Three Voices

 The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Matthew 21:9

The above Scripture is part of the detail describing Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As He arrived, sitting on a donkey, the crowds hailed Him as their long awaited King, shouting "Hosanna," praise Him, over and over again. Joy swept through the hearts of the people. The One they had been waiting for had come. Yet, less than a week later, the streets of Jerusalem were filled with another cry. "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Two entirely different cries from two different voices. Yet to these two, I would add a third; the voice of silence.

I think most of those in the crowds that shouted "Hosanna" upon His coming did so with sincerity. They were ready to receive Him as their Savior. Many surely did so. Yet, in just a few days, the forces of the enemy would gather and rise up against Him through the combination of the religious order of the day, the Pharisees, and the state, Rome. Jesus, so recently hailed as Savior, was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious governing order. A sham of a trial was held, and a number of Pharisees refused to participate, but those who were deeply threatened by the ministry and coming of Christ, succeeded in bringing a guilty verdict upon Him. Eventually He was brought before Pilate, who, though reluctant to condemn Him, realized the political danger of doing so. He brought Him out before the crowds now gathered before the Roman judgement seat and asked for their verdict. Many cried for His release, but they were drowned out by those who screamed, "Crucify Him!." And they did.....Two voices are now accounted for, but what of the third?

I think the third voice contained by far the highest number. They were the voice of silence. I believe almost all of them were found in the crowd that welcomed Christ on Palm Sunday and that proclaimed Him Messiah King. But adversity, fear, and the threat of the Sanhedrin silenced them. They were afraid to stand with Christ. The disciples themselves were among them. Where might we be among them today? Where might you, and where might I?

Anyone can be bold for Jesus in the sunshine, where we are assured of safety and security. What of when darkness and threats of death come against us? What of when a real and deep cost will be involved in our cries of "Hosanna?" Will we be so bold then? Scripture says that we are to be ready, in season and out of season, to proclaim the Truth of His Word. This means that whether the times are favorable or not, we are to be steadfast, true, and vocal in our witness, in what we believe. We don't seek to force this truth on anyone, but we proclaim it, the Good News of Christ, and invite people into it. We speak His Truth into the darkness of all the enemy's lies. And those lies are everywhere seen today.

The Third Voice is always the majority. They are silent for all the reasons listed above and more. Their silence saw Christ crucified, and their silence saw the rise of every murderous tyrant and dictator history has ever seen. It has always been so. The silence of the church over the course of the last 50 years has brought about the ever encroaching darkness of these days. We may have cried "Hosanna" in our gatherings, but not in the streets of towns, cities, and nations. Yet I believe it is changing.

Christ's resurrection, followed by Pentecost, brought the silent ones out of hiding. The followers of Christ became known as those who were "turning the world upside down," and they were. We, who have been silent ones, must be ready to do so once more. We can be sure that the same enemy in opposition 2000 years ago will be just as active today as he was then. On the cross he was conquered. At Pentecost he was conquered. Again and again through history, he was conquered. He is conquered. We are the ones called to victory, not him. Let us live that way. With courage. With boldness. With love. Not shrinking back, but pressing on. Whether the times are favorable or not. May the third voice, the voice of silence no longer be found among us. We who are His have been given a voice, His voice, calling the dead to life, and those trapped in darkness into His Light. Let us use it. Let us be silent no more.

Blessings,
Pastor O 

Open War

 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  John 10:10

As I've written in the past, I really love the Lord of the Rings novels, and especially the movie trilogy. They are filled with an abundance of wonderful dialogue. One of my favorite scenes is found in the 2nd movie, "The Two Towers." King Theoden of Rohan had been held under the control of the corrupt wizard, Saruman. While in this almost comatose state, Saruman's forces had penetrated his kingdom and were raiding and pillaging at will. The White Wizard, Gandalf, along with the heir to the throne of Gondor, Aragorn, and the elf Legolas and Dwarf Gimli, had set Theoden free from the power of Saruman. Awakened, Theoden realizes the threat to his kingdom and his throne from Saruman's evil intent. Gandalf and Aragorn urge him to "ride out," and meet Saruman in battle. Theoden is reluctant to do so. He tells Aragorn, "I will not risk open warfare." To which Aragorn replies, "Open warfare is upon you whether you would risk it or not." We who are the church will do well to heed the statement of reality from Aragorn, for it is pointedly true concerning the days we live in. The enemy of our soul, of all human souls, Satan, has brought open war upon us, whether we recognize it or not.

It has always been so, but in times past, so present in the culture was the presence and witness of Christ through His church that he was forced to confine his activity to the shadows. Or disguise what he was doing through means that appeared acceptable, or even good on the surface, but held sinister and evil motives underneath. He has always been a master of mixing his lies in with the truth. What is partly true can be more destructive than that which is an outright lie. Now however, he has come out of the shadows. He no longer snipes at the people of God or the human race that God so loves. He is waging open war upon both. I fear that in too many ways and areas, the church is not prepared for the war.

In the J.R.R. Tolkein novels that these movies are based upon, Gondor is the city and kingdom that the church can be compared to. Gondor, once a mighty kingdom, has grown weak, and Sauron, who is symbolic of the total evil of Satan, has gathered his forces to overrun the city and bring about its fall. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the enemy has laid siege to His church, and that we too are surrounded by the demonic power of hell. It has saturated the culture in which we live. Fentanyl is a drug that has laid hold of a generation, enslaving millions of young people to its power and killing so many of them. The devil is using this drug and many others with the intent of destroying a generation of our children. At the same time he assaults the family through divorce, abuse, violence, and abandonment. He has infiltrated the halls of government to the extent that we have lost all confidence in the integrity of those we elect and in the elections themselves.

The trafficking of women and children for sexual slavery is growing at exponential rates. Murder seems to have become a national sport. No one feels safe. Most live in fear.  For too long, the church has been asleep in the midst of it all. Or worse, in our desire to be accepted and liked in this fast changing atmosphere, we have been, as was Theoden, afraid to risk open war.

Spiritual warfare can be a spooky thing to many, and indeed, too many believers have made it so. We do not fight with human weapons, but with the weapons of faith and truth. Faith in the power and rule of our God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and trust in the truth and power of His Word. Against all the lies of hell, we the church must proclaim truth. We must proclaim it at whatever the cost may be, and there will be a cost. The devil and his ways have become entrenched in our culture. He will not give ground quietly. He will fight back with all his power. The Bible says that in the last days, "they will not endure sound doctrine." This means that they will not believe the truth of His Word. The reality is everywhere about us. Wherever the church stands upon the truth of His Word, accusations of being vessels of hate and worse are raging. We must expect this and we cannot leave off from proclaiming His truth, always in love, but always without fear of the cost. We live in a time where, as the Bible said, "evil is called good, and good is called evil." We are called to be His Light, shining in the midst of darkness. As we are, we're to trust that His Light prevails. We trust because it already has. On the cross, Christ conquered sin and death. Our part is to live out that truth and witness to a lost and dying world, and where needed, to that part of His professing church that is lost and dying as well.

There is so much more to write and say, but time and space won't allow for it. I close by saying again, open war is upon us no matter whether we would wish it or not. Will we, you and I, as His church, "ride out" and meet the enemy? Will we take the battle to Him, confident in victory, because in Christ, we have already won?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Lord And Savior

 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

We seem to know Christ far better as Savior than we do as Lord. This, in spite of His being called "Lord" far more in Scripture than He is "Savior." We welcome His salvation while dodging, even subtly rejecting His Lordship. It's a losing battle, except for those who flee from His Lordship, His sovereign rule, and are blind to the fact that they do so.....Written in my prayer journal are three things that I believe speak to this. I want to share them today.

"May we cease seeing Him mainly as our Helper and instead, know Him as Savior and Lord." I don't know the source of this quote, but I do know the desperate need that it become true in our lives and relationship with Him. If it doesn't, I question whether we really have any kind of relationship with Him at all.....He is welcome in our lives as a "helper." He assists us. He brings about the desired results we want. He protects us from events we don't want. He provides, He comforts, He encourages and gives strength. In short, He hangs around waiting for our emergency call and then rushes to the scene of our need. When the need is met, He withdraws and doesn't interfere in the course of our life. A life in whose direction we have already decided. Our desires are at the forefront. His are barely known, if known at all. Most of us may say we don't view Him in this way at all, but allow Him to search us in this. Isn't there far more truth here as concerns us than we dare to admit. Aren't we far more comfortable with Him as our Helper than we are with Him as our Lord? Helpers are at our command. We are at the command of a Lord.

"There is a depth in most of our hearts where Jesus' Lordship does not go." Chris Tiegreen....This may be best seen in Jesus' encounter with Peter after His resurrection. Three times He asked Peter if he loved Him. Each time he replied that he did, but there was a boundary on that love and devotion. The first two times he replied, Peter answered with a word that defined love as being between two friends. It was deep, but it was not total. Jesus knew that His love, His Lordship with Peter, who had denied Him three times prior to His crucifixion, had limits. When Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love Me?" Peter broke. This time he answered with the word "agape," which meant total, unconditional, surrendered love. Christ had penetrated past the boundary Peter had placed upon Him. He had always been Peter's total Savior. Now He was totally Peter's Lord. How about you and me? Where do we fit in Peter's story? How much of it is our story right now? How deep in our hearts does our love for Him really go?

"The parts of our heart we retain for ourselves is a foothold for the enemy." Chris Tiegreen....Our life experiences should have taught us the truth of this, but we are such slow learners. What we retain for ourselves is not really "ours" at all. If it is ours, then it is not His. If it is not His, then it is outside the covering of His presence and protection. It isn't under the blood. When the Lord's angel passed over the land of Egypt, the people of Israel were instructed to have the blood of a sacrificial lamb upon their doors. It was their protection from this angel of death. Our protection from the evil plans of the enemy is found in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. If the people had not covered their doorways with the lamb's blood, they would have died alongside the Egyptians. Under that blood, they were safe. So are we when we have all of our lives under His. Whatever we try to keep control of, keep to ourselves, is fair game for the enemy of our souls. That's where he gets his foothold in our hearts. That's where we're vulnerable to His attacks. Our safety is in Him, and only that which we yield up to Him knows that safety. Do we, do you, know it today?

We may speak of Him being our Lord and Savior. We may sing heartily of it as well. When He looks into our hearts, does He find the truth of it in our lives? Is He finding it now?

Blessings,

Pastor O

I Believe

 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”  John 11:27

...."It's time to say, 'Yes, Lord, I believe.' "  Francis Frangiapane

Is there a bold exclamation point in your profession of belief in the Person of Jesus Christ? Is that also present as concerns His promises. All of them, especially those in whose trust you are presently being tested? The sisters Martha and Mary certainly believe in who Jesus was, but now they were tested in their trust in what He had promised. Their brother Lazarus had died. They saw that death as final, at least for his life. They believed that he would one day be resurrected unto eternal life as Jesus had promised. They couldn't believe that he could be resurrected now. There were limitations on what they could or would believe. We shouldn't be too hard on them, because most of us have such limitations as well. And it is crippling our lives and the fellowships of which we're a part.

Evangelist and author Samuel Rodriguez has said, "The process is only temporary, but the promise is permanent." What he meant was that the fire, the valley, the mountain or giant standing in our way is part of the process in our journey of faith. We will not get through this walk of faith without encountering them. Our great problem is that we get focused on the process, the problems, obstacles, and seeming impossibilities. We are pilgrims passing through here. We're citizens of His Kingdom, not the kingdom of this world. What we encounter here, no matter how difficult or daunting, is something He means to bring us through. The process of pressing through is temporary, but He has given us permanent promises for us to lay hold of along the way. His promises are not weakened or cancelled by anything we encounter in the process.

The process for those who have professed faith in Him is not going to be getting any easier. Indeed, we are coming into circumstances and situations that are going to severely test our faith and trust in Him. As Frangiapane says, it is time for us to declare in the face of all of it that, "Yes, Lord, I believe!" Declaring it with the boldest of exclamation points possible. Declaring it in the midst of the impossible. Declaring it in the midst of any and all danger and need. Declaring it when every circumstance and appearance have joined to tell us that to believe is utter foolishness. Declaring it and being willing to look like a fool for doing so. Declaring it because we know, in the end, Jesus Christ will vindicate our faith. King David, who saw and faced the greatest of impossibilities, and found victory in them all, said, "I would have despaired if I had not believed I would see the salvation of the Lord in the land of the living." He did, and so will we.....if we believe. Wholeheartedly, with all of our being, believe. May we declare, may you declare this day, and every day, "Yes, Lord. I believe!"

Blessings,
Pastor O

First

 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Matthew 6:33

What I write today may sound like criticism, but it is not meant to be. It's just something very much on my heart this morning and I feel compelled to write and share it with whoever may read this.

There is a great deal of thought, speaking, and direction in the church these days as to constructing a "welcoming" atmosphere. A place where people feel safe, loved, and comfortable. It extends beyond the emotions to the aesthetics. We want our physical surroundings to reinforce that message. 2020's decor is good. 1990's or earlier is not good. Free standing chairs are good. Pews are not good. Keyboards, drums, guitars, and other instruments are good. Upright or grand pianos and organs are not good. Coffee and donuts or bagels in the foyer is good, not having such available is not good. I think you see where I'm going with this. None of these things are bad. The majority of them were all found in the church that I pastored, but in our zeal in the pursuit of them, I fear we are missing the greater part that is Him. Even more, what kind of Christ are we "welcoming" people too? One whose main concern is our comfort and well being, or the Jesus who is willing to offend every ounce of our flesh if it will lead to the salvation of our soul?

Recently a young evangelist named Michael Perkins posted this on his FB page. "I love hot coffee and donuts, but if these are the measures of a successful church then we are lost. Jesus paid too high a price for this to be our obsession." This, or any other outer "thing" as well. How can we let ourselves become so obsessed with what appeals to our physical senses but have no such obsession with the presence of God or the desires of His heart? Why do we again and again feel we need "something more" to get people to come? Why is the fullness of His presence, the manifestation of His presence not enough? Could it be that we have grown so dull to His presence that we've had to come up with other attractions? What would be the result if a church, your church and mine, had nothing else to offer but a message that said, "Now Appearing In Our Midst; Almighty God Himself?" Would anyone even notice or care what we offered in the foyer, or what the aesthetics of the sanctuary were? 

I was 29 years old when I came to Christ. I dressed and looked like the majority of young men of that time. I began attending a church where no one else looked like me, had my  background and musical tastes, or were even single and in my age group. Everything about it screamed "traditional," and everything they did in their worship services was totally alien to me. And none of it mattered....at all. It was a church full of what I had always referred to as "squares." Again, it didn't matter. It didn't matter because the fullness of His presence was there. I heard His voice in hymns I had never heard before, and above all, in the messages that came from the man who filled the pulpit. God's man proclaiming God's heart. You couldn't keep me away. The church had little or nothing to please my flesh, but it didn't matter. I feasted on the presence of God through His Holy Spirit. It was enough. He was enough. He still is. Oh, that we would pursue Him with a tenth of the zeal we pursue a "welcoming atmosphere," or the next big thing that will draw a crowd.

I close with this. If you witnessed any part of the recent move of the Holy Spirit upon Asbury College, you will note that thousands upon thousands gathered in a chapel that would have fit perfectly into a church service of a hundred years ago. It didn't matter to anyone who was there. The surface visuals screamed "traditional." It didn't matter. What did matter was that God was there....and people, hungry not for aesthetics, or coffee and donuts, or even friendly conversation, but hungry for Him, flocked to be there with Him. May it be that our fellowships, above all else, and no matter whether we sit in pews, chairs, or on the floor, thrive in an atmosphere that offers Him. Whether we sing old hymns or the newest worship choruses. Whether we offer 5 types of coffee or nothing more than an old water fountain....may the one thing we do have to offer be Him. Almighty God in His majesty. May we, no matter what "type" of church we may be, seek Him, all of Him, until we have so much of Him that our buildings can't contain Him and our lives can't either. What a day that will be, because our Jesus we will see. Really see. May that day come now.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Infinitely

 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Ephesians 3:20....."When we hear what Jesus has done, we hear His longing to do more." Chris Tiegreen

We may quote Ephesians 3:20 a lot, but how many of us are experiencing the truth of this promise in our lives? How many of us are entering into the "more" of God in our day to day living? We preach about it, sing about it, and confess that we believe it, but how many of us are experiencing more of Him, His wonder, His life, His abundance, His beauty, than we ever thought possible? How real is all of it to you?

We live so far beneath His promise(s). He sets a bounty before us, and we satisfy ourselves with the crumbs that fall from His table. He promises grace "greater than all our sin," yet we keep living in cycles of sinful and destructive behaviors. He promises victory, hard fought at times to be sure, but we experience more defeat than victory. It's the same with so much of the fulfillment of His promises. He promises the realization of more joy, peace, rest, strength, courage, and the ability to press on, then we could ever believe possible, but we remain like the Israelites who stood at the border of the land promised and already given them by God, yet wavering at entering. 

The reason for it all is not difficult to ascertain. Paul, the author of Ephesians says that our realization of the fullness of His power, presence, and life, is contingent upon how much of that life fills our heart and soul. He said it would be "according to His mighty power at work within us." We live in a fallen world that is set up to try and crush the life out of us, physically and spiritually. Those who give themselves to Him are promised His inner life, presence, and power, which He says will always be greater than he (the devil) and all that he uses to come against us. Our problem is that though we may have received Him by faith, we have never cultivated His life within us by faith. We end up trying to counter the pressures and attacks of a fallen world and the enemy of our souls that's behind it in our own strength. We are not walking in the fullness of His life and so we know the rumor of His promised life, but not its reality. The failure must be laid at the foot of the church itself. We have failed to lead people into the reality of His fullness and power.

We have failed because we have concentrated upon a message designed to make people feel comfortable in a world that is set against them. We have too often told them how they can have "their best life now," while sharing little or nothing of His life. We have fed their flesh and starved their spirits. We have emphasized personal contentment over the joy and wonder of Holy Spirit life. Instead of leading them deeper into His life and Spirit, we've led them deeper into their own flesh life. We've exchanged comfort for the power of the cross.

This world is passing. Indeed, it's collapsing at an ever-quickening pace. He means for His people to live above that collapse, not be crushed by it. If you are an actual follower of Christ, are you nurturing His life within you, or do you nurture your own wants and desires? Wherever you are in your journey of faith, He promises more of Himself. More beauty, wonder, and victory than we have ever believed possible. Do you desire it? Or, will you continue to desire more of and for yourself? How you answer is determined by the amount of His life at work within you.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Schedules

For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2....."If God wants to send revival, He must do it in the week allotted for it. Any other time would upset the schedule." Vance Havner

We preach, talk, and sing a great deal about freedom in Christ, but have we ever considered how as individuals and church fellowships, we are bound by our schedules? Have we considered how much more power our Day Planner has over us than His written Word does? Are we aware of how often we relegate His activity in our lives to what we consider to be an appropriate time? Do we realize how often we seek to "schedule" our encounters with God?

There is much talk about our having freedom in our worship, while at the same time we make have no place for the free movement of His Holy Spirit. We can become so bound to our order of worship that we effectively block any chance of His breaking into and disrupting it. We know how many songs we're going to sing and how long we'll sing them. We know what we want to preach on, what points we want to make, and the kind of response we hope to see and experience. We may not intend it, may even be shocked to know it, but in so many ways, what we call "worship" is more centered on us and our desires than it is upon He and His. We don't mean for it to be so, but the Order of Service, the worship, can come, in many cases has come, to have the upper hand over the Sovereign desires of the Spirit. 

It is no less so in our personal lives, especially as pertains to our times with Him. We can fall into a habit, a routine, of scheduling our times with Him in much the same way we do with our professional appointments. Reading Scripture, prayer, these can become so regimented and rigid that we almost carry them on with ourselves. We give Him no real place in them. We have a certain amount of Scripture we're committed to read and an exact amount of time we'll give over to prayer. And our prayers will most likely be in some sort of order/agenda as well. We pray about the answers we want or the information from Him that we seek. We come after His thoughts, but not His heart. We give Him little place to speak into our hearts what is on His. 

I would challenge each of us to truly and clearly examine how true what I'm saying may be true in us? Are we more correctly following a schedule in our corporate worship than we are following the leading of His Spirit. If God completely interrupted what was planned in your fellowship's worship this week, how would the pastor, the worship leader, your fellow congregants,    and you, respond?

God can't be scheduled. Won't be scheduled. If we try, we will miss Him completely, and I think in many ways, we have been missing Him, and its showing. God's time is now, and His now rarely looks like ours. May we be so yielded to Him that He may break into our lives, our churches, and our relationship with Him at any time and in any way. May our schedules and all that pertains to them be surrendered to Him........When Jesus stood over Jerusalem and wept, it was because they had missed Him. They had missed the time of their visitation. Does He weep over all the times we have missed Him? All the times we've come before Him alone and together in His name, but missed His presence. This day is the day of His salvation. May we not miss it. May we never miss it again.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Presumption

 "Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  James 4:13-16....."But he (Samson) did not know that the Lord had departed from him." Judges 16:20

Sin kills. The evidence of this is seen throughout the history of the human race. The fruit of sin will always be death, both spiritual and physical. Even so, both within the church and without, we seem to easily make peace with a great deal of sin. For the church, one on which I want to focus upon today is the "sin of presumption." We may practice it more than any other, and be totally unaware of it, or more correctly, deceived concerning it.

I saw it defined as our presuming that He gives His approval to our actions or practices because we either assume we already have it, or worse, we don't think it needful to even inquire as to whether He does. This is widely seen in the life of the church and in the lives of those who comprise it. The examples are nearly endless, and I fear, all of us have been guilty of it. Perhaps even now.

James 4 gives a clear picture of how so many of us approach our day to day living. We assume that if we want something, and we see that something as "good," then surely, He must see it as so too. This plays out in so many of our choices, whether in relationships, work decisions and practices, where to live, major purposes, even where to go to church. We base our decision, our choice, upon how we feel about it, weighing the pros and cons and then following our feelings and thoughts. All the while, we presume that He is with us in all of it. After all, He wants us to be happy....right? In all of it, we never really sought His heart on it. If we prayed about it, it was mainly that He would bless what we had already decided to do. We have presumed upon God, and God will not be presumed upon. 

The consequences of this can be devastating. Marriages that are entered into apart from Him. Business endeavors, ministry direction, the stewardship of our resources. In all of them we assume His favor and act upon how we feel and what we want. The Bible is full of examples of this Hezekiah the King wanted to display the splendor of his possessions to the Babylonian emissaries, never asking God if he should, and so not realizing that they would take the report back to their king, whose kingdom would eventually conquer and enslave Hezekiah's. Yet none is more shocking than the actions of Samson. He was anointed of the Lord and had his favor, yet he spiraled steadily downward as he followed after all his lustful desires, always believing that the Lord was with him. Eventually, his sin was so severe as to cause His Spirit to withdraw from him, so deeply had he grieved Him. After being seduced and deceived by the Philistine woman Delilah, her countrymen came upon him. He arose to fight them off, as he always had, but found that His great strength was gone. The One who gave him that strength had withdrawn, and the great tragedy for Samson was that he hadn't even realized it. Where might such a tragedy being taking place in our lives, our ministries, and our church fellowships?

Presuming upon God may be the easiest and most deadly sin for us to fall into because we are so talented at assuming things about Him and about our walk with Him. We come up with our agenda, and then we assume He's with us on every point.....all the way to spiritual shipwreck. We find ourselves like Samson, bereft of our spiritual power and at the mercy of our enemy.

May each of us take the time to bring our lives, plans, goals, and aspirations before the throne of grace, where He, and not us, will pass judgement upon them. If there are areas where we have presumed upon Him and are presuming upon Him now, may we confess it, repent of it, and turn back from it. May we consecrate ourselves to His ways and not our own. May we live by the leading of His Spirit and not the leading of our fleshly desires, and above all, may we learn to discern the difference.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Longings

 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart" Ecclesiastes 3:11....If you don't keep the eyes of your heart on the paradise that is to come, you will try to turn this poor fallen world into the paradise it will never be. Live in hope for paradise is surely coming and stop asking this world to be the paradise it will never be." Paul

Tripp

Writer and Pastor Paul Tripp made some points concerning Ecc. 3:11 that I'd not thought much upon. He said that every cry of our heart that springs from disappointment, pain, sorrow, and so on, is a cry from our hearts for the eternity, the paradise for which the Father created us. I think that this is so.

We were not created to die, to experience disease, loss, aging, weakness, divorce, hatred, and constant conflict, as well so much else. All of these entered into the human experience with the sin that ushered them all in. Whenever we are faced with some reality, some reminder of the consequences of sin, we are also reminded that this was not what we were created for. We were created for eternity. His eternity. For His Paradise. A Paradise Lost, as Milton wrote.

I am now in my 7th decade of life. I am beyond thankful for all the good He has done for me and all the good things He has given. There has been much beauty in my life, but there has been so much pain and sorrow as well. I think it has been so for you as well. When the pain and suffering come upon us, within each of us in some sense that this is not what should be. That's why we constantly ask the question, whether directly to God or not, "Why?" Why pain, why suffering, why loss, why death? Planted within us by our Creator is the sense of eternity, paradise. We long for it, and we spend our lives seeking it out in this life......and it always evades us. It evades us because as Tripp says, we can never lay hold of it in this fallen realm. Even so, we keep looking. We seek it in relationships, marriage, children, jobs, possessions, success, and whatever we say means personal fulfillment to us. Yet, no matter how much of any of these we attain, there remains a hollow emptiness in our souls. None of them can fulfill us because we were designed so that none of them could. But we keep trying. If one marriage doesn't do it, the next one surely will. If a beautiful, large home doesn't, then we seek an even bigger, more beautiful one. If the seemingly perfect relationship turns out to be not so perfect, then we seek the perfect one that is surely still out there. And the longing remains, and it just gets stronger.

There is only one way to secure "paradise," and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve were created to live in perfect harmony with their Creator God forever. They were to be fruitful and multiply, but through their sin and disobedience, sin tainted the human race, and brought the fall not only of the race, but of the universe around them. We have been seeking to regain it ever since and getting further from it all the time. Christ is the open door to regaining what was lost. He said that He was, "The Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." To the Father and to the realized longing for that paradise lost.

C.S. Lewis said that if we find within ourselves a longing for what this world can never give, then perhaps we need to realize we were made for another world. You have those longings. You know you do. You've learned that this life cannot fulfill them, though you keep trying and searching that it would. Could you dare to believe that what Christ has said and promised is true? Could you trust Him to fulfill what was lost and you still long for? It's why He came. It's why He came for you. Let Him fulfill the longing, beginning now and stretching into and throughout.....eternity.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Lean

 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8....'But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. for He will not speak of His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."

John 16:13

I was listening to a song by worship leader Darlene Zschech recently, and I was moved by something she said as she exhorted those she was ministering to into deeper worship. She called them to "lean into the Spirit." That really spoke to me. She was affirming that the Holy Spirit was very present in the worship, as He always is in true worship, and that He was moving among them, as He always will in true worship. She didn't want anyone to miss Him as He moved. Thus the exhortation to "lean into Him," as He did so. The Spirit is always moving, but we are so often missing Him as He does. Mostly because we are unprepared, distracted, or just outright ignorant that He is. To lean into Him is to stretch ourselves to receive all that He is pouring out at that moment. I sense, along with so many others, that the Spirit of God is moving upon the church in these present days. Moving mightily. Upon His church and through it into the surrounding cultures. I don't want to miss the moving. Not any of it. I don't want any of us to, especially you as you read this. Let us each and all "lean into the Spirit."

How prepared, how ready are we, are you, for His Spirit to move upon you. To fall upon you? At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon 120 people who comprised the church at that time. They were "all together in one place," seeking and waiting upon this move that Jesus, before He ascended into heaven had promised them would come. When He did, they were empowered by His Spirit in ways they never knew were possible. 120 people who had feared to be identified as His followers went out proclaiming Him in power. Thousands came to Christ that day, but many thousands more did not. The Spirit was moving in great power, but they missed it. For whatever reason.....they missed it. Perhaps at some future time they didn't, but we're not promised a future opportunity to encounter Him. When He moves, we have to be ready, in position to move with Him.

The 120 had been fervently seeking the fulfillment of His promise of His Holy Spirit. They were seeking. They were praying. They were leaning. When He came, they were swept up in His moving. And nothing, not them, not the church, and not the world He had come to save would ever be the same again. And I believe that such an outpouring, one we may have no idea as to the magnitude of, may well be coming upon us once more. May we be found leaning into His Spirit.

The Bible speaks of "not missing the time of His visitation." His visitation meant to become His habitation of His people and His church. May we be found, in our prayer time, our corporate worship, wherever and whenever we gather together, leaning into His Spirit. The picture I have here is of a sprinter, heading for the finishing line. When they get there, they lean toward every part of their mind and body, hoping to break the plane and receive the prize. This is how we must be in our stretching forward into the fullness of His Spirit. All of our being reaching for all of Him we may have. We seek the prize of the fullness of His Spirit. May that be the position we're found in when He comes upon us. As He comes upon us now.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Renovation

 "For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants." Isaiah 44:3

I recently saw an ad for a church leadership conference on Facebook. It was about innovation. About how innovative church leaders could share their innovative ideas with other church leaders. Now, let me say I am not against innovation or innovative ideas in the church, so long as they are innovations that come from the heart of God and are fueled by His Holy Spirit. But my first thought, which I think was actually a thought from Him, was that the church is far more in need of renovation than innovation these days.

We're always looking for new and innovative ways of doing ministry. We go to conferences and seminars to learn them. We do so almost in desperation. We sincerely want to reach unchurched people, especially young people. We want to be effective, and we want to hear how those who have been effective came to be so. We seek with a deep desire for this knowledge. I get it, but I fear we have become so attuned to the voice of men that we've become dulled to the voice of God. 

When I think upon renovation as compared to innovation, I get the picture of an older home in need of a total makeover. A complete renovation. That has to start with the foundation. If you don't attend to that, it doesn't matter what you do to dress up what shows above ground. It's a temporary fix that doesn't address the real problem. A problem that will eventually bring about its fall. In the church, all the innovative ideas and fresh way of doing things will come to nothing if we do not allow Him to attend to the desperately needed renovation of first our foundation in Him, and then His building upon that foundation. Indeed, oftentimes, what is most needed is for a strong wind to come along to blow down the rickety structure we've built so that a new one, constructed by Him, may be raised up. I believe that we, the church, are in desperate need of the strong winds of His Holy Spirit to "blow down" all the rickety structures we have been building, no matter how "innovative," so that He may renovate His church according to the purpose and image He has for us.

Someone said that when God begins a renovation project upon a life or a church, the great difference between that and what one would experience if it were a home, is that you don't get to move out while it is going on. That means His Holy Spirit will "blow down" that which needs to be discarded and then build upon a renovated foundation that will result in a fully renovated life and church. Renovations are not easy and indeed are greatly challenging. They stretch us in every way. Yet here's the wonder of it all. As He renovates, He innovates through His Spirit. Innovation becomes the natural outgrowth of His renovation. We don't have to hold countless meetings and conferences to discuss what we can do, too often in our own strength. His Spirit leads us into new ways we could never have come up with apart from Him.

I have been in ministry for almost 40 years now. I sincerely appreciate all the seminars and conferences I've been a part of, as well as those who led them. But I've grown weary of them. What I long for is the fresh wind, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. May all the chaff of what I've been doing, what we've been doing, be blown away. May whatever cracks in our foundations be repaired, made right. May He raise up a church, a people, that fully displays His glory. Let the renovation begin.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Teach Them

 18Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

I recently watched the wonderful and powerful movie, "The Jesus Revolution." I was deeply affected and since it depicted what was happening in both the nation and the church during the late 1960's and into the 70's, it was very much a time travel kind of experience for me. As I contemplate all that the movie portrayed as to how the Holy Spirit captured the hearts of a great part of what we now call "the baby boomer" generation, I was impressed by His Spirit as to how we must be prepared for what looks to be another great move of God in this nation and the nations, and most especially among what we call "generation Z."

The late 1960's brought upon a mostly unsuspecting older generation, a horde of young people who rejected their values, and even mocked them. They had long hair, funky clothing, experimented freely with many types of drugs, and broke all the sexual mores. They were a generation in a beyond desperate need for Christ. And God, through His Holy Spirit, began to move upon them. They came to a church that wasn't ready for anything like them. In so many cases, the traditional church turned them away. Some, like Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel, and Jack Hayford's Church On The Way, welcomed them. Eventually they transformed the face of the American Church. I eventually became part of that. But the transformation was a messy one. Those coming in were in desperate need of being discipled, taught, just as Jesus commanded in the above Scripture we know as "The Great Commission." Pastor and teachers like Smith and Hayford, and many like them, met these young people where they were. They didn't demand immediate change but taught them the Word, defined sin, holiness, and the authority of Scripture. They obeyed Christ's command and trusted the Holy Spirit to work the transformation. Some of the young people fell away. Most didn't and their voices are among the most potent in the church today. Michael Brown, Greg Laurie, Richie Furay, and so many more, all were swept up by His Spirit in that move and all came from a counter cultural background. Now, we who are the church, are faced with something very similar, yet even more threatening. The beliefs and practices of a generation caught up in a world gone crazy. Our great challenge is how do we meet them? Our parents' generation in so many ways failed. Will we?

What will you and I do when people who have been caught up in lifestyles that are openly counter to the Word of God? How will we respond to people who have been living in and practicing sin, much of it in ways we rightfully deem to be a perversion of God's intention in creation? Will we turn them away, or, will we embrace them in love, and in love, confront them with His Truth? Will we demand that they immediately start believing and living as we do, or claim to, or will we patiently teach them His way and life, all in the power of His Holy Spirit, and all the while trusting God to honor it all? These, and many more are the challenges we'll face. We need to be prepared to do so. Are we prepared? Are you, and am I?

When I came to Jesus in 1979, nothing about me fit with the church I attended. They were, as I was once so fond of saying, "squares." Yet they, starting with a pastor with a heart filled with love, just welcomed me and ministered to me. I dressed differently and looked differently. Though I was immediately set free from my drug use, I still smoked heavily and arrived each week reeking of tobacco. This was a fellowship that frowned upon that, but not once did anyone say anything to me. No one ever told me I needed to be free of that ugly habit, but each week, I soaked in the teaching of the pastor and church, and eventually, I was freed of that as well. And so much more than that. I think, as a new wave of young people come to our doors, we need to minister in that same way, and moreso. Will we?

Teach them. That's what He said. Not indoctrinate them. Not to try and force change upon them but teach them. Just as Jesus did a small group of disciples that He called out of a world trapped in darkness. He's doing the same right now. What will we do in response?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Between

 For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.  Matthew 5:45

...."Why is there so much good and so  much bad? Why is there that which is pleasant and that which is tragic and hard to live with? Because the earth lies halfway between heaven and hell. Halfway between heaven's beauty and hell's ugliness."

The human race has been wrestling with the problem of evil since its beginnings. This has led it to question the goodness of God, and ask why, if He is good and loving, does He permit the evil that goes on to continue to go on? The answer isn't complicated but it is made so by the simple fact that humankind doesn't wish to take any responsibility for the entrance of evil into the universe and more specifically, the earth. In Genesis, we're told that God made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, including man and woman, and pronounced it "good." What happened to change that? Simply put, it was the entrance of sin into all of creation, and it entered through the sin and disobedience of our "parents," Adam and Eve. The entire race is now tainted with sin and is fallen, as is all of creation around us. God meant for the human beings He had created to have government over creation. By their sin, they abicated that place and it passed into the hands of the enemy of our souls, Satan. Just as Christ is incarnate goodness, the devil is incarnate evil. He also hates what God loves, and God loves the human race above all else. Through the fall, sin and evil entered into the human experience and we have no power to escape its grasp. That's why we needed a Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ. He broke the power of sin and death on the cross and in His resurrection and offered freedom to all who would believe upon Him. Yet we continue on in a fallen world, and the effects of that fall will be upon both those who are His and those who have rejected Him. The difference is that His people have Him to limit and control the works of evil and darkness. Those who are His and those who are not will both experience pain and suffering, but He works in and through it for the good of His people. He enables us to triumph over it and foil all the plans of hell to destroy us. As Tozer writes, we live between two kingdoms. The Kingdom of Heaven, and the kingdom of hell. The first seeks to save and redeem us. The second to utterly destroy us.

There is a great segment that will deride what I've written above. They call it myth and mythology. They say that we are constantly evolving, that we're ultimately good and we will find a way to eradicate evil entirely. Let me ask; where do you see any evidence of that happening? Of it ever happening? Satan used to do his works mainly in the darkness and out of sight. No more. He is blatantly at work everywhere. Violence, murder, the trafficking of women and young men as sexual slaves, drug use, mainstream pornography, and so much more grows by the day. What was thought unthinkable just 25 years ago is finding its way into mainstream acceptance. We have been desensitized to evil and darkness. We are not evolving. We are devolving and the evidence for it is clear. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are real. Heaven is real. Sin, evil, the devil, and hell are real as well. And we, the human race, live in the middle of both every day. And we will be part of one or the other. In which do you reside?

Maybe this has all made you very uncomfortable. It is a lot easier to reject it all out of hand and deny it. If that's you, I pray you will not. I ask you this; would you ask God that if He is real, would He so move in your life as to show you that He is? Would you ask Him to reveal Himself to you as He is? He will never deny an honest, seeking heart. I was once one who rejected and denied Him. Then, as life between two kingdoms crushed me, I sought Him. I did so because He had always been seeking me. Scripture says Christ came to seek and save that which was lost. He also seeks you. Let Him show Himself to you. Don't live between two kingdoms any longer.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Nathan

 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.  2 Samuel 12:7

David was the King of Israel, but he hadn't come to the position easily. Saul, the king God had raised him up to replace, had sought his life for years. He was constantly on the run, and the Father had engineered deliverances for him time and time again. Reading of it always encourages me and reminds me that He is a God of Deliverance. We love to think of Him in that way. We don't hesitate to ask Him to deliver us out of the many life threatening situations we can come to. We want Him to save us from those outward things that seek to destroy us. We're less anxious about the inward things that seek the same. Indeed, we're often blind to them. David was.

David had seduced, likely raped Bathsheba, the wife of his loyal servant Uriah. Bathsheba became pregnant, and David resorted to every means he could to get Uriah to sleep with his wife and cover David's sin. Uriah, who'd been called home from battle, refused, and wanted to get back to the army. Finally, David instructed his general, Joab, to place Uriah in the front lines of an assault, and then withdraw those around him. Uriah was killed, and David took Bathsheba as his wife. Yet God would not let his sin go unconfronted. He sent Nathan the prophet who presented a case of an innocent who'd been terribly wronged and asked David what should be done about it. David wanted the man executed. Nathan then confronted him with the truth that the one who'd committed the crime was David himself. David was undone. How blind we can be to our inner corruption. Writer Paul Tripp writes, "We don't want to face the fact that what we need to be rescued from is us." 

I don't know anybody, including myself, who doesn't want to be delivered from circumstances that bring pain and misery. We want out. We want what is going on around us removed. That will be enough. We rarely want to see that what is going on around us is so often the fruit of what has been going on within us. That which is in our heart. The sinful attitudes, habits, and practices that hold us captive, and wreak havoc in and through our lives. We want to be rescued from the results of our own actions, but we don't want to look at the inner condition that put us in that place to begin with. The Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart. He had a heart for God, yet within his heart was corruption that resulted in adultery, rape, and murder. He didn't see it....until God confronted him over it. Where might God be doing that in us? Where is it in our lives that we need to be rescued from ourselves?

It was God's great mercy that He sent Nathan to David. He wanted to deliver David from himself and the reaping of the full consequences of His sin. Where does He need to send a "Nathan" to us? Maybe this writing is His Nathan. Where are we "that man," or "that woman," in our story? Wherever that is, may His Nathan come to us. May He confront us. May we melt before Him, and be rescued from ourselves. Thank you Lord for Your Nathan's.

Blessings,
Pastor O