Monday, May 12, 2025

Precious Grace

 I know Facebook can be a real quagmire, but at the same time, there can be some very worthwhile posts as well. I saw one of them just today. A street preacher was interviewing young people at a very popular and somewhat notorious nightspot. Among them were a pair of young ladies. He probed them as to their spiritual state and who it was they believed and trusted in. Both affirmed that it was Jesus. More, both knew the message of the gospel, the cross, and the salvation Christ invited us to. Both also affirmed that they considered themselves His followers and were committed to Him. He then asked them why they were out and taking part in what was going on in the club they were about to enter. Their answer was along the lines of, "We're young, we want to have fun and enjoy ourselves." He didn't hit them with judgement, just truth, emphasizing the need for believers to come apart, to live holiness lifestyles, to be in the world, but not of it. Both young ladies became very quiet. They had no response. The video ended.


I recognize that there's a long history of legalism and self-righteous judgement in a segment of the church. It's wrong, and I won't adhere to it, but there is also a long history of the abuse of His grace, often referred to as "hyper grace." I don't adhere to that either. Both are deeply damaging.

Chris Tiegreen writes, "SIn is disastrous and grace is precious. Neither should ever be taken casually." Shouldn't be, but so often are. We can be so casual about both. Churches are filled with those who are. The result will always be disastrous.

A.W. Tozer, speaking of the infinitely great cost to the Father in the giving of His Son, Jesus Christ, said that how we live in response to that cost must be a "very great scandal in heaven." Our hearts have been dulled both to the seriousness and terrible consequences of sin as well as to the immeasurably great gift of His saving grace. Tiegreen also writes, "Grace was given to free us from sin, not to free us up for more of it." A truly grace filled lifestyle knows this and lives accordingly. Not a legal, rule keeping lifestyle, but a holy one.

Jesus was the friend of sinners. He went to where they were, but he didn't "go clubbing" with them. He didn't partake of their lifestyle. He invited them into His. The two young ladies weren't where they were to extend that invitation. They were responding to the invitation of that place to enter into what was happening there. To what degree are we doing the same?

In my particular segment of the church, we have an old, but powerful hymn titled "Called Unto Holiness." All who call themselves His are called unto that holiness. His holiness. Not rigid rule keeping with the focus on the external, but a desperate love of Him, his holiness, and the hatred of sin and its awful effects upon the human race He so loves and gave Himself up for. Indeed, sin is disastrous, and grace is precious. May we cease to take either casually ever again. He shed His precious blood that He might offer His precious grace.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Friday, May 9, 2025

The Beginning

 British preacher and writer T. Austin-Sparks said, "For Christ, the cross was an end. For us, it's the beginning." John Bevere says, "We've preached resurrection promises without preaching the impact and decision of the cross. There is no discipleship without the cross." All this is true, yet you can attend a very great number of fellowships in the west and never hear anything of substance concerning the cross of Christ and the believers call to it. How can that be?


The cross and the subsequent resurrection of Christ was the focal point of Christ's coming. Everything about the Christian faith is centered on these events. Yet, what Bevere says is frighteningly true. We proclaim to eager listeners all the blessings of the resurrection life while at the same time omitting the cross that is the only route to experiencing them. We know the cross was necessary for Christ to complete His ministry. Necessary for Him.....not for us.

This is the greatest reason why so much of the witness and ministry of the church lacks real Holy Spirit power. Preachers are calling people to a faith that includes no cross. Simply believe on Jesus and all will be well. He paid the price, we reap the benefits. We call them to an abundant life in Christ, but we leave out the cross that leads us into it. The apostle Paul said, "I preach Christ, and Him crucified," and "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." In the modern Gospel of the west, there is no cross, no death to self and self-interest. Just an invitation to add Him to your life and enjoy all the improvements He'll bring. We come as we are, and we remain as we are. Yet, Jesus doesn't bid us to come so He can make some improvements in our lives. He calls us, as someone said, "to come and die." He is not about making our lives better. He is all about totally transforming us. There is only one place where that can happen; at the cross.

Sparks says that for us, the cross is the beginning. That puts me in mind of the old hymns lyric. "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my sin rolled away." That was the beginning of an endless life of wonder and abundance. It begins and remains at the cross. Has it begun, really begun, for you?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Monday, May 5, 2025

Do You?

 In my prayer journal, I have a quote from writer Chris Tiegreen. He says, "We're to believe what the Word of God and the Spirit tell us, regardless of the witness of the clouds." 


Casual faith and a casual relationship with Christ will not get you very far into a life with Him. Scripture says that whom He loves, He disciplines. We see discipline as a negative, His response to something we've done wrong. He sees it as love, using the realities of life to deepen and strengthen our relationship with Him. He allows hard things but means to use them to grow and shape us in Christlikeness. He tests our faith and our trust in Him.

In Matthew 9:28, two blind men came to Jesus, asking for sight. Their blindness was real, and in that day final, yet they came to Him for healing. He asked them a simple question; "Do you believe I can do this?"
They answered that they did, and He gave them sight. Being blind at any time would be an oppressive state, but so much more so in Christ's day. Yet, they dared to believe He could heal them, despite "the witness of the clouds." There are things, oppressive things, that He will allow in our lives. Do we dare to believe Him, even in the midst of the darkest and most threatening clouds?

My world came crashing down in August of 1989. My wife left me. I had to leave my ministry. A total unknown lie before me. Yet, I believed that somehow, He would restore my life and my ministry. I didn't find a great deal of support for that. Not very much in the church and not very much even among family. My belief was tested, and though it weakened more than once, I never let it go, and He did bring into my life those who did believe with me and encouraged me. The road was hard but He walked with me and lived within me every step of the journey. He did restore my life and my ministry, and my witness today is of His faithfulness and His glory. The thickness of the clouds that surrounded me could never stop His Light from piercing them and breaking through to me.

I am not saying that everything you want will take place if you just believe. I am saying that what He has spoken to your heart will come to pass if you refuse to give up and keep pressing on in Him. Clouds, thick and dark clouds, will be a reality in our lives. He will be a greater reality. Trust Him. Hold to Him. Believe Him. He is faithful. He is Light and Life greater than any cloud and any storm.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Friday, May 2, 2025

How Near?

 In Scripture we're given the promise, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." The question that comes to my mind is, "Just how near to Him do we want to be?" 


I once borrowed a book from a friend, and in the margin, where this promise had appeared he wrote in response, "Draw near to Him, He draws near to us. Good news/Bad news." He's on target, for it surely is both good and bad news. Good, because when we come near we have the opportunity to see, hear, and know Him in ways we never believed possible. It's bad news though to our inward desire to center upon ourselves, to be our own gods. That fleshly self-life cannot stand in His Presence. His character and Person are far too intense. That's bad news for our flesh.

We sing songs and make declarations that we want to have more of Him, to have all of Him that we can. Are we really prepared for what that means? If we're to venture into the deep of God we had better be prepared, if indeed we even can be, for an intense encounter. There is nothing shallow about Him, though there certainly can be much that is shallow about us. As Scripture says, it's a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. He is, as His Word says, a consuming fire. A fire that will consume every part of us that lifts up our self-life at the expense of His life.

I'm saying all this not to deter us from coming to Him. That's exactly what He desires. He craves intimacy with us. He yearns for our company, but we need to understand this is not some casual thing. He is a holy God, His Son, Jesus Christ, is a holy King. When Peter got his first glimpse of who Jesus was, he cried out, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." His holiness reveals how unholy we are, but this is not something to flee from because His desire is to cleanse, heal, and deliver us from all that pollutes our heart and spirit.

As a young believer, I remember listening to my pastor preach on Jesus' exhortation to the disciples to "launch out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." He spoke on venturing out into the deep of God. I still remember how my heart burned at that. I wanted to launch out. I wanted to partake of the deep things of God. It has been both wonderful and terrible. He has grown me, stretched me, and purified me in His fire. He is still doing so. It's been very hard on my flesh, but a blessing beyond description for my spirit. He continues to invite me to draw near, and you as well. It is a fearful thing and a wonderful thing. Will you dare to find out just how much? All you need do is draw near....if you dare.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Altars

 Altar..... a usually raised structure or place on which sacrifices are offered or incense is burned in worship 

often used figuratively to describe a thing given great or undue precedence or value especially at the cost of something else......"And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the Lord's visit." Genesis 12:7b


I think in the modern, western church, altars are something we associate as being related to the Old Testament, the Law, and the offering of sacrifices by the Levitical priests. This is very sad because the altar and its significance was never meant to lose its place in the church. It's not meant as a verdict against the 21st century western church, but in many of the newer sanctuaries, altars, once a regular feature, have disappeared. Again, not a verdict. Altars are spiritual before they are physical and one can build one in their heart and offer the sacrifice of worship upon it. Still, I have to ask if their absence literally has allowed people to allow their absence spiritually?

Chris Tiegreen wrote, "Everyone has an altar." This is the total truth. If you ask online "what is an altar," you will receive not only the meaning, but an abundance of different kinds of altars used for worship by a multitude of religious beliefs. They are a place where worship, sacrifice, and offerings are made to the object or "god" that we have chosen to give ourselves to. That is seen in Webster's definition above. Don't miss these keywords; "a thing given undue precedence or value at the cost of something else." For the one who calls themself a follower of Christ, that "something else" will always be Almighty God.

As Tiegreen says, everyone has an altar. So, what is yours? Where is yours? You can attend thousands of "worship services" and never worship Him. Yet everyday we do worship something or someone upon the altars we build at His expense. The ancient Israelites never did away with His holy altar or Temple, but they raised seemingly infinite altars to the various "gods" that they gave their hearts to. Those gods had names like Chemosh, Dagon, and Baal. Today they have names like Pleasure, Money, Success (even in ministry), Family, Children, and an abundance of others. In themselves none of these are evil, but when pursuit of them pushes Him from His throne within our hearts, when we now worship having them above having Him, we have sinned against Him, at terrible cost to ourselves.

Has His altar disappeared from your life and heart? It can happen so easily. I believe He is calling us back to His altar. That altar can be made anywhere, and right where you are. The old hymn asks, "Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?" Is your all, all of who you are and wish to be, offered up to Him on His altar? Has everything that has sought to remove Him from His throne in your life been removed so that only He remains?  As Tiegreen says, we all have an altar. Is yours and mine found in Him, or in something or someone else?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Monday, April 28, 2025

Chain Gangs

 There was a time when prison movies were a Hollywood staple. Classic actors like Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson were usually the stars. One of the greatest of these was a movie entitled Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman.


The central character of this movie was named Luke, who was a member of a prison chain gang. He and the other prisoners were routinely taken from their prison camp and put to work maintaining and clearing roads. They did this while having their legs in shackles, chained together, literally living in chains. 

I heard an evangelist once say that too many believers live and look like they're a member of a chain gang. He was referring to their countenance, the looks upon their faces, but our faces only reflect what is happening in our heart and spirit. The great tragedy in the church today is that the very ones Christ came to bring life and victory to are continuing to live like members of a chain gang, going about their day to day lives shackled by burdens, cares, addictions, and wounds of the past that have rendered them living their life in chains that seem unbreakable. Are you one of them?

Let's return to Luke, the central character of the above movie. The desire of the warden and guards was to break the will and spirit of the prisoners they controlled, never letting them forget that they were prisoners. Prisoners in chains. Luke possessed a spirit that was stronger than the chains, and soon that spirit captured the other men. Try as they might, the warden and guards could not break his desire to be free. They could not make him live like a prisoner in chains. 

Luke was a Hollywood character, but the apostle Paul was a living, breathing person who wrote 2 Timothy 8-9 from a prison cell. He wrote, "Never forget that Jesus Christ was....raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach. And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and chained like a criminal. But the Word of God cannot be chained." Paul was in prison and in chains, but he was not a prisoner. His heart and His spirit were free. He wouldn't and couldn't forget that the Lord he served was risen, alive. Death could not hold Him, and so, neither could it hold Paul. If death could not keep Him in its chains, then no literal prison cell and its chains could hold Paul. Not Paul, and because He is risen, not you or I either. 

What chain gang might you be held in today? What shackles and chains has the devil managed to fit you with, formed as a result of your past, your fears, your wounds, and your sins? He seeks to be your warden, and these things are what he uses as your "guards." The Good News for all of us is that Satan's strongest chains cannot shackle the power of His Word, nor the power of His risen life. Christ, the Living Word is alive and He is risen. This is the reality that Charles Wesley wrote of in his great hymn, And Can It Be. "My dungeon flamed with light....my chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed Thee." It's true. It's real. Can you believe it? Will you believe it? Leave the chain gang. Let your chains fall off at His Word. In Christ, we are free. Let us live free.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Finding Him

 "When you walk through the waters, I will be with you." Isaiah 43:2...."There's nothing more heavenly than finding Christ in your hell." Joni Eareckson Tada


Whenever I read her writings or listen to her speak, I am always humbled by the faith and witness of Joni Eareckson Tada. Those who are merely casual listeners tend to think she's a superhuman woman of God who has overcome all the mountains and giants in her life. Yet we so easily forget that what she has already walked through, she still walks through. Pain and extreme difficulty are daily companions in her life. Giving up is a temptation she deals with by the day. It is not herself that sees her through all of that. It's her Jesus. Her Lord and her Savior.

I think that we who are true followers of Jesus Christ, people created for an eternity in His Kingdom, find, in the midst of their suffering, some understanding of the awfulness of hell. Suffering comes upon both the unbeliever and believer alike. For the unbeliever the only outcome is despair, but for the one who belongs to Him, we can discover a great part of the beauty of heaven in the midst of it. How? Because He enters into it with us. He is within us, and at the same time beside us, above us, and beneath us. It is in those times when we feel that we are "going through hell" that His companionship is most rich, and also the place where He reveals ever deepening truths about Himself....and about ourselves as well.

Tada says that "Everyday, God is ready to reveal more about His Son Jesus Christ." Most often this happens in the darkness. In the fires and floods and losses of life. The pain is real, but if we will be looking for Him, He will be more real. 

The other day I watched an old video of a dear elderly and saintly woman. She said that she had been praying and worshiping Him but feeling so inadequate in the effort. She told Him, "Lord, in eternity we will worship you forever for who You are, yet here, I am out of things to praise and worship you for in 5 minutes." She said He then whispered into her spirit that heaven for her, for all who believe, would involve His revealing to her an infinite amount of knowledge as to who He was. An eternity of knowing Him more deeply. A never ending and glorious hope. Our valleys and floods are but a taste of that. May we not miss that taste. 

Thank you Father, that for the one who trusts and follows you, there is no end to the wonder of knowing you. In our present fires and floods, may we discover ever deeper precious truths about You. May Your heaven never cease to enter our journey here, even when the journey leads through hell.

Blessings,
Pastor O