about the days we're living in. I get it. Being an optimist in these times is not easy. Even well meaning fellow believers can seek to "dampen" our outlook. They point to all the end time predictions that are found in the Book of Revelation. I get that too, except there is an important part of that which we're missing. We don't know if we're actually in those times yet or not. I have no quarrel with those who believe we are. We may be, but His Word also tells us that we are not to live like those who have no hope, and that was not just a future hope, but a present one. Whatever the circumstance, personal or cultural, I am determined, by His grace, to face it with the outlook expressed by Jesus in John 16, and by the great evangelist Leonard Ravenhill. He has already overcome every trial and sorrow that may come our way, so in Him, we do as well. We are more than conquerors. His Word says so, and I have already made up my mind to believe His Word.....in all things and in all places.

I'm well aware of the darkness that is steadily overtaking our culture, nation, and world. I refuse to live as if I, and His church are powerless against it all. I refuse to believe that it is too late for us. His return may well be imminent, and if so, I'm joyously looking up in expectation, but whether it is or not, I mean to live looking up and moving forward. I don't think He gives us permission to live any other way. I am not naive about the enemy's devices and power, but I know that his power is as nothing compared to the infinite and miraculous power of our Lord. As Ravenhill says, Jesus defeated Satan on every battle ground possible, to the cross and to the tomb. He has already defeated him on every battle ground of our lives, our homes and families, and in His/our church and 

ministries. 

As I close, I think of the scene in the great Lord of the Rings movie, "The Return Of The King." Aragorn leads the ragged remnants of the free lands army against the gates of Mordor, dwelling place of the totally evil Sauron. His soldiers are intimidated by its seeming might. He rallies his troops by telling him that he sees in their eyes the fear that would take his own heart and that perhaps the world of men would fall one day, but it would not be this day. He led his small numbers against the might of that dark realm and prevailed. For all of us, the time of the end will come, but for the believer, until it does, we must live as if it is not this day, and fight for the victory. No surrender. No giving up. Going forward, looking up.....in and to Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Journal Thoughts

 I thought I'd share a few more thoughts and quotes from my prayer journal today.....

"When the Son sets us free, He expects us to be completely free." Chris Tiegreen......Jesus said that "He who is free in me is free indeed." How much of our life points to the "indeed" part of the Lord's words? How can it be that so many of His people continue on in various forms of bondage even after embracing His promised freedom. Tiegreen says that we are "crafted for glory but wallow in captivity." The truth of this is seen everywhere. Why do the chains that hold us seem so unbreakable? Someone said that the blood of Christ serves to soak the chains from our wrists. Maybe that's part of the reason; we don't know the power of His blood. We sing a hymn about there being "power in the blood," but we don't experience it. Christ came to make us free. In Him we are free. Why have we let the enemy convince us that we're not? Why do we let him convince us that we're his "prisoners of war" when it is our Lord who has already won the battle? We could talk for hours on end on why so many continue in their captivity, but I think it just comes down to something Paul said. He said he was a bondslave to Jesus Christ. He also said that being Christ's slave made him free from all other masters. We easily call Him Savior, we shrink back from truly receiving Him as our Lord. When He is truly so, we are free in Him, and so we are free of all else. "When the Son sets you free, you are really free." May this be our day to day life experience.

"Do we go through the rituals of a worship service without the attitude of worship?" Chris Tiegreen....What does our worship "look like" to the Father? Have we ever asked ourselves this question? We tend to think in terms of corporate worship, but whatever happens on a Sunday morning is the outflow of what has been going on through the week. Sips and nibbles of the water and bread of life each day isn't genuine worship, and if that is all we've had, then what happens on Sunday will indeed be mainly a ritual to us. Drive to the church, move into the sanctuary, often late, hope the worship team is on target that morning and can get us "in the mood," and then hope the pastor can feed us some good bread......so long as he doesn't take much time doing it. Then we all go out to the parking lot, get in our cars, and drive home, or to lunch, or to our kids games, or....whatever. We've engaged in a ritual, but we deceive ourselves if we think that's worship. It's not just what does He see in that, but what does that do to His heart?

"Have you lost your first love? Do you follow Him but not enjoy Him?" Chris Tiegreen....Jesus placed a scathing judgement on the church in Ephesus in the Book of Revelation. He told them that they were doing all the right things, that they practiced and followed a correct doctrine and that they stood for His truth.....and they did it all without a burning love and desire for Him. Their faithfulness was centered on duty, not upon passionate love for their Lord. How many of us do the same? How many of us "do all the right things," but have no real enjoyment of our Lord? How much of our walk is lived out in dry and dutiful obligation to Him? We follow Him, but we don't enjoy Him. He is a Taskmaster more than a Companion and Friend. There is little or no joy in the relationship. We have left our first love, and the worst of it is that we aren't really aware that we have. I believe this applies to a great segment of the church. We do what is right, but not from a motive of love, and it shows out with how we deal with one another and how we relate to a lost and dying world. May we awaken, and return to our first love....before it is too late.

Those were just some thoughts that speak to me today. Hopefully, on some level they'll speak to you as well. May your day be richly blessed and filled with Him.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Gardens

 "Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow." Matthew 13:5

I once heard evangelist James Robison tell of God speaking to him and saying, "There are too many rocks in your garden." He meant that the Father was speaking about his heart's soil, and what it was producing in his life, or more accurately, not producing. There were too many "rocks," obstructing growth, obstructing fruitfulness. The rocks needed to be removed. As anyone who has ever done any gardening, this can be a hard task. Rocks can become embedded in the soil, and digging them out, a hard, painstaking process. No less so when the "garden" is our heart, and the life that comes out of it. There are too many rocks in our garden. What are yours, and what are mine?

Wherever there's a rock, it means there is no soil. Seeds have no depth in which to grow because the growth is obstructed by the rocks. The Holy Spirit distributes the seeds of His Word and Life upon our hearts in countless ways. We hear it willingly, but it never gets the chance to take root, to bear fruit, because the many rocks in our garden prevent it. How many times and ways has He spoken to us, and we hear what He says, but the impression is only for a short while? The rocks, in the form of life distractions, other interests and concerns, worries, anxieties, or deeply hidden attitudes and desires lying within us that counteract His words, prevent any growth.

Having pastored now for nearly 40 years, I have seen this on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, no more than in the corporate worship we are a part of. The "rocks" are showing even before the seeds are spread. People arrive frazzled, distracted, and late. So much has been going on for them that morning that whatever thoughts they've had of Him were far outweighed by what they saw as far more pressing; a disagreement with their mate, difficult children, the activity they need to attend after church, all of these and more steal our hearts from Him. Someone said that we have experienced countless worship services, but far too few times of worship. To experience true worship of the Lord, our hearts need to be prepared. Few of us are prepared to meet with Him, hear from Him, and receive from Him. We've been around Him, heard about Him, even sung about Him. We've not experienced Him. Nothing took root. There were too many rocks. There are still too many rocks. Too many rocks in your garden and too many in mine. What do we do about them?

It starts with letting Him point them out. We're experts at avoiding this. Then we need to repent of allowing the rocks to remain, and follow His leading for their removal. That leading will always bring us to a focus on Him. Not a sometime focus, but a lifestyle one. As we focus on Him, the rocks begin to disappear from our hearts. His seeds begin to take root, and we receive these seeds not just from a weekly worship service but from a daily commune with Him through His Word, prayer, and a growing relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. Our heat soil begins to teem with His Life. The soil is rich, and the yield is great. The only rock that remains in our garden is the Rock that is Jesus Christ.

Blessings,
Pastor O