Know

Be still and know that I am God Psalm 46:10 As I write this, I am aware of so many lives that are walking through deep pain, suffering, and need. In addition, we are living in the midst of social and political turmoil and upheaval. People are living in fear. Families are being ruptured and torn apart by divorce, by the rejection of children of their parents, or parents of their children. People are disaffected spiritually and live without hope. What we once thought of as solid rock has been exposed as sinking sand. Yet there is hope. Living hope, if we dare to believe it. I know many, many people who love the words of Psalm 46:10, yet too often, we only know it's truth as a theory, not a reality. Why? Because we find it so hard to be still, and because we live life all too often in a frenzy, we don't really know Him. Not as a reality, as an experience, as our Father. Scripture says that all things hold together in Christ, but if our knowledge of Him, of His power, sovereignty, and goodness is very limited, we struggle to believe it is so. We only see what seems to be falling apart, not the One who holds all that really matters together. This is why it is so crucial to develop the discipline of being still in and before Him. We cannot do this by sheer willpower alone. Our flesh is too weak. But if we call upon His grace, He will give us the strength to do so, and in that place of stillness, we will begin to see and know....that He is God. Where I'm walking today has required me to live out the truth of these words. Perhaps where you're living is doing the same. He knows how hard it is for our humanity to be still before Him. Call upon His name for the grace you need to do so. Life may appear to be chaos right now, but into the center of the storm He will come, and with Him will come His peace, presence, and power. He will not be a theory, but your reality. My reality. Let us be still. Let us know.....that He is God. Blessings, Pastor O

No One

As I write this, I am a man now 76 years old. I have a long and many faceted road of life experience already traveled. I have known incredible joy and devastating loss and grief. Somehow, I had the thought that this made me ready and able to deal with, in Him, whatever had yet to come my way. I was wrong. This past week I had to put my beloved cat of nearly 18 years down. I knew that each day was bringing that time nearer. I thought I would be ready. I wasn't. The emotional upheaval that I've experienced has shocked me. I didn't think it was possible. I am a man of deep emotion and feeling. I need to express my feelings, especially those feelings of pain and grief. I have been doing so with so many friends and family. I am blessed beyond words for their care and comfort. I am not worthy of all the love that has been shown to me. Yet in this, I discovered something more. I have often said that Jesus Christ needs to be the One we go to first in any and all need. I was only doing that in part. I was seeking comfort and healing in the words and assurances of people before I was seeking it in Him. I have confessed and repented of that. This weekend I have begun to seek Him out anew through the 91st Psalm, where I am seeking to live right now, as well as through so many scripturally based prayer for grief that I have found online. They are yielding a work of healing that is reaching far below just my emotions but into my very spirit. He is meeting me in my sorrow, and I can feel His presence and ministry upon my heart and mind. The pain remains, but He has come alive in the midst of it, and it is His touch of life and wholeness that I am feeling. I have learned once again that there is no one who ministers healing and life like Jesus Christ and His Word. Friends and counselors have a role to fill, but only the Lord has the power to transform ashes into beauty and mourning into joy. Something mystical and wonderful takes place when we pray in the power of His Word and the power of His promise. Our perspective changes and our spirit and heart is energized with His life. Yes, the pain and grief remain, but their power over us is broken. I know there will still be days when I feel deep;y the pain and sadness of my loss, but because of His presence, it will not cripple me emotionally or spiritually, so long as trust in Him, His Word, and His promises. I can't explain it, but I know it's true. May you, when your road leads you through the valley of the shadow of death, find that is true as well. No one understands, or loves, like Jesus. Blessings, Pastor O

Unmasked

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" 2 Samuel 12:7 If you're not familiar with what is happening in this passage of Scripture, God had sent Nathan the prophet to confront David the king over his raping of the wife of Uriah the Hittite, her subsequent pregnancy as a result, and the murder of Uriah when David failed to get him to sleep with his wife and so cover up his sin and fathering of the child. Sent by God Himself, Nathan told David of a poor man greatly wronged by another who was far richer and more powerful than he, David was outraged and when Nathan asked him what should be done to the man who had wronged him, he said that he deserved to die. That's when Nathan declared that David himself was that man. These words pierced his heart. His sin had so hardened him as to make him blind to what he'd done. Nathan's confrontation broke him. Does it break you and me? In his writings, John Eldredge has called himself a "poser" in some areas of his faith walk. Meaning he is posing as something and someone that he's not. Paul Tripp asks the question, "What part of my life in Him is fake?" These are "in your face" questions. Do we dare to ponder them? Where are the areas in our relationship with Him where we're only "posing" as sincere followers of the King? Where are the areas where we're faking it? Where is the hypocrisy in our walk and in our profession of faith? We are so easily offended by those in our lives who, like the Pharisees, pose as righteous followers of God, but whose inner lives are very far from His heart. Thomas a Kempis said that we rarely weigh others on the same scale we use to measure ourselves. We so clearly see the wrong in another while being blind to the wrong within our own heart. Someone said that we are masters at self-deception. Where might we be deceiving ourselves as to what is really in our heart? Where do we need to be unmasked? Last night, in a worship gathering, I saw a crowd of people, myself among them, come forward at the preacher's invitation to receive a fresh outpouring of His grace and Spirit. He was among us powerfully, unmasking, cleansing, healing. Whatever "posers" were among us were posers no more. May it be so in each of us. In all of us. May we truly be the church, the glorious church, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Unmasked....and free. Blessings, Pastor O

Other Places

"Lord, if it's You," Peter replied, "tell me to come to You on the water." "Come" He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:28-29 Can you imagine what it must have felt like, seemed like to Peter when he stepped out of the boat upon Jesus' invitation and walked on the water? Total exhilaration, excitement, and wonder. We love those kinds of invitations from the Lord. Though Peter sank when he took his eyes off of the Lord, I expect he never had a bit of regret over his stepping out. It was where he wanted to be. Being with Jesus in exciting places is where most, if not all of us want to be. But how about those "other places?" Alicia Britt Chole writes, "If we want to walk on water because that's where Jesus is, then we'll be equally willing to walk with Him in dry deserts, times of temptation, and relentless storms." In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as Sam, Frodo, and Gollum travel through Mordor, Sam remarks how much different the journey would be if they were moving through "decent places," to which Gollum replied, "These aren't decent places." In our journey with the King, He will lead us through places that are decidedly "un-decent." Maybe you're in such a place right now. I know many who are. There are so many of His choice people who are walking through the death of a marriage, through the rebellion and rejection of their children. Through the crippling effects of cancer, or the loss of a beloved mate who died too young, or simply too soon. Sorrow can take so many forms, and it will always take us on a path we would not have chosen for ourselves, but which He has allowed and which He bids us take hold of Him, and follow. It's not an invitation to walk on water, but in the end, if we will obey and trust, we will behold an even greater miracle than that. We will experience His overcoming victory in the face of what we thought would surely destroy us, but didn't, because He was there with us, and we, by faith and trust, were there with Him. I have no explanation for why He allows these other places, or what His intent is when He brings them into our lives. What I do know is that He has purpose for us and purpose to be accomplished in us. I know that if we hold to Him in these places, He will bring beauty from ashes and joy from our mourning. Someone said that in the miracle of the walking on water, Peter walked on top of the waves he had thought would drown him. In these other places, we too can walk on top of the circumstances and dangers that threaten to destroy us. We will not sink beneath them. All we need do is keep our eyes upon Him, always walking both with Him and to Him. Blessings, Pastor O

Worship

I have often wondered over the years if in the environment in which the western church exists, if Jesus Christ alone is enough? This is not a tirade against churches seeking to minister in excellence to individuals and families. Excellence in ministry is what we must always offer to Him, but have we reached a place where we're offering what He and His church can give us over and beyond who He is and desires to be to us? We live in a consumer culture and that culture has invaded the church. In many ways very successfully. Is what we're doing and offering in His name pushing the Person and Presence of the One whose name we bear aside? Are people leaving our corporate gatherings feeling like they've just had a very good experience yet leaving in the same state in which they came? Are we emphasizing touching emotions and stimulating the senses above our encountering Him in life transforming ways? It's a fine line, and I think too many fellowships lack the discernment and understanding to see the difference. When I came to Christ in 1979, I had no idea what "church" even was or was meant to be. What I did know was that in the center of my broken life, His Spirit had placed within my heart a deep desire for Him. After a couple of months as a believer, I found a fellowship not far from where I grew up. It was about 20 miles from the city of Pittsburgh where I was living, but I was determined to go that Sunday. I didn't find a church geared towards meeting all my needs. They were a church of mostly married people with families. I was single. They sang songs I didn't know with instruments unlike the drums, guitars, and keyboards I was familiar with. There was no singles ministry and more, there were no single girls. There was however, a dynamic presence of Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit. The pastor, who became a lifelong mentor, was a gifted communicator of Jesus Christ and His life. When he preached, my heart and spirit were moved. I drank it all in. I couldn't wait to be in church. On Wednesday nights I drove out from the city to be there. There were more than 20 traffic lights on the way, and I usually caught every one of them. It didn't matter, so hungry was I for Him. What they didn't have played no part because I was fully caught up in what they did. The fullness of His Life. People choose to be in churches for a number of reasons. Most of them good reasons, but for how many of us does it come down to simply whether the power and presence of His Holy Spirit holds sway? Where His Presence is so mighty that if all the other things were missing, we'd still be there....and that would be enough. More than enough. My heart's desire for His church is that we would see preachers raised up who proclaim Christ in such power that He is real to those who hear them. I stayed at that church because I heard about a Jesus that I knew this preacher knew intimately, who was real, and was all that the preacher said he was and more. My heart burned to know that Jesus. I desire a church where every aspect of every ministry has as its central purpose making Jesus Christ real and alive to those they minister to. I desire a church that wants far more than to just provide a good experience, but to see the people truly encounter Him, and be radically transformed by Him. I know this is happening to some degree in many places, but I believe His word to us is that whatever we have experienced so far is nothing in comparison to what He seeks to do in and through us. May we hear Him speak that He has "so much more for us than this." May our response be to enter into it. Into all of it. As someone put it, to come together in worship is not a duty, but a gift. Let us receive this gift and come to Him, run to Him with hearts wide open.....and worship. Blessings, Pastor O

What Is

I don't remember the source for it, but in my prayer journal I have written, "We must surrender what we thought our lives were going to look like and step into what God has for us instead." We all have dreams, desires, and hopes. A happy marriage, beautiful family, a rewarding vocation, and ministry that bears much visible fruit. Beautiful dreams can become broken ones. It comes to everyone in some way and in some form. What do we do when it does? What do we do when our life mate suffers dementia? How do we respond when our marriage and family is broken apart by divorce? What happens when our children reject everything about us and push us completely away? What do we do when our expected ministry of abundance become a forlorn mission in the midst of the wilderness? What DO we do? Katherine Wolf was a beautiful young wife and mother with a life that seemed to have everything. Then, with no warning, at the age of 26, she suffered a severe stroke that left her disabled, partially paralyzed, and with a severe speech impediment. She refused to give in and give up. She did not run from her God, but to Him. There is no doubt she experienced a wide range of emotions and seemingly unending questions about it all, but she made a decision. She said that she decided that she would not dwell upon all the "what if's" of her life condition but would move into the "what is" of it. And she would do so centered upon the living hope she had in Jesus Christ. The result has been a rich ministry of hope and transformation for thousands of people. To live in the realm of "what if" invites darkness. It's a prison with chains only He can break, and they are broken when we enter into the realm of "what is." And what we will find as the foremost characteristic of this realm is Jesus Christ Himself. He is always in the place of what is. If we will trust Him there, He will lead us through even the most difficult and unpleasant circumstances into the broad place of His blessing and abundance. For our good and His glory. The roll of those who have done this include, besides Katherine Wolf, Fanny Crosby in her blindness, Joni Eareckson Tada in her wheelchair, Corrie Ten Boom in her concentration camp experience, and the apostle Paul and John Bunyan in their prison cells. Do not fear or run from what is, because He is there with you, and what He has for you there will be, as the old hymn says, "worth it all." Blessings, Pastor O

Mud

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:13-14 If we truly seek to follow Him, to worship Him and give ourselves wholly to Him, then we have surely experienced those times when our doing so feels empty and ineffective. We will have those times when it feels like what we offer Him is feeble, even worthless. Like what we bring to Him in our weakness is an offense to Him. We feel like we have completely disappointed Him, that it would have been better not to pray or worship Him at all. All of it is a lie, but it's a lie we so readily believe. Joni Eareckson Tada wrote on this. She said, "When my worship seems fragile and feeble, when my heart is muddied with misgivings, Jesus does not impatiently tap His foot, fold His arms and look at His watch, and think, "This girl better get her worship on. He graciously remembers that I am made of nothing but mud." This reminds me of an illustration from my professor of theology at Bible College, Dr. Arnold Airhart, concerning His receiving of our imperfect offerings of love. He used the picture of a small child who, with dirty hands, got a cup of cold water for their father. As his small hands carried the cup, pieces of dirt fell in, muddying the offering. He said the father didn't notice the dirt in the water, just the love in the heart of the child. He took it and drank. It's a beautiful picture of His love for us, and of us His love of what we bring to Him in love, even when we do so imperfectly. There have been so many times when I felt my prayer, my praises, my thanksgivings were beyond feeble. That they were worthless. The devil loves for me, for you, to believe it is so. It isn't. He sees our heart. He remembers that we are dust, mud. Weak, imperfect dust and mud. He looks beyond that. He looks deeply into what is in our heart. He doesn't focus on all the imperfections we bring. He focuses on our love for Him. Even when our love feels so weak and shallow. May we never lose sight of the illustration of the water mixed with dirt. Nothing we could bring Him can ever be worthy of the Savior that He is. He desires us, dirty hands and all, for it is Himself who makes all our imperfect offerings acceptable. Praise and worship, even at its weakest, is still praise and worship. It is still precious in His eyes. He remembers we are mud. Blessings, Pastor O