Fireproof?

 "John answered them all saying, 'I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Luke 3:16

The martyred missionary Jim Elliot once wrote, "God makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable?"

That's a piercing question. It cuts to our very heart, the seat of all of our motives and desires. 

Everywhere in the professing church there is much talk and seeking of revival. We're calling on the Father to send the fire of His Holy Spirit upon the church, and then through His church, upon the surrounding culture. The desire for Holy Spirit revival has always been present in His church to varying degrees and I expect to some degree it is present in us. How "present" is that desire today? How deep is the desire?

I am convicted by Elliot's words. If the Father makes His ministers a flame of fire, and all those who profess to follow Him are to some degree His ministers, then how "ignitable" are we? Are our hearts and spirits so thirsty for the water of His Life that we can "catch fire" when He comes upon us, or are we so soaked in the sewer water of this world that we have been rendered "fireproof?" The condition of our hearts gives the answer.

I think within the heart of the church and the individuals who compose it are two elements that render us fireproof. The first is pride and the second is its cousin, and unrepentant heart. We recognize that the church needs revival, that the surrounding culture needs His Spirit powered transformation, but somehow, we don't feel that we ourselves need either for ourselves. We're proud and we're arrogant. We know very little of what it is to humble ourselves before Him. In ancient Israel the people cried out for their God to come and save them from the chaos taking place all around, but when the prophets He sent to them called them to repentance, to a humbling of themselves before Him, they refused. They wanted change to what was happening to them. They wanted none for what was going on within them. How like them might we be?

Scripture says, "When My people, called by My name, will humble themselves and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will come....." We like to talk of how wicked and evil the culture has become but we have grown comfortable with that very culture in the church. If there is to be any hope for a world trapped in death, it is for a church that is alive in His Holy Spirit, bearing the light and fire of His Spirit to it. A.W. Tozer once said, "Modern Christians use the language of power but our deeds are the deeds of weakness." This is so because we lack the power of His Holy Spirit coursing through the heart of His Church. Through the hearts of His people.

Let us cease offering language. Let us draw near to Him as He surely draws near to us. Let us come with humble, broken hearts and spirit, seeking all the fullness of His Life and power. Scripture says that our God is a consuming fire. May our heart prayer be, Lord, consume me, consume Your church, consume a lost generation, desperate for Your life. May we be fireproof no more.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Message

 For those who have spent much time in the church, there is a Scripture that is very familiar to us, and much loved at that. It's Matthew 11:28 and Jesus' invitation to "Come unto Me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It's a beautiful invitation and promise. A very true promise. So, why do so few of us really experience the wonder and beauty of the invitation? I think it's because we don't understand just what Christ invited us to do.

A very popular Christian band through the mid 90's and into the early 2000's was the group, Delirious. They sang some extremely powerful worship songs. One such was The Message Of The Cross. It has as a lyric, This is the message of the cross, that we can be free. To lay all our burdens here, at the foot of the tree. It goes on to the lyric, Let us rejoice at the foot of the cross, we can be free, glory to God. I think this truth is key to why we miss experiencing the wonder and beauty of His promise and invitation. We don't understand or else refuse to do that which opens the fullness of the promise to us. We don't understand that when Christ invites us to come unto Him, He is also ultimately inviting us to come to His cross. It's His cross that leads us to life, freedom, and rest.

When we lay all those things that weary us, hurt us, crush us, and in the end will destroy us, we don't just come to Him with them, we surrender them all to Him. We may willingly come to Him, but surrendering all to Him? That's another matter altogether. Perhaps the hardest transaction for any of us to make is the giving over from our hands everything in our lives into to His. It means we release control and ownership of all of it to Him. Our flesh demands that we cling to them. His cross commands that we die to that demand and yield them all to Him. We die to them all, and included in the "all" is our own will.This is a stumbling block for our flesh and our self-will. So much so that many, most, turn back from His invitation and never enter into the promise. His invitation remains before us and we love how it sounds. We don't love what it entails.

People have oftentimes asked me to pray for them that certain chaotic situations in their lives would change. I believe that they do want the change, but they never seem to grasp that all of my prayers or anyone's prayers won't matter until they themselves release the root cause of the chaos to Him....at His cross, and the root cause is always a refusal to surrender everything in their life to Him. So the chaos, the situation, the pain and the difficulty remain. They want to come to Him, but they stumble at coming to His cross and surrendering everything to Him. That's the essence of the message of the cross.

What are you doing with the message of the cross in your life? What you do will determine how you will live. You may have come to Christ for salvation, the forgiveness of your sin, the promise of heaven, for entry into His Kingdom, but have you come to His cross? Have you laid everything in your life, your very life itself, at "the foot of the tree?" Have you died to your will there so that you might live in His? The fullness of the message of the cross is the only path into the fullness of His rest, peace, joy, and abundance. May you, we, receive the message in full.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Nominal?

 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Luke 12:34

Since the beginning of my ministry 40 years ago, A.W. Tozer has been a mentor and an inspiration. Today was a day that he was both.

In his daily devotional, Tozer asks, "Is the Lord Jesus Christ your most precious treasure in the whole world? If so, count yourself among 'normal' Christians, rather than among 'nominal' ones." Then he goes on to give a dictionary definition of the word "nominal." He writes that it is "Existing in name only, not real or actual; hence so small, slight, as to be hardly worth the name." He then writes, "I cannot understand how anyone can profess to be a follower and disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ and not be overwhelmed by His attributes."

He can't understand, yet each week, people come to gatherings that are called "worship" and aren't overwhelmed by much of anything, let alone the Lord Jesus. We file in, oftentimes 20 minutes late, take another 10 minutes to get "comfortable," and then try to focus on the last song being sung before the preacher comes to deliver the message. All the while our minds are more focused on what went on before we got here or on what awaits us when we leave. We bow our heads when asked to pray, stand up when asked to sing, and listen quietly (at least outwardly) while the pastor preaches. Then, at the end, we get up, head out to the parking lot, get into our cars, and then plunge into the rest of the day. But what has happened? What have we experienced? How have we changed? Did we encounter the risen Christ? Do we even know that we can?

The evangelist Vance Havner once said that living out normal New Testament Christianity in the modern American church will make one seem abnormal to the majority. So let's go back to the beginning of this writing. When you first read about normal and nominal, which did you consider yourself to be? As Francis Chan once asked, "When was the last time you read in the Book of Acts about the first century church and said, 'Wow, that's just like us?' " Could it be that in our day to day lives, in our corporate gatherings that we call worship, and in our moment by moment experience of Jesus Christ, we're far more in line with being nominal than being normal? We have treasure, and we know where it's buried, but little if any of it is buried in Him.

It's time for the church, both the individuals that comprise it and for the Body as a whole to have its spiritual pulse examined. Not by church growth experts or guru's, but by the Holy Spirit Himself. Perhaps the witness of our lives marks us as being far more nominal than normal. May we seek Him with such passion that we are overwhelmed by His response. May we carry that overwhelming experience in Him to our worship gatherings and behold Him to overwhelm His people. May we renounce all of our treasures that are not Him so that we can soak in the wonder and splendor that is Him. Let us dare to be so normal in Him that those around us who are not, just shake their heads and think us abnormal. Paul called it being a fool for Christ. Are you and I willing to be one?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Middle Life

Pastor and author Francis Chan told of a group within the church he pastored. He'd been preaching on the cross, commitment to Christ, and holiness of life. The group that came to him were alarmed. They felt that his preaching was "too radical." They feared he was becoming a fanatic about it all. They urged him to take a more "realistic" approach. They said that there was a "middle road" that he should take. A flexible road. A less threatening and frightening road. They asked for a road that Jesus Christ never made any allowance for. He still doesn't.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:14 that we're to enter into the narrow gate and to walk the narrow road. He said the other choice was to take the wide road. A road that would lead to the destruction of all who took it. We are conditioned, apart from Christ, to want the wide road. We see it as freedom. Freedom from all the rules and limitations that our flesh despises and we think will suffocate us. The flesh will never choose the narrow gate and the road it leads to. That comes only by the leading of His Holy Spirit. Here's the catch; the deception, if you will, of the so-called wide road. It doesn't lead to freedom at all. Invariably it leads to a life lived for the sole benefit of self. It wants more, demands more, consumes more. The wide road consumes us, and eventually, we are made captive to our desires, which so easily become habits and addictions. We discover, often too late, that we were never free at all.

Many sitting in church each week know this. They reject the wide road, but at the same time, they're very leery of the narrow gate. They're like the group who came to Chan. They want an alternative to both. So they create a middle road. Not so wide, in their thinking, as to lead to ruin, but not so narrow either so as to limit the realization of their goals and desires, many of which are totally centered on self. Somehow, they never see that Jesus never gave anyone this option. Ultimately, the middle road leads to the same place that the wide road does. Too many never realize this until it's too late.

How can this be? The answer isn't complicated. Middle of the road "believers" seek out middle road churches and pastors. Places where their flesh can be comfortable and not overly troubled by the call of Christ to take up their cross and follow Him. The question for each of us is, are we a middle roader and are we a part of a middle road church? If we haven't been confronted with this question, we will be. We are coming into days when the middle road will have disappeared. We'll find it was never there at all. We either walk His road and His way....or we don't. There'll be no third option.

May we die out to our fear of the narrow gate and way. To walk it does involve the carrying of His cross, which becomes our cross. But it isn't a way which restricts freedom. It bestows. It is, as one man put it, " a narrow road that leads to a wide life." On it we find the fullness of His abundance and presence. We find freedom from the obsession with satisfying our fleshly desires which are never really satisfied at all. They always want more. We find in Him the true riches that we were made for and have yearned for. We once thought the wide road led to what our hearts desired, but the narrow gate leads us to discover all these riches were always to be found in Him. Peace, joy, love, life, and infinitely more.

If you've not yet discovered the narrow gate, I pray that you will. Do not shrink from it. Enter in. Discover the life you were created for. Experience the narrow road that leads to the widest of lives.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

The Appearance

 "For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body." 2 Corinthians 5:10

In the above Scripture, Paul is speaking of the judgement of the believer, of the judgement every follower of Christ must undergo as the Lord determines the degree of faithfulness that we have lived out, or, sadly, where the lack of such has been. It's a sobering thought, for each one who professes to be His will give an account of how we have lived out our life in Him. As someone said, what we DO with Jesus Christ will determine where we spend eternity. How we live in Him will determine HOW we spend eternity. As I said, this is a sobering reality. I must add the even more chilling truth. Those who have rejected the Lordship and offer of life in Christ in this life have already been judged. They will enter eternity separated from Him....forever. This is not me saying this. He spoke it. That truth is seen throughout His Word.

A.W. Tozer tells the story of a friend who had just completed a long series of preaching appointments. He said to Tozer, "I am preached out, and I must wait on the Lord. There are some spiritual matters that I want to get straightened out. I want to appear before the judgement seat now while I can do something about it."

Would that each of us had that same sense of urgency to come before Him and deal with the issues in our lives that hinder and harm us spiritually. Too few of us do. Too few of us feel the matters are either urgent or needed. His still small voice whispers to our hearts about those things that are displeasing to Him. Things that not only wound His heart, but the hearts of those around us. We rationalize or excuse these things. We tell ourselves that we're only human and that they're not that great of a problem. The more we do this the more His voice recedes and the more we do not hear.....until we don't hear Him at all. He hasn't stopped speaking, but our hearts have become too hard to hear His voice. When He speaks to us about something, His time for our response is always, "Now." Our time rarely is.

Tozer's friend did not wish to wait until He stood before His Lord in eternity to address his lack. He feared doing so. At that point, it would be too late and he would have to account for why he'd allowed something that the Lord had dealt with him about to be ignored. I believe it was Daniel Webster that said the thought that kept him from sleep at night was the realization that he would one day have to stand before His Lord and account for his life and how he'd lived it out in His name. Like Tozer's friend, he wanted to deal with his issues now....while he could still do something about them.

How about you and me? There's no doubt we have issues. Do we come to Him and honestly address them and then obey His words on how we overcome them? If we don't, are we prepared for the alternative? 

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Wilderness

 The 3rd chapter of Exodus tells the story of Moses and his encounter with God on "the backside of the desert." In effect, in the wilderness. I doubt Moses had an expectation of this. The wilderness is usually the place where we think God is absent. We've little idea of how present He really is. Moses didn't. Neither do we. Yet the witness of Scripture is that there is not a better or more intimate place to meet with Him then in whatever particular wilderness we may find ourselves in.

Moses' encounter began with his seeing a burning bush. When he saw it, he had a choice. Did he go to see why it burnt, or did he continue on his way, tending his flock. Scripture says that "he turned aside." He went to the bush, to the fire, while he was in the most barren part of the desert wilderness. And it was there that God spoke to Him. From Scripture, it seems obvious that this was the first time he ever heard the Father's voice. He certainly never had while he lived as a Prince of Egypt. Killing an Egyptian who'd been abusing a fellow Jew had led him to flee Egypt. He didn't think anyone would find him here, least of all God....but He did. At the burning bush, in the deep wilderness, God revealed to Moses the wondrous plan He had for him.

Moses could not have envisioned this in his wilderness, and most likely, you can't in yours. But He will....

if you're willing to turn aside for whatever burning bush He uses to get your attention.

The late pastor Jamie Buckingham wrote, "To all those wandering in the wilderness let it be said: bushes still catch on fire and God still calls men by their names." When Moses turned aside, God called him by his name. He knew him, knew where he was, what he'd done, and more, what He would now call him to. He has the same for you, for us, in whatever wilderness time we may be in, or will surely come to.

We fear the wilderness but God means for us to embrace it. Jesus came into the full realization of His calling and purpose, as well as to who He was while in the wilderness. God will use the wilderness to prune us while at the same time purifying and growing us. He will use the wilderness to reveal to us who He is and who we are as well. In the wilderness He'll teach us to hear and obey His voice. In the wilderness we will learn things about Him that could never be known in the lush oasis places of this world. In the wilderness, He heals and makes us whole. It all begins when we choose to turn aside to see the "burning bush" He will surely show us.

If you're in the wilderness today, take heart. He is nearer to you there than you could ever imagine. Listen for His voice. Look at whatever form He chooses to be your own "burning bush." Moses encountered Him on the backside of the desert, but the Father didn't leave him there. Neither will He leave you. He will bring you to the fulfillment of His purpose for you. Your part is to hear, to believe, to obey, and to follow. Look for your burning bush.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Deliverer

 "I created you and I have cared for you since before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime - until your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." Isaiah 46:4

Quadriplegic Joni Earekson Tada has spent over 50 years in a wheelchair. She experiences intense pain on a daily basis, yet in the midst of all the pain she has shown a consistently powerful witness for Christ. I am humbled and inspired when I hear her speak. She has walked through the deepest of valleys with a victorious spirit. She's an overcomer of the highest stripe.

Recently I heard her speak of her journey and I was moved. She said that she does not bring complaints or self-pity when she comes to Jesus. Nor is immediate relief or deliverance her greatest desire. She said that in her pain, especially her greatest pain, she asked that Jesus would meet her there. She desires that the result of the pain would be that it pushes her further into His heart. That humbles me beyond words. Would I seek the same from Him? Would you? 

She wasn't done with that. She went on to say, "I never got delivered from my pain, but I met my Deliverer in it." She then shared an exhortation: "Lead your pain to a Bible promise." Her pain was led to the promise of Isaiah 46:4, which sustained and continues to sustain her. Where do we lead our pain to? Do we even know how to do that?

No one desires pain or suffering, but we will have both in this fallen world. Our flesh wants immediate relief and deliverance. That's human. Only one living in the power of the risen Christ can ask the Father to lead them to one of His promises and then live in the power of that promise. We "lead" our pain into the presence of His promise and in His presence, that pain loses its power over us. In that place, we discover the truth of Paul's proclamation that, "His grace is sufficient for me." The pain may not disappear. It has not done so with Joni, but His grace and presence sustains us in that place, and in that place we discover that in the pain we can have peace, joy, and victory.

Few of us are likely to face the degree of pain and suffering Joni Eareckson Tada has, but we will face pain and suffering. Can we also find and meet the Deliverer in it whether we are actually delivered from it or not? He has never promised to deliver us OUT of the pain, but He promised to deliver us IN it. The pain remains, but its power is broken because we are held in His peace, presence, and assurance.

Wherever you are today, whatever your degree of pain, let it lead you to Him. Let it lead you to His promise. You will meet your Deliverer there. That's His promise.

Blessings,
Pastor O

How?

 "When Jesus spoke again to the people He said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12...."The Pharisees looked straight at the Light of the world for three years yet not one ray of light reached their inner beings. Satan has no fear of light so long as he keeps his victims sightless." A.W. Tozer

I don't know how the Pharisees of Christ's day could be exposed again and again to His Presence, His Words, and His Light and yet not have any impression of Him at all upon their hearts. I don't know how, but I know that they did.

In the same way, I don't know how modern-day Pharisees and non-Pharisees alike can be exposed to His Light and Life and yet not have any of it reach their hearts. I don't know how, but nearly 40 years of ministry have proved to me that it doesn't, that it hasn't. It's a frightening reality to behold. The eternal consequences of this are deeply serious. 

If you're one who testifies to the saving grace of Jesus Christ in your life, you may feel that you could never be included in that above grouping. His Light did reach your heart. You did respond. You did come. Praise God for that. So did I. Now here's a question for you and me: Is there any place in our hearts where His rays of light are not reaching? Is there any truth He's spoken, any attitude or behavior that He's confronted in us that hasn't been heard or received because it bounced off the hardness of our heart in that particular area?

Every week and for many, several times a week, we come together in some form to hear from God. We sing songs, read Scripture, listen to biblical messages, and even pray. Yet every week, we leave in the same condition that we came. How can this be? How can we be exposed to His Truth and His Presence and yet not be changed by it? How can we be in the presence of His Light and not be affected by it? 

I heard someone say that the best way to defeat darkness is to turn on the light. Darkness is increasing everywhere, even in the church. That it is can only be attributed to one thing: the church hasn't been functioning fully as His Light. Father, forgive us. Father, convict us. Father, transform us. Father, make us shine with the Light of Jesus Christ.

The Bible speaks of the men of Issachar, who understood the conditions of the days they lived in and knew how they must respond to those conditions. May the Lord raise up a generation of men and women of Issachar who see and know as well. May He raise up a generation of Preacher/Prophets who confront the darkness and make no peace/compromise with it. May His Light burn so brightly in His church that it can't be contained by any building. Light that melts the hardest of hearts and the most rebellious of spirits. How does it start you ask? It starts with you and me.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Relocation

 It's been more than a week since Hurricane Helene swept through much of the southeast portion of America. The devastation has been horrendous and as of this writing, 100's remain missing and are feared dead. Whole towns have disappeared, swept away by raging flood waters. People's homes and businesses have been destroyed. One can only imagine the intense sense of loss and sorrow the victims of this storm must be experiencing. 

In this time we've heard much of those who are "the first responders," and well we should, for the role of these heroes can't be overstated. However, there is One who responds before all others. There is One who is "on site" before any other, Jesus Christ the Lord. I pray for the care and provision of all those who have fallen victim to this crushing storm, but even more, I pray that in the midst of the sorrow and pain, they would turn to Him. Turn to the One that no hurricane, flood, or earthquake can move. In the devastation, He is speaking.

In Scripture, Jesus exhorted His hearers to "build their house upon a rock," and not upon sand, for the house built upon sand could not stand. He was not giving general contracting advice. He was speaking to what the very foundation of our lives are to be built upon. Lives that are built upon a foundation of trust in self, or government, or just plain "luck," are lives that have sand as their foundation. Destruction can strike a life in unlimited ways, death, divorce, violent attack, or the loss of all physical and financial security. If our hope is founded upon something other than Him, it will prove to be a futile hope. It will be hope founded upon sinking sand. Ultimately, Christ, who is the Rock, is our only true hope. He is a Living Hope. It is my prayer that those in these areas of disaster would know Him as such if they don't already. It is also my prayer for all who read this today. Do you know Him as the Rock, or are you presently living on sand?

I heard a lady say today that if you are living a life built upon sinking sand, it is never too late to relocate.

This fallen world has always been an extremely precarious place to live. "Here today and gone tomorrow," is a mantra known by all of us to some degree. We are entering into days where it may be known to a great degree by all of us. What is your "house," your life built upon? I don't ask whether you go to church or call yourself a believer. I ask if your very being is centered, by faith, upon the risen Christ? If not, you're living on a foundation of sand. Sinking sand. Sand that will one day swallow you whole. 

Right now, many are placing their hopes on the results of the coming elections. Many are believing that if the "right" candidate is elected, the moral and spiritual decline of the culture will be reversed. That's a fallacy. Regardless of who wins the White House, Senate, and Congress, the demise of our nation will continue its downward slide. We have one hope; Jesus Christ. The Rock. As someone said, we need to cease asking God to change what happens in the White House and begin to cry out for change in the church house. May it be so. The church, you and me, has been placed here for such a time as this. How do we respond? The answer to that will depend upon what our lives are built upon: Rock....or sand. If in your heart, you know it's the latter for you...beloved, please.....relocate....before it's too late.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Convenient

 Jeroboam was an Israelite noble who became an enemy and rival to first, Solomon the king, and then to Solomon's son, Rehoboam. Eventually he led a rebellion that saw 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel join him in and formed what became known as the northern kingdom. 

Not long after this an idea came to him that was supported by his counselors. At certain appointed times God had commanded His people to come to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and worship Him. Jeroboam feared that if his people traveled to Jerusalem, which was now the southern kingdom, he would lose both them and his kingdom. So, he made two golden calves and set them up in the town of Peniel. He said to the people, "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem, O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt." 

For a number of different reasons and motives, Jeroboam sought to remake God into someone who fit with his desires. The two calves would be symbolic of him. He wasn't abandoning the name of Jehovah, he was just coming up with an image of Him that was less demanding, and....more convenient. This god went by the same name, incorporating much of the same rituals. Jeroboam thought it was a good idea. God, the One and True God, called it sin and said in I Kings 14:16 that Jeroboam's sin caused the nation itself to sin against God.

They say history repeats itself. So do our sins. A question gnaws at my heart and spirit; to what degree have we in the church sought to transform Almighty God into what fits our image of Him? How have we tried to make Him a more convenient God? A God of convenience?

It cannot be lost on us that in seeking to lessen the distance of travel, Jeroboam and the people vastly increased the spiritual distance between themselves and the God whose name they knew but forgot in their daily lives. A falling away from Him will always be the result of our seeking to make Him into someone and something more acceptable to our flesh. That happened 3500 years ago in Israel. It is happening right now in His church. We have made our own versions of the two calves. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in our ideas concerning His Word and and of the Person of Jesus Christ.

More than a decade ago I wrote on the subject of creating a convenient God for ourselves. At that time I focused on our motives for doing so to be centered on having a God who cooperated with our desires, goals, and agendas. A God who served us. That motive still exists, but our reasons have taken on a much deeper darkness these days. Though the reasons and motives of that time were still sin, there were boundaries that weren't crossed. That has ceased to be true today. Behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that were once unthinkable in the church are now being championed by modern day Jeroboam's, and all of it is cloaked under the lie of it being God's tolerant, unconditional love. A God who is convenient to the desires of the flesh has always been an idea that came from the mind of Satan. The following of this god led the people of Israel to destruction. The true and living God doesn't tolerate a competitor. 

The sin of the northern kingdom eventually infected the southern kingdom. God sent numerous prophets and messengers to both, seeking to call them back to Himself. To turn from their sin and rebellion, from whatever their current "calves" were, and come to Him in broken repentance, that He might make them whole again. He is doing that same thing in the church right now. Both the northern and southern kingdoms ignored His call of life, and both were destroyed, carried off into captivity as a result of indulging their sinful desires. Much of the professing church is following the same path. May He raise up a new generation of prophets and messengers who will call His church back to Himself. May we turn from the counterfeit entity we've created, to God as He really is. God in all His glory, majesty, and splendor. There is still time, but I believe that time is running out.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Your Pastor

 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people.  Ephesians 1:18

October is Pastor Appreciation Month. For the last several years I have spent this month expressing my appreciation for the many men and women of God who have influenced and impacted my life for the Lord. Their names are many, but some, like Pastor Nevin Crouse, Pastor Bob Yarbrough, and Pastor Andy Shehadi, have made especially deep impressions upon my life and ministry. I expect you have many who have done the same in your own life. May you give them the gratitude and honor they deserve. If they are true to their call, they have watched over your soul and your life, often at great personal cost. They fought off the "wolves" that meant you harm, especially those you never saw, and carried burdens for you that you never realized. The world was not worthy of them. At times, it may have seemed that the church was not as well.

I chose the above Scripture, Ephesians 1:18, because it so well reflects the heart of perhaps the greatest of all pastors, Paul the Apostle. No one travailed over the church and its people as he did. He truly possessed the heart of Jesus Christ for the churches he led and served. In truth, the true pastor has that same heart in them. One cannot carry out the calling without it. Without it, they will surely fall by the wayside.

Most sitting in the sanctuary have no real idea of the life their pastor leads. They don't know of the long, dark nights of the soul as they fought the enemy in prayer for the well-being of His people. They don't know of the many tears shed over the self-destructive actions of so many of their flock despite all their efforts to protect them from the consequences of those actions. They don't know of the wounding they have suffered at the hands of angry board members and congregants. They don't know of the heartaches suffered by their pastor's family in the carrying out of their ministry. They don't know of the great sacrifices that have been made for the good of the church and people. They don't know that their pastor counts it all as a small price to pay in exchange for the glory of walking with Jesus, loving Him, and loving the people He has given them.

The Pastor's road can be a very hard one. It is a very hard one. It involves the carrying of their own cross. It involves a dying out to self and a constant growing and living in Him. It also means for the truly called, they would not have wanted to do or be anything else but what they are; God's shepherd, given charge of one of His flocks. May you honor yours this month. Indeed, may you honor them constantly. One day you'll know just how much it mattered to you in eternity.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Desperate Arms

 Oswald Chambers said, "Faith never knows where it's being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." We can't trust and follow someone we don't know, so the question for each of us in the journey is, "Do we trust the One, Jesus, that we say we are following?" We would all like a roadmap as to just where it is the Lord is taking us in our lives. He never provides one. He simply bids us to come and follow Him. Whether we do or not will come down to the simple reality as to whether we trust Him enough, love Him enough to follow Him to wherever He may be taking us. Jesus asked a faltering disciple, Thomas, "Have I been so long with you and still you don't know Me?" Where might He be asking that in your life today? There's a lyric in an old song that goes, "He never has failed me yet." He never has and He never will. Trust Him. Love Him. He will not fail you. He will get you to where He means for you to be.

I saw the truth of the above demonstrated in perhaps the most powerful way I have ever beheld. A mother and her sister were being interviewed about the great tragedy they had just experienced. The mother, her son, and her parents had been trapped on the roof of their home in the midst of the devastating floods that have ravaged western North Carolina and many other states as well. While still able, she took a picture of her parents and her son as the flood water raged around the house. Just a short time later, the house broke apart and her parents and son were swept away to their deaths. She said that as her son was carried away, he, only 7 years old, cried out the name of Jesus. The mother was wedged in the wreckage of the roof and carried away by the violent waters. She said as she was, she heard the His voice whispering to her to be still in her heart, to trust Him, and that He would carry her to rescue. Several times she sank beneath the waters, but even then, she felt His reassurance. She also said that as she held to Him and to life, the Scriptures that her parents had taught her through the years kept coming to her mind. His Words of promise. She testified that she knew she was in His arms in all of it.

In the interview, in the midst of her sorrow and loss of her parents and small son, she gave glory to her God and Father. She testified that the pain and sorrow were real, but that He was even more real. She has a hope and trust in Him that this tragedy doesn't and cannot shake. 

God has never promised to keep us from devastation and loss. They are part of living in a fallen, broken world, but He does promise to never leave or forsake us. In the raging waters, that mother knew she was being held by her Father. A.W. Tozer said that "God doesn't look upon our tears except with tears of His own." Chris Tiegreen wrote, "He responds to the spirit of desperate arms around His neck." This precious mother and her remaining family know the truth of this. In our own times of desperation, may we know it as well.

Blessings,
Pastor O