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

The Exchange

 One of the most powerful words ever spoken by Jesus is found in the simple word, "Come." We know the word in English to mean a movement towards something or someone. In the Aramaic/Greek, which was the language of the Jews of Christ's time, the meaning of the word for come meant, "transact." That meaning speaks to me on many levels. The meaning of the word transact, or more properly, transaction, is "an interaction or exchange between people." This makes what takes place when a person truly comes to Jesus Christ so clear and beautiful. We experience an interaction and an exchange.

Think about that for a moment. When we come to Him in faith, there is a definite interaction between He and us. We experience Him and He covers us. It's a mystical, spiritual, and beautiful interaction. By faith, we may also have a transaction take place. Though we have nothing to offer in ourselves, we do have something, many things, that He desires from us. He seeks that there be an exchange between us.

He invites us to exchange our mourning for dancing, our ashes for His beauty. He calls us to give Him our cares, fears, lost hopes, and emptiness, and in exchange, He gives us His peace, courage, confidence, hope, and fulfillment. He asks that we give Him our darkness in exchange for His Light, our death for His Life. Our guilt for His forgiveness. Our despair for His joy. Our life for His Life and our will for His will. In essence, He asks us to give Him everything that has kept us from Him. Everything in our lives that is killing us by inches. 

I think that perhaps the most beautiful picture I can envision in this exchange is this; He invites us to exchange the filthy rags of our own righteousness for the white raiment of His holiness and purity. He also invites us to exchange the orphan status that is the lot of all who are without Him for the high favor and joy of becoming sons and daughters of the King. 

This transaction, this exchange that He invites us to and into gains us all the riches to be found in Christ and His Kingdom. Infinite riches, and it costs us nothing yet everything. It costs us the laying down of our lives so that we might live in the fullness of His. There is no currency but the currency of faith and surrender. 

Have you ever made this transaction? Have you ever experienced this exchange? If not, you can. Right now. He invites you to come, and exchange that which is crushing you for that which lifts you up. Let go of the weight that pulls you deeper and deeper into the darkness and lay hold of His Life that lifts you to heights you never dreamed of. Come. Come to Him now.

Blessings,
Pastor O